Some of my most memorable and formative years as a Christian occurred at youth retreats. It’s hard to forget the unintended mosh pits that formed as we screamed the lyrics to “One Way” by Hillsong, the unforgiving late-night ramen and snacks, and the patient counselors who listened to my problems and prayed for me. However, there is one thing I don’t remember from these youth retreats: the sermons.

This inability to remember is not unique to me. Ask a student from the youth group if they remember what the most recent retreat sermons are about or even last Sunday’s message. We will discover that many can’t.

Preaching at a youth group retreat is often an uphill battle. Most of the students arrive at the retreat excited to spend face-to-face time with one another. Some of them have conversations that keep them up long after lights out. Others stay up pulling pranks on one another. Meanwhile, you are expected to preach twice or three times a day. It’s not surprising that many students doze off by the second sermon.

Sometimes it’s not just the schedule that puts students to sleep. Sometimes it’s our preaching. Does that mean that preaching at youth retreats doesn’t matter? Absolutely not! Youth retreat sermons can be the vehicle by which the Holy Spirit transforms lives. I want to share three areas to make our youth retreat sermons matter more: the message, the hearers, and the preacher.

The Message Matters: One Big Idea

Have you ever talked with somebody who jumps from point to point without a real destination in mind? Youth group retreat sermons can feel that way. We have so much we want to say about a topic or a passage that we are unclear and hard to follow.

It’s tempting to pack in as much content as we can. I’ve been guilty of this. At one retreat I decided to significantly shorten the third sermon because students were having a hard time staying awake during the first two sermons. I learned more is not always better.

We can communicate too many ideas that students can’t remember any idea. Rather than saying all that we can, preach one big idea that the students can clearly identify and remember. Keep the big idea under thirteen words. If the idea becomes wordy, then the students will have trouble recalling it. The message matters so focus on one big idea.

Remember our audience. Most of the time, at these retreats we will be speaking to teenagers, so make the idea easy to understand by using words that the students would use. Theological terms such as “justification” and “sanctification” are absent from most students’ vocabulary and are hard to remember. Instead of including “justification” in our big idea, consider saying “make right” or “the guilty are declared innocent.” Students remember images well, so try to focus on an image in our big idea. If our big idea has to do with sanctification, we can utilize an image of something dirty made clean. Be specific so that the students can picture the image in their minds.

The Message Matters: Repeat it, Repeat it, Repeat it

One of the ways that we can help the students identify the big idea is through repetition. When I was serving as a youth director at a church, I was determined to help my students remember one big idea when reading the Bible: “Jesus is King; Context is Queen.” To make this idea stick, I repeated this phrase before every teaching and sermon. Within a few months, the students got it. Repetition works.

Repetition doesn’t have to be monotonous or boring. There are many ways we can repeat an idea without doing the same thing over and over again. Use multiple senses and have fun. We can show students the big idea and have them read it out loud. We can make a jingle out of the big idea. There are many ways to get students involved to reinforce the big idea. Here are a few more ideas:

• Stand up and shout it out loud. Have the students stand up and say the big idea as loud as they can. Make this exercise livelier by having multiple groups take turns saying it out loud. Separate the groups by grades or by where they sit. It’s fun to see the students try to outdo one another.
• Tag it. One of the ways to immortalize the big idea is through social media. Ask the students to write out the big idea on a poster board, decorate it, and take pictures of them holding it. Then invite the youth leaders to post it on the church’s social media platforms. When students look through pictures of the retreat, they can see the pictures of them holding up the big idea.

One more thing about repetition: don’t be afraid to repeat the big idea over and over again. It helps our listeners remember the big idea if they hear it multiple times. If we don’t feel like we’ve repeated the big idea too much during rehearsal, then we haven’t repeated it enough. What our listeners hear is different than what we, the preacher, hear. We spend so much time thinking about the big idea that it might seem obvious to us. The same is not true for those hearing it for the first time. The message matters so repeat it again and again and again.

They Matter

In order to preach sermons that matter, we need to know our audience. Whenever I am asked to preach at a youth retreat, I immediately ask the person who invited me to preach to tell me more about the youth group.

We do not need to wait until the retreat to see the youth group to whom we will be preaching. If the youth group is within driving distance, arrange a time to meet with the pastors, the parents, and some of the student leaders. If we can’t meet them face-to-face, then set up a video conference with that group. In preparation for the in-person or virtual meeting, compile a list of open-ended questions that will help us get to know the youth group. Here are five questions to ask:

1. Why did you choose to be a part of your youth group?
2. What do you wish you could see more of in the youth group?
3. What do you do for fun?
4. What difference does your faith make in your life Monday to Saturday?
5. What’s on your music playlist?

Send those types of questions ahead of time so that the people you invite to the meeting will have time to think about it. Also, give an option for those who can’t attend the meeting to send their answers to you by email or Google Forms. Making the effort to get to know them before the retreat will demonstrate that they matter.

No youth group is alike. Some youth groups can sit through sermons that are thirty minutes long; others can’t sit still for more than fifteen minutes. Some youth groups are homogenous ethnically, socioeconomically, and/or politically, some are very diverse. Use these pre-retreat meetings to learn more about the culture, traditions, and needs of the youth group, so that the sermons will be relevant to that group. Ask the youth group what they’ve been studying at church.

The effort and time spent to know the context will help us avoid saying or doing things that offend the youth group and detract from the sermons. These meetings will also help to determine the theme of the retreat and think of illustrations that connect with the students. Show them that they matter by spending time getting to know them beforehand.

Show them that they matter during the retreat. I pack basketball sneakers to all the retreats I speak at. I’ve found that playing basketball with the students is a fun way to build rapport with them. I also make sure to eat meals with students so that I can get to know their names, their interests, and their questions.

Our sermons can have a greater impact on the students if we spend time with them during the retreat. Join in on the games with the students and eat at the same table with them. Show genuine interest in the students by asking good questions and listening attentively. Students are more attentive and willing to engage during the sermon when we enjoy spending time with them. Show them that they matter by getting to know them throughout the retreat.

The Preacher Matters

I will never forget the time I tried too hard to be something I am not while preaching at a retreat. I normally preach with notes so that I stay on track. However, I decided that I wanted to seem more competent and more engaging as a preacher, so I went up to preach without my notes. Within five minutes, not only was I sweatier than ever before, I also had no idea what I was preaching. I stopped, apologized, retrieved my notes, and started over again.

When preaching at youth retreats, it’s tempting to present ourselves as being more hip or charismatic than we really are. Be advised, the youth have a keen ability to discern whether someone is being authentic or not. Once the youth sense that we aren’t being true to ourself, then we can lose their trust and attention.

This is good news because we don’t have to try to be something we are not. Remember that the youth group asked you to preach at their retreat. God has given you particular experiences and a unique personality by which he will communicate his Word to the students, so be yourself. Students connect with the message more when we share personal stories and are consistent with the person they interact with throughout the retreat. To preach youth retreat sermons that matter, be yourself.

Integral to being who we are is recognizing what we aren’t. We are not God. We are not the Savior. We are not the Holy Spirit. We are, however, the means by which the students at the retreat will hear the good news of the Jesus Christ. We will play an instrumental part in the spiritual journey of each student at the retreat.

In light of this, prepare and pray diligently. Preparation for preaching can’t be divorced from pleading for the people, including us, at the retreat. They are inseparable. Prayer, however, doesn’t stop once we get to the retreat. Pray during and after the retreat that God would do what God alone can do—to transform the students who heard us preach God’s Word.

Do Sermons at Youth Retreats Matter?

Absolutely! It is an incredible privilege to preach at youth group retreats. It’s an opportunity to communicate a biblical big idea that sticks with the students long after the retreat. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate that the students matter before stepping into the retreat center. It’s an opportunity for God to demonstrate who he is through who you are. Prepare, pray, and preach with great expectation and excitement the next time you are invited to preach at a youth retreat because youth retreat sermons matter.