1. Youth and Relationships Pastor Rex Deckard Calvary Apostolic Church

2. Many young people struggle with loneliness, feelings of worthlessness, relativistic confusions, anger, hurt, meaninglessness, indifference, and unmet needs.

3. Only 12% of people under 18 are coming to church in America. Even worse, only 10% of these people continue going to church when they are adults.

4. Eighty-eight percent of America’s more than 30 million teenagers are un- churched. Of the 12 percent who do currently attend church, 80 percent will stop attending before they graduate from high school.

5. Surveys show that 90 percent of people who give their lives to Christ do so before the age of 30.

6. Nearly 50% of the world’s population is under 25. In most countries in the developing world, 50% of the population is under 15.

7. There are more than 3.5 billion people on the planet who are under 20 years of age. Sadly, if they live to adulthood, many of these dear young people will not become Christians and spend eternity without God.

8. Youth today have never heard of 45s or Henry Kissinger. They have never known a world without microwaves, cell phones, and video games. They have also never known a world without AIDS, car- jackings, child abductions, gang wars, and internet pornography.

9. When you asked them for their address it often ends in “dot com.” They have PDAs to organize their day, MP3s to organize their music, and they still can not keep their room clean.

10. Who influences youth the most? Studies show that the top three influencers are: Parents (or parent figures) Peers Media

11. The Younger a child is, the more they are influenced by family

12. The older a child is, the more they are influenced by peers

13. "Life is made up of relationships." The foremost of these relationships would center around those involving the Lord, our families, the church, and then others. The strength that is built into these relationships is a determining factor in the content of a person's life.” Mark Christian

14. We must work to seek out positive friends, and create wholesome recreational opportunities within the church for young people to socialize and bring friends

15. James Dobson says, We should never take something away from youth unless we are prepared to offer something else in its place.

16. As society goes, so go the Youth of society Agrarian Age Industrial Age Information (modern) Age

17. Agrarian Age A long childhood Brief adolescences Married young, long adulthood

18. Industrial Age Shorter childhood Slightly longer adolescence that included increased labor and education Long adulthood

19. Modern Age Brief childhood Very long adolescence with more free time Adulthood reached later than in previous generations

20. Issues this presents Peer and media influence are much greater than ever before Less responsibilities Delayed marriage longer ‘dating’, delayed physical gratification A huge market for entertainment, media A redefined relationship within the family

21. One of the primary implications of this is that we must start reaching out to youth at a younger age than ever before, and continue to an older age than ever before. It isn’t just 13-18 anymore.