A New Ministry Opportunity

Good Morning Everyone,

Several weeks ago we had the last Bay Area Wide Devotional of the summer here in Pearland. We had a really great turnout from all the participating congregations. The teens were all asked to fill out a card with their name and e-mail address. The cards conveyed the message that the teens could win the prize of a lifetime.

The devotional thought I shared centered around a song call "I Wanna Love You" by Vocal Union. The challenge I issued to the teens that night was for them to change their "I wanna" have a better relationship with God to an "I will" have a better relationship with God. And just to show that my words were not just words I committed to e-mailing these teens with encouraging and challenging thoughts throughout the year. I am dedicating this post to the first of these e-mails. If you know a teenager who would like to be a part of this you can send me their e-mail address at pmcartwright82@gmail.com I hope you are blessed today.


Hello Everyone,

Well I got a lot of responses which tells me that I have the right e-mail addresses so here we go. At the last BAWD at Pearland you all entered to win the prize of a lifetime. I will go ahead and tell you that e-mail from me are not the prize of a lifetime. The prize that was there even before you signed your name and e-mail address to a card is the chance to have a better relationship with God. I hope that by keeping in touch with you throughout the school year that I can encourage you to have a better relationship with God by giving you good things to think about.
I know by this time you must all be back in school. Hopefully you have found all your classes and know the names of all your teachers. I would imagine some of you have already had homework and are counting the days until the next holiday.

As you walk through the halls of your schools I would like for you to remember the words found in Romans 10:14-16 “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our message?"

The feet are the ugliest part of the body but here we are told they are beautiful. Your feet are beautiful not because of the way they look but because of the job they do. All of you have such an awesome responsibility to carry the good news of Jesus Christ to your friends at school. I don’t mean for you to go beat someone over the head with your Bible but it wouldn’t hurt to live a good example out in front of your friends.

Today I am issuing a challenge. I want you to decide today that you will tell one friend about the saving grace of Jesus Christ. And just to show you that I am not afraid to get my hands dirty I will make you a couple of promises. First, if you will send me the name or names (you don’t have to stick to just one person) of the people you want to share the gospel with I will commit to praying for them every day. Second, since you have my e-mail address you can e-mail me with any questions you might have and I will do my best to answer them for you.
I hope that as you begin this new school year that you will commit this year to be the one where you begin winning souls for God. I look forward to hearing from all of you. I hope you are as blessed by me as I already have been by you.

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul Cartwright Youth and Family Minister Pearland Church of Christ