Resources

It is important for every youth ministry to have adults in your congregation who are champions for your young people. In this first of two articles, think about how you might teach and value championing young people in your congregation.

Healthy youth ministry should strike a balance between developmentally appropriate activities, time to build relationships, and study of God’s Word, prayer, and other spiritual practices. This article considers some of the important balances a healthy youth ministry needs to strike when it comes to play!

In this last verse of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (along with the passage from Isaiah 60) expands our vision to see the work God has done for us is just a part of the even bigger work He has done and is still doing in the world.

There are many ways that we can incorporate play in working with youth. Games and structured exercises can help communicate Biblical truths and promote spiritual growth. Kristen helps us to think critically about the value and use of play in your youth ministry.

It is easy during Advent and Christmas to lose focus on why and what we are celebrating. In the middle of this busy time, there are lots of voices pushing us to focus on gifts, trimmings, and celebrations, rather than on the Christ child Jesus. This skit is meant to be an introduction to a reminder of Christmas in this season. It does not require a lot of prep or props.

This Advent, we look to Jesus as our key, our lifeline. As we pray for the key of David to come again, he extends his invitation to you to come and enter the kingdom of God.

In each of this five-part Bible study series on play, participants will grow in God’s Word around the topic of play and gain a foundation for how God views play. Participants and leaders will also identify the essence of play and develop a stronger sense of their own unique needs and experiences associated with play and connecting with God through play.

In this Advent, we yearn for Jesus, the wisdom from on high, to come so that he might order and structure our lives around his work – especially his work on the cross and in the empty tomb.

Play connects us to God in a unique way. In an introduction on play that ties to a Bible study to be released later this month, Heidi helps us think about how play can be a way God can draw us closer to Him.

As we start the season of Advent, it’s worth us pausing to reflect on the things we remember and ask for God to be with us in this time.