Home: Foster Care Weekend 2026 | Andrew Holmes

As we continue on, there are 13,000 kids in care in the state of Florida. Almost 2,500 in the 13 counties we serve. 597 in Broward County, 522 in Palm Beach, 542 in Miami. What statistically happens to these children in foster care? What becomes of them? What happens after they've gone into the system? Well, 20% of the incarcerated population has had to run in foster care. One in five. And I don't say that to vilify anybody, but just to state the facts. And in fact, we are joined by some of our very own brothers and sisters through the Pando app. And we wanna say we love you, we're for you, we are with you in spirit. No circumstance can define you, only God defines you. Good morning, Calvary. Bom dia. Buenos dias, I mean, that's all I know. Ready to sing with us? Let's worship together. ♪ They say this mountain can't be moved ♪ ♪ They say this chains will never be broken ♪ ♪ They say this mountain can't be moved ♪ ♪ They say this chains will never break ♪ ♪ But they don't know you like we do ♪ ♪ There is power in your name ♪ ♪ We've heard that there is no way through ♪

♪ We've heard that time will never change ♪ ♪ They haven't seen what you can do ♪ ♪ There is power in your name ♪ ♪ So much power in your name ♪ ♪ Move the immovable, break the unbreakable ♪ ♪ God we believe, God we believe for it ♪ ♪ From the impossible we'll see a miracle ♪ ♪ God we believe, God we believe for it ♪ ♪ God we believe for it ♪ ♪ We know that hope is never lost ♪ ♪ For there is still an empty grave ♪ ♪ God we believe no matter what ♪ ♪ There is power in your name ♪ ♪ So much power in your name ♪ ♪ Move the immovable, break the unbreakable ♪ ♪ God we believe, God we believe for it ♪ ♪ From the impossible we'll see a miracle ♪ ♪ God we believe, God we believe for it ♪ Sing with me. ♪ You are the way when there seems to be no way ♪ ♪ We trust in you God you have the final say ♪ ♪ You are the way when there seems to be no way ♪ ♪ We trust in you God you have the final say ♪ ♪ You are the way when there seems to be no way ♪ ♪ We trust in you God you have the final say ♪ ♪ Final say ♪ ♪ Move the immovable, break the unbreakable ♪ ♪ God we believe, God we believe for it ♪ ♪ From the impossible we'll see a miracle ♪ ♪ God we believe, God we believe for it ♪

♪ Move the immovable, break the unbreakable ♪ ♪ God we believe, God we believe for it ♪ ♪ For it from the impossible ♪ We'll see a miracle, God, we believe, God, we believe forever. Hallelujah! I'm no longer a slave to fear, for I am a child of God. Sing that with us. I'm no longer a slave to fear, for I am a child of God. Unravel me with a melody, and you surround me with a song of deliverance from my enemies till all my fears are gone. Sing this with us. No, I'm no longer a slave to fear, cause I am a child of God. No, I'm no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God. We remember our truth. That from my mother's womb, you have chosen me. Love has called my name. And I've been born again to your family. Your blood flows through my veins. No, I'm no longer a slave to fear, cause I am a child of God. We remember. I'm no longer a slave to fear, cause I am a child of God. No, I'm no longer a slave to fear, oh, I am a child of God. And I'm no longer a slave to fear, oh, I am a child of God. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. You split the sea so I could walk right through. My fears were drowned in perfect love. You rescued me and I will stand and say, I am a child of God.

You split the sea so I could walk right through. My fears were drowned in perfect love. You rescued me and I will stand and say, I am a child of God. I am a child of God. I am a child of God. I am a child of God. Lift your voice and sing. I'm no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God. I'm no longer a slave to fear. ♪ I am a child of God ♪ Well, that's good news for us this morning. And that truth comes straight out of scripture. The book of John chapter one, verse 12 says, all who received him and have believed in his name, he has given the right to become the children of God. And that is good news for us this morning. Our father gives us the right to be called his sons and his daughters that any who would accept him, put their faith in him. He adopts into his family and gives a new spiritual identity and that's extra special for us today because we are celebrating foster care weekend. Come on somebody, foster care weekend. And why that's like really, really special for me and personal for me is whenever I first moved to Florida from Pittsburgh, the first couple of years, I was an RA at one of the boys' homes through four kids, all moon obese,

and I used to email buried sweet Brother, just one talking about how hard this is and how I think everyone should be taking on for diaper changes and all of the other stuff that this minister you're gonna hear all about today. And I saw with my own eyes the impact of just simply having a seat at the table for fellowship, for community, to talk about the day, to talk about the struggles, the pain of life. And I saw with my own eyes just creating space, just being involved in those spaces, but also this is what our heavenly Father does for us every single moment of every single day. And who is thankful for, our heavenly Father has a very large table and welcomes all men, all women, all children to take a seat. And so as we sing this next song, we remember the invitation that wasn't just for 2000 years ago, it's for us today. The invitation to come, take a seat at the table and to dine with the King, the one who made us, the one who is our Father and the one who is our friend, amen. So let's sing. ♪ I was a beggar outside of your door ♪ ♪ And that's when your mercy saw me ♪ ♪ I was a prodigal desperate for more ♪ ♪ And that's when your mercy called me ♪ ♪ Oh what an honor to dine with the King ♪

♪ Here in your presence surrounded by glory ♪ ♪ I can't believe there's a seat at the table for me ♪ ♪ This is my family, this is my home ♪ ♪ Always belonging and never alone ♪ ♪ I'm so excited that we're all invited to come ♪ ♪ Now I'm alive and fully redeemed ♪ ♪ One moment with you changed everything ♪ ♪ You called the weary and those in need ♪ ♪ Come take your place at the table with me ♪ Sing this together. ♪ Oh what an honor to dine with the King ♪ ♪ Here in your presence surrounded by glory ♪ ♪ I can't believe there's a seat at the table for me ♪ ♪ This is my family, this is my home ♪ ♪ Always belonging and never alone ♪ ♪ I'm so excited that we're all invited to come ♪ ♪ Come, come, taste and see me now ♪ ♪ The Spirit and the bride say come, oh come ♪ ♪ Taste and see the Spirit and the bride say come, come ♪ ♪ Taste and see the Spirit and the bride say come, oh come ♪ ♪ Come, taste and see the Spirit and the bride say come, oh come ♪ ♪ Taste and see the Spirit and the bride say come, come, oh come ♪ ♪ Oh what an honor to dine with the King ♪ ♪ Here in your presence surrounded by glory ♪ ♪ I can't believe there's a seat at the table for me ♪ ♪ Oh for me ♪ ♪ This is my family and this is my home ♪ ♪ This is my family and this is my home ♪ ♪ Always belonging and never alone ♪ ♪ I'm so excited that we're all invited to come ♪

♪ Oh we sing come, come ♪ ♪ Taste and see the spirit and the pride say come Oh come ♪ ♪ Taste and see the spirit and the pride say come Oh come ♪ ♪ Taste and see the spirit and the pride say come Oh come ♪ ♪ Oh come Taste and see the spirit and the pride... Taste and see... ♪ ♪ I still believe your movin' I still believe you're speakin' God I believe you're workin' All things for good Sing that with us.... Sing that with us... ♪ I fix my eyes on heaven God I receive your vision God I believe you're workin' All things for good... So come alive in the name of Jesus Come alive in the name of Jesus This is a house of miracles We bring everything to the feet of Jesus Everything in the name of Jesus This is a house of miracles We just thank Jesus in this moment We pray, Heavenly Father, thank you that this isn't just an ordinary space That this can become holy ground when your presence dwells in our midst And when we are here united with one voice responding in worship to our King The one who saved us, the one who redeemed us And today, even still, is making all things new And I just pray, above all things, that you would receive all the glory, all of the honor from this space And that as we continue to worship you, as we open up your word, as we dig in, as we listen for your still small voice Holy Spirit, would you speak? We want to look different today We want to be transformed and renewed And only you can do that So I pray through the songs that we sing, through the text that we're about to read, the scriptures that we're about to plant deep in our soul Would you do a work that only you can do? Change our perspectives, change our souls, change our hearts, Lord, reorient us back to you And fix our eyes back on you And we just pray that you would do a work, you would do something that only you could do That we would look back on this day and go, you were working, you were moving, and we believe that you're still speaking today So come, have your way, Jesus And would you make us a thankful and grateful people

In your name, Calvary, we say it with one voice, amen Hey, before you take your seat, we like to do this from time to time There's some awesome people standing around you Go find one or two people, maybe ask them, hey, what are your summer plans? And then we'll get started with our service Well, good morning, Calvary We are so grateful to be joined together with all of our campuses on this foster care weekend And we'd love for you to grab a Bible if you don't have one We are gonna be in Psalm 68. So open your Bibles to Psalm 68. If you don't have a Bible, raise your hand at all of our campuses. We spend a weekend every year to talk about God's heart for the vulnerable, for the fatherless. But before we jump into God's word and before we talk more about the ministry of four kids, I wanna celebrate what happened yesterday. Over 600 of you showed up at four different outreach sites on Good Neighbor Day. And you loved your cities in Jesus' name from Boynton Beach to West Boca, to downtown, to plantation. You beautified schools. You gave haircuts. You washed cars. You passed out food. You shared the gospel. I mean, I had some really great conversations in the downtown outreach where I met a woman named Lisa Marie

who got a pair of glasses because some optometrists here were fitting people for glasses. And she was so grateful for those glasses. And I met two brothers, Ted and his younger brother, who wanted to be baptized. And I believe they're being baptized right now at our downtown campus. I mean, there's some beautiful things. People praying to receive Christ. Just because we went out and we didn't just preach the word, but we demonstrated the love of Jesus because the gospel is not just something that we say. It's a way that we live. Amen, church? Amen. And so thank you for being a church that goes after the one. And that's what this weekend is all about. You know, if you've been at a church for any length of time, you know that foster care is weaved into the DNA of who we are. And if you're new, maybe you didn't know that every weekend we gather together at all of our campuses just to celebrate what God has done and look forward to what he will do. Because, well, our prayer over the last year and a half

was, God, what you did in the past, do it again. We've heard of your fame. We stand in awe of your deeds. Now renew them in our day, and our day, make them known. So I'm gonna show you a picture, a 20-year-old picture. This is a picture of me and my family when I was the president or leader of four kids back in the day. And you're like, who is that young man? Yeah, that's actually me. My wife looks the same. I don't. And our boys are now men. But the reason we are so passionate about caring for children that are fatherless, well, because it's the heart of the gospel. The Bible calls it true religion, but it's impacted my own family. It's changed the story of my wife and I. And so we have this sense of the vision that God has placed here, and this long obedience in the same direction. In those early days, about half of our pastoral staff and leaders were either houseparents or foster parents or adoptive parents. And we were saying, it's not just what happens within the four walls, it's what happens outside this space and in our own homes

as we walk toward the vulnerable. And we're watching God do this in a whole new generation of leaders. And so as you came in, you were given a card with a QR code on the back, and it's just a chance for you to go, hey, as we hear these stories and hear the heart of God to care for the vulnerable, would I be called to pray or serve or give, or maybe open up my own home? And well, I wanna share with you a story of how God is raising up the next generations of leaders, because Caleb and Izzy, they serve our young people on the back behind here at our high school ministry. They disciple young people. And Izzy grew up here, Isabel grew up here. And for 20 years, she heard this message of God's heart for the fathers. And last year, when she sat here with her husband, something happened. Take a look at Caleb and Isabel's story. Hi, Calvary, and welcome to Foster Care Weekend. I'm Isabel. And I'm Caleb. When we got married, we knew that we wanted to start a family one day. We didn't have a lot, not a big house, not a lot of extra, just a desire to follow wherever God led us. Yeah, and last year,

during our church's Foster Care Weekend, we actually sat in that service together, and we both let the Lord speak to our hearts. And we knew that, without a doubt, that this is what He had for us. So we said yes. Even when we didn't have all the answers, even when we didn't feel ready, we knew that He was asking us to open our hearts and our home. And so months later, after going through the whole process and continuing to pray, God brought a pair of newborn twin babies into our home. They are so precious. And also, it's been really difficult. It's had its ups and downs, but through every challenge and every long night, we have watched God provide. The diapers, the formula, the sleep that we didn't think we'd get, the strength that we really didn't think we had, He has met every single need right on time. Yeah, and more than anything, He's used us to love these two little babies in a way that we never could. Whether it's rocking them at 3 a.m. in the morning, praying over their cribs at night, just to be the arms that hold them and the voices that tell them that they are seen,

that they're safe, and they are deeply loved. by Jesus, to experience the warmth of a home through us. We feel incredibly blessed, more than we could have ever imagined, just to be a part of what God is doing in their lives. And so I would say, if you've ever felt that nudge, that quiet whisper to step into foster care, don't wait until you feel ready, you never will. Just say yes, because there are kids out there who need a safe place, a loving home, and someone willing to be used by God. Yeah, and I promise you, He will meet you there, just as He met us. Yeah, so we celebrate the faith it takes to take that step, because here's what we know. Every day, seven more kids enter into the foster care system in this region. And our goal is that there's a home for every child, not just a home for every child, but a Christian home for every child. And this is a passion and Holy Spirit conviction that we continue to follow as a church. And God, again, is raising up new leaders to do this. And so it is my honor to introduce you to the next generation, not just of foster parents, but of leaders of this movement. And so please warmly welcome Andrew Holmes, the president of Four Kids, as he shares this message with you today. You're gonna love him,

and you're gonna be inspired by the gospel. Love you. My man. What's up, Calvary? My man, you guys feel good today? I feel like God's gonna do something special to you. Oh, come on, you feel like He's gonna do something special? That's what I'm talking, this is 11 o'clock. This is the party service. I'm supposed to, you're supposed to yell at me. Listen, if you like to throw out an amen, now's the service to do it. Let's practice. Oh, hold on, what about a hallelujah? Can I get that? Hallelujah. Come on, church. Oh, I'm feeling good. Now would be the time, if you get motion sickness, to take your medication, because I'm gonna be flying around, I'm gonna be moving around a lot up here. So Calvary, it's a privilege to be with you. I want to show you my beautiful family, if we have a picture of them. This is my three and my wife, and yeah, all right. I love you, Rochelle. My wife, Rochelle, my oldest daughter, Olivia, my second, Justice, and my son, Andy. And Andy is pretending to be sleeping,

and that's why Rochelle has given up on the picture. How many parents have ever been there before? Getting a kid to sit still is kind of hard. All right, so I have this unique privilege today to share with you something that means so much to me. It means so much to this church. It's a part of your heritage, it's a part of your foundation. And I believe it's something that God has uniquely created and prepared his people to do and to bring, and that is home. The sense of home, the fullness of home. God is the one who created home, and he invites us into giving that to people. But before we jump into the Scripture today, I want to go to a different Scripture that talks about the Word. It's John 1, verse 1. And in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Did you know that this Bible that we read, the Scriptures that we look at, that we internalize, actually bring us closer to knowing God? You know, sometimes I get the privilege of going all around and being at different churches and hearing it. Sometimes we sing songs, I want to see your face, Lord. And when I think about it in the context of John, Jesus' face, this is what it looks like, man. He's every letter on every page.

Jesus is in this Word, and the more we can get to know this Word, the more we can spend time with it, the more we can give ourselves to it daily, the more we can become like him. This Word is alive. This Word will light a fire. This Word will change your life. Do not forsake this Word. Be in this Word. This Word is everything. Pretty good? All right. Our focal Scripture for today. Psalm 68. And this passage is so beautiful because it opens up with God, this passionate spirit, that he would be the one that would fight on our behalf. And we pick up in verse four. It says, sing to God. Sing praises to his name. Lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts. His name is the Lord. Exult before him. The father of the fatherless, protector of widows, is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary. in a home. I don't know what home was like for you growing up.

I don't know what home means to you. We all have different experiences of home. In this campus, in this campus and all the campuses across South Florida, I want you to ask yourself the question, what was home like for me? What did it mean to you? Man, I remember being a kid and playing basketball and there were different kids on my basketball team and sometimes they would come to my house and they would walk in the door and they'd be like, you're blessed, bruh. And I was like, I didn't have, I mean, we didn't have a mansion or a cabin in the woods. We just had something beyond the four walls and the roof. We had something that felt like home, the sense of home. What was your home experience like? Some of you very good and maybe some not so good. But I find it interesting that even if your experience wasn't good in home, you knew that there was something better for you and I think that's innately something that God gives us. The desire, the capacity, the ability to desire home, to have home and at 4Kids, we believe fully with what God is doing in home. We wanna give that to the fatherless of our day, to the vulnerable of our day. Because home is so much more than a place. Home is, I believe, the essence of God's love, his protection, his safety, his identity. So in order for me to understand things,

I always like to go back to the beginning. So when I think about what God thinks about home, I say, man, I need to go back to Genesis, right there in the garden. I wanna read this to you, Genesis 1.1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. I love the clarity of Genesis, right? In the beginning, yes, there was a beginning. Who was there? God. What was he doing? Creating. It's just so rich. He was creating the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and it was void and darkness was over the face of the deep and the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. You find that interesting, that God, his spirit was hovering? God could've been doing anything. He could've been jumping, he could've been running, he could've been sitting. Why do the scriptures say hovering? Let's continue. And then he goes and says, let there be light. And he separated light from the darkness and he created this thing called day and then he created this thing called night and then he gathered up the waters

and he pooled them all in one place and then land started to emerge. And man, I can just put on my imagination and look at what it must've been like when God was speaking these things and creating the world that we live in and literally pulling up a mountain chain out of the ocean. And then with his word, he starts to hang the stars in the sky. Not only that, this land that now was created, he said, man, there needs to be grasses and trees and not just any trees, but trees that would bear fruit. He covered this land. He didn't just roll out like a carpet. He didn't just lay down like a plank floor. God created a system that this grass would have seeds and these seeds would grow and make more grass and the trees would have fruit and the fruit wouldn't have seeds and it was just ongoing, perfectly sustaining. This is God and how did he do it? He did it with his word. What was God doing? What was he creating? And I can see in the creation story, can you imagine being there, watching God do his thing in the beginning? Can you imagine? I see the hosts of angels watching God

and even some of the animals. And I gotta tell you, I love the fact that he created land animals because I love to eat them cows. You know what I'm saying? Oh man, I love a burger. I love some chicken wings. Anybody love some chicken wings? Somebody's going out for lunch after this. He created these land animals and he put fish into the ocean and he painted the sky with birds. What was God doing? All the angels are looking, right? They're watching him and I even see these creatures just standing on tiptoe. What's he got going on? What's he doing? And then God, he does something incredible. He gets down into the dust and he puts his hands in the dirt and he starts to form something. I can see the angels being like, oh, we've never seen him do this before. What's he doing? He's making something and it looks like him. Oh my God, it looks like him. What's he doing? Boom, man right there, his very best work. Then he gets a little lower and he breathes the breath of life, and man becomes a living

being. What was God doing in this creation story? We got to double click on that word hovering. We double click on that word hovering, and it's this Hebrew word called rakaph. It literally has this meaning to brood, to flutter, to move, to shake. You see it three different times in scriptures. One is in Genesis 1. We see it again in Jeremiah 23 verse 9, and that's when Jeremiah was weeping over the nation because there were so many false prophets. But then we see it in Deuteronomy 32 verse 11, and I find this so interesting, the context of this scripture, and it really, really brings to light the creation story. We really get a feel for God's heart and what he was doing in speaking this world into existence. Deuteronomy 32 verse 11 reads this, like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions. There's a word here, a picture here of this mother bird that's ... You ever see a bird start to build a nest, or a chicken start to make everything perfect? This eagle that's weaving in the fabric of this home because her young is about to come, and I see God Almighty in the creation story doing his best work, pulling things, covering the ground, creating the waters, and what was God doing? God was making home for you and for me, and we get to live in this home. We get to be in this home. God is so intentional, and he has a big heart for home. You know what else I find interesting? That when God was in the dust and he was making mankind, he breathed the breath of life into man, but he also gives man something. He gives him the image of God, that not only would we look like him, we would actually be like him. The imago Dei, the image and likeness of God. Church, I got to tell you something today. I want to encourage you.

You're no accident. You're no happenstance. Your life has purpose. Your life has meaning. God would take his time to make you look like him. Not only that, when you act right, act like him. God, if you… Do this with me. Take a deep breath. If you hit rewind on that and you reverse engineer every single breath that you've ever taken, you'd be in the hospital room, doctor smacks you, you took your first breath, but if you rewind that and reverse engineer that and the breath of your parents and your grandparents and your great-grandparents and your great-great-grandparents and you keep going all the way back, you know where you would find yourself? Right there in the garden, receiving this divine DNA that separates you from anything else on this planet. You my friends, you my family, brothers and sisters, you carry the image of almighty God. For the past 29 years, we've been able to instill and remind the fatherless of our day that you carry the image of a good father. You're special. You're chosen. You're kind. You're loved. God himself has put his identity in you. Father of the fatherless, protector of the widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home from the creation story to receiving his identity to the work that we get to do, partnering with God at 4Kids to bring kids into the fullness of their identity. You know, home is God's idea and at 4Kids we've been saying his great idea is home means identity, we're made in God's image, freedom to discover who we are apart from our past,

but we teach this to our kids that home should bring belonging, a deep assurance that you are chosen and loved, home should give you safety, an environment where a child A child's body and mind can finally rest. See, something interesting that happens to kids in foster care, whether it's from the abuse, neglect, or abandonment, or moving through different homes, there's a trauma that happens, and it actually affects their brain. And their brains grow and develop differently, and you actually need the stability, the safe place, so that a child's brain and body can heal and be restored. Safety brings that. We believe that healing comes from the truest expression of home, and that's care that patiently restores what has been broken. I don't think this is just necessary for kids who've gone through the foster care system. I think this is necessary for any human being. So I ask you, what was your home experience like? There were parts of it probably that were very good, but maybe parts of it that weren't so good. And I think that one of the things God wants to do today is give us his assurance, his sense, his idea of home. I think God wants to remind us that this very beautiful thing that he created in the garden is actually available to us, and it becomes available when we get to know who he really is and how we know who he really is,

is accepting and receiving and believing in his son, Jesus Christ, the hope of all glory. But in the garden, as we see, there was actually one problem. What was it? Ooh, I heard a rumble out there. Thank you, God. Appreciate that. What was the problem? Sin. Sin, sin entered the garden, and we're gonna talk about this for a little bit, and I wanna just give a little bit of a trigger warning because I'm gonna share some stories that are heavy. And I don't do it to make an emotional response. I do it because I need you to know. I need you to know because there's never been a more effective and a more powerful people group than the church of Jesus Christ. I need you to know because inside of everyone in this room who has made that declaration of Jesus Christ being their Lord and saver, you carry something so personal and so powerful. It is the spirit of Christ. How does God become the father to the fatherless? How is he the protector of the widows? How does he settle the solitary at home? He does it through his people. He does it through the church. Ooh, I get fired up about this thing, man.

He does it through us, through you, through me. But by golly, sin, annoying sin. I hate talking about sin, but we need to understand this thing. Sin's primary goal is to separate us from the father. It was that way then, and it's that way now. And I spent some time as a child protective investigator, which those are the people that have to make the decision on whether or not a child stays in their biological home or comes into the foster care system. And one of the hardest things you have to do in that role is remove kids. Take them from their families, take them from their homes, and put them in the foster care system. Sometimes it's hard because you don't know if the foster care system's gonna actually be better than a hard environment that they're in. Really, really hard job. Pray for the people that are doing those frontline works. But I can see when sin entered the garden and Adam and Eve had to go, what if that was the first removal? And I can only imagine God, after he put his very best work into creating this home, into creating this space, and he made it self-sustaining, and he provided everything for them, including bacon. Hallelujah, can I get an amen for bacon? All right, let's get back focused. Let's get back focused, let's get back focused. He provided all these wonderful things for them,

and then they had to leave. And I can just see Father God, man, heartbroken because of sin. Not only that, I see Adam and Eve walking out of the garden, feeling a lot like kids who come into the foster care system. Confused, alone, broken, misunderstood. Sin separating us from the Father. Sin invited brokenness into this world, and brokenness is the reason that kids are still being removed today. You know, there are a few stories as I share this, and I'm thinking about that first removal and the time that I spent. There are stories that never leave me, that whenever I get to talk to people, I remember them, because these stories. they serve as a passion. And I hope that this passion, this fire that God's put inside of me is beginning to light a fire in your heart. That we can actually do something, we can actually change the society we live in when we focus on something as the beautiful bride of Christ, as the church. These stories, man, that I saw, these kids,

these faces that I've seen, they serve as power. I'll never forget the two-year-old that I took out of the storage unit. Just 15 minutes from here. Mother was out working and asked somebody to take care of her who wasn't able to take care of her and removed her from that storage. And I'll never forget the five-year-old who was left home alone to watch the one-year-old and so that the mom could work. And at some point in time, this five-year-old had heard or seen the story of Hansel and Gretel. He got sick of being the primary caregiver of his one-year-old brother. So he grabbed a loaf of bread off the kitchen shelf and he started to tear the pieces of bread and find something else called home. I'll never forget the dozens of babies that I visited in the NICUs with drugs coursing in their veins. I'll never forget the 16-year-old who was being trafficked and refused to give up her John because he was providing for her. These stories, man, they burn in me. They fuel the passion that I have when we do this great work.

This passion that I hope lights a fire in you today. As Pastor Doug said in the beginning, yes, seven kids in the regions we serve are coming into foster care a day. Seven kids a day. Seven stories a day. Seven faces a day. Seven people a day are coming into the system. And we get calls at 4Kids asking, hey, do you have a home? We got these kids who've come into care today. Do you have a home? And 134 times out of the month, we have to say no. I wanna read you some of our most recent requests that we've had to say no to. An 11-year-old girl who was physically abused by her mother and mother's friends as punishment for making unauthorized purchases and cooking food without permission. Hey, I'm sorry, no, we can't take her. A five-year-old boy on the autism spectrum came into care after parents got into a fight at a bus stop. No, I'm sorry, we can't take him. A 17-year-old girl and her newborn baby boy came into care because of abuse. No, we can't take them. Two siblings ages four and two came into care after federal and local law enforcement arrested the adults in the home on charges related to illicit child content.

No, we can't take them. You know, as I read through those things and share these stories, I know that it awakens something even in us. If you've ever had a trauma in your life or you've experienced something like this, I wanna be very sensitive to take this moment and to pray for these kids that I just talked about, to pray over their stories, and also to pray for anyone at any campus that might be affected by this. I believe that when we gather together, there's one thing unique to being a Christian that's different than any other religion in the world. Number one, your God came back to life, okay? Number two, when we gather together as a body of believers, he is in the room. Can we pray together? Can we go to the Lord now together? Yes. Jesus, we come to you as the church this morning, and we ask, God, all these stories, these kids who we talked about, these stories, God, it's their testimonies, and we pray that they would experience you as their healer, oh, God. And for the stories that weren't shared and the situations that aren't exposed, God, would you be exactly what you said, that you are a father to the fatherless,

a protector of the widows? God, and for those in this room that might be dealing with their own traumas and their own triggers, Father, we need you. Jesus, we need you. We don't wanna do this journey of life without you. We don't wanna try to muscle through our pain without you. We don't wanna medicate through our pain without you. We need you. You are the ultimate solution, Jesus. And we ask you in this moment, in a time of prayer, in the middle of a service, would you do a great work that no man, no woman can do? Would you touch us? Would you do a great work that no woman can do? Would you touch us, God? In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you, thank you for that. Thank you for praying. As we continue on, there are 13,000 kids in care in the state of Florida. Almost. 2,500 in the 13 counties we serve, 597 in Broward County, 522 in Palm Beach, 542 in Miami. What statistically happens to these children in foster care? What becomes of them? What happens after they've gone into the system? Well, 20% of the incarcerated population

has had to run in foster care, one in five. And I don't say that to vilify anybody, but just to state the facts. And in fact, we are joined by some of our very own brothers and sisters through the Pando app, and we wanna say we love you, we're for you, we are with you in spirit. No circumstance can define you, only God defines you. 50% of the homeless population, foster care. At least 60% of those human trafficked, foster care. 80% of inmates on death row, foster care. There's a metric that we watch very closely in the child welfare system. It's called the stability rate, because stability is everything. Having a safe place, not moving, being able to be stable, it helps you heal, it helps you become whole. The stability rate is very, very important, we watch it. And the state has a goal. Stability rate basically means the amount of times that a child moves in a period of 1,000 days. And the goal for the state of Florida is 4.12. Think about that for a second. Let's say you're a kid, you come into foster care, and you're away from your family, and although the situation might have been abusive, or neglectful, or hard for you, you still only knew that family as family, and now you're with a different family,

and maybe you're in a different county, maybe you got removed from your siblings, and you're having a hard time just trying to settle in and find a new place to call home, but you don't know these people, and then they give up on you, and then another move happens. And then now you're in a new home, maybe you're in a different county, and you're trying to figure it out, you had siblings, you haven't seen them in a while, you don't know what's going on with your biological parents, and then maybe you act out, you have a trauma response to something, and then a 30-day notice goes into you, and then you go to another home. And then another home, and that's the minimum, that's the goal, that's the goal. And I don't say that to vilify the state, in fact, we work with the state, we love the state, there's some brilliant people at the state, but this is just the best that the system can do. It's not good enough, church, it's not good enough. So that goal is 4.12, but in all actuality, it's 4.67, where we're currently at as a state. And there's a statistic that says if a child moves more than five times, not just in 1,000 days, but in their entirety in foster care, then there's a 90% chance that they're gonna enter the justice system.

What? All of this, all these numbers, all this sophistication and metrics and data, what is it pointing out? The system is broken, and brokenness came from sin. In the garden, right there. But if I go back to the text we're in today, Psalm 68, and you look at the first verse, you see that God is not just this passive father, he's not just this guy that's sitting around watching things going, God is a God that fights for the vulnerable. God is a God that comes to our rescue, and how he chose to do it, I got good news for you, church. 2,000 years ago, he sent his son, his only begotten son, to this earth, to this world, and his son walked the earth and lived a perfect life, and he was the hope of all the world, he never sinned. And then he gave his life up for us, that we could know him, and I find it so interesting, because in the final moments of Jesus' life, I remember him and he was praying, and he was in a garden, sweating drops of blood, and I find that so fascinating, because when sin first came, it was in a garden. Not only was Jesus redeeming that moment, I believe, of a garden experience, when he was sweating those drops of blood, then he goes to the cross, and he gets nailed to the cross, and he's stuck in between two thieves,

and one of them looks at him and says, will you remember me? And Jesus says, yes, surely this day, I will remember you in paradise. Let's double-click on paradise. It means garden in the Greek. It means home. Jesus came to restore all that had been broken, to restore all that had been lost. Jesus came for you, he came for me. Jesus has come for the kids that are in this system. Jesus has come, and Jesus wants you to know today that we gotta do something, church. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So what does it look like when Jesus shows up on the scene? I got a really exciting thing to share with you. Remember that stability rate? You guys with me? Let me take a temperature check. You with me? You with me online? You with me over there? You with me in the back? You with me? All right, good. What does it look like when Jesus shows up on the scene when he comes in all of his glory and all of his redemption?

Well, that stability rate doesn't look like five, doesn't look like four, doesn't look like three, doesn't look like two, doesn't even look like one. At 4Kids, we believe that Jesus Christ is the reason, is the way to do foster care, and our stability rate is 0.91. Praise God, somebody. Why, why, why, Jesus? And I'm sorry, I just, I'm to the point in my life where I gotta be bold about him. There's no other way to do this life than with Jesus. There's no better way to do this life than with Jesus. There's no better way to be a parent than with Jesus. There's no better way to do foster care than with Jesus. I'm convinced. No matter what your story is, no matter what your situation is, there is no better way to do this thing than with Jesus. So at 4Kids, we have like four pillars, four ways that we do this. We ask God to burn in the hearts of his people for this sacred mission. How does he become the father to the fatherless and the protector of widows? As it says in Psalm 68, how does he set the solitary in a home? Well, James clues us in, and James is talking to the believers at the time, and he says, here's how you do it. If you wanna be religious at anything,

pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows. Who is he talking to? Us. How does God become the father to the fatherless? How does he the protector of the widows? How does he set the solitary in a home? Through his people. And we ask churches to get on board. And 29 years ago, we started in this church, this is your heritage, this is your DNA, and a fire started to begin to grow. And that fire over the past 29 years has expanded to over now 400 churches, man. We believe God is going to blow on his people, and we're gonna see these kids restored. Not only do we do it through the hearts, we do it through the homes of God's people. Since inception, we've licensed almost 1,500 foster families. We've served more than 4,000 kids directly in homes. We've had 2,500 reunifications. And reunifications, that's the goal of foster care, right? To write a chapter in a child's life. But sometimes that doesn't happen. And in those sometimes, it's four kids' families, because they know Jesus, step in and say, hey, I'll adopt this child. I'll make this child mine. We've seen that 985 times, praise God.

Not only that, we're on pace to see 1,000 adoptions in our 30th year, which is next year. We serve kids who've aged out of foster care, and about 400 of them. Moms who've had crisis pregnancies or young kids need a safe place. We call that His caring place. We've served 1,978 of them there. But we still need homes. We still need traditional foster homes. We need 33 more in Broward, 24 more in Palm Beach, at least 20 more in Miami for us to be able to say when they call, hey, there's an 11-year-old. This has happened. Yes, we have enough homes. I live for that day, y'all. I believe that day is coming. Dare I say that day could be today. Not only do we work in hearts, not only do we work in homes, we work through healing. We knew that these kids and families needed to heal, so we developed a leading-edge type of therapy through trauma-informed care, and we've served over almost 9,000 people through this trauma-informed care. We developed training out of that, and we've taken it nationally and internationally, affecting more than 10,000 people. In our broadest category, hope, we go from healing to hope.

Not only do we serve kids who have entered the foster care system in all the ways, but we also prevent them from coming into foster care. That could look like FPL, help paying FPL bills, or filling a fridge with groceries, or buying a car seat, or buying a crib, and we rally the business community and the church community, and we put them in front of the people with the need, and that actually helps keep kids out of foster care. Our most broad and biggest program that's almost our youngest, we started this in 2022, we created a digital platform that takes all the learnings that we had in therapy, and packages them, and helps parents parent their kids. We call that Hope Connect. And I'm proud to boast on the Lord this morning, and get ready to rip the roof off. We're gonna praise God for like a second. And I want you to praise God at your. Campuses, I want you to rip the roof off that place. This program, we've been able to reach just north of 350,000 total users. Praise God. I get fired up, man, I'm really holding back. I'm really holding back. I get fired up. I got one more story for you. A little girl named Hannah. She was, she entered foster care

and she has a very, very complicated health journey. And through a set of circumstances, she became eligible for adoption and one of our four kids' families adopted her. You can put Hannah on the screen. Hannah, beautiful little girl. She turned 10 in April. And due to her medical complications, she was in hospice care. That is really hard to fathom and understand. And we today are believing for a miracle for little Hannah. But Hannah did something that I think is profound. For her birthday, she was asked, Hannah, what do you want? And Hannah said, well, I wanna go to Hawaii. But due to those complications, she couldn't go to Hawaii. But through our incredible church partners, we were able to bring Hawaii to her. Take a look. And then the second thing she asked for, which blew my mind, she said, I would also like to be baptized. Thank you. So Hannah, to me, embodies everything that we wanna do. That we would give kids that come from the hardest places in our community the opportunity, the chance to know the one who can restore it all. And Hannah's life hasn't been an easy life. Hannah has suffered and had medical issues, but she still wanted to know him. She wanted to experience him.

And there's a picture we might've saw of her just worshiping and I look at her little arms raised as high as they can go worshiping this Jesus that she wants to know. Not only did she worship him, she got baptized that day. And this little girl has stolen my heart. Her story has infected me with the good news of the gospel. After she got done, she got out of that water. She stood up, which her parents said she never does. She stood up in front of the group of people that was there, one of our incredible partner churches. And she said, I'm gonna pray for you. And she said, I'm gonna pray for you. And she said, I'm gonna pray for you. And she said, I'm gonna pray for you. And she said, I'm gonna pray for you. Incredible partner churches. And she said, I just want you to know that if God has been this good to me in my sickness, he's gonna be so much better to you in your health. Out of the mouth of babes, this is what it's about. Brothers and sisters, this is what it's about. And today, I wanna invite you in to pray again for these kids, but not just for them, for what the Lord might be asking you to do. You can foster, you can serve in some ways. We have brilliant ways to serve, like be an extended family for a foster family, bring meals and help cut grass and be a mentor. You can give if that's how God has blessed you. You can be a part of this mission

by fueling it with resources. And at a minimum, I ask, I beg you today, would you pray? Would you pray for these kids? I wanna take a moment and pray over you that God would have his way in your hearts. And I don't want you to feel guilt or condemnation or like you're being forced into something or your arms. No, I wanna create space for the Holy Spirit to convict you of righteousness, whatever that would look like for you. Even if you walk out of that door and you say, yeah, I'm committed to praying for these kids every day. Or maybe some of you are like, no, I'm committed. I have to open up my own. We've had that bedroom open for a while and I didn't know what to do. Whatever that looks like, can we take a moment and just let the Lord search our hearts and pray? Can we do that together? Jesus, Thank you for this day. Oh, it's been beautiful. Thank you for your word. Thank you for this incredible mission, this sacred mission, God, that you recount over and over again in the scriptures, the holy scriptures, that you would invite us into your very own job description, that we could be the ones to visit, to look after, to love on, to welcome, the least of these.

You said it in your word, God. If you welcome the least of these, you're literally welcoming me. Jesus, whatever that's supposed to look like across all the campuses and in this room, show us. My prayer, Holy Spirit, is that you light a fire in our hearts for the vulnerable, that when the watching world, it looks at us Christians, they don't just see a passive group of people that go to their social club every week, they see people that are changing the world, people that are stepping into the hardest spaces. Jesus, search the hearts today. Help us to respond in the ways that you want us to. And at the end of it all, whether you go out and talk to a 4Kids person in the lobby or you scan the QR code, even at your campuses, there are people there. We just ask God that you would have your way, you would help bring us home. Father to the followers, protector of widows, God settles the solitary in a home. Would you do that for these little ones and big ones in the system? We pray these things in Jesus' name. Let us all say together, amen. Can you give God just some praise? It's not the only thing I wanna do today. The same spirit that's in the room that awakens our heart to the vulnerable

is the same spirit that's calling those who might not know him yet. Maybe you've been searching for home yourself. Maybe you've been looking for a place to belong. Maybe you've been searching for a solution to some of the anxiety and the depression of our day. Maybe you felt like the outcasted, the fatherless, the marginalized, living in your own skin. I wanna extend an invitation to you, church, to know Jesus, to know the real thing, the full Christ. I wanna extend an invitation. If you wanna know him, if you wanna know him for the first time or there's something in your heart that you say, man, I just, I gotta know him more. I need to know him more deeply. We are gonna extend that invitation right now. And I am gonna pray with you. I'm gonna pray with you because I love to see God do what he does best, bring his children home. So in a moment, we're gonna be led in a song and I want you, if that's you, lean into this moment. I want you to stand to your feet and I want you to come to this altar and I want us to pray a prayer together. Let's worship together. ♪ Oh, what an honor to dine with the king ♪ ♪ Here in your presence, surrounded by glory ♪ ♪ I can't believe there's a seat at the table for me ♪

♪ This is my family, this is my home ♪ ♪ Always belonging, never alone ♪ ♪ I'm so excited, we're all invited to come ♪ ♪ Oh, what an honor to dine with the king ♪ ♪ Here in your presence, surrounded by glory ♪ ♪ I can't believe there's a seat at the table for me ♪ ♪ This is my family, this is my home ♪ ♪ Always belonging, never alone ♪ ♪ I'm so excited, we're all invited to come ♪ Thank you, God bless you. ♪ Taste and see the spirit and the bride say calm, calm. ♪ Taste and see the spirit and the bride say calm, calm. ♪ Taste and see the spirit and the bride say calm, calm. ♪ Calm, taste and see the spirit and the bride say calm, calm. Sit here, man. Nice to meet you. Wow. I just thank God for His spirit and His presence. We're going to pray, but before we pray, I just want to leave this moment open for just a little bit longer. If you've been wrestling and you want to make today your day, you want to know Jesus fully. Come on, we're going to pray. And I'll ask you congregation as we're celebrating and standing as a family, come on. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Come on, give Jesus some praise. He's in the room today. He's in the room. Praise God. Jesus is in the room. This is one of the most beautiful moments you'll ever witness as a human being. That's why I'm off the stage. I want us to pray together. I want you, church, to commit to being there for them in prayer. That we're seeing people come to know the living God today and people coming to know how He wants to use them. Can we pray together? Will you pray with me? I want everybody in this room to repeat this prayer.

Those who are coming down to receive Jesus and receive Jesus in a fresh way. And also maybe if you're online, everybody in the room, can we pray together? Repeat after me. Say Jesus. Say it like you mean it. Jesus, thank you for your love. Thank you for loving me so deeply. I repent of all sin. I ask you to wash me clean. Jesus, today I commit my life to you. Fully and forever. Jesus, I dedicate this moment, this day, to you for your glory. Use me, Lord. Love me, Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen. Can we give the Lord some praise? Hey guys, you just made the most important decision of your life. So we're going to ask you for five more minutes to follow Andrew and to follow me. Over to that room right there. We're going to give you a Bible. Have a quick conversation and be back with your friends in five minutes. Can we give them a hand as they go this way, guys? We'll meet you there in church. Let's applaud these decisions of faith. We have a chance to respond in worship. We have a chance to respond as we talk to Andrew and the leaders of 4Kids out in the lobby. But we also have an opportunity for you to pray. If you didn't pray for any reason at all at the close of this worship song, we would love to pray for you. And now, church, let us praise one more time the only one who is worthy of all this. The one who's given us home. The one who's forgiven our sins. The one who's using us for his purposes. His name is Jesus. Let's worship. Let's sing it together. Sing it, church. ♪ We believe, God we believe for it ♪ ♪ From the impossible we'll see a miracle ♪ ♪ God we believe, God we believe for it ♪

♪ Move the immovable, break the unbreakable ♪ ♪ God we believe, God we believe for it ♪ ♪ From the impossible we'll see a miracle ♪ ♪ God we believe, God we believe for it ♪ Come on, let's give Him praise one more time. Amen, hey church family, we love you. If you are in need of prayer, please come forward. We have a team of people waiting to pray for you. And again, 4Kids team is gonna be out in the lobby. Please chat with them before heading home. If not, we'll see you guys next time. Love you guys.