It was a city that seemed too powerful to overcome. Its walls were simply too massive, making it a challenge far too great to conquer.

Until God made a promise.

Before God gave the first word to Joshua about His plan to overtake Jericho, God gave Joshua and an entire nation this promise: “I have given you the city.”

It was a done deal! All Joshua and the Israelites had to do was circle the promise. They simply had to trust that God was in control, and circle the miracle he would soon give them. Attempting to overtake Jericho by traditional means would have been bold enough. Doing it through faith alone was even bolder.

As we begin our 21-Day Prayer Challenge, the first step is to define your Jericho. What is it that seems too hard for you to conquer on your own? What huge miracle do you need God to provide? What in your life has walls so huge that only God can tear down? What bold prayer do you need to pray that will honor God?

Ask Him to show you that today. Then give it right back to God and begin to circle. For 21 days, circle it in prayer. Then also circle our bold prayer as a church. If you don’t know how to pray, simply start with something like this:

“God today I give you my Jericho. __________ seems too bold and too impossible for me, so I know that it’s the perfect thing for you. I know that your answer may not come immediately and may not come exactly how I think it should, but I trust that you have already made this miracle possible. In time – when you answer – I will give you all the glory and the credit for answering and tearing down those walls. For our church, I pray that you do something so great that only you get the credit. I pray that on August 19 lives will be changed for eternity as people come to both locations of OneLife to discover you and how their one life can make a difference. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

For 21 days, make this your simple prayer and watch God begin to move in your life as you become a circle maker, trusting him to do the impossible.

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On Sunday, we challenged everyone to a 21-Day Prayer Challenge. If you missed it, catch up on the sermon here! And watch this blog for more posts each week about the prayer challenge.

Well, God was right! When we obey him, He takes care of us.

Three months ago I challenged OneLife to a 90-day Generosity Challenge. The premise was simple: give God your first ten percent like the Bible tells us to do, and if He doesn’t take care of you like the Bible says He will, then OneLife will give you every penny back.

Some people look at me like I have four heads when I tell them we did this. But believe it or not, churches do this somewhat frequently and we definitely weren’t the first. The reason for a Generosity Challenge is to take away every excuse. If someone thinks they can’t afford it, then we’ll take that excuse away, too, by promising to give them their money back if they go broke! We can do this because we know God will provide like He promises.

More than 100 families committed to take the challenge, and when all was said and done around half of them took it seriously by sticking to their commitment. And as expected, every single person who honored God with their first ten percent saw God take care of them! Not one family asked for their tithes back because God didn’t pull through for them.

The stories have been incredible, and we’ll be sharing some of those in the coming weeks on Sundays and on the blog. If you look back on the past 90 days and see that you missed sticking to your commitment, start now! Put God to the test like he tells you to do and watch him take care of you! If you already did that and saw God do great things in your life by taking care of you – please let me know!

As we move into a new season as a church of opening a second location and helping more churches get started, it’s going to take all of us being obedient to doing what God says with our finances. Fortunately for us, He will then do what He promises and take care of our needs every step of the way!

Don’t miss the chance to experience that!

Don’t forget to automate your tithes to help you stay disciplined! Do it today at onelifeknox.com/give.

In the month of July, our elementary groups in OneLife Kidz are learning about caring for their neighbors. In response to that, our Kidz Team has come up with a great way for the entire family to get involved with caring for neighbors in our community. Check it out below!

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Every Sunday in July there is an opportunity to not only teach our kidz about loving their neighbors, but also show them at OneLife Kidz.

It’s easy to come to church and head out to lunch afterwards. But what about those in our community that will not be eating lunch on Sundays? There has been a 50% increase in homelessness in the past decade with over 1,500 in our area at any given month. On top of that, 15% of the homeless are under 18.

We can help! Jesus said that all of us (even today) have the opportunity to do this by taking care of the “least of these” around us. He says that when we do, it’s as if we were doing it for Him! A local church in Powell has a food pantry to help with this problem, but it is depleted. Can we stock a food pantry one can at a time? If every Onelife kid brought a can each Sunday in July, we would!

We can put love in action as families, and as a church, because your neighbor isn’t just the person next door. It’s anyone God puts in your life to love. So please help us out and grab your kids to help you clean out those cabinets! The food pantry will be stocked by August because of you, just in time for back to school.

Look for the blue tub marked Food Drive in the Onelife Kidz area to drop off your donations!

Choosing a church to attend can be like picking out a restaurant. Questions like “Which one has the best service?” “Which one is best for my kids?” and “Which one will feed me the best?” seem to be what gets asked the most. Oh yeah, and “Which one will be the cheapest?” probably factors in there, too

But those questions only get asked by people who like going to restaurants already. Or in this case, people who like going to church already. The question that gets asked by people who don’t already go to church is much different:

“Why in the world should I?!”

And I believe that’s how the already-convinced should choose a church. By answering that question with another question of their own: “If I go to this church, how will I play a role in changing the lives of those around me and seeing them become part of the Church, so they can then play a role in even more lives being changed!?”

It is for that very reason that OneLife has adopted this vision of having multiple locations in communities across Knox County and ultimately East Tennessee. We want to see OneLifers connect to people in their own communities where they live, work, and play. We believe you can make the greatest difference at home. So why drive 30 minutes to church when your biggest influence is right across the street?

We are taking our first step in making this happen with the opening of OneLife Halls on August 19. And that is why we are encouraging any current OneLifers who live in Fountain City, Halls, Corryton, Maynardville, or other communities northeast of Knoxville to plug in at the new location. Because we believe strongly that it will help you become even more effective at reaching the people in your very own community.

If that’s you and you’re ready to be connected to OneLife closer to your own community, we want to hear from you! Go here and fill out the form to let us know that you will be attending OneLife Halls on August 19 and beyond, and making a huge difference in the lives of those around you! www.onelifeknox.com/halls And if you’re staying at the Powell location, get ready to join us in reaching Powell – and the rest of Knoxville – like never before.

The best is yet to come!