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This morning's passage of scripture comes out of Psalm 107,

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beginning in verse one.

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If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn there.

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We are all about preaching and teaching out of the Bible.

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In fact, after this week, we're gonna get back

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into our Matthew series,

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where we go verse by verse through Matthew.

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We're picking up in chapter six.

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And so we wanna be good Bible students who go to the Word.

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But if you don't have your Bible, or that's too distracting,

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we do have the words or the scripture up here on the screen.

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And I've asked Kimberly to join me up here

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to help read this fairly long passage of scripture.

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We'll go back and forth.

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Psalm 107, verse one is where we'll begin.

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Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

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His faithful love endures forever.

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Let the redeemed of the Lord proclaim

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that he has redeemed them from the power of the foe,

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and has gathered them from the lands,

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from the east and the west,

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from the north and the south.

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Some wandered in the desolate wilderness,

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finding no way to a city where they could live.

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They were hungry and thirsty.

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Their spirits failed within them.

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Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble.

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He rescued them from their distress.

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He led them by the right path

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to go to a city where they could live.

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Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love,

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and his wondrous works for all humanity,

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for he has satisfied the thirsty,

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and filled the hungry with good things.

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Others sat in darkness and gloom,

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prisoners in cruel chains,

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because they rebelled against God's commands,

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and despised the counsel of the Most High.

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He broke their spirits with hard labor.

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They stumbled, and there was no one to help.

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Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble.

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He saved them from their distress.

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He brought them out of darkness and gloom,

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and broke their chains apart.

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Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love,

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and his wondrous works for all humanity,

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for he has broken down the bronze gates,

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and cut through the iron bars.

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Fools suffered affliction

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because of their rebellious ways and their iniquities.

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They loathed all food, and came near to the gates of death.

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Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble.

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He saved them from their distress.

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He sent his word and healed them.

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He rescued them from their traps.

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Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love,

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and his wondrous works for all humanity.

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Let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices,

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and announce his works with shouts of joy.

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Others went to sea in ships,

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conducting trade on the vast water.

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They saw the Lord's works,

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and his wondrous works in the deep.

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He spoke and raised a stormy wind

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that stirred up the waves of the sea,

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rising up to the sky, sinking down to the depths,

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their courage melting away in anguish.

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They reeled and staggered like a drunkard,

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and all their skill was useless.

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Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,

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and he brought them out of their distress.

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He stilled the storm to a whisper,

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and the waves of the sea were hushed.

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They rejoiced when the waves grew quiet.

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Then he guided them to the harbor they longed for.

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Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love,

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and his wondrous works for all humanity.

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Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people,

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and praise him in the counsel of the elders.

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Let whoever is wise pay attention to these things,

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and consider the Lord's acts of faithful love.

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This is God's word.

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Amen.

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Thank you.

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Thank you, Kimberly.

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Well, as I said, we are launching into a new year

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and a new season and a new theme,

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and this year our theme is Tell the Story.

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Reader's Digest, any of you guys read Reader's Digest

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presently or when growing up?

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My family used to get them all the time,

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and they were the source of the jokes and the humor.

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I remember humor in uniform was one of the things

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that I used to read all the time.

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Well, Reader's Digest collected 20 short real life stories

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about family life, and some of them are funny

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and quite humorous, really short stories

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that people have submitted about interactions

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they've had with their family.

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They published these online, and I'm gonna share

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just a couple of these short stories with you, all right?

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I gotta say this before I say this,

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because of first service, they're funny,

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so you can laugh after them, like it's okay.

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After the first one, there was like,

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okay, that was an interesting story.

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Maybe they're not funny, and I just laughed, I don't know,

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but you guys tell me, all right?

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Here's the first one.

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For the second week in a row, my son and I

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were the only ones who showed up

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for his soccer team's practice.

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Frustrated, I told him, please tell your coach

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that we keep coming for practice, but no one is ever here.

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My son rolled his eyes and said,

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he'll just tell me the same thing he did before.

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Which was what?

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That practice is now on Wednesdays, not on Tuesdays.

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Q laughing track, there we go, good job, good job.

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Here's another one.

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It was a typical, noisy dinner at my parents' house,

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and Dad was having trouble following the conversations.

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Anyone relate?

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He kept jumping in with off-topic comments

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and asking for things to be repeated.

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I finally told him he needed to get a hearing aid.

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Looking at me as if I were crazy, he said,

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what would I do with a hand grenade?

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Q laughing track

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You guys are getting, man, that first service,

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they were like crickets.

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Q laughing track

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All right, last one, here we go.

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Can you, I'm sorry, can you tell me

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can you play with me, my preschooler asked?

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Not now, I said, I have too much work to do

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around the house.

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Taking my hand, and with the wisdom of one

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who has lived many a lifetime, he said,

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Mom, I have advice for you.

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When people tell me to do work, I don't listen to them.

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Then I don't have work to do, it works for me,

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you should try it.

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Q laughing track

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That definitely sounds like my youngest,

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but probably all my kids at one point or another.

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They always had the wisdom of many ages.

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But when I preach, there's typically folks

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who will come up to me afterward and give feedback.

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And when I feed them feedback, not necessarily constructive

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or criticism, but interacting with the main point

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of the text or talking about how the teaching

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impacted them or how they see the connections

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throughout scripture or how they're going to apply

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the teaching to their lives.

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And this is pretty typical.

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However, when I have a sermon, then I tell a story in it

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and the story lands as an illustration.

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A substantially greater number of folks

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talk to me afterwards, right afterwards

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or in the weeks to come.

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And do you know what they remember about my sermon?

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My 20 hours of preparation for sermon,

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my study, my research, what do they remember?

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The story, right?

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Oh yeah, I've been there too.

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And when I was there, da da da da da da da,

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and we'll talk and talk and talk weeks later.

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It's like what you said on that one sermon

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when you used that one illustration.

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The stories, right, why?

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Because in all of creation, stories belong uniquely

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to humans.

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In all of creation, they belong to us.

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They are ours and they entertain us.

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They teach us, they warn us and inspire us.

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Stories have a unique stickiness to them.

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We remember stories.

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In fact, researchers have found that when we hear a story,

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our brain begins producing a hormone called oxytocin.

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And that hormone is associated with empathy and trust.

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And what they've observed is this thing called

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empathetic connection between the storyteller

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and the listener.

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And what that results in is the listener begins to open up

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subconsciously or even consciously to the message

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of the story and to build trust with the storyteller.

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Literally, a hormone is released when we hear stories

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that draws in.

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Even as I was telling the few stories up front

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in homiletics, that's the art of public speaking

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or preaching, right, the way that you deliver a preaching.

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They teach you oftentimes that every seven to eight minutes

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you need to introduce an illustration because it shakes

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people out of the relentless knowledge that you're giving

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and pulls them back into the room, right?

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Have you guys ever seen that where maybe I'll say something

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and then you drift off into the nebulous world

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thinking about that thing or thinking about what's happening

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back at home or something and then a story is told

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and pretty soon I can observe it from here,

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a little lean forward, all eyes forward.

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What's the punch line, where's this going?

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Stories draw us in.

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There's also another effect of storytelling

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that's interesting, it's called narrative transportation.

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And in a study done by two guys, Green and Brock,

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they found out, oh, they explained it this way,

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they explained it as the listener is in a sense

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transported going some distance from their world of origin,

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where they started.

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In a story, they're transported somewhere else

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and somewhat of the world that they came from

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is now inaccessible to them

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while they're engaged in the story.

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And while they're engaged and listening to the story

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and they have that focused connection

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and that empathetic connection,

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they're surrounding some of the emotions that they felt

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just moments earlier are somewhat shut off

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or put on pause while the story is being told.

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The listener is transported and then the listener

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is almost like a traveler on a journey

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and the traveler who's gone to another world

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from his world of origin then returns to the world of origin

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but he returns or she returns as a different person.

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Something has happened in that journey,

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in that story that has changed them.

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Now I've seen this a few times happen,

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the power of this at a funeral.

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You'll be in a funeral and as is pretty typical,

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you have a sharing time, an open mic time

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and folks will begin to share their experiences

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with the deceased and oftentimes family members

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who are devastated and overwhelmed with grief

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come to the mic first and begin to share about their grief

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and the loss through tears and wailing and crying.

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But at some point during the funeral,

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someone gets up and tells the funniest story ever

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about the deceased, about a time in his life

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that he did something that was hilarious,

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that's shared among the experiences

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of the people who are there.

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And pretty soon the very people who are crying

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and wailing and connected in their mourning

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are now laughing uproariously, crying,

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thinking about this memory.

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They're transported from the room somewhere else

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and from that point on the room changes.

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What was somber or downcast,

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there's just a little pick up of hope and light

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that has been brought into the room

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because of a story that was told about someone's life.

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Stories have the power to connect, they transmit a message,

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they transport a person and change them.

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And Psalm 107 is no different.

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Psalm 107 is all about the power of a story

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and more specifically the power of the story of our lives

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and those who have experienced the salvation of God.

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It begins by saying, give thanks to the Lord for he is good.

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His faithful love endures forever.

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Let the redeemed of the Lord proclaim

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that he has redeemed them from the power of the foe

264
00:12:37,900 --> 00:12:39,620
and has gathered them from the lands

265
00:12:39,620 --> 00:12:43,140
from the north and the south and east and west, right?

266
00:12:43,140 --> 00:12:46,100
In the NIV translation, if you have that in front of you,

267
00:12:46,100 --> 00:12:48,340
you probably already noticed that instead of saying,

268
00:12:48,340 --> 00:12:49,940
let the redeemed of the Lord proclaim

269
00:12:49,940 --> 00:12:51,660
that he has redeemed them, it says,

270
00:12:51,660 --> 00:12:55,260
let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.

271
00:12:56,900 --> 00:12:59,580
Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.

272
00:12:59,580 --> 00:13:03,700
If you are redeemed by the Lord, you have a story to tell.

273
00:13:04,820 --> 00:13:07,220
And this isn't about thinking a story

274
00:13:07,220 --> 00:13:10,220
or thinking of what the Lord has done,

275
00:13:10,220 --> 00:13:12,180
but this is about saying so.

276
00:13:12,180 --> 00:13:13,020
We're saying that, right?

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00:13:13,020 --> 00:13:16,180
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.

278
00:13:18,580 --> 00:13:21,380
And Village, as a church family,

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00:13:21,380 --> 00:13:25,900
we are going to get real good at storytelling this year.

280
00:13:25,900 --> 00:13:26,740
Why?

281
00:13:26,740 --> 00:13:29,740
Because ultimately we have the greatest story ever

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00:13:29,740 --> 00:13:32,700
to tell the gospel of Jesus Christ.

283
00:13:34,020 --> 00:13:35,860
And not only that, we have a story to tell

284
00:13:35,860 --> 00:13:38,460
about the gospel's interaction with our life,

285
00:13:38,460 --> 00:13:40,420
what he has done for us.

286
00:13:40,420 --> 00:13:42,020
You have a story to tell.

287
00:13:42,020 --> 00:13:43,740
And I don't care if you've been in the faith

288
00:13:43,740 --> 00:13:46,700
your entire life and you've kept all the rules

289
00:13:46,700 --> 00:13:49,220
and you're Mr. and Mrs. Goody Two Shoes,

290
00:13:49,220 --> 00:13:52,700
you have a redemption story as well.

291
00:13:52,700 --> 00:13:55,820
You have a redemption story as well.

292
00:13:57,940 --> 00:14:00,980
Psalm 66 in verse 16 says,

293
00:14:00,980 --> 00:14:05,980
come and listen, all who fear God, and I will tell you

294
00:14:06,260 --> 00:14:07,820
what he has done for me.

295
00:14:08,900 --> 00:14:12,380
Come and listen, all you who fear God.

296
00:14:12,380 --> 00:14:14,100
Let me tell you what he did for me.

297
00:14:15,740 --> 00:14:20,140
Grateful, thankful people tell the story.

298
00:14:21,500 --> 00:14:26,020
Grateful, thankful people tell the story.

299
00:14:26,980 --> 00:14:29,780
Could you imagine being locked in chains,

300
00:14:29,780 --> 00:14:33,700
a slave to sin and death, and then a deliverer shows up.

301
00:14:33,700 --> 00:14:35,380
You are my deliverer, right?

302
00:14:35,380 --> 00:14:37,860
The deliverer shows up, a hero shows up

303
00:14:37,860 --> 00:14:39,940
to break the chains and bondage,

304
00:14:39,940 --> 00:14:42,740
to open fling wide the gates of the prison,

305
00:14:42,740 --> 00:14:45,580
to lead you out, and then later on in your life,

306
00:14:45,580 --> 00:14:47,420
you just leave that part out.

307
00:14:49,540 --> 00:14:51,020
You tell all the other stories,

308
00:14:51,020 --> 00:14:53,460
but you don't tell that story.

309
00:14:53,460 --> 00:14:54,740
Could you imagine that?

310
00:14:54,740 --> 00:14:56,980
Grateful, thankful people tell the story,

311
00:14:56,980 --> 00:14:59,660
and the story is about his deliverance.

312
00:15:00,740 --> 00:15:03,100
But it's not just about us personally either.

313
00:15:05,100 --> 00:15:08,420
That first part in Psalm 107 says

314
00:15:08,420 --> 00:15:10,100
that not only did he redeem us,

315
00:15:10,100 --> 00:15:13,820
but then he gathered us up from the east and the west,

316
00:15:13,820 --> 00:15:15,580
from the north and the south.

317
00:15:15,580 --> 00:15:18,780
It's not just personally, but also we've been gathered up.

318
00:15:18,780 --> 00:15:21,580
It's not only that God redeems us out of sin,

319
00:15:21,580 --> 00:15:23,900
but also we've been redeemed from sin.

320
00:15:23,900 --> 00:15:26,220
God redeems us out of a situation,

321
00:15:26,220 --> 00:15:30,940
but he gathers us up into a new life,

322
00:15:30,940 --> 00:15:33,340
a new hope, a new family.

323
00:15:34,500 --> 00:15:39,020
He provides a home for the deserted and the lonely,

324
00:15:39,020 --> 00:15:40,980
a home that is filled with other folks

325
00:15:40,980 --> 00:15:43,020
who have also been delivered.

326
00:15:44,020 --> 00:15:46,860
He brings you to a hospital for the hurting and the sick,

327
00:15:46,860 --> 00:15:50,740
a refuge from the storm, a table that you can sit at

328
00:15:50,740 --> 00:15:53,220
and feast with brothers and sisters,

329
00:15:53,220 --> 00:15:56,300
a roll-up-a-chair, a place where you belong.

330
00:15:57,580 --> 00:15:59,740
Let the redeemed of the Lord give thanks.

331
00:16:01,660 --> 00:16:05,420
As a church, my hope is as we enter into 2025,

332
00:16:05,420 --> 00:16:06,940
it's threefold.

333
00:16:06,940 --> 00:16:10,340
The first is that you would get real, real comfortable

334
00:16:10,340 --> 00:16:15,340
and even excited, dare I say, to tell your story.

335
00:16:17,100 --> 00:16:19,620
That you would be excited to tell your story,

336
00:16:19,620 --> 00:16:22,780
that you could map out the landscape of God's grace

337
00:16:22,780 --> 00:16:25,500
and work in your life, and you could share the story

338
00:16:25,500 --> 00:16:27,900
of what he's done for you.

339
00:16:27,900 --> 00:16:30,700
That if you have felt like you can't do that

340
00:16:30,700 --> 00:16:32,740
or you felt like it's too difficult

341
00:16:32,740 --> 00:16:34,260
or you don't have the words,

342
00:16:34,260 --> 00:16:35,780
that this year would be a year

343
00:16:35,780 --> 00:16:37,860
where you get comfortable and excited

344
00:16:37,860 --> 00:16:42,380
about sharing God's story at work in you.

345
00:16:42,380 --> 00:16:45,620
First, your story, but then also that we would get comfortable

346
00:16:45,620 --> 00:16:49,100
telling our story, how he has gathered us up

347
00:16:49,100 --> 00:16:52,140
and made us his family, how he's given us riches,

348
00:16:52,140 --> 00:16:55,340
spiritual riches in Christ Jesus,

349
00:16:55,340 --> 00:16:57,700
and how he's given us a mission to love him

350
00:16:57,700 --> 00:17:01,100
with all of our being and to love one another

351
00:17:01,100 --> 00:17:03,580
and to bring the reality of his grace and forgiveness

352
00:17:03,580 --> 00:17:06,340
to bear on every area of our life together.

353
00:17:07,260 --> 00:17:10,660
That we would tell of what he's done through us,

354
00:17:10,660 --> 00:17:14,580
among us, and for us here at Village.

355
00:17:14,580 --> 00:17:17,980
I wanna boast in the Lord a little bit.

356
00:17:17,980 --> 00:17:19,780
I wanna boast in the Lord a little bit

357
00:17:19,780 --> 00:17:23,540
what he did for us in 2024.

358
00:17:23,540 --> 00:17:26,500
We set out by faith.

359
00:17:26,500 --> 00:17:29,740
We knew that the Lord had brought us to this moment.

360
00:17:29,740 --> 00:17:32,900
Some of y'all are fairly new to Village,

361
00:17:32,900 --> 00:17:36,060
and so you may not know the story, but here's the story.

362
00:17:36,060 --> 00:17:38,780
This church has been here for many years,

363
00:17:38,780 --> 00:17:40,740
this building 70 years.

364
00:17:41,580 --> 00:17:44,460
The first pioneers of the gospel who said,

365
00:17:44,460 --> 00:17:49,580
we need to go and plant a church 110 years,

366
00:17:49,580 --> 00:17:52,500
who came to Sacramento and planted this church,

367
00:17:52,500 --> 00:17:56,500
and 70 years ago planted this particular location

368
00:17:56,500 --> 00:18:00,300
and built this sanctuary and then the rest of the facility.

369
00:18:00,300 --> 00:18:03,940
That's awesome, but that's also a pretty old building, eh?

370
00:18:03,940 --> 00:18:05,820
Sorry if you're 70 years older.

371
00:18:06,820 --> 00:18:08,660
I did not mean to imply anything, but.

372
00:18:11,580 --> 00:18:13,020
You might need a remodel too.

373
00:18:13,020 --> 00:18:18,020
Okay, we set out with the hope that God could

374
00:18:22,140 --> 00:18:26,020
refresh us and renew us for a new season of ministry.

375
00:18:26,020 --> 00:18:28,860
To say, hey, we wanna connect to our community.

376
00:18:28,860 --> 00:18:32,700
We wanna be a light and a lighthouse in this dark world.

377
00:18:32,700 --> 00:18:35,220
We wanna be a place, a hope, a refuge, a hospital,

378
00:18:35,220 --> 00:18:37,820
a place where people can come and receive the word

379
00:18:37,820 --> 00:18:40,660
and heal and grow in their knowledge of God,

380
00:18:40,660 --> 00:18:42,780
and we wanna do that in an effective way.

381
00:18:42,780 --> 00:18:45,140
So Lord, could you provide a way for us

382
00:18:45,140 --> 00:18:49,500
to begin that process by repairing some of the facility

383
00:18:49,500 --> 00:18:52,780
and getting it up to date and beginning that work here.

384
00:18:52,780 --> 00:18:55,620
And so we set out as a small congregation

385
00:18:56,660 --> 00:19:01,060
to raise $50,000 in pledge funds from among the congregants.

386
00:19:01,940 --> 00:19:05,100
And I'll tell you, in 2024, we ended the year

387
00:19:05,100 --> 00:19:08,620
with over $70,000 raised in pledges.

388
00:19:08,620 --> 00:19:11,700
And you are absolutely boasting in the Lord

389
00:19:11,700 --> 00:19:15,100
for having provided generously to do this.

390
00:19:15,100 --> 00:19:17,340
It was all by people's own impulse,

391
00:19:17,340 --> 00:19:18,740
whatever they wanted to give.

392
00:19:18,740 --> 00:19:22,340
If they didn't wanna give at all, no judgment whatsoever.

393
00:19:22,340 --> 00:19:24,180
And I'll be honest, there's some skepticism

394
00:19:24,180 --> 00:19:25,500
about whether this was possible.

395
00:19:25,500 --> 00:19:26,780
Could we do this?

396
00:19:27,620 --> 00:19:29,620
You look around here and there are lots of brothers,

397
00:19:29,620 --> 00:19:31,980
sisters in the room, but we were smaller

398
00:19:31,980 --> 00:19:33,700
in numbers at that time.

399
00:19:33,700 --> 00:19:34,540
Could we do this?

400
00:19:34,540 --> 00:19:37,060
Lord, what could you do though?

401
00:19:37,060 --> 00:19:39,860
And by faith and through prayer and believing,

402
00:19:39,860 --> 00:19:42,860
look what has been, we're enjoying the benefits of it now.

403
00:19:43,740 --> 00:19:47,180
Imagine a 1970s wood panel wall right next to you.

404
00:19:47,180 --> 00:19:48,020
It was there.

405
00:19:50,660 --> 00:19:51,620
I promise.

406
00:19:54,580 --> 00:19:59,580
Listen to this, 2024, seven people said,

407
00:20:00,300 --> 00:20:03,140
I wanna stand before the congregation

408
00:20:03,140 --> 00:20:08,140
and I wanna declare that I follow Christ through baptism.

409
00:20:08,140 --> 00:20:10,260
Seven people in 2024.

410
00:20:10,260 --> 00:20:15,260
We took two trips.

411
00:20:15,740 --> 00:20:19,220
We sent one group, a service team to the island of Guam

412
00:20:19,220 --> 00:20:22,420
to help a sister church who had gone through a typhoon

413
00:20:22,420 --> 00:20:24,420
and had kind of incurred some damage

414
00:20:24,420 --> 00:20:25,780
and needed some improvements.

415
00:20:25,780 --> 00:20:28,860
We sent a team over there to do a work project

416
00:20:28,860 --> 00:20:30,900
and they went with so much love and excitement

417
00:20:30,900 --> 00:20:33,100
to go bless them and ended up coming back

418
00:20:33,100 --> 00:20:35,260
so much more blessed by the people of Guam

419
00:20:35,260 --> 00:20:37,460
in their hospitality and love.

420
00:20:37,460 --> 00:20:39,340
We sent another team of what?

421
00:20:39,340 --> 00:20:41,980
11 folks who went down to Guatemala

422
00:20:41,980 --> 00:20:45,420
and ministered at our missions partner, Village of Hope,

423
00:20:45,420 --> 00:20:49,500
to young girls who are pregnant or have had children

424
00:20:49,500 --> 00:20:52,980
through means that are horrifying,

425
00:20:52,980 --> 00:20:56,940
trafficking or family members who've impregnated them

426
00:20:56,940 --> 00:20:59,500
and they're being cared for in this facility

427
00:20:59,500 --> 00:21:01,460
and loved and taught the love of Jesus

428
00:21:01,460 --> 00:21:03,500
and we got to go down and partner with them

429
00:21:03,500 --> 00:21:05,580
and help them out on some work projects

430
00:21:05,580 --> 00:21:07,700
as well as interacting with the kids.

431
00:21:07,700 --> 00:21:11,460
Village sent these people to the world,

432
00:21:11,460 --> 00:21:14,380
out to the island of Guam and to Guatemala

433
00:21:14,380 --> 00:21:16,620
to do the work of ministry

434
00:21:16,620 --> 00:21:19,580
and to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

435
00:21:19,580 --> 00:21:22,940
In 2024, we saw the Lord add to our numbers

436
00:21:22,940 --> 00:21:24,660
in doubling the amount of folks

437
00:21:24,660 --> 00:21:26,580
who called this place their home.

438
00:21:26,580 --> 00:21:29,060
We saw doubling of attendance.

439
00:21:29,060 --> 00:21:31,220
Those who said, hey, I want to get on board

440
00:21:31,220 --> 00:21:33,860
with this mission, I wanna help you build something here.

441
00:21:33,860 --> 00:21:35,020
I'm all in.

442
00:21:35,020 --> 00:21:36,820
We saw that happen in 2024

443
00:21:36,820 --> 00:21:40,020
and finally we launched our small group ministry

444
00:21:40,020 --> 00:21:43,620
in full in 2024 and we saw over 50% of our members

445
00:21:43,620 --> 00:21:46,420
join a small group in 2024.

446
00:21:46,420 --> 00:21:49,020
Connect with folks, be loved by folks,

447
00:21:49,020 --> 00:21:51,340
be a part of a smaller community where they can be loved

448
00:21:51,340 --> 00:21:53,540
and use their gifts to love one another.

449
00:21:53,540 --> 00:21:56,620
This is what the Lord has done in 2024.

450
00:21:56,620 --> 00:21:59,060
This is our story.

451
00:21:59,060 --> 00:22:00,660
Share your story.

452
00:22:00,660 --> 00:22:02,060
This is our story.

453
00:22:02,060 --> 00:22:05,580
And finally, my hope is that we would be comfortable

454
00:22:05,580 --> 00:22:08,820
and excited to tell the story,

455
00:22:08,820 --> 00:22:10,900
the greatest story of all times.

456
00:22:12,260 --> 00:22:14,460
That God lovingly created the world

457
00:22:15,420 --> 00:22:19,420
and made humanity in his image to reflect his glory

458
00:22:20,660 --> 00:22:23,300
and to enjoy fellowship with him.

459
00:22:23,300 --> 00:22:25,980
But humanity in rebellion against God allowed sin

460
00:22:25,980 --> 00:22:28,500
and brokenness to enter into the world,

461
00:22:28,500 --> 00:22:30,060
resulting in sin.

462
00:22:30,060 --> 00:22:34,460
But God, rich in mercy,

463
00:22:34,460 --> 00:22:38,940
sent Jesus Christ to die and rise again from the dead,

464
00:22:38,940 --> 00:22:42,540
rescuing sinners and offering them forgiveness

465
00:22:42,540 --> 00:22:44,860
and a new life in him,

466
00:22:44,860 --> 00:22:48,940
where ultimately he will return to restore all creation

467
00:22:48,940 --> 00:22:52,860
and establish his kingdom and dwelling forever

468
00:22:52,860 --> 00:23:00,020
with the redeemed of the Lord, amen.

469
00:23:00,020 --> 00:23:04,580
In Psalm 107, we find all of this goodness of the gospel.

470
00:23:06,940 --> 00:23:10,660
And we learn that many of our stories are wrapped up

471
00:23:10,660 --> 00:23:13,300
in the stories that are laid out in Psalm 107.

472
00:23:14,420 --> 00:23:17,100
And so I wanna walk through just a few of those.

473
00:23:17,100 --> 00:23:19,060
Some of you have a story to tell,

474
00:23:19,060 --> 00:23:21,540
and the story that you will tell is the story

475
00:23:21,540 --> 00:23:24,260
of the love that brings us home.

476
00:23:25,340 --> 00:23:27,740
The story of the love that brings us home.

477
00:23:27,740 --> 00:23:30,900
Is your story one of loneliness and despair?

478
00:23:31,900 --> 00:23:34,620
You felt like your life was pointless

479
00:23:34,620 --> 00:23:36,780
or aimless without purpose.

480
00:23:37,740 --> 00:23:40,420
Did you long for something to fill you up

481
00:23:40,420 --> 00:23:41,980
with purpose and meaning?

482
00:23:42,940 --> 00:23:46,460
Did you long for connection and groundedness,

483
00:23:46,460 --> 00:23:48,100
a table to sit at?

484
00:23:48,100 --> 00:23:50,700
Did you long to belong somewhere?

485
00:23:51,700 --> 00:23:55,340
And did God redeem you from that desolate wilderness?

486
00:23:56,460 --> 00:24:00,180
If yes, then your story is the story of the love

487
00:24:00,180 --> 00:24:02,140
that brings us home.

488
00:24:03,140 --> 00:24:07,020
I moved a whole lot when I was a kid and teenager.

489
00:24:08,340 --> 00:24:09,700
I always lose count of it.

490
00:24:09,700 --> 00:24:13,500
It was in the 30s, I think, 30 times before I hit 18

491
00:24:13,500 --> 00:24:14,900
that my family had moved.

492
00:24:14,900 --> 00:24:18,820
So we never had a home or the home, right?

493
00:24:18,820 --> 00:24:20,780
The place to go back to.

494
00:24:20,780 --> 00:24:22,980
And even as my parents have gotten older

495
00:24:22,980 --> 00:24:26,180
and they now live in Billings, Montana, they have a home,

496
00:24:26,180 --> 00:24:28,140
but it's not something that I grew up with.

497
00:24:28,140 --> 00:24:30,780
It's something that they've gotten in the last few years.

498
00:24:30,780 --> 00:24:32,500
And so we didn't have the home

499
00:24:32,500 --> 00:24:35,380
like many people have in their life.

500
00:24:35,380 --> 00:24:39,580
But what I did have was my Grandma Connolly's house.

501
00:24:39,580 --> 00:24:41,900
My Grandma Connolly had purchased the house

502
00:24:41,900 --> 00:24:43,020
when it was first built.

503
00:24:43,020 --> 00:24:45,420
Back in 1955 or something like that.

504
00:24:45,420 --> 00:24:49,620
And had lived at the same place all those years.

505
00:24:49,620 --> 00:24:52,620
And so when we would go to visit Grandma Connolly,

506
00:24:52,620 --> 00:24:54,620
it was like going home.

507
00:24:54,620 --> 00:24:57,220
The smell, you knew what it was going to smell like.

508
00:24:57,220 --> 00:24:59,140
You knew what it was going to look like.

509
00:24:59,140 --> 00:25:00,620
It was in Bakersfield.

510
00:25:00,620 --> 00:25:01,820
So I mean, that was the only reason

511
00:25:01,820 --> 00:25:03,660
you'd go down there anyways is to see Grandma.

512
00:25:03,660 --> 00:25:06,740
But you'd go down there.

513
00:25:06,740 --> 00:25:10,300
And one of the things that I remember vividly as a kid

514
00:25:10,300 --> 00:25:14,300
and as a teenager is they had two

515
00:25:14,300 --> 00:25:16,300
enormous palm trees out front.

516
00:25:16,300 --> 00:25:19,500
They hated them because of maintaining them.

517
00:25:19,500 --> 00:25:21,100
But I'm talking enormous.

518
00:25:21,100 --> 00:25:23,300
I don't know how tall, 50 feet tall?

519
00:25:23,300 --> 00:25:24,500
Just huge.

520
00:25:24,500 --> 00:25:26,300
The ones that kind of go in the wind, right?

521
00:25:26,300 --> 00:25:27,500
And you're like, are they going to fall?

522
00:25:27,500 --> 00:25:28,700
And they bend, bend, bend.

523
00:25:28,700 --> 00:25:30,900
Well, they had two of those out front of their house.

524
00:25:30,900 --> 00:25:33,900
And when we were kids and we'd be going to Grandma's house,

525
00:25:33,900 --> 00:25:37,500
you would see those half a mile, quarter mile away

526
00:25:37,500 --> 00:25:38,900
on the middle of the house.

527
00:25:38,900 --> 00:25:41,500
And then a quarter mile away on the main road,

528
00:25:41,500 --> 00:25:44,300
you could see the two palm trees in the distance.

529
00:25:44,300 --> 00:25:47,900
And you knew you were about to get to Grandma's house.

530
00:25:47,900 --> 00:25:51,300
And you got all those feelings of going home,

531
00:25:51,300 --> 00:25:56,300
going to that place, like being wrapped in a warm blanket.

532
00:25:56,500 --> 00:25:59,300
And sometimes it was really warm.

533
00:25:59,300 --> 00:26:01,100
It was Bakersfield and she didn't have AC,

534
00:26:01,100 --> 00:26:02,500
so it was a swamp cooler.

535
00:26:02,500 --> 00:26:05,500
So you can imagine what it's like inside of the house.

536
00:26:05,500 --> 00:26:08,700
But it was still like going home.

537
00:26:08,700 --> 00:26:11,900
My grandma was alive and there,

538
00:26:11,900 --> 00:26:14,300
she would always welcome us the same way.

539
00:26:14,300 --> 00:26:16,300
She was the kind of grandma who,

540
00:26:16,300 --> 00:26:18,500
while she's cooking dinner, she'd be yelling out

541
00:26:18,500 --> 00:26:20,100
to the grandkids if they were hungry

542
00:26:20,100 --> 00:26:21,500
and needed her to fix them a sandwich

543
00:26:21,500 --> 00:26:23,100
before dinner was ready.

544
00:26:23,100 --> 00:26:27,300
And then she'd fix us a sandwich of pimento

545
00:26:27,300 --> 00:26:29,900
and bologna or something.

546
00:26:29,900 --> 00:26:31,300
You would gag down and be like,

547
00:26:31,300 --> 00:26:33,500
what are all these dots inside of my bologna?

548
00:26:33,500 --> 00:26:38,500
Anyway, we don't have to think about that.

549
00:26:38,500 --> 00:26:39,500
Think happy thoughts.

550
00:26:41,500 --> 00:26:42,500
That was going home.

551
00:26:42,500 --> 00:26:43,700
That was the warmth of it.

552
00:26:43,700 --> 00:26:48,500
And some of you, some of you, your story is

553
00:26:48,500 --> 00:26:50,700
that God brought you home.

554
00:26:51,900 --> 00:26:54,300
That you wandered about in life

555
00:26:54,300 --> 00:26:56,700
and you felt desolate and lonely.

556
00:26:56,700 --> 00:26:58,500
You felt like you had nowhere to go.

557
00:26:58,500 --> 00:27:01,700
And in Christ, when you found him and discovered him,

558
00:27:01,700 --> 00:27:03,900
you were brought home and you know it.

559
00:27:03,900 --> 00:27:07,700
You know you found a home that's not geographically located

560
00:27:07,700 --> 00:27:09,900
but is in Christ.

561
00:27:09,900 --> 00:27:12,100
And the story that you tell is of the love

562
00:27:12,100 --> 00:27:13,700
that brings you home.

563
00:27:13,700 --> 00:27:16,100
And some of you have a story that tells of the love

564
00:27:16,100 --> 00:27:18,100
that makes us free.

565
00:27:19,700 --> 00:27:23,100
We are all caught in some level of sin,

566
00:27:23,100 --> 00:27:26,900
but some of us get caught in an endless cycle of earning,

567
00:27:26,900 --> 00:27:28,900
trying to earn favor with God

568
00:27:28,900 --> 00:27:31,900
through our good works and our good life.

569
00:27:32,900 --> 00:27:36,300
Some of us have gone to the extreme opposite

570
00:27:36,300 --> 00:27:38,300
and abandoned all good living.

571
00:27:38,300 --> 00:27:41,300
And instead are in utter rebellion to God's commands,

572
00:27:41,300 --> 00:27:42,500
living the way that we want,

573
00:27:42,500 --> 00:27:45,100
doing whatever is right in our own eyes to do,

574
00:27:45,100 --> 00:27:47,700
crushed by the weight of our sin and shame,

575
00:27:47,700 --> 00:27:51,700
struggling against God and ultimately broken.

576
00:27:53,500 --> 00:27:56,700
Do you look back and see the loving discipline

577
00:27:56,700 --> 00:27:58,700
of God in your life?

578
00:27:58,700 --> 00:28:02,900
That he loved you enough to not leave you in your sin.

579
00:28:02,900 --> 00:28:05,100
But instead he allowed you to be crushed

580
00:28:05,100 --> 00:28:07,700
under the weight of sin for your good,

581
00:28:07,700 --> 00:28:10,500
so that you would turn to him and cry out to him,

582
00:28:10,500 --> 00:28:12,300
and he would set you free.

583
00:28:12,300 --> 00:28:14,500
Was that your story?

584
00:28:14,500 --> 00:28:16,300
Tell your story.

585
00:28:18,100 --> 00:28:20,700
Maybe for some of you that is your story.

586
00:28:21,700 --> 00:28:25,900
You haven't yet cried out and you're in that place.

587
00:28:27,700 --> 00:28:31,500
You also, a story is being written.

588
00:28:31,500 --> 00:28:35,300
And will the story be they cried out to the Lord,

589
00:28:35,300 --> 00:28:37,500
and he answered them and delivered them.

590
00:28:39,700 --> 00:28:41,300
The love that sets us free.

591
00:28:43,500 --> 00:28:46,300
Or maybe your story is the love that makes us whole.

592
00:28:47,300 --> 00:28:49,900
Tell the story of the love that makes us whole.

593
00:28:49,900 --> 00:28:52,100
Some of us have experienced a life

594
00:28:54,300 --> 00:28:56,500
where we were so entangled in sin,

595
00:28:56,500 --> 00:29:01,500
it was like being in a prison, a dark, cold prison.

596
00:29:01,900 --> 00:29:03,700
Anyone experience that in life?

597
00:29:03,700 --> 00:29:05,700
Anyone bold enough to say I've been there?

598
00:29:08,300 --> 00:29:09,300
It's like a prison.

599
00:29:11,300 --> 00:29:15,900
It was our sinful appetites that landed us there.

600
00:29:15,900 --> 00:29:19,700
Addictions, anger, pornography, adultery,

601
00:29:19,700 --> 00:29:22,700
the shame and guilt of an abortion, lying,

602
00:29:22,700 --> 00:29:25,700
whatever it is, the list could go on.

603
00:29:25,700 --> 00:29:27,300
Everything was wrong.

604
00:29:27,300 --> 00:29:30,100
The question of is this life worth living,

605
00:29:30,100 --> 00:29:32,700
answered by, well not as it is.

606
00:29:35,500 --> 00:29:38,900
But in our affliction and from our place, our prison,

607
00:29:38,900 --> 00:29:43,300
behind bars, we cried out to God and he heard us.

608
00:29:43,300 --> 00:29:47,100
He sent his word and he healed us.

609
00:29:47,100 --> 00:29:50,500
He healed us and made us whole again.

610
00:29:50,500 --> 00:29:51,700
And not only did he make us whole,

611
00:29:51,700 --> 00:29:53,900
he restored our appetites.

612
00:29:53,900 --> 00:29:58,900
But this time for what is good and what is good for us

613
00:29:59,100 --> 00:30:01,100
and what allows us to flourish.

614
00:30:02,900 --> 00:30:06,700
And now we are learning to say no to ungodliness

615
00:30:06,700 --> 00:30:09,900
and to live upright and self-controlled lives

616
00:30:09,900 --> 00:30:11,900
as his Holy Spirit teaches us.

617
00:30:11,900 --> 00:30:16,500
Is your story a story of the love that makes us whole?

618
00:30:17,700 --> 00:30:18,900
Tell the story.

619
00:30:18,900 --> 00:30:21,900
And finally, tell the story of the love

620
00:30:21,900 --> 00:30:23,300
that brings us peace.

621
00:30:25,700 --> 00:30:28,300
We traverse a world in circumstances

622
00:30:28,300 --> 00:30:32,300
where danger is great and death is imminent.

623
00:30:33,300 --> 00:30:37,100
A world around us that is out of control

624
00:30:37,100 --> 00:30:39,300
or out of our control.

625
00:30:40,300 --> 00:30:42,300
Any of you control freaks in here?

626
00:30:43,300 --> 00:30:45,500
Or recovering control freaks?

627
00:30:45,500 --> 00:30:49,300
Yeah?

628
00:30:49,300 --> 00:30:54,300
Many of us live with that need to control everything.

629
00:30:54,300 --> 00:30:56,700
We wanna control our environment.

630
00:30:56,700 --> 00:30:59,700
We wanna control the circumstances around us.

631
00:30:59,700 --> 00:31:02,300
Or dare I say, we wanna control people

632
00:31:02,300 --> 00:31:04,300
because they're our biggest headache, right?

633
00:31:05,500 --> 00:31:07,900
I remember me and my wife went on a cruise once

634
00:31:07,900 --> 00:31:09,500
and while we were on the boat,

635
00:31:09,500 --> 00:31:12,700
they announced that there were giant swells of water

636
00:31:12,700 --> 00:31:15,300
many, many feet high and that we were to hunker down

637
00:31:15,300 --> 00:31:17,100
and prepare for the shaking.

638
00:31:17,100 --> 00:31:19,100
And I don't know if you've ever been on a cruise before,

639
00:31:19,100 --> 00:31:20,900
it's lovely when you're in the middle

640
00:31:20,900 --> 00:31:22,900
at the buffet for the hundredth time.

641
00:31:23,900 --> 00:31:27,700
But if you step out onto the deck and think for a moment,

642
00:31:27,700 --> 00:31:30,500
you realize I'm out of control.

643
00:31:30,500 --> 00:31:32,100
Like I don't know where I go.

644
00:31:32,100 --> 00:31:33,300
If I get into that water,

645
00:31:33,300 --> 00:31:34,700
I don't know how I'm getting anywhere.

646
00:31:34,700 --> 00:31:36,500
There's no land in sight.

647
00:31:37,900 --> 00:31:40,300
And it's all fine and dandy when the seas are fine

648
00:31:40,300 --> 00:31:41,500
and the waves are fine.

649
00:31:41,500 --> 00:31:43,100
It's all fine and dandy when the seas are fine.

650
00:31:43,100 --> 00:31:46,700
But when that thing starts rocking, you start thinking,

651
00:31:46,700 --> 00:31:47,900
what's gonna happen?

652
00:31:47,900 --> 00:31:49,500
What am I gonna do?

653
00:31:49,500 --> 00:31:50,900
How do I get out of here?

654
00:31:52,100 --> 00:31:55,500
I don't mind flying.

655
00:31:55,500 --> 00:31:57,100
I'm not scared of flying.

656
00:31:58,300 --> 00:32:00,700
But I say a prayer before we take off every time.

657
00:32:01,700 --> 00:32:03,700
Like I know I'm out of control.

658
00:32:04,700 --> 00:32:06,700
I know I've got no control over what happens

659
00:32:06,700 --> 00:32:08,300
in the next few minutes.

660
00:32:08,300 --> 00:32:10,900
And then I can usually calm down for the rest of the flight

661
00:32:10,900 --> 00:32:14,100
and then when they say they're landing, prayer number two.

662
00:32:14,100 --> 00:32:15,100
Right?

663
00:32:15,100 --> 00:32:16,700
Coming in.

664
00:32:16,700 --> 00:32:18,500
And now after watching a lot of YouTube videos,

665
00:32:18,500 --> 00:32:19,900
I'm not even sure I should be praying

666
00:32:19,900 --> 00:32:21,100
while we're rolling on the tarmac

667
00:32:21,100 --> 00:32:22,300
because sometimes you can't even make it to the gate

668
00:32:22,300 --> 00:32:23,500
without crashing.

669
00:32:23,500 --> 00:32:27,500
Like not to put any fear in anyone, but

670
00:32:27,500 --> 00:32:28,900
we are out of control.

671
00:32:28,900 --> 00:32:30,300
And in the moments for us,

672
00:32:30,300 --> 00:32:32,300
those who struggle with control freak,

673
00:32:32,300 --> 00:32:33,500
I always put myself in that,

674
00:32:33,500 --> 00:32:34,700
I don't know if my wife would have to say

675
00:32:34,700 --> 00:32:36,500
whether I'm a control freak or not.

676
00:32:36,500 --> 00:32:41,500
And she said, yeah.

677
00:32:42,500 --> 00:32:45,100
Okay, for us control freaks,

678
00:32:46,700 --> 00:32:48,500
she didn't say that in first service.

679
00:32:51,300 --> 00:32:52,900
For us control freaks,

680
00:32:55,500 --> 00:32:58,900
we have to realize that we're never in control.

681
00:32:58,900 --> 00:33:00,100
We're never in control.

682
00:33:01,500 --> 00:33:05,300
We are a phone call away from the rest of our year

683
00:33:05,300 --> 00:33:08,300
being completely different than what we planned out.

684
00:33:08,300 --> 00:33:12,300
We are one moment away, one wrong decision on our part

685
00:33:12,300 --> 00:33:13,500
or someone else's part.

686
00:33:14,500 --> 00:33:19,500
One health diagnosis away from a completely different life

687
00:33:19,500 --> 00:33:21,500
than you're living right this second.

688
00:33:21,500 --> 00:33:22,500
We're not in control.

689
00:33:25,700 --> 00:33:26,900
And when we realize that,

690
00:33:26,900 --> 00:33:30,300
I realized that when my youngest,

691
00:33:30,300 --> 00:33:31,700
kind of in a vivid term,

692
00:33:31,700 --> 00:33:33,300
when my youngest,

693
00:33:33,300 --> 00:33:34,700
I don't remember exactly how old he was,

694
00:33:34,700 --> 00:33:37,100
one and a half, two, two years old,

695
00:33:37,100 --> 00:33:39,400
had his first seizure.

696
00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:45,200
And you were there, my mother-in-law was there,

697
00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:50,200
and it was utter fear and terror over what was going on.

698
00:33:53,300 --> 00:33:56,900
Just the circumstances, the ambulance, all of that stuff.

699
00:33:56,900 --> 00:33:59,100
And that was the beginning.

700
00:33:59,100 --> 00:34:03,340
There were years of continued seizures at random

701
00:34:03,340 --> 00:34:06,900
with zero knowledge of what was happening.

702
00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:10,660
Brain scans, doctors, we don't understand,

703
00:34:10,660 --> 00:34:13,360
we don't know, we don't know anything.

704
00:34:14,660 --> 00:34:17,600
And you want to provide, you want to protect,

705
00:34:17,600 --> 00:34:21,000
but I remember the breaking point being,

706
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:22,800
sitting outside of the door, he was in there,

707
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:25,500
and he would oftentimes have him in at night

708
00:34:25,500 --> 00:34:26,900
and just kind of getting to the point of going,

709
00:34:26,900 --> 00:34:28,540
I don't know if he'll,

710
00:34:28,540 --> 00:34:31,300
I would tremble in the morning,

711
00:34:31,300 --> 00:34:33,600
and I would have to work up the ability

712
00:34:33,600 --> 00:34:36,080
to go around the corner, to peek into the room,

713
00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:37,480
to see if he was still alive.

714
00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:39,400
I was so scared.

715
00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:42,080
And I remember one time just kind of collapsing

716
00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:44,280
in the hallway outside of his door,

717
00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:45,480
and just crying and praying.

718
00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:50,480
I'm dad, I'm supposed to protect, I have nothing.

719
00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:56,480
And by God's grace, they stopped.

720
00:34:56,480 --> 00:35:01,480
Just at some point in time, as he got older, they stopped.

721
00:35:01,500 --> 00:35:03,280
And hasn't had them since 2016?

722
00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:05,040
2016.

723
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:08,280
No diagnosis, no, we don't know anything,

724
00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:11,480
we just know God was in control and I was not.

725
00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:14,800
And the only way to get through that

726
00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:17,800
was encountering a love that brings peace,

727
00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:21,080
because I wasn't gonna get through it on my own.

728
00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:26,200
Christ, remember when he was out there,

729
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:28,480
he was out on the waters with his disciples,

730
00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:30,760
and the storms raging, and they go to Jesus

731
00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:32,600
and they're like, we're going to die.

732
00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:36,740
And Jesus with a word calms the storm,

733
00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:39,940
and leads them to safe harbor.

734
00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:45,420
You have to recognize that we're not in control,

735
00:35:45,420 --> 00:35:47,360
and maybe our life was marked by an attempt

736
00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:52,160
to control everything, and we met the Prince of Peace,

737
00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:54,000
who brought peace into our life,

738
00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:56,440
or is bringing peace into our life,

739
00:35:56,440 --> 00:35:59,280
as we submit that area of our life and cry out to him

740
00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:01,780
and say, you have control.

741
00:36:02,720 --> 00:36:05,120
But I'm telling you, church, that these stories

742
00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:10,120
of God's grace need to be told, not just thought of,

743
00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:12,960
and not just broad strokes.

744
00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:14,400
Earlier we sang the song,

745
00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:17,240
let the redeemed of the Lord say so, right?

746
00:36:17,240 --> 00:36:20,600
Right out of Psalm 107, but I don't know

747
00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:22,320
if you've caught this yet, singing,

748
00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:24,480
let the redeemed of the Lord say so,

749
00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:26,000
you haven't done it yet.

750
00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:29,760
All you've done is sing about doing it.

751
00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:34,560
Now we have to do it, we have to say how God has redeemed us,

752
00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:36,880
and not in some broad stroke general term.

753
00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:39,020
Each one of us has a story to tell

754
00:36:39,020 --> 00:36:41,440
about how the grace of God has encountered

755
00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:45,120
or impacted our life on a day to day, year to year basis,

756
00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:47,520
and throughout the course of our life that has steered us,

757
00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:48,440
that has kept us safe.

758
00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:50,920
Sometimes it's the love, sometimes it's the peace,

759
00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:53,120
sometimes it's the wholeness that he brings.

760
00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:56,680
Sometimes it's setting us free from a sin,

761
00:36:56,680 --> 00:36:58,520
or addiction, or pattern of life.

762
00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:00,720
Whatever it is, we have a story to tell,

763
00:37:00,720 --> 00:37:02,620
and we need to tell those stories.

764
00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:05,840
We need to proclaim what God has done.

765
00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:08,800
This is our worship to the Lord,

766
00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:10,920
and this is our edification of one another

767
00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:12,680
to build each other up.

768
00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:14,440
And so I'm gonna end on this.

769
00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:18,280
How will we tell the story in 2025?

770
00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:21,760
What are we going to do to kind of move this forward

771
00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:23,000
as a congregation?

772
00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:26,000
And the first thing I wanna say or lay out there

773
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:27,680
is you may have noticed in the lobby,

774
00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:30,880
there's a new feature down by the snack bar

775
00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:32,680
on the way to the gym.

776
00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:34,440
On the left hand side, there's a wall there.

777
00:37:34,440 --> 00:37:37,240
It's our tell the story wall.

778
00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:40,560
And on that wall, there's some wire mesh,

779
00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:43,360
and there's a table with some pads of paper.

780
00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:46,560
And on that wall, I'm challenging us, I'm encouraging us.

781
00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:49,480
As God moves, as we experience the grace of God

782
00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:52,680
for provision or overcoming sin or whatever it is,

783
00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:56,640
we experience God's grace, we would write down that story,

784
00:37:56,640 --> 00:37:58,320
and we would roll up that piece of paper

785
00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:01,520
and put it into that wall so someone else can come along

786
00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:03,960
and pull it off and read about God's grace

787
00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:05,320
at work in your life.

788
00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:10,320
There's slots for many, many papers to go up there,

789
00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:11,880
and my hope is that by the end of it,

790
00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:13,560
they're just falling off the wall.

791
00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:14,720
There are so many stories

792
00:38:14,720 --> 00:38:17,400
because you know they're there, right?

793
00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:20,000
You know you can identify how God has moved in your life,

794
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:22,560
and we wanna put a place out there for us

795
00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:26,120
to not only tell the stories, but others to read them

796
00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:27,320
and hear and be encouraged.

797
00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:28,960
You can put your initials on there,

798
00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:30,200
you can put your name on there,

799
00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:31,800
you can leave it anonymous, I don't care,

800
00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:35,600
just tell the story of God's grace.

801
00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:40,160
That wall is going to be available for stories of peace,

802
00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:43,120
stories of freedom, stories of wholeness,

803
00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:46,920
marriages restored, life put back together,

804
00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:50,200
provision given, peace given in the middle of a storm,

805
00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:53,600
addiction or sin overcome, or just,

806
00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:56,920
he brought me home, he gave me a family,

807
00:38:56,920 --> 00:38:58,600
I feel like I belong.

808
00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:01,760
I thank you, Lord.

809
00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:02,720
Tell the story.

810
00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:06,000
The second thing we're gonna do this year

811
00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:08,520
is throughout the months, we're going to bring

812
00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:11,000
some of you folks who are willing and courageous

813
00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:14,240
to come tell your story live on stage.

814
00:39:14,240 --> 00:39:16,800
We're gonna do a 10 minute kind of interview style

815
00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:19,160
in the middle of a Sunday morning, both services,

816
00:39:19,160 --> 00:39:21,600
and get an opportunity for you to tell the story

817
00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:26,080
of God's grace at work in your life or throughout your life

818
00:39:26,080 --> 00:39:30,040
so that we can all hear and be edified and encouraged.

819
00:39:30,040 --> 00:39:34,840
The third way, the wall, the on stage interview stories,

820
00:39:34,840 --> 00:39:38,320
the third way is through three workshops

821
00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:40,120
that we're gonna launch this year.

822
00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:42,480
The first one is called Landscape of Life.

823
00:39:42,480 --> 00:39:46,800
It's an opportunity for you to map out the moments of grace

824
00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:49,880
of God at work in your life over the course of your life,

825
00:39:49,880 --> 00:39:54,160
moments where he met you, moments where you encountered him

826
00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:57,680
and he moved in your life, and help you to discover those

827
00:39:57,680 --> 00:40:01,080
and mine those and get them all mapped out,

828
00:40:01,080 --> 00:40:03,680
and which moves to a second workshop we're gonna offer,

829
00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:06,320
which is called Before You Share Your Faith,

830
00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:09,360
and there you're gonna learn what to be prepared for,

831
00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:12,880
how to pray for, and how to get ready to share your faith

832
00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:15,520
with others so that we get comfortable and excited

833
00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:16,920
about telling the story.

834
00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:22,160
And then our final workshop this year is called Tactics.

835
00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:26,640
It's a game plan for discussing your Christian convictions.

836
00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:30,520
It's an apologetics class that teaches you how to interact

837
00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:33,680
with current cultural and social issues right now

838
00:40:33,680 --> 00:40:36,360
in a way that you can start conversations

839
00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:38,280
and you can have answers and feel comfortable

840
00:40:38,280 --> 00:40:40,800
about engaging in those conversations with people.

841
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:45,840
Three workshops that we're gonna offer this year,

842
00:40:45,840 --> 00:40:50,840
and then the final way is each month,

843
00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:55,960
our brother Chandler is putting together a video

844
00:40:57,240 --> 00:41:00,960
of someone's testimony, someone's story about God's grace

845
00:41:00,960 --> 00:41:03,680
that we'll get to experience once a month

846
00:41:03,680 --> 00:41:07,960
throughout the year of 2025, just to encourage us

847
00:41:07,960 --> 00:41:11,880
and to spur us on and to teach us

848
00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:15,680
that we get an opportunity to experience the life of Christ

849
00:41:15,680 --> 00:41:18,480
in another brother or sister.

850
00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:20,360
And so we have our first video actually,

851
00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:23,480
Chandler put together a video of himself and his story,

852
00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:25,880
and we get to enjoy that this morning.

853
00:41:25,880 --> 00:41:28,440
Let's go ahead and get the lights and play the video.

854
00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:33,440
Let's go.

855
00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:40,440
Hi, my name is Chandler Totes.

856
00:41:41,680 --> 00:41:44,360
I've been attending Village for around two to three months.

857
00:41:44,360 --> 00:41:46,480
I'm originally from Springfield, Missouri.

858
00:41:46,480 --> 00:41:49,640
And my story began really from the time I was born.

859
00:41:49,640 --> 00:41:51,560
I was raised up in the church,

860
00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:53,240
definitely attended most Sundays

861
00:41:53,240 --> 00:41:56,160
and I never really got involved in serving in my community,

862
00:41:56,160 --> 00:41:58,680
but it was really just attending church on Sundays

863
00:41:58,680 --> 00:41:59,880
and having that word of God

864
00:41:59,880 --> 00:42:01,480
instilled in my heart and in my mind.

865
00:42:01,480 --> 00:42:03,280
Around the time I was 16,

866
00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:04,920
my mom was going through a divorce

867
00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:06,440
with my stepdad at the time.

868
00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:08,800
I really felt God putting it on my heart

869
00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:10,840
to forgive my stepdad for the things

870
00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:12,240
that was going on in the house.

871
00:42:12,240 --> 00:42:13,760
I kind of wrestled with that idea,

872
00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:16,160
but eventually I just knew that God really needed me

873
00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:17,880
in order for me to move forward

874
00:42:17,880 --> 00:42:20,280
and establish a faith of my own

875
00:42:20,280 --> 00:42:22,600
and not just what my parents would tell me about.

876
00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:25,000
I just knew I had to lean into that forgiveness.

877
00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:27,560
So I forgave my stepdad and my family

878
00:42:27,560 --> 00:42:29,680
for all the issues I was going on at the time.

879
00:42:29,680 --> 00:42:32,160
And once I opened my heart up to forgiveness,

880
00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:34,760
I really felt God's love and forgiveness for me.

881
00:42:34,760 --> 00:42:37,680
It wasn't until April 24th of 2016,

882
00:42:37,680 --> 00:42:40,120
I got baptized and dedicated my life to him.

883
00:42:40,120 --> 00:42:41,640
So I'm pretty big into skateboarding.

884
00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:43,120
I've been skateboarding all my life.

885
00:42:43,120 --> 00:42:45,200
Videography also was a part of that

886
00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:46,680
and making skateboard videos

887
00:42:46,680 --> 00:42:47,880
with my friends and my brother.

888
00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:49,960
So my brother and my friend and I decided

889
00:42:49,960 --> 00:42:51,400
we're gonna move out to Los Angeles

890
00:42:51,400 --> 00:42:52,880
after we graduate high school.

891
00:42:52,880 --> 00:42:56,920
I graduated in 2017, but I got saved in 2016.

892
00:42:56,920 --> 00:42:59,800
So for about a year, I had God just on my heart

893
00:42:59,800 --> 00:43:01,120
and on my mind that whole time.

894
00:43:01,120 --> 00:43:03,120
And I really was leaning into him in prayer

895
00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:04,880
and asking him what he wanted for me.

896
00:43:04,880 --> 00:43:07,500
Even though I had my mind set on moving to Los Angeles

897
00:43:07,500 --> 00:43:09,080
and pursuing the skateboard dream,

898
00:43:09,080 --> 00:43:11,600
I knew that if I was gonna really be a Christian,

899
00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:13,680
I had to just let go of what I wanted

900
00:43:13,680 --> 00:43:15,520
and ask God to give me what he wanted.

901
00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:17,520
And there was a time when I was on my way home from work,

902
00:43:17,520 --> 00:43:19,280
I was driving, listening to worship music

903
00:43:19,280 --> 00:43:21,080
and asking God, where do you want me to go?

904
00:43:21,080 --> 00:43:24,360
And in that moment, I felt God spoke to me two words

905
00:43:24,360 --> 00:43:25,600
and he said, just wait.

906
00:43:25,600 --> 00:43:27,400
I knew that once he spoke those words,

907
00:43:27,400 --> 00:43:28,760
Los Angeles is not it.

908
00:43:28,760 --> 00:43:30,200
I'm not going with my brother and my friend

909
00:43:30,200 --> 00:43:31,040
like I had planned.

910
00:43:31,040 --> 00:43:32,280
God had a different plan for me,

911
00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:33,520
but he didn't tell me what it was.

912
00:43:33,520 --> 00:43:34,840
So I just had to wait and see.

913
00:43:34,840 --> 00:43:36,440
So I started following a couple of different

914
00:43:36,440 --> 00:43:37,440
skate ministries.

915
00:43:37,440 --> 00:43:38,960
I got connected with this one called

916
00:43:38,960 --> 00:43:41,320
Calling All Skaters located in San Francisco.

917
00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:44,120
They had a discipleship training school going on

918
00:43:44,120 --> 00:43:47,440
in August of 2017 through March of 2018.

919
00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:49,560
After high school, I was like, all right,

920
00:43:49,560 --> 00:43:50,720
this is what I need to do.

921
00:43:50,720 --> 00:43:52,600
I need to go away for six months

922
00:43:52,600 --> 00:43:54,480
and just strictly focus on God

923
00:43:54,480 --> 00:43:56,760
and meet other believers in the skateboard community.

924
00:43:56,760 --> 00:43:59,480
I told my mom, I told my dad and the rest of my family,

925
00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:00,760
I'm going to San Francisco.

926
00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:02,040
I'm leaving for six months.

927
00:44:02,040 --> 00:44:03,120
And they were very supportive.

928
00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:05,680
They wanted me to go and follow what God's calling was

929
00:44:05,680 --> 00:44:06,520
on my life.

930
00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:08,160
I found myself in San Francisco,

931
00:44:08,160 --> 00:44:10,680
huge culture shock being from Springfield, Missouri.

932
00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:11,520
It was crazy.

933
00:44:11,520 --> 00:44:13,800
Literally the dream of being in California.

934
00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:15,280
It wasn't the Southern California,

935
00:44:15,280 --> 00:44:16,360
it was Northern California,

936
00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:18,600
but it was just crazy to be in San Francisco.

937
00:44:18,600 --> 00:44:20,960
After seeing it and all the famous skateboarding videos,

938
00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:22,280
it was unreal for me.

939
00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:23,120
For three months,

940
00:44:23,120 --> 00:44:25,040
I was focused on spending time in God's word

941
00:44:25,040 --> 00:44:26,720
and fellowshipping with other believers.

942
00:44:26,720 --> 00:44:28,320
And they were basically training us

943
00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:29,600
to go out into the mission field.

944
00:44:29,600 --> 00:44:31,640
And so they sent me and my crew to China.

945
00:44:31,640 --> 00:44:33,200
It was definitely an experience,

946
00:44:33,200 --> 00:44:34,680
one of the hardest times of my life,

947
00:44:34,680 --> 00:44:36,640
but also one of the coolest times of my life.

948
00:44:36,640 --> 00:44:38,800
So I finished my discipleship training school

949
00:44:38,800 --> 00:44:40,360
in March of 2018.

950
00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:42,920
And I didn't really know what my next steps were going to be,

951
00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:45,920
but I definitely know that I fell in love with California.

952
00:44:45,920 --> 00:44:48,040
My heart was set on coming back out here.

953
00:44:48,040 --> 00:44:50,080
I just didn't know when and I didn't know how.

954
00:44:50,080 --> 00:44:52,040
I decided again, I'm going to trust in God

955
00:44:52,040 --> 00:44:53,720
and ask that he would make the way for me.

956
00:44:53,720 --> 00:44:55,280
So I go back to Missouri.

957
00:44:55,280 --> 00:44:56,400
I'm working my job.

958
00:44:56,400 --> 00:44:58,360
Around October of 2018,

959
00:44:58,360 --> 00:45:00,680
one of my good friends approached my brother and I,

960
00:45:00,680 --> 00:45:02,760
and he said, hey, I think I'm going to move my family

961
00:45:02,760 --> 00:45:04,440
to Elk Grove, California.

962
00:45:04,440 --> 00:45:05,920
And I'd never heard of Elk Grove.

963
00:45:05,920 --> 00:45:08,320
I really didn't even know about Sacramento at the time.

964
00:45:08,320 --> 00:45:09,880
I just knew of San Francisco.

965
00:45:09,880 --> 00:45:12,120
He was like, I would like you guys to come with me.

966
00:45:12,120 --> 00:45:13,800
So my brother and I, we looked at each other

967
00:45:13,800 --> 00:45:15,520
and we're like, man, I think this is it.

968
00:45:15,520 --> 00:45:17,200
I think this is where we ought to go.

969
00:45:17,200 --> 00:45:19,200
During that time, I just devoted myself

970
00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:20,320
every morning to prayer,

971
00:45:20,320 --> 00:45:22,320
asking God that he would just make the way.

972
00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:23,920
I didn't know anyone out there.

973
00:45:23,920 --> 00:45:26,760
I didn't know any jobs, wasn't trying to go to school,

974
00:45:26,760 --> 00:45:28,600
really just was going out in faith.

975
00:45:28,600 --> 00:45:30,920
And so every morning I'd wake up before I went to work

976
00:45:30,920 --> 00:45:34,000
and I just prayed, I'd ask God that he would provide the job.

977
00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:35,320
He would provide the place to stay.

978
00:45:35,320 --> 00:45:36,560
He would provide the community,

979
00:45:36,560 --> 00:45:38,440
the friends that we need to grow out here.

980
00:45:38,440 --> 00:45:39,920
In between that time of prayer,

981
00:45:39,920 --> 00:45:41,960
I found out I got connected with somebody

982
00:45:41,960 --> 00:45:43,320
that was a part of a skate ministry

983
00:45:43,320 --> 00:45:44,760
out in Vacaville, California.

984
00:45:44,760 --> 00:45:47,200
He said, hey, I'd love to be your guys' roommates

985
00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:48,440
if you guys wanna move out here.

986
00:45:48,440 --> 00:45:50,840
So we had him search for apartments

987
00:45:50,840 --> 00:45:52,360
while we stayed back in Missouri,

988
00:45:52,360 --> 00:45:55,080
working, saving up all the money we could scratch up.

989
00:45:55,080 --> 00:45:58,920
So in January of 2019, we said bye to our mom and our dad

990
00:45:58,920 --> 00:46:01,080
and packed up each of our cars, my brother and I,

991
00:46:01,080 --> 00:46:03,120
and we just hit the road for California,

992
00:46:03,120 --> 00:46:04,720
not knowing what was gonna happen,

993
00:46:04,720 --> 00:46:07,080
but just knowing that God was making the way for us.

994
00:46:07,080 --> 00:46:09,080
And so once we got out here instantly,

995
00:46:09,080 --> 00:46:10,200
before we even stayed the night,

996
00:46:10,200 --> 00:46:13,080
before we even had any of our stuff out of our car,

997
00:46:13,080 --> 00:46:15,320
our new roommate, he connected with the founder

998
00:46:15,320 --> 00:46:17,920
and the owner of the skateboard ministry in Vacaville

999
00:46:17,920 --> 00:46:19,480
called Ambassador Skateboards.

1000
00:46:19,480 --> 00:46:21,360
And I'd heard about Ambassador Skateboards

1001
00:46:21,360 --> 00:46:24,160
just through doing my research in skate ministry.

1002
00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:27,160
So I was like, wow, no way, we're meeting Frank Chavez

1003
00:46:27,160 --> 00:46:28,520
of Ambassador Skateboards.

1004
00:46:28,520 --> 00:46:30,880
And he laid out exactly what he felt like

1005
00:46:30,880 --> 00:46:32,120
God was putting on his heart,

1006
00:46:32,120 --> 00:46:33,640
which was he wanted my brother and I

1007
00:46:33,640 --> 00:46:36,560
to film and make skate videos for that company.

1008
00:46:36,560 --> 00:46:38,720
So just looking back at the three months prior,

1009
00:46:38,720 --> 00:46:41,280
me just praying, asking God, provide for the finance,

1010
00:46:41,280 --> 00:46:44,320
provide for the roommate, provide for the community,

1011
00:46:44,320 --> 00:46:45,760
that right there was the community

1012
00:46:45,760 --> 00:46:46,960
that we've been looking for.

1013
00:46:46,960 --> 00:46:48,320
Just landed in our laps

1014
00:46:48,320 --> 00:46:50,680
as soon as we stepped into our apartment.

1015
00:46:50,680 --> 00:46:53,560
We had community, we had fellowship,

1016
00:46:53,560 --> 00:46:57,240
and we had a job to film for the skateboard ministry.

1017
00:46:57,240 --> 00:46:59,160
So for the next couple of years,

1018
00:46:59,160 --> 00:47:02,080
we've just been filming and making skateboard videos,

1019
00:47:02,080 --> 00:47:03,240
literally living the dream.

1020
00:47:03,240 --> 00:47:05,480
We're not filming with pro skaters like we wanted to,

1021
00:47:05,480 --> 00:47:07,440
we're not filming with the best of the best,

1022
00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:09,120
we're filming with other believers,

1023
00:47:09,120 --> 00:47:12,960
other skateboarders that just have their belief in Jesus.

1024
00:47:12,960 --> 00:47:14,160
It was just so encouraging.

1025
00:47:14,160 --> 00:47:15,600
Being a part of that skate ministry

1026
00:47:15,600 --> 00:47:17,440
actually led me to my wife today,

1027
00:47:17,440 --> 00:47:19,960
and I met her in September of 2019.

1028
00:47:19,960 --> 00:47:23,520
So about eight months of just doing my thing,

1029
00:47:23,520 --> 00:47:26,520
skateboarding, I got introduced to my wife.

1030
00:47:26,520 --> 00:47:29,920
It was just God knowing exactly what I wanted,

1031
00:47:29,920 --> 00:47:31,880
what I needed in the perfect timing.

1032
00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:33,560
And I didn't come out to California

1033
00:47:33,560 --> 00:47:34,640
thinking I'm gonna get married.

1034
00:47:34,640 --> 00:47:35,840
I didn't come out to California thinking

1035
00:47:35,840 --> 00:47:38,000
I'm gonna be able to film the best of the best

1036
00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:39,080
of pro skateboarders.

1037
00:47:39,080 --> 00:47:41,720
I just came out with an open mind and an open heart

1038
00:47:41,720 --> 00:47:44,440
saying, God, just give me whatever you want for me to have.

1039
00:47:44,440 --> 00:47:46,360
At the time, we were both working jobs

1040
00:47:46,360 --> 00:47:47,800
that we didn't really like.

1041
00:47:47,800 --> 00:47:50,560
It was a blessing, obviously, but we wanted to do more.

1042
00:47:50,560 --> 00:47:53,320
We felt crazy calling on our lives.

1043
00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:55,320
Right before our wedding, we quit our jobs,

1044
00:47:55,320 --> 00:47:58,960
had some savings lined up, but really didn't have much.

1045
00:47:58,960 --> 00:48:01,920
At the time, my brother, he was pursuing a pallet business

1046
00:48:01,920 --> 00:48:04,360
where you go and collect pallets and then resell it.

1047
00:48:04,360 --> 00:48:05,520
So I saw the fruits of that,

1048
00:48:05,520 --> 00:48:08,000
and the timing couldn't have just been any better.

1049
00:48:08,000 --> 00:48:10,800
And I decided I was gonna join in with him

1050
00:48:10,800 --> 00:48:13,120
and help grow that business where, and my wife,

1051
00:48:13,120 --> 00:48:15,960
she was gonna pursue some little side hustles

1052
00:48:15,960 --> 00:48:18,720
that was gonna eventually turn into what it is today.

1053
00:48:18,720 --> 00:48:21,160
But yeah, it was just taking that step of faith,

1054
00:48:21,160 --> 00:48:23,880
saying, Lord, we don't know what it's gonna look like,

1055
00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:25,780
but we know that you want us to do this.

1056
00:48:25,780 --> 00:48:28,620
Seeing God's provisions for the last two and a half years

1057
00:48:28,620 --> 00:48:30,440
has just been absolutely incredible.

1058
00:48:30,440 --> 00:48:32,840
And we take it day by day, we take it month by month,

1059
00:48:32,840 --> 00:48:34,720
and every month we're just praying,

1060
00:48:34,720 --> 00:48:37,920
God, help us to meet our financial needs for this month.

1061
00:48:37,920 --> 00:48:39,920
I'm not kidding you, the last two and a half years

1062
00:48:39,920 --> 00:48:42,320
have just been straight God providing

1063
00:48:42,320 --> 00:48:43,760
every single day of our lives.

1064
00:48:43,760 --> 00:48:46,440
We know not everybody can do exactly what we're doing,

1065
00:48:46,440 --> 00:48:49,760
but I do believe that everybody can put their faith in Him

1066
00:48:49,760 --> 00:48:50,600
and trust Him.

1067
00:48:50,600 --> 00:48:52,980
That kind of leads us to where we're at right now.

1068
00:48:52,980 --> 00:48:57,080
Our first experience at Village was just complete hospitality

1069
00:48:57,080 --> 00:49:00,520
and people just loving on us and coming up to us,

1070
00:49:00,520 --> 00:49:02,040
wanting to get to know who we are.

1071
00:49:02,040 --> 00:49:04,120
And to be honest, I have been going to church

1072
00:49:04,120 --> 00:49:06,720
for all my life, but I haven't really felt

1073
00:49:06,720 --> 00:49:10,680
that kind of love and that kind of wanting to get to know you

1074
00:49:10,680 --> 00:49:12,320
from a church congregation.

1075
00:49:12,320 --> 00:49:14,200
I felt the past two and a half years

1076
00:49:14,200 --> 00:49:16,800
of just kind of hustling and working really hard.

1077
00:49:16,800 --> 00:49:18,260
I hate to say the word selfishly,

1078
00:49:18,260 --> 00:49:21,480
but we've kind of been trying really hard

1079
00:49:21,480 --> 00:49:23,080
to do all this, trusting in Him,

1080
00:49:23,080 --> 00:49:25,680
but not really making time for ministry.

1081
00:49:25,680 --> 00:49:27,920
So yeah, it kind of sounds selfishly,

1082
00:49:27,920 --> 00:49:29,880
but in a way it's, we have been doing

1083
00:49:29,880 --> 00:49:31,640
what we feel like God's been calling us to do,

1084
00:49:31,640 --> 00:49:32,840
but in the back of our minds,

1085
00:49:32,840 --> 00:49:36,160
we have been knowing that there's more for us.

1086
00:49:36,160 --> 00:49:38,400
It's about saying yes over and over again.

1087
00:49:38,400 --> 00:49:40,440
Yeah, it's been an incredible past couple of months,

1088
00:49:40,440 --> 00:49:43,120
attending Village and getting to know everybody here.

1089
00:49:43,120 --> 00:49:45,200
And we just feel super grateful and blessed

1090
00:49:45,200 --> 00:49:47,100
to be able to be a part of a community

1091
00:49:47,100 --> 00:49:50,480
that not only is right down the street from us,

1092
00:49:50,480 --> 00:49:53,960
but also is just so friendly and so loving and caring.

1093
00:49:53,960 --> 00:49:56,200
So I believe that God gave me this story

1094
00:49:56,200 --> 00:49:59,120
to tell others that His timing is perfect.

1095
00:49:59,120 --> 00:50:01,740
All we have to do is trust in Him and have faith

1096
00:50:01,740 --> 00:50:03,720
that He's gonna give us exactly what we need

1097
00:50:03,720 --> 00:50:05,120
at exactly the right times.

1098
00:50:05,120 --> 00:50:06,840
And it can be a little uncomfortable,

1099
00:50:06,840 --> 00:50:09,920
and it can be definitely a mental struggle at times.

1100
00:50:09,920 --> 00:50:11,980
I just hope that I can encourage others

1101
00:50:11,980 --> 00:50:13,880
to tell their story of God's grace

1102
00:50:13,880 --> 00:50:16,580
and His faithfulness in their lives as well.

1103
00:50:16,580 --> 00:50:19,420
["The Last Supper"]

1104
00:50:21,320 --> 00:50:25,640
Well, thank you Chandler for putting that together

1105
00:50:25,640 --> 00:50:28,680
and for being willing to, courageous to get on there

1106
00:50:28,680 --> 00:50:30,880
and tell a little bit of your story.

1107
00:50:30,880 --> 00:50:32,820
And for all of us, in eight minutes,

1108
00:50:32,820 --> 00:50:34,720
we got to know a little bit more about Chandler

1109
00:50:34,720 --> 00:50:39,240
and Elisha and their journey that led them here

1110
00:50:39,240 --> 00:50:40,920
and God's faithfulness in their lives.

1111
00:50:40,920 --> 00:50:43,040
Imagine throughout the year hearing more and more

1112
00:50:43,040 --> 00:50:45,560
of those stories and just what it's gonna do for us

1113
00:50:45,560 --> 00:50:48,380
as a community of faith to be able to tell more

1114
00:50:48,380 --> 00:50:49,440
of what God has done.

1115
00:50:49,440 --> 00:50:52,260
So I just wanna remind you as we head on out

1116
00:50:52,260 --> 00:50:53,920
and we're gonna move into our time of communion

1117
00:50:53,920 --> 00:50:57,640
before we dismiss, but there is a wall out there for you

1118
00:50:57,640 --> 00:51:01,720
to mark out the year on those moments of grace

1119
00:51:01,720 --> 00:51:03,360
and use it, okay?

1120
00:51:03,360 --> 00:51:05,840
You fill it up for not just your encouragement

1121
00:51:05,840 --> 00:51:09,760
but for our encouragement to say what the Lord has done.

1122
00:51:09,760 --> 00:51:10,800
And then just be prepared.

1123
00:51:10,800 --> 00:51:13,160
If you are moved and you go,

1124
00:51:13,160 --> 00:51:15,840
right now the Lord is maybe moving on your heart

1125
00:51:15,840 --> 00:51:18,600
or you just know I have a story to tell

1126
00:51:18,600 --> 00:51:22,400
that would edify or build up the body

1127
00:51:22,400 --> 00:51:24,360
and I need to tell that story.

1128
00:51:24,360 --> 00:51:25,600
We wanna hear from you.

1129
00:51:25,600 --> 00:51:28,660
We have a text message set up.

1130
00:51:28,660 --> 00:51:30,400
Let's have that slide put up there.

1131
00:51:30,400 --> 00:51:32,520
If you want to tell your story,

1132
00:51:32,520 --> 00:51:37,360
and we have multiple ways we're gonna do that via video

1133
00:51:37,360 --> 00:51:40,440
like Chandler did there, but we also have the interviews

1134
00:51:40,440 --> 00:51:42,840
and even some articles that we're gonna put out.

1135
00:51:42,840 --> 00:51:43,920
And so it doesn't necessarily mean

1136
00:51:43,920 --> 00:51:45,380
you have to get behind a camera.

1137
00:51:45,380 --> 00:51:47,520
It just means we wanna hear your story.

1138
00:51:47,520 --> 00:51:50,400
If you wanna tell your story of God's grace

1139
00:51:50,400 --> 00:51:55,280
and text the word story to 818-1225.

1140
00:51:55,280 --> 00:51:58,640
818-1225, just text the word story

1141
00:51:58,640 --> 00:52:00,480
and we'll get in contact with you.

1142
00:52:00,480 --> 00:52:03,280
And we wanna begin to prepare that list

1143
00:52:03,280 --> 00:52:06,900
of folks who want to share what God has done in their lives.

1144
00:52:06,900 --> 00:52:09,600
If you receive the text message communication

1145
00:52:09,600 --> 00:52:12,360
from us already about upcoming events and stuff,

1146
00:52:12,360 --> 00:52:14,480
then you already have that number on your phone.

1147
00:52:14,480 --> 00:52:18,880
Just find that text message thread and reply to its story.

1148
00:52:18,880 --> 00:52:21,600
We want your name and we wanna get in contact with you

1149
00:52:21,600 --> 00:52:25,560
and start to discover your journey of faith.

1150
00:52:25,560 --> 00:52:27,400
And so go ahead and text that.

1151
00:52:28,300 --> 00:52:29,600
We're gonna move into our time of communion.

1152
00:52:29,600 --> 00:52:32,400
I'm gonna invite the worship team to come join on stage.