Good News in the Neigborhood

September 20, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Last night we started our new small group series “Good News in the Neighborhood” by Adam McClane and Jon Huckins.  We had great discussion and it opened not only the student’s eyes but also mine.  I realized last night that I have lived in the church parsonage and have not met any of the neighbors in the neighborhood behind us.  Wow!  Did i really just say that?  We do live on a main road and we have known that we would be moving soon, we never made any type of effort to meet the any of the neighbors.  We have had plenty of opportunities that we could have made this happen.  My wife and I have both ran and walked through the neighborhood, but have never stopped to say hi or introduce ourselves to the people who live so close to the church!

This 6-week series will deep dive your students into the practical realities of a radical life with Jesus. Built around six themes of community life, students will gain an understanding of their role in their community and be challenged by a series of simple experiments they can try. More than a series that teaches your students about being Good News in their community, Good News in the Neighborhood offers practical application based on the life of Jesus and the 1st century Church. Our hope is that your students begin to see how God has called them to become good news in their homes, schools, and neighborhoods.

Curriculum Outline

Week 1: Tuning In (Experiment: Ethnography/Observation)

Week 2: Diving Deep (Experiment: Participating)

Week 3: Crossing Borders (Experiment: Two-fold inviting)

Week 4: Advocating for What Matters (Experiment: Standing up for our neighbors)

Week 5: New Eyes (Experiment: New eyes)

Week 6: Living a New Story (Experiment: Commissioning)

What’s included

  • 52 page printable PDF of teachers notes
  • Editable Word version of teachers notes & student worksheets
  • Background artwork for PowerPoint, Keynote, MediaShout, or ProPresenter (Includes source PhotoShop file, too)
  • 6 introductory video stories (One for each week)
  • Multiple options for each session to fit the needs of your group (Activity ideas, discussion starters, teaching options)
  • 6 experiments for students to try between sessions

I’m really excited about the upcoming weeks in studying this topic with my students and adults.  Already reading through the entire lesson outlines, I know that it will really open our eyes.  I look forward to also moving into our new home and neighborhood next week where I am going to get back to the basics of meeting people and getting to know them.  I look back at my neighborhood growing up and I see how everyone was open and connected.  I really want to bring that to our new neighborhood and bring the Good News to them.

Filed Under: church, God, Missions, Youth Ministry, Youth Ministry Ideas · Tagged: , ,

Monday Ministry Tip: Back everything up

April 2, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Since 1997 I have kept record of almost every Sunday or Wednesday night that I have done in ministry.  I have notebooks on my bookshelf with every lesson plan from 1997-2006 on hand written sheets.  After 2006 I started to do everything digital.  The main reason is so I have a copy of games, song set list, and talk outlines.  Its also been helpful for when old students have come back and asked about scripture about a talk they heard when they were in youth.  Yes that has actually happened a few times!  And the students wanted to know so they could use it for a group or bible study that they were a part of in college.   Being organized like that also keeps me from repeating a series.  It helps when I want to find out what I said a year ago and how I can build on it with a similar topic.

I know backup my macbook to a external drive and also save the outlines on dropbox, so if I ever had a hard drive go bad or if something were to happen, I would always have them.  I also bring another hard drive from home once a month to back up my office hard drive….just in case.  At some point in the near future I plan on going through my old notebooks and scanning them to have digital copies of them.

How do you keep record or back up your work in ministry?

Filed Under: church, God, Monday Ministry Tip, technology, Youth Ministry Ideas · Tagged: ,

Ultimate Frisbee…Colossians 4:5-6

March 29, 2012 by · 1 Comment


“Make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:5-6

 

Yesterday I had the chance to go have lunch with some of my students.  After lunch we met up with about 30 students from their school to play Ultimate.  BTW I am so sore from playing!  But they were students from all ages in high school.  Luckily I wasn’t the last one picked.  But no one asked who the old 34 year old guy was.  I just tried to blend in and have fun playing.  I really enjoy those times when I get to interact with students who are not part of our church doing contact work.  Just being there, hanging out and just talking with students.There are no random acts of kindness, only intentional acts given the opportunity to happen. This is true not just in deeds, but in words as well. But more than trying to avoid poor speech, we are urged to use our speech to bless and help others to come to know Christ.

We have so many different ways that we worship, from singing and praising God Sundays and Wednesdays to witnessing by our behavior in our everyday life.  We need to make the most of our opportunities outside of the church building to reach others.  We could do this at Wal-Mart, Hudsons, the sports or even in our front yard.   


Filed Under: church, God, just sayin · Tagged: , ,

Receipts in Youth Ministry

March 27, 2012 by · 1 Comment

If you’ve been in youth ministry for a while…you know that feeling when the church finical guy calls you in their office to ask to talk.  Most of the time its because we haven’t turned in a receipt or many receipts from the last over nighter or retreat!  So how do we help solve this problem?  Get a receipt envelope!  You can pick this up from any office supply store.  Or take a picture of the receipt as soon as you buy something with your iPhone or Android.  There are several APPS that can help you with this!  And as soon as you get back to the church, MAKE A COPY!  Or even better if you have a scanner, scan it and put it into a special folder so you always know where it is at!  For me I do a lot of my ministry shopping on amazon.  So even if I do lose a receipt or the rare occasion now that I don’t turn it in….then I can quickly print it out.

This might sound obvious, but I know several youth workers that have been let go for not being able to manage money, going over budget, and not turning in receipts.  We have to protect ourselves when it comes to dealing with money in ministry.  If you do not feel comfortable or have trouble with managing your receipts or spending, have one of your volunteers help you.  Protect yourself and protect your ministry!

 

Filed Under: church, just sayin, misc, Youth Ministry, Youth Ministry Ideas · Tagged: ,

The Lord’s Prayer

March 26, 2012 by · 1 Comment

Last night I had my students do a prayer walk through our church with the Lord’s prayer.  Last week I felt God tell me that my lesson for Sunday night needed to change.  So at small groups on Wednesday night I asked my students what they wanted me to talk about.  After a few minutes, there were several students that wanted me to talk more in depth about prayer.  We spent one night earlier this semester talking about it but they wanted more.  So I looked in my files and found a file that I had once used that had the Lord’s prayer explained in a prayer walk.  So for three days I looked over it and prayed what God wanted us to do.  On Saturday afternoon/evening I got this old file and updated it and adapted it our church.

I had students come up to the alter and pick up a piece of paper.  On each sheet it had one line of the Lord’s prayer followed by several questions, a prayer, and meditation.  They journeyed throughout the church individually and finished in the sanctuary.  We then closed with several songs and discussion.  It was one of the most powerful nights of worship.  It was so awesome to hear from my students and see that they are getting what it means to pray.  I stayed and talked with several students in the parking lot afterwards.

Many of the students said that they have said the Lord’s prayer hundreds of times but never really thought about what they were saying.  They said it was just a routine.  By breaking down the Lord’s prayer line by line and having them see it from their eyes, they said it was “actually relevant” and that it was truly a model of how and why we should pray.

Its amazing sometimes how the simple things in ministry can change perspectives in students lives…

Filed Under: church, God, Prayer, Soul Care, Youth Ministry, Youth Ministry Ideas · Tagged: , , , ,
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