Junction 56 Mission

As we partner with parents, we prayerfully encourage preteens to pursue Christ, personalize their faith, practice holiness, and prefer others.

Pursue Christ - Salvation is just the start of the journey. We want our preteens to realize they're beginning a life-long adventure of knowing Christ, and following Him in whatever direction He leads. As Christ taught us, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23) And the apostle Paul said, "For to me, to live is Christ." (Phil. 1:21)

Personalize their Faith - No longer considered "children," preteens must now begin to examine Christianity and the claims of the Bible - will they accept these teachings as their own, or simply consider them "my parents' religion"? Will they put them into daily practice, or leave them as "head knowledge"? Our main purpose in teaching the Word is to see life change. "Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock." (Matt. 7:24)

Practice Holiness - Preteens are faced with many new temptations as they pass through early adolescence. We need to help them make right choices, challenging them to stay pure in every aspect of their lives - spiritually, physically, and mentally. God's Word instructs us to "be holy, because I am holy," and to "live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear." (I Pet. 1:16, 17b)

Prefers Others - It's the same at any age level - it goes against our human nature to think of others first. This is particularly difficult for preteens, who are often focused inwardly as they try to figure out who they are, and who they will become. We want to continually remind them that God tells us to "do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves," and to "love your neighbor as yourself." (Phil 2:3 and Mark 12:31)

Philosophy

“As we partner with parents, we prayerfully encourage preteens to pursue Christ, personalize their faith, practice holiness, and prefer others.”

Our Values (the basics of our Philosophy of Ministry to Preteens)

Small Groups: Since research clearly shows that greater learning and retention occur when students are allowed to interact with a topic and discuss personal applications, we will consistently provide significant time for small group conversations and prayer.

In addition to their parents, preteens need godly role models to help guide them through these crucial years. We will prayerfully select men and women who love the Lord and love kids to lead small groups and build relationships with individual preteens.

Service Opportunities: We will help preteens discover how God has uniquely gifted them for service, and we will encourage them to serve in a variety of capacities – within Junction 56, the local church, the local community, and the world as well.

Practical Help for Today’s Preteen: We will focus primarily on issues that Christian preteens are dealing with in their daily lives, such as: purity and holiness (especially as these relate to electronics and modern media), developing spiritual disciplines, sharing Christ with others, respecting authority, handling peer pressure, building proper friendships, and dealing with parent/sibling issues.

Worship: Our preteens will be exposed to a variety of worship styles and modes, learning to worship God through service to others, through different types of music, through choral readings of praises to the King, through tithing, Bible study and prayer … hopefully learning that everything we do can be an act of worship if we’re doing it in a spirit of obedience and humility before God.

Bible Knowledge: Our curriculum will include a basic overview of how the Bible “fits together” to tell one main story of God’s love and the redemption He provides through Christ. We will help preteens understand the chronology of the O.T. Bible characters and stories they have learned in Sunday school classes. However, we desire to go beyond simply increasing their Bible knowledge - our main goal will be to help each preteen “own” his/her faith, and grow in his/her own relationship with God.

Scripture Memory: Scripture memory will be continually encouraged, and a reward system will be used to help motivate preteens to hide the Word in their hearts. Weekly Bible verses will be presented as they relate to various topics, and preteens will be given some choice in which passages they commit to memory each week.

“A Sense of Belonging” : Since preteens really value being part of something “fun” and “cool” and “bigger than themselves,” our Junction 56 ministry will continue to offer special T-shirts, special events (Lock-ins, Retreats, Talent Nights, etc.), and fun activities for both small and large groups. We want our preteens to feel a strong connection with their small group members and leaders, and to eagerly look forward to each week’s meeting.

Biblical Curriculum

Our biblical curriculum addresses purity and holiness in life, identifying and developing spiritual gifts, and using those gifts in service to others. Preteens will receive biblical truth regarding friendships and peer pressure, handling electronic media (video games, TV, internet, and music), respecting parents, and developing a proper self-image based on God’s view, not the world’s view.

Teaching Style

Our teaching style involves a lot of creativity within a loving, caring, and fun atmosphere. But it’s fun with a goal—affecting life change. Because preteens have the ability to form great, lifelong habits, we emphasize the development of spiritual disciplines in daily life.

Have Questions?

If you have questions about our mission and approach to teaching, call the Preteen Ministry at 469-252-5245.

This week at Stonebriar: Preaching Sunday: Chuck Swindoll Sunday, February 12