A Life that Counts – 10 ready-to-use meetings
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Stumbling on Internet porn sites. Being bullied at school. Sex. Boredom. Peer pressure. Money (or lack of it). Image. Parent trouble.’ These are just some of the issues and baggage your average teenager brings with them to youth group. How can you begin to help them deal with it all?
How can you help them meet God through it all, and build a life that counts? Steve Adams has collected, tried and tested ten creative and imaginative meeting outlines that do just that. These Youthwork ready-to-use meeting guides come complete with games, activities, discussion starters, time estimates, bible passages and a CD-ROM with photocopiable worksheets.’
The resource is a 49-page book with a CD-ROM containing a pdf of worksheets to print off and hand out. There are 10 sessions covering life after a big Christian event, boredom, creativity, debt, escapism, guidance, internet porn, relationships, sex, and violence. Each session is estimated to last between 60-85 minutes.
Available from Authentic Media.
The cover says the book is for 11-16 year olds although the introduction says it is for 13-18 year olds. The reality is that different sessions are more suitable to different ages, perhaps 13-16 being the ideal target age. It is aimed at Christian young people who want to live out their faith practically and to think through how their faith impacts their daily decisions.
£8.99
This is a well thought out resource and is very easy to understand and to use. It uses the familiar style of ‘ready-to-use meeting guides' that have been a regular feature in the Youthwork magazine for many years. All the sessions have appeared previously in this magazine.
Each session stands on its own but can be run as a series of 10 sessions. The overall purpose is to help young people explore some key issues and apply their faith to their daily experiences. Each session starts with a short explanation of its aims and objectives.
The notes are simple to follow and make clear any preparation that needs to be done for each session.
This can be led by anyone who wants to invest in young people and help them explore how faith can affect daily lifestyle choices.
The resource comes with a CD-ROM which has a pdf document of one handout for each of the 10 sessions. These are simple in design, lacking in graphics but this does mean that the handouts will date more slowly.
The CD-ROM is basic and just includes a pdf document of all the handouts and a copy of Adobe Reader, which is required to access the handouts.
Very little. The sessions are designed to be used ‘as is'. The leader will need to spend some time aquainting themselves with each session and there are some materials which need to be gathered, including the odd video clip.
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The sessions expect group participation and discussion throughout.
The sessions are varied and have a good pace. They explore the issues from various angles so that most people will be able to connect with them.
The sessions are adaptable, depending on the leader's experience, but will work fine straight from the book.
There is an expectation of exploring together throughout.
Every session is based around a Bible passage or passages. They explore contemporary issues from a biblical perspective.
The material is relevant and well connected to the topics. The material is easy to use and will help the young people understand it.
The biblical material is presented in the context of everyday issues so applies well.
The sessions are mainstream biblical teaching.
The sessions help young people to realise that God can impact every area of life and so will help them to grow in their discipleship.
The young people will grow in their faith as they discover how much God is interested in them. The session on guidance is particularly helpful in equipping them with skills to seek God for direction in their lives.
The sessions are issue based but stretch the participants' faith by seeing God in everything.
This is what it is designed to do and the authors achieve this goal well.
This is not a topic expressly covered in this book.
The sessions encourage discussion and mutual support within the group, and occasionally, outside also.
The issues covered will equip the young people to be better at living for God in the world they live in.
This is not an area given specific focus.
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