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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 start that journey by becoming familiar with his word.
Scripture Memorization: We have selected the following verses for students to memorize before they move into high school because they focus on Identity and belonging. These are two of the main things our students are looking for in middle school, and they can only find true fulfillment in Christ Jesus.
Romans 1:16-17
John 13:34-35
Matthew 5:14-16
Philippians 4:6-7
1 Peter 2:9
Micah 6:8
Books of the Bible:
Biblical literacy is a big deal for us. We want students to know their bible, not just on their phone, but in their hands. We provide bibles so they are able to become more familiar with where books can be found. It is also our goal to have students memorize the books of the Bible by the time they reach high school.
The Bible Study Method:
In the fearless family of churches, we want to help develop disciples who make disciples. We want our students to know how to engage scripture on their own because if their faith is going to be their own, they need to know how to study the Bible for themselves. We have a Bible Study Method that we teach and model for our students to help them own their spiritual growth. When we read scripture, we ask 3 basic questions:
1. What does it say?
2. What does it mean?
3. What am I going to do now?
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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:
Develop faith story:
Nobody has gone through life without being positively or negatively affected by others. The great news is that God is able to redeem anything in our life and use it to point people back to the freedom that is only found in Christ.
“And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
We help our students develope their faith story by looking back at thier lives and see what has happened in life to bring them to this point in their faith journey.
Understand Communion and Baptism:
A lot of things change between 5th and 8th grade. I mean A LOT! Students begin to see faith as something for them to participate in as opposed to following what others are doing.
We realize that not every student develops at the same rate and not everyone will be ready to step into their faith (thought that is our prayer). We do however want every student to head into High School knowing the purpose of communion and baptism.
Communion – A symbol that reminds us of the price Jesus Christ paid for our sins. (Matthew 26:26-29 / Mark 14:22-25) We take this a few times throught the year as a community to remember the price that had to be paid for our new life in Christ.
Baptism – A symbolic action a person takes when they choose to follow Jesus as their Lord and Savior. This is both a symbol of Christ’s death (going into water) and resurrection (coming out of water) and an opportunity to publically say that you are now leaving your old life behind and are following Jesus’ teachings and example. (Acts 37-38)
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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 construct and share their faith story in their life groups. 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.
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.
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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 mission trips
Serve in the church community with our time, talents and finances
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