I was excited to speak at summer camp last week.

I’ve been out of youth ministry for just under five years…so it’s been a long time since I’ve taught a room of high schoolers (adults at least pretend that they are paying attention).

I had two goals for teaching last week: (a) I wanted the messages to be simple and have everything line up under a single point, and (b) I wanted to transition well in and out of my storytelling.

The big idea for night one: give God what he deserves. The passage was Genesis 22, and I felt like I nailed my first goal. I really liked where I could go with this big idea, because I could hit everyone in the room. I went for the mature in saying “God deserves everything and here’s why…” I went after everyone else in saying, “Give him what you think he deserves, even if it’s your doubts, fears, and questions… and God will still show up.” I did a fair job of telling stories. I told this story, and it didn’t connect well. It didn’t bomb, but it didn’t connect like I thought it would.

The big idea for night two: create change by serving. The passage was Matthew 20, and I did a fair job of remaining focused, but not as good as the night before. Story telling was about the same: good, but not as good as the night before. With this particular message, I needed to start this message with a story, rather than set up the message first.

It was great to be teaching students again. I get to teach high school midweek this summer, so I’m excited for that too.