In a ministry culture revolving around fun and entertainment, sometimes student ministry forgets to talk seriously about serious matters.

Sin.

Youth workers, we need to be teaching the reality that sin will kill us. Romans 6:23 makes it plain enough.  “The wages of sin is DEATH”.  Does this generation really understand this? Or do they see us wink at sin and sweep it under the rug?

Teaching the truth of the Gospel means using real bullets in this fight!  Bring the heat.  We need to accurately convey the gravity of sin in our lives!  Don’t let teenagers make it through your ministry never deeply thinking about sin in their own lives!  And what should we be doing with this sin?  Paul answers it very succinctly in Romans 8.

Don’t just skip down to verse 31 and following, subtitled “the Believers Triumph” without teaching what we are to be triumphing over.  Verses 1-28 paint a graphic picture of killing sin before it kills you!

Never be scared to bring the heavy weights into a sermon with teenagers.  They can grasp it.  If they are doing calculus and microbiology at school we can get deeper in church too.  Bring in John Owen.  Talk about his book, “Mortification of Sin in Believers”.  (Here is a good summary.)  Teenagers will only glean from the depth of your own study.  So study well.

Read and listen to this series by John Piper, How to Kill Sin.  See how he exposits Romans 8 and gives a great understanding of John Owen.  Use this stuff to teach the next generation the reality of sin and the holiness of God.

Teenagers, young adults, and everyone for that matter, need to be constantly reminded of the depths of our sin and conversely the power of the Gospel.  Preach it to yourself daily; let that overflow in your ministry.

Your fellow worker in the field,   Adam