Wow God!" - Pastor Celeste Harrison | Aug 1st 2026

Vacation Bible School becomes more than bubbles, games, songs, and cute kids. Vacation Bible School becomes a picture of what the family of God is supposed to feel like. It teaches children that Jesus loves them, and it creates a desire for them to belong, not just to a church program, but to the heavenly kingdom family. Church then becomes the extension of that week, because faith is not a one and done thing. Faith has to keep growing.

Discipleship cannot become a quota where somebody just listens to something online and checks the spiritual box. Community matters. Intentional growth matters. Repetition matters. A core truth usually has to be heard again and again before it moves from recognition into belief, and then from belief into action. That is why going back to basics is not childish. Foundations are where strength gets rebuilt when spiritual life feels stuck.

Rainforest Falls takes David’s psalms and lets them look backward, sit in the present, and look forward. Psalm 103 calls everything God created to praise the Lord, and David’s imagination goes back to creation. God speaks light into darkness. God names every star. The anxious imagination often dreams up worst case scenarios, but the sanctified imagination can sit still and say, “wow, God.”

Psalm 139 shows that God knows everything. God sees the little shepherd boy with sheep smell all over him, and God sees a king. God sees beyond the situation, beyond the family’s expectations, beyond what David can see for himself. God knows the heart, and that knowledge is not cold information. It is love that sees a future.

Psalm 142 puts David in a cave, hiding from Saul. David has a chance to take power by force, but God becomes his safe place. The refuge David finds in God becomes the kind of safety people are still looking for, a place where wounded people can be welcomed, heard, comforted, and loved.

Psalm 136 lifts David’s eyes toward a faithful love that endures forever. David understood sin through sacrifice, through the cost of animals he had raised and loved. Yet David could see a future of redemption before Jesus was born. God’s love is not waiting for people to fix themselves first. God moved heaven and earth to be with his children forever.

Praise then becomes more than music. Praise changes the mind, the attitude, even the body’s reaction to stress. Deuteronomy 6 calls families to repeat God’s love at home, on the road, at bedtime, and in the morning. Daily worship, simple reading, songs in the car, and noticing butterflies and dragonflies all become ways to live saying, “wow, God.”

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Repetition makes truth sink deep Repetition is not spiritual babysitting. A core truth often has to be heard again and again before it becomes part of the way a person actually lives. The believer who thinks, “I already know that,” may be standing right at the doorway of the deeper formation that only comes through hearing it one more time. [49:08]
• 2. Foundations unlock stalled growth Spiritual stagnation often does not mean a person needs something flashier or more advanced. Growth may require going back to creation, forgiveness, prayer, praise, and the love of God with fresh attention. Basic things become powerful again when God uses them to rebuild balance and strength underneath the life. [51:04]
• 3. God sees beyond present struggle God saw David as king while David still looked like a forgotten shepherd boy. God’s knowledge reaches past the present mess, past family assumptions, and past personal limitations. Divine knowledge is not just awareness of failure, but a loving vision of what grace can grow in a life. [59:42]
• 4. Safe places reflect God’s refuge David called God his hiding place while real danger was chasing him. God’s refuge did not make David cruel, panicked, or power-hungry when Saul entered the cave. The church family becomes credible when God forms people who are actually safe to approach, safe to confess near, and safe to be wounded around. [64:07]
• 5. Praise retrains the anxious mind Praise is not denial of the storm. Praise takes the eyes off the self long enough to remember the Creator, Sustainer, and Lover of the soul. When frustration, sadness, or fear rises, praise can interrupt the body’s panic and teach the mind where reality truly begins.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [43:17] - Forgiveness and Unconditional Love
• [43:40] - Why Vacation Bible School Matters
• [46:02] - Discipleship Beyond Listening
• [47:19] - Repetition Forms Core Truth
• [51:04] - Going Back to Foundations
• [52:56] - Rainforest Falls Review
• [54:49] - David’s Psalms From Creation to Revelation
• [55:24] - God Is Creator
• [59:03] - God Knows Everything
• [61:12] - God Is the Safe Place
• [65:28] - God’s Love Endures Forever
• [70:40] - Praise Changes the Mind
• [74:40] - Discipleship Starts at Home
• [79:36] - Repeat God’s Love Daily

1. In Psalm 103:22, who is called to bless the Lord, and how wide is the reach of that call? [55:41]
2. What repeated truths were being taught through the week about God’s character, and which psalms were connected to those truths? [53:14]
3. In the story connected with Psalm 142:5, what situation was David in, and what did he choose not to do when Saul came into the cave? [01:03:01]
4. According to Deuteronomy 6:6-7, in what ordinary parts of daily life are God’s words meant to be repeated and talked about?

1. Psalm 139:1 says that God has searched and known David. How does that kind of knowledge differ from merely knowing facts about a person? How might it include both truth and love? [59:42]
2. David praised God as Creator instead of feeding worst-case scenarios. What does that suggest about the difference between an anxious imagination and a sanctified imagination? [56:42]
3. David called God his refuge while he was in real danger. What does that show about what biblical safety is, especially when the danger does not disappear right away? [01:04:07]
4. Psalm 136:1 says God’s steadfast love endures forever. How does that speak to people who assume they must first fix themselves before they can fully receive God’s love? [01:09:41]

1. When faith feels stalled, going back to the basics is often the way forward. Which foundation needs renewed attention right now—prayer, praise, Scripture, forgiveness, community, or trust in God’s love? What would it look like to return to that one this week? [51:04]
2. Repetition helps truth move from recognition into real life. What is one core truth about God that has been heard many times but still needs to sink deeper into the heart? How could that truth be repeated this week in a simple, honest way? [49:08]
3. God saw David as more than a shepherd boy. Where is it hardest right now to believe that God sees beyond the present struggle and still has a future for that life? [01:00:33]
4. God is a refuge, and his people are meant to become safe for others. What would make a group, a friendship, or a home feel truly safe for confession, grief, weakness, or honest struggle? Where might greater gentleness be needed? [01:04:44]
5. Praise can interrupt fear, frustration, and stress. What usually happens in the body and mind when anxiety rises, and what kind of praise practice could help in that moment—singing, praying out loud, reading a psalm, or simply saying, “wow, God”? [01:11:42]
6. Deuteronomy 6 places discipleship in everyday life. What is one ordinary moment in the day—car rides, bedtime, meals, morning routines, walks—where talking about God could happen more naturally? [01:20:01]
7. God’s love endures forever and is not waiting on perfect behavior first. Where is there a tendency to put conditions on God’s love personally, and what would it look like to live this week as someone deeply loved already? [01:10:14]