Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - 3 Mindsets That Move Us | This Is What We Do: Part 2

Episode Date: November 30, 2025

Have you ever wanted to live generously but weren't sure where to start? Maybe you see needs around you but don't know how to help. Generosity can be something that shapes your life every day. Let’s... talk about it more.NEXT STEPSHave you made the decision to follow Jesus? You might be wondering what’s next for you. We want to help! Check out these resources to ​​discover what saying yes to Jesus means: https://www.life.church/yesWe’d Love to Get to Know YouLife.Church isn’t just something you listen to—it’s a place where you can grow and connect. And we want to help you do that! Share a little about yourself and what resources would help you on your faith journey with this short survey: https://life.church/podcastconnectABOUT THIS MESSAGEWhen times are tough, being generous seems impossible. We want to care for those around us, but where do we even start? How can we possibly make a difference? Together, let's learn how in our new series, This Is What We Do.Wondering why we should tithe? This article will help: go2.lc/why-titheThis Bible Plan can help you gain wisdom for navigating finances: go2.lc/moneyABOUT LIFE.CHURCHWherever you are in life, you have a purpose. Life.Church wants to help you find your next step. Our hope is that your journey will include joining us at a Life.Church location throughout the United States or globally online at https://www.live.life.churchFind locations, videos, and more info about us at https://www.life.church or download the Life.Church app at https://www.life.church/appFIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/life.churchInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/life.churchTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifechurchYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@life.churchCONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIG GROESCHELYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/craiggroeschelFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschelInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschelTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craiggroeschelLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/35447748/#lifechurch #craiggroeschel  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Well, what I know about every single one of you is that you want to be generous. Is that true? Every single one of you, you really want to make a difference in the lives of people. You don't want to live small. You don't want to hold back. Something inside of you wants to honor God, wants to make a difference, wants to be generous. In fact, if you ask most people, hey, are you generous? Almost everybody would say, yeah, sure. Yeah, I mean, yeah, yeah. I'm, yeah, I'm generous. I mean, I'm not greedy, right? I'm not selfish. I know some people that are, but that's not me. I mean, I opened the door for someone coming into church today. Of course, I'm generous, right? I give and I'd love to give more whenever I can, and I will give more whenever I have more. Right now, I've got to pay the bills and I've got to buy coffee.
Starting point is 00:01:00 and I got to survive Christmas, and then the credit cards that come in later on. But yeah, sure, I'm generous. I give what I can, and I'd like to give more. And what's interesting when you think about generosity is most people think that they're generous because they give. Every now and then we give something.
Starting point is 00:01:21 But giving and being generous, those are actually two different things. giving and being generous, they're not the same thing. What's the difference? Well, giving is an action, but generosity is a mindset. There's a difference. You see, giving is something that you might do in the moment, but generosity is an identity. It's who you are and who you're becoming. And what's crazy about the world that we live in, and if you're honest, you'd probably admit this, that, Most people, especially in my country, most Americans, don't feel rich, but we really are. And most of us would say that we're generous, but we may not be.
Starting point is 00:02:16 I'm sorry to be so straightforward today, but we got to call it what it is. According to giving USA's annual report, I'll give you a statistic. the average American gave just 1.9% of their total income to charity. Less than 2%. Not exactly winning any Academy Awards for generosity. And unfortunately, that's the good news. The bad news, according to 2023 IRS stats, that if your income was higher,
Starting point is 00:02:53 if you made over $100,000 a year, the average percentage that you gave was actually lower than those people who made less. What's crazy is that most of us, we don't really feel rich and blessed, but we really are. And most of us think that we're generous, but we're really not. Why? Because generosity doesn't start with money. It starts with our mindset. It's not something that you do occasionally. It's the way that you live, the way that you think, and the way that you make a difference in the lives of people consistently.
Starting point is 00:03:38 So what I want to do today is I want to just stretch your faith a little bit, and I'm going to give you three different generosity of mindsets, and we're going to ask God to help us to grow in our generosity. So look at three different mindsets. The first one would be when you give spontaneously. There are those who would be spontaneous in their generosity. There would be those who would be strategic in generosity. And then there are those that would be sacrificial.
Starting point is 00:04:07 Three different mindsets. You can be spontaneous when you give. You can be strategic when you give. Or you can be sacrificial when you give. Let's talk about each of these and build upon the principles. The first thought is this. If you're taking notes, you can jot this. us down. We give spontaneously when compassion moves us, don't we? We give in the moment when we see a need,
Starting point is 00:04:35 we feel prompted, and we can meet it. And this is how most people give. We don't plan to do it. We're not budgeted for it, but we see a need and we think, oh my gosh, I can do something about that. And so we kind of get excited. And in the moment, spontaneously, we meet that. neat. And you may do this when you're strolling online and you see in the headlines, a tornado hits an area, or a hurricane wipes out a bunch of people, and there are families with nothing, and you realize, I should probably send something, and so you click and you donate it, and you do it in the moment, and that's a good thing. Or you have a close friend, someone in your life group, and they lose their job. Or someone at work, I mean, their house burns down.
Starting point is 00:05:22 They've got nowhere to go. And you're sitting there thinking, I need to be. I need to be a to do something to help them. And so in the moment, spontaneously, you give what you can to make a difference. And it's a very, very good thing. It's spontaneous. It's in the moment. Very similar to the story of the Good Samaritan that Jesus tells in Luke chapter 10. It's a beautiful story of generosity, a spontaneous giving in the moment that wasn't planned. Jesus tells the story. There was a man going from Jerusalem down to Jericho where he was brutally beaten. They left this poor guy bloody, almost dead, and he's in the side of the road,
Starting point is 00:06:05 and suddenly a couple of people walk up and see him. The first was a priest who said, oh, that guy's bad. He looks in he's in bad shape, but the priest just kept on walking. And then a Levite saw him. If it happened today, what he would do is he would stop, take a photo, post it, and say, please pray. But it didn't happen today.
Starting point is 00:06:32 So he just kept on walking. Then a Samaritan came up, which would have been very, very, very shocking to everyone that a Samaritan would actually stop and care for a Jewish man who's in bad shape. But he does. He looks on and goes, oh my gosh, this is really, really bad. I need to do something to help. I can make a difference. I'm here, and so spontaneously, this guy stopped. And we see this story in Luke chapter 10, verse 33,
Starting point is 00:06:57 when the Samaritan saw the wounded man, like, praise God he cared, right? Praise God for every time you care about someone in need. He stopped and took pity on the injured man. He went to him and bandaged his wounds and pouring oil and wine. And then he put the man on his own donkey, and he brought them to an inn, and he took care of him. He found a motel six, you know, and said, hey, we'll put you up here.
Starting point is 00:07:24 And he said to the innkeeper the next day, he came back and took out two denari and gave them to the innkeeper. And he said, take care of this guy. Look after him. And when I return, I will reimburse you for any expense that you may have. I love this story. The good Samaritan comes along. he wasn't planning on being generous.
Starting point is 00:07:50 He's just going somewhere else. He sees someone in significant need, and he thinks, I can do something about this. Someone's got to help. It might as well be me. And so he gives spontaneously. And this is a good thing. It's God honoring because you can't always plan to give,
Starting point is 00:08:09 but you can always be ready to watch when God puts someone in your path and you have something to be a blessing to them. them in the name of Jesus. It's a good thing, and it honors God when you give this way. And this is how most people give. And it's a good thing. But if it's the only way that you give, it's very, very limited. Very, very limited.
Starting point is 00:08:38 In fact, I would say to you that it's a really great place to start, but it's not the best place to finish. Why? Because if you only give when you feel something, you won't give when you don't. And that's why there's a massive difference between just giving and being generous. That there's a first level, and it's a beautiful level, and it's God honoring, and that is that we give spontaneously when compassion moves us. But there's a second level of generosity, and that's this.
Starting point is 00:09:12 We give strategically when our convictions guide us. And honestly, this is a step up. It's not more important at all. Both are important, but it is more strategic. If you only give spontaneously, it's good, but it's limited. If you're giving strategically as well, this is not just emotional giving. This is actually prayerful and intentional generosity. In other words, we don't just give whenever we feel it,
Starting point is 00:09:49 but we give prayerfully and strategically because we've decided to be generous. And this is perhaps maybe one of the many reasons why God gave us the tithe. We looked at that last week, and we'll look at it again, Malachi chapter 3, verse 10, powerful verse that says, bring the whole tithe into the storehouse.
Starting point is 00:10:14 What is the tithe? Remember, it's the Hebrew word maasur. We bring the whole 10% back into the storehouse, back to the local church. We bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. Why? So there may be food in my house. And God says, test me in this.
Starting point is 00:10:35 Says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open, the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be enough room to store it. What is the tithe? Remember, it's my auster. It's 10%. Technically, if we're being really technical, because Amy is really technical, and she calls me on everything, technically tithing is not giving.
Starting point is 00:11:04 It's just not stealing. Okay, I'll say it this way. just to, I'll be, I'll be, I'll be sweeter about it. Tithing is technically not giving. It's returning. It's giving back to God what belongs to God. And it's actually, it's not spontaneous. It's not like I feel moved. It's strategic. It's that Lord my God is my God. He gave me everything. And it's my honor and blessing to return back to him 10% of what he entrusted to me. The Bible tells us this, very, very clearly, Leviticus, a tithe of everything, whatever the increase, 10%. It belongs to the Lord.
Starting point is 00:11:47 It's holy to the Lord. It is his. Now, let's just do real talk, because you're real people, and we're in the middle of holidays. And I remember the first time I heard that, supposed to give 10%, I'm thinking, like, that's a lot. How many would you say that's a lot? It type in the comment. It feels like a lot, right? It feels like a lot.
Starting point is 00:12:08 And it is, or it's not, depending on your perspective. I mean, like 10%, it's a little, because you get to keep 90%, it really depends on your perspective. For example, if there is a Black Friday sale and you're excited about that TV or that blender, and you go in and you're ready to make your kill,
Starting point is 00:12:35 and the Black Friday sells 10% off, that ain't nothing at all. 10% does nothing. Like, that's not even worth my time. All of a sudden it's not the same. Or if you go to a restaurant and you get just ridiculously good service, the food is amazing, and the people like, they are on their game. And you give them a 10% tip, and nobody there saying you're really generous. 10%'s a lot or it's not?
Starting point is 00:13:03 depending on your perspective. Now, a lot of you're going to say what I thought, initially when I heard, you know, we're honored to tithe, I'm going to like, I can't afford that. There ain't no way I can afford that. And we'll start there and go, okay. Well, how do you do that? And I'll tell you right now, you can't write this down if you want to.
Starting point is 00:13:24 The best way to afford to tithe is to plan to tithe. Like to plan to it. And you would say, but I'd have to like, like make some changes to put God first. I'd have to rearrange some priorities to return to him what's his. I'd have to put some effort into this. I might have to think this thing through. Yes, you plan to do it.
Starting point is 00:13:50 You plan. You plan for it. And because tithing is not random. It's not spontaneous. It's planned, obedience, and it's worship. I am planning every time I have an increase God to declare to everything. that I own. I put you first, and I declare you are the king of my life. You're my provider. You're my Lord. You're my savior. It's my honor to give back to you. So this isn't spontaneous. This is
Starting point is 00:14:17 strategic. And so I would tell you at whatever level, be spontaneous and be strategic, meaning like plan your generosity and keep on planning and get better at planning because we tend to plan what's important to us, right? And you know this because the moment your car starts giving you problems and leaking oil and catch it on fire and stuff like that. What do you do? You start making plans to get a newer car. You plan for it. If you need a break, you plan for a vacation. You might plan to remodel your kitchen. Some of you, you plan your day around coffee. You plan. You plan what's important to you. And so since generosity changes how we live, then we as followers of Jesus plan to be generous.
Starting point is 00:15:07 We plan to be generous. In fact, I love what Isaiah 328 says. Isaiah 328 says, but generous people, what do they do? Say it with me. Generous people, they plan to do what is generous. And they stand firm in their generosity. When you're not just giving spontaneously, but you're planning to be generous,
Starting point is 00:15:29 it shapes how you think and how you do life. And I'll tell you about an amazing young lady from our church. I met her when she was 18, and she came to me and was talking about, hey, I'm going to design my life around generosity. So tell me what you're going to do. She said, well, I'm going to start with a tithe. And then she said, 18 years old.
Starting point is 00:15:50 She said, I'm going to add every year 1% to my strategic generosity plan. I'm like, I like the way you think. And so four years later now, she's giving 14% of what she earns. Back 10% is the tithe. 1% she gives to you, Virgin, because she believes in the mission. 1% she gives to new locations because she was saved at a church, paid for her by other people, and she gave her life to Christ, 1% to local and global missions.
Starting point is 00:16:18 And then she has what she calls the Blessing Fund. She got this idea from Amy. And that's just 1% that she has available anytime she sees a need and can meet it. 18 years old to 22 years old and growing strategically in a generosity plan. Amy and I have been doing this for a long time. And we're very, very prayerful at the beginning of the year and come up with our generosity plan for the year. We plan the tithe, obviously, and have for our whole marriage.
Starting point is 00:16:51 And then we plan offerings above the tithe based on the convictions that God has given. us and the ministries that we see that we believe in. Now, I'm going to say this just directly and humbly, but if you've been here for a while, I bought my first four rental properties back when I was in college. I've been investing the whole time every single year, so we have a lot of financial flexibility, and it's not all for us. So we're very strategic. We plan the time. We have a designated generous U-Vurgeon offering at the beginning of the year. We give to new campuses. We support Branch 15, a ministry that Amy created to help women coming out of very difficult times.
Starting point is 00:17:40 We give very generously to that ministry. We have six biological kids. That's a basketball team with a sub. And so we've always felt called to sponsor six children in different parts of the world to match what God has given us. We have a few local ministries that we give to, and then we have two funds, our mutual blessing fund and Amy's individual blessing fund. And we have money set aside to help our friends and family pay rent, get transportation, education, pay for medical needs, child care and such. And then Amy's strategy is different than mine. Hers is more like anywhere, anytime, anything. And so she has her own fund, and I just look away and I let her do whatever God prompts her to do. And all of that is planned. It's strategic. We have an amount set aside to be
Starting point is 00:18:38 spontaneous, but it's also a prayerful amount that we think about and ask God ahead of time. So it's not just spontaneous. Yes, it's that. But it's prayerful and it's strategic. And that's God honoring because giving happens spontaneously. but generosity is actually more strategic. It's designing our life around using what God gives to us to be a blessing to others. And I want to let this sink in for a minute, and I need to get a drink of water because you're making me so excited. Truly generous people, they give in the moment, but they don't just give in the moment. They actually make a plan. And so we give spontaneously when compassion moves us. We give strategic.
Starting point is 00:19:29 strategically when our convictions, we're praying about it and God guides us. And then we give sacrificeally when love costs us. We give sacrificially. And this is the part that's not easy to talk about because this isn't giving what's easy. This is actually giving something that costs you. You may say, like, why would I ever sacrifice? And the answer is because that's what love does. Love gives, right? Love, love gives. In fact, John 316 says, for God so love the world that what did he do, that he loved the world so he gave his one and only son. That's what love does. And when you've been changed by the love of God, been literally changed like I have been, then love gives. And Amy and I've been married almost 35 years, and truly,
Starting point is 00:20:35 I can't even believe that I get to be married to her. I love her so much, she loves me so much. So we give. And we give sacrificial to each other. She gives me the remote because she loves me and I need control. And I give her the thermostat, which is the most sacrificial gift in the history of the world. I sleep outside the covers and they throw water on me in the middle of the night. She's cold, because we love each other. Love gives, right?
Starting point is 00:21:08 Love gives. We have seven grandkids. Three of them came over and they were in the bathtub. You know, cute little kids naked in the bathtub? They're cute until one poops. One pooped in the bathtub. And another one threw up on there. Someone had to clean it up.
Starting point is 00:21:20 Guess who cleaned it up? Take a guess. Who cleaned it up? Amy did. Why? Because she loves our grandkids. is more than I do, that's why. Because love gives.
Starting point is 00:21:30 That's what love does. For God's so, well, I know it's gross, but love gives. Love gives sacrificially. And there is no greater example in all of God's word than sacrificial giving than in Mark Chapter 12 when a widow gave all that she had. Jesus set down opposite, the Bible tells us, of the place where the offerings were put in. I want you to notice this. Jesus was there and people are putting money in the offering place and the Bible says,
Starting point is 00:22:01 and Jesus watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Imagine that. Just kind of soberes it up a little bit. Sometimes the offering bucket comes by and you go, are they looking at what I put in? It doesn't matter what they're doing. Jesus was actually watching what people put in. Many rich people threw in large amounts.
Starting point is 00:22:22 Here's a big check. Hey, everybody, look what I'm doing. named this building after me, but it was easy for them. And the Bible says a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins worth only a few cents calling the disciples. So Jesus said, hey, come over here. I want to tell you this. Truly, I tell you, this lady over here, this poor widow, she put more into the
Starting point is 00:22:46 treasury than all the others. They gave out of their wealth, but she, out of her poverty, put everything in all that she had to live on. If you read an emotional story, and when you think about it, what was crazy to me is that Jesus didn't stop her. I mean, he didn't say,
Starting point is 00:23:06 wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, you need that. Don't do that. I mean, he honored her sacrificial gift because love that cost nothing, changes nothing. And she gave sacrificially.
Starting point is 00:23:24 I was trying to think of the last time I gave sacrificial in a way that I really felt it. I received sacrificially, and it was so humbling. Amy and I were out to a dinner with two friends, and I asked for the check to pay for it at the end, and the guy said, oh, I'm sorry, but someone bought your meal. It's like, no way. Can you tell us who it was? Oh, no, he wants to remain anonymous.
Starting point is 00:23:48 No, if they did it, I need to tell him thank you. Who was it? and they pointed over to this kid. I'm going to call him Cole. It's not his real name. He doesn't want me to say his name. But I knew Cole. He's 18 years old, and he grew up in the foster system
Starting point is 00:24:03 and was finally later adopted in life and was working at this restaurant. And I went up to him like, no, man, you can't do that. Like, my heart is to bless you. His life was changed at Switch. He goes, no, no, no. He goes, you have to receive this. He said, no, I cannot receive it.
Starting point is 00:24:19 And he looked at me, he said, Pastor Craig. had this authority. He said, I prayed to God that he would send you and Amy in here so I could bless you. And I have to do this. I'm thinking, this is like probably two nights worth of his paycheck. And he's 18 years old. And he said, Pastor Craig, it's more blessed to give than receive. Don't rob me of this blessing. And so I have been praying, praying, praying, praying, and know that he will receive the blessings from heaven in way more ways for a very sacrifice. gift from a guy who had almost nothing to a guy who has more than could ever deserve. That's so God honoring.
Starting point is 00:25:08 And what I want you to do for just a moment is to think back to the last time that you gave sacrificially. Or I'd say it this way. Like, when is the last time like it took real faith because you were giving something that it generally, it took real faith to give? spontaneous giving, it moves our hearts. Strategic giving, it shapes our lives. Sacrificial giving, it takes faith and it,
Starting point is 00:25:37 and it moves the heart of God, and it changes lives. And this is what we do. This is what we do. This is what we do. This is what we do in the body of Christ, because this is what Jesus did for us. He said yes to the most horrific and saccharacterial. gift in the history of the world. No one takes my life. I lay it down. So this is what we do. And as a
Starting point is 00:26:06 church, we say it, we believe it, we will live it, we will lead the way with irrational generosity because we truly believe it's more blessed to give than to receive. And from day number one in the church, day number one, 30 years ago, when Amy and I started the church, honestly, we went all in, meaning we took everything we had that wasn't tied down and gave it all to start the church. And day number one, that's all that was there, what we put in. And there was a few people in a little two-car garage. And I looked out when we were receiving our first offering, and there was a gentleman it looked like, if he's not homeless, he's probably one step above it.
Starting point is 00:26:44 And spontaneously in that moment, I felt prompted to say something I didn't expect to say. if anyone here has need of food or shelter, when the offering bucket comes back by, you can take back out. And I said it, and I stood by, and he did it. When we had almost nothing to give, we gave to him. And that's God glorifying. And God has met every single need from this church from the very day one beginning. And we do the very same thing today, if you have need. And that was spontaneous.
Starting point is 00:27:17 is. And then it became more strategic. Years later, people were saying, how can we churches around the world? How can we buy your sermons and buy the videos and by your youth curriculum? And we said, what if we gave it all away? All the way, gave it all away. Gave it all away. And we had no idea that there would be 1.2 million pastors who would then download over 25 million ministry, materials, we take the name of our church off of it, give it away for free, because this is what we do, this is what we do, this is what we do. Then we created the very first church online. The platform is not just streaming, but it's an interactive community with language translation and churches around the world and said, we can't do that and we want it and we can't do that.
Starting point is 00:28:07 So we created the way and it's very, very expensive to give it away. And now there are 40,000 churches that use the platform free, created by our church, funded by generous people, and that's just the visible stuff. But we took seriously the words of Jesus when he said, feed the hungry, and clothed the naked, and heal the sick. So we pray, how can we, in multiple locations, make the biggest difference? And God spoke to us very, very clearly, don't recreate the wheel, but partner with the best of the best, ministries already on the ground doing what they do. So we send a lot of money and a lot of people through a lot of different ministries. What, 165 different global and local ministries, and I want to show you so you can feel what our collective generosity does. These are the categories, not all of them,
Starting point is 00:29:06 of what we're able to do. We disciple new believers, provide help to those experience homelessness, translate the Bible into every heart language. I've got to skip past some. Support those who have have experienced abuse, empower those extreme poverty, free people from human trafficking, serve communities, 165 different ministries, the biggest mutual fund of ministry impact. You can imagine, support children and adults. Help me take the gospel to unrisk people. Help me with the last one before it goes away. As a church, we're going to take God's word to everyone, everywhere, every day.
Starting point is 00:29:36 Over a billion devices already on the free U-V version of Bible left given by the church. And we're just getting started. Just getting started, just getting started. This is what we do. This is what we do. Because we are not spiritual consumers. We are spiritual contributors. And we don't go to church.
Starting point is 00:29:54 We are the church. And the church exists for the world. And what's crazy when you think about it is, together, we are literally big enough to impact the world and small enough to care for the one. big enough to take the U-Versian Bible app to a billion going on, two billion people around the world, empower churches, small enough to care about the one.
Starting point is 00:30:25 Spontaneous, do it. Strategic, step up, sacrificial. When we started, Amy and I went all in. I'm going to tell you right now, I'm not going to share a lot of details, but we are now processing in this moment the most sacrificial and strategic generosity decision that we've made in the history of our lives. Because this is, this is, this is, this is, this is what we do. And this is what I want for you, at whatever level you are.
Starting point is 00:30:54 Spontaneous, be spontaneous. And be strategic. And every now and then, be sacrificial. Because what I know about you is that you want to be generous. And that you want to please God. And so when the world says, hold back, as believers, we step forward. When culture says, get more. No, no, no, no.
Starting point is 00:31:15 As followers of Jesus, we give more. When others play it safe, we live by faith because spontaneous giving, it moves our hearts and it helps them people. Strategic giving shapes our lives, and we make a bigger difference. Sacrificial giving moves the heart of God, and it changes the world.
Starting point is 00:31:37 So, as your pastor, I'll tell you right now, our goal, as our family, is to lead the way. Lead the way. Lead the way. With irrational generosity. Our family. Lead the way.
Starting point is 00:31:54 Because we truly believe it's more blessed to give than receive. This is what we do. So, Father, thank you for a church full of people who believe in the mission and the ministry of Jesus. Help us, God, be spontaneous. God, help us to be strategic.
Starting point is 00:32:13 And every now and then, God, help us to be sacrificial. Today, as you're praying at all of our different churches, those of you around the world online, you're rich and maybe a little generous. But if you want to ask God to help you be even more generous, would you lift up your hands right now? Just lift them up and say, I want to be even more generous. Type in the comment section, God, help me to be even more generous. Holy Spirit, I pray, God, that you would do a work in every single person listening to this God prompt us with spontaneous generosity to give in the moment in the name of Jesus to meet needs. And then God, help us all to be a little more strategic, prayerful, maybe starting to tithe for the first time,
Starting point is 00:33:00 putting you first, planning to design our lives around, worshiping you with the tithe, and then building from there, prayerfully giving where you direct us offerings to make a difference in the world. and then God every now and then, because you gave it all for us, just remind us of the blessing and the joy of sacrificial giving. Holy Spirit stir us to become more like you, God, the God who loved the world so much that you gave, your one and only son. Help us, God, individually and as a church,
Starting point is 00:33:36 be more generous to meet needs and to glorify you. as you keep praying today at all of our churches, some of you, you may not really know where you stand with God. In fact, if you just, if we just sat down right now, you might say, yeah, it's pretty obvious I'm not putting God first in my life right now. It's obvious I'm not. And the amazing thing is, is that he put you first. He put you first.
Starting point is 00:34:02 Scripture says that while we were still sinning, Jesus died for us. And if you don't know what this means, I want to tell you as clearly as I can, God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, Jesus, that whosoever believes in him would not perish, but would have eternal life. Who is Jesus? He is the son of God.
Starting point is 00:34:21 He's called the Lamb of God. He was without sin so that he could die in our place as the perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. And by the power of God, he didn't say dead, but on the third day, God raised him from the dead so that anyone, and this includes you, who calls on the name of Jesus, your sins would be forgiven and you would be completely brand new today at all of our churches. Those of you online there, those are you that God brought here for this moment because you're doing life without God. You don't have the peace of God. You don't have the presence of God.
Starting point is 00:34:53 You don't know where you stand with God today. We're going to step away from our sins. We're going to call on Jesus. And when you do, he'll hear your prayer. He'll make you brand new. You're not here by accident. You're here because God loves you. So much he gave first. His only son and whosoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life. Step away from your sins. Believe Jesus is the Savior. Watch God make you new.
Starting point is 00:35:18 All of our churches you say, that's me. I need him. I need his forgiveness. I need his grace. Today I call on him. Jesus save me. Be the Lord of my life. That's your prayer.
Starting point is 00:35:25 Lift your hands high right now. All over the place say yes. That's my prayer. Praise God for you today. Oh, yes, today. All of our churches say, yes, Jesus. I give my life to you online. Type in the comment,
Starting point is 00:35:37 section. I'm surrendering my life to Jesus. I'm surrendering to Jesus. And as you do, let's all pray together. Nobody prays alone. Pray Heavenly Father, forgive all of my sins. Jesus save me. Be the Lord of my life. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so I could serve you so I could show your love. Make me generous. Make me full of the love of Jesus because my life is not my own. I give it all to you. Thank you for new life. You have all of mine. In Jesus' name I pray.
Starting point is 00:36:15 And all God's people said, amen, and welcome those born into the family of God.

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