The Word in Youth Ministry - A CPYU Podcast

Kyle invites his co-worker, Middle School Pastor, and CPYU Research Fellow Josiah Rios to co-host this episode. Together they interview pastor and author Paul Tautges about his book Remade: Embracing Your Complete Identity in Christ. Identity formation is a huge issue among our teens, so we need to help them understand that they are both created by God and redeemed by God in Christ. When teens live into this reality, it helps lift the impossible burden of creating their own identities. They take time to dive into what Paul calls a triple lens perspective, understanding that we are sinners, sufferers, and saints and how we can teach that paradigm to students.

Kyle Hoffsmith and Pastor and CPYU Research Fellow Jason Engle discuss 4 important questions youth workers should ask when they are preparing to give a Bible message. Jason reminds us to teach the Bible rather than using the Bible as a supplement in our teaching. We are encouraged to keep Scripture in context and understand what the original intent of the author was. Kyle and Jason help us focus on teaching the main idea of a passage. Finally we're encouraged to consider our audience. This episode is chock-full of practical tips veteran and rookie youth workers alike can use to improve their Bible teaching skills.

Kyle Hoffsmith welcomes Greg Stier to the podcast. Greg is the founder of Dare 2 Share Ministries and author of the new book Radical Like Jesus: 21 Challenges to Live a Revolutionary Life. Greg passionately shares how important it is for discipleship and evangelism to go hand in hand and not be separated. Kyle and Greg talk about equipping and encouraging kids to share the Gospel in our youth ministries so they can make an impact in their world.

Kyle Worley, Lead Pastor at Mosaic Church in Richardson, TX, joins the podcast to discuss his book Home with God. We use his book to lead us into a discussion about how to teach about the doctrine of union with Christ to students. He tells us about some misconceptions about this important topic, and helps us address these misunderstandings. Kyle gives us insight into how the truth and beauty of union with Christ helps students when they're wrestling with topics of acceptance, identity, and difficult home lives.

Kyle invites his co-worker and CPYU Research Fellow Josiah Rios to co-host this episode. Leslie Schmucker, author of Broken Children, Sovereign God: Rejoicing in God's Goodness Amidst Childhood Mental Health Struggles joins them and together they discuss ministering to children, youth, and families who are struggling with mental health concerns. Leslie encourages us to elevate Scripture over everything as we care for them in our churches. She also emphasizes the need for prayer. They also discuss practical ways we can support struggling families when even the act of making it to church on Sunday mornings can turn into such a big deal for them.

Pastor Chris Polski joins the podcast to discuss the importance of using physical Bibles. Kyle digs into an article Chris wrote for The Gospel Coalition titled "Don't Give Up On Physical Bibles." Chris talks about the obvious benefits of limiting digital distractions, but also talks about the example, the stored history, the value to the next generation, and other benefits that using a physical Bible can have.

Kyle invites Doug Franklin of LeaderTreks on the podcast. They discuss the idea of "happathy" within our youth groups, what it is, and how we can combat it. How do we intentionally invest in discipling the next generation so they don't experience happathy? Doug emphasizes the importance of being "small" and that in order to do so, we must put a priority on developing our volunteer staff and training them to be relational.

CPYU Research Fellows and Youth Pastors Josiah Rios and Mike Terry join the podcast. We all know that ministry to middle school students can be challenging. Mike and Josiah help us take a look at barriers to teaching the Bible to middle schoolers and how to break through them. How can we teach middle school students in a way that keeps their attention without sacrificing the substance of the message? Mike helps explain the differences of teaching simply vs. teaching superficially. Josiah helps us realize the importance of prayer and letting our passion and excitement for the Gospel genuinely shine through. We are also encouraged to stay true to the text of Scripture.

Youth Pastor Billy Evans joins the podcast to discuss theology with Kyle. Specifically, they have a great discussion about how to teach theology to our students. Billy walks us through how he taught through doctrinal statements at his church. They discuss special revelation as well as general revelation and the ways in which God has revealed himself. Are there any barriers that need to be overcome in order to address theology with our students? Billy helps point out some of those barriers and how we can work through them. They also discuss differences between systematic and biblical theology. They mostly focus on systematic theology and Billy helps us think through how to approach this in terms of scope and sequence. We even get into a discussion about whether to teach opposing views and how to do this well.

Do we minister to teens shaped more by the cultural narratives around us than the Word of God? Are we influenced or worried about what our students or teens will think about us? Are we aiming for relevance or truth? Tim helps us reflect on these tough questions and encourages us to lean into the truth as found in God's Word. Tim helps us wrestle with issues of fear, with believing lies (even ones we tell ourselves), and confronting our misplaced desires.