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Youth Devotionals — Why?? |
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Written by Keith Gremillion
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Sunday, 20 January 2008 |
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"Build it and they will come.” Everyone probably remembers that this quote is taken from the movie “Field of Dreams” where a man turns his Iowa cornfield into a baseball field in which Shoeless Joe Jackson and his teammates come to play. If you think about it we can relate this to the growth of our youth here at Stonegate. If we take the “Field of Dreams” mentality and say “build it and they will come” then what do we do? Do we build bigger buildings, take on fancier projects, and do flashier things so people will come. In reality there are two things that we need to do — “Invite them” and “Build them.” Youth devotionals in our homes are an excellent way we can concentrate on the spiritual growth of our youth, a place where we can equip our youth to become more mature and responsible Christians as we are instructed to do in Ephesians 4:12. In our world of so many negative influences on our young people, it is important that they meet and associate with other Christians to be encouraged. We need to continue and expand the numerous activities to help our young people form close relationships with other Christian friends and to learn God’s word. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; if one falls down, his friend can help him up!....Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.”Our youth today are in one of the largest mission fields in the world...the public school system. Today’s youth face as many or more pressures and temptations than any other time in history. Our young people are each other’s friends, accountability partners and essentially each other’s “back up” partners in life. They are a team. Having devotionals incorporates practical Bible study, discipleship, life application studies, with praise, song, worship and prayer. Training youth in the ways of the Lord is what devotionals aim to achieve. Being young is a challenge and devotionals help us in assisting them in this area. All of us as Christians search for hope, help and heroes that will provide real answers to real questions. Lively discussions will involve youth mentally, emotionally, and physically as they study the timely principles of the Bible. They will definitely achieve more than what you expect.The Bible says faith comes by hearing the Word of God. The objective of devotionals is to help our young people believe in the Word and then stir up their faith and promote growth in their Christian life. They help to equip everyone to be able to defend the faith.We have sign-up sheets in the Library for devotionals on Friday and Sunday nights. Why not do yourself and our kids a favor, sign up for one, two or more of these nights and have a devotional in your home. Also as parents we must see that our children attend these devotionals on a regular basis with willingness to attend and participate. We as adults cannot expect our children to do their part if we are not willing to do what is expected of us.
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