Week 6 | Step Out Together

Just real quick, turn to somebody near you and go, "Today's going to be a great day." I think across all of our locations, we believe that God is going to do something really, really special in our midst today. We've been praying for and planning for this weekend, really for about 18 months because God has given us a dream of it as a church and really what we believe that we're called to next. And this entire step-out season has been through this journey of what it would look like for us as an entire church to take a step of faith out, to seek God, take this dream that He's given us and bring this dream into fruition. And so today's this day that we've been talking about and we've been praying about it all culminates this weekend. I would go as far to say what happens in our time today will shape who we become for years to come. But let me give you a quick word to those of you who are brand new. If you're brand new, if you're a first-time guest across all of our locations, a big welcome to you. We're really glad that you were here. Now, you're here in a very unique weekend. Today, this is a weekend that we are going to, as a church, make a two-year financial commitment to take the dreams that God has given us to bring Him to fruition. Now, as a first-time guest, let me be as clear as I know how. There is zero obligation or pressure

for you to participate anyway. I would never ask somebody who is a brand new guest at Willow Creek to participate in a two-year commitment. And so I would encourage you, if you're brand new around here, don't feel any pressure at all, but I would encourage you to lean in. Likely you won't make a financial commitment today and that's perfectly fine, but lean in and think through this lens of how might God want me to take a step of faith, no matter where I'm at in my own journey. And I'd love for you just to lean in and explore what that might look like for you in your context. Now, for those of us who are, we consider ourselves to be followers of Jesus. We're people who call this our church home. This is an incredible opportunity that you and I have to come together to make a commitment to really partner with God in the greatest mission of planet Earth. We are believing God to do a significant work in and through our church that will change our church in the years to come. Now, over the last few weeks, we've been following the life of Peter. Now, Peter's a fascinating case study in the Bible. If you look at Peter's journey in the Bible, he is just so incredibly human. Like on one hand, Peter just has these colossal failures because he's the kind of guy that tends

to be a little bit impulsive. He acts first and thinks about his actions later. But as much as he had these colossal failures, Peter's also this guy that has these amazing, amazing faith-filled moments. And we've been looking over the past few weeks about these faith-filled moments and how those faith-filled moments, God did some incredible things through him, but God also shaped something within him. As we think about this faith-filled moment that took Peter out of the boat to walk on water to Jesus. We think about the faith-filled moment that he threw his nets out of the, into the deep after not catching anything the night before just because Jesus said so. We think about the moment, in Caesarea Philippi, where he takes the step of faith and declares for the very first time out loud who Jesus actually is. He's the Christ, the Son, and the living God. It had never been done before. It's just this amazing marker moment. We think about the last couple of weeks in the book of Acts as Peter takes this courageous step out and he declares the wordliness, the resurrection of Jesus, the good news of Jesus, and so many people come to faith because of his step out in faith. Here's what I've learned about Peter, that every time that Peter stepped out, God was doing something through Peter.

But more importantly, God was also forming something in Peter. And what's been true about Peter all throughout this journey, I pray is true for you personally, and I also pray that it's true for us at church. Then as we take a step of faith today, then again, it would be something that God does through you, but even more importantly, it's about what God forms in you. And so we're gonna take this step of faith today. And so again, I mentioned this is commitment weekend. When you walked in today, you got a commitment card that we're gonna use a little bit later in the service. If you could, real quickly find that card, get it out real quick. We're not gonna fill it out quite yet. Here's what I wanna do. Before we go any further, I wanna dedicate this moment to God. And so if I can't across all of our locations to take this commitment card, just hold it up in the air real quick and can we go to God and can we pray about what God is going to do in and through us as a church? So take the card, hold it up real high, across all of our locations, let's say this prayer together. A God, we come before you. We recognize that this is a se- Father, we believe that you've given us a big dream, and God, we cannot wait to partner with you in this work that you want to do in us and through us.

But Father, we recognize that this moment is a more about formation than it is about anything else. And so this card represents not just something financial, more importantly, this card represents something deeply spiritual. So God, would you move? God, would you shape us? God, would you mold us? Would you help us to look more and more like your son Jesus and God as we take the step of faith? Do something through us and form something in us. God, we pray that in Jesus' name, amen. Now, as I think about our journey through step out, where we're going today is gonna be in the book of Acts chapter two. So if you've got a Bible, you can go to the book of Acts chapter two. Now, if you've been around Willow for a long time, you know that this verse is this foundational verse that really this entire church was built on. And if you know our story as a church, our church was actually built and planted by a group of young people. And our students are still such a huge part of who we are as a church. And across all of our locations, our students are actually in the room. Could you put your hands together for our students? (congregation applauding) And so we thought across all of our locations,

it just made sense to have our students come and to read Acts chapter two versus 42 through 47. So put your hands together one more time for the students, you're gonna read our text today. (congregation applauding) - They devoted themselves to the apostles' teachings and to fellowship the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. - All the believers were together and had everything in common. - They sold properties and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple of courts. - They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily, those who were being saved. - Acts chapter two versus 42 through 47. It's this really powerful passage and it really is the vision that God gave our founders when this church was started some 51 years ago. At the time our founding pastor, a guy by the name of Bill Heibels was a very young leader. He sat in a college classroom at Trinity. And while he was in that college classroom, that college professor began to share this particular passage, the book of Acts chapter two versus 42 through 47

as a description of what the early church looked like. And that professor is so powerfully and so vision-oriented and said it's not just the description of a church some 2,000 years ago. In many ways, this is the vision of who we have the opportunity to become today. And that vision captured the heart of that young leader. And together along with other people around, they decided to plant this church that could become this Acts two type of church. And really for 51 years, that has been the foundational principle of what we call as Willa Creek. So today, we don't create a new vision. It's actually a vision that God gave to his church and its inception some 2,000 years ago. It was the vision some 51 years ago and it was the foundational text that this church has built on. So we don't create the vision. In a sense, we are carriers of this vision into the future. That we want to be that kind of church, this Acts two kind of church. And I hope the vision of the early church captures your heart as much as it captures mine. As I want to lean into this passage and talk about a few attributes of what that early church looked like, that I pray become attributes of who we are today. First attribute, I'd say this, it's a church devoted to what matters most.

Check this out, Acts chapter two. Let's read it again, verse 42. It says that they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. I love that word, to the early church, they were devoted. They were not casual onlookers. They didn't just kind of come in and kind of disengage. It says that they were all in. They were fully devoted. May we be those kinds of people. I don't know if you know this, but if you look at the national average across America today, those who call themselves Christ followers who attend a church attend on average 1.6 times a month. And what you could describe oftentimes the American church is somewhat casual observers, maybe somewhat distant, but may not that not be true of willow Creek Community Church. May it be said about us that, no, that group of people, much like the early church, they are devoted and they're devoted. They're devoted to the apostles' teaching or making me describe they're devoted to the word of God. They're the kind of church that wants to understand what does the Bible actually teach? And how does it shape my life? How do I surrender myself to it that it really engages everything that I am?

They were devoted to prayer, that they were believing that God could do, and only God could do. And they were devoted to the fellowship and the breaking the breath. They were devoted to one another. Can you picture the kind of church that's so devoted to God, devoted to God's teaching, devoted to what God's activity is like, devoted to one another, and it's a powerful church to be a part of. The other attribute, or another attribute that was true about the early church, is it was a church that lived with expectation that God is at work. They lived with this great expectation. Look at the next verse, verse 43. It says, "Everyone was filled with awe "at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. "They lived with this awe, this anticipation, "this expectation that God would do what only God could do. "If they weren't just going to kind of work "in their own natural strength, "that they were gonna trust God "to do supernatural things among them." May that be true of Willow Creek Community Church. May we be the kind of church that don't just play unnaturally, but pray for supernatural things to play out. And that God would really rescue people

that he would redeem hearts, that he would heal bodies, that he would restore marriages, that God would do miraculous things in our midst. May we be the kind of church that prays with great expectation of what only God could do in and through his people. If you look at the early church, there's another aspect of who they were. I would say it was a church that was open handed toward other people. Look at the very next verse. Verse 45, it says that all the believers were together and they had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. And so the early church, they just lived in this open handed type of way, this new form of Christ followers, new community of Christ followers, their lives have been so changed by Jesus and so changed by the work of God that it caused them to live open handedly toward one another. Is that they just gave freely to anybody who had a need. I would argue that the greatest change in the early church was not their bank account, the greatest change was in their heart and their perspective. That they just viewed that everything that they had actually came from God.

And they were just simply entrusted as stewards to steward those resources in such a way that honors God well and serves people well. And they just lived with this open handed posture. Now think about those three attributes and putting them together. Imagine what would happen with the church that's fully devoted, lives completely expected that is truly open handed with one another. Imagine what God would do through that kind of church. That kind of church in the early days, in the early church in the first century, it caught the attention of the community around them. There was something so compelling about how they lived, so unique and distinct in how they responded to the people that people wanted to be a part of what they were doing. This was not surprising that we read the very next verse, verse 46, here's what happened, here's what the response was. This is that every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes, they ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And then look what happens. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Don't let that statement just wash over you. Do you understand what's happening in the early church?

They lived so counter-cultural in such a compelling way that just by the way they functioned as a community, God was adding to their number daily those who were being saved. It was because of their devotion, because of their expectation, because of their open-handed posture, that people wanted to be a part of what they were doing. May that be true of Willow Creek Community Church. (audience applauds) I've actually prayed for a lot of years that I can be a part of a church where Acts 247 was true of the church that I was a part of. That God was adding to its number daily who was being saved. I've actually thought about that and just think through God, what would it look like for every single year, at least 365 people to put their faith in their commitment to you and would be baptized in response to that faith commitment. And I'm just excited to share with you and I hope that it's not lost on you, that the past couple years and the anticipation that will happen again this year and beyond, not only that we would have 365 people across our congregation come to faith, and God continues to do that kind of work. (audience applauding) The God continues to add to our number multiple people.

Every day we were being saved. So this vision, this description of this early church was never meant to be just the description of the early church. It was always meant to be the description of God's church even 20 centuries later. It's a way, may we be the kind of church that's devoted, that lives with great expectancy. Would it be the kind of church that's open handed so that God might add to our number daily those who are being saved? Now what's fascinating to me is if you look over our 51 year histories of church, it's amazing what God has done to see this acts two type of vision come to fruition. I need your help. I need you to participate with this part of what I'm about to say. In just a moment, I'm gonna ask you to raise your hand if this is true about you. And I need you to do this across all of our willow locations at JCCC, big shout out to you guys. If it's true by you, I just want you to raise your hand. If your life has been impacted by God through the ministry of Willow Creek in any way, maybe you're somebody who came to faith here for the first time. Maybe you're somebody who was baptized here. Maybe you're somebody whose marriage was restored here. Maybe you're somebody who found grief support

after experiencing incredible loss. And so you found new hope, you found new life. Maybe you're somebody who didn't meet Jesus for the first time, but your faith got renewed here. Maybe you experienced freedom from addiction. Maybe you found a place of belonging. If you've had some sort of meaningful encounter with God through the ministry of Willow Creek across all of our locations, you just simply place your hand in the air. Here's what I want you to do. Real quick, pause, keep your hand in the air, and just simply look around. Look around at Huntling Crystal Lake. Look around at South Lake and North Shore. Look around at Wheaton and at JCCC. Look around here right here at Berington. Can you see and understand what God has been doing in our midst for 51 years? (audience applauding) But here's what's cool. Long before you were even here. There was somebody who went before you who made a commitment who so generosity into the ministry of Willow. They didn't know you. They didn't know your story. And yet your life is the fruit of the gift that they made years ago. Here's why that matters.

In just a little bit, we too were gonna make our own financial commitment. We're gonna sow generosity into the ministry at Willow Creek. And by God's grace, there will be hands one year from now or five years from now or 10 years from now. People that you've never met, people that you may never meet, but people whose lives will be transformed all for eternity because you chose to make a commitment to sow seeds of generosity into the ministry here. Now think about what that looks like. That's a single mom who's struggling to make ends meet, who's barely keeping her head above water, who wonders into Willow Creek and maybe more specifically wonders into the care center. Their care center comes alongside and supports her and gives her some resources, connects her to other people. She also gets connected to a group of other single moms and finds a sense of belonging and community and come ridership and she finds that she doesn't have to just survive, she can fully thrive because the community of faith that she's a part of. Think about the hand in the future might be a student, a junior high or a high school student that is being bullied at school. And life's pretty tough in the sense that they wonder their value and their worth are searching for it every day 'cause they feel like the whole world's against them. But then they walk through the doors of Willow, they get involved in our junior high ministry

or our high school ministry and there they find a sense of belonging, people that actually care, people that are willing to respond to them, people that actually lift them up. And because of that they find hope, they find peace, they find purpose, they get to step into their God-given calling. Think about a prisoner. It currently is incarcerated a facility that doesn't have any kind of church connection. And they feel somewhat alone, they feel somewhat isolated, disconnected like everybody has forgotten them. But because of what you're going to invest today, Willow will have the opportunity to plant a work right there in their facility and they'll find hope, they'll find meaning, they'll recognize a church that actually cares about them, they'll step into the purpose, maybe they'll be even be released to be a missionary within their own community. Think about a couple who's struggling in their marriage, that they even had to drive separate cars on the way to church because the tension was so big. But yet they walked into the church and uniquely They both encountered the hope they can- they both leave feeling compelled to not fight with each other, but to fight for their marriage. And God rescues the marriage, He saves the marriage because of the investment that we make. Because of what happens today, literally thousands of people be lowered

into the waters of bad history. There'll be new campuses that get planted, there'll be new care systems expressed planted. There will be lives changed for all of eternity. Because of what happens today, hands that will be raised one year from now, five years from now, 10 years from now, because of what you sow into the ministry of Willow Creek. Never underestimate what God can do through a surrendered life. You know, as I think about giving all throughout scripture, what's interesting is the Bible actually talks quite a bit about money and resourcing and living open-handed. That's actually a fairly frequent topic of conversation all throughout scripture. But when it comes to giving, you can probably boil it down to a few things, but I would like to say that giving really is about two things. I wouldn't quantify it in this way. It's about trust and it's about tests. Now, trust makes probably very clear sense because when we give back to God, a portion of whatever that is, we're exercising trust. Because we're saying God, I trust you in this, and I trust that you are gonna take care of the rest, that you will actually be provider, that you will care for me in all of my other needs. And so, every time we give in a meaningful way,

it is a commitment of trust. But there's this unique statement of the Bible. Actually, all throughout scripture, God says, "Don't test me." Like, "Don't test me," except for one exception. Malachi, chapter three, God actually says as it relates to giving, he says, "Test me in this." He's like, "See if I won't bless you." And so what's interesting is, when it comes to giving in scripture, it's about trust, it's about test. And I would argue those two things are almost undeniably tied together. I think about it this way. When my kids were really little, I got two boys. When my kids were under the age of two, I did what a lot of parents do, or maybe a lot of dads do. I would take my kids, and I would just like throw 'em up in the air, and I would catch them. Anybody else have this experience? My kids loved it. I mean, my kids would laugh, they would cackle. It was so much fun just to see the reaction. And the reason they allowed me to do it is because they didn't have any concern with how dangerous that actually was. Now, thankfully, I never broke their trust.

I caught them every time. But it was a trust-filled moment for my kids. Every time I throw 'em up, it was a trust that dad was gonna catch them again. Now, you fast forward a couple of years, and that trust doesn't come quite as easy. Because what life teaches you is that things don't always go your way, and that not everything can be trusted. And so, fear kinda creeps in. You get a little bit more hesitant when it comes to certain things. And so, a couple years later, I remember my oldest son, he was learning how to swim, and the moment came that he wanted to go off the diving board for the very first time. And he was excited to do it, but he was a little hesitant. And I thought, I'll tell you what, I'll jump in the deep end, and you can go off, and I will catch you. We've done this hundreds of times that you're growing up here. And so, I jumped in the water. He gets to the diving board. You can see him in a little bit of fear and anxiety, making his way to the front of that diving board. He looks over, and he feels like, "That's a long way down." And I'm looking up at him, and I can see his wheels turning,

whether he's gonna do this thing or not. And so, I shout to him, "Buddy, do you trust me?" He said, "Absolutely trust you." I said, "Okay, test me." Jump, and eventually, he jumps. Unfortunately, I was able to catch you, and he was okay. But I think that that's the relationship between trust and test. I would say trust is the belief. It's this inward belief that God is actually going to take care of me. Test is when that step puts that belief into action. A test is when we actually take the step. We actually put trust in motion. And God says, when it comes to giving and generosity, he says, "Test me in it." I test me in it because I'm gonna catch you every time. I mean, if you have to think back over your shoulder, has there ever been a time that God didn't catch you along the way? And so, that's why this commitment moment becomes so important just because what God wants to form in us, I would say this about our commitments. The commitments we make, they will shape who we become. The commitments we make will ultimately shape who we become. I don't know if you know this, but there's actually quite a few households who've already gone first and already made their step out in faith and made their commitment.

On the stage right in front of me are 601 commitment cars that sit right here in front of me. They represent the 601 households that have actually already gone first, already taken the step of faith. God is doing an amazing thing in through their journey. In addition to the 601 households that represented by the cards here across all of our locations, I'm encouraged to also share this. There are 579 junior high and high school students who've already made commitments as well. Our young people, our young people are leading the way. It was actually just a couple of weeks ago, we had this experience, we called it the advanced commitment night. It's where our leaders went first. And as our leaders went first, we just saw a movement of God in such a powerful way and we wanted to capture a little bit of that moment and kind of share it with you as an inspiration for the moment that we get to share it together. And so here's a perspective of the commitment nights both made it in our advanced commitment night and also our student events. Check this out. You and I live in a broken world. The question becomes who's actually equipped to solve them when the people of God seek God together? I think there's a supernatural movement

that can play out through those people. - I am so excited for step out this year. My daughter dragged me back into Willow again. Now talk about the young leading. - I'm excited about the care center hopes we're planning on opening. I'm excited that we already opened one in Crystal Lake. - I can't wait to see years from now and look back what is happening now and what God's doing. - If I could tell anything to the church right now it'd say be bold, putting out jab applications, picking up some chefs with DoorDash, trying to get some money here and there to put it right back into the church. I think he's causing that church-wide start and that church-wide kind of walk for more and want to expand the kingdom. And like this is a place where we could do that. This is the place where we can give our resources and know that they are going towards the right mission. - Let's step into God-sized moments and God-sized dreams and trust God to do what only God can do. - When we give, we're not just giving and gratitude for what God has done, but we are fueling what God is doing moving forward and we are excited to step out in faith and see what he's going to continue to do through us and through everyone here. (gentle music) - Let's see what only God can do

as he turns this world upside down. (audience applauding) It has been so encouraging to see how God has been moving in the hearts of people already as we get to this peace. As you think about where we're at as a journey again, our hope is that we take a step out, not just so God does something through us, but also so that God forms something in us. So let me talk to a couple of different groups of people. Let me talk to the first group of people. There's a group of people who's never given a gift to God, particularly at a church before. And so this becomes the very first step that you take in your giving journey. And so I would imagine for those of you who are in the seat, it is kind of that diving board moment type of thing that you're stepping out, you're looking over the edge, you're not really sure type of moment, but I would encourage you to think about it this way. I think that this would be a defining moment in your journey, one by which if you learn to trust God with even just a little bit, you'll see God's faithfulness, you'll come back to it over and over again, there'll be other steps of faith that will come, God will build on your journey. We've been praying that literally hundreds of families take this first step, even for the first time. It is not about the amount,

it's about the step of faith. And in that becomes this defining moment in their journey. My encouragement, take the step. There are others of you that have been consistent givers for a long, long time. It's been a part of your rhythm and journey for a long time. And the way I typically think about it is generosity is kind of like a muscle. It's something that really can be grown over time. And so some of you, you've been very committed, you've been very faithful, and God wants you to strengthen this muscle even maybe a little bit more. Some of you are preparing to give a gift the size that you've never done before in your life. And I just want you to know, you're not alone in that. That's where Lindsey and I are in the journey. We prayerfully considered it. We're excited to give the largest gift we've ever given over a two-year time period. But candidly, it's a little nerve-racking, right? Because it's a... And so wherever you're at in the journey, maybe if I could give you a little bit window into my journey, maybe it would help. As I think about where Lynn's and I are at in the journey, we've been a part of things like this a number of times in our ministry journey, maybe initiatives like this, maybe four or five times. And as I was reflecting back over the past three, four,

five times that she and I have done this, there's a few things that kind of stood out to me. The first is the wrestle with God over what we were gonna do was not easier this time compared to other times. Because it's still a wrestling, it's still a stretch. If you think about going to the gym and lifting weights, I have to use my imagination. I don't lift weights, they are way too heavy. But if you are to lift weights, it's actually the resistance that actually creates strength. The same is true in our faith journey. It's what stuck out to me is I think about our commitment this time compared to other commitments we've done in the past. I did not arrive at this one easier than I did in the past. It was as much wrestling, it was as much challenge, it was with much kind of anxiety in the process as all of the other times before. Here was the only difference that I experienced. I remember very, very vividly, it was about 12 years ago, we did something very similar. And Lindsey Knight at the time, we committed a gift that at the time was the largest gift that we'd ever committed at the time. And I went into that commitment and candidly, I was afraid, what marked that commitment was fear. And that's the difference between what I experienced today. Because I've been able to see God show up over and over and over again, it didn't cause me not to wrestle with the gift this time.

But now I approach it with way more faith than I do fear. And I hope that's a part of your journey as well. So many people have already gone before you, if you allow me to, I love to share two stories, they represent two very different kinds of gifts, but they represent a really strong heart, the same heart. The first is from one of our students. Again, I mentioned that 579 students have already made commitments. What I love are the stories that are behind those commitments. There's these incredible heartfelt stories. One of which is from a high school sophomore. And this high school sophomore was wrestling like, what can I do? How can God use a step of faith in my life to make a difference in somebody else's life? And she goes, I don't have a job, I don't have a consistent income, I don't have a lot of money, there's very easy way for me to go, there's really not a lot I can do. And then it hit her. And she thought, well, my parents give me money every single week to buy lunches at school. And in her own words, she said, those lunches are pretty expensive. She said, I could take the same amount of money and I could go to the grocery store and I could buy groceries and it would be a reduced cost. And if I pack my lunch every day,

there'll be a difference of resources of what my parents give me and what I actually spend and I can give that away each week. And so the commitment that this high school sophomore is making is she wants to make a commitment to pack her lunch every day for two years so that she can make a commitment to give back to God in such a way that makes a difference in the lives of people. My friends, I think that's remarkable. (audience applauding) That's the heart of somebody who's willing to step out in faith. Let me tell you a different story that's a very different number. I met with another couple, not that long ago. And it's a couple in the retirement season of life. And they look back over the shoulder of decades of God's faithfulness and what God has produced their life and they said, God has been really, really kind to us. God has been really, really generous to us. And so they look at the retirement portfolio and it's very generous and they could have played it safe. They could have done nothing and nobody could have said anything about that. But as they prayed about it and took it before the Lord, they felt like God was asking you to take a major step out. And so they're making not only their biggest commitment, they're making their biggest step of faith that they've ever done their lives.

Now as they shared with me their commitment, it's one that's a multiple seven figure commitment. It's not about the number. It's about the heart that it represents. Through tears they described, Sean, we just love the Lord. We just love the local church and the thought that we might be able to take some earthly treasure and invest it in such a way that has eternal reward. What they said is like, we know our days are somewhat numbered on this earth. We don't know how long God's gonna give us. Maybe it's years, maybe it's decades, we don't really know. But if we can take some of our earthly possession and we can invest it in what's happening right now, maybe just maybe I will meet somebody in glory that's there as the fruit of the gift that I made. And so with great faith, we make the gift. And so you'll notice with these two stories, the numbers could not be more different, but the heart is the same. It's not about the number. It's all about the heart that we take a step of faith as a response to the heart that God is forming in us. So if you allow me to, I just want to logistically walk you through what the commitment is going to look like, just so we're all on the same page about what the commitment looks like. So I'd ask you to go ahead and get out your commitment card and go ahead and open it up. You don't have to fill out anything at the moment, but I just want to walk you through just so we know exactly what we're going to do. As we mentioned, all throughout the series that this commitment is not in addition to our normal ties and offerings.

It actually includes our normal ties and offerings, and so you'll see that represented on the card. So I just brought an example to kind of walk you through. Some of these numbers for you will be way higher than you're able to commit. Some of them might be way lower. You're able to commit. Don't get lost in the number. It's just an example. So I decided that we were going to go to the office and that we would have Michael Scott be our representation. He attends our wheat and location apparently, and if you just assume that Michael Scott makes somewhere around $100,000, he chooses to tithe, and so what you'll see in that top blank is it's what somebody gives in a given year, and so he would write that $10,000. That is his consistent rhythm. The second blank is what somebody might expand due to a step of faith in this particular season. And so Michael Scott's case, he wants to expand another $5,000 in order to take the step of faith to invest in these kingdom-expanding initiatives. So blank three just takes blanks one and two as them together. It's a new annualized number of a step out in faith. Blank four just multiplies them by two because it's a two-year commitment, not one, and then blank five is just simply this. I think that God isn't trusted with all kinds of things, and I'm just going to call this stored resources, because God's put things in our hands that people might want to consider giving away, and so that could be an RV, it could be a motorcycle, it could be a piece of property. In Michael Scott's case, he owns some Amazon stock, and so he's going to donate $10,000 in Amazon stock in order to fuel God's mission, which leads him to his ultimate commitment of $40,000. And so again, it's not about those numbers, don't get lost in the numbers, your numbers

may be look radically different, it's not about the numbers, it's all about the heart. So if you allow me to, I just want to share one last story with you that captures the heart of everything we've been talking about this series, and it's what I hope captures your heart as well. I received this letter a couple of weeks ago in my office, as I read through it, it just moved me to tears, and I wanted to share it with you. It's a letter written from one of our brothers who attends Willow at the Jefferson City Correctional Center, grateful for everyone of you guys. Here's what he writes, he says, "Dear Sean, and Willow Creek family, I don't have much, but I do have enough. I know there's a vision, and although I don't know all of the details, I do know what the spirit has put upon my heart, and that is to build his church." If you don't know, there are prisons that seem to be struggling, but here at JCCC, it's different. Why? I think it's because of the church. You, Willow Creek family, you built a church here, and may I say you did it in the most amazing ways. You built it using us, those who were hopeless, forgotten, the despised, the hated, the condemned. You built a church with perceived ugly and worthy, unworthy people. It's with us that you built a church. And because of that, a home has been provided for us, a home, a home of grace, a home of mercy, a home of love, a home where all of us are found worthy. We need more homes like this. So I'm asking, in other maximum security prisons, will you give them their own home? Will you build them a church too? I don't have much, but I'm going to commit $3 a month, and I will do that every single month for the next two years. And while it may not seem like much, I know different, because I know how faith works. I know that when I take the little bit that I have, and I put it in the hands of Jesus,

Jesus can do way more than we could ever ask or imagine. Thank you for all that you've done, and do, for us here. Thank you for the love, for the hope, and for the home. Thank you for the church, love, and he signs his name. My friends, over and over, for the past six weeks. [MUSIC PLAYING] It's not about the number. It's all about the heart. And I've begged you to go before the Lord and to seek Him. However, He might be leading you. Because as we take a step out, we want to take a step out of what God is leading us to do. And so what we're gonna do right now is I'm gonna send it back to our campus pastors at all of our locations. We're gonna lead us through our commitment response together.