Youth Ministry Class #2

Prayer of St. Augustine Too late have I loved you, O Beauty so ancient, O Beauty so new. Too late have I loved you! You were within me but I was outside myself, and there I sought you! In my weakness I ran after the beauty of the things you have made. You were with me, and I was not with you. The things you have made kept me from you - the things which would have no being unless they existed in you! You have called, you have cried, and you have pierced my deafness. You have radiated forth, you have shined out brightly, and you have dispelled my blindness. You have sent forth your fragrance, and I have breathed it in, and I long for you. I have tasted you, and I hunger and thirst for you. You have touched me, and I ardently desire your peace. Confessions, X, 27, 38

St. John Paul the Great

If you take away programs, what do you have left? How do you measure success? Number of students attending events? Number of students who actually showed up after signing up to volunteer? Do the students love the Lord so much so that they attract others to him and desire to spread him to others? If the job is done well, students become missionaries themselves. Your job becomes easier in a sense as you build the army.

Discipleship Works Jesus spent 3 years with 12 men, 1 betrayed him, many misunderstood him, one he actually called Satan. Yet, all but one of these men went on to spread the Gospel to the rest of the world. We know Jesus today because of those 12 men. 12 men changed the world.

Vincent J. Donovan’s piece from Christianity Rediscovered “As you sit watching the sinking sun you wonder if there were still time for missionaries somewhere, somehow, to be able just once, to carry our the missionary work as it should be carried out: To approach each culture with the respect due to it. To approach the people of any culture or nation, not as individuals, but as community. To plan to stay not one day longer than is necessary in any one place. To give the people nothing, literally nothing, but the unchanging superacultural, uninterrupted gospel before baptism. To insist that they themselves be their own future missionaries. To link them with the outside church in unity, and the outside world in charity and justice. And then the final step, The final missionary step as regards the people of any nation or culture, and the most important lesson we will ever teach them – is to leave them. – Vincent J. Donovan, Christianity Rediscovered

Practical Ways to Disciple Handout

In order to disciple, we must have time Time management handout

Homework Make a list of youth related activities and plans for the 2014 academic year (handout included online) On average, how much time do you set aside to develop relationships with your students per day? Look at your calendar and see what a typical week looks like for you. Be realistic but challenge yourself. What can you do to devote more time to discipleship?