Now We Go To School : God Is Calling You (Full Experience)

Here we go, two, and one, two, three. ♪ I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪ ♪ I'm as good as new, oh I've been washed in the water ♪ ♪ Washed in the blood all because of you, oh I'm clean ♪ ♪ Your sin was stained on me, and shame was running deep ♪ ♪ Your love was spilled on Calvary, oh hallelujah I'm clean ♪ ♪ Oh God how can it be, I'm ransomed and redeemed ♪ ♪ I'm standing in your victory, oh hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪ ♪ I'm as good as new, oh hallelujah I've been washed in the water ♪ ♪ Washed in the blood all because of you, oh hallelujah I'm clean ♪ ♪ It's not what I have done, but what you've done for me ♪ ♪ You've painted all upon that tree, oh hallelujah I'm clean ♪ ♪ Your love has overcome, and your mercy is so free ♪ ♪ And I'm dancing in your mystery, oh hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪ ♪ I'm as good as new, oh hallelujah I've been washed in the water ♪ ♪ Washed in the blood all because of you, oh hallelujah I've been washed in the water ♪ Washed in the blood, I'm as good as new, oh hallelujah I've been washed in the water ♪ ♪ Washed in the blood all because of you, oh hallelujah I've been washed in the water ♪ ♪ Cause you took away my shame, and you nailed it to the cross ♪ ♪ You caught me running out the grave, oh hallelujah here I come ♪ ♪ Cause you took away my shame, and you nailed it to the cross ♪ ♪ You caught me running out the grave, oh hallelujah here I come ♪ ♪ Cause you took away my shame, and you nailed it to the cross ♪ ♪ You caught me running out the grave, oh hallelujah here I come ♪ ♪ Cause you took away my shame, and you nailed it to the cross ♪ ♪ You caught me running out the grave, oh hallelujah here I come ♪ ♪ Hallelujah here I come, hallelujah here I come ♪ ♪ Hallelujah here I come, hallelujah here I come, hallelujah here I come. ♪

♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, here I come. Who's one, who's two in everybody jump, jump! Watched in the water, watched in the blood, I was gonna, forever worth it. Sing it! Come on, one more time. Yeah. Washed in the water, washed in the blood, all because of you. Oh, hallelujah. Oh, hallelujah. Jesus, we thank you. Jesus, we thank you came from heaven to earth to wash us of our sin, make us clean, and give us relationship with you. Jesus, there aren't enough words we could say or songs to sing, but we give you our praise this morning. We're forever grateful for what you've done for us and what you continue to do. So we praise your name in this place. Oh, we thank you, Lord. We thank you, Jesus. Sing, all my words fall short. All my words fall short. I've got nothing new. I can't sing. All my gratitude, I could sing. I could sing these songs, as I often do. But every song is still, and you never do. So I throw up my hands and praise you again and again. ♪ Again, cause all that I have is a hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, and I know it's not much ♪ ♪ I've nothing else but for a king ♪

♪ Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've got one response, I've got just one move ♪ ♪ And with my arms stretched wide, I will worship you ♪ ♪ So I throw up my hands and praise you again and again ♪ ♪ Again, cause all that I have is a hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, and I know it's not much ♪ ♪ I've nothing else but for a king ♪ ♪ Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Oh we praise you Jesus, come on give him thanks in this place ♪ ♪ We sing it out, sing it out, oh come on my soul ♪ ♪ Oh don't you get shy on me, lift up your song ♪ ♪ Cause you've got a lion inside of those lungs ♪ ♪ Get up and praise the Lord, come on every voice sing come on ♪ ♪ Come on my soul, oh don't you get shy on me, lift up your song ♪ ♪ Cause you've got a lion inside of those lungs ♪ ♪ Get up and praise the Lord, oh we praise you Jesus, come on ♪ ♪ Come on my soul, oh don't you get shy on me, lift up your song ♪ ♪ Cause you've got a lion inside of those lungs ♪ ♪ Get up and praise the Lord, oh we praise you Jesus, come on ♪ ♪ So I throw up my hands and praise you again and again ♪ ♪ And again, cause all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it's not much, I'm nothing else before a king ♪ ♪ Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Oh hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ Oh we praise you Jesus, thank you God, thank you Jesus for what you've done, what you're gonna continue to do today. We praise you in this place, amen. You may be seated.

Welcome to Fellowship Church, one church family in many locations. Give yourself a round of applause for being at church today, way to go. And on behalf of Pastor Ed and Lisa, we're so glad you're here. We believe we're designed to thrive in community and we have something for everyone. For students, we have The Mix every Wednesday. And for the adults, there's Bible study classes, connect groups, support and recovery, veterans Bible study and breakfast, serving opportunities here and out in the community and FC sports. Y para nuestra comunidad de habla hispana, tenemos clases de estudio bíblico en español y traducción al español disponible para recibirse hoy en nuestra aplicación de Fellowship Church. To find out more or to take your next step, simply tap your seat or fill out the connect card in front of you. We'll connect with you this week, answer your questions, and help you find the best next step for you. And if there's something on your heart today, we will be honored to pray with you. Today is a special day because later on in our experience, we are going to pray with you. to break ground on our brand new home

for the next generation, the Anchor Center, a student space unlike anything we've ever seen. This is where kids and students are going to find hope, find Jesus, and find an anchor for generations to come. And to all of you who have given above and beyond your tithes to make this vision a reality, we wanna say... Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Is anybody fired up to be here at Groundbreaking Sunday? I'm gonna try that again. Is anybody fired up to be here on such a monumental Sunday? You know, as Fellowship Church, we do things big, and so it wouldn't be Groundbreaking Sunday without some brand new merch available in our Source Cafe in both adult and youth sizes. And the best part, all the proceeds go straight towards the Anchor Center. Does anybody want a free shirt this morning? Anybody? I made it to the third row in the first service. We're gonna try to get beyond that.

Ready? That's left-handed, fourth row. Thank you very much. I'll take an applause. Anyways, I'll keep going. Speaking of free things, all the kiddos at FC Kids are gonna receive these amazingly cute hard hats. I can't promise that your child is gonna be that cute. I can say that because that's my little daughter, and it's gonna be a really special day today in God's house. Welcome to Fellowship Church. My name is Sam Kelly. I have the privilege to be one of the pastors here at FC, and here's something I believe to the core of my being, that life is a million times better when you do it alongside of people who love God, who love the house of God, and who love other people. We wanna help you find that kind of community here at Fellowship Church. So right after this experience, we've got our newcomers lunch in. We'll feed you, take care of your kiddos. We wanna help you find that community and begin to grow in your faith. We mentioned it earlier. You can also take that blue Connect card found in the seat back in front of you, and in just a moment, drop that off in the offering that we're gonna receive in just a moment. But I'm sure if you've looked at the news this week,

if you've looked at social media this week, you've seen what's going on in the world. When you look at the fires right here in our backyard in Texas, and the communities that have been affected by that, you look at the floods that have taken place in Nepal. We received a prayer request this week from someone in our church who has a loved one that's missing in those floods. And you just see that, you hear that, you experience it, and it's really easy to feel helpless. But here's what I'm thankful for. Because of your generosity, Fellowship Church as a whole, we're not helpless. We are bringing help and hope to those communities by giving them supplies that they need and bringing along the message of Jesus Christ with it. Today is Groundbreaking Sunday in many ways, because today we are baptizing three amazing kids. And let me tell you why that's more awesome than it already is. Because at the beginning of 2025, we began to share the vision of the Anchor Center, where we believe God is taking us as a church. And since that moment of January 2025, to today, once we baptize those three kiddos, we are celebrating 2,000 kids and students who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. I don't think you heard me. We are celebrating 2,000 kids and students

who have gone public with their faith through baptism and church. That is why we do what we do. And here's the best part. Every single one of those numbers represents an individual student or child whose life has been flipped upside down by the good news of Jesus Christ. You can be seated. And I am so thankful as I think about our church and look at what God has done. I am grateful for what God is doing, but today we are breaking ground because we are more expectant for what God is going to continue to do through Fellowship Church. Can I get an amen in the house of God today? Would you bow your heads and close your eyes with me? Lord, we lift up these communities in Nepal facing devastating circumstances. The families affected by these fires here and God, in such a disorienting time, we pray that your peace, your hope, your grace, your mercy would find these individuals. Lord, we take a moment to pause this morning and say thank you for what you are doing. Thank you for what you have done. But Lord, we trust and believe that the best is still yet to come. We ask all these things in your son's name.

Everybody said, amen. ♪♪ ♪ Oh, breathe on me, breath of God ♪ ♪ I throw my hands up in the air ♪ ♪ Say, Lord, You can take me anywhere ♪ ♪ So breathe on me, breath of God ♪ ♪ I throw my hands up in the air ♪ ♪ Say, Lord, You can take me anywhere ♪ ♪ And Holy Spirit, I surrender before You, take over me ♪ ♪ And God, I wanna be baptized in Your fire, take over me, yeah ♪ Church, would you stand? We're gonna declare this in faith. Let's see a move of God. ♪ Carry me, wind of God ♪ ♪ Oh, some are only heaven knows ♪ ♪ And some are so incredible ♪ ♪ Would you carry me, wind of God ♪ ♪ I'm getting good at letting go ♪ ♪ It's better when you're in control, we surrender ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, I surrender, oh, forever, oh, take over me ♪ ♪ And God, I wanna be baptized in Your fire, oh, take over me ♪ ♪ My body is a temple, my body is a temple ♪ ♪ And for all my life, I'll be a vessel ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, come, take over, oh, take over, oh, take over me ♪ ♪ Yeah, take over this room, God, oh, take over this generation, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ We're about to see revival, like we never know, like something out of the Bible ♪ ♪ The impossible, I think the room is ready, for a miracle, now we're getting fired up, yeah ♪ ♪ We say, we're about to see revival, like we never know, like something out of the Bible, the impossible ♪ ♪ I think the room is ready, for a miracle, now we're getting fired up, yeah, we're about to see, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Like we never know, like something out of the Bible, the impossible, I think the room is ready, for a miracle ♪

♪ And now we're getting fired up, now we're getting fired up, now we're getting fired up, yeah, yeah, yeah, now we're getting fired up ♪ ♪ And the Holy Spirit, I surrender forever, and take over me, God, I wanna be baptized in Your fire, and sing, Holy Spirit. Till the Holy Spirit, I surrender forever, and take over me, and God, I wanna be baptized in Your fire. Take over me Oh, sing we're about to see revival We're about to see revival Like we never know Something out the Bible The impossible I think the room is ready For a miracle And now we're living for love And go on and on We're about to see revival Like we never know Just something out the Bible The impossible I think the room is ready For a miracle And now we're getting fire And now we're getting fire In the Holy Ghost Now we're getting fire In the Holy Ghost Now we're getting fire In the Holy Ghost And now we're getting fire In the Holy Ghost For every name Every soul transformed By the power of our Great Lord

Your Great God Give Him praise today For all that He's done And all He's going to continue to do In our church Come on Church, you may be seated This is a live demo, but here are the sound quality improvements. It's incredible when you think about it. After I finish this sentence, over 1 million calls will be made. In fact, today, over 13.5 billion calls will occur around the world. What do you do when you get a call? If you're like me, you look at your phone and see who's calling. Most of the time, I think we push the green button and answer the call. Most of the time. Now and then, we decline the call. Sometimes, I do this some, and I really don't like it when people do this. It's just kind of a pet peeve of mine. You text back, like, I'll talk to you later, or I'm in a meeting, like I'm important. I do that some. I'll admit it. Now and then, I don't do this a lot, but sometimes I do. I'll just block the caller. Our response is to calls. Today, I'm going to tell you something, and this is the message in one sentence. God is calling you. I'll say it again. The God of the universe is calling you. The question is obvious. The answer, though, maybe is not so obvious. What is your response? Again, God is calling. It's throughout Scripture. God calls every single person. The question is, what is your response? God is calling. What is your response? Do you say, okay, God, I'm available. I'm ready. Do you push the green button? Do you go, you know, no, and decline the call and let it go to voicemail? What do you do? Do you text back, God, not right now, not right now, or do you just block the caller? There was a guy in the Bible, you've probably heard of him. His name was Moses. You ever heard of Moses before? Moses was the guy that delivered, God used to deliver the children of Israel out of Egyptian slavery. God's people, they were in a brutal state. God appointed a man, because when God has a plan, he picks a man or a woman, and Moses was the man to lead all of those people, millions of them out of Egyptian slavery to the brink of the promised land. Moses is a great example of what to do when you're called. Hey kids, Moses was popular. Ask someone who's younger, hey, what do you want to be when you

grow up, you know, or what do you want to do? Oftentimes the response is, I want to be famous. Moses was famous. Let me say it again. He was blowing up. He was trending. Everyone was talking about Moses. His background is absolutely incredible. He was the Hebrew adopted into the most prominent family in the world, Pharaoh's family. Egypt, again, had the Hebrews enslaved, and through just a supernatural turn of events, Pharaoh's daughter adopted Moses, and they were killing all of the Hebrew kids into this family. Moses was talented. He was a leader. He had the best education. He had the best food, the best training. He learned military tactics. He learned about history. He learned the ABCDs of leadership. He had it going on, and people were saying this about him. This Hebrew who's turned Egyptian will probably be the next Pharaoh. I mean, he probably will be. That was the talk of the town. You know you're popular. If they're talking about you in Egypt as the next Pharaoh, wow, that's what was going on. You can outline Moses' life in this way. The first 40 years, he was a somebody. Say somebody with me. The next 40 years, we're gonna find out he was a nobody. Say nobody. And then we're gonna discover the last 40 years, God, we're gonna discover, can use anybody. Say anybody. That's you. That's me. Again, God is calling you, number one. Number two, God has equipped you for your calling. And number three, you can make, and God wants you to make a difference in this one and only life. So what I'm talking about today,

when I talk about the call of God, the call of God transcends everything we're about. You might say, well, Ed, I drive trucks. It transcends that. Or I'm a professional football player. It transcends that. I'm a coach. It transcends that. I'm a teacher. It transcends that. I'm a doctor, a surgeon, a lawyer, a pastor. It transcends that. God is calling you, and he will equip you with the calling to do great things. The question is, it goes back, what is your response? Moses is 40 years old. Again, he's the talk of the town. He's famous, he's popular. And I'm sure he, you know, when you're popular, you're thinking about the crowd. You know, you're thinking about what people think about you. That's part of popularity. And really, Moses, during the first 40 years, was probably thinking more about what other people thought of him than God. Moses made a serious error in judgment. He saw one of his boys, his Hebrews, being taken advantage of by an Egyptian. And he, I mean, Moses was a real emotional guy, you know. I love how football announcers will say,

look at him, he's the emotional leader of the team. I don't know what that means, but Moses was the emotional leader of Egypt. He killed the Egyptian for taking advantage of his boy. And he buried him in the sand. And he looked all around. He thought, man, I've got no way with this. But the toes started sticking out of the sand. This could be a Netflix documentary, couldn't it? They caught Moses, and Moses turned and ran. Are you ready for this? God's man moved from being famous to a fugitive. From the palace, you could say, to the pasture. And he finds himself moving from somebody to nobody, working in the desert. Are you ready for this? For his father-in-law, Sam. Sam is my son-in-love, he was up there. You know, the cool guy, cool shirt on, yeah, that's Sam. He loved his father-in-law, Sam, Moses did. His father-in-law was the priest of Midian. He loved him, and they had a good relationship. And if you read about his father-in-law, his father-in-law really spoke into his life. His father-in-law taught and trained him as well. So Moses was a somebody, and God had him there in Egypt. Think about it. Educated, he knew the laws and the loopholes. He knew how to talk with the pharaohs, with all the politicians and all the lawyers

and all the power players. He knew that God had him there. And now he's moved from being a somebody to a nobody. He's in the desert. You realize when Moses led the children of Israel out of Egyptian slavery, he led them through the same desert he lived in for 40 years. He knew that desert like he knew the back of his hand. He knew where the rattlesnake dens were. He knew where the hyenas hung out. He knew the watering holes. You see, God was preparing him for what he's prepared for him. Think about Egypt. How was he able to walk into Pharaoh's office and go, let my people go? Because of his background. God has formed you, he's made you. you, he's fashioned you, he's used everything in your background, good, bad and ugly, to bring you to where you are today. Obviously, God didn't cause the bad stuff. I mean, we we live in a fallen world, you know, a jacked up place. We all understand that. I'm just telling you that God has prepared you and me for what he's prepared for us. Isn't that great to think about that? It's amazing. So here's Moses, working with his father-in-law. And he finds himself as a sheep herder. Sheep are not the smartest creatures around. A sheep herder in the sand, the desert. Think about the sun. Think about, think about all the elements he had to deal with. One

day, he's walking down this trail. He'd been down, I'm sure a squillion times. He sees something that catches his attention. Would you say that word with me? Attention. God will get our attention. He sees a bush on fire. The fire did not burn the bush. So obviously, he's like, this is strange. This is weird. So he walks over to it. And here's what the Scripture says. Join me in the Midian Desert in Exodus chapter three, verse four. When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, to check it out, to investigate, to do this covert and overt operation, God called to him from within the bush, Moses, Moses. God uses the ordinary to speak in extraordinary ways. Oftentimes, God uses common ground and makes it holy ground. It's because of the presence of God. So God's just using this. So what kind of situation is God using in your life right now to speak to you? It's gonna be something common. More often than not, sometimes it's spectacular. But what is God using? Maybe you're going through a high point in your life. Maybe life is kind of like, ho-hum. Maybe you're somebody. Maybe you've figured out you're kind of a nobody where you are. I promise you, God, if we're sensitive, if we listen to his call, God is calling you and me through the normal, just through the everyday activity. So it's interesting how God gets our attention, isn't it? Well, look at the next thing in this whole calling scenario, the next movement, we could say, yes, we have God getting his attention. But look at the awareness that was going on. Exodus chapter three, verse five. Do not come any closer, God said. Take off your sandals. Let me stop. Whenever we're in the presence of God, whenever we're on holy ground, we have to take off something that could be hindering us. That's the picture

here. Don't come any closer. Take off your sandals for the place where you're standing is, say it with me, holy ground. Now, holy ground is ordinary ground invaded by an extraordinary God. That's what it is. Holy ground, holy ground is the presence of God. Ground in and of itself is not holy. But as believers, because we walk in the presence of God, because God has infiltrated our lives, wherever we walk, wherever we tread, it's holy ground. This room is holy ground. Where you are sitting is holy ground. Because the Bible says where two or more are gathered, it's holy ground. This is not common ground. It's not. It's not common ground. It's not some theater. It's not some arena. It is holy ground. And the building that I'm so excited that we're breaking ground on today is holy ground. It's not common ground. It's holy ground because the presence of God is there and God will call and call and call and call and call and call and call. Who knows how many people through that holy ground called the anchor. center. So when it comes to holy ground, we either believe it's holy ground or we think it's common ground. We have some common ground people, and that's okay. You'll discover one day this is holy ground, but you're like, this is just common, man. You know, this is common ground. Common steps, common stage, common seats, common square footage. No, it's not. It's holy ground.

Some of us know it's holy ground. So if we know it's holy ground, we should be here on time. We shouldn't be scrolling or texting. We should actually engage in worship. It's holy ground. We're in the presence of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end our sovereign Lord. And we should pay attention to messages and worship and God speaks to us through ordinary human beings. God draws straight lines with crooked sticks. I'm a crooked stick, so are you. Isn't that awesome? Moses was a crooked stick. He didn't have it all together. And what's so funny is God called him and Moses spent two chapters trying to get off the phone. Have you ever been locked into someone you just cannot get out of the conversation? You know those over talkers? Here's the thing about over talkers, over talkers don't even realize they're over talking. You don't, that's okay. We love you and I sometimes over talk myself. But that's kind of the situation. He's trying to evade God. He's over talking him.

Check out his excuses. So we have the attention, we have the awareness and the assignment. Here's what God said, Exodus chapter three, verse 10. He goes, Moses, I am sending you. Drop the mic, I'm sending you. You're standing on holy ground, take your sandals off, I am sending you. And that's what he's saying to you and me. He's sending us, he's sending us. Now here's where Moses just gets into this long, long diatribe of excuses and he over talks to God. Now the good part is when God said, Moses, Moses, Moses said, here I am. And that pretty much is what we should say. That's all we got. Because God's not concerned about our ability but our availability. He'll give us the ability. I mean if I'd thought about my ability, I would have never, ever, ever done what God has allowed me to do. It's because of my availability. It's not my ability. But I've discovered that when we're available, God will give us the aptitudes and gifts and abilities to do what he wants us to do. But look at these excuses very, very quickly. I'm gonna run through them. This is God calling and check out what he's saying.

Who am I? God, Exodus chapter three, verse 11. Well that was really the wrong question. You should have thought, man, God, who are you? Exodus four, one. What if they don't believe me or listen to me? This is scenario sickness, isn't it? Exodus chapter four, verse 10. I've never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you've spoken to your servant. I'm slow of speech and tongue. Oh Lord, and God just let him talk. He let him, you know, sometimes you have to let those over talkers go. Exodus chapter four, verse 13. Oh Lord, please send someone else to do it. I love God's answer. Verse 12, I'll be with you. That's the sermon. God is calling you. Yeah, but God, I'll be with you. You're called by God, and I'm called by God. I remember being called to a pastor fellowship church. Called. And I've never shared this story, though I'm gonna share it, but just listen to me just for a second. I was working on a church staff where my father pastored. It was the largest church in the country.

Where my father pastored. It was the largest church in America at the time. Thousands, tens of thousands of people. I think they had Now 95,000 members, I believe. And it was the most financially stable church in America as well. I worked in that environment. I felt a calling from God to pastor my own church. I was in my mid-20s. I wanted to pastor. And so I began to pray about that and think about that and turn it over and over in my mind. And I heard about a church through a unique set of circumstances, just ordinary circumstances that happened to turn into something extraordinary. I heard about this church that was starting in Dallas-Fort Worth. Let me press the pause button. I told all of my friends when I felt this calling into the ministry, I said, you know what, there's one place I'll never go. Dallas-Fort Worth. Too many preachers. I mean, you go into any coffee shop, there's 10 Bible studies going on. Too many seminaries, too many televangelists, too many churches, too many big, steeple, few people churches.

I'm not going to Dallas. It's where the professional Christians are. I mean, I wanna go to Southern California or South Florida or maybe Canada. That's what I was thinking. Don't ever say that to God. God has a unique sense of humor, doesn't he? Because now, I always loved Dallas. No, no, I loved it before I moved up here. But that was where I was. Well, I was speaking at a chapel service in a small school here. One of the 30 families heard me speak and they really felt a leading to talk to Lisa and I about coming up here to Pastor Fellowship Church. 30 families. In rented facilities. We had never met or never seen the church, Lisa and I. So we come up here and they said, hey, we wanna have a night where we question you. Are you ready for that? Three hours under the spotlight. My hand lifted up. You can ask me any question. Ask Lisa any question and we answered those questions. I'll never do it again, but we did. When I walked into, now remember where I'm coming from. Context is king. Okay.

I'm coming from a church, the worship center. There's not a church like it here in Dallas-Fort Worth. None of them are the size of what I'm talking about, okay? I'm going from that to a little office complex and I'm open. I'm like, okay, God. Because I really believed God was speaking to my spirit. I've never heard God's audible voice, but I've come close. I felt him saying, okay, I want you to do this. But when I walked in the door with my lovely bride by my side, I looked around at these people and everything in my being said, get out, run. You don't want to do this. Everything, but I heard this still small voice and here's what I heard, not audibly, but sometimes as God speaks to your spirit, it's better than hearing the audible voice. God just said, stay with me. I've called you here. I'm thinking, God, these people, the average age, 73. They're Southern Baptist, you know? And I come from a Southern Baptist background, but you know what I'm saying, too. And in this area, in the area of Irving where we started Fellowship Church at the time was kind of a dead area. And anytime you have a growing church, it's around a growing community. You look around, oh, this church is blowing up.

Well, the community's blowing up. I mean, who would start a church in a dead area? Yet, this is so God. There were a group of faithful families in the midst of those 30 families, and they're still here at Fellowship Church. Isn't that amazing? And if it weren't for them, I would have bolted. So, Lisa and I. I accepted the call, that's what the church called it, we're calling you, isn't that funny? And we said, yes. And I felt some holy tension, I really did. I mean, Irving, God, maybe you said Irvine, but we accepted. And I had no idea, no idea what God would do. None, and I'm telling you, we every day wake up and pinch ourselves and go, God, I can't believe this. And Lisa and I have not lived perfectly, nor have you. Every day though, I try to say before God, God, here I am, I mean, I don't have the ability, but God, I wanna be available to you. And I can't tell you what God has done. That's just my life, that's just me. There's been thousands, tens of thousands who would echo that story in even a more dramatic way. I'll say it again, God's calling you. He is calling you. And we're called, check this out, to reach up. You're called, I'm called to reach up.

The Bible says in Matthew chapter 22, verses 39 and following, it tells us, love the Lord your God. This is what Jesus said as he summarized everything. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, your soul, and with all of your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is love your neighbor as yourself. I'm called, you're called to love God, to worship God, to reflect God in everything. In your marriage, the way you deal with your kids, you might be a single parent, you might be struggling, you could be on welfare, you could be a billionaire, for all I care, God has called you to reach up, to worship him, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Also, we're called to reach out, to reach out. The Bible tells us in Matthew 28, verse 19, it's called the great commission. Not the great omission, the great commission. Jesus said, go. He didn't say yo. Go, and make disciples, full court followers. Make disciples. And we are to reach out, and as God gives us the ability, we're to impact and influence others for the glory of God. You're called to reach up, you're called to reach out before you're called to be a teacher, or a coach, or a truck driver, or a pastor, or a surgeon, or a lawyer. This is on another level here, what we're talking about. Now obviously, God does not call most of us

into the ministry. I don't wanna scare you. When I felt the call into the ministry, you'll love this, I walked into Dad's closet, he was getting dressed for a funeral, and I said, Dad, I feel called into the ministry. He goes, you do? I said, yes. He said, well son, I don't know about that. What? He said, if you can do anything else and halfway enjoy it, don't become a pastor. It's great advice. Because there's nothing else out there that I know I'm supposed to do other than this. So we're called up, we're called out. Who are you reaching, who are you inviting, who are you engaging to come to Fellowship Church? Most people come to Fellowship Church because someone invited them. Most people will attend church if you invite them. Are you inviting people? Some of you are, some of you aren't. Some of you aren't. As hard as we work for the glory of God, we should be running about 100,000 people right now. You ever thought about that? So if you're not regularly praying and engaging and inviting someone here, you're not right spiritually. You're not.

So we're called to reach up, we're called to reach out, we're called to reach in, that's becoming a full court follower of Christ. That's the sanctification part where we're saved, that's salvation, then we walk in sanctification. That's becoming a mature believer in the Lord. Lord. So what I'm saying is, God is calling. What's your response? He's calling. What's your response? Are you going to pick up the call? Are you going to answer the call? Are you going to decline it? Avoid it? Man, I got out of that service scot-free once again. Are you going to text God back? Hey, God, I'll get to you later. Now, once I take care of this and that, once I get my life squared away, then we can do business. Some of you here have even blocked his call. God is calling. The Holy Spirit is moving, touching lives. He's touched lives here, and he will continue to touch lives. He will touch lives in the anchor center. He will continue to do so because, friends, we are standing on holy ground. We're in the presence of the Lord God Almighty. Don't block his call. Don't send God to voicemail. Respond and just say, Here I am. Will you say that with me? Here I am. Say it like you mean it. Here I am. Would you pray? Father, I pray for our great church. I pray for everyone hearing my voice right now, whether you're online or at one of our different locations. I pray, God, that some people here who've never made the decision to become a Christian would do so. Maybe you think you're somebody, but now you realize you're a nobody because of your sinful state. That's what I realized years ago when I became a Christian. So I thought I was a somebody. I've been the God of my life, and then, uh-oh, no, no, no, I'm a nobody. But I

pray, like Moses, that you go, You know, God can use anybody. He wants to come into your life. Jesus does. He wants to take control of your life. He wants you to respond by hitting that green button, by saying, Here I am. So if you want to make this decision, just say these words with me. I said them years ago, and I'll help you with this prayer. It's one prayer. Just pray to the best of your ability. Just say, God, I've been thinking I'm a somebody, but I realize because of my sinful state, I'm separate from you. I turn from my sins and turn to you. I believe that you died on the cross, Jesus, and rose again for everybody. And right now, I ask you, Jesus Christ, to come into my life. If you said that prayer, you're gonna realize that God can use anybody because he used Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egyptian slavery, and Jesus has led you and me out of the slavery of sin. So if you prayed that prayer with me and meant it to the best of your ability, would you lift your hand for a second? Just lift your hand. Alright, hands going up everywhere. It's awesome. So many, many hands. So many people responding to the call. And as their heads are bowed and eyes are closed, one of our pastors or team members will see your hand, and they'll give you after this service some important information that we would love for you to take home and read. There's other groups of us here, and we need to get serious about the concept of standing on holy ground. Not common ground, but holy ground. We need to get serious about reaching up and reaching out and reaching in. And Father, you do business in our lives as we make these decisions. We ask all these things in the name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen. If you look up at me, all of our campuses, we're going to have

I have just a special moment of celebration as we break ground. Our hosts and hostesses will come forward. They're gonna give you a little bit of dirt in a package. And this dirt represents the holy ground. And I want you to take this home and pray over it and realize wherever you tread, because you're a believer, that's holy ground, and realize this is a bunch of holy ground, the church of Jesus Christ. So do that and make sure that everyone gets some of this, some of this dirt. So church, as you receive these packets, I've only got one thing to say. It's time to break ground. Thank you. For over 35 years, Fellowship Church has been home to a groundbreaking move of God. What's up, downtown Dallas? Welcome to Fellowship Christco, everyone. And when Jesus is doing something groundbreaking in people's lives, it's time for the church to break ground, to reach even more. Our lives have been changed here at Fellowship Church. Because someone was willing to give. Someone was willing to make a way to help reach the next one. Because someone gave for us. Someone broke ground for us. Now, it's our turn.

Our turn to make a way. Our turn to reach the next generation. Our turn to reach the next one. Today, we break ground on a new home for kids, students, adults, and families. The Anchor Center, the future of Fellowship Church and the kingdom of God. This is where a child will hear the gospel for the first time. Students will lead their friends to Christ. Young adults will be called, anchored, and sent. Families will grow because they're tethered to Jesus, our anchor. This is what this holy ground represents, faithfulness in giving, faithfulness in God, and faithfulness in what he's about to do. Thank you, church, for helping us drop anchor. Thank you for your faithfulness, because the best is yet to be. Would you please stand? And if you would extend your hand, because you are holding holy ground. Let's pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank you, because this indeed is holy ground. And Father, we thank you in advance for the scores and scores of lives that will be changed right here. Eternity-altering decisions in your blessed name. As instruments, God, we avail ourselves to you, and we look forward to seeing the great things that will occur right here.

In Christ's name we pray, amen. All right, everybody, I want you to shout, drop anchor, on the count of three. Are you ready? One, two, three. Drop anchor! Drop anchor! Drop anchor! Drop anchor! Drop anchor! Come on, church. Let's celebrate all God's gonna do. The future of Fellowship Church, sing this with us one more time. As a prayer in faith, we're about to see revival. We're about to see revival. I believe it all, like something out of the Bible. The impossible, our victory is ready for a miracle. Now we're getting fired in the Holy Ghost. We're about to see revival. I believe it all, like something out of the Bible. The impossible, our victory is ready for a miracle. Now we're getting fired in the Holy Ghost. We're about to see revival. I believe it all, like something out of the Bible. The impossible, our victory is ready for a miracle. We are standing on holy ground. And I know that there are angels all around. So let us praise

Let us praise Jesus now We're standing in His presence We are standing in His presence We are standing in His presence We are standing in His presence On holy ground Fellowship Church, would you give God praise this morning For all that He has done, is doing, but will do Come on Fellowship Church, can we really give God praise This morning Amen, amen, three things before you head out today Number one, if you prayed in a prayer To commit your life to Jesus Christ Our pastors will be down front, we've also got hosts On either side of the worship center We would love to talk with you, pray with you Share with you your next steps in your walk with Christ Number two, don't forget, we've got our newcomers luncheon Number three, let's share these declarations over our lives As we get ready to go into this week Say it with me, Jesus thank You that in You I am loved, forgiven, and blessed For You, I will reach up in worship Reach out to share my faith And reach in to become more like You And because of You, I know the best is yet to come We've got some special dessert out in the atrium We love you Church We're bound to see revival

Like we never know, it's something out the Bible The impossible I think the room is ready For a miracle And now we're getting fired In the Holy Ghost We're bound to see revival Like we never know, it's something out the Bible The impossible I think the room is ready