Thought #1 Have one! Ok, this isn’t really one of my three thoughts on Christmas parties… but if you aren’t having a Christmas party with your students, you are missing out! Some of the best memories (and photos) come from youth group Christmas parties. For real, though, here are three thoughts I have on youth …
You believe there is power in the Word of God. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t work so hard to prepare and teach it to your students. So, when you teach, are they listening? We cannot make students listen or care, but there are certain things you may be doing that cause them to not want …
Summer is over, and a new ministry year is here! Sixth graders are moving up, parent meetings are happening, and the calendar is filling with activities. With another new year comes the hopes that ministry will not be interrupted as it has been over the last 2 years. We are hoping that our “big activity” …
You know the story. Your students come home from camp after making one–or several–great decisions involving life change, but soon, they often begin struggling to keep their commitments. I am not one who doubts the genuineness of those decisions, but I do get frustrated when there is no plan set in place to help them …
After sixteen months without youth camps, it has been incredible to immerse ourselves in them once again. If anything has been confirmed over the last several weeks, it is the fact that the gospel still works. In Romans 1:16, Paul tells us that the gospel “… is the power of God for salvation to everyone …
I love fresh starts. They bring excitement and opportunity. In the youth ministry world, most look at the fall (start of a new school year) as a fresh start. I feel like this is even more true this year. While youth ministry happened in most churches this past year, many of us felt as though …
The role of a youth leader is very important in the spiritual development of students. However, we will never replace the influence that parents have on their own teenagers. About 12 years ago, I first read Steve Wright’s book Rethink. A youth pastor at the time, he said the following as it relates to the …
About 3 years ago, I had Dr. Tedd Tripp on the Multiply! Youth Ministry Podcast. Our discussion is one I regularly go back to because of the emphasis on heart change instead of behavior modification. We talked about a couple of specific areas as this emphasis on heart change relates to youth ministry. In this …
For the last few years, our youth ministry has been trying to become more gospel advancing. We want our students to be the ones reaching their friends. They don’t have to bring them to me; they can be the ones to share the gospel with them. Early on in this process, we learned about a …
As a missionary, my family and I used to visit a lot of different churches. I would identify churches by their name or their pastor, but my young children would identify with different things. There was the church with the huge playground and another one that had candy in the foyer. However, even with …
Most of us are ready for 2020 to be over. While 2021 may carry some of the same struggles, there is just something about a new year that incites hope. For me, it has to do with the opportunity for a fresh start. Maybe in the new year, you or someone you know would like …
Whether you’re encouraging a group of middle schoolers to focus or trying to get high schoolers to open up, does it ever feel like having good conversations in your small group is a pipe dream? You have more control over how the discussion goes than you think. Here are three practical steps to having great …
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