VISION SUNDAY | LUKE LEZON

Welcome to Key Church, everybody. How's

everyone feeling? We doing all right?

Y'all can take a seat. How incredible is

it to have friends that can sing like

that? Uh I would be obnoxious. God

didn't give me that gift for that

reason. I would like sing recipes and

stuff like that. So, I am uh grateful

that he just made me obnoxious in the

way that I like to hear myself talk. And

so, welcome to Key Church. It is so

great to see you and to be here with you

all this morning. I am so grateful that

we could gather together in this house.

Uh, and I'm grateful because we're here

for Vision Sunday. And Vision Sunday is

uh a little bit different. If you've

been a part of our church for uh more

than a year, then you've probably got

some good understanding of what this day

is going to look like. But if not, let

me just bring you up to speed a little

bit and say that Vision Sunday is a day

that we kind of consecrate to the Lord

on several levels. and and really the

biggest way that we do so is that we

want to look backward and remember

everything that God has done and then we

want to look forward and move towards

everything that we believe and sense

that the Lord is doing. And so I say

that because I think we all recognize

like the Lord's hand is on our church in

this really beautiful and remarkable

way. And so while I won't be moving

through a particular text and we're not

back in David until next week, I do want

you to know that I think it's important

for us as a church to just provide some

really significant updates and make sure

that we're a people that or we're a

people of remembrance. Does that sound

good to everyone here this morning? And

so hopefully um you will join me in

that. And um I I want you to know we've

got some incredible opportunities for us

to steward the moment that we're in, but

then also some opportunities for us to

seize as we move forward together. And

and I would say this before we jump in.

Um I think everyone in here knows what

it's like to read a book. For some of

you, it's been a minute, but for most of

us, we know what it's like to read a

book. Uh big book fan over here. And so,

uh, listen, I I I say that because if

you've ever read a book that you end up

just feeling like is unbelievable, you

know that kind of at the beginning you

feel a lot of fun things. Like you're

interested in this character's character

arc and you feel very invested in them

on some level and you kind of interested

in what it is that's going to end up

happening with them. You love the world

that the author ends up building and you

feel like you're stepping into that

world in a significant way. But

inevitably in any good book, there's a

turn where you recognize, oh, I'm not

just enjoying this character or enjoying

the world that the author has been

building, but rather I am engaged in a

significant way. I'm leaning in. The

story has just gotten so good that I can

hardly put this book down. And I think

that's significant for us today to know

because there are many of us where maybe

you look around at what God has been

doing and you're like, man, I I've found

myself really engaged in what the Lord's

doing here and you find yourself

realizing, man, I I feel very plugged

in. But then there could be some of us

that are here and you're going, man,

honestly, I I've really been enjoying

everything that the Lord's doing here

and and I think it's great. But quite

quite frankly, I also look around and

realize that I've kind of been trying to

find my moment of of how I should step

in and when I should step in and what

that looks like. But can I just tell

you, I believe today is a day that we're

going to look back on and be like, man,

that's where the story got real good. Uh

like we've been enjoying a lot of the

things that God has been doing. But I

think for those of us that have maybe

even felt on the fringes or wondering,

man, where is it that I can offer my

expertise and help in what it is God's

doing here? Today is that day to move

from simply enjoying to engaging in the

Lord's work here at our church. And so,

we're going to be in Matthew chap 25. I

just want to anchor us in a text today.

Uh there is no way that I could ever

stand up here without reading scripture

on some level, even if it is vision

Sunday and providing updates. And so,

we're going to be in verse 14.

And I want to just read a few verses

here, and we'll see how this all comes

together at the end. Y'all ready?

>> Man, wow. That is that is tough.

That was not convincing at all. And um

Lord, we just uh Lord, just before our

prayer, we just ask that you would uh

wake us up and stuff. And so here we go.

Says this,

Jesus in the parable of the talents

would say, "For it is just like a man

about to go on a journey. He called his

own servants and entrusted his

possessions to them. To one he gave five

talents, to another two talents, and to

another one talent, depending on each

one's ability. Then he went on a

journey, and immediately the man who had

received five talents went, put them to

work, and earned five more. The same way

the man with two earned two more. But

the man who had received one talent went

off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid

his master's money. After a long time,

the master of those servants came and

settled accounts with them. And the man

who had received five talents

approached, presented five more talents,

and said, "Master, you gave me five

talents. See, I have earned five more

talents. And his master said to him,

"Well done, good and faithful servant.

You are faithful over many things, or

you are faithful over a few things. I

will put you in charge of many things.

Share in your master's joy." Uh let's

pray together. Uh well, Lord, as we

gather together as a church, I'm just

struck by the realization that um you've

assembled all of us together truly for

such a time as this.

And and Lord, one of the great sins of

the Israelites in the Old Testament is

that they forget

uh there's a a quickness, a swiftness to

kind of disregard what it is that you've

done and constantly look ahead. And yet,

Lord, you call us to stack stones on top

of one another and look back and say,

"Remember what the Lord has done." You

call us to press forward toward

everything that you've called us to as

well. But Lord, would we be a people

that don't make something that ends up

being a 14-day journey by foot take 40

years because we failed to remember who

it is that we're following and who it is

that's really doing everything that we

observe that is good and beautiful among

us. And so, Lord, would you just make

this a day of celebration in the hearts

of your people and stir our faith in a

radical way? Uh Lord, in a way that we

would be able to look back on this day

and go, man, that was a turning point in

the story. Lord, we love you. We praise

you. We ask these things in Jesus name.

Amen.

Well, in Luke 7 18-20, there's this

really interesting moment where um John

the Baptist, Jesus' cousin and

forerunner, uh has found himself with

his few disciples that he has had over

the course of his ministry now realizing

that they're kind of going off to Jesus

ministry. And John himself is finding

himself being imprisoned and yet

everything that he wanted to do is

really going well. that he wanted to be

the one that blazed the trail for the

Messiah to come. And so we see that now

Jesus has burst onto the scene. And as

that happens, John's disciples are very

excited about everything that they are

witnessing from this person in Jesus

Christ. And so what we've seen is that

Jesus fame is spreading like wildfire

because we see that the miracles that

he's performing uh are insane. uh that

actually John 7:18 would end up coming

John 7:18

on the heels of Jesus healing the

widow's son whose funeral procession is

on its way to the city of Naine. Jesus

would come up, touch the casket for all

intents and purposes and we see that

that boy would rise and then he would

escort the boy to his mother. And so

when someone raises the dead, people

talk.

And we see that John's disciples would

end up bringing back some information to

John and they would say this. It says,

"Then John's disciples told him about

all these things." So John summoned two

of his disciples and sent them to the

Lord. And he asked, "Are you the one who

is to come or should we expect someone

else?" And when the men reached him,

they said, "John the Baptist sent us to

ask you. are you the one who is to come

or should we expect someone else? And

what I love about Jesus answer in verses

21- 23 is he doesn't answer with some

like really kind of like spooky sign or

something that's very difficult to

discern where they have to like really

think about it, but rather he just ends

up pointing to evidence of the kingdom

of God at work in their midst. And so

you see that Jesus would end up uh

saying that at the time Jesus healed

many people of their disease,

afflictions, and evil spirits. He

granted sight to many blind people and

he replied to them, "Go and report to

John what you've seen and heard. The

blind receive their sight. The lame

walk. Those with leprosy are cleansed.

The deaf hear. The dead are raised. And

the poor told the good news. Blessed is

the one who isn't offended by me." Jesus

makes sure John's clear. Uh yeah, I'm

that guy. I'm the one. I am the person

that was promised, the prince that was

promised, the one who is to come, the

one who's inaugurated the kingdom of God

and the evidence of which you see at

work that you previously did not see.

For our purposes here today, what you

see Jesus saying to John is, John,

listen to what's happening and observe

everything that's happening. And I say

that to us because I think we would be

wise to do the same thing. uh last

Sunday. Uh I doubt many of you were at

all four gatherings. And if you were, uh

you shouldn't do that. So, please don't

do that. But if you uh but for most of

us that attended one gathering and maybe

served another, you you need to know

that uh just full transparency, going

into last weekend, uh we were hoping

that we would have more baptisms that

were lined up and we had 30 that were

scheduled, which was great. So, we

planned on having this beautiful day of

baptism with those 30 individuals that

had made that decision. But while we had

scheduled 30 individuals to be baptized,

we actually ended up baptizing almost

double that number. We baptized 58

people last week, which was great.

[applause]

Uh,

and many of those people responded to

the gospel for the very first time and

they wanted to walk in accordance with

what the scripture teaches, which is to

be baptized after that. But then there

were some uh that ended up realizing,

hey, I'm I'm saved and I realized that I

was baptized at one point in my life,

but it wasn't a decision that I made and

I want to move forward with that

decision. And so we saw that there's

beautiful things that are happening

around us even in between gatherings

because we couldn't dunk everybody uh

with enough time in the actual

gathering. It was kind of happening

between gatherings and it was just like

this really beautiful New Testament

thing that was going on. And I say that

to you because I think in the same way

that we see Jesus would say to John,

"Hey John, look around, man." I'm saying

to us as a church, "Hey, look around.

What is it that we see?" We're

witnessing those who are far from God

being drawn near to God. We're seeing

that there are people that are making

decisions to recognize, "Hey, I think

God is calling me. God has saved me, and

I'm realizing all I've got to do is

reach up. He's already reached down to

me." And then they're taking the step of

being baptized after that. I'll tell

you, uh, I I ask that you would bow your

head and close your eyes at the end of

most gatherings to offer a way for

people to to raise their hand and accept

Christ as Lord and Savior. And most of

you, you listen. Some of you, you look

up anyway, and that's something you have

to deal with the Lord on. Uh, but I

would just say to you, uh, what's really

fun is that, uh, most weeks we have

multiple hands that will go up and not

like in a preacher way where like no

hands are up and I'm like, I see you. I

see you. I see you. and you look around,

you're like, there's not a single hand

up in this joint. Like, not none of

that. If there's not a hand up, I'll be

like, and that's that's for y'all. All

right. And so, like, let's pray. Uh,

but, uh, many weeks now now people are

going to look up a lot and be like, he's

lying. Like, you know,

but multiple hands that are going up and

you see people are taking that step of

baptism. It's this really beautiful

thing that we get to witness. We're

witnessing people's lives being

transformed in real time. And last week

was a huge part of that. Uh, and I'll

tell you, uh, one thing that we're

witnessing, and this will sound, uh, a

little self- serving, but this is not

just true of me. This is true of our

whole team that teaches and those that

we will bring in. It's it's something

that's a qualification that we want to

make sure that they'll do is we see that

the scriptures are being taught

accurately and boldly week in and week

out. Uh, and let me just go ahead and

say to you, our our commitment to you is

that we are going to be a church that

stands firm and does not water down the

word of God. We're gonna stand firm on

it at all times. [applause]

Uh and in a everchanging world, we are

going to stand firmly on God's

unchanging word. Uh I don't care what

mobs form or what h like I I just don't

care. We're going to do that. That is

what this church is about. That is the

foundation that we are going to stand

on. Uh we're witnessing God's church

worshiping in spirit and in truth. uh

that we're seeing that there is this

orthodoxy and vibrancy to the way that

people are worshiping. We love that

we're witnessing confession at the altar

that people are not just like, you know

what, I'm just going to make my way down

there and see what happens. Uh like it's

it it's not a trick. People are coming

down and realizing, man, like God's

getting a hold of my heart and there's

some things that I need to relinquish to

him. And I think that there's people

that are actually going to come

alongside me and pray. That's happening

before our eyes. We're witnessing the

prioritization of spiritual formation.

We always believe that there's work that

we can do to get better, but we're

committed to doing that as we're

launching crews and making sure that

there's opportunities for further

disciplehip for those that say, "Hey, I

don't just want to kind of just be

around here, but I want to continue to

figure out how is it that I can walk

more closely with my Lord." And so,

listen, we're a church that's going to

continue to be steadfast in our

commitment to awaken those that are far

from God to the redemption that is found

in Jesus Christ and become spirit-led,

compelling, missional disciples in

whatever their sphere of influence might

look like. That they would bring the

kingdom of God to their workplace, to

their home, strengthening families,

seeing this community being a place

where we can burn and then take that

fire out together into whatever sphere

that might look like. And so, while I

think we all have probably heard and

seen of a lot of great things happening

in ministries that are going on around

our church, uh, let me just go ahead and

say just a quick word about that. What

we're seeing is fruit and growth. Uh,

[snorts] we're seeing fruit and we're

seeing growth. And a lot of us, you

could pop in at any week night uh, and

you could see that there's incredible

things that are happening with Awana and

students and young adults and men's and

women's ministries. There's beautiful

things that are happening all over the

place, but uh there are some things that

I wanted to bring to our attention that

we don't see as easily and aren't as

readily available to just kind of like

observe and hear about. Uh and one of

the things that we're also committed to

being as a church and being a church

that we believe is pleasing to the Lord

and doing our best to continue to be

steadfast in doing so, uh is that we're

a church that's going to continually

find ourselves focused on making sure

that we're uh making provisions for

missions. Uh, and so I'm really pleased

that I can stand here on behalf of our

church's leadership, the elder and

pastoral teams, and remind us our church

is committed to giving a strong

percentage of our budget every single

year off the top to missions work on a

local, national, and international

level. And I'm thrilled to report that

as of August the 30th of this year, with

still a little bit of time left in our

fiscal year, uh, we've released more

than $525,000

for missions work locally, nationally,

and internationally, which has been

great. Um, [applause]

and for for clarity's sake, as our

church continues to grow and God

willing, as our budget continues to

grow, we're going to continue to want to

do more in releasing resource, but then

also send more as far as people are

concerned. And so, we have a couple of

different areas where we're really

focused. Uh, compassion ministries,

meeting practical needs in Jesus' name.

uh evangelism and church planning,

proclaiming the gospel in places where

uh the gospel is not proclaimed a whole

whole lot or in other areas where it

hasn't been proclaimed at all. Uh and

then also education and leadership

development. We want to equip leaders

for gospel mission and that can include

everything from missionaries of whom we

support several uh but then also local

leaders making sure that they're

equipped to accurately teach the teach

the scriptures and make sure that the

kingdom of God is going forth in their

contexts as well. And so one thing that

we're not going to do is just jump over

our own community to get to other

communities. We want to have a a wide

range of areas where we help. But we are

committed to making sure that hey uh in

Central Florida, we're doing good work.

And so we've served families that are

facing foster care involvement, housing

instability, food insecurities

specifically. Uh and I'll give a couple

of just just broad ways in which you can

recognize how we've used some of these

dollars. Uh we've partnered to the tune

of $50,000 with Commission 127 uh to

help equip churches surround adoptive,

biological, and foster families with

practical care. Uh many of you were a

part of the work that we did with West

Oaks Elementary where we were able to

provide backpacks and other supplies

that we were then able to give to all of

these different schools that were

needing supplies at this critical time

of the year. Uh we partnered with Sleep

and Heavenly Peace. Some of you braved

the weather out on the property at one

point and helped build beds for children

that don't have beds. And they were

given a gift that we take for granted

and was something that that just

completely transformed their life. Like

these kids don't even have a bed to

sleep in. And we've been able to

actually help go forward with that. Uh

we've been committed to being a church

that serves those that are facing hard

times in our community and beyond. I

shared a little bit about it last week,

but we've released $45,000 to Convoy of

Hope for disaster relief to help those

that have suffered from the earthquakes

in Colombia and Venezuela. And then this

is one uh that I I just love on a

personal level. Not that the others I

don't love, but $30,000 we've given to

Radical uh which helps the persecuted

church reach their communities. And I

love this number that they ended up

reporting back to us because of our

donation. 445 people heard the gospel

for the very first time, which is really

incredible in those different areas of

the world. [applause]

$28,000 went to Illuminations to help

translate scripture in a language that

it's never been translated into, which

is a big part of our heart. I think all

of us could easily get behind that. Uh

$36,000 went to New Harvest Missions

International for church planting in

West Africa. and we gave $50,000 a piece

to a couple of different church planting

organizations uh that plant nationally

and internationally in ARC and SLN. Uh

and we see that they are are not just

planning just kind of wherever, though

they can if they want to, but they

usually go to strategic cities where the

gospel isn't heard as much. So, we're

not necessarily giving a whole lot of

money to churches that are just we just

feel like Nashville needs a 498th

church. Uh but, you know, other places

uh that need to hear the gospel. So, uh,

by the way, one of the things that we

did, and I love this, and I just like,

"Hey, church in the garden, if you're

watching, we were able to help a local

church that's being planted in our area.

Uh, we've we've helped them secure a

spot for four Sundays this year so that

their church can get started and get

rolling in our own community because can

I tell you, we're Capitol C church

people. Uh, and we don't think our

churches in our area are competition."

I'm like, "Bring the church planters to

our city and let's have more and more

churches in our area that the gospel

might go forth in one of the greatest

sending cities in all the nation." And

so, we've been able to do really, really

fun work as a result of releasing those

missions dollars. And so, I'm excited

about all of that. Uh, but I want to

pivot a little bit and and just remind

us uh who was here for Vision Sunday

last year.

Okay, so we got work the whole 8 a.m.

was here last year. So, I was like, "Oh,

okay. Well, I'm done." Uh uh but there

are a lot of us that that I I want to

just provide us with a little bit of

history and context for where we're

going. There there's great work that

we've done, lots of things that are fun

to remember. And the last thing that I

want us to think back on before we

really start looking forward here is

this. Um our church

has had significant growth. Uh but then

there's swift growth. You know what I

mean? like like significance a lot but

then swift in significance like a lot a

lot. Does that make sense to us? Uh so

just for a little bit of context

in the summer of 2021, if you can

believe it, 450 people went to this

church.

All right, some OG's. All right. Uh it's

great. Like

all right, and that just that proves my

point beautifully. Nobody else whooped

in here. All right. So, um,

450 people called Key Church home. All

right. In 2022,

uh, 900 people were coming to our

church. By the way, for whatever reason,

we kept doing two gatherings at 450

people. I don't know if that was in

faith or that was just dumb, but um, we

did do that.

Anyway, in 2023, we continued to grow.

We had about 1500 individuals that

called this church home. In 2024, that

number went to 1,900. And then last

Vision Sunday in 2025, I stood up here

and shared with you what I thought was

crazy. And I was like, "Hey, there's

2400 people that call Key Church home

and we have about 500 kids that are back

there with our incredible kids team."

So, we had about 2,900 people that were

on the campus. And I was like, "What are

we gonna do?" Well,

um [laughter]

you know,

uh the last weekend that I preached, uh

so a couple weeks ago,

uh we had over 3,200 people that were

here, not including kids. And when you

add the kids, we had 600 kids. And why

would you not include the kids? Probably

just to make ourselves feel like we have

more room than we do. Uh and after we

counted those together, uh where last

year I said, "Hey, we have almost 3,000

people that are calling our church

home." Uh today we have almost 4,000

people that are calling our church home.

So [applause]

which is uh good,

you know, like it's good um

and it can be problematic,

hypothetically speaking. Um,

parking

is um is an opportunity

to

be sanctified

and practice what it is that we've gone

over in here.

Uh we have four gatherings

that don't have tons of room and um

we all like to hang out. I don't know if

you know that or not.

So like as as you shrink the window

between gatherings and you're like

really excited about, you know, being

able to make a little bit of room, all

of a sudden you make all this room and

then people are just like, "Oh, it's so

good to see you. It's so good to see

you." And I'm trying to be pastoral and

don't want to be like, "Okay, why don't

you all get on out of here?" Uh and come

on like love you in in Christ like see

you and um there's Starbucks this way

filters that way like you know whatever

uh you know but we're struggling with

time to just linger which I want for us

right I don't think I have to convince

us we have an issue we split this

gathering a couple weeks ago and if you

can tell

still an issue

Uh but last vision Sunday, we also

talked about how we're so filled with

gratitude for all the leadership that's

ever come before us. I'm so grateful for

the leadership that was here uh before I

got here, before many of us got here.

Grateful for those with the foresight to

purchase this piece of property when you

could get it for significantly less than

if you had to try and get it today and

build this incredible building that

we're in right now. But I also shared

with you that the elder and pastoral

team, we're not just looking around

being like, "Isn't this great?" Um,

we're praying and planning forward

toward the future. And so, uh, we've

been praying and planning for something

that's really substantial where we can

figuratively and quite literally build

on this foundation that we've been

given. And I ask that you would be

prayerful as a church for those of you

that were there as well. And so, uh, now

it's it's time to build on the legacy

that we've received and build a legacy

that will be here long after we go. And

so, uh, I have a video that's a little

bit lengthy that I'd like to show you.

Uh, if you don't have anything else to

do, and since you don't, here it is.

[music]

>> [music]

[music]

>> Every person who calls [music] Key

Church home today is here because of

someone else's faithfulness. Long before

we arrived, someone prayed. Someone

sacrificed. Someone believed God could

do something on this corner of 535 in

Chase. Years before many of us ever

stepped foot on this property, someone

saw what could be before anyone else

could see it. And because they were

faithful, we're standing in the middle

of a story that God is writing. [music]

When Lindsay and I first pulled onto

this property, I remember looking around

and thinking someone had [music]

incredible foresight. Someone believed

God could use this place in ways that

they may [music] never even fully see.

And now years later, we're witnessing

something even bigger than we ever

imagined. Every [music] week, we're

watching people land, people finding

hope, finding truth, really finding

Jesus. And every week, we're watching

people launch, taking next steps in

disciplehip, discovering their purpose

in life in Jesus, becoming compelling

missional disciples. [music]

And every week, we're watching people

live, marriages that are restored,

families that are healed, lives that are

transformed by the power of Jesus. This

past Easter alone, over 10,000 people

[music] joined us between Good Friday

and Resurrection Sunday. God is doing

[music] more than we could have asked or

imagined. And really, he's doing it

faster than we ever expected.

[music]

What we're experiencing isn't simply

growth. It's stewardship. Every week,

God continues sending people to Key

Church. Families, students, young

adults, people searching for hope,

people searching for truth, people

searching for a church to call home. But

we're reaching a point where capacity is

becoming a barrier. Parking lots are

full, spaces are [music] crowded,

gatherings are overflowing. This isn't a

problem we're trying to solve. It's an

opportunity we're being asked to

steward.

Every week, we have the privilege and

joy of introducing children to the love

of Jesus. We see children memorizing

[music] scripture, participating in

worship, building friendships, and

growing in faith and knowledge of our

[music] savior. We have been entrusted

with the next generation and every child

deserves an environment where they can

encounter Jesus and build a faith that

lasts [music] a lifetime and carries on

to future generations. Legacy isn't

[music] just what we leave behind. It's

what we place inside the hearts and

minds of generations coming after us.

>> Every week we see young [music] adults

and students choosing Jesus in a culture

that's pulling them in every other

direction. We see leaders being

developed, callings being discovered,

[music] lives being transformed. We've

been entrusted with a generation that

will shape the future of our [music]

city. And we believe God wants to do

even more. Well, after years of prayer

and seeking counsel and evaluating

everything [music] that God is doing

here, we believe that the path forward

is clear for us as a church. [music]

It's time to build. Not because we're

pursuing bigger buildings, but because

we're [music] making room for greater

ministry.

more people that are finding Jesus, more

disciples that are being developed, more

families that are being [music]

strengthened, more opportunities for us

to care for those that are a part of our

community, and [music] really more

opportunities for our community to be a

community. We believe that this property

can become a place that serves people

every day of the week.

>> [music]

>> It's a place for prayer, a place for

disciplehip, a place for our community,

and really a place [music] where

generations encounter Jesus even long

after we're gone. The vision before

[music] us is significant. We want

everyone who calls Key Church home to be

a part of this next chapter. This is an

invitation for our entire church to

engage, participate, [music] pray, and

ask God what their part could look like.

Together, we're believing to bring

[music] $35 million together to build

that next chapter of what God is doing

in and through Key Church. Not because

we're building for ourselves, [music]

but because we're building for those who

haven't even arrived yet. A place where

people gather to worship Jesus [music]

before being sent out to live a life

that worships him daily. Every story

we've celebrated, every life that's been

changed, every baptism, [music] every

family restored started with someone

else's faithfulness. Someone chose to

pray. Someone chose [music] to

sacrifice. Someone chose to believe.

>> We have been entrusted with children.

>> We've been entrusted [music]

with the next generation. We have been

entrusted with people. We've been

entrusted [music] with stories that only

God could write.

>> And now we've been entrusted [music]

with this moment. And the question isn't

really, is God moving? I think we can

all see that he is. The question [music]

is, what are we going to do with what it

is that he's placed in our hands? So on

November the 15th, [music] we're coming

together as one church with one vision

making one commitment. Legacy isn't what

we leave for someone. Legacy is what we

leave in someone. Let's leave a legacy

of faith for generations to come.

[music] You have that opportunity. I

have that opportunity. We have that

opportunity for our church for such a

time as this. [music]

>> [applause]

>> So, here's the thing. Uh listen, I

understand uh our elders and pastors and

the leadership of this house understand

we've been given an unprecedented

unprecedented stewardship opportunity

right now. Uh to be sitting on this

property at this time with all that the

Lord is doing in and through our church

is a real gift. And and I want you to

hear this really clearly. We are

committed to maximizing every square

inch of this property at the corner of

535 in Chase. We want every single bit

of it to be something that can be used

for the glory of God. And here's the

reality. $35 million is the first major

phase of development. And that $35

million is really crucial for making

sure that we can determine the

infrastructure for a master plan to

build a new auditorium that can

accommodate our church and allow for

growth to create new parking. Hello. Uh

and space for families to gather and

linger. Uh the $35 million also, just

for clarity sake, will retire the

current little bit of debt that we have

on this current facility that we're in

as we're stepping forward towards our

future as a church. And so I shared last

vision Sunday that we've been praying

over what it is that we're supposed to

do next. And I shared some of these

renderings with us last year. But I

asked you to be prayerful as we were

moving towards it together with truly no

plan other than I think in a year we'll

have a lot better clarity around what it

is that the Lord's asking us to do. And

I just have some fun things to share

with you. Like the Lord has moved in

ways that we certainly did not expect

and we certainly did not ask of anyone

at that point. And so I I think we could

say that about a lot of things in our

church. the Lord's just doing a lot more

than we have asked or expected in an

incredible way. And a few of you ended

up coming forward and proactively made

some early gifts and pledges and and

leaders like this have allowed us to

start early on some pre-construction

things, design, legal, other

consultants, parking engineers. I mean

like seven figure costs that have

already been met just from simply

sharing, hey, I think this is something

we need to pray forward towards last

year. And so I [snorts] think we

understand we've seen incredible stories

emerge and we've really barely begun the

real work of doing this thing together,

of gathering together with our church,

sharing the information that I've shared

with you right [snorts] now, convening

smaller specialized groups that can help

us get this thing moving quicker, to see

people that desire to have this place be

all that God's ever intended for God's

glory happen as quickly as humanly

possible because we got issues, right?

Uh we want to see our church's heart's

posture aligned in the direction of

saying, "Hey, we want to be a people

where we sacrifice joyfully uh but with

thanksgiving where we're able to do so

and really begin this work of building

on the legacy we've been given and then

continue an even stronger legacy for

generations to come." Uh this is the

definition of take the risk for me. All

right. Uh this is a leap of faith. And

the $35 million is in addition to an

operating budget of $8 million that

we're projecting for our next fiscal

year. And that's going to be detailed uh

and and very transparent in an annual

report that our executive pastor Brandon

Boyd puts together uh every November

that we'll release around mid November

this year as well. Uh but here's the

thing. We're people of faith. We're

believing in faith. And I'll tell you,

um, when you answer the call to

ministry, you don't go, I can't wait to

build a building one day.

Um,

it doesn't do anything for me.

I just want to reach and disciple as

many people as we possibly can

>> and steward what it is that we have. And

I don't think Yeah. [applause]

I don't think it's lost on us that we've

been entrusted with this moment. So,

I've said it before, I'll say it again.

Our desire is to awaken those far from

God to the redemption that can be found

in Jesus Christ and become spiritled,

compelling, missional disciples wherever

it is that the Lord would take them. And

here's the biggest thing. If you don't

hear anything else from me today, hear

this.

Our desire is that our children's

children's children's children

would still be worshiping on the corner

of 535 and Chase le the Lord returns

down the road. Um,

[applause]

and that they would be living in line

with all that the Lord has declared as

right and good and that they would not

go with the shaky foundations that this

world is designing for them, but rather

they would stand firm on the word of God

and experience greater transformation

than we have already.

On a practical level,

we got a problem.

Uh, we're struggling for room.

and we want to maximize this property.

We've got space out there.

And I believe that on a spiritual level,

on a more significant level, none of us

in here signed up to do the absolute

bare minimum or be comfortable with what

has been or what is, but to leverage our

entire life for proper stewardship of

all that the Lord's given us. So that

whenever our master says to us, "So,

what did you do with those five talents

I gave you?" With integrity, we can look

at them and say, "We earn five more. We

earn five more."

Everybody wants a well done, good, and

faithful servant. But you know what?

Well done, good, and faithful servant

actually comes on the heels of

stewardship.

And I want to be a part of stewarding

this incredible moment for God's name

and for his glory that 200 years from

now we'd be a part of that great cloud

of witnesses that could say remember

that time that we got to be a part of

that thing that kept our kids kids in a

place where they continue to worship you

Lord.

Elders and pastors will be in the next

steps area to talk. I don't think any of

you guys will have any questions, but if

you hypothetically did,

we'll be there. Let's pray.

Lord, we're grateful

and God, we want to see you move.

Lord, would you stir our hearts for the

things that you care about? And would we

have vision that's expanded

with gratitude for what has been

but rejoicing and thanking you in

advance for what we believe will be.

Lord, we love you. We praise you. We ask

these things in Jesus name. Amen.