Empower!
Purpose
We exist to connect our youth back to God.
Mission - How do we do it?
Through Bible Based Curriculum, community groups settings, worship environments and youth leadership development.
Vision
Our vision is for our youth to be successful in all areas of life. Cause
With God, the Youth Will Always Win.
Day 1-7 HEAR
If you want to know God, the first thing to do is hear from Him. But
how do you hear from Someone who isn't likely to....
....show up to your school?
....sit next to you at the lunch table?
....send you a text?
....write you a note in science class?
How can you hear from Someone if you can't even see Him?
Actually, the Bible gives us a pretty good clue. It says:
"No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known" (John 1:18).
God's one and only Son. Jesus. There it is again, this idea that if you want to know God, you should get to know Jesus.
Jesus is the best way to know God because He spent time living on this planet. And while He was here, He spent a lot of time with twelve guys who are sometimes called disciples and sometimes called apostles. Whatever you want to call them, they got to know Jesus pretty well.
They were there when Jesus taught.
They were there when Jesus worked miracles.
They were there when Jesus died .
....and they saw Him alive again after He rose from the dead.
They were also around when Jesus ascended. That means one minute He was standing on a hill with His disciples saying goodbye, and the next minute He rose up into the sky and disappeared. Pretty wild, huh?
But it's all in the Bible. You can read more about it in Acts 1
So, why does it matter that these twelve guys witnessed so much of Jesus" life and teachings? And what does that have to do with hearing from God?
...EVERYTHING!
21 Day Devotional
Right before Jesus ascended, He gave them the most important mission:
"You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).
Jesus wanted his disciples, apostles, friends to go tell people what they had seen and heard.
And guess what?...
They did.
They went. They told. Some of them wrote it down.
In fact, two of Jesus' disciples, Matthew and John, wrote down stories from the time they spent with Jesus. Remember, these guys knew Jesus. He was their Friend. When they wrote about Jesus, they were writing about Someone they had traveled with, eaten with, and hung out with. They had seen Him in action.
They wrote about how He was born. They wrote about how His ministry got started. They wrote about what He did and what He said
Two other guys, Mark and Luke, also wrote about Jesus. They weren't disciples who hung out with Jesus, but they knew some of those guys.
Mark was friends with Peter (another disciple), and Luke interviewed iust about everyone who met Jesus.
Today, you can still read the words of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the Bible. They are the first four books of the New Testament. We call these four books the Gospels, and each one gives us a unique look at the life of Jesus.
If you want to know God, read His Story. Think about who He is and what He says. Hearing from God in this way will help you trust Him more. So here's one thing to think about as you get started this week: if you want to know God, remember His words