Showing titles in Youth Ministry

To disciple the youth in our student ministries today, we have to understand the unique characteristics of Generation Z and apply lessons learned from recent decades of youth ministry. Pastor and Professor Timothy McKnight brings a wealth of new insights, resources, and guidance for reaching today's adolescents. 

Many parents of teenagers or young adults feel as though they're guessing about what to do next-with mixed results. We want to stay connected with our maturing child, but we're not sure how. And deep down, we fear our child doesn't want or need us. But growing up doesn't have to mean growing apart. Based on brand-new research and interviews with remarkable families, Growing With equips parents to take steps toward their teenagers and young adults in a mutual journey of intentional growth that trusts God to transform them all. 

In the 21st century, there are many in the West who are walking away from the church. They are adopting the secular idea that science has somehow invalidated faith. Core Facts is an explanation of some of the best reasons to believe, in the midst of a culture that is plagued with doubt. If you want to see the evidence for yourself, or share it with someone else, this book is designed to give you a foundational look at the facts that have stood the test of time!

Parenting isn’t for wimps. It's not just the routines, schedules, discipline, and heartaches - it's the hard conversations. One of the greatest challenges of parenting is navigating the crucial conversations that we must have with our kids. Using the Three Circles gospel tool (God’s design; brokenness; gospel), Jimmy and Kristin will give you a “conversation map” to work through any tough conversations you have with your children.

Why do youth ministries crumble? And what is the cost to students, parents, volunteers and church staff? Is a sustainable youth ministry possible, even after a youth pastor leaves? Youth ministry expert Mark DeVries knows the answer is yes, because he helps build sustainable youth ministries through his coaching service called Youth Ministry Architects. So take heart: No matter what state the youth ministry at your church is in—in need of a leader and volunteers, full of battles and stress, large or small in number—it can be built to survive and to last for the long haul.

In Sticky Faith, the team at FYI presents youth workers with both a theological/philosophical framework and practical programming ideas that develop long-term faith in teenagers. Each chapter presents a summary of FYI’s quantitative and qualitative research, along with the implications of this research, including program ideas suggested and tested by youth ministries nationwide. This resource will give youth pastors what they need to help foster a faith that sticks with all the teenagers in their group long after they’ve left the youth room.

If you long to reach kids and see their lives changed by God, this updated, comprehensive guide shows you how. Purpose Driven® Youth Ministry will do for youth ministry what Rick Warren's Gold Medallion award - winning The Purpose Driven Church is doing for pastoral ministry. It's an indispensable guide to creating and maintaining youth ministry for the long run. It will help you create a solid spiritual team that builds the foundations of the Christian faith into the hearts and lives of young people.

If you're tired of youth ministry that fails to change lives, it's time to change youth ministry. Building on two decades of the Fuller Youth Institute's work and incorporating extensive new research and interviews, Faith Beyond Youth Group identifies the reasons youth ministry often flops both short-term and long-term, and offers five ways adult youth leaders can cultivate character for a lifetime of growing closer to Jesus rather than drifting away.

More than 60 percent of young people who went to church as teens drop out after high school. This is a striking and alarming statistic. Now the bestselling author of unChristian trains his researcher's eye on these young believers. Where Kinnaman's first book unChristian showed the world what outsiders aged 16–29 think of Christianity, You Lost Me shows why younger Christians, ages 16–29, are leaving the church and rethinking their faith. Kinneaman offers suggestions on how to help young people develop and maintain a vibrant faith....

Today we are told to be true to ourselves, look within for answers, and follow our hearts. But when we put our own happiness first, we experience record-breaking levels of aimlessness, loneliness, depression, and anxiety. Self-centeredness always fails to deliver the fulfillment we're seeking.

Michael McGarry explores the foundation of youth ministry in the Old and New Testaments and brings that together with Church history in a compelling way. This contemplative and well-researched book provides a careful critique of youth ministry along with practical guidance for those serving in ministry.

God has dreams - just for you. You are on the most important journey you’ll ever take - the journey of becoming yourself through the love of God. You might sometimes feel inadequate in the world’s eyes, but the truth is that you are beautiful, valuable, and made with a purpose!In Free to Be Me, Stasi Eldredge tells stories about her own struggles and hopes as she helps you recognize God’s truth about your beauty and worthiness. Learn who God created you to be and the amazing dreams he has for you.

Get ready for a crash course in effective communication. More than just a book on how to "do talks," Speaking to Teenagers combines the experience and wisdom of two veteran youth ministry speakers, along with insightful research and practical tools, to help you develop messages that engage students with the love of Christ and the power of his Word. Whether you're crafting a five-minute devotional or a 30-minute sermon, Speaking to Teenagers is essential to understanding and preparing great messages.

In He’s Inviting Us In, author Ronda Paulson explores the idea of saying yes to whatever God may be asking you to do. Living a life of obedience, open to his call, and no longer paralyzed by fear. She uses humor and heart through examples from her own life to encourage the reader to say yes to God’s invitation to be the hands and feet of Jesus here and now.

Maybe it was baseball season, with its many Sunday practices, which caused a normally committed family to miss church...only they didn't return when the season ended. For another family, it was the dance recital with its accelerated rehearsal schedule, which was "only temporary" but their return attendance was sporadic before it became non-existent.

If you're brave enough to take an honest look at the issues facing the culture-controlled church - and the issues in your own life - read on.

Do you ever look at how the Christian faith is being lived out in the new millennium and wonder if we're not doing what we're supposed to be doing? That we still haven't quite 'gotten it'? That we've missed the point regarding many important issues? It's understandable if we've relied on what we've been told to believe or what's widely accepted by the Christian community. But if we truly turned a constructive, critical eye toward our beliefs and vigorously questioned them....

Many teens are active in church youth programs, yet drop out of church later in life and never return. Other young adults rest on the merits of their parents' faith without ever experiencing their own relationship with Jesus Christ. In this book, the authors seek to help teenagers who have grown up in Christian homes by reminding them of the blessings of growing up in a Christian home, warning them of some of the dangers they face, providing practical suggestions for avoiding these dangers, and urging them to think and live in a way that pleases God.

Sticky Faith delivers positive and practical ideas to nurture within your kids a living, loving faith that lasts a lifetime. Research indicates that almost half of high school seniors drift from their faith after graduation. This easy-to-listen guide presents both a compelling rationale and a powerful strategy to show parents how to actively encourage their children’s spiritual growth so that it will stick with them into adulthood and empower them to develop a living, lasting faith.

Why an introduction to Apologetics for students? BECAUSE AMERICA’S YOUTH ARE ON THE FRONT LINE OF A WORLDVIEW BATTLE FOR IDEAS. Yes, the battle lines are well beyond being drawn. Our “post-truth” culture has made feelings and expedience the new test for truth instead of what is known to correspond to reality. From this new paradigm, practitioners have launched a multifront offensive against the Bible, God, America’s founding morals, truth, and the spiritual values rooted in the Judeo-Christian ethic and described in our Declaration of Independence. This book will equip you to give ...

An expert on youth and youth culture, McKee shares his own heart-rending story and offers a sobering glimpse into the rapidly changing world of bullies, bystanders, and the bullied while providing helpful ways to connect with these kids, open doors of dialogue, and give them the encouragement they need and the validation they're searching for...too often in all the wrong places.