Epiphany
What are Gentiles? Why does it matter whether we're Jews or not? You mean we couldn't have gone to heaven before Jesus?
It was questions like these that I got to watch my wonderful wife walk through with an 8th grade girl last night (with several others listening in) who doesn't know Jesus yet. I love it when it's obvious that God's at work. It's encouraging to know that - slowly but surely - they're getting it, and God is drawing them into redemption, relationship, and His Kingdom.
During my time of prayer this afternoon, though, God reminded me of a very important point that I read some time ago in one of Eugene Peterson's older books. When I worked for YD, seeing steps towards Christ was often more obvious, and much quicker (in some respects) because the kids we worked with were so far from God in the first place. Discipleship, on the other hand, is about walking through life with kids and adults. There isn't quick growth. Like a plant, the initial breaking of the soil may seem like a sudden thing, but the growth before and after is really something that happens over time. In order to truly disciple and pastor teens and their families, I (we) must be willing to walk this journey over time, watching for those epiphany moments, but not depending on them to justify our ministry. Instead, we trust God with the outcomes, knowing that sometimes we won't even see those outcomes this side of heaven. Recently, one of our grandparent-types transplanted from Wisconsin had the reward of seeing that "justifying." I got to be a part of it simply because I had created the church's web site.
Many, many years ago this couple (especially the Mrs.) ran some sort of after school kids program for grade school kids. Well, a little girl among many heard the Gospel during one of these times. Time passed. This couple moved to Missoula. The little girl grew up and had children of her own. One day she got a nudge to look up the couple who had helped steer her towards Christ. She found them listed on our web site, so she e-mailed them. Turns out she's still walking God, as is her whole family. She's walking with God because of the faithfulness of this couple in communicating the Gospel to the kids, with no hope of knowing where their seeds would go.
I grew accustomed to seeing the seeds pop out of the soil and the first quick spurts of growth while working with "at-risk" kids. I've experienced a little frustration because I don't have a ton to "report" to people coming back from a weekend retreat like last weekend's Winter Retreat. God spoke to me and reminded me that it's about long-term discipleship, walking down the road with them. So, I'll be patient, and trust Him for the outcomes. Still, it's nice to occasionally see those epiphanies break through.
It was questions like these that I got to watch my wonderful wife walk through with an 8th grade girl last night (with several others listening in) who doesn't know Jesus yet. I love it when it's obvious that God's at work. It's encouraging to know that - slowly but surely - they're getting it, and God is drawing them into redemption, relationship, and His Kingdom.
During my time of prayer this afternoon, though, God reminded me of a very important point that I read some time ago in one of Eugene Peterson's older books. When I worked for YD, seeing steps towards Christ was often more obvious, and much quicker (in some respects) because the kids we worked with were so far from God in the first place. Discipleship, on the other hand, is about walking through life with kids and adults. There isn't quick growth. Like a plant, the initial breaking of the soil may seem like a sudden thing, but the growth before and after is really something that happens over time. In order to truly disciple and pastor teens and their families, I (we) must be willing to walk this journey over time, watching for those epiphany moments, but not depending on them to justify our ministry. Instead, we trust God with the outcomes, knowing that sometimes we won't even see those outcomes this side of heaven. Recently, one of our grandparent-types transplanted from Wisconsin had the reward of seeing that "justifying." I got to be a part of it simply because I had created the church's web site.
Many, many years ago this couple (especially the Mrs.) ran some sort of after school kids program for grade school kids. Well, a little girl among many heard the Gospel during one of these times. Time passed. This couple moved to Missoula. The little girl grew up and had children of her own. One day she got a nudge to look up the couple who had helped steer her towards Christ. She found them listed on our web site, so she e-mailed them. Turns out she's still walking God, as is her whole family. She's walking with God because of the faithfulness of this couple in communicating the Gospel to the kids, with no hope of knowing where their seeds would go.
I grew accustomed to seeing the seeds pop out of the soil and the first quick spurts of growth while working with "at-risk" kids. I've experienced a little frustration because I don't have a ton to "report" to people coming back from a weekend retreat like last weekend's Winter Retreat. God spoke to me and reminded me that it's about long-term discipleship, walking down the road with them. So, I'll be patient, and trust Him for the outcomes. Still, it's nice to occasionally see those epiphanies break through.
Labels: Church, Jr. High Ministry, Youth Ministry
posted by Pastor Paul at
5:00 PM
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