Home/Posts/Tag: Christmas
17 Nov 2022

It’s Time to Quit

By |2022-11-17T12:36:40-08:00November 17th, 2022|Youth Pastor Life|0 Comments

  1. It’s time to quit striving to save students. “No one comes to the Father unless the Holy Spirit draws them.” Your overtime hours, answering emails and texts at night won’t be the extra edge needed for students to say yes to Jesus. Do what God has called you to do “with all of your heart and not for men,” but God is doing all the heavy lifting to save students. You are not God. God’s going to get done what He wants done. You only need to be faithful.
  2. It’s time to quit putting ministry before your family, your personal fellowship, and your health. Your family are your most important disciples. Date nights, tucking in your kids, exercising or time in nature, and being in a small group for yourself are your priority. If you aren’t married, although you have more free time to say yes, you still need to practice saying “no” above your 40 hours because your personal and spiritual health depends on personal time with Jesus, your family relationships, sleeping 8 hours, and your friendships.
  3. It’s time to quit hustling. In our chaotic culture, you often must do something radical to get your life back from the algorithms. We all know the adage, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.” Don’t be afraid of what people will think of the pastor going to personal or marriage counseling.  Delete social media—yeah, it can be a helpful tool, but (unpopular opinion here) it’s not necessary to disciple teenagers. Get Covenant Eyes because pornography is destroying lives and families and disqualifying too many pastors from ministry. Work only 40 hours. Don’t check emails or texts at night. Take a weekly sabbath. Don’t go into debt. Make a budget, and live with less, so you don’t need to have a side hustle to pay your bills. Say a holy “no” to good things so you can have greater things—like more peace and quiet, healthier relationships, and the gift of being fully present.
  4. It’s time to quit doing it all and release more to others. Moses’ father-in-law told him to do the same thing. The sermon, game, youth room, or event being your version of perfect won’t save more kids. Craig Groeschel says, “If someone can do it 50% as good as you with potential for growth—delegate it to them.”
  5. It’s time to quit seeking the spotlight and following people in the spotlight. Our culture is obsessed with celebrities, and the Church in America has become similar. I think in most instances, we need to avoid the spotlight, simply be faithful to disciple one more teenager, listen to the Holy Spirit, and tell no one about our accomplishments. Our “well done good and faithful servant” will be so much more satisfying.
  6. It’s time to quit thinking the grass is greener at another church. Have a conversation with your senior pastor about what your priorities should be if you are getting burned out and need to reorient. Unless it’s a clear call from God and you’ve tried to make it work from several different angles, don’t quit.

This month, DYM Gold Member’s got Sabrina’s resource, “The Cross at Christmas: 25-Day Devotional” for free with their membership!

This 25-day Christmas devotional will get your students connected to Jesus over this Christmas season by taking them through almost all of the parables of Jesus. Each day explains the parable, explicitly connects it to the gospel, challenges students with practical application for the holidays, and gives them space to journal what God is speaking to them.

Each day is laid out in an easily accessible format with: Read, Where is Christmas, Reflect, Pray, Apply. The “Where is Christmas?” portion is where we can see the good news in the parable.

Whether you have students who are completely unchurched or have been Christians forever, this resource is a great tool to challenge them, help them understand some of Jesus’ most difficult teachings, and give them some next steps in their relationship with Jesus.

Check it out below:

28 Nov 2017

FREE GAME IDEA: Christmas Wrap Battle

By |2017-11-28T11:22:17-08:00November 28th, 2017|Games|0 Comments

Christmas Wrap Battle
shared with DYM by Matthew Fry

Supplies (Per Contestant)
– 2-3 empty boxes (shoe box size)
– 1 Pair of scissors
– 1 Thing of Scotch Tape
– 1 Thing of wrapping paper

Instructions
Select 3-4 students that will “battle” against each other in a “wrap battle.” Each student is given 2-3 boxes and must cover the boxes with wrapping paper as quickly as possible. Variations could be having students compete to see who can wrap their boxes the fastest or set a specific amount of time (1-2 minutes to keep things exciting) and have the audience vote on who wraps the boxes the best.

Prize Suggestion
The ugliest sweater Wal-Mart has to offer

14 Dec 2016

The key to surviving Christmas craziness: Less, not more

By |2016-12-14T07:25:11-08:00December 14th, 2016|Uncategorized, Volunteers|1 Comment

“You’re in ministry. How do you avoid the insanity of this Christmas season?” my friend recently asked. “I’ve got three kids and between all the church and school programs, we’re always busy!”

There was a time when I added to the Christmas chaos, hosting Christmas parties, special worship nights, and programs for the adult leaders and kids in my youth ministry. But then, in my conversations with parents, I started hearing more and more people echo my friends’ sentiment. At Christmas, people’s to-do lists are at all-time highs. It’s like we pass this season of waiting by filling our calendars. We’re tired and longing for time with our families.

What parents actually want during this time of year is LESS, not more.

After 15 years in ministry, I’ve finally started listening to them.

As a ministry, we no longer host additional Christmas programs. Instead, we limit our festivities to our regularly scheduled youth group times. We replace one of our Wednesday night programs with our Christmas party. In doing so, we avoid adding another thing to families’ already crazy calendars (something that, not-so-coincidentally, also boosts our Christmas party attendance.)

We also don’t have a Christmas program or special worship night. Instead, we encourage teens to bring their families to worship on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and to celebrate these events TOGETHER.

Finally, and perhaps most significantly, we actually take a break from programming around the holidays. Because Christmas falls on a Sunday, this year, we’re taking two weeks off of our Sunday program and three weeks off of our Wednesday night program. Doing so gives our adult leaders a break. What’s more, it creates some space for our families, reducing the amount of things they have to juggle this time of year and providing them with opportunities to simply spend time together.

Don’t get me wrong. By reducing our Christmas programs, I know we’re not eliminating the Christmas insanity altogether for people. There are plenty of other things contributing to that.

However, we are sending a countercultural message, one that I hope says, “In the midst of this frantic season, God breaks in and offers rest.”

As the church, we hope to do the same.

15 Nov 2016

The Perfect Line Up For Your Advent Series

By |2016-11-15T06:14:58-08:00November 15th, 2016|Youth Ministry Ideas|0 Comments

This might be the last week you have an opportunity to breathe before the Christmas season comes at you with a mad rush.  It’s a crazy season that usually flashes by in the blink of an eye.

You’ve got a lot on your plate both personally and professionally.  While you have a lot to get done, you can’t afford to miss out on an important season in our faith: (more…)

Go to Top