There are many things that the Student Ministry at First Baptist Nashville could teach our students, but we needed to think about what our guiding principles--our absolutes--would be. So we asked our parents, workers, and students this simple question: When a student graduates from our ministry, what do they need to know? How do we make sure students leave the youth program of First Baptist Nashville a molded, inspired, world changer? As we began to read their answers, we discovered they naturally funneled into seven absolutes.
Shortly after we collected this information, I began reading The Seven Checkpoints: Seven Principles Every Teenager Needs to Know
by Andy Stanley and Stuart Hall. In the book, the authors posed a
similar question: "When they are sit-ting in a dorm room during their
freshman year of college contemplating their options for the evening,
what principles or truths should drift through their minds in that
potentially defining moment?"
The seven absolutes that we have chosen as the foundation of our Student Ministry are biblical, simple, necessary principles for every student to take away from First Baptist Nashville when they graduate. We introduced these at our annual Christmas breakfast for students, parents and student leadership on December 10.
The leadership of the Student Ministry will use these seven absolutes to guide us as we evaluate current programs and plan future events. We want our students to know these absolutes backwards and forwards by the time they graduate--and we want our parents to know them, too! We also want you to know our new mission statement by heart: Building Up Christ-Followers Who Know God's Word and Share His Love.Will you join us in praying for the Student Ministry?