“And the time came for her to be delivered, and she gave birth to her first-born son, wrapped him swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger – because there was no room for them in the inn.”

What will your youth ministry give birth to this coming year? I’m thinking that, by now, you’re 1) taking a little breather from a hectic church schedule and 2) considering what you want to change/add/delete in your youth ministry come January. If that’s so, you’re right on track with the rest of us.

Here’s a few questions I’d like you to noodle on in that spaghetti bowl of multiple thoughts for the future:

“No room in the inn” – What do you need to “close the door on” in your ministry?

“No room in the inn” – What habits send the message to your family that there’s no room for them in your schedule? What can you do about that in 2013?

“No room in the inn” – When students come for the first time to your youth group, what message do they get: “The door is always open!” or “Really, there’s no room for you here”? What 5 steps can you take to maximize one and minimize the other?

“No room in the inn” – What rooms in the “home of you” have you shut God out?

I’ll be thinking about this, too.

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

Stephanie

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

(My grandson, who is 5, calls them the 3 Henchmen. I need to review the details with his parents!)

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

http://bit.ly/TcTS53

You’re welcome!

Stephanie

(This is a list from the blog of Rick Eimers at http://teenbuilding.wordpress.com. It speaks for itself and was exactly what I’d been looking for. Thanks, Rick, for being a pastor to this CT youth pastor and for allowing youth pastors everywhere to know exactly how to pray. It could have been us.)

December 19, 2012 by eimrick

Hey Small Church Ministry Friends! I know resource money is hard to come by for small church youth ministry budgets…so here’s a FREE lesson from Spice Rack, a great online curriculum by Mark DeVries. It’s based on Luke 2, from the angle of the Shepherds’ story. (You can find more downloadable lessons at http://ymarchitects.com)

Here’s the link: http://bit.ly/VPc8yx

Enjoy

12-14-12: What a horrific day.

The First Broken Child: All those innocent wee ones showed up to school like every other day. Excitement built as time passed closer to Christmas. Now? Presents will go unbought or unwrapped in many CT homes. Hearts are breaking;  eyes are crying. It makes no sense.

The Second Broken Child: A young man named Adam heads to his mother’s work. Excitement built as time passed closer to fulfilling the deadly thoughts taking over his mind. Now? His life is over or had it really ever begun? Hearts are breaking;  eyes are crying. It makes no sense.

The Third Broken Child: A god, The God, heads to earth to fulfill the rescue set before him. Excitement builds over 33 years till the moment of complete brokenness on a cross. Now? His earthly life was over so our lives could begin beyond this horrific day. Hearts are breaking;  eyes are crying…but at least He has made some sense of it all.

(This is the third and last part of the three week Advent series created by Chad Inman with a little input from me, Stephanie. Chad is the new contributor to Morf Magazine in their small church stuff.)

Advent Lesson Three: The Messiah is here

Game Idea:  If You Love Jesus Please Smile:

Students will sit in a circle.  One student is “it” and must go around the circle and say to each student “if you love Jesus, please smile.”  They can do anything to a student to smile as long as he or she does not touch the student.  The other player must resist smiling and say, “I really love Jesus, but I just can’t smile.”  If a smile is cracked the smiling prayer is now “it.”

Bible Passage 1: Luke 2:21-33

Video: Advent-Hope – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c6qfU_QCXc

 Bible Passage 2: Luke 2:36-38

 Discussion

1. If you were a parent, why would you want to use Advent calendars, paper chains, etc., during Advent?
2. Imagine waiting years to celebrate Christmas – if you didn’t know when it was coming, how would you feel during the waiting?
3. Simeon and Anna were willing to wait so long for the promised Messiah – what was the payoff for them?
4. How do you think they handled the moments when they got discouraged?
5. What are you waiting for from God this Christmas?
6. On a scale of 1-5, rate your ability to wait for things, people, or promises. What does that say about your heart?

Wrap Up

Say: Waiting for Christmas is fairly easy for us because we know exactly when it is and how long until the day arrives. Imagine that you have been waiting years for the birth of the promised Messiah. Anna and Simeon waited years to see the Messiah; they never lost hope and they never stopped devoting themselves to God. They likely faced discouragement and frustration, but they continued to listen for God’s leading and God’s comfort and God’s direction. When we listen for God’s voice and God’s leading, we discover amazing truths and witness God doing incredible things.  The Christmas Season is not just about looking back on what God has done by sending His Son, it is also a time to recognize what God is doing in our world and in our lives today as well as a time to hope and wait for what God will ultimately do when Jesus returns a second time.

Prayer

Give the students time to share prayer requests AND praises (strongly encourage students to contemplate their blessings).  Close by thanking God for sending His son and asking Him to help us remember what that really means and to trust in Jesus.

(Although we are still in the first week of Advent, I’m posting the second lesson in the Advent series Chad Inman and I are partnering on. Well, he’s writing it and I’m editing it – so he gets the real credit! Read the post two posts ago for why the format is the same in each lesson of the series. Stephanie) 

Advent Lesson Two: Crazy News

Game Idea:  The Clap Game – see rules at: http://www.thatyouththing.com/resources/crowdbreakers.htm.

Bible Passage 1: Luke 1:1-14

Video: A Social Media Christmas – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sghwe4TYY18

 Bible Passage 2: Matthew 1: 18-25

 Discussion

1. Ladies, describe your feelings if you were in Mary’s situation?
2. Guys, what would be going through your mind if you were Joseph?
3. If you found yourself in Mary or Joseph’s shoes, how would your family have reacted?
4. How did Mary and Joseph use their trust and faith in God in these surprising circumstances?
5. What impact did God’s past faithfulness have on Mary and Joseph’s reactions?
6. How does trust play into your life as you prepare for Christmas?
7. How will that trust affect how you live out 2013?

 Wrap Up: Say - It took a lot of trust in God for Mary and Joseph to go along with His plan.  We saw from the video that Mary and Joseph probably lost a lot of friends and family and respect because of God’s plan.  Mary and Joseph had to trust that God would get them through their rough situation.  It takes a lot of trust for us to believe in the Christmas message, too.  If we believe that Jesus is the Savior then that trust should affect what we believe and do about the rest of our lives, too.

Prayer Give the students time to share prayer requests AND praises (strongly encourage students to contemplate their blessings).  Close by thanking God for sending His son and asking for help to trust in Him the way Mary and Joseph did.

(Thanks to Chad Inman for putting this three-part series together!)

Advent Lesson One: The Word Became Flesh

Game Idea:  Four Square – see rules at: http://www.thatyouththing.com/resources/crowdbreakers.htm (Talk about who we put in the King Square of our lives.)

Bible Verse 1: John 1:1-14

Video: 8 lb 6 oz Baby Jesus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6AlEYreD6k. Make sure to stop right at 2:20 (to avoid language).

Discussion

1)    When we think of Jesus at Christmas, what do we think of? (Baby, human, etc.)

2)    How does this compare with Ricky Bobby’s Jesus? (Similar in a lot of ways.)

3)    What does John 1 have to say about Jesus? (Existed from the beginning of time,

4)    Why is it important to remember what John has to say about Jesus during the Christmas season? (Jesus is not just a baby, He is our Savior and He is the Son of God.)

Wrap Up: Say The season of Advent (or Christmas – if students aren’t familiar with Advent) is all about trust.  If we trust that Jesus is our Messiah/Savior than we trust that baby Jesus was also the Son of God and the co-creator of the universe.

Prayer: Give the students time to share prayer requests AND praises (strongly encourage students to contemplate their blessings).  Close by thanking God for sending His son (in all his glory and power) to earth as a helpless baby to save us all.  If Jesus was just another baby then He cannot be the Messiah.

(From my new friend, Chad Inman. I saw where he tweeted that he would be the small church youth ministry voice for MORF Online Magazine. I contacted him,  we chatted and I invited him to do a three part series for my blog. Here’s the plan: Below is the prequel for what’s coming next. We’re putting together three Advent lessons for you to use. Each one will be set up in a consistent format. Reasons why are below. Then we’re creating a social media spot where we can all share what happenedwhen we used the lesson. Cool community idea, huh? This is fun!)

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.

Chad Inman

Unfiltered Magazine is finally out! If you haven’t heard about this project then you are in for a surprise…because its awesome! www.Unfiltered Magazine.com

Unfiltered is the first-ever magazine designed to help you thrive in life…outside the church walls. Real stories by real youth  workers on topics including…
- Your Heart
- Your Family
- Your Health
- Your money
- Your soul
And much more!

The first issue is FREE so please download it using the below links or be searching for “Unfiltered Magazine” in your favorite app store. *You will receive a free sub in the near future.

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.group.unfiltered&hl=en_GB
- https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/unfiltered-magazine/id566561556?mt=8

Introductory Subscription rate is $8!
https://subscribe.pcspublink.com/sub/subscribe.aspx?guid=72e840b6-e8ac-49bc-987c-36dd956325f0
Link: www.Unfiltered Magazine.com

Stephanie