teaching sessions
Bible teaching is crucial to what we do as Christian youth leaders. Here are a load of resources that will hopefully improve your skills and save your time. Some are PDFs so you can just download and go. Others are Word or Excel documents so you can download them, take out what you don't need and adapt what you do. Use them again and again.
Let me know if you've got more ideas, if there's anything else you need or if anything can be improved.
bible facts game
If you've played the game 'Tell me', you'll get the idea. The question master says, 'A colour beginning with...' then spins the wheel. It lands on R so they shout out the letter. Everyone playing the game shouts 'Red' at millisecond intervals and the question master needs to work out who shouted first. Here's a game where the cards are Bible facts. Download the cards and instructions. Cut them out and you're ready to go. Is it just a game? Does it teach? Does it encourage people to read their Bibles? You decide.
biblical secret sounds
I can't tell you how I came into ownership of the original recordings for some of the stories in the Bible, but here they are. Yes, I know, not really, but I think it's OK with older youth to have a little bit of fun...
You can make your own. I used Audacity which is a free and very easy-to-use mixing app, getting my sounds from Pixabay which I've now discovered has free sounds as well as photographs.
You can make your own (but do share them back with me!). I used Audacity which is a free and very easy-to-use mixing app, getting my sounds from Pixabay which I've now discovered has free sounds as well as photographs.
Some great Bible stories you could try: Jericho would be a classic, but go niche as well. Why not do the floating axehead in 2 Kings 6?
Of course, loads of young people will not know the answers to some (or even any) of the questions above (our staff team highest score was 7!) but hopefully, you'll spark an interest in reading more of the Bible for themselves.
prayer net
How many times have you given young people post-it notes, asked them to write prayers on them and stick them to a flipchart to offer them up to God, only to find them falling off before everyone has sat down again?
​
Here's an idea. Get hold of a net and clothes pegs instead. Write a prayer on a slip of paper and peg them onto the net. Simple and effective and it gets people moving!
books of the bible rap
Just found this rap of books of the Bible. You can rap it yourself if that's a thing you do, you can show the video or you can write your own. Me? I'd show the video!
messiah
We probably mention the word in talks a lot, but how many of our young people really know what it means? Here's a mnemonic I use to help teach what people were expecting from the Messiah with Bible verses to link to:
​​
Mighty God (Isaiah 7.14, 9.6)
Everlasting (Psalm 132.11-14, Isaiah 9.6)
Sovereign (Jeremiah 23.5, Micah 5.2, Zechariah 9.9)
Saviour from oppression (Isaiah 61.1-3)
I ntroducing a time of righteousness, peace and justice (Isaiah 6.1, Isaiah 9.7, Jeremiah 23.5-6)
Anointed one (Isaiah 61.1)
Honoured by all (Daniel 7.14) or you can go for Healer (Isaiah 35.5-6) if you like.
​
There's more that could be said of course, but it's a handy way to remember some key details about the Messiah. Do make sure your young people know that the reasons He's called the Messiah isn't because the M literally stands for Mighty God, etc!
i once was... but now I'm...
Joseph Johnson, Student Pastor at Second Baptist Church in Lancaster, SC, USA and his wife Charisa produced this great board saying 'I once was... but now I'm...' ​as part of a worship experience. Young people tied coloured wool from the word on the left that best described what their identity was before Christ to the word on the right that best described the new Creation that He is making in and through them.​
​
Below, you can download the booklet they used to help their young people engage with the experience and a list of the resources they would need. Use it as it is, or adapt it for your context. Seeing how much work has been put into this evening encourages me to keep Raising the Bar. Hopefully, it'll encourage you to do the same.
DISCUSSION STARTER IDEA
One schools' worker writes:
​
"I used to ask a big question each week with a few options: maybe an agree/disagree/neutral or answers I thought would be most common. as well as an 'Other' box. Then I'd get young people to vote into the boxes using plastic ball-pool balls. Very low commitment for those just walking by, with the potential to engage some in deeper conversation.
​
They did sometimes run off with the balls though, so if you do this then you might want to think of a way to stop that / not be too precious about whatever they’re voting with!"
STEVE THE SCREEN
If you're looking for an interesting countdown before an event, search for 'Steve the Screen'. You can view one of them and buy it here. Or you can take the idea and run with it yourself, if you're the creative sort.
AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-CREATED EMMAUS ROAD
Nothing unusual about that, you might think. This photo is created using https://huggingface.co/spaces/AP123/IllusionDiffusion. I put in something like 'Path in Israel with three people walking along in robes in the first century'., but I also hid a message in it, written in white on black. If you want to see the whole picture that Cleopas and his friend realised in Luke 24, squint at the picture. Now imagine making this into a jigsaw puzzle and revealing it a piece at a time on the screen during a talk. Check it out on a big screen before you use it. People don't see the writing.
​
If you want more creative ideas for Bible talks, have a look at my book Raising the Bar.
Six points from Luke 24.13ff:
​
-
Jesus did miracles
-
Jesus died
-
Jesus said he would rise on the third day
-
The tomb was empty
-
The angels said he had risen
-
The prophets spoke of his death and resurrection
Can you see the full picture?
want to find out more about youth talks?
Get more ideas and support for your youth ministry with my book: "RAISING THE BAR: Nearly Everything You Need to Know about Christian Youth Ministry." There are chapters on The Big Idea - getting the main idea out of a Bible passages - as well as chapters on Preparing a Talk, Preparing a Bible Study, Leading a Small Group, and lots, lots more!
​
You can read the contents and find out what other youth workers think below.
As a site member, you'll receive news of our latest resources.
