And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. -Acts 2:42

For two weeks HSM is going to offer a unique way of having students give an offering.

We’re in the middle of a church-wide campaign that includes a significant offering component at the end. Pastor Rick has been talking quite a bit about Acts 2:42, the “sell their possessions and give to those in need” and sharing how in the early days of Saddleback people literally downsized their houses and gave the difference to the church. We’ve taken this verse very literally in the past, and while I love it, the application to the present-day life of  teenager doesn’t seem very relevant.

So this weekend we’re going to launch what we hope is a very student-friendly, modern day take on Acts 2:42. While students can still literally tithe and/or give an offering in an envelope, we’re also going to let them bring in items to sell. Here’s the idea:

Want to participate in the offering but don’t have money? Here’s how: donate something of our own to the giving campaign. First get your parent’s permission, then bring in any item worth $50 or more and give it away at the eBay offering table. We’ll take each of the items and put them on eBay and find new owners for your stuff with all of the proceeds going directly to the campaign.

The opportunity to give will run for  just 2 weeks, Nov 6/7 and 13/14 and students from the Oh Snaps! photography ministry will take pictures of the items as they come in and another student leader will help write up the product description. The whole process will be done by students and overseen by an adult, with 100% of the proceeds go to the 2020: The Future is Now offering.

When I announce it this weekend, I’m going to give away 2 things myself to the campaign: one that is easy to give away, and one that is more of a sacrifice. I’m going to give away my copy of Avatar: the Video Game for the Xbox 360. Easy, the game is average at best and I’ve already beat it. But I’m also going to give something away as a sacrifice, one that I’ll feel a little more: my brand new copy of Halo: Reach. I want to make sure students hear that we don’t just give out of abundance, but we give out of sacrifice as well. Why am I doing this again? Hahahha …

So we’ll see how it goes! Could be a total flop, but I think even just using this concept as a teaching point could be valuable for our students and might be worth it alone. If it takes off, it could be something really special.

JG

Recently sat down and carved out the sermons and series for our weekend entry-level services this fall. Here’s the next batch of where HSM is headed, starting with the wrap up of our end of summer back to school series:

September
LAUNCH: Ready for Re-entry: Relationships
LAUNCH: Ready for Re-entry: Stress & Schedule [Fall Kickoff Weekend]
Happily Ever After: Intro Weekend
Happily Ever After: Girls

October
Happily Ever After: Guys
Serve Weekend / Ministry Fair
NEXT (church-wide campaign)
NEXT
NEXT

November
NEXT
NEXT
NEXT (offering weekend)
Thanksgiving 1-off

December
Christmas Series
Christmas Series
Christmas Series
Combined with adult services for Christmas

January
Combined with adult services for New Year
Best Year Ever
3D: Decision
3D: Devotion
3D: Defeat

JG

Next month, Saddleback Student Ministries will participate in a church-wide giving campaign. We talked at length about how we could get students involved, and landed on an idea we read a while ago in Group Magazine. It was from a youth worker who gave out 144 envelopes, each numbered from 1-144. When kids took an envelope, you raised/gave an offering that matched the number on your envelope. In the end you actually raise thousands of dollars!

We’re going to take that same idea and use it starting next month – we’re numbering a bunch of envelopes (and rebranding the student version of the giving campaign NEXT! instead of the “Decade of Destiny” offering) and asking students to take one and bring it back a few weeks later with their offering.

I’ll let you know how it goes!

JG

This week in small group leader training I covered a few ways to help students take a next step in their spiritual growth. Here are 6 ways small group leaders can help students grow on their own:

Think About the Individual
The large group setting is more objective and big picture look at Scripture and challenges students in the crowd. The small group setting is totally subjective, allowing students to be challenged individually because they are known and cared for. A small group leader can think about the individual by reflecting how God has been moving in their hearts. Maybe even replay discussions you’ve had with your students over the past month. Then suggest a resource (or HABITS tool) that fits where God is moving their heart.

Personalize a Resource
When you find the right resource, take time to write a note in the front of it. Make it personal to them, share you heart why you wanted them to have it and speak into the future you see for them. When you hand a resource to someone, it says a lot – but why not say even a little more and jot a few thoughts inside the cover.

Encourage a Small Step
Last week, we learned to celebrate any step forward in building a relational ministry. A baby step is still a step forward, and sometimes we have to remember that spiritual growth doesn’t come in leaps and bounds. Sometimes, the small steps are huge to a student, encourage a step, no matter the size.

Encourage a Big Step
Blow their mind with something out of their league. Think bigger than they think of themselves. Believe in them enough to challenge them to bite off something huge. Tell them they are up for the challenge and think they can do it. Who knows, it might be

Offer to go through the study/book/resource with them
What if you did it alongside them, too? Help them know you are serious by offering to walk down the path a ways with them. Maybe it is reading a few chapters with them, maybe serving with them a few weeks, maybe texting back and forth with questions and thoughts about what they are reading. “Grow on your own” doesn’t release us from helping students down the road a bit, too.

Follow-up in a few weeks and see how things are going
Fire and forget is still good leadership – giving resources away to students and encouraging them to grow is what we’re all about. But better leadership is to offer some accountability and checking in on their progress. The accountability encourages an expectation that they can and will get through this, and you are partnering with them in these steps of the spiritual journey.

Next steps in spiritual growth aren’t easy, but they can be life-changing. What other ways can small group leaders encourage students to take a “next step” in their spiritual growth?

JG

We’re doing a 2-week series soon in our high school ministry about giving (called BACKWARD$), and as we were talking about it today some good questions came up. How should students give to the church?

We rambled off a bunch of questions from there:

• Do you take an offering?
• Do you pass an actual basket or at least have someone/something to collect offerings at the door?
• Is an offering/giving mentioned from up front at all?
• Are there other specific ways that you encourage your students to give outside of the church?
• Is there a best practice out there that we should follow and launch during this series?

I don’t know the answer! Would love to learn from you – any ideas?

Back in November, I posted a poll about taking an offering in youth group and a significant portion – 43% didn’t take any type of formal offering. So how should we teach this valuable habit to our students?

JG

We’ve just set up the first of 12 days of Christmas freebies at Simply Youth Ministry! We’re giving away 5 free backgrounds today, and offering 12% off of Race This! – one of my favorite resources. Check back every day for more – we’ve got some seriously good ones coming, too!

JG

Just read an interesting front page story in today’s LA Times. Apparently some churches are moving toward giving kiosks as well as passing the offering plate. Love it!

Pastor Marty Baker preaches that the Bible is the eternal and inviolate word of God. On other church matters, he’s willing to change with the times.

Jeans are welcome at Stevens Creek Community Church, the 1,100-member evangelical congregation Baker founded 19 years ago. Sermons are available as podcasts, and the electric house band has been known to cover Aerosmith’s “Dream On.” A recent men’s fellowship breakfast was devoted to discussing the spiritual wages of lunching at Hooters.

It is a bid for relevance in a nation charmed by pop culture and consumerism, and it is not an uncommon one. But Baker has waded further into the 21st century than most fishers of American souls, as evidenced one Wednesday night when churchgoer Josh Marshall stepped up to a curious machine in the church lobby.

It was one of Stevens Creek’s three “Giving Kiosks”: a sleek black pedestal topped with a computer screen, numeric keypad and magnetic-strip reader. Prompted by the on-screen instructions, Marshall performed a ritual more common in quickie marts than a house of God: He pulled out a bank card, swiped it and punched in some numbers.

The machine spat out a receipt. Marshall’s $400 donation was routed to church coffers before he had found his seat for evening worship.

JG