Holy Hangovers

This is Confessions of a Pastor. We are your hosts, Pastors Keith and Kara. And I'm going to just confess this right away. We're going to work through this podcast with a holy hangover. Everybody, hey, if you're just joining us and you don't know what a holy hangover is, let me just clarify. Is when you go all out for God and then the next day you are so exhausted. I got to imagine it's like a a hangover. Kara, do you have a holy hangover? Come on, testify. A little bit. It's not terrible. Oh, it's not. Yeah, a little bit. Okay. Because man, we've had some breakthroughs. We've had one week, haven't we? I mean, we've had we squeezed in so much in one week. We did. We did in one week what some churches do in a year. Yeah. So fun.

And it's been a awesome. And I tell you, there there are seasons of life. Would you admit that? Absolutely. I mean, it's it's a principle of God. He He He made things in seasons. There's a season for sewing. There's a season of waiting. And then there's a season of harvest. And we have just experienced a season of breakthrough harvest. Come on, somebody. Yes, it was awesome. So, for those of you who are who are listening or watching, wherever you are, may we just first say thank you. Thank you for listening or watching. Hit subscribe, hit hit some comments, do whatever it needs to do. I don't know what what you do, but I would just say this. God is so good. We're coming off of our 16th birthday yesterday. Maybe we can go backwards of what God just did. And yesterday was probably one of the most memorable fun days.

It was It was one for the memory books for sure. So tell me some highlights. What What What did you like yesterday? Well, it was our 16th birthday. So we celebrated with um I don't know a car in inside of our church, which was pretty cool. Let's just stop there for just a moment. I think that shocked a lot of people coming into church and we had motorcycles, a Vespa, uh a car, a classic bug. Yes. And there were supposed to be two cars, but they couldn't get it through the doors. And it was awesome. I mean, people were like, "What a cool church, right? We just have fun, you know? It's like true." And we've we've done a lot of cool things. We've done decorations that are shocking, but like having a car was just cool. Then outside there was classic cars, old school Porsche, big old Chevy trucks.

Yeah, the Porsche was supposed to be inside, but we couldn't fit it it so or fit it, so it went outside. It was so fun though. People did ask me, "Is that your Porsche?" I'm like, "No." I was asked if we were going to give the the car away. No, no, not our car. I did want to give a car away, but I just never put that energy into it. Okay, anybody has a car that you want to donate, we'd like to give one away. Let's go for our 16th year. It's not too late. There you go. Right. Okay, so uh the cars, that was good. I There's so much I actually even forgot about that. So, I know that's a silly little thing, but it's not really fun. It was dope. All the decorations were dope. I mean, having the new Kingdom Come graphics on the wall, I mean, it's just big. Yeah, I mean it's beautiful. New merch. Merch was we had lots of fun food sporting some of the merch. We are we are uh launching Kingdom Come our um theme for 2026 which was super fun.

Uh yeah. What was your what what was your favorite? Well, having Jonathan Taylor in the house is always it's it's not just memorable but it's actually like an impartation. Yes. there there's a shift that happens because of his anointing, his energy, his willingness to push us y into new places. It was just for me uh it was exactly what I expected and wanted out of Jonathan Taylor. Someone asked me that this morning. She said um at Bible study she said, "Were you is that what you were expecting?" And I and I said, "Yeah, absolutely. It's it's definitely what what we were thinking it would be." And it was it was that it was celebration. Was the question in a good way or bad way? No, it was good. I think cuz the cuz he's been here before and she said her first experience with with him was actually different but she also said she

was in a different different season of life and at that season she sat way in the back. Okay. And this time she sat way in the front which there was so much energy in the front with all the people dancing and getting engaged. So you know so this season she was closer to the front. Closer to the front. Closer to the front. I think she enjoyed it a lot. That's a testimony. Yeah it was good. That's disciplehip. Go from the back to the front. Exactly. Right. From the back to the front. So just just a quick story about yesterday on that. I I got I've just gotten a lot of messages from people just it was very impactful and it was from someone uh who was related to someone who committed suicide and uh I I was a part of that. was a few years ago and they brought or she brought I think her son she brought her son in who's very far from God right now depressed not doing well and she said first of all it was a miracle that he came to church

and then of course it was Jonathan Trailer and she said for whatever reason and she said we sat in the back the music and the energy hit him and he was crying oh that's so good and then she said Jonathan Taylor and I think it was Kendall cuz they were tell telling us this last and I had dinner. Who was his drummer? Uh they they prayed for him. Oh, cool. So she was she was asking me for continued prayer. I mean just a big breakthrough. Like I was just like life is a journey. It's not like you just arrive at this destination and like oh I got the Lord now and I've got it figured out. And how cool that they stopped and prayed for someone that they didn't know. I mean the impact that we have on people when we do that is beyond what we can even um really consider. Yes. That we just Yeah. And it's cool for them to do it. They didn't have to do that. They all whenever they're here, they serve us. Amen. Beautifully.

Yeah. And just to to hear her talk about that impact on her son, it's like this is real ministry. Jonathan Taylor didn't just come in as a music artist and lead worship. We can see the hype. We can see the energy, the emotions, but at the end of the day, it's it's is there a connection to uh the Lord and the mission and making disciples? And I would say yesterday there was a stake in the ground. Yes. Yes. I I talked with a dad who was just he was just so thrilled. His young adult son um never been to church. He came he started by coming to the Rhett Walker concert on Friday night which we haven't talked about yet. Okay. Came there and which was great and you know the gospel was definitely shared. Um and then came to church on Sunday and got saved. He was in the front row. His dad was just like so excited. He's been

it's it's been his long shot and and he got saved on Sunday. I've heard so many longshot stories recently and that's like just a testimony of God's faithfulness that that that I don't think will ever leave our culture as a church. And if we do, we we will probably plateau and start dying. uh you know, thinking about the lost, thinking about those far from God, thinking about the Luke 15 stories of the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son to say, you know, at the end of the day, that's the kind of church we always want to be because when we pray about that and we put those names out there to the Lord, they come home. Yes, they do. No one's too far gone of long shots that we've had come. It's incredible. Car, I think we had uh someone could correct me if I'm wrong. I think we had 35 salvations. I guess it was something or something like that.

It's just I mean it's just awesome. I mean just so cool and fruitful. And so yesterday and that's just the hands raised. I mean you know the seeds that were that are planted are sewn. Yes. I mean it's beyond what we can count. And here's what's cool about yesterday. So yesterday we did six and six. A tradition that's become just like one of my favorites of favorites. Like I wish we could do like 10 or 15 preachers because it is so fun to to condense a lot of message in a short period of time. And we had awesome. I mean to me it was like it felt like the young the young bucks of the church. It was like it's like this is it like we we are raising up a generation of on fire preachers. And the theme was our vision for the year. Kingdom come. Kingdom come. And I I opened it up to them and said whatever direction you want to go with this just

preach kingdom come. And they each did a fantastic job. I mean it was amazing. One of the preachers is in this room. So, shout out to Hannah. Uh, girl, you got some anointing on your life. Amen. Uh, I just I I just saw you with dignity. I from the moment the the opening line of of Matthew, was it four you read or three? Matthew 4. Uh, but just your opening line, I mean, you just repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And it's just there was it was just powerful. But, you know, the message was this kingdom come and everybody's preaching kingdom, kingdom, kingdom. And they did it uniquely, you know, from uh the the mustard seed to um help me out here. Uh I'm not crazy, I'm kingdom. I'm not crazy, I'm kingdom. That hit us.

That's got to be our next gear. I'm not crazy, I'm kingdom. Uh identify with the kingdom. I mean, uh the contrasting expectations versus reality. I mean, there was there was all these different And then Pastor Jesse's with with you have to be like a child into the kingdom. Exactly. Every one of them were profound and completely different because kingdom is so it will wreck your world once you start studying kingdom which you should. Yes. Get in the Bible and start studying kingdom. Old Testament, New Testament, it's from the beginning to the end is kingdom because there's one king. He has a a way. It's his kingdom. So, all that to say is like this there's certain messages like I as a a preacher like I I I knew I was doing the invitation and I'm thinking to myself like will this resonate with hearts to surrender and believe for the first time and I just

did I knew our services were long all three services. I'm like, "Oh, this was a long church service." But I was thinking in my mind, especially first service because it was really long. I'm thinking, "Oh, I'm not sure we're going to get any salvations today. maybe one or two, you know, but I I went up there and I did a very short invitation, but black and white. Listen, today you've heard about the kingdom. If you want to let Jesus be the king of your life and you need the forgiveness of your sins and the hope of eternal life, if you want to do this for the first time today, you know, and I was shocked because people said yes. When the word of God is preached, it it goes go there. I mean, it doesn't matter what it is. If it's the word of God, people get saved. Amen. And they did. Yeah. And it was and they were they were legitimate. Like you mentioned that story of the young man I and he was sitting right in the front row with his dad. I mean he just a hand went right up.

It was like over and over. I saw one gal sitting by herself. She probably 20s or 30s and she was weeping you know and she gave her life to Jesus and I'm just like how rad is this? I mean it it was so it was a great day yesterday. It was I mean there was I started off by saying it was a season of breakthrough. There was some serious harvest. Yes. I mean, it was harvest and seeds that have been sewn for months or even years. We got to see some harvest yesterday. And I love this. Just even culture like laying a steak in the ground. I'll tell you, there's something about celebrating. We have a God of celebration. I don't want that to ever get old. A journey. Yes. You know, there that to to be able to celebrate just like Jesus did. You know, he turned water into wine. uh most of

his life around ministry was done around the table, food, you know, he accepted invitations of celebration and I just I love that we are a church that celebrates. Yeah. I you know there's there's moments of insecurity that I'm like ah should we have spent so much time and money and energy on this and then after a day like yesterday I'm like heck yeah like that's who we are as a church. God would love us to Yeah. We have to celebrate the his faithfulness for 16 years. Let's go. I mean, the fact that we're still here in 16 years later is in and of itself a miracle that the church is still around. That we're still here, that our kids are serving in the church, like so good. I I'm just so thankful. You know, I had someone this morning even just say um our daughter led worship a couple weeks ago and just said she just said how powerful it was and and she's like, "You

must just be thankful that you know, your kids are involved in the church." I'm like, "Yeah, I I will be forever grateful." Yes. It's a heart of gratitude. Yeah. Yeah. Um but he's gotten it this far. Yeah. Yeah. To see what God's done in 16 years is absolutely incredible. The amount of lives that have been impacted. Come on. By the church. And um it's just Well, I I'll tell you just a quick reminder. Uh and I I mentioned this to you like I was going back 16 years of social media photos just looking to tell our story. I specifically was looking for photos on our birthday. And those early years there wasn't a lot of photos on our birthday because we just weren't living in a digital world. Yes. We certainly didn't have a cool like like camera team going around taking pictures on Sunday. I wish I did. You know, just a reminder to all you out there like if you got kids and uh you got a business,

you got a church, document it because going back to those early days when it wasn't documented, it was kind of sad. Yeah. You know, like kind of scrging through those years and I'm like, "Oh man, in three years there was maybe a dozen pictures done on a one megapixel uh iPhone, you know, or something." It's like it was terrible. But all that to say is like going back and looking over the years. I know we've been through our own trauma where we've, you know, been backstabbed or had just really horrible things happen, things that we've not even confessed, but some really difficult days and they revolve around people that you've done life with, you trust, whether you thought they were close friends or whatever the case is, and they leave. And it hurts so bad. But the one thing that struck me and I I

mentioned this to you I think uh Friday or this weekend at some point is just like Kara there's a lot of people that are still here so good and I mean faithful people I mean just well the enemy really wants us to think about all of the negatives but I think that was just the flip of the script that we needed that was like oh no oh no the amount of people that are still here that have been really growing up here in this house is is quite tremendous. And you know what's so interesting about that? Like we accidentally I I can't remember if it was Sunday after church like No, we didn't lay down Sunday after church. We didn't lay down until late that Sunday night. It was on Saturday. It was our Sabbath moment. Uh I was listening to that Katherryn Kman clip about anointing. If you remember that and she was just talking about how the one thing that will kill anointing is secret sin,

the sin that nobody can see. And and specifically like holding an offense. And I do think to your point, the devil actually, he's just going to remind you and and bring accusatory spirit of what people have done to you and just dwell just dwell on hurt of one, two, three. Yeah. He wants us to do that cuz it will take us out. And I'm I'm I'm confessing that I have gone there. And the the true anointing of God can't linger in your life because you grieve the Holy Spirit because kingdom is not being put into practice. releasing forgiveness, allowing God's freedom to come into your heart, abiding in the ways of Jesus. And so for me, it was just like, thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness of all these people over the years. I mean, people who had babies that, you

know, they're now um teenagers, you know, which is crazy. Uh or or people who had no kids and now they have kids or people who have kids who are now adults, you know, it's like, oh, this is crazy. and they're still here, right? And even the few posts that I put this weekend of like, happy 16th journey and people just encouraging us. Thank you for so many lives that have been changed. Thank you for changing my life. I I got a testimony this this morning. I mean, this is cool. Well, I I would say there is something about um longevity in in what God's called you to. Come on. In in what in your ministry, whatever that looks like, whatever that is, there's something about longevity and being faithful to it that real fruit takes so much time. And I feel like I mean 16 years in we're starting to see like like mature fruit. Yeah. Right.

Like it's not this is not baby fruit anymore. This is like mature fruit where generations are being raised here and um and generations are being changed. Um it's just we're I think we're maturing and with that comes mature fruit and we easily I mean you originally said seven years we're going to commit seven years at the seventh year we're going to be released to move on. you know, 16 years ago when I said seven years, seven years felt like forever a lot because we were 33 years old. So, you know, you only have, you know, uh, a dozen years or so as an adult, right? And so, I'm to me, seven years is like, I would have hit 40. I'm going to have this big successful church. Let's go to the next best thing, right? You know, uh, but the reality is seven years, you're just getting started.

You're just maturing. And at 40, I just felt like, oh, I'm just starting to understand life. You 20s, I didn't understand it at all. 30s, we were exhausted trying to raise kids. Then by 40, it's like, okay, I think I'm taking a breath, you know, like totally barely taking a breath. I don't want to give up now. Yeah. You know, it was like it wasn't the things I had fantasized about. So, I appreciate that. You know, bit scripturally speaking, we just finished Leviticus in our annual reading, and God sets standards that when you plant a tree, don't you pick fruit from it too early. Yeah, absolutely. Not on year one, not on year two. I think it was year three or four. Four, I think. Yeah, year four. Don't eat it until year four, something like that. And it just is a reminder that, you know, so many times I think we pick fruit prematurely. Even spiritually, we want to celebrate things prematurely. We

want the harvest to come quickly. I I'll tell you, yesterday didn't just happen. We don't just get a couple thousand people coming to church jumping up and down overnight. That's not just hype. I mean, people in Central Oregon don't even know who Jonathan Taylor is. It's it was years worth of sewing seeds and telling people, "Invite your friends." And they did invite their friends, you know, and it was creating a safe space for them to come and hear the gospel very clearly and a scripture that's understandable. It took years. And so that harvest didn't come overnight. It was that longevity. So I I appreciate that insight because that's true in our relationships. Oh, and in everything. It's it's true in our finances. Yes. Yeah. Parenting. I mean, yeah. I mean, Romans 5, you you really want hope? Well, it's going to come with some character. You got to suffer. You got to endure. You got to produce character. I

mean, all those things come after you've been through something. Yeah, it's true. So, this young man, can I read this to you, please? Uh, I mean, it's pretty cool. Here's how he starts off. Summer 2023, exclamation point, you know. So, he's like, he sets this up with some storytelling. Summer 2023, you baptized me. I absolutely love what you've done with Journey. I'm so proud to be a part of the church. This was my first church I went to after having an encounter with Christ when I was 18 that permanently changed my life trajectory. I moved out from Wyoming at 18 to be by myself to Bend. The first time my mom visited, we went to Journey Bend and I heard my first sermon. The first sermon that made me feel like I belong.

I still remember that feeling of that first message, one of hope and I'm so grateful for Journey. I'm so very grateful for you. You're such an honest and real pastor. I think it's a miracle that I ran into you and Journey. I'm not sure how my faith would look like today if I hadn't. Realistically, I'd probably have just become a quote intellectual Christian and not set foot in the church for a lot of my days. The stars definitely seem to align. Not sure where he's at theologically yet, but he's like, "Happy 16th birthday and many, many more." He says, "Thank you a billion times over. A billion times a billion. love you and thank you for showing me flaws and inappropriate things that I've done whether it was intentionally by me or not,

but I have been transformed. And then he shows me a video of him getting baptized at Church in the Park in 2023. Praise God. So here's who it is. Let's go somebody. I didn't get permission so I didn't share his name, but I will say this. This is a young man. Yeah. He's friends with our son whose life is going to be changed for ever. Amen. And the fact that he took the time to tell me this, I'm just like, Lord, I'm humbled. I'm grateful. Uh even that song just been I probably have sung that out loud. How many times have you heard me sing that this weekend? God, I'm just God, I'm just grateful. Such a good song. Yeah. I mean, I've often over the years, over the many years, thought, especially in the years that were just really hard and didn't really want to stay and um I've definitely thought like what would this community be without Journey? like would if Journey wasn't here, would we um would there be something missing?

And I think stories like that, absolutely there would be. So So talking to Jonathan Trailer, who's from North Carolina, he just did a large recording, live recording in San Jose, California, the Friday before Sunday, we just celebrated. So here he was in California and he was telling them, "I'm going to Oregon to do worship at a church." And they're like, "Oregon?" like everybody was like, "Oregon, what's in Oregon? What's God doing in Oregon?" And he's like, "There's this great church in Oregon." So he asked me, he's like, "What churches are actually doing things in Oregon?" Like the state, cuz you know, it's a small state. So he's asking me this cuz he says, and then he he followed up with this before I could even say share anything. He says, "I was at the airport in Redmond and they asked me why I was here and I said, I was here for Journey Church." And he says the car

rental people knew Journey knew that they were doing things here even though they didn't go to Journey. Yeah. So he said just so you know in your region people know what's going on. Yeah. PE people know that that that something's happening through Journey Church. Yeah. You know, and as he as he asked me this, there's not a ton of churches in Oregon doing stuff. Yeah. I mentioned a few. Yeah. uh you know that are really more Portland based, right? I think there's a few in the valley and maybe even in southern Oregon that might be doing stuff we're not connected with, but I've just heard some, you know, um a few stories uh in Medford, uh Eugene, but God is doing something good.

Yeah. Amen. And I and I thank God. So, okay. So, yesterday was a great day. If you think of more memories, cuz it was a lot. I mean, it was a lot all in one. It it was it was just It was a whirlwind. It was a It was great though, too. Uh just wonderful day. And then Friday, we had Rhett Walker, which was super cool. It was Yeah. I mean, it was uh interesting. I mean, uh they invited us uh they they they reached out to us and said, "Hey, he's going to be in Oregon. Do you want to do something on such and such dates?" And I'm like, "Hey, let's do this." Even though I'm not a country music Yeah. guy. Um I saw a lot of cowboy boots though at Jouri. He kept calling us rednecks. I'm like, I don't know if Oregonians are rednecks, but um Oh, some of them are. Do you think so? Oh, yeah, for sure. I was raised Well, raised middle school and high school over in the valley in Newberg and definitely redneck in the 90s. For sure.

Okay. I mean, it's still true. I mean, that's that's true. There is a spirit of redneck, I guess, even in central Oregon. Yes. Uh pe people do like their country. I just think you're not a redneck. Yeah. Do you like country, Kara? I do. All right. Confessions of a pastor. I mean, I don't listen to it ever, but you listen to John Denver. I hear it every now and then. That's country, isn't it? Kind of. Or you call that folk music? It's more folk maybe. I don't know. I think that's our first country music singer we've had at Journey. It might be. In our early days, I'd only bring in hip-hop. Come on, somebody. Remember that? I do. Heath McN, Sean Lock, all those like none. Yeah, they didn't go anywhere, but that's okay. I mean, don't I mean, no offense to that ever goes anywhere like it's not going to go back to them.

Sorry. So, then we we got the uh Rhett Walker. Then we go back because we haven't done a podcast for at least a month because so much has happened. I mean, we went down to uh San Diego and I think we thought we were going to come back on a Monday and then remember when our flights got cancelled? That sucked. That was terrible. Can we tell that story for just a moment? Has nothing to do with harvesting and breakthrough, but it is our journey. So, uh we've connected with a a church in San Diego where we're linking arms to to try to bring them some some coaching and counsel and insight. Uh they're such a lifegiving church and we went down for a couple of days. I got to preach there. We got to meet with their uh lead team and staff and it was just a lot of fun just but it was for a couple days. It wasn't like we were there for weeks. We were there a couple days. supposed to

come back Monday morning and our flight got cancelled. And so our flight was supposed to be at Do you remember what it was supposed to be? Oh, 10:30. Yeah. And then I told you I was like, "Oh man, it got cancelled, but they got us on a 4:00 flight." Yeah. So I was like, "Well, let's get the car back and let's go to the airport and see if we can get on an earlier flight than 4." We show up and I we go through security. We go to the gate and it shows from the right flight number or flight to the right city. I go to say, "Hey, I don't have a seat number on our flight, right? Could you get tell us?" And they're like, "Sir, this flight is full every single seat. Your flight is for tomorrow on Tuesday at 4:20." And I was like, "What the heck? We can't get home tomorrow." you had Bible

studies and we had staff meetings and I'm like we can't spend another day in sunny San Diego or else we'll stay forever and uh so we started that journey of like how the heck do we get home but we didn't get home till midnight that night that was crazy a long day so we did not record a podcast then and then the next week we were going to record a podcast what happened or that week that we were going to record a podcast something happened at lunch sale bowlale present bowl that was Hey, let's let's go there for a second. I mean, look at all the stuff we like our life is just crazy. We need to do a reality show to walk around. So, we had a podcast planned. It was President's Day. We the whole staff had the day off that day, but we had a couple of the people in the room right now, uh Hannah and Cali both were willing to come in and

say, "Hey, let's record this podcast." And we were like, "I'm down." And then you reminded me over breakfast that day. It was almost like the Kevin moment on Home Alone, Kevin. You know, you're like, you hear the bull sale. Uh we do this every year where we go up to Tabon to the to Sher Cattle Ranch. They've got a cattle ranch in Terabon and a cattle ranch in California. And uh we do their annual bull sale. Yeah. And what I mean by we do their annual bull sale, I lead prayer at it. Yeah. This was I think my fifth one that I've led prayer at. And it's always intimidating for me. Kara, I got to get cowboy boots and a cowboy hat by the next one. I guess we do have a lot of cowboy things around here. And so here we were going to the bowl sale instead of recording a podcast, right?

And that was always a huge blessing. I mean, I I I prayed this year and the person behind us was weeping as I came to our back to sit with you and just thanked me for that. And it's always your prayer was powerful. I mean, it was it was like just so like honoring to God that God is the one that makes the increase. Like he is we we are faithful and yes and but he's the one that that that grows it. He's the one that that creates the increase. So it was a good prayer. In the past I've always looked at that psalm where it says a cattle on a thousand hills are his, you know, like it's like hey this this is all God's, you know, but I tried to go a little bit further and that he is not only the creator, he's the builder. And if he's the creator and the builder, he's the breeder. that none of this could happen. And then I I spoke with John Tasher at church yesterday and he's just a powerful man. He's he's strong. He's a ranch rancher cowboy and yet he has the

most sensitive pure heart. And I think he's embarrassed by he's like, "I've asked God to take this from me." I'm like, "Oh, John, don't lose it." Uh and you know, it was really powerful because that was just was that a week ago? Uh so we were supposed to record a podcast that week and so we've been missing just talking about some of the fruit of what God's doing. Yeah. What are you gonna say? Well, let's talk about I'm I'd like to talk about Kingdom Come. Our our um Mhm. theme for 2026. Let's talk Let's go there. Let's go there. Kingdom Come. It has wrecked my life. I think it's wrecking your life. I think it's starting to wreck our staff now because they've had to study it. We launched the vision at our birthday. But the reality is we launched it the very first podcast this year. Yes. Episode one, season five. We said, "Kingdom come." But this was more of a formal this Sunday was a formal launch.

Yes. Yes. Like this is what we're gonna, you know, we're going to spend some time studying and and so I don't It was great. I Yeah. I I think what was great about it, Kara, and is we have a lot of and I I say we the Western American church has a lot of wrong thinking and theology around kingdom. Yes, we have taken uh capitalistic ideas and applied them to kingdom. we've taken our own idea. There's a lot of thinking that that's just not biblical. Yes. Or we take some scripture and don't use the whole council. So when we look at kingdom, I really I'm just like how have we not done this before? It's going to change our lives because from the very beginning in Genesis 1, God created order structure. In six days he created the

seventh day there was Sabbath rest. He he rested. But then we see that he instructs us in that by the book of Exodus. He wants us to follow that same order. He is the king, you know, and using, you know, anthropomorphic language, humanized language, he teaches us that life has a way that when we go after his way, it's good. It's prosperous. It's lifegiving. There's uh there there's a multiplication from the beginning. Be fruitful and multiply kingdom. Yeah. anything outside of God's ways is not kingdom and we reap the consequences of our sin which ultimately is death. And so we go through the ways of the kingdom and all of a sudden you you start to discover this is what we're made for. Yes, we're made in God's image. So he's the king. We're made for kingdom. And it's been wrecking us even in the sense of a few weeks ago you and I got kind of

messed up. And I I hope you would agree with me on this. just even obedience, you know, like when we talk about obeying God, we often apply earthly understanding to obeying God. When a parent tells a child to obey, it's usually because they're disobedient and a child doesn't want to obey. It feels like you're hindering me from something I want to do. Or like coaching, you remember the coaching days when you would do those sprints down the basketball courts? What was that called? You called them a suicide. Suicides. Did you love your suicides? No, I hated suicides. But did you do them? Yes. That's called obedience, right? So now we apply that to God in suicides. And by the way, that's just like run down. What? It's a free throw line back, half court back, free throw three quart three free throw line back, full court back. Okay. So enough to probably make someone throw up. Yes.

So apply that as fast as you can. Apply that thinking to God and you think, "Oh, the Lord wants me obey. It's going to suck. It's going to hurt. It's going to be hard. It's going to make me want to throw up. I don't want to do this." Yeah. And we think about the same. My parents are telling me to do something. I have to do it because they're my parent, but I I actually want to do the opposite. Well, that's not obedience to God. Obedience to God is experiencing kingdom. So, it's the fruitfulness of what he created us to be, which means bounty, abundance, plenty. It's goodness, joy, peace. And so, there is no I I I dare to say there's no pain because actually sometimes there is pain. Oh, absolutely. But there is peace, there's contentment, there's a um there is no consequence to kingdom because

there's no regret, there's no shame, there's no guilt. So I only give the backstory that we've been being wrecked privately just understanding the foundation of what does kingdom mean? What does this mean? So I've been wrestling with all year what to to preach. Yeah. I was pretty convinced I was going to preach the sermon on the mount, Matthew 5:6 and 7, because there is no greater sermon in history than Jesus sitting on this mountain speaking to the multitudes about his ways. And the opening line of the sermon is blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So I'm like that just makes sense. Let's start there because then he continues to teach kingdom principles later in the same biatitudes.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see the kingdom. Those two verses alone should wreck you. Do you see the kingdom? Do you have the kingdom as an inheritance? So, I was like, oh, we're going to go here. We're going to go here. We're going to go here. Because even when he says, you've heard that it was said, Jesus lets us know. You think you know, but you don't know kingdom. Kingdom is greater. I mean, there's so much I was going to go there, but I don't think I'm going to go there. I don't think I'm going to go there. Where are you going to go? I'm going to go where I started to tell you the other day and you you've kind of pushed me there and I appreciate you because I think God gave husbands wives to do the right things because or else we'd be knuckleheads and just do our things. I'm going to preach the parables of the kingdom and I'm going to start in chronological order with the first one that's wrecked

me and you told me and I accept the challenge. You're like, I've never heard a good sermon on that. And I'm like, I'm going I'm I'm going to by the revelation and the power and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, I'm not I'm not only going to preach the word, we are going to cast forth the vision of what kingdom is. And I'm specifically referring to this is what will be preached this Sunday is the parable of the swer and it's familiar. A lot of people have heard it, but it's not familiar. I I've been thinking about it all morning this morning. I've listened to probably three or four sermons this morning on it. I've studied a little bit this morning. I'm like, "Oh, this is like this is messed up." Because Jesus actually says, Car with this one. He says, "If you don't understand this parable, you won't understand any of them." So, could it be

that the church Christians don't actually understand the ways of Jesus? Yeah. 100%. Because they missed the first one. They missed all of them. Yeah, I'm serious. He says that you can resist the kingdom simply by what's inside of you. It it doesn't change. The kingdom doesn't change. The a seed doesn't change. You know, we we try to genetically modify seeds today. But the reality is a seed is a seed is a seed. And an organic seed is going to be way healthier than a modified seed because it's the real deal. And Jesus says the kingdom of God is like a seed which cannot change. So if the kingdom cannot change, we're told that the way you receive the kingdom can change. And if you don't receive it properly, which really what Jesus is

talking about, and I I'm you got me excited, Kara. I don't know why you did this, but if if we resist the kingdom, we don't get the potential of what's inside the kingdom. Yeah. The what's inside the kingdom, I'm talking about the seed, is limitless, right? It keeps multiplying because once it's already borne fruit inside that fruit is more kingdom. It just keeps it's a multiplying miracle work of God. That's kingdom. Testify somebody. But if you resist this, you don't get the real kingdom. And that could be worry. That could be a hard heart. That could be uh something snatching you. I mean, I it there's so much that can prevent you from actually experiencing kingdom. And here's what's stupid. We we we hear the word of God and we oh, I've heard this before. I've heard this before.

Well, and I think that's the challenge with this particular parable is it is very familiar and people I I just think it's hard to hear it's hard to hear something that's familiar in in a fresh new way. Mhm. Um, so that would be I think that's the challenge with that particular I you know and I don't know how fresh I can get it outside of like here's what I am going to do leading up to Sunday and we'll do this with the staff team tomorrow is we will pray going into this Sunday because we can add nothing to it. I mean this this parables it's in all three synoptic gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John Matthew, Mark and Luke all share the same one. John doesn't have any of the parables of Jesus. Some argue that he does, but he doesn't actually say uh he he doesn't say he taught them in parables or he hears a parable.

Whereas in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they're really similar. That's why it's synoptic, which means similar. And in Matthew chapter 13, I'm going to go here and I'm this I'm going to go here this Sunday. Matthew chapter 13, that same day, Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. great crowds gathered around him and it was with the crowds that he gave this parable of the swer. Now in context we've got to understand when Matthew wrote this he never broke this down with chapters and verses. Are you in agreement? Yeah. So so what happens then is we cannot just take a scripture without seeing the whole council what precedes it what's after it. We have to look before and after to understand yes the whole context.

And even this morning looking at the pretext. Jesus is speaking right before it says Matthew says on that same day Jesus says here are my mother and brothers for whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. Right? So Jesus has just wrecked the understanding of what kingdom is and he says kingdom is family. I mean right away he brings up the heart that's in most of us which is dysfunctional family. Yeah. We've got mama issues. We've got daddy issues. And Jesus says, "Here's what my will is. When you do my will, we're we're family. there's there's going to be a healing that happens

in the kingdom. And it was that same day that Jesus took that really profound principle of the kingdom and says, "Here's the deal. You do my will, we're family." Sounds simple, but it's not. No. On that day, he's outside. Crowds are gathering. He's I'm just going to say the simplest thing. You see all this stuff you see here? I'm going to go and teach you the harvest principle. There's sewing, there's waiting, and there's harvest. Yeah. But here's the deal. Not everyone's gonna get a harvest. Doesn't mean they're not getting the sewing. Doesn't mean they're not getting the waiting. It means they're not going to get it. And I I to me, if if we don't get this, we miss everything else. So, you're challenging me in the way that if I

don't communicate this clearly, it doesn't matter how I preach the other parables because if you don't understand this parable, you don't get the other parables. Are you tracking with me? I am. Okay. Tell me your thoughts on this. I'm looking forward to hearing it. Just tell me your thoughts though on this parable. Tell me more. Tell me more. What do you think? I just looking forward to hearing you preach it. That's not my question. I I wonder what your thoughts are initially on this parable. It sounds like it doesn't excite you. Does it excite you? It does. Yeah. Okay. What excites you? I I'm excited to actually unpack the kingdom in a way that is tangible. Yes.

So, it's not like what um the person the text you read. Yes. It it goes from the head to the heart. It's not an intellectual faith cuz it's not um and these studying kingdom and these parables will bring us into that reality that um we have to live under the ways of Jesus in order to really walk with him in a in a way that's meaningful. Yes. And to really um make an impact in this life. Come on. And experience all God has for us. And so a part of that is understanding the ways of the kingdom and and these parables are going to unleash that. Well, thank you for sharing. I I knew you had something in you. You got gold in you, Kara. And here's the deal. I

think you're entirely right because when you go from just a head knowledge like, okay, I get it. There's a sewer, there's a seed, and there's a soil, you know, and it's all that's all head. Yeah. You know what? A atheist would agree. I think that's what I'm trying to say is I've I've heard the sermon enough times. Yes. To know like you're going to keep telling me that the some soil is hard. Yes. Some soil is hard. So when the seed goes into the soil, something happens. And and Jesus calls it kingdom. So he he tells us it's kingdom. We don't have to question. We don't have to wonder like what does the seed mean? He tells us it is the kingdom. He he says to you it's been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. This is it's you get this but to them it's not been given for the

one who has more more will be given and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables because they seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear nor do they understand. So before right right right right right right right right right right right Good News Church and he's listening to our last podcast that he says you got to make a t-shirt that says Journey Church is for felons and cute people because we were talking about that social media post where people were like oh Journey Church you got to look like this a cute person or you have to be a felon and then someone else like well you can't go to Journey Church unless you're a felon you know it's like it was so funny to see the perspective of people in the community that aren't a part of the family of God at Journey Church to say

this is Journey. You either have to be cute, you know, and that that person that's just their image of Journey that they're all these good-looking people there. Another person says, "Oh, they're all tattooed up felons, which is we've got both of those things." And to me, I bring up that idea for a church that Pastor Josh says that we should make journey churches for felons and cute people cuz that's kingdom, right? Because Jesus, one of the last parables he gave about the kingdom is he says, "Hey, it's like a king that made a banquet. Go out and invite people." And you know what? The people that were invited were too busy. They were busy with their business, busy with their family, busy. So Jesus said, "Hey, go out and invite anyone that will come. The highways, the byways, my interpretation, the felons and the cute people. Anybody that will say yes." Yes. Now, we also said we got to create a shirt from one of the taglines from

Pastor Noah's message yesterday that says, "I'm not crazy. I'm kingdom." Right? So, here's how you know your kingdom. When that principle goes from your head to your heart, it should cause a fear of God inside of you because you understand that although it went in a seed, it's going to come out a tree. something greater is coming out of your life that you could not do on your own because you can't produce the fruit of God. It's the kingdom of God inside of you. So you literally have a limitless potential inside of you called the kingdom, which is something that is so beyond fathomable because we live in we we live in the confines of

matter and space and time and like all the laws of science, you know, like but but God can do anything. Well, seeds don't make sense, right? They don't make sense. Like I can explain it to a child. You take a seed and you plant it in the soil, you're going to grow something. We could say we understand that, but no one understands it, right? I mean, it's wild. I I got a message a few weeks ago from uh Patrick Murphy, who's an artist, and he did this whole thing about the process scientifically. And I'm like, I don't even understand this. I I don't get this. Like, let me just read to you. Seeds for thoughts. Germination begins quietly, unseen beneath the soil. A seed takes in water. The dry husk softens and what once looked lifeless awakens. Inside, enzymes stir and begin their work, turning

stored starch into sugar and setting metabolism back into motion. A hidden treasure hums to life. Come on. Like scientifically, we can try to explain that, right? But still, it's mysterious. It's like if we say that's the kingdom is like that in our hearts. Well, what is all the the different what is kingdom? Well, it's the word of God, the logos, Jesus with the Holy Spirit. And all of a sudden, you have this stirring of transformation that takes place. I have a greater revelation of who God is, who I am. And I'm no longer Here's the thing about I I got this this morning. You think about kingdom, a seed has to die first and be buried before it produces life.

And do you know some seeds will never die. They want to stay on the surface. They say that they say they're a seed. They say they're a kingdom, but no. Until you die, until you're buried, you don't have life. Yeah. Well, the ways of the kingdom are they're so opposite from the ways of the world that it's I think that in and of itself is is something that is a huge um deterrent from people actually stepping into living in kingdom in a kingdom reality. Um because it's just it's the opposite of what we know in the secular world that we live in and the world that we live in that has um that has principles, you know. Yes. Um, and so it's just God is so he's counter that. He's we've called it the upside down kingdom. Also, I've heard it termed as the right side up kingdom, you know, but it is upside down from what we know.

Um, and and then to when you really start to explore these things, which I'm super excited about to do in through the parables because they're just mindblowing. So, so the the head to the heart here and all this hopefully will be explained in the sermon this Sunday and in the weeks to come because he he used a lot of harvesting analogies or illustrations rather with kingdom Jesus that is. But the head to the heart goes to this place of wait if I don't have it yet it doesn't mean God's not doing it. A part of harvesting or sewing is that waiting. And I I've been telling our executive team this, like we want to plant seeds and we want to reap the harvest. That's not how it works. You sew, you water, you you do everything you need to do, but you don't just get a harvest overnight.

This comes, and we talked about this earlier, the breakthrough harvest season we're in right now didn't just happen. Yeah. It came with the toiling. It came with the sewing. It came with the watering. It came with the years of waiting. And I want to just testify that the head to the heart is when that moment that you don't see what you want to see and you still have faith even though you can't see it. You know that God's still working despite what you have. Yeah. Absolutely. And so that's Paul saying, "I've learned to be content with a little and I've learned to be content with a lot." And let's let's is kingdom. Let's that there's a key word in the in the verse that you're talking about. It's I've learned like it it's it's a process. You don't just you don't just wake up or arrive in the in your especially in your early days of

following Jesus to understand that type of a principle. Um like I' I feel like as I've matured in my faith and as I've walked with Jesus longer and longer, the more you see his faithfulness and you actually see kingdom, you see miracles, you see things that that God can do. And then you um you just walk in that faithfulness much differently. You can say, "I've learned to be content with with anything. I I'm content with nothing. I'm content with everything. Anything in between because I'm content with my father. And it takes a it takes some going through some stuff to be able to say that. It it really does. And sometimes we don't want to go through stuff. I I heard something this morning I've never heard before and theologically I need to study it more to see if I agree or not. But that so one of the aspects of the seed going out is that a bird snatches it and

takes it away. And I've always related that of course to Jesus describing that's the enemy. Uh Satan, you know, is is the bird here. But then like you know what birds do when seeds go out and they take the seeds is they often drop it somewhere else. Yeah, they do. Where it wasn't sewn and then like a um a sunflower comes up in the most random places or a random tree that is like there's no other trees like that around it. So it's true. How did that tree end up here when there is no other trees like that here? And it's because a bird actually so you know even and this is just me processing this out loud right now. What Satan intended for evil in your life. No, God is going to fulfill it. The the the word of God has gone out. The kingdom has gone out. And Satan might have tried to snatch it, but the word of God does not go void.

And so at just the right time, you are going to get planted where God wanted you. And it may not have been where that word was first sewn, but it it is going to take root at some point someplace. And it will bear the fruit that God destined it to be even though Satan snatched it. Yeah, it's true. That's kingdom. Hallelujah. Only God. But God. Yeah. What what a God. And it's coming back to your original question and thanks for letting me um process that with you and just going there because I to me I I've said this a number of times just in the last couple months is when you really study kingdom, it will wreck you. Yeah. And if it doesn't wreck you, you don't have the real kingdom. If you go to the Bible and you start studying kingdom, just that word kingdom because I I the revelation for me is kingdom. Jesus started with kingdom Matthew chapter 4 and then he ends with kingdom with Pilate. He says my kingdom

is not of this world. I mean I've told you my mind blown of in this world and not of this world. Yeah. So if we're not of this world that means we're part of his kingdom which is not of this world. So how do we experience kingdom in this world? That's the stuff we're going to study. Your kingdom come. Your will be done. And and we can be in this world, but not of this world. We're called to. I shared with you the pig pig example. I mean, this is it's it's going to be good. I'm excited. I'm I'm going to be a good year. I think this could be the most important theme we've ever had for a year. Yeah. I mean, our our vision for 2026 is not ours. It's simply going to what God destined for us, which is kingdom. Yeah. In our marriage, in our family, and in the church. Yeah. Absolutely. And then if that happens, Kara, it will happen in our city. Oh yeah.

Revival will happen in our city. Not because we forced it, not because it was a program, not because it was a ministry, but kingdom will be manifest through real people in a real way. And that's called the church, the eklesia that is now going out, the sentout ones who are the living stones living out the ways of the kingdom of God. Amen. It's going. Imagine a whole church living out the ways of the kingdom. Oh, people get prayed over in grocery stores, in restaurants, at gas stations. Workplaces will be filled with the kingdom of God. And people will either be fired or people will be transformed in the workplace. And and it it's going to happen. I mean, we see it. I mean, we got testimony just this week of of people who in the the

governmental world coming into our space and being transformed. I'm talking about city inspectors, you know. Yeah, totally. I I I was I was trying to be sly and secret, but uh just understanding that you step into this world, if we're really living out the ways of the kingdom, you either have to resist it and reject the kingdom, or you have to embrace it. And when you embrace it, there's the transforming work of Jesus. He does not leave you the same. Absolutely. He'll meet you at the well. He'll meet you in the condemnation. He will set you free and say, "Go and sin no more. Your life is no longer the same with kingdom principles. You are who God made you to be. He made you for kingdom. Yeah. And then we get a taste of it. You want to live in the kingdom. It's it's not like a it's like goes back to the obedience thing that we've talked about.

It's it's not like a rule. It's like no, I want to live in your kingdom." And people will call you crazy, but it's not crazy. It's kingdom. It's kingdom. Amen. It It is It's just I just want the ways of God. Yeah. For the poor. I want the ways of God for the lost. I want the ways of God for my family. Amen. And if my kids don't get it, I'm going to keep preaching it. I'm not going to give up on this. I'm I'm going to live it out in the ways, you know, Paul said, "The kingdom is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit." Why would we not want that? To be right with God. Why would we not want peace? Why would we not want joy? We He made us. The world wants these things. And you will not find this in entertainment or sex or

money or power. It'll only be found in the Holy Spirit. Well, that stuff offers temporary temporary, but it's not lasting. And the consequences though are grave. Broken families, broken souls, brokenness everywhere. We see this people who are in those fears and they get saved and come back and we're seeing it all all over the place today. Yeah. Wow. Well, this has been a good conversation, Kara, of all the things we could have talked about today. We could have talked about the Olympics, you know, we we could have talked about politics. We could have talked about what's happening around the world. But instead, I'll tell you, we're talking about the things that are going to outlast the things that are happening right now. Absolutely. you know, in in five years or 10 years, people people don't remember those things, but people will need to talk about the kingdom. Yes.

That they will need to talk about what what what's not right in my life. And so, this was not about the fruit of an exciting Sunday that we had at church. It it's about the breakthrough of the harvest of what God's doing. Yeah. Absolutely. And and God is doing a good thing. God's doing good things. Hey. Hallelujah. I'm so grateful for what God's doing. Yeah. Me, too. God, I'm just grateful for you. I I'm not going to stop singing that until I can't sing it anymore. I like it. It's so good. So good. Well, Kara, I'm I'm blessed by this season and I recognize that life does operate in seasons. Yeah. So, there is seasons of sewing. There are seasons of waiting and there are seasons of harvest. So, friends, wherever you are, if you find yourself in a season right now where maybe it's like, well, I don't have my breakthrough. Well, uh, believe it or not, and we we've confessed it on this podcast many times before, those

ugly seasons of like waiting or I don't want to be here or whatever the case might be. Yeah. But there's so much beauty in those seasons. I'm I'm studying with the the some ladies the um studying Elijah and his life. And I just think about, you know, um, the seasons that God took him through. And there were seasons the brook of Kidron. He took him to the brook in a drought until it was dry. Until it was dry. And he provided for him and a a raven provided food and well that's kingdom. It's and and it was preparing him. And then he went to the widow, you know, and kingdom. And the widow's like, I don't I ain't got what you're asking me for. And then look at God providing and um and then that was just all in preparation to call down fire on Mount Carmel. Right. Like Right. Like it's preparation for kingdom.

It's preparation so that we let's not discount the journey that gets us to the place where we can have the type of faith go there that can call down fire. Yep. Um but we have to go through the stuff like there's no way around it. Yep. Um and we often don't we don't understand it. We often don't understand why God lets us go to these places. And often um which is what we've also been studying is God is actually shielding us from something and we don't know it. Yeah. So he's he was protecting Elijah in that season. There was a whole group of people looking to kill him and he was being protected because he was in the hiding and he didn't know that just good. It's well Kara what I hear you saying and correct me if you if you you disagree

but what I hear you saying is is this is rad. The kingdom is a journey. Absolutely. It can never be a destination. Yes. The moment you think you got it figured out, you've actually lost the kingdom because the kingdom is on the journey of pain. It is on the the the journey of joy. It's on the journey of loss. It's on the journey of waiting. Yeah. And when I think of Elijah, it the kingdom is a journey. Yes. It's not this place, well, I arrived at the brook. I guess God's going to provide for me. This is where he's going to keep me. I'm going to be by the brook. No. No. Elijah, this is getting you ready to see that God provides in unorthodox ways. Yes. Just as he provided through a raven of the least likely of people on the planet. He's going to also provide through a widow. A widow. I mean, he he does it over and over.

Yeah. It's a journey, my friends. The kingdom is a journey. And where you are is where God wants you. But don't allow it to be head knowledge. It does have to go right from here to here. Let let let that seed go deep into your heart so it can take root. Yes. Amen. And there are a lot of things that want to take you out the worries of this world. Yeah. And one thing I would say I've learned and would just en encourage um anybody, you know, is that regardless of what season you're in to just be present in it and to be um to be content cuz I have definitely lived many seasons that are I don't like that are that are challenging. They're pushing me. I don't like them. I would rather be doing something different. Um, but I wish that

I would have slowed down and been more present for the things that I probably missed that God was actually trying to teach me. Wow. So, even if they're hard seasons, they're um there seasons of drought where you are literally waiting every day for God to provide for you. Yeah. Um there's actually so much beauty in that. Sometimes there's more beauty in that than in in plenty. Kara, let me just give you a revelation. This this came from uh Ed who attends our church and he James Yeah. And when James compares Elijah to us Yeah. he he uses an illustration where he says Elijah the one you were just talking about was just a man was a man with a nature like ours. So I believe James is trying to challenge us like don't you dare think that people in the Bible were not human just like you. They have

the same God, the same opportunity for the kingdom that all of us had. And he prayed fervently that it might not rain. And for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Yeah. Then he prayed again and heaven gave rain. We would call that kingdom. Rain is a sign of blessing, God's favor. And when it rained, it says the earth bore its fruit, which means if when it rained that the earth bore its fruit, it means there were seeds there. Yeah, there were seeds there in the drought season. The rain, you couldn't see it. The kingdom was there. Even if you can't see it, yes, you might think you're going through a drought, but that it it's God is going to do something.

And when the rain comes, that which is inside of you, that which you thought was dormant, you thought it was dead, it's not dead. When God's favor comes upon your life, when God's goodness comes upon your life, when refreshment comes upon your at the right time, you might have to be mature enough to get that favor. You you might have to uh be wiser than you used to be. You might have to go through some things to understand that if God gives it to me, I'm ready to handle the fruit he's going to give. Absolutely. He's a good father and he's he's a good father. He knows what he's doing. The seeds are there. Yeah. Amen. They're not dead. They're just dormant. Yeah. And it might look like it's dead, but fruit is coming. Somebody Let's be a little more like Elijah. Well, it's been a fruitful conversation. And I'm grateful that we could at least record this for even the days to come when we're going through our drought season and say, "Oh, it's so true. Better days are coming.

God's going to do it." Uh there's always faithful people right in the midst of it. We are better together. God created us to be a family. He created us to be a part of the kingdom. It's a good thing, Kara. It is. So blessed and grateful to do it with you. Just want to just clarify that. I'm blessed and grateful we're on the platform together. I don't feel uh as alone as I did in the early days. And so, uh, thank you for the healing and the, uh, the bonding that came with that, you know, in the days to come. So, believing God's best. This is going to be a powerful year. So, how about we close in prayer and then, uh, believe God's best. And friends, if uh, you're listening to this podcast and you've got a testimony, we want to hear from you. uh whether it's through email or comments whe wherever that is even on comments on Facebook or um YouTube if you're watching on YouTube comment let us know because we know that people are

listening from all over the place and uh that's the cool thing the kingdom can be anywhere at any time everywhere everywhere so uh let us know how the kingdom is advancing in your life and what God's doing so Lord we thank you for this conversation today we thank you for what you're doing at Journey Church the thousands of lives that have been changed in 16 years we give you the glory God. And we're asking for more, not just thousands, but hundreds of thousands in Central Oregon. We're praying for revival, that Central Oregon shall be saved. But we recognize that there are people listening and watching from all over the world. And so, we desire a great awakening in our lifetimes that in our lives, we would experience the kingdom come. You taught us to pray it. So, Lord, let us not ever get lukewarm and apathetic over this message. Lord, let your kingdom come and your will be done here on earth as it is

in heaven. So, we do pray for more of your kingdom. We ask that you'd make things right that are wrong. We ask that you'd bring healing to the sick. We ask that you would comfort the hurting. We're asking in Jesus' name for those who are lost to be found. We are saying, Jesus, you can do anything. Nothing's too hard for you. And we want to be a part of what you're doing. So, thank you for this team. Thank you so much for all that you're doing. And bless those who have listened today that God, your kingdom would be understood, that they would hear your parables and have ears to hear. for when they have ears to hear, that seed's going to take root and bear much fruit. In Jesus name we pray today. Amen. Amen. Well, God bless you all.