MSM

Wednesday night I got to do something I haven't gotten to do in a long time. Because of the busy schedule, I haven't gotten to attend a youth service at our own church in quite some time. Let me just say that the place was rockin. There were tons of students there. The center section of their main auditorium was full. If you haven't been to Marathon, the main auditorium holds around 1000 people.
But that wasn't the cool part of what I saw. These guys have students that lead. They had discipled and mentored students to a point where they ran the sound, they led in worship through their student band and more. You could tell that they had spent a lot of time pouring into their students rather than just having a program where the adults did everything and they just sat back and watched. I think a big part of their success has to be with their small groups that take place in homes all over the area on Sunday nights. Having been in Student Ministry for over a decade, it saddens me when I see churches neglecting the basics in discipling kids. And when I say discipling, I'm not talking about sticking them in an area and having a 30 minute lesson with them and calling that small group or discipleship. I'm talking about someone that is more mature spending time pouring into their life. Many churches are failing in raising up the next generation of leaders. Good job MSM. You guys are raising up leaders.

Another great moment Wednesday night was seeing Bryan Holder( http://bryanholder.blogspot.com) an awkward on stage moment during the music. He was called on stage by Chasen (http://chasencallahan.blogspot.com), the student worship pastor to demonstrate his skills. I'm still not sure what those skills were but it was funny.

I failed to mention that these guys are doing all of this without a youth facility of their own. They are in the building stages as we speak. The cool thing is that with the rate of their growth they will have to do multiple services as soon as it opens. Their new youth facility "The Garage" will hold several hundred students. Parents, if you are in the upstate and looking for a place to get your students plugged in to a Student Ministry that have an impact in their lives, then get them to Marathon on Wednesday nights at 7:07 p.m. Then be sure to get them involved in one of the small groups that meet on Sunday Nights.