One of my favorite things about being a Youth Director is the privilege I have to walk alongside students during the formative years of middle and high school. The joy of discipling students is rooted in the fact that they are beginning to wrestle with important questions about life like: “Who am I? What are my gifts? What is my purpose in life? What is God calling me to do?” I love talking with students about these weighty subjects and pointing them to God’s Word as the ultimate source of truth and guidance for life’s big questions.
However, my ultimate goal in our Youth Ministry is to urge students to remember that there is a question that ranks above every other question one can ask. It’s a question posed by Jesus in the gospels. As Jesus and the disciples are walking in the area of Caesarea Philippi (an area filled with pagan idol worship), the Lord first asks the twelve disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” (Mark 8.27). The disciples' answer is striking: the crowds in Jerusalem and Galilee think you are a great prophet along the lines of John the Baptist or Elijah. But Jesus, not satisfied with that answer, directs his question directly to the disciples: “But who do you say that I am?” (v. 29). There is no other question more important than that. “Who is Jesus?” is the big question that I want the CPC students to think about and answer during their time in Youth.
That was the central question of our Fall Youth Retreat last month. We had 63 students and 9 chaperones attend our retreat at Camp Vesper Point. Against the backdrop of God’s beautiful creation, we played together, ate together, worshiped together, and spent time learning about and discussing who Jesus is and what he has done for us. Our keynote speaker, Travis Hutchinson (Upper School Chaplain and Director of Spiritual Care at Chattanooga Christian School) guided us through the gospels as we learned about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Mr. Hutchinson unpacked the story and significance of the life of Jesus and presented us with life’s great question: “Who do you say that I am?” And we were reminded of the answer: that Jesus is our King, fully human and fully divine, who came to suffer in our place and rise again so that our hope in this life and in eternity is found in the wonderful work of Jesus.
With the retreat still fresh on the minds of the high school students, I asked several of them what they learned over the weekend. Here are a few quotes from their responses (used with their permission) on what the retreat meant to them:
- Etienne Lewin: “I treated this retreat as a time to rest, worship, and fellowship. I got so much out of the worship, and I loved being able to be close to my friends.”
- Danielle (Didi) Doran: “This fall retreat gave me so many memorable moments. I especially loved the bonfires, seeing fog in the morning, and learning about Jesus’ love for us.”
- Tyler Bacon: “The retreat revealed to me how much a few friends can impact your life, and how much community can have an impact on you when learning about Jesus.”
- Land Wooten: “The fall retreat is the youth event I look forward to the most every year. Such amazing fellowship with my church family and great quiet time with the Lord!”
- Kaeden Arbuckle: “I really loved the retreat. I learned so much more about Jesus and his life, death, and resurrection. I felt like I knew Him even more as a person and it made me feel closer to Him. I love it all and I will definitely return next year.”
- Sophie Wright: “The fall retreat was a special time for me to emotionally reconnect to God. I truly felt His presence throughout the weekend. I also treasure my friendships from this youth group so much and I enjoyed spending the weekend with them while learning about the Gospel.”
I am encouraged by how much the Youth are growing in their knowledge of and love for the Lord, and I’m excited to see how they will continue to grow in their faith this year. I invite you to pray for the middle school and high school students. Pray that as a Youth Ministry (and as a church) we would continue to focus on that all-important question – ”Who do you say I am?” Also pray that we would have the same faith and boldness as Peter who responded to Jesus’ question with the famous words: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16.16).
