The Miracle in Your Mouth!

As youth leaders, it's our responsibility and duty to make sure we are communicating the TRUE and LIVING Word of God. Youth Ministry can not become so commercialized to the point that discipleship is lost and ministry is compromised. I do believe we must be relevant, innovative, and creative in our approach to communicating to this generation; however, we cannot forget why we were called, what we were called to do, and WHO CALLED US in the first place.

When it comes to communicating to students, there are many ways to put together creative messages that are relevant to today's youth culture. The ideas listed below are just a few strategies that will help you develop structure and organization in the way you prepare a message for your students. The development of an innovative message that will keep your students interested and informed takes time and is a process.

• Commit to a Spirit of Prayer and Excellence when it comes to preparing for your messages. First Timothy 4:13-14 says: Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of the Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Don't neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you (NIV).

• Commit to Knowing Your Audience. You have to know who you are communicating to in order to connect with them. Once you have identified your audience, you want to communicate four key principles:

Illustration of Christ → Students are visual
Inspiration and Understanding → Students are Relational
Impartation of God's Love → Students are Receptive
Invitation for Them to Change → Students are Willing

Don't get caught up in trying to be cool, cute, or driven by gimmicks. To be effective, you don't have to compromise, you just have to be constant. Stick to the Word of God and it will not return to you void.

• Commit to Diversifying Yourself. Don't just be one-dimensional. You should be willing to develop a message that will cross over racial, cultural, and denominational barriers. In order to reach a wide variety of students you must use many resources tools to help you. Use tools like, the Bible, the Internet, students, youth magazines (VIBE, XXL, The Source, Ebony, Jet, Essence), MySpace, Facebook, newspapers, and youth curriculum.

• Commit to Speak the Word with Authority. You can't be scared or intimidated by your audience. Proverbs 15:2 says: The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fools gushes folly (NIV). The power of life and death is in your tongue. Choose to speak life.

On a more practical level, here are some additional ideas to help you craft your message.

• Spend time in prayer.
• Use bullet points to organize your thoughts.
• Be simple and persuasive.
• Use relevant and catchy titles for your message.
• Be creative and illustrative. Incorporate drama in your message.
• Live the lifestyle you preach about.
• Don't be long winded. The average attention span of a teenager is 26 minutes.
• Be led by the Spirit of God; not the spirit of self.

It has been my experience that students can see right through a fake and a fraud, so when you're speaking to them, don't front. (Frontin'-Acting like something or someone you're not.) If you front, you will get your feelings hurt-real quick. Students are beyond honest. They're not like adults. You don't have to guess what they're thinking! If God has called you to youth ministry, be yourself! You don't have to know everything; students just need to know you care!