Skip to content Stand Alone Messages: The Power of the Gospel and the Potential of Teenagers Jun 29 · 45 min ...more
Stand Alone Messages: The Power of the Gospel and the Potential of Teenagers
June 29, 2025 · 45 min
Have you ever considered the profound impact that teenagers can have on the world when empowered by the Gospel? In his inspiring sermon, Greg Stier passionately argues that the next generation is not just the future of the church but its present. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 1, he highlights how God uses what the world deems "foolish" to carry out His divine purpose.Greg shares his own journey, revealing how he devoted his life to equipping teens for evangelism after witnessing a tragedy that emphasized the urgency of reaching young hearts. He invites the congregation to transform their views of youth—encouraging them to see teenagers as dynamic instruments of change equipped to spread the gospel far and wide. By sharing statistics that showcase the remarkable potential of youth when mobilized, Greg demonstrates that a church invested in its young people will flourish, forging vibrant leaders who boldly proclaim Christ. As you reflect on this message, consider how you can play a part in this movement. Join us by engaging with the full sermon and being inspired to unleash the power of the Gospel in your life today! Speaker: Greg Stier
Series BRAVE Church June 29, 2025 · 45 min · BRAVE Church
Have you ever considered the profound impact that teenagers can have on the world when empowered by the Gospel? In his inspiring sermon, Greg Stier passionately argues that the next generation is not just the future of the church but its present. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 1, he highlights how God uses what the world deems "foolish" to carry out His divine purpose.Greg shares his own journey, revealing how he devoted his life to equipping teens for evangelism after witnessing a tragedy that emphasized the urgency of reaching young hearts. He invites the congregation to transform their views of youth—encouraging them to see teenagers as dynamic instruments of change equipped to spread the gospel far and wide. By sharing statistics that showcase the remarkable potential of youth when mobilized, Greg demonstrates that a church invested in its young people will flourish, forging vibrant leaders who boldly proclaim Christ. As you reflect on this message, consider how you can play a part in this movement. Join us by engaging with the full sermon and being inspired to unleash the power of the Gospel in your life today! Speaker: Greg Stier ...more Show the full description Show less Have you ever considered the profound impact that teenagers can have on the world when empowered by the Gospel? In his inspiring sermon, Greg Stier passionately argues that the next generation is not just the future of the church but its present. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 1, he highlights how God uses what the world deems "foolish" to carry out His divine purpose.Greg shares his own journey, revealing how he devoted his life to equipping teens for evangelism after witnessing a tragedy that emphasized the urgency of reaching young hearts. He invites the congregation to transform their views of youth—encouraging them to see teenagers as dynamic instruments of change equipped to spread the gospel far and wide. By sharing statistics that showcase the remarkable potential of youth when mobilized, Greg demonstrates that a church invested in its young people will flourish, forging vibrant leaders who boldly proclaim Christ. As you reflect on this message, consider how you can play a part in this movement. Join us by engaging with the full sermon and being inspired to unleash the power of the Gospel in your life today! Speaker: Greg Stier
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Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub serves as president of Pastor Jeff Ministries, a national and global ministry designed to equip believers and challenge them to take
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2:00 in a generation that is looking for a king and a cause, and that king is king Jesus, and that cause is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I believe God can mobilize this next generation
2:12 for the gospel. I know this because it happened to me. My whole family was reached by a hillbilly preacher nicknamed Yankee, for some reason, nicknamed
2:24 Yankee, who planted a church in Arvada, Colorado, and reached into North Denver, and reached my whole family for Jesus Christ. I got involved in his youth ministry as a 12 year old,
2:36 and I was equipped to share the gospel. And I wasn't the only 1, we were all equipped to share the gospel. It was a church of 300 adults, but we had, listen to this, 800 teenagers in our youth
2:48 ministry. You know why? Because Yankee trained us and he equipped us. We'd go out every Friday night to the malls all around Denver. How many you guys remember Cinderella City Mall? Do you remember that?
3:00 Cinderella City, we'd go there. We'd go to the Westminster Mall. We'd go to the Northland Mall. We would go to football games, and we would share and declare the gospel of Jesus Christ. I was able to lead all my
3:11 neighborhood friends but 1. Raymond didn't trust Christ. Everybody else did and lead a bible study for them when I was 12. And it wasn't because I was an extraordinary teenager. I was an ordinary teenager.
3:23 I was like young Sheldon in the hood. I was a nervous little kid, but I came to Christ and I was equipped. And I believe when our young people are given a vision
3:35 and given the training and given a permission, they can change the world. And I want to talk to you about that today. The power of the gospel and the potential of teenagers. And you may be thinking, why this doesn't
3:46 apply to me. It does. Stay tuned to the end because you're gonna see that this directly applies to you and that we need all adults on board.
3:59 Here's a big idea I wanna share with you today. Get this. When we unleash the power of the gospel and the potential of teenagers, amazing things happen. First Corinthians 1
4:11 18 through 29, we're gonna read this passage together. Open your bibles if you have them. If not, read along on the screens. And I believe this passage in first Corinthians 1 makes the case for the power
4:22 of the gospel and the potential of teenagers. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. But to those of us who are being saved, it is
4:34 the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. The intelligence of the intelligent, I will frustrate. Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law?
4:46 Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was
4:58 preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs, Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. But to those whom God has
5:10 called both Jews and Gentiles, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Brothers and
5:22 sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you are wise by human standards, Not many were influential. Not many were of noble birth. Here it is. But God chose the foolish things of the
5:33 world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and to despise things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are
5:45 so that no 1 may boast before him. Now, whether the apostle Paul meant to make a case for youth ministry in this passage or not, he did.
5:59 The power of the gospel, the potential of teenagers. We're gonna break down this passage. And first of all, we're gonna talk about the power of the gospel. We must unleash the power of the
6:10 gospel. How many guys believe in the power of the gospel? That doesn't sound like it. How many of you believe in the power of the gospel? That's what I'm talking about. Right? Romans 1
6:22 16, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. There's something about this message. God has infused divine
6:34 power into the message of the gospel that when you articulate it, it's explosive. The Greek word for power is dunamis. So we get our English word dynamite. It is an explosive message. The gospel
6:46 is like a hand grenade. It doesn't matter who pulls the pin and throws a hand grenade, it's gonna blow up. It doesn't matter if it's a 12 year old girl. It doesn't matter if it's a 30 year old marine.
6:58 In the same way, the gospel of Jesus Christ is explosive when you declare it out loud with words, God does amazing things. I
7:10 saw it in my own family growing up. Some of you have heard my story. I wrote a book, kinda my life story called Unlikely Fighter. If you haven't read it, I encourage you to read it. It's on Amazon. It's on Audible.
7:22 If you get it on Audible, I'll read it to you myself because I did the recording. I was raised in North Denver long before it was skinny jeans and organic salads in the highlands. It
7:34 was the highest crime rate area in Denver, and my family was part of that crime rate. And that hillbilly preacher Yankee reached into the city on a dare, reached my toughest uncles with the gospel of Christ, began a
7:45 trajectory of transformation that went through my entire family. The power of the gospel. And you may be thinking, well, my story is not so powerful. I was 8 years old in Sunday school and I heard
7:57 the gospel. I wasn't a criminal. Yeah, you were. Yeah, you were. I read on social media this post. I wish I knew who who it was so I could give them the proper
8:08 attribute, but here's what they said. On the day you put your faith in Christ, God turned a criminal proceeding into an adoption ceremony. We were all criminals in the courtroom
8:20 of God, but God, the judge became our father through the blood of his own son. Your testimony is amazing. And we must unleash the power of the gospel
8:32 in light of the fact that it changes lives and in spite of the fact that it's considered foolish. The message of the
8:44 cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. The Greek word for foolishness is moria. It's where we get our English word moronic.
8:56 The gospel message sounds moronic to those who are perishing. Listen, I've seen this. I've been called this. I've been called a moron my whole life
9:08 because I've shared the gospel. I remember in high school, man, I was pushed, I was picked up, I've been pushed down, I've been spat at all this stuff called all sorts of names. And I'm
9:20 not the guy standing on the corner screaming at people, I'm just trying to talk to people about Jesus in a normal conversation. But even then, I remember when I was in high school, went to the Westminster mall on a
9:29 Friday night to share the gospel, and I'll never forget going up to these 2 guys. 1 was a big guy dressed completely in black. The other was just kind of a smaller guy. And I said, hey, I'm asking everybody this
9:40 question. Do you guys know for sure you're gonna go to heaven? And the big guy said, know for sure I'm going to hell. I'm like, well, if I could tell you how you could know you're gonna go to heaven, would that be good
9:48 news? He goes, no. I go, why not? He says, I'm a satanist. And I look forward to burning with satan in hell day and night forever and ever without end. And he was dead serious.
10:01 And I looked at a small friend, I go, do you wanna go to hell with your friend? He goes, no way bro. And so I began sharing Christ with a small friend. And the more I shared Christ, the more angry the satanist was
10:10 getting, calling me names. Finally dragged his friend off my heart. He's just beaten. And I share Christ for a few more hours. I'm about to leave, and I'm not kidding. Right
10:22 before I leave, I hear these words above the crowd. Hey, religion man. Hey, religion man. Everybody's looking around religion man. What's going on? Hey, religion man. The crowd kind of parts and about 30
10:34 yards away in this little restaurant in the Westminster mall in his corner booth was the satanist. His friend was gone, but he had 6 girls with him and he was kind of tucked in behind this table. They're all pointing and
10:46 laughing and screaming at me, mocking me. Hey, religion man. Now, all eyes are on me. Am I embarrassed? No. Because for the first time in
10:58 my life, I feel like a superhero. Religion man. Yeah. Faster than a speeding Baptist. Able to
11:10 leap tall charismatics in a single bound. It's the pope. It's Billy Graham. It's religion, man. So I made my way up to their table and I go, do you want? They're all mocking me, calling me moron, idiot.
11:21 I said, what do you want? And he says, why don't you tell my girlfriends your stupid religious speech? I said, I will on 1 condition, you give me 2 minutes uninterrupted. He goes, okay. So I start sharing the gospel and
11:33 these girls are mocking me, laughing, but then something happens. That grenade pen is pulled. The power of the gospel, Holy Spirit starts convicting them, and the satanist could sense it
11:44 because he was getting nervous because these girls are locked in at the very end of presenting the gospel. I look at the girl on my far right, I said, does that make sense to you? Yes. Yes. Yes. I skipped him. Does that
11:53 make sense to you? Yes. Yes. Yes. I said, right now before God, would you place your faith in Jesus? Yes. Yes. Yes. Skip. Yes. Yes. Yes. All 6 of them indicated faith in Christ. And I was a smart aleck teenager, I took
12:05 advantage of the opportunity. I leaned over the table and said, guess what, Satanist? God wins again. And I ran as fast as I could because he wanted to kill me. Right? See, to him to
12:17 him, the message of the cross was foolishness. But to those 6 girls who trusted in Jesus, it was the power of God. Let me ask you this. Why do you think so many
12:28 unbelievers consider the gospel message foolishness? I'll give you 2 reasons. It's exclusivity and it's simplicity.
12:43 First of all, it's exclusivity. Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No 1 comes to the father except through me.
12:55 You wanna make it to heaven? I'm the only way, the only way. He's not a way, a truth, a life. He's the way, the truth, and the life. Have you ever heard the phrase how
13:07 many heard the phrase, all roads lead to God? It doesn't matter who you believe. All those all roads lead to God. You know what? It's true, but it's incomplete. All roads lead to God, most to his
13:18 judgment, 1 to his forgiveness. And that 1 road that leads to his forgiveness is the Lord Jesus Christ. Many people get offended when
13:30 Christians declare that Jesus is the only way. They call it narrow minded, closed minded, moronic, and foolish. But Jesus is the only way because Jesus is the only
13:42 1 who rose from the dead. There's not any other religious religious leaders that rose from the dead. Muhammad didn't rise from the dead. Confucius didn't rise from the dead. Buddha didn't rise from the dead.
13:54 Joseph Smith did not rise from the dead. Jesus Christ, the eternal king of the universe, is the 1 who rose from the dead, and he is the way, the truth, the life, and no 1 comes to the
14:05 father except through Christ. So call us morons all you want because Jesus is the way. Why is it
14:17 considered a foolish message? Because of its exclusivity and secondly, because of its simplicity. It's the simplest message in the world.
14:29 John 3 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his 1 and only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
14:43 The Greek word for believe is used 98 times in the book of John. It's pytho. You know what it means? It doesn't mean just mental ascent. There's a lot of people that believe Jesus died on the cross.
14:57 It literally means to be fully persuaded, to fully rely. It's a transfer of trust from what I do to earn eternal life
15:08 to Christ and Christ alone. It is realizing there's nothing I can do to save myself. I am not good enough. I am a sinner and I deserve the wrath
15:20 of God, and Jesus took the wrath of God for me on the cross, and I trust in him and him alone to save me. It is so simple that a child could accept it.
15:33 And it's so challenging that a self righteous person could choke on it. Speaking of children, I remember 20 years ago when my son was 5 years old.
15:46 Sunday afternoon, 1 o'clock, crunch time, because the broncos played at 2 0 5. And I was getting I was getting snacks after
15:58 church. I had a window of time. I took Jeremy with me and we were hurrying through. And we're going through the bottled water and juice aisle, and this lady stops me. She goes, sir, can you help me
16:10 read the prices of the bottled water? I lost my glasses. And I I said, okay. So I help her real quick, and I'm trying to get out of there, but she wants to talk. She goes, yeah, I'm just a mess. I
16:22 lost my dog. My dog died. If it was her cat, I would have just kept moving. Life's hard. Cats die. Gotta go. You know, boom. But it was her dog. So I said, well, what happened? She said,
16:34 I had a 1 year old Great Dane pup ran out into the traffic and got hit by a car, and then she did something that dudes don't know how to deal with. She started tearing up, and I'm like, oh, no. Please don't. Don't do
16:45 don't do what I think you're gonna do. Please don't. Stop, drop, and roll. Don't cry. Please don't cry. And I'm thinking all this stuff. I don't know what to say to her. My son knows what to say. He's 5. He goes, that's
16:56 okay, lady. Your dog's in doggy heaven, and you can go to heaven too. Daddy, tell her the gospel. I'm like, And then I thought,
17:08 you know what? I trained him when he was 5 years old, in a 5 year old way, to share the simple gospel message. I go, Jeremy, you tell her the gospel. I taught him a little thing called the gospel hand. So he holds up his
17:20 hand. She's looking at him. He goes, God loves me. I have sinned. Christ died for me. If I believe, I will go to heaven. He goes, you see, lady, if you believe in Jesus, you go to heaven with
17:32 your dog. She's looking at him like he's a little freak and so am I, kinda This lady starts not crying but wailing. She screams out in the
17:44 middle of King Soopers grocery store. I'm so mad at God. Now, everybody's looking at the meltdown in aisle 9.
17:56 I'm so mad at God. She goes, I lost my son to cancer, and I bought a dog to cover me in my grief, and now I lost that dog. I'm so mad at God. But now I'm in. It's like God took
18:08 a 2 by 4 and hit me in the head. I'm like, listen, ma'am, God lost his son too, and I am in sharing the gospel. My son's still in. He goes, it's okay. God loves me. I asked him to go, back it off, boy. This is what daddy
18:19 gets paid to do. Right? And I share the gospel with her, and it ends. I'm not like a movie scene. We're all claps together. She's balling. I'm balling. Jeremy's balling. We're just crying. She receives
18:31 Christ as her savior right there in the grocery store. Praise the Lord. Invite her out to our church, and I'm walking out and I'm looking at my son realizing that simple message of the gospel,
18:43 realizing I was gonna miss that opportunity, and I told Jeremy, I was gonna miss that opportunity, but you saw that lady. I was in a hurry, but you were stay paying attention to what Jesus wants you to do. And it was 1
18:54 of those special father son moments. He goes, you proud of me? I go, yeah. He says, buy me ice cream now. I go, I will. And I did. It's simplicity. Let me
19:06 ask you this question. Have you received the simple message of the gospel? I'm gonna explain it to you very simply. God loves
19:18 me. God loves you so much. Some of you don't feel loved. Let me tell you, the God of this universe who spoke everything into existence, who holds together this universe by the word of his power, he loves
19:29 you. Maybe nobody else in this world does. God does. The 1 that matters most. But we have sinned. We
19:41 break his commandments and we break his heart. You and I no, no, people don't like talking about this. You and I are condemned to hell forever and there's nothing we can do about it. Being good, going to church, it's
19:52 like putting white frosting on a burnt cake. We're all sinners. We're all headed to hell and there's nothing we can do about it. So God did something about it. Christ died for us. 2000 years ago, God sent his own
20:04 son whom he loved and Jesus died in our place for our sin. He took the price that we were supposed to pay and he paid the price himself with his own blood and
20:16 he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and he died. And 3 days later, he rose again. Now, if you believe, again, it's not just mental ascent. You have to
20:28 trust in Christ. It's a transfer of trust from yourself to what Jesus did for you on the cross. In that moment, you trust in Christ, then you will go to heaven. You receive the gift of eternal life.
20:40 And listen, it's not just heaven. It's not just a ticket to heaven. It's a train ride on earth to discover your identity, belonging, and purpose. It's all found in the gospel. So if you've never placed your faith
20:52 in Christ, genuinely trusted in him, today is the day of salvation. I'm not done with the sermon, but we're gonna get this part done right now because it is so important. I'm gonna have everybody bow your heads and close
21:02 your eyes, no 1 looking around. And the reason I'm having you bow your heads and close your eyes is I want you to do business with God. Some of you, this is your first time at brave, some of you been coming for a while.
21:14 Let me ask you this question. Do you know for sure that you have eternal life? Do you know for sure you're gonna go to heaven when you die? Do you know for sure that God is your father, that your sins are
21:26 forgiven? If you do not, today's the day of salvation. Place your faith in Christ, transfer your trust from yourself to what Jesus did for you on the
21:37 cross. And if you're doing that, you can say this simple silent prayer to God, dear God, I'm a sinner. I deserve hell. I can't be good enough to make it into your perfect
21:49 presence. But I believe Jesus died for me. I believe Jesus paid the price for all my sins on the cross. I believe he rose from the dead
22:01 and I trust in him as the way, the truth, and the life right now. With heads bowed and eyes closed, my friend, if you just placed your faith in Jesus, you are saved not
22:13 because you said a prayer, but because you've been born again. You placed your faith in Jesus And I'd like to know who you are so I can pray for you. So with heads bowed and eyes closed, that made sense for the
22:25 first time and you trusted in Jesus, can you simply raise up your hand and put it right back down? God bless you. God bless you and you. Anybody else, just raise up your hand and put it right back down. God bless
22:37 you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless all of you. Everybody, let's give God a hand for these. He's brought from darkness to light.
22:54 If you place your faith in Jesus, whether or not you raised your hand, if you genuinely place your faith in Jesus, you've been born again into God's family. I wanna encourage you to take the next step. Go to the
23:04 connection center. Pastor Jeff wrote a book for you to help you grow in your newfound faith. Stop there and let somebody know. And then you have the privilege of being baptized. That public declaration of that inward
23:15 transformation, baptism doesn't save you, but it shouts to the world, I believe Jesus is Lord. Believe in your heart and you're justified. Declare with your mouth and you're saved. I challenge
23:27 you, stop by that connection booth. Once again, let's give God a hand for these who've indicated faith in Christ. We must unleash the power of the gospel. All of us
23:39 must. Not just me from the pulpit, but you from your job site, from your neighborhood, at your school, with your friends, online, face to face. We must unleash the power of the gospel and
23:51 then we must unleash the potential of young people. Now, I'm convinced that first Corinthians 1, whether intentional or not, makes the case for youth ministry. Let me read this passage. First Corinthians 1 26
24:03 and 28, brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards. Not many were influential. Not many were of noble birth. But here's the case for youth ministry.
24:14 God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God loves to use teenagers. And if you're a
24:26 teenager, I hope you embrace the fact that God may consider you foolish because it's a compliment. Because teenagers, know scientifically their brains aren't fully developed. Right?
24:39 We know that their decision making is inhibited. That's why a lot of times young people make stupid choices. But I also believe young people can make courageous choices. And God loves to
24:51 use those who are young. If you look throughout church history, you will see God using young people starting with Jesus and his disciples. Lock into this. I'm gonna give you I'm gonna give you some Bible facts that
25:03 may surprise you. I believe Jesus was a youth leader. I believe most of the disciples were teenagers when they begin to follow Christ. Here's why. Matthew 17 24 through 27,
25:14 Peter, Jesus, the disciples go into Capernaum, but only Peter and Jesus pay the temple tax. They're all there, but only Peter and Jesus pay. When you cross reference that with Exodus chapter 30
25:26 verse 14, the temple tax, which is originally the tabernacle tax, was only for those 20 years old and older. All the disciples are there, but only
25:38 Peter and Jesus pay. If I'm reading that right, Jesus was a youth leader with 1 adult volunteer named Peter, and 1 rotten kid named Judas. I don't
25:50 mean to be pointing at you, you're just in the line of fire. And no budget, and with that youth group, he changed the world. God loves to use the foolish things
26:02 of this world to confound the wise. You look throughout church history, you will see God using young people. In American revival, you see God using young people. The first great awakening,
26:14 this surprises some people. Before America was America, when we were just the colonies, it was a spiritually dark place. Entire towns and villages were given up to drunkenness and prostitution and greed.
26:26 But then 2 preachers from England came over, John Wesley, George Whitfield. And they began to preach throughout the colonies and God struck a revival. George Whitfield had such a powerful
26:37 voice. He could be heard a mile away preaching. He could speak to 30000 people without voice amplification. The greatest actor in England
26:49 said, oh, if I could say, oh, like George Whitfield. Little known fact, he was extremely cross eyed. I think a lot of people came to Christ because they thought that dude's looking right at me. I'm walking out right now.
26:59 I believe, you know. Then John Wesley organized everybody into cadres, let's call them, and they activated. And Jonathan Edwards
27:11 said this, the revival has been chiefly amongst the young. It was a student led awakening that transformed the
27:22 colonies. And 3 years before the signing of the declaration of independence, George Whitfield died and the colonies were spiritually renewed. A student led
27:34 awakening prepared the colonies to become a republic. And I believe it can be a student led awakening that repairs the republic. And I believe
27:45 what the hope of our nation is and the hope of the world is, is the gospel of Jesus Christ unleashed through a generation of teenagers, and I'm seeing it around the world. I traveled the world as an
27:57 evangelist, and I have never seen a time where young people are more open to the gospel, including in Europe. God is doing some amazing things. Perhaps perhaps we will see
28:09 the last and final great great awakening that will sweep the world, and may God have the epicenter of that revival right here at brave church, and may our
28:21 young people lead the way just like they're leading in worship, may they lead in disciple multiplication. When we unleash the power of the gospel and the potential of teenagers,
28:33 great things will happen. 3 things, the world will be mortified. I love it. First Corinthians 1 19, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, the intelligence of
28:45 the intelligent, I will frustrate. The world doesn't see teenagers coming. The world underestimates the potential of youth.
28:58 They are not the next generation, they are the now generation. God loves to mortify the world by using young people. Go back with me to the old
29:10 testament. Go back to the story of David and Goliath. David's a teenager. He's not old enough to fight in the war. He's delivering cheese and crackers to his older brothers in the war. He overhears Goliath. All the adult
29:22 Israeli soldiers, instead of fighting Goliath, they were hiding from Goliath, shaking in their foxholes. This teenager, think of him as a 14 or 15 year old, freshman in high school. He's like, I'll fight the
29:34 dude. He goes out with a stick and a sling and 5 rocks. He goes out to face Goliath. Goliath is a champion, 9 foot 9 inches tall, killed
29:45 thousands of people in war. He looks at this kid with a stick and a sling. He goes, what am I? A dog? Did you come at me with sticks? Come here, kid. Today, I'll give the carcass your carcass of your body to the beast of
29:55 the field and the birds of the air. That's when David delivers my favorite old testament comeback line. He tells Goliath, you come at me with a sword and a spear and a javelin, I come again I come against you in the name
30:05 of the Lord God Almighty. Today, I'm gonna kill you, and I'm gonna give the carcasses of the entire Philistine army to the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. In this day, the world will know there is a God in
30:16 Israel. Let's get it on. I added that last part. Sorry. He grabs that rock. He puts it in his sling. He runs toward Goliath, swinging that sling. He throws that stone. That stone hurdles to the air, crashes through
30:27 Goliath's giant skull, dies while he's standing on his feet, and God brings a great victory through a teenager that day. And the Philistines were mortified
30:39 and ran away in fear. And may a generation of young David's and Esther's rise up to set the pace and mortify the world to the power of the gospel.
30:51 When teens are unleashed, the world will be mortified. The church will be fortified. First Corinthians 1 21, God was pleased to the foolishness of what was
31:03 preached to save those who believe. You wanna build your church? Let's go young. Because if we miss youth, we miss the
31:14 movement. We wanna fortify the church. We have to focus on teenagers. That's why, again, I'm so excited for what pastor Jeff is gonna be unfolding over the next few months about the youth
31:26 ministry right here at Brave and the plans to mobilize this generation with and for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Think of what happened. Think of think about what happened to the Israeli soldiers when
31:38 David killed Goliath, the Philistines are fleeing. What did the Israeli adult soldiers do? They came catapulting out of their foxholes with a shout. They chased the Philistines down. David's courage, the courage of a
31:50 teenager on fire for God infused fire into the hearts of the adults. And my prayer is a youth ministry right here at Brave Church will do great things for the glory of God, will make and
32:01 multiply disciples, will shake schools for Christ, and all of us as adults will catapult out of our foxholes and chase our Philistines down because God is bringing a movement through the youth.
32:13 This is not just biblical, it's research based. We just
32:25 finished an 18 month study at dare to share through clarity research. And what we did is we evaluated a typical youth group versus a gospel advancing disciple
32:37 multiplying youth group. And the results were stark. What do I mean by typical youth group? A typical youth group is 1 where the youth leaders feel, hey, yeah, come on out kids. We're gonna have a lot of fun. Right?
32:49 Tonight, I'm gonna juggle flaming poodles. Oh, check them out. Alright. Break up into small groups and talk about how you felt when I set those poodles on fire. Okay. Cue the music. Alright. Skew the cue the fog machine.
33:00 Okay. Here's the lesson for the night. Don't have sex before you're married. Now it's time for pizza. You know, and they feel this pressure to entertain. The problem is teens have more fun on
33:12 their phones. They don't need youth leaders to entertain them. They need youth leaders to mobilize them. And when teenagers are mobilized for the gospel, everything
33:24 changes. I experienced this growing up. But here's the statistical proof. Again, a typical youth group versus a gospel advancing disciple multiplying youth group. Here's the results. 3 times more
33:36 teens discipling other teens. Teenagers discipling other teenagers. 3 times overall youth group growth. You wanna get your students to grow? Get them
33:48 to go. You wanna get your youth group to go? Mobilize them with and for the gospel. 10 times more gospel conversations per student. 10 times. In a typical youth group, the average teen
33:59 is 5 gospel conversations per year. In a gospel advancing 1, they have 51 per week, basically. 38 percent more likely to have conversion. Teens are more open to teens talking
34:11 to them about Christ, and 30 times more missional impact. I wanted to share these statistics with you. We did an initial research report. The big one's coming out August
34:23 fourth. I wanna encourage you when you get home, go to this website, don't miss it dot org. Don't miss it dot org. And at don't miss it dot org, you can download the initial
34:35 report and then you'll get the full report in August. And I believe it's time to mobilize our young people with and for the gospel. Because when we do, the world will
34:47 be mortified, the church will be fortified, and finally, the Lord will be glorified. First Corinthians 1 28 and 29, God chose the lowly things of this world and to despise things and the things that
34:59 are not, to nullify the things that are so that no 1 may boast before him. Revival doesn't come through big buildings and big budgets. It comes through prayer and preaching
35:11 through youth and truth to the foolish things of the world that confound the wise. You wanna bring glory to God? Unleash the next
35:22 generation. Some of you thinking, okay, I don't have teenagers. What does this have to do with me? The
35:34 1 thing we discovered in this that was above and above all above everything else truth is when teenagers had youth leaders that modeled a gospel advancing lifestyle. They
35:46 were much more likelihood to share the gospel themselves. So if that's true, how much more if an entire church is filled with adults
35:59 who are setting the pace, who are sharing Christ, who are coaching these young people, who are encouraging them in the hallways, who are seeking them out, who are praying over them, who see them,
36:11 those especially that go to public schools as federally funded missionaries, and unleash these teens with and for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
36:25 So let me ask you this question. Are you setting the pace? When's the last time you shared the gospel with anyone?
36:37 Out loud with words. If we had to cure the cancer and our friends had cancer, we would not hesitate to share the cure. We have the cure to something infinitely
36:48 worse than cancer, and our neighbors and our coworkers and our family and our friends who don't know Christ are headed somewhere infinitely worse than death. We have the cure. His name is Jesus. It's not a complicated
36:59 message. It's John 3 16. You want a student led revival? Then may we set the pace.
37:13 May we share our faith. May we show them how. Today, I wanna close with a story of a young man named
37:25 Doug. Doug had a troubled life. Doug was raised in apartment complexes and trailer courts. Doug had epilepsy.
37:37 He could have a grand mal seizure anytime of the day or night, 2 times as a young man, his heart stopped, he almost died. Ted insult to injury, he also had learning disabilities. But back in the seventies, they
37:49 just called him stupid. And Doug was mocked, relentlessly mocked. But Doug was no wimp. He fought back with his fist and he started getting in trouble. First with the school, he was getting
38:00 expelled as a teenager from high school. And then with the law because 1 day he snapped. He went to the apartment next door and he completely, for no reason, vandalized it just completely out
38:12 of anger and rage. He was arrested. He was taken to the judge. The judge instead of sending him to jail, sent him to a mental institute. For 6
38:23 months, Doug was in a mental institute. And the 1 thing Doug took with him was his bible because he knew the answers were in there and he read the bible night and day. This is in the seventies, back when they had
38:35 straight jackets and electroshock therapy and everybody was kind of in general population, but he got alone and he read his bible. He had an encounter with Jesus Christ as a teenager in this mental
38:47 institute. And I'll never forget when he came out, he came out on fire, like awkwardly on fire. Because he would just bring the gospel up. Somebody says, it's hot in here. He said, it's hot in hell too. Let
38:59 me tell you about Jesus in a minute. He could not stop himself. He walked all over the city streets of Denver looking for people to talk to about Jesus, and that's exactly what he did. 1 day early on a Saturday morning,
39:10 he's like, we gotta tell somebody about Jesus. I'm like, it's early. He's like, people need the Lord. Let's go. And so we went out looking for somebody. We couldn't find anybody. He's like, where is everyone? I go,Show more
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