{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvertical.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2Fteaching-oct-4-2026-pPaXaXD4","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"You’re Not the Center | Welcome Home (Part 4) | Vertical Church","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/9689ac23-2320-4b64-bf07-a443a5ebe021/6a1ac10c-1e71-47c1-98f2-24f17bf4df12/cropped_1789500118286.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"","height":200,"description":"Scripture: John 13:1–35\n\nWhat happens after we encounter Jesus?\n\nThroughout this series, we’ve seen people searching for a place that feels like home. Nicodemus searched through religion. The Samaritan woman searched through relationships. The man at Bethesda had spent decades trapped by his circumstances and excuses.\n\nEach of them found what they were looking for in Jesus.\n\nBut Jesus doesn’t simply welcome us home and leave us there. He gives us a new purpose: to help others find their way home.\n\nIn John 13, on the night before the cross, Jesus kneels to wash His disciples’ feet. Then He gives them a command:\n\n“Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” — John 13:34\n\nJesus becomes our standard for what love looks like. It serves. It sacrifices. It moves toward people. And Jesus says this kind of love will become one of the clearest ways the world recognizes His followers.\n\nChristianity is not just about what Jesus does for me; it becomes about what Jesus wants to do through me.\n\nYour story can become somebody else’s invitation.\nYour healing can become someone else’s hope.\nYour life can become evidence that Jesus still transforms lives.\n\nWhen Jesus welcomes us home, we do the same for others.\n\nWe love people.\nWe serve people.\nWe invite people.\nWe point people to Jesus by loving them like Jesus.\n\nLet’s make heaven crowded.\n\nConnect with Vertical Church and discover more ways to Encounter God, Follow Jesus, Experience Freedom, and Make an Impact."}