My good friend Joey and AD in North Phoenix (such a good friend I’m sure he won’t mind the picture of him and his wonderful wife on this post) took what I started and added to it. It adds some good context for John’s gospel and adds some ideas for chapters I did not cover. He recently sent it to me and gave me permission to pass it along. Enjoy!

PS I hope anyone at Winter Training right now will tell him his picture is on ylhelp!

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Danny opened up his talk with references to some of the recent news in the paper and on TV. He didn’t need to, but in the past I’ve even brought in that day’s newspaper to show them how sin is so easy to spot. Then he transitioned briefly about some things that have hurt him, then he played the video below. After the video he walked them through Romans 3:23 and a few other ideas about sin. He closed with some very open sharing about his own life and how sin has impacted it. Finally he gave them a challenge and introduced the talk for the next week and about our hope in Christ as well.

It was a great talk. I asked him how he found the video. He said he went to YouTube and searched, “Young Life Need Talk”, and sure enough, it was right there!

*Just a tip, I never play videos directly from YouTube when I speak, I download them first using a web plugin called “Download Helper”. I’ve used it for years and it is free. If you ever use videos, you should use it.

I hope you enjoy this video. Thanks to the YL leaders who made it:

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I am having our club go through the book of John all year. In order to do that I have come up with a plan of attack. Since there are 21 chapters in the gospel of John and I like to cover the cross and resurrection in both semesters I have decided to go through the odd chapters (chapter 1, 3, 5, etc.) in the Fall and then the even chapters in the Spring. This does take some careful planning. Some chapters lend themselves nicely to certain types of talks. Sometimes it is challenging, such as John 7, there are not many obvious “club talk” stories in this chapter. There is no need to force anything, but I think there is incredible value in letting the scriptures shape the topics and focus even if it doesn’t always fit “our” mold. I’ve done this in speaking at camp with the demoniac in Mark 5 and others that have seemed important to talk about even if they are uncommon in YL.

Additionally, like I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve found it helpful to limit the choices for leaders when they do “person of Christ” talks since the topic is exciting, but incredibly broad. Asking a leader to pick any story from John 11 simplifies the process and helps give direction.

We have not gone through this yet, but a similar plan with the gospel of Mark has worked in the past. So, if you are interested, here is our plan for the Fall:

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1. I am… the bread of life (John 6:35)

Just like our need for food, Jesus is the food we need for life. I suggested using a loaf of bread as an illustration to talk about how we need food and what happens when we are hungry or don’t have food. A few of the Wyldlife leads said they thought this object lesson would work well with their kids. 

2. I am… the light of the world (John 8:12, 9:5)

Throughout scripture we see a contrast of the “light” and the “dark”. It starts in Genesis and works its way all the way through. I recall my leader, Kathy Mason, doing a talk when I was in high school when she turned off the lights during her talk to illustrate what it is like in the dark. This would be a good time to talk about what it is like when you don’t know what to do, when you aren’t sure where to go for help, when you don’t have answers, when you feel alone, and more. Then, after it almost gets uncomfortable and people’s eyes are getting adjusted to the dark (which is another illustration you can use), turn on a flashlight and talk about Jesus being the “light” of the world. Jesus lights up dark places, shows us the world around us as it really is, shows us who God is, allows us to even see who we really are, etc. There is a lot you can do with this!

3. I am… the gate (10:7)

Jesus is the gate, other translations say the “door”. This is a good opportunity to use… yes a door. Bring up a door in your talk. Think of all the things you can do with a door. You can shut a door, you can lock a door, you can knock on a door, you can open a door, you can walk through a door, you can open a door for someone else. I’ll leave it to your imagination about how you can work this into a talk, but one idea would be to use it as an incarnation/into-to-God talk and ask people to consider opening their mind and coming through the door of Jesus to come in and see what God is all about here at YL/WL. Obviously this is also a great appropriation illustration.

4. I am… the good shepherd (10:11,14)

I don’t know a shepherd in my neighborhood, but I do know that a lot of people that have coaches. A coach is not exactly the same as a shepherd, and Jesus isn’t merely a coach, but you could talk about what a coach does for his or her players. I’ve coached high school basketball for almost 10 years and some of my primary roles include: a relationship, teaching, correcting, celebrating, listening, talking, and in general helping them. This is an aspect of Jesus’ identity, he is the Lord, not a coach, but neither am I a sheep, I am a human. There are a lot of parallels you can use. I’m thinking of video clips from Coach Carter, Hoosiers, and many other great sports movies.

5. I am… the resurrection and the life (11:25)

I don’t necessarily have a great visual to use for this one (maybe you can suggest one), but in my opinion we all need to emphasize the resurrection much more in our teaching and preaching in YL, in the church, pretty much everywhere. Our emphasis is often Jesus’ death without much about Jesus’ life after death. 

6. I am… the way, the truth, the life (14:6)

This would be a great time to tell a story of when you were lost. Maybe you made a wrong turn, or were not paying attention, or simply didn’t know where you were. Then grab a map. The map shows you the way/route, and it wasn’t just made-up, it is the truth, and being lost sucks, but getting to where you want to be brings you life, not regret. Jesus is a map, he shows us the way, which is true, and brings life.

7. I am… the true vine (15:1)

Last, and one of my favorites, bring out a plant or a small tree. Talk about how we were created by God to be connected to our source of life. Jesus is the vine of life. When we are not connected, or cut-off, from the vine, Jesus, we are powerless and things will get worse, even if at first things still look “green”. You can use this in a “need” or “sin” talk, or as an appropriation talk.

Now all of these are simply illustrations, and every illustration or analogy breaks down when taken too far. But we also should note that Jesus used imperfect analogies that were not completely perfectly descriptive of his complete being (i.e. Jesus is not actually a vine, or a door, or a piece of bread). When you look at the stories in the gospels, whether in John or elsewhere, look for the simple objects in the story. Maybe it is a stone in the woman caught in adultery story. Maybe it is the water jug in the miracle in Cana. Just keep your eyes open and look for these things. Often they help bring the story to life and catch the attention of kids who might be more interested in texting than anything else.

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We are going through a chapter of Mark each week in our club talks this semester. We are on Mark 8 right now. I knew I wanted to do Mark 8:37-40 where Jesus asks, “Who do you say I am?” That combined with all the prom hoopla led me to put together this club talk.

Below are my notes (formatted to for the size of my Bible) and a simple power point I used to introduce my personal story and the questions I posed. My notes might not make sense to you, most are just reminders of things I already know I wanted to say. I also filled it in with references to people in our club who are going to prom. Hope this might help!

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My wife told me of an amazing news story about a woman who, for years, thought she must have a different set of parents, things just didn’t add up with the family she grew up with. Maybe you heard about this story, her name is Carlina White. Basically she was snatched away from the hospital as an infant and raised by another family. Then over the years she grew skeptical of her family and had a hunch that she was from another family. She searched Google, then a national database of abducted children and then got in touch with the police and eventually told them, “I don’t know who I am”. Here is a news clip:

So here is my plan for my talk tonight…

1. Introduce the story of Carlina White and show this clip

2. Transition: This is an amazing story of a person truly being who they really are…

3. Bible: Mark 1:9-11. Intro birth of Jesus, we don’t know that much about his as a boy, then read and explain Jesus’ baptism. Focus on verse 11 “You are my son”. Jesus was raised by Mary and Joseph but is truly God’s son.

4. Ending story: My own story of becoming a Christian when I was 16 years old and realizing my truest identity is that I am God’s son and I want to live for Him and with Him.

5. Challenge: Do you ever ask the same question Carlina White asked, “I don’t know who I am?” At Young Life we want you to know God is looking to answer that question for you.

What are your thoughts about this story?

How could you use this in a club talk?

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1. Who Do You Say That I Am? Matthew 16:13-16
2. Jesus and H20. Matthew 14:22-33
3. Attempt to Stone Jesus. John 10:24-39
4. The Arrest of Jesus. John 18:1-11
5. Peter’s Denial of Jesus. John 18:15-18, 25-27, Romans 5:12-13
6. Jesus’ Death on the Cross and Resurrection. 1 Cor 15:1-11, Rom 6:23
7. Salt and Light. Matthew 5:13-16

Thank you Dan for sharing your insights and resources! The idea behind YLHelp is to share the best ideas so we can benefit from each other, like a gigantic all area leadership meeting from across the world. If you have some info you can share, send it in!

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I love the resurrection talk. It is often under-stated most times I see it at club or camp. The resurrection is the power for our new life in Christ! You can even see that last summer when I spoke at YL camp, I moved all the talks a day earlier just so I could do an entire talk about the resurrection.

One way I wanted to illustrate the new life that is possible through the resurrection is through a song. I’m not much of a singer, though I lead songs and worship every week, there is a big difference between being able to sing and being a “singer”… anyway. So I “sang” Brandon Heath’s “I’m Not Who I Was” to my club in my talk. I put the words up on the screen so they could see them. Then after my talk I used the following video, which is a video of YL leaders doing “cardboard testimonies” (I’m even in the video briefly). Brandon used it in his concerts last year when he sang the song. I challenged them to think about how Jesus’ power could come into their life and change them.

I’m Not Who I Was – Brandon Heath – Concert Video from W. Ashley Maddox on Vimeo.

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What do you do around Christmas? Do you just do standard club talks, do you change it up?

I’ve done a few things, here are a couple ideas:

Read Luke 2:1-20

Readers:

Luke 2:1-12 Juan

Luke 2:13-15 Julia

Luke 2:16-20 Vince

Another thing we have done is have an open sharing time for students. I might ask a campaigner kid to be ready to share to get it started. Sometimes you will be amazed what kids have to say. It could end up being a great gift to the leaders.

What have you done around Christmas time for the talk?

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The first idea is a little creepy.

The second ideas starts with a standard pizza Olympics, but the other ideas with text messaging are pretty good! I like idea about having kids text their favorite fast food place  and then you have their cell number, name and you can take them out to that place later. 

The idea of doing a talk under the stars would be a fun one to do to mix it up.

The Tarzan one probably wouldn’t work in my club, but maybe in a WL club.

His next idea is a standard indoor scavenger hunt that we used to do a ton back in the day at camps. Enjoy!

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