In this essay I will examine a variety of sources other than the Bible and Christian theory to understand what God's broader mission is, how I can plan my work with young people in my local community using the ministry of Christ as a model for church, youth clubs and outreach programs within the Christian youth workplace. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay At the age of 19 I came to the conclusion that my life was a complete disaster shortly before I gave my life to Jesus. Taking drugs, dealing, going to raves, drinking, stealing, no interest in school, leaving without GCSEs, getting into trouble with the police and getting into strange fights. I thought all this was the worst thing, but it really wasn't, not honoring my mother and father was. I put your parents through hell by lying to them, not telling them where I was going, staying out late and sometimes not coming home, being completely high on drugs. My nerves were so shot that the doctor was thinking of prescribing Valium. I remember one day God spoke to me while I was under the influence of drugs and told me to throw the drugs I was hiding out the window. Three times he had to ask me and the third time I knew he wouldn't give up, so I did. One day I was running away from the police because I had been in an accident with my car without insurance, I had had enough, my whole life seemed to be collapsing around me. So, a few days later, I remember standing in the middle of my bedroom on the roof and asking God "if you are real, please help me cry". I was so unhappy and angry all the time. I thought at least two hours had passed and I was heartbroken, in tears, I had never cried like that, then I realized that God had answered my prayer. That day my life changed forever. God revealed himself to me, gave me a vision of a rapidly moving rosebud blooming into a beautiful red rose. I saw him standing holding my sister's hand and saying that one day you will be with her again. My sister Jacqueline was run over and killed at the age of two, and unless I asked God for forgiveness, I would never have been able to meet her. I knew that God's mission that day was to tell everyone that Christ is real and I needed to be part of that mission. My friends couldn't believe that I had given my life to Christ. In my heart, young people need to know Christ to help them escape the pain I had felt. The scales were lifted from my eyes and I could see the kingdom of God. Just as Paul states that the scales were also lifted from his eyes in Acts 9:18 “And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained view. Then he got up and was baptized." I believed God had called me. The Mission was to go back to all the old clubs and go out on the streets and tell the young people that Jesus is real. So, what is Mission and the Church? David Bosch in his book Transforming Mission states the term mission as "a sender, a person or persons sent by the sender, those to whom one is sent, and an assignment." (Bosch, 2011) In the Bible, John 20:21, we read that we see the mission of Jesus Christ who passed on to his disciples "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you". (ESV Study Bible, 2008). been an evangelical work, I believed that as a believer I had to go out and spread the word that God is real and teach the Gospel to lead people into the kingdom of Heaven this has been implanted in my heart since the beginning after the fall, the God's mission ishas always been to set things right and bring humanity back to His presence, made perfect. This is why God sent Jesus to earth to be with people and serve them before he was crucified for the sins of the world. David Bosch states, citing the work of Hering, “mission is, quite simply, the participation of Christians in liberation”. David Bosch emphasizes that “The Christian faith, I believe, is intrinsically missionary, this dimension of Christian faith is not an optional task ” (Bosch, 2011). Christianity is a mission by its very nature or it denies its very purpose. Bosch helps us better understand that, as a Christian youth worker, it is a fundamental requirement to believe that we are committed to God's mission and that we are witnesses to the community in which I work and to all those I come into contact with. God's mission in Matthew 28 is known to me as the Great Commission (ESV Study Bible, 2008), this must be the key and motivation behind the work I do for youth. As a youth worker I need to have knowledge of the great commission and I need to develop myself biblically and have a passion to evangelize every young person I come in contact with within the local community and other places where I may be called Also. Regarding the church David Bosch stated that "There is church because there is mission and not vice versa. By its nature and vocation, the church is a missionary community" (Bosch, 2011) therefore the mission should be natural in life itself and calling of the church. Moltmann also argues, in agreement with David Bosch, that “mission does not come from the Church; it is from the mission that the Church must be understood”. (Jürgen Moltmann: The Church, 2020), which means that the youth club or street work only exists thanks to the broader mission of God. Our youth group must understand that we are called to be servants of God's missionary task in whatever community I find myself in and as David Bosch states "God is a missionary God, God's people are a missionary people" (Bosch, 2011) God is a missionary God, therefore mission must be seen and known as the movement of God in the community and in the world. This is exactly the opposite of how it is often seen, that mission is the primary activity of the church.” To support their belief in the mission and work of God, those in ministry believe that missionary work belongs to God and that they are simply His instruments working in the world. Using Bosch as my main point of reference I understand his quote “The Christian faith is intrinsically missional.” (Bosch, 2011) I can discuss how youth evangelism will work into the larger mission of God and also have a better understanding of the mission of Jesus Christ. It's amazing news that God loves us so much, so I need to communicate that to the youth and in the community. But in a loving way and without being forced. Frost & Hirsch supports David Bosch in its agreement stating that “we will see the church differently no longer as a religious institution but as a community of followers of Jesus dedicated to participating in his mission. ” (Frost and Hirsch, 2009) As a youth worker I need to know that my work with young people participates in the mission of God, bringing about the restoration and reconciliation of all young people to Him and also bringing hope to the community and wherever I go. Anything other than this, I believe that God is not at the center of this mission but that I am doing it alone. For me it is good to have plans and a program, but I must remember that the only purpose must be for the youth and the communities encounter Jesus. It is also important that, in my role as a youth worker, I am clear that God's mission exists before I even think about committing myselfwith young people and the community. My role as a youth worker is that it is important for me to have a need for understanding towards young people and having an impact, building relationships is a huge key factor and needs to be developed with time and consistency. My role model Jesus continues to remind me of the relationship he has with his Father God in heaven. While Jesus was on Earth throughout his ministry, he always spoke about his relationship with everyone he came in contact with, believers and non-believers and even his disciples. Relationships are so important within mission, in the New Testament The relationships we build will have a huge impact on the lives of others especially within the community, neighbors, young people and will help the broken hearted, but it's so important that I personally keep my relationship with Jesus constant and meet him every day by praying and studying his word. Mike Breen writes, “Relationships are the only means we have to enable and encourage young people to achieve maturity in their physical, emotional, social, and spiritual lives.” (Harrington, n.d.) As a youth worker I needed to create an environment or community where I could practice showing the love of Christ right under the noses of young people; I am always looking for ways in which I should try to introduce God to the youth I work with, Hirsch helped me understand “presence highlights the role of relationships in mission” (Hirsch, n.d.) if relationship is the key to that means the transfer of the Gospel in the mission, then it simply means that we will have to be directly present to the young people of our community. Our very lives are our message and we cannot exclude ourselves from the mission equation. The kingdom of God was at the center of Christ's broader mission. “As part of my evangelistic methods within my position, I also had to start helping young people open up to God with the work and programs I do with them. Most young people like music, so I started teaching worship and prayer before all activities. The best and simplest example I thought I could use was the Lord's Prayer and before each youth club day I would ask if anyone wanted to play a worship song or say the Lord's Prayer. Some young people enjoyed coming forward and some young people were happy to simply listen. Matthew 6, 9 -13, Jesus showed his disciples how to pray to their father with the Lord's Prayer. (ESV Study Bible, 2008). In the community where I work there is a great need to get young people to believe in the word of God. However, this can be difficult as we are in an age of increasing secularism. My aim as a youth worker is to meet young people before they fully form a secular/humanist belief, even if some already had and had no interest in any kind of faith. I needed to help the young person understand how to belong somewhere, to feel loved, so that they can get a taste of what it would be like to be in a relationship with Jesus. I believe that by showing young people their belonging and feeling loved, young people would encounter God, they would receive hope and begin to believe in themselves. After all, this is the purpose of my mission. Incarnation and crucifixion go hand in hand, this is my mission. The incarnation is the meeting with young people where they are confronted with the Bible and with faith. God gives us an example to follow when he gives us Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. John 1:14 states, “The Word became flesh, and the only begotten Son came to dwell among us, coming from the Father, full of grace and truth” (ESV Study Bible, 2008). Hirsch stated “if God's central way of reaching his world wasincarnate in Jesus, therefore our way of reaching the world should also be incarnated” (Missional-Incarnational Impulse, 2020) As a youth worker I am trying to help young people with the challenges and struggles of life, Frost argues that “we must take the call to live incarnatively is serious, right next to those whom God wishes to redeem." (Frost, n.d.) According to Bosch, 'The churches, in general, have an underdeveloped theology of incarnation [while] the churches of the East have always taken the incarnation more seriously” (Bosch, 2011). Paul's mission in the Scriptures was not only to practice evangelism and plant churches, but he desired to build communities of believers who could think biblically through an ethical.cultural approach.” David Bosch gives great insight by stating that “evangelization is only possible when the community that evangelizes is a radiant manifestation of the Christian faith and displays an attractive lifestyle.” (Bosch, 2011). The young people I have worked with don't just want to hear me talk, but they need to see me living a lifestyle that draws them to the faith, leading by example, enjoying life but also not being afraid to share my difficult moments, without going too personal in my life. James 2:18 says “But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by what I do." (ESV Study Bible, 2008) Paul summarizes the message of the incarnation in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 "for love of the gospel he will become all things to every tribe, people and culture until he is able to gain as many as possible." (ESV Study Bible, 2008) Graham Cray writes: 'Youth ministry has become a matter of cross-cultural mission. It's about entering the world of young people and honoring them by taking it as seriously as they do." (Subworth, Cray and Russell, 2007) As a youth worker I have to be creative and imaginative in my missionary work with young people and the community in how I present the message of Jesus to them. For example, I organized a program called “The Big Question ”. I began the six-week program with the first question: Do you believe God exists? That question went on for six weeks, I was totally amazed at how interested the young people were. I must help them find Christ "right where they are" and prepare them to be part of the kingdom of God. The greatest message of the New Testament is that Christ affects all people through the power of redemption (delivering from sin). John 3:16 teaches how the ever-living and generous God through the incarnation brought Christ to the whole world without leaving a soul outside. (ESV Study Bible, 2008). In my environment everyone gets involved in what God offers. I have found that in rotation some young people may have finished the work faster than others, but the young people are always ready to step up and help others who haven't finished. It is encouraging that young people use their own initiative to help and do not have to be asked. Conclusion To have a better understanding of what mission and church truly mean, the place to begin is within myself, I must know, except and believe that Jesus Christ is in my heart and believe that he and he alone is my Lord and Savior . All love comes from God, He is love and He desires to share it with His people so that we can share it with others. When I refer to what mission is in my context, its values, practice and approach it is this, it is not just feelings, because love is not a feeling but an act of will. If I personally had to act only on feelings I wouldn't have the same passion I have for young people and the community. I have found that knowing who I am in Christ, being able to listen to God and young people when we eat together.