Predictability is not all Bad

While it’s true that creativity is an important part of student ministry, so is predictability. Young people crave consistency and an effective youth ministry will provide it.  This is especially vital when it comes to the discipline policies and basic structure of a youth meeting.  Here are 10 “predictability check” ideas on what I mean:

1)    Make sure all parties involved know the process for misbehavior and make sure that all leaders follow it to the rule.  This will minimize distractions and you might find that it brings out the best in your students.

2)    Create a basic outline for youth meetings and follow it every week.  I would suggest opening with some fellowship time and a fun activity/game.

3)    If you have snacks at your youth group, build in specific times for munching and limit students to this time.

4)    As you move into the content, have a specific flow that you stick to.  I suggest opening with the scripture.  Here’s a hint, use the scripture that your pastor is preaching on.  You can choose to prep (the lesson before) or reinforce (the lesson after) the sermon with your youth meeting.

5)    Next, reinforce the sermon with some sort of media.  You can find clips for every situation on Youtube or Vimeo (even if it is from a cheesy bible movie).

6)    If you have a second text, sandwich the media piece with the two readings.

7)    Now create four or five open-ended discussion questions for the group to explore.  Yes/no answers should be treated as if they are the black plague.  Don’t try to steer things too much; you will be able to take things in the right direction with a wrap up (5 minutes or less) at the end of the night.

8)    You may pray at other times during the night but always close the night with prayer.

9)    Give students a few minutes to share praises and requests.

10) Challenge students to pray but don’t push them to hard.

Resource Review: Videos That Teach

I am always on the lookout for good resources that youth directors and youth pastors can use. One that is been around for a while is called "Videos That Teach” by Doug Fields and Eddie James . The basic premise of this resource is to take teachable moments from modern-day movies that you can use as discussion starters, sermon illustrations, r complete programs on various topics.

Currently there are four volumes of this resource that cover about 75 modern films in each volume. They are broken down by movies (in alphabetical order) or quick clip locators by topic or Bible reference. There's a section on how to best use this resource in each volume written by the authors. Each clip gives you information on the movie (specifically what the rating), when the clip starts and when the clip ends), Bible passages that relate to the clip and a list of 6 to 8 questions that you can use to help get the discussion started.

What makes this resource so appealing is its versatility.  If you are teaching on a specific Bible verse or topic you can search very quickly to see if there is a video clip that can be used to help drive your point home. Another appealing aspect to these resources are that they are very affordable costing about $13 per book. If you are in a local church within the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church our resource center, Discovery Place, has all four volumes available to be checked out.

I highly recommend these resources and wish you luck in your creativity in how to use them in your youth ministry.

Thinking Inside the Box

We constantly hear that we need to, "think outside the box." Looking for the latest and greatest innovative program out there on the market to increase the size and scope and reach of our ministry. While this might need to occur, sometimes what you really need is tried and true, solid stuff. Stuff that is actually totally inside the box.

Ask yourself these questions as you look at planning the season ahead:

1) What has worked really well in the past year?

2) What is "classic" that would be fun to revive?

3) What were people talking about after last summer?

4) What is MY favorite event of the year?

5) Where did we see the most life change in the last season?

6) What is easy to plan but brings the ministry a big win?

Don't ever forget that the church was built around "Tradition." If we lose what we traditionally do for the latest and greatest, we might be doing more harm than good.

Magi's Lesson

Here’s a lesson for you to use for teaching from Matthew 2 about the Magi.

Thanks to Mark DeVries for this lesson from his Spice Rack downloadable curriculum at ymarchitects.com

http://bit.ly/TcTS53

there are also lots of other great resources for Mark DeVries, so check them out!

Questions to ask Mary and Joseph

One of my favorite authors is Max Lucado. On top of being an accomplished pastor, he is also an accomplished author that writes easy to read and relevant devotional books. One of my all-time favorites is his book entitled "God Came Near: Chronicles of The Christ." In that book one of the chapters he poses questions that he might ask Mary, the mother of Jesus. From that article I have adapted my own list of questions that I would ask both Mary and Joseph. Here they are:

What was it like to correct him?

Was he any good at woodworking?

Joseph, why did you stay and raise a child that biologically wasn't yours?

Did Jesus go through the terrible twos? (I have a two-year-old and could use some advice)


Did Jesus have any close friends?

Did he ever get hurt? How did you make him feel better?

What was his favorite food to eat?

Did you ever want to ask him about how he and made the universe?

Too often at this time of year we lift Jesus up on a pedestal not realizing that while he was fully divine he was also fully human. I hope is you celebrate this Christmas you will keep that in mind.

BTW-What questions would you add?