The Triune God

NIV 2 Corinthians 13:14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Augustine said:  if you deny the Trinity you lose your soul, but if you try to explain it you lose mind.

I (who is seminary trained, which doesn’t really mean anything) will try my best to explain who God is as He has revealed Himself in Scripture, as the one true, living, and Trinitarian God.  Remember one of the targets of the REYouthPastor.com website is to tackle deep theological topics so youth pastors can understand why it is important to teach doctrine to our students. It is our hope to make our youth sermons, youth ministry teachings and lessons more theological and not so topical.  Imagine how cool it would be if youth ministries across the USA started teaching and preaching on the Trinity Doctrine.

The word Trinity was coined by Tertullian in the 1^st century. The Trinity is:  One God who eternally exists as three distinct equal persons, Father, Son, Spirit, who are each fully and equally God.  The Trinitarian God idea is one essence, three persons.

The Trinity isn’t in the Bible, so why do our student need to know about the ancient doctrine of the Trinity?

Trinity Doctrine Development

In the first three centuries, there was much attack on monotheism and Christ’s Deity.  The Trinity correctly explains the heritage of monotheism, the confession of Jesus’ lordship, and the experience of the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Basically there is one God, Jesus is Lord and human, and the Holy Spirit is active and present in our world.

Godhead is…

God is one

God is three

God is diversity

God is unity

Possible analogies for the Trinity:

1. H20 = Ice, water, steam—three modes in which the one chemical formula can appear.
2. Tree = Root, trunk, and branch
3. Egg = yolk, eggwhite, and shell
4. Threeheaded dog = Three heads, one dog

**Remember these analogies are helpful but are majorly flawed.

It seems like Catholics focus on the Father, Evangelicals focus on Jesus, and the Pentecostals focus on the Holy Spirit.  How can our youth ministries become more Trinitarian?

What is the Trinitarian life for a student?

1. Relational

2. Transparent

3. Communal

4. Humble

5. Submissive

6. Joyful

Youth Group Discussion Questions:

Consider the following scriptures: 2 Chr. 15:3, Jer 10:10, John 17:3, 1 Thess. 1:9. What does this tell about the nature of God?

What is the implication of this truth for other religions and gods?

There are many scriptures that declare that the Father( Jn. 6:27, 1 Peter 1:3), the Son (Rom. 9:5, Gal 4:4) and the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4, 2 Cor. 3:16-18) are God. How is this reconciled with the statements of one God through scriptures like Gen. 1:26, 3:22, Is. 6:8?

What does it mean that the Father, Son and Spirit are distinct persons?

How does Matt. 3:16-17 support the distinct personhood of the Father, Son and Spirit?

Why does this matter?

Why is the Trinity an essential doctrine to Christian faith?

Why is it important to understand the nature of God as he has revealed Himself?

How do you relate and pray to God the Father? The Son? The Spirit?

What does a Trinitarian life look like for you personally?

What aspects of the Trinity (community, relationship, submission…etc) are missing from your life?

How is God calling you to worship Him in light of His Trinitarian nature?

God is joyful.  God isn’t this big old bad wolf in the sky waiting for us to mess up.  Why?  In the Trinity there is equality, there is no lying, no disrespect, no secrets, no hiding, no blaming just love!!  Perfect love, intimacy, connection, submission, and adoration!

The Trinity agreed to save us!  God made the world, Jesus agreed to come down, and the Spirit is with us.

© 2010, Jeremy Zach. All rights reserved.

According to JI Packer, a study of the concordance will show that there are more references in Scripture to the anger, fury, and wrath of God, than there are to His love and tenderness.

In this post I will deal with these questions:

1.  How do we maintain a strong commitment to evangelism, without having to scare people?

2. Love has multiple meanings so how do we effectively communicate the true essence of God’s character?

3. How often during the past year did you talk about the wrath of God?

Finally, what are the standards for when youth pastors want to talk about the Wrath of God:

1.  Adopt the Oreo cookie approach.

When having the wrath of God conversation it is imperative you have a solid and honest relationship with the students and you are demonstrating love and compassion.  Essentially be incarnational.  When God gives you the opportunity start by affirming —> then deliver the wrath of God punch  —> and follow up with gentleness. The white filling represents the wrath of God part.  When having hard conversations always think Oreo cookie.  Two compliments and one complaint.

2. 60/40. 

60% of your youth ministry should be bathed in grace, love, forgiveness, while the other 40% embrace rebuking and repenting.  Youth pastors need to remember that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance.

3.  The Wrath of God is one of the attributes of God.

The wrath of God is not THE ONLY attribute of God’s character, it is one of the many.  Jonathan Edwards’s has a famous sermon titled:  “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”.  Bottom line:  the wrath of God talk should be one of the many talks we convey to the youth.

4. We need to remember that there is more to God’s message than ONLY receiving our fire proof insurance card.

5.  The wrath of God motivates students to live a right and pure life.

Psalm 119:71 ⁷¹ It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.  We worship a God of Justice who likes to kick butt.  If we are being lazy, unmotivated, complacent, and lukewarm we are becoming comfortable.  Paul talks about how we need to work our faith with fear and trembling.  Bottom line we need to be doing stuff.  Faith without works is dead.

I think youth pastors need to have a healthy value of presenting other God attributes to our students.  Honestly, I think our 21st century postmodern students have the love, grace, and compassionate thing down real well.

My only hope is that youth pastors talk about the wrath of God every once in a while.  It is problematic if youth pastors are ignoring the wrath of God talk because of their insecurities and jadedness.  It may be kind of healthy if students get their butt kicked every once in a while.  : )

© 2009, Jeremy Zach. All rights reserved.

It is imperative youth ministries and youth pastors engage the realities of the last week of Jesus.

Simply by reading the last week of Jesus’ life while simultaneously watching it, helps teenagers to visualize and contextualize what Jesus went through.

I would highly recommend the book:  The Last Week of Jesus by Marcus Borg and John Crossan.

This exercise produces a high experiential and learning environment.  This lesson is a great teaching for youth of all ages to learn about the Easter season.

If you need a different and highly visual activity to remember what Christ done for us, feel free to download this Easter/Last Week of Jesus youth ministry lesson by clicking the Last Week of Jesus Experience picture.

© 2009, Jeremy Zach. All rights reserved.

Every year (in my small youth ministry) I like to reflect about my systemic theological and topical approach in how and why I teach what I teach to the teens showing up to my mid-week programs.

Our 21st century existential students desire to not only know but to understand and to experience what they are being taught.  Our teachings are more of a cognitive and affective experience.  No this doesn’t mean the youth communicator can only rely on emotion to move (manipulate) their teens.

Andy Stanley and Stuart Hall wrote an excellent book:  The Seven Checkpoints for Youth Leaders that attempted to pin down the 7 essential themes youth need to hear about.  These 7 themes are:  Authentic Faith, Spiritual Disciplines, Moral Boundaries (this section deals primarily with issues of sexual purity and dating) , Healthy Friendships , Wise Choices, Ultimate Authority, and Others First.

Though these 7 points are great topical points for a teenager, I am arguing there needs to be a new improved and updated ambitious list of what teens need to hear about.

Teaching to teenagers is not an easy task.  If you go too deep, you will lose them.  If you go too topical, they will complain your teaching was not deep enough.  So essentially we are in a lose-lose situation.

According to me (the small town youth pastor) who ministers in an out of the ordinary context (Laguna Beach)here is what I believe 21st century existential students need to hear about.  Here are a few teaching topics for teens:

1.  Decision making. Every choice they make matters.  Every choices determines the quality and direction of their life. 

2.  Educating them with a solid theological worldview. It is our job as their youth pastor to give them a basic theological foundation.  Give them a brief systematic course.  Familiarize them with key theological themes.  

3.  Teaching them how to defend their faith. Apologetics is a great thing.  A kid must start asking the questions so they at least know how to answer the questions.  Dale Fincher has a great book:  Living with Questions. 

4.  The insane importance of prayer. Prayer is everything.  If a kid can pray, they are locked in.  Prayer is one of the biggest connecting points to God.  Great things happen, when kids start praying. 

5.  How to read the Bible for everything it is worth. The Bible is one of the easiest books to read, but it has some complexities to it.  Teach the students how to read the Torah, Prophets (major/minor), Writings, Gospels, Paul’s writings, and Revelation. 

6.  Maintaining healthy friendships. Who they hang around matters.  Friends have the biggest influence on each other.  

7.  Identity. Teach student to ask the questions of:  Who I am?  Where do I fit in this world?  Why do I matter?  Basically be confident that you are the beloved child of God.  Don’t pretend to be someone you aren’t.

8.  Comprehend the Problem of Evil. Students should have a framework how to answer the question of:  Why do bad things happen to good (Christian) people?

9.  Be the Kingdom to others. Love, serve, bless, forgive, and care for others.  Kids need to realize their entire life is a mission field.  The goal is to show others what Jesus showed others. 

10.  How to do the teachings of Jesus. We talk a lot about the teachings of Jesus, but very rarely will we talk about how to do the teachings of Jesus.  If the students are wanting change, they are going to have to step out of their boat and decide if they actually want to change. 

I don’t think youth ministries department need to ONLY focus on being a place of behavior modification.  The teachings of Jesus are pretty deep and require more than NOT just drinking and having sex.  If we (youth pastors) can nail down the identity part, students will start to love who they are becoming and will not feel tempted to have sex or to drink.  Generally the sinful acts for a teenager are linked to them wanting to be accepted and valued.  So if we can convinced them they are already accepted and valued, than they will not need condoms and a bottle of captain Morgan.

My point:  Teach with consistency and with a balance of theological and topical concepts.  Allow the students to wrestle and struggle with what they were taught and more importantly always find environments where the students can experience what they just heard.

© 2009, Jeremy Zach. All rights reserved.

Students at some point will pick your knowledge regarding Heaven. Some of their questions may include: Will we still be  married in heaven? We will have physical bodies in heaven? Is heaven really a “place” outside of time and space?  Was Jesus’ message solely about Heaven?  

The problem: The Scriptures paint such a limited view of Heaven and Heaven seems so abstract. From what I gathered, many of my students are convinced that heaven is not a place and getting into heaven was not Jesus’ only and main point.

First “Heaven” (shamahyim, ouranos) has three meanings:

1. Cosmological: to designate the whole universe, Gen 1:1; Matt 5:18

2. Synonym for God: Luke 15.18, 21. For example Kingdom of Heaven as Matthew refers to it.

3. Abode of God: Matt 6:9; 7:21. Heaven will be our place of dwelling (Jn 14.2-3, 1 Thess 4.17)

There are a few Biblical images of heaven: Heaven as the City, Jerusalem (Rev 21.1-5) and The Garden: Heaven as Paradise

NT Wright refers to heaven as this NEW CREATION, which implies the renewal/transformation of the old. Wright sees heaven as paradise, namely the NEW CREATION and those dead are still asleep. This new creation theology debunks the exhausted old theologies of: escapism, fireproof insurance, and evacuation in order to liberate us as God’s people here, now, and today! Seemingly, there is more to God’s story here and now than patiently waiting until the end times. I think heaven/paradise is the teleos (the end or final) and we as humanity enjoy life to its fullest and the process of becoming God’s people who are freed and restored.

I also believe that heaven/paradise/new creation will have some amazing features: 1. Communion, 2. Presence of God, 3. Vision of God, 4. Removal of all evil and suffering, 5. Absolute Security, and 6. A place of glory.  In addition, our task is heaven is to worship, rest, commune, and to be of service.

Internal theological heaven problem: How should youth pastors discuss and talk about heaven to mid to late adolescence? Should we use concrete and absolutes terms? Or should we simply describe Heaven’s amazing features and leave it in this ambiguous state?

© 2009, Jeremy Zach. All rights reserved.