Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - What Would Jesus Undo?, Part 4: Spiritual Pride

Episode Date: March 4, 2018

We tie ourselves in knots going through the motions to meet the world’s expectations. But you weren’t created for that. Whether you’re struggling to find a new start or looking for a place to grow, it’s time to get real about who you’re meant to be. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey everybody, before we dive into this week's teaching, I want to tell you next week, I'm starting a brand new message series. It's called exponential. What I hope you're going to understand is that God wants to do exceedingly and abundantly more in you and through you than you could ever imagine. We're going to see an exponential return on your spiritual investment in people's lives. Today, I'm excited to introduce to you one of our own campus pastors. You know him and you love him.

He's one of the best communicators in our organization, one of the finest leaders that I know. A great man of God coming from Life Church in Wichita, Kansas. Would you please help me welcome, Pastor Tim Duremus? Thank you so much, Pastor Craig, for that introduction, and I'm honored to get to be with all of you today at all of our life church locations and church online. You're a part of our family, and we love you. Seven and a half years, Pastor Craig. For seven and a half years, my wife Katie and I, and my two children, Olivia and Jack, have been a part of Life Church. and I can say that we are better in every single way.

We're better relationally, emotionally, physically, financially, and most important, spiritually as followers of Christ because what God has done in our family through this church. And so Pastor Craig, I just want to say thank you for being faithful to the call that God has put on your life. Our lives is different. We don't take this church for granted or you for granted either.

You heard Pastor Craig mentioned next week we're starting a series called Exponential. I've heard from him as he talked about week one. He's excited about it, and I know this. When Pastor Craig's excited, I'm excited because I know that it's going to be good. And speaking of being good, this has been an incredible series for me personally. What would Jesus undo? What is it that grieves God's heart?

Week one, Jesus would undo indifference. Week two was a powerful week. Jesus would undo hollow worship. Last week, Jesus would undo hypocrisy in our lives. And this week, Jesus would undo spiritual pride. Right? Jesus would undo spiritual pride. when we find our value and our meaning in ourselves and what we accomplish and how we compare to others

rather than finding it where we're supposed to in Christ. So when I was 22 years old, my wife Katie and I had been married for about three months. We moved seven hours from home so that I could start seminary. I knew that ministry was next for me. So my first class I ever took, I got an assignment, a five to seven page paper. I didn't write a lot of papers before that. I had a business degree, so I thought, I'm going to put my best foot forward. I'm going to knock this thing out of the park.

So I poured my heart into that paper. About two days before, the light bulb went off, and I thought, I need somebody to edit this thing. So fortunately, for me, my wife, Katie, is an English genius. She knows every grammatical thing that there is to know. So I asked her, hey, babe, would you mind editing this? She said, sure. She sat down at the breakfast table with a red pen, and she started going through it. About 30 minutes later, she comes back to me, and she says, here's your paper, and I look at it.

and it looks like that red pen has bled all over that paper. At first, I was a little bit embarrassed because there were grammatical errors, there were structural errors, there were just question marks. Like, I don't even know what you're trying to say here. Then my feelings got a little bit hurt, and then I got frustrated.

So I went back to her being a young spouse, and I said, hey, babe, I really appreciate you trying to help, but I'm pretty sure I asked you to edit this, not to rewrite it. Don't worry, I was young. I just kept digging, right? I'm pretty sure I didn't ask you to rewrite it. In fact, I'm pretty certain that the professor

asked me to turn in a paper, not to turn in your paper. So I appreciate you trying, but I don't think I'm going to turn this in. So I threw it in the trash. I printed out the paper again, edited it myself, turned it in, got it back, and made a D-minus. And it wasn't the grade. It was the note that the professor who wrote the book for the class wrote on the top of that paper.

He said, Tim, this is not. and he underlined not. This is not master's level work. I strongly suggest that you go to the English lab to get some help to set yourself up for success in your seminary career, but I'm going to let you rewrite this paper and turn it in. So you know what I had to do.

Like later that day, I slid up when I thought the timing was right next to my wife, and I was like, hey, babe, I got that paper back and didn't go so good, made a D-minus. But I need to rewrite it. And so I was wondering if you would, if you would edit it for me, because you were right, I was wrong, I'm sorry. And my wife, who was full of mercy, grace, and forgiveness leaned in a little bit. And she said, I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you.

Can you say that a little bit louder? We've all been there at some point, right? I was wrong. You were right. I'm sorry. Pride comes before the what? Help me out. Pride comes before the fall.

And we've all been there. We've all experienced it. But Jesus would undo spiritual pride in our lives. because he doesn't want us to experience the fall that comes after pride. And so we're going to look at a story that Jesus tells in Luke chapter 18, but I want to give you this heads up before we do, that somebody told me years ago and it stuck with me, one of the most loving things you can do for another person

is to look them in the eye and tell them the truth. And what God's word is going to do today through the words of Jesus is it's going to look us in the eye and it's going to tell us the truth. So if you got a seatbelt, you may want to buckle it up today. So Luke chapter 18 beginning in verse 9, if you want to flip on you version to that or you can just follow along on the screen. Jesus tells us a story about two guys who go to the same place for the same purpose. Two guys, one a Pharisee, yay, good guy, one a tax collector, boo, bad guy, go to a temple,

the church, the visible presence of God in order to pray to God. Jesus tells us what they pray, and then he says one of the man leaves right before God, one of them doesn't, but it's not going to be who we think. So we're going to pick up with the story in Luke chapter 18 beginning in verse 9, where it says this, and he, he being Jesus told this parable or a story that was intended to teach to not everybody, but to some people. Who did he tell it to? Some people who trusted in themselves.

They hoped in themselves. They put their faith in themselves. Why? Because it says that they viewed themselves as righteous. I do the right things. I'm right before God. And because they viewed themselves with righteous, it says that they viewed others with contempt. Because your relationship with God can't be separated from your relationship with others. The vertical always impacts the horizontal. So Jesus is speaking to a specific audience. And this is what he says to us. Two men went up to the temple to

pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. So you have a Pharisee. the good guy. He was a respected religious leader in his day and time. There were 613 laws in the Old Testament, and while I'm proud of myself for remembering that number, he remembered every single one of them and he followed them to a T. He was respected in his community. He was like a pastor going to church. He was like a Bible teacher going to church. So you have the Pharisee, the good guy, and you have the tax collector. If the Pharisee was like a pastor, or a Bible teacher, I don't know that there's a modern equivalent for the tax collector. Some translations say this, he was a despised tax collector because he didn't just collect taxes

for his government. He collected taxes for the Roman Empire that had come in, conquered his country, oppressed his people, and you were funding the expansion of that empire throughout the world. So this guy that you grew up with was taking your money to fund the government that was occupying your country, but what's more, he took more than required to make himself wealthy. It was like a corrupt politician who was lining in his own pockets. It's the drug dealer who's selling drugs to his own neighborhood in order to make himself rich. The despised tax collector. They go to the temple to talk to God.

And this is what happens. We have the good guy and the bad guy. And it doesn't matter if you've never heard this story before. You've heard this story before, right? It's Lou Skywalker, Darth Vader. It's Jim and Dwight from the office. It's 11 and the upside down monster. It is Chuck Norris and whatever poor soul Chuck Norris comes up against.

You're like, good guy, bad guy, I know how this story ends. So the Pharisees stood up and it says in the Bible that he was praying what? He was praying to himself. Or you could say that this way. The Pharisees stood up by himself. He distanced himself from everybody else who was there to do the same thing. He separated himself. And this is what he prays.

God, I thank you that I'm not like these other people. Right? God, I thank you that I'm not like these other people. The swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even this lowly tax collector because I fast twice a week and I pay tithes of all that I get. The Pharisee said this,

God, thank you that I do the right things and thank you that I'm better than everybody else who's around me. God, thank you that I do the right thing. and I'm better than everybody else around me. And get this, the Pharisee wasn't completely wrong. He had some good things going in his life. By the age of 12, he would have memorized the first five books of the Old Testament.

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, not just the names of them, the whole thing. He spent time in God's word. He tried to do what was right in his life. He had some good things going. But instead of seeing the good things in his life as a gift from God, he somehow began to see himself as the gift to God. Right? Instead of seeing himself and these good things as a gift from God, he started viewing himself as the gift to God. And before we look down at our noses at the Pharisee, we would be wise to recognize and acknowledge the Pharisee that lives inside of us. Instead of God, thank you so

much that I get to be a part of a church where I see you move every single week. It's God, you're welcome that I showed up today. God, thank you for the gift that you've given me in there's children, to be able to raise, to follow you, it's God. You're welcome that I bring them to church. Because we stop seeing the good things as our life as a gift from God and begin to see ourselves as the gift to God. We begin to experience spiritual pride. And spiritual pride promises us three things. It promises us self-sufficiency, right? I've got it. I've got what it takes. I don't need anybody else. Look what I've accomplished. Look at the good things that I've done. It promises us. self-sufficiency. It promises us self-importance. I have value. I live in the right neighborhood.

I carry the purse with the right label on it. My kids go to the right school. I have an important job. I have value. I serve in a leadership position at church. I have value because I'm self-sufficient. I'm self-important. And because of that, I'm worthy of self-exaltation. Everybody look at me. and yet spiritual pride is this inward emotion that leads to outward action that we would never normally want to be associated with. It's like the first car I ever drove. I inherited my older brother's 1985, Booger Green, Ford Ranger that smelled like a boys' locker room.

And when I drove that truck, my prayer life was awesome. Dear God, please don't let anybody recognize me while I'm driving to school today. Did anybody have a car like that? In Wellington, Hendersonville, Tulsa, yep, your parents called it a character builder. That's how I drove until. Until I saved up my money from my jobs, my parents pitched in a little bit,

and I bought a 1994 two-door Honda Accord with a sunroof, a spoiler, 17-inch alloy wheels. It wasn't tan, it wasn't gold, it was champagne. And so I named it, and I named it the champagne soul train. Because you didn't have to see me coming, you could hear me coming, because those JBL speakers and the pioneer N-D-C-D player, if you're under 20, CDs were these round things that you put, you could look it up. The N-D-C-D player was bumping.

My windows were not rolled up. They were always down. It didn't matter the temperature. That sunroof was open, and I didn't pray that people didn't recognize me. I was honking the horn. Hey, girl, what's up? how you doing? What changed? Obviously, I was in a different car, but what changed was my inner emotion that led to different outer actions. And spiritual pride is the exact same way. We experienced

the emotion like the Pharisee, and it leads to outward action that we would never normally want to be associated with, like comparison. Would you look at what that lady is wearing? I would never be caught dead in that. Like, why didn't somebody say before she left that? house that that's not a good look. Comparison, why do we compare because it's easier to have value and feel value in ourselves by lifting ourselves up by pushing others down? You want to know who the worst group is at comparison, it's parents. It goes like this, like, babe, I know we're not perfect parents, but like John and Michelle's

kids are crazy. They're going to end up in prison if something doesn't change. Why? Because it makes us feel like we're better parents when we lift ourselves up by pushing others down. Maybe for you, it's not comparison. Maybe it's this thought. You know what? I don't really need God in my life. I'm a good person and I know a lot of Christians and quite frankly, I'm better than they are. So I don't need God in my life. Maybe it's not that thought. Maybe it's fault finding. You're an expert and everybody else's faults. Why? Because it's easier to focus on their faults than to allow God to address the faults that are in our own lives. Maybe it's not fault finding. Maybe it's attention seeking. Hey, everybody, look at me, that we're more

concerned of how many people like our Instagram post of a Bible verse than we are allowing God to use that to transform us to become more like him. Maybe it's, hey, everybody, look at me. But I've been a pastor for 13 years. And I certainly don't know everything, but here's my guess, that most of us don't struggle with spiritual pride, that inward emotion that leads to those outward actions because we wake up in the morning and we think we're that awesome. I mean, maybe there's a few that you're just like, man, I'm killing every area of my life and good for you if that's you. But I think most of us struggle with spiritual pride because we wake up in the morning and we know we don't have it all together. And we're not that awesome. And so we spend so much time and energy and effort

trying to convince everybody else, trying to convince God and trying to convince ourselves that we're okay. And so maybe spiritual pride comes out in comparison, or maybe you struggle with the sneaky version that I'm going to call reverse spiritual pride that goes like this. I can't receive a compliment with a simple and gracious thank you, but instead I have to deflect it with sarcasm of it's better to be lucky than good. Or maybe it's the I could never. I could never be used by God because I'm not that good at anything. He hasn't given me a gift like he's given other people, or I could never raise my hand in worship because I don't want to draw attention to myself, or I could never share faith with somebody at work because I don't want to be that super spiritual person.

I don't know enough about the Bible to do that. I could never. Maybe it's woe as me. Woe is me. My life is so bad. I deserve better. I deserve better than the person that I'm sitting next to. I deserve better than my kids who won't listen to me.

I deserve better than the job that I go to every week. And yet the problem with reverse spiritual pride is it's the exact same thing as overt spiritual pride because it starts with what? It starts with me. And my value is based on what I accomplish and how I compare with everybody else, just like the Pharisee. And ultimately, the problem with spiritual pride is this, is that when we're full of ourselves,

there's no room for God. Right? Well, if I'm full of myself, there's no room for God. Look at the Pharisees' prayer. I've got it together, and I'm better than everybody else. There's no room for God in that. But Jesus offers us a better way. We're going to pick back up with the story in verse 13, where it says this.

It says, but the tax collector. We've already considered the Pharisees, so let's look at the tax collector standing some distance away. He couldn't even bring himself to the temple. It says that he was unable to lift his eyes to heaven, and he was beating his chest saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. God have mercy on me. Don't give me justice. Don't give me what I deserve.

Have mercy on me because I'm a sinner, because he understands one thing, and it's this. If God doesn't intervene in his story, he is hopeless. because there was a way for him to be made right under the law, and it was this, that he would pay back every single penny he's ever collected plus 20%. Every single penny you've ever made, I want you to pay it back plus 20%. Who could do that? God, if you don't intervene in my situation, it's hopeless. And this is what Jesus says about that prayer in the next verse. He says, I tell you this man. not the respected Pharisee, the lowly tax collector, this man went to his house justified, went to his house right before God rather than the other.

For everyone who exalts himself, everyone who lifts themselves up will be humbled, will be made low, but those who humble themselves will be exalted. You see, when we're full of ourselves, there's no room for God, but when we empty ourselves, when we humble ourselves, when we humble ourselves, When we empty ourselves like the tax collector, when we empty ourselves, we're in the perfect position to be filled up by God's grace. We're in the perfect position to be filled up by God's grace. And here's why that's good news, because some of you walked into church today or you logged

into church online and you're already feeling humbled. Maybe it's the life situation has humbled you. Maybe it's some choices that you've made have brought humility to you. And you're already saying what the tax collector was saying, which is God, if you don't intervene in my life, I'm hopeless. And the good news for you is that he wants to intervene in your life through Jesus Christ. And he wants to bring hope, and he wants to bring mercy, and he wants to bring forgiveness. All we have to do is empty ourselves to be in the perfect position to be filled up by God's grace. When Pastor Craig asked if I would preach this week, Tim, would you be willing

to preach week four of what would Jesus undo? I said, absolutely, I'd be honored and I am honored. And then he said, it's going to be on spiritual pride. And I think my heart skipped a beat or two. because I knew deep down that I have struggled with spiritual pride for a long time. God, look at what I've done. Look at how I compare. When I was 23 years old, I became the pastor of a church, and people would ask like, a pastor, no, the pastor of a church, and it made me feel good about myself. Look at what I've accomplished.

Look at how I compare. When I was 25, I became the pastor of a church plant, a new church, and good things began to happen. We began to grow. People's lives were being changed, and I heard what I was. what people said. Man, Tim's a great leader. Man, he's an incredible preacher. Man, God is going to use this church in huge ways, and I liked it because it made me feel good. Look at what I've accomplished and look at how I compare with everybody else. But then we ran into a problem and the problem was this. The church stopped growing and people's lives stopped being changed and I didn't know how to

fix it and I'm supposed to be the man. And my value is based on what I've accomplished and how I compare and it stopped and I don't know how to fix it. And some of you are at church. today and you know that feeling of there's a problem and I don't know how to fix it and it's exhausting maybe it's your adult child and you're going man we did the best that we could with them and compared to other parents we did a pretty good job but they're in a place we would never choose for them to be and I don't know how to fix it or you woke up this morning in a financial situation that you never intended to be in and you don't know how to get yourself out I don't know how to fix it maybe it's a relationship that you're in and you're saying forget making it great I don't even know

how to make it work. I don't know how to fix it. And if you've ever been in that situation, it is isolating, it is depressing, and it is maddening. And that wasn't days or weeks or months. It was four years of my life. And I remember one day, I just finally had had enough. And I said the things that we think, but we don't dare say to God. And I was like, God, where are you? Like, I don't understand why this is happening. This isn't what I signed up for. I didn't move my family across the country for this, for nothing. God, why do I feel alone? God, why won't you help? God, are you hearing what I'm saying? And there's only been a few times in my life where I felt God has almost spoken audibly to me. It's that clear. And that was one of those times.

And he asked me this question as I was just letting them have what I felt inside. He said, Tim, how many? And I was like, what do you mean how many? That's ridiculous. I don't even know what you're asking. How many people's lives would I have to change for it to be worth it, for it to be what you signed up for? How many people's lives would I have to change for it to be enough? I was like, I don't know, God, that's a ridiculous question. I can't just pick a number. And he said, how about a thousand? If I changed a thousand people's lives, would that be enough for you? And I was like, man, a thousand would be spectacular. But God, honestly, I don't see anybody. is what about a hundred if i changed a hundred lives is that enough for you god a hundred would be

incredible but god i don't see anybody what about ten god ten would be enough but i don't see anybody what about one if i changed one person's life would that be enough for you yeah god one person would be enough but i don't see anybody and then god asked me this he said what if that one person was you is me changing your life enough for you and he got me because what he said to me was this you can posture yourself like the Pharisee as long as you want, saying, look at what I've accomplished, look at what I've done, but you're not going to find what you're looking for because what you're looking for is an unattainable goal. You're just building a prison for yourself to live in, or you can choose the better way, which is the way of the tax collector, to say what? To say, God, you've done

more than I deserve. You've done more than I can earn because without you, my situation is hopeless. And what God did in that period of life, I don't ever want to go back through that, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. And that story is emotional to me, not because of the difficulty, but because of the goodness of God, that he loved me enough to essentially look me in the eye and tell me the truth, which is this is the better way to live through humility. Because when you empty yourself, not only are you in the position, the best position to receive God's grace, you're also in the perfect position to be used by God. When you empty yourself, you're in the perfect position to be used. by God. Sometimes I have people ask me this question, Tim, do you get nervous when you preach?

If it's 100 people, if it's 1,000 people, if it's 100,000 people, does that make you nervous? And the honest to goodness answer is absolutely not. Absolutely not, because when I step up to preach, I know that God has called me, he has equipped me, and he will be glorified through me. Absolutely not, because when you humble yourself before God, when you empty yourself, you're not operating out of a position of weakness. Humility is a position of strength, not weakness as pride is. It's a position of strength, but not my strength, not my sufficiency, not my importance, not that my name would be lifted up as a position of strength because God is sufficient

through Jesus Christ. He is enough for me. He is enough for me whether he uses me in a spectacular way or an ordinary way of going to work, doing my best, going home, loving my spouse, and loving my children, and never seeing any results outside of that. That's more than I deserve. It's more than I can earn. And so Jesus Christ is enough.

And that is the most confidence-building situation and position that you will ever find yourself in because God has called you. He's equipped you. And he wants his name to be lifted up through you. And you're going, man, Tim, that's awesome for a preacher. But I'm just to stay-at-home parent. I'm just to stay-at-home parent.

There is no such thing as just in the kingdom of God. There is no such thing as just in the kingdom of God. He has called you. He's equipped you and he will be glorified through you. He's given you a gift in those children. He's equipped you in a way to show them God's love in a way that no one else who walks to the face of this earth will ever be able to show them. And not only will your life be changed, he's going to change their lives and their children's

lives. And in your family, the name of Jesus Christ, is going to be lifted up through you. Tim, that's awesome, but I'm just a construction worker. There's no such thing as just in the kingdom of God. You're placed on a mission field. that I'll never walk on to show the love of Christ to people that you work with. And then on Wednesday nights, you're going to come to switch. You're going to sit down in a circle with 10th grade boys,

and you're going to show them what it looks like to be a man who's chasing after God. And Jesus's name is going to be lifted up through that. Because pride is about my glory. Pride is about making my name great. But humility is about God's glory. Humility is about God's glory. So how do we do that? How do we empty ourselves before God?

There's so many different ways that God can choose to do that. Last week, Pastor Craig talked about confession. That's a great way. Serving others, that's a great way to bring humility into our lives. But I'm just going to give you one question to ask. When you're experiencing those inward emotions that lead to those outward actions that you would never want to be associated with. When you have that fear inside of you, when you have that anxiety,

when you're facing a decision, ask yourself this question. Is this about my glory? Is this about lifting my name up? Or is this about God's glory and lifting his name up? Because pride promises you freedom through being enough, but it delivers a prison of an unattainable goal. And humility offers a freedom that you can't experience outside of Jesus Christ. Is this about my glory? Or is this about God's glory? And I'm not speaking today as, as well, one who has it all together and doesn't face this, the best description of fighting pride in your life I've heard is it's like peeling an onion. With God's help, he's going to peel back one layer, and then down the road, you're going to realize there's another layer. He's dealt with comparison in

my life, but now maybe he needs to deal with the Ica nevers. But God's going to peel that onion back in your life. You're going to become more like Christ. You're not going to struggle with spiritual pride, but instead you're going to empty yourself, receiving his grace and being used by him. Matthew chapter 5, verse 16, these are Jesus' words to us. He says in the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds, that they may see your good deeds and glorify who, and glorify your father who's in heaven. God has called you, he's equipped you, He's going to use you to bring glory to his name. The problem with pride is that when we're full of ourselves,

there's no room for God. But that's not going to be us because we're going to empty ourselves. Like the tax collector, we're going to empty ourselves, putting ourselves in the perfect position to be filled by His grace. And we're going to empty ourselves. We're going to humble ourselves. We're going to empty ourselves because that's the perfect position to be used. by God. At all of our life churches and at church online, if you'll bow your heads and close your

eyes, we're going to pray today. But before we pray, I have a feeling that there's some of us here today who God has looked in the eye and spoken to and said, you know what, there's an area of your life. Maybe it's fault finding. Maybe it's the I could nevers. And I want to peel back that layer of pride today. If you came to church, if you logged into church online and you realize, you know what, there's an area of my life where I'm experiencing spiritual pride, and I want God to peel that back so that I can empty myself before him and be filled up with His grace and be used by Him. I want you to go ahead and raise your hand right now.

That's me. I would love to get rid of this pride that I'm experiencing my life. My hand is up with you. Let me pray for all of us. Heavenly Father, thank you so much that you've offered us freedom through Jesus, freedom from our sins, but also freedom from our pride. Lord, I pray that you help us all recognize those areas, I pray that you bring us all to the position where we say,

God, we want your name to be made great through our lives because of what you've done. Lord, I thank you for the freedom that you're going to bring to so many people through this. As we continue in an attitude and a spirit of prayer, there's also some of you who came to church online or walked into church today who are feeling like the tax collector. life has humbled you. You know that without God's intervention in your story, you're hopeless.

Our pastor says it this way sometimes, that I believe that God allows you to get so low that all you can do is look up to him for help. And here's the good news is that God hears the cries of those who are calling out for mercy. God, have mercy on me. I'm a sinner. And some of you came into church today, not feeling like the tax collector, maybe you felt like the Pharisee. Look at what I've accomplished.

Look at what I've done. I don't need God. And yet what you realize today is that what the Bible says is true, which is we're all separated. We're all separated from the glory of God by our sins. And yet the good news is that God doesn't want to leave you that way because he loves you. He sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for my sins, for your sins, so that anyone, and that means anyone, anyone who feels like the tax collector,

anyone who feels like the Pharisee who calls out on his name will be saved at all of our life churches. If you're here today, you hear God calling to you. You're ready to surrender your life to following Christ. You're ready to receive his grace, his mercy, his forgiveness. You're ready to turn from your sin and follow him. I want you to raise your hand with mine right now. I'm ready to give my life to following Christ. Back here, I see a hand that's going up. Praise God for that. Back there in the back. Praise God for you. I'm ready to give my life to Christ. Church online, just click right here below me. We're going to pray out loud because nobody should pray alone when they're at church. Every voice together with me. Heavenly Father, thank you so much that you paid the price for my sins

by sending Jesus to die on the cross and to be raised from the grave. I want to receive your grace, your mercy, and your forgiveness. And I'm ready to empty myself to be used by you. you. Thank you, Jesus, for this new life you've given me. And it's in Jesus' name that everybody said. Amen. Life Church, why don't we worship? Worship big. As a church, it's our honor to play a small part in all that God is doing in and through your life. To find out what your next steps could be, check us out at life.church slash next. And to stay connected throughout your week and everywhere you go, download the Life Church app, available anywhere you download apps.

It's our mission to become fully devoted followers of Christ, because we know that whoever finds God finds life.