Ministry Coach: Youth Ministry Tips & Resources

Steal These 5 Tips to NEVER Run Out of Sermon Ideas for Youth Ministry

• Kristen Lascola • Episode 218

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Are you looking to grow the size and health of your youth ministry? Check out
GrowYourYouthMinistry.com *** Wouldn't it be nice to never run out of sermon ideas for your youth ministry?  In this episode, we promise to equip you with five essential tips to keep your sermons fresh and your youth group students captivated. We've got you covered with tips that will spark your creativity and enhance your spiritual insights.  These strategies will keep your content meaningful for both newcomers and long-standing members of your student ministry.  Join us for a thoughtful and engaging conversation that promises to transform your approach to sermon creation.

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📚 BOOKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE 📚:

📗 "Heaven" - By Randy Alcorn
https://amzn.to/3Yrm8GM

📕 "Hollywood Worldviews" - By Brian Godawa
https://amzn.to/48tmQYB

📘"I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist" - By Norman L. Geisler & Frank Turek
https://amzn.to/3UvolzW

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You may also enjoy these episodes:

(#163) These 5 Tips Will Help Your Youth Ministry Retain Your Sermons

(#089) How to Get Better Engagement During Sermons in Youth Ministry


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Speaker 1:

And it took me a while to realize, but it finally clicked Like. These things are game changers when it comes to my sermon planning, sermon series teaching.

Speaker 2:

Sometimes it's just a simple mindset change where you can see all the things that are happening in your ministry with your students and think this is a sermon series they need If you're a pastor, a preacher, any kind of teacher.

Speaker 1:

learning is an essential and connecting dots all the time and I truly believe if you can do these five things, you'll never run out of sermon ideas. Today we're talking about five things that you can do to never run out of sermon ideas in youth ministry.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Ministry Coach Podcast where every week, we give you actionable and practical tips to help you grow the size and health of your youth ministry.

Speaker 1:

My name is Jeff Lascola and this is Kristen Lascola, and today we're going to talk about five things that you can do to never run out of sermon ideas. Never, ever. So number one is read.

Speaker 2:

Jeff doesn't like this one. Let's move to number two. I'm out on number one.

Speaker 1:

Well you could do an audible. It doesn't matter, you could listen, but that might be jumping ahead. So, what are you reading right now? Because I realize for myself, reading opens up my mind in so many different ways that it's not like I'm going to take the book I'm reading and, like, step by step, do a sermon based on chapter one, this chapter two. However, it opens your mind to so many spiritual concepts. So obviously, reading the Bible that's number one like the word of God comes alive and speaks new and different all the time. So make sure you're constantly in the word and when you read the word, the lens that's on your eyes. For other reading materials is very interesting. So, like, I read usually simultaneously the Bible, one fiction book, and it could be Christian or non-Christian fiction, one definite Christian nonfiction book. And is that three? Yeah, I'm usually reading about three books at a time. Wow, well, the Bible is all the time.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I just feel like I probably could only handle one book outside of the Bible, so fiction and nonfiction do something very different for your brain and very different for your creativity.

Speaker 1:

So like nonfiction, you know, is you're usually learning something tangible, whereas nonfiction or sorry, sorry fiction usually leads you to some story or helps you think in a more creative way, or deducing truth from art, like stuff like that. So I like to be reading three things and then again it's not like you're taking those concepts, like right now I'm reading the grapes of wrath, so it's not like I I'm going to be like, oh, like chapter one, jode does this, let's do a sermon. But it's almost like the artistic expression and it might be like bring up questions in your mind of man, like the condition of humanity. Let's talk about that.

Speaker 1:

Or you know, and so it might not always just be like a series idea, but it could enhance your sermons if you're constantly reading very interesting things. The nonfiction book I'm reading right now is Randy Alcorn's book on heaven, you know, and he's like going through scripture with a fine tooth comb every single thing it says about the afterlife. And then I'm reading the Bible, and so, with all of that information floating around your head, it leads to ideas of I want to teach on something like this you know, our pastor taught a few sermons on heaven because of Randy Alcorn's book, and that's where I got the idea.

Speaker 1:

Oh, I need to read this.

Speaker 1:

This is amazing, but I know not everyone is a reader. But I feel like if you are a teacher of the word of God, if you're a pastor, a preacher, any kind of teacher learning is an essential. You just have to be learning all the time and connecting dots all the time, creating new synapses all the time and sharpening the way you think and what you think about all the time, and that leads to sermon ideas. And then, secondly, what are you? I'll put listening to and watching kind of in the same category. So what are you listening to that can give you a ton of sermon ideas?

Speaker 1:

I would suggest listening to sermons and messages that aren't from your church only you know, from all kinds of people, all kinds of different pastors and churches, to kind of broaden that horizon. And then just interesting topics like whether it's theology, whether it's science, whether it's health, because all of those things work together to start to build good communication. You know like it just starts to make your communication so more multidimensional the more things you know. So it is a good idea to keep like a journal or a notebook or something like that of potential illustrations or topics or questions that come up in your mind or thought patterns that you're like. I don't know. I feel like something might be here. I created a whole sermon series based on some of Tim Keller's messages, and I didn't copy his messages, but when I was listening to them.

Speaker 2:

I was like wait a minute.

Speaker 1:

If he's saying this, that makes me wonder this and so then and you have to probably guess that Tim Keller listened to or read something that he was like well, I heard this and now I feel like God's saying this and I want to, you know, run in this direction. And so it's kind of like these little ripple effects I listen to you and that makes me think this, and now I communicate that and those people will listen to me, and then they start asking these questions. And so it's like you take these little snippets and ideas from what you're hearing and reading and watching and listening to. And there's a whole book actually on movies and Christian worldview and how the Hollywood industries, even though they're not Christian, they do help us understand worldview a little bit better. And there's a book I forget the author, but it's called Hollywood and worldviews and it goes through different movies and starts to talk about I probably botched that title If you Google something like that.

Speaker 2:

We'll link it. I'll figure it out what it is and we'll link it below. Thanks, jeff, you're the best. See, I just started to think of these things and then I'm like ah there is a part of your brain though or, I'm assuming, part of everyone's brain where you can kind of take a concept and maybe you think that's a great idea. But you could also do this, you know, or go in this angle.

Speaker 2:

And I don't know if that's the thing that you kind of have to turn on, like were you putting on the lenses of a sermon? You know prepping a sermon? But yeah, I like when you think of things like that. I've had things in my life like creative thoughts sometimes are sparked by something you think somebody is doing and then it's like, oh, oh, that's a great idea. And then you realize, oh, that person wasn't even doing that. They did this other thing and I don't have any great examples of that yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1:

And so you go down a whole other path because you're thinking and that's the point, and that's why I try not to think, but every now and then I accidentally do but the point is like, yeah, you might not like reading or yeah, you might not, but when you're thinking, all of a sudden, these new ideas, like when you're listening to something, you have to digest it, you know, and you're starting to think through it, you start to come up with new ideas and new ways of thinking and communicating. And yeah, like the Hollywood movie thing, like you know, I can't not see worldview themes, like Christian worldview themes in movies now, even if the director and the script has nothing to do with God or the Bible or anything Like. I mean, I remember even watching Tiger King over COVID and I was thinking to myself oh my gosh, like we are meant to give and receive love. And when that is lacking in someone's life, you see the fallout from the lack of love and that that's the glue of someone's sanity and someone's behavior and someone's quality of life.

Speaker 1:

And when you take out that ingredient like what we're meant for, then all kinds of shenanigans happen. You know, when you look at I even forget that guy's name, whoever the tiger King was. But you know, hearing like he's so eccentric, right, but hearing his background, you're like you were starved for love and you've tried to find a way in this world to be significant and it came out an ego and unhealth and excess and greed. And you know it's like well, when something's not adding up, the human heart will compensate somewhere and that's so biblical. You know, like that we are programmed for love and relationship. You take that away. So not that I want to use Tiger King in a junior high sermon example, but you just start to notice themes.

Speaker 2:

Not now, that's past. Yes, that's so 2020. 2020. I said 2000. I'm just thinking of like a two with a bunch of zeros and that said 2000. I was just thinking of like a two with a bunch of zeros. And that is 2000.

Speaker 1:

You know what I mean. And so when you start to watch movies, like obviously more obvious examples, like Lord of the Rings and stuff like that, you see like worldview themes emerging and you can dip into those for illustrative purposes. You know, answering a lot of that question where does art and life merge? You know that eternal question is life imitating art or is art imitating life? Obviously, life came first. So I believe life imitates or art imitates life. You know we're reflecting things back and forth constantly, but it just creates a more robust communication pattern for us and gives us new ideas.

Speaker 1:

So don't neglect the role of art, whether it's books, you know, literature, fiction, historical fiction has really increased my horizons in a lot of ways, especially Christian historical fiction, like Francine Rivers stuff. I just see the Christian experience so different now through story and history. It just helps us think and communicate better and absorb information better, to become better communicators and speakers. You know, and write this stuff down or underline or outline things that you feel like whoa, I'm passionate about this. Or oh, this sparked something really creative in me, or some big questions in me. Oh, my gosh, from reading this book I got four big questions. Why do humans need love. What happens when we don't get love? Where do we need to go for love? What are some love substitutes? And what happens when we fully immerse ourselves in the love we were meant for? That was just a sermon series and that came from watching Tiger King. You know it's like when love is the missing ingredient, what happens?

Speaker 1:

You know when you could do a whole illustration of your baking and you take out a couple of ingredients and it's, you know, classic, like take out the eggs. What happened? It didn't work. So you know like it can start to make you think along different lines that are that you may not have picked up anywhere else. So make sure you're reading, watching and listening to things that are so varied. Don't listen to the same thing or the same person all the time. Don't watch the same things all the time, but as you notice themes emerging in the art and literature start to journal that.

Speaker 1:

Hey, friend, I just wanted to interrupt this episode for a second to let you know about an awesome opportunity for you and your youth ministry. So last year we launched our course and coaching program called Youth Ministry Growth Accelerator and the response has been amazing. So we've helped tons of youth pastors grow the size and health of their youth ministry and we want to invite you to be a part of that as well, because maybe you're just sort of feeling stuck in a rut, maybe you don't know what to do next, maybe you just have a vague plan in your mind of what you're doing and you want some real help to get you from where you are to where you want to go. So if that sounds like something you've been looking for, go to growyouryouthministrycom and check it out for more details. All right, let's get back to the episode Number three talk to students. How can you come up with sermon ideas? You got to talk to the people that you're going to be talking to, right? So one big series that we do that has been so helpful is called Ask Me, and you know we've talked about this on a previous episode, but I have. I was using an old oatmeal container and it was empty. Yeah Well, I liked the size of it and it was empty and I cut a little slit at the top and I wrapped it and it said ask me.

Speaker 1:

And they would write in a card like what happens after you die, and you know they put it in there and then I would look through them all and I would start to see some themes emerging. So you could do that in and of a, in and of itself, as a series, like you pull out a question and you literally teach on the spot. Or pull five one week and think I'm going to prepare and try to answer these next week or something. But then it's the literal questions they're asking. You could also pull from it and categorize them and say, wow, okay, these questions are similar. They have questions about what is hell and why do people go there, and what is heaven and who goes there, and can you ever sin so bad that God wouldn't forgive you?

Speaker 1:

And if you start to notice these themes emerging, you might be able to create a series or multiple series based on the questions that they're asking. So an ask me series is really good, and then asking them questions, and you're not going to just run up to a junior hire and say what are you struggling with? You know, but the more time you spend with them and the more conversation you have with them, you will pick up on it. Whether it's family stuff. If you have a lot of students coming from divorced families that are struggling with peace in that situation, that could be a theme where you talk about family, or maybe that buds into a whole relationship series. How do we treat our family when it's not what we had pictured for life? How do we treat our friends when they do? You know, blah, blah, blah.

Speaker 2:

Doing a little debrief with all your small group leaders too. That's the next one, Jeff, Did you not read these notes?

Speaker 1:

No, I never read them, oh my gosh. And so you know figuring out what are they.

Speaker 2:

It's a great point, Jeff.

Speaker 1:

Well, I guess we agree on that, because it is a great point, kristen and figuring out what they're curious about. You know my students, every single year, are so, so curious about end times and revelation, and you know they always have a million questions about it. So they, like, are on the edge of their seat waiting for that series all the time. They're very, very interested in us decoding that as best we can. It's a tough one to teach, that's for sure, but, um, we do the best that we can. They love, love, love it. So what are they curious about? What do they want to know more about? And then kind of asking that question to yourself, like what do you think they need to know before they leave your ministry? You know there's so many adults who have gone through Sunday school and church and arrived to adulthood not knowing a lot of things that I'm like, oh, like, I just thought that was an obvious every.

Speaker 2:

Christian knows this, but then I think somewhere along the way they were never taught this Because some of like the most common, like that illustration is so played like that's been around for so long it's like, but if they've never seen it, it's brand new to them.

Speaker 1:

And I think the longer you stay in ministry, the more you're like that's cliche, everyone knows. And be careful of that thinking, because that happens to me all the time where I'm like I'm not going to do that again. That's like so, like let me guess, you know, like how I was saying with the baking illustration, like OK, kids, what's going to happen if I take this out? And you know, like when pastors used to always do the one where the water was murky, and then you put in oxy clean or something like that, and it's all clean and it's

Speaker 1:

jesus. And you think like, oh, my gosh, how lame. Okay, well, that's us maybe being in church for a million years and seeing it. And we're like, oh, this is so predictable. But keep in mind, some of these, like you said, it's like, it's not cliche. So think like down to basics, like what do I want them to have the biggest, firmest grip on? Like as they move into high school.

Speaker 1:

Like crystal clear on the gospel, crystal clear on who Jesus is, crystal clear on what is salvation and why can we trust the Bible and why is the Bible not just a bunch of fairy tales and why is it the best thing for us to use to navigate our life? Why is it truth? What is truth? So all those kinds of things that I mean, those are the ones that are particular, particularly important to me. So, kind of sitting down and knowing, like, or if you see some gaps as you start to talk to students, you know there's certain behavioral things that I noticed.

Speaker 1:

My students will say like, oh, yeah, like so-and-so did this, or I'm doing this, and they don't feel any type of embarrassment or shame, they just say something like, when it comes to Christian living, I guess you could say and I'm just kind of like you know that's wrong, all right, and it like never occurred to them, you know, because maybe they don't have Christian parents and so they're just like, yeah, you believe in Jesus.

Speaker 1:

And then you just kind of do this and that just like everyone else, like whoa, but we're Christians, we don't do this and we don't date like that and we don't. You know, watch these kinds of things and it just I've had students like jaw hit the floor when I told them certain things were wrong according to the Bible and they're like what Like it? Just like they were like wait a minute, let me get this straight, like kind of one of those conversations. And I, on the other hand, was kind of like wait a minute, let me get this straight. You don't know that watching this is wrong and doing this is wrong, like ah, and I just was like oh my gosh, that's a gap. Like not that we're out to like shame anyone, but definitely tell some truth of like yeah, we believe in Jesus and now that means we follow him.

Speaker 1:

And that is a lifestyle, lifestyle thing, and let me tell you what our lifestyle is supposed to be so it kind of goes back to the, to the.

Speaker 2:

You think certain illustrations are are just cliche, but again with biblical truths, it's like if we're not teaching those, like those common things, like everybody knows that well, it's like, well, if you never really taught it to them why would? They know that you always feel like every generation just kind of absorbs whatever their parents already knew right and now you know it's like that's not the case at all.

Speaker 1:

We're all unique yeah, and like if you talk to students long enough, those kinds of things will pop up, and so then that might give you a hint. Of all right, we need to do a series on like. Two years ago I remember it was like blatantly clear they were begging for a mental health series Like what is anxiety? What is depression? What does the Bible say about both? Like does this mean I'm not a Christian if I struggle with these things and why do I feel this way? And does that mean like I don't love God and I don't have the Holy spirit? You know, they were practically begging for that and so we did it and it was great.

Speaker 2:

So listen to and listen between the lines too, of like what they're explicitly saying and what they're hinting at that you're like, wait a minute, we might need to address some stuff pertaining to this Right, because we live in a world that is giving them all kinds of truths that the world says are okay and is totally normal, which can be completely contradicting of what the Bible says. But if we're not combating that constantly what this is what the Bible says, and this is why we need to be different then why would they never know that?

Speaker 1:

Exactly they don't, and you have no clue what kind of family they grew up in, or growing up in that friend groups.

Speaker 1:

They're a part yeah and then if their parents never said this is how christians live, or this is what we do and don't do, then there would be no way for them to know yeah you know, they would just think like you know, there's so many like christians that kind of acknowledge god or the existence of god, but their lifestyle doesn't match it at all, and a lot of our students are around those kinds of people all the time Raised by those people. Exactly so what their perception of a Christian is. You might be taking for granted that they even understand what that word means. It's just like, oh yeah, people who kind of go to church and believe there's a God.

Speaker 2:

That was me. That's how I grew up. First 18 years of my life was kind of, oh, I'm a Christian. It's like, well, why, I don't know. I live in America and the church that we've ever gone to was Christian, so I guess that's what I am.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I didn't know anything else. Sort of like an affiliation.

Speaker 2:

Right, it's a box that I would check on, something I was filling out, you know, and I think, a lot of people are like that.

Speaker 1:

So when we celebrate like, oh my gosh, they're a Christian, are we defining that term correctly? And how awful for them to go through our entire youth program and never actually know the difference of like okay, you're here, I love that Great start.

Speaker 1:

Do you know what we're talking about when we say that? Because sometimes I watch kids, their lifestyle or the things that they're okay with and stuff. I'm just like I don't know if we are on the same page here, like, wait, you and I, we are, we aren't, you know, I even feel that way with adults a lot of times Like I'll be like oh yeah, we're Christians, so then I assume, so you also believe this and then they don't and I'm like oh, oh, like what just happened.

Speaker 1:

So, all that. Going back to that question, what do we want them to know when they leave our ministry? Being very clear with what the gospel is and isn't. You know, and do not be afraid, as a teacher, to speak hard truths to kids.

Speaker 1:

you know like nobody needs you to just like make them feel like what they're doing is okay If it's not calling people out and in a nice and loving way, but never steering away from truth when it is the truth you know, like, truth is objective and it's like, whether we like it or not, guys, this is what this says.

Speaker 1:

And how do we navigate that when it's hard for us to accept Like, I know it's hard to accept and I know, but we need to walk them through that of like, some truths are harder than others, but this is not my playbook.

Speaker 1:

This is this is God's playbook and if, if I don't agree with it, I need a heart adjustment, he doesn't need an adjustment. Heart adjustment, he doesn't need an adjustment. So this is the last thing I'll say about this topic. But one of my big passions is teaching students how to think, rather than just what to think you know, and so I take them through a lot of like truth series of just like guys.

Speaker 1:

Regardless of what you believe about God, we all can agree on this there was nothing and now there's something. That is, everyone is starting at the same square in this game. You're starting at there was nothing and then you go to there was something. How did you get from square A to square B? Was it that nothing and nothing created nothing?

Speaker 2:

No something.

Speaker 1:

Or sorry, nothing and nothing created something. And I always explain to them. Someone asked recently what's your favorite illustration and I gave them one, but it's probably this one actually. So who I gave that? To scratch that out? Put this one. I always say let's just do simple math here. What is zero plus zero equal? And they always say zero. I'm like fantastic. Zero plus zero will never equal one, it will never equal two, it will never equal negative one, it will never equal a million, it will never equal anything but zero. So if you're telling me nothing and nothing equals created everything, you're asking me to break the laws of mathematics, of physics, of science, and you're asking me to believe in more of a miracle than the creation account. I didn't even need to say God Almighty is the creator of the universe. All I'm just trying to get you to think of right now is there was nothing right and now there's something yeah and that something is very complex, very symmetrical, very designed, very fine-tuned.

Speaker 1:

and I will tell you about all the constants that make this universe like how they call it. Even science calls it the goldilocks planet. It's just right, and here's why now the and then I start to go into probability the odds of that happening on even one of those accounts is like this. So I'm just going to present you all this information and I'm going to ask you to think about it and then see what you come up with. You know. So I like to do stuff like that of like, regardless, if you. Well, what about the dinosaurs and the crusades? Okay, regardless of that, let me just say there was nothing, there was something, and we will reconcile things as we go, but you have to acknowledge this just is logical, this just makes sense.

Speaker 1:

So teaching them so much truth for when they leave your ministry, of not just what to think but how to think about it, so that when those challenges and those doubts and those questions come, I remember in high school having that thought of like. Well, all those religions think they're right. What if I've spent my whole life and I'm totally wrong? And then I'd go back to zero plus zero will never equal one. God is real and the most likely God is the God of the Bible. Because of all the evidence archaeological, historical, scientific, like there's no way this didn't happen. What do you do with the person of Jesus? He was real, he existed, nobody would dispute that. Why would they make up that he rose again and there's no way they could pull that off because of this, this and this. And then I'd come back to my senses of like. Whether I want this to be true or not, it is, you know, because it and that's what I try to get our students to understand it just makes so much sense, even if you don't want it to. It does Like it just adds up more than anything else in the world.

Speaker 1:

And then, speaking of reading, and how did I come to some of these series that I go back to over and over again? I read a great book. I don't have enough faith to be an atheist and it started to talk through like it takes far more faith to believe that all this came from nothing than to believe in the creation account and the God of the Bible. So that started to get me thinking. Teenagers need to know this. Students need to know this stuff. So read and study and learn and understand and pull from science, health, history, everything to give them a big, multidimensional message. That's like all of this points to one thing. Like we always say, how the whole Bible points to Jesus, the whole universe points to Jesus, history points to Jesus, science points to Jesus, health points to Jesus.

Speaker 1:

I always tell my students do you not find it ironic that the exact dosages of vitamins and minerals found in fruits and vegetables are completely compatible with our body's nervous system and cardiovascular system, brain function? Like the exact thing in a blueberry is the exact thing your brain needs. Like how, come on, your body was create. That food was created specifically for you. It was all designed. Like it just makes so much sense that this place was created as a home for us. So like the more you start to delve into all that, like your teaching just becomes fuller.

Speaker 2:

I feel like you just gave a mini sermon right there on just that one point.

Speaker 1:

Hallelujah.

Speaker 2:

What's the next point?

Speaker 1:

Are you just trying to get me to move on? It's time to move on, silly goose. Okay, number four was the one Jeff already said. It's a great point, jeff but I'll let you explain it Go ahead. Why don't you go ahead? I?

Speaker 2:

forgot what it even was.

Speaker 1:

Okay, ask your small group leaders.

Speaker 2:

Ask your small group leaders afterwards. Debrief them Like what were your students going over? What was the topic of concern? What was the thing that, when they were going through the talk sheet, that this one thing really stood out to them.

Speaker 1:

Why are you saying it weird?

Speaker 2:

Because I am weird, like I am weird, like we've been married for 13 years.

Speaker 1:

I'm probably the weirdest person you know. Your tone is it's half serious, half mocking, yeah, but all me.

Speaker 2:

You know what I mean.

Speaker 1:

I'll just let you go, I'll just, I'll just sit back. Okay, go ahead, do your thing. I just didn't know if you're making fun of your point or my point, because can't it be both?

Speaker 2:

why does it have to be a this or that, or his or hers?

Speaker 1:

you were doing great, keep going.

Speaker 2:

I lost my train of thought. You really killed it. Yeah, I did, sure.

Speaker 1:

Whatever, like Jeff said, asking your leaders after small group hey, did anything surprise you of what came out of this discussion? What were students really leaning into? Or did they take a rabbit trail and go off topic and they really wanted to know millions? And that happens all the time. Like I'll talk to leaders and they're like oh my gosh, like I didn't know how to answer it, but I told them maybe you can come in and we can talk about next time they want to know about this, this and this. Or they'll be like oh, we spent 20 minutes talking about this and I'll be like okay, okay, like if this is coming up enough, then all right. Like maybe we need to do some kind of series on this if they're just like yeah, yeah, yeah, but what about this?

Speaker 1:

You know? So pay attention to what small group leaders are saying, because that is kind of the key. If you're not, clearly, even if you lead a small group, you're only in one. So talk to them. And then, lastly, number five browse sermon series or by curriculum, and if you do that, you will literally never run out of sermon ideas. They will be borrowed concepts. You don't use it as a script, obviously. You plug in your own ideas and stories and illustrations and concepts. You can use it as the skeleton of what you do, to give you some structure and jumping off points. My favorites LifeChurch. I've talked about a million times, life Church. You go to the bottom, click on church resources and you can use adult sermons, student sermons, children's sermons. Some of them even have graphics. It's free.

Speaker 1:

Totally free, 100%. Thank youig groschel and team um. I also love download youth ministry. Their stuff you usually have to pay for but it doesn't feel like it because it's so cheap. You can buy sermon series, you can buy games, all that stuff, but they have a ton of resources and they're dirt cheap, which is so nice. Grow curriculum I have never personally used but but I've heard incredible things about it. And G shades is another one. I've heard incredible things about it and I've explored G shades myself, had some samples and links and downloads. I'm like dang like really good.

Speaker 2:

Leader treks.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, I do some stuff with and for LeaderTrek. They're they have, like they're a bottomless pit of resources. Once you get on that LeaderTrek site you're going to be like, wow, I have a million options. I didn't even know. And and the reason I said browsing is because, even if you're not going to buy something, you can at least browse and you can see the titles of things and go wow like that's a great idea, or you know I wouldn't do that.

Speaker 1:

But what if we did this? Like and I just think sometimes looking at what other people are putting out and publishing and doing it can create some thought processes in your own heart of like, oh yeah, I've been wanting to talk about that. Or whoa, that was a good idea. Or man, I never thought to teach on that, and you can either buy it if you like theirs, or you can just take a concept and run with it on your own.

Speaker 1:

But I think in all of this it's also good to collaborate as a team, like if you have directors or interns or even your small group leaders. You can always just sit down and be like, hey, I'm only one person on this bus and I see this and I think we need this, but you might be hearing and sensing something totally different. What do you think our kids need to hear and understand? What do you think they don't get? What would you really want them to understand before they leave this ministry? And take inventory of what the adults who are in the trenches with you and hear students every week. What are they saying? Yeah, that is probably the best research you could ever do.

Speaker 2:

I think another good idea just kind of goes along with you know, having a great sermon is obviously great illustrations, and sometimes that can kind of just come from having a story bank. There's when we have things happen to us every single day and some of them are pretty mundane and some of them are pretty exciting or whatever. But if you kind of start looking at those things and thinking, could I ever use this in a sermon? Or this, this thing that happened, is it kind of interesting enough to put in a sermon? And if you kind of start writing those down, whether it's in your phone or if you keep a journal or something like that, it's something you can go back to and reference later and think oh, that story about this happening with my car or whatever would work great for this sermon.

Speaker 2:

But if you're not consciously and actively writing those things down, they're in your brain and out and maybe you can recall a couple of them, because they're so you know, insanely interesting, but sometimes it's just the boring things like when I wasn't waiting in line. This happened and fits perfectly with the story. But kind of keeping a, making a conscious effort to keep those things in a journal or something like that, just to reference later. Sure is a great way to add those into your talks and make things interesting.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and never neglect. Like the voice of the Holy Spirit too. It's like you know we can do all this, like reading, listening, watching, talking, you know, getting an idea of what are we teaching on, what do I want to do. But listen to the Holy Spirit too, like what do you want me to teach on? What do my students need to hear? What are you putting on my heart? And I feel like sometimes the Holy Spirit really calls to mind those stories that I have forgotten about, where maybe I'm like, all right, I'm going to teach on joy, and I'm like, oh, I need a story and I pray about it, like bring to mind something for me that would really fit here. You know, like this is such a wildly spiritual process too that we're going to use our best tools and skills and know-how, but don't forget, it's also spiritual in nature and the Holy Spirit like praying and seeking that guidance of your direction all the time.

Speaker 1:

You know it's not just a for your brain only, kind of thing.

Speaker 2:

And you have to think of everything but really rely on inspiration from God, as well, totally, and if you guys wanted to check out the episode we did about how to get better engagement from your students during sermons, make sure you check that out. We'll have that linked below. All right Question of the day this week is what's a candy bar that you're like? Get it the shelves, eliminate it.

Speaker 1:

It's not worth having a in a store for sale I have a feeling there's a lot of people who are big fans of this. My best friend growing up loved these. She would eat them all the time. I couldn't get over how much nougat was in a three musketeers it was just oh, that's a good, I mean just it's a bad one. But a good answer like I love chocolate, love chocolate, I love. It needed something else.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, the texture for me was off. It was like a Snickers was perfect because it's like chocolate and then the peanuts, nougat, caramel, like it was a layered experience, like the textures complemented each other.

Speaker 2:

But this, the outside of it, was good, like the chocolate kind of thin chocolate shell I guess, you could say but just that thick nougat nougat wasn't pulling its weight and it had a lot of weight in that and when.

Speaker 1:

I think about it even now.

Speaker 2:

It literally makes me feel nauseous I feel like if I'm eating a three musketeers bar, it means I've gotten to the bottom of my kids candy. Yeah, and I'm desperate for something sweet. Like I I'm eating a Three Musketeers bar it means I've gotten to the bottom of my kid's candy, yeah, and I'm desperate for something sweet Like I could do, maybe a fun size, and I have no self-control. A fun size one, because it's like a little truffle almost. It wouldn't be a full one You'd throw up.

Speaker 1:

But like the full size Three Musketeers, like how much nougat is that to get?

Speaker 2:

through. Yeah, that. And what is nougat? I don't know. It's a gross word, it is a gross word.

Speaker 1:

I need it sometimes.

Speaker 2:

It's embarrassing to say nougat.

Speaker 1:

Makes me feel out of touch Irrelevant.

Speaker 2:

You might not agree with me on this one, but like I can tolerate almond joy, but almond joy's cousin mounds.

Speaker 1:

That almond really does pack a punch. That's what we're talking about. Texture I love mounds. I really love almond joy mounds.

Speaker 2:

I'm not a big coconut person, but because I feel like I end up chewing the coconut for way longer than necessary, it just never goes away it would be like trying to dissolve gum in your mouth.

Speaker 1:

It's like it's gonna take a while, like almond joy, I mean.

Speaker 2:

I remember I mean, does anybody like mounds more? I mean, I guess, if you were, uh, I don't like almonds, or something, but it's because mounds is dark chocolate and coconut. That's another thing I'm not like about it milk, chocolate, coconut and almond it is better significantly, um, but I would still eat a mounds. No, I'm down mounds, no way. Three Musketeers.

Speaker 1:

I'm sure a lot of people will agree with you on the mounds.

Speaker 2:

Put in the comment section below. What's a candy bar that you say Get it out of stores. It's had its time and it's time is over. If you're passionate about candy, all right, we're going to do a question, or sorry. We're going to do a question or sorry. We're going to do a community comment, and then we'll be done. This comes from Nathaniel Pearson, who says stepping back into youth ministry next month, god's called me back to a place I never thought I'd be, but I'm so excited. Thank you all so much for providing me with the knowledge and motivation to dive into this head on.

Speaker 1:

Wow.

Speaker 2:

That's great. Totally Head on. I hate your product.

Speaker 1:

Nobody knows what that is. See kids. If you went back to the 1990s, you know the head-on commercial you'll never be the same, nathaniel.

Speaker 2:

Thank you thanks, nathaniel.

Speaker 1:

So glad to hear that.

Speaker 2:

That's the point of the channel and I love when I know that the point is being accomplished thank you guys for watching and listening and we'll see you next time today we're talking about don't get scared now don't get scared.

Speaker 1:

No, oh my gosh, you do it, shelby.