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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nI enjoy recreation as much as anyone else, and I love playing games. I\u2019ve been to youth rallies where teenagers have eaten some strange things and been willing to do some crazy stuff. Our youth fellowships are known for fun games and laughing until we cry. I love it! But one of the biggest lies Satan sells young people is they have time to eventually get serious about spiritual things; that you have time to just \u201cenjoy\u201d your teen years, maybe even \u201csow some wild oats\u201d and do what feels good. All of us have experienced this is a lie. Sin ALWAYS leaves us empty and hurting. All the fun that sin promises is quickly departed, but the pain and shame lasts and lasts. Titus 2 verses 4 and 6 teach that both young men and young women ought to be taught sobriety. This does not just mean not to be drunk, but to be serious! And there is nothing more serious than Heaven and Hell. Teenager, it is time to think about more than what is for lunch or what we\u2019re going to do this weekend, and instead see that Jesus is coming again soon and get serious about serious things!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I led my first soul to Christ when I was in eighth grade. I had invited him to church and he agreed. After hearing the gospel several times, he began to ask questions and eventually told me during a phone conversation he wanted to be saved. I told him I would walk the aisle with him the next service and we would talk to the preacher. Instead, he called me back later and said he did not want to wait! I led him to Christ right then over the phone. We\u2019re still in contact today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lord had done a deep work in my heart between seventh and eighth grade and I walked into my public school dedicated to standing for Christ and speaking the truth in love. God had confirmed His call on my life and I knew it was time to live what I believed. This included a change of friends, carrying my Bible everyday, and looking for opportunities to give my peers and teachers the gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In my many opportunities to deal with teens here in our church as well as in my travels preaching, I have been asked many times, \u201cHow do I lead my friends to Christ?\u201d When we draw close to Christ, we get His heart for souls. It is important to know, you CAN lead your peers to Christ!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You must be saved yourself. II Timothy 2:6 states, \u201cThe husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.\u201d \u00a0In other words, you cannot give out what you do not own. \u00a0You need to make sure you have put your faith in Christ and your own soul is secure. \u00a0If you have doubts or questions, get them settled once and for all! \u00a0You will never lead your friends to a Lord you do not know yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
See every peer as a soul. In Matthew 25:46 Jesus said, \u201cAnd these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.\u201d \u00a0Let me lead you through a frightening exercise. \u00a0Think of one of your very closest friends. \u00a0Imagine them with you enjoying the beauty of heaven and the glory of the presence of Jesus! \u00a0Now\u2026imagine that same friend in the agony of Hell, crying for relief. \u00a0The truth is, every one of your friends will spend eternity in one of those two situations \u2013 and YOU can be the one who helps them change destinations. \u00a0Our bodies may die, but every person\u2019s soul will go to Heaven or Hell. \u00a0We need to see every peer as a soul!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Live a Christian conversation. In our King James Bibles, the word conversation means \u201clifestyle,\u201d so not just how we speak, but how we live! \u00a0Philippians 1:27 says, \u201cOnly let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ.\u201d \u00a0That means we should live in such a way that others want to know our God. \u00a0Let me ask you a question: \u00a0Does the way you live draw people closer to God or send them further away? \u00a0As you well know, teenagers can smell hypocrisy miles away! \u00a0Right? So, just like you can point out the inconsistencies in your authority figures, your peers see it in you! \u00a0Live what you believe! \u00a0Be clean and holy \u2013 their souls hang in the balance!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hate sin, not sinners. Psalm 119:104 says, \u201cThrough thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.\u201d \u00a0We are to hate the false WAY, not the WALKER. \u00a0Hate the PATH, not the TRAVELER. \u00a0Tattoos, piercings, cursing, fornication and the like are symptoms of a disease \u2013 A SINFUL HEART! \u00a0Those things should just serve as signals that teens are looking to fill voids and holes in their life that only Christ can fill! \u00a0We must love them as Jesus does. \u00a0They are condemned already in their sin (John 3:18), and they need the grace we\u2019ve been given!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be bold about your faith. The well-known verse Romans 1:16 says, \u201cFor I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ\u2026\u201d \u00a0We must speak! \u00a0Our friends and peers will never know who Jesus Christ is if we do not tell them! \u00a0Some of them are confused, some of them have questions, and some of them simply do not know the truth. \u00a0Often I have been asked, \u201cBut, preacher, how do I start that conversation?\u201d The Bible says to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). \u00a0That means, truth is most effective when spoken out of a heart of compassion. \u00a0If you begin a conversation with your friend\/peer by saying, \u201cListen, I want to be serious with you about something. \u00a0I care about you, and I was thinking about you the other day, and I prayed for you. \u00a0I would never want anything bad to happen to you, but if it did, do you know for sure that you would go to heaven?\u201d \u00a0You may or may not be able to lead them to Christ right there on the spot, but you have opened a door that the Holy Spirit will enter through. \u00a0Do not be ashamed of Christ!
As a side note, do not be ashamed of your pastor and youth leader! \u00a0Do not be ashamed of your church! \u00a0If you criticize them in any way, you can forget your friends respecting them or listening to them. \u00a0You could seal their fate in Hell, simply because you want to look cool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently at a youth outing, me and a few of my former teens, now young adults, put on a skit where we went after the crowd with nerf guns and super soakers. Kids were laughing, screaming, getting soaked\u2026and it was a blast! Some ran, others stood up because they wanted to be a target! There is nothing wrong with these things \u2013 they\u2019re great! But your teenage years are not too early to be serious about serious things! You will find no greater joy than making an eternal impact on your friends and peers. Your friends are hungry for something real, something true. Let\u2019s introduce them to Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n