I’ve always liked the idea of cooking. If you’ve ever met me, you’re probably thinking that by cooking I mean eating. And your instincts would be correct in the sense that I do like eating, and my cube-ish dimensions prove it. But I’m serious when I say that I do like the idea of cooking. I’ve always enjoyed watching other people prepare food. I watch the Food Network chefs make all kinds of dishes that make me wish I were a world-class chef. There’s nothing worse than your mouth watering over an amazing-looking meal on television only to suppress your saliva glands by going to the pantry and grabbing a bag of cardboard-like tortilla chips. Like I said, I like the idea of cooking, but I don’t have a clue how to do it and, to tell you the truth, I don’t really even try and learn.

It’s one thing to not act on my chef-envy, but it’s another thing entirely to treat my faith in Jesus in the same way. Yet, so often, I find that to be the case. I really like the idea of reading tons of Scripture everyday, but I just don’t seem to get around to it. I love spending time with people who really know the Bible and speak about it as if it were an old friend, yet I rarely memorize Scripture. I long for genuine friendships with non-believers, yet the distance between my front door and the neighbor’s seems somehow insurmountable (and I live in an apartment).

At the Shoreline Campus this fall, we hope to address together the issue of bridging the gap between desire and action. Scripture often uses the Greek word praxis, which refers to the intentional working out of belief. We are commanded to not just be followers of Jesus in our minds and hearts, but in our hands and feet. We want to be a people of praxis.

Starting this Wednesday, September 3^rd, the junior high and high school students involved in Proxy are going to launch out on a journey of praxis. We don’t want to sit and listen and think and agree and feel and desire anymore. We want to act. This year, Proxy is going to be a ministry of action. We are going to explore how following Jesus not only has implications on what we believe, but how we live. If you are a junior high or high school student, join us as we seek to intentionally and actively follow Jesus.

Proxy (ages 11&up)

Schirmer Auditorium

7:00-8:30pm

Wednesdays starting September 3

Earlier this week, I happened across Dr. John Piper’s latest sermon. Entitled “Let No One Despise You for Your Youth”, the sermon is a passionate call to pre-teens and teenagers to live now for the glory of Jesus and an entreaty to their parents and others in the church to give of themselves to pass on their faith in Jesus to the next generation. I have listened to the sermon several times this week, each time grasping more of Piper’s great wisdom in this area. I highly recommend that you listen to it if you are a pre-teen or teenager, a parent with children of any age, a believer in Jesus who cares about the faith of the next generation, or a Christian. In other words, listen to it!

Piper Sermon

Like any Piper sermon, this one is full of Scripture. This sermon and the series it introduces focus on Paul’s encouragement to his young apprentice, Timothy.

“Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” – 1 Timothy 4:12

Piper explains that he has been convicted by the following passage from the psalms and has responded by preaching to teenagers, both at his own church during Sunday services and in the youth ministry and at youth conferences across the country.

“So even to old age and gray hairs,

O God, do not forsake me,

until I proclaim your might to

another generation,

your power to all those to come.” – Psalm 71:18

I pray that this passage of Scripture would be true of Mars Hill Church.

If as a result of Dr. Piper’s sermon or the above Scripture you have a desire to invest in the future generations of believers in Jesus and would like help in doing so, please feel free to email shorelineyouth@marshillchurch.org

“What is teenage life to me? That’s a good question. If I said what teenage life is to me in one word, it would have to be ‘hard.’ No one really gets you, and you don’t even really get yourself. You’re just starting to figure yourself out, who you are and why you are here” – high school student.

Apart from a radical conversion experience, adolescence is the stage in life during which one’s identity is most shaped. As seen in the above quotation, this is a tumultuous, confusing, and difficult time for most teenagers, and the stakes are high. This being the case, it is quite confounding that many parents and other adults think it best to “give adolescents space” and to allow them “the freedom to make their own decisions and mistakes.” This is probably due in large part to the fact that most teenagers give the impression that they are not interested in having loving adults involved in their lives. In fact, the exact opposite is true. Teenagers “are desperate for adults who care enough to look beneath the surface of their layered living, to stand beside them in the midst of their inconsistency, and to gently and patiently lead, shepherd, and guide them into adulthood” – Chap Clark.

It is the joyful duty of both biological families (Deut. 32:46-47) and church families (Phil. 3:17) to bring adolescents in the church to maturity in Christ. At Mars Hill, we believe that parents are the primary mentors, disciple builders, and pastors of their kids. This does not, however, mean that the church family has no responsibility in the matter. In fact, the best parents will be the first to tell you that they need help in raising their kids to become faithful disciples of Jesus. Teenagers need to hear the Gospel preached to them, not only by their parents, but also by other loving members of the body of Christ. Following Jesus “is a long, complex journey, and adolescents need someone who will walk alongside them as long as it takes” – Chap Clark.

As adolescents search for their true identity, it is paramount that they come to an understanding that, if they are followers of Jesus, he is their identity. Paul says it like this:

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” – Galatians 2:20

If you love Jesus, like teenagers, and are interested in walking alongside a few of them for as long as it takes, please email shorelineyouth@marshillchurch.org about volunteering with Crux (junior high ministry) or Proxy (high school ministry).

(The above quotations are from Chap Clark’s book entitled Hurt: Inside the World of Today’s Teenagers (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004).)

Last weekend, around 50 high school students and 20 adult leaders from every Mars Hill campus got together to worship Jesus in road tripping, rock banding, movie watching, Bible reading, snowboarding, coffee drinking, taffy eating, snow tubing, picture taking, pool swimming, and constant conversating (I know it’s not a word, but did you catch the meter!?) Oh, and we also studied the entire Bible. What did you do last weekend?

The theme of the weekend was “Storyline.” Over the span of four teaching sessions, Deacon Andrew Pack walked us through the entire Bible, showing us how Jesus and the gospel are the central theme, or storyline, of it all. A special thanks goes out to Jesus for giving Andrew the wisdom and knowledge to be able to do that!

During the last night’s session, we played a game called Family Feud, designed by Proxy West Seattle director, Alan Anderson. Don’t be confused by the name, though. Mr. Anderson is no Richard Dawson. In this version, the students were polled concerning how they would describe their leaders. The result was that Alan was called “white” (agreed) and “unpredictable” (agreed), Mike Johnson, who works with teens in Ballard, was described as being an “Eagle Scout” (correct) and “ripped out of his mind” (obviously), Dustin Nickerson, Eastside Proxy director, was referred to as “motherly” (yikes) and “rules” (yes, sir), and I was described as “a laughing, old school, Mexican eater.” I’d like to take this opportunity to bring clarity to said title. I do enjoy laughing. However, I am neither old nor in school. Finally, I am a joyful connoisseur of tacos, enchiladas, and burritos of all kinds. Perhaps it is more appropriate to call me a Mexican food eater…

The best part of the weekend was undoubtedly watching Jesus work in the hearts of those who attended. Jesus graciously allowed many of the leaders to talk to students about life, enjoy their company, and pray with them. In the same way that I am completely unworthy to be loved and accepted by God, I am equally unworthy of the privilege of watching and even being involved in Jesus’ changing students’ hearts. Jesus was most certainly at work last weekend, and, for that, we are very thankful and feel tremendously blessed.

If you’d like to see more pictures from the trip to Leavenworth, go here.

If you are interested in working with the junior high or high school students of Mars Hill, please email your respective campus Mars Hill Youth director: shorelineyouth@marshillchurch.org, ballardyouth@marshillchurch.org, eastsideyouth@marshillchurch.org, westseattleyouth@marshillchurch.org, wedgwoodyouth@marshillchurch.org

- Reagan North