Good Morning- it's our last morning! What a great week we've been having together! Are you ready for today? I hope so! This week we've come full circle. Literally. You've seen it on the screen. But more importantly, you've experienced it by writing in your Mission Handbooks, by sharing in your crew and youth group devotions. Through it all, we hope you realize that God can take the worst SUFFERING in our lives and turn it into a beautiful life experience for us to share with others. Today's theme is FORGED AHEAD. It's a little bit of a play on words. This is where we have focused our teaching this week on the process of Forging, creating something useful out of raw material. Let's take one final look at the forging process.

This object was created for a specific purpose- just like you. God has created you for a specific purpose that only you have been designed to fulfill. So now what? Let's take a look at a second definition of forge. God is in the process of doing the first as we do the second. We're in a constant state of Forging Ahead. Our lives aren't a sprint but a marathon. Life is a race for sure, but it's one with distance.

So when Suffering happens, we must Persevere through it, allowing God to use it to shape our Character, so we can have Hope when we or someone else close to us faces their own Suffering. As you can see, the process is ongoing for our entire lives. Today's moment to journal is a little different. As you look back to everything you've written down this week, which journal entry stands out the most and way? For me it's... Now it's time for you to answer in your Mission Handbook. First, look over what you've written. Take time to examine and write about the One that has shaped you the most.

Seeing and knowing what God has done in our past helps us Forge Ahead. I want to share what might be a familiar Bible verse with you this morning. I hope you understand that you've been living God's word in your life, maybe even without knowing it. The We, Those, and Who- that's us. God is working in Everything for our good. Hopefully you're realizing that this week. Or, if you already knew that, it's been reinforced like concrete! God is always at work in us. Sometimes we just need to pause a bit to recognize what he's doing. And that's when we find more courage to Forge Ahead.

Let's pray. Then we'll have a few announcements. God, every day we've been thanking you for being with us every step of the way. It's the unspoken miracle of our daily lives. Many of us are just now seeing it, so help us stay amazed at what you are doing. Please go with us all today and keep us safe. amen.