This week, we kick off another exciting season at Journey with worship and games! Peake Youth Director, Adam Galemore takes us through a look at the big picture of God’s love, grace, and forgiveness through the 66 books of the Bible. His love is deep and wide, and it’s onto that stage that Joseph will enter.

On our own, life can seem meaningless at times. Wake up, eat, school, sleep, repeat. But when we begin to read God’s Word and obey His commands, we’ll learn what His will is for our lives. We’ll begin to find our purpose. As God’s love surrounds our lives, we’ll want to love Him in return. As we love God, He brings meaning and purpose to our lives through serving others and sharing His love with other teens who don’t know Him yet.

Fasting might sound odd at first. Skipping meals, giving up our phones or social media for a period of time...but when we try it, we'll learn how it goes hand in hand with prayer. Through fasting, we'll grow closer to our Creator. Through fasting, we'll focus intently on Christ. And as we do, we are humbled, realizing our complete dependence on God for literally everything, even something as basic as food.

Do you have that one friend who only calls when she needs something? That guy in your class who only texts when he doesn't understand the math assignment? God probably feels like that's us sometimes. Prayer is not a one-time thing or a desperate plea when we are in trouble. Prayer can be so much more!  As we grow in a relationship with Christ, He teaches us that prayer can be a constant conversation with our Heavenly friend!

Prayer can be intimidating. We start out praying for a pair of jeans or stumbling over our words. But, the more we learn to praise God for who He is and discover His will by praying His Word, the more we'll understand what prayer is all about. As we come to God with an undivided heart, we'll learn that it's all about a relationship with Him.

The Creator of the universe, the painter of glorious sunrises, the Savior of the world...God is worthy of our worship and praise just for who He is. But, sometimes, we start to let other things become "gods" in our lives. Activities, sports, social media...all begin to crowd out our praise for our amazing God. This week, as we explore the beauty of Psalm 96, we'll see that we were created to worship. The more we experience God's beauty, power, and love, the more we'll want to come to Him with open arms.

One of our Peake Youth college students shares from his heart what Psalm 51 means to him. Connor will share some of his own struggles as a teen, and how, when we live life with God, we can share our pain and challenges with God as a lament. Even this is worship, as we lean on God for strength and peace, giving over everything in our lives to Him.

The closer we come to Christ, the more He becomes our shepherd. He leads, guides, and comforts us, even in our darkest moments. When pitch black is all that I see, He holds my hand, walks alongside me, and keeps me safe. He's what my world spins around.

Joseph, engaged to a girl named Mary, found out she was pregnant. He could have done what the culture was telling him to do–divorce her, or even have her stoned for unfaithfulness. But, instead, he chose to be true to God's plan for the world. His faithfulness played a role in the Savior of the world coming to Earth as "God with us."

As we learn from Mary's story of humble obedience, we'll come to realize that we were designed to be vessels of God's love. We can strive daily to be pure and holy vessels by reading His Word and talking to Him through prayer.