 Okay, but thanks for joining the Youth Ministry course one more time. It's good to see you all So this course is called the Introduction to Youth Ministry So this will be one of those shortest courses that you will do in in this Bible college degree So yeah, it's not going to take more than three weeks maximum four weeks depending If we need more time, but that's about it, which is why I have already shared your Final assignment and the stream section. It's just a book report for the for the in-person student and the online For you guys and the assignment is very different for those who are doing the course on e-learning, okay? So that's just a Gist of this course. It's an introduction So we're not going to go too deep into what youth ministry is and and Everything else that is associated with youth ministry in general So we're just going to look at it take a sneak peek of some of the challenges that the youth leaders face The youth are going through in the current day and age And and and all of this course is about just giving you guidelines and how you can Kind of taken some of the inputs suggestions from this course and adapted and Kind of customize it to the setting that you are at and it's absolutely fine If you are not a youth leader if you are not Involved in youth ministry itself, but I think and I hope that this would be a helpful course in general otherwise, okay? right, so we'll start off with a I think a very important question a good question to answer Who according to you right in your opinion in your suggestion? The way you think who are the youth? What comes to your mind? When you think okay? youth This is who they are. This is what defines them You can answer in a sentence or you can even give me a word that you associate the youth with 18 plus All right, come guys talk to me a Rosalind Savashesh. How would you define youth? Who are the youth? Lyndon Yeah, Collins go ahead, please. I think our youth is the any person who is Eighteen years and above but less than 40 35 Okay, 18 years and above at less than 35. Okay. All right First surprise Lord, so I suppose it's 13 to 19 are considered teens and about 18 to 19 until 35 are considered as youth It's considered as youth. Okay No, thank you. Thanks Collins. Thanks, Lyndon You're very energetic powerful between 18 and 30. Okay Interesting the age bracket has been reduced by five years now. Okay, Rosalind. What do you think? I don't know John, who are the youth people who are young at heart? Yeah, I guess we'll all come in that category Yeah Yeah, but thank you. I think you know, it's always important to kind of ask a fundamental question. I guess Depending on no matter who the audience are Like you need to ask yourself that question. Okay, who are the audience? How do you define them as and and as a leader? It's also very important that how they view you as and now that's a very from a leadership perspective And how does your audience or in our context your congregation view you as? You know, they do they view you as a pastor or a teacher or a leader or a brother? Whatever, you know sister Be inclusive I guess All right, so Rosalind says youth is someone who knows the difference between right and wrong and still choose wrong and Not everyone though, but it's limit can be 16 plus. Okay. Oh Okay, that's a quite a bold and honest statement Russian, but thank you for sharing Okay, so some of the definitions which some of the world You know leading in organizations or institution claim or the way they view At the you is this the United Nations for statistical purposes defines youth as the persons between the ages of 15 and 24 Without prejudice to the other definitions by member states So 15 to 24 you have that one and the United Nations General Assembly defines youth as a person between 15 and 24. It's the same thing 15 and 25 the World Bank and The Commonwealth youth program refers to young people as between 15 and 29 and Most of the bishops conference referred to the youth as from 18 to 30 35. It's what? You know, which is the age bracket which some of us have to find right Now beyond all these definitions or Beyond numbers if we if you just if we can look at the youth or more than just 18 plus and below 35 You know I think Something that we will learn along the way in this in this course is that they are very dynamic, right? they're very energetic and most of the ad Companies or advertisement companies be present and also in the past have always always studied young people Because they are the trendsetters so to speak So what kind of trend are the youth? Are following in the society? What is what are they talking about? What are how are they addressing? You know, how do they define style? How do they define fashion? What products are they consuming? What appeals to them? right and And so and this is how Even the society or the advertisement agency study the young people because they're very vibrant You know, they are into all kinds of things. I talk about technology fund adventure relationships sports arts They are in there in the talks Right and some of them also, you know But while they are good at it, how would you hope? I'll just very very briefly, you know, how I was 18 plus and maybe you can share how you were and maybe don't relate Some of us are not too far away from 18 But Okay, so the way I can remember my teenage years the early we'd say at least 17 to 22 Or 23 24. I think 23 or 24. I started tapping out But was very energetic very spontaneous, you know That's the kind of age group where you don't aim and shoot you shoot and then aim You know Something somewhat like Peter was the Bible but You know, but do you relate to any of that? It's very energetic very you know, like so full of life and spontaneous and Not worrying a lot about the consequences the consequences can be good or bad But then it's that attitude of okay, this is to court Nike Just do it kind of a thing attitude isn't it? and And that's how, you know, the world views at the youth today as well It's changed a little bit in terms of yes, they're energetic Yes, they are full of fun and full of life and adventure and and whatnot, but then yet, you know, they're Somewhere we have begun to label them as okay. This is a multitasking generation Their attention span is reduced to five minutes so to speak and they connect with online more than anything else right, so Know that we've understood who the youth are kind of, you know Who they are and what their age limit is and Why do we need to focus on the youth as a church? It's a question for you. Why do we need to focus on the youth? Should the church have a youth ministry? Yes Interrupt where you saying like completing the question. No, no, no, go ahead Okay, thank you Yeah, I I feel it's very important especially If I think about like My life it was through students No, like a college students ministry that I came to know the Lord. So I always am very grateful for such ministries because Those people don't have to do it. We are like we are total strangers for them, you know if I consider those people who Really poured into our lives there to complete strangers, but still, you know, they consider us to be their own children and they open their homes and Let us see how how their lives are, you know, being very transparent about How their marriage is how their kids are how they're raising of the kids and all that so it's I feel The youth should be exposed to those realities of life And if there are such people, you know, who are able to be so transparent that It helps a youth to understand that it's it's not like fantasy life is not really fantasy There are realities involved. So I'm personally for me. I'm very grateful for the youth ministries Yeah, and also to the earlier question of Like the age group Yeah, so I was I Was thinking about the youth as a very, you know, they have What I mean to say by very malleable. It's like especially for me at those times I used to get very inspired by Seeing great, you know, role models. So I used to get very much inspired by people who would Be giving by showing me a great example. So That really helped me to make the right choices, I would say So, yeah, my God's grace like there were such people, you know, in different stages of our lives that Yes, we could see them and Tried to imbibe or incorporate those values into us. So for youth, especially coming out of Their teen years and all that it's very hard that transition is really hard I would say for them to be, you know, like an adult some people look at them like adults So For them, it's very confusing Yeah, yeah to different situations. So I believe they really need a lot of guidance So to have those right examples to have the biblical, you know Foundations in the sense as we know in the Bible, it says how can a young man keep his way pure by living according to the word? So if those values are, you know imbibed into them It can be that they have a, you know, long life ahead Wherein they can put into practice such things and inspire others. So Yeah, thank you. Thanks to you for that. It's just a wonderful elaborate answer Yeah One of the point that stood out when as you was talking as you were sharing is they don't have to open up their houses But they do it There's something beautiful about that even as you mentioned the strangers in a way until you get to know them, but then Yes, so yeah, I've been impacted by By such leaders as well in my adolescent years Okay I see Abu sharing for the preparation of future leaders Yeah, we need to take we need to care for the next generation we need to yeah Days are a set of people who need help They don't necessarily take help from their homes and and they value care from a genuine source Okay. Yeah so Let's look at all of these responses and still see if we can have a solid why okay? And if possible you can make a note of all these answers that we are getting from people as well, right? So why is youth ministry important now? You if you Google this question, you will get a lot of answers, but you will get a lot of answers of the of other people It is it is their answer to the why it won't be your answer to the why and so Which is why in this as much as this is an introduction to the course We will be self-reflecting a lot asking a lot of questions to yourself as leaders or pastors is Why are we doing what we're doing and why do we need to do etc? Okay, so Is the question still remains? They okay if you're saying Abu that we need to prepare them for the preparation of future leaders Why is that important? Why is it important that we prepare them as future leaders? Because in the future, why should I think as okay? I need to prepare a group of people to become future leaders Because in the future I will not be there So how does that matter to me? If you are there you can unmute and share But anyone can respond to that on that, you know statement. I Think it matters to me basically as a way of fulfilling God is command because we see Back then in the in exodus and autonomy where God was like teach your kids the ways You know when Moses was teaching you know is right in the autonomy and The we see that the they say that teach this the law the order the ordinance of God to the kids So that when they are old They don't depart from this way. So I think it is very important for me for the continuation If I may call the torch of life and and the ordinances of thank you Thank you Collins. Thank you for sharing. Yeah Yeah, one it's okay. So we can come to a conclusion Saying that okay, it's we've been commanded Right, it's we've been commanded by God right just like the great commission and other commandments we have been commanded to instill and teach our children about the ways of God Okay, all right We need to care for the next generation Just a little bit deeper is okay. So why do we need to do that? Now let's take the one thing we wanted to be assured. Okay, so we are Sorry Jeff so I mean just taking into consideration what the we are shared for example, like she said we can be strangers No, it's the strangers who opened up their house So why do we have why you we? Or youth leaders or why do we need to care for strangers? Yeah One reason is They the second point which I mentioned there are several people who really need help and Because they will only take source Help from a source which is genuine to them So if we are available for them to offer them help They they take it and it would be greater good Rather than if the church is not available to for the youth There is a chance that they would approach other sources And move away from the love of God It could be so worldly stuff. Yeah Sure. Okay. So to understand it more clearly we are offering to care for the next generation and offer to help Simply because they need help Right in addition to What in addition to uh, we've been commanded by the word God? Sorry. Yes. Yes. Yes. And also in first John chapter two we read God loves uh, young generation and he says young people I have spoken to you because you have overcome the wicked one. So there is God's heart That our young people would overcome Um The the temptations or the problems that they go through that is God's heart. So we follow God's heart Correct. Yeah Yeah, thanks. Uh, JP. Yeah, would anyone else like to add to some of these questions because uh Yeah, uh, you know, I've been pondering about the thing, you know future leaders, you know, uh, there was a time we were the future Do you remember that? I You are the future of this nation uh Okay, so I leave that at that. Um, it's always made me wonder. So they are the future leaders. Um Okay, so what about it, you know I understand. I mean don't get me wrong. Okay, it's very important that they are the future leaders and that we shape them but um, I just don't want us to get lost and in Somewhere along the way that statement seems to have or seem to have lost its significance the other future leaders future generations and um And so if they are and the way they are shaped I believe one of the reasons why I believe youth ministry is important is for example, let's take your our own personal lives, right? um now Okay, so some of you are Let's say an engineer in my profession, right? That's your current thing. Um, but But in the past today was your future But you had to study really well and graduate Uh from an engineering college to be an engineer in the present day Which was your future in the past, right? And so some so something tells me that your future is kind of shaped in the past Oh, for example in our context, uh, our future Our tomorrow or our future years are shaped somewhere in today Like how you work towards it you get better at your skill and then that kind of shapes The future is and so when we say and why do I feel youth ministry is important? Yes, it is you know god's word god's command Uh has commanded us to instill, you know, uh, his base his precepts his statues into um the next generation um And and I think the future leaders are shaped more so by the current leaders Um, they they look at how the present and the current leaders Live life. How do they do ministry? Etc. Etc. And um, so yeah, that's all of that is right guys. I mean, so thank you for sharing your answers But this is a very important question that you need to we all need to answer. I would say, okay, so, um Dr. G c mana from the director general of a CSO, which is central statistic office of indian government. Um, so he says Youth is the most valuable segment of the population Human resource potential of individuals not only gain maximum, but also reaches its peak during this period So youth in reality represent the present represent the present of a country so You know, I'm interested in the court from the notes that I've shared says youth in reality represent the present of a country So young ones when nourished properly can grow like a huge redwood tree But if not controlled or neglected can erupt like a volcano Um, if you know anything about a redwood trees, uh, the redwood forest you can google them. They are found in california um In I think the northern part divya might know better, but uh, the redwood forest They are huge trees like um, and I I I know it because uh, they use that wood to make guitars as well. So Supposed to be a good tone wood for guitar, but that's how I came across them But they are huge. They are hundreds and hundreds of years old right, so The author is saying that if they are nourished properly In the present they can grow like a huge redwood tree the future Right, but if they are not controlled or if they are not nourished, well, if they are neglected like what again jp was saying is john Saying that we need to care for them because if we if they don't if they're not nourished if they don't take care Uh, the future is not going to be very bright. The future is going to look dangerous It can erupt like a volcano that will destroy everything in uh, you know on their way In their way. So no country can afford to ignore its youth We simply cannot afford to ignore the youth Uh, india is the youth nation in the sense that it shares the youth in its population in 2011 Alone it stands at 34.8. This is the census according to 34 in 2011 now by 2020 It had doubled in that percentage I apologize. I'm I'm giving the number Based on the the indian context I do not know about the other nations of where they are at. So please forgive me for that And I mean you can do your own research on where your country Stands and I think it will be helpful for your context and how you can serve the young people in your country Okay So the youth of the nation are the trustees of prosperity youth is a huge reservoir of energy Which needed to be tapped and harnessed intelligently for the development of the society um And I think this is where some of the churches if not most of the churches some of the churches and some of the christian leaders get it Wrong or miserably and horribly wrong is that um We don't know how to tap into this reservoir of and of their energy or Harnessed their energy very carefully Um, it is very easy for us to quickly label them And reject them You know that is okay if they disagree with you you're rebellious. We don't want you uh, you know No clean shave. You have a beard, you know Go away. You you know prodigal son You know, there's a lot of tiny small silly things that can That has stopped young people from entering the church is Simply the current leaders have not understood how to intelligently You know care for them and by you know I would say that we haven't been sensitive to the leading of the holy spirit enough to care for them to nourish them To love them the way they are to accept them the way they are Etc. Okay um And the world understands the the power of the youth Some of the terrorist organization At what age do they get the uh the children? At what age do they start brainwashing their children? Is at a very young age Not even in their teenagers. It's it's at a very young age below 10 And some of the videos are very scary. Why because they know that if we can get them young If we can just brainwash them into teaching them This is who they are. This is who they are. This is their life objective. This is their life You know, um, this is their destiny that they were born to destroy that they were born to destroy kill that's that's their life agenda and You know, the evil one understands it The enemy, uh, you know wants to kill the next generation. That's who he wants That is what he wants to do and the world seems to have understood, uh, you know why they need To go after the youth and sometimes somewhere along the way A youth ministry has just become another label or another event so to speak that the churches do Um, okay, let's add, you know, oh, we don't have this in our church Let's add youth ministry, uh, because it sounds cool You know that that shows that hey There's a youth ministry in our church um You know, it's it's this part. I'm not saying that all the churches are doing that but you know You have to understand what I'm trying to say is that it is possible that we've reduced The youth ministry aspect of it to just so that our church can sound cool Our church can sound present not really understanding who they are Um, you know, why do we need youth ministry? Uh, what what has the world labeled them as and how do you look at them? Right and I'm very glad that you know, all of us in this class have a very similar understanding of Who the youth are and why it's important, you know, we are all kind of in that very similar page uh, you know, there is a time where, uh, you know I was leading the youth ministry or at apc and uh And god took me to this very specific verse in numbers 14 It was 14 verse 31 I think It says um numbers 14 31 um it says as for your children that you said would be taken as plunder I will bring them into joy the the land you have rejected That is from the niv version um Right it says uh another esv version says but your little ones who you said would become a prey I will bring in and they will know the land that you have rejected Um new king james version says but your little ones whom you said would be victims I will bring in and they shall know the land which they have despised um You know, he was reminding me of this from this verse. I should say uh that You know, there's there are a lot of labels assigned to the young people to the to the To the young generation in this day and age that um, you know It's from millennials to gender z x y z. Um now to the generation alpha and They are multi asking generation. Uh, they are addicted to their phones uh social media addicts What not short to attention span Um, etc, etc. So there are all these different labels that is associated with the current day younger generation um Where as a church if we look at them from the same lens, we will lose them We will also begin to say that you know, who are these they are going to their victims. They are prey um, you know, which can be a fact But the truth is god loves them, right? The fact is different from a truth Um, you know, and that's why it says in numbers 1431. It says as for your children that you said would be taken as plunder Uh, what we say what we label them as We have to be very careful about that Right, um, because god says I will bring them in I will take them in Right in his grace and in his mercy in his sovereignty He will bring them in and so and we will choose to be god's vessels in this journey of Being youth leaders pastors in general Okay, and even in the scriptures, uh, there is a beautiful theory now. I'm not a bible historian By any stretch of imagination But there is a very compelling uh in a convincing theory That disciples of jesus except for peter they were they were all teenagers um, you know, this is we're not going to go too deep into that but I would uh Suggest if you want to look into that please feel free to do that Uh, but you know, it kind of makes sense because here's the thing now when we talk about discipleship in the jewish culture, um is The roots are so deep that the the rabbi culture and the synagogues was Um Galilee was like a birthplace of that discipleship culture Uh, and and i'm not surprised. Jesus would choose Uh, you know the place as his base for ministry, right cappernum It's it's all in the small towns from the town of city of galilee And um, so this is how a jewish life would be right from and a kid is born a kid is sent to school from the age of two It's like, you know, and by the time they they are eight They will know the entire old testament by heart Um, okay, so the jewish bible, uh, the old testament, uh is called as the tanak Maybe just t tanak Okay, um, so tanak tanak. So there are three different letters or words put together So the taa means Torah, which is the which refers to the first five books of moses or Pentateuch as it's popularly known. So we have the Torah. We have the ne'evim, which is uh, the prophets writing so all the major prophets minor prophets and even, um, Joshua All come into that category and then there's the ketavim Which means the writings such as the psalms a song of Solomon ecclesiasties as the Ruth all of these books come under that category. So you have the the law, which is the Torah And you have the prophets Uh, the ne'evim and the ketavim. So tanak By the age of eight or nine Every jewish kid will know The old testament bible by heart Okay, now what happens, uh, no that is about the that that school is called bet sefer Bet sefer, okay uh, now after this The young people have a choice Now do they they can choose if they want to Uh, continue studying if they could afford it if that if their family could afford because education again was not, uh I should say affordable enough yet, okay So they had two choices they could either choose to study further And the other choice was to go back into their family business begin to take help their father Their family in their family business or whatever they were involved in would be carpentry or fishing Uh, you know sudden readings about isn't it and so um And uh, and so now, you know, you kind of understand where uh, you know, where the some of the disciples of Jesus were You know Peter james john they were fishing they were taking care Uh, you know of their father's business and that's where the bible says they left You know and the father was still there they left The fishing net as they were and they followed jesus uh, so jesus You know if the theory is and it's convincing enough if it's true jesus chose young people to change the world Jesus chose a bunch of teenagers You know young people to change the world um And like I mentioned, you know understanding the importance of youth And youth ministry is not new Uh In in the world that we live in Every generation that's gone before us have understood the importance of young people of the youth Um, right and so and bible is very clear about it Ecclesiastes 12 was one so remember also your creator in the days of the youth That's one scripture that is my grandmother used to say, you know every time and time again And so that too. She used to say that in tamil So, you know, I know that okay ecclesiastes 12 one Uh, so remember your creator in the days of your youth. Remember your creator in the days of your youth Okay, okay. I will remember And then you have some 119 Was nine which they were quoted some time ago and is he killed 16 was 60 Yet, I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth probes 20 to 6. Jeremiah 1 was 4 to 8 um So a lot of emphasis Um, you know has been given to the youth their generation Why it's important, etc, etc Okay, uh, and so another why we can look at is um It's teaching young people in the church to grow in their relationship with the lord prepares them to serve christ in all they do As a result this nurtures the congregation and allows the church to flourish So we're talking about future leaders, but when we nourish and take care of them today Uh, it nurtures the congregation as a whole and allows the church to grow to flourish Right timothy at uh one timothy chapter four was 12 says don't let anyone look down on you because you are young But set an example for believers in speech in conduct in love and faith and purity um We looked at that verse quite extensively in the local church Subject course that we did last time, but this is again just to emphasize You know the importance of it and you know when I was putting this content together I asked some of the youth leaders Uh, you know, who are my team back then as to why do they think youth ministry is important? And this is what they had to say. So youth ministry helps equip future leaders I mean everybody knows that you know future leaders future They equip future leaders with sound practical biblical training. I love that statement because it follows with a why Right, it's not just equipped future leaders You know, it's okay. You are equipping future leaders with what with sound practical biblical training Um and encourage them to stay firm on course for christ and empower them with everything that they need to carry the gospel out in the world So the why is the why is very Very clear and specific here. So you want to equip them you want to encourage them you want to empower them Okay, the three E's the whole eternity of the youth ministry equip encourage empower Uh empower them with everything that they need to carry the gospel out in the world Uh, youth ministry helps present biblical truth to young people in a relatable manner While addressing real issues that they face on daily basis. This was another person who said youth ministry Why is it important because it helps present biblical truth To young people in a relatable manner It is important to teach the young people and show them that hey Bible is not just some historical book that is dated outdated. It is still relevant In this day and age it still has answers. It will always have answers It has had answers in the past It will have answers today go on to have us because it is the word of god and Jesus is the word, isn't it? And so you're reminding them that you know While addressing real issues that they face on a daily basis with the word of god that kind of Strengthens their core Setting the stone to build the next generation of jesus followers Young generation in church needs to know the right path to make christ relevant and gospel meaning to the youngsters Okay, so the this whole chapter the first chapter one is simply as understanding. Who are they? Who are your audience? And why is youth ministry important? right One of the one of the saddest Uh verses recorded in the bible is judge in judges chapter 2 verse 10 And you'll see a similar verse like that in uh, you know Across the bible, but then in judges chapter 2 verse 10 It says then there then arose a generation That they did not know who god was and what he had done for the people of israel There came a generation after the death of joshua An entire generation We talk about future generations, right? They did not know Who god was and what he had done that means They did not know that they were in bondage in egypt They did not know that there was a leader called moses Who brought uh, who led them and they did not know that god supernaturally provided water for them Provided food for them in the wilderness That they were there shared that he led them with a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night That he parted the red sea for them. They did not know any of this So no lack of knowledge creates what it leads to and having an ungrateful attitude That means you do not have an attitude of gratitude when you do not have a knowledge of something of what god has done for you And because you do not have an attitude of gratitude because you do not have a grateful heart You will not be thankful So having a grateful heart will always cause you to be thankful That's that goes hand in hand and so because this generation did not know who god was They were not grateful and they were not thankful and because of that They it led them into the seasons of oppression by different enemies After that, so you you will understand that when you read through the book of judges Book of judges is not for the faint heart but as it says but We understand the importance of it, isn't it so And i'm glad like i said that we are all you know In the same pace in understanding that the importance of the youth ministry And impacting a young one's lives Okay, so we'll continue to look into this very briefly As we go on so for now we will stop this session one We'll take a break and we'll come back and continue Okay, thank you. I'll see you in 10 minutes