How To Have An Exciting Youth Group

How To Have An Exciting Youth Group

This article is written for Teens...
who want to have fun and enjoy the Youth Group in their church more.

This article is written for Youth Pastors / Workers...
who want teenagers to love and enjoy the Youth Group more.

This article is written for Parents...
who want their teens to be more involved in church, but don't know how.

How can I make my Youth Group more exciting?

1.   Participate

When there is a Youth Activity scheduled, BE THERE. The only way you can enjoy the Youth Department is to attend the Youth Department. If you go to the activity, participate!
The surest way to be bored at a Youth Activity is to not participate. Whether the activity is something you really enjoy or something for which you don't care; just being a part of the activity will help you and all of your friends to have fun!!!

2.  Sing

If attending a Youth Rally, Conference or Church service where there is a song service-  SING!
Sure, maybe you are not the greatest singer in the world, but this is not a solo; this is a group. It is a proven fact that happy people sing and singing makes people happy, not to mention our God deserves all of the praise and glory we can give Him. If you are not attending service, but are taking a trip to the zoo, ski lodge or baseball game, SING in the van or bus. Get happy before you even get to the activity.

One of my favorite times with the teens of CMRBC is on the bus or van coming back from a trip. They will sing and sing and sing. I love hearing them and watching them enjoy singing.

3. Listen

I encourage every Youth Pastor / Worker to have some sort of a spiritual truth to share at every activity. Rallies and conferences are easy, but even a trip to the zoo can contain a time for spiritual growth. I once preached about "Falling" coming back from a ski trip, and about "Guardrails" on the way home from the zoo. As leaders, let's use every chance we have to make a positive spiritual impression.

As teenagers, you should listen to the teaching / preaching of the Word of God more intensely than you play any game or contest. Your Youth Pastor or workers are not just there to entertain you. We have something we want to share with you spiritually as well. Please don't miss the main reason God has put your Youth Pastor in your life- to lead, teach, guide and direct you spiritually.

4.  Bring FUN and Friends with You

When I was a teenager, at camp or conferences my youth group always kept to themselves, were reserved and quiet. NOT ME! I decided I was bringing the FUN with me. Whether the cool guy and cute girl in our youth group were interested or not, I was going to have fun. Whether the games were cool and exciting or lame and boring, whether the preaching was short or long, whether the church was big or small... I had already decided I was going to have FUN. Why? How? Because I brought the FUN with me!!! Also, if you have friends that are not currently involved in the Youth Group, bring them along. Be an encourager and supporter of the Youth Activities. Get involved, laugh, sing, play and have a blast as a teenager.

5. Make Decisions

This goes back to the point on listening. Often times at Youth Rallies and Youth Conferences, we get so caught up in games, contests and giveaways that we miss the most important part of the conference-  the altar call. All of the games, decorations, prizes and fun were done to bring us to the preaching and the altar call. At every altar call we should ask ourselves, what was preached from God's Word that I need to work on in my life?  What can I do better? What can I stop doing? An exciting youth group is one that is growing spiritually.

On those bus rides I mentioned, I love sharing testimony of how the Lord spoke to our hearts. I will share first how God spoke to me (BTW- if Youth Leaders wont share how God spoke to them, don't expect the teenagers to share) then the teenagers will one by one talk about how God pointed out something in their life. This is by far my favorite time of every youth activity.



I don't know when your next Youth Activity is... but the next time you and your Youth Group get together...

Participate
Sing
Listen
Bring Fun and Friends with You
Make Decisions

Watch and see if you wont create a more exciting Youth Group for your Church.

#fuel

A New Generation on the Old Paths-

NYFC 2013 Recap-

There may be some in our generation who choose to not serve the God of Heaven, but if the NYFC is any indication, there is still a righteous remnant of Teenagers who are on the Lord's side.

When we were planning the conference this year, we expected continued growth, but never could have imagined the conference to go as well as it did. From the opening choir number on Wednesday night to the closing sermon on Friday morning- It was AWESOME!

We had a packed house, powerful singing, pointed preaching and of course the Teen Stooges.

We were privileged to hear the two tour groups from Commonwealth Baptist College, The Fugate Family, Miss Elisabeth Brown and a CMRBC Ladies Teen Group.

There was car racing, hula hooping (the Baptist kind), rubberband shooting, toilet paper rolls, flying T-shirts and we even crowned a King of the Mountain- MARTIN!!!!

Thursday afternoon we spent 3 hours rollerskating, golfing and playing laser tag @ Champs.

The Teen Stooges entertained us again this year, as they journeyed back in time in an attempt to find the Old Path. Check out our skits at www.thenyfc.org

After all of those things......The Main Event of the conference has always been.... PREACHING!!!

Pastor Fugate preached a fabulous fundamental foundation sermon on "What is a Fundamentalist".

Bro. Derek Young preached a pondering sermon on "Stay on the Path".

I preached a convicting sermon on "The Cost of Serving God".

Dr. Jorgensen gave some wise words of advice on "What More Do You Want".

Pastor Fugate gave a great Bible truth about "What Else Moses Got on the Mount"

Dr. Daryl Whitehouse warned us with the life of "Jonah"

Pastor Fugate closed the conference with a challenge of "Not in My Generation" .

All of these are on or soon will be on the KYF website- www.thekyf.com

Throw in visits to Commonwealth Baptist College and the amazing meals and you have 3 days I have dreamed about for years!!!

I want to personally thank all of the Youth Pastors for working to bring a group to the conference this year. We do not take lightly the fact that you trusted us with your young people.

I want to thank all of the teenagers who attended the conference and whose spirit made it so great.

Lastly, I want to thank CMRBC and CBC for hosting the conference. I want to thank our teens, our preacher, our college students and anyone who helped to make the NYFC a success.

Keep Serving as a New Generation on the Old Paths....

If you have any questions, comments or concerns-
Please feel free to email me

wwadavis@gmail.com

Till next year..... Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk.