We're Builders Part 4 | Ryan Leak

Happy Sunday Shoreline City. It's week two of January Strong and we've already heard so many stories of what God is going to do through our 21 days of prayer and fasting. If you haven't jumped on the journey yet, what are you waiting for? The time is now. So are you ready to be the best version of yourself, meet your best friends, and become all God has called you to be? This is where the Christlike Leader Pathway comes in. What is that pathway and where are you on it? The Christlike Leader Pathway is an intentional and organic journey designed to help you develop spiritually and personally while equipping you to lead like Jesus in every area of your life. A pathway designed with what God wants for you in mind. So how do you do that? With our four B's. Belong, Become, Build, Beyond. And the next step, we want you to serve. The truth is there is room for you and you are needed. God has placed gifts inside of you and this house is a place to use them. From Sundays to weekdays, countless people give their time to help others experience the love of Jesus. Text PATHWAY to 73000 to play a part and join the journey. And we're not just going in January. We're taking this commitment to go all in throughout the rest of the year. We're kicking off February with Vision Sunday on February 1st. This is a global day of unity, an injection of culture, and an opportunity to hear the word of the year from Pastor Earl that will pave the way for how we get to grow in 2026. So save the date, invite three people in your world, and text PATHWAY to 73000 to get fully planted on the Christlike Leader Pathway. So are you ready to grow? Are you ready to become all that God has called you to be? Take the step. Text PATHWAY to 73000 and screenshot now to see everything that's coming up with you in mind. Shoreline City, all of our campuses, we have our online campus, obviously, Dallas campus is joining us today. Shout out. Oak Cliff Bishop Arts is joining us. Frisco family, San Antonio, all the fans together, because here in Texas right now, the weather is a bit wild. It's a bit wild. It is a bit wild. I mean, we have a bit of a winter storm.

So Shoreline City, how y'all doing? Yes. Are y'all doing okay? Put it in the chat. Let us know. Let us know how things are going at your house. We are praying that even though it's cold outside, it is warm inside your home. We are definitely praying that. Absolutely. We love y'all so much. We have a prayer request because we mention this every single week that we love praying for you. It's our secret sauce. And so if you just text prayer to 73,000, or even there'll be a QR code on the screen, you can pull out your phone if you're watching on your TV and put in a prayer request right now because we want you to know that we're with you. We love you. We're for you. We're praying for you. Every single step of the way, we are with you. But we have people also joining us in New York, or maybe you're joining us from LA or India. We found out here recently, we have a bunch of people that are watching from India. So shout out to everyone in India. We love y'all so much, but what God is doing at our church family is so special. It's so special. And being in the middle of this Builders, We Are Builders series has literally been so unifying, even to think what God did way back then, He's trying to still do now. And it's been so challenging. It's been challenging for me.

I'm excited for even today too. Oh, today's message is going to be phenomenal. Go ahead and get your notebook ready to write down notes. But we are in the middle of this series, but we have next week coming up. Vision Sunday, the first Sunday in February, Vision Sunday. This is where Pastor Earl gathers all of our churches together, and he gives us a word of the year. It's my favorite Sunday. Well, you know, I love Easter and Christmas on thing, but Vision Sunday is right there. Vision Sunday is right there. It absolutely is. I'm getting my mom to come. I'm getting my sister to come. They don't even know it yet, but they're going to be here. I'm going to get my neighbors here. I'm going to try to get my nieces to come. I'm going to see if I can get some nieces to come. Yes, bring in the family. Because this is a word that is for everyone. This is a word that I feel like is going to give so much purpose to so many people. Which of the previous years has been your favorite word of the year? That's a great question. I remember Thy Kingdom Come. I remember greater. Greater? Wait, do you remember what year greater was? Was it 2019? I think it was 2019 or 2021, honestly. I don't know. All the years run together, but I remember greater.

I even remember the graphic. It's in my head right now. It's this pink box thing. But I remember God being like, to myself, God's calling me to greater. Yeah, step into it. My favorite, I think the one that always sticks out the most is whenever we had God do more. I wasn't here for that one. I think this was like 2016, maybe 2017, 2015. It was a while ago. And for me personally, it was one of those years where it's like, okay, Eric, it's time for you to really pray some crazy prayers. And as a church family, we just prayed some crazy prayers. Like God, you can do more. And he did it. It was like a staple in my mind to just believe the Lord for the miraculous, whatever. What was your favorite year? Put it in the chat. Yeah, put it in the chat. Let us know. And what I love about this is it's so a word, not only just for our church family, all of us together, but then also specific to you. And it's so encouraging when you see everyone else going, this is what God is trying to do. Let's do it together. And we're not alone in this. So come for Vision Sunday next Sunday. Be in the room if you're able to. Be online if you're on our online campus. I'm so expectant for it. We love y'all so much.

Our pastors love you so much. Your captains and your leads, all your team leaders, man, we love you so much and we are praying for you. Now we're about to jump into a time of worship. Okay. And we're going to, we're going to sing the song together. Okay. King Jesus. Now this was a song that we released as a church family just a few weeks ago, this year in 2026. And it has been a song that has pushed us all forward. So y'all ready? If you're in your house, not if you're in your car, but if you're in your house with your friends, go ahead. Let's stand up and let's sing this song, King Jesus. We love y'all so much. We love you. He's seated in majesty. There is a king. There is a king. Oh. The lion, the lamb, the only one found worthy Beginning, the end, you hold all eternity Holy, worthy Is the one who's on the throne All blessing and honor, glory and power is yours King Jesus, King Jesus Jesus, Jesus, we call upon your name We call upon your name We know, we know who holds the keys

It's only you standing in victory Forever lifted high You are the king, you are the king The lion, the lamb, the only one found worthy Beginning, the end, you hold all eternity Holy, worthy Is the one who's on the throne All blessing and honor, glory and power is yours King Jesus, you are holy, holy Holy, worthy Is the one who's on the throne All blessing and honor, glory and power is yours King Jesus, King Jesus King of kings, Lord of lords, we worship you King Jesus Every creature, every tribe, every nation All the sons and all the daughters, generations All the elders and the angels, we're all singing Worthy is the king, worthy is the king Every creature, every tribe, every nation All the sons and all the daughters, generations All the elders and the angels, we're all singing Worthy is the king, worthy is the king He's the king of glory, the Lord strong and mighty Worthy, worthy is the king He is the lion, the lamb, the only one found worthy Beginning, the end, you hold all eternity Holy, worthy Is the one who's on the throne Is ready, all blessing and honor

Glory and power is yours King Jesus, holy, holy, holy Holy, worthy Is the one who's on the throne Jesus, all blessing and honor Glory and power is yours King Jesus, King Jesus It's all in you, all in you, all in you Jesus ♪ I will lift your name, I will bless your name ♪ ♪ And all times your praise will be on my lips, yes ♪ ♪ He is worthy, he is holy, high in the heaven ♪ ♪ Shining in glory, glory, yes, the one and only, the one ♪ ♪ The one, the only one, Jesus, he can end the end ♪ ♪ He can end the end, from beginning to the end ♪ ♪ You've always been the one, the lamb, the only one, oh ♪ ♪ He can end the end, you hold on eternity, holy, said one ♪ ♪ He is worthy, he is holy, high in the heaven, glory, yes ♪ ♪ He is worthy, he is holy, high in the heaven, glory, yes ♪ ♪ He is worthy, he is holy, said one, glory, yes, yes ♪ ♪ He is sending, he is all blessing and honor, glory, yes yes ♪ ♪ And Lord high and lifted, strength of the temple, no, no ♪ ♪ A blessing, glory, and power, glory, yes yes yes yes ♪ ♪ A blessing, and all will be lost here, glory, yes, yes yes yes yes ♪ ♪ A blessing, a blessing in honor, glory, and power, is yours, King Jesus, King Jesus ♪ ♪ We lift up the name of Jesus, King Jesus, stronger than any other name, greater than any other power, King Jesus ♪ ♪ There is only one King, His name is King Jesus, there is only one King, His name is King Jesus ♪ All across this room we lift up praise to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords He is still seated in glory, He is still reigning, He holds all power, all authority, and all dominion Heaven and on the earth, there is no one like you, Lord you are good, and your mercies endureth forever As long as we have breath in our lungs, we'll offer up the praise to the one who's found worthy

The greatest name, His name is Jesus Happy Sunday Shoreline family, here we are back at home Now for some of us on a Sunday morning, this is normal Our online family, week in and week out, you're at home But for the rest of us, we're like, man, I wanted to be in the room Worshiping loud at OCBA, at Dallas, at Frisco, in San Antonio But here we are We just wanted to make sure everybody was safe and sound And the serve team and everyone, of course You heard about the storm like we heard about the storm But we're not gonna stop, the storm can't stop the church from moving forward We're still here, gathering together An opportunity for us to be reminded that Jesus is King He is Lord, and He is ruling and reigning in all of our lives We are praying safety and strength and hope over every person who is listening right now You are not forgotten And we're asking that the grace of God would fill your heart In a way you never even thought possible As a matter of fact, I know that this moment is actually opening the door For some people who would never walk through a door To be engaged with church Want you to know, we love you already Not only do we love you, more importantly The God of heaven knows you by name You are not just a number to God You are a name with a story A calling on your life And we are praying that your heart is captured By the majesty and the beauty of who Jesus is today Okay, so

Since we are all, you know, gathering at home together Some in our PJs and some hopefully are dressed maybe even better than PJs Hopefully you brushed your teeth as well We're still going to open up God's word Because we have been in this series called We're Builders And I don't know about y'all But I've been growing this entire series It has challenged me, encouraged me and pushed me forward But before we jump into God's word and open it up. We're gonna do our creed together, but I also wanna give you this reminder that next week is Vision Sunday. So here is your week off. You already got your week off right here. Next week, everybody who calls Shoreline Home, you're pulling up to one of the locations. And matter of fact, I want you to invite a friend. Bring someone with you and let's see God ignite vision and hope in their hearts and their lives as well. Okay, now, if you're with us for the first time, we do this creed every single week. Gives you a snapshot of what we believe and what we're about as a church. So on the count of three, it's gonna pop up here on the screen and we're all gonna say it together. Ready, one, two, three. I am loved by God. I cannot earn it.

I cannot lose it. In Christ, I am forgiven and made brand new. I live with passion and purpose. I'm empowered by the spirit to be the church in the world and to live for the glory of God. And if you have any kids with you who are in the kids ministry, they were doing all the hand motions at the same time. Now, I'm about to introduce to you today one of my favorite people on the planet. We had this plan weeks and weeks ago that this man would step on this platform and share God's word with us from Nehemiah along with this topic called We're Builders and bring a word from God's heart to every one of us. Yes, he's a New York Times bestselling author. How about that flex? Yes, he is a basketball player. How about that flex? Yes, he is speaking to all these fortune 100 and 500 companies all over the world. That's fantastic. But I love this man as a man, as a father, as a husband, as a son. I have seen him be a leader in the community, a strength in this church. He calls Shoreline City home. And today, I want you to open up your ears and open up your heart as our friend Ryan Link comes to share God's word with us.

Let's go, Shoreline. Let's get ready. Shoreline City Church, it is such a privilege to be with you this freezing weekend. And nevertheless, I'm just so honored to get to be in your home, on your phones, wherever you are watching this message. God knew that this weekend was going to happen. And so I believe that something special can happen today. I absolutely love our pastors. They're friends, they're leaders in me and my wife's family. And I just, I get emotional when I think about our pastors because they have the ability to make us feel like we are the most important people in the world. And then you talk to like 30 other people and they're like, yeah, no, no, no, we're Earl and Onika's best friend. I'm like, well, let's compare notes, you know. But what makes them special is that they can make other people feel special. And so I'm just so honored to get to be a part of Shoreline and what God is doing here. We've been in a series for the past three weeks looking at the book of Nehemiah in the series we're calling We're Builders. Today is part four of what we are calling a docuseries. If you're not a church person, it's kind of like Netflix. Okay, so you should go back and look at the first three episodes. And in Nehemiah, you have a group of people

who are absolutely committed to what God is doing in their community. And we have been looking at what's happening in Nehemiah and what could be happening in our church. And I want to pick up in Nehemiah chapter nine, verse 38. It says this, in view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it. So they're getting together, they're making this binding agreement. And if you go through Nehemiah chapter 10, you can go through it later, it's a lot of names, okay? Think of just the craziest family tree you've ever seen. They all put their names on it. And then we get to verse 28. It says the rest of the people, priests, Levites, gatekeepers, musicians, temple servants, and all who separated themselves from the neighboring peoples for the sake of the law of God. This is a group of people who have made a decision that says, hey, we're not gonna be like everybody else. It's not that we're just better than you, but we've just decided, God's called us higher, so we're gonna raise our standard together. It says that they did this together with their wives and all their sons and daughters who are able to understand. All these now join their fellow Israelites, the nobles,

and bind themselves with a curse and an oath. to follow the law of God given through Moses, the servant of God, and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations, and decrees of the Lord our God. And then we see this in verse 39, and I love this. It says, the people of Israel, including the Levites, are to bring their contributions of grain, new wine, and olive oil to the storerooms where the articles for the sanctuary and for the ministering priests, the gatekeepers, and the musicians are also kept. And then this is their last line, and they all said this together. They said, we will not neglect the house of our God. We will not neglect the house of our God. There is a great intentionality with this group of people that have said, hey, we're gonna have deep care for the house of our God. We are all in on this together. I used to be a part of a basketball connect group, and that was my whole life. I mean, in fact, I never have exercised up until the last couple of years. All I did was play basketball. I never lifted weights, never did lunges. All I did was hoop. And then COVID came, and they shut down the gyms, and I needed way too much ibuprofen just to even be able to compete at all.

And so I had to find a new something to start exercising. So I get this gym membership. And I don't know if you've ever like started your exercise journey, but it is very intimidating, okay? Because you walk into the gym, and it looks like everybody knows what they're doing. You know, because you got the guy with the belt. You know what I'm saying? People got chalk. They're wrapping their wrists. They got protein shakes. You're just like, I don't have any of the gear. I don't even know what's going on. And they actually say, the heaviest weight at the gym is the front door. If you can just get in, then maybe something can happen in your life. And so that was me. I just thought, man, I'm just gonna start going to the gym. And so what I did for like six months was I just walked around the gym. I didn't actually lift any weights. I was just waving at people. I'd step into the sauna and be sweating, and people were fist bumping me like, good work today. I'm like, good work to you too, you know? And so I was like, I'm just saying what you're saying. So I'm just trying to like find a new connect group. And I'm like walking past all the hoopers like,

you playing today? No, man, you got it. You know, and so I'm like, I gotta find a new group. And then I see a bunch of people in the treadmill. You know, you've got the runners, they've got daddy issues. They're trying to prove something to everybody. I'm like, that's not me. And so I see a group of walkers. I'm like, those are my people, okay? Like they're barely sweating. And so I joined the walkers connect group, right? We're just walking on the treadmill. Sometimes we go uphill, make it a little hard. We can even walk backwards. Like it's a whole thing. I'm like, man, I think I found my people. And then sometimes I would just sit in the parking lot. I wouldn't even go in the gym, you know? Friends call me, what you doing today? I'm at the gym. I'm so proud of you. Yeah, what are you up to, you know? And so then I see these guys rowing, right? They're just rowing. I'm like, man, I think I can figure that out. And so I just hopped on a rower and just started just mimicking what they were doing. And all of a sudden a trainer walks by. He goes, man, this is a full body workout, man.

You're killing it today. I'm like, I know, man, full body workout. And then my best friend calls me and goes, what you doing? I said, I'm on the rower. He goes, man, that's like a full body workout. I'm like, I know. I've been trying to tell you that for years, you know? So now I'm in the rowers connect group, the walkers connect group. Then I hit the stair stepper connect group. Now these people, they're like on their phones. They're like scrolling social media and working out at the same time. I'm like, man, okay. I could do like an executive coaching call at the same time with these people, you know? So now I'm in three connect groups, okay? I got the stair steppers. I got the walkers. I got the rowers. And then I look over at these like Navy SEAL groups. You know what I'm saying? These are people that are like, what are you trying to do? Like special forces? Like, what are we trying to prove? And they're like, let's go into the hottest room we can find. We're gonna do hot yoga and make our lives miserable. And I'm just like, I'd always like kind of judge these people.

And then a friend of mine said, dude, you should join us. I'm like, no, we're not doing that. And then after like four years, I finally joined the group, right? And I'm like, I'm a Navy SEAL now. Like, I just feel, I just feel awesome. I'm just like, I'm so proud of myself for joining this Navy SEAL connect group. And then the trainer that leads this group, at the end of it, he says, all right, I want us all to, you know, pile in here. We're gonna shout GTX on three. GTX, three, two, one, GTX. And then he says this after every class. He says, make sure you get your protein in. Otherwise, you're just wasting your time. I went, time out. Hey man, do you know how hard it was for me to get here? What are you talking about? He goes, Ryan, the most important part of a workout is what you do after. It's not the workout itself, which was very discouraging for me because I ain't gonna lie. Sometimes when I work out, I think it's the permission to go to McDonald's. You know what I'm saying? Like, I've earned this, okay? You deserve a treat for the work you've put in today. And he's like, right, you can do that if you want,

but you will stay the same. And here's the deal. I realize for some people the heaviest weight at the church is the front door. Like, for some people, it's like, man, if we knew what you did last week, last night, if we knew what you were watching, if we had your internet search history, if we had all of your messages, we would realize the miracle it is that you're here, that you're watching. Like, oh my gosh, like, I cannot believe you're here. If your old friends knew what you were doing right now, they'd go, that's impossible. And so, while I would love to congratulate you on church attendance or church viewing, I would be remiss if I just let you stay there. Because you could easily sing a great song and hear a great message and stay the same. And so, what this We're Builders series has done is it's been inviting us to go a little bit deeper. It's been inviting us to go, well, I don't wanna just play church. And so, what I see when I'm looking at Nehemiah, when I'm listening to the previous messages in this series is I see a group of people that are taking the mission of God seriously in their life. They're not in the Bible belt just going, well, let me just pick my favorite church. These are a group of people that have just said,

man, Lord, what are you doing in my city and how can I be a part of it? And is there a group of people that perhaps I belong to and they belong to me and we're in this thing together? And so, today's message, when we look at Nehemiah 10, I see a bunch of people who are taking ownership of their part. And so, today's message is called Own Your Shift. And I want you to emphasize that F in shift, okay? Okay, own your shift, okay? You can put it in the chat if you want to. Own your shift. I'm going to unpack today four, and you can write these down, what I like to call owner shifts. Four owner shifts that I think I'm challenged to as this is my church to go, man, how can I shift my mentality as a person that's a part of a body of believers? And so, I'm preaching to myself, I'm not preaching at you. I'm looking at the text and going, Lord, what is it that you've called me and my family to do in this particular house? When we see in Nehemiah 10, verse 32, it says, we assume the responsibility for carrying out the commands to give a third of a shackle each year for the service of the house of our God. We assume the responsibility. Owner shift number one, if you're taking notes,

is from renting to owning. From renting to owning. It's interesting because, you know, if you've ever rented a car, you don't wash that car. You know what I'm saying? Like, man, last time you saw somebody rent a car, like, hey, let me take this to the wash and let me get the wheels good. You're just like, you don't do, you're not cleaning a rental car. And I get it, you know, a lot of people in our church, you know, you're renting an apartment, but there's something breaking that apartment. All of a sudden, you're like, well, this is nonsense. I mean, that's on y'all, that's a you problem, you know? But when you own a house, when you own a flat, when you own a car, when it's yours, well, the responsibility changes. I'll never forget being here at our Dallas location. We were just leaving church and we go into the men's bathroom down the hall. And the men's bathroom down the hall, after about three services, it turns into a middle school locker room, for crying out loud. I mean, it just seems like every person in our church, you know, you put the trash can next to the door so that you can open the door with the paper towel and then you can throw it in. It looked like probably 50 dudes from our church

grabbed that handle and then did Kobe and missed, okay? Like, it was just a mess in there. And all of a sudden, I see this guy come in and he's coming out of the stall and he just starts cleaning the bathroom. And I'm like, oh, he must be a volunteer, you know? And then I follow him. Like, I didn't follow him. Like, I'm not stalking the guy, but we were walking the same direction. And I realized he just, he just. goes to the church. No name tag. He's just a person that went from, oh, I go to Shoreline to no, no, this, this is my church. It's an owner shift because any one of us could easily walk into a bathroom and go, man, if only somebody would come in here and clean this place up. I mean, what's going on here? It's like, no, no, but there's some people that just go, no, this is my church. I'm the cleaning man at the church. You know, at Chick-fil-A, one of their mantras at corporate is a leaders pick up the trash. Leaders pick up the trash and I didn't actually think it was that significant at first when I first heard it until I was working with another organization and we were walking around and they saw, I saw a leader who ran the whole place. They saw a piece of trash and they kicked it under some bleachers. Somebody else will come clean that up. That's beneath me. No, no, no, when you are an owner, your mindset is going,

no, no, no, it's leaders. We pick up the trash. I'm taking ownership of like, no, this is my church. You know, the number one thing, not the number one thing. That's a stretch. That was preacher evangelism exaggeration. It is not the number one thing and it's not even close. Okay, but it's something I do hear a lot from people that are visiting a church. I've heard this phrase. I went to the church and nobody said hi to me. Nobody said hi to me. Okay, and I get that and that's rude. Somebody should say hi to you, 100%. But given the size of this church, there's about a 25% chance that you are sitting next to somebody who is also a first-time visitor. And what if nobody said hi to them? So imagine you're the person nobody said hi to, is also sitting next to another person who nobody said hi to. You want to know what would solve both of your problems? If you turned and looked at the person on your right and your left and said hi, boom, you just solved the problem. But there is some people have this mindset of, no, I'm coming here and what are you going to do for me? Who is going to say hi to me? It's like, no, no, you're not renting anymore. You're an owner. And listen, I get this. Some people got some church hurts, some butt hurts, some

dad hurts, some work hurts, and they got all kinds of hurt and I get it. I'm never going to diminish your hurt. But when you judge a church, what you don't realize is that somebody is sitting next to you and they're coming to a conclusion about a church based off of their experience with you. So if you're in the back going, man, what's up with this worship, man? What's up with these outfits, man? What's going on with this, man? Who are these people? What's these smiles? Who has everybody? What's going on, man? They fake smile, man. And while you're sitting like this, somebody is standing next to you going, well, people at this church got an attitude. It's like, no, no, they don't even go here. Okay, we don't know them. You know what I'm saying? But they don't know that. A guy asked me for my phone number here at the church. I said, hey, you know, here's my phone number. He goes, man, people are so humble at this church. I'm like, you don't even know that that's true. You know what I'm saying? It's like, there's a lot of pride for people that go here too. It's like, but my point is this, did you know that every single

person is making a calculation about this church based off of their experience with one person? Which means you and I all have what? A responsibility to go, wait a minute. This isn't a place I go to. This is my church and I am the church. And so I'm shifting my mentality to go. No, I assume responsibility. No, I've just made a decision that, you know, it's easy to put it on Earl. It's easy to put it on the worship team. It's easy to put it on the greeters. But at the end of the day, it's on us. We assume responsibility. The second owner shift. I love it. It says it again. It says in Nehemiah 10, 35 says, we also assume responsibility for bringing to the house of the Lord each year, the first fruits of our crops and of every fruit tree. And so this ownership number two is from consuming to contributing. This isn't a place where I just get. This is a place where I also give. No, no, like I've assumed responsibility that it's not going to be on somebody else. There is something that happens. Especially if you've been a Christian for a long time and this isn't bad. Okay, this isn't sin, but it is it's very normal and it actually

puts us in a mindset that I just think is dangerous and it's very simple. You go to church doesn't matter. no matter how, what happened at that church, but you go to church, and then when you leave, somebody in your life is gonna ask you a very, very simple, non-threatening, non-sinful question. How was church? How was church? Now, think about this for a second. How are you supposed to answer that question? Now what it does is it puts you in church evaluation mode. Because for you to answer that question, you go, well, I mean, let's see, what songs did they sing, you know? Did they sing my favorite songs? What was the transitions like, you know? How many offerings were there, you know? It's like, I mean, what do you say? I give it a six, you know? Like, what was the sermon? You know, was it good? Was it entertaining? Was it funny? Was it my favorite preacher? Is Earl preaching today? Who is it today? Okay, who's this guest speaker? You have all of these different things, and before you know it, you're a church evaluator.

My very first job out of college was a church consultant. I was literally a church consultant doing church staffing, and I'm gonna be honest with you, it almost torpedoed my faith because I was in church like this. Let's see if some of these lights, yeah, let me write that down for the pastor. I just got some misspelled words there. Okay, we'll write that down. Oh, okay, you preach too long, okay? Hour and 20 minutes, ain't nobody got time for that, okay? Like, you're just, this person sang the wrong note, okay? They're in the wrong key, you know? And all of a sudden, I couldn't even go to church anymore, and I just, the longer you're a Christian, you have to beware of the church consultant spirit. Where you can sit and go, man, you know what would make this church a whole lot better? Is if they would just, and you know what, if the greeters would just, and if, oh man, I tried to check into Children's, and this happened, and you're a consumer consultant. Nehemiah chapter 10 doesn't have any consultants. They have contributors. They're not asking, what does this place just do for me? They're going, Lord, what have you put in me that could add value to this place? Like, I'm a contributor, I'm a giver. One of the traps that any one of us could fall for,

being a part of a large church, is thinking they don't need us. They got it. They're good, but that's just not how owners think. The owner shift is going, not, what can I get out of this deal? The owner shift is going, what could I give to this deal? You know, I remember when me and my wife first started attending Shoreline, there was a heaven and earth building campaign, and it was actually the very first Sunday that my wife and I, we were just visiting at the time, and I just thought, God's doing something here through this church, and it's making a difference in Dallas, and I just looked at my wife and just said, hey, I want to give to this. It's like, of course, service hadn't even started. All we saw was a sign and a QR code, and we just said, hey, we want to contribute. And at the time, we were just visitors. We were just going, we're trying to make the shift from, how does this church serve my family's needs, to going, man, is there another family that perhaps needs what we have? It's a shift. It's what I would call church maturity, which leads us to the owner shift number three, which is from me to we. From me to we. You actually see this over and over in Nehemiah.

We assume responsibility. There's no I's in Nehemiah 10%. Here's what I'm gonna do. This is what's best for me. No, no, it's a we. And in fact, in Romans 12, it says, for by the grace given me, I say to every one of you, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the faith God has destroyed. Distributed to each of you for just as each of us has one body with many members and these members do not all have the same Function so in Christ though many form one body and each member belongs To all the others We have different gifts According to the grace given to each of us and then I love what we see in first Peter Chapter 4 verse 10 says each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others As faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms This is what I want each and every person Watching today here in the room today to understand God has gifted you my friend God has given you a gift. Guess what? You didn't earn it. You didn't work hard for You might have you might have you know worked on your craft so to speak, but you weren't given the craft No that that was given to you by God and for some people they're going It's my gift That's not how gifts work The gift was given to you To actually serve others and this owner shift from me to we it's it's going man, huh? Lord it's asking a different question than how is the preaching this weekend? It's asking a different question than Do I like the music or

How bad was parking this weekend we're moving again where it's an owner shift We're growing up a little bit. We're maturing a little bit to go man, you know As I'm getting ready for church. It's not about my makeup in my outfit as I'm getting ready for church. Perhaps the owner shift is me going Lord. Is there anything you've put on the inside of me? That's somebody needs Because the rows are great, but the circles get better Because I'll just say this. I think Pastor Earl McClellan is one of the best communicators of God's Word on the planet And I'm not saying that just just because I'm speaking that shoreline today. Okay. No, no, I truly believe that I've heard him in many settings and I've traveled all around the world and heard a lot of communicators Earl is one of the best not not only is that but pastor Earl and Onika work extremely hard Even when they're not here to make sure that on this stage are literally the best Orators on the planet the church has to offer from Stephen Furtick to Rich Wilkerson, jr To Javen Chavez a champion like it's not going to get any but I don't know where you're gonna go and find better You're not gonna find much better that graces this state the best worship leaders on the planet have graced This stage and that's amazing, but I'm just gonna say this It's not enough To break the change In the darkness you're facing every single day Some chains are broken in rows But some chains are only broken in circles Where you're sitting across from somebody who can actually get in your business just a little bit Where there is a safe space to talk about some things when this is let's just be honest. It's not dialogue It's a monologue preaching God's Word, but but I'm telling there are some things that require a Conversation where somebody is having coffee with you and going that's a lie And I refuse to let you believe it Do you know what some of my sisters in Christ are dealing with on social media right now? Do you know some of my brothers in Christ are dealing with online right now? Do you know how many doctors they've seen and I love the medical community

But they've seen a lot of doctors and they still have not been healed Emotionally, you know the anxiety that people face and again as It doesn't get any better than what happens on this stage It's not enough Do you want to know what they need do you want to know what we need Each other We've got the best it's but that that's that's not enough We need to be all in with with each other I remember At one point we were you know at a growing church. We're always moving service times There was there was a Sunday night service and and and that was my favorite service and that's okay That's totally wrong and I need to grow up and be more mature and do some ownership to myself I told you I was preaching to myself today and I came to six o'clock and There was Time I'm for prayer during worship. And I came down and prayed with a lady that I did not know. And she just serves on the prayer team. And while I was down there getting prayer, Clinton Allen, who's on staff here at Shoreline, who's been a good friend of mine for years, I didn't even know that him and his family had moved back from Minnesota at the time. And all he did was, he came behind me and he just prayed for me. And he had my back.

And I didn't know that I was praying with his mom at the time. And he saw me and he just had my back. And sometimes, there are things in your life that go on where you just need somebody to just have your back. My friends, ownership is about moving past great sermons. Because we get the best in the world. But at some point, there's gotta be an exchange that you and I have with one another that says, hey, I'm in your corner and I mean it. And I kind of live and work in a space where perhaps people might see my life or see my Instagram and think, nobody needs to have his back, he's good. Everybody needs somebody to have their back. And so while we could sit and watch the show and go, they're good, we need you. It's all hands on deck. Because you don't know what somebody is going through at that moment and so perhaps, what would it look like for you and me to get ready for church and more than what we're putting on, what if getting ready for church was about what we're putting in to say, Lord, give me something for somebody today and I don't know who it's gonna be. And you might walk past a greeter who's got a smile on their face

and you might even think, that's a fake smile. Well, imagine if you just said, you know what? Hey, sweetie, beneath that beautiful smile, is there anything going on in your life that I could pray for? Is there anything I can call on God for you today? Well, no, no, they're a greeter, they're a volunteer. No, no, no, but you go to church, you're not just going anymore. You are a part of the body. You've got a completely different mindset. You're not going, oh, this parking, you're going, Lord, I don't know who I'm gonna run into. I don't know if it's a mom, I don't know if it's a child. I don't know who it is, but I just, Lord, would you put a word in my heart for somebody else? Who thinks like that? Builders, who thinks like that? Owners, the last ownership I want us to consider today is moving from conviction to commitment. Moving from conviction to commitment, I feel something, but now I'm actually gonna commit to something. Something very nuanced about Nehemiah chapter 10 is, verse 34, it says, we the priests, the Levites, and the people, we have cast lots to determine when each of our families is going to bring to the house of our God, at a set time, each year, a contribution of wood

to burn on the altar of the Lord our God as it is written in the law. Here's what's interesting. You can study this later if you like. If you look at the law in Leviticus and compare it to the law that they're recommitting to in Nehemiah chapter 10, there's really only one difference. There was a requirement for wood to be burned on the altar. Any law expert would tell you that's obvious, but it doesn't say who's supposed to bring the wood. In Nehemiah chapter 10, the shift is, well, isn't it the priest's job? Isn't it the pastor's job to bring the wood? In Nehemiah chapter 10, they said, how about your family, my family, how about we all do this together? We'll bring the wood. And then you'll bring the wood. And then on Thursday, you'll bring the wood. Think of it as like one of those meal trains when somebody has a baby or somebody's sick. No, I'll bring a meal on Tuesday, and then you'll bring the meal on Wednesday. And I got Wednesday night, okay, and I got Thursday morning. It's a picture of a bunch of people that have just said, we're all in this together. We've made a commitment, not to the church. We've made a commitment to be the church to one another.

And so don't be intimidated by the first verse we read about a binding or a binding agreement. What are we doing this in blood? No, no, no, no, no. It's about a heart, an ownership that says, you know what, I'm a part of this thing together. I'm a part of the experience. So what does it look like, Lord, for me to be a prayerful person that goes, Lord, what, not what church should I go to, but Lord, why have you placed me here at this time? Why are you watching this message? That's a question you should be asking God. Today, I wanna encourage you to take your next step as being the church, not just an attender. In ownership, you hear about join all the time. At what point are you gonna go, you know what, I'm not gonna be renting. I'm gonna be owning. You hear us talk about giving all the time. Here we go about money. No, no, no, no. At some point, we all go, hey, we're all a part of this. We're all trying to make a difference here in Dallas and around the world. I get that you've got some history with that and it gets all nasty. But at some point, you're going to have to give an account to G-O-D about your life and dare I say about your contribution

to the church in being the church. And so at some point, I want you to write down three things today. I want you to write down three things, write where you're at. The first thing that I want you to write down is a giving goal. I want you to write down a giving goal. It's just a giving goal. It's not a pledge, okay? It's not a pledge, it's a goal. It's for you to go, you and your family to go, man, Lord, we would love to be in the position to give this much to our church, to the house of God. Write down that number, whatever that number can be, a crazy number. I'm going to tell you this. My family and I have done this for years. And every single year, we've always been put in a position to give more than the goal. This isn't a tithe talk, by the way, another sermon for another day. Old Testament scholars, especially with Nehemiah chapter 10, it ain't 10%, it's like 23% when you add it all up. These are people that have just said, Lord, my resources are yours, okay? So again, I'm not twisting your arm today. I'm helping you put something on paper that you can go, Lord, would you put us in a position to give to your house? And then I want you to write down a serving goal, a serving goal.

And for you, at whatever level you're at, you go, oh, I'm already a volunteer, I already checked that box. It's not a box to check. It's to go, you know, maybe your serving goal is going on a mission trip with the church. Maybe you've never been on a mission trip. Maybe for you, it's serving it all for the first time. Like, oh, I got a busy schedule, I got a busy schedule. It's going, hey, I want to serve once a month, once a quarter. Hey, you know what? I want to do an outreach one weekend a year to say, hey, I want to go serve with some of our serve teams that are doing things all around the city. But for you, I want you to just write down, man, here's a serving goal. It's just between you and God. And then I want you to write down a community goal. And your community goal is to say, you know, because let's just be honest. A church this size, in Frisco, Guatemala, San Antonio, Bishop Arts, Dallas, you can slip in and slip out. And I just know that that's not God's best for all of us. And so I just, I have to wonder what it would look like for you to write down a community goal and say, you know, I want to get to know four new people at the church this year, four coffees. Say, hey, that's my community goal. Or maybe you're like, hey, I want to find a man.

I know that's going to be on some people. You're just going to write that down. You know, this is my community goal is a date. Hey, give it to God. Whatever you got to do, this is between you and God. Okay, I'm not checking your card. Okay, you write this down. But I want you to, maybe you're a married couple here. You've been here for a while and you haven't really got to know anybody. But you said, you just, hey, we want to do two double dates with couples from the church. Or maybe for you, you're going, man, we're actually going to check out a connect group. Well, I think there's something powerful about writing something down and saying, Lord, can we commit to this? Maybe for you, your next step is actually going to join to find out more how you can really be the church. But at the end of the day, I just want you to. No. There is a brother and a sister in Christ that goes to this church who needs what God has put in you. And there is a brother and sister in Christ that goes to this church that God has put something in them that can meet a need that you have. And we all need each other. And I just think something powerful happens when you and I begin to make an owner shift. When you and I own our shift, our part of what God's doing in His house, to say, hey, we're not going to neglect the house of God. No, no, no. We're builders. We're owners. We're taking a part of this experience. We're not watching the show from the bleachers. No, no, no. We're on the field. We're part of this thing together. God, I thank you so much for Shoreline City Church and for my friends watching

at home and a few friends here in the room. Lord, would you just help us understand why you have us here? Would you give us a keen understanding? Would you help us grow past the aesthetics of church? And would you give us the power to be the church? Here in Dallas and around the world, would you help us make the jump to being people that aren't just watching the show, but are all in, contributing? Would you help us see our next step for how we can be a part of making your house one of those places that anybody could come, where they could actually experience heaven on earth? In Jesus' name we pray. Everybody say it. Amen. Amen. Amen. That message was phenomenal. It was phenomenal. I felt so challenged to be like, okay, Eric, how do you continue to own this? The title of the message, Own Your Shift. Remember, we're builders here at Shoreline City, and I'm expecting for what the Lord is going to do. I'm so expecting. I love how he said, hey, write it down. Write it down. That's our physical next step. It's literally just to write it down. What is God asking of us to step up in in this next season? I know for me, I was thinking about generosity, but another one, too, was serving. I feel like I could step up with going to our heaven to earth Saturdays. I've actually never been to one yet, so I'm excited to go to a heaven to earth Saturday. I want to go on a mission trip, too. That would be amazing, but I'm definitely going to write it down and pray into that goal. For me, I feel like one of the things that was really challenging for me was that generosity goal, to write down a generosity goal. My wife and I, we tithe, and we give in our heaven earth offering, and there are other ways that we are generous, but to write it down at the beginning of the year. Okay, this is our generosity goal. We'll talk about it in August, and we'll talk about it in October, and all those other months, but in January, say, no, let's talk about what are we planning for the year, and how can we be generous even more so for the whole year. The Bible is very clear about this. Where there is unity, it commands a blessing. I think when you get your whole family united, whether it be in serving, whether it be in praying, whether it be in giving, there's just a special blessing that comes with it. For every single one of you that are going to be taking a next step, I just want to encourage you, do it. Take the next step. The Spirit of the Lord is with you, and we as your church family are with you. We do not want you on the sidelines. Instead, we want you actively being everything God has called you to be. Some of you in here, maybe you just honestly gave your heart to Jesus. Maybe you felt like God was just saying, hey, in 2026, actually, I just want to be Lord of your life. Let's jump on this

journey together, and so if that's you, we definitely want to say a prayer. Oh yes, if you're here today, and you're like, man, I want to give my heart to Christ. Yeah. Can we say a quick prayer over you? Yeah, absolutely. Maybe put your hand over your heart. Take a moment to close your eyes and repeat this prayer after me saying, dear Jesus, thank you for forgiving me for all my sins. I admit I've made mistakes, but today I give you my heart. I give you my life. Give me the power to live for you. In Jesus' name we pray. Everybody said amen. Blow it up in the chat. Let us know if you gave your heart to Christ. Please text PRAYER to 73000 and let us know. We want to reach out. We want to pray for you because we realize being a Christlike leader is not about just a singular decision. Come on. You got to get on the pathway to being that Christlike leader. So this would be where a great next step for you would be to go to JOIN. JOIN. That is totally your next step. This next Sunday, February 1st at our Dallas campus at 1045. 1045 at our Dallas campus. We have them at every campus as well. And so go to our website. Find the time for your campus. We also have it online on demand. So you can go to our website and JOIN literally next Sunday or even today if you're doing it online. But definitely get on the journey. Become that Christlike leader that the Lord has called you to become. Yes, just like he was talking about. We cannot say it enough. We want to see you next Sunday. We do. We want to see you next Sunday. It is Vigid Sunday. It's the best Sunday to come. Do you do this where you pray for a word of the year for just for your own self? I do, I have a word for the year. It's remodel. God wants to remodel some things in my heart, y'all. Pray, because he tearing down some walls to start, okay? We literally have to remodel our bathroom, too. We had a leak. So I'm like, God, you're funny. Let it out, Alexis. Let it out, let it out. Vision Sunday, though, we'll see you in person. We cannot wait.

I'm excited for the word of the year. Be praying, come with hearts and spirits ready to receive. I also want to say this. We love you so much, and we're praying for you. And no matter how cold it is outside, I want to let you know that you are surrounded, you are cared for, you are loved, you are valued. You are seen in San Antonio, in Frisco, in Dallas, Bishop Arts Oak Cliff, online family, Guatemala, wherever you are at. We love you so much. Have a wonderful, wonderful week. We will see you next week. God bless. Bye. God bless. Bye. God bless. Bye. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪