Oh 1 Il-Woong Oh Professor Arnold English 1103 16 December 2011 The Mustardseed Church Youth Group: The Fundamental Principles

of Christian Youth Groups The Mustardseed Church youth group is based on Christianity. Christians believe that living towards eternity with God is far more important than living to the fullest in this temporary world, which is why the principles that they follow by faith in God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit, or the Holy Trinity, serves as such essential and crucial ways of living this short life that theyre given. There are many principles and values that the Bible contains, but they all require faith to believe and follow. The members of this youth group view their world as a world made by God, ruled by God, and conquered and saved by God through His only Son, Jesus Christ. However, this current world, being under the influence of Satan who is also known as 'the devil', is full of sin and evil. Believers of Jesus Christ, such as the Mustardseed Church youth group, grow constantly in God through a continuing love relationship with Him and are revealed to His ways through reading and studying the Scriptures, or the Bible, while struggling to kill their sinful natures and its evil ways; one of the most difficult struggles is to deny the world's temptations and to live apart from the "fun" norms of society, such as partying, making lots of money for a luxurious life, et cetera- living a life of selfish pleasure. However, this sinful world will not last forever- Jesus Christ will return to this world in order to take with Him His children or the true believers by heart, and to judge and condemn the wicked and evil. Christians strive to do their best of following Jesus Christ in faith. In following Jesus Christ by

Oh 2 faith, Christians are empowered by the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of Jesus Christ, to sacrifice their lives of selfish pleasures in order to live fully in obedience to the commands of God. The procedural aspects of the youth group meetings consist of discussion, teachings, and prayer. The leader of the youth group, Esther Kim, discusses and briefly overviews every individual's past week, such as feelings, thoughts, concerns, questions, et cetera, and how their relationship with God has been. Members of the youth group share their own testimonies pertaining their relationship with God; for example, a member of the youth group, Matt Kim, once told the entire youth group about how God clearly spoke to him about not arrogantly judging other people. Then, the members review a workbook, Experiencing God, that serves as a guide for the individuals of the youth group, which helps them develop a love relationship with and experience God; this workbook is done daily throughout the week by each member, as there is a separate assignment for each day, every week, for nine weeks. After reviewing the workbook, the youth group discusses any remaining topics of importance; examples would be discussing the Christmas performance event and the rehearsal times for the preparation of the event. To close and finish the youth group meeting, a volunteered or selected member prays out loud as the rest of the members pray along with that person- this is a type of group prayer. The members of the youth group try to behave, speak, and think in holy and righteous ways, as opposed to the ways of their selfish and sinful natures; they make efforts to be loving, joyful, truthful in all cases, prudent, discretionary, gentle, supporting, wise, understanding, peaceful, faithful to God and then to others, meek, patient, self-controlling, and self-disciplined, which can all be done only through God's initiative and grace; an example would be whenever Tim Kim, a member of the youth group, controls himself when he participates in sports activities with the rest of the youth group, even though he is very talented in many areas of sports, so that

Oh 3 he will not completely dominate others because doing so would leave negative feelings throughout the whole youth group and inflate his own pride. The members always try to speak the truth, as Jesus Christ has instructed all of His followers to always speak the truth. They also think in terms of the present, living their life completely for God through a love relationship with Him, and toward the future, "journeying" to their promised place in the eternal Kingdom of God, Zion, and to be united as one with God forever. The actions and attitudes of the youth group members act as a composed and unified "body". When one member needs something, another provides; this is a general example of the Christian principle of "serving one another". The members act as a united "body", in which each member helps another whenever the opportunity arises, such as getting water during lunch for everyone else or sweeping the floor in the stead of another member; larger tasks, such as clearing all of the garbage from the entire church grounds, are done quickly and efficiently by the whole "body" instead of only a few individuals- this can be defined as teamwork. While the tasks may be simple, the meaning behind the actions and completions of the tasks is powerful, and these "simple" tasks build strong foundations of the principles of Christianity for each memberexpressing love and obedience towards God, and in turn, love towards others. Also, arguable, these "simple" tasks can be proven to be some of the "hardest" tasks to complete; many people will feel apathetic or that the tasks are menial, and they will refuse to complete the "simple" tasks or to do them thoroughly. Serving God, serving others, and refusing and denying self are key concepts to the Christian youth group. The action and attitudes that pervade the youth group derives from one united purpose- to serve God through a continuing love relationship with Him while placing all of their faith, hope, and love in Jesus Christ, His only Son.

Oh 4 The conflicts that pull the community apart consist of overt and hidden conflicts. The overt conflicts include financial issues, physical and mental fatigue, laziness or apathy, aggressive competition amongst members, arguments and disagreements, personal issues, personal lives, and et cetera; for example, financial issues may hinder a member from attending church, and this causes a gap and distance in the relationship between that person and the rest of the youth group. Hidden conflicts consist of jealousy, secrets, gossip, personal temptations and desires over God, sins, grudges amongst members, and et cetera; an example would be one member ignoring another member of the youth group because of the disagreement and argument that they had in the past, such as arguments during basketball games that result from fouls and dirty play. The youth group, even in the midst of conflicts, constantly prays together about these conflicts to God in hope that He will never abandon them and that He acts only in perfect love to His children. The motives of the youth group are to live this life with love and faith toward God in hope of His promise of Jesus' Second Coming, in which He takes all of His children to be with Him in His Eternal Kingdom, Zion, forever. Also, they look forward to the eternal treasures that God has promised His children for everything that they truly do for Him in this present world. They strive to dedicate and sacrifice their lives to Him completely, to the Almighty God, so that He may rule their lives and guide them to live the kind of life that He create each and every one of them to live, so that they may be completely fulfilled in Him with His peace and joy; they will then have true life and bear "fruits" of God, which yield to a life full of His righteousness, ways, and holiness. The primary motives and goals of the youth group are to love God first and the most, and then to love others as oneself.

Oh 5 Christian youth groups strive towards becoming a complete servant to God, and in turn, serving all of mankind for God's Will. The whole purpose of Christians, their principles from the Bible, their beliefs, and everything that they struggle to do for God is to have a love relationship with God and to help others to be able to have that same love relationship with God, so that all may live with God for eternity in a complete and full love relationship with Him; this is why the principles and the words of the Bible are so important- they contain, in the literal sense, the words of life. As more people come to know about Jesus Christ through faithful Christians, Jesus Second Coming draws closer- this is stated in the Bible. For example, according to studies, in the year 1900 there were only about 10 million Christians in Africa, but by the year 2000, there were about 360 million Christians in Africa. (Colson) Also, according to another statistical study, Christianity is the largest growing religion in terms of absolute numbers that is estimated to be about 25,210,195 million new followers of Christianity per year. (Fastest) So in eager hope, Christians stay strong in faith with the help and support of their youth groups. Christians try to completely sacrifice and wholly yield their lives to God, denying themselves of self-pleasures and selfish ambitions or goals, and living a love-centered life, which makes Christian youth groups, such as the Mustardseed Church Youth Group, a group of people who live by faith in Jesus Christ according to the principles and values that are stated in the Bible- the Words of God.

Oh 6

Works Cited Colson, Charles . "How Christianity is Growing Around the World ." CBN.com The Christian Broadcasting Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. <http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/BibleStudyAndTheology/Perspectives/colson020722.a spx>. "Fastest Growing Religion; Christianity." Fastest Growing Religion; Christianity. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. <http://fastestgrowingreligion.com/numbers.html>.