Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - What You’re Not Saying | Love Killers: Part 5
Episode Date: May 31, 2026Most of us don't think of ourselves as dishonest. But the gap between "I didn't lie" and "I told the whole truth" is exactly where a lot of relationships quietly break down. Let’s talk about why wha...t you're not saying matters more than you think. NEXT STEPS Have you made the decision to follow Jesus? You might be wondering what’s next for you. We want to help! Check out these resources to discover what saying yes to Jesus means: https://go2.lc/podcastcommittochrist ABOUT THIS MESSAGE No one walks down the aisle expecting divorce. No one says "I love you" hoping to end up as strangers. We don't plan to ruin our relationships. But small patterns repeated over time can quietly destroy the connections that matter most. In Love Killers, we'll learn to identify these patterns and replace them with ones that make love last. 7 Prayers for Couples Seeking God Together: https://finds.life.church/prayers-for-couples/ 3 Tips for Better Relationships: https://www.go2.lc/love ABOUT LIFE.CHURCH Wherever you are in life, you have a purpose. Life.Church wants to help you find your next step. Our hope is that your journey will include joining us at a Life.Church location throughout the United States or globally online at https://www.live.life.church Find locations, videos, and more info about us at https://www.life.church or download the Life.Church app at https://www.life.church/app/download FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/life.church Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/life.church TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifechurch YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@life.church CONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIG GROESCHEL YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/craiggroeschel Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschel Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschel TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craiggroeschel LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/35447748/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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So if you don't know this about my bride, Amy, Amy loves to recycle.
She recycles everything.
And I know there's actually some controversy around recycling.
Some people say it's a scam.
I don't know if it's a scam or not.
I don't care if it's a scam or not.
My wife loves to recycle cardboard and plastic and glass.
If it can be recycled, it will be recycled.
She didn't waste anything.
One of the things that's funny, and I haven't actually tested on this,
but if you leave the water running, it freaks her out.
If you leave the faucet running and walk away, she will go crazy.
She has not set a cuss word in over three decades.
If you leave the water running,
you might actually hear the woman of God say a word that needs to be filtered out.
Don't test her on this.
And so in our home, that's a thing.
and I hate to say this out loud, but sometimes if I'm cleaning the kitchen up and she's not around,
not looking, because the recycle bin is all the way outside and the garbage cans right here,
sometimes I'll take something that could be recycled, a very small, insignificant yogurt cup.
And I'll put it in the trash, not just in the trash, but deep in the trash below something.
So she won't see it.
And I'll be honest, Wyatt.
I don't tell her I put your yogurt can in the trash,
and it's going to be in the landfill.
I don't ever tell her that.
I just don't mention it.
And it works until she spot checks the trash for recyclable stuff,
which she has been known to do.
I'm not lying.
She finds it in there, and then we have a healthy discussion.
And we used the principles from last week's talk on conflict,
to work through my deception.
Now, that may not seem like a big thing.
I'm guessing in some form or fashion you have your own version of that.
It might not be a yogurt container in the trash can,
but it might be a purchase that you made
that you just conveniently didn't mention in hope they didn't notice.
Or it could be a text from that someone
that you don't want your spouse to know that you received.
or it could be a web history that you just deleted just because you thought it'd be better if you did.
You don't lie about it, not technically.
You just don't tell the whole truth.
And in years of being a pastor and working with hundreds, maybe even thousands of families,
I've learned that the difference between I didn't tell a lie and telling the whole truth
is where so many relationships actually start to break down.
And there are different times, and I've done this as well,
that you don't lie about something,
but you're also not totally honest.
We're going to talk about that today,
and we're wrapping up the message series called Love Killers.
We've talked about selfishness.
We've talked about neglect.
We've talked about spiritual apathy.
Last week we talked about conflict.
Today, we're going to talk about deception and dishonesty.
And when I say deception, I'm not just talking about like the big, massive double life types of lives.
I'm talking about the daily kind, the small things that many of us wouldn't even call deception.
And it goes all the way back to the beginning of God's word in the garden in Genesis when the serpent came and tempted Adam and Eve.
And we know that Eve gave in and then there was all sort of compromise.
And if you'll notice, the first thing that happened after the sin was not honesty, was not openness, was not transparency, but Adam and Eve both hid from God trying to hide in disguise their sin.
And if you look at this kind of story objectively, you'll recognize that sin didn't just separate them from God, but it separated them from each other.
There was disagreement around this sin.
And the devil has been running a similar play ever since.
Jeremiah 17.9 tells us this.
The heart is deceitful above all things.
The heart is deceitful above all things.
In other words, your heart can actually deceive you too.
That's how deceptive the heart is.
And that's how deception works a lot of times
in relationships, especially in marriages.
You generally don't start by lying to your spouse.
You generally start by lying to yourself.
And you tell yourself, well, it really wasn't that big of a deal.
It's not that bad.
I mean, I could have done a lot worse.
I'm not hurting anyone.
It's better that they don't know.
Technically, technically, I didn't really tell a lie.
And sometimes we just spin it.
just enough to, in our own mind, we can rationalize what really is deception, what really is
lying, and we make it look like something else. And if we do it long enough, we don't even really
realize we're doing it. And then one day, we're kind of get good at being dishonest. And we're hiding
all sorts of things. And then we start to explain the reason why. And if we're not careful,
we believe the explanation. And then one day, we might not even really know what the truth is
ourselves. It starts small, but it generally doesn't stay small. And a lot of you might be thinking
that, right? Going, okay, yeah, I've done a little bit of that, not a whole lot. It's not like
I'm, you know, making up big lies and have fake names and a passport, and I'm not living a double
life. But Jesus says something that really should bring us all to pay very careful attention.
In Luke 1610, this is what Jesus said. He said, whoever can
can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much. That's really good news.
If you're faithful with a little, God's going to trust you with even more. And then Jesus went on to say,
and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. If you'll lie about
something small, Jesus is saying you're more tempted to lie about something big. And this is the
problem. Small dishonesty doesn't stay small. The truth is, all of us are sinful by nature,
and we're tempted to lie, and most of us probably do lie in different ways at different time.
And there's kind of a spectrum, and experts look at it, and they kind of give you different
layers or levels of it. And so I want to talk about a few of those today. We'll talk about four,
and you might see yourself in some of these things. The first thing is what they call the
half-truth. And if you have kids, you know what the half-truth is. Because kids, when they turn
13, they're infused with supernatural half-truth power. And you might do something like this.
Like, let's say, you know, your spouse says, hey, I don't really want you hanging out with so-and-so
that you worked with. And you say, you know, half-truth is, oh, I went to lunch today with some people
from work, and you did, but you didn't tell your spouse who was there. It's the half-truth.
Then there's the omission, and that's like, you just don't say I went to lunch, and you think,
well, what they don't know is not going to really hurt them, except for it actually often does.
There's the omission, then there's the reframe, and that's where you kind of take it and you
kind of spin the story a little bit and say, okay, so I went to lunch, and yeah, that person was there,
but it was just business, you know, and we talked about work the whole time.
And besides, you're overreacting, you've got friends of the opposite sex, too.
And so, you know, you try to reframe it.
Then the most extreme level, and unfortunately, some people do end up getting here, that's the double life.
And that's where yin, yin, go to lunch, she took her to Cancun, okay?
It's not like, you know, I'm just making this stuff up.
Work with me, okay?
Just work with me.
I'm in a relatively good mood, so I could say anything, okay?
Not a great mood, but a relatively good mood.
And so you're not just like hiding a little part of your life,
but you've got this whole other version of yourself.
You might have a secret phone, you might have a secret relationship,
you got a secret addiction, whatever it is.
Your spouse has no idea about that other you.
And some of you going, okay, yeah, so the half-truth or the admission.
I'm kind of there, but, you know, Craig, I don't have the big, bad stuff.
Okay.
Let's start there.
And for those of you say that I got just some little lies,
and it's not that big a deal,
I've got a story for you that I promise you will remember.
I'm not sure if this story is true,
but it should be,
because I promise you will remember it.
There was a wife who caught her husband in a lie,
and the husband said,
babe, babe, babe, babe, babe, babe, babe, babe, babe.
It's just a little lie.
It's just a little lie.
It's not a big deal.
it's just a little white lie. It's not a big deal. And she said, okay, babe, it's not a big deal.
And the next day, she made her husband some brownies. And he smelled the brownies. He said,
hmm, they smell good. And he ate the first brownies. And he said, babe, I'm so glad you like the brownies.
Have another one. He said, babe, thank you. And he had another brownie. He said, these are so good,
babe, thanks for making the brownies for me. She said, babe, I'm so glad you like them. By the way,
You know our dog?
Well, I took a little bit of poop.
Not much.
Just a little bit of poop.
And I put just a little bit of poop in the brownies.
He said, you watch it.
It says, babe, it's not much.
It's just a little bit of poop in the brownies.
Now, I told you, you all look sick right now.
Like, why did I come to church today?
The story may not be true, but would you agree?
It should be true, okay?
Because you don't grade dishonesty on a curve, do you?
Any poop in a brownie is too much.
Any dishonesty in their relationship is too much.
Come on somebody, I told you you would remember this.
I went to four years of seminary to learn to preach like that.
Actually, I didn't learn it there.
Just remember a little poop in the brownies.
It's not much.
Just a little bit.
Any poop in a brownies is too much.
Tweet that.
So, where does deception show up most frequently in relationships?
There's four well-accepted categories.
You're going to see this in relationships.
You're going to see it emotionally, financially,
relationally, and sexually.
Let's talk about emotionally,
emotional deception.
And again, it doesn't even have to be the big things.
Not like you don't even have to have the emotional affair.
It could be just like your spouse says, how are you doing?
And you say, I'm okay, I'm fine.
The truth is you're frustrated or you're disappointed.
And you know bringing it up is going to be a thing.
Because the last time you brought it up, it was a thing.
And so you don't bring it up and you lie emotionally.
And what's interesting is that you can actually lie without even speaking.
Like you can pretend you're fine and that still be emotional deception.
There's emotional buying.
There's financial, and this is really, really common.
It's the purchase that you make, and you don't tell them about it.
It's the cash you get out of the ATM machine and thank God that they don't check the account.
You know, it's the secret credit card that sometimes happen.
It's the rounding down.
How much does that cost?
Oh, $22 or so.
You know, it's a rounding down.
And a lot of times we'll say, well, it's not that big a deal.
but deception is always a big deal. We joke about it because we have different approaches.
Amy literally bought a pair of shoes on sale and came, I'm so excited, and told me she saved us
$40. Like she literally thought she did. She saved us money. If she'd gotten a purse for 75% off,
she would think we made money. That's how she thinks. Like, I made you money. And I would never be
that irrational, ever, ever, under any circumstances, except
we have a grill that works perfectly, and I don't grill. Again, if you were here last week,
it's not my job. I don't do it right. And so Amy grills, I don't grill, we have a grill
it works, and yet I bought a smoker, a high-end top-of-the-line smoker. I've never grilled or smoked
in my whole life. Don't you laugh, you bought a boat or a twin suities or a tractor or whatever
it is, a tractor for your little yard, you know, whatever. It's the thing. And so sometimes
we get ourselves in trouble. There's emotional, there's emotional. There's relational.
And again, it could be relational like you're literally cheating on someone. Other times, it's
just like you're just talking about your spouse to everyone except for your spouse. You know,
you're talking to your mom about your spouse, talking your dad about your spouse, don't know,
your coworkers about it. You're talking about your friends about your spouse. You're talking to your
friend's dog about your spouse, you know, about how frustrated you are and you go home and you
act like everything's fine. Everyone knows about the issue except for the person you should be talking to.
Then, and this is where it gets really awkward in the room, but let's just go there, there's sexual
deception, and there's layers of that. And just when you think it gets weird, it can get
weirder. There's fantasies, and there's secret accounts, and there's porn addictions, and deeper
addictions. And what I've discovered in a lot of years of pastoral work is that the sin is
bad, and the sin is always bad, the sin is always destructive. But in some ways, I think the secrecy
is almost worse. In fact, almost every time I've worked with a spouse that found out the betrayal,
it's like the affair hurt, the porn addiction hurt, but the deception even hurt almost more.
And it's real. So what do we do with this? Well, if you're married, maybe you're dating,
maybe you're hoping to date and marry one day, the answer in God's word is it sneaks up on you.
There's two qualities we find about Jesus when he came in John 114 that tells us this.
John said that the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
So the word became flesh.
The word is now Jesus.
And we've seen his glory.
We've seen the glory of Jesus, the glory of the one and only son, who came from the father.
And it's interesting, Jesus came full of two things.
He came full of grace.
and truth. You think about all the qualities. He could have come full of compassion or justice or
mercy or power, but he came full of grace and truth, grace and truth. And where a lot of relationships
fall into deception is they have one without the other. And there are some of you, you lean
heavier on truth. And so you're in a relationship. You have more truth without grace. And you think,
and this is common in Christian, especially conservative areas where the men bows up and say,
I'll say whatever I want, however I want, and call it truth. Sometimes people even slap a Bible verse on it and call it loving.
I'll tell you right now, if truth is delivered without love, it's not truth, it's a weapon.
And this is not Christianity, and it is not God honoring.
Anytime you use the word to hurt someone, you're not using the word the way that God intended you to use the word.
that's truth without grace.
And then there's grace without truth.
And that's the one that just doesn't tell the truth.
I don't want to cause any trouble.
I'm going to stuff everything.
I'm going to try to keep the peace.
I'm not going to bring it up.
I'm going to smile.
I'm going to say it's fine.
I'm going to bury it for years.
And that is not love.
That's avoiding conflict, avoiding responsibility,
and avoiding the very thing that can bring healing.
And I'll show you how this plays out.
And unfortunately, some of you're going to see yourself here.
That's the bad news.
But the good news is Jesus can lead you out.
Here's the two extremes.
The first one is this.
Truth without grace destroys hurts and harms relationships.
And grace without truth enables the dysfunction to continue.
And that's why Paul said this, and he speaks directly to it,
Ephesians 415.
He said, instead, we will speak the truth in love.
We can say we'll speak the truth with grace.
When we speak the truth, we do it with a heart to love, to serve,
to honor the other person, not to hurt,
not to condemn, not to be little, but to speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more
like Christ. I want you to think about this. When you speak the truth, how do you do it? You do it in love,
growing more and more and more like Christ. If we're speaking the truth without love and we're
not becoming like Jesus, we don't have the chance for the healing in our relationship.
So we speak the truth in love, becoming more like Jesus.
what was Jesus. He came full of grace and truth. He was full of grace. The grace came first. Yes,
there's a truth, but it's based on his grace. Truth and grace, not one or the other, but both.
So how do you get there? How do you go from hiding something? Because some of you right now
have some part of your relationship if you're holding back and you're hiding and you want to get past
the hiding to the honesty. How do you do it? Well, you do it by.
confessing, confessing. And there's two types of confession, and most people only know about one.
What are the two types of confession? Well, the first one is this. You confess to God for forgiveness.
What does this word say? He says, hey, God is faithful and just. If you confess your sins to God,
he's faithful and just to cleanse you from all unrighteousness if you confess your sins to God.
so you confess to God for forgiveness.
There's a second type of confession,
and that is you confess to each other for healing.
What does James say?
James said this.
James says, therefore, confess your sins to each other
and pray for each other.
Two weeks ago we learned to do that, right?
We're praying together daily.
Confess your sins to each other
and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
Watch this.
You confess to God for forgiveness.
if you confess your sins, be faithful and just forgive you. You confess to each other for healing.
Confess your sins, one and another and pray for each other that you may be healed. Most people stop at the
first one. We confess to God and we think it's good enough. But James says, no, you confess to each other
and pray that you're healed. I'll tell you about confession and healing in my marriage. I tell this story
with full blessing from Amy, just so you know she signed off on this one. Not the recycling one and not
some of the other ones, but maybe this one. So, earlier in our marriage, when I was younger,
I was more vulnerable than to visual temptation. Thankfully, when you do get older, it actually
does get better. But in the early years, I loved Amy so much. I didn't want her to think
that I was weak, and I certainly didn't want her to think that she wasn't enough. So I kind of acted
like, yeah, other guys deal with that, but I didn't really say I didn't, but I just kind of implied
that I wasn't tempted. But the issue wasn't that I was tempted, the issue that I was hiding
the fact that I was tempted. And so I had a vulnerability that I hid and kept personal instead of
sharing it. So I'm looking at scripture and I'm going, okay, I'm actually supposed to like
genuinely open up and be transparent and be vulnerable. And she's my best friend and I promise to be
married forever. And if there's anyone who's going to stand by me and pray for me, like, I need her
on my side in this battle. And so I prayed about and said, okay, I'm going to confess this. And I hope
it doesn't hurt her that this is a vulnerable area. And so I told her, like, I love you so much.
When you can ever imagine, I want to honor you. And I don't ever want to look at something that would be
dishonoring to you or sinful, and I'm not planning to. In fact, I'm planning not to. And so part of
my plan not to is now that the internet is a thing, and it wasn't a thing, but I'm in 32 or whatever,
now that it's a thing, I want to protect my devices. And I did. I wanted to put some
filters and all this kind of stuff just to eliminate temptation. And I said, I want to do that
because I love you, and I want to plan not to be vulnerable if I'm ever in a weak place.
Well, lo and the whole, she didn't look disappointed.
In fact, she kind of looked on and going like kind of grateful.
And I said, well, thank you for wanting to do that and I support that.
And I think it's a good decision.
I think you're being wise.
And I think you should probably tell other men it's a good thing for them to do as well.
And I was like going, wow, the very thing that I was hesitant to share was something that actually brought us closer and strengthened.
our relationship.
I want to hear this.
The personal vulnerability
that I was afraid to share
was the very thing that opened
the door to more intimacy,
more trust, more honesty,
and more strength
in our relationship together.
And here's the principle
that I want you to hear, embrace,
and internalize is this, in your relationship,
especially in your marriage,
you'll only be as close
as you both are honest.
Wouldn't you let that sink in for a minute?
Because you can't heal what you won't reveal.
And if you're sitting there hiding something,
if you've got secrets and you won't let the other person in,
you will only be as close as you both are honest.
So where do you go from here?
Well, some of you, you're hiding something
that would be relatively small,
and not incredibly painful.
And so your assignment is like, go home, confess it,
bring it out the open, and deal with it immediately.
Others of you, you're going to be carrying something
that's way heavier.
A serious secret addiction.
It could be an affair.
It could be multiple affairs.
It could be secret credit card.
It could be an emotional attachment.
It could be any number of different things.
It may be something that's been buried for years.
What you're going to want to do is not confess the biggest,
of your life on the car on the way home. That's not truth and grace. That's a grenade.
And I'm just going to call it what it is. What you want to do is you want to definitely confess,
but you want to do it with some support. You're going to want to tell your life group.
And if you don't have a life group, I'm going to tell you again, I've said it a million times,
like, I don't know how I would do without the body of Christ praying over us and speaking into
us and loving us and encouraging one another and serving one another and spurring one another
on the good deeds and that's just you'll need those you'll need people in your life and you might need
a pastor in your life and you might need you know might need a christ-centered counselor in your life
and so you're going to want to heal and you're going to deal with it but you're actually going to
want some people to help you deal with it along the way honesty without support that's not wise
that's reckless so assemble the team confess it and let's move on now here's what's going to be
difficult because the person is going to confess at some point there's almost going to be the sense of
Oh, finally, and you feel so relieved, and it feels good to confess.
Some of you are going to be on the other side.
You're not the one that's confessing a deception, but you're one who's receiving a confession.
And I want to talk to you because that's not easy.
If your spouse comes to you and finally tells you the truth, if it's something significant,
you might feel hurt and you might feel betrayed, I'm going to say right now you have every right to.
And so when you hear something, he did this, she did that, they hid this, they did that, there's this addiction, there's this other person, there's this thing, you don't have to be happy about it, and you don't have to pretend that it didn't happen. But once you just remember that it, because they love you, they had the courage to reveal something that needed healing. And the hiding is over, and that's where the healing begins. The hiding is over, and that's where the healing begins.
And so embrace both parts of this.
Your pain is real.
And so is their honesty.
God can work with that.
Your pain is real, and it will be real.
And some of you'll be on the other side
of very difficult conversations, and that is real.
And so is their honesty.
And God can work with that.
See, think about God's approach to Adam and Eve.
when they sinned and they hid, they hid, they hid, don't know anybody, don't talk about, they hid.
God didn't wait for them to come out, but God went to them.
God pursued them.
That's the very thing that God is doing at this moment to some of you in this room at this very moment,
is he's pursuing you with grace and truth, with forgiveness,
and the possibility of healing, because we're saved by grace through faith.
This is not of ourselves, but it's a gift from God.
And there is a truth, and the truth sets you free.
So you confess to God for forgiveness, and you confess to his people for healing,
and he comes to you with grace and truth.
Grace and truth.
Grace forgives, and truth. Grace forgives, and truth.
set you free. And so if you've been hiding something, God already knows about it. God's like,
hope you surprised me. God, that one by me. And he's not standing back with his arms crossed.
No, he's moving toward you. And so the question isn't, does God know? The question is,
will you stop hiding? Will it be a risk? Absolutely. Could he get worse before it gets better?
It possibly and probably will. The pain may be real.
so is the honesty.
And God specializes in showing compassion to those who are hurting
and healing to those who are broken.
And whatever you feel trapped in today, there is a way out
and is not by hiding and is not by secrecy.
Sin grows best in the dark.
But whoever confesses their sin and renounces them,
and they find mercy and healing in the presence of God.
So it might be that some of you here,
you are this close to the beginning of healing.
If you step out of the hiding with grace and truth,
you confess to God, and he will forgive whatever you've done.
And you confess to God's people.
And the right people in the right setting
with the truth of God's word,
bring healing to whatever hurt there's been.
And so for those of you that have been hurt, deceived,
and feel like there's never any hope for a godly marriage,
I want to tell you right now,
that is alive from the pit of hell.
That is alive from your spiritual enemy.
He is the father of lies and the deceiver.
God created man and woman.
He said marriage is good.
It is not the end goal in life.
The end goal is to honor God.
But sometimes if you can honor God better with someone else,
You join hands together and you unite your marriage, one flesh under God.
Let no man separate that.
And you declare by faith the Word of God will direct our steps.
The Holy Spirit will guide us.
His word will renew our thoughts and we're going to please him in all that we do.
And you will only be as close as you both are honest.
So today is as good a day to be honest.
and the truth can set you free.
So Father, today we pray for deep surgery and healing,
whether it's little things that seem insignificant.
God, we know that if we're not trustworthy with some things,
we're more likely to be untrustworthy in bigger things.
So, God, help us to be true before you
and true before the people that you put around us.
God, grace and truth to find your healing today.
I'm going to try to ask this in a positive way.
And I want you to think about all your relationships.
Some of you've been hurt by Christians, hurt by friends.
You're hurting in your marriage right now.
Disappointed in people around you.
Some of you are hiding something, holding something back.
It could be that you've done something wrong.
It could be just that you're hurt and you're hiding that.
And you haven't been honest and transparent about it.
So I'm going to ask you from a positive light,
how many of you want to be honest and transparent in your relationships
and experience all the healing that God wants you to experience.
Today at all of our churches online,
you want to be honest and transparent.
I hope it's all of you.
I want to be honest and transparent in all my relationships.
Lift up your hands, if that's you,
and experience the healing of God.
You can leave your hands up if you want,
just an act of worship.
You can type that online.
I want to be honest and transparent
and experience God's healing.
Father, today with a hand, lifted up to you,
we just make this a point of surrender.
We surrender to your grace and your truth.
We thank you for the grace of Jesus
that saves us.
we don't deserve it, we thank you for the truth of Jesus that sets us free.
God, I pray for healing in relationships.
God, for the small confessions, I pray they'd be met with grace,
for the big confessions that may be really, really hard.
I pray, God, that that would be the beginning of healing,
even though the pain may be real with the power of your word,
with godly community, with wisdom and help,
that there can be healing.
And on the other side, there can be relationships stronger than ever before.
God, I pray that our children would see how we pursue you and let you love us with grace and truth,
that they would see something so real they would want to know and follow you and serve you.
Bless and heal relationships today, we pray in Jesus' name.
As you keep praying today, some of you, we're talking about being honest.
If you were really, really honest, if we could just sit down and you just tell the truth of us,
that how are you with God today?
Some of you would say, not real good, not close.
you would say, like, I don't, I maybe believe in him, but I don't know him personally.
What I want to tell you about God is he is a very loving and relational God.
He loves you.
He loves you.
He went first, for God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son, Jesus.
If you had been the only one, God would have sent Jesus just for you.
Who is Jesus?
He is the son of the most high God.
The Bible calls him the Lamb of God.
He was without sin.
He was slain for the forgiveness of our sin.
sins. He died in our place to pay the penalty for our sins. And three days later, when the stone was
rolled away, the tomb was empty. Why? Because Jesus was raised from the dead so that anyone who believes in
him and calls on his name would be saved, forgiven, and made new. I want to promise you right now,
it doesn't matter what you've done. It doesn't matter how guilty you feel. It doesn't matter how dark the
sin is or how far from God you feel. The moment you turn to him and call on him, if you
confess your sins.
The Bible says God is faithful and just to forgive your sin
and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
Whoever calls on the name of the Lord Jesus would be saved.
There are those of you today.
This is why you're here.
It's time to be honest.
Step away from your sin.
Confess your need of a Savior.
No more plan.
No halfway in.
No sort of kind of church humanity.
This is full on Jesus.
Be my savior.
Be the Lord of my life.
I believe you're the son of God.
I believe you're going to forgive my sins.
I repent of my sins.
Jesus, I give you my life.
Be my Savior.
Be my Lord.
That's your prayer today.
Lift your hands high right now.
Church, lift them up today.
I'll praise God as we've got people today.
All of our church is saying yes to Jesus.
Come on.
Online, type in the comment section.
I am surrendering my life to Christ.
I'm surrendering my life to Christ.
And we're going to pray together.
Nobody pray alone.
Pray Heavenly Father.
Take my life.
Be my Lord, be my Savior.
Jesus, forgive my sins.
Fill me with your Holy Spirit so I could follow you and serve you and share you.
Thank you for your grace.
Now fill me with your truth.
May your truth set me free.
Thank you for new life.
I give you all of mine.
In Jesus' name I pray.
Church, come on.
Can you celebrate?
was born into God's family.
