Adventist Youth Program Ideas

Idea # 4: A Church Ministry for You

Objective: To find a place for every church member in the work of God. This is also useful for Ministry Heads to identify possible recruits for ministry projects.

Materials Needed: A list of all the ministries in your church (Prison Ministry, Radio Ministry, Publishing Ministry, Welfare Ministry, etc.), active and otherwise. Names of the ministries written in individual signboards. You can also have the option to make a list of the activities, projects, and plans of that ministry to go along with the signboard.

Mechanics:  Before the start of the activity, group seats according to the number of ministries in your church and place a signboard at each seat group. Have assistants stationed at each location. It might even be better if you can ask the Ministry Heads to act as your assistants for this activity. Begin by saying that the Church is organized for missionary purposes and that every member is called upon to be a missionary. Briefly introduce the ministries you have at your church. Instruct the congregation to take a tour of the different stations and find the ministry they feel they are best suited for. They are then to stay at that station with the others who chose the same ministry. When everyone is already seated, the assistants/Ministry Heads will begin to ask each person at his station to say why he/she chose that ministry and what he/she thinks he/she could do to contribute to that ministry. Ideas for new projects may also be gathered. Allow about 20-40 minutes for the discussions, depending on the size of the groups. If you have small congregation (like we do at my church), you can skip the regrouping and just ask the members to come up to the microphone one by one. When everyone has had the chance to share, end by saying that there is a place in the church's work for everyone and that God would be very happy if all would enlist and share in the burdens and joys of the church.

And that's it. Everyone participated, everyone found out what they can do for the church, and the ministries found a fresh batch of possible recruits. Make sure to do a follow up with the Ministry Heads regarding projects and activities.

If you try this at your church, I'll be glad to know how it goes.

Enjoy your AY Program!

Who Shall Abide in the Tabernacle of the Lord?

Psalm 15

A Psalm of David

 LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?  

He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.  

[He that] backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, 

nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.  

In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. 

[He that] sweareth to [his own] hurt, and changeth not.  

[He that] putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. 

He that doeth these [things] shall never be moved.  

Teaching Reminder #1

You need to learn right methods and acquire tact for the training of your little ones, that they may keep the way of the Lord. You need to seek constantly the highest culture of mind and soul, that you may bring to the education and training of your children a restful spirit, a loving heart; that you may imbue them with pure aspirations, and cultivate in them a love for things honest and pure and holy. As a humble child of God, learn in the school of Christ; seek constantly to improve your powers, that you may do the most perfect, thorough work at home [and school], by both precept and example.

Ellen G. White
Child Guidance

rainbow promises

Yesterday I saw the biggest, prettiest rainbow arch over the city where I live, and it made me think of how wonderfully and amazingly miraculous God's grace is.

I found myself explaining to the friend I was with how rainbows are made by sunlight shining through water droplets. It's not a physical object. Nobody's ever touched it. No man owns it. 

In contrast to the dull and hazy artificiality of the city scape, there it was so ordinarily natural and yet so miraculously wonderful or wonderfully miraculous, whichever is most fathomable to you.

I no longer thought it unfair that there never are any auroras in this part of world.

Kids nowadays (or at least the ones I know) rarely use the word "rainbow." It's as if the word and the phenomenon it refers to doesn't exist beyond the nursery books in their reality. It breaks my heart to think such a wonder should slip away unnoticed. Perhaps they're all too busy staring into flat screen TVs, tablets, smartphones, PSPs. Too busy, just too busy to look up.

Together, my friend and I remembered how God first spread the rainbow across the sky after the world's sins and cleansing. The rainbow is a promise. To them, to him, to me. 

Grace, wonderful grace.