Worship Starts With Surrender-Pastor Leo Lozano

Worship Starts With Surrender-Pastor Leo Lozano

Pastor Leo launches a new series called "The Faith We Sing" by reframing what worship actually is. While music is a beautiful gift that helps re-orient our hearts toward God, Pastor Leo is clear that worship transcends singing. As he puts it, "God doesn't want your voice, He asks for your life." Drawing on Psalm 103:1-2, he reminds the congregation that we are forgetful people by nature, and singing serves as a way to bring us back to God's heart and realign our souls with His will. The heart of the message centers on Romans 12:1-2, which Pastor Leo reads from The Message translation: "Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering." From Adam and Eve in the garden, to the people of Israel throughout the Old Testament, to the religious fasting described in Isaiah 58, the pattern is the same—God's people consistently miss the point by doing things their own way rather than surrendering to His. True worship, Pastor Leo argues, is not a weekly event but a daily surrender, echoing Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 10:31: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." Pastor Leo closes with a sobering challenge: partial surrender leads to partial transformation, and whatever we refuse to surrender will eventually shape us. Like the prodigal son in Luke 15, we are tempted to believe we know better than the Father—that life is fuller on our own terms. But the invitation of the gospel is to trust the one who can truly satisfy the soul, to stop conforming to the patterns of this world, and to allow the Spirit of the Living God to do what only He can do in us. We invite you to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/faithmcrichmondtx

God's Signet Ring-Pastor Richard Leggett

Pastor Richard opens in Haggai 2:1-9, where God speaks to a people who had worked for seven days on the temple's rebuilding, only to quit in discouragement. The older generation remembered Solomon's breathtaking first temple — gold-covered floors, cherubim, the Ark of the Covenant, and the very Shekinah glory of God — and the contrast with what stood before them felt overwhelming. Satan had planted a seed of despair through nostalgia, and the people had stopped working. But God's word cut through their discouragement with a bold promise: the glory of the latter temple would be greater than the former, because five hundred years later, Jesus Christ — the Desire of all nations — would walk its courts. Pastor Richard then turns to Haggai 2:23, where God tells Zerubbabel He will make him like a signet ring. That image carries deep meaning: a signet ring signifies ownership, authority, legitimacy, and eternal purpose. Just as Zerubbabel appears in the lineage of Christ in Matthew 1:13, God stamps His people with His seal, sending them out as representatives of the King. The message to the remnant — and to us today — is that God will not call you to do something He has not already gifted and equipped you to do. Like Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the remnant, we are called to get up, come together, and work, because there are souls out there waiting to be transformed by Jesus Christ. We invite you to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/faithmcrichmondtx

Be Not Discouraged-Pastor Richard Leggett

Drawing from Haggai 1:12-15, Pastor Richard takes his congregation deeper into the prophetic word of Haggai, reminding them that the word of the Lord — haya debar Yahweh — still comes to His people today. He traces the story of Israel's return from captivity, noting how the people began with great excitement to rebuild the temple, only to stop for 16 long years. In doing so, they were essentially telling God, "We don't fear You, and we don't need You." But as Proverbs 1:7 reminds us, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge," and God, faithful to His covenant, refused to let His people go without a word. Pastor Richard reminds us that God will get our attention — through withheld rain, withheld harvest, withheld blessing — not out of cruelty, but out of love, saying, I'm still here. I haven't left you. And when God stirs, things move. It took Israel just 23 days from the time of Haggai's message to get back to work on the temple. Through personal stories of a homeless man who planted a church, a reluctant churchgoer named Mr. Rojas who became a lay leader three years sober, and a run-down church brought back to life by a family with a riding lawnmower, Pastor Richard paints a vivid picture of what happens when the Spirit of God moves on willing hearts. The call is simple: get up, do the work, and trust that God will be with you. We invite you to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/faithmcrichmondtx

Consider Your Ways-Pastor Richard Leggett

Drawing from Haggai 1, Pastor Richard paints a vivid picture of a people who had every reason to serve God but chose instead to focus on their own homes, their own vineyards, and their own comfort. After being miraculously restored from Babylonian captivity — with King Cyrus personally funding their return and the rebuilding of the temple — the Israelites laid the foundation, set up the altar, and then simply stopped. For 16 years, they went about their own business while God's house sat in ruins. The result? Drought, scarcity, and wages that felt like they were being dropped into a bag with holes. But Pastor Richard is quick to remind us that God's response to our wandering is never abandonment — it's pursuit. Whether it's through the prophet Haggai speaking the Word of the Lord four times in just five verses, or through the Holy Spirit stopping a rock-throwing troublemaker dead in his tracks at a revival meeting, God has a way of getting our attention. That troublemaker, Pastor Richard's wife's great-grandfather Basilio Soto, went on to plant churches all across Texas and Mexico — proof that no one is too far gone for God to reach. The heart of the sermon is captured in the phrase "consider your ways" — a call not just to self-reflection, but to genuine repentance and return. Pastor Richard urges us to stop running, stop making excuses, and come back into fellowship with the Lord — walking with Him, praying with Him, and serving Him wholeheartedly. We invite you to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/faithmcrichmondtx

Step Out of the Boat-Pastor David Dorn

Pastor David opens by revisiting a question from the previous week — would you rather live a self-sufficient, trouble-free life, or a life of uncertainty that drives you to depend on God daily? The honest answer, he says, is that most of us want both, but that's not how faith works. Drawing from Matthew 14:22-32, he sets the scene immediately after Jesus fed the five thousand — a massive ministry win — and points out that Jesus responded not by celebrating, but by withdrawing to pray. That posture of staying connected to the Father in both the good times and the hard times is the model Jesus sets before us. From there, Pastor David zeroes in on Peter's bold request to walk on the water toward Jesus. Peter stepped out while the other disciples stayed huddled in the boat, and that willingness to risk is exactly what spiritual growth requires. Yes, Peter sank — but he also walked on water. Growth, Pastor David reminds us, is not a straight line. It involves setbacks, stumbles, and a whole lot of personal grace. What matters is that we keep stepping toward Jesus, even when the waves are crashing around us. The sermon closes with a powerful image: when Jesus climbed back into the boat, the wind died down, and the disciples worshiped Him as the Son of God for the very first time in Matthew's Gospel. Pastor David points out that their understanding of Jesus was forever changed by what they had just lived through. The storms in our lives, he says, are not punishments — they are the very things that deepen our faith, sharpen our worship, and make God greater in our lives. We invite you to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/faithmcrichmondtx