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Kristina Sears

Jul 03
Love0

Happy Independence Day!

By First Priority Of America, FP Success Story
As we prepare to celebrate America’s independence, it is a wonderful time to reflect on our freedoms – particularly the right to speak freely. It is the bedrock of our country’s history and the first of ten amendments that protect our rights.

The First Amendment reads: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

These few sentences encompass our right to gather, to worship, and to share Jesus with others. These rights protect students as well. What a beautiful reminder.

May we always give thanks for these freedoms and never take them for granted. It is for God’s glory and honor that we are able to worship HIM freely.

“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…” Isaiah 61:1 (NIV)

Jun 26
Love1

Do Something!

By Nehemiah

Has God called you to do something that you have not done because of fear?

Paul said to King Agrippa in Acts 26:19, “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.”

Paul was in prison for years because he was obedient to the vision from heaven. Wow, look where obedience gets us; locked up!

No wonder we get scared to really jump out there and do something that God has told us to do, like start a campus ministry, go to the mission field, etc. We are scared of the unknown, the uncertainty of money and stability and the fear of failure. All of these things and many more keep most Christians on the sidelines of life, watching everyone else play. We wait for the players in the game to write a book or a song on how exciting it was for them to play in the game. Then we run to the next conference to hear them speak and leave like we did at summer camp, ready to charge hell with a water pistol. Once we get back home, we get caught up in business as usual and we sit and watch.

Life, real life, abundant life, is a life of obedience. If God told you to do something, then do it. Paul, like Nehemiah, was right where God put him. He was speaking to a king and proclaiming the good news. We believe God put you right where you are to unite your city to reach thousands of students. Do something. Get in the game.

Mark Roberts

Jun 19
Love0

FP Podcast!

By First Priority Of America

Do you know First Priority has a Podcast? We launched the FP Podcast in May and are excited to be able to share a lot of great information and hear from special guests who are living the ministry life.

There are 5 podcasts uploaded for you to listen to. Episode 1 is a welcome and introduction to the FP Podcast with our hosts Steve Cherrico and Brad Schelling. You can listen to these podcasts on our website here. We also encourage you to subscribe to our podcast so you are updated each week with new episodes.

You can subscribe through Apple Podcasts, Google Play and Spotify. New episodes are uploaded every week. Start listening today and tune in to who will be on our podcast next week!

Jun 12
Love0

Tool: Romans Road to Salvation

By FP Tools

Some may say they do not believe in God or life after death. I believe they are denying their heart. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, 11 He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

When God gives you an open door to talk to people about Jesus, use the book of Romans to walk people through the way to salvation. Romans gives us a road map that many call the Romans road to Salvation.

It begins with Romans 3:23, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

What all humans have in common is that none of us are perfect, we have all fallen short. The 2nd verse on this road is: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

We just established that we are all sinners. We find out here that the penalty for our sin is death. Not just physical death but eternal death. The first two verses are depressing but the 3rd verse on this road is where it changes to hope.  Rom. 5:8 says, But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Our sin separates us from God and we are hopeless, but Jesus saves the day by dying for us and taking our place. If you were in prison for a crime that sentenced you to death and a friend showed up and took your place, you would be free. That is what Jesus did for you and me.

Romans goes on to say in verses 9 and 10, 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Your heart is your totality of being. It is the person you are when you lay in bed and can’t sleep, it is who you are when you are alone with yourself. If I confess Jesus as Lord and believe in my heart I can live eternally.

The next verse is the best verse in the Bible. Rom. 10:13, “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Whoever! That is all of us. All we have to do is ask. Salvation is simple and God desires all of us to know Him. When you share this with people, ask them if they would like to call upon the name of the Lord and ask God to save them. You can lead them though a prayer that goes like this:

Dear God, I admit that I am a sinner and deserve death. I thank you Jesus for dying for me and taking my place on the cross. I believe you rose from the grave 3 days later and I put my faith in you and invite you to be Lord of my life and to dwell in me. I confess you are Lord of heaven and earth and you are now my Lord. Amen.

Now go right down the date you prayed this prayer and get involved in a church and be baptized to show the world that you are a new creation in Christ. 2 Cor. 5:17

May 29
Love1

A Principal is thankful for the FP Club at his school!

By Local FP Communities, FP Success Story

At a recent First Priority meeting in the biggest school in our region (FP Blue Ridge, TN), a sophomore girl visited the club for the first time. No one knew her. She saw students preparing to go out onto the campus with gospel surveys. She approached and asked what was going on. A freshman leader told her about First Priority and she said she is seeking Christian fellowship because her friends are bringing her down and driving her from God. She claimed to be a Christian and went evangelizing with the team.

When she returned to the room we were debriefing about the experience. She suddenly went into a violent seizure and fell face first into a table leg, busting her cheek and leaving a gash in her scalp. I jumped around the table, pulled her out and determined she wasn’t bleeding to death or choking on her tongue. She seized for at least 6 minutes, while the school officials came running in and EMTs arrived.

We prayed over her, cleaned up and stayed with her until she was taken away by the ambulance. She had mentioned where she went to church, so I was able to contact her youth pastor who knew her as a former attendee. The youth pastor visited her in the hospital and let me know she went home that night with stitches.

She was back at school with a black eye and stitches and showed up at the First Priority meeting. She went evangelizing again with the team. When the meeting was over, she remained behind and approached me and another Campus Coach and asked “How do I find friends?” We encouraged her and gave her advice on that question and several others, encouraging her to get involved at her church and hang with people that lift her up, not tear her down. It was an opportunity to speak into a student we would never have met outside of First Priority.

Later that day I went to the principal at the high school. When he saw me, he said, “I’m glad you are here…I need to talk to you about an email I received yesterday regarding First Priority.” He then told me that the mother had emailed him a lengthy message. He said her main point for the email was that her daughter’s favorite class was First Priority (she must not know it’s a club), that her daughter couldn’t stop taking about it, and the mother wanted to ask the principal if he could assure that she could attend that class next school year.

He said her email was a testimony to the value of First Priority on his campus. I assured him it was a testimony to the student leaders who are loving on this student and the whole student body. He then said, “Most people outside of these walls only hear about the bad things that go on here. But, there are good things happening here and First Priority is one of them.”

May 22
Love0

How First Priority is pointing the way to Jesus

By Priority Parents, Church Leaders, Faculty Sponsors

In a lot of ways, First Priority is like John the Baptist. Matthew 3:3 says this about John the Baptist:

“For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”

Like John the Baptist, First Priority is pointing the way for the church to legally reach teenagers and influence the school with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Many people believe (falsely) that it is illegal to speak the name of Jesus in a public school. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The government of the United States cannot dictate religion, so when a student enters the halls of a school, they are not required to leave their faith at the door. They can share the gospel with their peers and with their teachers. But, many will not get up and share Christ alone. The first time is always the hardest and most intimidating. People do not want to do scary things on their own the first time. Friends help take the fear away. We must work to help gather students to create a space at school where they can share the gospel of Jesus Christ with their peers. Adults have a [legal] role to play! Teachers cannot preach to students, but they can open their room to the club. Over the last 11 years as a faculty sponsor for F.P., Sam saw more than 400 students receive Christ in his classroom. This was not because he was sharing the gospel, but because as a teacher, he opened the room to the First Priority club and watched students share Christ with their friends. Youth Pastors train and equip the [teenage] saints for works of service week-in and week-out at their church programs. First Priority gives students a place to implement prayer, evangelism, and come back to church for discipleship. Parents pray. I believe that. What if the parents prayed together? After all, what we are talking about is spiritual, not physical, mental, nor emotional. Let’s gather and open the heavens for God’s work to go forward at your child’s school. And let’s not forget the leaders in the community. Whether you lead in business, government, or non-profit, you are a valuable piece of the First Priority puzzle. You create longevity and structure for ministry to happen not just at one or three schools, but in every middle and high school in your community.

Long story short, the Good News found in Jesus Christ is shared at public middle and high schools every day that they are open. Students reach students at school. There were 10,022 students who began their walk with Jesus in their school building in the 2017-2018 school year. Is that happening in your local school(s)? If not, will you play your role and help make it happen where you live?

Until all have heard in our country,

Brad

May 15
Love0

3 Tips to understanding student-led Jesus meetings in public schools

By FP Tools

How can we share Jesus in the school when there is no prayer allowed? Simple: It’s the law! The Equal Access Act became law in 1984 and was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1990. There are 3 major components of the law:

  1. Nondiscrimination: if a public secondary (middle/high) school allows non-curriculum, student-led meetings, then the school must treat all meetings equally – even Christian ones.
  2. Student-initiated, student-led meetings: In order for the meetings to be deemed lawful at a public middle or high school, meetings must be student-initiated and student-led.
  3. Local control: the act does not limit authority of the school leadership to maintain control.

The following are the some of the guidelines set out by the Equal Access Act:

  • Federally funded, secondary schools must allow students the right to hold meetings if the campus has a limited open forum policy (more than one student meeting is allowed)
  • The meetings are voluntary and student-initiated
  • There is no sponsorship of the club by the school or government
  • Employees of the school are only present at religious meetings in a non-participatory capacity
  • The meeting does not interfere with orderly conduct or educational activities within the school
  • Non-school persons may not direct, conduct, control or regularly attend activities of student groups

Definition of terms:

  • The term “meeting” refers to student groups and activities permitted in the limited open forum and are not directly related to school curriculum
  • The term “sponsorship” refers to school employee assigned to meetings for the purpose of providing custodial provision
  • The terms “non-instructional time”  refer to time set aside by the school before actual classroom instruction begins and ends
  • The terms “student-initiated” refer to students seeking permission to meet; and to directing and controlling the meetings

Important points to consider:

  • The school’s authority has the right to establish the regulations for if, when and where the meetings will occur; the key is nondiscrimination
  • Schools may allow students to promote meetings through school media if other meetings are being promoted
  • Outsiders may attend meetings if invited by students and approved by the school authority; the school authority has the right to limit or deny access of outsiders; outsiders are not permitted to proselytize students who are not voluntarily attending the student meeting

For more information on the Equal Access Act, please visit: http://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/publications/first/findingcommonground/B09.StudentClubs.pdf

This flyer was created for First Priority of Tampa Bay; information is provided by Freedomforum.org

May 02
Love0

Check out what is happening in Bristol, TN

By Local FP Communities

Scott Emerine Bristol Area Director was invited to speak today at Vance Middle School. Students will be altering the HOPE cycle to have Engage weeks to finish out the year and they will be sharing the Gospel using their testimony worksheets and the First Priority Blue Ridge provided Bibles from First Priority of America. We are extremely proud of how innovative and creative students are and how churches are partnering with the student missionaries to empower them.

Apr 24
Love1

Open up spiritual eyes

By Nehemiah

1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.” I hear a lot of people say the Bible never really made sense to them until they gave their lives to Christ. Well, there you go.

If you have ever been around non-believers and they think you’re crazy, welcome to the party. God has changed your heart because you heard the gospel and the Holy Spirit of God convicted you. Then, a real conversion happened in you. Your mind became re-wired to hear the Holy Spirit. You also were given a new heart. You and I were influenced by somebody, but make no mistake, we play only a small role in the salvation department of God. However, it is a huge part of God’s plan. Our job is to love God and love people. I pray today that you will play your part. Pray for those around you. Ask God to give you the opportunity to partner with Him to influence the lives of people so that they too may understand the Spirit of God.

We are aliens of this world, strangers passing through. Our great goal is to take as many people with us on our way to our real home.

Pray God opens the spiritual eyes of those around you, and be ready to help guide them through that process.

Keep Fishing,

Mark Roberts

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