By Steve Cordle
Cell ministry is not just the province of adults – youth can thrive in cells!
Today’s teens face incredible pressures from our culture. they are pressured to succeed academically, socially, and in sports. And the cultural environment in which they live makes it harder than ever to stand for Christ. They need to be discipled in a strong way in order to enter youg adulthood in a balanced, spiritually healthy way.
George Barna tells us that, unfortuantely, up to 80% of American church teens fall away from living their faith after they leave high school. On the other hand, many church-planting teams are being populated by students just leaving college. It seems that students either rise to great heights or fall away after high school.
Cell ministry provides a great opportunity for students to grow stronger and deeper as disicples. This week while visiting another church I saw a high school senior encouraging and exhorting a younger teen to take the challenge of cell leadership. I heard another student leader asking her group how they plan to grow in their faith through the summer months. They have made the turn from passive listener to active disicple-maker, and they are stronger for it!
Students face a lot of challenges, but they also have huge kingdom potential. Let’s help them fan into flame the gifts within them by equipping them to disicple others. let’s not settle for adults only leading student cells. Let’s turn those students loose!
How does your church equip and release student in cell ministry?