 All right everybody so thank you all for being here once again we've got a great ministry team to help out and we've got our family that's been coming you guys got ministered to one-on-one last time and almost this time again but we've got Willow and her dad Thomas so thanks for coming guys you know I think I want the ministry team to introduce themselves will you introduce yourself just your name yeah and sister Kendra and that's sister Stephanie in the back and this is sister Kelly and my name is Erica okay Willow okay great so today we're gonna talk about why should I choose Jesus what's the big deal right you guys see things in the world that you want to do and everything looks fun why should we choose Jesus why should we be separated is that a question have you ever had that question before why should we follow Jesus okay well I need a volunteer to read you okay Micah okay read loud though okay go ahead okay so who's choosing who who's really choosing who okay great and then what's he want to do he wants us to go and bear fruit right fruit that will last so it's gonna be enduring we'll get into that's a whole other topic and so that whatever you ask in my name the father will give you he wants to give you good things he wants to be a heavenly father to you and he chose you okay but we have a responsibility we have to answer right God why did you choose me he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight that's pretty cool so before the world was even thought about you were thought about each one of you so it wasn't just your mom and dad coming together and having a baby the heavenly father chose you and specifically knew you and had a purpose for you and chose you that's pretty big that's a big deal the living God wants you to know that he loves you and that he's chosen you you guys know that raise your hand if you know yeah you guys know my ministry team now they know what Kelly knows okay me too oh and look I did this cool graphic so that because I was playing with my PowerPoint isn't that cool okay this is a cute little video that I found have you heard it have you seen this guy okay cool you know that you were chosen is funny hey guys it's me again and we says I got picked last for dodgeball and I never get picked last because I'm pretty good at catching the ball I love playing goalie and soccer and we're playing dodgeball I just catch the ball like I'm playing soccer but well I have kind of weakness normally I can catch the ball yeah but if there's more than one ball coming at me I just go and I freeze and I get hit by all and so now they just throw more than one ball and so I got picked last and that felt really bad I didn't like being picked last I used to get picked first and it made me start to think because you know nobody likes to get picked last but but did you know that you and I chosen by God yeah God shows us special we are his special that we are God's favorite all of us and you might say well no if everybody's God's favorite then nobody's got favorite no it doesn't work you are God's favorite and I got chosen by God God picks us first every night and so I may not be picked first in dodgeball anymore and maybe I might not get picked first for other things in my life but I can know that God will always choose me first you know Jesus loves us so much that he even died for us yeah he gave his own life so that we could live with him forever that's how far Jesus would go to show us that he chooses us and I think that that is really really amazing I hope that you understand deep down inside that you are chosen and valued cool who else do you know that would die for you any of you you got somebody best friend that would die for you no you guys have anybody that you know that would just lay down their life for you right now somebody came in the room with the God and they're like oh let me take it I'll do it instead right so that's a big deal that Jesus did that no one has greater love than this to lay down one's life or one's friend he's your friend he calls us friends when we accept him when we choose him back when we accept the invitation that he's given us God Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one they created all things all things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made so for me this is a really big deal to know that the Creator that has literally made everything the universe the planets the stars the puppies the kittens the rainbow the winds the seasons he's so big we can't even wrap our mind around him he's three people in one you know when I think about a superhero like Superman he's just a man he's just a man but when I think about God he's got these amazing attributes we can't even wrap our head around and for whatever reason he chose us and he can give attention to each one of us individually at the same time because he's such an incredible God and I thought that that was pretty cool so the Creator wants to have a relationship with you a personal relationship what does Jesus offer what do you think willow snacks she says Gabrielle what is Jesus offer love okay what else Micah I know you got an answer what does Jesus offer us anybody Isaiah yeah a relationship Ezekiel are you telling him answers Micah it did what does Jesus offer us salvation that's a big word that's true salvation okay what else what's Jesus called the prince of peace okay what does he forgive what does Jesus forgive sins okay so he forgives our sins okay and when he forgives our sins and he brings us close to him where do we end up going when we die so we're allowed to go to the kingdom of heaven with our heavenly father okay okay she knows that does God have an army does God have an army of who okay so he has angels Psalms 91 says he has angels that'll even catch your foot so you won't dash your foot against the stone so he'll send his angels to guard us right okay we got angels to guard us what else do we have ministry team what else do we have from Jesus joy that's a big one brand healing you guys said it at the same time do you guys remember any stories in the Bible of the Lord healing people how many times did he do that paralyzed people right guy with the withered hand that just grew out what else Kendra patience you guys are starting to name something called the fruit of the ah fruit of the spirit yes got another one Jen long suffering yep and something that we're here for today what does he offer us deliverance which is freedom from yeah you raised your hand bondage great demons oppression negative emotions bad feelings right so he's the deliverer the deliverer awesome let's see what I wrote down let's see how many of these we got right according to what I wrote healing we got that one angels to guard us protection that's really important because there's a lot of wicked stuff out in the world how about compassion didn't Jesus have compassion on a lot of people he was always feeling oh so much compassion for people when you see them hurting he was always willing to help those people that were hurting that were crying out to him you know if you guys are hurting you cry out to the Lord and he'll help you because he has compassion prosperity I even forgot about this one he helps prosper our lives he wants to give us good things he'll help us find a job right Alyssa didn't he help you find an apartment yeah what else Rina we know what he gave you he gave her a dog do you want to tell them about that in in two minutes what happened come up here and tell them they never heard your testimony yeah short two minutes so like for all my life I'm really wanting a dog and I always like prayed about it so it's like dog like all of my life ever since I was little I was like please can I have a dog and like I never actually had one for myself I always had a close family friends who had dogs and that would like be close to their dogs but never one for my own and one day when we moved here it was like in 2019 I think um my mom got this prayer jar and it was just like we're doing your prayers and put it in and I was like alright well can I have the perfect dog at the perfect time because I thought like I could have all these wands for a dog but like God knows what the perfect dog is so I'll just tell them I want the perfect dog and God's timing is always the best I was like that's the perfect time so then I put it in there and I was like you know what I'm just gonna leave it at that and I'm gonna let God deal with the rest of it and after that I just left it alone and I didn't really ask for a dog ever again until um until this past year my mom started looking into it and it was honestly the perfect timing because I had been going through a lot of stuff at school but the changes that were happening and I really needed just like a friend to like come and love on me when I came home and what do you know Jack showed up my little my little dog he's a little malty but I'm pretty sure you guys have seen him before um and we got him for free he was a rescue and one of our friends had him and was like do you guys want him and we took him in and we at first we're just gonna try to see if he would fit in but then he was just like attached to me and so we're like we're keeping him and it was really just like awesome the timing that God put him in my life it was perfect like I asked for and he asked for the he gave me the perfect dog because like I secretly always wanted a dog who like wanted me the most out of everyone in my family which is selfish I guess but like I mean I'm something about dogs except they usually they love everyone in the family but they usually pick one person they follow around and I wanted to be that person I wanted my dog and he was that dog I never said I actually never voiced out that I wanted a dog like that I it was just like in my heart and he gave me that he just and he gave me a hypo-atletetic dog which I'm allergic to burn stuff so that's perfect um and he's super low maintenance he's small you can take him anywhere he was always he's already potty trained which that's like a huge deal and you know it's just he was really perfect and the perfect dog at amen yeah amen thank you thanks Rena isn't that encouraging the Lord wants to give you good things he wants to prosper your way hmm root of the spirit we talked about that he makes all things possible what you guys think is impossible the Lord can do I've seen it in my life these these wonderful people have all seen it in their lives and you guys have seen it in your own lives and I know that for a fact because I've talked to you deliverance just what we're here for today what else does Jesus offer eternal life forgiveness of sin to give us a relationship with our Heavenly Father you guys said that one rescue us from hell give us mercy when we deserve punishment and so much more arena where'd that come from Rena actually is part of my teens group and we were talking together about the same subject and she said this you want to read that that's right so it's a personal relationship it's based on you and your Heavenly Father if mom has a relationship that's great that doesn't make you a Christian that doesn't make you a Christ follower you got to choose Jesus back right so I really like that thanks if you don't choose God you choose the devil by default that's just how it works there's two kingdoms if you do nothing with the Lord and him inviting you it's the same thing as rejecting him you have to answer the call he's sending you out an invitation you answer the call and then you start walking that narrow path and if you don't the devil who gives temporary pleasures temporary pleasures what does that mean Micah do you know it means something that doesn't last right you have it for a little bit you might be happy for a little bit and then it's gone he takes it from you he gives you just enough to reel you in and then he takes it away the temporary pleasures he's the father of lies he's proud he's fierce and cruel he is powerful he's a powerful being without the Lord we can't stand against the devil we cannot do it he is a powerful being he's deceitful he deceived Adam and even the garden sold us all down the the path of hell and sin he's very subtle like the serpent right he came in the form of a serpent and he was sneaky and he is the devourer he'll eat everything in your life that is good and he will take it down to nothing his main goal is to destroy us so we need Jesus on our side so that we can overcome that Satan is a created being so remember when I was talking about Superman come on I'm not going to serve the creation I'm not going to serve something that the Almighty God created I want to serve the good the one that created everything why would you want to serve the creation and not the Creator Romans 125 says they changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator who is blessed forever amen so we want to be serving the Creator I don't want to serve second best if I'm in a race if you're in a race Micah and I give you an option do you want to choose number one place number two place or number three place which one do you choose number one okay great cool that's my answer to John 1010 says the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy Jesus says I came that they may have life and have it abundantly Isaiah which would you prefer to be stolen from to be killed and destroyed or to have abundant life and peace yeah I think so me too what about you Gabriella abundant life and peace is equal abundant life and peace yeah me too okay God's call Hebrews 3 15 as it is said today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion we don't need to be rebellious we need to answer the call don't harden your hearts against the Lord when you hear him calling answer the call Matthew 22 14 says for many are called but few are chosen you got to answer the call right God invited you he called you what will you do choose to show him you accepted the invitation that's it we got to answer the call so today you know we all have struggles in our lives we all have things that we don't quite understand what's going on or we need advice we need questions answered that's why I do this when I was a kid I had a lot of questions I needed answered and my parents couldn't answer those questions so I went to the world asking the same questions and they gave me answers the answers they gave me were lies and I lived in those lies for a very very long time and I was totally deceived and I didn't even know it until a couple years ago that's a sad life that's sad to have to live that but you guys are so young you have the opportunity to learn now and ask those questions and get free of those bondages and see how Jesus wants to show up in your lives so what we're gonna do today is we're gonna pray with you we're gonna give you an opportunity to ask any questions that you want and we're gonna you know steer you in the right path and hopefully give you some guidance so ministry team if you guys want to help and pray with the parents and then the kids that would be great so I'll let you all start going around and sister Kelly I know you've got a little bit of time left still so do you guys have any questions about this anybody no okay great okay well we thank you heavenly father for this time we thank you for all the ministers here we think you that we're gonna be able to pray with the parents and the children today and Jesus name and Lord we just invite you to have your way we thank you father for being able to gather here together and speak your truth through your word and we thank you for the wisdom that you're giving us and growing us all in Jesus name amen