Josh Griffin | More Than Dodgeball

Josh GriffinMore Posts HSM Weekend in Review: Volume 167

Weekend Teaching Series: [re]THINK: Why Am I a Christian? (series finale, week 2 of 2)
Sermon in a Sentence: Some real reasons to be confident that Christianity is true and a challenge to know your faith.

Service Length: 89 minutes

Understandable Message: This weekend we brought in Brett Kunkle from Stand to Reason to help teach about the foundation for faith asking the most basic of question: why am I a Christian? Last weekend he took apart the poor reasons (used very commonly) as a defense of someone’s faith and pushed students to think critically about why they believe what they believe. It was a solid weekend that I’m praying causes students to challenge their faith now rather than lose it their freshman year of college. If you’re looking for a strong apologetics speaker, we’ve had great success with both Brett and Sean McDowell in the past.

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: This we played a fun game called Frog or Duck? based on a hilarious iPhone game called Animal Translate. We also played “I Love Mission” music video as a way to promote our You Own the Weekend series right after the church-wide campaign ends.

Music Playlist: Something in the Water, Oh Jesus, Avalanche, Forever, Divine and Holy

Up next: The Book: 40 Days in the Word (church-wide campaign begins, week 1 of 6)

1 View Comments January 20, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts 3 Keys to Longevity in Youth Ministry

Here’s a little of what I’ve learned now 15 years (and 1 week) into this journey of youth ministry longevity:

Hold some stuff sacred
If you want to be in youth ministry 5 years from now, you have to set some boundaries on your time and life. Do you take a day off every week? The occasional week-before-summer-camp can get overlooked but if you’re cheating too often you won’t last. How’s your family life? Having a long view of youth ministry means putting your family first. If you’re constantly telling your kids to wait or looking at your phone when you should be looking in their eyes then you have a problem. Your spouse is sacred. There is a connection between your faithfulness to your spouse and your faithfulness to God. Get some exercise this week. Care deeply about these things, and it’ll truly increase your chances of lasting in youth ministry.

Let some stuff go
Too often youth workers want to fight over things that don’t matter. We take on stand when we should be sitting down. We speak up when we should probably shut up. Over time, you’ll begin to understand what is truly worth fighting for … if you fight for everything, you’ll be too wounded to stay in the fight. Maybe take some time today to reflect on some things you’re holding on too tightly.

Surround yourself with the right people
Want to stay in youth ministry for the rest of your life? It isn’t going to be easy but having the right people in your life will make a huge difference. Get these 3 people right now: 1) a ministry cheerleader, 2) a ministry mentor and 3) someone who doesn’t know you work at a church. Who is cheering you on? Who is in the stands watching you and yelling encouragement? Who is the wise sage in your life nudging in his or her practical wisdom? Who do you get to hang with who know and cares nothing about your career. These people will be life-giving in the long haul.

Follow these principles to become a youth ministry lifer!

JG

4 View Comments January 19, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts Steak-Out Your Volunteers

We’ve done volunteer meetings lots of different ways from in person , to online, over Facebook™ but there is something about meeting face to face that is my favorite by far. When we meet with our team here is are some core values around our time meeting together.

Consistency: Commit to meeting regularly that that you can keep tabs on how your leaders are and what God is doing in their groups. Consistency is key to having leaders committing to be a part the meetings.

Prepared: Our volunteers give up a lot of time as it is, so when we ask them to come to an extra meeting, you better believe we are going to be prepared for it. I have heard of groups that send out an agenda with questions before hand so that any leader that misses the meeting can still provide feedback.

Eat Together: There is something awesome about breaking bread together and enjoying a meal with your team. We make a point to grill up some steaks with our volunteers. Our hope is that it conveys a small part of our appreciation for what they do.

Learn Together: Whether a training video, or some sort of short lesson leadership, having our whole team together is a great opportunity to learn to lead better together.

Discuss, pray: A part of every meeting is a chance to discuss issues and utilize the collective experience of the group for dealing with issues that students are dealing with. Every meeting also has a time where we can pray for one another as well our students and seek the Lord for guidance and protection for our team.

Hand out the calendar/resources: Each meeting we try and make sure that our team leaves with the tools they need to lead in the next coming weeks as well as an idea of what is coming down the pipe so they are not caught off guard by an event or change of program.

Value Their Time: The meetings are not longer than they need to be, as we know that our volunteers have family, friends and homework to take care of. We value their time that they give and take only what we need to have an effective meeting.

JG

Add Comment January 19, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts The Little Gamerscore That Could

I’m headed up the Gamerscore mountain on my Xbox 360 this month – pleased to announce another 1,000 point increase in my Xbox360 Gamerscore. Quick letter-grade reviews of the games conquered to get the achievement increase over the holidays: Halo CE: Anniversary (A), Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (B+) and Joe Danger: Special Edition (B+).

JG

1 View Comments January 19, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts Youth Ministry Bootcamp

Thought this little video from YS was clever and rereshing today – youth ministry bootcamp!

JG

Add Comment January 18, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts HighSchoolMinistry.com

Really excited to share with our students this weekend that our new website (and domain!) is now live! We’re hoping to create a first-impression website as well as make sure that students can get connected in a ministry or with a spiritual growth tool. There are two distinct versions of the site – it automatically loads the correct one if you’re mobile or on a desktop. When you’re on an iPhone you can “add to Home Screen” and it automatically becomes an app, too. So fun!

JG

youth group website

1 View Comments January 18, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts Series Arc for The Book: 40 Days in the Word

THE BOOK
Student 40 Days in the Word Campaign

Week 1: The Authority of the Bible
Where did the Bible come from? How did we end up with the Bible we have today even though it is several thousand years old? How is the Bible different than other holy books like the Koran or the book or Mormon? Didn’t men just write it? The Bible is our only rule for faith and practice and was written by the inspiration of God and preserved for us without error today. But here’s the dirty little secret of Christians: no one reads it.

Week 2: Love, God
Why was the Bible written? The Bible is God’s love letter to us. The Bible tells Jesus story. The Bible reveals so much about life, God and eternity. We’ll cover the whole Bible themes as a whole and end with the idea that the Bible essentially ends with “Love, God” and then gives us ultimate challenge to love God.

Week 3: Bible Words You Need to Know
There are some huge words and concepts in the Bible that need to be explained and reveal huge truths about God and our relationship with Him. What does “sanctification” mean? How are we “born again”? Does “Ask Jesus into my heart” appear anywhere in the Bible? These questions and more in this message about Christian language you might here at church.

Week 4: OT Survey
An overview of the entire Old Testament in 30 minutes. We’ll cover each of the major divisions of the first half of the Bible and hit on themes and observations from a look at 35,000ft. A clothesline on stage will be hung with pictures of various important events covered in the Scripture.

Week 5: NT Survey
An overview of the entire New Testament in 30 minutes. We’ll cover each of the major divisions of the first half of the Bible and hit on themes and observations from a look at 35,000ft. A clothesline on stage will be hung with pictures of various important events covered in the Scripture.

Week 6: How to Study the Bible
This weekend we’ll cover the basics on how to study the Bible. We’ll do our best to explain and make practical the Bible study techniques of observation, illumination, meditation, interpretation and application. The message will end with a recap of the series as well as a challenge to spend time with God every day.

JG

2 View Comments January 17, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts Group Magazine Live: Money

Group Magazine LIVE is happening Wednesday, January 17th (today!) at noon Mountain Time – the topic this week is money and it includes Tony Myles, Brian Berry and Rachel Cruze. It is free, so hit up SYM TV to participate!

JG

2 View Comments January 16, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts POLL: Are you paid fairly?

Next week Group’s bi-annual youth worker salary survey comes out – thought it might be fun to get the pulse on money and youth ministry. Are you paid fairly at your church? Vote in this week’s poll!

JG