The Word in Youth Ministry - A CPYU Podcast

Kyle and youth pastor RJ McCauley of Magnolia Church in California have a great discussion about sermon illustrations. They use the book "Illustrating Well: Preaching Sermons That Connect" by Jim Wilson as a discussion prompt. They talk about when to use illustrations, how to determine if an illustration is worth while to use in the first place, whether we should limit the number of illustrations...

Kyle invites Jeremy Meeks of the Charles Simeon Trust to help us with practical tips to become a better preacher and teacher. We walk through many of the question used during the Charles Simeon Preaching Workshops. We look at concepts like structure of the biblical text as well as context of the text, cultural, historically, biblically, and more. Jeremy also tells us about the helpfulness of comme...

Kyle has a fun conversation with Mike McGarry of Youth Pastor Theologian. They encourage youth pastors to be intentional about how they teach and preach to students. Mike explains how we can teach theology in ways to will connect with students. They also discuss practical tips regarding planning a teaching calendar, when or when not to use curriculum, and even the length of time we should be teach...

Kyle welcomes two guests this episode as we take a look at practical ways we can use camps, conferences, retreats, and other special events to ignite spiritual growth in our students. Foster Toft, Pastor of Student Ministries at Bethel Church in Indiana joins us as well as Eric Miller, Executive Director of Ministry at Momentum Ministry Partners. Together, they walk us through properly valuing spe...

Kyle invites Youth Pastor and CPYU Research Fellow Mike Terry to co-host this episode featuring Valerie O'Brien of Aspen Ministry. Valerie tells us about Aspen Ministry's 10,000 question project where they are collecting questions about faith and life from students in order to better hear them and point them to Jesus based on where they are and the questions they are actually wrestling with. Valer...

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 li...

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 o...

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 min...

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 un...

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 every...

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 Bi...

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 traini...

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 messa...

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...

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...

Kyle invites youth ministry professor Duffy Robbins on the podcast. They discuss ways in which messages are delivered poorly, as well as ways in which they can be delivered well. Duffy helps point out traps we might fall into so that we can avoid them. He encourages us to keep preaching the Word and provides ways to keep filling our own wells. Kyle and Duffy discuss whether or not the way we shoul...

Kyle invites CPYU Research Fellows Kerry Trunfio and Jason Engle to joint the discussion for this episode. We take a look at questions that have been submitted by e-mail from our listeners. The three of them take the time to answer questions about Bible engagement, a "Simple Church" model, and more.

Kyle has a conversation with Art Rainer of Christian Money Solutions. They discuss the importance of being generous with our resources because we serve a generous God. Thinking biblically about money is a skill that will set them up well for the rest of their lives. Giving allows us to live with greater contentment and satisfaction as we come to realize that we are simply stewards of what God has...

Kyle invites CPYU President Walt Mueller and author Andrew Walker to join this episode. They discuss transgender ideology, how it is impacting our kids, and steps we need to take in our youth ministries to teach the truth. The importance is teaching solid theology is stressed, with an emphasis on going back to Genesis 1 and 2 to see God's intended creational order. Andrew Walker takes a look back...

Pastor and author Tim Challies joins the podcast to discuss his book Seasons of Sorrow: The Pain of Loss and the Comfort of God. We use the opportunity to talk about how we can train those in our youth ministry how to suffer well. If we haven't taught a deep theology of suffering to our teenagers, then they can be blindsided later in life when suffering comes. Tim describes how walking with faith...

Our culture has a broad misunderstanding about sex, marriage, divorce, cohabitation and other related topics. Dr. Jim Newheiser joins the podcast to help us look at teaching these topics from a biblical perspective. His years of pastoral counseling experience help us realize the importance of confronting cultural lies and pointing to biblical truth. Students need to be equipped to think through wh...

In this episode Kyle emphasizes the importance of learning from church history. In that light, he invites Pastor Rick Marshall to discuss his time serving as Director of Crusades/Missions for Billy Graham. Rick talks about the importance of ministry to the next generation and reflects back on his time with Billy Graham to help pass along a few lessons. He shares about Billy Graham's heart for youn...

Kyle welcomes Mike McGarry, founder of Youth Pastor Theologian on the podcast to discuss teaching the Bible the students. Mike emphasizes the importance of teaching theology and filling our students' cups. Together, they discuss Mike's latest book Discover: Questioning Your Way to Faith and how important it is to let students ask questions in your youth ministry setting. There's plenty of great in...

Kyle invites youth pastor Will Standridge to join the podcast. Together they discuss teaching 1 Samuel 15. Their conversation covers sermon prep, considering the setting, praying for your audience, and dives into the difficult passage. Will offers great advice to youth pastors, not only for teaching this specific text, but for teaching students in general.

Kyle and Rich Brown of Next Gen Matters discuss the importance of teaching The Word to the next generation. They look at passages of scripture, from Acts and II Timothy, and talk about lessons we can gain as we work to pass the torch and equip our teens. Do our students have a relationship with Jesus? How do we teach students the truths of Scripture and get them to engage with the Word of God? How...