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We respond to God and the work he is doing in and through us by following the teachings of Jesus. We continue on that journey by knowing his word and having it written on our hearts.
Scripture Memorization: We have selected the following verses for students to memorize before they move into career, gap year, college, etc. because their focus has shifted to their purpose and being sent out into the world. These are two of the main things our students have on their minds as they leave high school. We want them to know that their purpose and direction are found in Christ and the specific gifts he has given them.
1 Corinthians 13:4-6
Ephesians 4:1-3
Joshua 1:9
Proverbs 3:5-6
Joshn 16:33
Micah 6:8
Life Verse:
Every student who graduates from a Fearless Church will have picked out a life verse. A life verse is just a verse from scripture that is very meaningful as either encouragement, a much needed reminder, a challenge for them, etc. Each is specific to the student, but we believe that God speaks to us through scripture and his word is alive and speaks to each of us through our life.
Use The Bible Study Method:
In middle school, our students learn the Bible Study Method.
1. What does it say?
2. What does it mean?
3. What am I going to do now?
During high school, we want our students to not only know it, but be able to practice it with someone. We want them to be equipped to head out into the world and know, not just how to study scripture, but how to lead a study. We want these disciples/students to go and make disciples that make disciples.
Share story of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation
While we don’t expect anyone to have the Bible memorized, we do want our students to have a general flow of scripture from Creation to New Earth. We have put together our gospel story booklet to help students only know the story of scritpure, but also share it with others.
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If we look back at scripture in the context it was written, much of it was not addressed to a single person. It was addressed to a group of people or a whole church. Our faith journey is not one of isolation, but of community. That’s why gathering for church, youth group, mission trips, service projects, etc., is so important. We at the Fearless Family of Churches gather together, connect in groups, and go on the mission we are called. We help our students experience community in the following ways:
Memorize and share their faith story/testimony:
In middle school, we help our students develop their faith story. As they move in and out of high school, we want our students to not only have that story memorized (and learn how to add to it as God moves in their life) but we also help them learn how to share their faith story.
Participate in communion and baptism:
In high school, we invite our students to not just know about communion and baptism, but to participate in it. As a Christ follower, each student will be able to remember the sacrifice of Jesus through communion on a regular basis in our youth programming. Students who claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior will also be invited and encouraged to go and be baptized in the presence of their community, becuase we want to celebrate what Jesus has done in their life!
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We are all works-in-progress. None of us have, nor will we ever get to a place where we have achieved full spiritual maturity. There is never enough that we can do to earn our salvation. As follower of Jesus, we are called to do just that, follow him and do what he did! He commanded his disciples in (Matthew 28:16-20), also known as the great commission, to make disciples, baptize them and teach them to obey the teachings and actions of Jesus. That is our call, to invite people who are far from Christ into relationship with him. Not because we get bonus points in heaven for it, but in order to share the freedom we have in Christ with a hurting and broken world.
Share your faith – Students will be given the opportunity to share their faith story in their life groups and in front of the youth group. Every follower of Christ has a story worth sharing. Whether they came to Christ in a huge life altering moment, or they have been raised knowing of him, every story is important. Not because of what happened to us, but because Christ is glorified. We also encourage our students to share their faith with 2 people each year as we seek to help more people find new life in Christ.
Invitation into community – In west michigan, there are thousands of students who don’t know the freedom that can be found in Jesus Christ. We challenge our students to step out and invite people into our faith community. The Holy Spirit is working in our students lives to bring more people to new life in Christ. This ‘good news’ that we have was never meant to be for just us. We are called to invite EVERYONE into a relationship with Christ and into the Church community.
Discipleship
Our leaders, who have walked with these students for 4-8 years have been modeling how to disciple people in their life group time. Our leaders in high school begin to pass the torch and challenge their students to find a peer or someone younger to disciple.
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In Jesus’ earthly ministry, he spent a lot of his time outside of the Synagogue helping those who were in need and restoring the brokeness in the world. He called us to do the same in the great commission. In student ministries, our desire is that our students hearts would beat like Christs as we reach other and work to restore this world in which we are stewards.
Serve on local/regional/global mission trips.
We take our students on trips that range from local partnerships to Guatemala or Honduras. We want our students to experience different cultures and see how God is moving, not just in West Michigan, but around the world as well. We also encourage our students to share their own faith story on these trips as they connect with new people.
Serve in the church community with our time, talents and finances
There are many opportunities in every Fearless Church to serve, give and volunteer. Each person in the body of the church has a gift that should be used and we want our students to use their gifts for God’s glory.
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