YOU BELONG HERE

2:04 the question is will you stay planted long enough to see it My name is Madison Cleveland, and I'm on staff here at Fellowship Church, and I've been a part of this church pretty much my entire life. I have the privilege of being on staff with our worship team, Fellowship Creative, also a part of the mix, which is our youth ministry, and then also with our young adults at our Dallas campus. But I wanna take you back to the very beginning of the story. My parents moved us when I was two years old to Allen, Texas. And my parents were looking for a church and they were just searching. And my grandparents actually found Fellowship Church in Grapevine. And my parents just recall taking us every Sunday whenever they could.

3:00 I remember at six years old that every single Sunday they would give kids an opportunity to receive Jesus into their life. They shared that Jesus came from heaven down to earth, that He lived perfectly, He died sacrificially for us on the cross for all of our sins, and then on the third day that He rose again from the grave, giving us hope, giving us life, giving us a future. And so I wanted that. So that day I received Jesus into my life. But unfortunately, we really didn't give God an opportunity for that seed to grow roots. Sports took over my family's life. Every single day there was practice. We had competitions every single weekend. We wouldn't be at church because of those competitions. I started to realize that I was trying to fill a void of like, I want people to like me. I feel like I don't fit in.

3:52 I didn't feel like I had a place where I belonged, even in friendships. The older my sister and I got, my parents realized that we needed to start building our foundation now on something way stronger, and that could only be found in Jesus. And so my parents, they made the decision for us that as soon as practice is done on Wednesdays, that we would be going straight to the mix every single Wednesday. I remember the first time I was there, I knew absolutely nobody, which to me in my brain was almost like my worst nightmare, because I'm like, I'm not gonna talk to anybody, so is anybody gonna talk to me? And there was this one specific Wednesday, I felt a presence come near me, and she tapped my shoulder, And she goes, hi, I'm Chloe, what's your name? And that was like, not normal for me. And you know, I said my name. She said, great, well, we're gonna start introducing you to this person and that person and that person.

4:49 Almost in a weird way felt like a sigh of relief of like, oh, someone does see me. Like someone did take notice in me. Shortly after camp season at Olasso Ranch was around the corner and I'd never been. And I had all these students that were starting to meet me and know me. They were like, you have to go to camp. I was 15 and I went to Elosa Ranch for the very first time. The zip lining, that was so much fun, and horseback riding. And then Wednesday night, they sang this song called Oceans. And I'd never heard that song before. I was just kind of humming it, you know, just kept it in my brain. And we got back to the cabin. Someone comes up to me and goes, Madison, is that you? And I was like, yes. Just scared because I didn't want anyone to know it was actually me singing. And she's like, all right, as soon as we get back to the mix, you're singing. And I kid you not, that next Wednesday, I sang a song called Everything Has Changed, which I look back and there's so much irony to that because literally in that season, things were starting to change.

5:54 Roots were starting to grow. I had really good friends now. I felt like I belonged. Like I had people that were rooting for me, that loved me. Literally from that Wednesday forward, I was up there every day. Any day that the doors were open, I was going to be there. And because of the emphasis to plant our lives in the church, a whole new life in Christ began to flourish. I had friends that were inviting friends in our school and they were coming to the mix and giving their lives to Jesus and getting baptized. and there was so much momentum and so much movement. And I really felt like it literally can't get better than this. Like this, I've reached the peak. Like I love what is happening in my life. And then I started to experience something that I'd never experienced before, and that was friend after friend leaving the church for various reasons.

6:51 It could have been their family ended up moving, or it could have been their family was going to another church, or a lot of times because we were so young, they had some feelings that were negative towards whatever it may have been. And I just remember that really like hurt because at this point of my life, like these were my close knitted friends. Like this was my circle. These were my people that I could laugh with, that I could cry with, confide in. And then out of nowhere, it's like poof, like they're all, they're all gone. I remember there was so many emotions that were happening. I started to isolate again and just kind of listened to what everybody was saying, but not know how to make sense of it myself. I even started to question, is this where I'm supposed to be? And I didn't know at the time, but I'm so thankful that my family rallied together and said, we're not going anywhere and we're staying planted in this house.

7:53 I had the privilege of having front row seats to Madison's story from the very, very beginning. From that first day she showed up, I think back to that moment of so much opportunity, so much potential that was hanging in the balance. And you could imagine just how hard it was to watch her go through a situation where she was surrounded by so many with big emotions and big feelings. And instead of choosing to react to those feelings and adopt those feelings, she paused, she stayed planted, and she made a faithful, faithful decision. Looking back, that decision changed my life because unlike so many of my friends, who uprooted and whose faith eventually withered away from God, that crucial decision kept me planted, not only in the church, but in my relationship with Christ. I was sharing my faith, bringing tons of invites to school, and inviting people to church.

8:50 And through serving, going to camp every summer, my faith grew deeper. As soon as I graduated high school, I went straight to a college program that we had in our church that has actually paved the way now for Fellowship Church University. I began to study the Bible like I'd never had before. I began to learn leadership handles that I still use today. And I learned even in that time too, like it's not just worship leading and leading people from a stage through song, but it's actually getting down face-to-face with people and being able to encourage them, being able to challenge them even when it's hard, like actually doing life with people. I fell in love all over again from where I started when I was 14, 15 years old of, oh, I just want to help people, but not just like make people feel good, but I actually want people's souls to change, their eternities to change.

9:48 And towards the end, right before we graduated, I just felt without a shadow of a doubt, like this is what I'm supposed to be doing for the rest of my life. And unexpectedly, I received one of the greatest blessings, being offered to come on staff as a worship leader. Madison was one of our most gifted and talented young worship leaders. And what set her apart, it wasn't just that she had an amazing voice, it was her character and her commitment. So often your talent can take you places, your character can't keep you. But because she had stayed planted all that time, God just continued to produce in her so much character. And so we were so thrilled to offer her a position on staff as a worship leader here at Fellowship Church and just knew God was going to use her in so many amazing ways. I was just on cloud nine. I was so honored to be given this opportunity. I was so excited.

10:42 It wasn't something that I planned for. But then I started to deal with some insecurities of, am I measuring up to what people are expecting of me? And I just put an unnecessary weight and pressure on myself that nobody else was putting on me in reality. And God definitely was not putting that pressure on me. I remember coming to work one day and my body just kind of fell off and I started to panic. I ended up leaving. I remember I was driving. My fingertips and the top of my mouth started to tingle and I remember getting on this overpass going home and I remember like I might lose control of this car like I might not make it home and I remember I got home and my body was so just from the literal top of my head to the bottom of my feet it just felt like I had no more control my body almost felt like gelatin and I got out of the car and I was scared I wasn't even make it to my door. It just felt like one thing after another. And I called my dad. I was like, you need to pick me up. I was like, because I literally feel like I'm dying. Went to the doctor. They ran an EKG.

12:07 And they're like, your heart's fine. But we think that you're experiencing a panic attack. Growing up in a Christian home and even in church, you don't think that stuff happens to Christians. Now I'm scared to call my leaders because like, they're going to think like, I don't have it together. Like I can't control everything. But they prayed with me. They brought their family in to pray with me. And I remember that next day because I was so overwhelmed, I had another panic attack. And I was like, this cannot be my life. I was like, God, if you don't take this away from me, I need you to use it. That is the only way that this even remotely makes sense is if you are going to use this part of my life to help someone that might actually be dealing with this as well. When I went back to our youth ministry to help lead it, I remember just girl after girl coming up to me and explaining like what they were experiencing.

13:09 And it was anxiety and panic attacks. And I got to pray with them and just talk with them. I look back to my 11th grade of high school when I could have easily just uprooted myself from everything that I had ever invested my time in. And I stayed planted in 11th grade, and that really, really helped me in this moment of my life of, I don't have to run away from this problem. I don't have to uproot myself in this situation because there's already been so much trust within the friends that I have right now that have also walked through the same stuff as me. Leaders in my life that have family members have walked through the same stuff as me. And so it just, it made me realize how important the planting actually is. I think back to that prayer that I prayed, saying, God, if this is going to be in my life, then I'm in a need for you to use it.

14:12 And man, has he used it. I have the honor of serving with Madison at her Dallas campus. And every week I hear stories of Madison leading someone to Christ, getting someone involved in serving. From students to young adults, man and woman, people's lives are being changed because of Madison. Hi, I'm Lauren. I'm Gabby. And I'm Jaden. And we all serve at our Dallas campus. This week, we're out at our Camp and Retreat Center, Alasa Ranch, and we probably wouldn't be here if it weren't for Madison. I'm at Madison on a Sunday in 2024, and I had never met someone who was more interested in my story. And actually, it was Madison who helped lead me to Christ. She's the one who built into us and showed us what it's like to be a leader.

14:55 It seems like every single day I'm getting a text message, a voice memo, a something from Madison. And we're talking about how she's sharing the Lord with somebody, how she's inviting somebody to start a personal relationship with Jesus. The amount of people that I've been able to help lead into a relationship with the Lord. if you would have told me that that is where God would have brought me up to this point, I would have never believed you. I still remember the nervous girl walking into the mix for the first time. And I think about how different her life would have been if she would have followed the friends that left or if she would have made cheer a priority. But it's been so cool to just see how she stayed planted and to see the fruit of what it looks like to follow Jesus in her life. There's no doubt in my mind that one day she'll look into the eyes of her Lord and you will say, well done, good and faithful servant. None of this I could ever do on my own.

15:55 It is literally by the power of God that can do this. I'm so thankful for this church and I'm so thankful for staying planted. And without that and without Jesus, I don't know where I'd be today. The Bible says in Psalm 92,

16:30 What a great story. Will you please stand to your feet and help me welcome Madison Cleveland. You may be seated.

16:59 You know, sometimes when you're making a decision in the moment, you don't realize the impact it's going to have long term. So I want you to imagine if you'd walked away during those difficult seasons, how would your life be different today? I mean, it would be completely different from the friends that I have now to the purpose that I have. I love that that mentioned, you know, as a student going through that, that I found purpose. But more importantly, I don't know where my relationship with Christ would be. And that is the most important part of my life. And I don't think it would be as strengthened as it is now because I had planted in that. Now, when you think back to that season when your parents made the decision for you, for you to go to the mix, what do you realize now that you didn't understand back then?

17:56 I'm so thankful my parents are here today. I'm so thankful that they saw that we needed, my sister and I needed to be a part of a godly community. You know, I was, like I said, a cheerleader. And I really thought that that was my end all be all. Like, those are the friends that I need. Nobody else, like I'm set. But my parents saw a need. And I'm not a parent, but for all the parents that are in the room right now, bring your kids to church. Bring your kids to church. Because it is biblical and because it's gonna bless them. I am a part of our youth ministry at our Dallas campus and I make calls all the time and I'm reaching out to these students all the time inviting them to the mix and I'm like hey I hope you're coming to the mix tonight and when the response is I would love to go but my parents don't want to take me that breaks my heart because your child from the inside even if it's not on the outside on the inside is looking for Jesus.

19:10 Even without explaining it, they're looking for Jesus. They're also looking for that godly community that they so desperately need. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that godly community within the mix. So bring your kids to church. Students, go to church. Any students in the room? Students, go to church. Make it a priority in your life. So I know you're not a parent. You have a lot of wisdom and you have a front row seat. to the lives of students. So you do have insight, but I am a parent and I have a daughter who's in college. She's 20. I have a son who's in middle school and I cannot express how grateful I am to have other people speaking to my children's life. I don't know if this is true for any of you other parents, but sometimes my children don't wanna listen to me.

20:01 And I'm so grateful that they have people in their lives that they will listen to, that I know are gonna give them godly wisdom and that can see things in them that I can't see because I'm in the weeds of it right now. So we have such a great resource here and we don't know what's ahead for our children. And so we need to help ground them in this time of their life to prepare them for what's ahead. So I think those are such great words of wisdom. You talked about experiencing friends leaving the church and the inevitable change that happens whenever you're in a church, any church, for any extended period of time, you're gonna see change. Talk to me about what has helped you to stay planted when those shifts and changes have happened. It's really hard. I would love to sit here and say that, oh, it's fine and life goes on and it does, but it's really hard.

20:53 Whenever you anchor yourself to not only Christ, but people, and then they're not there anymore within a specific home church, that's really difficult. and I know that we live in a social media society where grass is definitely greener on the other side and I'm seeing especially a lot in Dallas-Fort Worth that there's this worship night here or maybe your favorite pastor's over here and maybe this event's happening over here and if you're not careful, what happens is that you start going from place to place to place to place and then it becomes comfortable and then there is no one holding you accountable. And it's really important to stay planted because planted things flourish. So, and I'm biased, Fellowship Church is my church home and it is the most incredible church. This is where I have found biblical truths.

21:47 This is where I found amazing community, but also just purpose in general. So if you have that here at Fellowship Church, stay planted here and just watch what God continues to do in your life through that. You know, it's so tempting when things get uncomfortable to find what is comfortable. But so often it's in the uncomfortable, in the difficult that God grows us. And so that's why he meant for us to not just be an organization. We are a family and we have relationship with each other. And as we work through those conflicts, as we work through those difficulties, God grows us and strengthens. And that's how those roots go down deep is by not running, but staying. You talked about how when you first came on staff, how you felt unqualified. How have you overcome that? Yeah, I really believe if I were to have a show of hands of anybody that would say they're insecure, I think everybody would probably raise their hand because we're human beings, because we have faults.

22:48 And so there's insecurity that comes with that. But something that's really helped me is learning the Bible and knowing the Bible. Because God, he used people in the Bible, just like you and I, to do incredible things as a human being. But it wasn't because of their strength, it was because the power of God that worked through them. I think about Moses in Exodus 3, where he encounters a burning bush that God placed there. And that's, first of all, that's crazy. Let's just be real, let's be honest, that's wild. And so he encounters a burning bush and he's telling Moses like, hey, you are about to lead Israel out of Egypt, out of captivity. And you're about to come face to face with Pharaoh. And what Moses says is, who am I? Who am I, Lord, that you would send me to do this? And then God says, do not fear for I will be with you. And then just like many of us, we wrestle with God and we ask more and more questions as if what he says isn't enough. It's human nature.

23:53 And eventually you start to see Moses' insecurities. And he says, but Lord, you know, I don't speak well and I never have been able to speak well. And then God replies and says, who gave you a mouth? And that encourages me that it's not because of my strength or my talent or my abilities. If God has called you, he will equip you. That's right. If God has called you, he will equip you just like he did with Moses. And we just read all throughout scripture, all the incredible things that came from that. And so it's important for us to surrender our will and submit to his. Definitely do that because that's whenever you get to see your life just begin to flourish in so many incredible ways. You know, is when, when we acknowledge, yeah, y'all can clap for that Because that was really good.

24:45 The one clap. The awkward one clap. Thank you. You know, when we feel that insecurity, Satan wants to use it to cripple us. But God uses it to drive us to him. So that we will depend on him fully. Because when we do that is when we see him work through us. And it just reinforces to us that it's not about us. That it's about him. That's so good. I know that you still deal with anxiety and panic attacks today. So walk us through a little bit, just some practical ways that you navigate that. I mean, it's a daily surrender. If any of you in this room experience any sort of mental health challenge, whether it be anxiety, depression, you name it, it is a daily surrender. I would love to sit here and say that one counseling session just completely healed my brain and I never deal with it ever again. But sometimes that's just not the way that it works.

25:42 And so I think that there's the practical, but I also think there's the spiritual. And for those of us that are believers in the room, I pray that the spiritual starts to bleed into the practical. So practically speaking, just being active with your body. I grew up on sports, but once you're an adult, you have to like make decisions to like stay active. You know what I'm saying? You have to make decisions to stay active, and it's hard. We have busy schedules. But you've got to make sure that you are just being active with your body. Eating the right things is so important. So goes the body, so goes the mind. I know for me, my anxiety spikes anytime I'm in the car, which is every day. And I think it stems back from that first panic attack that I ever experienced. And so something that I've learned, practically speaking, is just finger tapping. It's a grounding method. And if you think grounding methods are weird, then I don't know what to tell you. But it's grounding methods.

26:37 It quite literally grounds your body to where you are. And so that's really, really important. But spiritually speaking, when you wake up in the morning and your alarm goes off, it's so easy to hit the snooze button and then ding, ding, ding, ding. It's like all of these notifications that you just want to jump to, right? Naturally. But instead of doing that, I've learned to put my phone up, go to my living room, open up the Bible, start praying and read for like five to 10 minutes. It doesn't have to be an hour long. As much as you can give, because what it does is as soon as you wake up, your first thought is not on yourself, but it's on the Lord. Also journaling. I'm really not good at journaling. I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm practicing. But Pastor Ed and Lisa have really done an amazing job with our church and with our staff. and the power of journaling.

27:30 Journal out your thoughts. Write out your thoughts, because it just helps organize all the chaos that's happening up here. And then the last thing that I'll say, sometimes you've gotta get desperate enough. I think we too often do these microwave prayers, but when I get home and I've had a long day, and maybe I'm on the verge of a panic attack, I get on my knees and I get on my face, and I say, Lord, I cannot do this in my own strength. I need for you to pick me up. I need for you to renew my mind, renew my heart, and help me trust that it's all gonna be okay. And I promise you, you are not alone. If any of you are in this room and you experience panic attacks, anxiety, you name it, you are not alone. God sees you, God knows you, and he loves you so much. And he has so much better for your life. I love those just really practical, tangible ways.

28:24 And I love the way that you focus your eyes and your mind back on who God is, putting him back at the center. Talk to me just a little bit about, you said you're not alone and you've alluded to this and you talked about it in the video about the importance of community. So talk to us about the importance of relationships and community as you continue to battle with anxiety. Yeah, I always tell people that I am saved by Jesus, but my life changed when I decided to start serving in the church at 15 years old. I'm a product of what God does whenever you lay down your own life to serve others. And why do we do that? Because Jesus said, I came not to be served, but to serve others as a ransom for many. And so psychologically proven too, clinically proven for those people that deal with just battles in the mind, serving people helps. It doesn't add more stress. It actually helps release things that need to be released so that you're able to stop focusing so much on yourself, but start focusing on other people. So if you are in the church at all occasions and you are not serving, literally start today. We have team members that would love to connect with you and get you plugged into a serving community. That's good. And there's other ways you can connect too, whether it's being a part of one of our Bible study classes. We have them on Sundays.

29:45 We will be resuming them again on Wednesday nights as school kicks off. We have support groups. We have small groups for men and women. There's so many different opportunities for you to get connected with other people. And so take advantage of those. Yeah. And also Christian counseling. If you've been told Christian counseling is weird and you shouldn't go, don't listen to them. I've been going since 2019. Go find a Christian counselor. You can find it on fellowshipchurch.com and we have a whole list of trusted counselors that are Christian. So be a part of that too. Scripture tells us over and over to seek wise counsel. And so it's so important for us to have people in our lives that can speak into that. You know, one of the things that I love about you is your boldness. And I'd love for you to kind of talk to us a little bit about what you've learned about sharing your faith. And what does that look like when you're getting into a conversation with someone?

30:41 Yeah, it's all about availability. I've been told to not live life with your fists clenched like this but to have it open because God can use that and I think it starts with a high risk prayer saying, and I do this every time I'm driving into work I say, God, use me today that's it, it's not some lengthy prayer it's God, use me today short and sweet, but it's effective and watch what God does in your life But I think the biggest thing is just, you've got to learn people. I think we're such great talkers, but not great listeners. You've got to learn how to listen to people and their stories and not write it off. Everybody has a story. And there's beauty when you start asking people intentional questions. Like, who are you?

31:33 You know, where'd you come from? Like, where are you from? What are you involved with? When you start asking simple questions like that, people are like, oh, She cares about me. Oh, she's listening. And then that starts to soften the heart. There was something that happened two Fridays ago and it's my day off. I was in the gym and I got a call from my dad and he's like, hey, we're in the area. We wanna go to lunch. And I'm like, not really. I was like, I'd really rather actually not talk to people right now. He's like, and your sister's in town and her friend that she works with. I'm like, oh gosh, more people, okay. And everything in me wanted to say no. But there was something about it that I was like, you know what, I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go sweaty and all. We're just gonna go to lunch. And so I get to lunch and I meet my sister's friend that she works with in Oklahoma. And I just start asking her questions. Like, what's your name?

32:26 Where are you from? What do you like to do? And then that started to really open up conversations for even the deeper stuff. I had a random lunch on a Friday. and she opened up how she, you know, grew up going to church, but she didn't quite understand and nothing really stuck to her. And so she decided in the last year to start going to church for herself. And she's like, yeah, and I'm just, you know, I'm just checking out the whole thing, feeling the whole thing. And it almost felt like God was opening the door even just that much. and I went through it. I've learned that life is too short for us to hold back and sharing the gospel with people. Life is fleeting. It's here one day, it's gone tomorrow. And as Christians, as believers, if we are not bold in our faith, if we are not taking every opportunity that the Lord has given us, whether that door is wide open or even just open just a little bit, run through that door.

33:26 And so I ended up, yeah, I ended up just asking her. I said, hey, I said, have you given your life to Jesus before? And she's like, well, not really. I'm kind of figuring everything out. I'm like, that's great. All of us will for the rest of our lives. But it takes a step of faith. And so I explained the gospel to her. I explained that there is bad news, is that you and I are sinners, that we mess up every day. And then there's worse news. And the worst news is that you and I can do nothing to bridge ourselves to God. But there is good news. And the good news is that God sent his son Jesus from heaven down to earth to bridge the gap, to take our place on the cross, to die for our sins, and then rise bodily from the grave three days later. And the best news is that you can receive that salvation today.

34:22 You can receive that gift today. and with tears just welled up in her eyes, she said, I want that relationship with Jesus. And so right there at that lunch, we prayed the prayer of salvation with her and she is now a believer in Jesus and we celebrate that. And then two days later, it's Sunday, obviously, and I'm at our Dallas location. Shout out Dallas, love you guys. And I'm standing at the door and I see my sister and her friends come through the door. I'm like, oh, this is a lovely, nobody tells me anything. They just show up and they just show up. And, um, I just kept thinking like, Lord speak to her today. And after the experience, I said, how'd you like the experience? I loved it. I loved it. I mentioned baptism. I said, Hey, that's your next step as a brand new believer. We baptize every single Sunday at fellowship church. We can baptize you right now. And she was like, Oh, seriously? I'm like, yeah. I was like, let's get you a shirt. Let's get you shorts and let's get you in the water. So we got her shirt shorts in the water and we baptized her and she was so thankful in how the timing worked out. She even said, she said, I couldn't even thought this timing up better in my life. So be available, allow God to use you.