Lives are changed. Decisions are made. Jokes are shared. Lifelong friendships are formed. If you're a small group leader, you probably ask yourself lots of questions. Am I making a difference? Am I wisely investing my time, energy, and resources? How can I maximize my impact in these kids' lives? Find the answers you're looking for in 99 Thoughts for Small Group Leaders. Like other books in our 99 Thoughts series, Joshua Griffin's latest book delivers insights, tips, and veteran advice for small group leaders. When put into play, these bite-size, consumable pieces of wisdom can help leaders "knock it out of the park," setting them up to win. If you're a small group leader, you'll come back to this book again and again for encouragement, inspiration, and direction. And if you're a leader of leaders, you'll want to put this book into the hands of every small group leader-an investment in their lives and the lives of students in your youth ministry.

99 Thoughts for Small Group Leaders: Tips for Rookies & Veterans on Leading Youth Ministry Small Groups

Religion & Spirituality

Fields, Doug

Griffin, Joshua

Group Youth Ministry Resources

Group, Publishing

Christian Books & Bibles

Simply Youth Ministry

The world of volunteers has changed. But have you changed, too? Across the country, volunteer ranks continue to grow, but people are volunteering differently. They're working online, seeking flexible schedules, and pursuing a role in defining how projects should be completed. They want to feel a sense of responsibility for your organization's overall mission. Put simply, these volunteers don't want to simply make a contribution; they want to make a difference! Jonathan McKee and Thomas McKee have tapped into their decades of experience with the simple goal of helping you recruit, manage, and lead the new breed of volunteers. They'll guide you to a clearer understanding of what today's volunteers look like, how they want to get involved, and how you can most effectively attract, train, and unleash them within your organization. You'll also discover a bounty of helpful resources to assist you, including job descriptions, applications, and interview questions; activities, icebreakers, and team-builders for volunteer meetings; community-building activities; and tips for board retreats and planning sessions. The 21st century calls for a new system and for a greatly expanded definition of what it means to be a volunteer. If you can harness this passion and potential, you'll experience results that will reward both your organization and your volunteers.

The New Breed: Second Edition: Understanding and Equipping the 21st Century Volunteer

Business & Money

McKee, Jonathan

McKee, Thomas W.

Job Hunting & Careers

THIS IS IT: the beginning of a new adventure, a new chapter in your life, a new opportunity to forge your identity in a fresh setting. Your freshman year marks your first time for every high school experience: your first day, your first football game, your first pop quiz, and even some of your first major temptations. It's also a year filled with some really important questions: How can you make wise choices? How can you create good habits? How can you make faith a priority, not just another "thing" in your life? Lars Rood is your guide for this adventure. He's a pastor, an author, a former high school teacher, and the dad of three children who aren't too far away from beginning their own high school journeys. Each entry in this devotional will walk you through an important moment, issue, or opportunity that defines your freshman year, along with ideas on living out what you believe. In other words, this isn't just a book you read--it's a book that leads to action.

Freshman: Making Faith Your Priority: A 30-Day Devotional for Freshmen (Simply for Students)

Children's Books

Rood, Lars

Religions

The Simple Truth Bible features 365 daily devotionals for students—each one a tasty, bite-size morsel that powerfully reveals what it means to deeply love and trust God, to lead a Jesus-centered life, and to lean on Scripture for guidance and wisdom for daily student life. Through each devotion, teenagers will discover how to experience life-shaping, thought-provoking truths that bring wisdom and hope in the midst of daily struggles and tough times. As teens study the Bible, they will learn how God deeply and passionately loves them, how to build an authentic friendship with Jesus, and how they were created to lead a life of impact beyond high school, in this world and for eternity. The Simple Truth Bible features contributions from some of the leading voices in youth ministry today, including Kurt Johnston, Mark Oestreicher, Tim Levert, and Greg Stier. The writers skillfully connect the dots between the ancient truths of Scripture and the issues young adults face living in the 21st century. Teen devotions in The Simple Truth Bible include: <ul>
<li>A Bible passage with a short explanation of Scripture and how it relates to students' lives</li>
<li>“Talking with God”—Insights to help teenagers turn their thoughts into prayers as they spend time with God</li>
<li>Ideas to follow if students want to spend more than a few minutes each day with God</li>
<li>Perspective on how that day's passage fits into the big picture of the Bible</li>
<li>An index of Bible verses by theme</li>
<li>Additional articles help in the teen faith journey with topics including making the Bible smaller, praying, journaling, sharing your God-story, and more.</li>
</ul> Help students join a generation of teenagers committed to experiencing God's constant, daily presence in their lives!

The Simple Truth Bible: The Best Minute of Your Day (365 Daily Devotions for Students)

This amazing book is filled with classic fun! The Game Guy is geared up and ready to give you tons of great games—including some brand-new ones—that are easy to pull off and field-tested with teenagers in many settings. Here’s what you’ll get: • Classic games with new twists • Indoor and outdoor games • Games that teach • Games that build community in your group The book includes ideas on how to: • Lead games • Select games • Save games gone bad You also get: • Supply lists • Tips and bonus ideas • Notes on group sizes Plus, this legendary games expert exposes some of the worst games every played, and shares his philosophy of fun when working with teenagers. You’ll be equipped to lead young people with the best collection of games—ever!

Best-Ever Games for Youth Ministry: A Collection of Easy, FUN Games for Teenagers!

Christie, Les

Students who’ve experienced the Bible’s great truths, not just read about them, can walk through their lives with a firm foundation under their feet. They know what they believe and why, and they feel a lot more comfortable in situations that are challenging to their faith. This collection of lessons covering the most important truths in the Bible gives you an easy-to-use resource that will plunge your teenagers into the beautiful basics: the reality of God in the world, the truth about who Jesus really is, and why all of us need a “Good Shepherd” to find us and reclaim us…13 powerhouse lessons in all. And because they’re created by the editors of Group/Simply Youth Ministry, every lesson uses the R.E.A.L. learning approach—Relational, Experiential, Applicable, and Learner-based. This approach is not only easy to lead, but also guarantees that your students will engage with these great truths. They’ll learn how to live out their relationship with Jesus in their everyday lives as they wrestle with issues that really matter… • Why bad things happen to good people, and how Jesus brings beauty out of ugly; • What it means to “grow into” Jesus—living and loving others the way he does; and • Learning how to depend upon the Holy Spirit in life. No matter what the life issue, the Bible offers foundational truths that can help your students live more confidently with a deeper ongoing connection to Jesus. And our concise instructions and easy-to-use reproducible handouts make your job easy. Use these lessons as “spice” in between a teaching series, or build a series around them. Also, they’re easily adapted for a confirmation setting, a “new believers” class, a “grow-deep” discipleship group, or even Sunday school.

The 13 Most Important Bible Lessons For Teenagers: Complete Meetings for Youth Groups and Sunday School

The Way I’m Wired is a 6-week, biblically based DVD curriculum that is written for a variety of youth settings: small groups, Sunday schools, retreats, camps, homeschooling, and personal coaching/mentoring sessions. The curriculum features Josh Griffin, high school pastor at Saddleback Church, and was developed by bestselling author and Life Purpose Coach®, Dr. Katie Brazelton. This series will help teenagers discover how they are wired and how they can cooperate with God to live the life they were meant to live. Thought-provoking lessons guide teenagers through relevant content prior to students engaging with one another. Along with the content-rich video lessons, you’ll get student handouts, discussion questions, promotional materials, and more—everything you need to save you time while teaching these dynamic lessons. We’ve also included two video training sessions: one for students on 10 Ways to Amaze Your Friends With Your Conversational Skills, and one for leaders on Lifetime Facilitator & Coach Skills.

The Way I'm Wired: 6-Week DVD Curriculum: Discovering who GOD made ME to be

Brazelton, Katie

What does “following Jesus” mean, anyway? What if the lives we think we are living are actually disconnected from who Jesus really is? This Jesus-centered resource for teens is about rediscovering Jesus. For around 2,000 years, Jesus has been at the center of pretty much everything, and no one has had a bigger influence on daily lives than Jesus. Most of us think we have a pretty good idea of who Jesus is and what he did. Sometimes the people we know the least are the people we’re around the most. Isn’t that weird? We’re convinced that we really know them, because they’ve always been part of our lives. But we need to get reintroduced to them, because we don’t really know them as well as we think we do. This highly interactive, 40-day teen devotional helps young adults take a fresh look at what they think they already know about Jesus, so they can grow in their love and friendship with him and live the life they didn’t know was possible. Get ready for an exciting, life-changing adventure!

The Jesus-Centered Life: 40 Devotions for Teenagers

Lawrence, Rick

Johnston, Kurt

Storm, Jeff A.

Group Publishing

As Christians, we’re designed to be connected to God at all times--to be “plugged in” to the source. In this five-week, DVD-based small group curriculum, Doug Fields takes on the challenge of getting students interested and excited about staying connected to God. Every student is going to blaze an incredible path in their life, and this series will show them how they can be “plugged in” every step of the way--and the amazing difference it will make. This kit includes everything you’ll need, including DVD videos featuring Doug Fields, discussion guides, promotional materials, and more--everything you need to save you time while teaching five incredible lessons.5 Lessons by Doug Fields: Whatever You Do (Worship) - 10:06 The Mind of Christ (Discipleship) - 10:12 It’s Not an Individual Thing (Fellowship) - 10:14 Consume or Contribute (Ministry) - 9:44 Let It Shine (Evangelism) - 9:03 You’ll get everything you need to run this as a small group: a DVD with Doug delivering the messages, thought-provoking discussion questions, and plenty more.  

Plugged In: 5-Week DVD Curriculum

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Books by Group Youth Ministry Resources