Go All In

Romans 12 one says therefore I urge you I beg you Brothers and sisters men and women of Revere in view of God's mercy Not getting what we deserve That's what mercy is in light of his Forgiveness in light of the exchange for your anxiety and depression for peace and joy in light of God's mercy Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice Which is holy and pleasing to the Lord Dead to our sins alive in Christ that we lay ourselves down at the altar say Lord not my will Yours be done Jesus we come before you and we say will you open wide our heart our mind and our soul not just in this moment But as we step into a new year We are believing Lord God that you can do exceedingly and abundantly beyond all that we could ask think or imagine But the pursuit today is obedience To obey you at all costs to believe you and take you at your word and follow what your word says So move in this space move in this place For those that walk in burdened heavy Sliced I pray Jesus You meet them here For those that are celebrating we rejoice with them as we embark in this new year together as a church and as a community Will you move in our midst? Do you be the glory in Jesus name? Amen and amen do me a favor church turn to your neighbor introduce yourself If you are watching online go ahead and put in the chat box where you are tuning in from We're going to give God glory up in here today What a way to start a year through worshiping together man, I am humbled and honored and privileged My name is bianca. And if you're new here, i'm one of the pastors here at revere church And I don't know about you but if statistics are true or if people's enthusiasm and excitement about the new year is true Then maybe you are full of inspiration and you have new year's resolutions And maybe you're going to start that new hobby or maybe you are going to finally launch that business that you've been dreaming about For the last decade or maybe you are going to get the discipline that you've been wanting for the last couple years to get into the gym to lose the weight all that other stuff, but

But how do we How do we move from idealists? People who like the concept of something the idea of something to actualists People who actually do the work to get the results For those that don't know I was a swim instructor and a lifeguard and a swim coach for six and a half years and one of my favorite things in the swim center the aquatic center that I worked for is that they always gave me the Problematic children those that were terrified of water and of swimming because I was the coach that no matter how Frightened somebody was a child was or even an adult. I would get adults too is that I would get them to swim One of the things I was passionate about is taking big scary concepts and making them really easy to understand And all these years later, I still feel like i'm doing the same thing I'm inviting those that want to feel safe on the shore out to deeper waters with the lord And we could take big concepts like things from the bible and I want to break it down so that we could Go to the places that the lord is calling us to Because what I do know is in a room of this size whether people are watching online from around the world or here in orange county There has been a dream locked up on many in in many of us that has yet to be realized That there are those with dreams in here. You just feel like this feels absolutely impossible And yet god is saying i'm the one who gave you that dream Are you willing to step out into places that might feel scary or maybe you feel unsure? Well as a swim instructor, I would line up all the kids along the pool edge They were outside of the water make them feel safe and I would be in the water They would look at me and they would ask them. Do you want to swim and they would scream? Yeah It's like okay. You have to be brave And once I put you in the water You're going to have to let go of the wall because they would all put their little arms in the water drain to hold On to the wall that kept them afloat So you're gonna have to let go of the wall and you're gonna have to trust me I will not let you go down in the water

Now if me a human who is imperfect never glory to god lost a child to drowning how much more a heavenly father The true life guard who is there to rescue you when he's beckoning you to come deeper in To places that only he could take you with him As we step into a new year as we step into a new season of this church I'm staring in the eyes of people and asking the same question. What is the thing that you've been dreaming about for a decade? What is that discipline that you want to put into your life? You're gonna have to be brave You're gonna have to let go of the proverbial wall the things that you feel are keeping you safe and upright Are actually the things that are keeping you bound to a certain location And you're gonna have to trust the lord. So on the first sunday of the year and the first week of our series Open Wide, I get to invite you to step into what God has for you. If you watched Church at Home last week, you will know that we have a word or a phrase of the year. There's nothing magical or mystical. It's simply an anchor, a north star, that when the year happens and we're moving through with work and church and ministry, family, obligations, that we remember as a community the Lord has spoke a word over us. And that word is Open Wide. A little church merch flex for you. They're available next week. All right. Open Wide. And why did we get this concept, this word as a leadership team of Open Wide? Well, I firmly believe it because that's what the Lord is calling us to, to live with this open, wide understanding

of an open mind, an open heart, open with our relationships. And it's rooted in the passage out of Isaiah 26.2. It's on the screen. You don't have to turn there. Our anchor verse for the year is, open wide the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. Oh, we are a community of faith. We are a church of people that have great faith. But as we go through this series, I think we have to kind of do some looking introspectively to see like, where are the gates that I have closed? Where have I closed off my heart? Where have I closed off my mind? Where have I closed off my finances? These are people that are saying, I'm not experiencing financial blessing, but you haven't been obeying God with tithing and stewardship. I haven't experienced freedom, but you don't wanna be serious about your walk with the Lord. Now, for us to go into the place that the Lord is calling us to, I'm gonna look at you like the swim students of years ago and say, are you ready to go to these places that the Lord is calling us to? If you are, you gotta be brave. You have to let go of the wall that you're holding onto

that's actually keeping you down, and you've gotta trust that the Lord has got you. The title of today's message is Go All In. Somebody say, Go All In. Go All In. The reason why I wanted to start off with a mental mindset, the reason why I wanted to start off with an all-in mentality is that you will never step out and be brave if you're living a compartmentalized life. If you treat your faith like a bento box, where God is in this little square and your friends are in this square and your dreams are in this square, you will never encounter an integrated life with Jesus Christ. And for years, I was wondering, what is this discontent as a shepherd and as a leader in a faith community and church? I'm heartbroken, truly heartbroken over people who give God an hour on a Sunday morning and they live however they want. They live like hell for six other days of the week. And they're wondering why they're not getting the breakthrough. They're wondering why they're not experiencing intimacy with God or with others. And if you ask them, are they Christian, they will say, absolutely, I'm a Christian. I go to church when it's convenient

and I give some money in the offering basket and I believe God. At the beginning of each year, I like to be very clear about the expectations of what it means to be part of this church. If you think that being a Christian is simply believing that there is a God, coming to church on a Sunday and giving your spare change, let me tell you that in this house, that's not the case. We don't give God the spare anything. And way too many people give God their spare money, their spare words, their spare time, their spare thoughts, but that isn't a relationship, that's a hobby. That's not commitment, baby, that's convenience. That is not being a Christian. No, that is being a postmodern, socially acceptable, moralistic do-gooder who wants to feel like they are part of a club that feels moralistically superior than everyone else. That is not what we do here. That is a charade, that is a game, and I am not giving up my life or putting on and wasting Charlotte Tilbury makeup to come here and look cute for church. Oh, no, no, no, no. I'm here about life transformation through a man named Jesus Christ, and if he doesn't get all of our heart, all of our mind, all of our time, all of our intention, we are wasting our time and we're playing a game.

I gotta say this with a smile, because some people will be like, oh, she is turned up, yes. Because at Revere, we don't do anything half-baked or half-butt. And yes, I was raised by a Marine, but my mama is a strict Christian, so I said that in the God-fearing way, half-butt. We are an all-in community, not just a social gathering that comes here to earn points to get to heaven. This isn't like an all-play participation sport like AYSO. Every child in AYSO soccer gets a trophy because they showed up. You're not gonna get anything for showing up other than divine encounter with the Lord if your heart is open. As followers of Jesus Christ, we have to obey radically, live generously, and in this community, in this church, we are people who believe that we will see God. Revive even the things that look dead Where do we get this standard turn with me in your Bibles to Romans chapter 12? I read it over us earlier But I want us to actually pull it apart right now in Romans chapter 12 and as you turn there Here's a little bit of cultural context Paul the Apostle is writing to the persecuted church in Rome his friends The Romans were being persecuted for their belief in Jesus in fact many of these Christians who chose to not denounce the faith meaning when Accused when asked if they were a follower of Jesus if they said no They would be released from the persecution if they said yes many of them were murdered and martyred for their faith in Jesus

Many of these Christians were fed to lions as sport in the Colosseum in Rome. You can go there today There's catacombs under the streets of Rome Many of them were dipped in hot oil and tar and lit a blaze lit a flame Lining the Appian Way leading all the way up to Caesar's residence seats the Ciro the Caesar Nero for sport would torture Christians burned the city of Rome to a crisp and blamed the Christians and so all of a sudden now in 2026 my fear my concern my hesitation my where's the spirit of God blowing is that we have gotten lost in the sauce that the small ones of Grievances or annoyances makes us want to quit or walk away from our church or Christianity You don't believe me when we switched our venue we were less than I don't know three miles away It's an eight-minute commute from our old building to our new building and in this new building the requirements for this auditorium is that you cannot Bring food in here Well, there was a gentleman who've been part of our community because he announced it part of this community for three years And I've never been able to not bring my coffee into church. We're so sorry, sir He was told upon entering you're gonna have to leave your coffee outside. It'll be here when you After service so bothered so annoyed he said I've been coming here for three years and I can't bring my coffee I'm never coming back to this church ever again and let me tell you something if You not being able to bring your beverage into a place of worship is considered religious persecution to you We're not the community for you We're a setup and teardown church that we don't need our coffee because we got Jehovah Java All right, like we're gonna come in and experience Jesus My concern my hesitation is that we have lost the art of sacrifice and we are letting go of commitment because it's not convenient for Us so listen to what Paul says yet again therefore I urge you brothers and sisters of a revered Church in view of God's mercy of How much he has given us and how much he has forgiven us and how much he loves us and how much he gave his life for us To offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship

We go all in here at Revere we hold nothing back and I have been saying the same thing over the last couple years being part of this church and if you Haven't heard me say it. I didn't put it on the screen because I want you to write it down In fact, you always hear me say hey put your phones away But for today's message I'm letting I'm giving you the standard not just for this week before the year and so you can pull out your phones you can Go to D&D do not disturb or go into airplane mode, but I want you to write this down I want you to take me at my word give God one year all in and see what he can do Give God one year all in and see how your life is transformed Give God your full commitment not compartmentalizing your God But integrating him into everyday life and I've been here in this church for a number of years So I'm now getting to see the data the results and the testimonies of people who have said I gave God one year of my Life and my life is completely transformed If you have been around this community for a little bit, you probably have met Jacob Edwards Jacob Edwards is a young man serves a ministry team here serves in young adults He's also single so single ladies if you love the Lord and not if you skanky Okay, if you love the Lord and you are single you're walking with integrity You got an eye you can go introduce yourself to Jacob Edwards. And if you have a baby name her Bianca, you're welcome I'm a matchmaker at heart. Anyway, let's keep this spiritual Jacob Edwards a year ago hit me up and said pastor B Today marks the day where I gave God one full year of my life and you're right. My life has been transformed See Jacob like many people in this community and other churches Had an understanding of religion or of God but never was connected to God or read and or just understood God's Word To his own profession his own confession He said that he didn't have a real sense of community and the decisions that he made Living the life if given the opportunity or the choice between happy or holy He would choose happy and he had experienced a lot of loss in his life, which made him not just angry with God But God was kept at a distance He shared that he decided to give God a year and everything changed With a simple. Yes with a simple. Yes and a commitment to this statement He began serving at church and finding a new sense of joy. He actually went to Mexico to go build a house

That's when you know that you're being transformed to wake up at 4 a.m Cross the border go with a hammer nails and build a house and find joy because of it and not just that But finding a true sense of community a true sense of purpose and a new calling in fact Jacob said that he went from like Feeling like he should read the Bible and pray to a place where he wanted to read the Bible and pray and he said that One year of going all-in He found that his life transformed his priority shifted and he found a real community He told me Bianca the challenge you gave me was the best challenge I have ever accepted because my life has radically been transformed. Let me tell you What I've told countless others one year of total all-in commitment can do more than 20 years of lukewarm faith One year going all-in. I'm talking like no regard. I'm gonna dare God I'm gonna take you at your word if your word says it I'm gonna do it if you tell me to go I will go If you tell me not to go I won't go I'm gonna go all-in One year of going all-in will do more for your faith in 20 years It's just showing up and trying to look cute and I have seen people who have who have been Christians for years and I'm confused Because they're still spiritually immature and they're emotionally stunted and the math ain't mapping You've been a Christian since you were like seven years old. You've been a summer camp even a winter camp vacation Bible school You got baptized you show up once a month Like you have a 10-pound Bible like, you know, the songs that we sing and yet You don't exemplify anything in the likeness of Jesus There should be dust on our face from walking so close to Jesus that we are in his wake and what I'm seeing is Odd in the same way like going to a kindergarten class and seeing like a 30 year old man sitting there sucking his thumb and not Knowing numbers would be weird. I mean, that's weird, right? Because some of you guys are looking at me like, oh, that's not weird. It's it's weird. It's it's weird. Like it's me Okay Or maybe a 40 year old woman walking into a business office with a briefcase wearing a diaper and holding a bottle That's weird, right? But yet when it comes to our spiritual faith and our spiritual community or church We don't consider it weird that people who have been in church for 10 20 30 years are still acting like immature infants

Taking offense not obeying God's Word feeling like God has gypped them and that they have been ripped off. No, no, no, no, no, I I Understand that in this year of open wide. I am asking you to trust God because in this community the expectation the Requirement of being a follower of Jesus here at Revere is that you take your spiritual growth? seriously I'm not gonna be the one that's gonna get you into heaven. That's your relationship with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I will feed you on a Sunday. I will create an environment where people get to worship and experience Jesus We'll have discipleship opportunities and ways to go deep whether that's getting baptized like next Sunday or joining a community group Which you can sign up today to do we're gonna create these opportunities, but you have to take your walk Seriously, because it's your future It's not just your future it's your eternity No, I understand in a room of this size So the people are watching online or in this room, you might be skeptical because you're like, yeah Well, I gave God a year and nothing happened. I mean look I'm even at church You might even be at the point where you feel justified in your lack of belief But why is the standard for church different than any other institution? The standard of the church and the expectation of Jesus is different than any other institution. Let me explain If you one of your goals for 2026 is I'm gonna lose weight You even signed up for a gym membership You actually maybe went to the gym a couple times, but you don't go often You're still eating flaming hot Cheetos to Lente's ice cream and doughnuts. You can't say the gym didn't work. I tried it It didn't work or if you say I'm gonna be financially free I'm gonna be debt-free in 2026, but you don't chop up your credit cards You don't live on a budget and you don't act your wage. Guess what? You can't say well A budget didn't work. But yet when it comes to the things of God people say like I went to church Did nothing for me. It doesn't work like that You are responsible for your spiritual growth and maturity

This is the radical shift that is gonna take place in this community We need to understand that going all-in starts with a decisive event I'm going to decide that this is who I am going to be It starts this decisive moment starts when you start Negotiating with God and start obeying him This decisive event happens when you stop negotiating with God Well, I'll go all-in if I could bring my side chick that don't know you Lord I'm a go all-in, but I'm gonna need you to make me credit card free and debt-free by the end of the year No, no, we don't negotiate a relationship with God We go all-in. It's not about negotiating with God. It's about obeying him going on me Means moving from self-improvement to self-denial It's moving from self-improvement to something that is this understanding? Whoa, whoa, whoa, okay, maybe you're here You're like what's wrong with self-improvement self-improvement is great. There's nothing wrong with self-improvement But at some point you're gonna get to the end of yourself. And what do you got? This is the movement between self-improvement and self-denial self-improvement says God make me a better version of myself Self-denial says God take my life and replace it with yours Not my will your will be done now, please hear me say there's nothing wrong with resolutions and dream lists and Goals, I did all of that this year. I did a gratitude list. I did a dream list. I did my goals list I did intentions. I did all of that. But when you come to the end of yourself, what else can you lean upon? Self-denial is saying God these are my dreams and these are my aspirations, but you're hearing me say Take all of that. I Put it on the altar and if it's mine to keep you're gonna give it back but if I Sacrifice it because that's what you're asking of me or that's what I need to let go of to step into what you've called Me to your way not my way Romans 12 1 Therefore I urge you brothers and sisters in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies a living sacrifice Holy and pleasing to God so we die to our flesh. We die to our wants we die to our desires To live a life pleasing to God and sometimes it hurts Sometimes it means not us not getting what we want

Sometimes it might even just be that the Lord is removing it so that you can grow So we die to our sin But we're raised alive in Christ that we utter the words of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane Not my will Yours be done So I have to ask what is the area in your life that is off-limits to God? What are you holding on to that? You need to let go of and trust God This week as I was thinking about this message I Feel like the I got called out on some things in the best way to start the year and it's requiring sacrifice of me sacrifice that I wasn't expecting and Nevermore did I? empathize with little Charles playing Charles playing was one of my swim students. He was five years old Native Chinese speaker and to gain trust with him I would have it I would count for him to jump into the water and swim to me But to show him that I was interested in him. I actually learned how to count to five in Chinese as well So we're building a bridge II or a sauce. Uh-oh Leo G Yeah, I think I stopped at seven. But what I do know is that Little Charles would look at me. I'm like, do you want to swim? You're brave. You can come to me I'm not gonna let you go and with his goggles his mouth peering above water He said I will swim to you, but I want the wall to come with me And I felt like him this week God, I I will surrender But I want this to come with me For us to go all in we don't just get to pick and choose the things that we want or the things that make us Happy, but it's radical obedience And so what are you holding on to that feels like safety that might be holding you back? What do you need to open wide and let God come fully in? Is it your career?

Is your finances? Is it your dating life? Is it your children? Transformation begins when your resistance ends Transformation begins where your resistance ends. Well, how do we transform? Let's continue on with Paul's words in Romans chapter 12. Check out his remedy in verse 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed The Greek word is metamorphic. We get our English word Metamorphosis like a caterpillar to a butterfly we go from crawling low in our bellies to flying in the air the metamorphosis be Transformed by the renewing of your what? Let's do that again The answer is on the screen by the renewing of your what? What happens when we speak out and why have you call back with response is that when our bodies feel it in us? The truth is reverberating. We are putting our words out into the atmosphere and our our body feels it. So it's gonna require a renewing of our mind. Transformation is a process, it's not a feeling. If you're looking for a feeling, maybe you go away a really long time. It is a process. It requires a daily rewiring of our mind. So renewing of our mind, sounds wonderful, renew your mind. Yes, praise God, put on a mug, renew your mind. But what does that look like practically? My fear is when you hear me say all in, you think I'm saying try harder, I'm not, I'm not. This isn't about self-improvement because we will all come to the end of ourself. This is not try harder, this is surrender unto the Lord. You will not be able to transform your life on willpower alone, you won't. What does Zechariah 4, 6 say?

Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord. You cannot sustain all in on yourself. You cannot sustain an all in on willpower alone. Going all in, being open wide is trusting the Lord and letting go of the wall, the proverbial swim wall. Look at the disciples as an example. Look at the disciples between Good Friday and Pentecost. On Good Friday, the disciples who had seen Jesus do the miraculous, they had seen him multiply food. They saw the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the dead live. And where are they on the day that Jesus was being tormented? Hiding, they were hiding. And where's Peter? Denying Jesus, not once, not twice, but thrice. Three times, he's like, I don't know the fool. I don't know the man. He's cowering in fear. And 40 days later at Pentecost, where are they? Having a revival of epic proportion. I mean, scripture says that the spirit of God broke out. They're speaking with authority and 3,000 people converted to faith in Jesus Christ on that day. The difference wasn't their talent, it was the indwelling of the spirit of God. You cannot do this life without the power of his spirit, the gift that he has given us to do the things that we cannot do in our own flesh.

I don't want to do that. I can't do that. I can't figure out a way out. Guess what? The spirit of God is there with you to buck up buttercup. You can do the things that Christ has called you to do. The spirit of God was empowering them to let go of their fear and their unbelieving mindsets to step into living with power and conviction. And that is what I want for you this year. It's what I want for me this year. This all-in concept isn't something that I'm giving for people who, you know, have been like mediocre. I give myself an opt-in every year. I get a choice and so do you. I choose to follow Jesus, the cross before me, the world behind me, no turning back. I've decided to follow Jesus. Going in isn't about trying harder, it's about surrendering more. It's admitting, Lord, even if I could do this year without you, I don't want to. I surrender your will, not my will. And I realize this year and for this series that I want to learn how to give God a year. So over the next four weeks, we're gonna be unpacking this open, wide concept, our word for the year. We're gonna spend some time here because I want us to have practical handles.

This isn't just a message for a Sunday. We're gonna be, this is our north star. This is our anchor in this year. We're going wide. Our hands are open wide. We are releasing, God, whatever you have. Your will, not our will. But we need to open up our mind. We need to open up our lives. We need to open up our hands and we need to open wide our heart in trusting God. That last one, I'm gonna let you know in advance. That's trusting the Lord with our finances and learning what a tithe is. And for the renewing of our mind and this living wide open concept, the expectation and the non-negotiables of growth disciplines, I've always said, hey, give God a year, but I've never didactically laid out what the expectations are. So today, that's what I wanna do. I don't want anyone to be confused. You wanna transform? You wanna grow? Guess what? Open up your mind and do these things, scriptural. Number one, note takers, daily prayer. Don't freak out. People hear prayer and they're like,

I'm too scared to pray. It's simply a conversation with God. That's all that it is. In the same way that you would talk to a loved one or maybe you don't feel close to God, but you at least would talk to a coworker, talk to God normally. Talk to God with honesty. Before you face the world, seek the face of Jesus. For me personally, I'm not saying that this is what you should do. I'm saying it's what you could do. I would encourage you to do that. Before I speak to anyone, before I say anything, the first words out of my mouth are a prayer unto the Lord. And it's not like thou God is the greatest. It's literally like today at 345, when my alarm went off, 342. I don't know why. Is that my odd number alarm clocks? I don't know. 342, my alarm clock goes off. And the first thing out of my mouth was, God, today is your day. These are your people. You feed them. I can't. That's a prayer. It's a conversation with God. On the, I was getting ready, I hopped out of the shower, I was putting on my makeup,

and I said, Lord, I pray that worship is amazing today. I pray that people's hearts are open. That's it. That's a conversation with God. Today on the freeway, I was running a little bit late, and I was going 92 miles an hour on the freeway. Do not judge me. On the 57, I said, Lord, let there not be a cop on the freeway. All right. That's a conversation with the Lord. And here's the thing. I'm all about reading the Bible. That's going to be principle number two. The reason why I started with prayer first is because you can read about someone to understand them, but you won't know them until you talk to them. So talk to the Lord. He's your friend. Better yet, he's your father. I know that feels a little weird for a lot of people who might have an estranged relationship with your daddy. You have a spiritual father. In Hebrew, it's ava. It's daddy. Go to your father. He wants to hear you. Have a conversation. Number two, daily Bible reading. To the best of your ability, read God's word every day. I understand. I understand.

You might get sick. You might forget your Bible on a travel trip or something like that, but to the best of your ability, read the word of God. One pastor said this as a spiritual discipline. He said, I don't have breakfast until I read the Bible. And I thought that was a good principle. You can jot that down. If you are a big breakfast person, you love breakfast buffets, you love a brunch, write that down. No breakfast before Bible. That just didn't work for me because I don't eat breakfast. So that was like my loopholes. Like, eh, all right, great. But then I was convicted. So when I'm going through this all-in principle, me asking, okay, am I all-in, I realized breakfast don't hurt me. There's a lot of times I can get away with not reading my Bible because I didn't have breakfast. So I had to find one that stung, that hurt a little bit. It's the sacrifice. I'm laying this down. For me, it's no gym before Jesus. The first thing that you do in the morning determines who your God is. If the first thing you do is turn on your phone and go on social media, guess what your God is. If the first thing you do is wake up and go to the gym, guess what your God is. The first thing you do is check your finances, get what your God is. The first thing you do is look for validation from your spouse. Guess what your God is. What would it look like if we were not random, but we were intentional about seeking the

face of God? I'm talking about downloading the YouVersion Bible app. That's why I had your phones out today, YouVersion Bible app. It's a free Bible with multiple versions and translations to make it easy. Not only do you get to read the Word of God, you get to actually pick a Bible reading plan. You could pick a one-week Bible reading plan, a one-month, a one-year Bible reading plan. You get to determine how many minutes you have, five minutes, 10 minutes, 60 minutes. There's so many resources out there. My ask of you, my expectation of you is that you feed your soul before you even feed your body. I want to give you a few verses. Maybe you feel confused. Where do I begin? Don't start with the book of Genesis. I love you. If you're a new believer, don't start with the book of Genesis. The Bible is considered one book, but it's actually 66 books, and Genesis happens to be book one of the 66 books. I would say, start off with the book of John. After you finish the book of John, maybe read through the Gospels. Maybe if you have extra time, read a psalm and a proverb. A psalm is a song, or a prayer, or a proverb is a book of wisdom. What does it look like to be intentional about your Bible reading? If you are going to be the type of person who's like, oh, I watch my sermons on YouTube, then I'm going to encourage you, sit down while you listen on YouTube with your Bible and your notebook, because we are going to study the word of God, not consume the word of God. That is feeding yourself. Number three, weekly church attendance. To the best of your ability, I understand you get sick, you might be on holiday.

I get it, I get it. To the best of your ability, come to church. National trends indicate that people who are faith-filled, spirit of God, committed Christians come to church once a month. Be in the house of God, not because I think something magical happens here, but I think that your presence makes us richer. Your presence adds to the soil of this community, of this church. Your faith adds to the depth and the complexity. Your color of your skin and your gender adds to what we can learn from each other. And your faith mixes with my faith. Guess what? It's the place that Jesus can dwell, because when two or three are gathered, he's there in the mist. And I'm going to encourage you, if you've been part of this community, I'm going to encourage you to move from consumer to contributor. What can you give to this community? Can you lead a community group? Can you serve on a serve team? There's multiple ways to serve. You can serve one Sunday a month or four Sundays a month, and you might be feeling like, I don't even know where I fit in, or maybe I'm not trained to hold a camera or to do social media or to greet people or park cars. Guess what? We host, once a year, a team training. Team day is actually this Saturday. This Saturday at the Revere offices, Revere HQ, this Saturday. It's free 99. And so for our serve team, they're already invited. But if you are willing to step in and join serve team, there's a training day on Saturday. And the theme is, are you in or are you out?

So we're serving in and out lunch for everybody. And so if you say you want to serve, you want to serve. Get a burger. If you're out, nothing. No, just kidding. Everyone gets lunch. Everyone gets lunch. You can sign up at the info center and welcome center. We'd love to connect with you and get more information. Lastly, lastly, radical obedience. Well, we are committing to God at all costs. God, this may not be what I want, but I'm submitting to you. You have my heart. You have my mind. You have my finances. You have my friendships. You have my goals. You have my dreams. I'm committed to you at all costs. If our lifestyle is contrary to the word of God, we stop behaving that way. If we're spending, if our spending habits don't reflect biblical stewardship, we change our behavior. If our words and our actions don't line up with the ways of Jesus, we ask God to help empower us to change. Why? Because we are living sacrifices, which is a reasonable service unto God. And when you give God a committed year, your life changes. It does. I'm not saying it's going to be perfect. I'm going to, I'm saying that you will be transformed. And it has for not just me, but so many others in this community, like Sadie, who's been a member of this church. She moved down here from Northern California without a community. And so she was on Instagram and she typed in the search bar churches near me and Revere popped up and she saw the images and she didn't have a church background like ours. So it was really interesting to her that there was a vibrant community that loved the Lord. And they had a coffee bar because we used to have a coffee bar RIP in our new building. We'll have one. And, uh, she's one of those, like, I love Jesus a latte. So they always have like their coffee and stuff.

And she came out and that, that Sunday I said, what I normally do give God a year and see how, see what he can do in your life. But she wasn't ready. She was committed to, uh, she moved down here for college. She was committed to the college life and she wanted to do all the things that college kids do, except it left her brokenhearted, angry, and wildly frustrated. She didn't have a sense of community and she was still coming here to church, but she wasn't all in. And on January 4th, 2025 she heard me say, give God a year and see what he can do. In that year, she started serving on the setup and teardown team. It was part of the creative team. She would go to the young adults gathering on Tuesday nights, Wednesday nights, and, uh, the seventh. And she gave God a year. She started reading God's word. And a month later, she made a choice that she was going to get baptized and fully go all in last gathering that we had as a church. She found me right here on the courtyard. She said, pastor B today, or next week will Mark one year that I've given God and all my all in. And what I can tell you now is that there has been this exchange of anxiety for peace that I didn't have a community. And I have been poured into by the people here and the staff, my community group leaders. And that I have found a deep sense of calling and understanding what God has for me because I went all in with my faith. And here we are January 4th, 2026. Can you imagine what God can do in your life if you go all in for one year? So I've never done this. I've never been so brazen. I've never doubled down 10 toes down, say it with my chest, like a dare, like I am today, but it's not to challenge you. It's an invitation you get to choose. You get to choose who you want to be.

You get to choose who you want to follow. If you're here today and you've maybe been wishy washy with your faith, maybe you've attended church. Maybe you attended this church for a while. This is an invitation for Christians. I'm not saying if you don't know Jesus, they don't come in a second. I was talking about people who have rocked with us for a minute or maybe been part of a church for a long time, but you know that you've been one foot in and one foot out and now it's time to stop straddling the fence. Now it's time to go all in in a church, go all in in a spiritual community and see how God transforms you. So if you're here today and you know the spirit of God is telling you there's more, there's more that I have for you, but there's more that I want out of you. If you sense that there is a dream that feels so far away, remember that God is the one that gave you that dream. If there is a sense that the Lord is calling you to do certain things, but you know that you need the spirit of living God to do it and now you're willing to go all in. I'm going to invite you to stand to your feet because this is your declaration of saying, I'm tired of being lukewarm. I want God to change me. I want to be transformed. This is for believers. If that is you stand your feet so we can pray for you. The reason why. I have you stand because this is family. This is accountability. Alex, I'm gonna follow up with you. You all in? I'm gonna follow up. I'm gonna follow up, people.

Are you all in? Are you all in? And I'm standing with you because this is my Sunday staring at Marion and staring at people that are standing up. Joe, staring at people that have been part of this community and we are saying we're all in. So right now, in the quietness of your own mind, I want you just to talk to God and say, God, I'm tired of doing 50% half in, half out when it's convenient. I wanna be committed. And as you are talking to your heavenly father, I'm gonna pray a prayer over you. Spirit of living God, I pray for every single man, woman, and child, whether in this room or watching online, that's making a bold declaration. I pray that your spirit fills them, that they literally are enveloped by the spirit of God from the top of their head to the soles of their feet, that they're walking with a spirit indwelling to do the things that you are calling them to do that they feel is impossible for them. I pray, Lord God, that they give you a year and you, heavenly father, transform their lives from the inside out. The testimonies that will come will reverberate, not just in heaven, but in hell, to you be the glory in Jesus' name, amen, amen. I love that, I love that.

Y'all can go ahead and grab a seat. Time is not on my side. If you're here today and you're going all in is actually making a decision to follow Jesus, that is your time. If you have not been walking with the Lord, or maybe at one point you were, but you have turned your back on the Lord, today is your day that you get to come back. Today's the day that you get to repent. In a second, I'm gonna count to three, I'm gonna invite you to stand to your feet. If you are here and you wanna say yes to Jesus, if your decision to go all in is saying yes to Jesus, or you know that you've been living a life of sin and 2025 has done you in and you know no more sin, it's gone, I want to come back to Christ. If that is you, one, by standing to your feet, you are saying I want Jesus as my Lord and savior. Two, by standing to your feet, you are saying my mistakes and my failures, the Bible refers to is sin could be forgiven. And three, by standing to your feet, you are saying I'm inviting the Holy Spirit to reign in me. If that is you, with every head lifted, every eye open, one, two, three, will you stand to your feet so we can pray with you? Amazing, amazing. God bless you. Ooh, I love this.

Look at God. This is a good day for you, brother, because if the whole reason why we gathered here today is to usher you into heaven, that's what's up. That's what's up. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. I love it. We're celebrating because you just made the best decision of your life, dog. I'm so happy you're here. I pray that the Spirit of God fill you, that there's no vision for your life, that there's no turning back. So will you do me a favor, church? Can we stand to our feet? We're gonna pray with our brother who has said yes to Jesus. Will you repeat after me in this bold declaration? Could you say, Jesus, forgive me of my sins. Today I choose you as my Lord and savior. Cleanse my heart, cleanse my mind, cleanse my body. Fill me with your Spirit to do what I cannot do. In Jesus' name, amen. Can we celebrate what God is doing at Revere? And I want us to sing this anthem, this anthem and this declaration as we head into the new year. To open up my eyes to see him. Can we worship God? The lyrics are on the screen. Show me God.

Open up my eyes. Open up my heart. Open up my life. Let's worship the Lord. God bless you, family.