Youth Ministry Curriculum and Resources

Therefore Go is an interactive, Gospel-centered, four-week devotional journal designed to help equip your students for a transformational missions experience.

Now: Mission Trip Edition is a four-week devotional experience for your mission trip will help your students understand the purpose God has in store for them, catch God's vision for exactly how He wants to use their mission trip; and practice real, practical ways to impact their world.

I once heard it said that youth leaders should spend 1/3 of our time reaching and discipling students, 1/3 of our time developing leaders, and 1/3 of our time equipping parents. This is a great model and a healthy approach to youth ministry. But what if leadership development was an intensional part of your discipleship process? What if, as we were making student leaders, we were simultaneously training them to be disciples who make disciples? This is a one-session master class on how to engage, equip, and empower your students to do that very thing.

You have a group of dedicated volunteers. They show up when they are supposed to, and they do what is asked of them. . .for the most part. But how do you develop that group to serve others well? How do you motivate them to approach serving teenagers as more than just being dutiful to the Lord? How do you lead, train, and support that group so that they go from a "group of individuals" to a team? Join Dr. Jody Dean in this two-session Masterclass on-demand to hear how he's training students at New Orleans Baptist Seminary to develop a team that serves.

If we don't reach them the next generation by the time they turn the tassel, the likelihood they will ever come to Jesus drastically drops. Now is the time to make sure your students both know Jesus and are equipped to make Jesus known. In this training, we will discuss the practical whys, hows, and whats of moving the evangelistic needle in your youth ministry.

Have you ever had the desire to do urban ministry, but unsure how or where to start? Ministering and serving effectively in environments that are unfamiliar can be a challenge. However, it is possible. When Jesus gave the disciples the great commission to spread the gospel to all the nations it was his intent for each disciple to leave their comfort zone and cross barriers for the sake of the gospel. In these sessions, you will learn valuable information as well as practical skills and strategies that will help you and your church effectively minister in the urban community.

What is your strategy for youth mission trips? How are you making missions accessible to as many students as possible, no matter where they are in their faith journey? Let me share with you have we have done it by creating a multi-tiered youth missions strategy.

By Corey Watson. School campus ministry is a great way to meet students right where they are, minister to the faculty, bless the school in practical ways, and meet other students in your community. The questions that come up most often, however, whenever we talk about building a campus ministry are— How do I locate and leverage open doors at the schools in my community? How can I connect with my students there without crossing any boundaries? How can I get the critical meetings that need to be had with the key leaders at a school, and how do I make a great impression when I do? These are common questions for many of us as youth pastors as we attempt to solve the campus ministry conundrum. Oftentimes, however, we go about answering these questions during the busiest times of the school year. What if I told you there was a time when school leaders would be more open to meeting and engaging with you on this topic? There is such a time, the summer break. 

By Team YM360. If you start with "The Bible says," or in some way assume they already know much about the Gospel, you are, in effect, asking them to understand a clear that you understand clearly, but they don't, and they have no picture giving them a framework to start with. Not having a big picture to help put the pieces of life in perspective can be frustrating. Thankfully, God never intended for us to be without a clear picture of our life's purpose and direction. Instead, God gave us a big picture of life in order that we could live according to His design. It's only when we live according to this bigger picture, God's story, that our individual piece of the story makes sense. That's why understanding the Gospel story is vital to our witness. But it's also vital to teach this to our students today. This learn module will walk you through how to do just that!

What happens inside the walls of your ministry context—in small groups, at camps, and during mid-week services—are obviously impactful in the life of a student. But what if I told you that what happens outside of your church—the ministry opportunities that take place on a student's turf—can be even more impactful? Let me tell you why on-campus ministry is important, share some dos and don’ts, and walk you through ways I've learned to do effective campus ministry.

Mission trips can be incredibly impactful and provide opportunities for significant spiritual growth for your students. That said, mission trips can also be overwhelming. In this one-session Masterclass, we will go on a trip together to discover the benefits of taking students on a mission trip, how to plan for a mission trip, tips for fundraising, and some best practices while on the trip.

Written by Zach Tucker. The Great Commission, as outlined in Matthew 28:19-20, provides a fundamental command for believers to go forth and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to observe the teachings of Jesus. This command serves as the foundation for various aspects of Christian ministry, including student ministry missions. The imperative to make disciples among students and their families underscores the significance of developing a comprehensive student ministry missions strategy. This strategy is essential for nurturing a deep understanding of sharing the gospel and cultivating a sense of purpose among students. In this three-lesson module, we delve into the transformative power of short-term missions in student ministry, examining how such experiences impact students, parents, and the overall church community.

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a parable of a man going on a journey who gives three servants a certain amount of money before leaving on his trip. After a long time, the man returns home and praises/blesses the two servants who used what they had been given to increase what the man had given them. However, to the third servant, who had hidden what he had been given instead of using it to make more, the master is angry with this servant. He calls this man wicked, takes away the money that the servant had been given, and gives it to another of the servants. We usually look at that parable as an end-times type of language, but when Jesus is talking, the Jewish audience’s perspective would have been about living life, and those questions that Jesus is raising are actually about stewardship. Jesus is kind of building this picture of how God has given us so much, so what are we doing with it? Not later, but right here and right now. So, I wonder if there’s room for us to explore that parable with our youth groups. Not through the lens of “Where are you going to go at the end,” but “What are you doing with what God has given you. . .your time, talent, and treasure?” In this video, we wanted to explore that with you and share eight thoughts to help your students to realize that they actually do have resources to steward.

For anyone who has ever felt unqualified to share the Good News, this training is for you. My Eight: Embrace and Engage in the Wonder of Evangelism uses Scripture and stories from Dr. Newton’s life to make plain how not only are we, as Christ-followers, more than capable of sharing the Gospel, but we are also called to do so. It does away with the idea that you must have a microphone or a stage to make Jesus known, but instead invites us to see the beauty and joy of embracing and engaging in evangelism everyday.

We know we want to have our students living a life on mission. Yet, oftentimes, we find ourselves providing “one-off” trips that create Instagram memories and some great stories…but little more. So, how do we create lasting opportunities that call students to “live on mission” far beyond the specific mission trip? Corey Watson will dig a little deeper in this three-lesson module and explore that answers to that question.