RYM 2017 YLT Conference January 23, 2017

Year 1

“Covenant Theology: Our Grid for Youth & Family Ministry”

Introduction

Zeal alone is not a reliable guide for ministry. It must join hands with theology and wisdom.

THEOLOGY DRIVES MINISTRY – That belief is at the heart of our POM.

Two of our presuppositions are the church & the family. Covenant theology shapes our view of both institutions and in the process gives us a paradigm for how we do ministry to children and youth.

Diagram #1: Attitudes toward Youth Ministry

Attitude A:Attitude B:Attitude C:

No ChurchYes ChurchAll Church

No Youth MinistryNo Youth MinistryAll Youth Ministry

Yes FamilyYes FamilyNo Family

Diagram #2: A Covenantal Framework for Youth Ministry

Yes Church

Yes Youth Ministry

Yes Family

Here’s where we are going in our brief time this morning. 1) A Brief Overview of Covenant Theology; 2) Why Children Are a Part of the Covenant of Grace; 3) the Role of the Family and Church (that includes you!) Regarding Covenant Children.

I.A Brief Overview of Covenant Theology

A.What Is A Covenant?

Covenant theology is simply the systematic study of God’s redemptive plan for His people. The Covenant is the framework by which God brings salvation to His elect – the skeleton of scripture & redemptive history.

*Quote. O Palmer Robertson: “A covenant is a bond in blood sovereignly administered.”

A covenant is a bond - it binds two parties together. That bond is confirmed by oaths & signs

A covenant involves terms (promises & requirements).

  • Promises: seed, land, presence, protection, blessing to the nations

Overarching Promise: “I will be your God & you will be my people.” – union & communion

  • Requirements: Faith & Fidelity; Trust me & Follow me.

Those terms are sovereignly administered. Not so much a mutual agreement…God dictates the terms of the covenant.

  1. There Are Two Primary God to Man Covenants in the Bible

The covenant of works & the covenant of grace.

  1. The Covenant of Works (The Adamic Covenant)

But notice that in the very context of pronouncing the curses that would come upon Adam & all those whom he represented, God also pronounced words of hope, grace, salvation – Slide #5 - Gen 3:15.

Diagram #3: The Seed of the Woman

Seed of the Woman

ENMITYENMITY

The Seed of the Serpent

“Seed of the woman” is a collective noun in the singular referring not merely to the group as a whole but to a representative out of that group whom God would send to win salvation for His people.

*Example: Genesis 15

  1. The Covenant of Grace
  1. The Covenant of Redemption

The pre-temporal aspect to the covenant of grace, the basis for it.

God has an eternal plan (Ephesians 1:4-5) – not making this stuff up as he goes along! God established His plan to redeem His people before the world began. The choosing of those people the Bible calls election; the determining & planning how He would bring redemption to those chosen we call the Covenant of Redemption.

Parties: God the Father representing the Trinity & God the Son representing the elect. The Father made a covenant with God the Son that the Son would take the place of the elect, assume all of their obligations for them & work redemption on their behalf. The Father promised to provide all that was necessary to accomplish that work & bless the Son’s work by bringing the benefits of redemption to His people.

Biblical basis:

  1. Christ was commissioned by the Father (John 5:30, 43; 6:38-40; 17:1-9)
  2. Christ is represented in scripture as our Covenant Head (Romans 5:12-21; I Corinthians 15:22)
  3. Covenant Terminology is connected to the Messiah (Isaiah 42:6)

God set His love on us before time in election & in the covenant of redemption (Ephesians 1:4-5; Romans 8:29-30)

  1. The Manifestations of the Covenant of Grace
  1. Noahic Covenant
  2. Abrahamic Covenant
  3. Mosaic Covenant
  4. Davidic Covenant
  5. New Covenant

Diagram #4: The Expansion of the Covenant of Grace

Content

Scope

Covenant of Grace

Covenant

of Redemption

AdamNoahAbrahamMosesDavidNew Covenant

Patriarchal Basis National BasisUniversal Basis

Diagram #5: Covenant Continuity: One Way of Salvation

FaithFaith

Old CovenantNew Covenant

II.Why Children Are A Part of the Covenant of Grace

A.The Promise & the Sign– Circumcision: Abraham, Moses, Etc.

  • Abraham - Genesis 17:9-12a
  • Circumcision is the sign of the covenant. Meaning: inclusion, removal of defilement, need of cleansing & circumcision of the heart
  • For generation after generation this was the practice by God’s command
  • Important to God– Example: Moses withholding the sign from his son

B.Baptism Replaces Circumcision as the Sign of the Covenant

  • Matthew 28:19 – Go baptizing (Jews would have expected circumcising) but the sign changes…why. Circumcision a sign associated with the Jews. Now in God’s redemptive plan the barriers are coming down. The gospel going to Samaritans and the Gentile world. B/c of hostility and bigotry between Jew and Gentile a new sign was needed - Baptism. Grace evident in the sign – no longer a bloody sign, now water. No longer only a sign only to be applied to males, now women as well.
  • Colossians 2:10-12 – Your baptism is your circumcision
  • Baptisms Meaning: inclusion, removal of defilement, need of cleansing of the heart and union with Christ
  • Key Point – the efficacy of baptism is not tied to the moment it is administered
  1. Argument from Silence & NT Evidence
  • Objection: Not one single verse in the entire NT that commands us to baptize our babies.
  • Key Point:Every NT doctrine finds its roots in the old and unless it is abrogated in the new it continues on.
  • Acts 2:39; I Corinthians 7:14; Household baptisms of Acts; - All covenant language
  1. At the point of fulfillment & greatest expansion are we really to believe that the covenant suddenly restricts children? NO

Therefore, the children of believers are a part of the covenant of grace & should receive the covenant sign that marks them as such.

Diagram #6: Children of Believer’s Are a Part of a Covenant Community

Covenant Community

Child of Believer

Redeemed

There are two essential parts to the covenant community:

  1. Covenant Community as a Whole – finds expression in the local church
  2. The Family – the basic building block of the covenant

III.The Role of the Family and the Church (Covenant Community) Regarding Covenant Children

What are the responsibilities of each toward covenant children?

  1. Family

What is the responsibility of the parents toward their children? What should family look like in its most ideal sense? How should families love each other, minister to each other, & function?

  • Discussion
  • Deuteronomy 6:5-7
  • Primary Responsibility toward Children
  • Teach, Pass on, Love, etc.
  • Family Worship
  • Being with (One to One)
  • Intentional “as you go” teaching
  • Baptismal Vows (PCA Book of Church Order):
  1. Do you acknowledge your child’s need of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, and the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit?
  1. Do you claim God’s covenant promises in (his) behalf, and do you look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for (his) salvation, as you do for your own?
  1. Do you now unreservedly dedicate your child to God, and promise, in humble reliance upon divine grace, that you will endeavor to set before (him) a godly example, that you will pray with and for (him), that you will teach (him) the doctrines of our holy religion, and that you will strive, by all the means of God’s appointment, to bring (him) up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?
  1. The Church (Covenant Community)

What is responsibility of the church toward her covenant children? What should Covenant Community look like in its most ideal sense? How should it function?

  • Discussion
  • Secondary Responsibility (but responsibility nonetheless!
  • Baptism Vow - 4
  1. Do you as a congregation undertake the responsibility of assisting the parents in the Christian nurture of this child?

BOTH THE FAMILY AND CHURCH HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY IN STUDENTS LIVES!

Question: to what destination are you leading your students; what’s your plan to get them there and how are you communicating it to them?

Unworthy Destinations:

One worthy Destination -

My grid for ministering to youth must be: How am I leading them to the person of Jesus through those things in dependence upon the HS?

Slide #15: Covenantal Youth Ministry

How can I be used of God to connect my students more vibrantly to Jesus?

Our chief concern & longing!

Age Specific Ministry

  • Common grace insight tells us that there are developmental differences in the way that people learn.
  • Common grace insight also suggests that it is wise to target people in the same stage of life that we may speak directly and more deeply to the unique struggles and questions they are facing (Ex. Middle School Students, High School Students, Young Marrieds, Young Parents, the Elderly, etc.).
  • Therefore, in youth ministry, we are in part cultivating a sub-community of peers with the aim of reaching them for Christ and equipping them to serve.
  • Challenge:
  • Opportunity:

Trans-generational Ministry

  • But the church is not a peer group. In God’s design, it is made up of people of all ages, backgrounds, experiences, & levels of maturity.
  • When they go to college we want their take away to be not merely a connection with their peer group, but even more importantly we want them to have experienced the church!
  • Problem: In 2011 the Barna Group concluded a five-year study comprised of eight national studies, which was done on teenagers and young adults between the ages of 18 to 29. It found that nearly three out of every five young Christians (59 percent) disconnect from church life, either permanently or for a long period of time after the age of 15. Those polled were active in a Christian church during their teen years (barna.org – Six Reasons Young Christians Leave the Church).
  • Why are so many dropping out?
  • They do not see the value of the church to their lives
  • We want them to experience the value of diverse relationships in the church – Fellowship as a means of grace.
  • We want them to experience the value of corporate worship, word and sacrament to their lives – Have we helped them meaningfully engage in the means of grace?
  • They do not see their value to the church – after all they’re “youth!”
  • Youth as a platform for ministry
  • *Quote, David Kinnaman, author of The Unchristian and You Lost Me. - “Cultivating intergenerational relationships is one of the most important ways in which effective faith communities are developing flourishing faith in both young and old. In many churches, this means changing the metaphor from simply passing the baton to the next generation to a more functional, biblical picture of a body – that is, the entire community of faith, across the entire lifespan, working together to fulfill God’s purposes.”
  • What has worked in your context to accomplish this trans-generational connection? How have you seen the fruit of it? Ideas? Discussion.

Family Ministry

  • We recognize the God-given role of the family in student’s lives.
  • We are not surrogate parents.
  • Therefore, ministry to parents is key!!
  • Dad’s are intimidated to lead their families spiritually, to do family worship. Why?

The family needs the covenant community to equip and encourage them in these things – that’s exactly what Asaph is doing in Psalm 78.

  • The church must train covenant children (age specific) as if the parents are doing nothing! But the church must also train the parents to lead their children toward Jesus. Must think deeply about this as youth leaders and a church staff.
  • Family by itself is not enough b/c the family is broken!
  • We need layers of influences in our children’s lives.
  • What has worked in your context to accomplish this trans-generational connection? How have you seen the fruit of it? Ideas? Discussion.

If your ministry does not include family and covenant community it is not covenantal.

YOU ARE A KEY PLAYER IN THIS!

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