Seven Absolutes of Our Student Ministry

Our Mission Statement:

The seven absolutes that we have chosen as the foundation of our Student Ministry are biblical, simple, necessary principles for every student to take away from First Baptist Nashville when they graduate.

The leadership of the Student Ministry will use these seven absolutes to guide us as we evaluate current programs and plan future events. We want our students to know these absolutes backwards and forwards by the time they graduate--and we want our parents to know them, too! We also want you to know our mission statement by heart: Building Up Christ-Followers Who Know God's Word and Share His Love.

Are you trusting God with the critical areas of your life?

Focuses on a correct understanding of faith. Faith is confidence that God is who He says He is and that He will do all that He has promised to do.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track.

Are you developing a consistent devotional and prayer life?

Focuses on our devotional life. The apostle Paul assures us that transformation begins with a renewed mind. As we begin to renew our minds to the truths of scripture, our attitudes and behavior will change.

Romans 12:2 Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Are you establishing and maintaining godly moral boundaries?

Purity paves the way to intimacy. One of the most important things we can do is establish limits. We need to learn how to protect our body and emotions by honoring God's plan for sex and morality.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 God wants you to live a pure life. Keep yourselves from sexual promiscuity. 4 Learn to appreciate and give dignity to your body, 5 not abusing it, as is so common among those who know nothing of God. 6 Don't run roughshod over the concerns of your brothers and sisters. Their concerns are God's concerns, and he will take care of them. We've warned you about this before. 7 God hasn't invited us into a disorderly, unkempt life but into something holy and beautiful - as beautiful on the inside as the outside. 8 If you disregard this advice, you're not offending your neighbors; you're rejecting God, who is making you a gift of his Holy Spirit.

Are you establishing healthy friendships and avoiding unhealthy ones?

The people we associate with the most will determine the direction and quality of our lives.

Proverbs 13:20 Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.

Are you making wise decisions in every area of your life?

In light of current circumstances, past experiences, future dreams, we need to ask ourselves, "what is the wise thing to do?" Good decision making is more than simply choosing between right and wrong.

Ephesians 5:15-17 So watch your step. Use your head. 16 Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times! 17 Don't live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants

Are you submitting to the authorities that God has placed over you?

Freedom and authority are often viewed as opposing concepts. But the scriptures teach that freedom is found under authority.

Romans 13:1-2 Be a good citizen. All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and order, it's God's order. So live responsibly as a citizen. 2 If you're irresponsible to the state, then you're irresponsible with God, and God will hold you responsible.

Are you putting the needs of others ahead of your own?

Selfishness comes natural. Selflessness must be learned. The hallmark of a believer is his or her willingness to put the needs of others ahead of their own. Focuses on our propensity toward selfishness and self-centered-ness.

Philippians 2:3-11 Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. 4 Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. 5 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. 6 He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. 7 Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! 8 Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death - and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion. 9 Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, 10 so that all created beings in heaven and on earth - even those long ago dead and buried - will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, 11 and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.
(The Message)