The Ten Commandments Project: Reaching Our Youth

If this content resonates with you, share your thoughts in the comments below.

Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law (Proverbs 29:18).

Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36).

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:1–4).

The sad and needless death of Austin Metcalf and the story of the now convicted Karmelo Anthony is tragic in so many ways. However, it is very important for the church to look at these kinds of tragedies through the lens of the kingdom of God.

What important conclusions can the church draw from this tragic set of events? How should we react? As the church, we have our work cut out for us as we minister to the youth of our culture.

Some of the issues we must begin to address include inhospitality and bullying, unkindness on the part of youth towards each other, becoming aggressive unnecessarily, being quick to resort to violence that can end up in murder – and the list of issues could easily go on.

The Word of God addresses every one of these issues and many other related ones as well.

The children and youth of our communities need so much help, guidance, and direction. The challenges that they face in our world are many, with a significant portion of them being unique to this generation.

Social media, cyberbullying, mental and emotional health and well-being, are all issues that largely make their world a very different one than we faced a few years ago.

Too many of the perspectives and values of today’s youth come from dark sources, including the internet, entertainment, and video games.

Also, many of our children are growing up in families with one parent rather than two. And certain spiritual, social, and economic challenges come along with this reality.

Many of our youth deal with depression, suicidal thoughts, and media that encourages aggression and wicked mindsets.

What is the answer to these challenging realities?

The answer is the same one that it has always been. The answer is Jesus Christ.

Our children need to meet Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives. And they then need to be genuinely discipled. They need to be taught how to walk in love and in the wisdom of the Word of God in the way they carry themselves from day to day in this world which is constantly changing. Our children desperately need Jesus.

One of the great needs we face in the world today is the need for the people of God to get much more serious about doing the work of making disciples, individually and collectively.

Our church culture puts a great emphasis of time and energy into what happens on Sunday morning during Sunday School and worship services. Yet much more time, energy, and resources need to be put into ministry and mission outside of the four walls of the church. We need to be reaching out into our communities much more to share the gospel, to do discipleship outreach, and to love people who are hurting.

We must be involved in ministry and mission in our community and the world throughout the week, not just on Sunday morning.

One of the goals behind the Ten Commandments Project is to help the church do this very thing.

The community outreach portion of the project can involve inviting children and youth from your community to be a part of an outreach that can last up to five or six weeks.

It could be done in a way that is similar to a Vacation Bible School ministry, only over a period of weeks rather than during a single week.

How your church fellowship chooses to do it, it can be a very effective way to reach children and youth in your community.

As a fellowship carries out the Ten Commandments project outreach, they will share the gospel and carry out discipleship as they teach our youth the meaning of each of the Ten Commandments.

Some might think to themselves, “Our church already does Vacation Bible School. Do we need to do another outreach in our community to children and youth besides that?”

VBS is a wonderful ministry outreach that typically happens for a week or so in early summer for many churches. Yet be mindful of this: the Devil is seeking to attack and devour our children twelve months out of the entire year.

So, one additional outreach such as this can only help reach and touch more youth in our communities.

Also, be mindful that with the Ten Commandments Project, the opportunity for youth to win a Ten Commandments T-shirt is ongoing all year. And if you have youth that like to read, call us, and we can look at ways to invite them to read Scripture on the radio on the Hour of Intercession broadcast.

Yes, discipling our children is always to be one of the high priorities of the church. It involves sacrificially giving our time, energy, and resources to do work that needs to be done in our world.

However, we know this great fact: our children and youth are more than worth it.

And know this: the Lord gave us His sacrificial best - Himself.

So, our Lord can never ask too much of us.

Click HERE to learn more about the Ten Commandments project.

Please Note: We moderate all reader comments, usually within 24 hours of posting (longer on weekends). Please limit your comment to 300 words or less and ensure it addresses the content. Comments that contain a link (URL), an inordinate number of words in ALL CAPS, rude remarks directed at the author or other readers, or profanity/vulgarity will not be approved.