Merry Christmas ladies. I am Kara Diva and you are listening to the Grove

podcast. Truly this is the most wonderful time of the year and the Christmas Grove is no different.

Each year we make extra space at our Christmas Grove gatherings here in Atlanta because we know

there will be many in search of the hope of glory which we know is Jesus.

And this year we knew Jesus would be exalted and lifted high by spoken word

artist author and preacher Hosanna Wong.

In this message, she shares the redemptive power of following Jesus for real

and allowing him to continue to build our stories through the vulnerability and freedom of her own testimony.

So girls, we're going to encourage you to grab your Bible, grab a journal and a pen,

because you are going to want to capture this practical

knowledge so that you can begin living for real in Jesus name. Let's listen in.

I was raised on the streets of San Francisco like I shared with you my spoken word

peace, Bernal Heights. My dad was a heroin addict who fought in a Chinese gang who

had bullet holes alongside his calves from the last time he ran from the

police from the last time he robbed someplace and someone introduced him to

Jesus and Jesus changed his whole life and my dad ended up starting an outreach to those living without

homes and battling with addiction on the streets of San Francisco. And that's how I

grew up two to three days a week we would have outdoor services with our friends

people brought their alcohol bottles people brought their needles that's how I

learned church I learned later in life when other people said they were also

raised in church we were not talking about the exact same thing.

But that's where I learned that Jesus could save anyone's soul and redeem anyone's story

...