Josh GriffinMore PostsSecrets Series Bumper Video

Absolutely love this new bumper video for our Secrets fall kickoff series. Each of the bulletins had one of these same secrets printed on the front and we also made up some signs to print around the youth room, too.

JG

TagsComments 1 View Comments September 22, 2011

Josh GriffinMore PostsReal Secrets from Real Students – Part 2

Here’s the rest of the secrets we made (see the others here) based on the ones our students turned in. These were signage for the Secrets series we’re doing this fall. A great reminder that just under the surface there are all sorts of secrets.

JG

TagsComments 1 View Comments September 22, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts18 Youth Ministry Don’ts

I got an email from someone asking for a quick list of basics as he started out in youth ministry. This isn’t the most perfect list in the world, but it was what I rattled off as a reply. What would you add to the list?

  1. Don’t do ministry alone
  2. Don’t hog the platform
  3. Don’t alienate the team
  4. Don’t treat everyone the same
  5. Don’t make tons of changes … yet
  6. Don’t reinvent the wheel
  7. Don’t let a month go by without reading a book
  8. Don’t sacrifice your Sabbath
  9. Don’t always say yes
  10. Don’t walk fast everywhere you go
  11. Don’t lock yourself in the office all of the time
  12. Don’t always be out of the office
  13. Don’t wish for greener churches — they don’t exist
  14. Don’t give up on your senior pastor
  15. Don’t leave the van messy
  16. Don’t expect a raise
  17. Don’t raise everyone else’s kids and not your own
  18. Don’t stop believing

JG

TagsComments 16 View Comments September 22, 2011

Josh GriffinMore PostsReal Secrets from Real Students – Part 1

 

We took a few of the secrets from our students (you can see the original cards they filled out here) and Parker made them into some really great pieces of art that were hung throughout the Refinery and were printed on the back of the student programs this weekend. I’ll post another batch soon, too. Pretty powerful, painful stuff.

JG

TagsComments 3 View Comments September 21, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts3 Action Steps from the Secrets Series

This week during the end of the first message in the Secrets series, I challenged students to take a courageous step and share their secrets. I gave them a few options for where and how they could share it, here they are:

RemedyLIVE
RemedyLIVE is a ministry that helps students deal with their secrets. They’re basically an internet TV ministry for students. I’ve got some good friends over there that are doing some great stuff for students (online confessional booth, anonymous texting chats, powerful web shows, etc.) Really worth checking out as a youth worker to see if it would help you with your hurting students, too.

MyBrokenPalace.net
Another online ministry I’m excited to point you to is MyBrokenPalace.net. Seems like this one is newer (and local to us). Same kinda thing – great videos, a prayer wall and online confessional.

The Landing
The Landing is the Celebrate Recovery program for students. This program runs every Friday night at 7pm in our church and specializes is helping students deal with their secrets, addiction and pain. This week as a special connection to the Secrets series they’re hosting an open house to welcome curious students.

JG

TagsComments Add Comment September 21, 2011

Josh GriffinMore PostsWatch the D6 Conference Live This Week!


I’m so excited to be a part of the D6 Conference this week – they are going to be streaming several of their key sessions completely free right here on their conference live site. Here’s the schedule – I hope you’ll join us over the next couple of days!

September 21–Wednesday

  • Brian Haynes (8:45 AM CST)
  • Sean McDowell (12:00 PM CST)

September 22–Thursday

  • David Platt (9:55 AM CST)
  • John McGee (2:35 PM CST)

September 23–Friday

  • Student Ministry Panel–Josh Griffin, Allyson Evans, Allen Pointer, Wayne Rice (9:30 AM CST)
  • Mark Holmen (11:05 AM CST)

JG

TagsComments Add Comment September 21, 2011

Josh GriffinMore PostsHSM Weekend in Review: Volume 154


Weekend Teaching Series: Secrets (series premiere, week 1 of 2)
Sermon in a Sentence: Everyone has secrets and secrets make us sick, but there is hope.

Service Length: 73 minutes

Understandable Message: This weekend was essentially our fall kickoff weekend – but without services last weekend, it was also the start of our first big series of the school year. We’ve been kicking around the idea of Secrets for a couple years now – didn’t know how students would respond and nothing could have prepared us for the students’ response this weekend. It was incredible! This first week of the series I concentratied the teaching around how secrets are universal, destructive but there is hope in Christ. We invited students to respond to the message by raising a hand for prayer, and then encouraged any student who wanted to come forward for prayer during the response song to have courage and come forward. This is definitely not in our church culture, but it ended up being something really special. So many students came forward and our volunteers were prepared to pray with them. As many as possible we directed to a time when we could meet together this week and specifically start to address the secret they shared. My main texts were Matthew 11 and 23 – a student testimony rounded out the talk as well.

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: We had a great cover song opener, a replay of the Life Groups Win music video from last week, a funny song about secrets, and the real secrets of students made up into posters all over the entryway and auditorium. We also did a black-light object lesson that turned out super, too. Lots of student greeters, lots of volunteers, especially those helping out with The Landing (Celebrate Recovery for Students, which made for a perfect next step from this series).

Music Playlist: Dirty Little Secrets [All-American Rejects cover], He is Alive, Nothing Compares, God Above All, Hosanna, Grace

Favorite Moment: At the end of the 6:30pm Saturday night service, the student response was overwhelming. So many tears, so many secrets shared. It was incredible. Our service is usually just over an hour, and it was amazing to cross the 2-hour mark with students still sharing, praying and crying in the auditorium. Really, really moving weekend.

Up next: Secrets (week 2 of 2)

TagsComments 2 View Comments September 20, 2011

Josh GriffinMore PostsBlacklight Secrets Illustration

This weekend as part of our Secrets series we had a large board white board on stage during the talk. It represented the image we try to keep up, when in reality everything isn’t pure and OK, we are messed up just below the surface. The team stenciled the word “secrets” repeatedly on the board – but the words were completely invisible until we revealed it as part of the talk. Black-light paint is usually very expensive – but they came up with a super-genius solution: black-light hairspray ($3 at Costume Castle) to create the awesome illustration. The end result was a moody, powerful set piece. So cool!

JG

TagsComments 3 View Comments September 20, 2011

Josh GriffinMore PostsWINNER! Magnum Clock for Your Youth Room

Congratulations to Jessica who randomly won the Magnum Clock contest from last week. It was MTDB’s biggest contest so far – the post had over 300 comments! Hope you’ll swing by Magnum Clock when you’re looking for one for your youth room in the future.

JG

TagsComments 2 View Comments September 19, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts1-Day Youth Ministry Deal: The Disconnect

Want to pick up a sweet youth ministry resource at a big discount? Grab The Disconnect $14.99 by Doug Franklin at half price today for only $7.99. Here’s a little bit more about the book that will help you navigate the youth worker-senior pastor relationship:

Every time you walk out of your senior pastor’s office, you leave with a sense of bewilderment and confusion. “Did I just waste the last hour? Did he really hear what’s going on with our students? Is youth ministry really a priority for this guy?” Unfortunately, you aren’t alone. When it works, the relationship between a youth pastor and senior pastor opens the door to dynamic ministry in the local church. But when that relationship is weak, damaged, or broken, it can create an environment that breeds frustration, dissension, and burnout.

Grab it quick – the sale ends at 5pm MST!

JG

TagsComments Add Comment September 19, 2011
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