Each month we compile a Top Ten list for youth workers. This list represents ten articles from various sources that we believe will encourage you in your ministry to students 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.) If you find an article that could speak to the Rooted community, please share it in the comment section below.
Gospel-Centered Ministry
How to Talk to Kids About the War in Ukraine by Justin Whitmel Earley (TGC)
These conversations are hard but important. Someone is going to teach our kids about fighting and violence. Much better that it’s us, because no one is better suited to turn a conversation about war into a conversation about Jesus.
How To Talk About Anti-Asian Racism with Our Youth by Soojin Park and Huey Lee (SOLA)
How should we think about [anti-Asian racism & violence] in a uniquely Christian context? Our students are aware of these situations, whether it’s on social media, hear from their peers, or they see the news, and there’s a lot that the world is saying about these things. But there has to be a uniquely Christian response. What do you think encompasses that kind of uniquely Christian response?
Teaching Students About the Atonement by Joseph Bradley (Youth Pastor Theologian)
Understanding sin, redemption, and the justice of God is foundational to our relationship with God, and we can help students grasp these ideas by teaching them about atonement. There are five elements of atonement we see in Leviticus 16 that can help us to teach our students the importance of this foundational truth of the gospel story.
Partnering with Parents
Parents, You Don’t Need to Be Cool by Christina Fox (TGC)
What I forgot in that moment was that my job as a mom isn’t to be “cool” in the eyes of my children. My job isn’t to shine a light on myself at all. Rather, my job is to point my children to someone else entirely: God.
12 Teenagers on What Adults Don’t Get About Their Lives by Patrick Healy and Lulu Garcia-Navarro (New York Times)
What quickly became clear in our latest Times Opinion focus group, and what may have accounted for some tentativeness, is that several of the teenagers felt worried about being “judged” about what they said. No matter if the answer was their opinion — some were worried about saying the “wrong” thing. “If you’re not super educated on a topic, it’s scary to put your opinion out there, because you don’t want to be wrong,” Charlotte said at another point in the focus group.
Youth Culture
Youth Ministry and the Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Walt Mueller (9Marks)
As I read The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, I couldn’t help but think about how our ministry efforts should endeavor to form kids into the identity for which they’ve been created, rather than allowing them to embrace a de-formed identity of their own emotionally-driven creation. Our youth ministries should foster a lifestyle of faithfully following Jesus while denying oneself (Mark 8:34–37) by emphasizing biblical truth through thoughtful ministry practices.
Opinion: Consent is not enough. We need a new sexual ethic. by Christina Emba (Washington Post)
But the outcome is a world in which young people are both liberated and miserable. While college scandals and the #MeToo moment may have cemented a baseline rule for how to get into bed with someone without crossing legal lines, that hasn’t made the experience of dating and finding a partner simple or satisfying. Instead, the experience is often sad, unsettling, even traumatic.
Hope for Gen-Z’s Decision Panic by Aimee Joseph (TGC)
When self is our chief director, self must bear the crushing weight of consequences alone. But when Christ is our chief director, we can cast our burdens on him (Ps. 55:22). Identifying the fears contributing to our panic creates opportunities to remember the promises of God.
Ministry Skills
High School Youth Group Is Changing—So We Must, Too by Andy Lawrence (Church Leaders)
We used to be able to say, “Youth group will be epic this Wednesday. So come and bring a friend!” All because we were going to serve a 30-foot banana split and play a fun game. But that’s nowhere as impressive as that game kids are playing on their phone. It’s not more fun than the satisfaction they get from sitting at home texting with friends.
So if we can’t meet the social need, then what’s left? It’s our biggest asset and strength: We meet kids’ spiritual need.
Israel’s Canaanite Conquest Presents a Question with Four Possible Answers by Brad East (Christianity Today)
It is a harrowing moment in the history of God’s people. But I am not referring to the conquest of Canaan by the tribes of Israel. I am referring to the assault on the northern kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians (a little over 700 years before the birth of Jesus) and the campaign against the southern kingdom, especially the city of Jerusalem and its temple, by the Babylonians about 130 years later.
Rooted’s Two Most-Read of March
Our Teenagers Are Longing for Reunion with Jesus by Greg Meyer
The teen years are those where our longings are more readily apparent. Teenagers ache to be seen, understood, and accepted by their parents, friends, and mentors. We often observe this longing pouring out of them through theirmessiness, contradictions, and sin struggles. They long for affirmation and encouragement as they sort through the complex feelings associated with the all-encompassing transition to adulthood. Whether they realize it or not, the teenagers we love are aching for the same thing as us: for the Lover of their Souls and his consoling presence.
Three Truths I Want Teenagers to Know Amidst War in Ukraine by Cameron Cole
Knowing the power of God that raised Jesus from the dead, we should pray for the Lord to move in the hearts of all parties involved in this war. We have seen in Scripture, history, and our own lives the power of his transforming grace through the Holy Spirit.
In Case You Missed It (Rooted’s March Honorable Mention)
A Biblical Approach to Our Students’ Climate Change Anxiety by Dave Wright
Once we have explored passages, review what all we have learned about God, humanity, creation, and redemption. There is much foundational doctrine to be discovered in these passages. What are the implications of God’s sovereignty? His providence? Man’s sinful nature? What does the creation, fall, redemption, new creation storyline of the Bible tell us about our planet and our role in it?
