Latest / HOTLCAST / Why Youth Ministry Changes Everything — Faith, Fun, and Real Community

Transcript

Why Youth Ministry Changes Everything — Faith, Fun, and Real Community · HOTLCAST

0:03
SPEAKER_04: Hey, welcome back to the Hopcast.
0:05
SPEAKER_04: Uh this is Pastor Cody Moorhead, and I'm here joined by Harvard and Ryan.
0:11
SPEAKER_04: That's right.
0:11
SPEAKER_04: We're very excited.
0:12
SPEAKER_04: Oh, sorry.
0:14
SPEAKER_03: Oh yeah.
0:14
SPEAKER_03: I'm in the corner.
0:15
SPEAKER_03: So you're yeah.
0:18
SPEAKER_03: Face the corner now.
0:19
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
0:25
SPEAKER_04: We were joking that we're going to make this a youth ministry slash roasting mark podcast.
0:31
SPEAKER_04: We're still the verdict's still out on whether or not we're going to do that.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: Weren't you just going to make another podcast that was just Roasting Mark for the first time?
0:37
SPEAKER_04: We've got enough material for at least a whole season of podcasts.
0:39
SPEAKER_04: Probably.
0:40
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
0:41
SPEAKER_04: But no, we're going to talk about youth ministry today.
0:43
SPEAKER_04: And I think I think it's actually really cool because there's so much happening for our students right now.
0:50
SPEAKER_04: And it's unique because uh they're in a season life where they're getting ready for summer, and all the things that we have leading up to summer uh kind of set the stage for our summers.
0:59
SPEAKER_04: Our summers are kind of blockbusters.
1:01
SPEAKER_04: So, Carver, talk about some of the things that you're excited for for summer, the summer calendar that's coming out.
1:06
SPEAKER_04: There's a big one.
1:07
SPEAKER_04: There's a big one that we love every year.
1:09
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
1:09
SPEAKER_01: The Canterbury Medieval Festival.
1:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:12
SPEAKER_01: That one is going to be so much fun.
1:14
SPEAKER_01: I can't wait.
1:14
SPEAKER_01: So we we dress up in like night costumes and we go and we watch knights beat each other.
1:19
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
1:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's great.
1:20
SPEAKER_01: And they sell pickles.
1:21
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
1:21
SPEAKER_01: That's cool too.
1:22
SPEAKER_04: I take extra cash because you can pay five dollars and have them arrest somebody in your party.
1:29
SPEAKER_04: And last year we did that to Joe and uh and Maddox, and it was the best part of the day.
1:35
SPEAKER_04: It was the I honestly, it was the highlight.
1:37
SPEAKER_01: They sat in a jail cell for like 10 minutes and it was great.
1:39
SPEAKER_01: We just sat there and stared at them.
1:42
SPEAKER_04: You could pay their butt and we're like, no, we're good.
1:44
SPEAKER_01: And then they took them out and we got pictures of them like pretending to execute them.
1:47
SPEAKER_01: It was great.
1:47
SPEAKER_04: We did, yeah, absolutely.
1:49
SPEAKER_04: And like uh the thing that we liked, I think we liked the food.
1:52
SPEAKER_04: The food is good too.
1:53
SPEAKER_04: Because it's just a big old turkey leg and it's awesome.
1:56
SPEAKER_01: So but Maddox tried to dig out with a spoon.
1:59
SPEAKER_01: He didn't get very far.
2:00
SPEAKER_04: No, he didn't.
2:01
SPEAKER_04: So he didn't.
2:02
SPEAKER_04: So no, but we really we really had a good time with that.
2:04
SPEAKER_04: But there's also some amazing things that are coming up, you know, June, July, August, and September, you know, when we talk about like what we're doing.
2:11
SPEAKER_04: And one huge thing is our camps.
2:14
SPEAKER_04: Like, if if there's one thing that I as a youth pastor believe, and I'm not like I know every other youth pastor, every family's had a different experience, but I would say this if there's one thing that I could push as a genuinely life-changing experience for students, it's camp.
2:30
SPEAKER_04: Like camp, we we used to tell people this like for in a given year, a youth pastor has between 35 and 52 hours with a student.
2:39
SPEAKER_04: Like if they come to everything on a Sunday night, if they come to weekend retreats, whatever, like you have a little bit more, a little bit less, but on average, it's like 30 to 50.
2:47
SPEAKER_04: Families have 3,000 to 5,000 hours of influence in their in their in their child's life.
2:53
SPEAKER_04: If you add a week of camp, if you j if that's all you do, you add a week of camp, you quintuple the amount of influence you have in a kid's life, hours wise.
3:03
SPEAKER_04: And it's amazing because you just you you're there with them, you're there with them from sunup to sundown, and it's this incredible experience.
3:11
SPEAKER_04: And like I I it's it's time away where they're around people who love the Lord who are trying to push them to engage in their faith in a way that's different, that's uncomfortable, that is real and raw, and we just we just watch kids go and they go, like, this is the most amazing thing.
3:27
SPEAKER_04: Like for me, for my personal testimony, like you know this, like camp is a humongous part of my personal testimony because that's where I met your dad.
3:34
SPEAKER_04: And like because of camp, I am still 20 25 years later, you know, 20 24, 20 25 years later, still doing ministry with your dad and still here at church because of camp.
3:49
SPEAKER_04: So, like if you think I'm just kidding or blowing smoke, like this is a real thing for me.
3:55
SPEAKER_04: So I think camp is really, really amazing.
3:57
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, yeah, I agree.
3:59
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
4:00
SPEAKER_04: So, Ryan, you have a middle school in our program.
4:03
SPEAKER_04: This is true, yes.
4:05
SPEAKER_03: This is so true.
4:06
SPEAKER_04: You actually have two middle schoolers in our program.
4:08
SPEAKER_04: That is also true.
4:09
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so what are what are some of the things that they're excited about?
4:13
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, what's interesting with my my two older ones, I don't know, because every time they do something, it's the most amazing experience ever.
4:21
SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, they went to camp and they're like, oh, this is the most amazing thing I've ever done in my life.
4:25
SPEAKER_02: And then they went to Viking games and they're like, oh, this is the most amazing thing I've ever done in my life.
4:29
SPEAKER_02: Then went to winter winter winter uh brain freeze or whatever.
4:32
SPEAKER_02: It's like, oh, it's the most amazing thing.
4:33
SPEAKER_02: Then they like Joe just the other day when he went and played cards with with Carver and Kyle and those guys, he's like, Oh, this is the best day of my life, dad.
4:41
SPEAKER_01: Like, he told me he's like, that's a day I'll never forget.
4:43
SPEAKER_04: I'm like, okay, we just played cards, that's awesome.
4:46
SPEAKER_04: But like, I do think it's great.
4:48
SPEAKER_04: I think I don't think that people always realize like they the kids, middle school, high school are at an age where like every experience has the opportunity to completely alter their life.
4:59
SPEAKER_04: Like, it's not a small thing.
5:01
SPEAKER_04: Like when he says like this is the best day of my life, this is amazing.
5:03
SPEAKER_04: Like, what he's saying is like each of these experiences like brings me to a place where I'm just so happy and elated and full of joy that like this is the life that I get to be a part of, and like that's why student ministry, especially at our church, is such an important thing, it's such an important facet of who we are.
5:22
SPEAKER_04: I mean, this past Sunday, NGEN, our next in ministry worship team, led worship on Sunday morning, and our people loved it.
5:31
SPEAKER_04: Like they were they were into it, they were excited to see students on stage, and like, you know, we have some really, really talented kids on our pr in our program, but like they were just excited to see them, and you know, I when I think about it, it's like that's the kind of church that we've always wanted to have.
5:47
SPEAKER_04: That's the kind of church we've wanted to build.
5:49
SPEAKER_04: One where students feel like this is not just like on youth nights in Lodge, like this is actually our church on Sunday mornings, too.
5:56
SPEAKER_04: And I think that's a really cool thing.
5:58
SPEAKER_04: So yeah.
5:59
SPEAKER_04: So Carver, you've been doing uh we're coming up on a year that you've been just over a year.
6:05
SPEAKER_04: Just over a year that you that you've been a part of really the leadership of the Lodge.
6:10
SPEAKER_04: So tell me, what are some things that you've learned about youth ministry, the Lodge in general?
6:15
SPEAKER_04: What are some things that like you'd want our church to know about why youth ministry is so important?
6:21
SPEAKER_01: Um, well, first, um Baja Blast is fuels anything you do in youth ministry.
6:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
6:26
SPEAKER_01: So you can get kids to do about anything for a can of Baja Blast.
6:29
SPEAKER_01: It's true.
6:29
SPEAKER_01: So that's that's super critical and super important.
6:32
SPEAKER_01: But also just that the kids just they're like right now, we're at a place where the kids just want to be together and spend time together, really in whatever we do.
6:40
SPEAKER_01: As simple as playing cards, simple as hanging out or just going to sheets.
6:44
SPEAKER_01: Going to sheets.
6:44
SPEAKER_01: We spent an hour and a half at Sheets.
6:46
SPEAKER_01: Best event ever.
6:47
SPEAKER_01: Not we took 19 stations.
6:48
SPEAKER_04: It's a gas station, just so everyone knows.
6:50
SPEAKER_01: But we just spent an hour and a half just sitting around talking, making videos, laughing, and just having a good time.
6:54
SPEAKER_01: And it was like they just want to spend time together.
6:56
SPEAKER_01: Like they asked us on the car right back, they're like, When are we doing this again?
6:59
SPEAKER_01: When are we doing this?
6:59
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, it's just a gas station, but it's awesome.
7:02
SPEAKER_01: And it was just they just they just crave for that community and spending time together in a godly community.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: And I think just creating those moments and curating events around that is so crucial for their development.
7:12
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, and I you know, from a dad perspective, right?
7:15
SPEAKER_02: You know, sitting on the other side of it, I notice like they just get so excited about it, right?
7:20
SPEAKER_02: Like, and and how I have it is it's them connecting with God, right?
7:25
SPEAKER_02: Because though the my kids go to public school and and you know, so I hear what goes on.
7:29
SPEAKER_02: The world is kind of kind of lost and broken.
7:32
SPEAKER_02: And I know from talking to my kids when they go to youth groups and they go to these events, and they're my kids spend a lot of time hanging out with Carver, and they're the the the conversations are amazing, and there's banter, but nobody's attacking each other's person, nobody's hurting anybody's feelings.
7:49
SPEAKER_02: And the moment somebody feels like their feelings are hurt, it's like, oh no, no, that's not what we're all about here.
7:54
SPEAKER_02: It's just a I don't know, I mean, for lack of a better term, I think it's just a it's a beautiful thing, and it's it's a it's such a valuable thing from a dad, from a dad perspective with teenagers, you know.
8:07
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and I I mean that that community, we cannot undersell how important a godly community is in the life of a develop of a developing student.
8:18
SPEAKER_04: Like a developing teenager needs to have godly community, it's almost it's almost the most vital thing for them to have because it teaches them how to interact with the body of Christ.
8:31
SPEAKER_04: It helps them understand their identity is a is not the world, it's actually part of something else, like you're part of something bigger, and it gives them a place and a purpose to live out their faith in a way that honestly I I know there's adults that are jealous of the kind of faith that students have.
8:48
SPEAKER_04: And like, and I don't mean that like I like there's some you know, it's it's not like students are better or like, but if we have the influence and we can start to shape lives at this age, then not only do we help them avoid some of the heartache, some of the trouble, some of the nonsense that goes with life, but we also are at a place where we can spear them in the right direction when it comes to faith and the decision they're making that will shape the rest of their life.
9:14
SPEAKER_04: I actually was thinking about this.
9:15
SPEAKER_04: I I um and I don't mean to offend any parents, but I'm just gonna I'm gonna speak the thanks for that disclaimer.
9:21
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, but I'm gonna go from the heart on this one.
9:25
SPEAKER_04: Like I have over the course of 16 years in youth ministry, have heard parents over and over again, I can't get them to come, they don't want to be there, whatever.
9:35
SPEAKER_04: And I I think to myself in the back of my head, like it was never an option for me.
9:40
SPEAKER_04: Like my mom was like, you're going.
9:43
SPEAKER_04: Like, like, and and I even if I would have fought it, and I know friends who like who their parents made them go, and the fear I know, and I get this, the fear that parents have is that your kids are gonna resent it because you got dragged to these boring services with your parents, and so you think, I don't want to drag my kid to this, like I don't want them to resent this or make them feel like I forced faith on them.
10:04
SPEAKER_04: No, but you are like it's so vital to them that it's like you you go to the doctor and they say, Hey, they need this surgery or they're gonna die.
10:13
SPEAKER_04: And you go, Well, let me ask them what they think, right?
10:16
SPEAKER_04: Like, no, like you you you need that community that's so vital.
10:20
SPEAKER_04: And so, like, my I guess my challenge always to families is like don't you don't like your kid doesn't need to have an option whether or not they go, like they need to be told this is how we do things.
10:32
SPEAKER_04: Like, if you really want your kid, like I'll tell you, it is a light, it is a life changer.
10:36
SPEAKER_04: And I will I I will say this too.
10:38
SPEAKER_04: I have a feeling when you start sending them and making them go regularly, even if they didn't like it at first, eventually it's gonna be it's just gonna become something they beg to go to.
10:49
SPEAKER_04: Because I cannot tell you how many times parents have done that in my many, many years of youth ministry, almost two decades, where I have been talking to parents and they go, I don't want to, I don't want to make them.
11:01
SPEAKER_04: And I was like, Well, here's the deal, you gotta make them because like if you let if you leave the decision up to them, they'll do whatever they want.
11:06
SPEAKER_04: They're gonna like why wouldn't they?
11:08
SPEAKER_04: We always choose the things when we're left to our own devices.
11:11
SPEAKER_04: We always choose the things that aren't good for us.
11:13
SPEAKER_04: We just are right.
11:14
SPEAKER_04: So, like, why would your student be any different?
11:16
SPEAKER_04: An underdeveloped adult.
11:18
SPEAKER_04: Like, why would they be any different?
11:20
SPEAKER_04: So you have to make them go, like make them be a part of something that's bigger than themselves and commit to it and tell them, like, you're going.
11:27
SPEAKER_04: And I I guarantee you, it's going to change the way that they see church because they're good.
11:32
SPEAKER_04: The first time where they go and they go, Man, that was fun.
11:35
SPEAKER_04: It's gonna completely alter their personality and who they are.
11:39
SPEAKER_04: And like parents all the time are like, Well, can you fix them?
11:42
SPEAKER_04: Well, I didn't break them.
11:43
SPEAKER_04: So, like, you know, like I didn't do the breaking, like, neither did you, like, that's just sin.
11:48
SPEAKER_04: That's what happens.
11:49
SPEAKER_04: But if you don't put them in situations where they have to be engaged in relationships with other Christians and followers of Christ, then like that good character is gonna be affected by the world, and it's no longer gonna be good.
12:03
SPEAKER_04: And so, like, that's that's the that's the goal, I think, for families.
12:07
SPEAKER_04: Does that make sense?
12:08
SPEAKER_02: No, I I I think I'm with you, man.
12:09
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I I understand that I can't keep my kids in a bubble their whole life, and so I have to send them out to the world.
12:15
SPEAKER_02: I mean, and that's the the beauty part, and then you such a unique thing about I think what we do here is I I send them out in the world, but then they're still in a super controlled environment, right?
12:26
SPEAKER_02: Because anybody that's going to be talking to them or giving them any kind of advice, I know they're the same people I would go to for advice.
12:34
SPEAKER_02: You know, I mean, I would run by my stuff by them.
12:36
SPEAKER_02: And so, and when I asked my boy, I'm like, okay, who, you know, if I'm not around and you got a major problem, like who would you talk to?
12:43
SPEAKER_02: Kyle, who, who else?
12:45
SPEAKER_02: Matt, who else, Carver?
12:47
SPEAKER_02: Who else?
12:47
SPEAKER_02: Cody?
12:48
SPEAKER_02: You know, I mean, he just runs, who else, Mark?
12:50
SPEAKER_02: He just runs runs down the list of everybody that is all the people that I would go and talk to if I had a major problem.
12:56
SPEAKER_02: So I'm like, that's solid, right?
12:58
SPEAKER_02: And and there's something special to to say that they to create that space in which these kids not only are they having fun, they have so much fun, they also feel safe and connected.
13:09
SPEAKER_04: We we talk about fun all the time.
13:11
SPEAKER_04: Like fun is such and I know, I know this.
13:14
SPEAKER_04: I know that the I know the pushback we get from people.
13:17
SPEAKER_04: Is all you do is talk about fun.
13:18
SPEAKER_04: You fun, fun, fun.
13:20
SPEAKER_04: I was like, that that's there's more to faith than fun.
13:22
SPEAKER_04: And I agree, like I am not discounting that.
13:25
SPEAKER_04: There's so much more to faith than just having fun.
13:27
SPEAKER_04: There's sorrow and there's there's uh grief and there's anger and there's processing and there's questioning and there's doubt.
13:35
SPEAKER_04: But if the reason that fun is the reason what we build around is because that fun over time is what builds lasting relationships.
13:45
SPEAKER_04: And if you don't have lasting relationships that are connected to Jesus Christ, then when you go through the grief and the heartache and the trouble and the anger and the doubt, what you're gonna do is isolate.
13:57
SPEAKER_04: And the people who you're supposed to have the best relationships with, you're gonna, you're gonna reject and be away from.
14:03
SPEAKER_04: When you're in relationship with people, the chances that when you go through those things that you stay steadfast and you're brought back to your faith are much higher.
14:11
SPEAKER_04: I mean, there's a whole group of people right now that this whole deconstruction movement, right, in ex-vangelicals.
14:17
SPEAKER_04: Like, this is the whole thing that's happened in in churches right now.
14:19
SPEAKER_04: You see it all over TikTok, you see it also all over social media.
14:22
SPEAKER_04: I was in church and this happened and I left.
14:24
SPEAKER_04: And it's like, and I am just gonna be honest with you, every time I hear that, in the back of my mind, I go, that person didn't have close community.
14:32
SPEAKER_04: Like, I I might be right or wrong.
14:34
SPEAKER_04: I I'm complete like you know, I'm a human being, but that's exactly what I think.
14:38
SPEAKER_04: I think if that person had good community, like actual, genuine relationships with other followers of Christ, that questioning deconstruction of faith, what do I believe, what do I need to believe, that all happened in a vacuum where they made their own assessments instead of being in relationship with people who love them enough to be honest with them.
14:59
SPEAKER_04: And I think that's why when we talk about fun in youth ministry, fun is the cornerstone of any good, deep, lasting relationship.
15:08
SPEAKER_04: And fun happens before truth.
15:10
SPEAKER_04: Because you can't expect to drop truth bombs on people without having a relationship that's built with fun first.
15:16
SPEAKER_04: Right?
15:17
SPEAKER_04: Like you just that's just how it works, especially with students, especially with students.
15:22
SPEAKER_04: So I don't know if that makes sense.
15:23
SPEAKER_04: So but yeah.
15:26
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean it makes sense.
15:27
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I kind of hear that as like just creating that safe space, right?
15:30
SPEAKER_02: Like, I mean, that's um, you know, all this work at Save Warrior, that's what we talk about, right?
15:35
SPEAKER_02: Creating a container, right?
15:36
SPEAKER_02: It's a container, it's a it's a metaphorical container in which you know that the people in this container only want for you and and want nothing from you.
15:46
SPEAKER_02: And when you have that, you're able to create enough bumpers in life where it it doesn't matter when the hard time comes, it's like if if I'm doing life with with my people, then I'm gonna see somebody every day and and and they're gonna pick up on that.
16:01
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right.
16:02
SPEAKER_02: And I'm not gonna be able to isolate.
16:04
SPEAKER_02: I don't know, Mark, what do you think?
16:05
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
16:06
SPEAKER_00: Everybody is willing to tell you what they think is the right choice, but not many people are willing to show you that they care enough to point you in the right direction, and that you matter enough that it's for you, not for them, not so that they can feel good about what they told you, but it's genuinely to build you up.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: And that's why you did it.
16:23
SPEAKER_00: That's what it that's what it did to me when I was in youth group with Cody, and he was my youth pastor, and he spent time with me showing me that he wasn't just this person that's like, I'm gonna tell you what to do, and you better do it the way I tell you to do it.
16:35
SPEAKER_00: Instead, he's like, Hey, I'm gonna spend time with you because you matter to me, and I love you, and I care about you.
16:40
SPEAKER_00: And then when he was like, here's some wisdom, it it punched heavier because somebody proved to me that I mattered.
16:47
SPEAKER_00: Not that their opinion did, but that I did.
16:50
SPEAKER_00: And that's why I love the way we do it.
16:52
SPEAKER_00: Like people, like that we focus on fun, spending time with people, because that's what you would do in your life with the relationship of people that you care about anyway.
17:01
SPEAKER_00: You would spend time with them doing fun things, doing things that matter to you, enjoying the time you have with them so that you just you get closer.
17:10
SPEAKER_00: That's that's what the purpose of it is.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: And so I love how we do it, I love the reason why we do it, I love the purpose of it because it allows us, it allows me to now have those same opportunities Cody had with me to talk with students to have a conversation.
17:23
SPEAKER_00: Heck, I have a Bible study that's every Monday afternoon, but the school we do it at had their spring break, and so the students were like, Can we do it like still?
17:31
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, sure.
17:33
SPEAKER_00: So we went to Cascades in a Bible study and then played pickleball afterwards, and they laughed at me because to uh Chet, Chet and I would do a ballerina spin every time we switched sides for the pickleball.
17:42
SPEAKER_00: So we went we went to work as we as we switch just goofy stuff that we all were laughing at, and it's weird.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: But for them, it shows I'm like, hey, I care enough to invest time in you.
17:54
SPEAKER_00: You are someone that's important to me that I see having value.
17:58
SPEAKER_00: And so when I have conversations and try to give wisdom and give guidance, they have that support already of no, he's not just saying it to say it, he's saying it because I matter.
18:10
SPEAKER_04: So I mean that's I mean you're dead on.
18:14
SPEAKER_04: Like when you you care about people, you care about what they care about.
18:18
SPEAKER_04: And like I think this there's so much inform you know this.
18:24
SPEAKER_04: Like, there's so much so many podcasts in youth ministry, YouTube channels, resources, everybody, all these pastors telling you how to do youth ministry, this is where it is, this right.
18:36
SPEAKER_04: And then like I just see youth pastors that get stuck in the paralysis of analysis.
18:40
SPEAKER_04: It's like there's this mountain of information about like okay, and it's I see it with parents too.
18:46
SPEAKER_04: Oh, I don't even know where to start with my kid.
18:47
SPEAKER_04: Well, like you start in the same place anybody would ever start in any relationship.
18:52
SPEAKER_04: It's just a teenager, like you you just go do things you like and invite them to join you.
18:58
SPEAKER_04: That's why we went to Sheets.
18:59
SPEAKER_04: Like, Carver loves going to Sheets, like it so we did that, like, and they all joined because they love Carver and they want to go do something fun together, right?
19:10
SPEAKER_04: And that is a relationship building experience.
19:11
SPEAKER_04: It's like, okay, now we understand all every time Carver talks about Sheets now, all those 19 kids that go go, oh my gosh, I was there.
19:19
SPEAKER_04: Like, and they feel like they're part of this inside joke, you know what I mean?
19:23
SPEAKER_04: Like that, oh, we're part of this inside thing, like we're you know, and it's like, but then the kids who aren't who didn't weren't able to go, or you know, they're like, okay, I you know, I want this, I want this experience, I want to have this kind of and it it becomes more important for them to build relationship and get in and get involved and like do things.
19:40
SPEAKER_04: And it's like it, it's not it's not rocket science.
19:44
SPEAKER_04: It's it really is just go and live life and make sure that that the students that are part of what we're doing are part of our life so they can see that we're the same everywhere, that we don't just play church on Sunday, that we don't just like we don't just show up in our like lodge gear and go look this is great, and then we're a completely different person outside of that.
20:04
SPEAKER_04: We're the same person everywhere, and I think that is that that cornerstone, you know, that that's what we build off of.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: And I mean that's like that's what the early church did.
20:13
SPEAKER_00: They did life together.
20:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so it's it's basically shown for us all the way back then in a different way for the culture that they had, it's the way they did it, but they did life together, they spent time with one another.
20:27
SPEAKER_00: Their life was hey, I'm gonna do this thing with you because we're both on the same page, we both love Jesus, and let's have let's do this thing together.
20:35
SPEAKER_00: And that it's it's technically simple, yeah, but we're really good at overcomplicating things, so that's true.
20:42
SPEAKER_04: I I just want to like to close, I'm gonna actually ask you guys something.
20:45
SPEAKER_04: So I'll I'll start and then I'm gonna ask you guys to kind of answer this.
20:48
SPEAKER_04: But like for me as a youth pastor, I've had so many years of doing this.
20:52
SPEAKER_04: I've had so much life change, watched God do so much life change in kids.
20:56
SPEAKER_04: Um, and it's just changed my perspective.
20:59
SPEAKER_04: And every time I just sit and think about it, I can think of like a dozen different students that I'm excited about what God's doing in their life and where they've come from to where they're at now.
21:09
SPEAKER_04: And so, like, I'm just gonna I I I would ask, like, who's that?
21:13
SPEAKER_04: What's what's one story that you're excited about right now, and somebody that you've watched kind of grow?
21:18
SPEAKER_04: And like, so get prepared for that.
21:20
SPEAKER_04: I'm gonna start because I have the mic.
21:23
SPEAKER_04: And uh I you guys can think about that.
21:26
SPEAKER_04: But I want uh my for me, one one kid who's uh there's so many, and this isn't discounting any of the kids that are having life change and doing amazing things, but I think it's important for you as the listener, for the people who are on the podcast, to hear some of the names of the kids who are we're watching just have this incredible life change and success and really get excited about youth ministry.
21:47
SPEAKER_04: And so these are kind of like God sightings.
21:48
SPEAKER_04: We call that them God sightings at camp, right?
21:51
SPEAKER_04: Where we're like, hey, God's doing something amazing.
21:53
SPEAKER_04: And so, like, um, I'll just say the Thursday night Bible study is incredible, like Judah Balmas.
22:00
SPEAKER_04: Been running that with Keegan Rates, and there's a whole bunch of people.
22:03
SPEAKER_04: Michaela Smith's there, uh Liana Schultz is there, um, Nick Newman is there.
22:09
SPEAKER_04: Like they're they're just kids who are getting excited about what God's doing, and they've taken it upon themselves to do this Bible study.
22:16
SPEAKER_04: And so, like, being able to watch them and watch how they've how that's changed the way they uh perceive things since they started till now has been amazing.
22:25
SPEAKER_04: And so big shout out to them.
22:27
SPEAKER_04: So that's my that's my big God-siding win.
22:29
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I know.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: I think about Eli.
22:33
SPEAKER_00: Uh Eli's really been working hard to grow and to do better and to live for Christ and to be selfless and to make decisions that he wants to be proud of when he grows up.
22:44
SPEAKER_00: And so it's been really cool to see Shannon's been having conversations with me.
22:48
SPEAKER_00: She's like, I don't know what you said to him today, but like he did this really awesome thing that like middle schoolers don't normally do.
22:57
SPEAKER_00: Like he was really mature about it.
22:58
SPEAKER_00: Whether it was like he's like, I'm gonna get rid of my VR, and she's like, What?
23:03
SPEAKER_00: You're you wanna you wanna you're you're you don't want to play it?
23:07
SPEAKER_00: He's like, No, I want I wanna I wanna be good.
23:09
SPEAKER_00: And so like like seeing the maturity in that and watching his growth, because I know in the summer, especially like when he went to camp this past summer is when it really kind of hit him in his heart.
23:19
SPEAKER_00: I we started I noticed that like I watched it click, and ever since then he's been really asking questions, try to figure it out.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: I give him rides to the Jackson campus for youth group, and he's always my last one to drop off.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: So he we always get to have the deep conversations from the Kerrick and Carver's house back to Eli's, and like he's asking stuff, and I'm like, and what I'm doing is I'm just like, hey, this is what my experience was to something that's relevant to you, and I wish I would have done this instead, or I'm glad I did this.
23:47
SPEAKER_00: And so it's it's cool to see like Eli, especially be in that place of hunger in his faith and trying to grow and actually doing it.
23:57
SPEAKER_00: It's it's been cool to hear when Shannon's like, he did this.
23:59
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, Good job, Eli.
24:01
SPEAKER_00: Proud of you, buddy.
24:04
SPEAKER_01: Um, mine's gonna be Grayson, just seeing how he's developed and like how he started he just kind of started coming to you through because I invited him on a whim.
24:11
SPEAKER_01: Like, just I was like, hey, it'd be really fun if you came.
24:14
SPEAKER_01: And then he kind of like he just kind of was coming to play basketball.
24:16
SPEAKER_01: You you could tell.
24:17
SPEAKER_01: But like over time he's coming and he's he's really getting involved and he's developing friendships, and he's coming for more than just basketball, which is just great to see that that the progress that's been happening there.
24:29
SPEAKER_00: He's learning tech too.
24:30
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's exciting, yeah.
24:33
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so me.
24:34
SPEAKER_02: Uh well, this is interesting for me because I'm sitting here with like youth pastor, youth pastor, youth, youth pastor.
24:40
SPEAKER_02: So um I'm not a youth pastor.
24:42
SPEAKER_02: It's not anything that I have any kind of wheelhouse in, but I do have lots of kids.
24:46
SPEAKER_04: But you're a dad pastor, yeah.
24:47
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I know.
24:47
SPEAKER_02: I'm a dad pastor, so I guess that counts too, because I I'm doing youth ministry every day at home.
24:52
SPEAKER_02: That's true.
24:52
SPEAKER_02: But uh, but no, I I I think that I can I I in my little, you know, kind of small experience with this, I I listen to you guys think, and I just think like these dudes have all poured in.
25:04
SPEAKER_02: You guys have all poured into to my kids like crazy.
25:06
SPEAKER_02: And what Joe tells me, and you'll appreciate this too, he doesn't tell me, he doesn't tell me about how they played cards or what we did at youth group or what we did here.
25:16
SPEAKER_02: You know what he talks about?
25:17
SPEAKER_02: He talks about the conversations that you have while you're driving cars.
25:21
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I was talking with Carver about this, or I was talking to Mark about this, I was talking to Cody about this, or I was talking to Andrew about this.
25:27
SPEAKER_02: That's another name I hear.
25:29
SPEAKER_02: And he'll talk about the the and he talks about real stuff, stuff with substance.
25:33
SPEAKER_02: He'll talk about the Bible, talk about about God, and he'll he'll talk about how he's having these conversations.
25:39
SPEAKER_02: So whatever you're saying, it's getting through because that's the stuff he's remembering.
25:43
SPEAKER_02: And I think that's pretty powerful.
25:45
SPEAKER_02: Because for me, a lot of times I talk a lot about that too, but I wonder if it's like you know, just spilling on the floor and you know Oh yeah.
25:52
SPEAKER_04: Kyle and I used to always say, we'll tell a kid something, and they'll go home and say, Pastor Kyle, Pastor Kyle said that.
25:58
SPEAKER_04: And their parents will be like, I've told you that a dozen times, right?
26:01
SPEAKER_04: Like there's just something to, you know, widening their circle, right?
26:06
SPEAKER_04: Their their sphere of influence, making sure that the people that you trust as a parent are part of that.
26:12
SPEAKER_04: And you know, so we we we take that, we don't take that lightly, right?
26:16
SPEAKER_04: That's an important thing for us, you know, as ministers of the gospel.
26:19
SPEAKER_04: Like, we don't take that trust that families put in us lightly.
26:22
SPEAKER_04: So yeah.
26:24
SPEAKER_04: Well, I mean, I uh we this is a little snapshot in our youth ministry.
26:28
SPEAKER_04: You want any more information?
26:29
SPEAKER_04: We have a link tree, it's link tree slash lodge students, and we're on Instagram and TikTok and Facebook, and there's all sorts of cool things going on.
26:37
SPEAKER_04: I know Carver posts a lot of our stuff in Hoddlestrong too when we post, but you can check those things out.
26:42
SPEAKER_04: Our Facebook page has tons of pictures or events that are coming up, um, and just ways that that if you if you have a student and you're watching this and they're not connected, or if you're watching and they are connected, like it's a great way to stay connected on the things that are coming up and the things that are going on, and and just keep praying for the students that we have in our area.
27:01
SPEAKER_04: We have a pretty pretty big youth group now, but there's always more kids that aren't part of what we're doing, and we are always praying that God sends us as many kids as we can possibly handle because every kid is an opportunity for life change and for a life given to Jesus Christ.
27:19
SPEAKER_04: And so that's a big deal.
27:20
SPEAKER_04: So thanks.
27:21
SPEAKER_04: This has been the Hodcast.
27:23
SPEAKER_04: Until next time, peace.