Youth Religion

Here’s the truth: If you don’t get people engaged with your message at the start, they’ll be distracted as your message moves along. With these stories, you’ll have exactly what you need to master the art of the start! These stories aren’t the “Everyone gather around while I tell you a story” kind of stories. And they aren’t the “Once upon a time” kind of stories either. These stories come from weird news, current events, and interesting moments in history. It’s so much fun when you connect them to the topics of your sermons!

Middle school hasn’t gotten any easier. The pressure to fit in skyrockets, and our self-confidence takes a dive. We’re trying to be God’s girl in middle school, but what does that look like? What’s God’s girl to do when the drama kicks in, when you’re bullied, or when that boy doesn’t like you back? We need to find our confidence. We need some time for Just Us Girls.

Chuck Reinhold, a minister and long-time Young Life staff member, offers a grand view of his life and the principles he’s learned through his 50 plus years of ministry. Chuck’s influence on the Kingdom in the lives of adults and leaders cannot be overstated. He started ministries that have helped countless men and women meet Christ and grow in their faith. Life Worth Living speaks to the power that scripture memory and time spent in God’s Word can bring to those obstacles. Chuck’s stories speak to the real struggles of those dealing with memory loss.

Our Father: Understanding God was written with one goal: to inspire and motivate youth to think of becoming good fathers and family leaders at the right time by showing them how simple it is to understand our father, God.

Parenting teenagers is one of the biggest challenges parents face. New realities make becoming independent more difficult. Teens are traveling a different road and are moving at a different pace than those of previous generations. Today's cultural environment is more complicated and confusing than ever. But fear not! Family expert Jim Burns provides a handy guide for parenting teens.

Home schooling will not be easy, but nothing truly worth doing is ever easy. If teaching your children what they need to become exceptional adults both academically and morally was easy then they would still be able to do that in public schools. The public school system is failing because they look at your child as a body that fills a seat which is worth a certain amount of money to the school system and as a mind to conduct social experimentation on.

In this engaging and refreshingly simple audiobook, JJ Vasquez explains how church leaders, parents, and pastors can move past just "telling" the next generation about Christ, and start "introducing" them to Him. As a denominational youth leader, University Professor of Youth and Family Ministry, youth pastor of a 400+ student ministry, and a parent of two, JJ pulls from a rich variety of experience.

God intends each of us to live amazing lives and touch the hearts of others in extraordinary ways. But too many of us settle for much less. For those who long for more, You're Amazing introduces five ways to live with meaning and passion: Be real; be courageous; be prayerful; be humble; be encouraging. With his signature, hard-hitting style, Justin Fatica issues a wake-up call to embrace new possibilities, break out of mediocrity, and live a life of authentic joy. Get ready - God wants to do something amazing in your life!

Change: If I Can You Can is the story of a man destined for as much turmoil as life can provide. Travis Angry created his identity through childhood rebellion, dropping out of school, being in the military, fighting cancer, marrying, divorcing, raising children as a single father, obtaining a college degree, writing a memoir, and working as a professional speaker. Angry’s gift is showing others how to resolve fear.

School. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. Sound familiar? In high school, our lives fall into the same nerve-wracking pattern, but what if it didn't have to be that way? What if stress and fear didn't dictate our decisions? What if we dared to do great things for God, not someday, but right now?

Prayer is something that we hear Christians talking about all the time - but when it comes to actually talking to God, we often don't know what to say. Written specifically for teen girls, the prayers in this audiobook are the prayers of our hearts. You can pray them or use them for inspiration for prayers of your own. You can pray about anything and everything - God is always listening. The prayers we cover include: Depression, purity, acceptance, peer pressure, and more.

No Fear draws you inside the stories of young, ordinary believers who, despite incredible opposition, courageously stood up for God's truth. Tony Perkins pairs each story with a biblical example and gives practical ideas for building a "no fear" perspective every day. Today, followers of Jesus Christ face more opposition to their beliefs than any generation in American history. Yet even in such a hostile cultural and political environment, it is an exciting time to stand firm in the faith.

Rescuca, leader of a rebel uprising among a tribe of otherworldly beings called the Nomed, is trapped in an interstellar prison. His loyal servant, a dark and rumbling beast known as Thaed, lurks in the next cell. Leachim, Rescuca's trusted friend turned betrayer, stands on the other side of the prison bars, taunting him with the shame of his defeat and the undiminished power of Emperor Evol Epaga.

When Manasseh first takes his very best clay out of the bag to make a centerpiece for King Herod, little did he know what his lump of clay was really destined to become. When we are first introduced to this very proud lump of clay, he is excited to be sitting on a famous potter's wheel in Jerusalem, wondering what he is destined to look like physically and how famous he is going to be one day. We follow him on his journey.

Jesus Christ, the greatest teacher who ever lived, was able to connect so well with his audience because he used unique parables, metaphors, and similes that related to the lives of his students. Farmers, fisherman, tax collectors, and shepherds were given the "keys to the Kingdom" through a clearer understanding of truth. This book is designed for today's baseball player to understand Christianity in a new and profound way through the teaching of the Bible through the game of baseball.

You are in the family of God....It can get messy. When you look at your church today, what do you see? A social organization that does good things for the community? A religious corporation with a CEO at the helm? A spiritual and self-help counseling center? Pastor Ross Parsley believes that none of these ideas captures God’s design. Instead, God sees us more like a family - a multigenerational group of real people who love each other and care for one another’s needs, no matter how messy. We are not consumers asking what the church can do for us. We are family members learning how to love deeply, fight fairly, and share selflessly.

Christians are called to bear a cross. These crosses sometimes involve the general burdens that affect everyone. At other times, Christians bear specific burdens. The Lord promises us that our crosses and burdens can be transformed into small splinters if we focus on what really matters. How can this happen? You will find the answer in Splinters of the Cross...the same answer that was found by Abraham, Moses, Daniel, Peter, Paul, and many more: God's grace is sufficient for you.

Do you want your children to be actively serving in the local church when they turn 30 and beyond? Why They Stay can help! Much has been written about younger adults and their departure from church involvement. Concerned parents and church leaders want to know what has caused them to depart. Instead of asking why young adults are leaving the church, Parr and Crites conducted a national research project of those who grew up in church and are still serving faithfully.

Gangs are sophisticated, production oriented entities that operate under a perverted form of the Trinity. This book provides listeners with an understanding of their motives and origins. Additionally, it explains in great detail that violent and deviant behaviors are simply the outward expression of a gang's commitment to their god - money. Gangs vs. Kingdom arms listeners with weapons to prepare for spiritual battle as it reveals evidence based strategies that can be implemented in any community. Prepare for battle!

Parenting isn’t for wimps. It's not just the routines, schedules, discipline, and heartaches - it's the hard conversations. One of the greatest challenges of parenting is navigating the crucial conversations that we must have with our kids. Using the Three Circles gospel tool (God’s design; brokenness; gospel), Jimmy and Kristin will give you a “conversation map” to work through any tough conversations you have with your children.