Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Finding Truth When Everyone Has an Opinion | Asking for a Friend: Part 1

Episode Date: September 13, 2026

Got a question you've never said out loud? Maybe it's a relationship, a struggle, or something from your past that still doesn't make sense. Opinions aren't hard to find. It’s time to get true answers that can only come from God’s Word. 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://go2.lc/podcastcommittochristABOUT THIS MESSAGEWhat do we do with the questions we're too afraid to ask out loud? These days, it often feels safer to type them into a screen than say them to a person. But your questions deserve more than an algorithm's best guess. In our new series, Asking for a Friend, we’ll bring our hardest and most personal questions into the light and discover the truth and grace that can only be found in God’s Word. 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.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/download  FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/life.church Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/life.church TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifechurchYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@life.church  CONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIG GROESCHELYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/craiggroeschel Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschel Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschel TikTok: 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.

Well, we're starting a brand new message series today called asking for a friend. You guys have been asking questions. You've got a lot of questions. They're personal. They're difficult. Over 4,000 of you submitted questions, and we're going to talk about them. You ask about abortion. You ask about transgenderism. You ask about cremation. Some of you ask about masturbation. Just going to see how you respond when I say that. Do you, do you laugh or do you just be quiet? You were quiet. I just wanted to know how you'd respond. You ask, how do I know if it's God's voice speaking to me or my own voice? You ask, can women be pastors and many, many, many more. We're going to talk about those questions and a lot of personal ones over the

next four weeks. And I want to give you context for what we're going to do in the message series. My heart behind the series is really twofold. One, what I want to do is I want to try to bring clarity, biblical clarity, just some really complicated questions because your questions really, really matter and in a culture with so many different opinions, I want to just be on the record speaking what God's word says about some really important things. And secondly, what I want to do is I just want to teach you how to take your questions to God's word to see what his word says about it so you can find answers to important questions for yourself. Before we start, let me kind of give you the ground rules to tell you how I'm going to try to answer your questions.

Because honestly, everyone has opinions. And the last thing we need is another opinion. We already have social media. That's enough. So I'm not going to answer questions based on what's popular, what you might expect, what you might want. Not based on what culture says, but I'm going to try to answer the questions

based on what God's word says. And when the Bible speaks clearly, we're going to believe and apply and live what the Bible says, even if it's unpopular, even if it makes us uncomfortable, even if it's different from what we want to believe personally. Now, when the Bible doesn't speak directly to some subjects, because the Bible doesn't speak directly to every subject, we're going to look for other biblical principles

and then try to apply those with wisdom into the areas that we're talking about. Now, if you disagree with me, it's absolutely okay. I promise you, you have the right to be wrong. I'm actually joking, kind of. I am serious about this, that we can disagree about non-essentials in the body of Christ, continue to agree about the essentials, and we can be loving to one another. This is a good place for everybody to say, amen.

we can disagree on some things. And be loving because I'm just going to tell you right now, some of the things we're going to talk about, they're very sincere, very smart, very wise, very committed Christians that have different views. I'm going to tell you what mine is. It may be different from yours. We can seek God's word together,

and above all else, we're going to be loving. So my goal, with God's help, is to try to answer your questions with clarity and with compassion. And believe me with compassion, because our goal isn't to be right. Our goal is to be more like Jesus. You ready to dive in?

Let's dive in. The first question came from Life Church in Derby, Kansas, and someone asked, is being in a committed relationship and living together considered living in sin? Joe, from Oklahoma City campus, asked something similar. He asked, why do we need to get married before living together if we're already married

in God's eyes? Let's tackle it. Logically speaking, there would be a lot of different reasons why people might want to live together without being married today. Some would say it's really expensive, and if we split expenses, we could actually save money. Some people might say that it's a good test to see if we would be good to get married later on. Some people might say, well, we're going to get married one day, so what's a piece of paper, why does a ceremony matter if we're going to get married anyway?

So what we want to do is we want to not just ask what does logic say, but what does God's word say? So does the Bible say that it is a sin to live together if you're not married? Honestly, the Bible never says directly, thou shalt not live together if you're not married. There is no verse that is that direct. So we have to be honest about that. But the Bible does say a lot about marriage and sexuality and such. so let's look at what the Bible does say. We're going to start in Genesis 2, 24,

go back to the beginning when God said this. This is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife. And what do they become? Everybody say it aloud. What do they become? They become one flesh. One flesh.

Two become one in what Malachi calls a marriage covenant. Very, very important. when you get married in the eyes of God, this is not just a private commitment. It's not just something you decide in your heart. We're married in our hearts. Now, this is actually a holy covenant with a holy God and with each other. And the Bible teaches us even more. A covenant is something that we do before God. And so if you're living together without the covenant of marriage, that's not being married in God's eyes. Now, you may share a bed together, you may share expenses, you may share a Netflix account,

you may share a cat, which married or not, that will test your relationship every single time. I'm just saying right now. But you have to remember, living like you're married doesn't make you married in God's eyes. Not my opinion, God's opinion. And the Bible also tells us that the gift of lovemaking, that the gift of sex is reserved for. for the covenant of marriage. Scripture tells us this. The author to the Hebrews said in Hebrews 13, 4,

marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed be kept pure. So some of you who are creative, like some of my children who ask technical questions, Dad, technically, you might say, Craig, technically, could we live together and not have sex? I mean, technically, I suppose that you

could, but you want to ask yourself, is it wise and is that God's best? If we take a look at what scripture teaches us about relationship, covenant, sexuality, and we take a step back and then apply God's principles practically, what does living together outside of marriage do? Well, first of all, it's pretty obvious. It increases sexual temptation. If your goal is to not share the gift of love make until you're married and you're laying next to each other, whispering sweet nothing's in your ears and tickling each other and smelling her hair, that actually increases the likelihood that you might go further than that would be God honoring. The second thing that living together would do if you're a Christian is it actually weakens your witness. If you're going to say, I want to be a fully devoted

follower of Christ, and yet you say, I'm in a committed relationship without the blessings of God on my relationship, that actually would discredit your ability to influence some people because you wouldn't be living what we believe the Bible teaches. And a third kind of consequence would be this. It offers living together without being married. It offers the benefits of marriage without the commitment of marriage. It's as if you're asking for God's blessings without having his blessing on your relationship. So that's kind of harsh. I mean like, here we are. Question number one. and you're throwing fire, okay? Where does that leave you right now

if you're sitting here and you really do love Jesus and you are living together? And you feel like, oh my gosh, is everybody, you know, what should I do? Should I get married tonight? You know?

Maybe. Like, maybe. If you know that you're with the right person and you're going to get married anyway, why would you wait? But if you sit back and go, you know, actually I'm not sure. I'm seeing some things,

that, you know, aren't really lining up with what I'd like, and I know I'm not really living what I should be, and the person I'm with isn't really living. I'm really not sure. I would say this, if you're not sure, don't let sharing an address make the decision for you. Slow it down. To live separately, start praying, seek some counsel, talk to people in your life group, talk to your campus pastor, talk to some people that you're close to, seek God, and then make a decision that you know is going to honor God. And what I want to do is I want to just say, please hear my heart.

Like, I get it. It's very common today. It's common in culture. A lot of people do it. A lot of people in our church are living together. And I get it. There is no condemnation from me. And I'm going to tell you just transparently,

so you'll hear my heart. Amy and I did not do everything perfectly before that we were married. We never lived together. We never had sex before we married. But she actually did stay. up my place and overnight and I'd say like, you know, stay here instead of the 40-minute drive back and we did compromise in that way. In my mind, I was a brand new Christian and we weren't having sex. I thought God was in heaven going, ah, you're amazing. If you stay the night,

that's not that bad. You're not having sex. And I rationalize something in my mind. I compromised is on me. I lowered the standard. Don't say Pastor Craig and Amy did it so it's okay for me. me, I'm confessing to you that I made more mistakes before I was a Christian. I made that mistake after I was a Christian. So my answer in stance is not from some perfect pastor who never lived in the real world, is from someone who made mistakes, found forgiveness, and discovered how good God's plan for marriage really is. And I want that for you. And God wants that for you. And so the goal isn't guilt, the goal is God's best. Can somebody say amen? Let's deal with another question. Next question comes from Aaron at Life Church, Jinks, Oklahoma, very direct, and Aaron says, what does God think

of homosexuality? Before I answer this, let me just acknowledge that for some of you, this is not just a theological question. It's a personal one. And it might be one that you have for someone in your family or someone that you love, or it might be a question that you have for yourself. And we're surrounded by so many loud voices and so many strong opinions. So let's not start with our opinions or what we think or even what we want, but let's start again with what the Bible says. We'll start with the words of Jesus speaking about marriage. Jesus goes back to the beginning when he talks about marriage,

and he says this in Matthew 19. At the beginning, the creator, God, made them. male and female, and said, for this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So what did we see? God created gender, and God created marriage, and God created sex, and God called it all good. And the Bible consistently teaches something about marriage. Now, people didn't live up to it in the Old Testament, the New Testament, but he taught it. The Bible consistently teaches that marriage is between one man and one woman

and any sexual activity outside of God's design for marriage, the Bible calls sin. Whether it's pornography, lust, same-sex, sexual behavior, any sex outside of marriage, the Bible says is sin. Paul's very clear in 1 Corinthians 6. 18, how do you deal with sexual sin? Paul says, flee from it. He doesn't say flirt with it. He doesn't say try to fight it off. He says, run, forest, run. Flee sexual immorality. Why? Because all other sins a person commits are outside of the body. But whoever sins sexually sins against their own body.

If you are a follower of Jesus, here's what Paul said. You are not your own. In other words, you don't get to make the rules. Your desires are not king. You are not your own. You are bought at a price. The blood that Jesus shed paid for the forgiveness of your sins. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.

You flee sexual immorality. In the same chapter, Paul talks about those that will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. And the list is pretty long and thorough. He says in 1st Corinthians 6, the sexually immoral will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. The adulterers, those who practice homosexuality, those who

steal, those who are greedy, those who get drunk, those who cheat, those who slander. Look down your road to the left right now. Look down the road to the left. Everybody do it. Look down the road to your right. Your whole row is screwed.

That concludes all. everybody I know is on that list somewhere, right? And so Paul's goal wasn't just to condemn everybody for their sins, but Paul's goal was to demonstrate the grace of our good God. Because in verse 11, this is what he says. He says in verse 11. And that is, that long list, that's what some of you were. But you were washed and you were sanctified and you were justified.

What does justification mean? It means it's like just as if I'd never. sin. Jesus stands in your place before God and when God looks at you, he sees the blood of Jesus and you're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God. This is what some of you were, but you're not that anymore. We all were dead in our sins. But if you're alive in Christ, your sins have been removed from you. You're a new creation and God will not hold your sins against you. That's the beauty of God's grace. And the moment any of you sits, He said, tell him, Pastor Craig, tell him, tell him.

No, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no. All of us need grace. Every single one of us need grace. All of us struggle with something, and all of us can be washed and forgiven by the goodness of God through the grace of Jesus. On the same topic, we had someone from Life Search, Parker, Colorado.

We've got two campuses in the Denver area, and someone asked this, can I experience same-sex attraction and still have a relationship with God? In other words, if you're attracted to the same sex, can you still follow Jesus? Is there a place for you in the church? And the short answer is absolutely yes. Absolutely yes. Because all of us struggle with something.

And no matter what you struggle with, we have to remember that following Jesus means allowing him to define what's going. good and holy, even when it's different from what we want. All of us have something in our lives that are outside of his will for us, and we all have to surrender something. Jesus said this in Matthew 1624. He said, whoever wants to be my disciple, if that's you, and you want to follow Jesus, if you want to be a follower of Jesus, he said, that person must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. In other words, as followers of Jesus, we all surrender something. We all have to deny something that we want. Some surrender pride. Some surrender greed. Some surrender bitterness bitterness. Some surrender a desire to look at naked people on your phone. Some surrender

sexual desires outside of God's design. Now, on this subject, to be really, really clear, experiencing same-sex attraction is not the same thing as engaging in same-sex sexual behavior. One is a temptation, the other is sin. Being tempted does not equal sinning. Temtation itself isn't sin. Jesus was tempted in many other ways and never sin. So the question isn't whether or not that we're being tempted. The question is, what do we do with it when we are tempted? And no matter how you're tempted, because all of us are. Remember this.

Your identity is never found in your strongest desire. No matter how you're tempted. Your identity is not found in your strongest desire. Your identity is found in Christ and Christ alone. whatever it is, whatever it is, we all have something to surrender. And whatever Jesus asks you to surrender, I promise you, you will never have to surrender it alone. Bryn from Life Search Broadway in Britain, shout out to B&B, ask this, is anxiety a sin against God?

In other words, are you a bad Christian if you battle with anxiety? and the answer, according to God's word, would be this. Anxiety doesn't mean you're a bad Christian. It actually means you're human. And Paul tells us how to deal with it. In Philippians 4, from a Roman prison awaiting possible execution, Paul said this. He said this. He said, don't be anxious about anything.

But in every situation, whatever you're facing, you're anxious about your big test, your word, am I going to get married? You're anxious about what decision should I make in every single situation you have by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving. Like God, I know you're going to hear my prayer, you're going to answer my prayer with Thanksgiving. You present your request to God. The Bible tells us to take our anxiety and cast our anxiety on God, cast our cares on him because he cares for you. So whatever you're anxious about, but with prayer and petition, present that to God and the peace of God. Notice not the peace of the world, but a different kind of peace. The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

If you feel anxious, you take it to God. If it's on your mind, it's on his heart. So don't ever let anxiety drive you away from God, let it draw you to him. Call on him, cast your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Kay, in the same vein, asked this question. She said, is it a sin to have mental health struggles and take medication for your struggles? Someone from Life Church in Albany, New York, ask this. If I take anxiety medication, does it mean I don't trust God? The answer is, of course not. If you break a leg and you're a Christian, you're probably going to pray and go to the doctor, right? If you have the flu, you're probably going to pray and take your medication or your essential oils if you're one of those people.

And if you think I'm making fun of those people, I am. Because I'm married to one of them. One time I had a headache and I couldn't get any real medicine. So Amy brought me essential oils. She said, this will help your headache. She put this oil right here and the fumes were so strong they got in my eyes. I was screaming. I'm going blind. I'm going blind. I'm going blind. I'm going blind. I'm blind. She said, how's your head? I go, I don't care about my head. I'm going blind. And she said, see, I told you. You wouldn't have a headache. So, anyway, sorry. You didn't laugh at masturbation, but you laughed at that. So just making sure we're all on the same page. And if you don't think I have some jokes for that subject, oh, pray for me, because I don't know which

ones I can say yet or not. So, God is our healer. Amen. And God helps us heal in different way. Sometimes it's some miraculous healing. Sometimes it's through counseling. Sometimes it's through better habits. Sometimes it's through a doctor. Sometimes God might use medication. And so whatever the means, God is the healer. And if a trusted doctor tells you that medication might help your situation,

I would say don't feel guilty for using one of the tools that God gave you. Now, remember, whatever your battle is, mental health, anxiety, or whatever, you may battle with anxiety. But again, that's not your identity. You are not what you struggle with. You are who he says you are. He says you're an overcomer by the blood of the lamb and by the words of your testimony. Let's deal with this question.

This one comes from Life Church in Omaha, Nebraska, two Life Church locations. Shout out to those of you in Omaha. This one, I'm going to take the name off of it. She said this. She said, I recently found out that my uncle molested my mom when she was little. How do I forgive someone who hasn't acknowledged what they did

or admitted that it was wrong? And I want to slow this one down and just say to that person, I'm profoundly sorry. And to every single one of you that have experienced an injustice, mistreatment, abuse, someone lied about you, someone gave you their word, experience of betrayal and marriage. I just want to slow it down enough and let you know, like, I'm genuinely sorry. And on this particular subject of sexual abuse, my personal family and Amy's personal family and people that are very close to us, both went

through horrific sexual abuse. And so I feel the pain with you. It's always wrong. It's never right. And it's heartbreaking. And I want to talk about it. to it, how do we forgive if they're not sorry and they don't admit that they were wrong? So to answer this, let's start with being clear about what forgiveness is and what forgiveness is not. Let's start with what is not. Forgiving someone is not saying that what they did was okay. Forgiving is not pretending what they did didn't hurt. Forgiving is not removing healthy boundaries and forgiving someone is not the same as reconciling with someone. It doesn't mean, it could be, but it doesn't have to be the same thing. Because when you think about it,

reconciliation requires two people, but forgiveness only requires one. And so if someone hurt you, you don't have to wait for an apology from them to start healing in your own heart. In other words, your healing doesn't depend on them acknowledging their sin and apologizing to you. So that's what forgiveness is not. Now, what is forgiveness? A lot of different ways to say it. But essentially what it is is it's releasing your right to make them pay. It's releasing your anger and bitterness against them and saying, God, you can deal with them, but I'm not going to do it.

And it's not that you're releasing your anger or hurt toward them because they deserve it. And it's not because you're releasing it because what they did was okay. but you're refusing to let their sin continue to control your heart. Because if you let bitterness in, bitterness ends up hurting you way more than it hurts them. The author to the Hebrews said this about bitterness. He said in Hebrews 1215, see to it that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

So if you find yourself just ticked off, angry, beside yourself, rehearsing the hurt over and over and over again. Bitterness doesn't just, is not just planted, but it grows and it distorts and it's sneaky. It convinces you that you're punishing them when the whole time you're really punishing yourself. So if you've been hurt and you look at scripture and realize as I've been forgiven, I'm supposed to forgive, does that mean that everything goes back to normal? I forgive you, now we're best friends again,

let's go back to where we were. Maybe and maybe not. Maybe not. You have to remember, forgiveness is a decision, but trust may take time to rebuild, right? You can choose to forgive without giving them free access back into everything. Your best friend gossips about you

and tells something very personal. You can forgive your best friend, but that doesn't mean you tell your best friend to every intimate secret moving forward. In some cases, you might do what I call redefining the relationship. It's like, I freely forgive you. I'm not holding this against you, but there are some things that have changed in how we're going to relate to each other.

We're forgiving them without giving them the same access to our lives. And you actually see the Apostle Paul do something similar. There was this guy named Alexander the metal worker who hurt Paul, hurt him bad. And Paul said this in 2 Timothy chapter 4. he said, Alexander the metal worker did me a great deal of harm. Now watch what he says. The Lord will repay him for what he's done. In other words, I'm not holding any bitterness against him. This is no longer my issue. I've handed this over to God. The Lord will repay him. But then he says, hey, you two should be on your guard against him because he strongly opposed our message. In other words, Paul is saying, hey, I'll let God deal with him, but you need to still be careful around him. He, he's He may not be trustworthy. And this is not revenge. This is not unforgiveness.

This is simply a clear boundary. And in some cases, it's actually wise to say, yes, I forgive, but we're redefining the relationship. It's not punishment. It's actually wisdom. Here's a couple thoughts I want you to think about and let these sink in. God's calling you to forgive someone. Here's what I want you to think about.

Forgiveness determines what you carry in your heart. Boundaries determine what you allow in your life. I forgive, but in some cases, yeah, you may just say, now we're back to normal. In other case, you may say, based on the patterns in your life and what I've seen, I've released you, but now the rules are slightly different. And again, I just want to acknowledge the pain of what so many of you have been through. And it is real and horrific what people experience. But as followers of Jesus, we need to understand the Bible is really, really, really.

clear about our call to forgive others. This is what Jesus said. These are strong words. Jesus said this in Matthew 6. He said, for if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your father will not forgive your sins. Very strong words. So if the Holy Spirit's working in your heart right now, someone hurt you and you realize you're still holding a grudge, You may say, how do I go about forgiving? Here's what scripture says, Colossians 313. We're told to bear with each other and forgive one another

if any of you has a grievance against someone. Now, how do you forgive? How do you forgive? Scripture says this, forgive as the Lord forgave you. That's how you forgive. How do we forgive? We forgive others as the Lord has forgiven us. if you've been around the church for very long

you'll see a lot of people are talking about church hurt and church hurt is very, very real. I'll tell you as a pastor, we get it too. Like if Jesus is the good shepherd and we're the under shepherd and you're the sheep, I just want to remind you, sheep bite, I've been hurt, you may have been hurt and church hurt is real

and so is forgiveness. In fact, church hurt is one of the greatest opportunities to learn to forgive as we've been forgiven. As followers of Jesus, that's what we're called to do. And you have to remember, we're not called to forgive from our own strength, but we forgive from the grace that we've received. And so if God is speaking to you in some area that we've talked about today, we've covered a lot, right? A lot. And we're just getting warmed up. Your questions are real, they're honest, and we're going to deal with the most common ones, the most interesting ones, and the most personal ones.

we've covered a lot, marriage, sexuality, anxiety, and forgiveness, different questions, but underneath them all is really the same question, and that is this, what do I need to surrender to Jesus? And so what I want to do today is I want to give the Holy Spirit just a moment to speak to you, and then if there's something that you need to surrender today, as there is something that I'm surrendering, we're just going to do that by faith together. And what I want to just, I pray that you hear it and feel it is we are not trying to make a point on any question asked. We're trying to let God's word lead us to his perfect will to glorify him in the way that we live. So Holy Spirit, speak to us today. God, in any area that we might need to be open to what you want to say to

us, speak to us. God, convict us, encourage us, God, comfort us. Whatever you need to do, God, we want you to do it. As you're praying, nobody looking around today, maybe there's a desire in your heart that's not what is supposed to be. You desire something different than what God's word says. Maybe it's a burden that you're carrying, anxiety, a fear, and you feel like you've been carrying it alone. Maybe it's a hurt. Someone did something to you, and you can't seem to let it go. If you recognize today, God's speaking something to you, it could be something you're caring, a person you're worried about, a fear, anxiety, depression, a temptation, a weight.

And you say, God, I want to surrender this to you. you. Maybe it's a child you're going to trust to God. Maybe it's a relationship you're trusting to him. Maybe it's a financial fear you're trusting to him. Maybe it's a mental health issue you're trusting to him. But if you say today, yes, God, your Holy Spirit speak to me. There's something in my life that I need to surrender to you. I'm trusting this to you. If it's you today, would you just lift up your hands all over the place? Lift them up? So many of you. Online, you can just type in the comment section. I'm surrendering. You can tell us what it is if you want to. I'm surrendering this today to the Holy Spirit. I'm surrendering this.

Father, we thank you that we have the blessing of not being conformed to the image of this world, but being transformed by the renewing of our minds and by your perfect will and your perfect word. God, because we want to follow Jesus, we know we're going to have to deny ourselves. And any place in our hearts, God, in a temptation, any ill will, bitterness, anything that we have that's not pleasing to you, God, we surrender that, deny ourselves of what we want. Take up our cross and follow you. Whatever you're surrendering to him, you can just whisper it, you can say it in your mind, I'm surrendering this to you today. I'm surrendering my wrong desire. I'm surrendering my anxiety. I'm surrendering my burden. God,

take it. I'm casting my anxiety on you, God, because you care for me. I'm surrendering it to you today. Holy Spirit, we surrender to you. As you keep praying today, I would ask you a question if we just sat down and I'd ask you, where do you stand with God? Some of you say, well, I've messed up. So have I. You say, I've crossed some lines. So have I.

You say, well, not good enough. Neither am I. And that's what I want to remind you what Paul said. He said, this is what some of you were, but you've been sanctified, justified, by the name of Jesus. without Jesus, we are dead in our sins, and all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But with the grace of Jesus, we can be completely forgiven and made new, not because we're good enough, but because he was perfect in every way. So the most important question isn't, have you gotten it all right? Is your life altogether?

The most important question is, have you trusted Jesus to make you right with God? Who is Jesus? He is the Lamb of God, the Son of God, born of a verse. virgin who did not inherit our sin nature, live perfect in every way, died on a cross for the forgiveness of our sins, was raised from the dead so that anyone, and this includes you, it doesn't matter how dark your life has been, doesn't matter where you've fallen, what you've done, who you've hurt, how you've disappointed God, anyone who calls on the name of Jesus would be safe. Today, there are those of you God brought here for this very moment. You feel convicted

of your need for God. We're going to step away from our old life. We're going to call on Jesus. You're going to be washed, sanctified, and made new today. And all of our churches, those who say, that's me. I can sense it. I no longer want to live for myself. I'm going to deny myself. Pick up my cross. I want to follow Jesus.

I give my life to him. When you call on him, he hears your prayers, he forgives your sins. He makes you brand new today at all of our churches. You say, that's me. I need the grace of Jesus. Jesus, I give you my life. Lift up your hands high right now, all over the place and say, yes, that's me. Right back over here.

God bless you. Others today say yes. Jesus, I surrender. Be the Lord of my life. back up there. Praise God for you. Others today right there say yes, Jesus. I surrender. Be the Lord of my life. Online type in the comment section. I'm surrendering my whole life to Jesus. Church, would you pray aloud with me? Pray Heavenly Father, forgive me all of my sins. I surrender to you. Save me. Be the Lord of my life. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so I could live for you.

my life is not my own I give it all to you in Jesus name I pray church could you celebrate big come on church welcome those born into the family of God