2012 live curriculum brochure

highschool

juniorhigh

leadership

books of the Bible

Spend your time on what matters most.

Since the beginning, Simply Youth Ministry has been committed to helping you do what matters most. We’re honored to be a partner in the incredible work God wants to do in your congregation and your community. LIVE delivers a workable, adjustable framework that can be adjusted to the unique characteristics of your church. We’re dedicated to flexibility, affordability, and viability. In a nutshell our desire is to

Quickly engage students with meaningful connections

Create a thriving environment for deeper relationships

Guide teenagers toward a Jesus-centered life

Taking generic youth ministry curriculum and using it with junior high students can feel like the proverbial square pegs and round holes—nothing works quite right, it’s painful to watch, and it isn’t fun for anyone involved!

That’s why we created the Junior High LIVE Curriculum! The lessons feature topics, illustrations, activities, and application truths that are appropriate and tailor-made for a junior high audience.

All 72 lessons reflect solid biblical foundations and a commitment to hands-on, interactive learning styles that church leaders expect from Group and Simply Youth Ministry. We’ve packed each series with questions that will get students discussing, debating, examining, and thinking for themselves—essential skills in helping them own their faith.

try for free at

l ive .s implyyouthmin is t r y.com

NEW! LIVE Mobile

Refuse to be tied down to an office? Tired of carrying your laptop

everywhere? Now you can take LIVE everywhere and anywhere through

our dynamic mobile app! This is an ideal resource for leaders who want to remain mobile during Sunday

school gatherings. imply load the app, find your topic for that

week, and you’re ready to go. Unleash the power of LIVE

wherever you go!

LIVE CURRICULUM

Junior High2 years of curriculum

LIVE Junior High was written

by Kurt Johnston and some of the

leading in-the-trenches junior high

youth workers in ministry today.

NEW! LIVE Mobile

Refuse to be tied down to an office? Tired of carrying your laptop

everywhere? Now you can take LIVE everywhere and anywhere through

our dynamic mobile app! This is an ideal resource for leaders who want to remain mobile during Sunday

school gatherings. imply load the app, find your topic for that

week, and you’re ready to go. Unleash the power of LIVE

wherever you go!

Junior High Roadmap

The high school years represent a transformative season in the life of a teenager. These are years for students to develop greater boldness in their faith, respond to challenges from peers and adults, prepare for post-high school life, make significant choices that will shape the rest of their lives, and explore what it means to be a follower of Christ in the 21st century.

Capture the energy and potential of this season with LIVE High School—curriculum designed to help teenagers own their faith and follow the journey of a Jesus-centered life.

These 144 lessons reflect solid biblical foundations and a commitment to hands-on, interactive learning styles that church leaders expect from Group and Simply Youth Ministry.

High school students are ripe for your investment. Challenge them to dig deeper into the Bible, discover biblical truths for living, and put their faith into action with LIVE High School video clips that will quickly engage students in meaningful connections and will create a vibrant environment for deeper relationships. And if you’ve used LIVE Junior High, your incoming freshmen will seamlessly step into your high school groups.

COMING SOON!

Custom Student & Leader Books

We’re taking customization to a whole new level of awesomeness this year with our brand-new custom books

feature for LIVE Curriculum, which allows you to create leader guides and student books for your small group ministry. We give you three predesigned covers to choose from, and you create the

custom content for the guides and books.

And you can print as few or as many as you’d like. Need three student books? No problem! Need 713 student books? Also

no problem! try for free at


LIVE CURRICULUM

High School4 years of curriculum

High School RoadmapWe’ve designed this curriculum as an engaging tool to helpyou nurture a healthy high school ministry. This four-year strategy is built around a 36-week ministry calendar year, with each year’s content connecting to topics and themes covered in previous years.

COMING SOON!

Custom Student & Leader Books

We’re taking customization to a whole new level of awesomeness this year with our brand-new custom books

feature for LIVE Curriculum, which allows you to create leader guides and student books for your small group ministry. We give you three predesigned covers to choose from, and you create the

custom content for the guides and books.

And you can print as few or as many as you’d like. Need three student books? No problem! Need 713 student books? Also

no problem!

Equip your students to explore the Bible on their own through this new resource created in partnership with the team at YouthMinistry360.

Each unit takes the heart of some of the Book’s key passages and teaches your students how to apply these truths to their lives. The LIVE Book Study lessons feature all the same great LIVE features you’ve come to know and love.

They also feature: • Increased supporting passages to help expose students to more of the Bible

• Heightened focus on the application of the biblical themes taught in the lesson

• Optional activities with emphasis on cultural relevance and interactivity

These lessons complement the existing LIVE options for junior high and high school students, giving you an extra tool in guiding teenagers toward a Jesus-centered life and helping them own their faith.

LIVE CURRICULUM

NEW Books of the Bible72 weeks of curriculum

try for free at

l ive .s implyyouthmin is t r y.comthis box is totally fake. 100% Photoshopped. LIVe is not a physical product.

Andy Blanks, youthministry360 author of LIVE Books of the Bible

Take an in-depth look at: Genesis (6 weeks) Exodus (4 weeks) Deuteronomy (4 weeks) Old Testament Snapshots (6 weeks) Jonah (2 weeks) Isaiah (4 weeks) Psalms (5 weeks)

Matthew (5 weeks) Acts (6 weeks) Romans (6 weeks) 1 Corinthians (6 weeks) 1 & 2 Timothy (4 weeks) Hebrews (4 weeks) John (6 weeks) Revelation (4 weeks)

in partnership with

at youthministry360 we’re really excited about LIVE Books of the Bible. It’s so cool to be a youth worker and watch

the transformation in teenagers’ lives that comes when they understand and apply God’s Word. that’s the heart behind LIVE

Books of the Bible.

We partnered with Simply youth Ministry to create a resource that would lead students to a deeper knowledge of God and His Word, as well as facilitate life-changing application. our prayer is that your students would see the Bible for what it is: timeless, relevant, and absolutely sufficient for their lives.

We chose Books of the Bible that we thought both broadened students’ understanding of the “big picture” of Scripture, and taught biblical truths that are vital to students as they live out God’s mission each day. We pray these lessons will encourage and challenge you as well as your students.

www.ym360.com

LIVE Leadership features five categories:

• Adult Leadership 16 lessons that will equip your adult volunteers to grow as leaders in your ministry

• High School Leadership 24 lessons that will inspire your high school student leaders to step into greater roles of responsibility

• Junior High Leadership 8 lessons that will introduce your junior high student leaders to foundational leadership truths

• High School Small Groups 8 lessons focused on such topics as becoming authentic leaders and developing solid leadership

• Junior High Small Groups 4 lessons focused on building personal character and nurturing a leader’s heart

LIVE CURRICULUM

NEW Leadership60 training lessons

in partnership with

Build a biblical foundation for leadership in your youth ministry with LIVE Leadership, a new addition to the LIVE Curriculum. This Dynamic resource provides a total of 60 lessons that will inspire and engage junior high students, high school students, and adult volunteers.

We’ve partnered with our good friends at LeaderTreks to help your students and adults discover indispensable biblical principles, equipping them to be solid leaders in youth ministry. LeaderTreks has built a solid reputation as a national ministry committed to helping congregations pursue the goal of consistent leadership development within youth ministries.

try for free at


I love youth workers and I love the potential students have to influence their world when they are developed into leaders. In the early 1990’s, I started looking for ways to help fellow youth workers. So in 1994, I founded LeaderTreks with the purpose of developing students into leaders who would fulfill the

Great Commission. for the last two decades we have been partnering with youth workers to develop their students into leaders. We created the LIVe Leadership to help youth workers walk through the process of developing leaders in their ministry. It’s got everything you need to teach leadership to your junior high and high school students, as well as tools to help train adult volunteers in the best practices for youth ministry. My hope and prayer is that this resource helps youth workers weave leadership into every fabric of their ministry. When we develop solid leaders, our ministry and our world is transformed for the better.

you know that you don’t actually get a box? We assumed you knew that since it’s an online, digital resource.

Doug Franklin, LeaderTreks author of LIVE Leadership www.leadertreks.org

LIVE CURRICULUM

NEW Video Curriculum

try for free at


Ask and you shall receive! You are now able to purchase Simply Youth Ministry video curriculum and access the lessons, videos, and all the other sweet stuff that come in Simply Youth Ministry curriculum.

Bible Stuff5-Week Small Group Video Curriculumby Kurt Johnston

Tuff Stuff5-Week Small Group Video Curriculumby Kurt Johnston

More video curriculum to come!

You’ll have online access to:

• download the videos

• access & download discussion sheets in PDF & Word documents

• download promotional ecard, postcard, poster & desktop background

try for free at


So how does a LIVE lesson come to be?

Then you login

and teach it!

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Guiding students toward a Jesus-Centered LifeThe LIVE Curriculum lessons give you ultimate flexibility. Just like all your favorite Simply Youth Ministry resources, LIVE Curriculum is designed to help you with what matters most. Every lesson has been tested and proven in the trenches by youth ministry veterans. This includes:

1. Leader Preparation 2. Lesson Guide

1. LEADER PREPARATION

LESSON OVERVIEWNews headlines are filled with stories about noteworthy people who have failed to maintain personal integrity. But our teenagers don’t have to make choices that lead them down the wrong path; they can make a commitment to pursue, develop, and maintain personal integrity. God teaches us in Scripture that as Christians, our lives can be defined by integrity. As we see in this week’s lesson, Daniel offers a clear example of what God can do with an honest, faithful, consistent life.

LESSON OBJECTIVES1. WHAT: Integrity is something you build every day through your choices and habits.2. WHY: Your integrity is a measure of your spiritual maturity in Christ; integrity and intimacy with God are connected.3. HOW: Students will be encouraged to protect their integrity and look for ways they can honor God by developing and displaying integrity in all areas of life.

PRIMARY SCRIPTUREDaniel 6:1-5

SECONDARY SCRIPTUREMatthew 5:13-16

TEACHING PREP

Daniel was a young Hebrew who had been a slave to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. As we learn in Daniel 2, he became known for his interpretation of a dream and gained the king’s favor. This young man served in the government under several leaders, and by the time we see him in Daniel 6, he was probably an older man. King Nebuchadnezzar

Week 1:Develop Discipline and Work Ethic

The short overview below is designed to help you prepare for your lesson. While you may not want to

convey this information word-for-word with your teenagers, you’ll definitely want to refer to it as you

lead your small group lesson.

integrity: standing firm in tough times

Clear overview & objectives for that lesson

teaching prep & lesson

the primary & secondary Scriptures used

JustinFairfield, CA

“The kids love the hand-outs to the lessons and my Sunday school teachers love the teaching prep portion. Parents are more involved due to the parent e-mail portion and students are more engaged due to the text message portion. Thank you LIVE for helping me get through my 1st year.”

Use the lessons as-is or customize the lessons by dragging and

dropping each section to be exactly like you want it!

Someone said something

nice about us

Bring the group back together for this final question.ASK: •Whenallissaidanddone,oneofthefewthingsthatyouhavecontrolofin thislifeisyourpersonalintegrity.Howareyoulivingthisoutdaily?

SUMMARY

FOR KEEPS [MEMORY VERSE]

He[Daniel]wasfaithful,alwaysresponsible,andcompletelytrustworthy(Daniel6:4).

End your small group lesson here. Provide your teenagers with a quick summary or take-home

challenge based on (1) the content of this lesson, (2) the dialogue that took place during the

lesson, (3) your understanding of the issues and struggles your teenagers are facing, and (4) the

big picture of your youth ministry and what your leadership team wants accomplished with the

teaching and discussion time.

Encourage and/or challenge your teenagers to memorize the verse below.

2. LEsson guide

GETTING THINGS STARTED [optional]

Before your small group meets, conduct some research online or in your local newspaper. Find four or five examples of people who have shown a lack of integrity: business leaders, politicians, celebrities, ordinary people, and so on. Print out or cut out the articles about these individuals, and bring this information to your small group.

As you begin your small group, welcome your students and invite them into your meeting area.

Open in prayer, and then SAY SOMETHING LIKE:

I’ve brought along some news articles, and I’d like you to take a few minutes to read about these individuals.

After your students have had a few minutes to look through the articles, ASK: •Whatismostsurprisingabouttheallegedbehavioroftheseindividuals? •Basedonwhatyouread,whataresomespecificwaystheseindividuals didn’tdisplayintegrity? •Whataresomeofthewaysourculturesendsaninconsistentmessageon theimportanceofhonestyandintegrity? •Whymightsomepeopleinourculturebelievethelawortherulesdon’t applytothem? •HowaretheseexamplessimilartothechallengewefacetofollowGod faithfullyandconsistently?

SAY SOMETHING LIKE:Havingpersonalintegritycanseemtoughtodointoday’sculture.Weseepeopleinthepubliceyesayingonethingbutdoingsomethingelse.Whilesomepeopleinourworldexcusecertainformsoflyinganddishonesty,Godexpectssomethingdifferent.WearecalledtoreflectGodtoaworldthatexperiencesspiritualseparation,sowecanliveasGodwould.Peopleneedtoknowthattheycanbelieveyou.Ifyourintegrityiscompromised,othersmaynotbewillingtotrustyou.



This includes: 1. Leader Preparation 2. Lesson Guide

1. LEADER PREPARATION

LESSON OVERVIEWNews headlines are filled with stories about noteworthy people who have failed to maintain personal integrity. But our teenagers don’t have to make choices that lead them down the wrong path; they can make a commitment to pursue, develop, and maintain personal integrity. God teaches us in Scripture that as Christians, our lives can be defined by integrity. As we see in this week’s lesson, Daniel offers a clear example of what God can do with an honest, faithful, consistent life.

LESSON OBJECTIVES1. WHAT: Integrity is something you build every day through your choices and habits.2. WHY: Your integrity is a measure of your spiritual maturity in Christ; integrity and intimacy with God are connected.3. HOW: Students will be encouraged to protect their integrity and look for ways they can honor God by developing and displaying integrity in all areas of life.

PRIMARY SCRIPTUREDaniel 6:1-5

SECONDARY SCRIPTUREMatthew 5:13-16

TEACHING PREP

Daniel was a young Hebrew who had been a slave to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. As we learn in Daniel 2, he became known for his interpretation of a dream and gained the king’s favor. This young man served in the government under several leaders, and by the time we see him in Daniel 6, he was probably an older man. King Nebuchadnezzar


The short overview below is designed to help you prepare for your lesson. While you may not want to

convey this information word-for-word with your teenagers, you’ll definitely want to refer to it as you

lead your small group lesson.


had been succeeded by King Belshazzar—who was killed at the end of chapter 5 and succeeded by King Darius the Mede. Daniel devoted his entire life to serving God and building personal integrity; because of this devotion, God was able to work through Daniel’s life in incredible ways.

Read Daniel 6:1-5.

We see here that King Darius had placed Daniel in an important position of responsibility. Daniel and two other men oversaw all the princes of the kingdom, and these three administrators reported directly to the king. Daniel’s continual favor with Darius and the previous kings displays how God can bless people who display godly character through their choices and actions.

Daniel demonstrated the value of working hard. Darius was so impressed by Daniel’s hard work that the king planned to reward him with a promotion, making him higher than all of his co-workers.

In verse 4, we learn that Daniel’s co-workers weren’t happy that he would soon be promoted over them. They unsuccessfully tried to find some fault with his work to prove that he didn’t deserve the promotion. Daniel had chosen to live a life of integrity, and he did what he knew was right. He had proven that his work was above accusation, so his co-workers attempted to get him to compromise his devotion to God.

THE BEFORE & AFTER [optional]

Text Message Questions

We’ve provided a couple of different text message questions to send out to your students prior

to your meeting. Feel free to use one or both of the questions below. As with the rest of the

curriculum, edit these questions to fit the needs of your ministry.

•Areyouknownforyourintegrity?Cometalkaboutittonightatsmallgroup.

•AnyideahowdeeplyDanielfromtheBiblelovedandobeyedGod?Tonight at small group we’re going to get some answers.

Parent Email

We’ve provided you with an email below that you can send to your parents following the lesson.

Our hope is to encourage parents to continue the conversation at home. Feel free to edit and

customize the email to fit your ministry needs.

Dear parents,

This week we started a three-week study in our small groups examining the topic of integrity. News headlines are filled with stories about noteworthy people who have failed to maintain personal integrity. But our teenagers don’t have to make choices that lead them down the wrong path; they can make a commitment to pursue, develop, and maintain personal integrity.

In this first week, our teenagers saw how Daniel 6:1-5 offers a roadmap for becoming people of integrity. We discovered that because of Daniel’s work ethic he was promoted and found favor with the king. We encouraged students to realize that they too can make choices and live with the same integrity that Daniel demonstrated. But it isn’t always easy to live with integrity; Daniel’s co-workers conspired against him and even attacked his faith.

During the week, as the opportunity arises, discuss with your teenager what it might have been like to have been Daniel. Here are some questions that could help launch your discussion: •Inwhatareasofyourlifedoyoustrugglethemostinmaintaining yourintegrity? •Whataresomewaysyou’vegrowninintegrity?Whatchoicesordecisionsor habitshavehelpedyou? •What’ssomethingyoucouldstartdoingdifferentlyatyourjob,onasports team,oratschoolthatwouldcommunicateyourintegrity?

Talk with your teenager about how making a decision to be a person of integrity now will have a huge impact for a lifetime. Have a blessed week!

additional discussion [optional]

ASK: •WhatdoesDaniel6:3-4teachyouaboutDaniel’scharacterandintegrity?

•WhydoyouthinkDanielhadsuchpersonalintegritywithhisjob?Whodo youknowwhoremindsyouofDaniel,andwhy?

•ReadMatthew5:13-16.Howdoesthisteachingrelatetotheidea ofintegrity?

•Whatisthesignificanceofsaltandlightinthispassage?

•HowmightJesushaveusedDanielasanexampleofsomeonewhowas “salt”and“light”?

applicationASK: •Whataresomeuniquechallengesorattacksonintegrityateenagermight facethatanadultwouldn’texperience?

•Wherearesomeareasinyourlifewhereyouhavetoworkhard?Howwell areyoudoing:Areyouworkinghardordoyouneedtoworkharder?What areyourbiggesthurdlestoworkinghard?

•Howhasyourintegrity,oryourstrugglewithintegrity,affectedthelivesof peoplearoundyou?Howdoeslivingwithintegrityhelpothersseewho Godis?

Pair up with another person in the group for these questions.ASK: •HowareyourightnowlivinglikeDaniellives?Howareyoulivingdifferently thanDaniellived?Sharewitheachotherwaysyoucouldlivein greater integrity.

•Whataresomewaysyoucoulddemonstrateasolidworkethicandstrong integrityatyourjob,onasportsteam,oratschool?

Special questions to text your students

e-mail to parents

Icebreaker-type ideas and activities

to get things started

application points

a memory verse

“Our LIVE Curriculum is a one-of-a-kind resource for youth workers—and I don’t say “one-of-a-kind” lightly. You get the simplicity, the savvy, the authentic voice, and deeply insightful “takeaway” that Group and Simply Youth Ministry are known for. And you get the engaging style, the experiential “hook,” the Jesus-centered focus, and the passionate attention to great question-asking that characterize the resources we’ve labor-and-delivered over the last 35 years. Really, just try a few sample lessons. You’ll see what I mean...”

Rick Lawrence, editor of Group Magazine

try for free at


More time for

what matters mostIt’s online and easy so you save time.

With our online managment system, planning your small groups and Sunday school has never been easier. You can follow our road map, or choose which lessons you want to teach and when you want to teach them. But you aren’t limited to using just one schedule. You can develop different calendars in case you want to have different groups going through different lessons.

Once you set your schedule, you can show your leaders how to access the online management system so they can know exactly what they are teaching. They will also use this tool to receive messages and shared files they can use with their students.

And because the content is online, your leaders can prepare when it’s most convenient for them.

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The LIVE Curriculum website serves two roles: • management for the administrator • content access for the small group leader

Customize the dashboard to only show what you want

explore the lessons in depth

add as many users as your ministry requires

easily set a schedule for your small groups leaders

Quickly communicate with your team

Set the master calendar for your ministry

Share files with leaders in your ministry

Set news feeds for your team

Integrate with SimplytXt

try for free at


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The administrator’s page is the hub

of the LIVE Curriculum website.

Here’s where your designated

small group administrator will

log in and coordinate all materials.

The LIVE Curriculum website serves two roles: • management for the administrator • content access for the small group leader

TRY FOR FREETry a demo version or download a free lesson

Ready to pull the trigger?Buy it now at live.simplyyouthministry.com

live.simplyyouthministry.com

* additional years of the online management access is $99 per year

live.simplyyouthministry.com

(When you call Matt, try to get him to throw in a free MacBook Pro with your order. It’s worth a try)

We’d love to chat with you. Matt McCage is our resident LIVE Curriculum guru, and he’s available to help with anything you need: demo accounts, curriculum questions, pricing, restaurant recommendations in major cities—anything!

Get your questions answered by a human.

Give Matt a call

615.349.7111

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Group & Simply Youth Ministry 1515 CascadeLoveland, CO 80538

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2012 live curriculum brochure

Documents