Friday Review (12/22/23)

Each week we compile a list of helpful articles from other sites, in a variety of categories, for youth workers to read, reflect on, and/or discuss with parents and volunteers. If you have any articles you’d like to suggest, we’d love for you to share those in the Youth Pastor Theologian Facebook group. That’s a great way to bring them to our attention and to discuss them with like-minded youth workers! (Inclusion in this list does not imply complete agreement with the publishing source, but we have found these articles to be beneficial.)

Youth Ministry

Disconnection and Gen Z: Searching for Trustworthy Mentors, by Joey Turner (Rooted)

All human attempts at creating belonging and mentorship fizzle out fast, or turn into social activity clubs or good-citizen development programs. But when we lean into the spectacular belonging we have in Christ, the kind of mentorship culture Gen Z (and all other generations) long for should naturally follow. Following are a few observations from the ministry of Jesus and the life of the early church to guide us in fostering belonging and mentorship.

Biblical & Theological Studies

Advent Prepares Us for Mission, by Patrick Schreiner (The Gospel Coalition)

In the Great Commission, Jesus sends his followers to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19). We sometimes neglect to see that this mission is foreshadowed in Jesus’s birth narrative (Matt. 1–2). Mission didn’t begin at the end of Christ’s earthly work; instead, Jesus’s birth foreshadows that a mission to the nations was the purpose of his coming.

What Are Angels, and How Should Christians Think about Them?, by John Nielson (Crossway)

While God’s word does not offer us a detailed description of how and when God made the angels, or of what exactly they look like, we can nevertheless gather truths and principles from various Scripture passages that teach us about these beings that are in eternal service of God.

Cultural Reflection & Contextualization

The Mission of Holiday Presence, by Elizabeth Mckinney (Gospel Centered Discipleship)

Over these next few weeks, we can remind ourselves—and our groups—that Jesus is our Immanuel, God with us. And as we spend time with others physically and emotionally throughout this Christmas season, let’s share the gift of Jesus’s ministry working in and through us: our holiday presence.

Social Influencer Is the New Upper Class, by Rachel Gilson (The Gospel Coalition)

Over half of American children and young adults report wanting to become a social media influencer. As a society, we’ve succeeded in making a career out of “being famous for being famous,” a dream many consider to be vapid beyond belief and yet one others hope and strive for. How on earth did we get here?

Pastoral Ministry

Two Main Tasks in Ministry, by David Mathis (Desiring God)

Brothers, rejoice most that your names are written in heaven. Being a Christian is ten thousand times more important, and sweeter, than being a pastor-teacher.

Don’t Ruin Good Content: Proficient Pulpit Rhetoric, by Jonathan Nason (Sola Ecclesia)

When shipping something valuable, much care is given to proper packaging and delivery. Likewise, because your message is of eternal value, you pay attention to proper delivery. How you communicate the message is not as important as the message, but it is still important. Therefore, take great care to become a proficient communicator of God’s Word and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Dear Pastor . . . Let’s Cultivate Honesty in Our Churches—Starting with Us, by Sam Allberry (Crossway)

So let’s not hide our need for Jesus. Let’s be unembarrassed for the world to know that our whole life is marked by this reality. As a friend often puts it, our choice in all things is “God or total collapse.”

Family & Parents

Not Neurotypical: A Love Story, by Rebekah Matt (Great and Noble Tasks)

This love story is my family’s story. It’s a story about two neurodivergent people who create some other neurodivergent people and by the grace of God, make it work. A story where all the characters overcome adversity, move beyond misconceptions and misunderstandings, and realize the beauty and “rightness” of what was there from the very beginning.

From YPT this week

Volunteers: The Unsung Heroes of Every Ministry, by Nick Hartman

Investing in your volunteer youth leaders is one of the best ways to set your ministry up for growth. They are the unsung heroes in youth ministry.