In the often-chaotic cloud that is everyday youth ministry, one goal always rises to the surface—growing disciples who follow Jesus with an all-in commitment. You’re after life-changing, inside-out transformation—driven by a passion for Jesus that spills out onto the lives of others.
What You’ll Find
The Discipleship section offers practical ideas and insights about effective discipleship in youth ministry. We explore the method and models and strategies your ministry can use to help “seed” a generation of teenagers who are all-in for Jesus.
How can you help teens fall in love when they’ve known about God their whole life? Here’s one leader’s experience! I was born on the front pew of a church during a Sunday night worship service. Before I could say momma, I said Jesus.…
I was relational before relational was cool… Way back in the day, I invited kids in my youth group to run errands with me, signed on to be a substitute teacher to earn street cred with kids at school, and invited the families of my teenagers over for dinner.…
Patrick Mahomes is 23 years old, fresh off his first full year as a starting quarterback in the NFL, and is already considered the most feared player in the game. He’s just won the NFL’s 2018/19 Most Valuable Player Award, the youngest to do so since Dan Marino in 1984.…
The phrase “Daily Quiet Time” can seem both quaint and impossible to most teenagers… But the genius of a daily Bible-study habit is the spiritual “muscle memory” it develops. Need a living illustration of the power of muscle memory? His name is Anthony Kelly, and he’s a modern-day ninja.…
Christmas is a supposed to be a season full of peace and good will as we celebrate the savior’s physical arrival into this world. So why instead are we often bombarded with feelings of pressure and extreme stress? We know Advent’s not supposed to be this way, but how do we change it?…
Worship is designed to be a natural outflow of our reverence, adoration and exaltation of God. It’s our expression of mirroring back the truths we undoubtedly know about Jesus while showcasing our pure affection for Him. So why has people’s idea of worship frequently been reduced to singing some songs and listening to someone teach?…
American teenagers are amusing themselves to death.[1] They regularly avoid “depthy” things in favor of mindless media consumption (just like the adults in their life). In fairness, teenagers—particularly high schoolers—are under more pressure now than in any other time in recent history.…
A sense of humor. It can help make a good situation even better, and a difficult situation bearable. Could it also be a crucial element for a developing relationship with Jesus? Join Rick and very special guest Tommy Woodard (one half of the Skit Guys) as we continue a month long series focusing on examing the basics of our faith.…
The youth ministry equivalent of “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” is “Which comes first, basic Christian disciplines or a personal connection to Jesus?” We treat the “basics” of the Christian life like they’re building blocks—prayer, Bible reading, Scripture memorization, service, and worship—but what happens when we emphasize those basics outside the context of a close, personal relationship?…
Discipleship that doesn’t trigger a visceral physical reaction or evoke emotion in young people won’t get past their starting gate. Current research is proving that unless we somehow get access to the brain’s emotional center, triggering the area responsible for the decisions young people make, all we’re really doing is dispensing data that’s quickly filed away in the brain’s warehouse, where it gathers dust.…
