Purpose Statement

So "purpose statements" are a bit of a fad lately, at least in the Christian world (but I think it is a fad in the secular business world as well). Despite my strong disinclination to ever be "in vogue," I think there is some merit to the idea of a purpose statement. In an orginization or ministry, a purpose statement can help to identify your core values, beliefs and objectives. This in turn allows you to run through this new filter all current ministries, activities, etc., placing greater emphasis on those things which help to promote the vision, and diminish (or even discard) those which fail to do so.
Anyway, last night in Youth, we discussed my newly renovated Purpose Statement (which I hope will become our Purpose Statement) for our Youth Group. It was the final evening of a series of messages entitled "Experiencing God." I've been wanting to share this in Youth for a few months now, and it just seemed the appropriate time, and a good way to sum up the series.
The whole purpose statement is summed up by three main bullet points, which are these:

NoRegrets Youth exists to inspire young people to:
Pursue God,
Follow God, and
Shine for God

You can find a more detailed (though not lots more) description of our purpose statement here. The goal of sharing this with the youth group was simply that they would catch the vision as well. They they would personally experience a greater passion to pursue God, that they would become more committed followers of God, and that they would be excited about living their faith out in a way that the world will see Christ in them. AND, that they would get a vision for the whole youth group to corporately embrace these things as well.

I must say that I am quite proud of my kids for the way they have been responding to God lately, to His Word, and the way they seem to be growing in their faith. They really responded during our worship time and there were several of them who ended up on their knees, or with their hands raised. The sounds of quiet sobs were heard throughout the room and it was clear that God was doing something great.