September 21, 2025 • 42 mins
How do we effectively disciple the next generation in today's challenging cultural landscape? This question stands at the heart of our faith communities' future, and our conversation dives deep into practical answers with three ministry leaders who specialize in different age groups.
The journey begins with understanding that faith formation starts remarkably early. Children absorb spiritual truths even as toddlers, creating a foundation that shapes their entire lives. Our children's ministry director explains why we can't afford to view children's ministry as mere childcare – these early years represent prime opportunities for establishing biblical foundations that last a lifetime.
As young people transition through adolescence, their faith journey evolves from accepting what they've been taught to interpreting and owning beliefs for themselves. Our student ministry leader shares insights on helping teens navigate this critical period, developing their testimonies and learning to articulate their faith in an increasingly complex world.
Perhaps most challenging is the young adult phase, where many drift from church involvement entirely. Our young adult ministry leader offers compelling strategies for connecting with this demographic through authentic relationships and practical discipleship that extends beyond church walls into everyday life.
A powerful truth emerges throughout our discussion: "God has no grandchildren." Each person must develop their own relationship with Christ rather than inheriting it from parents or mentors. This principle shapes how we approach discipleship at every stage of development.
The conversation yields practical wisdom for anyone wanting to invest in young lives: be relational before educational, invite them into your daily routines, lead by authentic example, and create safe environments where questions and doubts can be explored. Whether you're a parent, ministry leader, or simply someone who cares about the future of faith, these insights will equip you to make a lasting spiritual impact on the next generation.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
what's up life talk family.
Welcome back to the life talkpodcast.
We are excited to be coming toyou today.
This is nate hosting because Ihave three very special guests
with me today.
We're continuing September withinvesting, so we want to talk
about investing in the nextgeneration, and I have, first
and foremost, tish Britton, ourchildren's ministry director.
(00:37):
Tish, how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I'm doing great.
Second time on the podcast weestablished right, so you can go
back in the archives and findTish before.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
And Danny Mattis should be no stranger to those.
Yes, it is.
Thank you for having me.
Jarvis is taking guest statustoday as our.
LYA director, so filling in therole, and so it's really awesome
(01:07):
.
We have three differentgenerations represented
Batisha's are children's,danny's are students, jarvis is
young adults.
So we're looking to have aconversation today about
investing in the next generation.
We've talked Jason kicked usoff the importance of investing.
We had Jonathan Bush on lastweek talking about financial
(01:28):
investing, but today we want totalk about investing in young
people, and that's really whatwe want to talk about.
So I think each of you all havesome great perspectives.
So, tish, maybe kick us off whyinvesting in kids is so
important.
I think it's so easy for peopleto be like, ah, they're so
young, they don't get it, justlet them play.
I know you have a completelydifferent take on that, so help
(01:50):
us understand how and thethought that investing in
children they're so young andand you know what, what can, how
can that be good or whatever.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
But we fight that constantly and we know that
ministering to children is notchildcare, right that it is so
important.
It's literally like abattlefield and it's an eternal
investment and it needs to startyoung, because children, I mean
, are most open to the gospel ata young age.
(02:33):
I think they say thatstatistically, most people come
to know the Lord before the ageof 14.
And we really want to establisha firm foundation early on in
the word Seeds of Faith.
Faith formation starts at ayoung age and you know we don't
(02:54):
wait till our children are inmiddle school right to send them
to school.
We want them to start learningGod's word, experiencing Him in
their life, at a very young age.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
So very important to invest when they're young
Absolutely and maybe just buildon that a little bit.
I think especially it's thatfive, six, seven range where a
lot of what we're hearing startsto really become foundational.
So maybe you can just build onthat a little bit from the
understanding there.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Yeah, I would say that, doctrinally, at those
early ages is when we want tostart sowing the seeds of faith.
Get them in God's Word.
You use that throughout thehome right, every day in faith
practices.
Be teaching them the Word infaith practices.
(03:46):
Be teaching them the word,teaching them scriptures,
helping them to start memorizingit.
There is no too young right.
Like to start in discipling ourchildren.
We need to lead them boldly andget them in God's word daily.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Yeah, I mean, I think I see that in, like even my
kids, right, I have athree-year-old and a almost
two-year-old.
My two-year-old not so much she, she's crazy, but elliot, my
son, um, we've been doing thisthing where I'll read they have.
They have a children's biblethat I got, per the
recommendation from, uh, ourresources, from team kid, uh,
(04:21):
for kind of his age range, kindof the story Bible in that area.
Um, I'll be, I'll read him astory from that Bible and then
I'll read a passage of scripturefrom my, my Bible, right, so
that you have kind of the kidand the adult Bible.
But then, after everything that,in my mind, I'm like he's not
listening.
I mean, even while we're doingit he's playing with toys or
(04:43):
he's.
I'm like, hey, bud got to keepfocusing.
But then I ask, hey, what do we, what do we learn about today?
And he's like, oh, we learnedabout Moses.
I'm like, well, I was kind ofshocked, I was, we did learn
about Moses.
What did we learn about Moses?
Oh, he was put into the.
And I think it shows theimportance that they're taking
(05:04):
stuff in.
I mean, they're collectinginformation in all areas and all
facets, whether that's throughyour TV, through the places you
go, the things that you watch,the things that you say.
So if they're taking ininformation that's not godly, or
we're not discipling them atthat young age or continuing
(05:24):
through that, then we're missingprime opportunity for them to
have.
What you're saying is thefoundation on the gospel.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, I would say.
If we're not discipling ourchildren, somebody is that's
right and it is a race againstthe world and our culture and we
want to start to establish thatworldview very early on.
And we know where does theirworldview come from.
God's Word right.
So memorizing Scripture at anearly age, scripture all
(05:53):
throughout the home, having ourchildren listen to it, is very
important for them to start toknow who God is, how much he
loves them.
Yeah, never too early.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Definitely.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And so Tish goes till fifth grade, right, if I'm
correct, and then Danny picks upat sixth grade.
So, danny, maybe talk about Imean talk about early formation.
What do you kind of see as kidsare coming into the student
ministry, sixth grade?
You know they've got,prayerfully, some of that
foundation.
Maybe they don't, but what doesinvesting in the student
ministry look like for you?
Speaker 4 (06:29):
Yeah, so I have the privilege of being able to
minister to sixth grade through12th grade, so it's a very big
range, right.
You have people that aregetting ready to go into their
future, figuring out what theywant to do.
Some of them are jumpingstraight into jobs If it they
want to do.
Some of them are jumpingstraight into jobs if it's blue
collar, some of them are of themare going into college figuring
(06:51):
out the rest of their life.
And then I also have the guythat just stopped picking his
nose for the first time, whichis just a crazy perspective.
But one of the one of thebiggest things is I think we
said it earlier um tish wastalking about it with um it
takes a village to raise a kidand it takes a church to direct
(07:14):
them right, and it's, I see, agreat understanding of scripture
when the kid grows up in church.
But one thing that we got toremember is that at this point
they're disciples, right,they're getting out into the
community.
Whether they're homeschooled ornot, they're actively in the
(07:35):
community.
You can try to create a bubbleas much as possible, but it's
going to infiltrate.
There's going to be worldly uh,sin desire out there and at
this point it's okay.
What was the foundation thatwas laid prior?
And then, how are we going tocombat it?
And that's more where I am isokay.
(07:57):
How are we going to fight thisand how are we going to, uh, set
up disciples and follow thatgreat command of going out and
reaching the lost and sharingthe gospel with them?
So right now, our big focus inLSM is just your testimony, that
(08:17):
is your faith story, that isthe biggest tool that you have
in your tool bag, that you haveso easily accessible.
And anybody that's saved hasone right anybody that's come to
the knowing faith.
So it's being able to realizeokay, what is my story and how
am I going to apply that totoday's culture?
Speaker 1 (08:40):
I think a big thing for you and jar you can probably
tag into this.
I think, like, like Tish talkedabout, we give the foundation,
but I know you have thechallenge of okay, now that's
what your parents have sharedand what your parents believe.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Do you believe this?
Speaker 1 (08:53):
So maybe talk a little bit.
When we're investing in thatnext generation, how do we
navigate that so that theyunderstand?
I think it was a great.
I was at a funeral recently andthe pastor said God has no
grandchildren.
There are no grandchildren.
Your faith of your family oryour parents will not get you
into heaven.
It has to be yours.
So maybe talk a little bitabout that.
(09:15):
I'm sure, jarvis, you see someof that kind of as it navigates
from high school on, of havingto make that decision, having to
make that decision.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Yeah, it's getting more into the apologetics of
stuff, right, it's?
Hey, jesus came, died for yoursins.
I understand that.
Now, how am I going to defendthat stance?
Noah and the ark happened.
I believe that it happened.
But what are the promises andwhat does scripture say about
(09:53):
those promises and how can werelate that to culture?
Now, we can look at the GrandCanyon and see lots of evidence
of the great flood.
It just depends on what type ofworldview you're looking from,
if you're looking from abiblical worldview or a secular
worldview.
But it's helping them come tothe understanding of what they
believe, and it's verychallenging at times.
(10:16):
Sometimes it's you're bangingyour head against the wall,
telling them the same exactthing over and over and over and
over again, and it'schallenging.
Your patients are definitely,um, tested, to say the least.
But, yeah, just keep pouringinto them and, uh, working
through.
Okay, this is the importance ofthe invest, right?
(10:39):
Um, if you don't teach them thewhy now, they'll never be able
to explain the why later.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Yeah, yeah, and I I definitely think we see it among
the young adults.
Um, I think even those who havegrown up in church or those who
haven't, uh, there's thisperceived quote unquote
foundation that that they thinkthey have believed, quote
(11:06):
unquote foundation that theythink they have.
But when you actually kind ofboil it down to what they
actually do have, and it's veryeye-opening to see, like man,
you really don't have afoundation, Like, yes, you grew
up in church and, yes, you mightknow maybe some of the answers,
but if we talk about therealness of your faith, there's
not much of that there, forwhatever reason.
And so one of the things thatwe're seeking to do is one of
(11:28):
our scriptures that we kind oftie into our mission statement
is 2 Timothy 2.22.
It says so flee youthfulpassions and pursue
righteousness, faith, love andpeace, along with those who call
on the Lord from a pure heart.
And just that standpoint oflisten foundation.
Again, there is nograndchildren, right?
Your dad was a pastor, Cool,that doesn't matter to us here.
(11:50):
We're not worried about whatyour family legacy is, we're
worried about what your statusis now for eternity and really
challenging them on.
Okay, so if you truly believe,this belief requires action.
Right, Belief flows.
It starts in belief, but thenit flows into work and just
living out and being the exampleof what Christ has done in your
(12:13):
heart.
And so just working throughthose areas and really what
young adults are craving rightnow is a part of it is community
, right and like so if we'regiving them that community, it
is community right and like soif we're giving them that
community, investing in themrelationally, we see the
stickiness of their faith ismore consistent, right, Because
they're having a greaterinteraction with God's people,
(12:36):
which then causes them to say,okay, man, I can stand firm.
Right, why?
Because I know that there arepeople that are carrying me,
there are people that areencouraging me compared to we
talked about a little bitoffline, like they grow up in
the church, they have thisfoundation, they go through
youth group and then I would saya young adult group is a very
new creation, right, theyhaven't always been around.
(12:57):
Saved 10 years, and I graduatedhigh school not too long ago,
like long ago at this point nowbut but um, but when I left
youth group it was kind of likeall right, you're an adult now,
you know you do your thing and Iwas saved maybe four years when
(13:17):
I left, not even not even fouryears, maybe like two, two and a
half years when I left youthgroup.
Um, and so we're seeing thatsame thing.
Is that we don't?
Speaker 2 (13:25):
they don't really know what to do.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Right and so giving them the true word right,
preaching the truth and thenchallenging them on the truth.
Why do you believe what youbelieve in and how does that
affect your daily life?
I think are really big.
Colossians 128 says him weproclaim, warning everyone and
(13:48):
teaching everyone with all.
How can we assist you to getyou to the next level?
So maybe you do have a greatfoundation?
How can we grow you Like?
How can we help you grow If youhave no foundation?
How can we start to build thefoundation blocks that would
then propel you to have thatworldview?
Speaker 1 (14:01):
that is really unshakable propel you to have
that worldview.
That is really unshakable.
So I think you laid a littlebit of groundwork there, but
kind of, you know, finishing theround table.
You know, as we're coming toyoung adults, you know,
especially for, like, parentswho maybe have kids, you know,
maybe they're not quite there oryou know, we know we have a lot
of adults who come to faithearly.
Maybe you have kids who areyoung adults, maybe kind of
(14:22):
share how to pour in, how toinvest to kids in that LYA you
know, timeframe versus kind ofdifferently.
There's worship and then we dosmall groups.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
And often small groups tend to, in the people
who are leading the smallgroup's mind take precedent that
this is the most importantthing that I'll do that day.
But I often have heard andoften say, the most important
thing that happens on a Thursdaynight is what happens before
and after we do anything.
So that relational aspect ofyou're an adult now.
So, yeah, I hope to preach agreat message, like I hope to
(15:08):
lead them in worship in thatarea and I hope that they have
great discussion in small group.
But there's something about therelational piece of watching
someone who's older than you oreven the same age as you, who's
farther along in Christ, to sayman, I desire that Right.
So we see that often we havefaithful leaders.
Some of our elders serve in ouryoung adult ministry and then
(15:29):
just faithful leaders who aremore mature and have walked.
It is so impactful to our youngadults when they see someone
who's 30 years old or 35 yearsold and says man, they're firm
in their faith and they get tospend time with that person and
just literally do life togetherand just say man, this is what
I'm struggling with, this iswhat I'm going through.
(15:49):
How do I approach this?
A lot of them.
If they don't obviously go to aChristian school, they're going
to secular schools, which arereally we're in a weird frame.
We're trying to indoctrinatethem with the truth and they're
trying to indoctrinate them withquote, unquote their truth,
right, and so we're trying tojust give them relational
(16:09):
elements along with the truththat say listen, this is played
out, you're seeing this dailylife and then take that to
people, and so I would say thatrelational aspect.
So, whether that's parents,right, if you're a parent, get
them around older, mature men orwomen.
Bring them to men's Biblestudies, women's Bible studies,
encourage them to come to ayoung adult group, but also just
(16:30):
lead by example, right, you are, as a parent, one of the most
influential people in theirlives, and so if you don't live
out the faith that you claim towalk, why would they live out
the faith that you desire themto in the same way?
And so I think that's one ofthe biggest things for parents,
but then for non-parents, justliterally, be an example, and I
(16:50):
think it's the same.
There are different capacities,but just be faithful.
Find a young adult.
Any young adult has a stupidamount of time on their hands.
What was that?
Like, I don't even rememberExactly, but they, they, like,
they, just they, they.
Uh, what was that like, I don'teven remember Exactly, but like
they just do Right.
And a lot of our young adultswork, but a lot of them, even in
(17:10):
working, they fill their timeup with random stuff.
And so young adults would bemore than willing to sit down
and have dinner with you.
Young adults would be more thanwilling to go to coffee or go
on your Walmart run, or rightthey I know that because they do
that with me Like, hey, let'sgo here and they'll go.
And so even those small timesof just grocery shopping with
(17:31):
your kids or things like that,it teaches them the foundations
of what does it mean to be abiblical parent?
What does it mean to be abiblical husband or wife?
What does it mean to be afaithful evangelist to our
community, just by living yourdaily life?
And so those are just a few.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Go ahead, dan.
We went down to a church downin Dallas, watermark, and the
guy talked about a linchpinleader and what you were saying
it just brought me back to thosenotes and it was talking about
our ministry idea is to positionstudents to know love and
(18:06):
follow Jesus, right.
So how do we do that?
And it's through discipleship,it's through those interactions.
But one of the things that Iwrote down from that conference
was mentorship is adding to yourcalendar, where discipleship is
adding someone into yourcalendar, where discipleship is
adding someone into yourcalendar.
And just taking that idea of,hey, I'm going to go to the
grocery store or I am going tojust run errands here, come with
(18:30):
me, right, and walking throughlife.
It's not hey, we're going tosit down and we're going to do a
Bible study, which is great,it's amazing to do that, but
it's also inviting them intoyour life and being able to walk
alongside them and just do lifetogether.
(18:50):
The other thing that I saw wasin the notes is we often say
come, meet with me.
Jesus said, come, follow me,and the, the big C church says
come and listen to me, right,and it's isn't that the truth
Like as a a YA director asstudent director.
(19:15):
So many times we're like, ohman, this sermon is going to be
amazing.
Come, come listen, come sit,come listen, and it's it's great
.
Right, we're working with theHoly Spirit, which is amazing to
to do and be able to be upthere and speak on what God's
given us.
But at the end of the day, it'snot a hey, come listen to me,
(19:35):
it's a come, listen to God,right, but also just come,
follow, right, come follow Jesusand who he is and setting up an
environment where it does that,where you can have kids, you
can have children.
Look at your leaders and justbeing a good example, they're
(19:59):
seeing you from all types ofdifferent perspectives.
I know my son.
He's looking at people not juston 6.30 to 8 o'clock.
He's looking at people onSundays that he only gets to
hang out with at 6.30.
He's looking at them when oh,we saw him at Walmart.
(20:21):
What is he doing, what is hebuying?
And all that stuff plays amajor role in making sure that
their walk is in a Christianwalk perspective.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Oh, go ahead.
I was going to because I wantedto circle back to Tish.
I think you guys are hittingwhere I kind of wanted to go in
terms of the importance ofcommunity.
I think as we started wecircled a lot of good things on
parents, you know, and theraising, and I think I heard a
good footwell.
You know, for Tish's age group,parents are an authority.
You're really laying thatfoundation for Danny.
(20:56):
They're an interpreter.
You know that.
You're starting to interpretbeliefs.
You're starting to interprettheir feelings, how they see the
world, and in Jarvis, in yourcase, they're the guide.
Interpret their feelings, howthey see the world and in Jarvis
, in your case, the guide.
Now you're an adult, I got toguide you.
But what I wanted to say, soTish talked about investing and
we talked about community.
So maybe for non-parents, theimportant how do you invest?
We were talking a little bitbefore we got on.
(21:17):
Maybe they're not my kids, buthow do I invest in children in
my church, in my neighborhood?
How do I invest in children inmy church, in my neighborhood?
Like, what does investing looklike, you know, outside of the
immediate family, so that we'remaking an impact for?
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Christ.
Yeah, what an opportunity,right, and what a privilege to
be able to do that.
And I do think, likeintergenerational ministry
within the church is huge.
You know, we think of God'sword in Deuteronomy 6, where he
gives the command to pass thescriptures on, and our faith on,
(21:50):
to our children.
But that's not a command justto parents, you know.
I think it said, oh, hearIsrael, and he was commanding
the entire faith community topass on our faith to the younger
generation.
And practically in ministrythere's so many opportunities to
(22:11):
serve, whether it be on aWednesday evening where we love
our time in small group with ourchildren, our desire is to
teach them how to study theBible.
We can teach them every Biblestory there is, but if they
don't know how to be in the Wordthemselves, then we are doing a
disservice, right, because theyneed to be able to go and hear
(22:33):
from God on their own as theygrow, and we need people from
our congregation to help withthat right.
The more small group leaders wehave, then, the better we are
able to take them through thatand teach them how to study
their Bibles, read scripture.
It's in the word, which isliving, that children truly get
(22:56):
to know their God right, knowwho he is.
He reveals Himself to them andwe want them to learn how to be
able to pick up a Bible, revealshimself to them and we want
them to learn how to be able topick up a Bible, god's word, and
study it themselves and hearfrom the Lord themselves.
I would say also Sundayministry.
You know I think sometimes it'sintimidating because we feel
(23:19):
like, oh, I'm not called to be ateacher.
But there are so many ways toserve within the children's
ministry, whether it beassisting a lead teacher,
whether it be just welcoming achild.
You know I love how you guyswere talking about relationship.
Relationship comes first, rightConnection over content.
(23:41):
Children don't care what youknow until they know you care
over content.
Children don't care what youknow until they know you care
and just being a part of thebody and our church family,
knowing our children, knowingtheir names, that when they walk
through the doors of LifehouseChurch they are welcomed into a
community where they are safe,they are loved, they see Christ
(24:03):
in each of us and God is able touse that in a child's life.
And there are so many needs inthe church.
But I like to say that I don'tlike to think about it as
needing, but rather leading.
We have an opportunity to pourinto the next generation and we
(24:38):
are looking at the church of2050 when you walk into the
children's wing.
So what are we doing to investyoung adults?
But we are all working togetherto disciple children, to bring
them in their faith, walk onthat continuum and to grow
(24:58):
disciples events.
We have an amazing churchfamily that, like at Vacation
Bible School, it's one of myfavorite things to look around
and see our adults investing inour children and now even our
students and our young adults.
We've seen a shift from ourolder adults now to our younger.
(25:21):
It's been an incredible thingto watch.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
And it's interesting, like thinking about even the
people who aren't, and we kindof talked about a little bit.
But the people who aren'tparents like.
The things that I remember themost are not what people said,
but what they did Right and like.
So all of the areas of whichI've learned to parent and all
the areas in which I've learnedto be a faithful follower of
Jesus.
It's not because someone said tome this is how you do it, but
(25:45):
again, they modeled that and sosomeone who's not a parent has
the opportunity to model what itlooks like to be a faithful
husband or a faithfulbusinessman or a faithful X, y
and Z in just serving in TeamKid right, just by living out
their faith in their daily livesor serving in, you know, even a
greeter.
But that interaction at thefront door where it's like man,
what's up, johnny, I'm so gladyou're here.
(26:06):
Okay, man, look at that exampleand look at that relational
piece that they're connected nowto an older partner.
An older person in our churchhad to act as a mentor without
being quote unquote a mentor itdoesn't have to be formal, it
doesn't have to be organized andyou know in that area, but just
literally all the smallinteractions that you see kids
(26:26):
running in the lobby, getting toknow them and getting to
support them.
Yeah, and just like showing thatthey matter and that there's
value in them, that it's a valuethat they're here on a Sunday
morning, that we want them to behere, and I think it starts
with it starts with the personbefore.
It starts with the kid.
Right, often we want kids tocome and ask me to disciple them
(26:48):
, and but what about the kidsthat can just ask to be
discipled, right like what if?
What if I just ask someone todisciple them or ask to grab
lunch, or ask to whatever itmight be in their students and
all the others?
Speaker 1 (27:01):
so and I think that's such a great point, that
community matters, like we needand it matters, and I think so
tossing it over to danny, likewho you're, the kids, the next
generation, both with theirfriends and the parents of their
friends, are going to model somuch of why.
Who we are with you know as asadults, as parents, and maybe
(27:21):
you can kind of comment, danny,just on some of the impact you
see in that community in thatyou know kind of both friend
group of you know the nextgeneration as well as even the
parents, like we've talked about, the models that pour into
these kids.
Speaker 4 (27:35):
Yeah.
So I mean just looking back atjust things that have played a
part in my life.
I remember being 10 years oldI'm probably younger than that,
or 9, 10.
Something like that, it doesn'tmatter.
But being in church and therewas a drummer named Ryan and he
(28:01):
wore his hair a certain way andhe was awesome.
And he came up to me everysingle Sunday and was like, hey,
what's up, man, how are youdoing?
How are you doing?
Like, just made me feel knownand loved.
Well, I wanted to start playingthe drums.
Like drums were amazing.
I'm going to play drums.
And also my hair looked justlike his always and I dressed
(28:26):
just like him always and it wasjust like one of those things
that I just wanted to modelafter him.
Now I was taking thematerialistic route of it all,
but when it all came back it was, hey, I see something in him
that I don't see necessarily ineverybody else.
(28:46):
And then, putting that inperspective with nowadays and
being the youth director andseeing kids and how they operate
with other teens and looking atother parents, it's like, okay,
that isn't just for the six,seven, eight, 10 year old, right
(29:09):
, it's for everybody.
You can tell when somebodystarts hanging out with a bad
group of friends, instantly,like within a week they'll come
in one Wednesday and becompletely normal.
You're like just talking,talking about Jesus reading the
Bible.
And then two weeks later you'relike who is this kid?
(29:30):
Like what happened?
And I think that's when youstart talking to the parents and
you're like, have you guysnoticed change?
Yeah, I don't know what it is.
Well, then you guys starttalking.
It's like, oh, soccer seasonstarted, all right.
He's been hanging out with abunch.
Oh, soccer season started, allright, he's been hanging out
with a bunch of his soccerbuddies.
Or he's been hanging out with abunch of sports people.
Or oh, he's been hanging outwith this one kid, billy bob,
(29:54):
and he's been going over totheir house.
I'm not really sure the thedeal with that.
And it's just like, okay, well,you steward them so well.
And hey, we want you to be inchurch.
We want to bring you on Sundaywhere you can know and love and
(30:14):
get to understand who God is inyour life.
We do want and if you guysdisagree, you guys can just be
like I'm just going to stir thepot.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
We have to edit this out, yeah.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
But we have them for three hours max, right.
Some of us may only have themfor an hour and a half right.
So we are just a tool.
We're a vessel.
We're here as support.
We want to come alongsideparents.
We want to come alongside theteens and walk through their
life.
(30:58):
We want to help out parentswith small children, but, at the
end of the day, we're not theparent, right?
We want to come alongside you,we want you to be able to trust
us, but we want to get to knowyou and we want to, uh, make
sure that you're equipped as asmuch as possible.
And we understand that there'sgoing to be stuff that we're not
(31:21):
privileged to because you'rethe parent, um.
But at the end of the day, wealso see like, hey, your kid is
acting a fool, what is going on?
And being able to have thoserough conversations and hard
conversations with parents.
But ultimately, getting back toyour question, yeah, there's a
(31:43):
big.
It's very noticeable, right,and it plays a huge part.
And depending on where they goto school, what kids they're
hanging out with, what they'reinvolved in, what TV shows
they're watching, what hobbiesthey have, everything plays a
part.
Everything is molding yourchild in a way, and it's just
(32:06):
whether or not it's a good moldor a bad mold.
Now, I'm not saying build abubble, keep them hidden, put
them in the basement untilthey're older, because that's
not, that's not teaching themanything either.
Um, you need to teach them thewhy, you need to teach them the
what, you need to teach them thehow, and then you need to give
them a way to experience and usethose in a safe environment.
(32:31):
And, um, I think I'm superexcited because I think that's
one thing that the studentministry is kind of going um
into is okay.
Here's a safe environment ofevangelism.
Here's a safe environment of ofexplaining the why to other
people and being unashamed ofyour belief system.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
Yeah, I think thinking about community too.
Like I often tell the youngadults and it's the cliche, you
are who your five closestfriends are, right.
I tell them I feel like everysingle week, no matter what
we're talking about, somehowthat comes up because, like
Danny said, it's a clear, clearindicator of where they're going
(33:11):
to end up in the next couple ofweeks, months, years, because
it just is right, it's it'seasier to be pulled down than to
pull someone up, right, and andthen that's what we recognize.
And so even thinking about kidsand students and young adults
for, but then even thinkingabout the adult who's, who's
caring for them, like your fiveclosest friends, will have a
direct impact on your children,right On your teens, on your
(33:34):
influence.
And so it doesn't just matterwhen you get to student ministry
or when you get to the youngadult ministry, it starts in
your home, with who you hang outwith, with who you're around as
you're leading your children,because, just like they will end
up like their five closestfriends, you will end up like
and it it's not just even fiveclosest friends anymore now,
it's like your five mostfollowed instagram followers,
(33:58):
you mean like?
it's turned into a social media.
Who do you follow on socialmedia?
Who do you allow your kids tofollow on social media?
Or I don't want to get intolike parenting, but like who do
you let them watch on youtubewhen they're when?
they're kids or what you know,what shows, and, like they, they
are being formed, as Danny said, by something, and often, if
we're not confining them to abiblical outlet that's giving
(34:20):
them, giving them truth, they'rebeing discipled in the wrong
direction and we have to fightthe tide more so than going
upstream.
We're fighting now the tide torevert back doctrines that
they're being taught that aren'ttrue.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Yeah, I mean, I think the world is trying to shape
them right Every day, andchildren are, and young students
.
Their identity is being shapedand we also know, especially
like preteen middle school years, right, raise your hand if you
did not have an identity crisisat some point when you were in
middle years?
Right, raise your hand if youdid not have an identity crisis
at some point when you were inmiddle school, right.
(34:53):
So the enemy sees that and heis looking to distort, you know,
their view of truth, right, andwhat the truth about who they
are is.
So I think it is so importantthat we are positioning them
among friends and inenvironments where they are able
(35:15):
to remember that my identity isrooted in who God says I am not
.
The world that's trying todistort the truth and, you know,
at times is having success andsaying, well, if you don't feel
like you fit in here, then youmust be this, and which are just
lies from the enemy.
So I do think they'reinfluencers from those preteen
(35:39):
years up through.
You know, early middle schooland even into late high school
is just so important, it is sotrue.
You are who your friends are.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
I mean, and you see it in again my son is three.
What we watch on TV matters,because I think of just even him
wanting to be a superhero.
But he sees the image of thesuperhero and starts jumping off
my couch because he thinks he'sSpider-Man.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
You know, what.
Speaker 4 (36:05):
I mean, and I'm like dude, you can't do that one.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
Please stop, you will get hurt and your sister will
do the same thing and she'll geteven hurt.
But it's the thought process ofthat, right?
It's the example of that thatthey're seeing things and
they're following things, and so, just as they'll follow Iron
man, spider-man or whoever,they're going to follow the
behaviors they see in someonethey trust even more than what
they see on the screen.
And so, yeah, it's, and itoften, I think, it can sound
(36:29):
like well, how am I?
I'm just doing or not doingthings.
I'm not investing.
The things we do, the parameterswe set, the ways that we lead
and guide, like that's investing.
It doesn't have to be a sitdown Bible study although you
should do that at home but likethat doesn't have to be the only
mode of investment that happensto your kids or to young adults
, or to students or to kids, butit's how are we leading them?
(36:52):
That, I think, is a huge driverof the success of investment.
And so, again, it can soundlike do this, don't do this, you
should put them in this, youshould not put them in this.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
But those are big elements to investment that we
can't leave out in it.
So, just as we kind of wrap up,man, I know we could talk for
hours on this because there ismuch to be said, but for each of
you, maybe in 30, 60 seconds,what are the keys when it comes
to investing in the nextgeneration, that you want
anybody listening that you would, you know, really tell them to
be on mission, whether it'sdaily, as a parent, non-parent.
You know what are the keys.
(37:28):
So, tish, I'll let you go first.
I know that's a broad question.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
Yeah, I mean I loved what we heard this Sunday, right
, like Jesus, was relational andwe've been talking about that
here today.
Just connection at times overcontent.
But also at the younger ages, Ido feel so strongly that having
them in the Word, it is theWord that transforms the heart.
(37:54):
And we want gospel change.
We don't want just behaviorchange, we want them to be
obedient because they love Jesus, not just to think they can
earn their salvation.
We want them to love Him andtheir obedience flows through
that.
So I do believe you know if Icould go back in my own life and
(38:18):
know then what I know now,having been able to watch
children come up through theministry and just the importance
of having our kids in the wordand leading them in that so that
the word does start totransform and soften their
hearts.
(38:40):
And yeah, jar, I don't think ithas to be anything.
We've been putting out familydiscipleship, nuggets that it
doesn't have to be some huge sitdown preach sermon.
But how can they experience Godin their home right, In
addition to at church on Sunday?
But they, children, experienceGod through us and their parents
(39:04):
when they're young and thenultimately, ultimately, as they
kind of get up to Danny.
Now they're starting to reallyown their faith right and live
it out and determine.
This is what I believe, but nowI'm actually owning it and
living it out on my own.
So I would say that being inthe Word, being very relational
(39:26):
with our children in the church,allowing them to belong here
before we know that belongingleads to believing, leads to
becoming right.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
Invest in the heart, I would say, not just behavior,
if I could kind of maybesummarize that, danny.
Speaker 4 (39:45):
Yeah, it's a big question.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
We like to ask big questions.
Speaker 4 (39:50):
Yeah, we could have spent an hour just on that
question.
Um, no, I I think it.
If I had to summarize, I would,I would say, be authentic, um,
as as a leader, right, um, now,authenticity doesn't mean access
as well, and we could talkabout that for a million years
(40:14):
as well but just being around,being available and remembering
that every little thing is seenand does matter, like I think
about my kids seven, three, one,or well, seven, four, one and
(40:37):
just who are we surrounding themwith?
What friends get more accessthan other friends, and why,
what's the reasoning behind that?
And everything has a purpose,right, but, um, yeah, I would
say, be authentic, betransparent, um, and when you
screw up, say sorry.
(40:57):
Right, then kids need to seethe sin along with the
reconciliation, uh, for it, um,but yeah, just being the why be
the exemplifying of the why ofwhat you believe very good.
Speaker 3 (41:14):
I mean mine's, similar, I think, to both but
and kind of what we've talkedabout already.
But I think the two things thatI would maybe next steps and
encouragement say, okay, whatcan I do now would be to invite
them into your life and thenlead by example.
Right, invite them in and thenjust lead them by by the way
that you live your life and anddo all your right.
Invite them in and then justlead them by the way that you
live your life and do all youractions.
I mean so similar, and so thatshould flow into again how
(41:37):
grocery shop, what Bible studylooks like.
Parents are they seeing, areyour kids seeing you read the
scriptures?
Like, do they know what a Bibleis other than just on a Sunday
morning?
And so I think when you invitethem in and when you lead by
example, it almost you know,know, ushers in a deeper
understanding and a deeperrealization of, okay, they
believe this.
And if they believe this, Ithink I can too so awesome.
Speaker 1 (41:59):
Well, like I say, we definitely could do a long time,
but thank you all for yourinsight.
I think bottom line beinvesting in relationships,
especially in the nextgeneration.
That's where we know we canhave an impact in Christ
anywhere, but especially in ourkids, our students, our young
adults.
They really need us to beinvesting in them.
So, life Talk family, thanksfor joining us and we'll see you
(42:22):
all next time.
Thanks for tuning into the LifeTalk podcast.
If this episode encouraged you,please be sure to like, comment
, subscribe and leave a reviewso others can find this content
as well, and we'll look forwardto seeing you next Monday for
another great episode.
what's up life talk family.
Welcome back to the life talkpodcast.
We are excited to be coming toyou today.
This is nate hosting because Ihave three very special guests
with me today.
We're continuing September withinvesting, so we want to talk
about investing in the nextgeneration, and I have, first
and foremost, tish Britton, ourchildren's ministry director.
(00:37):
Tish, how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I'm doing great.
Second time on the podcast weestablished right, so you can go
back in the archives and findTish before.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
And Danny Mattis should be no stranger to those.
Yes, it is.
Thank you for having me.
Jarvis is taking guest statustoday as our.
LYA director, so filling in therole, and so it's really awesome
(01:07):
.
We have three differentgenerations represented
Batisha's are children's,danny's are students, jarvis is
young adults.
So we're looking to have aconversation today about
investing in the next generation.
We've talked Jason kicked usoff the importance of investing.
We had Jonathan Bush on lastweek talking about financial
(01:28):
investing, but today we want totalk about investing in young
people, and that's really whatwe want to talk about.
So I think each of you all havesome great perspectives.
So, tish, maybe kick us off whyinvesting in kids is so
important.
I think it's so easy for peopleto be like, ah, they're so
young, they don't get it, justlet them play.
I know you have a completelydifferent take on that, so help
(01:50):
us understand how and thethought that investing in
children they're so young andand you know what, what can, how
can that be good or whatever.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
But we fight that constantly and we know that
ministering to children is notchildcare, right that it is so
important.
It's literally like abattlefield and it's an eternal
investment and it needs to startyoung, because children, I mean
, are most open to the gospel ata young age.
(02:33):
I think they say thatstatistically, most people come
to know the Lord before the ageof 14.
And we really want to establisha firm foundation early on in
the word Seeds of Faith.
Faith formation starts at ayoung age and you know we don't
(02:54):
wait till our children are inmiddle school right to send them
to school.
We want them to start learningGod's word, experiencing Him in
their life, at a very young age.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
So very important to invest when they're young
Absolutely and maybe just buildon that a little bit.
I think especially it's thatfive, six, seven range where a
lot of what we're hearing startsto really become foundational.
So maybe you can just build onthat a little bit from the
understanding there.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Yeah, I would say that, doctrinally, at those
early ages is when we want tostart sowing the seeds of faith.
Get them in God's Word.
You use that throughout thehome right, every day in faith
practices.
Be teaching them the Word infaith practices.
(03:46):
Be teaching them the word,teaching them scriptures,
helping them to start memorizingit.
There is no too young right.
Like to start in discipling ourchildren.
We need to lead them boldly andget them in God's word daily.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Yeah, I mean, I think I see that in, like even my
kids, right, I have athree-year-old and a almost
two-year-old.
My two-year-old not so much she, she's crazy, but elliot, my
son, um, we've been doing thisthing where I'll read they have.
They have a children's biblethat I got, per the
recommendation from, uh, ourresources, from team kid, uh,
(04:21):
for kind of his age range, kindof the story Bible in that area.
Um, I'll be, I'll read him astory from that Bible and then
I'll read a passage of scripturefrom my, my Bible, right, so
that you have kind of the kidand the adult Bible.
But then, after everything that,in my mind, I'm like he's not
listening.
I mean, even while we're doingit he's playing with toys or
(04:43):
he's.
I'm like, hey, bud got to keepfocusing.
But then I ask, hey, what do we, what do we learn about today?
And he's like, oh, we learnedabout Moses.
I'm like, well, I was kind ofshocked, I was, we did learn
about Moses.
What did we learn about Moses?
Oh, he was put into the.
And I think it shows theimportance that they're taking
(05:04):
stuff in.
I mean, they're collectinginformation in all areas and all
facets, whether that's throughyour TV, through the places you
go, the things that you watch,the things that you say.
So if they're taking ininformation that's not godly, or
we're not discipling them atthat young age or continuing
(05:24):
through that, then we're missingprime opportunity for them to
have.
What you're saying is thefoundation on the gospel.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, I would say.
If we're not discipling ourchildren, somebody is that's
right and it is a race againstthe world and our culture and we
want to start to establish thatworldview very early on.
And we know where does theirworldview come from.
God's Word right.
So memorizing Scripture at anearly age, scripture all
(05:53):
throughout the home, having ourchildren listen to it, is very
important for them to start toknow who God is, how much he
loves them.
Yeah, never too early.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Definitely.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And so Tish goes till fifth grade, right, if I'm
correct, and then Danny picks upat sixth grade.
So, danny, maybe talk about Imean talk about early formation.
What do you kind of see as kidsare coming into the student
ministry, sixth grade?
You know they've got,prayerfully, some of that
foundation.
Maybe they don't, but what doesinvesting in the student
ministry look like for you?
Speaker 4 (06:29):
Yeah, so I have the privilege of being able to
minister to sixth grade through12th grade, so it's a very big
range, right.
You have people that aregetting ready to go into their
future, figuring out what theywant to do.
Some of them are jumpingstraight into jobs If it they
want to do.
Some of them are jumpingstraight into jobs if it's blue
collar, some of them are of themare going into college figuring
(06:51):
out the rest of their life.
And then I also have the guythat just stopped picking his
nose for the first time, whichis just a crazy perspective.
But one of the one of thebiggest things is I think we
said it earlier um tish wastalking about it with um it
takes a village to raise a kidand it takes a church to direct
(07:14):
them right, and it's, I see, agreat understanding of scripture
when the kid grows up in church.
But one thing that we got toremember is that at this point
they're disciples, right,they're getting out into the
community.
Whether they're homeschooled ornot, they're actively in the
(07:35):
community.
You can try to create a bubbleas much as possible, but it's
going to infiltrate.
There's going to be worldly uh,sin desire out there and at
this point it's okay.
What was the foundation thatwas laid prior?
And then, how are we going tocombat it?
And that's more where I am isokay.
(07:57):
How are we going to fight thisand how are we going to, uh, set
up disciples and follow thatgreat command of going out and
reaching the lost and sharingthe gospel with them?
So right now, our big focus inLSM is just your testimony, that
(08:17):
is your faith story, that isthe biggest tool that you have
in your tool bag, that you haveso easily accessible.
And anybody that's saved hasone right anybody that's come to
the knowing faith.
So it's being able to realizeokay, what is my story and how
am I going to apply that totoday's culture?
Speaker 1 (08:40):
I think a big thing for you and jar you can probably
tag into this.
I think, like, like Tish talkedabout, we give the foundation,
but I know you have thechallenge of okay, now that's
what your parents have sharedand what your parents believe.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Do you believe this?
Speaker 1 (08:53):
So maybe talk a little bit.
When we're investing in thatnext generation, how do we
navigate that so that theyunderstand?
I think it was a great.
I was at a funeral recently andthe pastor said God has no
grandchildren.
There are no grandchildren.
Your faith of your family oryour parents will not get you
into heaven.
It has to be yours.
So maybe talk a little bitabout that.
(09:15):
I'm sure, jarvis, you see someof that kind of as it navigates
from high school on, of havingto make that decision, having to
make that decision.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Yeah, it's getting more into the apologetics of
stuff, right, it's?
Hey, jesus came, died for yoursins.
I understand that.
Now, how am I going to defendthat stance?
Noah and the ark happened.
I believe that it happened.
But what are the promises andwhat does scripture say about
(09:53):
those promises and how can werelate that to culture?
Now, we can look at the GrandCanyon and see lots of evidence
of the great flood.
It just depends on what type ofworldview you're looking from,
if you're looking from abiblical worldview or a secular
worldview.
But it's helping them come tothe understanding of what they
believe, and it's verychallenging at times.
(10:16):
Sometimes it's you're bangingyour head against the wall,
telling them the same exactthing over and over and over and
over again, and it'schallenging.
Your patients are definitely,um, tested, to say the least.
But, yeah, just keep pouringinto them and, uh, working
through.
Okay, this is the importance ofthe invest, right?
(10:39):
Um, if you don't teach them thewhy now, they'll never be able
to explain the why later.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Yeah, yeah, and I I definitely think we see it among
the young adults.
Um, I think even those who havegrown up in church or those who
haven't, uh, there's thisperceived quote unquote
foundation that that they thinkthey have believed, quote
(11:06):
unquote foundation that theythink they have.
But when you actually kind ofboil it down to what they
actually do have, and it's veryeye-opening to see, like man,
you really don't have afoundation, Like, yes, you grew
up in church and, yes, you mightknow maybe some of the answers,
but if we talk about therealness of your faith, there's
not much of that there, forwhatever reason.
And so one of the things thatwe're seeking to do is one of
(11:28):
our scriptures that we kind oftie into our mission statement
is 2 Timothy 2.22.
It says so flee youthfulpassions and pursue
righteousness, faith, love andpeace, along with those who call
on the Lord from a pure heart.
And just that standpoint oflisten foundation.
Again, there is nograndchildren, right?
Your dad was a pastor, Cool,that doesn't matter to us here.
(11:50):
We're not worried about whatyour family legacy is, we're
worried about what your statusis now for eternity and really
challenging them on.
Okay, so if you truly believe,this belief requires action.
Right, Belief flows.
It starts in belief, but thenit flows into work and just
living out and being the exampleof what Christ has done in your
(12:13):
heart.
And so just working throughthose areas and really what
young adults are craving rightnow is a part of it is community
, right and like so if we'regiving them that community, it
is community right and like soif we're giving them that
community, investing in themrelationally, we see the
stickiness of their faith ismore consistent, right, Because
they're having a greaterinteraction with God's people,
(12:36):
which then causes them to say,okay, man, I can stand firm.
Right, why?
Because I know that there arepeople that are carrying me,
there are people that areencouraging me compared to we
talked about a little bitoffline, like they grow up in
the church, they have thisfoundation, they go through
youth group and then I would saya young adult group is a very
new creation, right, theyhaven't always been around.
(12:57):
Saved 10 years, and I graduatedhigh school not too long ago,
like long ago at this point nowbut but um, but when I left
youth group it was kind of likeall right, you're an adult now,
you know you do your thing and Iwas saved maybe four years when
(13:17):
I left, not even not even fouryears, maybe like two, two and a
half years when I left youthgroup.
Um, and so we're seeing thatsame thing.
Is that we don't?
Speaker 2 (13:25):
they don't really know what to do.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Right and so giving them the true word right,
preaching the truth and thenchallenging them on the truth.
Why do you believe what youbelieve in and how does that
affect your daily life?
I think are really big.
Colossians 128 says him weproclaim, warning everyone and
(13:48):
teaching everyone with all.
How can we assist you to getyou to the next level?
So maybe you do have a greatfoundation?
How can we grow you Like?
How can we help you grow If youhave no foundation?
How can we start to build thefoundation blocks that would
then propel you to have thatworldview?
Speaker 1 (14:01):
that is really unshakable propel you to have
that worldview.
That is really unshakable.
So I think you laid a littlebit of groundwork there, but
kind of, you know, finishing theround table.
You know, as we're coming toyoung adults, you know,
especially for, like, parentswho maybe have kids, you know,
maybe they're not quite there oryou know, we know we have a lot
of adults who come to faithearly.
Maybe you have kids who areyoung adults, maybe kind of
(14:22):
share how to pour in, how toinvest to kids in that LYA you
know, timeframe versus kind ofdifferently.
There's worship and then we dosmall groups.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
And often small groups tend to, in the people
who are leading the smallgroup's mind take precedent that
this is the most importantthing that I'll do that day.
But I often have heard andoften say, the most important
thing that happens on a Thursdaynight is what happens before
and after we do anything.
So that relational aspect ofyou're an adult now.
So, yeah, I hope to preach agreat message, like I hope to
(15:08):
lead them in worship in thatarea and I hope that they have
great discussion in small group.
But there's something about therelational piece of watching
someone who's older than you oreven the same age as you, who's
farther along in Christ, to sayman, I desire that Right.
So we see that often we havefaithful leaders.
Some of our elders serve in ouryoung adult ministry and then
(15:29):
just faithful leaders who aremore mature and have walked.
It is so impactful to our youngadults when they see someone
who's 30 years old or 35 yearsold and says man, they're firm
in their faith and they get tospend time with that person and
just literally do life togetherand just say man, this is what
I'm struggling with, this iswhat I'm going through.
(15:49):
How do I approach this?
A lot of them.
If they don't obviously go to aChristian school, they're going
to secular schools, which arereally we're in a weird frame.
We're trying to indoctrinatethem with the truth and they're
trying to indoctrinate them withquote, unquote their truth,
right, and so we're trying tojust give them relational
(16:09):
elements along with the truththat say listen, this is played
out, you're seeing this dailylife and then take that to
people, and so I would say thatrelational aspect.
So, whether that's parents,right, if you're a parent, get
them around older, mature men orwomen.
Bring them to men's Biblestudies, women's Bible studies,
encourage them to come to ayoung adult group, but also just
(16:30):
lead by example, right, you are, as a parent, one of the most
influential people in theirlives, and so if you don't live
out the faith that you claim towalk, why would they live out
the faith that you desire themto in the same way?
And so I think that's one ofthe biggest things for parents,
but then for non-parents, justliterally, be an example, and I
(16:50):
think it's the same.
There are different capacities,but just be faithful.
Find a young adult.
Any young adult has a stupidamount of time on their hands.
What was that?
Like, I don't even rememberExactly, but they, they, like,
they, just they, they.
Uh, what was that like, I don'teven remember Exactly, but like
they just do Right.
And a lot of our young adultswork, but a lot of them, even in
(17:10):
working, they fill their timeup with random stuff.
And so young adults would bemore than willing to sit down
and have dinner with you.
Young adults would be more thanwilling to go to coffee or go
on your Walmart run, or rightthey I know that because they do
that with me Like, hey, let'sgo here and they'll go.
And so even those small timesof just grocery shopping with
(17:31):
your kids or things like that,it teaches them the foundations
of what does it mean to be abiblical parent?
What does it mean to be abiblical husband or wife?
What does it mean to be afaithful evangelist to our
community, just by living yourdaily life?
And so those are just a few.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Go ahead, dan.
We went down to a church downin Dallas, watermark, and the
guy talked about a linchpinleader and what you were saying
it just brought me back to thosenotes and it was talking about
our ministry idea is to positionstudents to know love and
(18:06):
follow Jesus, right.
So how do we do that?
And it's through discipleship,it's through those interactions.
But one of the things that Iwrote down from that conference
was mentorship is adding to yourcalendar, where discipleship is
adding someone into yourcalendar, where discipleship is
adding someone into yourcalendar.
And just taking that idea of,hey, I'm going to go to the
grocery store or I am going tojust run errands here, come with
(18:30):
me, right, and walking throughlife.
It's not hey, we're going tosit down and we're going to do a
Bible study, which is great,it's amazing to do that, but
it's also inviting them intoyour life and being able to walk
alongside them and just do lifetogether.
(18:50):
The other thing that I saw wasin the notes is we often say
come, meet with me.
Jesus said, come, follow me,and the, the big C church says
come and listen to me, right,and it's isn't that the truth
Like as a a YA director asstudent director.
(19:15):
So many times we're like, ohman, this sermon is going to be
amazing.
Come, come listen, come sit,come listen, and it's it's great
.
Right, we're working with theHoly Spirit, which is amazing to
to do and be able to be upthere and speak on what God's
given us.
But at the end of the day, it'snot a hey, come listen to me,
(19:35):
it's a come, listen to God,right, but also just come,
follow, right, come follow Jesusand who he is and setting up an
environment where it does that,where you can have kids, you
can have children.
Look at your leaders and justbeing a good example, they're
(19:59):
seeing you from all types ofdifferent perspectives.
I know my son.
He's looking at people not juston 6.30 to 8 o'clock.
He's looking at people onSundays that he only gets to
hang out with at 6.30.
He's looking at them when oh,we saw him at Walmart.
(20:21):
What is he doing, what is hebuying?
And all that stuff plays amajor role in making sure that
their walk is in a Christianwalk perspective.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Oh, go ahead.
I was going to because I wantedto circle back to Tish.
I think you guys are hittingwhere I kind of wanted to go in
terms of the importance ofcommunity.
I think as we started wecircled a lot of good things on
parents, you know, and theraising, and I think I heard a
good footwell.
You know, for Tish's age group,parents are an authority.
You're really laying thatfoundation for Danny.
(20:56):
They're an interpreter.
You know that.
You're starting to interpretbeliefs.
You're starting to interprettheir feelings, how they see the
world, and in Jarvis, in yourcase, they're the guide.
Interpret their feelings, howthey see the world and in Jarvis
, in your case, the guide.
Now you're an adult, I got toguide you.
But what I wanted to say, soTish talked about investing and
we talked about community.
So maybe for non-parents, theimportant how do you invest?
We were talking a little bitbefore we got on.
(21:17):
Maybe they're not my kids, buthow do I invest in children in
my church, in my neighborhood?
How do I invest in children inmy church, in my neighborhood?
Like, what does investing looklike, you know, outside of the
immediate family, so that we'remaking an impact for?
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Christ.
Yeah, what an opportunity,right, and what a privilege to
be able to do that.
And I do think, likeintergenerational ministry
within the church is huge.
You know, we think of God'sword in Deuteronomy 6, where he
gives the command to pass thescriptures on, and our faith on,
(21:50):
to our children.
But that's not a command justto parents, you know.
I think it said, oh, hearIsrael, and he was commanding
the entire faith community topass on our faith to the younger
generation.
And practically in ministrythere's so many opportunities to
(22:11):
serve, whether it be on aWednesday evening where we love
our time in small group with ourchildren, our desire is to
teach them how to study theBible.
We can teach them every Biblestory there is, but if they
don't know how to be in the Wordthemselves, then we are doing a
disservice, right, because theyneed to be able to go and hear
(22:33):
from God on their own as theygrow, and we need people from
our congregation to help withthat right.
The more small group leaders wehave, then, the better we are
able to take them through thatand teach them how to study
their Bibles, read scripture.
It's in the word, which isliving, that children truly get
(22:56):
to know their God right, knowwho he is.
He reveals Himself to them andwe want them to learn how to be
able to pick up a Bible, revealshimself to them and we want
them to learn how to be able topick up a Bible, god's word, and
study it themselves and hearfrom the Lord themselves.
I would say also Sundayministry.
You know I think sometimes it'sintimidating because we feel
(23:19):
like, oh, I'm not called to be ateacher.
But there are so many ways toserve within the children's
ministry, whether it beassisting a lead teacher,
whether it be just welcoming achild.
You know I love how you guyswere talking about relationship.
Relationship comes first, rightConnection over content.
(23:41):
Children don't care what youknow until they know you care
over content.
Children don't care what youknow until they know you care
and just being a part of thebody and our church family,
knowing our children, knowingtheir names, that when they walk
through the doors of LifehouseChurch they are welcomed into a
community where they are safe,they are loved, they see Christ
(24:03):
in each of us and God is able touse that in a child's life.
And there are so many needs inthe church.
But I like to say that I don'tlike to think about it as
needing, but rather leading.
We have an opportunity to pourinto the next generation and we
(24:38):
are looking at the church of2050 when you walk into the
children's wing.
So what are we doing to investyoung adults?
But we are all working togetherto disciple children, to bring
them in their faith, walk onthat continuum and to grow
(24:58):
disciples events.
We have an amazing churchfamily that, like at Vacation
Bible School, it's one of myfavorite things to look around
and see our adults investing inour children and now even our
students and our young adults.
We've seen a shift from ourolder adults now to our younger.
(25:21):
It's been an incredible thingto watch.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
And it's interesting, like thinking about even the
people who aren't, and we kindof talked about a little bit.
But the people who aren'tparents like.
The things that I remember themost are not what people said,
but what they did Right and like.
So all of the areas of whichI've learned to parent and all
the areas in which I've learnedto be a faithful follower of
Jesus.
It's not because someone said tome this is how you do it, but
(25:45):
again, they modeled that and sosomeone who's not a parent has
the opportunity to model what itlooks like to be a faithful
husband or a faithfulbusinessman or a faithful X, y
and Z in just serving in TeamKid right, just by living out
their faith in their daily livesor serving in, you know, even a
greeter.
But that interaction at thefront door where it's like man,
what's up, johnny, I'm so gladyou're here.
(26:06):
Okay, man, look at that exampleand look at that relational
piece that they're connected nowto an older partner.
An older person in our churchhad to act as a mentor without
being quote unquote a mentor itdoesn't have to be formal, it
doesn't have to be organized andyou know in that area, but just
literally all the smallinteractions that you see kids
(26:26):
running in the lobby, getting toknow them and getting to
support them.
Yeah, and just like showing thatthey matter and that there's
value in them, that it's a valuethat they're here on a Sunday
morning, that we want them to behere, and I think it starts
with it starts with the personbefore.
It starts with the kid.
Right, often we want kids tocome and ask me to disciple them
(26:48):
, and but what about the kidsthat can just ask to be
discipled, right like what if?
What if I just ask someone todisciple them or ask to grab
lunch, or ask to whatever itmight be in their students and
all the others?
Speaker 1 (27:01):
so and I think that's such a great point, that
community matters, like we needand it matters, and I think so
tossing it over to danny, likewho you're, the kids, the next
generation, both with theirfriends and the parents of their
friends, are going to model somuch of why.
Who we are with you know as asadults, as parents, and maybe
(27:21):
you can kind of comment, danny,just on some of the impact you
see in that community in thatyou know kind of both friend
group of you know the nextgeneration as well as even the
parents, like we've talked about, the models that pour into
these kids.
Speaker 4 (27:35):
Yeah.
So I mean just looking back atjust things that have played a
part in my life.
I remember being 10 years oldI'm probably younger than that,
or 9, 10.
Something like that, it doesn'tmatter.
But being in church and therewas a drummer named Ryan and he
(28:01):
wore his hair a certain way andhe was awesome.
And he came up to me everysingle Sunday and was like, hey,
what's up, man, how are youdoing?
How are you doing?
Like, just made me feel knownand loved.
Well, I wanted to start playingthe drums.
Like drums were amazing.
I'm going to play drums.
And also my hair looked justlike his always and I dressed
(28:26):
just like him always and it wasjust like one of those things
that I just wanted to modelafter him.
Now I was taking thematerialistic route of it all,
but when it all came back it was, hey, I see something in him
that I don't see necessarily ineverybody else.
(28:46):
And then, putting that inperspective with nowadays and
being the youth director andseeing kids and how they operate
with other teens and looking atother parents, it's like, okay,
that isn't just for the six,seven, eight, 10 year old, right
(29:09):
, it's for everybody.
You can tell when somebodystarts hanging out with a bad
group of friends, instantly,like within a week they'll come
in one Wednesday and becompletely normal.
You're like just talking,talking about Jesus reading the
Bible.
And then two weeks later you'relike who is this kid?
(29:30):
Like what happened?
And I think that's when youstart talking to the parents and
you're like, have you guysnoticed change?
Yeah, I don't know what it is.
Well, then you guys starttalking.
It's like, oh, soccer seasonstarted, all right.
He's been hanging out with abunch.
Oh, soccer season started, allright, he's been hanging out
with a bunch of his soccerbuddies.
Or he's been hanging out with abunch of sports people.
Or oh, he's been hanging outwith this one kid, billy bob,
(29:54):
and he's been going over totheir house.
I'm not really sure the thedeal with that.
And it's just like, okay, well,you steward them so well.
And hey, we want you to be inchurch.
We want to bring you on Sundaywhere you can know and love and
(30:14):
get to understand who God is inyour life.
We do want and if you guysdisagree, you guys can just be
like I'm just going to stir thepot.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
We have to edit this out, yeah.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
But we have them for three hours max, right.
Some of us may only have themfor an hour and a half right.
So we are just a tool.
We're a vessel.
We're here as support.
We want to come alongsideparents.
We want to come alongside theteens and walk through their
life.
(30:58):
We want to help out parentswith small children, but, at the
end of the day, we're not theparent, right?
We want to come alongside you,we want you to be able to trust
us, but we want to get to knowyou and we want to, uh, make
sure that you're equipped as asmuch as possible.
And we understand that there'sgoing to be stuff that we're not
(31:21):
privileged to because you'rethe parent, um.
But at the end of the day, wealso see like, hey, your kid is
acting a fool, what is going on?
And being able to have thoserough conversations and hard
conversations with parents.
But ultimately, getting back toyour question, yeah, there's a
(31:43):
big.
It's very noticeable, right,and it plays a huge part.
And depending on where they goto school, what kids they're
hanging out with, what they'reinvolved in, what TV shows
they're watching, what hobbiesthey have, everything plays a
part.
Everything is molding yourchild in a way, and it's just
(32:06):
whether or not it's a good moldor a bad mold.
Now, I'm not saying build abubble, keep them hidden, put
them in the basement untilthey're older, because that's
not, that's not teaching themanything either.
Um, you need to teach them thewhy, you need to teach them the
what, you need to teach them thehow, and then you need to give
them a way to experience and usethose in a safe environment.
(32:31):
And, um, I think I'm superexcited because I think that's
one thing that the studentministry is kind of going um
into is okay.
Here's a safe environment ofevangelism.
Here's a safe environment of ofexplaining the why to other
people and being unashamed ofyour belief system.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
Yeah, I think thinking about community too.
Like I often tell the youngadults and it's the cliche, you
are who your five closestfriends are, right.
I tell them I feel like everysingle week, no matter what
we're talking about, somehowthat comes up because, like
Danny said, it's a clear, clearindicator of where they're going
(33:11):
to end up in the next couple ofweeks, months, years, because
it just is right, it's it'seasier to be pulled down than to
pull someone up, right, and andthen that's what we recognize.
And so even thinking about kidsand students and young adults
for, but then even thinkingabout the adult who's, who's
caring for them, like your fiveclosest friends, will have a
direct impact on your children,right On your teens, on your
(33:34):
influence.
And so it doesn't just matterwhen you get to student ministry
or when you get to the youngadult ministry, it starts in
your home, with who you hang outwith, with who you're around as
you're leading your children,because, just like they will end
up like their five closestfriends, you will end up like
and it it's not just even fiveclosest friends anymore now,
it's like your five mostfollowed instagram followers,
(33:58):
you mean like?
it's turned into a social media.
Who do you follow on socialmedia?
Who do you allow your kids tofollow on social media?
Or I don't want to get intolike parenting, but like who do
you let them watch on youtubewhen they're when?
they're kids or what you know,what shows, and, like they, they
are being formed, as Danny said, by something, and often, if
we're not confining them to abiblical outlet that's giving
(34:20):
them, giving them truth, they'rebeing discipled in the wrong
direction and we have to fightthe tide more so than going
upstream.
We're fighting now the tide torevert back doctrines that
they're being taught that aren'ttrue.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Yeah, I mean, I think the world is trying to shape
them right Every day, andchildren are, and young students
.
Their identity is being shapedand we also know, especially
like preteen middle school years, right, raise your hand if you
did not have an identity crisisat some point when you were in
middle years?
Right, raise your hand if youdid not have an identity crisis
at some point when you were inmiddle school, right.
(34:53):
So the enemy sees that and heis looking to distort, you know,
their view of truth, right, andwhat the truth about who they
are is.
So I think it is so importantthat we are positioning them
among friends and inenvironments where they are able
(35:15):
to remember that my identity isrooted in who God says I am not
.
The world that's trying todistort the truth and, you know,
at times is having success andsaying, well, if you don't feel
like you fit in here, then youmust be this, and which are just
lies from the enemy.
So I do think they'reinfluencers from those preteen
(35:39):
years up through.
You know, early middle schooland even into late high school
is just so important, it is sotrue.
You are who your friends are.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
I mean, and you see it in again my son is three.
What we watch on TV matters,because I think of just even him
wanting to be a superhero.
But he sees the image of thesuperhero and starts jumping off
my couch because he thinks he'sSpider-Man.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
You know, what.
Speaker 4 (36:05):
I mean, and I'm like dude, you can't do that one.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
Please stop, you will get hurt and your sister will
do the same thing and she'll geteven hurt.
But it's the thought process ofthat, right?
It's the example of that thatthey're seeing things and
they're following things, and so, just as they'll follow Iron
man, spider-man or whoever,they're going to follow the
behaviors they see in someonethey trust even more than what
they see on the screen.
And so, yeah, it's, and itoften, I think, it can sound
(36:29):
like well, how am I?
I'm just doing or not doingthings.
I'm not investing.
The things we do, the parameterswe set, the ways that we lead
and guide, like that's investing.
It doesn't have to be a sitdown Bible study although you
should do that at home but likethat doesn't have to be the only
mode of investment that happensto your kids or to young adults
, or to students or to kids, butit's how are we leading them?
(36:52):
That, I think, is a huge driverof the success of investment.
And so, again, it can soundlike do this, don't do this, you
should put them in this, youshould not put them in this.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
But those are big elements to investment that we
can't leave out in it.
So, just as we kind of wrap up,man, I know we could talk for
hours on this because there ismuch to be said, but for each of
you, maybe in 30, 60 seconds,what are the keys when it comes
to investing in the nextgeneration, that you want
anybody listening that you would, you know, really tell them to
be on mission, whether it'sdaily, as a parent, non-parent.
You know what are the keys.
(37:28):
So, tish, I'll let you go first.
I know that's a broad question.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
Yeah, I mean I loved what we heard this Sunday, right
, like Jesus, was relational andwe've been talking about that
here today.
Just connection at times overcontent.
But also at the younger ages, Ido feel so strongly that having
them in the Word, it is theWord that transforms the heart.
(37:54):
And we want gospel change.
We don't want just behaviorchange, we want them to be
obedient because they love Jesus, not just to think they can
earn their salvation.
We want them to love Him andtheir obedience flows through
that.
So I do believe you know if Icould go back in my own life and
(38:18):
know then what I know now,having been able to watch
children come up through theministry and just the importance
of having our kids in the wordand leading them in that so that
the word does start totransform and soften their
hearts.
(38:40):
And yeah, jar, I don't think ithas to be anything.
We've been putting out familydiscipleship, nuggets that it
doesn't have to be some huge sitdown preach sermon.
But how can they experience Godin their home right, In
addition to at church on Sunday?
But they, children, experienceGod through us and their parents
(39:04):
when they're young and thenultimately, ultimately, as they
kind of get up to Danny.
Now they're starting to reallyown their faith right and live
it out and determine.
This is what I believe, but nowI'm actually owning it and
living it out on my own.
So I would say that being inthe Word, being very relational
(39:26):
with our children in the church,allowing them to belong here
before we know that belongingleads to believing, leads to
becoming right.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
Invest in the heart, I would say, not just behavior,
if I could kind of maybesummarize that, danny.
Speaker 4 (39:45):
Yeah, it's a big question.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
We like to ask big questions.
Speaker 4 (39:50):
Yeah, we could have spent an hour just on that
question.
Um, no, I I think it.
If I had to summarize, I would,I would say, be authentic, um,
as as a leader, right, um, now,authenticity doesn't mean access
as well, and we could talkabout that for a million years
(40:14):
as well but just being around,being available and remembering
that every little thing is seenand does matter, like I think
about my kids seven, three, one,or well, seven, four, one and
(40:37):
just who are we surrounding themwith?
What friends get more accessthan other friends, and why,
what's the reasoning behind that?
And everything has a purpose,right, but, um, yeah, I would
say, be authentic, betransparent, um, and when you
screw up, say sorry.
(40:57):
Right, then kids need to seethe sin along with the
reconciliation, uh, for it, um,but yeah, just being the why be
the exemplifying of the why ofwhat you believe very good.
Speaker 3 (41:14):
I mean mine's, similar, I think, to both but
and kind of what we've talkedabout already.
But I think the two things thatI would maybe next steps and
encouragement say, okay, whatcan I do now would be to invite
them into your life and thenlead by example.
Right, invite them in and thenjust lead them by by the way
that you live your life and anddo all your right.
Invite them in and then justlead them by the way that you
live your life and do all youractions.
I mean so similar, and so thatshould flow into again how
(41:37):
grocery shop, what Bible studylooks like.
Parents are they seeing, areyour kids seeing you read the
scriptures?
Like, do they know what a Bibleis other than just on a Sunday
morning?
And so I think when you invitethem in and when you lead by
example, it almost you know,know, ushers in a deeper
understanding and a deeperrealization of, okay, they
believe this.
And if they believe this, Ithink I can too so awesome.
Speaker 1 (41:59):
Well, like I say, we definitely could do a long time,
but thank you all for yourinsight.
I think bottom line beinvesting in relationships,
especially in the nextgeneration.
That's where we know we canhave an impact in Christ
anywhere, but especially in ourkids, our students, our young
adults.
They really need us to beinvesting in them.
So, life Talk family, thanksfor joining us and we'll see you
(42:22):
all next time.
Thanks for tuning into the LifeTalk podcast.
If this episode encouraged you,please be sure to like, comment
, subscribe and leave a reviewso others can find this content
as well, and we'll look forwardto seeing you next Monday for
another great episode.
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