Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Staying Mentally Strong | Heal Your Hurting Mind: Part 4
Episode Date: March 8, 2026You've started putting in the work toward mental wellness. You've even made some progress. But maybe you're worried it won't last. We're learning how to hold onto that mental strength and healing for ...good. NEXT STEPS Have you made the decision to follow Jesus? You might be wondering what’s next for you. We want to help! Check out these resources to discover what saying yes to Jesus means: https://www.life.church/yes Tell Us About You! We’re here to help you become the person God created you to be—and we’d love to hear from you. Take this quick survey to tell us about yourself and how we can support you. Find it at https://life.church/podcastconnect ABOUT THIS MESSAGE Do you ever feel trapped by your thoughts and emotions? On the outside you’re holding it together, but inside you’re struggling. If you wonder if you’ll ever feel better, you're not alone. In our new series, Heal Your Hurting Mind, we’ll discover there's hope and a path toward healing. 7 Prayers for Mental Health: https://finds.life.church/prayers-for-mental-health/ Battling negative thoughts? Read, memorize, and meditate on these five strategic Bible verses to help you focus on God's joy, hope, and peace. https://go2.lc/heal Take what you’re learning during the series even deeper with Pastor Craig’s latest book, Heal Your Hurting Mind, available now. Learn more https://www.craiggroeschel.com/books/heal-your-hurting-mind ABOUT LIFE.CHURCH Wherever 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 MEDIA Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/life.church Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/life.church TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifechurch YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@life.church CONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIG GROESCHEL YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/craiggroeschel Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschel Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschel TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craiggroeschel LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/35447748/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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We're in the final week of the message series called,
heal your hurting mind.
And I want to talk to you today about a category of mental health
that a lot of people don't always talk about.
We have a spiritual enemy.
We know that.
And their spiritual enemy attacks those that are pursuing the heart of God.
And our spiritual enemy doesn't just attack you when you're struggling.
But he often attacks even harder when you're struggling.
you're healing. Many of you've made progress the last few weeks and you're starting to grow closer
to God and feel a little bit of peace and maybe a little bit of hope. And maybe at some point
when you start to sleep a little bit better or the anxiety is not as constant, that's when
fear often whispers. What if the progress that you've been making doesn't last? What if the problem
that you once had comes back? What if you're not really better? What if you're not really healed?
And that fear is very, very real. And the Bible speaks directly to it in many different places.
And we're going to look at many of those verses today. In fact, Paul said this in Galatians 5.1.
He said, so Christ has truly set us free by the power of Jesus.
The truth is Jesus and the truth sets us free.
Christ sets us free.
And then watch what Paul says.
He says, now make sure that you stay free.
Make sure you've been set free.
Make sure you stay free and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law.
Now, the context of this verse, Paul is talking about freedom from the law.
But this principle applies to anywhere in any category of life.
when Christ sets us free.
In fact, I want to show you a very direct and very literal translation of this verse.
The English standard version is probably the most literal, and it says, for freedom, Christ has set us free.
For freedom, Christ has set us free.
In the Greek, Paul uses the same root word two times, for freedom and free.
for those of you that are grammatical nerves,
that's called a cognate construction.
Hope you like that.
It's two versions of the same root word.
Why?
Because freedom wasn't an accident.
Freedom was the intention.
When you think about it, Jesus came, yes, to forgive your sins,
but he didn't just come to forgive your sins.
He came to set you free from the burden.
to the law and the things that hold you hostage that are less than God's will for your life.
So Paul says this. He says, Christ has set you free, but stand firm. Don't go back to that bondage.
Fight to stay free. So freedom is a gift from God, but you have to guard that gift.
So today, we're not just talking about healing. We're not just talking about getting free.
today with God's help, we believe he's going to empower us to stay free. At all of our churches,
let's pray together. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your power. We thank you
that grace initiates and our faith participates with your work in our lives, that the truth will set us
free. And by your power and your word and with your people, we will guard that freedom to live for
your glory and share your love in Jesus' name. And all God's people said,
Amen and amen. Let's get to work today. We are wrapping up the message series based on,
but different from my new book, Heel Your Hurting Mind, Biblical Hope for Anxiety, Depression,
burnout, and the emotions that no one talks about. I am very, very thankful to God that he's
using this message to impact a lot of different lives. What I want to do is I want to review
where we've been and build on the foundation as we move forward. In week number one, we learned
that we are body, soul, and spirit.
We learn the principle that salvation is instant,
but healing takes time.
You could be saved in a moment by the grace of Jesus,
but our mind, our will, and our emotions are renewed over time.
Week two, we learned that a hurting mind isn't a broken mind,
is healing in progress,
that Jesus may touch you once and he touches you again,
that healing is a process.
And then in week three, we looked at the truth that Jesus asked you to meet his grace with your faith.
Grace initiates and faith participates.
Today, we're going to learn from God's word that Christ sets you free.
His power sets you free.
But it's our responsibility to stay free.
How do we know this? Because the enemy often attacks hardest after progress. You'll see it, he'll
fight you when you're down, but when you start to come up, he wants to keep you out of God's will
and in bondage. In fact, 1st Peter 5.8 tells us very, very directly, be alert and of sober mind.
If you're making progress, be alert, be on guard, be of sober mind. Because your enemy,
the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. So what do you do? In Christ,
you resist your enemy. You resist them standing firm. Somebody say standing firm. Standing firm in the
faith. How do you fight? You fight with faith for the breakthrough, and after the breakthrough,
you continue to stand firm on the truth of God's word. And we're going to talk about two things
to be today. We're going to be careful and we're going to be prayerful. Let's all say it together.
All of our churches, what are we going to be? We're going to be careful and we're going to be
prayerful. One more time, everybody online, type it in the comment section. What are we? With the help of
God, we're going to be careful and we're going to be prayerful. Let's start with the first one,
and this is practical. And we're going to look at three things to be careful about. We're going to be
practical and we're going to be prayerful, spiritual. So let's first talk about, we're called
it be careful. First Corinthians 10, 12 tells us this. If you think you're standing strong,
you've made progress, you're getting healthy, you're doing better. If you think you're standing
firm, say it with me, be careful not to fall. Be careful. It's interesting if you look at this.
Paul doesn't say, if you're feeling weak, be careful.
He doesn't say if you're feeling vulnerable, be careful.
He says, if you think you're standing strong, be on guard.
Be careful.
Because someone would argue that the most dangerous moment spiritually is not when you know that you're vulnerable,
but when you think you're not.
Be careful. Be careful. Be careful.
And we're going to talk about three things to be careful about. The first thing is we're going to be careful about your inputs. We're going to be careful about your habits. And we're going to be careful about your relationships. We're going to be careful about your inputs, what gets into you. We're going to be careful about your habits, what comes out of you. And we're going to be careful about your relationships, who it is that influences you. Be careful, be careful.
Be careful.
Let's start with the first one.
God's Word teaches us, the principle,
to be careful about your inputs.
What I want you to do is,
as you're growing healthier in your mental health,
you're making progress.
God's Word is renewing your mind.
I want you to think about what comes into your mind.
Think about your iPhone,
your whatever kind of phone,
your non-Iphone, your iPad,
your computer, what comes across your feed, the music that you listen to, the shows that you watch,
the people that you talk to. I want you to think about your inputs. Why? Because what gets your
attention gets into your thoughts. And your thoughts may start small, but they don't stay small.
They take root and they start to grow and they start to spread. And the more you think of thought,
the easier it is to think that thought because God created your mind with neural
pathways, and if you're thinking on the wrong thoughts, they take you in the wrong direction.
That's why God's word says, think on things that are pure and excellent and lovely and admirable.
If there's anything excellent or praise, where you think about such things, I want you to think
about what you're thinking about, because your thoughts shape your mind, and your mind shapes your
heart, and your heart shapes your life. And that's why Solomon said this. He said,
guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Be careful about your inputs because what feels your mind forms your heart and what forms your
heart determines the course of your life.
Don't pass by this.
Every single one of you be open to what the Spirit of God would show you about this.
Look at what you look at.
Look at what you listen to.
And ask yourself, is this helping me become more like Christ?
Or is it taking me away?
Is it strengthening my mental resolve?
or is it weakening me? Is it building my faith in the truth of God? Or is it creating anxiety and fear?
And do I feel left out? And do I feel depressed? Is it helping me get stronger in the things of the Lord and more secure in Christ?
Or is it distracting me from the truth that sets me free and keeps me free? Because when you look around it, like some of you right now, you're literally asking God for peace of mind and you're feeding your mind with things that make you anxious.
What you consume every day? If it makes you angry, fearful, insecure, empty, anxious, feel left out,
if it makes you feel anything less than what God wants for you, change the input. And think about
this. Let's just go social media. When did social media go mainstream? 2004. How do I know that?
Because I looked it up. Thanks, chat. CBT. It may be right. There's about a 60%
chance that's right. Then, Instagram launched in 2010. And so social media is normal, completely normal.
It's most of you is the most normal thing. Just because it's normal doesn't mean it's healthy.
And for many of you, social media is a gift. It's like mostly good. You stay in touch with people.
You see cat videos. You know who got pregnant. You know, for many of you, it's mostly good.
for others of you, it's literally wrecking you.
And if you were honest enough to look at it objectively,
you would say, the experiment has gone on long enough.
And for some of you, the results are not healthy.
Are there benefits?
Yes, of course.
If they're mostly benefits, then enjoy it.
But if the benefits cost you your mental health, change the input.
And not just this, but like literally,
if you're scrolling on the news at 11 o'clock at night and having nightmares and can't sleep
because you're freaking out all the time, don't scroll the news at 11 o'clock at night.
If you watch shows that literally lower your own standards and desynthesize you to sin
and makes bad words just a normal thought pattern in your life and makes looking at other
people having sex on TV considered acceptable to you, maybe you change what you watch.
If you have a conversation with a friend and every time you walk away, you're less like Jesus,
more critical, more angry, more bitter, whatever, maybe you spend a little bit less time
with that friend.
What I want you to do is be careful with your inputs.
If you don't like the outcome, change the input.
Be careful, number one, about your inputs.
The second thing is be careful about your habits.
This is so important because as you're growing in your mental health,
your habits will help sustain your mental health.
How do you heal?
You heal by God's grace and some hard work.
And you stay healed by God's grace and by healthy habits.
The habits keep you healthy.
It was Paul who said in Galatian 6, 7,
a man reaps what he sews.
What you sow over and over again brings the harvest.
If you have healthy habits, they bring a healthy harvest.
If you have unhealthy habits, they bring an unhealthy harvest.
And so what do you do?
If there was something that hurt your mental health in the past,
create the habits that keep you free in the future.
And it could be anything like if anxiety rules your mind.
Well, maybe you create the habit of the first thing you do when you wake up
is you open up the UVersian Bible app.
And you take in God's word.
and you let His Word renew your mind and comfort your soul and guide your steps.
You're creating a habit that keeps you healthy.
If burnout is crushing you, you're always doing too much.
You can't stop work.
You might go ahead and look at what God's Word says.
You're going to have the habit of a Sabbath where there is a day where you're not going to work
so that you can recover.
And you might find that when you live God's way, you're more productive on the other six days
because his word is true and sets you free.
If you find yourself always left out,
I feel like my life sucks and everybody else is amazing.
And she's been on 17 vacations this year
and has new shoes and a boyfriend that likes her in a diamond ring
and had lobster last night and my life sucks.
Well, maybe if that's making you feel stupid,
you'll limit yourself to 10 minutes a day on social media or whatever.
If you don't like the outcome, change, the input.
For me, I talked about how I literally worked myself
into a very unhealthy spot.
A little more, a little more every year, a little more, a little more.
And finally, the anxiety became crushing.
It felt like I described it as like a 50-pound weight right here.
It's really odd.
Not here, not here, right here, to where I couldn't really breathe.
And one of the things that creates the anxiety and the pressure for me is the preaching of God's
word is so important to me. When I take his word and try to deliver it in a way that is accurate
and applicable and interesting, because let's be honest, you guys are bored easily. I mean, you really
are. And I got to work really, really hard. And you're critical sometimes. And you can be mean.
And so what I'm really trying to do is I'm trying to accurately convey his word in a way that
transforms lives, honors him, and keeps your attention in a world where it's really hard to keep
anyone's attention. And so I work really, really hard at it. And I learned that because of the
pressure I put on myself, it was working me into a plate of anxiety. So with the help of Dr. Chappelle,
we're creating new habits. Little things like disconnecting my mind. And I talked about, you know,
flying. And that's oddly enough, doing that takes my mind off of it. So when my mind comes back on to it,
it's more focused. But then I'm creating rhythms now in my schedule that helped me to be very,
very healthy today. A few years ago, I had a goal of doing a certain number of weekends and
taken off a few more weekends than normal. Well, that year, I actually exceeded my goal by doing five
more weekends than I should have. Why? Because I feel responsible. I feel the weight. But when I take
a weekend off, it frees up study time in the week to both do some enjoyable things, to interact
with people, to do more pastoral work. If I'm not on a weekend, I can actually visit campuses,
which may still be work, but it's life-giving work because I get to come and see you and hear
your stories and pray with you. So what I'm doing is I'm intentionally creating the habits that will
keep me healthy. You have to do this. If you find yourself consistently struggling,
look at your habits. Certain habits. Certain habits.
will make you struggle more, certain habits will help you become healthier.
Remember, you heal by God's grace and by hard work, and you stay healed by God's grace and
healthy habits. Be careful with your inputs. Be careful with your habits. And be careful
about your relationships. Be careful about your relationship. One day, we will do a whole
message series on the importance of friendships.
And my mom will love that.
Because when I was growing up, my mom said, you are who you run with.
You are who you run with.
You become like those around you, and over and over again.
And the Bible says it even better than my mom said it.
Sorry, Mom, but the Bible's the Bible.
So let me show you three verses.
Proverbs 13, 20.
Walk with the wise, and what do you become?
You become wise.
But a companion of fools suffers harm.
If you find yourself suffering harm, look at who you're running with.
Next verse says this, 1 Corinthians 1533.
Don't be misled.
Bad company corrupts good character.
The Bible says this.
Proverbs 1226, the righteous choose their friends carefully.
You can love everybody equally and still choose your friends carefully.
But the way of the wicked leaves them astray.
Look at who you're running with.
If you're trying to stay mentally healthy, you cannot spend a lot of time around people who make you sick.
If someone starts to pull you back, you can still love them, but you redefine the relationship.
You don't want to be shaped by them, even though you can still love them.
So you watch who you're running with.
And this is obvious if you're a drug addict and you're saying, I'm trying to get free of drugs.
if you're a drug addict and you want to get free of drugs,
you don't go crash at your drug dealer's house.
That's obvious.
But so often when it comes to mental health,
it's not that obvious to us.
For example, years ago, Amy and I had some friends that we loved,
but every time we got with them,
we realized that we were becoming negative and critical.
And they were, they just like kind of gossiping about people.
And oddly enough, at first it seemed relatively innocent.
we're like, well, these people, whatever, we need to pray for them.
That's how you try to make gossip legal when you're a Christian.
I need to tell you who you need to pray for, sister, so on and soler.
She really needs the Spirit of the Lord right now.
And so we were doing that, and we found ourselves actually not just being prayerful,
but being gossiping.
And the Bible says, don't speak evil against one another.
And we recognize our friendship with this other couple was basically built on a critical spirit.
And we were becoming like that.
So we prayed about it.
We went and just said real openly like, hey, we find ourselves being more critical around you.
Can we not talk about this kind of stuff?
And they were like, well, we kind of want to.
And they did.
And so we redefined the relationship.
We still kind to them.
We still love them.
But we're not spending a lot of time with them.
If you want to get more mentally healthy, if you want to stay mentally strong, you got to
recognize that not everyone from your past belongs in your future. You have to be careful about the
inputs, be careful about the habits, and be careful about the relationships. Let me pause there.
And this week in our life group, what I want you to do is I want you to just ask God and talk
about which one is the one that you need to be most careful about. Be careful about your
inputs. Be careful about your habits and be careful about your relationships. If you don't like what's
coming out, look at what you're putting in, be careful about what's shaping your life. Be careful.
Be careful. This practical, and God's word is very practical. And then be prayerful. This is
spiritual. This is spiritual. Be prayerful. Prayer is powerful. Prayer is powerful. Prayer touches the
heart of God. Prayer moves the heart of God. God responds to faith. The effectual,
affirmative prayer of a righteous man, availeth must. If two or three people gather together on earth,
and call down on him and hears our prayer.
If we pray according to his will,
he will do what we ask him to do prayer.
It's powerful.
And so what I'd like to do is I want to read a big portion of scripture
that talks about the spiritual nature of what you're facing.
Now here's what I want you to understand.
Do you have anxiety?
If you do, that's both physical,
it's practical, and it's spiritual.
Do you feel depressed?
There could be a very real physical component to that.
your hormones may be out of whack.
You may be dealing with extremely difficult life challenges
that are outside of your control.
And there's a spiritual nature.
Do you find yourself angry?
You may be a victim of something
that you have every right to be angry,
but you don't want to live in that
and your anger do not sin.
And there's something practical,
it may be even physiological,
and it can be very, very spiritual.
If you're struggling mentally, emotionally, physically,
remember, we are not just a body,
we're not just a soul, we are a spirit that has a soul that lives in a body. And God cares about
every part. And our battle is not against people and it is not just worldly. It's incredibly spiritual.
So what we're going to do to end this message series is in just a moment, if you're able,
at all of our churches. I'm going to ask you just to stand, not yet, but stand in honor of the
reading God's of his word. And I'm going to declare his
His word over you.
And when I do, I'm going to believe that throughout the past four weeks that whatever God
spoke to you, he's going to bring to the front of your mind.
And whatever he brings to the front of your mind is you're going to live out in your life.
And that the Holy Spirit is going to show you what he's doing in you and what he wants to do
for you and what he wants to do through you.
And then go live it out.
For freedom, he set you free.
stay in it be free be careful not to go back not to get stuck in it but for freedom christ set you free
it is practical it is your diet it is your sleep it is your hormones it is your mindset it is
spiritual it is his truth it is his word it's pushing back against the force of it's all of it and god
created all of it and it all matters it matters to him and you matter to him and you are not here
accident because God wants you to do what you can do and trust him to do what you can't do.
So we're going to do what we can do and we're going to call on him to do what we can't do
because our God is always good.
So I'm going to get a drink of water because I'm going to read his word with power and with
passion.
All of our churches, if you're able today, would you mind standing to your feet in honor of the
reading of God's word?
Ephesians chapter six
This shows the spiritual side
And I want you to notice two things
I want you to notice that you're called to stand
And you're called to pray
You're called to stand
You're called to pray, you're called to pray,
You're called to stand, you're called to pray,
When you stand, that's what you can do.
When you pray, you're invited God to do what he can do.
Grace initiates, faith participates.
When you stand, you do what you can do.
When you pray, you're calling on God to do what he can do.
The Bible says this,
Finally be strong in the Lord.
be strong in the Lord, not in your own power, but in his power.
Be strong in the Lord, in his mighty power.
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your help me out.
So you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
For our struggle is not against the people that make you crazy.
It's not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers and authorities,
against the powers of this dark world,
and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
therefore put on the full armor of God
so that when the day of evil comes
you may be able to help me out
hey you may do this with me you may be able to
all of our churches one more time you may be able to
stand your ground after you've done everything else to
stand
stand firm then with a belt of truth
around your waist
with a breastplate of righteousness in place
and with your feet fitted with the readiness
that comes from the gospel of peace
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, which can extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray, church, and pray and pray, church, and pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kind of prayers and requests with this in mind.
Be alert, be on guard, be alert.
Your spiritual enemy wars around like a lion seeking who may devour.
when you're standing strong, be careful that you do not fall.
Be alert, church.
And always keep on praying for the Lord's people.
Before the battle, you pray.
After the breakthrough, you pray.
When things are going well, you pray.
When you think you might slip, you pray.
Because prayer isn't preparation for the battle.
Prayer is the battle.
We battle against, not against flesh and blood.
And what does prayer do? What does prayer do?
Prayer reminds you you are never in control.
And prayer keeps you close to the only one who is.
So be careful and be prayerful.
Be careful and be prayerful.
Because the same God who saved your spirit is sanctifying your soul.
Week one, the one who called you, remember, he is faithful and he will
Do it. How does he do it? How does he do it? Grace initiates and faith
participates. Therefore, if you're in Christ, you are not stuck on the porch. By grace, what do you do?
You get up. By faith, you pick up your mat and you walk because when Christ heals you and sets you free,
Christ is the one who will keep you free. So every moment of every day, be careful, be prayerful. Be careful, be careful. Stay dependent on you.
God. And whenever fear
whispers you, what if you slip up? What if you
go back? What if you're not really
healed? You just tell the devil.
The same Jesus who set me free
is faithful to keep me
free. He who the son sets
free is free indeed.
What will he do? He will strengthen
my mind. He will steady
my thoughts. He will heal my
anxiety. He will comfort
me in sadness, tell him.
He will comfort me with his
hope and he will heal
my hurting mind.
Because who is he?
He is the God of peace.
And his word says he is faithful
to do it.
So Heavenly Father, we ask
for you to continue
the work of healing.
We know that salvation is instant,
but healing is often a process.
So heal us, God, body, soul, and spirit
that we could know you
and serve you faithfully.
Church, as you remain standing today, nobody looking around.
What I want you to do, if you will, just keep your eyes closed so that you can recognize this as what it is.
Yes, it's practical, yes, it's circumstantial, and yes, it's very, very spiritual.
What I want you to do is if just right now your feet are planted on the ground,
I want you just to intentionally visualize your feet firmly planted.
You may even just like position them.
Like if I'm in a fight, I'm positioned, I'm planted, I'm ready.
Because Christ set you free.
What are you doing now?
You're standing firm.
You're standing against the attacks of the evil one.
You're standing firm in the truth that set you free.
And I want to tell you right now, stand your ground.
Don't go back.
Don't give up.
Don't give in.
Don't believe the lie.
You're stuck this way.
Stand your ground against the devil's schemes.
Stand firm.
Be careful and be prayerful.
And what I want you to do if you're comfortable with
just plant your feet, plant them, you're standing firm. And if you're comfortable, maybe just
raise both hands kind of in front of you about waist, high palms up, just in an open stance
before God, not clenched, not striving, but open, symbolizing your dependence on the one who set
you free. The same one who heals you as the same one who keeps you whole and well. And with your feet
planted and your hands open to heaven, I'm going to pray for you.
you. Heavenly Father, guard everything that you're healing. Strengthen every single mind. Protect every single
thought, God. May your Holy Spirit do a healing work. God, renew our minds. Heal our broken souls.
God, free those that have experienced deep and severe trauma, that they could experience true and
real healing in Christ. God, every problem, every burden, every lie, may it flee. May it flee.
in the name of Jesus, may you initiate with your grace and God, with our faith we participate,
believing that Christ truly sets us free. We pray for this and believe it in Jesus' name.
As you keep praying today without looking around, some of you, you can put your hands down if you
want to take a break, keep it out of your prayer. Some of you, you recognize you've never really been
free. You've been managing, trying your best, hoping things would change. And I want to just tell you
very lovingly as your pastor is that freedom doesn't start with better behavior. Freedom starts
with surrender to the one who sent his son for you. It's for freedom that Christ set us free.
It's not self-help. Self-help doesn't set us free. Willpower doesn't set us free. Positive
thinking doesn't set us free. Christ sets us free.
Last week we studied the truth that grace initiates and our faith participates.
God initiated that while we were still sinners, the Bible said,
before we deserved anything, while we were sitting against him,
Jesus died on the cross for us.
God initiated.
He sent his one and only son, Jesus.
Who is Jesus?
He's the Lamb of God who was slain for the forgiveness of our sins.
And God raised him from the dead so that anyone that calls on the name of Jesus would be saved
and would be forgiven.
Grace initiated now faith participates.
The Bible tells us that you are not saved by your own good works,
but you're saved by grace through faith.
It is the grace of God,
and is your faith believing that what Jesus did saves you
by grace through faith, your sins are forgiven,
and you're made new.
And when you're new, salvation happens,
in an instant, then healing takes place over time. And yes, God can heal you instantly. Yes, God
can change you in a moment. But have you been sick for a long time? Sometimes it takes a while
for the Word of God to renew your mind. At all over churches today, there are some of you,
you could have been around a church like me. I grew up going to church and thinking I was a Christian
because I went to church, but I did not know God in an intimate way. I did not know him personally.
And many of you are going to recognize you're there today. Grace is initiating.
You're feeling drawn to God.
What is that?
That's his loving kindness, drawing you to him.
And so what do you do?
You simply just say, I'm turning away from my sins.
I'm turning away from my brokenness.
I'm repenting of those things.
And I'm trusting Christ.
Your hands are open in a moment.
I can't do anything.
I'm receiving the free gift of salvation.
When you confess your sins,
he's faithful and just,
forgives your sins and cleanses you from all unrighteous,
as the Bible says.
And you become new and you become free.
today at all of our church. It's a day online. Those of you who know, you may even been around
the things of God, but you don't know him. You don't know his freedom. You're ready. We're stepping
away from our sin. We're calling on him. When you call on him, he hears your prayers. He forgives your
sins. He makes you new. You're not here by accident. Today is the day of your salvation.
For freedom, Christ sets us free around the world online. Those of you at church today, you say,
I need him. I need his grace. Today, by faith, I give my life to him. That's your prayer today.
but His grace is here by faith.
I give my life to Jesus.
That's your prayer.
Lift your hands high.
Right now, all of the place lifting up.
Oh, praise God today.
As we have people at all of our churches saying yes, Jesus, we surrender.
Come on, church, come on church.
We have people today saying yes.
All over the place online.
Type in the comment sections.
I am surrendering my life to Jesus.
I'm surrendering my life to Jesus.
Would you pray with those around you?
Heavenly Father, forgive all of my sins.
Jesus make me new.
Holy Spirit, fill me with your power so I could do your will.
Thank you for freedom.
Thank you for healing.
Thank you for new life.
My life is not my own.
I give it all to you.
In Jesus' name I pray.
Church, could you worship God today?
Give God praise for new life in Christ.
