Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Jesus and We, Part 2: Spiritual Contributors

Episode Date: January 10, 2015

Seven billion people occupy this tiny slice of history. And it's not by accident. God chose our generation to make a difference–but He doesn’t want us to do it alone. Find out how in Jesus and We. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We don't just go to church. We are the church. That's why we never ask. What can the church do for me? The church is not about me. The church is about we. So, as the body of Christ, we are spiritual contributors, not spiritual consumers, because the church does not exist for us.

We are the church, and we exist for the world. I hope you are as excited as I am to be in church this week. We believe the local church is the hope of the world, and God is going to stir up his church to do more than we ever thought possible. Welcome to all of our life churches across the United States. Our network church is all over the world. Our extended church online family and countries all over the world. We're in part number two of a four-part message series called Jesus and we. We're looking at four different value statements that we have as a church. Last week, we acknowledged that we are faith-filled, big thinking, bet the farm, risk takers. We will never insult

God with small thinking or safe living. Today, I'm going to start in John chapter four, John's Gospel, the fourth chapter, and we're going to launch off of a couple of verses and look at our second we statement. What do we value as a church? John chapter four, this is right after Jesus encountered a woman at the well and offered her living water. And the disciples of Jesus were concerned about Jesus's state, wondering if he might be a little bit hungry. Verse 31, the disciples urged him. Jesus, Rabbi, eat something. Let me pause there.

It's amazing how much anything that has to do with food during this 21-day fast jumps out at me. Rabbi, eat something. Everybody say, eat something. I just wanted to hear you say that. Rabbi, eat something. but Jesus said to his disciples, he said, I have food to eat that you know nothing about. We're worried about you, Jesus.

Maybe you need to eat something. I have food to eat, you know nothing about. Then his disciples said to each other, could someone have brought him some food? Does somebody slip him a little happy meal when none of us were looking, right? Now, Jesus wouldn't need a happy meal. Did somebody give him some carrots and hummus? I'm assuming he might have been more healthy. I don't know.

Did somebody give Jesus something to eat? And Jesus in verse 34 says something that is really, really powerful. Eat something. Jesus says, my food is to do what? My food said Jesus is to do the will of him who sent me and to do what? And to finish his work. My food, my nourishment is something else. When everyone else thinks about fill me, fill me, fill me, what actually fills me is to fill

others. What nourishes me is to pour into the lives of other to do the work of God and finish the task that he sent me to do. I have a food you know nothing of. What fills me is doing the work of God and ministering to others. What's interesting to me is that the disciples were all concerned about consumption. We need to consume. We've got to take care of ourselves. We've got to make sure he's okay. We need to eat something. Jesus was not concerned with consuming. He was concerned with contributing. When he contributed into the lives of others, that actually nourished him in a way that is beyond our ability to understand. And that nature goes against our human nature, the core of who we are. The reality is in our world today, a lot of people say, well, we're just good people.

That simply is not true, okay? We're actually sinful people. We, by nature, are self-centered and selfish. If you don't believe me, just ask yourself, do you ever have to teach a child to be selfish? Never, right? You never ever sit down with a two-year-old and say, guess what? Today, we're going to teach you how to be selfish. We're going to have selfish lessons.

I'm going to hand you a toy, and what I'm going to do is when I try to take a little bit of it from you, I want you to scream, throw a fit, and go, at the top of your lungs, mine! Do you ever have to teach a two-year-old to do that? No, by nature, we are self-centered and selfish in every single way. And Jesus is saying, I have a higher calling than just thinking about me, I want to contribute into the lives of others. What's interesting is for those of you, they're kind of around my age, you'll remember about what I'm about to tell you about. Growing up, if you enjoyed fast food hamburgers, you would have remembered two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickle, onion on a sesame seed bun, right?

You would remember this growing up. It was the promise. If you walked into the certain restaurant, McDonald's, and you ordered a Big Mac, what you would get would be two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickle, onion, on a sesame seed bun. Every single time, guaranteed that's what you got until something happened at another restaurant that literally started to change society. Some of you remember the moment. I was six years old, and I remember it like it was yesterday.

The year was 1973 when Burger King changed. everything. Burger King came out with the slogan, have it your way. Before Burger King, if you walked in and ordered a hamburger that had two tomatoes, four pickles, lettuce, and onions, you got a hamburger no matter what you wanted with two tomatoes, four pickles, lettuce, and onions. But Burger King said this, hold the pickle, hold the lettuce, special orders, don't upset us. Some of you, you're feeling close to God right now. If you were born after the year 2000, you're going, what, what, what? Trust me, it was powerful.

It changed everything. Suddenly, when you walked in, you were in control. You say, I want extra pickles. I don't want pickles. I want mayonnaise. Oh, I'm a mustard person. And all of a sudden, you were in charge. And now here we are some 40 years later, and the customer is king.

In fact, I heard one speaker talk about this. I wrote down his notes. He says, a company will promote their quality, value, style, service, selection, convenience, savings, performance, experience, low rates, friendly service name brands, easy terms, affordable, affordable, free installation, free admission, free appraisal, free alterations, free delivery, free estimates, free home trials, and free parking. No cash, no problem, no kidding, no fuss, no money. No risk, no obligation, no red tape, no down payment, no entry fee, no hidden fees, no purchase necessary. No one will call on you, no payments till September. And don't forget to pick up your free gift, a classy deluxe custom designer, luxury, prestige,

high quality premium, one of a kind, pencil holder, yours for the asking no purse is necessary. Why? Because you are that important to us. Right? Have it your way. No lettuce. No pickles, no fuss. Special orders, don't rattle us or however to go, right?

And all of a sudden, we become a consumer-minded society. It's all about me. It's all about what I want. It's all about me. It's all about what I want. I want to have it my way. And tragically, that consumer mindset has now bled over to the local church. If you notice in many parts of the country, for example, where I live, it's really common

to encounter people who will use this type of language. Oh, I'm just church shopping. I'm church shopping. I mean, even the very language. I'm shopping for a church. I'm church shopping. And then what I'll hear oftentimes is, I just can't find a good church.

I just can't find a church that's right for us. I mean, I've looked everywhere. Like, we've been to 79 churches in our community, and I can't find, and no, no, don't miss this. This is what you may not have heard this, but I hear it all the time. We just can't find a church that meets our needs. We can't find a church that meets our needs.

And this is incredibly common in the consumeristic mindset today. It's bled all the way into the local church. We're looking for a church, but we just can't find one that meets our needs. Last week we talked about being faith-filled, big thinking, bet the farm risk takers. This week I want to give you a value of something that we are not and something that we are. If you're taking notes, we are not spiritual consumers. We are spiritual contributors. Why?

Because we understand that the church does not exist for us, but we are the church and we exist for the world. That statement changes everything, and I would love for all of our network churches, all of our live churches, let's say it aloud. What are we not? We are not spiritual consumers. What are we? Say it with me, we are spiritual contributors. Why are we spiritual contributors? Because we understand that the church does not exist for us.

Who are we? We are the church, and we exist for the world. We are spiritual contributors. Our food is something many people don't understand. It is to do the work and the will of God, and that nourishes us. Because the church does not exist for us. But if you're a follower of Jesus, we recognize we are the church. And we exist to bring the light and the love of Jesus into this world.

So what I want to do is just like last week and just like in the next two coming weeks, I want to ask you to rate yourself somewhere in a scale of one to ten. One will be down here in this corner. This is the lowest. this would be that you're a spiritual consumer. Ten is way over here on this side. Do not circle ten because unless you gave your life for the sins of the world across and rose again, you're not allowed to be ten.

If you think you're Jesus, just tap three people next to you and say, am I Jesus? And they'll tell you, don't put a ten. You're not Jesus. I want you to think before you do it, but in a minute I want you to go ahead and circle one of them. And let me just kind of help you figure it out. if you're in a physical campus today and you walked in and dropped your children off to someone else who is serving you and you're not serving anywhere at all in the church but you're benefiting from that

and you know if you come on sunday mornings maybe you got a free donut maybe you got a free bottle of water a cup of coffee at some point you you consume something free and you sat down in a seat that you didn't purchase because someone else purchased in a building you didn't pay for and you've never given any type of offering whatsoever, and you just kind of come and enjoy everything, but you've never done anything back. Go ahead and circle a two, okay? I would say a one, but that's the devil. And so we're going to have some grace and let you be a two, okay?

I just, you know, I'm just call it what it is. You've only benefited, but you've given nothing back. Okay. Now, let's say, you know, you've come to a Cazon class, or let's say you've gone on a micro mission, or let's say you've contributed financially a couple of times every now and then, you know, when the Spirit moves upon you or whatever, you might be, you know, a four or a five, you determine that. Now, some of you, quite honestly, you're going to be up there at eight or a nine. You know, you're here every time the door is open. You're serving some of you in two

or three different places. You're praying daily for the leaders and for God's work in the church. You're bringing people all the time. You're involved in local missions. I mean, you're like, Like, you're seriously all in. I mean, you got the bumper sticker on your car. That's how in you are. You know, and you're just, you're totally believe you are the church and you're serving in the community representing God. If that's you, let's go ahead and put it up there, man.

Let's tell the truth. You're an eight or you're a nine. You're not a 10, but you're an eight or you're a nine. And what I want you to do right now, all of our churches is, I don't want to see anybody. I don't want to feel anybody looking at the screen. You just look down right now and let's circle a number. Call it what it is.

Now, if you find yourself six or below, this message is really designed to speak to you, and I believe God wants to stir you to something greater in your life. And I'm going to give you two easy to remember points about your gifts for God's church. The first one, if you're taking notes, is very simply this. I want all of you who are followers of Jesus to understand this, that God calls you to serve in his church. God calls you. If you're a follower of Jesus, you are gifted and called and set apart to use your gifts to make a difference in his church. The challenge with this is in our world today, again, a lot of people don't really understand what the church is. What we need to just say to make it very clear that God never intended for the church to be a building. The church has never been a building. God always intended for the church to be his people. The church is not a building. The church is a building. The church is. his people. We don't go to church. We are the church. And we may use that language kind of

innocently. I'm going to church. That's totally fine. As long as we understand that the church is not the building, we are the church and we're here for the world. And just as a little history, why this changed, many people say, well, how did we start to think of the church as a building? You may not recognize this, but churches didn't even own buildings and people really couldn't even gather publicly until about things changed in 313 AD when Constantine passed a law legalizing Christianity. Before 313, literally in the 4th century, after the birth of Christ,

before that time, people couldn't gather publicly to worship Christ because it would be considered illegal and they were generally persecuted for it. And also any gathering couldn't legally own land or property because it just wasn't legal at all. And it's a good thing, I believe, with all my heart for churches to be able to own property and have buildings because here we can gather legally and congregate and build the church and release the church into the world to make a difference. But before that, people would not even call the church a building at all.

It was totally and completely the people. So we do not go to church technically. Technically, we are the church and we're here for the world. Romans 12, verses 6 through 8, helps us. see how God wants us to use our gifts in the church. Here's what scripture says. In his grace, God has given us what? Everybody, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you, now Paul's going to list seven different gifts. There's many more. He's going to list seven. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much

faith as God has given you. Second gift, if God is giving you, the gift is serving others serve them well. If God, if you're a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage you, others be encouraging. If it's giving, give generously. If God has given you a leadership ability, take that responsibility seriously. And if you have the gift of showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Prophecy serving, teaching, encouragement, giving, leading, and kindness. Seven different gifts. You may not know particularly how you are gifted. Back when I was in seminary, they gave us an example about how to know which one is yours. It was called the apple pie. It And here we go again with another food illustration. How is this happening? I do not. No, but it's called the apple pie illustration. And basically it goes like this. Imagine I'm at a table and I'm eating apple pie and the apple pie is on the edge of the table. It's in a very dangerous spot. And you notice it, but I bite into it when I do the apple pie falls flat on my lap. What do you do? If you say, oh my gosh, that's horrible. Here, let me help clean it up. I'll take care of that. Just stay still and you go and immediately get it.

get to work, you have the gift of serving. How many of you are like that? How many of you like that? You love serving behind the scenes. If you say, oh, I can't believe that happened here. I want to buy you another one. And oh, let's have a whole round of apple pies for everyone at the table. How many of you might be like that?

A little bit like that? You see, you're humble. There's more of you than that. You are givers, but you don't like anybody to know you're a giver. You want to do it anonymously because you like to give, and that's one of the qualities of great givers. Some of you would say, hey, don't worry. We can get this organized in no time at all.

You go get this and you go get this. And you go get this. Let's get it done. We'll do it in 30 seconds or left. Who's kind of like this? Point to them. You know they're there. They're bossy.

They told you not to point. They have the gift of leadership or administration and you see them around you. Someone else is going to go, oh, man, that was funny. I did it the other day. In fact, I've got an apple-blown watches. It's one in my lap too. Okay. Who kind of like that?

You're having so much fun. You're not even paying attention. You're an encourager and you love to make others feel better. Those of you would say, oh. I hurt with you. I have none of this gift, and so I can't even do it with a straight face. I feel so bad. Oh, you know.

Who's kind of like that? You've got kindness, you're empathetic, you're great to be with. I don't understand you, but it's totally great. Some of you would say, you know what? There's really a better way to eat apple pie. I've been researching this, and I've got a chart with seven steps. In fact, in the Hebrew language, let me tell you, the actual Hebrew word that's translated is apple pie. It's huckusumagoff, you know, whatever.

How many of you're kind of like that? You've got the gift of teaching, man. Open up the Bible, bring a life group around you. You are in heaven teaching what you've discovered. And then how many of you would say, that's the stupidest thing I've ever seen anybody do? Go ahead, raise your hand high. You don't care what anybody thinks. You've got the gift of prophecy.

You see anything black and white. That was stupid, you idiot. You shouldn't have done that. You deserve to have that apple pie in your laugh because that's how strong. stupid you are. And you know, you just prophesy and say it like it is. I pray that as your campus pastor talks to you today, you'll take the next step to help discover if you don't know what your spiritual gifts would be. And some of you can sing or play instruments or you've got the gift of evangelism. It'll go on and on and on and on. But God wants you to use your gifts in the church

to minister to people for his glory. In fact, I want to tell you about four people in our church. these are amazing people using their gifts. Gavin is a 13-year-old kid that was invited to Live Church. He gave his life to Christ, became a follower of Jesus. This 13-year-old worships at one service and serves at six services every single weekend on the host team. This kid has the gift of leadership. He approached one of the pastors and said, I want to get other kids serving on the host team.

And so with permission of the pastoral leadership, this 13-year-old kid has now recruited over 50 students who serve every weekend on the host team. That is someone who understands. I've got food you know nothing of. This fills me up. I want to tell you about Chris. Chris has been sober for 2,932 days and counting. Okay? He has the gift of serving.

And Chris replaces trash bags. cleans restrooms. He does things behind the scenes that nobody notices, but I want to tell you, God notices, and God cares about those who serve. The greatest are actually those who serves. I want to tell you about Dallas. Dallas fell into a gang at the age of 15, at the age of 16. He was selling drugs, carrying a weapon. At 18, he got caught and went to prison. Later on in life, after getting out of prison, someone invited him to church, and he was spiritually transformed. And he's been disciples, and he's grown up, and after years and years of growing spiritually, he started discipling five students in Switch, and his group has now grown to over 30 students every single week.

He is teaching life into the next generation, keeping them out of where he's been. This story is cool. Adam became a Jesus follower nine months ago. He's a guy in the middle that's getting baptized. Adam used to be a bouncer, and he would actually kick people out of bars. Now he welcomes people to church. Take up this next picture of him. I like this picture.

This is him coming out. Here's what he said after being baptized. He said, after I gave my life to Christ, a huge weight of sin was lifted off my shoulders, and my heart started working again. Here's a guy that has a different kind of food. His food is to do the will of God. Now, why are these people so different, so fired up,

so into this? Because they understand that we don't go to, church. They understand that they are the church. They are not spiritual consumers. They are spiritual contributors. They understand that God has called them to make a difference. And I just want to say this. For those of you that are Jesus followers, God has given you gifts and he wants you to use them in the church. God wants every person to be active making a difference in the church. There is something for every person to do. Therefore, if you are not doing anything in the church, then there is something that God wants to be done, that's not being done. God wants his church to be full of people that are not

what about me, have it my way, but God wants his church to be full of people using their gifts to make a difference in the lives of others. And God is called you, if you are a follower of Jesus, to serve in the church to make a difference. Thought number one, God calls you to serve in his church. Thought number two, God calls you to serve as his church. And this is so important. Not only do we serve in his church. That's so important to build one another up, but you serve as his church in the world.

This is what Jesus said in Matthew 5, verses 14 through 16. Jesus said to those who are followers of Jesus, you are the what? Let's all say it aloud. You are the light of the world. You are the light of the world. Your light shines into the darkness.

A town built on a history. cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand so it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, Jesus followers, let your light shine before others. That they may see your what? That they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven. Let your light shine into all the world. That they may see your good deeds. that you're committed to Christ, that they may see that you are different, that they may see that you care about people in the world, that they may see that you are engaged, loving them as they are, that they may see your good deeds. Now, make no mistake about it. We are not saved by

good works. We are saved by grace, true faith, and that alone. We are not saved by good works, but make no stake about it. But we are saved for good works. works. We are not saved by good works, but as followers of Jesus, we are saved to make a difference in this world. We are saved to be the lie of the world. Let them see your good deeds. Ask yourself in the past seven days. How many people would know by the way you lived that you're different. That is not all about you. That you are giving and serving and making a difference and listening and truly being engaged in the lives of people that are not. not Jesus followers.

Let them see your good works, that that may intrigue them, draw them in. Ask questions, what's different about you? What makes you tick? Why do you care about me? I can't believe you're so involved. I can't believe you gave something to me with no strings attached. I can't believe you're involved in my life and you're loving me and you're not judging me and you seem to care so much more than anyone else.

Why? And you tell them. And so one day they glorify God in heaven. You are the light of the world. We're not only called to serve in the church, but we're called to serve in the world as the church. I want to tell you about three people from our church that are doing this.

This is so cool to me. Melanie is from our newest campus on Broadway and Britain in my community, and this is Melanie actually getting baptized right here. She comes from the neighborhood closest to the Broadway and Britain campus, which people tell me, and I've actually inquired about this to make sure it's accurate, and they swear up and down as accurate, that this is the most fatherless zip code in the United

States, okay, and it's certainly the highest crime rate of anywhere in our state. And so the report is this is the most fatherless zip code in the United States. And this girl has a lot to come through, and she's still healing, and she's still, she's come to Christ when it was baptized. she's brought from the neighborhood over 20 kids that have come to church and most of them have become followers of Jesus. Now, what's really, really cool is most of these kids don't have dads, but a lot of them have granddad's, uncles, brothers, and one of the kids' granddad's came to Christ and now serving on the host team

and three other men from her very street have come to Christ. And this is a lady who's in process who's taking the gospel into her neighborhood. and making a difference. And I praise God that Melanie is serving as the church. I want to tell you about Ken. Ken had an idea on his own and started a ministry called Life Troops. And Ken, and now a whole bunch of people from our church engage with people who are serving in combat. And they send them all sorts of free Bibles and gifts and stuff to connect with them. And then when these guys come back or these ladies come back, many of them are fighting people. PTSD and they get involved in them.

And I've met one guy personally who came to Christ as a direct result of this ministry right before he was considering taking his life. He said it saved his marriage. I can't tell you how many marriages they've saved, how many suicides were prevented, and how many people are born into the kingdom because a group of people see themselves as the church saw a need and said, someone's got to do something about this. Might as well be me. Somebody give it up for this great ministry, people being involved.

I am super blessed by Abby, who's 21 years of age. She's 21 years. Several years ago, she started an inner city mentoring ministry with teaching gals to run. She's single-handedly brought over 15 kids to church. News story, they did news stories on her because her ministry is so cool. She actually fosters. She's 21 years old, not married. She fosters an eight-month-old baby because she just felt called by God to be in.

involved in this little baby's life. And this is what 21-year-old Abby said. She said, I know this isn't what every 21-year-old is doing with her life, but I don't want to be just like every 21-year-old. I want to be one that sold out for Christ serving him. Abby is not a spiritual consumer. She is a spiritual contributor here to meet the needs of the world. I believe with all my heart that the way we're doing things actually messed up. I believe that the government is not the best equipped organization to meet the needs of the world today. The local church is. The government kind of stepped in because the church didn't step in. I believe that when the church sees itself as God's calling to be spiritual contributors in this world, that people can look on and say, I don't really

understand what they believe, but man, they sure believe it and they sure care. You see, in my mind, I still have a vision for our church that is greater than what I see today. I have a vision for a church that loves others more than we've been loved. I have a vision for people who serve others more than we have been served. I have a vision for a church that gives more than we have received. I have a vision for a group of people so overwhelmed with the love of God

that we love and accept people right where they are. But we love and point them to a Jesus who will forgive and heal and make them new. I have a vision for a church where every single person in the body of Christ, sees themselves as a part of the body of Christ, that no one just comes and just consumes, consumes, consumes, consumes all the time. But they recognize we are His church, and I've got gifts, and I've got a calling, and I cannot, after all God is done for me,

simply be a consumer. There is something so much better. I have a food that many people don't understand. What fills me is to do the work of God, to impact the lives of others. I have a vision for a group of people that not only serve in the church, but serve as the church in the world, that if our church were not in the community, people would be upset because where did it go? They were doing so much. They were making such a difference. And even if they don't believe in the Jesus we believe in, they couldn't deny that he's impacted our lives. And what we We believe is real. We do believe.

God has called us to something more than a consumeristic, self-centered mindset. We are not spiritual consumers. We are spiritual contributors because the church does not exist for us, you see. Who are we? We are the church, and we exist for the world. Father, I pray that the power of your Holy Spirit would stir hearts within your church today. God, that years from now there would be ministries born and lives changed because your Holy Spirit did something in the hearts of your church today. God, we fight against the habit your way in a church that meets my needs mindset.

God, we recognize that Jesus did everything possible for us on the cross. And our only reasonable response to His grace. is to give our gifts. Stir people, God, to use our gifts in the church. Stir people, God, to use our gifts as the church. The light of the world, drawing people to know you. All of our churches, as you take a moment and pray, nobody looking around,

if you want to be a true spiritual contributor, making even a greater difference than you are, here's what I want you to know. God has set you apart. He's put gifts inside of you, certain talents that you have, things that you do, they come naturally to you and you enjoy them. And he wants you to use them in the church and as the church.

All of our churches, those of you who say, I want to be a greater spiritual contributor making a difference with the gifts God has given me. And the life that I have, I want to be even greater in God's kingdom and for his glory. Would you lift up your hands right now, just all over the place, lift up your hands. Almost every hand going up today. Father, I thank you so much for Jesus' followers that understand. stands. We're not looking for the perfect place to meet our needs. How stupid and selfish is that? But, God, we recognize you've called us as imperfect as this church is, in any church, full of

imperfect people. We are your church. And God, you call us to be the light in this world. Stir hearts today. God, I pray that for some people it would be impossible to continue just consuming. That we would find deep within us the need to give back, to use our gifts in the church. and not just in the church, but as the church in the world, showing the love of Jesus that people would praise and glorify him. As you keep praying today, nobody looking around, Jesus said this, my food is to do the will of God and to finish the work that he sent me to do.

What was the work? Very simply, Jesus came to seek and save those who were lost. What I love about Jesus is this. Jesus didn't go and love on the religious people. He walked right past them. When they were arrogant, when they were self-centered, when they thought religion was the answer, he walked right past them, and he walked up to uneducated, rough people, and he walked into the people that others rejected, and he walked up to the worst of the sinners,

and he loved them and accepted him as they were. And Jesus did for us something that we couldn't do for ourselves, because he never sinned. He could become the perfect sacrifice. He gave his life on the cross. He looked up to heaven right before doing so, and saying, it's finished. I came to finish the work, and I did it. It's finished. He gave his life. On the third day, when the stone was rolled away, there was no one there because he was risen from the dead. So that, you, me, whoever recognizes their need for him, could be saved and forgiven. At the beginning

of the message, I said, you're not a good person. I'm not a good person. Until you see yourself as a sinner, you won't see your need for a savior. And there are many of you right now, you're going to recognize, I need his forgiveness and I need his grace. Jesus came to seek and save people like us, people who weren't good enough to get there on their own. Some of you right now, you feel an emptiness, you feel a void. That's because you're doing life without the presence of God. Others of you, the weight of sin is so real on your life. When you call on him, he'll forgive every sin you've ever committed and he will make you brand new. And that's exactly precisely why many of you are here today and you know it. All of our churches, those of you who say, I'm about to step across

the line. I'm about to consume and I'm going to take the grace that he's given me, but I'm not going to just take it. I'm going to let him transform me and I'm going to become a fully devoted follower of Christ. Today, by faith, I give my life to him. That's your prayer. Lift your hands high. Right now, all of our churches and say, yes, that's my prayer. Right up here, God bless you you. And over here in this section, sir, right over here as well. God bless you guys. Others, lift your hands high. Up here close to me. Over here on this side, say yes, Jesus, I surrender to you. Just lift up your hands. I want to find you and acknowledge you. Church online, you click right below me. And we're going to pray together. Nobody prays alone in the family of God. Join those around

you. Pray aloud. Heavenly Father, forgive me of all my sins. Today by faith, I give my life to you. Jesus, make me new. Transform me. Fill me with your spirit. So I would know you. And so I could serve you for the rest of my life. My life is not my own. I give you my gifts. I give you my talents. I will serve in your church and I will serve as your church. Thank you for new life. Now you have mine. In Jesus name I pray, would you worship big thank God, welcome us born into his family today.