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Jun 07
Love0

Summer Prayer Challenge: Week 1 – LOVE

By Local FP Communities, First Priority Of America, Leadership Development

The act of saying “yes” to Jesus causes the “fruit of the Spirit” to come through us! And the first fruit we are focusing on is LOVE.Love Through Jesus we can love those around us even when we don’t want to.

Challenge: let’s pray that we would desire to grow in our own love for the Lord and that His love would shine through us and enable us to love others.

Let’s also pray for the students who will be sharing about LOVE in their schools during the month one HOPE cycle.

//“If I speak in the tongues of men or angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” – 1 Corinthians 13:1//

Jun 04
Love0

Summer Prayer Challenge

By Student Leaders, Community Leaders, Local FP Communities, First Priority Of America

For this coming school year, our Hope guides are focusing on the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Our student leaders will be challenged to focus on and give talks on one Fruit each month and how the Lord can use that Fruit to make a huge impact for the Gospel.

fullsizeoutput_16ddSO, for the next 9 weeks leading up to the start of school, we challenge you to actively follow along in prayer as we pray over one Fruit each week starting this Wednesday.

Ask God how you personally can bear this fruit throughout the week while praying for the students who will be discussing that fruit on their school campus.

// This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace. Colossians 1:6 //

May 24
Love0

Connecting the Dots

By Local FP Communities, Student Leaders

I love watching God connect dots! Most of us as Christians can see the hand of God at work by looking in the rear view mirror so to speak. It seems like the only way we see God at work is when we look back in time. I think life changing faith is seeing God though the front windshield trusting that He is always at work.

With this in mind, I have to tell you a short, cool story of how I got to witness God connecting dots recently. For a few years, we have been asking God to raise someone up in the Orlando area who would work First Priority in the local schools there. We have a few schools that have clubs there that were started previously. Zion, who is a senior, leads one of those clubs and is seeing God change students’ lives. His last Engage meeting (gospel shared) of his senior year was today. He reached out to me a few days ago and asked if I could come and speak. zionAs I was reading Zion’s email it reminded me to check in on a guy named Garfield, who I had been talking to for the past six months. He was a Campus Coach for First Priority in South Florida for years before moving to South Carolina to be a Youth Pastor. He had reached out to me because he and his wife were feeling the call to go to Orlando. When I called him yesterday, he told me that he had already moved to Orlando and was interviewing for a Youth Pastor job! Goose bumps.

The next thing I did was connect him and Zion together and today, Garfield was the guest speaker for the First Priority club at Zion’s school. They had almost 100 students in attendance and they saw eight students give their lives to Christ!

God connects dots. Now I don’t care who you are…that’s cool!

~ Mark Roberts, Associate Director of First Priority of America.

May 07
Love0

God is Moving in our Communities

By Local FP Communities, FP Success Story

Here is just one example of how God is moving through the First Priority communities we have across our nation. This is FP Greater Clayton. Praise God for the work He is doing in the lives of students.

68 more students said yes to Jesus!

677 students have responded to the Gospel since our launch.

17 students have signed up for baptism!

30+ more students shared their Faith Stories!

200+ boxes of Mac N Cheese and non-perishable items were collected for With Love From Jesus, missions to other local ministries, and ministry to Teachers.

100+ more Bibles were given to students who wanted them.

2,000 students attended First Priority Clubs last month. That means 2,000 students heard the Gospel!

Around 1,500 students are attending on a weekly basis to learn what it means to be Missional Leaders who live and share the Gospel.

Apr 24
Love0

Meet Allison

By Local FP Communities, Student Leaders, FP Success Story

This is a story about Allison, who was a victim of bullying and who suffered from depression. She dealt with her pain by cutting her arms, and struggled with the belief that God had left her. In her sophomore year of high school, she reached a breaking point and spent four months in a psychiatric hospital in Lexington. Allison says it was prayer that helped her survive during this time.

Her dad often told her, “When you are down to nothing, God is up to something.”

After coming home, a friend introduced her to First Priority. There, she found family and a place to belong. When asked to be a First Priority leader, Allison knew her path.

“I saw it as an opportunity to tell my story and help others. I feel closer to other students in First Priority. They are my brothers and sisters in Christ. We are going to heaven together,” says Allison. “Being in First Priority has not only helped me, but also helped others. People know my story, so it helps them too.”

FP Tri-County reaches students like Allison every day. There are 28 clubs meeting in schools across the region every week. Each one is spreading the message of “The Hope of Christ” from one student to the next with the guidance of local teachers, pastors, and club leaders. If you want to hear more of Allison’s story you can click on the video below.

 

Apr 16
Love0

A Great Day at Holton High School!

By Local FP Communities

It was a great day at the Holton High School First Priority Engage event! This little rural 9-12th grade public high school has just 237 students total. Because of your prayers, the courage of our club’s approx. 25 regular attenders, and the grace and goodness of God, there were a total of 52 students in attendance (nearly 25% of the student body)! They all heard the bold, humble and honest testimony of HS Senior Dani along with her clear presentation of the Gospel!

Apr 09
Love0

Celebrating HOPE

By Local FP Communities, Student Leaders

During this year’s 13th Region Basketball Tournament, First Priority Tri-County was honored to present Jillian Enix of Pineville and J.D. McVey of Barbourville with the first annual Hope Award. This commendation recognizes these young leaders’ commitment to their community, school, and Christ.

First Priority Tri-County oversees 27 Christian clubs in middle and high schools throughout the region. These groups provide young people with an accessible, safe space to share their faith and connect with their school community. H.O.P.E is the acronym for the program’s four-week strategy, standing for Hope, Overcome, Prepare, and Engage. This cycle allows students to prepare themselves for their journey in faith and reach out to fellow classmates. During its decade of operation in south eastern Kentucky, First Priority Tri-County has witnessed the growth of countless young leaders who grew through H.O.P.E. This year marks the first time these students had the opportunity to be recognized with the granting of the Hope Award.

Prior to the tournament, every high school in the 13th region was invited to nominate one male and one female student as candidates for the award. The only criteria for nominees was that they belong to their school’s varsity basketball team. tri-countyHowever, in order to demonstrate how they strengthened their community and guided other youth to Christ through H.O.P.E., the qualifying students were then required to complete a rigorous application detailing their involvement with their local First Priority club, extra-curricular activities, community projects, and church programs. The winners were determined based upon points awarded for each activity or area of commitment.

This year’s candidates were truly outstanding young men and women, and we can’t wait to acknowledge more students like Jillian and J.D. in the coming years!

Apr 04
Love0

Campus Ministry is Student Ministry

By Nehemiah, Local FP Communities, FP Tools

By Cameron Crow

I recently started my second year in Campus Ministry, and it is amazing. God is doing great things through the obedience of a few students who are being bold in their faith. One of the best experiences, not only as a Student Pastor, but as a Christian, is watching a student lead another student to a relationship with Christ. Last year, we saw over 60 students in one high school give their hearts to Christ. One of my favorite stories is of a senior named Noemi during an evangelism training meeting. We were in the middle of reviewing the “3 Circles Evangelism Tool,” by Jimmy Scroggins, that we had used all semester when Noemi promptly exited the room with no explanation. She opened the door and rushed out leaving us all in a confused state. Three minutes later she returned back to the room to ecstatically introduce us to our newest brother in Christ.

Noemi saw her fellow classmates through spiritual eyes and wanted to give each one of them a chance to respond to the Gospel. Her passion for her campus and her obedience to God’s calling on her life was addicting. Together with Chelsea and Carrie, Noemi gave over 1,000 students a chance to respond to Jesus Christ and to be equipped to share the gospel on their own. That year, our Christian Club grew from 8 students at our first meeting to upwards of 300 students squeezed into a much larger room. This was my introduction to Campus Ministry.

CAMPUS MINISTRY IS VITAL TO REACHING STUDENTS

In my opinion, Campus Ministry is the most effective form of Student Ministry. It is more effective to go to them than to attempt to get them to you. The days of 1990s event driven Student Ministries are in the past. Don’t get me wrong, events are still a vital part of Student Ministry, just not the central focus anymore. No matter how cool or relevant your ministry is, you will not be able to draw that many students to your church. The reality is that students spend 25% of their waking hours at school, and you cannot compete with that. So, like the old saying goes, “If you can’t beat them, join them.”

The majority of our campuses are plagued with the religion of “False Christianity.” Every day I encounter students on campus that tell me they are a Christian. Upon further discussion, we discover that their “Christianity” holds that salvation is obtained through inheritance, church attendance, good deeds, etc. According to the Pew Research Center in 2014, two-thirds of people under 30 do not go to church regularly, much less have a relationship with Christ. That means over two-thirds of students are lost and going to spend eternity away from God if we do not bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ directly to them. This is our mission field as Student Pastors. Matthew 9:37-38 says it like this, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.”

THE BIBLE IS ALLOWED ON CAMPUS

I remember sitting in a principal’s office as we reviewed the different clubs on campus and how our Christian Club could be effective. As we were scrolling through the list, the ex-Student Pastor turned high school principal grumbled on the fact that political correctness had infiltrated the schools. He voiced his concern at the message that these clubs promoted and his desire for them to go away. It was at this point God grabbed my attention with this one verse, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart,” Hebrews 4:12. God reminded me that HIS proclaimed message was stronger than any secular agenda that was currently popular. He also pointed out to me that not only did this group of students need to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but He had gathered them all together in a group so that they were easier to reach.

It is popular for Christians to plaster social media with the issue of Christ being taken out of schools and blame the politicians for removing the Bible from campuses. THIS THINKING IS DEMONIC. Legally, Christ and the Bible are allowed on campus, but stupid people are not. When a Student Pastor stands on a table in the cafeteria with a “Turn or Burn” 1980’s style message, he forces the school administrators to guard their school against becoming a distraction instead of a place of learning. By discovering and respecting the campus rules and district policies, student pastors can infiltrate our school campuses with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Schedule a meeting with the principals and/or superintendents to learn how you can PARTNER with them to better their campus. School administrators would love to have all of the behavior issues removed from their campus. We just have to do it the right way, relationally.

TRANSFORMATION DOES HAPPEN ON CAMPUS

This year was a frustrating start for me on campus. God had called me from Houston, Texas to Big Spring, Texas in late August. We had to start all over at a different school, with a different culture, and a different group of students. We had to find a different way to reach students on this campus than how we did in Houston. Starting the new school year, we offered Bible studies and training sessions. We were inviting students to attend through morning announcements, 3″x 3″ personal invite cards, and school approved posters. None of this worked. We rejoiced in the fruit of two students who give their hearts to Christ, but we knew there was more in store. My pastor growing up always said, “Figure out what God is up to and get on board.”

We started praying and seeking what God would have for Big Spring High School. In what way did he want to reach these students? Through this process we began to be drawn to First Priority of America. First Priority of America is an organization that I knew from past ministry opportunities, but I had never worked with them. As we continued to seek God’s will, meetings began to happen between the First Priority regional director (40 minutes down the road) and us. Stories started to pile up of how God was moving in the Midland/Odessa Area where over 600 students had given their lives to Christ. God is moving through the obedience of 26 First Priority Clubs in Midland/Odessa, Texas. We immediately knew this was how God was moving and we needed to jump on board. God is moving on School Campuses across America and lives are being transformed.

PARTNERSHIP IS IMPORTANT!

What I am about to say will be affirmed by almost every local pastor vocally. The devil is secretly attacking each of us in this area, targeting our flesh and our pride. It is easy to focus on growing our own ministry rather than the entire body of Christ. We are called to work together as pastors, not against each other. We must get rid of our selfishness, bitterness, and pride, and build up each other in the faith. Paul says it like this in 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many.”

Not only is it important to partner with ministers from other churches, it is important for us to partner with different ministries. When God moved me from Houston to Big Spring, He decreased the ministry budget that I had been used to. The best way for us to do Campus Ministry effectively in this new reality was through partnering with First Priority of America. First Priority of America not only brought a huge financial help, they were able to fulfill the lack of structure and excitement that our current Christian Club desperately needed. First Priority provides each club with curriculum, student leadership training, and a structure designed for success. Through local donations, each student that attends also receives a t-shirt in their school colors, a lanyard, donuts, and a chance to win really great prizes. The excitement generated by the structure and promotional items gets students to the club, while the training allows for the development of student leaders to lead their friends to Christ.

FOLLOW UP…FOLLOW UP…FOLLOW UP

Follow up is where Campus Ministry and your Student Ministry connect. Getting students from campus to your church happens here. As students make decisions to follow Christ or grow in their relationship with Christ, they will naturally begin seeking a place to connect. You are that connection point. This does not mean that students end up always attending your Student Ministry. It means students are connecting to a Bible believing church where they feel comfortable and able to grow in their walk with Jesus Christ.

I have learned that getting students involved in church is tricky. Students typically do not just jump in feet first. It takes some encouragement. The threshold of any church is scary to cross. So how do we work to fix this awkward disconnect? Relationship, relationship, relationship. We must constantly work on teaching our student leaders to be relational as well as leading by example. Students will not do what we say. They will do what we model. Be their Barnabas. Lead and train up Paul’s to go out into a broken world to be the light on the hill.

OTHER WAYS TO MAKE AN IMPACT

I have found that Christian Clubs alone are not the most effective way to do Campus Ministry. Campus Ministry needs to be a well-rounded strategy, not just a box to check off each week. Not only do we need to be ministering to the students, but we need to be ministering to teachers, staff, administrators, and parents. In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus lays out the Great Commission in this way, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” We need to look at the Great Commission in a way that we normally do not. We need to find the different “nations” on our school campus and strategize ways to reach each one. Click here to see a few different ideas to reach local school campuses for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

God calls us to go. When we follow the calling that He has on our lives, we get to dwell in the blessings that He has prepared for us. Student Ministry must be a calling that you are willing to go to the ends of the earth to fulfill. You have been called to a mission field full of nations. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to reach those different nations? How will you be obedient to the calling God has on your life?

Mar 08
Love0

God is Moving more Student to Reach their School!

By Local FP Communities, Student Leaders

God is on the move. More students are ready and seeking to start First Priority Clubs in their schools. In FP St. Louis Metro East 3 new clubs are starting! Praise God!

In FP Greater Clayton 90 students gave their lives to Christ in the last two weeks!

Lane, a FP student in Tampa, FL, shares why she has dedicated 6 years of her life to leading a First Priority club at her school and how she also senses the urgency to share the Gospel of Christ.

Mar 05
Love0

Students are Changing Students Lives for Christ!

By Local FP Communities, Student Leaders, FP Success Story

Here are some stories from clubs this past week where lives are being changed for Christ!

“I watched an 8th grade young lady, share her story, present the Romans road and 34 students walk across a gym floor to say ‘I want what she’s got’ Praise God!” FP North Alabama

What-we-believe“We had several students this morning that attended First Priority for the first time. We had a lot of First Priority students reaching out to bring in friends. We had more than 60 students in attendance today and we are so excited that 11 students prayed to receive Christ and five students responded that they would like more information about the Gospel! God is good!” FP Birmingham

“Students taught how to share the gospel and offered a chance to respond! 7 students responded and accepted Christ!” FP Blue Ridge

 

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