- Our First Ever News Letter
EASTER FASTING & PRAYER 2021
Youth Gathering
LOCATION: Online Zoom
Our Youth Group Meets 2x’s on Tuesday: 7:30:00pm- 8:30pm.
We dig into God’s Word and apply it to our lives each week. It’s always fun, fresh and relevant.
Be! Instead of Do!
Asst Evang Joseph Abimbola Osunnuyi – Head of Youth Ministry CCC Palace of Liberty Parish
I’ve been in the CCC Youth Ministry long enough to see that the spiritual health of youth leaders deteriorates when things become too busy. The change can happen by degree and innocently that youth leaders do not notice the change. But eventually, their attitudes and actions begin to show signs of burnout, discontentment, pride, and hardheartedness.
The most apparent cause of spiritual decline is becoming so busy doing the work of God that they miss the importance of being God’s person. They gingerly confuse the two—doing and being. As a youth worker, being connected to God on a daily basis is more important than anything you can do. Leading a small group, attending a student’s activity, hanging out with a traumatized kid, ministering to a group—these are all good things. But not at the expense of being God’s person.
Jesus said, “For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.” (Isaiah 41:13). This image of being connected to God is the image you should be clinging to as a youth leader. When he holds your hand, you remain connected to him in trust and faith to him. When this connection is valued, you’ll avoid spiritual apathy and ministry burnout—two deadly “killers” of leaders.
I realize true spirituality can be seen through visible activities such as going to church, sharing openly in a small group, and having meaningful times with God. But Christian behavior doesn’t always mean a person is spiritually healthy. God isn’t looking for people who act righteously outwardly but aren’t healthy on the inside. God is much more concerned about your being than your doing.
I’ve accidentally fallen into the trap of thinking God wants my sacrifice of time and my offering of hard work more than he wants my praise and my pursuit of intimacy with him. I guess you may have done this, too.
Have you ever heard or said something like:
- I can stop reading the Bible now. I have enough material for tonight’s Bible study.
- I don’t need to take time for prayer. We’ll pray at tonight’s program.
- I had a rough week at work. I’ll skip church this weekend.
Your relationship with God is more than the habits of reading your Bible and praying. Depth is revealed in the process of becoming intimate with God. Intimacy with God sounds incredibly spiritual, but the road to intimacy runs against the grain of almost everything I do in youth ministry. It’s more than having a quiet time; it’s developing a quiet life. Intimacy doesn’t happen in a day or a week; it happens during a long-term adventure with Jesus.
My prayer is that you’ll pause often to check the spiritual temperature of your heart. Be sensitive to the subtle warning signs of spiritual disconnection, and be prepared to take ruthless measures to connect with God.
“Do not be ignorant to think that you are always connected to him just because you have the Holy Spirit” – A/E Bimbo Osunnuyi
Connect to God’s Word:
“Be still, and know that I am God.” —Psalm 46:10
• How are you currently doing instead of being?
• In what ways can you commit to follow Psalm 46:10—and be God’s person?