Jeremy L. Berg

I wrote this caption below on December 28, 2009, after our youth group Christmas party. About a week later I found out that my ministry position was being cut in the spring and this would be my last Christmas party with Fusion. For some reason I didn’t post this, thinking it may send the wrong message.  Well, I’m posting it.  The message is simple: I consider youth ministry a high calling and it has been an incredible honor and blessing pointing these students towards Jesus week after week.

So, what do you see in this photo? They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  Well, here’s 805 words.

CAPTION: Pictured above: Precious teenaged children of God, loved with an everlasting love, beloved bride of Christ called to be partners with God in the mission of spreading the message of the gospel and advancing the Kingdom of Jesus on earth. Sinners saved by grace through faith alone. No longer condemned under the law, but freed from the power of sin and death by the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Saints filled with the Holy Spirit, washed in the blood of the lamb, redeemed from the curse, filled with every spiritual blessing and sealed with the Holy Spirit.

Also pictured: Imperfect, ordinary teenagers filled with doubts and fears, questions and criticisms, anxieties and excitement, laziness and boredom, pride and prejudice, bad habits and short tempers, self-centeredness and every kind of sin. At the same time, young minds full of dreams and ambitions, love and compassion, limitless potential and brilliance, talents and abilities, a desire to learn and grow in God and the knowledge of the Scriptures.

Also pictured: A youth pastor and Bible teacher in love with God and His Word, called to teach and make teenage disciples of Jesus. A sinner saved by grace through faith alone. No longer condemned under the law, but freed from the power of sin and death by the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. A man filled with the Holy Spirit, washed in the blood of the lamb, redeemed from the curse, filled with every spiritual blessing and sealed with the Holy Spirit.

Also pictured: An imperfect, ordinary youth pastor filled with his own doubts and fears, questions and criticisms, anxieties and excitement, laziness and boredom, pride and prejudice, bad habits and short temper, self-centeredness and sin. At the same time, a mind full of dreams and ambitions, love and compassion, potential and brilliance, talents and abilities, a desire to learn and grow in God and the knowledge of the Scriptures and share that with teenagers.

Also pictured: A beautiful moment of young hearts and minds engaged in the life-giving, transformative message of the gospel at a Christmas dance with their friends. A passionate teacher trying his best to accurately and winsomely put God’s life-changing truths into words and images that will connect with eager ears and hungry hearts.

I am going to frame this photo and hang it on my wall. Why?  Not because I am standing on stage in the spotlight and the focal point of the photo. Hardly. When I look at this photo I see young disciples of Jesus sitting at the feet of his Holy teachings ready to be challenged and changed by it forever. This photo is a powerful picture of my current vocational challenge and a firm reminder to me of the enormous blessing and responsibility I have to stand in front of God’s beloved children and declare the truth of the gospel to young people.

As James reminds pastors and teachers: Teaching the Scriptures is not a calling to take lightly. I want my students, parents, friends, family and God to know that I consider this a holy calling and I will always try my best to do it faithfully to the best of my ability and all for the glory of God.  So, with Paul my prayer as I look at this photo is the following:

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Col 1:9-14).