Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - I Choose, Part 2: Surrender Over Control

Episode Date: August 14, 2016

We are the result of our decisions. While we agonize over little things like what to wear and what to eat, are we glossing over the big choices? There might be more on the line than you thought when you say “I Choose.” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What may I get for you this evening? I think I'll... I'll order for us. We will split the absolute perfection. But instead of anxiety, could I get a flawless side of raised expectations, please? Of course. And how would you like your circumstances?

Micromanaged? Micromanaged. Oh, and please tell the chef that no matter how Willie prepares it, I'll still be dissatisfied. We'll do. Oh, and can we get some 38%? percent shiny or silverware? Yes, sir.

Close to, but not quite perfect evening. I hope you don't know somebody like that, but maybe you do. Welcome to Day 2 of a MESTA series called I Choose. What we're doing in this series is we're actually looking at the choices that we make, because think about it. Essentially, what are we? We are the sum total of the decisions that we have made. Whatever choices you made in the past determines who you are today.

The decisions that you're making today, who you become and what you can do in the future. And so we're focusing in on four big choices. Last week we talked about choosing purpose over popularity. Next week, we're going to talk about choosing discipline over regret. I've got to tell you, I always say that week three is my favorite. Week four is my favorite. I always like to do that because I get really excited about one message.

I think all four weeks are my absolute favorite. Next week, I promise will be really, really powerful. We are all going to experience pain. Okay. we can either choose the pain of discipline, or I promise you, we will experience the pain of regret. We're going to choose discipline over regret. Today what I want to do is I want to talk about a big choice that I believe every single one of us will need to make in different areas of our life. We are going to choose surrender over control.

I choose surrender over control. All of our churches, let's be honest, I need some participation. How many of you would say that in some area of your life you love to be in control? Raise your hands. Raise them up high, raise them up high. Leave them up, if you will, leave them up. If you find yourself wanting to raise the hand of the person sitting next to you, you better take good notes because you've been driving the rest of us crazy.

You're a control freak, and Jesus can set you free, okay? All of us battle with some area of wanting to control at work. Some of you, you're like, you know, do it my way and my time. If you don't do it right, I'll do it myself. Who knows what I'm talking about? Some of you work for that person. Some of you are that person. In the home, some of you are like control freaks.

Everything has a place. It has to be done my way. Don't touch that. Leave that there. When I married to Amy, she freaked me out. She was psycho into the way she vacuumed. The vacuum, the lines had to be just perfect. The lines.

I'm like, that's psycho. If you're like that, you're psycho. Vacuum the lines. You're psycho. Now, when it comes to mowing, the lines have to be perfect. Who's with me, right? You know what I've done? Now, that matters.

I mean, that really vacuum, no, not so much mowing. You have to be just right. People all got our areas. It could be certain people. You know, you want your kids to do just what you want. If you don't do that, I'm going to ground you until you're 30. It could be your spouse. You know, if you don't do this, I'm going to withdraw something special from you

or I'm going to threaten you or whatever it is. We all have our areas we like to control. Amy, my wife, she's my dream girl. but in the kitchen, she's scary, I'm telling you. She's got more rules. It'll make you crazy. The Pharisees, they have 613 laws. Amy has more in the kitchen.

I'm telling you, she's got more. I mean, it's like, it really, I don't care about the kitchen at all. The only thing, the only thing I want to control is everything else. That's it. I mean, everything else. I am, like, massive control. I want to control the schedules. I want to control the money.

I want to control how everybody acts. I want to control, you know, I've been known to sit in the passenger seat of a car, and if someone freaks me out when they're driving, I've actually reached over and helped them drive. I've done that twice. Pray for me. I know it's a mess. It's horrible. No one else can do the remote control because everyone knows it's not about what's on at the moment. It's all about what else might be on, okay?

It's just, it's a thing. And so what I want to do today is address this big issue because it's kind of fun to make fun of, But the reality is whenever we're trying to control something that's not ours to control, what it is is a reflection of a really big spiritual problem. Because what we're trying to do in this one area of our life, we are trying to be like God. I want to control because I know what's best, and we're trying to be like God. So what I want to do is I want to look at one of the most often quoted, most popular verses in the Bible and tell you right now, it's also one of the most difficult

ones to live. And even if you've heard this a hundred times, I want you to hear it today as if you're hearing it for the very first time. And I want you just to ask, God, would you help me to truly live out these powerful truths? A Proverbs chapter 3, verse in 5 and 6, teaches us this, that we are to trust in the Lord, to surrender to God, to be completely in his to trust in the Lord with how much of our hearts. Say it with me that we are to trust in the Lord with all of our heart. How much of your heart are you trusting to God? We're to trust him with all of our heart. And then we're told this is where it gets really difficult to me, is lean not on your own understanding, because I don't know about you, but I want to figure it out. I want to be in control.

I know what should happen. I've got this thing. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understandings, but in how many of your ways? Scripture says, in all of your ways, what are we to do? We are to submit to him. The Hebrew word that's translated as submit is also translated as acknowledge. This word actually means to know. It's the same word that's used of Adam knowing Eve. It means an intimate knowing.

We're to trust in the Lord with every bit of our heart. In other words, I'm not anxious about anything I'm trusting in God. We are to submit to him everything, acknowledge him, to know him in all of our ways. We know him. We acknowledge him. We submit to him. And when we do that, we don't make our paths straight, but who does? He does.

He will make our paths straight. What do we do? Trust in the Lord. With all of our hearts, lean not on our own understanding, but in every single way, we acknowledge him, we submit to him, we know him, and he will make our paths straight. Here's a problem. Many of you will see this in your own life I do in mind. The more that we try to control, the more that we are afraid of losing control. And the more we're afraid of losing control, the more we try to control.

And the more we try to control, the more we're afraid of losing control. And before long we enter into this cycle of fear, and essentially we're edging God out, saying, God, I want to control this. And what I want to do is show you an example from the Old Testament of control gone bad, really, really bad. The problem is when we try to take control and we're not surrendered to God, we rarely ever get it right. And I want to show you a story about Abram and Sarai. Their names later changed to Abraham and Sarah. If there's anybody who battled with control issues for their whole life, it was Abraham and Sarah.

One time when Abraham was really afraid for their safety, he lied, he took control, instead of saying, this is my wife, he said, this is my sister, he tried to control the situation. The biggest example, though, was when they were childless and really wanting more than anything else a child. And God promised Abraham, the most amazing promise, you will be the father of many nations. Whoa! Oh, this is incredible. Then what happened? Nothing for quite some time. You told me we're going to be parents, and, you know, nothing's happened. and another month goes by, another month goes by, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing.

And so, Sarai did what many of us do. When God's timing wasn't her own, she decided to take control and try to bring about the desired outcome her own way. And this is a perfect example of control gone bad. Genesis 16, verse 1 says this. Now, Sarai, Abram's wife, had born him no children, but she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar. Everybody say Hagar?

So she said to Abram, the Lord has kept me from having children, go sleep with my slave. Now what does she do? She's taking control, and she says, perhaps who? She says, perhaps I can build a family through her. Go sleep, but God's not doing what he said he'd do. So I'll take control, go sleep with Hagar. Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan 10 years, Sarai, his wife, took her Egyptian slave,

Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife, and what did he do? He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. God made a promise. God's timing was not consistent with their timing, so they took control, and control went bad. If you don't know what happened next, let me tell you, and some of you know part of the story, but you may not know all the story. It's really mind-blowing how this one controlling situation ended up impacting people for centuries to come. Hagar ended up getting pregnant and Hagar gave birth to a son. They called Ishmael. Then later, Sarah conceived and gave birth to Isaac. If you look at the lineage of Ishmael and Isaac, it's stunning. Out of Ishmael, you actually have the Palestinians. Out of Ishmael, you actually have Muhammad. Out of Isaac,

you have the Jewish nation, and you also have Christ. Here we are, centuries later, and you still have the tension between the Palestinians and the Jews, and you have the tension between, do we follow Muhammad or do we follow Christ? Why? Control went bad. I want to take control. It's not happening in my timing in my way, so therefore I will do what it takes to bring it about. There is a massive, massive, massive spiritual lesson that I hope you will all write down. If you don't remember anything else, please remember this. Never ever forget. Don't ever sleep with a woman named Hagar. Write it down. Put it in your nose. This is really big. You've got to hear me on this. It'll go bad, okay? It'll go bad. Now, chances are you'll hopefully never be tempted

with that option, but you will be tempted with something, and I don't know who it is or what you're going to be tempted with, but there's someone here who will be tempted to take control when something doesn't go your way. There's a single Christian girl, and you want a single Christian guy. But since you can't find a single Christian guy, you'll settle for a guy. Right? Oh, I know I'm not supposed to be unequally yoga, you know, but, I mean, but he is so got a cute little smile. Right? He's so cute, you know, and I can change him over time. And so, I mean, I know he's not, you know, I know, you know, but, you know, but I can change him. Or maybe it's a financial issue. You know, you're kind of struggling. And so, you, you know,

you've been around the church for a while and you actually know you're supposed to put God first, seek him first. You're supposed to return a tithe unto the Lord as an act of a worship. It's freeing. God blesses you. But oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That doesn't make sense to me right now. I'm going to take control. I'm going to do it my way. I mean, after all, look how good I am. I've screwed up my life on my own. I can screwed up more if I do it my way. I am going to take control. It could be people at work. You know, like, hey, I'm trying to delegate this to you, but you're not doing it right. So just move out of the way. Some of you, you're like, you're, well, nobody here. They're at all at other churches today. They're helicopter parents. You know what a helicopter

parent is? They're all hovering, hovering helicopter parent. Oh, little Johnny, you got a science paper. Well, let me do it for you because you got to make an A. I help you get it done. Oh, does someone pick on you? Well, let me find that kid's mama. That mama's going to get a bite of me. Okay, I'm someone pick on you. Oh, you're about to go check the mail. Put on your helmet. Put on your helmet. Wear your knee pads. Be careful. You know right? None of you are like that. overprotective parents, got to control, got to control, got to control. I actually read in the Huffington Post an article, this is shocking to me, that of recent college graduates, 8% actually bring one of their parents with them to job

interviews. 8%? 8%, okay? 8%. So, just a little tip, okay? A little tip, okay. If you were interviewing at Life Church, leave your mom in the car. I know she drove you, and that's cool and everything.

leave her in the car. Here's what I want you to do at all of our churches. I want you to do this for a moment. I want you to think about and write down, name the area you're trying to control. What it is? What is it? A person, a thing, a circumstance.

What I want you just think about it for a moment. Think about it. Give it a name, write it down. What are you trying to control? Trying to control your kids. Trying to control your grown kids. Trying to control your grown kids kids. because they're not raising your gram.

Baby's right. Trying to control your finances, trying to control your job, future, trying to control your spouse. Don't chew your gum like that. I told you not to see your gum. You're trying to control your image. What is it that you're trying to control?

Now, if you don't want to write it down, just prove my point. You sit back and go, I'm doing that stupid illustration. I don't do what he says. You just stay in control. I'm talking to you. I'm not backing down.

And what are we going to do? What we're going to do is we're going to ask ourselves, is this something that really is mine to control? Or is this something that I am supposed to trust to the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding, but in all my ways acknowledge him and he will make my path straight? I'm going to choose surrender over control. In so many different areas of my life that I'm wrongly trying to control, I'm going to choose surrender over control. And what I want to do is I want to give you three big questions to help you answer when is the right time to choose surrender over control. If you're ready, say I'm ready. Are you ready? Let's try it again. Are you ready? I'm ready. Question number one is this. You're going to ask yourself, is it worth my concern? Is it worth my concern?

In other words, there are many things that many people are really upset about, but it's not completely worth your concern. Give you an example from a leadership perspective. As a leader and as a pastor, I have a leader as a pastor, I, oversee 25 different churches in seven different states. And what I want to do right now is just kind of give you perspective as a leader, and then this will translate into every other area of your life. Just work with me for a minute. When you are in a physical service today, church online, I know you're one of 75 services. If you're in a physical service right now, you're in one of 164 different services. So there are 163 different church services, just like the one that you're in in one of 25 locations. I often shout out a name, but I'm going to go and read off the 25 because it'll help you just kind of hear it.

It's not just a number. These are 25 physical locations, okay? Whenever you hear your location, you might want to cheer just because it's fun to be proud of where we are. Albany, New York, Broadway and Britain, Oklahoma, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Edmond, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, Fort Worth, Texas, Hendersonville, Tennessee, Jinks, Oklahoma, Keller, Texas, Midwest City, Oklahoma, Moore, Mustang, Oklahoma, Northwest Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, Oklahoma. Overland Park, Kansas, Owasso, Oklahoma, Rio Rancho, New Mexico, Shawnee, Oklahoma, South, Oklahoma, South, Oklahoma, South Brooklyn City, Oklahoma, South, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Stillwater, Oklahoma, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Wellington, Florida, Yukon, Oklahoma, 25 different locations, 164 different services. As a leader, let me ask this question, do you think that there are ever things at these 25 locations that I would like, like to change as a leader. What do you think? Oh yeah. Okay. Do you think there might be a lot of

things? Yes. When I walk into a place, I might look around and, you know, I'm like, I wish that was different. Like for that to be different. Like to change. I'd like to change that. I'd like to change that. Okay. What do I need to do as a leader? I need to be really wise, right? I need to pick my battles carefully. Because if I come in like, this is bad and this is bad and this is bad and this is bad, I'm going to demoralize the team, and I'm not going to look at all the great things that are working, and oftentimes you need to fix a few things, but you really need to work on what's working and put gasoline on the fire that's working, and try to get that to burn even brighter. So I need to be really, really wise.

That means, as a leader, I have to have a tolerance for some things that are a little bit different than the way I would have them. As a leader, and you can write this down, that's really important. All leaders need to know this. When you're building a growing organization, you've got a choice. You can have control, or you can have growth. but you can't have both. You can have control or you can have growth, but you can't have both.

You have to empower people. You have to let some things, some minor things, be a little bit different than what you'd have have them to be. You can have control or you can have growth, but you can't have both. In a relationship, you can have control or you can have intimacy, but you can't have both. You can have control or you can have intimacy, but you cannot have both. The problem is sometimes we're getting so wigged down about things that aren't that really big of a deal, and we're hurting our relationships because it's a problem.

It's not that big of a deal. I have to ask myself, is this worth my concern? Is it that big of a deal? So if you'll let me meddle for just a minute, I'm going to get up in son of your business, and even if you tell me, no, I'm going to do it anyway, because we're having fun today, okay? For example, is it worth my concern? Is it really worth getting upset, freaked out, wigged out, making everybody miserable because somebody didn't fold the towels just right?

They're supposed to be folded like this, and yet they folded them like this, okay? is it really war? I know some of you think it is. Five years from now. Five years from now. Is it really going to matter why the towels were folded like? Another question.

Is it really going to matter? Does it matter that much? If for one day your child walks out of the house, not matching perfectly, and their hair doesn't look right, somebody said yes over here i heard it i heard it i heard it i heard it i heard it okay five years from now i mean do you really think your child will not get into the right college one day be living on the streets why because i told you i told you not to wear that shirt out in

public is it really worth my concern is it really that big of a deal okay is it really that big of a deal if there's someone leave something in the in your car some trash in the car there's cheeos in my car i just crazy, love, bust, do it really that big of that idea? It's a really bad, okay? Some of you need to chill out. You're driving everybody crazy. You're driving everybody crazy, okay? Don't elbow the person sitting next.

You don't do that. Just look forward, let me do my work, okay? You let me do my work, you just sit there, pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about. My problem. Is it worth my concern, okay? Is it worth my concern? Personal example.

When you walk into my house, you come in the front doors, the living room's right in front of us, and then there's these three French doors that are just, they're all windows that overlook this back area, this wooded, and it's just a really pretty view. Problem is, every single day when I come in, what do you think of the first thing I see? Fingerprints all over my beautiful view.

Fingerprints everywhere. I'm kind of like, Amy, can't we do something about this? We can clean it every day. I mean, listen, I'll do, you know, have the kids do it, cut their hands off. There's got to be a solution to the fingerprints on my window. I love this view. There's still fingerprints, and it's starting to dawn on me.

My oldest two of six kids are now married and out of the house. I've only got four at home. My youngest is almost 12, and it dawned on me. It's not going to be very long before I'm going to come home and guess what I'm going to miss? I would give anything to have fingerprints on those doors because my kids are grown and out of the house. It's interesting. The thing that drives me crazy is actually the thing I'm going to miss one day. Is it worth my concern?

Is it really worth getting upset over this? Ask yourself that, because some of you, you're getting upset over things that really don't matter that much. You're hurting your relationships. You're hurting your intimacy. You're driving your kids crazy. Is it worth my concern? The second question we're going to ask is this.

We're going to ask, is it mine to control? Is it mine to control? Is it something I should do something about? Because honestly, sometimes the answer is yes, right? How many of you know God won't do everything for you? God wants you do some things yourself? There's a big difference between surrendering control and relinquishing responsibility, right? Right? Somebody say amen, because this is right.

It doesn't mean you relinquish responsibility. For example, if you're messed up financially, you just don't sit around going, okay, God's going to come through for me. God's going to go, I gave you two hands, two feet. You go work. Don't spend so much, spend less than you're making, get a second job, do something about it. If your marriage is in trouble, what can you do? You can adjust your heart.

You can examine yourself. You can suggest maybe we should try counseling. We should be in a life, but we need spiritual connection with other believers. If your child is making bad decisions, you want to be available to your child. You want to build a bridge. You want to make sure the lines of communication are open. You want to do what it takes. You do what you can do in those situations.

If you're a single guy and you want to get married, what do you do, man? Dude, quit playing Pokemon Go. Put it down. Move out of your mom's basement, get a job, brush your teeth, put on deodorant. There's some things you should do. do. And you ask yourself, quite honestly, is it mine to control? If it is, then you do something about it. If it's not, we're going to ask ourselves the third question. What are our big questions? First one is this, is it worth my concern? Second question, is it mine to control? Or third question,

is it for God alone? Is it for God alone? Is this one of those areas that I am trying desperately to control, but it's not mine to control? This one is for me to surrender to God alone. In fact, I want to read to you from Philippians chapter four. These are the words of the Apostle Paul when he was chained to a Roman guard in house arrest. He's in prison, and he writes these amazingly powerful words. And here's what he said. And again, hear this, if you've heard it before, hear it like God is saying it directly to you to your situation.

Paul says this. He says, do not be anxious about anything. How many of you were anxious about something last week? Be honest. I was. Do not be anxious about that thing, Paul says. Do not be anxious about anything. But in how many situations, he said, but in every situation, no matter what you're going through, no matter what she did, no matter what you can't change in every situation, by what? Somebody say it aloud, by prayer and petition, by what say it with me, by prayer and petition. With Thanksgiving,

what do you do? You present your request to God. In every situation, what do you do? By prayer and petition, you present your request to God. Don't you ever, ever insult God by saying, well, all we can do now is pray. All we can do now is pray. All we can do now is pray. I can just imagine God up in heaven going, well, you're screwed now. All you got is me, man. You're down to me, man. You know, oh, now is really bad. No, no, no, no, no. Prayer is never a last resort. Prayer is always a first line of offense. What can we do? We can pray. We can pray. We can pray. We can pray. Scripture says we can go boldly before the throne of grace. We have access to God.

He hears our prayers. He is a God that says with me, all things are possible. What can you do? You can pray. It's our first line of offense. We go before God with what? Paul said, with Thanksgiving. Why?

Because we know he hears us. Because we know he cares. Because we know he's working in all things to bring about good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. on this one particular thing. I take her to God. I take him to God. I take this to God. I present this to God.

And then what happens when we go to God like that? He says this in verse 7. And then the what? He says, the peace of God, a supernatural peace, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

What do we do? When there's something that we can't control, when we say, God, this one's actually yours. I present this to you. I trust it to you. I'm trusting in you with all my heart. I am not leaning on my own understanding. But in this particular situation, in all my situations,

I'm acknowledging you. I'm submitting to you. I am knowing you. I'm praying that you would do something about this. And what does God do? God gives you a supernatural peace that goes beyond your ability to understand. Like, how are you doing so good? I don't even know, man.

I mean, I'm looking at my circuit. I should be bad, but I'm not. Why? Giving it to God. Guard your heart and your mind, your soul, and Christ, Jesus. So you look at what you're dealing with and you ask yourself, is this for God alone? Okay? You're married and your spouse is making bad decisions, okay?

You ask yourself, can I change my spouse? Some of you think you can. Let me help you out. No, you can't. You can make your spouse miserable. You can make them crazy. You can drive them away. You can conform their behavior for a little while until they resent you and kick back.

You cannot change your spouse. Okay. Can God change your spouse? Yes. So what is this? My spouse is for God alone. I trust you, God. Can you physically heal your body or the body of someone you love?

They've got cancer, can you go like poof and they're gone to cancer? You can't do that. What can you do? You can get chemo, you can get great doctors, you can eat right, you can do all that. But can you heal? No. Can God heal? Yes, he can.

So, God, I trust you. Can you control your kid's future? No, you can't. You can threaten them. You can drive them away from you. You can create a wall where there's no trust. You can be all... Can you control their future?

No, you can't. Can God be actively involved in their future leading them in the right wise ways? Yes. So what do you do? You do what you can do. You invest in your shoulder. But ultimately, you say, God, trust in the Lord

with all of your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. So whenever you're doing what we all do, you say, hey, is this worth my concern? A lot of times it's not to let it fly. Is it mind in control? If it is, you do something about it. If not, is this for God alone?

Give you a real personal example that just happened in our family. Amy, my wife, her mom's cousin, was about as anti-Christ, anti-Christian, anti-God, spiritual things church, of anybody that I've ever met. In fact, in 25 years of doing ministry, there are a lot of people that don't like us,

and we just understand that, I'm not complaining, it's part of it. You know, whatever, you do. do something, people are going to hate you. This girl hated our family more than anybody I've ever known, said the worst, harshest, vile, I wouldn't even imply the language that she used. It was on another level of anything that I've ever experienced. It was pure hatred through and through. And Amy amazingly had this heart for this girl, and we'd continue to reach out, and every time she would, she'd be like, you know, just pounce on us with hatred, venom

beyond belief. And Amy would continue. And eventually it came to the place where it felt very counterproductive. And so we recognize this one's for God alone. What we're going to do is just continue to pray and just kind of do this. God, this is for God alone. Well, years went by, and this lady ended up getting diagnosed with cancer, a very aggressive form of cancer. And when Amy or her mom or others would try to reach out, it would be met with the same hatred and resistance. Finally, maybe six weeks or so ago, when Amy's mom reached out, this lady said, well, I'll tell you what, not only am I. ready, but I need help. Is there anyone who could help me spiritually? And this lady lived in

Albuquerque, New Mexico. We have a campus, as I mentioned, a Rio Rancho, New Mexico, just a suburb of Albuquerque. So Amy called Brian Bruss, our pastor out there, and Brian had his wife, DeVina, go out and visit this lady. And they spent quite a bit of time and prayed and prayed and prayed together. And this lady who hated our family, hated our church, hated our Savior, hated everything about Christianity, called out to Jesus in the most sincere. Seared, desperate cry for forgiveness for help and salvation was so transformed. Now, she made it to at the movies for one week, watched church online every other one, watched old messages more than you can even count, and spent the last three weeks of her life

on social media telling everyone that she could how Jesus had changed her life, who he was, what he meant to her. She died last week, and before she died, She sent a text to Amy's mom that said this, my only regret is that I don't have more time to serve the church that completely changed my life. And so today, her story is granting her wish. Her story is serving the church and will bless some of you with the idea that

there's something that you're trying to control. I don't know what it is, but you can't. If you try to control it, it's not yours to control. And so maybe at this point at this time, you'll say, you know what? I trust this person to God. I trust this situation to God. And when you do that, the peace of God which transcends all the understanding will guard your hearts, your minds, and your soul in Christ, Jesus.

So whatever it is, trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Lean not on your own understandings, but in every way acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight. choose surrender over control. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything. And in this particular situation, God, we present it to you.

We present this person to you. We petition with Thanksgiving, God, knowing that the peace of God which transcends all understand will guard our hearts, our minds, and our souls in Christ Jesus. And that is why, God, for your glory, and because you are good, we choose surrender over control.

All of our churches praying today, Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would draw us close to you. As you reflect today, nobody looking around. I know there are many of you that you're going to recognize there's something, someone that you're trying to control, and it's very, very simple today. It's time to trust this to God. All of our churches, if you say, yes, there is something like that, and God is really speaking to me. I'm moved by His Spirit today. I want to choose surrender over control. Would you lift your hands up right now? Just all over the place, lift your hands up. God, I thank you for so many people today that are

open to hear your word and you are speaking to them. God, I know that in my life there are so many things that are not worth my concern. I pray, God, I pray for all of us that we would just recognize when we're being distracted by something that doesn't really matter, just bring this to mind. Will this really matter in five years from now? If not God, empower us just to let it go. God, when there is something that we should do something about it,

give us the wisdom to act, to act swiftly, to act wisely, and to do what we can. But in God, in all those multiple areas in our lives that we're trying to wrongly control when it's truly up to you, God, give us the wisdom, give us the heart of surrender. Help us to choose surrender over control.

And even now, God, by faith, I believe that there will be people who are saying, I'm trusting this person to you, God. I'm trusting this situation to you, God. This is not mine to control. God, I'm giving it to you. and believing that you are sovereign, you are wise, you're powerful and you are loving.

God, I choose, we choose. Surrender over control. Now, may the peace of God, which goes beyond our ability to understand, guard hearts and minds and souls as we trust and surrender to you. As you keep praying today at all of our churches, there are many of you right now,

you're about to make the ultimate surrender, the ultimate surrender. If you look at your life and if you're really, really honest, you say, you've been in control your whole life. I'm going to do what I want when I want. I'm going to try to do this to be happy, try to do that to be happy, try to do this to make a difference. And ultimately, more than anything else, what we need to understand is that God wants us

to completely surrender all to his son, Jesus. Why would we do this? If we go all the way back to Abraham and Sarah, Abraham, you'll be the father of many nations. Isaac is born through the lineage of Isaac. Who do we have? We have the son of God, Jesus, who's born of a verse. virgin, lives without sin, perfect in every way, becomes sin for us on the cross, dies as the perfect sacrifice.

On the third day, he's risen from the dead, why? So that anyone, and this includes you, who calls on his name will be saved. Imagine this. If you are fully following Jesus, you cannot be in control because you're going where he leads you. You want your life to count for him. And all of our churches, there are those of you. You recognize you need his forgiveness.

You're here today, you're online today, because it's time for you to surrender to him. You will recognize I've been trying to do it on my own, but I need his help. I need his grace. I need his presence. Today, by faith, I turn from my sin. I turn toward him. I am no longer in control. I completely surrender my life to the Lordship of Christ.

That's your prayer today. You say, yes, I need it. Yes, I need his forgiveness. Yesterday, I choose to surrender to Christ. That is my prayer. Lift your hands high right now. all of our churches and say, yes, I surrender. Right back there, God bless you over there as well.

Others of you today, back here in this back section to the far back, right over here, say yes. Way back here over to the side, somebody better cheer louder. Back here in the back, praise God for you. Right back over here as well. Church online, you just click right below me, others today who say, yes, I need Christ. Back over here, I surrender. I need Christ, I surrender.

Would you pray with those around you? Everybody pray aloud. Nobody prays alone. and pray, Heavenly Father, today I surrender my whole life to you. Jesus saved me, forgive me, make me new, fill me with your spirit so I could serve you, follow you, and live for you. My life is not my own. Today I give it to you.

Thank you for new life. Now you have mine. In Jesus' name, I pray, would you all worship big, worship loud, celebrating new life today in Christ.