Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Blind Bartimaeus, Part 1: Blind Bartimaeus

Episode Date: January 27, 2019

“I want to see.” These words—and the faith to speak them—changed one man’s life forever. Learning to trust God can make the same change in you. Maybe all you need to do is ask. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, thanks for joining us here at Life Church, where we are one church meeting in multiple locations and reaching around the world thanks to what God is doing at Church online. If you ever have any questions or you want to learn more about us as a church, you can always check us out online simply by going to life.church. We'd love for you to stay connected throughout your weekend, everywhere you go with the Life Church app. It's free and available wherever you download your apps from. With that said, let's go to this week's message.

I want to welcome you all out, all of you at our Life Church locations, those are. of you at our open network churches, and of course, those of you coming to us from church online all across the globe. It is great to have you with us today. My name is Sam Roberts. I am one of our directional leadership team members here at Life Church. And in fact, this year represents the 20th year I have been on staff with Pastor Craig serving alongside him. So it's a great milestone, and it does give me the opportunity to tell you that guy is, man, he is an amazing, uh, father, he's a great husband, he's a great leader. He is my pastor and he's also my friend. And it's an honor to be on this stage being able to share together God's truth today from his

word. My youngest daughter is named Brooklyn. I call her boo. And we were talking and she found out I was going to be preaching. And she said, Daddy, are you going to preach about me this time? and I said, well, I mean, I thought about preaching about Jesus, but she says, well, you know, I mean like a story or two here or there. And I said, well, I mean, if one comes to mind or she goes, well, I got a couple ideas for you. Let me toss a few out. I'm like, you just keep these things in your back pocket? And she said, well, you know the time that we went to the restaurant and you let me get

lemonade, you remember that? Because you don't normally let me get lemonade. And I'm like, well, I don't because you drink it all and then you don't eat your food. And she's like, well, yeah. So I got lemonade. and before you could even finish paying for the meal, I was back at the fountain getting a refill. You remember that?

And you were like, Brooklyn, what are you doing? And I'm like, I don't talk like that. She goes, yeah, you do. And Brooklyn, what are you doing? And I said, well, daddy, I don't have any more lemonade. And the only sensible thing to do is to get a refill, daddy. And I am a sensible woman. I was like, I do remember that.

Well, there you go, boo. There's your story. absolutely nothing to do with this message. Unless you want to really dig deep and think you need a refill of God's spirit in your life this week, then that, there you go. There's your tie-in, right? There you go, boo. It's not what we're talking about today, but what we are talking about is a story found in Mark 10. It's a story of a guy alongside of the road named Blind Bartimaeus. And, you know, the thing about this story that's so captivating is the fact that it represents an individual who'd been kind of pushed aside by the rest of folks who'd been passed by there on the side of the road many, many different times. And perhaps

you find yourself feeling like maybe some opportunities have passed you by. Some relationships have moved on without you. Or perhaps you just feel like, you know what, I'm kind of damaged good. It's not good enough. And so here I sit as people go by and continue to do great things. And today, though, out of God's word and his truth, what you're going to find is you're actually exactly where you need to be to do something very special that God's going to do through and in you as we study today, the story of blind Bartimaeus out of Mark 10. It, again, talks about Jesus stopping along the side of the road for someone. Now, that doesn't seem to happen much today.

We don't typically stop for folks on the side of the road or hitchhikers. don't pick them up necessarily. And maybe it's because we're busy and things are happening. Perhaps you're like me. And when I was 16 years old and I got my good old eyes, my mama said, don't be picking up hitchhackers, boy. You don't want to do that. It is not good.

It could be bad situations. Hey, no telling them what they're going to do. And it's filled my mind with all sorts of horrible things. And I was doing good about not picking up hitchhikers until one day my wife was eight months pregnant with our firstborn child, and we were driving on I-35 northbound out of Waco, Texas. And as it happens with an eight-month pregnant wife, we had a few extra potty breaks along the way. You know what I'm talking about? So I decided to maximize on this, so I'm fueling up while she's in there using the bathroom,

and all of a sudden, it's like the lights went out in this place. What had happened, the lights didn't go out. There was a man of mythological proportions, at least two sizes as big. as big as me and taller. And I mean like, like just bruh, just huge guy comes and blocks the light as I'm pumping gas and I'm in his shadow. And he's like, hey, uh, buddy, you mind if I get a ride?

I was like, oh no, this is what mama was talking about. You don't give rise to people like this. They don't tell him what he's going to do. But I froze. And I was at the pump and I'm like, oh my gosh. I'm like, uh, hold on. I set the gas thing. I went running inside.

And I was like, I'm going to have to figure out what to do. I went into the bathroom. And I was like, Lord, should I give this guy a ride? I don't know. And I felt like I was like, give him a ride. It'll be fine. The problem was I had not been able to bring my wife up to speed on the matter. She comes out of the bathroom and I'm there.

And I'm like, listen, there's this guy outside. We're going to give him a ride. And she's like, we're what? Now, at this point, in my peripheral vision, I can see his frame filling the door of the convenience store about to come in. And I had no more time to explain. So I just, listen, we're going to give him a ride. Here's what you got to do.

I took my belt off and I threw it to her. And I said, listen, you sit behind him. We're going to give him in the front seat. He tried anything funny? You choke him out. She's like, what? I'm like, just, yeah, all right, we got to go. And I'm like, he comes in.

Hey, man. I'm like, hey, we're going to give you a ride. We're good. So we get in the car. My wife, somehow, eight months pregnant, slides into the back seat of my two door, 997 cabalier. She's sitting back there and then he gets in.

Okay. And he had to literally lean up to shut the door. He shuts the door and he sits in the car. He is fully in my car on this side, filling every square inch of the cavity of the passenger side of the vehicle. My wife is trying to push the seatbelt through so he can buckle. And he's sitting like this. He's saying,

of nowhere big AC ain't going anywhere in here. I was like, now I don't know why he referred to himself in third person. That's just interesting. But the truth of the matter was he was right. The airbag could not deploy at this moment. And I'm sitting there like, oh my gosh, mama was right. And I get on the road, we get going, and he's just talking about everything and anything. Am I ready to get bluehead gas?

It broke down about three miles back. I bet while I walked all the way up here to this stage. And I'll tell you what, my mom. dogs are barking. I'm like, you're what? My dogs are barking. I mean, his feet were hurting. And I tell you what, he just kept going. And then we did this. And then I logged, I hauled logs from Maine down the brother. He's just talking. I'm like, Lord, I want to be able to try to, you know, be your servant. Share my faith with him. I have no opportunity. Lord, give me an opportunity. And finally he says, well, now, little buddy, what do you do? I'm like, got him, right?

Like, all right, well, actually, I'm a pastor. And I can't even finish where. And he says, oh, well, heck. And he hits me with the side of his hand, hits me on my shoulder, knocks me to get this glass. And he's like, I'm religious too. I tell you, I bow my knee before my rig every day before we get going. And I say, Lord, help me.

I run the DOT. This guy. I want you out on my car. And so I'm just like, Lord, let me get to the next place I got. So I finally get to the place I got to get him. him into his place. He gets out of my car. He starts walking off and I'm like, well, that's done. I survived. I'm alive. But he stopped and came back. And I'm like, oh, no. And he says, hey, I sure do appreciate you right now. Let me ask you again. You said you worked at a church up there.

I'm about to run. I'm about to be running through Oklahoma City here, so I'm going to look you up. What's your name, little buddy? It's Craig Groshell. So why don't you hook me up on the Twitter, brother? Right? Oh, man, Mama was right. So if you go picking people up, you've been warned. All right?

Here's the thing. The thing I find fascinating is that, man, many times, isn't it true, that while we're operating in the course in the context of our lives, all of a sudden, God can sometimes redirect and interrupt our plans. And it's interesting how God many times works most. in those interruptions. In fact, the story that we will look at today out of Mark 10,

you could say is almost an interruption. An interruption in what? Well, Jesus was leaving Jericho headed to Jerusalem. The reason he was headed to Jerusalem at this time was for Passover, the celebration of the Passover feast. Well, this would be the last Passover meal, subsequently known in the scriptures as the last supper that he was. would have before he was betrayed by one of his own, Judas. And then he was arrested, falsely accused, beaten, and ultimately crucified. That's where he was headed. So you could say he was at the pinnacle, the max of where he was, this is his mission, where he was going. But God, for a moment, redirects one of his steps. And we will see that play out today. In the script,

Mark 10, verse 46. Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples together with a large crowd were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus, which means son of Tamaus, was sitting by the roadside begging. I do want to stop for a second and point something out to you. It's very fascinating. Many times in the course of history and books of antiquity, including the scriptures, people who were referenced, if you were a beggar, or you were blind or lame, or a leper,

you were simply known as that. You were not named by your name. So it's very interesting that he was actually called by name, Bartimaeus. It records his name. Son of Tamaus, which begs a interesting question, at least a thought of, well, maybe, perhaps he was going to be somebody. Maybe it was, you know, those parents that they're going to have that baby, and they got all these dreams and aspirations for what they could do. But then, but then Bartimaeus was born.

And, well, he was blind. And in that culture, all of a sudden, that's damaged goods. He's going to be, well, never what we fully intended or hoped or dreamed. And so he's a disappointment. Maybe you can relate. Maybe you feel sometimes like you're a disappointment. Maybe to one of your parents. maybe to a friend or another distant relative, maybe to a co-worker, maybe a boss.

And you find yourself struggling to find your value, because when you feel like you've let people down, you begin to devalue yourself. And we begin to look for value in a lot of different places, perhaps, and maybe a title. We begin to think, well, if I were a VP, then I'd be good, or a senior VP or a CEO. Or maybe it's a culmination of letters after your name, like MD or DDS, or DDS, or maybe MRS, right? Or M-O-M. And we begin to think, if I just arrive at this place, then I have value. Or sometimes in our material possessions, if you've got the brand new phone, then you're somebody.

If you wear these types of clothes, then you're somebody, that kind of house, this kind of car, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, then I have value. Or it's even sometimes people do it in the things that they don't do, right? It's like, well, I don't treat people the way they treat people. I do much better things with my time. I don't waste my time. I don't do this. I don't until you do.

Right. Value. It's an interesting thing. And the only thing that we can actually truly find value in is what God says about us in his word, which we will talk more about in just a second. value is an important part of this story. Verse 47, continuing on, he said, when he, being Bartamaeus, heard,

now, I want to pause. If you're taking notes, if you're following along, take a pen, circle the word heard. If you're following a word along in your U-Version live event, screen capture that, write a note in here, capitalize all caps, the word heard. This is an important piece of our story. He heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth,

And he began to shout, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Heard. Why is it important? Because, understand, Bartimaeus was blind. He couldn't see. You get that. But he could hear. You see, don't we sometimes focus so much on our don'ts?

I don't have, and I don't do. And I don't. And I just wish one day, maybe. What do you have? You see, because Bartameas, he couldn't see. he sure enough could hear. And when he did, he acted. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Don't focus so much on what you don't have that you forget what you do have. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 12. You all have gifts, he says. Some of you, your gift is, well,

prophesying. Well, then prophesy in accordance to your faith. If it's serving, then serve. If it's teaching, teach. If it's encouraging, well, then give encouragement. If it is giving. Give generously. He says. If it is to lead, do it diligently. If it's to show mercy, do it cheerfully. The fact of the matter of what Paul's writing is that you have gifts. You have do's. I do have. I do have. Don't worry about the don'ts. That's the beauty of being on the team, otherwise known as the body of Christ. We have different gifts, different talents, different resources that God utilizes and works together to form a tapestry of beautiful work, of the body of of God's people to bring Him glory. What do you have? Reminds me of a time I was with my family on vacation

in Estes Park, Colorado. It's a beautiful place that you've never been. When we were there and we're walking along the street down in the town and we noticed a glass blowing demonstration going on and never seen that before. I thought, well, that'd be pretty cool to check out. So we go in and start to watch. If you've never seen one, highly recommended. It's fascinating to see them do this. And so this This guy, this glass blower, he tells us he's going to create a vase, and he starts blowing this vase out of this molten glass. And it's amazing to watch it, like, form. And it starts at this little foot, and then it gets bigger.

And then it came in, it kind of flared out. It was gorgeous. And it was amazing to watch. Up until the point that all of a sudden, I don't know what happened. I don't know if the temperature shift caused a problem, if there was an impurity in the glass. But along the top edge, you just went, crack. And I was like, oh, this is a problem.

Like, this is like a faux pot. He's supposed to be a master glassblower, and he's got a crack in his vase. And he says something I never forget. He said, you know, sometimes you look at a thing and you think you're going to start out making a vase, and what you realize is it's actually not what this piece was intended to be. In fact, it was intended to be something much better.

and he took a tool that looked like a sickle, and he just went. And as it was spinning, he just went and just cut the entire top portion of the base off. And it crashed to the floor and broke into a thousand pieces. Then he took this other wand-looking thing. And he just made this little wavy-looking deal on the top. And then started putting in dyes and this metallic stuff. And he was spinning and talking. And then he cut the foot of it off and he held it up.

And it had become this. this is the actual piece. And here's the thing. A couple notes about this. Number one, when you see this, having zero context, you would simply say, that's really pretty. That's like a piece of artwork.

What in the world? It's beautiful. And here's the thing. The same thing is actually true about you, but the difference is you think about your crack and what's happened and not about who you've actually become and what God has done.

You begin so focused on what happened that you can't see what is. Like this. It's like, I'm going to be a vase. You know what? We're going to get married. It's going to be great. We're going to have two kids and a dog and a white picket fence. And then all of a sudden, your marriage begins to fall apart and crack.

It's never going to be the same now. And you're like, well, I'm never going to. be a vase. Or it's, you know what? I'm going to move up. I'm going to start a business. I'm going to do this. Or I'm going to move up in this company. I want to be a C. I'm going to be successful. We're going to start this thing. We're going to go. And everything's going great. And then all of a sudden, everything fell apart. And bankruptcy hit. And your value just went crack. You know, like, what happened? Or maybe it's, you know what? I have been clean for two years and everything is going great. and then the scenarios and my old friends and all this and then crack.

You see, we get so focused on what has happened. And we begin to have our sense of worth and value in that fracture that we don't see the fact that all along God is taking all things and he's working them out for our good. When you're called according to his purpose, the scripture says. And he begins to take all those things, the cracks. and he forms something new, oh, you're not going to be a vase. You're actually going to be something much better.

You just don't know yet. And then people look on and they're like, oh, my gosh, look at who you are and what God's done and how he's used your story and what's happened. It's beautiful. But you just see a crack. And today, you have eyes to see that you're not to some total of a past fracture in your life. You're something special. You could even say a masterpiece created in Christ Jesus to do good works.

Great things that God is prepared in advance for you to do. Don't focus so much on what you don't have that you forget what you do have. Verse 48, many people rebuked him and told Bartimaeus, Be quiet. But he shouted all the more. Son of David, have mercy on me. Isn't it true in life?

When you start to take a step in the direction, and many times you find the discouragers, the haters, they always say haters are going to hate, right? They get up in the morning, drinking a good full glass, a hater raid, and they're going to get up in your grill,

they're going to talk to you, tell you all the reasons why you can't finish college. You just let them know, you come watch me when I walk. They're going to tell you all the time. Look, you ain't never going to get a girl like that. She ain't going out with you. Yeah, wait until I walk her down the aisle, right? You just

got to understand that this will be different. Understand, Jesus was in transit. He was not stopping. All right, Bartimaeus, I'm going out right here until you figure it out. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to Jerusalem. Hey, everybody, y'all just all take a break. We're going to wait on Bartimaeus. That's not how it happens. He was moving to Jerusalem. Barthumea seized an opportunity. there are opportunities that pass by you that come by you and it is time not to worry about what you don't have but to seize the moment that God is sat in front of you that will happen this week that may happen today and you will seize that opportunity and say Jesus son of david have mercy on me don't worry about what you don't have look at what you do have we just finished a series

called habits listen if you did not get a chance to see this series you You need to stop binge watching Netflix and you need to binge watch habits and look at what God can do through just changing small incremental things along the way. And it has a huge result. Being faithful in the little things, oh, that's a big thing. Okay. And we owe it to ourselves, to whom God has created us to be, to not let another year go by where it's just the same old, same old. And you end up with the same struggle, same problem, same thing. a year from now. Wouldn't that be sad? It's time to do something different. Make a new habit. Do something.

I love it. My 17-year-old daughter last summer in 2018, she said, you know what? I don't even really remember much like anything of substance that I did in the summer of 2017. And so I'm going to do something different. She came to me on her own accord said, I'm going to make a summer bucket list. Things I want to accomplish, friends I want to go out with, things I want to do. And I'm going to create a different plan. I'm going to delete Instagram, Netflix, and all these other apps on my phone that seem to be like portals of wasted time for me. So she did it and she accomplished it and she did something different. And she had an awesome summer and did all of the things on her bucket list for 2018. It's simple. Just do something different. Right? Because if you always do, as Pastor Craig

said, you always do what you've always done. You're only going to have what you've always had. You've got to do something different. Einstein's one that said, listen, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. May I lovingly submit. Some of you are straight crazy. You need to do something different. And oh, when is the best time to start and do something different? To plant a tree. Well, it was years and years ago, right? But the next best time is today. Today's a great day to seize what God's put in front of you. Stop it with all the don'ts and I don't have and I don't man and all your excuses. It's time to stop the excuse making and start making memories, start making opportunities, start trudging forward in what God's called you to do.

Moving on. Verse 49. Jesus stopped and said, call him. So they called the blind man, cheer up on your feet. He's calling you, throwing his cloak aside. He jumped to his feet, and he came to Jesus. I love it, and I don't have time to get into this today. But isn't it cool, how sometimes God will take the very people who are discouraging you and make him your delivery service to his feet. Isn't that good? The very people that were rebuking him, tell him to shut up. Jesus stopped and said, bring him here. And now all of a sudden they're having to deliver Bartimaeus to him. So they lead him up to Jesus, right? And understand, in the context of this, I love the fact that you don't have to have sight to be seen. You see, Jesus saw Fardameus.

because Bartimaeus heard. Didn't get so caught up on his fact that he was just blind and he couldn't see. He found out, this is Jesus going by. I've heard about him. I've heard about him healing blind folks before, and I'm blind and I want to see. And so Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. I don't care that they're yelling at me to shut up and to stop talking. I'm going to talk all the more because this is my opportunity,

and I will not let it pass by this time. and he continued to yell all the more. You don't have to have sight to be seen. Jesus sees Bartimaeus, calls him to him, and then, I love this. In verse 51, Jesus asked Bartamaus, what do you want me to do for you?

The blind man said, Rabbi, I want to see. Well, here's the thing. When we look at that, it seems like a really obvious question. Like, there's a blind guy in front of you. he probably wants to see. And I thought about this for a little while. Months and months ago, I read this passage,

and I actually kind of like was meditating and thinking about this. Like, what would I do? Like, put yourself there. Think about this for a second. If God incarnate, meaning in the flesh in front of you, ask you the question, what do you want me to do for you? What would you say?

I thought, well, people may say, I might choose to say, I'd love for my kids to grow up, to serve you, and to be fully devoted and be healthy and be happy, find a great spouse one day, and just have a great life. That's fair. Some of you may say, in an instance, you could say, Jesus, heal my marriage. He'll my marriage.

And you know, I would say, that's a fair thing to ask. Some of you might say, I feel like I have no purpose or even meaning for my existence. I just, I want you to help me to have that, a purpose, a meaning, something I'm looking like I'm moving toward. That's fair. I get all those things. But it kept haunting me like it didn't seem like it was the right thing to ask. And then it dawned on me. The thing I would actually ask for is the very thing he was headed

to do. And that was to become the perfect sacrifice for my sin that had separated me and separated you from God so that we could be made right, be made whole, be in relationship with God. Because you see what happens to us when we are made right with God, when we have fellowship with God like that, and we can talk to God and be made right in that whole in him. All of the sudden, it actually changes the way you parent because you're being renewed, you're being made different from the inside out. And it fundamentally changes you as a person over the course of time and you parent differently. And therefore, your kids change in the way they see you live out your life.

Same thing's true for your marriage. All of a sudden, when you're not focused on me and my needs and my things, but you're serving your spouse and the way that Christ loved and served the church, that I'm telling you it changes everything. I've been doing, I mentioned 20 years, I'm going to say this, I still have yet to see, I have seen some crazy messed up scenarios in marriages.

And I still have yet to see any scenario so bad that when two people submit their lives holy to Christ and to one another that God cannot reconcile and actually creates, something very beautiful out of a broken vase. It starts with a renewal. You see, he said, Bartimaeus said, rabbi, I want to see. That word in Greek is Rabonai, which means my master, my savior. You see, before he had been saying, if you'll remember, he was saying, Jesus, son of David, that was a national messianic title given to Jesus. But this was different.

This word is very, very, very different. It's only uttered one other time in the gospel accounts by anyone, and it was Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb when she had seen the risen Christ, and she said, Rabonai, my master. When Bartimaeus says this, it's personal. It's my master. My Lord, I want to see.

Maybe, perhaps, Bartameas, even in his blind state could see better than many of us today. Rabonae, my master. When you understand who you are in Christ and what you can be, you operate and you function very different. You find a sense of value that comes from somewhere else. My master. Jesus then says to him, go.

Your faith has healed you. immediately he receives his sight. Could you imagine having been standing around there when that occurred? And then he followed Jesus along the road, it says. Some of you today, that's what's going to happen. You're going to receive your sight. Not physically. More importantly, spiritually.

Even in the context of my voice right now, your eyes are being lifted. you're seeing something different. You're feeling something different. That is God's word being illuminated inside of your heart. It's going from Son of David to Robona, my master. I need you. I need to have my life, my marriage, my sight, my vision restored. I need your forgiveness.

And that is what's happening in this very moment inside of you. Value is an important proposition. Where do things get their value? It's very simple. I'll explain it like this. This bottle of water. How much is it worth? How much would you give me for this bottle of water?

A dollar? That's pretty good. I got a dollar. Anybody else? Do I hear two dollars? Anywhere else? Anybody got two dollars over here in the back? Anybody else in Wellington, Florida?

Do I got four dollars? You've been at Disney recently. you know it's $4 anyway. So what if you were dehydrating and there was no more water except this? Now it's worth a lot more. What if it was your child dehydrating? Now you're plunking over some money

for this bottle of water. You see, the value of an object is simply what someone is willing to pay for it. That's it. It's what you're willing to pay. That being true, you're pretty valuable because you were worth the price of Christ's blood upon the cross as a sacrifice for your sin and my sin so that we could be made right. You don't have to have sight to be seen, and when you've been seen by Jesus, you'll never be the same.

go your faith Robona my master has made you well you are created in Christ Jesus to do good works not a sum total of the past mistakes and the cracks because the beauty is just as that glassboard cut away all those cracks

and form something new Jesus forgives us of our sin and create something very special, a masterpiece, a work of art. Maybe not what you thought it was going to be, but actually something better, better than new, as the scripture would say. In him created to do good works,

which he has prepared in advance for you to do, may we find that our value is in who God says we are, not in what others say. And in that, we will operate and live a life of abundance in who God has called and created us to be. Would you all pray with me today? Father, I thank you for your word that is true. It is alive.

It is active and sharper than any two-edged sword. And it creates change inside of us. Praying today there are those of you who, you know what, you're a Jesus. follower. You know Christ and what you would love today is to just be reminded of the truth of who he is and who he's called you to be. And you want to live a life, not a life that sits along the side of the road, but jumps up and follows Jesus along that road wholeheartedly, passionately and without abandon. And if that is you today and you say, man, that's me. Just lift up your hand. I would love to be able to pray for you. Yeah, there's hands all across the room. At church online, click below me.

Man, father, thank you that you. you have called and equipped and given us new life. God, I pray for boldness. I pray for passion. I pray for direction and guidance. I pray that you would help the truth be so inside of us that we are uniquely created in you, that we see our value,

not in who others say we are or could be, but we actually find our value in who we are in you. And from that value, we live out our lives following you to bring you glory. Still praying today with our heads bowed and eyes close. Others of you, you were perhaps here today listening to this and perhaps you clicked on an ad and you found yourself at church online here. Maybe someone brought you today.

The reason was to hear that beautiful truth, that you're not the sum total of your past mistakes. And in fact, our past mistakes, otherwise known as sin, it actually separates us from God. But the good news is that Jesus came so that he could be a sacrifice, a perfect sacrifice for our sin so that we could do what, be made right. You see, that sin, what that does is it not just separates us, but when it does separate us, it creates a sense of hopelessness, purposeless, meaninglessness.

And we just find ourselves waffling through life. And today, as we have had this time together, your eyes have become to see more clearly the truth that God is calling you. What is it? He is calling you to say yes to a relationship with his son, Jesus, so that you could be made right, you could be made new. You could find forgiveness in his word and in his truth. All you have to do, the scripture says is to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus was raised from the dead. and your life will forever be different. You will find purpose, you will find hope, but more importantly than that,

you will find forgiveness in Jesus, and that is why you are here today. There are those of you at all of our locations and at church online who, that is why God has brought you here. You know it, and today is your opportunity, your day to say, yes, not Jesus, son of David, but Robona, my master, my savior, forgive me,

make me new. Those of you at all of our locations, you say, that is me, lift up your hand right now and say yes Jesus come in right over here to my left welcome into god's family so great others of you today saying that is who i'm called to be my opportunity is today in the back yes welcome into god's family at church online click right below me others saying today yes over here to my far left welcome into god's family it's amazing to see god calling people in the back far left welcome into god's family you are a new creation in jesus with

As people are coming to Christ, let's join our voices with all of those making this commitment to him today and finding truth. Would you lift your voices and repeat after me? Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to die in my place on the cross. Forgive me of my sin. Make me new. Make me different. Give me purpose.

Bring me forgiveness. I'll follow you all. of my days. It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Can we give it up for what God's doing? Amazing work. As a church, it's our honor to play a small part in all that God is doing in and through your life. And we would love to continue with you on that journey. To find out what your next steps could be in your relationship with Christ, all you have to do is go to life.church slash next. You know, here at Life Church, it's our mission to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. That statement drives everything we do as a church. All because

because we know and we believe whoever finds God finds life.