Updated: April 13th, 2026

Nursing Home:
Shirley Moffitt - OCNH
Faye Imbriaco - UC Manor
Danny Wiley - UC Manor
Kay Lyons - UC Manor
Imogene Brown - The Waters
Jeff Hamlin - The Waters
Ina Osborne - The Arbors


Robert Osborne –Heart Cath (Possible Stint)
Wanda Barnes - Health
Jimmy Brown - Hearing loss
Stephanie Wilder
Lisa Donnell
Carolyn& Jerry Grady - Health
Joyce Turner
Dot Haley
Danny Wiley - Recovering from surgery and spinal infection
Faye Brasfield - Health
Catherine Roberts - Health
Rhonda Jones - Recovering from foot surgery
Tom Hensley
Jean Jones

Deepest sympathy to Matt Russell and his family for the loss of his Mother, Jackie Russell

Continue to remember: Dillion Mathis, Elly & Kent Mathis. 

Mark 1:16-20
16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.
19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

In Mark 1, Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, and John to drop their nets and follow Him. For them, fishing was not a hobby it was their job. Notice they didn't tell Jesus "we will, but maybe next time". They dropped their nets and truly walked away from their careers. They did the exact opposite.

Overtime these disciples would be taught by Jesus and would put His teaching into practice by fishing for people. They didn't always get it right, or fully understand what Jesus was asking them to do. Yet, they were on a journey of following and obeying Jesus, and once they received the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, they grew tremendously. They went all in with their faith, and God would turn the world upside down through these ordinary men who decided to follow and obey an extraordinary Jesus.

Before being used to reach people with the message of Jesus, their first step was to drop their nets in obedience. They had to leave behind their past, their comforts, and anything that would distract them from the primary call on their lives. To know Jesus and to make Him Known

Obedience is more than a "get out of hell free" card; it's a lifestyle change right now.

As a follower of Jesus, you can trust that he is alot better at directing how you should live this life than you are. When you obey Him with your life, that is when you'll truly be fulfilled because you are living with real purpose. Often, His plan for your life will look completely different than you own, but His plan is always better 

1.) What is your favorite hobby?
2.) What is your dream job?
3.) Would it be difficult or scary for your life or plans to be completely changed by Jesus? Why?

Read Exodus 34:6
Reflect on who the unchanging God is, and surrender to the truth that He still is today. He can be trusted, and He should be obeyed

Read John 14:15
Confess the areas of your life you don't trust or obey Jesus with. Ask God to continue to grow your love for Him. When you love Him, you'll desire to obey Him.

Read Hebrews 13:16
Remember the sacrifices the Lord wants from us are to obey Him by doing what is good through the power of His spirit and to share Him with others. Receive that truth today and live by walking in obedience to whatever He is calling you to,

Isaiah 6:9-13
9 He said, “Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving. 10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn and be healed.” 11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?” And he answered: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, 12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. 13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”

When Isaiah 6 is taught, people often stop with verse 8. Then, with excitement ask something like, "God is calling you, will you obey? Lets go! He is sending us. Of course, that is true and vital God saves us to send us. However, Isaiah 6 does not stop there.

In verse 9-13, you will see that the King sent Isaiah to point people to God. However, it was not going to be easy. The reality is that being obedient to the Lord is often not going to be received well by the world around us.

Remember, Jesus does not promise us an easy life. He promises us an eternal life. Obeying the Lord will often make living in the world more difficult, yet we will be more joyful, fulfilled, and at peace because we are being obedient to our great King.

In verse 13, the King sent Isaiah out to be faithful to the stump. What this means is that no matter how bad the world gets, there will always be people who faithfully obey the Lord. For Isaiah, this stump would eventually turn into a flourishing tree with many people now in the kingdom of God.

Obedience is more than a "get out of hell free" card; it is obeying God even when it's difficult. This was what Isaiah went through. God was sending him, and Isaiah obeyed.

1.) What makes obeying a calling like this difficult
2.) Have you experienced push back or minor persecution because you were obeying the Lord? What happened?
3.) Where is God sending you?
4.) Are you willing to say yes, even when it's going to be difficult

Read Acts 1:8
Spend time reflecting on the Holy Spirit. Surrender to His calling

Read Acts 13:47
Are you willing to be sent out to point people to the King? Empty out by confessing any fears and hesitations you have. Ask God to replace fear with confidence

Read Mark 16:15
God's plan in reaching the world with the gospel is the church. There is no back up plan. Receive the call to go. This call isn't for a few super christians. It is for all Christians. Pray for your mission field today

Read:
Judge 15:1-20, 16:1-3, 1 Samuel 16:7

When I played baseball the offseason was a great time to get prepared for the next season. As soon as school started back we was in the weight room starting to build as much strength and endurance as we could in 4 months. There were days were it felt like my arms would just fall off out of soreness, and there were days I dreaded such as circuit weeks. However, after I begin to see results from training I learned to take heart in hard work I put in. Although while I was physically getting stronger, I was not spiritually. My character was turning away from the things I thought I would stand firm in.

Samson  was a super strong dude, and yet his character was weak. Samson valued his strength, so much it drove him to fight against the Philistines for 20 years. Although he was physically strong spiritually he wasn't. He was terrible a son, husband, and man who was selfish and arrogant. Yet, in the book of Hebrews he is defined as flawed hero of the faith. Why? At the end of Samson life when his selfish desires led him to be blind, and tied to pillars he asked God to give him the strength one more time to take down the Philistines and died doing so. Samson was spiritually weak and demonstrates a life that lacked putting trust in God. He rejected everything that he was taught, yet God still used him to save the Israelites.

There is nothing wrong with valuing strength, but just like money, work, and sports it can become an idol to us. We need value and focus more on spiritually strength as much as we do our natural strength. If we are spiritually weak we cannot expect to live out our faith and give glory to God. We have to realize that it is the power of God that lives in us that gives us the strength to stand strong in the Lord and to walk us through life. Samson knew this, but waited until his selfishness met him at a dead end. It was then Samson turned to God to give him strength one more time. God is the one who gives us strength.

1.) Why do you think the world values strength so much?
2.) How would you go about developing your character verses your strength?

I recently just had a birthday, and something that not many people know about me is the fact I was born 2 and half months early. I was born early due to my mom having a medical emergency, and it was to the point they asked my dad if they could only save one who would it be?  I am sometimes referred as a "Miracle Baby".

In the Bible there as a Miracle Baby named Samson who would on day be on of the Judges that God raises up to save Israel. However, Samson did not live out his purpose until it led him being in prison and blind. Samson was born a Nazarite. They did not cut their hair, drink alcohol, and they followed the law of Jewish culture. This was not the life Samson choose, but instead he was a violent, arrogant, prideful man. Just like we talked about yesterday, Samson did was right in his own eyes. Samson rebelled against God by living a life that pleased him instead of living a life dedicated to God. Although he was full of sin, God still brought Samson in this world for a purpose. Although Samson sinfulness cost him his sight and strength.

In our life there is no doubt that we rebel against God by sinning. We are born into a sinful world after all. Sometimes the pain and the hurt we fill is because its where our sin led us. Sin looks good, but it leads us down the the wrong path with no true purpose. Paul writes in Roman 6:23 that we deserve the punishment of death for our sin. However, that is until Jesus stepped in our place by dying on the cross for us. In Proverbs 3:5-6 scripture tells us that God will make our paths straight if we just trust His way instead of our own. God has a purpose for everyones life. I was born for a purpose, it took me until i was 17 to realize my purpose, but I put my trust in Him even when I don't understand it. Like Samson, God has shown me great mercy for my trying to trust my own purpose. I am thankful for his mercy!

Reflect:
1.) What are some areas in your life you need God to have mercy on you?
2.) How have you downplayed or ignored God in your life?

The book of Judges is a hard book to read. It's full of violence, arrogance, and just a complete cycle of nation who turned its back on God. This verse is how the Book of Judges ends. There were no rules or laws being upheld because there was no leader, especially one who cared for  to keep control. Everyone just did what they thought was right, and they were left in their own sinfulness. The nation cried out for a king. One who would lead them perfectly, who was always right, and just. So God answered their cries and appointed Saul. Ultimately, he failed because he let pride and jealously conquer him. Many other kings, 41 to be exact were appointed after Saul, and all but 7 were wicked. However, even the 7 who did what was right still had their flaws such as David. What we see in Judges 21:25 is a nation searching for ways to fulfill their hearts desires and they cry for a king when in reality the one that they were longing for was Jesus, the one true king. All the things we want in a leader can be found in Jesus. He his all perfect, holy, loving, merciful, and righteous. Do you realize that? What your heart most wants, desires, needs, is found in Jesus. It is easy to believe in Satans lies that the more money or popular we get the more we will be happy. The better we are at sports or making better grades will give us joy. In reality when we follow our own our hearts we are being lead to brokeness, sinfulness, and longing for more things to fill the void we have in our heart. The only way we can fill that void is finding Jesus, and it is until we allow Christ to be the driver of our life that we found true joy, peace, and rest. 

Reflection:
How does your view of who God is affect how you desire to trust HIs ways?
What is something you are trying to do to fulfill your hearts desires?

The first Sunday of Advent signifies the hope people felt in their hearts for the promised Messiah to lead them out of dark and hard times. As we begin this season of Advent, we will spend the next several days exploring the hope in our hearts that God with Us continues to bring to our world. In addition to the daily devotions, take time this week to light the first candle in your Advent wreath. Remember the prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus's coming, express your desires for this season, and place your hope in the Light of the World, who was born a baby in Bethlehem and who is coming again.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." - Isaiah 7:14

"Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ad he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end."- Luke 1:29-33

No matter who you are, you have influence. Some of you may only have influence over a couple of people. But you have influence. Others of you potentially influence a ton of people. Whatever the case,  if you're using your influence to draw attention to yourself or put yourself in a better situation than those around you, you're blowing it.

If your influence is going to be used in a way that honors God, it must be two things: Christ-centered and Gospel-Driven.

Your influence can't be used to bring attention or glory to you. I mean, it can. And many people do just that. But if you want your life to be that honors God, the impact you have on others can't be centered around you but instead Christ. The ability you have to impact others' lives must be used to point them toward God. and this starts when you realize your identity as a Christ follower. In Galatians 2:20 Paul writes that "he has been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me". What he is saying is that because of what Jesus did on the cross to give us the gift of salvation if we accept it. As believers we are called to "walk in the newness of life" (Romans 6:4). This is just part of what the Bible says about living a Christ-centered life

Your influence is both christ centered and gospel-driven. What does Gospel-driven mean? It means that your influence must be motivated by a desire to see others come to salvation in Christ. The word gospel is Greek for "good news". The good news that Jesus is God's plan to rescue us from our sins has to be the driving force behind your influence. We should all see our lives as resources God uses to draw others to Him through us. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus had already been resurrected from the dead, and The last commandment that He gave his disciples was to go make disciples and teach them to obey what He commanded. We are called to share the gospel which is the good news of what Jesus did for us, and not only should we just share the Gospel but also help others in their walk with Christ.

You have the potential to change other people's lives. You really do. Just make sure your message is more "Jesus" than it is "you"

Pray:
Ask God to open the door to share the Gospel with someone this week. Then ask him to give you the courage to share the Gospel. Seek God in the areas that you struggle with when it comes to sharing your faith.

Using your influence is one of the most effective ways of sharing your faith.

Last week in the devotions we talked about 4 levels of spiritual habits. Today we are going to talk about a fifth one called Evangelism.  Sharing the Gospel with those who don't know Christ, is one of the core habits in growing your faith. It's interesting how culture has impacted how people share and receive discussions about faith. Generations ago, it was more culturally acceptable to simply walk up to a stranger and ask something like, "if you died tonight, where would you spend eternity?" More often than not, you'd have an engaging conversation, And while there was certainly no guarantee of someone coming to faith in Christ, the conversation stood a fairly good chance of being effective, if not at least well received.

Many people who study this sort of thing have been saying for a while that these types of conversation aren't nearly as effective in our current culture. While this may be true, it's important that we never put limitations on the Holy Spirit. God may very well lead you to approach strangers and talk about your faith, and God may have been working on these people's hearts ahead of time. And you may find yourself leading someone you just met to Christ in the middle of the Walmart parking lot. This happens. But when you consider how our culture has changed, you may find that what people refer to as evangelism or sharing the Gospel may be more effective.

Acts chapters 24-26 is an awesome passage to read. Paul was on trial for defending himself against the accusations of the Jews. Paul appeared before three different Roman officials over the course of what many believers may have been a few years. Over this time, Paul developed a relationship with these rulers. Now, they weren't all that close but, Paul used what relationship he had to influence them and to share the Gospel. Are we taking every opportunity that we can to share the good news of Jesus?

Reflect:
Spend time today answering these questions:

1.) How do you see Paul using his influence for God's glory?

2,) Why do we sometimes hesitate to share the Gospel? What keeps us from using our influence to spread God's name?

3.) Have you had opportunities lately to share the Gospel that you passed up? What would you do differently next time?

Pray:
Ask God to give you the courage to share the Gospel with someone, and that He will open doors for you to do so.

What are some ways to influence those around you?

Jesus actually had a lot to say about influence. And much of it came from a well know sermon called the Sermon on The Mount. This sermon was Jesus' most in-depth sermon. He was teaching on ethical standards of God's kingdom. In Matthew 5 this was the beginning of that sermon. Here Jesus was using a metaphor. He was talking about us being salt and light in the world around us. What does this mean?

If I were to ask you to describe salt. You will probably say it's salty or little white crystal's. Salt brings out flavor in food. If you think about it, salt enriches the flavor that food already has. A little bit of salt makes a big impact. In Jesus's day, they would use salt to cure fish and other meat. In this way, salt-preserved the meat to keep it from rotting or drying out. In the Roman culture, salt was considered the purest substance known to man. So the idea that salt was pure and unstained was in play.

What about light? Light drives away the darkness. It doesn't take much light to light up an entire room. Light reveals that which is hidden; if you've lost something in the dark, light can find it. Light shows the way. If you were lost in the Judean countryside, a lamp could mean the difference between life and death.

Jesus said that when it comes to our influence, we act just like salt and light in our worlds. You have an influence on those around you whether you think it or not. You are salt. The flavor we are to add to the lives of others is pointing them to Jesus. Our actions show others what we believe but it can also turn others away if we are truly living a life that does not glorify God. Your actions, words, and even thoughts can highlight God's holiness in your life.

Jesus then says we are called to be the Light. We are called to point others to the true light which is Jesus. We do this by living out what we claim to believe. Just like we said about being salt, your actions can either show the light of Christ in someone's life or it can turn them away. When we are truly being a light people will see Christ in us. Then that opens the door to lead others toward God through Jesus. However, In order to be the light, you must first know the light yourself.

How do we influence others? By being the Salt and Light of the world. You might not be able to say that you're influencing people in all of these ways. But that doesn't mean that you can't 

Pray:
Ask God to give you the strength to be a powerful influencer in His name. Pray for someone that you know needs to be pointed to Jesus.

Who do you influence? This was a question asked in your small groups Wednesday night. Hopefully, a few names or groups of people came to mind. Today's devotion I want you to keep that question in mind. Acts 1:8 is a powerful verse that is used to talk about spreading the Gospel. This is Luke's version of Jesus' last words on earth to His disciples. As soon as Jesus said these words He ascended into heaven right in front of the disciples. Jesus was essentially predicting the spread of the Gospel through the world, showing the disciples the role they would play in it. Today we are going to use this verse to help talk about influence about our potential to impact the world around us.

In this verse, Jesus painted for His disciples an ever-expanding view of how the Gospel would impact the disciples would have on their most immediate surroundings. He then mentioned Judea and Samaria, the regions just north of Jerusalem; Jesus showed them how their message would spread beyond the local level. Finally, Jesus mentions the "ends of the world". This represented the farthest, most extreme level the Gospel would reach. Your Jerusalem is your school, your work, and your community. Your influence starts with those around you. In some cases, it's easier to go on mission trips or service projects outside of Obion County, but those mean nothing if we aren't willing to make an impact in the lives of our own county.

Part of helping you think about your influence and impact is getting you to define your reach.

Write out the people you have the most influence over you. These are the people you know the best or around the most. Now think of acquaintances the ones you know but aren't really close at school, work, or wherever that you may not know super-well, but that you still interact with on a regular basis. Finally, write out the people you may not know much about or might take work to be an influence toward. These may be those that have hurt you or those that you may hear negative things about. This is a challenge sometimes, and it takes trusting God to forgive or to be a positive influence in their life. Maybe they too entered into a relationship with God at some point but went off the deep end. Think of someone that may fit that description.

This is the first step in thinking about your influence. As we mentioned Wednesday night we are called to be a light that points those around us to Christ. Are you being a Christ-like influencer to those around you?

Pray:
Take time today to pray to God about those people you wrote down or thought about. Then, think about how you can begin to impact these people and the people you experience everyday.

When we think of people who have the ability to dramatically impact other people with their lives, we often think about people we'd define as leaders. And there's a reason for this: whether teenagers or adults, people who are identified as leaders make their mark on this world. But I have a slight issue with this line of thinking. You see, while it's true that leaders make an impact on this world, it's not just leaders who make an impact. Here's a truth:

Not everyone is a leader. But everyone has influence.

You may not see yourself as a leader. You may not have "leadership skills." But let me assume that each and every one of you reading this have influence. You have the ability to impact the lives of those around you for the sake of Christ. And embracing your amazing power of influence is a HUGE part of growing in your faith. First what exactly is influence?

The Webster Dictionary defines influence as "the power to change or affect someone or something: the power to cause changes without directly forcing them to happen". No matter who you are, you have influence. You have the ability to change people. You have the power to change their attitude, behavior, thoughts, their outlook on life, or even their opinion. Most importantly you have the power to change all of these on behalf of God, for His glory.

You may be saying "I don't have influence. I'm too young. or unimportant. Not popular enough." Here are three examples of people that shouldn't have had any influence because of their life circumstances but they did. Read Luke 7:1-10 if you haven't already.

A Centurion was a Roman general. This Centurion would have been in Capernaum as a member of an invading army that have occupied the Jew's homeland after taking it over. In other words, the Centurion would have been an enemy of the Jews, yet he has influence. This is an awesome passage of someone who shouldn't have had any influence over the Jews. But because of his character and his faith, he was an unlikely source of influence.

In 1 Timothy 4:12 Paul writes to Timothy saying, "Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity." Timothy was Paul's right-hand man, despite being very young, probably a teen or in his early twenties when he started traveling with Paul. The prophet Jeremiah was most likely 19 when God called him. God didn't shy away from positioning Timothy and Jeremiah as influences because of their age. These men impacted the world around them in God's name in spite of being considered too young for the job. They were an unlikely source of influence.

You may be an unlikely source of influence as well. The world may look at you and say, "No one would listen to him," or "She won't make a difference." But that's not what God says. God looks at you and sees someone capable of influencing his or her family, friends, school, or community... who knows how much potential for the influence you have?

Fun Fact: The youngest pastor at TFBC was only 17 years, and he preached at Troy from 1935-1938.

Pray:
Thank God that He sees you as someone with potential. Ask to begin to open your eyes to the world around you and the impact you stand to make. Pray that He would give you the courage and strength to recognize the influence you have and to embrace the impact you can make in His name.

The Apostle Paul had an interesting way of seeing the many ways in which he served God and others. Twice in his letters, he referred to himself as a "drink offering", being poured out for the sake of the Gospel. Now, what did Paul mean? And what does it have to do with service? This is the fourth habit to Grow our faith.

First, a drink offering was part of the sacrifices God asked His people to make in the Old Testament. When God's people would burn an animal on the altar as a sacrifice to pay for their sins, they could include a drink offering almost as a gift to God, a sign of fellowship and harmony. Wine would be poured over the embers on the altar and would steam. The idea was that God would smell the aroma and know it was given as a sign of peace and worship.

Paul was saying that he was like the drink offering. His life was being offered as a sacrifice, pleasing to God, a sign of the relational commitment Paul has to His creator.

So what does this have to do with service? Part of growing your faith is giving your time and energy to serve others. It's pouring yourself out in the name of Christ to help others. These other people may be friends or family. They may also be complete strangers. The idea is that you see a need around you and you meet it, even though this almost always comes at a cost. I'm not saying money, but it can be using your time in your already busy schedule to serve.

For today I challenge you to do something simple and yet costly at the same time
I challenge you to Identify one person who has a need you can meet and follow through with meeting this need through an act of service. When you have the desire to grow your faith, you see people in need and you long to meet that need. People with immature faith either don't see needs, or they do but decide that meeting the need would be too costly for them. Which kind of person would you rather be?

What is your definition of worship?  You may be thinking of "praise" or "give" or "lift". We understand that worshiping God calls for us to act in some way. Here is what you probably defined worship as. Singing.  For many of you when you think of worship you more than likely think of it involving music or singing. This isn't wrong. Worshipping God through song is Biblical. It's commanded. And it is a crucial part of how we relate to God, but our worship goes way beyond singing.

First, Worship is a "right" response. To encounter God and not respond is not right which we will talk about in a moment. Second, there is a response of some sort. Seeing God compels us to do something, but how do you encounter God if you can't physically see Him? Well, you encounter Him all the time. We encounter Him through scripture. We see Him in His creation. We see Him when we encounter other Christians. We also encounter Him when the Holy Spirit moves us in a way as He does at Souled Out. There are many ways to encounter God, and many ways to respond in worship. Do you see how worship goes beyond singing and songs?

Read Psalm 19:1.  This verse is the basis for an exercise I want you to do today. Today, I want you to focus on two things. 1.) Where you encounter God. 2.) How you worship Him with your response.

Look for God as you go through your day. And when you find Him, focus on your response. Maybe you saw a beautiful sunrise or sunset. You may respond by taking a picture so you can reflect on it. You may read a verse that hits you the right way. Your response might be to pray to God or post a verse of devotion on your social media account. That's worship, and so are any other number of things. As you go throughout today look for ways to worship and give God praise today.

Pray
Pray for students, teachers, and other school staff. Ask God to show what He has for you this school year. Then ask God to give you a heart of worship and not be afraid to worship Him.

What if you had a best friend you never talked to? You guys are super close. You know all about each other. The two of you have a lot in common. Your friend may even be a huge influence in your life. But rarely talk to them; when you do, you only talk to them to ask for a favor. Then you run off because you don't want to hear their response to the favor.

Could a relationship work this way? Of course not. Yet for many people that is how we treat our relationship with God. If this is you, don't feel bad because you are not the only one. This is what a lot of people's prayer life looks like in their life.

Prayer is an essential part of our relationship with God, and an important part of our growth. How often do you pray to God? It may be daily. Maybe A few times a week. Or it might be a few times a month. Which one describes you? Now I want you to think about when you do pray what do you pray for?

When I was your age my prayer life was centered around myself. I would pray for things that would make me look good. My faith was immature and weak. I didn't have a deep connection with my faith; instead, I spent more time asking God for things, which negatively impacted my life because my view on prayer was wrong. I'm not saying we shouldn't ask God for things we need because I 100% encourage that! I am saying that when we pray we should spend more time focusing on God, the world, friends, or others. God wants to meet our needs, and He will if we are truly desiring Him. When we rethink how we approach prayer we can take our faith to another level. Praying to God is literally like talking to your best friend. You don't have to say anything special or fancy words. Your just talking to God the one who created all things just as you would a friend.

Read Ephesians 1:15-17, Philippians 1:3-7, And Colossians 1:9-12

What do these prayers have in common? In all of them, Paul was praying for others. We know that Paul asked God for things. But he spent more time praying on issues outside of himself. That is your challenge today.

Pray:
I want you to write down 3 of your close friends or family to pray for this week. Next, I want you to write down 2 names of someone that does not have a relationship with Christ. Lastly, I want you to pray for something that is going on in school, your work, or the world. Spend time this week praying for the things you have listed. Put that list on your mirror, fridge, or wallpaper of your phone to help remind you to pray for them. Also Ask God to grow your prayer life, and to grow to care about the people and issues around you. Ask Him to open your eyes in the needs of the community around you.

The Bible is God's best plan for knowing Him. Because of this, it should be an essential part of our daily lives to read, meditate, and pray with God. That's a truth. But here's another truth that you will quickly see important as well. Most of you reading this live extremely busy lives with little time spent by yourself without any distractions. And when you do have alone time, you're often exhausted. You play sports or cheer. You play in the band or are involved in school clubs. You go fishing or do activities. You may have a job and come home to do a lot of homework. You go to church when you can and you volunteer time to time. All of this leads to you being busy. You know you should spend time with God, but you're super busy.  How do you make this work?

Read Psalm 9:10. Use this verse as a guide to help you rethink the way you engage with God through Scripture and through prayer. The heart of the habit of spending time with God in the Bible is seeking God. Because we love Him, we seek Him. We seek to know him more fully. This verse says that God will honor your seeking. in other words, He'll meet you and allow Himself to be found by you.

If the pace of your life prevents you from finding meaningful time with Him, and it doesn't look like the pace of your life is going to change any time soon, then you need to change HOW you meet with God in His word. Here are a few ways you can do that.

1.) Stop Beating Yourself Up If You Can't Seem To Find Time Alone or Miss A Day To Read Your Bible.
I like to encourage youth to spend 15 to 30 minutes sometime throughout the day whether it's before, during, or after school. We created these devos for you to make a habit of spending time with God. However, I bet that for some you feel guilty because it is a struggle to find the time. I've changed the way I think about this because I know youth today are busy. However, don't use this as an excuse to not do it. You will try to make time for the things you care about the most.  

2.) View Your Day As A Bucket Full Of Opportunities To Engage With God Every Day.
What if you read your Bible for a couple of minutes before practice? What if you listened to the Bible app while you waited for the bus or went to school? Maybe even walking to class. What if you made it a point to look around you and find things that point you to God and praise Him for it?  You may even keep a verse on a notecard or spend a few minutes talking to God throughout the day. Whatever you choose if you want to grow find ways to engage with God.

3.) The Best Way To Interact With God In The Bible Is Still To Seek Him Out.
Jesus modeled this for us. And it is still the best way. Why don't you start by using some of those ideas we just mentioned? Why don't you start out trying to find 15 to 20 minutes a day of uninterrupted prayer and Bible reading in small amounts? Give it a try. This week see how you can make spending time with God a part of your daily routine. You will be surprised how much closer to God you will feel. 

Be honest. What is your attitude toward the Bible? To help you out what do you feel about spending time reading your Bible on your own or doing a Bible Study at church. Now think about your effort. Have you made the effort to spend time reading your Bible in the last two weeks. What about the last two months?

The goal isn't to make you feel guilty by any means, but instead to challenge you to change the way you think about spiritual habits. The one we are focusing on today is Bible reading. I have gone through seasons in my life where I simply couldn't build up the joy of reading the Bible on my own. Here I am talking to you about reading God's word, yet I still go through stages where I struggle with my personal time of Bible reading. It is not something I feel particularly good about, but it's the truth. My guess is that you may too. If this describes you, I want you to pass along something I think God showed me that has really changed my attitude toward meeting Him in His word

Read Psalm 119:9-16. Can you feel the passion the author has for God and His word?
I want you to know that is IS possible for you to have this level of passion for reading the Bible. But first, you have to begin by breaking down a preconceived notion many of us have about the Bible. What is it?

Reading your Bible isn't a chore. It's not a box to be checked off. If you do it with a bad attitude or just to do it, it doesn't magically make you a better Christian. Opening your Bible and reading it is an appointment with God Himself. If the Bible is God's main way of making Himself known to us, then reading the Bible is the closest we'll get to this side of heaven to know Him. You absolutely, 100% have to stop seeing your quiet time as a task and see it as a chance to meet God in the pages of the Bible.

Here's the deal: Most of us view our daily quiet time as a chore, a task we have to do because we know we're supposed to do it. We have to do it and if we don't do it we feel guilty and terrible and like we're not a good Christian like everybody else. This kind of thinking is exhausting. And it's the exact opposite of how God wants us to feel. 

Reflect:
Read and think about these verses:
Jeremiah 29:13, Psalm 1:2-3, Psalm 119:35, 1 Chronicles 16:10-11

Pray:
Ask God to create in you the same passion for knowing Him and His Word as is reflected in these verses

Today I want you to think about habits. Just as we talked about last night, habits are a part of our daily lives. For some, the habit is getting up to exercise, for others, it's drinking coffee and relaxing. We include habits throughout our entire day. If we want to grow in our faith somewhere throughout the day we must make a habit to spend time with God. There are four habits that come to mind. Bible reading, Prayer, Worship, and service. You have no doubt heard these before. in fact, many of you may be feeling familiar feelings of boredom right now because you think you've heard all there is to hear about these habits.

Today's goal is to challenge you more than you ever have been before and position these habits in a new, relevant light. We are going few minutes today to look at where and how we see these habits described in scripture. After all, you can't take my word for it. We need to see if these habits are present in the Bible. Look up the passages below. Then write down how the passages talk about each of the respective habits.

Reading God's Word
Read Psalm 1:2 and Psalm 19:7-8

Prayer
Read Psalm 5:3 and Philippians 4:6

Worship
Read Hebrews 12:28

Service
Read Ephesians 6:7

The Bible speaks about each of these habits in these passages and in countless others. Learning to embrace these habits is a crucial part of growing in your faith. For the rest of this week we are going to discuss implementing these habits in your life. For today spend. For today, spend a few minutes talking with God in prayer. Ask God to give you a desire to grow closer to Him through these habits. Pray for the strength to commit to them as a way to grow your faith. 

We're wrapping up week 2 and our discussion on how growing your faith means owning your purpose in life. When we seek to live a life of greater purpose, there is a cost. But there is also a reward. Let's take a second and look at both of these.

Cost
Read 2 Corinthians 11:23-27. This is Paul giving a recounting to the Corinthians of what all he had been through simply because he had chosen to live out the purpose. God had called him to. I want you to think about what it would be like in your context to really live out the purpose God has called you to, day in, day out. Describe some of the tough things you might experience. What would it cost you to truly live out your purpose?

Reward:
Read Luke 6:22-23. Jesus was telling His disciples what to expect when people treated them poorly just because they followed Christ. How do you think this applies to you today? How will God reward you for living a purposeful life on mission for Him?

You know what? It will cost you if you start to grow your faith and pursue your purpose more intently. You will be faced with taking unpopular stands for your faith. You may lose close relationships with friends because of your walk with Christ. God may even call you out of your comfort zone. But the reward is worth it. Every time. You were designed for this. Don't miss the chance to discover and learn more about your purpose. You will be amazed at the world God opens up to you.

Prayer:
Spend time with God today asking Him to give you the courage to stand out for Him. Ask Him to help you stay focused on the purpose He has for you.

Think back to this week's devotion. How did it start off? The first devotion talked about purpose. The idea was to introduce you to the idea that objects have a purpose. When you need to do a task, you choose an object designated for that task. As we begin to wrap up this week's discussion of your purpose and how essential living out your purpose is to grow in your faith.  

Read Matthew 21:18-22. Jesus had just spent the previous day in Jerusalem where He would celebrate His final passover with His disciples before He would be arrested and crucified. Jesus left Jerusalem to spend the night in the city of Bethany. The exchange with the fig tree happened as the disciples and Jesus were headed back into Jerusalem the next morning. Jesus was primarily teaching the disciples about the power of faith. But I think there's something here we can learn about our purpose as well.

What does this story have to do with your purpose? Ask yourself, why was Jesus frustrated? He was frustrated because He expected the fig tree to have figs. Why?  Because producing figs was the tree's purpose. That's pretty much all it was designed to do. Jesus rightfully expected the tree to live out its purpose. And when it didn't He was frustrated.

Jesus is not going to make you wither up if you don't live out your purpose. He won't, but instead, Jesus expects you to live a life of purpose. Like the fig tree, you were designed with a purpose. When you fail to be who you were designed to be, you fail to honor God and the role He wants you to play in His rescue mission. You were created for a reason. Jesus died a purposeful death so you could live a purposeful life. Just going through the motions won't cut. The purpose of Souled Out, YEC, or even Wednesday nights are made to help you live out the purpose and for you to hear about the one who gives you purpose. However, if your faith is designed around Souled Out each year then you cannot expect your faith to grow. If you go to church just to go but not live it out you can't expect to grow. It's not always easy, but that is part of the importance of surrounding yourself with other believers.

God's rescue mission was in His mind before the creation of the world. God's mission to save people from their sins started with Adam and Eve, and passed through people like Abraham, Joseph, Ruth, and David. Jesus made this rescue mission real. And people like Peter, Paul, James, and John advanced the mission. Countless others throughout history have as well. Millions of people over thousands of years. Guess what? It's your turn. Where will you join God's mission? Think about this as you go throughout today.

Reflect:
1.) Are there consequences for us when we fail to grow in our faith and live it out? What might some of these consequences be?

2.) What does pursuing God's purpose for your life have to do with growing your faith?

Prayer:
Thank God for expecting you to play a part in His mission, and for giving you the opportunity to do so. Ask Him to give you the strength you need to seek out your purpose by getting on board with His mission

Your task today is a little different from previous days. Today, you're going to take some time to think and reflect about where you see God working in the world around you and prayerfully determine where you can discover your purpose through joining God where He already is.

You're going to do this in a few steps.

Step 1:
Stop and pray before you do this. Pray that God would reveal to you where He is working around you and help guide you in thinking about how you can join His mission. This is an important step. Don't skip it

Step 2:
Take a second to think about how you described your passions, Personality, and Gifts in Day 8.

Step 3:
Identify your purpose. Think about the world around you. Think about where you see God's rescue mission present and active. For me I see God working in the youth group. Generation Z as a whole, and I people longing for God. Now think about places where God seems to be absent in people's lives. This may be family, friends, or even co-workers. Think about how you can use your passions, personality, and gifts for God's glory. This is your purpose. Think about this.

Step 4:
Act. Get involved. Follow through. Take your faith to another level by living out your purpose using the skills and interests God has given you to make a difference for Him. This means serving, being involved in church, and building Godly relationships around you. If you truly want to grow in your faith you need to surround yourself with those who will help you and encourage you to do so. If you surround yourself with those that draw you away needless to say you will do just that. 

Yesterday we defined God's mission. We talked about that God's mission was to rescue all people from the penalty of their sins so they could live a full life.

Today we are going to think about your purpose in a powerful way. It is impossible to take greater ownership of your faith without taking ownership of your purpose. Let's define your purpose and uncover what that purpose is. There are different ways to define purpose, however, Andy Blanks defines it as " Your purpose is found in the exact place where your passions, personality, and giftings intersect with God's mission."

God made you who you are. He gave you things that you were passionate about such as sports, music, or being outdoors. Things that naturally interest you or get you excited. He gave you a personality. There is no one else fully like you. You are you because God wanted you to be you. You also have talents and gifts that God has given you. Your purpose is found when all of these things combine with God's mission to rescue people. When we define each of these things and can think about who we are and how God made us, we can begin to look for places where we can use this combination to plug into God's rescue mission. This is one of the coolest wats to take greater ownership of your faith.

Let's see how you fit into God's plan. You are going to do a little activity. You're going to take a closer look at each of the areas just mentioned by writing them down. I encourage you to do so:

Passion:
What are you passionate about? What causes you to get that blood pumping? Is it people? Places? or something else? Write down at least five things that really excite you. It can be anything.

Personality
What makes you who you are? What do you like? What do you not like? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What are yours like? What life experiences have shaped you? All of these things help you define your personality. Describe yourself by writing your answers down.

Gifts:
What are your gifts? We are not talking about gifts you receive but what are you good at? What skills do you have? It's fun to think that God gave you these to use for His Kingdom, isn't it? No matter how strange your talents are, God can use you. Write down a list of your talents.

How was that? We don't often get the chance to think about ourselves in this way. I hope you see that God has created you to be who you are in order to join Him in His mission. Tomorrow you will apply all of what you have learned so far to how you can begin to jump in with God's rescue mission. 

Pray:
Say a prayer to God thinking Him for creating you and for creating you exactly as He did.

When you think of God's mission do you know what that means? If not that's okay! The definition of mission means "a self-imposed objective or purpose." So when we talk about God's mission, we are talking about His objective or His purpose.  What is God's Mission think about that question for a second? There are a few ways to define God's mission. Above is a list of verses about what the Bible has to say about God's mission. If you haven't taken the time to read those. These verses summarize God's mission in one word. Rescue. God came to rescue us from the penalty of sins. While there are more detailed answers to defining God's mission, i believe rescue sums it up. 

If you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior you have been rescued. Do you realize that? I want to ask you a question. What has God saved you from? The Bible answers this question. In Psalms 51:4 the Bible says that sin is the rebellion against God. Romans 6:23 says that because God is perfect, holy, and creator of all life, any rebellion against God deserves death. That stinks but that is the truth. Without God's intervention, we would be left to die in our sins. But God sent Jesus, even though He was sinless, to pay the penalty that our sins rightfully earned us (2 Cor 5:21) If we want to be rescued from our sins, all we have to do I place our faith in Jesus. This is done by admitting that we are sinners, believing that Jesus died for us, and confessing these things to Him. His work on the cross purchased freedom for us. This is what God rescued us from. Sin.

This is how your purpose and God's mission tie together. Earlier you answered the question what does God save you from. Now I want to ask you this question. What has God saved you to? You probably thought this was a typo but it wasn't. Here's the truth: Most Christians don't think about the life God saved them to, only the death He saved them from. God didn't just rescue you to leave you sitting there. He saved you to live a life full of amazing purpose.

Pray:
Today as you finish this devotion. Spend time with God by preparing your heart for this week. Ask Him to begin working within you to reveal your purpose to you. Listen to what He will show you. 

You have completed Week 1! How does it feel? Hopefully, this has been a pretty awesome week for you. The good news is that you're just getting started. This week was all about owning your faith. You learned that in order to grow in your faith you have to be one to do so. You have to be in the driver's seat of your walk with Christ. The next few weeks are even better, as you'll get into what it means to take your faith to another level and look at God's mission for your life. 

Look back over your week. Look for one thing that jumps out at you as important. Maybe it was something that really challenged you. maybe it was something that you had never heard before or something that made you think of faith in a new way. 

Today I want you to think of Journaling. This might make you cringe because maybe you don't normally express yourself in words which is fine. Or maybe it's an idea that just kind of sounds weird. Even if you aren't completely comfortable with it, putting your thoughts on paper forces you to stop and think deeply about what's going on in your heart and mind.

Take a few minutes to journal. Think about this new way of thinking about your faith that you have been challenged with this week, and then answer these questions below.

1.) What about approaching your faith makes you excited? What about growing in your faith makes you feel nervous?

2.) How do you expect your life to be different as a result of owning your faith?

3) What stuck out to you this week,  why did this stand out to you? 

We will kick off Week 2 tomorrow at REcharge!

Waiting. This is what the Israelites had to do for 40 years. They waited 40 years to enter the land that was promised to them by God. It was a big deal. So big enough that Joshua told them to make a marker, which was a pile of stones. He wanted the Israelites to remember that moment in their faith based journey with God, and to show that how God was, is, and always will be faithful.

If you stay close to God throughout your life, you will have spiritual markers where you can look back and see evidence of God working in your life. One of those markers for me is when I accepted the call of becoming a youth director. I was nervous, debating if I was ready, and even confused because I still had an urge to go back to baseball as a player when a door cracked open. However I took the leap of faith and said yes and never looked back. I had to adjust and learn many lessons along the way, but I can tell you that God has worked tremendously in my life.
I had already began to talk my walk serious but this took it to another level. Maybe for you that marker is Souled out, a moment at church, or maybe even a time where God brought you out of a tough season in life. Whatever it is I want you think about that marker. Has that moment in your life changed your desire to grow closer to God?

Today I want to encourage you that today to will be the day that you get serious in your faith. To pursuit God in a real way. You are halfway  through the first week of the 30 for 30 challenge, and its time to make the decision. Are you ready to grow in your faith? More importantly are you truly wanting to grow in your faith and own it? If you are serious about seeing your faith truly become a real presence in your life today can be one of those spiritual markers in your life. Today I want you trust that God will honor your desires. Trust that the Holy Spirit will work within you to draw you closer to God, making you more like Him in the process. Its a long journey, but its a wonderful journey.

The second thing I want you to do is to right down a list of markers in your life. Then I want you to make one that will help you remember this moment. Whatever you do take the time to mark this moment. It may very well turn out to be a turning point in your faith. Spend sometime in silent reflection. Listen to God. Praise Him. Reflect on this change you're making in your life. Say a prayer  asking God to honor your desire to grow. You can pray whatever you would like . But if you want you can follow the short prayer below. Pray and reflect today.