Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Chasing Light, Part 1: Pride

Episode Date: March 7, 2015

Light brings clarity. It’s the catalyst for growth. It helps us find our way. Life simply can’t happen without light—and there’s nowhere it shines brighter than at its source. Get a better glimpse in Chasing Light. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, welcome today to all of our life churches and our network churches and our family all over the world at church online. I want to tell you about the next series I'm going to teach. It's something I'm very, very excited about. The series title is called I Deserve It. And we're going to look at four different gospel stories when we see people that deserve something very bad. But because of the grace of Jesus, he did not give them what they deserved, just as he doesn't give us what we deserve. but we get grace, we get hope, we get power, and we get love. The next series is called I Deserve it.

Today, though, I want to introduce to you a very good pastor friend of mine, a great man of God from Rochester, New York. He's actually from South Africa who moved to Rochester to take over the Father's House church. From 1999 up till now, this church has exploded, reaching more than 6,000 people at multiple locations. The reason I wanted to hear from Pastor Pierre is because this guy is a terrific man of God with a heart for prayer, always seeking God, and he's going to share with you a message, born out of time with God. Would you please join me in showing honor to my good friend, Pastor Pierre, DuPetis. Thank you.

Live church. You have no idea how excited I am to be on the stage again. I didn't sleep last night because it was like first day of school, and then I didn't. drank a lot of coffee this morning because I'm really excited to look you in the eye. You've got to know that I deeply, deeply love your pastor and his wife. The reason why I love them is because when God places his hand on people and the weight of his hand gives him so much a width, I just came back from South Africa visiting and there's more pastors in South Africa that has been, they're preaching your pastor's message,

the free resources that you guys provide through your giving. You have no idea how far that's stretched. Church online, I'm selling it like I designed it because it's making such a gigantic impact. Listen, I have followed Life Church from a distance. I have followed Life Church up close. And knowing your pastor, not that close, but close enough to see him for what he is. It is easy to start. It's another thing to keep running the race with integrity, with faith and courage.

And Life Church, you guys are giving permission to churches to succeed. So I want to honor Pastor Craig. I want to honor those of you staff in this place that are working so hot for the work of the ministry because you guys are doing such a phenomenal job. If I could do a solo Mexican wave, I would right now because it is just a way. awesome to be here. So I'm going to pray so that the Holy Spirit will just calm my spirit down from all the excitement that I feel because I believe that God wants to speak to every heart in this place. I do. I think that God wants to refine His work in us because you see the world's eyes on us.

It just is. And the credibility of what we preached is it comes real in the hearts of the followers of Christ. So I'm I'm going to pray, Holy Spruitt, thank you. You just settle every campus, everyone listening. Thank you, above all things, that you silence the voice of the accuser over hearts. I thank you that when you breathe life into words, you breathe life into hearts, that your word contend mightily among us. Thank you that, God, the power of your word breaks every argument and it totally dissolves.

the plan of the enemy to destroy our hearts and lives. Thank you that the seed of your word is powerful enough to bring forth life today, in Jesus' name, amen. So I want to share with you a story that I read over the Christmas season. I love to be on my phone at night. It hasn't affected my marriage yet, but I love being on my phone and just go through apps. And I've downloaded so many apps that's a sin. And I was stumbling across the app and I fell into a story that deeply impacted me one night over Christmas at 2 a.m. Now, I'm going to paraphrase the story simply because I want you to feel what I heard.

The story is probably different, but what I heard is what impacted me. And I want to relay it the best way I know. This is how the story goes. A wanderer was stumbling onto the property of an old. Abbey. Now, the stone walls reaches way into the sky. It's everything that your mind would tell you an old monastery looks like. There is a very distinct silence. Now, it's not silence because there is peace and quiet and tranquility that rest within that silence. Oh, you can feel it. I can tell. There is a unmistakable smell of animals. Maybe cow. Maybe. Maybe.

chickens that provides for a very simple lifestyle in this community. Well, this wanderer was curious. So we found the door to this old monastery. Oh, and he opened it up, and it's these big, big, heavy doors. And as he did, his eyes began to adjust, and he marveled at the beauty of what is so ancient. And in that way, his eyes caught a small statute woman. But she had a quick look in her eyes, almost flint, and she had a pep in a step, and she walked towards him, and he was kind of startled, didn't know what to expect, but there was a gentleness in her eyes that made him feel so welcome. And she said, what is it that you seek here today? He says, well, I'm just looking for a place to sleep for a few nights.

She laughed. She says, well, we've got this old cottage in the back of the monastery, and if you prepare to clean it, you can really stay there. not a real big deal. So he agreed, and with that they began to walk over to this cottage, and she immediately began to instruct him. And in that moment, he realized why she's in charge, because she said, you know, you've got to remove the boards off the windows, and the old curtains has got to go.

And then I'm going to give you some soap and a scrub brush. You've got to clean the windows, because if light doesn't penetrate, you would not know how to clean this. And then out of the blue, almost out of context, she said these words, You know that the ancient saints have identified three things that prevents light from entering the human soul. The first thing, pride. A preoccupation with your own importance and power. Secondly, lust, a preoccupation with pleasure, especially sexual pleasure, and then greed, a preoccupation with possession, especially money.

if we do not recognize the power of these three things, our souls will remain in darkness. That's almost like she never said that. The next thing, he feels a bucket and a brush in his hands, and they arrive at this cottage and immediately went to work. He removed the boards off the windows, began to scrub, and his light began to penetrate the windows. It began to reveal what was making its home in this old cotton. layers and layers of dust. Pigeons, a few mice, a lot of spiders.

Oh, this lady disappeared, and she came back with a sheet, and she came back with a pillow, and she said, have a good night's rest. Well, it didn't go that well, as you can imagine. First thing the next morning, he heard a knocking at the door, and it was her with a big old smile. She said, so how was your first night? Well, not too great, he said, she says, oh, no wonder. Look at this place. It's falling apart.

It's so dirty. Then out of the blue, she said this. No wonder the world is so prickly and hard to get along with. Because for most people, they've not had a good night's rest because their souls are in misery and uncared for. They live in utter darkness. And when I read that, I was like really startled because pride, lust, and greed, we don't talk about those things. It's stuff that those things are past this. You see, but pride, lust, and greed are so pivotal to our existence because every destructive attitude behavior in action in our world can be traced back to pride, to lust, and to greed.

and you do not know the power of these things over your life until you actively begin to resist its pull and its temptation. Oh, but you see, the one that I want to visit with you for a bit, that's a hard one, because we cannot see it in ourselves, but we can see it in others now. Be careful, don't elbow anybody that you married to, because the one I want to talk to you about is pride, a preoccupation with our own importance.

I want to call it the chief demon among them all because pride is the one where it all started. And you go like, well, why would you call it the chief demon among it all? And I'm going to tell you why, because as a pastor, I have seen more marriages, more families. You know relationships that's been there forever can be dissolved in a split second because of pride? You don't have enough fingers and toes to count the amount of churches that's been destroyed by pride. Oh, governments, kingdoms have been destroyed by pride, a preoccupation with power and importance. You see what makes pride so insidious and sinister that it's so blinding and fatally deceptive. Now, some of you may not know this movie called The X-Men.

There is a character there called Mystique. Now, Mystique has this shape-changing power. hour. She can become anything and anyone. Oh, nothing describes pride as perfectly as that character. Because you see, pride can even wait in holy and pure environments and hold the microphone for the worship leader waiting for the moment to possess his heart. Or pride can stand by a pulpit and stroke the preacher and go like, you're doing so awesome. Oh, I'm preaching now. You see, pride is dangerous because it has a very distinct ability to slip into just about every environment. Do you know before Satan became, Satan, he was called Lucifer.

In the book of Ezekiel, I know God are different angels, but he didn't write as much about the other angels as he did about this Lucifer. And he speaks about Lucifer in the most beautiful language. He would say things like Lucifer, oh, son of the morning. perfect in beauty, perfect in wisdom. Lucifer, you walked on the holy mountain of God among the fiery stones. I have no idea what that means, but that is good, because of no other angel does it say this. And then it says, Lucifer, until the day that pride was found in you because of your beauty, all of a sudden the created being looked at the creator God and said, I will assess.

above the stars and the clouds. I will ascend and place my throne above your throne. Then the created being makes this statement. I will be like the most high God. Oh, you see, this is something you've got to understand. Pride is like the cracken. You know what the cracken is? Some of you don't know what the cracking is.

You've got a Wikipedia, Ed, and read about it. Because I did. But remember to donate. If Wikipedia dies, we don't know. trouble. So I Wikipedia and I go like, what the heck's the cracken? Really, really, really, really the kraken. The cracken is a giant octopause. Now you feel even worse. But you know what is really incredible? They says like 40 feet tentacles that takes big boats under in Greenland. And I go like, really, until I began to read, there is most scientific proof in eyewitnesses that the

Cracken exist, don't cruise in Greenlands, all I'm going to tell you. But in that moment, why am I telling you about the Cracken? Because this is what Pride does. It never takes one person. It takes a whole bunch of people when it invests. You know what? It doesn't take the small group member. It takes the whole small group. Maybe some of you have been taken by the Cracken, and you didn't even know you were part of the posse that was taken. Because you see, this is what happened in the perfect God, with a perfect God, perfect Adam and Eve, perfect, everything. And you In that moment pride slithered into the garden and said to Eve, did God really say you cannot eat from this tree? He says, don't you know that if you eat from that tree, you created being will become just like the creator.

God. Pride. And you know what is so bad about what happens? Ladies and gentlemen, listen to me, when pride takes you out, it can mess up a whole generation that follows after you. Do you understand what it can do to a human heart will affect the whole thing? family. You may go like, well, it's just my life. No, it's not your life because there's so many people connected to your life. We are not living singular lives. We are meant to be connected to a whole generation and legacy. That's why we've got to get this thing right. That's why we've

got to understand what this means. I love the scripture in the book of James chapter four, verse six. It says, but He God gives all the more grace. Therefore, he says, God opposes the proud. You know, the word opposes is aggressively set himself against them. I don't know about you, but that's enough for me right there, that God Almighty aggressively set himself against the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. You know why God is so set against pride? Because, you see, pride wants to promote the creature in the place of the creator. Pride says, you don't need him. You are him.

your own importance. Now, Jeremiah chapter 9.23 gives us three places that we are susceptible to pride. Now hold on to your seats because I've got to push through this a little bit faster. It says this. This is what the Lord says. Don't let the wise boast in his wisdom. Or the powerful boast in his power or the rich boast in his riches. You see, the three areas is what we know, what we do and what we have.

Listen, I want to look you in the eye and tell you, if you are still at school, please go educate yourself. I believe that God doesn't want to just get us to heaven. He wants us to fix this earth. And in order to get in places of authority and influence, you've got to educate yourself. But as much as I'm pleading for education, so much I want to warn those who are educated, never let your wisdom define your identity. Never let your capacity for knowledge ever turn you into somebody that becomes wiser than the one who made you. Be very careful that you become so smart that you annihilate the word of God because you know more.

You see true wisdom is when we are foolish, when we stand in the presence of God. When we realize what we know is high as the heavens are above the earth so far as God's thoughts removed from our thoughts, The second place is our talents and our abilities and our gifting can never become the thing that we boast. Now, the worship leader that just let worship, do you know that worship leaders that are good come singing like that out of the womb? They didn't have like 15 years of prayer. I'm killing somebody's dream right now. I know. I'm going to heal you.

Just stop. Just stop. You go like, but my teacher says, I'm good. No, they just like your money. Just stop. That is what's so crazy about gifting. You had nothing to do with it. You do it so easy and everybody goes like, how do you do it?

You go like, what do you mean? Do what? Gifting make it so easy, but here's what is crazy. When we take our gifting and we become prideful in our gifting, like we are the authors of it. You're not the author of it? That's why it is so important that we give our gifting back to God free of charge. I get freaked out when we want to sell our gifting back to the body of Christ. Really?

Like you created that? Isn't it the most beautiful thing when we bring back to the one who gave what we have and acknowledge what I do and what I have comes from you, oh God? And I will use that to serve you. And the last thing is what we possess. Ladies and gentlemen, if what we are, own shapes us, affirms us, and secures us. Listen, when we take too much credit for our lives and our achievement, when we come to look at our lives as a product of our own striving and hard work, the Kraken has got us. Because you see, everything we have is grace. Everything we've achieved is God's goodness and grace. So the question that began to bother me as I prepared this message is If pride is so invisible, how am I going to see it in me? Because I ain't ask my wife.

Because she'll go like, yeah, I'm not going to do that. Don't ask your spouse. Because they'll just wreck up the points and say, yeah, you've got a problem. So I'm like, God, how, how? Because only you can search me, test me. You weigh my spirit. But then I remember I was traveling with my family internationally when the swine flu was on. Remember the swine flu?

It was crazy. And I remember we had customs immigration and that infrared camera. What was really crazy about that infrared camera, you've got to go stand in front of it and they want to detect fever. So I'm watching this thing. And the first thing I asked my kids is like, okay, in this African country, where do they take you? you when you get fever. Like what? A swine flu tent? What do they do? And the more I ask, the more the sweats dripping down my armpits, I'm like, think, I go like, blow, just blow, just blow, cool me down. But the reason why I'm telling you the story is anything that is hidden will manifest some way.

So the question is, where does pride manifest? I'm going to give you three things. The first place it manifests as a critical spirit. You know, in Matthew 7, chapter 3, Jesus says this, why worry about the speck in your friend's eyes when you have a big old log on your own? Then in verse 5, he says, you hypocrite, first get rid of the log in your own eyes, then you will see well enough to deal with a speck

in your friend's eyes. A critical spirit, you see the problem in everybody else. It's a sign of pride in your own heart. The second part is, self-deception. Hey, as a pastor, we meet a lot of people. My favorite is the people who are so aware of everybody else, but they clueless about themselves. Have you ever met one of those? Oh, they read people like they made them. But when it's about them, they're as daft as they come. They don't know Jack from Jack. They always write. Don't even, don't even. Don't even.

And don't talk because you know I'm right. Always have the last say. Why do we even argue? You know I'm right. Don't look at anybody in the room right now. It's not a good thing. You know what I mean? It's just so self-deceived.

The world is broken. People are stupid. Everybody is a jerk. But thank God you hold the pattern on perfect humanity. Really? Really? But then the one that bothered me the most is completely. I don't know about you, but I do that a lot.

I just do. I don't know why. It's so dumb. Because if you ever heard the term you cannot compare unless it's apples for apples, have you heard that? Maybe it's just a Dutch thing. That means unless the two are identical, you do not know better from worse. And in that moment, you know there's no two apples like you and me.

There's no another person that's exactly like you and I. But yet comparisons works this way. I break me by building you or I break you by building me. Have you ever seen people break people to build themselves? Oh, come on, you know that's true. Because some of you are looking at me like, I can preach better. I don't know why they ask me. And you short, I don't get it.

And we don't understand that accent. Where is it even from? Really? Yeah, because your dream. dream is being frustrated, now you've got to break me to both you. And I'm using an extreme example. I'm just being kind, but we do that all the time. Somebody bake something, you go like, well, it looks good, but it smells awful.

What are you doing? It's pride. So let me give you this. I believe with all of my heart that God wants us to deal with pride in a way that pleases his heart. You know what I believe with all of my heart? God desires for the light of Christ to permeate from us. And the question is how do I appear?

Because it's not a you question, it's a me question. Because the Bible says, if I think that the light I have is really darkness, how dark is my heart really? And the worst thing is, as a pastor, to preach light, my own souls in darkness. So the question is, how do I deal with this? I love this in Hebrews chapter 12. It goes like this, verse 2.

He says, keep your eye on Jesus. Can you say that with me? Come on, everybody, just because I can. Just say, keep your eye on Jesus. You wouldn't know how to deal with pride until you keep your eye on Jesus because here comes Jesus. He is like God in the form of God, equal with God. And then he says this, but he didn't choose to be like God when he became human.

I love this. In the book of Philippians chapter 2, he says, and Jesus emptied himself from his right and took on the form of a servant. Because in my life, peer, there is always a default of me first. It's always. I always pray for an upgrade on the airplane. Forget the other 400. Jesus.

Lord, you know you love me. I'm Pentecost to people. I can like, oh, Lord, oh, I worship you, Jesus. Just get me first class. You know I'm your son. The one in the wheelchair. He'll them, but get me first. first class, Jesus. You know how that goes? You know what God really is saying? Hey, Pierre,

that always comes quick, but you've got to empty yourself from that. Because you've got to chase the light. You've got to chase the light. You've got to chase. You and I've got to chase the light. It's not a once-off thing. It's a everyday thing. In my life, it's every moment thing. Because I'm selfish. Don't look at me that way. You may be selfish too. Now you can ask your spouse. They'll just knock their head. We, we as human beings, it's multiple times a day. am I emptying myself or am I promoting myself? Because if you do the crack and it's got you and it's going to steal light from coming into your heart and we're going to live an utter darkness. So I wrote a couple of things down that I think may help you and help me.

I peer need to empty myself and think of ways to serve others and not to be served. I love it when people bring me stuff. Love it. Because it makes me feel important. And they go like, okay, can I get you coffee? I never say no, even if I've got four cups next to me. I'm like, yeah, why? It's not the coffee.

It's feeling important. But Christ wants us to look for ways to serve. Others, oh, I wrote this one down. In conversations, choose to listen because your story is not always the most important story. Because how often do you know when we're in conversation, they're not listening. They're just holding on to their story and go like, when you're going to end? when you're going to end. I think Jesus listened.

Really? Really? Listen. In arguments. Do you want to be right or do you want to be humble? Because they don't always go together. Do you want to walk away and go like you nailed you between the cracking? Or do you want to go like God?

I lost the argument. But I remained humble in my heart. Hey husbands, open the car door for your wife. Love her publicly, loud. Let her walk and go like, there's no other man that makes me feel this way and serve me. Wives, don't make your husband smaller, make them larger. Elevate them, validate them publicly. Spouses, work on the things that pleases your spouse.

not just eliminating the things that drives them crazy almost. You know when she says, don't bring those shoes into the house and you put it right on the front door? Just to make a point, really? Do you think that's what Jesus would have done? Consider ways to treat each other with more importance and honor. Because I think that's what Jesus would have done.

Lastly, I love this one. It's my favorite. Give God thanks. Give him the credit. Always, even if it's you. Every single thing that comes in your life, say, God, it's God. Every time they go like, you did great. Yep, with the help of God.

Give God the credit. Micah, chapter 6, verse 8, is so beautiful. He says, you mortals, the Lord has told you what is good. This is what the Lord requires from you. Okay, here we go. to do what is right, to love mercy, and to live humbly before the Lord your God. I love that because I want to tell you something, we make lousy gods. I'm going to help you.

I'm going to look you straight in the eye. You may be great, but you make a lousy guard. So shift up, make room for the only one. that is worthy of your attention, the only one that is worthy of your affection, the God that has already been in your tomorrow, you and I make lousy God. So it's time to really make room for the one that is the true God. Can we pray? Heavenly Father, only you can get through the framework of our resistance. Oh God, we all heard the same thing. I pray. in the name of Jesus, that not a single person will leave this place.

I pray that the truth of heaven will be indelible in our heart, that every single moment that we will choose to empty ourselves and choose to become servants in that moment. God, that we will continue to fight for the light. Fight to let the light of humility just penetrate our lives. so that our lives may remain authentically pure before you. Thank you that you hear this pray. And thank you, God, that you answer.

Amen. You guys want to tell, Pastor Pierre, thank you in a big way for blessing us today. I don't know about you, but my toes are a little bit sore from being stepped on, and I'm challenged in a good way. So continuing attitude of prayer at all of our churches, let's just continue before God. Father, thank you so much for that message. We thank you that light can shine into our souls as by the power of your spirit. You remove pride from our hearts.

And all of our churches, as you just continue seeking God, even right now, I just want to ask how many of you would recognize, even now, that God is speaking directly to you, and you see there is pride in your life. It may be in judgment of others. It may be in your need to control. It may be in your relationships. In fact, just as he was talking, I was recognizing a very specific area. of my life where I've allowed pride to get in the way of doing the right thing. And you recognize that's a reality right now. And it's not by accident that we're here. I believe with all my heart, God wants to deal with a very real root problem that keeps us from knowing him and serving

him effectively. At all of our churches, those of you who say, honestly, yes, I do recognize pride in my heart. I don't want it there by the grace of God and his power. I pray that he would remove it, that I'd be emptied of myself and become more like Jesus. I want him to remove that pride. But you lift up your hands right now. All of our church is just in an honest moment of acknowledgement. As they're hands up all over the place, I want to pray for you, even as you pray for me, Father, we recognize that we truly need you. We make lousy gods.

We are not God. And we repent, God, of the pride that so often overtakes our hearts and rules, our relations. God, forgive us all. I pray, God, that every time that pride starts to rise up, that you would remind us of that South African voice speaking to us and warning us of the dangers of pride. God, we ask that your spirit would convict us, and by your power you would heal us, that we would recognize we're broken people in need of a holy God. That break us of the pride that breaks our lives and relationships.

God, I ask that you would bring a healing in relationships today, God, that you would do a work that only you can do. God, because we've been in your presence, we pray that we would be different as you heal us from the sin of pride. And all of our churches, as you continue, in an attitude of prayer, there are some of you, you're going to recognize the reality is that pride is keeping you from God. And I can tell you right now, this is a part of my story because growing up, I wanted to work my way to God and wanted to be good enough, but the reality is, I recognize clearly I could never be good enough. And for some of you, pride is the very thing that's keeping you from surrendering your life completely to God through Jesus. What is the problem? Well, the problem is simple.

We are bent towards sin. We're bent away from a holy God towards sin, and pride is often what drives us away from God because we feel like we can do things ourselves. And all of our churches, Is there those of you, you're going to recognize you really do need God? You need him for forgiveness. You need his grace. You need his power. You need his presence. But pride may be holding you back.

Why did Jesus come? Jesus was God in the flesh, born of a virgin who became sin for us on the cross, died on the third day. He rose again from the dead so that anyone who called on him would be saved, forgiven, transformed and made new. Why would we ever call on God? Because we recognize we need him. Step over your pride.

Step beyond your sin. Step toward him and call on him today at all of our churches. There are those of you who recognize. You have sinned. You've fallen short of his standard. You need his grace and you need his forgiveness. And that's why you are here today and you know it. step over your pride and call on Jesus to save you, to forgive you, and to make you new.

And all of our churches, those of you who say, yes, that's me today by faith, I'm ready to give my life completely to him. I need Jesus. Jesus save me. I give my life to you. That's your prayer. Lift your hands high right now. All of our churches, lift them up and say, yes, I surrender to you. Those of you at church online all over the world, you click right below me.

And as we have people at places all over the world calling on Jesus, would you join with them in praying aloud? Everybody pray together, pray Heavenly Father, forgive me of my pride and my sin. Jesus saved me. Make me brand new. I humble myself and acknowledge, I need you, your presence, your forgiveness, your life. My life is no longer my own. Today I give it to you. Take my life.

Fill me with your spirit so I could know you and serve you and follow you for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray. And all of our churches, would you celebrate loud welcome those born into God's family today.