by Robert Turner<\/p>\n
In the small town of Sundridge, Ontario, Ca. 300 miles north of the U.S. – Canadian border, the young folk of a small congregation (45-50) put many of their U. S. counterparts to shame. They are High School and under: with the same love for and participation in sports, parties, etc., that is common with this age. But they also – and preeminently – love the Lord.<\/p>\n
They sat together, listening to my sermons and taking notes. That’s fine “stroking” for a preacher. But it became apparent they had more serious things in mind than pleasing a visiting speaker. I began to hear of their teaching “sessions” at school and in their homes. They had “taken aim” on this or that boy or girl and were working to convert them to Christ. On one occasion I went to a home for a meal and was told to bring information on the Jewish Sabbath, etc., for a young man would be there to talk about this. I made some notes, and as I began to present them, I found only a few things in my “outline” that had not already been worked out by the young people who were interested in teaching their Adventist friend. It was gratifying to see the mutual respect shown in such studies. When the prospect showed signs of having “had enough” for the time, they let up. “Let it cool awhile” as one of them put it. Older folk should learn that.<\/p>\n
I heard them speak of a young man who was much interested in the gospel of Christ, but whose parents were opposed to his being baptized. They had a “feeling” for the boy, and for the parents too. There were rumors the boy would have to leave home if he obeyed the gospel, but one night he walked boldly down the aisle and confessed his faith in Christ. We went to Lake Bernard for the baptizing. As car lights played on the fog-shrouded waters, and a wild duck swam small circles in the edge of the light, the boy and the preacher walked into the cold waves, and we witnessed a burial and a resurrection. Joy swept the band of witnesses like an electric current, and as they sang “Oh Happy Day” – there was scarcely a dry eye.<\/p>\n
It was only after the baptizing, that I learned that the boy’s parents had been present at the service, and showed approval of the deed. The new brother was welcomed into the circle of Christian boys and girls and soon I heard they were “taking aim” on another lost soul – using their fresh reinforcement.<\/p>\n
Want the punch line? This church has no “Recreation Hall” or other unauthorized “church socials.” It has, instead, converted young people.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Robert Turner In the small town of Sundridge, Ontario, Ca. 300 miles north of the U.S. – Canadian border, the young folk of a small congregation (45-50) put many of their U. S. counterparts to shame. They are High School and under: with the same love for and participation in sports, parties, etc., that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[451,395],"class_list":["post-37037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-teaching","tag-teenagers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40312,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-an-organization-formed-to-meet-the-governments-requirements-have-any-say-over-congregations\/","url_meta":{"origin":37037,"position":0},"title":"Does an organization formed to meet the government’s requirements have any say over congregations?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Greetings to you in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ. How are the brethren over there? I want to thank you for the support you gave me whenever I come to you. I have always had it in mind that I will do my best to change things\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62063,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-one-teenager-can-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":37037,"position":1},"title":"What One Teenager Can Do","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dick Blackford The article below was written about 17-year-old Tim Wadlington. Tim died of cancer on Sept. 8, 1989, and I attended his funeral on the 12th at Eddysville, Kentucky. The church at Suwanne, where Tim worshipped, has a bulletin that is published solely by the teenagers, called The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88265,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-i-need-to-go-to-school-to-preach\/","url_meta":{"origin":37037,"position":2},"title":"Do I need to go to school to preach?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Mr. Hamilton, I have studied the Bible all my life. I read everything I can. I preached for three weeks a year ago in a local congregation and asked all my elders to attend, and one did. He asked me if I wanted to teach in our congregation. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55023,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-appeal-of-ketchersides-teachings\/","url_meta":{"origin":37037,"position":3},"title":"The Appeal of Ketcherside’s Teachings","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 7, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Herschel Patton via\u00a0Truth Magazine\u00a0- April 1974 We have been saddened lately by a few brethren, mostly among the young, abandoning strict adherence to a \"thus saith the Lord\" and casting their lot with liberal brethren, even to the extent of \"open fellowship\" with the denominations - as advocated by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27912,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-young-soul-winner\/","url_meta":{"origin":37037,"position":4},"title":"A Young Soul Winner","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 23, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant \"Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit\" (Matthew 28:19) Nancy Harber was only 14 (well, almost 15), and at this young age had already experienced one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48097,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thank-you-for-your-online-literature-which-we-use-in-our-young-adult-classes\/","url_meta":{"origin":37037,"position":5},"title":"Thank you for your online literature, which we use in our young adult classes","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thanks for the content of your website. I use it often is preparing for my Sunday school class, which is mostly young married couples with small children. We have no standard of study (published literature) as we started a few years ago and some had no idea where the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37037\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}