Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Living a Distracted Life? | A Better Way: Part 4

Episode Date: September 5, 2021

Do you feel like you’re living a distracted life? In this message, we’ll learn how to get rid of the things that keep us from focusing on God’s mission.ABOUT THIS MESSAGESometimes it feels like nothing is working. We can do all the right things and check all the boxes, but life seems to stay the same. How can we find the life we're longing for? Together, let’s discover A Better Way.Learn more about A Better Way: https://www.life.church/abetterwayWE’RE OPENWe’re continuing to monitor guidelines and best practices for gathering in a safe way. Learn more about everything we're doing to keep you safe and how you can help by using hand sanitizer, washing your hands often, and more: https://www.life.church/updatesFind a time and attend a service with us: http://www.life.church/locationsNEXT STEPSHave you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what’s next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://www.life.church/nextABOUT 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.church. Find locations, videos, and more info about us at https://www.life.church or download the Life.Church app at https://www.life.church/app. FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/life.churchInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/life.churchTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/lifechurchCONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIGYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIIdiIO-Y20hRW9niR0CA8AFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschelInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschelTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/craiggroeschel Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, shout out to our YouTube family. I would love to know where you're watching from. If you can just tell us right now in the comment section, I'm watching from wherever. We're thankful to have people from all over the world. Now, today, we're going to do something different. I've invited three of our student communicators to bring God's word. I believe it'll speak to you in a big way. And then I'll see you again next week for the final part of our message series called A Better Way. Well, like Pastor Craig said, I am joined today by two out of 37 fantastic youth pastors, Ryan Hunter from Life Church Midtown Tulsa, and then Allison McRaw out at Rogers, Arkansas. And one of the best things about being a youth pastor at Life Church is knowing how passionate

our leadership is about doing anything short of sin to reach the next generation. Because what we believe is that these students are not the leaders of tomorrow, but actually they're the leaders of today. Speaking of which, we're in a series titled A Better Way, where we're learning how we're we as followers of Jesus can learn not just to understand the things that Jesus said, but learn how to live the way that he lived. Today, we're asking the question, how do we live with an unc cluttered pursuit of God's mission? And that's a great question, because how do we, how do we live with an uncluttered pursuit of God's mission? Well, if we take it to Hebrews 12-1, it says this,

It says, therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders, and especially the sin that entangles. Weird question. Has anyone ever been physically entangled by something? You would know if you had. Yeah, it's not fun. In fact, confession, I have a cat. I don't like to tell people I have a cat because I don't want to be labeled as some crazy

cat lady, but honesty between you and I have a cat. Her name actually is cotton. I think we have a picture of her. She's super fluffy. I also just realized that this picture does not help my case that I'm not a crazy cat lady, but she's super fluffy, and she's so sweet, but the thing about being fluffy is that things will stick to her fur. I'm not going to tell you what those things are, but it's not good, and sometimes she needs a bath. And I remember the first time I had to give her a bath. I was like, all right, I got this. Little cat, big me, we're good because, you know, like cats and water, people get nervous about that, claws, whatever. I was like, no, like, she's little, I'm grown, we can handle this. And so I was giving her a bath, and it's going great. Like,

she's chill, I'm chill. Like, we're good. It's easy. And then about the time I let my guard down, the fastest paw in the world goes, I'm like, uh, ow, ow. Um, And I was like, oh, no, no, no, okay, we're good, we're good. And I take my hand off to grab her paw, and as soon as I take my hand off, other hand goes, ch-sh. It's like, ha, ha, ha, no, no. And I go to grab both of her paws, and I lean down, and one paw moves, and it goes, and now we are just like, I'm not grabbing paws, I'm just holding this soaking wet,

demon cat. I think we can get a picture. Yes, like, we are locked here. And then I'm remembering why Pastor Craig, like, hates cats. And I'm like, oh, okay, what do I do? Because, like, I can't bring her in and I can't pull her off. And so the only thing I could think to do was to, like, get down on the ground and, like, submit and, like, push her off. And I'm ashamed to say that I got tapped out by a seven-pound cat.

And that is so funny. looking back now, but what's not funny is that for some of you, your sin is doing the exact same thing to you. Maybe you started messing with things that seemed harmless, things you could handle. Maybe you started texting someone who wasn't your spouse, or trying a substance with a friend, or just clicking on that one site, that one time. And at first, it was fine, but now it's not. You could handle it, but now it's got a hold on you.

And you're entangled and you're stuck. And God is calling you to his mission, but you can't move forward. But maybe for you, maybe it's not your sin. Because it's not just our sin that can hinder us. If we take it back to the text, it says, let us throw off everything that hinders. maybe for you, you're not doing anything bad, you're just busy. If God called you to do something right now, you've got no space in your calendar. Or maybe for you, you're just comfortable.

It's like, yeah, God, I don't want to follow you, but I, you know, I'm good. Like, I'm good where I'm at. I'm good with my friends. I'm good with my life. Like, I'm, like, it's fine. like, I'm good. And you're settled for something good when you don't even know you're missing out on something great. Or maybe for you, maybe what's hindering you and holding you back from what God has for you

is your hurt. Harts that you still haven't healed from. Maybe something traumatic happened to you. Maybe you're still stuck in a lie that you're blue. leaving by yourself, maybe it's unforgiveness that God is calling you forward, but you can't let go? And can I say if you find yourself in a place where you feel stuck and hindered and entangled, that from experience, I know that this is not the life that God has for you, that there is a better way because Jesus did not die for you to stay stuck. No, he died to set you free. I love it

what it says in Galatians 5-1, it says it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. And maybe for you, you are desperate for this freedom. But maybe you're not. Maybe for some of you, you're still holding on because it's like, no, I can handle it. Like, I can have Jesus and this. Like, it's fine. Can I just say from experience that it's really hard to fully follow Jesus when my hands are So what do we do? How do we throw off everything that hinders us? Well, I think about what Pastor Craig says. He says this, is that we confess to God for forgiveness,

but we confess to other people for healing. Makes me think of Lazarus. Who is Lazarus? Lazarus was one of Jesus' friends who he loved. but tragically Lazarus dies. And four days later, Jesus shows up on the scene and people are grieving by his tomb and God moved Jesus, moved in compassion for Lazarus

and the people around him to tears says, roll the stone away. And then Jesus does something radical. He calls Lazarus, out of the tomb from death into life, from darkness into light. And in that moment, Lazarus, who was dead, is now alive. Only Jesus can do that. Only Jesus can bring life, can bring salvation.

But as he steps out of the tomb, there's a problem. Because he's still wrapped up in his grave clothes. He's still hindered by the things that were holding him back before. And Jesus seeing this turns to his followers and says, let him go. And they go and they unbind Lazarus. And he's now free to move forward into the life and calling that Jesus has for him. And isn't it true that for some of us, Jesus has given us new life, but we're still bound up in our grave clothes.

We're still hindered. And that's why community is so important. That's why we value it so much at Switch. That's why we do Switch groups because we want to create a place and environment for students to come, to be themselves, to be loved as they are, to wrestle together,

and to help each other move forward into becoming a fully devoted follows of Christ. and I know so many adults and parents who see the value in that, who want that for their kids in this next generation, but they don't have it themselves. They're not in a life group. They're not in that same community with people helping them move forward to what God has for them. Or they are, but they're not showing up.

They're not letting other people see what's really going on. And can I just say that when we let ourselves, stay hindered and stuck and entangled, that not only are we missing out on all that God has for us, but we've become this roadblock for everyone coming up behind us. So, how do we live with an unc cluttered pursuit of God's mission? Well, number one, we throw off everything that hinders us. But that's not where we stop. That's not where that verse stops.

If we go back to that Hebrew text in chapter 12, the author says this. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance, the race mark out for us. Perseverance.

How do we live with an uncluttered pursuit of God's mission? One, we throw off everything that hinders us, and two, we run the race with perseverance. But here's the thing about perseverance is it's difficult. It's hard to do. It's painful. In fact, the author of Hebrews goes on in that same chapter to talk about the pain of discipline and the pain of perseverance. Later down, we see this verse where he says, no discipline seems pleasant at the time,

but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths for your feet so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. No discipline is easy, but it's painful. Perseverance is difficult. I know this is true in all of our lives.

No one woke up and said, God, please let us go through another global pandemic so I can grow and learn through it again. No one's praying, God, please make that coworker even more difficult. at my job so I can learn how to love unlovable people. You're not hoping that your marriage gets harder and harder, but in fact, it's difficult, and no one wants to have to persevere through anything. So much so that I think if you're anything like me, perseverance doesn't even seem like an option sometimes. Sometimes you want to quit even before you hit a roadblock because the running the race is just too difficult. So how do we do this? How do we persevere? How do we push forward? Well, when you're tempted to stop, remember why you started.

When you're tempted to throw in the towel, when you're tempted to give up on that loved one, on that spouse, on the family member, to quit your job. Remember why you started it in the first place. Growing up, I grew up with single mom. And just a quick side note, shout out, mom, Tammy Hunter, out at Shawnee. I know you're watching right now from our Shawnee location. Hey, I love you so much. now that I'm a dad of two kids under two,

and I have an awesome wife, Asia, alongside me, I know just how hard it was to do it on your own. I don't know how you did it. You did such a great job, especially with a problem kid like me sometimes. I'm so thankful for who you are. And to all the single moms out there, you're doing it. You're doing an amazing job,

and we're all so thankful for everything you do. But if you know a single mom, or if you are one or single parent, you know the difficulty this can be on the kid and the parent. And for me, my struggle was a lot with my dad, or at least with his absence. And I got really frustrated around the time I was 15, 16, 17, around then. And I actually, I think it's why I'm so passionate about our youth ministry now is because I know how difficult those teenage years can be.

And I got to a place where I just hated him. I hated him for leaving my mom. I hated him for abandoning us. And I was just filled with this tension. all the time. And so I was actually at Life Church one weekend, and Pastor Craig gave this incredible message about forgiveness. And he said this line, I'll never forget, and he said, forgiveness doesn't always change the other person, but it always changes you. I thought, oh, yes, that's it. That's what I need. That's the thing. If I just forgive my dad, it doesn't matter what he does after that,

I'll finally be free of this pain and annoyance and hate that's welling up in me. So at 19 years old, I tracked down my dad. I texted people, I found him out, and I set up a dinner with me and my dad. And I sat across that table from him, and I said, Dad, I'm sorry for hating you for so many years. He said, it's okay, I forgive you. I'm sorry for leaving.

I said, it's okay, I forgive you. And at 19, I thought, done with that, never have to see that guy ever again. That race is finished. Oh, but man, was I wrong? The race was just beginning. and there was more stuff I had to persevere through. If you fast forward, five years later, I had a son named Sterling,

who I love so much. And I was talking with my friend Steve about everything going on in my life. And the subject come up about my dad, I told him I forgave my dad. I feel like I was kind of doing like a humble brag. Like, yeah, look at me. I've mastered this whole forgiveness thing. And he said, oh, that's great. What does your dad think about your son?

I thought, Steve, he's never going to meet my son. And then he goes, okay, well, what does he think about your wife? I didn't stutter. He's not going to mean my wife either. And Steve leaned in and said, oh, it sounds like you didn't finish this thing. That's when it dawned on me that I had given up in the middle of this race that God had set before me. So, after a couple weeks, months of really wrestling with it, I set up another dinner with me and my dad. and with my wife and with my son Sterling. And tonight, actually, right after this,

he's going to meet my daughter, Ivy. And some days it's really easy to text the guy about basketball or hip-pop or something. But some days, it is really hard. It's really frustrating. And I want the race to be over. And I'm tempted to stop. but I remember back to when I was 19,

and I remember how I wanted to be free from this, but I also remember how I wanted to hope to be a good dad one day. And I remember the example I want to set for my students. I had a model forgiveness and loving even your enemies. And when I remember why I started this race with my dad, I'm able to persevere. For you, there's a race that you are wanting to give up on right now, because it's just getting too difficult.

It's the job that you're in, that there's just so much tension in that makes you feel, ugh, and you want to throw in the towel. Changes, you remember why you started that career in the first place? Maybe for others of you, it's a marriage that you feel like it's falling apart, and there's no real good communication you have. Changes, remember why you fell in love in the first place?

Remember why you committed to that person in the first place? For many of you, it may be my story exactly. It's your dad, it's your mom, it's a sibling, it's a family member who hurt you. But the race set before you is to restore that relationship and you feel like giving up. Remember why you started on that journey of forgiveness in the first place. Remember why we started, then we can persevere. I think the best example of this exact idea is Jesus in the Bible. He's about to die in a few moments.

on a cross. He knows what's coming, this brutal death. And he's praying in a garden to God. And he says, God, if you can take this cup of suffering from me, do it. But not my will, but your will be done. And in his final moments, Jesus remembered why he started the race that he came down to earth for. Not for his will, but for gods. For his glory, but for yours and for my salvation to restore the relationship with us and God, us and him. He remembered why he started the race, so he was able to persevere even to death on a cross. How do we live with an uncluttered pursuit of God's mission? One, we throw off everything that hinders us. And two, we run the race with perseverance. And the last thing that we do is we fix our eyes on Jesus. We fix

our eyes on Jesus. Back to that scripture, Hebrews chapter 12, starting in verse one, we're told, therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance, the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of faith. What is it that your eyes are fixed on? What has captured your attention? Because when our eyes are fixed on anything other than Jesus, it will inevitably lead us away from Jesus. My wife and I have a seven-month-old son named Jace. He is absolutely adorable. We love him like crazy. And one of the things that's so fascinating about having this beautiful seven-month-old boy is the fact that I am learning,

that as a father, if I do not give my son my undivided attention, it is not long at all before he winds up getting into danger and I get into trouble. Because my son, he's seven-old. months old, but listen, dude is crawling. He is climbing on things and he is jumping off of things. The other day, we're in the nursery and I'm like finishing changing his diaper. I take the diaper to go put it where it needs to go. And dude is climbing on his bookshelf like this. And I'm sitting here loving every moment of it. Now, my wife is rightfully so a little bit worried and nervous because it's only moments after he does stuff like this that he then dives headfirst off of whatever he's climbed up on. But I know that if I'm paying attention, I can

can catch him, we can celebrate together, all of the incredible things he's getting to do. And then if I miss and I don't catch him, I just turn to my wife and say, it's okay, babe, because remember, every tear is just another lesson learned. She's not that big of a fan of that, but he and I have a ton of fun together. Now, the same way that for me, as a father, I have to give my son my undivided attention to keep him safe. As followers of Jesus, if we ever find ourselves in a situation where we taken our eyes off of Jesus, then we're going to find ourselves frustrated because all of the crazy clutters and distractions of life will butt in so that instead of actually following Jesus into the better way of living that he wants to lead us, we get caught up along the journey. There's this

moment in Jesus' ministry where he has his disciples going with him to Jerusalem. And it's actually right before this that he pulled all of his disciples aside to tell them that, hey, when I arrive in Jerusalem, I'm actually going there to die. But on the way, James and John, come to Jesus, and they ask him a question. Because James and John at this point had their eyes fixed on what they wanted Jesus to do for them. Because they were convinced that when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem,

he would show up to kick out the religious leaders, to overthrow the Roman Empire, to install a new government with Jesus as king and these disciples as prominent influential politicians. but that's not what it was that Jesus was going to do, or at least not the way that they expected it. And so they come to Jesus with this question. They say, hey, will you do for us whatever we ask you?

And Jesus asks the wise question in response, what is it that you want me to do for you? And so James and John asked Jesus, can we sit on your right and on your left when we come into your glory? what James and John had their eyes fixed on was not Jesus' mission, but theirs. Their eyes were not fixed on what God wanted to do through them, but what Jesus could do for them.

Their eyes were fixed on gaining position and power for themselves. How often do we do the same thing? We're in our relationship with Jesus. Instead of just enjoying his presence, we find ourselves chasing after all of the things that we want from him, rather than just enjoying him. Then later on at the Last Supper, Jesus is with his disciples.

And he gets to this moment where he tells all of them that there's going to come a time when all of you abandon me. Now, Simon Peter, who's like the head honcho of the disciples, is having none of this. And so he is pushing back on Jesus, saying, not a chance. I will never abandon you. I will never disown you.

I will follow you even if it costs me my life. but Jesus tells him, truly, I tell you, you will disown me three times. And Peter is continuing to insist emphatically that he will never turn his back on Jesus. And all the other disciples say the same thing. But it wouldn't be very long before Jesus would be in a garden called Gethsemini. He would be arrested. The disciples would run and Peter would deny him. Then Jesus would be condemned to crucifixion.

He would be beaten, he would be spit, he would be mocked. There would be a crown of thorns placed on his head, a rugged wooden cross placed on his back, and he would be told to carry that cross to a hill called Calvary. And he would be doing it alone. Earlier in Jesus' ministry, he had told everyone that if you want to be my follower, it's going to come with a cost. And the cost is this.

To be my follower, you must be willing to deny yourself, to take up your cross and follow me. but as Jesus is carrying that cross to Calvary, none of his disciples are with him. So a new Simon needed to be called. We're told in Mark's gospel that a certain man from Siren named Simon was called to carry Jesus' cross to Calvary.

And this is what's so fascinating about this moment is that that was supposed to be Simon Peter. Simon Peter was the one that was meant to carry that cross to Calvary with Jesus, because Simon Peter was Jesus' guy, but his eyes were so fixed on protecting himself that he missed out on his opportunity to be with Jesus in one of the most painful and dark moments of his ministry. And how often do we do the same thing?

Where there is something that God wants us to do, but our eyes are so fixed on staying safe that we lose the opportunity altogether. What is that thing for you? Is there something where you felt that prompting from God to step out in faith, to reach out to somebody in need, to do that thing that scares you, to show up for somebody in a situation where you're having to weigh the odds, do I love my neighbor or do I protect my reputation?

And instead of doing what was right, you chose to do what made you look good. How often do we take our eyes off of Jesus because our eyes end up getting fixed on something other than him? And so then what we're told is that Jesus has crucified at 9 o'clock in the morning There is a written charge above his head that says, this is the king of the Jews. And there are two rebels crucified with him. One on his right and one on his left.

Where was it that James and John wanted to be on Jesus' right and on Jesus' left? They could have been with Jesus in this moment, but they abandoned him. And so instead, two rebels were in their place. And so here we have Jesus, the Son of God, who entered history to die on a cross for the forgiveness of the sins of all of humanity. And he had formed this team of disciples to do this mission with him. But they turned their backs on him. And so here the Son of God is dying alone. But not entirely because, like we just saw, there was a new Simon and two rebels with him.

And the thing that is so challenging about this story for me is the fact that, These three guys, Peter, James and John, were three of Jesus' closest disciples. They did life with Jesus for three years. They learned from him. They walked with him. They talked to him daily. And here I am in the modern world, having this issue that I'm the kind of person where out of sight means out of mind.

And I'm supposed to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus. Like if they couldn't, then what hope is there for me? What hope is there for any of us? Like, I'm the kind of person where I've got to have that weird conversation when a friend is getting ready to move away where it's almost like I'm breaking up with them, but like we weren't dating, so that's what makes it weird. But I'm like, hey, just so you know, it's not you, it's me. It's nothing personal. I've just got a problem. Like when I don't see you, I'm not going to think about you. And I'm supposed to follow Jesus with every ounce of my being to keep my eyes fixed

on him. And I have never seen him face to face. What hope is there for us in our modern world where every distraction you can imagine is available at the tips of your fingers. Right? It's just a Google search or Amazon purchase away. And we're called to keep our eyes fixed on him so that we can live with an uncluttered pursuit of God's mission. The one advantage that we have is that we actually know how the story ends. Because what seemed like to everybody else

was the darkest moment in history was actually the moment when Jesus came into his glory. Because Jesus' crucifixion was actually his coronation as the king of creation. because what we know that those disciples did not is that Jesus' crucifixion was not the end of the story. It was just a pause. Because three days later, he would walk out of his own grave,

head held high in victory. And now as his followers, because of his resurrection from the dead, his spirit has been poured out on us. His resurrection power is flowing through our veins, inviting every single one of us to do what those original disciples couldn't. But here's what's beautiful, is that those three guys, Peter, James, and John,

were the three people who were put in charge of leading the initial church, of taking this movement that Jesus started and expanding it throughout the known world to the point where now today, all of us, at all of our life church locations, at Life Church Online, we get to gather together as followers of Jesus because the faithfulness of these three men and the other disciples, because they lived with an unc cluttered pursuit of God's mission.

But that didn't happen until after Jesus rose from the grave, when he fully revealed who it is he was and what it is that he had invited them to be a part of. So how do we, as followers of Jesus in our modern world, live with an unc cluttered pursuit of God's mission? We have to do some work. We first have to throw off everything that hinders us. We have to run our race with perseverance,

and we have to fix our eyes on Jesus. But there's a lot of things that are going to complete, for our attention. Maybe for you, it's your job. You've got the pressures and the stress of trying to provide for your family in an economy and a workplace that isn't very stable and your job isn't guaranteed. Maybe for you, you're somebody where your home life is just chaos. Like maybe you've got a seven-month-old son that you're doing the best you can to take care of, but it is taking all of your energy to just be present. Maybe for you, you've got a loved one who was just diagnosed with a really serious illness. And you're not sure if they're going to be able to pull through, but you are

praying and begging for God to show up and bring healing, but you're not convinced that he will. How do we live with an uncluttered pursuit of God's mission? Even in those moments, we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Because what Jesus is inviting us to do is to live a better way. Back to that Hebrew's text, starting again in chapter 12, verse one. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance. The race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of faith. Then in verse 3, here's what we're told. That it was the joy set before him that led him to endure the cross,

scorning its shame. And then Jesus sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners so that you, so that you will not grow weary and you will not lose heart. How do we live with an unc cluttered pursuit of God's mission? The first thing that we do is we throw off everything that hinders. The second thing that we do is we run with perseverance. And finally, we fix our eyes on Jesus. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for the fact that because of your son, Jesus,

we are being shown a better way. Not just the way that maybe we've been doing things in the past, but the way that leads to life and truth and freedom that you invite all of us into. Now what I know, though, is that there are some of us right now who we would identify as followers of Jesus, but the way that we've been doing life just isn't working. We find ourselves just so overwhelmed

by the clutters and distractions of our world that more than freedom, what we feel is frustration. But today what you realize is that God is inviting you. to throw off something that is hindering you, to actually run with perseverance by remembering why you started and keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. And if that's you at any of our locations or Life Church online, and you want God's help to do exactly that.

Would you raise your hand or type it in the chat so that I can pray for all of us to stay focused on what matters most? Heavenly Father, we thank you, that because of your spirit that it's living in us, because of the resurrection of Jesus from the grave, that all of us have been empowered, that we have been given the wisdom, that we can develop the discipline to keep our eyes fixed on your son, Jesus, that when we're tempted to stop, that you will remind us why we started,

and that in the difficult times we can open up to the people around us about the things that are hindering us so that we can experience healing and freedom and forgiveness. Still in an attitude of prayer with heads bowed and eyes closed, there's another group of you that's in here right now, and as you're hearing this message, what you're realizing is that you've never actually seen or experienced the grace of Jesus in your own life. And you're realizing that that's the thing that you've been missing, a personal relationship with the God who became man in the person of Jesus, who lived on this earth 2,000 years ago to reconcile all of humanity back to God

by the forgiveness of our sins. You see, the story of God is good news. From the very beginning, what we're told is that God created everything as an act of love. and he created you and me, human beings in his image for the purpose of living in relationship with him for eternity. But the problem is, is that we actually messed the story up by our sins. We did things that hurt ourselves, others in the heart of God, and those sins created a separation between us and him.

But God was not okay with that being the state of our relationship. And so he took this mess into his own hands by becoming Jesus, saying, I'm going to do something about this sin to bring my people back to me. And so 2,000 years ago, Jesus entered the story. He lived a perfect life. He died a brutal death on the cross for your sins and for mine. And then on the third day, the good news is that Jesus did not stay dead. He conquered sin, death, and the devil.

So that anybody who puts their trust in him could be saved, could be made new. And that's exactly why you are here today. For the first time to begin a journey of following Jesus, to learn what it means to live a better way. You're here today saying, Jesus, I want a relationship with you. I'm turning from my sins. I'm turning towards you. Today is the day that I give you my life. If that's you, then lift your hands right now, all over the places. People are saying, Jesus, I want to give you my life. Those of you that are joining with us online,

let us know in the chat that you're saying yes to Jesus and beginning a relationship with him. There is nothing better than beginning a new life in Christ. And as people are making that decision, we're going to pray out loud together. Because what we believe is that we are a family. stitched together by the spirit and grace of God. And even though you had to make that decision on your own, you don't have to pray alone at this church. And so all together out loud, repeating after me, Heavenly Father, forgive me, I'm turning from my sin.

I'm turning towards you. I need your love. I need your grace. I need your mercy. Today, I give you my life. In Jesus' name. Amen, amen and amen. Thank you.