As I was riding home from the gym this morning and listening to the radio an advertising came over the air about “Lost the most anticipated TV premier of the year”. First I said we are only like 5 weeks in to the new year…we still have like 47 weeks left in this year, how in the world do they know that this will be the most anticipated show of the year. And then I remembered that I have been a dedicated Lost fan since the 2nd season (My wife and I missed the first season because of being in college and not having a DVR – we missed a lot of TV plus we didn’t even know what Lost was. But when it came out on DVD hooked is not an accurate word for what we became – we watched the whole 1st season in like 2 weeks..needless to say were fans).
There’s a lot of hype for this show this season because it’s the last…In fact I think a lot of people are possibly getting reunited with the show for the last season because we will get all our answers answered (hopefully). I mean there’s a craze for this show…at least in and amongst our group. There are even middle school students that are hyped for this show. Needless to say there will be a large group of people tonight watching this show and it doesn’t matter if you have a DVR because there is no way people are waiting for tomorrow to watch it.
So this excitement and great anticipation got me thinking about Youth Ministry and wondering “When was the last time my students got this excited about something we were offering at church?” “When was the last time they canceled plans to do what God was asking them to do?” Even if they can do the same thing later on. “When was the last time my team put our heads together and came up with an idea that would totally blow their minds?”
We can learn a lot from culture and how people react to it! I’m hoping to learn something from culture and use it!
What have you learned from culture
There’s nothing like seeing the body of Christ in action, operating as we were made to be. Last weekend, a good friend of mine, who also happens to be one of my youth leaders, slipped into a coma. It’s only by the grace of God that Josh didn’t die. It happened in the wee hours of Sunday morning so word came to us during our 1st service about what had taken place. We immediately prayed for Josh and did so again during the 2nd service. Then the body stepped into action. People went up to the hospital on their own accord that afternoon to pray for Josh. People were also calling all day long, the next day too, checking to see how Josh was. Our youth prayed for him Sunday night as well.
I personally didn’t get to the hospital until Monday afternoon to visit Josh. By then he was out of his coma, and tho his speech was slurred and his movement and reactions were slow, he was functioning. Praise Jesus! As I stepped into the room with my pastor-dad, another guy from our church was there visiting with Josh. Before we left, 2 more church members had arrived to spend time with Josh, and a mom with her teen son was on their way.
What a blessing to see the Body in action. It was so neat to see it unfold before my very eyes. People caring, taking action, praying, visiting, sending things, following-up, staying with Josh when he got out of the hospital, providing meals and everything else in between. My church is my family. I love that.
I sat around a dinner table with Josh a week after his coma. He was to the left of me. To my right was one of my Jr High students, with her mom next to her. A young couple with their 2-yr old sat across the table from me, and the head of the house, my Jr High student’s dad, sat at the head of the table, across from Josh. We ate pasta and salad together; enjoyed icecream cake; sipped on coffee and watched a movie together. These are my church friends, but they are family to me. At one point I just watched as we all interacted together, and thought to myself, my how blessed I am to have this in my life. There was a sense of safety and acceptance in the room that night; love and laughter was strong; it was like being with family. Maybe because it is.
The dynamic of family is what we’re developing amongst our teenagers right now. We don’t just want to be a group of young people who get together. We don’t want to just randomly or superficially know each other. We want to be a family. A family cares; supports one another; and watches out for each other. A family is there for one another, even if it means being inconvenienced. A family stands up for and defends each other. Family loves, and family forgives. Family is irreplaceable.
Family is what I experienced last week, and it’s what I hope to experience again and again. There’s truly nothing more pleasant than family amidst the Body of Christ.
Hi friends! Hope you are enjoying a great start to 2010. I was wondering who’s going to the SYMC in Chicago February 26-March 1, and if there are any plans for the mentors to get together. Let me know if there are plans. If not, I’d be happy to spearhead something.
I went for my run this week and came to the conclusion that there are a lot of people out there who are just horrible at shoveling their sidewalks. Now some people might fight back and say, “You shouldn’t be running when it’s below freezing.” Really, no excuses, people take better care of your sidewalks, when you do it helps runners and pedestrians with traction, something essential to not pulling a muscle, slipping, breaking a hip or whatever might happen. Traction is important because it helps us move gracefully and most importantly gain momentum.
Traction is just as important in ministry. The obstacles that prevent us from gaining momentum lay before us are like the puddles of black ice in front of someones house, annoying and if ignored treacherous. How we get through the obstacles comes down to the type of pacing we create in our ministries. While there will be seasons of highs and lows, there needs to be a steady pace throughout the year. Most of the time there is this tendency to ramp up and get things done before a break in the year on top of the tendency to ramp up and get ahead after the break. But all that will achieve is a ministry full of ministers who will crash and burn. It’s like driving over black ice, the worst thing to do is break or accelerate on the ice, you just need to cruise through it. With a year in ministry it’s important to maintain a pace where you can build momentum; through the busy and restful seasons.
Now, some might be thinking, “Chris this is good to know in June or July.” But in reality you can create a pace at any time of the year. Tweak it, look at where you want to go and how you want to get there. What I do to help with my pacing is short term scheduling built into long term scheduling.
Short term scheduling, is your week schedule, what does your Monday look like, your Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. When do you arrive and when do you leave, when do you vision cast, when do you write…I think you get the picture. A short term schedule lets you prepare for the day, know what you are going to work on, of course build in margin, don’t fill it up completely.
Long term scheduling is figuring out how to take on bigger projects such as budgeting, retreats, camps, etc. I feel like there are a lot of us who wait until two weeks before an event to really start planning it and I think the reason we fall in that trap is because it’s not always fun to work on something a year away, but it’s important to do, it’s going to allow you to think things out, take the time to look at different vendors, do cost analysis, etc.
Taking the time to schedule can be tough but once you get it up and running really all it takes is tweaking here and there. And when you tweak your movement instead of making a drastic move chances are you’ll recover quickly and keep momentum going.
About the time Christmas rolls around I am ready for a break. I don’t know about you or how your church works but our youth ministry closes down for the last 2 weeks of the year – no small groups, no service! And then the 1st Sunday night in the new year we kick off our new calendar! Well over the break my family and I went to Florida for the holidays and while we were there I planned on prepping for the next sermon and doing some planning for the next semester. But I did NOTHING like always! Expect read the book “Churched” by Matthew Paul Turner which was a great book! So when I came to church Sunday morning I needed to revisit my notes and prep that I took down before I left for Fl and get it ready for the service! And now it’s Wednesday – a couple days into the work week and I have been playing catch up with emails, prep for next week, calendar stuff all week….its been a bit busy.
So as busy as this week has been playing catch up it got me thinking “Would it have been better for me to work in Fl so that it would not be this busy for me this week?” Of coarse the answer is always NO because that time away from the office and with family is so great and unforgettable. And on top of that I come back refreshed, ready to tackle the next thing and my wife is not mad because I shared are vacation with the church! So it’s a double win
When you go away…do you really go way or do you only half go away? Is it a struggle for you to go away and shut down or are you always thinking about the next event or the next sermon or Bible study? You know this of coarse but it’s vital for everything in your life for you to stop and enjoy a little down time…you will always come back better for it!!
During this time of year it is not uncommon for people to refer to the atmosphere that is created by the holidays as the Spirit of Christmas. Is there some mysterious spirit that only is detectable during the last month of the year or is it something more.
If we look at the Christmas story we see that the birth of Jesus was announced to Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds by angels. These angels were God’s messengers. They were empowered by the Holy Spirit to go and reveal the message of the coming Messiah. We also see that when Mary went to see Elizabeth that the baby in her womb jumped at the sound of her voice. This was a result of the Holy Spirit being present in that moment. The Holy Spirit played a major role in the Christmas story. This was the introduction of the role that Holy Spirit would soon play in the life of every believer.
The Holy Spirit announced Jesus’ birth, but would soon be revealed as the promise that would be given to every believer to guide and direct their lives. We see in John 3 that when Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove. Then a voice from heaven affirmed that Jesus was indeed God’s son. The Holy Sprit always preceded the proclamation of God. After he was baptized, we see that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit. As a result, in John 4 we see that he was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert. After he was tempted in the desert, we see in John 4:14 that he returned to Galilee in the power of the Holy Sprit. It is interesting to see the progression of how the Holy Spirit works.
First we see that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit. We must be totally yielded to God in order to be filled with the Spirit. In John 3:21-22 we see that Jesus was obedient to his Father and was baptized. This was how the Messiah was to be revealed to the world. As a result of this obedience, we see that God wanted to praise the son and even said, “You are my son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life” (MSG). We see that when the Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove that was a mark that separated Jesus from everyone else. When the Holy Spirit controls our lives it marks us a different from others in the world.
Later when Jesus returned from the Jordan now that he was full of the Holy Spirit, He could now be led by the Holy Spirit. When we are full of the Holy Spirit, then we can be led by the Spirit. Too often we are not led by the Sprit but by are led by the flesh. We must constantly be in tune with God and constantly be “filling” up on the Holy Spirit. In order to be filled, we must empty our selves of everything else to make space for the filling to take place. Once filled, then we can be led.
Once we have been filled, and are being led, then and only then can we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. In John 4:14 we see after Jesus was tempted he returned in the power of the Holy Spirit. We often miss out what God has for us because we attempt things in the power of the flesh rather than in the power of the Holy Spirit.
During this Holiday Season, it is important for us to recapture the idea that the Holy Spirit is at work. The holidays cause us to be more generous and helpful than we would be normally throughout the year. It that because the Holy Spirit only moves during the holidays? It may be that we are more sensitive to the Spirit’s leading during this season because we are focused on the meaning of Christmas and therefore are more attentive to its movement. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to fill us year round. Then we will be led to do the things that God calls us to do and then we will be able to accomplish them under the power of the Spirit rather than our own strength.
So Christmas is upon us. I never really know what to do and how to celebrate with my group. We’ve done several things from parties, to games, dinner, events and nothing. Just wondering what you guys do with your crew to acknowledge, honor and celebrate hte holiday.
I bought a dry erase board two days ago for my office. It’ll be the first thing and probably the most important thing to hang on my office wall (the picture of my family is on my desk). The reason I got this dry erase board is because I found myself explaining the intricate, complex, confusing ministry structure plan that I have for the student ministry at our church to one of my point people and discovering that this person was highly confused. So I tried to draw it on paper but after using a whole tree and crossing things out and getting frustrated with the lack of clarity that I had, I realized that I needed a dry erase board…it’ll help me erase things without wasting paper.
But the real issue wasn’t the lack of a dry erase board, it was the lack of clarity on the student ministry structure. And it wasn’t clear because I was using the old model to explain something that didn’t exist. About three years ago I had a student ministry structure, but people left, people came, program grew, some were eliminated and the old model isn’t going to work. So this is what I’ve learned about a clear, visible, student ministry structure:
1. You need to review it constantly. A healthy ministry will have changes in a variety of ways, reviewing your ministry structure will help you monitor these changes, so that nothing gets out of control.
2. It becomes a map of how to grow. When you create a ministry structure you know the point people, you track ministers in each program and you see how things are connected. When a hole pops up, you know it needs to be filled.
3. It serves as a reminder of who is accountable and responsible for who. As the Youth Pastor I find it extremely difficult to thank, love and nurture every single minister…I try but it’s tough. When you know who your point people are they help you with thanking, rewarding and encouraging.
I know there are tons of benefits to having a ministry structure, but going back to the white board….it’s good to have these things recorded, it’s good to review and reflect on how things are flowing. I’m looking forward to some Dry Erase Board Management, because right now all I have is a blank white wall.
Question for all youth leaders.
When do you split your crowd program into JH and HS? We currently meet together on Wed night. This isn’t small groups, but aimed at the unchurched students, and core to bring their friends. So we do not break into small groups.
When do you make the break and do two separate groups?
Do you?
I have no idea what your normal weekly ministry routine looks like, if it is at all possible to have a ‘normal weekly routine’. Of course there are some things that only happen a few times a year, then there are those that you need to do every week. For me, preparing a message is on my do-very-week list. That is not a complaint at all, I love writing and preparing messages. But just like anything you do over and over and over (and over) again, it can get mundane, routine, even stuck in a rut. Once it finds its way onto the mundane list, it comes out in your delivery. I have noticed for me, mundane affects my delivery worse than not prepared. If I am not prepared, I can wing it a week and get by. If I am bored with my own message, so is everyone else in the room.
The past few months, I have tried a few things to shake up the messages a bit, both for me and my audience. Here are a few ideas that have worked for me:
Change up your Prep Routine
If you do the same thing week in and week out you get set on a routine for getting everything accomplished on time. My typical routine is 100% on my computer. Sometimes the place it happens changes, the exact day it happens changes, but my laptop is always involved, from beginning to end, no matter what. Last week, instead of starting my message staring at a blank document on the screen, I sat down with a yellow pad, a pen, and my thoughts. It definitely took a little longer to get the end result of a printed outline and finished PowerPoint, but the change in routine was refreshing.
Use Different Types of Illustrations
At some point, you will run out of humorous personal experiences to share. When that happens, there are always video clips! I realized that video clips had become a crutch for me. Whether it was skit guys or bluefish TV or youtube, I can always find one that would fit somewhere. But when there is at least one every week, they start to lose their impact. I don’t know which type of illustration is your crutch; funny pictures, live drama, video clips, personal stories, public embarrassment, 3rd party interviews, Readers Theater, farm animal jokes… Whatever it is, you need to change it up, mix it up; so when you do use it they actually notice it.
Surprise the Audience
This is similar to mixing up the illustrations, but different. Once people (students and adults) have been attending church for a while, it seems that when someone steps on stage to speak, they check out. They go into the ‘I have heard it all before’ trance and don’t hear anything you say. Your message, no matter how good or creative it is, will have no impact if they don’t hear it. If you do things that they aren’t expecting, they will listen. A few weeks ago, part way through the message I walked off the stage and walked around in the audience. I just kept talking like normal but just walked around. Then I finished the rest of the message from the back of the room. It definitely got their attention. Last week the message was about reverence for God and for the church. I arranged for 3 students from a different church to walk in and disrupt the message, argue with me, and then I kicked them out in front of the entire group. Everyone listened, and quite intently after that!
Present Less Content
When I started to realize my messages were getting mundane and boring for me, which came through in my delivery, and therefore didn’t make much impact on the students, my first reaction was they weren’t deep enough or challenging enough. So of course, I just put in more content. This move actually made the message less impactful, not more. If you have ever attended a conference you know what I mean: you get so much information in so little time, you get overwhelmed with it and actually apply nothing. Cramming a month worth of content into one message is not the answer. Repetition is what makes things stick, so stretch out the content into a longer series, which allows time for the surprises and different types of illustrations to reinforce your content and actually bring growth.
Use Others as a Resource
Ask people’s opinions about your messages. Students, adult youth staff, anyone who has heard you speak. Sure, sometimes it is hard to hear we stunk it up, but most of the time we already know we did. Don’t seek the token “good jobs’, seek honest constructive criticism and be open to their ideas of how it can be better. I have found their ideas for surprises and illustrations are better than mine.
Speaking about God has always been one of my favorite things to do, but I recently started to resent it, and the routine of preparing for it. God showed me the rut I had made for myself, and how to get out of it. I hope you don’t find yourself in a speaking rut, but if so, work to get out of it. The story of God, His power, and His interaction with His creation is not boring. The messages we give to teach people about Him shouldn’t be either, for us or our audience!
