[Prayer: Michael Freeland Miller]
The Lord spoke a phrase to my heart before they sang that song. I wanna share that phrase with you because I believe the Lord wants to give you something this morning

And if you left this room, and you took away something from this morning, the Lord wants you to leave in faith. We walk by faith, and He wants to author faith in your heart. And I think this song puts words to the season that many of you are in. And the phrase that I heard that I really believe the Lord wants to write upon your heart, He said, “Tell my people that thеy’re not waiting for me. Tell my pеople they’re waiting with me.”

And I feel some of you are waiting. You’re in a season of waiting. You’re in a season of process. And you’re wondering where the Lord is. And I want you to know that He’s in the process, that He’s with you. I think of Mary and Martha waiting for the Lord when Lazarus was in the Tomb, and He came and He wept with them. He came and sat with them. He met them where they were. And I just see the Lord sitting with you in the midst of the process

“Tribulation produces perseverance; perseverance, character; character, hope”. But tribulation should produce hope. And some of you are persevering. And I just believe the Lord wants to touch your heart with faith that He’s in the waiting with you

He hasn’t forgotten you; He hasn’t forsaken you. He promised to be with you no matter what you’re facing. And I believe the Lord wants to infuse hope into your heart, that the presence of Jesus is here to author that in this moment of time. And so, if that’s you, would you just stand to your feet? If you’re like, “man, He is authoring something in my heart”, I just want you to put your hands out like this. I’m gonna pray for you

Lord, we trust You this morning. We trust Your Lordship, that You are Lord of lords, you are King of kings. You are high above it all. And Lord, we entrust our season to You, we entrust our perspective to You, we entrust our fears, we entrust our anxieties, we entrust our reasonings, we entrust our calculating. Father, we surrender once again. Today, we choose faith. Today, we choose surrender. Today, we humble ourselves beneath Your Mighty arm, knowing, Lord, that You will exalt, You will lift up, Lord. That You will make a way where there seems to be no way. You are the author, perfecter, sustainer of our faith, Lord. We entrust ourselves to You once again. Lord, where reasoning, where fear, where things have overshadowed our vision, Lord, we choose faith. We do not walk by sight; we walk by faith this morning

Faith in who You are. Faith in what You’re able to do. Faith that You see us and know us. Faith, Lord. Faith, Lord, that we are Yours and You are ours, Lord. Faith that You are the God of today, that You are the God of tomorrow, that You are the God of every circumstance, every relationship, Lord. Every [?]. You’re the God of those things. And nothing can separate us from You this morning

And we choose faith, Lord. We choose faith. We choose faith, God. We say we are going to be people of faith. We are going to trust You, we’re going to yield to You, and we believe, Lord, we will taste the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living God. So, may hope arise in the hearts of Your people this morning. May hope arise in the hearts of Your people this morning, Lord. May hope be an anchor for our soul. Though the winds may blow, though the storms make come, we are anchored in Your heart. We are anchored in faith, knowing that this season does not define anything. You are the definer of our lives. And we say, “We trust You”. Just tell the Lord, “We trust You”

(Praying in tongues)

If someone’s standing up around you, would just lay your hands on them and pray for them? Let’s minister each other for the next minute or so. Will we just be the body to empower, the body to speak words of life, words of comfort, words that edify?

Let Hope arise! He’s the God of our hope and He’s your God. He’s the God of our hope and He’s your God. He’s the God of our hope and He’s your God

We are people of hope. We are people of promise. We are people that have been marked by the God of our hope. And we declare hope into the hopeless this morning. Those lacking hope, the God of hope is present. Those that need hope, He will source your heart with hope. He’s done it before, He’ll do it again. He’s done it before, He’ll do it again. He’s done it before, He’ll do it again

Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Author faith, Lord. Author faith, God. The just walk by faith. We believe! Come on, let faith arise, let hope emerge. You’re the God of our hope. You’re the God of our hope. You’re the God of our hope
Come one, stir your faith. Faith to faith. Hope to hope. Strength to strength

[Bridge: Joel Figueroa]
You remain in me
And I will trust Your timing
And I'll remain in You, You remain in me
From the start until the end
I'll remain
I'll remain in You, You remain in me
And I will trust Your timing
I'll remain in You, You remain in me
From the start until the ending

[Outro: Joel Figueroa]
You’re gonna make the garden grow
You’re gonna make the garden grow
You’re gonna make the garden grow
You’re gonna make the garden grow

[Prayer: Michael Freeland Miller]
Yes, Lord. I hear the Lord saying, “Just remain foolish. Remain foolish.” The reasoning of the wise is foolishness to Him
People will say, “What? Why don’t you do this or why don’t you do that?” And you’re just saying, “I’m waiting on my God.” “But that’s foolish. That’s not wise.” And I hear the Lord just saying, “Remain foolish. Remain in faith. Remain in faith. Remain in faith.”

God, we are the just, and we will walk by faith. Lord, we move from faith to faith, hope to hope, strength to strength. Those that wait on the Lord will renew their strength in Him. And we declare a fresh wind upon Your people, oh God. We are Your people, God. You are Our Shepherd. And Lord, You are tending to our hearts this morning. We are not in a hurry. We acknowledge Your presence in this room, and that You are tending to our hearts. Here we are, God. Tend to Your garden. Tend to the hearts of Your people, Lord, where worries of this world, where concerns of this age have crept in. Would You uproot those weeds?

We are people of promise
[Outro: Joel Figueroa]
You’re gonna make the garden grow
You’re gonna make the garden grow
You’re gonna make the garden grow
You’re gonna make the garden grow
You’re gonna make the garden grow
You’re gonna make the garden grow
We trust the vinedresser
You’re gonna make the garden grow
We trust the vinedresser
Come, vinedresser
Come and prune what you see falling
Come and prune what you see falling
‘Cause we trust the vinedresser

[Prayer and music: Michael Freeland Miller & Joel Figueroa]
Yes, Lord. Our role is to abide
Abide
We will abide in the vine
We abide
But we will rest, then. Lord, you produce sap, and that sap provides life and nourishment, which provides growth

And for those that are in pruning... I just... pruning seasons are strange. We get disoriented. Massive branches locked off. We think, “What did we do wrong?” And the Lord says, “You did nothing wrong. You’re being rewarded. You’re being rewarded with my shears. My shears are the reward for fruitfulness.”

And a season of fruitfulness is rewarded with shears for greater fruitfulness. So things may seem bare, relationships may be shifting, people may be leaving, opportunities and doors may be shutting, but the Lord says, “I’m pruning you. I’m
Pruning you. I’m preparing you for greater things. I’m preparing you for more fruit. I’m preparing you for the next season.” It feels like you’re being stripped, but the Lord says, “You’re being positioned for greater fruit.” So, we welcome your shears, God. We welcome, Lord, Your pruning. We welcome the cutting. We welcome the removal. We welcome, Lord, the seasons of refinement. We welcome, Lord, the seasons of change. As parents, we welcome the seasons of change. In our marriages, we welcome the seasons of change. In the marketplace, we welcome the seasons of change. In dating relationships, we welcome the seasons of change. And we say that this season is beautiful. Lord, there’s a beauty in every season. And we want to have eyes to see what you see. We want to partner with what you’re doing. And we say, “let the shears come”. Come and cut, Lord. Come and remove. Come and refine. Put us in the fire, God
Put us in the fire, God. Put us in your fire, God. Put us in the fire, God
You’re the God who’s in the fire with us. There’s a fourth man in the fire

[Outro: Joel Figueroa]
You’re gonna your garden grow
You’re gonna the garden grow
You’re gonna make
You’re gonna this garden grow
You’re gonna this garden grow

[Prayer and music: Joel Figueroa & Michael Freeland Miller]
Pruning is love (Thank You for it)
Pruning is love
Can you sing this in faith?
Pruning is love (This is good)
Pruning is love
Pruning is love (Thank you, Jesus)
Pruning is love
Pruning is love (“You will bear more fruit”)
Pruning is love (“I am the vine, you are the branches” )
Pruning is love (“Abide in me, and I in him”)
Pruning is love
You’re gonna make this garden grow
You’re gonna make this garden grow
You’re gonna make this garden grow
(Thank You for Your shears)
You’re gonna make this garden grow
Pruning is love
Pruning is love (You are perfect in love)
Pruning is love (You are perfect in love)
Pruning is love (You are perfect in Your ways)
You’re gonna make this garden grow