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Josh GriffinMore Posts The Youth Group Autograph Wall

This is an old school idea, but one I loved seeing making a return in our youth ministry. We’ve recently launched a VIP room where first-time visitors can come and hang out and meet a few friends and leaders as well as get a little snack or Coke. It has only been there a few weeks, and I just noticed they added an autograph wall – first-time students are encouraged to sign the wall to mark the moment.

Just love this simple and transferable idea – and how a student could come back in the future and remember where it all started. Fun!

JG

3 View Comments October 14, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts Texting Gossip Illustration

This is the first week of HSM’s small groups all together at church! In recent years we’ve taken a few weeks before we split up into homes and walk students and leaders through the first few nights together. It gives us a chance to be relational with all of our leaders and to pour into and train them while we’re getting their groups off the ground.

So tonight I was walking all of our Life Group students through HSM’s small group commitment and covenant sheet. Earlier today I had a risky idea tied to it that I wasn’t sure would work … but it did! I wanted to illustrate the speed and the reach of gossip – and how it has no place in our small groups because of its destructive power. I sent a text message to a few students and leaders, and asked anyone if they got the message to forward it to a few other people who were in the room as well.

Did people look at their phones during the rest of the message? Occasionally, yes. But it was worth it. At the end of the challenge (which included a strong word to uphold confidentiality and fight the temptation to gossip) I asked how many of them got the message. A huge percentage of the group had already gotten the text! It had spread quietly and like wildfire through the room – I had no idea if the social networks of friends would extend to the whole room, but it sure did.

All it said was: “this is how fast and how far gossip spreads. “

I hope it was a meaningful moment for everyone and a fresh take on the old game of “telephone” in the past.

JG

1 View Comments October 12, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts Toy Story 2 Clip for Our Friendship Series

Played this clip from Toy Story 2 in my talk about friendship this weekend in HSM. Such a great illustration of friendship!

JG

1 View Comments October 11, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts HSM Weekend in Review: Volume 155

Weekend Teaching Series: Facebook Official (series premiere, week 1 of 5)
Sermon in a Sentence: How to be a genuine friend.

Service Length: 76 minutes

Understandable Message: This weekend we kicked off the Facebook Official series talking about friendships – we all have them, and they are ultra important now as a teenager and stay important throughout your lifetime. Some people measure their quality of life based on the relationships around them! We talked through Biblical friendship – including compassion, loyalty, truthfulness and sacrifice. I taught the story of the Good Samaritan for the first half, and verses from Proverbs in the second half. Lots of fun illustrations and stories in the sermon to illustrate each point, including a clip from Toy Story 2 and a student testimony.

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: We opened up with a fun video about having so many friends that Facebook crashed (that I stumbled on a friend’s blog this week), then right into a cover of Katy Perry’s Hot and Cold. We played another creative Pumpkinfest promo video, too. Lots of student greeters, student band, and running lights, camera, sound and control room.

Music Playlist: Hot and Cold, Your Name High, All I Am, Ancient Skies, Amazing Love

Favorite Moment: I was grabbing lunch with one of our just-graduated seniors this week – he’s starting to feel called by god to go into youth ministry in the future. To give him some experience I asked him to come to services this week and share about the importance of friends in high school. He did a great job!

Up next: Facebook Official (week 2 of 5) [Doug Fields speaking]

Add Comment October 10, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts Pumpkinfest 2011 Promo Video

Here’s the latest promo video for one of the very few events we do each year – our annual Pumpkinfest party. Going to be fun!

JG

Add Comment October 5, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts The New HSM Blog

We’re in the middle of relaunching our High School Ministry’s blog (HSMBlog.com) this week. It is still a work in progress, but thought you might like to see where we’re headed. So excited about this!

JG

2 View Comments October 5, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts Links from Every 7 Minutes Workshop at NYWC

Hey everyone from NYWC 2011!

Thanks for making our youth ministry workshop so fun this weekend — I enjoyed meeting many of you and here are the links from Every 7 Minutes: Keeping Students Engaged During Your Talk workshops I promised you today:

JG

Josh GriffinMore Posts Fun With Footprints in the Sand

I Tweeted about filming this parody of the famous Christian poem “Footprints in the Sand” a while back … here it is in all of it’s glory. From a talk about walking with Jesus during our LAUNCH back to school series. Fun.

JG