Keeping it simple.
Here at Visalia First Assembly we currently meet in Room 19. Room 19 is an all-purpose room used for youth, children, mens ministries, and several other organizations in the church. We also have access to a very large grass field that is located right beside the room we meet in on Wednesday nights.
As far as facilities go we have a room and a grass field. That’s it.
When I arrived here from Oneighty, a student ministry with a 93,000sq ft facility, game rooms, pool rooms, you name it we had it, instead of feeling bummed or striving to talk to my Senior Pastor into building us a new youth facility, I embraced the tools we currently had and realized God wanted us to get back to the basics of what ministry is all about.
God laid on my heart not to worry about the tools and toys of ministry but to keep it simple. He told me “I want you to worship Jesus, preach Jesus and build Community”.
That’s what He said to do.That’s what we’ve been doing and you know what, it’s working.
When we arrived here the student ministry was around 60. The past four weeks we have had an attendance of 182 - 90 - 90 - 115. We have had over 100 visitors and led 47 teenagers into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. God is up to something big and here’s the thing - we don’t have a flashy stage. We don’t have a game room. We don’t have tons of ministry toys. We come together each week to worship HIM, preach HIM and build Community. Thats it.
It’s not flashy.
We have a very good worship band that’s made up of young 20-somethings and teenagers. Each week we pray about our song selection, practice to get the kinks worked out and then use music to lift up the name of Jesus.
I pray and seek God on what to talk about, taking time to build a message that puts Jesus right in the daily life of teenagers in a creative and thought provoking way.
We build community by setting up a portable sound system outside to blast some music while we play dodgeball, volleyball, flag wars, and a bunch of games that cause our students and adult volunteers to mingle and get to know each other.
Don’t get me wrong I love facilities, lights and all the toys of ministry. They are great tools to use for His Kingdom. But right now we don’t have those things and to tell you the truth … I love it. Not having “stuff” has caused me to get to the bottom line of why we meet each week. It is all about worshiping Jesus, preaching Jesus and building community.
Here in Visalia I’m finding out that all of things can be done if I just keep it simple.
Here are some questions for you to chew on.
What are the most important things you need to do each week in your student ministry?
Are you doing those things well?
Do you find yourself complaining or being pre-occupied with what you don’t have?
Are you using the things you currently have to their maximum potential?
Are you keeping IT simple or is IT getting lost in all the stuff of ministry?
