Message Series Planning Tips

One of the best ways you can engage students into God’s word and a relationship with Christ is through your preaching.  But, to plan a message each week can be difficult.  The question, “What do I talk about this week?“ will constantly bug you.  The best way to avoid that question is by filling your calendar with message series.

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Message series not only help you organize what you teach students it allows you to build momentum to your year.  It’s like creating a television mini series because teens will want to know what you are going to talk about next week.  To create a truly engaging and memorable message series you need to make sure you know:

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THEIR LIVES

You need to know the issues, dilemmas and circumstances teens face.  This will create authenticity in your speaking.  To help you figure out what’s going on in their lives you can:

• Poll Teens
• Create Focus Groups
• Subscribe to Their Magazines
• Befriend Them Through Social Media

Basically immerse yourself in their world.  The more you can learn about their world, the better you can speak to it.  Jesus used examples and stories that were relevant to the lives of His audience.  You need to follow that model.

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE CHURCH

Just like in life there are seasons in the Church.  If you are a part of a denomination with a liturgical calendar it will benefit you to study it’s flow.  It’s within the seasons of the church that you can help the students:

• Rejoice (i.e. Easter season)
• Fast (i.e. Lent)
• Simplify (i.e. Christmas/Advent)

This approach will help teens engage in different seasons of Christ’ life.  The more they get to know the life of Christ, the easier it will be for them to build a relationship with Him.

WHAT’S THE TAKEAWAY FOR THEIR LIVES

To plan a great message series you need to have a vision for the teen’s life.  To create and cast that vision you need to answer the question, “What do you want them to know?“  The takeaway to your message series is created by having a bottom line that brings them deeper into their faith journey.

WHAT’S THE SPIRITUAL HABIT THEY’RE EMBRACING

There is a lot of information to cover when it comes to a teen’s faith; unfortunately, there is no way for them to memorize it all.  What you can do with a series is cultivate spiritual habits by challenging them to change one thing in their life.  While your message series takeaway helps answer the question, “What do you want them to know?” Teaching spiritual habits helps them answer, “What do you want them to do?“

A message series can create momentum which is important when you are trying to make your ministry a movement.  It creates a flow and path to your discipleship.  As they travel along that path you create a pace that allows questioning and conversations that will build confidence in their faith.

How do you put together a message series?