First Priority of Alabama

The Hope of Christ in Every Student

Join Our Race to 100 Challenge!

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What if I told you that for just $25 per month a student’s life could be changed forever? Yes, you read that right! That’s a large pizza and an order of bread sticks once a month. We would like to inform you about our Race to 100 campaign. We’re racing to find 100 people to give $25 per month for the next 12 months. That’s $300 a year. Your monthly gift will be used immediately to develop campus ministry for students on their local school campuses. Our goal is to reach every school in 22 school systems across Central Alabama; that’s nearly 170,000 students. But, we can’t do this alone, we need your help. Will you prayerfully consider joining our race and giving $25 per month for the next 12 months?
 
The following are 12 important reasons to join the Race to 100:
  1. The largest mission field in the state of Alabama is the public school.
  2. More students will be equipped to share the Gospel with their peers.
  3. New resources will be developed to train students with evangelistic tools to share the Gospel.
  4. New First Priority clubs in middle and high schools will be started across our area.
  5. We will be able to reach a younger generation by starting new FPKids clubs in elementary schools.
  6. We will hear more student testimonies of “I came to know Christ through my First Priority club.” For some students, First Priority is the only youth group they are exposed to.
  7. First Priority’s HOPE Strategy works! Students come to know Christ every month.
  8. First Priority connects local churches as the body of Christ to build the Kingdom of God.
  9. A First Priority volunteer will make a difference in the lives of hopeless students.
  10. You will help students promote See You at the Pole on their local school campuses.
  11. You will help provide doughnuts, biscuits, pizza, drinks and other incentives for more students to attend club meetings and hear the Gospel.
  12. Students who respond to the Gospel will continue to be followed-up with by the local church.
 
For more than 25 years, First Priority has worked with local churches to raise up a generation of students who will choose to make Jesus Christ their First Priority. For years, church leaders have heard the claim that nearly nine out of 10 Christians accept Jesus as their Savior before the age of 18. If that statistic was accurate in the past, it no longer depicts U.S. society. Now Barna says that, “If Jesus is not already part of their lives by the time they leave junior high school, the chance of them accepting Him as their Lord and Savior is very slim (6% to be exact).” That is why we unite the body of Christ with a plan of action to influence the school with the Gospel.

Please prayerfully consider continuing your important partnership with the ministry of First Priority by joining our Race to 100. Thank you for your continuous support!
 

You’re invited to our Back to School Bash!

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Please support First Priority and bring your kids out for a fun day at Sky Zone! On Sunday, August 12, First Priority is having a Back to School Bash at Sky Zone Trampoline Park in Hoover. Kids (elementary/intermediate) are invited to jump and play from 1-3 p.m. while parents, ministry leaders and teachers attend an FPKids training in one of Sky Zone’s meeting rooms. And, youth (middle/high) are invited to jump from 3-5 p.m. We will have a First Priority training during that time as well for youth and student leaders. The cost to jump is $16 per person and this includes socks. Please purchase tickets at Sky Zone on the day of the event, not online. If you plan to attend the FPKids training, please register online HERE. Registration online is only for the adults attending the FPKids training. For more information, please call 205.871.8886. Students are encouraged to bring a back to school supply item to donate to those in need. We look forward to seeing you at Sky Zone in Hoover on Sunday, August 12!

We’re celebrating 450 decisions for Christ during 2017-2018!

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Dear Friend and First Priority Partner,
 
For nearly 30 years, First Priority has worked to see the Hope of Christ in every student across the Greater-Birmingham Area. During this time, we have seen hundreds of thousands of lives transformed for the Kingdom. We thank God for His great power and give Him all the praise and glory for these changed lives. Wow, what another incredible year of First Priority and FPKids! First Priority has middle and high school clubs in nearly 100 schools and FPKids clubs in over 40 elementary and intermediate schools.This year, out of the schools that reported, over 10,000 students attended First Priority and FPKids clubs every week; and we are excited to announce that nearly 450 students made a decision for Christ on their school campus. There were countless more salvation decisions at First Priority sponsored events throughout this school year as well. These students were followed-up with to be discipled and become involved with a local church. Our God is good!
The public school is the largest mission field in America. Students on our campuses work each week to ensure the Gospel is spread throughout their school. They are unashamed and eager to share their faith and help their friends mature in their relationship with Christ. The desire to see their friends accept the love and message of Jesus Christ is evident in the number of salvations reported for this school year. While students are reaching students, God is at work shaping lives.
 
In my 20 plus years of working with this great ministry, I can tell you that First Priority works and that lives are truly being changed. I am very blessed to have witnessed the incredible transformation of students first-hand. With this movement, all it takes is one student and an entire school and generation can be changed for Christ. God is truly amazing and we know He can do anything. We can’t wait to see how He is going to move in our schools and through our students in the years to come. We hope you will take a moment to check out our full ministry report to learn about all the incredible things God did during the 2017-2018 school year through First Priority. Thank you for your continuous prayers and support; we couldn’t do what we do without you!

Keeping Christ The First Priority,

Greg Davis
President
First Priority Greater Birmingham

Will you pray for our students as they return to school?

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Weekend of Prayer Over Alabama Students is August 3-5, 2018. Please join us in praying for students, teachers, faculty and administration. Praying for the students in our area is not just a privilege…it’s a necessity. Students live in a tough world! Each day, students are subjected to literally thousands of offensive images and words. They also face an enormous amount of peer pressure to become part of what is considered normal by the world’s standards. Without prayer, these students will not be able to stand against the insurmountable odds they will face from childhood until they leave this world. Please pray for the safety of each school campus. Please be in constant prayer for students who don’t know Christ. Pray that Christian students will be bold in sharing their faith and that God will take away any fears they may have. When you pass by a school, pray for that school. Make a school zone your prayer zone. Plan a community-wide prayer walk around the schools in your area. The prayers for our students and schools are endless. We have put together a list of prayer walks below happening across Greater Birmingham that you might like to attend, as well as prayer resources to help you. The resources below include 24 Biblical virtues that you can pray over students as well as prayer guides to assist with areas of prayer for students, their families, teachers and school administration. Will you join this prayer movement? Commit today to pray!

 

Community-wide Prayer Walks:

Metro West Prayer Walk – Tuesday, July 31, at 9 a.m. at Forestdale Church of God. For more info, contact Pastor John at 205.492.6232 or Debbie Marshall at: debbie.marshall@wbclive.com. 

Adamsville Area Prayer Walk – Saturday, August 4, at 9 a.m. – The prayer walk will begin at Love Fellowship Christian Center and everyone will walk to Minor High School for prayer and then back to the church. For more info, contact Debbie Marshall at: debbie.marshall@wbclive.com. 

Bessemer Area Prayer Walks – Saturday, August 4, at 8 a.m. – There will be a prayer walk at the following seven locations: Hard Elementary School, Bessemer City High School, Bessemer City Middle School, Jonesboro Elementary School, Abrams Elementary School, West Hills Elementary School, and Greenwood Elementary School. For more info, contact Eunice Pickens at: e.pickens@hotmail.com.

Moody Area Community-wide Prayer Walk – Sunday, August 5, at 1:30 p.m. at Moody First Baptist Church. For more info, contact Ashlee Lambert at: ashlee@firstpriorityal.com.

Hueytown Area Prayer Walk – Sunday, August 5, at 4 p.m. at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church. For more info, contact James Cato at: james@firstpriorityal.com.

 

Prayer Resources:

24 Biblical Virtues to Pray Over Students

First Priority Prayer Guide

Prayer Walk for Students

School Prayer Walk Guide

Prayer Walk Scripture References

Recap and pictures from Golf Challenge 2018

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Our 2018 Golf Challenge was a huge success! 
 
First Priority held its 2018 Golf Challenge last Thursday, June 21, at the beautiful Highland Park Golf Course. We would like to thank all those who came out and participated in our event. We would also like to thank all of our sponsors who helped make this tournament a huge success. Golfers enjoyed gifts, snacks, a round of golf, and lunch. Participants also received the pleasure of talking with and hearing from local youth involved in First Priority at Gardendale High School. Local Student Cameron Robinson shared a personal story about how God has used First Priority to impact his life. We would like to thank these students for volunteering their time to serve at our tournament. We hope you’ll take a moment to check out pictures from this event. Thank you again to our sponsors and all those who came out to join us for our 2018 Golf Challenge. It’s because of you that we are able to equip students with the tools they need to be effective witnesses in their communities and on their campuses throughout the school year. 
 
Thank you to our sponsors:
First Insurance Funding – Platinum Corporate Sponsor
AFCO/Insurance Premium Finance – Gold Corporate Sponsor
Imperial PFS – Gold Corporate Sponsor
McGriff, Seibels & Williams, Inc. – Gold Corporate Sponsor
Alabama Power Foundation – Silver Corporate Sponsor
Bradford Supply – Bronze Team Sponsor
CHUBB – Bronze Team Sponsor
LoweGo Sportswear – Bronze Team Sponsor
S.S. Nesbitt – Bronze Team Sponsor
Brasfield & Gorrie General Contractors – Exclusive Hole Sponsor
Dave and Russ Smith – Exclusive Hole Sponsor
Lamar & Associates CPA’s, P.C. – Exclusive Hole Sponsor
M3Resources USA, LLC – Exclusive Hole Sponsor
Mark Calhoun – Exclusive Hole Sponsor
Alabama Roofing, LLC – Shared Hole Sponsor
Joseph Daley Realty – Shared Hole Sponsor
Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q
Chick-fil-A
Hodge Mechanical
Jim Brazill
Stained Glass Ministries
 
 
Congratulations to our 1st place winners –  
Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q Team
 
Congratulations to our 2nd place winners – 
Jamie DeBoer Team

Help us put Bibles in the hands of student leaders

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We have a wonderful opportunity to place a Bible in the hands of every First Priority student leader so they can effectively share the Gospel on their school campus, but we need your help! Would you be willing to purchase Bibles for students to have on campus? You can buy 10 Bibles for $25, 20 Bibles for $50, 30 Bibles for $75, 50 Bibles for $125, or make a general donation to buy more Bibles. The First Priority Bible includes the following inserts: Plan of Salvation, Campus Prayer Guide, First Priority Club Leader Guide, HOPE Cycle, New Believer Bible Study, and Gospel Bible Study.
 
We would love to be able to place a Bible in the hands of student leaders and new believers; will you help us today? We will be purchasing these Bibles over the summer so they will be ready for students when the new school year begins in the fall. We also desire to give a Bible to every student that attends our 2018 Leader’s Summit. Please help us continue to reach students on the public school campus with the hope of Christ by sponsoring Bibles. The Bibles will be shipped to First Priority and we will distribute them to students. You can click below to sponsor online or you may send a check to: First Priority of Alabama, P.O. Box 59365, Birmingham, AL 35259. Please note “Bibles” in the memo line. Thank you for your consideration and support!

Help us put Bibles in the hands of student leaders

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We have a wonderful opportunity to place a Bible in the hands of every First Priority student leader so they can effectively share the Gospel on their school campus, but we need your help! Would you be willing to purchase Bibles for students to have on campus? You can buy 10 Bibles for $25, 20 Bibles for $50, 30 Bibles for $75, 50 Bibles for $125, or make a general donation to buy more Bibles. The First Priority Bible includes the following inserts: Plan of Salvation, Campus Prayer Guide, First Priority Club Leader Guide, HOPE Cycle, New Believer Bible Study, and Gospel Bible Study.
 
We would love to be able to place a Bible in the hands of student leaders and new believers; will you help us today? We will be purchasing these Bibles over the summer so they will be ready for students when the new school year begins in the fall. We also desire to give a Bible to every student that attends our 2018 Leader’s Summit. Please help us continue to reach students on the public school campus with the hope of Christ by sponsoring Bibles. The Bibles will be shipped to First Priority and we will distribute them to students. You can click below to sponsor online or you may send a check to: First Priority of Alabama, P.O. Box 59365, Birmingham, AL 35259. Please note “Bibles” in the memo line. Thank you for your consideration and support!

We need your immediate help to further our ministry!

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We’re very excited to inform you about a wonderful opportunity for First Priority, but we need your help! A few weeks ago, First Priority of Alabama entered a contest for a marketing makeover by a premier marketing company in Birmingham, Uptick Marketing. The winner receives up to $35,000 worth of marketing services for a year. We would love to have an updated, sharp, clean online presence to communicate who we are in order to reach this generation. We desire to utilize all social media platforms to the greatest extent to tell our vision. This makeover would allow us to effectively communicate to a digital generation and have name recognition on who we are and what we do.
 
We have been selected by Uptick Marketing as a finalist in the contest. Now it’s up to the online social world to decide who wins. Part of the contest is receiving the most votes on social media. We wanted to see if you would please take just a moment to vote for us. There are three ways to vote for First Priority of Alabama. Please do the following to vote and share: Visit Uptick Marketing’s Facebook Page here. Scroll down their page until you see the post for First Priority. “Like” that post, share that post, and also click on the Uptick Marketing link and cast your vote on their Web site. It’s that simple! We would be truly grateful if you would cast your vote for us and also share with your friends! Please help us reach more hurting and hopeless students in our public schools with the Gospel! Hurry, voting ends next Friday, May 25!
 

TOMORROW is National Day of Prayer

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The first Thursday in May has been proclaimed a National Day of Prayer by the president of the United States. This year’s theme is “Pray for America – UNITY,” based upon Ephesians 4:3, which challenges us to mobilize unified public prayer for America, “Making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” The National Day of Prayer is positioned to pray for our nation to experience unity.
 
Our country desperately needs prayer now more than ever before. We would like to encourage you to take time tomorrow to gather with your family, coworkers, friends and intercede on behalf of your community, leaders and nation. Prayer brings people together; it brings unity. Pray for our president and government officials. Pray for our great nation that’s currently broken. Pray for our students, teachers and school administrations. Pray for their safety. School shootings are becoming rampant. Students face an enormous amount of peer pressure to become part of what is considered normal by the world’s standards. Without prayer, these students will not be able to stand against the insurmountable odds they will face from childhood until they leave this world. Click here for 24 Biblical virtues you can pray over students tomorrow.
 
There are many prayer gatherings and events happening all over the country tomorrow. Click here for more information about National Day of Prayer, resources and to find events taking place in your community.

24 Biblical Virtues to Pray Over Students

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24 Virtues to pray over students

Please join us in praying for students, teachers, faculty and administration. Praying for the students in our area is not just a privilege…it is a necessity. Students live in a tough world! Each day, students are subjected to literally thousands of offensive images and words. They also face an enormous amount of peer pressure to become part of what is considered normal by the world’s standards. Without prayer, these students will not be able to stand against the insurmountable odds they will face from childhood until they leave this world. Please pray for the safety of each school campus. Please be in constant prayer for students who don’t know Christ. Please pray that Christian students will be bold in sharing their faith and that God will take away any fears they may have. When you pass by a school, pray for that school. Make a school zone your prayer zone. The prayers for our students are endless. We have put together a prayer guide to help you. Below are 24 Biblical virtues that you can pray over students. Will you join this prayer movement? Commit today to pray!

  1. Salvation—”Lord, let salvation spring up within my children, that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.” (Isa. 45:8; 2 Tim. 2:10)

 

  1. Growth in Grace—”I pray that my children may grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Pet. 3:18)

 

  1. Love—”Grant, Lord, that my children may learn to live a life of love, through the Spirit who dwells in them.” (Gal. 5:25; Eph. 5:2)

 

  1. Honesty and Integrity—”May integrity and honesty be their virtue and their protection.” (Ps. 25:21)

 

  1. Self-Control—”Father, help my children not to be like many others around them, but let them be alert and self-controlled in all they do.” (1 Thess. 5:6)

 

  1. Love for God’s Word—”May my children grow to find Your Word more precious than much pure gold and sweeter than honey from the comb.” (Ps. 19:10)

 

  1. Mercy—”May my children always be merciful, just as their Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36)

 

  1. Respect (for self, others, and authority)—”Father, grant that my children may show proper respect to everyone, as Your Word commands.” (1 Pet. 2:17)
  2. Biblical Self-Esteem—”Help my children develop a strong self-esteem that is rooted in the realization that they are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:10)

 

  1. Faithfulness—”Let love and faithfulness never leave my children, but bind these twin virtues around their necks and write them on the tablet of their hearts.” (Prov. 3:3)

 

  1. Courage—”May my children always be strong and courageous in their character and in their actions.” (Deut. 31:6)

 

  1. Purity—”Create in them a pure heart, O God, and let that purity of heart be shown in their actions.” (Ps. 51:10)

 

  1. Kindness—”Lord, may my children always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.” (1 Thess. 5:15)

 

  1. Generosity—”Grant that my children may be generous and willing to share, and so lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age.” (1 Tim. 6:18-19)

 

  1. Peace-Loving—”Father, let my children make every effort to do what leads to peace.” (Rom. 14:19)

 

  1. Joy—”May my children be filled with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Thess. 1:6)

 

  1. Perseverance—”Lord, teach my children perseverance in all they do, and help them especially to run with perseverance the race marked out for them.” (Heb. 12:1)

 

  1. Humility—”God, please cultivate in my children the ability to show true humility toward all.” (Titus 3:2)

 

  1. Compassion—”Lord, please clothe my children with the virtue of compassion.” (Col. 3:12)

 

  1. Faith—”I pray that faith will find root and grow in my children’s hearts, that by faith they may gain what has been promised to them.” (Luke 17:5-6; Heb. 11:1-40)

 

  1. A Servant’s Heart—”God, please help my children develop servant’s hearts, that they may serve wholeheartedly, as if they were serving the Lord, not men.” (Eph. 6:7)

 

  1. Self-Discipline—”Father, I pray that my children may acquire a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair.” (Prov. 1:3)

 

  1. Gratitude—”Help my children to live lives that are always overflowing with thankfulness and always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Eph. 5:20; Col. 2:7)

 

  1. A Heart for Missions—”Lord, please help my children to develop a desire to see Your glory declared among the nations, Your marvelous deeds among the peoples.” (Ps. 96:3)
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