This Is How We Grow | Pastor Kenneth Cissell | The House Fort Worth

In case you're looking for it. It's two chapters before acts 7 Some of y'all you'll get that on the way. Oh, yeah, math Acts 5 and we're starting in verse 1 Verse 1 reads but there was a certain man named Ennanias who with his wife Sapharis sold some Property he brought part of the money to the apostles claiming that it was the full amount and with his wife's consent He kept the rest then Peter said Ennanias Why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit and you kept some of the money for yourself The property was yours to sell or not sell as you wish and after selling it the money was also yours to give away How could you do a thing like this you weren't lying to us? but to God as Soon as Ennanias heard these words. He fell to the floor and died Traumatic Everyone who heard about it was terrified What acts 5 shows us? It's a really hard passage to wrestle with because it's something that you and I have to make the decision of every Single day of our lives acts 5 shows us that it is possible to look devoted without actually being surrendered It's possible to look the part like Ennanias and Sapharis were but when the heart was revealed the true nature of who they were came out and That's what today is all about I'm gonna ask you a question to the room. How many of you in here by raise of hands can say Kenneth? I want to grow Let's go. Are you lower your hands? How many of you can say Kenneth? I want my church to grow Okay, if you didn't raise your hand, I'd be like oh you're two for two good job good answers But in order for the church to grow in order for us to grow as a church We first have to be willing to grow as people Amen, and that's what our message today is all about if you're taking notes Which I hope you are the title of our message today is this is how we grow This you're welcome. This is how

We grow so father. We invite you into the room today Holy Spirit speak your children are ready and listening grow us Stretch us and change us. This is the name of Jesus. I pray everyone said amen amen amen So every time I get up here I like to kind of share a personal update of stuff that I got going on in my life and recently I made a pretty big financial Investment I'm not really willing to talk about money like that, but this was an investment that it needed to happen And really what led me to this how do I say this the reason I made this an investment in my life was because I spent nine Dollars on a coffee Yeah, and I said, you know what enough is enough I'm drawing the line in the sand right here nine dollars for a cold brew with some cream and you ask for a tip on top of that No Enough is enough. Kenna says here is where we change. This is how I grow so what I did I Decided you know what I'm going to open up my own little cafe in my apartment And I went to the motherland where you get everything that you need HEB yep, there it is There you were waiting for the HEB drop In case you don't know what HEB is where have you been get out from under the rock go to HEB today? There we go. Okay Y'all wait, come on. I'm gonna get you some of this coffee that I made we need to wake up a little bit So anyways, I started making coffee at home, and I'm gonna tell you I went to HEB And I bought everything that TikTok said you needed to buy I Brought the espresso The the sugar the brown sugar I bought oat milk because I'm working on my 2027 figure already Why are you all clapping hole About oat milk, but it wasn't just regular oat milk It was the barista oat milk, which I didn't know was a thing Pastor Jeremy and I was like well, I'm a barista now So I'm gonna spend two more dollars on the barista oat milk about the the sea salt about the cinnamon The frother because you just need a frother when you make coffee at home for some reason, and I was ready

For my coffee journey to begin and let me tell you a couple weeks ago. I made my first cup of coffee And it was the worst thing I've ever had in my life, terrible. right? I gave myself grace on the second time. Third time, it got worse somehow. I don't know how, but it just kept getting bad. And you know what I said, but I did something kind of wrong. I bought these plastic cups, right? And they're like the people at work said, those are cute. Pastor Jeremy is the one that said that. But I bought these plastic cups with the lid on them. And my problem was is I bought 40 of them. And they were expensive because I was like, you know what I'm going to go all in on this coffee thing. So I am determined to make a good cup of coffee at home and let me tell you Friday, this past Friday, I had one of the best cup of coffees I had in a while from a coffee shop in Dallas. Yeah, yeah, I decided you know what enough is enough. We're going to slowly work on this thing. Now, back to the main point. Why don't I tell that story, not to tell you, do not drink my coffee from home, I tell that story because I had the setup, I had the espresso, I had everything that the internet said that I needed. I had everything that people told me I should use and do to make this coffee good. I had all the right ingredients, but the moment you tasted the product, you realize it was not good. And that made me realize something. Acting the part doesn't mean you actually have it together. Acting like you have it together is the opposite from actually living like you have it together. And in Acts 5, we read about Ananias and Sephira, a couple that looked the part. They played the part really well, but their heart was not in it.

They were a part of the church, the first church. They saw people serving. They saw people giving. They saw people worshiping. They saw people giving their lives to the church, and they were surrounded by all of this. And in case you missed the main point of Acts 5, what happened was Ananias and Sephira made a huge transaction on some land. They got money in return, and they decided to give money to the church. But what they did incorrectly is they lied about how much they gave. They gave a certain amount, but they made it seem like they were more invested and more all in than they actually were. Hear this? The problem with what they did wasn't the percentage that they gave. The problem was the picture that they tried to paint. They wanted the reputation of surrender without the reality of true heart surrender. They learned very quickly a lesson that you and I have to come to agree on. That God isn't impressed by the appearance of devotion if the heart behind it isn't actually surrendered. And it leads us to a question today that we're going to have to ask ourselves, me included every single day of our lives. Am I actually devoted, or have I just learned what devotion looks like? Am I actually devoted to this thing? Or am I just playing the role to play the role? I heard an author say this once, quit acting like a Christian. Just be one. Quit pretending to be something, because if you're pretending that means it's not who you actually are. People move to Los Angeles all the time trying to become something that they're not in hopes of becoming an actor.

But when you have to become an actor, that means you have to go outside of who you are to be become that. Whenever it comes to following Jesus, you don't need to act like something that you're not. You just need to live according to this scripture. You just need to live according to the way that he's called us to live as believers, but also within the church that he's placed us in. We've said it like this before, God is the author and finisher of our faith, amen? Which means that he wrote our story, amen? Which means that he wrote us in this chapter of our life to be in this church for such a time as this. What we're going to read about in our next reading in Acts 2, we read about how to live like believers, how to live this devoted life, and we're going to go to Acts 2 verse 42. It reads, "All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship and to sharing in meals, including chips in case." I mean, the Lord's Supper. And to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders, and all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity. and each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. This is what the New Testament church looks like. This is what we are called to live like as a active body of Christ. I want you to know before we move forward. This is not Kenneth's opinion on what you should do. It's in the Bible.

So if you have a problem with anything that's said, we can talk about it, but ultimately it's from the Lord. So you've got to take it up with Him too. And Acts 2 is something that will grow you, stretch you, but also challenge you to move forward into what God has purposed you to do here at our church. There's four steps we're going to go through today. The first step to growing, we carry the house. We carry the house. This is rooted in Acts 2.42. It says all the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and a fellowship and sharing in meals and to prayer. When it says devoted, that's not us. I guess they were a part of it. No, they devoted themselves, which means they fully immerse themselves into it. Devoted is an action word, which means these weren't just casual attendees of church. They were committed participants of the church. They were active and they were experiencing the church. Part of experiencing the church isn't sitting in a seat, experiencing the show like you were at a movie theater. Part of experiencing the church is taking what happens in the church outside of the four walls of the church. It's walking and talking like you believe you are the church. First Corinthians talks about how we are the temple of the living God, which means that the Holy Spirit dwells within us, which means we go to church on Sunday

to be fired up and filled up, but then it gets sent out into the world and reveal who's actually dwelling within us. And that is what we are called to do as a church. Church was never meant to be something that we just attend. And then we live a certain way six days of the week and we go back on the next Sunday and just watch and repeat and get in the cycle of that. No, that's laundry, that's not your spiritual life. We need to be living like we are the church outside of here Monday through Saturday. And a great way to do this, serving. You might be like, is this an infomercial for the serve team? No, but I'm gonna tell you, you need to join the serve team. Here's why, because when you serve in a church, you automatically becomes a part of something bigger than yourself. You become a part of something that gives you a little bit more responsibility, a little bit more skin in the game when it comes to the mission of this church to love God, to build people and to change the world. Did you know? The 55 people we got to celebrate getting baptized last week, everyone that serves in our church got to play a part in that. Why? Because do you know how many people are in the DFW Metroplex? There's no way we're gonna be able to meet all 55

of those individuals, shake their hands, ask them questions, and actually bring life change into their life. But the Lord brought them to this house for people of this house to love them, to serve them, to meet a need that they had, and to say, hey, I'm ready to help you take this next step into something greater that reveals the work that the Lord has done as a church. We make that possible by saying yes to something much greater of ourselves. But it starts with a heart posture, why? Because if you serve out of obligation, that becomes a job that you don't get paid for. And that will lead you to being exhausted, burnt out, and bitter. But when you serve with the heart posture of devotion, that turns your serving into worship. For my serve team members in the room, when's the last time you looked at your serving opportunity as an opportunity to worship? For my fellas in the parking lot, the lot dogs, that's what we call them, that's a pretty cool name. Y'all should join the lot dogs. When you park cars, do you think of it as worship? When you greet people under the awning, do you think of it as worship? When you serve coffee at the coffee bar, do you think of it as worship? When you serve in kids, you better think of it as worship.

When you're in production, whenever you're doing the things that you have said yes to doing, is it worship to you, or is it just an obligation? Devotion says, I'm going to worship through what the Lord has me doing. When you're genuinely devoted to something, you show up, you lend a hand, and you give your best. This is a question that devoted people ask. They don't just ask, what can this church do for me? How can I be used by God as a tool for His glory right here? Like we said earlier, we believe that God wrote our story to places here, right? Which means that He has a purpose for our life here. Which means that He's given us something to give to the church here, and it's not just the warm seat that you're feeling right now. It's a heart posture that says, "I want to do whatever it takes to build this house." There's two crucial ways to step in. The first one, next Sunday, we have a growth track. If you wanted to say that this church is my home and be a part of growth track, I want to encourage you, sign up for growth track today. I'm believing this is going to be one of the biggest growth tracks we have because there's going to be a lot of individuals in here that say, "I'm ready to commit to building this house." But then also jump into a serve team. We believe this is going to be one of the best seasons of serving here in this church, and serving can do so many things for your life. But the first step is saying, "I'm willing to carry this house." The second step, we live generously. How many cheerful givers do we have in the room? There we go. Acts 2.45, it says, "They sold their property in possessions and shared the money with those

in need." Now, let me preface with this. That's radical. I don't want anyone to leave here saying, "Well, Pastor Kennes said, "I got to sell everything." Facebook marketplace, the whole house, we're going broke for the glory of God. No? Hold on. Hold on. What this is, it is a radical move from a church after a radical encounter that they had with the Lord. You got to put yourself in their shoes. They were in the upper room believing for the Holy Spirit to fall because Jesus said the Holy Spirit was coming. And they gathered, prayed, and worship and believed, and then the Holy Spirit fell at the beginning of Acts 2, and they had a radical encounter with God. Radical encounters will sometimes lead you to do crazy things, but they will also position you in a way to say, "My life is not mine anymore. I need to be generous because the Lord was generous unto me." Generosity at this level in Acts 2 signals that something has been genuinely changed inside of a person, but this generosity isn't rooted in finances. It's not about giving your money. It's rooted in ownership. It's rooted in saying, "This is my house. I'm going to do whatever I've got to do to build this thing." As a church, yes, we're generous with our finances. That's what we're called to do. It's all in Scripture, but we're also generous with things across our entire life. We're generous with our time. We're generous with our encouragement. We're generous with our gifts.

We're generous. Why? Because God has been so generous to us. We're blessed to be a blessing. I don't know about you, but that's a heart posture I desire to carry. Yes, Lord, I want to be blessed, not so I can build my bank account, not so I can say look at everything that I have. I want to be blessed to bless the people that the Lord puts in my path. Did you know every single person that you come across, you're assigned to bless them in somewhere or the other? Not necessarily a financial donation, but it could be just a word of encouragement. It could just be, "Hey, I feel like I need to pray for you today. It could be just checking in. Do you know how many people in your life are just wanting someone to say, "How are you doing, actually?" It starts with a healthy conversation, and that's one of the biggest blessings you can give people in 2026. Just because the Lord calls us to bless others doesn't mean you need to spend every dollar to help people out. It's I'm a generous person because of the generous heart that the Lord has built within me. When Jesus changes your heart, your heart isn't the only thing that changes, your grip changes as well. You begin to quit holding onto things so tightly, and you understand that I've been given this from the Lord, so it's mine to freely give back to Him. The blessing also opens doors for other people. There was this reel I was watching, and it was about this guy at Starbucks, right? He might have seen it, and he orders a coffee, and he goes to pay for it. They're like, "Oh, the person in front of you paid for your coffee." He's like, "Cool, it's 20 bucks, all right, because coffee is just so expensive now."

So he said, "Awesome, well, how much, you know, I want to bless the person behind me. (laughing) Now for some of us, you know, maybe that's a lot to squeeze out right there, 45 bucks just for coffee, but hear me out. We've heard of these pay it forward chains happen before. I mean, there's probably a story you've read somewhere on the internet about how someone started paying it forward at seven a.m. one day, and it lasted the entire day because people just kept blessing others in the process. That is what happens spiritually when we decide to be a blessing to others. The Lord blesses us so I can bless the next person, and then they can bless the next person, and God can be glorified through all of it. But it first starts with a heart of generosity. Did you know that by accepting Jesus into your life and saying he's the Lord of my life, and now following after him, you became a preacher? You probably didn't know that. You're gonna go home and say, all right, I'm a preacher. I'm out with it. And there is a sermon you and I are required to preach every single day of the week. You might be like, does that mean I preach next Sunday? No, don't come up here next Sunday. You don't have to talk to Pastor Micah about that. But the sermon that you and I are called to preach every day of our lives is our life.

The way we live, the way we talk, but also the way that we are generous to people. The loudest sermon, the most impactful sermon you will ever preach with your life is a life full of extreme generosity. Do you wanna be known as someone that held onto everything? Or do you wanna be known as someone that blessed people whenever they needed it? How many of you believe he is Jehovah Jaira the God who will provide? He's Jehovah Jaira the God who made a way. He's Elroy the God who sees the need and meets the need. He's the one that made a way, he made a highway out of a sea. He's the one that makes things happen. But that biblical knowledge isn't just for us to sit on and clap on, we live with that knowledge, knowing that if I'm to be generous, God's got it under control. If God calls me to bless somebody, he's gonna take care of my needs along the way. And it starts with a heart posture of generosity. The third step to growth, we do life together. We do life together, Acts 2.46. It says they worship together at the temple each day. Met in homes for the Lord's Supper and shared their meals with great joy and generosity. This is what we're gonna do, I haven't done this yet. I want you to look at your favorite neighbor right now. Come on, look at him.

It's not me, I'm not your neighbor. Oh, some of y'all don't know what to choose 'cause you got family members on both sides. (congregation laughing) Just pick a neighbor, look at him right now and repeat this question after me, say, "Hey, what's your name?" All right, now look at the person that you're not looking at, someone that you don't know. (congregation laughing) And say, "Hey, what's your name?" Now tap the person on the shoulder in front of you and yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and whisper in their ear. No, don't do that. (congregation laughing) But tap the person on the shoulder in front of you and say, "Hey, what's your name?" How are you? Look at the person behind you, say, "Hey, the back of your head." Looks at, now we're not gonna finish that one. (congregation laughing) Now look at you talking to people in church today, give yourselves a round of applause. (congregation clapping) See, it's not that hard. It's not that I get it, it might be scary, but I promise you people desire to be taught to in church. There's two words that I want you to write down that are so important to your health as a follower of Jesus Christ. The first word, community.

Community. The second word, mentorship. Repeat after me, say, "Community." - Community. - Mentorship. Community and mentorship are so important. But as we read in Acts two, community and mentorship, it didn't grow around a stage. It grew around tables. It grew in living rooms. It grew in public settings. It grew in spaces outside of the church walls. I've heard it said like this, "Turn your row into a circle." You know how awkward it would be if we walked in here on a Sunday and it was just circles of chairs, it was just staring at people. It would make me feel weird, why? Because I don't know, this is out of the ordinary. I want you to know, in 2026, getting connected is not a normal thing to do. We live in a very isolated culture with very expensive phones that make it But living the life of a follower of Jesus Christ was never meant to be done alone. If Jesus needed 12 guys to walk with him, you need a couple of friends in your corner too. And it starts with getting invested and involved in community. Sunday gives you a row,

but an H group gives you a circle. Why is this so important? That was good huh? Why is this so important? Because people in the row that you sit with, they may know your name, they may know your face, especially here, you don't know it, but y'all have assigned seats, I see it every week. And if someone sits in your assigned seat, it's, whoo, whoa, what's going on here? People in your row, they'll know your name, they'll know your face, but people in your group, people in your circle, they know your life story. They know what you're walking through. They know the giftings in your life, but they also know the areas that you need to be accountable in. They know the areas that you need to be protected in. They know the areas that you struggle and why, because you're doing life with these individuals. Getting connected will change your life. Some of my story, I moved to Fort Worth seven years ago and started attending the house literally seven years ago this month. And, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Wasn't no one's clapped yet for that. All right, no, but started attending and I'll never forget my first month living in Fort Worth. I moved here August, that's only 19. My first month, I was so lonely.

Loneliness have ever been in my life. I just left a good setup in college station with a good job, a good church, any Aggies in the room. Why are you doing, hold on now. Horns down, brother. Anyways, there's an altar call after service for any Longhorn fans in here. Man, I gotta pray more for you guys. Anyways, I moved here. Loneliness have ever been and the Lord put in front of me to go to this church called The House. We were meeting at Ridgely Theatre downtown at the time and I walk into church and I'm like, okay, yeah, there's some different about this place. I wanna get connected. Well, I went to the connect table and there is an individual at the connect table. He's a kind of a spiritual father of my life still and he was working the connect table and I said, "Hey, I need community." 'Cause I was in Bible college and I just learned what that word meant. I need community. He said, "Well, join an age group." But mind you, we're only like a year old as a church so there wasn't that many to choose from. It was this old dudes group with guns and coffee or this young adult group. And I was like, no, Boomer, I'm gonna,

I'm gonna choose this young adult group. 'Cause the people look cool and I was like, all right, well, if I can't vibe with them, then I don't know what I'm gonna do. But I'll never forget, I go to this age group for the first time ever and for the first time in my life, I'm the new guy. I've never in my life had to step into something brand new, not knowing anybody. I've always known people in the places the Lord sent me and I am brand new. And I remember driving to this stranger's house and I'm sitting in the car panicking. Palm sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy. (audience laughing) I was sitting here, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyways, freaking out, my list is just out, just freaking out. I call my mom, I'm like, mom, then she's like, Kenneth, you're 25, you're gonna be okay. I don't ever forget walking into this house, just terrified, just totally out of my element. But little did I know this age group that I walked into was gonna become the thing that sent me into healthy community that got me serving in a healthy church and led me to being on this stage today, encouraging someone in this room to do the same thing. (audience applauding) And that story isn't about how good I was

for joining an age group. That story is to let you know, no matter how old you are, age groups aren't just for young adults. You could be in your 60s in this room. You deserve healthy biblical community here in this church. And if you don't see an age group your age, maybe that's your sign to start one. Has someone reached out to me say, Kenneth, there's no age groups for married couples. What do I do? I said, sounds like you're supposed to start it. Why, because the church in Acts two, when they saw a need, they met it. When they saw an opportunity to step in and be a leader, they met that opportunity with joy. We need to be in church on Sunday, but we also need to be connected outside of Sundays. We need people to know our names in our rows, but also know our stories in our groups. Because Ananias and Sephara, they were surrounded by people. They sat in rows. They showed up to church, but they learned the art of pretending. And they didn't have anyone in their life to say, "Hey, maybe you shouldn't lie about that. Hey, maybe you, maybe you should. Just tell everyone what you actually did. Don't hide it."

Because the Lord will eventually reveal the areas that you're acting like you're doing well in. And Ananias and Sephara had to learn a hard lesson for us to see that the Lord is saying, "Do not keep doing this thing alone. We need community." And the last step, we make room for more. Acts 2, 47, it says, "All the while praising God and enjoying the good will of all people. In each day, the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved." Verse 47 is a result of these first three steps. But what I love about the way verse 47 is worded, is it shows us that the power of adding is not in our hands. The power of addition is in the hand of the Lord. It says it right there. Each day the Lord added to the fellowship, those who were being saved. Why is this important for us to know? Because as we serve, the Lord will add. As we are generous, the Lord will add. As we gather, as we build, as we mentor, as we grow community, the Lord will add. Now let's make it personal. As I serve, the Lord was gonna add people to my life to help me out along the way. As I'm generous, the Lord's gonna add people to my life to be generous in my times of need. As I grow community, the Lord's gonna add relationships and friends to my life that He knows

I desperately need in this season. But before their church ever changed, their heart had to change. Before this addition even began, these individuals in Acts two had to make the decision you and I have to make today. And it's one word, it's a hard word, but it's a good word, surrender. They had to surrender everything. They left everything. They sold everything. They gave up their way to do what? Surrender to something and someone much greater than them. Like I said earlier, the Lord's not calling you to sell everything that you own today. Please don't, but what He is calling you to do is to surrender your life to Him, to surrender your dreams to Him, to surrender your way to Him. Jesus transformed their lives and now their lives look different from it. But it was because they had the heart posture of surrender. So maybe the next step isn't just something you need to do. Maybe it starts with the change that God has to do inside of you. Just a couple moments ago, we sang a song that you and I love, "God, I'm just grateful for you." I mean, the moment that song comes, I've watched hands lift all over this room,

which means we know the song, we resonate with the song. Who am I that you keep me on your mind? God, I'm just... Now, my question is, are 10 minutes on a Sunday the only times your life is sinking that? Or are you living that same expression of worship Monday through Saturday? Who am I that he would keep me on my mind? But God, I'm grateful for you. There's a part in that song that I love. It says, "I survived and I'm here to testify. God, I'm just grateful for you." Why is it important to know that line? Because every single person in this room has survived an attack of the enemy, but God has protected you from it and we have a reason to be grateful to Him. Did you know the enemy had a plan for you to not let you be in this room today, but somewhere along the way, the Lord intervened, protected your life, protected your mind and you may have walked through You may have been through hell and high water, but he got you through. I survived, and I'm here to testify. Is there any house for worth? Members in the room that say I survived. The Lord is the reason why. He got me through it. He pushed me over it.

He made a way where there seems to be no way. He provided when I needed it the most. He healed me when I needed it the most. I should not be in this room on a Sunday morning, but the goodness of God met me in my lowest. And I'm here to testify. I'm here to build. I'm here to grow. This is my church. It's my house. And I'm ready to grow it. God, I'm just grateful for it. And I'm lifting both of my hands wide because you gave me chance after chance. So who am I? Who am I? Who are we? To tell the Lord, I'm not doing that. I mean, if I can just speak family to family right now, it's time to get our preferences out of the way. Why? Because there's more people that we're called to reach as a body. It's a lost world out there. And there are people that God is... God used this church to change my life. God used this church to change your life. Who were us to say that he's done changing lives? Who are us to say that his life changing is maxed out on the house for worth? No!

It's time to become a living, breathing, active church that's modeled in Acts 2. But it first starts with one of the hardest decisions you're ever going to have to make, but one of the most fruitful decisions you'll ever make. To fully surrender to God. Not just to surrender in a prayer on a Sunday, but to surrender on a Monday on your way to work. To surrender in a conversation on Tuesday. To surrender on Wednesday when you really want to crash out on your co-worker. To surrender on Thursday and Friday. To surrender on the weekend with temptation. And sin comes knocking and presenting itself. Surrendering will cost you everything. But it will give the kingdom of heaven everything. [applause] So the question today for us in the room isn't how do I look more devoted? The question is, am I living like Jesus changed my heart? Not how do I play the part? I pray that some of your days are acting or over. I would gladly love to be a failed actor for the kingdom of heaven. Why? That means that became someone who's actually living for the kingdom of heaven. God didn't call you to act. He called you to live. He called you to be. He called you to do the very thing that's the mission of this church. To love God.

To build people and change the world. There's a lot of love in God in here. There's a lot of change in the world. But part two is where we need surrender. Scripture tells us the harvest is plenty but the workers are few. And what I'm doing right now on this Sunday in the last service too, I'm looking at a room full of people where if we say yes and we surrender, I have no idea how big that harvest can be. But it starts with that word surrender. It's asking yourself the question, "Have I let him change the way that I carry his church?" "Have I let him change the way that I view people and reach people?" "Have I let him change the way that I want to serve people?" Because the goal isn't to look devoted. The goal is to live surrendered and change. So like I said, maybe today your step is joining a team, leading a group, joining a group next week. If you feel it on your heart to do that, I'm going to tell you don't wait for the right time because you'll run out of time. Do it today. But maybe there's more to it than that. Maybe what you're supposed to do today is surrender. Crossroom will invite you to bow your heads. Give you one last encouragement. The evidence of a surrendered heart is a changed life. I want to tell you this, if there's anyone in here, no matter how young or how old, that you can honestly say,

"Kenith, I'm not fully surrendered." I've tried to make God fit into my preferences, but I'm not living a fully surrendered life. And today, I'm ready to make that change. On the count of three, I want to invite you to raise your hand and be bold about that declaration. Ready, one, two, three. Raise it high, I want to see you. Thank you, let's go. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You can lower your hands with another group of people I want to call upon really quick. If you're in here, the first step to surrender is salvation. And it's giving your life to Jesus and saying, "Jesus is the Lord of my life fully." And if you're in here right now, and you have not prayed the prayer of salvation, you haven't given your life over to Jesus, you haven't given your heart and your soul over to Jesus. And today you're ready to be saved because you're done living like this world. On the count of three, I want to invite you to raise your hand. Ready, one, two, three. Thank you, thank you, the balcony, thank you, thank you. (clapping) Lives are being added, thank you, thank you. (clapping) Verse 47 is taking place right now, thank you.

Thank you Lord, across the room, let's stretch our hands to heaven, alongside our brothers and sisters, both hands, and repeat this prayer after me. Say, "Dear God, today I confess that I'm a sinner "in need of a savior. "Today I give my life to you. "Today I surrender fully to you. "And from this moment on, I'll never be the same. "In Jesus' name, amen." Come on, can we give God a shout of praise from the floor of the balcony, for the salvation and decisional? Come on, give him a bigger shout of praise in the room, for the life change that happened here today. Real quick, I'm gonna plug him. For some of you in age group is what you need this season of your life. Either leading one, stop by the table in the lobby, or join one at our open house next week. Growth track is next Sunday. I would love to see you in there, and then jump on a serve team today. You don't have to be perfect, you just gotta be surrendered, and say yes to what God's calling you to do. Let's put our declaration on the screen, and say it like you believe it, let's go. I believe what God has spoken over my life. His word will not return void.

This year will reveal his faithfulness. This year will produce fruit. This year will be filled with miracles. In his timing and by his power, it's gonna happen. God's gonna do it. Church family, I love you. I'll see you next week, and like we say, every week, the best is yet to come. See you next week.