Student Devotion Session 1: What is the Call?

Key Verse: Matthew 16:24-26, "²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. ²⁶ What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?"

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Richard "Rip" Hamilton, LeBron James. What do these celebrities have in common? Each of these athletes surrounds himself with a tight-knit circle of followers. The key to each of these groups is that it is made up of people who have known each other since childhood. When Rip Hamilton made it big in the NBA, his group of friends from his neighborhood made it big with him. When Dale Jr. is at home taking a break from NASCAR, he is usually with his group of childhood friends. LeBron James is a little different; his friends actually form a management group that handles much of his business ventures.

While they may differ somewhat, one thing is true: for the friends of these celebrities, being a follower has its benefits. Life as LeBron's business manager is probably better than working a regular nine to five job, right?

Read Matthew 16:24-26. Jesus had a lot to say about being a follower. He did not promise fame. He did not promise fortune. He did not promise comfort. But look at what He did promise: "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."

There are two truths in this scripture passage worth mentioning. First, Jesus absolutely, positively commands that we follow Him. There is no other way around it. Christ does not desire your lukewarm commitment. He expects 100 percent of your devotion. Second, He expects your devotion knowing full well the cost of following Him. Jesus knows your road will be tough. He knows following Him is not easy. So, why does He still command us to be His disciples?

The answer is easy: Jesus knows that following Him leads to life... Life free from the penalty of sin... Life free from the power of death. Jesus longs for you to follow after Him, and to lead others to do the same.

While it might not have the same privileges of this world, following Jesus does have its benefits. So... what are you waiting for?

Smithfield Student Ministry Weekly Devotion Session Six - Sharing His Glory

Key Verse: Psalm 96:1-13, "¹ Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.
² Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. ³ Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. ⁴ For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. ⁵ For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. ⁶ Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary. ⁷ Ascribe to the LORD, all you families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. ⁸ Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. ⁹ Worship the LORD in the splendor of his^[a] holiness; tremble before him, all the earth. ¹⁰ Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.” The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity. ¹¹ Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. ¹² Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. ¹³ Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness."

What's the difference between the burrito at your favorite Mexican restaurant and the shady microwaveable ones you buy by the bag-full from the freezer section of your local grocery store? It's the same exact difference between a feature length movie released in theaters and a bootlegged version downloaded from the web. There's just something different about the real thing isn't there?

More often than not, the authentic original article is worth the extra money, time or energy that separates it from a knock-off variety. Whether it's clothes, cars, or food, the real thing earns our praise while the sub-par versions usually serve as a punch line in a joke.

God is the same way. What? Seriously...Keep reading.

Read Psalm 96:1-13. It immediately becomes obvious that the psalm is an amazing testimony of praise of God. The Israelites lived in a world much like ours in at least one significant way: They were surrounded by a culture that embraced multiple gods and religions. So, in a way, the psalmist was saying that God was worthy to be praised because He is the real thing! Not some impostor, God really is "the God who made the heavens." God is righteous and will judge the nations. Because of this, the psalmist says He is "most worthy of praise." (verse 4).

Part of following Christ is living your life in such a way that you are constantly giving praise to God. Your actions, words, inner thoughts, and outward emotions should reflect a worldview that is influenced by your love for God and for His Son. When you live this way, you will actually lead others to recognize God's greatness.

Your life can be a testimony to God's glory. After all, He's the real deal, worth every bit of your praise and service.

Smithfield Student Ministry Weekly Devotion Session Five - The Mission's Cost

Key Verse: John 12:23-26, "²³ Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵ Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me."

Take a moment and think about the answer to the following questions:

What do you hold most dearly? What is the one thing you value about all else? What is the one specific thing you hold on to most?

Don't move on without stopping for a moment and thinking about your answers.

Got it? How did you respond? Did your answer take the form of an object, such as your i-phone, your electric guitar, your laptop, or your car? Or maybe your answer took the form of a relationship; maybe the thing you value the most is your parent or parents, your siblings, or maybe even your best friend. However you responded, hopefully you were able to think of one thing you particularly value above all else.

Your answer to the question "What do you hold most dearly?" actually reveals a lot about your priorities. It may not seem like it at first, but your answer says a lot about how you view the world. Keep that though in mind as we pause for a moment.

Stop and read John 12:23-26. Jesus was in Jerusalem for a special celebration called the Passover Feast. The passover celebrated the Lord delivering the Jews from slavery in Egypt. Shortly before this passage, Jesus' followers had heaped praises on Him as he entered the city. Yet, Jesus knew His time was drawing to an end. In this passage, Jesus' words let us know that He knew exactly the sacrifice He would soon make on the cross.

Look back at verses 25-26. Jesus basically says we cannot follow Him if the thing we hold most dear is our own life. Jesus is helping His followers (and that includes you) understand that their lives should be totally committed to God literally! You should view your life as if it belonged to God. You should treat your life as something that is to be given over, sacrificed for God to use and direct in order to draw glory to Himself.

You cannot follow God if you hold too dearly to this life. To be the greatest credit to God's Kingdom you should view your relationship with Christ as most important, above all else in your life. Only then will you be able to fully embrace your role as a part of His mission.

How can you begin to let go of your life, giving yourself over to God to be used as He sees fit?

Smithfield Student Ministry Weekly Devotion Session Four - Called and Sent

Key Verse: Acts 7:57-8:4

^"57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, ⁵⁸ dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. ¹ And Saul approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. ² Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. ³ But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. ⁴ Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went"

When you think about "being sent" by God on mission with Him, what do you think about? Do you think about missionaries working in far away exotic places? Do you think about people who leave their careers to start churches? Do you think about short-term mission trips like the ones your youth group probably takes? While these are certainly all examples of being sent, it's important for you to understand that being sent out on mission with God doesn't just mean moving to another country or planting churches.

There's more to being called and sent out than organized mission experiences. You can be sent out in the simplest of ways. For example:

Take a second and read Acts 7:57-8:4. Now, you are picking up at the end of a long story. Stephen, a member of the early Jerusalem Church and a Christ-follower, was testifying to the true identity of Jesus before one of the Jewish courts. The Jews were so furious at Stephen for claiming Jesus was the Song of God that they dragged Stephen out and killed him. That's what you read about in verse 57. Stephen boldly spoke the truth about Christ no matter the cost. But that's not where I want you to pay attention.

Focus on Acts 8:4. Paul and the other anti-Christian Jews were running these Christ-followers out of Jerusalem. Yet, verse 4 gives us a glimpse of the character in these individuals. These followers of Christ didn't allow persecution to keep them from carrying out God's mission. As they were forced out of Jerusalem, they continued to share with others about all Jesus was doing. That's pretty amazing, isn't it?

These believers found themselves in a circumstance they could not control. You probably find yourself in these types of situations often. After all, you don't have a lot of choice about going to school do you? While you're there, why don't you treat your school like a mission experience? Consider what it looks like to be called by God and sent to your school as a light for God's kingdom.

You don't have to go to a far away country. The biggest opportunity you have is right in front of you each and every day. Don't miss your chance!

Smithfield Student Ministry Weekly Devotion Session Three - Christ's Commission

Key Verse: Matthew 3:16-17, "¹⁶ As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Chances are, if you're reading this you're a teenager. And if you're a teenager, you're actually in a pretty cool time of your life. While it's hard to see it, now, you are doing things that will shape your future, long after your teenage years over. Many of the decisions you make in the next, few years will affect the path you choose after high school, which, in most cases, affects your career, who you will marry, where you will live...Big decisions right?

The coolest thing is that you will reach a point, years down the road when you can look back and identify the truly important moments in your life. You will be able to point to two or three moments as the ones that really jump-started the process of shaping the person you will have become.

Believe it or not, Jesus had one of these moments. Read Matthew 3:11-17. This passage is Matthew's version of Jesus' baptism. At the beginning, you see John the Baptist talking about the coming Messiah, God's Son who will take away the sins of the world. All of a sudden, Jesus is on the scene. John realizes Jesus is the promised Messiah while John is initially hesitant to baptize Jesus, he agrees and Jesus is baptized.

Go back and read verses 16 and 17 again. This is the reason God desired for Jesus to be baptized. Most people in John's day were baptized as a way of symbolizing their repentance from sin. Jesus was perfect, therefore He did not need to symbolize repentance So why be baptized? Verses 16 and 17 tell us Jesus' baptism was God's way of showing the world that the time of Jesus' ministry had begun.

Notice the two things that happened: the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus, anointing Him for God's work. And God validated Jesus' identity and mission by audibly recognizing Jesus as His Son. So, as we look back at Jesus' life and ministry. His baptism was one of those monumentally important moments that shaped His life to come. Looking back, it was the start of His true purpose and mission on this earth.

You will these moments, too. Moments where God uses you. Moments you will look back on and realize how important they were to your overall spiritual development.

The real question is, will you be ready when your moment comes?

Smithfield Student Ministry Weekly Devotion Session Two - The Great Commission

Key Verse: Matthew 9:35-38, "³⁵ Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Do you see him over there? The old man by the trashcan with his head resting against the wall. See him? No...don't bother him; he's sleeping. Just watch. Watch what's about to happen...

See that woman walking towards him? The one on her cell phone? Yeah, her. She walks past here every morning. And he's usually there. The truth is that she's not really on her cell phone. She's faking it so she doesn't have to look at him. When he asks her for change or for food it makes her so uncomfortable. So today she's pretending to talk on her phone so he won't bother her.

Now, look again. See the teenaged girl with the torn jeans coming this way? Her name's Cassie. She's pretty, don't you think? Well, the truth about Cassie's life isn't pretty at all. Her dad's a drunk. He took-off a couple of years ago. Her mom works so much Cassie hardly sees her. Most days Cassie's barely holding it together, herself. But watch what she does when as she nears the old man. See her reaching into her bag? She's pulling out a blanket she brought from home. See, she passed by the old man yesterday and noticed he was shivering. So today she brought him a blanket.

See how she drapes it over him? Soft, so as not to wake him. Watch her lift his hand and put it under the blanket so he'll be warmer. See how she stares at him before she walks off? Makes you wonder what she is thinking...

What if I told you she was praying? She prays for him a lot, actually. She doesn't know his name. He doesn't know her either. But she prays for him. She prays that God would keep him safe. That he would know someone cares for him. That he would know Jesus cares for him. That he would know she care for him.

And there goes Cassie...Off to who knows where.

Cassie doesn't have all the answers. And she doesn't make all the right choices. But she tries. And she cares. She cares for the lost, the sick, the lonely, the outcast, the broken-hearted. Cassie cares for those forgotten.

Why?

Because she loves Jesus. And Jesus care for the forgotten, too.

Smithfield Student Ministry Weekly Devotion Session One - God's Global Mission

Key Verse: Psalm 67: 1-7, "May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us—so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth. May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us. May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear him."

If you've had the fortune/curse of putting together a complex piece of furniture (or watched as your mom or dad struggled through it), you know how important the plans are. If you miss even one step, the whole thing may fall apart. There's nothing more frustrating than getting to the end of a project only to find you put something on backwards or upside down.

The stakes are higher if you help another person put something together. Not only do you have to make sure you're both on the same page, there's the added pressure of building something for someone else. You want to make sure you do a good job as they will be happy with their new creation.

While we don't actually know who wrote this psalm, it's safe to say they were thankful for God's blessing. This psalm seems to be more of a prayer than a hymn and while songs or prayers like this were usually sung after successful harvests, this psalm has a deeper message.

God read verse 1 again and think to yourself how you might summarize it in one sentence. A good summary might read something like, "The psalmist is praying for God's good favor, or blessing" simple enough. Now there's the cool part. Read verse 2 and again, think how you might summarize it in one sentence. You might have come up with something similar to, "The psalmist want all the people of the world to know of God and His ways." Put these two verses together and an awesome picture appears.

The psalmist wants God to bless him and his people. But this petition for blessing is not out of a selfish desire, it's so that others might see the Blessings God has poured out, give God glory for these blessings, and desire to be similarly blessed. The goal of the psalmist's prayer is so God would be glorified.

When you build a piece of furniture or fix a bike, you have to follow a plan. A set of rules. A guide that has the big picture in mind. God's mission to reach the world is the same way. He has a plan. And the coolest part is that you play a major role in His plan. He has chosen you, your friends, your church, and all Christ-followers everywhere to be one of the main ways God spreads His story of love, grace, and redemption. Do you take this responsibility seriously? Do you live in such a way that your life follows God's plan to share His love with all the world? What changes do you need to make today in order to be on mission with God in all that you do?