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

Grow Up

Pastor Rich Wilkerson Jr.

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

Joshua 6:27-7:1

So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land. But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.


Additional Scripture References: Joshua 7:6-9, Joshua 7:19-21, Joshua 1:9, Joshua 10:25, 2 Chronicles 26:16, Proverbs 22:4, Joshua 9:13

Main Idea

In Joshua, we see the Israelites marching around the walls of Jericho with uncommon battle strategies, but through obedience, winning victory with God. The result of Joshua's obedience to God leads to his fame with people. People began to talk about how amazing Joshua was. The scripture says that his name was famous in all of the land. God promised Joshua that if he would obey His law, He would make him prosperous and successful. Most of us live our lives planning what we will do if we fail — but what will we do when we succeed?


Immaturity only prepares for failure, maturity plans on being successful

1. Persist in Prayer

Throughout the book of Joshua, we see him talking with God. In success and failure, Joshua persisted in prayer. Our prayer paves a pathway of trust in God. It is from this place that we can obey Him, even when we don’t understand. The first sin in the Bible is relational, not intellectual. Adam and Eve didn’t trust God. The devil tempted them by saying that they could be like God if they ate from the forbidden tree. Adam and Eve sinned, and instead of turning to God and confessing, they hid from God. In prayer we remove the veil, bringing our full selves before God.

Prayer is relational, not transactional
Prayer produces trust in the life of a believer
Pride prevents trust in a believer

God wants our surrender, not our strength

Share a time when you tried to handle a situation in your own strength. How did it change when you chose to surrender instead?

Pass the Promise

Everything we do, good or bad, has a consequence. Oftentimes we allow our pride to believe the lie that those around us will not be affected by our actions. The truth is that the promise is rarely just for us — God blesses us so we can bless others. Unwillingness to share the promise is a mark of immaturity. In Joshua 10:25, we see Joshua shouting to others in public what God had said to him in private. By passing down and sharing our promises, we allow the opportunity for others to be blessed by that same promise.

The Lord loves to use us as a tool to bless other people
Trust that when God gives you something it will be enough to share
God’s promises are always bigger than one person

Lighting someone else’s candle doesn’t diminish yours

Share a time when you were able to bless others with a promise God had fulfilled in your life.

Summary

God promised Joshua prosperity and success if he would obey his law. As we persist in prayer for God to mature us, we must ask ourselves what we will do when we succeed. If the devil cannot bring us down with failure, he will try and corrupt us with success. What we do not turn to praise turns to pride. We are called to surrender the momentums of every season in praise. As the Lord blesses others through us, we are allowed to pass the promise. We experience moments of fame so that He has eternal fame. Allow your light to ignite others, trusting that when God gives you something it will be enough to share.

Call To Action

Prayer is a discipline. It’s a choice to commit to spending time speaking with God. As we enter our last week of prayer and fasting, set aside intentional time to sit with God in prayer. Dedicate time to praise Him, present your requests, and surrender to His plan. Then, dedicate time to sit in stillness, listening for His response and trusting that His presence is with 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

ILMC Serve Day

Serve Day is happening Saturday, July 12th, and we want to get ALL of our crews involved in loving our city so please sign your crew up for a Serve Day project! To see the projects and sign up, please  click here! Please have your form in by Wednesday, July 2nd.

When: Saturday, July 12th
Where: All VOUS Locations
Time: 10:00 AM

Baptisms Sunday

We are having baptisms this Sunday, July 27th, across all of our locations, and on the beach.

To sign up for baptisms, please click here.

VOUS High Camp

VOUS High Camp is happening July 22–25 in St. Petersburg, FL. A four-day experience for students in 6th–12th grade to grow in faith, build friendships, and have a blast. Camp includes worship, games, lodging, meals, merch, and transportation.

To sign up for VOUS High Camp, click here.

Sundays at VOUS

VOUS SoMi

8:45AM / 10:30AM / 12:30PM / 6PM

VOUS City

10:30AM / 12:30PM / 6PM

VOUS Miami Gardens

8:45AM / 10:30AM / 12:30PM

VOUS Design District

10:30AM / 12:30PM

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

ILMC Serve Day

Serve Day is happening Saturday, July 12th, and we want to get ALL of our crews involved in loving our city so please sign your crew up for a Serve Day project! To see the projects and sign up, please  click here! Please have your form in by Wednesday, July 2nd.

When: Saturday, July 12th
Where: All VOUS Locations
Time: 10:00 AM

Baptisms Sunday

We are having baptisms this Sunday, July 27th, across all of our locations, and on the beach.

To sign up for baptisms, please click here.

VOUS High Camp

VOUS High Camp is happening July 22–25 in St. Petersburg, FL. A four-day experience for students in 6th–12th grade to grow in faith, build friendships, and have a blast. Camp includes worship, games, lodging, meals, merch, and transportation.

To sign up for VOUS High Camp, click here.

Sundays at VOUS

VOUS SoMi

8:45AM / 10:30AM / 12:30PM / 6PM

VOUS City

10:30AM / 12:30PM / 6PM

VOUS Miami Gardens

8:45AM / 10:30AM / 12:30PM

VOUS Design District

10:30AM / 12:30PM

Church Online

10:30AM / 12:30PM / 5PM Español

Growth Track

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

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6101 NW 2nd Ave
Miami, FL33127
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Miami, FL33127
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