End of year with leaders

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Youth Ministry Resources - Deciding Which Resources You Need

Choosing youth ministry resources can quickly become a jungle for youth pastors to struggle through. Simply deciding which materials you need can be extremely difficult. Maybe you are a new youth pastor who already feels like they are just trying to tread water. Maybe you are a veteran who is looking for some new ideas. Either way, I hope these simple steps can help you as you search for the proper materials for your students.

1. Games- Honestly, I am like most student pastors. I go back and for on the importance or value of games. But recently I have been reminded of how games can help to build the much-needed community your students need. So any library of youth ministry resources should have a few games. PowerPoint games are a great way to start and super easy to use. Not to mention clean.
2. Sermons- You probably have a service at some point in the week just for students. You need something to teach them. You may write your own sermons, and that is great. But why not use someone else's stuff? It does not make you less of a minister. It makes you a wise one. You only have so many hours in a day. Why not use your time on more valuable aspects of your ministry like hanging out with your students.
3. Administrative materials- This often gets left out of the conversation when we think of youth ministry resources. But these materials are extremely important. The more organized we can be the more efficient we can be with our time. The more we can focus on things that we enjoy, things that are eternal. And again, why spend your time creating your own materials? There are plenty available online and many of them are free.

Well, those are my few thoughts. I hope they bring a little guidance as you continue to minister to your students.

Check out www.youthministrytoolbox.com

Youth ministry resources

Www.youthministrytoolbox.com
Pray big prayers this summer for your students. Let's ask God to huge things in the lives of our students and their families for summer.

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Adult Bible Study Curriculum - Relationships Article Source

When it comes to teaching a bible study, most of us teachers merely worry about how well we communicate the adult bible study curriculum. We usually believe that this is what will decide whether or not we are successful. While this does play an important part in whether a group is growing and thriving or not, it does not even rank near the top of the list. Before we even utter our first word, our main priority should be building relationships with the people we will be teaching.

Building relationships first gives us so many wonderful benefits. There is of course the natural benefit of just getting to know someone new. God has called us to love people and build relationships with each other. We are to live in community with others the best we can. Not only did Jesus teach this but he also modeled it. Then his disciples and the early church followed that example. Relationships are at the foundation of who we are supposed to be. But beyond that it makes our communication of the adult bible study curriculum that much more effective. If you think back to the classes you have been a part of, be it at church or at school, I can almost guarantee that if you were honest you would say that the greatest experiences of learning and growth that you had came from the teachers who made a connection with you and had a more personal investment in you. It is like the old saying, "people do not care how much you know until they know how much you care." You are going to be talking about deep issues possibly and in order for those lessons to be effective people must feel like they are in a safe environment. They must feel a certain level of trust with you before they will get involved in discussion. This should not shock us. We are usually the same way. We are closed off at first but steadily open up as we gain a comfort level with others. Why would we expect anything different from someone else.

I love teaching. I get excited every time I get a new opportunity to communicate a lesson from the adult bible study curriculum we are studying. But in my years of experience I have found that my knowledge and excitement mean nothing until I build relationships with those whom I will be teaching.

Youth Ministry Resources - Finding Great Resource

We live in a world with a lot of Youth Ministry Resources. Every time you turn around there is a new shelf, a new book, or a new site for youth ministry. How do you select your ideas for your ministry? Should you make your own resources? So many questions. Let's see if we can find a few answers.

First off, do not be afraid to buy someone stuff. I know a lot of us take pride in creating our own material. But you have a lot of things on your plate, so why reinvent the wheel. Using someone ideas does not make you a bad student pastor. In fact it may make you a better one. If you are not spending all your time creating, you can devote more time to relationships with your students.

If you do create your own save them. Be organized so you can build a library. This way you can help others in need of ideas, and reuse own material as you do new events and get new groups of students.

Look for subscriptions to youth ministry resources. There are many great websites that offer some incredible deals. The great thing about subscription sites for student ministries is that there are usually weekly updates. This way you are constantly getting fresh ideas and you never have to stress about finding material again. If nothing else, if you are caught in a busy week before camp or disciple now, you never have to get caught without having a great talk or small group prepared for the week.

There are a lot of youth ministry resources, so there are also a lot of tips and strategies on finding and creating youth ministry resources. I think these are enough tips and strategies to get us started.

Jamie Starrett is a student pastor that enjoys helping others find resources that can help them do ministry. He has been a student pastor for 14 years at the same church and loves what he does.

Great post by Parry noble

Some thoughts...do I care more about who my leaders are becoming or what they can do got out ministry

Five Core Values Of A Church In DeclineMay 11, 2011

#1 – Laziness - Most people/churches are not “stuck” or in decline because they do not know or understand what the Lord wants them to do…God speaks very clearly in His Word and through His Spirit.  It’s just that God’s work always requires people to take a step of faith!  Remember, God promised the Israelites the “Promised Land,” but they actually had to go in and fight the battles.  A church that refuses to do whatever it takes and embraces laziness will eventually settle in the desert until that generation dies off.

#2 – Fear of Man – God has called His people to set the world on fire; unfortunately, too many church leaders today waste their time trying to put fires out and make people happy!  Scripture pretty much sums it up inProverbs 29:25!  If your first question is always, “what does our biggest giver want” and “not what does God want” you church is stepping into the casket!

#3 – Pride – When a church and/or it’s leaders are not willing to admit a mistake OR that a method that used to work just doesn’t work anymore…it’s over.

#4 – Staff Abuse – This is something I’ve written about a lot lately…but I will say it over and over again, when a leader cares more about what his staff does than who they are becoming then he will begin to push them to put in 70-80 weeks on a consistant basis…and when they begin to show signs of being pushed too hard he will accues them of being “disloyal” or “not bought in enough to make things happen.”  When a leader begins to do this (and other “leaders” sit by passively and watch it happen) then the quality of staff members the church is about to attract and keep will decrease significantly.

(One note on this…many times a pastor/leader who leads like this is lazy!  They often wait until the last minute to do things and then expect the entire staff to change and rearrange everything they are doing to accomodate his lack of planning.  Changes DO happen in ministry, heck, we had to switch up our entire Easter services at the last minute.  BUT…this should be the exception and NOT the norm.  AND…when it really is the exception the staff will always respond with passion and excitement because there is a consistant track record of loyalty TOWARDS them!)

#5 – Loss of Focus – When a pastor/leader (or group of leaders) become more obsessed with their “ministry platform” and begin to dive into other “ministry opportunities” and do so with such frequency that they cease to love the people that Jesus has called them to minister to…disaster is right around the corner because the church will become nothing more than a resource for the pastor to promote himself rather than a group of people whom God has brought together and given him responsibility over to love and lead.

http://www.perrynoble.com/

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Girls Ministry Ideas - Where Do I Look?

Many of us know that we are in need of girls ministry ideas. Many of us also know that we do not have the time to come up with all of them on our own. Thankfully we do not have to come up with them all on our own. We should allow God to speak to us and use the creativity He has given to us, but there are a lot of great ideas that are already available and planned out for us. We only need to figure out where to look for them. In this article I want to show you the key places you need to look to find all the information you need to make your ministry powerful and effective.

The first place you should look is the Internet. Since you are reading this article I have a feeling you already know this. The Internet is a wonderful resource for girls ministry ideas and many of them are very affordable or even free. Plus, you can come back and view or download them as often as you need to.

Next you need to go to your local bookstore. There are a lot of books and resources specifically devoted to this topic. People have used their experience and talents to put them on paper in an organized fashion and taking advantage of these resources can save you a lot of time and headaches.

Finally, when looking for girls ministry ideas, you need to talk to those around you. Talk to people in your church. You could talk to people you met at school or have connected with at conferences. Go to discussion forums. You could even talk to other ministers in your community. Regardless of who you talk to the people around you can be an invaluable resource and most of them will be more than willing to share what they know and what they have. Just like what we have talked about before, this can save you time, headaches, and money. The other bonus is that even if they do not have what you need they can more than likely direct you to where you need to look.

Coming up with ideas for how to reach out to the girls in your ministry can be difficult. Fortunately you do not have to come up with them all on your own. Hopefully the information in this article will give you a better idea of where you need to look so that you are not doing all of the work yourself and so you are not spending all of your time finding and creating resources.

If you would like more info about Girl Ministry check out this link ---> Girls Ministry Ideas

Camp getting your pastor behind it

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Youth ministry ideas summer 2011

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