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M U LT I P LY ! DISCIPLING BELIEVERS Wearing Your Faith on Your Sleeve by Wesley Samuel Salvation • Sanctification • Baptism of the Holy Spirit • Divine Healing • Second Coming of Jesus Christ What do these words mean to you? Our understanding of these subjects forms the very core of who we are as a movement; however, many of our youth are unfamiliar with the terms. That is why Steve Ely, director of Youth Ministries, developed the concept of the Silicone Sermons. “I have come to the conclusion that most of our youth really don’t have a grasp of what we believe as Pentecostal Holiness people,” says Ely. “This conviction led me to consider a method that would allow youth workers to discuss our doctrinal distinctives in a creative and relevant manner. The silicone bracelets were an obvious choice because of their popularity, visibility, and ability to be a daily reminder of our beliefs. They provide youth workers a visual aid in teaching, while providing the young person great conversation starters for witnessing.” Three leaders who have used Silicone Sermons shared how they used the bracelets with their groups: decided that I wanted our kids to know what we believe and why we believe it. I called the five-week series “Why I I Believe What I Believe.” I used the Silicone Sermon bracelets on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights to teach our elementary children what we believe. They helped our kids remember what we had talked about the week before. We have a mannequin in our Youth/Kids room named Manny, whom we decided to get Saved, Sanctified, Spirit- Filled, Divinely Healed, and Ready for Christ’s Return. Each week we gave Manny a different bracelet as we talked about that week’s topic. At the end of the five-week series, I gave each person a set of Silicone Sermons to wear. We now have somewhere between 50 and 60 kids who can quote the five articles of faith. –Hansen Steck, Director Children’s and Outreach Ministries Stanley PH Church started using the Silicone Sermons during my Wednesday night services, with the intention of covering the baptism in I the Holy Spirit for two weeks. We prayed for those students who wanted to receive the baptism, and seven were filled. Some of our youth grew up in the church, but quite a few come only to our youth service, so I am using this method to teach them what we believe. As I go to the schools, I see a lot of the students wearing their bracelets. They can only get a bracelet if they were in service to hear the message on that topic. So it is challenging them not to miss services because they don’t want to miss a bracelet. The Silicone Sermons have also sparked conversations at school with other students. This series has helped us to see our students grow in their faith. 12 IPHC Experience | February 2007 ILLUSTRATION by Timothy W. Beasley
A lot of kids at school ask what the bracelets mean, and I tell them that they mean that God should come first in everyone’s life. –Griffin, 5th grade The most important one to me is, “Live Filled.” It tells me to stay in God’s presence and to build my relationship on Him and never weaken. –Lauren, 7th grade No one really comments on them, but I will continue to wear them. They have impacted my life and made me more careful about the things I say and do that don’t reflect a Christian attitude. A reminder really. –Kendall, 7th grade –Josh Brown, Youth Pastor Taylor Memorial PH Church The Silicone Sermons are going great. We recently spent two weeks on salvation, and the teens are really responding and engaging in dialogue as never before. We are now going to slow down and spend four weeks on sanctification to investigate lifestyle and life choices. The IPHC home page (www.iphc.org – Our Beliefs) has been really helpful with the studies. –Gray Williams, Youth Pastor Whitnel PH Church It is said that in about four years, the Millennial Generation will outnumber Baby Boomers and Generation X. Market researchers state, “Every time you turn around, there’s something new on the horizon. And this group, as we’ve noticed, is kind of the arbiter, quickly determining whether things are hot or not.” Millennials have been well cared for, have values, are educated, have high expectations, and are confident they’ll achieve their expectations. According to the Harris Poll of the class of 2001, 88 percent have established specific goals for themselves for the next five years and virtually all (98 percent) are sure they’ll get where they want in life someday. Marketers say that Millenials are ferociously brand conscious. They are also interested in faith if the “hows” and “whys” can be explained to them. So we have the potential to impact hundreds, if not thousands, of our young people with something as simple as bracelets. If these young people are concerned about faith, and they are willing to wear what they believe, why not give them an opportunity to “wear their faith on their sleeve”? Wesley Samuel serves as administrative assistant to Elaine Wood, director of Children’s Ministries for the International Pentecostal Holiness Church. Wear your faith on your sleeve. Available from Youth Quest at 866.263.1623. February 2007 | www.iphcExperience.com 13
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