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Apr 02
Love0

Our response to Covid-19 is to start Virtual Clubs

By Virtual Clubs

First of all we are all praying for all of you during this time of uncertainty and chaos in our world and trust that you are also praying for the world of First Priority.

It has been amazing to see how this has become a motivational time for all of our chapters and clubs to be intentional and aggressive about continuing to share the gospel.

FPoA has played a HUGE role in making this a successful and coordinated effort across the country.  Some state level organizations are sending out our virtual club link to every youth minister in their system encouraging them to start FP clubs if they have not already.

Here is the link to all of the resources and training that we have put out there and it is excellent stuff.  www.firstpriority.club/virtualclubs

Below you will find a couple of videos of students who are leading these virtual clubs as well as more social media pictures of what is happening online.

 

Mar 26
Love0

See how students are stepping up to lead their clubs online

By Virtual Clubs

First Priority clubs all over the nation have decided that school closures won’t stop them from sharing the gospel of Christ to their peers and beyond. As schools began to close, students began to step up, get on social media, and share beyond the limits of their school buildings. Students like Alaina in FP St. Louis Metro East. Listen to her two minute video of encouragement. 
There are so many more videos and stories just like Alaina out there and they are reaching students for Christ! Like this one last week in Wake County, NC.

Carroll Middle had their First Priority club over zoom today and 1 student chose to pray to start a relationship with Jesus! There is no stopping our God!

Mark Roberts, FP Associate Director, shares in the video below how the local church can help students reach students for Christ. Listen to what he has to say and then click the button below his video for information how to get started.Find out more about starting a virtual club here

Mar 18
Love0

There is no Fear in Love

By Nehemiah

The saying, March comes in like a Lion is an understatement. I know it usually refers to weather, but the entrance of the coronavirus this month has certainly affected our nation like never before. People are panicking, and some are very afraid. Some of the stuff I have seen on social media is nuts, people wearing trash bags, spraying each other down with Lysol. It is funny, but to people who do not know the Lord, I am sure very scary. Brad reminded me that Jesus referred to people as sheep. Well, there you go, if you don’t have a shepherd to protect and lead you, you get scared.

I was headed today to a board meeting and was shocked at all the people I saw at Walmart and Sams Club, it’s like a hurricane down here, and what is up with everyone stocking up on toilet paper? Is there something I missed about the symptoms?

While driving, I had this thought; God is a God who takes something bad and turns it into His good. It always fascinates me when there is a tragedy. People stop their busy lives and chasing their dreams and remember that they are mortal and will die one day. In America, I am always reminded of what Jesus said about the rich. Mark 10:25, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Most of you know this, but the eye of the needle was a small gate where people could walk through. A camel could go through it, but it had to get on its knees. The rich can know God, and there are millions that do. It is just harder because sometimes, with money, you don’t have to trust God as much.

Maybe the entrance of coronavirus into our world is something that might make people think about God, life, purpose, meaning, not just money or fame or what the world usually thinks about. Maybe they will think of bigger more important things. I have told you before we are due for a revival, and wouldn’t it be fun to see that happen? When your neighbors, friends, and family are frightened, you and I need to be the rock to them. Timothy 1:7 “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” We can have peace because we know the Great Shepherd and we know His voice. To a world that is lost, we can’t act surprised and criticize. We have to give them hope. We need to love them in the midst of the chaos.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18.

Mar 11
Love0

How do we start the conversation of Life or Death with the world?

By FP Tools

Have you ever had something so exciting to share that you couldn’t wait for the world to find out? Is there anything that would keep you from telling everyone? As believers in Jesus, we have the most exciting news EVER and it is our job to tell everyone.

So, who do we tell the “Good News” to? In Mark 16:15, Jesus gives His final instructions to His disciples and to us, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” We tell EVERYONE! Your friends, family, enemies, teachers, and the outcasts. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him” John 3:17.

So how do we start the conversation about Life & Death with the world? We have a help tool that can be found in month 9 of our hope guides that will help get the conversation started and help us share the Gospel with all creation, just as Jesus instructed. It’s the life/death card and you can download the instructions and card here.

Mar 05
Love0

To Love God and To Love Others

By Local FP Communities

A story about loving others told by FP Director Amber Johansen from one of her clubs in FP Tampa Bay.

This past week, I visited a First Priority club in a local high school. In this particular group, they meet each week during the three lunches. In the first lunch, there were three students who were Buddhist and one whose father was Muslim. The other students began asking questions about their faiths and a wonderful conversation ensued. I was particularly struck by how graciously the First Priority students interacted with these students, showing genuine interest. They humbly answered questions about Christianity and eventually shared the hope of Christ in a loving way. It was touching and inspiring.

This group perfectly reflected Christ’s call on our lives: to love God and love others. May we all reflect the same humility, love, and faithfulness of these First Priority students.

Feb 19
Love0

Are you ready to start club?

By Nehemiah, Local FP Communities

Exciting things are happening in FP Tri-county. They held a First Priority Training this week and expected about 50 people.

70 people showed up!!

 We explained First Priority and then trained them on our HOPE cycle.
 
At the end we split them up into schools and they filled out paperwork to turn into their schools. Out of the 8 potential schools, we had enough people to start 6 FP clubs!
 
The other 2 potential schools had students there, but were missing a faculty sponsor. They had commitments but the flu hit those 2 faculty. So we should be able to launch those 2 clubs in a couple of weeks.

Below is a picture of the students coming up and the rest of us praying for them to be sent out as missionaries. 

We gave each school 1 case of FP Bibles, 50 decision cards, and 3 copies of 8 weeks worth of curriculum to finish out the year.
 
Praise the Lord for the excitement and passion over there for the schools! Let’s keep praying especially now as their clubs launch.
 
Are you ready to start a club? 
 
Feb 12
Love0

You Are Invited

By FP Tools

The help tool we are focusing on this week comes from Month 6 of the Hope Guides which talks about the conversation with outcasts. There are plenty of people we may enjoy spending time with, while there are plenty of others that, if we are honest, we might feel somewhat uncomfortable. Maybe we are afraid it will give us a bad reputation, or maybe we aren’t comfortable with the sights and smells that come with putting ourselves in certain company.

While Jesus was doing ministry, He experienced those who were considered respectable and admired people, while others were considered unclean and unwanted. But Jesus didn’t avoid the outcasts. He offered himself to them and gave them the opportunity to become part of his family.

So how do we start the conversation with outcasts? It begins with an invite. Through prayer, building trust, and time, the door will be open for you to share the gospel.

In order to do that, our help tool is to create an invitation to First Priority, a safe place where people feel welcome, not judged, and no one sits alone. Students can ask God to give them the boldness to hand out their invitations to First Priority and be ready to greet them at the door when they come or even meet them in the hallway and walk with them.

All people matter to Jesus so all people should matter to us.

Feb 05
Love0

Students find belonging in their First Priority club

By Nehemiah, Local FP Communities

Students want to feel like they belong. They seek others who are like them or who like the same kinds of things they like. But often, it is easy to go to school everyday thinking that there is no one like you. No one else who likes the same things you do or believes in the same things you believe in. But they are out there just waiting to be found.

One student from Wake County in North Carolina realized this when she decided she wanted to help get a FP club going in her school. She thought there would be no one at her school who was a Christian. Once she got permission to start her club, she realized there were a lot of Christians excited about it. Even the janitor started talking about the Bible to her and her mom. It was like Christians were in hiding. FP gave them a safe place to stand together and invite others to join.

At another FP club on the Emerald coast, students went out into their campus inviting other students to come to the club that day, handing out invite cards and biscuits. Students came and heard the gospel and four of them raised their hands proclaiming they accepted Christ!

First Priority gives students a place to belong. And a place to invite others to belong and learn about the love they can receive from Jesus Christ.

Jan 29
Love0

Students are looking for the opportunity to be used by God

By Nehemiah, Local FP Communities

In November, I had the privilege of speaking at a booming country church in Milo, Oklahoma. It is in the middle of nowhere. When you drive up, you are shocked at all the cars that are in the parking lot. You have to think where in the world did everyone come from, and where do they live? Mike Johnson has been the pastor there for years. He works in the oil field full time and preaches on Sundays and Wednesdays. He is one of my favorite people in the world and one of the Godliest men I know.

That Sunday morning, after I spoke, a girl name Chy came up to me and said she was a senior and wanted to get a First Priority club going before she graduated. During Christmas break, we set up a time to do a training with her so she could start a club after the first of the year. I told her all the things she would need to get in place and about the leadership teams and their roles in the club. I thought that it would be a few weeks before they got started. I was wrong. She started it the first week back! I got a phone call from Mike, who was all excited and tells me he heard from Chy. The very first meeting ‘help week,’ she was walking through one of the gospel tools, and four students gave their lives to Christ. BOOM! I am convinced there are thousands of Chy’s out there just waiting for someone to provide them with the opportunity to be used by God. Let’s pray God raises an army of these bold teenagers, and as the book of Acts says about the disciples, “these men who have turned the world upside down are now in our city.” Acts 17:6

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