Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Love Song, Part 2: Perfect Seasoning

Episode Date: November 1, 2014

God knew what He was doing when He created love and sex. In fact, He wrote the book on it. You’ll be amazed at what God had in mind when He wrote the ultimate Love Song. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dearly beloved, we're gathered here today. I am very excited to share this message with all of you and your love at all of our life churches and our network churches. And people from all over the world on the other side of computer screens at church online. Today, we are in part two of a five-part message series. It's called Love Song. We're going through the book of Song of Solomon. Last week, we actually looked at four different qualities that we should let God build in us to attract the right type of person. Let me just warn you next week, we're going to talk about godly sex.

There is a difference between great sex and godly sex. great sex is just great sex. Godly sex is great sex and godly sex. And if that doesn't get you a little bit excited, then you need a little godly in your life. Okay? We're going to talk about this next week and nothing to be embarrassed about. This is something God created. It is good. And I believe that next week will be really a powerful week for a lot of people. Today what I want to do is I want to talk about a message I'm calling perfect seasoning. I want to look at how do we pursue. How do we pursue? a potential spouse, or how do we actually pursue our spouse if we are married in every single season of the relationship, because there will be different seasons in all relationships

and every season has a purpose. The challenge in our culture today is when we talk about pursuit, there is so much emphasis on the physical end of the pursuit. We forget often about the emotional and spiritual side. In fact, I can remember as a young kid, growing up, the pressure of, you know, are you going to go to first base with a girl and such? In fact, my first date was in the seventh grade, which I don't recommend, but that's kind of what we did back then. My mom drove me and this girl named Tiffany to a movie together, and I remember feeling tremendous pressure that if I didn't get a little shoulder action in the movie, I would be the laughing stock in Jim on Monday. And so I thought I had to get my arm around this girl. It felt

tremendous pressure. I was so nervous. Tiffany was a head taller than me because every girl was a head taller than me in seventh grade. And so she was way up there. I sat by this movie going, I got to get my armor, and I got to get my armor. I got to do this. I tried a couple of the, you know, fake yawn approaches, you know, and chicken down like, oh, and I just would chicken out. And so finally I just said, I'm going to get, I'm doing this thing at the count of three, no backing out. I did one, two, three. And on three, I went up with such a lot. I misjudged my approach, and I hit Tiffany right smack dab in the nose with my elbow so hard. Her head flung back like she was in a car wreck when it came back up.

There was blood coming out of her nose, which you think is the worst tragedy ever on a first date. But oh, mind you, our God works to bring about good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose. And by his grace, I had the wits to run out into the lobby, get a napkin, come back in, and conveniently sit down by Tiffany, putting my arm around her to comfort her as I dabbed the blood off of my first date's nose, okay? You think that's as bad as it gets, it got worse. She had to actually put some in a ball and shove it up there in the nose to keep the blood from coming out.

So I've got my arm around her way up here. She's got a thing in her nose. My arm is falling asleep because she's so tall. And finally, she said, this doesn't feel very comfortable. Do you mind if we just hold hands? I thought, that's okay. At least I got some fingers, you know. And so the problem is I misjudged the approach.

And instead of going in for a perfect finger between finger handheld, I actually got two fingers between her fingers. And was so nervous, I couldn't simply adjust them like this. And so I sat for the rest of the date, making the classic hand-holding mistake of two fingers judged between her fingers. I am here to set you free and help you do much better than that. Okay? we want to talk about how do you pursue in a way that honors God pursuing in all of the seasons.

And so the first thought, if you're taking notes, for those of you that aren't not married, you will have a season of preparation, guarantee you. God loves you enough to walk you through a season of preparation. We see this in Song of Solomon chapter 2, verse 11 and 12. the woman says this. She says, see the what? Let us all say it allowed, all of our churches. She says, see, the winter is past.

And then she says, the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth. The season of singing has come. The cooing of doves is heard in our land. What season are they in now? Winter is gone and where are they? Now they are in springtime, right? Winter is gone and they are in springtime, right?

spring. She recognized that they had a season of winter. What is winter? A season of preparation, where the roots are growing deeper. Some of you right now, you wish you were relationally speaking in spring. You wish you had that perfect someone right now, but I need to tell you, God may have you in winter when he is actually preparing you for spring. I don't know what this would look like, but don't neglect God's work during winter. For some of you right now, you'd love to be in a relationship, but quite honestly, God is healing you from some hurts in the past. Maybe you had a marriage that went horribly wrong.

Maybe you were with someone who betrayed you or hurt you, and you're now just learning to forgive. You're starting to heal in your soul. You're getting to the place where you're almost able to start trusting again. You're in winter. God is doing a work to prepare you for the next season. It could be, spiritually speaking, that your spiritual roots need to grow deeper before you're strong enough to sustain the weight of a spiritual relationship.

Some of you, it might be simply very practical. You need to learn to, like, make your car payment every month. You need to learn to show up on time for work. You need to learn to change your underwear every three days, whether you think you need to or not. I'm just kind of joking about that. It just comes out sometimes. But you need to learn some responsibility before you're ready.

You are in winter. Winter is not a bad thing. You can't have spring without winter. You may be in a season of preparation. I look back to my winter season back when I was in college with so much fondness because before I was a Christian, I did not know how to date a girl with integrity. Honestly, all I knew how to do basically was sin. Didn't know how to treat a woman in a way that was honorable. And so I recognized this and said, I need to stop dating until God can help

renew my mind. And so for almost two years, I didn't date anybody. And I took Saturday nights, it's kind of cheesy, but I called them date nights with God. I know, like, I wouldn't do that now, but I did that then. That's what I called it. And it was a really intimate time where instead of going out partying like I used to, I simply read the Bible because I'd never read it before. I read all the way through and I would journal what I was learning. And I listened to worship music and I was connecting my spirit with God and learning to worship him. Then I started reading all these books on godly marriages because I hadn't seen that model

anywhere. I didn't know how to love a woman in a way that would be honorable to God and to her. And so I started learning that. And I listened to these things called cassette tapes. Many of you don't even know what that is. Just thank God in heaven. You don't. About how do you have a great man?

and I was so moved during this time, I just started writing love notes to Amy. Now, I didn't even know who Amy was. I hadn't met her, but I knew that God knew who she was, and so I just wrote to the woman who's going to be my wife, and I told her, here's, here's what God's showing me about how to treat you, and here's how I want to love you, and here's how I hope to parent our kids. And I had, like, a whole shoebox full of love notes that I ended up giving Amy, and it's like, like, actually got me points. I had no idea how many points that would get me. But this was a season of preparation that I needed to let God renew my mind so I could be ready to carry the blessings of what he had for me. Some of you right now,

if you are in winter, let me just tell you, embrace the season. Embrace the season that you're in because you cannot have spring without winter. If you're not yet married, you will have a season of preparation. Then when you meet somebody, this is kind of interesting and fun. If you're taking knows you may have a season of infatuation. You meet someone and they are perfect in every single way. They are perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect. All the love songs on the radio finally makes sense. You know what I'm talking about? You walk into a card store and you want to buy every card for your pookie bear. You know, you look up into the clouds and you see hearts and, you know, there's Cupid and there's all these signs that you're just right for each other. This is most likely what's

going on in verses 8 through 10. Let me show you what the Shulamite woman says about Solomon. Here's what she says, verse 8. This is hilarious to me. She says, listen, my beloved, look, look, look. Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills. Can you picture this for a moment with me? Okay, he is in love.

So what's he doing? I'm coming to see you, and I'm excited, and we're going. the movies tonight and oh i wrote you a card and i've got a rose just for you here he comes bounding over the hills verse nine she says my beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag for years amy called me her young stag now i am her middle-aged stag okay look she says this is hilarious there he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice. What is this guy doing? He's playing peekaboo, and she likes it. It's not the creepy kind of peekaboo. There is such thing. He's like, hello, you're so cute, and she likes it. Here's the deal. 20 years later in marriage,

when he tries that, 50% of the time she will like it, and 50% of the time, she will like it. And 50% percent of the time, she will hate his guts. It's the oddest thing. And men, if you're not married, you just need to know this. When you get married, you can come up to her and say the same thing on Monday as you say on Tuesday. And on Monday it may be cute, and on Tuesday, you're disgusting. She may be like getting dressed or getting in the shower, and you look and go, who I want some of that. And one day, you're adorable. The next day, you're a pervert, and there is no rhyme or reason as to why. It's just a mystery. of women that no one has figured out in the history of the world. But it never stops you. You

always say it, and then you hold your breath, wondering, am I cute today? Or am I a pervert today? I'm just preaching truth, man, just preaching truth. Just hang with me, all right? It's just the way it is. He's peeking through the windows, and she thinks it's adorable. Then verse 10, my beloved spoke and said to me, arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me. We're going on a date, okay? They're infatuated with each other. There's a season of infatuation. Everything is perfect. I remember this season with Amy. I mean, I was so ridiculously in love. We were naming our future children even though we were not engaged yet. Be careful if you come up with a lot of names. That's why we have six kids, okay? We'd have a kid for every name we picked. One of the names was Joy.

And we have a daughter named Joy. And so here I am in love. I walk into this store and I saw a joy pillow marked down 80% off. This must be a sign from God. It's on sale, a joy pillow. I had no idea that it was not only not a pillow. It was actually a latch hook rug that had to be made, but it was also a Christmas pillow.

And that's why it was marked down 80% in February. But I didn't know. I just saw joy. So I'm so in love. I buy this thing. Get it home. open it up, like, it's a latch hook rug. I don't know if you've ever made a latch hook rug or not before,

but there's like seven billion threads. And so like for the next nine months, about the only thing I did, just take a little pink thread, through a little pink square, do this little thing, do this little thing with a smile on my face. I'm doing this for my honey poo. I'm coming bounding over the hills with a joy latch hook rug. I would rather have six cats live in my bed than ever make a latch hook rug again as long as I live. But during this season of infatuation, it just seemed like the right thing to do.

You may have a season like this. I did a little research on just the emotions behind infatuation just for fun. And what the experts say is that this season typically lasts between one day and six months. there are very rare cases, the experts say, that it will go as long as two years. A lot of times you get in this season of infatuation and you think, oh, it doesn't get any better than this. Then when it gets bad, you panic and you go home, take your toys and say, forget this, okay? When you're in the season of infatuation and you think it couldn't get any better than this,

let me tell you right now, it can get indescribably better than that. But first, it's got to get real. during that season what you feel is not real it's all emotion okay it's not the depth of commitment of real sacrificial love if you'll work through the oh we everything's perfect through oh my gosh this person's not perfect and you actually lay down your life to serve someone in marriage and you go through some really good times and some really hard times and some things you thank god for and some things where you just hold on to god just to get through and you learn to forgive one another, and you learn to work through pain, and you learn to seek God through all seasons, 15 years into it, 20 years into it, 25 years, 45 years into it, you can have something indescribably and infinitely better than infatuation.

You've got the lay down your life to love him or her as Christ, love the church. depth of spiritual commitment and intimacy in a spiritual friendship that stands the test of time, a marriage through thick and thin that honors God. If you will work through those different seasons. Now, for those of you that are dating right now, and you are infatuated with the perfect pooky-poo, okay, let me give you just three things to limit during this time. If you're taking notes, limit your time, limit your talk, limit your touch. You're going to want to spend every moment together time, every moment together.

Do not neglect and abandon your friends. Do not quit your job to go and spend all your time with this person. Incorporate them into your world and you get incorporated into their world. Your potential success will be based on being in a spiritual community where there is strength around you. Do not abandon all your relationships to go after this one person. Limit your time. Also limit your talk. do not on your second date say, you must be the one for me.

I love you with all my heart. Let's start planning the marriage. Don't do that. This happens all the time. What you're doing is you're putting too much pressure on a relationship that does not have a foundation strong enough to sustain that type of pressure. What you want to do is give it time to build a spiritual friendship. The strongest foundation will be a spiritual friendship.

The longer you're building the friendship, the stronger the foundation will be. If you overspeak too soon, you'll put too much weight on a relationship that cannot sustain it, and it will crumble very, very quickly. Third, limit your touch. The moment you start honking, squeezing, rubbing, patting, pulling whatever, all of the sudden, your lustful emotions take over and this relationship will go somewhere that God has not designed it to go just yet. Again, what we're doing is we're not building lustful. attraction, we're building a spiritual and a friendship attraction, and that makes the foundation

solid. If you are infatuated limit, your time, limit your talk, limit your touch, build a friendship, and that will serve you well in the years to come. What are you going to see? You're dating somebody, you want to date someone. You're going to have a season of preparation. You also may have a season of infatuation. In all seasons, I want to encourage you to do two. two specific things. No matter what season your relationship might be in all seasons, pursue intimacy. Pursue intimacy. This is so important. Here's the problem. Most people think that intimacy is romance. Intimacy is not romance. Intimacy is not flowers and heart chocolates and romantic candlelight dinners. That is not intimacy. If you want to know what intimacy is, intimacy is simply transparency.

Intimacy is no secrets. Intimacy. Into me you see. Intimacy. It's letting the walls down. It's sharing all of who you are. It's opening up your hearts, your dreams, your fears. Romance is a byproduct of intimacy. You are intimate, you will be romantic. But romance comes and romance goes. Intimacy is what will hold the relationship together. It's being transparent and intimate and vulnerable. And in fact, this is what we see him asking of her in verse 14. He says, my dove, in the clefts of the rock,

in the hiding places on the mountainside, you're going to watch her lure her out of hiding. He says, show me your face. Let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely. Instead of, come on out, let me talk with you. Let me hear your dreams. I want to look you in the eye and I want to talk with you. This is developing intimacy.

Think about this. Why is it that when you're dating you feel so close to somebody? Because you talk all the time. Young girls like, all we ever do is talk. We just talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. We just talk, talk, talk. Then they get married like, what happened? He stopped talking.

I don't know why, okay? That's a very common problem. When Amy and I were dating, we lived a fair amount of distance, so we talked all the time on our landlines, remember those? We would talk until two in the morning, and it was ridiculous. We were like, okay, we've got to test in the morning, so we got to go, so I'm not going to hang up. You hang up first.

No, no, I'm going to stay at all. You hang up first. Okay, at the count of three, we're going to hang up together. Did any of you ever do this? One, two, three, hang up. You're still there, aren't you? I knew it. I knew it.

I knew it. And you're just talk and talk and talk and talk and talk. And then you get married and life starts happening and you wonder why we're not as intimate. Here's one of the challenges for guys that the problem is most of us guys, we like headlines. Just give me the facts. Give me what I need to know. Women like 73,000 pages of details. They want to know everything.

And when we're not opening up about everything, suddenly they feel a very real lack of intimacy. And let me explain how this impacted our marriage negatively and how it improved. I kind of, my job is to serve God. I go to the church every day, to the office at the church. I do everything's like God-ish in what I do. So I don't think in my guy mind, I need to tell you. you God language to help you understand what I'm doing honors God. So I just give you the facts. Like I'd come home and say, well, I finally made a decision we're doing this. And Amy would be like,

well, didn't you pray about it? Like, I don't have to tell you I prayed about it. I want you to assume I prayed about it. And what happened is because of the way I was presenting things, she was feeling spiritually distant from me. So I learned, and this is really, really important, I learned to include her in on the processing of how I made a decision. And so now I'll say, you know, I was thinking about this thing for quite some time, and I prayed really passionate about it for the last three days. I actually, in my U-Version Bible verse today, there was a verse that kind of helped me to see this. I called two other pastors, and we prayed about it together,

and I feel like God is leading me to do this, therefore I've decided. All of a sudden, by giving her those details, she feels intimately involved in my spiritual process, and this is a big, big win for our marriage. I cannot overstate how important it is to invite her into my world and help her to see those details. Now, the same is true in reverse for me. For example, when I preach every single week, I just honestly, I preach, I got to go home, I go to work.

I don't hear from most of you, talk to you. I really don't hear hardly anything about the message. Amy is one of the few people that will ever say anything about it. It's just kind of, I preached and it kind of goes out there and I hope it does something. I don't hear much. So Amy will say, I liked that message. And I'm like, okay, great.

What'd you like about it? Like, what part? Like, was there a favorite part? What'd you like? And she's learned that giving me specific details really ministers to me. Like, you know, that part about godly character last week, that was so important.

I know that it'll help a lot of people. And I love the part about the strong, sexy Roman nose. But I didn't really say sexy. I said strong Roman nose because I wouldn't use sexy. Don't tell them I said sexy. And then we're getting an argument about that. But anyway, back to what I like about the sermon. And this really ministers to me because it gives me some sense of feedback of what might have been helpful to people.

Now, you want to take it to another level, another level. Open up and talk about your fears. Open up and talk about where you feel weak. Open up and talk about where you feel vulnerable. Open up and talk about where you feel tempted. Tell your spouse, oh my gosh, I feel like I'm weak in this area and I really want to honor God. And would you pray that I would be strong? And talk about, you know, I'm kind of worried about this, and this is what's going on in my mind,

and I'm not quite sure we're doing a good job here in parenting our kids. And when you take it to that level, you have a depth of intimacy that will truly build your relationship. Here's a bottom line. I'm about to say something that will make some of you uncomfortable, but I'm going to say it, and I'm not going to pull it back. If you have secrets from your spouse, you will never have the intimacy that God desires. You may be lacking something, wanting something more. If you have something that you are hiding, something you are holding back, if there is a secret you are keeping from your spouse,

you will never have the intimacy that God desires. In all seasons, pursue intimacy. And don't ever do what many people do. Do not mistake being close by someone as being the same as being close to someone. There's a big difference between being close by and close to. We often think just because we're close by, we are close to. Just because we are close by does not mean we are close to. We think we're close because we share everything.

We share the house. We share the same food. We share the same bed. We share the same toothpaste. We share the same toilet, which is sometimes disgusting to her because he doesn't always have good aim. But we share all these different things, and we think because we are close by, we are close to. Some of you have simply fallen into the rut of being close by. The good news is you can always improve.

You can become close to when you always pursue intimacy. And I don't want to oversimplify it, but it really does start with, hey, come on over here, let's talk. Show me your face. Your voice is lovely. Your voice is sweet. Let's talk about these things in every season. In every season, pursue intimacy.

And then if you're taking notes, in every season, protect your purity. Protect your purity. Protect your physical and sexual purity. Verse 15, he says this. Before I read you what he says, I want you to notice who says it? The guy says it. And I can't prove this. I don't have a Bible verse for this.

But in my mind, the guy should take the spiritual lead in protecting the purity. I don't want Amy to ever have to come up to me and say, hey, can we raise the standards? I as the guy want to set the standard and say we're going to pursue purity in our dating relationship in our marriage relationship I believe it's my responsibility I can't prove it you can argue with me

you can disagree with me but from my perspective gentlemen you take the lead you set the standard you raise it high and you lead her closer to Christ he says cash for us the little foxes the foxes that ruin the what that ruin the what the vineyards

what's the vineyard what did we learn last week remember what she said don't stare at me because I'm dark, my own vineyard, I have neglected the vineyard is the body. She says, let's catch for us the foxes that could ruin our purity of the body, our vineyards that are in bloom. What would a fox do? The foxes would come and they'd eat the blossoms off in a vineyard, and then when the blossoms would never fall off, they would never get a bud or never get a grape. Catch for us those foxes that could ruin the purity of our bodies. Listen to me, if you are not yet married and you continue to you,

to date someone that consistently dishonors God with sexual purity. You just need to know you could be marrying someone that does not fear the standard of God. That's it. You just need to know that. You just need to know it. And notice I said consistently. I'm not saying perfect. If the guy kind of goes, oh, that's a good looking girl. Does that one time or something, that just means he's a guy and he had a weak moment. If every time some girl walks by, he's like, hooka, huga, huga, every single time, what you've got is a guy who is weak in this area has not let the power of Christ help him overcome this, and you are dating someone who does not fear the standard of God. Basically, when it comes to sexuality in your dating relationship, I said last week, you got one and two options.

You honor God together or you sin together, and that's it. If you want to have a marriage that is based on righteousness, you date based on righteousness. You don't build your future marriage on a foundation of sin. So no matter what's happened in the past, you say, well, like I did, I had messed up massively in the past. But with Amy, we're going to get this thing right. From this day forward, we're going to honor God. If you want to honor God with sexual purity, I give you just four quick pieces of advice,

set your standards up front. You meet somebody, you just tell them, hey, there's certain things I don't do. You don't wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, I forgot to tell you. I don't have sex before married. You tell them up front. I also recommend you keep four feet on the floor. I do not know why you're not writing this stuff down. This is so good.

You keep four feet on the floor. I would be writing this stuff down. Because whenever, if you've got four feet on the floor and you're watching a movie, you are not in danger. The moment her two feet come up over your legs and you find that there are no hair on her legs, things happen. You keep four feet on the floor. You should write this down.

Number three, keep everything buttoned, zipped, latched, twisted, and tied. It's amazing how much easier it is to be sexually pure with all your clothes on than when your clothes come off. And number four, keep your tongue in your own mouth as long as you can. I'm not saying it's a sin to kiss before you're married, but I am telling you the minute you do, things happen. The minute there's like saliva that starts flowing, things get vulnerable. I never was tempted sexually with Amy until the first time we kissed.

And then there's just something about, you know, I mean, I'll just tell you honestly, I love Jesus. I'm a pastor, but there's only so long that my hands are satisfied doing this. After a while, they just get tired and they start to, is it okay if I tell the truth? The truth will set you free. Keep your tongue in your own mouth as long as you can. The truth will set you free. So anyway, enough of that.

Catch for us the little foxes that ruin the vineyards. Next week we'll talk about more how do we do this in our marriage relationship because it's really important not just to protect our purity when we're single, but to protect our purity always and all seasons protect purity. I want to show you what happens here. They went through a season of preparation. They grew through infatuation. They pursued intimacy and they protected purity.

And I want you to watch what this wife says about her husband. This is so, so powerful. She says this verse 16. My beloved is mine, and I am his. He browses among the lilies. May I pause there and say there's about 18 things I would like to say about the last part of that verse, but I will refrain myself from saying any of them, I will just read it one more time in case you missed it.

He browses among the lilies. That's in the Bible. You should read your Bible. Then in verse 17, don't miss this, she says this, until the day breaks and the shadows flee. What is that? That's morning. What'd she just say? I want you all night long.

All night long. Turn my beloved and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the rugged hills. This is the word of God. thanks be to God listen if you want what everybody else has do what everybody else does if you want what few people have do what few people do

seek Jesus first you're not seeking a spouse you're seeking the one and waiting on the two seek first his kingdom his righteousness and then everything will be added unto you Father we pray that you would do a divine work in our hearts today as we seek you in this season of our life all of our churches as you're praying today, I want to ask you, no matter where you are,

to take a moment to embrace the season that you're in. And as I do so, I want to acknowledge right now that some of you are in a very difficult and very painful season. And if that's the case, I'm going to ask God to do a miraculous work that sometimes winters can be long and cold and lonely and hard. But I'm going to ask God's presence to do a divine work. All of our churches, if you'd say, no matter what season, I want to embrace God's purpose for me and my relationship in this season.

Would you lift up your hands right now? I'm going to pray a prayer. I hope it's everybody. God, thank you for those today who would look for your purpose in every season, knowing that there's a season and a time for everything. And, God, we don't always like the season that we're in, but we know that you have a purpose. God, I pray that your Holy Spirit would do a work in us.

Conform our minds to the image of Christ. God, may we become more like your son, Jesus, and all that we do. God, I pray that you would do a work of preparation in us. God, wherever there needs to be healing, bring healing. Wherever there is sin, God, burn it off by the power of your spirit. God, forgive us for anything that would hinder our relationship with you first or with others. And God, as best we can by the power of Christ in us, we embrace the season that you put us in, knowing that you do.

do work in all things, God, to bring about good to those who love you and are called according to your purpose. As you keep praying today at all of our churches, the good news is some of you are about to enter into the newest and most important season that you've ever had in your life. From a spiritual perspective, we might call it it's harvest time. What does that mean? Well, I believe with all my heart that for some of you, if you look at your life right now, you would acknowledge very plainly, I'm not pursuing God. I am not a fully devoted. follower of Jesus. Some of you, yesterday, you might have even said, hey, I don't even know if I believe in God, but something's happening right now. You're being drawn to the things of God.

Let me just tell you what that is. That is the power of the Holy Spirit, doing what God does best, loving you toward him. In the back of your mind, you're going to realize you have a spiritual need. You need his forgiveness, and you need Christ in your life. But there may be a thought that says, well, I need to clean up my life first. I need to be better first. I'm going to tell you right now, that is not the order in which you come. You come first. You come to Jesus as you are. Jesus, the son of God who was without sin, died on a cross. On the third day, he rose from the dead so that anyone could come and call on him. And when they do, he would forgive every single sin and make them brand new. There are those of you at all of our churches, you recognize, it's

harvest time for you. You maybe walked in or you're watching online or you're watching on television, and you recognize, I don't have a relationship with God, but I want one. I need his grace and I need his forgiveness. So guess what? Today is harvest time. Today is the day when you surrender your life completely to Christ, and that is exactly why you are here at this moment

in all of our churches, those of you who say, yes, that's me. I recognize I am not walking with him. I need his grace. I need his forgiveness today. By faith, I surrender my life to Christ. That's your prayer. Lift your hands high right now.

all over the place and say, yes, that is my prayer right here in this section and right over here as well. God bless you guys right up here up close to me. Praise God for you. Others of you right back here and here as well say yes, I surrender right back here in this middle section. Way over here, both of you on this side, man, thank God for you and over here as well. Others today who say yes by faith, I surrender to him. Church online, you click right below me. We're going to pray together. Nobody prays alone. Welcome to the family of God. Would you all pray aloud? Pray Heavenly Father. Father, forgive me of my sins, make me brand new. I believe Jesus died for me and he rose again

so I could live for you. Fill me with your spirit so I could know you and serve you and follow you. My life is not my own. Today I give it to you. In Jesus' name I pray. Would you all worship really, really big. Thank God today. Do not take it for granted new life found in Christ. Welcome to God's family today.