Welcome to Rooted’s Top Ten, a curated reading list for youth ministers. Each month we find ten articles, and sometimes videos or podcasts, from various sources that we believe will encourage you in your ministry to teenagers and their families. Some give explicit instruction on gospel-centered ministry, while others are included because there is a message of common grace that is helpful to youth workers. (The opinions presented in these articles do not necessarily reflect the position of Rooted.) For more articles to share with the parents in your ministry, make sure to check out our Parent Top Ten, which runs every-other month.
If you find an article that could educate, equip, or encourage the Rooted community, please email the editor at chelsea@rootedministry.com.
Gospel-Centered
Stay and Rest Awhile by Tom Sigimura (Gospel Centered Discipleship)
This week, try not to be busy about everything—just the right things. Stay and rest because it’s good for your soul. Stay and rest, so you can serve others more effectively. Stay and rest since you are not the Lord.
Are You Thrilled by the Trinity? by Clinton Manley (Desiring God)
After all, God is most glorified in us when we deeply delight in him. And the God of the Bible is no generic deity. Ours is a God in three persons; we worship in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
Remembering Ella Cook: ‘The Kind of Young Christian We Are Trying to Form’ by Cameron Cole (TGC)
I’m grateful to have known Ella Cook. God used her character, humility, and meekness to challenge me. Her courage as a light for Christ in difficult environments has emboldened me. Through his Word and by the grace of his Spirit, may God use us to form more and more young people with the same character.
Partnering with Parents
Is Sex as Dangerous as Christians Make It Seem? by John Piper (Desiring God)
An installment of Ask Pastor John: Why do Christians make such a big deal out of sex? Why all the prohibitions about something so natural and personal?
When ‘Stranger Things’ Stopped Being Strange by Patrick Schreiner (TGC)
A Christian anthropology encourages us to think of ourselves not primarily in terms of our sexuality but in terms of our friendship with God and others (John 15:15). We’re defined not by what we think of ourselves or how we define ourselves but by how we relate to God and others. When we reduce relationships to sexuality, we miss so much of what God has for us.
Youth Culture
Is Phone Addiction Really That Bad? by Patrick Miller (Crossway)
Dopamine media is the most powerful, pervasive, and engineered form of communication technology in human history, and it’s not shaping us to love Jesus most. It’s not shaping us to love our neighbor. It’s shaping us into pleasure-seeking addicts. Christians must recognize that, at its heart, this technological revolution has resulted in an institutional, relational, and formational crisis for the church.
What you need to know about Gen Alpha in 2026 by Brad M. Griffin (Fuller Youth Institute)
If you’re in youth ministry of any sort, you know that today’s middle and high school students aren’t the same as teenagers five years ago. We’re in the midst of a massive generational shift, and if you’re feeling it more these days, you’re not alone.
Ministry Skills
Have a Ministry of Small Things by Reuben Bredenhof (reformation21)
There can be something commendable about desiring to rise above the ordinary and comfortable: “I want to do something big for God.” Certainly this is better than making an idol of our comfort and ease. But we don’t have to be notable and do notable things. In the pursuit of meaningful service for the Lord, we should remind ourselves that oftentimes the little things are the big things.
The Great Omission by Jen Wilkin (Christianity Today)
We tend to view the Great Commission as a call to make converts, when in fact it is a call to make disciples—learners. It explicitly requires teaching those converts to be learners who obey all that has been commanded. According to Jesus, we are to replicate by passing along the good deposit that was passed along to us.
The Fruit that Grows at the Pace of Grace by Daniel Han (SOLA Network)
So I wonder, what is at risk for the future of the church if young believers are consistently being formed by the world of self-gratification? It will be its unity.
Bonus: To Share with Your Church Family and Leaders
Be Willing to Learn from Gen-Z by Leslie Schmucker (TGC)
Boomers, instead of lamenting this generation, what can we do to serve the youth and young adults in our church? How can we shift our attitude toward Gen Z from pessimism and cynicism to optimism, appreciation, and encouragement?
Rooted’s Two Most-Read of January
He Is Worthy: Helping Students Discover Meaning in Missions by Joey Turner
Students can proclaim God’s greatness right where they are, and partner with those who have gone to hard places to do the same.
The Family Of God: The Welcoming Church In A Ruptured World by Caleb Creel
When we consider how our churches and student ministries can be a faithful representation of God’s work, creating a culture of warmth and welcome should stand out as an essential goal.
In Case You Missed It (Rooted’s January Honorable Mention)
When The Fire Goes Out: Finding Comfort In Ministry by Isaiah Marshall
Left unaddressed, burnout can slowly take our joy and disconnect us from the very calling that once set our hearts on fire. But Scripture offers us a picture of what faithful presence looks like in the face of deep weariness.
