Say Yes: Activate Your Gifts in NextGen Ministry

Paul’s image in 1 Corinthians 12 says the church is not supposed to be a room full of spectators. The church is one body with many parts, and the body only works when those different parts come together for one task. God has placed every part in the body “just as he wanted,” which means every person at John Wesley has been put there for a reason.

The summer at John Wesley gives a pretty clear picture of that truth. God worked through ordinary people who just said yes, even when that yes meant air mattresses, lumber problems, rain, mud puddles, mosquitoes, VBS, mission trips, fine arts camp, and driving teenagers without losing salvation. The body needed cooks, builders, teachers, decorators, encouragers, drivers, prayer warriors, and people willing to learn a kid’s name. No single person could do all of it, but God had already placed the gifts in the body.

Serving turns out to be more than giving time, energy, or talent to God. Serving becomes the place where God works through people and also works in people. The mission trip was not just about completing projects, because God was building something in the students and adults while they were trying to build something for somebody else. That is how serving works.

John Wesley’s language of connect, grow, and activate becomes real in the middle of that kind of service. A sixth grader may connect to Jesus because an adult learns their name. A teenager may grow because someone older says, “I’ve been through something like that, and here’s what God taught me.” A child may look back one day and remember the person who showed up, prayed, believed, and said in a hundred quiet ways, “You matter. You belong here. Jesus loves you, and I’m glad you’re here.”

The NextGen ministry is not asking for bodies just to fill a schedule. God is doing something among kids, students, young adults, and young families, and the church is being invited not to miss it. Activation means God has given someone something, and that gift is meant to be used for his kingdom. The right question is not whether NextGen needs volunteers. The better question is, “Jesus, where do you want this person?”

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God placed every part intentionally Paul’s picture of the body means no believer is accidental, decorative, or spiritually unemployed. God does not scatter people randomly through a church and then hope something useful happens. God places gifts, stories, failures, wisdom, and availability exactly where the body needs them. [59:57]
• 2. Serving changes the servant too Serving can look like giving something away, but God often uses that very act to do hidden work inside the giver. The mission trip was not only about building for someone else, because God was also building something in the people who served. Mud, rain, and inconvenience became the workshop where spiritual growth happened. [61:20]
• 3. Activation begins with a yes A person does not need to have the whole plan figured out before responding to God. The first faithful step may simply be a willing heart that says yes before every detail feels clear. God has already placed something inside each person that may be exactly what a child, student, or family needs. [66:16]
• 4. Names can become holy ministry A sixth grader or teenager may experience the love of Christ through something as simple as being noticed and remembered. The ministry of presence can say, “You matter,” in a way that a lesson alone cannot. Consistent love from an adult can become a landmark in a child’s faith story. [66:54]
• 5. The next step may be service Spiritual growth is not always another class, another study, or another seat in the room. God may be calling someone to take what has already been formed inside and put it to work. The next act of discipleship may be serving kids, students, families, missions, VBS, or fine arts.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [58:17] - An Invitation After a Full Summer
• [58:43] - Ordinary People Saying Yes
• [59:01] - The Church as One Body
• [59:57] - God Places Every Part
• [60:47] - Serving Through Rain and Mud
• [61:20] - God Works In the Servant
• [61:47] - Connect, Grow, Activate
• [62:28] - A Student Needs a Name
• [63:22] - God Is Doing Something Here
• [64:34] - Activated for the Kingdom
• [65:25] - Many Gifts, One Body
• [66:16] - It Starts With Saying Yes
• [67:09] - Raising the Next Generation
• [67:49] - Jesus, Where Do You Want Me?

Bible Reading

1 Corinthians 12:12-27
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” [58:49]

Observation questions

1. In this passage, what kinds of body parts does Paul mention, and what does that show about the church needing different people and different gifts? [59:01]
2. What are some of the specific ways people served over the summer—both practical jobs and relational ones? [59:19]
3. According to 1 Corinthians 12, who arranged the members in the body, and how is that truth stated? [59:49]
4. What simple acts were described as making a real difference in the life of a child or teenager? [01:02:34]

Interpretation questions

1. Paul says God arranged the members in the body “as he chose.” How does that shape the way a person should think about being part of a church instead of just attending one? [01:00:34]
2. Paul teaches that the body needs many parts, not just one. What does that say to someone who feels like their gift is too small, too ordinary, or not as visible as someone else’s?
3. Serving often looks like giving time and energy away, but God also uses it to do something inside the servant. Why might spiritual growth happen more deeply in service than in comfort? [01:01:20]
4. A child being known by name or a teenager being encouraged by an older believer may become part of how they connect with Jesus and grow in faith. What does that suggest about the spiritual importance of small, consistent acts of care? [01:06:54]

Application questions

1. Where is the difference showing up right now between attending church and being part of the church in your own life? What would it look like to move one step from spectator to participant? [01:00:37]
2. What has God already placed inside of you—patience, wisdom, listening, hospitality, encouragement, practical skill, prayer, availability—that could help a child, student, or family? Which of those feels most natural, and which one have you maybe overlooked? [01:06:39]
3. Has there been a time when serving others changed something in you? What did God build in your life while you were trying to help someone else? [01:01:13]
4. Is there a younger person in the church who might especially need what Paul calls a caring member of the body—someone to know their name, notice them, pray for them, and keep showing up? What might faithful consistency look like there? [01:02:53]
5. Some people hesitate because they do not feel fully ready or do not know exactly what they would do. What would it mean for you to start with a simple yes before having the whole plan figured out? [01:06:11]
6. The better question is not simply whether there is a need, but “Jesus, where do you want me?” What answer do you sense he may be bringing to your attention right now? [01:07:49]
7. If the next step in spiritual growth may be service rather than just more learning, what specific area could be worth exploring in this season—kids, students, families, missions, prayer, hospitality, or something else? [01:08:02]