Have you ever referred to your church as you "church family?" The church is a family. Regardless of our race, our family background, or our socio-economic status because of Christ we are one family. And when somebody joins a local church they are becoming a part of a family. They are not connecting themselves to a pastor, a building, or a program but to group of believers that have committed to doing life with each other. And as with any family there are a lot of family dynamics that come along with becoming part of a new family.
This series focused on the importance of both knowing the truth of the gospel and daring to live it out in our daily lives. While the game truth or dare allows us to choose one or the other, our faith requires us to choose both. When I think of what it would like like to live a life, that solely focused on the truth of the gospel, but never dared to live it out, I can’t wrap my mind around how that can be justified.
Not only do I love preaching and listening to preachers, but I also love to read books about preaching. There are tons of incredible preachers, leaders, and writers who have a lot of valuable insight about the craft of preaching and a lot of books have really helped me as I've spent time learning how to be a better communicator of God's word. I've put together a list of some of my favorite books on preaching. The books are a variety of styles ranging from the practical to theological in nature, but they all have had value for me as I've read and studied them.
Confirmation is not something mandated by scriptures. Despite not being written about in the scriptures, the idea of instructing students on important theological issues is certainly a scriptural practice. In fact confirmation is a form of youth ministry that has been happening in many main line denominations even before modern youth ministry was prevalent. Because scriptures don't require confirmation, there are also several different ways that a church might go about doing confirmation.
In the book Faithful Preaching by Tony Merida he listed out a great list of ten points of a great preacher. His list of preaching points are referenced from Martin Luther's table talks. The list has some obvious points like, "Be able to speak well." But it also lists some other great reminders that we might forget like, "Be ready to benture body and blood, wealth and honor, for the word of God."
I love this idea by NorthRidge's Student Ministries team. I can't wait to take it and make it my own.
In order for any retreat to happen, volunteers need to be willing to come as leaders. I am blessed to be able to have an incredible team of volunteers that help make all of our retreats incredible. Our students experience incredible life change on retreats because we have a team filled with adults that want to do nothing more than care for students. Leading up to many of our retreats, I often hear from parents, "Do you need chaperones?" While the question is a well-intentioned statement letting me know they are willing to help, there is a very significant distinction that exists between the job of a chaperone and the job of a shepherd.
I saw this venn diagram on Chris Jones' blog. It shows really well a way to look at what you are doing and also helps us answer the question, "What should I do?"
It should be no surprise that people want to change; walk the aisles of any bookstore and you will find self-help books for people to change their looks, their behaviors, their marriage, and more. There is no doubt that within people there is a realization that something is wrong and it needs to change, but how does that change happen? If there is going to be a transformation that takes place, what does that look like?
The band formerly known as David Crowder Band minus David Crowder is now known as the Digital Age. I'm very curious what this will become. And I'm also curious what David Crowder is doing.
My life got completely re-arranged about 8 weeks ago. When this little man entered into the picture, my priorities shifted and the way that I understood the love of God, our heavenly father, was put into a new perspective. It's unbelievable how much love I can have for my little man. In an instant, I was overwhelmed with love for Elijah for no other reason than the fact that he was my son. From the moment I first held him and every second since then, my heart has been filled with love for my little boy. There is nothing better than coming home from a difficult day at work and cuddling with my baby. There is nothing better than getting ready for bed and reading the bible to my wife and son.
When I was a young kid, I was pretty much afraid of anything. I was afraid of swimming, even with a life-jacket on. I was afraid of eating taco bell; I actually cried when I was forced to try taco bell for the first time. When I was a kid, everything seemed to be too big a risk. In life, there will always be certain things that have some element of risk to them. And this is especially true when it comes to our faith. There are risks that comes with living out your faith. The risks may be losing respect, friends, popularity, or something else. Taking the truth of the gospel seriously, to the point that we are willing to live it out everywhere, can sometimes be risky.
With the amount of social networks available, it can be extremely difficult to know which, if any, we sould be utilizing when connecting with students. I would be pretty surprised if there was a youth worker who doesn't use at least one of these, but nonetheless, it is helpful to know what the social networks are and why certain ones might benefit you over others.
I recently saw this spoof of the Hunger Games done by the high school ministry of Mariners Church. I could easily imagine using something like this in our student ministry as a way to promote an upcoming trip.
Middle school students are very concrete thinkers. Because of that, the idea of living a life of worship can be a difficult idea to grasp if not explained properly. If we are not careful, worship can easily get wrapped up into the times when we sing and be disconnected from everyday life. How can we teach middle school students about an idea that is so important, yet often misunderstood within our churches?