Youth Sunday

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(upbeat music)

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- Believe it or not, it is August 1st.

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Our midweek gatherings will not begin until August 8th.

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Okay, so we will not be meeting this Thursday,

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but we will be meeting the following Thursday.

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We will be beginning a series on the Galatians

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here in the Ministry Center.

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Our youth program will be back in swing.

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Our kids ministry will be back in junior Bible quiz.

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And so we're excited about this.

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August 8th, make a plan to be here,

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six o'clock on August 8th.

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So we'll start back midweek at that point.

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Okay, so not this Thursday, but next Thursday.

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Well, today is Youth Sunday.

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And man, hasn't it been a rich morning already?

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It has been incredible.

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God has been so gracious.

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He's been so gracious to us.

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And we just love the Lord.

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We've been in a series called His Church.

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And our youth are not separate

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from being a part of His Church.

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They are very much a part of His Church.

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And one of the things that I've learned over time

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that the Lord has really helped to remind me

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when it comes to youth and children

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is that sometimes as adults,

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we can kind of have an attitude of it's those people,

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or that group, go sit at the kid table, the youth table.

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But I tend to believe that the kids in youth

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are probably the most important people

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in the building right now, quite honestly.

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Not to say that you're not important

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and that we don't love you and God doesn't love you.

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He certainly does, but we're raising a generation

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of warriors for the kingdom right now,

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impressionable hearts back in the back there.

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And so they're important.

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And it's important for us to have this time.

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Sherry and I had the privilege of serving as youth pastors

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here at Springhouse for six years.

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It was over a period of eight years.

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We took two years off when we had our fourth child.

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But for six years, we had the privilege of serving

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as a youth pastors.

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And man, what a joy it was to be in charge of the youth here

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at Springhouse.

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Some of our youth are sitting over here as young adults now

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and some of them leading,

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some have gone on to different places or whatnot.

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But we had such a privilege and pleasure

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of working with the youth.

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And probably one of the most remarkable things

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is I didn't get fired.

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You know, I would bring back teens with no eyebrows.

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I had them eat earwax from one another.

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It's some crazy things that we did

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and I won't go any further than that.

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But I wanted to bust up a misconception about that time,

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I've kind of carried for a while

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that Kevin made these teens do this stuff.

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No, Kevin offered them points

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and teens do anything for points, okay?

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And so they would do the most outrageous things

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and they did and they have some memories

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that they established during those times.

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But one of them,

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oh, there it is.

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They were gonna make sure to get that slide up there.

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Yeah, okay, yeah.

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There are some worst pictures than this I could show.

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I'm not going to.

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You got the next slide or no?

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There are three ingredients that I look for

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in really establishing any leader in the church,

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but especially when I was working with youth

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and I looked for youth leaders.

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We had a team of about 16, 17

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and those were the three things.

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Love the Lord, be faithful and show up.

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And if there's anything that our next generation need,

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it's people who love the Lord, are faithful

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and will show up.

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And when it came time for us to begin this transition

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into this role, I asked the Lord,

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Lord, who do you have in the leadership to take my spot?

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You see, I wasn't trying to be about,

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let me just get out of the youth group

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and they'll just figure it out because I love the teens

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and I wanted the Lord to supply the people he had chosen.

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And he did.

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He chose James and Dana Jansen to be our youth pastors.

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And James and Dana have done a phenomenal job

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with our teens, a phenomenal job with our teens.

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They work relentlessly, loving on

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and just encouraging and speaking life into our youth group

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and have done such a better job than I ever did.

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At least everybody comes back with their eyebrows.

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But here's what's so great about the transition

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between me and them and as we continue to move forward.

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The purpose and the foundation hasn't changed.

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Go ahead and put the next slide up.

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We want our teens to thrive in an authentic relationship

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with Jesus Christ.

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And guess what?

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We want you to thrive in your relationship

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with Jesus Christ, authentic relationship with Jesus Christ.

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Do you know at one point in time you were a teenager

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and now you're an adult.

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I pray that you are thriving in your relationship

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with Jesus Christ.

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So our teens had quite the experience.

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A couple of weeks ago at camp,

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they went down to Garner Creek and they did a camp

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with a bunch of different churches together

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and had quite the experience.

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And I want to invite Pastor James to come and share

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just a little bit with you about that experience.

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Guys, welcome the best youth pastor on the planet.

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(congregation applauding)

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Yes.

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- Hey, hey, hey.

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So it's an honor.

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First of all, it is an honor to get to serve

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as a youth pastor in this house, to serve the Lord.

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And have as much fun as we do in the youth group, right?

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If you're looking to serve, guys, come on up.

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We have a ton of fun.

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I'd love to meet with you, hug your neck

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and see what the Lord does in it.

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Like Pastor Kevin was talking about,

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we have been partnered with a group of nine youth groups

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around the local area.

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A lot of the kids know each other.

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They go to the same schools, local high schools.

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And we just really have went all in

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with what the Lord is doing.

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He's been growing us deep.

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He gave me a word at the beginning of 2023

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and it was just to dive in deep.

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And so we were going after him.

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We're going after the gospel and learning about Jesus

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and being the hands and feet.

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We took a group of 50 to Gulf Shores in 2023 at camp

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and spread the gospel.

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And then we continued in the gospel

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and in the book of Acts as we took a look at the early church

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and what they were doing

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and how they operated as a body of believers.

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And we're like, Lord, this is what we want.

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We wanna be used by you.

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We want, we're here for yours.

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And that's what we're teaching is if you wanna be used

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by the Lord, it starts with a surrendered life.

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It starts with God, I'm all of yours

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and I'm just allowing you to use me

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in whatever capacity that you want.

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And so we've been partnering, we've been branching out

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with these other nine youth groups.

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And the Lord has done some amazing things

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in and throughout our youth group.

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We have a bunch of teens that are ready to testify

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about his goodness and what he's done.

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So I don't wanna take up any more time,

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but our scripture verse up in the youth group

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is Jeremiah 29, 13.

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It says, "You will seek me and find me

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"when you seek me with all of your heart."

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We believe that and stand on that word every day.

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Every day we gotta remind ourselves,

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Lord, I'm seeking you with everything I got.

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Reckless abandonment, I'm yours, God, use me today.

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We have four kind of creeds, if you will,

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up in the youth group.

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The first one is we want the best for one another

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and put others' interests above our own.

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Amen. Amen.

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We run towards people, not away from them.

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We embrace them and show them Jesus.

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The third one is we are people who leave

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God-sized impressions on those that we meet.

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And the fourth one is we love big and we serve well.

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Guys, there's opportunities to serve

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the body of Christ every day.

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And when we belong to a house, when we belong to a body,

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it is natural for us to begin to serve,

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to begin to lay our lives down and allow God to use us

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in whatever capacity that is.

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Okay, and so I wanna go ahead and play the video

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and then we're gonna testify to his goodness.

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Amen?

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All right, let's take a look at what God did

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over this last couple of weeks.

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(upbeat music)

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Amen, amen.

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30 baptisms.

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There are 30 people for the first time

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gave their lives to the Lord.

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30 people for the first time.

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228 of them recommitted their decision,

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recommitted their life to the Lord.

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168 of them were filled with the Spirit,

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were filled with, said, "Yes, I was filled

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"with the Holy Spirit this weekend."

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And then 45 of them were baptized that way

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that same weekend.

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And then we also just had another one baptized

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with Paxton up there.

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It warms my heart so much to see these kids

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go all in with Jesus.

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And guys, this is what it's meant to be.

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It's not for just a small part of where we're at.

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This is a bigger picture of community

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and this is what the fellowship of believers look like.

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It extends past Smyrna, right?

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So this is our heart.

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We wanna be connected.

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We wanna be branched out and be available

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for whatever God has in store.

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1 Corinthians 12, 13 through 14 says,

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"For we were all baptized by one Spirit

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"so as to form one body, whether Jews or Gentiles,

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"slave or free, and we were all given

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"the one Spirit to drink.

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"Even so, the body is not made up of one part,

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"but of many."

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Amen?

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So to start us off with some testimonies

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of God's goodness, we have none other

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than Allyssa Entzminger.

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Y'all give it up.

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(congregation cheering and applauding)

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- Hi.

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Today, I think that I should talk about

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how I was freed from a ton of bondage

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and how through this camp,

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a lot of bondage and a lot of shackles

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and things that have held me back

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from a good relationship with the Lord.

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Yeah.

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So when I came back, I decided I wanna rewatch

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one of my favorite TV shows, The Chosen.

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And when I was rewatching it,

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there was one thing that stuck out to me.

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It's when Mary Magdalene was talking to Nicodemus

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after she had been freed from her demons.

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And she said, because she didn't know Jesus's name yet,

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and she didn't know exactly who he was,

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she said, "But here is what I do know.

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"I know that I was one way,

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"but now I am completely different.

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"And what happened in between was him."

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And that is what I feel happened to me.

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And those chains have been shattered.

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And as the devil tries to go,

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"Hey, you should focus on these things."

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I'm trying to think, no, I shouldn't

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because that was my past.

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And God doesn't wanna define us by our past

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because our past is our past.

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And God wants to define us by our is,

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but the world wants to define us by our was.

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But our is is our is and our was is our was.

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(congregation applauding)

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- That's awesome, that's awesome.

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We serve a God who delivers, amen?

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Amen, and I just wanna say, Pursue Camp is great, guys.

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It is an opportunity for us to get together.

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But the one who's in charge

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and the one who gets the glory is Jesus, amen?

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Amen, all right, next up we have Mr. DJ Jones.

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DJ wrote it down.

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And so I'm gonna hold the microphone for him.

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Is that cool?

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All right.

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- Hello, my name is DJ Jones

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and this was my first time ever going to youth camp.

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My favorite part about camp was worship.

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Everyone was all in, I wanna share my testimony about it.

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During Wednesday night service,

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the pastor was talking about fear

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and how it doesn't have to control you.

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The Holy Spirit was speaking to me about the fear I have.

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My legs were shaking so bad.

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So I went to my dad for prayer.

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He prayed with me and then Pastor Kevin came up to me

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and prayed with me also.

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I was bawling my eyes out.

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And I felt the Lord was telling me to read my Bible more.

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Pastor Kevin shared a verse with me

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that has changed my mindset.

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Second Timothy 1, seven says,

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"For God has not given us a spirit of fear,

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"but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

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This verse is now my life verse.

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I'm thankful I went to pursuit camp and it changed my life.

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(congregation cheering)

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- Amen, amen.

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Praise God, praise God.

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DJ is a young one in youth and DJ is not just

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a young one in youth, he's a leader in youth, amen?

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Amen.

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All right, next up we have Mr. Sebastian Geertz.

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Give it up.

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(congregation cheering)

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- Hello guys, I'm Sebastian Geertz as James said.

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Know what you're thinking,

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probably not a team with all this spatial hair, but I am.

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I went to pursuit camp this past week

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and I'm not a very big camp guy and all.

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I wasn't really expecting much coming from it.

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I went to camp a few years ago, I thought I was all right,

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but James and Dana convinced me to come this year.

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So I went and I wasn't expecting much,

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but the first night of service, the preacher was talking.

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And I just heard this voice in my head again,

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I've heard for six years about overlust

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and how I've been really bad about it the past six years.

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It's been really big in my life, it's really bad,

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but I just heard this voice again that in the past,

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I thought it was just my own voice saying like,

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you'll be okay, you can keep doing it,

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no one's gonna know really,

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it's not hurting anyone right now or anything.

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But I just heard it again when he was talking,

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I was like, it can't be myself just talking,

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it's gotta be God or it's just something else

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other than me saying, this is not okay.

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So the preacher said, if you need to go pray

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with somebody you can.

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So I went to Cole to pray

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and he prayed a powerful prayer over me, man.

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And ever since then, it's just been so much easier,

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felt like this weight was lifted off me over lust

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and that I just don't have to worry about it

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that much anymore.

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I mean, I still pray about it obviously,

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so I don't fall into that trap again,

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but it's just so much easier now after that.

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And I feel like this weight slipped off my shoulder

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and everything's so much easier after that.

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Thank you.

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- Yeah, amen, give it up for the Lord.

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Our God is a God of freedom, amen.

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Amen.

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All right, next up we have my niece

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and your very own Lilly Mack.

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- I also wrote mine down, so bear with me.

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But God definitely moved in a mighty way at camp.

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And if you're there, you know what I'm talking about.

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I watched as many teams got set free from bondage

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and filled with the Holy Spirit

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as well as experience it for myself.

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We were taught what it means to be a citizen of heaven

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and how we're supposed to act in response to that calling.

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Everyone experienced camp in their own way,

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but these lessons really stuck out to me.

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As a citizen of heaven, we are supposed to know

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and believe God's truth.

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How are you supposed to know, let alone believe His truth,

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if you never take the time to sit down and study His word?

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Now, I knew what God said about me,

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but it was so easy for me to believe the lies of the enemy

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that said that I wasn't enough or that I was unforgivable.

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Camp taught us to run back to the Bible

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whenever the enemy would come and try to steal our peace.

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God's word is the greatest weapon that we have.

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I know that I'm enough because God says

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that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

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And I know that I am forgiven because He says

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if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just

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to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us

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from all unrighteousness.

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We have to be careful with what we choose to believe

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and make sure that it lines up with God's word

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before we choose to believe it as truth.

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Your identity can be found in the Bible.

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The next takeaway from camp was the power

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that the Holy Spirit has and how it can not only help you,

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but help others through you.

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In Acts 1a, it says, "You shall receive power

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whenever the Holy Spirit comes upon you."

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This power can be used in a multitude of different ways.

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But at camp, the Holy Spirit gave me the power of faith

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to believe that God will get me through any battle that I face,

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as long as I submit to His will.

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And I also received the gift of intercession for others.

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And I now have the urge, like no other,

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to go and pray for as many people as I can,

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even though it can be really intimidating.

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Because I've seen the way that God answers prayers.

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And He also calls us to humility.

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And I'm just so blessed that I got to experience

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God's power and authority at the Pursuit Camp 2024.

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And I'm excited to see the effects that

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is last on the kingdom.

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Amen.

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Amen.

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Awesome job.

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The Spirit and the Word work together.

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The scripture compares it to like a battle bowl of Ephraim.

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Pulls, he draws back his bow, and the arrow, the word of God,

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is sent out.

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OK, they work together.

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And when we believe that with all of our heart,

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that our foundation is in the Word,

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and the Spirit is the power that works through us,

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then God's unstoppable.

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I mean, regardless, in and throughout our lives.

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Amen.

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Good word, Lilly.

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Next up, Mr. Luke MacLeod.

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He shared with us his first service.

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I'm excited to hear what God's put on his heart for a second.

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Take it easy.

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[APPLAUSE]

Speaker: 00:18:55

Hi.

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I did not write anything down, so we're

Speaker: 00:18:59

going to see how this goes.

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Before I start, I want to say that camp

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was such an incredible life change for me.

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I really just experienced God on a level

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that I never had before.

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But to follow that, I was not looking forward

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to camp this year.

Speaker: 00:19:18

I had heard that there would be like 500 plus kids there.

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And I was just curious to how there

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was going to be like a real and good connection

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with the Holy Spirit there.

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And I just kind of started out with a bad mindset.

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So we get there, and it was just kind of all right.

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I was just going through it, and I

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got put in like a middle school cabin, which I was not

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happy about, but which turned out

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to be like such a big thing for me

Speaker: 00:19:51

to mentor those younger people later on in the week.

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And I really believe that God just moved through that.

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But I was still not happy until we

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got to worship on the first night.

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And everybody just rushes the front,

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and they're in the altar, and everybody is just worshipping.

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And I feel like God touched me, and He made me feel and know

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that He was real.

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And that was like such a big word for me, this camp.

Speaker: 00:20:21

That was just real.

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Like He is so present no matter what you're going through.

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And something I was thinking about this service

Speaker: 00:20:32

is just like you don't have to be a camp to experience

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the Holy Spirit.

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Like everybody who went, what about this worship?

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Like God was in this room.

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Like the Holy Spirit of the Lord was like here.

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So one thing that I want to say just to everybody that

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was at camp and everyone in here,

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the way to keep a connection with God is to be in His word.

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You need to be reading the Bible diligently

Speaker: 00:21:01

to be able to still know what He wants.

Speaker: 00:21:05

And that's literally what He told people

Speaker: 00:21:08

to write down for us.

Speaker: 00:21:10

God, He's just--

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I don't know, it's insane to me like everything that

Speaker: 00:21:19

was happening at this camp.

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Like there were so many people who gave their lives to God,

Speaker: 00:21:23

and they're experiencing what I did.

Speaker: 00:21:26

And I'm just so grateful for that.

Speaker: 00:21:28

Camp this year was awesome.

Speaker: 00:21:29

Yeah, that's all I got.

Speaker: 00:21:36

Yeah, give it up.

Speaker: 00:21:38

That's awesome.

Speaker: 00:21:40

We serve a God that is not far from us.

Speaker: 00:21:42

He is right next to us.

Speaker: 00:21:44

He's as real as the air that we breathe,

Speaker: 00:21:47

and we have access to Him.

Speaker: 00:21:48

Amen?

Speaker: 00:21:49

Amen.

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Next up, it's my pleasure to introduce Ms. Ximena Lindsey.

Speaker: 00:21:55

Ximena has been helping out in youth for some time now.

Speaker: 00:22:00

And she has been a prayer warrior on the front lines

Speaker: 00:22:05

and also helping to really instill the word of God

Speaker: 00:22:10

deeply into each one of these teams.

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She serves on Sunday morning upstairs at 9 o'clock

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and is committed and dedicated to this house, to these teams.

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And I'm just so thankful to have you along, Ximena.

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Thank you for sharing today.

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Absolutely.

Speaker: 00:22:27

Thank you, James.

Speaker: 00:22:30

I know you've been hearing a lot about camp this year,

Speaker: 00:22:33

and it is everything that all of these teams said and then some.

Speaker: 00:22:40

But I also want to bring up the fact

Speaker: 00:22:42

that we do have a program here at Springhouse that

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goes year round.

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And our youth leaders are a team who

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are committed to being faithfully present

Speaker: 00:22:56

in the lives of the teens here.

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And I would just like to take a second, if I could,

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to recognize our team members.

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If you serve on the youth leadership team,

Speaker: 00:23:07

could I ask you to please stand for just a moment, Sandy

Speaker: 00:23:10

and Taylor, Kaylin, Cole, Hannah.

Speaker: 00:23:13

[APPLAUSE]

Speaker: 00:23:18

There are so many.

Speaker: 00:23:21

Thank you so much.

Speaker: 00:23:24

They pour into the lives of my own sons.

Speaker: 00:23:26

My husband and I have three sons.

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And this year, my husband Ronnie also

Speaker: 00:23:31

joined our youth leadership team.

Speaker: 00:23:33

He's actually up at the soundboard in the back.

Speaker: 00:23:36

So you can't see him right now, but he has also been a big part.

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And it's been kind of fun being a family in the youth program

Speaker: 00:23:46

here.

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But I did want to at least share a little bit

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about what's been going on throughout our year.

Speaker: 00:23:51

We did begin a youth Bible study almost two years ago now.

Speaker: 00:23:56

And that has been such a blessing

Speaker: 00:23:59

to be able to dig deeper into the Word.

Speaker: 00:24:01

And as you heard from so many of the kids,

Speaker: 00:24:04

camp was just a reinforcement that we need to keep digging.

Speaker: 00:24:08

We need to keep learning more and more about Jesus.

Speaker: 00:24:11

And the best way to do that is through His Word

Speaker: 00:24:14

and by digging into the Bible.

Speaker: 00:24:15

And that is one of my passions as one of the youth leaders

Speaker: 00:24:19

here.

Speaker: 00:24:20

We studied about prayer and its significance.

Speaker: 00:24:25

We did a study on grace and what that means.

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Grace is a concept that I think that so many people

Speaker: 00:24:32

in the Christian church might not

Speaker: 00:24:34

have a full understanding about.

Speaker: 00:24:36

And really, honestly, there are so many things about the Lord

Speaker: 00:24:39

that blow the mind.

Speaker: 00:24:41

But I think it also encourages us to dig deeper and learn more.

Speaker: 00:24:46

And so when we studied grace, we actually

Speaker: 00:24:49

worked a lot from the definition that Wayne Barry used

Speaker: 00:24:53

in his book, Ponderings.

Speaker: 00:24:55

And I'm going to read that for you.

Speaker: 00:24:56

It's, "Grace is the unmerited favor

Speaker: 00:25:00

of God's empowering presence, enabling

Speaker: 00:25:04

me to be who He created me to be in order to do

Speaker: 00:25:09

what He has called me to do."

Speaker: 00:25:13

So we worked from that this year in youth group.

Speaker: 00:25:16

We also studied the Book of Acts.

Speaker: 00:25:18

And we made it through the beginning of the book.

Speaker: 00:25:22

And then we took it a little bit deeper the second half

Speaker: 00:25:25

of the school year.

Speaker: 00:25:26

That was also really inspiring.

Speaker: 00:25:29

But let me tell you, once we got to camp,

Speaker: 00:25:32

that has been just a real bedrock foundation

Speaker: 00:25:37

for our kids.

Speaker: 00:25:39

And it's been such a blessing, not just to them,

Speaker: 00:25:41

but I'll admit to me as a leader,

Speaker: 00:25:44

whenever I got back from camp, people would say, how was it?

Speaker: 00:25:47

How was it?

Speaker: 00:25:47

Aside from being exhausted, as you can imagine.

Speaker: 00:25:51

But I learned so much.

Speaker: 00:25:54

And I was so encouraged and so inspired

Speaker: 00:25:57

by the younger generation who poured themselves into me

Speaker: 00:26:01

as well.

Speaker: 00:26:02

And that's been such a blessing.

Speaker: 00:26:05

I do have to admit that my husband got back.

Speaker: 00:26:08

He's been dragging all week.

Speaker: 00:26:10

And I do have to say there's a special place in heaven

Speaker: 00:26:14

for young men who stay in the junior high boys' dorm.

Speaker: 00:26:18

So he and Doug Jones, they deserve extra accolades

Speaker: 00:26:22

for that.

Speaker: 00:26:22

[APPLAUSE]

Speaker: 00:26:25

But seriously, we do this because we're called.

Speaker: 00:26:30

And we do it in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Speaker: 00:26:33

And as we close today's service, or this portion of it anyway,

Speaker: 00:26:37

I do want to share this verse.

Speaker: 00:26:39

And I've always told the kids that if you ever

Speaker: 00:26:42

have a question for our leadership team,

Speaker: 00:26:45

I'm always going to do two things.

Speaker: 00:26:48

I'm going to encourage you to pray.

Speaker: 00:26:50

And I'm going to point you back to the Word of God.

Speaker: 00:26:53

And I'm going to point you back to the Word of God.

Speaker: 00:26:57

And so this is what I pray that as we come back from camp

Speaker: 00:27:02

and as we have this rich deposit that we're pouring out,

Speaker: 00:27:08

I want to encourage you to do this.

Speaker: 00:27:09

This is Luke chapter 11, starting with verse 9.

Speaker: 00:27:14

"And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you.

Speaker: 00:27:17

Seek, and you will find.

Speaker: 00:27:19

Knock, and it will be opened to you.

Speaker: 00:27:22

For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds.

Speaker: 00:27:28

And to the one who knocks, it will be opened."

Speaker: 00:27:32

Let me encourage you.

Speaker: 00:27:33

Seek God.

Speaker: 00:27:35

Seek Jesus.

Speaker: 00:27:36

Look into His wonderful face.

Speaker: 00:27:39

Thank you, Ximena.

Speaker: 00:27:47

So it's great to hear their experiences.

Speaker: 00:27:52

Here's the Word of the Lord to you all today.

Speaker: 00:27:56

Our is is our is and our was was our was.

Speaker: 00:28:01

He has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love,

Speaker: 00:28:05

and a sound mind.

Speaker: 00:28:07

He can set you free.

Speaker: 00:28:10

Your identity is found in the Word of God.

Speaker: 00:28:13

God is real, and dig deeper in the Word,

Speaker: 00:28:18

and seek Jesus' face.

Speaker: 00:28:20

Amen, church?

Speaker: 00:28:21

Can we receive that today?

Speaker: 00:28:25

Fabulous job, guys.

Speaker: 00:28:26

Thank you so much.

Speaker: 00:28:27

You guys are dismissed.

Speaker: 00:28:30

He is such a great-- he's such a great God,

Speaker: 00:28:32

and he is a comforter as well.

Speaker: 00:28:34

Dana, would you join us on stage for just a moment here?

Speaker: 00:28:38

I'm going to let Pastor James share just a smidge bit more

Speaker: 00:28:42

as we close out this morning.

Speaker: 00:28:45

Now, the scripture verse that we worked off of during camp

Speaker: 00:28:48

is out of Philippians 1, verse 27.

Speaker: 00:28:53

It says, "Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven,

Speaker: 00:28:57

conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the good news

Speaker: 00:29:01

about Christ.

Speaker: 00:29:02

Then whether I come and see you again or only hear about you,

Speaker: 00:29:06

I will know that you are standing together

Speaker: 00:29:08

with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith,

Speaker: 00:29:14

which is the good news."

Speaker: 00:29:16

Friends, I'm here to tell you this morning

Speaker: 00:29:18

that he is the good news.

Speaker: 00:29:20

He has made the way, and he lives and breathes

Speaker: 00:29:25

and works on our behalf.

Speaker: 00:29:26

Amen?

Speaker: 00:29:28

Now, it was everything that I could do to just come up here

Speaker: 00:29:32

and stand before you this morning.

Speaker: 00:29:36

Dana and I had found out that on July 4th of this year

Speaker: 00:29:41

that we are expecting another baby.

Speaker: 00:29:45

So we go in.

Speaker: 00:29:51

We go into camp with this just mountaintop, high experience,

Speaker: 00:29:58

like, "Can't get no better than this, Lord.

Speaker: 00:30:01

God does these amazing, incredible feats

Speaker: 00:30:04

and moves in lives like we've never seen, guys.

Speaker: 00:30:08

It's been incredible."

Speaker: 00:30:11

But we have an adversary,

Speaker: 00:30:15

and the enemy seeks to steal, kill, and destroy.

Speaker: 00:30:19

So we go the day that we get back from camp on Monday.

Speaker: 00:30:24

We have an ultrasound plan, and it's our first one.

Speaker: 00:30:27

And so we go to the doctor, and the words that we hear are,

Speaker: 00:30:33

"We can't find a heartbeat."

Speaker: 00:30:36

And I'm just praying, "Lord, this is your promise.

Speaker: 00:30:42

God, this is what you have brought.

Speaker: 00:30:46

How can it be?"

Speaker: 00:30:49

And, guys, this week has been so tough for us.

Speaker: 00:30:53

Our emotions have been up and down.

Speaker: 00:30:56

We've been believing and trusting in God

Speaker: 00:30:59

that he is gonna move

Speaker: 00:31:01

and that when we go back on Tuesday for our next ultrasound,

Speaker: 00:31:06

that there will be a heartbeat,

Speaker: 00:31:09

that there will be a live baby in there.

Speaker: 00:31:11

And then if there's not,

Speaker: 00:31:13

then we have to be okay with trusting God,

Speaker: 00:31:18

with saying that, "God, we're gonna still follow you

Speaker: 00:31:23

and still believe you no matter what comes our way."

Speaker: 00:31:29

And so this is real.

Speaker: 00:31:32

This is -- I wanted full transparency this morning,

Speaker: 00:31:37

and I know that we have a church family

Speaker: 00:31:39

who believes wholeheartedly and prays on our behalf.

Speaker: 00:31:43

And so you know now -- you know now,

Speaker: 00:31:48

and we're just believing by faith

Speaker: 00:31:52

that the Lord is gonna do something miraculous.

Speaker: 00:31:56

Either way. Either way.

Speaker: 00:31:58

Amen?

Speaker: 00:31:59

Amen.

Speaker: 00:32:01

Scripture says that in our weakness, he is made strong.

Speaker: 00:32:05

And you guys are watching a living testimony of that

Speaker: 00:32:09

this morning as James came and proclaimly --

Speaker: 00:32:13

boldly proclaimed the gospel in front of you,

Speaker: 00:32:15

having walked through this week

Speaker: 00:32:17

and what they're walking through.

Speaker: 00:32:19

The Word says also that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted.

Speaker: 00:32:24

He's close to the brokenhearted.

Speaker: 00:32:25

As we draw near to him, he draws near to us.

Speaker: 00:32:30

And we also believe that if the answer is no,

Speaker: 00:32:35

he is still sovereign, and he is still good.

Speaker: 00:32:38

He's still sovereign, and he's still good.

Speaker: 00:32:41

We're gonna pray for James and Dana,

Speaker: 00:32:43

and then we're gonna go into another time of worship.

Speaker: 00:32:46

Now, immediately following this gathering,

Speaker: 00:32:49

there is a meeting for those who have kids

Speaker: 00:32:53

moving into youth group upstairs.

Speaker: 00:32:57

James and Dana, remember I said,

Speaker: 00:33:00

love the Lord, faithful, and show up.

Speaker: 00:33:03

They wanna serve with excellence.

Speaker: 00:33:06

So I know that because many of you can empathize

Speaker: 00:33:08

with where they are right now,

Speaker: 00:33:10

you want to hug their neck, you wanna encourage them,

Speaker: 00:33:12

that's appropriate.

Speaker: 00:33:14

I'm gonna ask you to hold that.

Speaker: 00:33:15

If I talk to James, hold that for right now.

Speaker: 00:33:19

Pray, sow into prayer.

Speaker: 00:33:20

Let's believe alongside with them, okay?

Speaker: 00:33:23

And as the Lord leads you this week,

Speaker: 00:33:25

you can reach out, call, encourage, all of those things.

Speaker: 00:33:29

They wanna be ready to receive you guys

Speaker: 00:33:31

for this meeting up here that they're gonna have, okay?

Speaker: 00:33:33

And it's not gonna be helpful at this moment

Speaker: 00:33:36

if everybody tries to hug their neck.

Speaker: 00:33:37

They know you love them.

Speaker: 00:33:39

They know that really, really well.

Speaker: 00:33:41

So guys, stand and stretch your hands this morning.

Speaker: 00:33:43

We're gonna pray for my brother,

Speaker: 00:33:45

my best friend and his family.

Speaker: 00:33:48

Father, right now I just ask that you would cover James

Speaker: 00:33:52

and Dana, Father, and this baby.

Speaker: 00:33:54

And Lord, we just ask, Lord, right now

Speaker: 00:33:56

for a miraculous touch because we know you can do it.

Speaker: 00:33:59

And Father, but above all of that,

Speaker: 00:34:02

our hearts cry is that your will be done.

Speaker: 00:34:04

And in the midst of that, Lord,

Speaker: 00:34:05

that you would bring a comfort and a peace

Speaker: 00:34:07

that passes all understanding.

Speaker: 00:34:09

We believe, Lord, in you.

Speaker: 00:34:11

We trust you.

Speaker: 00:34:12

You're sovereign and you are good today and forevermore.

Speaker: 00:34:16

In Jesus' name.

Speaker: 00:34:17

And the church agrees and says amen, amen, amen.

Speaker: 00:34:21

We're gonna worship together, guys.

Speaker: 00:34:23

So let's lean in.

Speaker: 00:34:24

Didn't the teens do a good job today?

Speaker: 00:34:26

Let's hear it for the teens.

Speaker: 00:34:27

(congregation applauding)

Speaker: 00:34:29

Let's worship.

Speaker: 00:34:30

Come on, Cole.

Speaker: 00:34:31

(gentle music)

Speaker: 00:34:33

[music fades out]