{"id":38009,"date":"2020-08-14T12:12:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-14T12:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/conversations-about-faith-helps-young-people-stay-connected\/"},"modified":"2020-08-14T12:12:00","modified_gmt":"2020-08-14T12:12:00","slug":"conversations-about-faith-helps-young-people-stay-connected","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/conversations-about-faith-helps-young-people-stay-connected\/","title":{"rendered":"Conversations About Faith Helps Young People Stay Connected to Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Understanding the connection between faith and work is critical, not only for adults, but also for students. A Barna study called &ldquo;Faith for Exiles&rdquo; shows that 18-29-year-olds who grew up in the church and remain committed followers of Jesus are far more likely to have a rich understanding of faith and work than those who still call themselves Christian but no longer attend church.<\/p>\n\n<p>They strongly desire to use their unique talents and gifts to honor God (94% compared to 31% of those who identify as Christian but no longer attend church), believe that the work they do is important to God (82% vs. 32%), and have a sense of calling about their career (64% vs. 15%).<\/p>\n\n<p>The statistical evidence is clear: young people who stick with Jesus and the church are far more likely to be able to say, &ldquo;I know who God has created me to be and how my purpose fits with his plans for the world.&rdquo;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[410,411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3366,3538,3546,3589,3604,3640,3942,3998,4441,4442,4748,4885,5247,5294,5313],"tax_ctp_topics":[380,403],"class_list":["post-38009","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-abundant-life","tax_ctp_tags-calling","tax_ctp_tags-career","tax_ctp_tags-christian-calling","tax_ctp_tags-church-attendance","tax_ctp_tags-commitment","tax_ctp_tags-faithfulness","tax_ctp_tags-following","tax_ctp_tags-meaning","tax_ctp_tags-meaning-of-life","tax_ctp_tags-purpose","tax_ctp_tags-satisfaction","tax_ctp_tags-vocation","tax_ctp_tags-work-career","tax_ctp_tags-young-people"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Conversations About Faith Helps Young People Stay Connected to Jesus - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/conversations-about-faith-helps-young-people-stay-connected\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Conversations About Faith Helps Young People Stay Connected to Jesus - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Understanding the connection between faith and work is critical, not only for adults, but also for students. A Barna study called &ldquo;Faith for Exiles&rdquo; shows that 18-29-year-olds who grew up in the church and remain committed followers of Jesus are far more likely to have a rich understanding of faith and work than those who Read more...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/conversations-about-faith-helps-young-people-stay-connected\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/ogimage.png?resize=1200,628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CTpastors\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/conversations-about-faith-helps-young-people-stay-connected\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/conversations-about-faith-helps-young-people-stay-connected\/\",\"name\":\"Conversations About Faith Helps Young People Stay Connected to Jesus - CT Pastors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-14T12:12:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-14T12:12:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/conversations-about-faith-helps-young-people-stay-connected\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/conversations-about-faith-helps-young-people-stay-connected\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/conversations-about-faith-helps-young-people-stay-connected\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Conversations About Faith Helps Young People Stay Connected to Jesus\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"name\":\"CT Pastors\",\"description\":\"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Christianity Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"caption\":\"Christianity Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Conversations About Faith Helps Young People Stay Connected to Jesus - CT Pastors","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/conversations-about-faith-helps-young-people-stay-connected\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Conversations About Faith Helps Young People Stay Connected to Jesus - CT Pastors","og_description":"Understanding the connection between faith and work is critical, not only for adults, but also for students. 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