Are the International Churches of Christ a youth movement? I hope so. We are trying to be. An often heard comment of older visitors to our church services is, “Everyone seems so young!” Some of them mean that in a negative way, but I take it positively. The death knell of a religious movement is the loss of its young people. In so many denominations, their dying churches are mostly populated with members older than 40. Now, there is nothing wrong with being over 40 – I am 59. But, shouldn’t there be more young people than older people in God’s church? The young provide so much of the energy, enthusiasm and idealism that the healthy church body needs. For several years in the Kingdom of God, we neglected our young people. But we have repented.
Things are changing powerfully and rapidly. The first change was to energize our children’s ministries, “Kingdom Kids,” with top-notch curriculums and teaching materials. This project, headed by Kingdom Teacher Gordon Ferguson, took hundreds of hours, several hundreds of thousands of dollars and two years to complete. Now we have children’s ministries that are second to none. The second change was to restore a major evangelistic focus to the many college and university campuses. World Sector Leaders Marty and Chris Fuqua have been given
the charge of coordinating the building of great campus ministries all over the world. The third change came last year when Kip McKean called all of the churches to launch an unprecedented effort to make disciples of our own children, and to reach out to teens in our communities. Strong teen ministries are essential for strong churches.
Life can be so daily.” Gloria and I often quote those words of Pat Gempel to each other with tongue in cheek. We quote them because they are so true. The day-after-day routine of any part of our lives, spiritual or physical, can rob us of our zeal. Even in the Kingdom we often settle into repetitious patterns: one Sunday sermon follows the next, one quiet time follows the next. Even the incredible growth of our church can become “ho-hum.” I believe that, without special effort, we become spoiled spiritual kids of God. We become like kids visiting Disneyland, who for the first few rides cannot contain their excitement. But as the day wears on, they become increasingly bored and little seems to impress them. When we come into the Kingdom, we are beside ourselves with excitement. We’ve never heard sermons like these, never heard singing like this, never felt love like this. But with time it takes more and more to impress us.
Starting over is refreshing. A new semester in school, a new job, a new home, a new Bible Talk, a new life in Christ after baptism – a clean start. Here we are in January, 1996. This L.A. Story is both a look back to 1995 and a look ahead at God’s great expectations.
Six thousands women shared in the glory of God! Rain clouds blanketed “sunny” Los Angeles on Saturday, March 4, but God’s light was “shining through.” In what was probably the largest gathering of women in God’s modern-day movement, lives were forever transformed into the likeness of Jesus. Women of every race, color, age and background imaginable were there, gathered in ten locations to participate in the Los Angeles Church of Christ’s fifth annual Women’s Day. Over 3,600 friends, relatives and neighbors were guests of the nearly 2,400 women disciples in the church! Last year 1,700 women in the church hosted about 2,500 visitors. This year, visitor attendance increased by 45%.
We are saved to save others, not just a few others but a world of others. We have the authority in Matthew 28:18-20. We have the power from God. We have the message of the resurected Christ.
