Restored 8th Birthday Celebration!

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Almighty God, [00:00:03] Speaker B: you welcome you. [00:00:06] Speaker C: Hey there. If you're new to Restored Church, we want to welcome you and thank you for tuning in. You're listening to a portion of our Sunday worship gathering. We believe the church is not an event, but a family you belong to. So we would love the opportunity to connect with you. If you want to learn more about our church or if we can help you in any way, please Visit our website, www.restoredtemecula.church and click on Contact. With all that said, we, we hope you enjoy the message. [00:00:35] Speaker D: Happy birthday. [00:00:40] Speaker B: Yeah, it's crazy. Just so many moments. It's hard not to kind of reflect as we think about, man, it's already been eight years. Holy smokes, I'm still alive. It's crazy. That was a joke. I'm not depressed or anything. Just pastoral ministry is filled with beauty and glory and also filled with danger. And so, yeah, I'm just so thankful to be here to celebrate with you guys this morning. So I walked in and something really cool happened. Yeah. Jack and Dan, Ruby, little boys, they come up to me and they have this big smile on their face. They're like, happy birthday. And I was like, oh, that's so sweet, you know, and then they handed me this bracelet. Yeah, dude got a gift. Pretty cool. And they handed me cards. And I think what's coolest about the whole interaction, one, super sweet. It was awesome. But I want to read you inside. One of those cards says this. It is good to give thanks to the Lord. Psalm 92, verse 1. And I'm like, those boys and their parents, they understand what today's about. It's all about, like, reflecting on the goodness of God. And not just like, okay, cool, move on to the next thing. But, like, it's actually really, really good to give thanks to him in the midst of it. If there's one thing I'm convinced of in the modern world, we are moving so fast through life. Our calendars can be so filled with a bunch of good stuff. Work and kids and school and responsibilities and all the things. But we can fly through life and. And the next thing you know, the goodness of God. The things that are worth celebrating, the major milestones, like, we can just kind of, like, kind of acknowledge them out of duty and then just keep moving. Do you know what I'm talking about? It's the sort of thing like where you go to a birthday party or something, you're like, oh, I gotta get a gift. And you make it quick. And then you kinda. [00:02:40] Speaker E: Okay, we did that. [00:02:40] Speaker B: Now onto the next thing you know, instead of, like, actually slowing down our pace enough to actually giving ourselves over to celebrating and feeling gratitude and thanksgiving for the grace of God in our lives. I don't know if you're anything. If you're anything like me. It can be difficult to do that in the midst of busyness in life. But I believe that this morning, we have so much to be thankful for. Friends, I don't say that as, like, a trite kind of saying, like, I'm not. I mean it when I say it. If you're in this room, regardless of where you are on your journey of following Jesus or getting integrated into his eternal family, the church, wherever you are on that spectrum, like, every single one of us have something in common, and that is we have so much to be thankful for, even in the midst of really hard, really difficult, really challenging things. I wanted to. I'm going to be very brief this morning because I want you to hear from everybody else. Will you pull up Philippians chapter 4, verse 8? I want to root our time in this beautiful verse. This is the Apostle Paul writing to a church in the city of Philippi, and he challenges them with something, and he's been challenging me, and I believe he wants to challenge us this morning with this. It says this. Finally, brothers and sisters, that's family language, right? Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure. How about this one? Whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable. If there's any moral excellence, if there's anything praiseworthy. Dwell on these things. There is a battle for your attention everywhere you look. And oftentimes the sources of trying to get your attention are trying to get your attention to dwell on things that aren't necessarily honorable, just pure, lovely, commendable, morally excellent, praiseworthy. You turn on the news, you turn. There's so much for us to be distracted, for us to negative things, awful things, painful things for us to dwell on. And I'm not. I'm not, like, advocating for that. Like, I don't know, being naive and totally dismissive of the brokenness in life. No, no, no. Life has contrast. It has highs and it has lows. However, I think one of the things that I feel specifically challenging in this season, as there's honestly quite a bit of hard things, is what Paul challenges the Philippian church with. Hey, dwell on the things that are lovely. Like, actually dwell on the things that are honorable. Dwell on the things that are commendable. You're gonna hear some stories this morning that are beautiful. They're Wonderful. They point to a wonderful, beautiful savior, Jesus, and what he's doing with his people and the process, the story that he's writing. We're in the middle of this story. We're eight years in for our unique context, our unique local church. But I just wanna invite you this morning. There's a whole lot of stuff that we could give our attention to. There's a whole lot of things that we can dwell on. But I want to encourage you with the same thing that Paul encourages the church in Philippi with. Dwell on the beautiful things. Dwell on the honorable things. Dwell on the lovely things. You're going to get some examples this morning. You're going to get some wonderful stories of what God is doing, has done. And hopefully it will inspire you to some of the things that he wants to do in and through you. Because if there's one thing I'm certain of in experiencing in the life of this church, God has plans for your life that will blow you away if you say yes to them, if you invite him in, his leadership and his lordship, to the degree that you're willing to do that, it's to the degree that he will unleash you and release you onto an incredible adventure, the story that he's writing. And that's for all of us. Can I get an amen? [00:06:45] Speaker F: All right. [00:06:46] Speaker B: So that being said, I'm gonna pray for us really, really quickly. I'm gonna invite God's spirit because I think he wants to touch your heart through some of these testimonies. And then I'm gonna invite Herrick up and he's gonna emcee this. Okay? So let's pray together. Father, we celebrate you this morning. We genuinely love each other because you've loved us first. This church is a miracle. I love what Mark said earlier. He said, eight years ago, this church was eight people. But look at what you've done. You've brought us together with you at the center, and you've been ministering to us and growing us and shaping us and challenging us and convicting us and helping us and leading us and really saving us this whole time. And so right now, Lord, we want to open our hearts. We want you to speak to us through the testimonies of our brothers and sisters this morning. And I pray that you'd give us a glimpse, maybe. I think the sense that I get, Lord, is that you desire to kind of fill our hope cup this morning. Hope for the future. Hope for what lies ahead, not just for us corporately and communally, as a church. But even for our households, and even for us as an individual, I thank you that you never leave us, you never forsake us. And I thank you that you really, truly are writing a beautiful story. Show us Jesus through each other, we pray. And all God's people said amen. Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only Herik Berger. [00:08:25] Speaker G: Awesome. [00:08:26] Speaker C: Thanks, Tom. Okay, so we have a group of speakers that are going to be sharing today that I'm really excited to present to you. And before we do, I just want to quickly say that there's been a lot of hard work that's gone in to this moment. As you can imagine, getting up here and sharing is already. I think the number one fear people have besides dying is actually stepping in. It may just, like, ride. Some people may just be like, I prefer death than do this. And so I want to take a minute just to honor all the people that are going to be sharing because what they're doing is really hard. And it's not just on anything. It's opening up their lives to the church, their lives to you and to guests. If you're new, we're really glad that you're here. What you're going to be hearing are family stories about what Jesus has been doing, what he is doing, what he has been doing. And this is a time, I think, to really encourage us. So with that said, I just want to encourage you guys to really honor everybody as they come up, because what they've done here is really courageous. If I can, I'd like to call up our first speakers. Batting leadoff, David. Becca Schmitz. [00:09:41] Speaker G: Yeah. [00:09:45] Speaker C: And their story, I think, has a really specific element to this. If you've ever walked through a season of change and wondered, where do we belong now? Where do I belong? Where do we belong? I think their story might just meet you in a tender space. So, Dave and Becca, whenever you're ready. [00:10:06] Speaker H: Thank you. I'm Becca and I am Dave. It's truly an honor to share and to kind of add our gratitude to all the other stories that we're going to hear. So thank you guys for inviting us to do this. I'm going to start our story, and Dave's going to kind of wrap it up. But our family moved here about seven years ago from New England, and we were obeying God. We had felt like God really spoke to us to come out here, and it's been nothing but good fruit. However, following God is not always easy, and it does come with losses. And for us, one of the major losses was relationships. And I had grown up in New England my whole life, and I jokingly say that no one ever leaves New England. For those who have watched Good Will Hunting, I think that's a really good example, because he's from Boston, and his girlfriend's like, come move out to California with me. And he's like, I can't. And she's like, why? And he's like, because I live here. And so that's very much the kind of the theme. And so it was a really big deal for us and our families to move us. Like, it was a big deal for my family and our families to say bye. And of course, thank God for zoom and all the good things that we stay connected. But still, it was a hard transition. And in that season, I realized there were a lot of things that I had taken for granted, especially in relationship. When you grow up somewhere, you know, thousands of people, that's just the reality, right? You have family, friends, relatives, your parents, friends, your cousins, your whatnot. Right? And we had been in ministry together, pastoring a church for over 18 years. And so just all the ministry relationships that we had there. And so it was a shock to me. And God loved us, really. Well, we had some of our family moved out with us, which was like. We moved together, I should say. And it was. That is precious. And we have a sister church to our New England church up in Lake Elsinore that also loved us really well. But in this whole journey, especially for my kids, we just still felt that sense of loss, of community, of relationships. And there was a surprise in our life. We got pregnant with Noah, which we credit Micah for that, because he was praying for a brother. And we were like, no, 100%, no. But we made the mistake of saying, pray. And I was thinking, the Lord will give you. I was thinking, the Lord will give you like a big brother, like a mentor, you know, that's 100% where my mind was going, typically. [00:12:59] Speaker E: Good advice. [00:13:00] Speaker H: Yeah, it is good advice. And, no, we're so thankful. But it was a surprise and a shock. And having just left kind of our whole network, it was a harder journey. Right. And kind of a unique part of our story is that I've always homeschooled my kids, and. But when I found out I was having a baby, I was just like. And I wasn't prepared. I was kind of like, on the other end of that. I was in despair, I think is maybe fair of the idea of having a new child and trying to homeschool. And for us, just some of the Uniquenesses of California. There was no option available to us. And I was crying out to God and literally, and I was like, maybe this is it. Maybe this. We just need to go back home, because, like, I just can't foresee me being able to. To homeschool in this season. And so I was really praying about that. At the same time, we had been participating in Loving, a church up in Costa Mesa that many of you know, called Genesis, and led by Chris Vinon and his team up there. And they're amazing. And we were thinking, this is silly that we're driving an hour and a half, two to three times a week with all these kids. We bought a minivan just to, like, make it more enjoyable, right? And we thought, we need to move up there if we're going to really participate. So we started, and it was like every door was closed, closed, closed, closed. And it was really discouraging. So me and Dave were like, let's just stop talking about it, stop thinking about it for a couple weeks, and let's just pray and ask God what we should do. And in that time, when we came back together, we felt like God said, stay here. And, you know, we had been ministering in more traditional church, but we had this idea in our hearts of wanting to try house church. And we both felt like the Lord was like, why don't you put your hand to that? Why don't you try what's in your heart? And so we were like, okay, we're staying in Temecula. We're going to try house church. So Chris introduced us to Tom and Ebony, and they so sweetly came to our home, and we had lunch together. They were amazing, encouraging, supportive. They definitely were honest and were like, we don't think house church is a good choice for Temecula. But we still did it. But they were really awesome. [00:15:18] Speaker I: Thank you. [00:15:19] Speaker E: But we're going to do it anyhow. [00:15:22] Speaker H: We appreciated that you. In hindsight, it's just always amazing to have people who are honest. That's the reality. But yet still supportive, right? And so just off, like, completely separate from just talking about church and church planting and whatnot, Ebony received a phone call while we were there and came back to the table and said, sorry, my kids, they're in this thing called a pod. Da, da, da. And I was like, oh, what's a pod? You know? And so she explained to me about the pod, the Temecula learning pod. And I was like, every light in my mind went off, and I was like, oh, my God, maybe this is It. I was like, who runs this? How can I get in touch with them? And it took a little bit to get Jen's information. I feel like I harassed Ebony. I was hunting on Facebook. I'm like, who is this Jen who runs Temecula Pods? I was trying to stalk her until I heard back from Ebony and she got me Jen's number. But I mean, that is just. It may seem small, like, oh, great, your kid found a good school that works for them, but it's not. I don't know if anybody remembers. [00:16:22] Speaker J: What's that? [00:16:22] Speaker H: Enter the worship circle. I'm looking at you because I know you don't like them, but they have a song. They have a song that I posted this morning because I just was reminded of it. I love it. It said, many people feel the rain and they turn to think the clouds. And then they say, but I will not forget. And they're talking about the Lord, and it's just like. Also, you know, James talks about every good and perfect gift comes from God. So I think my experience of loss was preparing me. You know, just one more verse, throwing it in there. I'm not trying to pack it in. But it talks about how the pure in heart can see God. And I always kind of thought that was one way. Like, oh, as soon as I'm pure, I'll finally, like, meet God, right? And the Lord showed me a little bit ago. It's not. It's like when we have a pure heart, we actually see God working, right? Like, when we've submitted our heart. That's what purity is like. We have Christ in us. And so it's like my eyes were open. The losses allowed my eyes to be open, to be grateful for every good and perfect gift. And so the pods have been like. I mean, I've told Jen every card. I'm like, you are like my hero. But the pods have been, for us, such a gift from God. And, like, who could have. Who could have organized that? Like, just a phone call while we were meeting for lunch, and she set me up with Jen, and it opened up so such a huge channel of blessing to our family. And more importantly, like, God answered my prayer. And for times where it feels like God doesn't answer prayer or we have to wait or whatnot, it's like I'm just testifying. Like, God answers our prayers and God answered even a small one, like, God, I don't think I can do this. Please open another door. And he did it. And then from there, I probably will pass it over to You. Because I'm talking a lot here, but, I mean, I can finish. But from there, finish my one thought. Sorry, almost. I will allow you to speak from there. Like, we decided to come visit Restored that Sunday. We hadn't, like, launched our house church. And so we walked in and the first person to greet us was Dorian and incredibly welcoming. And just before that, and who could have known? But just before that, I had been emailing again, because Genesis was so far, we had some community up there, but it wasn't on the daily. And I had just been again, my kids lost. They lost, like, their family. They lost their community. Like, the people they were. They were born into a family. We were part of this ministry team before they were born and all the way, you know, till moving here. So they really felt the loss and always holding them before God. And I mean, who can testify to this? But God cares about my kids more than I do, and he proves that to me over and over again. And I had been emailing churches in the area, like, do you have a youth group? Can my kid just randomly go to it, or do we have to be members? I didn't know what it was like around here, and just nothing had come through, right? But that week, Dorian introduced himself to Micah. He sat with Micah. I mean, he sat with all of us, but, like, next to Micah. And he invited him to youth group. And again, like, the rest is history in some ways, in so many ways, over and over. [00:19:36] Speaker F: And. [00:19:36] Speaker H: And you can come have tea at my house, and I can tell you all the details if you want. But over and over again, God provided for my kids, like, with community, with support, with friends, with love, you know, with belonging. And this is just precious. And I thought many times, like, everyone I meet from Restored is a beautiful person and has, like, a beautiful testimony. And that is such a testament to God when you attract such beautiful people who love so well. And that's how it was for us. And one more. When we walked into Restored that day, JL had been taking gymnastics and had met Chloe at gymnastics and had been like, can we get together? Can we? They didn't have phones back then, but, like, what if her mom? And blah, blah, blah. And I was like, I don't know, hon. Like, that's a lot. I don't know. But when we walked in that day, Chloe was there in Sunday school. It was just like, God organized all these little pieces and has blessed our family insanely. All the moms that reached out to me when my kids were starting to become friends with their Kids and had tea or listened to our story or invited me into the homeschool group. Just insanely blessed. I feel like I could act like I'm getting an Oscar and be like, I want to thank this person and this person, this person, because I have a list. But in general, just so thankful to God for all the ways that you guys have loved us and my kids and yeah, gave us a space to be loved and belong and actually watch God do something beautiful in our kids lives and yeah, in the community. [00:21:05] Speaker E: Yeah, we, we mean that sincerely in the sense like, you know, God can speak to us individually, right. And meet us just on our own. Him, him and us. And that is so big a part of our lives. But he so often meets us through people, you know, and we just do not take that for granted for a second. You know, just the beauty of God reaching to us in loneliness, in states of uncertainty, maybe missed expectations, you know, and God reaching to us and saying, hey, I'm here. And it's often coming through, people coming through these little things. And so like, we've tried to always be good about just mapping out and reflecting on all the ways, all the little things. It's like that scripture, you know, it's this gratitude, you know, we were talking to our oldest last night. Just, just make a list, man, of [00:21:59] Speaker B: just all the little things. [00:22:01] Speaker E: Because your heart, when it's full of gratitude, is full of grace and that will get you through, that will carry you on when you're discouraged and disheartened, you know. And so in the spirit of that, hopefully that's what's happening, you know, Herrick asked us and I almost said no, not because I don't want to share, like God's good, you know, But I think it was. I was just thinking back. One of the questions on the doc that he sent us was testify about what Jesus has done this past year. And like, honestly, it's been a season this past seven years, particularly since we moved out here, where he's just looked different to me than he did in previous chapters of life. You know, we've been thinking and talking. I've been reflecting a lot since Tom preached on Road to Emmaus about just the disciples and interactions with Jesus after he rises from the dead and really encouraged by all these times where he's there and they have no idea, like, they have no idea that he's literally just standing there. The one I was in this week, you know, the road to Emmaus, they have no idea they're talking to him. He's on the seashore when they're out fishing. They went back to their thing, you know, because they're disheartened, they're discouraged, and he's on. They don't know it's him, you know? And then this one I've been in this week was just, you know, we know the doubting Thomas story, but they're [00:23:26] Speaker B: all in a room. [00:23:28] Speaker E: They lock the doors, it says. Cause they're afraid. They're probably afraid they're gonna come get nabbed themselves. You know, they're afraid. And then it just says, Jesus came and he stood in their midst. And it doesn't say this, but my imagination is like, I bet you he was probably just there for a while before they even realized it. I'm just guessing just based on the other stories, too. Like, he's so often kind of there, and they don't realize it. And just in that pattern of things, it's like, he was there. He was there, like, in a different way. He's got a glorified body, but he's the same Jesus, you know? And that has been my experience with him lately. And one where it's like, man, it's. It's different this chapter and stage. But that's the journey that we're on, guys. Like, this adventure of knowing him in a new way, in the next way, and they. They don't realize it. Like, the disciples are discouraged. They're afraid. [00:24:23] Speaker B: They're. [00:24:23] Speaker E: You know, they don't. They don't get it. Jesus had said some crazy thing to them, like, hey, it's really good that I leave you. I go away. This was the most ridiculous thing Jesus could say, right? But it's because something's coming that's better. Not just me with you, but the spirit in you. And they have no idea Pentecost is coming. I'm preaching. I'm sorry, but I'm just saying there's something ahead. And if I could just boldly say that, too, to all of us, it's like, guys, he's faithful. He's there. He's present with you in the good or the bad. Like, it's CS Lewis who said, like, he whispers in our pleasure and he shouts in our pain, but he's always speaking. He's always speaking. It's just like, okay, what is it right now? You're speaking. I want to listen. I want to be in that posture. I can hear. Because you have the words of eternal life. You're taking us, and we believe that. I want to speak disgrace over this Church, particularly, you know, the seven, eight years, who knows? It's, you know, who knows what's ahead? Good, bad, and ugly guys, but the grace of God to it. Let the Lord build it. Let the Lord work with each and all of us. So that's probably over 10 minutes. [00:25:54] Speaker C: A heart of gratitude is full of grace. How about that one? And I think that that was just a moment. Maybe you're here and if you're honest with yourself, you're kind of like man. One thing I don't necessarily feel is gracious or full of gratitude. And to you, I might just say that maybe it's time to start counting. It might just be time to start counting and see what happens. Now. What stood out to me about their story as well, in addition to that moment, is just how Jesus often uses just simple acts of love. A conversation, an invitation. For some of you who are new, you're like, they threw out various names. You don't know who they are. They're people in our church. Some of them are staff. Jen's a member of our church who courageously followed Jesus into this pod. Like the story of the pods, why it's for others. And so Jesus often uses simple acts of love and obedience to help people know they have a place. Some of you in this room probably know what it feels like to be new. Maybe you are new. Maybe you're tired from change or maybe you're unsure, where does my family fit in all this? Maybe the Schmitz's story can give you hope that Jesus can make a place for you here in his family, in the church. And for those of you who are already rooted here, maybe it just is a reminder of how much a simple welcome can matter to a family. So you might want to let that sit with you today. Batting second, Sebastian and Ricardo, come on [00:27:39] Speaker A: up to the front. [00:27:49] Speaker C: So cool, you guys, so excited for this. Sometimes as I kind of set them up, sometimes following Jesus touches places in our family story that we didn't expect. Sebastian and Ricardo are going to share about that this morning. Whenever you guys are ready. [00:28:12] Speaker K: Thank you. I'll go first and then Sebastian. We both have actually separate stories. Honestly, we're probably one of the newest families. I still feel that way. It's been about two years now. Over two years. But I still feel like the newest families. But I think the reason why is because the Lord is renewing a lot within our household. [00:28:39] Speaker C: Right. [00:28:40] Speaker K: And I'm embracing it, which I was not doing before, you know, my story particularly, that I wanted to share. And there's so many, I think, honestly, that I wish even Cindy and Samantha, my wife and my daughter, will be able to share some point as well to their own, because he's working on us individually. This past year has been a year of growth for me, not only through our family, but also in my faith and relationships. For the last six years, I had not spoken to my mom. We had a really bad fallout, you know, where honestly, we did not even have any contact. We did not want to have anything to do with each other. There was a hurtful things that happened between us. Right. And I'm sure you guys all know a lot of it happens a lot within our immediate families. And this one was big because my mom was really my best friend growing up. You know, I see the relationship between Sebastian and Cindy, my wife, and how close they are and how he's open to talk to her. That was me, my mom. And to have this fallout of six years, it really hurt me. But it was something I needed to do because there's definitely a lot of hurt within me, my wife, and even our house. And so it was a really hard decision to make that we needed to make that separation. But as I'm learning more and more about how Jesus walked here in our earth, he also had separation. He took some time away from people, even his own disciples. And I'm learning that it's okay sometimes to take some separation but not hold a grudge. And one of the biggest things that ended up happening within me was that he started healing me first. [00:30:40] Speaker C: Right. [00:30:41] Speaker K: I started getting healed, and that softened my heart enough to really see that there was something missing, and that was my relationship with my mom. But not only did it break a relationship with my mom, but it broke a relationship with my brother and sister as well. Right. So there's a lot more impact on it. But even deeper than that, it actually broke a relationship based on my decision that my kids left that family as well, not only me. So what really came into light was actually seeing my kids also growing up with not having their grandmother, not having their cousins and siblings, and how it hurt them as well. Samantha would come to me just occasionally, sometimes, and honestly, just crying, saying, when am I going to see grandma again? When am I going to see my cousins again? And as a parent, you know, sometimes we're just kind of like, hey, well, you don't understand. You don't know. Right? But I think God was working in me such a way where he actually let me hear different version of that cry of saying, you know what God is speaking to me here and saying, I need to heal somewhere. I need to heal this relationship within time. Hearing that from our kids, Sebastian Samantha, asking Cindy also came to me and said, hey, you really need to, you know, really rekindle this. You need to do something about this relationship. And one of the things that really hurt me was like, I mentioned Sebastian and I. I mean, Sebastian has a great relationship with his mom. And honestly, I praise God that he has a good relationship with me. And we looked in the mirror and said, I wouldn't want this to repeat itself again, right? And I feel that that was the Lord speaking to us. Right? Honestly, I do feel that there was that guidance with it. So we really had a discussion, how would that look like and what I need to do. So again, it came down to me coming here, asking for prayer, which is really hard to do if you guys know me and those that you have learned to get to know me. I'm not a man that comes in and just kind of spills my guts on what I'm doing right now. [00:32:58] Speaker C: But, [00:33:00] Speaker K: you know, but I came and asked for prayer, asked for help, and within prayer, I got guidance. And I appreciate everyone that really has done that with me. And it's really helped me out a lot. Instead of ignoring the feeling that something needed to change, I started doing something more and putting that on the Lord before coming to restored. I want to add that for me, it was really hard to actually kneel down to belief and faith. I couldn't. You know, I had this distance between the Lord, God, the belief. But being able to now do that has really changed that in. So I took that leap of faith and actually spoken and actually had a meeting with my mom. You know, I prayed and I remember that we set up a time to go ahead and meet somewhere. At a coffee shop, there was a pillar and I saw my mom coming. I hide right behind the pillar. I did this actually as a grown man, you know, but you know what I did? I went behind that pillar to actually talk to the Lord, something I never really did and have a relationship with him. And I prayed to him and I said, God, please help us have this good relationship, good communication right now. Do not let it lead into an argument. Do not let it lead into actually a more of a broken relationship. Please help me heal and let her heal. And I'm leaving it to you. I'm leaving it to you. I've never have done that ever before. We saw each other, we hugged each other. Long story short, the conversation ended up being that how. Actually, I wasn't even expecting an apology because that was my biggest thing. I needed an apology, but I learned that I didn't need that anymore. I came to apologize. I came to go ahead and rekindle things. She apologized, I apologized. Things went a lot better than I ever expected. So, you know, it's just a lesson of it, you know, it's. As of three months ago now, you know, we've actually started this relationship and actually she came for Easter here and can visit. [00:35:19] Speaker E: So that was. [00:35:21] Speaker K: That was amazing. And I think honestly, it was a great gift because she got to see where I was working in myself and she got to see you all, you know, and. And honestly, coming here to restore, I lost a whole half side of my family before coming to restore, I apologize, but so before coming to restore, I lost a whole half of family, but coming here, I gained so much. You guys know who you are as well, and you guys have been amazing. Even a lot of you that just have been mutual high and bys. It's been. It's meaningful for me because we have a great relationship, great family here. But now this family has helped me restored my other half of family that's been missing. So I thank you. Thank you. Now I'll leave it to Sebastian to go ahead and share his. That's his story. Thank you. [00:36:29] Speaker F: You guys may know me, Sebastian. And ever since I first went into restored, kind of just like clicked. Like, my best friend has sinned. He came up to me and he said hi. Yeah, it was like, for me, it was like, like, yeah, for me, it was like the President saying hi to me. It was like, yeah. And him and I just got along ever since and so many other people came into my life and. Yeah, I just feel like, really blessed because. Yeah, in la, it wasn't really like that. It was more like, yeah, you're either like either really popular and bullying the other kids or you're the other kids. And it was kind of like that kind of relationship. And I didn't expect anything in here. I was just. Yeah, we weren't even expecting to go into Restore. We were just looking for churches and my mom just said we should go in this one because my sister would be able to get into the. The thing where kids go. Yeah, I don't know, but that they'd be able to go there and my sister wouldn't have to be bored the whole time. And so we just went here as a first option. And me personally, I was expecting to just go to this church and then go to the next one. But when I first came in, it was. It was really. Yeah, it was really special. And after that, I felt more and more comfortable every day coming. And now I feel like I have a whole community and family. And it was kind of hard moving here as well, because my family, my. Well, as you heard from my dad's side, I wouldn't see them very often. Last time I've probably seen my cousins and my aunt. It was probably like six years ago. And the saddest part is that I keep on remembering the word that they say. We had a sleepover and then we're leaving. And then they said, okay, I'll see you soon. And they weren't planning to see each other. We're planning on seeing each other on Christmas. And they said, I'll see you soon. And then we. I haven't seen them ever since, so it's just really hard. And I've been praying and praying, but. I don't know, I just hope that my relationship gets better with them and that we will be seeing each other soon. But my cousin Julene, or we call her Jojo, she. She's probably like the only person on my dad's side other than my grandma, just recently that. That I've been in touch with and she's been calling and stuff, but really, she's not really. She wasn't allowed to be with my dad and I, with us and our family. She never was. But when she got her car, she drove here and we had a dinner together, and it was really special. And now she calls every now and then, and she calls on his birthday and our birthdays. Really special. And, yeah, this church has been really helpful. And especially on moving for me, going from Catholic to Christianity, it was really hard for me to choose because it was like. It was like a. It was like a religion that I've been with my whole life, with all the traditions and all the saints and sacraments and everything. It was really hard to leave. And I didn't know how my family would deal with it. My relatives, I didn't know how they'd take that. And, yeah, it was just really hard. But I had some people like Herrick and Dorian, they really helped me out. And they talked to me and told me about their story and how they took it and what they did with it, and they gave me advice, and it made me feel, like, really loved by God and my family and my community, and it really helped me out on getting to this point. And when I was baptized, I felt like I was Reborn. And it was a new me. And yeah, it's just. It was just really special. And I'm really glad for this church. And I feel like this is, like, the only place where I could actually be like, really comfortable with anything. Like, this is probably, like, the safest place I have right now in the whole world because I have my family with me, I have my closest friends, and, yeah, she's really special. [00:42:24] Speaker G: That was beautiful. [00:42:25] Speaker C: Thank you, [00:42:27] Speaker E: church. [00:42:28] Speaker C: In their stories, we see that Jesus doesn't just meet individuals. He can bring healing and new life to an entire family. For some of us, that next step with Jesus feels complicated because family history, pain and fear, they're all tangled up in it. And I love this story because on the one hand, you see this process, right? It wasn't all immediately. It wasn't all right away. It's a process. You don't have to untangle everything in a day. And I love their honesty that it's still unfolding. It's not done. And so maybe today it's just for some of you who resonate with that, maybe there's just one step that Jesus is beginning to make clear for you that he might have you take today. So thank you, Sebastian. Ricardo, it's beautiful. Batting third, Ty and Courtney, come on up to the front. If you were here last year, Ty shared part of his story with us, which is really special, and we've asked him and Courtney to update us because Jesus has continued to unfold this story in really beautiful ways. So whenever you guys are ready. [00:43:52] Speaker D: Good morning. I have this paper that I'm going to read. Normally, I don't. I like to come off cuff, but I was advised by both my wife and Eric and Tom to kind of be a little bit more structured. But I'm going to do what I'm not supposed to do a little bit. Because this morning as I walk, listen to some of the other speakers, I kind of realized something, that we're all connected in a really cool way. Dave and Becca, Dave and I. Where are you, Dave? We used to try to kill each other on the mats years ago. [00:44:32] Speaker I: Doing jujitsu. [00:44:33] Speaker D: Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We used to fight each other on the mats. And when I saw him, I think when they started coming here, I was like, man, I was so excited that they were here. And it bring a lot of joy to me. And then Ricardo and his son, Ricardo, I went on the men's trip, a camping trip, and met him, got a little bit closer with him, and we had a lot of good conversations. And I told him that I'd like to see if he'd join me in doing some stuff that I'm doing at work. And he agreed. And then some months later, I invited him. And he, out of the goodness of his heart and trying to serve Jesus, he came with me and did a panel about a really important topic that we have going on right now, and he knocked it out the park. We were talking to a bunch of college prep kids in Encinitas, and he just. Man, it meant so much to me that he came with me and did that. And then I don't want to do Herrick's job and kind of get ahead of myself. But the two amazing gentlemen that are. That are coming after Courtney and I, I've had some really good, deep conversations with them as well. And so I'm starting to notice that, like, you know, Jen was already mentioned when Becca was talking about her, and I'm very close to that family now. And it's just. This is crazy. Like. All right, so back to the paper. Okay. Okay. So I'm Tyrone Ellis. This is my wife, Courtney. It's gonna be hard for me to hold this and read it because I had a lot of coffee, but we've been attending Restore Church for about a year and a half now. It took me a while to get comfortable with the idea of being a part of a church family, but During Easter of 2025, God sent me on a journey that changed my entire life. This event had a huge impact on my faith, and ever since, I've been seeking Jesus, and he has been showing up in some really amazing ways. This year has been filled with many God moments, But for sake of time that I just destroyed with that first off the cuff part, we're going to summarize this up in three different categories. Learning to give glory to God, the importance of community, and pressing into God's calling. So the first part, giving glory to God. Glory to God. I've heard this. I think a lot of us hear this all the time with, like, athletes or famous people. And it just never really hit me that hard until what I'm about to read. This is weird for reading stuff. Okay, so many of you guys know, last year, Ethan Youngquist experienced what I consider to be an Acts 5, 18, 18, 20 moment, which says that they arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during the night and brought them out. And he said, go and stand in the temple and tell the people about this life. Ethan was serving on a mission trip in Mexico doing amazing things and what he should have been doing, and I wasn't at the time. And so while trying to return from Mexico, he was arrested and put in jail. In a crazy string of events. I was put in touch with his family and was part of a team of people that worked on getting him out. I was given a lot of credit for helping him get released. And for the first time, I was struggling to accept the kind of praise or pat on the back because I felt that it wasn't me, that it was God. The power wasn't me. The power was coming from the Holy Spirit working through me or through the church. I'm sorry, was working through the church. There was a lot of people involved, a lot of prayer from the church, just like a lot of people that were just doing it the right way. And so me getting any type of praise for that was just for the first time in my life, because I normally like when people are like, you did this great thing. But for this time, it just. It was. It didn't feel right. So the power was in the Holy Spirit working through the church. The power was in listening to the Holy Spirit, Spirit as he was guiding me through my next steps. The power was in the fact that I was speaking to him, to the Lord, and he was speaking back to me. Yeah, I've heard him more clear than I ever have in my entire life. Until this event, I didn't really understand what it meant when people said, glory to God, but I. But I know now, Ephesians 3, 2021 expresses that God is capable of doing far more than we can ask him or that we can imagine through his power that works within us. And then at the end, it concludes with a call to give glory to God in the church and in Christ Jesus for all generations. Amen. So I can. That's something that just now, when I think about that and Mark earlier was kind of talking about that he said, glory to God. And it just hit me even different when he said it there. It means so much more to me, and I really have a better understanding of what those words mean. Glory to God. So [00:49:37] Speaker I: I'm definitely just gonna stare at my paper and read because I don't like to talk off. Okay, so the next one is the gift of community. So after that Easter event, both Ty and I, we were all in on God and the church, and we were just hungry to dive in. So we took the next steps and joined an intro to GC Johnston GC, where you our crew connected very quickly and have already shared many vulnerable moments with one another. A strong sense of community started early on. And I don't want to brag, but we started doing the things that you learn how to do in the blue book. Before we got to that chapter in the blue book, we were praying hard for one another. We opened up and shared our true selves, and we really became a family. Every one of us in the intro committed to moving forward and becoming members. Things were going so good, but then we walked through a really hard moment that surprised us and left us hurting. But even amidst the struggle, we remained anchored to God's word. And we were able to come out of it feeling kind of encouraged, Actually really encouraged because we knew that God was with us in our meetings on Wednesday nights. He was softening our hearts and we were letting him in. And he was doing work in us and through us. And the devil was threatened by us, by the Holy Spirit. He attacked our group and it was painful. But while walking in the fire, our faith grew, our dependence on God grew, our need to press into his word for clarity grew, and our ability to hold each other accountable and love each other through disagreements grew, which is a really hard thing to do. God calls us to live in community, and it really is a true blessing in both the good times and the hard times. And we are so thankful for our GC crew. [00:51:45] Speaker D: Yeah. Amen for that. [00:51:46] Speaker B: Good job. [00:51:48] Speaker D: The third part is God's calling. In addition to feeling called to get more involved in church community, God also put it on my heart to explore becoming a chaplain. Being in law enforcement, I know there's some law enforcement that belong to this church and that do a great job outside of church, in the real world, in the, in the, in the world that we live in, which is dark. But being in law enforcement, I am surrounded by a lot of hurting people. I was starting to recognize that a lot of this hurt could be relieved if people knew about the good news. If people knew about the good news. At this time, I was serving as a use of force instructor and I started sneaking in some sermon esque vibes during my classes, which, when you work for the federal government, I think that's like frowned upon. But I obviously, yeah, it doesn't matter. That doesn't matter to me. So I started sneaking in these things in my classes and the agents were actually responding to it really well. They would come up to me after class and we would have long discussions, sometimes for up to two hours, about our purpose, morals, failures, fears, regrets, Et cetera. Lots of different things. It was in these moments that I felt God was calling me to step into chaplaincy, something I never thought I would do before. After much prayer, I decided to pursue it. And in January, I became a chaplain. Yeah, thanks. Yeah. Praise Jesus. Thank you. In addition, I was offered and took the position of community liaison, which. What a fun time for that, right? The purpose of this position is to break tension, resolve conflict, and foster relationships within the community so that we can serve them better. Social media makes this all very complicated, but I'm learning that neither AI nor the algorithms of Instagram are a match for the Holy Spirit. And he's got. And he's got my back. So praise Jesus. I'm grateful for that. I'm excited to see what God has in store for us going forward. And I will continue to spread his message whenever and wherever I have the opportunity. And so thank you guys so much. Everybody at this church is so loving. It's already been mentioned, but, man, this is different. This church is really different. And we just love our gc. We love all the people that belong to this church. Anybody that is newer here, stick around. Thank you, [00:54:34] Speaker G: Diane. [00:54:35] Speaker C: Cordy. That was so encouraging. So many parts to that that were so encouraging. I think two things really stood out to me. One, deciding to join a gospel community, which are groups of people that are following Jesus together in this church, is both exciting and perilous. [00:54:57] Speaker G: Both are true. [00:54:58] Speaker C: And if you hang around long enough, you're going to experience the highs and the lows in community. What I love about what Courtney said is that God can use that and transform that in a way that actually deepens your relationship with him and puts you in a community that can withstand storms. So if you are here today and you are not connected to a local church, you're not connected to a community, maybe you're here. You've been hanging out with us for. You really want to encourage you. We're going to start talking in the future about the next intro to Gospel Community. It's really the on ramp into a church community beyond Sundays in this particular church. And I just want to encourage you. Like, this might be part of how God is wooing you is to remind you that he has. Who grows when things are easy. Anybody lack of imagine just doesn't matter. Not gonna get a screen. Smooth seas don't make for a skilled sailor. [00:56:00] Speaker D: Right? [00:56:00] Speaker C: That whole. That old phrase. You guys know what I'm talking about. God may have that for you, and it may involve beauty and brokenness, but as we behold him and grab ahold of him. He can change us and transform us. And then for Ty, man, Jesus uses our gifts and our relationships and our work to bless others. And he may just have you right where he wants you to bless people. So I just want to encourage you if that resonated with you. What if God has you there for a reason? What if he has other people that he wants to touch and reach? That's been a theme today. Jen. Jen with her work. Ty with his work. He's up to things. Batting fourth and last up in the RBI position. This is a baseball deep dive. Don't need to get into it. Can I have Randy and Trey up in the front? [00:57:09] Speaker G: Thanks, guys. [00:57:23] Speaker A: Here you go, brother. [00:57:25] Speaker C: You guys can have a seat. Over the past several months, I've had the privilege of walking with Randy and Trey, and Jesus has been meeting them in deeply personal ways. Can you guys see me over here? I'm going to move the plant. Oh, it's heavy. [00:57:49] Speaker G: Thanks. [00:57:52] Speaker C: Can you see me now? [00:57:54] Speaker G: Cool. [00:57:56] Speaker C: And so I'm really grateful for them to share what's been going on. We'll start with you, Randy. Randy, as you kind of look back on your life before this recent season, what words or pictures kind of come to mind for you? Yeah, slide it until it turns green there. [00:58:21] Speaker A: If you can imagine a guy stuck on a boat with no rudder and no anchor and just being pushed by the current, wherever the current was going, that's where I was going to end up. And I've spent literally decades, business failures, troubled relationships, a lot of serious health issues with family members and those of my own. And I've had some bad habits that caused some pain and. Destructive habits that to those closest to me, just unexcusable and unacceptable. And I spent a lot of time feeling alone and disconnected from my family and lost a lot of friends in the. In the process. [00:59:36] Speaker C: What first led you to start attending Sundays here with us at Restored? [00:59:43] Speaker A: Well, this is an easy one. My daughter Liz and Rob married, and they were already members here at Restored. And selfishly, I approached Liz and said I'd like to give it a shot at Restored and start going with y'. [01:00:08] Speaker D: All. [01:00:08] Speaker A: And my reasoning for that was I wanted to spend more time with them and hopefully at some point, maybe be a positive influence or on my grandkids. And so she encouraged me and I started coming. It got interrupted a few times by various things, but it's going on six years. [01:00:37] Speaker G: Awesome. [01:00:44] Speaker C: So, Randy, as you kept showing up and began building some rhythms in your life, even Daily rhythms as well. Alongside kind of being here on Sundays, you started building this kind of life with God. What started happening in you? [01:01:00] Speaker A: Well, Liz and Rob gave me a study Bible and a daily strength devotional that sort of explained various readings on a daily basis. And also I had received from Elizabeth a prayer devotional. So I didn't get into it right away, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. The more I read, the more I wanted to read, the more I learned, the more I wanted to learn. So every morning at 5 o', clock, I go to my phone and I read the Eat and Sleep messages through the. [01:01:44] Speaker C: Sometimes they feel like eat and sleep, depending on what part of the Bible you're in. [01:01:47] Speaker B: Eat and sleep. [01:01:48] Speaker A: Yeah, that's me. I get up, eat. [01:01:52] Speaker B: Leviticus, Chapter three. [01:01:56] Speaker C: You guys don't know what we're talking about. [01:01:57] Speaker A: Speak. [01:01:58] Speaker C: It's a daily Bible. It's our Bible reading tool for our church called Eat and Speak. But yeah, let's be real here. Leviticus is a thing that's typical me and I'm. [01:02:10] Speaker A: If there's a way to mess it up, I'm gonna find anything. But I'd pick up that study Bible and that daily devotional and I'd start reading and then I'd end with the prayer devotional. And every day for three years, I've been. I do it every morning. I knew. Let's back up a second. I knew that I had to fill my head with some good stuff. I spent 72 years going in the wrong direction. And it took me 72 years to read the Bible front to back first time. And I'm at two and a half years now, two and a half runs at it. And the more I read, the more I learn, the more I know I need to learn. And you know, through that, that time that I spoke of first, I just felt like I was just drifting through life from one crisis to the next, and I knew I needed something to change that. And I feel like I've done a 180, put a lot of bad habits behind me and I'm going in the right direction now. [01:03:31] Speaker C: Yeah, amen. Maybe this last year, maybe you can give us an idea of what it's been like to begin to see God at work in your life. Naturally, there's bad habits that you're putting to death. There's new rhythms that you've installed in your life. Where else have you seen him? [01:03:51] Speaker A: Well, the way I look at life is a lot different than my old me. I was pretty reckless. I'M what you might call a knee deep Christian. I was. I was ready to step into the water at any time and profess to be a Christian, but I was never ready to take the whole plunge and get in and get out in the deep end where the fun is. I've learned through all that I've read that, you know, that that's what you got to do. I mean, you got to be willing to be vulnerable. And that's pretty much the crux of the biscuit there. Yeah. [01:04:56] Speaker C: One more question for you before we get into Trey's story. By the way, I don't think I mentioned this. Trey and Randy related. Father, son, I just assume things. MCs apparently walk people through what's happening and explain it. Okay, so last question for you. You mentioned being a knee deep Christian, which I think is a really powerful image. Something recently happened where you went fully under the water, literally, and came back out, maybe give the church just like a little feel of what that was like for you and what that moment meant. I'm referring to baptism, by the way. [01:05:36] Speaker A: Well, in the process of. Well, let me back up. Trey was going through some things of his own, and he had moved back to Temecula, and we started meeting out at the farm and we walked or when we could, and when we couldn't, we'd a lot of times just sit and talk. And then he started to. Well, I let him get into his story and explain it, but it'll be a little bit clearer when he does. But yeah. Yeah. In the meantime, Herrick was. He met with us and we were going through some of the things with Trey, and he gave us God stories to read. And I had come to a point where I was wondering, was I doing enough? I mean, was my repentance as fully and as complete as it could be? And I mean, what I do next. So I read the chapter in here on repentance and baptism, and I swear to you, he wrote that for me because it answered the question when. I'll do my best to paraphrase the scripture, but when Peter did a sermon on the day of Pentecost, The people asked him, what do we do to receive the Holy Spirit? And he told them, repent and be baptized. And I thought to myself, well, that's easy enough, right? Well, that repentance stuff ain't all that easy. I pretty demanding. So that was the thing that really put me over the top. I mean, I knew that if I was going to receive the full measure of the grace of the Holy Spirit, that in order for me to receive that I needed to fully and totally surrender my heart to the Lord and unconditionally trust him. [01:08:22] Speaker B: So [01:08:24] Speaker A: I told Herrick I wanted to be baptized. And I knew that all of this was kick started by my brilliant daughter. And my wonderful son in law. That when they gave me that Bible and the devotionals and set me on that course, it just. It grew and grew and grew in me. So I knew that Elizabeth had to take part in my baptism and it was no doubt that she had to be the one to baptize me. And I feel like I left a lot of stuff in that water when I came up. There's a lot of. A lot of baggage I'd been carrying around, a lot of guilt, a lot of doubt. But that did it. I came back. I really, truly became a total Christian at that point in my life. [01:09:35] Speaker G: Beautiful. [01:09:36] Speaker C: Let's give him a round of applause. That's beautiful. And so encouraging in so many ways. Okay, we're going to have Trey share as well. I want to just real quick, really quick housekeeping thing. There are some of you guys in the room that you may need to dip right at 12 o'. [01:10:01] Speaker K: Clock. [01:10:02] Speaker C: It's 11:50, so I just want to be courteous to you. If you need to dip out at noon, please feel free to do that. No shame, no shade. We're probably going to go over by a few minutes and then we'll go into our time of lunch. So I just want to give you guys a heads up and give you the opportunity if you need to leave at noon, if you already have plans, that's totally fine. Okay. I can't stop this train. This is too good. So just want to give you a heads up on that if anybody. Oh, there's Tracy. Yeah, we're all good kids. Men is ready. Everybody's prepared. All right, you're in for a treat, Trey. Trey is Randy's son. And Trey has been on a journey, a parallel journey, I think, to Randy's in a lot of ways that has really deeply encouraged me in the last, really six months, that we've gotten to know each other pretty well since October. So, Trey, why don't you let us in on your journey. What began kind of drawing you in to the story of Jesus and what life was feeling like for you at that time. [01:11:13] Speaker G: Wow, there's a lot of people. I guess my journey kind of began about, I would say, August of last year. And I'm a much better writer than speaker, so I have to refer to my notes Sorry, a little closer. My story begins in a place many of us know, a season of chaos and darkness. And in that darkness, Jesus began to pursue me in the span of mere months, using audible messages. An encounter with what I believe to be an angel, olfactory confirmation dispelling the enemy, a fax machine, coincidences in which I cannot explain, tangibly showing me his light in the literal darkness. An encounter with the Holy Spirit and a visual representation of his delight when I finally understood the meaning of his message. At the culmination of saying yes to his glorious offer, salvation and acceptance, he met me in the trenches where and how I was to provide a more clear pathway forward based on truth, [01:12:51] Speaker A: The [01:12:51] Speaker G: power to lovingly humble me, changing the way I understood how the world operated, and in crushing false narratives and incomplete mental frameworks I once held as correct, I see now more clearly than ever before. I had built my life on unsteady soil and misplaced aspirations. I strayed far from his design of my life, so far into the darkness and despair that it was difficult for me to even face myself in the mirror. I had spent most of my life attaining the measures of worldly successes from an outward appearance, though internally I was crumbling, drifting the darkness in an orbit further from the truth. My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Second Corinthians. Just stop there for a moment. It was a balmy, moonless mid September night last year. A night that felt like summer but looked like fall. The kind of night the temperature, even at 11:30, doesn't require a sweatshirt and feels too comfortable to waste the final trickles of summer by being inside, looking for a reason to justify being outside in the middle of the night came in the form of taking a bag of trash down to cans at the bottom of the hill. Using a golf cart, I made it down, disposed of the trash in the cans, And I just sat back in the cart. I sat in the cart and just enjoyed the peace and quiet. It was so calm and peaceful at the end of a street in Duluth, middle of nowhere. Minutes passed, feeling more relaxed than I have in years, despite the knocks from the recesses of my mind of problems, obligations and worries and the level of hidden stresses I carry as my normal baseline. The darkness is broken by a light seemingly 1,000ft away down the street in an open field. Really, any light would have been noticed in this situation, devoid of illumination. As I turn my head to examine the source of this, I'm immediately taken by the quality and light temperature as something different than I had ever experienced a diffuse, calm sky blue, A perfect circle the size of a pencil eraser off in the distance, Absent of the harsh qualities of a spotlight, but targeted enough that was directed that it was directed towards me when staring directly into it and focusing on the single point of light evoked a sensation. I will spend the rest of my remaining time on this earth attempting to give justice to describing. After months of reflection, my best efforts to put words to the indescribable. It felt to me like waves pulsating and reverberating within. They washed over me from the tip of my head to the bottom of my toes, Every bit of flesh and sinew in between, Nothing excluded. It radiated comfort and acceptance like a deeply satisfying hug from a missed loved one not seen in years, while concurrently, my base level of worry seemed to drop. Like a dimmer switch, fading the illumination of the worries of my life to darkness, Leaving my mind emptier than it has been in years. Except for a feeling that was just an overwhelming sense of hey, I know things are tough right now and life's hard, but you're going to be okay. That was just the feeling that I got. I sat and enjoyed his presence and watched his light dance through the desolate hills in silence. He made his light visible to me on that dark night. This is Jesus. This is love. This is his unrivaled authority and unparalleled power and acceptance. During one of my weakest moments, he offered me his hand, assurance that the time in this realm is not meant to be faced alone. He was offering comfort and encouragement in a way that only a father could. The reiteration of his message manifested in even more direct terms that even a stubborn, thick skulled sinner such as myself could understand. A couple of weeks later, following the advice of Herrick to continue reading scripture and learn all I could about his character and teachings, I brought the Bible, a gift from my sister. Same one. [01:21:12] Speaker A: She's so smart. Yeah. [01:21:18] Speaker G: To a local Starbucks and sat on the patio. I'm nose deep in Genesis for the first time, tuning out the world, when a woman catches my attention as she's walking from the parking lot to the entrance of the building. The thing that I noticed distinctly was she was crying, she was sobbing, walking towards me. She walked directly to me, faced me and just says out of nowhere, Have you ever cried out to Jesus in prayer? He answers and grabs my shoulder and rubbingly or lovingly, just reassuringly gives me a pat and I'm losing my place. [01:22:34] Speaker C: You're doing great, Trey. [01:22:40] Speaker G: Too quick. To process all the implications of what had just been delivered to me. My mind still catching up to the situation, I realized she looked familiar. She must know me or probably saw that I was in the first few pages of the Bible. But she was already gone when I realized that she looked very familiar. She resembled the character Mary Magdalene from the show the Chosen, which I have been binge watching for the past month and a half. Very well done by the way. It hit me like a punch thrown by a boxer. I felt compelled to go inside and find her and obtain further follow up. Walking inside the only door to the coffee shop, greeted by the only two male baristas attending to normal shift duties and find an otherwise empty vacant building without any sign of her presence. She just disappeared. Maybe she's in the restroom. I wait. No one emerges. The woman disappeared, leaving only the question she posed to me initially. Have you ever? That question resonated with me so deeply because I had realized that I had experienced Jesus, but I still needed to personally cry out to him. I had taken the written exam, but still needed to perform the practical portion. I was beginning to understand that I couldn't legally drive a car without completing both. Walking with my dad at the farm on October 7, I noticed a white hummingbird calling out to my dad to look. We comment that it must be rare. Neither of us had ever seen one before. I decided to consult Dr. Google. The results came back. The odds of seeing a white hummingbird are one time in 30,000. An inquiry into. The significance revealed his thoughts to represent peace, purity, new beginnings and joy. I thought this message was for my dad, who had always been fascinated by hummingbirds in general, which I quickly learned how significant it would be in my journey of faith I had seen and experienced over the past couple months enough to satisfy my skeptical mind. The following day at the farm, October 8, 2025, I met with my dad and Herrick. That same white hummingbird. [01:26:41] Speaker A: Sorry, I jumped ahead. [01:26:52] Speaker G: The three of us were standing in an empty parking lot. They were praying over me and I realized that it was the right time. I felt it was my time to give my life and accept Jesus. I also thought it was the right time to answer the question the woman at Starbucks posed to me. Have you ever? I cried out to Jesus. I need you. I need to be rescued. I'm yours. As I spoke these words of vulnerability and honesty, unbeknownst to me, seen by Herrick and my dad, that same white hummingbird circled around my head and came into view right in front of us. And just hovered in front of a bush, which seemed like minutes. We continued to see it over the following weeks for what I assume [01:28:34] Speaker F: leaving [01:28:34] Speaker G: after completing this mission. That tiny white bird has become a tangible, personal representation of Christ's love. In hindsight, I don't think Jesus was just showing me neat things. He was inviting me to trust him, to surrender to him and truly know that I belong to Him. God used many people as restored. To help guide me to understand what he was doing and take my next step forward towards Jesus. I could not have been more excited to respond to the several ways he's marked me as his by publicly declaring I'm his and was baptized on Easter morning along with my dad, June McDaniel, the Hills and the Laura family. My dad and I only saw it fitting that Elizabeth be the one to close our chapter of darkness and usher us into a new life of Jesus at the helm, at the forefront, moving forward. It was the answer to so many prayers over the years and yet another example of God's power to change minds. The culmination of many loose threads coming together to form a perfect knot only he could tie. He met me in the darkness and illuminated my path forward. [01:30:29] Speaker A: Amen, [01:30:43] Speaker C: Church in their stories, we're seeing that Jesus meets us when we feel far from him and he brings us back into the light. Some of us know what it's like to feel far from God, even if you're still showing up. All of us notice underground what it's like to drift and be taken along and swept up by the current. Some of us know what it's like to feel spiritually heavy or quietly desperate for Jesus to meet us. I just want to ask a question. What if when you feel far from Jesus, he is not far from you? What if don't need to solve all that right now, but just notice what's been stirring up this morning. There's so much more we could say. There's chapters to these stories that we just don't have time to tell. There's more things that happen, more supernatural, just crazy stuff. But ultimately the heartbeat is the same. God is pursuing his people and he uses his people. We don't have time to get into it right now, but I know for a fact that many of you have been praying for years for this. Liz. Others I know, Jamie and Jerry, your hospitality, the Greek. Like everybody, I don't have time to list everyone out that has been a part of this. And I just want to say, I guess on behalf of our elder team, like, we're so proud of you church, this is a safe place where people can experience. Jesus can come to know his love in ways that are custom fit for each person. And that's not possible without you. It just isn't. Jesus can meet people in dreams. He does that in, you know, Muslim countries. He's doing stuff. But I think his preferred method is to involve us, each of us, to play our specific part. And it could be small, it could be big. It could involve moments of real vulnerability and honesty. There's a time when Paul came up and just prayed, led by the Spirit, spirit led prayer conversations, welcome hospitality, supernatural events. God uses all of it to bring about new life. And that's what this church is all about. And so I just want to thank you guys for your honesty and vulnerability in sharing your stories. It's been such an incredible privilege to walk with you through this. And can we give them a round of applause as we wrap up here? I know that we just went through a lot of stuff. I just want to Everett, if you don't mind putting up the slide. Like I mentioned earlier, you don't need to remember every point from today. You don't need to respond to every story. But here's five categories of people that I think God is after. How do I know that? Well, this is how the people that cheered today met him and experienced him. Where might Jesus be meeting you? I just want to ask this question. This is where we're going to land the plane, and everybody's hungry. There's tacos outside, there's coffee. So I'm not going to get in the way of that. I just want to say real quick, if you're here and any of these are true of you, God may be after you. Maybe you're finding a place to belong. Maybe you haven't belonged for a long time. Maybe you're carrying pain today that needs healing wounds, relational breakdowns. Maybe you're asking questions that feel more than intellectual, but actually personal, about God, about life, about belonging, about community, about family. Maybe you're wondering how God might use you in your workplace, right, where he has you in your family life. Or maybe, just maybe, you feel far from him or like you're drifting. If any of these things are true of you, how might Jesus be calling you today to take a next step? We are going to wrap up here for today so that we can get time to eat tacos and do all the good stuff that we have planned and celebrate. But I just want you guys to know if you had a moment today where Jesus stirred something up. We would love to pray for you. We're easy to find. Elders will be right here. We can make other people available from the prayer team. If you want prayer, just come up. Don't be afraid. For everyone else. Thank you. Thank you for this morning. Thank you for being here. We're going to have tacos. Oh, wait. Okay, now, Tom's going to come up and pray, and then Mike will have some housekeeping. [01:35:28] Speaker B: Actually, where's my wife? Ebony, Come pray for us. Will you guys stand with me if you're able. You need to pray over the church. [01:35:52] Speaker J: Abba. Father, thank you. It is all glory to you. You built this church. You said, I will build this church. Watch what I'm going to do. Don't get in the way. And it is so beautiful. This bride is so beautiful. We thank you for this precious last eight years and the highs and lows of meeting the broken and needy. Lord, you are worthy of it all. Jesus, you are so beautiful to us. And we owe you everything. So I just pray all glory and honor to you. Thank you for each and every body, individual body, that is here today to celebrate. And I just pray. Yeah. That we can walk away and celebrate with grateful hearts. We love you and we praise you in Jesus name, amen.