Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Hope When It Feels Hopeless | The Arrival | Part 1

Episode Date: December 1, 2024

When life stretches you to the limit, finding hope can feel impossible. The Bible promises God has good plans for your life, and you can have hope no matter your circumstances.Advent is a tradition to help us prepare our hearts for Christmas. Discover more about Advent and how you can anticipate the arrival of Jesus with these resources:A Simple Intro to the Meaning and Purpose of Advent: https://finds.life.church/meaning-purpose-of-advent/Advent: A 25-Day Countdown to Christmas Bible Plan: https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/52893-advent-a-25-day-countdown-to-christmasABOUT THIS MESSAGEIn a world desperate for hope, a light broke through the darkness. Love stepped in. Jesus changed everything—including the life that's possible for us. This December, let’s come together to celebrate The Arrival.CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS AT LIFE.CHURCHThis year, you’re invited to experience the wonder of Christmas at Life.Church. Whether you attend at a Life.Church location or with our online community at Life.Church Online, you’ll experience a welcoming environment and meaningful worship. Find a service time and location at https://www.life.church/celebratechristmasNEXT STEPSHave you made the decision to follow Jesus? You might be wondering what’s next for you. We want to help! Check out these resources to ​​discover what saying yes to Jesus means: https://www.life.church/yesABOUT LIFE.CHURCHWherever you are in life, you have a purpose. Life.Church wants to help you find your next step. Our hope is that your journey will include joining us at a Life.Church location throughout the United States or globally online at https://www.live.life.churchFind locations, videos, and more info about us at https://www.life.church or download the Life.Church app at https://www.life.church/appFIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/life.churchInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/life.churchTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifechurchYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@life.churchCONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIGYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/craiggroeschelFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschelInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschelTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craiggroeschel#lifechurch #craiggroeschel #thearrival Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We're starting a message series on Advent. How many of you know a lot about Advent? Raise your hand. A lot about Advent online. You can say, I know a lot about Advent. Or you can say I don't know a lot about Advent. When I was a kid, I had an Advent calendar. I didn't know anything about Advent, but I had an Advent calendar.

And it had what I called Flippy Flaps. I'm sure there's a real name for it, but I call it Flippy Flaps. On like December the 1st, there's a little flippy flaps. there's a little flippy flap you could open up, and there's a really cool picture on that date. Then on December 2nd, you could open up the flippy flap, and there's a really cool picture there. I was so excited every single day. This was like 1975 version of TikTok dopamine anticipation. Flipy flaps.

I didn't know what Abbot was, but I had a calendar with Flippy Flaps. You may not know a lot about Advent, but you may have had an Advent. Reef or you may have had a calendar or you may even have some candles. And it's interesting, there's a lot of Advent stuff around the church, but a lot of Christians still don't know what Advent really means. So we're going to talk about it for the next four weeks. To start with the foundational understanding, Advent comes from the Latin word Adventis, which means coming or arrival. It's about focusing on the coming or the arrival of Jesus to earth. And Advent traces back to the early church all the way back to the fourth century

when Christians would set aside very intentional time to say, during this time leading up to Christmas, we want to fast. That means we're denying ourselves physical food to spiritually seek God. We want to pray and we want to seek God in His Word to build our faith, anticipating, celebrating the birth of a Savior. Then, that was 4th century. By the 9th century, the church established Advent into the four-week period that we know today, and there's the four big themes,

hope, peace, joy, and love. Over the next four weeks, what we're going to do is look at the four big themes of Advent and prepare our hearts anticipating the moment that we celebrate the birth of our Savior. And so today we're going to light the first of the four Advent candles. We're going to light the hope candle. And as we do as a church family and around the world online,

would you join me in prayer? Father, we put our hope in you. And today, God, I pray especially for those that are hurting, may be lacking, may need a mirror of it. God, I pray that if their hope is struggling, that you would build their faith today with the power of your word, and that, God, we could put our hope in you because you are faithful and you never fail. We pray this in faith, believing in Jesus' name, and all God's people said, amen, amen, amen. Now, I would normally, if you've been around for a while, you know, I got a little

style in my messages. I start with something, hopefully, to draw your interest. By the end, I start kind of getting louder and faster. It's my style. Normally I start with something kind of positive. Today I'm not going to do that. Today I'm just going to be real. Can you handle that? You guys are being quiet.

Can you handle it? Type in the comment section. I can handle it. I need some help today. Don't leave me up here hanging by myself. I'm preaching on hope today. And I'm a preacher. And I'm preaching on hope today.

And I don't always feel hopeful. Can anybody relate? I'm preaching on a hope, and I should have a lot of faith, because I'm not just a Christian, but I'm like a full-time Christian, I'm a preacher, and I don't always feel hopeful. So the verse I'm going to start with is very, very true, but it's not positive. Proverbs 1312 tells us this. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. In other words, we're hoping for something, and it doesn't come.

when we're hoping for it, it's actually very, very difficult. It makes the heart sick. I looked up the word deferred in the Hebrew. It's the word machaq. Like, have you ever been over to my shock? Anyway, this word mashach, it means deferred. It means to push aside or delay. Hope pushed aside. Hope delayed. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. And one of the reasons why I don't always feel hopeful is because I'll just say, like truthfully, I've been hoping for a long time. for healing for my daughters. And I have four daughters, two sons, and long, long story, but three of my daughters were born with some genetic challenges, and they all four grew up in two bedrooms that were just covered with mold. We didn't know it. I feel stupid. I feel guilty. I didn't know it,

and it's impacted their health in a very significant way. And so I believe in the name of Jesus. I believe that by the stripes of Jesus were healed. I believe that our God hears our prayers. I believe that our faith can move mountains. I've seen God do miracles. I'm believing for miracles. I have a hope that he's going to heal my daughters, and he hasn't healed them.

And it seems like, I know it's not true, my faith tells me it's not, but it seems like sometimes God is brushing aside my prayers, that he's delaying, that he's not listening or he's deferring, hope deferred, makes the heart sick. Hope delayed. It's frustrating. Hope pushed aside is difficult for our faith. And that's why sometimes, for some of us, even though we are people of faith, even though we do put our hope at God, sometimes it's hard to hope. So in preparation for this message, I did a lot of research on hope, and I came across this really odd, quirky, interesting study done by this researcher named Martin Sieglamen, who is a hope researcher. He wanted to know what helps us.

build hope and what takes away hope until in the 1960s, he did this experiment with dogs. Now, raise your hand if you're a dog lover. Raise your hands. Type on the comment section. I'm a dog lover. Type it in there. I'm a dog lover too. I want to tell you you're not going to like this research project. He did. Based on my study, there were no dogs seriously injured or harmed in this study, but nevertheless, if you're a dog lover, you're not going to like it, so hang in there with me. He took two cages, and he put dogs in both cages. in the first cage, he put dogs in there with a little lever to alleviate the shock. And you say, why would he shock a dog?

It's because it was the 1960s, and it seemed like every experiment in the 60s probably had marijuana and a shock somewhere in it. They shocked everybody in the 60s. So he put the dogs in the cage, and these little dogs, they'd give them a little minor shock, and the dog would feel the shock, and it wouldn't like it, but it wasn't horrible, and he'd feel the shock. and there was a lever in the cage that the dog would wander around and kind of play, and they see the lever,

and they'd touch the lever, and the moment they touched the lever, the shock stopped. Next day, put them in there again, and they'd shock him, they'd go right to the lever and touch the lever, and the shock would stop.

In the other cage, they put the poor little, more unfortunate dogs in there with no lever. And so the shock would start, and the dog would feel it, and they'd walk around, and they'd feel it, and they'd walk around,

and there was no lever, so eventually the dog would just sit down and determine, this is my lot in life. I'm just going to have to deal with this. Then the researcher took all the dogs and put them into one cage, a bigger cage, and in this cage, he put a little barrier about maybe two feet high in the middle of the cage,

and the dogs that had previously had the lever to relieve the shock, when they started getting the shock, those dogs would play around, run around, looking for anything, and eventually they would hop over the lever, over the barrier, and when they got to the other side, on the other side, the shock would stop. The other dogs, who never found any relief in the first cage, didn't do anything. They didn't run around, they didn't try to jump over the barrier.

They just determined this was their lot in life, and they just immediately would lay down. And the term that he phrased is that these dogs had what he called learned hopelessness. They learned it. They learned to lose hope. They just accepted that there was nothing that they could do to change their current situation, even though hope was just one step away. Unfortunately, this may be where some of you are living today. You've experienced and grown into learned hopelessness.

maybe you are hurt by a man and then hurt by another man and disappointed by a third man and so you just determine I could never have a good relationship with a man they're all going to hurt you and you've learned to have no hope maybe you've prayed and prayed and prayed for something and you haven't seen that prayer answered and you're now kind of like the dog just laying down going well this is just my lot in life maybe you've had disappointing news and you hope to overcome it, but you feel stuck. It might be the same addiction. I've tried, I prayed, and I can't get out of it.

It might be anxiety. This is just my lot in life. It could be depression. I'm just always going to be depressed. And you've learned to lose hope. And what I want to do today is I want to talk to those of you that might be struggling to have hope. If you are, there's no judgment.

Like, I get it. I've been there. And what I want to do from God's word today is I want to show you really, really good deuce. If you're struggling to have hope, I want to show you three truths about God's hope that never fails. If you're ready, say I'm ready.

Are you ready? The first truth is this, number one, I want you to understand that hope has a name. Hope has a name. In fact, an angel said this in Matthew chapter 1, verse 21. Mary will give birth to a son.

This is the Virgin Mary and the angel declares, and you're to give him the name, what? Everybody say it, you're to give him the name Jesus. Why? Because he will save his people from their sins. Hope has a name, and his name is Jesus. In fact, three different times in the epistles. Now, if you don't know what an epistle is,

We weren't allowed to say that in my home growing up. Just like, we were never epistled. So it's one of the letters in the New Testament that, like, one of the letters. Three different times in the epistles, we see Jesus described as hope. Let me show you. First of all, we see it in 1st Timothy 1-1, that Jesus is. Just say it with me. Jesus is what?

Our hope. In Titus 2.13, what is He? Jesus is our blessed hope. Then we see in the next verse, 1 Peter 1 3, Jesus is our living hope. Three different times in the epistles, we see that hope has a name. His name is Jesus. Jesus is our hope. And the good news is our hope is not just in a what, but in a who.

It's Jesus. And Mary would give birth to a son. They would give him the name Jesus. The text says because he would save people from their sins. Now, names have meaning. Right? If you're going to name your kid, you want to know what the name means. For example, Amy, her name means beloved or loved. And she is. Believe me, it is my full-time calling in life to make sure she is beloved. Her name means beloved and she is. Craig, my name means strong. And I am for an old guy. I got old man's strength. I got pop-off strength. I got don't mess with old guys. You may be faster. okay, you may be able to beat a 57-year-old Mike Tyson, but nevertheless, given some leg training, and he's got old man strength. Be sure and check the meaning of names. I did research this for fun

because I only work on the weekends, so I have nothing to do during the weeks, okay? And I found out some of the meanings of names. Cameron, who knows what Cameron means? You want to name your kid? Cameron? It's a popular name. It actually means crooked nose. That's what it means. I know Cameron on staff, and thankfully he has a straight nose. Kennedy, Kennedy actually means misshapen head or helmet head. I know a Kennedy, and I think her head's normal. But Caden, I see Noah Caden, I know a Caden, and it means round or lumpy. Caden's not round or lumpy, but after Thanksgiving, I am.

Names have meanings, and the angel the Lord said, Mary's going to give birth to a son, and they're going to call him Jesus. What does Jesus, what does the name Jesus mean? It means God saves or it means savior. Hope has a name and his name is Jesus. And there is something about the name of Jesus. There's something about the name. In fact, Paul said this in Philippians 2.9, Paul said that God gave Jesus the name above all other names.

that at the name of Jesus, one day every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. And every tongue declare that, say it with me, Jesus Christ is Lord. There's something about the name of Jesus. Hope has a name, and his name is Jesus. And so when you pray, how are we instructed to pray? We pray in what name? We're told to pray in the name of Jesus, because there's something about that name. Paul told us, whatever you do in life, you do it according to one name.

Whose name do it? You do it according to the name of Jesus. Everything you do, you do it for His glory. Whenever you gather together in whose name? In the name of Jesus, wherever two or three gather in his name. He is there in the midst of them. There's something about the name of Jesus. the name of Jesus breaks every curse and reveals every lie.

The name of Jesus is more powerful than any sickness and stronger than any addiction. When you speak the name of Jesus, darkness trembles and demons flee. There's something about that name. Hope has a name, and his name is Jesus. But hope isn't just a name. Second thought is this. hope also has perfect timing. Hope has perfect timing.

In fact, when you think about the arrival of Jesus, this is mind-blowing. How many of you know what an Old Testament prophecy is? Raise your hand, prophecy. A prophecy is in the Old Testament when God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit onto a prophet who would prophesy or declare something about the coming of Jesus. It's mind-blowing, but in the Old Testament, hundreds of years before Jesus was ever born, there were over 300 prophecies about the coming of Jesus, his life and ministry. I'll show you just three of them, so powerful.

We see, first of all in Genesis, all the way back in the very first book of the Bible, it was prophesied that one day he would be born of a woman. It was fulfilled in Galatians 4.4. we see in Isaiah 7, 700 years before the birth of Jesus, it was prophesied he'd be born of a virgin. It was fulfilled in Matthew chapter 1. Then we see in Micah chapter 5, it was prophesied. He'd been born in Bethlehem of all places.

It was fulfilled in Matthew chapter 2, verse 1. From the beginning of humanity, people anticipated the arrival of a Savior. And it was prophesied that one day God would send a Savior. and for centuries, people were awaiting, awaiting, awaiting the arrival of the one who would save. When did God send Jesus? When? For centuries they're awaiting. When did God send Jesus?

The answer is, at the exact perfect time. At the exact perfect time. Galatians 4-4 tells us that. Galatians 4-4 says, when the time came, when the right moment came, when the exact time came, when the right time came, what did God do? God sent his son. Now, as one who studies and asks questions, when I'm looking back, I'm wondering, God, what took so long? Do you ever ask that? It seemed like God is rarely ever early, but he's never late. What took so long? God, why did you wait hundreds of years? Like,

If Jesus came at the exact right time, why was that the right time? And if you were living at that time, you wouldn't know. But looking back, we actually have some clues. I'm going to give you a real quick history lesson. Try to pay attention. We're going to cover a lot. There was a period of time. If you look over here to the left, we've got the kingdom of Israel and Judah,

the Exxon and the Return. And then from the end of Malachi, or Malachi is the correct term. But the first time I read Malachi called it Malachi. Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament. and Matthew is the first book in the New Testament. Between Malachi and Matthew, there were 400 years of silence. God didn't speak, audibly, God didn't speak during those 400 years. That's known as the 400 years of silence or the Intertestamental period.

What was going on during those 400 years of silence? Well, I'm going to show you three things. The first thing is, number one, the Socratic method became a new way. of learning. What does that mean? Before the Socratic method, all teaching was didactic, meaning there was an authority who would present truth, you were to learn truth. The Socratic method made the teacher not the authority, but the guide. The teacher would ask questions and you were to discover truth. It was the first time students were allowed to ask questions. Socratic method became a new way of learning. Before this, the Old Testament had been written primarily in Hebrew

until 280 BC. And the second thing is, the Old Testament was then translated into Greek. The next thing we see is that Alexander the Great conquered the world during that time period. As a side note, whenever you conquer the world, they always add the Great to your name.

Just a side note. What does all this mean? We've got a new way of learning. We've got the Bible translated into Greek. We've got Alexander the Great. what does all this mean? Well, during this time, there was something known as the diaspora, when Jews were forbidden to live in Jerusalem.

And so the Jewish people started spreading all over the world. Also, Rome, who was now in control, and it was a time of peace, they started developing all these roads and highways through the empire. So for the first time in history, we see three big things. The first thing we see is that people were encouraged to ask questions and God sent the answer whose name was Jesus. The second thing we see is now everyone had access to the Bible in a language they understood.

Greek was the predominantly spoken language and everybody spoke a little Greek so they could understand God's word and the good news could now spread because there were roads everywhere and there was a common language. The good news could now spread in a common language through the Jewish people to the entire known world. during this 400-year period

when it seemed like God wasn't speaking. While they were waiting, God was still working. While they didn't see anything, God was still active. And when the time was just right, when the world was right, not just to hear the message,

but to carry the message to all the corners of the world, when the time was just exactly right, God sent his son. So maybe God hasn't done what you want him to do. And you're waiting. And you're asking why, God, we've been praying and believing we want to conceive. God, we want to have a child and you haven't let us have a child. God, we're praying for physical healing. We're praying for emotional healing. God, we're praying for someone's mental health. God, I'm praying for my marriage. Would you, God, please help. Do a miracle. God, do something. You may be praying for financial provision, a job with benefits, or someone in your family or a close friend who's not walking with Jesus, and you're begging God to do a miracle to bring them back.

It could be a child that grew up in the faith and in the church and is now rejecting the faith and rejecting Jesus and living in a life that could be very, very dangerous. And you're waiting, going, what's taking so long? If you're waiting, remember God's timing is perfect. Hope has perfect timing. And what you need to know is that God is sovereign and he is all powerful. In other words, if it's not God's time, you can't force it. And when it is God's time, you can't stop it. Hope has a name and hope has perfect timing.

And the third thing I want to remember is hope is coming again. hope is coming again. Advent is all about anticipating the birth, the first coming of Jesus. But what many people don't understand is Advent is also about anticipating the return of Jesus. Because Scripture teaches us and Jesus even told us that one day he would come back for us. He said, hey, don't let your hearts be trouble. Don't worry. I'm going away, but I'm going away to prepare a place for you. but I will come back again. And here's some really, really good news.

When Jesus comes back, this time he doesn't come back as a baby in a manger, but he comes back as a king on a horse. And when he comes back, tattooed on his thigh would be the name king of all kings and lord of all lords. And he comes back to make justice and to do what's right. And he will come back and rule and reign forever. hope is coming again. And the Apostle Paul told us some good news that one day Jesus would come for us. 1st Thessalonians 4 16 tells us, for the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command and with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

And after that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. And that's why you can always have hope. You can always have hope. Why? Because hope has a name. We don't just hope into what, but we hope into who in his name is Jesus, which means God saves. He is a Savior.

And hope has perfect timing. It may not be your time, it rarely is. But God's timing is always perfect. And hope is coming again. Hope is coming again. Now, at the beginning of the message, I showed you the first part of Proverbs 1312, the part that's true but no fun.

And scripture says this, hope deferred, hope must shock, hope pushed aside. it makes the heart sick. But the next part of the verse is very interesting. It says, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Hope deferred and unanswered prayer and an unfulfilled desire. It's hard on the heart.

It makes the heart sick. But a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. What does that mean? It sounds like poetic and kind of beautiful. What is the tree of life? If you remember back in Genesis in the Garden of Eden, there was the tree of life, which represented unbroken fellowship with God. And if you remember, when Adam and Eve sinned against God, God banished them from the garden,

separated them from his presence because of sin, but hope is coming again. And when Jesus comes back, Revelation 22 actually tells us that the tree of life reappears again. And when the tree of life, according to Revelation, comes back, it represents healing to all people, where one day we will live under the full reign of the glory of Jesus, and there will be no more mourning and no more crying and no more pain, because all things are under the authority and the truth of the soon-coming king. And therefore, even when I don't feel hopeful, I still choose to put my life. hope in the one who will never fail. Even when I don't feel it, by faith I declare it.

God, I hope in you. God, I hope in you. God, I hope in you. God, I hope in you. When I continue to pray for my daughters that I haven't seen improvement, sometimes we pray so hard and one of them seems to get even worse. I will not lose my faith. By faith, I put my hope in him. What happens is my hope is maturing. Because in the old days, my hope was in a what, meaning I needed the desired outcome for my longing to be fulfilled. But as my faith grows,

my hope is not just in what I want, but in the character and the nature and the goodness of God. Because hope has a name. His name is Jesus. His name is Jesus. He is a Savior. Hope has perfect timing.

If it doesn't come in my timing, that doesn't mean it's not coming. And if it never ever comes according to the way I want it, I know that hope is coming again. And one day, everything that breaks our hearts, everything that causes us pain will be washed away in the presence of a good God. And there will be no more suffering, no more crying, no more mourning, and no more pain. And that's why hope to hurt, yeah, it's bad, hurts. But a longing fulfilled is the tree of life. And one day every longing you have, every desire you have,

will be fulfilled in God's way and God's timing, because our God is always good. And because of that, you can always have hope. And your hope isn't just in the outcome that you want, but your hope is in the God that you know and the God that you trust. Because he is a good God. He is always faithful. Even when we're faithless, our God is faithful.

hope has a name. Hope has perfect timing. And oh, one day the trumpet will sound. And hope will come again. And on that day, there will be no more pain. So, Father, today we put our hope in you. We put our hope in you. And God, my heart just hurts with those who are living in a season of hope deferred.

I pray for them, God. I pray that your word, your presence would build their faith. God, I agree for miracles and breakthroughs and provision and healing and answer prayers. Today at all of our churches, if you're in a season right now, maybe you say, yeah, my hope has been deferred. It's delayed. I'm waiting on something. I have an unmet need and unanswered prayer.

I'm an unfulfilled longing. And I'm trying to hope in God. If that's you today, in a moment of honesty, and I'm just going to put my hand up first, that's me. I have an unanswered prayer. If that's you today at all of our churches, would you just lift up your hand right now? Online, you can type in the comment section.

My hope has been deferred. My hope has been deferred. If you want to leave your hand up, you could even like as an act of worship. That's like in the Bible. If you ever see people lift up their hands, that's just the Bible says, lift up holy hands to God in an act of worship.

If you may let it be an act of worship if that feels natural to you. God, we worship you for who you are. And God, we just declare that all things are possible, with you. God, we declare you're a good God, you're a faithful God, you're a righteous God, you're a just God, that all your ways are perfect, and so we trust in you. We thank you, first of all, for Jesus, for a Savior. God, thank you for sending him. Thank you for your grace to save us. And God,

we thank you for perfect timing, even though when things don't go the way we want, we choose to trust in you. and God, I thank you that if we don't see all of our prayers answered on this earth, that one day every need will be met in your kingdom. No more crying. No more sin. No more brokenness. No more pain. So, God, draw us.

We're drawing near to you, and your word tells us when we draw near to you, you draw near to us. We're drawing near to you. God, build our faith in your presence. We put our hope in you. God, we believe for miracles. We believe for provision. We believe for answer prayers. And ultimately, God, our hope is not in the desired outcome, but more than anything else, God, our hope is in you.

As you keep praying today at all of our churches and those you've online, I wish that I could sit down with every single one of you and just talk to you. As we're moving into the Christmas season, there'll be kind of live. of busyness going on, but I would just ask you, like, sincerely, how's it going with you spiritually? How's it going with you spiritually? Are you, are you walking daily in the grace of God by faith? Is your life surrendered to him in a way that you're, you exist for him, for his glory? Or would you say you're like most people, you've just been swept up in all the things of this world, the things that don't last and overwhelmed with money and schedules. If you're hoping for something that matters, the only place you're going to find it is in Jesus.

There's an emptiness, there's a longing, and there is no thing in this world that will ever fulfill that emptiness because it's spiritual. And God sent Jesus to meet your deepest need. Who is Jesus? He is the son of God, perfect in every way. Why did Jesus come? He came to save us from our sins. Sin may not be a popular word in our culture today,

but the reality is, you have sinned and so have I. The Bible tells us all of us. We sinned. We hurt people. We lie. We cheat. We steal. We lust.

We covet. We've all sinned. And because Jesus was without sin, he was able to die in our place for the forgiveness of our sins. He died as the innocent sacrifice. And three days later, God raised him from the dead so that anyone, and this includes you, anyone who calls on the name of Jesus, there is something about that name. One day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. He's Lord. You can do it today. You can do it today.

When you call in the name of Jesus, God hears your prayers. He forgives every sin. He makes you brand new. Today, there are those of you. If we could just sit down and I'd say, how's it going spiritually? If you hesitated, if you stumbled around, this message is for you. Today is the day of your salvation. earn it, you can never be good enough. It's a gift from God. Jesus saves. He's the Savior. And all of our churches and around the world online, those who say, I'm not walking with him. I don't have peace with him. I know I've done some things wrong. What we're going to do is we're going to step away from our old life. We're going to step toward him. We're going to call in the name of Jesus. When you do, you're brand new. All of our churches, you say, that's me. Today is the day. Today is

the day. Today is the day. I'm stepping away from my sin. I'm surrendering to Jesus. I'm calling on Jesus. today my prayer is, save me, be the Lord of my life. That's your prayer today. Lift your hands high right now, all over the place and say, yes, that's my prayer. Lift them up high and say, yes, Jesus, I surrender to you. God bless you over there. Others today to say, that's my prayer right back over here and over here as well. Come on, church.

Oh, man, both of you. Oh, come on. Praise God for you. Others today say, yes, Jesus. I surrender. I trust you to be the savior of my life online. Just type in the comment section. I'm trusting Jesus to save me.

I'm trusting Jesus to save me. everybody pray nobody prays alone pray heavenly father forgive all of my sins jesus save me be the lord of my life fill me with your spirit so i could know you so i could live for you so i could follow you so i could show your love my life is not my own i give it all to you thank you for new life you have all of mine in jesus name i pray church could you praise god today Could you welcome those born into God's family?