Right Now Media

by | Oct 31, 2019 | Reviews and Resources

If you are anything like me, you are always on the look-out for quality content that is easy to access for youth group. Once in a while on this blog we will review something like that for you.

A year ago my church, CityLight Vineyard, decided to purchase a year’s subscription to RightNow Media. They have basically created an online warehouse for video curriculum and Bible study. Upfront I will say it is kind of pricey, and only really makes sense if your whole church will take advantage of it. If you are looking for soemthing just for youth group, I’m not sure the price is justified. For a church under 100 it is around $75/mo (with a year long commitment) and for 100-200 it is around $130/mo. I’m going to recommend three youth Bible studies that have worked well for me, and then list overall pro’s and con’s.

THIS IS THE DAY – TIM TEBOW
This was the first one we did and I thought it was excellent. He is down to earth, relatable and passionate. His stories are pretty amazing, and while he is not a polished speaker, his passion sucks you in. The video generated good discussion around living your life wholly for Jesus.

FINDING TRUTH – FANCIS CHAN
This one is super relevant and challenging. The basic premise is that the culture tells us to trust our own feelings, and the thoughts of popular culture and friends, to define what is “true.” Real life stories are shared from teens about their struggle to live out their faith in the context of friends who disagree, high school pressures, sports, and doubt. It is very real. And Francis Chan is unapologetic in driving towards the Bible as the center for truth above all else. GREAT discussion is generated. I recommend this one highly.

ALL THE PLACES TO GO – JOHN ORTBERG
This series is made for adults, but is very applicable to high schoolers. The whole concept is that decisions are hard to make, and God wants us to learn to how to follow his lead. Real life stories are shared and Ortberg talks you through different ways that we can hear God. You may have to add some “vineyard elements” but overall it is very challenging and asks some poignant questions about our willingness to be led by God.

PRO’S

  • When you find content you want to use, it is easy to access, often comes with leader’s guides, and is very “plug and play.”
  • With your subscription you get an account where you can save ones you are interested in for later so you can build a Queue for later use.
  • Everyone in your group (and church) gets access which is pretty cool. They can watch anything they want on their own through the app on their devices. It’s a nice discipleship tool to add to your church’s arsenal.
  • It is a great way to expose your teens to a more diverse lineup of teachers.

CON’S

  • It is very pricey. Like I said upfront, if you aren’t using it for more than youth group it probably is too expensive.
  • Because I am picky, it takes me a while to find something I like. Once I find it, it has been good. There’s only been one that I found to be underwhelming and actually stopped using. However, it makes me worry that while there’s a large quantity of options, maybe the quality isn’t super deep. We shall see.

For those of you with a budget that can handle this, Right Now Media could be a useful tool to help you have solid content even every other month, to give you a break from writing (or scrambling) to make original content. Or, of course, you could just use Vineyard Youth’s 🙂

Christian Dunn
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