Faith on Fire: 15 Lessons to Help Teenagers Change the World - Softcover

Turnbull, Helen; Gowensmith, Debbie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0764420771 ISBN 13: 9780764420771

Publisher: Group Pub Inc, 1999

Synopsis

These innovative lessons show teenagers how to make a difference through caring for God's creation, through community service and through global outreach. Plus, they'll see how the Bible applies to their everyday lives, to their community and around the world. Youth workers will teach the basic foundations of Christianity, and how they relate to servanthood. Teens will study the nature of God, how to share their faith, how to show love to others and more. Practical help, fun activities and action ideas will have teenagers working at changing their world in no time!

About this title

From the Back Cover

Help your teenagers live their faith by making a difference in the world! Teenagers can change the world...Use Faith on Fire to show them ways to connect their faith to servant projects in their community and throughout the world. These 15 meaningful lessons help teenagers discover how they can make a difference by...

Caring for God's creation,

Serving their community, and

Serving others through global outreach. With your youth group, you'll focus on fundamental elements of the Christian faith that show how and why God wants us to serve others. Plus, youth will learn to share their faith, love others and appreciate God's world, while deepening their own faith. Each service idea in Faith on Fire is linked to a Faith Foundation, along with...

3 to 5 activities to explore the link,

true success stories of teenagers making a difference, and how they did it,

thought-provoking quotes to encourage discussion, and

spiritual action ideas to help teenagers apply their faith to life. Make your youth ministry a caring, service-minded one...with Faith on Fire.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction Maybe your youth are the show-up-to-church-then-get-on-with-my-life kind of people. Perhaps, like many other young people, they see no real connection between the Christian faith and the "real life" concerns of every day. Well, have your teenagers ever thought of hiking as a way to praise God? How about creating a Web page as a way to serve their community? How about hosting a potluck as a way to understand world hunger? As Christians, teenagers can know their faith permeates every part of life, from how they worship on Sunday mornings to how they act when they go through the checkout line at the store. Their relationship with Jesus shouldn't end when they leave the church building; everything they do is an expression of their faith. Because of that active faith, they can approach everything they do as spiritual, as service. So they can use hikes, Web pages, and potlucks all as acts of service. Service is a natural extension of their faith. Teaching your students this message will meet needs they may already have. The George H. Gallup International Institute lists the following as basic needs of teenagers

The need to believe that life is meaningful and has a purpose.

The need for a sense of community and deeper relationships.

The need to be appreciated and loved.

The need to be listened to-to be heard.

The need to feel that one is growing in faith.

The need for practical help in developing a mature faith. The institute also acknowledges service as an important factor in meeting those needs. "Our young people sustain the...instinct towards voluntarism and acts of charity. Of course they like to have a good time, but...nothing can match the appeal of giving them the opportunity to donate their time, energy and enthusiasm to the community" (The Religious Life of Young Americans) Teaching active faith is a golden opportunity to reach out to your students. You'll meet their needs, and they'll feel great about what they're doing. As they learn about basic Christian principles such as stewardship, spiritual growth, and responsibility, they'll develop a stronger relationship with God and a solid, active faith they'll carry throughout their lives. In this book, you'll find three sections: "Caring for God's Creation," "Serving the Community," and "Reaching Out to the World." Each section contains five chapters that focus on different Faith Foundations-fundamental elements of the Christian faith you want your youth to understand. Through Faith Foundations such as the nature of God, sharing faith, and love, your youth can learn that service goes hand in hand with a deeper, lasting Christian faith. Each chapter in Faith on Fire is rooted in Scriptural Soil; this biblical exploration examines the link between the Faith Foundation and an element of service. Three to five activities will help you explore this link with your young people and get them thinking about and relating their faith to life. Each chapter also provides Spiritual Action ideas to help teenagers apply their faith to life. Faith on Fire also provides a combination of true success stories, thought-provoking quotes, and result-oriented statistics to encourage solutions and hopefulness. Rather than overwhelming your students with negative information, empower them with the assurance that people's positive actions do make a difference. You can use each chapter as a complete Bible study, exploring the Scriptural Soil with your teenagers, using the sidebars to promote discussion, and incorporating a Spiritual Action idea. Or you can pull in an activity to enhance your lessons and energize your students through their interest in service. Most of all, have fun! You'll see your young people mature as Christians, deepen their faith, serve others, and discover that their faith affects every area of their life.

Edition details

• Publisher: Group Pub Inc
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0764420771
• ISBN 13: 9780764420771
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 139