Jesus Centered Youth Ministry: Moving from Jesus-Plus to Jesus-Only

Rick Lawrence

Mar 2014 · Group Publishing, Inc.

About this ebook

“If all I did for the next 10 years was pass along this book to hungry youth leaders, I would have a fruitful decade.” —Dave Rahn, Senior Vice President and Chief Ministry Officer for Youth For Christ “In this book, Rick calls us to run arm-in-arm with teenagers—to the epicenter of that mystery, that person, that incarnate child, that troublemaker, that up-ender, that ultimate rescuer.” —Mark Oestreicher, Partner, The Youth Cartel There’s a surging hunger among teenagers for Jesus. New research shows that they want a clearer understanding of what Jesus really said and did, and how faith in matters in their lives. In fact, that desire is so deep, it’s #1 on their “wish list” for what they’d like to talk about at church. But are we doing that? Even though we assume that everything we do in youth ministry is about Jesus, the evidence is clear:That’s not what our students say they’re experiencing. So what would a youth ministry look like if it shifted toward a passionate, persistent, and permeating focus on drawing students into a closer orbit around Jesus? Inside the pages of Jesus-Centered Youth Ministry, you’ll discover the foundation for a ministry that is Jesus-centered, along with the bricks for building it. You’ll discover that not only is it possible to create this kind of ministry, it’s also essential that you pursue this path. Eight years after his book was first published, introducing the language and structure of a new way of doing youth ministry, author and longtime Group Magazine editor Rick Lawrence has completely rewritten and revised Jesus-Centered Youth Ministry. It’s packed with new insight, new research, and dozens of field-tested ideas for planting and nurturing a ministry environment that is Jesus-magnetic. Help satisfy teenagers’ hunger for Jesus in richly nourishing and sustaining ways by shifting the orbit of your ministry.

About the author

RICK LAWRENCE has been editor of Group Magazine for 26 years, and serves on the leadership team for the Simply Youth Ministry Conference. He’s the author, co-author, or editor of 34 books, including the small-group curriculum In Pursuit of Jesus and the books 99 Thoughts on Jesus-Centered Living, Shrewd: Daring to Obey the Startling Command of Jesus, Sifted: God’s Scandalous Response to Satan’s Outrageous Demand, and Skin in the Game.