One Word for 2026

Advance

Good morning, Church.

Go ahead and grab your Bibles and make your way to Philippians 3.

Happy New Year, everybody. Look around for a second—you’re sitting next to the most faithful people in the church.

Because today, everyone here has perfect attendance for 2026 so far. One week in, 100%. Ushers are impressed. Deacons are proud. Enjoy it.

Some ya’ll look like ya’ll are already down 10 pounds.

But that’s how New Year’s works, right? Fresh start. Clean slate. Gym memberships are active. Bibles are open to Genesis. Everyone’s got a plan. Everyone’s optimistic. This is the year.

And that’s not a bad thing. There’s something wired into us that wants forward motion.

Nobody wakes up on January 1st and says, “You know what I really hope for this year? That nothing changes. I’m in the same spot mentally, physically, financially.

No one is praying to stay the same. Especially in our walk with the Lord, right. No one wants Spiritual stagnation. No one’s praying, “Lord, help me stay exactly the same.”

We want progress. We want growth. We want something different.

That’s why my word for this year is Advance.

Not because we’re unhappy with the past—but because God is not finished with us yet. And that’s an important distinction.

This isn’t dissatisfaction; it’s devotion.

We’re grateful for what God has done, but we’re hungry for more of who He is. We don’t want to just know more about the Lord—we want to grow in our love for Him, our admiration of Him, our affection for Him. We want deeper relationship, not just better routines.

Because growth in Christ is never about checking boxes. It’s about closeness. It’s about abiding. It’s about waking up and saying, “Lord, I don’t want to stay where I am spiritually. I want to know You more this year than I did last year.”

And the beautiful thing about that is we can never get to the bottom of knowing God. Whether your a Baby Christian or been a Christian since the Truman Administration, there is always some new we can learn when we open up God’s Word and dive into it.

Every year when I choose a word, I always have three things in mind.

When I was a Student Pastor- it was me, my family, and the student ministry.

Now it’s me, my family, and this body of believers.

First—me. How do I advance in 2026? Where do I need to grow? Where have I gotten comfortable? Where has my walk with Jesus become familiar instead of fresh? Pastors don’t outgrow the need to be discipled. I don’t want to preach about advancing while personally standing still.

Second—my family. What does it look like for us to advance together? How do we grow in love for the Lord in our home? How do we prioritize Christ not just in what we say we believe, but in how we live, how we speak, how we lead, and how we follow Him together? I don’t want a growing church and a stagnant home.

And third—this body of believers. What does it mean for us to advance? This church. These people. This family that gathers week after week in this building. Us. We are Cedar Bay Baptist Church. Not this building. Its the people who come to this building that make up Cedar Bay Baptist Church.

How do we grow deeper in our love for Jesus? How do we make stronger disciples? How do we move forward faithfully, courageously, and obediently—so that when people encounter us, they don’t just see activity, but they see Christ?

That’s why the word is Advance. Because God is still working. Still shaping. Still calling us forward.

And maybe you’ve already noticed—or maybe you haven’t—that inside the bulletin, the Mission Statement of the church is different. The words are different but the mission is still the same.

In case you didn’t know, the mission statement from a previous time, and previous pastor was written with good intentions but it was dense and it was wordy. And honestly, it reflects the season it was written in. That doesn’t make it wrong—it makes it dated.

Church language changes over time. Culture changes. Attention spans change. And if we’re serious about making disciples in this generation, clarity matters. A mission statement shouldn’t require explanation every time it’s read. People should be able to hear it once, remember it, and repeat it.

The Mission Statement was “To engage North Jacksonville and beyond with the marvelous gospel of salvation through Christ; to equip the believer through the ministries of discipleship and to exalt our majestic God through worship, praise, service and surrender. He alone is worthy!”

Its a beautiful statement but its pretty wordy.

That’s why it was eventually shortened to Equip the Saints, Engage the Lost, Exalt the Lord—same theology, clearer language.

And what we’re doing now is simply the next step in that same direction. Not watering anything down. Not moving away from Scripture. But expressing the mission in a way that is clear, memorable, and actionable for where we are now and where God is taking us.

Our mission is simple and biblical: “To make strong disciples who know God’s Word, live God’s way, and advance God’s mission.”

Nobody wakes up and says, “I’d really like to be a weak disciple.” Nobody aspires to shallow faith or fragile convictions. And here at Cedar Bay, our goal—our prayer—our aim—is to make strong disciples.

Strong disciples know God’s Word. Not just verses they’ve heard, but truth they believe, understand, and stand on. And when we know God’s Word, it doesn’t just inform us—it transforms us. It works from the inside out. It reshapes our thinking, our desires, our decisions.

And as God’s Word changes us, we begin to live God’s way. Our lives start to look different. Our priorities shift. Our homes change. Our marriages change. Our conversations change. Obedience becomes joy, not burden.

And when disciples know God’s Word and live God’s way, the result is that we advance God’s mission. We don’t sit still. We don’t turn inward. We don’t get comfortable. We obey the call of Jesus to go and make disciples of all nations.

That’s what advancing looks like. Not chasing trends. Not growing for the sake of growth. But men, women, students, and families being shaped by Scripture, transformed by Christ, and sent into the world on mission.

The wording may be sharper. The focus more clear. But the heartbeat is the same. We exist for one reason—to make strong disciples for the glory of God and the advancement of His Kingdom.

And church, that’s where the tension sits. Because if I’m being honest—and I need to be honest—I can’t say with full confidence that we are currently making strong disciples across the board. Not because there isn’t good intent. Not because there isn’t activity. But because activity is not the same thing as discipleship.

And that’s why in two weeks, on January 18th, I’m going to walk us through what this actually looks like lived out in this body of believers. I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself today, but I will tell you this—it’s going to require five commitments from all of us.

Every member being a disciple-maker

Every Ministry Serving the Mission

Every Trellis Supporting the Vine.

Every Leader Raising another leader.

Every gathering leading to scatter on Mission.

When those 5 things are incorporated church-wide. and I mean incorporated not just thrown in or sprinkled on top like we are fulfilling what we have to do to call it a church ministry. The days of us just gathering together and just throwing in a devotional on top and calling that a church ministry aren’t happening anymore.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t times when we don’t come together as a church family, when ministries have social aspects to them but if that’s all that ministry does, then we either realign it or we are going to retire it. Because advancing the mission requires focus.

Now here’s why I’m telling you all of this.

Because this isn’t just a church strategy. This is a biblical posture. This isn’t something we came up with in a meeting. This is the heartbeat of the Christian life.

And that’s exactly what the apostle Paul shows us in Philippians chapter 3.

In fact, lets read Philippians 3:13-14 together

Philippians 3:13–14 ESV

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Pray

Paul looks at his own life—his past, his success, his credentials, his failures—and he says, “I’m not done. I haven’t arrived. I’m not standing still.” Instead, he says, “One thing I do… forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on.”

In other words, Paul is saying: the Christian life only moves in one direction—forward.

And if that’s true for an apostle, then it has to be true for us.

#1- Advancing Requires Holy Dissatisfaction

Paul begins Philippians 3:13 with a statement that should immediately confront us: “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.” That sentence alone dismantles one of the greatest lies believers tell themselves, and that is the idea that spiritual longevity equals spiritual maturity.

Paul had more spiritual credentials than anyone listening to him. Yet instead of claiming arrival, he confesses ongoing pursuit. That posture is not weakness. It is strength. Scripture consistently affirms that those who belong to God are never finished products in this life.

Proverbs 4:18 says, “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.” Growth is expected. Progress is normal. Forward movement is assumed. The Christian life is designed to be advancing, not flatlined.

The moment we become comfortable with where we are spiritually, we quietly contradict the testimony of Scripture. Hebrews 6:1 tells us, “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity.” Notice the language. Go on. Move forward. Advance. The writer of Hebrews assumes motion. Stagnation is not neutral; it is disobedience.

Think about the gym for a moment. Nobody walks into a gym, lifts the same weight they lifted five years ago, and expects different results.

If you bench 135 pounds every week for a decade, no one applauds your discipline.

At some point, the weight has to increase, the reps have to change, or the intensity has to rise. Otherwise, you are not training. You are just occupying space.

The same is true spiritually. If your prayer life has not deepened, your appetite for Scripture has not grown, your obedience has not expanded, and your love for people has not matured, then time alone has not made you strong. Pressure, pursuit, and progression do.

Paul understood this. That is why he refused to declare himself finished. He knew that holy dissatisfaction is not ingratitude. It is awareness.

It is the Spirit-produced recognition that God is not done shaping us yet.

Scripture reinforces this again and again. In 1 Corinthians 9:24, Paul says, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” Runners who stop running do not win races. Athletes who stop training do not advance. Christians who stop pursuing Christ do not mature.

Swole is the goal, Size is the prize.

This kind of mindset often draws criticism. People tend to get uncomfortable when others refuse to coast. I watched that documentary about Michael Jordan that came out during Covid— and all of his teammates talked about how ruthless and mean he was. Why? Because he wanted them to be better players then they were.

Charles Spurgeon once said, “Bold-hearted men are always called mean-spirited by cowards.” That is true in the gym, that’s true in sports and it is true in the church.

Those who push forward are often misunderstood by those who are content standing still.

We went to the St. Augustine night of lights this past week but before we did we stopped and ate at Ford’s Garage. It was a pretty cool place and it had this quote by Henry Ford on the wall that said “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

…And that quote has stuck with me, because it perfectly exposes how human nature works.

Most people don’t actually want growth. They want comfort with better outcomes.

They want improvement without pressure, progress without pain, advancement without change.

Faster horses feel safer than a whole new way of moving forward. But faster horses never actually advance the world. They just make people more efficient at staying where they are.

That’s why bold leadership is so often misunderstood. That’s why people who refuse to coast are labeled harsh, intense, or unrealistic. It’s not because they are cruel. It’s because they are unwilling to settle. Michael Jordan wasn’t ruthless because he hated his teammates. He was relentless because he saw what they could become and refused to let them stay where they were. The standard made people uncomfortable, but the standard produced greatness.

And the same dynamic shows up in the Christian life and in the church.

When someone says, “We can’t just show up and go through the motions anymore,” that makes people uneasy. When someone says, “We should pray more seriously, give more sacrificially, read Scripture more deeply, disciple more intentionally,” it can sound extreme to ears that have grown comfortable. But discomfort is often the evidence that growth is needed.

That’s why Spurgeon’s words land so hard. “Bold-hearted men are always called mean-spirited by cowards.” Not because bold-hearted men lack love, but because cowardice always resents conviction. Standing still always criticizes forward motion. And settling always mocks striving.

The gym teaches us this lesson every day. The person who adds weight to the bar gets strange looks from the person who’s been doing the same workout for years. The one who pushes through failure gets labeled obsessed by the one who quit early. Growth exposes stagnation, and stagnation never applauds growth.

But Scripture never calls us to faster horses. It calls us to transformation. God is not interested in taking old patterns and making them slightly more efficient. He is not here to help us do the same things more comfortably. God exists to make us more like Christ—and that kind of change always requires forward movement.

God does not exist to preserve what feels familiar. He exists to shape our hearts, our convictions, and our obedience. And that kind of shaping always brings resistance. Advancement always disrupts what feels safe. Growth always costs something.

You see this clearly in the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Bonhoeffer was a brilliant theologian. Highly educated. Respected. He could have lived a quiet, comfortable academic life. And when Nazi ideology began infiltrating the German church, many pastors chose the path of least resistance. They adjusted. They accommodated. They told themselves they were still being faithful—just not confrontational.

Bonhoeffer refused.

He saw clearly that the church was being asked to baptize evil in the name of unity and safety. And instead of asking how to make the old system work better, Bonhoeffer asked a far more dangerous question: What does obedience to Christ require right now?

That question changed everything.

He helped form the Confessing Church, rejecting the state-controlled church even when it cost him his position, his reputation, and eventually his freedom. He trained pastors in secret. He spoke when silence was safer. He acted when inaction was easier. And in the end, his obedience cost him his life.

Bonhoeffer famously wrote, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” That’s not a call to comfort. That’s a call to transformation.

Bonhoeffer didn’t want a faster horse. He understood that following Jesus meant leaving behind what was familiar—even religious familiarity—when it no longer reflected faithfulness to Christ. Advancement meant resistance. Obedience meant cost.

And that truth still confronts us.

God does not call His people to tweak what’s comfortable. He calls them to follow Him forward. He calls us to die to old patterns, old preferences, and old securities so that Christ might be formed more fully in us.

Advancement always disrupts what feels familiar. But it always leads us closer to Christ.

So if you feel resistance when you decide to advance, that doesn’t mean you’re wrong. It might mean you’re finally moving. If your obedience starts to feel costly, that doesn’t mean you’re being extreme. It might mean you’re taking Scripture seriously. And if your pursuit of Christ makes others uncomfortable, it may simply be because forward motion always exposes those who have decided to stand still.

Holy dissatisfaction is not arrogance. It is obedience. And advancing in Christ will always demand the courage to press forward, even when others would prefer faster horses.

#2 Advancing Requires Letting Go of What’s Behind

Paul continues in Philippians 3:13 by saying, “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” That phrase matters, because you cannot move forward while gripping what is behind you. Advancement always requires release.

When Paul talks about forgetting what lies behind, he is not calling us to erase our memories or ignore history. He is talking about refusing to be governed by the past. Paul had plenty in his past that could have disqualified him in his own mind. He persecuted the church. He approved of the death of believers. He carried real guilt. But Paul also had spiritual accomplishments he could have leaned on. His pedigree, his education, and his ministry fruit were impressive. And yet he refuses to be anchored by either failure or success.

Scripture consistently teaches that God’s work is always moving forward. I This is where Isaiah 43 helps us, if we read it carefully.

In Isaiah 43:18–19, God tells Israel, “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing.” In its immediate context, God is speaking to a people stuck looking backward to the Exodus while they sit in exile. The “new thing” God promises is a new act of salvation, a deliverance that ultimately finds its fullest fulfillment in Christ.

That matters, because God’s point is not novelty. His point is redemption moving forward. God is saying, “Do not anchor your hope only in what I did back then when I am unfolding what I am doing now.”

For us, the new thing has come. Jesus has lived, died, risen, and reigns. The gospel is finished. But the call of the Christian life is to live forward in light of that finished work, not backward in fear, regret, or nostalgia. Paul is not chasing a new gospel in Philippians 3. He is pressing deeper into the implications of the gospel already given.

That is why Scripture consistently calls God’s people to forward obedience. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” That newness is not an invitation to be stagnate. It is a summons to walk in the new life Christ has secured.

So when Paul tells us to forget what lies behind, he is calling us to stop being governed by previous seasons, whether those seasons were marked by failure or success. The cross has dealt with our sin, and the resurrection has secured our future.

We honor the past, but we do not live in it. We advance because Christ has already gone before us.

That truth matters deeply for me as a pastor. I am not called to be the previous pastors of this church. I am not Vernon Peacock. I am not Marvin A. Taylor. I am not Jack McCullough. I am not Al Melton. I am not Leo Sherrill. I am not David Patrick. I am not Bill Tyler. I am not Dan Ruffin. I thank God for each of them. I respect their faithfulness. I honor the seasons they shepherded this body. But God did not call me to recreate their ministry. God called me to be me.

If I spend my time looking backward, comparing, mimicking, or trying to live in someone else’s shadow, I will never faithfully lead where God is calling us now.

Scripture is clear that God assigns different servants for different seasons. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:6, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” Different roles. Same God. Same mission. Different moments.

Jesus Himself warns against backward fixation when He says in Luke 9:62, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Plowing requires forward focus. Looking back does not just slow progress, it distorts direction.

You cannot cultivate new ground while staring at old rows. Remenicing how great things used to be. Wishing you could go back to the good ol’ days.

For some of us, what lies behind us is failure. Sin. Regret. Shame. Words we wish we could take back.

For others, what lies behind us is success. Former momentum. Past victories. Stories we love to tell about how it used to be. Both can trap us. Failure can paralyze us with guilt, and success can lull us into complacency. Well, we’ve always done it this way, even though this way stopped being successful in 1997.

Neither way produces advancement.

Life—and leadership—works a lot like driving a car. God gives you a windshield that is massive, wide, and meant to dominate your vision. He also gives you a rearview mirror, but it is intentionally small. You are supposed to glance at it, not stare into it. The mirror helps you understand where you’ve been, but it was never designed to determine where you’re going.

If you try to drive forward while staring in the rearview mirror, you will eventually crash. Not because the past is evil, but because it was never meant to guide your direction. Looking backward for too long distorts judgment, slows reaction time, and makes forward progress dangerous.

That is exactly Paul’s point. He does not deny his past. He just refuses to be driven by it. He learns from it, thanks God for grace, and then fixes his eyes on what lies ahead. The gospel has settled his past, so he is free to pursue obedience in the present.

Paul captures this balance perfectly in 1 Corinthians 15:10 when he says, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.” Grace did not excuse Paul from effort, and grace did not chain him to yesterday. Grace propelled him forward into faithful obedience.

If we are going to advance in 2026, we must stop living with our eyes locked on the rearview mirror. We honor the road God has already carried us down, but we keep our eyes on where He is leading us now. Forward movement requires forward focus.

You cannot advance while constantly looking over your shoulder.

#3 Advancing Requires Relentless Pursuit of Christ.

Paul closes the thought in Philippians 3:14 by saying, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” That sentence tells us exactly what advancement is and what it is not. Advancing is not about achievement, reputation, or results. Advancing is about pursuit.

Paul uses athletic language, but his aim is not competition with others. His focus is singular. “One thing I do.” His eyes are locked on Christ. The goal is not success in ministry, personal fulfillment, or external growth. The goal is the prize of the upward call of God, which is ultimately found in Christ Himself.

Scripture reinforces this orientation again and again. Hebrews 12:1–2 calls believers to “run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.” The endurance is not powered by willpower alone. It is fueled by fixation. Where the eyes go, the life follows.

Paul understands that the Christian life does not have a finish line this side of glory. Advancement continues until the moment we see Christ face to face. That is why he says later in Philippians 3:20 that “our citizenship is in heaven.” We press forward on earth because our ultimate home is not here.

Jesus echoes this same truth in Luke 13:24 when He says, “Strive to enter through the narrow door.” The word strive communicates effort, intensity, and intentionality. Not to earn salvation, but to live consistently with it. Grace saves us, but grace never makes us passive.

This kind of pursuit requires resilience. There will be days when advancement feels slow, costly, and unseen. But Paul reminds us in Galatians 6:9, “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Advancement is often invisible before it is obvious.

For me, this word Advance is not about numbers, or applause. It is about faithfulness. It is about waking up each day and pressing into Christ with resolve. It is about refusing to settle spiritually when heaven is calling us upward.

So what does this mean for us as a church?

It means that Advance is not a slogan, and it is not a strategy. It is not about chasing numbers, upgrading production, or trying to look like something we are not. It is about faithfulness to Christ where God has placed us.

When I say Advance, I am not talking about having a bigger crowd for the sake of bigger crowds. I am talking about deeper roots. I am talking about men and women who are pressing into Christ daily. I am talking about obedience that shows up on Monday, not just attendance on Sunday.

Advancing as a church means we refuse to settle for spiritual familiarity. It means we do not confuse showing up with following Jesus. It means we stop measuring success by comfort and start measuring it by Christlikeness.

We cannot count the things Jesus never counted and start counting what Jesus did count.

For some of us, advancing will mean taking repentance seriously again. For others, it will mean reengaging Scripture instead of skimming it.

For some families, it will mean leading spiritually in the home instead of outsourcing that responsibility to the church.

For others, it will mean stepping into service, discipleship, or mission when it would be easier to stay on the sidelines.

Advancing as a church means that every ministry, every gathering, and every relationship is moving us upward toward Christ, not inward toward convenience.

It means we are asking better questions than “Did I like it?” We are asking, “Did this help me follow Jesus more faithfully?”

Heaven is calling us upward, not backward and not sideways. And when a church hears that call, advancement looks like faithfulness stacked on top of faithfulness. It looks like small steps of obedience taken consistently over time. It looks like pressing on together, even when progress feels slow or unseen.

So when I say Advance, I am calling us to a shared posture. A posture that says, “We have not arrived. God is not finished with us. And by His grace, we will keep pressing forward together.”

The upward call of God reminds us that advancement is directional. We are being pulled higher, deeper, and closer to Christ. Every step forward in obedience, every act of faith, every moment of endurance is movement toward Him.

And for the church to move forward that means we all have to do it together as a church.

Historically, when armies advanced effectively, they did not do it scattered or isolated. They advanced arm in arm, locked together in a shield wall.

Each soldier’s strength depended on the man beside him. No one rushed ahead alone. No one drifted backward without endangering others. Advancement happened when they moved forward together, unified, disciplined, and committed to the same objective.

Scripture uses this same kind of imagery, but it clarifies who the enemy really is. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:12 that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood.”

Our enemy is not people.

Our enemy is sin, lies, darkness, and the schemes of the devil. And God never designed His people to face those enemies alone.

When a church advances arm in arm, it looks like unity instead of fragmentation. It looks like mutual responsibility instead of isolated faith. It looks like brothers and sisters locking shields through prayer, truth, accountability, and love. One weak spot affects the whole body, but one strengthened believer strengthens everyone around them.

That is what advancement looks like for the church. Not lone rangers charging ahead. Not spectators standing back. But a body moving forward together, shoulder to shoulder, grounded in truth, protected by unity, and advancing against darkness with the gospel of Christ.

That kind of advance does not destroy people. It destroys strongholds. It does not tear down the church. It fortifies it. And it does not rely on human strength, but on the power of God working through a united people who refuse to retreat.

So when we say Advance, we are saying we will move forward together. Not perfectly. Not effortlessly. But faithfully. Arm in arm. Shields up. Eyes forward. Pressing on toward Christ.

And understand—here is also a cost to not advancing, and Scripture is honest about that. Drift is rarely loud. It does not come with an announcement. It happens quietly, slowly, almost imperceptibly. Hebrews 2:1 warns us to “pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” Drift does not require rebellion. It only requires neglect.

The danger for the church is rarely outright rejection of truth. It is familiarity without obedience. It is hearing without responding. It is remembering what Christ has done without pressing into what He is calling us to do now. Every church has a life cycle. Every church, at some point, will either advance or it will decline. And if a church stops advancing long enough, it slowly dies.

That is not cynicism. That is history.

Church buildings outlive churches all the time. Sanctuaries become museums. Fellowship halls become community centers. Baptistries go dry. Not because Jesus stopped being powerful, but because God’s people stopped responding.

Revelation 2 reminds us that a church can hold sound doctrine, stay busy, and still lose its first love. When that happens, Jesus does not warn them about persecution from the outside. He warns them about decay from within. When advancement stops, retreat has already begun—even if everything still looks fine on the surface.

This body of believers will not exist forever.

One day, Cedar Bay Baptist Church will no longer gather like this. The only question is how that day comes.

Will it come after a long season of faithfulness, fruitfulness, and obedience? Or will it come because we slowly chose comfort over calling?

We are in a season of revitalization right now. And revitalization is not about programs. It is about people responding to God. If we stop advancing, we are not maintaining—we are declining. And if we decline long enough, eventually we will no longer exist.

This is not about pressure. It is about stewardship. We have been entrusted with this church for this moment in history. And God is calling us to respond. And its either we respond faithfully or unfaithfully.

And here’s the reality we need to hear: advancing in Christ rarely looks dramatic. Most days, it looks painfully ordinary. It looks like opening the Word when you don’t feel like it. It looks like praying when heaven feels quiet. It looks like confessing sin quickly instead of defending it. It looks like forgiving again. It looks like showing up faithfully when quitting would be easier.

Scripture tells us in Luke 16:10 that faithfulness in little things matters deeply to God. Zechariah 4:10 warns us not to despise the day of small beginnings. Advancement usually happens quietly before it ever becomes visible. Growth takes place in hidden places long before it shows up publicly.

So if you are waiting for advancement to feel exciting, you will miss it. If you are waiting for obedience to feel convenient, you will delay it. Advancement is built on small, consistent steps of faithfulness taken over time. That is how God shapes His people.

Which brings us to the question every one of us has to answer: What does obedience look like for you right now?

Not for someone else. Not in theory. But for you.

For some of you, advancement will mean repentance. Not vague remorse, but honest turning. For others, it will mean reengaging Scripture with intention instead of skimming it out of habit. For some families, it will mean reclaiming spiritual leadership in the home instead of outsourcing it to the church. For others, it will mean stepping into service, discipleship, or mission when staying comfortable would be easier.

There is no universal checklist. There is only faithful response. The Spirit of God is precise in His conviction. He does not speak in generalities. He speaks personally.

So as we step into this year, the call is simple and costly: do not drift. Do not settle. Do not confuse activity with obedience. Hear the upward call of God and take the next faithful step forward.

We have not arrived. God is not finished. And by His grace, we will advance—together.

As we come to a close on this sermon, this is where we slow down and make space for the Lord to speak. Not for noise. Not for emotion. But for honest response.

I want you to hear this clearly: this is not a time to perform. This is a time to respond. You do not need to look like anyone else. You do not need to respond the way the person next to you responds. You simply need to respond however the Lord is leading you.

For some of you, the first step is the most important step—and it is always the same. Salvation. If you are here today and you know you are not in Christ, if you have never repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus alone to save you, let today be the day that your eternity changes forever. You cannot press on without first being made new. Today can be the day you surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

For others of you, the next step is baptism. You have believed, but you have delayed obedience. Baptism is not a suggestion. It is the first public step of faith for a believer. It is saying, “I belong to Jesus,” and doing so without hesitation. If God has already made that clear to you, then obedience is your response today.

For many of us, the third step will be different, because the Spirit works personally. Maybe God is calling you to get involved in a ministry instead of sitting on the sidelines. Maybe He is calling you to join this church and commit to walking arm in arm with this body. Maybe He is calling you to confess unconfessed sin—to God and to the person you have wronged. Maybe He is calling you to forgive where you have been holding on to bitterness, even though it feels justified.

For some of us, advancement will look like learning to say, “I’m sorry,” when we mess up instead of defending ourselves. It will look like humility. It will look like repentance. It will look like obedience in places we have been avoiding.

There is no hierarchy of responses here. There is only faithfulness. Salvation. Baptism. Obedience. One step at a time.

So as we sing, I want you to listen. Ask the Lord one simple question: “What are You calling me to do?”

And then respond. At your seat. At the altar. With a prayer. With a conversation afterward.

Do not rush this moment. Do not ignore it. The upward call of God is not something to admire—it is something to answer.

We are not here to impress anyone. We are here to obey Christ.

So let’s respond—however the Lord leads.