by David Hanson | Sep 22, 2014 | The Youth Ministry Blog, Youth Ministry Videos
I love seeing students connect the dots. More specifically, I love seeing students grasp grand narratives of Scripture. Remember when you first learned that Jesus was the answer to Adam (sin in/sin out), or that Jesus was the final sacrificial lamb to passover your sins?
While these may be old hat for veteran believers, it’s awesome to see students make the connections! I recently came across this “sermon jam” of a Tim Keller sermon that will help your students make those connections:
We used this as a bumper video and did a whole series entitled: “Jesus the True & Better _______.” How could you work this into a lesson?
If you want another video that teaches, go read this recent post & video that gives an Overview of the Whole Bible.
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David Hanson: Texas native, Texas Tech Red Raider, M.Div. at Truett Seminary, husband to Ashley, father to Ava & Ben, Student Pastor at LifePoint Church in Plano, Tx, table tennis (ping-pong) extraordinaire, addicted to coffee. For anything else…you’ll just have to ask.
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by David Hanson | Sep 17, 2014 | The Youth Ministry Blog
Hard conversations. Every ministry leader has at least one that they need to have soon. It could be that you have to say no to someone important at your church. You might have tell a leader to step down. There may be a person in your life who you need to confront about their sin or confess your own. Some people find it easy to have these conversations. I am not one of those people. My tendency is to avoid having them and suffer silently on my own.
Joseph Grenny defines a crucial (hard) conversation as “A discussion between two or more people where (1) stakes are high, (2) opinions vary, and (3) emotions run strong.” *
This summer it seems that I have had to have more than the usual number of tough conversations with students, parents, and co-workers. God has been challenging me to stand courageously as I open my mouth. It’s honestly been one of the most challenging seasons in ministry. But through it all, God is teaching me that through these tough conversations there is blessing. I’ve also learned a few lessons along the way.
Lesson # 1 – Having the conversation is better than avoiding it.
If you hate conflict like me, then you avoid conflict because you fear the worst possible outcome will actually happen. The reality is that avoiding the conversation will NOT solve your problem. The relational tension will still be there and your issue will not be solved until you sit down and have the conversation. The longer you avoid the conversation the more the problem will intensify when the issue finally does come to a head. If you have that hard conversation, the worse might happen. If you avoid it the worst possible outcome will happen.
Lesson # 2 – Believe the best in the other person.
When we have an emotionally charged conversation coming our way it’s easy to paint that person in the worse possible light. We start to believe that they have completely impure motives while you have completely pure ones. This is almost never true. You will never be able to get inside someone else’s mind and truly know their heart. Make the conversation about issues, not motives. When you believe the best in someone else you allow them the opportunity to surprise you with their flexibility and reasonableness. You also allow yourself to see things from their perspective.
Lesson # 3 – Don’t be afraid to be firm on what matters to you.
This is a hard one for me. I want people to like me. I worry that if I stand firm I’ll lose the relationship. Giving in becomes my strategy. If I follow this route I end up resenting myself and that other person because I didn’t fight for what I believe to be important. You can be firm and still communicate that you care about the other person. Standing firm and showing care not mutually exclusive. Most of the time being firm will NOT harm the relationship as long as you affirm the relationship at the same time.
What hard conversation do you need to have this week? Will you prayerfully consider taking a step of courage and have that conversation before it’s too late?
*Want to dive more into how to have hard conversations? Read Crucial Conversations: Tools For Talking When Stakes Are High by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, and Switzler.
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Kevin Libick is a Middle School Pastor living in Fort Worth, TX with his wife Kara and her two cats. He is a novice banjo picker and expert Hawaiian food eater. Kevin loves to connect with other youth workers and equip them to live out their calling in God’s Kingdom. Kevin loves to connect with and empower youth workers. Connect with Kevin on Twitter: @kevinlibick
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by David Hanson | Sep 16, 2014 | The Youth Ministry Blog
Developmentally, teenagers have a hard time seeing the “big picture.” Rather than seeing the culmination of various circumstances that led to a bad day, they think their world is ending and the sky is falling.
As Youth Pastors, we must speak truth into these circumstances. We must preach a Gospel that does not promise freedom from these hard times, but rather a message of hope in Christ that supersedes any bad day or circumstance.
My students are going through Mark 4:35-41 this week. This is the story of Jesus calming the storm after being woken from sleeping on a cushion. The verse in this passage that gets the most attention is verse 41 where the disciples proclaim, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Much is then made, and rightfully so, about the sovereignty of Jesus over the created order. While this does make Jesus look awesome and an awful lot like Captain Planet, we can’t miss the fact that the disciples were also acting an awful lot like the teenagers in our ministries!
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Sure, these were experienced fishermen who had probably faced a storm or two, but Jesus was sleeping, how bad could it have been?!
This is exactly what I do with students. I hear about the different circumstances and situations they are facing and think, “how bad could that really be?” To state the obvious…I’m low on compassion.
But on the other side of the coin, Jesus is with them! Rather than telling students “it’s going to be okay,” or “you’ll get through this,” we need to remind them, “Jesus is with you!” Yes, it might feel like He’s asleep right now, but He’s with you. Yes it feels like the world is ending but you have a relationship with the ONE who will cease time and usher in eternity!
Is this easy to teach or easy to understand? Absolutely not! But we have Paul to show us the way:
“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him…” -Philippians 3:8-9
“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” -Philippians 4:11-13
May we preach a Jesus who is with us through “all things” including the storm. Jesus never said it would be easy. He never offered a golden ticket that would free us from suffering, but He did promise to be with us:
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, who the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” -John 4:16-17
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David Hanson: Texas native, Texas Tech Red Raider, M.Div. at Truett Seminary, husband to Ashley, father to Ava & Ben, Student Pastor at LifePoint Church in Plano, Tx, table tennis (ping-pong) extraordinaire, addicted to coffee. For anything else…you’ll just have to ask.
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by David Hanson | Sep 10, 2014 | The Youth Ministry Blog
The staff at my church is currently going through a semester long training program led by our teaching pastor. At a recent training, he showed us this sermon by Dave Allgire at Late Church. It is a MUST WATCH if you want a succinct overview of the entire Bible narrative.
Spoiler Alert: There are hand motions to help you remember all of church history!
A few weeks ago, I showed the hand motion portion of this video to students going through one of our discipleship programs. It was a hit! Students expressed how awesome it was to see the entire Bible laid out before them. They were baffled at how busy God was during the “silent years” before Jesus.
This is Youth Ministry GOLD, and I highly recommend:
- Showing this to students
- Recreating it on a Wednesday night or Sunday morning
When students better understand the overview of the whole bible, Jesus wins!
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David Hanson: Texas native, Texas Tech Red Raider, M.Div. at Truett Seminary, husband to Ashley, father to Ava & Ben, Student Pastor at LifePoint Church in Plano, Tx, table tennis (ping-pong) extraordinaire, addicted to coffee. For anything else…you’ll just have to ask.
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by David Hanson | Sep 9, 2014 | The Youth Ministry Blog
Is your youth ministry a group of six or seven grades each filled with cliques, or, is your youth ministry a family? As Youth Pastors, we must be intentional in fostering community and a group identity. We must take students from various grades, schools, backgrounds, and talents, and show them how they are part of our youth ministry family.
As a child and student at First Baptist Church of Amarillo, I still vividly remember Sunday’s where someone would join the church. After coming forward during a response time, the pastor would introduce the individual or family joining the church and everyone in the congregation would collectively say, “Welcome to the family!”
I loved this! I still love this idea! In a world where students face adversity and exclusion almost daily, their youth ministry should be a place of inclusion and acceptance. Their youth ministry should be a loving family.
Here are 4 ways to make a youth ministry a family:
1. Preach it early and often from the stage.
Students need to hear this concept from you! It WILL NOT happen naturally. They need to hear that everyone is invited, everyone is accepted, and that NO ONE is excluded from gospel community.
2. Get upperclassmen to mentor underclassmen.
We do this in two ways:
- Upperclassmen lead guys & girls groups
- One-on-one mentoring (by selected students only)
3. Occasionally integrate older and younger Small Groups.
If you do Small Groups on Wednesday or Sunday nights, think about occasionally mixing a couple of the grades. (Seniors with 8th graders, Juniors with 7th graders, Sophomores with 6th graders)
4. Get upperclassmen to serve the ministry at large.
Encourage your upperclassmen to come to church with the intent of building relationships and “looking for loners.” When upperclassmen lead the way on inclusion and intentionally find ways to bring the outsiders in, the ministry becomes a family.
How are you making your youth ministry feel like a family? Comment below!
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David Hanson: Texas native, Texas Tech Red Raider, M.Div. at Truett Seminary, husband to Ashley, father to Ava & Ben, Student Pastor at LifePoint Church in Plano, Tx, table tennis (ping-pong) extraordinaire, addicted to coffee. For anything else…you’ll just have to ask.
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