Alright, everybody. Your long-awaited questions are now here. If you missed last weekend’s question night, or you didn’t get your question answered, it has been responded to below. If you have follow up question, or you’re a leader and would like to throw in your comments, please feel free to do so below.
Why do students leave youth group?
I think students leave for a number of reasons, from schedules to families moving to conflict to loss of interest. The number one reason that we’ve heard, though, is that people aren’t feeling connected with others in the group, either because their friends have left or they’ve drifted away.
How do you know if what you’re doing or what you’re planning to do is in God’s will?
Joey gave a great answer to this, which I’ll sum up here. First, check it against the Word of God. If your idea is not consistent with biblical teaching, it’s not in God’s will. Second, pray about it. Often, God will let us know if our ideas are outside of his will for us. Third, check with wise counsel: people you trust and you know care about you, who are solid Christians and have more life experience than you do. These three filters lining up isn’t a guarantee, but it’s a pretty safe way to gauge how well your plans fit God’s will for you.
Holly, after you have a baby boy, are you ever coming back to fuel?
I’ve talked with Holly about this, and she is planning to come back, although she’ll obviously need some time off right after the baby is born.
Is becoming a student leader hard?
We let our student leaders answer this at youth the other night, so I’ll just give you my input. The process has changed a little since the first time we brought student leaders on, and, in my opinion, it has gotten harder. The reason for this is to make sure that people are really ready before we bring them into leadership. That being said, if you apply and aren’t ready, we won’t just ditch you. We will work with you on our areas of concern.
How do you deal with people that judge you and put you down?
We talked a lot about judging others in our recent series on the Sermon on the Mount, but we focused mostly on not judging. Being judged is obviously the opposite problem, but the solution is the same. We have to remember that God alone is our judge, and no one else has the right to place value on us. That being said, if someone is harassing you and won’t stop, you need to find the right authority figure who can help you take care of your specific situation.
1.Sharing my faith is so hard can u guys (and prego) explain how I can do it and it to make sense?
2.I don’t know exactly how to share my faith. Please help?
I’ll answer these together, as they’re pretty similar questions. Sharing your faith usually takes a two-pronged approach. Obviously you have to share the gospel at some point (God demands from us a standard we can’t meet, but Jesus has met it, and if we believe in him we get credit for his accomplishment), but you also have to back it up with your lifestyle.
What do you do when someone like our friends smokes weed
Obviously, that’s a really unhealthy choice, and you should do everything you can to persuade them not to. That may include getting them in touch with the right resources (school counselors, etc.) who can give them the tools they need to quit.
How do you know what religion to go with?
You should evaluate the truth claims of different religions and ask people who believe them to explain parts you don’t understand. You should also pray for direction from God as to which is true. That being said, I’ll stack Christianity up against anything and come out on top every time. It’s the only faith to acknowledge our yearning for something greater and our inability to get there on our own, along with a God who’s already done all the work for us.
I love this program!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For those who weren’t there, this comment referred to the program we used to put people’s texts directly on the screen. Me too.
Have any of you done drugs?
I can only speak for myself. Apart from alcohol and tobacco, I have not.
What is your favorite part about us and being part of fuel?
I like a lot of things about being part of FUEL and about the students, but my favorite would have to be the privilege of getting to see young people transform over time: to watch people grow from uncertain kids into mature believers in Christ.
My best friend is like a sister to me but she has a lot of bad stuff in her life. I want to help her get past it but idk how. Any tips?
This question would really be much better answered with more specifics of the type of “bad stuff.” Some basic tips though would be:
- You’re her friend, not her counselor. As such you have an extremely important role to fill, and you need to know when to bring in someone else who has the expertise to help.
- Listen to her non-judgmentally, even if you know her behavior is wrong and/or self-destructive. Your job is to get her the help she needs.
- Be consistently available to her. She’s going through a rough time and will need to turn to someone. You have a responsibility to her to be there, even if it’s inconvenient for you.
Does this work?
The projection program? Yes.
What went through your head when you were going to kill yourself?
[answered by Anthony] My mind was pretty chaotic at the time. Mostly thoughts of being unwanted and undeserving. I didn’t feel loved and I didn’t feel like anyone cared.
(not really a question) With the whole clique thing, to me it seems like its still going on and I’m excluded.
Although we have tried to minimize cliques and exclusivity in our group, I have no doubt that it still goes on and leaves people out. We want everyone to be included, but obviously we haven’t achieved that. Any one of our leaders or student leaders would be happy to talk with you in more detail and work to get you connected with the group, as well as to directly address some of the cliques if you bring them to our attention.
Who made the cookies?
Crystal. And Brittany made cookies the week prior. Thanks to both of you!
Do you guys want to give us all attention?
We do want to, but again we’re imperfect at making that happen. Please address any of the leaders if you feel you’re being ignored or avoided, because I’m sure it’s not intentional on their part.
I have a group of people who pick on me nonstop how do i deal with it?
You need to get somebody in authority involved. Depending on where it happens it might be a teacher, school counselor, parent or me. If you’re not sure who to talk to, any of our leaders would be happy to help give you some direction for that.
What did you think about the avengers Matt?
I saw the 12:01 showing on opening day, and it was AWESOME!
How will the girls talk to someone about their problems if Holly is gone and they don’t feel comfortable talking with a guy about it???
There are absolutely some issues that girls should talk to girl leaders about, and as a male leader I’m definitely sensitive to that. Jessica, for one, is not going anywhere, and I’ve been talking with some other women about possibly joining our team in the near future.
How do you know if god talks to you? I’ve heard before that it’s a secret place inside you.
God speaks to us primarily through the Bible. Any time we think he may be saying something to us more directly, we should first check to see if it’s consistent with the written Word of God. We must also remember that, though God does still speak today, nothing that anyone ever claims to have heard from God will ever hold the same level of authority as what’s already contained in the Bible.
Can you answer the others on fuel line?
Working on it.
Is there anyway for you to change the day for home groups?
Not at this time, at least for high school. We might be changing up the day for middle school in the fall.
The Avengers was awesome! Now shhhh 
Agreed
Matt
Again, if you have follow up questions, or if leaders would like to add input, please do so in the comments.
