Church Youth

Samuel Payton is a passionate youth pastor in Virginia, but below the surface, he’s still recovering from the blow of a failed business and insecurities he can’t shake. His coworker, start-up expert Kimberly Foster, is brilliant, fearless, and capable, but years of personal rejection have left her defensive and longing for a family. Two people have never been more at odds - or more attracted to one another. And every day at work, the sparks sure do fly.

A New Generation Church is a church with attendees whose average age is at least as young as the average age of the community in which the church exists. Any church can become a New Generation Church that reaches and continues to reach the next generation. Written for both church leaders and members, For a New Generation presents practical strategies that lay a foundation for a church to thrive for generations to come. It is based on the assumption that accepting the status quo is the greatest threat to your church’s core mission and, perhaps, to the survival of your church.

If you're leading students—as a volunteer, teacher, small group leader, or pastor—you're spiritually forming the up-and-coming kingdom of God. In my decade of youth ministry, I've seen how small group leaders, teachers, and youth workers impact the spiritual trajectory of teenagers, often without support or resources. In this audiobook, we will explore what it means to lead our students with confidence, creativity, and clarity.

It was now just five short years after George Bailey had his first miraculous meeting with a saving angel in Bedford Falls, and a new Bailey had come into town with his own great challenge that needed a miraculous solution! It was a wonderful life indeed when John Bailey and Anabelle Smith first came to be that otherwise perfect “match made in Heaven” shortly after they first met at the traditional New Year’s Eve Dance of Bedford Falls. It seemed so perfect, when Anabelle tragically died, and then far more surprisingly returned on that very next Christmas saying that she had come back...

“Why can’t we just fall in love with men that are simple, stay at home, and don’t try to take on the world?” Raya radiates beauty both inside and out while exuding an unshakable faith. Her life plan includes being a participant in the community she loves, marrying the man she has been with since high school, and building a loving family. Unfortunately, as often happens, life doesn’t exactly work out the way Raya was planning. It seems that no matter how much she tries to grasp the roadmap for her life, it spins in new, and not so desirable directions. Will she eventually find the ...

Inspired from Sirach- Chapter 23: HAVE MERCY O, MY FATHER, FROM MY WISDOM! - To You, I complain of myself, O Lord, the Father of my life, and my Master. May Your will be fulfilled in my life, and may my careless judgments be crucified. Who else can correct my careless thoughts and scourge them with a whip? I trust no one other than You to correct me. For You are my heavenly and merciful Father, You are Almighty, and You know all my depths! Your firm yet loving lashes demolish the pride of my haughty eyes, To You alone belongs the power to root out my evil lusts and greed, as well as all ...

The message remains the same, but the methods must change in this post-pandemic world if we want to remain relevant and grow. Our churches have Children’s, and Youth Ministries, but few have actual Adult Ministries. Here’s a new approach to Adult Ministries that will attract more adults, ages 30 and up (and their families), that includes fun and exciting events and ministries for churches of every size, for both volunteer and paid, part-time and full-time staffs.

Engaging young adults in the local church is not as hopeless a case as statistics might have us believe, but young adults are asking six important questions about the role of the Church in their lives in 21st century culture—questions that could radically transform the Church for the good of all.

If you are a Christian who is a member or leader of a dying congregation (one that’s shrinking in numbers while increasing in average age), this book may be a Godsend for you. If your congregation is failing to retain its own children, is uninteresting to visitors, is uninspiring to its members, is not recruiting new members (little or no effective local evangelism), and is disconnected from your community---here are practical, workable solutions! These remedies are drawn from the latest Church Growth and Quality Management literature, as exemplified by Jesus’ own actions. Although the ...

Surf’s up! When teenage Christians go to the beach, exciting things start to happen! TEENAGE CHRISTIAN AT THE BEACH includes five short stories…five paths along a windswept beach that lead to or away from God…the choice is theirs—and YOURS—to make! MIA discovers a world she never knew existed behind the boardwalk when Daniel, the best looking guy at a Gulf Coast beach, offers her first aid, but suddenly she must choose between two different worlds, two different friends, and two different gods. KRISTEN is without a date for the Sandcastle Prom, so a feisty little girl named Posey ...

After that first remarkable Christmas Day that Charles Dickens himself would call A Christmas Carol, an entire year had passed for Ebenezer Scrooge. A new Christmas Eve had now come, only to draw swiftly to an end with what was about to continue that Christmas tale of old. It was the unfinished business of making things right that moved Scrooge now, with the most pressing issue on his mind stemming from his greatest loss of all—his beautiful Belle! If only he had the chance to act with his present knowledge back in that time when choices mattered, he would surely fix things. He would have...

Times are changing—our methods must shift with the tide It’s never been so easy—and so difficult—to reach the younger generation. While they’re active online, they’re also less likely to be active in the church. This is a worrisome trend that means their morals, values, and needs regarding faith are being neglected. This book proposes a shift of church culture to reach a new generation. Using unique perspectives and focusing on the way of the future, this book aims to help bring a whole new generation of Millennials and Generation Z into the Apostolic church. We can’t control ...

Stupid Covid! Tina is in the middle of her freshman year at Central High when the pandemic hits... School, jobs, volunteering, friendships all come to a screeching halt. Even the connection with her best friend, Julie is fading. Life on Zoom takes center stage. It doesn’t come close to picking up the slack, but what else is there? How do Tina and her friends learn to cope? In a million different ways, that’s how. Tina takes you on a tour of her life on the inside and whatever glimpses of the world outside she’s still able to reach. It's a good thing bicycling is OK. Was your ...

Intentional Children’s Ministry will help you to establish the goal of children’s ministry, then practically walk you through how to lead with intentionality in every area: choosing the right curriculum, building a child’s worldview, recruiting and training volunteers, partnering with parents, effective teaching, sharing the gospel, growing as a leader, balancing hats in ministry, strategic programming, discipling children for life, and more. Serving in children’s ministry is one of the best jobs ever! You get to share the life-changing love of Jesus with boys and girls at church.

Have you ever wanted to change the world around you? God has shown us how to do so. In The Joshua Principle, you will learn what the Joshua principle is and how to influence your world by impacting the children and youth around you. What you learn in these chapters can help you transform any family, church, neighborhood, or city.

Jack o’ lanterns glow like smirking, wicked demons in the dark, velvety night. A full harvest moon spills its golden light on unsuspecting towns where each TEENAGE CHRISTIAN AT HALLOWEEN encounters spirits of good and evil. ALI catches “The Slitherer” lurking in her backyard as she unmasks dark deceptions beneath a shimmering October moon. CHERIF finds himself trapped all night inside a cemetery with high above ground vaults. In “the city of the dead” a fierce spiritual battle rages, threatening his life. JANA feels instant enmity with the Ouija board when her twin, Josh, ...

For over four years, Jesse’s father’s addiction to alcohol and gambling deprives Jesse and his mom of basic necessities, overwhelming twelve-year-old Jesse Hall. He feels a need to help his family, but it causes him to neglect school so much that he is in danger of repeating the sixth grade. Jesse forges his mom’s name on his grade card and makes other bad choices. He thinks a lie will cover up his misdeed and is sure his sin is redeemable. Jesse blames all his problems on his father’s drinking and gambling and yearns for him to reform. Then, at the County Fair Jesse sees the worst ...

For youth workers, volunteers, denominations and other leaders who want the youth retreat to end in the parking lot instead of the emergency room.

And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. (Mathew18:5) In this verse, Jesus explains that when you receive a little child in his name, He is the one you are receiving. Every child that walks through your door is your opportunity to prove how you would have pastored young Jesus had he been your sheep. As a pastor, you must inculcate in the children that church is a place where God is worshipped. The earlier we introduce children to God, the easier it is for them to accept Him as real.

This book's combination of radical storytelling techniques and practical examples of how to carry them out in various ministry settings forges an exciting new path for the emerging church.