Greg Stier joins Brian this week for another conversation about having a gospel advancing ministry. This week they discuss the 7 Values of a Gospel Advancing Ministry and how you can start implementing them into your student ministry. Greg is the founder and CEO of Dare 2 Share Ministries.
A 2013 Research project brought out 7 values that were evident in each and every high performing ministry in new conversion growth. Stier confirmed these statistics himself with a tour of interviews and a study in the books of Acts.
Gospelize Your Youth Ministry – Stier’s book on how to take these 7 values and create a new mindset for ministry. Your ministry should fit your culture and context while using these 7 ingredients.
- Intercessory Prayer Fuels it – Ministries advance on their knees. Students and leaders in prayer is a primary characteristic of ministries with high conversion growth. Don’t try to do it on your own. (1 Tim. 2) Jesus lived in full dependence on the Holy Spirit in prayer, so you should too. Intercessory prayer: stepping in between the unsaved and God.
- Relational Evangelism Drives it – Teens reach their peers with the Gospel by regularly engaging in gospel conversations.
- Leaders Fully Embrace and Model it – Adult and student leaders are also engaged in gospel conversations to set the pace for others in prayer and evangelism.
- A Disciple Multiplication Strategy Ignites it – Stier uses Son Life with their 4 Chair strategy.
- Bold Vision Focuses it – Minister with a vision to reach the world. Foster a global missions mindset. Pray through selecting your vision and be specific about who you want to reach. This would be something beyond your curriculum. Example: each teen takes a “cause turf” surrounding their home. This shows the scale of their impact, and serves as a plan for who they seek to reach.
- Biblical Outcomes Measure it – NCG: New Conversion Growth. What percentage of your youth group came to Christ from teenagers engaging in gospel conversations?” 25% new conversion growth is off the charts and 10% is healthy. This measures actual kingdom impact per capita. To measure spiritual maturation ask: What percent of my kids are engaged in gospel conversations at least once a month? Ask them in a survey. Teens are usually pretty honest.
- Programs Fully Reflect it –Priorities are reflected in their programs. Program your priorities into your normal and daily ministry. How do you make evangelism happen? Example: Take 5 for a Cause: for five minutes in your regular meeting, ask students to share about their gospel conversations. This is a small tweak, but a simple and revolutionary step.
Teenagers are into causes – the Great Commission is the ultimate cause.
Don’t play defense in ministry. Play offense. Use the Spirit, His Word, the Gospel and the people of God. Go out and watch what God will do.
Resources:
Sonlife’s 4 Chair strategy: https://home/283089.cloudwaysapps.com/bnfxndjgwh/public_html.sonlife.com/ provides a disciple multiplication strategy resource and tools to help measure spiritual maturation.
On the Dare 2 Share website (www.dare2share.org) youth leaders have formed a network sharing each other’s recipes for success.
Free digital download of Gospelize Your Youth Ministry book by Greg Stier: https://home/283089.cloudwaysapps.com/bnfxndjgwh/public_html.dare2share.org/gospelize/