Celebration Sunday: To God Be the Glory

_{Sunday, March 22, 2026}

Today was Celebration Sunday at Champion Forest — and what a day it was.

After months of prayer, preparation, and sacrifice, our church family gathered to celebrate what God has done through our NEXT Initiative. And while the atmosphere was filled with joy and gratitude, what made this day so meaningful wasn't just what happened today. It was the journey that brought us here.

The NEXT Initiative was never about a number. From the very beginning, it was about seeking the Lord's direction, trusting Him with the outcome, and having the faith to step forward together — even when the scope of the vision felt bigger than anything we could accomplish on our own. Because it was. This was always a God-sized calling, and it required God-sized faith.

Our theme Scripture called us not to hold back. And that is exactly what we witnessed.

When we launched the First and Best Offering — an invitation for our church family to give the first and best of what God had provided — the response was breathtaking. Families prayed, sacrificed, and gave with a kind of generosity that can only be explained by the movement of the Holy Spirit. That offering alone totaled $7,706,296.

Let that number sit for a moment. Not because the number itself is the point, but because of what it represents: thousands of individual acts of faith. Families who sat around kitchen tables and asked God what He was calling them to give. People who chose obedience over comfort. Students, seniors, young families, longtime members, and brand-new attendees all saying yes to something bigger than themselves.

And when we combined that First and Best Offering with the total pledges and commitments made toward the NEXT Initiative, the full picture came into focus:

$30,121,245.

We didn't just meet the goal. By God's grace, we surpassed it.

To God be the glory.

There is no other explanation for what happened here. This wasn't the result of a clever campaign or a persuasive pitch. This was the faithfulness of God meeting the obedience of His people. And the impact of what was decided in these weeks and months will be felt for decades to come.

Because this isn't really about a building program or a budget line. It's about what happens next — the men, women, boys, and girls whose lives will be changed because this church said yes. It's about the gospel going forward with greater reach and deeper roots. It's about a Christ-centered future that starts right now.

To every person and family who prayed over this initiative, who gave sacrificially, who made a pledge in faith trusting that God would provide — thank you. You are part of something that will outlast all of us. The seeds planted through your generosity will bear fruit in ways we can't yet imagine, in lives we haven't yet met, in places we haven't yet reached.

We serve a God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. Today, we got a front-row seat to that truth.

This is only the beginning.

From Northwest Houston to the World.