Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Feeling Unworthy of God’s Love | The Arrival | Part 4

Episode Date: December 22, 2024

Have you ever felt unworthy of God’s love? The good news is, we can’t earn His love—it’s freely given! Discover how you’re part of the greatest love story ever told in the Christmas story.Did you give your life to Jesus? We’re celebrating with you! You’re probably wondering what’s next, and we’re here to help. Start here: https://go2.lc/ytcommittochristWhen you give to Life.Church, you’re helping people around the world experience the love and hope of Christ. Learn more or consider giving at: https://go2.lc/youtubegivingAdvent is a tradition to help us prepare our hearts for Christmas. Discover more about Advent and how you can anticipate the arrival of Jesus with these resources:A Simple Intro to the Meaning and Purpose of Advent: https://finds.life.church/meaning-purpose-of-advent/Advent: A 25-Day Countdown to Christmas Bible Plan: https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/52893-advent-a-25-day-countdown-to-christmasABOUT THIS MESSAGEIn a world desperate for hope, a light broke through the darkness. Love stepped in. Jesus changed everything—including the life that's possible for us. This December, let’s come together to celebrate The Arrival.ABOUT 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 CRAIGYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/craiggroeschelFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschelInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschelTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craiggroeschel#lifechurch #craiggroeschel #thearrival Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, today we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I want to wish you a Merry Christmas to every single one of you, all of our Life Church locations, those of you around the world at Church Online. On behalf of my family to all of you, we just want to express our loves, like, very sincerely for you. And way more than my love, what I want to do today is I want to tell you about the greatest love story of all time. Do you want to hear it? Now, work with me because the greatest love story of all time may not be what you think it is. If you agree with me as I go, you might just want to say,

amen. We'll start here. The greatest love story of all time is not Romeo and Juliet. And all God's people said, the next one may have said a few. few of you, but I need to say it, and I need to say it boldly. The greatest love story of all time is not Noah and Ali from the notebook, and all God's people said, amen. I know that just upset some of you now. I'm a heretic, but I must tell you the truth. The greatest love story of all time is also not Jack and Rose from the Titanic, because you have to admit all of those love stories have really sad endings, don't they? I mean, think about it. Like Romeo and Juliet, they have a miscommunication and they both die tragically. I'm not even going to say out loud

how they died because it's Christmas, and I don't want to drop that thought in your mind on Christmas week, right? And then there's Noah and Ali from the notebook. They endured years of separation and memory loss. And then what happened at the end of the movie, they died. in each other's arms. Now, some of you are upset because I just gave away the end of the movie. It's a 20-year-old movie.

If you haven't seen it by now, you need to know how it ends. There it is. And then, of course, there's Jack and Rose, right? Hanging on a door in a freezing ocean, and Rose watches Jack

die. If you look carefully, there was room on that door. Right? There was room on the door. I mean, just like, Let the guy on the door snuggle up, get somebody he could have lived. Those are not the greatest love stories of all time.

In fact, what I want to say to you today is the greatest love story of all time doesn't start with once upon time. But the greatest love story of all time starts with for God so loved the world. That's how the greatest love story of all time starts. And for those of you who might say, yeah, but the main character of that story dies too, Jesus? Yeah, he did die. But three days later, when the stone was rolled away, the tomb was empty because Jesus was raised from the dead. And the greatest love story of all time doesn't end in death, but this is about a love that conquers death. And that may be the Easter story, so let's back up.

and make sure we stay with Christmas. And we are in a Christmas message series called The Arrival. And if you're new with us, for the last few weeks, we've been looking at Advent. If you don't know what Advent is, it's a historic, very meaningful Christian tradition that dates all the way back to the 4th century when believers would prepare their hearts with fasting and with prayer to looking forward to what we're doing right now. now to celebrate the birth of our Savior. And each week of Advent has a theme, and we've talked about those four themes. The first week we lit the candle of hope. The second week, we lit the candle

of peace. Last week, we lit the candle of joy, and today we're going to light the love candle to celebrate the greatest love story of all time. And today at all of our churches around the world, would you join me in prayer? Father, we thank you for your love for us. And we pray, God, that by the power of the Holy Spirit and through the preaching of your word, that you would reveal the most life-changing love

in the history of the world draws into your love that we would know it and be able to show it. We pray in Jesus' name. And all God's people said, amen and amen. Christmas is a love story. And it's not just a traditional love story

between a man and a woman, but Christmas is a love story about a father and a son. It's amazing to recognize that 700 years before, the birth of Christ. Isaiah prophesied in what's now known as the messianic prophecy, and Isaiah prophesied this, for unto us a child is born, help me out, unto us a son is given. Imagine this, for all eternity. Before the world existed, before time existed, before anything

existed. There was a father and a son. And the heavenly father loved the son more than any father ever loved any child. And the son loves his father more than any child ever loved a parent because they had an intimacy and an uninterrupted, perfect oneness for all eternity. In fact, Jesus even said, I and the Father, we are one. Then came the very first Christmas. When the father said goodbye and sent his son from heaven to earth. And Paul told us this, Galatians 4, 4, but when the set time had fully come, what did God do? God sent his son. at all of our churches or online. If you have kids, raise your hand or type in the comment section, I have kids.

I have kids. If you have kids, you know at some point what it's like to send them out. Like when they become kindergartners, right? What do you do? First day at school. You pack their bluey lunchbox, right? Or their Spider-Man lunchbox. And you pack it with extra love.

You put a sandwich in there and their favorite chips and a little juice box. and then you take them on the front porch and what do you do? You take 47 photos of your little child, your little honey bunches you're about to send off to school and then you post it online so if I can say how cute your kid is. Then you drive your kid to school. You send them off to the first day of school and you sit in the car

and you ball your eyes out. You cry like crazy because you know what it's like to be a parent to send off a child. Or how many of you have a child that's learned to drive, right? raise your hand, and you still have your salvation. That's a good thing, okay? You may not be a person of prayer, but when they turn 16 and drive off, baby, you're speaking in tongues the first time they go off, right? You're like praying like crazy. Because you know what it's like is apparent

to send off a child? Or, of course, there's college, they go off to college, or they get married, do you know how hard it is to say goodbye? Well, it was indescribably more intimate and intense when God the Father sent Jesus, his son, from heaven to Earth. They had never been separated before. And that's why Christmas is a love story about a father and his son. But it's not just a love story about a father and a son.

Christmas is also a love story about a mother and a son. It's about a mother and a son. In fact, an angel of the Lord said this about Mary. The angel said, Mary will give birth to what? The mom will give birth to a son, and you're to give him the name Jesus

because he will save people from their sins. Christmas is a love story about a mother and a son. And how many of you know that moms and dads may love equally, but they love differently. Right? You know what I'm talking about. Mom's love is different than father's love. And, for example, Amy, we have six children,

we have seven or 19 grandchildren, I lose count, you know. But we love them equally, but we love them differently. And just to demonstrate, I'll show you some pictures of her and me with our kids and our grandkids. Just to show you, this is Amy with Katie, our daughter. This is me with Katie. We love them each. Equally, but we love them differently.

I'll show you another one. This is Amy with Little Mandy, and then this is me with Mandy. We love them equally, but we love them differently. Let's look at the grandkids. This is Amy with, that's our granddaughter on the right, that's baby, hey, hey, and then this is me with hey, hey, and this is me a second later with hey, hey, and this is me a second later with hey, hey. Because everybody knows they may love them equally, but they love them differently. Who wants to see one more? I don't care if you do or not.

I'm going to show you anyway. We'll look at one more. This is like one of our last grandkids, because I can't remember where they all are in age. This is baby Micah, and this is Amy with baby Micah, and this is me with baby Micah. And I love the fact that everybody's screaming and yelling, and this is baby Micah.

And what I want you to know is that there were no children hurt or injured in the making of this sermon. But a mother and father may love children equally, but a mother loves them differently, right? A mom's love more nurturing and more comforting, because if one of my kids get hurt and they come running to me, what am I going to say? Rub some dirt on it, kid. I said, what a dad is something like that. They come running to Amy, and she's going to say, oh, you got boo-boo.

Oh, did that mean playground give you a boo-boo? I'll take care of that mean playground. come here, let me kiss your boo-boo. Because a mother loves in a different way, equal but different. And so it's really hard to imagine a little teenage girl named Mary, who finds out she's going to be a mom when an angel of the Lord says, you're highly favored and the Lord is with you, and you're going to conceive and give birth to a son who's going to be named Jesus

because he came to save people from their sins. And she's got to go and tell Joseph, her fiance, hey, I got something to tell you, better sit down. I'm pregnant, but I promise you it's the Holy Ghost. Right? And they're in a small town, and people are talking, and she's pregnant before they're married. You know the story, they travel 90 miles on the back of a donkey.

Come on, she's pregnant all the way to Bethlehem. She's miserable. Like, she's, her feet are swollen. She's craving hot Cheetos. She's got to go to the bathroom every quarter of a mile in a bush. And they get to Bethlehem and there's no rooms anywhere. And so she gives birth to her baby in a barn. Then, to make things even worse,

eight days later, she hadn't gotten any sleep. Joseph hadn't done anything right. You say, is that in the Bible? It's not in the Bible, but it is true as long as I am here. Because no man has gotten it right in the first month after his wife gives birth to a son. I'm here to testify to the truth of the name of the father, Son and Holy Spirit.

And this weird guy comes forward. His name is Simeon. And he does this prophecy. And the prophecy is this. He says, this child of yours has been sent as a sign from God. But many will oppose your son, Jesus. And the prophet says to the mom, and a sword will pierce your very soul.

This random guy shows up and prophesize. Mary, mom of Jesus, your son, he was born to die. No mom ever wants to hear, hey, the son you gave birth to, your child, your baby, the son you love, is going to suffer and die, and you're going to watch it, and the pain is going to crush you. This is a love story, the greatest love story of all time, about a mother and a son. and her son wasn't born to grow up and go to college and get married and give her grandbabies. No, Mary's son was the lamb of God who was born to suffer and die for our sins. And so today, I tell you the greatest love story of all time. And it's not just the love of a father and a son and not just a mother and a son,

but Christmas is a love story about the son and us. It's a love story about the son and you. And John said it this way in John 316. He said this, for God so loved, every single one of you, he loved us, he loved the world. So much that he gave his one and only son. Why did he do it because of his love? That whosoever believes in Jesus would not perish,

but have eternal life. For God does. did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. This is how much God loves you. This is the greatest love story of all time. And this love story is personal. It's personal to us. It would be personal to you.

It was certainly personal to John. I mean, John, the guy who wrote John 316, this dude needed love. He had a brother named James. They're two of the 12 disciples. What I love about these guys is they were not most likely to be chosen to be disciples in their graduating class. These guys were wild. They were so wild that Jesus gave them a nickname. Now, as a side note, I just think it's cool that Jesus gave nicknames.

I like that. Jesus called these guys. You know what he called them? He called these brothers, Mark 3. He said Jesus nicknamed them Sons of Thunder. You know you're not a likely disciple when the son of God calls you a son of thunder. Why did he call him this?

Well, I give you one example to show you just how wild they were. Whenever Jesus wasn't welcomed in this town, John said this. He said, Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them? Come on, Jesus. Let's make them crispy critters for not except. you in their town. He's like, calm down, John. You're like at a tin, dial it back. A little buddy, dial it back. Son of thunder. Like, Thunderman was not the most likely to be chosen as a disciple,

yet the son loved John. The son loved him so much that it literally changed his identity. You see, after experiencing the love of the son, John was no longer John, the son of the son of thunder. He wasn't John the hothead. He wasn't John the troublemaker. He wasn't John the one who let everybody down. No, he got a new name. You know who John was? He was the one that Jesus loved. He was the one that Jesus loved. Because of the love the son had for John, it was personal. He was the one that Jesus loved. He called himself that again and again. Over and over. Over and over. Now, for the record, I'm not a fan of anybody speaking of themselves in third person.

That's what he did. He spoke of himself in third person. Just so you'll know, Craig Groschelle doesn't like when people talk in third person. It's a little joke there. But five different times in the Gospel of John, John talked about himself in third person, calling himself the one that Jesus loved. Let me just show you very, very quickly. John 13, 23, he said he was the disciple whom Jesus loved.

John 1926, he said again, he is the disciple whom Jesus loved. John 20, verse 2, he said he was the one that Jesus loved. John 21, verse 7. In case you didn't know, he's the disciple whom Jesus loved. John 20, 21, 21, one more time, I am the disciple that Jesus loved. For John, the love of the son was personal. It was personal. And that's why Christmas is a love story about a father and a son and a mother and a son.

And a son who loves broken people like you and like me. The greatest love story of all time, but I want you to hear every single one of you, I want you to hear this. I want you to hear this. I want you to feel it. I want you to believe it. The greatest love story of all time is that Jesus loves. you. It's the greatest love story of all time. That Jesus loves you. But you say, well, you don't know my story.

You don't know about my thoughts or what I've said or who I've hurt. Right. And you don't know that about me either, which is a good thing. Because you probably go to another church, okay? No matter what's happened in your life, the greatest love story of all time is that Jesus loves you. And if you don't believe me, look at who else Jesus loved. Because scripture teaches us that Jesus loved this one lady who was looking for love in all the wrong places. There's a lady at a well who wanted to find love and acceptance and meaning and value in the arms of another man. But man after man after man broke her heart, let her down and crushed her.

And Jesus came up to her and said, you're thirsty for something, you're looking for something. You're looking for something that will never satisfy, but I will give you living water. Once you taste of what I offer you, I will show you my love and you'll never thirst again. And he loved a woman that society would have rejected. And Jesus loved a guy named Peter. And Peter likes to talk about himself. He was the guy that would always be faithful to Jesus, would always have Jesus' back. And when all those other loser disciples wouldn't be there, he would be there until he had to be and he wasn't.

three different times. Three times, Peter denied knowing Jesus. And after the resurrection, Jesus loved him and said, if you still love me, I'll reinstate you to the ministry. If you love me, I do love you. Go feed my sheep. And Jesus loved a woman caught in the very act of adultery,

a crime at that time punishable by death. and a group of religious and self-righteous people stood around and said, Stoner, Stoner, and Jesus knelt down in the sand and started writing something. We don't know what he wrote, but we know that one by one, the religious guy started walking off. Perhaps he wrote their sins, we don't know. But he looked on and he said to the lady, he said, Where are your accusers?

And she said that there are none. And he looked at her with love and forgiveness and grace in his heart. And then he said, then neither do I condemn you. Go your way and don't sin anymore. And Jesus loved an evil god, a swindler, a tax collector named Zekees. And Zekees was spiritually curious, maybe like some of you. And started like, looking on Jesus. And Jesus said, hey, don't just look on from that tree.

Why don't I come over to your house? He invited him to the guy's house and sat down with him. And he loved him in such a way that Zerner, Zekees' whole life was changed over dinner. Instead, if I've wronged anybody, I'm going to give them back four times. I'm going to devote the rest of my life to serving the one who loved me. Jesus loved Zekees, and Jesus loved me. A kid who was so insecure that I didn't know how to tell the truth

because I didn't think the truth was good enough. A kid who was so broken that I hurt. person after person after person and found myself performing for approval and addicted with no way out. And at the age of 19, I'd knelt down a little softball field at my little college. And I cried out, if your love is real,

if you're there, would you please do something, do a miracle, save me. And when I knelt down, I was one person broken, hurting, lost, and afraid. And when I stood up, I was completely different. What the Bible calls a new creation, And the old is gone and the new has come because of the love of a God who gave me forgiveness that I did not deserve.

It's personal. He loved me. And he loves you. Not like past his, like now, like this very moment, he is loving you right now. And the greatest love story of all time is not over. This is about a love that has come and it's also about a love that is coming again. And when he comes back, he's not coming as a baby in a manger, but he's coming as a king on a horse, the king of kings.

And the Lord of all Lords, I came to tell you about the greatest love story of all time, about a God who loves you where you are as you are, even though you don't deserve it. And this is a love that doesn't end in death, but this is a love that conquers death. So today, I declare to you the greatest love story of all. time. And people ask all the time. And it's a good question. What's this season all about? I mean, is it like happy holidays or Merry Christmas? Oh, listen, it's not just Merry Christmas. It's like Merry Christ. Like Christ, like Christ. Christ. The center of the candles is the Christ candle. Who is Jesus? Jesus is our hope. Hope has a name. Jesus is our peace. It's a perfect

peace, shalom, shalom. Jesus is our joy. The joy of the Lord is our strength. Jesus is the love above all. Christ, born of a virgin, born to die, who is the king of all kings. The name above, there's something about his name. He's a love that's come, and he's a love that's coming again. What's Christmas all about? What's the season all about? Well, you might have a little button that tells you. And what does the button say? What's the reason for the season? If I say it, Jesus is the reason for the season. You might have a t-shirt that says, what's the reason? Jesus is the reason for the season. You might have a coffee mug. Bring it out at Christmas time. And it says Jesus is the reason for the season. Yes, but that's not the only reason. You see, if you go deeper, there is a deeper, there is a deeper

a reason for the season. What is the reason for the season? The reason is you. You are the reason Jesus came. You, you, you, for God so loved you that he sent his one and only son. You are the one that Jesus loves. This is what John said. The same John, that was John the Son of the Thunder, who became the one that Jesus loved. This is what he said. This is real love. You want to know real love? You want to know the greatest love story of all time?

This is real love. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as a sacrifice to take away our sin. That is the greatest love story of all time. That is God's love for you. Christmas is all about the love of a father and his son. of a mother and a son and the love of God's son for you. Why? Because you, no matter what you've done, you, no matter how broken you feel, you, no matter how far you might feel from God, you are the one Jesus loves. So today we celebrate the birth of a king, a lamb, a baby born to die,

so he could be risen again. Because that's how much the father loves you. So Holy Spirit, would you do a work in us today? Would you take the truth of God's heart and reveal it to us? As you pray today without looking around, I wonder how many of you would say, honestly, that you might feel at times a little bit unworthy of God's love. If that's you, you might have done some things you're ashamed of,

you're embarrassed by, you feel a little bit unworthy, wherever you're watching from. Would you just maybe lift up your hand right now? You can type in the comment section. I feel I feel unworthy of God's love. Just lift it up just as a symbol. Yes, I might feel unworthy. Put your hand down now.

As your hands down, if you just listen for a moment, you might feel unworthy because like me, you've done some things you're ashamed of. But there might be a deeper reason you feel unworthy. And that's maybe because you don't know just how much you're worth to God. When you recognize how much. he loves you, that he was willing to give his son for you, your only reasonable response is to give your whole life back to him. If today you feel a little bit unworthy, maybe it's because you're

dealing with some stuff, but maybe it's because you've never really experienced the love that God has for you. God loves you so much that he sent his one and only son. that whosoever, including you, whoever believes in him, wouldn't perish, but would have eternal life. Today, at all of our churches, if you're not sure where you stand with God, maybe you're feeling drawn to God. Let me tell you why, because you're being drawn to God, because He loves you, because His Holy Spirit is reaching out and drawing you.

So what do you do? Well, very simply, we're going to step away from our selfishness. We're going to step away from our sinfulness, and we're going to step toward His love. And when you call on His name, who is Jesus? is love. God is love. It's not just what he does. It's who he is when you call in his name. God hears your prayers and forgives your sins and makes you brand new today. Around the world online at all of our churches, those who say, hey, I'm not sure where I stand

with God. Let me tell you about the greatest love story of all time. It's about a God who loves you, who's drawing you. And when you say yes to him, he'll forgive all of your sins and make you brand new today. If you feel the weight of your sin, if you feel guilty, if you feel ashamed, if you feel unworthy, step away from those lies, step away from the guilt, step away from your shame and call out to Jesus. And when you do, he'll hear your prayer, he'll forgive your sins, he'll make you brand new today at all of our churches. Those who say, yes, I need Jesus. I need his grace. Today, by faith, I give my life to him. That's your prayer. Lift your hands high right now, all other place to lift them up and say yes, that's my prayer. Praise God for you today.

Lift up your hands and say, yes, Jesus, I surrender my life to you. Be first in my life. And all of our churches, as we have people saying, yes, type in the comment section, I'm surrendering my life to Jesus. Type, I'm surrendering my life in today. Would you join your faith with those around you and just pray from the depths of your heart? Pray Heavenly Father, I receive your love. I receive your forgiveness. Jesus, save me. Be the Lord of my life.

Thank you for your love. thank you for salvation fill me with your holy spirit so i could know you and serve you today i give you my life thank you for new life you have all of mine in jesus name i pray today we celebrate a savior is born at all of our churches could you give god praise today give him praise come on church thank you for who he is for new life in christ