Taylor Walling | Jan 4, 2026

Well, hello and happy New Year, Hills Church. It is a joy to be with you. Welcome to everybody who is live at one of the Hills campuses, at Dallas, West Fort Worth, Keller, North Richland Hills, or those who are online or later on podcast. My name's Taylor, and for a little over nine years, I had the absolute privilege from 2014 to 2023 to serve as one of the teaching pastors here. And we were so blessed to be commissioned and sent by this church to be able to start a brand new church on Pepperdine University's campus in Malibu, California. It's called Waves Church. And God's done a lot over the last two plus years, and I'll give you just a quick snapshot. You can see here a little glimpse of what life at Waves Church looks like. We are on a college campus doing set up and tear down ministry on Sundays, and so we have a lot of young people that come. We're seeing people respond and be baptized and walk deeper with Jesus. Our model includes having a meal every single Sunday as a church, because if you feed college students, they will come. And God's building a beautiful community. And so in this new year, we're expectant for what God's gonna do. And if you think of it in any of this year,

please pray for Waves Church. But man, I wanna say it's been so great to be back and see so many familiar faces, see a lot of new faces, because God's continuing to bring people here. And if you're somebody who is brand new, man, I hope that you feel welcome. I hope that you know that this is a church that loves and welcomes people into their community. And I believe God has a place for you here, not just because of how you might be blessed by how others might love you, but because I believe there are things God has put in you that you can contribute to this body as they live on mission for Jesus. Could some Hills members say amen? Amen. I have missed you, and my understanding is there's some people on staff who maybe missed me a little bit. So much so that they decided to hire someone on staff who has my exact name. I'm not kidding. There's a female staff member named Taylor Walling. And that means that over the last couple years, I have gotten some texts that were not intended for me, but for that Taylor Walling, which means I've gotten some updates on life at the Hills, whether I wanted to or not. There's a few examples I could show you,

but I'm just gonna show you one. One screenshot from a Sunday when female Taylor Walling was at the Dallas campus. Hey, there is a spill on the balcony. Can you go in and get paper towels out of the cabinet and help get cleaned up? I wrote back, wrong Taylor, but I love this insight into Hills Dallas ministry. That staff person said, well, no wonder she never replied. So female Taylor Walling, I'm sorry if I got you in trouble and I appreciate you in the trenches of ministry. This church taught me to love prayer in the years that I was here. And so when senior teaching pastor Rick actually invited me to come back and kick off the year, I decided I wanted to look at one of my favorite prayers in the Bible. You can turn to First Kings chapter eight. If you got your Bibles, turn there. First Kings chapter eight. Now to give a little context, I'm gonna give some context for the Hills Church and I'm gonna give some context for where this is in the story of scripture. For the Hills Church, many of you know, this is the last full year of a vision that was launched about four years ago called Ask for Nations and Generations. A vision that had all kinds of ambitious kingdom-minded goals about planting new churches

and reaching unreached people groups and funding Bible translation efforts. A vision that had goals about intergenerational impact by breaking cycles of addiction, by mentoring different people and couples by having other kinds of spaces where young people would be invested in and drawn closer to Jesus. And the first word in that vision has always been the most important, which is ask. It is a way to remind us and to remind this church that it's not a group of people doing this in their own power or trying to check off some goals. It is in fact asking God to move in power by his spirit throughout the earth and right here at the Hills. And so that's the context for the church. But for scripture, if anybody's newer to church, I'm so glad that you're here. In the story of God and his people in the Old Testament, God had different ways of being present, manifesting his divine presence with his people. And one of those was through something called the tabernacle. It was a tent, a sacred space that God's people would travel and then they'd set the tabernacle back up and then God would bring his presence into that place. And it was a way that God showed that he would stay with and be present with his people.

But once the Israelites got to the Promised Land, they got this idea that they wanted to be like some of the other nations. And I won't get into all the motivations, but King David decided, I'm gonna do this for you. God, I'm gonna build you a permanent residence, not a tent, we're gonna change the tabernacle, we wanna do a temple for you. And God ended up saying, David, it's not gonna be you that does this, but it's gonna be someone from your line. And it ended up being his son, King Solomon. So the day has come for Solomon to dedicate this temple where God is going to bring his presence in a special way. Picture it, all of Israel has been gathered as an assembly, and it is a new beginnings kind of moment. And so here on the first Sunday of the year, listen to these words from 1 Kings 8, 22. Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven and said, Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below. You who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way, you have kept your promise to your servant, David, my father with your mouth, you have promised and with your hand, you have fulfilled it as it is today. Solomon begins his prayer where we need to begin this new year

with the reminder that God is faithful. So keep relying on him. Solomon starts by saying, God, there is no God like you. And I want you to know if you're newer to the Hills Church or maybe exploring the Christian faith, Christians, followers of Jesus, we believe that. We believe that there is a God who has no comparison, that there is only one true God, and that God is transcendent, that God is holy, that God is righteous, that God is just, that God is beyond us in a way that's amazing and hard to comprehend, and there is no one like that God. Amen? And that God is faithful. Solomon says, what's part of what sets this God out? It's that this is a God who keeps his covenant of love. This is a God who doesn't abandon his people. This is a God who stays faithful. Now, I wanna pause for a moment and acknowledge anybody listening to my voice. When you hear a statement like, God's faithful, God's not gonna let you down, you might hear that and go, you know what? In 2025, there were some things that happened that made me feel like God did let me down. There were some prayers that I prayed that went unanswered. There were some hardships that I didn't expect, and I don't know why God let those things happen. And the first thing I want you to hear is I'm sorry. And I want you to know, I think God cares.

God is not turning away from your pain. Scripture says, cast your cares on God because he cares for you. God cares if you're hurting. God cares if you're struggling. God cares if you're wounded walking into this new year. And at the same time, I want to lovingly say this to every single one of us. God's faithfulness is not measured by our expectations. There may be times where he doesn't answer the prayers in the ways we want or how we want or that things are allowed to happen that we don't understand, but God's faithfulness is not measured by my expectations. Instead, it's measured by his character, his promises, and as Solomon says, he is a promise-keeping God. And if you're somebody who's still wrestling with what I just said, I want you to know that next week, the senior pastor of this church, Rick Atschley, will be starting a brand new series about letting go of some things from our past that we don't need to carry into this new year, and one of those is our disappointments with God. So I hope you come back next week to hear that word. That would be for you. But as Solomon says, God, you're a promise-keeping God. God, you are faithful. He then moves to this dedication moment. In verse 26, he says, and now, God of Israel,

let your word that you promised your servant, David, my father, come true. And Solomon asks a funny question. But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built. Solomon was Israel's wisest king, and he knows there is no box you can put God in. You can't put God in a conceptual box, or a theological box, or an actual temple kind of box. There's nothing that humans can conceive or create that will contain the God of the universe. Solomon knows that. And so he makes this turn as he says, yet give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, my name shall be there, so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, pause for just a second. He's building up this dedication moment. This is a significant instance in the relationship of God and his people as he's ready to dedicate this temple, so what do you think he's gonna say?

And when you hear us, move in power. And when you hear us, show us your mighty works. And when you hear us, respond so we know you're among us. Solomon doesn't pray any of that. He says, hear from heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. This is not a rally cry moment. Solomon comes to this place of, God, would you forgive us? And if you read, which I'd encourage you to do, because we're not gonna read the whole prayer today, we wouldn't make it to lunch, it's a really long prayer, but if you read all of 1 Kings 8, you will see that five more times Solomon uses these very words, when you hear, forgive. And he gives lots of instances that would require forgiveness. In verse 31, he says, when anyone wrongs their neighbor, God, we need your forgiveness. In verse 33, when your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they've sinned against you. In verse 35, when the heavens are shut up and there's no rain because your people have sinned against you. Or in verse 46, just straight out, when they sin against you. For, live at the campuses, would you read these words with me? There is no one who does not sin. Solomon's too wise to ignore the reality

that this is about everybody. And so finally, in verse 50, he says, and forgive your people who have sinned against you. Forgive all the offenses they have committed. I love how Solomon moves from the faithfulness of God to the forgiveness of God. God is forgiving. So in this new year, keep repenting of sin. Do not be fooled by the turning of the calendar page as if that creates some clean slate for you and me. That might work for New Year's resolutions, but it does not work in the judgment scales of the divine. We desperately need God's mercy and grace. Solomon knew this for the Israelite people. And he says in verse 38, and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel, being aware of the afflictions of their own hearts and spreading out their hands toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, forgive and act, deal with everyone according to all they do since you know their hearts. For you alone know every human heart. And right there, he just said something that should be really encouraging for each one of us and something that should be humbling for all of us. The encouraging word, he says, he's talking about everybody who are aware of the afflictions of their own hearts. So let me just talk to somebody

who might be live at one of the Hills campuses or maybe watching or listening online or on podcasts later, and when you get into any church spaces, you have imposter syndrome because you think you don't really belong. These people really knew about the ways that I'd messed up or the things I got going on in my life or the things in my past and I wouldn't fit in. And so you might be tempted to look around and you see everyone through rose-colored lenses where it looks like that family's so put together and those people, they sure dress up nice on Sunday and man, they must be some very devout religious people. Let me just give you this encouraging word from Solomon. If you're live at a campus, I just want to encourage you, just look around the room for half a second. It's okay, like look around just for half a second. Okay, you look back up to the front. I'll let you in on a secret. Everyone you just saw, I screwed up. That's right. Like everybody, every person is aware of the afflictions of their own hearts. We all got stuff that we don't want other people to know and so we should know that in. In this space, there is a place where God offers grace to everyone. But the humbling word, the humbling word is that God alone knows every human heart. And so that means that God knows all the things

you don't want anyone else to know. Which means when you come before him in prayer, there is no hiding or pretending or making yourself bigger or better than you really are. That can actually, let me just pause for a second. That can be one of the things that causes us to shrink back from prayer. Because we're used to hiding. And in prayer, there is no place to hide. But I wanna encourage you that to come before the Lord, just holding out all your mess is actually, well, here's how Jesus put it. I wanna show you this. So in Luke 18, Jesus talks about this concept of praying and coming before God real humble. And I want some help. He's been voluntold really to have to do this. But the executive pastor of this church, David Meyer, is gonna come up. Give him a round of applause. He's gonna help me out real quick. David, thank you for being coerced into helping me with this. You are not welcome. So there's gonna be, we'll let Jesus set this up. Jesus said, to some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable. Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

So just at random, I'm gonna pick a role for you. You're gonna be the Pharisee. And I'm gonna be the tax collector. And so here's what happens. Jesus says that the Pharisee stood by himself. So I want you to kind of pick a Pharisaical stance, if you would. Something real prideful, like you're real self-important. That's perfect, that's perfect. I remember seeing you walk around the building like that. So now this Pharisee stood by himself and prayed. Now I want you to read what the Pharisee prayed. God, I thank you that I am not like other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector, Taylor Walling. I fast twice a week and I give a 10th of all I get. So Jesus says, that's the Pharisee's prayer. He says, but the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. And Jesus concludes, after creating the comparison, I tell you, this man, the tax collector, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Hey, can we thank David? Thanks for the help, man. Thank you. Jesus knew that we would be tempted to try and puff up

and Solomon when he prays in 1 Kings eight, he's so wise that he knows we need to throw ourselves on the forgiveness and mercy of God because when we do as a community, the old saying is true again, and here's the old saying, there is level ground at the foot of the cross. All of us are in need of salvation. All of us are in need of mercy and grace. We are in this together, which reminds me of this beautiful story. There's a pastor named Jean LaRue, and he had a therapist friend who led a recovery group called Love in Action, and so his therapist friend invited Pastor Jean LaRue to attend one of the meetings. So Pastor Jean's sitting in the circle and they start the meeting and one man gets up and he begins to share about some struggles just from the previous night. He said he's tired, end of the day, beat up, and I was driving and I saw a nightclub and I knew I didn't have any business going, but I really wanted to drive and go into that club. Hands went up around the circle. Pastor Jean looking around going, are they really trying to ask a question right now? But he got more confused because the man didn't take any of the questions. He just kept talking.

He said, I didn't get off at the exit, I just kept driving, but I'm embarrassed to admit that I took the next one and I made the U-turn and I pulled into the parking lot of that club. More hands in the circle went up. Man shared that he ended up going in to the place he didn't need to be, doing things he knew he shouldn't be doing. He said, when I woke up the next morning, I was so overcome by guilt and shame that I just felt like there's no way God could forgive me or love me. More hands around the room went up. Well, the sharing went on like that. When the meeting ended, the therapist friend asked Pastor Jean LaRue, what did you think of the meeting? And he said, to be honest, I don't think I really understood what happened because that guy got up and started to share. There were other people who started raising their hands and I thought he was gonna call on them for questions about his story. He didn't call. call on any of them and nobody interrupted him and the guy said, oh, I see, I see, you're confused. He said, we have a very key rule in love and action. No one struggles alone. So for every time that you saw a hand go up, it was someone who was telling that man, hey, I've wanted to go into the club too.

Hey, I've made the U-turn I shouldn't have too. Hey, I've done things and woken up the next day covered in guilt and shame too. Every hand that you saw was someone saying, I've been there too, you are not alone. And man, for the years that I got to be part of this church, Hills Church, I know that this is a community that so desires to live with that kind of open-handed, humble humility. Not a place where we just try to pretend or play church, but instead a community of raised hands who come to God, not with our perfection, but with our imperfection. Not with our human righteousness, but with our confession of sin. Not with our strength, but with our weakness. Not with our ability, but with our need. So it's the first Sunday of 2026 and I just need to raise my hand and say that there were times in last year that I forgot to rely on the power of Jesus Christ and I tried to live in my own strength. Yeah, let me say it again, I tried to live in my own strength. There were times last year where I was a perfectionist. You can keep them up, it'll be easier. There were times I struggled to show grace to myself. Oh man, there were times where I struggled to show grace to others. At times I have acted out of wrong and selfish motivations.

At times I let other things in life define me, more than the death and resurrection of Jesus. I am a sinner in need of God's grace. Now just take a look around for just a second. Because this, this is what church is supposed to look like. A community of people who say I need the mercy and grace of God and I'm so grateful that he's generous to give it. Amen. Amen. That's how Solomon prays. That's how we need to prayerfully come before the Lord. But I love that Solomon's dedication moment doesn't stop there. Yes, he grounds everything in God's faithfulness and he helps us see God's ample forgiveness. But then Solomon widens his view because he realizes that God's work in the earth is not just about God's people receiving grace, it is about a world of people who need to know that God. So listen to these words as Solomon prays in verse 41. As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel, but has come from a distant land because of your name. For they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm. And when they come and pray toward this temple, then hear from heaven your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you so that all the peoples of the earth

may know your name and fear you. I wanna make sure you caught that. Solomon just prayed and said God, I know there's some people who don't know you and there's some people who worship other idols and there's some people part of pagan nations and there's some people that don't follow the ways that you have for us. But even if they just turn back toward you, even if they cry out to you once, would you just answer their prayer? I love this because this is a nations and generations kind of prayer right here. Recognizing that there are people all over the world made in the image of God who might turn to him and Solomon prays with this beautiful expectation that God is not finished. So keep asking for more. God is still working, he's still working in your life, he's still working in the world and he may have accomplished great things in and through this church or he may have done some great things in and through your life in the last year, but he is not finished. His kingdom is still breaking in and there are still more people to be reached. And we might learn from the compassion of Solomon. Who when he prayed about God's people, when he prayed, let's take it from the Old Testament

to right here, when he prayed about the church people, he had some conditions about that forgiveness. He said when they turn back to you and give you praise, when they turn from their sin, if they have a change of heart and repent, these are the kind of things that Solomon said about the church people. Because if you are part of God's family, then you should know repentance is not some like, okay, I'm in trouble. Repentance is you saying I'm giving up my way of doing things and I'm coming back to the mercy and grace of God and his way is better. Now, when Solomon moves from praying for the Israelites or in this context, the church people, to praying for the outsiders, I don't know if you noticed, but he has no conditions on their prayers being answered and he makes no mention of their idolatry or sin. This is a beautiful picture of becoming the kind of people who would be acutely aware of our own need for God's grace and yet so compassionate that when we pray for those who are lost, when we pray for those who are not walking with Jesus, when we pray for those who have yet to believe the gospel, we don't pray about their sin, we pray about them turning to God and God answering that prayer. Can you imagine in this year, if God, if some of the most beautiful prayers God answers

are not prayers prayed by Christians, but prayers prayed by non-Christians. Can you imagine that maybe it's gonna be the prayers of people who seem to us so far from God and yet they might hear about Jesus and turn and cry out to him and God would answer that prayer and they might be saved and they might be brought into the kingdom because that is partly how God works. Yes, over the last few years of Ask for Nations and Generations, God has answered prayers prayed by people in this church, prayed by missionaries and Bible translators and church planters who are part of this vision and that's a beautiful thing, but God is also answering the prayers of people who don't fit our boxes or fit in our circles or seem like they're part of the plan and yet they might be people who would be unreached or lost or far from God and he answered their prayer and drew them to him. Like I'll give you an example. I can remember talking with a missionary that was supported, a missionary family that was supported by this church and they shared that there was a family in a refugee type situation. They were not at that point walking with Jesus and they were stranded on the side of the road waiting for some kind of help, desperate

and they had heard about this idea of calling on the name of the Lord. So they're on the side of the road, they cry out to God and what they were hoping for was someone might drive by, somebody might show up that could help them and that's exactly what happened after they cried out to God, which sparked this journey of them pursuing Jesus. God's answering prayers we don't expect and Solomon knew it. I saw it, it's been several, a couple years ago that there was a men's conference at the NRH campus and a guy drove up to the parking lot, his name is Drew and Drew sat in his car before he came in, hadn't been real connected with our church, it was his first time to men's conference and he just, in his mind, he's just kind of threw this out to God, like okay, if somebody offers to pray for me tonight, I'm gonna take that as a sign. Came in with a buddy, started meeting different people, ended up talking with a Hills pastor and that pastor noticed that on Drew's arm there was a tattoo of a scripture, of a psalm and so that minister actually offered to pray for Drew and prayed some of the words of that psalm over him and Drew could just think to that moment where God had heard his prayer in the car and answered and this sparked his family getting engaged with our church in a new way

and over the next few weeks of that year, all of a sudden our church got to witness Drew and his entire family be baptized into Jesus Christ. One answered prayer sparked this movement and it's not just happening at the Hills, God's doing it all over. Like I'll give you one last story. So when I was serving here at the Hills, I got invited by a friend who was over in the Grand Prairie area to go and preach, speak at a men's breakfast on Saturday and preach at the church on Sunday. So I drove over and I'm at this men's breakfast and we're all eating and hanging out and I happened to run into this guy named D and D was standing at the back of the room, he had his backpack, we started talking and as our conversation ended, he said, well, hope you have a good one and he turned towards the door like he was gonna leave but all we'd had so far was breakfast and I said, hey, D, I don't know if you know man, maybe you're new but the breakfast isn't the whole of what they're doing here. I think there's about to be some worship and I don't know, maybe somebody's gonna speak or something and finally I gave myself up that I was. The guest speaker and Dee laughed and we started talking and he said, yeah, I am new actually. I've been trying to get sober and stay sober

so I came trying to make some new friends who could help me move in a better direction. But I was sitting at a table and no one was talking to me so I just felt like maybe I didn't belong here. And I said, man, why don't you come sit with me? So he sat with me, he got to meet the family pastor of that church, my buddy, and we got to talk and pray with Dee before he left that day. And we told him, hey man, come back tomorrow. We'd love to see you at service. So we went through the Sunday services and after the first couple services, I hadn't seen Dee. And in between one of the services, I just went over by the baptistry in the back and I just felt this kind of nudge from the spirit and I got on my knees and I prayed. I said, God, would you just move through this last message in a way that would cause someone to respond? Service ended and people were filing out and all of a sudden I saw Dee coming down the center aisle and he met me and hugged me, hugged the family pastor and we started talking, service was over, the room was empty, and he just looked at the family pastor and he said, hey man, I've been thinking a lot since yesterday and I want you to know, next week I want you to be ready for me because I'm ready to get baptized. And my friend, Lindsey, he smiled and he said, Dee, I love that attitude but I got to ask one question. Why next week, man?

What's holding you back today? Dee had this big smile on his face all of a sudden. He goes, you know what, I got nothing to wait for, let's go, and he went and got changed and I got to watch Dee get baptized that day. He came up out of the water and there was tears, there were hugs, there was joy, and I left that moment after getting to pray with Dee and I went to go get my Bible and my backpack and I walked by the baptistry. I thought, God, you did it, you answered that prayer. But my favorite prayer that God answered that weekend was not mine. It's that Dee told me when he was sitting at that table where no one was talking to him, feeling like he'd wasted his time, he picked up his backpack and just quickly threw out a prayer. He said, God, if you want me to be here, I need you to put somebody in my path. Then he got up and ran right into the guest speaker. God answers the prayers of those who are near and those who are far. He is a God who is faithful. He's a God who's forgiving and he's a God who is not finished. And when we see that God, that God who was willing to come to earth and die for you and me, the God who couldn't be contained by a temple

but was incarnated as a person, the God who never needed forgiveness but lived a sinless life, the God who died on the cross and rose from the grave, when we see that God who is almighty and faithful and powerful, it should bring us to our knees, which is what it did to Solomon. He started the dedication moment standing before the assembly. And all of a sudden, look at this verse after he finishes praying. When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. At some point, King Solomon went from presiding over the assembly to kneeling before the almighty. And if you'll permit me, Hills Church, that's how I actually wanna finish. That's how I wanna start this year and end this sermon. And so if you are physically able, I would just invite you to find a place where you could kneel or maybe for you it's to lower your head, hold out your hands, whatever physically you're capable or comfortable doing. But I wanna invite us to start the year

surrendered and humbled before the Lord in prayer. So you can take that posture now. Let's pray together. Oh Lord, God of heaven and earth, there is no God like you. You are a promise-keeping, faithful God. Would you teach us to continue to walk in dependence and reliance on your faithfulness no matter how hard life gets? Lord, you are full of mercy and compassion. And we thank you for your forgiveness that you poured out last year and that you are already pouring out this year. We receive your mercy and grace. We confess. Yes, we are sinners in need of your forgiveness. And we thank you, Jesus, for how you won it on the cross through your body broken and your blood poured out. Lord, we pray for those who, from our eyes, from our vantage point, seem far from you and for whom we're not sure how you're gonna save them. But we ask God, if they pray to you this year, would you answer their prayer? If they turn to you in any way, would you move in power so that they would know your love and know the saving grace that comes from life in Jesus Christ? And God, I pray for every follower of Jesus this year that if you choose to have us help be the answer to someone else's prayer by how we love, by how we serve,

by hope that we share and spread, God, would you empower us by your spirit to walk obediently with you because we can't do it on our own? Lastly, Lord, I wanna pray for anybody today who has yet to put their faith in Jesus Christ. Would they hear your invitation and your love? You love them so much, you died for them, and there's no better way to start the year than by throwing themselves onto the mercy and grace of Jesus. I pray these things to your glory and in your name, and all who agree say amen. Amen.