Does “Christian youth” need to be an oxymoron?

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Overview

The apostle Paul admonished his disciple Timothy, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” But some scholars believe there must be a lost verse after 1 Timothy 4:12 that, loosely translated from the Greek, means: “Yeah, right.” We’ve all read the statistics showing how the moral behavior of Christian youth is hardly distinguishable from their unbelieving peers. Thus, it’s easy to see why, as Jenny Nordman writes in a CHRISTIAN PARENTING TODAY article, “There’s one phrase that can frighten even the most stalwart parents: The Teen Years.”

Are the teen years simply to be endured with prayers that our sons and daughters just make it out alive? Or are these years a unique and exciting time of adventure and disciple making for parents? This study will explore these issues further.

Table of Contents

SCRIPTURE: Mark 12:28–34; Luke 10:25–37; John 17:20–23; Ephesians 4:4–16

LEADER'S GUIDE

    • Identify the Current Issue

    • Discover the Eternal Principles

—Teaching point one: Model loving God to your children.

—Teaching point two: Model loving your neighbor to your children.

—Teaching point three: Model community living to your children.

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