A Year of Building
- Sarah Bell
- Dec 30, 2025
- 3 min read
As we close out 2025, the Lord keeps highlighting one word for the coming year:
Build.
This word has been speaking to my hubby and I lately in two different but connected ways: in our personal life, and in our church family.
Our Personal Story
This last year, our family bought land, drew up house plans, and will soon begin building a home.
As I think through the process—surveys and plans—I sense the Holy Spirit using it as a picture of what He’s doing in us spiritually:
Our Land – a picture of advancing the Kingdom, grasping new territory and fresh promise.
Our Blueprints – a picture of God’s order and beautiful design to be executed and stewarded.
Breaking Ground – a picture of deep preparation before anything is visible.
What’s happening in the natural has become a quiet reminder that God is also building something in the unseen places of our hearts and community—things we’ve always longed for but have not exactly known how to speak out.
Our Church Story: Building a Spiritual House
I believe this next year will be a year of building—not physical walls, but a spiritual house, on the solid Rock foundation.
“You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house…”(1 Peter 2:5)
1. Gaining Spiritual Territory
We sense God inviting us to step into new spiritual ground:
Deeper trust and obedience to all that God says
Greater boldness in our city and region
Hearts that carry His presence into everyday life, through partnering with the Holy Spirit
2. Receiving His Blueprint
Just as a house needs plans, the Lord is giving us a blueprint for a healthy church:
Healthy community – where people are known, loved, and safe to grow and heal
Intimacy with Jesus – His presence as our first priority, every morning
Real discipleship – not just attending, but becoming like Christ and helping others do the same
Team ministry – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers equipping the saints (Ephesians 4)
We don’t want to build around personalities or preferences.We want to build according to His design.
3. Breaking Ground in Hearts, Homes, and Culture
Before walls go up, the ground has to be dug, the foundation poured, and the framework set. In the same way, this will be a year to let God:
Go deeper in our hearts—healing, cleaning out old patterns, and surrendering fully to Jesus
Strengthen our homes—inviting Him into our marriages, parenting, and daily rhythms above all else
Shape our church culture—clarity, accountability, and a shared heart to love and serve
We’re asking God to build a framework of love, honor, and truth before anything else stands.
We see Him building people, not just great programs.
This year of building is not about bigger calendars. It’s about people learning to walk in intimacy with the Lord, opening our tables and living rooms for real discipleship and relationship, and letting what God does in us be duplicated into others.
We want to be a church where everyone knows:
I am a living stone
I belong
I matter
I have a part
I’m being built into something bigger than myself
I am the church
I have the capacity for more
Apostolic Team Building
“Apostolic Team Building” has been on my heart for two years or more.
I sense the Lord strengthening team leadership—not just one voice, but a body of leaders who carry God’s heart together:
Listening to the Holy Spirit together
Guarding the DNA of what God is building
Equipping and sending people into their callings
This is what we mean by apostolic leadership: foundations laid, people equipped, and a house that can host God’s presence and release His people.
A Prayer for the Year Ahead
Let’s pray over this next year of building.
Jesus, You are the Chief Cornerstone. We give You our hearts, our homes, and our church. Thank You for all You’ve done in 2025. As we step into this new year, teach us to build according to Your blueprint. Build a strong foundation in us. Build healthy families and a healthy church. Make us ready. Strengthen teams and raise up every believer into their calling. Let everything we build be for Your glory alone. In Your name we pray, amen.
So excited and stirred up for a year of building with God—in our personal lives, in our families, and in our church family.
Pastor Sarah Bell
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