It had to happen

♪♪ ♪ Your way is a lamp unto my feet. ♪ ♪ Your way is the only way for me. ♪ ♪ It's a narrow road that leads to life, but I wanna be on it. ♪ ♪ It's a narrow road, but your person's wide, so good on your promise. ♪ ♪ I'll take you at your word. If you said it, I'd believe it. ♪ ♪ I've seen how good it works. You started, you're completing. I'll take you at your word. ♪ ♪♪ ♪ You spoke, and the chaos fell in line. And I know, because I've seen it in my life. ♪ ♪ It's a narrow road that leads to life, but I wanna be on it. ♪ ♪ It's a narrow road, and the tide is high, but you'll be part of the waters. ♪ ♪ I'll take you at your word. If you said it, I'd believe it. I've seen how good it works. You started, you're completing. I'll take you at your word. ♪ ♪ I'll take you at your word. If you said it, I'd believe it. I've seen how good it works. You started, you're completing. I'll take you at your word. Good on your promise. ♪ ♪♪ ♪ You said your love would never give up. You said your grace is always enough. You said your heart would never forget or forsake me. ♪ ♪ You said I'm saved. You called me up. You said my future's full of your hope. You said your love, I know that you'll never fail me. ♪ ♪ You said your love would never give up. You said your grace is always enough. You said your heart would never forget or forsake me. You said I'm saved. You called me up. You said my future's full of your hope. You said your love, I know that you'll never fail me. ♪ ♪ I'll take you at your word. If you said it, I'd believe it. I've seen how good it works. If you started, you're completing. I'll take you at your word. If you said it, I'd believe it. I've seen how good it works. ♪ ♪ If you started, you're completing. I'll take you at your word. You couldn't promise. You couldn't promise. I'll take you at your word. ♪ ♪ Let's sing of God's faithfulness and his strength in our lives. He does everything on purpose. You do everything on purpose. I can feel it. ♪ Feel your spirit stirring ♪ ♪ I've been praying, you've been working ♪ ♪ Working it all for good ♪ ♪ Fan the flame and keep it burning ♪ ♪ You're reviving in the furnace ♪ ♪ And all the waiting will be worth it ♪ ♪ Cause you're working it all for good ♪

Lift your voice, sing miracle. ♪ Miracle after miracle ♪ ♪ Open door after open door ♪ ♪ Here it comes so get ready for another one ♪ ♪ Cause another one is on the way ♪ ♪ Miracle after miracle ♪ ♪ Open door after open door ♪ ♪ Here it comes so get ready for another one ♪ ♪ Cause another one is on the way ♪ ♪ Another one is on the way ♪ ♪ In you, rushing wind and living water ♪ ♪ She's the God of signs and God of wonders ♪ ♪ If you will it, what can stop it? ♪ ♪ Cause you're working it all for good ♪ ♪ Cause you're working it all for good ♪ ♪ Miracle after miracle ♪ ♪ Open door after open door ♪ ♪ Here it comes so get ready for another one ♪ ♪ Cause another one is on the way ♪ ♪ Miracle after miracle ♪ ♪ Open door after open door ♪ ♪ Here it comes so get ready for another one ♪ ♪ Cause another one is on the way ♪ ♪ Another one, another one ♪ ♪ Another one is on the way ♪ ♪ Another one, another one ♪ ♪ Another one is on the way ♪ Taste and see the goodness of God. You know what he's done in the past, he can do again. So let's sing this with faith.

♪ And if he told the sun when to rise and it did ♪ ♪ He will again and if he told the storm to be still and it did ♪ ♪ He will again and if he told the sea when to swim and it did ♪ ♪ He will again and if he told the wolves when to fall and it did ♪ ♪ He will again and if he told the jakes when to break and it did ♪ ♪ He will again and if he told the bones to come alive and it did ♪ ♪ He will again and if he told the storm to roll away and it did ♪ ♪ He will again and if he told the crane to let him go and it did ♪ ♪ He will again and it did and it did and it did and it did ♪ ♪ I know he will again and it did and it did and it did ♪ ♪ Cause another one is on the way, miracle after miracle, open door after open door, here it comes ♪ ♪ So get ready for another one, another one is on the way, miracle after miracle, open door after open door, here it comes ♪ ♪ So get ready for another one, oh and if he told, if he told the jakes when to break and they did ♪ ♪ He will again and if he told the bones to come alive and he did ♪ ♪ He will again and if he told the storm to roll away and he did ♪ ♪ He will again and if he told the crane to let him go and he did ♪ ♪ Yeah, and again ♪ ♪ Cause another one is on the way ♪ ♪ Another one is on the way ♪ Lift your voice, sing miracle. ♪ Miracle after miracle ♪ ♪ Open door after open door ♪ ♪ Here it comes, so get ready for another one ♪ ♪ Another one is on the way ♪ ♪ Miracle after miracle ♪ ♪ Open door after open door ♪ ♪ Here it comes, so get ready for another one ♪ ♪ Another one is on the way ♪ Church, lift up both hands right now. Say the Lord with confidence.

I'm ready. I'm ready for whatever it is you have. I'm ready for a fresh start. I'm ready for a new beginning. God, we're ready to go all in. Thank you, Father, for what you've done. Thank you that you're still moving in this place and in our hearts. Thank you, God, that you have great plans to see people saved and set free, and you've chosen to use imperfect people like us. You're worthy of all of our praise. You're worthy of all of our lives. We're so grateful because you're a good God, and we pray in this time together that we would recognize you as our Heavenly Father that so loves us, and we would surrender to your Spirit who wants to empower us to be witnesses of that truth. For every person today carrying a burden, Lord, we lay it down at your feet. For every one of us that have walked in this place not knowing what to expect, I pray that you would meet us here as only you can, that you would be glorified, that you would teach us greater than any teacher could teach. God, that we would be equipped and full and ready for whatever it is you wanna do. We're ready. We thank you in Jesus' name, we pray.

And all the people of God who love them said, come on, church, if you are grateful for how good God is, let's continue to give him praise in this place. Do you have a seat? Hey, if giving is part of your worship this morning, thank you so much for your generosity. If you're a guest with us today, you are surrounded by some of the most generous people in South Florida. We're gonna talk about that today, but our service guys are gonna be passing down those buckets. There are several other ways you can give. There's a giving kiosk out in the lobby, some boxes in the back. The most important thing, though, is not that you give. It's not that you give specifically out of compulsion or guilt. Bible says God loves a cheerful giver, and so we're grateful for who he is. But also, God is a gift giver, and today he wants to give to us the gift of life. He wants to give to us hope for our tomorrow. So again, I'm Eric. I wanna welcome you to the perfect place for imperfect people to experience the presence of God as we begin today. Let me ask a question. Have you ever gone through something in your life, and you look back at the scenario, and you thought to yourself, that didn't have to happen?

If I could just change, if I would've said something different, that didn't have to happen. Yesterday, I celebrated 18 years with my wife, our 18th anniversary. Oh my, I can't believe it's been 18 years. I still feel like a little kid in love with that woman that I met that first day. But I remember, you know, I was trying to impress my wife one day early on in our marriage, and we got groceries, and there's a lot of bags. And instead of trying to make multiple trips, I said, let me show her how strong this man she married is. And I grabbed like six bags with one hand, like eight with another, and there's a few left. And so I grabbed some with my teeth, and I'm walking, because I'm a man, I can do this. And I walk to the door, and I can't open the door, and I'm trying to figure out how to do it, and my jaw begins to hurt, and I open my mouth, and the bag falls. And there's jars of pasta sauce in there, so it looked like I murdered a tomato, and the eggs are cracked, the milk is spilled everywhere. And I thought to myself, why are you so dumb? This didn't have to happen. She already said, I do, you're married. I could've taken multiple trips. This didn't have to happen. Now, situations like that are funny

until they're not funny anymore. Until it's a conversation that you're having that turned into an argument, and now you've said things that you can't take back. That didn't have to happen. Or it's a decision that you made, a dumb decision in a vulnerable moment, and now it's affected your life, and you're still dealing with the consequences today. You look back at those situations, you look back and say, if I could only go back, if I could only say a different thing, that didn't have to happen, right? Today's Palm Sunday. Today's a day that we celebrate Jesus walking into Jerusalem, and all the people with expectation and. Excitement and energy in the air, shouting out the top of the lungs, Hosanna! Save us now, God! They thought this was the moment that would change everything, because God was bringing them their king. But what they didn't realize was the way that God was going to bring their king and their Savior was in a way that they didn't expect. They wanted a conquering king riding a beautiful steed, and Jesus was a suffering Savior on the back of a donkey. They wanted someone who would take the throne and save them from the Romans. And Jesus came to take up his cross and to die for our sins. Now we look at that situation in hindsight, through the lens of scripture, and we know that

it had to happen, right? The betrayal had to happen. The trial had to happen. The death on the cross had to happen. Without the cross there is no forgiveness of sin. Without the cross there is no resurrection of the dead. It had to happen. As we look toward the celebration of the resurrection next Sunday, and as we continue to talk about the power and importance of God's timing, I've titled today's teaching, It Had to Happen. Turn to your neighbor, tell them, it had to happen. This pattern we see in Palm Sunday is the same pattern we see in John chapter 11. I want to hover over that today. This is what we're going to talk about today. John chapter 11, starting in verse 1, it said, A certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sister sent to Jesus saying, Lord, he whom you love is ill. But when Jesus heard it, he said, hey, this illness does not lead to death. Listen to this. He says, it's for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. Jesus hears that his friend is sick. This isn't just some random person. This isn't just a person that he is acquainted to. This is his friend. They ate together. They laughed. They shared life together. Verse 5. Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Jesus loved Lazarus as a friend. If you love somebody and you hear they're in trouble, if you love someone and they are sick and dying, what do you do? You show up. You drop everything and you come to them. But what does Jesus do? So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. What? You waited? The one whom you love is sick and you waited? Why? Not because he was powerless.

Jesus does everything with a purpose. I want you to hear this carefully. Sometimes what feels like a delay in our life, sometimes what feels like a disappointment in our life is actually just part of God's purpose that we haven't seen yet. In other words, it had to happen. There's three things that I want to remind us of today when we talk about God's timing. The first one is this. God will never waste what you've walked through. God will never waste what you've walked through in life. Some of us we've walked through things that were painful, traumatic. Some of us we've walked through things in our life that we would not have chosen for ourselves. But let me make this clear before we go on. Not everything that happens is God's desire for us. We live in a sinful fallen world. Sin has marred humanity and creation. We are imperfect people and as imperfect people sometimes we make dumb decisions. Amen? We do things that hurt the ones that we love or the people around us. This is the world we live in. It's an imperfect world but yet God will never waste any moment that we've walked through. Genesis 50-20 reminds us that what the enemy meant for good, what life threw at us to break us down, God can use it to build something greater in us. See faith, faith isn't required when everything is good. We don't need faith when we See everything as we want it to be. Faith, typically, usually, is built in moments where we don't understand what is going on, but we still choose to trust Him because He's good and He's God. Hebrews 11 tells us what faith is. It says, faith is the assurance of things hoped for,

not the assurance of things that have happened. It's the conviction of things what? Not seen. You don't need faith when you can see it. You don't need faith when everything is as you think it should be. You need faith when you don't understand what God is doing. That's when you need faith. You need faith when the timing doesn't match up to your expectations. You need faith when God gave you a promise, but you don't see the promise coming to pass. That's when we need faith. Jesus, He doesn't show up to Lazarus late because He's on Cuban time, right? Just who I am, you know, it's in my blood. We're fashionably late everywhere we go. No, He shows up to Lazarus when all hope is lost. He shows up to Lazarus when He's dead. Verse 32, now, when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His feet. She said to Him, Lord, if you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have died. In other words, this didn't have to happen. Shortly after that, her sister comes and shares the same thing, and she's in tears. And all the people are weeping. Why? Because Jesus waited. But in that moment, what does He do?

He doesn't dismiss their pain. He doesn't push them out of the way and say, stop your crying. What does He do? 33, when Jesus saw their weeping and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in His spirit. He was greatly troubled. And He said, where have you laid them? And they said, Lord, come and see. Verse 35 says plainly that Jesus wept. He listens. He's with us. He weeps. This is what Jesus does with His friends. He stepped into the moment. His delay didn't mean His apathy. Didn't mean His distance. He stepped into the pain that they were in. But don't miss it. But He still allowed it to happen. Jesus still allowed Lazarus to die. Why? Because He's not trying to do something for them. Jesus wanted to grow something greater within them. Verse 25, Jesus said to her, I'm the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

And He asked her, do you believe this? Do you believe that there can be resurrection from the dead? It's one thing to believe that Jesus can heal your sickness. But to believe that Jesus can bring the dead to life, that takes a different faith. And if you want resurrection faith, that means something died. This is the kind of faith that God wants to grow in us. The kind of faith that's formed in moments where we don't understand what is going on, but we still choose to trust Him in that. Hear me. God can take whatever happened and use it to shape who you're becoming. I don't know what happened. I'm not trying to downplay what you're going through. I don't have the reasons why it's happening, but what I know is that God can take whatever has happened and work it and shape it into who you're becoming. He can take the terrible things that you would have never chosen for your life, so He can form a faith in you that could not have been formed otherwise. A type of faith that is birthed in darkness and difficulty, but on the other side of that faith, you'll be able to look back at all the problems you went through, all the pain of your past, and say something you didn't think you'd be able to say while you were in it. You'll be able to look back and say, that had to happen.

That had to happen. Not because it was good, not because God caused it, that had to happen because God used it. God used it to form in me a faith that was unshakable. God used it. something that I never thought would be possible. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comforts. He comforts us in all of our troubles. He comforts us in all of our troubles. When they're troubled, we'll be able to give to them the same comfort that God has given to us. God has such a beautiful way of turning our miserable situations into platforms for ministry. I've seen Him do it in my life. I've seen Him do it in the life here of people in this church. Where He takes the pain that we've gone through and He uses it as a stepping place, as a platform for us to declare how good He is. A place where we minister from. Where He takes the thing that we struggled with in our life, that we struggled getting over, and He uses it as part of our story, our testimony to other people, that they can hear what God did in our lives and have hope that if God did it for you, if God rescued you, if God gave that to you, then He can give it to me. Amen? That's the faith He wants to grow. The type of faith where we look back on the us that stepped into it and realize that that old us needed a greater faith to be who we are today, and that's where He did it. That's where He developed it. God will never waste what you're going through. Second thing I want you to remember, everything God allows is for our good and His glory. We just sang that song. Everything that God allows in our life, again, God may not have caused it. God may not have wanted it. Maybe we made a dumb decision. Maybe we put ourselves in a terrible situation. But everything that God allows is for our good and His glory. John 11, 38, Jesus deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone lay against it and Jesus said,

Take away the stone. Roll the stone away. Martha, the sister of the dead man said, Lord, by this time there will be an odor for he has been dead for four days. Four days. Again, by the time Jesus shows up, Lazarus has been four days dead. Now this detail is more important than you might expect. In the culture back then, the belief of the Jewish people back in that time during Jesus, was they believed that if someone died, that the spirit could linger around the body for up to three days. Until the body started to deteriorate, the spirit, if it could find its way back, the person could come back to life. They actually believed this. So what that means is, if Jesus showed up on day one, or Jesus showed up on day two, they would have thought, oh, it's just a coincidence. This tends to happen. They weren't dead, they were just sleeping. If he came on the third day, they would say, hey, that's good timing. Good for you, Jesus. Now people think you did it, but we know that it was just the spirit. Four days, everything changes. Four days, the body is deteriorating. There's no doubt. He's dead. Four days later, he smells worse than a middle schooler without deodorant. There's no doubt. This isn't good timing. Four days later, it's only God. We talked last week about how God is always working. What we think is a delay, God is working, even though you don't see it. I want you to understand today that God doesn't always just work in the waiting. Sometimes in the waiting, God designs the moment, so that you realize that it could only be him. Verse 40, Jesus said to her,

Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? So they took away the stone, and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you've heard me. I know that you always hear me, but listen. I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me. I allowed this. I designed this for this reason. And when he'd said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. The man who died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to him, unbind him. Set him free. Let him go. You know what that is? That's the resurrection power of Jesus. That's what Jesus does. He is the resurrection. He is the life. And He does it for our good, and He does it for His glory. Next week, we're gonna celebrate His resurrection. This is why we put so much emphasis on inviting your friends because it's gonna be a celebration, but it's not just a celebration. I wanna make that clear. We also put a lot of emphasis in reminding all of us that we are called to be pastors, priests, ministers, and missionaries. I wanna make this clear. Next week is not about us. It's not simply so we can wear pastel colors

and take a good picture with our family and hear a message that makes us feel good. We're gonna celebrate the resurrection, but the reason why we do it is so that other people can experience the resurrection, that they can experience new life in Jesus. This isn't for us. This is for them. This is why He does this. This is why He allows this. See, Jesus wasn't just trying to solve one family's problems. What did Jesus say? He said, I did this for all people. He was revealing His power to all people, that when Lazarus walked out the tomb, everyone would know that it was God who did it, that they would know that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, that no one comes to the Father, that no one has freedom of sin, that no one has a relationship with God except through Him. Sometimes He designs a moment so that there's no doubt that it was Him who did it. Listen, when I'm in difficult situations, I have a choice. I can feel down about myself. I can feel depressed about what's going on, or I can look up. I can say, I can't do this. This is too much for me.

And I can also say, but He can. God can do it. There's nothing impossible for Him. He's powerful. I don't got this, but He does, amen? Those are the stories that resonate with me the most, the stories where there's no way but God, where the relationship was so fractured that everyone looked at it and said, there's no hope, but God stepped in and brought reconciliation between two people humbling themselves before Him, a door that is closed so tightly, all your dreams, all your plans were behind that door, and everyone said it's dead, but God steps in and He opens the door and He does in your life the things greater than you ever experienced. Why do those stories hit so deep? Because there's no other explanation but God, amen? Church familia, I understand it's easier said than done. I don't know what you're going through. I'm not trying to minimize the heaviness that that's on you right now. I just want you to be encouraged to not give up when things get difficult. Don't give up when things get dark. That's when God does His greatest work. Listen to what 2 Corinthians 12, nine says. It says God's strength is made, what?

Perfect. We can have God's perfect strength when in our weakness. We can have God's perfect strength when we are weak. No one can do it but Him. Listen, whatever you're going through, God doesn't waste, and He allows everything and He works all things together for our good and His glory, and the reason He allows it is this, because He's preparing in us something greater than what we can imagine. Third thing I want you to write down is what God allows prepares me to be all in. What God allows prepares me to be all in. Listen, I've shared over the past several weeks of how I can look back at my life, and all the pain, the personal relationships that have been pruned from my life, the things that I thought were good that God pruned because they were not of God's, all the personal pain in my life that I've gone through, it's hurt. I'm a pastor, but I'm a person, and when people leave, and when things don't go according to plan, there have been several seasons in my life where I planned something and didn't pan out the way that I planned, and it got me questioning my calling. God, I thought you asked me to do this.

God, I thought you wanted me to lead in this way. Why? Why did it turn out that way? When the church that I grew up in, The church that I thought I'd spend the rest of my life in. The church that Jesus found me in. He gave me a firm foundation. When that church continued to be about honoring the pastor and giving the pastor stuff instead of taking care of people that God so loves. I began to question God. Why would you allow me to waste so much of my life and so much of my potential in a place that's producing no fruit for you, God? I thought you had plans for me. Why would you allow me to spend a decade of my life in this fruitless place that's all about a man and not the son of God? When Jesus called me and my wife out of student ministry, the thing that we thought we would do forever, honest to God. When I proposed to my wife and she said yes, the first thing she said afterwards is, if you ever take me out of student ministry, I'm divorcing you. True story. I was like, this is the woman for me. We're called to this. And when God called us out of the thing that we love the most,

the thing that we wanna do forever for him, we started asking God, did we hear you wrong? Why? When we first started our plans to build a massive 2000 seat auditorium and two story building and had all these big plans and then everything stopped and slowed down and everything shrunk because of COVID. I went to the darkest place I'd ever been as a human being. I started questioning everything about my life, my leadership. God, did I do something wrong? Why is everything failing right now? Why would you allow all this pain? Why would you allow all this financial difficulty? Why would you allow all this relational struggle? This is what you called me to. It hurt. But I can stand here today and look back at all of that and say with confidence, it had to happen. It had to happen. God allowed all of it to develop me into who I am today. God allowed me to go through all of that to help shape who we are as a church today. When all of that started to happen, I started to talk to somebody and stop keeping it to myself. And I realized that when you're in a community and you share the struggles you're going through, people can lift you up and you realize you're not alone and that you don't have to take your life.

It strengthened my mental health because God allowed me to go through all of that. It brought me back to the basics of my childlike faith. It reminded me of why I got into this in the first place. It's not about my pride. It's not about my platform. It's about people. It had to happen. I was formed through that. And I am who I am today in this church in part is what it is today because of all the painful personal experiences that I had to learn through loss. It had to happen for this to truly be the perfect place for imperfect people like me to experience the presence of Almighty God. It had to happen for us to draw a line in the sand and say, because all people matter to God, all people will matter to us, period. Care their upbringing, their background, their culture, their color, their religious beliefs. Jesus loves them. And we have a responsibility to seek and save them because the great commission to go and make disciples of all the nations is what Jesus says is the most important thing that we should focus on in this life. That our plan for the future is gonna be about what matters most to him, not what feels good for us.

It had to happen for us to be here today. And where are we today? There are now 6.5 million people approximately in the Tri-County area. We have grown tremendously over the past several years. People are moving to this area. Six and a half million people. in the Tri-County area. Within a 10-mile radius of where we're seated and worshiping right now, there are about 1.1 million people. And two years ago, the latest census data and religious research came out, and by the 1.1 million people's own admission, less than 3% of them call themselves a follower of Christ. What does that mean? That means today there are over a million people real close to us, driving by this building right now. The people who will serve us our coffee, who will underwrite our insurance, the kids in my children's classroom, the teachers, the police officers, there's people, over a million people, that do not have the hope of Jesus. That when they die in their sin, they will go to hell. And we're not okay with that. We'll never be okay with that. This is why All In had to happen. And this is why All In has to happen. Over the past 12 months, since we started this faith adventure,

we've seen more than 400 families now call this community of faith home. 400 more families have been part of this church familia over the past 12 months. And a lot of people in our church, they've been doing something about it. They've been making a move with the mission. You look around this room, there are finally some empty seats. Next week it will not be so, but there are finally some empty seats. Why? Because people made the prayerful move with the mission that I'm gonna come to the one o'clock, I'm gonna come to the 8.30, so I can make space in the places where the majority of people who are far from God would rather come between 10 and 12. We started a Thursday night, a bigger step of faith, six months ago. And by the grace of God, it's growing and it's working. But here we are today, and we're feeling the pressure of hitting the lid again. We're growing. God is working in this place, but we feel the pressure of the crowds. On top of that, there's no specific space for middle schoolers

to learn on Sunday. There's no specific space for groups to meet throughout the week. They're meeting in children's classrooms and offices. We don't have the space we need for the counseling that God has entrusted us with and to care for the needs of people in our local community like he has called us to. So the reality is simple. We're not just hitting a limit to our space again. Our space is becoming a limit for us. Our space is becoming a limit for our reach. And we never want a physical limitation to be a spiritual barrier for someone who wants to know Jesus. So Church Familia, it has to happen. This is why we stepped into this faith adventure 12 months ago. This is what the reason that God called us in faith and out of our comfort zones. In fact, we have three goals for why God called us all. The first one is this, all is for every good work. It's for every good work. Ephesians 2.10 says, we're his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for what? Good works. Good works which he prepared beforehand that we, his sons and daughters, that we should walk in good works. What that means is the whole purpose

of everything that we do is for one point. To seek and save those who are lost. We're asking specifically, God, would you trust us with a thousand more people? A thousand more ones that you so love that are so near and dear to us. Would you trust us with them? Would you send them our way so we can point them to you so they can have the life and the love that we've experienced in you? Because of that, all in has to happen. All in is also for every generation. That's our second goal, it's for every generation. Titus talks about the old men, older women. Remember the youth. Train up the young women. Encourage the young men. All in is for every generation. It's not so we can have a beautiful building that all of us can die and say we are a part of that. It's for those who are not yet here. It's for every generation. It's for young people to know who they are in Christ. It's for teenagers to walk in confidence in their school. It's for us as adults to set the example of what a life of faith in Jesus being all in looks like. In the past 12 months, it has been more fruitful than any season in the church's history ever. We have more groups and more group leaders

and more leaders who are ready to multiply their groups because it's not about all of us huddling together and saying kumbaya but making a difference wherever we go. Any local youth here? Local youth, where are you at? Make some noise. Come on. Yeah. Here's what I love about what's happening in our youth. We don't do student ministry for youth. It's student ministry done by the youth. Every week they're serving. Every week they're inviting their friends. Every week they're teaching. Our teenagers are standing here teaching other teenagers about the hope of Jesus and the truth of His words. Our young adults, they're growing, they're gathering together on Thursday nights after our Thursday night service, and they're talking and they're praying about how they can make a kingdom impact on their campuses. God is growing this place. But growth requires space. So all in has to happen. Our third goal is all in is for years to come. It's for years to come. For us to support these two goals, we have to prepare for the future. And that means specifically expanding this auditorium and enclosing our property. We have some images. Go ahead and show that first image. This is what our new upgrade would look like. That's the entryway. That's just a rendering. It's not finalized yet. There's actually going to be a covered pathway so that you can pull up a car and drop off your abuela or drop off your wife if you're a gentleman. So she doesn't have to get caught in the rain. It's just a beautiful, big, beautiful entryway so that people far from God can see this from the road, since we're so far from the road. Show that next picture. This is our current breezeway. 35-foot ceilings. Air-conditioned, meaning on a day like today where there's a chance of rain, we don't have to dip out of here so quickly. We can actually stay and connect and laugh and pray together.

And 360 of the 365 days of the year where it's 145 degrees outside, we can still be the church together and not say, I'm sweating through my clothes, I'll see you later. Show the next picture. This is a picture of our auditorium. You see those pillars on the side? We're literally just blowing out the walls. And we're making it wider to where the pavers are on both sides. Now, these are, listen, cool pictures, bro. Beautiful pictures. I want you to understand, though, this isn't about a building. God doesn't need a building. God doesn't dwell in buildings made with people's hands. He dwells in his sons and daughters. He dwells in his people. He dwells by his spirit in his church. We don't need a building. But the reality is we do need to build something for people who are far from God. We do need to build a city on a hill to care for the local community that we're in. This isn't about building a big building for our ego and our logo. This is about building a place for generations. Psalm 102 reminds us this is for a future generation that isn't here yet. That one day people will be able to praise God. Why? Because today we made room. It has to happen. Our two-year goal as a church family when we started this 12 months ago was to raise an extra $2.5 million over two years, over our annual operating and ministry costs. And what we do is we can't build with $2.5 million. We don't have nearly enough money to do anything in South Florida, believe it or not.

But we would take that extra $2.5 million raised over two years and we would use that to secure a loan for the construction. So that we could begin to build this place. And more importantly, we would not put ourselves in a position as a church where we are strapped financially for generations to come. Amen. No one wants to come to church where it's like, we need your money. Please. Please give us your money. No one is leaving. Of course. Right. No one wants that. Now listen, I know when a preacher says $2.5 million over two years, that's a lot of money. I get it. We're not a rich church. We know that that's a step of faith. $2.5 million over two years is 50% more than what typically comes in each year. What does that mean? Only God can do it. Only God can do this. Turn to your neighbor and tell them, but God. Here we are, 12 months into it and we're over 42% of the way there. That means this isn't a starting conversation. This is a momentum conversation. God is already working. So many of you already said, I'm all in. You've committed. Why are we talking about this today? Week before Easter, what are we talking about today? For some of you who are all in already, which is many of you,

this is just a reminder of why we're doing it, of who we're doing it for. It's not about a building. It's not about a man's legacy. It's about the kingdom of God here in South Florida for generations to come. Some of you, you've joined. Some of you are part of that 400 plus people that have been part of this community of faith over the past 12 months. And you're hearing this maybe for the first time. You're saying, God has been so good to me and I've seen what he's done in my family. I've seen what he's done in my children over these past several months. And I want other people to experience that. What are you asking me for? And then some of you, a lot of you, if we're honest, you're sitting here thinking, let me pray about that. Let me get to God and I'll get back to you, please. In fact, that's the only thing we're asking of everybody. To pray. To genuinely, seriously take some time over the next few weeks and pray individually and pray together as a family. Say, Holy Spirit, what are you teaching me? Okay, now what do you want me to do about it? Not out of obligation, not out of guilt, not out of pressure, but to seriously take some time

to pray and seek the Lord. That's all we're asking you to do. The Bible says that when we seek him with all of our heart, we will find him. Ask and it'll be open. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door shall be open. If we seek the Lord, his spirit will speak to us. And when he convicts you and when he leads you, obey him. Nothing more, nothing less. Then on your way out today, if you'd like, there's an all-in brochure and our all-in display over there inside of that. There's a commitment card. What the Holy Spirit leads you to do, obey him, and then fill out that commitment card and turn that in. Here's why. It's not a legally binding contract. We cannot, we will not come after you. We will not call you up and say, hey, it's Eric. You owe us $5,000 and you're behind, all right? So we're gonna come to your house and our youth is gonna collect from you, all right? They go to some shady school, so be careful. No, not gonna happen. All it is is good stewarding on our part that we would know how to prepare and plan on what we can expect to come over the next 12 months if all things go well, so we can, over the next few months, begin to build this place.

All it is is just us preparing for what may happen. Seek the Lord. He'll speak to you. When my wife and I prayed 12 months ago, 13 months ago, actually, God asked us to give the largest financial gift we've ever given in our lives. Now, you might be saying, well, that's easy for you. You're a pastor. No, I'm a pastor. I get paid way less than all of you. I promise you that. We said we would pray and we prayed individually and God put a number on my heart that was too big for me to handle. And my wife prayed and we came together and we said, literally, this happened, we said, on the count of three, let's say the number that God put on our heart. One, two, three, and it was both the same. And we're like, okay, God. It's confirmation. And we're 12 months into this and next month, we will have completed our commitment. By the grace of God, by us saving, us sacrificing, us selling a whole lot of property stuff that we had and possessions that we didn't frankly use. Yes, lots of shoes. That's what God asked us to do. I don't know what God's asking you to do. I'm not gonna answer that question for you.

He'll answer it when you seek him, but here's what I know for sure, that when we seek the Lord in faith and when he answers us and we step out in faith, together, we'll see more people saved than we've ever imagined on our own. Here's how we can commit to being all in today. I'm gonna ask our service guide to come up right now and they're going to drop some acrylic tiles here on this stage. And I'm gonna pray and I want you to pray. And if the spirit of God speaks to you saying, I want you to go above and beyond, I want you to say, I want you to go beyond. sacrifice over your normal giving here. Or for some of you, the Spirit of God may say, I know what you've been through. I know the building campaigns you were a part of in the past and the mistrust that you had with the pastor because they spent it on their own stuff and not for people. I know the church hurt you have, and so I just want you to be still and know that I am God. All I want for you is to sit and receive so you know that my house is a place of healing. He may speak that to some of you, but whether it's giving generously or receiving grace from Him, all of us have a next step. All of us have a next step because all of us are called to be pastors, priests, ministers, and missionaries.

All of us have a one that God has given us. Someone close to us that's far from God. Someone that we love so much, but they have yet to experience the love of Jesus that set us free, that's your one. And God wants you to go in for them. He wants you to go all in for them. He wants you to say whatever it takes, whatever it costs, whatever you ask of me, God, it is worth it so that they would know you like I know you, I'm all in. For some of you today, this will be the first time you're writing down a name. This is not simply a, this is gonna be a beautiful addition to the art display out in the breezeway, I'm gonna do my part. No, when you come up and you write their name down, remember, he's saying, I wanna use you. I want to use you, I want you to invite, I want you to pray, I want you to call them up and say, I love you. How can I pray for you? Some of you in here though, this is not your first time. Last year, you wrote down a name, your name is on that wall. This isn't, I'm asking you to come forward and write down another name. No, I actually want you to stay at your seat and I want you to pray and I want it to be a reminder. For some of you, it might be, God, I wrote down that name, but honestly, Father, I gave away my responsibility in that.

I did that. And now you're reminding me that you wanna use me, that I'm part of their story of being transformed. Maybe it's a time of repentance, maybe it's a time of refocus, but let it be a time of recommitment, God. You've called me to be all in for them. I'm gonna step into that again today. For some of you, at least 199 of you, possibly 297 or more of you, you wrote that name on the wall and they came and they trusted in Jesus and they took their next step in baptism. We're celebrating that, amen? We're celebrating the new life, but we don't stop at one, right? No, God has another one, another miracle, it's on its way. And so I'm gonna ask you as well to come forward and write the name of the next one that God has put in your heart. Now, today's gonna be a little bit different. I'm gonna take some time to pray. And as I'm praying, if you feel led, when you are ready, that you would come forward and as you write down the name of your one, you would say, I'm all in for them. You'd pray over that and then you'd put that in these right here. You'll notice that these aren't acrylic tiles because over the last three services,

the response was greater than we could imagine and we actually ran out. So we're asking that you take a sharpie and that you'd write the name. Don't write their last name, just write their first name because we're believing God is gonna use us and they're gonna come, amen? And they're gonna look at their name on the wall. Why is my full government name everyone's business right now? What is this about? Write their first name, maybe a last initial if you want to, pray over it and put it in here. And then what we're gonna do this week, we're gonna order some new acrylic tiles and we're gonna trace it. So it will be your handwriting, your beauty and all that stuff. But this is not just a futile exercise. I want this to be a spiritually significant moment where we cross the line and we say, Father, I'm wholly surrendered. All of my life, all of my thoughts, all of who I am is all in to you for them. So I'm gonna pray. And after I pray, when you're ready, come forward as our worship team sings a song of surrender. Father, thank you for going all in for us. Thank you for doing everything possible so that we, the ones that you love,

could be saved and set free. So we could have a home with you for all eternity. So the power of sin and death would be powerless over us, God. You did all things so that we could be free, Lord. And as you've loved us, and as you live for us, and as you comfort us, and all comfort, God, help us to do the same for them. Remind us of what this is, Lord. This is for the one. Give us confidence. Give us boldness. Let us not be ashamed of your good news today, Father. Do whatever it is you want in us. We surrender all so that we can see them saved. In Jesus' name we pray. You can come forward now. Write the name of your one. Put it in that clear bin. Pray over their name. Sing, I will make room for whatever you want, Lord. So stand and worship together. Lift your voice. Here is where I lay it down. Here is where I lay it down. Every burden, every crown. This is my surrender. This is my surrender. Here is where I lay it down. Every lie and every doubt. This is my surrender. Lift your voice.

I'll make room. And I'll make room for you to do whatever you want to, to do whatever you want to, Lord. Church Familia, we want to make room up here for you as well. If there's a barrier keeping you from going all in for Him, you're carrying on your shoulders our prayer guides are going to be up here. They'd love to pray with you. They'd love to lift up whatever you're going through, so that you know you're not in this alone, that there's a God who loves you. There's a church that supports you. Don't leave this place carrying the burden. Come forward. If you want to pray, if you want to lay down, if you want to lift up your hands, this is where we surrender. Come forward and lay everything down. Every burden, every crown. Every lie. This is my surrender. Every belief that goes against God's word. Every burn, every anxiety, every fear. Lay it down. His presence is here. The best is still before us. He wants to do the impossible in this place. This is my surrender. I will make room for you To do whatever you want to

To do whatever you want to I will make room for you To do whatever you want to To do whatever you want to And I will make room for you Only you To do whatever you want to To do whatever you want to I will make room for you To do whatever you want to To do whatever you want to I will make room for you To do whatever you want to To do whatever you want to I will make room for you To do whatever you want to To do whatever you want to To do whatever you want to ♪ All the world, all my religion ♪ ♪ You're greater, You're greater ♪ ♪ Shake up the ground, all my traditions ♪ ♪ Break down the walls, all my religion ♪ ♪ You're greater, You're greater ♪ ♪ You're greater, You're greater ♪ ♪ Shake up the ground, all my traditions ♪ ♪ Break down the walls, all my religion ♪ ♪ You're greater, You're greater. Back away, back away ♪ ♪ Shake up the ground, all my traditions ♪ ♪ Break down the walls, all my religion ♪ ♪ You're greater, You're greater. Back away, back away ♪

♪ And I will make room for You to do whatever You want to do ♪ ♪ Do whatever You want to do with me, baby ♪ ♪ And I will make room for You to do whatever You want to do ♪ ♪ Do whatever You want to do, do whatever You want to do ♪ ♪ I will make room for You to do whatever You want to do ♪ ♪ Do whatever You want to do, and I will make room for You to do ♪ ♪ Do whatever You want to do, do whatever You want to do ♪