Fill Their Cup
“How long should I teach at youth group?”
This is a common question new youth pastors ask. And for good reason. In the midst of competing emphases on expository preaching and the reality of students’ attention span, it’s hard to know what our teaching should look like in youth ministry.
The simplest way I’ve been able to think about it is this: fill their cups. Some students’ cups hold four ounces, others can hold 20. This is where it’s important for you to know your students, know your message, and know what you’re capable of delivering. If you pour out a gallon of biblical wisdom but they can only hold a few ounces, what good was it? Here’s a basic framework to help you evaluate your teaching.
Know Your Students
To give a specific answer to the initial question - “how long should youth group lessons be?” - my general rule of thumb is to speak according to the average age of your listeners. Add five minutes if you’re a good teacher and 10 minutes if you have good rapport with the group and are a gifted communicator. So, for Middle School Youth Group, new youth workers will start out teaching for 12-14 minutes and will stretch up towards 25 as they grow in rapport with students and in their teaching ability. But do your students and yourself a favor, be realistic in your evaluation. If you are a new youth pastor, be assured that it’s OK to teach for 10 minutes. But don’t be in a hurry or under any pressure to preach Sunday morning sermons at youth group. Students’ cups are what they are - and that’s ok. If you fill them with the Living Water, that is enough to satisfy their soul.
Make sure you have multiple on-ramps throughout your message. Students’ attention will slip in and out throughout your teaching time. If they take a mental-detour, give them an on-ramp to help them get back on track with what you’re teaching. That can be a short story, metaphor, joke, or something else that will help ease them back into listening to what you have to say. This is pastoral compassion for your students - know them well enough that you know how to engage their mind, heart, and imagination so they can grasp God’s Word and perceive its message for them.
Know Your Message
Make clarity and simplicity some of your central benchmarks by keeping it basic. That’s not condescending, and it’s not cheap. The same way basic training provides soldiers their essential skills to build upon, basic instruction in youth ministry pours a solid foundation for students to develop a biblical worldview. But this requires you to understand your message well enough that you can teach it in five minutes, in ten, and in thirty. Teaching short will help you hone this skill so you don’t waste words or minutes as you proclaim and apply the gospel to students.
Keep the main point of the text as the main point of your message. That’s the singular focus of expositional preaching. It’s not about showing all your exegetical study, but about helping your listeners understand the message of the text. Resist rabbit trails, even the ones you find interesting. Focus on what God‘s Word has to say and help students understand what impact it makes on their lives, and how it leaves them to love Jesus.
Know What You Can Deliver
Be realistic about your preaching and teaching ability. It’s ok if you aren’t the next Charles Spurgeon - you don’t need to be! God loves your students, and he gave them you as their youth pastor. If you love God’s Word, love your students, and are comfortable in your own skin, then you’re well on your way to growing as a teacher. I’d rather send my own kids to a youth group where there’s 15 minutes of good teaching than to a group with 40 minutes with students who are bored. One very good training resource is the Simeon Trust Workshops for preaching, they also have good online courses.
Don’t be bored by the gospel. If you, the youth pastor, are bored with the gospel and the Bible, do you really think your students won’t be able to tell? Fan into flame your own love for the Lord and feed your prayer life. I am convinced that one of the best things you can do for your teaching is to nurture your own soul and keep your heart close to Jesus.
Finally, trust Jesus. He will bear fruit through the preaching of his gospel. We all know that we’re just messengers. God is the one who’s building his church and the gates of hell, the allure of social media, as teenage hormones will not prevail against it.
Students are parched for the Word of God. Many don’t even know it. Fill their cup and show them what it means to drink the Living Water.
