"Stepping up to Maturity"

Have you ever felt like you’re trying to catch up with God? Like you need to earn your place, prove your worth, or wait until the timing is “right”? What if I told you that God has already prepared everything you need for this season of your life—and stepping into it is simply a matter of stepping up?

2026 is not about striving, hustling, or fixing the past. It’s about walking confidently into the life God has already set before you. It’s your threshold moment—the point where preparation meets opportunity, and your identity in Christ takes the lead. This year, we step into maturity, purpose, and the fullness of who we already are.

1. Stepping Into the Threshold

Thank you for the Word this morning and the anointing that breaks every yoke. As we open our minds, hearts, and ears, we receive God’s goodness. There is nothing about Him that leaves us unfulfilled. This year, our message is Stepping Up into Maturity, anchored in Philippians 3:14: “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

We are at a threshold moment—a symbolic step over into the life God has already prepared for us. Like a bride and groom stepping into a home fully furnished and ready, everything we need for godly living is already in place. But we must step over that threshold to live there. Stepping up is not about proving ourselves, catching up, or fixing our past. It is about entering the fullness of what God has already laid before us.

2. Identity Comes Before Responsibility

In Christ, our identity comes before responsibility. Our belonging comes before behavior. Our sonship comes before service. We are not trying to become something we’re not—we already are. 2026 is about living from what is already true: stepping up, not because we’re missing something or unaccepted, but because God has already prepared the next step for us.

Throughout Scripture, stepping up happens at the right time. Joseph, David, and even Jesus entered their roles fully prepared. None of them earned their identity; they simply responded from readiness. Life’s preparation—trials, patience, and perseverance—matures us. James 1:2-4 reminds us that trials produce patience, and patience leads to completeness. Our preparation is real; the doors will open when God’s timing is perfect.

3. Letting Go to Step Up

Stepping up requires letting go. Philippians 3:13 says, “Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to what is ahead.” That means letting go of both failures and past successes. We cannot step into 2026 while dragging old definitions of ourselves.

Stepping up is not striving or hustle. It’s participation in the life God has already prepared for us. Grace doesn’t remove effort—it removes fear and anxiety. We press on, not to earn love or approval, but because Christ has already taken hold of us. The home is ready. We simply step in.

The prize isn’t distant; it’s Christ fully formed in us today. Stepping up means living like heaven has already invaded the earth, moving forward with steady faith, not insecure striving. Mature believers walk confidently, knowing God trusts us with responsibility.

4. Practical Steps to Step Up in 2026

So, what does stepping up look like practically this year?

• Identity: Stop asking “Am I enough?” Start living like Christ in you is enough. You are a son or daughter of God, loved before you act, chosen before you perform.

• Responsibility: Serve, give, lead, and mentor—not to earn favor, but to express the favor already on your life. Mentoring flows naturally from knowing who you are.

• Faith: Take steps of faith that match your identity in Christ. Step forward, knowing you are prepared and equipped.

• Perseverance: Keep moving, even when progress is slow or costly. Press on without striving, resting in Christ’s finished work.

Declare this for 2026:

“I step up—not pressing for approval but walking from union. Not from fear, but from identity. Not striving to become but responding to who I am in Christ.I am secure in Christ. I am loved before I act. I am chosen before I perform. I am prepared for what God entrusts to me. I live with Christ in me, pressing forward, not looking back, responding to grace, not working for it.”

Conclusion: Step Up and Step In

2026 is your year to step up—not to earn, prove, or perform, but to live from the fullness of who God says you are. Your preparation is complete, your identity is secure, and your home is ready. Step over the threshold. Step into your calling. Step up into the life God has already provided.

It’s not hustle. It’s not striving. It’s grace, peace, and confidence in Christ. This is maturity. This is freedom. This is your invitation to live fully, boldly, and securely in the God who has already taken hold of you.