If you're doing a message/study on spiritual growth any time soon, you can use a short quiz I came up with to get your students talking.  Click right here to download the "Ready.Set.Grow!" quiz.  (Tip: right-click on the link, then select "save target/link as".)

With quizzes like this, you have to be careful to remind students that it's just a piece of paper, not an official diagnosis of their spiritual health, and the whole point is simply to get them thinking about their spiritual growth. I used this quiz and then just asked one simple question after it, before leading in to the rest of the message - "In the last year, do you feel like you've grown a lot, a little, or not at all?"

Also, a great and more open-ended idea to get your students talking about spiritual growth is to create a "graph" like the one above I drew on butcher paper.  Label one end as "salvation" or "the beginning of my walk", and label the other end as "spiritual maturity" (using those words alone can lead to a good discussion about what spiritual maturity even is).  Give each student a post-it note, let them write their name on it, and then have them all - at the same time - come up and put themselves where they feel like they are on the "growth" spectrum.  Be sure to remind them that this is not a time to make comments or laugh because of where someone puts their name on the graph.  ALSO, make sure you don't make the same mistake I did - putting yourself up there first, as most if not all your students will assume they need to be behind you on the growth spectrum.  Oops!  Then ask one question and let them discuss: "Why did you put yourself where you put yourself?"  I was amazed at the honesty and insight our young people offered up during this exercise.  It was awesome!

If you use either of these ideas, let me know how it goes!

- Tim

Many youth workers use PowerPoint, MediaShout, or other presentation software in their ministry to display sermon/talk notes, song lyrics, game slides, etc.  The truth is, I have seen some BAD media over the years in youth groups.  It's easy though, when pointed to the right resources, to take your presentations to the next level.  There are two quick ways to spice up your visuals - fonts and backgrounds.

Let's cover fonts first.  A lot of youth workers will build their presentations using only the fonts that are preloaded on their computer.  Here's a simple slide I made using "Comic Sans" - the go-to font for children's and youth ministries:

It's not awful, but there's certainly room for improvement.  Let's see what we can do if I take a few minutes to download a free font from one of the MANY websites that offer them.  My favorite is www.1001freefonts.com. 

Now, here's the same slide, but I switched the font to a free one I found called "Dead Secretary" (not crazy about the name):

A HUGE improvement!  Downloading a few eye-catching font sets will vastly improve your presentations and add some flair to what could be some drab visuals.

Here's a few more quick font tips:

1. Don't be afraid to use two different fonts in a presentation (NO MORE THAN TWO!).  Use an elaborate font for the title/headline, and another easier-to-read font for the body.  For example, type your Scripture up using a large, elaborate font for the reference (i.e. John 3:16), and a smaller simpler font for the text.

2.  Try moving the font around on the slide.  Align it left, right, center, top, and bottom to see where it is the most eye-catching.

3.  If it works, make the font slightly transparent.  Allowing a little bit of the background to seep through can add some texture to your words and makes it look more like a custom graphic instead of something you typed up on your own.

Good luck, and get creative!

Usually the Sunday (or whenever you meet with students) after Christmas is a tough day to plan.  You've just finished your Advent/Christmas series of studies and/or messages, and your creativity is running about as fast as curdled eggnog drips.  If you're stuck for an idea, try using this community-focused study.

Intro the lesson by talking about how living in community - doing life together - is a crucial part of what it means to follow Jesus.  Use a personal story of how doing life together with others has made an impact on your life if you have one (I hope you do!).  Then print out this handout (right click, then select "save as"), and have students work together in small groups to look up the verses and fill in the blanks.  Encourage them to put this in their own words, not just copy down the verses word-for-word.  (By the way, the second page of the handout has "answers" pulled from the NIV Bible for you to use as a guide.)

Come back together and have groups share their answers to each blank, one at a time, and for each one ask these questions:

- Can you think of example of us doing this for each other during the last year?
- Is our group good at this, or do we need work?
- If we need work on this, how can we get better?

As an example, Romans 15:7 says that we should accept each other.  So you would ask these questions: "Can you think of an example of how this group displayed acceptance to someone over the last year?" "Are we good at accepting others, or do we need work?" and "How can we get better at accepting people just as they are?"

You may want to record the answers to the "how can we get better questions" on a poster or dry erase board.

Finish up by praying that God would help your group grow stronger in the areas they need work on in the next year and thanking Him for all He is doing in and through your group.

Enjoy!

- Tim B.

Tonight we're wrapping up our "Grinches" series by talking about "missing the point" of Christmas.  Obviously, we'll wrap it all up by talking about what the true meaning of Christmas is.  Our Scripture is John 1:1-5 & 14, and as an illustration of the incarnation being light entering in to darkness we'll turn out all the lights in our worship space and light a single candle.  We'll spend a few minutes in silence praying/reflecting on the birth of Christ as the moment that God's light broke through the darkness of our world, and then sing the chorus of "O Come All Ye Faithful" to end.

Before students leave I'm giving each one a Ziploc bag with a tealight candle and a card with the graphic above printed on it.  The hope is that sometime over the next week and a half they will find some time on their own to reflect on John 1, the incarnation, and light breaking in to darkness.

I'd love to share this with you - you can download a Word document with the card above that you can reproduce and use in any way you want!  Click right here to download the "Light" prayer card (tip - right click and select "save target/link as").

Enjoy!

- Tim B.