yoacblog | More Than Dodgeball

Josh GriffinMore Posts Connecting with Students

AC had a solid blog post a couple days ago about connecting with students. He is a master relational youth worker in our ministry – definitely some good stuff we all can learn from him. Here’s a clip of the who article, head there for the rest:

Lead by example and with words. – Preach and promote from first hand experience. Would you buy a Ford from a salesman who drove a Chevy?
Never miss an opportunity to point the student to Christ. – We believe Christ is the answer, the cure, the end all be all. In my experience a lot of the students problems are centered around where Christ is in their life. You still have to be mindful of your approach but all roads should lead back to Christ.
Never miss an opportunity to listen. – I cannot stress enough how important it is you become a listener. I know some people are good at it naturally and some of us have to work at it. It is truly a quiet mega strength that connects you with any student.

JG

1 View Comments October 23, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts HSM Weekend in Review: Volume 198

(this review was written by AC since I was away this weekend – be sure to check out his blog, too!)

Weekend Teaching Series: I Am __________ (week 3 of 3)
Sermon in a Sentence: Bullying is not just wrong it’s evil, and we are commanded as believers to standup for those who can’t do it on their own.

Service Length: 75 minutes

Understandable Message: This weekend we covered Bullying. We had a guest speaker named Paul Coughlin. He is the founder of The Protectors an organization that helps family’s, schools and churchs deal with the issue of bullying. He gave our students a biblical perspective on bullying, he really educated our students on what bullying is and what it is not. Finally, he gave practical ways students could standup to bullying. One of the ways he stressed was for our students to partner up with a friend at school and standup for each other. Also, if they saw someone else being bullied that they would standup for that person together. He also challenged students who wanted to do more to signup for more info on how to do more in their schools. We had 60 plus students signup. Very proud of our students for taking a stance against bullying.

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: We did a Taylor Swift cover as an opener “Mean”. We played a couple of fun new videos – one was the 3rd episode of HSM’s Sports Minute featuring local school sports updates with a crazy twist and the other was an announcement video for our Halloween outreach event.

Music Playlist: Hosannah, Never Let Go, Our God

Favorite Moment: The song choices after the message this weekend were absolutely perfect. I really felt like the message continued right into the 3 songs – super powerful ending to the message!

Up next: Worship Together Weekend [1-off]

Add Comment October 4, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts Counterfeit Gods Spoken Word Video

Just saw this new video from Jeff Bathke up on YoACBlog.com yesterday and thought it would make a great post here as well. Solid message.

JG

Add Comment September 6, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts Relational Ministry Tips from AC

My friend and co-worker AC (who runs yoacblog.com) put together a quick list of relational youth ministry thoughts and tips. Thought I would grab a couple of them and point you there for the rest:

Relational ministry has more to do with the example you set than the words you say.
My walk with Christ and my prayer life plays a huge role in leading and guiding students to Christ.
Be intentional and strategic. ” He who fails to plan, plans to fail.” Corny…I know, but so true!!
Don’t waste students time by hanging out with students to stroke your own ego.
I am a spiritual leader first and friend second. – Your spiritual authority can be easily compromised when you reverse the order.
Honesty is huge in building trust with a student. -You don’t have to be perfect but you do have to be honest.
Be a listener and ask them questions. Check out Conversation Tactics for Youth Workers
Listening and being honest wins you the right to speak into their lives. – Listening shows I care and honesty shows character and realness.
It’s not about the quantity of time spent with students but the quality of time spent with students.
Don’t be afraid to ask the tough questions.
When the opportunitay presents itself for you to disciple, obey Nike and “Just do it”. – nothing else on the agenda is more important.
Never cut a student off when they are sharing. If you can’t remember what you were going to say it probably wasn’t worth you sharing anyway.