Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - The Right Heart, Part 1: Isaiah 58

Episode Date: May 29, 2016

Love God, love people—sounds simple enough. So why is it so hard to live out? Maybe it’s because we're going about it all wrong. Join special guest Joyce Meyer to see why love isn’t about following the right rules—it’s about having The Right Heart. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Thanks for joining us here at Life Church, where we are one church meeting in multiple locations and reaching around the world through church online. If you have any questions you'd like to learn more about us, you can always visit us online just by going to life.com. Coming up today, we're joined by bestselling author Joyce Meyer. And then her message, we'll learn how loving God and loving people isn't something that starts in our head, but rather begins by having the right heart. Hey, Life Church, before we dive into an amazing week, and I'll introduce to you our guest speaker, I want to tell you about what's coming two weeks from now. I'm going to be starting a brand new message series called Bad Advice.

Have you ever heard of a message here to the church called Bad Advice? I'm going to teach you how to commit adultery, how to lose your faith, how to be an addict, and how to be dissatisfied. Let's be honest. Nobody plans to do those things, but people do them all the time. Why? because they get bad advice. When you hear what not to do, you'll hear what to do from God's Word, two weeks from now. Brand new message series called Bad Advice. Today, I want to introduce to you an amazing speaker, a dear friend of my heart. You're going to go crazy in a minute because you're

going to get to hear from Joyce Meyer, one of the premier Bible teachers in the whole wide world. She's written about 120 books. Her newest one is one that some of you need to get. It's called Overload. If you are overloaded, you'll want to get this book, pick it up on Amazon or any bookstore. Over 120 books, New York Times bestselling author. She teaches to over 200,000 women every year in live events all over the world. Absolutely amazing communicator, as most of you would know. What I love about her is we actually have a great partnership in working together. Years ago, Joyce sent a gift just down in the blue before we even knew her to help with the U-Version Bible app.

Now, we have an amazing partnership. She's had, you may want to clap for this, over 1.7 million Bible plans finished on the U-Gers and Bible app. She makes a difference. All over the world is full of integrity, and you're going to be incredibly blessed to hear from her today. Would you please help me welcome our good friend, Joyce Meyer? Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Well, it's a great opportunity to be here. You guys have such an amazingly awesome church. Really phenomenal.

Wow, you know, there's just so much to be done today in the kingdom. And isn't it great to have an opportunity to be part of the kind of things that we're doing today? You know, the Bible says that we will do the things that Jesus did in greater things. And sometimes that's kind of overwhelming. You think, well, how could I do great? greater things. But you know, we reach more people today. I'll reach more people today in this one 30-minute teaching as it goes out to all your different churches than possibly Jesus reached in his lifetime here on earth. And so the technology that God has given us today is unbelievable.

And you're making use of that here. We're making use of it. And so I'm happy to be here today. and I chose to teach today out of Isaiah 58. Isaiah chapter 58. It's such a really great chapter in the Bible. You know, Isaiah 58 was a chapter that I read, read, read, read, read and read and read. Because it says some really, really powerful things. And really the main message is, I don't want you just to do religious works trying to impress me, I want you to, in essence, he's saying, get the sin out of your life

and learn how to treat other people right. A couple of really important things. And so I want to talk to you today after, I'm going to read the first eight verses, and I'm going to make a few comments, and then I want to talk to you about motives. Because I believe that God is much more concerned about why we do what we do than he is what we do. And I want to say that again. God is much more concerned about why we do what we do than what we do. And, you know, we live in an image-driven age where people are very, they're much more concerned about their image than they are their character.

And that's not the way that it should be because we're to become godly. And as we do that, then we can really affect other people in the world. And I think that there should be enough of Jesus. us oozing out of us, that people would know that something is different about us without us necessarily having to have a bumper sticker or a cross around our neck. And I, you know, that's not, there's nothing wrong with that, but there is something wrong with it if that's what we have and we don't have the character to back it up. And so I've kind of challenged myself that maybe just over the next couple of months,

I just want to kind of go back again to something that I've done in the past and just maybe everything I do for the next couple of months, I just want to take a moment to say to myself, now why am I doing this? See, why am I here today? It's not that I am here, but why am I here today? Why did I, even why do we give people gifts? Do we give people gifts so they will appreciate us

or so they'll give us a gift back or so we'll appear to be generous? or do we just give because we just really want to give? I tell you, if you want to get a room full of quiet people, you start talking about motives because you can see people just all of a sudden get real deep. Because I don't really think we think about it that much. To be honest, I mean, how much do we really take an inventory of, now, why did I do that?

Even sometimes, why did I say yes, that I would go to that event when I didn't even want to be there and really don't even like the person that invited me. So often we do things because of what other people are going to think if we don't. And that's one of the things that causes so much overload and stress in people's lives

is doing all kinds of things that there's no real anointing or no grace from God on them to do. And so I just, I want, if I'm going to do this, I want to do it right. I want to be an honest person. I want to be an honest Christian. And I really, I really, really, really want to hear.

Well done. Now good and faithful servant. Now, in March, I had the privilege of at least celebrating in my heart, my 40th year of teaching the Bible. And so 40 years ago in March, I taught my first little Bible study. About 12 ladies were there. And I always laughed because they all got a part. parking ticket. And so that was our great, great beginning. And oh my gosh, I have learned so much from the word over that period of time. I was such a mess. And I'm not going to say that I still don't

have some messes in my life, but God has changed me so much. And this chapter was very meaningful to me. And so I'm going to read a little bit of it. He starts in verse one, cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet and declare to my people their transgressions and to the house of Jacob their sins. So God is telling Isaiah, declare to the people of transgressions and deal with them about their sins. Well, you know what? We don't get by with that real good today. I mean, today you can get some kind of not so good looks if you start wanting to preach on sin or telling people maybe there's something in their life that needs to change. You know, God does, he's not just going to pat us on the head

and tell us we're wonderful all the time. He wants to confront us because he wants to help us. And part of the goal of the Holy Spirit in our life is to convict us when we're doing something that we shouldn't be doing. And, you know, I used to think, oh, another thing I'm doing wrong. But you know what? Now, when I'm convicted by the Holy Spirit, I always say, thank you, God, that you love me enough,

that you won't leave me in a mess and let me think that there's nothing wrong in my life. And I notice a lot of times what Paul told Timothy, he said, warn, urge, encourage, and rebuke in your preaching. He didn't say just encourage. He said, do all the other stuff too. Because we all know that we have a flesh and it can go in the wrong direction really quick

if we don't keep hearing, keep hearing, keep hearing, keep hearing, not just here one time. Just because you've got it underlined in your Bible doesn't mean you know it. I mean, you know, I've turned so in my Bibles into coloring books, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I know everything that's in them. And so I think that we need to clap and cheer in our churches for some of the more, I don't even call them hard messages because I don't think they're hard messages, but some of the messages that make us squirm a little bit in our seats because we want to change.

We need to want to be like Jesus. So he said, this is what I want you to do, Isaiah. I want you to talk to people about their transgressions and their sins. Yet they seek, yet, yet they seek, inquire for and require me daily and delight. The amplified Bible says, externally to know my ways, as if they were in reality and nation that did righteousness and forsook the ordinances of their God. They ask of me righteous judgments. They delight to draw near to God in the God.

visible ways. I love that the Amplified Bible brings this out that really they were just doing a lot of religious stuff, but they weren't really dealing with the issues in their life that God wanted to deal with. You know, I have found in my life, I don't do this anymore, thankfully, but do you know that we can be so busy thinking that we're serving God that we can't even hear God if he's trying to talk to us. I remember the first job I had at a church and I was just so proud of myself because I was working for God. I mean, I had a parking place. I had a front row on the seat on the front row. I had my name on the door. It was just awesome. I thought I was really important, like a church pillar. And the Lord said to me one day when I, when I drove into the parking lot,

you know, you're so proud of yourself that you work for me, but the problem is you're not spending any time with me. So how often do we get so busy in our God things that we don't even really have time to honestly talk to God, or to do the stuff like sit down and have a meeting with yourself and check your motives to make sure that what you're doing, you're doing it for the right reason. Why have we fasted, they say, and you don't see it? Why have we afflicted ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it? So he answers them, behold, old Israel, in the day of your fast, when you should be grieving over your sins,

you find profit in your business, and instead of stopping all work as the law implies you and your workmen should do, you extort from your hired servants a full amount of labor. One more version than I'll comment. The facts are that you fast only for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickedness, fasting as you do will not cause your voice to be heard on high today. So again, he's saying, okay, you're not eating. You're missing some meals. And, you know, sometimes we can even feel very spiritual. because we do that. You're missing some meals, but you're mistreating people.

You're not treating people right. You're still fighting. How many times do I remember, and probably during times when I was fasting, that, I mean, we went to church every Sunday. Dave was an elder. I worked in church. Dave worked in church.

Our kids went to school of church. Everything was church, church, church was our life. And yet we would fight almost every Sunday morning, almost all the way there. Come on. You know, if the devil can stir anything up, it's going to be on Sunday morning. We would argue almost all the way there,

but the first parking lot attendant we saw, praise the Lord. And see, sadly, I don't even know how to tell you how long I was a Christian before I realized that Isaiah 58 was talking to me. You know, you do religious things,

but you're still fighting, you're still arguing. One time when I was fasting for quite a while, I got into an argument with Dave, and because I'd been fasting, I guess, I felt in my heart and soul what God feels when we fight and argue. And it was heartbreaking to feel what he felt over the strife in our home. And it made me quickly, quickly want to get over it. And I can just tell you that God is gracious and he never stops loving us

and he is merciful, but he does expect certain things from us. To be a Christian means to be a Christ follower, a follower of Christ. It doesn't just mean that we go to church. It means that we follow Christ in our everyday life. And you know, I went to church for a lot of years every Sunday morning, but you couldn't tell any difference in me and any other unbeliever. Maybe a little, but really not enough to say that there was a big difference. And you know, we've all got our own little bent when it comes to teaching. God calls us to do different things. And although we have lots and lots of people saved through our ministry, and I'm grateful

for that, my call mainly is to the believer, and always has been, to help them mature and grow up. so we give glory to God and so we can really enjoy the life that Jesus died to give us. You see, the more we follow him in everything that we do, the more we're going to enjoy the life that he wants us to have. And so we have almost no strife in our home now. I've learned a lot over the years about how to keep that out. And that's what God is more interested than that, to be honest,

than if I wouldn't eat for a week. He's much more interested in my heart and me doing things because I want to glorify him than to get into some kind of religious behavior while I've still got all this other junk going on in my life. Is everybody okay? You're still out there? All right. So, three more verses.

Is such a fast as yours what I have chosen. Is it a day for a man to humble himself with sorrow and his soul? is true fasting merely mechanical? Is it only to bow down his head like a bulrush and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him to indicate a condition of heart that he does not have? Will you call this fast an acceptable day to the Lord? Rather, is not this the fast that I have chosen?

Now, I don't mean to say that, you know, God never wants us to miss a few meals while we're fasting. But our attitude, the way we treat people, the condition of our heart, maintaining a pure heart, and sometimes we need the fast to break some things off of us, that helps that. But those things are what we're really after. What we're really, really, really after is not to think we're spiritual because we fast once a year and we go to church every Sunday and, you know, we're an usher in the church and we've got our bumper sticker and our Jesus pen and our cross around our neck and our 20 versions of the Bible.

it's what our behavior is, how do we treat people? I can tell you that the most important thing to God is how do we treat people. That says more about us than absolutely anything else. This is the fast that I have chosen to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppress go free, and that you break every enslaving yoke. So he's basically saying, get the junk out of your life and start treating people right.

I mean, I'm just trying to put it in a nutshell here. Get the junk out of your life and treat people right. Is it not, this is so important to God, is it not to divide your bread with the hungry, to bring the homeless poor into your house, and when you see the naked that you cover him, and I love this part, this is going to be good for somebody, and that you hide not yourself from the needs of your own flesh and blood. You say, no, what's that talking about?

Well, he's saying, feed the hungry, do good works, help the poor, and oh, while you're busy doing all these other things in ministry for other people, let's don't forget your own family. Let's don't forget your own family. You know, it's so sad when somebody's in ministry. Ministry. They minister to everybody else all the time, and they lose their own family.

Are they so busy at their church work all the time that their kids are in trouble and they don't even know it? And so we minister to people literally all over the world. But I have an aunt in a nursing home. I have my mom in a nursing home, my dad in a nursing home. They've both gone home to be with the Lord. We have longevity in our bloodline. And my mom lived to be 90 and my aunt is going to be 90 this month.

And so we've been at this like 20 years. And you know what? It's tough to take care of elderly people. You never know when you're going to get a phone call that they've got to go to the hospital. You never know when they've fallen out of their bed and you've got to rush up there and do this and that and something else. But if I'm out trying to take care of everybody else and I'm not taking care of them, I'm going to hear something from God about that. Because that's my responsibility to make sure that I take care of my own flesh and blood. I always, I traveled a lot, but I always wanted my kids to know you can call me anywhere I'm at

anytime because I'm always here for you. So let's make sure that we also take care of our own families. And I believe that we need to be told things like this because I think sometimes, and maybe not so much today as years back, but when I first kind of got into the spirit-filled move of God, I heard so much about ministry, ministry, ministry, ministry, what's your gift? get in ministry, what's your gift, what's your gift? That seemed to be all anybody cared about was what's your gift. And I think a lot of people got so caught up in that that they really weren't paying proper attention to their family.

So it may not be a word for you, but when I read this in Isaiah 58, it was a word for me. Let's don't forget why you're helping everybody else to make sure you also take care of your family. Last verse, then shall your light break forth like the morning and your healing, your restoration and the power of a new life shall spring forth speedily. Your righteousness, your righteousness, your justice,

your right relationship with God shall go before you, conducting you to peace and prosperity, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard. Then you shall call and the Lord will answer. You shall cry and he will say, here I am. Wow, is that awesome? All the things that we want, I need to be healed,

I need more prosperity, Why aren't my prayers answered quicker? Where's the power? I want a new life. Well, we'd have to go back and start again with verse one and read all the way through again to say, for God to say, this is how you get it. This is how you get it.

Pay attention to the things that are going on in your life. You know, I'm writing a book right now where I've used the scripture a lot in Ephesians 5 where it says, look carefully how you live. And I think we need to do that. I think that we need to take the time sometimes to take little personal inventories. Just even a good question to ask yourself is, who have I helped lately? What, have I done anything for anybody else this week?

Have I done any, did I bless anybody at church on Sunday or did I go just to get my blessing? Did I ask, well, have I been praying for God to meet that need when I could easily meet it myself but just don't want to let go of the money? You invited me. you know what it's like when you get me i was praying one day praying to god and he interrupted me he said stop asking me to do stuff that you could easily do and just don't want to hmm oh god's sister so-and-so's two months behind on her rent would you please provide her rent well choice you could pay her rent you know see there's a lot of things that we just, well, I'll go on.

God is more interested in us having pure hearts than he is in our religious works. The pure in heart are those who do what they do with pure motives. Now, I'll tell you, interestingly enough, probably at least 39 and a half years ago, and I'm grateful that he did. One of the first things that I can remember God dealing with me about as I began to study the word was this thing about motives. and so I don't know, maybe I just had a whole bunch of bad ones and he had to get to me early, but it's been something that's been important to me all throughout my ministry.

Another thing that's been important to me is helping the poor, because I think they go hand in hand. Jesus not only preached the gospel, but he also had a practical application to it all the time by helping people. And so we've always kind of been involved in that, now we get to be involved on a worldwide scale. But scriptures that I have loved are in 1 Corinthians 3, 10 through 15. And Paul starts out and says that, according to the grace of God, I laid a foundation in your life. And now another man is building upon it, but let each man be careful how he builds.

Verse 11, he says, no foundation can be laid in our life but that of Jesus Christ, Messiah. So he is the foundation of our life. He's the foundation for everything that we're doing here. The only reason why we're here today is because of what Jesus has done in our life. But then he says, we build on that foundation. We are working with the Holy Spirit erecting a building, a life that he can work through. So now he says, but if anyone builds on the foundation, very good thing here, whether it be with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw. So we've got a lot of choices about what kind of life we want to build. We can build with the most precious metal, gold,

or we can come down a little notch and do it with silver, or we can throw in a few jewels, or we can get down to stones, wood, and even straw. And so I think it's interesting that we get choices of material. Now listen to this. The work of each one will become plainly, openly known, shown for what it is, for the day of Christ will disclose it and reveal it, because it will be revealed with fire. Now, the way I look at that is in Revelation, it says that Jesus had flames of fire coming out of his eyes. And I think when we stand before Christ, this is what I think,

that the fire of his love will burn up everything in our life, all the works in our life that we impure will be burned up and the only ones that will be left that will get any rewards for at all are the pure ones. Now we're not going to be judged on salvation if you're a believer in Jesus Christ then your name's in the Lamb's Book of Life. Nobody's going to ask about that. But the Bible says clearly that we will be judged on our works, the worth and the value of our works, and that we will receive rewards according to those works. So the bottom line is I'm totally wasting my time. If I'm here today for the wrong reason, then I might impress you. I might even impress myself, but that's like that one gets zapped when I stand before Jesus. It's like,

that one's gone. Let me give you a practical example. Many years ago, 35 years ago. I love when I can tell these stories of myself and say it was 35 years ago. It sounds like I've improved so much. Cute little funny story, you'll get it. Went to the nail shop to get my nails done. This was back in the days when everybody wore rhinestone Jesus pens that were about yea big. I don't know. Did any of you

ever have one of those, anybody besides me? Don't tell me I'm that old. Come on. See, it's all of us. We had those. See? Rhinestone Jesus pens and everybody wore them on their clothes. So I was getting my nails done. A girl was waiting. Get her nails done. We were talking. She was a nurse.

she was a Christian. She was talking about how hard it was to be in the hospital and see all these people so sick and not be able to have a rule in the hospital that you can't talk about God, you can't preach to people, so on and so forth. So I got this idea that I should give her this Jesus pen and tell her, well, if you wear this on your uniform,

it's going to really show up on your white uniform. And just when you bend over to minister to the people, the name of Jesus will really bless them. I mean, you know, the idea was God. It was a good idea. And so I started to give it to her and make my speech, and God said, just do it in private. And I'm thinking, well, how can I do it in private? There's three of us in here.

Immediately, the girl doing my nails said, you know what, I've got to run next door and get some more of the stuff I'm using on your fingernails. The supply house was right next door. So there you go. God arranged for me to do it in private. Now, I argued with myself until she got back. And the argument went something like this. Well, it would probably bless her. if she saw that kind of generosity,

she would know that that was God. I mean, the silly excuses that our flesh can make up. So sure enough, I waited until she came back, took the pen off, made my speech, handed it to the girl, and I got exactly what I wanted. Oh, that's so generous. You are so amazing. Oh, my gosh, I felt so good about myself.

I felt so spiritual. Went to walk out of the shop, and God said, I hope you enjoyed that, because that's all you're getting. See, we lose the reward that God wants to give us when we try to get one for ourselves. Matthew 6 is another example. When you give, don't blow a trumpet like the hypocrites do. When you pray, do it in secret.

That doesn't necessarily mean you got to always go get in the closet, but it means don't. You know how hard it is? Maybe you can tell me. How hard is it when you pray for somebody for God to do something in the same? their life. And then they come to you all excited about the miracle that God has done. How hard is it not to say, I prayed for that? I mean, I still have a hard time with that sometimes. About a week ago, somebody told me something that God did for them, and I had just prayed for it. And I so wanted to say, my gosh, I prayed for that last week. And see, when we do that, it takes the attention

off of God. And now all of a sudden it was my prayer that got you that. Come on, am I too deep for everybody? You know, when you've only got 30 minutes, you've got to get down to it. You can't. I didn't have time for any sugar. The work of each one will become plainly known. If the work which that person has built on this foundation, any product of his effort, whatever survives the test, he will get his reward. Let's talk about a few of the things. Let's talk about a few of the first. We're the things, a few of the wrong reasons to do things. Let's don't do things thinking that if we do these things, then God's going to owe us something. And you know, we don't necessarily think it out that plainly, but how about when you have trouble in your life and you find yourself saying,

well, God, I've been faithful. Well, I've been, I've been preaching for 25 years. years, how could you let that happen to me? See, God doesn't owe us anything. I mean, he really doesn't. Every single thing that God does for us, we are blessed beyond measure that he did it for us. Amen? And I'll never remember a story that a man told me. This just got me. He had prayed for his son who was sick and was dying with cancer, I think. And the boy ended up going to heaven. And so he was mad at God. He was like, why? You know, I've served you all these years and I don't know how you could let this happen. And they kind of shook his fist and said, God, where were you when my son died? And he said that the thing that the Lord spoke to

his heart was I was the same place I was when mine died. Oh my gosh. So we, we, we, we, God wants us to trust him. He doesn't want us to have to have answers to everything. He wants us, to trust him and to realize, God, you don't owe me anything. If I get up and pray five hours every morning, I'm doing that by the grace of God. God doesn't owe me anything. He doesn't owe me anything for teaching the word for 40 years.

What a privilege it's been to be called to teach the word of God. So when we find ourselves starting to think, well, now I deserve this because of all these things that I've done, that's kind of like a warning bell going off saying and I'll just say out loud God I don't deserve anything everything you give me is a gift when we find ourselves doing things to impress other people that's not a good reason to do it if I say yes to something when my heart is saying no then I'm not following the leadership of the Holy Spirit I'm doing it because I want to please that person and we can't be God pleasers and man pleasers we have to make a choice about which

we're going to be. Amen? There's so many good reasons to do things. Just keep in mind you do something because you love God, you do it because he said to do it in his word, you do it because you love somebody else. I think God's always up for that. But let's make sure that our motives are right in what we do. And you know, I like to lay in bed sometimes at night right before I drift off to sleep and kind of think over what I did that day. Got up this morning, brushed my teeth, had breakfast, studied the word,

you know, my little routine that I do, and then kind of go through my day. You know, that honestly is a good time to just maybe say to the Lord, you know, if I did anything today with a wrong motive, then show it to me because I want all my motives to be right. Everybody here, you have a good heart

or you wouldn't be here. But I'm telling you, the flesh can, sneak up on us and they can do it quick if we don't have bucket loads full of the truth coming into our life. And so I hope this helps you. I'm glad to have had the chance to speak to you today. God bless you. Let me pray. Father, thank you for the people today and the word that you gave us. And it helps me. It helps me to hear this. I'm grateful to get to preach it and hear it. So thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you. Thank you, Joyce. And at all of our churches, let's just continue together in an attitude of prayer. Father, thank you so much for a powerful word.

We pray God that in your presence, you would convict us, God, in any way that our motives are not pure, that you would correct us, God, and lead us in the way of righteousness. And all of our churches, as you take a moment to continue praying, nobody looking around. I just want to just ask for you to just consider what God is saying to you today. And there may be some of you. You may recognize, you know what, my motives are not always pure. In fact, my motives are often not pure. In fact, as I was listening to that, I just, the list of the different ways in which I'll do things just for the approval of people or I'll do things for the wrong motives. I was very, very convicted. And just in my own prayer time,

even before coming to share with you, I just confess that to God. And all of our churches, if you recognize, yes, you have some impure motives in ways that you do think sometimes for the wrong reasons. And you just want to confess those right now to God. Would you lift up your hands and just say, Yes, this is speaking to me. I see some things that I believe God wants to change. Is there a hands going up at all of our churches? I want to take a moment and just pray for you. God, I thank you that your word is living and active

and is speaking to hearts today. I thank you, God, for the pleasure of good and godly conviction that leads us away from our sinfulness and leads us to righteousness. So, God, as you point out any area of our lives that we have impure motives, we confess those to you, and ask God, that you would change our hearts. God, help everything that we do be done for one reason only, and that is to please and honor and serve you, God. We ask that you would correct us, convict us, God, anytime that we step away from the purity of the motives that you would want us to have. And God, help us to honor you.

May our motives lead us to right actions. We ask us, and believing you'll hear and answer our prayers. As you keep praying today at all of our different churches, what's really exciting to me is that you all came here for different reasons today. You may be watching online for a different reason. Maybe you were looking for something. Maybe you wanted to meet somebody. Maybe you came with a friend. Maybe you wanted to get something from God.

You may have had any different types of motives. But what you may recognize right now is, like Joyce talked about, you may have some religious activity, but you may not be intimate with God. In fact, there may be many of you. You recognize right now that you have a deep spiritual need. And while you may be in a spiritual place, you may not actually have a spiritual relationship with God.

What do you do? Call it what it is. Recognize that you need his forgiveness. Recognize that you need his grace. Recognize that you need salvation, and I want to encourage you to all of our churches, if that's you, simply to call on him today in the purest of motive, say, I need your forgiveness. Would you forgive me for anything and everything that I've done?

And let's be honest, all of us have sinned. You have, I have, we all have. Scripture is very clear that all of us have sinned and fall short of God's standard. The good news is that God loved you so much that he became one of you and the person of his son, Jesus, who was born of a virgin, lived without sin,

lived the perfect life and died the most brutal death on the cross. Why? So he could be the perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins. At all of our churches, there are those of you, you're recognizing, I need his forgiveness, I need his grace. When you call on him today,

You will be saved, you will be forgiven, you will be made new at all of our churches. Those who say, yes, that's me. I need his forgiveness. I turn to him. I call on Jesus today. I give him my life. If that's your prayer today, lift up your hands high right now. At all of our churches say, yes, Jesus, I surrender to you.

Those of you at church online, you click right below me. And we have hands going up at all of our churches. I would encourage you just to pray aloud with those around you. Simply pray, Heavenly Father, forgive me of my sins. make me brand new. I believe Jesus died for me and he rose again

so I could live for you. Fill me with your spirit so I could know you, served you, and follow you for the rest of my life. Today I give you my life in Jesus' name I pray and everybody took a moment to celebrate

those born into the family of God. We are honored to play a very small part in all that God is doing in and through your life. And we here at Life Church would love to continue with you on that journey. To find out what your next steps could be in your relationship with Christ, all you have to do is go to life.church slash next. And one great next step you can take is by starting the all-new 14-day reading plan from Joyce Meyer on the U-Version Bible app. Just open up the app and search for the reading plan called Closer to God,

and you can start reading today. You know, here at Life Church, we love to say that we are spiritual contributors, not just spiritual consumers. And one of the greatest contributors we have inside of our church is named Georgia from Life Church, South Tulsa, who not only grows in her faith, but lives it out. I'm extroverted. I tell myself I am. Okay. Scratch cut. Okay. Hey, guys, my name is Georgia, and I'm a spiritual contributor.

I think, honestly, one of the biggest steps in my faith was realizing there's a difference between relationship and religious. Relationship is truly understanding what Jesus did for us, and honestly, that is the secret to happiness. I can't help, but give everything I have to him. My mission field is in my backyard. It's wherever I go. I have the opportunity to show the light. When you finally realize the secret to happiness, you can't help but, like, go out and tell the whole world. Hey, guys, I'm here at my school.

This is the biggest mission field that I have. A ton of people and a lot of different groups of people we're trying to reach. I'm at Switch. We have 20 seconds left. I'm so excited. I think some of the ones. ways that I love out my faith is serving on the weekends, serving life kids in the loop, host team and switch,

and even in our local community outside of church. Hey guys, we're getting ready for life group. This Spencer and Jeffrey and Savannah. Hi. The people in my life group have become my best friend. We did a coffee shop and we just talk about life, talk about the message, just we're really there for each other through the good end of that.

Once you finally realize what Jesus has done for us, it's just a logical response. You can't do anything else but show his love and show up. Thanks to God's work through Life Church, I've learned my purpose, and it's to bring people together and help them love each other as God is first loved us. Guys, that's it for me today, so I'm out. Amazing life change stories like Georgia's are the reason behind everything that we do here at Life Church. And if you have a great life change story, we'd love to hear about it.

Simply send us an email to Stories atlife.church. Our mission here is to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ, and we do all of it, because we believe whoever finds God truly finds us. life.