Why One Service on Sunday?

Several people have asked me or our staff, "Why did we do one combined service on Sunday?" Here are the key reasons, with a fuller explanation below:  

We like each other. Our church family enjoys fellowshipping with one another. As we grow, its become increasingly challenging to find opportunities where we can slow down and enjoy each other's company.  

We are preparing to commission Gospel Hope Church. As I mentioned on Sunday, we plan to replicate this service for the commissioning of our church plant, Gospel Hope Church, on Sunday, February 22, 2026. Let's pray for mild weather that day!  

We are one church. Unintentionally, two services can create a "two church" feel. It's been five years since we added the second service due to COVID. Over that time, we've grown significantly, and many who attend the 9:00 am service don't know those in the 10:30 am service, and vice versa. One reason we celebrated the Lord's Table together was to remind us of our unity as a church family (1 Corinthians 10:17).  

We are growing. I once thought we would return to one service after commissioning the church plant. That's not going to happen. We genuinely need two services to accommodate all the people God is bringing to Grace Life. Our 10:30 service consistently runs at 75-80% capacity, while our 9:00 service runs at about 50%+ capacity. When the 9:00 service reaches 75-80% capacity, we'll need to start a third service. Yes, we will continue planting churches, but that takes time.  

We are called to live out the "one-anothers." It's very difficult to obey the fifty-plus "one-another" commands in the New Testament when we don't know one another. This combined service was an opportunity to build relationships so we can better obey these commands.  

We are anticipating the future. As we continue to outgrow our facilities, we'll need to prayerfully consider next steps for Grace Life. Yes, by God's grace, we will continue planting churches. However, church planting isn't a long-term strategy to manage numerical growth.   

Without exception, pastors I speak with who plant churches tell me, "Joel, for every church plant we send out, God gives us twice as many people." While that's not a hard-and-fast rule, it reflects the reality that healthy churches tend to grow numerically. This isn't an announcement of a building initiative—rather, it's a reminder that our responsibility is to be faithful, and God will provide the fruitfulness.

Cypress isn't shrinking; more and more people are calling Cypress home. Our job is to prepare for them and for future growth as God provides.  

Pastor Joel