Perry Noble ATL 2009

One of the joys of listening to Perry Noble was he speaks in sound bites and paints great pictures with his words.

“You hear Francis Chan and you’re not even sure you love Jesus.”

I’m looking at this speaker list and I go, why am I there? If you’re here and feel like you’re a moron, I’m your guy.

There’s a breakdown in communication between those who do youth ministry and those that don’t.

Those deacons don’t get it, or those elders, whatever you call them. There are days you feel like a glorified babysitter because it seems like the church doesn’t care about them until they are able to tithe.

You guys are gamechangers. When youth ministry catches on fire thought the local church, nothing can stop it!

4 Prayers for Youth Ministry

1. For attention

For youth ministry to get a little attention. Not when the van is returned dirty or you set the fire alarm off in the sanctuary.

Acts 20
a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on

Why did Eutychus fall out of the window dead? It’s simple, nobody in the church was paying attention to the youth ministry?

Praying for the church to pay attention. Let’s stop lying to our churches by saying they are the church of tomorrow. They matter TODAY! The kids you are called to minister to matter today, the church had better wake up and smell the starbucks because if we don’t kids will keep falling out of the windows and dying!

You can’t spend too much on your students.

When my child was born I had to surrender and rearange everything so she could be taken care of. Our adults in our churches have to do the same thing. In effect too many adults give the youth ministry the middle finger

Our youth don’t do fundraisers. If you want to see results, you had better put money there! Tell the adults to sell brownies and wash some cars. The church has catered to the older generation too long.

If you want attention in your youth ministry, start reaching kids. Love your kids and teach your kids how to love Jesus and you’ll get all the attention you can handle

2. Praying for Submission

The way attention is brought about in the church is when the youth ministers staff is totally sold out and committed to who Jesus is and are submitted to him and who he is.

Paul stopped preaching, threw himself on the young man and declared he was alive.

We need less strategy and more Spirit in our ministries. We need leaders who submit to God’s radical will despite not knowing what that involves.

Too Much Imitation and not enough Revelation!

Too many youth pastors have destination disease. If you’re not trusting God where you are, why would you trust him where you want to be?

God I can’t do that cuz I’m stupid and God replies, I know and that’s why I choose you.

Leadership is as easy as listening to God and doing what he says. My prayer is that we would have a generation of youth pastors who are submitting to God.

Youth pastors are the ones who are leading the way for how the church should be over the next 20 years.

You are the trendsetters for the next 20 years so you better be submitted to God.

3. Biblical Foundation

Your kids need to know who Jesus is! They need to know the word of God! The problem in YM today is not that we’re irrelvant but we are impotent!

We water youth ministry down with 3 things

1. we teach morals

Kids become morally superior and nobody wants to like them. You can’t teach them to be moral without Jesus.

2. We water down with compromise

We want a lot of kids come to our program so we do whatever we can to get them in the door.

We have to teach who Jesus is and what scripture requires of us.

3. Personal Agendas

Movements come and movements go. Thirty years ago people were talking about things that they don’t talk about today.

We make our personal agenda the agenda for our youth groups. Don’t subsitute your agenda for the cross.

Focus on who God really is and don’t twist what you want to make Him say..

4. Prayer is for Stewardship

He’s six foot six inches and weighs 230 pounds and he was invited to play Rugby in Australia. After playing for about 5 minutes he was tired of playing. Holding the ball hurts and it’s painful but at least when you’re holding the ball, you’re doing what you can to advance the ball for his team.

I want the ball! My prayer is that there will be leaders here who will beg for the ball to advance the kingdom despite the hurt, despite the pain because you embrace stewardship

Teach them about sin, teach them about the resurrection, teach them about life change, but above all live wholly for God.

Does your youth ministry exist to make the church people happy or to make Jesus happy?

I believe in you guys. I believe you are the difference makers!