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Pacing Out Christmas
About seven years ago I got to December 26 and realized I ‘missed’ Christmas. To me, this was a tragedy. I love Christmas and everything about it. I love what we are celebrating and looking forward to...
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Top Ten list for Christmas Ideas with Youth
10. Doing an Emoji Christmas Story Night Emoji’s have become an official language in the United States recently. Every student in your ministry I could guarantee writes and speaks to their friends in...
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Joy: The Third Candle of Advent
This Advent season I’m challenging those of us in ministry to take a few minutes each week to let God work in us, so that we can create moments for Him to work in others. Use this reflection on your...
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Replace Hype With Hope, & Attendance With Engagement
This is not meant to knock anyone, maybe because I’m 31 and it means I am officially getting old but when people over 25 use words like “let’s get hyped” “shook” or “it’s going to be 100” and things...
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I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS – WELCOMING COLLEGE STUDENTS HOME FOR WINTER BREAK
While emerging adults will be home for Christmas, don’t expect them to come pounding on your door to talk. Aside from endless family gatherings and catching up with high school friends, many of them...
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RECONNECTING WITH PAST STUDENTS OVER CHRISTMAS
As Christmas parties and neighborhood caroling begin to wrap up, our youth alum often begin to return home. Without regular programming in which to invite them, how can we connect with these important...
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‘Twas the Night of the Lock-in
Twas the night of the lock-in, and all through the church Teenagers were hiding, making leaders all search; One was in the elevator, going up and down, Two in the baptismal, pretending to drown,...
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Is It Christmas Yet?
My mouth dropped open as Natalie, many years ago, related her Christmas family tradition to me: “When I was growing up, we didn’t get a Christmas tree until December 24. We celebrated Advent the four...
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Damage Control
We have all experienced it. If you are in youth ministry in any way, you have experienced it. That dreaded phone call from an elder. The closed-door meeting with the pastor. The verbal sparring match...
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Reclaiming Your Christmas Focus
Christmas can be an insanely busy time. Between Christmas parties, Advent readings, and the obligatory youth Christmas program, youth workers are spread pretty thin. None more so than the youth leader...
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A Youth Worker’s Christmas Wish
Dear Santa, I know. I’m probably a bit too old to be writing you letters, but the big red mailbox in the mall looks so exciting… And even if the dog-tired old mall Santa doesn’t get ahold of this, I...
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FESTIVE CHRISTMAS GAMES
‘Tis the season for party games! The Christmas season is the perfect time to build relationships in your small or large group setting and incorporate some much needed fun at the end of a long fall...
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5 Ways to Keep Your Focus During the Christmas Holidays
As leaders in the youth ministry, we spend much of our time during the holidays encouraging our students and the adults involved in our ministries to not lose focus on Christ during all the hustle and...
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Love: The Fourth Candle of Advent
This Advent season I’m challenging those of us in ministry to take a few minutes each week to let God work in us, so that we can create moments for Him to work in others. Use this reflection on your...
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10 CHRISTMAS STORY TAKEAWAYS YOUR STUDENTS NEED TO KNOW
This article originally appeared on the YM360 BLOG and thought it was so wonderful that we wanted to share it too! The Christmas story is literally crammed full of powerful teachings. So, here are 10...
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Christ: The Christmas Candle
If you’re the liturgical type, you know that today’s candle is not a part of Advent, but marks the beginning of a whole new season. So for the final reflection of our Advent series, let’s celebrate the...
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Read My Lips!
SUPER FUN ONE PERSON UPFRONT, SEATED GROUP GAME. GREAT LEAD IN TO TOPICS OF “SPEECH”, “WORDS”, or “COMMUNICATION”. SUPPLIES: • Pack of index cards • Pen/Marker • Egg Timer or multimedia countdown...
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Pastoral Over Theological
I recently had the pleasure of attending NYWC in Memphis, Tennessee, with thousands of other youth workers from around the country. We came from diverse backgrounds, countless denominations, and from...
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Authentic Brokeness
Each year in January I choose a new word, just one word, to be my personal theme for that year. For 2017 that word was ‘yield’. And ironic as it sounds, I was kicking and screaming in protest pretty...
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Creating a United Front
We’re kind of strange. It seems to me we’re naturally inclined to exclude others until we’re told otherwise. That’s so backwards. In the 4 years I’ve been in youth ministry, one of the biggest...
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