Sharing an unchanging Gospel in a constantly changing culture
First Priority held it’s second City-Wide Campus Ministry Network Luncheon of the year on Thursday, May 1, 2014, at Southeastern Bible College. More than 50 youth leaders across the Greater-Birmingham area attended for a time of equipping, encouragement and fellowship. Everyone enjoyed a delicious lunch from Shane’s Rib Shack.
Our special guest speaker Youthministry360 Co-founder Andy Blanks brought an inspirational message about the importance of providing students a way to grow in their faith that is relevant with culture today. “We must wrap an unchanging Gospel in a constantly changing culture,” said Andy. “As youth leaders, we must present the Gospel in a way that has the potential to connect with our students. They are already creative in their daily lives; we must allow for them to be creative in their faith.”
Creativity is the aspect of today’s culture that has taken wild fire. According to YouTube, over six billion hours of video are watched on YouTube each month. That’s about an hour of video for every person on the planet. More and more people are using their creative capabilities in the world today. Why hasn’t the church utilized this in spreading the Gospel among the students? In order to be effective in student ministry we must see what is a distraction as something that can be used to reach students. Andy makes it evident that we must understand culture as not our opposition, but as the means in which we communicate the Gospel to our youth.
“You matter more than you know, you make a difference,” said Andy when speaking to the group of youth leaders. Andy closed by wanting to make it known to the youth pastors of their importance in students’ lives. “Students stay with their faith because of patient adults in their lives. Youth ministry may be the hardest thing in the world yet is absolutely needed in a time of a post Christian Culture.”
We would like to thank Andy again for his challenging message to present the Gospel in a way that has the potential to connect with our students. We would also like to give a special thanks to our vendors who helped make this event a huge success: YM360, White Water Express and Southeastern Bible College. Representatives from these organizations provided youth leaders with educational material about their programs and upcoming events. These groups also gave away several nice gifts and youth ministry resources. Please take time to visit their Web sites. We would like to thank all those again who attended and joined us for a great time of growth and fellowship.
