The Gate Student Ministries

Welcome to "The Gate!" This is your portal into one of the most fun, exciting and intense student ministries around. God has blessed us with the best teenagers on the planet - period! He's is up to some amazing things, and we are so keyed up about it. Students are being set free! Hearts are being revolutionized! People are being filled with the Holy Spirit! Lives are being conformed to the image of Jesus!

Modern-day teenagers are hungry for reality and they're searching for meaning to life higher than themselves. Through this youth ministry, many are finding this reality in Jesus Christ. "Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face, O God of Jacob" (Psalm 24:6).

If you're a junior high or high school student, we welcome you to be a part of this youth ministry. We meet every Wednesday night at 6:41 PM in the main sanctuary here at Valparaiso First Assembly of God, 571 Valparaiso Parkway, Valparaiso, FL 32580. For more information, please feel free to call me at 850.678.4030 or Email me at pastorbarry@valparaiso-ag.org.

"The Gate" is here for you. God loves you and so do we! Come see us!

Fun in the Son,

Barry Hosford
Youth Pastor

Why "The Gate"?

"Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations... They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted" (Isaiah 62:10, 12).

This youth group is a gateway into the kingdom of God for as many students as we can reach for Jesus Christ. In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus shows us that the gate "that leads to life" is narrow, and yet it's the one He's called us to go through. With the great number of un-reached students in our community, we realize there is a great need to "compel them to come in" (Matthew 22:9). The role of this ministry, then, is to be a gateway for the lost to come into and be made citizens of the Kingdom.

(References: John 10:7, 9; Psalm 118:19-20, 122:1-2, 24:7; Isaiah 26:1-2, 60:11, 18; 62:10-12)

What's a Gatekeeper?

We call the students in our youth group that have a relationship with Jesus Christ Gatekeepers. This was inspired by 1 Chronicles 9:22-24 - "The gatekeepers had been assigned to their positions of trust by David (the King) and Samuel the seer. They and their descendants were in charge of guarding the gates of the house of the Lord - the house called the Tent. The gatekeepers were on the four sides: east, west, north and south" - and 1 Chronicles 26:12 - " the gatekeepers had duties for ministering in the temple of the Lord."

We believe that God, our King, has assigned each student the task of guarding the gates of the house of the Lord - first, to keep out the enemy, sin and anything unclean; second, to grow and be discipled into a better Gatekeeper and follower of the King; third, to draw the lost into the presence and leadership of the King; and, lastly, to usher in the very presence of the King.

We also believe that God has given each student, or Gatekeeper, a ministry in the temple of God. And as a Gatekeeper, each student is given "charge of the key for opening" the gate every day (1 Chronicles 9:27). With the keys to the Kingdom come responsibilities, privileges and power (Matthew 16:19). Each student active in this youth ministry is given a real key to keep with them as a symbol representing their role as a Gatekeeper.

(References: 1 Chronicles 9:17-34, 26:1, 12; 2 Chronicles 8:14)

What's a Watchman?

"I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth" (Isaiah 62:6-7)

Those adults chosen and placed into position as spiritual leaders of students have been given the unique role of being Watchmen. This title is inspired by the above verse and by Ezekiel 33:1-9. Like Ezekiel, we as leaders are placed "on the city walls" to watch over the citizens of the Kingdom. We are overseers, protectors, look-outs, and warriors who will sound the alarm and come to the aid of the Kingdom and its Gatekeepers.

As watchmen, we also have the responsibility of nurturing, encouraging and making disciples of our students so they may one day become watchmen themselves.

(References: Ezekiel 3:16-21; Psalm 127:1b; Jeremiah 51:12; Isaiah 21:6-9, 52:8-10, 62:6)

What's the mission of the Gate Student Ministries?

According to Proverbs 18:10, the Name of the Lord is a strong TOWER, and, through "The Gate," we want people to run into it and be saved. The 5 purposes of our ministry fit into the acrostic T.O.W.E.R. (Training, Outreach, Worship, Effort, and Relationships). Our Mission ("Purpose") Statement is as follows:

The Gate Student Ministries exists to be an Outreach to win souls for the Kingdom, to build Relationships with Kingdom people, to provide Training for Kingdom living, to exert our Effort toward Kingdom work, and to offer our lives as holy and acceptable Worship to our King.