 Good morning, welcome guys. Welcome to today's session on Youth Ministry. Please pray and we'll get started. Father, we come before you. We thank you for this beautiful day. Thank you for the privilege that we have to come to our prison zone to learn about you and your kingdom. God help us to understand the subject well and pray that we will be your vessels that you would use us to establish your kingdom here on earth. Jesus name I pray. Amen. Let me share my screen. So yesterday we started off by learning about the challenges in Youth Ministry. Specifically, we looked at the challenges that a youth pastor or a youth leader might experience. And those were not the only challenges, some of the things that we learned yesterday for to summarize very quickly. The first point, the first challenge that we can encounter is impatience. This is expecting results way too quickly and not being patient enough to endure the race. One example we saw was the difference between a marathon runner and a hundred meter dash sprinter. We need to train and teach ourselves to function like a marathon runner for the long run to endure with faithfulness and then time management. If we don't manage time, our time will be managed by other people. And then discouragement is another challenge. Various reasons and practical steps to battle discouragement. One of which was finding a mentor and having a hobby is crucial. Clear communication is necessary and then finally our intimacy and our walk with the Lord is crucial in your journey in ministry. We finished with that section today. We will look at some of the challenges that are faced by today's youth. Okay, so we finished challenges faced by youth pastors and youth leaders. But now let's look at some of the challenges that our youth of this day and age face. Okay, so the youth of today are facing incredible challenges in their day to day life all over the world. This generation experience change more often than the teens from 40 years ago. All of which results in the challenges they face every day. Okay, so I mean, I'm not sure if you heard of your parents or anyone who's older say, okay, in our time, we didn't have all these problems. And if you translate it in some of our Indian languages, it becomes more dramatic. Like, you know, like say Tamil or Kannada or whatever. It becomes more, he's like, in our time, we didn't have all these trouble. How come you are having all these problems? But the times have changed, isn't it? The challenges are challenges. That's the fact. Okay, the generation 40 years ago, the challenges that was faced by the teenagers or the youth back then are not the same because the times were different. Everything was different. The peer pressure, talk about everything else was, it's just different, right? So one of the challenges, one of the main challenges that the youth of today are going through is mental health, mental health. Okay, and some of the, if we, I'm not going to go through the stats now, but if we just put, there's a global survey that was done and some of the numbers and the statistics are related to that. It's related to this issue with young people all over the world is scary. It's staggering. It's very, very real. It's very real the challenges when it comes to mental health. Okay. One of the key things that's adding to it is stress, which is related to life choices, academic achievements and the need to accomplish. The need to be someone, something super, the need to be the winner all the time. That's what our society education system teaches us, portrays. If you're not number one, you are waste, you're zero. The stress that adds to a child or teenager related to life choices. I see this image already there. So, you know, as soon as it starts at a very early, very early age, isn't it? Maybe not till your 10th grade, whatnot, but then after that, you're thinking, okay, which school and which college, which career path do I choose? Do I choose commerce or science or arts? Why should I choose that? Or should I go to Bible college? Should I do this? Should I do that? So many choices today, right? Do I become an entrepreneur? Or do I become, or do I should I only be an employee? What do I do? Right? Scratch their heads. They're filled with anxiety because there's so many choices that's available. Right? I mean, just look at, at least, I'm sure like this day and age, there are at least 500 different brands of shampoo or more, 1000 maybe, you know. But there was a time where I only knew two brands that were so available and which made very easy for me to pick one. Okay, if this is not the one, this one, you know, but now imagine people having to choose and everybody wants to choose the best. Right? And you have to choose the best out of the 500 and that itself is kind of giving you anxiety. It's like, oh no, I hope I choose the best. I'm missing out on this. It's related to everything, isn't it? So many different schools, so many different colleges, every school is an international school now. You know, every college is world renowned college, et cetera, et cetera, and everybody has to choose the best career path that will bring them that will make them successful and whatnot. And all of this has added to the challenges that the youth of today face, which is very real. Isn't it? So that's one of the key challenges that young people face to stay. And the other challenge, which is very real is loneliness. Loneliness. Okay, they are in a group, but they feel left out. They are part of, like, say, 10 to 20 people group, but they feel lonely. They feel alone. It stays away because socially not accepted or the fear of being rejected. Okay, they stay away because they are not accepted socially, that means in a group, or they stay away because they are afraid of being rejected. Saying, it's like, I look at this fellow, hey, please don't be my friend. I don't like you. I don't like the way you act, blah, blah, blah, et cetera. And that kind of leads them to a certain trend. Like they want to be accepted. They don't want to be rejected. So if this group accepts only those who smoke and drink, because of peer pressure, because of the fear of being left out and being alone, they start smoking. They start drinking. Why? Because only if I do this, they will accept me. Otherwise, they'll reject me. And the fear of being lonely is there. But yet, this generation is called as the swipe generation, right? They just keep swiping, swiping, swiping, swiping, swiping, swiping. They just bury their heads into this thing. You know what I'm saying? They have so many followers, or they can be following so many people in Facebook, have 2,000 friends, 5,000 friends, have so many followers on Instagram, et cetera, et cetera, but still feel lonely. You know, you understand what I'm talking about, right, guys? But this generation is going through that. That is a huge challenge among our youth today and day and age. They are connected, but yet so disconnected, right? Do you agree with me? What do you think? Somewhat, somewhat. Okay, another thing, another challenge is, so one thing leads to another, right, is happiness. Now one, the previous point talks about they stay away because they are not accepted or the fear of being rejected. But then that is connected to the next point, which is happiness, the need to feel happy or to show themselves that they are happy all the time. Okay, think about the posts on social media. Once again, I'm sorry if I'm sounding repetitive when I take the examples of Facebook and Instagram, but please forgive me, but that's the fact, isn't it? The need to feel, to show themselves happy all the time. How often do you see someone's postings a negative post? I had the worst day today. I am sad, you know, or do you see any photos without a filter that makes them look extra fair or extra handsome, extra beautiful? You know, or they have to take a picture of what they are eating, eating Pani Puri. You know, I am having coffee in this cafe. You know, all of that to show that, oh man, I'm happy. You know, so a couple, let's just look at this example. Okay, so the need to feel happy or show themselves happy. They are hardly any negative posts in social media and individual posts about one's selves. A couple is always happy, always vacationing, always partying. The display picture is always dashing. You know, this creates an impression. Listen to this very carefully, guys. This creates an impression to others watching on social media. Feel that they are not happy enough. Okay, so not just, there's so many different layers to it, right? So a person who's always posting this, you know, saying, I'm happy. I'm in this place. I'm going to vacation with this amazing place. You know, I'm having this coffee in this cafe. I, my life is amazing. Even maybe, you know, even if it's not true, doesn't care, right? Doesn't matter. So what the posts like that creates to another person. An impression is that, and they're looking at these posts. They're going through this as like, they say, oh, this person has gone there. Oh, that person is doing that. This is happening. Oh, that is happening. But none of this is happening in my life. My life is bad. It's terrible because with me, right? So that creates an impression to others watching on social media. Feel that they are not happy enough. So what happens? They fall into a trap of comparison. Only if I had enough money, only if my life was like this, only if my life was like that, only if I could go to that place for vacation, only if I had that car, only if I did this, only if I had so many followers on YouTube subscriptions, et cetera, et cetera, they fall into a trap of comparison that leads to competitiveness and that kills the joy of the person living, you know, instead of enjoying the present, they've just destroyed their life living in the present. So the need to feel happy all the time is another huge challenge that's faced by our generation. Another huge challenge is time, right? We spoke about time management in the previous challenge for youth leaders. But here, for the youth as well, time is a huge challenge, but in a different way. Today's demands of a 24-7 world keep millennials busier than any other generation before them. Students and young girls are incredibly busy. Youth want instant microwave results, shortcuts. How can I learn guitar in 10 days without hurting my fingers? They want microwave results and they're doing like a million things in 24 hours, right? I mean, I kind of feel sad for kids these days because you see parents putting them in a hundred different workshops. You know, after dance class, there's music class. After music class, there's swimming class. After swimming class, there's football class. After football class, there's badminton class. I mean, poor kid, you know, but that's the reality of today's day and age is 24 hours is not enough. And I don't think 48 hours in a day also will be enough for this generation because they're always engaged. They're always busy being productive and efficient. That is a different story. Okay, that's a different discussion altogether. But the point is that they're always engaged. They're always busy. They want to be doing something or the other, right? So with so little time, you know, according to them, their opinion, millennials want to know that the time they do invest in an activity is worthwhile. So if this busy generation wants to give the time to your youth meeting, if they want to come to this youth meeting, they will ask themselves this question, is that going to be worthwhile my time? Is that meeting time worthy? And so that kind of leads to another question, another challenge to us as youth leaders is, okay, how can we make this program time efficient that they would feel the need to come to our programs? Because time is a huge challenge to this generation, right? And some of the other challenges that's just listed out there is sexuality. It's not just sexual purity. Sexual purity in a society goes without saying where, you know, pressure and temptation exists. But it's also the identity. Now, we, you know, we just don't have two genders nowadays that people are talking about. It's not just male and female. It's not just LGBTQ, ABCD, XYZ. There's like all the letters in the alphabet. It's there. And so, and again, remember, the challenges, the first challenge was the choices. And there and suddenly out of nowhere, there are all these choices that's available to the teenagers. It's like, oh, you don't just have to be a male or a female. There's so many others letters that you can choose from. And you believe that it's scary, isn't it, guys? It's all adding to that mental health thing. So sexuality is a huge thing, let alone sexual purity. Okay, the church needs to talk about sexual purity to our young people. This is the one institution that should be talking and we are not. And hence, therefore, they are getting all their ideas of sexuality from the world. The world's, what does the world say? You can have multiple sexual partners. You can sleep. You can have sex with the opposite sex before marriage. You know, it's okay to have multiple boyfriends or girlfriends. It's okay to be, you know, be in a live in relationship. Chalta hai. It's okay. You know, so our kids are getting all this idea of sexual, pure sexuality from the world, which is dangerous and scary. That's another huge challenge that's, you know, faced by our young people this day. And the secondly is identity. Now, we can just talk on this for an entire hour. Identity issues with, okay, who am I? Am I worth it? You know, do I mean something? Am I someone? You know, we look for our value in our own abilities and accomplishments. We are driven to continue to perform so that we can feel that we have worth. The need to feel something, the need to feel successful. Who am I? I need to be somebody. What is my identity? Right? So having an identity is like a circle thing. What do you think of yourself? You know, will have a tendency. And the tendency will lead to action and that action will lead to consequences. Okay, are you with me guys? So identity, let's talk, let's start at 12 o'clock on top. So you have identity, tendency, action, consequences. Okay, entire circle. So identity. Let's take a good identity, for example. Let's just take, so if I ask, say, Dave, what is your identity? This is just an example, Dave. Okay. And you say, what is your identity? What do you identify yourself as? You might say, let's say, oh, I'm a cricketer. Now, so you go by that identity. Say I'm a cricketer. And what is the tendency of a cricketer? Okay, you will tend to practice. Okay, you're going to invest your time practicing your sport. Okay, that's your tendency. And that leads to action where you're practicing, you're practicing hours in a day. And that leads to the consequence. What is the consequence of those actions is you becoming a better cricketer, you're becoming a better sports person. Are you with me? Now, let's flip it around to the negative thing. Let's say that your identity is so challenged and you feel like you are worthless, you are fit for nothing or good for nothing because of what people have told you, et cetera, et cetera. So that's your identity and your tendency is that you are always sitting alone in your room, in the dark room. You're sulking over the fact that I'm good for nothing and fit for nothing and whatnot. And that can lead to some dangerous actions, which is suicidal tendencies and hurting yourself or whatever the list can go on. And what's the consequences of those actions is never pleasing, isn't it? So addressing identity related issues is a huge thing because this issue is very real amongst our generation in this day and age. Absence of a father figure or comes from a broken family or from a family where there is constant violence and abuse. There are at least 100 different forms of abuse, by the way. Result, there looks for love in all the wrong places. So a teenager or a youth who's coming from such a background where they don't have someone like a father figure who's so crucial or a mother figure or comes from a family of abuse and violence. And what they are longing for at the end of the day is acceptance. I want to be accepted. I want to feel loved and they become very vulnerable. You know what is vulnerable? It's like they will go look for love in all the wrong places. They will pour out everything about them toward the wrong person and that person will use them, abuse them and throw them away. And then this person is hurt and is offended and lives with bitterness. And then they go into a shell saying, I'm not going to trust anyone with my life. I'm not going to open my heart to anyone. And that even to God, I don't feel like going to church. I'm not going to go there because I don't feel anything. I'm hurt. Love is not true. If their idea and understanding of love is abuse, then they're not going to accept love. That's a huge reality. And as if all of that was not enough, there is the media, the big Godfather. The negative media influence. What is it saying? You must be beautiful, you must be fair, you must be white, you must buy this product. All the products that's available is to make you look better than how you look better. How you look now. If you wear this T-shirt, you will look fine. If you wear our jeans, you will look better. You will look more handsome. If you wear this shoe, you will look smart. If you wear put this makeup thing, you know what I'm saying? If you use this soap, you will smell better. You guys get what I'm saying, right? Okay. Sorry. So to be worthwhile, you must be beautiful, avoid pain and pursue pleasure at all costs. Avoid pain. No pain, no gain is an old saying. It's no longer applicable to this generation. Pursue pleasure at all costs. Doesn't matter how it comes. Pursue it. Sex is a recreational pursuit. There are no consequences and everybody does it. It's no longer sacred. It's no longer holy. It's no longer pure. It's like anybody can have it. Anybody can do it. There's no consequences at all. There's no, you don't need consent, et cetera, et cetera. Violence and vengeance is an acceptable way to deal with your problems. Money brings happiness. All of these are just some of the points as mentioned. You can think of more, but some of the points that the media brings in, these are all the negative influences of the media on our generation, right? And as if all of that was not enough for challenges, there's more. Dependence on technology, right? The society has given this generation a name as the ICE generation. What does it mean? Internet and cellular, okay? Instant access to information has changed how they understand truth. Instant access to information, right? Everything is at their fingertips. If they want to know about anything, whatever knowledge they want is at their fingertips. They don't feel the need to check the credibility and the authenticity of the source. Crucial there is this one. They don't feel the need to check the credibility and the authenticity of the source. That's why, you know, before we go to any doctor, our first doctor is Dr. Google. Okay, Guilty? How do I get rid of this pain? Google, okay? I am having this. What can be the problem? It can be a very scary doctor sometimes. It's like, oh, this is, you know, Google will come back and say, oh, this is the problem. You are going to die in 30 days. You are scared now and now you really want to go to the real doctor. Right? I am not sure if it is delayed with that. But this generation is that they are the ICE generation as the society has labeled them Internet and cellular. You disconnect them from their phones or tell them there is no Internet for half an hour. Then start manifesting like a principality, you know? Oh, no, no, no, I can't live without it. It's not happening, you know. Check this out. Youth can have a full on romantic relationships by texting, by text messaging or Facebook. Their whole idea of relationship is not even face to face anymore. It's theoretical, hypothetical. It's a device rather than a person. Guys, are you following me? You realize the danger that this, you know, that this generation is just the way they're thinking. The fact that they can have a full on romantic relationship over text messages and Facebook and the need for them to not want a face to face relationship anymore is dangerous. For them, a relationship right now is, you know, with the other person will be this. This is my relationship with you. It's a device. It's no longer a person. And that is so sad because you and I were made for relationships. You and I were made for one another, right? For each other. Isn't it for community, right? So dependence on technology is another challenge. And so having understood all of that. So what are some of the topics, you know, that we can do, you know, that our youth ministry should address? You know, young people are hurting as we saw. They are hungry. They are searching. They are reasoning and are connected like never before. They may not know the truth, but they are hungry for it. They are seeking for the truth. Okay, they are looking for genuine unconditional love. Ultimately, they are looking for pastors, leaders who will walk the talk and represent Jesus rightly. Okay, what this generation is looking for is authentic pastors and leaders. They are looking for authentic fathers, kingdom fathers who will represent Jesus rightly. Okay, knowing the challenges is not enough. It is a starting place. So now that we know these are all their challenges. Just knowing what they are going through is not enough. Isn't it? What is our next step? We must prayerfully work on finding practical and biblical solutions for every problem that's ever there under the sun. God has created a solution for every question. There is an answer. And if we only learn to seek and depend on God for those strategies for those answers, we can answer our youth in this day and age as well. Right. So Christian youth of today must not only be taught God's word. They must be mentored and discipled in ways to apply the word to their lives. They must be inspired to live more like Christ. Remembering Jesus is the model. They have to be taught how to be doers of the word. Okay, so considering all of this, some of the topics that we can do is as follows. Everything that we could think of is here identity. We can use the resource who we are in Christ, APC publication, foundations, no gossip, sexual purity. When love equals sex in today's world, overcoming sexual sin, sex as God's idea, teaching about the sexuality and the source. What is God's idea of sex? Overcoming series like overcoming depression, overcoming anxiety, fear, addiction, temptations, emotions that destroy peer pressure. These are all the real challenges that the youth are encountering this day and age, isn't it? Like we discussed topics like intimacy with God, daily walk with God, emphasizing the importance of that. Living a lifestyle of worship, salvation, a little bit of doctrinal stuff is very important as well. Baptism of the Holy Spirit, lifestyle, evangelism, discipleship prayer, personal prayer, fasting prayer, intercity prayer. How to read the word, how to study the word and to learn about the authenticity and the credibility of the Bible. When they are sharing the gospel with other people, they will know and they will know how to defend the word of God. I believe in the Bible because it's credible and it's authentic and it's been proven. Like teaching about the basic apologetics stuff, love and relationships, fulfilling God's purpose, etc. And so much more, it doesn't have to end there. So much more, the list goes on. So I just want to pause here and once again, I don't want to go into the other chapter just yet. So I'll stop presenting. Do you have any thoughts, any questions that you want to ask? Please stop. Please share. What are the other challenges that you might think that the youth are facing today's day and age? Okay, you don't think there are any more challenges facing this day and age? Okay guys, then we'll stop here. I'll stop the recording and we'll meet again in the following week. I hope we can put all of this, everything that we've learned today into practice and I hope this will inspire and help you in planning your youth ministry better. Okay, so I'll stop the recording now.