2. Groups:
- Share about a time when
you’ve felt God call you /
speak to you
- When and where do you
feel most alive when reading
the Bible?
3C: Vocation: how to help young people hear
God’s call
3. All made in the image of God...yet all unique,
different and special
•I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works
are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14
•For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s
womb. Psalm 139:13
•Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to
the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your
head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than
many sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31
Are we open to God speaking to our young people in their own unique way, or do we
presume that God will speak to them in the way He speaks to us?
5. God will be with you wherever
you go
For I know the plans I have for
you declares the Lord
Is that where we need to learn how to hear and discern
God’s voice?
6. Abi Thomas...
I would say very briefly that I feel that very rarely or even never have I
heard God's call in the physical sense of a voice or a feeling that I
have to do something. For me normally I get God's confirmation
rather than his call ... this means that based on what I know from
my relationship with God (what I have learnt in the bible, from
friends, and previous experience) I try to make a decision based on
that. It is normally after a decision or a step that I get God's
confirmation of what I've chosen - be that a friend's
encouragement or just a feeling of peace having taken a decision.
Sometimes God doesn't give us specific directions, he gave us free
will for a reason - so I would say that it is important sometimes to
take a step of faith and know that God is with you wherever you go
... His call on your life is to follow his example, and that could be in
all manner of directions, but don't worry, he will never lose sight of
you even if you take a wrong turning once in a while.
7. Rebecca Hallam...
• God had been speaking to me about joining Pais for a while, but I didn't
really notice. The first time was simply receiving a leaflet but I didn't listen
and went to sixth form instead. (Which went horribly wrong) When I got
back on track with God and after going to college and getting a
qualification I decided that I needed to pray about what to do next. I was
all ready being mentored by a Pais worker which I believe was another
part of God saying "maybe you could do this". but the BIG wake up call
was when I was sat in a church service and this guy was talking about
vision for his life and I said in my head "well God you haven't given me a
vision for my life" and then God immediately showed me a vision of me in
a Pais hoody talking to some girls. And I kinda all ready knew that was
what he wanted me to do. So I applied that evening and then continued to
pray and search the word. I got an interview. then got accepted! XD
Another way God kinda checked that Pais was right was a few weeks later.
I was at work and I got offered a full time Job with possible Managerial
status. I refused and as soon as I did I got an email through telling me
which team I was on!! which was my kinda confirmation. it wasn't quick or
easy but it was worth it!!
8. Role play....
Group 1
You have a group of 7 young people who are predominately activists by nature.
You’ve decided to spend a day in the Peak District during the summer holidays so
you can allow the young people to start to dream and to try to hear God speak to
them. What would your day look like?
Group 2
You run a mid-week youth group with 12-15 teenagers. You’ve got a good core of 5-
6 young people who are keen and interested in Christianity, God and faith. The rest
seem to be non-plussed – although they will ‘go with the flow’ and are probably
taking more on board than you realise.
What could you do in your youth group sessions to help your young people hear
God’s call for their lives?
Be as creative as you can be in terms of the layout of the room and the style of the
session.
9. At what stages are your young
people on their faith journey with
God? Circle the blobs which best
represent them.
Pick one of those people you’ve
circled who you would say has heard
God’s call in some way, shape or
form. (Or pick yourself)
-What’s their story?
-How did they hear God?
-What was the environment like?
-Where did it happen?
How can you continue to encourage
them to hear God’s voice in your
youth work?
Editor's Notes
Bible says that God is with us wherever we go; whether we turn away from him or not, he will never leave him and he’s always close by.
There’s also the sense that God has specific plans for us – Jeremiah 29:11 most famous – also in the Psalms David talks about knitting us together in our mothers womb, and gives me a sense that he has dreams, plans and visions for our lives.
It’s important that we teach our young people a healthy balance between the two. Yes – God has got a plan for each of our lives. We’re here today, giving up a Saturday, because we all believe that God’s called us to work with young people. And yet we know there’s times when we fall away from that plan. We know that when the alarm clock went off this morning, we didn’t really want to get out of bed. We know that we let our young people down and let God down. It’s important to know that when we do so, we know that God is still with us and is waiting for us to turn back to him, say sorry and keep moving.
At the same time, we can say to ourselves that God is always with us and therefore as long as we’re doing what we feel is right and trying our best then it doesn’t really matter what we do. And yet it might be completely different to the plans that God has for our lives. Hence why we spent quite a bit of time at the start of the course reflecting upon our calling to make sure that we’re doing what we’re doing because God wants us to. And it’s important to teach our young people that balance.