Youth Ministry
Good Soil Evangelism & Discipleship can help you develop a youth ministry that makes disciples.
Are you a youth pastor or lay youth leader who would like to develop a youth ministry that is more than just “fun ‘n games”—a ministry that makes disciples, who make disciples, who make disciples? Good Soil Evangelism & Discipleship is about equipping believers to be Great Commission Christ-followers.
We all want to share our faith effectively…but how do we do it?
The Story of Hope Bible Class
No boring sessions in this study!
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Students are constantly engaged in active learning, as they study the Bible from Genesis through Revelation in 31 class sessions (or more or less).
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Underlying the teaching of the Bible’s BIG Story in this study, students are also being equipped to use The Story of Hope to lead others through the study.
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The 120-page professionally designed Class Facilitator’s Guide is available as a FREE download.
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A professionally designed PowerPoint with 400+ slides is also available for class facilitators.
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FREE access to an online Instructor’s Resource Center for teaching The Story of Hope Class.
The Way to Joy
Discipleship Bible Class
A fun way to teach a basic discipleship class and train believers to make disciples
No boring sessions in this study either!
- Students learn best when they are having FUN, and this study combines learning with FUN, so the truth sticks!
- Thirteen (or more) class sessions covering topics essential for basic, foundational discipleship.
- The final session is called “It’s Your Time” in which students are challenged to put into practice what they have learned, by discipling someone else.
- The 42-page professionally designed Class Facilitator’s Guide is available as a FREE download.
- FREE access to the online Instructor’s Resource Center for The Way to Joy Bible class.
Jeff, a missionary to England, on pre-field ministry in CanadaOne of the leaders who works with me in our church’s junior high ministry and I have been presenting an overview of a chronological study of the Bible, using The Way to Joy as our guide. Last night I shared about the "seed" promise from Genesis 3, talking about the Promise of Christ, how our sin offends God, how God provided a Savior who took our offense on Himself on our behalf so that our offense is not held any longer against us. One of the young people then asked about heaven and hell, which led into a more serious discussion. I challenged them to think of the fact that if they have not put their faith in Christ and they were to die today, their sin would keep them from heaven, but explained that Christ is the Way to heaven and purpose in here-and-now life! 96% of our junior highers do not know Christ. Four of them put their faith in Christ last night. I sat down with them and asked if we could go through The Way to Joy together. I showed them a copy of the book and a presented a brief outline. They were all excited to come back and go through it with me. I have invited one of our other youth leaders to sit in with me to learn how to use The Way to Joy with youth. They were very positive! Thanks to God for His work in and through myself and ministry team in our church.
Hooks for Hanging the Bible’s Storyline
Believe it or not - in just a couple of hours you can teach people to think their way through the Bible, from Genesis through Revelation! You can do so in this FUN workshop that helps them hang the storyline (the BIG Story plot) of the Bible on 25 “Hooks”—major Bible eras that summarize the Bible, from beginning to end.
The activities for teaching Hooks are FUN for students of all ages, even the teachers.
And there are FREE instructional helps.
A great Bible teaching-learning activity to add to your youth ministry program.
The 12 "Hooks" for Hanging the Old Testament Storyline
The 1 + 12 "Hooks" for Hanging the New Testament Storyline
Ariel, Filipino visiting in New JerseyMy latest Hooks for Hanging the Bible’s Storyline workshop was last Saturday in a Bible study in the home of the owner of Sam Ash Music Stores in Bayonne, NJ. Several very diverse cultures were represented in the group (Filipino, Russian, German, American, African, Hispanic, Arab, and Jewish). They were amazed and enjoyed it - and everyone understood. Some said, “I finally got it!” “I’ll read my Bible again.”
The Roots of Faith Bible Courses
Chronological Bible curriculum, unfolding the BIG Story of the Bible in 100 events and packed with FUN learning activities.
Students in your youth ministry can learn…
- Much of the key content in the Old and New Testaments.
- The chronology of 25 major Bible eras and 100 key Bible events.
- The geographic locations of many places where Bible events occurred.
- The BIG Story of the Bible and how it progresses from Genesis through Revelation.
Bring a group of your teens to The Roots of Faith courses in June - near Harrisburg PA.
Ask us about a group rate.
Or, teach them yourself in your own youth ministry setting.
How can you be certified to teach The Roots of Faith Courses?
Option One: Participate in The Roots of Faith Courses
Full Certification
Image of a TROF OT Class at ABWE - FUN Learning
Image of a TROF NT Class at ABWE - Interactive & Engaging Learning
Or, Option Two: Purchase The Roots of Faith Instructor’s Kits
Provisional Certification
Gaining Ground with Good Soil
Is a Good Soil Evangelism and Discipleship seminar in a book.
All the resources needed for teaching teens:
Everybody loves a good story! And this missionary story teaches many of the Good Soil evangelism and discipleship concepts. It's a good way to get teens thinking about sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with their friends. It's training in a narrative format!
The audio book can be downloaded to your phone or pad. Audio clips from the audio book can be used to spice up teaching sessions.
The FREE Leader's Guide was created for use in informal small group studies as well as more formal class settings.
Gaining Ground with Good Soil
Want to understand more about Good Soil Evangelism and Discipleship? This is the place to start! NEW Visually Enhanced 2016 Edition - An evangelism and discipleship training narrative that is a scaled-down version of the Good Soil E&D seminar in a narrative format. Full color throughout.
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Audio Book
Gaining Ground with Good Soil - Audiobook
A 4 hours and 7 minutes audio narrative that will help you understand worldview-relevant evangelism and discipleship and their importance in a world of competing faiths and cultures. A professionally produced audio book version of Gaining Ground with Good Soil.
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LifeStories
FREE Evangelism Resource
106 Professionally Designed Pages - FREE
Designed for evangelism with people who enjoy stories and story telling. Connects “where they are in life” to major redemptive story events in the Bible.
Perfect for informal small groups. Activities engage participants in learning key Bible stories well enough that they can tell the stories to others. Each session also focuses on learning about God—the God of the Bible—who He is, what He is like, and what He has done.
LifeStories is a “stories version” group study of The Story of Hope.
GrowthStories
FREE Discipleship Resource
71 Professionally Designed Pages - FREE
Designed for basic discipleship with Christ-followers who love to learn through hearing or telling stories. A complete curriculum plan for small group gatherings. Loaded with creative FUN activities.
Participants compare their own struggles and steps of spiritual growth with characters in the Bible. Questions-activities provoke them to think of their own lives and what they can do to become more-committed followers of Jesus.
GrowthStories is a “stories version” group study of The Way to Joy.
Chronological Bridge to Life
Teach teens the BIG Story of the Bible, based upon eight key concepts that emerge chronologically from Genesis through Revelation:
- God
- Man
- Sin
- Death
- Christ
- Cross
- Faith
- Life
A walk through the Chronological Bridge to Life
A great Bible teaching resource to add to your youth ministry program.
Chronological Bible Cards: Genesis—Revelation
ChronoBible Cards: Genesis-Revelation
A complete set of 135 pocket-size cards (4.5" x 3.375") for learning and reviewing the content and chronology of the Bible's Big Story.
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Pocket-size cards for learning and reviewing 100 key Bible events as they appear chronologically from Genesis through Revelation. Each Bible event card contains an image from the Good Soil Redemptive Story art collection on the front and key content information on the back. Essentially these are pocket-size versions of The Bible’s BIG Story teaching visuals. 25 major Bible era cards and 10 Chronological Bridge to Life cards included.
Reflections: The Audio Experience
Reflections - The Audio Experience
Professional recordings of all 100 narratives from the book, Reflections From God's Story of Hope.
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Now, the members of your youth group can listen to professional recordings of 100 chronological Bible narratives—an audio journey (6½ hours total) through the Bible's Big Story of redemption, from Genesis through Revelation. The audio narratives interweave music, sound effects, and dramatic voices from 20 professional voice actors.
MP3 files are on a flash drive.
Listen to a sample audio montage (5:14)
Watch a (2:36) video to see how the Reflections - The Audio Experience audio stories are correlated with the printed and visually illustrated stories in the Reflections from God's Story of Hope coffee table storybook.
Mobile Apps - for Android & Apple
For you to use in your ministry and to encourage those to whom you are ministering to load on their own mobile devices. Great way to teach and review the events of the Bible's BIG Story and the eight chronological Bible concepts.
Evangelism and Discipleship Training
For Youth Pastors and Other Youth Ministry Workers and Your Teens, as Well
Learn to share the gospel, God’s story of hope, in a way that people will clearly understand it, sincerely embrace it, and hold fast to it.
The top ten takeaways from Good Soil Evangelism and Discipleship training:
- Learn how to initiate conversations that open up to unobtrusive opportunities to share the gospel.
- Learn how to determine where a person is on his/her level of understanding of the gospel and receptivity to knowing more about salvation through Jesus Christ.
- Learn how to present the truth of the gospel in a way that it isn't misunderstood by the person with whom you are sharing, regardless of his/her religious worldview.
- Learn how to share God's story of redemption, from Genesis through Revelation, so that the recipient will understand the Biblical context for the good news of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.
- Learn how to present the gospel, using the Chronological Bridge to Life.
- Learn how to share the gospel, using your own faith story.
- Learn a variety of ways to use The Story of Hope, in evangelism, with confidence.
- Learn how to use The Way to Joy, in discipling believers who are still weak in their faith.
- Learn about a wide variety of evangelism and discipleship resources that you may find to be helpful in your ministry.
- Learn to teach others what you have learned about evangelism and discipleship, and train them to do what you have learned to do through the training you have received.
Always, engaging, interactive, and FUN learning.
Moving Beyond Lecture Workshop
Two Days in October
As someone who works with young people, you will love and appreciate this workshop! Your teens will respond enthusiastically to the creative teaching style that you will learn in this workshop. Guaranteed.
It will enhance your ability to teach teens, beyond what you can probably imagine. You will…
- Learn a seven-step process for developing lessons for teaching and training.
- Enlarge your teaching toolbox with lots of creative techniques and tips for teaching.
- Become more sensitive to classroom factors that can enhance your teaching-learning environment.
- Engage your students more actively and make learning FUN for them.
- Become much more confident in your teaching.
BibleStorying Workshop
Two Days in May
One of the keys to effective Bible teaching with any age is telling Bible stories so that historical Bible events “come alive” in the minds of those who hear them!
This BibleStorying (Bible story telling) workshop will enhance your skills as a Bible story teller and teacher. You will learn lots of tips and techniques for improving your ability to tell Bible stories that will gain and hold student interest. And, you will learn about—and practice using—several Good Soil Bible teaching resources.
- Day One: How to Learn Bible Stories
- Day Two: How to Tell Bible Stories
FREE Book for Youth Pastors
Gaining Ground with Good Soil is an evangelism and discipleship training narrative—a scaled-down version of the Good Soil Evangelism and Discipleship seminar in a narrative format. The principles gained from this book are applicable for anyone wishing to serve God through Biblical evangelism and discipleship, but is especially instructive and helpful for ministry leaders, including youth pastors and other adults who work with teens.
The realistic, but fictional narrative, around which the book is developed, tells the story of a couple of missionaries who were frustrated and discouraged—to the point of almost giving up—because of their lack of success in evangelism and discipleship on their field. But, the "Good Soil" principles they learned from Bible study revolutionized their ministries. It will help you think through a theology of evangelism and discipleship and help you to present the gospel so that people will clearly understand it, sincerely embrace it, and firmly hold on to it.
Free instructional resources for individual and group study are also available for download. www.GoodSoil.com/FREE
If you are a youth pastor, with a USA shipping address, and will commit to reading this book , we will send you a FREE (and postage-free) copy of Gaining Ground with Good Soil.
More Good Soil Resources for Evangelism and Discipleship
Good Soil provides an entire toolbox of resources for youth ministries
For a complete overview of our Good Soil resources:
Good Soil E&D Training and Resources for Many Types of Ministries
The focus of this page has been on using Good Soil in youth ministries. But, Good Soil provides training and resources for many different kinds of ministry.
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