Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Going the Distance, Part 2: No Words Needed

Episode Date: March 19, 2016

The gap between where we are and where we want to be can seem like an ocean. Here’s the good news: the bridge was built before you ever thought about taking the first step. Going the Distance alone is impossible—come learn about the one who paved ... Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Thanks for joining us here today at Life Church, where we are one church meeting in multiple locations and around the world at Church Online. If you'd like to learn more, you can always visit us online at life.church. Today, author, actor, singer and speaker, Pastor John Gray, visits us again here at Life Church to teach us how we don't go to church because we have it all together, but rather we go to church to get it together. In part two of his message, going the distance. Hey, I want to welcome everybody to all of our life churches, our whole network church family all over the world. We love you all. We love your pastors.

We love partnering with you. Those of you in every country of the world at church online, you are not on the other side of a computer screen by accident. We believe that you're here because you're a part of our family. We love all of you. I want to tell you next week, oh my goodness, it's Easter weekend, and this is the biggest weekend of the whole year to bring people that normally would not come to church. I want to just ask you to really have eyes to see people that you work with, family members, people at the gym, wherever you go, that may not be involved in a church or not in a relationship with God,

would you please do whatever you can to bring them next week? I have a very special message that I promise you has significant potential to impact their lives in a massive way. Also, when your campus pastor tells you, hey, would you mind coming to such and such service to make room. I want to tell you thank you to all of you all who do that. It's a big blessing to us to make room because many of the services will be really, really full. Can't wait to see you guys next weekend on Easter. Today, guess what? We've got him back. One of the best communicators on the planet today. He is an author. He is a singer. He is a preacher. He is an actor. He is a great man of God. A great dad. He's a great friend to me. He's a great friend

to our church. We are very blessed to have one of the most talented, effective communicators on the planet today back with us to share God's word. Get ready to be blessed. Would you please help me welcome my good friend, Pastor John Gray. Life Church, two weeks in a row. This is becoming a habit. I love it. If you would do me a favor and go to Luke chapter 7. I'm starting at the 36th verse. again, I'm so honored to be here with you guys, and of course I want to give honor to Pastor Craig for the opportunity to share with the Life Church family. Here in Luke 7, we see Jesus having dinner with some Pharisees and something unexpected takes place during the dinner.

Then one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went to the Pharisees, house and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at his feet behind him weeping. And she began to wash his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. And she kissed his feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he spoke to himself saying, this man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner. And Jesus answered and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. So he said, teachers, say it. There was a certain creditor

who had two debtors, one owed 500 denarii, which is about a year and a half's worth of wages, and the other 50. And when they had nothing with which repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him more? Simon answered and said, I suppose, the one whom he forgave more. And he said to him, you have rightly judged. Then he turned to the woman, but said to Simon, do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water from my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet since the time I came in, you did not anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my feet

with fragrant oil. Therefore, I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. I want to share from the topic no words needed. No words needed. Here in Luke 7, we see Jesus at a critical moment in the early stages of his public ministry. Now we know that Jesus was literally the answer to 400 years of silence between Malachi and Matthew. He had this supernatural birth. All of a sudden, angels show up in the middle of the night. You can read it in Luke chapter 2. They start talking to shepherds.

Listen, I've got good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you was born this day in the city of David, a savior, tis Christ, the Lord. And this will be a sign unto you that ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling claws and lying in a manger. And here comes baby Jesus showing up as the answer to prayers, as the answer to the hunger of a nation. Here comes a baby in a manger. It's crazy. People are going bananas. Angels are showing up. They're high-fiving each other. A couple years later, here come the wise men. They're bringing gold, frankincense and mer. He's getting gold chains and perfect. and cologne. I mean, it's crazy. He's growing up. He's literally confounding the top rabbinical minds of his day. By the time he was 12 years old, he was in the temple asking questions that they couldn't even answer.

He was blowing people away. And then by the time he was 30 years old, here's another supernatural occurrence. His cousin, John the Baptist, is baptizing him. And as Jesus is coming out of the water, here comes a voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. The Holy Spirit descends upon him in the form of a dove. There's lights, there's flashing, there's thunder. Luke, Luke, I am your father. A little Star Wars reference. It's crazy. So at 30 years old, Jesus begins his public ministry and he starts turning religion upside down. He's walking around doing things people had never seen. He's walking around and if you are with a withered hand, he's like, stretch that out. He's interrupting funerals, the widow son, get up.

Lazarus, stop playing. Come on out of there. He's doing things we've never seen. If you're deaf, can you hear me now? If you're blind, my shattery, I'm on. Whatever it is, Jesus was turning it upside down. And as a side note, Jesus can still turn it upside down. I don't know who you are or what part of life you've.

come from, but whether it's sickness, internal or external, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore, and he is able to heal, and he's able to deliver, and he's here to do that for you and I today. Jesus, the supernatural son of the living God, and this Jesus shows up, and he starts doing things that kind of make the cool kids want him to hang out with them. The Pharisees were the cool kids. the ones that wear the skinny jeans and the pastor, Craig Groschelle, muscle shirts. And they just walk around like, ooh, I'm so in shade. And so they wanted to find out more about Jesus. So one of the Pharisees invites Jesus to dinner. And Jesus is like, yeah, I guess I'll come over there, but I really don't want to. When you study the character of Jesus, you notice that

he didn't hang out with the religious elite. He always made time for the ones. that the religious elite would judge. And in today's day and age, I find it very interesting that Jesus would not necessarily be celebrated in some of today's contemporary churches because of the crowd that he chose to run with. He was always hanging with tax collectors, sinners, wine bivbers.

They accused him of such. And may we as the church be accused of the same. And if everybody in your circle is saved, Maybe your circle is too small. It's time for us to take the influence of Jesus, the character of Jesus, and the person of Jesus to those who are lost and hurting. There are too many people dying who don't know that Jesus loves them, died for them, rose again, and has a plan for their life.

And this is a truth that I have learned. There may be 66 books in the Bible, but there are 67 in actuality. For the Bible calls us living letters. Some people may never read a Bible, but they'll read your Bible. life. And if they are reading your life, what do they read when they read you? What version of Jesus do they see when they read your life? Jesus was invited by the Pharisees, the religious elite. These were the ruling class, religious leaders, and clearly they lorded over the people. The people were intimidated by the Pharisees. Clearly the Pharisees would know and be familiar with the

law and the prophets. And so they knew that Jesus outlined and lined up very well with many of the prophetic declarations. He was in line, in the line of David. He was rightful heir to the throne. He was born of a virgin. He was born in Bethlehem. All of these things were lining up. But Jesus didn't act like the Messiah should in their estimation. For the Messiah was going to come and overthrow the Roman government and give the Jews the power back because the Jewish people had been oppressed almost from the beginning, going back to the days of Moses, 430 years of slavery. And then even after they got delivered, now you've got to fight with the Philistines and the Amalekites, and now you're struggling with the Babylonians and now under Roman rule.

So we need a Messiah that's going to be a political figure. But Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world. I need everybody to know Jesus is not a political pawn. And he is not up for office or re-election because he is still on the throne. You can't vote him out and you can't vote him in. His blood has declared his title and he is the savior of the world. And I declare that Jesus is bigger than politics and he's bigger than fractions and factions. He is a savior and he is the unique son of God and he should be treated as such and he should be honored as such.

And may all of us carry that same passion as we move forward in our lives, may we keep the of Jesus. May we keep the hunger of Jesus and may we keep the excitement of Jesus on the inside of our hearts so that people know, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. The Pharisees realized that Jesus was becoming increasingly more popular. And so they wanted Jesus to hang out with them. They're like, Jesus come over, hang out with us. And Jesus is like, oh, I don't do these kinds of dinners. You ever been invited to a real pretentious dinner with, you know, just like real surface folk talking about weird stuff just sitting there. Hey, Bob, I just planted some chrysanthemums. No way, Jim. Yep. I got some chrysanthemums in the yard.

They're already blooming. No way. And it's like this weird conversation that you would never have anywhere else. And Jesus is like, oh, I don't want to be around a bunch of stuff shirt people. I'd rather be around people who are broken, who don't mind. being honest, who don't mind having real conversation. I don't want to do the religious thing because for thousands of years, religion has not worked. Jesus was not here to institute religion. He was here to inaugurate relationship. But Jesus being Jesus decided he would go to the dinner. I'm sure he didn't want to be there. If he had a cell phone, he probably would have been texting. Oh, me! Took you a second. He's got...

Okay, you got it. Boring. While he's sitting at the table, all the sudden, into this pretentious dinner steps a desperate young lady. And nothing breaks up pretense like desperation. What we need now are some desperate folk, desperate worshippers, people that aren't just committed to saving face and looking the part, but desperate in our commitment to the kingdom,

desperate to have the presence of God in our lives, in our marriages, on our children's campuses, a desperation that says this is the passion and the prevailing passion of our lives. Many times we save our passion for the things that we are most excited about. If your favorite sports team wins a game at the last second, you don't mildly applaud and say, oh, that was great.

No, you jump up and down and you say things like, We won. We. You don't even work for them. They don't even know your name. But we feel like we're a part of the team because we're connected to them through our passion. But let me tell you, I am not going to shout louder for a team that doesn't know me than the God who saved me. And I believe our God is worthy of our passion.

He is worthy of our commitment. And Jesus is worthy of every piece of our life. hunger that I have, and so I hunger and thirst for righteousness, and the Bible says I shall be filled. Jesus was at this dinner, and in walks a broken woman. She immediately stands behind Jesus and begins to weep. Shame. The greatest weapon in the lives of believers today, I believe, is shame. The enemy shames us into not approaching the Heavenly Father through Jesus. He shames us. He shames us. into thinking that the mistakes we made are too great for the blood to overcome. Shame.

The whisper of the devil in your ear that says, look at you, you're still struggling with that thing and why are you lifting your hand? Look at you. Look at what you said to your wife. Look what you said to your husband. Look how you're treated your kids. No way God can love you. All of it is a lie.

Every single thing that the enemy says is a lie. And there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Don't allow the lie of shame to keep you from. from pursuing Jesus Christ and relationship with our Heavenly Father. This young woman stepped into a religious dinner, a pretentious dinner. She walked into religion, but she bumped into relationship. This is the power of Jesus. She walked in standing behind him weeping, but within moments she was kneeling at his feet

worshiping. That's the power of relationship. We're not behind Jesus. exclusively, he has called us to come alongside of him and to walk with him and to help build this beautiful mosaic called the church, this tapestry of fractured lives who are being made whole by the same blood of Jesus. And I may be worshipping from a different perspective than you, but it's the same Jesus that gets the same glory. I have a different salvation testimony than you, but it's the same Jesus. And this is the power of the church that we get to come alongside the work.

of the Holy Spirit and build lives and build communities. And this is the power of salvation. God did not just give us a blanket salvation, but an individual salvation, a specific salvation with you and mine. For had you been the only individual alive and had sinned, Jesus would have still died just for you. This is the power of my salvation that God had me in mind, he had you in mind. And this young woman in mind is she's worshiping at the feet of our Savior.

But of course, wherever there's worship, there's always going to be somebody whispering. The Pharisees were whispering to themselves, looking at the woman judging her. If Jesus knew who this really was, he'd never let somebody like that touch him. Ooh, she's got cooties, ooh, she's a dirty birdie, ew, she's a sinner, ew, she's on the street. She's not a rabbi. Ooh, she's not a Pharisee. Ew, get away. Why are you even in here?

Ew, you're naughty. It's very interesting that the Pharisees were thinking this. He never said it out loud, but I love what Jesus did. Jesus actually says, hey, Simon, let me ask you something. And it literally answers and attacks the mindset of the ruling judgmental class. See, religion always judges. Relationship always extends grace. Religion always accuses. Religion already says, religion accuses, but relationship literally says it's already covered. See, this is something I want you to grab. The power of Jesus versus the perceived power of the Pharisees.

This is a power struggle. The Pharisees think that they have. the inside track to God and didn't even know that the son of God was sitting in their mist. And they're judging this broken woman because religious people are great judges of other people's sins and great lawyers for their own. God, this woman, why is she in this room? She's washing his feet with her hair. She is literally weeping under the table. This is weird. How many of you have ever been invited to dinner or been in a dinner with other people. And how many times has somebody just walked in that you didn't know? Oh, my goodness, someone's here that we don't know. She's under the table. Oh, she's washing our feet with her tears. And she's wiping it with her hair. Oh, don't worry.

This happens in the suburbs all the time. No, no, no. No one lets a stranger in their house. No one lets somebody that they don't know walk into their house. You'd be like, hey, Get out of here. You know good and well. You ain't supposed to be in here. You better get out of here, girl. But Simon didn't say anything. Now you're judging her, but what first century sinner the Bible calls her a sinner,

which is a nice way of saying she was a prostitute? What first century prostitute would walk into a religious leader's house and have the boldness to walk in without being invited? Unless, of course, she had been there before. Real housewives of Jerusalem. Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo. Think about it. Maybe that's why he didn't say what he was thinking out loud

because it would have exposed a previous indiscretion. Isn't it interesting and strange how religion works? It vilifies the broken while masking your own sin. I love how Jesus dealt with the situation. The Bible says he turned to the world. woman but said to Simon, Jesus will always turn towards the broken but correct the religious. And then Jesus begins with a parable, as he always taught, said one owed more than the other two people had a debt, which one loved the creditor more when he forgave him?

He said, I guess the one who owed more. And then Jesus goes on to have an entire conversation with Simon while this woman is worshiping. And then he says at the end, you see this one, woman, you gave me no kiss when I entered, but she has not stopped kissing my feet. You offered me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with the hair of her head. You gave me no towel. But this woman has done what you were supposed to do. What Jesus was saying, even as religious as you are, Mr. Pharisee, you haven't even given me the proper honor that is due me based on your own traditions. The only one that has honored me in this house is this broken woman that you have judged.

The point I'm trying to make is that the church is not going to grow just from all of the spiritual elites. God is going to start bringing people into our midst who come from very broken backgrounds, hurting, lost, lonely. With testimonies many of us may not be able to immediately identify with, but this is the power of Jesus, that he can heal broken lives, that he can restore broken souls. This is the power of Jesus

that the church doesn't belong to the religious elite but it belongs to those of us who are spiritually broken who are in need of a savior who need the blood of Jesus. Is there anybody that can say I still need the blood? I know that we worship and we sing songs and everybody's all Hillsongy and everybody's all Jesus cultory and everybody singing all the songs

but every now and then we need to go back to those songs when we were little. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that seemed a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found was blind, but now I see. But now I see. And we go back to the grace that saved us. May we never forget where the blood found us. It'll give you grace for other broken people.

It's very easy to judge people based on external condition. Somebody's going to walk in the life church. May you be an extension of your leader. May you be an extension of the heart of this house that when they come in, they don't come in with judgment, but they come in with a smile from you in a welcoming glance, come sit next to me. Maybe they don't smell the freshest. Sometimes they're not because they were sleeping outside all night.

But somebody told them that Life Church was a place where they could hear the good news, where they would be welcomed and not judge. People need a safe place to heal. May this place continue to be a place where the real heart of Jesus is seen. The power of Jesus is that he didn't judge this woman. here this woman the Bible says she wiped his feet with her hair the Bible says that the glory of a woman is her hair

I believe what this young woman was saying is there's only one here who is worthy of glory and I'm going to lay my glory down at his feet this is the power of a miracle moment because religion tells you you got to always confess you got to tell everything you've done wrong you ever been around people tell me what you're struggling with so I can pray. No, they are nosy. And they want to know what you're struggling with because sometimes your brokenness makes other people feel better about themselves. That's religion. But relationship says it doesn't matter what you've done. You're welcomed here. You're covered here. And if you can confess Christ out of your mouth and believe in your heart that He is Lord, you shall be saved. This is the gift of salvation. Too many times the church has become a club of the spiritually elite.

instead of a museum and a place and a hospital for the broken. This is where we come to get healed. I don't come here because I have it together. I come here because I need to get it together. And that's only going to happen through Jesus Christ and relationship with him. This woman walks in and nobody says anything to her. And she says nothing. All she does is weep and worship.

but notice what happened by the end of this exchange. Jesus said this woman whose sins or many have been forgiven. And if you go further, Jesus then says to her, your faith has saved you. Go in peace. This is the power of real relationship. She didn't say one word. Go study it.

In religion and religious circles, they want us to always rehearse all of our failed areas, all of our broken places. But Jesus says, I already know. If you come to me with sincere heart and a heart of worship, I'll heal you. I'll redeem you. I'll restore you. This young woman's worship did what her words never could. Worship when your words fail you. Worship when worry finds you.

worship when the world fights you. Worship. And in this moment, this young woman's worship did for her, what her words couldn't. She couldn't even get it out. Have you ever been so broken that you couldn't even express what was in your heart? That's where this young woman was. What would make a sinner woman have the boldness to come in? And where did she even hear about Jesus?

I'll tell you where she heard about Jesus. somebody he had touched who was out there on those streets. And she was walking, broken, and she saw one of her friends, said, girl, where you been? I've been looking for you. I haven't seen you in about two weeks. What's going on? Girl, my life has changed.

I was trying to pick up somebody, and then he started speaking to me. He told me about my life. He told me how I grew up. He told me how I was hurt, how my father left me. He told me how I was abused and that God was going to turn that pain into power and that there was a plan for my life and I didn't have to live on these streets anymore. Are you kidding me? Who is this who could do that?

I grew up with you. How in the world are you changed that fast? His name is Jesus. And if you get to know him, he can do the same for you. I promise you if you can just get to Jesus. I heard he's going to be at Simon's house. You know Simon. Yeah, girl, I know Simon.

Jesus had a reputation with the broken. My prayer is that this church will be an extension of. of his reputation. I remember growing up in a small church and I had a cousin who was struggling with identity and battling through different areas and got caught up in bad relationships and ended up contracting HIV. This was early 90s when it was still a big stigma. And my cousin was battling through drugs.

drug addiction, my mama said, I don't care what you're struggling with. You're going to come to this church. We're going to worship Jesus. My mama walked him down to the front. My cousin Rex, and they sat there. I remember seeing some faces of people. He doesn't smell for it. He smells like alcohol. He smells like weed. But you smell like pride. We all have a reason for the blood. Everybody needs the blood. As he got increasingly more ill, my mother said, come on, we're going to go to church. She kept bringing him to church, and then he kind of kept living his life. And one day I was driving down one of the worst streets in our neighborhood, and he was sitting there talking to himself.

And God said, you're going to drive past your own flesh and blood. I turned the car around, and I picked him up. I spent time with my cousin Rex. He was broken. People had thrown him away. and even when he came to church, people kind of scooted over. Eventually, he got sicker and sicker, and we had to put him in hospice. We sang hymns by his bed.

My mama said, Rex, Jesus died for you. All you got to do is confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and you shall be saved. And he confessed Christ on his deathbed because somebody didn't give up on him. religion would have thrown him away but relationship says come as you are you are worthy here you are welcome here and no matter how many bad decisions my cousin made he made one right one and it was at the moment where it counted the most and i'm gonna see him again because he gave his life to jesus now he didn't run in front of the church and confess all that he had done because he didn't have to he worshipped with what little strength he had and with the few words he had, he gave his life to Jesus. And I want you to know that Jesus is still healing, saving, and delivering. No words needed.

You don't know anybody in explanation. You don't have to live in regret and keep rehearsing all of your broken moments. There's a healing for you. There's a miracle for you. That's the power of this community. That's the power of life church. The places that are dead are now made alive by the blood of Jesus Christ. And maybe, just maybe.

when you see another person that doesn't know all the songs, doesn't have on church clothes. May we still have the grace that Jesus had for this broken woman in this religious dinner and bring her into relationship. No words needed. May the Lord heal you, cover you, bless you, encourage you. And may this great church continue to expand one soul at a time. May the miracle of Jesus in his revelation power. come into your heart in a fresh way, fight for souls that can't fight for themselves,

and in that you'll see Jesus. And when you live it, you won't have to talk it. No words needed. God bless you. Thank you, Pastor John. Let's all pray to get to you. Father, thank you so much that your son has a love greater than anything else that we could ever even comprehend or imagine on this earth.

and Father, we thank you that for those who are followers of him, that he accepted us at our greatest point of brokenness. We pray, God, that the same thing would happen today, that His grace that is beyond our ability to ever even comprehend would be real to everyone who's broken at a point of desperation today. As you reflect praying today, I want to talk to a couple of groups of people. First of all, I want to talk to everybody here that's, I know many of you right now are struggling. And the reality is just with this many people, there are a lot of you that have a real significant hurt, a wound, a challenge, an obstacle, something to overcome. And just like this woman

that was completely desperate, you may feel really, really desperate right now. I love what Pastor John talked about that at that point of desperation, you worship, you choose to worship. For those of you that are followers of Jesus, you say, yes, I am a committed disciple of Jesus, and yet there's, I'm desperate. I need his presence. I need his strength. I just, I want to choose to embrace him today. I want to take a moment and pray for those of you that are facing a really significant challenge right now. It could be a sin that you're trying to overcome. It could be spiritual opposition.

It could be a relational tension. It could be in the economy the way it is right now. I know a lot of people are losing jobs and are hurting and are afraid. It could be any number of different things. But if you say, yes, Craig, right now I'm facing a real obstacle, a challenge, whatever it may be, I'm desperate. And I really need the presence of God. I'd be honored to pray for you. We just slip up your hand right now, just all of our churches, if that's you today.

Father, I thank you that even right now, you know the intimate details of every single situation, the cry of every heart. And God, even though there are not words being spoken about these specific needs, you hear their heart, God. You know what they're facing. And God, I ask in the name of Jesus that your presence would bring comfort. God, that by faith you would move mountains, you would do miracles. God, I pray for provision. I pray for healing. I pray for restoration. I pray for peace that goes beyond our human

ability to understand. God, I pray for strength by the power of the Holy Spirit that when we don't have the strength that you would be what we need. And so, God, right now I ask for everyone who has that unspoken need, there are no words necessary. But God, you know the details. As they cry out to you, we pray God that you would be enough. As you keep praying today, I'm just moved with deep emotion as John just talked about those who were outcast and rejected by religion. Some of you were like that. Maybe you turned away and said, I'll never go to church. I'll never serve that kind of God, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And the reality is what you're doing is you're rejecting religion when the whole time that's not what God is trying to impart to you. What he wants to do is offer you a relationship.

Jesus is the son of God. He came to earth to reveal to us the very heart of God, the very nature of God. And who did Jesus hang around? He hung around those that religion rejected. He hung around the sinners, the outcast, the lonely, the broken. And the reality is, if we're honest, all of us are sinners. And all of us are broken. And all of us need healing and all of us need forgiveness. And there are those of you you're acutely aware right now that you do not have a relationship with Jesus. and the very reason that you're here today is because God is drawing you toward himself. What is that? Why are you being drawn to God? This is his loving kindness drawing. It's the power of his spirit. That's why you're here is not an accident. It's because God loves you and he's reaching out to you.

Admit it. You're broken. We're all broken. We all need forgiveness. We all need healing. And the moment you recognize that, you call on Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, save me, forgive me. When you pray that prayer, every sin you've ever committed will be forgiven. You'll become a new creation in a moment. All of the old washed away and everything becomes new. That's why many of you are here today and you know it. It's time for you to call on him. When you do, you'll never be the same.

All of our churches, you say, yes, I need his grace. Yes, I need his forgiveness. Yes, today by faith, I give my life to Jesus. That's your prayer. Would you lift your hands high right now? All of our churches say, yes, I surrender my life. to Jesus. As we have people at churches across the world saying, yes, church online, you click right below me, and I would love it if all of you would join your voices with other people being healed,

being saved, being forgiven, pray aloud, Jesus, forgive me of all my sins, heal me of all my brokenness. I confess, I need you to save me, change me, make me new, fill me with your spirit, so I can know you, so I can serve you, so I can belong to you. My life is not my own. I surrender to you. Take all of my life, Jesus. I give it to you. In your name that I pray, would you all worship now?

Worship loud, worship big. Welcome to us born into God's family today. To see if one of our 25 Life Church locations is in your area, just go to life.church slash locations, or you can always join us at church online by visiting live.life.com. The all-new Craig Rochelle Leadership Podcast is live and available today. For episodes and additional content, just visit life.com slash leadership podcast. I recently had the chance to sit down with Pastor Craig and hear more about his heart for equipping leaders as we went behind the podcast. Well, Craig, thanks for letting us kind of come

behind the scenes on set of your podcast in your new space. Love it. I know that this has been a long time coming for a lot of people. Tell me, why did you decide to start the Craig Rochelle Leadership Podcast? Well, I love learning leadership. I love teaching leadership. And we always teach and train our team here. And I wanted to Avenue to start teaching and training leadership to the church family.

And then I recognize, well, why would we even limit it to that? And so years ago, we decided not to do conferences. here. We don't do a lot of things. We're not going to do a lot of things so we can do some things nobody else is doing. And so since we don't really have an avenue, I just kind of looked around thought the podcast makes great sense. And so it's been fun and I think it's off to a good start. Yeah, absolutely. We've seen a lot of people engage with it. A lot of content, though, that goes into a podcast. How do you develop the content that you teach? Well, I teach leadership often here. And so every time I meet with our campus pastors, we do a leadership teaching. And I always

write something new. I teach the staff different times. And honestly, I spend way more time preparing a leadership message than I do even do a weekend. I might read four books on one idea, listen to a lot. I'm always taking notes. And so right now I've got maybe four different big themes I'm studying as I go along, and it may take me six months or so to develop four talks out of that. But it's just, I'm an ongoing student of leadership, and so I'm always trying to learn and organize thoughts in a way that might move people. Sure. I know. a lot of leaders have already been influenced by you. I'm curious, is there a leader that has made a significant difference in your life?

Tons of leaders. The one that impacted me first in the big, significant way, was Bill Heibles, who's a pastor. I was in his church, and he was talking about the gift of leadership. This was 24 years ago, and I never thought of leadership as a gift that God gives. I thought it was something that business leaders did, not church leaders. And then I recognized that Jesus was the greatest leader of all time. And suddenly, you know, it was like, you know, the stars aligned. We can, in the church, teach leadership in a way to push the message forward.

And so it was Bill Heibles that kind of gave me that revelation, and he's been a great hero to me amongst many others. That's cool. I know leadership in the church is so significant and so needed. And we appreciate all the effort that you put in to your leadership podcast. For episodes and additional content, you can find all of that. And so much more. Just go to life.

church slash leadership podcast. We'd love for you to celebrate Easter with us at one of our 25 campus locations or at church online to find out all the information or our special service times. Just go to life.church slash Easter. It's our mission and our passion to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. And we do it all because we believe whoever finds God truly finds life.