by Chris Elrod
Wednesday night was a special night as we witnessed Denine Jackson become a new creature in Christ Jesus. As I turned the corner to go greet our new sister, I looked up and saw a group of teens surrounding her, welcoming her into the family of God. I snapped a picture to capture this heartwarming moment. I had never seen so many teens greet an adult after they were baptized. It was such a humbling moment.
In class, I got everyone’s attention by singing, “Create in Me” a beautiful, short song based on Psalm 51. As the teens began to sing with me, I was blown away by how beautifully they were singing out to the Lord. It sounded amazing. Before diving into 1 Kings 18 where we studied Elijah challenging and defeating the prophets of Baal, we sang, “Thank You, Lord.” We sing this every time someone is baptized. Once again the teens lifted up their voices in worship to the Lord, loudly and proudly.
Some of the challenges in youth ministry include how you measure success. Sure we can look at attendance numbers, count the number of baptisms and responses, or recognize how many our group invites, but how do you measure spiritual growth? Perhaps, it’s in observing these moments from Wednesday night where we saw our teens sing boldly and greet not one of their classmates who was baptized into Christ, but an adult, many had probably not met before.
Seeing our teens greet sister Denine demonstrates that they understand the significance of what they witnessed. They understand they were witnessing the powerful working of God, as God raised Denine from spiritual death to life (Colossians 2:12). Our teens understand the value of a soul, a value set in the life and death of Jesus Christ. As the teens poured out their hearts to God in song, they demonstrated a desire to give to God what He alone deserves, our praise! What if these were metrics we used to evaluate ourselves? Do we rejoice when someone is baptized? Do we sing out in worship? If not, start today.
God is at work in our teens, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). Certainly, He will bring His work to completion (Philippians 1:6)! And certainly the same is true for us older Christians as well.
Parents, thank you for the spiritual work you do with your children! Your influence is immeasurable, keep up the good work. Church family, thank you for continuously supporting our teens! Your support is invaluable! Keep up the good work! And may our God and Father in heaven continue to mature these young saints, in Christ Jesus.