Month: October 2026

Quick Tip: Empower Others to Teach

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This past week I didn’t speak at youth group and I’m not speaking this coming week either. Not because I don’t want to or because I’m not available. I’m not speaking because we have sought to empower our leaders by letting them use their gifts to teach our students.

In fact, this last week one of our leaders shared a lesson on dating and it was honestly one of the best I’ve heard shared at a youth group in a very long time. He connected with all of our students, was honest and vulnerable, gracious, and gave some tangible applications and questions for students to think through in small groups and beyond.

If I’m being honest, I had a proud “dad” moment when I listened to him teach. He was fully capable, equipped, and gifted in his teaching and I would be happy to have him teach at any time.

The truth we need to wrestle with is this: releasing the pulpit can be hard for the leader of any ministry. Whether you’re a youth pastor or senior pastor, there’s a piece of us that wants control for a variety of reasons.

It could be because we were hired for this purpose and it’s in our job description. It could be because of some pride or control issues. Or maybe there’s a piece of us that doesn’t trust others who don’t have the education or experience that we do.

But by allowing those aspects to control us, we are missing out on the opportunity to empower our leaders to utilize their gifts and abilities. What we need to do is share the stage with others and encourage them to step into the roles and opportunities God has given them.

For ministry leaders, that means you need to identify, equip, empower, encourage, release, and coach your people. When you see potential in others and you equip, empower, and encourage them they will begin to grow and flourish in their gifting and put their gifts into action. Then you need to release them to fully use their gifts as you continue to walk alongside them and coach them along the way.

Not only does this encourage and empower your team, it also generates buy-in from your leaders as they understand that they are not just a number or warm body and instead are seen as a partner in ministry. This is also beneficial for your students because people will hear the same things differently from different people.

You could teach a lesson and have little engagement. A week later one of your leaders could teach the same lesson and there could be a flood of positive feedback. That isn’t to say your message wasn’t good or beneficial, but your students heard it differently from a different voice and that is a huge asset to your ministry.

Another benefit to empowering others to teach and lead is that it releases that from your shoulders and allows you to engage in different ways. I know when one of our leaders speaks, I’m freed up throughout the program to engage and build relationships without the distractions of thinking about what I’m teaching on. It also affords me more time in the week to plan ahead, meet with people, and work on side projects that need to get done. This is a win-win for both sides.

At the end of the day, having a variety of voices sharing and teaching within your ministry is one of the greatest assets you have at your disposal. The question you need to wrestle with is this: will you release control and empower others to step up and lead beside you?

Planning Ahead: Two Christmas Gift Ideas

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Christmas will be here sooner than we’d care to think. Stores are already shifting to their merchandising to Christmas and it will only be a handful of weeks until Christmas music starts being played.

We’ve already talked about planning a Christmas party for your leaders, but have you figured out a gift to get them? I am huge proponent of two things when it comes to gift giving:

1. A gift doesn’t have to break the bank.

2. A homemade and personal gift often resonates more with the recipient.

That brings me to today’s gift ideas. The two gift ideas are ones that are homemade and tasty.

The first idea is making Christmas cookies for your team. I would highly suggest using a homemade recipe and not a snap-and-bake style. When you make homemade cookies you can taste the love and care that went into making them.

Even if you aren’t a baker, you can find a simple sugar cookie recipe that you can make fairly easily or you can make Oreo Truffles that feel super elevated but are very easy to pull together.

My recommendation for the sugar cookies is to always make sure to add a little extra vanilla as the vanilla makes the cookie richer and more flavorful. And for the truffles, you can utilize different flavored Oreos with matching extracts (1-2 teaspoons) to create more unique and holiday-focused truffles.

If you’re a bit more of a seasoned cook or are willing to try something that’s more labor intensive, you can make homemade apple butter and put them in mason jars as a fun holiday gift that everyone is sure to love. Elise and I just went apple picking and we ended up with close to twenty pounds of apples.

As much as we love apples, we won’t eat all of them before they start to spoil. Throughout the years, whenever we pick apples I’ve made applesauce and apple butter. I’ve experimented with various recipes for the apple butter and have finally landed on one that people seem to love.

Utilizing something that you have in abundance to make gifts is a huge win. You can jar them and put a nice tag on them, and all of a sudden you have a personal and edible gift ready to go. So, if you’d like to try this recipe out, I’m putting it below for you.

Both of these gift ideas, coupled with personalization and a note or card, are sure to make your leaders feel seen, valued, and loved. Our hope is that these recipes and ideas are ones you can use or that they spark ideas you can utilize to bless your leaders at Christmas time.

Apple Butter

Prep Time: 15 mins | Cook Time: 10 hrs | Total Time: 10 hrs 15 mins | Servings: 40 | Yield: 5 cups

Ingredients

  • 5 pounds apples, cored and cut into pieces
  • 1 ½ cups white sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1-2 teaspoons salt
  • 2-3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ⅛ – 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • ½ – 1 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
  • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
  • ½ cup water

Directions

  1. Place apple pieces into a large slow cooker. Add white sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and vinegar. Add water and mix well.
  2. Cover and cook on High until apples are starting to soften and release liquid, 1 to 2 hours. Reduce heat to Low and cook, uncovered, until all the apple flesh is dissolved, 5 to 6 hours. Stir occasionally.
  3. Puree using an immersion blender until smooth. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until darkened and thick, about 4 hours more. Pass apple butter through a strainer if desired. Seal in a glass container and refrigerate until cool.

Take Time to Invest in Your Community

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Every Thursday night in the spring, summer, and fall, Elise and I play volleyball that’s hosted through a local community organization. What started as a simple invite through some neighbors who became friends has turned into a weekly event with friends that we look forward to!

It’s not just playing volleyball on Thursday, it’s going out afterward, hosting barbecues, grabbing dinner, and sharing life with our friends and teammates. Multiple team members have lived or do live in our neighborhood and we hang out on different holidays and at our neighborhood yard sale.

What seemed to be just a random opportunity to play sports has turned into something much more: an opportunity for us to be a part of our local community and invest in relationships outside of the church.

Building and maintaining community is important for each of us, but it is also important for us to be pouring into our local community. In as much as we should seek to grow and flourish through personal relationships, as Christians we also have an obligation to engage with our communities and bless them.

We are called to be stewards of this world and all God has given us, to care for our neighbors, and to love others well. This is mutually beneficial as the benefits of community go both ways. This is essentially soul care for you and the community as this helps you to grow and flourish and does the same for your community.

My encouragement for you is that you find intentional ways to engage with your community, and I wanted to share a few ways we have done so to hopefully spark some ideas for you to build your community.

Adopt a local restaurant.

This is something we did unintentionally but we’ve seen the fruit of it. We have a local pizza shop that was our first meal when we moved to Pennsylvania. And it was a great first meal. So much so that we have continued to go there a little too frequently.

They know my name and my usual order. Sometimes they throw a free pizza my way and they even gave me one of their 50th anniversary shirts that they only gave to staff.

We love this place and we see it as a missional opportunity. We take them cookies during the holidays, bring friends to it, and seek to get to know the staff. It’s been a blast getting to know them and laugh with them as we share more of our lives together.

Invest in community organizations.

Are there local PTOs you can join? What about a neighborhood group like your local HOA? Have you considered a community enrichment group for your town or city? Is there a local pastors network or ecumenical group you could join? Each of these afford you an opportunity to invest in your community through powerful and intentional ways.

Bless your schools.

Finding ways to encourage your schools, students, and teachers is a great way to invest in your community. You could drop off donuts and coffee periodically. You could be a mentor, tutor, or after-school support for students.

Becoming a substitute teacher affords you interactions with students and staff that are a part of your community. If you have a CDL you could drive school buses or if you don’t you could become a crossing guard. All of these options allow you to intentionally connect with your community in highly relational ways.

Deliver cookies at the holidays.

This is one of my favorite things to do because it reminds me of my childhood and it taps into one of my favorite hobbies: baking.

We take cookies to our neighbors, our local pizza shop, our chiropractor, and a variety of other locations. It’s always a blast to see people get excited about homemade cookies and it starts some amazing conversations. This can easily become a tradition and one that reaps awesome benefits as you invest in the community.

Join a local sports group.

A couple years back, we were invited to join our local volleyball team and we have loved it. It’s afforded us new opportunities, new friendships, and a unique way to get to know our community better.

There’s tons of local opportunities to join sports groups whether a swim club, a pickleball group, softball teams, or even a running club. These are great opportunities for networking and community connections.

Host a bbq in your neighborhood.

A great way to invest in your community is to invite them over for a bbq or potluck. You can start small and invite a handful of neighbors over by simply getting to know them while you’re out and about.

Go beyond a simple “good morning” or “hello” when you see your neighbors and get to know them a little more. That helps remove the awkwardness of a cold ask and it builds relational connection.

When you invite people over you could ask them to bring something or you could provide the essentials if you’re able. You could even host a dessert and game night which is more appealing for people of different generations.