When God Repeats Himself — Legacy Work — Rich Wilkerson Jr.

This year we're celebrating 10 years, 10 years of God's faithfulness, 10 years of prayers answered, tears cried, hands lifted and miracles only heaven could orchestrate. From our earliest Sundays at Jose de Diego to four thriving locations across Miami, God's been writing a story far more beautiful than anything we could have dreamed. But as we pause to remember, we also lean into what's ahead. Legacy isn't accidental. It's intentional and every seed we sow becomes a chapter in the story God is writing through us. As we close this year, I wanna invite you into our bricklayers offering, a holy moment where we choose to build for generations not yet created. Your generosity is lighting the path forward, laying the foundation for Vostomi, a lighthouse we pray will draw people home. It's preparing the way for Voo South Beach, launching in 2026, stepping into a place many called dark, believing Jesus still brings the light. And it's expanding Miami Gardens, making room for thousands more to worship and for our little ones to discover the love of Jesus. What we give today becomes the story someone else will thank God for tomorrow. You can be a part of the miracle anytime

at voochurch.com forward slash gift. Let's look at Deuteronomy chapter six today. Deuteronomy chapter six, some context. I'll give you some more as we read into it. This is known as the Shema prayer in Judaism. And this prayer is repeated throughout the scripture. And we'll look at it here in a moment. Viktor Frankl, who was a concentration camp survivor, in his book, Man's Search for Meaning, he says it this way, I think this is beautiful. He said, man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz. However, he is also that being who entered those chambers upright with the Lord's prayer or the Shema on his lips. That as men would face torture and persecution, they would do so repeating the prayer of God. Today, I want us to look at that ancient old prayer. And this is what it says in Deuteronomy chapter six, verse four, Shema means listen or hear. So it starts saying, listen, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them, someone say repeat them. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road,

when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tell them, tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Watch this last part. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. I want to take this passage today and I want to preach from the subject when God repeats himself. When God repeats himself. Wave at me if you're a parent in the room. Where's all the parents at? Okay, they're tired, they can't even make noise. Parents, do you ever find yourself having to repeat yourself? Oh yeah, pastor, now you're talking. Don't you ever listen to me? Can you not hear the words coming out of my mouth? How many times do I have to tell you? Here's my favorite one. This is the last time I tell you. You know that's a lie right there. Why is it? Because children are forgetful. And so parents, they're not going to listen to you. Parents have to remind. Parents have to repeat. Repetition is a part of parenting. But it's not just children who forget. I think we all have some versions of amnesia

from time to time. They talk about our brain that all it takes is about 15 minutes and one distraction for you to forget what just happened. We are a forgetful people. Patrick Liccioni, he's the great business author. He's written great books like The Advantage and Death by Meeting and he coaches CEOs and he coaches big businesses. And he teaches in company settings. He says the CEO, the chief executive officer, that's the wrong title. Your real title should be the chief reminding officer. If you're at the very top of leadership in the company, your job is to remind, to reinforce, and to repeat over and over again and again who you are and where you are going. Why? Because we tend to forget some things. We're in a collection right now called Legacy Work. And the idea of this collection is this little phrase that God gave me. I wanna remind it to you. It says this, give God a day, he can change a life. I believe this wholeheartedly. I believe there's some people that walked into VU Church today that you are far from God. You are running with the way of the world. You don't know you have purpose,

you don't know you have destiny, but all it takes is one moment in God's presence and God can turn your life around. Anybody got some faith that God's gonna turn some stories around today? Give God a day, he can change a life. I believe that. One moment with God. But this collection is not about a day. This collection is looking back on 10 years and talking about where are we going for the next 10 years? So God gave me this phrase, give God a decade and he can change a legacy. Not just change your life, but change your family's life. Not just change your family's life, but change your kid's life. Not just change your kid's life, he can change your grandkid's life. We serve a God of generations. He doesn't just change individuals, he changes legacies. And so I'm not trying to inspire you to come back merely next Sunday. I'm trying to unlock every year at the end of the year that you're a part of something bigger, something more grand, something larger, that you're invited into the story of God, that you wouldn't be transplanted, that you wouldn't be uprooted, but you would be a person that would say,

I'm gonna plant both my feet in the ground and I'm gonna watch as my life flourishes. I'm not gonna give God next Sunday. I'm gonna give God the next 10 years of my life and I'm gonna watch as I do it, he changes legacies around. Come on, somebody, if you believe it. We're ending the year in expectation. We're ending the year in vision because we're inviting people into an adventure. We're inviting people into a legacy. And we're talking about the next decade as a church, as a family. This is not a collection for everyone. This is not a collection about attraction. This is a collection about formation, that God would speak to you, that God would minister to you, that you would say, I'm a part of something happening here. And when I look back on VU Church, it's a 10 year story. But we live in a world that's obsessed about the one day. So a lot of people overestimate what they can do in one year but they totally underestimate what they could do in 10 years. I think this word repetition is an underestimated word. Nothing sexy about repetition. But we don't want repetition. We want something more exciting. When you look back on the story of VU Church,

it's not because we had one good Sunday. It's not because we had one I love my city bash. It's not because we had one bricklayers offering. No, it's quite the opposite. It's weekend and week out repeating, repeating, repeating, showing up, serving, giving, worshiping, staying planted, staying consistent. It's not what you do occasionally, friend. It's what you do consistently. It's what you do faithfully. It's what you do time and time again. I'm gonna need you to clap your hands and act like you wanna be at church on this Sunday morning. Think about every great artist, every great athlete, every great musician, every great builder, every great business person. It wasn't merely about their talent or skill. It was their commitment to repetition. Anyone could do something great one time. I'm unimpressed. I'm not trying to be a one hit wonder. I don't wanna be a flash in the pan. I don't want our church to swell. I want our church to grow. When God builds a mushroom, he takes five hours. When God builds an oak tree, he takes 50 years. One swells, one grows. Very, very different. No, the difference is repetition. I know you can be great in one moment,

but can you be great again and again and again and again and again? Can you do it again? Someone say again. Again. My kids, they forget at times that I'm not super human. Like, I know this is crazy, but like, I know you know I'm an athlete and I know you know I'm strong, but it's not the message today. It's not about me. It's always about him. And so I am very strong for my age and abnormal in those regards, but it's not about that. But my kids. They forget this more than even you do at times. And so the other day, I'm out by the swimming pool and my son Wyatt's like, dad, throw me in. And so I did this cool thing. My son's pretty big for seven, and so I picked him up, I'm very strong, and I picked him up, put him over my head like, ah, and then I just threw him in the water. Now, as soon as he hit the water, he popped up. This is classic Wyatt Wesley Wilkerson. He comes out of the water and he says, again, again, again. And I'm like, boy, my joints, I can't do that again. Like, give me some icy hot, bro, I can't do that again, again, and again.

But that word that we read in Deuteronomy says, repeat it to your children, again, and again, and again. When Wyatt comes up, he says, again, again, again. The very word is preaching to you, again, a-gain, a-gain. Your gain is in your again. Yeah. Come on. It's not what you do one time, it's what you do again, and again, and then you do it again, and then you do it again. I show up again, and again, I sing again, and again, I serve again, and again. It's not about preaching a sermon one time, it's about preaching a sermon again, and again, and again. I'm gonna keep saying again until you clap your hands, build your own faith that you start getting excited about. Repeating some stuff again, and again, and again. Can we be a church that does it again? I was talking to someone, they said, Pastor Rich, I feel like every year at the end of the year, you come with more things for us to do. Are we ever done? I was like, bro, no! Not unless we dead don't stop till heaven. My prayer is that every year we come to the end of the year and God would say, I got something for you again. If you'll actually obey me and step out, I'm gonna do it again, and again. Anybody feel like stepping into the future, going again, watching God do something again,

come on and praise him in this place. Listen to me, repetition creates reputation. Woo! You are what you repeat. You are what you repeat. What is a legacy? A legacy is a long-term reputation. It's what you did again, again, again, again, and again. Meaning whatever you're doing again and again is what you're known for. So if you're known as a cheater, it's because you've been cheating. Don't come for me, pastor. Come on, man, it's Thanksgiving week, bro. You should trust me. How could I trust you? You always lie to me. Oh, your reputation is a liar. But you can sow something else. You can do something else again, again, again, again, again. You could become a person of forgiveness, and all of a sudden people start to go, oh, that person's full of grace. You could be somebody who loves. Wait, all of a sudden your reputation is you're a lover. I want our church, our reputation to be for all people. We preach Jesus, but all people are welcome at the church. I don't care how much other Christians and how much other churches tell us, you weak and you soft.

No, this is a house that's built for those that are lost, that they could come in and discover the gospel. I wanna stand flat-footed and repeat it again and again and again. I want our church to be known as a lighthouse. If you repeat protecting people, people start seeing you as a fighter for people because repetition creates reputation. And here's what's happening today in Deuteronomy 6. It's known as the Shema, mean to hear, it's a prayer. But this, in Deuteronomy 6, is Moses giving, in many ways, the beginning of a farewell speech. He's preaching to the people of Israel, but watch this, it ain't a new sermon. It's something he's preached time and time again. It's review, it's repeat. It's not a new word, it's an old word for a new people. You see, in Deuteronomy 6, he's looking at the Israelites, but these are not the Israelites that crossed the Red Sea. These are not the Israelites that saw him get the law from Mount Sinai. These are the children of those that disobeyed God in the wilderness. Their parents have died, and now they're on the outskirts of the promised land, on the outskirts of prosperity, on the outskirts of their future, on the outskirts of a brand new decade of following God. And here comes Moses, not with something new, but with an old message.

Repetition, he's repeating himself. Is it? It's because children have a tendency to forget. And so he repeats himself. And what does he repeat? He repeats this ancient prayer that your God is one, that you're to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Now, if you've been around church for any time at all, you would realize, I've heard that before. Because it shows up all throughout the Bible. It's a repeat sermon. In fact, it shows up all the way into the New Testament when they come to Jesus and they say, Jesus, what is the greatest commandment ever? He's quoting Moses in Deuteronomy 6. He's quoting the Shema. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Why is it? It's because God is not interested in giving commands. God is interested in repeating a command until it becomes your culture. Commands are what take place for something that has no relationship. But a culture is about legacy work. A culture is about family. A culture is about a body. It's about an organism. And God says, if I repeat the command,

all of a sudden, as you begin to adopt it, if you can say it before I say it, now it's become your culture. And you know this with your children, right? You got something with your kids that you repeat over and over again. My boys, I got so many things. I'm trying to teach them right now, you gotta turn the lights off in the room. Pretty simple, right? Like, dog, who do you think's paying for all this, man? Not you. This morning, I got in the car with Wyatt because he was playing in the VU Kids Bowl yesterday. I said, bro, if you make it to the NFL, you gotta take care of dad financially. I said, will you buy me a car? He said, I'm not gonna buy you a car. Maybe I'll buy you a shirt. I said, a shirt? I said, the devil is lying. If you're in the NFL, daddy's your agent. I'm going with you everywhere, bro. Boys, turn the lights off. Hey, when you leave the room, turn the lights off. Maybe it's for you. I said, boys, put the seat down, you know? But the other day, I'm like, I go, boys, and as I'm about to say it, they go, dad, we know. Turn the lights off.

That's called culture. That's the difference. Before it even comes out of my mouth, it's actually who they are. We already know what you're gonna say, dad, because you keep saying the same thing over and over and over again. We know your reputation, dad. You keep giving the same commands because you've got something good for us. I want you to see this today, that God wants us to have a culture here at VU Church, that you would love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. It's not a Sunday religion. It's not an hour and a half out of the week, but everywhere I go, every time I step out, I'm giving God praise. I'm thanking God. It's who I am. I'm a part of his family. I have a kingdom. Culture, clap your hands. Come on, South Miami. Come on, Design District. Where you at, city? It's a culture. It's a culture. It's a culture. God repeats himself.

And here's Moses. He's like, yo, repeat this to your kids again and again and again. When you're on a walk, at bedtime, wherever you go, continue to repeat the commands of God. Pat on their hands, put on their forehead. Write it over your door of your house. Put it on your gates. Repeat, repeat, repeat, because we serve the God who repeats himself. Shema is a repeated prayer, and it's a good one. It works at work tomorrow, and it works even in the most difficult, most tragic and traumatic places, like a gas chamber in Auschwitz. What are you repeating? What are you known for? What will our church be known for? I wanna make three observations today. I want you to write these down. Very simple, but I believe it's helpful. We serve the God who repeats himself. When God repeats himself, let me show you a few things that he's doing. Number one, when God repeats himself, he repeats himself to get my attention. To get my attention. How many times does God have to say your name before you obey him? Some of y'all got those kids, you know?

Cody! You know the parents that, I'm gonna count to three. You've already lost the battle right there. One. Two. Two and a half. I'm like, if Cody's my son, Cody's dead, you know? How many times does God have to say your name before he gets your attention? All throughout scripture, you can see different times that God calls out people's names. Not once, but he repeats it. Remember the story of Abraham, Genesis chapter 22? Abraham is called by God to go to Mount Moriah. He has the son of laughter, the son of grace, it's Isaac. His one son that God promised him. And God says, I want you to sacrifice your life to sacrifice Isaac on top of Mount Moriah. He's a foreshadow of Jesus being crucified on Calvary. And Abraham, out of act of obedience, follows, and they walk up to Mount Moriah. When they get there, there is no sacrifice. sacrifice other than Isaac, so he binds him, and he lifts his dagger, and he's getting ready to run his knife through his very own son, the very thing that he hoped always in his life to have, his dream, he's about to sacrifice it. But all of a sudden, the mercy of God shows up.

Genesis chapter 22, this is verse 11. But the angel lord called out to him from heaven, Abraham, Abraham, he's trying to get his attention. Stop, let me say your name twice to get your attention. It's not just Abraham, a couple weeks ago, we looked at the story of Saul becoming Paul. Acts chapter nine, Saul is headed to go and kill Christians. He's on a horse, he's headed to do the wrong thing when all of a sudden, a blinding light stops him in his tracks. Acts chapter nine, verse four, he fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Anybody thankful for a God, that you could be headed in one direction, but God can stop you on your tracks, he can get your attention, and he can turn your whole life around. I need you to clap your hands and build some faith today. I think God's turning stories around, even right now while I'm preaching, he can do it. How about in the gospel of Luke? Remember those two sisters, Mary and Martha? Remember Mary's like, Jesus, I just wanna sit at your feet. I love being with you. But Martha's a little bit more like me, she's in the kitchen like, why is this girl just sitting there while I'm making a cake, you know? And there's a lot of reasons that I believe that Jesus is the son of God, here's just one of them, he gets in between a fight between two sisters.

Only God can do that, you know what I'm talking about? Like I ain't getting in the cat fight, okay, you know? But what does he say? Martha, Martha, you're worried and upset about many things. I'm just showing you three examples where God's repeating himself to get their attention. He's stopping Abraham, he's redirecting Paul, and here to Martha, he's trying to wake her up, wake up! And many of us today, this is a wake up call. God's waking you up, he's calling you by name. How many times does he have to speak to you? How many times before you obey him? Many of us in this room, God has called your name over and over and over again. Even with something as simple as the bricklayer's offering, I'm never gonna tell you what you should give. What I'm gonna ask you is that if you ask God and he tells you something, will you even obey him? Because I was talking to somebody the other day, he's like, bro, I just can't hear from God. And what I've learned about a lot of people is often the reason we don't hear the next instruction is because we didn't obey the last instruction. Newsflash, in the kingdom of God, you're not being graded on a curve. It's pass or fail. It's one test to the next. And the only way you get into the ninth grade is you gotta pass the eighth grade. And many of us are looking for a new word from God,

but God says, you haven't obeyed the last thing I told you. Hey, people of Israel, hey, children of Israel, I already gave your parents the correct instruction, but they did not listen. They did not repeat in the wilderness what I gave them. And so they didn't step into the future. So here I am giving you the same old instruction, the same old sermon. You don't need a new sermon. You don't need a new church. You don't need a new trainer. You don't need a new gym. You just gotta get yourself into a habit of repeating the right thing and obeying the correct instruction. God repeats himself to get our attention. We gotta know something about this in Miami. How many of y'all know in Miami there's different types of honks? Let's be honest today. Location pastors, keep your church accountable for a moment. Let's just do a survey. How many of you, you use your horn in your car? I wanna know who you are. Look at some people lying, for sure. People, I've been on 95. That's it here, okay. Okay, that was cute. There's different types of honking. I'm gonna be honest with you.

God's, I'm very mature. I do use the horn, but I do it like, I do a little quick double tap. I go, you know, it's like sweet. It's like, full nudge, you know. Where are you at? You know, hey, hi. They look back, you're like, no, hey. No, no, no, no. Take your time, you know. But there are other people, my wife primarily. My wife is the best Christian I know, but if it came to honking, if honking was. It's an expletive, she's using every word in the book. She does the, ha! I was in the car with her yesterday, I was like, babe, is there something I don't know about? Who hurt you? She's like, no, I'm just trying to get going. I'm like, it's kind of mean, you know? Anybody, where is the people that you do the, you just flash your brights, where are you? Nah, get out of here, y'all are, I don't believe y'all. You ain't that mature, look at that, that was most of the room, Adrian, over here. I know Manoushka Charles don't do the bright flashing. I don't get you people, you people are way too nice. Get out. The other day, I'm a pretty, I'm a,

I gotta get back to the message, but I'm a pretty good driver. And the light turned green, I'm gonna tell you, it was like two seconds, and this dude behind me laid the horn on, like I'm still thinking about it, you know? Like, I'm like, what did I, who hurt you, man? Like, what did I do to you, bro? Felt like judgment, I was like, I'm so sorry. Sometimes, God has to honk the horn in our life. Sometimes, you gotta beep, beep. Most of the time, he's just kind of giving you some brights. He's a gentle father, but every once in a while, he has to lay the horn down and say, wake up. Wake up, I'm calling your name. I'm calling you into a story bigger than the one you're living. It's not about your name, it's not about your family, it's for a people not yet created that you would join the great company of the church and say, I'll lay my life down as a living sacrifice that I could be used by God. Come on, church, do you love him today? He's getting people's attention. God repeats himself to get my attention, but God also repeats himself to give me direction. To give me direction. Here's what I know, and this is a principle that I've preached a lot, and I want you to write it down. Clarity brings confidence.

Just think about it, clarity brings confidence. Hard to be confident when you're living life confused. Hard to win a fight if you don't know who you're fighting. Hard to stand your ground when you don't even know what the ground is you're standing on. We live in a world that wants to confuse. We live in a world that's trying to confuse an entire generation. If I don't like something in the Bible, I just change it. If something doesn't sit right with me, I just leave. It's consumerism everywhere that we go. I liked Vood Church until they preached on that. I liked Vood Church until they told me this. I liked it until they didn't give me the solo. All of it comes down to this idea about me, me, me, me, me. But what we need is we need clarity. It's like most of us in this room have had that experience that you've been to a new city, you've been on a new road, you've been somewhere that you've never been before, and you were driving, you were headed somewhere you've never been there before. There might even be obstacles or weather that you're not used to, roads, bridges, tunnels, things that you've never been down these routes, but you have confidence because you have this thing called a GPS system. And the GPS speaking to you, although you've never been there before, is giving you clarity about the next step of the journey, and with it, you're confident.

This is the power of God's word. This is the power of hearing God's voice, that what we do is we repeat God's word. We repeat the things that God has said to us because the clearer and clearer I get with his voice, the more and more confident I become. Some of you got little kids like me and you get into a road trip and they're like, the first question five minutes in, are we there yet? But some people in this room, you're 55 years old and you live your life like a little kid in the backseat of a road trip going, are we there yet? It's because you don't have any direction. You don't have any confidence about where he's taking you. That's why we take time to give vision. So you can say, oh, I know we're not there yet, but I'm happy to be on the trip because I'm confident that he's gonna give us the next step as we follow him. He's gonna get my attention and then he's gonna give me direction. I could show you this in 1 Samuel chapter three. It's the story of Samuel, one of the greatest prophets of Israel. If you know that story, it's a good story. Samuel is the son of a woman named Hannah. Hannah comes to church, comes to the temple, and you ever done this before? You make a deal with God. God, if you'll do this, I'll never do that again.

She comes and she can't have any children. She's a barren woman. Interesting note, most of the matriarchs of our faith were barren women. That God can bring about greatness through barrenness. That maybe you feel empty, that maybe you feel like you're in a place today that you're not producing much fruit. God does his best work in barrenness and Hannah came into the temple and she started crying out to God God Would you give me a son? And this is what she says. She says if you'll give me a son, I'll give him back to you In fact, she was crying in such desperation that the priest in that house His name is Eli when he heard her praying he thought she was drunk He was like, you know, you can't be drunk up in church. She's like, I'm not drunk. I'm desperate I'm Desperate she makes a deal with God and a lot of you make deals with God But then God comes, you know good on his side, but they're like we forget right? We got amnesia Like I don't remember what I said, you know she says God if you'll give me a son, I'll give him back to you and Samuel is born and she Takes the boy for some time and she raises him and then she gives him back to God She brings him to the temple. Now. This is funny, right like in two weeks. We have our bricklayers offering Listen we're so grateful for your generosity, but do not leave your children here. Okay Lord you can have him like Who is this? Oh, this is my boy. This is this is this is this is Ricky. This is my bricklayers offering Are you crazy, you know? She drops this boy off and he grows up in the temple He grows up under this priest named Eli and if you know your Bible, you know the story Eli was actually a good man But he has a bad legacy Why because he had two sons Hofnius and Phineas and these boys somewhere on the journey. He stopped repeating He stopped correcting

He stopped reminding who they are and the Bible says that he allowed them to steal sacrifice He allowed them to sleep with women in the temple and God who's patient and God who's rich in mercy gave him all The time but he didn't repent they didn't change course and finally God says I'm gonna raise up another generation So one night while Samuel sleeping if you know the story a voice speaks Samuel Samuel It's first time in chapter 3 Samuel wakes up thinks it's Eli runs into Eli goes you called me Eli's like I didn't call you Go back to bed goes back lays back down Samuel Samuel he jumps back up says did you call me Sam? He's like I did not call you go back to bed goes back a third time the voice Samuel Samuel he runs to Eli and Eli says, oh, I know what's going on here Somebody else is calling you Next time you hear this voice if this voice comes again Simply respond speak for your servant is listening So I want you to see something God is repeating himself to a young boy because he wants to give him direction and God will repeat himself to direct your steps to to guide you It's interesting me that Samuel kept hearing the voice and the voice was so familiar to him. He thought it was the priest Understand that as you're learning to recognize God's voice Repetition brings about recognition But in the beginning many times you're gonna hear God's voice from your pastor's voice From your crew leaders voice from your team leaders voice from a friend. That's beautiful but at some point you have to go from knowing something to knowing someone and As he starts to know someone He's laying in his place and as God shows up a fourth time This is the God who repeats himself not one time not two times not three times. You're not gonna miss your calling You know the Bible says So word for somebody the Bible says in Jonah after Jonah disobeys God God's I want to use you to lead a revival in I don't want to go. He's mad After he goes through the fish after he spit up. The Bible says then the Word of Lord came to Jonah a second time Because it's the God who repeats himself in four times. He comes to Samuel. So Samuel Eli has disobeyed and judgments coming on the house. Now. I'm giving you my word. You must go and give my judgment to him. I

Want us to see today that God's directing us God's looking for another generation May we do legacy work. May we obey God? Look at what Moses says. This is an instruction to the parents here Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 7. He says repeat them again and again to your children Parents Repeat the Word of God over and over and over again Eli didn't do this So God intervened and says I'll pick a new son. I'll pick a new boy I don't need age. I need maturity I'll use Samuel. So Moses is trying to say hey parents Repeat it again and again and again Use your time wisely Don't let the church be the only thing that pastors your kids Don't expect voo kids to be the only place that's gonna give your kids the Word of God. You're the priest of God You're the pastor of your house man of God. You gotta repeat it again and again. Tell them who they are. Get it down deep inside of them. Your kids are wet cement. Shape them. Form them. I just try to give God's Word in every moment at our house. The other night we were at a friend's giving. We were leaving. This is last night. I had the three bigs. That's Wyatt, Wild, and Waylon. Waylon's four. Wild's six. Wyatt's seven. I just put a praise party on. I just started putting worship music on. We're coming back. I got it loud. Like real loud. Waylon keeps going, Dad, can you play Taylor Swift? I said, get thee behind me Satan. Make your own decisions when you're 18 girl. But right now it's voo worship and elevation worship up in this car. But I just try to repeat it again and again. And I do funny stuff. I had the music real loud. You could do this. You could do this today. All of a sudden I turn the music down and I start praying real loud for my kids. God, I thank you for young Wyatt there in the backseat. Oh God, he's only seven years of age, but you've called him out of darkness. I believe he's a man of God. His feet have been set on upon a rock that you're going to use him as a voice for the generation to come. I'm serious. Last night I said, oh God, I thank you for my son Wild. Lord, you made him a wild man for you. God, I thank you that he's crazy for Christ. I thank you that he's a peculiar person. He's odd and he's

different. He doesn't look like everybody else. Oh God, I thank you for Waylon. Waylon's beautiful, Lord, but I'm grateful she knows her beauty is not from the outside. It's from the inside. Make her a Proverbs 31 girl. Let her walk in purity all the days of her life. And God, I pray for her crazy husband that you'd save him now. Save that boy now. Let that young boy be a man of God. I'm not kidding. I'm just trying to tell you it's not a Sunday thing. It's a daily thing. Repeat it again and again and again and again and again, because the repetition creates the reputation. Hey, guys, get in bed. Dad, we know we got to pray. There we go. Sounds like we got a culture. Hey, guys, it's Sunday morning. Yeah, Dad, we know we're going to church. There's a culture. Hey, guys, it's the year end. We're going to give in the offering. What should we give? Oh, there we go. I already know it, Dad. It's the culture of our house. Hey, it's Saturday. It's Thanksgiving. Hey, Dad, we know it's Thanksgiving. It's the culture of who we are. It's not a command. It's our culture. The other night, I was praying for my kids. I'm sorry I've told you all these family stories, but I think some of this has got to unlock. I just want you to see it's not always beautiful and pretty. It's just you repeat. You repeat. You just do it again and again and again. You're a parent. You're a good parent. You're not like Eli. You're like a good father. You're repeating to give direction. The other night, we were laying in bed. We finished. A lot of times, we'll be praying, and I don't sing very good. I know that. Oftentimes, I'll sing on this stage because you're like, if he could sing on a microphone, maybe I could sing from my chair. Exactly. That's the whole point. But man, we finished praying, and I just started singing. I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail. And I love people clapping. Thank you. I'm okay. Thank you. That's not good for my ego. Don't clap. It's good. But my favorite part, I'm telling you this story for a reason, is all three of my big kids, Wyatt, Wild, and Waylon, without even me, they went into the bridge. They started singing, I sought the Lord, and he heard, and he answered. I sought the Lord, and he heard, and he answered. I sought the Lord, and he heard, and he answered. That's why I trust him. That's why I trust. I'm trying to show you guys something, that if I can get a four-year-old girl to start repeating that from her bedroom at night, one day when I'm not around, one day when I'm long gone, she's going to know about a God that when she cries out to him, he hears, but he answers. He hears, but he shows up. Anybody in this room feel like doing some legacy work?

Repeat again, and again, and again. Again, and again, and again, and again, and again. Grab a seat. Again, and again, and again. I sought the Lord, and he heard, and he answered. That's why I trust him. I'm talking about a God who repeats himself. God repeats himself to get my attention. God repeats himself to give me direction. But lastly, God repeats himself to build my conviction. Conviction is an important word. Conviction is a belief. It's a value. It's something that's been deposited that the world can't steal, that the confusion can't rob. I know what I believe. It's a conviction. I've heard God say it time and time again, and now with it, I have a conviction. Moses doesn't go into the promised land, if you know the story. Moses didn't make it. He died out in that wilderness with that generation before. He's given an old sermon in Deuteronomy 6, but he's setting up another generation to stand on their shoulders and say, you're going to walk into the promised land. You're going to step into prosperity. You're going to see things we never got to see. And in Joshua chapter 1, the God who repeats himself shows up to young Joshua because he wants to build his conviction three different times. Joshua chapter 1, verse 6, be strong and courageous. Joshua 1, 7, be strong and very courageous. Joshua chapter 1, verse 9, be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, Joshua. Why is God repeating himself? Because he's trying to build into Joshua a conviction.

Joshua, you're meant to be a warrior. You're meant to be a soldier in the Lord's army. You're the commander of the Lord's army. I'm going to use you, so let me repeat myself. Why? Because God repeats what the enemy intends to attack. And your identity is under attack, Joshua, so let me tell you who you are, and let me remind you three different times to put a conviction inside of you. If you will step forward, I will direct you. If you'll listen to my voice, I will lead you and I will guide you. We're reading Deuteronomy chapter 6. We looked at verses 4 through 9, but I want you to see this in its entirety because this ancient prayer has a promise attached to it, and this is so good. Deuteronomy 6, verse 10, here we go. This is the word of God. The Lord your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you when he made a vow to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You and I are family, not because we share the same last name. We are family because we share the same faith. It is a land, listen to this, with large prosperous cities that you did not build. The houses will be richly stocked with goods that you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten, you are filled in this land. Verse 12, here is the word of the Lord for those that call VU Church home. Hey, VU Church, in just 10 years, I gave you four different locations. Hey, VU Church, in just 10 years, you've been able to resource the body of Christ and missionaries and local nonprofits with millions of dollars. Hey, VU Church, in just 10 years, you've seen close to 30,000 people give their life to Jesus.

I'm using you. I'm using you. I prospered you. So VU Church and the children of Israel, be careful not to forget the Lord who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. Moses knows he's not going into the future. Moses knows he's not going to the promised land, and he understands that blessing from time to time gives us spiritual amnesia. In times of suffering, we call upon God. In times of suffering, we forget God. In times of success, we forget God. And here's Moses. He's like, do not forget. You're about to go into the land that you didn't plant. You're going to have houses that you did not build. I'm going to fill your cupboards. You're going to be blessed. I'm going to hook you up. You better not forget God. What's he saying? He is saying out loud that what happens in your life, that time and time again, that if you're not careful as you go through life, God's blessing and God's provision will make you begin to forget him. And I'm just saying to our church right now, God's repeating himself to build our conviction. And here's my conviction, and this is the conviction I want to give to you. God didn't forget you in Egypt. Don't forget him in the promised land. He didn't forget you in Egypt. Why are you going to forget him now in the promised land? Why are we doing this?

Because my job is to stand up here flat footed and say, God has done a lot in 10 years. But it wasn't our doing, it was His. It wasn't our saving, it was His. Come on, man, if God didn't forget you when you were single, why are you gonna forget Him now that you're married? If God didn't forget you when you were in prison, how are you gonna forget Him now that you've got a job? If God didn't forget you when you were barren and had no children of your own, how are you gonna forget Him now that your house is full with kids? If God didn't forget you when you were broke, how are you gonna forget Him now that He's made you rich? If God didn't forget you when you're weak, how are you gonna forget Him when you're strong? Oh God, may we be a people that praise you. This week's Thanksgiving week, I think it's fitting. Thanksgiving, a second giving, a remembrance. Today is Communion Sunday, it's a time of remembrance. Communion is the first Thanksgiving. We remember, we reflect. And I love Thanksgiving, I just think, you know, I'm no expert, but calories don't count on Thanksgiving. Somehow God's gonna just do it. There's no condemnation for that second bite, that third helping, just do it, do it, do it, do it. But you're not doing it unto yourself, you're doing it with a heart of gratitude and thanksgiving.

I don't just want conviction to have courage, I want conviction to have gratitude. Philippians chapter four, verse four, here's the Apostle Paul, rejoice in the Lord always. Ooh, I'll say it again, I'm gonna repeat myself. That sermon's so good, rejoice in the Lord always. Good times, bad times, hard times. Not just on Sunday, always rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice, find joy again, praise again, do it again, repeat it, in fact, I wanna tell you to repeat it, I'm gonna say it again, because my gain is in my again. Rejoice, with an exclamation mark, rejoice always. That is the word of the Lord from the Apostle Paul, that you and I, that we would be a people that would reflect the nature of God, that God is a God of repetition, may we be a people of repetition, that over and over and over again, we would praise God, we would worship God. Anyone like me, and you don't have to raise your hand, but like, I get one song and I put that thing on repeat. I can wear a song out, man. My friend's like, bro, have you never heard the whole album? I'm like, the whole album? I've been locked in track three since July, man. Like, no, like, I just, I play it. Spotify writes me, bro, you listened to this song 97 times in one day, are you okay? I'm like, don't you judge me, Spotify, shut up.

I'll play it again and again and again, why? Because anything great is worth repeating. Anything true is worth repeating. Anything holy is worth repeating. Isn't it funny that there's only one song in heaven? It's a song on repeat. Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. Because it's not your song, it's his song. And Paul is saying that you should have a conviction in your spirit, people of God. Do not forget what God has done. God's the one who brought you out of slavery. God's the one who brought you out of Egypt. God's the one who's been faithful. God's the one who's repealed himself time and time again. And let this conviction be set inside of you that you're a worshiper, you're a praiser. I don't need Sunday morning to come, I can be in my car, I can be at work, I can be in the shower, wherever I go, with my family, we're gonna worship God. We're gonna praise God. He's never left me, he's never forsaken me, he's been good to me. He's been so, so good, I don't wanna forget it. I wanna keep on saying it time and time again. Is there anybody in this room? Is there anybody at one of our locations today

that could testify that the God who repeats himself is a God who's been faithful, he's been good, he's shown up time and time again? Anybody like me that you can testify? I shouldn't even be here. If it was not for the mercy of God, if it was not for the grace of God, somebody rejoice in the Lord. I'll say it again, rejoice in the Lord. I'll say it again, rejoice in the Lord, praise God. Come on and clap your hands and worship him. Come on and clap your hands and worship him.