When adults look at kids today, they generally see a lack of drive towards things that matter. But does that mean they’re incapable of having that drive? In order to point kids to Jesus, we have to know what they want. Gregg Johnson of J12 Ministries is back with his final episode of how to reach tweens at your church. Here’s part 4 of this series:
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Transcript:
Hello, everybody! Gregg Johnson. We’re back again! Part four of a four part vlog series. I decided to pull it off the wall, and there it is: Absolutely. It’s Jesus at 12 sitting among the teachers. That’s on our wall because we just, we just love this story we just believe that the story of Jesus at twelve is for all of us. But primarily it’s for kids that are almost teenagers.
And so, let’s talk about the last three words that Jesus said at 12. Of course he spoke many more words than this, but this is what we have recorded in the Bible. The first three “I must be,” and then the word “about.” The word about means “in.” It just means “in.” Jesus could have just as easily said, “I must be ‘in’ my Father’s business,” or “I must be ‘in my Father’s house.’” Because the word for business is the same as house, which means Jesus was in the family business. That’s where he was. So I must be about… In the end, your life will have been about something. Like what are you really all about? What’s it all about? You may have owned this, done that, worked here, married her, married him, had these kids, drove that… Whatever. In the end, what matters is what you are truly all about. And all of us have an “about.” Let’s talk about the last three words: “I must be about my Father’s business.
Now, two of the words in the seven rhyme. “I” and “my.” Why? Because God wants it to be personal. “I must be about my Father’s business.” Do you know he’s not just ‘the’ God of creation? He’s ‘our’ God. And God made that very apparent to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt. “I am the Lord ‘your’ God who brought you out of Egypt.” And in the same way today, He is the God who was our God. He is your preteen’s God. He is the God of those who call him their Father.
“I must be about my ‘Father’s’…” Whenever I talk about the father heart of God, whenever we do the J12 encounter, or I minister to kids in this age group, it gets silent. And it gets silent because everyone’s looking for a father, and God’s the ultimate God and the ultimate father which makes him the ultimate… Are you ready? I know you knew where I was going with this… He’s the ultimate godfather. And Jesus introduced him as dad. Jesus introduced him as Father. And we need to let our children know that no matter what dad’s like on earth, God is Father in heaven. You know, there’s no such thing as a perfect dad. Mine wasn’t perfect either. My dad… I saw him go through a lot of challenges in his life, and when I forgave my dad on earth for things he did to our home, I was able to see God as Father in heaven. And I allow kids… I let kids know that if you want to really know God as father, you got to forgive the one on earth.
“I must be about my Father’s business.” Aren’t you happy he said, “business?” Cause we’ve been called to rule and to reign, and young people at an early age can be about their Father’s business. They can be about their purpose in life. Two important days in every child’s life: the day they were born and the day they discover why. That doesn’t have to happen in a day. It can happen in a period, a season. But God has put within the fabric of the human spirit a powerful desire for purpose and to know why. Of all creation, we are the only ones who are made in His image. Everybody else, everything else is his wonderful creation, but humanity is his only image. And I want kids to know that they can be about their Father’s business, for our God is a God of purpose. He’s a God of plans and destiny.
So we’ve come to the end of a four part vlog. Four tween trends: kids are getting older younger, faster quicker, sadder sooner… They seem to be staying younger longer in our culture. I believe the answer to this scenario is the narrative of Jesus at 12 and our kids understanding what it means to live the seven words of Jesus: “I must be about my Father’s business.” May we all live those words. May we all live with an “I must” spirit. God bless you.
Thank you Greg Johnson and J12 ministries for challenging us to look deeper into how to reach tweens on their level. J12 has some amazing curriculum designed to reach the 10 to 14 year olds at your church, and it’s all available right now through Disciplr. Click on the link in the description below to sign up for a free 7-day trial and check out everything today.
