Fall 2023 Overview: What does it mean to be a Christian?
Fall 2023 Redemption youth Curriculum overview for Parents
Before our students begin the Fall Youth curriculum, I want to share with you their syllabus. Now, you may be thinking to yourself, “A syllabus, really? Isn’t this just youth group? Why do we need a syllabus?” And honestly, I would tend to agree with you. However, I recently learned from Google that syllabus is just a fancy word for “The outline of the subjects in a course of study or teaching,” which made me realize that what follows is exactly that: a syllabus. And since I think that it is important that you, the parents, be aware of what your kids will be learning this Fall so that you can both be aware of what we are discussing, and be prepared for questions that may arise at home as a result of what we learn, I thought, yes really, a syllabus would be helpful. So, below is the syllabus.
THE SYLLABUS
As you may have guessed from the picture above, this Fall we will spend the majority of our time answering the question, “What does it mean to be a Christian?”
The way we go about answering this will by no means attempt to be exhaustive. Rather, my hope is to familiarize our students with some of the main facets of the Christian life, while also continuing to pause every couple of weeks (like we did last year) to answer student questions that come up during the semester. Furthermore, to aid our learning we will be looking at some of the questions and answers from the New City Catechism, since they provide clear and concise answers to the topics we will be considering. As such, the schedule will be broken up as follows—with the date and week number on the left, accompanied by the topic and Catechism Q&A’s for that week on the right.
*Do please note below that there is no youth on October 29 (Fall Fest Weekend), November 19 (Serving in the Pantry on the 18th), nor November 26 (Thanksgiving Week). With that, here is the schedule:
Week 1, September 17 - Being a Christian means having Faith in Jesus (NCC Questions 30 and 31).
Week 2, September 24 - Being a Christian means being Baptized (NCC Questions 44 and 45).
Week 3, October 1 - Youth Questions 1
Week 4, October 8 - Being a Christian means participation in Communion (NCC Questions 46 and 47).
Week 5, October 15 - Being a Christian means being a member of the Church (NCC Question 48
Week 6, October 22 - Youth Questions 2
*October 29 - No Group in lieu of Fall Fest*
Week 7, November 5 - Being a Christian means to Pray (NCC Questions 38, 39, and 40).
Week 8, November 12 - Being a Christian means Trusting the Bible (NCC Question 42).
*November 19 - No Group in lieu of serving at “The Pantry” on November 18* (CLICK HERE to signup to serve).
*November 26 - No Group in lieu of Thanksgiving*
Week 9, December 3 - Being a Christian means Doing Good Works (NCC Question 34).
Week 10, December 10 - Being a Christian means Believing in the Resurrection (NCC Questions 50, 51, and 52).
Week 11, December 17 - Youth Christmas Party
Please be aware that we will meet each Sunday at Redemption from 2:00-3:30pm, except for the Youth Christmas Party, which will take place immediately after service that day.
WHAT SHOULD YOU BE PREPARED TO DISCUSS AT HOME?
First, as you can tell from surveying the syllabus, each lesson will be quite practical in nature. As such, you will have a great opportunity to follow up with your kids throughout the week to see what they thought about the lesson and how they might be applying it to their lives. For instance, on November 5th we will be talking about the importance of prayer for the Christian life. Sometime after that lesson it would be great to ask your child(ren) what they thought of the lesson, how they feel about prayer, and even to share with them some of your own struggles or successes in your own prayer life. It could also be a great opportunity to begin a rhythm of praying together as a family at the dinner table or before bed if you do not have a rhythm already.
Second, like last year you will be receiving a weekly Family Ministry email, included in which will be a section on Redemption Youth. In that section you will be able to find a summary of what was talked about in Youth the previous Sunday, as well as ways you can continue that conversation at home. New to this section will be a mention of the following week’s topic, Bible passage of study, and corresponding New City Catechism question number(s). Since I will be encouraging your child(ren) to read ahead and come up with questions related to the following week’s topic and passage, I want you to be able to encourage them to read the passage and to be able to read it yourself so you have an idea of what we will be learning before we learn it.
Lastly, I am so excited for this new year of Redemption Youth. We have a wonderful group of students, and it is an honor to be able to point them to Jesus. Please know that I am here to support you in whatever way you need, and that I am praying for you and your kids. If you have any questions or thoughts, please feel free to email me HERE. See you Sunday!