Mission Vineyard Sunday Service 12/7

Is that okay? See okay?

>> Yeah.

>> We're okay there.

>> Well, it goes it goes up,

>> right?

>> Eternal.

Yeah. So, let's change it.

>> Yes.

>> Let's bring it down to a we do that.

>> Yeah, let's do that.

Is it going to change it on its own or

do I have to change it?

>> I just changed it.

>> So, if you refresh,

>> refresh.

Okay, got it. Let's try that. Let's do

um more than all riches.

>> Okay.

Could

you go down on leave?

>> Uh, let's just try it in G, I guess. I

think Yeah, G would be easier.

Is that going to take your verses down

into

>> Oh, I see. Let me try the verse.

>> A is okay for the verses there. But is

G.

>> Let's try G. Let's try G. So

>> sure and steady

my hope is held in your hand.

When castles crumble

and breath is fle

upon this rock I will stand.

Wo!

Upon this rock I will stand.

Glory. Glory.

We will skip to the bridge. Okay. Um,

>> our soul's declaring

our souls declaring

Jesus is better.

Make my heart believe.

There you go. Good.

>> Yeah, that's good.

>> Way to go on the low for the G.

>> Whoa.

>> And then I speak Jesus. We're okay. Let

me see here. I just want to speak the

name of Jesus.

>> Jesus.

>> It's okay.

>> Over heart and every

peace within your presence.

I speak Jesus.

>> It's okay.

>> Yeah. And then does it go up anywhere?

>> Okay.

>> Yeah, it's good. This one's good.

>> See, he's okay. All right. Great.

>> I think we get into it and God's going

to carry us. It's going to be okay.

Well, good morning, Mission Vineyard.

>> Good morning.

>> Morning.

>> I love that you fought the San Antonio

police to get here this morning.

Way to rage against the machine. I'm

just so so proud of you.

Uh

it's so wonderful that we get to be here

this morning and we're going to

celebrate and worship as we typically

would. And uh we've got many things that

are going to happen today because today

is the second day of Advent. The

waiting, we're in this process of

waiting for Jesus, for the arrival of

Jesus. So, we're very excited for that.

Uh we are going to have uh testimony by

Chris and Ashley Simmons about how

they've walked with one uh with

fostering and adopting as we focus in on

our advent conspiracy giving to one hope

for kids who helps churches raise up

foster parents here in the city. And

then uh we have a special guest leading

worship this morning, Hannah. Hannah,

>> hello.

Uh Hannah was a part of the church

five years ago, six years ago.

>> Uh like eight more like eight

>> eight years ago.

>> Starting eight years ago. Yeah.

>> And then uh was a Trinity student and

then left to be an intervarity staff in

North Texas and has just come off staff.

And so today I Hannah happens to be a

worship leader, but I wanted you all to

meet Hannah so we could bless her as

she's come off of interarsity staff and

into whatever the Lord's doing next,

which I hope has to do with all the

creativity that God's given her. Um, but

this today is the Lord's day. And so as

you have the capacity, would you stand

with me as we posture ourselves to

worship the King of Kings and the Lord

of Lords in the season of Advent where

we are anticipating the arrival of

Jesus.

And as we get excited about what God

might want to do in us and through us

today, no matter how many police you've

had to break through the barriers of

today in order to get here. So come Holy

Spirit. Come Holy Spirit.

We ask you to consecrate our hearts and

our minds, our bodies to your work and

to your way,

for your joy, for your promise.

And I love that as we as a church, no

matter what's going on, not only do we

welcome the Holy Spirit, we also declare

as a congregation why we're here. And so

up on the screen we have this

declaration that we can speak together.

As 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.

Come Holy Spirit.

And there may not be a more appropriate

song for us all to sing.

Oh come

all ye faithful,

joyful

and triumphant.

Oh come ye, oh come ye to Bethlehem.

Come

and behold

him

born the king of angels.

Oh come let us adore

him. Oh come let us adore

him.

Christ

the Lord.

Sing

choirs of angels.

Sing in exaltation.

Sing

all ye sin

of heaven

above.

Glory

to God.

Glory

in the highest.

Oh come let us adore

him. Oh come let us adore

him.

Christ

alone.

>> Would you sing with me a simple chorus

of We give you all the glory. We give

you all the glory.

We give you all the glory.

We give you all the glory

re

our Lord.

>> And we stand in on worship.

>> We stand in worship.

>> We stand in on worship.

All in worship

>> we stand in all in worship

Christ

the Lord and the chorus standing on

worship

standing on worship

raise a voice in worship

Come adore

the King of Kings and Lord

of Lords.

Sing it again. Standing on worship.

Standing on worship.

Raise a voice in worship.

Come adore

the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

>> One more time. Standing on worship.

>> We stand in all of you.

>> Standing on worship.

>> We stand in all. We raise a voice toship

>> the king of kings and lord of lords.

>> And a simple chorus of oh come let us

adore. Oh come let us adore

him. Oh come let us adore

him.

Christ

the Lord.

sing with us. Generous God.

Generous God,

giver of life,

and every good and perfect gift.

With arms open wide,

we come to receive from you. Cuz we know

that you are

generous God,

giver of life,

and every good and perfect gift.

With arms open wide,

we come to receive from you. Because we

know that you you do exceedingly

so much more than we could ask

or imagine.

For you are generous

with your lavish

love pouring out on us unending.

Sing again. Generous God,

generous God,

giver of life

in every good and perfect gift.

With arms open wide,

we come to receive from you cuz we know

that you you do exceedingly.

so much more than we could ask.

For imagine

for you are generous

with your lavish love. You pour it out

on us, honey. You'll do. You'll do. You

do exceedingly

so much more than we could

for imagine.

For you are generous

with your lavish love. Pour it out on

us. Unending.

>> So pour it out. Pour it out on us.

>> Pour it out on us.

>> Sing to the Lord. Pour it out on us.

>> Pour it out on us. Pour it out on us.

>> Pour it out.

>> Pour it out on us.

>> Pour it out on us. Pour it out on us.

Pour it out on us. Pour it out on us.

Pour it out on us. Pour it out. Jesus,

>> you do exceedingly

so much more than we could ask

or imagine.

For you are generous

with your lavish

love. pour it out on us unending.

>> We have an Advent reading this morning.

The Koreans are reading. Give a cheer

for the Koreans.

Jesus brings peace. The prince of peace

was not born in a lavish place palace

surrounded by luxury and power. He

entered our world in quiet simplicity. A

stable, a manger, a young family far

from home. This Advent, as we prepare

our hearts for Christmas, let this truth

guide us. Filling our days with endless

busyness and our carts with more than

what we need is not the way to honor

him. Those things promise peace but

never deliver it. True peace, deep,

lasting, unshakable, can only be found

in Jesus himself. He is the one who

calms storms, quiets anxious hearts, and

speaks peace be still into every worry

we carry.

In John 14:27, we hear Jesus say, "I

John 14:27

leave my peace with you. I give my peace

to you. I do not give it to you as the

world does. Do not let your hearts be

troubled and do not be afraid."

From Luke 2:13-14,

Luke 2:13–14

we read, "Suddenly, a large group of

angels from heaven also appeared. They

were praising God. They said, "May glory

be given to God in the highest heaven,

and may peace be given to those he is

pleased with on earth." This second

candle is the candle of peace. It

reminds us the prince of peace has come.

He is with us now. And his peace is a

gift we simply receive. Jesus has come.

Jesus is here. Jesus is coming again.

Come, Lord Jesus. Fill us with your

peace today and every day. We light the

peace candle. We look at our calendars,

our Christmas shopping lists, and ask

God to help us simplify this year. Let

peace, not pressure or guilt, guide our

Advent season. Amen.

>> Amen.

There is no other

so sure and steady.

My hope is held in your hand.

When castles crumble

and breath is fleeting,

upon this rock I will stand.

Upon this rock I will stand.

Glory. Glory.

We have no other king but Jesus, Lord of

all.

We raise the anthem.

Our loudest praises ring. We crown him

Lord of all.

Your kindly rule has shattered and

broken

the curse of sincere in me.

My life is hidden

heaven shadow.

Your crimson flood covers me.

Glory. Glory.

We have no other king but Jesus, Lord of

all.

We raise the end of the

loudest praises ring. be crowned in

order

in all my sorrows.

Jesus is better.

Make my heart believe

every victory.

Jesus is better.

Make my heart believe

than any comfort.

Jesus is better.

Make my heart believe.

More than all riches,

Jesus is better.

Make my heart believe.

Our souls declare

Jesus is better.

Make my heart believe.

Oh,

our song eternal.

Jesus is better.

Make my heart believe.

>> Glory, glory.

We have no other king but Jesus, Lord of

all.

>> We raise the anthem.

Our loudest praises ring. We crown him

Lord of all.

We crown him Lord of all.

We crown him Lord of

going to begin

celebrating the Lord's supper today.

going to use a text a little bit

paraphrased if I might because today is

about the peace that God brings, offers

and promises to us.

Bit of a paraphrase of Psalm 23 if I

might. The Lord is our shepherd. We have

what we need. He brings us to lie down

in fertile pastures, leading us beside

his waters of peace.

He renews our lives, leading us along

his paths for his name's sake. Even when

we go through valleys as dark as death,

we fear no evil, for the Lord is with

us. Even his rod and his staff bring

comfort to us.

You have prepared a table before us.

Even in the presence of our enemies,

anointing us with the oil of your

presence, our cups overflow.

Your goodness, O Lord, and your faithful

love continue to pursue us every day of

our lives so that we may always dwell in

your presence, O Lord of peace.

On the night that our Lord Jesus was

betrayed, he 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. For as often

as you eat this bread and drink this

cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until

he comes." And we declare, "Come, Holy

Spirit."

So, we're going to ask you to come

down these middle aisles as usual. Most

of you know that. And go back out

through there on the outside.

And uh we will want to lead us in a

quick word of prayer. Well, a prayer and

uh let the servers come forward and be

prepared for us. So, Lord, thank you for

the peace that you give us. Thank you

that your peace even allows us to have a

table prepared for us in the presence of

our enemies because you are our peace.

You are our salvation. You are all that

we have and all that we need. So Lord,

as we come to this table today, we want

to honor you. We want to remember you,

but we also want to meet you once again,

especially your peace today. Please pour

out your peace on this congregation

today. We pray that in Jesus name. Amen.

Please come.

There is no other

so sure and steady.

My hope is held in your hand.

When castles crumble

and breath is fleeting,

upon this rock I will stand.

Upon this rock I will stand.

Glory. Glory.

We have no other king but Jesus, Lord of

all.

We raise the anthem.

Our loudest praises ring. We crown him

Lord of all.

Your kindly rule has shattered and

broken

the curse of sincerity.

My life is hidden

neath heaven's shadow.

Your crimson flood covers me.

Oh,

your crimson flood covers me.

Yeah.

Glory. Glory.

We have no other king but Jesus, Lord of

all.

We raise the end.

>> Our loudest praises ring. We crown in

Lord of all.

Glory, glory, glory.

We have no other king but Jesus, Lord of

all.

Raise an

>> We raise the anthem.

Our loudest praises ring. We crown him

Lord of all.

>> Would you please stand with us and we'll

say the Lord's Prayer together. We'll

have it up on the screen both in English

and Spanish. But uh we welcome your

praying to him in a language in which

you're most comfortable.

Our father who art in heaven, hallowed

be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will

be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us 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 us

from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the

power, and the glory, and will add, and

the peace. Amen.

Take a quick break. Come right back and

uh we'll have some announcements.

>> Thank you.

Draw me close to you.

Never let me go.

Lay it all down again.

To hear you say that I'm your friend.

You are my desire.

No one else will do.

Nothing else could take your place

to feel the warmth in your embrace.

Help me find the way.

Bring me back to you.

And you're all I want.

And you're all I've ever

>> Hey, Brandon.

>> Brandon,

>> help me know you.

All right, Mission Vineyard,

good morning again. Good morning. Good

morning. I'm really glad you're here.

Uh, thank you for the ones that brought

amazing sugar this morning to go with

the coffee. How's the coffee this

morning? Is it okay? I used an

inordinate amount of coffee.

People were uh were missing this

morning, but you're here and so I'm

really really glad. Uh if if there were

new people, I'd want to tell you and

it's important so that you know that

when new people come, they're welcomed

really, really well. And so you want to

invite friends because when they come,

they're going to receive something that

if even if they never come back to

church, they're going to be sent out on

mission. They're going to be sent with a

mana bag out into the world in a way

that they can share the kingdom of God

with others. And so I would encourage

you to invite friends so that they can

get a welcome bag. And that welcome bag

is going to have everything from a way

to get prayer requests uh submitted to

giving information. And I even send out

I love sending out Starbucks cards to

strangers. They never can read. Who has

actually been able to read a card that

I've written them? Raise your hand. Wow.

You should work in a doctor's office as

well. I love writing strangers scribble

and giving them Starbucks. So please do

invite your friends to church even on

these kind of days. It's going to be

super fun. Now the most fun that we have

during Christmas I think is when we go

Christmas caroling. Who's been Christmas

caroling before with a church? Okay it

who misses also their vignia friends

that we had to send out last year. Guess

what? We're going to Christmas carol

together

and there's going to be two different

options.

So, for those of you who are intimidated

by getting on a truck and a trailer

driven by who knows what, by who knows

where, we've hired a special company

this year. You know those tourist

trolleys that go around town? We hired

one of them to take us Christmas

caroling this year. We've paid for a

driver and there are people ready to

make uh hot cocoa for you and all kinds

of stuff. So, we're going to have one of

those. And the special thing about that

trolley is that it is wheelchair

friendly. And so if you know friends

with wheelchairs that want to go

Christmas caroling, but they go, "You

going in a truck and trailer?" Not this

year. They're going in style. So come to

the trolley. It's a very safe

environment. But if you do like riding

dangerously, there will be a truck and

trailer for you because the trolley

cannot go everywhere in Minky Park

because of the trees being so low. So,

we need for that truck and trailer to go

where the trolley can't go. So, if you

want to ride dangerously, that

opportunity is for you as well. But

we're going to be singing, giving out

invitations to Christmas Eve and praying

from house to house for those who are

willing to come out. And we've seen

amazing things happen. Our lead has been

hugged by many, many drunk people over

the past as we've prayed for people. So,

I just encourage you if you think that's

exciting, come Sunday night. No, you

won't get hugged by a drunk person.

That's

I will. So, this Sunday, 6 PM in this

parking lot,

a week from tonight. A week from

tonight. 6 p.m. Yeah. Don't come

tonight.

Don't come tonight. Uh, but the other

thing about Christmas that I love at

Mission Vineyard is that every year we

decide not to focus on ourselves.

Typically, churches get really anxious

towards the end of the year because they

have to make budget and we say, "Not us.

We don't care about our budget. Instead,

we care about those that are serving in

our world. And we focus on different

ones every year. Last year, we focused

on uh an organization that serves during

hurricanes and that kind of stuff. Uh

this year, we're focusing in on One Hope

for Kids. It's been a partner of ours

for 10 years. They've been out there for

10 years. And we are going to be

focusing on them because we realize what

the father is doing. Our church always

is looking, what is the father doing?

What is the father what is the father

doing? Do you know that we have three

families in our church that have

fostered and adopted children?

And so you're going to see this Sunday,

the next Sunday, and the Sunday after

that, we're going to be interviewing

those families. And then instead, this

is the encouragement as a church.

Instead of giving the amount of a

Christmas gift you might give to

somebody you don't care about that much,

instead invest time and energy and

crafts, glue, creativity, write a song,

poetry, whatever you're good at that

would be much more memorable than the

gift card you would have given them.

Do that for them and then instead take

that money and we're going to ask that

you give that to One Hope for Kids. and

you can do that through their website or

you can do that through ours. So, we

encourage you to do that. Um, this is

our Advent Conspiracy and we'll we'll

share that video in just a second. Um,

beyond that, I want to pray because we

do actually still have a church budget

and people do like giving during the

church service and thank God we don't

have any debt. God takes care of us

financially. So Lord Jesus, as we do

give this morning and as we set apart

time, we ask in the name of Jesus that

you would bless every single dollar

that's given,

every single offering that's given.

God, use every single penny, even though

they're not printed anymore, to your

kingdom work in us and through us in

Jesus name. Amen. So there are going to

be baskets going around and Elena, would

you play that video for me, please?

Son of God

>> and stop your music at the same time.

Heat. Heat.

Heat.

So, with a little bit of a testimony, I

want to show you what you're going to be

giving to as you give the cost of that

one gift to One Hope for Kids. This is

Chris and Ashley Simmons. They've moved

from Houston not too long ago. They're

in the midst of moving into their new

home. Merry Christmas.

>> Speaking of Christmas chaos,

Uh but years ago, even though we were in

the same small group with the same

little kids, our kids are now 18 and uh

and in college, but somewhere along the

way, God got a hold of your heart to

start fostering. So, what happened?

That's that's unusual. You could be

free. You could be vacationing,

traveling, something happened, though.

>> That's all part of the story, right? Um,

so we actually uh kind of always talked

about adopting, not really fostering. I

I don't know if at the time I just

didn't even know what that was. Um, but

in my mind that was when our kids were

little to make our family bigger. Um, we

had two, we had a girl and a boy and

Ashley said, "We have a girl and a boy.

You're done." I said, "Well, you have

the hard part. If we're done, we're

done." Um, but I did. Um, she knew I

wanted more kids. Um, always felt like I

wanted a big family. My mom was one of

six and I loved going back to my

grandparents house and having a house

full of people there for uh holidays and

birthdays and stuff like that. So, but I

mean that wasn't in the cards. Um

honestly, we found out there were

actually some health issues and our

doctor told us we're lucky we actually

had two. Um which was obviously a

blessing. Thank you Jesus. Um and he

gave us a girl and a boy which was fun.

Um but

little did I know he had a different

story down the road. So, we were about

five years ago, maybe six years ago.

Yeah. Right before COVID, um Ashley was

was thinking our kids were at a point uh

in middle school and high school and um

she was trying to figure out what was

next because they didn't need us needed

her as much. Obviously, I I work

full-time, but didn't need her as much.

She's trying to figure out what that

next um step was going to be and she

couldn't even figure out where to go

with it. And so I told her, I said,

"Fast and pray." I said, "Every time you

fast and pray, God answers you." I said,

"Fast and pray. I guarantee you he's

going to answer you." And she's probably

should be telling this, but the first

thing he told her was, "I want you to do

what you're good at." And that's all he

gave her. And so she came to me and

said, "What is that?" I'm like, "I don't

know.

>> No, no, no, no. They're still married,

folks. Still married."

>> Seriously.

>> Seriously. But um I don't know if I said

it or if then he told you.

>> I don't you want me to take it?

>> No,

>> that's okay.

Um so he started sort of laying out to

me that I was supposed to take care of

kids that were in need. Um, one morning

I I love to walk in neighborhood and so

I was walking in the neighborhood one

morning and um, he sort of gave me a

thought of maybe I was supposed to help

children from drugrelated situations and

I thought, "Oh, I'm scared to death to

do that." Um, but it became very

apparent that I was going to foster. So,

I started looking into some foster

agencies and we found one and um the

process began and um it was very

overwhelming and then COVID happened and

my kids came home and so I was like I

just I can't do this right now. I don't

think it's the right timing. So, I

always felt being a mom like guilty that

oh, I let these children go and I I

really didn't finish what God wanted me

to do. And um Chris would always say,

"That's not true. You know, you're

believing something that's not true." So

one morning I'm out walking again and I

just became overwhelmed with the feeling

like, "Oh my gosh, I'm going to do this

again." So I called some other agencies

because we didn't want to go to back to

the previous one. And the agency I found

the only one who answered my phone call

and gave me all this information. I

realized they were tied to the Houston

vineyard. And I was like, "This is it.

We are supposed to be a part of this."

So, we got involved with that and we got

through the process. It normally takes

about six months. And I just worked

right through it cuz I thought I I want

to start and I want to start right away.

And um all we've had four or five kids

and

>> well no no no in the second time around.

Um and they were mostly newborns and

they all came from drug addiction

and that's a whole another situation to

go through these poor little kids. And I

don't know, I um was telling Cara this

morning, I said, "It's amazing how

there's so much pain involved, but yet

God is constantly growing you and giving

you what you need each day. And there

isn't a day that I don't wake up with

extreme joy that oh my gosh, in this

situation, Sunni, Sunni's going to wake

up and we're going to go and do these

things together." And it brings so much

joy to my life. And so you want to talk

about

>> well I I some of that kind of got pushed

together there. So we did start

fostering about five years ago. We did

it for four months had four placements.

Realized our kids still needed us more

than we thought. And so that's when we

stopped. And it's funny because we've

seen a lot of people have done the same

thing. But then about two years later,

so about two and a half years in, she

goes, "I think we're supposed to do this

again." If you've been through the

process, everything lasts for two years.

So, we got to start all over again with

our our licensing, but we still had a

lot of that stuff, so it was easy to go

through. And um when God told her it was

to she was supposed to take care of

kids, and she told me that, I said,

"Well, I mean, we're extremely blessed.

If you guys ever meet our kids, our kids

are incredible." And I'm like,

"Obviously, you did an incredible job

with our kids. I don't see why we

couldn't do that with other people's

kids." So, um so that was kind of

confirmation there, plus the fact that

we had talked about it before, but then

we got licensed again and and yeah, I

mean, it's, don't get me wrong, it's not

an easy way. Um, as far as the

adoption's concerned, when we first

started it was fostering and and that's

what I signed on for, but they tell you

to get licensed foster to adopt because

you never know where that's going to go

and it's easier to just do it all at the

same time. Um, and then as we're going

along, she starts getting the inkling to

adopt. And I'm like, "Yeah, I'm no

spring chicken. I don't know that I want

to start over again."

>> Well, I I'm gonna share that. And I and

I did. I I flat out told her no. And and

I told her for for all the right

reasons. I said, "Look, I'm not going to

tell you yes to make you happy. Get down

to the end and then have to say no

because I'm not ready. I can't do that

to you. And I'm not going to get down to

the end if I'm not ready and say yes and

resent you and that child for the rest

of my life. I can't do that." I said,

"So through this process, either God's

going to change your heart or God's

going to change my heart." And that's I

mean, that's whatever he decides I'm

good with. I'm on I'm on board with his

plan. 48 47 years almost 48. The one

thing I've learned is God's a lot better

at planning my life than I am. So, I'm

on board with what he wants. Um, and so

we're going through the process and the

we've had Sunni for a little over a

year. She's 14 months. We got her about

two weeks old. The child we had before

her was a little boy named Gabe. We got

him at 10 days old. We had him for a

year and a half and we lost him and we

thought we were going to adopt him. And

it's I I can't you can't describe the

pain. But

then God sends people to confirm you did

what he asked. And it doesn't make it

easier, but it makes it better. And so

we lost him. She wanted to jump back

right back in. And I'm like, "Look,

we're moving this." I knew we were

coming to San Antonio. I said, "We don't

know what that looks like. We could lose

this child next year when we tell them

we got to go to San Antonio." I said,

"You've got to be okay with it." And she

said she was. I knew she wasn't, but she

said she was.

>> And they're still married, folks.

22 years. Um, and so, but I said, "We

can't tell anybody anything because we

didn't know the rules." And I didn't

want them thinking the whole time, okay,

we got to replace this kid. We got to

replace this kid uh somewhere else

because we didn't know. So, we didn't

say anything to anybody on at our agency

or CPS or anything until July.

>> He also had told me, "No, we went down

that road. We're not doing that again. I

won't do it again." And I'm like, how

could you have been on the same page

before and now we're not again?

>> So that was another hard thing. But God,

I was driving in the car one morning and

God specifically told me he said because

you are so faithful with Gabe, I'm going

to make it easy with Sunni. And that's

and he had I mean in ways.

>> So So I mean

>> his easy is not ours

>> ever. No,

>> I mean what what you guys are hearing is

the reality of what it means to walk

through this process of loving children

who are orphans. And we can't get away

from the scriptures that says we must

take care of orphans.

There's another couple that you hear

from next week, Robert Marcella, and

their obedience was just if we ask God,

what is he going to say? The scripture

says we must do this. And so, you're

seeing a couple walk through obedience

hyper relationally with Jesus. And that

the organization that we give to helps

equip the church to walk with couples

through this and equip couples like

we're doing right now. Honestly, if you

don't didn't know it, you're being

equipped right now with this gift of

obedience to Jesus. So, when it comes we

we're new to this as a church and

supporting couples and families through

this. And so, as you talk with your

congregation right now, this we're your

people. What's the biggest support that

we could ever offer you as a

congregation as you walk through this

pain?

>> You're asking the question. I'm gonna

say it. If you want to get licensed, we

need babysitters. Babysitters have to be

18 years old and licensed. And it's very

difficult. It's called a respbit care.

It's very difficult to find respit care.

>> Yeah. You can't get just anybody

babysit.

>> I can't. So, when we first went into it,

two things. One, and one's a positive,

one's a negative. One, we had two

teenagers at home. Like, we got

babysitters. And we go through training.

I'm like, "We don't have babysitters."

And not only that, my mom can't babysit

unless she gets licensed. I mean, my I

mean, aunts and uncles can't babysit

unless they get licensed. And so, it's a

big ask to ask somebody to do that. And

there's people that, you know, if you

ask, they'll say yes, but then do they

really want to do it or they just doing

it to be nice, right? And so, that I

mean, that's huge. Um, and again, we're

hopefully pretty close to adoption to

where it won't be an issue anymore, but

there's plenty of foster parents out

there that need help with that. Um,

>> so that's a huge one,

>> huge

>> and and through the pain, we just are

going to love you and hopefully we're

going to start a small group near you.

You have there's a lot of families

church if you didn't know or that are

moving close to Bulverie Spring Branch.

We hope to plant a church there over the

next two years. We hope that there'll be

a small group there in the spring

because what you need also is just

people

>> life.

>> You need actual life support.

>> Yeah, we love this church. Um, and we

knew we had a place to to start when we

got to San Antonio. It's obviously not

convenient to home right now. Um, but

getting here on Sunday is not a big

deal. It's all the other stuff that

happens that is the church that's

happens during the week that's hard to

connect. It's hard to come in constantly

into town. And so to have some of that

out near us would be great.

>> So church, would you extend your hands

please as we bless Kristen Ashley

continuing in their work. Lord, thank

you, Jesus, that Sunni is in their home

and that she's hearing the songs of

Jesus, that she's having scripture

spoken over her and uh God, that all the

nine children that you have blessed them

with have had the same experience of

being prayed for, scripture read over

them, worship music played over them, no

matter where they are today. God, we do

pray that you would continue to support

Chris and Ashley in this time. That you

would bless them with this adoption as

as Sunni's parents have been um

not eligible now to take care of her

anymore, Lord. That you would bless

Kristen Ashley to be her parents, but

God strengthen them where they will be.

Clothe them with your light. Fill them

with life. Send your holy angels, Lord,

and respit people to help support them

in this time. We ask in Jesus name.

Amen. The one positive I that I learned

through through um training that I

didn't know I figured when we signed up

to do this that it was our

responsibility financially to take care

of these children and yes and no. I mean

obviously we got to make sure that

everything's met but honestly there's a

pdium that you get. I mean just taking

care of Sunni which is basic care um we

get a check for a little over $800 a

month. On top of that there's um you get

wick um for a lot of the food the

formula and stuff like that. Um, there's

foster closets that will give you

clothes and anything and everything you

could possibly need.

>> There's a foster closet through One Hope

that's in New Bron Falls. If you guys

have things, even up to teenagers,

donate it to those foster closets

because it makes a huge difference in

foster families being able to support

more than even one child. So,

>> yeah, if your baby stuff's rotten in the

attic, somebody could use it.

Thank you guys. Thank you so much. You

can give a clap for them.

And then I want to introduce you to one

more person and I'm going to get into

the scripture for about three hours.

Hannah, would you join me for just a

minute? Uh I invited Hannah to be here

today because I heard that she was no

longer on intervars staff. And do you

guys remember co remember that? Could

you imagine somebody starting a college

ministry in the middle of COVID?

>> Okay, Hannah, you're very talented,

brilliant, smart. You went to Trinity.

There's tons of genius, creativity, you

could do whatever you wanted.

And then you said, "Jesus, you can have

my life. Where do you want me?" And he

said, "Go be an university intern and

then go start a college ministry." What

on earth?

>> Um, yeah, like why?

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah, good question. Um, yeah. So, I

studied music education at Trinity.

Pretty safe job. Get be a teacher. Um, I

was like ready to get my masters and I

think God really like provided like uh

both doors open and was giving me his

blessing to kind of choose. Um, and

ultimately I just didn't want to miss

out on how he could use me uh on staff.

Um, I feel like the college campus is a

really strategic missions field and I

received and was transformed so much by

the gospel during that time and I really

wanted to be part of um other students

formation and um yeah, I something about

going to Dallas and serving on staff was

just drawing like I feel like the spirit

was just kind of calling me in that

direction

>> and you know everybody was lonely during

co and being on a college campus, being

away from home, you're from Houston, uh,

takes a lot of grit. So, what was it

like to meet Jesus in the midst of

loneliness, in the midst of starting

ministry, being an entrepreneur, being

away from home, what is it like to meet

Jesus there?

>> Yeah. Um

I think

uh

in the midst of all the ups and downs.

So um also just navigating mental health

struggles uh struggling with depression

um and feeling isolated at times or um

like God really met me there. Um, and I

think in my in my lowest moments, um, he

really drew near to me and, uh, yeah, he

would speak to me or he showed me

things. Um, and he would just remind me

of his promise that he didn't promise it

would be easy, but he promised he would

always be with me and that he who

promises is faithful. And he promised

um, that he's a good God. And, um, every

day that we like wake up is a gift from

him. and I was really blessed to get to

do what I did um serving on staff. So,

>> for those of you who don't know, those

who have served like Hannah often wash

out pretty like disillusioned with the

church, with ministry, like there's a

lot of fragmentation that happens.

>> And I love when I called you when I saw

your email that said you were you're

going off of staff. I called you and one

of the first things that Hannah said

was, "He's asking me to abide with him.

He's asking me to abide with him." And I

just love that in this season, you are

abiding with Jesus. That that hasn't

stopped. That you're worshiping this

morning and it didn't come from a place

of, "Well, I guess I have to go help

this church." You wanted to. The

creativity is still booming. You're

still writing songs to him. There's

still poetry coming out. There's still

testimony. The Holy Spirit is living in

you, thriving in you. His love is alive

in you.

>> Amen. And so I just I church I I wanted

her to be here so we could just bless

her and say well done and keep going.

Can we say that together? Well done and

keep going. I mean I didn't ask them to

do I guess. Who knew that they would

actually repeat? But

>> I knew.

>> You knew.

>> Way to go. And can we bless her for the

next season? Would you extend your hand?

>> Yeah. Holy Spirit, come continue to fill

Hannah with your power and your life and

your joy. God, thank you for not letting

her go. Thank you for being with her in

the depths, in the valleys. And God, uh

I we see her, Lord, and you see her as

blessing, as part of your kingdom. And

so we say, be blessed in Jesus' name

towards his kingdom work in you and his

kingdom work through you. as a

congregation we bless you in Jesus name.

>> Amen.

>> Thank you.

>> Thank you everyone.

>> All right. Now if we have three more

hours

we are in advent peace.

Advent peace is not an advent

uh truce.

So, if there's anything I want you to

remember from today is that peace must

be made. And that's why Jesus is here.

Peace must be made. And we often settle

for a truce. Here's how that usually

goes. Uh, we negotiate with God. We say,

"I'll be good enough, then you'll accept

me." Or we negotiate peace with

ourselves. A truce. I'll just lower my

standards and then I'll feel better. Or

we negotiate peace with others. I'll

pretend it didn't hurt and then we could

move on. Anybody do that? I do that a

lot. I just pretend it doesn't hurt and

just move on.

We negotiate peace with our

circumstances. I'll just manage it and

numb the pain. Control what I can

control.

But I think what most of us feel,

especially during the Christmas season,

is that negotiated peace is just managed

hostility that still exists. It's a

ceasefire. It's not reconciliation. It's

survival. It's not shalom. And that's

what peace means. That's what God wants

to give. He wants to give actual shalom.

And so if Jesus came to bring peace,

what does that mean? I want to introduce

you to Colossians chapter 1. We're going

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

to read verse 15.

You've already heard wonderful

scriptures that the Koreans read.

Colossians 1:15. Paul is writing to a

Colossians 1:15

church that has been settling. They've

been settling for less. And in their

context, settling for less means, well,

let's just keep up the Jewish traditions

and then we'll be okay. Or, you know

what? I it doesn't matter if we do the

pagan worship every once in a while.

It's a cultural thing. It's no big deal.

Or, yeah, I mean, what does morality

really mean? We're in a sort of

different day and age. They've been

settling, but yet they've still been

super loving. And so like if you want to

know a church that's like super good at

social justice but not very good at

following Jesus, that was Colasse.

And so he praises them for how they've

been loving each other and that's great.

But in his introduction, he also reminds

them that Christ is everything.

Christ is everything. And what we often

do is instead of let Christ be

everything,

we make a truce with everyone. We

settle.

115 says, this is from Colossians.

Christ is the visible image of the

invisible God. And it's often why we

settle truses with people and with

ourselves instead of asking for the

actual peace with God. It's because God

is invisible. In the midst of the

distractions, he's hard to relate to.

But he Paul reminds them he existed

before anything was created is supreme

over all creation. For through him God

created everything in the heavenly

realms and on earth. He made the things

we can see and the things we can't see

such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and

authorities in the unseen world. He

existed before anything else and he

holds all creation together.

If you can poke your neighbor or pick up

your chair, he holds all creation

together.

All of it. Not just the spiritual stuff.

He holds the stuff that's not considered

spiritual to us. He holds everything,

all creation together. This is our Jesus

who died on the cross. He holds all

creation together. He holds all of our

circumstances. He holds all of our body.

He holds all of our relationships. He

holds all of our tensions.

He holds all

the injustice.

So Paul continues to remind them. He

says, "Christ is also the head of the

church, which is his body. He is the

beginning, supreme over all who rise

from the dead. So he is first in

everything. For God in all of his

fullness was pleased to live in Christ.

And through him God reconciled

everything

to himself.

Think for just a moment. What is not

part of the kingdom of God?

Are ants a part of the kingdom of God?

Are your noisy neighbors part of the

kingdom of God?

At what point have we said it all

belongs to the kingdom of God?

everything. God reconciled everything to

himself. And watch this. He made peace

with everything in heaven and on earth

by means of Christ's blood on the cross.

He made peace with everything. How? By

Christ's blood on the cross. So church,

very, very quickly, I want to encourage

you to stop making peace with the world.

Stop making peace with your

circumstances. Stop making peace with

anything except for God.

Make peace with Jesus and invite Jesus

into all of life and let Jesus make

peace with your circumstances. Do you

hear me? When we make peace, the only

thing we can do is negotiate.

When Christ makes peace, he dies for it

and he brings himself in the middle of

it.

He Jesus is the only one that can make

peace because he is the only thing that

is peace. Now some of you are saying

well what about blessed are the

peacemakers

and I tell you you want to read that

scripture again and again and it says

blessed are those who bring shalom on

the earth. That is the holistic healing

and full rule and reign of God. You

cannot do that. Jesus is that. So if you

want to be a peacemaker, the way that

Jesus intends to us to be a peacemaker

on the earth and join with his peace is

nothing more than to invite him in the

middle of the unpieace.

Now what needs to change for us then is

to address every single place where we

have not invited Jesus, where we've

negotiated peace, where we've made

partial truses. And let me tell you,

Satan has no problem with partial truses

because as long as he's got a foothold,

he's fine with it. God demands that he

is welcomed into all of it. And so I

encourage you, this is the time instead

of overestimating your strength and

saying, "I can handle the sin, instead

of underestimating sin's power and just

saying your sin's a small thing, instead

of undervaluing Christ's blood, I don't

need his blood for this." Instead of

protecting some piece of your autonomy

in your life, I want to keep this area

for myself. This is a no-go zone. It's

time to surrender all. Jesus is offering

peace. And we must surrender. And if we

don't surrender all, then it's not

really peace. It's just a negotiated

truce where Satan still has a foothold.

Do you hear me? Probably not. There's

too much distraction going on and it's

almost 12. It's okay. We can't make

peace. Jesus is peace.

Jesus is peace. And so the reason why he

came to earth wasn't so we could be more

moral or do our own thing. He came to

earth so that he could be our peace. So

would you stand with me, please? Santa,

would you come and uh help us hear from

the Lord? There's been a whole team

praying for us this morning. And Santa

leads the prayer team. And so Santa,

would you make sure that we hear what

God may be wanting to do with us this

morning in prayer? And worship team,

would you join me?

>> Yes.

He is the prince of peace.

Okay. The is there were a lot of healing

words for today. The first one was about

berscitis, which is inflammation in the

in the joints.

And the second one was for the back to

be straightened and and strengthening.

And uh uh when I got that word, it I I

heard a kind of the popping sound kind

of like the chiropractor.

And the elbow.

The elbow.

And uh the last healing one was

gastrointestinal issues.

So there there's quite a bit then. And

and then just expect breakthrough. God

is big and overwhelming. There's nothing

too small for him.

So, uh, we're going to have a group, uh,

over here in the corner, uh, ready to

pray for you. If one of these things

spoke to you or if you've got some other

need, we would love to join you.

We're going to speak the name of Jesus

over all the things that he wants to

rule and reign over.

We're going to sing it.

So, we take a moment. The prayer teams

are open. They're available to you for

any emotional, physical, or spiritual

place that has been negotiated in the

past. But God wants full rule and reign

over. There's been a truce, and you've

been feeling the tension of that truce,

but God wants to rule and reign over all

of it.

I just want to speak the name of Jesus.

>> I just want to speak the name of Jesus

name

>> over every heart and every mind.

Cuz I know there is peace within your

presence.

>> I speak Jesus.

>> I just want to speak the name of Jesus.

>> Till every addiction starts to break.

>> Declaring there's hope. declaring there

is hope and there is freedom.

>> I speak Jesus

cuz your name is power. Cuz your name is

power.

Your name is healing.

Your name is life.

>> Break every stronghold.

Shine through the shadows.

Burn like a fire.

>> I just want to speak the name of Jesus

>> over fear and all anxiety.

>> To every soul held captive by

depression.

I speak Jesus

>> cuz your name is power.

>> Your name is power.

Your name is healing.

Your name is life.

Break every stronghold.

Shine through the shadows.

Burn like a fire. Cuz your name is

power.

>> Cuz your name is power.

Your name is healing.

Your name is life.

>> Make every stronghold

shine through the shadows.

Burn like a fire.

>> Shout Jesus from the mountains.

Jesus from the mountains.

Jesus in the streets.

Jesus in the darkness over every enemy.

>> Jesus for my family. I speak the holy

name.

Jesus.

>> Shout Jesus from the mountains.

Jesus in the streets.

Jesus in the darkness over every enemy.

>> Jesus for my family. I speak the holy

name.

Jesus.

>> Cuz your name is power.

Your name is healing.

your name.

>> Break every stronghold. Break every

stronghold.

Shine through the shadows.

Burn like a fire.

>> Your name is power.

>> Your name. Your name is power.

Your name is he.

Your name is love.

Break every stronghold.

Shine through the shadows.

Burn like a fire.

This ministry time is going to have the

Godfather in it.

Michael Corleone, he goes to a priest

and he's trying to negotiate something

else. He's trying to figure life out and

the priest says, "Would you like to have

a time of confession?" And Michael

Corleone says, "What's the what's the

point of confession if I don't want to

repent?

He says, "You're a reasonable man. What

do you have to lose?"

It's time to surrender every single part

of our lives. To not let any part be a

part, put away in some secret stash or

secret stronghold. It's time to let

Jesus take every part of it. So pray

with me a simple prayer.

Sorry. Thank you, please.

Lord Jesus,

I am so sorry for the things that I've

done wrong. I'm so sorry for the things

that I keep to myself. I'm so sorry for

the things I don't trust you with. I'm

so sorry for all the things in life I

try to negotiate and figure out and

strive for.

Thank you for coming during Christmas.

Thank you for dying on the cross for me

so that I could be forgiven and set

free. Thank you for the gift of

forgiveness and the gift of your

freedom, the gift of your authority. I

now receive that gift.

So please come into my life by the power

of your Holy Spirit. Be with me forever.

Be my peace,

Lord Jesus. I welcome you into every

space in my life that needs peace.

Every space that I've been trying to

make peace, Lord, instead of doing it on

my own, I welcome you to be peace.

I want to work with you.

Come, Lord Jesus. Come, Lord Jesus.

And so with that, would you speak with

me this declaration as we leave today?

Filled with the Holy Spirit and grounded

in God's love, were sent out to join in

God's kingdom with impact through his

word and his works. Deeply rooted in the

Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

we help others to follow Jesus, bringing

good news to the poor, sight to the

blind, freedom for captives, and

blessing to our family, friends, and

neighbors. in Jesus name. Amen.

Would you go now receive this blessing

to go filled with the Holy Spirit in the

name of the Father and the Son and the

Holy Spirit bringing peacemakers on the

earth by welcoming Jesus into all of

life. I bless you in Jesus name. Go in

peace. For those who want to talk more,

go by the door. For those who want to

worship more, come towards the front.

We're going to continue to worship.

Shout Jesus.

>> Shout Jesus from the mountains.