Replay | Are You a Yes Leader? with Jess Schlotterbeck

He is glorious.

Behold the one who has come to life.

Welcome to Hub City Vineyard.

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you feel called to make a change in your life,

text changeme to 970-00.

Thank you and enjoy the message.

Chris and I kind of switched roles.

I'm Jess, Chris' wife.

No, it's not Christie or Kelsey or Tracy.

I'm actually his wife.

Yeah, you got to see me today.

So he's going to go and teach the youth group tonight.

And so I said, oh, I guess I'll teach for church this morning.

So I am super excited about what God wants to share with you

today.

I am excited about this series because it's

so near and dear to my heart.

Thank you, online community, for welcoming us

in your homes, your apartments, your cars.

I love our online community because my daughter Trinity

and her friends at school get to be part of our community

of faith, even from College Park.

But guess what?

If you're still in our online community

and all you like to do is get in your pajamas

and not come to church, that's not acceptable.

So now get out of your pajamas, come to church, be with us,

be challenged here at the building.

Because it's a beautiful location.

God has blessed us with so much.

And we want everybody to be a part of it.

We just want everybody to come and experience it.

I was talking to a man who called on Friday.

And he was telling me he was part of our community of faith.

And I said, OK, well, I'll see you.

And he's like, well, I'm online.

And I was like, really?

And he said, yeah, it's just there's

something not the same as being online.

And I'm like, yeah, you get to worship with us.

You get to come on.

And so he said he would be here today, but who knows.

But so from his mouth, he was coming back to church.

So if you have friends that haven't come back,

just invite them back in.

Because everybody needs a hug, a high five, and good coffee.

And we need to get out of our pajamas on Sundays sometimes.

Sometimes.

All right, so I am so privileged to share with you

this morning the series titled She Said Yes.

Because we as girls and women, we

love to fantasize about the time when we get to say yes to him.

Or if you're Carrie Rudasill, he says yes to you.

Yes, Carrie asked Chris Rudasill to marry her.

So if you're, yeah.

So she wasn't waiting around.

She knew what she wanted.

So we always think about this as women, right?

And little girls.

I have three girls.

And they talk about their wedding dresses

and their wedding day.

Actually, my wedding dress is here,

but it's not holding a guitar right now.

This morning it was holding a guitar.

So this is my wedding dress.

And then there's three other wedding dresses of the ladies

we have on stack today.

Some material we ordered didn't show up.

So I thought this was a great way to showcase

what we're saying yes to in this series.

Because you know what?

When I met my husband, what I want to tell you guys

is when I met my husband, I was already completely and totally

and passionately in love with someone else.

Yeah, it's true.

It's true.

Yeah, it didn't begin when I met Chris.

I was already completely in love.

I actually had committed my whole life to this love.

I had transcended my relationship with God

from just knowing about God to truly loving God,

to wanting nothing else just to be in a relationship with him.

I wanted to be a nun.

I wanted to go around the world.

I wanted to be a missionary.

I didn't care what it took.

I didn't want to get married because all I wanted

was that love that passes all understanding, right?

Because God completely loved me for every mistake I made,

for every choice I made.

He was with me.

And he said, Jessica, I love you in spite of this, right?

And when I realized God's grace for me,

there was nothing else I wanted.

I gave my life to him, right?

And so the reason I have a husband right now,

the reason I shared with Chris the story of God

is because I wanted to keep him away from me.

Well, I didn't do such a good job, but you know,

and the reason we're married today,

I tell all the youth we were just talking about

finding the one, is that God literally said,

this is the one.

I want you to be in this relationship

because what you guys can do together

is gonna be more powerful than what you could ever do

on your own, Jessica.

And I said, okay, God, I said yes.

And so because of that, God has written an amazing story

of my life that is far beyond my wildest dreams.

If I would have written the story of my life,

it would be very, very, very dull and boring, right?

But God in his infinite wisdom

gave me an amazing testimony

so I could be here with you guys today,

so I could share in this kingdom of God ministry with you.

So I am amazingly excited to share with you

the story of Deborah today, okay?

So Deborah was recorded in biblical history.

She was actually recorded in the book of Judges.

Now, last week we learned about Rahab

and how Rahab helped God's people

take the promised land, right?

Rahab helped the spies over the wall

and hence they saved her family.

So Rahab saved her family.

Well, guess what?

After Joshua died, the people sinned and sinned

and sinned again, right?

We do that sometimes as people.

I'm confessing my sin to you.

We sin again and again.

Even though God rescues us,

he takes us into promised lands,

we turn our backs on him, right?

And so God's showing us how Israel turned their back on him,

but yet God in his infinite love and wisdom

for these people, he called them back to himself.

He created these people, they're called judges,

which we're gonna rule in the country.

And what they are is they're broken people.

They're not perfect, they make mistakes,

but they love God and they love others.

And so I am super excited.

I like to say super excited a lot, sorry guys.

So I am super excited, like I said again.

Like to use lots of things together

to share with you Deborah and her story.

So Deborah's story is in the book of Judges 4.

And the first thing we learned about Deborah

is Deborah lived in a time of oppression.

So Judges 4, 1 through 3,

it talks about how the people had turned their backs

on God again.

And so God gave him over to King Jabin.

And they were ruthlessly oppressed

by a leader called Sisera.

And he had 900 chariots, right?

So oppression, if you don't know what the word means,

is a prolonged, cruel, unjust treatment,

persecution or abuse.

So right now, if I think about a current situation

of oppression that we're dealing with in this world today

is the Ukrainian people, right?

They're being oppressed by the Russian government, right?

Or the bombs that are coming into their country.

And so if you didn't see Chris's weekly email,

I wanna remind you to keep praying

for the people of the Ukraine.

We have three vineyard churches there right now currently

that are still ministering to people as we speak.

So next week, we're gonna take a special offering up

for those churches so that they continue

to do ministry in the Ukraine, right?

So and remember, in his email,

he also highlights three different ways

that you can continue to pray for the people of the Ukraine.

So for 20 years, God's people, the Israelites,

were being oppressed by Jabin and Sisera, right?

And so this is where we find Deborah.

Deborah listened to God.

How did she do this?

Judges 4-4 says Deborah was a prophet,

she was a life of libiditeth,

and she was leading Israel at the time.

So we learned three important things

about Deborah during this passage.

First, she's a prophet.

And so prophets need to spend time with God.

So the job of a prophet, if you don't know,

the job of a prophet is to listen to God's voice

and to then to communicate it to the people, right?

So she's made herself available to God.

That's the first thing we see in this.

She was a prophet, so she made herself available to God

and she showed up.

It was not only her just listening to God,

but she said, yes, God, I will be your prophet.

Right?

And I will lead these people, right?

And so she made herself available to God.

Now, she was a wife.

Now, I could just stop right there.

A wife is a big job, right?

And some of you are like, I'm a wife, I know.

Some of you are husbands, I know, right?

Right?

That's a big job, it's a big role,

but yet God called her to be more than just that, right?

And that's a huge responsibility.

But so I'm sure that she wasn't a young person.

She had many kids, she had lots of family,

she had extended members, but she said,

no, God, I will be your prophet.

God, I will be your prophet and I will be your judge

and I will be a wife and I will do what it takes

to work your kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.

Right?

So she showed up.

And the third thing is she was leading Israel.

So at an early age, people told me I had a prophetic gifting.

I wanna say it's a pathetic gifting sometimes

because the reason is because as prophets,

we kind of learn things a little bit earlier than we should.

So when I was younger, I would know things

or I would think I would know things

and I would have to communicate them right away, right?

Well, I know this and this is what God's saying.

And so, thus saith the Lord, you should do it, right?

But I forgot there's a thing called God

in his timing and his wisdom, right?

So even though you have a prophetic gifting

or God's given you things and you know

they're coming in the future, your job as a prophet

is not only to listen to God, but to wait on him

and wait on his perfect timing.

And we're gonna learn a little bit more about that

in the story of Deborah.

She made herself available not only to God,

but she made herself available to others.

Judges four or five says, under the palm tree of Deborah,

I would just love to sit under a palm tree,

isn't that awesome?

She served the people as their judge.

That was the place between Rama and Bethel

in the hill country of Ephraim.

The Israelites went up to her there

and they came to have her decide cases for them.

She settled matters between them.

Now, I've heard people say, I love God with all my heart,

soul, mind and strength, but I just can't stand people.

They're really, you know, messy

and they cut you off in traffic

and you know, they're just people, right?

Well, I wanna tell you, if you love God

and you don't love people, you're missing it.

You're missing it because God is a God of compassion

and mercy and he passionately loves his people, right?

He passionately loves you and me

and he wants to see all of his children

in the kingdom of God, right?

So if I have a problem with somebody

or if I'm rubbing noses with somebody

or I'm like, somebody cut me off in traffic,

I'm like, God, show me how you see them, right?

Because God loves them.

So whenever I get God's perspective on a person,

my mind changes and you know what?

Whenever God puts one of those people in your life

that kind of rub you the wrong way,

usually God wants you to grow in some way.

It's not about them growing, it's not about them changing,

it's about you saying, okay, God, I'm willing to change,

I'm willing to grow.

Thank you for putting my husband, Chris, in my life.

Right?

Right, because that's what marriage does,

it just like rubs you the wrong way.

Like iron sharpens iron, uh-huh, yeah.

We'll get our knives out in a second.

Because we, yeah, because I'm a prophet,

I know everything, right?

So you gotta listen to me.

But no, no, I have to love my husband as Christ loves,

I have to love him, I have to obey him,

I have to honor him.

As he loves me, we can work together in unity.

So Deborah loved people.

And you can see that because she's sitting

in a passive position, she's sitting under a palm tree,

right?

And when you sit with somebody, you empathize with them.

You get down on their level, you're not judging them.

Like you think about a regular judge,

they're sitting up in court and they're glaring

their verdict down at people, right?

But she's sitting with them.

She's hearing their story.

She's saying, okay, I get you, I've been there, sister.

I know what you're going through.

And she's listening to their case.

And then she's making the decision

on behalf of God for their lives.

So when we wanna empathize with people,

if we wanna love people, we need to get down with them.

We need to be with them, we need to sit with them.

And it says, when we sit and we wait,

it's a passive position.

It says, those who wait on the Lord,

he will renew their strength.

We will rise up with wings as eagles.

We will run and not grow weary.

We will walk and not faint.

But when we sit, we get peace, we get joy, we get patience.

We get things that only come from God,

because guess what?

We're saying, God, you're in control and I'm not, right?

And that's what Deborah's saying here.

God, you're in control.

Give me wisdom for these people you love, right?

And that we all need that in our life.

We're all called to love those that we come in contact with.

And the second part of being a prophet,

that I wanna tell you is Deborah was obedient to God.

She spoke up.

So being a prophet, you not only hear from God,

you have to be obedient when God tells you something,

you have to act and in his timing, like I said.

So she spoke up.

So the first thing she did is she communicated God's plan.

So, Judges 4, 6 through 7, Deborah sent for Barak.

And the Lord God of Israel is giving you a command.

He says, go take 10,000 men from the tribes of Napali

and Zebulon with you and lead them up to Mount Tabor.

And I will lead Sisera into a trap.

He is the commander of Jabin's army and I will bring him,

his 900 chariots, his troop to the Kishon River.

And there, I'm gonna hand him over to you.

Thus saith the Lord through Deborah, right?

But Barak was like, I don't know about this.

So the one thing about being a prophet,

you're supposed to communicate God's plan,

but you also need to communicate God's truth.

So she communicated to Barak,

or Barak communicated back to her Judges 4, 8 through 9.

Barak said to her, I will go.

I'll go, but not if you don't go with me.

I need you to come.

I won't go if you don't come, Deborah.

All right, Deborah said, I'll go with you.

But because you're doing it this way,

you won't receive any honor.

It doesn't say that Deborah here knew

Barak would need her strength,

that her strength that comes from God.

She doesn't know that Barak's gonna say this, right?

We don't know this part of the story.

But she acted, he asked for her strength,

and she acted, she gave it to him.

She didn't shame him, she didn't question him,

she didn't say, ah, you're a wimpy guy.

No, she said, okay, I'll come

because I want God's plans to be fulfilled.

I know that this is God's plan.

I know you're the man that's called to do it.

If you want me to go, I'm gonna go.

And it's so important as women,

as we work together with men,

as we work together with other races,

that we know that God's plan needs to be fulfilled.

It's not about us or what we do or what we don't do

or what the other person's doing or not doing.

It's about God's plan, right?

And the truth was Barak wasn't gonna get the victory

or whatever, but he didn't care.

He just wanted Deborah to go with him

because Deborah had God on her side

and he knew she was wise, right?

People, we are better together.

I know Chris wanted me to tell you it's our family song,

Better Together by Jack Johnson.

Yes, thank you, Chris, for your,

he's like, you need to say that.

But I wanna say, I wanna say, thank you, Chris,

I wanna say that him and I work better together, okay?

There has been so many times in our relationship

where we've planted this church together

or we've ministered together

and it would be so easy for me,

I've got a teaching degree to go back and teach

or go and do this or go and do that

and not work alongside my husband

because guess what?

We're messy together.

We're messy, right?

Because like I'm a prophet

and I have to say what God's telling me.

And sometimes I'm not as respectful and kind and loving

and compassionate as I need to be with him, right?

Because he's just my husband, right?

We work well together, right?

So the thing is, but God, that's what God wants.

There's been so many times I'm like,

I don't wanna do this, God.

He's like, but I want you to

because the vision I gave you of Chris and together,

it was me in the middle

and it was life coming from both of you equally,

equally coming together, right?

Because there's no headship in Christ.

It's just Jesus and we're all under his authority

and we all love him

and we all just wanna work for his kingdom, right?

But the enemy wants men to hate women

and women to hate men and us not to get along

and then no life is being produced, right?

So that's the plan of the enemy.

And I personally do not want the enemy's plans

to be fulfilled in my life.

And I don't want the enemy's plans to be fulfilled

in your life or your marriage or your family or your home.

So we need to get down on our knees and we need to pray

and we need to ask for God's strength

to deal with our spouse,

God's strength to deal with those people

that are annoying us, right?

Because we need to work together.

Now, if you guys don't know me, I'm like into names.

I love names.

Each one of my children, I have six children

and I process their names.

I prayed over their names.

I soaked over their names.

So I have Isaac is anointed child of God

and Trinity is three in one.

That was a mistake.

And her middle name's Aaron, which means peace, but okay.

And Zoe means life and her middle name's Grace

because Chris needed grace for the third child.

And Nolan means noble chariot racer,

but we gave him Brooks so he'd be a peaceful stream too.

He is.

And then Lily is truth and purity.

Chris picked that out for his tattoo.

That's important.

You have to have good tattoos.

And I don't have any.

And Joy, God gave me Joy

because she came after two miscarriages

we had experienced, right?

And so I learned how joy is not about what you experienced,

but joy is a continual faith in God, right?

And then we had, we have Phoenix

and Phoenix, God gave me his name.

I was like, okay, God, what's up with this?

So he gave me Phoenix and I looked it up

and it means resurrection or rising from the ashes, right?

And because when you're 45

and you've already had five kids

and the last one's 10,

you probably shouldn't have a baby again.

So it was kind of a resurrection for me,

but it was also a rising from the ashes for me

because he brought us so much joy and life into our family.

And God said, I said, God,

did I not learn my lesson on the first five kids?

Like what's going on here?

But the truth is I love being a mother.

I love it.

I love loving on your kids.

I love it.

And he said, no, I gave you this gift

so that your heart would never get broken.

Yeah, yeah.

Cause when we first got pregnant,

I was like, I don't know about this, God,

is this gonna be a miscarriage?

What's gonna happen here?

I was very fearful.

And God said, nope.

And so I've been through a lot of trauma

and there's been a lot of situations in our life, COVID,

before, more than COVID, since we've had Phoenix.

And he is, he has saved my heart so many times.

He's such a cuddler and he's so full of energy.

He's definitely, yeah, full of energy, yes.

That's why I run a lot and stay in shape.

Phoenix, Phoenix, Phoenix, yes.

So the point of this is we're having a baby dedication

in a couple of weeks, sign up.

But no, Deborah's name means bee, bee, bee, you know, bee,

like bee sting, meow, bee.

Okay, so when I was little, I thought, wow, that's cool.

Deborah's name means bee.

That means she like stings them

and she like got the enemy where he deserved it.

And then I realized not all bees have stingers.

Hmm, so God, why did you name Deborah bee

or why is that name?

And so Deborah's name, spiritual connotation,

means wise and discerning.

So did you guys know that not all bees have stingers,

but they have five eyes?

Hmm, and where did they get these five eyes from?

No, they're not aliens, we'll kind of like it.

But they use those five eyes.

They're like a UV sensing.

So they sense the different flowers

and they know how to pollinate the flowers

because of these five eyes.

So they can see things that we can't see as humans.

They also are known for pollinating flowers.

And so that means they go from flower to flower to flower,

sowing good things, right?

Because the flowers need them to have beautiful flowers

to cross pollinate.

So that's what Deborah did in this situation.

She empowered others, just like a bee would pollinate flowers

and go from flower to flower.

She empowered others and she stood up.

She was Barak's strength.

Let's hear what happens when they go into battle together.

Judges 4, 12 through 17.

Sisera was told that Barak had gone down to Mount Tabor.

So Sisera gathered his 900 chariots

that had some parts iron.

He also gathered together all his men.

He brought them to Kishon, the Kishon River.

Then Deborah said to Barak,

go today, the Lord will hand Sisera over to you.

Hasn't the Lord gone ahead of you?

So Barak went down Mount Tabor, his 10,000 men followed him.

As Barak's men marched out,

the Lord drove Sisera away from the field of battle.

The Lord scattered Sisera and all of his chariots.

Barak's men struck down Sisera's army with their swords.

Sisera got down from his chariot.

He ran away on foot.

Barak chased Sisera and his chariots in his army.

And Barak chased him all the way.

All of Sisera's troops were killed by swords.

Not even one was left, but Sisera ran away on foot.

Yay, that was awesome.

You guys don't like Gladiator or 300 or,

you don't like blood and gore and guts?

Am I, is it, my family's the only one?

Yeah, no.

I always recommend to people movies and I'm like,

well, just don't watch it, but it's a good movie

because it's got like all this stuff in it.

But yeah, it's a battle people.

These people have been oppressed for 20 years.

They have been under slavery for 20 years

and they are now taking the enemy down.

Yes.

Yes, and don't you have enemies in your life?

Don't you want to take them down?

No, okay, yeah, we want to take them down.

So this is a good story.

This is a story how God uses,

God uses Barak and Deborah to defeat the enemy.

And also like, it wasn't just Barak and his family.

It was like a bunch of families came together to do this.

So it was a community effort,

which that makes it also super amazing.

All right, so there's somebody else in the story

we're gonna learn about now.

And this is, Deborah was JL's inspiration.

Now here comes JL with her hammer and her tent peg.

If you guys don't know the story, be warned.

Men, this is not about you.

Some of my men first service were getting really scared

when I told this story,

but this is about God's plans being fulfilled

in JL's life.

So judges four, 17 through 21,

but Sisera ran away on foot.

He ran into the tent of JL.

She was the wife of Haber, the Canaanite.

Sisera ran there because there was a treaty

between Haber's family and Jabin, the king of Hazar.

JL went out to meet Sisera.

Come in, sir, she said.

She's just a lonely housewife,

a lonely nomadic housewife who moves tents here and there

and has been imprisoned and oppressed by this guy

for 20 years.

He thinks she's a dummy.

Don't you know that God uses the foolish things

of this world to shame the wise, right?

She's just a housewife, people.

She's just like moving tents from here to there

and everywhere.

And so Sisera ran there because, okay, so come right in.

Don't be afraid.

So he entered her tent.

And then she covered him with his blankie, it says.

How many times does mommy's be covered?

Just get your blankie, honey, it's okay.

Just get your blankie.

Funny story, my husband carried his blankie around.

My mother-in-law's here.

She kept his blankie till he was like in kindergarten

or past, so anyway.

But yeah, us moms know how to cover our kids in blankets.

They know how to feel comfortable, right?

Oh, just get covered in your blankie.

And so he said, I'm thirsty.

I'm thirsty, mommy.

And she said, okay, give me some water.

And so Joelle, sorry, not Joelle.

Joelle opened a bottle of milk.

She gave him milk to drink

and then she covered him up again.

Stand in the doorway of the tent, he told her.

Someone might come and ask you, is anyone in there?

If that happens, say no.

But Hey Bear's wife, Joelle, picked up this tent stake

and the hammer.

So she gives him milk

because milk makes you go to sleep, right?

It's got sugar in it.

It's all nice in your tummy.

So she's got this tent peg and this hammer

that she's had for years.

And she's probably moved her tent thousands

and thousands of times since she's been a younger kid.

So you just basically nomadic culture,

take your peg and you drive it in, right?

You're moving your tent.

Now my husband doesn't like to camp.

I like to camp.

He likes to glamp or he likes to go to hotels

and stay at the beach.

He's like, honey, but I don't really wanna sleep outside.

I don't wanna have to put up a tent.

Anyway, if you like to camp, talk to me.

Maybe we can do this together.

Anyway, so she knew how to drive a peg into a tent, right?

And so, let's read the rest of the story.

She picked up the tent stake and the hammer

and she went quickly over to him

as he was lying there fast asleep.

He was very tired.

She drove the stake through his head

right into the ground.

So he died.

I'm not a doctor, people, but I think you're like a tent stake

through your head over and over again,

through a vicious housewife.

I've been one before.

I've been like, I am home with the kids all day

and you oppress me for years and I've had to stay.

She took, yeah, yeah.

Don't, don't, don't, I wanna talk to moms

that are staying at home right now.

Don't neglect the gifts that God's given you

right where you are, right?

She had this opportunity, she had these tools

and she used them for her God moment, right?

She said, okay, God, use me where I am.

She wasn't her getting him to come in.

She knew, she's like, okay, this is my moment.

This is the time where I can shine, right?

So she took the time that God had given her,

she used the tools she had and she took that opportunity

and made it her God moment, right?

And that's what's so impressive about JL

and the reason she can do this,

the reason she has such confidence, I believe,

is because Deborah is ruling the country at the time.

She sees a woman in power, she's the same as a woman

who loves God's people, she sees herself being oppressed

and she says, I will do this for such a time as this

because Deborah is doing this.

And Deborah went to the battle with Barak

and if she can do that, I can do that.

And so we need other women.

The reason I won't stage here today

is not because I wanna be, it's because I've got daughters.

I've got a family and I wanna show people that, you know,

God's given us all different giftings, right?

And whatever God's called you to do,

he wants you to have the ability to do it, right?

And so that's what the story of JL is about.

She had probably driven thousands of nails in her lifetime

and this was her God moment.

The enemy was defeated, Judges 4, 23 through 24.

On that day, God brought Jabin under Israel's control.

He was the king in Canaan.

Israel's power grew stronger and stronger against King Jabin

and the Israelites became so strong, they destroyed him.

Deborah said yes to God, empowered others

and the enemy was defeated.

When we work together people, the enemy is defeated.

Do you guys have some enemies in your life?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we've got some enemies

in our life and our community, right?

We've got so many enemies out there,

so many tyrants out there, so to speak, right?

And so I need you guys to work with me here

so we can defeat the enemy that we're facing together.

I didn't come, leave everything I had, leave Syracuse,

plant this church with nothing.

I didn't work bivocationaly for years.

I didn't support Chris by having 20 kids in my home

doing daycare.

That's fun but not that fun, right?

I changed a lot of poopy diapers for you guys.

I changed a lot of things for you guys.

I got up early for you guys.

I worked late for you guys because I wanted this church

to be changing Hegerstown.

Hegerstown needs this.

The tri-state area or the quad-state area needs life change.

They need the power of God to move in their life.

They need hope for a future, right?

And the reason I'm here today,

the reason I sacrificed everything I did in my life

is because I knew, I knew, I knew, I knew

I wanted to be part of the story of God

that's gonna last through eternity, right?

You're part of the story of God

that's gonna last through eternity

when you enter into His presence, right?

And so I need you guys to partner with me

so that we can combat this enemy, right?

We can't do it by ourselves.

So let's learn how to be a yes leader today.

First of all, I need you to grow up.

Yeah, I got my mom's voice on.

But no, the reason I know I need you to grow up

is because I needed to grow up, right?

So the way you grow up is by trusting God.

Proverbs 3, 5 through 6 says,

trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Do not depend on your own understanding

in all your ways obey Him

and then He will make your paths smooth and straight.

We need God to be Lord over our whole life,

not just part of it, right?

And when I said yes to God, when I said,

you know what God, I was God in my life for a while

and it's not looking so good.

I really messed it up.

So when I gave Him the keys to my life,

when I said I trust you God,

and as I continue to trust God every day of my life,

because it's not natural, it's not natural

to give somebody the keys to your car

when you wanna be in control, right?

But I say, yes, God, I trust you.

I remember there was a point in my marriage relationship

where I was struggling and God was like,

well, you don't trust your husband.

I was like, what do you mean?

No, I don't.

And He's like, well, you don't trust me.

I was like, oh yeah, God, I trust you.

I trust you completely.

You're amazing, God, you love me.

Well, I put your husband in your life

and now you don't trust him,

so that means you don't trust me.

And I was like, oh, prophetic.

I'm pathetic, yeah, right?

Right, because God, because God is God.

You know, like, okay, God, you got this.

But when He tells you something like that,

I'm like, oh, yeah.

I'm sorry, God, I'm sorry, Chris, I'm sorry,

I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

So the reason I know that you need to grow up

is because I've had to grow up over and over and over again.

That's why I have six kids,

because I have to keep growing and growing and growing

and changing more diapers and being more present, right?

Right?

So, so if you're here today and you need to trust God

and you need to give him the keys to your life

and you haven't done so,

I just pray for you right now that you would do that.

And one of the reasons I feel like we don't trust God

and one of the things that happened in my life

is we don't know the character of God, right?

Because it says, the Lord is gracious and compassionate,

slow to become angry and rich and unfailing love.

And as far as the East is from the West,

that's how far God has removed our transgressions from us.

Praise the Lord, oh my soul, praise the Lord.

God has removed our transgressions

as far as the East is from the West.

That means he doesn't see you

for how you see yourself, right?

If I saw myself, I would be an imperfect bride

with spot and wrinkle and stain,

because I like beers and I like beer.

Beers and beers, I said it twice.

Beers and boys, I liked it, right?

So it was like, for me, you know what I mean?

I needed God to take control, right?

Right?

And I needed to say, okay, God, I trust you.

I trust when you give me this plan,

when you say the steps of a righteous person

are order of the Lord, I'm gonna let you order my steps, God.

And when you say pray, Jessica,

and when you say hold your tongue, Jessica,

I'm gonna do it, right?

And those simple acts of faith

brought me into a relationship with God

that's powerful, more powerful than it's ever been.

You know, more fruitful and more blessed

than it's ever been.

I remember a couple months ago, I was like,

man, God, I am so blessed.

And I was feeling really guilty about being blessed.

Have you guys ever felt guilty about, I must be, yeah,

I'm weird though, but I was like, God, I'm so blessed.

I just don't deserve this, I don't deserve this church,

I don't deserve all these people, I don't have,

and God said, Jessica, it didn't happen.

It was one step after one step.

Remember, you sacrificed your job, you did this,

you did this, so it was little steps over time

that led to God's blessings in my life, right?

It was the faithfulness over time.

It was me saying yes to God when I was 20 years old,

now I'm 47, right?

It was me saying, okay, God,

I give you the steering wheel to my life,

you can take control, and I'm gonna trust you.

And then when I grabbed the wheel back again,

he smacked my hand a little bit,

and I said, okay, you're right, I trust you, right?

And so that's what it is.

And so when I learned that God loved me beyond belief,

then I was able to give him control of my life, right?

And so you guys gotta know the character of God.

He is a good father.

And that what you also have to do is besides grow up,

you have to grow down, you have to grow some roots, okay?

Psalms one, one through three says,

blessed is the person who obeys the law of the Lord.

The law of the Lord gives them joy,

and they think about it day and night.

That kind of person is like a tree

planted near the stream of living water.

It bears forth fruit at just the right time, right?

And so I just, I did some research on trees.

I'm a big tree person.

I love trees.

Kind of weird, I don't know.

I don't know, tree hugger.

I didn't wear my hippie outfit today,

but I had to wear my power outfit, but yeah,

I do love trees.

So, but the shepherd's tree in the Kalahari Desert

has the deepest roots.

The trees of that tree go 230 feet.

So I'm a football fanatic too.

So that's like two and a half football fields, right?

That's pretty long.

The trees roots grow that far.

You know why?

Because there's no water.

So the roots go searching for the water.

The roots are like the brain of the tree.

They actually said that some of the tree roots

will go through rocks to find water, right?

So we need to be like that in the kingdom of God.

We need our foundation sure.

We need to, when those heavy storms of life come up,

we need to be that tree that's planted

by the streams of living water,

which is God's presence, his peace.

It's God's word, right?

So when those storms come, we're not swept away.

When the things happen, because they're gonna happen,

because God doesn't say, in this world,

says you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer.

I have overcome the world, right?

So it doesn't say Jessica's overcome the world,

but God has.

So I need to know that God's in control.

He takes every opportunity, good or bad,

and uses it for his glory if we let him, right?

So we need to plant our roots deep

and we have a HCV flower of power.

Have you guys seen the flower of power out there?

No?

All right, well, if you haven't seen it,

nobody's responding, so I'm gonna let you know what it is.

I'm gonna talk more if you don't talk back to me.

I'm like a teacher.

So we have that flower out there.

The first step is start with why, right?

So you're gonna learn about the vineyard, who we are,

why we're here, what we do, why we don't do certain things,

why we do certain things.

The second step is team up.

You can get on a team.

The third step is now what it actually started today.

It's a four-week class to just learn how it's like

to grow in your relationship with God,

be non-religious with God and with people.

And then there's also a step that says get in a group, okay?

That's an amazing way to grow your roots, right?

So we have all these steps for you here at the vineyard

to grow your roots.

And just give us a year and just see how it goes.

Grow your roots, grow your roots.

All right, so be obedient.

So part of growing your roots is be obedient.

So John 14, 23 says, Jesus replied,

anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.

My father will love them.

He will come to them and he will make their home with them.

Now, when God tells you to do something,

you have to trust him and be obedient.

Okay, so God told me, we're talking about letting go here.

So I don't know if anybody knows,

but my brother died in September, my brother Joel.

I have seven brothers.

And my brother Joel was my baby brother

who I kind of did everything with.

I was probably like in kindergarten, first grade,

and we would go everywhere.

He was my baby, right?

And so for three years,

and Joel was part of this community of faith for a while.

He gave his life to God.

He was in CR.

So for three years, Joel wasn't making good choices

and I just kept calling him back home.

I like grieved our relationship for three years

because he didn't want to have a relationship with me.

And sometimes when you have family in those dark spots,

they don't want to have a relationship with you.

And what you have to do is get on your knees

and you gotta pray, right?

And you gotta trust God.

And it's a hard place to be in because you have no control.

And so just kept calling him back for three years.

He finally came back to our house,

kind of a fluke that he came back

because he didn't have anything and he was homeless.

But he came back.

And for two weeks, we had him with us

and he got to be part of my family,

got to see my Phoenix and hang out.

And we got to laugh at his jokes and stuff.

And then he died.

And Chris and I got to find him

and we got to say goodbye to him.

And it's just a process when somebody dies, right?

Because I know that God had a plan

and a purpose for his life.

But I know the enemy was strong too, right?

And you kind of question and you wonder

what you could have done,

what you could have done differently.

And I just had a piece about what we did.

And I just said, you know what, God,

I can't let Joel's life count for nothing, right?

If somebody that comes to the funeral,

if somebody comes to the viewing,

if we're gonna do a baseball camp in September,

if somebody that comes to the camp changes their life,

that'll be not for nothing, God.

Because you're not a God who says

things aren't gonna happen in this world,

but you're a God who redeems and restores

and makes things even better.

And that's what you did in Judges.

And so, you know, I have Phoenix, a two year old.

So I couldn't like lose it.

You know, I had to grieve Joel in stages

and then steps, right?

And so God just gave me little opportunities

here and there to grieve him.

And I'm a runner, I like to run.

So I would go out on the trail and just think about him

and release him to God more and more.

And so I said, God, what are we gonna do here?

What, you know, what's the plan?

And God said to me, he gave me a plan.

Joel's birthday's in February.

So he said, on his birthday, you're gonna let him go.

And so I said, okay, God, all right.

And it was easier said to done

until you got to the day of his birthday, right?

And so when we got to his birthday,

I just had scheduled that day off on the calendar

and I went and I ran.

And I'm not really in running shape after the winter.

So I ran like seven miles.

I just wanted to keep carrying him with me.

And I was finally like completely exhausted.

And God's like, you can't carry him anymore.

I've got him, you know I've got him.

And so I was like, yes, God, I trust you.

I know you have him.

And so I ran with his ashes, you know, on the canal

because I live in Williamsport.

And then I said, okay, God,

and he had showed me where I was supposed

to release his ashes.

So I go up on the hill to release his ashes.

And I'm looking there and I'm like, God,

the wind isn't blowing the right direction.

Like, why did you make the wind blow in this direction?

I can't do it now because, you know,

the wind is blowing, you know, inward,

not out to sea, right?

Or out to the river, right?

And God said, Jessica, I control the wind.

All you have to do is be obedient

to what I'm calling you to do.

And I'm like, you're right, God, you're right.

So I talk a lot to myself and God.

So if you see me talking, I'm probably talking to God.

Maybe myself sometimes, anyway.

So I just said, okay, God, you're right.

And so as I released his ashes where he told me,

well, I kind of was waiting.

I'm like, God, give me a sign something.

And God's like, Jessica.

And so, but then the sky did turn

this beautiful shade of blue.

And it just reminded me so much.

He had the best blue eyes when he was a kid.

And so I was like, okay, God.

And I was like, can you send a bird too?

And he's like, don't be greedy, Jessica.

So I was like, okay, all right.

And so when I released him, even as I was releasing,

God said to me, you know what?

Joel was more Williamsport than Williamsport was.

He needs to be here in Williamsport, you know?

So he blew in to Williamsport

and these ashes that I had.

And so there was a little left in the bottom.

And the bottom said, okay, God, what's next?

So it was beautiful.

And then God, what's next?

And he was like, you need to go down to the river

and release more.

So I walked down to the river.

And as I was walking down, I got my bird.

I got my hawk was flying above me.

So I saw that.

And so I got down there.

This is G-rated, but I did strip down all my clothes,

but like I had like little running shorts and you know,

it was February people.

So I'm like, I needed a moment to just go in the river.

So I'm like, I'm gonna do a polar bear plunge for Joel.

So I run, I go in the water and I'm like,

oh, this is so cold.

And I said a couple bad words, you know,

like, cause I do that sometimes.

And I was like, oh my gosh.

And then, and then thank God,

I started laughing hysterically

cause my brother would just be like,

what in the heck are you doing, Jessica?

Like, why are you getting in the Potomac River in February?

Like you make no sense.

And I'm like, you're right, Joel.

Okay, so I ran and I'm like, no, God told me to do this.

I'm gonna do it.

So I ran in and I jumped in and I tossed the thing

and said, see you later, brother.

And let him float down the river.

And I went under and I came up and I went,

got my clothes on, walked home.

But, but I said, God, you know, why didn't he do that?

He's like, because you need that point to remember,

you let go.

So whenever the enemy tries to get in my head

or something tries to get in my head and say,

oh, you should have done this yesterday,

a couple of days ago, it happened.

You should have, you could have said this.

You could have done that.

No, I let him go.

He's God's now and it's done, right?

So sometimes we need those markers in our life.

So I said all that just to say, you need to be obedient.

When God tells you to let go of something,

some of you guys right now are holding on to loved ones

that you're just like, I don't know what happened.

You're not gonna know what happened, right?

You're not always gonna know what happened.

But we have to trust that our loving father

loves those people even more than we do, because he does.

He loves my kids even more than I do, right?

And that's so hard, but he does.

So be obedient and then you need to show up.

You need to make yourself available to God.

Psalms 37, 23 says,

the Lord directs the steps of the ungodly.

He delights in every detail of the godly,

sorry, the ungodly.

The Lord directs the steps of the godly.

He delights in every detail of their lives.

I think sometimes God gives us so many awesome gifts.

Like I call God the giver, right?

And he gives us so many awesome gifts

that sometimes we focus on these gifts he's given us

rather than focusing on him and his presence in our life.

I can get so distracted from my marriage and my kids

and my work and the things that I'm doing for God,

I forget to spend time with the lover of my soul,

the giver of good gifts, right?

And we need to focus on him.

We need to focus on him and that's how we show up.

We focus on him, he tells us to do something

and then we go and do, right?

We go and do, God, where do you want me to serve

in the community of faith?

God, where do you want me to serve in the community?

You focus on him, he gives you the download

and then it's our job to show up, right?

It's our job, just like Deborah, to show up.

She could have said, no, God, sorry,

I'm busy with my family, but she showed up for Israel

and God wrote her into the history, right?

We need to show up wherever God's calling you to,

you need to be there.

You need to make yourself available to people

because God loves people, right?

So Luke 4, 17 through 19.

Now this was actually the scripture that called us back

to Hagerstown, it says,

the spirit of the Lord is on me.

He has anointed me to announce good news to poor people.

He has sent me to announce freedom for the prisoners.

He has sent me so the blind will see again

and he wants to set free those who are treated badly.

Sometimes we're always looking for a calling

and a purpose in our life, but what if our calling

and our purpose is just to be present

for those that are in our lives, right?

What if it's just to text a friend?

What if it's just to be there

and the church has given away flowers, let's do it.

Let's give away flowers.

What if it's just that there's a work day,

I'm gonna show up for a work day.

What if it's my grandmother needs something moved around,

some furniture moved around, just go and do it, right?

That's being the kingdom of God here, right?

That's being the kingdom of God.

You know, the reason why we do what we do here

is I hate injustice, right?

And the biggest way we can have it,

I don't need more things to do, right?

But the biggest way to combat injustice

is to provide daycare for your children, right?

So we have a daycare here that loves on kids,

that teaches them how to read and write and manners

and that God loves them.

And I employ college kids and single moms

and people that need jobs so that we are a light

to the community through our learning center, right?

And I can't do that all by myself.

I can't do this church all by myself.

You need to link up, okay?

So you need to look to empower someone else.

So Jesus empowers the 12 disciples in Mark 3, 13 through 15.

Jesus calls the disciples up and he anoints them, right?

He says, I need your help.

Now, if you think that Jesus needs disciples

and Jesus needs help,

what in the world do you think that you don't need help,

right?

Like I need help.

When I became 40, I think I got better at asking for help

because when I was younger, I was like,

ah, I can do it myself.

I can do it, I can do it, I can do it, I can do it.

Because whenever you ask for somebody's help,

it gets a little messy, right?

It gets a little messy because people are messy.

Now we're messy back in the kid's wing.

You know, the kids are screaming,

they're hitting each other, they're learning about praying,

they're learning about forgiveness,

they're learning about taking turns, right?

Because you know what?

God gave me another vision of camping.

Chris loves this vision.

No, but there's, you know, has anybody been camping

and there's like that water pump that you pump the water?

Does anybody know what I'm talking about?

Yes, okay, a couple of campers here.

So at one point in my life, I was like,

God, why all the mess?

And he's like, well, it's just like that water.

When that water comes out and hits the ground,

there's mud everywhere.

Have you guys ever seen that at a campsite?

Now they have grates and stuff sometimes,

but when I used to camp, there was mud everywhere.

It was a mess.

And God said, you know what?

Where people are, where life is, there's gonna be mess.

But it's better to have the mess than no life.

Could you imagine a clean house and no kids?

Could you imagine a car that smells good

and there's no dirty cleats in it, right?

Like we can't say no to God.

Expect life to come without having a mess.

It's gonna be a mess.

It's gonna be a mess.

And it's okay because God's in it, right?

And it's gonna teach us to grow in the process, right?

Chris, I think yesterday texted me, he was like,

do you think our kids ever gonna know

what we did for them?

I was like, nope.

And you know why?

Until they become parents.

But I said, because it's not about them

knowing what we're doing for them.

It's about us growing, right?

Everything we do for our children,

everything we do for somebody else,

it's an opportunity for us to grow our roots

and grow closer to God, right?

But we need to empower others.

We need to partner with others

to get in our mess together, right?

And we also need to build for the future.

John 21, 15 through seven, Jesus is challenging Peter.

He's saying, Peter, do you love me?

And Peter's like, yeah, you know I love you, God.

He's like, then feed my lambs.

And then Jesus asked him a second time,

Peter, do you love me?

And he's like, yeah, God, you know I love you.

I got you, I love you.

And he said, then feed my sheep.

And then he does it a third time.

And Peter's like, God, what's this about?

And a lot of people say it's because

Peter denied him three times, right?

But I believe there's an important factor here

we can look at.

God wants us to minister to lambs and sheep.

He wants his kingdom to continue long after we're gone.

We think about our life as long,

but we're just a vapor.

We're here today, gone tomorrow, right?

It doesn't really matter if we catch up

on the latest gossip or the latest news.

You know, we're just living right now

for eternity from this point on.

And what if good things actually take time, right?

I was running on the beach, another running story.

Bear with me.

And I was listening to Ted Talks.

Anybody know about Ted Talks, right?

And so they were learning about how good things take time.

And I was like, this is the worst podcast

to listen to while you're running

because you're running on a beach

and you're trudging through the sand.

But this point was about a sloth and something else.

But then they talked about how we build right now,

our technology is built like instantaneous, right?

We build bridges, we solve problems,

but they cannot solve a problem in the rainforest

where all these waters come and they rush through

and they blow out bridges, right?

And then communities are lost.

And so the lady who was talking in this podcast,

she said basically she went and studied people,

tribal people, and what they do is they build bridges

that last because what they do is they grow trees.

Over time, they plant them in specific places.

And then the trees become bridges, right?

And they plant them there for their children

and their children and their children's children's children

and generations to come.

Like that song we sing,

may your favor be upon us for a thousand generations

and our families and our children

and our children and their children.

So it's, we're not doing stuff today for us.

We're doing stuff for generations to come.

We're not doing stuff for today, tomorrow,

next week, next year.

That's how we think.

We think in this logical mind,

but we're doing kingdom work here, people.

Kingdom work.

And we have to think about eternity

when we're planting those seeds,

when we're saying yes to God,

when we're coming in, right?

So the way we can do this,

the way we can plan for eternity

and the way we can do this is to turn it up in our life.

And some of my girls say turn it up, turn it up.

Do, do, do, do, do, do.

No, anyway, so I ran again, running story.

I need to come up with more stories,

but that's actually the only time I get by myself.

So, so a couple days I ran the gym without earphones

because I lost mine at the beach.

Anyway, so I borrowed my son's the one day

and I'm like running so fast, right?

Because I had music on.

And music is rhythm, right?

And so I'm like, wow, I had a great run today.

I had my earphones on and this is great.

But how many times do we not turn up

the voice of God in our life?

How many times do we get distracted

by all those things around us

and we forget to turn up the voice of God

to see what he's actually doing in a situation?

When there's a crisis in your family,

when there's something happening,

how many times do we say stop?

Let's stop and pray first

and let's turn up the voice of God

so we can figure out what to do for eternity.

Not just for this moment, not just for this week,

but what's God telling us to do here?

Because ultimately God has a plan, right?

And we also, we also, I had this,

I had listened to another Ted Talks

and it was by this pro wrestler.

You guys, anybody here like wrestling?

Chris said I have to watch wrestling

now that I've listened to the Ted Talks on wrestling.

Nobody likes wrestling.

Tracy likes cage fighting or something.

Must be just the people I love.

Anyway, so, so you guys didn't grow up with like

Hawk Hogan and Andre the Giant, all that.

Okay, I'm dating myself, I'm dating myself.

Anyway, so basically the wrestler says

to be a successful pro wrestler,

you have to turn up what you have inside you.

So he said, you know what, I was a heavyweight guy

and I didn't have any pride issues,

so I got in a Speedo and I let it all hang out

and I was a pro wrestler, right?

So what you're doing as a pro wrestler

is you're basically just turning up

the things that God's given them

and becoming this extreme figure, right?

A lifelong superhero.

And so I feel like that's what God wants to do

in our lives today.

He wants to take our hearing,

he wants to take the gifts he's given us,

he wants to take our tent pegs, right?

Our tent pegs and our hammer

and he wants to turn them up

for his kingdom and his glory, right?

And so that's what we need to do

is we need to turn on the voice of God

so that we can get turned up.

All right, so I'm done.

Aren't you guys excited?

No, I'm not done, no, okay, oh thanks.

Anyway, no, okay, so I don't think God's done here though

today, so I just, I really feel like

we would be amiss today if we didn't take an opportunity

just to hear from the Holy Spirit today,

just allow God's presence and his peace to wash over you.

I have some words Chris is gonna come out with me

like I feel like God's given us for the congregation today.

But the first thing I wanna do is if,

is everybody wanna stand with me right now?

You can turn on the music a little louder

than first service.

If anybody here has not said yes to God,

if you've not given him the steering wheel to your life,

if you've not said, God, I trust you with my life,

I know you're good, we're gonna do that right now together.

So Holy Spirit, come.

You can raise your hand if you wanna give your life

right now to Jesus and you wanna trust him with your life.

Thank you, Lord.

Holy Spirit, you guys wanna sit and just pray with me?

You can repeat after me.

Dear Jesus, thank you for loving me.

Thank you for seeing me.

Thank you for knowing who I am inside and out.

And right now, I choose by an act of my will to trust you.

I give you control of my life.

Forgive me for the choices I made,

for being God of my own life.

Right now, I choose you.

I say yes to you, Jesus.

Now and forever more.

Amen, amen.

So that was the first prayer for somebody to do that

and he took away my iPad

so I don't know the other things I was gonna say.

But I also wanted to pray for people right now.

That was to grow up.

Where's that, hang.

It's okay, I love how he takes care of me.

Isn't he an awesome servant?

No, he's awesome.

He puts up with me, I'm a mess, just mess.

They rhyme.

So, okay, so the next thing is,

I need some of you to grow down today.

I feel like God's, you've said yes to God.

You maybe gotten baptized or you haven't gotten baptized.

That would be another way to grow down.

But you've gotten baptized,

but you just haven't done the steps,

the weekly steps it takes to just get into God's word,

to get into a group, come into this community of faith

and really grow in relationship.

So right now I'm gonna pray for you.

If that's you, just raise your hand.

Thank you, Lord.

God, I just pray for all of us, Lord, right now,

that we would grow our roots deep like those trees, Lord.

God, that our foundation would be in you, Lord.

That we would plug into this community of faith.

Lord, that we would know that we would know

that you love us, Lord,

and that we would be rich in mercy, God.

God, I ask that you would just highlight ways

that you want us to grow, even this week.

In Jesus' name, amen.

And then the third thing is,

I know some of you guys need to let go, okay?

You need to show up for the living people in your life.

Okay, you're holding on to something that you've lost.

You're holding on to a dream that you had.

You're holding on to something that you need to let go of.

And God is here, the Holy Spirit is here

to minister to you right now.

And God doesn't say let go

because something worse is gonna happen.

He says let go and trust me

because I've got so many good things for you.

So right now, if you need to let go,

I just ask you to raise your hand right now.

If there's something that you need to let go of,

expectations, we just let them go in Jesus' name.

How we should be, we just let it go in Jesus' name.

Just let go of those negative thoughts

and negative words that have been spoken over you.

I just cut those off in the name of Jesus.

Any negativity that's been spoken over you or your life,

just cut it off in the name of Jesus.

God, and I speak God's plan over these people's life.

God, as they trust you with their loved ones

that they've lost, God,

as they trust you with their finances, Lord,

as they trust you with their future, Lord,

I ask that you show up in their life, God.

God, I ask that you write a story on their life

that they could have never imagined.

Thank you, God, for helping us let go.

And then some of you, I think you need to turn it up.

You know what you're called to do.

You know what God's calling you into

and you haven't done it, and you've just kind of sat in the,

you know, you're not even sat in the side,

you've kind of sat in the back seat for a long time, right?

And so God wants you to turn up the gifts

that you've been given, turn up the gifts that you have

and use them for the kingdom.

Because guess what?

We can't work as a community of faith

unless we have all the bodies working together, right?

That's why God calls us the body of Christ.

That's why God calls us the body of Christ, okay?

So if you feel like you need to turn it up

in your life right now,

specifically if you think you need to turn it up

and like you need to work with kids in the next generation,

I just ask that you raise your hands right now.

Thank you, Lord.

God, I just ask that you would help us

turn up you in our lives, God.

That our God radio will be tuned to you, Lord.

That we would hear your voice clearly

and that we would make decisions

based on what you want for our life, God.

On what you think is best for our life,

not what we think is best,

not what we think we should do,

but God, what you're calling us to do.

God, I thank you for the calling

and the plans and the purposes

for each one of these individuals here today, Lord.

And God, I just speak as the mother of this church,

I just speak over them, God,

and I just say that they are worthy of the calling, God.

That they are so good, God,

that I'm just so thankful each and every one of them, Lord.

And I ask that you continue to pull forth their giftings, Lord.

That they continue to plug into this community of faith.

That, God, that you have businesses that are coming forth.

I feel like there's businesses coming forth,

nonprofits that are gonna be coming forth

from this community of faith.

I feel like there's gonna be jobs,

opportunities for jobs, for people

that are gonna come forth from this community of faith.

There's gonna be more things come up.

So, God, I just pray for more right now

and Jesus saying more, more, yes, more.

This morning, our prayer team was praying for our services

and there's a couple things they highlighted

that we specifically wanna pray for in your life.

The first one was fear,

that there was gonna be people here this morning

that was just so gripped in fear

that they just couldn't take a step and move forward.

For example, there's just a testimony

about what already happened during our nine o'clock gathering.

I had a guy grab me afterwards

and he looked at me, he goes,

it's my first time here.

I was like, oh, that's cool.

Glad you're here and gave him a hug

and he goes, no, you don't understand.

I was in my house.

He lived right across the street here.

He goes, I was in my house watching online

and I heard what your wife said and how she started

and he was like, holy crap,

I gotta get dressed and get to church.

So he said he threw on his clothes and came running over.

He literally didn't even drive,

came running over to church.

It was his first time ever in our building

and he gave his life to Jesus and he filled out a card

and it was just cool, you know?

But some of you this morning,

you're so gripped in fear that you can't even take a step.

And if that's you, we wanna pray for you.

And it's not just fear, but it's also stomach issues.

If you have something going on with your abdomen,

we wanna pray for healing in your life.

And Jess also felt that God wants to heal some knees

and some feet.

So if that's you, if they speak to you

in any way, we're gonna be up here in the front

and we're gonna encourage you.

We wanna pray for you, but you gotta take a step of faith.

Does that make sense?

Like you gotta come forward

and our prayer team will meet you up here and pray for you.

All right, so I feel like we're supposed to pray for Chris.

Can you guys agree with me in prayer?

Chris has been having knee problems

and he is getting old, but.

I tell you what, man, first gathering,

everyone's like, oh, Jess needs to speak more

and all this stuff.

I said, man, I got thrown over the bus so much.

She's never speaking again.

No, no, no.

Can I hear it, man?

Right, yeah.

Holy cow.

But I don't think, I don't think that his knees are.

I know you've been like a glamp, come on.

I don't think that his knees are hurting

because he's old.

I just think that God, it was a sign

that God wants to pray for people's knees,

but can we pray together for,

that his knees would be healed

because I need him to walk

and I need him to do things for me.

And he does great laundry, so yes.

So, so God, we just lift up Chris to you right now, God.

We lift his body up to you, Lord.

Any area that he feels attacked, Lord.

Any area where the enemy would try to

make him stop walking, Lord.

I just come against it in Jesus' name, God.

And I thank you for the love you have for Chris, God.

I thank you that you love him so much, Lord.

And I just pray that right now,

I just pray for healing, supernatural healing

in both of his knees, Lord.

Thank you, God.

Supernatural healing in both of his knees, God.

That he could walk where you want him to walk.

That he could go where you want him to go, Lord.

Jesus' name.

So yeah, the knees and the feet,

I feel like God wants you to go somewhere

and those feet and those knees are like

taking you from where you need to go.

So I'll be over here praying for that.

Yeah, abdomen and fear will be over here.

There'll be people here to meet you

and pray with you from our prayer team.

But you have to take that step of faith

and believe that God wants to heal you, amen?