Everyone has a Next Step | Pastor Chris Kouba

My name is Chris Cuba.

I have the privilege of being lead pastor here at United City.

Hey, do me a favor.

When you came in, you should have had something like this really close to you.

Would you grab this for me?

Grab this, please, here.

If you were here last week, then you know this is a really cool card that is not for you.

If you were not here last week, look at the cool card.

It's not for you, okay?

Uh it's for you to take a picture of, for you to know about the services, because we want to make sure that you are fully aware of all that's coming up in the next couple of weeks.

We've got good Friday service at 6 o'clock.

It's going to be a baptism and Lord's Supper service.

It's one of the most unique things we do all year.

You're going to love it.

Would love for you to be a part of that.

And then we have Easter services starting on Saturday night, 6 o'clock on Saturday night, 8 30, 10, and 11:30 on Sunday morning.

Here's what I know you're thinking.

Well, I just go to 10 o'clock, so I'll go to 10 o'clock for Easter services.

Don't do that.

All right.

What we need you to do, if at all possible, unless you are inviting someone else who we prefer that that's what you're doing, that you come to the service, that they can come and you sit with them at Easter services.

But what we're also asking you to do is to help us out.

But if you're just coming with your family, please come on Saturday night or come at 8:30 on Sunday morning.

We are expecting a massive crowd and we've added seats, but we know that we're going to be beyond capacity and we want to make sure our 10 and 11:30 have as much room as possible to come be a part of that.

This card is meant for you to give to somebody else, to personally invite.

I saw a statistic this week.

82%, 82% of people respond positively to an invitation to Christmas or Easter services.

Yet only 2% of Christians ever invite someone to church on those two days.

Don't let that be said about United City Church.

Let instead us be a people who take advantage of the opportunity and the willingness of people by just a simple invitation, it could forever change someone's life.

Grab your Bibles, open them up to Luke chapter 15.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 15.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

Just a heads up, though, we're gonna be all over the place today.

So this is a great day for you to take notes, to get your phones out, ready to take pictures of references, because I want you to go and dwell on these passages throughout the rest of the week.

We started a sermon series a couple of weeks ago that we've entitled Anchored.

The whole idea is that we're trying to show you what the four core values of are of United City Church.

What are those things that anchor us in the ground that no matter what we do, no matter how we do it, you can always know this is the why.

Because these are the things that drive us, these are the things that guide us, these are the things that are so very important to what we do week in and week out as a church.

I've been asked this a lot since we started the series.

How did you come up with these?

Like, how did these, did you like just kind of go in your office and just sit one day and decide, hey, we should, we should do this?

And like, that's not at all how this came about.

In fact, when I came here in 2019 to become the pastor here at United City, the search team that brought me said that, hey, this is an amazing historic church that you're gonna be coming in to be a part of.

Uh, this is a church that has incredible decades of history of faithful gospel witness.

They said, but we're in a little bit of an identity crisis.

They said we've had three different names for the church in the last 15 years.

Uh, and in light of that, we also don't really know where we are and where it is that we're gonna go.

So I kind of knew when I came in, I was tasked with the thought of like, hey, you gotta figure out how to help the church be able to have a set identity.

And so I knew we were gonna need help with that.

So we hired an outside group.

Uh, this group works with churches to help them with both the naming process, but more important than just the name process, the mission and the values and the things that drive and shape a church.

We had six people from the staff, and we had six people that were in the church that all met on a monthly basis for a year, and we wrestled through some things.

We had people on that committee like Merle Aaron, who's been a part of this church, he and Linda for over 50 years, one of the finest men I've ever met in my entire life, former mayor of Umble, of the city of Umble, just an incredible man who brought so much perspective to our team.

We had people on the group like Bruce Poole.

Bruce is the leader of the vision team here at our church.

He and Stacey and their family have been a part of United City for many, many years, deeply ingrained in what we are all about and what we want to be.

We have people like Shannon Richards, uh, who's been serving in so many various capacities at that time, was all in our student ministry in a big, big way, now leads in women's Bible studies in all different places.

We had people like Stephanie Williams, uh, who was on our team as well, who was a young adult and was talking through and just what that looks like, young Married Family, uh, what it looks like in her perspective, bringing things to the table.

James Odom, who is the chairman of the deacons, now goes and leads one of our life groups.

He was on the committee.

We had Kathy Rucker, who was on our team at the time as the kids' pastor, and was just doing an incredible job being able to add to that perspective from the staff standpoint.

And all 12 of us got together and wrestled through some things.

And what we began to decide is this okay, not where are we right now, but where do we want to be?

And we didn't want to come up with something that was like a year initiative, and then we kind of move on to something else.

We wanted to be to be to establish something that in six years from that moment, we would be able to say, hey, this is what's true of us.

And not only in six years, but in 60 years, this is what's true of us.

Like this is what we're gonna anchor down deep.

Not just put a peg in the ground and call it a day, but like drill deep into the ground so that no matter what happens to the top of the foundation, we know this is where things are anchored into.

We talked about it the very first week.

The first core value is that of the Bible speaks.

We're gonna let the Bible speak louder than anything else that you ever hear.

The second one last week we talked about lost people matter.

We gave you some very practical things about how we as a church and how you as an individual can allow lost people matter not just to be a church thing, but to be a your thing.

This morning we're gonna look at the third core value, which is this everyone has a next step.

Everyone has a next step.

What do you mean by that?

Literally, everyone has a next step.

I want you to turn to your neighbor on the left, and I want you to look at them, and I want you to say, you have a next step.

I want you to turn to your neighbor on the right, and I want you to look at them and say, Hey, you have a next step.

I want everybody to look at me, and I want you to say it after me.

I have a next step.

We literally mean everybody.

We know the importance of you embracing.

There's not a moment in your spiritual life when you're like, I'm done.

Like I've arrived.

It's never gonna happen on this side of eternity.

Instead, there's always this idea of progress.

I mentioned GPS a couple of weeks ago.

The GPS system is a system that basically allows you to know where you are at any moment, and then allows you to be able to go and be tell you where you're supposed to go if you're to your destination, how you're supposed to go about getting there.

Have you ever had a situation though where maybe you're you're kind of flustered and you're you're in the car and you're trying to figure out where to go and it's just not happening, you're not really sure what it is.

And so you pull the car over and you stop and you type it into your GPS, and then it just has that spinning wheel of death.

Like it just doesn't, it's like I I need to know where I'm supposed to go.

Or maybe you come out of a restaurant or you come out of a store and you need to go somewhere else, but you're not really sure where.

And so what do you do?

You stand still and you look up on your GPS, the destination, but it's not pulling you up.

It's like it can't find where you are.

Part of the way the GPS system works is it's dependent on movement.

Meaning, if you are staying still, the GPS satellites can't determine your location.

Now, the benefit is that even if you're moving in the wrong direction, the GPS can figure out where you are and say, hey, going the wrong way, or the little noise that comes on your GPS app, which tells you turn around, turn around, turn around.

Or it can say, it can confirm that you're going in the right direction.

But here is the key for the GPS system to work.

You have to be moving in order for it to know where you are.

Can I tell you the greatest lie of the enemy is that it's okay for you to stay still?

He wants nothing more than for you spiritually just to stay in place.

He's convinced you that as long as you're not going backwards, then that must mean it's okay.

But the Christian life over and over again is marked by progress.

And it's sometimes the Bible and others will tell us, hey, you're going the wrong direction, you need to turn around.

That's great.

Because at least you're moving and then he can redirect you.

Or along the way, the Bible or the people around you are gonna be able to say, Hey, you're actually headed in the perfect direction, man.

Keep going.

And in fact, if you take this over here, you can actually get there even faster.

Or maybe if you take this here, you can avoid some unnecessary delays or some unnecessary problems along the way.

The key is everyone has a next step.

What do we mean when we say that?

What I want to do is I want to outline for you four different types of next steps for you to consider.

What you will begin to notice is some of you maybe have taken all four of these steps.

Some of you may be taking two at one time.

What I want you to do is consider a couple of different next steps that we want to talk to you about here at United City.

First one is this a first step.

A first step.

For many of you, your next step is to take the first step in your faith journey.

There are many different kinds of first steps.

For example, your first step may be the first step of obedience after you trusted Jesus Christ, and that is to follow through in believers' baptism.

What an unbelievable morning this was.

Just to be able to see y'all's baptisms.

It was incredible.

We've baptized this morning, guys, two senior adults in our church.

We baptized one at the 8:30 service, and then beautiful, we have just Miss Chambers, so great to be able to baptize you and just all of the family.

Like we celebrate that in every way.

Like we get pretty excited about it.

Uh, I mean, just being able to see the smiles on the faces were just, it was just, it was contagious.

Folks, and so Good Friday is coming up.

That's a great opportunity if you're looking to take your first step by following through in Believers' baptism.

You can schedule with family in town to be able to get baptized, but we'll baptize you any service, anytime.

You just come and let us know.

We'd love to talk to you about that.

Some of you, your first step may be to go and join a serve team.

Like you've you've volunteered in the past, or maybe you've done service hours.

That's not what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about like getting on a team where like every week they're counting on you.

And not only are they counting on you, you're you're you're you're counting on you being there and making sure that you can do what God is asking and calling you to do, using your spiritual gift that God has given you to be able to serve his church.

It's a first step.

For some of you, your first step may be getting involved in a group.

You're like, man, I don't need any more friends.

I don't even I don't even like the friends I got.

I don't want to have more friends.

I don't want to do that.

Uh but one of the things we know is that the Bible is very clear is that He desires for us to do this Christian life in the midst of community.

And so what we want to do is take the big room and make it into small rooms.

Small groups.

That's what we call them.

And so, therefore, maybe your next first step is to get into a small group.

Maybe some of you, your first step is to read the Bible for the first time.

Like you've been around the Bible and you've opened the Bible whenever it comes to lessons like this, and maybe you've heard of a few verses and can quote a few things, but you've never actually read through the Bible.

The lady that we baptized, a senior adult that we baptized last service, you want to know how her life got changed?

She was challenged a couple of years ago to read through the Bible for the first time, and guess what?

God showed up in her life.

And God led her to our church.

And she said that she came once for the goal of taking a friend to be able just to show them this church and then never coming back.

And she said it got all over her and she can't stop coming.

And so she knew she needed to be baptized, but it started from reading God's word.

Get on a Bible reading plan.

Bible recaps, one of the ones I highly recommend.

I'm doing it myself, been doing it for many, many years.

That's a way for you to open up and read God's word.

Maybe for some of you, your very first step is to actually enter into a relationship with Jesus.

Did you know that you could do that?

God in heaven, who made you, not only just made you, but he also sent his son Jesus to die on a cross for your sins.

He rose from the dead and he invites you into a relationship with him.

And today, literally before you leave today, you can know for sure that you've got a relationship with Jesus.

At the end of the service, I'm going to give you an opportunity to do just that.

One of the things you'll notice here at United City, we get fired up about first steps.

Like we talk about it, we celebrate it, we let you know about it.

I mean, it is something if you want to know what we get fired up at United City about, it is people taking first steps.

In fact, this year, take a listen to this.

This calendar year, we have already seen 151 people receive Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.

In 2025, already this year, we have seen 163 people get baptized, which is absolutely incredible.

We've seen 116 people join a small group, and we've seen 77 people already this calendar year join a serve team.

Folks, that's pretty exciting stuff, is it not?

This season of steps is marked by joy.

It's marked by excitement, it's marked by all the exciting things that go along with someone being like that when they get it, and you get to experience the joy of that.

My daughter is a senior in high school, and if that wasn't hard enough, uh that she's gonna be leaving us uh here in a couple of months and heading off to grow up and stuff like that.

Um my wife has decided that it would be fun to every single Sunday post a picture for senior Sunday, okay?

And so literally every week, every every she's been posting some sort of picture, and I'm just gonna I confession, I am all up in my feels.

Like there's stuff that I didn't know existed that I'm just like, I just I'm not ready for this, I'm not prepared.

I just I love her, so I just don't want her to grow up.

And I just remember, especially as my wife's posting some of these pictures, like I remember those pictures.

Like I was there, like I used to just felt like it was yesterday when all of this kind of happened.

And sometimes she'll post like recent pictures or senior pictures, and those are great.

It kills me though, whenever she posts those pictures of when she's like a little baby or whenever she's like a toddler, and it's just like, oh my little girl, like it's just not gonna be.

I mean, I brought a few just for you to take a look at them.

I mean, look, look.

Like, I'm just like, you're you're killing me, Hillary.

Like, what are you doing?

Like, what this is hard enough.

I don't need this, I don't need and look, I mean, just she's the uh and it just reminds me of how awesome those early years were.

I remember when she took her very first step.

Like it was the best, like it was awesome.

And here's the thing I don't even know if it was a real step, but we counted it as a step in that moment.

You know what I'm talking about?

I mean, you know what we did?

We all had our cameras out, and the moment she did one little wobble, we like videoed it and sent it to everybody, right?

We were celebrating the heck out of that because we were so excited and we would cheer and for entertainment for hours, we'd just be standing there, and I'm on my knees.

Hillary's on her knees, and we're like, okay, let's go.

And she'd take one little deal and it'd be like, yeah, and we go nuts and we go celebrate.

You know what we never one time did in the midst of that moment?

We never got on to her.

What are you doing?

Why'd you fall down?

We never looked at her and being like, What?

Come on, you gotta you gotta get with it.

We never we never got frustrated with her or upset with her.

No, no, no, no.

The smallest, slightest, little bitty thing that she took along the way of steps, we went nuts.

Folks, some of you, you're terrified to take a first step because you think if I go forward, they're gonna ask me a question and I'm not gonna know the answer.

Some of you are thinking, I'm not gonna go into a small group, because if I go into a small group and I say, Hey, I'm so sorry, can you explain to me what this is?

I'm gonna look like an idiot because they're gonna think that I'm supposed to know it.

And your assumption is that whenever you take a first step, that the church is gonna meet you with being like, What's wrong with you?

Don't you know that already?

Like, I don't understand.

You why would you ask that dumb question?

That's a dumb question.

You should already know this.

No one says that.

Can I tell you what in a step we're gonna do?

Yes, and we're gonna be behind the scenes, we're gonna be like, hey, let me explain this to you, and we're gonna answer your questions, and then afterwards we're gonna get together and we're gonna be like, Did you see how awesome that was?

Did you see them?

They didn't know, and we we got the opportunity to open up God's word.

When people come forward and they have questions, can I tell you that's our favorite people that come forward?

Because they don't come acting like they know it all, they come saying, Man, I I'm a sponge, ready to receive all that God has for me.

That is how you will be treated, that is how you will be celebrated if you here at United City Church are so bold and so courageous to take a first step.

Luke chapter 15, verse 10, it says this.

Luke 15:10

It's a great picture of what God's heart is for those who take first steps.

Just so I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

Whenever we have people that come forward on a Sunday morning, you know what I do?

My I mean, you may not be able to see it.

I'm trying to contain it in, I'm trying to act like I've been there, but man, I am beaming.

I am so excited I can't stand it.

And and I hope that you are feeling the exact same way.

When you see one coming, you're like, yes, here we go.

But can I tell you what's going on in heaven?

They've got a party going on too.

How great is that?

Because that's what happens.

We celebrate first steps.

Zachariah chapter 4, verse 10 says, Do not despise the day of small things.

For some of you, it may feel like a huge thing.

You're gonna look back one day and realize it was a small thing, but I would simply tell you this: take the first step.

And it will lead you down a great path.

Number two, for some of you, your next step, it's not a first step, but for some of you, your next step is the same step.

It's the same step.

Can I tell you what we stopped doing around age four or five?

Whenever my daughter would walk around the house, we stopped videoing it, stopped taking pictures.

It was just kind of normal.

She just walked.

And we monitored it, we we gauged it, made sure you know, measures were hit, and all that kind of stuff that you're supposed to, and all the various things, but at the end of the day, it wasn't as exciting and big of a deal.

Why?

Because it was just normal.

Just kind of what you do.

For some of you, your next step is to keep doing what you've already been doing.

So, for example, a couple of years ago, you decided you were gonna read the Bible for the very first time, and praise God for that, and you you did, and you read all the way through and you completed it, and man, that feeling of completion was great.

But more importantly, the fact that you learned there's so much stuff in here, and you begin to learn God's word, and now you're a couple of years later and you're like, Well, now what do I do?

Can I tell you?

You read it again, and you read it again, and you read it again.

You see, this is what happens.

You be there's so much that's here.

There's like a treasure trove you'll never get to the bottom of.

For some of you, what you did is you you signed up to go being on a serve team, and they and you went through the growth track, and then you decided to go serve in preschool.

And man, they celebrated the heck out of you when you came in there to that preschool classroom, and it was so exciting, and it was so new, and you loved the class, your very first class of preschoolers that you got to pour yourself into, and it was so wonderful and exciting.

And then guess what happened?

Then all of a sudden, those same preschoolers they don't stay the same size, they actually get bigger, and they moved on to another classroom.

And so all of a sudden, it's a newer group, and then it's a newer group, and you find that all of a sudden the excitement and the joy and the celebration that everybody else had about the fact that you were serving in preschool, now you're two to three years in, and it's not quite as exciting.

It's like, oh, I gotta get up and go to preschool tomorrow.

And you know what you need to do?

You need to get up and serve in preschool tomorrow.

Like that's what you need to do.

The best step that you can possibly take isn't to quit because it's no longer exciting.

The best step for you to take is to keep serving, is to keep doing what you're supposed to be doing.

This is the beauty of the Christian life.

There's a book by Eugene Peterson with an amazing title to his book.

It says, Long obedience in the same direction.

It's an idea of faithfulness and consistency.

Hillary and I are in a really fun season of our lives.

We're about to start launching kids out of our house, and uh, we've been married 22 years, and um, I didn't say that nearly as it sounded different.

Although it's true.

Uh because we're in a season that we're we're I mean, we're emotional and we're it's crazy and it's chaotic, but it's so much fun.

Like, I don't know where this whole idea of like raising teenagers is the worst.

Like, it's a blast.

We love this season of our lives, love it.

But what I've also discovered is I believe the reason why we are in the stage where we are, where we can enjoy this season that we're in and what's about to come in our direction is because of years five through 15 of our marriage.

Let me show you some pictures of the of that season.

This is us, I don't know when it was, but this is this is us back in the day.

Uh, we had four kids under the age of five.

Uh, so it was like kind of chaotic.

So it Just it was a season that was marked by a number of things.

We didn't take a lot of vacations.

We certainly didn't take good vacations.

It was a season where it was a lot of this conversation.

How are we gonna pay for that?

Like, how are we gonna do that?

It was a season marked by a whole lot of what felt like strictly survival.

Like, how do we survive to live another day?

Like, that's all I really care about is being able to do that.

It was also marked by a season where we tried to take a family picture and it didn't really go well, right?

I mean, it was always just kind of crazy and chaotic, and all the various things that go along with all of that.

But but but can I tell you those years of five through 15?

Here's the key phrase that marked those years more than any other phrase.

Normal.

It's just normal.

Wasn't super flashy or wasn't super exciting.

It just was a lot of, yeah, we we kind of fight to date and we figure out how to wrangle kids, and we figure out how to pay for stuff, and we figure out how to just kind of live for another day.

And now I'm in this other season, 22 years in, about to launch kids up.

And maybe we love it, and we're locked in armed together, and we love each other, and we love our kids.

And I firmly believe it's because I learned the discipline in years five through 15 of just normal.

Some of you are in the normal season, and what you need to do is not get frustrated because it's not flashy.

You instead, I need to stay faithful because this is where you're actually learning what to live as a believer looks like.

I say it's normal, you know what the Bible calls it?

Abiding.

It means to continue or to walk in or to grow with.

I want you to take your phones out, I want you to take a picture of this screen I'm about to show you because I'm gonna rattle through a bunch of verses, and I don't want you upset with me because you didn't have time to write them down.

And more importantly, I want you to go back this week, maybe in your personal time with the Lord, and dwell on these verses.

Just kind of meditate on them.

Let them be like a like a cough drop that just slowly begins to give you the relief that you need.

Because I'm telling you, this is so much of the Christian life that I'm about to read.

John chapter 15, verse 4 and 5.

John 15:4

Here's how it reads Abide in me, continue, walk in me, and I in you.

As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

I am the vine, you are the branches.

Here's the promise.

Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.

You want to know how you bear a bunch of fruit?

It's not by popping flash, it's by consistency, it's by faithfulness, it's by walking in the normal with God.

For apart from me, you can do what?

Nothing.

Our assumption is that I'm gonna need God for a while and then I'm gonna graduate to where I don't need him anymore.

That's not how it works.

You instead need to walk in such a way in years five through 15 when you realize I can't live without him.

Like he's all I got.

Praise God, he's all I've got.

Look at first John chapter 2, verse 24.

1 John 2:24

Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you.

We think we need new information, we need new stuff.

No, you don't.

You see the old stuff in you more.

If you want, if you if what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.

Colossians chapter 1, verse 23, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting.

Colossians 1:23

I love that idea because here's the thought.

The thought is that okay, I'm here and I feel like I'm in a rut.

I hear people tell me that.

I feel like I'm in a spiritual rut.

And I get it.

I feel like at times I've been in spiritual ruts.

What I don't realize is that if I stay faithful, not shifting from what got me there in the first place, there's a breakthrough coming on just the other side.

But instead, I'm like, well, I need to go find something else that's more flashy and exciting.

And so maybe I bounce to this church and bounce to this church and bounce to this church.

You just need to stay faithful in a church.

And just give yourself to that church and go through the ups and the downs of a relationship.

All that five to 15 years of me and Hillary, I mean, there were some awesome times, there were some really difficult times, there was a lot of times that weren't worth mentioning.

Just walking through life.

It says, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which you have been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, in which I, Paul, am a minister.

Acts chapter 14, verse 21 and 22.

Acts 14:21

When they had preached the gospel to that city and had many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples.

Look at what it says, encouraging them to continue in the faith.

Some of you, here's the word for you.

Keep going.

Keep going in the faith.

Don't give up.

You keep being faithful and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 14.

2 Timothy 3:14

But as for you, continue in what you have learned.

You see a theme?

And who have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it.

1 Corinthians 15, 58.

And therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding, not once a month, or once a year, or when you can.

It says, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Galatians chapter 6, verse 9, and let us not grow weary of doing good.

Galatians 6:9

For in due season we will reap if we do not give up.

This is a season where you learn faithfulness.

You're walking with God, you learn how to be normal.

It's not flashy, it's not loud, but it's consistency and faithfulness that is the definition of it.

For some of you, number three, your next step is not to take a first step, it's not to take a same step, but number three, it's to step up.

It's to step up.

This is a season that's usually marked by some type of disruption.

Maybe you have some sort of life change.

Maybe you lose a spouse, maybe you lose a job, maybe you move to a new city, you transition from middle school to high school, high school to college, college to young adults.

Maybe you go to the doctor, they tell you something news that requires some significant change in your life.

Maybe they tell you that, hey, you got cancer.

You're gonna have to make some changes to your diet.

Or hey, you're overweight.

And if you don't do that, your blood pressure is gonna be a problem.

And so you need to lose 30 pounds.

That's not a tweak.

You're not just altering your diet.

What do you have to do?

You have to do an overhaul.

You have to assess, okay, where am I?

What do I gotta do?

I can't just make a small change, I gotta make a radical change.

And what I've discovered is that whenever you have any of those types of transition moments in your life, if you will step up and step into those opportunities, I believe they also can be some of the greatest spiritual significant changes in your life.

Let me give you and show you what this looks like, because it's usually marked by what you take away and by what you add.

Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1 and 2.

Hebrews 12:1

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely.

And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising its shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Folks, what I want you to see is that sometimes running your race means that you need to get rid of some things.

It mentions sins.

Maybe some of you have some things that you've kind of gotten used to and you've allowed in your life that God did not change his mind on.

And so, therefore, what you need to do, you want to experience some actual change in your life, get rid of that stuff.

For some of you, it's time for you to get rid of some weights.

Weights are not things that are bad in and of themselves, but they become bad for you.

It's not bad to have a phone.

It's bad if the phone has you.

And for some of you, here's the deal the phone has you.

And so, therefore, you want to experience some real change in your life?

Don't just tweak it and be on it a little less.

Figure out how you can radically not be on it as much.

For some of you, you've gotten too lax when it comes to your pursuit of personal holiness.

So the things that you listen to, you're kind of like, ah, I mean, it's it's not terrible.

It could be worse.

Could be worse isn't the bar that Jesus uses.

He instead calls us to be holy as I am holy.

Some of you, you're drinking, it's too much.

And so the reality is you need to have wisdom and realize, hey, drinking may be okay for others, but it's not okay for you.

And you have to have wisdom to say, God, what do you want me to do?

What I've found is that a season of fasting is one of the quickest ways to discover what I need to get rid of.

Fasting is not just not eating so that you can lose weight.

Fasting is whenever you said, take away something as basic as food in order to connect with the Lord.

Every time I've ever fast, specifically for a long fast, the Lord begins to bring conviction in my life and he begins to give me a list.

I'm asking for a list of things I need to do.

He gives me a list of things I need to take away.

For some of you, maybe that's what you need to do.

Maybe it's also a season marked by what you add.

Maybe you've been doing the same step for a while, but you need to now do a time of maybe extended prayer and fasting.

Maybe you've been tithing.

It's time for you to step up, take off the training wheels, and be way more generous.

For you to give above and beyond your tithe and be able to see, okay, God, I want to experience another level of not only your provision, but also your generosity through me to others.

Maybe there's times when the Lord, when it really does the hard work of sanctification, when he exposes and refines and cleanses your life.

Let me give you some examples of this.

1 Corinthians chapter, or excuse me, 1 John chapter 1, verse 8 and 9.

1 John 1:8

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.

And the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Titus chapter 3, verses 5 and 6.

Titus 3:5

It says he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy.

By the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.

This is not pouring water over you and you're clean.

There is a process of renewing that takes place.

Whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.

2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 16.

2 Corinthians 4:16

So we do not lose heart.

Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed.

You're getting better.

You're improving, you're moving up all because of day by day God is working in your life.

This step is often marked by disruption.

It's where you don't tweak things, you overhaul things.

If you ever done a home renovation project, you know that you may call the contractor in and you're like, hey, I want to change these walls, I want to upgrade this paint, and I want to go change out this flooring.

That sounds simple and easy, and you can't wait for the product to look good at the end.

But in order for him to do that, you know what a contractor has to do?

He has to rip up the walls, and inevitably, what ends up happening is you begin to discover stuff that was hidden behind the walls that even if you put something new and cosmetically in front of it, it would go bad.

Why?

Because ultimately you didn't fix the source of the problem.

Folks, can I tell you some of you are just trying to upgrade paint?

You're just trying to upgrade flooring.

And what you need to do is you need to get behind the walls.

You need to begin to see what's really going on and allow God to remove or to add some things to your life so that the finished product will not only look good, but it'll stay good.

Because ultimately that's what we want.

For some of you, what this means is you need to go see a counselor, you need to go to one of our recovery ministries, like re-engage or divorce care or grief share or celebrate recovery.

You need to do an extended fast.

You need to be radically generous.

You need to cut off completely a relationship, you need to attend an out-of-town marriage conference.

I don't know what your next step is, but I can assure you of this.

What God calls you to, he equips you for.

So it's time to step up.

Last one is this.

Step with.

Step with.

In my opinion, this is the best one of all.

It's when you move the focus off of yourself, and it moves to focusing on how you can help other people take their next step.

This is when you experience growth, you've experienced progress, you've seen God move and work and operate in your life, and then you begin to have this contagious desire to make somebody else be able to experience that same thing.

This is ultimately we are called to do, not just to grow, but help other people grow.

Not just for you to get it, but to help other people get it.

Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 and 20 says this go therefore and make disciples of all nations.

Matthew 28:19

It involves this.

I've got to be actively moving by going.

What am I supposed to do?

Tell someone, yes, but then you're supposed to make them a disciple so they can tell someone else as well.

There's a multiplication factor that goes on, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.

2 Timothy 2, verse 2 says, And for what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, and trust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

2 Timothy 2:2

What this means is not just coming to faith, but sharing your faith with somebody else.

There are few things in life that are more life-giving and exciting than being able to share your faith with somebody else and for them to be able to receive it and get it.

I got to experience this just uh about a week and a half ago, and I'm just telling you, there is nothing that is better than that experience.

Being able to tell them about Jesus and then get it.

You see the light bulbs go off.

You begin to see.

This is instead of you just serving on a serve team, you're the leader of a serve team who recruits, who trains, who raises up new leaders to serve for the very first time.

This is when you're looking for people who you can celebrate with, whom they take their first step.

This is why I think working in the baptism ministry is one of the most exciting things that you could do, or working in our decision counseling area is one of the most exciting things you do because people come forward and you want to know what happens, you get to celebrate their first step.

This is whenever you go alongside somebody in the midst of the church and you've walked with Jesus for a very long time and you know that they're feeling like they're in a rut, they've been kind of doing the same thing, and you put your arm around them, you invite them to coffee, you go to lunch with them, and you tell them, hey man, I know it may feel like you're just kind of doing the same thing over and over again, but keep doing it.

It's worth it.

This is when you have senior adults who come and serve at our encounter weekend, which is our weekend for students, not because they love the music, and not because they understand all the activities, and not because they know a lot of the kids.

You know why they do it?

Because they know the joy that comes whenever they get to see students give their lives to Christ and begin a journey for the rest of their lives following the same Jesus that they followed all of theirs.

That is the beauty.

That is why we do what we do.

What is your next step today?

Do me a favor, grab your phone, grab something to write with.

I want you to pull something out where you can actually complete this sentence.

I want you to actually write it out.

My next step is type it in the notes app.

Write it on a piece of paper.

My next step is your heads and would you close your eyes all across the stream if you want to be online?

Please do the same.

Some of you, it may be the same step.

Some of you, it may be to step up.

Some of you it may be to step with.

Some of you it may be a specific thing.

I need to get on a surf team.

I need to be baptized.

I need to read my Bible.

Would you just look at that again that you've written down?

And would you just commit that to the Lord as an offering to him?

Just say, God, would you bless this?

I know some of you may be thinking, Well, I I don't honestly know.

But what if I wrote the wrong thing down?

Here's the thing: God directs moving vehicles.

You just say yes.

And he'll direct you.

He'll lead you.

He'll guide you.

The Holy Spirit will walk with you and will show you.

Hey, if it's not the right thing, that's fine, but just don't stay still.

For some of you, you need to take the very first step.

And that is to enter into a relationship with Jesus.

He desires to not just know of you, but to know you through relationship with him.

Because he's a holy God, there's no way you could do that on your own.

You can do enough things to overcome the sin in your life, but God came to you.

He sent his son Jesus to die on a cross, he rose from the dead, and he gives you the opportunity in this moment right now to receive him as your personal Lord and Savior.

Today you want to receive Jesus.

I'm going to ask that you come forward here in just a moment.

Others of you need to come and take that first step of joining a church.

This is where you want to plant your flag and say, Man, I want to be a part of a church that's moving.

Would you come?

Would you join us?

Others of you need to come and be baptized.

You come, you know that's the case.

Others of you just need prayer today.

Maybe you need prayer for boldness, prayer for courage.

Maybe you've got a need going on in your life, in your heart.

Father, we want to come alongside and pray with you.

I've got team members all up front, we've got team members all on the bottom of the steps.

I'm gonna ask no one to be leaving unless you're making a decision today.

Father, I pray to a God who is more than able to do it again.

That Father, in these moments, Father, that you would call and you would lead people to yourself.

Make bold, life changing decisions.

Be so thankful they did.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Thank you so much for joining us this morning.

We can't wait to see you next week for any of our services at 8 30, 10, 11 30, or Espignol at 1 o'clock.