Sent By God For God

Over the last several weeks in Southwest Youth, we’ve been spending a lot of time talking about what it means to share Jesus with the people around us. We’ve been working through the book Gospelize and challenging our students to think differently about the places God has put them.

Their schools, sports teams, jobs, friend groups, and neighborhoods aren’t just places they go every day. They’re places filled with people where they have the opportunity to love, serve, and point toward Jesus. A big part of our conversations has been about being intentional. Sharing Jesus doesn’t mean you have to force a conversation or have all the right answers. A lot of times it starts much simpler than that. Pray for your friends. Care about what’s happening in their lives. Listen to them. Be willing to talk about what Jesus has done in your life when the opportunity comes. We want our students to understand that they don’t have to wait until they’re older to be used by God. God has placed people in their lives right now who need to hear the good news of Jesus.

That’s also a challenge that goes beyond our youth group. All of us have people God has placed in our lives. We have coworkers, neighbors, friends, family members, classmates, and others we interact with every week. So one phrase we’ve been coming back to with our students is that we are sent by God for God. My hope is that our students begin to see themselves that way everywhere they go—and maybe it’s a good reminder for the rest of us too. Let’s pay attention to the people God has put around us and be intentional about showing them Jesus.

- Jamey