Former ONEs Panel

Really glad you're with us today. I've been excited about this week and looking forward to this for some time. If you've been with us for the past few weeks, you know that we have been talking about God's love for those who are far from him and his call to us to be a church that reflects God's heart, for the one, for that person who is still wandering, that person who has not yet found their way home. So we've talked about the basics of the gospel, which we would just summarize like this, a big God whose vast power and love are beyond our understanding and imagination. We've talked about our adversary, the devil, who wants to obstruct the work of God in our lives by luring us, derailing us into sin.

We've talked about God's solution to our sin problem, which was to personally put on flesh and die in our place. We've talked about God's invitation to join his family through our trust in Jesus and God's plan to lead us to a changed Holy Spirit transformed life and how we step into that new life through complete surrender to God. We've talked about three stories that Jesus told in Luke chapter 15, about a lost sheep and a lost coin and a lost son that illustrate God's loving and compassionate desire to welcome lost people home. And we've talked about how each and every one of us have the opportunity to inspire others to follow Jesus by developing friendships and discovering stories and discerning next steps. Now one of the simplest, most famous biblical summaries of the gospel message is found in John chapter 3.

There are many of these in Scripture, but this is one that many of us probably know well already, where it simply says that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. In a nutshell, those three verses in John chapter three stress to us that God loves all people, the whole world, everybody, and yet all people are guilty of sin, which condemns us and separates us from God. So God Himself, in the person of Jesus, put on flesh, and he experienced condemnation in our place at the cross.

He suffered the penalty for our sins so that we wouldn't have to. And when we trust his sacrifice, we trade condemnation. We Trade separation. We trade hell for eternal life. And sharing that hopeful message about Jesus is why our church exists.

And to illustrate how that process often works, I've invited some friends who have recently begun following Jesus to share some pieces of their stories with us today. So would you please join me in welcoming them to the stage with us?

Good morning, guys. It's great to see you.

Been looking forward to this for a long time now. We've had a little bit of opportunity to get acquainted already, but because you. You may not be familiar faces to everybody else out there, would you help us just by quickly introducing yourselves and letting us know how long you've been at GCC with us? Yeah. My name is Mackenzie and I've been at GCC since May of 25.

And I'm Nikki. I've been coming here about three years now. I'm Brandon. I've been coming to GCC since April of 22. I'm Elisa and I've been coming to GCC since May of 2025.

Okay, so we have two May of 2025 people. That was a. That was a big month around here. Well, I just want to ask all of you, for starters, just to share with us in a nutshell, what was your life like and maybe tell us a little bit about what your attitude toward faith was like before you knew Jesus. And Mackenzie, we'll just start with you on this one if we could.

Yeah. So I actually came from a background in church. I went to this real itty bitty church in my hometown, and we went every Sunday. There was one day in our little Sunday school where the teacher straight, like, she made an announcement or said something along the lines of, if you back talk your parents, you're going to hell. And my mom will be here next service.

And she can confirm if that was the case, I should have just given up. Then I was like, it's done. And, and as silly as that sounds, that stayed with me for a good portion of my life. The attitude of, well, there's no point in trying, so I'm not going to.

And then just being a young girl in today's society without having that foundation that led to eating disorders and not having very many friends, not being able to retain friends, and just feeling overall worthless. I can remember crying in my mom's lap, just begging for friends. And as far as my attitude towards faith, I would see people from. From my hometown do really bad things and then turn to Jesus out of nowhere. So my attitude kind of became like, when I would see people get baptized out of nowhere, it was like, wow, like, what bad thing are you trying to cover up?

Thanks for sharing that with us. Nikki, what about you? So I was actually raised in a Catholic church, so I just know that on Sundays you get up early and you get dressed up and you go to church. That's just what you do. Then as I got older, we went to church less and less.

And then the teenage years started and started falling in with the wrong crowd, dealing with self esteem issues and mental health and eventually drinking. And then when I was a junior senior in high school, I actually joined a worship team. And so I felt God's presence in my life really, really strong. Then I graduated and we went back into bad group of people making bad decisions. And God just wasn' a priority for me at that point.

Okay. Okay, Brandon. Yeah. So first I was a betting man, and I would have never bet that I would be up on stage talking about what my life was like now, knowing Jesus. So that's one thing.

In fact, most of my life before I met Jesus was probably too inappropriate to discuss here on stage. So I'll keep it pretty simple. I was lost. I was a person who often took advantage of a lot of the people in my life to get what I needed. I routinely sought out bad influences and kept them in my life far too long.

And unfortunately, I was also a person who found a little joy in telling people that their faith in God was a waste of time. The word hope for me was a cop out, and I firmly believed that the people who had used the word hope were weak. So my attitude towards faith most of my life was pretty simple. It was unnecessary. Alisa, what about you?

For me, my life before Jesus was mainly spent flitting from one thing to another, just trying to find anything positive in my life. I would say I made little gods out of everything around me, including motherhood. And it just did not fill that hole that was so deep in my heart. Okay, well, I appreciate you guys. I know it's challenging to get up in front of a bunch of people and share personal things.

So thank you so much for being willing to do this. One of the things we've talked about and I would love for you to talk about here with our friends a little bit is just. What was it? Given the story that you've already shared, what was it that prompted you to begin thinking about faith, thinking about going to church or thinking about Christianity or Jesus in a new and different way? And I'm gonna start with Nikki this time.

So my grandparents always set A really good example for me of kind of how to live life believing in Jesus. But then in 2023, my son Derek actually found a church, started going to a Thursday group with his friends, which eventually turned into going to church on Sundays, and which I was so proud of him. And I remember at the same time feeling a sense of guilt that I wasn't the one that set that example for him, that church is something that's important. So I decided to start going with him just to support him. Okay.

Brandon? Yeah. So it kind of started for me with Shelby and I. We were at a pretty rough point in our life because we had drifted apart from a lot of our friend groups. Either they were in a different place than we were, or they were still stuck in places that we didn't want to be anymore.

We didn't really know where to turn, because the idea is, well, where do you go find good people to do life with. This is when we now, looking back, we realize that this is the Holy Spirit first placing that, giving us that first nudge. And church came to mind. We didn't know a whole lot outside of at least church checked off the good moral compass box. And the people there are supposed to be inviting.

They're supposed to be warm. It took us several months after that thought kind of hit us that we should give church a shot. But I will absolutely say that when my family and I came to GCC for the first time, you guys really were inviting. So I thank each of you for being inviting because we wanted to come back. That's fantastic.

Thank you for sharing that with us. Elisa, what about you? I'll be honest. My life was a mess. I just realized what I was doing wasn't working.

So I came into community with people I already admired here. I was less afraid here than I was other places because I'd seen people out and about in my work with the autism community that I knew would be safe people. So I came here to just explore my faith and see how things would go. Okay. Okay, Mac.

So I went through all of middle school and about halfway through high school before I ever considered anything about religion ever again. For reference, I was a freshman when Covid hit. Not to make anybody feel old, but that's a lot of time for a teenage girl to be stuck inside on her phone looking at other people's lives. And so about halfway through high school, I started dating this guy who was Catholic, and we went to Saturday mass every single week together, and we would go to these events, and there was just something about the people gathered there together that I found so powerful. And naturally we broke up.

We were 16, whatever. And I would like be in college eventually and I would look back on that time and wonder what made me so happy. It wasn't the guy. I knew that. No shade to him, but it just.

We were kids, right? It wasn't him. So I kind of was looking for this thing that I didn't know like what it was, I guess. And there was also like a lot of girls on like my TikTok page because you know, I love my phone. So I'd be scrolling all the time and they just had this thing about them and from the outside looking in, you really can't tell what it is.

But that was my step. Like they all were religious in some way and that was kind of what piqued my interest, if that makes sense. Okay, absolutely. Well, one of the things you've all shared with me in different ways is that a significant factor in your journey to faith was relationships with people who already knew Jesus and who helped you come along. So Nikki, I'm start with you again here if I could and just ask, what role did your relationships with Christian people play in.

In helping you come to faith? So again, I mentioned my grandma and pap. They were such a strong example for me. They had such a strong marriage that was based around God and about family, serving others and just working hard. So I always knew that that's what I wanted to have.

I never really put a lot of thought into thinking how to get there. I just knew that that's what I wanted for my life. Okay. Yeah. So early into us coming to gcc, I actually took you up on your offer that you talk about often here at the end of church and if you got something you want to talk with us about, reach out.

I reached out because I was struggling and I really needed to understand what forgiveness actually meant. You were nice enough to give me two hours of your time. That two hour conversation quickly led to let's meet for coffee. And then I've had the pleasure of getting to meet with you for going on three years now and just learning and growing deeper in what my faith looks like. Wasn't just Matt.

There's a lot of people in this church that have really helped. Specifically after we made church a priority, the Holy Spirit prompted us to take a class. In that class the second week, we were introduced to Sandy and Larry Davis. And during that class, not only did we meet them, but Sandy personally introduced me to Jesus Christ. She didn't do it by just throwing a Bible in my face and asking me, do you know Jesus as your Lord and savior?

She actually did it in a pretty profound way. She said the Holy Spirit had shared a song with her and it was called Forgiveness. So that, that got our attention quickly. That relationship turned from just, hi, how are you doing? How's work?

To inviting us to their events, getting to meet all of their people. Larry actually got me to join the fishing club. I don't fish at all, so that wasn't great, but I wanted to meet people. Larry also got me to come to the 8 o' clock men's study. I don't get up early in the morning, so that was a pretty rude wake up.

But. But looking back on it now, those relationships and those experience, they really just fueled my curiosity and they just kept me wanting more.

That's great. And it was exciting to be a little bit of a part of that story and watch all that unfold. Lisa, what about you? As I started cleaning up my life, naturally, a lot of my bad influences kind of just fell away from me. And what was left were the Christian people in my life that were willing to talk to me and really do battle with me in conversation.

I was not entirely prepared for that. It was very emotional. It was a hard bit of time, to be honest. But it's what led me to come to GCC and start talking with people like John Veach, who got me into going to the women's group where I've met all these wonderful Women at the 8:00-clock Early Early Bible study and really learned more about my faith and grown it and ultimately made the decision to get baptized this August. Fantastic.

Mac, what about you? So I, as I was in college, I already had a little bit of a lingering question about faith. And I had the pleasure of meeting my now roommate, Brenna, who just screams the love of God from the rooftop. And I was always able to go to her with questions, and it was never dismissive. It was like she would talk to me with nothing but, like, humility and kindness.

And I was in a really tough living situation last year and my entire apartment flooded. And I was at our university's chapel. I was gonna go watch her sing there. And she looked at me and she was like, hey, so. So you've been praying for a way to get out of this apartment.

And it was kind of like that moment that I saw, like, true Christianity. It felt like. And it was something that I've held onto. And at the time, after that experience at our University's chapel. I started hopping around from church to church in the area and eventually I was brought actually to a rehearsal, not even to a service by a friend of mine.

And yeah, well we're so glad that you all are here. And different relational paths kind of brought you to this point. One of the things I always want to talk about, and you've got some great things to share here, is what was it that ultimately prompted you to go from just like knowing some Christian people and thinking they were good people and you're glad to have them in your life to deciding to commit your life to Jesus? Brandon, would you start us off on this one? Yeah.

So like Nikki, I was raised in a Catholic church and so I got baptized when I was five, so I don't remember any of it. And to be honest, it didn't really mean anything to me growing up because it was my parents decision for me. And honestly I didn't know who Jesus was, so there wasn't really a point in following him. So when I became an adult it was my choice and sadly I didn't choose Jesus. But now as I look back on it, it makes total sense why.

And it was again that lack of relationship. In December of 23, after our world had been completely flipped upside down, everything was spiraling out of control and we didn't really know where to turn. That's the first time that I heard the voice of God. I remember laying on my office floor sobbing, not really knowing what to do next. But all I could hear was the Christians in my life just saying, give it to God.

It's funny that you ask this question this way because when I decided to give it to God and tell him he has to take control, the only thing that I heard was, was the word commit.

I can proudly say that after 25 years of being lost, wandering aimlessly in my own Desert, on June 13th of 2023, my lost was done. I committed my life to Jesus right over there in the water. You were the one that baptized me. And this time it was different because it was my choice and I knew who I was following. Amen.

Great moment. Yeah. Excited about that.

Yeah. Really special moment. Alisa, what about you? What was it that prompted you to finally step over that line? What made me step from research over to fully committing to Jesus was really seeing that there is enough evidence out there to prove that the Bible and thus Christianity is true.

Because I am a very literal person and a very black and white thinker. That was my biggest step, was just seeing that there was a logical reason to be a follower of Christ and to give your life to Christ. For a lot of women, it's emotional. For me, I am emotional, but I'm logically driven. And so for me, having those people in my life to do battle with me, including Aiden and Mandy, who upset me deeply for months but loved on me a lot, are who prompted me to do that research and really connect with it and realize it was the truth.

And it made everything, every song make more sense, every piece of scripture really ring true for me versus just being facts on a page. Yeah, and I love that emphasis. This is not just an emotional thing. There are solid, logical, rational reasons to believe what we believe. So thank you so much for sharing that.

Mac, what about you? For me, getting involved here was the biggest thing that made me step over that line. From the moment I got here, I had Chris and Joel telling me that everything that I thought I couldn't do, too bad, do it anyways because you can do it. We have a joke about a QR code in the face. It was my third time here and he was like, guess what, you're playing guitar.

And so now I do that. But they are just the most encouraging people. They took out absolute blind faith in me. I was just a stranger, I was just some kid. And they were like, yeah, you know, post on our social media, do this, do that.

And if I, like I said, if I was ever thinking I couldn't do it, they were the first people to tell me like, yes, you can. And they saw something in me that I can't see in myself. And that kind of just led to that feeling of like community. I remember my first rehearsal here. Omar, who just played the drums, was waiting in the parking lot.

We were the only two cars and he jumped out of his truck and he was like, let me show you around. He showed me where all the snacks were. He showed me around just everywhere that I would need to know, like the young adults class, things like that. Lydia, our kids director here took me to the hospital when I had the stomach flu. She didn't even care that she might get it.

And the Howie's have constantly welcomed me into their house. You knew my name after one time of me like telling you. And that thinking back to those times of crying in my mom's lap of like one, what am I missing? Like what's wrong with me? Why don't I have friends?

It all made sense. This is what I was missing. And these are the friends that I cried and begged for my whole life. And I think it's funny that we both came here in the same month. We also got baptized the same month.

I got baptized in August of last year. I love that. Thanks for sharing with us. And, Nikki, I know you've got a story to tell here, too. Yeah.

So everything started with my son Derek. As I mentioned, I remember the first time that I went to church with him. We went there and worship started, and worship has always been a deep connection for me. As soon as the worship started, I got this lump in my throat, and my eyes started tearing up, and I can just feel God pulling on my heart. Then at the end, my son actually raised his hand and said that he wanted to be baptized.

I was so proud of him. I couldn't believe that he was ready to take that step. So that then made me look at my life and. And realize, okay, where's your relationship with God? And I realized that I didn't have one.

So I asked him if he would be willing to go with me to try a different church. That church was fantastic. I could just tell it wasn't the right fit for me. So I thought, well, Greenwood Christian, my son actually played basketball here, like, five years before. Two minutes from the house, I was like, wow, this is great.

Let's try it. So we came here. Everybody was so warm. Everybody was so kind. Matt, I loved the way that you preached, so everything just felt great.

Then again, that worship started, and the lump of my throat started and the tears started, and I could just feel God saying, hey, I'm still here. I know that you've been away for a while, but I'm still here. And that feeling stayed for, like, three months. I mean, every Sunday, the lump, the holding back, the tears, that just. It kept happening.

So after the three months, you always talk about doing the next step classes, which I actually met Alisa in that. I was like, okay, let's see what this church is about. So I went to the class. Loved it. I loved everything about the mission of the church.

I loved the people that I met, and I just knew that I was exactly where I needed to be. So shortly after that, I actually met John Veach, and he asked me if I would be a part of, like, a small team that was working on the new hair space. And I remember just kind of feeling excited that he even thought of me. And I was like, yeah, absolutely. I would love that.

So then I started doing a couple Bible studies, met some amazing women who have helped me build in my faith. And once we started doing the worship class, I Decided to start reading my Bible, which is sad to say, at 41 years old, I had never actually done so I thought that would be a good place to start. And I will Never forget on April 19, it was two in the morning and I was struggling to sleep. My brain was just kind of going crazy. And I just kept thinking, get up, read your Bible, calm your brain.

So I did. And at the time, I was in the book of Psalms, and I will Never forget, at 4:07, I was reading Psalms 57, verse 9 and 10 that says, I will praise you, Lord, among the nations, I will sing of you among the people. For great is your love reaching the heavens, your faithfulness reaches the sky. And I literally fell to the ground at that moment, just in tears. I felt the Holy Spirit in a way that I don't even know how to explain.

I had this sense of clarity and understanding about so many things that I had struggled to understand in my life. And God literally showed me, even when you didn't know it, I was right there with you the whole time. I never gave up on you. My plan for you never changed. And that was amazing to feel.

So I was excited. And I realized for the first time that there's a difference between believing in God and living for God. And I said to him right then and there, like, I'm going to live for you. I've been doing it wrong this whole time, stressing about things that it didn't matter. It was all about my plan that he had for me.

So that was it for me. Well, I love hearing your stories, and I know you've hinted at this a little bit already, but I want to ask, starting with Brandon this time, if you could describe in a few words for us, how is your life different now than it was before you met Jesus? Yeah. So for starters, it is really hard to say no.

You really get into kingdom work, and I love doing kingdom work. And another thing that I love about it is it's not about me anymore. I feel like I now understand a little bit more about how Christians say that God has this ability to transform and renew you. And it started to make sense. I cared about everything more.

I was more empathetic. I was more compassionate. I lived my life before Jesus by the saying of what's in it for me? And I now know that the way that I look at it is it's, what can I do for him?

What's my life like now? I'm involved in so many things. I'm a part of the young adult ministry Here, I'm a part of the men's ministry. I'm a part of a ministry that some of you guys know called Trace Dias. And if you don't, I'd be happy to talk to you about it.

My wife and I are in a life group where we meet regularly, and we're both in a couple Bible studies. Like I said already, I love doing kingdom work, and it's because I know who I'm working for. Elisa, same question. I would say that I am less stressed about things I cannot control. Now, it doesn't mean that stress doesn't get to me, but it's less about, what am I gonna do?

Brandon, when you talked about your phrase being what's in it for me? My phrase was, what am I gonna do? Like, the sky is falling type situation all the time. I'm like, what's God gonna do? I think everything's gonna be okay, actually, one way or another.

And that really changed how I approach life and how I approach other people is I'm just way less stressed to do it. Super, super. Mac, what about you? I've always been a super anxious person, if you couldn't tell by everything about me. But it used to be much worse.

And I remember after experiencing everything that happened here over the summer, I went home to my mom, and my mom looked at me and she was like, well, you don't worry about much of anything anymore, do you? And that's when I started to notice a change in myself. A big thing also is I have a lot of life left to live. But I also thought I had it all figured out. I thought for sure I was going to go into the music scene, move to New York right after graduation, whatever.

And a couple months ago, I got my call into ministry, which is so terrifying and so exciting, but it's just never where I ever thought my life would take me. And so I guess the short answer would be just that everything has changed, Nikki. So for me, everything is just so much better. I have this excitement for life, this joy and this peace that I just can't explain. Then June 1st of last year, I was actually baptized.

And as I mentioned before, I was raised Catholic. And so I was baptized as a child, so I didn't even think that that was an option. And then I talked to John a little bit more about it and realized that I wanted to do it in a way of rededicating my life to Jesus, so. And the coolest thing about it was that my pap got to baptize me and he was such a huge role in my life, you know, of God. So he did that for me, and that was absolutely amazing.

So it was just. Everything is so much better. It's so much better. Well, I'm so grateful for your willingness to share with us. The last thing I want to ask each of you.

Nikki, I'm gonna start with you again here is just if you could offer any word of encouragement to someone who maybe like yourself a year or two or three ago, is here with us today. And they're spiritually curious, but they're also a little bit hesitant, not sure what to do or what the next step would look like. When it comes to Jesus and faith, what encouragement, if any, would you offer to them? Well, first of all, I get it. I completely get it.

We live in a world, sadly, where people are very hypocritical. They say one thing and they do another thing. And we have so many people that call themselves Christians, but they spew hatred and they're so quick to tell people what they're doing wrong. And that is just not Jesus. That is not.

That's just not him. We're doing a Bible study right now on First Peter. And in First Peter verse or chapter 13, verse 15, it says, but in your heart, revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for your hope, but do so with gentleness and respect. And I think that that's what so many people are missing.

And I hope, and I wish that all Christians would. Would take that on heart a little bit more, because God is so loving, he is so merciful, he is so forgiving, and he's always really wanting to meet you where you are, no matter where that is. And some people are like, oh, you don't know my past, or you don't know what I've done. It doesn't matter. God will take it from you.

He will scratch it, and he will just be there to love you. And we're not saying that becoming a Christian is going to make your life peachy. Like, you're going to have struggles. And in the Bible, it says over and over, you're going to have struggles, you're going to have trials, but when you have him in your corner and you take those things that you feel like you can't hold and you say, God, I'm giving it to you, it's a freeing feeling that I would wish for anybody. So if you are curious or on the fence, I am saying, go for it.

Your life will never be the same. Thank you. Thank you, Brandon. Yeah. If I guess if I were to try to give some encouragement to anyone who maybe was living a life that I lived, take our examples right here as testimony.

We were people that didn't think that we would be here, and yet we are. And it's because God met us right where we were. We've been learning throughout this whole series that Jesus is going to pursue you. It's our job to seek Him. So no matter where you are in your life, I still struggle with who I am.

What am I supposed to do? I still have so many questions that I don't have answers to. But one truth that I've learned and that I hold near and dear to my heart, and I hope and I pray that maybe one of you or multiple of you can hold it near and dear to yours, is that he has plans for you. It says it in Jeremiah 29, verse 11. Check it out for yourself.

He has plans for you. So if you're still questioning, if you're not sure exactly where you are, always remember that he's right there and he has big plans for you. Amen. Amen. Lisa, I would say that if you're a skeptic like I was, and you need that logical component, there's plenty of research you can do on your own to find that the Bible is true and that Christianity is true, I would say that the emotions can come after, and there's nothing wrong with that.

And they will come. Don't worry. I never imagined I'd be up here talking about this, but I would say you can always come home. He's right there. Amen.

Amen. Mac, I want to speak directly to the teenagers, the middle schoolers. They'll probably be more in second service, but I know what it's like to go to church every Sunday because that's what you're supposed to do and have questions in the back of your mind or have an experience that just doesn't sit right with you. And that is when I think it can be tempting to kind of derail a little bit. But I just want to encourage everyone that there is not a single thing in this world that will fill that hole in your heart.

Not that friend group, not a number on the scale, not a grade on a test, not a. Not a compliment from a teacher. There's literally nothing except for Jesus. Guys, I'm so grateful for your willingness to share with us. Would you join me in thanking them for sharing with us today?

Guys, thank you so much. They're going to be available after the service to chat with you if you would like to do that. I know it takes courage to get up here, and I'm grateful for all of your willingness to do that. You know, one of the things that you heard this morning is that all four used to be ones, and it wasn't all that long ago. And as we listen to their stories, I don't know if you detected these things, but there's some things that jumped out at me.

I noticed specifically some things that we did not hear. You know, one of the things we did not hear is that any of them came to faith because of something a total stranger said to them. Did you notice that? Another thing that none of them talked about was how their decision to follow Jesus just hinged on this one single, dynamic, irresistible explanation of the gospel. That's not how it worked for them.

What we did here is that God used a variety of different circumstances to awaken within each of them a spiritual hunger that told them there was something else out there that they just hadn't found yet. And God used friendships with Christian people to help them get to know Him. We heard all of them say that they're now following Jesus and they are changed people. They're not who they used to be, but they're also not who they're going to be. They're still growing.

They have a lot of growing left to do, and they're all still learning what it means to give everything to Jesus. What God has been doing in their lives, he's also doing in the lives of many other people. These are not the only four stories we can tell. These are just four stories we happen to be aware of. But there are many more stories like these being written right now.

Some of us are discovering Jesus right now. Others of us are walking alongside other people as they are discovering Jesus and they're exploring faith. So if you identify with the one, that person who is still looking for truth and meaning that you haven't found yet. Our prayer is that you are beginning to discover, like all four of our friends have, that God loves you right where you are and that he wants to welcome you home. That he wants to begin to transform your life from the inside out.

And if you know Jesus today in a personal way, I want to remind you that just like me, you used to be a one. There was a time in your life when the hope that you have now was not the reality. And our prayer is that you are seeing how God wants to use you. Your life as a roadmap to help other ones find their way home. About 18 months ago, we were all challenged to identify ones in our lives.

And remember, when we talk about ones, we're simply talking about people who are near to us but who are far from God. So 18 months ago we were all challenged to identify a one in our life and to begin praying that God would use to draw that person closer to himself. And starting that day. And in the months since, hundreds of us have written the names of our ones in Sharpie marker on some plastic balls that have gradually filled up. This giant number one that's on the stage behind me and that one that has been out in our commons for the last 18 months, really up until we started.

This series has been a reminder of God's heart and ultimately our desire as a church to reflect God's heart for the One. Now, I don't know what's happened to your ones since that moment 18 months ago. It's possible that you're still praying for them, that you're still looking for ways to encourage them and bless them and spend time with them. It's possible that you've gotten to celebrate the moment that your One decided to hand the reins of their life to Jesus and follow Him. It's also possible because life happens, that that whole thing has sort of drifted off of your radar.

So what I want to make clear this morning is that being a church for the One is not just a sermon series. Okay? It's not just a season. This is not a fad. This is not a phase.

It's a core reason why the church exists and what God calls us to be about. So just like back in 2024, I want to challenge you all over again today to identify your one who might be a friend or a neighbor or a co worker or a classmate. It could be a family member. The challenge is not for you to instantly or single handedly lead them to Jesus, but to pray for them and to continue developing that friendship, continue discovering their story, continue discerning next steps as you show them and tell them about God's love for them. Along the front of the stage here, you can see we have some baskets that are full of those multicolored plastic balls.

There are some little baskets of markers. And what we're going to do here in just a moment is we're going to stand together. We're going to sing the song Unite Us that has become an anthem for us as a church. This is a song that the Joel And Chris wrote 18 months ago in the midst of Our. Our last for the one teaching series.

And we want to ask you this morning to think of this song not just as a song, but as a prayer. It's not just a declaration. It's an aspiration of the kind of church that we want to be. So as we sing, we're just going to invite you, if God lays someone on your heart, to make your way down to the front and take one of those plastic balls and one of those markers and write that person's first name on that ball and drop it in any one of these clear plastic containers you see here on the front of the stage. If you have more than one one, you are welcome to fill out more than one plastic ball.

We want to use this time as a renewed prayer that God would continue using each of us to show others his love, to serve others, to meet their needs in the name of Jesus and to give the ones in our lives an opportunity to see and to hear and to experience the hope of the gospel through us. Would you pray with me? And then we'll stand and we're going to continue to pray. We're just going to do it in the form of a song. Father.

God, we're thankful this morning for your left word, us, For your relentless, compassionate pursuit of us, your refusal, God, to content yourself with allowing us to. To live and to die at a distance from you. We're thankful for your willingness to put on flesh, to show us what a life of complete surrender looks like and then to give that perfect life on the cross in our place for our sins, to remove that barrier of guilt and condemnation and separation from us. So that we can be a part of your family, Father, so that we can be your children and so that we can become your ambassadors and be used by you to let others in our lives know that that very same hope, that very same welcome and invitation extends to them as well. Father, we're about to sing some words that to many of us are familiar.

But, God, our prayer is that you would make us one with your heart for the one. We pray that as a church, Father, you would help us as we love one another, as we experience spiritual community together. Help us to always do that, Father, with an openness to having others join. Help us to always do that with open eyes, just cognizant of the fact that there were always people among us who are looking for you, who may not even recognize that you are what they're looking for, but who are searching for hope and for purpose and for meaning. And, Father, all of us who know you have been called by you to be a part of helping them to discover that.

So God, we ask you here in this moment to bring people to mind that you want to put on our heart, that you want us to continue to pray for and to continue to connect with and to continue to encourage as they seek the meaning and the hope and the purpose that only you're able to offer. Father, we love you and we thank you for your incredible love for us. We pray all these things in Jesus name, Amen.

Beyond the crowd, beyond the music, beyond the lights, beyond the preaching, beyond the atmosphere. You're welcome here.

Beyond a pin, beyond emotion, beyond religion, beyond our devotion, beyond what we can breathe. You're working. He.

Said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail. Jesus, would you start with us?

Unite us, we pray.

Unite us, we pray.

Make us one like the Father, Spirit and Son O God, make us holy God, make us one. Unite us.

Beyond the walls, beyond the building.

Every people, every nation beyond what we can see. You're moving.

Oh, you said I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail. Jesus, would you start with us?

Unite us. Unite us, we pray.

Unite us, we pray.

Make us one like the Father, Spirit and Son oh God, make us holy God make us one Unite us, we pray Unite us to pray.

Make us one like the Father, Spirit and Son oh God, make us holy and God, make us one. Unite.

Jesus, we're grateful that you are one who ran after us who came running after us in the middle of our mistakes in the middle of our mess Would you help us to have that same heart today? Make us one with the heart for the one make us one with the heart for the one make us one with our eyes on one Unite us, unite us make us one with the heart for the one make us one with the heart for the one make us one with our eyes on one Would you unite us, unite us make us one with the heart for the one make us one with the heart for the one make us one with our eyes on one Would you unite us, unite us make us one with heart for the one make us one with the heart for the one make us one with our eyes on one Would unite us Unite us unite us, we pray. Come on, sing it. Church.

See God make us one Unite us, we pray Unite us, we pray make us one like the Father, Spirit and Son oh God, make us holy God, make us as one oh God, make us holy God make us one oh God, make us holy God, make us one. Unite.

Amen. That's our prayer. It's a beautiful thing. They're just plastic balls, but they represent people's lives. And to see our willingness as a church to not just talk about that, not just come here and sing about it, but to commit ourselves to going out there as a part of our daily routines and developing friendships, discovering stories, discerning next steps in drawing people to Jesus.

That's what we want to be about, because that's what Jesus was about. And we want to reflect his heart. Every time we're together, we want to offer some very practical and simple opportunities for you to take a next step. One of the things that's just built into our our life, our routine as a church, is a series of classes called Next Steps. You heard about that from the stage.

Both Nikki and Elisa went through those classes together. Our next round of the Next Steps classes, which begins the Discover Session, happens next Sunday, March 1, at the 11 o' clock service. We would love for you to be a part of that at any time. This is true for all of our friends online, as well as all of us here in the room. You can text the word next to the number you see on the screen to 317-707-9997.

Just let us know what God is stirring within you. We would love to come alongside you, meet you right now there and begin a conversation. And you know that every Sunday when we gather, there are some people who are available right here to talk and to pray with us. I'm going to invite our Next Step team to go ahead and make their way up here to the front. If you'd like to talk with someone, even this morning, pray with someone.

If you have questions about what is my next step, how do I get more connected with this church, or how do I learn more about Jesus and what he is calling me to in my life? We would love to meet you right there and begin that conversation. Very, very rarely does anyone go from zero to Jesus in 3.2 seconds. It's a process of gaining understanding through building relationships and doing a lot of exploration. And we just want to walk alongside each other in that process.

As I mentioned before, all of our panelists will be down on the floor afterwards as well. And if you'd like to talk with any of them, I know that they would be encouraged to hear from you. As we go, our focus doesn't change, but our location does. So let's take the hope of Jesus with us. Let's be a church that is united as one with God's heart For the one we love you God bless you.

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