Por encima de todo
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Above It All
What Did You Expect?
Above It All
What Did You Expect?
Por encima de todo
¿Que esperabas?

Crew Leader

Introduction (2 minutes)

Use the Zoom chat feature to keep everyone connected. As people join in, ask for their first and last name, email address, and where they are tuning in from. Save the chat as an attendance record.

Reflect

Ask Crew members to share their favorite points from the talk. What phrase or moment did they relate to the most?

Icebreaker: Reflection or Conversation Starter or Virtual Icebreaker (5 minutes)

For your icebreaker, choose from the options below. Have Crew members unmute themselves to share.

Conversation Starters (Choose One)
  • What's something you did this week that you feel proud of?
  • What did you eat for breakfast?
  • Name the best book you’ve ever read.
  • What’s your morning routine?
  • What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
  • If your life was a story, what would the title be?
Virtual Icebreakers (5 minutes)

Preaching Game - Choose random items and allow individuals to find ways to encourage others using that item. (Pick 2-3 volunteers)

Show-and-Tell - Pick an object in your home that has significance for you, something with a funny story behind it, anything unique, or something you've used to simply pass the time.

Crew Discussion

The Art of Joy: I Ain’t There Yet

Pastor Tim Timberlake

Continuing the Conversation
‍Last Crew's Call to Action

God calls for us to forgive while maintaining boundaries necessary to steward and nurture our souls. This week, lean in to the wisdom of Solomon and study the book of Proverbs to help you develop tools for cultivating Godly relationships while asking God for the courage to forgive. Don’t forget to check out additional resources at https://www.vouschurch.com/care.

Scripture

Philippians 3:12-15 NLT

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.


REFERENCES:  Ecclesiastes 9:11  

Main Idea

Have you ever been on a long road trip with your family or friends and someone asks, “Are we there yet”? But then comes the dreaded answer— we haven’t yet arrived! In Philippians 3, Paul reminds us that God wants us to focus on eternity rather than time. As we are on the journey of life it may seem long and different than how we envisioned but we can trust God is doing something new in every season of our lives. When we practice forgetting the past (our failures, mistakes, regrets), and press towards the goal of eternity, God prepares us for the next season. He is faithful to mature us until miracles happen more often than our mistakes. There’s a generation waiting on us to be what God has called us to be. As we continue on the road to eternity, remember there is no enduring power without Jesus until we have arrived at our home in Heaven.


Live in the hopes of the future rather than the hurts of the past.

1.  If you make time more important than eternity, you lose out on both.

If we are focused on the past, we will miss out on what God is doing in our current season. When we allow God to work through us, we are able to lean into the process of preparation for eternity.

If God doesn’t hold your past mistakes against you, neither should you.
God doesn’t operate on our time, He honors it.
God is not creating our breakthrough, He’s preparing us for it.

The way you look at time determines your eternity, and the way you look at eternity determines your time.

What is God calling you to steward in the right here and now? How would your life be different if you operated from an eternal perspective?

2. Your future begins when you stop discussing the past.

It would be impossible to move forward if there is a hyperfixation on the mistakes you have made in the past. Forget the failure and choose to remember the redemption you’ve received through Christ.

God’s mercies are new everyday — The person you are today is not the person you were yesterday.
You’re not what you’ve done, you are what God has called you to be.
Become a professional at forgetting the past. Your unwillingness to pursue the future disqualifies you from it.

If you’re going to get to tomorrow, you have to let yesterday go.

How can we practice forgetting past failures and remembering times of God's faithfulness?

Summary

Progress thrives when we stop focusing on the failures of the past. Our growing pains can knock us off track and keep us in a cycle of reliving our mistakes. However, as we move forward in Christ we are propelled into spiritual maturity. Through the power of Christ we can overcome ideals of worldly hope that pollute our minds with doubt. Our hope is a confident expectation in a perfect God who is not confined by time, and loves us enough to prepare us for eternity. We were sinners but now we are called by name. We stand in agreement with Apostle Paul that although we may not have arrived, by grace we are becoming who God has called us to be.

Call To Action

In the “Prayer” section of your Philippians Journal, ask God to help you release your past and grab hold of the purpose He has for you.

Announcements

Care Request Form

If someone in your Crew needs care, we want to come alongside you. Our Care Response Team is designed to equip you to walk with people in different seasons of their life.

Our team is committed to celebrating life’s best moments with you and offering support through its hardest ones.

We would love to come around you for the following life events:

+ Marriages

+ Births

+ Deaths

+ Hospitalizations/Illness

Please submit a request at vouschurch.com/requestcare

VOUS 10 Year Celebration

This Sunday, September 28th, VOUS is celebrating its 10 year anniversary!! Anniversary Sunday is an opportunity to celebrate God’s faithfulness over the last 10 years of VOUS. Come and celebrate at any of our locations and services happening all day Sunday!

Preview Day at VOUS College

Step into the VOUS College experience for a day designed just for you. This is a moment for you to get a firsthand look at what it’s like to be a VOUS College student. Meet our staff, connect with current students, explore ministry tracks, and discover how VOUS College can be the place where you grow in your calling and step into your future.

‍To register for Preview Day,  click here

Where: VOUS Miami Gardens

When: Thursday, October 9th

Time: 12:00PM-3:00PM

Address: 17801 NW 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33169

Sundays at VOUS

VOUS SoMi

10:00AM / 12:00PM / 6PM

VOUS City

10:00AM / 12:00PM / 6PM

VOUS Miami Gardens

8:30AM / 10:00AM / 12:00PM

VOUS Design District

8:30AM / 10:00AM / 12:00PM

Church Online

10:30AM / 12:30PM / 5PM Español

‍

Growth Track

After every service or join online at vouschurch.com/growthtrack

Crew Leader

Introduction (2 minutes)

Use the Zoom chat feature to keep everyone connected. As people join in, ask for their first and last name, email address, and where they are tuning in from. Save the chat as an attendance record.

Reflect

Ask Crew members to share their favorite points from the talk. What phrase or moment did they relate to the most?

Icebreaker: Reflection or Conversation Starter or Virtual Icebreaker (5 minutes)

For your icebreaker, choose from the options below. Have Crew members unmute themselves to share.

Conversation Starters (Choose One)
  • What's something you did this week that you feel proud of?
  • What did you eat for breakfast?
  • Name the best book you’ve ever read.
  • What’s your morning routine?
  • What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
  • If your life was a story, what would the title be?
Virtual Icebreakers (5 minutes)

Preaching Game - Choose random items and allow individuals to find ways to encourage others using that item. (Pick 2-3 volunteers)

Show-and-Tell - Pick an object in your home that has significance for you, something with a funny story behind it, anything unique, or something you've used to simply pass the time.

Crew Discussion

What Did You Expect?

Pastor Luke Barry

Continuing the Conversation
VOUSCon 2023: Reflect

VOUSCon was nothing short of a miracle! We're still praising God for all He did. Reflection builds gratitude. Spend the first few minutes of Crew sharing a testimony or reflection from VOUSCon 2023.

Continuing the Conversation
‍Last Crew's Call to Action

God calls for us to forgive while maintaining boundaries necessary to steward and nurture our souls. This week, lean in to the wisdom of Solomon and study the book of Proverbs to help you develop tools for cultivating Godly relationships while asking God for the courage to forgive. Don’t forget to check out additional resources at https://www.vouschurch.com/care.

Scripture

Ephesians 3:20-21 NKJV

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Additional Scripture References: John 11:32; Job 13:15; John 11:5; Matthew 14:31

Main Idea

Life often doesn't meet our expectations, leading to frustration and disappointment. We may hope for one outcome, only to be met with something entirely different, creating a gap between what we expected and what we experienced. This gap can lead us to question God, our faith, and our hope. But through stories like that of Lazarus and Job, we learn that God isn’t in the business of just meeting expectations, He’s in the business of exceeding them.

God’s power to perform exceeds our ability to ask

1. Hope and Expectation

Faith grows through hope and trusting God’s timing. Positive expectations can fuel faith, while unmet expectations can lead to disappointment. Often, we expect something specific from God but find ourselves limiting Him to only a particular outcome. When we don’t see Him come through just as we expected, we can find ourselves frustrated and disappointed — where was God? The truth is, God is always at work. We may not always see Him moving, or understand His plan, but He has something greater in mind.

Disappointment can tempt us to give up on expectations, but it’s an opportunity to strengthen our faith
God’s plans always exceed our expectations
Don't allow your expectations of what God was “supposed” to do get in the way of what He wants to do

If God always met your expectations, how could He ever exceed them?

What areas of your life are you waiting for God to show up? How can you operate from faith in the present as you hope for the future?

2. Endurance and Enjoyment

Job’s story is a powerful example of enduring pain and disappointment without losing faith. Even in his suffering, Job declared, “Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him.” Despite the immense loss, he continued to trust God, showing us that our hope can remain, even in the midst of struggle. Endurance is the ability to trust that God is working, even when we can’t see it.

Endurance strengthens our faith through trials
God hasn’t called us to merely endure life, He’s called us to enjoy it
Enjoying life is appreciating the little, it’s not a pain-free life, but a grateful one

We can say: “God, I don’t understand everything but I trust you in everything”

How has a difficult season strengthened your appreciation for God’s blessings?

Summary

Possibly the greatest source of frustration in life is unmet expectations. The difference between what we expected versus what we experienced often leads us to stop expecting. But there’s an invitation of faith amidst the frustration. Don’t lower your expectations; lift your faith. Give God something to exceed. God can do it, the question is: can you believe it?

Call To Action

Identify areas where you may be limiting God by expecting a specific outcome. Practice finding gratitude by celebrating the little things.

Announcements

Care Request Form

If someone in your Crew needs care, we want to come alongside you. Our Care Response Team is designed to equip you to walk with people in different seasons of their life.

Our team is committed to celebrating life’s best moments with you and offering support through its hardest ones.

We would love to come around you for the following life events:

+ Marriages

+ Births

+ Deaths

+ Hospitalizations/Illness

Please submit a request at vouschurch.com/requestcare

VOUS 10 Year Celebration

This Sunday, September 28th, VOUS is celebrating its 10 year anniversary!! Anniversary Sunday is an opportunity to celebrate God’s faithfulness over the last 10 years of VOUS. Come and celebrate at any of our locations and services happening all day Sunday!

Preview Day at VOUS College

Step into the VOUS College experience for a day designed just for you. This is a moment for you to get a firsthand look at what it’s like to be a VOUS College student. Meet our staff, connect with current students, explore ministry tracks, and discover how VOUS College can be the place where you grow in your calling and step into your future.

‍To register for Preview Day,  click here

Where: VOUS Miami Gardens

When: Thursday, October 9th

Time: 12:00PM-3:00PM

Address: 17801 NW 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33169

Sundays at VOUS

VOUS SoMi

10:00AM / 12:00PM / 6PM

VOUS City

10:00AM / 12:00PM / 6PM

VOUS Miami Gardens

8:30AM / 10:00AM / 12:00PM

VOUS Design District

8:30AM / 10:00AM / 12:00PM

Church Online

10:30AM / 12:30PM / 5PM Español

‍

Growth Track

After every service or join online at vouschurch.com/growthtrack

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