I find myself back at my desk after 4 days of the Simply Youth Ministry Conference shuffling through my stack of papers and notes, doing my best to reflect on the weekend. As a first time SYMC attender, I came away from the conference both refreshed and overwhelmed. Refreshed to have been with so many people in similar situations as I am in, and overwhelmed with God's sovereignty and love for us.
With this blog post, I am going to share a few quotes from some of the speakers that I want to remember down the road. My hope is that the words of the speakers will help mold and shape me as I continue on my journey as a Youth Worker.
(These quotes are loose, but I believe reflect the point the speakers were making.)
Derwin L. Grey (From general and half-track sessions)
- Are our students completely enamored with Jesus when the graduate? THAT should be our Youth Group's mission!
- Do our students know their identity, mission, and source of power?
- Your identity determines your function.
- You are not what you once were. You are not yet who you will be.
- If you feel woefully inadequate, that is a good place to be.
- God didn’t create us because he was lonely.
- You will be criticized when you try to do something awesome for God.
- We can not give away what we do not possess.
- God is looking for more than morality, He is looking for worship.
- Worship leads to discipleship, and discipleship leads to evangelism. You don’t start with evangelism, you start with worship.
- You were not born to be a student minister. You were born to worship and adore Jesus.
- Jesus don't need your help, he rose from the dead! You're smokin' narcissism.
- If Jesus is not the hero of the message it's not the gospel.
- When we refuse to forgive ourselves, we are calling Jesus a liar.
- If you and I aren’t careful we can allow working for God to destroy the work of God in us.
Jon Acuff
- Why do we allow one negative comment to ruin 1,000 complements?
- The Christian F word is FINE. I am fine.
- Never compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.
- God is not surprised or disappointed by the size of your ministry.
Francis Chan
- We shouldn’t think of ourselves as more important than we are. Do we honestly think God isn’t in control of our ministries when we are gone?
- If everyone in this entire room died (speaking to 3,000 Youth Workers), the Kingdom of God would be fine.
- I thought to myself, God needs Francis Chan out there doing ministry! I mean, he needs his heavy hitters, I can’t be sick with the flu!
- My Youth Pastor just always believed in discipleship, and he eventually got fired because of it.
- There are so many things in paid ministry that distract us from the very thing that will make us effective.
Stephanie Caro
- The average Youth Group is 8 students.
- Volunteerism in America is at an all time high. Volunteerism in the Church is at an all time low.
- Small churches can’t do it all. Figure out the 3 things you can do, and do them well.
An 'Air Time' speaker (Did not catch his name)
- Discouragement is from the pit of hell. Discouragement is not from God.
Now for the challenging part. What are the two or three main things I want to focus on now that I am back? How does this all apply to the ministry context that I find myself in? Hopefully this week will provide some time for me to unpack everything Kristi and I were able to experience.
-Josh
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