how a series of yes-es became a worship collective
how a series of yes-es became a worship collective
from obedience to overflow:
the vssls story
the vssls story
from obedience to overflow:
how a series of yes-es became a worship collective
from obedience to overflow:
how a series of yes-es became a worship collective
from obedience to overflow:
It started some years back, when God was teaching Joel to say yes to things that didn't make sense on paper.
Since a young age, Joel had felt a call to pursue medicine — one which was reaffirmed over and over again through the years. He studied, worked hard, went above and beyond, and got the grades he needed—but those don't guarantee admission into medical school.
After receiving a heartbreaking rejection letter from a prestigious university following an admissions interview, Joel's dad walked him through the story of Abraham. He posed a question that would echo through Joel's life: Would you be okay with a dream not coming to pass, but taking comfort in God?
It was a surreal moment.
In the following days, Joel sought God through prayer and worship. And as he surrendered his future to God, he received an offer from a medical school in Adelaide, Australia—a land he'd never known at the time, but a place he now calls home.
God's lesson was clear early: My path doesn't make sense on paper. But it's better than yours. The question is: when I call, will you go to a land I will show you?
That lesson—trust without a roadmap—would be tested again and again.
YOUTH LEADERSHIP: AN UNFAMILIAR YES WITH A LIFE-CHANGING TRAJECTORY
As Joel started his tertiary studies in Adelaide, he began hearing a whisper—a repeated question in his heart: "Does this church have a youth ministry?"
It was an odd question. Joel wasn't a regular youth attender back in his teenage years. He didn't understand why this question wouldn't leave him alone, nor how it was relevant to him as a full-time medical student.
After the question persisted for months, Joel began to explore it in prayer, and eventually with the youth pastor and international students' pastor at his church.
Another yes. Another step onto a path he didn't map out himself.
As a youth leader, Joel developed a heart for young people, got opportunities to learn various aspects of ministry, and was sharpened in his discipleship. He served with and under seven youth pastors between 2016-2026 (time of writing). At one particular location, he helped three youth pastors transition into their role and faithfully serve them in moving the youth ministry forward. His greatest joy is looking back and seeing the youth ministries and the young people he served grow into what God always had in mind. Today more than ever, his love, joy and passion for seeing young people moved from borrowed faith to personal relationship with God, go deeper in the word, discover what it means to worship in spirit and in truth continues to grow.
But more than that, he was learning something foundational: Obedience builds on obedience. Each yes prepares you for the next one.
Soon, the church was planting new campuses, and Joel was able to help start an evening service in the southern region of metropolitan Adelaide, while faithfully serving in the morning services of his home campus in the city.
Some years later, the church announced the plan to plant a new campus in the Adelaide Hills. Something leapt in Joel's spirit, but something felt different.
Eventually, Joel felt God put this phrase in his heart: "The second time is different."
Following some weeks-months of seeking God for what this phrase meant, Joel was reminded of how God instructed Moses to strike the rock in the desert for water, but later on commanded him to speak to the rock.
Joel felt a sense that while he'd helped start a church plant some years back and then returned to his home campus, God was calling him to help plant a new church campus in the Adelaide Hills—and to remain in the new church plant.
It meant relocating. Leaving the familiar. Stepping into the unknown with no roadmap—just a call and a promise that God would be there in every step.
The pattern was becoming clear: medical school in an unknown land, youth ministry with no experience, not fully understanding the culture, church plant with no guarantees.
Each time, the same rhythm: God says go. You say yes. The path unfolds.
This pattern repeated again when Joel was in his final year of medical school. All throughout his studies, he had this idea that when he was approaching graduation, he would apply for a medical internship through every available opportunity.
But, when the time came for application, Joel felt a really strong sense to only apply for an internship position in South Australia. The cost of this was significant. It was essentially an “all-in” ballot, all the eggs in one basket—to trust God. After much prayer, that was what he did.
For the next year, Joel was a medical intern in several rural and remote region in South Australia. There were times when this was uncomfortable. Stepping out when the path wasn’t clear. But God was building something deeper—a foundation of trust that would hold when the next call came.
During this time, Joel got a deep appreciation of how the Body of Christ, unconformed to uniformity, diverse in size, background, culture, expression, can unite in worship of the same God. He was not looking for the external form that worship can sometimes be reduced to, but a heart truly turned to him.
God’s hand through this journey also meant Joel got to sit under three campus pastors in Adelaide who spoke directly into his life, three senior pastors during his regional internship, with other pastors in these different locations in South Australia, and from different parts of the world also continuing to speak into his life.
CHURCH PLANTING AND RURAL INTERNSHIP
Soon, the church was planting new campuses, and Joel was able to help start an evening service in the southern region of metropolitan Adelaide, while faithfully serving in the morning services of his home campus in the city.
Some years later, the church announced the plan to plant a new campus in the Adelaide Hills. Something leapt in Joel's spirit, but something felt different.
Eventually, Joel felt God put this phrase in his heart: "The second time is different."
Following some weeks-months of seeking God for what this phrase meant, Joel was reminded of how God instructed Moses to strike the rock in the desert for water, but later on commanded him to speak to the rock.
Joel felt a sense that while he'd helped start a church plant some years back and then returned to his home campus, God was calling him to help plant a new church campus in the Adelaide Hills—and to remain in the new church plant.
It meant relocating. Leaving the familiar. Stepping into the unknown with no roadmap—just a call and a promise that God would be there in every step.
The pattern was becoming clear: medical school in an unknown land, youth ministry with no experience, church plant with no guarantees.
Each time, the same rhythm: God says go. You say yes. The path unfolds.
This pattern repeated again when Joel was in his final year of medical school. All throughout his studies, he had this idea that when he was approaching graduation, he would apply for a medical internship through every available opportunity.
But, when the time came for application, Joel felt a really strong sense to only apply for an internship position in South Australia. The cost of this was significant. It was essentially an “all-in” ballot, all the eggs in one basket—to trust God. After much prayer, that was what he did.
For the next year, Joel was a medical intern in several rural and remote region in South Australia. There were times when this was uncomfortable. Stepping out when the path wasn’t clear. But God was building something deeper - a foundation of trust that would hold when the next call came.
During this time, Joel got a deep appreciation of how the Body of Christ, unconformed to uniformity, diverse in size, background, culture, expression, can unite in worship of the same God. He was not looking for the external form that worship can sometimes be reduced to, but a heart truly turned to him.
God’s hand through this journey also meant Joel got to sit under three campus pastors in Adelaide who spoke directly into his life, three senior pastors during his regional internship, with other pastors in these different locations in South Australia, and from different parts of the world continue to speak into his life.
a prophetic word spoken over Joel in one of the regional cities, 29 August 2021:
“…you've been stretched and tested so much in this season, on the inside of your heart. And there's going to come a season of great blessing and great reward. And you're being obedient to what God's called you to do, but there's been a great cost with that. And even as I was talking tonight, I just feel like, even in your heart, your mind, “yeah, I feel that cost. I know what this has cost me.” Come halfway across the world for this. Left a lot. A bit transient, place to place. But God says there's a promised land waiting for you. It's a place where your roots are going to go down deep. And your children are going to flourish. And your household is going to be strong. And the finance is going to roll in. All of these things, God says, are coming to you. There's a Promised Land coming. I just can't shake that. You're going through battle on battle right now. God says there's a Promised Land coming. And it's like all of these cities that you're going to along the way are like Joshua taking city after city, on the way to the Promised Land. And God says, I know it feels accidental right now. I'm going here and here and here and here. But God says there's a promise about to hit your life. The Promised Land is coming. And your roots are going to go down deep... There are blessings coming your way. And the cost that you paid in this season has actually developed a depth in you that is uncommon in your age. And God says you're going to walk with great wisdom. You're going to walk with great authority. You're going to be fruitful and you're going to be prosperous. And there's going to be a time where you're going to look back and see the genius of God in the cost of this season. So Father, I thank you for him right now. I release the blessing of God over his future. In the name of Jesus, I call into being that Promised Land. It is coming towards him and every city that he enters beforehand. May it be used for the gospel and the expansion of the work of God. I thank you for him. I thank you, Father, that you have blessed his life and that, God, he is going to go from glory to glory and strength to strength. In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.”
STEWARDSHIP OVER A GENERATION
As Joel continued to faithfully serve as a youth leader, the stakes became clearer:
If I don't step out in full obedience when God asks, the people I lead may still get their drink from the rock for the moment — but my disobedience could cost a generation their promised land.
Leadership wasn't just about doing the right things. It was about being someone whose obedience others could stand on. A leader who makes way for those they lead and enables them to stand on their shoulders.
This would shape everything that came next.
ENTER LUKE
In the midst of learning what obedience looks like in the trenches of church planting and youth ministry, Joel and Luke's paths crossed in 2018.
Luke's family joined the new church plant, and from there both Joel and Luke set out on an adventure of developing their obedience on their respective journeys.
Luke grew up with parents who led the worship team. Rehearsals, soundchecks, and the background hum of classic worship songs were just normal life. He watched his siblings pick up instruments and harmonies and just get it. He mostly observed. He loved being around it, but for a long time, didn't feel like he had a place in it.
God was teaching him something in that season — not to hide, but to be hidden. Not hidden in a hide-and-seek way, but hidden from needing attention or validation. His worth wasn't coming from being seen or impressive. It was coming from being known by God.
The call to music came later than he expected. He tried different creative outlets —producing on GarageBand, drumming — exploring where he fit. Then he started playing keyboard. Something clicked that hadn't clicked before. It felt natural. It felt honest. It felt like the way he could express worship without trying to copy someone else. That's when it stopped feeling like participation and started feeling like calling.
Obedience, for Luke, didn't look like one dramatic decision. It looked like the small ones. The tiny compromises resisted. The ordinary moments chosen faithfully, over and over again.
His real yes — the line in the sand — was his water baptism. That was the moment he stopped compartmentalising his life, stopped keeping God in His lane while managing everything else on his own. God was already moving in him long before that moment. But baptism was him saying out loud, in front of people: I'm not doing this halfway anymore.
His decision for vssls flowed out of that. Not riding on someone else's conviction. Not swept up in someone else's excitement. It was an overflow of his own surrender.
Joel's intentional discipleship of Luke spans approximately three years in its formal phase — but the relationship itself began from when Luke was 11 or 12, spanning most of his adolescence. The vssls journey is the fruit of that longer arc of formation.
The words prayed prophetically over Joel and Luke together at a conference, 16 March 2024:
Rivers of living water coming at you. Living water. Anointing. Worship. Partnership. Restoration from what the enemy is trying to do and steal. Destruction to the enemy’s camp.
A PARTNERSHIP OF LIVING WATER
At the time, it was powerful. Encouraging. But some of it honestly felt... a bit off? Incomplete?
They both recalled how aspects of the word felt strange—Luke was in Year 12 at the time and Joel was his youth leader. Partnership? It didn't make sense yet.
So they put it on the shelf. Kept serving. Kept leading. Kept saying yes to what God put in front of them. Almost forgot about the word.
But God doesn't waste words.
FROM WORSHIPPERS TO OVERFLOWING WORSHIP
Two worshippers. Two hearts burning. And eventually the desire on both sides to write songs of worship unto God.
They continued sharing meals. Driving around the Adelaide Hills. Carpooling to various places. And often, songs of worship broke out. Eventually, they learned to always have their voice memos on hand.
It had been about half a year or so since Joel and Luke started being more intentional with capturing their songs of worship—songs born out of their own walks with God, their own wrestlings with obedience, their own encounters with His presence.
But it was still relatively private. Not many people knew about the songs.
And then came a pivotal moment. The first domino that fell.
A FRIEND'S AFTERNOON AND
THE PRAYER THAT BECAME AN ANTHEM
One Sunday afternoon, Joel and Luke were hanging out with their friend Jordan. They got lunch and went to the park.
They sat there. They ate. They talked.
And then it was time for dinner. They got more food, continued talking, and started making their way home.
They don't remember why or how, but they sat on Luke's driveway, and eventually went into Luke's lounge room.
And in a spur of a moment, Joel asked Jordan, "can you summarize everything you said this afternoon?"— with his voice memo turned on.
After stumbling through the initial awkward moments, there came the line: "Help me to see in the simple things.”
They finished the chorus that night, and Jordan requested one of the lines to be: "I want to know You."
In the coming days, they finished the song and made it into a song loop — which they thought was going to be for their personal worship and devotional times.
Some time later, Joel was leading worship at a youth gathering, and felt to leave some room in the flow of songs. On the night, the bridge of "Friend to me" flowed out in that moment. Young people worshipped to the bridge and it was a beautiful moment.
Little did Joel know that the preacher had prepared a message straight out of John 15 — the very same passage that "Friend to me" was anchored in.
They went back into the bridge and chorus of the song, and it set up a powerful ministry moment.
A song that they thought was for personal devotion among a group of friends became an anthem for the youth group.
THE QUESTION THAT WOULDN'T LEAVE
A few months later, Joel was catching up with some friends on another side of town. They were youth leaders in a different context, and the song came up in their conversation.
Joel showed them a homemade song demo, and they leaped with joy saying this song would have benefited their youth ministry had it been available to them.
And Joel began pondering: What is God asking of us with these songs?
DECEMBER 2025: THE NUDGE
"The process may not require so much faith. It's the impact of the songs that requires the faith... what you have is valuable to the kingdom. And if it touches one life... and that one life is pivotal to many... Be open to many possibilities. Don't limit it to what you know, limit to what He knows and what is possible. Because all things are possible... Sometimes God uses unorthodox methods.
And the dreams that you are spreading right now through your music, it's not just for the generation, but it's for their children because they will propagate it in their home, in their families. We're talking generations here. You have an impact. It's much bigger than you think. What happens when your song impacts people so much? They're still singing it 60 years from now."
Fast forward to December 2025.
Joel was catching up with a trusted prophetic voice in his life. He talked about various aspects of his life, and the worship songs came up.
And then came words that would shift everything:
Joel talked to Luke about this conversation.
And just before Christmas, there was a nudge.
Joel and Luke responded by taking stock of where all the songs were at. They realized they had accumulated a collection of songs.
And then, a gentle but persistent sense: It's time to do something with what God has been building in the hidden seasons.
Neither of them knew what that "something" was yet.
They just knew: it's time. And they could not bury these talents they'd been given. They could not hide the lamp under a basket.
They talked about gathering a few people into a recording studio, and started brainstorming a name under which they would share what God had put in their hands.
vssls — A NAME ALREADY WOVEN THROUGH MULTIPLE SONGS
Soon the word "vessels" came up, and there was another leap-in-the-spirit moment.
They looked into scripture and found three passages directly referencing the word:
“That He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory”
“If anyone keeps himself clean, he will be a vessel for honour, set apart, useful to the Master, ready for every good work.”
“We have this treasure in vessels made of clay, to show that the abundance and excellence of the power is from God and not from us.”
“That He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory”
“If anyone keeps himself clean, he will be a vessel for honour, set apart, useful to the Master, ready for every good work.”
“We have this treasure in vessels made of clay, to show that the abundance and excellence of the power is from God and not from us.”
And as they continued the conversation, they realized the name had already been woven through multiple songs they'd written:
“My life your vessel, come fill completely”
“A vessel of honour, ready for Your good works”
“A vessel fit for Your new wine”
“How can I bring honour to your name, when I’m just a vessel you have made”
The imagery of vessels, fresh oil being poured out, and God's glory on display was also present in multiple songs:
“Pour it out, You deserve my all”
“Pour it out, nothing You withhold...”
“Still long to show off Your glory”
“Come fill my life, to prophesy; display Your wonders in my life”
God had already named it. They just hadn't noticed yet.
DECEMBER 22: 2 KINGS 4 AND THE WIDOW'S OIL
On December 22, 2025, as they pressed into what God was asking, a passage from 2 Kings 4 became impossible to ignore:
“Go around and gather as many empty vessels as you can... from everywhere... empty vessels... do not gather just a few. Pour oil into all the vessels, and set aside what is full.”
The widow was in debt, facing the possibility of a broken family and a desolate future. But when she obeyed the unusual instruction—when she gathered empty vessels and poured—the oil didn't stop until every vessel was full.
It felt like the words were addressing directly their recent conversation: "gather a few into a recording studio."
They didn't know what it meant, but they knew they couldn't stick to their own plans.
The widow could have gathered just a few vessels, and only those few vessels would have been filled. They felt like it was not up to them to determine which vessel gets to be filled and which vessel gets kept out of the room.
God doesn't just ask us to pour out what we have. He multiplies it. He fills every vessel. He reaches every life He intends to reach.
DECEMBER 26: THE VENUE
Four days later, on December 26, they booked Atelier Theatre at Cornerstone College in Mount Barker.
Date: January 26, 2026.
Then came the team. Then came the selection of songs.
The team was pulled together while different aspects of the night were being organised.
"God, what do we do today?" became the operational rhythm.
JANUARY 8: JOEL 2 AND THE CALL TO CONSECRATION
On January 8, 2026, they decided on daily devotionals.
The passage that anchored it: Joel 2 — "Sound the trumpet, consecrate a fast, call a special gathering."
For the next 18 days leading up to January 26, they posted devotional videos, put together materials to help people prepare their hearts, shared raw, honest reflections on what it means to surrender, to obey, to walk on His path instead of demanding your own map.
Filming videos. Rehearsing. Preparing.
Not because they had it all figured out.
But because obedience doesn't wait for perfect clarity. It moves when God says go.
RECALLING THE PROPHECIES
And it wasn't long after they stepped out in faith when it became obvious they needed to "recall the prophecies made about them, so that by recalling them they may fight the battle well" — 1 Timothy 1:18.
As they talked about the different prophecies they'd received over the years, the prophetic word from two years ago resurfaced.
And now it made sense:
“Rivers of living water coming at you. Living water. Anointing. Worship. Partnership. Restoration from what the enemy is trying to do and steal. Destruction to the enemy’s camp.”
This wasn't about Joel. It wasn't about Luke.
It was about being vessels—empty, surrendered, ready to be filled with fresh oil and poured out for others.
It was about being vessels who have tasted the goodness of God and were willing to go into the village to bring others to Him. Ones who would not withhold from others the breakthrough they require, because of things they would not surrender themselves or because fear of man had a grip on them.
It was about worshipping in spirit and in truth—not in the way things had always been understood or the way it's been done, but in wholehearted devotion toward Him.
The Year 12 student and his youth leader? Now partners in worship. Just like the prophecy said.
WATCHING GOD WORK
Over the next 30+ days, they watched in awe as God worked everything together:
The Body of Christ came alive:
Intercessors covered them in prayer.
Prophetic encouragement flowed from simple conversations.
Leaders gave wise counsel.
People united outside the four walls of any single church.
Hearts began to turn:
Conversations happened that wouldn't have come about otherwise.
People grew in their revelation of God.
Young people bound by the enemy's grip reached out asking for help to reconnect with Jesus; others confessed Him as Lord and Saviour.
Some awakened to their own call.
Others took steps toward dreams they'd abandoned.
Worshippers spoke about authentic wholehearted devotion—not the spotlight, but Him.
God's hand showed up in the details:
Every single day, they saw His favour. The right people. The right words. The right ideas. At just the right time. In just the right place.
It wasn't comfortable. It wasn't convenient. It was often unconventional.
But it was His.
WATCHING GOD WORK
Over the next 30+ days, they watched in awe as God worked everything together:
The Body of Christ came alive:
Intercessors covered them in prayer.
Prophetic encouragement flowed from simple conversations.
Leaders gave wise counsel.
People united outside the four walls of any single church.
Hearts began to turn:
Conversations happened that wouldn't have come about otherwise.
People grew in their revelation of God.
Young people bound by the enemy's grip reached out asking for help to reconnect with Jesus; others confessed Him as Lord and Saviour.
Some awakened to their own call.
Others took steps toward dreams they'd abandoned.
Worshippers spoke about authentic wholehearted devotion—not the spotlight, but Him.
God's hand showed up in the details:
Every single day, they saw His favour. The right people. The right words. The right ideas. At just the right time. In just the right place.
It wasn't comfortable. It wasn't convenient. It was often unconventional.
But it was His.
THE OBEDIENCE SERIES: FIVE FACETS
As Joel reflected on the journey — from that first yes to medical school in an unknown land, to youth ministry, to church planting, to this moment with vssls — he realized something:
This whole journey was a journey of giving God our yes. And on a flight home from a conference, what started as a phone note became five truths about obedience:
1. His Path, Not Ours
Obedience means trusting His path even when He doesn't give you a roadmap.
2. Friendship with God
Obedience is the pathway to intimacy with Him—He loved us first; we respond.
3. The Undivided Yes
Obedience requires radical, wholehearted commitment with no backup plan.
4. The Foundation
Obedience is what makes your life stand when the storms come.
5. Love Compels
Obedience can only be sustained by love—the fuel that outlasts duty, willpower, and fear.
This wasn't just theology.
This was their story. Their testimony. Their lived reality.
JANUARY 18: THE PEACE SEGMENT
Eight days before the worship night, Joel and Luke felt a shift.
They needed a segment on peace.
They shared about how thoughts can escalate when things don't go our way, and soon the worries become our meditation, rather than the word of God.
A verse of "peace for tomorrow" draws from the imagery of Peter stepping out of the boat, and losing sight of Jesus when he focused on the winds and the waves.
But another word for boat is vessel.
And if our lives are vessels for God, and the Prince of Peace is in our vessel, then we can rest or sleep without worry—because the winds and the waves obey Him.
Last-minute obedience. Last-minute preparation.
But perfectly on time.
“These songs were so powerful, so authentic & so relatable. I felt these songs spoke to some personal battles I am facing, reminding me to find peace with Jesus & not let worry take control of my mind.”
“The song peace for tomorrow resonates well with me. He calms the storm we all carry because we are His and the boat we are in is where He is as well.”
JANUARY 26, 2026:
THE FIRST GATHERING
JANUARY 26, 2026:
THE FIRST GATHERING
On January 26, 2026, vssls hosted their live worship night at Atelier Theatre, Cornerstone College in Mount Barker.
Around 50 people gathered. Empty vessels ready to be filled with fresh oil.
The atmosphere was tangible. The presence of God, undeniable. A great sense of peace filled the room.
Songs that had been written in obedience, refined in the hidden place, and stewarded with care were finally sung together with the broader Church.
It wasn't about a big moment. It wasn't about going viral.
It was about this:
“Vessels of honour carrying the new wine of the Holy Spirit—worship that flows from obedience, friendship with God, and lives poured out in love.”
From here, several songs have been released, and we have seen the hand of God move in ways we never asked, thought or imagined. The journey continues, but you may be asking…
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Honestly? We're not entirely sure.
Many have asked for more worship nights. We'll host them when God puts it on our hearts. (Stay in the loop)
We know there are more completed songs and some unfinished ones to faithfully steward. We're still actively writing.
We know there are more souls desperate to see Jesus.
We know there are more hearts longing to be back in relationship with Him.
We know there's more of His love for us to receive, more of His grace and truth to learn, and more steps of obedience for us to take.
And we're learning to be okay with not knowing the full plan. Because that's the rhythm we've been learning all along:
"God, what do we do today?"
THIS IS VSSLS
We're not a band. We're not a brand.
We're Joel, Luke, and anyone else God adds to this journey.
We're worshippers who said yes when it didn't make sense.
We believe:
Obedience is the pathway to friendship with God
Worship flows from surrender, not performance
Scripture is the anchor, and the Holy Spirit is the guide
Every song is a gift to the Church, not a product to consume
The goal isn't viral moments—it's a 60-year legacy of faithfulness, moving people from borrowed faith to personal relationship with God.
And we're learning, one step at a time, to wait on His whisper and be quick to respond when we hear Him speak.
JOIN THE JOURNEY
If any of this resonates with you—if you're learning what it means to obey when the path isn't clear, to surrender when it costs something, to pour out your life like a drink offering—
You're not alone.
We're walking this road together.
“Empty vessels. Fresh oil. New wine.”
Let's worship.