The Divided Kingdom 1 Kings 10:26 – 12:33 Last week we saw the height of glamour, prestige, and influence in the world for the Israelites. King Solomon is leading God’s people in wisdom and people from all over the world marvel at Solomon’s reign. Israel truly is being a light to all the nations and […]
Every Sunday for the past 11 years we have walked through the stories of the Bible in a linear, chronological fashion in our children’s ministry environment we call Main Street. Back in early 2008, we decided to start recording these weekly teachings for posterity sake as well as sharing with others how we did this weekly […]
From the UK, a former editor for Britian’s version of Maxim magazine, called “Loaded” discusses his conclusion that pornography is “the most pernicious threat facing children today.” I asked the teenagers: ‘On a scale of one to ten, how likely would you say it is that boys and girls your age are watching porn online?’ The […]
Be Present Connect their faith to a community. God created us for community “God created us with a need for community” (Lead Small, Joiner & Shefchunas, p. 25). Adam was alone in the garden and he needed a companion. I know that there are such things as extroverts and introverts, but each needs community. Extroverts […]
You think times have changed?! “It has been said: ‘Young people nowadays love luxury; they have bad manners and contempt for authority. They show disrespect for old people and love silly talk in place of exercise. They no longer stand up when older people enter the room; they contradict their parents, talk constantly in front […]
The story was from Luke 18:9-14 – The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Pastor Heath told the story and did a message about it. He had two chairs up front, each one depicting the tax collector and Pharisee. One key point was being honest about which one we are like: the Pharisee […]
I recently read through the book “Lead Small” by Reggie Joiner and Tom Shefchunas. They do a great job breaking down the overwhelming task of leading a small group of children or youth into manageable and intentional pieces. Reggie and Tom discuss: Be Present // Connect their faith to a community Create a Safe Place […]
Wednesday Small Group Leaders Mission and Goals // 2013-2014 The goal of hwcYouth is to make disciples of Jesus Christ (of those who are not yet disciples as well as those who think they are disciples). // Matthew 28:18-20 Making disciples is ultimately our goal, but for you as youth leaders, how that is played […]
Wednesday Small Group Leader Involvement Expectations // 2013-2014 Show up on Wednesday nights Every Wednesday evening from 6:15-9:00pm. We are asking small group leaders to be present at 6:15pm to be there earlier than the students so we can be ready for them as a team when we open the doors. Small group leaders can […]
Wednesday Schedule and Guidelines // 2013-2014 6:15pm Doors open, students check-in, then go to one of three locations: Gym Dodgeball or other large group game (Need 1-2 leaders in this room) Main Street Theatre Ping Pong, Carpetball, Air Hockey, Fooseball, Bouldering Wall, and board games (Need 1-2 leaders in this room) Fireside Room High School Students only. […]
In 1848, the Stokes County School had a series of 46 rules for which there were lashes dished out as punishments for various offenses. You can check out the whole list here. For Youth group, we picked the best 20 rules and displayed them one at a time to the students. We showed the infraction, […]
“Discipleship” doesn’t always come with religious connotations: “Schools, media, and peers are the ‘disciplers’ of America’s children–discipling them in secular humanism and vague, self-centered spirituality that has nothing to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is no wonder then that, once teens are no longer under their parents’ direct authority, they drop their […]
I’m currently enrolled in a graduate program through Wesley Seminary. This past week, my assignment was to create a communication tool for families and we had the option to use whatever medium we chose. I made a video. The first 5 minutes or so is setup for why communication is important in general as well […]
Yesterday, a number of families participated in an event we called: Messy Madness. It was an event for the whole family (mainly targeted to families with elementary-aged children). We played: bubble gum art three-legged race in a pair of tight shorts chocolate covered marshmallow drop lick-and-stick lifesavers on faces chocolate covered rubber band fight spray […]
If you can read the graphic below, then you can start to understand our youth ministry strategy for this school year (2013-2014). Now, please don’t go and duplicate this in another context, we created this specifically for Hayward Wesleyan Church and its unique issues and context.
The power of a parent is to exude and model faith: “Here in this opening injunction (the Shema), God invites Israel to enter into a wholehearted love relationship with Him. But the passionate, all-consuming love for God expected in the Shema cannot be impressed on any child without residing first in the parent. Sooner or later children […]
I was in Milwaukee, WI about a month ago now attending our denomination’s annual District Conference @ Transformation City Church. My friend, Kevin Sas is the youth pastor there and he had the rules or “expectations” he called them handwritten and taped to the wall in the youth room in a couple of places. Expectations […]
Jessica Rey walks through the history of the swimsuit and starts a discussion in the modern arena about modesty:
I don’t think we go far enough in our teachings of Scripture to children, youth or adults. It’s been modeled to me and I see it all over current curriculum that we teach and implore people to do better, to be more responsible, to try not to do something, and to keep working at it. […]
“I know I gave God my all… but what if He screws it up?” Quote from a teenage girl @ Youth Camp 2013