How Important is the “Is There a God” Club Talk These Days?
The other night I was having a conversation with a veteran YL leader from my area. He has been in YL over twenty years. We were talking about the club talk progression early in the semester. The club he leads decided to start right off with “person of Christ” talks. What he and I remember through the years as part of the standard progression is a talk early in the semester about “Is there a God”, or “There must be a God”. It seems that many clubs I know have done this talk less and less, including my club.
My rational is that statistics show that Americans basically all agree that there is a God. Previously I had seen reports of only about 5% of Americans not believing in God. But recent Barna research shows that only 9% of Americans would consider themselves atheist or agnostic. In another report, they show that this number may be higher for younger people, closer to 19%.
What is much more important to us is knowing our kids. We don’t need to base our club on national averages. We need to know our club kids and where they stand with God. This is a key YL relational principle that needs to be taken into consideration more than a national survey. One club might need to do three “Is there a God” club talks, while another club might be able to skip it.
What are your thoughts?
BTW I’m doing a “Is There a God” talk tonight in my club 
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The importance comes down to going after the farthest kid.
Jim | September 30, 2009 | 8:53 amThe importance comes down to going after the farthest kid. As we should know most of our kids, we also should have new kids showing up and we don’t want them to feel out of place cause they have no idea what we are talking about or if they even care about what we are talking about (always a possibility). I see real importance in the God talk and the set-up for the rest of the progression of talks. As we bring the kids who have no idea about God, the kids that we are bringing from square one with any talk about a God, this progression still has importance to talk about God.
How did the talk go? I haven't included that
Douglas Lochhead | September 30, 2009 | 12:26 pmHow did the talk go? I haven’t included that one this year but THANKS for al the resources. This is the first year we have put a master plan until Christmas down on paper.
As a sophomore in college, I can tell you from
Ethan | September 30, 2009 | 8:58 pmAs a sophomore in college, I can tell you from personal experience that the “Is there a God talk” is extremely important. Even if every single kid in your club does believe in God, they may not know why. Giving them ammunition to back up their beliefs is vital when their faith is challenged down the road by professors, peers, co-workers, and anybody else. If they have no teaching to think back on, it’ll be hard for them to come up with something to defend themselves in their faith. There is no doubt that somewhere down the line they will be challenged and it is important that they can stand strong.
Thanks for the comments. I added a poll too so
PHSYL | October 1, 2009 | 11:27 amThanks for the comments. I added a poll too so we can see what others think.
Dougie, the talk went pretty good. Another leader was supposed to do it but got sick and told me the day before she couldn’t do it. Oh well.
I went with one I did a while ago using the “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and What Kind of Hat do you think God would wear illustration. I can post it if anyone is interested.
Sean, I'd love to see your club talk on "is
Annie | October 6, 2009 | 3:15 pmSean, I’d love to see your club talk on “is there a god?”
Thanks!
Annie
Do you still have that club talk on "Is there
Donna | August 31, 2010 | 1:28 pmDo you still have that club talk on “Is there a God?”
Yes, here is a brief outline from my notes... Intro to
PHSYL | September 1, 2010 | 12:50 amYes, here is a brief outline from my notes…
Intro to God Talk: Who do you think God is?
Intro: Santa Claus is coming to town
Hats:
Firefighter: emergencies – come to the rescue, sick, problems, $
Police: catch you when you do wrong
Sports: no injuries and to win
Construction: made the world but stepped away
Golf: God of old people
No hat: God doesn’t exist, I’ll use my own brain thank you…
Read John 1:14
Jesus/God moved into the neighborhood.
Q: What hat would God wear?
A Pinnacle HS hat. He is more interested in who you are and a relationship then anything else.
…Not only emergencies, rules, injuries wins… but of (say people’s names)
My story: I believed in God but I really didn’t have a relationship with him.
Main point… there is a God and we look at Jesus’ life to know about God and our life
Challenge: Before you go to bed, ask God, reveal yourself to me