Trent Dibell  Youth Ministry Canton Baptist Temple

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like.” A phrase used by Christ many times through parable teachings. In youth ministry, it is extremely important to look at the “what” in the teachings of Jesus Christ. But when is the last time we meditated on the “how” of His teachings? As we look through the parables, we see rich lessons we can share in our youth departments, but it is the “how” of the teachings of Christ that will take teaching to the next level. Christ taught by saying “is like”. Whenever we read this in Scripture, it should challenge us to connect with our audience to give them tangible lessons on a weekly basis. Not every lesson needs a prop, but every lesson needs to speak to the hearts of students. It is possible to have the best “what” Jesus said in context and it be boring to our students. Please do not make the mistake of substituting good biblical teaching for a flashy illustration, but rather study more closely on how Christ spoke to His audience. He used similes many times during His teachings to connect with people so He could connect to their heart! We all are teaching in different areas with a slightly different culture of students, but they all have a common denominator...a desire to know and remember truth.

The application to take away? Get creative with the teaching of God’s Word! Here are a few suggestions that can help get the creative juices flowing.

1. PRAY, PRAY, and PRAY. Pray over the Scripture for God to break our hearts over what we are studying to share with our students.

2. Write it out. Actually write out the Scripture.. It slows us down.

3. Highlight. Underline, circle words that call for action or show direction.

4. Connect. Connect the passage with the students through real life spiritual application and even use simple and memorable props every now and again.

We are giving every middle school student a wristband that says “TRANSFORMED ROMANS 12:1&2” and putting a large focus on allowing God’s Word to transform us daily. This will be something they remember.

tdibell@campchof.org