Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - End Times: Signs You Can’t Ignore | Living in the Last Days: Part 3

Episode Date: October 19, 2025

Worried about end times or worst-case scenarios taking over your thoughts? In this message, we're talking about how to break free from constant fear and find peace with God's help—no matter what we'...re facing.NEXT STEPSHave you made the decision to follow Jesus? You might be wondering what’s next for you. We want to help! Check out these resources to ​​discover what saying yes to Jesus means: https://www.life.church/yesWe’d Love to Get to Know YouLife.Church isn’t just something you listen to—it’s a place where you can grow and connect. And we want to help you do that! Share a little about yourself and what resources would help you on your faith journey with this short survey: https://life.church/podcastconnectABOUT THIS MESSAGEFeeling overwhelmed by life right now? You're not alone. When everything feels uncertain, we often worry about what’s next. But what if it's possible to regain perspective and press forward with purpose? In our new series, we'll discover how to see beyond our circumstances to the truths that sustain us.Headlines bring fear, but Scripture points to hope. Start the Bible Plan Living Like Jesus in a Broken World: https://go2.lc/livingLearn more about what the Bible says about the last days: https://go2.lc/thelastdaysABOUT LIFE.CHURCHWherever you are in life, you have a purpose. Life.Church wants to help you find your next step. Our hope is that your journey will include joining us at a Life.Church location throughout the United States or globally online at https://www.live.life.churchFind locations, videos, and more info about us at https://www.life.church or download the Life.Church app at https://www.life.church/appFIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/life.churchInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/life.churchTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifechurchYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@life.churchCONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIG GROESCHELYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/craiggroeschelFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschelInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschelTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craiggroeschelLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/35447748/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Well, a lot of people want to know about the future. A lot of people are talking about the end times. And you can scroll on TikTok or look at YouTube videos and someone's always predicting the end of the world. Have you noticed that? They'll talk about blood moons and they'll talk about World War III and they'll talk about a cashless society and maybe the eminent AI take over.
Starting point is 00:00:25 End of the world could be coming soon. You see it everywhere. And then closer to home, you see it in the way that people live. So many people today, they're living with almost no fear of God and almost no respect for truth. I mean, marriage is now mocked and life is devalued and sin is celebrated. So if you've ever wondered, are we living in the last days? You're not alone.
Starting point is 00:00:57 because about 2,000 years ago, some brand new Christians in Thessalonica asked very similar questions. And they wanted to know, when will the world end? When will Jesus return? And if he's coming back, what does that mean to me now?
Starting point is 00:01:15 What does it mean to my family? How should we live? And Paul speaks directly to them in a letter that he wrote to the first Thessalonians and he doesn't tell them when the end will come, but he tells them how to live until it does. And so today we ask God that you would speak to us. Build our faith, God, with a spiritual urgency to do your will, share your word, share your love,
Starting point is 00:01:48 believing that we're ready when Jesus does return soon. Bless the preaching of your word, may it change lives. We pray this in Jesus' name. If you agree, all God's people said, amen. All right. Today we're wrapping up the message series on First Thessalonians. We're going to look at the final two chapters. We're going to do an overview of chapter four and chapter five.
Starting point is 00:02:09 Let's review where we've been in case you missed previous weeks. We talked about Paul's visit to Thestinalinica. You can read about it in Acts 17. When he was there, he preached on three different Sabbaths. So he was there three weeks, less than a month, for sure. and a lot of people came to faith in Christ. Some of the Jewish leaders did. Some Greek people came to Christ,
Starting point is 00:02:31 and there was this brand new, excited group of new Christians. Some of the Jewish leaders that were not Christians got angry. They didn't like Paul. They said he was a fake. His motives weren't pure. They came in hot. They were criticizing him, and they attacked him. And so Paul escaped for his life,
Starting point is 00:02:50 and he left these brand new Christians there going, how do we live? How do we live? What are we supposed to do? And Paul realized they didn't know how to live in the light of the possibility of the return of Christ. So he gets very practical with them and he's going to show them a way to shift their thinking. Instead of this, I want you to think this. Instead of this, I want you to think this. And he shows them three specific shifts in their thinking that we're going to apply to our lives as well. He urged the believers to move in three ways. He urged the believers to move from, first of all, sinfulness to sanctification, then he urged them to move from confusion to clarity, then he urged them to move from passivity
Starting point is 00:03:38 to readiness. And we're going to talk about these three shifts and how we shift in our own lives. The first thing he shows them is that we're going to move from sinfulness to sanctification. And so many may say, what does it mean to be sanctified? Let's talk about two important words in Christianity. These are kind of theological terms that are very important. There's justification and sanctification, both important, but they're very different things. What is justification? Well, justification is the moment that your sins are forgiven once for all. You call on Jesus. He hears your prayers. He forgives your sins. You're justified. Some people say, just as if I'd never sin.
Starting point is 00:04:25 You're justified. He forgives your sins once and for all. That's justification. Sanctification, though, is the lifelong process of becoming like Jesus. So you're justified, you're forgiven. You're sanctified. God still got some work to do on you and me as well. We could say it this way.
Starting point is 00:04:46 Justification. Practically, you're right with God. Sanctification. spiritually, we still need to be conformed to the image of Christ. And so he talks about, we're going to move from sinfulness to sanctification. He says this in chapter 4, verse 1. Paul says, we instructed you how to live in order to please God. If you want to please God, there's certain ways that you're going to live,
Starting point is 00:05:12 and he's going to tell them how you live. What is God's will? Well, it's God's will that you should be. Here's our word. Sanctified. The lifelong process of becoming more. like Jesus. It's God's will that you should be sanctified, that you should avoid sexual immorality, that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and
Starting point is 00:05:34 honorable, not in the passionate lust like the pagans who do not know God, for God did not call us to be impure, but what did he call us to? He called us to live a holy life. So we're going to move from sinfulness to sanctification. We're going to become more like Jesus. Now, when it comes to you, when it comes to me, God wants to sanctify a lot of different things. God may want to help you overcome a gossiping spirit. That's sanctification.
Starting point is 00:06:07 God may want to help you forgive someone that wronged you. That's sanctification. God may want to sanctify your mouth when you're driving your car. or sanctify a particular finger when someone cuts you off in traffic, right? I mean, let's just call it what it is. There's a lot of different, he may want to help you overcome your jealousy. For the Thessalonians, he was speaking directly to a cultural problem. Sanctification is much broader than talking about sexual integrity,
Starting point is 00:06:38 but in the Thessalonian culture, this was the glaring problem, and so Paul went right to it. Sanctification is much broader, but for them, this was the thing. glaring issue because in their culture, sexual sin wasn't just tolerated, it was celebrated. And what I'm going to tell you is all true. It was married men were just almost expected to openly cheat with mistresses and prostitutes. They would literally get married just kind of like a covering like, hey, I'm a good guy, and I'm going to give money to my kids one day, but it was kind of just a covering, and everybody would just kind of look the other way when men would cheat.
Starting point is 00:07:16 and in Thessalonite, it wasn't quite as bad as in Corinth, but they actually had temple prostitutes, and men would go in and have sex with temple prostitutes and literally call it an act of worship. Can you see why Paul is saying you need to be sanctified? You need to live in sexual purity. And then the worst, it's all bad, something else is bad, and it's hard to say, but it was normal for a man
Starting point is 00:07:43 to mentor a younger boy and then would just exploit and abuse the boy in horrific ways. And people just kind of look the other way. So that's why he's speaking directly to this because culturally it was a big problem. Well, fast forward 2,000 years, different setting, and you'd probably agree we have similar struggles in the sexual area. Again, sanctification is much broader than that and it's not limited to sexual integrity, but Paul is speaking to it. In our culture today, you got porn, you got the hookup culture,
Starting point is 00:08:17 you got gender confusion, you've got anything goes, sexuality. And so Paul urges them in the same way, God would urge us, avoid sexual immorality, control your body. Now what would sexual sin be? Well, the Bible tells us that sex is a gift from God
Starting point is 00:08:37 and it is reserved for the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman. and any sex outside of the covenant of a marriage, that's sin. And so he's going to just say very clearly. In other words, like God did create sex and God gives us desires, but just because a desire is natural does not make all desires holy. So Paul teaches us that, hey, there are people who don't know God. And if they don't know God, why would they not follow their desires?
Starting point is 00:09:12 If they don't know God, they would just follow their desires by body. He says, do this. So I want to do this, but he said, you do know God. So you don't live by your urges. You live by your spirit. You control your body under the power of the Holy Spirit, and you don't just do what you want, but you do what God says. And some people say, but that's not fair.
Starting point is 00:09:33 God's holding out on me or you got my needs or whatever. I want to tell you right now, God is not holding out on you. He's not keeping you from the good stuff. He's setting you apart for something way better. It is what's honorable. It's what's his will and it's his ways. And so Paul doesn't pull punches. He just says, hey, in the last days, God is moving you from sinfulness to sanctification.
Starting point is 00:10:01 And I would just encourage you, ask God, what do you want to show me? And it may be sexual integrity. It may be something else. It may be your thoughts, your mind, your words. It might be your worry. It might be giving into anxiety or fear. lies of the enemy, but we're going to move from whatever is not God's will, and we're going to be conformed to the image of Christ. We've been justified, now we're right with God, but we're being
Starting point is 00:10:20 sanctified continually becoming more and more like Jesus. In the last days, God is moving you from sinfulness to sanctification. Number two, he's moving you from confusion to clarity, from confusion to clarity. Watch what he says in chapter 4 verse 13. He says, hey, we don't want you to be uninformed. about those who sleep in death. It's a new phrase. We'll come back to that. So that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind who have no hope.
Starting point is 00:10:54 If you're a believer and a believer dies, you're not like everybody else. At that funeral, you actually have a deeper, in eternal hope. He says, for what do we believe? We believe that Jesus, the son of God, we believe that Jesus died and rose again. And so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
Starting point is 00:11:20 Why is Paul talking about this? Well, there were some people, these new Christians, they were freaking out worried that their loved ones that had already died. We're going to miss out on the return of Jesus. Like, well, if they're dead, what's going to happen to them? They're not going to get the salvation that we have. And Paul assures them, no, that when a believer dies, that's not the end. It's like they've fallen asleep in Christ. And so when we grieve, as Christians,
Starting point is 00:11:48 if we lose a fellow Christian, we grieve because we miss them. But we don't grieve like those who have no hope. And Amy can tell you, it had never been more clear to us than years ago. In one week, we had two separate families that had two tragic accidents, and both families lost sons in their 20s.
Starting point is 00:12:16 And so we officiated those funerals and tried to love the families as best we could. The first family, their son died. Their son was not a Christian, and they would tell you their son wasn't a Christian, and they would tell you that they were not Christians, that they went to church every now and then, kind of believed in God,
Starting point is 00:12:32 but they said we're not really committed. And at that funeral, I'm telling you right now, the grief was crushing. The air was so heavy, it felt like you couldn't get a breath. And so I was trying to, trying to create hope when there wasn't much hope.
Starting point is 00:12:55 And there were people all over, I mean, wailing, wailing. Whaling. The only way I could say it, it was like grief without hope. Grief without hope. It was horrific. The second family lost their son.
Starting point is 00:13:11 They were very strong, very spiritually grounded. The son was one of the most mature, strong Christian leaders in his school. And it was horrific. But I'm telling right now, the room felt different. The tears were real all over the place, and the tears were many. But the peace was real too. And they grieved, we grieved, but the grieving was different. They grieved with this unshakable hope.
Starting point is 00:13:41 Both families had a profound loss. But for one family, death felt final. The other family, it didn't feel like a goodbye. It felt like a, we'll see you again. We'll see again in the presence of Jesus. And so Paul says, hey, let's move from being confused to being clear that because we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
Starting point is 00:14:11 our hope is not just in this world, but our hope is in the goodness of God in eternity that is to come. And then, in the same vein, he continues with one of the clearest pictures of what we would call Christian eschatology. That's a good word, I learned it in seminary, and I want to use it now,
Starting point is 00:14:31 because four years of seminary, I want you to know I studied, and it's just a big word that means it's the study of the end times. And he's going to teach in a few verses, one of the many important portions of scripture that we look to wondering what's going to happen when Jesus returns. And so this is what Paul says. He says, according to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive, these are the believers, if we're still alive,
Starting point is 00:14:56 who are left until the coming of the Lord, we certainly will not perceive those who fall in asleep. The people that are dead in Christ are actually going to go first. He's saying, he said, for the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command and with a voice, of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. So those who have fallen asleep in Christ, they're going to rise, they're going to get glorified bodies, and they're going to go and meet Jesus in the air. And after that, we who are still alive, the believers, and who are left, will be caught up. We're going to come back to the words caught up. We'll be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will
Starting point is 00:15:40 be with the Lord forever. And Paul said, this isn't something to be afraid about. It's not something to worry about. He said, this is something to be excited about. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. This is very, very good news. Now, how is it going to go down? I'm going to tell you exactly precisely how it's going to go down. And anyone who disagrees is wrong. I'm joking. What I'm going to do is I'm going to give you a traditional view of in-time events. And I'm going to tell you just very clearly that this is debated and disputed. What I'm going to give you is kind of the classic, most generally accepted viewpoint,
Starting point is 00:16:17 but there are very smart people who say, no, this goes here and this goes there and this, that, and the other. And so the vast majority of people are going to believe what I'm going to teach you, but I'm going to acknowledge right now the Bible's just not totally clear. And so this isn't a place
Starting point is 00:16:33 where we should fight each other. We should still love each other. That's important. And I'm going to give you kind of classic view. The first thing that's going to happen is there's going to be the rapture. And this is the place where remember the dead in Christ rise and those who are still alive are caught up in the air, caught up. This comes from the Greek word harpazzo. And this word means to rescue, to snap suddenly, to carry away suddenly. It's like if you can imagine your toddler
Starting point is 00:16:59 is about to run out to the street. What do you do? Harpado that little kid. Woh! Get back here. You snatch them away. This is what Amy does. Anytime I'm about to say something done. She pulls me out of the room, it's Harpado. This is, they will be caught up together. This is the rapture. Then comes the seven-year tribulation. This is the rise of the Antichrist. The first three-and-a-half years are bad. The second three-and-a-half years are worse. And at the end of the seven-year tribulation, you have the second coming of Christ. You can read about it in Revelation 19. Now, is the second coming of Christ the same as the rapture? And the answer is, no, they're not actually the same.
Starting point is 00:17:40 The rapture is when Jesus comes for the church. The second coming is when Jesus returns with the church. The rapture, Jesus appears like a thief in the night. The second coming, every eye will see and know that is the king of kings coming back. And so at the second coming of Jesus, he returns on the white horse. He's got the armies of heaven coming, and he's coming back with a day. different look in his eye. He binds Satan for a thousand years, which leads to what the Bible calls the millennial reign, and for a thousand years, the people of God rule as evil is bound up.
Starting point is 00:18:24 And at the end of a thousand years, when evil is no longer bound up, Satan revolts again because he can't help but fight back against God. And God says, enough devil, we're done. And we have the ultimate defeat of Satan when Satan is thrown into the lake of fire for eternal punishment. And God says, my plan is now done. I am redeeming the earth. And we have a new heaven and we have a new earth. And when he returns and creates a new heaven and a new earth, that's when there will be no more death and no more mourning and no more crying and no more pain.
Starting point is 00:18:59 But those who are in Christ will dwell in the presence of God forever. can the people of God say amen? Type it in the comment section. So what do you do? You're not afraid of it. You don't worry about it. What do you say? You encourage each other with these words.
Starting point is 00:19:18 This is good news if you're in Christ. It's good news if you're in Christ. And if you're in Christ, then you want to share that good news with everyone that doesn't know him. It's not that we're like, hey, trying to convert people to our religion. No, we're trying to help people have freedom.
Starting point is 00:19:34 We're not trying to convert them so we can count them on a membership role. We're trying to help them find freedom from the darkness of this world and find freedom in life in Christ. The joy from heaven, the life everlasting, encourage each other with these words. This is good news. So we're shifting. We're shifting.
Starting point is 00:20:00 The world is dark and darker. Well, Holy Spirit is doing to work on us. We've been justified now. We're being sanctified. We're shifting from sinfulness to sanctification. And then we're shifting from confusion to clarity. Hey, we know what's going to happen. And then the third thing, Paul says,
Starting point is 00:20:18 hey, we're going to shift from passivity to readiness. We're not sitting by doing nothing, just waiting passively for the return of Jesus. Now we're actively engaged, doing the will of God on earth as it is in heaven. And Paul teaches this principle in 1st, Sessalonians 5, verses 1 through 3 when he says this, about the times and dates we do not need to write you for, you know, very little and very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
Starting point is 00:20:49 He's going to come like a thief in the night. While people are saying peace and safety, destruction will come on them suddenly. He's going to come suddenly, so we want to be ready. And he reminds them, we do not know when Jesus will return. We do not know when the rapture will take place. So we're gonna live ready. We're gonna be ready. What I like about this is pretty cool.
Starting point is 00:21:14 Paul is both prophesying what's to come and then he's being a little bit of a smart aleck. He had an edge like that. I like that. Maybe not his best trait, God might not like it, I like it. He was both prophesying and he takes a jab at the Roman Empire. because Rome boasted about something called Pax et Securitas,
Starting point is 00:21:37 which means peace and safety, peace and safety. Rome bragged that Caesar and the armies would guarantee peace. If you trust in Caesar, you'll have peace. It was a lie because peace that's enforced is not real peace. Peace that's enforced is not lasting. And there's similar lies today that people think if we just vote in the right people, then we'll have peace. We have enough money.
Starting point is 00:22:03 We're going to have peace. Or if we trust in science or technology or AI, then we can be secure. But real peace doesn't come from Caesar. It doesn't come from culture. It doesn't come from politics. It doesn't come from paychecks. Real peace comes from Christ and Christ alone. And when Jesus returns on the white horse to make war and bring justice,
Starting point is 00:22:30 He will bring an eternal peace, and that is the only peace and the only security that lasts. And Paul continues, very pastorally, and he says this in verse four. He says, you won't be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. It's going to come like a thief. You won't be surprised. For you are all children of the light and of the day. We don't belong to darkness and to night. So what do you do?
Starting point is 00:23:00 Spirit-filled believers. What do you do, those who are leaning in and longing for his return? You be on your guard. Not spiritually asleep, not dead, not lukewarm like the others. Stay alert and be clear-headed. Stay alert. Another version says, be sober-minded. This may be the most important part of the entire message.
Starting point is 00:23:23 He's saying, hey, like, don't get complacent. Don't be on your heels. don't be lukewarmed, don't be lulled into spiritual sleep. Live awake, be alert, be on your guard, be ready, be sober-minded. Know that your enemy, the devil prows around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. know that we don't battle against flesh and blood because the powers and principles of this dark world. So what do we do?
Starting point is 00:24:01 We put on the full armor of God and we stand our grounds. By faith, we fight back. We use the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, sharper than any double-living and active. And it never returns void. We live away.
Starting point is 00:24:19 Why? Because time is short. And eternity is real. and people are dying every day without Jesus. Let me say it again. Time is short. Eternity is real. And people are dying every day without Jesus.
Starting point is 00:24:42 Time is short. We're living in the last days. You say we've been living there for 2,000 years. Exactly. We have. Like at any day, any moment, the last days. If Jesus returns in our lifetime, we're living the last days.
Starting point is 00:24:54 If he doesn't return in our lifetime, you still got not a whole lot of time. Time is short. Eternity is real. And people are dying every day without Jesus. So the question we're going to ask this week in our life groups, have I mentioned how important it is to be together with the people of God? Of course I have. Because we know that we need each other and we join together to strengthen one another to be the body of Christ in a world that needs to love of Christ. And so we're going to ask one question this week,
Starting point is 00:25:26 and it's an important question. We're going to ask, what would I change if I really believe Jesus could return at any moment? Powerful question. What would I change? If I really believe that time is short, that eternity is real, that people are dying every day without Jesus.
Starting point is 00:25:42 What would God change in me? And I'm going to encourage you just to ask that question and just be open. You could pray that question today. You can get with other people and hear what they say. And I promise you, You'll hear some things like this.
Starting point is 00:25:55 God, what would you change in me if I really believe that you may return soon? Someone would say, I'm going to confess my sins. I'm going to confess my sins, my knees, my brokenness to one another, pray for each other so we could be made healed. I'm not going to be in bondage to this thing. When Jesus comes back, I'm not going to be addicted to darkness. I want to be free because the sun says free is free indeed.
Starting point is 00:26:20 I'm going to confess my sins. Some of you might do what I've been doing, And I've been working on this series about maybe six weeks now. And just so I'm in it and God's speaking to me. I'm obeying quickly because I'm prompted often and then I put it aside. And so every time obey, every time, pick up the phone, every time call, every time give, every time stop, every time pray, every time witness down. I am obeying quickly.
Starting point is 00:26:43 Some of you, if you say, what would you change in me? All of a sudden, you're going to have less fear and more boldness. You're going to step in and say, hey, I'm not like mean boldness, but loving boldness. where I love you and I care about you enough to share this with you. God show us, what would you change in me if I really believe that you are coming soon? And let's review. Where have we been? Three weeks looking at a book that God used to speak to believers who are wondering, how do we live in the end days? If we're living in the end days, week number one, we learn three things. What do we do? Say it with me. What do we do? We turn, we serve, we wait one more time. We turn from our sins.
Starting point is 00:27:23 we turn to God, we serve, we serve boldly, and we wait actively on Jesus to come. Week two, what did we learn? We learned that we're going to speak boldly. We're going to live purely, we're going to love deeply, we're going to endure faithfully. Today we've learned that we're going to move from sinfulness to sanctification, from confusion to clarity, and we're not going to be passive. We're moving to what? To readiness. Why? Because it's time to wake up. This is not the time for casual faith or comfortable Christianity. This is the moment to step into your calling, to be holy and set apart. To love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.
Starting point is 00:28:09 Have your way, God, with me. Do your will through me. God, convict me, move me, shake me, stir me. Why, because time is short. Eternity is real. And people are dying every day with no hope and no relationship with Jesus. So have your way.
Starting point is 00:28:33 Because one day in the blink of an eye, the trumpet of God will sound and the dead in Christ will rise. And those who remain will be caught up with him in the air. And one day when he returns for the church, we will dwell in his presence forever. That is our hope. that is our future, therefore encourage one another with those words.
Starting point is 00:28:53 And when we live awake, what do we do? We live with urgency. And we live with faith as we await the coming of our king. And so what do we do? We encourage one another with these words. Church, what would you do differently if you believed? He's coming soon. I will encourage you with these words.
Starting point is 00:29:17 our king is coming back on a white horse with justice to judge and to make war and he is the king of all kings and he is the Lord of all Lords. Our king is coming soon. So Father, do a work in us, stir up our faith. As you're praying today at all of our churches online because time is short, short.
Starting point is 00:29:49 I wonder how many of you would be willing to ask God. Just ask God, What do you want to do in me? What do you want to change in me today at all of our churches? For those of you that you are a Christian, you know it. You've experienced the grace of Jesus. You know you belong to him. For those of you that are committed to walking
Starting point is 00:30:11 and following Jesus, would you be willing to ask God, what do you want to do? Because time is short, what do you want to do? I'm gonna just ask you if you'll pray that prayer. You can pray it now. Pray it all week long. Pray it with your life through, pray it with your friends.
Starting point is 00:30:23 pray with your family. All of our churches, those who say, yeah, I'm willing to pray. God, what do you want to do in me? Because time is short, what do you want to do in me? Have your way. Would you lift up your hands? You could pray that this week. Lift up your hands. You can type it in the comment section. I'll pray. I'll ask God, what do you want to do in me? And now just ask him, right where you are. Just, God, what do you want to do in me? Just listen. Listen for his voice. It may not be audible, but you probably have a sense of what he's saying. He wants you to be in the Word. He wants you to use your gifts to make a difference.
Starting point is 00:31:00 He wants you to share your faith. Maybe there's somebody he's prompting you to be a witness to or someone to forgive or something to give or a sin to confess. God, what do you want to do in me? What do you want to do in me? God, what do you want to do in me? As you pray that, just listen and God will speak to you.
Starting point is 00:31:22 And God, as you speak to us, give us the courage and the faith to obey you quickly. God stir us up to live boldly, ready, believing that you could return soon. As you keep praying today, nobody looking around again, man, I wish I could sit down with everybody personally and just talk and just ask you, like, where are you with God? if you met him, today was your last day, if tomorrow was your last day,
Starting point is 00:31:57 if the trumpet sounded and he came back, are you ready? Are you ready? And if you're saying, I'm not sure or I think I am or whatever, I would just kind of ask you why, where do you stand? And if you say, well, I'm not sure, I'm trying to be better, I hope I'm good enough,
Starting point is 00:32:14 I'm not there, I would just reach in and just tell you I've been there, I understand, and the truth of the matter is, if you're not sure, you're not ready. You're just really not. I remember thinking I've got to work harder and be better and stop having bad thoughts and saying bad things. And I didn't realize that I was just living in the brokenness of my sinful body,
Starting point is 00:32:34 that I was born into sin, that I'm a sinner, that I've sinned. You've sinned. The Bible says that every single one of us, we sinned against a holy God. And we cannot work our way to Him. The only way that we're made right with God is that we're saved by His grace through faith, and it's not faith in our own good works, but is faith in the perfect work of Jesus. Who is Jesus? He's the Son of God, the Lamb of God. It came, not for the righteous, but came for people like me, came for broken people, came for sinful people, and he loved us, right where we were.
Starting point is 00:33:06 And he died on a cross in our place for our sins, like a, like a sacrificial lamb. He was the lamb of God who died in our place. And God raised him from the dead. And now Scripture says that anyone who calls on the name of Jesus, the name of the Lord would be saved. In other words, it doesn't matter how dark your life has been. Doesn't matter how bad you've been. When you call on Jesus, he forgives your sins and he makes you brand new. Today, there are those of you, you do not know where you stand. You're not ready. Today is the day you get ready. Scripture says that Jesus stands at the door and knocks. If anyone hears his voice and opens the door, he'll come in. He's ready to come in. You feel him knocking? Can you feel him drawing you?
Starting point is 00:33:46 That's His Holy Spirit, drawing you because he loves you. He's the door. He'll come in. He's ready to come in. He's ready to come in. He's He does. He loves you. All of our churches, those who say, I need his salvation. We're going to repent of our sins. We're going to call in his name. Not just to save us, but to be the Lord of our life, to take over completely to have its perfect way in our lives. You're not here by accident. You are here for this moment because our God loves you. All of our churches, those who say, yes, I need his forgiveness. I need his grace. Today I turn for my sins. I call on Jesus. Jesus saved me. Be the Lord of my life. I give my life to you. That's your prayer. Lift your hands high right now. All of all of us. the place to lift up your hands and say yes i give my life to you praise god for you others to say yes jesus i surrender be the lord of my life as we have hands going up at all of our churches online type in the comment section i'm surrendering my life to jesus just just like i'm calling on jesus to save me in the presence of a holy god we have people today around the world being born into the kingdom and heaven is rejoicing would you pray with those who around you pray heavenly father take my life be my savior be my lord forgiving all of my sins and making me new fill me with your
Starting point is 00:34:59 holy spirit so i can walk in truth and know your power and show your love have your way in me not my will but your will be done jesus i give you my life Thank you for new life. You have all of mine. In Jesus' name, I pray. Church, give God praise today. He's coming soon and we give him praise. Come on, church.

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