Living On Mission - Youth Sunday 2023

Welcome to another inspirational podcast at Real Life Church.

For more great content and updates, visit

reallifechurchkc.com. Well, good morning and welcome

to Real Life Church man. It's so excited to see your

faces this morning. Go ahead and stand on your feet

with you, with us in person right here in Kentucky Trail.

You are joining us online. Maybe you're just so pumped to

worship God with you today. Cuz I searched the world.

And it couldn't fill me. And man's empty praise and

treasures that vain were never enough.

And you came along. And put me back together.

And every desire is now satisfied.

Here in your love. Oh, there's nothing better than

you. There's nothing better than you,

Lord. There's nothing.

Nothing. Nothing is better than you,

because I'm not afraid to show you my weakness.

My failures and flaws, Lord, you've seen them all.

And you still call me friend, because the God of the Mountain

is the God of the Valley. And there's not a place with

your mercy and grace Won't find me again.

Oh, there's nothing better than you.

There's nothing better than you. Lord, there's nothing, nothing

is better than you. The sorts that I found, it's

nothing better than you. It's nothing better than you.

Nothing. Nothing is better than you.

You turn morning to dancing. You.

Give beauty for. Ashes.

You turn shame into glory. You're the only.

One who can you turn morning to dancing.

You give beauty for ashes. You turn chain into Clawby.

You're the only one who can you turn Grazed into Godhead, You

turn goes into Army. You turn seasons into highways.

You're the only one who. You're the only.

One, there's nothing better than you.

There's nothing better than you. Alone.

There's nothing. Nothing is better than you.

You believe that this morning singing out?

Look. There's nothing better than you.

There's nothing better than you look.

There's nothing. It's nothing.

You turn graves into God, You turn bones into army.

You turn sees into highway. You turn graves into garden,

turning. You turn both into.

Me make. Your way.

So you see, you turn sees into highways.

You're the army. You're the army.

You can't. You're the army.

You can. Come on, you've got some place

this morning. Where?

You love. Him the God who does take dead

things and turn. It back into life, takes their

broken heals their heart, sets their feet right back on that

solid. My encouragement is just don't

let this song just be a song and just words that you sing.

And something that we just do, just a performance.

It's so much more than that, man.

God is set as free. He is made away when there is no

way. When it seems insurmountable.

God is there for you, man. We pressed into that.

Lean into that today as we worship.

You are here. You're moving in the midst.

I worship you. I worship you.

You are here. You're working in this place.

I worship you. I worship you.

You are here. You're moving in the midst.

I worship you. I worship you are here.

You're working in a nice place. I worship you.

I worship you. Oh, you are.

We make a we record promise King Light in the darkness, My God,

that is to you. We make we record promise King

Light in the darkness. My God that is to you.

You are here. Touching every heart, our

worship you, Our worship you as you are here.

Healing every heart Our worship you know our worship you.

You are here. You're turning lights around.

I worship you. I worship you.

You are here, men in every heart.

I worship you, God. I worship you.

Yeah. We make miracle work.

Promise. Keep light in the darkness, My

God, that is who you are. We make miracle work.

Promise. Keep light in the darkness.

My God, That is who you are. That is who you are.

That is who you are. That is who you are.

That is who you are. That is who you are.

That is who you are. That is who you are.

You're my miracle worker. God, it's true you are.

We proclaim victory today. And Jesus name.

It's true. You are who you are, even when I

don't see you working. Even when I don't feel you

working, you never stop, never stop working, never stop, never

stop working. Even when I don't still working,

even when I don't feel you working, you never stop, never

stop working, never stop, never stop working.

Even when I don't still working. Even when I don't feel you're

working. You never stop.

Never stop working. Never stop.

Never stop working. Even when I don't see you

working. Even when I don't feel you're

working. You never stop.

Never stop working. Never stop.

I know who my Jesus stays away. Make miracle work.

Promise. Keep.

Lie in the darkness, my God. That is who you are.

Way, maker, miracle worker, promise, keeper.

Lie in the darkness, my God. That is who you are.

Come on to clean it. This morning we make miracle

work. Promise.

Keep night in the darkness. My God, That is who you are.

Yes, we make miracle work. Promise.

Keep night in the darkness. My God, That is who you are.

That is who you are. That is who you are.

That is who you are. That is who you are.

That is who you are. That is who you are.

That is who you are. And then you've got some praise

today. You know, we're coming off of an

awesome week. With some young people down at

camp and I'm really excited to introduce this song to you all

that we got to sing this week at camp.

And it's really, it's looking at all these things that God is and

all of who he says that he is, and then giving him the honor

and praise because he's worthy, because he's a holy God.

And so I hope that you'll sing along with us with this one.

Worthy of every song we could ever sing.

Worthy of all the praise we could ever pray.

He's worthy of every breath we could ever breathe.

We live for you, Jesus the name above every other name.

Jesus, the only one you could ever say He's worthy of every

breath. We could ever breathe and live

for you. We live for you because.

Holy. There is no one like you.

There is none beside. You open up my eyes and wander.

Me, in your loved goals around me sing worthy again.

Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and.

It's worthy of every song we could ever sing.

Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring.

It's worthy of every breath we could ever breathe.

We'd live for you. Oh Jesus.

Jesus, the name above every other name.

Jesus the only one who could ever say He's worthy of every

breath we could ever breathe. We live for you.

Oh, we live for you. Single leg.

There is holy. There is no one like you.

There is some beside you. Open up my eyes and wander and

show me who you are and feel me with your heart and leave me in

your love to goes around me and holy.

There is no one like you. There is some beside you.

Open up my eyes and wander. Show.

Me who you are and fill me with your heart and leave me in your

love to those around me. Lord, we miss this efforts of

prayer to you today. Because I will build my life

upon your love. It is upper foundation.

I will put my trust and you alone.

And I will not be shaken. I will.

I will my life upon your love. It is a foundation and I will

put my trust in you alone and I will not be shaking goes.

Holy. Maybe it's no one like you.

There is none beside you. Open up my eyes.

They wander and show me who you are and fail me with your heart

and leave me and your love to those around me.

And only there is no one like. You there is none beside you.

Open up my eyes and wander and show me who you are and fail me

with your heart and leave me in your love to those I will build

my mind, I will build my life upon Your.

It is a fun foundation. I will put my trust in new world

and I will not be shaken. Come on, give that some.

And that is right. What a song of surrender.

Giving our lives to him, building our lives upon his hope

and his faith and his trust. Wait, thank you so much for

joining us this morning. Man, we're pumped to see you.

We're excited to have another group joining us online.

Thank you so much for plugging in and tuning in to hear the

message this morning. Come on, give him a big, real

life welcome. Let him know you love him

online, man. That's right.

Well, hey, take about 30 seconds.

Say hey, make somebody feel welcome around you and then take

a seat. So cool.

All right, you can take a seat, But hey, if you are new with us,

man, you are our honored guest today.

Thank you so much just for choosing to spend your morning

here with us. And I want to invite you to go

ahead and grab that connection card.

It's either in your seat or maybe you scooched it to the

seat next to you. But go ahead and feel out, as

much of that as you feel comfortable filling out.

And man, it would mean the world to us if you would just check

that first time here box. And we want to connect with you

and help you feel welcome. And at home here, we don't want

to do anything weird. Just send you a letter in the

mail this week and shit you a text.

Just help you feel right at home here at Real Life church.

And if you call Real life home, go ahead and grab that card as

well. Put your name there, check

regularly a tent, and then hey, drop appraiser prayer in that

prayer request section at the bottom.

And we have a whole team that prays over those cards and

handwrites letters to each of those.

Man, it would just be such a blessing to us to be able to

pray for you this week in real life.

Church. We are a church on a mission,

and that mission is to see people far from God discover

their real life and purpose in Jesus.

And that's because souls matter to God.

And God came for the lost and the broken and the messy and the

ones you don't have it all put together.

Thank goodness. The man relationships really are

the heartbeat of who he is. And that's the heartbeat of who

we are here at Real Life Church as well.

Well, hey, we are taking a pause this week on AT the Movies.

We'll be back next week for our final movie in that series, but

that's because we get to welcome our real life youth group home

from youth camp this week. That's right.

Let him know you love him. And I'm so excited just for you

guys to hear the stories of life change that came out of youth

camp this last week. And before we do that, we'll

welcome Carrie to the stage here in just a few minutes.

But can you give her a big, real life?

Thank you just for leading this team so well, man.

She shepherds the souls of our youth and points them right back

to Jesus week in and week out. And we just can't say thank you.

Enough for doing that. And later in this gathering

we're going to have an awesome opportunity not just to pray

over our youth group and our youth team, but also to pray

over our Missions team that's heading out later this week.

They're traveling to Bogota, Colombia, and South America, so

we have an awesome opportunity to pray for them as well.

And man, God is just up to some big things here at Real Life

Church and we're just excited to share that with you.

So hey, before we jump into the youth, check out this highlight

reel from camp. Can you guys tell we had some

fun at camp? They all came back alive.

I know some of those two videos might say otherwise, but we had

an amazing time at camp and every year we have an awesome

time. And I know that the first thing

that we always talk about when we get back, we're heading back

on the bus is all the fun we had, right?

We talk about the tubing, we talk about Shawn's driving.

I think that was pretty much the topic of a conversation the

whole time. His boat driving and people were

choosing Josh's boat because they wanted to stay alive, but

they still stayed alive on Shawn's, didn't they, Shawn?

They didn't die. They didn't die.

Nobody died. So it was a great time and we

like to focus on all the fun we had and we had a lot of team

competitions. We had some points, maybe the

pink team might have won, I'm not sure.

I'm pretty sure pink team won. We had some great fun, but

ultimately we had a lot of life change and we had some students

who made some decisions while we while they were there.

We had some students who maybe sets a little asset of their

comfort zone, learned some things right, which is what we

hope. We hope that they come back,

that they've grown a little bit, that they've pushed maybe a

little bit, that they've challenged themselves.

A bit as well, But before we even stepped foot on the bus, I

know for a fact that we had a huge army of people praying for

us and a huge army of people maybe that have been a little

worried about their kids but also really excited for them.

So I just wanted to start by talking about our amazing

parents that are here. If you're a parent, would you

stand up? I know it's Uber embarrassing,

but yeah, stand on your feet. Yeah.

Look at all these amazing parents.

Number one, they trusted me to take their kids to a lake. #2

They want the best for their kids.

You guys can sit down. They want the best for their

kids and and decided to send them to a week of camp, which is

amazing. So I just wanted to say thank

you to you guys for #1 trusting us but for also allowing your

kid to have an experience that hopefully they came back and

told you a little bit about more than just it was fine.

Hopefully they opened up a little bit for you guys.

I also want to say a big thank you to our amazing youth

leaders. So if you were a youth leader

would you guys stand up in here? It doesn't matter if you went to

camp. I know we have Logan back in the

AV. Bell, Booth, Tory's up here.

All of these people, whether they were at camp or not, have

had such an integral part of helping these students grow

throughout this entire year. Last couple of years, they've

invested their time because they love these kids so much.

So thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the time that

you guys have spent not only praying but also spending your

week at camp with us, right? Which is awesome.

And then the last person I want to make sure we think today is

the big man in charge here. His name is Pastor Shan.

Be true also. God, he's pointing up.

Pastor Sean Petrie, Would you guys give it up for him and his

wife Diane, who allowed us to go right down and run their lake

house a little bit? Hopefully we didn't break

anything. Hopefully everything still

stayed in one piece for the most part.

We'll see. But it was a great time and we

had this big focus while we were there about leadership.

What do we do as people, as human beings who are trying to

figure out what this whole life is about and how do we become

leaders God's called us to be and you guys want us.

You guys like that highlight camp video that we just showed?

That was made by one of our teams.

Like, that's pretty cool, right? So like, we have team, yeah,

that's Aubrey. You guys can give it up for

Aubrey. We have teams that are stepping

up in big ways because they know the impact that they're making

and they're sacrificing time on their own to make a difference.

And that's exactly what we challenged them to do when we

were at camp, was to push themselves, to challenge

themselves, to think a little bit differently, to hopefully

come back a little bit different.

And I wanted you all to have an opportunity to hear straight

from them, a couple of them who are willing enough to not just

leave me on red and ghost me, and texting that I was asking

them to speak. But these two actually said yes.

So I want to start by welcoming to the stage my own daughter,

Ashlyn. Would you guys give it up for

Ashlyn? She's going to come join me up

here. And I know that, like, this may

seem like an easy ask because she's my own kid, but being a

ministry kid, it can be really hard.

And you can kind of go through the motions of this is what your

life has been, right? You've been in church.

This is kind of what I believe. This is what I do.

But she really did push herself at this camp to do some

different things, to challenge herself a little bit.

I want you guys to hear from her own mouth what she learned at

camp. So would you guys give it up one

more time for Ashlyn? Good morning, My name is Ashton

Kubly. I never doubted Jesus when I was

younger, but now that I'm older is a lot more easier for me to

doubt. Most of my questions were will I

still go to church when I move out?

And is God real? I always thought if God was the

real God, then why were there different religions?

But when I went to camp, most of my questions were less

concerning. Camp taught me a lot of things

to set my goals, to pray and to read the Bible more.

Before camp, I hated to worship and I would space out a lot and

it felt awkward and I felt embarrassed.

But now I'm trying to sing and raise my hands up because I

shouldn't be embarrassed when it's just between me and God.

We talked about having a purpose and I think I and I used to

think I didn't have a purpose and I shouldn't be living.

But I feel my purpose and why I should be live and it is

spreading, spreading the word to my friends and inviting them to

church. It is important to share the

gospel with my friends because they are probably feeling like I

am lost and confused and hopeless.

Psalms 3418 says the Lord is near the broken hearted and

saves those who are Christian spirit.

I can be a part of helping the good news and I want to thank my

leaders for believing in me and not giving up on me and letting

me learn more about Jesus. I can't wait to spread the word

to my friends and learn more about Jesus in the Bible.

Pretty awesome, right? Like.

This is my favorite part of camp is seeing them processing the

things that they went through, the feelings that they felt, the

emotions that they had. And I noticed in the video

because she's my own kid, But did you guys notice in the video

there's a video of worshipping? And she was in the very front

row with her hands raised, worshipping.

And that would have never happened before that moment.

And camp happens because kids have moments like that.

They have moments at camp where they decide now is the time that

I'm going to decide to be different, I'm going to change,

I'm going to challenge myself. So thank you Ashlyn for sharing,

because I know it's kind of hard.

To share sometimes the feelings that you have in front of other

people, but the power that we have and we learned so much

about leadership and how we can help others by sharing our own

story. So I have one more person that I

want to share and she almost ghosted me, but she decided to

say yes. This is our very own Alyssa

Hardy. Would you guys give it up for

Alyssa? So Alyssa has been with me since

the beginning in youth ministry. You've been together for quite a

while and we equally put up with each other and she jokes around

a lot. But she's got a heart of gold

and I want you to hear really her story about how powerful

camp was for her. Give it up one more time for

Alyssa. I'm Alyssa.

Kerry asked me to speak. So that's what this is.

I've had questions in doubts for a long time.

How do I know God exists? If he does exist, why should I?

Why should I obey him? I've been told since I was born

that Jesus died for me because he loves me, and I've always

believed it. But as I've grown, my doubts

have grown with me. The ways of the world seemed so

much better than following a God I wasn't even sure was real.

I was hurting, I was lonely, and I wanted more.

I've had the opportunity to go to two church camps this summer,

both of which have changed my perspective in ways I could not

imagine. Being in a camp reminded me why

I exist and who created me. I believe in God because God

believes in me. Since the beginning He has been

faithful and with me even when I couldn't see him.

I will be God and I follow God because of his love.

And now I get to show that love to everyone.

I know if you asked me two months ago why I would get to go

to heaven, I wouldn't have had an answer.

But I now know that I get to go to heaven because Jesus alone

allows me to through His love. No matter how I feel, no matter

my doubts, God is always there and always loves me.

Because of God, I have hope. And because of camp, I've been

able to realize all this, and I can follow God in ways I haven't

been able to before. I will live my life to bring

glory and people to God. Whatever God caused me to do.

I have faith that I can and I will follow him even when my

faith inevitably fails. Because it will.

I know I will be able to rebuild it again and again with the help

of God and the leaders in my life.

Because no matter where I go or how far I stray, He will always

find me because of his unfailing love.

I'm confident in my face and I will continue to grow with him.

I'd like to thank Kerry Tori and my parents plus Pink team cuz

we're awesome and we won. Go pink team.

Isn't it awesome how different both of their stories were?

And they both are at the same camp, right?

So it's like God talks to each and every one of these students

in so many different ways while they're they're there.

We may be talking about the same thing, but they're pulling these

different things out of it based on what they're going through,

the things that they need to hear, maybe the things that

they're going through have gone through.

And I love that I get a front row seat, and I'm sure my other

leaders will say the exact same thing, that we get a front row

seat to watch these kids change the world.

We get a front row seat to watch this next generation decide to

step up and challenge themselves and be different.

And I know for a fact that they came back to school, came back

from camp and are heading into school confident that they're

going to make waves. They're going to maybe talk to

those kids that seem unlovable. They're going to challenge

themselves to reach out to the people that maybe are hard to

like or hard to be around. And they're going to have

conversations that are hard because they know that that's

how we lead, like Jesus. And I want to challenge you guys

today, the exact same thing. Because ultimately, aren't we

all just kind of growing teenagers?

I joke with that my husband has never really ever become a grown

up. But I think that we all, in our

own way, are all just navigating this adulthood life still as

kind of kids sometimes. And we're also going through

things that are really challenging, but we can all

still lead with as much boldness as they have as well.

And I want to challenge you. To go into your same life, into

your workplace, into your home life, into your family life,

your friend life, into the city that you live in, at the store,

wherever you are, with the same boldness and confidence that you

can lead just like Jesus led. We talked at camp about how God

has purposed us and gifted us all differently, right?

Everybody around you is completely different.

We all have different purposes. We all have different things

that we're good at. And just like the people in the

Bible, right? Every single one of them had

something different that that they were good at.

We have Moses. And Mary and Joseph and John the

Baptist, right? None of them were gifted alike,

but they all made a huge impact for the Kingdom of God.

And that's exactly what God has called us to do.

To take bold steps of faith, to follow him, to follow his lead

in our lives, even when it might be challenging.

And we talked a lot, too, about this idea of how it's really

easy to make it about ourselves. Isn't it really easy to make it

about us from the time that we wake up to the time that we go

to bed? What are we thinking about?

How things affect us, right? We're trying to decide every

minute of every day how inconvenienced or blessed or

joyful or happy or sad we are based on the circumstances

around us. But I wonder how different our

world could look. Even your own home could look if

we decided to switch our perspective completely and think

about those around us first. If we led like Jesus and just

thinking about that person next to us on the bus or that person

standing in front of us at the grocery store and how their life

might be different if they knew what we knew or maybe how their

life might be better because we lead our life better, These

teenagers decided to come home with that exact same excitement

to lead. And I want to read a verse for

you because this to me is just exactly what God has called us

to do. This is Romans chapter 12 verse

Romans 12:8

8. Says, if your gift is to

encourage others, be encouraging.

If it's, if it is giving, give generously.

If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility

seriously. And if you have a gift for

showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

The thing that we all have in common, right, is that God

called us to be leaders. The thing that we maybe don't

have in common is exactly what He's gifted us with.

But we can use those gifts and the talents that we have to help

other people around us to love people that might be very hard

to love, to advocate for people who might not have anybody, to

advocate for them. And just to really think about

our day differently than we really are Now.

I have a couple of quick steps before I have some teenagers

join me on the stage that I can give you today to help to lead.

Like these teenagers came home excited to lead the 1st.

Is this follow the leader, right?

I talked about being kids again. Like it is as simple as

following the leader. Jesus gives us the best example

of what it looks like to lead well and to love others first

before loving ourselves, doesn't he?

There's so many examples in scripture for us to look at on

how we can lead like Him, and that's loving others before us,

right? His entire life was spent loving

other people more than he loved himself.

Loving others even when it's really hard.

That is probably one of the hardest things I feel as an

adult is loving everyone because we all know.

There are people we encounter that are maybe not so lovable,

right? Maybe people that really get

under our skin. People that aren't like us,

right. But we can lead like Jesus by

leading those people well. The second is this, to discover

your gifts. Our church is really big into

discovering your gifts and the importance of it, and I want to

challenge you to lean into that. Find a way to join Crash Course.

Get around somebody who can help you discover what your gifts

even are. You might be the age that you

are and have absolutely no idea what God has gifted you with.

Discover what those are. You can't really lead into your

full purpose unless you really know what that is.

And the last thing is this, to love others first.

Peter 4410 says this. God has given each of you a

gift. From his great variety of

spiritual gifts, use them well to serve one another.

These gifts are for a purpose, right?

We can lead, we can lead by example.

We can follow Jesus by actually doing the things that we're

we're called to do with the things that He's given us.

So this is my challenge to you today.

Church. Go all in.

Right. Don't just go all in today and

forget about it. Decide today is the day that

you're going to stop thinking as much about yourself and you're

going to start really thinking about people around you and

caring about them. I've encouraged these students

to go into their school with a purpose, right?

Their purpose is that they want to be the difference in their

school because their school isn't going to change unless

they're a part of that difference, right?

Their school is not going to be different.

Those people around them aren't going to be different.

Those people they complain about aren't going to be different

unless they're a part of the change.

And you guys have the exact same ability and the capacity to be a

part of that change. So Speaking of change, I want

you guys to be able to see a lot of that change.

These teenagers are sitting here in the front row, and I love

that you get to see them, but I want you to be able to see a

visual, almost like an experience of what they

experienced at camp. So I want to go ahead and invite

all of them to join me here up on stage.

And while I do that, I want to explain to you kind of what

we're doing. We just sang a song a little bit

ago called Build My Life, and by following Jesus's lead, we're

building our life. We're asking him to build our

life, to be like his life. And what they're coming up here

to do right now is give you a visual representation of what

that what that looks like. So for them, they came to camp

with a lot of things that they were struggling with.

You can tell by the two that came up here on the stage that

all of those experiences are very different for each of them.

For them filling out these posters at camp, they have been

even a healing process for them to kind of see where God

actually took them through camp and where they are afterwards.

So I want you guys as we sing the song that talks about how

amazing our God is and how he leads the way for us to do the

exact same thing. I want you guys to read all of

these posters. I want you to see the faces of

these teenagers and I want you to read their stories.

And then I want you to see halfway through this how those

stories have changed as a result of camp.

So I want to invite you all to stand and we're going to sing as

well. So you guys are welcome to

follow along and just sing. Worship as big as you can with

these students as we decide to lead together.

Let's worship Big together. I will build my life upon your

love. It is a firm foundation.

I will put my trust in you alone, and I will not be shaken.

I will build my life upon your love.

It is a plan foundation. I will put my trust in.

You will and I will. All right.

Let's see what God did this week at Camp Holy.

There is no one like you. There is none beside you.

Open up my eyes and wander. Show me.

Who you are and fell me with your heart and leave me.

And your love to goes around me. Holy, there is no one like you.

There is none beside you. Open up my eyes and wander and

show me. Who you are and fail me with

your heart, and leave me and your love to those around me,

because I will build my life upon your love.

It is a firm balmation and I will put my.

Because then you will and I will not be shaken.

Hey, let's give him a hand. Come on, give it that big for

the teenagers what God's doing in their life.

Oh man, you guys have joined these signs.

I know you guys are nervous up there.

We should have said smile big, right?

But it's just amazing week at camp and I'm going to say thank

you to those took time out of their week, those who serve

every week with their teenagers. To Carrie and the team.

Can you give it a big for them and let them know we love them?

And I love the size. I saw a lost and found and

didn't have hope. And I don't know man, I can hang

out with Hayden quite a bit. This guy's A servant of God.

That's his gift to servant behind the scenes.

His boys. Just dude, he just falls around

helping out. And it was so cool.

Get connected. Pray with some of you guys

hearing your stories. And some of you I didn't really

know before went to camp and it was cool to see what God was

going to do inside your life. And I would encourage us as a

church that really our mission is to reach the youngest

generation possible. If if we fail to reach the

youngest generation possible, we've put an expiration date on

the gospel and the gospel will stop at our address.

And so they do life differently. We do right?

A lot different, right? And the struggles and stuff are

the same struggles, but there's different things.

And the stuff that they're struggling is heavy.

And I think Satan just has a kind of way, just making us feel

comfortable at times that we're at a time of peace.

And there's not really a battle, but there really is a battle

ration for souls. And when you're around

teenagers, see what they're struggling with, I'm just

telling you, they need to be praying for these teens.

Amen. I mean, if you're a parent of a

teen, you know, like, man, it's just so much different than when

we were teens. And the stuff that's in their

face and what they're struggling with, Same struggles, but just.

The vehicles are so much stronger and the weapons are

strong. And so I want to encourage you

guys that when I was 18, I surrendered at a camp as much

like this camp, a little different but same spirit of

God. And I surrendered at whatever

God had and just I didn't know what that would look like in my

life. But the time I knew I was just

going to say, okay God, you have my life and what it looked like

is really my heart started to match the heart of God.

Like I started seeing a little bit how God saw and that's just

where you want to be at. There's things you saw this week

at camp, those things that God was put in your heart, you guys.

Wrote these signs I would encourage me to drive a stake in

your life. Like don't ever let that go.

Like to hold on to the things of God.

Hold on things that he's shown you.

And you start seeing people. Like God sees people.

The bigger now you really start seeing yourself the way God sees

you. And you guys talk about being

depressed and all these things you guys struggle with.

You replace that with the spirit of God.

That thanks to Christ and our church is behind you.

We love them, don't we? Guys, come on.

You're not alone. And so.

I would encourage you to just go all in for Jesus.

And I saw one down there, Audrey, highly reading the

Bible. It was awesome.

They brought the Bible to the camp and they're like, hey,

everyone turned to and it was like judges or something.

They're like, where is it at? It was just like, yeah, we'll

show them, right? And so it's just cool to get in

the word of God and the Holy Spirit around you guys.

Well, I'll do something very special and just a prayer with

these guys. It was easy to pray into events,

easy to pray in the camp and into those things in our lives.

You know, big decisions. But it's very rare that people

go back and say thanks and they pray out of it.

I think it's just important to pray out of his into it.

I think about the 10 lepers, right?

They're all touched by Jesus. They're all healed by Jesus, all

changed by Jesus. They all were transformed by

Jesus. Only one of them came back and

said thank you. And so today is really our time

to just get around to these teens and say thank you, Jesus,

for changing their life. I I won't be like the the Thai

church has 10 lepers that go back to Jesus.

Amen. I don't.

I don't be like the one or the two I want.

I want all of us to be part of this.

And so I'm going to invite our teenagers.

You guys are kind of working way down the stairs, not killing

each other. Come on and come across the

front, down the aisle over here, just kind of spread out.

I want you to spend some time just praying for our teenagers.

And maybe you're like, I don't know what to say.

I don't know what to do. You saw their sign.

So you just go up to them, put your arm around them and say,

man, tell them about your sign. And just thank Jesus, you did

some work in the life. You can fill them up here too.

Don't be shy up here. So they're all going to the back

to run the way. But you you can.

You can filling up here. But I would encourage you.

Maybe you're a parent. Maybe you're a grandparent,

friend of the family. Maybe you don't know anybody.

Maybe you're new to our church. Like, what's going on if you're

a Christian? In Jesus' fault, Man, you guys

all left the middle blank. And we'll go back this way.

Come on now. You can do it.

Don't be scared. Don't be.

You can do it. Oh, you already spoke.

So you can do it. Come on now.

And so we had some space. But I would encourage you get

around some teenagers. Pray for him.

I would invite you to start moving out.

If that's you. Just find a teenager, Put your

arm around him. Just start praying for him.

You'll find somebody I want to be praying alone.

They're not alone. I would encourage you mean just

you can pray as I'm talking but speak a word in their life.

See, say say that you see something in their life.

You see some potential. Maybe you can pray over them and

and pray for them not to be what you did right.

Maybe you can share with them a little bit of your story.

Love. Know you're behind them.

Love know that God is is a sure bet that this church is around

them and cares for them, that they can be the tip of the spear

that they can go out and buy. Maybe you can make a friend with

them and let them know every week you're going to care for

them and pray for them. Maybe you can be the kind of

person that's just going to accelerate their faith.

And I was a teenager. There's a man in my life.

I don't know what you saw in me. And he said, Sean, whatever

happens, I'll never let you fail for Christ.

He was the kind of guy that gave the shroff his back.

He ended up giving me vehicles and all sorts of stuff.

I never asked for a dime from this man, and he would not let

me fail in my faith. And what these young people

need, they need spiritual dads and moms.

Amen. Not just their parents, but any

people in their life that say, you know, I see God moving in

you. And people that care for them

and believe in them. So I would encourage you.

I mean get serious in this prayer time.

We're going to take about 3 or 4 minutes and just if you're still

in your seat you don't feel comfortable.

Just pray you're at. I would encourage you man.

If you know Jesus, your savior, man, get out here and pave the

way, right? You think about the armor of God

and Ephesians and you put all this armor on for these kids in

this week and this shield of faith and storm of the spirit.

But when they got the armor on, what'd they do?

You guys remember what they did? Come on, this layup, they

prayed, right? And that's what we get to do.

We get to pray today in the spirit of God.

And so this may be the really the highlight of can't for them

is that maybe their parents came down today and say, you know

what? I see you when guys do your

life, and I need that in my life.

So you guys came day for the first time because your kid said

you need to come to church today, come go on stage.

And today maybe you're like, man, there's something to this.

And so I would encourage you, man, to spend some time praying

and I'll pray out of it. But just get together and let's

lead the way. Amen.

Father would come before you, God, we play a blessing on what

your holy spirits do. And God, that these aren't the

leaders of tomorrow, these leaders of today.

And I pray that they would just find newfound faith in you.

God, that they would just be moved by you and God, that even

those nights of worship you're just speaking in the Holy Spirit

is moving across that place. God, I pray to save you.

Just a reminder through these songs that that you are true,

that your words are true, that there is a a sure bet.

God, there's absolute truth. That they can build their life

on you. That you're a sure foundation.

So today I pray for these young people to rise up out of the

pits of depression and discouragement and fear and

anxiety and worry and all the struggles that this generation

got. And they just rise up on faith.

They'll be built on the word of God.

And so I pray that this generation be marked by prayer.

That there be a Bible that moves across the really not just our

church, but through their schools and through the hallways

gotten their families and. Like my family God, many of them

didn't know Jesus. And so I pray that today that

maybe they're the first generation Christian and their

family God that begins to live for you got to pray for faith

for our leaders that. I just been so faithful to

serving our young people week in and week out behind the scenes,

just doing, doing work. God that many people don't see

for the Kingdom. God.

So I pray for maybe not to get a full hold.

You got to pray for encouragement that there would

be a rid of bareness or any discouragement in our team God

that they would just realize why they're doing this, that the

payoff is souls being changed. Got to pray that these young

people begin to see themselves as you see them God.

That they would see themselves as whole and forgiven and chosen

and gifted, and that there's the hand or the hand of God and.

Just a vessel. An empty vessel for you God.

So pray you, pour this generation out.

It's really just an offering God to the nations to point people

to you. God, pray you to send people out

of this group. Back into their homes and to

their. Families and to places maybe

they work or serve or sports teams.

God, just to make much of you. And I pray they'd be marked

different. They walk in the world but not

be of the world. So got to pray for just a

blessing on this generation that we see this generation rise up

even more than our generation. God for you.

And so God, I pray for those that have poured in them.

I pray blessing on them, my blessing on what you've done

this camp. I bring your your mind into.

The things in Christ that we've learned there.

That we can look back at the word of God and know this is

what it's all about. And for those of us that maybe

are looking to pour in God, I pray that we see this generation

as a generation full of. Full of freedom and hope that we

could pour into and that they would be just willing vessels

like Timothy and Titus and those in the faith that just open

their hearts to you. So got to pray for a brokenness

in this place today. Got to only come through your

spirit. So got to pray for something to

change in our lives. Got we would go back to the same

routine, the same methods. God we'd go back to you and so

got to pray for your spirit to have freedom in our lives.

Got to pray we'd empty ourselves.

God that we would just be make much of you.

That you would increase and that we would decrease.

And so God, I pray that the name of Jesus would be forever

changed. God and just pointed to you in

the next generations God. Maybe this is that moment for

somebody today when you call them surrender.

You call them to die themselves. You call them to put some things

to death or life that just look nothing like you, and that today

they rise up with boldness. To share the gospel.

To to stay no to the things the world that does that look

towards you for their faith and encouragement, their peace.

So God, I pray this generation, God would be the generation

you're going to use God to reach our nation.

God to turn people back to you and God to pray your blessing on

today. God bless our families.

God bless our church and God. Use these teenagers the mighty

way for you and pray in Jesus name.

Amen. Come on, give it up for what

guys doing today. Come on.

Man, it's exciting. I would encourage you guys just

find the closest seat. You don't have to go all the way

back to all the things, but just find the closest seat.

We're going to do something special the rest of this

morning. It's going to be the most

eclectic Sunday morning in the history of our church.

And so we're going to just do some business and we've got a an

awesome group of people that are heading out of town across the

world on a mission trip to Colombia, Bogota, Colombia,

South America, this coming Saturday.

Bright in the morning early. It's not bright.

It's just dark, right? It's not.

Yeah, not even gonna go to bed, you know, Friday to Saturday,

right? But I want to invite our

missions team up. If you're on that team, would

you come up here to the front? Just make your way up, kind of

spread out up front. Look at this crew.

Nice. Come on.

Nice. Dude, this is awesome.

So Dennis and Judy, look at you guys.

Because we're old. You're never too old for Jesus,

but there's a breath in your lungs.

Dennis, I'm. I came on the trip because

Dennis is like, man, I need somebody to protect me.

And he looked at Logan and thought that guy's a little

scrawny And then not really. Oh, man.

But I would encourage you guys. This is really the heartbeat of

the gospel just living on a mission.

I want to have. Diane shares a few words of what

the trip's going to look like, what's going to happen, what

we're participating, God's going to do.

And so just maybe share a little bit about that.

So give it from wife Diane. Love her.

Thanks. Hey, Dennis.

No, I'm super excited. This is our second year back to

Bogota, Colombia. We went last summer and we're

going to the same place. And the reason for that is

because the primary goal and mission of what we're doing is

that we have mission partners who are doing a lot of the same

things that we're doing here, trying to reach their city,

trying to reach the World for Jesus.

And we get to be a part of helping to encourage.

There's a discipleship school that actually takes young people

who have just graduated from high school, and it's helping to

build them up as leaders for Christ.

To go into the workforce, to go maybe into the ministry,

whatever God's calling them to, but as leaders for Christ in

their community. And so we get to encourage not

only them and those students who are doing that, but what's

really on our heart is those leaders who are working in the

ministry day in and day out. They're doing the cause of

Christ. And it's our job that we get to

go and encourage them to build them up, to love on them and

just really to encourage their heart as they're doing those

things. We also get to jump in.

There is a church plant called Conviva Norte and it is in the

Northern. Part of Bogota and they are a

church plant just like us. They, you know, go in and set up

and do all the different things to reach their community, reach

their city with the gospel. And they actually live in a

really unique part of town that has a lot of Venezuelan

refugees. And so it's on their heart to

reach people who have been through a lot of really hard and

challenging things in their life of just being, you know, ripped

from their home because of violence and different things.

And so we get to go also and encourage the pastor and his

wife and the church staff and the people who are leading every

week just the same as we do. And so it's a really cool way to

be able to connect with what God is doing.

And what we'll do is different stuff.

The first thing we'll do is whatever they ask us to do,

whatever they need help with, whatever is an encouragement to

them we're willing and ready to jump in.

And do that to work with some kids ministry there to maybe get

to help out with their youth ministry, to help invite people

to church to help serve on Sunday morning with their church

as well. So I'm really looking forward to

what we'll be able to do to encourage the heart of the

people there. But I'm always looking forward

to what God is going to do in our hearts as well.

I've been on a lot of missions, trips over the years and I know

that some of our people, a lot of our people have not been on

many missions trips. So it's always fun and a joy to

take people across the world because you really get this

picture that sometimes it can feel like church is.

Just what we do here at Kentucky Trail, But what you see when you

go across the world is that God is big and he is working all

over the world. And as personal as he is to work

in one person's life, he can take that and magnify it across

the world. So we get to open our eyes a

little bit to the work of a really big God.

And I know I always leave changed and inspired to see the

faith of other believers across the world.

God challenges my faith, He fills up my cup, and it's really

fun to be able to do that along with some awesome people like

this. So I'm excited to see how God is

going to move in our hearts. That's how he's going to allow

us to serve and just encourage the workers there that we

support. All right, so give it up for

Diane. Saw a few hands over there.

Everybody's wants to know what are you gonna do?

What are you gonna do? How was the food?

You know? Did you guys get sick?

You know, was it weird? You know what was the craziest

thing? It is all these stories, right.

And I want to just do a survey real quick.

How many guys have been on the missions trip before?

Like, cross cultural missions trip?

Put those hands high. Okay.

So. A few of you, right?

Five or six of you out there. And then how how many you guys

have not been on a missions trip?

This is like Newbyville, right? All right, Perfect.

So now you have to pray for, right?

Managed expectation. But I would encourage you.

You might sit there today. You go, wow, I I wish I could.

I don't have the finances or I feel like I could make a

difference. Or what is this?

Or I would never go. I get.

I get that all the time. You know, Holly told me she'd

never be on church staff. Come on, somebody, right?

She smiled. If you're saying no, it means

God's asking, come on, somebody. Right?

Because you had to say no to or something.

And so I would encourage you maybe like you're like, hey man,

I'm not sure this and this. I would encourage you to be open

to what God has for you. I want to talk about why

ambitions like why are we even doing this.

Like dying can give a little bit of what.

And that's really kind of the smaller piece that the bigger

picture is, is why. And so I think it back to just

amazing verse that Jesus has and it's John 2021.

And Jesus says, just the Father sent me.

So I'm sending you. And you think about who Jesus

is. He's sitting on the throne of

heaven. He's surrounded by all glory,

all power, all majesty. He's chaired.

He's worship, all, all, everything.

It's like the perfect place and all eternity and all the things.

And his Father says, I'm going to send you probably to the

worst neighborhood in the universe.

Come on, somebody. It's full of sin and brokenness,

but I'm trying to reach these people.

And so Jesus humbles himself, He empties himself, He wraps

himself in humanity, He strips himself of all this glory and

all these things and all these worship, and becomes a baby, an

innocent baby in a Manger and really at the hands of humanity.

And since his birth, he's been hunted down his entire life, try

to be killed by religious leaders and by leaders of

nations. And he ends up living a life for

us and dying on a not just any death, but death of a cross.

And he humbled himself to that point.

And you think about, here's Jesus saying, hey, just as the

father sent me, I'm sending anyway, preach that message,

right? Like you're you're being sent

out to the world. And so ultimately what happens

is the the people on the heartbeat of God.

And so when you look out and you see people, what do you see?

A lot of people see problems that they they see too much

issues and like, why we go overseas, there's a lot of

problems here. You get that a lot right while

we do these things like in all this and we instead of missing,

it's like what does God see when he sees the nations.

And so Jesus really, he finishes up the Gospels and he's death,

burial, resurrection, seen among men.

He's with the disciples and he says this first since Matthew 28

and really starts in 18 and the disciples are worshipping

because they're with Jesus. But then Bob says they're

they're still doubting. They're like is this really

real? And Jesus, he makes this

comment. He says all authority is given

to me on heaven and earth. Like I'm in charge of

everything. Amen.

Come on. Somebody like, like Jesus is in

charge of everything's ever been created, all heaven and all

earth. That means for us that we're

going to South America. It means we're not going to step

on a single piece of soil or a street corner or in a

conversation or in a building or an airplane.

Come on, somebody. They're afraid of flying, right?

I mean, we're not going to be any place that Jesus hasn't

already or dangers in control of.

Amen. I mean, this is the way it's

saying. It's like you're talking to the

guy who owns it all, like I hold the keys and therefore, because

I can, I do all this, I want you to go.

He's asking us to go. And and when it says go, it's as

you go. It's not just me.

It's like, hey, go across the world.

It can mean that that's what we're doing.

But as you go across the street, Amen.

As you go in the Target line, the Walmart line, they're two

different people. Come on, somebody right as you

go, anywhere you go, you bring the gospel.

And so is is go and make disciples of all nations, and

this word make disciples. Is really the the really the

centerpiece of the gospel that we're called to bring people

into the knowledge of Jesus and help them know Jesus.

But it says make stops all nations.

That we're nations doesn't mean geopolitical boundaries, doesn't

like make disciples of Missouri or United States or it means

people, groups, ethnos. So subcultures and cultures

bring the gospel to every single person in the entire world.

And so we're like, hey, we're God's calling us to be a part of

what they're doing down there. And it goes on to say the

baptize and the Father, son, the Holy Spirit teaching to obey,

which is a really interesting thing.

It doesn't say just teach the Bible, but teach obedience to

the things of God. Amen.

And we're not going to do this. Show them like, well, here's the

scripture. It's like, let me show you how

to live this out. Like we're teaching behavior and

transformation and heart change. And then day it says in love

with you always, even since the earth, Amen.

And it's really cool is, is that we're not going by ourselves.

We're going with Jesus. Amen.

And it's false theology to say that Jesus is sits on the throne

in heaven right now because Jesus is with us right now in

this moment. Amen.

That makes a difference because I got some boldness in my veins.

Amen. I'm gonna go down to Columbia

and they're gonna use my Caucasian, what they call me

gringo, right? And they're gonna send me out

and they're gonna say go invite people to church.

And I'll say the worst. All this muttered terrible

Spanish, right? And people will get around me

and they'll go, what the heck? And there'll be these guys that

actually speak Spanish. So don't worry about that.

Guy's crazy. But let me tell you about the

church, right? And people will come out to

church. Amen.

They'll just use my whiteness. Come on, somebody, right.

I mean, it's my only gift I've gotten in Spanish culture is

just just stand out. I'm tall and I'm white.

And that's it. So God will use it, right.

And I'll go down there and I'll tell you what, people came to

Christ last year because we went out and invited them to church.

This lady came to Christ. It was so cool.

Church got over and they hung out.

And they actually went home, checked this out and brought

their parents back to church after church to tell them about

Jesus. And so you can say, well, God

can't use my life. Oh, God will, if you're willing.

Amen. And I know some of these guys

are up here going what? What?

What's God going to do? It's like, just be ready for

anything, Right. And so I would encourage you

guys be praying for them just man it it it's the heart of the

gospel and I'm gonna. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna go

through some verses because they're probably itching back

there on some things. But man Paul's passion you know

he he leaves the church efforts as he plants and he said it

didn't hesitate to preach publicly or house to house

anything that would be helpful for the things of Christ.

Miss lived on mission before he left.

He I was on the side of this the ocean.

He's getting ready to get on a boat.

And he he tells him that his hands like, didn't cease from

working to care for the weak and care for the poor.

And so he wasn't a burden on the church.

And he said this line that you really don't see anyone else in

the in the gospels, he coaches Jesus, which is very rare to

have a direct quote outside the Gospels.

And he says better to give than it is to receive anything about

Paul's life. He poured it all out for the

gospel. Amen.

He put the gospel 1st and he worked his tail off.

He didn't want to be a burden, anybody.

He won't be a blessing. And so he served the orphans and

the widows in the poor, and he gave back to those people, and

he laid it all in line, and it said that they knelt down

together. And you get to see the stories

and these guys. These are the elders in that

church, the pastors of leaders. And they prayed.

And that was the last time they'd ever see that guy.

Because Paul knew he's never come back.

He knew God had called him to somewhere different, and his

life was going to be drastically changed by being put in prison.

But the reality is that we get to live in the fray a little

bit. Amen.

We're an extension of you guys. Amen.

Like you may not be going, but you're going.

So I want you to be. These guys up in prayer, I want

you to pick somebody out and I want you to connect with them

and say I'm. Going to pray for you all week.

You'll leave it on Saturday and look back and be gone all week

and then come back. But all nobody here is fluent in

Spanish. Come on, somebody.

Right. Don't Destebano.

Right. That's, that's it.

That's all we got. You know, some of you guys are

gifted more than I am. Obviously, Speaking of language,

that's not my gift. But the reality is, is that

we're going to see souls changed.

And the bigger thing is we get to encourage those other leaders

down there. You know, You know how easy to

get the scourge and leadership and the ministry and.

Just take a take a step of faith and just us showing up and

saying we love you guys, they're like on fire for God, right,

Rick? Flair for Jesus, right?

That's what that that's what they need, right?

If you guys remember this guy Hugo with a picture of him, he

came here. We want to miss trip down there.

And he came to the United States and he came to our church last

year for a heart and soul night. I don't.

Know if you remember Hugo and and just like on fire for the

things in Christ and so this is what we're going down to.

We'll be back to Columbia. That's why I don't get too sad

leaving. I'm back.

You know, I'm going to be a part of the story.

We've got you right here. And I just know they're gonna

cost me something big. They used to run these youth

camps and talking 10s of thousands of young people and

some things happen that that shifted off of them.

But they have a vision and a mission, and they they have the

right. Mix of what the Holy Spirit's

doing and it's just really cool. It's all encouraged to be

praying for them, be excited when they get back to hear the

stories. And we're want you guys to pray

that some of the fire these guys get it is going to come into our

church and really they're going to go to South America and.

And their prayers to change South America.

But what's going to happen is South America is going to change

them. Amen.

And that's what happens to you on the trip.

Your heart gets you softened and lines up to the things of

Christ. And all of a sudden, like you

change your course, the Holy Spirit directs you.

You say I'm not Lou for myself. For some of you guys as young

people, you got your whole life ahead of you to say I'm a plan

that every single day for Jesus. Some of you guys can come back

and say, man, God, show me something I never thought ever

see. So encourage me and be be a

part. Be willing.

You know, maybe you give me this, pray for this.

But next you be like, man, I think God may use me and so be

open to that. I want to do something special.

I'll let you guys stand to your feet.

I told you the most eclectic Sunday in the history of our

church. So go and stand up.

I want you guys just spread out down the aisle a little bit.

We'll go this way. And I want you guys just get

around some of these guys and and you pray for them and just

pray a big blessing on them. Just let them know you're behind

them. You're for them.

You stay up here with me. Love you.

Love you. That's what we wanted.

That's what we wanted. So, but yeah, just go ahead and

move right now. Go get get around our people.

Go ahead. Just space out.

Just pray for them, man. Come on, just move this.

Move out of the aisle. This your chance to encourage

them and pray that that God gets the glory from this man.

Come on, every guy out of the seats.

This is how we're going to end the day.

So just get in and find somebody.

Somebody pray for me. Please pray for my wife.

She needs it. Logan needs prayer.

Come on, just look at that guy. If you don't know what to pray,

just stand by somebody. You don't have to say anything.

Just stand by somebody. Let them know you love them.

That's right. All right.

Well, I'll let you guys pray for a couple minutes and I'll wrap

it up. So go ahead.

Father would come before you and God, I pray, we pray just the

John the Baptist type of prayer that you must increase and and

we must decrease. I gotta be going this trip and.

To be less about us and more about you.

God we'd come back just no longer about what we want in

life God but all about you God. I pray that we'd see you just

getting your glory. God and across the nations.

And that we realize you're way bigger than real life.

Church. You're way bigger than what I

see on Sunday morning. God you're the God of all

nations. So God I pray that you would

call out missionaries so you'd call us on the on the water got

into the fray to live by faith. God I pray the Holy Spirit just

trying to stake in our hearts. God, as we, as we pour ourselves

out on people, even know and speak the same language.

God I pray you'd already be moving the hearts down there

that we see life transformed, that we see disciples made.

You got. We come back here with a fire

and our soul. God that's just so hard to

explain to somebody else. God, that we know for ourselves

that we see with their own eyes the miracles that you can

perform, that we see with their own eyes the power of your word

and the power of surrendered life.

So for those who go on the trip. God, I pray just a bless you on

them God that they would just align their hearts with your

heart. God they'd be broken.

Got to be full of prayer, God that they.

We build on the word of God that they would find a foundation in

the footing in you no matter where they're at the stage of

life. God up are you Just trip away

everything that doesn't look like you and be prepared as an

empty willing vessel for this trip.

And then we come back in regards to where you plant us or where

we go. God that we'd make much of you.

God that we just famed your name and your renowned across our

nation across our friend groups. And God, if you call us God,

we're willing to say here I am, Cindy.

I have no idea what it looks like and where we're going.

God, we'd be broken and empty. So pray for those in our church,

God that recognize this extension of us.

We come back and hear the stories of what you're doing and

realize how big you are. Not grained you are and you're

bigger than anything and everything God that we can ever

do with our hands. So God, I pray that only you and

the glory for what's going to happen.

You do something so big in this generation and through this team

God the only you can get the glory for what's about to

happen. So God to pray, blessing on

that. God to use us if you use

anybody. God to hurt the Kingdom of the

gospel. I pray this.

Name of all names. Everybody said Amen.

Come on, give it up for our missions team.

For Jesus. One more time.

Find a quick seat. Diane's just gonna lead us out

of today all. Right.

You're awesome. Well, hey, thank you guys for

coming out today. It has just been an incredible

morning. I think one of the most powerful

moments that we had last year on our missions trip was a young

man named Raphael. And what was so powerful about

the story is that, like Sean said, he speaks like like 1% of

the Spanish language and it would not even he says less than

that. But was able to make a

connection with this young man who eventually ended up coming

out to church and he made a decision to follow Jesus with

his life. And this young man had been

through some, really. Challenging situations.

His dad was actually held hostage by some in the like

militant groups up in the like the rural part of the country

where he was living. And his family had really been

through some challenging and tumultuous times and was looking

for hope and was just kind of almost dumbfounded that this

crazy dude would come and play soccer with him and hang out and

all the things that we got to do.

And what was powerful is that coming to Christ had nothing to

do with Sean but had everything to do with Jesus.

And when we follow Jesus, we have.

A hope that lives in us. And so my challenge for you this

week is that to take that hope with you wherever you go, you

have the ability to do that. You don't have to go across the

world. You can go across the street.

You can sit at home and send a message on Facebook.

You don't even have to go. But as you're doing life, take

Jesus with you because it was that willingness to be used that

made the difference. And when you were a part of

being generous, of real life, that willingness is used by God.

That allows us to have a youth group where young people can

make decisions to follow Jesus. It allows.

Us to take a week to go across the world to encourage our

mission partners. And so your generosity is truly

at the tip of the spear for what we're able to do here.

And there's a few ways that you can do that.

If you call real life home, you can go to reallifechurchkc.com,

click, give text, any amount to 84321.

The buckets are going to pass in just a second.

You can drop cash or check in there and we have a box in the

back if that is a more convenient way for you to give,

but I can tell you that. For me, when I'm giving, I know

that God can do more with it than I can do.

God owns it all, and so my ability to be faithful and

willing to be a part of what he's doing through that, I know

can make a big difference. If you are new with us today, we

don't ask anything from you. I hope that this encouraged your

heart, and I'd also want you to know if you or your family are

in immediate need of food, clothing, or shelter.

As those buckets pass, just reach in and grab any loose cash

that you see. We want to be a blessing to you

and your family in this time. Of need for you.

So you guys can go ahead and pass the buckets.

I'm just a couple more things for you on your chair actually.

Oh, I forgot. If you got that communication

card, you can drop it in the bucket or in the box in the back

on your way out. We would love to connect with

you in that way to be praying for you to say hey, if you were

new with us today. But the last thing is this is we

are finishing our last week of at the Movies next week.

And I know it has been so awesome to see movies come to

life through the view and the lens of God.

And so if you're like, you know what, this has inspired me.

I want to make a difference this week.

Reach down under your butt and there are some cards there that

say at the movies you can take those.

Please take those. They are for you.

Pass them out when you're in the line at Walmart and or Target.

We don't want to be divisive but when you're at the place getting

coffee and I'm like hey this lady's back to get more coffee,

I should invite her to at the movies because they're like she

has a problem. Those cards are a tool for you

to use to invite. I know that those cards have

been used to invite people who have come and to come to Christ

here, and you never know what God is going to do with this.

Invite So be a part of being an inviting culture.

It is an awesome time to do that.

At the Movies is our last week. Next week it is going to be an

awesome and inspiring true story movie.

You're not going to want to miss it if you don't know what at the

movies is. It's just a really cool way that

we take actual movies and pull truths of the scripture out of

them. We have popcorn, we have soda.

It's a really fun time. So hope you'll make it out for

that. And I have no idea what else I'm

supposed to say, but the good news is this, that that's OK

because God can still use it. I hope you all had a great week

this week and we look forward to seeing you back Next week.

We are going to have somebody here at the front.

If you need prayer for any reason, a member of our team

will be up here. We will be here next week, 9:30

and 11:00 for the last week of at the movies and so I hope that

we will see you there. And Please remember that whoever

finds Jesus discovers real life and purpose.

Have a great week.