Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Surrender Yourself for More | Book Club | Part 3

Episode Date: June 23, 2024

If you’ve ever struggled with surrendering to God or understanding what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, you’ve gotta hear this. Priscilla Shirer is bringing a power-packed message! ABOUT THIS MESSAGENo one has all the answers. That’s why we need diverse voices to help us grow. During Book Club, we’ll get fresh perspectives on living out our calling with confidence, purpose, and freedom.PRAYERIf you're facing something difficult, you don’t have to carry it alone. If it’s on your mind, it’s on God’s heart. We want to pray with you and support you through whatever you’re facing. Share your prayer request: https://www.life.church/getprayerNEXT 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://live.life.churchFind locations, videos, and more info about us at https://www.life.church or download the Life.Church app at https://www.life.church/appFIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/life.churchInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/life.churchTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifechurchYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LCNowCONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIGYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/craiggroeschelFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschelInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschelTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craiggroeschel#lifechurch #priscillashirer #bookclub Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I am the second of four children, and my siblings and I all went to this little private school that was around the corner from our house growing up. It was called Brook Hollow Christian School. And kindergarten through about eighth grade or so, we went to this little school. It was a very conservative Christian school where they didn't allow you to wear pants to this school. You had to wear a skirt. And it was back in the day where the skirt better not be below the hemline of your fingertips, they would measure it to make sure that it was the exact length that it needed to be. It was serious business, which also meant that our teachers didn't wear pants. They wore skirts as well. And I remember every single one of my teachers from every year. I was endeared to them and

them to me, the classes were quite small, so we got to know each other very well. Miss Wright was my second grade teacher. I loved Ms. Wright, and I can still see her clearly in my mind's eye. To me, as an eight-year-old in the second grade, she seemed to only have three skirts that she owned. They were in constant rotation. It was a black one, a navy one, and a cream-colored one. She seemed to have several different blouses

she would pair with these three skirts, and they were about ankle lengths, all of them, or mid-calf lengths, and they were kind of folded and had ruffles and folds in them. When she walked past the desk, I can hear it. Swish, swish. Swish.

She had dark black hair. The only daring that she ever took with her makeup, I recall, was that she had eyeliner that was dark black, and it was kind of wedged up on the side so that she had that enchanting cat-eye look. I was so drawn to the beauty of Miss Wright. And men, yeah, that hair, that was back in the day where women used to roller set their hair.

Where with that wet hair, you put it on those hard rollers, and then you sat underneath the dryer for an hour or more. and she would come into class, and for the entire week, she had that helmet of hair on her head, and she cemented it, and I mean cemented it, with hair spray. It was so thickly put on her hair that I remember as she'd walked throughout the classroom, the lights would catch the film of hair spray that was on the top of her hair. That was Ms. Wright of the second grade, and I remember that to me and my friends, this was the only dimension of her that actually existed. Maybe you remember feeling that way about your teachers.

It never occurred to you. They have a life. Like, it never occurred to you that they did other things other than stand in this classroom, in that skirt in front of that black board with that chalk in their hands, with the helmet on their head, and teach this particular class. Which is why one particular day I was completely shocked when on this hot Texas Saturday, I grocery shopping with my mom, and I was standing there, queuing up in the checkout line, scanning all the forbidden candies that were there on the racks, trying to figure out which one I was going to beg my mom to get me on this particular occasion. When I looked over the top rack and saw Ms. Wright standing in the next line,

I was completely frozen in shock. Because this is the first time it occurred to me that she did other things other than teach the second gray. There she was standing there and her hair was not in the same style it was always in. It was kind of hanging loosely and romantically around her shoulders. And I remember she just had on a very light little plastering of blush on her cheeks. The eyeliner was not there. I had never seen her like this. And she had on shorts. What I'm saying to you is I didn't know Ms. Wright had legs. I was completely dumbfounded as I stared at her. She was standing next to a man, I assumed to be her husband, standing next to a young boy that I assumed to be

her son. She had a family and she had knees and apparently she went grocery shopping on Saturdays. It had never occurred to me that she had more to her beyond the one dimension in which I was used to seeing her. I had relegated her to this little box and it occurred to me through the years. and by the way, in the 40 years that have passed since then, I don't remember if I even said anything to her because I was dumbfounded at the fact that I was seeing her and her knees. Asked me or any of my fellow classmates at the time, who do you say Ms. Wright is?

We would have said she's a good teacher. We would have said that's all she is. She's a good teacher. We would have put her in that one box. And by putting her in that box, It didn't limit her life. She still went to brunch on Sundays and went to church and took walks with friends and went grocery shops. She had a life.

It didn't limit her. The box just limited my relationship with her. It limited my experience of her, my expectation of her, my encounters of her were limited because I didn't know and understand and have an awareness of the full scope of who this woman was. which is why one of the most poignant and powerful and necessary questions that Jesus asks in the New Testament is the same question that he's getting ready to ask you today. Because in Luke chapter 9 in verse 18 and 19 and 20, he looks at his disciples and he says, who do you say that I am? It's a necessary question for you to consider. Because most often we have this tendency where we've put God in a box that matches up with our experience, or it matches up with the denomination we grew up in, or it matches up with the traditions of our family line where we've come from,

what our mama and grandmama and them said that Jesus was. Maybe what the culture around you is declaring that Jesus is. But Jesus asks the 12 disciples in the New Testament, y'all, and he asks us today so that we can, consider for ourselves, who do you say that Jesus is? The reason why this question is going to be so important in Luke chapter 9 for these 12 disciples that are following closely with Jesus, the reason why it's going to matter so much is because in verse 23 of Luke chapter 9, he is about to give them one of the most stunning and staggering invitations that they will ever receive, that we will ever receive. He's going to invite them to be

disciples. They're already believers, but he's getting ready to invite them to surrender all. And here's what he's going to say to them in Luke chapter 9, verse 23. If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to gain his life is actually going to have to lose it. And whoever is going to find his life is going to lose it for my sake. For what does it profit a man who gains the whole wide world

but loses his soul? He's going to offer an invitation to discipleship to these 12. But before the invitation, he asked him a question about his identity. Identity first, invitation later. Because think about the gravity and the weightiness of the descriptive words that Jesus uses to describe discipleship here.

He says things like deny, cross, lose, follow me. Y'all think of how sobering these terms actually are that remind us that actually surrendering all actually being the kind of disciple that Jesus describes here. It really does require and necessitate a solid devourable. from much of what society and even the Christian culture has begun to purport and promote that following Jesus actually looks like. It flies in the face of a self-focused faith that celebrates excess and hustle and a life of ease and comfort as being the mark of what divine favor is on somebody's life. It's going to demand that reorient the compass of all our religious,

activity back in the direction of virtues that have been lost like simplicity and discipline and obedience and holiness and the restraint that the spirit of God develops within us. It reminds us that we're going to have to recalibrate and reckon with what it actually means to surrender all, to follow Jesus fully and completely. Because y'all, there are many people who have placed faith in him. But there are much fewer who have actually decided to follow him, to walk in step with him. And the question we've got to ask ourselves, honestly and truthfully,

is will we pursue and surrender to this discipleship? Christ's definition of discipleship. Or are we actually going to create our own definition that coddles our flesh and esteems this earth more highly than the kingdom of heaven? But no, on this occasion right here, when Jesus describes what it means to surrender all. He cuts the legs out from underneath the modernized, politicized, cliche version of discipleship that we've seen bubbling up to the surface, and he defines what it actually means to follow him,

to live in step with him, to walk with him, to surrender to him. He makes it plain and clear on this day that it looks more like selflessness than it does selfishness. It actually requires that we trust him with our lives. lives with our futures. It means that we're more interested in being marked by the Holy Spirit than marketing ourselves that we trust him and surrender all to him. And for that kind of invitation, like to really be willing to surrender all, we're going to have to know who Jesus is. Because why would we surrender our lives to somebody who's just a good teacher? Why would we surrender to somebody unless we actually believe that he is who he said he is,

that he actually did redeem us, that he actually did pay a debt that we could not pay a heart from the gracious gift of salvation. We would be separated from God for eternity and find ourselves in the pit of hell if we really don't believe it, then we won't actually follow him and surrender all. So he deals with his identity first before the invitation. Our willingness to surrender fully and completely to him demands that we ask ourselves the question, who do we say Jesus is? I remember about two decades ago, long time ago,

I had the opportunity to speak in upstate New York, and I was there with three other women who were going to be ministering at this women's conference. We all flew in around the same time, and then one of the women from this particular conference that was on the board, she came in this little minivan to pick us up and to take us to what we thought was going to be the hotel where we were going to be staying for this particular event. And as we all got our bags and got into the car, she with a bright, bubbly smile on our face as we began driving, she started telling us that we actually weren't going to a hotel, that we were going to be staying in the home of another woman who was on the board of this ministry that graciously had opened her home to us to stay with her for those two or three nights that we were going to be in town. we were going to a woman's home. And I remember feeling all of us, feeling grateful and excited to be

able to be welcomed to this woman's home. But we were also a little bit concerned. Because, you know, you don't really know if the cat sleeps in the same bed, they're going to put you in. You're not sure if the guinea pigs are allowed to walk on the kitchen counters. You're just not always sure what you're getting yourself into. And so we were kind of just bracing ourselves for wherever we were going. On the drive, the lady told us that this woman had a beautiful home. She said, you guys are going to be so comfortable. I'm so glad that she's letting you come and do her home. So we were just kind of getting more and more excited as she talked about it,

but we could not have prepared ourselves for where we ended up. We drove down this beautiful winding street once we got off the freeway, and we came to a gate with a huge fence line that seemed to go as far as I could see to the left or the we were now very, very eager to see what in the world was behind this gate. When the gate finally opened, there was a long, winding driveway with huge oak trees that were on either side of this driveway. We couldn't even see the home when the gate opened because the property itself was so vast and so plush and so gorgeous. Our mouths were agape, our eyes wide open because we could not believe that this place was the place where we were going to be

staying. We asked her again, are you sure this is not a hotel? She said, no, this is a residential property. We drove down this winding driveway and finally, the landscape revealed a home. I have never in the 20 years since then seen anything comparable to what I saw on that day. I would later find out this home was 20,000 square feet. We drove up underneath the the port-a-chaixie, where the car went under to let us into the front door, we were all stunned and grabbed our bags and sort of staggered out of the car, eager to get inside to see what in the world you put in a 20,000 square foot house. So you know how you're trying to act cool and collected, but really you're like,

I can't wait to get in here and see what's going on up in this house. That's how we felt that day. The front door opened, and this slight woman, small woman, came to the door. Rosie cheeks, a big, beautiful, endearing smile on our face. She welcomed us into her home, and we stepped into the foyer of her home, and it was outstanding. It took our breath away. There was a foyer that we were standing right at the edge of the door, and you could see straight through to the living room where there were beautiful Florida ceiling windows that shone out to the back of her property, where there was more land and acreage and beautiful trees. It was absolutely

staggering. We were just about to take our first step with our bags and toe into her lobby, I would say, of the front of her home. And she said, oh, oh, do you just, do you guys mind taking your shoes off? Because we don't actually walk with shoes around the house. And so we took our shoes off and didn't mind it all because if I had a 20,000 square foot house, I can assure you y'all would be taking y'all's shoes off. So we took our shoes off. So we took our shoes off. And off and we began to make our way in. Well, right in the center of the lobby of her home, there was a beautiful European woven rug. So we're just about to walk onto the rug because that's what you do. And she said, oh, oh, just, I'm sorry, one second. This rug was imported from

some place in Europe and it was very expensive. So, you know, we don't actually walk on this rug. We just kind of walk around the sides of it. So now we have our bags, we are barefoot, and we are walking around the margins of the rug. Seriously, being careful not to touch the rug that was in the middle of the floor. And this, you know, this wasn't like a two-by-three rug. It's a huge rug that's in the middle of the floor. So we get around it. Now we are standing inside the living area, and she began to point out different things

and just welcome us into her home. She was such a gracious lady, and she was pointing to different things, took us through the living room towards those windows. We made us sharp left so that. she could take us down the hallway to the elevator that was going to take us to the third floor where the bedrooms were. So we've got our bags now. We are tiptoeing through the house, making sure not to touch anything, and now we're about to step onto the elevator. We were in complete disbelief. And just as we were stepping onto the elevator, she said, oh, oh, oh. So the walls in the

elevator were slats of beautifully burnished carved pieces of wood. And she said, these slats of of wood that had these beautiful carved creations in them. She said they were specifically made for the elevator and they were imported from a province in India and they're very expensive. So we want to make sure we don't ever chip the wood that's on the walls because we don't even know how we would begin to get it fixed. So if you could keep your bags tucked in really closely, that would be helpful. So I kid you not, y'all, we are barefoot tiptoeing through the house with our bags like this. We get up to the third floor. There are four beautiful bedrooms. Each one of us had our own bedroom. To me, they looked like master suites. They were big, beautiful, spacious rooms.

The beds were king-sized beds with beautiful comforters that were laid on top of them. And we've been traveling all day long for me from Texas, all the way to upstate New York. It had been a long day. And I kind of set my stuff down and was just about to take a seat on top of that bed with that big beautiful comforter and she said oh oh don't actually use the comforters they're actually just here for decoration and even as she said it she was already pulling it off the bed and folding it up and tucking it away and putting it inside the closet she did that in each of the bedrooms and when she was done sort of settling us in she stood in the middle of the hallway in between the rooms and she just said i'm so glad y'all are here make yourself at home she didn't mean that he said it but she

in theory, make yourself at home. And this is what we say to the Lord. We say, come on in, make yourself at home. But, oh, Lord, there's this part that I treasure right here, this entertainment choice. There's a relationship that I have. There is a habit. There's a dream.

There's an aspiration. And, Lord, you can come on in, but don't touch that, Lord. Don't renovate that part. Don't recalibrate that. Don't redecorate that. Don't re-align that. Lord, make yourself at home. But in theory, Lord, not fully and completely. He says to the disciples then and to the disciples today, will you say make yourself at home to me and actually mean it? That every single part of our lives we will give him full and complete access to.

Who do you say I am? I'm either just a good teacher, or I am master and lord. You either relegate me to the Sunday part of your life or you welcome me into the Monday through Saturday part of your life. That it's not just for a meeting and a greeting on a Sunday, but no, it's in your decision-making on Monday and your relationship choices on Tuesday and your financial decisions on Wednesday

and your political preferences on Thursday. And your entertainment choices on Fridays, and Saturdays that every part of our lives are fully completely surrendered to him and to him alone. I am who I say I am. I'm not just a good teacher. I pay too high a price to be relegated to a box like that. So Luke's gospel, when you take time to go through it, you actually see that chapters 1 through 8, y'all are really just a build-up to this question in chapter 9. that right here in this short little pocket of scripture that we've read, where he asks the disciples,

who do you say I am, and then gives them this invitation to discipleship. The lead up to it has already been happening all throughout Luke 1, all the way through chapter 8, where he's been introducing himself, trying to get them to understand that he wasn't just a good man, that he wasn't just someone of whom the prophet spoke, that he wasn't just another religious leader like they had seen before. But every aspect of every description that Luke gives us of what Jesus did, the miracles that he pronounced upon people, of every message that he spoke was designed to show his distinctiveness, to authenticate his messiahship, to introduce the fullness of his identity to these 12 so that when they were asked the question, they would have a full description of who it was

that Jesus is. And so in chapter one, we discover that no, he was not just an average kid in chapter one and two, but he was a boy in the temple who wasn't just lost and playing games. He was in his father's house, and he was about his father's business. And then in Luke chapter three, no, he was not just a man being baptized by John the Baptist, but he was the one upon whom the spirit descended like a dove. And a voice came from the heavens. This one, this one. one is my son in whom I am well pleased. And no, he wasn't just a man fasting in the wilderness. He was the one upon whom the redemption of all humanity rested, the one of whom the prophets testified, the anointed one who had come to preach good news to the poor and to proclaim

release to the captives. And no, he wasn't just a helpless bystander hearing about and becoming overwhelmed by people's sickness and their lack. He was the architect. He was the architect of the universe, able to heal and restore and to banish demons back to hell. He was the one who could look at the winds and the waves and say, peace be still. And all of creation obeyed him. He wasn't just another religious leader, a mere teacher of the law. He was the fulfillment of it. He had come to inaugurate it.

He was the one that when he opened up his mouth, he spoke with such authority that people who had heard good preaching before realized there was something different about this man, that he wasn't like the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the religious leaders of the day. They realized there was an authority dripping off of every word. And so wherever Jesus was, a crowd followed. Because even if they weren't quite sure about this whole Messiah business, they didn't quite yet believe that he was, who he said he was, that the kingdom of God was actually at hand.

What they did know was that when this guy, showed up blind people could see. It's what they were sure of. They knew that when Jesus showed up, deaf ears could hear and the blind were able to see and the lame could walk and the dead were being raised. They knew that

people's lives were transformed everywhere that he was. And so wherever Jesus went in the book of Luke, you'll see multitudes followed. Thousands came to be around Jesus in hopes that they could be like that woman with the issue of blood who

elbowed her way, forced her way through the crowd, and got close enough where she can reach out and touch the hem of his garment. She didn't even have to touch him, just touching the hem of his garment. Change the course of her life. And they wanted to be like that woman who was in proximity. They just wanted to be in proximity of Jesus. And so there were hordes of people that were always around him. which is why before he asked the 12, who do you say that I am? A couple of verses earlier in verse 18 of Luke chapter 9, he'd asked them, who do the crowd say that I am? Because, you know, they always hear.

They're always in close proximity. They're always marveling about what it is that I do, but I have a question, what do they say about my identity? Because it is possible to be a fan. and not be a follower. And I fear y'all, particularly in the western part of the world in which you and I live, that we have hordes of people who have gotten enamored with production, that we're fans of the business of Christianity,

that we're enamored, that our ears maybe are being tickled, that we've seen what it is that Jesus can do in the testimony of other people, that maybe we come to church because our mama and grandmama, and then said that's what we're supposed to do, that it's just become a part of the rhythm that our friends are going to see this Jesus. So we go to, and maybe we read a verse a day to keep the devil away,

because that's just what we're supposed to do. It's part of the checklist. We're part of the multitudes that are just coming because it's what the culture does, but there is a difference between the fans and the followers. And we have to decide whether or not we're going to surrender all to Jesus or just stand on the sidelines being enamored by him.

And so he says to the disciples, who do the multitude say that I am? And they give Jesus a great compliment. They say some say you're like John the Baptist, and there are others that say you're like Elijah, and these would-be great compliments to any regular man, being compared to these great revered names of old. But for Jesus, it's an insult.

Because to even put him in the same category as other people is an insult. Because he is not just y'all a bigger version of us. He's not just a better version of us. He is in a class and a category all by himself. Without comparison. And he is absolutely and completely without counterparts. He is completely a singular being all by himself. He cannot be compared.

And so they thought they were complimenting him, but really their compliment had embedded within it the biggest insult of all. That Jesus is in a class all by himself. And until you and I do business with his identity, in fact, one of the ways that you can know whether or not you really believe, whether I, whether you really believe Jesus is who he says he is, is how fully and completely we've surrendered our lives to him. and it's not just about what we surrender,

it's about the response time in how we surrender it. Oh, man, how long does it take us when the spirit convicts, when he challenges, when he tells us to walk away, when he asks us to loosen our grip and let go, how long does it take? How hard does he have to pry our fingers open to get us to let go of the lifestyle or the habit or the choice? Oh, I'm preaching to myself right now. Lord, forgive us when we've played games with surrender.

Because you have paid too high for us to not give all. And so on this day, I ask you to take personal inventory. I'm going to do it for me and you're going to do it for you. And you can't do it for me and I can't do it for you. Only you know whether or not you really believe he is who he said he is. And if you do, it will be easier for us to fully release to him every aspect of our life because we'll know beyond a shadow of a doubt, he's worth it. He's worth it.

I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back. Lord Jesus, we surrender. Forgive us for the places in our lives where we have gripped so tightly. and we have not been quick to let go and to release to you every aspect of our lives. But, Lord, today we say, come on in and make yourself at home. You are worth it and you are worthy. In Jesus' name, amen. I say we just have some church here.

So thank you. We're going on all of our churches. Let's just continue in an attitude of prayer. I want to talk to those of you that our friends. followers of Jesus, and you recognize that you've invited him in, but you haven't given him full control. You haven't surrendered. If there is an area of your life right now, you recognize that you're rationalizing a sin, you're explaining away something you know it's not pleasing to him, you haven't trusted him with someone, some thing, you're harboring unforgiveness when you know he calls you to forgive. If you know you're supposed to serve when you haven't served, you're supposed to be generous, you're not being generous. If there's some area of your life, you are a

disciple of Jesus and you're not, you haven't yet surrendered that to him and you want to surrender now, would you lift up your hands? Just be honest today, I'm lifting up my hand, some area of your life that you want to surrender. Father, we do, we recognize you're not just a great leader, you're not just a moral person, you are the king of all kings, you are our Savior. And whatever we hold back today by faith, we trust to you. We confess our sins. We turn from our sins. We choose forgiveness. We choose your word. We surrender. We surrender all. As you keep praying today without looking around, there are some of you that maybe like me, you grew up around the things of God. I did. I believed in God, but I didn't know him. You might kind of say, hey, yeah, yeah, I'll go to church

every now and then. I'll be around those things. But you don't know him. You haven't surrendered to him. I call it a Christian atheist. You believe in him, but you live like he doesn't exist. If you recognize that's you today, if you feel that conviction, guess what? It's not a bad thing. It's a really good thing. It's because God loves you and he's drawing you to him right now and he's inviting you to let go of all, to surrender all. what does it mean to trust him to surrender all we step away from everything of this world our fears our sins our insecurity and we give it all to him our past our present our future our dreams we surrender all we say jesus you be the lord of all don't just save me be the lord of all today there are those of you you recognize that you're not walking the fullness of everything that God has for you, guess what?

Today is the day of your salvation. Where you decide, today I choose to follow Jesus. I surrender all. If you recognize you're not walking with him today and the Holy Spirit's drawing, and what we're going to do is just say, yes, we're going to step away from our sins, and we're going to call on the name of Jesus, the name at which one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess his lordship. We call on Jesus. And when you do, God will hear the cry of your heart. He will forgive your sins and he will make you brand new today at all of our churches those who say yes i'm ready not play not joining the church not religious language i surrender all i trust you i give you my whole life save me be the lord of my life jesus i give my whole life to you would you lift your hands high right now

all over the place and say yes i surrender jesus i trust you let's have your hands and say yes i give you my entire life online to say i am surrendering all i surrender all to jesus would you pray with those around you Father, I surrender to the Lordship of your son, my Savior Jesus. Forgive me. Fill me with your spirit. Be the Lord of all of my life. I confess every sin. I need your strength, your presence, your power to do your will on earth as it is in heaven. Take my strength. Take my strength. Take my whole life, I surrender all. In Jesus' name, I pray. Could you worship God in heaven as angels rejoice

that goes to go into the family of God?