Through our own life, through preaching and teaching we witness to the Lord. Our life is preaching, being humble and meek. The person is the sermon. Life is a sermon. The holy person who teaches others may attract them through his own life. The command of God is not a heavy command.

We must ensure that all youth, even from previous years come to church and take Communion. God will ask us about each one. We must retrieve and accept the repentance of those who were lost (read Luke 15). Note that the Shepherd had enough care for everyone to know the number and know which sheep was missing. Do we, servants, care for every individual, every single soul in our care?

Care for everybody. Search for the lost to bring him back. Prepare a group who searches for the lost ones. It could be formed from the children themselves. Servants should make students invite each other, just like the successful Priest who can make many people work with him.

Some are lost because, at the university, doubts attack them. They cannot find the answers for dogmatic issues or theological ones. They do not know how to answer them. Find these theological, biblical, social or any problems the college students meet so we can address them. This is our duty in order to save our youth.

However, do not be happy about a large number present in church, but worry about the small number who does not come. Don’t be so pleased with those who attend church, but try to care for those who are absent. The Shepherd did not care about the 99, but about the one who was lost. Keep an attendance record. People may come to church and stay in the parking lot. They, also, need to be brought in. Search for everyone.

What if the lost comes and does not find the material that satisfies him? This creates a reverse reaction. Teachers’ knowledge should grow day by day and become deeper and impressive. In order to remain a teacher, deepen the knowledge to have impression on the children in every lesson. Preparation of teachers is very important, not only before starting service, but also after. This kept the spirit of discipleship: a chance to hear and to be educated more and more.

1. Received: originally from the Lord directly. It is a commitment between me and the Lord.
2. Take heed: commitment and concentration to have blessings upon me and those whom I serve.
3. Fulfill: in the best and most complete way by:

1. Preparation: prepare self.
2. Prayer: God + man. Infiniti + mortal.
3. Preaching: teach + communicate to the youth the good ties.
4. Personal touch: without it the ministry is not completed. Take care of everyone.

5. Participation: no one likes to be passive or marginalized. Good participation. Gain all youth to Christ. The meeting becomes a community where all will be fully active

I - Preparation: the atmosphere and environment are much favorable to learning. The devil is putting all his efforts to distract the people, especially the youth. Different areas of negative behavior are very available. Preparation must be consecrated to the Lord. Have my servant heart belonging to God. Remember the Myron and that we were consecrated in 36 places. We are temples and sanctuaries of the Lord. Put the world behind us. Our preparation for the service needs prayers, Commitment, meditation and Bible readings.

II – Prayer: prayer is an experience. It helps to transmit our faith to the youth. Prayer is an experience of repentance and confession. It is how to forgive and bring the enemy to Christ. Live this experience, it will extend to those whom we serve. Keep reading always, to regain knowledge. Read the Bible, and also sociological and general information. Through this we can have an alive and efficient lesson with practical examples. This is how we can really teach.

We need prayers badly: before the lesson, during the lesson and after the lesson. Have relations with the parents, this will also help. If we pray, God will be with us. The prayers prepare us to speak, to prepare the lesson and to have a good outreach. We have to pray a lot. Prayers are very important.

People who served God asked for prayers. They are always people of prayers. The prayers open our unlimited life to God’s Life. It can solve many problems and change the hearts of the people we serve.

III – Preaching: it is boring for the children at the beginning, but if they get involved, they will begin to benefit. Preaching is a must. It can be done through many activities. The Word of God must be brought to the youth.

IV – Personal Touch: know the person by name. Make him feel that he is a person of God. Have the spirit of love and communication. Use the phone, the chat room, e-mail, visit ... The youth love to be involved, active, known by name as the Body of Christ. The Lord takes care of the person by himself. He knows each one of us by name and loves us by ourselves.

Serving is not to be quantitative, but qualitative. Love everyone for his special service, for his personality and his problems. The personal touch is the one that lasts for a long time, forever. Know each individual, each youth is very important to the servant.

V – Participation: the youth do not like to be passive. They do not like lectures or advises and dislike teacher’s authority. They like to participate, to be involved.

A dialogue makes the servant know the person. It is very important because the servant will know the need, the problems of the youth.

Ask for God, but do not ask for things, not even the spiritual things. Dialogue and discussion give us the mentality, the level of the persons. They also give us the talents of the youth. Through activities, they will feel their role and start getting involved.

The Egyptians or the Copts accepted Christianity so very rapidly to the extent that the Romans had to exercise a series of persecutions in an attempt to suppress the growth of a religion, which openly defied the divinity of the Emperor. The edict of 202 AD decreed that Christian conversion should be stopped at all costs. The edict of 250 AD decreed that every citizen should carry at all times a certificate issued by the local authorities testifying that he had offered sacrifice to the gods. Those who refused to conform were tortured with unprecedented ferocity. Some were beheaded, others were thrown to the lions and others were burnt alive. All were subjected to innovated veracious torture regardless of age or sex.

The Catechetical School of Alexandria was closed by order of the authorities, though its members continued to meet in other secret places. At one time, the number of bishops was restricted by the State to three.

The consummation of the age of persecution is considered by the Copts to be during the reign of Emperor Diocletian (284-305). So severe were the mass execution and the savage torture of the Copts that they took the day of Diocletian's military election as Emperor to mark the beginning of the era of the Coptic martyrs. That very day marked the start of the Coptic Calendar known in the Western world as Anno Martyrum (A.M.) or the year of the Martyrs. It was in the midst of this ruthless execution and torture that Egypt's Church flourished beyond recognition until it assumed its definitive form in the course of the second century. In other words, the third century saw the Coptic Church with a great hierarchy ranging from the Patriarch in Alexandria down to the modest priest and the monks who lived out in the Eastern and Western Deserts. The rise of this great hierarchy conterminously with the Roman persecution resulted in the identification of the Coptic people with their own Church in Alexandria. This tradition persisted and even became more prominent when, in a subsequent age and for other reasons, the Byzantines resuscitated Coptic persecution.

The history of Christianity in Egypt dates back verily to the beginnings of Christianity itself. Many Christians hold that Christianity was brought to Egypt by the Apostle Saint Mark in the early part of the first century AD. Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, in his Ecclesiastic History states that Saint Mark first came to Egypt between the first and third year of the reign of Emperor Claudius, which would make it sometime between AD 41 and 44, and that he returned to Alexandria some twenty years later to preach and evangelize. Saint Mark's first convert in Alexandria was Anianus, a shoemaker who later was consecrated a bishop and became Patriarch of Alexandria after Saint Mark's martyrdom. This succession of Patriarchs has remained unbroken down to the present day, making the Egyptian Christian, or Coptic Church one of the oldest Christian churches in existence. Evidence for this age comes in the form of the oldest Biblical papyri discovered in remote regions of Upper Egypt. These papyri are written in the Coptic script and are older than even the oldest Greek copies of the Bible ordered by Constantine in AD 312.

The Egyptians before Christianity had always been a deeply religious people, and many readily embraced the young religion, having had their old beliefs effectively destroyed by the coming of the Roman Empire and the final dethroning of the god-king Pharaoh. Many of the concepts of Christianity were already familiar to the Egyptians from their ancient religion, such as the death and resurrection of a god, the idea of the judgement of souls and a paradisical afterlife for the faithful. The Ankh too, the Egyptian symbol for eternal life, is very similar to that of the cross, revered by Christians (especially in the form of the Coptic cross). Furthermore, the belief that God had chosen Egypt as a safe place for His infant son to hide him from Herod was a great source of pride to the Egyptian Christians. It was through Christianity that the Egyptian culture survived the Roman Dominion.

Yet these formative years were not without problems. Throughout this time Christianity in Egypt was locked in an often deadly struggle against the polytheistic religions of the Greco-Roman culture as well as the Hellenistic movement that began in Alexandria then spread to other large cities. To counter Hellenistic philosophy that often criticized the young religion, the Christian leaders in Egypt established a catechetical school in Alexandria. The Didascalia, founded in the late second century AD. This school became the heart of what can only be called Christian philosophy, and great teachers and orators such as Clement and Origen were able to battle the Hellenistic philosophers on their own ground and advocate Christianity in an orderly and intellectual manner. It was also in this great university of Christian learning that Christianity first underwent rigorous studies that created its first theology and dogma, as well as making the new faith accessible to all. Pantaenus, the founder and first dean of the university, helped the Egyptian people bridge the gap between Dynastic Egypt and the new era by promoting the use of the Greek alphabet instead of the Demotic ("cursive" hieroglyphics) in translations of the Bible as well as in the writing of religious theses and letters. Additionally, the school educated everyone who came to it in Greek, opening the study of religion to just about everyone, and making as many people as possible literate.

Yet the greatest persecutions on the young religion came at the hands of the Roman government. Emperor Nero had set the precedent in AD 64, about the same time as the martyrdom of Saint Peter. It was unusual, for the actual offense was simply to be a Christian or to profess the Christian faith, rather than any kind of criminal acts that might go along with it (such as those later falsely attributed to Medieval heretics). An arrested Christian could receive a pardon simply by offering incense on a Roman altar. But many refused to do so, citing scripture passages urging faith in the one God. Thus the true "crime" of the persecuted Christians was their refusal to do homage to the Roman gods, including the emperor. Those who did refuse to bow to the Roman religion were imprisoned, often tortured, thrown to the wild animals in the coliseum, or suffered execution by any number of other means. Rather than discouraging the Christians, these actions encouraged them and reinforced their faith, echoing the words of Jesus that those who suffered persecution because of His Name were truly blessed. These heroes of the Christians were called "martyrs," a word that means "witnesses."

In the first century, this persecution was largely done by the government, though, after a few decades, they seem to have lost interest (or become fearful of the sect), and, in the second and early third centuries, the mobs took over the persecutions. Decius and Diocletian, in the 250’s and early 300’s respectively, brought the imperium back into the persecution, but it was clear by this time that it was a losing battle as Christianity had penetrated even into the highest levels of society.

It was in Egypt that some of the greatest defiances of the Romans by Christians were done. While their Roman counterparts worshipped in catacombs and underground vaults, the Egyptian Christians built their churches openly and performed their ceremonies in full view of the Empire. And for every one that the Empire struck down, more would be converted by the example of the martyrs. Diocletian was particularly so brutal, executing so many Christians since 284, the 1^st year of his reign, that, from that time, the Coptic Church dates its calendar, the Calendar of the Martyrs (Anno Martyri). Despite these persecutions, Christianity seems to have grown rapidly in Egypt, spreading to Fayoum in 257 via Anba Dionysius, and in 260 even down into the Thebaid. But in 306 something happened that would change the destiny of Christianity forever: Constantine became emperor.

Actually, he became one of the emperors. The Roman Empire of the time used the Tetrarchy, or Rule of Four. There was one Augustus and one Caesar each for the eastern and western parts of the Empire. One of Constantine's first acts as Augustus was to end the persecution of Christians where he had been campaigning in Gaul (France), Spain, and Britain. It is unknown where Constantine got his initial respect for Christianity, but it is thought that his mother was a Christian. Shortly afterwards Galerius, the Eastern Augustus, issued an edict of toleration for Christianity, ending persecutions in Greece and the surrounding area. Maximinus Daia (not to be confused with Maximinus the Thracian) however, responded by increasing persecutions in his territory of Egypt.

The story is told that once before the Battle of Milvian Bridge (by which Constantine took complete control of the Western Empire), when the odds were greatly against him, Constantine beseeched God for help, praying in the Christian fashion, and won the day. He later adopted the Chi-Rho, a stylized monogram of the first letters of "Christus," as his standard, and led his armies to victory after victory. Because of this, Constantine was even more well-disposed towards the Christians, though he himself was not baptized Christian until his death bed. In 313 together with Licinius, the eastern Augustus, he developed a policy of religious tolerance throughout the Empire and for the first time in many decades there was a social peace.

People were free to worship as they pleased and the Christian Church was allowed to own property, making it much easier to build permanent churches. Additionally, Christianity was made the official state religion, freeing it at least from persecution by the Imperium.

Constantine's order giving religious freedom to all under his rule is known as the Edict of Milan or more properly, the Edit of Tolerance, and was the forerunner of other religious laws such as those found in the American Constitution and the Lateran Treaty of 1949, part of which created Vatican City.

Feeling that his power in Egypt was threatened, Maximinus, still carrying out his persecutions against the Christians there, marched an army across Asia Minor into Europe and confronted Licinius. Licinius, following Constantine's example, prayed in the Christian fashion with his army before the battle and defeated Maximinus. With this, Licinius brought the new Roman policy of religious tolerance to Egypt and ended the persecution of the Egyptian Christians.

After this, Constantine became more and more involved in the workings of Christianity. His dream was to travel to the Holy Land and be baptized in the Jordan River, but this was abandoned when he discovered that the eastern churches were in upheaval, mostly due to the stir caused by the beliefs of Arius, now called the Arian Heresy. In 325A.D., in response to this disharmony, Constantine ordered the Council of Nicaea. This council was the largest gathering of Christian bishops in the history of the Church so far, and though the majority of those present were representing the eastern churches of Egypt and Greece, there were delegates from Rome, and thus the sobriquet "ecumenical" (meaning "of the whole world") was attached.

Constantine attended as well, describing himself as "bishop of external things," and kept a secular position on the issues, but it was clear that he wanted Christianity to be united and harmonious. The Nicene Creed, the great contribution of the Council and a prayer still used by Christians to this day, was composed by Saint Athanasius, a young Egyptian deacon who would later follow Alexandros as patriarch of Alexandria.

(By: David C. Scott)

Prepared by mrs. Gina Gindi

From: Dare to Discipline (Dr. JAMES DOBSON)

Underpinnings to commonsense child rearing: