The Loop

Experience Jesus. Expand the Kingdom.  

That’s the vision we’ve been pursuing in kStudents for more than a year, now. But our desire was never to stop there. Earlier this year, we began asking, what are some practical ways to put these into practice? How do we create a culture that allows students to both experience Jesus and expand the Kingdom? Enter, House Rules.  

By now, if your student is involved in our student ministry, you’ve probably heard some rumblings of the House Rules. We’re currently taking our students through a series on the rules. Why these rules, and what does the Bible have to say about them? We’ve been repeating them together every week for almost six months, and Darrin even had our whole church do them together when he preached in May. Our House Rules have become a part of the DNA. The rules are simple... 

1. Nobody Sits Alone 
2. Everyone is Welcome & Valued 
3. Love is What We Do 
4. Jesus is Who We Crave 
5. Expanding His Kingdom is What We Pursue 

Okay, maybe they’re not simple. In fact, to truly live out each of these rules daily can be challenging. I’ll be the first to admit it’s hard, but Jesus often asks us to do hard things. For the last six months, we have been saying these rules, out loud, every. single. week. We aren’t doing this because we simply want our students to know how to recite them. We do this because it’s a part of who we are. When we live these out, our students began to see what it means to experience Jesus and expand the Kingdom.  

We believe our student ministry should be a place where nobody sits alone because everyone is welcome and valued, even if they are very different than us. We do these things because love is what we do. Jesus first loved us, so we want to do the same. We know Jesus loves us. He meets us where we are and because of that, He becomes the one that we crave. As a result, we are expanding his kingdom here on earth, making it a little bit more, here as it is in heaven, every day. 

To be honest, we’ve already started to see these rules take root in the lives of our students and it’s exciting! On Sunday mornings, middle school students are scrambling around as soon as we read rule one, making sure everyone, even if new, has someone to sit with. This summer we had two high school students spontaneously lead an entire bus full of their friends (more than 50) through the rules right before we pulled out of the parking lot on our way to Kings Island. They wanted a reminder before we had a fun day together. We are witnessing students having conversations with each other quickly at the start of service about how they can go have a conversation with the person standing off to the side of the gym. During worship, our students’ craving for Jesus is palpable. 

Our House Rules are here to stay. We’ve seen God moving in and through the lives of our students as the rules have become a part of our kStudents DNA. It’s our hope and prayer that our current series helps us all take the next step. It’s our prayer that our students see the importance and impact of living these out, not just in our space, but in their everyday life. We’d love to have you join us on that journey! 

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