ONE x ONE | VISION 2027:  

Every year at Portrait, we unite around a word from God. This year’s marching orders came from Joshua chapter 12.

Joshua and the Israelites possessed the Promised Land, defeating 31 kings in total, but accomplishing God’s vision didn’t happen overnight. It happened one city, one battle, one act of obedience at a time … One x One.

Looking back, it feels like one incredible conquest. Living through it, it looked like incremental progress.

We believe that’s how God builds His church, and it’s how we’ll pursue the God-sized vision He’s placed before us: to see 3.9 million people Look Again at Jesus, experiencing and expressing His love.

A number that big isn’t reached in a single leap. It’s reached by one friend invited, one person baptized, one family restored, one victory after another … One x One.

Going all in to
saturate North Texas with the love of Christ, win the next generation, build toward our future home, and fearlessly advance the gospel through church planting and international missions.

We refuse to be overwhelmed by the size of the vision. Together, we take our next faith step on Sunday, December 6, through our annual Prepare the Way Offering—an offering that goes above and beyond our regular giving. 

God gives the vision.  We give our YES. 

One person at a time. One opportunity at a time. One act of generosity at a time.

step by step … brick by brick …

ONE X ONE

A Timeline of God's Faithfulness

2024 — Establish

God promised to establish what we were building and He did: providing space, finances, and raising up 150 servant leaders to launch Portrait.

2025 — United

God told us unity commands His blessing and flows top-down … as we united around inviting people to Look Again, He poured it out: 49 people wer baptized.

2026 — Prepare

God promised open doors — and gave us 10 acres on the border of Celina and Gunter.

2027 — One x One

As we enter this next chapter, we believe His goodness will crown our year —one person, one step, one act of obedience at a time.

 

Impact

See what God has done through your generosity year-to-date.

01 — Weekly Impact

  • 19 Baptisms
  • 500+ average Sunday attendance (27% increase since August of ’25)
  • 225 Servant Leaders 
  • 150 people in Houses
  • 92 people in Huddles 
  • 140 New Here Cards | 354 houshold members (through September)

02 — $90,000+ Outreach Giving

  • Support for new and future church plants – This remains one of the most effective ways to reach new people for Jesus
  • Tapestries of Life Orphanage in Mexico
  • Missions support in Pakistan
  • Benevolence for people in need
  • Beyond the walls 
  • Samaritan’s Purse
  • Campus improvements for Celina ISD, and teacher appreciation

03 — Beyond the Walls (Serve Sundays)

  • 1,752 collective hours served YTD
  • 320 participants
  • Projects completed:
        • Celina ISD campus improvements and teacher appreciation
        • Helping families get their home up to city code
        • Serving the homeless
        • Adopt-a-street beautification
        • Operation Christmas Child
        • Project Linus – blankets for kids in area hospitals
        • Samaritans Inn
        • Helping Hands of Celina
        • Embrace foster care
        • Carter blood donations
        • Canvas and invite local neighborhoods to Portrait

Explore Initiatives

missional

We are giving above and beyond to advance the gospel: 

  • Pakistani partnership with East/West. Goal of 21 churches planted in 2027
  • Christ Life Zambia – supporting Pastor Mulenga Chella
  • Church planting 

Foundational

We are committed to four foundational callings of the church: Seeking the lost, reaching the next generation, healing the hurting, and feeding the faithful. (Zechariah 11:16-17)

  • Lowering camp costs for NextGen ministry
  • Youth worship movement
  • Local outreach 

Future

God has positioned us at the epicenter of growth, and it’s time to takes steps toward building our future home.

Sun Stand Still...

What could God do through one life, one church, one YES?

Years before Portrait existed, I was 33, nearly a decade into an advertising sales career, and sensing God’s call into full-time ministry. As I started seminary, I was reading about Joshua’s prayer in Joshua 10, when he asked God to make the sun stand still. One question wouldn’t let me go…
 
Do I have the audacity to ask God for the impossible?
 
So I prayed the biggest prayer I could muster. I asked God for a ten-fold return on every dollar spent on my education, measured in lives impacted. Days later, I read the parable of the Sower: the harvest comes in 30, 60, even 100-fold. There was no 10X. I sensed the Holy Spirit say, “Pray bigger.”
 
When I graduated, I had the school print my account statement down to the penny. A 100-fold return came to 3.9 million people.
 
That’s the Sun Stand Still prayer God put in my heart—that 3.9 million people would Look Again at Jesus.
 
This isn’t about Portrait becoming a megachurch; it’s about making a mega impact. We could never build fast enough or big enough to reach that many people, and I’d rather be known for our sending capacity than our seating capacity. To even come close to this vision, we’ll need to become a church that multiplies by planting churches, raising up the next generation, and investing heavily in missions.
 
We may only see a partial fulfillment of this Sun Stand Still prayer in our lifetime, but I want to spend my ONE life moving toward it!
 
So instead of focusing on the millions, let’s focus on the one person God has already put in front of us. The one friend to pray for. The one neighbor to invite to dinner. The one person to walk alongside and disciple.
 
That’s the story God is inviting you and me to be a part of…One x One.

 

Following His Lead,

Pastor David