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Josh GriffinMore Posts HSM Weekend in Review: Volume 180

Weekend Teaching Series: Summer Camp Kickoff Weekend (1-off)

Sermon in a Sentence: An introduction to the theme for summer camp (When Heaven and Earth Collide) by the summer camp speaker.

Service Length: 68 minutes

Understandable Message: This weekend we brought in the speaker, Mark Moore, who will be our camp speaker this summer. He did a great job of introducing the camp theme and walking students through the Sermon on the Mount – from memory! It was a great talk and the students were definitely into the talk for sure.

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: This weekend we played the most incredible game since Facebook Hack – it was called Velocicopter and it was invented by one of our team members named Hannah. So awesome! It is basically a game where we duct tape the contestants arms to their chest so they have these tiny little arms. We spilled ping pong balls on the stage and told them they needed to collect as many of their eggs in 1-minute as possible. Then we topped them off with a velociraptor mask and spun hem around as the game began. Hilarious! Here’s a little picture, I’ll see if I can find a video to put online, too. The prize was HUGE: we gave away a full camp registration to the winner!

Music Playlist: Charlie Brown (Coldplay cover), We Are the Free, Go, We Could Change the World, All I Am, Forever Reign, The Earth is Yours

Favorite Moment: I love our band of seniors! They are graduating in just a few short weeks, but they are going to also lead at camp so it was AWESOME to have them leading us this weekend. Love these students, camp will be so great!

Up next: What is Worship? (1-off)

4 View Comments May 9, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts The Final Version of My Message Outline This Past Weekend

I’ve blogged before about how I create my entry-level sermons each week for our high school ministry – how I start with literally a blank Word document on Tuesday morning and follow My 6 Steps to Writing a Youth Talk. Then, after the 2,000+ word manuscript is complete and I take the stage, occasionally making notes and adjustments to the talk for the remaining 3 times to deliver it on the weekend. Many of these notes are inspired by ad libs, tweaks from my team or inspiration/ideas in the lull between the 1st and 2nd service.

A few other things you might be interested to note:

I call out all media/slides/object lessons in yellow highlight. Timing is critical on these elements, so I try to make it clear for the students and volunteers involved.
Sometimes, I make a significant edit to the document, cutting out a whole section, deleting a line, replacing a joke or drawing arrows to fix the pacing.
I’ve never once delivered a message without some notes/adjustments on it – seems I’ll tweak to the last minute and then some.
I prefer the manuscript form for teaching to this crowd/audience, but use other styles as well.
I practice the sermon 2-3 times alone in a room before I give it. Let’s me hear it out loud and make sure it flows well.
This is for our entry-level program, a discipleship talk would look very different.
This particular week I didn’t have fill-ins, just the verses and some space for them to write down the different attributes of the foundation of sand or rock. I also had them write a couple key thoughts/questions off to the side in their program as well.

So here’s an example of what it looks like after a weekend … this talk was our new year kickoff message about Doubting Thomas (you can read the full weekend in review here).

One last thought … posting my message notes is a very vulnerable moment for me … play nice please. Thoughts and questions? Would love to hear how you craft a talk, too!

JG

15 View Comments January 12, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts HSM Weekend in Review: Volume 126

Weekend Teaching Series: 3D (series premiere, week 1 of 3)
Sermon in a Sentence: You aren’t a bad Christian if you face doubt – our response to it is what matters most. Doubt leads us to devotion and a deeper faith.
Service Length: 67 minutes
Bible: John 20, Matthew 7

Understandable Message: This weekend we kicked off the first HSM of 2011 – it was a total blast! I focused on the story of Doubting Thomas, and made parallels to how we doubt as Christians but don’t have the luxury of seeing Jesus in the flesh. I took students from there to the parable of the foundations of sand and rock, and compared the differences between the two types of faith – flat, shallow and weak or multidimensional, deep and strong. Then I came back to the story of Thomas and told some of the early church history about his help to spead the Gospel in to the furthest reaches of the modern world at that time. Perhaps Doubting Thomas should be remembered as Devoted Thomas, since after seeing Jesus after His resurrection he followed him fully and completely until death.

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: We opened up with a great new song and transitioned to a game of Who Wants to Be A Fraction of a Millionaire, sponsored by McDonald’s. A contestant from the audience could win up to $15 in Arch Cards if they answered correctly. Done up right with some fun sound effects, music and lights. We also promoted several upcoming events, as well as had a promo video for the upcoming annual HSM Bowl.

Music Playlist: Oh Happiness, Majesty, Lift My Arms and Surrender, Burning Ones

Favorite Moment: It was so great to be back to HSM after a few weeks off. Time away is so refreshing and fun – but what an incredible weekend back to kickoff 2011. I loved the conversations with students after each service, this topic sure stirred up some of their thinking.

Up Next: 3D (week 2, Taffy is speaking since the team will be up at Winter Camp)