Advent 2016

Christmas is quickly approaching! In the days leading up to Christmas, Advent is a time for us to reflect on and anticipate the coming of Christ.

We hope you will join us on this journey, along with our friends at Youth Specialties!

“For you do not know on which day your Lord will come…So, too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” – Matthew 24:36-44 How are you preparing yourself for the Lord’s coming? How can you prepare alongside others? #christmas #advent #prepare Follow us and our friends at @youthspecialties all Advent season to prepare for Jesus’s coming.

A photo posted by YouthWorks Missions (@ywmissions) on Nov 27, 2016 at 11:15am PST

 

“When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, ‘Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.’ He said to him, ‘I will come and cure him.’ The centurion said in reply, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed…’” – Matthew 8:5-11 God sent Jesus because of the human need for a Savior. We are broken and we sin. Just like the centurion, we may find ourselves unworthy to have Jesus enter into our lives. But in this story, we see the centurion admit his unworthiness to Jesus and Jesus responds with amazement to faithfulness. How are you humbling yourself before God? How can you be more faithful to God? #christmas #advent #unworthy Follow us and our friends at @youthspecialties all Advent season as we prepare for the coming of Jesus!

A photo posted by YouthWorks Missions (@ywmissions) on Nov 28, 2016 at 8:03pm PST

“I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.” – Luke 10:21-24 How do you see God revealed in your life? How do you see God revealed around you? #christmas #advent #reveal Follow us and our friends at @youthspecialties this Advent season as we prepare for the coming of Jesus!

A photo posted by YouthWorks Missions (@ywmissions) on Nov 29, 2016 at 7:15am PST

“’Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.” – Matthew 4:18-22 Jesus tells Peter and Andrew to come, follow him and tells them he will make them fishers of men, rather than fishermen. The idea of dropping everything at a moment’s notice can be kind of scary. Jesus is calling us to come after him and, like Peter and Andrew, he will make us fishers of men – using us in God’s story around the world. #christmas #advent #come Follow us and our friends at @youthspecialties all Advent season as we prepare for Jesus's coming!

A photo posted by YouthWorks Missions (@ywmissions) on Nov 30, 2016 at 8:29pm PST

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” As we wait in anticipation of the Lord, Jesus tells us to deepen our faith and deepening our roots to build a solid foundation. We are not just told to LISTEN to Jesus’s words, but to ACT on them as well. How will you ACT on Jesus’s words? #act #christmas #advent Follow us and our friends at @youthspecialties all Advent season long as we prepare for Jesus's coming!

A photo posted by YouthWorks Missions (@ywmissions) on Dec 1, 2016 at 9:10am PST

“When he entered the house, the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I can do this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ they said to him. Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘Let it be done for you according to your faith.’” The blind men’s FAITH and confidence in the Lord ultimately led to their eyes being opened. How are you deepening your FAITH as we wait for Jesus? #faith #christmas #advent Follow us and our friends at @youthspecialties all Advent season as we prepare for Jesus's coming!

A photo posted by YouthWorks Missions (@ywmissions) on Dec 2, 2016 at 4:00pm PST

“Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, ‘Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘’The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.” Matthew 10:1, 5A, 6-8 Jesus sent his disciples out into the world to be his hands and feet. Just like the disciples, we are also called to be Jesus’s hands and feet. We have received grace from Jesus and we have been sent to share that grace and love with those around us. How are you being the hands and feet of Jesus? Follow us and our friends at @youthspecialties all Advent season as we prepare for Jesus's coming!

A photo posted by YouthWorks Missions (@ywmissions) on Dec 3, 2016 at 8:10am PST

“John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River….’I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.’” John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus’s coming. He preached, encouraged, and baptized people with water. But here he explains that the one who is coming – Jesus – is much more powerful. Jesus does not baptize with water, but instead baptizes with the Holy Spirit and cleanses our sins. Follow us and our friends at @youthspecialties all Advent season as we prepare for Jesus's coming!

A photo posted by YouthWorks Missions (@ywmissions) on Dec 4, 2016 at 2:48pm PST

“He said to the paralyzed man, ‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’ Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, ‘We have seen remarkable things today.’” A few friends brought a paralyzed man to a house Jesus was teaching at. When they arrived, the house was so crowded they could not bring their friend to lay him in front of Jesus. So rather than go through the front door, the friends went up on the roof and lowered the man through the tiles of the roof – right in the middle of the crowd and in front of Jesus! Jesus acknowledged their faith and healed the paralyzed man. The friends were amazed! What amazes you about Jesus? What are you giving glory to God for what has been done in your life? Follow us and our friends at @youthspecialties all Advent season as we prepare for Jesus's coming!

A photo posted by YouthWorks Missions (@ywmissions) on Dec 5, 2016 at 8:30am PST

“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.” God searches each and every one of us out. God rejoices when we are found and God does not want us to be away and lost from our heavenly Father. We were lost, but God has found us. How do you feel FOUND by God?

A photo posted by YouthWorks Missions (@ywmissions) on Dec 6, 2016 at 11:00am PST

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” We do not have to walk through this life on our own. Jesus tells us to learn from him and take up his yoke. When we go to Jesus, we find rest. This season can bring a lot of busyness to our lives – how are you finding rest in Jesus?

A photo posted by YouthWorks Missions (@ywmissions) on Dec 7, 2016 at 9:06pm PST

“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…’ ‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God….For no word from God will ever fail.’ ‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’” God uses each of us to fulfill his greater plans. God used Mary to bring Jesus into the world and although she was shocked, she placed her trust in God and God’s never-failing Word. How are you fulfilling God’s plans? How can you be more focused on how God fulfills His plans?

A photo posted by YouthWorks Missions (@ywmissions) on Dec 9, 2016 at 11:16am PST

“For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For ‘All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.’” God’s incredible power was revealed through Jesus and we believe in God because of Jesus. We are continually reminded that God’s Word remains well beyond our life on earth – God’s Word endures through everything.

A photo posted by YouthWorks Missions (@ywmissions) on Dec 9, 2016 at 11:19am PST