Good morning. Awesome. I pray everybody is doing
well. Happy New Year. It is 2026 now. And the
world has solved all its problems, right? No,
not quite nearly. All right. Hey, if this is
your first time joining us here at Hosanna in
our sanctuary, or you're watching online, we
want to say welcome to all of you. We're so glad
you guys are here to worship with us today. You
know, I love the first Sunday of the year because
this is an opportunity where we're all looking
ahead, right? Things are fresh. Things are new.
The calendar has turned. But for us, the church,
this gives us an opportunity to just stop and
to say, okay, Lord, before we charge into what's
next, we want to take an opportunity to acknowledge
what you've already done. And this morning is
not just a New Year's goals type of message or
all of that. This is a family moment. We are
here as a family of Christ to celebrate God's
faithfulness, to recenter our hearts, to... To
really step forward together into a new year
with clarity and unity and joy. And so we're
going to be taking a break from Genesis this
morning. And what I'll be sharing today is it's
not for perfect people. It's for a church family.
Does that describe anybody in this room today?
Yes. All right. Because we are people who are
growing and we are learning. We are people who
are healing, serving. And sometimes we're people
just trying to get through. And that may be some
of you today starting this year, or maybe it
feels like you're starting another year just
trying to get through. But you know, as the church,
we go through all of that together because we
are family. We are committed to one another.
We are here for one another. And real life is
family doing life together. And that's what this
is, the church. Now today we're going to be looking
back over 2025 and just... giving God glory for
what he's done. There's a lot of really neat
things God did. And I just want to share them
with you, the body, because they happened because
of you, the body. And then we're going to look
forward to 2026. And I want to share with you
guys some vision that God's given me for our
church and things that I think God may be having
us do and get involved in. And then we'll close
today with a family meeting is what I'm calling
it. Now, if the term family meeting to you has
always meant something negative, like, oh, no,
dad's calling a family meeting. Who's in trouble?
Nobody's in trouble, okay? But this year, I wanna
do something we really haven't done in past years
and give you the body, just a practical update
on your church's financial status, our state,
where we're at, what's going on, and all of that
in context of really what God has done and what
God is going to do. And we're gonna go over all
of that in a spirit of worship. We're going to
do it in a spirit of worshiping God, a spirit
of gratitude for what he's done, what he's doing.
And we're doing all of this because, you know,
God is the one who matters. And we're doing it
all in this spirit of gratitude and celebration
because stewardship with our time and stewardship
with our resources, stewardship with the talents
and gifts God's given us, it's all family business.
It's all spiritual business. You know, in James
1 .17, it says this, every good and perfect gift
is from above, coming down from the Father of
lights who does not change like shifting shadows.
And so we're here today to honor the Lord, the
greatest gift giver of all, the one who has given
us salvation, the free gift that changed everything,
and everything after, it's from him. The very
breath we breathe, it's from him. And we are
so grateful to our good and gracious God. Amen?
Let's pray. Father, we love you. God, we thank
you, Lord, for what you've done this last year,
Lord. We know it wasn't a perfect year by any
means, Lord. And some had a good year, some had
a decent year, and some would call the year difficult
and not good at all, Lord. Lord, your word tells
us that you're with us through every circumstance
of our life. And I pray, God, that the reality
of your presence would just consume us, Lord.
That, God, today as we start this new year as
your church, your body, that together, Lord,
we would just be so thankful for what you've
done through our church. Lord, because it's through
this church, you've reached so many lives. And,
God, that's awesome. And Lord, we want to look
forward to what you may have for us in this year
coming up as a church, Lord, as you call us to
be a body that is collectively participating
in your work, Lord. that we're all coming together,
Lord, following your leading, God, in the giving
of our time and giving of our service, Lord,
the giving of our resources, as we're called,
the giving of our talents, Lord, because you've
given each one here that is a believer in Jesus
Christ gifts, gifts to serve, gifts to encourage,
gifts to teach, gifts to lead, Lord. And God,
we want to be your church. We want to be your
body. Lord, you the head guiding and directing
us, Lord. So bless us today, God, as we go through
all of this, Lord. We love you. We thank you.
But first, Lord, we do want to worship you. God,
worship and song and music, it's just one part
of the worship that we give to you. But Lord,
we want to start today and start this year, Lord,
as we do at every service, God, to praise you
because you are worth praising. You are God Almighty.
You are holy, just. You are love and light. your
everything. And so God, as we look forward to
another year walking in Christ, guided by the
Holy Spirit, Lord, we ask that you would bless
us as we bless you now. We love you so much.
It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. If you guys
will open your Bibles or apps to Hebrews chapter
10, we're going to be looking at this passage
this morning because this passage really frames
what this morning is all about, the encouragement,
the vision, and all of it. And so in verse 23
of Hebrews chapter 10, it says this, let us hold
on to the confession of our hope without wavering,
since he who promised is faithful. And let us
consider one another in order to provoke love
and good works, not neglecting to gather together
as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging
each other and all the more as you see the day
approaching. This passage gives three anchors
that shape everything that is said today. But
really, the foundation is this, that the day
is approaching. Do you guys believe that the
Lord is returning? How many of you hope he returns
right now? All right. Some of us not, and I get
it, you know. No, it's not right now. So we're
going to have church. But he says three things
here, and I want to go through this passage real
quickly because as a church, we are people who
are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. We've
put our faith in him. We've received salvation,
right? The undeserved gift of mercy, grace, and
forgiveness. And then from that point of salvation,
God leaves us here. And some of you might go,
why would a loving God save my soul and leave
me here on this planet, which is, let's be honest,
it's not the greatest place. It's because there's
a mission. There's a process. There's a changing
of us as we learn to live like him and become
conformed to him. But we are here on this earth
to carry the light of the gospel. He saves you
and then leaves you here so that you could tell
someone what he did in your life and that they
could be saved too. And then both of you go out
with your light and tell two more. And if you
guys ever heard the story of the compounding
penny, you know how that goes. And in the process
of us doing that, we are called to gather together
as the church, to grow together, to mature together,
to learn together, to participate together in
the mission that Jesus Christ has left for us,
the church. And so here in Hebrews 23, there's
three things that I think kind of frame all of
that. And the first one, he says, let us hold
on to the confession of our hope without wavering
since he who promised is faithful. You see, we
are called to carry the message of the gospel
in our lives, through our lives, to our families,
our workplaces, our old stomping grounds, whatever
it may be. We're called to do that. We're called
to take this glorious news that there is a God
in the universe who loved me so much that he
died for every wrong thing I've ever done and
every wrong thing I ever will do. He died for
it. He paid the price to satisfy a wrath of a
holy God so that I can have a relationship with
him again and be forgiven. And not only that,
that when this life passes, that there's a hope
of heaven and eternity with him. Beautiful. Wonderful.
And God's like, yeah. Tell people about that.
And we're called to do that. And part of holding
on to our confession of hope without wavering,
the idea is that we do this without hesitation.
We do this without worry. We do this boldly.
We do this confidently. And the reason It's because
he who promised is faithful. That's the starting
point of everything. From the very beginning
of time, God made a promise to save our souls,
and he was faithful to fulfill that promise.
God's faithfulness is the basis of everything.
2025 wasn't a perfect year, I'm sure, for many
of us. I don't think any year has ever really
been a perfect year for anybody. We stand here
again at the beginning of a brand new year because
we have a faithful God. He has carried us through
another one, good and bad. He has brought us
here to the beginning of a new year because he
is faithful. As we look back on our years and
look forward to the next year coming, we could
see so much of what God has done. People have
been saved. People have gotten baptized. We've
grown. God has given provision for things. Lives
have been changed. And as we do that today, as
we're looking at this starting point of the year,
we're not celebrating ourselves. We're not celebrating
us and look at what we have accomplished. What
we're saying is, Lord, you kept your promises
again. You did it the year before that and the
year before that and the year before that. You
kept your promises again. You sustained us. You
sustained our lives. You carried us. And thank
you. Like, this is why we can enter a new year
with hope. It's not because we control the future.
It's because we know the one who controls the
future. And so as we start this year saying,
God, you have been faithful, guess what this
upcoming year is going to be? God being faithful.
Because he's always faithful. And so that first
thing there, that first anchor of everything
I'm going to share today in our vision and stuff
is remembering that God is faithful and he will
be faithful. The second thing it said there in
Hebrews, he says, let us consider one another
in order to provoke love and good works. That's
a second anchor for the vision that I believe
God has for our church this year. Christianity
is not just me and Jesus. Although our secular
culture and progressive Christianity wants to
turn it into that, it's just about you and Jesus.
You live however you want. It's not about anybody
else, but Christianity really is us together
in Jesus. We are here as God's children to affect
the world around us for the gospel. And this
is a major part of the vision that I believe
the Lord has given me for our church this coming
year is that we all move towards a renewed understanding,
a renewed commitment that that church isn't just
for me, but I'm here for others. You see, when
we gather together as the church, We shouldn't
be asking questions like, well, did I get what
I need? Was the Bible study good? Did Pastor
Nathan get a good haircut this time? Or serious
questions like, was the worship to my liking,
right? I think all of you know that if I had
my way, the worship would be metalcore and hardcore
100 % of the time. I'd love that. In fact, there
is a church in Oklahoma that is led by an ex
-metalhead, and the worship is metal all the
time, and I'm going to visit that church. But
I'm a little bit suspicious that most of you
don't enjoy that type of music like I do, and
so therefore, right? But instead of asking those
questions, did I get what I want? Did it minister
to me? Did it do this? And I'm not saying those
are bad questions. But the priority above those
questions should be, who can I encourage today?
Who can I minister to today? Who might be alone
today that I could sit next to and say, hey,
I'm here with you? Who might need prayer today?
Who do I need to forgive? Who can I serve? That's
what it's talking about when it says consider
one another. That's something that this church
is about, and I want to see even more of that
in this church. That when we come together congregationally,
this isn't just us being an audience. This is
us being a body. That is here to be poured into.
Yes, we come to hear teaching. We come to worship
together. Hallelujah. Praise God. But then we're
here to connect, encourage, support. You know,
one of the reasons why we open the coffee shop
at 9 a .m. is so you can get here early. Sit
and talk with one another if you'd like to. Hey,
how's that thing going? I've been praying for
that for weeks now. Is God doing? Oh, you look
upset. Are you okay? Can I sit with you? That's
why we opened the coffee shop after church, so
there could be time to connect together as the
body. We'll all have time to get to our lunches
and our family events and things, but... But
here, for this moment, for these couple hours
we're here on Sunday, this is our opportunity
to spend this family time together. This is what
makes a church strong. It's not cool ministries
and cool programs or events. It's people who
are thinking about each other all the time. It's
carrying each other's burdens, stirring one another
up in love and good works, provoking one another,
it says, in love and good works, challenging
each other to step forward, to go further in
the Lord and to do things, to step out in faith
and, oh, I'm scared, but yeah, I have my whole
brotherhood around here with me to carry me and
I could do this and that's what this is about.
That's what church is. You go through the New
Testament and I challenge you to do this if you've
never done it before is find all the verses in
the New Testament that say the phrase one another.
And you might be a little overwhelmed when you
see that we're called to love one another and
to pray for one another and to carry one another's
burdens and to encourage one another and on and
on and on and on because why? This is about one
another. That's what church is and so consider
one another. Think about, that means think about
your brothers and sisters and more than just
Sunday, right? Do you see your nuclear family,
your biological family once a week and then never
even call or text them again throughout the whole
week? Some of you maybe. You need to work on
that. But in most cases, no, we're connected,
right? Same thing here. Same thing. This is family.
And so the third thing he says is not neglecting
to gather together as some are in the habit of
doing, but encouraging each other as all the
more as you see the day approaching. You see,
the church, we're meant to be connected both
inside and outside because we are family. This
is where Hebrews gets super practical. God is
calling the church here through his word to prioritize
gathering together for a reason. It's not just
because, well, that's what we do. There's a reason
God says don't neglect this. And I would add
into this, in every way you can, don't neglect
this. Pastor Rick. Not feeling great today. He's
here to do announcements. Even though he's talking
like that, he's still here. Right? He's like
my little brother, so I tease him a lot. Last
week, though, he came in to church, and wow,
he sounded terrible. I said, go home. I'm supposed
to be here at church. I'm like, I appreciate
that, brother. Go home. Get well. Right? You
know, it's just we put aside ourselves to come
serve, and when he says don't neglect, he's like,
you know, some people just don't feel like it.
Really? I don't know anybody. This is how you
get to know somebody. Hi. I'm an introvert. I
can't do that. Great. All the extroverts, find
that introvert. Bombard them. No. That might
make them leave, you know, so. But we're called
to gather together, not as a duty, not as a legalistic
checkbox. The reason God says prioritize gathering
together is because love requires presence. You
have to be present for love to fully express
itself. And you go, well, I could FaceTime. Great,
can you give him a hug? It's not the same. Well,
I could talk to them. Great. That's awesome.
I'm not saying any of that stuff is good. I chat
with friends on Discord. I text. I do all that
stuff as well. But it is not the same as physically
being together. To be able to engage in that
way. And so love requires presence. Spiritual
formation happens in a gathered people. And it
really comes down to thinking beyond our own
individual spiritual life and thinking to, if
I'm not there, what effect will it have on somebody?
Not because you're great, not because there's
anything in us, but the idea is sometimes the
most spiritually effective thing we could do
is simply show up. Because you might walk through
the door and find yourself standing next to somebody
and worshiping with them and you have no idea
they're barely hanging on in life right now.
But as you're standing next to them praising
God, they're just encouraged. Maybe it's the
parents who you bring your kids to church. And
if they're little, children's church or youth
group or youth ministry and stuff, and you do
that because just bringing them is teaching them
something very important. I've shared this statistic
before, but it says in today's America, amongst...
evangelical, professing believers who are like
solid, like I love Jesus and I know it and they're
like, everything's great. They attend church
on average once a month. Once a month. Imagine
if you saw your family once a month. Probably
get mad at you. But even more important, like
parents with kids, if you bring your kids to
church once a month, what are you teaching them
about the priority of gathering with the body
of Christ? What you're teaching them is it's
not all that important, is it? Little things.
Just showing up can have a huge effect. Maybe
you showing up is just reminding a new believer
that they're not alone. Maybe they've gotten
saved and all their friends left them and all
their family left them and they're like, I did
this Jesus thing and it's cost me my entire social
life and you have no idea. But you walking up
to them during greeting and going, hi, how you
doing? My name's so -and -so. I'm so glad you're
here. Just. is the thing that tells them, I'm
not alone. I have a new family. You know, this
is especially important on those big holidays
where the world is watching, you know, Christmas,
Easter. It's important. The world's like, oh,
you guys profess to believe in this, you know,
this Jesus, and oh, in this one day a year, the
whole world is celebrating his birthday. What
are you going to do? I stayed home. It's cold.
Okay. Now, by and far, this church shows up,
and I'm very blessed by that. Very blessed. Last
couple years, I'm getting more and more from
believers that are just friends and family. You
have church on Christmas morning? Why would you
do that? I'm like, why would you not do that?
That's the day we're celebrating his birthday.
I can take a couple hours out of my day to come
celebrate his birthday with the family, right?
Now, again, I'm not trying to make people feel
guilty here, but one of the things we want to
lean into this year in vision is just really
committing to that fact of there's a reason why
God says gather together. There's a reason why
he says come together as the church. There's
a reason why he stays connected outside. And
he says it right here in these verses, to provoke
love and good works. To provoke love and good
works. We need each other. God has chosen to
work through us, his body. It's you and me. That's
who God's chosen to work through. And whether
you think that was a good idea or not, that's
what he chose. And sometimes we need each other
to encourage one another. Sometimes we need to
provoke one another to do the things God is calling
us to do, and that's why we gather together.
Because we've got enough bombardment everywhere
else about doing the ungodly things. We need
to be surrounded with each other to stir each
other up and say, yeah, let's do the thing, and
let's go to the thing, and let's commit to the
thing. It's an idea of stewardship. Stewardship
is more than belief. It's about action. We have
a stewardship to pray for one another. We have
a stewardship to serve one another. We have a
stewardship to encourage one another. And yes,
we have a stewardship to financially participate
in the work God is doing through our church.
But these verses in Hebrews here, they give us
the roadmap for today's message as I want to
share with you guys just our direction and what
we'll be doing as a church. God is faithful.
He always is. He always will be. So consider
one another. Don't forsake the gathering. Stir
up love and good works. And with that foundation,
let's celebrate together what God has done. Because
when you know God is faithful, you could remember
with joy and step forward with courage. Now,
one of the most repeated commands in Scripture
is to remember, right? That's why we're going
to be celebrating communion today. So what did
God do this year? Over our four community groups
in 2025, we had 52 different groups gather together.
That's amazing, right? Each season, we had about
45 average attendees across those groups, and
that's people in our church committing to fellowship
and committing to community. It's a great thing.
We had 23 participants go through our discipleship
microgroup ministry, which I'll talk about in
a little bit. Had four baptism services. We do
them once a quarter. Ten people got baptized
this last year. Between summer and Christmas,
when we did our community outreaches and gave
stuff away, including toys, we had over a thousand
people from the community come through to our
church and receive a gift from you guys. This
last year, we launched Arrows, our pro -life
ministry, as we're leaning into really engaging
into that whole issue of saving lives, saving
the lives of children. We participated in a prayer
walk out at Planned Parenthood, and a number
of you came out to that. diaper and formula drives
to help local pro -life center we work with.
We raised $850 for free ultrasounds. That's you
guys. That's what you did, you know? And it's
awesome because those free ultrasounds is women
in crisis coming in thinking about murdering
their child because they think they have no other
option. But then they get that free ultrasound
and they see that child and they go, wow, that's
my baby. And the numbers of women who decide
to keep their baby just from an ultrasound is
astounding. Our evangelism ministry just passed
out thousands and thousands of gospel tracts.
Imagine how many more we'd pass out if every
single one of us did that on the regular. Our
Hosanna kids and youth ministries are growing.
Everybody's having babies. That's great. How
do you keep a church alive into the future? Babies.
Right? Wow, our youth ministry isn't growing.
I keep telling Pastor Rick, wait about 10 years.
It's going to be great. Babies all over the place,
right? New faces, new people. We had our first
annual egg hunt last year. Incidentally, that
was the most attended kids ministry event of
the year. We're going to do it again. They loved
it. They had so much fun. And for me, I'm like,
how cool is it to connect the sanctuary To having
fun in Jesus' name, right? This isn't a stuffy
place. This isn't, you know, some of you are
like, well, Pastor Nathan, you don't let us bring
coffee in here. We'll deal with that later, okay?
So I'm sneaking in. It's fine. You know, don't
spill. But the idea is that this isn't some big
stuff. The kids had a great time. How awesome
was that? Pastor Rick this last year got involved
in the Bible Club. in the Bible Club at Belfast
High School's campus. And the first year, it
was a handful of kids. And then over the, he
made relationships there and over the summer
stayed connected. And then I think it was the
first day when he came back or first week or
something, there was like 40 kids in the Bible
Club. God's doing something on our campuses,
right? Our collective participation helps Pastor
Rick get to those Bible Clubs. One of the things
he does is he brings stacks of pizzas and He
has to walk across the whole campus to get to
the Bible club. There's no greater invitation.
Yo, where are those pizzas going? Come to Bible
club. Room fills up with kids. They hear the
gospel. I mean, awesome, right? That's just a
handful of the things God did. I mean, there
was so much growth here and you guys coming to
know the Lord better and your own maturity in
Christ. And it's just awesome because God is
faithful. Now this isn't just a list of celebrating
activity. This is us as a church celebrating
that God is alive. Celebrating that, excuse me,
the gospel still changes people's lives. Celebrating
that Jesus is still building his church because
he is. So as a pastor, I just want to say thank
you to you, the church. Thank you because it
was through you as God was working through his
people, someone prayed. Someone showed up early.
Someone stayed late. Someone sat with someone
who was crying and didn't try to fix it, just
cried with them. Some gave faithfully when nobody
applauded and nobody noticed. Some served in
the nursery. Some led a community group. Some
invited a friend. This is your church, and you
guys are participating. It's beautiful. So yeah,
thank you, but ultimately, thank the Lord. Thank
the Lord that he uses us, his people, to do his
work. Now for many, this year was difficult and
included grief and health battles and financial
pressure, anxiety, relational pain, loss of loved
ones. And for some, it might still feel like
unanswered prayers. We just have to understand
that celebration doesn't erase pain and it's
not meant to erase pain. But it does anchor us
all in the truth that God was faithful even in
the valley. God was faithful even in the challenges.
God was faithful even in the difficulties. God
was faithful in the quiet. He carried us through.
Why? Because we're here today. And so we thank
Jesus for those things. Now, before we talk about
what's to come here in the future, I just want
to remind us all as the church that we have to
actively avoid the consumer mindset that that
is constantly trying to invade the church and
unfortunately has taken hold in a lot of the
church around the world. Consumer mentality,
meaning that church is for me, it's like a drive
-through, right? I pull up and go, beep, boop,
boop. I'd like a Bible study and some really
cool worship according to the genre I'd like.
Okay, pull up to the window. You get what you
want and then you leave. And that's how a lot
of Christians interact with church. Questions
like, do I like this and does this meet my preference
and does this fit my schedule? Real questions,
but they're ultimately, they're me focused, right?
The Bible describes the church very differently
than that. The Bible describes the church as
a body, not an audience. You guys are not an
audience. You're a body, the body of Christ.
It describes the church as a family, not a crowd.
In a family, you know each other. In a crowd,
it's a bunch of strangers gathered together.
Bible describes a church as a mission, not a
weekly production, right? We have a production
team. It's called that, right? Because we're,
you know, making sure lights and everything works.
And I'm not putting you guys on blast, but they
mess up all the time. That's okay. Is the word
getting out? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, there's things
we try to tighten up and, you know, da -da -da
-da -da. But at the end of the day, Like, I'm
not some mega church pastor that's like, oh,
our TV show has to be perfect. I'm like, is the
word getting out? Okay, well then we botched
that transition from camera to camera. Okay,
we'll fix it. Let's work on it, right? We're
a mission, not a production. We're a people,
not a building. And you've all heard this. The
church is the people. This just happens to be
the physical place we gather in on Sunday. But
we need to understand, church isn't something
we watch. Church isn't something we attend. Church
is something we belong to. Church is something
that we are a part of and that changes everything.
That understanding changes how we love and how
we serve, how we forgive. It changes how we show
up, how we get involved. It changes how we give
and build for the next generation. It changes
how we pray and carry each other's burdens. 1
Corinthians 12, you guys are familiar with this.
It says we're one body with many parts. If the
hands didn't show up, how are we? You're able
to give things to people in need. If the eyes
don't show up, who's paying attention and noticing
those that are hurt or in pain and need some
ministry? If the mouth doesn't show up, who's
teaching and sharing and encouraging? And that's
the idea in 1 Corinthians 12. Acts 2, it says
the church was devoted, generous, and together
as much as they could possibly be. Ephesians
4 says we are built up so that each part does
its part. Right? I can't do it all. I don't want
to do it all. That sounds exhausting. We are
called to share the burden together. So if we
want a stronger, healthier, more effective church
in the coming year, it's not starting with a
new program or new event. It's starting with
the people who are in the church. Not a perfect
people, but a present people, and you are present.
Praise God for you guys. That he's brought you
together to be this church at Hosanna. So where
are we going? What does our faithfulness look
like in 2026? Well, our mission as a church never
changes. To know the truth, to live the truth,
to share the truth, right? We want to know the
truth. Jesus is the truth. He said, I'm the way,
the truth, and the life. To know Jesus changes
everything in life, and so we're about that.
We're about studying the Bible. We're about learning,
right? All these things. But then we don't just
learn so that our heads are full of good knowledge.
We want to live the truth, practice it. Wow,
I've read about all these one another verses.
I need to come to church and go into my life
and my workplace and do these things. And then
our overflow of being connected with the Lord
and growing is to just be so passionate about
what he's done and what he can do that we can't
help but to just tell people the truth, to share
it with them, whether it's tracks. In many ways,
it's just your life, your behavioral change.
You're different. Why are you different? Everybody
else cheats on the time clock, but you won't
do it. Nobody's watching. Why? Well, it's because
I'm a Christian. That kind of thing, right? So,
we want people to know Jesus. We want disciples
to grow. We want families strengthened. We want
our communities served. We want the gospel spread.
So as we step into this new year, there's a few
priorities I think God has laid on my heart that
I want to share with you, the body. As we collectively
move forward, we see what God wants to do. The
first one is deeper discipleship. Deeper discipleship.
You see, one of the challenges in our faith is
we can find ourselves satisfied with the depth
of our relationship with God. Now, we're thankful
for our relationship with God to wherever place
it is. Absolutely, right? Praise God, I'm saved.
But to be satisfied with our depth when there's
always deeper that we can go in our maturity
and walk with the Lord is not necessarily the
best place to be. Disciples do more than just
attend. They go deeper. They themselves study
and commit and learn and apply. And so one of
the things we're leaning into very heavily this
year. we soft -launched it last year, was a discipleship
ministry that we're doing called Microgroups.
The idea is to get everybody here in the church
connected with a few other people where you guys
meet together and challenge one another to grow
deeper in your faith. That's what, essentially,
discipleship is. It's living life together in
a way, as much as you can, to challenge one another,
to sharpen one another. You know, like discipleship,
it's intentional relationship in which we walk
alongside other disciples in order to encourage,
equip, challenge one another in living towards
maturity in Christ. And so in February, we soft
launched this last year and had a number of people
go through it and they were just really blessed.
And so this year, we're just kind of opening
it to everybody. And in February, we're gonna
have a launch event for our micro groups ministry.
If you're interested in. committing to a discipleship
that is just pushing further and going deeper
in your relationship with the Lord, your maturity
in Christ. The idea is that we'll connect, you
know, no more than three or four of you together
in a micro group, and then you guys will meet
regularly, probably once a week if that works,
and then go through a curriculum we have, but
more importantly, to spend that time together
in vulnerability and growth so that you just
keep growing in your faith and growing in the
Lord. We're going to be leaning heavily into
that. Because we don't just want more people
in church. We want more disciples in church.
And so that's why we're going to be pushing into
that really heavily. Stronger community. You
know, our community groups have been a huge blessing,
but we want to continue to encourage the body
to be together. and the body to come together
to share time together because this is the family
that we turn to when the world is hurting us
and attacking us and assaulting us. This is a
place where Hosanna, our church. My prayer is
that someone would walk through the door of our
church for the first time and not only feel welcome,
which we hear all the time, and I'm so blessed
to hear that, but to feel like they're known,
like somebody sees me. And I'm cared for and
I'm connected, right? That's what this is all
about. One of the things we're doing this year,
and we mentioned it last week, to just foster
more opportunity to come together is we're starting
a new midweek service here at Hosanna on January
21st. It's going to be a Wednesday evening midweek
service led by Pastor Ron. And, you know, I know
there's been a handful of people who have been
like, hey, when are we going to start up the
midweek service again? Then I'd be like, why
don't you go to a community group? And they'll
go, no. Okay. How about a midweek service? Okay,
so we'll see all of you here on Wednesdays as
another opportunity to gather together. But again,
everybody has different means of connecting,
right? And we get that. I get that. And so we're
putting that on the calendar just to foster stronger
community. One of the things God's really put
on my heart is to invest in the next generation.
We're not here to babysit, even though that's
what happens in the nursery. We have youth ministries
and children's church and stuff that are designed
to come alongside the parents. We're to come
alongside you to help you disciple your children
in the Lord. And we're not to do all the work
for you, but if you leave them with us, we'll
do as much work as we can. But the idea is to
partner with the parents in discipling. that
just, you know, requires funds and stuff. And
that requires, you know, counselors to serve
in the ministry. That requires, you know, getting
kids to camp and these opportunities we have
to really pour into you guys because we love
you guys. We want you to know Jesus. We want
you to grow and be blessed. And as the body,
we want to rally around you guys, the youth,
to help in that, you know. Pizza costs money,
and so we want to rally around pizza so these
Bible clubs can keep going out. We want to see
that God would open up more campuses for Pastor
Rick to go to because he's not busy enough already,
and so we want to put him on every campus in
the local area. Excuse me. And then one of the
big ones, God put this on my heart about a month
and a half ago, but it was the idea of mission.
And the idea of this is how do we bless our city
in practical, consistent ways? Because we're
not just meant to be inward focused. We're meant
to be outward focused. And 1 Thessalonians 5
.14 says this. And we exhort you, brothers and
sisters, warn those who are idle, comfort the
discouraged, help the weak, and be patient with
everyone. That is how we're going to focus on
our outward ministry this year. God gave me a
vision about a month and a half ago about a family
resource center. And those of you that have been
around for a long time, you're going to laugh
because our building down the street used to
be called the Family Resource Center. But I heard
about schools. A lot of the schools in our local
areas are having... extensive after -school programs
now because parents are busy working right and
so the schools and the teachers are kind of becoming
the the child care program for kids and some
of them are open as late as 7 p .m because that's
that's the need right and We have upstairs in
our building down the street that we're working
out some final details with the city to be able
to use again, but I just thought we could open
up a faith -based after -school program, and
then we're kind of close to a lot of schools.
I know a lot of kids walk home because parents
are at work, and I'm like, well, we have a van.
Maybe we could do an after -school program and
have it be a faith -based thing where it's, yeah.
and stuff, and then I thought, wow, you know,
that's just helping the kids, but what about
the parents? You know, a lot of parents are struggling
and stuff, and then, you know, God reminded me
that, you know, one of our pastors here, Pastor
Manny, is a, are you getting your PhD this year
or next year? Licenses, okay. He's like a licensed
therapist, counselor, and so I talked to him
about it, and he goes, oh, man. I'd love to come
back in the church and work full -time offering
counseling services to families and parents and
marriage counseling and parenting classes and
all this stuff that he's like trained how to
do. I was like, oh, that would be a neat service
to the community. And then that just kept kind
of growing and developing. And so I'm praying
about what God would want us as a church to be
able to reach out to the community through something
like this. A place for parents to have their
kids go after school. A trusted place. A place
where they could get help and therapy if they
need it. Kids could get therapy. Parents could
get help. A place where we could have an expanded
food ministry to help with food and clothing
and items for the families in our community that
are struggling and suffering. And that just falls
right there on the whole thing. Warn those who
are idle. Well, let's have a faith -based program.
We're going to kindly and lovingly, you know,
make it about Jesus. And comfort the discouraged.
And that's through counseling and therapy services
and helping the weak. And that's through donations
and food and clothing. And then be impatient
with everyone. The whole thing being centered
in the love of Jesus Christ. I don't know what
God's going to do with that. It's just a vision
he gave me. But I thought there's a need out
there in our community. And there's a need with
the families around us. And how cool. Maybe God's
going to do something with that. This next year,
we're gonna be partnering with Olive Crest even
more. They're a family services ministry down
the street. In a few weeks, we'll be introducing
a ministry they have called volunteer hosting.
And volunteer hosting is simply where you can
open up your home to... a parent, single parent,
mom or dad or whatever, who is having a very
short -term emergency. Maybe they have to go
to the hospital tonight and they have nowhere
to drop off their kid. Or maybe they have to
take an extra work shift and they need someone
to watch their child. And this is an opportunity
for us, the body, to exercise hospitality where
should you choose to be a part of the program,
it's you basically open your house up for anywhere
from one to three nights to watch a kid. And
this is just an opportunity for ministry and
hospitality and ministry to those parents. And
it's just a neat practical way to say, hey, I
have a couch, you know. I could spend time with
your kid. And then the relationships that grow
from that and the evangelism that gets there,
there's just a whole lot of stuff going on with
that. So we'll have more information about that
later. And then, you know, of course, leaning
into more leadership development and discipleship
and volunteer training. Those are kind of the
focuses, and of course we're continuing to do
the stuff we're already doing, but my question
to everyone here and everyone watching online
is, what will you say yes to this year? Not a
vague intention, not a New Year's resolution
that you're going to give up on in a month, but
what will you say yes to? Of course, the challenge
is always to say yes to Jesus fully and completely
with your everything. But what about yes to consistent
community in the church? What about yes to serving
one another or serving here in the church joyfully,
sacrificially, regularly? A yes to giving faithfully
and obediently. A yes to growing in your own
just maturity in Christ intentionally and seriously
and humbly because the future of this church,
every church really, but this church isn't built
on my vision alone. It is built by a body together,
each part doing its work. That's how we grow
stronger in our effect for the kingdom of Jesus
Christ. So with that foundation, I want to shift
gears and have our family meeting, okay? Everybody
breathe in. Family meeting time. Now, this is
something we haven't typically done here at Hosanna
and something myself and the board of directors
kind of decided that, you know, with this idea
that we're all collectively participating in
what... this thing is the church, is to be transparent
about our finances and where we're at as a church
and stuff. I thought that would be just a good
thing to do, and we prayed about it, and the
Lord seemed to emphasize that, and so that's
what I'm going to do. Now, this isn't to guilt
or manipulate or twist arms. The door's locked?
Okay, cool. All right, so. Excuse me. None of
that, right? My heart behind this is just to
be wise and to be transparent with you, the body,
because as we as the body collectively participate,
and this is where the finances come from, of
course the church runs on donations, right? And
the giving and all that, it's a biblical thing
we're called to do. And I just think... you guys
knowing what's going on can be helpful. Now,
we need to remember that God is the one who funds
his plans, right? God gives vision, God funds
his plans. God is the one who does that, but
he has chosen to do that through his people,
right? And oftentimes we can find ourselves going,
well, someone else will do it. Look to your left,
look to your right, and say, you're someone else,
okay? God has chosen to fund the work of his
kingdom through us because how we handle our
finances and our money individually has a whole
lot to say about our relationship with the Lord
and trust and all of these types of things. But
the reason I said that is because sometimes people
say, well, if the Lord wants to do it, he'll
provide. And then they're not obedient in their
own giving. And then provision's not provided
and the church can't do the thing. And they go,
well, see, the Lord didn't want to do it. if
resources aren't there to do the things we need
to do because of our disobedience to the Lord
in our generosity, it's not that the Lord didn't
want to do it. We're being disobedient. Now,
can God fund things any way he wants? Yes. But
I share all that to say this, that theologically,
when it comes to church finances and the work
and the mission here, theologically, it's a family
shared responsibility. Right? It's not to fall
on one person or a few people. It's something
that we're all called to participate in because
there's power in the participation of the whole.
The work of the kingdom here at Hosanna, our
church, the work that happens to us, the body,
it isn't financed by someone else. It's financed
by us, the body of Christ. And so the body here
at Hosanna, I just want to say straight up, you
guys are generous. You guys are really generous,
and praise God for that, you know? A matter of
fact, overall giving increased in 2025 from 2024.
Praise God. That's faithfulness, you know? And
that's to celebrate. However, operational expenses
go up every year. And those operational expenses
have increased consistently more. than the overall
giving has gone up. And so I wanted to share
some of that with you just so you know. You know,
the operational expenses, when I say that, these
are the practical things, right? These are the
unglamorous things like utilities and insurance
and payroll and supplies and maintenance and
technology and facility costs and all that kind
of stuff, right? These are the unglamorous things.
You know, we love to give to save a child, yes,
and ah, but yay, light bill, right? It doesn't
have the same ring to it. But there's a reality
to operational costs of having this place that
is a foundation, a home base for us to do ministry
from. And so, like I said, it's not that there's
not generosity here. I think in some cases it's
maybe just context. And so I wanted to share
a couple things with you in context. Like, we
have to carry commercial insurance, right? Because
if the building burns down, you know, we want
to be able to fix it. If someone, you know, wants
to come in and, you know, trip on the stairs
and then sue us for a bajillion dollars, you
know, insurance covers all these types of things.
Well, last year, the cost of our insurance increased
16%. We're having an insurance crisis in California,
right, with fires and everything. But just so
you guys have context, today, our monthly insurance
bill is $3 ,500 a month, okay? Health insurance
for our employees, right? California requires
you to offer health insurance by law we wouldn't
offer it anyways but it's not a thing we can
cut is why I share that but that goes up every
year and last year it increased 9 % our insurance
bill right now for just health insurance and
in some of the employees are participating in
it and stuff but it's $2 ,100 a month that's
just real life We do have a mortgage over the
years as major things have needed repair and
there wasn't the money in the bank for those
types of things. We've refinanced and had to
pull money out and stuff to cover those things.
But as of today, our mortgage sits at about $1
.1 million. And the payment on that is $11 ,000
a month. Electricity, just as an example, during
the summer, So many here are so gracious to make
sure I know that it's too hot. And really reminding
me and helping me to understand that we need
to turn the air conditioners on, which we do
because, of course, we want to be comfortable
in here, and then during the winter it's heaters.
But during the summer, our average electricity
bill is between $3 ,000 and $4 ,000 a month.
And we've replaced everything with LEDs, and
we've done everything we can to try and mitigate
that. But the reality of our financial position
today, just for transparency's sake, is over
the last 36 months, which is about three years,
we have been at a deficit, a monthly deficit,
29 out of those 36 months. Deficit means that
we didn't have enough money come in through offerings
and ties and whatnot to cover the operational
expenses. trying to be wise and mindful, myself
and the board and others, we've cut just about
everything we can. Anything excess, we've cut.
Outside of laying off staff, which would be even
more difficult because we're already at a skeleton
crew, there's not a whole lot left to cut. And
so it's been a tough but faithful few years,
right? In 2025, just so you understand, our average
monthly expenses is $65 ,000 as a church. The
average tithe that came in that are things to
cover those expenses was $58 ,000. So we've had
an average deficit of $7 ,000 a month over the
last year. Now, some of you might be like, well,
how are we surviving? pleased and blessed to
share with you the body that a few years back,
we had a very, very, very significant donation
to the church come in. And in hindsight, it was
very timely. And that significant donation has
been subsidizing our deficits over the last few
years. And so bills are paid. We're not behind
on anything. We can only do that for so long
as you can imagine. Eventually, the extra runs
out, and no money, no church, right? So I share
all that to say that that's our position. What
that means today is what's coming in on a regular
basis just isn't enough to cover the operating
expenses, which are going to increase again this
year because they increase every year. The result
of that simply is that we're, you know, somewhat
treading water. We can't save a head for extra
things. Our building's 120 years old, so, you
know, things start to break and it's expensive
to fix. But we don't have extra to save towards
those types of things or pay down the mortgage
or let alone contemplate pursuing greater ministry
or greater outreach and those types of things.
And, you know, it's just... The reality. And
so the reality we've been operating under the
last few years is we have to think about like,
well, do we do VBS this year or not? Because
in order to do VBS, we have to shift money over
to VBS, right? And then something else maybe
doesn't happen. Now again, utilities and all
this stuff, these aren't things separate from
ministry. These support ministry. The lights
on means we could do ministry here and gather.
For church, right? Insurance means that we could
gather responsibly and not have to worry about
getting sued to oblivion if somebody twisted
their ankle. Payroll means ministry is consistent
and accountable. And just, you know, with complete
transparency so you guys know, on average, what
we pay our employees is below the average for
our area. And we just have done that as a way
to be mindful and responsible with finances.
A facility means kids can learn. It means people
can be counseled. Groups can meet. The body can
gather for study and worship. And a facility
is simply practical, but we can't just look at
it as practical. It is spiritual because it all
supports the work of the gospel. So again, it's
not a question of generosity per se because giving
was up. last year, right? Every time we do a
fundraiser, you guys come out like crazy. It's
just amazing, you know? I mean, all the kids
are paid for camp. That's you. That's the body.
That's your hearts, right? You guys get it. You're
understanding it and understanding what it's
all about, but maybe it's perhaps a question
of context, right? And that's why I wanted to
share some of these details. Like, oh, I didn't
know the electricity bill was that high. Those
kinds of things. From a numbers perspective,
just so you understand, and this is fairly typical
across churches and businesses and wherever,
but about 20 % of the giving congregation here
at Hosanna provides about 80 % of the annual
budget. And then 80 % of the congregation provides
about 20 % of the annual budget. That's not atypical.
That's just how it works. Some are blessed and
able to give more, and some are just in positions
where they give less. But it's not about the
money and how much. It's about the faithfulness
and the consistency and obedience to that. So
am I scared? Are we worried? No. God is faithful.
He was faithful the last three years. He's going
to be faithful this year. God is faithful. He's
always been faithful. We're okay because God
is faithful. Today, we're fine because a few
years back, God was like, hey, you're going to
need this. put it on someone's heart to be generous
in a really incredible way. And so there's no
panic here. There's no, I'm just, we're trying
to be wise, and I want to be honest and transparent
with you, the body of where we're at. So you
guys know, okay? And then, of course, the invitation
is always that we, as the body here, the whole
body, participate in the shared participation
of what our church is doing and where we're going.
And pastorally, my heart for you, the body, is
that you guys don't miss the blessing of obedience
to the Lord in any way. You know, it's often
said that the last part of a person's life that
God gets a hold of is the wallet, right? He gets
our heart. He gets our service. He gets our time.
He gets our, then the wallet. We're like, you
know, and that may or may not be the case, you
know, here in your life and all that. But I know
that when you're faithful to the Lord, there's
blessing and obedience. I know that. There's
blessing in your life individually. I'm not saying
give money and he's going to give you a mansion.
That's not how it works. But the blessings God
lays onto your life are just incredible. And
when you don't obey in any area of life, you're
going to miss out on whatever those blessings
are that God has for you. And so really it's
that we, the body, are ready and able to engage
in whatever the Lord calls us to in ministry.
And I would hate for, you know, anything like,
you know, a financial position to be a reason
where we're like, man, God is very clearly laying
in our heart to pursue this or go this way, and
we can't, you know. Now, if everybody is faithful
in obedience and money's there and God says no
and closes the door, well, then God didn't want
us to do that, right? Easy peasy. But I hope
you guys understand where I'm coming from. Are
we good? Okay. The reality is that he's chosen
to financially take care of everything that he
wants to do through us, through his people, through
his body. So there's an ask here as we're entering
into a new year. I'm doing an ask here to the
body and something for you guys to pray about
and prayerfully consider. We ran the numbers
on things and double and triple checked them
to say, okay, what does next year look like as
we're forecasting forward? Because again, certain
expenses, they go up every year, and if we assumed
just a modest 5 % increase in expenses across
the board, which is not a weird number to look
at, what we found out is that if every single
person that is currently giving, because there
are some here that aren't, and that's between
you and the Lord, but if everybody that is a
part of this church that says, this is my home
church, okay? Now, again, I'm not including those
of you that may be visitors today, and this isn't
your home, okay? This isn't for you per se. If
you're moving or leaving and stuff, you know,
praise God, you know, he's taking you somewhere.
But if you're here and you're, you know, like,
this is my home and I'm expecting to be here,
what we found out is if every giver, existing
giver, was able to increase the amount they were
giving by 7%, we would break even next year and
not have any deficit. Now, just so you understand
what that means is if you're giving $1 a month,
and this isn't a joke, if you're giving $1 a
month, if you increase that to $1 .07, okay,
if you're the person that's able to give $100
a month, increase that by $7. That's what I'm
talking about, 7 % increase. We would break even
next year, already assuming the increase in all
the operating expenses. You know, it's always
interesting when you start talking about collective
participation. You know, the power of the compounding
penny and stuff. So it was like, well, just for
giggles, what would happen if everybody that's
currently giving was able to increase by 10 %?
Not additional 10 % on top of what you're giving.
If you were able to give $100 a month and you
increased that to $10 instead of $7. Do you understand?
So it's a very small movement we're looking at
here, but we just forecasted the numbers and
said, if every giver did that this year, instead
of just breaking even next year, instead of being
in a place where, okay, there was no growth,
no expansion, no real movement forward, lots
of fundraisers, you know, but we were still trading
water. Instead of that, we would end the year
with like $22 ,000 surplus in the bank. And I
share that just so you understand that if you're
given a dollar a month and that's all you're
able to do, and you increase that by a dime,
that participates in this church's ability to
move forward and be funded. And maybe we wouldn't
have to fundraise all the time for things. Maybe
we wouldn't have to constantly ask for things
because we would be able to have those things
budgeted ahead of time is kind of what I'm looking
at. And so do you guys see the power of everybody
participating? That's the idea, right? That's
why I'm putting this out there to the church
is just so you don't understand. It's not one
person increasing their giving thousands of dollars.
That's not how the church is supposed to operate.
God has those people in his church that are doing
very well financially and can do that, but it's
not about that. It's about everybody's $7. Or
seven cents is what comes together. And then
as a church, we are collectively able to go pursue
the things that he wants us to pursue as a church.
And this doesn't just mean outward stuff. This
also means inward stuff, right? One of the things
a church is supposed to do is to take care of
the widows and the orphans. You know, those funds
to help us do that come from the body participating
in these things. And so here's the ask. This
year, I'm just asking everybody in the body just,
Pray, seek the Lord between you and him and say,
am I participating the way you want me to participate?
That's a question between you and him. It's not
compared to someone else. It's simply, are you
being faithful as he has directed you to in his
word? I'm asking the body this year to seriously
consider if you are able to increase what you're
giving by 7%. If it's... Well, I could do less,
praise the Lord. If it's I could do more, praise
God. But across the board, sharing the burden,
that's simply what I'm asking. If this is your
church home, if this is the place you call your
spiritual home, then move towards consistency
if maybe you haven't been consistent. One -time
gifts are welcomed and awesome and we're so grateful
for those things. But the one -time $100 gift,
isn't as effective across the board as the $10
a month for the whole month is the idea with
the consistency. And so, and please hear me,
this isn't about amounts. This isn't about this
and that, even though amounts are a part of the
conversation. This is simply about surrendering
to the Lord with everything we have and being
a collective participant in the ministry of what
God has us to do at this church. Again, if you're
new, If it's your first time and you're like,
I don't know if this is my home yet, this isn't
for you. If God wants you to participate, great.
But this is for those that this is your home.
Now imagine if everybody that isn't giving added
to that equation. Resources are just a reality
of life. It's an uncomfortable topic. I don't
like talking about it. I know people are like,
oh, and somebody's going to walk out of here
today and go, oh, that's all churches talk about.
Well, listen to the last 51 messages from the
previous year and you'll see differently. But
it's just finances are a reality of existing
as a church and doing the work of the church
and moving forward as a church. And so we shouldn't
feel uncomfortable talking about it. We should
be raw and real about it, even in our own families
and stuff. And again, that's between you guys
and your families. But step into ownership. If
you're connected, but not invested, a new year
is a great time to move from attending to belonging.
It's a great time to move from watching to participating.
It's a great time to move from consuming to contributing.
Now, if you're in a season right now in your
life where finances are truly tight, and you're
like, I hear you, Pastor Nathan, but it is absolutely
not possible, please don't hear condemnation
in this message this morning. Let the church
be the church for you in your time of need. That's
why we all collectively contribute so that when
any of us are truly in a time of need, the church
can step in and help to the best of its ability.
So if you're in that place, do not feel condemned.
And I rebuke the devil from condemning you right
now. Instead, ask and let the church help. And
then when your situation changes and things are
better, then be the one who contributes so that
the next person here in the family that is struggling
could be helped as well, right? So God has been
faithful. He will be faithful. I believe he's
inviting us into this year of just deeper discipleship
individually, stronger community, greater mission,
shared responsibility and ownership. The most
exciting part is the story that God's gonna write
in 2026 for Hosanna is not just gonna be about
what happens here in the pulpit or up on the
stage or even in this building. The story of
what God does through Hosanna is gonna be written
through every single one of you and how you follow
the Lord's leading in your life. The lives you
touch, the change you wrought through sharing
the truth and it's gonna be hundreds of acts
of ordinary faithfulness. It's gonna be prayers,
service, generosity, repentance, compassion,
invitations. It's gonna be written through discipleship
and kids learning about Jesus and marriages healing
and relationships restored and prodigals coming
home. It's gonna be the addicted healed and set
free. That's the story God is writing through
our church, through you guys. So we're a church
that exists to know the truth, to live the truth,
and to share the truth. It's Jesus. It's always
Jesus. And as long as God would have us here,
we want to be a place that is proclaiming Jesus.
So let's enter the new year the right way. In
gratitude for what he's done, 2025 was pretty
cool. Considering. Faith for what he will do.
God has a whole lot of stuff ahead of us as a
church. And commitment to the body together.
Why? Because we are better when we are together.
Amen? Let's pray. Father as we enter this time
of communion God we're grateful. We are grateful
for all you've done Lord. We're grateful for
the good times and the bad times. We're grateful
for the joy and the sorrow Lord because you were
there with us in all of it. And God the most
important thing that we are about as a church
is that people would know you. And Lord we gather
as a body to remember in communion. That God,
we take this time as you directed us, Lord, that
we would remember the cost of our salvation,
Lord, in your body being nailed to that cross.
That we would remember the extent of your wrath
against sin as we remember all the beating that
Jesus took. It was terrible. God, we remember
as he took that bread and broke it and gave it
to the disciples and said, this is my body given
for you, that Jesus, you laid down your life
very painfully and sacrificially to be the atonement
for our sins, Lord, and that is a price we can
never repay. And Lord, you shed your blood. Not
that our penalty would just be forgiven, but
the very stain of sin would be washed from our
lives forever. And God, I don't even know if
we fully understand that, but God, you look at
us as sin -free. You look at us as beloved children
of you, adopted into your family, loved with
a love we will never understand, God. Lord, you're
everything. Lord, I pray that this church, this
part of your body, Lord, that we would be ready.
to do whatever you call us to do as a church.
To not just know the truth, but to live it in
every aspect of our lives, God, as we gather
together to mutually encourage and build up one
another and then to turn outside to go into the
world and to take the gospel of Jesus Christ
in the light of hope that has changed so many
of us. Lord, we trust you with our church. We
trust you with our finances. God, your word is
clear, and I pray for those that, Lord, maybe
haven't entered into that obedience yet, Lord,
that they would experience the blessing of that
obedience as they do so. But, Lord, even in that,
it's about us, your people. It's not about this
building or anything. Lord, you want us and our
hearts to grow, to become more like you in all
things. And so help us, Lord, to be individually
people. who know you and shine your light, and
together, Lord, as a city on a hill, just brightly
reach out to the world around us for the truth
and the hope and the love that is found in you,
Jesus Christ. We thank you. We love you. It's
in Jesus' name we pray.