Forward Together Sunday 2026 | Remembering God's Faithfulness, Looking Ahead in Faith

What happens when a church stops to remember?

On Forward Together Sunday, Grace Church gathered to celebrate God's faithfulness over the past year and look ahead to the future He is calling us toward. Together we remembered lives changed by the gospel, people baptized, families connected, ministries growing, and the countless ways God has worked through His people.

From children saying "yes" to Jesus for the first time, to students being discipled, to families finding a church home, every story points back to the goodness and faithfulness of God.

As Psalm 105 reminds us, "Remember the wondrous works He has done."

Join us as we celebrate God's work at Grace Church over the last 12 months, give thanks for His provision, and renew our faith for what He will do next.

📖 Key Highlights:
• 83 people placed their faith in Jesus
• 60 people were baptized
• 670 first-time guests visited Grace Church
• 258 people took steps toward belonging
• 51 children made first-time decisions to follow Jesus
• 67 first-time youth guests connected with Grace Youth
• God provided through the Pave the Way Campaign and many facility improvements

We remember not simply to look back, but to strengthen our faith for the future. God has been faithful, and we believe He is not finished yet.

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:00

Good morning, Grace Church. It's so awesome to worship with you this morning. My name is Pastor Dan Bull. I'm the lead pastor here of this body of Christ, and God has some really wonderful things in store for us this morning. Dads in the room, I just want to say happy Father's Day. We are so grateful for you, your ministry to your family, your love for your kids, whether they're adult children, your grandchildren, man. We're just fathers are so incredibly important to the family design as God has created it. Well, it's not only Father's Day, but it's also our Forward Together Sunday. Forward Together Sunday is our annual remembrance of God's faithfulness to us as a church family over the previous twelve months of church history. And so this morning on your way in, I hope you got a Forward Together Sunday booklet. We're going to be going through this information together, and we're going to be sharing some stories behind the information. Because the information's good, but it doesn't really mean anything unless there's a personal name and a personal story attached to what's happening. The reason that we as a church celebrate God's faithfulness, take time to remember, is because it builds our faith and it increases our confidence and where God is going to lead us in the future. And if you were here last Sunday, you heard my message on the discipline, the spiritual discipline of remembering. If you did not hear it, I would encourage you to go online, subscribe to our podcast, or watch it on YouTube. You need to understand that we remember not just for remembering's sake, but it is a spiritual discipline that grows our faith in the power of God. When we remember him in the extraordinary ways, and when we remember him in the ordinary ways, as we think about where the Holy Spirit's asking us to go, we have faith to follow because we've seen him at work in our life. Psalm 105 says this remember the wondrous works he has done. Every work of Jesus, when he changes your heart, when he ministers to you personally, when he does something in the body, is a wondrous work. It's miraculous work. It's not just God being God, it's a wonderful thing that we get to worship and celebrate him as a result. So this morning we're going to remember God's provision to this body of Christ. We're going to remember the huge number of people who had their lives changed by the gospel. We're going to remember God's faithfulness. And then at the end of the service, we're going to take a look at the next year to come, 2026, 27. And we're going to believe that God has actually more in store for us than we've seen even in the last 12 months. Now, it is a privilege to be the pastor of this particular church. You guys are wonderful, wonderful, wonderful people most of the time. And I just love being your pastor. It's such a privilege. But I don't get to lead this church in isolation. I do it with a group of men called the Elders of Grace Church, who are really godly men and some incredible staff that God has brought to this church. And that's the first story that I want to share with you this morning is the story of God's faithfulness to give this church godly leaders. What you don't see, although maybe you know some of them individually, is how God had to work in their life, put the burden of leadership in their heart, give them the uh desire to be responsible to the call of God to lead and to shepherd this body of Christ. And so we have a group of elders who have prayerfully discerned and heard from God and taken on the responsibility in community to lead this body of leaders. I'm so grateful. Without them, our spiritual direction could go all over the place because we can't just have one person leadership. That's why one of our core values is that we are a unified leadership moving forward together because we have to share the vision, share the burden so that we're all hearing from the same vision as it comes from God. But more importantly, we have a great staff. Our staff is unbelievably cool. In the last 12 months, God has brought us seven new staff members which just really love Jesus. And you need to know that. Monday through Friday, when we're working together here in the building, I see their heart for Jesus. I see their heart for you. They pray for you, they talk about you in the best ways. They can't wait to figure out how God's going to work in your life or how you can be a part of this body of Christ and use your gifts to expand the kingdom of heaven. It's been awesome to watch what God does with our staff team. But because we have a staff team, they all have different ministries. And they know more about this church in other ways than even I know. And so I've invited the leadership team of Grace Church on stage with me today to share with you how God's working in the areas of ministry that they oversee. So you're going to hear some stats, you're going to hear some stories, and you're going to celebrate with us all that God has done in the past 12 months. Pastor David?

unknown 4:51

Amen.

SPEAKER_07 4:51

Man, so exciting. So fun to have a chance to share together and tell some stories. You have the numbers in front of you in the book that hopefully you all of you got as you walked in. But one of the core values at Grace is that we are a house of champions where young people can thrive. And I gotta tell you, our young people are thriving.

SPEAKER_05 5:11

Amen to that.

SPEAKER_07 5:12

There is so much growth happening in so many ways. And I want to highlight a few of the stories, but one of them I want to start with this, probably the most important one, is that 51 children made first-time decisions to follow Jesus over this past year. That's amazing. Yeah, I love that so much. You see, many of many of the light bulbs in that Jesus sign are children's light bulbs from either VBS or Sundays or different events that happen throughout the year. But things like the preschool open gym, the VBS, the moms groups, your moms connect groups, the Grace Library that just opened up, all kinds of avenues where children have a chance to follow Jesus, and that's what it's all about. Now it doesn't happen by itself, it always involves leaders and people that jump on board. And uh this year we I added Heidi and Emma to our kids' men team, and they working along with Ali and just have a phenomenal group of leadership there. We had 30 brand new kids team leaders, which is probably many of you in the room that said yes to serving in this capacity here. And as a result, over 170 people have connected with Grace Church through our amazing kids ministry. It's just it's amazing, it's reckless. Yeah, it's super fun.

SPEAKER_05 6:22

What is unique about that is it's 170 new people, is essentially a whole church in the United States. Yeah. The average church in America is about 100 people large. So 170 new people connecting through our kids' ministry is like, wow, God, you're birthing a church through one of our own ministries. That's wild to me.

SPEAKER_07 6:39

Super fun. Uh without giving any names of some kids or families, we we have several families that have had a specific challenge this year and realize, you know, we we need to do a great job as much as we can at ministering to those that have children with special needs. And so that became a new project and our new life, like just uh, hey, well, let's just figure out a better way. And we be to develop uh volunteers dedicated just to that aspect alone, and there are buddies for these kids, and they walk with them through services and give a chance to have quality care for both the kids and the parents, so the parents can go and thrive as well. Just super fun. One more kids' men's story. Uh part of today's worship team, actually, Nicole, who was right here, and Mike, who was on the drums, a year ago, just almost a year ago, they were at VBS here, and their son loved VBS so much, had such a great time. They chose to make Grace home, got plugged in, got involved in a small group, but it happened largely because of the kids' ministry here at Grace. And this is what happens when a church becomes a place where young people can thrive. But it doesn't just stop in fourth grade, it keeps going. But there's more? There's more. Okay. Infomercial part two. Talking about Grace Youth. Grace Youth is moving. Not moving, moving, but they're moving. Come on, give me a shot in the back. Come on. There we go. You all sound so excited. Come on, youth.

SPEAKER_05 8:03

Make some noise back there. You can do it.

SPEAKER_07 8:05

But so many new things happening. Their space is being overhauled right now. Fist discret ministry getting ready to launch in a whole new way in the fall, being new room spaces, all kinds of neat, cool stuff happening there. Kenton and his crew uh just really they're invading what some would call the largest mission field in America. It's the middle school and high school. And the point of the whole thing is that people follow Jesus. And so through biblical teaching, relational discipleship, incredible events that I really want to go to, uh, they've had 67 first-time guests, 12 students yes to Jesus, and 10 students get baptized. Come on, somebody. Like that's what it's all about. Yeah. Now, I'll I'll I'll mention one of these guys, I'll I'll call him Mr. M. He might be in the back somewhere, I'm not sure. But uh one of the students that uh he realized Mr. M realized that uh man, my life's missing some stuff. I need something more than I have right now, some community that's faith-based and and can help me grow. And so instead of just staying in that place of wishing, he began to build his life around the people and ministry of grace youth. And as he connected, his faith grew. It's just what happens. And so, now when anyone takes a step and makes Jesus the center of their life, good things happen. Phenomenal growth begins to happen. When a young person begins making those decisions, there's hope for generations. Yeah, preaching. And that's what we're we're looking for, looking at. But this isn't the end. See, this same group in about a month from now is heading to the Dominican Republic on a mission trip for the first time, which is super cool. I'm so excited. And so the greatest sheet is becoming really a group of students who recognize the heart of God, the call of God, the voice of God, taking steps to follow in obedience. So shifting gears from our students and middle school, high school, talk about worship and communication just for a moment. I know I have to just because.

SPEAKER_05 10:01

Well, I mean it's your area.

SPEAKER_07 10:02

It is, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 10:03

Uh hopefully you like what you do.

SPEAKER_07 10:05

I do, I do. It's super fun, super exciting. Well, whether it's through a worship night or Sunday morning service, we hear all the time how people are being impacted by just the presence of God. And our mission really is to facilitate environments where Jesus is lifted up and we're giving him praise and him glory, and he gets to minister among his people. And Psalms said that uh that God inhabits the praise of his people. And so when his people praise, Jesus shows up and his presence is made manifest. And so that's what we really long for and and pray for. But just like any ministry, it doesn't happen by itself and without people. And so we have an amazing team, whether vocalist, instrumentalist, tech crew, audio, cameras, production guys, all the stuff. And we've had uh 15 people this year alone jump on board those teams. One of those camera techs started coming to Grace Church last Easter, showed up, him and his wife and his daughter began coming, got involved as a camera guy, ended up becoming our camera team lead, and then uh with prior employment having happened at both Disney and NFL.com and Sight and Sound locally, Evan Bence, right behind the camera, right behind down here. Hi, Evan. Evan Bence came on staff here at Grace as our new video and tech director this month. So we're super excited about that shift, change direction, and uh can't wait for what God wants to do there. Now, some might wonder why all this technology. Because it's cool.

SPEAKER_05 11:31

That's why.

SPEAKER_07 11:32

I mean, yes, but besides that, besides the magnet, it's too it's fun. I love it. Uh but here here's why it really isn't just to be cool or to make it feel like you're in a an art like a stadium, it isn't about that. It's because, well, just this year, 15,000 views on YouTube on our Grace Church channel, uh, over a hundred thousand views on social media, five thousand uh hits on our website, and uh our online video presence has become the virtual front door of Grace Church. And just like we renovated our front door and lobby space not long ago because it makes a good first impression in that same way. We're investing in our virtual front door as well. The data is super clear that almost every person who comes new to Grace Church has already visited online through either a website, YouTube, or social media. It just is suitable, it's overwhelmingly directive. This is the open door to those that are coming for the first time, by and large.

SPEAKER_05 12:36

Hey, just a quick straw poll for you. If you encountered Grace Church digitally first, raise your hand for me. See that in the room? Living evidence of people who entered in through the digital front door. That actually matters.

SPEAKER_07 12:49

And that only really applies the last couple years, really.

SPEAKER_05 12:51

Yeah, I mean, if you've been here for a long time, pre-internet of how you got here.

SPEAKER_07 12:55

So go ahead, like, comment, share, follow, because we're we're redeeming the screens, and people are finding Jesus through Grace's digital front door. That's it. Pastor Rob.

SPEAKER_06 13:07

Yeah, thanks. Um, one of the things I love, one of our core values that I love, and I think it really supports a lot of the other core values, is that we are a welcoming family. We can have the best worship, which I think we do, we have the best teaching. You're a brown noser. Not the first time I've been accused of that. Which we say it again, Rob, say it again. But if we're not welcoming, it means nothing. You're not going to keep on coming back. No one wants to come to a church where they're not seen, they're not known. Uh, and so we were able this past year to welcome 670 new people to Grace Church. Yeah, it's quite a lot of people. That's because that type of growth is really unheard of. Churches would would die to have 670 new people, first-time visitors, come here to Grace. But it's not just about coming for the first time. That's fantastic. We love that people visited for the first time. It's about belonging here. So 258 of those people have engaged and made made really Grace Church their home. So they are they are they are serving or giving or attending groups. And so all of those things are important because 258 of those people are routinely coming every single week. And so what's really important about that too is as we saw more people coming to Grace Church and and visiting, we realized like our Meet Grace area, which we used to call it, was starting to get a little bit crowded. So what we did was we moved it outside to the brand new area. Kind of looks like a car show room right now for Father's Day. Looks pretty cool.

SPEAKER_05 14:39

That's Pastor Rob's mini, by the way.

SPEAKER_06 14:41

Yes, it's pretty sweet. And my son's, if you didn't know that. So um, but we wanted somewhere that if your first time, you feel welcome there. It's an open area. And if you've been coming to Grace for a long time, like, and you want to know what your next step is. How do I join a group? How do I start serving? Whatever that next step is, how do I get baptized? That's the place to go. So it has been just a resounding success there. We I love, you'll usually find me after church service every Sunday, standing out there and talking to people. It's my favorite thing to do. So, quick story about that is that one of those families, of the 670 people come who visited for the first time, there's stories behind every single one of those people. And and it's such a privilege to know like those people and those stories. One of those families were invited by uh Gus and Maria Tellez, and they started coming back in August, and I got to know and I got permission to share their names, Victor and Tatiana Cruz. I got to know Victor through one of our men's groups, and they're starting to serve. Tatiana was was baptized during the last uh baptism. Their kids had a had a light bulb moment a couple weeks ago, which was awesome. And last week when I talked to Victor, he wants to get baptized during our next baptism. So that's what we're looking for. Not just attending and sitting in the seat, but belonging, getting engaged. And and that's really like that is strictly from the Lord. And so we're super thankful for that.

SPEAKER_05 16:05

Uh, real quickly, all those stories, those 670 first-time guests, the 258 who belong, we recognize something. It it's not just the digital front door, it's your personal invitation. Yeah, you have become people who have become real inviters uh and encouraging your family, your neighbors, your friends to come and experience what God is doing here at Grace Church and what God wants to do in their life. So, this result up here, these next steps, these people, it's not just that Grace Church is like a unique church, it's that you're doing the work of invitation. That that's real that really matters.

SPEAKER_06 16:43

Amen. So it's not just about visiting, it's about belonging, and so we are also a growth community where disciples are made. And so we have group ministry, and we saw just absolutely incredible growth over the last all-church journey. I think it was 35% more uh people engaged with our our group ministry over the all-church journey. Not only that, a year ago we had no men's ministry. We had we hadn't done uh we hadn't hosted a women's event in I think over two years, and we've since had two. But from that men's brunch, we now have three men's ministries. And I want to tell a quick story about one of them. So we have Men's Alliance, that if you ever come to the church or drive by on Saturday morning, at about 7 a.m., there's a group of about 20 men that are out there exercising. They are doing an incredible devotion, half of the time is in devotion. Uh it's just I've never really been part of a men's ministry like that. But we have one of the guys, and let me tell you how the story started. One of those men who attend Men's Alliance went to John Kegerize, who's a longtime attender here, and he was his neighbor, wasn't attending church here, and said, John, I need prayer and I need discipleship. And John said, That's great, but you're coming to church. And so Jared started coming, his wife Amy started coming, his kids, his kids also start coming to church here. He's led a men's alliance group. But again, the power, and I I joked about this during the first service, that that Gus and Maria and Jared, they have a disease. It's very sad. It's called chronic invititis.

SPEAKER_05 18:17

Meaning It's this is bad the second time as it was the first time.

SPEAKER_06 18:21

Pastor Dan doesn't like it.

SPEAKER_05 18:23

It's gonna stick.

SPEAKER_06 18:24

I think it has to do with age and level of acceptance with dad jokes.

SPEAKER_05 18:28

It's uh it's a Father's Day joke.

SPEAKER_06 18:30

But the idea is that they are chronically inviting people. They cannot help but invite people. If you're excited about what you're what you're participating in, you can't help but invite people. So that's what we want. We want that disease, chronic invititis, to be contagious across our church. Hey who wants a disease?

SPEAKER_05 18:47

You get a disease, you get a disease.

SPEAKER_06 18:51

That's where we're gonna end that analogy, right there. So our heart, all the pastors, is that each of you, if you're here at church and you look around, you're like, I don't know who's sitting next to me, or I've never seen that person. Say hi, be welcoming, invite them into belonging here at Grace. So that's what we're looking for. That nobody would come here and feel that we're not a welcoming family. So that's the power of inviting, that's the power of discipleship, and that's the power of belonging here at Grace. Lastly, I want to talk about our Grace Cares ministry. We have an incredible, uh, used to be called our Benevolence Fund. We are Benevolence Fund, now we call it Grace Cares, but we have a ministry set aside that does five amazing things. We have a household and maintenance, we have a transportation, uh, transportation team, we have a medical closet, we have a prayer team, and we have the benevolence fund. And uh we had one just one quick story on this. Uh we had a family who put in a request that needed some help with household maintenance. And so our household maintenance team went, they helped out with a specific need, and then later they they moved, they moved somewhere new, and this was a completely unforeseen need, they found out that their furnace was leaking carbon monoxide into their house. And so, because of that relationship they had with our household maintenance team, they went to them and they're like, hey, why don't you put a race cares request in? And so we were able to help with fixing that problem. And so I can tell you story after story, uh, with working with patient navigators with local hospitals, where we've helped single moms. We've helped uh somebody in Mannheim, it was a it was an older gentleman who was a paraplegic and it was a veteran, and um he needed uh help with his air conditioner. It completely broke and he wasn't able to get it fixed, and we were able to come alongside him. It's only through your generosity that we get to do that. Amen. 120 requests, $83,000 worth of assistance that we provided this last fiscal year. And that's something just to praise God for. Amen.

SPEAKER_04 20:50

Is that your is that your week golf clap? What was that? Yeah, it's a golf clap. You can't give it a real clap. Well, now you stole half my time, Rob. Sorry. No. Uh we're gonna talk for just a moment about finances and facilities. And Rob shared, Pastor Rob shared, that we are a change catalyst where lives are transformed. Our finances are a tool that God uses to fuel that mission. Our facility is a tool that God uses to change lives. That's what those things are, and that's why those things matter. And so, because of your generosity over the past 12 months, we have seen 83 people put their faith in Jesus for the very first time.

SPEAKER_05 21:30

I love that so much.

SPEAKER_04 21:31

Yeah, it's huge. And 60 people get baptized. And as Pastor Rob shared, 258 people get plugged in for the first time at Grace Church to the life of the body where they can experience life change. You hear us talk about light bulb moments or reference these light bulbs. Every person, every light bulb that's lit represents a person who put their faith in Christ for the very first time. And that Jesus sign was filled this year. In fact, we overflowed it. We had to start a new one. So that Is because of your generosity. It's because of the tools that God uses to change people's lives. So when we began this fiscal year, we approved a $75,000 deficit. The elders approved a budget that would utilize $75,000 of savings that we intended to invest in this current year, ending the end of this month. And because of your generosity, because of God's faithfulness, instead of spending an additional $75,000 out of savings this year, we actually ended the year 15% above in giving what we had expected to come in. And because of the faithful stewardship of our staff team, the expenses were only at 97%. And if you're not a math person, here's why that matters. We're able to spend $217,000 to fix the areas of the facility that are currently in disrepair. Spaces that are unusable for life change because they haven't been touched in decades. And that's because of your generosity. God uses that to change people's lives. So it really matters. Let's talk about the Pave the Way campaign just for a moment. Because of your generosity, through this recent Pave the Way campaign, when all pledges are fulfilled, we will have $494,000 to repave the parking lot, we'll have $150,000 to renovate old bathrooms, and $100,000 to fix the dilapidated back of the building where the stucco work is just falling apart and getting worse and worse. And an additional $55,000 for a playground that God can use in people's lives. And so those things matter. Those things really matter. One story I want to share as we get close to wrapping up here. We had a family show up just a few months ago, and they have a son who was just struggling. He was really having trouble. And so they decided they needed to leave before the service began. They weren't going to be able to stay in worship and engage in relationships. But we had this new family comfort room that we had recently finished for people. If you don't know where it is, it's right down the main hallway toward kids' ministry on the right-hand side. And so we invited them into the family comfort room and they were able to engage in the worship service together. They were able to build relationships there. Their son was comfortable and was able to calm down. And they were able to be a part of the body of Christ that Sunday because of a space that our hard-working facilities team had recently renovated. And that's been true for a variety of spaces throughout the building recently. The New Next Steps area that was referenced by Pastor Rob and other spaces with in the kids' ministry that have been renovated that God is using in people's lives. So I just want to thank you for your generosity. Thank you for the ways that you have invested into Grace Church. God is using you, and we are deeply grateful.

SPEAKER_05 25:06

Church, truly, it's because of your passion to be a part of this church, to love Jesus through giving, to use your gifts to serve the body of Christ. Without you, we don't actually experience all the things that happened here the last 12 months. God will do what God is always going to do, but He can only do that through willing people. And we have an incredible church filled with willing people. Now, what you heard was just a couple of the stories from the last 12 months, but our history is 55 years long. What some of you don't know is that there was a group of people 55 years ago who decided that they wanted to see a church here in Lydis that loved Jesus. And they got together. And do you know where they started meeting? I found this out this morning because somebody from that era corrected me. They started meeting in a chicken house. An old Lancaster County chicken house. A group of a couple families came together, started praying, started seeking God, asking God, what does you want to do here in this community? They then quickly moved to the Liddz Rec Center. After that, they began reaching more people. They then raised money, and they built the very uh the first building, the chapel on the far end of the building, which is now our youth area. This church has an incredible history of God's faithfulness. And we are so grateful for how he continues to use his people here in Lidditz, how he continues to use you to advance the kingdom of heaven. And so I'm going to ask you all to stand with me. And we are going to sing and we are going to worship and we are going to give praise to Jesus for everything he has done here for the last 55 years and the last 12 months. And in your heart, in your mind, as God brings things to your mind to be grateful for, about his faithfulness in your life, while you're worshiping, pray in your mind as well. Just giving God all the glory and all the praise for how good he has been. So we've had the opportunity this morning to look back at the last 12 months and remember some of the things that God has done in our midst, those wondrous works of the Lord. And we remember, because now we're going to shift our focus to look forward. And as we look forward, we don't look forward with anxiety or with fear, but we look forward with confidence and expectation. If our God was faithful in the last twelve months, I have every expectation and hope that He will be faithful to us in the coming twelve months. So here's what I'd like to share with you today. It is the vision that God has placed on the hearts of the elders for the next three years as it pertains to Grace Church. And this story really began about twelve months ago. Twelve months ago, I was sitting in my office, and I kept having this nagging feeling that the Lord wanted to create a vision for the future of Grace, but I wasn't quite sure what that was. And if you don't know, the very first year that I was lead pastor, I had I had one vision that I know was clear from the Lord, and it was simple. It was skip the dip. And here's what that means: don't lose people, don't lose staff, don't lose generosity. If we can't if we don't lose those things, then year one as a lead pastor, that's a pretty good year all around, honestly. But then as we got to the end of year one, it was like, all right, God, what's next for the future? And so I began to have conversations with our elders. We had one-on-one conversations, we had group conversations, we began to pray and seek the face of God, asking about the things that he would like to see made true here at Grace Church. The leadership team of Grace Church, Pastor Rob, Pastor David, Pastor Mike, myself, went away for a multi-day retreat to hear from the Lord and think about the future. We brought that back to the elders. We began sifting through all the things that God was leading on our hearts, and we came up with this very specific mandate for the next three years. We feel like God is calling Grace Church to become more of a Jesus church. Now I know you're like, whoa, Pastor Dan, earth shattering. It's not earth shattering. For years we've been saying that we are a Jesus church where the gospel is central. And that has been organizationally true. We are a church that is about Jesus. But the church is not just an organization. The church is a body, it's people. And Jesus isn't in the organization business, he's in the people business. Jesus wants to transform our hearts and our very own minds into the person of Christ, where we as individuals and then collectively look like Jesus, talk like Jesus, love like Jesus, and bring the hope of the world or hope of the gospel to the world just like Jesus did. You know, because the church is a body, everybody takes on the image of the person who owns it. So look at your own body. You're responsible for how it looks, right? You're the one who takes care of it, you're the one who manages it, you're the one who feeds it. This is the body of Christ. He will manage it, he will lead it, he will feed it to become the very image of his own self. Here's what 2 Corinthians 3.18 says that we are being transformed into the same image. You and I, if we are followers of Christ, are being transformed into the same image, not in physical likeness, but in character of our soul. And so, church, it sounds simple, but I promise you that formation and transformation in Christ's likeness is extremely difficult because it's not something we do on our own. It's something we experience when we submit our lives to the leading Holy Spirit or to the leading power of the Holy Spirit and let him purify and transform us. And as those things happen, we'll begin to look more and more like Jesus. And so the elders have identified six core areas where we want to see the body of Christ begin to look more like Jesus here at Grace Church. And I'm gonna walk you through these, not exhaustively, but with enough information to give you an idea of how this is gonna play out in our midst. First and foremost, we want to become prayerful like Jesus. You know, Jesus withdrew to pray before every major decision. He prayed before miracles, and you can read one of his longest prayers in John 17. He prayed that prayer before he went to the cross. Jesus prayed prayers, not so that just God would move on his behalf like many of us pray. Jesus prayed prayers so that he knew the will of the Father. When you read the New Testament, Jesus says that he never did his own will. He never spoke his own words. He only spoke what the Father revealed to him. He only lived and did what the Father had asked him to do. And so here's what we know the will of God is revealed through prayer. And as we become prayerful people, you and I, and together we will be able to do the will of God here on earth, and that is what changes lives. Now there's lots of churches that are very active, but they're not necessarily prayerful. And it's very easy as an organization to be strategic and forget the spiritual. And we live in North America. We are a business-minded culture. So church is business. Don't fool yourself. We have figured out ways to organize these things in a business mentality, but that is not at all what the gospel is. The church is a body first and foremost. And so we are going to lean deep into the leading of the Holy Spirit of God to become spiritual, prayerful-led people. Listen to Ephesians 3.20. It says this. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine. I want you to think of what God can do. I want you to think of all the things God has done. Get the most outrageous thing that you could ever ask God inside of your mind, the most miraculous thing you can imagine. God can do more than that. Our minds are so limited and our faith is so small that when we think about who God is, we limit him by our very own expectations. God is not limited. And we will know that as we become people of prayer. And so here's how that'll transform the daily life and rhythms of a grace church. When you walk out of this service, hopefully by the end of 2029, you'll see groups of people out in the lobby in the classrooms as they share life with one another, they're just stopping to pray over each other. They don't say, I'll pray for you. They just pray for you. It's such a different attitude and mentality. You will hear more stories of people being healed when they go to the elders and ask for anointing oil and prayer for healing prayer. You're gonna hear stories as faith is increased through that aspect of prayer. You're gonna see by the end of 2029 that fasting and prayer become a rhythm of our church. And when I say fasting, I don't mean like giving up fish or technology or chocolate. I'm talking about limiting the food you put in your mouth so that you get this physical hunger for the presence of God. And we're gonna culminate those fasting seasons with worship nights so that as we're here and hungry for the Lord, his presence will meet us here. That's the kind of church that we're gonna become as we become prayerful like Jesus. We're gonna become a church that's compassionate like Jesus. You know, many times you'll see this phrase in the Bible that Jesus looked upon the crowds and he had compassion on them. Listen, when Jesus saw the crowds, he didn't see obstacles, he didn't see a cultural battle, he didn't see others that he didn't have time for. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because he saw them for what they were. Sheep without a shepherd. They're just lost people. And so, church, we're gonna become a church that is not known for our protest in our community, that isn't known for the gossip and the frustrations or the political biases. We're gonna become a church that is so known for seeing the lost people of the world and just having compassion for them, moving towards them with hope, not away from them because we don't have time or their ideologies make us angry or we're frustrated by them. We'll become like Jesus and move into the crowds. You know, it's so easy for churches, especially I think in Langster County, I've seen this a lot, just observationally. We can be morally right people, morally good people, who just become emotionally and spiritually unavailable to the lost world around us. We just keep them at arm's length. Listen, friends, I get it. True lost people are hard. True lost people are difficult. And that's where God's calling us to go to. To the lost in our own community with compassion. When you have genuine compassion, we will move to meet those needs. Third thing, we're going to become servants like Jesus. I want to read for you what the Gospel of Mark says about Jesus. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. Did you hear that? Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve. And his primary act of service was doing something for you that you couldn't do for yourself, paying the death penalty upon the cross and making you right with God the Father. Christ did that for you. That's the kingdom of heaven. Looking at those around you and saying, How can I meet your need? How can I serve you in a way that you can't serve yourself? Because God's gifted me, God's called me, God's equipped me to love you and serve you in a way that you can't serve yourself on your own. That's one dynamic of service. But the second dynamic of service that we see in the New Testament is that Jesus served in common ways, in ways that anyone could serve. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, the king of the universe, doing something that any servant can do, because that's also what service looks like. And so it's looking at the body of Christ and asking some specific questions. How are you uniquely gifted by the Holy Spirit of God to serve the church and to serve our community in a way that only you can because you're gifted? But then the second thing is increasing the value and the need of saying, Lord, I don't care how I serve, here I am, send me. I'll do it. If I gotta wash feet, I'll wash feet. If I gotta pick up chairs, I'll pick up chairs. If I gotta pick up trash at the park, I'll do that. If I've got to bring a meal to somebody in the community, I will do that because we'll become people who serve like Jesus serves. And so over the next three years, my hope is that everybody who's a part of a grace church, you know how the Holy Spirit of God has gifted you, and that you feel confident stepping into the leading of the Spirit of God to serve other people. Fourth one, obedient like Jesus. Jesus told his disciples a really simple command. If you love me, keep my commands. If you love me, keep my commands. Friends, here's the kicker. If you love me, if you love me, church, I'm not talking about a list of rules that we have to follow. The list of these things make you a Christian and these things are what the world does, separate. We're not talking about that. I'm talking about your heart. When you have become so grateful for the salvation you've received, when you understand that by no effort of your own, you are made right with God through Jesus Christ, when you are so grateful for the body of Christ that surrounds you and the things you experience now because you are a new creation in Jesus, out of that grateful attitude, out of that love for Jesus, you say, Jesus, whatever you want me to do, I'm in. I'm in. I don't care what it is. So, Lord, as your word teaches me about finances, I'll live with you according to the way you teach about finances. As you talk about marriage, I will live the way you talk about marriage. As you talk about family, I will raise my family the way you talk about family. And Lord, so help me, if you call me to go across the street and do something crazy, I'm gonna do it. Because that's what obedience looks like because of what God has done in our life. We believe that God is good enough and that God is wise enough that even if he asks you to do something costly, it's worth doing. It's worth doing. And it sounds so easy to be obedient, but if you've ever tried to really be obedient to God, you'll know just how hard this is. Now, here's the benefit of obedience. You ready? The Apostle Paul was very obedient unto Jesus. Extremely obedient. So obedient that he began to go out and plant churches, so obedient that he created a stir in the local Roman government, so obedient that the Emperor of Rome knew the Apostle Paul by name. Here's what I'm hoping. I'm hoping that through our radical obedience to Jesus, we become a people who not only love Jesus and build people, but we become a people who lead revival. Do you want to see revival in the United States? Then you have to pray for it. You want to see revival in the United States? You have to become so consecrated unto God that your whole body, your whole being, all your gifts, all your treasures, all your talents are his to be used to light a fire that changes the world. You know, D.L. Moody said that the world has not yet seen what God can do with a man wholly consecrated unto him. And I saw that phrase every year for three years when I lived on the campus of Moody Bible Institute. And I thought, I don't know if that's fully true, but what I do know is when people are fully consecrated over to the Lord, he does more than we could ask or imagine. Revival breaks out, history has changed, families become different, all because we're willing to be obedient to the leadership of Jesus Christ. And maybe, just maybe, in three years, Lord, who knows, the President of the United States, whoever that is, will know about Grace Church because of what God is doing here at Grace. It's possible. Do you believe it? I believe that it's possible. We're gonna become people who are generous like Jesus. Listen to what Scripture says about Jesus. Though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor. Jesus is the King of kings, the Lord of the universe. He sat at the right hand of God the Father before his ascension. He and the Father are one, and he lived in eternity past in glory, the King of all things, and yet he gave all of it up. He humbled himself and came to earth poor, born in a manger. Generous with his life, with his time, and giving away everything you possibly had, including his very own life, for you. Friends, generosity flows from that gospel reality that the king of the universe is generous. Generous with everything, his time, his talent, his treasure. People, when you give your life away from the kingdom of heaven, when you're generous with everything that you have, it is incredible what God can do in you and through you. Here's why generosity matters, okay? You cannot be compassionate like Jesus if you're going to be stingy with your time and with your treasure. You can't do it. Try to love somebody without giving them your time, sacrificing them for your money, being there to serve them with your talents. You cannot be compassionate without being generous. You cannot be somebody who serves without being generous. Because a servant is going to sacrifice everything they have for the sake of benefiting somebody else. That's what it means to be a servant in the kingdom of God. It's where you lower yourself. Friends, here's why this is easy. Here's why generosity can become easy. You ready? When you start to have an eternal mindset, when you understand that we don't store up for ourselves treasures on earth, but treasures in heaven, when you think about the fact that this life you live is just phase one, there's a phase two, and that is eternity. Eternity is far more valuable than anything you have here in the temporary states. This temporary reality where moths destroy and it all fades away, it doesn't mean much. So you can live with an open hand and say, Lord, whatever you want, whether I got talents and gifts to use, whether I got money to give, I can just give it all to you because it's all temporary anyway, and there is something more real and more eternal and everlasting on its way. So generous people are going to have eternity in mind, and we're going to talk a lot about that. Lastly, we want to multiply like Jesus. Matthew 28, 19, Jesus says in the Great Commission, therefore go and make disciples of all nations. You know, Jesus didn't like just gather crowds for the sake of gathering crowds. Jesus gathered crowds for the sake of formation, to change them, to turn them into his own image. And one of the things he did was spend three years teaching, investing, and discipling twelve men. And from those men, they went and started churches where they taught and discipled other individuals. And then those churches sent out more churches where they taught and they discipled other individuals. And you're sitting in your seat because the church for 2,000 years has been faithful to multiply like Jesus. That's a legacy. You're a living legacy of other people's faithfulness to multiply like Jesus did. But, church, it can't just be the leaders of the church who multiply. It has to be everybody in the church who multiplies, who understands that by the end of the next three years, you're going to know what you need to know about Jesus to be able to look at somebody else and say, I can help you learn about them. Not only can I help you, I want to help you learn about them. You'll invest in their life, you'll pour in Their gifts, and as they raise up and have God's special call on their life, I'm praying that in the next by the end of three years from now, that we have men and women who have been raised up in this church because they've been discipled, that they feel the call of God on their life to be missionaries somewhere, and that we as a church, for the first time in a long time, send missionaries around the world to go reach people to Jesus. I'm praying also at the same time that over the next three years, God puts it on the hearts of some individuals in this room to become pastors and to plant churches. Not around the world, but right here in our community. You know why? Because we need more gospel-teaching churches in Lancaster County. I understand. There's lots of churches on every single corner, but here's what you maybe you don't understand. They don't all teach the same thing. Not all churches are the same church, not all churches and equal churches, not all churches have the same beliefs. But we know one thing that's true about this church. We are a Jesus church where the gospel is central. We know for a fact that Jesus wants the gospel to go forth. And we need more churches preaching more gospel to reach more people in this county for Jesus Christ. We need it. So we have six core marks of a Jesus church with one mandate. Over the next three years, we're going to become a Jesus Church. Our programs, our ministries, our teaching on Sunday, it's all going to revolve around these six areas. Now, these six areas are not exhaustive. We don't grow in these areas, and all of a sudden we are just like Jesus. They're the starting point. They're the foundation. And as we lay a great foundation over the next three years, if you're here 25 years from now, you will be amazed when you look back and say, God has done immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine. I want you to watch this video and hear from our staff what they're thinking about the future of a Jesus church.

SPEAKER_04 45:56

As Dan shared, becoming a Jesus church isn't just a statement. It's something we're pursuing together across every area of ministry. And over the next few minutes, you're gonna hear some of our ministry leaders talk about where we're headed and how we believe that God is calling us to help people know and love Jesus with all that they are.

SPEAKER_07 46:16

In becoming a Jesus Church, helping people encounter Jesus is at the center of everything that we do. From worship nights to social media reels, we're creating environments where people can connect with God. We'll keep writing new songs that reflect the story God is writing here at Grace. Maybe next year you'll even find us on Spotify. We're opening our digital front door by investing in creative volunteers and leaders and by sharing the message of Jesus with people both near and far. Over the next year, you'll see website improvements, stronger online engagement, and new opportunities for people to share their stories. Because long after the music fades and the screens go dark, our prayer remains the same that people would know Jesus, follow Jesus, and experience the life only He can give.

SPEAKER_02 46:55

As we are becoming a Jesus Church, Grace Kids is helping the next generation build a strong foundation of faith. Kids matter to God and they matter to us. We want kids to move beyond simply hearing Bible stories and begin discovering who Jesus is for themselves. From their earliest years through fourth grade, we're creating opportunities for kids to grow in faith, build friendships, and experience God's love. We're also partnering with parents and families because faith grows best when it's lived at at home and at church. Our goal isn't just for kids to know Bible stories, it's for them to know Jesus personally and follow him for the rest of their lives. We're believing God for every child in our community to hear an effective representation of the gospel because of the ministry of Grace Kids, and we believe it can happen.

SPEAKER_03 47:42

The journey doesn't stop in fourth grade. Grace Youth helps students continue growing in their faith and following Jesus themselves. Grace Youth is helping students discover that faith is more than something they hear about, but it's something they can live every day, both in our community and around the world. We're creating spaces where students can encounter Jesus, grow through discipleships, and build strong relationships with others. Part of becoming a Jesus church is investing in volunteers, student leaders, and future leaders who are helping shape the next generation. We're also building new environments where every middle school and high school student can feel known, valued, and connected. And we're believing God for opportunities to bring the hope of Jesus into the schools across our region. Our mission isn't just to gather students, it's to send them out to live for Jesus wherever they go.

SPEAKER_00 48:25

At Grace, we know that every faith journey starts with a step. Every week, people come to Grace looking for hope, friendship, and a place to belong. From their very first visit to joining a group, serving on a team, or being baptized, your next step matters. We want every person who walks through our doors to feel like they belong here. That's why we're working to make every part of the next steps experience clear, inviting, and easy to navigate. Our goal isn't just to fill seats, it's to help people encounter Jesus, find community, and become part of the life and mission of Grace. We believe every person has a next step toward being with Jesus and becoming more like him. As people take those steps, lives are transformed, and transformed lives create a movement that reaches far beyond our church walls and into the community around us.

SPEAKER_01 49:15

At Grace, we believe hospitality is ministry. The Grace Cafe has become more than a place to grab coffee. It's a place where conversations happen, relationships grow, and people find community. We're continuing to create spaces that are warm, welcoming, and full of life. Through hospitality, creativity, and genuine connection, we're helping create a place where families gather, volunteers connect, friendships grow, and people belong. We want every person who walks through our doors to feel welcomed, valued, and at home. Because sometimes the first step towards belonging starts with a smile, a conversation, or a cup of coffee.

SPEAKER_06 49:49

At Grace, we believe faith grows deeper when people grow together. As we continue growing as a church, we never want anyone to feel lost in the crowd. Our group's ministry helps a large church feel more personal. It's where friendships grow, lives are shared, and people discover that they don't have to follow Jesus alone. We want every person at Grace to have a clear path towards connection, discipleship, healing, and belonging. In becoming a Jesus church, we're creating places where people can study scripture together, pray with one another, ask honest questions, and encourage one another through every season of life. We also believe no one should have to walk through life's challenges alone. Through Grace Cares, we're providing practical support, biblical encouragement, and compassionate care for people facing grief, financial hardship, illness, recovery, or unexpected seasons of difficulty. Whether through care teams, counseling resources, or just being present, we're helping people experience the love and compassion of Jesus in tangible ways. Grace, this is what a Jesus church looks like.