Slide 1
My Story


Slide 2
My Prayer


Slide 3
Know God, know their identity, and know their purpose – this could be a build or whatever you think is best.


Slide 4
My Ask


Slide 5
Get Involved


Slide 6
Pray


Slide 7
Serve


Slide 8
Attend & Serve


Slide 9
Student programming info


Slide 10
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3v14-21

Good morning, cherry Hills. If I haven’t met you yet, my name is Wade Smith. And before we dive in today’s message, can we just celebrate all the students that have been on stage? And you’re about to hear from two more this morning.

They have done an incredible job and will continue to do so. And as I said, and as you saw in the announcements, my name is Wade and I have the privilege and honor of leading our student ministry here at Cherry Hills. And God is not only moving in our church, he’s moving in our student ministry as well. If you don’t know our student ministry team, I’d like to show you a picture. And if you don’t know who they are, this is Austin, Evan, Halle, and Kaylee. They truly love the Lord and have a passion to help students become lifelong followers of Jesus, who experience extend the love of God to others that they encounter. This morning is a special day for us. As Halle mentioned, it’s student takeover. And as you can see, students are serving all throughout our church in so many different ways this morning.

But before you hear from them, I’d like to take a few moments to share our story, what God is doing, and how each of you can be involved. And I’ll do this by walking through three movements and it’s these, my story, my prayer, and my ask. So here’s my story. I grew up in a strong Christian family where faith was at the center of our lives, and it was in this environment that I placed my faith in Jesus at the age of eight years old. Several years later, between my junior and senior year of high school, I felt called into ministry. To be honest, it wasn’t something that I really wanted to do. But as a result of God’s grace and his kindness, I surrendered my life to him and the calling that he has placed on my life. When I think back on this season of my life, I realize why my family was far from perfect.

I am so thankful that faith was the priority in our home because the truth is this is what happens within the family. Whatever your family dynamic looks like, matters deeply. God created the family and it’s one of the primary places where a student’s faith is formed and developed. And that’s why we’re here. We’re here to partner with you guys as you help your kids, as you help your students grow in their faith and become who God has created them to be. My wife brand and I are passionate about the next generation. We feel deeply called to help students navigate life and relationships, and most importantly, help them grow in their faith all while enjoying the life that God has given them. We also want them to know why following Jesus isn’t always easy. Following Jesus is always worth it. We recognize raising young men and young women can be challenging in today’s culture and at times even feel overwhelming. A parent recently shared that at times it feels like we’re building resumes instead of raising kids. But please remember what a true blessing it is and know that we are here for you and that you’re not alone and the midst of it all. We’ll do whatever we can to help your students know they are fearfully and they’re wonderfully made. They’re ated on purpose with a purpose.

That’s my story. This is my prayer. When I accepted this position at the beginning of the year, I begin to pray and think through the future of Cherry Hill student ministry. More than anything, though, I specifically wanted to ask God for his wisdom and for his direction. I simply wanted to know his heart for our students, his heart for our church and his heart for our ministry. Now, I’ve never heard the audible voice of God before, but this was one of those moments where I felt the Holy Spirit say to me, Wade, it’s the same prayer you’ve been praying for years. And how he reminded me of this was so sweet, yet so humbling. You see, what I didn’t tell you earlier is that my wife and I were told within the first six months of marriage that we would not be able to have kids. That was incredibly hard news, especially for my wife whose greatest desire was to be a mom. She simply wanted to be a mother. And through question and heartache, we chose to surrender our desires, surrenders our life to God once again, and we can send you continued to serve the church. And we did everything we could to pour our lives into students and young adults and pointed as many of them as we could to Jesus.

Fast forward a few years, seven years and a few months to be exact, not that we’ve been counting or anything we found out was pregnant, we were in complete shock and disbelief. But on June 10th, 2024, our life was forever changed. And on February, 2025, our little miracle was born. Elsie, Kate arrived

As I would sit in our nursery rocking our little girl or a little miracle to sleep, I would pray that she would know God. I would pray that she would know her identity is found in Christ and I, and I would pray that she would know that she’s created on purpose with a purpose. And in those moments, in that very chair, I would begin to feel God impressed on my heart. Wade, that’s what I want for your students at Cherry Hills. Two, wait. I want them to know their heavenly Father in a real and an intimate way. I would want want them to know my son Jesus, who gave his life for their salvation. And I want, I would want them to know and experience the Holy Spirit who equips, who empowers and leads them towards righteousness. So church, family, our prayer is simple and it’s one, we consistently pray for our students. We pray that they will know God in a real and personal way. We’re praying for encounters over entertainment. We’re praying that they would know their identity and we’re praying that they know their purpose all while being the salt and light in a world that’s pushing against them.

I do realize that many of you here this morning, maybe a few years ahead of these students, but what you need to know is that our prayer applies to you as well. I hope and pray that you too know, that know God in a real and personal way. I hope and pray that you’ll know that your identity is found in Christ. And I hope and pray that you come to know your purpose in the God, the the calling that God has placed on your life. Once these are settled in our hearts and our mind, it will allow us to walk in freedom and live out the calling he’s placed on each of our lives.

So that was my story, that was my prayer. And finally, I’d like to end with my ask, and it’s a simple one, but yet maybe hard. It’s this I I I just ask that you get involved and you may be wondering how can that happen? And here’s three ways that I’d like to suggest that you get involved. The first way is pray. Here’s the amazing part. Everyone of you truly can be involved by simply praying, pray for our students, pray that they would genuinely know God and live for him and His kingdom instead of the world around them. Pray for protection and pray that they would stand and fight against the evil one. Pray that they would have courage and boldness to share their faith with their peers and invite them to church. And I don’t know if you realize this or not, but there are roughly 13,000 middle school and high school students in the Highlands Ranch area that near that need to hear the gospel.

Oh, church, let us pray. Let us be a people of prayer and family and friends. Pray with and for your kids. Here’s a picture of my dad. He was full of joy, he was happy. And I lost my dad in February of 2018. And if I could have anything I would give, if I could give anything, I wouldn’t ask for the experiences, I wouldn’t ask for the stuff. I would just simply love to be in his presence. And I would give anything to hear my dad pray for me. Again, I would give anything to have my dad pray for his most recent granddaughter. So if I can beg and plead with you this morning, pray for and with your kids, I don’t care how awkward it may be, because I believe that there will be a day where they’re just like me and they would give anything to hear their mom and dad and their grandparents pray over them and for them, every time my dad would call, he’d pray for, he’d pray for me, he’d pray for brandy.

He’d pray for our future babies if we were to have one. Then he’d also pray for my best friend who’s a pastor of a church in Arkansas. And I would give anything to hear him pray. The second way that I wanted to encourage you to get involved is serve. Use your talents, use your gifts, use your abilities. Find a place to get involved and serve. Whether it’s rocking babies in the nursery, greeting people outside, or joining our student ministry team and serving middle school and high school students and helping them continue to grow and their faith. And for the middle school and high school students in the room, I wanna encourage you and it’s twofold, attend and serve. Get involved with what we have going on here at Cherry Hills. Get involved in our student ministry, find your people and continue to pursue him. And then also, just like I told the adults, find a place to serve just like every student that was here.

Find a place that you can get plugged into. We have so much going on this summer, from Sunday mornings to summer nights at the paths to summer hangouts. Find a place and get involved. And lastly, give when you give, when you invest in the kingdom of God through the local church, whether that’s for camp scholarships, missions, or the overall ministry of the church, the return on investment is incredible. And you wanna know why? Because it’s eternal. Your gift, whether it’s a dollar or a million, has the power to impact the lives of so many. And I just want to end with a passage of scripture that is from the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians, A prayer that I believe carries our heart and one that is still relevant for us today. And it’s this Ephesians three started in verse 20. Now to him, who is able to do I measuring more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that has worked within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Church family. It’s an honor and a privilege to serve here and be a part of what God is doing in and through our church. Now get ready for some incredible students to share what God has placed on their life.