Mission Vineyard Sunday Service 12/28

That's

>> [laughter]

>> It's interesting.

How are you?

Never let me go.

lay [singing and music] it all down

again.

>> You're my big boy. You are my big boy.

[singing]

[music]

>> What's that?

You are my desire.

>> Good morning, Mission Vineyard.

>> Good morning. Good morning. Merry

Christmas.

>> Merry Christmas.

>> Hopefully Hopefully you've had a great

Christmas. My name is John and I get to

lead worship this morning with Gabri and

Jordan and Emily and Jake. And I'm going

to invite you to stand with me.

We um have been experimenting by uh a

declaration joined together in a

declaration

consecrating ourselves really for what

God has for us in this space. So this is

an hour that we set apart for God. So,

what does it look like to begin our time

giving ourselves to God and giving this

space to God? If we can read this

together, I think it it might be

helpful. We are here to encounter the

love of the living God, worshiping

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We reject

chasing all other competing spirits and

idols, including reputation, status, and

control. completely forgiven and totally

accepted in Christ. We welcome Jesus to

be Lord of all of life. Come, Holy

Spirit. And so with the rest of the

church global, we get to see that

prayer, that's that simple three-word

prayer. Come, Holy Spirit. Would you

wait with me for just a minute and pray?

Come, Holy Spirit. We welcome you, Lord,

in this place. We open the doors of our

hearts, Lord, for you.

Come Holy Spirit.

>> [music]

[music]

>> Jesus is born to us. Let's sing joy.

Joy to [singing and music] the world.

The Lord is come. Let

[music and singing] earth receive her

king.

Let [music and singing]

every heart prepare him.

And heaven and [singing] nature sing.

[music]

And heaven and nature sing. And heaven

and nature sing.

>> [music]

>> Joy to the earth, joy to [singing] the

earth. The Savior reigns and

[music and singing] their songs and Lord

while fields [music and singing]

and floods, rocks, hills, and plains

[music] repeat the sounding joy. Repeat

[singing] the sounding joy. [music]

Repeat, repeat the sounding [singing]

joy.

He rules the world. [music]

He [singing] rules the world with truth

and grace and makes [music and singing]

the nations

prove

the glories of [music]

his [singing] righteousness

and wonders of [music] his love and

wonders of his love and wonders wonders

[music and singing]

of his love.

One more [music] time. Joy to the world,

joy [singing] to the world, the Lord is

come. Let earth receive

[singing and music]

her king.

Let every [singing]

heart [music]

prepare him room. And heaven and nature

sing. [music and singing]

And heaven and nature sing. And heaven

and heaven [music]

and [singing] nature

sing.

And heaven and heaven

[music and singing] and nature

sing.

>> [music]

[music]

>> 1 2 [music] Let our praise

be [singing] a welcome.

Let our songs

be [music and singing] a sign. We are

here for you.

[music] We are [singing] here for you.

Bless [music and singing] your breath

come from heaven.

Fill [singing] our hearts

with [music] your life. We are here for

you.

We are here for you.

To you our hearts are open.

[singing and music] Nothing here is

hidden in. You are our one desire.

[singing and music]

You alone are holy. [singing and music]

Only you are worthy. God, let your fire

[music]

be your anthem.

You'll reown

fill [music] the sky. We are here for

you.

We are here [music] for you.

Let your word [music]

move [singing] with power.

Let what

come to [music and singing] life. We are

here for you.

[music] We [singing] are here for you.

To you our hearts are open.

[music and singing] Nothing here is

hidden. You are our one desire.

>> You alone [singing and music] are holy.

Only you are worthy. God [singing] bless

your firefall. [music]

>> To you our hearts are open.

>> To you our hearts are open. [singing]

Nothing here is hidden. You are our

[music] one desire.

>> You alone [singing] are holy. Only you

are worthy, [music and singing] God. Let

your firefall

come.

[music]

>> We welcome you with praise.

>> We welcome [music and singing] you with

praise. We welcome you with praise.

Almighty God of love, be welcome in this

[music and singing] place. Let every

heart adore. Let every soul [music]

away. Almighty [singing] God of love, we

welcome you in this place. We welcome

you with [music and singing] praise. We

welcome you with praise. Almighty God of

love, we welcome you in this

[music and singing] place. We welcome

you with praise. We welcome you with

praise. Almighty [music and singing] God

of love, we welcome in this place.

There's a posture [music] that we get to

have before God because he knows

everything already.

But we [music] almost have to tell

ourselves to you our hearts are open.

Nothing here is hidden. You [music] are

our one desire.

Can we sing that one more time?

>> To you our hearts are open.

>> To you our hearts are [singing] open.

Nothing here is hidden. You [music]

are our oneire. [singing]

>> You [singing] alone are holy.

Only you are worthy. [singing]

God let your fire [music] fall.

>> See again this is the motion of

repentance to you. [singing] Our hearts

are [music] open. Nothing here is

hidden.

You [singing and music] are our one

desire.

[music]

>> You [singing] alone are holy.

Only you are worthy. [singing]

[music] God let your fire fall down.

It's also

a song of revival.

Lord, let [music] your fire fall down.

[music] And now fully disclosed before

God, recognizing who he is,

we get to sing boldly [singing]

for us personally, but as a [music]

church. Can we sing this? We welcome you

with praise.

>> We welcome [singing and music]

you with praise. We welcome you with

[singing and music] praise. Almighty God

of love, be [singing and music] welcome

in this place. We welcome you with

praise. We welcome you with praise.

[singing and music]

Alm mighty God of love be.

>> Let every heart adore. [singing] Let

every [music]

heart adore. Let every soul away.

Almighty God of [singing] love, we

welcome you in this [music] place. We

welcome you with praise. We

[singing and music] welcome you with

praise. Almighty God of love, be

welcomed [singing] in this place.

[music]

>> [music]

>> Some of you have songs just rising up.

Go ahead and sing them out.

>> Sometimes there's [music] songs that

rise up in us.

>> The [music] church over the hundreds of

years has called it singing in the

spirit.

[singing]

I [music and singing] love you Jesus.

>> I love you Jesus. [music]

>> I [singing] love you Jesus.

>> I [music and singing] love you Jesus.

[music]

>> I love [singing] you Jesus.

>> [music]

>> I love [singing] you, Jesus.

Sing with me. We love you, Jesus.

>> We [music and singing] love you, Jesus.

>> We [singing] love you, Jesus. [music]

We [music and singing] love you, Jesus.

We [singing] love you, [music] Jesus.

>> [music]

>> Mhm.

[music]

>> [music]

[music]

>> You have planted [singing] dreams

in [music] the good soil of my heart.

I know it's [singing] just a start.

[music]

>> Give [singing]

me patience.

Pour [music] over these seeds. [singing]

The water of your [music] plants.

My life is in your [singing]

[music] hands.

my foundation [singing and music]

and strength. [singing]

My [music] strength

is in you. Oh

[singing] my [music] hope

is in you. Life,

my life

found in [music and singing] you.

You [music and singing] have planted

dreams

>> in the good soil of my heart. [singing]

>> I know it's just a [singing and music]

start.

Give me [singing] patience [music]

for over [music and singing] the seas.

The water of your

life is in [singing and music] your

hands.

My [music and singing] foundation,

[music]

strength,

[singing] my strength

is in you. Oh [music]

my, my [singing] hope

found in you.

My life [singing]

found in you. Strength,

my strength

is in you. Oh, [music]

my [singing] hope

is in you. My [singing]

[music]

life

found in you. [singing and music]

>> [music]

>> Every week [music] we come to the table

of Jesus.

This table is more than just a ritual.

It's a place where we encounter the

living Christ, remember his [music]

sacrifice, and proclaim his death and

resurrection until he comes again. This

table is a sacred space where heaven and

earth meet. A place of grace [music]

where all are invited to experience the

presence of Christ. As we gather at the

table, we remember that this is not our

[music] table. It is the Lord's table.

Jesus invites all who follow him to come

not because we are worthy but because he

has made a way through his [music] love

and sacrifice. This is a table of grace

open to all who trust in him. In [music]

1 Corinthians 11:es 23-26 we read from

the Apostle Paul. For I receive from the

Lord what I also passed [music] on to

you. The Lord Jesus on the night he was

betrayed took bread and when he had

given thanks, he broke it and said,

"This is my body which is for you. Do

this in remembrance of me." In the same

way, after supper, he took the cup,

saying, "This cup is the new covenant in

my blood. Do this whenever you drink it

in remembrance of me. For whenever you

eat this bread [music] and drink this

cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until

he comes."

The table of Jesus is a place of unity.

As we share in this meal, we remember

that we are one body called to love one

another as Christ [music] loves us.

If there is anything that stands between

you and a brother or sister, let this be

a time to seek forgiveness and

reconciliation.

The table is a reminder that we are not

alone. We are part of the family of God,

joined together in his love. If the

communion servers would please come

forward to prepare your stations.

In [music] a moment, I will invite you

to come forward to receive the elements.

Please come down these interior aisles

and dip the gluten-free cracker into the

grape juice. And you can exit out the

outer aisles or you may take one of the

prepackage elements [music] we have.

The table is a reminder that we are not

alone. We are part [music] of the family

of God.

As you dip the bread into the juice,

remember the body of Christ broken for

you and the blood of Christ shed for

you. [music]

Take a moment to confess, reflect, pray,

and receive his grace as you partake. By

sharing this meal, [music] we proclaim

the mystery of our faith. Christ has

died. Christ is risen, [music] and

Christ will come again. This table is a

foretaste of the great banquet that we

will share with Christ in his kingdom.

Until that day, we eat and [music] drink

and hope, knowing that the same power

that raised Jesus from the dead is at

work in us. Let us [music] pray.

Lord Jesus, we thank you for this meal

that you have given us. We thank you for

your [music] sacrifice, your presence,

and the hope that you bring. As we share

in this bread and [music] cup, may we be

strengthened to live for you, united in

your love, and filled with your spirit.

Help us to be your hands and feet in the

[music] world, proclaiming your gospel

until you come again. In your name,

Jesus, we pray. Amen. Please come to the

table of Jesus.

>> [music]

>> I

abide [music and singing]

in you.

I [music]

[singing]

abide

in you.

>> [music]

>> I

[singing] abide

in [music] you.

I

[singing] abide [music]

in you.

[music]

>> You have planted [singing]

trees

in the good soil of my heart.

and know it's just [singing] a star.

>> Give me patience. [music]

Pour over [singing and music] these

seeds.

The water of your plants.

My life is in [singing] your hands.

My [singing and music] foundation

strength,

my strength [singing]

is in you. [music] Oh

my hope

is in you. My [singing]

life found in you.

Strength,

our strength [singing]

is [music] in you. Hope [singing]

our hope

[music] is [singing] in you. Life,

our life [music]

found [singing] in you.

Oh Lord, I thank you so much that

everything we [music] need and

everything we have comes from you, Lord.

Our strength, our hope, everything,

Lord, we found it in [music] you. I

would like to invite you, if you're

able, to stand with me as we say the

Lord's Prayer together. It is on the

[music] screen in English and in

Spanish, but please feel free to say it

in your heart language. Our [music]

Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be

thy name, thy kingdom [music] come, thy

will be done, on earth as it is in

heaven. Give us [music] this day our

daily bread, and forgive us our

trespasses as we forgive those who

trespass against us, and lead us not

into temptation, but deliver [music] us

from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and

the power, and the glory forever and

ever. Amen. Take a moment and greet a

neighbor or refresh your coffee and

we'll [music] be back in a few moments

with announcements.

[music]

>> Thank you guys.

>> Need coffee.

and

all the cross I must confess.

Confess.

[music]

I wonder your redeeming [singing]

love and how great is your faithfulness.

At the cross you beckon me.

You draw me gently

to my knees and I lost so lost in love.

I'm sweetly broken.

Holy surrender

at the cross. You You be me.

You draw [music] me gently

to my knees. I am lost for a soul. Lost

in love. I am sweetly [music] broken.

Holy surrender.

Yeah.

I'm broken for you.

I'm broken

for you.

Jesus

love is there.

I am [music] sweetly broken.

[music]

morning. Good morning.

If you could slowly start making your

way back to your seats,

that would be awesome.

Good morning.

Welcome. Welcome this morning. It was so

good to see everybody chatting and

enjoying each other's company on this

weird day in between Christmas and New

Year's where we don't really know what

day it is. If not for Sunday, we

wouldn't know what day it is. But we're

so glad you chose to worship with us

whether here in person or online. Um if

I didn't share my name yet, my name is

Arita and I'm happy to welcome you this

morning. If this is your first time

visiting with us, we have a welcome bag

for you. If you didn't already receive

one, please make sure you grab one on

your way out. Um, inside this bag is

some information about the vineyard

movement, Jesus, um, some more

information about our church, as

[snorts] well as something we call a

mana bag. So, this is our gift to you

for you to give away. And we do have

extras on the back table, but oftentimes

as we're driving about the city, we

encounter people who are in need. And we

would like to extend um, a practical way

to extend God's love to our neighbors as

we're driving around. And so, feel free

to take this with you and keep it in

your car and pass it out as you see fit.

This is a great way again to share the

love of Christ with our neighbors in a

practical way. Also, in our welcome bag,

we have a connect card. You can fill us

out the paper form or you can fill it

out online. Um either way, whatever

information you share, we promise we

won't sell it or anything like that. If

you give your email address, we'll add

you to our newsletter that we send out

periodically about what's going on in

the life of the church. And just a

simple welcome email. And then if you

share your mailing address, Pastor John

will send you a thank you note in the

mail. just this little getting real

snail mail is exciting sometimes. So

feel free to share what you wish. Um and

you can put this in the giving basket in

a few moments or you can put it bring

this to the back table at the end of the

service. On the back side of the connect

card is a prayer request card. This is

for anyone who wants to fill out prayer

request. Every Tuesday we have a team of

people that pray for the needs of our

community. And if you have a prayer

request or a praise or anything like

that that you would like the church to

know about and pray for, you can even be

anonymous. we'd be happy to pray for

you. So, feel free again to put that in

the giving baskets in a few moments or

you can give it to the at the welcome

table at the end of the service. We have

a couple of quick announcements um this

morning. Um you all if you don't have

one of these on your chair, there are

more on the welcome table, but this is

some information about what's going on

in the next two months here in the life

of Mission Vineyard. One of the benefits

of uh our movement vineyard USA having

events in New Bronals is that people

come in to San Antonio to go to said new

events in New Bronals and then they want

to come to our church. So we have a

couple of national leaders that are

going to be with us in February and in

January for different reasons. And so

they'll be here on Sunday mornings and

doing other events um throughout the

week. So, there's some information on

the air about that as well as our sermon

series, small groups that are coming up

and restarting.

Um, and next Sunday,

we are having a postchurch

servant appreciation party. We're

calling an Epiphany party. Um, for those

who don't know, Christmas actually goes

from Christmas Day through January 6,

which is Epiphany, the day that we

celebrate um the wise men bringing the

gifts to Jesus. And instead of adding to

the holiday busyiness by adding another

Christmas party for Mission Vineyard in

December, we celebrate you, the church,

the gift that you are to this body by um

our pastoral team, um our staff team, uh

serving you um as a token of our

appreciation for how you serve our

community. And you're like, "Wait, I

don't actually serve at this church."

You're still welcome to the lunch. So,

we're going to have it here after church

next Sunday. We will be providing the

lunch. The kids will come down from

their class and we'll all have a lovely

meal together. um celebrating you and

also inviting you to serve in the coming

year if you are interested. But whether

you've served communion or greeted

people at the door or helped pick up

signs, every single part um of what

happens here on a Sunday morning and

during the week, whether it's hosting,

leading small group, attending prayer

meetings, all of that stuff really is um

valuable to the life of this body. And

so we want to say thank you. So that's

next Sunday after church. If you haven't

received the email invitation, let me

know and I'll make sure that it gets in

your inbox so we can have the right

headcount for food. But that's next

Sunday here in this room after church.

I'm going to ask the people who are

passing the giving baskets to come

forward, please. I'm going to pray for

the giving and the rest of the service.

Heavenly Father, [sighs] I thank you.

I thank you, Lord, for just the way you

move, the places that we see you and the

places that we don't. and we wait for

you Lord. I pray Lord that every penny

that is given to Mission Vine will be

used for your kingdom work in us and

through us. I pray Lord that you would

[clears throat] fill John with your his

with your Holy Spirit Lord um as he

prepares to lead us in the sermon this

morning. I pray all this in Jesus name.

Amen.

Well, it's coming to the end of 2025.

I wrote the date 2026 the other day and

it kind of freaked me out like I was

wrong, but it's it's coming and it's

here. And one of the things that we

don't often do because I don't know, we

like going on to the next fun thing,

right? Next fun thing, next fun thing.

But we as a church, I think uh our

mission is to welcome Jesus into all of

life. So what would it look like at the

end of the year to take a moment and

welcome Jesus into our memories as a

church? What does it look like? And I

know we did some of this over

Thanksgiving, but I wanted to maybe even

do it again. What would it look like to

make time to say what God had done for

me through the local church? And so, I

have somebody that wrote in and somebody

else that signed up, but get ready. I'm

going to leave an awkward amount of

silence for some of you to come up. And

if you do want to share what has God

done for me through this local church,

we'd love to hear it from you. So, I'm

going to read one and then David, would

you come up? Where are you, David? Yeah,

David, I want I want you to be ready to

come up, my friend.

Um, Amanda McMullen, John and Amanda are

serving in the kids ministry upstairs

today. And Amanda emailed me. She said,

"I can't talk because I'll be upstairs."

But she wanted to say this.

God has been faithful in showing us the

beauty of community from investing more

time in the little kids ministry

recently planning the yearly curriculum

with Berkeley. Berkeley is our kids

director and hosting worship at our

house. There's a a worship night that's

happening on Saturday nights multiple

times every month now. He's been

faithful to the word we received about

why we were supposed to be at Mission

Vineyard in the first place. the

relationships.

I'm so blessed by everyone we know and

have met, parents, children, regular

members, and those passing through. I'm

blessed by the prayers I receive from

others and even the prayers I pray for

others. I'm grateful to attend church

where everyone gets to play. Sort of a

motto around here, everyone gets to play

because it's invited us to collaborate

with God in new spaces like kids

ministry and worship. I thank God for

Mission Vineyard, its genuine leaders,

humble congregants. We are so blessed

and we wanted to say thank you. And

thank you to Amanda and John serving

upstairs with their kids. David, I asked

for the congregation 90 testimonies.

Come on up. Would you just share with us

what's God done? It's been a year, man.

It's been a year you've been engaged in

the church this year. What's it been

like? What's God been doing in you

vineyard? main thing is love. Um, God

has been showing me over the years you

need to love people. My last job, I had

a bully, a boss. He did bad things, said

horrible things to the older ladies and

uh, legally and the right thing. I dealt

with them respectfully and um, it just

messed up.

I didn't do nothing wrong, but and when

I came here, I kept on hearing the

scriptures, love your neighbor. So, my

new job, I was being very badly treated

by a couple employees, real bad, like

very disrespectful.

And uh I just told one lady, "Hey, I'm

just going to love you. I'm just going

to pray for you in Jesus name." Okay.

And the other employee was like, "What

the heck? David tripping." And then the

other lady came up to me, has been there

20 years. It's a small company. She

blasted me. I made a mistake. She

blasted me. So, I was like, "I'm fired.

God, I'm fired. I've only been there

five months. I'm fired because they fire

people left and right. They don't care.

You know, it's just they can do whatever

they want. We're in Texas at will. And I

just let her yell at me. I let her blast

me. I just kept on saying, "I got to

love her. I just got to love her. I hate

what she's doing. I got to love her."

And everything changed in the whole

place. It was amazing. I was like, "Wow,

God." There's times to engage on people,

but that love is the most powerful

thing. So, as I stay here, I'm learning

that God's showing me the world's very

hateful. They respond more to anger,

meanness, toughness,

warriors,

but love's the answer. And if we have to

take a few hits, uh, I didn't believe

that before. It's worth it. It's very

important because God loves people all

the way to hell. They go to hell. A lot

of people go to hell. They're not going

to make it. But he loves them. and he's

been teaching me if you're in my

kingdom, my second most important

commandment is love thy neighbor as

thyself. So I said, "Okay, God, you're

gonna have to help me do it." And it's

it's getting better. Makes better

health, better peace in your mind.

Doesn't change people. Doesn't stop the

things they say or do to you sometimes,

but it does make a big difference.

Let me pray for you. Lord Jesus, thank

you for David and for the love that

you've shown him. I pray for more God at

work and at home as he pours out love.

Fill him with your love, more of your

love, God, and let this community be a

place where he gets filled with your

love. Ask in Jesus name. Amen. Thank

you, David. You too.

[applause]

Anyone else? Awkward silence now until

somebody raises up and grabs this

microphone.

In 2025, what has it been like to be in

this church? How have you experienced

God's love? Ashley.

>> Um, even though I've only been here for

the last few months of this year, um,

I'm just seeing how much God has placed

us directly here and his hand has been

upon us this very tough really year and

a half. Um, and I feel like this is home

and this is family already. And um, I

have struggled in times past to make

friends. And when we left church a

couple weeks ago, Chris was like, "Man,

I had no idea you had so many friends in

church." And I was like, "It's because

God is working and moving in that." And

so, I just wanted to thank everyone here

for being so loving and kind to us and

allowing us to step into this tight

community and feel like we've been here

all the years you've had the church

here. So, thank you.

>> Let me pray for you. Jesus, thank you so

much for the friendships that you're

making and uh God, for the family that

you've made for Ashley and Chris and

their whole family. Continue to bless

them in community, Lord, that their home

would be a place of that kind of

friendship and love. Uh and continue to

do that here at Mission Vineyard in

Jesus name. Amen. Thanks, Ashley.

>> Yeah. Come on up, Christine.

As the dium opens, we can hear them

announcing,

>> "Hello, my name is Christine Seir and um

I'm from San Antonio. I moved up north

to Maryland DC area for 25 years." And

then my son said, "Time to come home."

And I said, "I can't come home. I have a

church family here. I I belong. We do

things, you know, we have so much fun

with each other. We we're like brothers

and sisters." And I thought, "I'll never

find that in San Antonio. It's never

been like that for me." So I come back

and I'm looking on on I I had to go to

church. So I look I Googled it and I

said closest church to me. So I walk in

here. I'm sitting down in this sermon.

What does John say? We're a doing

church. And I thought, "Oh, that's what

I was going to be missing from my other

churches." So I I just came in and we

started doing things and he includes me

included me in everything. Whatever you

want to do, you do. You know, you help

out. And it's been my whole life. It

just it gave me friends right away. And

uh it's it just it brings joy to my

heart just to be able to say, you know,

that I love each and every one of you.

It's fantastic to greet you in the

mornings. So, thank you, Mission

Vineyard, for accepting me.

[applause]

>> So, Lord Jesus, more of that on

Christine. Just more of your uh your

spirit. She wants to do so much, God.

Thank you for continuing to heal her and

for giving her your spirit as she greets

other people. We bless her in Jesus

name. Amen. Thanks, Christine.

90 seconds. Robert, can you keep it in?

>> You're great. You're great.

>> Uh, for those of you guys don't know, my

wife and I, Haley, have been coming here

for the last few months. And, uh, I've

known John for well over a decade, which

is crazy to think about now. Um, but

when we first got married, uh, Haley had

some past things of where it's like we

both wanted to be in church, but also

like we both have been hurt by different

churches in the past. And so whenever we

started looking and we're like, "Okay,

well, what are we going to do? What do

we want to look like? What kind of

church?" And I was like, you know, I

know who is like someone that God has

placed like in my heart and in my life

who like he is a safe space for anyone

and everyone. And so we talked about it

and I said, "Well, why don't we just

check out Mission Vineyard? Like let's

go check it out. We'll go talk to John."

And in doing that, Haley has like had so

much like love and care from everybody

as we expect our newborn, our first

child. Um, and not just prayer healing,

not just community healing, but just

such a phenomenal community that God has

placed in our lives that has been so

supportive and so loving. But also like

we wanted to strengthen our marriage to

make sure because we heard so much stuff

of like whenever you have your first

born that you're gonna go through all

this stuff and like John and our leader

took time to like really pour into our

marriage and like gave us stuff to have

supportive things. We have supportive

families here who have like taken time.

We just moved and I hadn't even met

Emily really. I don't think we ever

talked but she literally took time to

help us move. This community has been so

[clears throat]

so good to us

and God has been so good to us. So,

thank you guys all so much for caring

and for loving and to really show us

God's love here.

I know it's been a while since I've

grown. [laughter]

>> Lord Jesus, thank you for Robert and

Haley and their child come. Thank you

for the love that we experienced. Lord,

we ask for more.

God, thank you for the love of 2025.

Fill them with your love. Fill their

home with your love, their new home. We

pray for beautiful delivery,

beautiful

beginning of child coming into their

family. Come Holy Spirit, fill them

aresh in Jesus name. Amen.

>> Wow.

Wow.

I I guess we could keep going. Um,

I uh sorry, I just sometimes just feel

like I need to wait for a second.

Sometimes God does more and we wait.

When I was in high school, I was in a

fantastic small group. Thankfully, I I I

grew up in the church and uh because of

that, I had men around me that helped me

uh learn the scripture and I remembered

I memorized a couple different

scriptures, but one became my favorite

of all. It's Lamentations 3:22 and 23.

Lamentations 3:22

What I don't often remember is what

leads up to it. And I felt like as we

waited,

um the Lord wanted me to share just a

little bit from my heart what my heart

has been like.

and uh

what it's meant for me to be in this

church in 2025.

Lamentations is a is a book that uh well

to lament means to just go this is

horrible.

And so Lamentations 3 is full of that.

Uh he has shot his arrows deep into my

heart. My own people laugh at me all day

long. They sing their mocking songs.

This is like if you if you wanted to

open up the scriptures and get like the

encouraging word of the day, this is not

where you should open up your Bible, you

know, if you're playing, you know, Bible

roulette or whatever you want to call

it. Uh my own people laugh at me. God,

this is not what I needed today. He's

filled me with bitterness, gave me a cup

of bitter sorrow to drink. He's made me

chew on gravel, rolled me in the dust.

Peace has been stripped away, and I have

forgotten what prosperity is. I CRY OUT,

"MY SPLENDOR IS GONE. EVERYTHING I HAD

HOPED FOR FROM THE LORD IS LOST." AMEN.

THANKFULLY, and I'm I'm a pretty

dramatic guy. Thankfully, the scripture

is always more dramatic than I am

through the Psalms, through

lamentations. And so, God says, "Yeah,

you know, your life, you think it's so

bad, it's really not compared."

But verse 19 starts like this. And and I

I think for me, I'd want to read it to

you, church, as your pastor in thinking

about 2025.

The thought of my suffering and

homelessness is beyond words. I'll never

forget this awful time as I grieve over

my loss. Yet, I still dare to hope when

I remember this. The faithful love of

the Lord never ends. His mercies never

cease.

The faithful love of the Lord never

ends. His mercies never cease. Church,

that's what it's been like for me to be

at Mission Vineyard this year. That's

why I'm thankful for you because the

faithful love of the Lord has never

ended through you all. His mercies has

never ceased through you all. Great is

his faithfulness. The scripture says,

his mercies begin aresh every morning. I

say to myself, the Lord is my

inheritance. Therefore, I will hope in

him. The Lord is good to those who

depend on him, to those who search for

him. So, it's good to wait quietly for

salvation from the Lord.

It's good. It's good to wait.

2025 in this church has been a year

where you go, "Oh, Lord, again, another

loss."

We had a building that was donated to us

for three years and we had to move out.

We had mentor pastors who were

journeyied with us for nine years and

they moved away.

One thing after another after another,

we had someone in our congregation pass

away and another family deal with the

loss of a child.

Over and over again, we think, God, why?

Why? What are you doing? What are you

doing?

And it's good to wait patiently for the

Lord. Because of the Lord's great love,

we're not consumed. For his compassions

never fail. They're new every morning.

Great is thy faithfulness.

It's been that church for me.

And so I want to dig into the scripture

today. We've we've been planning on this

scripture all year long that we would

end the year like this. And so I want to

engage the scripture with you from

Isaiah chapter 9. But if you don't

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

remember anything from today, what I

want you to remember, what I'd love for

you to leave with is God brings his

greatest light from our darkest places.

God brings his greatest light from our

darkest places. God is good.

God is good.

Jesus is born and we remember that he's

the light. But not just that, he planned

on being the light and he had prophets

speak to this. This is Isaiah chapter 9

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

beginning in verse one. And again, we've

dealt with this already in Thanksgiving,

but I thought it'd be good to engage it

again.

If I can open up my notes correctly.

That's okay. I'll read from the screen.

It'll be better for everybody, I think.

Nevertheless, that time of darkness and

despair will not go on forever. The land

of Zebulun and Nahali will be humbled.

But there will be a time in the future

when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies

along the road that runs between the

Jordan and the Sea, will be filled with

glory. Now, this sounds like probably

what you'd expect out of the Lord of the

Rings.

Anybody ever seen The Lord of the Rings?

Read the Lord of the Rings?

That language actually comes from

scriptures. This kind of prophetic

language scripture of what's happening

in towns and cities far away. and the

towns and cities that they're talking

about here. This is Isaiah and he's

writing from Jerusalem or around there.

And he's writing about areas of Israel

in the north that are being conquered by

the Assyrians,

been torn apart.

And those two names, the land of Zebulun

and Naphali, are names of the tribes of

Israel, two tribes of Israel that got

their inheritance up there.

But they're getting destroyed. And so

Isaiah hears from the Lord that their

destruction is not the end of the story.

You hear me? What this scripture is

about is that God always has a plan when

we see destruction.

God always has a plan when we see

destruction. So, nevertheless, that time

of darkness and despair that's happening

in those tribal areas, in those uh

northern territories of Israel

will not go on forever. The land of

Zebulun and Napali will be humbled. But

there will be a time in the future when

Galilee of the Gentiles, Galilee is up

there and of the Gentiles, who would

think that this is the land of of

Israel, but the land of the Gentiles,

those who are not Jews, those who are

not generally included in God's

inheritance. There'll be a time when

they

who runs along the road between the

Jordan and the Sea will be filled with

glory.

God's glory is going to fall upon

everybody even though they have fallen

under destruction. So, you've got a

sheet in front of you in order to

process all this. And I'd ask you when

you look in the 2025 rearview mirror,

what do you see?

What are the places of loss that you

see? What are the places that you wish

could have been better?

The scripture that God is welcoming us

into today are saying that the people

who walk in darkness will see a great

light.

How do you see light

when you're in darkness?

I love I'm getting suggestions from the

audience. Close your eyes.

The the picture I had of this week was

of a of a side view mirror.

I I don't know if you know what it says

in a side view mirror. Typically, the

objects may appear

or objects are

closer than they may appear.

And I think oftentimes

it's not just what's happened in our

lives in 2025, but it's also the

spiritual battle that goes on with what

happens in our history. Any of you all

ever remember something and it's really

not that big of a deal, especially

because you live in Jesus and Jesus has

your life. Like there really shouldn't

be anything that conquers over you.

But sometimes, and I don't know about

you, it's it's when I wake up in the

morning, an idea or a memory will come

to mind and it will just try to conquer

me. Have you ever felt that way?

Anybody?

Where a memory of the past that

shouldn't conquer over you all of a

sudden tries to conquer you.

Sometimes I think the enemy tries to

make the rear view mirror appear bigger

than it is.

And we lose sight

of Jesus being in our life which is

actually greater than what we can see.

We often don't see how great Jesus has

been in making new things in the midst

of the darkness. For those who live in a

land of deep darkness, a light will

shine

in Jesus. Those things that we thought

would conquer us don't actually conquer

us. And so he continues, if you can keep

going, Elena, I appreciate you leading

my scripture today. You will enlarge the

nation of Israel. Its people will

rejoice. They'll rejoice before you as

people rejoice at the harvest. And like

warriors dividing plunder, imagine if

you were one of those people that won

that big lottery. How much was it? $1.5

billion or something like that.

How much would you celebrate? This is

this is the example that Isaiah is

giving here. It is AS IF YOU GOD'S

GLORY, HIS LIGHT WILL SHINE IN THE

DARKNESS AS IF YOU WON $1.8 BILLION AND

YOU JUST WANTED TO THROW IT at

everybody.

You get a thousand. You get It's like

Mr. Beast in a line of cars to say,

"Hey, you get a thousand. You get a

thousand. You get a thousand." I used to

use an Oprah reference and then I

realized how old I was.

When light comes in the darkness,

it is as if you won the lottery because

all of a sudden those dark places that

used to conquer you get blown up. For

you will break the yoke of their slavery

and lift the heavy burden from their

shoulders. You will break the

oppressor's rod just as you did when you

destroyed the army of Midian. The boots

of the warrior, the uniforms of

bloodstained war will all be burned.

You ever had an old girlfriend and you

needed to burn everything?

This is about as close as we can get to

that.

Imagine all those battles that you had

and everything that you had

rem reminding of you of those battles.

For them, it was literal battle and

their clothes were filled with the blood

of that battle. All of a sudden, Isaiah

says, "It's not going to be like that.

You won't be remembering that bloodshed

anymore. Burn them all.

I'm making you brand new.

For a child is born to us, a son is

given to us. The government will rest on

his shoulders. And he will be called,

and I love this name, wonderful

counselor, mighty God, everlasting

father, prince of peace." It's all one

word. It's all one name. It's on your

sheet so you can have it forever.

Basically saying God is the counselor

that takes us out of the darkness,

gives us light,

destroys all the things that remind us

of those old things,

and then leads us by his counsel into

hope.

Now, I don't know about you, but

sometimes I like to lead myself into

hope without God. And I usually do that

by distracting myself. And usually it

has to do with spending money. Anybody

else?

In 2025, you may have made some

mistakes. And some of it may have been

because you've tried to counsel yourself

out of a place of hurt. And sometimes

you haven't invited Jesus into that. And

God wants to tell you today, he is the

wonderful counselor, mighty God,

everlasting father, prince of peace that

takes you from the places of

discouragement into hope. He is the

light in the darkness.

And his government, his rule and reign

over you is different than your own rule

and reign over your own heart. You don't

have to work anything up. He comes with

his peace and he leads

and the throne of his ancestor David for

all of eternity. He will rule with

justice and fairness.

The passionate commitment of the Lord's

heaven's armies will do this. So this

prophecy which is 700ish

BC is talking about Jesus.

Do you know where Jesus was from? Where

his family was from?

that land that was conquered by the

Assyrians.

Isaiah is talking about a time of

darkness. They're getting conquered.

There's destruction all over them. But

God's giving him a word. The savior of

all salvation, of all people, of people

included in covenant, not included in

covenant. Everybody's going to be saved

by someone who comes from your land of

destruction.

I wonder church what it would look like.

I think God's looking for people who are

willing to believe

that he can bring amazing things out of

the destruction of the past. I think

God's looking for people who are willing

to hope and believe that he's a good God

even though we've experienced less than

what we think is good.

An extraordinary counselor is the

warrior God. John Golden Gay is a

theologian. He says the name makes some

declarations about God. The warrior God

is an extraordinary counselor or

planner. That is Yahweh is an expert at

determining what the future should bring

and seeing that it does so. And Yahweh

is capable of making plans that bring

about vents, events that one would never

have guessed. Church, do you want events

to happen in your life that are so good

and so well led that you would have

never guessed that they could have ever

happened? This is what God can do.

It's easy. It's easy. It's easy to get

discouraged because whatever has

happened in this past year feels like it

has conquered you and you feel like you

are at a negative.

God is looking for people that are

willing to look at the negative with him

and say, "Would you let me give you hope

and a future?

Would you let me be a good God that is

able to bring light from the darkness?"

Jesus, this is John verse uh uh chapter

8:12, he spoke to the people once more.

He says, "I am the light of the world.

If you follow me, you won't have to walk

in darkness because you will have the

light that leads to life. And so, I'm

sorry, church, there will not be a list

of things that you can do in order to

have life in your life or light in your

life. The thing that God does not let us

off the hook with is going along with a

plan that we can do on our own. He

requires that we walk with him. And it's

good.

It's good that we walk with him. It's

good that we don't walk alone in our own

plans. If you follow me, you will have

the light that leads to life. And if

that's true, church, Psalm 27 says this,

"The Lord is my light and my salvation."

So why should I be afraid? I am not

afraid of 2026, church. Because God is a

good God and he has bring light into the

darkness.

The light shines in the darkness and the

darkness can never extinguish it. The

one who is the true light who gives

light to the world is Jesus and he's

here.

And so I want to encourage you that the

light has come to our darkest places.

Where have you given up hope? Where are

you most discouraged? Where do you feel

the most conquered? Where have you felt

your worst? Where do you carry the most

fear?

Welcome Jesus right there.

And would you trust God's plan for your

life? What would it look like to welcome

an extraordinary counselor, the warrior,

God, the everlasting father is an

officer for well-being to help you

instead of helping yourself? What would

it look like to allow God to direct you

this year? Where are you making plans,

but you haven't asked for God's advice?

Where have you lost imagination for what

God could do?

And then finally,

if the light has come and he's leading

you, what is the story of deliverance?

What if the cross could be bigger in our

side view mirror than our fears?

When I look back

on my life and I remember how much the

cross has covered, I remember a lot of

sin.

I remember a lot of wounding.

I remember a lot of hurt.

Here's my trouble. And I don't know if

you you struggle with this at all. I

want the new programming of God's

salvation and his light to work for me.

But sometimes I don't want to work. I

don't want it to work for the people

that have hurt me.

I want the new programming for me. Thank

you, Lord. I live in your forgiveness,

the cross over my life. I don't have to

worry about my sin anymore. You've

forgiven me. Even all the bad things

I've done, God, thank you so much. I'm

free. Except for that person from my

past that I still hold anger against.

Sometimes we're okay with light in our

own life as long as we can hold darkness

over another light.

And the truth is, if light's going to

operate in our lives, it must operate in

their lives, too.

What would it look like to extend the

same grace that God has given you? the

big cross in the rearview mirror that's

actually larger than it appears

over the lives who maybe have brought

you hurt this past year. What would it

look like to extend light out?

And maybe not just to them. What would

it look like for a friend and neighbor

not to hear about how wonderful your

church is or how wonderful your

Instagram is or how wonderful you've

served the homeless? It's wonderful. But

what the cross has covered over your

life and the freedom that it's given

you, the goodness of God in your life.

What would that look like?

Well, I'm going to invite Steve. He's

stopped being Santa today, but I like

the green shirt. No more hat. At our

church, uh, every week we have a prayer

team that prays before the church

service in hope that God would bring

light into the darkness. And so we

intentionally

take a risk for what God might want to

do, how he might want to pray. Uh I I

we don't always do this, but I want to

stay with you in this. I feel like God

might want to do something in in the

midst of this prayer time to deliver

people.

>> But there's some words that they wrote

down in faith that God might be wanting

to pray for one of you. So Steve, would

you talk to us about that?

>> Yes. Yes.

And by the way, something uh I heard a

teacher uh this this week where he said

uh you know when we're facing a bunch of

opposition

um

maybe that's because we're going the

right way. The enemy doesn't want us.

Maybe it's a sign that we're going the

right way. The enemy opposes us. if

everything's going well or going

smoothly,

uh maybe we're going his way.

So, that was an interesting thought.

>> Yeah.

>> As we prayed this morning, a couple of

things uh that came out that relate

actually to what John had to share with

us today. Emmanuel,

remember Jesus, one of his names. He is

always

here for you. God with us.

Freedom from depression.

A parent

is concerned about a child's health and

development.

We want to pray with you about that.

You need assurance that God hears your

praise. God, are you hearing me? I'm

trying to praise you. Yes, he does. He

sees your heart.

A picture of a middle schooler playing

basketball outside and injuring the

shoulder.

And

enter 2026 with expectation.

expectation that God is with us. He's

got something for us.

Okay. So,

we would if any of these things speak to

you, we would love to join you in prayer

about that over here in the corner. Or

if you have some other physical need or

or other issue,

we would love to pray for you.

I wonder, Steve. You know, typically we

send people over that corner and prayer

teams, thank you for going over there,

but would you come back?

>> Um, I'm gonna ask us to be just a little

bit more bold because this is a

wide-ranging list and I think it might

be fun for our community to love on one

another a little bit.

>> Uhhuh.

>> Uh, and so if there's something on this

list that you feel like, yeah, God, God

got my number, would you have the

courage to just stand up right now if

any of those things refer to you?

the the other thing. So this uh freedom

from depression

sometimes there there are psycho

physical emotional things and sometimes

there are spiritual things that God

wants to take care of. God's been doing

a lot of deliverance in our church

recently. And so if you have if you came

into the church service especially I'm

gonna again I'll give a wider invitation

so you won't feel poked out but if

you've been feeling darkness

God wants to deliver you from that and

he has the power to do that. We are not

meant to live with darkness over us. No

matter what we've done or what anybody

has done to us. He wants to deliver us

to the light. And so again, anything on

this list or if you've never said yes to

Jesus and given yourself completely to

him to guide you, we want you to stand.

And so again, if any of these things

refer to you, would you just stand up

and and and raise your hand?

Yeah. And then people around you,

there's one over here, couple over here.

uh if you've been trained, we have a

simple five-step prayer model. It just

helps keep dignity in our prayer

ministry times. Would you surround these

people and begin to pray for them? And

typically like we would play like some

worship music right now and try to

distract you from what's going on. But I

think God wants to wants us to pay

attention in this moment.

Be those people that are standing, start

to surround them, begin praying.

Yeah, if you've been trained, you are

assigned. Go

just start praying for people. And those

of you who are in the seats, you're

like, "Well, what do I do? I don't have

any problems and I'm not praying for

anybody." Just wait and start praying.

And and if you don't know how to pray,

there's a simple prayer uh in in Matthew

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6. You can Google it and it's

our father who art in heaven hallowed be

thy name thy kingdom come thy will be

done just start praying thy kingdom come

thy will be done on the people around

you start lifting them up in prayer.

If while these prayers are happening,

you go, "Well, you know, maybe there is

something

I need prayer for," go ahead and stand

up and raise your hand. Make sure

somebody sees you. And

if you're a visitor, we're not always

this awkward or weird, but

we like following what God's up to.

Jesus is always here for you. Freedom

from depression, deliverance from

depression, a parent concerned about

health and development, needing

assurance that God hears your praise. A

picture of a middle schooler playing

basketball or outside and injuring the

shoulder. Entering 2026 with

expectation. Again, if any of those

things are for you,

I'm going to wait an awkward amount of

time for you to stand.

People

are still getting prayer. I'll ask for

the worship team to come up now. I just

don't like distracting. Even though it's

weird. I don't like distracting from

what God actually wants to do. Sometimes

we we just sort of run it over like let

that pass.

And as the rest are getting prayer, you

can stand with us.

We're going to close our time church

today with a song.

[music]

>> [music]

>> Falling on my knees [singing and music]

in worship,

giving all I am to seek [music] your

face,

Lord. All I am is [singing] yours.

My whole life I [singing and music]

place in your hands. God of mercy,

humble, I [music]

bow down

in your [singing] presence at your

throne.

[music]

And I called,

you [singing] answered

[music]

>> and you came [singing]

to my rescue. And I

want [music] to be where [singing] you

are.

And I called,

you answered

and you came [singing and music] to my

rescue. And I

want to be where

you are.

Would you stand with us?

My whole [singing] life I place in your

hands. God of mercy, humbled

abound

in your presence [singing and music]

at your throne.

[music]

I [singing] called

you answered

[music]

and you [singing] came to my rescue. And

I

want [music] to be where

you are.

Yeah. I called. [singing]

You answered

and you [music and singing] came to my

rescue and I

want [music] to be [singing] where

you are.

>> [music]

[music]

>> In my life

[music] be lifted. [singing] ed high and

our world

be lifted high [singing and music] and

our love

be lifted [singing] high

in my life.

be lifted [singing] high and our world

be lifted high and our love

be lifted high.

Oh,

I [singing and music] called.

You answered

and you came [singing] to my rescue.

[music] And I

want to [singing] be where

you are.

>> Yeah. I [singing] called, [music]

you answered

[music]

>> and you [singing] came to my rescue. And

I

want to be where [singing] you

are.

I [singing] call

you [music] answer

[singing]

and [music] you came to my rescue. And I

want to be where

you are.

I call [singing]

you [music]

answer.

>> [music]

>> And [singing] you came to my rescue. And

I

want to be [music and singing] where

you

are.

[music]

And so we end the service with a

declaration as well up on the screen for

you. Would you read with me? Filled with

the Holy Spirit and grounded in God's

love, we're sent [music] out to join in

God's kingdom with impact through his

word and his works. Deeply rooted in the

Father, Son, and [music] Holy Spirit, we

help others to follow Jesus, bringing

good news to the poor, [music] sight to

the blind, freedom for captives, and

blessing to our family, friends, and

neighbors in [music] Jesus' name. Amen.

Would you receive this blessing as we

send you out in the name of the Father

and the Son and the Holy Spirit? Would

you go out filled with the Holy Spirit,

filled with his light in the darkness,

reaching for his hope and sharing the

good news of the cross [music] in your

life. I bless you in Jesus name. Amen.

Go in peace. For those who want to

continue to worship, we're going to

[music] play a few more songs. For those

who want to leave or you want to hang

out with friends, you can go towards the

door, grab some more coffee. [music]

sort of a choose your own adventure at

this point

[music]

in [singing] my

>> [music]