At Grace Church, we want our students to clearly understand our vision for their lives. We are convinced that openly stating our hopes and dreams for them will greatly benefit their growth. During their transitional years in our ministry, we want them to mature spiritually (Eph. 2:4, Heb. 6:1).

Equipping

students

to Pursue God, Connect with the Church, and Engage the World.

Pursue

God

The Scriptures clearly state that a personal, active relationship with God is attainable through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (John 14:6). Because of Jesus, the gap between Creator and creation has been closed, and we are now able to seek God. In order to foster such relationships, we want our students to be moving towards God in the following ways:

Regularly listening to the preached Word of God
Study, meditate on, and memorize the Scriptures
Understand and articulate the gospel
Know the “big” story of the Bible (Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration)
Develop a dependence on God through individual and corporate prayer
Worship God in various ways (music, journaling, reading, studying, etc.)

Connect with

the Church

The local church is the avenue Jesus chose to take the gospel to the world. The church is where we corporately worship, commune, teach, encourage, and equip each other for the work of ministry. We believe that students are an integral part of the church and should be integrated in various areas including:

Attend adult worship
Give financially to the church
Be involved in a small group
Serve the church with their time and gifts
Identify spiritual gifts and talents

Engage the

World

Before leaving earth Jesus commissioned his followers to spread the gospel throughout the world (Acts 1:8). We believe it is the responsibility of all Christians to live missionally. This means we are to proclaim and live the gospel to everyone everywhere. Whether it’s their families, neighbors, friends, or strangers, we hope that our students will love with the power of the gospel. The Scriptures teach that God wants to use us to reach all people (2 Corinthians 5:18-21, Romans 10:14-15). In response to this, we believe that our students should live out the Gospel in the following ways:

Build relationships with friends, neighbors, and classmates
Spread the good news to those who don’t know Christ
Participate in service projects and mission trips
Pray for and give money/time towards partnerships in Greenville and around the world

Our Goal as

Leaders

As a ministry, we believe that in order for our students to pursue God, connect with the Church, and engage the world, as God has called them to do, we as pastors and leaders must do the following three things:

Partner with parents. We believe the responsibility of discipleship begins within the family (Deut. 6:4-7, Eph. 6:4). By partnering with parents, our goal is to support God’s design of the family structure by re-enforcing what should be taught and modeled in the home.
Develop meaningful relationships. We believe that life change best takes place in the context of relationships. For students, relationships are ultimate. Our goal is to create environments where they develop critical relationships with adult leaders and other students.
Love with the gospel. We believe that the gospel is of most importance! (1 Cor. 15:3). Through preaching, teaching, speaking, loving, and living, everything we do is soaked in the gospel. In a culture that is constantly pushing and pulling teens towards worldliness, we believe that Jesus is the only anchor sufficient for their souls.

Student Vision