Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Stay Positive, Part 5: Get Your Passion Back

Episode Date: June 21, 2020

REOPENINGSome Life.Church locations have resumed services. To ensure safety at our locations, our weekend services have been redesigned to create a sanitary, touchless environment that allows for physical distancing. To see if your location is open and to save your seat at an upcoming service, please visit https://www.life.church/updatesI’M ENTHUSIASTICDo you ever just feel flat? You’re not alone—even King David ran out of joy. Start reading part five of the six-part Stay Positive series and rekindle your enthusiasm. https://www.go2.lc/staypositiveSUPPORT COVID-19 RESPONSE AND DIGITAL MISSIONSYou can designate a gift to Life.Church to go to coronavirus relief or to Digital Missions like the Church Online Platform! Your gift above the tithe helps meet immediate needs in your community and around the world and helps other churches to spread the Good News of Christ to people everywhere: https://www.life.church/givingABOUT STAY POSITIVEThere’s no limit on hope. You can discover a whole lot to smile about if you know where to look. And we can help you find it! Don’t let life get you down. Stay joyful. Stay hopeful. And Stay Positive! For more about this series, visit https://www.life.church/staypositiveSTAY CONNECTEDStay updated with the latest news from Life.Church at https://www.life.church/stayconnected. You can also visit https://www.life.church/updates for the latest, or download the Life.Church app (https://www.life.church/app) and enable push notifications.NEXT 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.

Well, I want to talk today to those of you who might have lost a little bit of your spiritual passion. In fact, I'm guessing with the complications of this COVID season, there may be some of you that at one point in your life, you found yourself really, really close to God. You could sense his voice leading you. You could feel his presence with you. When you would read his word, it was like God was speaking directly to you. But somewhere, some way, somehow along the way, you feel like you lost some of your spiritual passion. You lost some enthusiasm. Maybe you lost a little bit of spiritual intimacy somewhere along the way.

If you find yourself a little bit less enthusiastic about the things of God today, than you once were, this is a message for you, and I want to tell you, I also understand that struggle. I'll give you a little piece of my story. Like some of you, I was pretty wild in college. Do any of you have a wild streak somewhere? Yeah, I see their hands. You could say I was building my testimony, okay? That's kind of what I was doing.

And along the way, my sin caught up with me, and I started searching and seeking, and through a little Bible study, my life was radically and indescribably transformed by the grace of Jesus. I went from wild party guy to bold evangelistic Jesus guy overnight. Completely changed. I wanted everybody to know, and so high on spiritual enthusiasm, but low on wisdom, I just put Jesus all over anywhere I could. I wore Jesus hats. I had cheesy Jesus Christian T-shirts. I was a college tennis player, and so I painted a cross on the strings of my racket

so you could see, you know, my faith. I even had, believe it or not, I had a Jesus watch. Yes, some of you didn't know that a Jesus watch actually existed. I couldn't find the exact one online, but I found one that's pretty close to it. This is the Jesus watch. Not exactly, but it's pretty close. Now, I know some of you, you're confused right now. You don't know whether you should clap, whether you should laugh,

whether you should be excited or whether you should be concerned about me. And I understand I'm not quite sure either. But I just wanted everybody to know about the one who changed my life. I was a business major when I came to faith in Christ, but then I just immediately felt called to be a pastor. I never thought to change my major. So I graduated with a business degree, and I wanted to be a pastor,

and nobody was hiring business. majors. So I just got plugged in my church, served anywhere and everywhere, anytime something was available to do, I would do it. My pastor heard about me and invited me to do the most amazing, most special thing you could ever imagine. You see, on Sunday mornings at First United Methodist Church downtown Oklahoma City, there were three distinct slots that the pastors on the platform would do. One was to recite and lead the church in the Apostles' Creed. A slight step up from that was calling for the offering. And the grand master of them all was the pastoral prayer. My pastor invited me not to do the top two tiers, but sure enough to play in the major leagues to help lead the church in the

Apostles' Creed. My dreams had come true. I could do something pastoral. My personal. My parents drove two hours to come and to watch. I was engaged to Amy, her parents came, my fraternity brothers came, my teammates came. I was doing something pastoral, the Apostles Creed. I believe in God the Father, the Lord Almighty Creator. I did it with passion and with style. My pastor ended up inviting me to be a pastor. Three years later, somehow the enthusiasm, and passion for my God had waned. I was married to Amy, and we were heading to church. And she said, what are you doing today?

And I said, all I'm doing is the Apostles' Creed. And she laughed, and she said, you realize that you're complaining about the very same thing that you prayed for. And I don't know how it happened. But somewhere along the way, I lost some spiritual enthusiasm. If you've lost some of your passion for the one who saved you, this message is for you. I call it Get Your Passion Back, and I'd love to pray today. Father, we ask that for people all over the world on YouTube, Church Online,

even listening to a message post date. And God, for everyone gathered today at a physical location, we ask that your word, by the power of your spirit, would help us get our passion back for the one who gave it all for us. We prayed this in Jesus' name, and everybody said, Amen and amen. Go ahead and type that in the chat if you want to. If you're with us today, just type in amen.

We're in a message series called Stay Positive. It's a great time to stay positive, isn't it? When there's so much negativity, so much bad news as followers of Christ, we are full of faith. Today I want to talk to you about the quality enthusiasm. Have you noticed that there are two different types of people in the world? Two different types. The first, there are those who let circumstances influence their enthusiasm. and the second, there are those who use their enthusiasm to influence their circumstances.

There's two types of people in the world today. Those who let what's going on around them determine their mood, their posture, their perspective, or those who let what's going on inside of them influence the climate around them. The theme enthusiasm is one of my favorite positive themes. I want to talk to you about it today. it comes from two words. Enthuson Theos. On means in, if you've ever heard of theology,

Theos means God. The word enthusiasm, it literally means in God, or it means to be filled with God. True spiritual enthusiasm isn't something you work up. It's not a product of your environment. It's a posture of your heart and your time with God. is born in the presence of God by the power of God. In fact, I love what the apostle Paul said.

In 1st Corinthians chapter 15 verses 57 and 58, he said this. Paul said, but thank God. Somebody say thank God. Type it in the chat. He said, but thank God that he gives us victory over sin and death. I'm going to say that again because I kind of feel there are some people a little more enthusiastic that haven't yet expressed their enthusiasm. He said, but thank God.

He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of what our God has given us, he said, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work, and I love this. He said, whatever you do, always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord,

Lord is ever useless. Work enthusiastically for the Lord, and whatever you do is never ever done in vain. Here's what I love about this thought. It's not what you do that makes it meaningful, it's who you do it for. It's not the thing that makes the action meaningful, but it's the intent of the heart of who you're serving. It's not what you do. that makes it meaningful, but it's who you do it for. For example, many of you probably turn the lights off around your house before you go to bed. If you don't do that, helpful little tip. You can save money by turning the lights off around your house before you go to the bed.

I never really liked doing that until Amy said, she loves when I do it. So when I turn the lights off around the house, I do it with enthusiasm and style and flare. Flip, switch, slide. I go all over the house, and it's not what I'm doing that's meaningful, but who I'm doing it for. And when I walk back into the room, I say to Amy, guess what your husband has been out doing? I've bravely been attacking the elements and turning off the lights, and I did it just for you. The lights are out. Do you feel the enthusiasm in the room?

It's not what you do, but it's who you do it for. when you're doing whatever you do and you're doing it for the Lord, it can transform something mundane into something meaningful. The best example of this, and I would give anything if I could show you a clip of this lady, but I saw the most amazing, passionate, enthusiastic woman that perhaps I've seen in my life, working at a kiosk in an airport. Now, on the top of my list of exciting jobs, you would not find working at a kiosk in an airport.

I mean, she's selling cigarettes and, you know, pops, drinks, and, you know, gum and such. This lady, when people would walk by, she was singing, and not just singing, but like angelic singing, like an angel took over her body, and she was singing at people walking by, and there was a buzz, and people were kind of, they weren't even laughing, they were, like, enjoying it. And I walked by, and she sang at me. and I can't sing like her, and I dare not even try, but she's saying something like, hey, there are young man in the black shirts.

And in a very appropriate way, she told me, you're looking good today. You know, and I'm like, black shirt, she's talking to me. And everybody walked by, she said, have a wonderful date, and she was just amazing. And so I just stood there, and I watched it, and I thought, can I hire her? Can I interview her?

And the place was electrically charged, which is this, she didn't let the boring environment of the airport dictate her mood, but she let what was in her dictate the environment around her. And so I just had to ask her. I said, can I ask you a question? She said, ask me anything. No, no, no, can you not sing? Can you just talk?

I said, I'm not sure. You know, and I said, tell me why you're doing this. And she said, oh, people are so bored. And she went, they're just traveling so hard. I want to bring joy into life. I said, no, no, no, I know that's kind of why, but give me the deeper why. And she said, do you want to know why? I said, I want to know why.

She said, do you want to know why? I said, tell me why. She said, I think you know why. I said, I think I know why too, but I want to hear you say it. Why? She said, well, he has a name. And then together, we just sang it. His name is Jesus.

And then we hug right there in the airport, total stranger. Who does that? Someone who's been transformed. who's been changed, but thanks be to God, who delivers us from sin and death. Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically for the Lord, and whatever you do will not be done in vain, on theios, in God. You can have spiritual enthusiasm, and you can lose it. I want to show you a person from the Old Testament.

If you've been around the church, you would know David. David was a shepherd boy who became a king. He was a kid who became a king. As a king, he was filled with Antheos. As a king, somewhere along the way, he lost it. If you know the story about David and Goliath, the Philistine army was at war with the Israelite army, and they would often pick a representative warrior to do battle and declare the winner based on those two.

And the Philistines had this massive giant name Goliath. Israelites had nobody that would stand up to this giant. And this little kid, little shepherd boy, who was bringing snacks to his brother, looked on with enthusiasm. And I want you to watch his spiritual enthusiasm and confidence in God when he said, scripture says to the Philistine, you come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defiled. This day, the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I will strike

down and cut off your head this very day. I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know there is a God in Israel, on Seos. This is not, there's no human confidence in this. This is raw, unparalleled spiritual enthusiasm born out of time with God. The question is, where did he get that? Where did his spiritual enthusiasm come from when there was a whole army of other warriors who didn't have what he had.

Where did you get that ongoing, interdwelling spiritual enthusiasm? Where do you get it if you're a lady singing at a kiosk or a kid walking into the battle of your life? Three thoughts about where David's enthusiasm came from. First of all, he trusted God daily. He walked with God daily. and he worshipped God daily.

And the key word is daily. Daily. He trusted God daily. He walked with God daily. He worshipped God daily. He trusted him. How could he fight a giant? Because in previous days,

he trusted God when he was taking care of the sheep and a bear would attack. And God gave him the strength to defeat the bear. And since he trusted God the day before for that battle, he could trust God in this day for the battle ahead. He trusted him daily. He enjoyed his presence. He walked with God daily.

He was the one who said this, The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. I lack nothing at all. He makes me lie down in green pastors. He restores my soul. He leads me. He guides me.

He comforts me. He is always with me. He guides me along the right path, even for his namesake. Even in the valley, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Because you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.

He trusted God daily. He walked with God daily. He worshipped God daily. When the Ark of the Covenant came into his hometown, where the presence of God dwelt, he went out not fully completely dressed and went into a massive worship party, so much so that his wife was embarrassed and made fun of him, but he just couldn't contain himself. It wasn't a click on a computer screen once a week to watch a sermon. It wasn't even a drive across town to sit in a church service and sing some songs and listen once a week.

It was a daily abiding in the presence of God that gave him this enthusiasm. He was in God. there are two seasons in his life. One, he had it, and when he lost it. If you fast forward to a time when he was a king, there was another famous story, and the text starts off, it says, in a time when kings go off to war, in springtime,

when he should have been at battle, David actually stayed at home. And when he wasn't where he was supposed to be, he climbed up onto a roof, and he saw something he wasn't supposed to see, a woman taking a shower. And when he wasn't where he was supposed to be, He wasn't doing what he was supposed to do.

He saw something he wasn't supposed to see. He did something. He should have never done. And it cost a lot of people something they should have never, ever lost. And it all started when he stopped spending time with God daily. I want to show you the contrast, and I've put it into bullet points just so you can see it. I want to show you the difference. As a kid, with enthusiasm, David ran.

into the battle to serve his God. Then later as a king, with apathy, David walked on the roof to serve his comfort. How did a man, who had so much spiritual enthusiasm as a kid, lose it as a king? The answer is, he took his eyes off his calling

and he put it on his comfort. My question to you today is this. Which one best represents you? Which one best represents you? Are you full of on theos? Enthusiasm for the things of God. Whatever you do, it's not meaningless because it's not about the what,

it's all about the who. Or do you find yourself more spiritually comfortable, more complacent? Which one best represents you? you. Are you charging into spiritual battle, knowing that the Lord your God is with you? He'll never leave you. He'll never forsake you. You've got a divine calling today, today, today, daily, every day? Or have you drifted into more spiritual complacency? My observation, pastorally, my observation, is that most people, in my opinion, have likely fallen into one, and

of two extremes during the COVID season. There's one very positive extreme of those who are continuing to walk with God daily and trust God daily and depend on his presence daily and feed on his word daily and they're growing in intimacy and they sense his calling and they're directed by his presence

and there is a very real, very powerful, very present on Theos the enthusiasm of the Lord and I see that in some people. Tragically, though, there is another extreme. And just based on human nature, what I know about people, is we don't drift toward discipline, we don't drift toward health, we don't drift toward good decisions,

we drift toward complacency, we drift toward apathy, we drift toward self-centered attitudes. And unfortunately, when people are now sometimes disengaged from the physical presence of worship in the corporate view of the church, They may start out at church online for a little while, but then Wayne and the weather gets nice from people start going outside, and they start drifting, and suddenly bad habits set in, and the good disciplines go away, and rather than being filled with the presence of God,

they're filled with fear and doubt and a loss of joy, and where'd my purpose go, and what I'm supposed to do? and what once was a vibrant, passionate calling from God has been replaced by comfort. Which best represents you? Antheos, calling, purpose, passion, spiritual enthusiasm, or comfort and complacency. David had it, and then he lost it. Nathan, the prophet, confronted him on his sinfulness. And after the confrontation, David realized how he had fallen away.

He cried out to God in the very powerful Psalm 51, and he said, God, create in me a pure heart, oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. God, restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain. me. Restore to me. What do you do when you lose what you had? You refill, you rejoice, you renew, you restore, you go back to doing what you did before. Just like Jesus told the believers in Ephesus in Revelation chapter 2 verses 4 and 5, he said, here's your problem essentially. This is what

I hold against you. He said, you have forsaken the love you had at first. You've walked away. You've let it go. You surrendered it. You have forsaken the love you had at first. In other words, you didn't lose it. You left it. You've forsaken the love you had at first. And then Jesus said,

consider how far you've fallen for just a moment. You might do that. Consider how you've drifted. Consider the intimacy you once had that you walked away from. Consider the power of God that was with you, his presence that never left you. Consider how far you've fallen. And then Jesus said very simply, just repent.

Change directions, change the way you think. And do the things you did at first. Do them again. What do you do? You walk. with his presence daily. You trust his goodness daily. You worship him daily.

Not out of duty, but out of delight. The thanks be to God who delivered me from sin and death. Restore to me the joy of my salvation. there are two types of people. There are those who let their circumstances. COVID-19, fear, panic, anxiety, influence their posture, their heart, their own spiritual temperature. And there are those who let their enthusiasm

bored out of the very real presence of God, influence their environment, dictate the mood of those around them, build the faith of those that they're with. There's two types of people. There are those who walk with God and dwell with God and trust God, and he empowers them with spiritual enthusiasm. And there are those who don't just lose it, but they leave it.

Which type are you? If you feel like you've lost it, I understand. Sometimes people will ask me, How do you keep your passion all the time? And my answer is, I don't. Like it's not like natural, like, hey, you're a pastor. Oh, you never have a bad day. No, it's the opposite.

I feel like I'm under attack even more. My faith gets under attack. My mindset gets under attack. I mean, even my mood gets under attack. And Amy said, amen. in a very feminine voice. So what do I do? I go back to that moment in college

and I think about where I was. And I think about who he is. And I think about what he did. Thanks me to God who delivered me from sin and death through Jesus Christ, our Lord. And then I just go back and do what I did at first. I spend time with him.

I let his words strengthen my soul, correct my sin, and encourage me out of discouragement and build my faith when all I see is fear. And I worship him, not for just what I see, but for who he is. And then whatever I do, even if I don't feel like it, I try to work at it. it enthusiastically with all my heart, not doing it for just some person, but doing it for my God. And that transforms something mundane into something meaningful. So whether you're doing the Apostles' Creed or the pastoral prayer, whether you're serving and no one sees it, or you're worshipping and everybody knows it.

Do it for God, but more importantly, do it from God. Because there's two types of people in the world. Those who let all the stuff on the outside determine what happens on their inside. Or those who let the work of Jesus in their hearts impact the world around them. I don't know about you, but the light that's in me is so bright, there's no darkness that can put it out. I hope that we have a church full of people ready to let the presence of God penetrate a dark world. So Father, today, I thank you for every person who is able to gather in a physical building. That the joy of the Lord would be our strength.

And God, for every person around the world at church on line, YouTube, wherever they gather, God, may you infuse their home with your presence today to build their faith. As you're praying wherever you are around the world, those who say, yeah, maybe I've lost a little bit of the enthusiasm. I've lost maybe a little bit of my passion or my faith, and I want to get it back.

If that's you today, wherever you are, would you just lift up your hand, just lift up your hands and say yes. You can type it in the chat. I want my passion back. I want my passion back. I want my passion back. And God, I ask right now that because you're with us

in living rooms and kitchens and church buildings all over the world, that your presence would stir in us, God. Help us to do what we did at first. Not out of duty, God, but out of the light. Thank you, God, for setting us free. from sin and death. Because of who you are, God, and what you've done,

may we work enthusiastically to serve you in all that we do. As you keep praying today, there may be those of you that you recognize, you know, wow, I kind of wish I had spiritual passion or enthusiasm and maybe I've like tried a little bit before, I tried to get excited about God, or maybe you don't even believe in God,

but there's something drawing you right now, and no matter where you are, If you say, I don't have that, but I want it, where does it come from? Let me tell you where it doesn't come from. It does not come from you, your ability to create it, make it, earn it. It comes from the grace of God when you recognize and understand. You ever have that feeling, that guilty feeling? Like you've done something wrong.

You know why you have that? Because you've done something wrong. So have I. scripture calls it sin and the bible is unbelievably clear that we've all sinned against a holy god that's why you feel that remorse that guilt that's not an accident is because we've fallen short of god's standard and this is what's amazing news you can never get back to his right standing on your own it's impossible you can never be holy enough good enough or perfect enough and this is why the gospel means good news. Our God loves you so much that he became like you in the person of his son, Jesus.

Jesus, the son of God, who never sinned, died on a cross in our place to forgive our sins. God raised him from the dead so that anyone, and this includes you, it doesn't matter what part of the world you're in, doesn't matter what you did last night, doesn't matter what you're doing right now at this moment, doesn't matter how guilty you feel, doesn't matter how far from God you feel or how far away God seems. Anyone who calls on the name that is above every name, that name of Jesus, Jesus, the risen son of God when you call on Him, God, here's your prayers and forgives your sins, and he makes you brand new. On the other side of phones and TVs and computer screens or in a physical building, those who say, I want that. I want his forgiveness. I want his grace. He

will infuse you with his love, his power, his presence, completely forgiven, as if you never sin. You're not a better version of you. new. The old is gone. The newest come at all of our churches, those who say, yes, Jesus, I want you on the other side of screens. Jesus, I need you. Today, I give you my life, if that's your prayer. Lift your hands high. Now, those of you online just chat. I'm giving my life to Jesus. Just type it in the chat as we have hands going up all over the place. We have somebody here give a little thanks to God for people saying, yes, Jesus, I need you, I need you, I need you. wherever you are at home, maybe even watching now from work or in a church building,

would you just pray this for those around you? Pray Heavenly Father, forgive me for all of my sins. Jesus save me, change me, and make me new. Fill me with your spirit so I can walk with you and trust you and worship you daily. My life is not my own. I give it all to you. Help me, God, to do whatever I do. Enthusiatically for you.

Because you saved me, and my life belongs to you. In Jesus' name, I pray. Could somebody enthusiastically give some praise to our good God today.