Tag: ym papers

I’m planning on producing a youth ministry training paper most Wednesday’s throughout the year. These papers will be discussed at our Soulies weekly leaders meeting. Anyone is welcome to interact in the comments. Click here to access archive.

The Aim of Soulies Small Groups

Soulies comes in 3 handy sized packages: Large (Soulies United yr 7-12); Medium (Soulies Junior Crew yr 7-9 + Soulies Senior Crew yr10-12); and Small (Soulies Small Groups). How do we roll at Soulies? Whether we’re small, medium or large, we want to be a community who: Love Jesus; Love Jesus’ People; Love Jesus’ World. Small Groups are an amazing opportunity for young punks to grow in their 3 loves. The medium and large gatherings are great, but so much can be done in smaller intimate groups! Our small groups are: an opportunity to grow in our worship and discipleship of Jesus; a great chance to actively serve and love fellow brothers and sisters; and encourage each other to love Jesus’ world through evangelism and social justice.

Our Small Groups Aren’t “Bible Studies”

…but we do study the Bible! While spending time studying the Bible is at the heart of what we do together, it’s not all that we do. God’s Word is “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16-17 NIV) – so we want to let God’s Spirit do His work as we study the Bible. But we also want to make sure that our small group time is not just an academic exercise. So there are 3 others things we want to be doing regularly: SHARING, SUPPLICATING, SOCIALISING.

Continue reading “Youth Ministry Papers: Small Groups Part 1”

I’m planning on producing a youth ministry training paper most Wednesday’s throughout the year. These papers will be discussed at our Soulies weekly leaders meeting. Anyone is welcome to interact in the comments. Click here to access archive.

This week’s paper is basically a summary of John Chapman’s method of preparing a Bible Talk. For a much more comprehensive treatment, check out his brilliant book – Setting Hearts on Fire – from Matthias Media. “Chappo” is one of the most experienced and gifted evangelists in Australia during the last 50 years. The book particularly focuses on preparing an evangelistic message, but I use his structure as the basis for all of my talks.

Preaching matters. According to Romans 10:13-15, if people don’t preach, people won’t hear the good news of Jesus, they won’t believe the good news of Jesus and they won’t call on the name of the Lord to be saved. Preaching is a big deal! Not all preaching is done from behind a pulpit, or black music stand, preaching is much more than delivering a sermon. However this paper will focus on how to prepare a short Bible talk.

What follows are the 10 steps involved in preparing to preach from the Bible.

Continue reading “Youth Ministry Papers: Preparing a Bible Talk”

I’m planning on producing a youth ministry training paper most Wednesday’s throughout the year. These papers will be discussed at our Soulies weekly leaders meeting. Anyone is welcome to interact in the comments. Click here to access archive.

Vegemite is delicious. There wouldn’t be many weeks in my life that I haven’t enjoyed its salty yeasty goodness. Not everyone thinks that Vegemite is delicious. It is definitely an acquired taste, but a taste none-the-less worth acquiring! So I was shocked to recently read that “Kraft has been forced to launch a milder tasting version to woo a new generation of Australians.” My First Vegemite is part of a strategy used by Kraft to “wean people onto the traditional spread, sales of which are flat.” The hope is that as children get older they will graduate onto the heavier stuff. I think it’s a terrible idea.

I also think that sometimes we try and run youth ministry like it is ‘My First Vegemite’. We try and water things down in such a way to make it more palatable for teenagers. A branding expert has suggested that watering down Vegemite actually “robs it of its unique qualities”. That is likewise the problem with watering down the gospel of Jesus for a teenage audience.

Even when “sales are flat”, we continue to preach a message that is full of salt as we declare the “unique qualities” of Jesus.

I’m not saying that contextualisation is a bad thing. It’s a good thing to share the gospel with teenagers in a language that they will understand. It’s appropriate to use cultural artefacts and illustrations from their world to help explain the profound truths of the Bible. The problem though is when we misunderstand relevance. Our job is not to make the message of Jesus relevant for teenagers, rather it is to show how the message of Jesus is already relevant to all people in all places.

Continue reading “Youth Ministry Papers: Don’t Water it Down”

I’m planning on producing a youth ministry training paper most Wednesday’s throughout the year. These papers will be discussed at our Soulies weekly leaders meeting. Anyone is welcome to interact in the comments. Click here to access archive.

The Christian youth leader can have an endless number of roles in the life of young punks. Friend, encourager, example, skateboard instructor, Bible teacher, prayer partner, motivator, maths tutor, mentor, guitar teacher. I’m sure there’s more! That’s cool. What an exciting thing to be involved in so many different ways in young lives! But among the many things a youth leader can do, what should be their primary responsibility?

What is the primary role of a youth leader?

This paper will argue that fundamental to the role of youth leadership is making disciples who will then go on to make disciples. The Great Commission is a key text in this regard: “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”” (Mat 28:18-20 NIV)

Disciples are to be made “of all nations” with an agenda of “teaching them to obey” Jesus. This is the pattern “to the very end of the age”. According to Marshall & Payne, “The commission is not fundamentally about mission out there somewhere else in another country. It’s a commission that makes disciple-making the normal agenda and priority of every church and every Christian disciple.” (The Trellis & the Vine, p.13)

Disciples making disciples is the bread and butter of Christian life and ministry. It is therefore the foundation of Biblical youth ministry. Discipleship doesn’t just include work with Christian young people, but it includes getting them (evangelism) and then growing them (edification).

Continue reading “Youth Ministry Papers: Disciples Making Disciples”

I’m planning on producing a youth ministry training paper most Wednesday’s throughout the year. These papers will be discussed at our Soulies weekly leaders meeting. Anyone is welcome to interact in the comments. Click here to access archive.

At the end of year 10, during those bludgey months after you’ve finished the school certificate, we participated in a few weeks of “Modelling and Deportment” classes. They were helpful for gaining confidence, learning job-interview skills and gaining tips on how to strut your stuff on a catwalk!! During those weeks I probably gained too much confidence and started thinking that I could be a catwalk model. Aside from abnormally large calf muscles, I really didn’t have the stereotypical traits required for modelling. I was a bit deluded in my self-confidence and vanity!

Often it’s the vain who want to be models: girls who spend a lot of time falling in love with themselves while looking in the mirror; or guys who spend a lot of time at the gym looking in the mirror and repeatedly kissing their biceps!

But, believe it or not, if you put your hand up to be a youth leader you are also raising your hand to say that you are willing to be a model. But this isn’t in a vain type of I-love-myself way. It’s all about modelling to others what it means to follow Jesus. Like it or not if you are already involved in leadership you ARE a model! What model are you asking people to follow? What type of example of a Christian are you?

I read a number of years ago about a Northern Beaches youth leader who dragged a dead possum behind his car. That was a pretty dumb model! But I’ve also witnessed many great youth leaders who have been models worth following.

1 Corinthians gives us a great picture of following an example. Paul says: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (11:1) That’s a big call! He’s calling the church in Corinth to look to the example of his conduct among them, and be like him. But ultimately, it’s not about about following Paul for the sake of following Paul, it’s about following Paul for the sake of following Jesus.

1 Thessalonians has a great example of modelling. Read 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10

• How did the church in Thessalonica follow a model?
• How did the church in Thessalonica become a model?

Read 1 Timothy 4:12; 1 Peter 5:3; Philippians 3:17; 2 Thessalonians 3:9; Titus 2:7

• What is the expectation upon the Christian leader from these passages?

KEEP IT REAL:

What type of model will you be? The teenagers are watching you. One way or another, they’ll copy you. What habits are you modelling to them? Godly or ungodly? Wise or foolish? Measured or accidental? As we follow Jesus we are called to have others follow us. This doesn’t mean we will be the perfect model, only Jesus is the perfect model. But it does mean we will be honest when we make mistakes, confess our sins and keep clinging to Jesus.

In what ways do you need to take more seriously the call to be a model?