08/12/2026
Happy International Youth Day 🌎
I love my job. I love what I GET TO DO!
As a youth pastor, I’ve become more convinced of this: students aren’t the church of tomorrow. They are the church today.
1 Timothy 4:12 says:
“Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.”
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I know this personally.
My life was changed because someone chose to love Jesus beyond Sunday. Someone was willing to cross cultural, racial, and generational lines to meet me where I was, believe in me, and mentor me.
They didn’t just tell me about Jesus.
They showed me a better way to live.
That’s why I believe one of the greatest investments we can make as a society is an investment in the next generation.
Not just giving them information, but giving them people who will walk with them.
Not just telling them what to avoid, but showing them what they can become.
Not just asking them to attend church, but inviting them into a life with Jesus.
Because our students are searching for identity, purpose, belonging, and a way forward.
And we have the opportunity to show them that Jesus is the way.
So today, I’m grateful for every parent, teacher, coach, mentor, pastor, and leader who chooses to invest in young people.
The next generation is worth our time.
They are worth our patience.
They are worth our best.
Because we’re not just preparing the church of tomorrow.
We’re discipling the church of today ✝️
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