“Presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ to adolescents through relationships”

Young Life Club

Goals:

To give students a clear understanding of the “whys” and “hows” of Young Life Club

Purpose of Club: Club is a vehicle to present Jesus Christ in word and deed to disinterested kids who may have never heard the gospel before.

Young Life Club in Scripture:

Acts 2:14-41

Preliminaries to club:

  • Hold club at someone’s home or at an office space or community center. Not a church. Why?
  • Leaders bring kids they have built relationships to club rather than just showing up. Why?
  • Be sure everything you do and say is reaching the furthest kid out.
  • Be sure to pray over the evening and have a prayer team praying for you.
  • Plan your work and work your plan. Reflect Christ’s excellence at club.
  • Kids should feel like they own the room, but underneath, the leaders WHO HAVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH KIDS are leading.
  • There should be a feeling of controlled chaos. Expect the unexpected.

1. 15 Minute Hang out time: Music is playing and leaders are collecting new kids’ info on club cards. Leaders are not planning or preparing, they are hanging out with kids.

  • Why shouldn’t leaders be preparing for club at this time?
  • What might be important about collecting kids’ info on club cards?
  • What kind of atmosphere should leaders be creating for kids who are showing up?
  • What kinds of things should leaders and student leaders look for as kids arrive?

Mixer: An entire group activity that gets kids interacting with each other. The activity is meant to have high energy, humor, and surprise.

  • Why would you start out your club with an all inclusive interactive game?
  • Why would you want it to be high energy?
  • How does this represent what Christ wants for us as believers?

2. Fast Songs: Not Worship songs, but do have themes about God. Some songs may be just fun songs.

  • Why wouldn’t you start out with a fast-paced worship song?
  • Why sing songs at all? What is the purpose for having kids sing songs? What does singing do?
  • Why should we be careful about our song selection (appropriatness).

Skit or Walk on: This is a time where leaders and kids perform a skit that is either a running skit from week to week with a storyline, or a one time skit. Often times if it is a run on skit with characters that return each week, the characters pull kids up front to participate in a game.

  • Why do a skit? What does a funny skit say about Jesus?
  • What does humor and laughter do for kids that might be resistant to hearing about Christ?
  • How might a skit prepare kids’ attention for the message?
  • Why would we pull kids up front and play a funny or fun game with them?
  • What could be dangerous about getting kids up front?

3. Transition and Slow Songs: One song that is of medium speed and might mention God more, and one to two slow songs that have a much deeper message and are borderline worship songs.

  • Why would you want to change the pace of songs at this point of club?
  • Why would the content of the songs be deeper and more Christ-centered?
  • What might these songs be teaching lost kids to do?

Testimony (does not always happen): A student stands up for 3-5 minutes and shares about their life and how they met Christ, and how He has impacted their life.

  • Why have a student give their testimony?
  • How might this impact kids?
  1. Message: A leader gives a 10-15 minute talk in terms kids can understand that has one main point:

Young Life Message Titles and Main Points:

God Creation and Incarnation.

  • We have a God who created this world and created us. He knows us and wants a relationship with us. He has revealed himself to us by becoming a man, Jesus.

Person of Christ and Incarnation

  • God revealed Himself to us by entering into our world as fully man and fully God in the person of Jesus Christ. Therefore, if we want to know what God is like, we look at Jesus, who he hung out with, what he said, who he claimed to be, and what he did.

Characteristics of Christ

  • If we want to know who God is we look at “God in a bod” ie. Jesus. Jesus was powerful, compassionate, not religious, wants us to experience life, knows how we feel, can heal us, wants a relationship with us, was smart, was tempted, and loves us unconditionally. (each characteristic would be a different message)

Our need for God/Christ

  • Every man and woman is created with a need for a relationship with Christ. Unfortunatley we try to fill this need with things other than Christ.

Sin and its consequences

  • We ALL, by our very natures, have turned our backs on God and chosen to be “god” of our own lives. This is sin. And the consequence of sin is eternal separation (hell) from the God who created us and loves us. There is nothing on our own we can do to fix this predicament.

The Cross

  • God sends His son Jesus to pay the price for our all our sin by dying on the cross. Only He (Jesus) who did not sin, can pay the price for us. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, we can choose a relationship with God.

The resurrection/commitment

  • Jesus proves He is God by defeating death and rising on the third day. If we choose, we can now enter into a relationship with a living God. How do you respond to Jesus?

First Steps in a Walk with Christ

  • A relationship with Christ is like a journey. He desires to be Lord of our lives as he guides us on this adventure of life with Him.

Formula for a good message:

  • Tell them what you are going to tell them,
  • Tell them,
  • Tell them what you have told them.

Message Structure: (numbers indicate what order you use to prepare for your message)

1. Main Point: A one to two sentence summary of the one thing you are communicating to kids. Write your main point word for word at the top of your message notes. Everything you say in your message should communicate your main point

4. Opening Story: A story from your life (preferably) that engages kids, maybe makes them laugh, draws them in, and relates to your main point.

5. Transition into Scripture: This should be a one sentence line that connects your opening story to your main point that you will soon share with kids from the scripture. I usually write out my transition sentence word for word in my message notes.

2. Scripture: Your scripture should almost always be an account from the life of Christ

3. Main point/points of scripture: This is where you communicate your main point in a deeper way than your one sentence summary. Observations and life application.

7. Transition into closing story: This should be a one sentence line that connects your scripture and main points to your closing story or illustration. I usually write out my transition sentence word for word in my message notes.

6. Closing Story: A shorter story or illustration that reiterates your main point. This is meant to drive home your main point one more time in a creative way.

9. Re-commuinicate main point: The last line of your message should be your main point stated word for word.

8. Challenge: This gives kids one thing do think about or respond to from the information you have given them.

10. Pray: This prayer ends your talk and sometimes summarizes what you said.

  • Most sermons are 25 minutes long. Why would a club message only be 10-15?
  • Look at the Themes of each talk. Why aren’t they focused on prayer, obedience, worship, and reading the bible?
  • Why might we be careful choosing our words to describe God/Jesus/etc. in the course of a Young Life talk?
  • What/Who is the focal point of every talk?

Hang out time: Kids and leaders then go to a restaurant or stay at club and talk.

  • Why would you go out to eat after club?
  • How could a leader be intentional with kids at this point of the evening?

Questions to think about:

  • What about kids who don’t want to come to club?
  • What can be dangerous about relying on a one-week event (like club) to be the only time you meet new kids?
  • What can club do to kids who don’t want to come, if there’s not a leader or student leader investing in them?
  • How can we as leaders think creatively about engaging kids who don’t want to come to club?