Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Through the Eyes of a Lion, Part 1: Turn off the Dark

Episode Date: March 12, 2017

The darkness you might feel looming over your life won’t last forever. Heartbreaks heal. Suffering is temporary. Let’s welcome the light and gain a new perspective on our pain—let’s see it Through the Eyes of a Lion. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Thanks for hanging out with us here at Life Church, where we are one church meeting in multiple locations and reaching around the world with the help of church online. If you ever have any questions or you'd like to learn more about us as a church, you can always check us out online simply by going to life.com. We'd love for you to stay connected throughout your weekend everywhere you go with the Life Church app available today, wherever you download your apps from. You know, coming up today, we welcome to the stage pastor, speaker, and best-selling author, Levi Lesko, who will help all of us see that even though we'll help us see that even though

we go through seasons of grief and hardship, the light will always push back the darkness with the help and the grace of Jesus. And today we'll see how that takes place in part one of through the eyes of a line. Life Church, how you doing this weekend? I cannot even possibly tell you how much I've been looking forward to the chance to be with you. I am the biggest fan from across the country of what God is doing through you. It is absolutely amazing. It is absolutely inspiring. I can literally trace, as we look at Fresh Life Church and what God's done through it, the major moments of God just opening up new doors, of helping us to become harder and better and faster and stronger as well, to my path intersecting with Pastor Craig Groschelle at one day's reading his books, getting to be

at events where he's spoken at, getting to meet with him, the way he generously has poured into me. and the example that he and Amy have set for Jenny and I and so many other leaders. I just want, if I get to give a Bible study, that's great. But I came to say, thank you, God, for Pastor Craig and Amy Groschelle, their leadership, their example, their integrity, generosity. They're brilliant. There's also that. So good looking.

Hello. It's not even fair. So much into one package. And just the way that they trust God with that big faith and that just. generous spirit to pour out into the kingdom. The Bible talks in Luke's Gospel chapter 16 about how it's wise to use worldly resources to benefit you in eternity so that you have people in the kingdom of God who are eager to invite you into their homes. Think about it. That you should with whatever God has put into your hand on earth use it in such a way so that when you're in heaven one day,

there will be people who want to invite you over to their crib to thank you for the way what you did with what you had helped them to get there. And I just want to say to every single person, a part of every single life church, that you had better clear your calendar after the marriage supper of the lamb is over, cheesy Christian joke, that when you get to, I mean, there is going to be a full calendar.

People, from my world, there's going to be people in places like Salt Lake City, in Hungry Horse, in Calispell, Whitefish, Missoula, Billings, Bozeman, who are wanting you to come over to their house to thank you for the way. that you are a part of a church that did not just exist for itself, but existed to really make it possible for other churches to be benefited by the church online platform, so many other things

with the open network and the resources. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, Pastor Craig, Amy, the entire team, every single person serving, giving, leading, loving, sacrificing so more people could be in heaven, less people could be in hell at the end of the day or you would die trying. I'm just grateful and blessed to be with you. And I cannot wait to open up God's word with you and to have the chance to spend a couple weeks with you. It's going to be a great honor and privilege. Second Timothy chapter one is where we're going to be. This verse, we're going to depart into our time together from here. And just a quick context as you're getting there in your Bible or your mobile device. Paul, the apostle, wrote 2 Timothy to this guy he mentored, Timothy, a young man,

and it was at the end of Paul's life, and he was writing him kind of one last letter to really encourage him. And he was telling him stuff like stir up the gift of God that's in you and don't be scared. God didn't give you that spirit of fear. And I love that kind of talk, by the way, that if God didn't give it, you don't got to keep it. So anytime you're feeling anything that's not love, that's not peace, that's not a conviction that would move you towards holiness, move you towards God's best for your life. It's a spirit that God didn't give, therefore you don't got to keep it.

You don't have to keep every thought that shows up in your head. You don't have to hang on to every spirit you feel. You don't have to walk in every mood that comes into your heart. Sometimes you just got to choose to take thoughts captive and to bow stuff down at the obedience of Jesus Christ

say, yeah, kind of not going to dwell there, not going to live there, going to walk as who God says I am, which is I'm a child of the king, I'm chosen, I'm loved, I'm called, I'm equipped, I got the Holy Spirit. My name's seated. I'm seated in heavenly places. I've been given power from on high, and I'm going to walk out of that. So he says, you weren't given that spirit of fear, so you don't have to keep that spirit. And he was just reminding him of the fact that he didn't save himself by anything he did, but rather it was God's own purposes, which he purposed

from before time began. Hashtag no big deal, right? Does you realize that guy was thinking about you before he even made the world? That you were on Jesus' heart, your name's written on his hand. You might not have a million followers on Instagram. You might not feel like a big deal, but I got news for you. You are appointed and anointed to take your place and to change the world. You are destined for impact. To quote Loki, brother of Thor, you are burdened with glorious purpose, all right? So then he says this to Timothy.

Right after he says, it's before Christ made the world, this was what was in his mind, and it was a mystery back then. But then in verse 10 of 2 Timothy 1, check it out. It's right here on the screen. It says, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of the beginning of our Savior Christ Jesus. Notice this part, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. You can't miss it. The last part of that verse, looking at it right there on the screen, it says, Jesus Christ has destroyed death. What'd you do today? He destroyed death.

And as a result, or consequently, he has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. I remember reading that verse and it jumped off the page of my phone at me. You ever have that happen to you? We read the Bible and you see something that you didn't see there before? Now, it was always there. Only God has a way of speaking something new to you through a verse you read a billion times, which is why you never can read the Bible like a John Grisham novel. You can't go cover to cover and go, got it, nailed it. Totally got that now. Because the Bible is alive. It will speak to you, a fresh word in season. and who you are changes from day to day.

So as you go back into the Bible, you are a different version of yourself than you were last year. So now the story's going to speak a fresh word to you. You're going to see something you didn't see before because you're a different version of yourself than you were before. And God's alive, who doesn't change,

and he's going to speak a fresh word to you. So I'm reading Second Timothy, and I'm reading it like I never read it before because I technically haven't because I'm a different version of me, right? And as I read it, this first jumps off the page of my U-Version reading plan. It was 2012, it was November.

Never forget it because my assistant had told me, Levi, we need a page, pick out a verse for our Christmas card, we're going to send a ministry friends and that sort of thing. And I'd been kind of trying to figure that out. And so I read this verse and it was like, oh my gosh, Jesus destroyed death. It was just so punk rock. It was so bad to the bones. Like, that's a great verse. I love it so much. So I sent a note to my assistant, send note to my wife saying, I want this verse on our Christmas card. Now, the crazy thing is my wife and I, we always read the same reading plan on you version. Now, I don't want to paint a, you know,

disgenuine picture of what our relationships like. I hate when pastors do that. So after my wife and I, I like churn the butter for three hours and fast for 23 hours. We then have a quiet time together at last 19 hours. I'm okay, great. I'm the worst Christian there's ever been. What my wife and I do is we always pick the same U-Version plan. And while I'm on the subject, thank you so much for the U-Version app. Thanks for sort of giving us the Bible.

Hello. Ridiculous. So we always pick the same U-version plan, and then we can talk about it together here and there. And so I say I picked this verse. It's for our Christmas card. I love this first. Crazy thing is my wife texts us back. She says this.

She goes, Levi, that's the weirdest thing. because when I read 2 Timothy 110, my immediate reaction was that verse should go on our family Christmas card. And I just looked at her, and then we made out. It's okay. We're married. It's fine. We're good. By the way, my wife and I, we have four girls. We have one son on the way. We're expecting our first boy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, you know, we're not at the six Groschelle children level, but we're getting close. You're like, how do you have so many kids you're still young? It's cold in Montana in the winter. What do you want? You got to stay warm somehow. So, uh, you know, No, hold on, stay with me, class.

So my wife and I, we put this verse on our Christmas card. And what's funny about it, you know, after the fact looking back, is that it's not really like a super Christmassy verse, right? Like you take, like as you read it, you know how they say like some food has mouth feel? Don't you love when they're like, this has like the finish of a pomegranate? You're like, what? Right? Anyhow.

I never get any of that stuff. It's like those magic eye posters. You're like, I crossed my eye. I stood on one leg. I never saw the stagosaur. you know what I'm talking about. So I'd fake it. Oh yeah, I love that dinosaur. Anyhow. But when you read 2 Timothy 110, the mouth feel is an eggnog. You know what I'm saying? It's not like perumpa-pum, right? He destroyed, like when was the last time you sent a Christmas card out with the word

death on it? Merry Christmas, right? And yet we picked it, and so it went out. And but it was November 2012, like I said, when we selected the verse, card goes out. And that year not only turned out to be appropriate, but almost prophetic that that was what we sent to. out for our Christmas card from our family about Jesus destroying death because it was that same year December of 2012, five days before Christmas, it was the 20th of December. And my wife and I were wrapping Christmas presents while on our date night. The girls were with grandma. And after we finished wrapping Christmas presents, we went to go pick them up. And just as we did, my second born daughter, Linya, and I brought a picture, this is Linia here on the screen, Linia was having an asthma attack.

Now, I've had asthma since the third grade, and I don't know at every life church location. If there's any asthmatics in the house, maybe you could raise your hand up. This is your moment. Like, when do you get time? You're like, yeah, asthma and proud, right? We'll get together after the service and puff our albuterol. No, we won't do that. We will not do that.

I don't know why I said that. It's inappropriate. But we have a prescription, so we could. Anyhow, my asthma experience has been you get weasy when you're running and you get short of breath. And I remember first having that happen at tennis lessons, and then you take your puffer. and you breathe better, and that's generally how it was. My oldest daughter, Olivia, asthma, Linia, experienced asthma. Well, this attack was different because right there in the kitchen of my mother-in-law's house,

her asthma attack was getting worse with the medicine, not better. And then she stopped breathing, and she passed out, and she began to grow blue. And I, as a father, I leapt into action. I had someone called 911 immediately, and my wife and I both began to call on the name of Jesus. We were praying fervently, and I began to do CPR as best as I could remember from my Red Cross certification class I had gone to way back when I was a youth pastor. And so I'm doing the chest compressions, and I'm feeling my air fill up my little girl's lungs. I mean, she's just a kindergartner. She's just lying there on the counter.

And in the back of my mind, I'm thinking this is not happening. And I'm trying my best to keep cool. My wife is at the edge of almost breaking down. and yet we're calling on Christ, we're waiting for the ambulance to come. It took forever. It was snowy, and I'll never forget the frenzied moments of the defibrillator being put on her little chest and clothes being cut off and us being loaded up into this ambulance. Now we're driving. I'm texting friends. Pray, pray, pray. Lina wasn't breathing. We're on their way to the hospital. And at the ER, they did everything they could do. But the doctor eventually came into my wife and I. And he said, words said as a parent, you never want to hear.

there's nothing more we can do. I'm so sorry. Would you like to come in while we turn off the equipment so you could have closure? We pushed past him and we rushed into the room and we grabbed her hands and we both of us together begged the God who made the sun stand still to give us more time on this earth with our little girl. And when it became clear that that wasn't what was going to happen, we found ourselves mouthing the words that Job gave to us. God, you've given to us and you've taken away, but blessed be your name. And with our hands in the air, we worship God and we we we we wept. And it wasn't too much longer after that, a couple days maybe. The funeral was the day after Christmas. And we were asked one of a series of impossible questions.

they said, what would you like us to engrave on her tombstone? My wife and I, we looked at each other, and we knew exactly what we wanted it to say that we would read, etched in stone on top of a granite slab every time we stood at that spot. And the words today read as follows. Christ Jesus has destroyed death and has brought life. and immortality to light through the gospel. And it is this and this alone that has buoyed us through these years, through the seasons and the ups and the downs and the ins and the outs, and that allows me to stand before you now with belief in a God who is good, a God who has

plans for us, a God who is for us and not against us. And it is that that I want to speak to you about for these moments that remain. The title of my message, if you'd like to take notes in church, is turn off the dark, turn off the dark, because that is precisely what Jesus Christ came to do. He is the light of the world, and as long as he is in the world, he is the light of the world, and darkness has no choice but to flee from the presence of the light. I didn't get much from science class in high school, but I remember this. There's no technical thing is darkness. There's just the absence of light. So where there is light by definition, there cannot be darkness. And it might be a funny Christmas verse because, you know, you might go,

oh man, turn off the darkness of death, immortality. That feels more Easter than Christmas, right? But check this out. The reason there ever was a Christmas was so that there could be an Easter. Jesus Christ came that men no more may die. He came to raise the sons of earth, he came to give them second birth. And the only way that could happen was for him to go through the events of the Passion Week and out the back end to come out triumphant on Easter Sunday. And that's the power of the gospel. I guess you could say Christ came at Christmas so there could be an Easter, not just for him, but for you and for me, so that we could live with hope, so that we could die without fear so that we could face what is our worst enemy on this earth and not be terrified

of it. Matter of fact, that's what Hebrews chapter 2, verse 15 says. It says that Jesus came to release those who all their lifetime were subject to bondage because of the fear of death. It is that which unites every single person. We're all different in many ways. We like different music. We like different food. Some people are Coke people. Some people are Pepsi. Some people like the Android device. some people like the Macs, some people like the Samsung so it can blow their plane up. Everyone just has different ways of doing things. Some people like proper types of music. A lot of people where I live like country music.

I pray for them all the time that God would deliver them from the spirit of bondage. But what we all have in common is that we're all going to die one day and we're all terrified about it and nothing we can do can stop it from coming. You can run, but you can't hide. And Jesus came to deal with that, which is our worst enemy. me. And it's so needed because we live in a world full of sorrow. Every single person I'm speaking to, you live in a world that's not just full of sorrow, it's full of sorrow upon sorrow. And that's a technical description that Paul uses in his letters. It's Philippians. I believe

it's chapter 2 verse 27. He said, speaking about his friend Apaphroditis, Apaphroditis almost died. Pathrodite was trying to bring money to Paul in prison. He almost died, but he did not die because God had mercy on him, but on me also. Look at this friend. so that I would not experience sorrow upon sorrow. Paul was saying if my friend that I love died, I would experience sorrow upon sorrow. Come on, can you say that out loud with me? Sorrow upon sorrow. It's a technical phrase in the Greek that speaks of a nautical scene. Wave after wave after wave crashing on the shore. And if you've ever gone through any kind of grief, you know that's an apt description of grief in general. Wave after wave. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter.

if you lost a loved one or if you lost a job or if you lost a dream or if you lost a friendship. There's just this feeling of a wave slamming you down and it can cause you to lose your equilibrium like a surfer out there trying to get out past the break and soon you're just being barreled and you're upside down. You're trying to find up, but you find out up is actually down and down is actually up and then just when you finally get a breath, another set comes in. And the worst thing you could do is turn your back on the ocean because you'll feel good one day, then you'll feel bad for feeling good. And then a rogue wave will take you out. It's been the weirdest things for me. It's not the ones you necessary, because you're, your brace for impact on

the anniversary of her going to heaven or her birthday, but then just randomly, one will come like Fourth of July and you just have the hardest time seeing her sisters with sparklers, but knowing that she's not there, and just this wave will take you out and suck you under, and all of a sudden you're gasping for breath and you're feeling like your lungs are full of salt water. Sorrow upon sorrow. Now, I wonder if some might feel a bit betrayed. Is this the Apostle Paul we're talking about? Paul, you might say, buddy boy, why don't you turn that frown upside down? If your friend of Papaditis,

you know, the Christians say the dumbest things, right? Buddy, if they would write him a letter, they would say, Paul, if your friend Apaphroditis died, he's a Christian. If he's a Christian, he'll go to heaven. You don't need to cry. Heaven is for real. He's probably riding his own personal unicorn, moonwalking across the sea of glass.

He's fine. He's got his own mansion. He's probably got rainbow shooting out of his eyes, right? So it's cool because Apaphroditis is in heaven. therefore you should be fine. Yet why Paul, who knew heaven is for real? How? Because he got to go there one time. Second Corinthians 12. He's like, I know a guy who went to heaven one time. Not going to mention any names. It was me, right? Biggest humble brag ever. Many people think it was Acts 14 at Listro when he got stoned. With rocks, not weed. I see you there. And many people believe he got to go to heaven,

had to come back. Was super bummed about it. Complained to the Philippians. Like, quit praying for me. I want to go back to heaven. But I guess some of you need to get saved. Whatever, I'll come back. I'll stay here for a while, but so help me. I will, anyhow, it's just amazing when Paul has attitude. I love it so much. So, Paul, new heaven is for real, true. And yet he said if my friend died, I would have sorrow upon sorrow, prolonged emotional ordeal that would not be easy or easy to get over.

Which is true, you'd say. Both quit trying to reconcile tension in the Bible that God is comfortable leaving there. Hurting with hope still hurts. And just because you know the sting of death has been removed doesn't mean doesn't sting to face it. Here's something maybe you need to know. It hurts like hell, even when you know they went to heaven. And we need to, in church circles, quit trying to rush people through something that will not be rushed. You must understand someone who's gone through something will never get over it. With time, God will get them through it, but they will never get over it.

That's like asking someone with an amputated arm, are you over it yet? No, they will always carry a sense of lost. Now it can become a source of power. We'll talk more about that next week. I would strongly encourage you to bring some people in your life who've gone through something painful. We'll talk next week about how to look at pain and see power. But I just need you to understand. People need this space to grieve, and it does not mean they don't have faith. It doesn't mean they don't trust God or Jesus didn't trust God. Because in John chapter 11, Jesus experienced the death of someone he loved, his BFF, right? He would crash at Lazarus's crib when he's in town and Lazarus dies. And Jesus could have stopped it from happening because he has all power, but he didn't.

shows up to the funeral, sees Mary and Martha crying, John Chapter 11, read it sometime this week, and listen to me, Jesus wept. John 1135, shortest verse in the Bible, but maybe the most charged of all the scripture. Jesus wept. He was experiencing our emotions. But he didn't just we, the Bible says then he groaned in his spirit. And that word groaned in the Greek, it means to bellow with rage. It's the sound of fury. And I've heard that it's often in Greek literature used to describe the angry snorting of an agitated horse. I didn't know what to do with that. Because I was in Sunday school learning stuff

about gentle Jesus meek and mild, but now his ears are back and he's pawing the ground and he's snorting and saliva was coming out of his mouth. The angry snorting of it. What, Jesus was angry. He's furious. Listen, I have hope, but I'm not happy about it.

But what gives me comfort is knowing God isn't happy about it either. He's angry. And he wasn't just angry. He was angry enough to do something about it. You go, yeah, raise Lazarus from the dead. no, no, no, no, no. That was just like in the moment, like, okay, here we go. Like, Lazarus had to die again. That wasn't his end game.

Any physical miracle God gives not accompanied by a deeper eternal one is only a delaying of the inevitable. You see? If we gives the food or gives the healing that we crave, but it doesn't do an eternal work in the heart. It's a complete failure. Because if someone has a healing on their body, but it doesn't go to heaven, it's just a 30-year stint or a 50-year stint, but not forever. God's always focused on the soul, which is why God's blessing life church, because you guys will do anything short of sin to reach people who are in need of salvation through the name of Jesus Christ. So Jesus, what did he do to destroy death? Well, I'll let Hebrews 2.14 answer that. That through death, he might destroy him who had the power of death. That is the devil.

Jesus defeated death by dying on the cross, because on the third day, God raised him from the dead. He's seated at the right hand of the Father, and he can bring salvation. and immortality to anyone who believes. Jesus turned off the darkness of death with the light of his life. And if you believe in him this weekend, God will save your soul, give you heaven when you die, and hope while you live. And I hope that's what happens to you.

I believe that's why God drew you to church this weekend. That's why your friend invited you. That's why this building was built for you to sit in. It's so you could come to know Jesus and have salvation that lasts forever. But until that day, until that day where Jesus turns off death forever, because he will. Our souls, when we die, are safe in heaven until Jesus returns and raises our bodies from the ground, the Bible says.

Our bodies like a seed into the ground, come back out of the ground. We will once again live in these bodies. They will be made perfect like Christ's resurrection body. But what the thief has stolen will be returned sevenfold because the bodies that we will have taken from death are not susceptible to dying anymore. There will be no more aging. There will be no more cancer. There will be no more sin. There will be no more back pain.

There will be no more country music. All these former things. We'll be passed away. Okay, that's the second time I'll never mention it again. These are the jokes, people. Okay, so listen, I want to give you just in the few short minutes that remain, while we wait for Christ to turn off the darkness of death forever, I want to give you four ways to turn off the darkness in your heart and in your world until that day.

I guess you could say these are four ways to make it through Saturday. Now, you're like, Saturday. What the heck does that mean? It's the day between Friday and Sunday. You're like, Saturday's the best. I think Saturday's the toughest. You're like, no, Saturdays we ride the jet skis. I get it. I get it. Pancakes, wear your robe, it's awesome. But what I'm talking about is Saturday the metaphor. Because Christ died on Friday, rose on Sunday. And in between the day that doesn't get a lot of play.

Saturday. I think for the disciple, Saturday would have been the toughest part. Because Friday's trauma and Sunday's glory, Saturday, there was nothing. No movement of the bowl. the stone sat heavy the body of jesus was cold and decaying saturday would have been the easiest to lose heart and all of us to some extent could find a way to describe how we experience saturday today is the child that will meet his father in heaven but right now the dad's just pictures and stories and movies maybe newspaper clippings saturday could be the pain in your body that the doctors can do nothing about you have the promise of a new one and jesus could heal but he hasn't but right now it's just this one and it's pain pills and it's to agony. Saturday is the empty seat at the birthday table. It's the bed that hasn't been slept in. Saturday could be divorced at 50 when that was always something that happened to other people.

Saturday. I want to give you four ways to make it through Saturday lest you lose heart. Number one, please jot these down. You've got to remember that heaven is nearer than it seems. Remember that heaven is nearer than it seems. It can seem so far away. It can seem distant, opaque and fuzzy, full of clouds and robes and harps and chubby, baby, baby, naked, angels. None of these things are in the Bible. I've read it from front to back. Not a single chubby baby naked angel. I don't know where they came from. But heaven is not distant, not far off, not fuzzy. It's more real than this world. Heaven is right there. We just can't see it yet. Stephen, when he died, heaven opened up right there. Jesus is at the right hand of the father to welcome

him in. I need you to remember the heaven's near and we're connected to it. In my darkest moments, my daughter feels far away. But Hebrew 6 says we have an anchor for the soul. Anchors always have chains. Chains connects us to what we're anchored to. so there's a Holy Spirit connecting our hearts to heaven. My daughter's with Jesus. Jesus is sent his Spirit. His spirit connects to me. I'm connected to the one who's holding hands with her.

And the nearer I come to the Holy Spirit, the nearer I am to my daughter. Heaven's near and you're connected to it. Secondly, how to make it through Saturday? Stick together. That's why it's so important you get into a life group. That's why it's so important you get into a team and serve together so you can be a part of the body of Christ,

so you can have people holding you up. I'm going to talk next week a little bit about lions. And I want to tell you something. and lions always roll in a pride. There's some power in the pride. One lion by itself, maybe it gets taken out, maybe it doesn't. You get a bunch of lions together. You mess with one of them.

Oh my gosh, you're getting Nala, Simba, Mufasa, Rafiki, Timoon, Pumba, the whole thing. All up in your face. Crazy ninja monkey. Boom, sick. Gotcha. Listen to me. You're loco if you're rolling solo. You need the power that comes from the pride.

If you want to make it through Saturday, you had better be in God's house on the Sunday. I'm just telling you, we need. need each other. Amen? All right, there's a third way. Jot this down. If you want to make it through Sunday or Saturday to Sunday, sorry, you'd think I'd be better at this. I'd do it for a living. Sorry. If you want to make it through Saturday, you have to run toward the roar. Run toward the roar. You have to be willing to run toward things that scary. There's so many parts of grief that I wish I could have run from. I could have run from them to a numbing substance. It would have been easy to lose myself in a bottle. It would have been easy to lose myself to pain medication. It would have been easy to lose

myself and to numb the pain away. The problem is numbing numbs the good feelings as well as the bad ones and soon you'll feel nothing at all. I'm telling you you have to run towards, open the box of mementos, not memorialize the clothing. Wash them. They're ready for the next girls and give away to someone and not hang on to things that are going to be a booby trap in the days to come. One thing for me that was a run toward the roar was going back into the hospital the night my daughter died because my wife said, invite those people to church. And it was scary for me, but I went back inside and invited him. And there was three people that night that I invited the night my daughter went to heaven

who came to our Christmas Eve services in the invitation that I gave in my daughter's honor and gave their lives to Jesus. It was scary, but you don't have to live in fear of anything that you face on your terms. So run toward what you want to run away from. David ran toward Goliath. And I just encourage you to live a life powered by the Holy Spirit where things that you're scared of you run towards. face them on your terms. Maybe they'll kill you. I said to grieve, dip your fangs into my breast, and if it kills me, it'll kill me. But if I don't die, at least I won't have to live in fear.

It's just a better way to live. There's a last thing, and then we're going to pray. If you want to make it through Saturday, if you want to turn off the dark in your own heart, you have to at times cue the eagle. C-U-E, the eagle. C-U-E-the eagle. What does that mean? Well, Isaiah talks about, anytime you call in the name of the Lord, God gives you the strength that allows you to run and not grow weary, walk and not faint, like the power of an eagle propelling you forward. In my darkest moment, I remember kneeling at my daughter's grave and thinking about that verse, reading Psalm 7326, my heart and flesh fail, but God is his strength of my heart forever. I didn't think I could do it for one more moment, but as I said those words and trusted the name

of Jesus, I looked up and there was a bald eagle circling the cemetery, and it was just a little reminder to me, and what I came to tell you is you can cue the eagle anytime you want. If you call on the name of Jesus, he'll give you a new strength, he'll give you new power, You've got a second by second, moment by moment, punch by punch, round by round, fight by fight, trust the name of Jesus. Let's pray together. Jesus give us strength to keep turning off the dark until you turn it off forever. We pray this in the mighty name of Jesus.

We all said together, amen. God bless you, Life Church. Thank you, thank you, Pastor Levi. And I know that at all of our churches, there are many of you, God just spoke to you in a very powerful way. and I want to just continue in an attitude of prayer if you'll just pray with me. Father, thank you so much for sending a humble servant who knows you intimately and can speak to those who are in the middle of Saturday

in a way that would move us closer to your son, Jesus. All of our churches, as you're praying right now, nobody looking around. I want to take a moment and just ask, how many of you right now would say that you're actually in Saturday? All of our churches, there's something going on that's very difficult right now

and you need prayer. Would you lift up your hands right now? of our churches. There are so many of you. I know our family right now is enduring some things that we're really praying for God's grace. I know that so many of you at all of our different churches, there's something significant in your life that you wish was really different right now, and it's not. And I want to pray for you. Father, I thank you that you are here, that you are good, that heaven is even nearer than we could imagine. And God, I thank you that on this day you brought a very special message to speak into the hearts of those who need to hear it. God, I pray that we would find

comfort in the power of your perfect timing, in the truth of your living word, and in the comfort of the indwelling power of your Holy Spirit. God, I ask even now that because you are here and you are always good, even though we may not understand, we would trust God in your love, in your sovereignty and in your perfect will. I pray especially, God, for those that may be grieving, those who don't know where to turn or what to do, God, that we would turn completely to you, that we would find healing in your presence. We'd find comfort in your family as we love one another. And just like Pastor Levi said, it hurts real, even when we trust in you and in heaven. And God, we thank you that you are the God of all comfort, that you're here even now.

God, I pray that your presence would be exactly what we need as you conform us to the image of your son. God, we choose to trust in you. As you continue praying at all of our different churches to personally, for me to hear one dad who lost a child, talk about the power of death being broken by Jesus. It moves me. Jesus, the son of God, was born without sin, never ever sin, lived a perfect life. died the most brutal death. Why did he do this? Because sin separates us from a holy God. If I sat down with you and we had a casual conversation and I ask you, where do you stand with God?

A lot of you might kind of hem haul around and say, well, you know, I try to do my best and I kind of try to help people. And, you know, I go to church when I can or whatever you might say. But if we got really, really honest, I know you would say the very same thing that I would have to say, and that is, I have sinned. I am not what I should be. I've let God down. And the problem is that sin, that sin separates us from a holy God. The good news is God doesn't leave us dead in our sin, but in his mercy, he sent Jesus who is perfect, died, and rose again. So the power of death, hell, sin in the grave would be broken. In all of our churches, there are those of you, you're not here by accident. God brought you here, and you can sense it. There's something happening.

You feel drawn to God. That's the power of the Holy Spirit, and God brought you here, because when you call on the name of Jesus, he'll hear your prayer, forgive your sin, make you brand new. All of our churches, there are those of you, you recognize, you need it, you need his grace, you need his power,

you're not here by accident, it's time to simply turn from your sins and turn toward Jesus. When you call on his name, he'll forgive every sin, you become a new person, your sins are gone, he makes you new it.

All of our churches, those who say, yes, I need that, I need his grace, I recognize I'm a sinner, and I need a Savior. Jesus, I trust my life to you. That's your prayer. Lift your hands high right now.

All of our churches, and say, yes, Jesus, I surrender my life completely to you. As we have people at all of our different churches crying out to him, those at church online, you simply click right below me. And together, what do we do? We stick together. We are the family of God. Nobody prays alone.

Everybody pray aloud. Pray Heavenly Father, I call on you to save me from my sins. Jesus, make me new. Forgive me. Fill me with your spirit. so I could know you, serve you, and follow you. My life is not my own. Today I give it to you.

Thank you for new life. You have mine. In Jesus' name I pray, all of our churches, would you celebrate big worship loud? Death is gone because Jesus is alive. Celebrate new life in Christ. You know, here's the church. It's our honor to play a small. part in all that God is doing in and through your life. And we 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. You know, it's our mission to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. And that plays itself out in a variety of ways around the world. But today, I want to give you just a small glimpse in 60 seconds of how you're living out your mission in the Mission Minute. Since October of 2016, more than 160,000 people have been displaced through the fight in Mosul Iraq. Life Church Global Mission Partner Samaritan's purse is actively responding with the closest trauma center to the frontline fighting through their mobile field hospital, enabling them to treat over 700 patients thus far.

Additionally, Life Church has helped to provide over 3,100 tons of food to thousands of families across six refugee camps. On a local level, Life Church recently awarded a $50,000. grant to our local mission partner, the City Lights Foundation in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who's been working to tackle the issues of poverty with the help and partnership of six different life church locations. This $50,000 grant contributes to more than $25 million life church has given to change lives and communities worldwide. And that's a glimpse at how your church is living on its mission in a minute. Thanks for joining us here at Life Church and being a part of leading people to become fully devoted followers of Christ all around the world. That

statement drives everything we do here as a church, all because we believe and we know. Whoever finds God finds life.