Monthly Archives: April 2009

Apr 15 2009

Storyline #41: Judges 6-8 “The Valiant 300: Taking Israel from Caves to Kingdom” (Justin Nettles Style – Senior in HS)

3-titleFree files for youth pastors:

3 – Judges 6-8 – Game Dwindle

3 – Game – Dwindle (ppt)

3 – Judges – 6-8 – Gideon (mp3)

3 – Judges 6-8 – Gideon (fillout sheet)

3 – Judges 6-8 – Gideon (Chip’s thoughts on Gideon)

3 – Judges 6-8 – Gideon (blog by Justin)

3 – Judges 6-8 – Gideon (order of service)

Justin, a senior in high school, did the preaching for our student ministry tonight.  This was his first time preaching, and he did an excellent job.  I told him that compared to the first time I got to preach…He is a real pro!  Justin is a natural speaker, and as he will be attending one of the best theological and youth pastoral Bible colleges next year (Boyce College in Louisville, KY)…he’s got a long future ahead of him where Jesus is going to use him greatly for the kingdom. Continue reading →

Apr 13 2009

Transitioning HS Seniors to College

I received an email from one of my closest friends and favorite youth pastors this morning.  The email was a question out to many youth pastors asking, “What are you doing to help transition your high school graduates into the college ministry.”  Since I know there are many youth pastors who read this blog (and by the way, feel free to tell the youth pastor of your church about all of the helpful resources of this blog), and wanted to let you know my thoughts on this important question since statistics say somewhere between 50 – 90% of high schoolers who were faithful in the church during their HS years…once they graduate…they literally leave and never return faithfully again.  50% is terrible enough, but some statistics terrifyingly say 90%.  This problem must be addressed.  Here is my humble contribution… Continue reading →

Apr 13 2009

Secret Church: Six Hours of Sermons?

secret-church

You heard me right.  This last Friday, I took my KTL ministry to “Secret Church” at The Church At Brookhills in Birmingham, AL this past Friday night for Good Friday.  What is so cool about 4 middle schoolers, 6 high schoolers, a college student, a youth pastor, and one cool dad enjoying an evening together?  “Secret Church” is a one-night conference held from 6pm – midnight where the pastor preaches 4 sessions for somewhere over an hour each.  This pastor is the man, the myth, the legend…Dr. David Platt.  He’s totally one of my favorite pastors.  This cat is only 30 years old with more degrees than I have hair!  The dude, Dr. David, is super solid theologically, super engaging in his communication, and he just loves preaching on a super awesome God.  This particular Secret Church conference was specially on the cross.  That’s right, almost six full hours of preaching…just on the event in which we call the cross.  And that, my dear and gracious readers, is why its so amazing that we all enjoyed an evening together! Continue reading →

Apr 10 2009

KTL 2009 #10: Teaching Teens to Preach Christ – How to Preach Your Text

ktlFree files for youth pastors:

 10 – Communicate to Engage (mp3)

KTL is our ministry class for teenage guys who are either called into the ministry or who are heavily discerning God’s call on their life for ministry.  This is our 10th and final class session just before the 4 senior high students preach through their passages for the student ministry over the next 4 weeks.

This specific KTL session is on how to preach/communicate the text/sermon.  We’ve talked all the way through how to structure the sermon, but this is a crazy important section on communicating and preaching.  There are tons of brilliant guys out there who can study, write, and structure phenomenal sermons…but can they preach the sermons?  Preaching has so much to do with the way you communicate the text with proper emotion, authority, humor, etc.  So here ya go, a session how to communicate your text effectively.

Apr 8 2009

Storyline #40: Judges 4-5 “This One’s for the Ladies: Masculinity, Femininity, and the Glory of Jesus” (Phillip McBryde Style – Junior in HS)

2-titleFree files for youth pastors:

2 – Judges 4-5 – Deborah (filloutsheet)

2 – Judges 4-5 – Deborah (mp3)

2 – Judges 4-5 – Deborah (ppt)

2 – Judges 4-5 – Deborah (Chip’s blog article)

2 – Judges 4-5 – Deborah (order of service)

2 – Game – Battle of the Sexes

(sermon intro video on youtube under “cbsmmedia judges intro video”)

This is our student preaching month, and I wanted all along to kick the thing off strong with Phillip preaching.  He is a junior at one of the largest high schools in the state of Alabama around here.  He has already preached for us twice before, and I just love being a youth pastor and getting both blessed and challenged when one of my students preaches.  Phillip is a growing preacher, and if God continues to call him, he will a phenomenal pastor one day soon!  Continue reading →

Apr 8 2009

So Far So GREAT: SS Small Group Experiment

framework-newFree file for youth pastors:

Email to Teachers on New Set-Up

The new set-up for our SS small groups had an awesome first week.  Both teachers and students were excitedly RAVING about how much more discussion took place than normal, how much fun everyone had with it, and how much they learned.   Ah, what a relief!

I actually had a youth pastor call get a hold of me from off here because he was wanting to do systematic theology with his student ministry, but he saw that we had done it and that we were moving away from it.  It’s true.  We’re experimenting with another direction, but not because the systematic theology studies didn’t work.  They worked great, our students enjoyed them, and I loved teaching them.  But this new set-up really seems to be what we’ve been missing in our student ministry: growing community fellowships. Continue reading →

Apr 7 2009

iTunes “CBSM Podcasts”

We have a new faithful techy podcast uploader dude (that is his official title), Nathan Newcomb!  Nathan is one of the college students in our ministry who knows more about computers, technology, and web-hosting (is that even what it’s called) now than I ever will!  But the coolest thing about Nathan is that he loves Christ, he loves his church, and he loves to use his gifts and abilities to serve. 

So all you gotta do is type into your iTunes Store search bar “CBSM Podcasts” and you will be able to subscribe and keep up with everything we’re doing and teaching.  Nathan is doing phenomenal job each week to keep the sermons and series current and able to download. 

He is also setting us up this week to where the recordings will come from the computer and not from my dinky little handheld digital recorder.  This means the quality should be much better and that annoying echo in the background that gives you a headache…it should be gone.  So check us out at CBSM Podcasts on iTunes.  We’d love for to keep up and grow in Christ with us through all of the Scriptures!  Right now, its caught up from November 2007 – January 2009 (Deuteronomy series).

Apr 7 2009

Could They Be Creepin?: What to do if you think you’re being cheated on

I had a question from a college student who asked what he should do if he thinks his girlfriend is cheating on him.  I assured him I know exactly what to do since I’m 31, single, and have gone through basically every dating situation imaginable!  I totally exagerrating.  I don’t know EXACTLY what to do, but I gave it a shot.  Here’s what I told him…and obviously this translates to the girls as well about their boyfriends:

Here’s how I look at it. You just need to first of all PRAY that the truth will come out, or that God will give you a peace about it.

Secondly, you need to be straight up honest with her. If you can’t do that, then the relationship isn’t worth it, ya know? You need to tell her what you’re feeling and what you fear. If she truly cares about you, she’ll handle it right.

Third, if neither of those seem to bring the relationship back together where it should be, then you need to do some real thinking. Here’s the deal, if you have a girlfriend who is a little dishonest…then she’ll be a wife who is very dishonest. Also, you don’t ever want to be in a relationship where you’re always scared, where you always doubt, and where you never have peace about her integrity. So if those don’t get better, I say just get out for your own peace of mind. No one needs to live like that who isn’t married.

I just want you to have the most amazing marriage ever with great kids and a loving wife…and all of yall loving each other and loving Christ. But great marriages come from great dating relationships. If it aint great, get out, and wait for one that is. Ya hear me?

Apr 6 2009

Getting Published: Maybe a Monthly Article?

christian-family-publications

We had a man come in our offices last week who asked me if I was interested in writing a monthly youth article for the Christian Family Publications paper.  I asked him to let me think about…and then 2 seconds later, I said “YES!”  So maybe this is the real deal, and maybe not.  Who knows.  Time will tell.  But I’m pretty stoked about it!  This would be some type of monthly periodical that will be released up in the north Alabama area.  Anywho, here’s the article I submitted for this month.  For those that know me, I didn’t pull any punches…AGAIN :)

All my friends were laughing at me while I was writhing in pain! During my high school summers, my friends and I would go pool-hopping nearly every day. On one sunny day, we hit up a pool at a house on the lake…sweet! As I was doing back flips off the board, I didn’t jump far enough out, and I landed on my chest on the board. It sprung me back into the water. I sunk like a rock, managed to swim back up, roll onto the concrete, and lay there writhing in pain while my friends were laughing at me. While out of school, summers were always unforgettable. Continue reading →

Apr 2 2009

Storyline #39: Judges 1-3 “The Sin Cycle and the Commode Killer”

1-titleFree files for youth pastors:

1 – Judges 1-3 – Ehud (mp3)

1 – Judges 1-3 – Ehud (fillout sheet)

1 – Judges 1-3 – Ehud (outline)

1 – Judges 1-3 – Ehud (ppt)

1 – Judges 1-3 – Ehud (service order)

Sermon Intro Video (Check youtube: “cbsmmedia judges intro video”)

Every single Monday, week after week after week, I would hear the same thing: “That’s the last time I’ll ever get drunk!” It was an annoying, repetitive cycle. My friend would go out that weekend, get hammered, puke his guts out, not remember much from the weekend, and come in to work every Monday morning vowing to NEVER do it again. Do you know people caught up in the sin cycle? Are you one of those people?

The book of Judges helps us to take a step back, see our sin cycle, and kill it! In Judges 1 – 2, we read that Israel is caught up in the sin cycle. They would start worshipping fake gods, God would discipline them by handing them over to their enemies, they’d cry out to God for help, and God would send them a deliverer to rescue them. How did they keep getting caught up in the sin cycle? As they were taking over the promise land from their enemies, they didn’t annihilate all of their enemies like God told them to. So when Israel enslaved their enemies, God used their enemies to discipline them by enslaving Israel. Thus, you got yourself a real sin cycle that kept repeating. We have got to remember that. The little sins we don’t kill…that don’t seem like a big deal… they will end up leading to bigger and more repetitive sins that enslave us. We have got to take a step back, ask God to surface our sin cycle, and kill them off before they kill us! Continue reading →