“Let your lives be built on Him . . . then you’ll overflow with thankfulness.” -Col. 2:7

“The blessings of the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.” – Proverbs 10:22

Everybody wants to enjoy life. God wants us to enjoy life. I know a lot of people who have the desire to enjoy life, but aren’t. Often we are looking for joy, success, and happiness in all the wrong places. I’ve found that enjoying life comes from:

• Having a relationship with God – this is the foundation and fulfillment of true joy and happiness.

• Having great relationships - There isn’t anything more important in our lives than our relationships with others – cherish and cultivate them.

• Recognizing that changing a life, not drawing a crowd, is true success.

• Creating great experiences and memories – not gaining more material possessions. Create them often.

• Living with High Standards, Integrity, and Character -  I live my life according to the Bible. God created us and He knows the way we should live to enjoy life. He gives it to us in His Word!

• Serving - “A life not lived for others, is hardly a life.” -Mother Theresa

• Giving your life for others – right now I give my life to the students at Revolution – I love all of them so much and it is one of the greatest joys to go through life with them, pour into them, and have them pour into me.

I think Ralph Waldo Emerson sums it up well:

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of earnest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;  to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Are you enjoying life? If not, start doing some of the things I mentioned and watch as joy comes into your life.

What have you found joy and happiness come from?

8 Months ago I picked up a side job being a sever at Houlihans. When my manager interviewed me he said, “I believe everyone needs to work as a server at some point in their lives.” 8 months later . . . I’m not sure I’d say everyone needs to, but I will say that as a server, you can definitely learn a lot of lessons about life. Here are some I’ve learned:

6 Things Servers Wish People Knew

• We Make $2.83 an hour and depend on Tips for the rest of our income – When I was in High School, I didn’t tip people. I was totally ignorant how dependent servers are on tips. Be a blessing to your server!

• We Make Mistakes, Be Understanding – We do our best to create an excellent experience for you, if we mess something up, it wasn’t intentional, it was accidental. How do you want to be treated when you mess up?

• 20% is the New 15% - This could be wrong, but I’ve noticed that anything less than a 20% is disappointing! (I recognize that the server should deserve it though!)

• Don’t Stay at Your Table for 5 Hours – Servers make money by moving tables. We want you come to and enjoy yourself and have a great experience, but keep in mind that the average server will have 3-4 tables. If you occupy one for 4 hours, that’s 3-4 tables that could have come and went and left us with tips. Be mindful!

• Christians Rarely Represent God – you can pray at your table, speak blessings over your server, and a handful of other things, but IF YOU LEAVE A BAD TIP – you discredit anything you’ve done or said. You end up pointing people away from God.

• Servers are People with Real Lives - this does not excuse poor service on the servers part, but most people think servers are just someone they can devalue. Please keep in mind that they have a personal life to and could be having the worst day of their life – be an encouraging customer, not one who will tear a server down.

Any servers out there? What are some things you wish people knew about you?

¹²Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.                                                                                         I Tim. 4:12

Practical Success

Yesterday we covered some success principles . . . today I want to focus on things the I believe are critical to a successful youth ministry.

Small Groups - They empower your leaders to be “youth pastors” over the students in their group. They are a catalyst for building authentic relationships. As you grow bigger, you must become smaller (still be able to connect with everybody) and the only way to effectively do this is through small groups.

Discipleship – You have to have some kind of process in which students can grow up spiritually. Every youth group will be different – maybe you have classes on a consistent basis, a discipleship program, or some other avenue.

The Right People in the Right Place - You have to have great leaders in coordinator positions – let them own and dream for their areas. Let them schedule, train, and grow their areas!

Student Leadership - If you don’t have some way for students to lead as they get older, you’ll never keep your Jr.’s and Sr.’s… too often we offer the same thing for everyone for their 5 years in youth group and expect them to love it . . .they won’t. We need to empower them, train them, and expect big things from them.

Opportunities to Serve – I think it’s critical for your youth ministry to serve your community. Start an outreach team and have monthly or quarterly outreaches. It allows students to forget about themselves and be a part of something much bigger than themselves.

Follow – Up - You have to have a way to follow-up with students who comes to your youth group on a weekly basis, follow-up with first time guests, and follow up on salvations.

What practical factors do you believe are necessary for a successful youth ministry?