Category Archives: Youth Ministry

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Providing Answers AND Questions

Part of my job as a youth minister is to create an enviroment where teens can feel free to ask questions and a place that helps them answer their questions. While reading Youth Ministry Mutiny by Greg Stier, the protagonist provided 30 questions that his youth ministry centered all of their teaching around. The minister said that, “Every teen and adult should know, live, and own the answers to these questions as a result of our ministry in their lives.”

Here they are:

  • Who is God and what is He like?
  • What is the Trinity?
  • Who is Jesus?
  • Why did he die on the cross?
  • How do I know he really rose from the dead?
  • Who is the HS and what does He do?
  • How do I get plugged into the power of the HS?
  • Is the Bible really God’s Word and how does it apply to my life?
  • What is truth and can I know it with certainty?
  • What is sin and how does it impact my life and my relationships with others?
  • Why does God allow evil in this world?
  • What is a Christian and how does a person become one?
  • If Jesus is the only way to Heaven, are all other religions wrong?
  • What about people who have never heard about the Gospel?
  • What is the Great Commission and how does it relate to me?
  • Is the really a heaven and a hell and what are they like?
  • Is there a judgement day and what difference should it make in my life?
  • Can I really be forgiven for all my sins, even the really bad ones?
  • Will God ever leave me or forsake me?
  • Who are Satan and his demons?
  • How do I engage in spiritual warfare?
  • What is Church and why should I be involved?
  • What are spiritual gifts and how do I discover mine?
  • How should the return of Christ impact my life?
  • What is prayer and how do I do it?
  • Why should I study my Bible and how do I do it?
  • How do I defend my faith?
  • Who am I, where did I come from, and what is my purpose?
  • Which is true creation or evolution, and why does it matter?
  • How can I worship God in everything I do?

As I looked over these 30 questions I felt like they covered just about everything I’ve tried to pass along to my students. Of course this list isn’t/shouldn’t be exhaustive but they gave me a great jumping off point. What do you think? Anything you’d add? Anything you’d take away?

Youth Ministry

Recovering, er, Scratch That… No Time

Man o man, December is only half over! The youth ministry machine has been in full effect here. Last weekend we had an event every night from Friday to Monday.

Friday Dec. 8- We headed downtown for a Dallas Stars game. As one of my students said our seats “were in Russia” but I don’t think there is a bad seat in the American Airlines Center. We were high but we were able to see all the “action.” I use that word loosely because Edmonton came to play and Dallas threw the game away. Over all though we had a great time.

Saturday, Dec. 9- The last time I scheduled a service project nobody showed. I went on ahead with the planned project (a hilarious story for another day) but I was glad that we had plenty of help this day. Together we collected 42 garbage bags full of leaves!!! My students worked their tails off raking and bagging and knocking out the yard in under two hours! Way to go guys!

Sunday, Dec. 10- Three words: Christmas Par-Tay!!! We exchanged gifts and I ended up with a Sonic gift card. Woo-Hoo! Sandy cooked a turkey and our girls brought some delicious desserts. A good time was had by all.

Monday, Dec. 11- Monday nights we hold our high school Bible study, ChiAlpha. We have been going through the Gospel of Mark this semester and have been really enjoying our time together. We gather at 7:30 to hang out and, more importantly, catch the last half of Deal or No Deal. After that, it is on to the study. We are almost through Mark. Any suggestions for next semester?

Yesterday I felt like I had finally recovered from last week. However, today is a youth ministry black day.

Tonight, the scourge of youth ministry goes down:

The Lock-In.

My students love the lock-in. I could take or leave them. I’m not so much anti-lock-in as I am pro-sleeping! I promised my students that if we only had one or two lock-ins a year I would make sure that they were extra-ordinary.

So, tonight we will stuff our faces with pizza, watch some movies (NAAAAAAHHHCH-OHHHHHHH), and play some broomball a little after 2 in the morning. Whew! Maybe I can recover next week. We’ll see. Have a great weekend everybody!