Teaching Students the Theology of Christmas
With Students’ senses already prepared by the Advent season, we can help students dive into the rich theology of Christmas. Here are a few great truths to put Jesus and the gospel front-and-center with students during the Christmas season.
Where Was Jesus Born: A Barn, Cave, or House
As students grow increasingly skeptical about the truth of Christmas, it’s important to teach clearly and accurately about what happened surrounding Christ’s birth.
Starting With Rest
Resting before we work echoes the truth that the Gospel begins with grace, not effort. When we begin with rest, we are able to minister out of the abundance of God’s grace instead of a cup dry from being stretched thin.
Embracing Advent in Student Ministry
Some church traditions place Advent front-and-center, while it merely gets a head-nod in others. Whichever your church tradition may be, I believe it’s wise to think about some of the central Advent themes, and to consider how to emphasize those in our youth groups.
6 Elements of Student Discipleship and Heart Transformation
Student ministry (and parents!) leaders should lead students in consistent introspection that seeks to evaluate the state of their hearts and the aim of their love. Here are six elements of what that looks like.
Aligning your Professed and Actual Theologies
If you reverse-engineered the theology and ministry philosophy that’s apparent by your programming, budget-priorities, and emphases in teaching - would it reveal the same theology and ministry philosophy you profess?
Telling the Whole Story
Many youth workers, in an attempt to “cut to the chase,” accidentally short-change the very gospel they hope that their audience will understand. The reason is because they aren’t telling the whole story.
What is Attractional Ministry?
Attractional ministry is the default setting for the majority of today’s youth workers, but what actually is attractional ministry? One of the key differences between attractional and gospel-centered youth ministry is the primacy of Bible teaching.
Reading Theology with Students
If students can learn geometry and chemistry and world history, then they can likely handle at least an introductory time studying theology. Here are three pieces of advice if you’re interested in reading theology with students.
Eternals Through the Eyes of GenZ
Whether you’ve seen all of the MCU movies or have avoided them like the plague, we can’t avoid the impact they’re having on our culture and in the lives of our teenagers. Here are some (spoiler-free) discussion starters based off the latest Marvel movie, Eternals.