The Word Proverbs 2:1-11 (TNIV) "My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—indeed, if you call out for insi...

Bring two students to the front. Tell them they must take turns speaking. The object of the game is to say the title of any song from any decade that contains the word love. Each player has 10 seconds to respon...

Quick Backdrop Have you adopted a life verse, a verse that you've found speaks truth to you in many life situations? If you don't yet have a life verse, I'd like to introduce you to a possibility. If you do ha...

I was reading through Arnold van Gennep's 1909 classic, The Rites of Passage, which argued that separation, transition and incorporation were three stages that mark the passage from childhood to adulthood and ...

Recently while sitting at a round table discussion with several youth pastors, I was surprised when one of them declared, “I hate small groups, they never work, and so we don’t bother to have them anymore.�...

Erin was stumped. She'd never heard this kind of question from a parent before. Shortly after youth group, Marcos approached her with some questions about the upcoming mission trip to a Native American reserva...

Quick Background Arrested. Released. Arrested. Released. That's pretty much the pattern Jesus' followers experienced as they shared the message of Christ with the world around them during the first few months ...

Don’t Freak Out! That’s what I was telling myself when my middle school daughter stood at my bedroom door asking for a condom. Yes. My daughter was asking for a  c. o. n. d. o. m. I pretended to be calm ...

"If those two are allowed to keep coming, then my boys will not be coming to youth group anymore." This father's words were as hard as rock, and I knew it wasn't an idle threat. The anger that seeped through h...

Looking for a Bible Study / Discussion Starter on the Super Bowl? Try this! Ask: How many different animal-themed teams can you name? (Bears, Lions, Bengals, Ravens, Colts, Jaguars, Panthers, Falcons, Dolphin...