All right, so we're in Psalm 62 the main verse it's a great chapter as far as Just having strength and where David's strength came from We know he went through he went through a lot of trials and tribulations throughout his life The main verse I want to look at is is number seven If you look in Psalm 62 in verse number seven it says in God is my salvation and my glory The rock of my strength the rock of my strength and my refuge is in God so Tonight I'm going to be talking about strength just having strength being strong in the Christian life You know the Christian life, it's it's not a bed of roses as as a lot of people would have you to think You know, we're gonna face trials and tribulations in our life. We're gonna go through hard times We need to have the strength to be able to get through those those things today there's an agenda to create a weak minded and a feminine man today and You know, we ought not to be that way as Christians Let's face it men are being raised to be weak today even even among Christians We need to stand up and be strong as Christians, you know men women and children It's it's not just men the Bible is a is a history book In the entire Bible speaks of men women and children who did amazing things and and had strength and adversity You know, we see Jacob Jacob was was strong physically and it is a virtue to be strong physically But the Bible is mainly talking about an inner strength So we see Jacob he was a strong man He rolled the stone from the well when it normally it took it took multiple men to lift the stone from the well He wrestled with God, you know to the point that you know, he he Forced God to bless him, you know, he said I wouldn't let go until you I won't let go until you bless me And he ended up winning that that wrestling match, you know, so we see that that Jacob was strong David he slayed the champion of The Philistines Goliath who was nine and a half feet tall, you know, so He he fought against lions and bears and I mean he just did many things and we could tell that he was a strong man You know, those are those are two men in the Bible that are that were strong And then we also we see Esther, right who stood up against the king even though Her life was on the line. She could be put to death and she she stood up and said if I perish I perish You know, so we see many instances in the Bible of Strong Christians, so tonight I'm going to be touching on the subject of strength, you know having strength in the Christian life What makes us strong? Where does that strength come from? You know and just how to become strong in the Christian life So my first point that I that I want to bring up tonight is that Tribulation makes us strong Tribulation makes us strong, you know Turn your Bible to Daniel 3 So going through tribulation is is actually a good thing. This is not a bad thing when you go through Hard times in your life So turn to Daniel 3 It's a it's a famous story in the Bible. We we go over these stories and I think sometimes we have a tendency to just read over these and not actually put ourselves in these in the shoes of these men And we actually forget that these were real people that actually went through hard times in their life if you look down it at a We'll just start in verse 14 of Daniel 3 So it says Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them is it true? Oh Shadrach Meshach and Abednego do not ye serve my Do not you do not you serve my gods nor worship the golden image which I have set up Now if you be ready That at what time you hear the sound of the corner flute harp sack, but sultry and dulcimer and all kinds of music You fall down and worship the image which I have made Well, but if you worship it not you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? So picture this You have been basically Kidnapped from your home as a youth Shadrach Meshach and Abednego were brought into Babylon Against their will. Okay.   You don't want to worship the image and so basically You have this you have this option is to worship or Be cast into a fire. Okay, and I think most Christians would Worship but in their heart serve God worship God and just say you know what? I'm just gonna go through the motions. It seems like these were the only men that that stood up at the time and You know, I don't know about you but being being burned alive isn't necessarily at the top of the list as far as ways to die for me You know, they could have easily just bowed to the image and in their heart worship God But that's not what we see. We see that they took a stand. So if you look in verse 16, it says Shadrach, Neshach, and Abednego answered and said unto the king. Oh, Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer the in this matter I love that response. They they say we're not careful to answer the word We don't care what you think We're we're just not even gonna be careful in our response You know what a what a great response that is and and that that takes strength right there to stand up to the king When it looks like nobody else was and look down at verse 17 it says if it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace And he will deliver us out of the hand out of thine hand. Oh king But if not be it known unto thee oh king that we will not serve thy gods Nor worship the golden image which thou has set up. So they basically said look our God can deliver us from this tribulation Our God can get us out of this this trial, but you know what? If it's his will that I go through this situation and it's his will Then so be it, you know, and I'm willing to face that look we're we go through hard times But we're not necessarily being faced with a a furnace of fire. I doubt we ever will you know And look down at a look down at verse number 19 This is this is Nebuchadnezzar's response He says then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury in the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Neshech and Abednego Therefore he spake and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more Than it want to be heated. So basically this furnace had a limit. It was only supposed to be heated to a certain point and Nebuchadnezzar he got so angry at their response that he just he just said crank it up all the way and He commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to buy and Shadrach, Neshech and Abednego and cast them into the burning fiery furnace Then these men were bound their coats their hosin and their hats and their garments and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace Then we know that You know, this is an Old Testament appearing of the Son of God. It says there was like under one That would that was like under the Son of God that was walking with them So we saw that God stepped in and ended up saving them.  That's that's an extreme example of tribulation. Okay, we're You know things that we face and you know, I'm not saying that when we go through something It's not a big deal to us because sometimes you're in the middle of something It feels like you're about to get thrown into a fire, you know, but this is this is a real fire with real heat You know and you're facing death, but these men stood up to it, you know They had the courage they had the strength to stand up and said, you know, we're not gonna bow down to the image Even to the point of death, you know, so Look if these men could handle being thrown into a fire We could handle a door being slammed in our face, you know, that that's those are our worst days, right?   It's it's not a bad thing. It's not a bad thing So if you're there in Ezekiel 24 That now this is this is a bad situation Ezekiel finds himself in and I'm just gonna let's just look at verse 18 So in Ezekiel 24 verse 18 it says So I spake Unto the people in the morning and at even my wife died And I did in the morning as I was commanded this is this is something, you know that this is a horrible thing someone dies a loved one dies in your life, but we Even even despite something bad like that happening. We should still wake up in the morning and serve the Lord wake up in the in the morning and do as work were commanded, you know and and We can treat even small problems this way we go through something we can we still got tomorrow we still got another day to renew our strength and and build ourselves back up, you know and You know, he was showing that You know even even despite his wife dying we can we can still serve the Lord, you know, we might be pushed to our limit You know, but God's only gonna tempt you as far as you're able to handle He's gonna push you to that limit though. You think about it when you get strong when you're lifting weights You want to increase the weight each time you want to put a little more weight on each time It's the same thing with with going through something hard to get strong You got to push it to that limit and God's gonna push you to that limit, but it's it's for your own good It's it's to make you stronger in the long run and sometimes we're going through stuff and it's just like man I don't know I can't handle it. It's this is a You know, but the Bible says that God won't push you past that limit that you're able to handle In 1st Corinthians 10-13 it says there have no temptation taking you but it such as is to come common to man But God is faithful who will who will not suffer you to be tempted above you are able But will with temptation also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it You know and tempted it just means to be tried You know, so he's not going to try you above that you're able to handle and sometimes you think man Well, he must think I could handle a lot, you know, so But it's good. It's good. Tribulation is good. It makes us strong. It they're they're blessings They're blessings in our life, you know, Paul rejoiced when he went through hard times Deuteronomy 4 says when thou art in tribulation and all these things are come upon thee Even in the latter days if thou turn to the Lord thy God and shall be obedient unto his voice For the Lord thy God is a merciful God. He will not forsake thee neither destroy thee nor forget The covenant of thy fathers which he swear under them. So Going through tribulation is good. It it it builds us up. It is a tool that God uses to strengthen How else is he going to strengthen us? How else is he going to make us grow strong? It's his it's his only Mechanism, it's the only tool that he has to make us stronger. It's to put you through Hard times, but it's it's for your own good. It's for our own benefit as Christians You know, look the way I look at it is is whatever has happened in my life It was just God's plan, you know, no matter what I go through As long as it's not chastisement, you know, chastisement is it's a whole different thing God puts us through through trials the Bible says think it not strange concerning the fiery trial Which is to try you as though some strange things happen, you know, it says strange meaning Don't be surprised. Don't be surprised. They would it what is going on? Why am I going through this? Don't be surprised. It's it's it's God just trying your faith You know, I'm glad that I went through Hard times otherwise, you know, I I could get I could get this attitude of not understanding what someone else is going through You know, if you're somebody that never went through anything How how can you offer advice or offer help to someone who who has right whether it's financial struggles or whatever? You know it You can you can lend your ear to somebody that's going through something at that time because you've been there you've been through it You know, so but all things work together for good to them that love God We know that so even though you're going through hard things or something's in your life that's That's pushing you, you know causing you to get stronger the tribulation in your life We know that eventually all those things they work together for good to them that love God The Bible says it is good for me that I have been afflicted That I might learn nice statues, you know, those are the times that we actually Meditate on God's word we turn to God's word when we're going through something hard You know in the tribulation also it it also causes patience, right because you're Forced to wait on God you're forced to wait you ask sometimes you're going through something and you ask God Lord deliver me out of this Lord help me and You might not get the answer right away. He might just be causing you to wait That way, you know your patience can be tried and you end up getting getting patience through that You know and you probably ask, you know, why do I have to go through hard times? You know, why does God give us tribulation? But really it's it's his it's his way of strengthening you it's his way of causing you to become stronger in the Christian life Let's take another look at a story of tribulation in the Bible turn to Genesis 38 Genesis 38 and this is the story of Joseph You know when his brothers got jealous of him because he had a colorful coat and his and Jacob was favoring him He kind of had favor on him and the brothers got jealous and End up selling him into slavery, but let's take a look at this at the story Genesis 38 in verse number three Genesis 38 In verse number three so we know the story I'll just I'll just kind of give the back a backstory on it real quick Joseph basically his brothers were jealous of him because the father favored him and They plotted to kill him but that one of the brothers said no, let's just let's just sell him into slavery Let's you know make some money off of him and so they sold him to the Egyptians and you know and then he ended up He ended up being in Potiphar's house and and going into prison all that but in Genesis 38 3 It says in his master saw that the Lord was with him and the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand and Joseph found grace in his sight and he served him and made him overseer Over his house and all that he had put into his hand so despite being sold into slavery Despite, you know all the all the hard times that he went through the Lord was with him During those hard times and then the Lord also made him to prosper in those hard times And so you know even even when we're going through something just remember the Lord the Lord with you He's there. He's gonna see you through this and you know You're gonna find grace in his sight and and he's gonna cause you to prosper even in the midst of Tribulation or a hard time and then of course we we see more of Joseph's life and just more hard times more tribulation. He was even falsely accused of lying with Potiphar's wife and Cast him to prison prison, but he kept pushing he kept trusting in God and just just kept keeping the commandments and having faith that God Would keep his life You know and and talk about nothing going right in your life, you know what I mean? You get sold into slavery you get falsely accused you end up in prison But look in verse 21 Genesis 38 It says but the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison and the Keeper of the prison committed Joseph's hand All the prisoners that were in the prison and whatsoever they did there He was the doer of it the keeper of the prison looked not To anything that was under his hand because the Lord was with him and that which he did the Lord made it to prosper So it seems like no matter where Joseph is no matter what's happening to him the Lord's with him and the Lord's keeping him the you know, so It could just be very encouraging this story right here. I believe it It's a very encouraging story for when we're going through something We're I doubt we're gonna go through what he went through but The main point of the story is that he just the Lord the Lord kept him in his hand the whole time The Lord was with him the whole time In and then we see the famous verse in Genesis 50 20 you don't have to turn there. I'll just read it for you. It says but as for you It's Joseph talking to his brothers after they reunite. He says but as for you You thought evil against me But God meant it unto good to bring to pass as it is this day to save much people alive So when you're going through tribulation when you're going through hard times just remember The Lord can use those bad times for good Right, you know, all things work together for good to them that love God So no matter what we go through we can we can we can Just realize that you know, God can cause that bad situation to turn into a good situation You know the the Lord has our lives in his hands He holds our lives in his hands and he can blow on it like dust and our whole life can can just fall apart But he also has the power to turn a bad situation into a good situation so Tribulation is a good thing going through tribulation. It's it's not a bad thing You know, we we feel like it is at the time But we need to realize the the greater scheme of things that you know, it's good that I've been afflicted, you know and We have to loosen our grip of things of this world anyways You know if you hold on too tightly and things things don't work out It could it could cause you to stumble or fall We need to loosen our grip on the things of this world and realize that you know It's in God's hands, you know, they they could take my house. They could take my car. They could take my money I'm still gonna serve the Lord and you know those things don't make me happy anyways, right? I'm not serving the Lord on the count of those things You know happy happiness doesn't come from the circumstantial situation you find yourself in that's that's not what happiness comes from It's it's not dictated by what's going on around you You know how happiness is an inner sufficiency. It's it's just having peace Knowing that that God can take you through any situation that you find yourself in You know if your happiness is wrapped up in a someone then you're only as happy as long as that Person is there if your happiness is wrapped up into something the Bible says it all these things shall pass away You know so we need to we need to realize that going through tribulation is is good for us And and we have to be content, you know, and we don't have control over the outside We have control over the inside, you know and Turn to Philippians 4 We know someone that went through tribulation Paul right Paul went through a lot of tribulation. He went through hard times But you know I find it interesting that not one time in the Bible Do you hear Paul complaining about the prison he was in he doesn't tell you how cold it was He doesn't tell you what the food was like. He never talks about those things You know, he never complained Philippians 411 You look down at verse number 11 Bible says not that I speak in respect of want for I have learned in whatsoever state I am there with to be content. I Know both how to be a based and I know how to abound Everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound Suffer need I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me so Paul was content. I mean we we know everything he went through but being in prison. He never complained about it He was content what it didn't matter if you put him in prison. It didn't matter if he was doing great or not. He was still Being strengthened through the Lord that last verse. He says I could do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me, right? So the tribulation, you know when we're at our weakest. That's when we can be made strong. You know what I mean?  You know so these situations make us better. They make us stronger tribulation is a good thing in our life in Acts 16 if you want to turn to Acts 16 we see Paul and Silas in prison and You know they're singing and they're rejoicing they got thrown in prison. They're singing and they're rejoicing I don't know many people that that would do that today but It just shows their mindset right they're being persecuted for God and they're willing to They're happy about it. You know they take pleasure in the reproaches if you look at verse 25 Acts 16 verse 25 it says in that midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God and the prisoners heard them and Suddenly there was a great earthquake so the found so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were open and everyone's bands were loosed and of course You know they're singing praises and and eventually we know that the jailkeeper ends up getting saved and his whole house Right through this situation. So they took they took a bad. It was supposed to be a bad situation They're in prison. They're going through this tribulation and they end up getting a Man saved and his whole house. Okay, his whole family got saved out of this situation You know tribulation in our lives is what makes us stronger. It makes us content It pushes us to our limits of what we can handle and in turn it Strengthens us, you know because the next time we go through something difficult we have the experience to look back on that situation and Say, you know what the Lord delivered me then and he can do it now All right, so tribulation is not a bad thing. It's actually a good thing in our life Rejoice when you're going through it, you know, I know that's hard, but you'll come out stronger than you were going in my second point that I want to make tonight is being spiritually strong Spiritually strong, you know men should not be weak and effeminate, you know It's a virtue to be physically strong, but the Bible is constantly hammering being strong within spiritually strong You know, what does it mean to be spiritually strong turn to Deuteronomy 31 6 Deuteronomy 31 6 The Bible says be strong and of a good courage fear not nor be afraid of them for the Lord thy God He it is that doth go with thee. He will not fail thee nor forsake thee That's one of my favorite verses right there, but the Bible is talking about just just not fearing You know, don't be afraid of man. Don't be afraid of what man can do to you We need to fear God first first of all But the Bible is saying be strong and of a good courage the Bible is constantly telling us to be strong You know, we we increase our strength spiritually by having faith that our lives are in the Lord's hands and Actually believing that though, you know, not just okay We read these verses, but actually believing it believing that he has your life in his hands And he knows what's best for you in the end and he'll take care of you You know, and that will cause your worry and your fear and your anxiety whatever you're going through it'll it'll cause it to disappear when you just leave it in his hands and you just let go of the Wheel and just leave it in his hands and and continue to serve him, right? You know We need spiritual strength to fend off the spiritual attacks Right. There's a spiritual war going on whether we know it or like it It doesn't matter. We're in it and we need to have the spiritual strength to get through it Or to just deal with it turn to a vision six Ephesians six, you know, we are in this spiritual battle It's a battle one not by hands But by a spiritual strength and a spiritual means with a spiritual weapon in Ephesians six Look at verse number 11 The Bible says put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities Against powers against the rulers of darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places So we're fighting a spiritual battle, you know, we see it all the time when we're out soul-winning I could think of just a time a few weeks ago where we We show up and not and not within like 10 seconds and here comes an ambulance here comes a fire truck All this stuff is going on. We're trying to give the gospel to this guy, but that distracts them, you know it we see it all the time and and it truly is a spiritual battle and It's hard to explain it unless you're you're soul-winning and you really see it. That's when you really see it So what what are those what? You know, what armor? What is this armor that he's talking about? What does it do? Look in verse number 13 the Bible says Wherefore taken to you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand Stand therefore having your loins gird about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness What is the breastplate of righteousness? You know, what does it protect? It protects your heart, right?  What does the Bible say about the heart? I'll just read these verses off Psalm 66 18 says if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me So there it is. It's talking about the heart the iniquity of the heart Jeremiah 17 9 says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who could know it Matthew 15 says but those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart and They defile the man for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts murders adulteries fornication thefts false witness and blasphemies, you know living a righteous life It's the breastplate of righteousness, right? Living a living a righteous life will protect our heart Because even a even a Christian's heart can wax cold So what other what other piece of armor do we need? Look at look at verse number 15 The Bible says in your feet shod With the preparation of the gospel of peace So here's another important piece of armor to protect us in the spiritual war we find ourselves in Going soul winning having the love for the loss. That's what that verse is talking about This is how we you know build this army to fight this spiritual battle. We need we need more soldiers Notice how it says feet shod with the gospel of peace. What do you use your feet to do to walk? You know, it means go it means it means go ye into all the world and preach the gospel It doesn't say sit at home, and they'll come to you You know stand on a milk crate with the mega with with a megaphone, you know, it means go walk take the gospel to them So what else says above all taking the field the shield of faith Wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked So the shield of faith is is above all that's the most important important piece. It says above all So what what is what is that the shield of faith that faith is is believing god's word It's just believing it trusting it and having the confidence in god's word and his promise promises And and know that that we're on the winning side You know, we're on the winning side Imagine going to war knowing you're gonna win Imagine going to war knowing for sure without a doubt in your mind. I'm gonna win this You know, you almost would feel invincible, right? That's how we should feel That's how we should feel We're on the winning side and the bible says and take the helmet of salvation And the sword of the spirit, which is the word of god So our weapon of choice is the word of god. It's the bible So if we want to be spiritually strong, we're going to need every piece of this armor If we're missing one piece and we have a weak point and that's that's where The devil's going to attack.  And fear is is weakness. You know, we fear is the opposite of strength. We need to be spiritually strong. It's we're in a spiritual fight Turn to Philippians 3 Philippians 3 You know, I I'm glad we have paul, you know, I'm glad we have paul to tell us You know, look, this is this I've already been through it And if I can do it, you can do it I'm I'm thankful for paul So Philippians 3 looking verse 10 The bible says that I may know him and the power of his resurrection And the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead Not as though I had already attained either Were already perfect, but I follow after If that I may apprehend that For which also I am apprehended of christ jesus And in verse 13 says brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended But this one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth under those things which are before In verse 14 I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of god and christ jesus So that that's a great verse and it's it's an encouraging verse that look things happen to us But we just got to move forward. You got to just forget about it. Just Don't dwell on it. Just move forward You know spiritual spiritual strength is is the ability to take a stand for what you believe And have fellowship in the sufferings of jesus christ You know and and the ready readiness within to be mocked and ridiculed and and slandered and beaten What you know, even all the way up into death We we need to be spiritually strong to be able to handle those things You know and and and not regarding your personal shortcomings or things that have happened in your past or Or you know things that you're going through now. We just got to keep moving forward at all costs You know if if we aren't spiritually strong how are we going to help somebody who's spiritually weak? You know one of the brothers or sisters In christ proverbs 24 5 says a wise man is strong. Yeah a man of knowledge increases strength Another another aspect in the bible that we see is we see the spirit of the lord coming upon men and women You know we see the spirit of the lord coming upon men And no the the spirit of the lord doesn't mean you're flopping around on the ground like a fish You know or running around screaming or you know the pentecostal stuff You know the spirit of the lord Comes upon men and women in the bible to do great things to strengthen them right go to um If you would please turn to isael 11 Isael 11 we're gonna we're gonna take a look at The spirit of the lord if we want to be spiritually strong You know what does that consist of? Isael 11 of course this this is a prophecy of the messiah coming Um eventually coming and it's obviously talking about jesus here In isael 11 if you're there look down at verse number 11 Isael 11 11 Where the bible says And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of jesse And a branch shall grow out of his roots And the spirit of the lord shall rest upon him The spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might The spirit of knowledge And of the fear of the lord So we see the spirit of the lord consists of wisdom Understanding counsel might knowledge And the fear of god so wisdom Wisdom is is is knowledge we gain from reading god's word And and and applying that knowledge. That's what wisdom is so wisdom is is Taking information Knowing it and then applying it. That's that's what wisdom is Understanding is the second the second thing we see Understanding is being able to comprehend god's word and having the ability to use it to make you know a judgment call in a situation Counsel is is being able to give advice on a particular, you know subject or situation It's to relay knowledge to somebody else based on biblical principles Now that's what counsel is might Might is another aspect of the spirit of the lord It says have might is having the courage to stand for what you believe no matter what You know, these are all these are all things that make you stronger right might Understanding these are all going to make you spiritually stronger in the christian life Knowledge is is of course, it's it's to know the instruction from god's word And then the last one which is the most important one. It just says the fear of god Having the fear of god So having the fear of god is is to ultimately know that that god has Your life in his hands philippians forces Four six says be careful for nothing But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving Let your requests be made known unto god and the peace of god which path Passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through christ jesus So, you know having an inner peace is is to be spiritually Strong a spirit that can't be shaken a spirit that that can't be moved by situations that you're going through You know, I I don't know about you guys, but I want to be used by god You know more than anybody who's ever lived on this earth I'll probably never realize that ambition But you know, it's it it's something that I strive But we need to be spiritually strong to achieve great things in this christian life First john two 14 says I have written unto you fathers because you have known him that is from the beginning I've written unto you young men because you are strong and the word of god Abideth in you and you have overcome the wicked one, you know, jesus christ Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world, you know What are what what's the worst that could happen to us? We die and go to heaven Right, we we worry about these things going on in our lives, but ultimately Our end is is a great end, you know, we No matter what happens in this life, of course, we want to be successful and have you know and and have good lives, but Realize that we need to be spiritually strong to get through these things We go through weak moments in our lives, but guess what we've overcome the wicked one through salvation So what's the worst that could happen, you know to be absent from the body is to be present with the lord And uh Turn turn to second timothy one seven Actually, i'm sorry turn to hebrus 11. I'll just read second timothy one seven Turn to hebrus 11 Second timothy one seven says for god hath not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound Mind, you know the the spirit being spiritually strong is not having the spirit of fear You know, but of power and of love and of a sound mind Hebrus 11 32 So hebrus 11 it's the faith chapter, you know, everybody calls it. It's the it's the faith chapter and These i'm going to read three verses here if you want to look down at verse 32 It says and what shall i what shall i have more say For the time would fail me to tell of gideon and of barric and of samson and of Jebta and david also and samuel and of the prophets Who through faith subdued kingdoms wrought righteousness obtained promises Stopped the mouth of lions quenched the violence of fire escaped the edge of the sword out of weakness Were made strong wax valiant in fight Turn to flight the armies of the alien You know, what what made these men strong what made these men strong? You know, what what made paul strong as he sat in the prison Not knowing what was going to come next not knowing Um, whether they were going to put him to death or not, you know, what made paul strong You know, what what made steven strong You know as what made him spiritually strong as he was about to get stoned You know and and he and he cried out to the lord and and basically said You know forgive them, you know as he was being stoned, you know, what what about john what made john Spiritually strong as they exiled him to the isle of patmos, you know away from family and friends um You know this world is it's full of tears and and suffering and heartache You know and unhappiness and war and riot and all these all these things But you know, we need to be spiritually strong in this christian life or we're just not going to last We need to be spiritually strong So for my my final point, so let's just recap tribulation is not a bad thing when you're going through something hard It's it's for your own good. It's it's to make us stronger. It's to make us better Okay, it's um, it might seem tough at the time that we're going through it But just realize god will see you through it And you will become stronger by the end of that and then our Second point was to be spiritually strong to not be weak to be able to get through Hard times we are at a spiritual battle and you know, we need to put on the whole armor of god That way we can handle the attacks and not just crumble and fall out of the christian life So and then for my my third and final point here Where does where does our strength come from where does our strength come from so The lord god is literally the source of our strength literally In isaia 41 10 the bible says fear thou not for i am with thee be not dismayed for i am thy god I will strengthen thee i will help thee Yay, i will uphold thee with the right hand Of my righteousness and i'm just going to read a couple verses the bible says in psalm 18 32 It is god that girded me with strength and make if my way perfect Psalm 28 7 says the lord is my strength and my shield my heart trusted in him And i am helped therefore my heart greatly rejoices And with my song i will praise him psalm 29 11 says the lord will give strength Under his people the lord will bless his people with peace Psalm 37 39 says but the salvation of the righteous is of the lord He is their strength in the time of trouble. You know god has the power to give you strength He has the power to give you strength that inner strength to keep going Even when you feel like you're at your wits ends He has that strength Even if you feel like you're all out of gas and you want to give up God can step in and give you that little boost that you need to keep pushing through We see it over and over in the bible You know the bible says the lord is my shepherd i shall not want He may give me to lie down in green pastures. He Leadeth me beside the still waters He restores my soul He leadeth me in paths of righteousness for my namesake It's constantly he he you know david obviously knew where That source of strength came from he never said i You know i Leadeth me beside still waters. That'd be weird anyways, but he says he leadeth me beside the still waters He's constantly giving credit that god is the one that that gives us strength You know and then of course surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, right? You know even when we're at our lowest times Um, even even unto death We might die the lord is there to restore our strength and to build us up that we could stand in that evil day The lord the lord is the source of our strength Isaiah 40 31 says but they that wait upon the lord Shall renew their strength they shall mount up with as wings with wings as eagles They shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not Faint, you know sometimes we we got to wait on the lord to deliver us from whatever we're going through Um, you know if you're if you're an impatient person you might try to take those things into your own hands And that's always a bad thing It's it's not going to end well if you try to and we do that It's it's a natural tendency to just want to take something into our own hands and deal deal with it our own way But sometimes we just have to wait on the lord to see us through And just to give us that strength to get through the situation Those that wait on the lord, you know grow stronger In exercising patience and that you know god will come through And in turn our faith gets strengthened. We grow we go grow stronger in faith You know so our church it's a small group our church is a small group You know, but god can take small groups matter of fact, he does it in the bible all the time it would We'd be here for another hour Just to tell about all the stories how god takes a small group or a small man or a weak man And uses him Let's look at one instance of that turn to judges six judges six It's definitely one of my favorite stories in the bible Gideon Gideon and all the exploits that he did Let's look turn turn to judges six And look at verse 13. So god god can use a small group to do mighty works Look at judges six in verse number 13. I'll begin reading the bible says in gideon said unto him Oh, my lord if the if the lord be with us Why then is all this befalling us? And where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of saying? Did not the lord Bring us up from egypt But now the lord hath forsaken us and delivered us into the hand hands of the midianites And the lord looked upon him and said Go in this thy might That thou shalt save israel from the hand of the midianites Have not I sent thee And then look in in verse 15 and he said unto them Oh, my lord, wherewith shall I save israel behold my family is poor in manasseh And I am the least in my father's house so Right away. We see that that gideon came from humble beginnings. He's he's saying, you know, who am I? How are you going to use me? Am I not the least he comes from a poor family? You know and and he's saying i'm the least in my father's house i'm you know and and so I'm assuming he had brothers or sisters, but he considered himself the least out of out of everyone in his house and the and look at verse number You know what is that I think it's it's chapter seven Turn to chapter seven judges Turn there myself I think it's judges seven verse seven Yeah, look at look at um Look at yeah, look at verse number seven Judges chapter seven verse number seven it says in the lord said unto gideon so we're just fast forwarding So so gideon was saying i'm the least least in my father's house You know, why would you even use me? I come from a poor family, but look at judges seven in verse number seven says in the lord said unto gideon By the three hundred men that lapped Will I save you and deliver the Midianites into thine hand and let all the other people go every man unto his place So so not only is is gideon the least in his house He's he's from a poor family And you know, but the angel of the lord will not only use gideon To rise up and defeat the Midianites, but he's he's planning on doing it with only 300 people Okay, and and then obviously we know the rest of the story gideon goes on to do many great exploits with only 300 men so this is just an instance that God was able to strengthen these men supernaturally to be able to defeat the Midianites And you know do all these great works You know god uses Uses small groups to do mighty and great works so he can use us the same way and he does use us You know, we might look and say oh, this is just a small group Look at all the souls that were won last year, you know So far this year we're out knocking doors or winning people to the lord and we're a small group But don't let that discourage you because i'm here to tell you that god constantly is using small groups To do great things Psalm 147 10 says he delight if not In the strength of the horse he take pleasure He take take of not pleasure in the legs of man. You know why god uses small groups Because he wants the glory Because if we were this big massive group or gideon had this big massive army Would they really give god the glory or would they say look at what we did or look at what that massive army did God wants the glory. He doesn't delight in the legs of man He wants the glory For those mighty works and that's why he uses small groups to do great things Genesis 49 24 says but his bow abode in strength and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands Of the mighty god of jacob You know so We're strengthened by the lord the lord is the source of our strength. He's the one that can Give you that strength when you need it to fight whatever battle is in front of you Psalm 44 3 says for they got Not the land in possession by their own sword Neither did their own arm save them right god wants all the glory. He doesn't want man Taking credit for the things that he did right Turn to uh Turn to luke 180 luke 180 So we see uh john the baptist right so he was he was regarded as the the greatest man that ever lived Ever born of a woman, you know, what what made john the baptist so strong You know, how did he get his strength? In luke 180 the bible says and the child grew and waxed strong in spirit And was in the deserts until the day of his showing unto israel You know, where did where did he get strong? He grew strong in the desert With god alone He was alone. Look sometimes Sometimes we just need to get alone Sometimes we just need to where we live in this in this society where it's just constant TV radio just you know social media all this stuff Sometimes we just need to get alone with god and that's when you're going to hit those spiritual mountaintops You know when you're alone obviously being in a group we strengthen each other as well But sometimes you just got to get alone with god like john in the desert He was alone with god and the bible says he waxed strong in spirit You know, even even jesus Matthew 117 i'll just read it the bible says and as they departed Jesus began to say unto the multitude concerning john What went ye out into the wilderness to see a reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold they that wear soft clothing are in king's houses. So jesus is describing john. He's obviously not a weak man You know, he's he's the way he's he's describing him is that he's kind of a rough guy. He's probably You know, i mean he's out living in the wilderness You know, he's he's alone with god. He's he's in the desert waxing strong with the lord and gaining strength Look, there's gonna be a time in your life Where you may be alone You know and and we need to have that strength from the lord when we're by ourselves as well You know, obviously we we strengthen each other But there may come a day where you're alone and you need to be able to get that strength From god and realize that god will give you that strength even when you are alone Even even jesus Went away. He went up to the mountain to pray. He he got away from the multitude Matthew 14 23 says and when he had sent the multitudes away He went up into a mountain apart to pray And when the evening was come he was there alone So We see that even getting alone is what you know, it will strengthen us with god Sometimes we just got to get by ourselves get with the bible get with the word of god get alone with it and and and read it by yourself sometimes so so in conclusion We know that tribulation is is not a bad thing after looking at the bible after looking at all these things that these men and women and children went through um We know that tribulation actually is god's mechanism to strengthen us and to build us up And it's what he uses so next time you find yourself going through something hard Don't get discouraged. Don't get upset. Just just keep pushing forward rejoice because when you come out You'll be stronger and we also know that You know putting on the whole armor of god and and being spiritually strong will help us to withstand in the christian life and and to be able to withstand the spiritual attacks that come your way and lastly We know where the source of our strength comes from it comes from the lord and God is a one that when you feel like you're all out of gas and you just can't push forward anymore Just ask god and he'll give you that strength.  It's like I said in the beginning. It's not a bed of roses You know, none of the men in here preached a prosperity gospel Paul was telling us about all the tribulations. He went through Most of this book is just tribulation, you know, and and we know that Tribulation work with patience and patience experience and experience hope So let's pray


Sales and production director of the Kansas City food hub and I started with the food hub about a year ago, but I remember when the hub was getting started and conversations were happening in Kansas City and in Lawrence in 2010, 11, I was out in the field wishing I could be in those conversations. So I'm happy to be here today in this position and seeing how far we've come. This grant came along at the perfect time for us. Like I said, 2011, 2012 we were just in conversation and then feasibility studies, conversations were happening, questions were asked, surveys were done, farmers were brought in, buyers were polled in the years to follow 2013, 2014 and then the end of 2014 Katie Nixon and Marlon Bates called for farmers to come show up and build this thing. They got together and they put the framework together. The food hub was launched in 2016 and when this opportunity came up in 2017 it was time for us to really look at our branding, look at food safety and look at traceability of our product going backwards. So 2016 the food hub was launched and we had the mission to join together to bring farmers who had been working hard, who had been going to markets and had been growing, maybe having a CSA, give them another opportunity to aggregate product and reach the middle market. We started selling to restaurants that we already had relationships with, we reached out to corporate cafeterias, like Hallmark and the kitchens that Bon Appetit ran small locally owned grocery stores and we started talking to schools. The farmers that came together and that are still involved in the food hub, there were 15 of us, there were five in the first year and then 10 last year we grew to 15. We're looking at about three new growers joining us in the next month or so. It was important to the founders to maintain farmer ownership and also for the food hub to be run by farmers. We have collected 250 years of experience growing, there's 40 or more high tunnels and greenhouses on our property were scattered around Kansas City out to 125 miles at the most. Most of our farms are within 75 miles of Kansas City and then even 40 miles so closer in. When we started talking about the food hub we thought that we would bring food from 250 miles out into the city to feed our 2 million people. We may do that but as it's grown and as the idea of the food hub has spread word of mouth, farmers who see what's going on call us, our farmers who are in the hub and are talking to other farmers at market call us so it's really spreading word of the mouth really in an organic way. To give you an idea I always like to have a graphic or a geographic picture so you can see that we really are scattered around Kansas City. To the project we wanted to work on branding and at that time when we were just getting started we had a logo, we were just putting processes in place, we were figuring out the language of working together and the method of working together and even how to drive to the buyer and how to have those conversations. We were really young. There's one thing for one person to go out and knock on a door but as a group to figure out what your message is and how to reach that audience and how we're even going to bring cucumbers from one farm and potatoes from another farm and get it in one place there was just a lot to figure out so we spent a year or so doing that. In the second year we really went after partnerships and systems and reaching out to the community even more. So while we were looking inward in the first year and the second year in 2017 it was the perfect time to start branding and start thinking about who we were. It's too bad you can't really see this upside down picture. In 2016 we spent a lot of money on getting a professionally done marketing campaign so we paid professionals, we paid consultants, they said you should be called this name we don't say it anymore. You should use these colors we don't use them anymore and we wondered why it wasn't taking off and still you know it's a funny thing when the professional tells you you should do something one way and then you spend money for it you kind of continue down that path and I'm really proud of the leadership of the hub in the end of 2017 once we got this grant and we started really asking these tough questions they said okay enough is enough if we cannot even remember the right way to say the name of the hub we say it backwards more often than we say it the right way and the community can't say it the right way let's change the name let's change the name to our nickname that we've always been anyway so we started calling ourselves the Kansas City Food Hub and since then we have really started putting together the branding and identification around that so we started with cutesy fun stuff right of farms of farmers we have always wanted to maintain that we are farmers we are farmer run we are the real deal in a in a city that 18 broadline distributors are talking about local food and are peddling their food as local as far as five six hundred miles out we really needed to show faces of farmers we really need to show that this food was grown 20 miles or 50 miles from your place so this farm is more your farm in Richmond Missouri he's really one of our one of the two bigger anchor farmers that we have and we use his photos a lot we get a lot of feedback on our logo how it looks honest and that's a really solid thing I think I mean I want people to believe what what we're saying is what we're doing we also use a lot of stories our stories are really sell the product as much as the product sells the product and this is Jacob Thomas with the sheep in the background I love that photo I really want to use his six week old baby photo but he won't let me yet in our marketing so maybe in a year's time we can use the toddlers photo but we like to show that our farmers are real people working hard you know go into market and selling a little produce wholesale on the side we want to show our happy chefs and how professional they are and how proud they are the idea is like let's be like this ship let's be proud and strong and smart and clean by our product right we also want to show off the most extreme and fancy produce that we have so we use turmeric in a high tunnel in all our you know oftentimes and then of course winter production in that awesome romaine lettuce you know something happened with my slides branding is more than advertising it's more than telling a story so I can sell a product right it's really who we are and how we show up every day how we have conversations and how we move around and when we started really looking at this and looking who we are in Kansas City this grant helped us participate in ways that we may not have it funded our operations directors participation in the the convergence Kansas City a lot of people are working in the food systems and coming together and talking and have been conversations so it funded her time to participate that way to join in and really move the needle on local food move the needle so that we could all have better healthier lives and that farmers could make a better living so as much as that message can be told we tried to tell it there are many other ways that advertising and branding helped us a lot we tried to tell our story in a way that we could show that why we were still small farmers and while we our family farms we also were consistent we were farmers that would show up at the product that you needed when you needed it what you ordered and it would look the same week to week so we were fortunate enough to develop and then to to share the message of our anchor growers so you saw a photo of the Moirier farm in Richmond and then in El Dorado spring South Kansas City there's another anchor grower so we were able to market the staples while we show off the more specialty herbs and things something else about branding is showing up right consistently showing up same time same way same day looking the same with the same ability to get orders or to send out our information talked a little bit about participating in the in the community and so because we are in Kansas City and having these conversations we know people you know when you know people that whole brand that you carry with you is is desired right we are known as growers who have some experience growers who now have hit a market that has not been open to growers this size in the past and so we are sought after in collaborations and grant projects in in a whole series of conversations the second part of the grant was to develop our food safety plans and to look at Gap and to look at FISMA and it's a lot more straightforward right so I only have a slide about this but our partners with K-State I can't say enough right about the the partnerships we had at K-State Extension and also at the Latha station who showed up and asked us what we needed Cal Jamerson is a farmer himself from Florida and he recently joined the the staff at K-State at a Latha and he was able because of his whole sale experience really show up and have real conversations with growers who were looking to learn from another grower we did on-farm individual pre-assessment audits we would come to a farm we had an appointment we walked around the farm kind of a scary thing as inspectors well I've tagged along Cal was the guy so he would walk around as an inspector ask a few questions the farmer would you know show do this two hour talking through showing showing processes and then we would sit down in the kitchen table and a really neat thing happened when we sat down the kitchen table so what could have been a really hard conversation it was open and kind and I would say it was a little bit because of Cal and his and his persona but also I'm sitting in the kitchen table we were able to ask him questions we were able to ask the inspector questions there's those air quotes while we were gaining information from him and he would point out what we needed to improve upon and so the farmer at that point was supposed to go home and do homework or get to work and do homework and create the food safety plan from there and then finally the workshops that we all attended were the second piece of the grant the second piece of that portion and then we we did the post audits as well part of that also is a mock audit that we do annually we're hearing less and less from people requesting gap we're not yet selling to hospitals and we know that for hospitals we will have to be more more of our farms will need to be gap certified we are hearing we are hearing a lot more people just asking for food safety plan so as I go into restaurants I really try and ask them or let them know that each of our farms has the food safety plan and we have a cold chain we have recording done at our sub hubs where the food is delivered and aggregated and then distributed from and and together we're working to increase the knowledge of each farm as they come on and then just a sidebar there's a a lot more people asking these days about third-party certifications for animal welfare so that's something that we're starting to look into and just by a little bit of research that I'm doing is the cost is varying widely so more to come about that just a brand new thing for me and then traceability is the is the third piece of this it goes hand-in-hand with food safety but the way we were able to address it and what we gained out of the traceability is the whole on the right side was the whole system of sending out the orders from the buyers to the growers and how the boxes were labeled we did it one way I think when a single farm it's it's it's a it's a little bit different than asking 15 farmers of all over all over the countryside to use the same box to use the same labeling to have the same look to their box and the same traceability and we were able to standardize that and we are also able to use these food safety forms at the at the sub hubs so food safety in practice looks like this the order would go out to the to the farmer and along with that order would be the box number and the and the buyer code product was harvested and washed and and then somehow delivered to the sub hub the food hub has been organized with a series of sub hubs about 40 miles outside of Kansas City so the farmers further out would get their product to the sub hub it would be checked in you can see all the traceability on that farm and are at that on that form and then picked up at the sub hubs and carried to the to the buyer so as we look at our fourth year of sales I would say that we stand on the edge of of success finally right the the big thing for me is that the buyers now know that it's safe or the growers now know that it's safe to continue to grow and that might sound like a bit of a strange thing to say but three or four years ago I was afraid that we would lose growers and the weather is bad the climate is changing and without the buyers there it's um not being able to meet that demand it's a pretty terrifying thing but I'm reassured now as we go out and talk to more buyers and as more growers hear about what we're able to move around we're getting phone calls and we're getting people to join us we are developing a protein line a CSA this year the CSA will let other growers join us who aren't growing huge amounts of any particular item but who grow specialty amounts maybe a little bit of cilantro or who have fermented items that they could join in and they would diversify our product at the same time so we are always trying to get better so well I have great pride in the work that we've done so far and where we are I still struggle with the farmers who take all their best product to farmers market and I go and visit them and they try and hide it from me of course you know so climate change of course is a problem we've had great we were very fortunate last year to work with a great partner that helped us with deliveries and and distribution this year we don't have that so we are spending February sitting down and figuring out where we can buy a reefer truck or refrigerated sprinter van or anything that might move our vegetables around so we're looking for that but we're figuring that out we're always streamlining processes and and systems and while it's wonderful that so many people are engaged and we're transparent and inclusive with our farmers it's also sometimes hard for decisions to be made so I'm very proud that we just got our one-inch KC Food Hub labels delivered this week and after a year and a half of trying to get that done that's a huge success you know there's a lot of talking and it's a it's a wonderful thing to work together and and I feel that we are we are getting there when we talk to buyers or and when we talk to farmers and they they talk about joining the food hub what they say more than anything is that they hope to belong to something more than them that they do hope that they can reach new markets and they hope they won't have to go to four markets a week any longer and of course they want to sell their vegetables so they can send their kids to college I'm not saying that's not important but what I hear over and over is that to belong to some group to know that they're not out there alone is is of great importance to them so happy to be here thank you for all listening I'm here for questions and there's another messed up slide the gentleman asked if there are any paid employees of the food hub and we have since the beginning since 2016 have had a director who is a jack jack of all trades so I do a little bit of everything Tom asked how have things changed how have we progressed since the early days of the feasibility study and the surveys done at those time at that time there was an estimated 125 million dollars unmet demand for local food in the area 58% of the people surveyed said they were interested in buying more local food I think 68% of the farmers who were interviewed said they were interested in participating in some kind of aggregation so as I'm out talking with farmers they're at least curious so I don't know if I can put a number to how that 68% has changed what I hear though more and more is just curiosity putting the toe in the water like what does it feel like to work with a group how might it be better to work with the aggregator or a group a cooperative like we are rather than work alone am I willing to take less money than if I was working alone and selling still at market I'll add on to that that we are we we believe that the product that the farmers grow that we have for sale belongs to the farmers until the sale is made I was pretty animate last spring that we needed to look at the prices the first two years we were using prices that the previous person got from the Chicago terminal market so they were conventionally grown mass produced prices product prices and last spring being a grower myself I knew that product that I was seeing here was much different and so we during our collective crop planning conversations we also included pricing and five of our growers are certified organic and ten of them are sustainable family owned so we had a wide range of opinions and pretty a solid opinions of what the product was worth so not only at market but a lot of the growers were also selling wholesale at that time so we use that wisdom and we you know jockeyed back and forth and we got a price for the product that everybody could live with and then at that time on top of that we would add 20% so we had 20% for the hub on top of the price at the farmer set and so that intrigues people who just are sticking their toe in and wondering how it might be as far as how much we've been able to change or move the needle on local food I feel tremendously hopeful like in this room and between farmers and between growers in Kansas City this is no competition there should be no competition because the product that we have is so small and has only begun to reach the markets that it can reach and it's a completely different product than what's out there already so the more we work together and I think we're fortunate in this region that we are working together to see how we can make that happen right so the question is how do we separate or identify certified organic product produce separate from conventional produce and I'm sorry to use those blunt terms but that's the wholesale market right so if you're not certified organic you're considered conventional and that's the piece I think of this whole wholesale idea that hurts the most we have right because sustainably grown produce should get a higher price than conventional produce but I'm not able to to really have that conversation every week but we put out an availability sheet and we are developing an online local food marketplace platform that will let this all be more online right now I send a spreadsheet out to a list of maybe 20 buyers that we normally work with they fill it out and get it back to me in the next couple weeks it's a list so the top of the list is conventional and then we have an organic section as well there are a handful of buyers who buy only certified organic produce so I do a modified list and send them only the certified organic produce and then the whole commingling thing that we have to follow we maintain that in the sub hubs yes sir yeah so the certified farmers came up with their price and the farmers who aren't certified organic came up with their price the question is how do we maintain quality and how do we maintain standards for quality across the board lots of conversation lots of talking and kind of some hard conversation sometimes we have this concept it's not a thing yet but it's a concept of a yellow sheet that a farmer would get if I got a box of beats that aren't quite right you know it happens less often than what you might think the 15 growers that we are have experience our market growers so they know what how to take care of the product how to how to hold it how to wash it how to box it I would say the problems that we have had been more like within one box an inconsistent size I want to see potatoes all the same size and they'd be some little ones and some big ones so we have that conversation some buyers might not mine if the buyer would mine and would fix that because we're still small and because our buyers are all within maybe 20 miles of the center of town we're able to get to that place and fix that problem as quickly as possible but you bring up the the question of problems and we have struggled with circling back at the end and getting invoicing to the buyers in time and collecting that and it's just that last piece of the puzzle that has been the hardwood we expect that in the future I keep looking at Tom Buller he's one of the founding members of the farm of the food hub and we work closely to make sure that the billing happens and the farmers are paid but that's a hard piece because we've had we've it's been too decentralized over the last couple years we're going to bring it home and and take care of it now more between us and closer okay so the question is for the ugly produce or the produce that may not be boxed exactly the weight needs to go to the buyer what do we do with that there's a couple of it's a couple things that we're doing we don't see a lot of it first of all the farmers are really good about sending me what needs to go they we we have constant phone calls or texts and lots of conversation back and forth they'll text me a picture I mean that's amazing right they can be in the field and text me a picture wasn't that way ten years ago so there's a lot less quality issues than you might expect farmers individually are donating to after the harvest or the harvesters and so they're taking care of that we stockpiled some sweet potatoes and winter squash over the winter a friend organization actually the folks who delivered for us all last year and kind of a bind right now so we had 300 extra pounds of winter squash so I delivered that this week to their soup kitchen so they could feed people so that's the whole that's a whole part of being at the table and having being invited and having a voice there we know who's out there and you know I expect we kind of old that we owe them right they made deliveries for us last year so it's not like I was donating anything to them I was in a lot of ways paying back for the gifts that they've already given us and we see a lot of that happening in Kansas City people when it go around food they're really generous she's she's asking for information about how we crop plan and we do do that collectively I can tell you what we did this year and we talked a bit about last year I don't know how it was at the very very beginning maybe Tom will answer that but the organic growers got on a phone call and the conventional growers got in phone call and we just talked it out for about two hours each and you know I shared some information that I had from the buyers and the farmers shared what they would like to sell we talked about varieties it's really interesting to be on a phone call I mean you can imagine talking to four or five other people and and knowing when to throw it out knowing you know and these are really gentle sweet kind people too so they don't want to they they don't want to hurt my feelings and they don't want to say I'm growing that so sometimes they have to coax them into you know claiming what they want to grow I need to know what they want to grow and then we also even talked about goals like I asked them all to set goals for how much they wanted to sell through the hub it's one thing right to to do one or the other but they really do need to come together so consistency in quantity really is becoming an important part of that of looking at that so when we're selling to a corporate cafeteria or to a school they just really need to know that some solid product that they can use is going to be delivered when they need it we now have a couple of big growers that we're calling anchor growers and we're looking at those guys to really get our foot in the door of schools and in the corporate cafeteria so that they can depend on us and they kind of make way for the smaller growers who have a little bit of flexibility in what they grow it makes the our whole package more attractive the same time it's it's it's a lot of volume volume of negotiation trying to talk with a grower who plans on growing zucchini and peppers or grew that last year for the hub and learn the hard way that I wasn't going to sell any of that for them because we have an anchor grower that grows those things right so and none of us knew that that would be an issue so we kind of moved through that in a in a uncomfortable way last year I just made a broad broad decision to like when a farmer starts selling the cucumbers that guy's got the sale until he's all gone with his cucumbers and then the other one who has them can come up behind I mean with limited buyers I couldn't see any better way to do it I asked for folks to help me do it a better way but it was not perfect but at least it was fair down the line for everybody so I think when we started out crop planting was actually one of the hardest things because it was really a chicken or egg thing like the farmers didn't want to commit to grow something until we had buyers and the buyers didn't want to commit to buy from us until we had farmers who had proven that they could grow those things so I think the crop planting at the beginning was really like kind of like let's sit around we originally identified eight crops that were going to be our core crops and I think after we identified that before we actually started selling anything that kind of went out the window and it ended up being the first couple years a little bit more of selling what people had extra for because they weren't comfortable enough knowing that we could sell it and there were a few instances of people planting things that someone before Alicia had told them we could sell and we could not sell and so there were some hard feelings the other thing that I think fits into this and kind of is maybe a backdrop for some of Alicia's comments are I think working in a cooperative food hub is certainly not for everyone and the people that have come to the table and stayed at the table are people that have a little bit of give and take and if Alicia makes that executive decision that she's going to stick with that anchor growers produce and not sell my zucchini like you have to be okay with that and the people that aren't okay with that I don't know that we've had those but they figure out I think before they even would join that this isn't the right thing for them yeah because I know some of those people and they've gone other ways after some conversations with us so we're pretty transparent about that and it is very cooperative and that like you know I think transparency is the heart of that crop planning process so it's not someone feels like they're getting the inside deal and yeah yeah transparency is the thing we're talking about the way people make their livelihoods and what we take pride in and and I'm dismissing it like I try to be careful about that and a lot of conversations have you know we have and I think together we're getting smarter together we're understanding better where the holes are where our opportunities are we're learning that the protein line is a really big opportunity for us but even there when we talk about protein you know we have this it's across the board what we have certified organic eggs all the way down well certified organic eggs brown non-gmo eggs conventionally grown white eggs and then you have to have different prices for all of that and who fills those slots and how do we advertise and there's a lot how do we handle seasonality season all of I think the buyers know that it's winter and we even though we have high tunnels we're not able to have tomatoes the buyers that are sourcing from us now are pretty savvy have been around for a while and if they don't we share with in fact someone asked me today for sweet potatoes and she didn't want to take three boxes because she was afraid they would spoil and so we have that conversation they probably won't spoil but I can't really afford to deliver one box of sweet potatoes 40 miles away so it's hard right because we're not doing sales officially this month and I don't want to leave those people hanging we told them all year and we have really tried to show up with what we promised all year long and to hold on to them so now not to have a constant check-in with me I worry a little bit but I also worry I do worry more about not having our systems in place so what I'm I'm gonna do kind of this middle ground and just do the check-ins with them now so check-ins sit down and have meetings and we're staying real to them I had an hour and a half conversation yesterday where I was on the phone able to tell three or four stories about our farmers wild you know like wild stories about barns burning down and about new babies and you know starting the CSA and how that's going to make room for smaller growers to join us so con communication so there's some the question is some of the buyers have signed contracts with distribution companies that make them promise to buy a certain amount all year long and do the are the are the buyers fearful for that I think that we are not big enough yet that we are pressuring we're not really financially or volume-wise pressuring the big guys big guys are calling us though the big guys know we're here and at some level they are a little bit worried or at least you know uncomfortably aware that we're coming up the question is are the buyers also telling the story of the farmer to their constituents and in a lot of times they are they all ask for our logo so that in a cafeteria they could say Kansas City food hub broccoli green acres market up north of the river in Kansas City had a big display of the food hub and farmers and displayed pictures and we had a whole case many of the restaurants we sell to have chalkboard that they name the farmers or on the back of their menu or on the website they name the farmers schools that are selling our produce also advertise and share that with the families in their in their newsletters we could always do more I could always do more marketing I could always do you know we definitely need a marketing plan and we just haven't right now we're just kind of yes that's a good question how big are the anchor farms and are any of the anchor farm certified organic I would say we have two anchor farms now and I guess I don't want to say that the anchor farms are selling the majority of the product they're not any they are equally important as the smaller farms they're important because we're able to get our foot in the door with some staple more needed product but without the fancy fun turmeric and ginger and arugula we're not going to stay in the door we're not going to get into grocery store or in grocery stores or restaurants how big are the anchor growers so Nathan Moyer and Richmond 25 acres of vegetables he's been in vegetable production his whole life he learned it from his dad who lives in Richmond too so 25 acres not huge but vegetable size I guess that is huge you saw his his production he has probably a five acre field of pumpkins in the summertime we walked through one acre field of peppers he has a couple of high tunnels they were full of romaine lettuce this this fall so that scale another anchor grower is south of Kansas City near El Dorado Springs County line produce it's actually a cooperative unto itself of Amish growers five growers are working together to to move product through one name and they collectively are probably about 15 acres separated out on five different farms there's another grower who we hope signs this year this month they're down near Rich Hill so that's straight south of Kansas City on 49 highway they are a big conventional producer but the son of the farmer is growing some certified he has a certified organic plot and so we're talking with him and encouraging him to expand that certified organic plot and sell a handful of these staples through the hub hospitals not yet I have a phone number they need to call I've knocked on a door of a hospital for several years now and and I kind of use this as a test to how how far we've come you know I call the guy and and I give him an update of how far we've come and okay we have one gap certified grower now we have two and he still won't talk to me most hospitals have this contract that we're talking about with US food or with Costco where 90% of their product has to come through these big companies and then they might have a little bit of space for small growers but those growers need to be gap certified to so we're just not there yet schools is really we're actively pursuing schools we are actively pursuing more corporate cafeterias and I guess we're focusing this year a lot on CSA we feel like that's a way where we can move even more product to places that we're going to anyway and really even get a premium for the the product a little bit more than we would get on just selling it straight to that kitchen


Wonderful, beautiful, Gloria, matchless in every way Wonderful, beautiful, matchless in every way Wonderful, much less in every...


Hey guys, this is Hyder from Xtrades and in this video We're gonna recap what happened last week and then we're gonna see what are the best setups for the upcoming week So as usual was we'll start off with the indices so spy in QQQ Take a look at spy first Let's go to the weekly view first So on the weekly the uptrend is still holding so this is the most important thing, right? The uptrend is still holding so I mean the trend line is still holding so we are still in an uptrend But that 444 is definitely a key resistance level Rejected here once rejected here twice or consolidated and then it broke up But now it's trying to test there now has to get back above that 444 level again. So that is Major level of resistance so Yeah, Friday we we went down all the way down to like 435 434 36 ish But we did form a pretty nice hammer and we did that on Increasing volume so that is a good sign and again nice bounce off that trend line but So right now it could just chop until we get closer and get tatter and tatter But the key Levels are for for us to be back for me to be bullish on the on SPY. We have to take 444 back and for me to be bearish and If we lose that We lose 436 I'm gonna be bearish and if we take over 444 then I'm gonna be bullish and then until then I think there's a good chance. We're just gonna chop around. So that's pretty much it for the SPY Now we'll take a look at QQQ So same thing with QQQ it's holding up that trend line really well and the same thing right so that 369 or 370 level is a key resistance level if we can get above that then I'm bullish and if we lose That 361 level and I'm gonna be bearish, but yeah, that's pretty much it and until then we just chop around But again QQQ also formed a nice reversal candle And I did that on an increase in volume. Let's take a look at the weekly chart Yeah, not much to see but that 370 level is definitely resistance, but we did bounce off that trend line So yeah, and I think I think if we control there for a week or two, there could be some good opportunities coming and You know, overall, I still like the market and as long as that trend line is holding then I'll continue to be bullish and Now we'll take a look at the big cap tech stocks first up Apple so Apple is currently consolidating So it's in between that 181 and 177 level bearish below 177 and bullish over 181 pretty simple here But Apple is actually forming a pretty nice flag here So if you can take that flag out on Monday, that could be a buy signal, but yeah Apple does look pretty good Let's take a look at the weekly nice bounce here And yeah, I think we take that 181 level back then that would be a really big positive for the market next up AMD So AMD on the wiki looks pretty bad still it's still below that 107 level. So that's definitely not a good sign And I'm gonna see on the daily. Let's just go back to the weekly So until We can take out this trend line AMD is definitely a do not touch There's also an uptrend here AMD did break the uptrend, but I think that's why I removed it But yeah, AMD is currently definitely very bearish here and I would not touch it would not advise going along on this stuff Next up Amazon Amazon's Yeah, Amazon's still holding up pretty well here I had a really nice bull flag here and then broke out and now it's forming another bull flag and so far It's just been consolidating so perfectly normal action and not too much to see on the daily it could potentially gap fill but it is holding up pretty well nice hammer on Friday and Take a look at the weekly chart again. The uptrend is definitely holding So not too much to be concerned about has a lot of room so it can pull back still and still be above that uptrend or trend line so Yeah, Amazon's holding up pretty well, and I think a week or a week or two Market or a week of consolidation or two would be enough for it to flag properly and then break out again next up Let's take a look at Google So Google actually tried to break out this week so very bullish But it ended up being a failed breakout just because the market was so weak But that's understandable, but Google still is holding up incredibly incredibly strong. So Yeah, Google has been showing relative strength the last couple weeks hasn't pulled back at all It has pulled back, but it's a very orderly pullback and yeah, it looks really good But I think a Google has a good chance of seeing that 136 level soon Next up meta Meta is still below that trend line so that is not good but That 289 level is a major resistance level for meta so it has to reclaim that his AP and If it does that then we could consolidate chop around or be bullish But under that 290 level definitely wouldn't want to be trying to be bullish on this stock But yeah, it's pretty much a different Meadow next up Microsoft Take a look at the weekly chart so Microsoft is also below that trend line It tried to retest it and reject it pretty hard and that 325 level is definitely a major resistance level So that's another thing that you have to watch out for let's go to the daily chart So yeah, the 325 level is key if we can take that out Starting next week that would be a good sign and if we can reclaim that trend line that would be even better sign but From there. There's there's room up to 344. Otherwise, you could just chop her on so those are the two possible scenarios and If it fails to reclaim 325 then it could potentially pull back to 309 But yeah, that's pretty much all I got for Netflix. I mean sorry Microsoft Next up Netflix So Netflix got a nice bounce off that trend line so that's a positive But it did fail to close below that or it close below that 420 resistance level, which is not great But it is forming a pretty nice flag here So we'll see if it can take that out and if it can take that out that'd be a pretty nice buy setup so just like Apple from a nice flag here, but Yep, ideally we want to take that 420 out 420 level out ASAP and then make a rally up to 448 Overall Netflix is holding up pretty well, and it's still above that trend line. So that's a positive Next up Nvidia the king of the market So Nvidia Nvidia reported earnings last week and it gapped up Yeah, it took out that 500 psychological level and it actually opened above that level But got faded all day long on Thursday and then on Friday It got faded faded more, but it did get a bounce at that 452 level So that is a positive, but the key levels in video are that there is that 480 level and then Support is at that 452 level. So that's what I see for Nvidia If it can take out that 480 level then it's bullish if it loses that 452 level then it's bearish And I'm told then could just chop her on for a while. It is also from the flag. So But overall Nvidia is definitely the strongest stock in this market 100% no doubt Next up Tesla So Tesla got a really nice bounce this week, right? It was really extended last week to the downside and then it finally got a really nice bounce on Monday And now it's forming a really nice flag here. So this is actually a top watch for next week Yeah, really nice flag forming and I think has potential to break out and make a move back up to So has definitely has some resistance at that 240 level and then after that Has room to 270 so yeah Tesla's definitely a top watch here if it takes out that 240 level room. It has room up to 270 But yeah, that's stick look at the weekly chart as well How much on the weekly chart, but You're breaking the downtrend Very steep downtrend, but it is breaking But yeah, the 240 levels. Well, that 240 level is key Yeah, that's pretty much it for Netflix or a Tesla and Next up we'll take her. Yeah, we'll take a look at your KK How close stops you're doing so the weekly chart looks like garbage, right? There is an uptrend Trimline here and it is holding actually did get a bounce off it but bounce off that this week Let's take a look so Very important trend line that's holding and then drive resistance So definitely has some resistance at that 44.5 level and Has it had support at the 41.75 level, but now that's turned into resistance Take a look at the daily chart So these are the key levels has to take off 41.75 ASAP and if you can do that then It would be back to bullish or it could just chop around But if it takes out that 41.75 level then it has room up to 44.5 But there's also again a chance that could just chop around in between this range but so far an ice bounce off that trend line and Yeah, but if we lose that trend line, then this would for surely be a good short set up but Yeah, now we'll take a look at some of the best stocks for next week So VRT I covered this stuff before and I'm gonna cover it again just because the stock is so insanely strong This stock is also in AI so has a good theme going for it and Yeah, it broke out on Friday and it's making new all-time highs and overall really good action I think pullback to that 36.4 or five level would be a good area to buy but Yeah, VRT is holding up really well So as all the characteristics of a big winner has that big gap up big volume consolidation and now breaking out really good action Next up up work also covered this one before but this one had a really strong rally on Wednesday And it's been holding up really well this entire pullback. So Yes, it has been joining a lot of relative strength and one that you definitely want to keep on your radar Go to the weekly chart On the weekly it looks like a nice bull flag farming It looks like it tried to break out this week but failed so more consolidation could be needed but yeah, this one's definitely a top watch and Really like the volume pattern here Next up we'll take a look at Fastly This was a big winner in 2020 or 2020 and Yeah, this one's finally starting to show some strength recently So here's the first uptrend line and then Also So it's forming a channel here Very clear resistance. So right now it is at resistance But if it breaks that resistance level and it could go it could make a really big move, right? So clear resistance at that 21.1 level and I think that would be a good area to buy but Yeah, so far really good action This one's been holding up really well compared to the market, right market pulled back But this one's just continuing to Yeah trend higher so overall really good action and this is one that you want to keep your eye on for sure Celsius next one So cover this one before as well and gonna continue covering it because it's acting really well Really strong gap up again really good earnings. This one just continues to have Good earnings right multiple gaps gap ups and gapped up here on earnings again for the last time as well So yeah, this one's the top fundamental stock but yeah, right now it's forming a really nice bull flag here and a few more days of consolidation and then this one can see a Pretty big breakout move has a lot of potential. It's a all-time highs and yeah It's been acting incredibly well, and I think it can go to 200 potentially Yeah, that's pretty much it for Celsius and then last but not least Havana to this one Yeah, this one's forming a really nice So this one's forming a pretty nice pattern here, right Very clear resistance level at that 41.5 level and very very clear support at that 30 7.75 level If it takes out 41.5 level out, then I'm looking to buy this stock next week Yeah, overall it looks really really good And also potentially breaking that downtrend line if it breaks out next week But yeah, this one is definitely a top watch and this one's like one of the biggest winners in 2023 so far So Yeah, definitely keeping this one on the radar. Yeah, that's pretty much all I got for you guys for this week Thank you guys for tuning in