Unless your group is like mine (“Ronald… Angry Birds is SO 2010!”), they might find enjoy this popular mobile game brought to life!
Every time I went searching on how to pull this off though, I was stumped. Either the youth group was spending tons of money on the project, or if not that, they were spending tons of time!
I don’t know about you, but I don’t have much of either.
So here’s a way to play Angry Birds with your youth for under $30. View full article »
There have been few times that I can remember as a youth an adult standing next to me during worship who wasn’t my immediate family.
But I can remember every time with a fair amount of clarity.
I would always observe whoever it was standing by me. I know I should have been focused on the song but I was just curious.
Are they raising their hands? Are their eyes closed? Are they singing the song? Are they standing there with their arms crossed, not signing at all?
Every time an adult was beside me who was lost in worship, I was always thinking about how cool it was to have them there worshiping with the students.
Every time there was an adult with arms crossed, I didn’t think much of it because that’s what I half expected.
The next time you get the chance, come into the worship room and spend some time worshiping with students. Show them that the songs we sing are important to you as well. Show them that you give God praise just like they do.
Set an example to them. Praise God alongside them.
It could make a huge difference in their lives!
Today we’re talking about Family and Student Ministry. How do you balance? How do you minister to both effectively?
In ministry, it’s all too easy to look back over the year and think:
“What have we actually accomplished?”
I struggle with this. I pour over numbers, fret over attendance, second-guess teaching series, and try to stop looking at what the “church down the street” is doing with their (seemingly much more successful) youth ministry.
After you review you’re ministry year (and for us its from July-June so it’s quickly approaching), you have two options:
Be discouraged, or be discontent.
After talking with my wife (who’s words are always wise and kind in my direction), she helped me see that one comes from God and the other from
If you feel like being discouraged, you’re probably:
If you feel discontent, you’re probably:
I fight being discouraged. See if there is a way you can changed your discouragement into a holy discontentment and focus on the things that really matter during your next year in ministry!
I can’t remember a lot about Charlie. I can’t remember he had red hair and that he was my Sunday School teacher. I can remember that he would have us guys over to his house once a year for an all night long “play video games and eat junk food” fest. There was NO sleeping.
He must have taught me something too. I spent two years under him as my teacher for Sunday School. We opened the Bible and read it together. I’m sure he gave me some great advice about how to apply what we learned to our real life. I’m sure he prayed a lot and prayed for the guys he taught and for me specifically.
But I don’t remember any of that. The only words I can remember him ever saying were “Just because I’ve ordered off the menu, doesn’t mean I can’t look at the other options.” View full article »
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Part Two:
How do you plan out your talks? The week before? The day of?
Today we talk about how we plan out what we talk on.
I had a friend in college who was a year younger than I was. His little sister was about 4 or 5 and once drew a picture of their family.
In it, she included their mom, dad, older brother in college, and his Macbook.
Apparently he was on it so often that she considered it a part of their family.
It’s fun to laugh at a college student so enamored with his computer that his little sister draws it into the family.
It’s sad that most little kids would probably draw a picture of their parents with cell phones in their hands.
Confession time: I like to talk to people who are like me. You probably do the same thing as well. You naturally gravitate to someone in a room who you feel you have a connection with.
On Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, the people I’m around that I have the most in common with are the adults in the room. They have kids. They have jobs. They have bills and schedules and other “adult” things going on.
The students in the room? They have homework. And soccer practice. And girlfriends. And video games.
OK, so I at least have video games in common with students.
The next time you’re in a room with adults and students, make an effort to have conversation with multiple students before you seek out your adult friends. As a volunteer, you came for the students. They are the ones you’re ministering to.
If it helps, decide to have three conversations with students before talking with an adult about their week. The conversations don’t have to end in a Gospel presentation (though you never know!), but should be longer than “Hey! How was your week?”
Ask them how their extra curricular programs are going. Ask them what their plans are for the next holiday. Ask them about their jobs, their boyfriends, their school, their home, their math test, even their video games.
Show students that you came for them by engaging them as they walk into the room. It can make a huge difference later on as they reflect on their experience in the youth group.
Seek out students first, you never know what you’ll find!
Today we’re talking about blogging and how to use it to help your ministry!
Very few people write just to put words on a page. High school students may do that just to get a paper done. But that’s not why I write. I don’t write just for the sake of saying that I’m a “writer.” I want to do more than just press keys and watch words fly across my screen.
I got this text the other day and I can’t express how encouraging it was. I love writing, but what I love more is knowing that others are being challenged and changed through what I write.
The whole purpose is to bring people closer to Jesus. That’s what I pray Faker does for people who read it.
If you want to take your group through Faker, you can find it here.
