Youth Pastor Life Archives - Page 11 of 13 - Blog

19 Dec 2016

A Letter To The Student in 2016

By Justin Knowles|2016-12-19T07:33:25-08:00December 19th, 2016|Youth Pastor Life|0 Comments

So if you didn’t know, I have a brother named Adam Knowles. He also is a youth pastor at the church we both grew up at. He is a great pastor and one of the benefits of the both of us having the same profession and calling is that we get to swap ideas with with other. Sometimes we just steal ideas from each other.

This is one I just took from him because I thought it was amazing.

He wrote a letter to his students to end 2016, going into 2017. It is beautifully written and very good and refreshing. Here is an excerpt from his letter:

To the student who has had a tough 2016, don’t worry. There is hope. And while it may feel like you’re the only one in the room who has had a tough year, there is a great possibility that there are many more sitting beside you who have had a tough year, too. And rather than doing what you’ve done best this year, and keep to yourself in an attempt to be a small blip on people’s radar, begin to surround yourself with the people God has placed in your life. There is potential for history to repeat itself if something doesn’t change and I believe God desires more for you than to just “get by” another year. This change is something God is familiar with and it’s a change he knew needed to happen from the beginning. You see, history was repeating itself over and over again until God finally sent His Son. And that changed everything. It turned past hurt into future hope, past despair into present relief, and turned a potential eternity with God into an eternity with Him.

To the student who has a tough life at home, know from the bottom of my heart that I’m sorry you’re in the situation you’re in. As a dad it kills me every day knowing you don’t have a safe place to call home. I pray daily that you find safety here at HSM. I pray daily that you find safety in the arms of the Father that loves you more than you can ever know. And while it seems as if you’ve been cursed with the family situation you have, I pray that you take on the posture of Jesus and His followers and look at anything tough life throws your way as an opportunity to relentlessly pursue God. While others could lack the ability to thrive in an environment such as yours, God can and will enable you to be the light in the darkness that you call family. He desires to use you, and expects you to rejoice in the predicament you’ve found yourself in. And while it may seem crazy to rejoice in a situation like yours, know that it is because God is refining you to handle, lead, and overcome more than you can ever imagine. Better yet, instead of asking God “why” these next few months, begin to ask him “how” He can use you. Keep leaning into Him and be continually reminded that you have a heavenly Father that not only would do anything for you, but did do EVERYTHING for you by sending His Son – who we celebrate this coming week.

To the student who pretends like everything’s ok, please know that it’s ok to not be ok. In fact, I believe God would prefer you to be real with him. So often you convince yourself that your issues are a burden to society and that no one truly cares about what is going on in your life. But I am writing to remind you that – yes, you are a burden – but the perfect kind of burden. You’re a burden that God has placed on my heart and it is one that I refuse to shake, that I refuse to ignore, and that I refuse to pretend along with you. Even better so, God sees you as a burden worth dying for. A burden that he willingly took on at the Cross. That you would have a place where you would be able to unload everything happening in life and would feel confident that the God of the Universe had the capacity to handle it. Ask yourself, when is the last time you felt light? When you felt free? When you felt a literal weight lifted off your shoulders? Don’t neglect the fact that Jesus desires to take your burden from you. How do I know this? His word says that He calls to his followers to come to him – those who are heavy burdened and weary – for his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. And besides, think about this… if God hadn’t the ability to take on your issues, He wouldn’t be too worth worshipping anyways, would He. Lay it on Him.

If you would like to see the whole thing, click HERE. I know he aid that he tried to keep it as general as possible for others to use it as well. I think it is great. I posted an edited version on our ministry Instagram and I have already gotten some good feedback and conversation from it.

Love it!

@justinknowles3

6 Dec 2016

5 Tips To Get You Through The Busy Seasons

By |2016-12-01T07:47:01-08:00December 6th, 2016|Youth Pastor Life|0 Comments

As you get closer to the end of the year it’s easy to lose sight of what’s most important and to get lost in the busyness. It’s during this time of year where you can look ahead to the break but who wants to enter into Christmas completely exhausted and worn out? (more…)

5 Dec 2016

Simon Sinek on Millennials in the Workplace

By Justin Knowles|2016-12-06T10:34:42-08:00December 5th, 2016|Leadership, Youth Ministry Resources, Youth Pastor Life|10 Comments

One of my favorite writers and thinkers is Simon Sinek. I think I have read almost everything he has put out. There also has been a lot of talks about millennials and what do do with them. I think Sinek has some great insight into this generation and I think taking 15 minutes to watch this could help us reach and understand this generation instead of complaining about them.

28 Nov 2016

Give It Away, Give It All Away

By Justin Knowles|2016-11-27T17:04:49-08:00November 28th, 2016|Leadership, Teaching/Programming, Uncategorized, Volunteers, Youth Pastor Life|3 Comments

I posted a tweet the other day and it just got me thinking even more and more about it. Here it is to give you some context:

“When students post how God is moving in their lives & mention your leaders, not you… rejoice. It’s a good thing, you’re letting them lead.”

It just got me thinking as leaders of a ministry, we sometimes get caught in the trap of thinking in which we need to be the ones in the lime light. We are the ones in which students need to post about. We need to be the ones in all the photos of “favorite people” at SHIFT (enter your own ministry name there). Someone posted a picture the other day with one of our leaders saying, “This person has shown me more about God and has helped me grow more than anyone at SHIFT” and my first reaction was…

“Really? I’m the one who teaches every week.”

Then I immediately felt convicted and realized I am actually doing what I want to be doing. I want to give away everything. I know I cannot effectively minister to everyone that shows up on a Wednesday. I know I need more and more caring adults pouring into the lives of students. When they do that, our ministry becomes more and more attractive because of the relationships formed. When students don’t post about us but about leader, rejoice, it means you are letting them lead.

Here is just a quick list of things I want to give away more and more and maybe you should work on this too:

Time with students. I want to really pour into my small group guys and allow leaders to go and invest in more students. When we do this, it makes our big group feel small.
Give away control of services. This year we have 4 weeks called You Own The Night where students take over the service by our most pulled from high schools and they do everything. They plan it, teach it, organize the event and more. Not only that, we have a few Leaders Own The Night giving the night over to our leaders where they will teach on what they feel god has laid on their hearts.
Campus ministry. I could make a full-time job of campus ministry with how much stuff goes on in schools. I want to give away leadership and ownership to our student leadership team and encourage them to own taking up outreach on their own campuses. They know way more students than I do.
Give away ideas. I know I have good ideas. But not all my ideas are the best ideas. I want to work on in planing to allow the “best idea win” and collaborate more than I ever have with my team, with our leaders and with our students to come up with the best ideas to reach more students.
Give away titles. I learned this from Doug Fields and Josh Griffin. Give away your title. Your leaders are pastors. You might be the paid pastor, but give away your title and allow your leaders to be pastors to the students in which they are in relationship with. Let them do what you do.
Decisions and baptisms. I cannot wait for the day in which no students ask me to baptize them, but they ask the leaders who are involved in their lives to baptize them instead. That is how I know I am being a great leader.

These are just a few off the top of my head but I can tell you I will continue to work on this list of things to give away so I can be a more and more effective leader. What would you add?

@justinknowles3

7 Nov 2016

Jesus was a Youth Worker

By Josh Griffin|2016-11-07T15:31:37-08:00November 7th, 2016|Youth Pastor Life|0 Comments

Most people run out of teenagers’ lives. And with good reason … they are nuts! Developmentally they are all over the place, everything is red-lining, off kilter or running wild. But as a youth worker – we run into their lives.

When I meet people on airplanes while traveling, as soon as I tell them I work with teenagers they just shake their head in awe. If I could read their minds, I’m sure I would hear, “Ha! This guy is nuts … you couldn’t pay me enough to work with teenagers.” And while the “you can’t pay me enough” part is true, I love running into the mess of their lives. Over 20 years in youth ministry there’s nothing I haven’t seen. I’m ready and prepared to care for students in the rollercoaster thrill ride of young adulthood.

I think Jesus knew this feeling better than we think. Historians tell us that many of the disciples were very young men, several of which were probably still in their teenage years. So my first big observation is… Jesus was a youth pastor! YES! Sweet vindication!

I think Peter may be the perfect, Biblical example of what it looks like to mentor a teenager!

Read the rest of the post here!

JG

3 Nov 2016

Where are all the youth?

By |2016-11-03T06:40:27-07:00November 3rd, 2016|Uncategorized, Youth Pastor Life|0 Comments

One of the questions I hear most frequently from the older people in my congregation is, “Where are all the youth?”

I’ll admit, this question frustrates me. Underneath it is typically one of two beliefs:

There are no youth in our congregation.
If there are youth, they don’t care about our congregation.

Neither of these assumptions is accurate.

Our congregation has youth and they care deeply about it.

Where, then, does this perception come from?

First, it comes from the fact that typically, our youth sit with their families in worship. As a result, they blend in. Since they often look either older or younger than they actually are, they aren’t readily identified by others as “youth.”

Second, youth don’t always attend church-wide functions. Again, this isn’t because they don’t care. It’s because they’re busy people whose schedules don’t always allow them to come.

Given this, it’s important that we, as youth workers, take steps to remedy these misconceptions. Here are some simple things you can do to help people notice the youth in your congregation.

On occasion, sit together in worship. Whenever my youth ministry does this, I’m always stopped by people (often the same ones who ask me where all the youth are!) who then say, “We have SO many youth in our congregation! It’s wonderful!”
Encourage teens to attend church-wide functions, even if they’re not particularly interested in them. Doing so powerfully communicates that they care about your larger congregation in a very big way.
Invite adults to attend a youth ministry event. So often, when adults lament, “We have no youth”, what they really mean is “We have no youth at the stuff we care about.” But that goes two ways. Often, youth feel like adults don’t care about their stuff either. So be a bridge builder. Give adults concrete ways to support your ministry in a variety of ways.
Share pictures from your ministry’s events on your congregation’s social media sites as well as on bulletin boards. As the old saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” When adults see pictures of teens, they know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there are indeed youth in your congregation.
Tell stories about what God is doing in your ministry. When someone asks me “Where are all the youth?” storytelling is my default response. I say, “Let me tell you about what our youth are doing and how God is at work in our youth ministry.” Then I launch into ONE concrete story that paints a vivid picture of this.
Literally, remind adults where the youth are. When I’m asked where the youth are, I also tell people, “They’re on the second floor in our youth room. It’s filled at least twice a week – on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. Feel free to stop by. I’d love to introduce you to some of our youth.” Never once has anyone taken me up on this (though I keep hoping someone will.) Even so, this reminds adults where they can, in fact, find the youth.

Older people want to know where the youth of your congregation are because they care deeply about it. They want to know that your church will outlast them.

So don’t be shy.

When you get the question, don’t just bristle and ignore it. Instead, help people see the ways in which your congregation ministers to youth (and is ministered to by your youth!)

1 Nov 2016

Students Are NOT the Future of the Church

By Josh Griffin|2016-11-01T06:31:14-07:00November 1st, 2016|Leadership, Youth Pastor Life|0 Comments

There may be some well-meaning people in your church who are excited about you being the “future of the church.” I had my hair rustled on some Sunday mornings in the foyer of our church by some gray-haired people when I was growing up, encouraging me to someday step up and lead. It was a nice gesture of belief and encouragement at the time, to know that I was to take responsibility at some point in the distant future.

And while those were very well-meaning people who loved me and loved Jesus, I think they may have also helped me miss an important lesson. God didn’t want me to wait! I was becoming a vital part of God’s work; I wasn’t supposed to grow up to be included.

I mean, think about it – many historians believe the disciples were teenagers. Some of the biggest and most awesome stories of the Bible star teenagers. Take David for example. If David wasn’t a young man, the differences between him and Goliath wouldn’t have shown God’s power as strongly. It sure seems like he’s in there to help us see this point … along with Isaac, Jacob, Rachel, Joseph, Samson, Esther, Mary and more!

Why do we think YOU should wait to lead the church, when clearly God loves using teenagers in His story?

I remember starting small – it didn’t hurt that we were a “when the doors were open we were there” kinda family. And it seemed like the church was always open! I served folding programs, sharpening pencils, greeting, evening singing on a few occasions! There are all sorts of needs in your church, try to match up the need to your talents. Women’s Bible study is coming up – offer to watch the kids! Men’s breakfast is around the corner, help fry up the bacon. Ah, bacon … sorry, got lost there for a second. These smaller opportunities to taste ministry, which led to larger and more significant chances, all helped me realized that being young in the church is a good thing, because God wants to use you now.

All of that to say … don’t wait!

Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. I Timothy 4:12

God has already been preparing your ministry for you. He’s been working on you this whole time, too! Congratulations … you’re gifted. Gifts are meant to be opened and now is the time. So get involved today! Serve in your church. Use your talents, gifts and abilities now … don’t wait.

A message I want all of my students to hear loud and clear … you are NOT the future of the church. You are the church of today!

JG

1 Nov 2016

POLL: Halloween and the Church?

By Josh Griffin|2016-11-01T16:04:05-07:00November 1st, 2016|Youth Pastor Life|0 Comments

I grew up in a very conservative church that didn’t celebrate Halloween. With my kids in our current ministry, it isn’t a big deal – in fact, it is fairly well celebrated! But I was talking to a youth pastor friend that was at a church that did a fall festival alternative and it made me wonder what poll results would look like here on the blog.

Vote now!

JG

31 Oct 2016

3 Ways Students Can Encourage Their Youth Pastor

By Josh Griffin|2016-11-01T13:08:39-07:00October 31st, 2016|Youth Pastor Life|0 Comments

Most people think I never have a bad day.

I mean, working for the church must be great, right? All of these perfect people serving a perfect God must equal a perfect job. But you know what? The church isn’t perfect! And the people in the church aren’t perfect and, well … I’m not perfect either. Which means I have bad days. It means I get discouraged. It means things get tough sometimes.

So when someone takes the time to encourage me, it is a BIG deal. When someone says something genuine and kind it makes my day. When I get a note or a pat on the back it fills me right back up. Here are a few SMALL ways you can be a BIG encouragement to the youth pastor or small group leader in your life:

The good old-fashioned “thank you” note
I have a whole drawer filled with thank you notes! I LOVE them! They meant the world to me. Cards … and gift cards (hahahahha) are huge. So meaningful.

A simple but thoughtful gift
It doesn’t have to be big – just a small, thoughtful gift is so encouraging. The other day someone left me a Darth Vader™ mug on my office door – I use it every day and it is so uplifting. Cost isn’t the concern, the thought counts for so much!

Babysit for our family!
If you really want to make my day, watch our kids so we can go catch a movie and catch up. It would be a huge gift to me!

One last thought – words mean far more than you’ll ever know. If I could encourage you to do just one thing – I would say give him or her the gift of your words. Words are so big, a passing comment to you may just fuel them for another season of ministry. There are no perfect people or perfect churches, but your words could come at a perfect time.

Be encouraging to your youth pastor this week!

JG

6 Sep 2014

All She Needed Was a Hug

By |2017-12-20T15:12:21-08:00September 6th, 2014|Uncategorized, Youth Pastor Life|0 Comments

She was this confident, popular girl in camp, always surrounded by friends. She didn’t know me, I didn’t know her. I knew a little about her background from what one of the other leaders had shared. And my heart went out to her, even though she looked so confident and composed.

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