Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Get Started, Part 1: Get Started

Episode Date: January 2, 2016

New year, same problems. Sound familiar? Maybe it’s because you’re waiting for something. The world to change. The right time. A green light. Here’s the good news: the wait is over. Your future is wide open—it’s time to Get Started. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, happy New Year to all of you. I pray you had an amazing Christmas and you're full of faith as you step into 2016. Let me remind you next weekend is very special to all of our Life Church locations. We're celebrating the 20-year anniversary of Life Church. It's going to be a massive, amazing party. And I'm so thankful for all of you and all that you do to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. Two weeks from now, we're launching a brand new message series, which will align our hearts to God

as we launched into 2016. It's called Dangerous Prayers. Search me, God, break me God, send me God. It starts in two weeks. Today, you're going to be very blessed by one of our best team members, Pastor Sam Roberts, leads all of our different campuses.

He's got an amazing message called Get Started. To get started in 2016, would you please welcome Pastor Sam Roberts. Well, I want to welcome everybody out at all of our life. That church locations. Those have our network churches and, of course,

across the globe at church online, it is always great to have you guys with us as well. My name is Sam Roberts. I'm one of the directional leadership team members here, as Pastor Craig said, and I'm obviously not Pastor Craig. Don't quite preach like Pastor Craig,

and I don't really look like Pastor Craig. You know what I'm talking about? I'm built a little different. But what an honor to be able to stand on this stage and be able to fill in for, man, probably one of the best communicating in the country, if not the world of the gospel, and one of the best leaders, daddies, and it's just such an honor to be able to do that.

Pastor Craig will be back next week to talk about a series, as he just said, celebrate 20 years of what God has done here at Life Church. But it's not just about what God has done. It's more important, even about what he's going to do. And you are on literally the beginning, the ground floor of what God is intending to do through this movement we call Life Church. And you're going to want to be here to be a part of what that means. go ahead and tap the person you brought next to you. Look over at him and be like, this ain't the

regular guy, but he's okay, so it'll be all right. Right. All right. Now, we are going to do a message entitled today called Get Started. Now, say off the top that there was this plaque that used to sit in the athletic department of my alma mater that had a quote from a world-renowned tennis player named Arthur Ash, which serves as the base. of the structure of this message today. It's a quote that inspired me for years, and I pray today that it will inspire us to get started. Now, before we do that, by show of hands

at all of our locations out in Rio Rancho, those of you in Hendersonville, Keller, it's no fun if you don't play along. How many of you would say, I set some New Year's resolutions this year? Okay. Well, this is going to be a banner year. Here in 2016, I'll tell you what,

we've got a lot to look forward to people. All right. Well, you know, perhaps this makes a little more sense to me now. I was reading a few things that people had said about New Year's resolutions. I found them quite amusing. I thought you may as well. I saw one person say, I cannot believe that it has been a whole year since I didn't become a better person. Right?

I feel like that. I saw one guy say, I am going to work out every day. Or at least briefly consider it. Right? This one dude, he was shooting for the stars. He said, I'm going to lose weight. Mary Scarlett Johansson, and I'm going to find the Lost City of Atlantis. figure if he's going to go out, might as well go out big, right, brother?

And then this one, maybe you'll resonate with this. I saw somebody say, well, my resolution for 2016 is to accomplish all the goals I set in 2015, which I should have done in 2014 because I planned them in 2013, right? Pretty crazy. It's funny as I was preparing this, I was reading an article in a psychology journal that actually was talking about why many people do not say. resolutions and as by show of hands across all of our locations is pretty true we don't really make them and the journal psychology said that the reason people typically won't do that is because of

fear it's a fear of not finishing what they tried to start but i want to turn this up on end a little bit today and say something a little bit different about the way that we should approach our lives because I truly believe this, that you're never going to finish something you don't start. And what we're going to find today is we're going to find motivation from God's word and a look at one of, man, a person in the Bible, Moses, who God used to just simply get started. And we're going to look at his life and look at how that's going to push us to begin something God has called us to do. What is it for you?

because everybody has something that God has said, I want you to get started. I want you to do. What is it? Maybe for you, it's, you know what, it's high time. You get fit and healthy. Maybe for you, it's time you start that business. Maybe it's the restoration of a relationship.

Maybe for you, it's, you know what, I'm going to be more generous. With my time, with my money, I'm going to be a more generous person. Or maybe for you, it's high time that you not be absolutely slave to your schedule and you begin to make a difference in people's lives around you. What is it for you that you simply need to get started? What was left undone? Because we all have something. And many times what we can do is when we think about that thing,

we can find ourselves in a cul-de-sac of indecision. About, I don't know, should I go this way or that way? I don't know, so I'll just stay right here. And what I want to say is sometimes when I find myself there, it's helpful to think about where I want to end up because when I have a clearer picture of where I want to end, I understand more clearly where I need to begin. So, as a little exercise,

I want you to fast forward to the very end of your life. That's a good way to start 2016. Just go all the way to the end of the tape, right? Forget the resolutions for 2016, go all the way to the end, and let's presume your memorial service is over and people standing around eating cheese and crackers talking about you. what do you want them to say? What would you hope that they would say about you?

Because in the answer, you may just find where you need to get started, what you need to be about, what you need to start. Because what you never start, you're never going to finish. Right? We never finish that thing that we don't start. Now, we're going to look at the end of Moses' life. Actually, in the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, it's known in Bible scholar circles as kind of the heroes of the faith, the pillars of faith, if you will. And what happens is God talks about all these different people in scripture that have been like these faithful, unbelievable people. God actually in many ways eulogizes man.

And when it comes to Moses in Hebrews 11, this is what God says about Moses. He says, by faith, Moses, when he had to Jesus, when he had to Jesus, he had. grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated, along with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt. He was looking ahead to his reward. What a thing to be said about you. What a powerful statement. And that's where Moses ended. But it wasn't where Moses began. So let me help you, and perhaps this is maybe your first time to ever be in church,

maybe you've been for a long time. Some people are familiar, at least by name, with Moses, and understand, because he's such an iconic figure in the scriptures. And so what I want to do is to just rewind a little bit and set some context for his life of where we're going to begin today with Moses. But to help that, you need to understand a little bit more about him. Moses was born, a young Hebrew boy. He's born there in Egypt, but the problem was it was during a period of time where the Israelites were enslaved to the Egyptians, building pyramids and things of the like.

Millions of them, okay? The problem in Moses's birth was that this is about the time that Pharaoh became concerned that the Israelite population was growing too vast. He was worried about them overthrowing him, and thus his solution was to take all the Hebrew boys and throw them in the Nile River. Get rid of them. Control the population so that he could secure his rule. So, this is obviously a big problem, Moses' mom decides to get out ahead of Pharaoh. She makes a basket and floats him down the river. By God's hand, Moses ends up where Pharaoh's daughter is bathing in the river.

She picks him up, sees this cute little Hebrew baby boy, and she takes him in and raises him as her own for 40 years. So you have a Hebrew boy growing up in an Egyptian household, being trained in the Egyptian ways, understanding the educational systems of the Egyptians, the greatest in the land in that time. the choices, fruits and vegetable, all the stuff that he grew up with. So, posh environment. One day after 40 years, he's out overseeing a job for Pharaoh, and an Israelite and an Egyptian begin to fight. He looks on, and he's like, huh, I've got to protect my people, the Israelites.

So he goes down, he kills the Egyptian. He gets, what am I done? Oh, my gosh. And he buries the Egyptian in the sand. He covers it up, and he goes away thinking, everything's okay. Next day, two Israelites are fighting. He goes down, and he's like, brothers, what are you doing? Don't fight?

and what they look on and they say, who made you judge over us? What are you going to do? Kill us like you did the Egyptian yesterday? And he's like, oh, I've been found out, and he flees. He leaves Egypt. And for 40 years, Moses wanders around in the desert in the wilderness as a shepherd of sheep.

While he's out there, check this out. He has a son, one of his sons, and his name is Gersham, which means I'm a foreigner in a foreign land. How much have this whole, I'm a foreign. identity been attached to Moses that he would name his child. I'm a foreigner in a foreign land. But that's important to understand. Moses was 40 years in Egypt and Pharaoh's household.

Now 40 more years out in the wilderness, just shepherding sheep. And then all of a sudden, one day he has the burning bush experience, where this bush, he observes, is burning. Now, whether it just continues to burn and doesn't, consume itself or it had this immaculate flame, we really don't know, whatever it was, Moses goes over to check it out. And a conversation ensues between He and God, where God says Moses, you're going to go back to Egypt. Moses is like, whoa. And not only are you going to go back to Egypt, you're actually going to go to Pharaoh and you're going to say, excuse me, let my people go.

Like all of them, every one of them. Just in case you don't know, that's millions of people. It's the entire slave labor for Egypt and for Pharaoh, right? Big deal. Let them all go. And Moses is like, I don't know about that. And this is at the point where we're going to pick up today and we're going to watch, right? We know where Moses ended. You're seeing where he began.

Look at this conversation with God that he has. And what we're going to find in this, we're going to find the motivation for us to get started. So the first thing, if you are taking notes, is this, that we simply need to start where we are. Start where you are. Look at this scripture where God and Moses are talking. Now remember, God's just told him, you're going to go back and talk to Pharaoh and tell him not my people go. Moses says, hold on a second, who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? What's he thinking? killed a man 40 years ago and I'm just sure of it. My sign's still up on the post office down

there and they still want me. They're going to kill me the minute I get back. I can't go back. Who am I? But God says something powerful that God will say to you today. He says to Moses, I will be with you. Don't miss the power in that because many of us have discounted what God could do through us because of our past and different mistakes that we've made. But we need. to simply understand, just like Moses, God says to you today, I am with you. And when we understand who is with us, it gives us a certain confidence to do things that we wouldn't do otherwise. Like, for instance, one time, I went to a movie with my brother. Now, real quick for you to know, I was a collegiate basketball player, he was a collegiate football player. You could say our frames

are a little different, right? I was built like this, and he was built like this. And we get to the movie, and we were going to go see a Stephen Seagall film, which some of you may not know anything about, but let's just say it's one of those movies that when you get done, nobody better bump you out in the lobby, because you can be putting hands on people, right? Now, we get in there, we're a little late, and we're trying to, you know, do this across the aisle. And the problem was I had no problem getting through, because my legs are nice and thin. His are built like tree trunks. So, unfortunately, the front of his thigh bumped a chair in front of us.

Not too big of a deal, but apparently, oh, boy. in front of us was on the first date with his girl, and he wanted to try to impress her. And so his chair gets to rock in a little bit. And this guy, when my brother bumps his chair, turns around and stares at us like this. He's like, I'm like, man, what does this dude doing? Do they already show him a fight scene or something? And he's all fired up. And he's like, I don't know what his problem was with breathing, but he was breathing like that. And I was like, now me, I'm sitting there. I sit down. I'm like, oh, I start looking for the exits. I start coming up with a plan.

I'm like, okay, I got a Coke. So if he jumps, I could go like this and get out, like real quick, right? I'm thinking, I got to get out of here because I don't want no part of this, right? My brother sits down, he kind of sees him. He's like, whatever, and he sits down. And remember, collegiate football players, this guy is 6, 7, about 250, 260, cut up, just huge. He sits down, he gives me my popcorn. He's like, all right, you ready?

All right, he sees this dude, still looking at us. He gets about that far from a boy's face, and he just says, You got a problem? The whole theater was like, oh my gosh, what's going on? Everybody turned around and looks at us. His girlfriend, like, pats his head. He's like, he's okay. Something from under his chair started leaking, and I don't think it was coke.

And I looked on in just a second earlier, I'm thinking about throwing coke in old boy's face and getting out the exit. And next thing I know, I'm like, yeah, you got a problem? What do you want? You better turn around, you know, all of a sudden. What did happen? What did happen? I remembered who was with me, right?

I remembered who was with me. And my brother, he's a big old boy. But he ain't near as big as the creator and sustainer of this universe that says to you today, no matter what your past, no matter what has happened in your life, no matter what thing that you've come up against, when I call you understand, I am with you. And you will begin to experience things.

And you will have a confidence that only comes from truly understand who is with you because when you know who's with you, it gives you confidence. It's like this. It doesn't matter where you are when you know who you're with. It doesn't matter where you are. It doesn't matter about your past. It doesn't matter about the financial ruin you've hit. It doesn't matter about all those different things when you understand who you're with. Maybe for you, you experienced loss in 2015. Perhaps it was the loss of a loved one and it was tough through this holiday season. Perhaps it was the loss of a career

that you thought was going to be there forever. Perhaps it was the loss of a marriage. And you look on at this coming year and you find it difficult to figure out how you're going to make it through. And God says to you today, I am with you. And when I'm with you,

we're going to do things together from my glory. And we're going to make it through because we're going to get started because I got more for you. Craig says it this way. If you're not dead, you're not done. And God's got something He wants to do in you and through you, but you got to start where you are.

It doesn't matter where you are when you know who you're with. First thing we're going to do is we're going to start where we are. The second thing, if you're taking notes, you're going to use what you have. We're going to use what we have. Now, despite God's, I'm with you, Moses still feels like, I don't know about this. God's like, I want you to go to Egypt. He's like, I don't know. What if Moses says to God, well, what if they don't believe me or they don't listen to me?

And they say, the Lord didn't appear to you. You're crazy. Then the Lord said to him, what is that in your hand? A staff, Moses replies. Don't miss the power in this. many times we'll read right over this scripture. This is powerful. Why?

Because God takes this staff. Why did Moses have a staff? He had a staff because he's a shepherd. It wasn't any kind of like special thing he brought to the meeting with God thinking, God's really going to use this. I've been working on this special thing and then God's going to use it. I'm going to present it to him. It's just simply what he had in his hand because he's a shepherd.

And God's going to take that staff that's just ordinary. And he's going to do extraordinary things through it. He's going to take this staff, and he's going to take it where Moses throws it down, and it turns into a snake, and he picks it back up, and it's a staff again. He's going to take that staff, and he's going to perform miracle after miracle through it. He's going to take that staff one time, and Moses is going to hit the Red Sea, and it's going to part before him and deliver him from his enemies. Moses is going to take this old ordinary staff and hold it above his head,

and God is going to do something extraordinary, like smite his enemies in front of him. It's unbelievable that when we simply step out and we take that thing that seems ordinary, God takes that thing that is ordinary and does extraordinary things through it because God uses exactly what you have, whatever you have.

That's the thing God uses. What are you have in your hand? we all have something. Let me prove it to you. Some of you say, I have nothing but this obscure talent to weld. You know what? I can lay a great bead, and that's about it. That's all I got.

God says, perfect. Guess what? I've got people who are coming out of incarceration that need a life skill, and you can provide it for them. Perfect. You say to yourself, all I can do is cook. I mean, I make a mean lasagna, but that's about it. God says, perfect.

Guess what I'm going to do? I'm going to take that, which seems ordinary, and I'm going to do something extraordinary. I'm going to help people feel loved and cared for because in the time they need it, you're going to show up at their door with a big hot plate powder of lasagna, and they're going to think, wow, this is,

praise God, glory on high, seven-layer, homemade lasagna, that's what I'm talking about, and you're going to do something about, ordinary thing, extraordinary results. All I can do is enjoy hanging out with kids and, you know, I seem to be good with kids. God says, perfect. I'm going to use you in life kids

to train up children in the way they should go so when they are old, they will not depart from it. And oh, how many of us wish somebody would have helped us understand that early on to save our departures in the ways that we went as adults, right? You say to yourself, well, all I really do, I enjoy running and I like to run. Lord help you, but you just like to run, and that's what you do. How could God use it? It's so ordinary.

God's like, are you kidding me? It's perfect. You know what I'm going to do? I got people who wouldn't grace the steps of a church, but they'll jump into your running group that you're going to create. And when they look at you and they see something different and you build a relationship with them and you're going to share the love of my son, Jesus, with them, and it's going to change their life forever. I'm going to take your little ordinary running shoes and I'm going to do extraordinary things to it. What is in your hand? Use what you have. Because what

you have is exactly what God uses. You've got to start where you are. It doesn't matter where you are when you know who you're with, just use what you have. Because what you have is exactly what God uses. And the third thing that we're going to do to get started is we're going to simply do what you can. Do what you can. So Moses, again, he goes back to God with another complaint and he's like, well, God's like, I need you to go. Moses is like, I don't know. He's his part in your servant, Lord, but I have never been eloquent. Neither in the past nor since you've spoken to your servant. I am slow in speech and tongue. The Lord says to him, who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I the Lord? Now go.

I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say. I don't know if it's just me, but do you feel a little bit of tension? God's like, are you serious? Go. I need you to get started. Go, Moses, almost a little bit like the way I like. And like those of us who have young children and you try to get them to go to bed and they don't stay in bed, they've got every excuse in the world why they don't need to go to bed.

They could be dead tired. A kid's falling asleep in your arms and you mentioned to them that it is time to go to bed. And it is like you gave them a shot of espresso and a cute kitten to play with. Well, not a kitten because we wouldn't do that around here. but you give them a puppy to play with, and they're just like wired, right? And all of a sudden, they don't want to do the simple thing you tell them to do. It's like, hey, go to bed. And they're like, well, could you read me a story?

I'm not tired. Could I get a drink of water? I need a new band-aid. My pajamas are itchy. Could you tell me a story? I'm scared of the dark. You know what? Can I sleep with my fire truck?

Can we go to the moon? You're like, go to bed. Like, really? Go to bed. You've sensed that a little bit with God here. Moses is continuing to just be like, I don't know. God's like, go. And for some of you, God needs to take his foot and just put it right upside your booty

and get you moving in 2016 and to get you started because you're never going to finish that which you don't start. And you've got to get moving. It's time. Today is the day that you get started. You're going to start where you are. It doesn't matter where you are when you know who you're with and you're with the creator of the universe.

He's ready to do something through you that's going to be extraordinary. You're going to use what you have because what you have, the simple things. the ordinary, become extraordinary when you walk with God. And you're just going to do what you can. Now go, Moses. Go. Do what you can. I'm going to fill in the gaps, God says.

It's no big deal. Go. I'll teach you along the way. Did you catch that? I'm not going to give you everything now so you feel equipped before you ever step toward Egypt. I'm going to teach you when you go. Many of us sit there thinking we need to be more educated. before we go, and many of us are educated far beyond our level of obedience. We simply need to get

going, and it's time to get started. Start where you are. Use what you have, do what you can. What can you do? Can you heal your marriage today? Probably not, but you can apologize for the part that's yours that was wrong. Can you run a marathon today? Probably not, but you could download the couch to 5K have and get your tail moving. Can you get out of debt today? Probably not. But you could not go get that thing that nobody bought you for Christmas that you think you have to have. And you could go ahead and make a payment, right? Just do what you can.

And what happens many times for us is we look on and we look down the road. We think God's taking us to step 100 and we look on and we see that, right? And we're like, okay, okay. I like Step 100. I like where we're going. But that whole step 28 thing, I don't know. I like that one.

I think I'm going to stay right here. I got to think about this a little more. If we're going to spiritualize it, we'll just say, I've got to pray about this. I don't know. 28's looking kind of hard. And God's like, you need to get moving. Because what you don't know is you're never even really going to get to 28.

Because right before then, we're going to go whoop. And we're going to go a different direction. I got something better. And what you'll find is as you walk in step with God, you start where you are. You use what you have and you do what you can. God takes this journey that you think you're on and maybe you think it's going to be a certain way. And oh, he does something far, much more extraordinary.

That little ordinary journey you're on becomes extraordinary. Like this time, I was in the airport. One of the busiest airports in this country here in the U.S., and I got delayed for six hours. but that's bad enough, but I was with my son who was six at the time, right? Wonderful. We had ridden the tram back and forth and back and forth to where people, you would, like, humanly, you would get ill, you just get physically ill, riding the tram too much. And I was like, we can't do this anymore. He's like, is there a toy store here?

I'm like, I have no idea. One traveler said, maybe the international terminal. I was like, let's try it. We go up there. There's nothing but duty-free things in a massage chair. I'm like, kid ain't going to care anything about this. And I see this elderly gentleman, and I say, sir, do you happen to have a toy store here in this terminal? And he said, let me think about that. He looks over at the info desk and yells at the girl over there. Charlotte, do we have a toy store here? And she says, no, we have a toy store.

He's like, I'm sorry, buddy. He looks over at Benjamin. Benjamin is six. She's a, I'm like, well, sorry, bud. No big deal. we'll go back to the tram. And that guy says, well, hold on just a second. You like airplanes?

Benjamin says, mm-hmm. He says, why y'all come with me? He started walking. He's going along. And he gets to this old gray door with this little digital keypad on it. I'd walk by this door hundreds of times in my travels hither and yon. And he goes up to it and he's like, do, do, do it. And it opens.

And we go in the back. And I'm like, I sure hope this ain't like additional TSA screening or something because this is going to be bad. and we go in and we start going through this dark corridor, and we come up, and we go through this flight of stairs, and when we go through them, we come out, no kidding, in the operations tower of the airport. For real, check the picture out.

You don't believe me. We're in the operations tower hanging out, me and Benjamin. And that wasn't good enough. He looks over at this girl. He's like, get on. That's the way. His boy got to get a picture. And he sits Benjamin in this chair.

And I said, sir, what does that computer do? He said, oh, it just schedules all the airplanes coming in and out. I'm like, Benjamin, look at his hand. I said, don't you dare touch that keyboard or that mouth. You'll be rerouting people all over the world. Unbelievable. That which was ordinary, became extraordinary all of a sudden. How did I get in that door?

I was with somebody who has some power, right? And you're with somebody, the creator of the universe who's got unlimited power. to take the ordinary and make it extraordinary. And as if sitting at a desk with all of the scheduling of that airport in front of you and seeing the operations tower wasn't good enough, he looks at us, he looks at Ben and says,

hey, you like airplanes? Benjamin says, mm-hmm, what kind you like? I like the big ones. Okay. We go out on the tarmac people. Unbelievable. Look at us. That's not a fourth cone. That's my son Benjamin.

He's incredibly strong. He's balancing the jet engine on his very head. God's going to take your ordinary thing. And he's going to do something extraordinary. When you get worried about step 28, oh, don't worry about step 28. You just take step one. And as you walk, God will teach you what to say and what to do. You just got to get started.

you be you, you let God be God. Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. And when we do this, what happens is God takes something ordinary. And he does something very extraordinary. You can look on at your situation in what you think God may be calling you to and you become overwhelmed.

Mother Teresa said it this way. If you can't feed 100 people, just feed one. In other words, just get started. Do something. Because no matter how slow you're moving in 2016, you're moving. Somebody else sitting on the couch still. And you can lap them no matter how slow you're going.

Start where we are. Use what you have. Do what you can. Because you're never going to finish something you don't start. And when you see Moses do these things, God does unbelievable things through the very ordinary person, Moses, to the degree where in Hebrews 11, he says by faith when he had grown up, Moses, he refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded

disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt. because he was looking ahead to his reward. What if when people were sitting around talking about you one day and they're eating those cheese and crackers and your memorial service is done? What if they said about you by faith when they'd grown up, man, they refused to be a product, simply a product of their environment? They chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

And they regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than all the treasures of this world. Because they were looking ahead to their reward. You know, we have one shot at 2016. In fact, we got one shot at life. We're never going to finish something we don't start. It's time to get started. And what's going to happen is when we just start where we are, Because it doesn't matter where you are when you know who you're with.

And we just use what we have. Because what we have is exactly what God uses. And we just do what we can. You be you. You let God be God. We're going to find that we don't just have a 2016 to remember, but we're going to live a life that leaves a legacy. It's time to get started.

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes with me? And those of us today in all of our locations, church online, who would say, you know, man, it's very clear to me. I've heard this message and it's so clear that God has things I need to get started. Man, I would be honored to be able to pray with you. Those of you say, you know what? I can feel it. I can sense it.

God's going to start something new. Just lift up your hands boldly right now and say, yes, that's me. There's hands going up all over the place at all of our locations. Let me pray for us. Father, I thank you for your Holy Spirit that prompts us to do this. that which you place on our hearts to do, and then not only prompts us to do it, but follows us along the journey and teaches us the things that we need to do. And I pray that exact thing for all of those hands lifted today, that God, the journey that we go on, that we go on with you

and that God, you will take us and do extraordinary things to our very ordinary offerings to you. And God, I pray that as we walk in obedience to you, that we will do things that bring glory to your name and to your name alone. Still praying today. there's others of you who God is brought here for a very simple reason, and that is simply to get started. I mean, the very basic. To start with a relationship with Christ, because all of this stuff that we're talking about is for naught. There's no purpose in it. There's no reason for it if you don't begin with a relationship with Christ.

And that's why God's brought you here today. Did you notice in the scripture about Moses? All of that stuff that he said that he discarded the pleasures of this world for nothing. He counted it as nothing. How could he do such a thing? How could he just all this? because the very last scripture says that he was looking ahead to his reward. What reward? What is he talking about? It's heaven. It's eternal relationship with God, communion and faith with God. But see,

the Bible says there was a problem. That problem is sin, and every single one of us has it. What does that mean? It's simply when we take things in our lives and we place them above God and every single one of us has done it. And when we sin, the Bible says all of us have and we fall short of God's standard. And that then separates that relationship with God. But God wasn't going to have it. He said, I'm going to send my son Jesus to die in their place. And God did that. He sent Jesus so that we could find forgiveness, so that we could find purpose, so that we could find new life. How about that? In the start of 2016, there's no greater way to do that than to find new life in Christ. We look on it, there's been a hole inside of you, and it's been gnaw on at you. There's been things you've tried to place there.

There's been successes you tried to put there, but they're all turning up empty. And the reason is the only thing that fills that need is a relationship with Christ. And today, you can experience purpose. You can experience forgiveness. You can experience that new life in coming into a relationship with Christ. And what happens is that the old is gone and the new will come and you will be forgiven. You will be made new and you will be made right. There are those of us at all of our locations and at church online.

That is exactly why God has brought you here today to get started in a relationship with Christ. Those of you would say, that's my prayer. Jesus, come in, take over. Be my Lord, be my Savior. Lift your hand boldly right now and say, yes, Jesus, come in and take over. Over here to my left, welcome into God's family. Those of you at Church Online, click right below me. In the far back left, welcome into God's family.

Yes, sir, in the far back right over here, welcome into God's family. People saying it's time to get started. At Church Online, click below me. As many come into a relationship with Christ, what we're going to do now is we're going to pray a prayer together as a family because that's what families do, and you're becoming a part of the family of God. Let's all pray this prayer aloud with those making this decision today. Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to die in our place. Forgive me of my sin.

Make me new. Give me purpose. Give me vision. Help me to follow you all the days of my life. Thank you for dying for me. I give my life to you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. And everybody says.

Amen. Come on now.