Thank you. Thank you. How we doing you guys? Tonight's a big week.
Big night. Are you ready? When we were going into worship, I just wanted to say this real quick and I will get started. When we were going into worship, we were just Joshua's leading the room to pray.
I was just talking to the Holy Spirit and I felt him drop in my heart. He said, you guys are going to be feeling more like yourselves again. I feel that way about worship tonight. I feel that way about seeing all of your faces in the room.
I don't want to overuse the getting back to normal thing. I believe that in this new season that we're stepping into as a community, we're going to be feeling like ourselves more than ever before. Not just going back to what we felt like before, but I believe we're going to feel more like ourselves than we even did before this last season. I think what we've been talking about tonight was some of these announcements that we have for you guys.
I think it all plays into it. I think it all plays into us feeling like ourselves. I want to even spark that hope in your hearts the way I'm feeling. I'm just burning for that right now.
It's like, yes, God, we just want to be who you created us to be individually and then permanently as a body. We want to take that place in the broader body to own who we are. I just believe that Ben was just talking about that with worship, but we are not coming into this room to do a program or go through the motions or attend a service because that's what Christians do. We are coming to be whole God and to fall more in love with him and be catalyzed into the everyday.
These moments where it's unpolished, none of that was planned. I don't even remember what it was anymore, but something about the Father, what did we start the night with? When we sing it forever. It's like that came out in that moment.
It's like these moments are genuine and authentic. They're real. They're not put on. This isn't a show.
We're looking at him and we're following Holy Spirit's leadership, and we get to go together. And so I just want to just say that for our community. We're going to feel more like ourselves every single time that we gather. I'm excited about that.
Tonight, we want to just give you guys a little bit of a storyline as to why we are having this family meeting like this tonight. And if you've been following us on social media, you've been seeing, we've been putting out some little teasers that something was coming tonight. You have seen us say, Red Fox, and you've seen us say, every day. And that's because Red Fox is the street name of a property that we've been looking at for our church home.
And it's because, yeah, that's exciting. We'll talk more about it. And every day is going to be our new church's name. And so I'm glad you're excited about it.
We are so excited. We're just going to share the story of why you might be going, man, this seems kind of sudden. And we agree with you. It's very sudden that we're talking about this.
And you're going to find out about this suddenly. You're going to find out about the sudden. Yeah. No, actually, we've been on this journey for over three years of knowing that we are going to be every day.
And so if you've been around for a while, we do these last year, we didn't do it because of COVID. But we do these things called block parties, or anniversary of when we started as a church. It's a celebration that we do. And we usually sell apparel.
And you've probably seen sweatshirts or hoodies that say, every day on them. And that's because for years, we've actually known that we were going to be every day. We've just been getting you ready. We've just been preparing you.
Yes. No. And so it hasn't been a question of if we're going to change our name, but it's more so been a question of when are we going to be every day. And so we've always just been raising the white flag.
I was a render over the timing of when are we going to change to every day as a church. And our mission is to empower everyday believers. And you guys have heard that so many times. You've been around Gopher a while.
And that's what burns in our hearts as a community is Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday. And not just some type of service experience. And wow, it epitomizes. We believe that every day epitomizes the whole concept of people over program.
And a lot of times the church has done a really great job of program. But then we're missing that the whole key to the kingdom is people. And people meeting Jesus and knowing him in everyday life is actually the thing. It's like the secret sauce of the kingdom.
You, right? You, with Holy Spirit, being yourself, just like Katie was saying, is actually the key to the kingdom advancing in the earth. And so we're so excited about this name. But we've been on this journey for three years.
And we were on the sabbatical. We went on a sabbatical this last year, last summer. And as we were on the sabbatical, really felt like the Lord was saying yes, the time is now to change our name. And so we got back.
We just hit the ground running in October and November. We started the rebrand process with Honest Media. And they are good friends. And they helped us in this rebrand and helped do some design work.
And so, man, we're filled with so much anticipation of what it's going to mean for us long term to change our name. Some of you guys might be wondering, like, OK, are we everyday church? Or are we everyday? And we are going to be everyday.
And the reason why is because we're building a base. If you've been to DNA cultures that grow, it's kind of like a 101 of growth. We talk about this thing called the base vision that God gave to us as a community. And so that's why we're calling ourselves every day.
Because there's so much more than just, hey, doing some services or a Wednesday night programming or something like that, God is actually calling us as a people. We're going to be the church, right? Like the people of God are the church, but we're building a base as a community. OK, so to pick up your story, we're Josh left off.
So we started the rebrand process with Honest Media at the end of last year, which they're amazing. They're dear friends of ours. If you guys know Honest Media, they're incredible. They're right here in our city.
And then the rebrand was done at the beginning of this year. So we got all of the files at the beginning of January. Met as a team. OK, how are we going to roll this out?
And the plan was that we were going to roll all this out to the community end of spring early summer. And because it's going to take a while to switch everything over, it's quite the process. And so that was our plan in January. And then in February, we came across a property, Red Fox Road.
And this property, and Josh is going to talk about it a little bit more in a bit of just more about what this building has. But it was the first building we found in quite a while that actually checks all the boxes of what we were looking for. And so when we found that this property, we were like, wait a second. This actually might be our building.
And so we kind of pumped the brakes on rolling out the rebrand this spring because we were going, maybe there's a story here where we can actually roll out our new name and announce that we have a building all at once. And so we have this grand plan. And the next part of the story is we have the opportunity. So OK, this building is in the city of Arden Hills.
It is off 694 in Lexington, right off the freeway. If you know where that Starbucks is, you can walk there. It's right there. So we had the opportunity to present to the city of Arden Hills about three weeks ago where Josh and I got to present to them what our heart was, what our vision was for that space.
Because the thing with this property is that it is not zoned to have a house of worship or a church meet there. And so it's a process of getting the property rezoned so that we can actually acquire the property. So we met with the city council, presented the vision. And what we didn't know is that there was a reporter that was listening in on the call and taking down some info.
And a couple days later, we found out that there was an article in the Pioneer Press about our community. And it not only gave the address of the building, but it also said that our new name was going to be every day. So you can imagine our horror as a staff. Whoops.
Yeah, big whoops. And as our phones are blowing up and I was like, have you seen the article? We're like, what are you talking about? And so we just took a few minutes to digest.
And we were saying before we're thankful for that bounce back message last year from Josh that we were able to bounce back. And we are feeling so excited about the opportunity to bring you guys into the loop. The reason that we hadn't, to kind of just even explain if you're like, how did I find out about this building in a news article, but you haven't even told us about it? The reason for that is because, like I was saying before, there are quite a few hurdles in order to acquire this property.
And we aren't going to know if it's even ours until middle end of summer. So if you're like me, that sounds really far away, because it feels very far away and farther than I wish that it was. And so we were going, OK, we don't want to bring everyone into the journey and the ups and downs that it can be, because we know that all of us have been really, really longing to have our own space. And we don't want to bring you through, if there's some type of roller coaster right here, we want it to shepherd the hearts of our community and bring you into the loop a little further down the road if the doors continue to open.
But with this coming out, even though this wasn't our plan, as we've prayed about it and gathered as a team, we feel like this is the best case scenario, that we actually get to bring this before you. And even though we wanted to shield you from the journey, the reality is we've walked through a lot as a community. And our style is to do it as a family. And so now we just get to invite you behind the scenes.
We get to go on this journey together. Now you get to pray. We're excited because that's a lot more people for this process. But that's really the heart.
We want to invite you in behind the scenes. We'll be giving updates. The first couple of doors have been open. And so we are really hopeful about this building.
We're hopeful that this is our future home. But we also, it's like we're excited, but like don't be too excited. Because we're just going to be open handed. We're going to let the Lord lead.
We believe that he will open doors for us. If it's right, or he'll close them. And we're asking him, we're just saying, Lord, would you close those doors? Would you protect us?
If that building is not going to be a blessing for this community, or for us to be there for our city, just close those doors, but open them if that's our space. Come on, we were talking earlier today. And Katie was, she's very knowledgeable and majorly baseball. Right?
The sport of baseball is really something that. Big fan. Big fan of baseball. But she was talking about how when we get thrown curveballs, like how do we respond?
And we were just reflecting on that together. And I decided to take this one because she knows a lot about baseball. I was like, but I'll take it. It's like you can finish the analogy.
Right? And we were just talking about how life, for all of us, curveballs come. Surprises. I thought this was going to happen.
And then this happened. How many of you, we all know what that's like. And the failed expectations moment. And I believe what happens in the majors is there's actually hitters that really hit well when they see a curveball coming.
It's like that's their pitch. And I believe that for all of us as a community, that we actually get to be the type of hitter in everyday life that goes, oh my goodness, a curveball's coming. This is my moment. This is my pitch.
Every time a curveball happens, it's like, oh, this is where I shine. This is actually where I get to capitalize on what's happening. And a lot of times what happens is we go into defensive mode. But I want us to just, I want to cast vision for you.
Maybe this is a word for some of you. When that curveball happens, let's change the way that we're thinking and go, man, this is an upgrade. There's something different that's going to take place. I actually get it.
I get to get on base because he just threw me a curveball, right? Life just threw me a curveball and I get to get on base. So we're excited that's building off what you're saying, Katie. But I want to talk a little bit about the building.
Is that OK? If I fill you in a little bit on some things that we really love about this property. So as you know, we've been on this three year journey. And it's literally, you guys, it's a needle in the haystack.
We're trying to find a building that has enough parking, has high enough ceilings for us to gather as a community. In a location that is close to a freeway, because some of you drive an hour to come to church. We're like, OK, we want there to be a central location as much as possible. And a building that has parking.
So how many of you guys have walked up? We call it Mount Elmwood, right? We're like, Lord, give us parking, please. And this building has all three of those things that have been impossible to find.
So we're talking the size of the building. It's four times the size of Elmwood. It's got just under 400 parking spots. And it's in this location that's 30 seconds off of the freeway.
So it's like, even as I was looking at Eden Prairie, how long is it from Eden Prairie? And it's like a minute longer to this building from where girl is. Or like, maple girl, if it's actually one minute less. I see you.
I see you. That's not our maple girl people. They're all right here. But all around the city, it actually is the same amount of time for us to get to the property from all over the place, unless you're even closer to it.
So exciting that those things just got checked off the list. And it's been so difficult to find. So we're sober about the potential of like, OK, this isn't a shoe in. It's like, this could totally be a closed door.
But feeling as we look at the building going, wow, I could see the base here. And I think that's something that's really exciting, that we feel like it could hold the vision. And so, man, we're filled with, we picture and dream about those days where it's Tuesday. And you're like, yeah, I'm going to work from every day today.
And you should meet me at four. We'll grab a coffee at every day. And then we'll hit up the 6 PM in prayer set. You know, those are the types of, or yeah, I'm going to grab the kids.
And we're going to go to the 4 PM in prayer set. They're going to do homework in the prayer room. And just grab a snack on our way home from school. We're just picturing those days during the week.
And just how we get to have that revolving door experience as a community and that gathering place that's not just for Sundays. And so we're just, man, can't wait if. Yeah, we'll be back. So excited, but not excited.
We want to show you a sneak peek of the rebrand. We thought it would be fun to invite you guys into that. Now, the way that this, you may be wondering, OK, so are we every day now? Like, how does that work?
We are not yet. We are still grove. We are just giving you the sneak peek of what every day is going to look like in the future. And so we do not know when we are going to make that transition.
We're not ready to make that transition practically yet to transition over to being every day. So will that be once we move into the new space? Maybe. Will it be before that?
Maybe. We'll keep you updated. You will know if our name has changed. But now you guys know that it's going to be every day.
And you can be excited about that with us, OK? So Nicole and her team made this video that put together the different brand elements. It's a quick video. You just kind of get this like bird's eye view perspective on what the future will look like.
But I would just like to honor Nicole for all of her hard work. Yes. Man. The ultimate bounce back kid, Nicole Pulser, just rolling with the punches and always operating in so much excellence and joy along the way.
She inspires us so much. OK. Let's catch this video. Isn't that fun to see?
Yes. That's going to be like on the YouTube video. If you want to or the YouTube link, what is it called? The live feed.
Yeah. So you can go to YouTube. The live feed. On the internet web.
So find our link on the YouTube. Ww dot. I love it. So if you're like, I didn't catch some of those things, you can actually rewatch it if you want to on there.
OK. That's why I was saying that. I just want to talk really briefly. Maybe some of you guys are like, OK, what's the big deal?
You just changed the name of your church. And I just want to really set the bring clarity to that we believe that this move for us changing our name actually gets to be like a memorial before the Lord, that he's worthy of more than just a Sunday service for an hour and a tithe, that he's worthy of Mondays and Tuesdays and Wednesdays. He's worthy of engineers. He's worthy of those who are working in warehouses and janitors and teachers and stay-at-home parents.
He's worthy of us in everyday life and giving everyday to him. And I believe that God is actually changing the expression of Christianity and the understanding of Christianity in one generation. And it's actually going to be through everyday people. It's not going to be through the ordained ministers that get paychecks for doing church services.
No, he's actually going to bring transformation to our understanding in the American church. It's a new day for the American church. It's a new day for us. But it's a new day for American church.
And it's actually going to be the 97% that aren't in full-time ministry. They're going to get activated. And there's a dividing line that's going to happen. And it's going to be your end or your out.
You're either a spectator that wasn't actually following, wasn't willing to surrender all. And there's going to be a dividing line in God's saying, I'm actually calling the whole church into the deep things. I'm calling the whole church into knowing me and giving me it all. Not just portions, not just partial devotion.
It's all in type of love that God's raising up. And I believe that we get to have that stake in the ground. It's all for one. You're worthy of everyday.
And so let's all stand. I want to commission us out. Yeah, Lord, we just set before you these next couple of months. We look at this building, and we just surrender it to you, Lord.
We look at all of the scenarios that can play out. And I just even want to pause. And earlier today, Katie and I were talking. And we felt like there's an invitation from the Lord.
And he said, would you seek my kingdom first in this process? And I believe that there's something to that, that as your leaders, we're going to be diving into. And we're going to be thinking about what does it look like for prayer, for our community, to actually engage beyond us just getting what we want. And I see that there's an invitation there for like, we're going to seek his kingdom first in the process.
And so let's just posture our hearts. Lord, we just posture our hearts to not be selfish in this process. And not think about just what I want or what I feel like or what I'd prefer. And Lord, we just thank you.
We humble ourselves. And we surrender all of our expectations of what we think it should look like. We surrender all of the timing, all of the process, all of the people involved. We just surrender everything.
We go, we want your kingdom. Thank you, Lord. Lord, we thank you that you are searching throughout our city for a resting place. You're searching throughout our nation, throughout our region, for hearts that are fully yielded, hearts that are fully yours.
And we say, God, that we want you to find that in us. We want you to find that in us as a body, as a family. Lord, we just commit to you. We want to follow your leadership.
Even for Josh and I right now, in front of you, in front of our community, we just commit before you, Lord, that we want to follow your leadership. We don't want to take this into our own hands. We don't want to strive. We want to release it to you.
You are our leader. You are our shepherd. Thank you for your leadership over this body. We commit to following you, God.
I just believe that he's catching us up in a higher vision that in this season, we get to, he's just like inviting us. He's like, come up here. Come up here. See what I see.
Take a look at this from my perspective. Come up here. And now you guys get to be part of that season with us. To come up, look from his perspective.
What is it that he's wanting to establish in our city? What is it that we get to be a part of? He's establishing vision in our hearts before we're ever in a different space. He's establishing the vision inside of us.
We are becoming every day before we move into every day. We are becoming the base individually and as families and as a body before we actually have a building called the base. Lord, you're cultivating it in our hearts first. And we just say yes to that.
We're all in. I've heard so many of you say that to me recently. I'm all in. We just say it to you, Lord.
We're all in. Lead us. We love you. Yeah, Lord, we declare that there's Mary's on mission rising up.
Thank you, Lord. That's what we want to see happen. Following in the wake of Mary of Bethany, just the all in type of love and then putting on like sneakers of the gospel of peace, just going out and being on mission. Thank you, Lord.
We love you in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Amen.