Spirituality Youth

Many people today, especially among emerging generations, don't resonate with the church and organized Christianity. Some are leaving the church and others were never part of the church in the first place. Yet often they are still spiritually open and fascinated with Jesus. This is a ministry resource book exploring six of the most common objections and misunderstandings emerging generations have about the church and Christianity.

Intentional Children’s Ministry will help you to establish the goal of children’s ministry, then practically walk you through how to lead with intentionality in every area: choosing the right curriculum, building a child’s worldview, recruiting and training volunteers, partnering with parents, effective teaching, sharing the gospel, growing as a leader, balancing hats in ministry, strategic programming, discipling children for life, and more. Serving in children’s ministry is one of the best jobs ever! You get to share the life-changing love of Jesus with boys and girls at church.

Parenting isn’t for wimps. It's not just the routines, schedules, discipline, and heartaches - it's the hard conversations. One of the greatest challenges of parenting is navigating the crucial conversations that we must have with our kids. Using the Three Circles gospel tool (God’s design; brokenness; gospel), Jimmy and Kristin will give you a “conversation map” to work through any tough conversations you have with your children.

The Church today does not expect what it ought to from children and their parents, and this can be attributed in large part to a flawed concept of youth ministry. This need not and should not be so. This essay discusses the reasons behind the problem and proposes some biblical solutions.

Whether you're a youth ministry rookie or a seasoned veteran, walking into a new church or a new role can be a big challenge. You need to set the tone for your ministry and establish yourself as a leader, but you don't have very long to do it.

Get ready for a crash course in effective communication. More than just a book on how to "do talks," Speaking to Teenagers combines the experience and wisdom of two veteran youth ministry speakers, along with insightful research and practical tools, to help you develop messages that engage students with the love of Christ and the power of his Word. Whether you're crafting a five-minute devotional or a 30-minute sermon, Speaking to Teenagers is essential to understanding and preparing great messages.

We’ve all been there before: all the power and potential of our smartphone held hostage by a dead battery. You’re ready to operate, but your mobile battery isn’t! Youth ministry can sometimes feel a lot like this scenario. You’re ready to make a positive eternal impact on the young people you lead, but sometimes it feels like something is missing. Your youth worker battery is nearly empty.

In Jesus Was A Youth Leader, Matthew Arrowood explores the unconventional path Jesus chose during His ministry. Rather than becoming an earthly king, scholar, or Pharisee, Jesus dedicated three and a half years to teaching and mentoring 12 young men. Arrowood argues that Jesus took on the unexpected role of a rabbi and teacher—a position that, even today, might not be highly regarded within the church.

Si hubiera más jóvenes con mentores que modelen la madurez cristiana, el mundo sería mejor y la iglesia más fuerte.

After twelve years of ministering to students on public campuses, Brian Barcelona's world turned upside down when public schools shut down in March 2020. He wondered if his ministry was over until two teenagers challenged him to minister using his smartphone and digital platforms—methods he had no idea how to use effectively.

As ministry leaders continue to look at the research, one thing is clear: What happens at home is more impactful than what happens at church. Not that the church doesn’t matter, it just means we need to look at what we do at church differently. Spiritual convictions, for better or worse, will most always pass from parent to child and not pastor to child. Yet, many churches are still following a model of ministry that places the spiritual growth of kids and teens primarily on the shoulders of the ministry leaders and not on the parents.

As a young Christian woman, do you struggle with insecurities and feel bogged down by the pressures and expectations of society? Do you find it challenging to take care of yourself and be a faithful daughter of God? Emily Wilson Hussem used to feel the same way. In Go Bravely, the Catholic musician and speaker offers 20 bits of advice that will equip you to tackle your deepest concerns about relationships, self-esteem, and dating while strengthening your faith at the same time.

Following Jesus has never been harder. In a culture that glamorizes sex, chases fame, and shames those who don't fall in line, it takes a rebel to be a Christian. In this book, Sean McDowell aims to encourage and inspire a generation of rebels who will dare to stand up to the madness in a just and loving manner. A Rebel's Manifesto offers clear guidance to help people navigate the many moral issues that plague this generation.

It may surprise you to know that the majority of non-Christians are not hostile to the faith or looking for a fight. In fact, most are open and even curious about spiritual matters. Yet evangelism training and apologetic resources are often geared toward knowing what to say to hardcore atheists and evolutionists, who make up less than ten percent of the unchurched population. If you're ready to have respectful and fruitful spiritual conversations with your spiritually curious friends, neighbors, and family members, Mark Matlock offers this research-based approach.

My image of God the Father, enthroned in heaven in flowing white robes and Birkenstock sandals, was overshadowed by my certainty that he didn't want me to have any fun. God was all about rules—from Chapter Five.

Do you want your children to be actively serving in the local church when they turn 30 and beyond? Why They Stay can help! Much has been written about younger adults and their departure from church involvement. Concerned parents and church leaders want to know what has caused them to depart. Instead of asking why young adults are leaving the church, Parr and Crites conducted a national research project of those who grew up in church and are still serving faithfully.

Alongside offers practical application and biblical truths to highlight the complexities of relational youth ministry, address the needs real teenagers encounter in their daily lives, and engage their hearts rather than just their behavior. Hill explores what it looks like to not only share the love of Jesus with our teenage friends but to share our very lives with them, as well.

When building a children’s ministry at a church, there is so much to consider: Which curriculum should we use? How many volunteers do we need? How do we keep parents in the loop? And that’s before we run into stalled check-in computers, missing activity sheets, and floors that need to be vacuumed. Writing from personal ministry experience, Jared Kennedy shares a four-fold approach for gospel-centered, missional children’s ministry: hospitality, teaching, discipleship, and mission.

A New Generation Church is a church with attendees whose average age is at least as young as the average age of the community in which the church exists. Any church can become a New Generation Church that reaches and continues to reach the next generation. Written for both church leaders and members, For a New Generation presents practical strategies that lay a foundation for a church to thrive for generations to come. It is based on the assumption that accepting the status quo is the greatest threat to your church’s core mission and, perhaps, to the survival of your church.

Many teens are active in church youth programs, yet drop out of church later in life and never return. Other young adults rest on the merits of their parents' faith without ever experiencing their own relationship with Jesus Christ. In this book, the authors seek to help teenagers who have grown up in Christian homes by reminding them of the blessings of growing up in a Christian home, warning them of some of the dangers they face, providing practical suggestions for avoiding these dangers, and urging them to think and live in a way that pleases God.