"5-For-5"

Hi, this is John Ozanting, the pastor of Evolved Church, and this is the Evolved Church Podcast.

Thanks so much for tuning in.

We hope that you find today's message encouraging and full of hope for wherever you're at.

For the anxious heart in the room today, that you would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the presence of God can calm the story.

For the broken heart in the room today, that you would know with all certainty that the power of Christ still mends, still brings healing, still restores healing.

For the person in the room today that's been questioning their sense of worth, do I even matter?

Does my voice have any power?

That you would know, that you would know, that you would know that you have been made in the image of God, that you were knit together in your mother's room, created with a significant purpose for a lifetime of surrender to Jesus, where every day you can learn to use your voice with authority to proclaim his life.

You're about to hear five stories from five individuals.

And I pray in the name of Jesus that your heart would be challenged, inspired, and equipped for deeper surrender to Christ.

And as they share, can I encourage you to just get uncomfortable?

About, let's say 35% more uncomfortable with your encouragement, with you find even finding your voice in the rows today to encourage them as they share.

If something they say hits your heart, don't shrink back, but like let them know.

Can you use your voice to like lift their faith as they share today?

Is that okay?

You don't have to sit quiet, you can respond.

I know we that's a that's a tension in the church, right?

Are we a are we a verbal church?

Do we say hallelujah?

Well, maybe not, but you could say thank you, or you could say that was great, or you could say hallelujah if you want.

Or you can just sit there.

Or you could just sit there and quiet reflection and soak it all by.

But I want to give you permission to be 35% uncomfortable with how verbal you get for these five today.

Sound good?

Come on.

You've got your mic?

Yeah, let's check out it'll work here.

All right, this is Cody.

Is that working?

We're gonna pray.

We're gonna pray.

Cody's up.

Cody's up.

Cody Dunbar.

He's going first.

Let's pray.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Father, thank you.

Thank you that your word still has power, still has authority in our lives.

Thank you that your the gift of your presence can still draw sons and daughters back into relationship with their king.

We thank you for these five stories on the platform today.

We just give it to you, Lord.

Come, Holy Spirit, rest on us again.

Fall fresh.

Renew us or strengthen us by your perfect peace.

Teach us, Lord, in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

All right, give it up for Cody.

Come on.

Oh, that's so good.

That's so good.

Thank you so much for having me, you guys.

This is a huge honor.

Really appreciate it.

So, my name is Cody, and I grew up in this cool town called Caronport in Saskatchewan, home of Briar Crest Bible College.

Anyone knows that?

Love it there.

My parents suggested to me uh to join a young adults missions program at an early age, uh right after high school.

So I took their advice and I jumped into what they call YWAM or youth with a mission.

And uh my relationship with God grew so much in that time.

And and uh as we dug deeper into the word and worship and prayer, and I developed a passion for the vision and a vision for the service with him.

And he led me through the training for that.

And after I went through uh hair school and a couple YWAM trips, uh, which took us to India and Europe, incredible what the Lord's doing out there.

It blew me away.

I was totally rocked.

But when I came back, I had unfortunately hung my hopes way too heavily on some plans and a relationship in my life at the time, and uh and that relationship ended, and it uh left me feeling um inadequate, made me question if I was hearing God properly, and I let heartbreak cloud the vision that the Lord had been leading me through there.

And I felt like I almost needed to hang up the vision and take a break and take some time to reevaluate while at the same time I totally let my guard down, guys.

And I started to enjoy feeling accepted in bad company.

And then I started getting into drugs and drinking and whatever came with that, and let myself become physically, emotionally, and most importantly, spiritually numbed.

I couldn't feel anything in that way.

And it surprised me how fast I could get to that point.

That I that I turned around so fast and let and found myself in a place I never would have planned or hoped for.

So I remember coming home to my parents and my sisters, and they're here too, and uh and just having sobered up from a crazy weekend, and I got working on the car with dad, and he he knew what I was going through.

He could read me, he got real with me, and he said, and he told me a life analogy from his experience flying planes.

And he said, You can fly through dark times with no clear visual reference of where you are by going uh by relying on the instruments and gauges that God's put on your dashboard that the Lord has given you.

So, in other words, in faith, he uh you can rely on him and he'll lead you through anything.

So, and that really struck to me.

It stuck out to me, it's almost verbatim in my head to this day.

And it shook my heart in that time, even though I had not been feeling anything in my heart.

I started to remember the way that God was leading me and that I needed to get back in touch with the word and with his voice and start listening to him again.

And not long after that, I met the love of my life, Joel.

And uh, we were actually in a very similar season, to be honest.

We were both in that really dry, skeleton-like uh emptiness in both of our lives.

And uh, even though we had both grown up trusting the Lord with our lives for so long, uh, we heard a message together on on Easter about Ezekiel 37.

I'll read apart from uh the part where verse five is the Valley of Dry Bones.

Um, about it it was spoken over the bones.

This is what the sovereign Lord says.

Look, I am going to put breath into you and make you live again.

And it just rocked me.

It's almost as if we had opened a door of our hearts at that point to the spirit, and he gently moved in and he took residence in there, and he came into more of our lives the more that we opened up.

And now he's leading us, continually reading leading us on this journey of freedom.

So I can honestly say I'm not supposed to be where I'm at in life right now because of the wrong choices I've made and along the way, but the Lord has had amazing grace on my life and in our family and given me another chance and another chance again.

And he's encouraged me to continue to encourage the people around me um freely.

And um, I think no matter what I do, my passion is to connect with people and hopefully lift them um in where they are at for uh anybody that I'm next to, you know.

And he's a really good father.

I want to be just like him if I can, to my wife, to our beautiful baby daughter, Willow, and the little one that we're expecting as well.

So every step along the way, no turning back, it's it's incredible.

Thank you, Jesus.

So if anyone, if anyone can relate to this dryness or hitting that wall of disappointment in a relationship or any other context, know that the Lord can lead you through it, through it, over it, under it, however he leads you.

He gives you grace for your hearts, for my heart, and invites us to draw closer in our pain.

And because he's our great healer and he wants to be our closest friend.

Thank you, everyone.

Good job, Cody.

All right, for those of you who don't know me, my name's Mikhail, and I'm a part of this beautiful kids' ministry team here at Evolve.

And so I will dive right in.

Uh, I grew up in a Christian home and I went to a Christian school, and I really thought I was a Christian, but I was just calling myself one.

Um I thought that's all I needed to do was treat people the best I could, live with respect, and walk the right path, uh, led by the right intentions, which is definitely part of it.

Um, it's a good start.

However, I never pursued Christ personally, uh, opened my Bible or even prayed a lot.

It wasn't until my Bible 10 class where I really began to understand what it meant to walk a Christian life.

Uh, we had the opportunity to go to Los Angeles and we stayed at the dream center, we walked Skid Row and handed out sandwiches and waters to people and just heard stories of individuals' lives changed by Christ.

And however, uh, it was an eye-opening experience.

It was incredible and such a great opportunity.

It was also a time in my life where my family fell apart.

Right before we left, some family events happened, uh, which radically rattled my family.

We had a family friend live with us for as long as I can remember, and I thought he was like a second brother to us, but it turns out that he'd been sexually abusing my brother for years under the same roof, and no one noticed, and no one knew.

Uh obviously, he went to jail, and my family was left to pick up the pieces of what had just been shattered.

I was angry, I was hurt, and I was heartbroken.

But I was also just a kid.

I didn't know how to handle such big emotions, uh, maturely or even at all.

And my brother had gone off to university as well as my sister, and so my parents and I basically escaped to a remote island in BC, as beautiful as it is.

No one talked about what had happened, no one really acknowledged that it had happened.

Um, but with myself being the youngest sibling, I just watched the destruction that it caused my family.

Uh my parents argued a lot over the next few years, and uh thankfully I had the uh I had school and extracurriculars to distract myself with.

I hid in my room a lot, I became closed off emotionally, and I questioned a lot.

TV was my escape from reality.

Um I was upset with God for allowing that to happen because I didn't know why.

Uh it kept my family apart and caused so much strain and hurt in our relationships that we're still repairing that today.

But I know that I'll never really know why my family went through that, uh, to be honest, but I know that the hardships were not without reason.

By moving out to the island in BC, I was given so many more opportunities than I had before.

I was able to experience God's grace and his goodness and his beautiful creation.

I even got baptized on the island behind my house in the ocean on a very cold November evening, and it was beautiful.

Um and I know that every moment has led me here.

I've grown closer to God in the more recent years since being here, becoming a mom and leaning into this incredible community around me.

Although it doesn't mean that God hasn't given me more trials to overcome.

Those will always be there, and there have already been so many.

Uh and the last few years have been the hardest emotionally and spiritually, I'd say, in a good way.

God has challenged me in so many ways, and sometimes it feels as though I should be much further in my life than I am.

But I know that that's not the plans that God had for me.

Um He needs me to be here in the season in my life for as long as I need to be, to sit with him in the short, quiet moments that I have in my day with a toddler running around, to discover that he's always been there just waiting patiently.

And I found myself forgetting that a lot, that he's always been there just waiting.

But I know that God is here for sure.

He's there in those hard moments, those painful moments, and he's there to tell you that it's okay, that you can lean on him and you can go to him and sit with him.

And I'm slowly learning that I don't need to carry everything on my own because we were never meant to.

So I'll challenge you to protect spaces for Jesus, to discipline yourselves, to pause for a moment in the beautiful chaos that may surround your day.

To take a moment to breathe or cry or laugh, whatever you need to do, and remember that you're not alone.

It doesn't mean that God hasn't given me more trials to overcome.

Those will always be there.

Um, sorry.

Uh take a moment.

Uh invite Jesus in, sit in his presence, surround yourself in the warm embrace and love that only he can provide.

And it's hard to carry all that weight on your own and know that it's okay to put it down.

Lay it at his feet and rest in the Lord, because only he can satisfy your soul.

And I just wanted to leave you with a verse from James 1, 3 to 4.

Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance, let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Thank you.

Hello, everybody.

How are you doing?

Better than us.

During the summer at Evolve, we've been walking through a series entitled Who is God?

In this portion of my story or our story, he is Jehovah Jirah, which often translates as the Lord will provide.

In December of 2020, my beautiful wife told me we were about to have our first child.

I was over the moon.

I was so excited.

You don't even know.

I even asked her, I even saw the test, and I said, There's two lines, we're having twins.

But we were about to have another first, our first and only lockdown Christmas.

It was around this time that dads weren't being permitted into uh the ultrasound appointments.

We were so blessed to know somebody who just happened to have access to an ultrasound machine, and he said, I can do it.

Just come over.

It was here where we met our first our twins for the very first time.

He says, Here's your twin, or here's your baby, to which Kirsten says, Oh, only one, causing him to do a reshoot to reveal there were indeed two.

Without that person's generosity, I would have missed this very special moment in my family's story.

The Lord will provide.

After Kirsten's next official ultrasound, her doctor said, I don't do twins, and this looks like a high-risk pregnancy.

Kirsten and I were left really confused.

Our mountaintop moment was beginning to change.

Following the next ultrasound, we were told that our twins looked to be mono mono, which means they were among the highest risk pregnancies that you can possibly have with twins.

We told John and Nicole, and they told us the Avolve family was already praying for our family.

And this is where God showed us the power of prayer is real.

We were pulled into another room, which, in my experience, has never been a really good thing.

But the doctor showed us a scan indicating the smallest of lines between the two.

Not mono mono.

Kirsten and I were overjoyed, and our prayers had been answered.

We are not we're now thinking, great, we can start enjoying this pregnancy.

However, right after this great news, the attending doctor told us our twins were possibly at risk for twin-to-twin transfusion.

This is when your tw bigger twin steals the nutrients from the smaller twin.

She then told us we should consider sacrificing the smaller twin to save the bigger twin.

Did you feel that?

Kirsten and I sat in that for what felt like an eternity.

But wait.

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

It is here where I encountered that Abrahamic God will provide a ram level of faith.

As my mind started to race with lies, fear, and general confusion, my wife spoke with the audible voice of God, or at least that's how I heard it.

She said, No.

That's not our decision to make.

That's for God to decide.

In the most beautiful act of faith I've ever witnessed, Kirsten said it was out of the question.

And from then on, I was on board.

We were having twins exactly how God intended it.

After that, you think we'd be through the uh through the woodwork, and we were good.

We went through the entire roster of doctors, and every time we met a new doctor, they would tell us we would need to consider the inconsiderable.

We were steadfast in our faith, and our mountaintop was moved with the muster seed of hope and countless prayers from those around us.

After weeks of looming possibility, we found out no twin-to-twin transfusion.

Jehovah Jira, he provides.

Yes.

There were way more valleys in this pregnancy than Mountain T.

But isn't that the beauty of God?

He is with us through the entire season.

Every time we would be driving to another appointment, and believe me, there were a lot of them.

A song would be on the radio, or just about to start, with the lyrics, though the mountain may be moved into the sea, though the ground beneath might crumble and give way, I can hear my father singing over me.

It's gonna be okay.

It's gonna be okay.

God was leading us through the most challenging season of our lives.

And because Kirsten's faith to stand up and say no, our twins are running around in kids' church today, perfectly woven.

And yes, and without that act of strength in a time of weakness, our family could look really different.

Who is God?

God is good.

His character is never changed, he has always been the God that provides.

2 Corinthians 12 9 through 10 reads, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

And therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Thank you.

My name is Kendra, and I grew up in a Christian home.

I went to church, Sunday school, and youth group.

I had Christian friends, Christian parents, and extended family that was Christian on both sides.

After high school, I went to Bible college, and when I came back, I went to a Christian university and had a Christian boyfriend.

But I had never heard the voice of God.

I had been listening, believe me.

I had tried sitting silently, but I'd heard nothing.

Maybe I didn't wait long enough, or maybe my concentration was just too frayed in the moment.

Or maybe God had just seen all the times I had chosen not to read my Bible, and likewise chosen not to meet with me.

I prayed that I'd hear his voice.

I read the Bible, looking for scriptures that would pop out, but I never knew whether it was God's voice or just something good that got my attention.

It seemed like others heard his voice.

They talk about it so casually as if he was telling them what to order at Subway.

But I never really knew if they meant it figuratively or literally.

I sat in Bible studies where it was asked, How do you hear God's voice?

Voice and I didn't know what to answer.

Maybe I wasn't special enough like the men and women of the Bible were.

Maybe I wasn't doing good enough, and maybe I was just asking for the wrong thing.

Jumped to last year.

So I'm no longer expecting an audible voice, though it would be pretty cool.

I'd seen God work in my life in less dramatic and storied ways.

I'd settled into my role as somebody who doesn't hear God but sees them figuratively in other ways.

I'm also at this time trying to get pregnant.

It's only been a few months, months, but every negative test is crushing.

It seems like evidence of infertility.

Pregnancy also seems like one of those things that comes easier to other people.

It's Easter weekend and I'm at my parents' house in Grand Prairie.

I had brought the test trips with me because it was that weekend that was a narrow window of time where you test.

And I would find out that weekend if this month had worked.

But when I woke up on that Saturday morning, a familiar feeling hit me in my gut.

I had felt this before all the other negative tests.

So I skipped the test and I jumped in the shower to pray, which is a great place to talk to God.

I wanted to talk with him and get out my feelings before gathering with my family.

So I started talking to him and then I heard him three times in three different ways.

First, I was telling him how disappointed I was.

And then I received his comfort and what seemed to me like scripture I had read coming back.

And so I congratulated myself for my recent habit of reading my Bible, which seemed to be paying off.

Second, I told him that I know I might be jumping to conclusions since I hadn't taken a test, but I knew my body.

And then a voice in my head said, Don't I know your body more?

And that was less like a scripture verse and harder to write off as my own voice, but I still chalked it up to my mind playing God's role and the mental conversation that we were having.

So finally, I just was kind of confused, and I felt like I should take a pregnancy test.

And it was less like an urge, and I would say more like a command.

So my thoughts were immediately ever practical person, I it didn't seem practical to waste a test because you have to pay for those.

Um, and also you have to pee to take a test, and I had already peed, but I decided to try anyways.

On the off chance that this was actually God and not my brain, at the very least, I wouldn't have to wonder one day what would have happened if I had obeyed that command.

So I took the test and I put it on the counter and I avoided looking at it.

I was not watching it expectantly, and I had little faith.

But I stole a quick glance and it was positive.

So I collapsed into tears and you know called Dane, and then we kept it a secret from our family for like another couple weeks, and then we told them, but um, it was a special moment, not just because I was pregnant, though I had been waiting for that moment.

I had experienced God's voice and I hadn't even recognized it in the moment.

I had used logic to dismiss it.

Had I not taken that test, I may have never known it was God's whisper in my head and not my own.

Today it's a two-folded gift.

The gift of my daughter, who's Sloan, who's not here right now, uh, and the gift of a moment that I can look back to every time that I'm scared for my health, for my daughter, or for anything.

I can remember that God knows more than I do, and he goes before me.

So maybe you too have been patiently waiting for his voice and feeling unchosen and unworthy.

But 2 Corinthians 1, 3 says, Praise be to God the Father and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

Now that I've heard his voice, I know that it was not because I wasn't special, or but or I know that I didn't hear his voice because I was special or that I had done enough to please him, or because I did ask for the right things.

It was because he is kind and he is good and he has grace for me.

So whether God speaks has spoken to you audibly or not, you are his chosen child.

He hears, he cares, and he knows.

Thank you.

How are we doing?

Good.

Uh, it's such a pleasure to be up here today.

Uh, typically, you'd see me up here with the worship team, which by the way, it was amazing today.

Um, all of these stories today are kind of a testament of God's faithfulness in all of our lives.

So um, super special.

And I'm gonna just share a little bit about my story.

Um, this past year has been eventful, to say the least.

That's where my theme for today comes from.

I'll start with a verse that really stood out to me.

Psalm 91, verse 1.

Psalms 91:1

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

Waiting is where faith becomes necessary.

Growing up in a loving Christian home, my faith in Jesus was rarely tested, because life was never really that hard.

It wasn't until I experienced my first loss of a loved one that my faith was tested.

This past year has been extremely difficult to navigate.

In the span of five months, the trajectory of my life completely shifted.

I was completely devastated and brokenhearted and feeling an immense feeling of betrayal and unworthiness.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.

I went from preparing for a wedding last summer to calling it all off just weeks before it was supposed to happen.

My uncle, who was extremely healthy my whole life, suffered a serious heart attack, and I never got to say goodbye.

Then in December, while still reeling from a breakup and the loss of my uncle, my nana went to be with the Lord.

And it didn't stop there.

Exactly one month later, my grandpa passed.

At 25 years of age, this was by far the hardest season I've ever had to walk through.

Although loss and heartbreak is something I would never wish upon anyone, I can say that faith thrives in discomfort.

It was time for me to let go of the old and truly give it to God.

That was not easy because if any of you know me, you know that I'm a very sensitive person that gets attached to things very quickly.

Of course, I had many nights of tears and asking God why, but I never lost faith in his plan.

I began to lean deeper into relationship with Jesus rather than pulling away.

Two days after I lost my Uncle Cal, I fought through tears and I sang alongside my beautiful worship team.

That's not to pat myself on the back, but rather to show how God has strengthened me through this season.

Many people have asked me how I've managed to keep it all together, and many of them have been non-believers.

And my answer is and always will be my faith in God.

Without Jesus, I can't say for sure whether I'd still be here today because the depression was so overwhelming at times.

Growing up in church, I always heard the same cliche saying: God doesn't give you anything that you can't handle.

I can absolutely tell you without a doubt, that is not true.

I believe that things happen that we can't handle or control, but Jesus gives us a choice.

The world will turn to substance abuse, sex, or other firm forms of numbing the pain, but in my case, I credit everything to the Lord who supported me in ways that I didn't think were possible.

That's where this church has really changed my life.

Long story short, Evolve was never really on my radar as a church to attend.

But through my past relationship, I came to know this church and I fell in love with it immediately.

The moment I knew this place was the place I needed to be was when I received some devastating news, and I met Jonah one-on-one for the first time ever.

We had hardly talked before, and within minutes of sharing what was going on, Jonah was in tears across the table from me, sharing in my pain and comforting me through it.

I've never experienced a love so genuine from any pastor.

Both Johnno and Nicole have been so amazing to me through this whole journey.

I also need to speak of the amazing team that I've been a part of since nearly day one, the worship team.

I've always had a passion for music, which is why I knew it would be a great fit, but I never knew that the relationships I formed through this ministry would be the most important aspect of my serving.

Kyla has gone above and beyond in caring for our team and myself.

The relationships I've formed with so many of you have been instrumental in my process, and you know who you are.

I also want to say thank you to my family and friends, many of whom are here today.

You guys have been an incredible support system for me to lean on, and your examples of faith have been such an amazing influence.

As hard as this year has been, I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Because I know that there this isn't where the story ends.

The love that has been shown by this community of believers has strengthened my faith exponentially.

I don't find myself worried about what the future holds, because I know that if God cares enough about me to bring so many individuals into my life at the perfect time that He has a plan greater than I could ever imagine.

For those of you who are unsure, um for those of you who are unsure of surrendering your life to Jesus, I won't sugarcoat it and say that it will be a breeze because it won't be.

But when life gets hard, you will see God show up in truly miraculous ways.

It wasn't until I hit rock bottom that I had absolutely nowhere to look but up.

I appreciate the seasons of joy and peace, but most of my growth has come in times like these.

I have no idea where I would be without the love of Jesus.

I also know that a great legacy doesn't come without hardships.

No matter what season of life you find yourself in, trust me when I say it, that God is faithful and that you can take him at his word.

The thought I would like to leave you guys with this with is this.

We are called to be a people of faith over circumstance.

I can tell you firsthand that God's faithfulness prevails even through the toughest circumstances.

And I've always loved when pastors end their sermons with the benediction found in Numbers 6, verse 24 to 26.

Numbers 6:24–26

So here it is.

May the Lord bless you and protect you.

May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.

May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.

God bless you all.

Thank you.

Beautiful.

Lean into his voice.

You can close your eyes in this moment.

If it's comfortable, you can stretch out your hands in front of you, palms raised.

Receive from his love.

To bring this moment to a close.

No light in the darkness that you see.

But just one look at the Savior, his life more abundant and free.

His word, forever unfailing, his promise an anchor to hold.

Here in the midst of your sorrow, his presence is healing your soul.

So just look up.

Your help is on the way.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

Something was shared today that pressed on your soul.

These five beautiful voices sharing with vulnerability and faith.

Something was said today that kind of poked you where it hurts the most.

And I don't want you to run from that.

I don't want you to shrink back from that.

I want you to lean into that.

Lean into that as evidence that God sees you and calls you his own.

Just look up.

Help is on the way.

And the beautiful themes of healing and miraculous provision and restoration of faith.

That's for you in the room today.

That's for somebody watching from home online.

Far too long have the lies of the enemy disqualified you from receiving the grace and mercy that's been freely given.

So here are the fathers whisper say, Come.

Come, son.

Come, daughter.

Come back.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

Just look up.

Your help is on the way.

Thank you, Father.

For the couple in the room believing for a child today.

We speak life and healing to that wound.

For that person on the other side of a difficult end to a relationship, your heart's broken.

You've been left reeling.

But you find strength and comfort in the knowledge that you are not alone.

You've never walked alone.

You've never been abandoned.

He is faithful through it.

He is with you.

He is for you.

Receive from the Father's love today.

I know what He's capable of.

I know what He's made possible through Jesus.

Let faith arise.

Let faith arise.

Return.

Return to your Savior.

Return to your King.

In a moment, I'd like to pray.

A simple prayer out loud with this room.

A prayer of surrender.

A prayer of faith.

A prayer of salvation.

For someone here, someone watching online that today will serve, this day will forever serve as a faith-filled line in the sand where you stopped trying to do it on your own and surrendered it all back to the capable hands of our risen King, Jesus.

Step into his love, step into his purpose, step into his hope, step into his healing, step into his strength, step into his life.

He alone is our way, our truth, our life evermore.

Jesus.

If that's you in the room today, maybe it's coming back to relationship with God, or maybe it's stepping in for the first time because of Jesus.

Would you pray out loud with all of us the simple prayer of faith?

Father God, I thank you for sending Jesus to make a way for me to be known by you.

You see me.

Thank you, God.

So today I choose to surrender my life, every part, to the Lordship of Jesus.

I call him Savior.

I call him King.

I call him friend.

Would you fill me with your love?

Fill me with your spirit.

Forgive me for all I've done wrong.

Today and every day, I'm yours.

In Jesus' name.

Thank you so much for listening to today's message.

If you're ever in the Edmonton area, pop by for a visit.

And if you need any more information, visit EvolveChurch dot com.

We hope to see you soon.