Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - The Time Is Now, Part 2: Persevering Through Discouragement

Episode Date: November 14, 2015

No matter how much we want one, there’s no blueprint for a perfect life. Feel like you’ve hit a wall? Don’t be discouraged. Maybe it’s just a part of what God wants to help you rebuild. The Time Is Now to lay the first brick on a new foundation. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Once upon a time, there was a man named Solomon who built a mighty temple. But before long, the people of Judah turned away from God and began to worship foreign gods and idols. One day, God allowed the Babylonians to attack Judah and destroy the whole city, including God's temple. The people of Judah remained in captivity. Until one day, God raised up the prophet Haggai to inspire the people to help. get back to work saying the time is now. It is an honor to have all of you with us at all of our life churches and our network churches. And I wanted to speak specifically to our church online family, especially those of you

in Europe. And I know we have hundreds and hundreds every week that join us in France and in Paris. And I just wanted to express my love for all of you. And I pray that you would understand that your extended family and Christ, we hurt with you, we stand with you in prayer, and we believe that greater is the one who dwells within us than the one who is in this world. And so I pray you feel our love today, and the message is specifically designed for those who are discouraged.

If you're hurting in your life right now, it's my prayer that this will speak to you, and I know so many people are. If you're just joining with us, we're actually in the second part of a three-part message series on the Old Testament minor prophet Haggai or Haggai. Both pronunciations are acceptable. If you missed last week, I want to give you the backstory just so you'll understand the main story, and we'll dive into part two of the series called The Time is Now. If you missed last week, we talked all the way back to when King Solomon built for God,

the most magnificent temple. It was mind-blowing how incredible this was. People came from all over the world to worship God to show him all. honor, and quite honestly, just to see the glory of this temple. Unfortunately, we know that after King Solomon died, people turned away from God as we often get distracted, and they started worshiping idols. And so God allowed a series of events to take place to try to bring their focus back toward him.

We talked last week about the destruction of the temple in 587 BC under the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian army destroyed, completely devastated Judah, including the massive insult of destroying the house that God dwelt in, the temple. And the Babylonians took the Jewish people into captivity for five decades, 50 years. They were in captivity. And so you can only imagine the sense of relief and hope for the first time in 50 years

when a remnant of people were allowed to go back and to rebuild their hope. homeland under the governor's Eruble, about 50,000 or so people went back to rebuild their city. The first priority was to build the house of God. And so they started building the temple. They got the foundation in place, got the altar in place. They were met with some resistance, and guess what they did? They just gave up.

14 years the temple set there unfinished with no progress. And so God raised up the prophet Haggai to call the people back to the task. Don't just focus on your houses, focus on God's house. Let's put God first, and we'll pick up the story with that context in mind. And Haggai, chapter 1, verses 13 and 14. This is what scripture teaches us. Then Haggai, the Lord's messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people and said what? Let's all say it loud.

This is good news. God said what? God said, I am with you. Let's say it again. All of our churches, what did God say? God said, I am with you. We'll come back to this thought. God says, I am with you, declares the Lord.

Verse 14. So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubabel, son of Shelteal, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, son of Josadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. What did God do? God stirred up the spirit of the governor of the high priest and all the people. What does God often do in your life? God will often stir up your spirit.

God gives you hope to accomplish something that God puts on your mind. God did this for the people. He gave them a sense of faith. We're supposed to rebuild the temple. He stirred up their spirits. And this will happen. For those of you that are followers of Jesus, there'll be those times out of the blue, like, I think we're supposed to do this.

You have faith for something, and you want to attack it. And that's because God has stirred up your spirit. So the story goes this way. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty. We can do this. We're going to build God an amazing temple. We can do this. One month goes by, and guess what happened?

They quit again. One month goes by. We can do this. A month later, they fizzle out. They had one of their big religious festivals, all the people gathered around the temple construction site, they're like, ah, is this all there is? This is pathetic. This isn't much progress. All of a sudden, everybody was discouraged. They were embarrassed. Like, we're trying to do our best and you don't like it. And so they just quit. One month in. We can do this. We can do this. We can do this.

We can do this. One month later, they fizzle out. Let's be honest. How often does that happen in our lives now? We're going to do this. We're going to attack. And then we flame out. before we ever get started. I did this recently, I'm not totally proud of this, but I decided to take something up, and it didn't go real well. I'm at the age where they say I'm supposed to have like a midlife crisis.

And so rather than doing something stupid, I just decided to get proactive and come up with a hobby. I'm just gonna do something, I'm gonna do this, not that. And so I researched around, I thought, you know what, I will take up cycling. I don't know why, just kind of look kind of cool. You know, those people zoomed, zooming down the road.

And so I just thought I'm going to do this. And I went and did a little research. We've got some great, I mean like really great cyclists on our staff. So I asked questions. I borrowed like this really cool like bike that weighs about as much as a piece of bread. It makes amazing high-end quality bike. I got all the gear. I'm talking, I got like Flash Gordon helmet gear.

I got skin tight stuff. I didn't wear the shorts. I just didn't think Pastor Craig did a little, you know, like put a towel on before you come in wearing those shorts. just me. So I had everything else but the shorts. I had the water bottle so when you're pedaling really fast, you're like, that's just so cool. I don't know why you don't think that's cool. Massively cool. I even had the clip on shoes, okay? And so you have pull, power, and push. You just have to remember to unclip when you stop or things don't go well. So I'm got the whole, so I got all the gear. I'm totally, I look like a cyclist. And so I, before my first

ride, I ask a guy who does it all the time. It's like, how long do you ride, like distance-wise? What do you do? He's like, well, we did a 50-mile last week. We'll probably do a 70-mile this week. We've done 120-mile. I go, well, I don't want to push it, you know, so I've never done it before. So I'll just start on the low end. I told myself, I'll do a 50-mile. Do you think? That's what I thought. But I'm like, I'll do, you know, I'll do a 50 mile for my first ride. So sure enough, I map out 50 miles, 25 miles from my house, you know, get to that point and turn around. I strap in, I got the whole deal, everything but the shorts. I take off, about five miles into my, the beginning of the in my cycling career, I started thinking, this isn't a real good idea, okay? 15 miles I'm hurting, 20 miles, I'm confessing sins and rededicating my life to Jesus.

Just in case, at the halfway point, I thought, I'm going to stop and rest for three minutes, three days, whatever it takes, you know? And so I pulled up to stop, and I forgot to unclip, okay? And boom, I fell on the side. My stomach had already been hurting. My leg, my right leg, just cramps up like the whole. whole thing, like, it locks up. I'm on my side. Suddenly, the little bit of food that I had came up, goes up in the air, lands partially on me, my leg's still cramping, I can't get my

stupid feet unlocked. I'm there on the side of the road in vomit, cramping. I called my friend come pick me up, drive me home, the drive of shame. I got a bike if anybody wants one, You know, I haven't been back since. So, I mean, the whole gear, I'm a cyclist, and then one ride, man, and I'm retired, just like that. And we're all like that to some degree. You know, we're going to attack. We can build this temple. We can build this temple.

We can build this temple. One month later to the date, because they actually dated everything. One month later, they flame out. You know, I don't know what it is for you. We're going to get out of debt. We're going to get out of debt. We're going to get out of debt. Oh, Christmas.

We forgot about that. December again, so we can't do that. You know, I'm going to go on a diet. I'm going to go on a diet. I'm going to go on a diet. Oh, double stuff for Oreo cookies are a half price. I'll do that. I'll do that later. We're going to go to the gym every year, every January. You're all there at the gym. Every January, by February, where are you? I don't know what happened to you. But it's, you know, we're going to do this. And then when we don't make the progress we think that we should make, we get incredibly discouraged. And that's exactly what happened to the people of God. We're going to do this for God, it's going to be amazing.

One month in, when it didn't go like what they expected, they got incredibly discouraged. So God had Haggai asked them this question. And to me it's loving. It's almost like God is trying to get to the root of their discouragement. If you are discouraged today, perhaps you're discouraged because of one of these two reasons we find revealed in this question. Haggai 2, verse 3, Haggai asked them on behalf of God, Who of you is left? Who of you is left that saw the house in its former glory?

In other words, who's old enough to remember Solomon's temple? Wasn't it amazing? Now, you look at yours and he says, how does it look to you now? Does it seem to you like nothing? Who have you remember the former temple in its amazing glory? Does this one look like nothing to you? Two causes of discouragement I want to talk about today.

If you're taking notes, the first one is comparisons. comparisons, and the second one is a lack of progress. Comparisons and a lack of progress. Very certainly, these people are doing the same thing we often do. They were comparing their start with someone else's finish. We just started, our temple doesn't look very good, and their finish was so much better. In fact, Bible scholars estimate that Haggai was probably around 70,

maybe in his mid-70s when he wrote this book, when he's prophesying to them. So he's probably around your 70, 75 years of age, which means 50 years before they were in captivity, he would have been a teenager, certainly old enough to remember the former temple. Wow, Solomon's temple is amazing. This one isn't amazing at all,

and there's this sense of comparison. And I don't know about you, but I get incredibly discouraged a lot of times when I compare where other people are that I'm not. And it could be, you know, you're a guy and you're like, you know, well, he's got a great job. He's got an amazing car and a fantastic house. I hate my job. My car barely runs and I'm renting in a bad neighborhood, right? Or you might be a lady and you're comparing, maybe not with some other lady, but maybe with her kids versus your kids. You know, her kids go to school in the perfect

matching outfit, okay? They go with baked goodies every single day and they have college credit in the fifth grade. Okay? Like, oh, my kids are barely dressed. I think they had pants on the day. They forgot their lunch money and they're flunking P.E., right? And you feel so bad.

Then, you know, you want to be a massive loser. You just go look on Instagram, and you're like, well, she was invited, and no one invited me. And, you know, he's traveling again for the third time this year, and I can't even afford to go to the grocery store, and she got more likes on her sunset picture,

and my sunset picture is better. You know, and you're comparing all. all these different things, and suddenly you feel incredibly discouraged. What's wrong with me? What's wrong with me? You compared, and just like they did, our little pathetic attempt to build this new temple pales in comparison of the glory of Solomon's temple.

We're a failure, we feel so discouraged. And then there's also just a lack of progress, and this is what they did. We're a month into this, and this is not going well. We're trying so hard, but we're not getting anywhere. And this is how we often feel. You say, I'm going to go on a diet. I'm going to get in shape. I'm going to diet.

And so for a whole month, you eat nothing but kale and almonds, man. And you gain two pounds. You're like, what happened? You know, I'm trying so hard. I'm working out, and it's not working, or you start a business, you know, or whatever. And you take two steps forward, and then it seems like three steps backwards. Or maybe for you, it's like, you know, your whole spiritual lack of progress. You think I've been a Christian for all this time, and yet I still say bad words.

You know, we're going to worship God. We're going to church today. And we cussed all the way there because we were late, like, oh, praise God for that. I'm amazing, right? You know, you would think that by this time, I would be better off. And so you wake up one day incredibly discouraged. I'm not where I thought I would be. She's ahead of me.

He's doing more. They've got this. I don't have it. I'm trying my best, and I'm not making progress. And so one day you kind of feel like these people did. I'm not even sure it's worth it. I'm not even sure if it's worth it. And certainly in just a group of people this size, there are those of you in some category of your life right now.

This is kind of what you're thinking. You know, I'm giving it my all in my marriage. I'm trying to put up with this whatever person. And, you know, they're not even engaged. You're not even trying. I don't even know if I want to try anymore. I'm so discouraged. Giving it my best, but I'm not getting anything back.

You know, some of you with your kids, I mean, you're praying for your kids. You're giving them good advice. You're doing everything you can to help your kids make good decision. you're like, could you be any stupider, you know? And it's so discouraging because you tried everything you know to try, and they continue to make decisions that are just devastating, and you can see where they're heading, and you think, I can keep you off of this, but you don't know how to get them to listen to you, and you feel really discouraged.

It can be in any number of things, you know. You're spiritually, you're trying so hard to overcome that one sin, and you look, get back going, you know, I've been walking with Jesus for all this time, and that one sin can, maybe, just the way. Maybe I just can't ever overcome that. Maybe it's just not worth it. You wake up one day and you think, I've tried and I'm not there, and they are

and I've worked harder, and you're just discouraged. Just discouraged. I'm going to be real, real honest with you and it's a little bit risky to do this because, you know, I want you to hear my heart. I don't want letters. I don't like, we love you, Craig. I don't want

that. I'm not telling you for that. I'm just telling you because I want to be real. I have to, or none of this matters. I live with constant low-grade discouragement, sometimes middle-grade, sometimes high-grade, but it just never goes away. I'm always discouraged. I always feel, number one, I'm discouraged at my sinfulness that, you know, I'm a Jesus follower and a pastor, and I still, I can't believe I do that, you know, it makes me sick. I'm discouraged because I never feel like I do good enough. After this message today, my mind will not shut off all day long. I should have said, I should have said, you know, all day long. It just, I never feel

like I deliver. I feel a sense of divine responsibility for you. Jesus is the good shepherd. We're the sheep. But another metaphor is that under Jesus, the good shepherd, I am the shepherd of the flock, and it's my job to help the sheep follow Jesus faithfully. And sometimes it just doesn't feel like it's working, you know. Try so hard to help people to have the marriages God wants us to have, and then just divorce after divorce after divorce after divorce. And it just wrecks me. Wrecks me.

I try to, I work hard on the messages, you know, like a little cycling story to keep your attention, because I know you're like, bird. You know, I know, I know, and I saw I work so hard. I try to bring God's word to life. I try to preach God's word faithfully. I try to keep it Christ-centered. And then it's like people just like, football, screw church until later on. And it just happens, you know, it really does.

And then our church like doesn't deliver sometimes. People like, well, the church did this. They hurt my feelings. I'm like, you know what? We're right. We were wrong. And it just grieves me because we let somebody down and someone got hurt by the, and all this kind of stuff.

So I just live with this constant discouragement. Now, you say, why are you telling this? I'm just trying to get us on level playing field so we can all be depressed together. And so we can hear from God. Actually, I don't want to whine, but I just want to tell you, we all live there. We all live there at some point. They're doing this and they're doing that, and I'm not, I'm trying so hard, and I'm not seeing the progress that I want to see.

What do you do when you find yourself just kind of constantly discouraged? I want to show you what God tells his people to do when this is where they're are. We're building the temple and it's just not going well. It's never going to be as good as Solomon's temple. We're trying to do the best we can and the best just isn't good enough. God gives them the most loving and simple instructions. And to me, that's one of the most beautiful things about this little book is just how loving God is. Do you remember last week when they're like, I don't know how to build a temple? God's like, let me just make it really, really easy for you. If you missed last week, oh, you just miss so much, okay? God basically said, it's just one, two, three. Here's what you do. Here's what you do. Just, here's what you

You do, number one, go up to the mountain. Number two, you bring down the timber. And number three, you build the temple. Some of you weren't paying attention, so I'm going to tell it to you again. And we can go over this all day long, because I actually like doing it. Here's what you do. Here's what you do. You go up to the mountain, you bring down the timber, and you build the temple.

This is, that's how easy it is. Like, this is what you do. You just do what I told you to do step by step. You choose the hard right over the world. the easy wrong. It's easy not to do. I'm going to do what you told me to do. So this week we're discouraged. Now what do we do, God? Watch how loving he is, and it's so amazing. He talks first to the governor, then to the high priest, then to all the people, and he tells him the same thing. Verse four of chapter two, God says, but now be strong, Zerubibu, will declares the Lord.

Then he tells Joshua, be strong. Then he tells all the people of the land. Be strong. What do you tell him to do? Say it aloud. Everybody. He says, be strong. And then he says, and work. Be strong and work. Let me say it again. Be strong and work. Why? God says, here it is again. He says, for I am with you declares the Lord.

So what do you do when you are discouraged? God says essentially two things. The first thing he says, be strong. And then he says, do the work. Let me say it again, because somebody wouldn't to pay attention. You are discouraged right now. What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? God says you be strong and you do the work. When you're discouraged and you want to give up, what do you do? God says you be strong and you do the work. The great news is that we don't have to be strong in our

own power. You see, we live in New Testament times. And our New Testament teaches us that when you're weak, his strength is made perfect through you. In other words, I don't just have to be strong in my own strength, I've got a supernatural strength dwelling within me. You see, the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells within those who believe. So when you are strong, you don't have to be strong. In fact, when you can't do anymore and you're about to give up, that's when you're a perfect candidate for God's strength to be strong through you. Be strong in the Lord and do the work. Be strong and do the work. What do you do in your discourse? Be strong. Be strong. Be and do the work.

Be strong and do the work. Notice he didn't say, talk the talk, but do the work. Notice he didn't say, dream the dream, but do the work. Notice he didn't say, compare the results,

but do the work. What do you do when you're discouraged? You be strong in his power and you do the work. What do you do? You be strong and you do the work. Put down another stone. Okay, I just put down

stone and it didn't seem to make it much difference. What do you do? Be strong and put down another stone. Put down another stone. But I'm not seeing this, it's not working. Consistently do the last thing God told you to do. Consistently choose the hard right over the easy wrong. Consistently do the work.

Put down the stone. Put down another stone. Put down another stone. Put down another stone. Consistently do the hard thing. It would be easy to go home. It would be easy to say it's hot. It would be easy to say there's not.

a lot of progress, but God says be strong and show back up. Be strong and keep doing this. This leads to a principle that I live by, swear by, will die by. I tell myself all the time and you need to tell yourself this as well. Never forget it, take it to the bank. Successful people do consistently what normal people do occasionally. So good I need to say it again. Successful people do consistently what normal people do occasionally. What do you do? Show back up and do the work. Be strong in the Lord.

Be strong in the Lord. Put down another stone and another stone when you want to give up. What do you do? You be strong and do the work. You be strong and keep praying even when you don't see results. You be strong and continue to open up God's word and seek him daily in his word. You be strong and continue to do the right thing even when you're not getting anywhere. You be strong and continue to show up and exercise even when the numbers are going the wrong way.

You be strong and continue to pay off your debt if it's only $10 a month. You take a step in the right direction and you do it month after month, year after year, you continue to do the right thing. You be strong and continue to love when other people are not loving in return. You be strong and bring your best when everyone else on your team is not bringing their best. You be strong and show honor, even when the person over you is not acting honorable. You be strong and continue to love your spouse, even when your spouse is unresponsive. You be strong and continue to reach out to that person even when they do not hear you or let you in.

You be strong and continue to love your children. Pray for your children. for your children, even when they don't stand for anything that you believe is right. You be strong and you show back up. You be strong and you stay in the game. You be strong and you never, ever give up. And that's exactly what I do. When I live with that constant discouragement, I continue to say in the strength of God,

I will be strong and I will show up and do the work every single week. Here's what I'll do. I'll continue to pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray. I'll continue to seek God on your behalf. Seek God, seek God. I'll continue to study His Word. I'll continue to lead with every fiber in my body, and I will preach Christ, crucified, risen, and here to transform lives.

And we will continue to do it stone after stone, stone after stone, stone after stone. There's somebody here. You're comparing. I'm not there. I wish I was. I'm discouraged. I don't have the progress. Show back up.

Consistently do what other people just do occasionally. Put another stone down. Put another stone down. Put another stone down. Put another stone down. Successful people do consistently what normal people do occasionally. Just show back up and do what God called you to do. Show back up and do what God calls you to do.

Be strong in the Lord and do the work. And that's why God's word is so powerful to us in Galatians 6-9 when God tells us in the New Testament, Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, let us not become weary in what? Somebody say this aloud. Let us not become weary in what? In doing good. In other words, don't become weary in doing the work.

Why? Because at the proper time, we will reap a harvest. If what? If we do not give up. If we do not give up. If we do not give up. Be strong and do the work. All right.

All that was the setup. Now, time to the punchline. That's a little inside humor for those of you're at church two weeks ago. You miss a lot if you're not at church. All that was a setup now, the punchline. If I'd end to the message about now, basically what I would have done is give you a go-getam message. Come on, pull your bootstraps up and keep trying.

That's not a bad message, but it would be incomplete. Let's make it complete. God says, be strong and do the work. Why? Why? For I am with you, declares the Lord. This is the key to all of it. It's not that you do it on your own,

is you do it with him. And what God was going to show them is the most world-changing news since the beginning of time. If you read ahead, this isn't in your notes, but you can read ahead in chapter 2 verses 6 through 9. Here's what God says.

God says something that they can't even get their minds around. But God says, the glory of this temple, the glory of the present temple, is going to be way greater than the glory of the former temple. And they go, no, no, no, no, no, you must have misspoke God. And God says, no, the glory of this present temple, the one you're building, is going to be greater than the glory of the former temple.

And they're going, no, no, it won't be. You see, even secular historians say, Zerubel's temple wasn't even close to Solomon's temple. There's no way. What are you saying, God? They had no idea that God was actually foreshadowing the great New Testament truth of his life. You see, all through the Old Testament, what happens in the physical is often a picture of what happens in the spiritual in the New Testament. It's a foreshadow.

God shows physically what he will do spiritually. God shows naturally what he will do supernaturally. And here's how, is my employing. God says, the glory of this present temple will be greater than the glory of the former temple. How could he say that? Because God was going to do something they could not imagine. Here's the punchline. Don't miss this.

In the Old Testament, people had to go to the temple and make a sacrifice in hopes of being right with God. Let me say it again. In the Old Testament, people had to go to the temple and make a sacrifice in hopes of being right with God. The New Testament, God says something crazy, crazy. He says, now those who are followers of Jesus, you are actually the temple of the Holy Spirit. Your body is the house where God dwells.

This is the most mind-blowing thought because everyone thought you have to go to the temple to experience God. And now God says, if you're a follower of my son, Jesus, I actually dwell within you. Old Testament, you have to go to the temple and make a sacrifice in hopes of being right with God. In the New Testament, God comes to you and makes the sacrifice so you can be right with him. And the Holy Spirit dwells within you. Jesus is the greater glory. Now, I don't think you get this, and I'm not giving up until you do. This changes everything.

Now, you don't have to be strong in the Lord and do the work on your own. You do it because he is with you. But he's not only like with you, but he's in you. He is in you. He is in you. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. And you're not getting this yet. And I'm going to stay here until you do, because I'm going to keep putting down a stone

until this thing is built. You're a temple of the Holy Spirit. Jesus dwells within you. The glory of this temple will be greater than the glory of the formal temple. Jesus is the greater glory who dwells within you. And every time, you put a stone down. In his name, you are glorifying him.

When you serve someone, he's being glorified. When you love someone, he's being glorified. When you forgive someone, he's being glorified. When you lift up his name, he's being glorified. And here's why we should not be discouraged. Because we are not alone. We don't have to go to a temple and make a sacrifice in hopes of finding God. but he came to us and gave his son that we would be right with him.

And therefore Jesus dwells within those who are believers and he is the greater glory. That's why you never have to be discouraged because get this, you're not alone. He's with you. He's with you. He's with you. Be strong and do the work because I am with you, declares the Lord. Therefore, we know that he who begin a good work in you will be faith in you will be faith to carry it out until completion.

Let us not become weary in doing good and doing the work because at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. So if you are discouraged today, remember, God came to you. He made a sacrifice. So you could be right with him. And he is not only just with you,

he is in you. Therefore, you can do everything he calls you to do. Father today give us the courage to put down another stone to trust you, to be faithful, to do it in your strength, and to do it for your glory. And all of our churches today, as you reflect in prayer, there are those of you that you, you like me, maybe have kind of an ongoing low-grade frustration. I'm not where I thought I would be. I thought I could be doing more.

I'm not where she is. I'm not where he is. I'm trying and I'm not getting ahead the way I want to. You are not alone. do what God showed you to do, be faithful, be strong, and do the work. And all of our churches, those who say, you know what? Yes, I do. I'm maybe, am very discouraged right now. I may live kind of in constant discouragement. And I need God's help. I want his strength. And I want to be faithful to him,

trusting that he will finish in me what he started. If that's you at all of our churches, would you lift your hands right now? Just lift them high. So many hands a day. God, I thank you for people who come expecting to hear from you. And God, I thank you that you are speaking to them today through your word. God, help us to be faithful. To the last thing you showed us to do, go up to the mountain, bring down the timber, build the temple, be strong in the Lord, and do what you called us to do. God, we thank you that we don't have to do it on our own, but we do it with the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. I pray, God, that we would be encouraged because you dwell within those who know your son Jesus.

Be the strength that we need to do what you call us to do. May Jesus be the greater glory who's glorified through our temples, our bodies, who live to bring glory to your name. And all of our churches as you keep praying today,

we talked about doing the work, doing the work, doing the work, do the work, do the work, stay in the game, be faithful, show back up, do the work. I'm going to tell you now not to do the work. What? Where does that come from? You do the work, when God calls you to do the work, but when it comes to being made right with God, Jesus did the work. The verse that changed my life forever was from Ephesians chapter 2 that said,

we're saved by grace through faith and not by works, not by works, not by works. I grew up going to church thinking, man, I've got to be better, I've got to try harder, I've got to stop doing bad things. I've got to try to be really good, so I'll be good enough for God. I had no idea that there was no way I could ever be good enough for God that even my smallest sin disqualified me for heaven. And this is why God's love is so amazing. Because he made me go to the temple to make a sacrifice.

He came to me. He came to us. And he sacrificed his son, Jesus. The Lamb of God, the final sacrifice, the sinless son of God, died in my place, but he didn't stay dead. He rose from the dead on the third day so that anyone in the first day. so that anyone, and this includes you, who calls on Jesus, would be saved.

All of your sins forgiven. All of your sins forgiven. Your body becomes the house for God. You don't go to a building to experience God. God comes to you, and you experience him daily. All of our churches are those of you. You need this. You know it.

You know it. Maybe your model has been religion. Go to the church, try to find God there. Listen to me. God came to you. That's how much he loves you. He gave his son Jesus. And when you call on him, he fills your life.

He forgives your sins. He makes you brand new. and that's why many of you are here today. And you know it. It's your time to say, yes, I surrender. Because Jesus gave his life for me, I received that gift. I cannot work for it. I receive it.

My only reasonable response is to give him my whole life in return. And all of our churches, that's you today. Yes, Jesus, forgive me. Yes, Jesus, I give my life to you. Yes, Jesus, take all of my life. That's your prayer. Would you lift your hands high right now and say, yes, I surrender to him. All of our churches right back here in this section,

back over here, right back over here on this side. God bless you guys. Others of you right over here saying yes, Jesus, I surrender over here on this side. All three of you right back here, praise God for you. Others today here in this middle section, big hand waving right over here, back over here in this side. God bless you, sir, others today who say yes. Church online, you click right below me, right back over here, man, let's just keep on

going. Others, you're leaning into it. You're right back over here on this side. Both of you together, boom, amazing. Others today. You're hesitant. Go for it. The time is now.

The time is now. I surrender right back here in the back. Pray those around you. Everybody aloud. Pray Heavenly Father, forgive all my sins. Make me new. I believe Jesus came for me to seek and save me, to die for me so I could live for you. Fill me with your spirit so I could know you and serve you forever.

My life is not my own. I give it all to you. In Jesus' name I pray. Would you all worship celebrate big thank God for His grace and life we have in Christ?