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118 black honda your car is parked on this side it is rolled out of its parking space and praise god it just gently bumped into one of our um bumpers so it's safe we just need to have you go out there so we can make sure your car's okay thank you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] hey good morning everybody welcome to our sunday morning celebration here at vertical church listen whether you're joining us online or live here at the church guys it's great to gather together hey good morning everybody welcome to our sunday morning celebration here at vertical church listen whether you're joining us online or live here at the church guys it's great to gather together and we are going to have an awesome time celebrating and worshiping our awesome guys so listen if you're online listen hit that share button get as many people joined in with us if you're here live in the building let me hear you make some noise and let's worship our awesome god come on we're so happy to be here [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] is [Music] singing [Music] with our hands and our voices [Music] [Music] me [Music] how can we never gonna stop higher [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] every heart is gonna stop singing [Music] come on we're never gonna stop singing phrases to the great i am not the great i was but the great i am the same yesterday today and forevermore how many agree with that this morning [Music] hallelujah [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Applause] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] you know [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the way i am [Applause] [Music] [Applause] holy holy [Music] [Applause] is [Music] when i am [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] yes [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] hallelujah [Music] oh hallelujah [Applause] [Music] [Music] i am [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you are the great idea you [Music] and no matter where we find ourselves god how many know he's there to reach us wherever we are [Music] it couldn't [Music] treasures that fade never enough oh yeah [Music] satisfied [Music] those voices [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] uh [Music] [Music] you better testify [Music] [Music] we celebrate you jesus [Music] that's okay [Music] [Applause] you turn shape [Music] [Applause] [Music] into gardens [Music] [Applause] [Music] you're the only one [Music] into an army [Music] [Applause] [Music] you're the only [Music] better than you there's nothing can we get a [Music] oh there's nothing better than you there's nothing better than you there's nothing nothing is better than you let your voice [Music] [Music] [Music] one my life thou has taught me to say is well it [Music] is my soul [Music] it is [Music] and lord hates the day when my faith shall [Music] the clouds [Music] and the lord [Music] is [Music] hallelujah [Music] turn to your neighbor and say good morning it's great to see you take your seat and turn your attention towards the screen amen [Music] man what an awesome time guys of worshiping god together isn't it great to be in the presence of god well listen before we move on to the next part of our service i got a couple quick announcements for you first one is this guys this is the last day where you have an opportunity to sign up and be a small group leader look that may be your next step and guess what you haven't missed out listen when service is over go out into the concourse pastor randall or one of his leaders will be there to get you signed up so you can be that next small group leader don't miss out hope to see you out there hey look in addition to that there's going to be small group leader training after the second and third service and community room 2a don't miss out hey guys and lastly this second announcement say september 19 what's going on that day family skate night of course pastor jeff's ministry the children ministry is sponsoring this and guys you don't want to miss out where are we going gonna be roller magic in waterbury connecticut when seven p.m to nine pm and guess what it costs fifteen dollars a person to go you can pay online or you can pay that day when you show up all the finances that are coming in are being raised to fund a ministry called safebridge what is safebridge it stands for sharing adoptions and fostering experiences guys a great cause to raise money for it's gonna be exciting we hope to see you there man isn't it awesome worshiping god well we're going to continue to worship him in the form of giving our tithes and our offerings guys what is a tithe it's 10 of our income it already belongs to the lord and we do it as worship to him right we know that secondly when we give an offering it's above and beyond that time when we give guys we're being generous like our heavenly father god's a giver and we're being like him when we give and i want to first say this guys your givers and i want to thank you on behalf of pastors ken and kathy they realize and we realize that you guys without your giving we couldn't do what we do here at vertical church so thank you and realize it's your giving that makes what's done at vertical church possible all the families that are provided food on a weekly basis all the services that the church offers you come to a sunday morning service hear the word of god not only you spiritually fed and grow but people are getting saved people are getting baptized in the holy spirit our youth and young adults and children are hearing the good news about jesus our city is being affected for the kingdom of god because the people of vertical church are givers so guys remember that and let's continue to give freely and gladly to almighty god and let's see his kingdom grow and remember there's multiple ways you can give guys we mainly give online right but you can give it our giving kiosk lord you could do text to give guys we provide multiple ways you can mail it in to 225 malloy road west haven connecticut zero six five one six whatever way is easier for you do it you can even if you're in person you can even give it as you leave in a bucket guys but the main thing is give it and give it freely amen let's pray together father we thank you for the privilege to partner with you lord we give you our tithes and our we give it as worship and lord as we give of our finances we realize that we're partnering with you to advance your kingdom and it's exciting so lord we give freely and we're thanking you that your blessing the finances given to advance your kingdom and lord your blessing us to continue to be that blessing we thank you lord in jesus name amen god bless you guys as you give [Applause] well good morning everybody oh guys [Applause] love you guys dearly by the way i'm pastor ken the senior pastor here at vertical church and it is great to be with you and to all those that are watching us online thank you for taking time today hey guys y'all sweet sit for a moment hey listen real quickly before we jump into the word i want to take a moment first and foremost to acknowledge something and pray together because we just celebrated yes well not celebrate we took the time to remember something that occurred 20 years ago with 9 11. and what is celebratory to me is not what happened on 9 11 but what happened on 9 12. and that's what i want to pray about because the hope i have for our nation is on 9 12 i saw people that no longer let things divide them that people came together and recognized we were all americans i saw people show kindness and love and concern for their neighbor everybody unified around a cause to say we are one together and we saw the best as much as 9 11 saw the worst of humanity on 9 12 we saw the best of humanity we saw people who gave their lives sacrificially to help to care for to love others and considered it an honor to do so so let us take the time right now to put our eyes on heaven and trust god alone to continue to guide our nation can we do that let's all pray together right now bow your heads with me father in heaven we come in this moment and we first and foremost give you thanks for the freedoms and abilities that we have to live in this nation just gathering here this morning exercising our freedom to worship is something we never want to take for granted but we acknowledge almighty god that you're able to do what we cannot do so today strengthen us give us the fortitude and ability to do what we can do to show kindness and love and to make a difference in our world but not reacting to the things around us but responding to your love and showing dignity and honor to every single person we encounter because all were made in the image and likeness of god and lord we pray for america the lord through all of the difficulties and troubles and the things that attempt to divide us that we would stand unified today before you almighty god trusting that we stand for this republic and we believe father god that we would be one nation under you indivisible that provides liberty and justice for all heal our land and lord let your grace and mercy flow we ask this in the name of jesus our savior everybody in agreement with that say amen well guys you all ready to jump in the word this morning hey guys remember this is the year of the bible i don't know how you guys have been doing i'm excited i'm i'm almost through jeremiah and ephesians kind of on track hoping to to kind of finish a little early and just kind of relax and go through but you know it's important we've been talking about that so hopefully all but today we're going to study a book that sometimes gets kind of overlooked we call it a book it's really a letter and it's probably the shortest i believe in the entire bible it's third john and so we're i believe there's a very relevant message for all of us today so hopefully let's all have ears to hear and a heart that's ready to receive what the spirit of god has amen here's the title of today's message oops too quick is it well with your soul that's the question i want you to ask and be honest with yourself is it well with your soul but i ask you not to respond till the end of the message because sometimes we can just kind of like fire off an answer but allow what the spirit of god reveals to us today and in light of that ask ourselves the question is it well with my soul let me just give you a little background the who what when and where and why this letter was lit written by the apostle john the one and that jesus loved this letter was written in a time frame when john was released from the isle of patmos he had been imprisoned by the emperor he had been held that way and he came to the city of ephesus it was a place where paul had started and planted the church but this had grown emphasis in the ancient world was a metropolis it was a port city it was an influential city and the church had arisen and become a very prestigious church in this way so john took the responsibility in his older age to oversee a network of churches but he began to write because of problems that arose there were these leaders that had broken off and began to teach things that were not consistent to the foundation of the faith something arose called gnosticism what's gnosticism simply this the word the greek word knowledge ganasco it's those who claim they had a a revelation from god special knowledge and they began to teach things that were not consistent with the truth of the gospel they began to say that jesus was more than a man but less than god he wasn't divine he wasn't deity and they began to teach things that we would entire we wouldn't call heresy so john responsible as a father in the church wrote his first letter to address these things head-on and to give us an understanding what it means to truly be a follower of jesus a test would you say then in his second letter he warned the churches that listen there are these that are making trouble they are causing people to to doubt their faith to to to have a crisis of faith because now they're questioning who jesus really is what did jesus really do and shaking them at their core he said do not accept do not allow these to be supported and welcomed into your community but then just as normal people we tend to overreact at times so the third letter was because the church had done what many people do overreacting they circled the wagons and they were not even welcoming legitimate teachers legit in fact they were even talking trash about john crazy as that is and so he addresses this so there is an important message that i want us to give because the relevance people are people truth never changes it's seeing our lives through the lens of scripture so let's read it because it's a short one let's read it all together you whether you're reading a you version on your thing whether you look it on the screen whether you bring a bible to church but let's read this together we're going to read the whole letter it says this paul was he was writing to one of his disciples he said the elder my dear friend gaius whom i love in the truth dear friend i pray that you may enjoy good health and all may go well with you even as your soul is getting along well it gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth telling how you continue to walk in it i whoa okay yeah that was really weird okay um okay yeah can you just pop back to me for sorry guys uh okay here we go i have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth dear friend you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters even though they are strangers to you so he's addressing now the issue that there are people that you don't know but you have been kind to testing to know the ones that are genuine sincere showing hospitality showing care showing love which is consistent with the truth so he says goes on they have told the church about your love please send them on their way in a manner that honors god it was for the sake of the name that they went out receiving no help from the pagans we ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that they may work together for the truth i wrote to the church but the offices who loves to be first will not welcome us look at this how crazy it is it wasn't even welcoming john the disciple that jesus loved okay so when i came i will call attention to what he is doing spreading malicious nonsense about us not satisfied with that he even refuses to welcome other believers he also stops those who want to do so and push them out of the church dear friend do not imitate what is evil but what is good anyone who does what is good is from god anyone who does what is evil has not seen god demetrius is well spoken of by everyone and even by the truth itself we also speak well of him and you know that our testimony is true and how much how much i have much to write to you but i do not want to do so with pen and ink i hope to see you soon and we'll talk face-to-face peace to you the friends here send their greetings greet the friends they are by name and so listen to me there's a relevant reality there's a relevant truth that i want to pull out which centers first and foremost around verse 2. because john was writing to his dear beloved disciple and he expresses his prayer his desire his aspiration for him and look in the new king james this is what he says beloved i pray that you may prosper in all good things and be in health just as your soul prospers an important truth that we gain from here is this that the health of our soul impacts every other aspect of life and it's important that we see and recognize because john here is giving understanding that he wants this dear disciple to understand the importance of taking care of his soul the word prosper which can be misunderstood at times it comes from this word in the greek language the word prosper is a duo you do it literally means to help one's journey success for things to go well in other words prosperity has been confused in our time even among church people because the ideas of prosperity just meaning material wealth is a misunderstanding of what the scriptures imply to it because god wants us to be successful in every aspect of life to things to go well because i know a lot of people that have a lot of money and are not well in their soul and from a biblical point of biblical point of view they're not prospering so it's important to understand that success for life begins right here in understanding the responsibility of taking care of our soul so what is our soul let's answer the question what is our soul mankind is a three-part being god designed a spirit soul and body all three parts equate to man but all three parts are significant all three parts are important and here's the problem if you neglect one it has impact on the others but here he's saying to us that without well-being in our soul it will impact every facet of life and so it's important because god made us we need to be responsible and steward what he gave us to steward to be a part of in these ends and so our soul is made up of our mind our will and our emotions in other words it deals with our mental health and as soon as i say that there is a stigma unfortunately within our culture that people shy away from i know this especially guys the idea of mental health because we have all of these wrong ideas about it and that's purposeful by our enemy because he knows that if our soul is impacted it impacts every other area of life and it's important that we see and know and understand this because why this the care of our soul to take care of oneself i'm going to guys this is a bit of a personal journey for me because you were to ask me six months ago self-care taking care of yourself i would have said to you because it was a misunderstanding biblically no no no that's selfish my job is to take care of everybody else i'm to be selfless the reality is this area tends to be neglected more than any other the care of our soul the understanding of the importance how that we must maintain that but there's a misunderstanding because we confuse even in the church world this idea of our spirit and our soul that my spiritual life strong but thinking that takes its place for our soul and it doesn't and it doesn't neglect one you can't over emphasize one and think it's o k taking care of our soul is a responsibility that we have because why again the importance it impacts every area of life so what does it mean to maintain our soul well first we need to understand the intentionality of it because whether you haven't taken care of your physical body you may have gone to a medical appointment and the doctor says there's a problem and you realize that taking care of yourself physically requires intentionality that you have to do things that you have to provide opportunities to whether it's eating right and exercising other things physically that impact our physical life and sometimes when we're making adjustments it can seem really awkward but it's important to maintain our physical and it's just like our spiritual life there are things we must do to maintain a healthy spiritual life but just as importantly our soul because why if our soul is our mind our will and our emotions how many people especially in the days in which we live have allowed the development of their soul to stunt to not develop because listen emotionally just think about this for a moment how many people in our culture today are emotionally immature that's the underdevelopment of the soul that they get offended so easy that they that they react to things in ways that are not right we we know the understanding of iq intelligence but we failed to realize the importance of eq emotional maturity the responsibility of how we interact and deal with the people in our lives and how many times and guys i'm going to be honest about this women can struggle with this too but it becomes stereotypical stereotypical sometimes with males the inability to express their feelings their emotions it can create sometimes tension even in their marriages where their wives are wanting to know and understand because why guys have this ability to go to logic to go to analytics it helps them to compartmon compartmentalize and deal with the things of life but some have never learned to connect with and be real with that you but you see god made us god designed us and god wants us to be whole in every single area of life god wants us to recognize that there are times when you have to leave aside the analytical leave aside the logical and connect with this reality that god made us to enjoy the beauty of what he made whether it's through music whether it's through art whether it's through nature you see the the point is being able to david was a warrior was he not but at the same time he was a poet and the bible said he was a man after god's own heart learning to be a lover an appreciation of all that god does through people and culture and and and creation taking the time to appreciate it and let it minister to your soul you see our soul represents two our relational connections we were created for connection we were created to enjoy life see our soul we need to find a rhythm we need to find an area and it's an area i'm embarrassed to say but working on is that life has rhythms but i only had one speed and that was pedal to the metal if you ever driven with me in my car unfortunately okay but the reality is that there's the time to slow down there's the time to disconnect there's the time going on sabbatical from me trust me the first two weeks was like a crack addict in a sober house okay disconnecting going there's more to life than work there's more to life than ministry and i've let the enemy rob me because connecting with enjoying life having fun resting enjoying who god what god designed and who god designed us to be taking time to just be with people not interested in just having to learn things all the time or share things just being to know and to be known but you see what's the first thing the enemy attack when sin occurred what happened it goes back to the garden of eden it's the struggle of humanity is shame and fear cause human beings to hide and do not connect on those fronts because he attempts to impact and infect so you see we need to take the intentionality and to recognize so here's my question again is it well with your soul see there's so much to share with you over time things that i've been learning along the way inviting you into the journey that i've been on but i want you to answer for yourself as we go through today is it wow with my soul you see an illustration to help us understand what i'm talking about today kind of simple play to get is how many people here appreciate a good lawn anybody know you know you drive by you see it on a college campus or a business or just one of your neighbors and you can be honest we're in church you can give fashion you might have lawn envy okay i love a good lawn i love things to be i mean when you see one that's well manicured there's no weeds it's cut i mean it's like looking at yankee stadium and the lines are doing it's like whoa i just want to lay down on it i just love the smell of fresh cut grass it's just something about i don't know but but one thing i learned years ago okay is that the way that the best area of having a health you know to have a good lawn is to realize that a healthy lawn is the best defense because if you ever try to grow a good lawn you know you have enemies you have weeds you have bugs you have weather conditions right but when a lawn is healthy it has an ability in itself to guard against some of those things but to have a good lawn requires maintenance so i kind of told you this last week but my wife and i during our time we closed on and bought a new house okay moved into it and when we when we arrived when we when we came to the you know do the inspection and go for the closing and stuff the loan was not in good shape and kath was kind of distressed i was like oh my goodness it don't look like the pictures a year ago and so because why we know this without intentionality even if things are good if they're neglected they can go bad it's our responsibility to maintain and so i said babe don't worry about it we just got to feed it the right things we got to water it correctly we got to take care of it it will be okay and that's the good news for all of you today no matter where you are if you just begin to take the right steps god meets you because why jesus is the restorer of our soul god loves you and cares for you more than you can even begin to imagine and he's not driving you he's not pushing you he's not trying to drive you crazy and make you jump through hoops spiritually god created a world for us to enjoy to stop and drink in the beauty and to recognize that life is about appreciation and respect for who he is and the things he created and to know that he did them for our enjoyment so in essence we started working through that end but so there are three things that i pulled out of the the text from this this epistle three things that i believe the three keys to contribute to the health of our souls the first one is to walk in the truth john said i hear my friend that you have been walking in the truth and there's no greater joy as a as a as a discipler he realizes man it's not just about listening to something it's not just being a sermon connoisseur it's this realization when life is impacted when you gain a hold of the truth but here's the question that i have what is truth didn't pilate ask that of jesus what is truth is truth how you feel now let me help you on that front your feelings it may be true you're feeling that way but what you're feeling may not be true what's truth what somebody says what experts say well here's the thing that we can be honest about if you've lived long enough in life feelings fluctuate experts revise theories and opinions change all the time but what is true true never changes and this is what i need you to understand what god says is truth jesus said thy word o god is truth and the more we begin to walk in and embrace the truth the more our lives gain the freedom that we were intended to experience because the scripture says so much about this area of our soul didn't paul write to timothy and said god has not given us a spirit of fear but a power love what and a sound mind a sound mind means a disciplined mind it says in philippians that we are to think on these things which means we have choices the more mature we become the better choices we make in fact romans 8 tells us when we think on spiritual things when we think in the way that god sees life it brings life and peace but when you're led into this carnal worldly aspect of a worldly worldview it creates struggles and stress and problems and difficulties so in essence walking in the truth the word walk literally means to order one's life around you see we know that the the physical side of walking but figuratively walking means taking steps progressing ordering your life in a direction see are we not followers of jesus what does it mean a follower of jesus is someone that aspires to follow his model for life and to embrace his teachings and live by them you see it's never intended to be a passive thing it's an active progressive reality of taking one step at a time remember what do we say our mission at vertical is leading people to take their next step with god why because there's always a step to take always a way in which god is leading us to enjoy and to grow in the life that he intended for us to live to experience all that jesus bought and paid for for us with his blood and body but you see the journey only we can walk it and he didn't say talk it he said walk it because it's an individual determination it's a step [Applause] so listen to me what is truth how let me ask this question to you how do you see your life do you see your life through the lens of your feelings i don't feel like i'm worth anything so i don't really believe i am do you see your life through the lens of what others have spoken and said about your life and you battle on those things is that how you see yourself do you see yourself by some situation where there's this unrealistic presentation from our culture to try to be something that frankly most people are not and thinking that you don't measure up because you don't fit what they say it's supposed to be how do you see yourself see until you begin to see yourself as god sees you until you begin to recognize that that's a battle that's been my battle because what you guys don't know share more at some point in the future but listen to me i've had people close to me people who should have loved me speak horrible things over my life and forgiving is one aspect of life but not allowing those voices to live drive or motivate you see living by the truth is recognizing that what god says overrides my feelings what god says overrides the opinion of everyone else let god be true and every man a liar because it doesn't matter i don't have to prove anything to anyone because my father loves me and being willing to embrace that reality and accept that truth will liberate your soul from all of the expectations and things that everybody else and the culture around you tries to keep on you but guess what jesus came to set us free and whom the son sets free is free indeed so walking in the truth is beginning to order my life by what god says to live by that aspect of life and to know it because the journey of a christian life is finding the things in life that are lies that we believed were true and replacing them with the truth of what god says that's the journey of christian maturity that's the growth reality is looking at my life and being willing to examine it pastor frank did a fantastic job last week and he was telling us that when you look yeah give him a hand that is amazing and did he not tell us that when you look in the mirror it gives you the opportunity to adjust and to make the differences living according to the truth means living in god's word and replacing things that do not equal what god said and trusting and believing that his way's the best way so we have to learn to walk in the truth number two we pull this out is that we need to maintain healthy relationships he was encouraging his disciple listen you've been doing the right thing you haven't let everybody else influence you to overreact shut out everybody else but you have been looking for the real people who are embracing the truth who are fulfilling the work of the mission of the gospel and showing hospitality and love and grace that is our job but you see we were created for connection god made us for relationships and the questions that we mean to reality are we taking the time or will we have a thousand to one excuses why we don't maintain good relationships well life's busy see you may be chasing things that are temporal and rag and missing the fact that the people in our lives are the precious gifts of god and nothing matters more than the connections that we were created to experience giving and receiving love living in a lifestyle of connecting with others building genuine authentic relationships see even in your family let me tell you this i'm sorry but a year's worth of neglect can't be made up with one vacation and how often do we excuse so many things away oh i'm gonna do it yeah tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow and tomorrow never seems to come and how many parents i don't want to be feeling guilty but how many parents have struggled through those ends because we did what we thought in the moment but here's what i'm trying to say to us take a step back ask ourselves the question how are the relationships in our life because relationships require intentionality they require feeding and watering and taking care of just like every other aspect of life maintaining good and healthy relationships people that we can be honest transparent and open with because listen to me you're as only sick as your secrets you may not have everybody but who are the people in your life listen especially the people of faith that will encourage us that will inspire us that will help us guys why do you think we have groups in our church just because it's some fad that's done no the fact is we were created for community we were created for connection but what sometimes we think that soul health is a luxury and i can't afford it no let me tell you this you can't not afford it is it easy to build relationships no but is it worth it emphatically yes because doing life with people we love is what god designed for our lives and we need to build healthy good relationships friends family people you see the health of our soul is somehow determined by the level of our connections and relationships and the last one thirdly listen list avoid strife and controversy by remaining faithful to the truth oh my goodness if 2020 is not an example of this and it was a perfect storm avoiding controversy and strife being faithful to the truth what happened in 2020 we had a pandemic that alienated people from one another right separated so people were on their own right and then all of the things then then we had racial upheaval in our nation then we had a politically divided crazy period of time and what happened is too many people allowed all of these controversies and strife to impact and affect their soul most apparently by a lot of people's social media posts the fact is that we allowed so many things to fog us because if we become annoyed if we become angry if we become irritated if we become mean those things are not consistent with the truth and i know we're all believers but listen to me listen listen last time i checked god's still sitting on his throne jesus is still lord okay the news that we have to share is good news so sometimes the health of our soul would be for us to turn off the television turn off the news shut off social media for a while and gain peace in your soul begin to navigate and recognize when things lead me down that way of irritation and all of the anger that it that it seems to ferment in me that's the enemy working because right now more than ever in a divided nation there used to be a there needs to be a united church there needs to be a people that love one another that don't get into all the strife and controversy but to remember who we are but more importantly who he is that brought us together jesus prayed we would be one so i don't know where this hits you i don't know where you're impacted by any of this today maybe that's too much but listen just one of those things what can you take from today's thing imagine what it might do for you if you begin to walk in the truth if you began to investigate the things that i believe and are they consistent to what god says about me what if you begin to maintain healthy relationships maybe restore someones that have been broken and build some new ones that are life-giving and maybe maybe just maybe avoiding controversy and strife but just disconnecting for a while to find peace in your soul i don't know where this impacts or hits you today but let me tell you this jesus said come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and what you will find rest for your soul how is it well with your soul let's all bow our heads this morning jesus we come today to this point we recognize that you are the great shepherd who came to lead us beside the still waters to cause us to lay down in green pastures to come to restore our soul so today lord i pray for us for everyone in this room today that we would have this willingness to recognize where our souls have been burdened where there have been unhealthy habits in our lives where there hasn't been peace in our minds or joy in our walk lord today that we would begin to embrace truth he said to follow you your disciples are those who continue in your word and that they will know the truth and the truth will make them free may they know the truth today that your arms are open wide to do for them what they can't do for themselves to be the healer restore the peace for our souls today lord may we come with an open heart may we surrender and say jesus heal my soul restore me and give us the courage lord to begin to take the steps necessary my head's about in eyes are closed all across the auditorium today if you're here today and you've never truly committed your heart to jesus he's the one that came to save us not just spiritually but he came to save our souls as well he is the peace that surpasses all understanding in him we can find a refuge in him not only can we find forgiveness but a fresh start a new beginning but the journey he always gives us the dignity to choose for ourselves so today if you're here and you've never committed your heart to jesus i want to give you this moment right now you say yeah pastor kevin i'd like you to pray for me today if that's you just raise your hand real high wherever you are in the room and i'll lead you in a simple prayer to pray to ask jesus to be the lord and savior of your life and to begin the restoration of your soul let's all pray this together right now see everybody say this out loud say lord jesus i do believe you are the son of god who came from heaven to save my soul thank you jesus i believe you died for my sins you rose again from the dead so i could be forgiven and be made new today i'm willing to accept you as my savior as my lord come into my heart i invite you today thank you for loving me accepting me and making me now a child of god a man come on give him all hands god bless you come on praise god yeah thank you jesus come on let's give it up for pastor thank you pastor ken great word praise god it's good to have him back right thank you pastor so listen i just want to speak to directly to those of you that raised your hand and just committed your life to jesus we're so excited for you listen we want to encourage if you could just take a minute we have what we call our digital connection card and how you access that is if you just pull out your cell phone open up your camera app and you'll see on either one of the screens here you'll see a qr code we have them on our tvs in the concourse as well as here scan that with your camera app and our digital connection card will open up if you take a few minutes to fill that out we're asking you to do that because you know what we want to help you continue to take your next steps with jesus so we would love to be able to stay in contact with you as well as those of you that are joining us online let us know about that we are so excited for you amen that word today was good stuff i love it bueno venisimo so listen before i dismiss you guys couple quick announcements as you heard earlier in the announcements today listen don't forget family skate night on the 19th right you can get your tickets online or you show up there at roller magic and they'll take tickets uh money you get tickets at the door also small groups see a new semester for small groups is starting look don't forget to see pastor randall in the concourse he's right there by the next steps area if you're interested in being a small group leader okay god's deal with some great things here great small groups we have a great small group you listen to pastor talk about health we have a great uh small group called celebrate recovery it's fantastic it's you come on with your hurts habits and hang ups great community great group uh it's on tuesdays at 7 00 pm would love to see you there if that interests you amen so guys let's do this i'm going to close us out in a word of prayer and then when we're done uh closing in prayer i know the ushers will dismiss your row by row and i believe we usually have people up front for prayer uh if you need that so let's pray father we thank you for the word that you brought through our senior pastor lord help us to take that word and act upon it to see our lives transformed lord we're thanking you may your holy spirit empower your people to be your hands and feet and we're just thanking you for every moment god in jesus name amen hold on one moment oh yes pastor david and my wonderful ushers are correcting my mistake listen if you're new here we have this wonderful thing called backstage pass we haven't have a lighter lighter up there that room right there see that wonderful woman right there come on over there if you're new we would love to meet you you can learn more about vertical church we're going to tell you a little bit more about the church give you a gift take you on a tour so you can check things out if that's you come on down but if you have a child please go pick up your child first and then come to backstage pass guys thank you and the ushers will begin to dismiss you have a great day [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Vertical Church

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Id: 5BcAvGpqo-Q

Length: 71min 6sec (4266 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021