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00:00 I wanna take a moment and just sincerely say thank you.
00:05 Like from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
00:08 Thank you for being here today.
00:12 You made it.
00:13 And your presence, it really, really matters.
00:15 Like in all the busyness of your life,
00:17 you chose to gather together with God's people,
00:20 to hear God's Word and to serve God's people
00:23 and to praise God's name.
00:25 And I just wanna say sincerely, thank you.
00:27 And what I wanna do is I wanna show you
00:29 a portion of Scripture that reminds me
00:32 of how I feel about you.
00:34 Paul said to the Thessalonians this,
00:36 in God's Word he said,
00:37 "So we have been greatly encouraged
00:40 "in the midst of our troubles and sufferings,
00:43 "dear brothers and sisters,
00:44 "because you have remained strong in your faith.
00:49 "It gives us new life to know
00:51 "that you're standing firm in the Lord."
00:53 Now watch this.
00:55 He said, "How we thank God for you."
00:59 And you're gonna hear me say it again and again and again.
01:01 Thank you.
01:02 I thank God for every single one of you.
01:04 How we thank God for you.
01:06 Now let's say these next three words aloud together.
01:08 Everybody say it with me.
01:09 Because of you.
01:11 One more time, let's say it aloud.
01:12 Because of you, we have great joy
01:16 as we enter God's presence.
01:19 How I thank God for every single one of you.
01:23 And because of you, we have great joy
01:26 as we enter into God's presence.
01:29 What I wanna do is I wanna tell you
01:30 that because of you, God is changing lives.
01:35 And honestly, this is ridiculously emotional for me
01:39 because it was 28 years ago this very week
01:44 that we met for the very first time
01:46 with 40 people in a two-car garage.
01:50 We just saw the overhead projector there.
01:52 And there's mirrors that made it look like there's 80,
01:54 but there's really only 40.
01:55 And we gathered together for the first time.
01:59 Paco, you and Jennifer were there.
02:01 Jerome and Shanna, of course,
02:03 if you've been a part of our church for any amount of time,
02:05 you've heard me brag on Jerome and Shanna.
02:07 You represent what our church is about.
02:11 And just this month, they had 85 people in their life group.
02:16 85 people, twice the size of our church in the beginning
02:20 in their life group.
02:21 And it is the most diverse group
02:25 that you have ever seen in your life.
02:27 And you have to understand Jerome and Shanna
02:30 to understand their life group.
02:31 Jerome was a drug dealer who got saved.
02:33 Now he's a very successful computer programmer,
02:35 but he was a drug dealer.
02:36 And before he had a legal job,
02:40 we tried to build him a resume,
02:42 and all we could come up with was he was good at sales,
02:45 good at marketing.
02:46 That's all we could do.
02:48 Now Jerome has memorized 58 chapters of the Bible.
02:53 Come on, somebody, that's ridiculous.
02:56 58 chapters of the Bible.
02:59 And Shanna is the strength.
03:02 She is a powerhouse.
03:03 She is a mentor.
03:05 She is a missionary.
03:06 She's a homeschool mom.
03:07 She is someone that we all look up to.
03:10 And even with their mission work,
03:11 it's no wonder that they have people
03:12 from seven different countries in their life group.
03:15 Let me tell you about their group.
03:16 Jerome texted me and he said
03:18 they had three Euversian engineers,
03:20 one architect, one veterinarian, one lawyer,
03:23 two accountants, and a partridge in a pear tree.
03:25 Okay, I made up the last part.
03:27 But that sounds about right, attorneys and Euversians
03:30 and veterinarians and stuff.
03:31 They also have two prostitutes,
03:34 one who's been saved and baptized and out of the industry.
03:37 The other, with the support of the group,
03:39 is making positive steps in her life even now.
03:42 They also have two ex-gang members, four ex-strippers,
03:46 two guys just out of prison, three people were homeless.
03:49 Now they're employed and thriving.
03:51 So what I want you to see is in this life group,
03:52 you can get free from an addiction,
03:54 you can escape an abusive situation,
03:56 you can get your pet spayed,
03:57 you can get good legal advice,
03:59 you can get your house designed,
04:00 you can get your teeth cleaned,
04:01 and you can get your taxes done at this life group.
04:05 And I wanna say to you, Jerome, and to all of you,
04:09 thank you for being a church that loves those
04:13 that other people reject.
04:16 (audience applauding)
04:19 Because of you, we're a church where everyone is welcome,
04:24 everyone is needed, and everyone can be changed.
04:28 And so today, I wanna invite a few other people
04:32 to help me say thank you to you,
04:35 to show you what God is doing through our church
04:38 because of you.
04:40 First, I wanna invite Pastor Brian Franco
04:43 to come up who's been married for 14 years to Sarah.
04:46 Pastor Brian is the campus pastor
04:48 at Life Church in Springfield, Missouri.
04:50 The reason I show you this building
04:52 is because this building used to be a concert hall
04:55 and Brian had his very first date with his wife
04:59 at a concert, none other than Shane and Shane concert
05:02 in that very building.
05:03 And only God knew that years later,
05:05 that would be a Life Church
05:06 and he would be the campus pastor.
05:08 Would you please help me welcome Pastor Brian Franco.
05:11 (audience applauding)
05:12 - Let's go.
05:13 (audience applauding)
05:15 Thank you, Pastor Craig.
05:16 Thank you, Pastor Craig,
05:17 for the opportunity to share what's happening in Springfield.
05:20 I want to introduce you all to my very good friend,
05:24 Steve, right here.
05:25 This was us having some fun last summer
05:27 at a little thing we call At The Movies.
05:29 And we were having a good time,
05:31 but here recently, Steve turned 62 years old
05:35 or 62 years young as he likes to say it.
05:38 And on his birthday, I asked him the birthday question.
05:40 I said, "Steve, what lesson has it taken you
05:44 "62 years to learn?"
05:46 And he immediately replied, "Brian, I don't know.
05:49 "I can't remember, I'm too old."
05:51 (audience laughing)
05:52 And then he came back the next day,
05:54 but this time is a little different
05:55 because this time he said, "I've got your answer."
05:59 And with tears in his eyes and his voice starting to quiver,
06:02 he said, "Brian, I've learned that God is enough."
06:06 Now, the reason why that's an amazing answer
06:10 is because there is no way he could say that
06:12 unless it was a miracle of God at work in his life.
06:16 See, I met Steve in 2018,
06:18 about six months before the Life Tour Springfield campus
06:22 opened the doors and he said,
06:23 "I cannot wait to be a part of what God's gonna do
06:25 "in the church.
06:26 "I'm so excited for how it's gonna change our community,
06:29 "but I want you to know you're never gonna see me, Brian."
06:31 I was like, "What do you mean?"
06:32 He's like, "I'm not gonna attend in person."
06:34 Because Steve was actually the primary caregiver
06:37 for his wife, Kristen,
06:39 who had been battling muscular dystrophy
06:41 for her entire life.
06:43 Now, when we went through the lockdown in 2020
06:45 through COVID and we started to feel the challenges
06:48 of pain and isolation in our life,
06:51 the very thing you felt, I want you to recognize,
06:53 they'd already been feeling it for years.
06:55 They'd been isolated.
06:57 They were alone.
06:59 And it was my privilege at that moment of their life
07:01 to enter as their new pastor.
07:03 And honestly, what was gonna be the closing journey
07:05 of Kristen's life, 'cause it was in 2021
07:07 that I got the news from a neighbor that said,
07:10 "Brian, you need to get over there fast.
07:12 "It doesn't look like she's gonna last much longer."
07:15 So I rush over, I get into the house,
07:17 I find the room where they're at, I grab Steve's hand,
07:19 I put my hand on her shoulder, we begin to pray.
07:21 God, I give her hope.
07:23 Give her hope, give her peace.
07:25 Lord, let the light of Jesus rise up in her
07:28 and lead her home.
07:29 We said amen, and moments later, she passed.
07:33 She entered into the presence of her Savior.
07:37 And Steve was devastated.
07:39 He was lost.
07:40 He didn't know where to turn.
07:41 He didn't know how to put his life back together.
07:44 That's all he had known for so long.
07:46 He probably felt like many of you have felt before,
07:50 or maybe even many of you feel right now.
07:52 So let me tell you what Steve did.
07:53 Steve went to church.
07:57 He said, "You know what?
07:58 "As much as I'm hurting,
07:59 "I'm gonna take advantage of my opportunity
08:02 "to be involved, to get engaged."
08:03 So he started attending regularly.
08:06 Then he went to an event where he got to know other people.
08:09 He started serving on the host team,
08:11 developing friendships outside of his home
08:14 for the first time in years.
08:15 He found himself in his way to a life group
08:18 where he was surrounded by other Christ-centered people
08:21 strengthening him.
08:22 And he said, "It was in those contexts
08:24 "that I began to discover the truth about who I was,
08:27 "my identity that I had forgotten a long time ago,
08:30 "that I am not Steve the widower.
08:33 "I am not Steve the caretaker."
08:35 He said, "No, I am Steven, a follower of Jesus,
08:38 "a man of God centered in Christ.
08:40 "I am called, I have a purpose,
08:42 "and I can make a difference."
08:45 He's like, "I got a second lease on life, let's do this."
08:48 And then 361 days after his wife passed,
08:53 he got that phone call,
08:55 that phone call that you don't ever wanna get.
08:58 His doctor said, "Steve, it's cancer.
09:00 "It's melanoma, it's stage four,
09:04 "it's metastasized."
09:06 And so for the last 18 years of his life,
09:09 Steve has been fighting for his life.
09:12 But the difference, the difference is this time,
09:15 he's not doing it alone,
09:17 because he has the support of the love of God
09:19 through the local church,
09:21 which we have not forgotten is still the hope of the world
09:24 because Steve found hope in the local church.
09:27 It was his friends from the host team
09:29 taking him to the hospital.
09:30 It was his life group that was the life support to him
09:34 the strength to him.
09:36 And yes, he is in the fight of his life,
09:37 but he is not fighting alone.
09:39 So when Steve stands up on his 62nd birthday,
09:42 and he said, "Brian, I have learned that God is enough."
09:47 He's saying that as a man who lost his wife,
09:51 who lost his health,
09:52 but he has found that he has the only thing
09:54 he's ever needed in life.
09:56 And it is because of you.
09:58 When you give, when you serve, when you invite,
10:02 when you do those things, you step out by faith.
10:05 God uses you to create space for people like Steve
10:10 to discover that God is enough.
10:15 So thank you for letting me share his story
10:17 with you all today.
10:18 (congregation applauding)
10:21 And the good news is that through the church,
10:26 many of you will discover that when God is all you have,
10:31 God is actually enough.
10:32 And Steve, right now, we pray for you in the name of Jesus,
10:36 that the power of God would touch your body,
10:39 that you would continue to be strengthened, healed,
10:42 that God would extend your days to be a blessing
10:45 in the church, as a church to people all over the world.
10:47 We pray this in Jesus' name.
10:49 And the church of God said, amen, and amen, amen.
10:53 Next, I wanna introduce a very good friend of mine.
10:55 This is one of the coolest guys
10:57 and one of the toughest guys at All Life Church.
10:59 It's Pastor Zane, who's been married for 23 years,
11:03 to Stacey, and he actually launched Life Church
11:05 in Mustaine, Oklahoma, the biggest Life Church launch
11:09 with almost 4,000 people on the very first weekend.
11:12 They're switched ministry.
11:13 This is ministry to teenagers.
11:15 It is so big that they don't fit on one night.
11:17 They have to meet on two different nights
11:20 because they're impacting so many young adults,
11:23 and I'm thankful for every single one of them.
11:25 Would you please help me welcome Pastor Zane Rolands.
11:28 (audience applauding)
11:31 - Man, I'm so thankful to Pastor Craig
11:36 to have this opportunity.
11:37 I wanna first introduce you to my family.
11:40 This is my wife, Stacey, and our five kids,
11:43 ranging from 21 down to 10 years old.
11:46 And yes, the little one with blonde hair and blue eyes
11:49 is our daughter, but we thought,
11:50 when we start spitting out blonde hair, blue-eyed kids,
11:53 we have gotta stop because we have broken something.
11:55 So we stopped at five.
11:58 Man, you know what?
12:00 I love the way that God interacts with humanity.
12:04 Now, here's what I mean by that.
12:06 When we choose to serve, when we choose to serve him,
12:10 what he does is he uses simple, ordinary actions
12:15 to create extraordinary spiritual impact.
12:21 Simple, ordinary actions that we have,
12:25 and he uses those to create extraordinary spiritual impact.
12:30 That's exactly what he did in the life of Alex.
12:33 Alex and her husband, Derek,
12:35 attend the Life.Church campus in Mustang,
12:37 and they've been there since 2016,
12:39 but Alex's story began about a decade before
12:42 when she was a senior in high school.
12:45 You see, when she was a senior,
12:46 she was so excited to get her life started.
12:49 She was ready to roll in all the possibilities
12:52 that life had to offer, and so she moved out
12:54 and was excited to get it, everything started.
12:57 And about six months into that,
13:00 she found herself surrounded by the wrong people,
13:03 doing the wrong things,
13:06 and eventually had to come to her mom and dad
13:11 and confess that she was pregnant.
13:14 Now, for her, it was like the end of the world.
13:18 She was scared, she was embarrassed,
13:22 she was full of guilt and shame, so much so
13:26 that she couldn't even go back to the church
13:29 that she'd been attending her entire life.
13:32 So for the first time, she was looking for a new church,
13:37 and they found the South Tulsa campus.
13:41 And when they walked in the very first time,
13:44 she met Pastor Tommy, and as she was walking in,
13:47 Pastor Tommy looked her right in the eye,
13:50 and he said, "I'm so glad you're here."
13:53 Simple, ordinary actions.
13:59 Because when Pastor Tommy said that, which, by the way,
14:01 he says to everyone, what she heard God say
14:06 was that, "I see you, I love you,
14:11 "and my grace is sufficient for you."
14:13 She said she felt a wave of peace come over her
14:18 that silenced every one of her fears.
14:21 Simple, ordinary action
14:24 that produces extraordinary spiritual impact.
14:28 She continued to walk into worship,
14:32 and as she sat down and got ready for worship,
14:34 the very first song they sang had the lyrics,
14:39 "Your love never fails, it never gives up,
14:43 "it never runs out on me."
14:47 And Alex, in that moment, just broke.
14:51 Because no more was she scared and embarrassed
14:58 and full of guilt and shame.
14:59 Now, after God washing over her,
15:03 she felt safe, she felt forgiven,
15:06 she felt welcomed, and she felt wanted
15:09 by a God and people who never give up.
15:14 In 2020, she and Derek were baptized at the Mustang campus,
15:19 and that's a picture of them going public with their faith.
15:23 (congregation applauding)
15:27 And man, since that time, they are so consistent,
15:29 and they go to Life.Church every single weekend,
15:32 and Alex gets to take her daughter, Abby,
15:36 and their little brothers,
15:39 and she gets to take them into a Life.Kids classroom
15:42 where there's somebody there that knows her name
15:45 that looks at 'em and says, "I'm glad you're here."
15:49 So here's what I want you to know.
15:53 I wanna say thank you to those of you
15:56 who serve in Host Team, in Life.Kids,
16:00 in Switch, on Ops, in worship,
16:04 or you lead a life group at your house,
16:06 or whatever you do, however you choose to love God
16:10 by loving people, I wanna say thank you
16:12 because even though you may never see
16:15 the impact that your serving makes,
16:19 you gotta know because of you,
16:22 families are forever different.
16:25 God uses your simple, ordinary actions
16:28 to make extraordinary, eternal, spiritual impacts.
16:33 Thanks so much for letting me share this story.
16:34 (congregation applauding)
16:42 I love that, and I wanna just say to you
16:45 that you are so welcome here.
16:48 It doesn't matter what you're going through,
16:51 what you're in the middle of, you are welcome here,
16:53 you are loved, and God's grace is sufficient.
16:58 God is changing individuals, he's changing families,
17:01 he's changing legacies, and as your pastor,
17:05 because of you, God is doing something special
17:08 all over the world through the YouVersion Bible app.
17:11 It's probably the most humbling thing to me
17:13 to know that our church stewards,
17:15 what many people are calling
17:16 the greatest Bible engagement tool
17:17 in the history of the world,
17:20 and we give this away for free because of you.
17:22 And when it comes to the Bible, our vision is big.
17:25 Just so you'll know, we plan to get God's word
17:28 to everyone, everywhere, every day,
17:32 and we will not stop until we see God's word
17:35 in everyone's hands, everywhere, and every day.
17:39 (congregation applauding)
17:40 And because of you and with our partners around the world,
17:45 we're making progress.
17:46 I wanna introduce you to Mastin,
17:48 who is a church planter in Zambia,
17:51 and I wanna show you how people are being transformed
17:53 by God's word because of you.
17:56 - For a community that is really remote,
18:03 it gives a community of people so much dignity
18:06 when they hear the word in their language.
18:09 As a ministry, we've been developing leaders,
18:11 local missionaries like Mastin.
18:13 - It's important for me to take the gospel
18:17 into these remote areas.
18:19 People have no access to the word of God.
18:23 These places I go preach the gospel to,
18:26 they are very remote.
18:27 The journey to get people to have access to the Bible,
18:32 yeah, it's something hard.
18:37 It's like passing through the fire,
18:39 smoke gets into your eyes.
18:41 At times, you get to cry.
18:44 You wanna give up, say, "I can't do this."
18:46 I have to walk for days, my bag full of books.
18:53 I get into the boat, I begin to cross.
18:59 You see the crocs, you see the hippos, the snakes.
19:04 It's kinda scary.
19:06 There are times the books get to be soaked in water.
19:10 - People are so open to the gospel,
19:14 and it hurts because communities who need the word the most
19:19 in many situations can't afford to buy a printed Bible.
19:24 - I found YouVision.
19:27 One of our church leaders introduced it to me.
19:31 The Bible app changed my life.
19:33 It has changed my ministry a lot.
19:36 Having it on my phone makes things easy.
19:39 I don't have to carry all the books and put them aside
19:42 and say, "I have YouVision, it has got everything."
19:45 We get the Bluetooth speaker, we connect it to the phone,
19:51 where everyone is able to hear in their mother tongue.
19:54 We get to learn the word of God, we get to sing songs,
19:58 we get to dance together.
20:00 It's awesome.
20:04 - People don't have to die without hearing the gospel.
20:08 We have the means, we have technology, we have YouVision.
20:12 - With YouVision in my life,
20:14 God has made me for this moment
20:16 so that I can reach out to those in remote areas
20:19 and preach the gospel to them.
20:20 (speaking in foreign language)
20:24 - Let's go ahead and tell God thank you for that.
20:37 (congregation applauding)
20:38 Because of you,
20:39 because of your generosity,
20:43 the YouVision Bible app is on over 700 million devices
20:48 around the world, on its way to a billion.
20:50 We're not gonna stop.
20:52 And it's always interesting to me,
20:53 people often say like, "You guys give that away for free?
20:56 "Like, why don't you sell ads?
20:57 "Or why don't you just sell it for like a dollar each?"
20:59 And if you've never heard the story,
21:01 I actually came to faith in Christ
21:03 by someone who gave me a free Gideon's Bible.
21:07 And that's how my life was changed.
21:08 And so just for the record, our Bible is not for sale,
21:11 it will never be for sale.
21:12 We will always lead the way with irrational generosity
21:15 because we truly believe it is more blessed to give
21:18 than it is to receive.
21:20 And not only are you impacting people all over the world
21:23 with the Word of God,
21:24 but you're empowering churches around the world as well.
21:28 And to show you what God is doing in churches
21:32 because of you, it's my honor to introduce Dani to you,
21:35 who was originally from Oaxaca, Mexico.
21:38 And three years ago, she relocated to Oklahoma,
21:42 where I live, to intern with Life Search Online.
21:44 The good news is she never left.
21:46 She actually joined the YouVision team
21:48 as the YouVision Global Expansion Coordinator,
21:52 which means she works with partners all over the world
21:54 to expand the content library of the YouVision Bible app.
21:58 I'm gonna tell you right now, get ready,
21:59 'cause this gal is one of the most passionate
22:02 Jesus followers you will ever meet.
22:04 Would you please help me welcome Dani Neukirk.
22:07 (audience cheering)
22:09 Let's go, Dani, come on.
22:10 (audience cheering)
22:13 - Thank you, Pastor Craig.
22:15 Okay, have you ever wondered if what you do matters
22:19 or if what you give matters?
22:22 Let me tell you the story of the church
22:24 I grew up in back in Mexico.
22:26 In 2017, my family and I were living in a city called Puebla
22:30 when an 8.2 earthquake struck the city next to us,
22:33 which is Oaxaca, where my mom's family's from.
22:36 After the earthquake struck, my dad and my family
22:39 quickly began to mobilize resources to bring relief
22:42 and aid to the people in these communities in Oaxaca
22:44 who had lost everything.
22:46 After just a few weeks of doing this work,
22:49 my dad started feeling called by God
22:51 to not just meet people's physical needs,
22:54 but to prioritize meeting their spiritual needs
22:57 by planting a church in the city.
23:00 So you could imagine the weight that my dad was feeling,
23:05 the weight of seeing people all around us hurting
23:09 and in desperate need, and now on top of that,
23:12 the added layer of now having to plant a church.
23:16 And my dad knew that he couldn't do this alone,
23:18 so he started searching for support.
23:20 It came across Life Church's free resources.
23:24 We launched the church, and believe me when I say
23:28 we used everything that this church had to offer
23:31 every single week since day one.
23:33 (audience cheering)
23:35 From my dad translating Pastor Craig's sermon notes
23:39 into Spanish every week and preaching off of those,
23:43 to the team and I translating and re-recording
23:45 the kids' curriculums available on Open Network,
23:48 to using YouVersion Bible plans
23:50 as our small groups curriculum,
23:52 we used everything that Life Church had to offer
23:55 every single week.
23:57 Now around that same time, I started asking myself,
24:01 how can I better equip myself to serve the church?
24:05 And after seeing everything that Life Church was doing,
24:07 I decided to apply for an internship here.
24:09 Fast forward a few months later, I got the internship,
24:13 and my dad came to drop me off in Oklahoma.
24:16 And when he was here, he got the chance
24:18 to meet the Open Network team.
24:20 And I will never forget how as soon as he stepped
24:23 into that Open Network office,
24:25 tears started filling his eyes.
24:27 And he looked at the team and said,
24:31 "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be in ministry anymore."
24:37 Or in other words, "Because of you,
24:41 "I'm still in ministry today."
24:44 See, I had never seen my dad so vulnerable.
24:49 And I also hadn't fully comprehended
24:52 all that Life Church had done for us until that moment.
24:56 At that moment, I realized the huge weight
25:00 that had been lifted off of my dad's shoulders
25:02 because of you.
25:04 And I realized that as my family and I
25:06 were trying to do everything we could
25:07 to bring relief to meet people's physical
25:09 and spiritual needs, at that same time,
25:11 God was actually bringing relief to us through you.
25:14 God brought relief, God brought encouragement,
25:18 God brought people closer to Him,
25:19 and God did more than anything we could have asked for
25:22 or imagined, and it's by His power working in you.
25:26 (audience applauding)
25:29 So if you're here today, and if you're wondering
25:33 if what you do matters or if what you give matters,
25:37 let me remind you that this story
25:40 is one of thousands of stories.
25:43 There's hundreds of thousands of pastors
25:47 all across the world who today get to do their ministry
25:50 that they're called for because of you.
25:52 And because of that, there's millions of people
25:56 all across the world who today get to attend a church
25:58 where they feel seen, known, loved, and cared for
26:02 because of you, they're able to find relief
26:05 through a local church.
26:07 (audience applauding)
26:10 So on behalf of my family, and on behalf
26:13 of the church in Mexico, thank you for not just preaching
26:17 about irrational generosity,
26:20 but for actually living it out.
26:21 The thing I realized today is that as we were doing
26:26 everything we could to bring relief
26:27 to the people in Oaxaca, you were actually standing
26:30 right beside us, bringing relief to us,
26:34 and therefore bringing relief to the community.
26:36 So thank you for being irrationally generous.
26:41 (audience applauding)
26:43 - And thank you.
26:45 Thank you for being you, right?
26:49 Love you so much. - Thank you.
26:50 (audience applauding)
26:58 - So I pray that you can see it and that you can feel it
27:03 that what you do really matters.
27:07 And when it sinks in, it's very humbling and sobering
27:12 to recognize as a church at 44 different locations
27:16 and globally touching every country in the world
27:19 through Church Online, and spreading the word
27:22 through the YouVersion Bible app,
27:23 and resourcing churches all over the world,
27:26 that we are big enough to impact the world,
27:29 and we are small enough to care for the one.
27:33 Alex, you are absolutely welcome and you are loved.
27:38 And the good news is we're just getting started.
27:41 Like it's a new year with new chances,
27:44 new people to love, new people to come to faith,
27:46 new resources to give, new churches to bless,
27:49 new languages to translate God's Word into.
27:53 And every now and then some people say,
27:56 "Isn't the church getting too big?"
27:58 Like, no, never, never.
28:01 As long as there's one person without Christ,
28:04 as long as there's one person in need,
28:06 as long as there's one church that we can serve,
28:08 as long as there's one language
28:10 that doesn't yet have the Word of God in,
28:12 we will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever
28:14 stop lifting up the name that is above every name.
28:18 His name is Jesus, and that is why we're here.
28:21 We'll never stop.
28:22 We wholeheartedly reject the label mega church.
28:26 We're just a micro church, a little startup organization
28:30 with a big world that needs the good news of Jesus
28:33 who loves them.
28:34 No one could say thank you better than one 14-year-old girl
28:40 I wanna tell you about.
28:42 I'm gonna call her Ava, it's not a real name,
28:44 but I wanna respect her situation
28:47 because her parents do not support her newfound faith.
28:52 They agreed to drop her off, but wouldn't go in
28:57 the weekend that she decided to get baptized.
29:00 And so 14 years old, she sat alone in a room full of adults
29:04 who were being baptized in the pre-baptism meeting.
29:08 And a husband and a wife stood up and told their story,
29:11 and they were crying and said, "We feel so bad.
29:13 "We raised our children."
29:14 It was during the Parenting on Purpose series.
29:16 "We raised our children, but we were not a Christ-centered
29:17 "family, and we feel so inadequate.
29:21 "And now we wanna be a Christ-centered family
29:24 "to our grandchildren, and we're so sorry that we failed."
29:28 And little Ava stood up in front of a room full of adults
29:32 and said, "No, no, no, no, no."
29:34 She started crying, she said, "You need to hear this."
29:37 She said, "You're my family,
29:40 "and you're my spiritual support.
29:43 "You're my example."
29:45 She said, "I don't have anybody at home,
29:47 "I don't know anybody around that loves Jesus,
29:49 "but you are my spiritual family."
29:53 And everyone in that room cried because they realized
29:58 that who they are, what they do matters.
30:01 And then she went on a rant, she said,
30:02 "Thank you for serving in LifeKids,
30:04 "and thank you for serving in Switch,
30:06 "and thank you for serving on the host team.
30:08 "And I want to say that to you, because of what you do,
30:11 "because you serve, because you pray,
30:14 "and because you give, and because you invite people
30:16 "who would never feel welcome at most churches,
30:20 "our God is changing lives.
30:23 "And I'm gonna say this not in a way for you to clap,
30:25 "I'm just gonna say it and let it sink in,
30:28 "that because of you this year,"
30:30 and I don't want to say, I want this to sink in,
30:32 "Because of you this year, there are over 43,000 people
30:37 "who have said no to their sins,
30:41 "and said yes to becoming followers of Jesus."
30:43 I want that just to sink in without you clapping,
30:45 43,000 people like Ava.
30:50 And we get to be a part of that.
30:57 And how did that happen?
31:00 Because of God's work through you.
31:04 43,000, that's twice the size of my town I grew up in.
31:12 And every one of those has a name.
31:16 And every name has a story.
31:19 And every story matters to God.
31:21 And so I wanna give God the glory and the honor
31:25 and the praise because he is worthy.
31:27 And I want you to feel the gratitude.
31:29 Because of you, God is changing lives all over the world.
31:36 So Father, thank you that we get to do our small part
31:42 and together it adds up to one significant ministry.
31:46 I pray, God, that your church, your people, these people,
31:51 they would feel blessed today
31:53 that they're making a difference.
31:56 As you're praying without looking around,
32:01 I would just ask, as we move into a new year,
32:05 I wonder how many of you think
32:06 that there's even more in you?
32:09 There's more ways you can give.
32:11 There's more people you can serve.
32:14 There's more prayers you can pray.
32:17 There's more people you can invite.
32:20 With nobody looking around today,
32:23 I wonder how many of you say,
32:24 you know there's more in you.
32:24 Would you lift up your hands right now?
32:26 Lift them up high, lift them up high,
32:27 lift them up high, online, you can type, there's more in me.
32:31 God, I pray that the power of your Holy Spirit
32:33 would stir up within your church, God,
32:36 that as we launch into a new year,
32:38 that we would lift the name of Jesus higher,
32:41 that we would give you praise in all that we do,
32:44 God, that you would push back all the forces of darkness
32:47 and that you would draw people to know your son, Jesus.
32:50 God, we pray for miracles, we pray for healings,
32:53 we pray for provision, we pray for restoration,
32:56 we pray for salvation, we pray for more of your Spirit,
32:59 God, we pray for more of who you are and what you can do.
33:03 God, prompt us.
33:05 God, if it's to serve, show us where to serve.
33:10 If it's to give, God, may this be
33:13 our most generous year ever.
33:17 If it's prayers to pray or worship to give,
33:20 God, let us give freely to you.
33:22 And God, if it's someone who doesn't know
33:25 the grace of your son, Jesus, prompt us, God,
33:28 give us the words to say, the heart to care,
33:31 to invite them to know you, invite them to church,
33:34 invite them to experience the grace of Jesus.
33:37 God, do more, exceedingly and abundantly more, God,
33:39 than all we can ask, think, or imagine.
33:42 According to your power, God, that is at work
33:45 within your people, that you would be glorified
33:48 in your church.
33:49 As you keep praying today, guess what?
33:52 There's more of you that are about to have your life changed.
33:55 In fact, wherever you're watching from today,
33:57 some of you right now, as you move into a new year,
33:59 you recognize there needs to be something different
34:02 in your life, and guess what?
34:03 It's time for a line in the sand.
34:05 As we move into a new year, what better time
34:08 to move into a new relationship to say,
34:09 I'm no longer gonna live for the things of this world,
34:12 I'm not gonna live for myself, I'm not gonna be caught
34:14 in the old trappings of sin, but today, by faith,
34:17 I give my life to Jesus.
34:18 What does this mean?
34:20 Who is Jesus?
34:20 Well, he is the Son of God, and God loves you so much
34:23 that he became one of you in the person of his son, Jesus,
34:26 who was without sin, died on a cross
34:29 for the forgiveness of our sins, but he didn't stay dead.
34:32 God raised him from the dead so that anyone,
34:34 and this includes you, it doesn't matter what you've done,
34:37 it doesn't matter where you've been,
34:39 doesn't matter how dark your life is,
34:40 anyone who calls on the name of Jesus, God,
34:43 hears your prayers and forgives all of your sins
34:47 and makes you brand new.
34:48 Today, as you launch into a new year,
34:51 it's time for a new faith and a new beginning.
34:54 The old is gone and the new is coming.
34:56 If you need his grace, if you need his forgiveness,
34:58 if you're stepping away from your sin
35:00 and stepping towards Jesus today,
35:01 I need Jesus, I give my life to him, that's your prayer.
35:05 Lift your hands high right now, all over the church,
35:07 lift them up and say yes.
35:08 We praise God for you, hands going up all over.
35:12 Thank God for every single one of you.
35:14 Say yes to Jesus online.
35:16 Type it in the comment section,
35:17 I am surrendering my life to Jesus.
35:20 Just type that, I'm surrendering my life to Jesus.
35:22 And today, step into new life in prayer.
35:25 Let's all pray together, pray, Heavenly Father,
35:28 forgive me for all of my sins.
35:31 I step into your grace, your love,
35:35 your forgiveness through Jesus.
35:38 Jesus, save me, change me, fill me with your Spirit
35:43 so I could know you.
35:46 My life is no longer my own, I give it all to you.
35:51 My past, my present, and my future, I give it to you.
35:56 Thank you for new life.
35:59 You have all of mine, in Jesus' name I pray.
36:04 Somebody give God praise right now,
36:05 welcome those born into the family of God, come on.
36:08 (congregation applauding)