Our vision and ways for making young disciples
The Burning Youth Church We are the youth of Calvary Assembly of God. Calvary Youth Ministries was established in 1985 under the name “Solid Rock Youth Ministry.” In 2010 we changed our name to “Calvary Youth Church.” We are not our own church and we come are under the authority of Calvary Assembly of God. Our primary ministry happens at the Calvary Community Center where we have staff offices, the chapel and the gym. Students meet weekly for youth services on Wednesday nights and for discipleship on any given day at the center. In 2012 we decided to name our ministry “The Burning.” Our name is inspired by the all-consuming fire of God, by the Holy Spirit and by the presence of Jesus in the hearts of man. Each week we consider a service to be like throwing another log on the fire God started and our way of keeping the fire burning for Him. What We Do We focus our ministry into three Biblical principles. Fellowship. Worship. The Word. Acts 2:42 [NLT] All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper[a]), and to prayer. Fellowship Teens love friends, relationships and hanging out. This is youth ministry 101. We know relationships matter to teens so we offer time to hang out every Wednesday from 6:307:00 and after service from 8:30-9:00. We also offer a time of small group fellowship in the form of discipleship. From 7:00-7:35 we meet in small groups led by an adult leader and assisted by student leaders. During this time students are able to connect with each other on an intentional and deeper level. We as leaders also value this time because students now have more intentional face-to-face interaction with mentors such as us. Students are no longer just another number, they are someone we care to hear and speak Godly wisdom to each week. Small groups gives leaders a chance to care for students, offer spiritual accountability and pray for the needs of students. We see this as meeting students where they are, spiritually and emotionally. We value this time so much that we have committed to carry this small group interaction through the whole year, so adult leaders are extremely important to our weekly ministry success. Pastor Ryan also believes this empowers adults and student leaders to serve God. Rather than depending on Pastor Ryan or Pastor Yasmin to do all the care and
discipleship, youth leaders are able to be personal mentors to the teens in their group. This method has multiplied our influence and has given youth leaders a chance to have hands on interaction with shaping lives for Jesus. We encourage fellowship beyond the walls of the church and in the world of teens. Small groups can gather on their own time throughout the week for trips, breakfast, dinners, movies, shopping, beach, bowling, you name it, they can do it as a group. We encourage leaders to attend student activities such as recitals, sports, school plays and graduations. Fellowship is an adhesive fellowship is glue. Students are more likely to stick around and even bring friends if they have relationships within the youth ministry. We want to be close enough to students that our lives point them to Jesus. Worship Every day, every choice is an act of worship unto God. We teach students to live a lifestyle of obedience and honor with their whole bodies and their everyday living [Romans 12:1]. This is much different than singing a few songs. Praise and worship in church is a public expression of love and a time of affirming one’s loyalty to God. Corporate worship of God happens every week at “The Burning” service. After small group we spend time singing songs of worship from 7:35-8:00pm. Our worship is meant to help students connect with God through the avenue of music. We pick songs that speak of God’s attributes and center our focus on the good news (Gospel) of Jesus Christ. Our worship team consists of students and adults. Once again, we are empowering students and adults to be servants of God. We worship through Fine Arts. The Assemblies of God fellowship created Fine Arts to encourage and equip students to use their talents for ministry. The ministry of Fine Arts challenges students to preach, sing, perform dramas, poetry, draw, paint, and many more artistic forms of worship. Through the ministry of Fine Arts, students are using their God given talents and abilities to worship Him and spiritually build up others. Each year the Fine Arts team performs at a district and national level. The national level takes us all over the United States to places like Denver, Kentucky and Florida. Fine Arts ministry gives our students purpose and unique ways to worship God.
The Word Everything we do flows from the Bible. Wednesday night focuses on fellowship, worship and the preaching and teaching of the Bible. We have a strong conviction to preach God’s Holy Word and teach what God intended and inspired the authors to write. We believe that students who learn the Bible will also live the truths of the Bible. Our goal is to see students go to the Word for everything in their lives. We teach that a daily dependence on God begins in a daily reading and practice of the Bible. We believe teaching them to use the Bible for themselves will teach them how to feed and grow their faith when they get on their own. We are basically teaching them to have an understanding of God’s Word so they can have a stronger relationship with Jesus Christ. The Burning Retreats We like to get away three times a year for disciple retreats. We started a fall retreat in 2008 and it has been a hit ever since. The fall retreat is a time of fellowship, worship and the Word at designated location away from home. We stay at beach houses, hotels or campgrounds and go deeper with God. We attend youth convention every year as another retreat. Youth convention is a twoday experience where we gather with thousands of other teens for fellowship, worship and the Word in Ocean City, Maryland. The convention includes conference speakers, a worship band and a powerful encounter with God. Our last trip is for Fine Art students. When we go to National Fine Arts the trip is a week long of youth services with up to 10,000 students. A week long of fellowship, worship and the Word is extremely powerful and has taken the place of youth camps. We do one retreat that is in the community center called “Encounter.” Encounter is our version of Vacation Bible School for teens. The Encounter is the last week in June for four nights to gather for group games, fellowship, worship and the preaching of the Word. This week has been a powerful experience for the growth of our teens.
Everything We Do Is Discipleship Jesus called us to be Disciples of Christ. A disciple is a student, a learner who also does and lives as Jesus lived. 1 John 2:6 says, “Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did.” Through fellowship, worship and the Word we are pointing students to follow Jesus. Our mission is simple: point and lead students to learn, love and live Jesus. Jesus said, “Go and make disciples.” The Apostle Paul says in Colossians 1:2829, “He (Jesus) is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.” This is our leadership heart beat at The Burning and we ask our parent’s to join in on the same mission of making disciples. Learn Jesus Our focus at the Burning Youth Church is to teach Jesus to students who are believers and unbelievers. Believers need to fix their focus on Jesus because as Hebrews 12:1-3 says, He is, “the author and perfecter of faith.” We teach Jesus to unbelievers because he is the good news that saves us from our sin, the Gospel. We believe non-Christian students should learn about Jesus more than just a simple invite to believe. We want them to know why they need Jesus and whom they are believing in. We are pointing teens to Jesus, the central figure of Christianity and the Gospel that graciously forgives, redeems and loves. Our hope is that every student will see their need to surrender their life to Jesus; Trust in Him for salvation and make the decision to follow Him. Love Jesus Learning Jesus is the beginning. The more you know the deeper the relationship goes. To love Jesus is to obey the teachings of Christ (John 14:23). To obey the teachings of Christ is to live and apply what Jesus taught. Jesus clearly stated that “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me” John 14:21. What are the commands? Love God and love others (Matthew 22:37-39). Loving Jesus is not an overnight process. It’s hard to obey God and love others. It’s hard to apply all that is to be lived out. Thankfully, works does not save us but by grace through faith and so proving our love to God is not a requirement for salvation. We teach the kids to apply Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
In other words, because of what God has graciously done for us, let us offer our lives as an act of love and worship to Him. We strive to be holy because He is Holy and we serve because Christ came to serve and He is our greatest example. We love because he first loved us. We have the Spirit of God to help us live and love God. These are all Biblical teachings that we teach students to apply and it’s all to help them learn and love Jesus. Live Jesus Lastly, we point and lead students to live Jesus. Basically, we teach the students by our living examples and the teaching of God’s Word to live as Jesus lived. Jesus forgives, loves, serves, preaches the Gospel, prays for the sick, teaches disciples, and stands for truth and justice. Whatever Jesus did, we want to do the same. We are not imitating Jesus insincerely. We are imitating Jesus with a genuine, sincere passion because we have the Spirit of Jesus who lives in us (Galatians 2:20; Romans 8:10; 1 Corinthians 6:17). When we decided to accept the grace of Jesus and follow Him we genuinely took on a new will, a new plan, a new life that moves, breathes and speaks like Jesus. We must choose to live like Him, cooperating with the Holy Spirit and not our sinful nature (Galatians 5). Spheres of Influence The Burning Youth Church also looks at what we do with fellowship, worship and the Word in spheres of influence. The Burning influences students for Christ in five spheres of ministry. Sphere one: Youth Service/small group every Wednesday. Sphere two: Sunday school Discipleship. Sphere Three: Discipleship retreats and trips. Sphere four: One-on-one discipleship/mentoring. Sphere five: fellowship and social gatherings with teens. Leaders have the potential to point and lead students to learn, love and live Jesus in these five spheres through personal contact and through electronic means. The potential is full proof because we offer our entire lives as an act of worship to God, so in every sphere you are potentially pointing students to Jesus. The key to accomplish our vision is to be intentional and doing life together with Jesus.
The Most important Leadership Principle for All Burning Leaders. We cannot point or lead students to learn, love and live Jesus if we are not applying this lifestyle. From your journey in Christ you will teach Christ. The stronger your journey with Christ, the more you can teach Jesus, demonstrate love for Jesus and live Jesus through example. The greatest way to point believers or unbelievers to Jesus is through our living example. Parents in Youth Ministry Being a parent is a ministry in itself. Being a parent who raises children in the love of God and obedience to Him is a Biblical responsibility (Deuteronomy 6:4-6; Ephesians 6:4). We see the Burning Youth Church ministry being in partnership with parents. Both ministries have the same goal in mind: point children to the way, the truth and the life, Jesus Christ. We live in partnership by being unified on the same Biblical doctrine or principles. We live in partnership by keeping a line of communication open for counsel and insight. We live in partnership by supporting each other’s ministry. Parents can affirm the youth ministry’s importance by encouraging their children to attend, get involved and promote the ministry to other children and parents. The youth ministry affirms the parent’s authority and boundaries for the students that have been communicated. Here’s an example: We do not teach dating at a certain age because that is often determined by parents and we do not know when all students should date because it depends on the spiritual maturity of each student. The youth ministry affirms the children to honor and obey their parent’s through Biblical teaching and discipleship. The two ministries partner the most through prayer. We must pray for each other because we both have the same Jesus who we hope to see impact the child we are influencing. We both get weary; we both lack answers, we both need the grace and Spirit of God to help us. And then there is the child, who must have ears to hear, eyes to see, ultimately a heart open to the things of God. Let us pray that your child will receive the Word of God and it will do what it does best, “teach, rebuke, correct and train in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Lastly, it goes without saying, both ministries can volunteer time to help in both ministries. Parents can serve in various ways, such as, small group leaders, chaperones, host fellowships or food (students favorite ;) The youth ministry can provide counseling and resources to help parents continue their God given ministry. This is our ministry. This is what we do and why we do it. For more information or questions on the reasons and ways we do ministry please contact us at rcoon@calvarydover.org or 302-697-7776. You can also visit us at www.calvaryyouthchurch.com