by David Hanson | Dec 9, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
If you’re not EXCITED, why should students be?
As Student Pastors, we have something to be EXCITED about…and that is putting it lightly!
Our God is not DEAD but ALIVE!!
God has RESCUED us from HELL!!
Jesus has paid the debt for our SIN!!
The Enemy has been DEFEATED!!
We have a GOD that is always WITH us!!
If that’s not enough to get you EXCITED and ESCTAITIC, I don’t know what to do. The students we serve and parents we serve should see that EXCITEMENT each week.
We should be way more passionate about our GOD than our SPORTS TEAM!
Your SPORTS TEAM might give you SATISFACTION for a WEEKEND but GOD gives us SATISFACTION for a LIFETIME!
This should be evident in our social media and how we WORSHIP. This should be evident in how we preach. We are preaching the GREATEST NEWS that has changed us so we should preach with EXCITEMENT. We know the BIBLE ain’t boring!
Your students can tell if you are excited about Jesus or not!
They can tell by watching you if JESUS really is a BIG DEAL or not.
They can tell by watching you if JESUS really is the RISEN KING to you!
Encourage your leaders to be passionate about Gods Word and coming to church. If the students see that your leaders have excitement just like you do imagine how excited the students would be!
Be reminded today that you have been SET FREE! You aren’t who you use to be! Be EXCITED and keep serving JESUS!
Romans 12:11 Never be lacking in zeal but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Michael Hux is the Student Pastor of Team Church in Matthews, NC.
Connect with Michael on Twitter or Instagram: @_Hux
by David Hanson | Dec 6, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
The other day Bekah called me while I was at work. She needed me to come home. Not that it had been a particularly rough day, or that she was feeling sick. She just needed me home.
I had a million things to do.
I’ve never been able to look at my desk/computer/to do list at the end of the day and say “Well, that about wraps it up. I don’t have anymore work to do!”
It’s always some form of “Well, this will have to be where I stop today. I’ll pick it back up tomorrow.”
When Bekah called I had more than one thing I was working on finishing from the day before. I was getting swamped and a big retreat was coming up in the next few weeks.
But I went home anyways.
Did it mean I had a lot of catching up to do the next day?
Yup.
Did it mean that I would be staying up late after everyone had gone to bed to try to work some after hours?
Yes sir.
Did it mean that I would be worrying if I was actually going to make the deadlines I needed to?
You bet.
I showed one of her texts to a friend, the one that came before the call, the one that said “Please come home. I just want you home.” What got me out of my office chair and into my truck were his words: “You don’t know how lucky you are man. I’m not getting those kinds of texts.”
My keys were in my hand and I was out the door.
To all youth pastors and other husbands out there:
Make your wife your number one priority. You’ll always have more work. You’ll always have another deadline. You’ll always need to get just one more thing done.
But you’ll never get another chance at making your wife feel loved and special TODAY.
Grab the keys.
Head on home.
Ronald is a follower of Jesus who’s married to Bekah, father to two beautiful girls and a chronic writer. He blogs at ronaldlong.org and tweets from @ronald_long. When’s he has free time, he plays with his kids, goes for a run, or plays video games. If you’re interested in some of his bible study material, check out
128ministries.org.
by David Hanson | Dec 5, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
I grew up in Southern California where, for all practical purposes, there are no seasons. The weather doesn’t change much. Sunny and 75 most of the time. When I moved to Texas I anticipated that I would get to experience seasons like fall and winter. The difference is that the weather changes wildly here. It’s unpredictable. Today it’s 75 and sunny. By Friday the high is supposed to be 33. When the seasons are unpredictable, it’s hard to get your bearings. Just as you’re about to get out your winter gear, it’s shorts weather again.
It’s the same way in ministry. We need to understand that we have seasons in youth ministry. The more we understand our seasons, the better we can see the big picture.
God sets this precedent. He rested on the seventh day. He created a world where there are times of planting and times of harvest. He commanded his people to celebrate in certain seasons. He even commanded the Israelites to rest the land for a full one year out of seven.
Our ministry slows down during three key times (Christmas, May and August). Our ministry ramps up during the summer, spring and fall. Different seasons fulfill different purposes in our ministry. If we went full speed all year long we would wear ourselves and our students out.
There is a method to our madness. You need to think about your ministry seasonally because of what it can bring to your ministry.
Seasonal youth ministry gives rest to leadership. Your leaders spend a good portion of the year pouring into students. They need times where they can take a break and recharge. If you go full speed all year long, you will wear them out. Eventually they won’t want to come back. Give them rest and they will have longevity.
Seasonal youth ministry gives room for planning. If you are busy all year long, you won’t have time to adequately plan for the future. I’m not just talking calendars. You need to create space for creativity, to pray for discernment, and to think intentionally about what you will be teaching.
Seasonal youth ministry blesses families. We slow down in December because of all the Christmas parties, travel and shopping. We slow down in May because many families are pushing hard through finals and graduations. We slow down after summer because families are getting ready for the school year. Gearing up in the summer helps our families that have middle schoolers with lots of time on their hands. Our ability to plan seasonally will help families during their seasons.
The key is this: slowing down actually makes our busy times more effective.
If you aren’t thinking seasonally in your ministry. You’ll probably see less fruit and will have a higher chance of burn out. Every ministry is different, your seasons may not look like mine, but you need to embrace the seasons of your ministry.
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. Connect with Kevin on Twitter: @kevinlibick
by David Hanson | Dec 4, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
My pastor slipped by my office a few weeks ago and handed me an article. It was about a pastor who shared his morning routine. All I remember was he said he wakes up at 3am Sunday-Thursday.
That’s when I almost checked out.
He was challenged several years ago about giving God his mornings. Yes. God deserves every area of our life. But I often give excuses rather than make changes to have solid time with my Lord. This pastor spends time in the word, prayer, study, and exercise in the morning. That’s crazy! But I am learning to enjoy the quiet mornings before busy starts. I rarely make time after I get to the office. That’s another blog post.
I have had to make adjustments. I have a 45 minute drive to the office and need to have solid time before I leave. If I want to run, I do it after prayer and Bible study. I want to engage my family in the evenings when I get home.
I have not done this every morning but I am striving to be consistent. I want to be fueled and focused as I start the day.
How do you manage your mornings?
What works best for you?
Matt Sawyer is the student pastor of Southside Baptist Church in Dothan, AL. (www.sbcdothan.org) He loves being a husband and father of two girls. You can read more of Matt’s stuff at www.matthewls.com. We are excited to share his wisdom on The Youth Ministry Blog!
by David Hanson | Dec 3, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
There is no doubt that we live in the most entertained generation in the history of the world. People don’t just watch television anymore; they sit down with their iPad, phone, and/or laptop while they “watch TV.” We are multi-taskers by nature now. When I sit in a Dr’s office waiting for an appointment, the first thing I do is pull out my phone and check Twitter. We get on YouTube, read blogs, or watch movie trailers for hours before we even realize it. A lot of our time is spent connected to technology.
Now here’s the part where you expect me to complain about how much time we spend on these things. I’ll let someone else write that blog. The reality is that this is the world we live in. This is the world that most of our students participate in and have grown up in. Elementary school kids have phones with internet on them. Some schools give kids iPads to work on. Toddlers know how to use an iPhone. As pastors and youth ministries we are fighting for the attention of these kids from a thousand different things and this will not change anytime soon. And if we are going to hope to engage them then maybe we need to consider reaching into their world. The church has often failed to recognize, engage in, or address culture , let alone be on the cutting edge of it. We can sometimes be the most resistant to change. Actually, that’s most of the time…
So what does this mean for us? It means that the way we communicate has to
be mindful of this and we have to continue to grow as ministers and ministries. The message of the Gospel does not change, but the way we communicate it must evolve. Jesus used Parables that were relevant to the people of his time to communicate the Gospel.
When I first arrived at my ministry, I was foolish enough to think I was simply entertaining enough to hold their attention. I realize now that I was stubborn on some things. The Truth of Jesus cannot be compromised, but if I can more effectively communicate this, then why wouldn’t I try. The truth is, very few people want to listen to a boring communicator and if the heart of the Gospel is Good News, which it is, then this should be exciting for people to hear.
Here’s some tips to continue to evolve:
Ask people – Ask your students and adults what they remember from your sermon. Ask them what they liked about it. It will help you understand what’s sticking in their minds
Don’t be afraid to use media – I love the spoken word and I hope that pastors never lose their ability to paint a picture through words. All of that said, there’s a reason students love GIFs, Instagram, videos. A video or a GIF will draw students in and can paint a picture better than words SOMETIMES. If you’re not a funny communicator or a great story teller then these can help you along. I spend a lot of time on Vimeo, Infinity List, and blogs finding ways to better illustrate points.
Work on it – Are you “fine” with how you teach? If you communicate in front of your students a lot, you should never stop working on your communication. Work on your pace, rhythm, volume, and pausing. It will start coming more natural and will make you feel more confident.
Say less, mean more – It’s frustrating listening to a communicator dance around the point, when a concise well thought out point would have made it more powerful. This takes time and crafting of the message.
Let students communicate – I get it… they’re not seasoned communicators. Yes, they may say something wrong. But it’s powerful when students hear from their peers. We let our students share about their experiences after a week of prayer and fasting, and it was the most powerful part of the evening.
Find your voice – You are not *insert your favorite preacher’s name* and you never will be. Stop trying to copy their voice. Definitely stop copying their sermons, it’s just lazy. Have you ever thought that listening to so many different podcasts might actually hinder your ability to find your own unique voice? I get it, there’s nothing new under the sun and we all use things we hear from others, but do not get in the habit of solely leaning on the thoughts of others. You need to hear from the Lord about what He wants to speak to your group of students.
Powerpoint can help – Our worship guy told me I should use Powerpoint more often and I told him he was an idiot… haha well maybe in not so many words. I was completely against it, but it’s hard to dismiss the value of it. It does not have to be used all the time but it can help those points really sink it.
Teach the Bible – Students find it interesting when they learn something. Many of them have very little knowledge of the Scriptures and we are called to teach them these truths. Students will devour the Bible, if it is taught correctly and interesting. It’s God’s Word and is meant to be buried deep within our hearts.
Redeem it – As the church we tend to be hestitant about initiating change due to the culture. And we should be. But maybe instead of avoiding or resiting cultural shifts we should aim towards redeeming it. Technology can be used and abused many different ways, but it can also be used by the Redeemed to advance the Gospel. Let’s use this as an opportunity to teach our students that we don’t avoid everything in the world, we just use it differently.
I would be the first to defend that our primary purpose as ministers is not to be entertainers. I am not a standup comedian or an actor. I am a minister of the gospel who eagerly desires to communicate God’s Word well. Let us not forget that what we are teaching has great power when it is infused with the Holy Spirit. “…grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and sign and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4:29-30)
Brandon Weir is the Student Pastor at The Fellowship Round Rock near Austin, TX. What does Brandon love? “I love my wife Jules, my dog Ranger, Texas Tech, being outdoors, the Texas Rangers, camping, hiking, reading, Torchy’s Tacos and I love me some Jesus.”
by David Hanson | Dec 2, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
We all want a Student Ministry that is deep and not shallow. We all want a Student Ministry that is all about Jesus and worship, but do your students see JOY in serving JESUS?
FUN is not your ENEMY! Your students should LOVE to come to Small Groups or Wednesday night because there is an aspect of FUN! One of the biggest reasons that I LOVED Student Ministry when I was younger was because it was FUN! I knew I was going to have FUN!
Don’t take out all of the FUN in Student Ministry. There is a reason why students love to go to Theme Parks and Arcades. It’s because it is FUN! Students love camp because it is FUN!
I had to remind myself of this over the last several weeks as our small groups have been all serious with NO FUN! We need a LITTLE FUN even with the seriousness of following JESUS!
Here’s a few ideas:
Throw in ICE BREAKER questions to open up.
Throw in a game that lasts 5-15min to add in some FUN each night!
Throw in a worship song that is FUN and not so serious.
Throw in a video to add some fun!
Throw in a skit to add some fun!
Throw in JOKES during your sermon!
LOST people need to see that CHRISTIANS have FUN too! Christians should be the happiest people on the planet and ones who show the most JOY and EXCITEMENT.
BRING some FUN to the TABLE!
How do you bring in the aspect of FUN in your STUDENT MINISTRY?
Michael Hux is the Student Pastor of Team Church in Matthews, NC.
Connect with Michael on Twitter or Instagram: @_Hux
