…….
This weekend I am speaking to the Youth Group at my church. It’s supposed to be a short little introduction on what the WR is and what it will kind of look like next year. I say kind of because really I have no idea what it’s going to look like. I began on Monday thinking about what I was going to say. I thought I was strictly going to talk about the WR, show the video, say a few additional things and close. However, today is Saturday and for the last couple of days God has really laid it on my heart to talk about something else.
When I started thinking of things to say on Monday the word generation kept coming to mind. Later on in the week love and missions. At first I wasn’t sure what to do with these 3 words generation, love, missions. Yes, I believe I’m part of something, a group of people a generation, that believe we are going to make a difference. I am learning that missions is not about what you do rather how much you love while doing it. That’s what changes a person’s life.
So I started to ponder on these words and what they mean to teens I would be speaking to this weekend. I searched for statistics (I love hard facts) and gathered information. Below is some of the things I found out about American teens.
Everyday:
-
8000 teen contract a STD
- 1000 unwed girls become mothers
- 1,106 teen girls have abortions
- 500 adolescents begin using drugs
- 1000 teens begin drinking
- 135,000 take some sort of weapon to school.
83 % of teens today believe moral truth depends on circumstances; 300,000 pornographic websites exist for teens; 70% of prime time programming consist of alcohol, drugs, and sex.
I will tell you the truth after reading all these facts I felt a little depressed. I kept scrolling down reading more information and I came to the last statistic on the page it read “56% of teens say they are looking for meaning in life.” THAT’S IT!!! That 56% looking for something more, they are going to be the ones who change the world. They are going to stop listening to the world who pushes me, me, me and see past themselves and finally see others. We all want to be loved, we all want to be part of something bigger then ourselves, and I believe that together we can create change.
So this weekend I will spend very little time talking about me and more time talking about them. Encouraging them to realize that they can be part of something bigger then themselves. That God has called each one of us in a different way to be part of a mission to change the world. For some of them that will start with a look at themselves and where there heart is; others a call to stand for what is right and seek change within their community and for some they will be called to go out into the nations.
“He has called us to be on a mission to change the world.”
-author unknown
*information gathered by Pastor Steve Holt of Mountain Spring Church
