The Word in Youth Ministry - A CPYU Podcast

Youth and Families Pastor, Scott Herron, joins the podcast with Kyle to discuss growing as a teacher in our youth ministries. The words from Scott offer encouragement to youth leaders young and old alike. He emphasizes how an early important lesson he learned was that he didn't always have to be "the guy." His ministry thrives most when he remembers to get out of the way. He shares about how his teaching has changed over the years ...

Tim McAlpine joins the podcast to recommend and discuss one of his favorite preaching books, On Preaching by H.B. Charles, Jr. He and Kyle discuss some of Tim's favorite chapters and talk about the importance of staying true to the text of Scripture in our preaching. Tim also includes some advice to free us from the weight and temptation of trying to be funny or entertain when we're teaching student's God's word. There's also some ...

Kyle invites friend of the show and Assistant Pastor Greg Buchanan on as a guest co-host. Together they interview Tim Keesee of Frontline Missions. Tim helps youth pastors know how to cast a vision for teens to be a part in advancing and expanding the Kingdom of God through missions. He helps set real expectations about the work of missionaries and the role that suffering often plays in the lives of Christians who live in parts of ...

Kyle invites Chelsea Kingston Erickson, Editor of Youth Ministry Content and Director of Publishing for Rooted, to join the podcast to discuss the importance of not forgetting to teach The Old Testament within our youth groups. Chelsea provides listeners with great practical tips on how to do this well and shares plenty of great resources that youth workers can use. Kyle and Chelsea not only dive into the importance of teaching the...

Alex Duke, Director of Training and Sending at 3rd Avenue Baptist Church and Senior Editor at 9 Marks joins the podcast. Kyle and Alex discuss the perils of separating youth from the larger Church body as well as some principles healthy churches should strive for. They cover topics like communion, baptism, membership and more. Alex and Kyle agree that healthy churches are likelier to produce lasting disciples. Alex explains the goa...

In a first for our podcast, Kyle invites one of his students to join the conversation. Kyle and Malachi have read 15 theology books together of the last 4 years. Together they discuss what this looked like, what some of Malachi's favorite books have been, and how Malachi has grown. Throw in some fun banter about Ohio State vs. Penn State, a snake being brought to a recent youth group meeting, and how Malachi and his friends "bet" o...

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 we use, and more. Ultimately, they ...

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 commentaries, but issues a strong warnin...

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 teaching our students in various setting...

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 special events within a larger scope, ...

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. Valerie reminds us of the importance of ...

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 live into this reality, it helps lift ...

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 on teaching the main idea of a passa...

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 ministries so they can make an impact i...

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 union with Christ helps students when...

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 everything as we care for them in our ch...

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 message? Mike helps explain the differen...