Shaping a Faith that lasts

[callout]Here are my notes from Dr. Jones’ session. Please forgive me if they are a bit abstract. The breakout was fantastic, gospel saturated and immensely practical. [/callout]

How you can partner with parents to equip their children to defend their faith.

Hope always points to the resurrection of Jesus.

1 Peter 3:15-16
If we defend the faith with arrogance, we undercut the faith we are trying to defend.

Grace is at the essence of how God reveals his truth to us.

What’s essential to our faith is that I feel happy or feel better.

Parents aren’t passing on their faith to their kids in a way they can assimilate and articulate.

Students are unlikely to remain faith in a faith they are unable to defend.

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.

Moralism – Doing right so my story will turn out better

Therapeutic – Faith is focused on my feelings and experiences

Deism – God is in the background; His purpose is to meet my needs.

1. Move from moralism to a better story. – A better story for your student seminar to provide parents with a plan and a vision as their children enter youth, group. – What we want  our kids to see is to see their lives in the context of God’s story.

Creation, Fall, Redemption, New Creation

God made the world good, Sin made the world bad, Jesus broke the power of sin, God is coming to make the world new.

Star Wars – the best defense of teaching kids beyond what they can understand. Tell them a bigger story. Your kids may not understand the details they will learn to love the story even if they don’t understand the details because you are teaching them to love the big wonderful, beautiful story of God.

Everything has its place in God’s big story.

In light of Creation your child is a gift,  In light of the fall your child is a sinner, In light of redemption your child is forgiven, In light of restoration your child is forever

A better story for your student seminar to provide parents with a plan and a vision as their children enter youth, group.
– When kids are sent to the youth program. Lay out the big story for their kids. – Focus on the cycle for parents.

How do we help our kids focus on forever rather than for success?

2. Move kids from Temporary Experiences to a Kingdom that never ends.

How do we move from centeredness in my feelings to a centeredness in a Risen King and his Kingdom?

Deep centered Summers –  to provide continuity in summers by guiding parents to study a topic alongside their students.

Develop a reading plan for your students for the summer. Set up a theme and a book that they go through during the summer.

8-9th grade King is the center – Jesusology by Greg Allison
9-10 Jesus the king of my sexuality – Is God Anti-Gay – Sam Alberry
10 – 11 God has preserved the truth of his word in Jesus – How we Got the Bible. Timothy Paul Jones
11-12 Jesus is the king of History – The reason for God. Tim Keller

Most kids who leave church say I was raised in a church where I wasn’t allowed to ask questions –

[Tweet “Make sure when kids hear questions in the college classroom that it’s the second time they hear it.”]

Make sure when kids hear questions in the college classroom that it’s the second time they hear it.
Even if kids don’t remember the answers you give them they will at least remember, there is an answer.

3. Moving from Deism to Greater Glory

Kids are not planning on abandoning their faith in college, but they are also not making a plan to keep it.

Planning for a Greater Glory Retreat to help students to prepare a clear plan to remain faithful during college or early career.

Let kids hear stories of who made it
Bring campus leaders from the colleges they are going to
Have parents and students are doing a missions trip together. – Don’t waste your life by John Piper.

When they come back from this retreat, they become an adult in the church.

You can not force kids to be faithful by your effort. It’s a work God does.

I can be a means God works through to keep his own and for them to remain faithful.

We can be a context for those who have walked away.

We can not deny the holiness of God nor the Grace of God. He both at the same time.

Have a place for prodigals in your church.

How do you keep your curriculum from sliding towards Moral Therapeutic Deism? You have to invest and mentor teachers – Curriculum change doesn’t change everything.

What can we help parents to do? – Develop habits of life and resource those habits of life. (How to have car talk with teens)

Because dads don’t feel confident in communicating faith, they do nothing. Give them easy wins and easy skills.