What Happens After The Amen- A Night of Worship Recap

A thousand people gathered in a park and stayed. Not for a show, not for a polished production, but to worship Jesus together and to remind each other what unity can look like when the body of Christ stops competing and starts praising. Dionne is out today, so I’m flying solo, praying for her health, and taking a beat to celebrate what God did at our Light The Way night of worship before we rush into the next thing.

I walk through the behind-the-scenes reality of planning an outdoor worship event, why song choices and doctrine matter, and how God uses willing “yes” people even when we don’t feel qualified. You’ll hear about the worship leaders and teams who served, the sound and logistics that make these nights possible, and why we include nonprofit and ministry booths for people facing addiction, homelessness, mental health struggles, divorce, infertility, and more. Worship meets real life, and we want people to leave with hope and practical connections.

We also talk about what’s next for Light The Way ministry: Arise in downtown Chesterton on October 23 with a focus on multi-generational worship and raising up the next generation, plus the vision for a men’s conference centered on fatherhood, brotherhood, and stronger spiritual foundations at home. If you’ve been craving Christian community, worship nights, discipleship, and a place to belong, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review to help more people find the light.

Transcript

Welcome And Prayer For Dion

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Lyric in the light.

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Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the Lyric in the Light. Today is going to be a little bit different because Dion unfortunately won't be here with me, so you're stuck with just me today. But first, I want to pray for my co-host and very best friend Dion. We love her and we're so sad that she can't be here with us. And by us, I mean us as a collective group. So if you would just join me in prayer. Father God, we come to you this morning in prayer and petition for my friend Dion, your child, and her body. God, she faces so many challenges with autoimmune issues and just a lot of stuff going on from a health perspective. She hurt her neck somehow, and we believe she was praising you too hard, Lord. And we just would love it if you could just wrap your arms around her and bring her comfort, God, and bring her back to health so that she can come back and sit on this couch and just spread the light of Jesus to everybody listening. She is such a wonderful woman of God and a warrior for Christ. And I know she's just been going through it, God. So please be with her and please be with me as I attempt to lead our podcast on my own and just share about the amazing night that you gave us a little over a week ago and be with our listeners in whatever it is that they're going through. In the mighty name of your son Jesus Christ, we pray these things. Amen.

Why We Pause To Celebrate

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Well, it's been a little over a week now, and I wanted to take some time today to reflect on what God did at our Light the Way night of worship on the 22nd. God, was that the 22nd already? Sheesh. So we're gonna talk about what's next to with Light the Way because sometimes we're so busy planning the next thing that we forgot to stop and celebrate what God has already done. So first, I just want to thank everybody that showed up. We had almost a thousand or no or just over a thousand people show up to that night. And usually people kind of fluctuate. They come and they go, and this time they came and they stayed. And every time I looked up, there was more and more people, which is not just impressive by number standpoint, but seeing the body of Christ come together. And these are people from different denominations, people from different churches, different classes, different ages, different backgrounds, different like parts of their walk. So you have some newer baby Christians, you have some people that have been walking with the Lord their whole lives, and they're just worshiping God side by side and in fellowship with each other, and so many people, I was just watching people hugging each other and dancing together, watching little girls and older ladies dancing, waving flags. It was absolutely stunning. And there were so many times where I just stood there in complete awe of what was going on around me. A lot of times at the events, I'm running from one side of that park to the other. I get there super early in the morning and then I come and go, you know, throughout the day, but I'm I'm mostly there from like 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock on until, you know, 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock that night. But I had to pause so many times to sit and see everything that was going on and just take it all in because it was incredible.

Planning Light The Way And Choosing Bands

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People don't know, but these take about four months to plan, at least four months to plan, because at first we have to find willing participants. So when we first did the first light the way, I mean, nobody knew who I was, so it took a long time. And not that knowing who I am now matters at all, but when people don't know you from Adam, it is very hard to get people to sign on to something, especially when your pitch is, I don't have sound equipment, I don't have any idea how to do this, I've never done this before, I'm a new Christian. Would you please come and play for me? It's not the biggest selling point. So I was blessed that there were some very open-minded, willing participants to just see it for the call that it was from the Lord and to take a chance. And they came and it was beautiful and wonderful. And now, three years later, I've done this a few times. I've made relationships and people have gotten to know me and they've seen it for themselves. What a beautiful night it is. So it's not as hard to find people to play, but we have to be really prayerful and particular about who plays. So Valparaiso Baptist is an amazing church. They are such kind people. I've talked about them on the last podcast, but they really do have a heart for getting out in the community and getting outside of their walls. And their worship leader, Michael, is so intentional about the music he chooses to play. And even though he plays a lot of older hymnal songs that I am not as familiar with and that aren't as radio popular as some of the other bands' choices, he really wants the lyrics of the songs that he chooses to be coming straight from the Bible and just good doctrine. And so he is so intentional, and I really respect that. Even if I don't know the music as well, I do really love that he thinks so deeply about the things that he's picking. He doesn't just pick songs because they're popular or well known. He chooses things that he has prayed over and really thought about and things that are they are definitely sharing a solid word from God. And then Patty Gebhart has been, she was the band number two, Northwest Indiana Worship. And they are a collective of worship leaders from different churches that she's worked with over the years, and she put together a really intentional group of people that are incredibly talented musicians. And Patty played with her former church quite a few times. I think there's only been maybe one or two that they were not able to play at. But she has been a part of Light the Way since the beginning, and she's been a great mentor to me from a sound and technical perspective, because as somebody who does not lead worship in a church, I sing at the choir, or I used to sing in the choir in my old church, but now I don't do anything worship-wise other than put these concerts on. So there's a lot of times where there's things that I don't even know that I don't know. And so I'm super grateful for her mentorship in that way. And she also likes to get to the heart of the worship and she likes to lead people to the feet of Jesus. Unfortunately for her, during her set, you know, there was a lot of stuff going on that was distracting, but she still, I think, from the perspective of somebody who was just listening, we didn't hear the problems that were going on up there. So God still used their worship to lead people to Jesus. And I thought that they did a beautiful job. She really has such a gifted voice, and so does the other people on her team, and they're all incredibly gifted musicians, and so we are grateful to have them back. Patty's gonna be stepping into the role at Light the Way as our musical director moving forward for the next year while we kind of figure out our next transition as a ministry. So I'm grateful for her stepping into that role, and she's gonna be helping with band selection and talking to them about their song choices and building the evening and kind of organizing the sound side of things and the technical side of things so that I can put my focus into other areas rather than trying to stretch my brain to understand things that I just don't fully grasp at this time. And we do want to bring people to Jesus through music, and I want to do that in the most proper way I can without it being curated to where we don't leave room for the Holy Spirit to move the way he needs to move. So I'm super grateful for her and Northwest Indiana Worship for coming and being a part of that. And then the last band, and I am probably butchering the name, so I apologize if any of them are listening, but Sola Fide or Sole Fide, which Chad Robinson is leading that group, and they rocked. Like it was fantastic. Ben Fuller's Black Sheep march on to Mount Zion, they did at the opening and closing of their set because people were screaming for an encore. It was fantastic. People were crowded around the stage, which usually everybody kind of hangs back. I don't really know what that's about because I've I'd love to see people get more involved in coming closer to the stage and coming to worship and approaching the altar in that way, but people seemed a little more reserved, and I think they were kind of you know more interested in in seeing each other and talking in the booths, which is great as well. But seeing everybody come up towards the stage to worship at the end was fantastic, and they absolutely crushed, they were so, so good, and uh we loved them, and I am so glad to announce that they will be back for our October event in addition to Northwest Indiana worship. They will be back in October as well to lead worship for that event, also, and they are also going agreed to be our worship leaders for our men's conference, which I'll be talking about a little bit later. So I think they're gonna bless those guys, and they just they're such an incredible band. So I'm super glad to have them back.

Booths, Ministries, And Serving Real Needs

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So that was our bands, and then we had about 30 booths of nonprofit organizations and ministries come out. I'm not gonna list them all. We talked about that on the last podcast that we talked about Light the Way. And I just want to say how grateful I am that people took the time to hear about these incredible missions that these people are on. And some people have asked, you know, why do we have nonprofit booths at Light the Way Events? And really what that boils down to is people are struggling with one thing or another, whether it's homelessness, addiction, mental health, divorce, infertility, struggles at home. There's all kinds of stuff going on that people are really struggling. Even something like the pure fat loss challenge. While they are a for-profit group, they also help people with their body and their health and their body image issues. That I think that that's really beneficial too to people who are feel like they are embarrassed of themselves and don't feel proud of themselves at all, that they, you know, kind of shy away from going out to public spaces and connecting with people because they feel some kind of way about themselves. And then fearless queens and the Lyric in the Light podcast and having podcasts that are out there trying to share the light of Jesus with people, I think that's incredible. And so we wanted the podcast to be there. And I invited the people who run Gospel Bowl to come and share about Gospel Bowl. And I touched on this at Light the Way, but in case you weren't there, I have no problem promoting other ministries and other groups of people that are doing what we do as a ministry because as long as the word of God is getting out there and people are being preached to and ministered to and loved on and fellowship is happening and the body is uniting. I don't care who's leading that charge. That is an important work. And Jesus will not return until everyone has heard the word of God. So I and heard the good news of the gospel. So what kind of person would I be if I didn't encourage and support other ministries doing the same thing? They just had a worship night at Whispering Oaks. I think it was either a week, yeah, it was like a week after hours. And I was so glad to hear that 400 people showed up to that. And I think that's great. So I'm super glad to see them out there supporting what we do. We are gonna be glad to go and support what they're doing. If I'm able to be there in person, if I'm not working a wedding, I will be there in person to show my support to them. So super excited about that. That's coming in September. I think Awaken is in August, and then we'll be back in October. So seeing worship nights popping up everywhere doesn't bother me at all. I also want to thank Norma Williams for being our emcee and giving a word.

Unexpected Speakers And A Word For Men

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She always brings the fire when she comes to preach. She was just born to share the word of Jesus with everybody, and I just love it. And Jared Hayden from The Good Grace Project, brother, amazing job also sharing a word. I literally walked up to Jared. We had some time between bands. We were originally gonna have Pastor Ruth from Bethlehem Lutheran come. She always brings communion, she always gives a word and just kind of shares about what her ministry is doing. They are kind enough to umbrella us with their 501c, and they've kind of taken us under their wing over the last couple of years. So I always love to give her an opportunity to share what's going on at her church. And unfortunately, there was a shooting of a police officer in Michigan City, and she is the chaplain for the Michigan City Police Department. So she was with her officers, which is exactly where she needed to be, but I did not fill that time. So we had some downtime right after Valparaiso Baptist Church went up to or got done playing, and I just walked up to Jared because I knew that he would be able to do it because God always gives him such a solid word. And I just was like, hey, buddy, I need you to get up there and give a word. He's like, Okay, about what? God will give you the words. I don't know. He he you have something to say though, so I need you to go for how long? I don't know that either, but I need you to go. And he did. He got up there and he gave a great word. He kind of came up underneath Norma and speaking about the importance of men stepping into their roles as leaders in the kingdom and as leaders in their families and in their communities. And so I was super glad to see that come together. And it was just, it was amazing. So I'm so grateful to my friend for coming out there and give and you know, on a whim and just going with everything I ask him to do, which I do that to him all the time. If you if if you ever see Jared, ask him. It happens almost every single time we have a worship night. I there is something that happens and I need a gap filled with a strong word. And I just know that he is always fully capable. And I think the 24-hour tent revival, I think he ended up doing it like three times. A couple of those were planned, but there were times where I was like, I need you. And he and he always steps up and he never says no. And he is just such an example of giving God your yes in those moments. So I'm so grateful to him. And

New Help, God’s Strength, And Family Support

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last but not least, I want to thank my new assistant, Maddie Wright, Madeline Wright. If you did not meet her, you will. But she is agreed to step in and kind of be the new me at our outdoor worship events. So as this ministry is growing, I'm being pulled in different directions. And I also have a full-time job. I also am a so sometimes when we do events, you know, people want to see more and more and more events happening, but I can only get so many days off work. So I wanted to find somebody who is hungry for God, who is hungry to give him their yes as well. And Maddie Wright has been come into my house as a guest visitor for the last couple of years. She was the she is one of the nannies of one of the babies in my former daycare. So she used to come into my home. And over that time, I was able to share Jesus with her. And I invited her to volunteer a couple times, and she started going to church on her own after that. And we would sit and talk Bible talk. She's reading the Bible for the first time. She'd call me with her questions, and we would have the most amazing conversations about the Lord. And she was looking for a way to get plugged in. And I said, I need somebody who can run for about 12 hours, who doesn't tire out, who's who's hungry to gather people, who's hungry for Jesus, who has a desire to see the body of Christ united and who could step into this role. And and she didn't really know if she could. She didn't feel worthy. And I was like, then you're exactly who I'm looking for. Because I don't need somebody who in their own strength can do what I do because I don't do what I do in my own strength. The Lord gives me strength to do what I do. I don't know how to do any of this stuff. I mean, I'm learning because I've done it now for the last three years. But when I started out, I was an in-home daycare provider. I had never, I wasn't done reading my Bible. I'm still not done reading my Bible for the first time. I'm still learning. I'm still, I still consider myself, even though Dion would disagree, I still consider myself a relatively new Christian. And so I'm still figuring it out too. But this ministry does not belong to us. This is God's ministry. We are the permits and paperwork people. We are the runners. We are the people that set up and organize the events. But everything that good that happens, the people coming, whether or not they come, whether or not the weather stays with us or not, whether or not people are reached by the gospel, whether or not people get baptized, that is all from the Lord. We the the rise and fall, the success and failures, that is on him. He is the one that is going to decide how this goes. We all we can do is get the ducks lined up in the row. Where he takes the ducks after that is on him. Sorry, I had to take a drink. Thank you for your patience. But and she understands that. And when you have somebody who is not experienced, who's not qualified, it allows for God to show his abilities and his power and his might through us. Because if I was somebody who went to school for event planning and who had a history of successful events, who knew who was a worship leader and knew all this stuff, like I could literally take the credit for all of this and just say, Well, yeah, I organize events and I did all this. And and I, I, I, me, me, me. And that's that's not the case at all. If anything, the only thing I can say about me is that I don't know what I'm doing. But God, thank you, God, for being the, you know, inside of me through the Holy Spirit and kind of guiding my steps, because there are so many times where I doubt and I question, but I doubt and question myself, not God. I doubt and question my own abilities and my own self, but then I remember that I have the Holy Spirit living inside of me that is guiding my steps, and that God is responsible for the outcome, not me. And He humbles me when I forget those things. So I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful to, oh, I didn't say thank you to my husband and to my family, because what people don't realize is doing events like these, it pulls you away mentally from your family. So I'm just grateful that I am married to somebody who is willing to let me do that. So I'm so, so thankful for that. But it was it was an amazing day. We watched four people get baptized. Dion's own grandkids, her two of her grandkids got baptized. They were the first two in the water, which was absolutely incredible to see Chad baptize his grandchildren and Dion crying, holding a towel.

Baptisms, Unity, And Practicing Gratitude

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If you haven't seen, there's pictures on Facebook of all of that. But definitely go to our Light the Way Facebook page and look through those pictures because they were so many great photos. And then there were two other ladies that got baptized as well. I was able to participate in those baptisms, which were my second and third baptism ever that I got to do or be a part of anyway. And I'm just so grateful that we have that opportunity to baptize people. So I loved it. So that's basically the recap. And I just it made me think of Psalm 133, how good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity. So I'm just so grateful that God gave me this mission to not only build one church, but to build the kingdom. So I'm just grateful. And that made me think of the song by Elevation Worship. God, I'm just grateful. So it was just amazing. So one thing I noticed that night was just gratitude. People kept showing up and just being so thankful that we were able to pull something together that they could worship freely in a park. And I'm grateful to them because they showed up in the first place. They showed up and and in support of what we're doing, and they get the community rallied together. So it was it was awesome. And it wasn't awesome because it was perfect. It wasn't awesome because it was curated and because it had all the bells and whistles. It's awesome because it was just people who love Jesus coming together to praise the Lord as one people. And I'm just thankful. So I just want to ask you guys in thinking about that, is what has God done in your life recently that you're grateful for? I'd love for you to leave that in the comments or to email us, message us, let us share what you have going on. We'd love to bring that into our episodes in the future. So um, I also want to talk about why, you know, worship matters and why getting together to worship matters.

Worship As More Than Music

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And it's more than music. And I think what I'm excited about is seeing that come to the spotlight again when we do our worship in October, which is called Arise. And the basically the point of that worship night is to focus a lot on multi-generational worship. It's to focus on getting the next generation ready to step into their calling that God has on them and seeing the older generation kind of pass the torch down to them and then stand behind them in support and watching them go, teaching them the way, and then watching them go, rising them up as the next generation of Jesus warriors. And so that is what the point of a rise is, but also to shine a spotlight on different types of worship. We did that at the 24-hour tent revival. We had people doing art, we had some, we had a lady come and play the harp, which was incredible. We had dancers, we had flag worshipers, we had spoken word poetry. Worship isn't just music. You have something to offer in the form of worship. Worship is even obedience. So you can worship from wherever you are. You worship in the park with us, worship in your kitchen, worship while you're driving, worship even in moments of grief and sadness. So it's not just a night of music and fellowship. Worship is a lifestyle choice. So I just I just am so excited about what's coming up. One of the beautiful beautiful things about ministry is that God never leaves us standing still. So He's given me

Arise Night Details And Youth Flag Worship

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lots to do. So yeah, like I said, a rise is coming up October 23rd, 5 to 10. We're back in downtown Chesterton. I know people would love to see this kind of spread out a little bit around the community, but what's great about downtown Chesterton is it is it is an inexpensive place to worship. So it's $150 to rent the park, and then we will have to pay for a sound person to come. We were blessed to have Keith. Oh, I forgot to thank Keith. I'm sorry. Thank you, Keith, if you listen to this. Keith donated, he was the guy running sound. He brought all the sound equipment and he donated his time. And that couldn't have happened. None of that could have happened without him. So thank you, Keith. He's the sound guy at Momentum Church in Crown Point. That's Norma's church and Patty's Church. And we're just so grateful that he was generous enough to come and do that for us. And he's gonna be back doing it for us again in the fall. We're gonna pay him this time, though. But he's he is coming back to do it again in the fall, and it was a great experience all the way around. So I'm so, so grateful to him for that. We do have a youth involvement idea for Arise. So there is a way that you can sign your kiddos up, ages six to 16. We're looking for kiddos who would want to be part of a flag dance routine. Eileen Torres and Melinda DeLuca have agreed to sort of take the reins on that. Practices are going to start in August on, I believe they're gonna be Wednesday nights, but don't quote me on that. I'll share more details on the Like Away page as they come on the when and where exactly that will be. But I really would love to see kids kind of step into their roles as leaders. And so I want to see them be encouraged and empowered by the adults in their lives to come out and feel as though they can lead worship even at their young age, that they can share the word of God. And it doesn't matter how old they are or how long they've been walking with the Lord, if they have a heart for sharing Jesus, we want them with us. And we would love to share with them knowledge about why people wave flags, what do the colors mean, and educate them in that way. And then we'd love to have them come out and do a dance to the song He Arose by Phil Wickham and Tommy Prophet. And I think it's gonna be beautiful. So please email LightTheway, n W I at gmail.com, so that we can get your kiddos signed up for that. And then we'll also put a sign-up form on the website at light the way ministry.net so that they can get signed

Firm Foundations Men’s Conference Vision

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up there as well. We need to build up that next generation. In addition to Arise, we are we have our firm foundation's men conf men's conference. The date as of right now is looking like November 14th at the H Life Building in Hobart. But again, those details are subject to change. It is still a little ways off, so that is what we're working on. This men's conference is gonna focus on encouraging our men to become better leaders in their homes and in their churches. This is also gonna focus a lot on fatherhood. I mean, this is for people who are already fathers, people who are becoming fathers. We want to talk to them about their roles as fathers, not just providers and protectors, but their roles as fathers and dads and teachers of the faith in their own home and raising up good disciples and their children and leading their wives well. And we want to talk to them about brotherhood. Men have the highest number of suicide rates, depression rates, alcoholism, drug addiction, abuse. And a lot of that stems from the fact that a lot of them are dealing with male loneliness and they don't know how to have healthy relationships with other males. And so we really want to focus on building up a brotherhood of Christian men that can go out in their communities and support each other and show up for each other and talk to each other when they're struggling with finances, when they're struggling at home, when they need help around the house, when they get hurt, when they to reach out to each other and realize that they are not walking this walk alone. Women are so good at this side of life, but men really, really struggle. And I think a lot of them are just really dealing with a lot of burdens on their own. And we want them to feel empowered to relate and get close to other Christian men that can lift them up and be praying for them and supporting them in their walk. So healthy families are gonna start with healthy spiritual foundations. So we are gonna start at the bottom and work our way up. And I am so excited to see what God is gonna do. Much like the women's conference, this is gonna be a very limited number of spots available. It is going to be free. So we, when we put the link up, I don't imagine that those spots are gonna last long. So if there's men in your life that you think would benefit from going to this conference, please make sure that you guys are following Light the Way so that they can get signed up and get a spot. We're gonna have amazing food. We're doing Southern Comfort food, so barbecue chicken, barbecued pulled pork, and baked beans and colesalt and potatoes, and it's they're gonna eat so good. The boys always, you know, get to chow down. And then obviously, Sola Fide, as I mentioned, is coming back to eat worship. We're gonna have some great speakers, we're gonna have some activities for them to do to get the guys out of their seats because we know that men, you know, there's only so much talking they can do before they got to build something with their hands. So we're gonna we're gonna have them come together to work on a building project. And I'm just excited to see how they respond to their calls to be the leaders and and men that they God is calling them to be. So I just want to say, you know, thank you to Dion for giving me the opportunity to come on here and do one more message about Light the Way. And thank you guys so much for supporting me. Sometimes when you're leading something, you know, on the day of the event, I don't see the prayers from everybody, but I I really did feel the love. And sometimes you guys don't see the prayers and the doubts and the late nights and the mistakes and the moments where I'm wondering if I'm really the person God should be using to do the work that I'm doing. So it means a lot to me to have your guys' support and encouragement and prayers, and when you guys show up to those events, it really sort of validates me in a way that I feel supported by my brothers and sisters, despite my own flaws and inabilities that you guys believe in what we're doing from a mission perspective enough to want to be a part of it. So thank you for everything that you guys have done, you know, this last three years. And hopefully we will see you again as things are coming

Fundraisers, Women’s Conference, And Kids Conference

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up. And I think the last thing for this year is going to be our holiday baking championship. And I know that that's not a serious thing, but it is how we are going to hopefully be able to provide for whatever we're doing missionally next year. We're kind of planning a few different things. We're definitely coming back with our women's conference that was such a huge success. It was amazing to see all these women come together and approaching the altar and watching women get baptized. And it was there was something so organic and beautiful about that day. And I've had women who have been to conferences all over the country say that that was the best conference they'd ever been to. And it wasn't because I did anything spectacular. The the volunteers, I mean, we had fun decorating, but it was a lot of that stuff was brought in from home and was it was very, you know, kind of minimalistic as far as decorations went. The food was a potluck. It was that a bunch of women came together and brought salads and soups, and we made this charcuterie table, and we had a the baptism idea was Tina and Sarah had the from the Fearless Queens. They were like, can we baptize people? And we thought of that the night before and we got the baptismal there that morning. God had just put it on their hearts that they wanted to baptize, and thank God they did because two women got baptized, two women who mean a lot to me got baptized, which was absolutely beautiful to see. So I am so excited to see what God is gonna do with the men. I'm so excited to see that because I know it's gonna be something so powerful. And then, so in addition to bringing the women's conference back, we are gonna be having a conference for the kids. So some people have asked me about that. What does that look like? A conference for the kids. So the vision that I was given for our kids' conference is for kids 8 to 12, and there is a reason that it's so young, and specifically that age, because sometimes that age group they start to get a little bit out of the excitement of VBS because they're feeling like they're a little bit too old for that, but they're also too young to go to teen conferences. So, and they're at that right at that in-between age between being a little kid and being a teenager, that they need some really solid guidance, but they don't want to hear another adult talk over them as to how they should be as kids and how to approach the world as kids. So my vision is to have amazing older teenagers and young college students come and guide them and teach them and do the talks with them, do the activities with them, share with them the world that they're about to walk into and how to navigate that world as kids who love Jesus and to make choices that are going to help them on their walk to learn from these other kids and their struggles. Because with social media, with drugs, with the pressures of body image and keeping up with the Joneses, these kids are dealing with a lot. And they're dealing with it a lot in a world that is so different from the world that I grew up in that sometimes I don't even feel qualified to teach Aria how to navigate the world at her age because the world looks completely different than it did when I was her age. Saying, you should go outside and don't come back until the lights are on. I would never let her do that. My parents let me do that, but I lived in a different world. I can't do that now. So now what do we do? My parents didn't have to fight social media, they didn't have to fight cell phones and tablets, they didn't have to fight predators on Roblox. Like there was none of that going on. Not to say that there wasn't predators back then, but they didn't have as much access to the outside world as they do now. And drugs and alcohol and all the things, I mean, I feel like kids just have so much stacked against them. And it's not the society makes it seem like it's not cool to follow Jesus, but it is. And the kids I see growing up now, these young college kids, these old older high school kids that are choosing to walk with the Lord and they're on fire for Jesus, these are some of the coolest kids. Not just because they choose Jesus, but they're just cool. But kids don't know that you can choose Jesus and be cool. So I want to invite the kids to come in and teach them. Meanwhile, their parents are gonna be in a next room talking to youth group pastors, talking to Christian counselors, talking to people who can talk to them about how to parent these kids, how to be better support systems for them, how to navigate things like social media and the world that they live in today. So it's kind of a joint conference, but separate for them. But it's also going to be activities, it's also gonna be fun, there's also gonna be worship. And ideally, I'd like to find a youth worship team to come and lead these kids in worship so that they can see that they have the ability to worship God, they have the ability to lead people to Jesus. They can get up and give a word, empower them. And that's what that's all about is empowering the youth because that's our tomorrow, that's our future. And until Jesus comes home, we need strong warriors in the body standing up against the powers that are pushing back against them. We're in spiritual warfare, guys. It's time to raise little warriors, rise them up to being part of Yahweh's army. So, all that to say, I'm excited about what's coming.

Invitation To Join And Closing Blessing

SPEAKER_02 39:25

I just want to encourage you guys to come out to our next event, invite your friends, invite your small groups, invite your churches, invite your neighbors. If you know of nonprofit organizations that you think would want to set up a booth, or if your church would want to set up a booth, you know, please reach out to me. It's free to participate. So they lose nothing, they have everything to gain. But we would definitely love to have them. If you guys are not belonging to a church, if you're looking for somewhere to get plugged in, please reach out and we can direct you to some great churches. We would love to see you guys soon. So whether you were standing in the park with us that night, if you're listening from somewhere else, thank you for being a part of what God is doing. Keep singing, keep showing up, keep looking for the light. And thank you guys so much for listening. And I look forward to having Dion back next time. And thank you for checking out the lyric and the light. Come for the lyrics and stay for the light. We love you. I love you. God bless you. Have a great day.

SPEAKER_00 40:26

Can a melody change your perspective? Can I single verse light off?

SPEAKER_01 40:36

Can a melody change your own?