This Is My Year – Week 1 | Our Plans and God's Plans

When a congregation dreams of property, programs, and a five-year strategic plan, it can still feel like something essential is missing: deeper love, real sacrifice, and unity that looks nothing like marketing. The tension here is specific and sharp—longing to grow and make plans while wrestling with pride, shallow success, and the messy reality of people who don't fit neatly together. The message turns the usual playbook inside out by pointing to the cross as the true picture of glory—ugly, costly, and strangely powerful—and then tracing what that means for ordinary community life. Growth that matters, the sermon argues, won’t come from better branding or bigger budgets but from sacrificial love that crosses differences, forgives, serves, and sticks with one another. Listen for a clear, practical recalibration of ambition: let the pattern of Christ’s love shape your plans and watch what kind of community that produces.