January. The chaos of Christmas, (and let’s not even talk about the rest of the fall)—is finally calming down.  Peace on earth.

The winter months often hold some of our richest moments with middle schoolers: 6th graders are starting to learn the ropes; 8th graders haven’t quite checked out yet.  But as volunteers, many of us get to this point in the year and are already worn out just trying to juggle all our commitments and care for the people in our lives who need us.

Are you looking for a way to finish the school year with your middle schoolers without burning out? Are you wondering if it’s possible to pour into students more, and yet do a little…LESS?

It is!

What if everything your middle school ministry did in the next month had one, simple focus, instead of running in 5 different directions? A focus that all of you—Sunday school teachers, youth leaders, students, parents—could remember and use as a filter for your planning & teaching so that everything you do builds toward the same goal?

Jesus kept his focus, even when people tried to pull him in different directions:

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!" Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons. (Mark 1:35-39)

A simple focus you can rotate every 3 months, or based on what your students need most:

        Month 1: Upward focus--Help students grow closer to God

        Month 2: Inward focus--Help students care for their Christian friends

        Month 3: Outward focus--Help students share the gospel with friends who don’t know Jesus 

A pattern of grow, care & share is simple for everyone to remember and instills in students and families the need to not only grow in a relationship with God, but to reach out to others in and outside our churches. It also takes the pressure off scrambling each week to find a lesson topic to keep middle schoolers interested.

Leading your middle schoolers in a grow, care & share pattern:

EQUIP is a 48-hour middle school training retreat that can jump start your ministry with hands-on experiences & lots of take-home tools that will help you keep a simple focus in your planning each month. Find out if an EQUIP is coming to your area this year--or how you can bring the training to your own church in the next year!

Leading yourself with a simple focus for personal growth in 2009:

Are you tired of feeling pulling in too many different directions--personally? You can download this helpful article on Developing & Following Through on your Personal Growth Plan from Cadre for just 99 cents!

Helping your church simplify its focus:

Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples by Thom Rainer & Eric Geiger. If you want to influence your church in simplifying its mission and focus, this is a practical book based on a study of churches that have effectively made disciples by being simple. Read it yourself or buy a copy for your pastor!

~ Laura Wampach