September 10, 2025
I'm going to invite my wife, Nina B. [Music] Y'all don't know this, but Nah's a gangster. She'll cut you. You look at her wrong, she'll cut you. That is obviously not true. Don't ask me how I know, but I know it to be true. , she Nah's Nah's going to talk for a few moments. and share. As , last weekend, several ladies, if you went last week to Tulsa, raise your hand. Let's see. Let's see see some hands. Okay. Yeah. Several ladies in here had a great trip and she's Nina's going to share her heart for just a little bit. and then she's going to invite one lady to come up and just share some of her story with you. And then we're going to sing a little bit longer or sing a chorus again. And then we're going to share I got a few guys that want to share their story tonight, too. I don't know if they want to, but I've asked them to and they're willing to do it, so it'll be fine. Okay. , but I'm gonna turn it over to Nina. Okay. I'm actually gonna invite Emily to go ahead and come on up. , this is Emily. [Applause] I am going to have her share first actually, but I I know just right in there. Yeah. , I do want to say thank you to all of the ladies that came. We had such a wonderful time and we were just debriefing on the way back and I was asking the ladies, , what they took from it. Obviously, we all have a ton of notes, but I just loved that so many ladies talked about how connecting it was and how much we got to know each other better and just connect as a church family. And so, that was awesome. And I do want to encourage those of you. I know many of you wanted to come but weren't able to because of different things. We will do more things this next year. Actually, they announced they're having Joyce Meyer at the women's event next year. So, that will be really fun and we will do that again. And so, anyways, it was great to have all the ladies that came. And Emily, they're not newer to the church that y'all have been here for a bit, but I'll let her tell and share and just her experience from there. So, hello everyone. My name is Emily. , my husband Greg is over there in the back here. You may or may not have seen us here on Sundays or around town. we do a lot of traveling. My husband is a lineman apprentice. So we travel from state to state. He covers seven states. So when we're here, we're here and when we're not, we're not. But but we love it here and we we really it. so a little bit about me. I was born and raised in Southern California. I was waiting for a boo. , but we were a show up to church on Christmas day a family. We're a sit in the back, don't make eye contact with nobody and then once it's over, run to the car. But in 2010, my grandmother, she ended up getting diagnosed with stage four cancer. And at that time, I was really angry with the Lord. And following her passing, I just stopped praying. So there was a long time throughout my life that I just went without that relationship with the Lord. And I think that dictated a lot of decisions and life choices that I made as a teenager. And so fast forward to 2020 during COVID on November 10th, 2020, I was rushed to the hospital after being found unconscious and convulsing on the bathroom floor. I had busted open my chin, remembering being so out of it and not understanding what had happened. The doctor believed it was a result of my blood pressure dropping following an ectopic pregnancy rupture. So, , as many other people don't know what an ectopic pregnancy is, it's actually what occurs when you're let me find the description just a moment. So, an ectopic pregnancy is a nonviable pregnancy that occurs outside of your uterus and can cause life-threatening bleeding without treatment. In most cases, they have to remove your fallopian tubes or do a full hysterctomy. I had been having shoulder pain that week. , but aside from everything, I had no other symptoms. thinking that everything was normal before going into surgery, I began to pray but for the f and for the first time in a long time and but I wasn't praying for healing during that time period I was praying to go home some time had passed and we got pregnant again u following that surgery and everything. So we were both pretty we got pregnant again and after that time we had a miscarriage. that was a pretty devastating time period for us. and I remember listening to a sermon by Sarah Jake Roberts called Girl Get Up. And if you guys haven't listened to that story on YouTube, I would highly recommend it. because she's a very very powerful speaker. And so I laid in my bed and I was thinking to myself, hey, I need to stop feeling sorry for myself. I need to get up. Then we got invited by some friends of ours to go to church with them. So we started going and we were overcome with the spirit. When we got pregnant with our son, I fully recommitted my life to Jesus and wanted to raise him right. Giving birth to my son was a life-changing experience for me. We checked into the hospital on November 11th, 2022. So, if you guys remember the other date that I said after I got out of surgery that early morning because they discharged me early morning, it was November 11th, 2020. So, fast forward when I went into labor with my son, it was November 11th, 2022. at that time, when I was pregnant with my son, I was working as a correctional officer at the California Institution for Women, which is a level four institution. I really enjoyed what I did, but following his birth, I felt a call to stay home with him. My son is he has so many positive characteristics and every single time I look at him, it brings a smile to my face cuz he just has such a light. Both my children have such a light within them. And so once he was a year old, we decided we wanted to continue to try again. we were going to church more. We were current going to a church called Calvary Chapel High Desert at the time. And when my son Yeah. Okay. So I I miscarried again after we had him. we unexpectedly got pregnant with our daughter about two months following that miscarriage. And at that time we believed that we were going to miscarry her as well because I had a subcoreionic hemorrhage which is a bleed around the placenta. So I was on bed rest for a good amount of that pregnancy. And during that time period I was listening to a lot of worship music at that time period and just trying to stay positive. , so regardless of what you are going through, , , the devil's going to try to work at you no matter what angle that he can reach you and try to bring you down. I stand in front of you as proof that God is good, he keeps his promises, and that his timing is always perfect. The women's conference was a blessing to go to, to be around such , kind souls and to get to know a little bit more about you guys. That was really special. , and , the main topics that stood out to me , most with Lisa Bever's sermon was the war against men. , so I want to say she touched on that a little bit both and in her book as well. , so if you guys are haven't heard today and you're a man in here, I would to say that if no one's told you today that you're valued and you're needed and we need more men more masculine men and in this day and age. And she also discussed, , the war against women and how that leaves our children vulnerable. if we're being distracted, then it leaves them up for grabs. And I think that today in this age that we're living in, no one is safe from spiritual attacks. And we are surrounded by spiritual warfare every single day. And we need to take up our crosses daily and to be praying for the next generations to come. And that's it. Amen. Thank you. That was awesome. Thank you. Well, yeah, it was awesome. I will say just because I don't want to hold two mics. , I we came back and I was just processing everything. Lisa Booier spoke Sunday morning and Sunday night. And the whole drive back I'm , I've got to do better at this. I need to be better at that. , it was just all the things that I'm , need to do better, be better, , think better, all the things. And I loved it because to to me it was in a motivating way, not in a condemning way. I want to be who God's called me to be. And she did talk a lot about our spiritual authority and how as Christians sometimes we can just go through autopilot in life where we're so busy, you're either working, raising kids, doing all the things, trying to make a living, meet our needs, that it can be so easy not to walk in the full authority that Jesus paid the price for us to have. And it's a spiritual battle. We live in a spiritual world. And even though we can't see it, it is more real than anything we can see or feel spiritually. And so many times we just put too much effort towards what we can see and feel that we miss on that. And so this is going to tie together, but I want to just say something really quickly because it has hit me a lot today. , and hopefully I won't cry. I have felt weepy all day. I haven't shed a tear yet, but I have felt that way. , but it's because I was talking to my mom this morning. I stayed here. Jeremy and the kids went to Popular Bluff and I was talking to my mom and most of you guys know my father passed away about four years ago. And my mom mentioned a physical ailment that happened today with her. And so she's , , pray for me. I'm going to go get checked out tomorrow. And I immediately, , when my dad passed, I had never experienced that loss before. It impacted me in a way nothing ever had. I just I didn't know that feeling of loss until he passed. And , obviously with that can this fear can try to come on. You do look at life differently. Since he hasn't been here, I take a lot more pictures. I'm a lot more intentional with my mom. It wakes you up a little bit to none of us are promised tomorrow and we're not going to always be here. My mom's not going to always be here. And so all those things. Well, right when she said that, it was just a gut punch a little bit. And I had to process it for about 30 seconds because of course in that amount of time, I'm picturing something being wrong with my mom and life without my mom nor my dad. And all of a sudden, I'm , "What? I c I can't do that right now. I'm not ready for that. And I immediately I remembered what Lisa Bevere talked about that in the spiritual as Christians we have the authority. We have to take authority of our thoughts. We have to use and operate by the name of Jesus, the blood of Jesus to walk in the victory that we're called to. And as my mind was starting to spiral, I'm , "Oh yeah, okay, calm down." She asked you to pray for her first of all and there I was picturing life without my mom and I just just started praying for her and thanking God that which all of us are going to die at some point. It's not we don't expect that to happen but we've also been given authority. We know what God's word says. We know the promises of God. And I just had to take a minute to speak God's word over my mom, over the situation, over other things that have gone on today. but also I just had to walk in my authority and my own mentality of God. I thank you that you are good. You work all things together for good. That my faith and my hope is in you and you alone. And it just reminded me all those things where I have even felt here we are just living life daytoday. Summer's busy, work, home, clean, do the dishes, , all the things. But we have to remember that every one of us are here for a purpose with a purpose. God has equipped every one of us. Not just people up on a mic, not just people leading any ministry. Every Christian, there is a reason for you to be here. And it's not just to get a house and get married and have kids and live a good life. It's for us to do whatever God has called us to do. And one of the things that Lisa Bevere said was that obedience is one of the highest forms of spiritual warfare. And I thought how powerful that sometimes we think we have to do all this crazy stuff, but really if every single every person in this room, we know God, we've given our lives to God. If we were obedient in every single walk of life, large and small, how impacting could we be to the world around us, to our husband or wife, to our children, and to everyone? And so, I just encourage you. I was definitely encouraged and just had a fire lit under me to to not make excuses, but to do and be who God has called me to be and to walk in the authority that he paid the price for. So, I just want to encourage you all with that, too. All right. All right. You can noodle all night, Bradley. I'm not going to be mad about that. One second. If the Holy Ghost gets on the noodle fingers, let them ride. Okay, buddy. , we're going to make an album called Holy Ramen. Would you guys listen to it? Talk to me. You You love that idea, don't you? I said we should call it Noodles for your knees and then he said Holy Ramen. I thought, well, that's better than my idea. Hey, I want to invite my brothers up here. Dan and Ryan and John are going to come up. Can you guys make a rousing round of applause with anticipation and excitement? Yeah. For what they're going to share with you. Yeah. I didn't know how far to come over. I just came all the way over here. and then there you go, buddy. You just hit that button right there. surely I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That's really what my heart is for tonight. and just about every week. You can probably hear it laced in my conversation, in my message, the power of the local church. And this is what I led with tonight. This is not an organization. And this is not just a service to attend. It's it in its practical state. It is a public service to the community. And its supernatural state is a life-giving organism that revolutionizes your heart and changes the outcome and fruit of your life. Why? Because of the culture and character of the body of Christ which represents Christ. He's the head of the church and we are his body. And because of the message the of that comes from the heart of God through his word to you. And that's what we celebrate. That's what we champion is the word of God. And so I've asked these guys to share a little bit of their story tonight and then we're going to take some communion together. , and , but I've asked them because I I've spent enough time with them and talked to them and shared stories and swapped stories that I just know what God's doing in their life. And I I I when I invite people to talk, I try not to put words in their mouth and tell them what to say, but I do want to try to do my part to help them and give them direction. And so they can take their liberty and say what they want to say. And if you guys get tired of it, just start, you know, throwing stuff. But I'm just kidding. They probably that. , I'm just kidding. But I want them to share what's in their heart. But, but here's what I here's what I've seen and here's what I know and here's what I want to champion. What God is doing in their hearts and in their lives because of their decision. Listen to me. To get planted in the body of Christ, to get planted in a church. It is nothing it is nothing about covenant church other than who we want to aspire to be that welcomes people in and what we champion and celebrate. But it is about the name of Jesus through his body, through this local church and how it begins to impact somebody's life because they get planted. The Bible says in Psalm 92:13 and the New King James version says for those who are planted in the house of the Lord. The New Living says transplanted. When the seed of your life is transplanted from the world and transplanted into God's house, the Bible says when you plant the house that you'll be that that you'll be fresh and flourishing in the courts of our God. Those who are planting the house of the Lord will be will be fresh and flourishing. Put it up. I can't remember. It's on the computer. I'm butchering it up. Psalm 92:13. This should be in my Yeah, I'm going to make y'all look good. For they are transplanted to the Lord's own house. They I I was saying it right. There you go. And they flourish in the courts of our God. Look at the next verse. Anybody in here over 50? Hoody who? For anybody over 50. For in old age. Not that I'm saying you're old. I'm just throwing it out there. I'm not saying you're old. On the law of averages for life existence on Earth, okay? You're on the upper echelon, I suppose. even in old age, they will still Everybody say, "I'm still producing fruit." And they will remain vital and green, they'll be fresh and flourishing. Can I get a hoodie who for being fresh and flourishing? Listen, that's what happens in your life because you're planted in a lifegiving soil, life-giving organism. And I'm going to let these guys share their story about what God's doing in their life because they've been planted in God's house. Y'all ready for that? Okay. Up first, Ryan Marcelus. Huff. So, that's a pretty good instruction that would have been good to have. But I guess when Jeremy said something, I guess the first thought that went through that maybe Jaylen and Spencer and I know John have seen Jeremy's chaotic brain on his whiteboard and and that's where my mind went. There's all these ideas and thoughts and so I prayed all week that this is succinct and it's somebody correctly. And then Nina talks and she sorry about that. she hit a couple of the things on obedience. And I think that's where my story goes a little bit and choices. And so I probably would have said a few years ago that living in Eastwood and Solitude and not being around people because I was burned out on people would have fit me for the rest of my life just perfectly. And I don't I feel a little convicted saying it now to be honest. Back then I probably wouldn't have. But 20 years in law enforcement, public service, I was a little bit jaded I think. And so I made a choice not only to attend Covenant Church and start there, but I started making choices to if anybody remembers Jack Handy back in the 90s and SNL of spending my mornings and deep thoughts with Jeremy Bedell on the treadmill every day. And I think that was a start. And then I and then I started making a choice to attend trying to compete with these young studs Spencer and Will and John and Dan here. Basketball. Y'all are younger than me, . And then made a choice to attend the prrowdown and I remember watching Chris Hart walk in with his entourage and really that's what I thought. I never he wash off garage, but I can see the picture of band of guys walking through the door and they were hugging and I don't know, they just had an aura around them that I was , that's different. And I even said something to Jeremy. I was , , dudes hugging. And so it's an intentional point that I made a choice to learn how to hug dudes. And and Brad and I tried a couple times and a couple times we got kissed, not intentionally. We've got it down. [Music] And and Jeff, where's Jeff? Where's Jeff? We I we spilled coffee on each other at least once. So, , it's so if I gave you a hug, it doesn't come natural, but it is intentional. , , and then I made a choice to start working with some great people and Crystal and Chad and Brad and Holly and just being around great people. And my main mission in life is to get them to play Christmas music any time of the year, but they still haven't bought in on it, ? And I guess what I'm saying is I started making these choices, right? And we can all find an excuse. We can choose to be happy. We can choose to be sad. We can choose to look at the positive. We can choose to look at the negative. we can choose love or we can choose hate. And all these were choices. But now they're not choices. It's just what I do. what I'm saying? It's I It's breathing or or blinking. You don't think about it. It just becomes you guys are my life. You guys are my friends. You guys are my family. You want to see Jesus's light. Look at Adrian. , spend some time around him. Gabe, my man Gabe, I he was he was on my mind all week last week and I we went to that fantasy football and man, I was just hoping to get Will to pick somebody under 30 minutes and then I was , man, I didn't really get to talk to Gabe. And then somebody said you made a post about how much you enjoyed it and I was , man, that that just spilled me. And I'll be honest, it's that's what this has done in my life. I hope those are simple terms. It's it's not it's nothing special. We're all qualified. We're all not perfect, but we're all family and friends here. And you just got to take that step and God will do the rest. [Applause] That's a That's a That's a You did good, buddy. Good job. it's simple. It's simple decisions. It's simple choices. It's simple obedience. little little decisions of obedience that led to greater connection and greater connection. And that's what it is to be planted to build connection. You know, you guys have heard my little analogy with the thumb. And if you walked in and saw a thumb on the floor, if you saw this thumb on the floor, it would gross you out. But when it's connected, it's functional. It's perfect. And and I wouldn't say it's perfect. It's stumpy, but but it's got function. And my point is, man, that's what happens. the connection starts happening and and God does this work in your life and this becomes family. It becomes family. If you grown up in church and I'm probably te and Dan up in here, but you grown up in church, you've always heard, , brother Tom and sister Katie and right and it and it sounded churchy and it became kind of whatever and and it but it's because we're the children of God. It becomes family and so it's it's just an endearing term in case you're new to church. That's what that is. But that's what you get to be a part of. And God just begins to work in your life. And listen to me. It's through each of you. I I I'm not I'm not responsible for that. God's doing a work in Ryan's life, but he's doing a work in Ryan's life through Adrian and through Gabe and through Dan and John and Brad and , learning how to hug. God's doing a great work in his life. what ? Gentlemen, Mr. Dan McCarti right there. Well, if you don't know, I'm Dan McCarti and the better half of this duo, my wife Cherish, and we've got three wonderful kids and Covenants, our house. , this is our church. We love you guys. And Jeremy asked me to share a little bit of my story. I was born on Saturday. We were in church the next Sunday. we didn't miss a service. Mom was the organ player, Sunday school teacher. Dad was a pastor. He preached the sermons. I led the worship and took up the offerings. They'd always make me give it back, but , we were planted in the church house every time the doors were open. And I got to see some incredible things growing up in a house of faith. , my parents were starting a little church. I'll share a little quick story. I'm try and be mindful of the time, buddy. but they they were they were starting a church. Money ran out. Things were tight. Groceries ran out. The cupboards were bare. And on the way to church, my mom said a prayer. She said, "God," David said he never saw the righteous forsaken, nor a seed begging bread. "I'm not asking for a lot, but we could use a little bit of bread." And that night at the church house, a lady had come by a bread truck that had been rolled over. And she filled her hatchback from the front to the back, top to bottom, with bread. And she said to my mom, "Could you use any bread? My God will supply all your needs according to his riches." My wife grew up in a household of faith and at a young age, she saw her mom diagnosed with MS. She went completely blind and paralyzed. There wasn't much hope for her life. But the church prayed and God stepped in and did the miraculous. And over 30 years later, she has no MS, no signs, no symptoms. My God healed her. [Applause] So, we had the privilege of growing up in in the church and man, we got married. We planted our life in church. That's what we did. Every Sunday we were in the church house. We dedicated our kids to God, dedicated our lives to God. We did the church thing. That's who we were, part of our identity. But something happens over time and and maybe the healing doesn't come we thought it should. Or maybe the the provision doesn't show up in our timeline. You start to get a little jaded. You start to try and figure this thing out. And I don't know if it was the church I was a part of or just the way I thought of things. I I be to try and earn his salvation. And I knew God wasn't the problem. I'd seen him heal. I'd seen him deliver. I'd seen him do these wonderful things. It couldn't have been his fault, right? Had to be me. So maybe I didn't pray enough or maybe I didn't fast enough or I didn't give enough or being holiness Pentecost, maybe we had a we had a clothesline list of areas where I didn't line up. So it it became it became a challenge. I be to try and work for my salvation and work for his favor. And and u it was it was pretty pretty disenchanting. rather than having a father that loves you to think of him as this guy up there playing whack-a-ole, man. Anytime you step out of line, he's ready to crush you. And and my view of God became very distorted. And about that time, we met Chad and Crystal and u they said, "Hey, there's this new thing going over in Van Beern. You need to come join it. Come be a part of it. We got a church, Covenant Church. It's starting." And man, we came and it was different, but man, the word started to wash and started to to renew our mind and transform us and and man, we started to win. I'm telling you, it was so awesome. And and and man, every Sunday night, we're we're here. This is our church. This is our place. I love you guys. I love to be a part of this. And and we watched as our life begin to elevate and saw so many great things happen in our life. Our business was flourishing. Got a beautiful house, beautiful family, everything was winning. And and I know this sounds weird, but we we always went to church. It was who we were. It was what we did. But I never really needed the church. I It was It was always there. But I I didn't honestly I I just never really thought that I needed it until this year. And man, I got I went through hell this year. it it was the hardest year. Now, I've seen God's hand at work more this year than I've ever seen in my life. But this was a year. And I couldn't have made it without the church. I watched as my boy had so much promise, so much ability, so much talent. And I watched as he gave the devil a seat at the table. Let me tell you, young people, you're going to sneak in and before it, he'll turn it upside down. He'll be running the show. And I watched the devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. And I watched as he stole so many great things from me and he destroyed relationships and friendships and and I didn't know what I was dealing with. And I found out and it it rocked my world. I I man I grew up in church. I hadn't been around this stuff. I didn't know what I was looking at. I didn't know what was going on. Didn't know what to do. Rocked my world. And I ran to this guy. Flew over here afternoon. Got in the car. came from Palford Bluff and and man Ecclesiastes said chapter 4, one on their own can be easily overtaken and defeated, but two can stand back to back and fight. This guy came to my kitchen table, my wife and I, we sat down and sat down with my son and we fought for his future. We fought for his life. And I'm proud to say today he's in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This morning he's filling up Baptistry tanks. He's serving God and serving people. And he's got a future. He's got a hope. God's doing some awesome things. And I couldn't have made it without you guys. I couldn't have made it without this guy right here and his wife. They stood by us. And on the West Coast, there's the the famous redwoods and the great seoas that grow up over 300t tall. And those rascals, their roots are only 6 to 12t deep. And on their own, the slightest wind would blow them over. It's physically impossible for them to stand, but they can take all that mother nature throws at them because they intertwine their roots with one another. And when the wind comes and the wind blows, they find support from one another and they're able to stand. And I can tell you when the storm comes, plant yourself in the house of God. Intertwine your roots with people in this room. And when the storm comes, you're going to be able to stand. [Applause] Well, I might have just given up my position at the preacher table. I might get voted off the island next week. I don't have any cool redwood stories or anything that. That's very good. , this next gentleman, John Morris, has been with us for less than a year, I believe. he's got u a tremendous story and he'll share as much of it he wants to share, but one particular aspect and I'm going to team up and we've already talked about this is just how he felt when he first came versus how he feels today. And all of that we never arrive. It's not there's this destination that we're there and now it's sunshine and rainbows forever. But the simple obedience and the choice to intertwine yourself with the right people sets John up to share some of his story with you. So if you guys would help me welcome John Morris. [Applause] I knew I should have went first. yeah. So Jeremy said he asked me to talk a little bit about that. So I think in order to do that properly, I do have to give a little context. I'll try to be quick, but some of you may know I was in the military for 11 years and I spent a year in Iraq from 2004 to 2005. And , everybody has different opinion or thoughts when you hear that about what that was . For me, it was , we we were on a camp that happened to just get morted a lot. So about,00 mortars in the year I was there. about averaged about three a day. And I see some people nodding their head. So they know what I'm talking about. And yeah, it was just this constant daily life of this thing hanging over your head that any day, , something could land on your head and kill you. And I had friends that died that way, , there one day, gone the next. , and I worked also worked in a hospital that was a frontline hospital. So we got that side of Baghdad. We got pretty much when people got hurt anywhere that side of Baghdad, they came to us first. and saw things that I don't think any human should have to see. And so, say all that to say, as I came back home, I had I had and have a pretty severe form of PTSD that I've, , just dealt with for the last 20 years. And, , honestly, not a lot of church attendance in that time, not a lot of necessarily God in my life. just white knuckling it and trying to do the best I I could with it. And so, , in April of 2024, my ex-wife and I divorced. And, , if anybody's been through that, it's a bit of a time of reflection. , she was deployed with me. We both were in the same spot. We that's where we met. So, I think we both clung to each other after we got back. And so now that was gone and I was floundering trying to figure out what's my life now. , never really faced what I had to face when I got back from Iraq because I had this other person that I we could just cling on to each other and it was fine. And now that was gone. And so a lot of soulsearching and it took me a little bit. I didn't get here right away, but you said, about six, seven months ago, I found my way to Covenant Church. And again, just a little bit of context for me. When people hear PTSD, again, there's different thoughts of what that looks . For me, what it looks is I have a really hard time with groups this because when we were over there getting morted all the time, being in a group was a really bad thing and it was just drilled into our head and I lost a lot of friends and people that died because they were in a group. And so it just creates this this I have this deepseated fear of groups as a result of that. And then also the fact that having PTSD, there's this part of me that I have all these things I deal with. I'm I'm broken. And walking into all that judgment and shame and guilt of I know people don't think that way, but in my head it's people can see that and they're they're they're looking at me as broken and there's there's all that shame that goes along with that. And then you go into a room of a bunch of people who you feel are just staring at you what's wrong with you? And so that was essentially where I was the first time I showed up to Covenant Church and walked in. And some of you were there might remember. I probably didn't say a whole lot. I probably sat by myself. , I probably avoided talking to people. And the reason why is because inside I was literally freaking out on the verge of a panic attack and doing everything I could to just not run out of the room because I was so terrified to just be in this room for all those reasons. And so trying to have a conversation was just I couldn't even think, , and so but I told myself I have to do this. I have to I can't again where I was I can't avoid it anymore. I have to do this. And so as I sat there listening, I don't know. I I don't presume to know it's above my pay grade. God, Holy Spirit, what? But as I sit there listening to Jeremy talk, I I just felt lighter. My heart felt a little bit better. It wasn't perfect. I wasn't completely healed. But I felt better. And so I just decided then and there I have I'm going to keep going. I'm going to show up next week and the week after and the week after. And every week that I've shown up, it's just it's been that a little bit lighter. A little bit lighter and a little bit lighter. And as you said, , it's not a finished product by any means. it's still something that I deal with quite a bit. , even when I walk in here today, there's still a little bit. But compared to where I was when I first started coming, , , God has just done the work in my heart to just help me feel lighter, feel better, feel more comfortable. And yeah, I'm still broken. I probably always will be. That's probably my cross to bear, but God still loves me anyway. And and I can I can function knowing that. , and so yeah, that's been how this whole thing has worked for me. And I appreciate everybody that's been kind to me. And I know I'm not always the most social person. I'm trying to work on that. But that's why because it's just a thing for me that I have to work through. So anyway, that's my Amen. I'm going to have Justice is going to get three trays with some communion elements. and these guys are going to pass them out. , but I just want to comment on something. , I've said this many times. I want to use this example to make a point that the facts and truth are not the same thing. The facts are subject to change. Today it's sunny. Tomorrow could be rainy. The facts change. The truth never changes. It's eternal. And so the facts to say, "Man, I I have PTSD." the facts to say, , I'm I I'm I'm I'm wanted to be isolated on a farm, , away from everybody because of my law enforcement career. , the facts to say that that I never really needed the church, but then things shift and change. The first time he came, I remember when John came in, I remember seeing him. He's on the front row of the second section at the landing. He was on the end row and he's sitting by himself. And I remember seeing him, I remember thinking, I usually am eyeballing him when there's new people in here. Just so you guys know that a long time I'm preaching to the new people in my heart that I want to attack them and respect gently, . And but I remember seeing him and and all I'm telling you is God's the healer. Period. And what you see is the same man that was on the verge of a panic attack sitting by himself on a microphone tonight telling you a story. And it and it's a beautiful analogy, listen to me, of of there are there are divine miracles. And people say, "Well, how does how do miracles work?" They're miracles. What do you ? What are you asking me? It's a miracle. That's why it's called a miracle. It's a miracle. It did. , h how how did Dan's mother-in-law be healed of MS that? It was a miracle. There's not an explanation for it. Do miracles happen? Yes. We can attest to that. There's proof. Is God the provider? Yes. Is God the healer? Yes. And then there's then there's healing. There's this process of healing and restoration. And I want to just reemphasize this while we're here for the moment. We use terms that are in scripture that the redeemed of the Lord say so. It says, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so." So, let's practice. Everybody say, "I'm redeemed." Okay. So, redeemed is the equivalent of you've bought the house, you signed the paper, you own the house. But then God does this restoration. David said in Psalm 23:3, "You restore my soul. My soul is my mind, will, emotions." That restoration is that remodel now you start doing to that house. You own the house. It's yours. In other words, you're right. You're in right standing with God. Go ahead and say it. I'm in right standing with God. You You need to say it. This faith is verbal. You got to hear yourself say it. I'm in right standing with God. Am I Am I perfect? No. But watch. In his eyes, in his sight, I'm perfect because the sin that separated me from him is washed away. The blood that we celebrate and champion here in just a moment is what washes. It's the payment for our dysfunction. And because of it, listen to me, healing is available, transformation is available, the the the the the social dynamic, the the strength of your physical body, the supernatural provision, all of it comes with the promise and the right standing with God. It does not earn it. It does not prove it. It's the fruit of it. See, the word, the Bible says the word is seed. It's equated to seed. And if we plant apple seeds in good soil, it can't not produce apples. It can't not do it. That's a double negative for you English people. Okay? It can't not produce apples. That's what's in the seed. The word of God is seed. It can't not produce the fruit of God in your life. It's going to produce fruit in your relationships. It's going to produce fruit in your body. It's going to produce fruit in your finances. It's going to produce fruit in your life. The thing that we have that we have to respond with is giving him access to our heart. It is opening my heart to his word. It is letting it come in. It is inviting it in. It is being attentive when you hear. Those who have ears to hear, we can attend the service and close our ears off. You can come just a slap and a high five and get an ice cream and never receive what God has for you tonight. I want to have ears that hear. I want to be attentive. I want my heart to be receptive to it. And so in that, the practical side of that is there's three things that you can spend with your life. You can spend money, you can spend time, and you can spend energy. Those are the only three things you're going to be able to spend in your life. And when we spend it, what we want is for God to be first in all three of those areas. The energy that I'm giving is for the cause of Christ. the time that I'm devoting is to know him or to be with his people or whatever. The way I spend my money is to prioritize him first and the ministry and the mission of people hearing the good news of the gospel. That's what we do. So the opportunity that we haven't ever pushed hard here for but just given opportunity and that's all it is is opportunity. The same way I say you have opportunity to to lift your hands and worship, it's the same way of opportunity to give financially. It's an opportunity. And so what you have is the opportunity to say, "God, I'm going to put you first in the area of my finances. God, I want to put you first by volunteering with my time and my energy to help serve in a particular area, to get chairs out, to serve in kids ministry, to serve in youth ministry, to to to to help coordinate a fantasy football league, to help coordinate a basketball league, to help that that that's all that is is giving my energy to create an atmosphere for us to come together. See, all we're doing, there's a lot of little efforts and labors of love, the time and energy and money to create this moment tonight. These instruments aren't free and the time it took to learn the songs is time that they're not going to get back. But why did they do it? And the energy to come early and to be here. Why? To create a moment. They spent their time, their money, and their energy for the benefit of the gospel. And as a result, God does a work in their heart. And I'm using them now as an example. It's the same for you and for me. This is the body of Christ. This is not the Jeremy Bedell show. There are better shows. Okay, thank you. There are better shows. This is the body of Christ. And listen, every joint supplies. Put that I had that verse up there. I don't I don't remember where who I'm even looking at. You sleeping on the job over there. Golly, you got to be ready, sister. When I got the mic, you got to be ready. I don't know even know. There's three verses. I don't remember which one it is. Ephesians 4. Yeah, get it up there. Oh, there it is. Instead of verse 15, instead we speak the truth in love. Watch. Growing in every way more and more Christ. Is anybody in here growing more Christ? Yes, that's what we're doing. You're not Christ, but Christ is in you. And we are growing. We're learning to, John the Baptist said, I got to decrease that he may increase. I'm learning to get my selfishness out of the way so God can lead my life so that the fruit of Christ will produce in the relationships. So, we are learning to grow more and more Christ. Watch. Who is the head of his body, the church, that's us? He's the head. He's the brain. The brain communicates for the fingers to move. My brain's telling my fingers to do that, right? And so, he's the head. He gives us direction. He gives us leadership. Next verse. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part, everybody say, "That's me." As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Everybody in here contributes. Everybody in here contributes. And because everybody contributes, everybody benefits. Everybody grows. Everybody's going to experience healing in here. Everybody. Everybody's going to experience provision in here. Everybody's going to experience restoration. Everybody's soul is going to be restored. Everybody. And everybody's going to come in. Why? Because it's Christ operating in us. This is the body of Christ. This This is you. It's your handshake to somebody. It's your hospitality to a new person. It's your generosity to help pay for ice cream and coffees. It's your It's you. It's us, man. There's kids being taught the word of God tonight because Miss Kelly and a volunteer, somebody is over there helping. We've got to catch the vision to say, "God, I want to contribute." Spencer and Jaylen are helping Pioneer Youth Church and Hannah and Morgan, they've done a a tremendous job. Morgan's getting ready to go to train to be a full-time missionary. Everybody stretch your hand toward Morgan. God bless her and everything she puts her hand to. God, equip her and give her sensitivity to your leadership. divine appointments and God the the passion, the gifting for mission work. God be strong in her and that you be with her mouth and you teach her what to say in Jesus name. And God provision, finances and provision. She's got what's it called? Not tuition, but it costs money. You get the idea. Okay. Ask her how you can help. You want some more tone? put the other verse up there. Brad sent me this verse and then we're going to pass out communion. Brad sent me this verse. He said, 'What do you think about this verse? And I thought he had issue with it. You know, people do that. People do that to me, ? Hey, what hey, how do you interpret this verse? , what's up with God on this verse? And so, I read the verse. I'm , this is a good verse. I was , I'm curious what Brad's issue is with this verse. And he he loved it. He just want to know what I thought. And I was , oh, that's good. cuz I I thought maybe Brad was messed up on that one. I got to help him. But watch watch what it says. They they How many How many How many How many How many How many How many How many How many How many How many of you guys know Brad and Holly? They lead church in Eastwood community and God's doing a tremendous work in their life. Listen, the I'm just go ahead and celebrate these four for a minute. There's a there's a there's a pastoral gifting on these four up on this stage. And you say, "What does that mean?" It's just a gifting. some of us have teaching gifting. Some of us have administrative giftings. Some of us have encouraging prophetic giftings. That's really where I operate. An encourager in them, right, man? Some of us have leadership giftings. There's giftings in your life. Watch. The Bible says that everybody in here has a gifting. That's what the Bible says that God gives giftings. Watch without reproach. Meaning, he's never going to take it back. That's his faithfulness. So, if you have a leadership gifting, man, you could be leading the body of Christ and leading a charge and winning people to Jesus, or you can be leading a gang and killing folks. No, no, no. It's leadership. It's leadership. See, you you you you can take you can take you can take $100 and you can feed homeless people or you can buy crack with it. Everything's neutral. You can take $100 and go buy crack or you can put in the offering or you can give it to Morgan and go you you it's all neutral. So you take the gifting in your life. You have a gifting and God's never going to take that gifting. It's yours. He formed you in your mother's womb. He knows you. His hands on your life. And so when you plant yourself here, God begins to heal your heart. And that gifting finds its place in the body of Christ and it comes to fruition. What? Everything that's in your heart can happen through the local church. This is where your gifting finds life. This is where it begins to take this is where it begins to develop and grow because there's this healing in your heart and this gifting finds its place because there's a need for it here. And you watch you find this fulfillment that you didn't know existed. You didn't know it was possible to live that satisfied, to live that fulfilled. You didn't know that was an option. You've been using your gifting out there with a with an empty system. Man, you might have been in leadership, building yourself a successful business, and then it's empty in the end. You might be using your encouragement gifting to encourage people to jump off cliffs and smoke dope. You might have been using your gifting of administration to organize gang fights or whatever it is. I mean, I'm just But but it's empty in the end. what when it's over it's what do I got to show for I got nothing even if it's successes worldly successes okay now what you do it for the body of Christ there's this eternal fulfillment it happens in here and let me tell you something it's not all glitz and glamour every day it's not sunshine and rainbows it's not shiny it's not fun there's days you don't feel doing it it's not it's not super sexy to be cooking lasagna for the kids at home. , , I'm not in the mood to cook lasagna or whatever that ragatoni stroganoff. [Music] Is ragatony a thing? Did I just make that up? Raaton. Oh, rig. Rag. Whatever. The Tony's. , [Music] here's the verse. Together. Everybody say together. Together. We are his house. Now watch, watch, watch. Feel the history. Feel the legacy. Feel the power in the rest of this verse. Together we are his house. Built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. Feel the history in that. The word is eternal. God is eternal. God was God for the prophets in the Old Testament. God was God for the first apostles after the Holy Spirit came and Jesus ascended. And God is God today. We are his house built on the foundation that those men and those women laid with their devotion and their service. We are here today because of what they did. And now watch. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. The cornerstone to this house, the the where it starts, where it begins. He's the cornerstone. Christ. And then there's the history of the of the of the mamas and the daddies and the and the grandparents and the praying great grandmas. Man, some of you, man, have parents and grandparents that had nothing to do with Jesus. But I bet you got a great grandparent somewhere. They didn't have anything else to do but pray. [Music] And they were praying, watch for their generations and for the seed. And man, let me tell you something. Your mom and dad, they might have got sidetracked. And your grandparents might have got sidetracked, but God's been faithful to your great-grandm. Come on. God's fa Listen, the Bible says God's faithful to generations. You're you're Gosh dogging. You're getting the result of his faithfulness to your great grandmama or your great great grandmama or grandpapa. Why? Their obedience, God's faithfulness. Their obedience, God's faithfulness. Their obedience, God's faithfulness. their obedience, God's faithfulness.