Youth Ministry
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New Kind Of Youth Ministry
$19.99Add to cartThis book guides you on the way to discovering, developing and practicing a new youth ministry design. As your youth ministry’s principal architect, you have the opportunity to realize a rhythm of disciple-making that more effectively engages youth with God, through Jesus, as they journey toward a life of continual spiritual finding and evolution. This resource will provide you with a ministry design that more influentially encourages students to live, lead, and love in the way of Jesus.
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Skits That Teach
$24.99Add to cartIf you’re looking for fun and creative ways to involve your students in learning, you can stop looking. Skits That Teach provides you and your students everything you need to act out funny and compelling skits with confidence. Search by topic or by group size to find the perfect comedic or dramatic sketch to help illustrate a point or just start a dialogue. The Skit Guys, Eddie James and Tommy Woodard, have tested these skits on teenagers around the country, and they’ve brought some of the best together for this great resource. Plus they give you everything you need for each skit-overview, characters, location, Scripture reference, props, direction pointers, and a complete script.
The Skit Guys avoid the cheesy dialogues and scenes typically found in Christian dramas and instead bring fun characters, witty dialogue, and
entertaining situations to their skits, all categorized for you by:
* Skits for Idiots (it would take an idiot not to be able to do them right!) * Monologues * Duets/Ensembles * Comedy * Drama * Scripture Readings
You will want to have this book around for those energetic, creative students who are always looking for ways to help.
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Jesus Christ For Youth Leader (Teacher’s Guide)
$10.99Add to cart26 Sessions On Christ’s Life And Teachings
Life-application Exercises
Easy-to-teach Lesson PlansAdditional Info
More than 100,000 youth have deepened their relationship with Jesus Christ through this far-reaching classic, now updated. Youth leaders and workers can give teens an opportunity to meet Jesus face to face. -
Jesus Christ For Youth Student (Student/Study Guide)
$8.99Add to cartMore than 100,000 youth have deepened their relationship with Jesus Christ through this far-reaching classic, now updated. Youth leaders and workers can give teens an opportunity to meet Jesus face to face.
The student edition gives youth a comprehensive picture of the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Its workbook format engages youth, helping them encounter Jesus as a living presence and guide for their lives and faith. -
Teenage Guys : Exploring Issues Adolescent Guys Face And Strategies To Help
$22.99Add to cartYouth workers need to fully understand the inner workings and development of adolescents in order to really meet their needs. In Teenage Guys, Dr. Steve Gerali presents the stages of development that adolescent guys go through, providing stories from his own experiences in ministry and counseling as well as practical research findings to equip youth workers (both male and female) to more effectively minister to teenage guys. With advice from counselors and veteran youth workers, you’ll find helpful suggestions on how to minister to teenage guys and their families. Each chapter includes discussion questions to help you and other youth workers process the issues your own students face and learn how you can help them and mentor them through this tumultuous time. In addition to concepts like mentoring and rites of passage, Dr. Gerali also walks readers through the seven areas of development young guys go through. You’ll understand more about: Cognitive development – Identity formation – Social development – Emotional development – Physiological development – Sexological maturation – Faith formation
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Teenage Girls : Exploring Issues Adolescent Girls Face And Strategies To He
$22.99Add to cartGirls are more than just sugar and spice. We’ve all figured that out. What we haven’t figured out completely is how they’re wired, why they do the things they do, how the world around them affects their choices and opinions, and what that means for youth ministry-until now. In Teenage Girls, you’ll find advice from counselors and veteran youth workers, along with helpful suggestions on how to minister to teenage girls. Each chapter includes discussion questions to help you and other youth workers process the issues your own students face and learn how you can help them and mentor them through this tumultuous time. In addition to the traditional issues people commonly associate with girls, such as eating disorders, self-image issues, and depression, author Ginny Olson will guide you through some of the new issues on the rise in girls’ lives. You’ll understand more about issues related to: Family – Addiction – Emotional well-being – Mental health – Physical welfare – Sexuality – Spirituality – Relationships
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Living A Life That Matters
$9.99Add to cartIf It Makes You Happy … – If It Makes You Happy … It Could Be Very Bad – Who Knew Pleasure Would Be So Disappointing? – If It Feels Good, Do It? – What Does It Mean? Fill in the blank: My life would be meaningful if _________________. If you’re observant, you’ll see all kinds of ways people are trying to fill in that blank. Some want more money, more influence, more pleasure-MORE. So, does it work? Will devouring all that the world has to offer lead to satisfaction? The book of Ecclesiastes is about by someone who tried to answer that question. Whether it was sex, drugs, money, power, food, relationships, or knowledge, King Solomon tried it all and documented what he discovered as he searched for a purpose to his life. Look Around lets you gaze over Solomon’s shoulder as he indulges every pleasure, exercises every power, and emerges with a radical conclusion about how to live. You’ll find ways that his search for meaning connects with yours, and how your story can connect with your friends’ as they seek meaning in the world.
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Ready To Go Youth Group Activities (Teacher’s Guide)
$23.99Add to cartReady-Made Event Packages
…Just Add Youth Group
FULLY LOADED
All Options, Extras & Side Items Included
These ready-made event packages are completely accessorized with everything you need to easily prepare and smoothly execute fun and instructive youth activities.You can spend less time on planning event details, and more time directly engaging your teens.
These plans cover every detail, even laying out hour-by-hour schedules for you.
Think of the convenience. Think of all the up-front prep time you can save.
The unique benefit of the Ready-To-Go series is that these activity materials go beyond merely offering ideas.
Ready to Go resources instead provide fully developed activity & event plans. These allow the youth leader to host youth events of substance & quality, with a minimal up-front time investment.
It’s like offering a baked cake instead of a cake recipe & ingredients. Or, offering a fully-assembled ready-to-use playground set…instead of loose components in a box with assembly instructions.
This book features 101 ready-to-go lessons that Youth Leaders can use in a Sunday School setting, in youth meetings, or retreats.
It also contains meeting ideas and lessons that can be utilized quickly and effectively when the need arises. Ready-to-Go Youth Group Activities includes —
Meeting starters
Short Bible studies
Test worksheets
Fliers
Parable studies with skits
Games
Small events with little or no prep time
Meeting closers
A scripture index.
All materials are reproducible.Ready-To-Go resources are equipped with event themes that target contemporary issues teens face in the real world. These relevant messages are delivered with impact, through coordinated devotional plans, discussion frameworks, and captivating activities.
All the event accessories you need, down to publicity fliers and parental forms are included.
Just add youth.
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Church And Stage
$16.95Add to cartChurch and Stage is a guide for people in churches who want to employ theater in ministry, and for theater people who want to create opportunities to work in churches. The points of contact between religion and theater are numerous, and Dean J. Seal offers guidelines for making the connection work no matter what level of experience or financial commitment a congregation brings to the task. The author, who has worked in the worlds of both church and stage, provides background on the historical and theological relationship between religion and theater. He then offers practical advice and guidelines for the use of theater in the context of ministry-from discussion groups to bibliodrama to play-going to ultimately producing a show. This book is a resource for ministers, lay leaders, youth groups, and members of the theater community who desire greater integration of faith and work.
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Daughters Of Imani Bible Studies (Student/Study Guide)
$9.99Add to cartDaughters of Imani: Christian Rites of Passage for African American Young Women by Rev. Richelle White, the creator of a comprehensive mentoring program for African American girls ages 8-18 that ran for nine years at a prominent African American church. This Planning Guide will provide step-by-step guidelines for setting up a mentoring and rites of passage program for your church. The curriculum in the Planning Guide will help you bolster self-esteem; encourage peer, family, and community interactions; explore career development; and address topics that impact the survival of the 21st century African American female. Eight multiple-session Bible lessons that focus on life concerns and feature female biblical characters are also available in Daughters of Imani Bible Study for Young Women by Rev. Richelle White and Rev. Tamara Lewis. Additionally, Daughters of Imani: Celebration of Women by Rev. Tamara Lewis lifts up the lives and contributions of eighteen historical and contemporary women. This complete package will give you everything you need to build up the faith of your church’s young women!
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Questions You Cant Ask Mama Sex
$9.99Add to cartNot the birds and the bees, guys’ plumbing vs. girls’ plumbing, how-it-all-works talk. Let’s talk about sexuality; your sexuality and the sexuality of others. Let’s talk about what is and isn’t okay to look at, do, and think about.
Questions You Can’t Ask Your Mama About Sex is exactly that – questions too uncomfortable to talk about with your parents. This collection of discussions is drawn from real questions asked of the folks at XXXchurch.com. No topic is off limits – masturbation, pre-marital sex, technical virginity, pornography, homosexuality, sex toys, sex addiction.Not for the squeamish, these issues focus on the culture and commerce of sex to tell you what God has to say about keeping your clothes on. If you have questions about “doin’ it” that are burning a hole in the back of your head (or somewhere else on your body), look no further than this book.
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Small Group Strategies
$19.99Add to cartWith Small Group Strategies, you can effectively guide students in your small group toward the most important relationship they will ever have -a lifelong relationship with Christ. Respected authors Laurie Polich and Charley Scandlyn offer 30-plus years of collective youth ministry experience to these proven ideas, which offer: a strategic approach to small group ministry, hundreds of ideas to reach students at every level, and practical applications that foster spiritual growth. Meet your students where they are in life. You have the heart, you have the vision. Here are the ideas you need to make it happen.
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More Would You Rather
$19.99Add to cartYou loved Would You Rather…? and asked for more. In the tradition of the Quick Questions line, this book offers another 465 provocative questions that will get your students laughing, debating, and thinking (and they’ll learn a ton about each other in the process). It’s amazing what can happen when you ask a silly question. Most of the time, a student’s answer has a story behind it. Explore the answers as you learn about students’ values, fears, and faith. And the book’s convenient size makes it easy to stick in your pocket, your backpack, or you car’s glove compartment. Whether you’re a veteran youth worker or new to the field, a paid professional or a volunteer, you’ll find this book an indispensable part of your ministry resource library.
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Do They Run When They See You Coming
$22.99Add to cartAcknowledgements
Foreword By Chap Clark
Chapter 1: Youth Ministry In One Word
Chapter 2: I Thought I Already Had Compassion
Looking At “the Unchurched” Through Diff Erent Eyes
Chapter 3: In The Minds Of Unchurched Students
Why They Think What They Think
Chapter 4: A Rude Awakening
How I Fi Nally Realized That “sharing My Faith” Starts With MY Faith
Chapter 5: Do They Run When They See You Coming?
How To NEVER Reach Students
Chapter 6: Reaching…Not Repelling
Developing A Relational Approach
Chapter 7: Finding Frames
Communicating In A Language They Understand
Chapter 8: Building Bridges
Moving Beyond Everyday Conversations To Sharing The Gospel
Chapter 9: Door-Opening Questions
Nothing Sparks Interest Better Than Well-placed Questions
Chapter 10: Focus On Christ (It’s More Than A Tract)
Sharing Jesus’ Story Simply, Clearly, And Memorably
Chapter 11: The Key To Follow-Up
Getting Them Plugged In
Chapter 12: Outreach In Action: What It Looks Like
Additional Info
Reaching Out to Unchurched TeenagersFive facts about the unchurched:1. They believe all religions have value.2. They are spiritual, not religious.3. They don’t know what Christianity really is.4. They don’t know what they believe.5. They are looking for something that works.If you want to make an impact on this generation, these are five basic rules you must understand. Author Jonathan McKee writes that by taking the time to learn students’ unique situations you show you care about them as people, not as mission projects.Informative and full of real-life examples, Do They Run When They See You Coming? provides vital information you need to better understand students outside your youth group. Yet this book isn’t a sociological or marketing survey; the tangible guidelines and methods inside help you get into the mind of unchurched students–so you can get to know their hearts. Because, as every youth worker knows, real ministry is always about getting to the heart. -
My Way Or Thy Way
$12.95Add to cartEver overhear a pre-teen or early teen conversation? It can be pretty dramatic — in fact, young people and drama go together like … God and the Bible! If you’re looking for quality material that draws middle school/junior high age young people into the scriptures, here’s an invaluable resource. My Way Or Thy Way is a collection of 12 brief plays that bring familiar Bible stories to life in contemporary conversation that’s easy to understand.
By focusing on the choices made by the main characters — and their consequences — the scenes help young people make better choices in their own lives. “I want to do it my way, not thy way” was the struggle of these biblical personages, and many of us face similar issues today. Each skit lets participants “walk in the sandals” of ordinary people who faced extraordinary choices.
Designed for versatility, these scenes can be given full dramatic performances with props, scenery, and costumes, or presented in readers’ theater format for use as dynamic classroom discussion starters. Each drama is accompanied by questions and a variety of related activities. My Way Or Thy Way is an excellent supplement to a Sunday school, Bible school, or Bible study curriculum, and is especially useful for youth groups.
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This Way To Youth Ministry Companion Guide
$24.99Add to cart“Duffy Robbins’s book This Way to Youth Ministry is a foundational Introduction to youth ministry. This companion text, Embarking on the Grace Adventure, is filled with supplemental material, primarily case studies, but other resources as well. It is written by Dr Leonard Kageler, professor at Nyack College in New York, with Duffy Robbins. This companion booklet gives Robbins’s main book “legs’ and is a resource that professors and students can use to implement concepts and applications. It will assist youth ministry professors in teaching from the Robbins text and to help students engage with the text’s contents in ways that are experiential, participatory, image based, and connective. Many youth ministry professors lack contemporary and relevant youth ministry illustrations. Many have not been youth workers themselves, or, in some cases, are decades past in-the-trenches experience. Embarking on the Grace Adventure is a vital resource for educators who don’t have the time or opportunity to be practicing youth workers. Embarking on the Grace Adventure supplies case studies, discussion questions, simulations, websites, applications, relational activities and “homework assignments” in order to facilitate student involvement and engagement. At the end of every chapter, several options for processing the material are offered–a modular, user-friendly menu of choices for the instructor. The best use of Embarking on the Grace Adventure will be every student to have, and use, his/her own copies, and therefore the design includes spaces in the text to note their own responses for later sharing in class, to take note of instructors’ points, and to process discussion items. Embarking on the Grace Adventure includes a preface by Duffy Robbins; an Introduction by Len Kageler including a word to professors about how to use the book and to students about maximizing their use of it; and 10-12 pages of material for each of the 12 chapters in the Robbins text. And in each instance 8-10 pages of case studies/short examples, and 2-4 pages of discussion questions, activities, simulations, reflection exercises, etc. Embarking on the Grace Adventure “closees the circle” and form a perfect companion-piece for the foundational This Way to Youth Ministry. “
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Creative Bible Lessons In 1-2 Timothy And Titus (Student/Study Guide)
$16.99Add to cartThis newest installment of the bestselling Creative Bible Lessons series provides practical faith-sustaining principles for Christian teenagers from every walk of life. These “pastoral epistles,” written by the Apostle Paul at the end of his life, give sound instruction on how to lead the young church in a world of oppression, danger, and difficulty. In twelve chapters this book covers leadership, worship, getting in shape, walking the talk, knowing your enemy, money, overcoming opposition, and the Bible.
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Teaching That Makes A Difference
$34.99Add to cartThis comprehensive, research-informed textbook reviews all aspects of traditional and contemporary theories and experience in youth ministry, but also points to the future by analyzing youth culture and charting innovative paradigms in the art and craft of teaching. The book is fueled by the urgent need in youth ministry to better reach students, to inform them about God’s will for their lives, and to encourage change in their lives beyond the youth group setting. Features include: * Website dedicated to the book, including chats hosted by the author * Scriptural instruction on reaching the minds, hearts, and souls of students * Cultural analysis of adolescents in ministry contexts and in the larger community * Explanation of learning styles: auditory, visual, tactile, kinesthetic * Explanation of multiple intelligences: imaginative, analytic, common sense, dynamic * Tips on creativity: where to find ideas, list of teaching methods
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Raising Up Young Heroes
$22.99Add to cartYouth ministry is about much more than Sunday night Bible study and lock-ins. It’s about changing the lives of youth and empowering young heroes to change their world. Here is a model for holistic ministry that addresses all the needs of students–body, soul and spirit. Powerful stories from the author’s urban, multiethnic context shape the context of this book, while the principles within are designed to serve the whole body of Christ.
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Experiential Youth Ministry Handbook
$24.99Add to cartThis handbook offers more than eighty activities youth workers can use to help students connect. It also offers twenty-one examples of specific program sequences that show how these activities can be used intentionally to become more than just games. Additionally, seven templates for specific contexts common in youth ministry enable youth workers to adapt the activities into an infinite number of program combinations.
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Bored With God
$18.99Add to cartIVP Print On Demand Title
In this book, Sean Dunn catalogs what he’s seen of apathy in his ministry to youth. Teenagers can be frustratingly sleepy in their faith, but once these slumbering giants are awakened to a life with God, they can apply virtually tireless energy to the problems of a world bored with God. And their energy is particularly contagious.
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Family Based Youth Ministry (Revised)
$26.99Add to cartDisappointed with the results from the glitzy programs and entertaining activities you’ve used with your church’s young people? Try Mark DeVries’s newly revised Family-Based Youth Ministry for a multigenerational approach that takes seriously the job of discipling teens and building mature believers. You’ll learn how to involve not just the nuclear family but the entire church body, from singles to seniors. Includes a bonus curriculum for youth and adults.
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Raising The Bar
$20.99Add to cartTwo-thirds of today’s teens are interested in having a meaningful relationship with God, yet less than one-third of them are active in a local church. Alvin Reid – an experienced pastor and youth ministry speaker – suggests that these statistics indicate that it is time to change how the church does youth ministry.
Today’s generation of teens is marked by teamwork, authenticity, and a “can – do” attitude. They have incredible potential and a desire to be taught how to be Christian adults. This compelling book provides an impassioned plea for the church to set their standards higher, to reinvent the fundamental ways we minister to teens and their families.
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Max Q Student Journal (Student/Study Guide)
$14.99Add to cartAre you ready for the adventure of a lifetime? Are you willing to use your influence to impact others? Are you able to live the life you were designed for? Max Q: Just seconds after launch, any spacecraft intent on leaving the earth’s atmosphere must pass through it. It cannot be avoided. Successfully passing through Max Q requires that every system be executed at the right time and in the right way. That every person operate at peak capacity and that the integrity of the spacecraft is strong and functional.
You live in a world that tests you in the very same way. The pressures you face from both inside and out can sometimes push you to your limits. This dynamic book will help you not only withstand the pressure but actually excel through it. It will teach you how to be light in dark places and how to stand firm in your faith. More than that, it will show you how to turn the pressures of this life into opportunities to be influential without being negatively influenced yourself.
With the help of this book, you will do more than merely withstand the pressure. You will be a powerful force for good among your friends. Are you up for it?
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Do I Know What The Bible Says
$21.99Add to cartYour youth group is like no other-so a cookie-cutter curriculum just won’t do. With a single book you have the basics for 15 complete sessions-and you can put it all together in a way that works for you. Each topic has been developed by ministry experts to be teen-relevant and spiritually enriching. Each five-session book also includes a 14-point plan for customizing your program, a selection of ice breakers, thought provokers, reproducible handouts, and an encouraging how-to article from well-known youth ministry experts!
Do I Know What the Bible Says?
In the Beginning…What?–The Bible Talks about Creation (Fresh approach to the topic of creation. Kids will explore issues like beginning of creativity, significance of divine rest, introduction of God’s plan for humankind.)
O.T Speedway–A Zip Through the Old Testament (Takes kids on a whirlwind tour of O.T. Along with creation, covenants, and colorful characters, they’ll see the big picture–that God takes an interest in them and wants to help them make some history of their own.)
N.T. Speedway–A Zip through the New Testament (Fast-track tour of the N.T. Explore the miracles and parables of Jesus, exciting adventures of early believers. Kids will discover the truths of Christianity are as relevant today as they were 2000 years ago.)
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What Is Chrysalis
$4.99Add to cartIn Chrysalis, a metamorphosis begins for young people, a transformation from a taught faith to a faith of their own.
This booklet will introduce you to the ideas behind Chrysalis, as well as help you know what to expect during the event. It’s ideal for potential participants and church leaders considering the program.
Chrysalis offers spiritual renewal to young people through a 3-day experience and follow-up. Open to older high school students (sophomores through seniors) and young adults (ages 19-24) of any Christian denomination, Chrysalis is an exciting 3 days of experiencing God’s love in a fresh new way.
As a former participant has said, “The Chrysalis weekend was a wonderful experience that helped bridge my childlike faith to the vital and intense spiritual hunger I have as an adult.”
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Practicing Passion : Youth And The Quest For A Passionate Church
$30.99Add to cartFocusing on the theological resonance between the Passion of Christ and adolescents’ experience of passion, the author develops a framework for youth ministry that draws on the historic practices of the Christian community as a “curriculum of passion”.
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Come Follow Me Student Book (Revised)
$19.95Add to cartAcolytes can be much more than just cute little kids who light and extinguish the candles on Sunday morning — they have a very important role as congregational worship leaders. But acolytes can only fulfill that responsibility if they understand what worship is, why it is important, and how we do it.
Come, Follow Me is an excellent teaching tool that helps prepare young people to become effective acolytes. It provides a thorough overview of worship — its specifics, its history, and its significance. Students will grow in knowledge and faith as they learn about the meaning of worship, the sanctuary, ritual and liturgy, Christian symbols, and the sacraments.
The teacher’s guide of this completely revised and updated edition includes extensive aids, such as practical suggestions on how to organize an acolyte program, a brief service of consecration, and several quizzes and tests that can be used “as is” or adapted to individual needs. And the material for students is presented in clear, easy-to-understand language appropriate for junior high age youth. Each chapter also includes a brief “How Much Do You Remember?” summary that facilitates review.
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Come Follow Me Teachers Guide (Revised)
$17.95Add to cartAcolytes can be much more than just cute little kids who light and extinguish the candles on Sunday morning — they have a very important role as congregational worship leaders. But acolytes can only fulfill that responsibility if they understand what worship is, why it is important, and how we do it.
Come, Follow Me is an excellent teaching tool that helps prepare young people to become effective acolytes. It provides a thorough overview of worship — its specifics, its history, and its significance. Students will grow in knowledge and faith as they learn about the meaning of worship, the sanctuary, ritual and liturgy, Christian symbols, and the sacraments.
The teacher’s guide of this completely revised and updated edition includes extensive aids, such as practical suggestions on how to organize an acolyte program, a brief service of consecration, and several quizzes and tests that can be used “as is” or adapted to individual needs. And the material for students is presented in clear, easy-to-understand language appropriate for junior high age youth. Each chapter also includes a brief “How Much Do You Remember?” summary that facilitates review.
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Choosing Church
$50.00Add to cartWidely known theological educator and sociologist Carol Lytch presents this well-researched study of what attracts teenagers to the church and what keeps them there. The cogent research includes interviews of a number of teenagers and their parents from mainline Protestant, evangelical, and Roman Catholic congregations. Groundbreaking and fascinating, Choosing Church ultimately serves as a highly useful description of the most effective ways that congregations and parents can foster faith in early teenagers that will help them value the church as a place to obtain identity, belonging, and growth.
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Partnering With Parents In Youth Ministry
$17.00Add to cartThe most powerful force in a young person’s life is his or her family. The importance of this is pointed out in the writing of the Torah in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, where believers are mandated to pass their family legacies to the next generations. The newest trend in youth ministry today is a very healthy move toward family-based ministry, a mind-set that helps the church act as a support system, while placing discipleship and training back into the hands of family. Partnering with Parents in Youth Ministry will help youth workers understand their unique role in helping families succeed and will give an overview strategy of family-based youth ministry, as well as practical ideas on implementing this awesome ministry in your church.
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Creative Bible Lessons In Revelation
$22.99Add to cart12 exciting faith-building studies from the book of Revelation about the future Teenagers can’t help but think about the future, especially in these uncertain times. The book of Revelation offers both a tantalizing look at what lies ahead and a powerful message of hope for those who put their trust in God. This curriculum takes youth leaders through the book of Revelation, and provides teaching tools and lessons on John’s vision of the future, Jesus the Redeemer, pure worship, the destruction of the earth, the ultimate showdown, the throne, and God’s mighty hand in the future of all humanity.
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Tough Topics
$14.99Add to cartThis collection of provocative discussion questions is guaranteed to get teenagers talking, thinking, and debating. It follows in the footsteps of the best-selling Would You Rather?, What If?, and Unfinished Sentences. Each set of questions is followed by thought-provoking ideas, facts, and verses to think about. Adaptable content makes the book an easy-to-use resource for large or small groups_at youth meetings, retreats, small group discussions, mission trips, and more. With its compact size, it’s convenient to carry along wherever you go.
Examples of questions include:
*Which would be better? To have your prayers answered or to be constantly full of joy?
*Which would be worse? To eat what you don’t like or to crave what you can’t have?
*Which would be better? Fresh-baked, soft, chewy cookies or a nice thick, juicy steak?
*Which would be worse? To have a parachute fail or to ski into a tree? -
Youth Ministry From The Inside Out
$16.99Add to cartFlash! Ping! Whiz! Pop! Boom! Bang! Crash! Such are the sights and sounds of modern youth ministry. We look for the bigger, the louder, the brighter. And we work long and hard to make our ministry the biggest, the loudest, the brightest. But look out and listen up: God is not caught up in sound and fury. And he doesn’t want to see youth workers disengage–letting the momentum define their purpose. Mike Higgs, reflecting on more than two decades of work with youth, thinks the greatest need among youth workers today is a reminder of who we are. We need to set aside the distractions of an emphasis on performance and focus instead on connecting with God in his work in us, our students and other youth workers. When a renewed spirit shapes our work with youth, our ministry will become less a muddled chorus of strategies and targets, and more a symphony of purpose and practice.
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Youth Workers Guide To Parent Ministry
$24.99Add to cartBoth a theoretical and practical framework for parent ministry by youth workers in a local or parachurch setting In order for youth workers to be truly effective in ministering to parents, it9s important to lay a careful relational groundwork to ensure that the “right to be heard” has been earned. This book presents a ministry model with 9 evolving levels, each one strengthening the credibility of the youth worker and opening doors to deeper and more meaningful parent support. Each of the 9 levels includes practical ideas and strategies for implementation. The book provides useful tools for youth workers in a variety of ministry settings dealing with a range of family structures.
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Tour Of The Nations
$16.99Add to cartTour of the Nations is a book designed to aid teachers in assisting their students to become more knowledgeable in foreign missions. It takes students on a one-year visit to the seven major continents of the world, introducing them to many cultural and spiritual adventures. It presents lesson material each week for approximately one year, and provides thorough lessons for each session. This book will serve as a great tool for missions training and Christian education for children from preschool through the elementary grades. The work of training children in the local church setting can be a great task, but one that is commanded of us by Christ. Tour of the Nations will help make that task easier, providing lessons and ideas for classroom teachers in introducing their students to foreign mission countries, hopefully igniting the embers that may be placed in young, tender hearts by the gifting power of the Holy Spirit.
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Mission Trip Prep Kit Leaders Guide (Teacher’s Guide)
$14.99Add to cartYou work hard planning mission trips. Now make mission trips work for you and your group. Headed to inner-city America? Appalachia? A border of Shantytown? Overseas? Wherever your destination, the MISSION TRIP PREP KIT contains all you need to prepare your students for an unforgettable cross-cultural experience _ and tools to debrief them after they9ve returned to their worlds. Use this kit- *To get on-site impact as well as long-term spiritual change in your kids. *Whether you9re a mission-trip novice or a savvy traveler outside your comfort zones. *Whether your group9s is geared toward reaching others with the gospel or to disciple your young missionaries. *In several sessions spread over a month or two _ or in an intensive, two-day training session or retreat. IN THIS LEADER9S GUIDE: You9ll receive not only the rationale, the how, and the logistics of planning and pulling off a missions trip, but _ and this is the genius of the leader9s guide _ 4 PRE-TRIP TEACHING SESSIONS that will help your students _ *Assess their EXPECTATIONS, their fears, their motivations. *Adjust their PERCEPTIONS of the culture they9ll be working in. *Improve their emotional and spiritual STAMINA for living for a week or a month in a very different world from their own. *Practice the skills and ATTITUDES (teamwork, servanthood, Christ-centeredness) they9ll need for a missions trip. And to make sure your trip9s goals are accomplished and the benefits stick around for a long haul, you9ll also receive 2 POST-TRIP SESSIONS that will help you DEBRIEF your students, ease them back into their own worlds, CELEBRATE with them, and make missions and ministry part of their EVERYDAY LIVES WITH JESUS. What9s more, in these pre- and post-trip teaching sessions are a variety of ACTIVITIES processing points creative PRAYER IDEAS take-home applications BIBLE STUDIES relevant to mission tripping TALK OUTLINES that both instruct and inspire and lots of sessions options you can tailor to your own HIGH SCHOOLERS OR MIDDLE SCHOOLERS.
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Help Im A Small Church Youth Worker
$19.99Add to cartPractical help for volunteer, part-time, and full-time youth workers in small churches
Eighty-five percent of the churches in America are classified as small. This book provides youth workers with processes and ideas that enable them to address their particular needs as part of small churches. -
Your First Two Years In Youth Ministry
$22.99Add to cartIn this sequel to his bestseller Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry, Fields offers 10 valuable steps to beginning a successful program. You’ll learn the importance of going before God, focusing on relationships, communicating your desires, identifying your personal values, developing and teaching your purpose, pursuing leaders, evaluating and creating programs, and more. Ideal for veterans or first-timers.
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What Do You Mean Study The Bible
$11.95Add to cart“Anything but the Bible!” — that was the attitude of Katherine Bailey Babb’s high school age Sunday School class. When she realized just how ignorant these teenagers were of some of the basic background of the faith they professed, Babb created a fun and enjoyable curriculum for studying the Old Testament that would fill in the gaps in their knowledge. And it works! Her field-tested approach will make the Hebrew Bible an exciting field of study for your youth.
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Christians Christians Everywhere How Do Your Gardens Grow
$7.95Add to cartChristians, Christians, Everywhere, How Do Your Gardens Grow? helps congregations to get the proper focus on stewardship for youth through a suggested order of service to be presented by youth.
Within the service are songs, a skit and meditation, all centered on a gardening theme.
Cynthia E. Cowen writes that her goal for this resource is to enable youth to participate in a worship service based on the theme of sowing and reaping in the Kingdom of God.
This resource helps participants and the congregation to understand the process of growth in the giving of our talents and offerings to the work of the church.
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Young Lions : Chrisitian Rites Of Passage For African American Young Men
$34.99Add to cartThis resource introduces and supports a mentoring program that offers African American young men, Positive peer group involvement, Hands-on skill development, Knowledge of the African American culture, Relationship with Christian African American men as role models. This resource provides the tools and encouragement needed to help leaders of African American young men experience the joy of supporting and challenging youth to grow as Christ’s disciples. Includes practical tips for getting started, a comprehensive leadership recruitment and training plan, complete meeting outlines and directions, reproducible pages for participants, and an interaction oriented mentor guide.
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Creative Bible Lessons In Galatians And Philippians
$26.99Add to cartGrace, growth, freedom, and faith are the themes of these 12 dynamic lessons based on the letters from Paul to the Christians in Galatia and Philippi. As the next volume in the popular Creative Bible Lessons series, Creative Bible Lessons in Galatians & Philippians comes power-packed with the teachings of Paul. Six lessons from each book will guide you and your students through many of the Gospel’s central truths, including:
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Worship Centered Teaching
$13.99Add to cartRelating faith to teenagers is tough. How do we pass the faith to the next generation? Help your teens take their faith beyond the walls of the church and into the story of God. Help your teens put faith and worship into practice in everyday life. Get Worship-Centered Teaching.
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Games 3 : For Youth Groups
$22.99Add to cartThe newest volume in the best-selling Ideas Library is Games 3! A huge collection of over 400 of the newest, most fun, creative, youth-group-tested games ever imagined! Indoor games, outdoor games, water games, balloon games, wide games, living room games, large and small group games, all kinds of wacky games, rowdy games, silly games, quiet games, hilarious games, games with a point–brand new games to keep your group laughing, playing together, and building community at the same time. Perfect for youth leaders and recreation directors.
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More Junior High And Middle School Talksheets Updated
$16.99Add to cartIn an hour (or less!) your kids are gonna look at you with that “OK, so what are you gonna make us do” look. You’ve exhausted the first 50 TalkSheets for middle schoolers and now you’re scrambling for more. Yup, you’ve got them here?50 more updated TalkSheets to get your youth thinking about real-life issues–on everything from pornography to spiritual growth. Get your kids out of the church gymnasium and into some hardcore discussion. These TalkSheets have been working for leaders like you for over a decade. And, hey, they’re hardly any work for you! Just pick one, make copies, and see your kids get real with themselves and each other. It’s the best thing since, well – the first 50 TalkSheets! So get going!
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More High School Talksheets Upcated
$22.99Add to cartIn an hour (or less!) your kids are gonna walk in, sit down, and give you that “OK, entertain us” look. Resist the urge to play Bible Pictionary again for the fifth time! You’ve hit it off with–and exhausted–the first 50 TalkSheets for high schoolers and now you’re looking for more. Look no further. Inside are 50 more revised and updated TalkSheets to get your kids talking about real-life issues–on everything from pornography to spiritual growth. These TalkSheets have been working for leaders like you for over a decade. And, hey, they’re hardly any work for you! Just pick one, make copies, and sit back to see your youth get real with themselves and each other. It’s the best thing since, well – the first 50 High School TalkSheets! So get going!
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High School Talksheets Psalms And Proverbs Updated
$22.99Add to cartKing David and Solomon knew a thing or two about God–in fact, what they wrote still applies to teenagers today. And, it’s no secret that teenagers learn more from conversing among themselves than from having somebody talk at them. High School TalkSheets Psalms and Proverbs–Updated! contains 50 discussion starters on topics of perennial relevance and high interest to teenagers such as?
* trusting God
* freedom from fear
* staying spiritually healthy
* dealing with evil in the world
* sharing Christ with others
* and many, many moreThese TalkSheets spring from the wisdom books of the Old Testament and are more relevant and helpful to your youth than you may think! They are designed in one-page reproducible handouts with provocative questions and compelling design–useful ammo to get bored church kids and unchurched kids alike talking and thinking about what the Bible says about issues that matter to them.
High School TalkSheets Psalms and Proverbs–Updated! can stand alone as simple and effective discussion starters. Or youth workers can unwrap the topic into a full-blown Bible study, thanks to leaders’ instructions that come with each TalkSheet – detailed suggestions for further group exploration, Bible references galore, Internet resources, and activities to pursue in and out of the meeting.
TalkSheets are versatile! Youth leaders can use a TalkSheet to enhance an existing lesson (each TalkSheet is identified by topic, so youth leaders can quickly find a TalkSheet on the topic they’re teaching on) – or they can use a TalkSheet as an entire lesson in itself (if the youth leader is a good facilitator, and if the students enjoy exploring a topic in a directed discussion) – and TalkSheets are perfect for student leaders to use with small groups
High School TalkSheets Psalms and Proverbs–Updated! is the perfect small-group discussion-starting resource for youth meetings, small groups and cell groups, Sunday school, and camps and retreats.
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High School Talksheets Updated
$24.99Add to cartIt’s meeting time again and your high schoolers have spent the last twenty minutes talking about spring break and prom dates. A handful of guys are shooting hoops in the church gym while three girls in the corner are swooning over the homecoming king. And you think you’re gonna get them talking about peer pressure or popular music?! Good luck. They’d rather be doing their geometry homework.
But then again, maybe you’ve found a solution! TalkSheets have been working for leaders like you for over a decade. And now they’re Updated–ready to help you get a hardcore discussion going to hit home on real issues–everything from drinking to social injustice. And, there’s hardly any work for you! Just pick one, make copies, and let the questions and activities get them thinking about their world and their lives. So get them thinking (if you dare)! Too bad everything isn’t this easy!
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Junior High And Middle School Talksheets Psalms And Proverbs
$22.99Add to cartThis volume of TalkSheets is a newly revised and updated version that contains 50 one-page reproducible handouts to help youth workers jumpstart and lead discussions on relevant topics and interests to junior high and middle school youth of the millennium.
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Postmodern Youth Ministry
$26.99Add to cartThe rules have changed. Everything you believe is suspect. The world is up for grabs. Welcome to the emerging postmodern culture. A “free zone” of rapid change that places high value on community, authenticity, and even God–but has little interest in modern, Western-tinged Christianity. Postmodern Youth Ministry addresses these enormous philosophical shifts and shows how they’re affecting teenagers.
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Shaping The Spiritual Life Of Students
$24.99Add to cartJonathan’s drug use has come between him and Jesus. Rachel, trapped in an abusive relationship, is afraid to return to church. How can you help spiritually alienated teenagers? Offering practical insights, Dunn teaches you to be attuned to teens’ deepest needs so that you can help them pace their lives—physically, intellectually, emotionally, socially, and spiritually.
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What Is This Mentors
$6.99Add to cartWelcome to What Is This? Faith Conversations for Mentors and Youth, an innovative resource that helps cross-generational communication happen in a natural and meaningful way for confirmation-age youth and significant adults in the faith community. The tear-out conversations in this resource book can be used either in one-on-one conversations or in small groups where there may be oe mentor for more than one youth mentree.
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4 Views Of Youth Ministry And The Church
$24.99Add to cartThis book delineates four distinct philosophical/ecclesiological views of how youth ministry relates to the church at large. The dialogical and sometimes feisty format gives readers a taste of what’s profound and what’s flawed in these four typologies: inclusive (Malan Nel), preparatory (Wes Black), missional (Chap Clark), and strategic (Mark Senter). Each view has theological assumptions and pragmatic implications regarding the church’s mission to youth which are examined in Youth Specialties’ unique style that marries solid academic research with tone and design that is as compelling to in-the-field, practicing youth workers as undergraduate and graduate students. In short, here’s a meaty theological dish for the malnourished academic literature in the discipline of youth ministry
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Wild Truth Bible Lessons Pictures Of God 2
$22.99Add to cartThe Bible is a photo album, brimming with self-portraits of a God who wants to be known. God has put these pictures in the Bible to reveal his character. By examining them, we discover who God is and why he’s worth knowing better. And we discover something else: who he wants us to be. He wants us to copy his picture into our own character. Wild Truth Bible Lessons – Pictures of God 2 is a guide to 12 God-pictures taken straight from the Photo Album. They are active Bible lessons for junior high and middle school Sunday school classes or youth group meetings, each one based on one of the 50 pictures of God and presented energetically, relevantly, and scripturally in the companion student book Wild Truth Journal: Pictures of God. The lessons are loaded with off-the-wall and easy-to-do discussion starters, video ideas, scripts, games with a point. And, of course, Bible passages and studies that springboard junior highers from the abstract into the concrete as (open Bibles in hand) they explore the nature of God in a lively, relevant way, and then begin practicing in their own lives the traits of God.
Here’s how the lessons are organized:
* Picture Prep grabs your group’s attention to prepare them for what’s ahead.
* Action Shot takes your students into the Bible to catch God in the act of revealing his character.
* Self-Portrait explores the given aspect of God’s character – how it makes God just that much more awesome…and why it’s a very good trait for us to have, too.
* Print It! challenges your students to print God’s picture into their own lives by living out his character in an immediately practical way. -
Beyond Nice : The Spiritual Wisdom Of Adolescent Girls
$16.00Add to cart1. Listening To Ourselves / Listening To Girls
2. Girls Talk About God
3. Girls Talk About Their Churches
4. Girls Talk About Sexuality And Their Bodies
5. Girls Talk About ViolenceAdditional Info
Adolescent girls are at particular risk in today’s society. They struggle to establish a mature identity after childhood and are barraged with conflicting messages about what it means to be female. In an often hostile and sometimes lethal culture, they also are subject to being exploited, harassed, manipulated, or even abused physically and sexually. But where do religion and spirituality fit? Davis sees spirituality as the realm where girls’ ultimate concerns intersect with their daily ones especially with relationships, lifestyle, and religious conviction. Here, based on more than 100 in-depth interviews with girls from a variety of religious, ethnic, and regional backgrounds, Davis shows how religion actually functions both to help and to hurt in girls’ search for authenticity. Davis’ interviews convey articulately and deeply how spirituality concerns girls’ surmounting hurdles to ground and affirm what they become. -
Exploring Luthers Small Catechism (Teacher’s Guide)
$24.99Add to cartThis classic resource helps students learn:
*Questions and answers from Luther’s Small Catechism
*Bible verses that support Scriptural doctrines
*Bible narratives that support doctrine
*Questions and answers from the 1991 Explanation of the Small CatechsimEach lesson in this one-year course has multiple choice, true-false and fill-in-the-blank exercises. 40 sessions.
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Talking The Walk
$24.99Add to cartHere are 31 small-group meetings about well, small groups. After all, the kind of honest sharing, perspective silence, compassionate boldness, and mutual growth that are the marks of an effective and attractive small group don’t always come naturally. With the complete sessions in Talking the Walk all of them customized precisely for small groups you can lead your small group of teenagers from getting comfortable with kids they don’t usually hang with, to talking honestly, listening carefully, and understanding themselves with each other. The first five meetings are a gradual, gentle introduction to the idea of communication, confidences, and listening skills, the mechanics and heart of small group dynamics then on to more than two dozen topical meetings about issues that matter most to adolescents: how to face life’s tensions, self-esteem, change, sexuality, giving and receiving love, clarifying future goals, friends, family, forgiveness, diversity, conflict, moods, priorities – and more, all of them based in Bible passages – appropriate for mixed groups of churched and unchurched kids – and each session with more than enough creative and quirky ideas, so you can select those that best fit your style and your small group’s temperament. Perfect for outreach and evangelism groups, discipleship groups, Sunday school, midweek cell groups – any time you want small groups of your student to grow together in community, intimacy, in faith.
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Creative Bible Lessons In Psalms
$24.99Add to cartThe ever-popular Creative Bible Lessons series from Youth Specialties brings you Creative Bible Lessons in Psalms, written for real teenagers who live very real lives. The Psalms, in all their glory – and anguish – are brought to life for your students through 12 spirited and interactive lessons on themes like:
* Struggles and persecution
* Thanksgiving and worship
* Thirsting for God
* Holiness
* Joy bursting through despair
* Forgiveness and renewal
To help you teach each lesson are clips from easy-to-get videos . . . games for mixing and games with a purpose . . . in-depth, ready-to-use questions for small-group discussions . . . original role plays, scripts, and spontaneous melodramas – plus a lot of other activities to choose from that give your students not only an occasional laugh, but also a taste of prayer as an opportunity to be honest, and true, and personal in our communication with God -
Worship Centered Youth Ministry
$14.99Add to cartWorship. What images come to your mind as you see this word? Some envision believers singing praise songs and lifting their hands. Others see people bowed in fervent prayer or sitting quietly meditating on Scripture. While these images may represent expressions of worship, they do not convey a complete picture of the biblical concept of worship. What is authentic worship? As youth ministers in today’s culture, how close to the mark of true worship are we leading our teens? In this book, Jon Middendorf tackles these tough questions and more. Beyond the typical ideas of worship, Middendorf explores the biblical definition and challenges the reader to move to a deeper understanding. Through describing a typical youth ministry program and offering principles for a worship-centered lifestyle, he directs youth workers on a journey toward a worship-centered youth ministry–a journey that will lead both the workers and their teens into a deeper, richer walk with Christ.
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Unfinished Sentences : 450 Tantalizing Unfinished Sentences To Get Teenager
$19.99Add to cartIn the best-selling footsteps of Would You Rather . . . ?, What If . . . ?, and Have You Ever . . . ? comes Unfinished Sentences – another collection of sometimes lighthearted, sometimes poignant, and always provocative discussion starters guaranteed to get teenagers talking, thinking, debating. Get the discussion ball rolling with 450 incomplete sentences that can be used anytime, anywhere for breaking the ice, stimulating discussions, building community, getting kids to wrestle with spiritual issues — or use them just for fun! The convenient size makes Unfinished sentences easy to stick in your pocket or in the glove box — a resource you won’t want your library or your youth ministry team to be without!
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Videos That Teach
$22.99Add to cartWith Videos That Teach you can use clips from 75 of the best recent movies on video — already collected and organized by topic and Bible reference, complete with start and stop times — to illustrate your lessons and launch provocative discussions among your students. Discussions that get kids talking about themselves and life, about God and the Bible. Browse the book to find the movie clip you like, or use one of the Quick Clip Locators (by topic of Bible reference) to quickly find the perfect reinforcement for your lesson. Or build an entire lesson from a clip–with each clip are summaries of the movie and the clip, start and stop times, Bible references, and discussion starting questions. And given the breadth of movies in Videos That Teach you’re almost guaranteed to find what you want for a topic to teach of a discussion to lead — Forrest Gump, The Spitfire Grill, Michael, City Slickers, Romeo and Juliet (1996), Grand Canyon, Mrs. Doubtfire, Naked Fun, Fried Green Tomatoes, Mr. Holland’s Opus. And lots more. Whether you’re a youth worker, Bible study or small-group leader, or Sunday school teacher, with Videos That Teach you’ll get your students thinking biblically instead of merely absorbing passively.
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Creative Bible Lessons In 1-2 Corinthians
$24.99Add to cartChristian adolescents in the 21st century face pretty much the same situations as the first-century Christians in Corinth did — an indulgent, profligate, choose-your-own-god society. The latest in the Creative Bible Lessons series, Creative Bible Lessons in 1 & 2 Corinthians is a 12-lesson curriculum with an issues-oriented spin on living one’s faith in the real world. It lets teenagers wrestle with the tension between biblical instruction and cultural realities. These 12 studies about the not-so-easily-tamed people of Corinth and their founding pastor Paul of Tarsus pave the way for youth workers and Sunday school teachers to teach high schoolers about conversion, transformation, failure, leadership, authority, and God’s constant saving love even in the midst of people making a mess of things. Here are some of the not-so-ancient issues you’ll explore in this study: Give Me Liberty or Give Me Love, Friends Don’t Let Friends Go Unforgiven, Those Pesky STDs (Sexually Tough Decisions), Love Is . . ., No Easy Answers, Show Me the Money, and Ouch! Of course, there’s lots of what the Creative bible Lessons series is known for: provocative and relevant discussion starters, to-the-point scripts, high-energy games, reproducible pages of interactive activities — all in the context of hard-core Bible study
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Wild Truth Journal Pictures Of God
$22.99Add to cartWe can’t “see” our invisible God. Fortunately, Scripture uses lots of metaphors, providing us “pictures” of his nature. By picturing God as an artist, baby, lion, dad, and more, your junior highers will discover God’s character traits, what he does, and how it changes their own thoughts and behavior. Features 50 journaling devotions.
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Drama Skits And Sketches 2
$24.99Add to cartHere are 62 brand-new, youth-group-tested scripts you can use to introduce a topic with flair . . . To retell a Bible story with humor . . . To apply your lessons with poignancy. And they’re flexible, too — have fun with them as informal, no-prep reader’s theater, or rehearse them seriously for polished performances. – Scripture Sketches . . . Don’t despair if your students can’t tell the difference between Beelzebub and Barnabas — the Bible will be brought to life for them as they act out scriptural episodes, stories, and passages. (And on page 6 is an index to all this book’s scripts by Bible reference. Teaching the Prodigal Son? 1 Corinthians? Exodus? We’ve got a script for you!) – Contemporary Sketches . . . Off with the togas, on with the tank tops. Here are right-now, real-life scripts for everything from event announcements (that you can tailor to your own events) to dealing with emotional scars. Thanks to the topical index on page 7, you can zip right to the script that fits your meeting. – TV Takeoffs . . . In a TV world of talk shows and sitcoms, sketches based on TV shows always kick off lively discussions. Since all these scripts are also humorous, they’re great as openers at camps and conferences, too. – Monologues . . . Does your youth group’s dramatic talent reside in only one or two students? Or do you want to raise interest in starting a drama ministry? A monologue is your ticket — one-person scripts that require little or no costumes or props, yet can be as powerful as a three-act play. – To the Tune of CCM (And More) . . . Take the music many of your students listen to, and use it for dramatic purposes! These scripts each use a song by a Christian artist (or a song whose lyrics encourage or challenge Christians).
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Still More Hot Illustrations For Youth Talks
$22.99Add to cartA captivating, skillfully chosen illustration communicates more, is remembered longer, and has greater impact than thousands of words that offer abstract truth but tell no story. Jesus knew the value of story. He consistently sprinkled his talks with parables, stories, and illustrations to drive home the point He was making. In the best-selling tradition of Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks and More Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks, comes a third volume of lively, effective illustrations, stories, parables, and anecdotes, compiled by veteran youth worker Wayne Rice. Some will make listeners laugh, some will make them cry, and all of them will make kids think. This all-new collection of illustrations comes from the personal files of many of today’s most popular youth speakers. Guaranteed teenager friendly, Still More Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks will give a youth minister fresh ways to help kids understand and apply important truths for their lives.
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Help Im A Small Group Leader
$19.99Add to cartSo you’re leading a small group? Your small group can accomplish big things in the lives of your teenagers. And in Help! I’m a Small-Group Leader! you’ll find methods and approaches you can use. Foibles and minefields to avoid. Solutions and tips that will help you nurture your small group into a growing community, whatever you goals. Inside you’ll discover — How to put small groups together – How NOT to lead a small group – How to start a discussion — and KEEP IT GOING – How to ASK QUESTIONS that get responses – Three kinds of BIBLE STUDY questions to ask – How to work with DIFFERENT personalities in a small group – How to help you kids LEARN TO PRAY – 10 ideas for BUILDING COMMUNITY in your small group . . . and to top it off are 20 pages of questions (100 questions, to be exact) that you can use in your small group Bible study, on the most common subjects discussed in junior and senior high small groups. All this in a no-frills, straight-to-the-point style — perfect for volunteer small-group leaders, or for youth pastors or youth directors to lead their staffs through.
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Creative Bible Lessons From The Old Testament
$22.99Add to cartOkay, so they used mule mail instead of e-mail — but they were still surprisingly modern men and women. With emotions, decisions, and dilemmas as raw and real as the students sitting in front of you every week. David and Rahab, Daniel and Ruth–even with their rough edges, they passionately loved Jehovah in a way today’s adolescents can understand and emulate. Here are 12 Old Testament character studies, including– Believe it or not -Abraham: Living by faith is not for wimps – Faith overcomes a fast past -Rahab: What you live is what you believe. Everything else is just talk. – The waiting game -Joseph: Trials and temptations can make us strong. – Benchwarmer to first string -Moses : Often God uses the least likely person to do great things. – Right woman, right place, right time -Esther : God has created each one of us for a purpose. – Keeping promises -Ruth: Commitment means more than saying the right words. – Bad days for good people -Job: Suffering may be the condition from which humans benefit the most. – The long way home -Jonah: Sometimes we simply say no to God. — And to help you teach the lesson are clips from easy-to-get videos . . . games for mixing and games that teach . . . in-depth, ready-to-use questions guaranteed to spark small-group discussion . . . original role plays, scripts, dilemmas faced by these ancient but very human believers in their Yahweh. For youth workers, Sunday school teachers, and CE directors, Creative Bible Lessons from the Old Testament will help your students understand that the God who offered hope and courage to ancient history-makers still does the same for teenagers today.
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Junior High Ministry (Expanded)
$24.99Add to cartRowdy, restless, silly, out of control, moody, vulgar, disrespectful, unpredictable — this may be the junior high stereotype, writes youth ministry expert Wayne Rice. But early adolescents’ enthusiasm, loyalty, energy, candidness, and willingness to learn — these more than compensate for the well-publicized hazards of working with middle schoolers. In this edition of Junior High Ministry — updated and expanded to reflect the realities of middle school ministry at the turn of the century — the cofounder of Youth Specialties takes a comprehensive look at the early adolescent experience: – A case for junior high ministry — and what it takes to work effectively with junior highers. – New material of turn-of-the-century trends in the youth culture — and on programming for kids living in this culture. – A chapter each on the five pivotal areas of development — physical, social, intellectual, psycho-emotional, and faith — among junior highers. – Altogether new chapters on parental involvement and mentoring in the context of junior high ministry . . . all topped off with 50 creative and practical ideas — fun and games, Bible study openers, mixers, entire events — that are tailored for junior highers in Sunday school, the youth room, or your living room. Whether you’re training for youth work or a trainer of youth workers, Junior High Ministry will keep finding its dog-eared way to the top of your most used resources.
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Wild Truth Bible Lessons 2
$22.99Add to cartWild Bible characters . . . wild activities, games, discussion starters, and video ideas . . . wild truths for living. Put them all together, blend well, and you’ve got Wild Truth Bible Lessons 2 – 12 more dynamite lessons for junior high youth groups by Mark Oestreicher. Like its fun, creative predecessor, Wild Truth Bible Lessons, this book invites kids to discover the adventure of faith through the events and responses of real Bible people who did wild things for God. Based on another 12 personalities from the list of characters in Wild Truth Journal: 50 Life Lessons from the Scriptures, each lesson reaches back into history to help junior highers learn about Bible people and principles – and then reaches forward to challenge students to make better decisions, better friends, and better lives.
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Have You Ever
$19.99Add to cartHave you ever. . .? -Thought you were going to die? (When? Where? What brought you through it? – Been a teacher’s pet? (What grade? How did you feel?) – Had a miracle happen to you? (What happened? Who did you tell?) – Said something you didn’t mean just to be polite? (Why did you do it? What situation would cause you to do it again?) Inside are 442 more zingers like these, that nudge your kids’ memories and get them talking — perfect for launching small-group discussion, building community, getting a laugh and triggering hard thinking about situations and people that matter most to teenagers. Keep Have You Ever . . .? handy — stick it in your pocket, your backpack, your car’s glovebox — because you’ll never know when you need a leading question to get conversation rolling with an individual or a group.
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Counseling Troubled Youth
$29.00Add to cartCounseling Troubled Youth Each volume in this series focuses on practical ways to respond to a serious and difficult pastoral concern within clinical and congregational settings. Offering fresh insights from pastoral theology, each volume integrates the most up to date information in psychology and the human sciences. All the authors write out of firsthand counseling experiences as well as the most recent research on their topics. The result is an invaluable series for counselors and pastors who regularly face tough issues as they offer care to clients and congregants. Others in the Series: 4256678, Counseling Depressed Women 425666X, Counseling People with Cancer 4256562, Counseling African American Marriages and Families
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Crowd Breakers And Mixers
$24.99Add to cart1. Gags & Skits
2. Mixers
3. Meeting-Opening Contests
4. Musical Crown Breakers
5. Quizzes & Word Games
6. Stunts
7. Whole-Group Participation
121 PagesAdditional Info
Welcome to the Ideas Library From Youth Specialites!
So what’s the Ideas Library? Simply the most complete collection of practical youth ministry programming ideas on this planet. The ideas books set the pace for 20th-century youth ministry. And now they’re updated for 21st century youth groups-reorganized from the inside out for busy youth workers who need the perfect idea, and need it now.* Games
* Games 2
* Creative Meetings, Bible Lessons, & Worship Ideas
* Holiday Ideas
* Crowd Breakers & Mixers
* Discussion & Lesson Starters
* Discussion & Lesson Starters 2
* Administration, Publicity, & Fundraising
* Drama, Skits, & Sketches
* Special Events
* Camps, Retreats, Missions, & Service Ideas -
Camps Retreats Missions And Service Ideas
$24.99Add to cartNearly 200 ideas for planning meaningful, memorable experiences for your kids! -Camps & Retreats . . . The drive up the mountain . . . The opening talk . . . The outdoor activities . . . The closing fireside — here’s a lodgeful of ideas for organizing successful camps and retreats. – Missions . . . Because even foreign mission work can start within our own borders, you’ll find dozens of ideas for helping overseas missionaries right here at home. A used-Bible drive, a scavenger hunt for missionary supplies — activities like these not only benefit missionaries, but also help your kids understand the personal, local aspects of mission work. – Service . . . Expose your students to others’ needs! Inside you’ll find ways to help children, the community at large, the elderly, the poor and homeless, shut-ins, and the sick and disabled Whether you’re a youth worker or recreation director in a church, school, club, or camp — Camps, Retreats, Missions, & Service Ideas is your storehouse of proven, youth-group tested ideas.
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Special Events
$24.99Add to cart1. Games And Sports Events
2. Scavenger Hunts
3. Treasure Hunts
4. Other Hunts
5. Theme Events
6. Food Events
7. Special Events With A Point
8. Outings & Overnighters
9. Races & Rallies
10. Other Parties & Special Events207 Pages
Additional Info
More than 400 creative events for community building, outreach, and fun!* FOOD EVENTS: If there’s one thing kids know and appreciate, it’s food. Here’s everything from elegant feasts to slobfests galore.
* GAMES AND SPORTS EVENTS: You don’t have to be a jock to have fun playing these sporting events.
* OUTINGS AND OVERNIGHTERS: If you’re crazed enough to take a group of adolescents on the road-whether across town or across the state-here are plenty of trip ideas.
* RACES AND RALLIES: Your group have a need for speed? Whether it’s cars, bikes, buses, or toilets-if it can be raced, you’ll find an idea for it here.
* SPECIAL EVENTS WITH A PURPOSE: More than fun. These events carry significant spiritual, moral, or community value.And more-hunts and parties and theme events of all kinds!
Whether you’re a youth worker or recreation director in a church, school, club, or camp-SPECIAL EVENTS is your storehouse of proven, youth-group tested ideas.
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Holiday Ideas
$24.99Add to cartOver 200 festive ideas for cranking up celebrations for every holiday imaginable! – Christmas . . . Here’s your one-stop Christmas programming center. You’ll find everything you need for the merriest Advent and Christmas season ever — goofy games, crazy carols, outrageous outings, and silly skits to fill even the biggest Christmas stocking. And, of course, Christmasy meetings and lessons to help your kids focus on the real reason for the season. – Easter & Lent . . . Worship activities, reenactments, Bible lessons, meeting plans, and service projects, all designed to commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Plus games, puzzles, craft projects, and scavenger hunt ideas — all tied to an Easter theme. – Valentine’s Day . . . Play a memorable February 14th with these icebreakers, games, songs, activities, and Bible lessons — all about love, whether human or divine. – Thanksgiving . . . Wait until you see the potful of ideas that youth workers from Cape Cod to all points west have cooked up for you — Thanksgiving craft projects, skits, outings, parties, service projects, and Bible lessons. Plus More . . . All kinds of party and meeting ideas for St. Patrick’s Day, New Year’s, Halloween, Super Bowl Sunday, April Fool’s Day, Mother’s and Father’s Day celebrations, and graduation. Whether you’re a youth worker or a recreation director in a church, school, club, or camp — Holiday Ideas is your storehouse of proven, youth-group tested ideas.
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Discussion And Lesson Starters 2
$24.99Add to cartNearly 150 more riveting, attention-getting openers that will pull your kids into animated discussion!
*A PRIMER ON LEADING DISCUSSION-Starting a discussion, and keeping it going…the importance of confidentiality…asking questions that get responses…and working with different personalities.
*35 CREATIVE WAYS TO START A DISCUSSION OR LESSON ON ANY TOPIC-Techniques general enough to fit just about any subject, but still quirky enough to attract adolescent attention.
*DISCUSSION & LESSON STARTERS, BY TOPIC-What subject are you teaching this week? First, look up your subject-advertising ethics, atheism, the Bible, church, death and dying, discipleship, evangelism, priorities, spiritual gifts, television…or 30 more topics, all arranged alphabetically. Then choose the opener that fits your purposes and your group.In fact, many of these are virtually complete lessons in themselves, with questions, activities, parables, object lessons-all designed to draw opinions, thoughts, and feelings from your students.
Whether you’re a youth worker or recreation director in a church, school, club, or camp-Discussion & Lesson Starters 2 is your storehouse of proven, youth group tested ideas.
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Games 2
$24.99Add to cart166 Pages In 11 Sections
Additional Info
So what’s the Ideas Library? Simply the most complete collection of practical youth ministry programming ideas on this planet. The Ideas books set the pace for 20th – century youth ministry. And now they’re updated for 21st century youth groups – reorganized from the inside out for busy youth workers who need the perfect idea, and need it now.Whether you’re a youth worker or recreation director in a church, school, club, or camp – GAMES 2 is brimming with notoriously wild, creative, and youth-group tested games!
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Discussion And Lesson Starters
$24.99Add to cartContents
159 Pages In 4 Parts
Additional Info
More than 200 proven openers, questions, and activities that get students involved in your lessons!*A Primer On Leading Discussions-starting a discussion, and keeping it going…the importance of confidentiality…asking questions that get responses…and working with different personalities.
*35 creative ways to start a discussion or lesson on any topic—techniques general enough to fit just about any subject, but still quirky enough to attract adolescent attention.
*Discussion & lesson starters, by topic-what subject are you teaching this week? First, look up your subject-apologetics, attitude, dating, disabilities, family, the will of God…and more than 30 topics, all arranged alphabetically. Then choose the opener that fits your purposes and your group.In fact many of these openers are virtually complete lessons in themselves, with questions, activities, parables, object lesson-all designed to draw opinions, thoughts, and feelings from your students.
Whether you’re a youth worker or recreation director in a church, school, club, or camp—Discussion & Lesson Starters is your storehouse of proven, youth group tested ideas.
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Student Ministry For The 21 Century
$26.99Add to cartWhy settle for a “youth group” . . . . . . when you can build a dynamic student ministry that keeps more and more students coming — and keeps them growing! From the director of Student Impact, one of the country’s largest and most effective student ministries, here is a clear, step-by-step approach that takes you for a quantum leap beyond merely:
Maintaining a Youth Group . . . to Building a Student Ministry
Activity-driven . . . To purpose-driven
Unclear vision . . . To clear vision Inward focus
Content with the “clique” . . . To outward focus, compassion for lost people
Minimum growth . . . To consistent growth
Songs and games . . . To worship and prayer
Keeps the traditions . . . To evaluates for effectiveness
“Baby-sitting” . . . To impacting the world. -
Wild Truth Bible Lesson
$19.99Add to cartReady to introduce your junior highers to wild examples of spiritual maturity? Check out biblical adventures of these people and the character qualities they exemplify — real people who, in wild Bible stories, did really wild things for God: – Kid King . . . Josiah (influencing others) – Wise Guy, the King of Good Decisions . . . Solomon (wise decisions) – Little Timmy, the Teenage Teacher . . . Timothy (living for God while still a young teen) – Dave’s posse . . . David’s mighty men (doing outrageous things for God) – Whiney Bro, the Fair-Share Demander . . . the Prodigal Son’s brother (demanding your rights) – Moe’s Mom, the Cruise Director . . . Moses’ mother (trusting God in difficult situations) – Pete, the Second-Chance Wonder . . . Peter (God’s forgiveness) – Samantha, the Water Woman . . . the woman at the well (racism). You won’t believe all the off-the-wall discussion starters, video ideas, scripts, games with a point — and, of course, Bible passages you can use to springboard junior highers into topics that don’t just mean the world to them, but are the world. Friendship. Embarrassment. Rights. Racism. Each lesson reaches back into history to underline for junior highers the reality of Old and New Testament people and principles — and then reaches forward, challenging your students to make better decisions, better friends, better lives. Each lesson thoroughly preps you to teach it, including convenient reminders of what materials you need and when you need them. And in each lesson students dig into Wild Pages that bring scriptural principles right into the kids’ own experience.
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How To Speak To Youth And Keep Them Awake At The Same Time
$19.99Add to cartSpeaking to youth is challenging. Here’s the help you’ve been looking for. . . . How to Speak to Youth is packed with tons of tips to make you a better speaker with any size group large or small.
You’ll enhance your communication skills with – A proven system for preparing dynamic talks – Exercises to improve your voice, gestures, and eye contact – Techniques to use the humor you find in everyday life – Ideas to make Scriptures come alive. And you’ll discover ways to- Prepare with focus – Speak with clarity – Communicate with power. Plus, you’ll enjoy the many humorous illustrations peppered throughout the book. You’ll discover your potential to speak to kids and keep them awake at the same time. -
Handbook For Counseling Youth
$29.99Add to cart50 Chapters
Additional Info
A Comprehensive, Up-to-Date Resource for the 50 Major Issues Facing Today’s YouthIn the work of a lifetime, Josh McDowell and his collaborator Bob Hostetler have developed this easy-to-use handbook to help parents, teachers, pastors and youth workers guide today’s young people through the minefields on the path to adulthood. Drawn from over 6,000 pages of research, this book will equip you to help youth cope with the major issues they face, from simple challenges of growing up to the major traumas of extreme crisis.
The book is designed for easy use. Each issue is organized to lead you through the helping process in five easy steps for effective analysis and results:
1. identify the problem, 2. discover its causes, 3. determine its effects, 4. view it from a biblical perspective, and 5. prescribe the right response.
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Creative Bible Lessons In Romans
$16.99Add to cartThink of it as a lean, mean Bible doctrine course–without the lecture. But with lots of options, videos, music, and drama. And small group work. And reproducible, interactive worksheets with eye-catching designs and soul-searching content. (Like, what else do you expect from St. Paul when he sits down to write the meatiest book of doctrine in the Bible?) in the 12 clear, complete sessions of Creative Bible Lessons in Romans. Author Chap Clark guides kids (and you) through the Big Ideas in this first-century letter to Christians trying their darndest to live godly lives in an ungodly culture. (Sound familiar?) From the not-so-savory picture the apostle paints of humankind in the opening chapters. . .through his celebration of grace and acceptance in midbook. . .to his tightly reasoned argument that love should fuel a Christian’s decisions and relationships–here are topics made to order for teenagers living at the turn of the 21st century. Teach your way through Romans with these read-to-go sessions. Or scavenge whatever you want of the creative scripts, handouts, and other options to customize lessons of your own. Any way you use it, Creative Bible Lessons in Romans is your no-doze ticket to solid Bible doctrine.
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Spontaneous Melodramas : 24 Impromptu Skits That Bring Bible Stories To Lif
$24.99Add to cartYou know them as hilarious, boisterous skits that get kids involved, whether they’re hamming up front, or in the audience cheering for the good guys, hissing the bad guys, and getting nearly as animated as the onstage actors.
Better yet, these no-rehearsal skits are comic takes on 24 of the classic Bible stories, from Babel to Zacchaeus. Use these skits to take your students into or out of your Bible lesson-for the humor never buries the central message of the Bible passage.
Inside you’ll find 12 Old Testament and 12 New Testament stories-like these:
*The First Tongue Twister (The Tower Of Babel)
*Josephine’s Dream (Joseph And His Brothers)
*The Young And The Hairless (Samson And Delilah)
*Dave, The Wave, And The Giant Kahuna (David And Goliath)
*Dances With Lions (Daniel)
*World Serious: The Empire Strikes Out (The Temptation Of Jesus)
*Good Same, The Levis, And Judas Priest (Parable Of The Good Samaritan)
*Showdown At Tombstone (Jesus And The Demon-Possessed Man)unchurched teenagers who can’t tell Samson from Solomon, or long-time youth group kids-everyone will love not merely hearing or reading Bible stories, but doing them.
Welcome to more than a year’s worth of slapstick, pratfalls, and melodrama. These Bible-story skits are anything but solemn, but they’ll make Bible stories memorable for your students.
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What If : 450 Thought Provoking Questions To Get Teenagers Talking Laughing
$22.99Add to cartHow will your kids answer these provocative questions? What if. . .you could talk to you family about anything? . . .you could have one superhuman power? . . .you could grade your teacher? . . .You found out your best friend had AIDS? . . .you could exchange bodies with anyone? . . .you could ask God three questions? Their answer will spark lively discussion, debate, and real thinking. You can use the 450 stimulating questions you’ll find in What If. . .? to break the ice, get a discussion rolling, build community, get kids to wrestle with spiritual issues, or just have fun. The follow-up questions–What could you do? What would you do? What should you do?–provide an added twist to the process. And the convenient size makes it easy to stick in your pocket or the glove compartment of your car. You’ll find What If. . .? an indispensable part of your youth ministry.
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Counseling Adolescent Girls
$17.00Add to cartDetailed sociological, psychological, and spiritual data about the conflicts and heartaches common among today’s teenagers, including depression, eating disorders, premarital sex, and date rape, with sound advice on how concerned caregivers should respond. Especially helpful to parents, youth leaders, and pastors.
