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4 Reasons Why Your Youth Ministry Might Be Shrinking · Ministry Coach: Youth Ministry Tips & Resources

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: If your youth group is shrinking, it's probably because people don't feel connected.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: The number one reason students come is they want connection, they want relationship, they want to be a part of something Like, yeah, you can have the coolest program ever, but if you're lonely week after week after week and it's not going to be like but I had a donut so I think I'll come back, have you ever asked yourself why is my youth ministry shrinking?
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Then stick around because we're going to give you four reasons that might be the case.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Welcome to the Ministry Coach Podcast, where we bring you weekly tips and tactics to help you fast track the growth and health of your youth ministry.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: My name is Jeff Laskola and this is Kristen Laskola, and today we're going to hopefully answer the question why is my youth group shrinking Honey?
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: I shrunk the youth group.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: So nerdy Dad jokes so nerdy Dad jokes, and it's pretty cool because what we're talking about today can not only be applied to your youth group, but to your church overall, your church at large.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: The principles we're going to talk about four of them.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: They apply to everything, so if you're, no matter where you sit in your church, you can bring this to your next meeting and talk to your senior pastor about it.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: If you are a senior pastor, this is great for you.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Children's, youth, next gen, whatever you are, these are four factors worth heavy consideration.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: So, hey, friend, I just wanted to interrupt this episode for a second to let you know about an awesome opportunity for you and your youth ministry.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: So last year we launched our course and coaching program called Youth Ministry Growth Accelerator and the response has been amazing.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: So we've helped tons of youth pastors grow the size and health of their youth ministry and we want to invite you to be a part of that as well, because maybe you're just sort of feeling stuck in a rut.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Maybe you don't know what to do next.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Maybe you just have a vague plan in your mind of what you're doing and you want some real help to get you from where you are to where you want to go.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: So if that sounds like something you've been looking for, go to growyouryouthministrycom and check it out for more details.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: All right, let's get back to the episode.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Why is my youth group shrinking?
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: Number one people might not be connecting.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: Well, that would be a reason.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: A church, a congregation, a youth group, a children's ministry anything would shrink was for a lack of connection.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: So relationships are what keep people coming back and keep people excited, and if we're not creating opportunities for them to connect, we might shrink.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: So here's some ideas for the best ways to get people to connect.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: Hands down.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Number one I think you think you know what I'm going to say, but you don't.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: I don't know what you're going to say yes, yes.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: Yes't know, I want you to.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: I want you to be wrong more cotton candy?
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: I don't know see, I knew you would be wrong shoot no jeff, no serving together that is s.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: Oh, no, never mind what.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: For some reason the cotton candy start with an s.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: I'm having a stroke and this is live.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: I was like I got the s right.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: No, I didn't.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: Cotton candy is clearly a k.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: All right, moving on I'm concerned anyways, serving, serving, yeah, like working together connects people like crazy.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: If you've ever worked on a service project with people or worked alongside them on a project or a ministry like anything like you get to know that person so well and I thought what you thought I was gonna say was small groups and I feel like that's like the obvious answer.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: Oh, you connect people through small groups.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: It makes the big church feel small.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that would be number two.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: But I connect more with people over serving than for years in the same Bible study.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: I can feel closer to someone after one time of serving in youth ministry or children's or we did this huge project at a school a couple of years ago.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: I got closer to those people so quick than like just sitting down and talking about the Bible but working like that sweat equity together and seeing your project come to fruition and seeing successes together and working on challenges and solving problems, like it's such more of a simulation of life on life than just discussion like discussion of the Bible or whatever, but I would say that's a number two.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: So another way to get people connected is making sure you're doing small groups, life groups, cell groups I've even heard them called all kinds of things.
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: Cell groups Cell yeah, oh, C-E-L-L.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: You're getting your S's and C's mixed up today.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: Cell groups, let's sell more of them.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: We don't want these Home groups, stuff like that.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: You know, like people connect when they get to be, especially if it's a similar interest or similar station in life.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Grouped that way for students, I like to group them by age while grade and gender.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: So sixth grade girls, sixth grade boys seventh grade girls, you know, to give them the best chance at connection.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: Um, and then, lastly, another way that people get connected, and probably the least effective but still important, are like fun things and events and all of that.
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: But you could be at an event with someone and not connect at all.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: You're both just you know having games and competition.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, like you would connect with the people on your team for sure if it was team competition but like an event like an all nighter or something.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: Unless you already know someone, it's not really like.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: Oh wow, I met so many people.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: So you would have to be very strategic with teams and team building and stuff like that.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: But if your youth group is shrinking it's probably because people don't feel connected.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: That is the number one reason students come is they want connection, they want relationship, they want to be a part of something.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: Relationship is what keeps them there.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: I think I've said it a million times.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: It's like yeah, you can have the coolest program ever and maybe it's free cotton candy every night, but if you're lonely week after week after week, all the cotton candy in the world can't fill that.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Try, have you tried?
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: What is that supposed to mean?
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: You like cotton candy.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: So yeah, just being strategic of how many opportunities and I would say like spreading it out between all of these like how many opportunities are we giving students or people at our church the opportunity to connect?
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: You and I went to a church kind of just randomly while I was working at this church because they had a Sunday night service and we went there for years.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: Didn't know soul, there was really no opportunity to connect or we didn't know what they were.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: If there were opportunities, I'd never heard about.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: Well as, as far as going, just going to church and just kind of coming and then going right back home, there was no, like coffee and like anything to keep someone lingering or hanging out, it was just like here's your bulletin sit down message church now I'll see you later, but like if there's stuff to keep people lingering like after service, having like a little get together or something yeah, like just people grabbing tea, coffee, cookies, just hanging out like I don't know.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: It just provides sort of the vehicle for that it's not like, oh good, I need a cookie, but it's more just like there was something to do like it was an atmosphere thing.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: So I think you know we're going to talk about that in a second.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: That's definitely one of the pillars we're going to talk about.
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: But let's move on to number two, kind of piggybacks off what we're just talking about.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: Why is my youth group shrinking?
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: Could be because people aren't having fun or enjoying themselves, which is kind of the same thing.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: So what are they coming and looking forward to?
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: What elements of your youth ministry like?
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: I hate to say it, but you know, a junior hire is a junior hire is a junior hire.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: And one of the first questions I get what game are we playing tonight?
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: You know, very rarely, I mean.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: I know they love the Lord, but very rarely are they like oh, what's your message?
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: about tonight and it's like I'm not going to tell you.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: Got to wait to find out, you know.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: But they are like certain games, they just erupt and they're so excited and they beg for predator.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: And you know one of the games we play and they're just so excited.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: Or they look forward to.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: Some of them don't have video games at home and I have video games in my youth group room so they're like get there early.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: They're like unlock the door.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: This sunday I was in the office like printing some stuff, and one of them saw me as the door like started to shut and she's like open the door, open the youth room door.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: Uh, because they want to play switch.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: But uh, yeah, like, what are they looking forward to?
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: And there's nothing wrong with them looking forward to playing video games, having treats, listening to good music, getting to see fun videos there's nothing wrong with that.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: Like you want to create environment that people have those like anticipation moments, you know.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: So are you creating those?
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: Is there something that they are looking forward to?
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: For me I kind of mentioned some of them what that looks like is great music.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: It's a comfortable environment, there's coffee for students, I would say, more like hot chocolate, although they do love to get their caramel frappy blendy thing Treats.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: I mean, we always have some kind of cookie donut.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: We have, um, if your church is like doesn't have the budget for that.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: One little hack that we do is speaking of serving.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: Getting people serving is always a good thing.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: Is the baking team and people sign up to bring treats homemade treats Sometimes better than store bought.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: They are.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: Some people in a pinch will just run to like the grocery store and get cookies, but for the most part people make brownies or rice crispy treats or fun little tarts and whatever they had time for that week.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: And there's some people that would love to contribute to the church that way.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: So if you're like, oh must be nice to just get to give everyone free donuts and cookies and coffee every week, why not have people sign up to do that?
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: You know there could be someone very excited for that.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: So we always have some element like that.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: And then you can't ignore what friendly staff and friendly leaders bring to the environment People that just have that leadership capacity to be looking for the new person in the room and including them and bringing them in and get, getting them connected.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: Does your church have really friendly, designated people for that?
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: A long, long time ago I spoke at this event and I walk in and I don't know a person like I just got invited to speak but I didn't know anyone, and it was held at this church and nobody nobody came up and talked to me.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: Not one person said hello, which is fine.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: Like I'm a big girl, I'll be all right, but I just remember it.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: I did and I kind of felt awkward, like I didn't know where to stand, I didn't know where to go.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: I'm like, should I just go to the bathroom, like until this thing starts, like, and take my time walking to the bathroom because I didn't?
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: You just feel uncomfortable, and I think people who are regulars at a church forget what it feels like to be new because you're so comfortable and you assume everyone else is.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: You know people, so you assume everyone else does.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: You know what to do, so you assume everybody else does.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: And if you have those designated people that could be leaders, adults, it could be a handful of students where you could just say you're on today, like you are looking for the new person, you're looking for the confused person, you're looking for the lonely person, you're inviting them in, you're introducing them, you're sitting with them.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Nobody is going to be invisible today, not on our watch, and you know it takes the right kind of person to be able to do that.
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: But that's a very, I think, a very overlooked environmental element, element.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: Like when we think about the environment, we think about oh, I want my youth room to look cool, I do too, I want mine to look cool, but don't forget that is like not the heart of the room you could have the coolest room ever, but if it's not a friendly place, if it's not a warm environment, I heard a very simple but great reminder that warm is the new cool and just like that relational warmth and what that does to an environment.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: So you can't handle that that load alone, so you need people who you can be like.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: You know what I've said on an episode a couple episodes back.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: I was like the more leaders the better, and it's for reasons like this.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: is like a new family comes in a new kid, comes in a nervous kid, comes in a kid who doesn't know what to do, and it's for reasons like this is like a new family comes in a new kid comes in, a nervous kid comes in a kid who doesn't know what to do, and it's obvious, get people around you that can do that and you could tell, like the, you guys were playing a game and when she came in you could tell she just didn't know where to go yeah there's two teams and it's like, well, where do I go?
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: and a leader had gone up to her like, intercepted her just to say like hey, you know ball, and then turned out she just didn't want to play at all.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: Anyways, but it was good to see, because you wouldn't want them just standing on the sidelines being like gee that looks fun, but I have no idea, and some people are just not assertive like that, and that's fine just to have someone come up and, hey, it's good to see you.
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: Like, do you want to play?
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: What team do you want?
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: To be on and stuff like that, as opposed to like well.
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: If the parents said like well, what did you do?
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: Well, I stood there for 10 minutes.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: I know, not knowing what to do, especially if someone comes late, like students.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: When they come late and we're in the middle of the game, they just like their eyes get wide, like what is happening in here, and so, yeah, if it hadn't been a leader, I'll go over there and say all right, let me explain this to you really quick.
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: So we're playing human tic-tac-toe.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: All you have to do stand in line that was the game it was.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: Oh no, it wasn't sorry, never mind, it was a musical body part extreme rock paper scissors, oh, and then I'll be like do you want to play?
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: like you can get right in line, like we barely I always kind of say like we just started you didn't miss much.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: You know worse.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: When they get there not to get too sidetracked, but they get to a game that's like everyone's involved yeah, where do I go right?
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: their teams like so yeah so having people in the room that, like you said, can see that kind of stuff and address it, instead of people fending for themselves.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: You know you never want people that like visit your youth group or church in general to just feel like I had to fend for myself.
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: You know, figure it out, newbie, but I hate that feeling yeah, that's the most isolated you will feel is in those moments yeah, it's like okay, no one sees me, I'm invisible, so I guess I can just kind of walk right out, right, no one cares and it's not going to be like, but I had a donut so I think I'll come back.
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: Pretty good donuts from winchell's we don't get it from winchell's I mean the other, the donut pantry, okay, support small business um all right.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Number three why is my youth group shrinking?
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: Well, maybe, like my dad jokes, you are not staying relevant current and up to date yeah, true.
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: So, here's the thing If you fail to stay relevant, current and up to date, some of you might be cringing right now, just even hearing me say it, but listen and hear me out, okay.
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: What happens is you are subliminally.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: That's such a hard word to say subliminally there.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: It is Sending a message that Jesus is not relevant for this current time, but was relevant for a different generation because, he stuck with them in that generation and it would never.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: And when you say it out loud, you're like nobody's thinking that they're not consciously Right.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: It's very subtle when we get stuck in a certain decade.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: Think about it like this there's not one decade that's holier than the other.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: Being out of touch and out of date does not make anything more spiritual, but it creates a false sense of oh, this isn't a faith for my generation.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: This was a faith for my grandparents' generation.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: I was watching TikTok the other day because I love TikTok and Russell Brand Brand.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: Isn't it Brand?
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: I think it's Brand Brand.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: I think.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: Okay, anyways, he's like a hardcore Christian now.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's crazy.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: It's wild to hear him talk about it.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: And he was on Tucker Carlson and they showed this little excerpt from this interview Tucker was doing with him and Russell was saying he thought he always knew what the Bible said and he's like, I just thought of it as like my grandma's faith, my grandma's faith, yeah, where my grandma goes to church.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: Grandma, grandma, grandma.
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: And he was just.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: He said I always just thought I'm smarter than that, like I'm smarter than that generation, I'm more current with it and all of that than that generation.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: He goes, and then I started reading the Bible and I was like what?
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: Why did nobody tell me this was?
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: in here and I think, like when you attend something that looks like it's stuck in another era, you assume so is that religion?
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: And so is that faith and so are those ideologies.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: But when you look around and it looks like we're in this century, we're in 2024, things are current and updated and well-kept and not stagnant.
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: It sends another message of this is fresh and relevant and for now and for you and for your children and for your children's children.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: This isn't just like an overhead projector, flannel, graph, wallpaper.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: Place Like this is a place that is relevant for where you're at in your life, and it sounds so silly to say, but I truly believe like environment matters and we take in cues from it all the time.
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: If you're a super mature Christian and that stuff doesn't bother you at all, then that's fine, but what I'm I'm saying is let's think of who we're trying to reach and the culture we're trying to reach.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: I've heard people before, like you know, they'll get back from like a missions trip and in some country that's impoverished and they're like all they had was a light bulb hanging from the ceiling and they just worship their hearts out and it was fine, Like we don't need this, we don't need that and I agree we shouldn't.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: But we also have to be culturally sensitive to where we're at and should or shouldn't is irrelevant if it's not sinful, right, it's not sinful to make your place look great.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: And it kind of blew me away, honestly, looking at God's instruction to the Israelites for how to build the temple.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: I'll be honest, god did not spare any expense.
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: I was like dang.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: This place is nice, the type of wood it was made out of and the gold and I want these type of cherubim on this and this carved out of that.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: And there's a story I think it's in second kings of a builder that king solomon had hired to build his temple and he was like very skilled and he painstakingly carved 200 pomegranates on the tops of these pillars and it was almost like an act of worship to God of like you're the only one who's going to see these, but this is going to be beautiful.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: But Solomon's temple, like the way that the temple's described, I mean aesthetic was a thing.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: I mean, I think we can like very much diminish it, and I'm not saying like so.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: Gold plated pomegranates everywhere.
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's not like and green carpet and green carpet.
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: Three million dollars to renovate everything that your temple, your church, your place is.
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: How does it represent, like your level of excellence?
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: You know, do the best you can with what you have.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: If your church has a little budget, get creative.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: But you know like keep it nice, keep it clean, make sure it's relevant, make sure it screams this century and 2024.
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: And people walk in and they're like it's not like whoa, no one's been in here for a while, but like oh wow, they're constantly doing things and they're constantly like it's exciting, it's a place I want to be.
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: I don't think there's anything wrong with that, because stagnation really does kill churches that get stuck in the wrong decade.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: One thing.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: I would add two things I would actually add to that.
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: Number one it's a good practice and a good idea to go to other churches and experience what it's like.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: You know whether that's another youth group or another church, and what did you enjoy about it.
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: What did you maybe, like, stood out to you as something it's like, ooh, they may want to work on that or, you know, change that, because it's hard to see your own church that you've been to for 20 years, five years, whatever it is, and see it with fresh eyes.
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: But sometimes, if you go somewhere else, you can say, oh, that would be nice if we have that.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: The other thing I would say is I'm sure there's somebody in your church who probably has an eye for that type of thing and ask for their opinion yeah, how would you and what's your first impression?
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: we?
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: have a 20 budget or whatever it is but what?
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: What could we do to make this more appealing to maybe a first timer or a long timer?
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: And you know something that would would improve the aesthetic here and not just be like, well, this is how it's always been.
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: You know, those green carpets are going to stay and stains and all.
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: We're never going to change that.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, um, it's just not very inspiring, yeah, and you want to really retrofit the environment to fit the group you're trying to reach.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: So you know, if you think about if you walked into work tomorrow and they had redecorated your office and it looked like a preschool, you would probably think it was hilarious at first, but then, like how, how creative would you be working in like a little kid classroom every single week?
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: Well, if you're a preschooler, you're psyched.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: You know there's little fake ice cream you can scoop and a teepee over there and it'd be fun and you'd love it.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: But you know, I feel like when you look at the different age groups too, you have to be very intentional about what does each age group need when they walk into a room to say you were expecting me.
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: You know, junior high is a very specific vibe, very different than the three-year-old room, the four-year-old room.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: What do they need?
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: Well, four-year-olds need to climb and slide and play and dress up and puzzles, and junior hires need big games, quiet games, video games, all the things, very durable things in there.
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: So know the audience you're trying to reach and create the environment to fit them.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: One last thing I would like to add, for the same reason why you update the aesthetics is the same reason why pastors, youth pastors, update the application of messages, the application of messages.
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: Why would you continue to use the same examples of 200 years ago, 2,000 years ago?
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: that it's like that makes no sense to me, right, but when you put it in the context of this is what it is for your life.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: Now it hits home.
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: Now I understand and I can walk away with that.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: Instead of talking about idol worship, a junior, junior high, or maybe you talk about a golden calf, they're going to be like what?
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: Like what is it?
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: That means nothing to me.
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: But when you say, oh, idolizing your phone or idolizing, anything you put, yeah it all of a sudden becomes, and that's for adults and kids.
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: So it's not just like, no, like the Bible stops here in this.
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: Here in this, you know 1990s and that's as far as it goes, and so our aesthetic stops there, our messages stop there and that's the only you know.
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: That's, that's it from here on out.
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: No, we obviously you update things and make it so you'll understand it jesus was definitely very culturally relevant, like everything he said, the audience he was speaking to, and it's relevant for us today.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: Scripture is always relevant, but the examples he gave right were very specific to those specific for the day, you know of like the way that they lived, like, uh, don't be unequally yoked, you know that thing.
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: And they knew exactly what he was talking about.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: We kind of have to go back in time and be like so, here's how that worked and here's what jesus was saying.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: But to his audience it was like, yeah, duh, I know exactly what it means to be unequally yoked.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: And Jesus, if he had come 2000 years before that, maybe he would have used different illustrations to communicate the same truth.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: But he would have used illustrations probably that fit that culture, that they would be like ah, absolutely, now they're timeless because we can go back and say, here's what he meant.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: But yeah, like how many people like if you just said, hey, don't be unequally yoked with no biblical knowledge or context?
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: I would immediately think eggs, and they'd be like I don't know what that means I don't like eggs.
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: No, thank you, I don't eat eggs, so I guess this isn't for me.
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so making sure we're putting it being culturally relevant.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: And then number four people.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: Why is my youth group shrinking?
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: Because people aren't growing duh, uh no, but really like, if people aren't growing, meaning like you see what I did there why are we shrinking?
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: Because we're not growing.
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: I've just been so funny this whole time and I have a headache.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: I've done it all while having a headache.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: You would never know, would you?
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: You would never know.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: Are you giving like we talked about?
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: People grow through serving.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: So are you giving enough vibrant opportunities to serve Like don't give like.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: Well, you can stack chairs after service if you'd like.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: It's like oh, you can stack chairs after service if you'd like.
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: It's like, oh, how vibrant.
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: But things that really fit people's gifts and passions and where they're working with others, giving people solo serving projects are fine.
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: A lot of introverts maybe are like yeah, just leave me alone, Put me in the kitchen brewing coffee.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: But we need to make sure there is a lot of vibrant opportunities for people to serve in our church.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: That's how they grow.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: Also, making sure your teaching is not below the level of your students.
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: I would even argue you want to make sure you're not hitting them exactly where they're at.
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: You want to go like, maybe boop boop, like one or two degrees to challenge them.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: Yes, higher than what you think they can handle.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: So, like, age appropriate, but then, like with a major challenge, because that was going to be my other thing is they might not be growing because you've permitted them to stay very comfortable like there's no call to action, there's's no gut punch, there's no challenge.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: And if people just come every week and they're like, well, I guess I'm okay, like what's the point of keep coming to church?
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: Like, especially if you have a lot of longtime Christians in your church, like it can become stagnantville because everyone just feels like, well, I already don't struggle with the big sins that I think are big sins, so I already pretty much know everything about the Bible.
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: But you know, I feel like Tim Keller if you listen to his sermons.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: He is such a genius at this of like he sets you up on a message and you're like, uh-huh, I know Whoa.
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: And then it like comes in.
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: You're like, uh-huh, I know Whoa.
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: And then it comes in.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: You're like, oh my gosh, how did he know?
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: And he just knocks the wind out of you.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: And I keep coming back for more because I'm like, yes, I want someone to challenge me, I want someone to shake me up, I want someone to get me out of my complacency and my comfort and my going through the motions Christianity.
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: I want somebody to really rattle my cage a little bit and call me to action, call me to something higher and something different.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: So if your teaching is just kind of flatlining and everyone's just like leaves.
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: I guess it was a good reminder, you know.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: But like, where are you challenging people to grow?
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: Good reminder, you know.
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: But like, where are you challenging people to grow?
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: Is your teaching dynamic Meaning?
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: Are you bringing in different ways and illustrations for them to understand what you're saying?
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: Is it a good timed message?
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: You're not going too long, are you?
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: And then really you know, if you're trying to teach to too many different ages at the same time, if you're trying to teach to too many different ages at the same time, it's going to lose its dynamic quality for sure.
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: No-transcript.
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: I can talk to junior hires about dating the way I would talk to junior hires about dating, the way I would talk to high schoolers.
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: I mean, I've taught the same message.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: Like I got asked a few times to speak at our high school ministry and I'll take a junior high message and all the things I left out to the junior hires I put in for the high schoolers because I'm like this is stuff you guys need to know, because this is what you are confronted with, or your friends or whatever junior high.
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: It would be like oh, like you're probably a couple of years off from that.
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: So if you're trying to teach like too many age groups in one room, that could be why your youth group is shrinking, because the the you're casting it too wide and you're losing people.
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: If you highlight everything, you highlight nothing.
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: If you're trying to reach everybody you're probably reaching nobody a junior high message to high schoolers and you're expecting them to have the spiritual maturity to like all right now digest it how you need it it's like they're kids, like you can't really expect them.
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: Maybe an adult could do that.
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: Once in a while I was like, okay, that was kind of shallow, but you know, if I took that deeper, here's what I could walk away with high schoolers and that maybe one or two.
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: I feel like we have to be very cautious of like, like you said that highlighting everything and then you highlight nothing.
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: I think that's a great way to put it.
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: So, taking a hard look at our teaching, is that why it's shrinking?
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: No one's getting fed, no one's growing, no one's being challenged?
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: No one leaves feeling like, whoa, I've got to change some stuff.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: Or does everyone just leave feeling like, well, I was comfortable when I got here and I'm comfortable when I left.
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: My goal during my teaching is at least I want you to feel uncomfortable, at least at one point.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: You know, I don't think Jesus's goal through his teaching was to make anybody comfortable.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: I mean there was some pretty heavy, hard hitting things all wrapped with love, mercy and all of that.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: But I mean Jesus was like, oh, you know our pastor Larry.
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: He always says, come as you are for, but for God's sake, don't stay that way, you know.
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: And it's like, yeah, we want students to know come as you are, jesus loves you as you are, but let's not stay as we are Like, let's keep following him.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: And you know, like how Paul says follow me as I follow Christ.
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: Like every day, like getting closer and closer and closer to what?
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: The image of Jesus, I don't know.
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: It's definitely some things to think about.
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: Hopefully something stuck out as, like, dang, we can make that change this weekend or start working in that direction.
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, if you like this episode, make sure you hit that like and subscribe button.
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: And if you want to go a little bit deeper, we did do a couple episodes about how to increase and challenge your students in sermon, so make sure you check that out.
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: It'll be linked below whether you're watching on YouTube or listening on a podcast player, so make sure you check that out.
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: Right now we're gonna do a question of the day and this is for all of you all, specifically on YouTube.
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: If you're listening on a podcast, jump over on YouTube and answer this.
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: But how do you spell the word?
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: Okay?
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: Do you put capital O, capital K, capital O, lowercase K, capital O, dot, k, dot or?
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: okay, okay.
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: What are you?
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: Capital O capital K.
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: Okay, no periods, though no, no because you text it so often like I'm really going to switch to the other keyboard to get the period, the other keyboard, you know like where you push that button, and then the other thing.
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: I don't want to do that Just okay, I spell it out.
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: O-k-a-y.
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah or H depending on how you pronounce it.
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I spell the whole thing out.
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: That's weird, put in the comment section below.
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: I mean cool, good for you but also, I don't know anyone else has any ideas.
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: I don't know if I've ever noticed that in your text messages check them out.
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: I spell the whole thing.
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: Maybe I should read your text, yep all right, we're gonna do a community comment of the day.
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: This comes from Anthony Hernandez, who says I was a youth pastor 15 to 17 years ago, pre-marriage and pre-kids.
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: Finally got back into it last week.
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: Now married almost 14 years and five daughters deep, including two in the youth group.
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: This channel would have been so dope back in the day, but glad I found it today because it's a godsend, thank you.
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: I thought he was going to say two in utero.
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: I'm like oh twins, congratulations hey, anthony, thank you so much.
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: We appreciate your comment and thank you guys for watching and listening and we'll see you next time In youth group.
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: Wee, you mean, I can get you me.
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: We really appreciate, we really appreciate it, thank you, we, we, and today we're going to talk about how a lot of I don't know.