Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Stand, Part 1: Stand Out

Episode Date: August 2, 2014

When we’re pushed to our limit, we have a choice to make. Will we choose the path of least resistance or will we have the courage to take a Stand? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, it is awesome to have all of you with us today at all of our life churches and our network churches. And before we dive into the teaching, I need to take a moment and just give glory and thanksgiving to our good God that on this weekend at all of our life churches, we are celebrating over 1,700 people being baptized, made new in the image of Christ. And it's amazing. Every single one of those has a story that matters to God and matters to us. I just want to say to all of you, congratulations. I love you, and I'm so thankful that God is doing a significant work in your life, and you've been made new in Christ. Today we are starting a brand new five-part message series.

I couldn't be more excited about this. The series is called Stand, and what I want to do today is I want to talk to you about how do we stand out. All of our churches could you say stand out? One, two, three, say stand out. How do we stand out in the right ways at the right time for the right reason? Because I believe with all my heart that the content of the next few messages really could impact your life in a very significant way. Because when we do stand out in the right ways at the right time for the right reason,

it can change the course and direction of our lives. The flip side is true as well. when we compromise on the wrong things, in the wrong ways, at the wrong times, it can cost us way more than we can even imagine at this time in our lives. So over the next few weeks, we're going to look at how do we take a stand for the things that matter most. And I want to tell you where we're going, just so you'll know today what's coming up in the next few weeks. Today we're going to talk about standing out. Next week, we're going to look at how do we stand up for what is right. And we're going to watch Daniel as we take five different stories from the Old

Testament book of Daniel. We're going to see Daniel actually stand up to the king who had the power to take his life. And Daniel stands up to him and tells him to stop sinning and to do what's right. Really a fascinating story of how we stand up for that which is true. Week three, we're going to talk about standing for what matters most. The king says, you can't pray anymore for a certain amount of time and Daniel realizes this is something he must do, and so he stands for what is right. Week number four is by far my favorite week. I was writing this on a plane on an international trip, and we're going to look at how do you stand in faith and prayer. Very emotional message to me as Daniel has been praying, and Michael, the archangel, visits him to tell him that

God has already heard his prayer, the cry of his heart. And I believe this will minister to many people in a very deep way as we stand in faith believing God to work on our behalf. And then week five, we're going to talk about standing firm in the fire when there's opposition. Look at the story of Shadrach, Mishak, and Abindigo. How do we stand firm when there are those who are opposing us? Today, though, we're going to talk about standing out. What I want you to do is kind of put on your thinking caps, if you will, because we're going to do a little work today and lay some groundwork or a foundation

that will help carry us in the weeks to come. To start, we'll be in Daniel 1, and let me just give you some of the back story. King Nebuchadnezzar was the king at this time. Now, my pastor, Pastor Nick, he used to teach us whenever he said King Nebuchadnezzar, we were to go, boo. So I'm going to do it just one time because if you do it the whole time, it's going to get really, really annoying. So let me just try it one time. We're talking today about King Nebuchadnezzar.

That's pretty good. He was an evil king who destroyed. Jerusalem. And this guy, he was so evil. He didn't just, like, destroy the city, but he burned their temple. And then to add insult to injury, he went into their temple and took basically their religious symbols and crushed them, destroyed them, burned them, as if to say, the worship of your Yahweh God is so obsolete, I'm taking out anything that even matters remotely close to your worship of the one you say is the one true God. Then not only did he just, you know, destroy the city, the temple, all the religious symbols, but to make it even worse, he said, essentially,

I'm going to destroy your future as well as your present. He said, go find, to his leaders, go find the sharpest and the brightest sons of the royalty and the nobles. And I want you to basically kidnap them, bring them to me. I'm going to indoctrinate them in the Babylonian culture, train them for three years, then they're going to be future leaders in my government. So not only am I destroying Jerusalem and your present, I'm destroying your future by taking the best of your best and making them my leaders so they won't be yours. And so that's kind of the back story. We'll look at Daniel 1, 3 through 5, and this will kind of re-explain some of what I did and

give you a little more of the details. Verse 3 says this. Okay, here's what happened. The king ordered Aspanas. His friends called him Ash. At least I'm hoping. I'm really hoping he didn't grow up in the fifth grade being called Ashbinaz because you can only imagine how that would have been. Okay, so the king ordered Ash, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king's service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility. Young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing apt to do. for every kind of learning, well-informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace. In other words, go find those who are voted most likely to succeed and bring those to me. Those are the ones that I want. It goes on to say, he was to teach them the language. In other words, I want them to speak like we speak. And the literature of the Babylonians, I want them to think like we

think. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's to speak. table. Now, this is important. We're going to come back to this. I want them to eat from the king's table. Then they were to be trained for three years, and after that, they were to enter the king's service. Now, here's what I want you to notice. This was a very intentional and strategic plan to indoctrinate these young boys into the Babylonian culture. In other words, the king wanted them to think like Babylonian's thought, behave like. Babylonians behave and believe what Babylonians believe. This, I believe, mirrors much of the strategy of our spiritual enemy, the Prince of Darkness, who wants those who are followers of Christ

to think like he thinks, believe what he believes, and behave like he would want us to behave. In fact, I believe Satan wants everybody on planet Earth to disregard the teaching of the one true God and to submit and surrender to his systems of this world. And there is a full-on spiritual attack against people today as Satan lies and is he deceives. And he tries to lure people away from God's best and live according to a lower standard. And that's why I would argue with all of my heart that it is completely impossible to be a sort of Christian and have any success in this world. It is completely impossible to be what some have called a cultural Christian and have spiritual success. You may say, what is a cultural Christian? Well, they're everywhere. There are people

who'd say, you know, do you believe in God? Well, yeah, I believe in God. You know, are you a Christian? Well, yeah, yeah, I'm a Christian. I mean, I'm not something else. And I go to church, you know, on Easter and, you know, big holidays like that. And of course, you know, I was born in this country and, you know, yeah, we're Christians. We're Christians. Is there any, like, outward and visible sign? Well, you know, I'm a good person and I try hard. Of course, you know, I mean, I'm not religious like some of those weirdo people, you know. You know, some people take it too seriously, but yeah, I'm kind of a Christian, a cultural Christian, okay? I would argue all day long. It is completely impossible to be a sort of kind of cultural Christian and have any sense of spiritual

success and victory against the temptations and darkness of this world. You can't just kind of be in and have the victory God wants you to have. It would be like saying, you know, can you work out one time a year and be, you know, physically in shape? No, no, no, no, no. And logically, we know that. You can't say to your wife one time a year, you know, I love you, one time a year and expect her to really believe that. You can't go to church for one hour a week. You know, week. You can't go to church for 50 minutes a week. I said that because about half of you were 10 minutes late. Oh, preacher just took a shot. You didn't see that one coming, did you? You can't go to church for 50 minutes a week, and that's it. And expect to be growing and thriving

spiritually. You've got to make the presence of God a priority in your life where you seek him, where you depend on him, where you're living and dwelling in His Word, where it's feeding you, renewing your mind, you're learning to walk by faith and not by sight. You're hearing His spirit guide you. You cannot be just sort of kind of a Christian and have the life and victory that he wants you to have. In fact, that's why Paul said in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 11 and 13, he said, put on the full armor of God so that you can do what? Everybody help me out. Those of you in Wellington, Florida, help me out.

Everybody so that you can wait. So you can take your stand. Sometimes you have to take a stand against the devil's schemes. Therefore put on the full armor of God, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, and the shield of faith, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, and the belt of truth.

When your shoes are prepared with the gospel, the readiness of peace, you put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground. And after you've done everything else to stand, sometimes you have to take a stand for that which matters most in the right way, at the right time, for the right reasons.

And I would submit to you that if you are never standing out and you're always blending in, then you are not truly committed to follow Jesus. because when you follow him, you will be different. You will be set apart. The word holy means to be set apart. Be holy as I am holy, God says. And there are times when you have to stand out

if you're truly following Jesus. And that's what we're going to see happen in the life of Daniel and his three friends. Let's look at verse 6 and 7 as the story goes on. Among those who are chosen from Judah, Daniel, Hennoniah, Michiel, and Azariah. Verse seven. The chief officials were going to watch, they're going to change two things. They're going to change their diet, and they're going to change their names.

Change the diet, change the names. The chief official gave them new names. To Daniel, the name Belt-Cesar, to Hananiah, Shadrach, to Michiel Mishak, to Azariah Abindigo. Now, why did they change their names? Let's get a little context. How old were these boys? We don't know for sure. Most biblical scholars would say they were somewhere between the ages of 12 and 15. We're talking like junior high or freshman, maybe sophomore in high school, young boys. They are stripped of their identity, taken 1,000 miles away from their home, crushed of all dignity. And the first thing the king wants is he wants their names to be changed. Why? Because their original names were all tied to the worship of Yahweh, the one true God.

The meaning of their names given by their parents were the worship and serving of Yahweh. All their new names were tied to the worship of the false pagan gods. So essentially, every time someone calls you by name, there is a reminder you're supposed to serve these pagan gods. Every time somebody says your name, oh yeah, you don't serve Yahweh. anymore, you're serving our gods and not these other gods, stripped of their identity. Then they're going to change their diet. You're supposed to eat, we read earlier, that the food that's prepared for the king, which I don't know about you, but I'm kind of thinking, that sounds good to me, right? I want what the king's going to eat. Whatever he is, serve it to

me. The problem was the food that was prepared for the king, the meat and the wine were dedicated to pagan gods. This created a real problem for Daniel and his friends because they wanted to honor and worship Yahweh in every way possible. And to eat or drink anything dedicated to pagan gods would cross a line in their minds and be disrespectful to God. So verse 8 is probably the key verse of everything we're going to look at. Verse 8 says, but Daniel did what? Let's all say it aloud. But Daniel resolves not to defile himself. I want to read this again.

Daniel did what? He resolved not to defile. himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself in this way. Very interesting what we see taking place. I want you to notice this. Daniel did not fight back when his name was taken. Did you notice that? Why? I'm guessing because he's like, hey, you can call me whatever you want. You can tie me to whatever God you want. I know who I am. An outward name does not define who I am in my heart. You can call me whatever you want, but I know inwardly I will always worship and know and serve my God. My name is not worth standing

up for. He didn't defend his name. When did you take a stand? He took a stand when God's name might be defamed. I'm not going to let you insult the name of my God. I've resolved not to defile myself and eat this food. And I love this. He made a predetermined resolution. Before the temptation was ever there, he pre-decided what he would do and what he would not do. He pre-decided, and that's why he was successful. You see, had he not pre-decided, you put the food in front of him, he could have done what I've done so many times in my life where I've compromised and rationalized something that wasn't really right. I might have said, looks pretty good. I mean, obviously God's hand was on this because it looks so good.

I might have said, you know, you got to eat something. I'll do it just this once and God will forgive me. And hey, all the other Jewish boys are eating this too, and it doesn't look like God's going to strike us down. So I'll just do this and it's not that big a day. You have to eat something anyway. But here's the key. He predetermined. He resolved in his heart ahead of time.

He made a decision before he was faced for. with a temptation to do what is right. And I would argue all day long, for those of you that are followers of Christ, your success in so many different spiritual avenues will be determined by what you decide ahead of time. Many of you, and I don't know who this is going to speak to, but I believe the Holy Spirit will personalize it for you. There are some things you need to predetermine in your heart. You need to decide now that no matter what happens in the future, I will always do such and such. Or I will never do such and such. I've pre-decided to serve God and honor him in this way. For example, for me,

before I was a Christian, I was sexually impure. When I became a Christian, I realized, well, that's something that I shouldn't be doing. So I pre-decided not to have sex again until I was married. If I met some girl that I thought was cute, I'd just tell her, just want you to know, I'm not doing a jiggy-jiggy with you, okay? And I would just tell them. And then they're like, you're weird, and then that would be over. And so it really worked. toward my goal. But I predetermined what I would not do. I didn't wait until it in the backseat of the car going, blah-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-h. And I, oh, God, what should I do? Help, leave me, spirit. You know, no, I didn't do that. It was a predetermined decision I resolved in my heart not to do this

until it was blessed by God in the covenant of marriage. And therefore, it was successful because it was a predetermined resolution. So some of you, you'll predetermined not to do some things you used to do. You used to be a party freak, and now you're selling out to Jesus. And so you're like, okay, I'm not supposed to get drunk. I predetermined in my heart, I'm not going to get drunk. That may mean for you, you go to the party, but you don't drink. Or it may mean you can't handle that, so you don't go to the party. Whatever it is, you've predetermined in your heart not to dishonor the body, the temple of the Holy Spirit, so therefore I'm not going to get drunk. You may predetermine in your heart not to be involved in the discussions at your office

where people are trash talking the opposite sex are always bashing the boss. I'm just, you know, I'm not going to be a part of that, so you decide ahead of time, I'm just going to walk away if that comes up. You may be married, and so you predetermined in your heart not to have intimate conversations

with the opposite sex. Everybody else does that at work. She talks about how bad her husband is. He talks about how bad his wife is. And you just decided, you know what, I'm not going to go there. I'm going to be nice to people, but I'm not going to open up

and have those types of conversation. You predetermine what you're not going to do. You also may predetermine what you are going to do. You know, for me, I'm predetermined I'm going to church every single week. If I'm in town, there is no doubt about it. The worship of God is a priority to me. If I'm not in town, I'm going to be at church online because I need the teaching of the word to empower me in life. It's a predetermined decision.

I have predetermined that I'm going to keep my eyes pure. I'm not going to look at something that could cause me to, you decide ahead of time before the Tim takes. now resolved in my heart. You decide before the event what it is that you will do and not do. I'll give you another random example. Amy and I have good friends. They've been friends with us almost since the beginning of the church. And they have courtside tickets.

In my town, we have a pro basketball team known as the Oklahoma City Thunder. And so two or three times a year, they will invite us to come and sit courtside with them. and I've got to be honest, man, it's better up there. It's like really cool. But before I went the first time and sat there, I actually thought about this in my mind. I thought, okay, I'm going to go down there. And we have these dancers, several of them go to our church. They're like really sweet girls I hear.

I don't know them, but they're like really, really good girls. They dance in what's known as the Oklahoma City Thunder. And I thought they're going to be dancing like right in front of me, like right in front of me. And I just was thinking about this going, okay, If there was like a guy with no shirt on dancing right in front of Amy, you know, I don't know what, you know, like, you know, how, I don't know how the guy would dance, but if that was going on, I probably wouldn't want Amy standing up with a hanky going,

shake it, shake it, you know. I just wouldn't make me feel close to her. And so I thought ahead of time, I just, I want to honor Amy. And so when the girls are dancing, I don't want to be rude to them or disrespect them at all. I know that's just what they do. I'm just going to look down at my phone and just, this is what I'm going to do. If my sons are there, I don't want them to see me going, oh, you know. So I'm just going to look down like this and just to honor what's in my heart and honor Amy.

So I would do this. Well, I had no idea. I didn't mean to make a statement, but evidently I did that enough times that like a lot of people were talking about it. One time I checked on social media, and there were about 20 people that tweeted, my pastor never looked. Pastor Craig never looked. Every time the Thunder Girl, but he never looked, your pastor might look, but my pastor didn't look. Pastor Craig didn't look.

And on, and on, and on. I found out that the camera crew, some of them go to our church, they actually talk into their heads says, watch him, the Thundergirls are coming out. Look, he's going to look away. I told you, you owe me 20 bucks. He always looks away. And they do this kind of thing. And I had, no, I didn't mean to make a statement, but because of what was in my heart, it's actually something that would stand out.

It's annoying as how many of you talk about it on social media. What was even more annoying was one time at a playoff game that we lost, a heartbreaking game. Like I was caught on TV, and the national news picked up the story and showed this picture of a face that I made when we lost. And so the national news is like, well, this is Pastor Craig Rochelle, pastor of megachurch based down to Oklahoma, and his face represents how all of Oklahoma City feels right now. What they don't know is if you rewind the TV by about 1.5 seconds, you'll actually see Amy leaning over to me, and what she was doing is telling me, I think I left my purse on the

other side of the stadium, and that's what I made this face right here. So I don't know why I'm telling you this now, but for two years. years, I've wanted to clear the story and let you know she left her purse on the other side. That's why. All that to be said, every now and then, because of what you pre-decided in your heart to do to honor your God, you will have to stand out. If you're never standing out and you're always blending in, then you are not fully following Christ.

And that's what these boys did. I've resolved in my heart not to eat this food that's been dedicated to the pagan gods. And what sounds like when you read it as this one-time event, you read one little verse and you don't realize, they stood out day in, day out, weekend, week out, month and month out. For breakfast, they stood out. At lunch, every day, they stood out. At dinner, they stood out. And the next day, again, they stood out.

They made one decision that set them apart again and again and again. And if you're fully following Christ, you're going to find the closer you get to him, the more often you're going to be standing out. And you are not ashamed because of what he has done for you. Watch the wisdom of Daniel, chapter 1, verse 12 through 15. Daniel says this to the government leader who is above him. He says, hey, here's the deal. I really don't want to eat this food, but here's what I'm going to say.

Please, just test it for 10 days. Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. In other words, we're not eating that meat or the wine that's been dedicated to pagan. Just give us water and vegetables. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food. And treat your servants in accordance with what you see. So the government leader agreed to do this and tested them for 10 days. At the end of the 10 days, they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the

of the other young men who ate the royal food. I love this. Check it out. What did they not do? Instead of making this big protest, oh no, you don't. We're believers in Yahweh, and we won't eat that food dedicated to pagan gods. Okay. Instead of throwing a big fit or making a scene, with wisdom, they presented a plan, respecting the authority above them and said, hey, can we simply try something else? You see, you can stand out for the right things in the right way, or you can stand out for the wrong things in the wrong way. And can I just say, there are some Christians who stand out for the wrong things in the wrong

way all the time, and you know some of them. There's like the Facebook Bible police. Anytime someone says something, they're like stabbing you with the sword, the word. The Bible says this and they're like rude and angry all the time. And everybody, they've got the spiritual gift of being annoying. Okay. It's the Turner Burns. Turner Burns, you're going to hell where the worm never dies and there's weeping and gnash in the teeth.

They don't have teeth when they say that, but they do it. And it's annoying. You can stand out in the wrong way. There may be some of you here who stand out in the wrong way. don't point at them, just pray for them. We're going to stand out in the right ways, at the right time, for the right reason. And we have to have wisdom, God, is this worth taking a stand for, or is this something that's not that big of a deal? Like, for me, as a pastor, we're supposed to stand out.

If we're not, you know, we're not effective pastors. I loved when I wasn't a pastor because it was really shocking then when you stand out. In fact, right when I graduated college, I went into sales. I worked for Honeywell, and then I became a part-time pastor in the meantime, so it got kind of blurry. But for a while, I was just like a regular sales guy. It was great. I had recently been saved by Jesus, and so I was really bold. I came in, I put my Bible down at my little cubby, and I'm going to be a witness.

Here's my Bible, and it's open. Well, it annoyed my boss. And he came by and said, would you mind just shutting that book? I don't want to see him. Like, well, why? He goes, I don't believe in it, and I don't want to see it. And I remember thinking, it's a free country. I can leave my Bible open.

In fact, I may highlight some verses that you need to see in yellow. So when you walk by, they'll jump out at you. And then it dawned. I'm like, that's not wise. This is my boss asking something. I need to honor him. And so I'm not going to stand up for this. I put the Bible and just shoved it into my desk and left it there.

I felt like that was the wise thing to do. Then, on Fridays, the sales guys would always go to strip clubs during lunch. Hey, Groschelle, you want to go to strip club this week? Okay, here's why I have to take a stand. I'm sorry, you know, that's not leading toward my goal of not having sex until I'm married, because I wouldn't quite married to Amy at the time. So, and that doesn't represent my values. I can't do that.

I have to take a stand there. Then the guys would all go out and bring their girls or their girlfriends or wives, and they'd get just blasted drunk on the weekends. And they would always invite us, hey, you want to go? Well, at first I said no, and I thought, you know what? I think we're going to go. I was dating Amy at the time, and we went every time that we could. Now, some of you more religious people are going to say,

oh my gosh, I can't believe. Our pastor went into the bars, but there were sinners and such. Number one, I wasn't a pastor at the time. Number two, that's exactly what Jesus would have done, beyond a shadow of a doubt. This is the kind of places that he'd go and people would hang out with. So without apology or explanation, we went and we wouldn't get drunk, but we would just listen to them and get to know them

and built trust and heard their stories and ask questions. And then it wasn't long at all. They're like, hey, we're not religious, but would you pray for us? We need help. And then they started asking spiritual questions. And in a 10-month window, we were able to lead about half of the office to know Christ personally.

And now 25, 28 years later, there are several that are even involved in our church, all because if you go back, we had to some degree the wisdom to seek God to stand out in the right ways, at the right time, and for the right reasons. All of you, you've got those opportunities. Pre-decide. I've resolved in my heart. This is where I'm willing to be different.

This is where I'm called to be different. I don't care if people make fun of me. This is what God is calling me to do. Verse 19, we see this. The king talked with them. I love this. He found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Michiel, and Azariah. You see, God gave them supernatural understanding.

These boys, they did better in school. So, you want to do better in school? Do not eat the cafeteria food dedicated to pagan igels. This is just a freebie there for you. You know, God gave them the ability to interpret visions and dreams, and they literally redirected the course of history because they stood up for what mattered most. You think about this.

Had they compromised and not had the courage to stand out, Nothing historic would have happened. Think about that. Nothing historic would have happened. I don't know about you, but with all my heart, with all my heart, I would rather be remembered for standing out than forgotten for blending in. Hashtag good preaching. I'm going to say that again.

I would rather be remembered for standing out than forgotten for blending in. If you are always blending in, then you are not fully committed to follow Christ. We don't stand out to make a statement. We stand out because he's called us to be different. If the byproduct is a statement, then so be it. Because we're going to take our stand against the devil's schemes. We're going to put on the full armor of God, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the sword of the spirit and the belt of truth.

Our shoes are prepared with the gospel of the readiness of peace. and we're going to take our stand against the enemy's attacks, and when we've done everything else, we will stand. Why? Because Jesus stood and died for us, and he's called us not to be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be to transform by the renewing of our minds. Then we'll be able to test and approve what his will is,

his good, his pleasing, and his perfect will. You cannot be a part-time Christian and stand out and have victory. God, lead us to live in such a way that our lives would bring you glory. God, if it means being different and mocked, so be it. God, we want to do what you call us to do to be different in a way that honors you, to be transformed in your presence by your spirit that our lives would bring you glory. All of our churches, as you take a moment and you're reflecting in prayer, those of you who would say, you know what, I really want a spirit of boldness,

I want wisdom and I want courage to know when to take a stand and when to let it go. When God shows me, this is worth it. Give me the courage to stand up, to stand out, to be different for the glory of God, to show his love, his heart to this world. Give me the courage at the right time and the wisdom when I need to stand out. You want that boldness, you want that opportunity to be a light in this world. Would you lift up your hands right now? All of our church is just high, lift them up.

all of our churches just lift them up, hands going up all over the place. God, I thank you for your presence and this example in the Old Testament that would move us to live with New Testament victory. As you're praying right now at all of our churches, just ask God, is there any area in my life that I need to resolve, predetermined, pre-decide, to do something always or to never do something because, God, I belong to you. I believe right now in the presence of God, God is going to be speaking to some of you, and you know what it is. And you may talk about it in your small group.

You may talk about it with someone on the way to a meal. You may talk about it with someone around a computer right now and say, yes, God, this is something you're showing me. I've resolved in my heart to honor you with my actions in this specific area of life. Show me where to pre-decide how to serve you. Give me the wisdom to know when and the courage. to stand out in the right ways, the right time, and always, God, not to draw attention to me, but to honor you. As you keep praying today, nobody looking around.

I want you to really focus for a minute because I talked earlier about what we might kind of call like part-time Christians or casual Christians or we might say cultural Christians. I'm absolutely convinced that they are all around us. You see, this was my story. I was a cultural Christian. I went to church occasionally. I believed in God. The problem is scripture teaches that the demons, they believe in God.

Believing in God doesn't mean you know God. I had kind of a head knowledge, but I did not have a heart relationship with God. And some of you, you're going to recognize that's true of you right now. You're not a fully devoted follower of Christ. You're always blending in. Listen to me, if you're never standing out, you're always blending in. That is evidence before you that you are not following Christ. What does it mean to follow Christ?

Why would we do this? Jesus is the son of God who came to earth and showed us God's love. It's amazing. He hung out with those that the religious people rejected, the sinners, the tax collectors, the prostitutes. He loved them where they were. He forgave their sins. When we call on him, he makes us new. Every sin forgiven.

We're filled with His spirit. We're transformed. That's why some of you are here right now. You recognize, I need him. I need his grace. I'm just kind of a cultural Christian today. I want to commit my life to Christ. All of our churches, would you do this?

Everybody look up this way. Heads up, eyes opened. Everybody looking around. You see, Jesus said this. He said, if you will not confess me before my father, before people on earth, I will not confess you before my father in heaven. If you confess me boldly before others,

I will confess you before my father in heaven. Today, guess what? You get to take a stand, some of you, and say, I've not been following Christ, I may have a head knowledge, but not a heart knowledge. I may be what you call it a cultural Christian, but today I know I need his grace. I need his salvation. I'm willing to stand out.

I don't care what anybody says. I don't care what the person I'm with things. I don't care what strangers think all around me. I need his grace. I need his love. By faith today, I call on Jesus to save me. I'm willing to stand out because I am surrendering my life to Christ. That's your prayer.

When you lift up your hand, we will cheer and we will celebrate because you're bold enough to say publicly before God and everyone, I need Christ. That's your prayer. Lift your hand high right now all over the place. Lift them up and say, yes, I need Christ. God bless you guys. Right over here.

Right over there. God bless you, sir. I need Christ. Right back here, I need Christ. Lift them up high. Be bold right here. Yes. I need Christ.

Praise God for you. I want to follow. I need his grace. I need his grace. All three of you back there. Right back over here and here. Jesus, I want to follow you. I want to serve you.

I need your salvation. My life is not my own. I give it to you. I surrender. Would you forgive my sins? Transform my life. By faith, I surrender to you. I need your grace.

Right back over here, others of you who say, yes, me too. God bless you, sweetheart, right here. I surrender. Man, right here, bold. Man, watch this family get transformed. I surrender to Christ. I need his soul. grace. Would you pray with those around you pray, Heavenly 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 bigger than you ever have? celebrate sheer, thank God for new life in Christ.