Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Does What I Do Matter?

Episode Date: November 29, 2020

Pause for just a moment. In a season filled with bad news, God's still at work. He’s still shaping lives, working miracles, and showing His love—and He’s chosen to do it all through you. Because of You, we’ve got reason to celebrate.More: https://www.life.church/becauseofyouWE’RE OPENTo ensure safety at all of our Life.Church locations, our weekend services have been redesigned to create a sanitary, touchless environment that allows for physical distancing. Learn more about everything we're doing to keep you safe and how you can help by using hand sanitizer, washing your hands often, and more: https://www.life.church/updatesFind a time and attend a service with us: http://www.life.church/locationsNEXT STEPSHave you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what’s next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://www.life.church/nextABOUT 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.church. Find locations, videos, and more info about us at https://www.life.church or download the Life.Church app at https://www.life.church/app. FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/life.churchInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/life.churchTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/lifechurchCONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIGYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIIdiIO-Y20hRW9niR0CA8AFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschelInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschelTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/craiggroeschelMusicbed SyncID:MB0175XQLAABKKH Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the spring of 1988, my sophomore year of college, I hit an all-time low. That year, I was caught shoplifting and was in danger of losing my scholarship. I was caught cheating on my girlfriend with one of my close friend's girlfriend, which was completely humiliating. I was battling a very real addiction to alcohol, and I felt indescribably hopeless and depressed. Well, one day walking out of a business class,

I met an older gentleman who was wearing a suit and tie, who offered me a free Bible. And years later, I discovered that this gentleman from the Gideon organization was most likely this man whose name was Mike. If you can imagine, one day, one man, and one gift completely changed my life. Now, here I am three decades later,

and I have the honor of leading the church that's given away the U-Version Bible app to over 450 million people. Today, in this message, what I want to do is plant one big idea in your mind and pray that it lands in your spirit and overtakes your soul. The thought is this.

You have no idea how God might use you. One word of encouragement, one act of service, one gift of generosity to change someone's life. You have no idea how God might use you. The title of today's message is, because of you. At all of our churches and online, would you join me together in prayer? Father, we ask today that the truth of your word and the power of some stories would build our faith, God, that you might use us to impact. someone else's lives to draw them close to you. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Today what I want to do is I want to look at scripture from the book of First Thessalonians in the New Testament. We'll be in the third chapter, and I'll give you some context. The Apostle Paul actually started the church in Thessalonica, which was a very strategic city off of a big harbor that traded both to the east and the west. Now, it's impossible to overstate the importance of Thessalonica because Paul realized if he could help them embrace Christianity, if Christ would be accepted there,

then you could spread the word all over the world through this transportation system. Well, according to Acts 17, Paul preached on three different Sabbaths in Thessalonica, and honestly, he was so successful, so many people were coming to faith in Christ that the Jews were enraged. And so some friends of Paul

smuggled him out of the city. And Paul started to ask himself, did what I do matter? Did it really make a difference? Would it even last? Maybe some of you feel like that. You wonder, do my prayers matter? When I serve at church on the weekend,

is it really making a difference? Does what I do even matter? If you've ever asked yourself those questions, I want to show you some scripture that I pray speaks to you from 1st Thessalonians chapter 3, starting in verse 7, Paul said this. He said, so we've been greatly encouraged in the midst of our troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith.

It gives us new life to know that you're standing firm in the Lord. How many are thankful when someone stands firm in the Lord. Verse 9 says, how we thank God for you, Paul says. And then he says this phrase, because of you, because of you, we have great joy as we enter God's presence. I love this, because of you, because of you. You might even type that in the chat. Because of you, we have great joy as we enter God's presence. Who are you if you're a follower of Christ?

I want to remind you of who you are. You're not who others say you are. You're who God says you are. And he says, you're a heavenly ambassador. You're a kingdom representative. You're a bright light shining into a dark world. You're marked, chosen, set apart, and called, filled with resurrection power from God,

the same spirit that raised Christ from the grave. You are on assignment. You are on mission. Because God has freely loved us, we love others unconditionally. because God has blessed us. We love to bless others. When you do, you have no idea how God might use you.

One word of encouragement, one act of service, one gift of generosity to change someone's life. Because of you, people around the world will praise God. I want to take a moment to celebrate and I'm going to ask you just to let this seem. in. This year in the year 2020, this incredibly complicated year, at physical life church locations in church online, how many people do you think total have said, yes, I want to become a follower of Jesus? How many people do you think were snatched out of darkness into the kingdom of light?

The answer is in 2020, so far this year, 39,000 people have said yes to Jesus. 39,000 people. And when I say that number, you may wanna clap and cheer, but it's impossible to emotionally get our minds around what that means, because every single number has a name, and every name has a story, and every story matters to God. In fact, today, just to help get our minds around us, what I wanna do is share with you,

several stories that have taken place at local campuses. The first one I'm gonna share with you comes from Albany, New York. We talked about them being one of the most post-Christian cities in the nation. I want to introduce you to Pastor Christina Ross, our campus pastor, and get ready to celebrate a powerful story. Live Church family, I cannot wait to tell you about Amanda. So Amanda is a young lady who really from birth struggled with significant health issues. in and out of doctors offices, hospitals, even in and out of surgeries.

And for her, just emotionally, it had got to a point where she was so discouraged. She was hurting, but more than that, she was angry and something had to give for her. So she reached out to us on Facebook and she messaged us and here's what she said. She's like, all right, listen, I am like 0.001% interested in coming to church, can Can you just tell me about your church? Well, on the other side of that message was Linda. And Linda is an amazing volunteer on our campus. And not only did she tell Amanda about our church, she certainly invited her to come,

she went beyond that. She listened to Amanda's story. She prayed with Amanda. She understood Amanda's discouragement, and she just decided to love and care for Amanda. And so this conversation and relationship built over. over the course of a few weeks. Amanda still wasn't interested in church, but Linda loved her so much so.

Linda actually showed up to a hospital to just check on Amanda, which is so special. Well, Amanda, I think probably the week afterwards, had yet another doctor's appointment, but this was a rough one, because she was about to find out if what she was experiencing would lead to blindness. And so she's in this waiting room,

off by herself, and she's just bawling. She's quietly sobbing because she's so broken and she is so hurt. When Leslie, she doesn't know Leslie. Leslie's a stranger. Leslie walks over to Amanda, and she just leans over and says, listen, I'm not trying to push you, but I would love it if you would join my daughter and I at church this Sunday. Can you guess what church she was talking about? Sure enough, it was Life Church Albany.

And I'm sure in that moment, Amanda was probably like, okay, God, you know, like I see what you're doing here. So even though Amanda was still kind of nervous about the whole church thing, she accepted that invitation. And Leslie also went over and above. She met Amanda outside and together. They walked into the doors of our church.

And Amanda experienced what we have all experienced, that feeling of being so welcomed and so loved. And Amanda walked through those doors. She sat down and she started to hear a message hearing that hope was actually available. And hope wasn't limited to, you know, like medicine or treatments. Hope actually has a name. And his name is Jesus Christ. And Amanda, in that moment, realized that she could let go to everything she was holding on to

and accept Jesus. And so by the end of that service, her hand shot up and she made that decision to follow Jesus. And she has experienced so much peace in her life. She has been made new. Since that moment, Homegirl has not missed a weekend of church. In fact, every Sunday I see her out front waiting for Leslie and Linda because they actually all sit together, which is so special. But then Amanda got some devastating news. You see, she was going to have to travel to New York City to have a surgery.

But the devastating part wasn't the surgery. It was that she was going to miss a week of church. And he was like, what? This is awful. But what was worse was that she found out the next week we were finally going to do baptisms. And she was like, uh-uh, I have got to get baptized. Because of what God has done in my life, I want to go public in my faith. So Amanda, she knew she had to have the surgery, but she called her.

her doctor. And she was like, listen, can you give me permission to do this thing? She called us. And she's like, look, I can't actually get in the pool. What, you know, what is even possible? And so on October 25th, 2020, Amanda got baptized. We dumped a bucket of water over her head just outside the baptism pool. And she was all smiles because she is so excited at what God has done in her heart, so thankful for all the volunteers and the attenders that have poured into her life. And man, I wish I could spend the entire day telling you about all of these stories, just like Amanda's, because God is doing something so special in Albany, New York. And it's because of his faithfulness, of course, but it's also because of you. Come on, Life Church, how amazing

is that? And Amanda, I just want to say to you, welcome to God's. family, also Linda and Leslie, honestly, everybody who serves on the host team or in life kids or in Switch or maybe you're a life group leader. Because of you, this was one of 39,000 stories of people who met Jesus. One of 39,000 people. God is using your faithfulness and you're making a difference. You're ready? We've got another story. This one is from one of our youth pastors, Ryan Hunter, who comes to us from Life Church in Midtown, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Well, thank you so much, Pastor Craig,

and thank you Life Church for having me. I'm so honored to be speaking with you all today. I'm actually one of the youth pastors here over our Switch Ministry for Students at the Church. And this past year, I got to meet one of our students at our Midtown Tulsa location named Monty. Now, Monty was a student whose very first time ever walking through the doors of a church

was back in January of 20th. And at first time I saw him, he came in, he was shy, you could tell he was a little awkward, and I met him, weird interaction, and I thought, you know, I'll probably never see that guy ever again. And then he came back about three weeks later, and I thought, yep, same vibes, same vibes. But then about a month later, he came back, and something was different this time. He was a little more emotional. You could tell something was going on underneath the service.

And he sat through the service at Switch that night, and at the end, when we said, man, if you want to give your life to Christ, raise your hand right now. Monty shot his hand up in the service. And I went up to him at the end of it and I said, hey, you know, I saw you raise your hand. I wanted to celebrate with him. What's going on? What are you feeling? And he opened up to me. He said he knew this was one of the first steps he needed to take. And he told me about the struggles he's been facing for so long. He's faced anxiety. He's been struggling with depression. And on top of all that, for multiple years, he's been abusing drugs. And he admitted he was addicted. And he knew this was the first step in the road to recovery for him. And he was so thankful

with this church community that he had just found, and he was ready to take that path to becoming better. Unfortunately for all of us, and unfortunately for Monty, though, it's 2020. And that day that he came to church was actually the last day we were able to meet in physical locations for quite some time. And we went immediately into quarantine that weekend. And if you know, for people who who are struggling with depression or anxiety, the last thing you need is to go be isolated. But that's not what Monty did. Monty was able to connect through Switch Online

throughout the whole quarantine. He connected through church online throughout that whole process, and he was texting his small group leader, Zach, and myself, his youth pastor throughout that. And when we came back to church in May, Monty told us he was celebrating two months of sobriety. I'm so proud of Monty, not only that,

but a few weeks ago at our baptism, he celebrated six months months of sobriety and went public with his faith, celebrating and telling the world about everything that God has done in through his life and about this new life he has through Christ, church, because of you, because of your generosity, you're giving, you're inviting, you're serving.

A 17-year-old kid overcame a drug addiction and has a new life in Christ. This is so emotional to me as one who's seen firsthand, how addictions can hurt a family. I've also seen firsthand how Jesus has the power to help people overcome addictions. And so, Monty, I would just love to give our whole church

a moment and a chance to celebrate with you. 243 drug-free days of Christ honoring sobriety. Praise God for his work in your life. And all of the church, I hope you feel the victory. Because of you, Monty now is over the addiction of drugs. and faithfully serving Jesus. Let me give you another story. This comes from my campus,

and I'm honored to introduce to you my own campus pastor, Pastor Sam Merrin. Thank you, Pastor Craig. Thank you, Life Church. Hey, I met Lendi this past weekend, and we sat across from each other six feet apart with our masks on, but there was this joy that was just coming out of Lendi.

And you gotta understand that joy wasn't always there. In fact, in 2018, after year, years of battling depression, Lendi found herself in a really dark place, emotionally, spiritually, and even physically. You see, she found herself in a dark closet. She had written letters to her kids and to her husband, and she was at the point where she was ready to end her life. In this moment, as she found herself in the darkness, she called out to God. It's so interesting to me when she told me that for most of her lives, she never felt like she had been. fit in. She never felt accepted. In that moment, she cried out to God and she said,

God, I need you to do something big. I need a big sign or else I'm ready to end it. She was hoping that somebody would open the door. She was hoping that somebody would call her and stop her, but nothing big happened. Instead, she heard a small whisper. She heard God tell her, Lindy, I'm here and I love you. In that moment, that whisper penetrated her heart and changed her mind. After that point, she started attending church and she just felt this need to attend regularly. So she started coming to church consistently and then she felt called to serve because here's what happened is she remembered how she felt when the host team greeted her. They welcomed her and they said these words to her. They said,

we're so glad that you're here. Those words meant so much to her. And She realized that if she could do that for somebody else, that God could use her in that way to help somebody else that could be struggling. She wanted to do that and be that for others. So she signed up to serve on the host team. Now she greets people and she welcomes people and she does the same things for others knowing that her story can make a difference. And you never know what people are walking in with. And if she can stop and give them a smile and welcome them and say those words, We're so glad that you're here.

It can make a difference in their lives. I asked Lindy, hey, Lendy, with the masks that we have to wear when we're serving, it's really hard to show your smile. Tell me about that. And she said, you know, Sam, yeah, it's hard, but I think I can show it with my expressions, with my hands, with my eyes, and even with just the spirit inside of me, welcoming others into our church. And I love that about Lundy, because the truth is that the mask may hide your smile,

but it can never take your joy. And so shout out to all our volunteers who every single weekend serve and love others and spread the joy of Jesus. Lendi is part of our host team and she serves every single weekend welcoming people.

And it's because of you that we see stories like Lundy throughout our entire church. So thank you so much. It's so powerful. In a world filled with suspicion and anger and fear and so many self-doubts.

Sometimes all it takes is a smile and someone's saying, we are so glad you're here. And I pray you feel that. We're so glad that you're here with your doubts and questions and baggage and brokenness and fears and insecurities. We're glad you're here with your addictions

and even your shame. That's why our message never changes. Come to Jesus as you are. His grace saves and his truth frees. Because of you, people around the world are meeting the grace and the truth of Jesus. And that's why I want to pause for just a moment and say thank you, especially to those of you

who are faithful to tithe. To return 10% of what God blesses to you back to him as a form of worship. Not only do many of you tithe, but some of you give offerings above the tithe. And we love to say at Life Church that we will lead the way with their rational generosity because we truly believe it's more blessed to give

than to receive. And you've lived this out in 2020, you've given like you've never given before. And because of your generosity, if you can imagine through the U-Version Bible app and through local missions and global missions, how much money do you think that we've been blessed to give to make a difference around the world.

Are you ready for this? In 2020, our church is honored to give over $27 million to different forms of mission and outreach around the world. Praise God for your faithfulness and generosity. And we're incredibly blessed to partner with different local and global missions. It's hard to get your mind around this number, so I'm gonna show you a list.

We partnered with over 100,000, 150 local and global missions on the screen behind me. Just try to read through that if you can, you can't. There are too many of them. And so when you're giving in offerings, you're not just giving to the church, but this is amazing, you're giving through the church. You're not giving to life church,

but you're giving through the church to make a difference in so many people's lives. Because of you, people around the world are impacted with the love of Jesus. and the power of his gospel. Another area that's incredibly special to me is the U-Version Bible app, which as I told you earlier

because of one person and one gift and one Bible, my life was completely changed. And now our church has been honored to give away the U-Version Bible app installed on, as I said before, over 450 million devices completely for free. What's incredible to think about is the U-Version Bible app has over 15,

has over 1,500 languages to impact lives all over the world. And the non-English usage is up 52% this year. Try to wrap your mind around this. By the end of 2020, the U-Version Bible app will have been opened up 7.8 billion times. That represents once for every person alive on planet Earth. Because of you, the living Word of God is going out and Scripture says it will not return void.

I also wanna tell you, because of you, there are churches whose ministry is continuing when it might not have otherwise. Years ago, we created the very first world's church online platform. And honestly, it's by far the best with live language translation, with highly interactive features to engage people around the Word of God. Well, you know the story.

In March of this year, virtually every church in the world couldn't meet physically. Previously, we were honored to give away the Church Online platform, and before March, we had 3,000 churches using the free platform, which is a lot of churches. Well, because the world has changed as of now, we've had over 45,000 churches signed up to use

the free Life Church Online platform, 45,000 church online platform. 45,000 churches, and we are incredibly honored to give it away for free, but our cost has skyrocketed, and we know you cannot out give God. So when I tell you, there are pastors and churches thanking God because of you, I want to show you just one and introduce you to Pastor Abraham from Palestine. Get your mind around this. He's just one of tens of thousands of churches blessed by your generosity.

My name is Ferris Abraham from Levant Ministries, and we are on a mission to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with every single person in the Middle East. Since the pandemic started earlier this year, we had a choice to make, whether to take our services online or do nothing. And I just want to take a moment and express my deep gratitude for the amazing church online platforms that you guys have provided for us, all the tools, the resources, for us to boldly and unlawful. unashamedly shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with people in the Middle East. Let me tell you a quick story about Hussam and Amani. Hossam from Syria, whose wife was kidnapped and killed by ISIS, decided to tune in into one of our services and gave his life to Christ that day. Now he's a changed man who's living with a purpose and a mission.

Amani from Egypt, who was forced into an arranged marriage by her parents, As a teenager, lived with an abusive husband, she was kicked out from her house with her little baby, decided to give God a chance, and watched one of our services, interacted with our counselors, and gave her life to Christ. Now Amani is leading a discipleship group in her village. We have hundreds and thousands of stories of changed life like this,

and it's only because you are sowing seeds of whole, hope with us. Life Church is helping transform lives for Jesus in the darkest regions of our world today. So I just want to take a moment and say thank you from the bottom of my heart, on my behalf, on the behalf of our teams in the Holy Land, in Jordan and in Egypt. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And may the Lord continue to bless Life Church taking the gospel forward to the ends of the earth. How powerful is that? Because of your generosity, there are churches in countries around the world preaching the gospel through the free Life Church online platform

and lives are being transformed. In fact, if you can just try to get your mind around the impact, since March of this year, how many people do you think through all of the different churches using the free platform have come to faith in Christ? Get ready for this. Since March of this year, we've averaged over 2,000 salvation's every single day. Since March of this year, we've seen an average of over 2,000 people every single day born into the family of God,

snatched out of darkness into the kingdom of light. Come on, Life Church, who are we? We are the church. We don't go to church. We are the church. And we believe that the church matters. When Jesus came, he didn't say, I'll build my government and the gates of hell will not prevail against the government. He said, I will build my church.

And the gates of hell will not prevail against the body of Christ because of you. Because of your faithfulness, because of your generosity, because of the way you serve. Because of the way you love, there are people all over the world being. impacted by the gospel of Jesus because of you or not. Because I imagine some of you right now are watching, going, well, actually, I haven't done much of anything. You've kind of maybe just watched from the outside. And that's why I would love to invite you to be a part, to do something, to serve somewhere or someone. I'd love to invite you to the joy of being a tither. and even giving offerings.

I'd love to invite you to pray and to bring people and to share the love of Jesus. Why? Because when we talk about the Bible and celebrating 1,500 languages on the Your Virgin Bible app, well, there are still 4,000 people groups without Bibles in their heart language

and we plan to eradicate Bible poverty. There's still cities around the world in need of a church like this one. There's still people in prison without hope and children who need families and homes. There are marriages that need healing and broken people who need welcoming into the family of God. And so I would just invite you to consider serving and inviting others and tithing. And maybe some of you might give for the first time or you might give an end of year offering to say, God, thank you for your faithfulness.

Here's what I would just ask you to pray. Just pray this prayer. God, in light of what you've done, what would you have me do? Just pray that prayer. Just pray it right now, wherever you're watching from. God, in light of what you've done, what would you have me do?

Just take a moment, slow everything down, listen for the prompting of the spirit of God and just pray God because of who you are because of your love for your church and the mission you've called us to accomplish because of what you've done God what would you have me do who are you your heavenly ambassadors your kingdom representatives you're a bright light shining into a dark world, on assignment, on mission, to show the same unconditional love of God that set you free. And you have no idea how God might use you. One word of encouragement, one act of service, one gift of generosity to change someone's life.

Because of you, people will praise God all over the world. because of you. At all of our churches, would you join me in prayer? Father, thank you so much for so many faithful followers of Jesus. And God, we thank you in such a dark and desperate time in this world that you've used this group of people to shine a light of hope and healing. God, I take a moment and pray for those who are so faithful that they'd find joy in their faithfulness, joy in giving, joy in serving.

And God, for those who are not yet contributing in some form or fashion, we just pray that you would speak to all of us because we know it's so much more blessed to give than to receive. We know that those who are great are those who truly serve. God, help us be great by serving others in the name of the one who served us first. At all of our churches, I'm going to ask you again, if you would just pray this prayer and listen this week, Those who say, yes, I'll pray.

God, in light of what you've done, what would you have me do? And all of our churches, would you just lift up your hands right now and just lift them up in a moment of obedience? If you're watching online, just type it in the chat. I'll pray that prayer. Yes, I'll pray that prayer. And let's just pray it again, and let's just take a moment

and just listen for the voice of the Spirit of God. God, in light of what you've done, what would you have me do? Some of you may serve for the very first time. Some of you may give your very first tithe. Some of you may give a generous end of year offering. Some of you may invite someone to come to church with you. God, in light of what you've done, what would you have me do?

Speak to us, God, and we'll respond. We'll obey, we'll be faithful. And God, because of what you enable and empower us to do, people around the world will thank you, God. As you continue praying today without looking around, there's some of you say, man, I'd like to make a difference for God, but I'm not even sure where I stand with God.

What should I do? Well, again, I want to just tell you, come as you are, come with your questions, come with your fears, your insecurities, your secrets, your doubts, even the things you're ashamed of. Who is Jesus? He is the son of God.

And he didn't come for those who are righteous. He came for those who had messed up. He didn't come for the healthy. Jesus came for the sick. The good news is that Jesus was obedient to God the Father, and he gave his life on a cross. He was the perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins. And by the grace of God, Jesus, after he died,

he didn't stay dead. Our God raised him from the dead so that anybody, and this includes you, who calls on that name that is above every name, the name of Jesus. God will hear your prayer. He'll forgive your sins, and he'll make you brand new. For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son,

and whosoever believes in Jesus, you wouldn't perish, but you would have eternal life. What did God do? God gave his only son. Well, in light of what God has done, what would God have you do? And the answer is, come to Jesus exactly as you are. At all of our churches today, or watching online, And those of you who say, I want his forgiveness, I want his grace.

When you call in his name, he hears your prayers, he forgives you, and he makes you brand new. Those who say, yes, Jesus, I need your forgiveness. Today, I walk away from my old life. Jesus, I surrender my life to you. That's your prayer. Lift your hands right now, all of our church, and say, yes, I'm giving my life to Jesus. Those of you watching online, just type that in the chat. I'm giving my life to Jesus.

And as you do, I would invite all of you just to pray with those around. and you just pray aloud, Heavenly Father, forgive my sins. Jesus saved me and make me new. Fill me with your spirit so I could follow you. Use me to make a difference in the lives of people around me. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for new life.

I give you all of mine. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Welcome to God's family. because of you, now people around the world can be different too.