Youth On the Grow Providing a Path to Maturity
by Josh Klein
Youth at Crosspoint Bible Church are challenged to grow in four dimensions: spiritually, intellectually, relationally, and emotional- ly. One of the ways we encourage our high school students to grow spiritually and intellectually is to give them the opportunity to go to a Summit Ministries Student Conference in Colorado (sum-
mit.org/programs/student-conferences). Last summer six students went, and they all came back better equipped to deal with our world in a way that is God-honoring and loving. Tey learned the truth of Scripture and how to deal with the truth-claims of other cultures when those come into contradiction with God’s word. Another way we challenge our youth to grow in these dimen-
sions — especially in relationships and emotional maturity — is through small groups. Tis past year, for the first time, students are in static small groups that encourage one another each week and pray for one another. We have also developed a student lead- ership team that seeks to grow teens in their ability to lead their peers as they enter college. All of these things are built on the foundation of Scripture and
the example that Christ set with his disciples. We challenged our students to grow emotionally and spiritually by holding a retreat this past school year that focused on the true meaning of surren- der in Christ and what it means to give over control to God even when we feel like he doesn’t care. Several students dealing with depression or difficult home situations were impacted specifi- cally by that weekend to grow firm in their faith and to rely on God whole-heartedly as opposed to relying on others who will ultimately disappoint. Because of these programs and the challenge submitted to the
student leaders, the students themselves have brought up a desire to do some service projects around the city of Omaha in the near
future. We are still working out the dates and what that might look like. It is an incredible thing to see teens take the onus upon themselves to ask to do things like this rather than having adults plan these things and force them to attend. In a way, these chal- lenges (student leadership, small groups, Summit Ministries, etc.) have helped to bolster these students’ faith and encourage them to step out and love others as Christ loved them. Right now, our youth are preparing for our bi-annual mission
trip to Trinidad in June. Tey get to plan and execute a Vacation Bible School program for kids with the help of local missionaries at Trinidad and Tobago Urban Ministries. Tis is yet another step in the spiritual development of our young people as they are charged not only with interacting with another culture but with planning and executing a ministry program in various settings in a different culture. Tis VBS is entirely planned and orchestrated by the students. Teens from the last trip will provide a lot of leader- ship for this team. Individual students can share the Gospel with several kids in Trinidad. Our goal is to help train these students in this and to see it work in a different culture so that they can oper- ate with confidence as disciples when they come back home. As teens mature in these four areas: spiritually, intellectually,
relationally, and emotionally, we envision them becoming effective servant leaders, loving spouses, and active disciples.
Josh Klein has been developing godly youth for 10 years. Since 2014 he has been the Associate Pastor of Youth Ministries at Crosspoint Bible Church of Omaha, Neb. Josh also leads worship at Crosspoint’s Bennington campus on a regular basis. He enjoys singing and playing the guitar, football, basketball and writing. Josh and his wife Sharalee have been blessed with two children, Jordan and Aleeyah.
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