Reaching the Next Generation and Beyond
God has blessed Sardis Baptist Church by giving her more than 200 years to serve His kingdom. Our church is focused on preserving the integrity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in order to be a beacon of the light of Jesus Christ to a dark and dying world. We describe our mission thusly,
Mission of Sardis Baptist Church
We are a people covenanted together for the purpose of glorifying God through treasuring His Son above all else, and by spreading the joyful worship of Jesus Christ to all peoples
Scripture clearly teaches that parents are to be the primary scriptural teachers for children. For that reason, parental involvement is the key to the spiritual development of children. Consistent biblical training transforms children into spiritually equipped individuals. Therefore, our ministries will assist parents in being active in the training process. By providing curriculum and training, families and the church work together reinforce the study of God’s Word. It is the parents’ job to train the children. It is the church’s job to help them, not replace them. This is commanded in Deuteronomy 6:1-9:
(1) “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, (2) so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. (3) “O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. (4) “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! (5) “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (6) “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. (7) “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. (8) “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. (9) “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
This passage, and others, informs our ministry and helps us to see that the goal of our instruction is love for God that manifests in complete giving of one’s self to Him. (See also Matt. 22:37-40; 1 Tim. 1:5) We must keep love for God as the center and purpose of our lives and we are to transmit this to our children. Love for God is to be coupled with a fear of God and a desire to obey Him completely, in all things.
Parents are commanded to transmit obedience to God’s commands along with sacrificial love for God but will be unable to do so unless they too have love for God and a willingness to obey Him. Parents will not teach their children to love the Lord if they do not love the Lord. Parents will not teach them to fear the Lord if they do not fear the Lord. Therefore, it is the church’s duty to teach and train the parents. This is in accordance with wise language found in the Church Covenant ratified by our church founders, and generations since, “We also engage to maintain family and secret devotions; to religiously educate our children…”
It is time to work diligently to ensure that we conform our thinking to Scripture and trust God to bear fruit. The church must rely on God’s wisdom and trust in the sufficiency of revealed Scripture. Therefore, I am urging our church to embrace, champion, and abide by the following mission statement, as it pertains to children and youth ministries:
Mission of Sardis Baptist Family Discipleship Ministry
Our ministry exists for the purpose of encouraging and training families to glorify God the Father through exalting Jesus Christ as the greatest treasure and King of our lives by equipping our parents to lead worshiping families who faithfully serve Christ’s church, and by teaching our children and students to know and love the Word of God through formal instruction, informal training and modeling Christ-exalting lives.
Why this new initiative?
The truth is that what we consider “traditional children and youth ministry” is failing. Scores of churches are realizing that the techniques that came into use in the 1970’s and 80’s have proven to be detrimental to the cause of Christ. Many churches have fallen prey to the “paid youth worker” syndrome and left it all to the youth minister. The effect has been that churches, families and Christians have lost sight of God’s will and we are losing the battle. This initiative is an attempt to trust God’s Word and return to a biblical model of family discipleship through the church.
What is our great need? It is salvation in Jesus Christ. What is the great task of those who receive salvation in Jesus Christ? To make disciples of all nations, teaching and expecting obedience to the commands of Jesus. Where does this take place? Making disciples begins in the home and is manifested through the church. What is our great obstacle? Many well intentioned attempts at children and youth ministry are not biblically grounded but influenced by the culture and therefore their fruit will not last.
What must we do?
† We must allow the Word of God to shape our thinking so that we ground our ministries on the Word of God.
† We must rebel against the low expectations and standards of our culture in regards to children and youth today and we must hold up high the banner of Jesus Christ.
† We must not aid and abed negligent parents who use the church to ease their guilt for not leading their children to the Master but instead encourage and warn parents of their responsibility as spiritual leaders and equip them to fulfill those responsibilities.
† We must battle against this entertainment oriented, consumer-driven age that makes it nearly impossible for our students to get a vision for a Christ-honoring, Bible-saturated, Spirit-empowered life of sacrifice and purpose.
† We must provide opportunities and equip our families to serve Christ together in ministry, mission and service opportunities.
As a church, we must strengthen the homes by encouraging, instructing and equipping fathers and mothers to be the primary disciple-makers in their homes. We must teach parents God’s truth that they are God’s designated front-line disciple-makers and teachers. The church cannot replace the parent, but must do all that it can to equip and strengthen the parent to fulfill their God-ordained ministry to their children. This is biblical and this is necessary.
In order to be faithful to God’s call on our lives we must not neglect parents in our attempt to minister to children, youth and young adults. In fact, it is vital that we work to include them in our ministry efforts. Church ministries and programs fail if they are seen as merely “drop-off” events. Years of research are now concluding that if we fail to engage parents and they neglect their duties as primary disciple-makers we will fail to retain students after they graduate high school. It is now time-tested and conclusively proven that if we relegate primary spiritual training to youth ministers and Sunday School teachers then our children are very likely to leave church once they graduate from our youth ministry programs.
How will this be accomplished?
First, we must challenge ourselves to trust God and rely on Him to bless our obedience in this endeavor. Second, we must align our ministries to accomplish our mission. Third, we must align our personnel to accomplish our mission. Lastly, all of this must be a continual matter of prayer as we continually lean on God for understanding, patience and blessing.
Challenging ourselves to trust God
Trust in God is a foremost requirement in any ministry endeavor. If we do not trust God we will obviously not do what God has called us to do. We must continually remind ourselves of what we are doing and why we are doing it. We must celebrate successes and not be disheartened at failures.
Aligning our ministries
Children and Youth Ministries must work together to accomplish our mission. Each ministry area, pre-school, children, youth and young adult must develop and work to achieve foundational objectives which prepare them for the next age group. Through it all, we must be continually engaging, encouraging and equipping parents to fulfill their God-ordained roles. Parents should be resources to one another and should grow together.
Our primary ministry program for Family Discipleship will be the Sunday School. All Sunday School departments must work together to achieve our objectives. Adult classes seek to involve parents and train them in discipling their children by equipping them to lead in family worship, to participate in a church-wide Bible memorization program, and by providing resources and training for useful tools such as catechisms. Outreach must be seen as a critical component of the Sunday School, as well as recruiting and training mature Christians to mentor parents and to be available to lead training classes.
Sunday School in Sardis Baptist Church must be re-designed to instill in our children a lifelong love for learning and living God’s Word. This is accomplished by encouraging children to grow in their knowledge of God and His Word through reading and memorizing Scripture as well as helping them to understand foundational theological principles. We will also need to train adults to be able to reinforce these biblical truths. The desired result is that children are given all the tools needed to understand God’s Gospel invitation and respond to the Holy Spirit’s conviction.
We must actively pursue full family involvement in our Sunday School program through prayer, communication, personal contact and continually engaging parents to involve their families in the ministry of the church. There will other specialized training made available through the Discipleship Training program of the church.
The second emphasis is a re-orientation of our traditional youth and children’s committees. Since training our parents to be disciple-makers is the biblical goal of the church, our committee structure must support that goal. Thus, the traditional youth and children’s committees, which were largely event focused, will be replaced by the Youth and Young Adults Education Council and the Children’s Education Council. The Councils will consist of a Ministry Area Leader, the lead Sunday School teachers in the area, and at least two at-large members. Provided they are willing to abide by the expectations of these councils, other members may be added at the discretion of the Ministry Area Leader.
NOTE: In order to increase involvement and so as to not overload any one person, it is not advisable to have a person serve on both councils.
Responsibilities of the Councils
The primary characteristic of members of these councils is that they be people of prayer who have the vision and heart for family ministry and a willingness to sacrifice their own comforts and ambitions to the will of God.
Individual council members will…
…be expected to meet regularly to pray for their ministry areas
…be expected to study the Scriptures and read other resources recommended by the Pastoral staff concerning their ministry areas
…be accountable to one another and to encourage one another to grow spiritually
…be expected to participate in the church-wide Bible memory program (to be released Dec. 2009) and encourage others to do so
…be expected to challenge and equip our families to minister to unchurched children and parents in our community
…be an advocate in our church and community for the importance of family discipleship
The councils will work independently…
… to develop a balanced ministry program that combines formal training, informal training, modeling and practical opportunities
…to develop age appropriate objectives and measure achievement, as well as prepare and plan suitable training opportunities for parents and teachers
…to recruit, screen and train workers in their prospective ministry areas
…to continually involve parents in the programs of their respective ministry areas and be a continual source of encouragement and compassion to the families
…schedule meaningful and appropriate opportunities for families and learners to be involved in on-campus and off site events
The councils will work together…
…to create a discipleship program that encourages children through the process of conversion, baptism, church membership, increasing levels of discipleship and meaningful church involvement
…to support and build the Sunday School program
… to provide formal training opportunities for parents
…to ensure that ministry objectives are meaningful and appropriate
…to report to the church and Pastor regularly and honestly concerning progress, challenges, successes, failures, and needs
…to create a vibrant Council/Teacher/Parent partnership