1. Teach your youth group to pray for their unsaved friends.
Praying by name for lost students is a must. When teenagers embrace the power of prayer, they are transformed into servants who continually look to see where God is at work. Teenagers begin to see their friends from a completely different perspective. Through prayer, God reveals to us those who are seeking him. Through prayer, teenagers become sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit and daily look for opportunities to witness as God guides. Teach your teenagers now how to pray for their unsaved friends and family.
2. Have teenagers write down their personal story (testimony).
Before a teenager can witness, he must know how Jesus has transformed and saved his own life! Teens need to understand the power of the gospel. Remind your teenagers that there is power in their personal story. If Jesus has truly changed their lives, how can they not talk about the transforming power of the cross? Encourage your youth to record their story. Ask them to be specific. Help them to clearly communicate the difference Jesus makes in their lives each day.
3. Lead a teaching series on evangelism with your group.
Do some advance planning and put together a four- to five-week series focused on evangelism. Show them the biblical model. Use New Testament stories of life change. Make sure you do more than just “challenge” your youth. Be intentional and designate part of the series to practical step-by-step equipping for witness training.
4. Plan a big outreach/evangelism event.
Toward the end of your evangelism series, plan an exciting outreach event for your group. This will allow them to practice and apply the principles they’ve learned. Plan your event with excellence. Don’t throw it together at the last minute. Consider partnering with other churches in your area. Make sure the gospel message is clearly and effectively presented at this event. The gospel is the priority. Build the rest of your event around the gospel presentation.
5. Help students move from “event focused” to “lifestyle focused” evangelism.
Help your students understand that success in evangelism is found in sharing the story. Teach them that as followers of Christ, we are simply to be faithful in sharing the good news. Many youth groups only see effective evangelism at the big event. Big events are good, but Christ also desires that we share our faith as a lifestyle. As youth leaders, we must model lifestyle evangelism.
Bruce Edwards is the Youth Ministry Specialist with the Tennessee Baptist Convention. To connect with Bruce about these and other youth ministry topics, email him at bedwards@tnbaptist.org
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