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Cluster of Students

March 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment

At Saddleback Church student ministries, we are extremely blessed to have an abundance of musically talented students. Many churches struggle to find musicians, but we have so many musical students that we put multiple bands together and have to rotate them around. With all this talent has come something really awesome.

Since last summer, our student worship leaders have been putting together some original songs (several of which are written by the students themselves) and recording them in a studio to be released to the public. They call themselves Cluster of Students, and the stuff they’ve been putting out is UNBELIEVABLE.

Their latest song, Learn to Love, was written by a high school senior along with our student worship pastor (Taffy) and Keeley Reed, an artist and staff member on the student worship ministry team. Since I downloaded it a couple days ago, I’ve listened to it at least 50 times.

You can find all 4 of Cluster of Students’s released songs on iTunes.


Filed Under: Cool stuff, Praise and Worship, Youth Ministry Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

What will keep me going in ministry

January 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment

This past Friday I had the amazing opportunity to help lead one of my small group guys to give his life to Christ. If you read yesterday’s post, you’ll know more of the story, but the important part is that there will be one more person in heaven when we get there. The feeling after seeing that happen is something that can’t be described with words alone. I was filled with the most amazing feeling of worship and gratitude to God, and it was a great opportunity to thank God for ministry and his grace.

I write this not to pat myself on the back or brag about the opportunity I had to witness to one of my students, but to encourage those in ministry today. This experience is ultimately what we’re investing in every time we go out into the youth ministry trenches, discipling and loving on our students. It’s the ultimate reward for our time, and it’s a great opportunity to see God work through us.

This wasn’t the first time I had a part in leading a student to Christ, but the overwhelming feeling I experienced afterward is what I know will keep me going in youth ministry. It’s moments like this one that really show us what it’s all about, and I’m so grateful that I had the chance to be used by God to make it happen.

Filed Under: Encouragement, Youth Ministry Tagged With: , ,

Back to Basics: Worship

July 11, 2011 by 1 Comment

This is the second of three weeks in our “Back to Basics” series. Last week we talked about teaching your students to read the Bible, and this week we’re talking about worship. We’re going to be taking two different approaches to the topic of worship, so hang with us to get the two different views of what worship is.

Steven: One of the things I try to really emphasize to my students is that worship is so much more than just showing up to church on Sunday and singing along with the songs. A few weeks ago I did a lesson with my small group that I borrowed from Dennis Beckner (which he wrote up and you can read here) about living a life that isn’t just a subscription to God, it’s a sacrifice. Along with that comes the idea that everything you do should be in worship.

Going to school is worship if you put God first. Going to work is worship if you put God first. Doing homework is worship if you put God first.

It’s great to go to a worship service every week to engage with other believers in the act of worship through music and singing, but without the full act of worship throughout the rest of the week, you’ll miss out on what God really has to offer. It’s amazing to look around and see all that God has created – from the landscape, the plants, the trees, everything – and it is ignorant of us to not worship the Creator for all that He has given us.

We should even thank him for the things that we’re not completely fond of. I mentioned school above, and immediately that’s what came to mind. Some of the classes I have taken are definitely not my favorite and I can’t help but think, “Why the heck would I need to take World Civilizations if I’m never going to be a history teacher?” The attitude I had to adopt to get the most out of that class (and make sure I actually showed up) was that I’m taking this class for God. It might not be my favorite class, but I’m doing it for Him.

Worship is something we can take part in every single day. It doesn’t have to be in a formal way, but it does have to happen. Even if you just say a quick, 10-second prayer every once in a while for the things you experience, you’re honoring God by worshipping Him.

Matt: When I first thought about this topic I thought about when I watch our High School or Junior High services. I love seeing the students who really get into the singing, their hands held high or watching a group of them in the service hold hands during prayer. At the same time, I don’t like it when I see some of the leaders in the service who are talking to each other, not singing, have their cell phone out and are on Facebook or texting. What is the message that we send to students when we do that? The message is that being in worship is not important!

Students will emulate what they see us doing. We should be teaching them that worship is a frame of mind, it’s a way of setting everything else aside and devoting time to God in worship and praise of Him. When I attend worship I get there early. I want to have time to sit down and just clear my mind, have some prayer time with God before the service starts and ask him to calm my mind, open my mind and my heart to the message I’m about to hear. I’m also aware that often students who are in my small group will be in our main worship center with their parents. If I’m not participating in worship, what did I just show my students AND their parents? I want them to know I love God, and that attending AND participating in worship is a very necessary thing in growing in our relationship with God.

Here’s some ideas if you’re a leader or a volunteer in your church’s student ministry service:

  1. Find a student who is sitting alone and sit with them. They might be new to your church, nothing worse than being someplace and no one knows who you are. After the service introduce them to other students, find out what school they attend, try and find other students from that school, they might know that. All it takes is one connection and you can take a student from “visitor” to “regular attendee.”
  2. Sing the songs, if you’re a person who raises your hands when you sing, go for it. Let students know its okay to show emotion when they sign praise songs to God.
  3. Keep distractions to a minimum. Don’t keep getting up and going in and out of the service. Put your cell phone on vibrate or even better, turn it off if you can.
  4. If you’re a small group leader, encourage your group to attend a service together. This might not always be possible, but usually it works out. I love seeing all of my guys sitting together in the auditorium and just worshipping like crazy!
  5. After the service talk to students, ask what the message meant to them. On occasion I have seen students who get really affected by a message because it hit a little close to home with them. That’s a great time to get them to open up about a problem they are having.
  6. Have fun. Don’t make worship a stuffy, boring experience.
Filed Under: Youth Ministry Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Mega Church Is Not Always A Mega Advantage

May 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Steven and I are both small group leaders at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California.  Steven has a junior high group, I have a high school group. We are also both on the staff at Saddleback. Not gonna lie, there are a ton of advantages to attending and working at a mega church. We have friends on Saddleback’s staff in all kind of ministries so that opens the door to a lot of opportunities for us and our guys in our small groups. Virtually any resource you can think of, we have available to us. But there are disadvantages to a mega church as well.

First, because of the size of our student ministries, it’s easy for a new student to get lost in the crowd. It’s easy to be a room with a thousand other students and be alone. Each weekend when I’m in our student ministry building I look for new faces that I haven’t seen before, or that one kid sitting alone. I do my best to say hi, ask their name and what school they go to. I then try to find other students from that school who I already know and try to get them to sit together.  Second disadvantage, its easy for kids who attend each week to be “wallflowers”, to just sit back and watch and not really participate. We also get a lot of students whose parents attend “big church” and the student is just killing time in the junior high or high school service while they wait for their parents to pick them up, or more likely they are just hanging out in the student ministry building and not attending a service.  Those are the kids I’ve decided to focus my time on this summer.

I just saw that our High School Ministry (HSM) has posted their summer calendar of events.  My goal will be to get the students who don’t participate to show up for one of the “fun” events. My hope is that they will bond with some of our “core” students and become more active in ministry, and then start showing up and participating in the weekend services.  A student being in a small group in a mega church is a necessity.  Student small groups make a big church small, you feel like you’re a part of something and that you belong and are not just a number.

We’d love to hear how what you do to make sure your students are connected to the ministry. E-mail us or comment this post and we’ll pass the information on for everyone.  Bottom line…mega church or a small church we all have the same goal, bringing the students closer to God and having a relationship with Him.

What do you do to get your students connected?

Filed Under: Youth Ministry Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Night of Worship

May 11, 2011 by 1 Comment

I love attending a Night of Worship. God knows I can’t carry a tune in a bucket, but I love to sing and I love to sing worship and praise songs. Not gonna lie, the song “Hosanna” will bring a tear to my eye every time. At Saddleback Church we have an adult night of worship once a month. Our student ministries have one every 3 months or so. Night of Worship makes a nice change from a normal small group night.  It’s a night of singing praise and worship songs, a short message, lots of prayer and more praise and worship songs. Our students get to hang out  and see their friends that are not in the group and I love watching them really get into worship with their hands in the air and their voices booming out a praise song. As a leader when you attend a night of worship remember this: If you stand there like a statue, not singing or participating, that’s the example you just set for your students. Remember our students model what they see. You don’t need to turn into James Brown and dance and fall on the floor crying out to God, but you do need to participate.

There is one song in particular that I have noticed will have a huge effect on students. It’s the song, “With Everything”(Hillsong has an amazing version of this song if you are not familiar with this song). I first heard it sung at summer camp last year and as I looked around me all I saw were students deep in worship and praise, with arms in the air, and tears rolling down their faces. The same thing happens when I hear it sung during our weekend services or a night of worship. The words to the song are full of praise and it has a haunting tune that gets stuck in your head. When the line, “we will shout for Your glory” students literally shout this line out. It makes students realize that everything is for God’s glory. If your church does not do a night of worship for students, I highly recommend that you encourage your student ministry pastor or worship leader to have one, it’s a great way to bring students together and show them the importance of worship. Even students who normally won’t sing will generally sing during a night of worship when they get caught up in the emotion and feeling of God all over the room.

Edit: Here’s a video of the song I’m talking about.


Filed Under: Praise and Worship Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Retro Tuesday // Worship Works Wonders

May 3, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Original post found here.

One of the most important things we can do as leaders in ministry is to attend worship services. That is our time to reconnect with God in a different setting and really put all of our focus on Him for that moment. It’s no different for our students. They need to be connected to God in this way, just like we are, but most of the time they’re not going to do it on their own. We need to be the example that they see. We can go throughout our day thinking about God every minute, but there’s something about going to a worship service that really changes not only how we view Him, but also how strong our connection is to Him. Volunteer Student Ministry Leaders need to remember it’s just as important to grow themselves in their faith as it is to grow our students. If we stop growing, we stop being the example of what a Christ-centered life looks like.

Matt: I really love serving in Student Ministry. I love the feeling I get when I interact with students, and I love being able to talk a student through a problem. I love seeing a student who came in with a sad face and something heavy on his heart, leave the service with a smile on his face because God worked through me to help a student work out his problem. I’d love to be able to serve at all four of our high school services each week, but I also know I can’t serve and really worship at the same time. I can pray, I can get students excited about worshiping, I can praise God, I can sing Hosanna with the best of them, but it’s not the same as attending a worship service where I am totally focused on God.

Attending worship service can make even my worst day a good one. I feel re-energized and revived and ready to serve God because I strengthened my connection to Him. I’ll pick up tidbits from worship that I’ll use in next week’s high school small group lesson. I can feel a difference when I connect with God through worship every week. Here’s the other thing….parents of my small group students often see me in worship each week. I think that gives them a comfort level knowing that their son’s small group leader is connected to the body of Christ, that he practices what he preaches. My students have asked me if I go to “big church” each week. I want to be a positive example to them. It’s great to serve in volunteer ministry; its biblical, it’s the right thing to do, and as a Saddleback Church staff member, it’s asked of us to model what we ask of our membership. But God also commands us to worship.

You can do three things with your life: You can waste your life, you can spend your life, or you can invest your life. I choose to invest my life by being a volunteer leader with the next generation. Attending worship each week helps me be the best volunteer I can be by keeping me connected to God. It also sets the example for students.

Steven: Worship is one of my favorite things in the whole world. I can be having a less-than-average day, thinking that things aren’t going the way I want in my life, but when I go to a worship service, it totally changes all of that. There’s just something so natural and fulfilling about putting all of my focus on the God of the universe. I love being engulfed in the sea of sounds and voices, and although I’m not a good singer by any means, I love participating in raising my voice to praise my Creator. I haven’t always been this way, however. I used to be the guy that would never sing in church, I would never clap my hands, and I DEFINITELY wouldn’t lift my hands up to worship God. I didn’t want anyone to notice me or see me acting that way, but now I’ve realized that it’s not about being noticed.

It wasn’t until I saw leaders around me worshipping like I do now that it hit me – it’s not about me, it’s all about God. For me, it took seeing the leaders around me praising the Lord to truly realize what the purpose of worship is. Without those leaders being an example of what real worship is, I would still be that self-conscious 8th grader that never got to appreciate the awesome power of worship. Just as my leaders passed it on to me, I’m now able to pass on the idea of worship to the next generation.

Now that I’ve realized that, I make it a point to go to a worship service every week. This isn’t just for my benefit; when asked by one of my students if I go to service every week, I don’t want to say no. I need to set the example for them, just as I was shown years ago. Once I set the example for them, they have the opportunity to fully experience God, and that is the ultimate goal.

Filed Under: Retro Tuesday Tagged With: , , , ,