Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - When Social Media Steals Your Joy | The Connected Life: Part 1

Episode Date: October 26, 2025

Your feed is full, but how's your heart doing? Discover how to break free from doomscrolling and build the deep, joy-filled connections you're craving.NEXT STEPSHave you made the decision to follow Je...sus? 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://www.life.church/yesWe’d Love to Get to Know YouLife.Church isn’t just something you listen to—it’s a place where you can grow and connect. And we want to help you do that! Share a little about yourself and what resources would help you on your faith journey with this short survey: https://life.church/podcastconnectABOUT THIS MESSAGEWe live in the most connected age in history, yet loneliness is at an all-time high. Technology can draw us closer to one another—or leave us isolated. The answer isn't ditching our devices; it's learning how to live The Connected Life and build the meaningful relationships we’re searching for.Feeling overwhelmed by your phone, screen time, or digital habits? This 19-day Bible Plan will help you reset your rhythms, recenter your heart, and reconnect with God in a tech-filled world: https://go2.lc/connectedbpWhat happens when the thing we’re asking about didn’t exist 2,000 years ago? The Bible doesn’t mention phones, social media, or video games—but we can still learn from how Jesus lived. This guide will help you navigate tech, TV, and time with God:  https://go2.lc/techguideHow do I quit doomscrolling? What’s the best way to guide my kid’s screen time? Can Christians watch that show? And what about AI? Find practical answers to these questions and more: https://finds.life.church/tech/Join the 30-Day Bible ChallengeThis November, commit to reading God's Word every day for 30 days, and see how it changes your life: https://life.church/globalbiblemonthABOUT LIFE.CHURCHWherever 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.churchFind locations, videos, and more info about us at https://www.life.church or download the Life.Church app at https://www.life.church/appFIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/life.churchInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/life.churchTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifechurchYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@life.churchCONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIG GROESCHELYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/craiggroeschelFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschelInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschelTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craiggroeschelLinkedIn: 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.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Today, I want to show you a very powerful portion of scripture that's very relevant for today, even though it was written 2,000 years ago. We're going to look at 2nd John, which is a very short, personal letter from John, who was one of Jesus' disciples. The point at which he was writing this, he was older. He was probably in his mid-80s, maybe even put. He was writing from Ephesus to some people that he loved. It was a very intimate letter, and he was telling them how to love one another,
Starting point is 00:00:39 and then he was saying, watch out for spiritual deception. If I could tell you something today, in this day, we need to love one another, and we need to watch out for the spiritual deception of our enemy who comes to steel, kill, and destroy. And this is what he said in 2 John, verse 12. He said this. He said, I have much more to say to. you. In other words, this message is not complete. He says, but I don't want to do it with paper and ink. He said, for I hope to visit you soon and talk with you face to face. And I like it. He says,
Starting point is 00:01:15 then our joy will be complete. I've got more that I want to say to you, but I can't just do it in the form of a letter. There are some things that are more intimate than that. I want to be face to face and then we were face to face sharing what's on my heart with you, then our joy will be made completely. He's saying there's something more that I want to share with you is on my heart, God put it on my heart, but it's just too special for a letter. In today's culture, we might say it's too intimate for a text or too sacred for a screen because there are some moments that you just have to be face to face. When you're face to face, you're face to face, you're face to face, then your joy will be made complete.
Starting point is 00:02:02 But sadly, let's be honest, that is just so much less common today than it once was. I'll give an example. My dad died a couple of years ago, and when he did, so many people reached out. It was a little bit overwhelming.
Starting point is 00:02:22 I got text, I got prayer emojis, I got heart emojis, and more text and more text, and more text and more text and more text. And then a couple of evenings after he died, Amy and I were sitting down in our living room and the weirdest thing happened. I mean, it was shocking.
Starting point is 00:02:41 Someone knocked on our door. And I looked at her like, were you expecting anybody? Maybe he said, Jehovah's Witness. Well, who would be knocking on our door? And I'm gonna show you a picture of Scott Streller. Scott and I met each other. I was 15. He was 16.
Starting point is 00:03:01 The first time we played, I beat him in tennis. We agree. He actually thinks there was a time before, which he beat me. But I don't remember that time, strangely, at all. And we've been friends for years and years. And that was back when you used to have hair that would cover your ears. That's how old that picture was. It was Scott at the door.
Starting point is 00:03:22 And I'm like, what are you doing here? What's going on? And he said, man, I'm so sorry about your dad. I just wanted to come over and just sit with you. Now, I'm not complaining at all. I felt very loved. And I don't think I would have even noticed that no one came to visit
Starting point is 00:03:43 if it hadn't been for the fact that one person came to visit. One person. Only one. And again, I don't think I would have said, like, nobody came to visit. I wouldn't even notice that nobody came to visit except for only one person came to visit. And I think what happened is,
Starting point is 00:04:00 I think we've really forgotten the power of presence. We forgot the sacredness of showing up. And those of you who have been around for longer, you'll remember back in the day when your friend would have a baby, what would you do? You would make a casserole with peas. Why a casserole with peas?
Starting point is 00:04:23 I do not know, but you would make a casserole with peas, and then what would you do? You would drive across town, lock on the door and give them the casserole peas, walk in, love them, maybe pray for them, see their baby, cute baby, even if the baby was ugly, you would lie for the glory of God, cute baby, and you would drop off the casserole and peas. What do we do today? Because it's convenient.
Starting point is 00:04:46 We order door dash. And the power isn't giving them apple bees delivered. We've forgotten the power is giving them you. We've forgotten the power of present. And you're probably thinking, okay, old Pastor Craig, you're against digital communication. And I'm going to say right now, I am not at all. There's a picture of Amy and my bride on my phone right there. Just for the record, we are the church that was honored to create the very first church online.
Starting point is 00:05:23 Not just streaming, but a community of believers online. And we have 800 life groups online with people all over the world. and we're thankful for that. We created the U-Version Bible app, and I think there's something coming up very soon where we're going to celebrate maybe a pretty big and special milestone that, along with our partners, our church has been blessed to give away the U-Version Bible app
Starting point is 00:05:45 to people on over one billion devices coming next month. And so what I want you to know is we are very, very much for the power of technology to connect people with each other and to connect each other spiritually. But tech should always be a supplement and never a replacement for human interaction and loving face to face. Because when you think about it, God didn't just send his written word. He didn't just send his written word, but his word became flesh.
Starting point is 00:06:20 John 1-1 says this, that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh. and made his dwelling among us. The biblical term would be the incarnation. Who is Jesus? He is the incarnation. He is the physical embodiment of a holy and a righteous God. God didn't just shout his love from heaven.
Starting point is 00:06:47 He sent his son to show who he is on earth because some things are just too intimate to be done in the written words. Some things have to be face to face. And so here we are years later. We're Christians, and we love Jesus, and we believe in the Bible, and yet when we feel maybe what, a little bit bored, maybe anxious, maybe lonely, what do we do? We pick up our phones, and we just start scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. And if you look on social media, what do you see? it seemed like everybody else has something going on.
Starting point is 00:07:37 Like their life is all together, right? You see the cool shoes and the vacation. And you know, I don't want to be judged, but it seems like this is the third one this year they've been on. And the date nights where they look so happy and the engagements and the babies and what appears to be the perfect family. And there you're sitting there in your pajamas,
Starting point is 00:07:57 eating your second bag of chips, doom scrolling, rotting on the cat. still feeling anxious and all alone. And internally you're thinking there's gotta be something better than this, but you just go back to it over and over and over again. And somewhere between the likes and the comments and the games and the emails and the updates and the reels, it hits you.
Starting point is 00:08:22 Your feet is full, but your soul feels empty. Your feed is full. and yet your soul longs for something more. And what's crazy is when you look at it today, I mean, there are so many good things about technology. I mean, we are the most connected society in the history of the world, and yet at the very same time,
Starting point is 00:08:45 we're the most lonely and the most isolated and most anxious ever. And we intuitively kind of feel like something's wrong, but we feel trapped and don't know how to fix it. In fact, studies show, some facts that are very, very alarming. I'll give you three. Studies show this, that the average adult spends over seven hours a day on screens,
Starting point is 00:09:11 while teenagers average between seven and nine hours daily. I want to pause and think about that. At the end of your life, do you want to look back and say, what did I do with what Jesus gave me to do? I spent a third of my entire life looking at a screen. seven or more nine hours a day. A second stat is this. 68% of people feel stress or anxiety when separated from their phones.
Starting point is 00:09:45 There is a term for it. You want to know what it is? It's a real term. It's called nomophobia. If someone takes your phone and just hand it to them for a second, what do many of you feel? Oh, and if you can't find it, next step. Nearly 40% of adults admit their phones make them feel lonelier,
Starting point is 00:10:13 and one in three admit that they don't have a single person to confide in. Jesus didn't come and give his life and overcome darkness, death, hell, and the grave for us to spend a third of our life looking at a scream. And yet here we are. What are we going to do about it? There's a book I read called The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Heith. And here's what he said. It really hit me because I see it and I feel it.
Starting point is 00:10:49 He said that one of the biggest problems we have as parents, those of you, if you have kids, he says that in today's culture, we tend to overprotect our kids in the physical world and we vastly underprotect them in the digital world. But we overprotect them in the physical world. I think you might agree, and I'm not saying this is right. but those of you around my age, when we were kids, you would literally put
Starting point is 00:11:13 an entire baseball team in the back of a pickup truck and drive down the highway at 70 miles an hour. I'm not saying it was smart, but we did it. Seat belts weren't a thing. I think it's dumb, seatbelts should be a thing, but some of you would remember, you sit in the front seat with your mom,
Starting point is 00:11:28 no seatbelt on, and the seatbelt would be if she had to stop fast, what would she do? Boom! That was a seatbelt. Her arm would go out, and it's probably safer than the safest airbag seatbelt. In fact, there's a real. rumor that that's how someone invented the airbag, that it was a little kid and his mom, you know how sometimes when you get older you have the, and the arm with it and it's a
Starting point is 00:11:52 airbag. I just made that up. That's not true. But, you know, if that offends you, just go ahead and email me. Use technology. Email me at Craig at I don't give a rip.com. It's actually an email that I think it still works. It was there years ago. But what happens is we, we, we, we, we, we, we, do, we, we nowadays, instead of like just letting them ride in the back, we overprotect them in everything to keep them safe. We got baby monitors, we got bike helmets and sanitized backpacks, we bubble wrap them. Our kid looks like this. If he's going to go check the mail, here, Bubba, you got to put this on so you don't get sunburn and trip on the, in the driveway and skin your knee. We're going to keep them safe in the physical world. And then when they turn
Starting point is 00:12:36 10 years of age, what do we do? We give them a device. with unlimited access to pornography and put into their hands a digital stream of dopamine that drives comparison and anxiety and depression and makes them vulnerable to the algorithms designed to distract them and feed them the lies that shape their very identities. And here's the kicker. Most of us have fallen for the same trap.
Starting point is 00:13:14 the same distraction, the same addiction, the same lies that are robbing them are also robbing us. Here's the way I'd say it. We didn't just hand them the problem, we modeled it for them. I'm telling you right now, you worry about your kids, some of your kids worry about you. Because all you can do is send fake AI things to each other because you still think that's real. Now I'm just meddling, but forgive me for that, but some of you are doing that, just saying. Let me tell you why I am passionate about this. I'm passionate about it because I feel like it's one of the greatest tools of distraction
Starting point is 00:14:00 to keep us from intimacy with God and intimacy with other people. And it is a problem we must acknowledge and we must solve. We have to. I want to solve it. I need to solve it in my own life. And so for three weeks, we're going to talk about it. I want to just kind of show you my cards. and I'm going to give you the three goals
Starting point is 00:14:16 that I want to try to accomplish in the series. Here's what I want us to do together. I want us to confront the habits that drain your peace and quietly destroy the relationships that matter most because sometimes you can be sitting right by the person you love and looking at strangers that you're never, ever going to meet and feeling left out when you could be connecting with the person who's right in front of you.
Starting point is 00:14:36 So we're going to do that. Next week, this is what we're going to do is we're going to find practical tools and I cannot tell you how important next week is. We're going to dive deep into it. And we're going to find the practical tools to guard your families from the pull of digital distraction and destruction. In fact, our team has put together a little book that your campus pastor can tell you how to get. It is free.
Starting point is 00:14:57 You can get it online. And we're going to meet as parents because a lot of you do not know what's going on on your kids' devices. And it is making them depressed, desperate, suicidal, left out, anxious, and you need to understand. And you need to have a game plan for them. and you need a game plan for you. And if you don't, culture is going to pull you straight into darkness, and this is not God's plan for us.
Starting point is 00:15:20 And the third thing we're going to do, and I've been talking about this nonstop, is we're going to come out of the shallow screen-based connection and back into deep, life-giving, Christ-centered community. If you feel like something's missing in your life, it's because it is. And it's not what's on the screen. It's what's in front of you.
Starting point is 00:15:37 It's intimacy with the people around you because God genuinely want you to live a connected life. not connected digitally, but connected spiritually to him and intimately with the people that he put into your life. And the problem is we live in a culture that celebrates and glorifies independence. You've got to be independent. I don't depend on anybody else. You've got to be your own boss. You've got to live your own truth.
Starting point is 00:16:02 Let me tell you the truth. The truth is God created you to be dependent upon him, to need him, and to need his people in community. We were not created to be alone. We were created to be dependent on a God who wants to meet our needs. And one of the ways he meets our deepest needs is with his love through his people. And we see one of the most powerful, beautiful, vivid pictures of this in the first century church. And I want to show you this when the new believers had experienced the resurrection power of Christ. And some of them has seen the risen Christ.
Starting point is 00:16:41 and they would gather together, and I want you to see the beauty of the community they had. Acts chapter 2 says this. These first century Christians, they were devoted. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship and the breaking of bread into prayer. And everyone was filled with all the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. And all the believers were together and had everything in common. and they sold their property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet in the temple courts.
Starting point is 00:17:19 They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Community, connection, commitment, power. all of the presence of God, all of the power of God, all of the miracles that God was doing, giving of themselves so that no one would even have need. And I want to show you in these few short verses how these first century Christians depended on God and depended on each other.
Starting point is 00:18:04 Let me show you just briefly a quick summary of what the early church did. They studied the Bible together. They shared meals together. They prayed together. Help me out if you want to. They fellowshiped together. They worship God together. They served others together, and they celebrated together.
Starting point is 00:18:29 They didn't look at a screen and observe someone else's life. They were together. And what you need to know is that in the ancient world, world, this was unheard of, completely unheard of, because the Roman Empire was built on division. The rich avoided the poor. The Jews stayed away from the Gentiles. Those who were free, they stayed away from the slaves. And the first century church filled with the power of Jesus and the love of Jesus, they shattered that division. The rich ate with the poor,
Starting point is 00:19:12 and the Jews fellowshiped with the Gentiles. And those who were free broke bread with those who were slaves. And those who had more didn't think it was all for them. But they gladly and willingly shared with those who had less because they didn't just believe in Jesus. they belong to him. And because they belong to him, they belong to each other. And yet we're settling for an imitation of looking at someone through a shield
Starting point is 00:19:51 instead of loving someone face to face. And Acts 2.44 summed it up when the Bible says this, all the believers were together. They were together. They were unified. They were one. They loved each other. They cared for each other. They shared their burdens together. They served one another. They rejoiced with one another. They mourned with one another. And this wasn't just unusual again. It was revolutionary. I'm going to tell you right now, it would be equally shocking today if Christians were together. I mean, if we could just agree on something, like Jesus is Lord, let's start there.
Starting point is 00:20:42 And that we need each other, let's start there. And that we're going to love one another. Let's try that. It would be incredibly shocking if their body of Christ was unified and actually loving rather than mean. Like loving one another, rather than criticizing one another and serving one another, It says, taking shots at each other. But the problem is, in our culture today, too many of us, we value our privacy more than we crave community. It's my life, my time, my agenda, got to meet my needs when God called us to love one another.
Starting point is 00:21:21 And we just, we literally like lie in the way that we show our lives. We show the filtered life and the filtered stories, and we hide our own real stories. knowing that I'm not better than you, we're all broken and we're all needy. And we're like, I need you and you need me. And you need the person sitting next to you. And you may not even say hello to them. We live in things that resemble neighborhoods. They're not quite neighborhoods that used to actually be outside and talk to each other and stuff.
Starting point is 00:21:54 Now we gate them all off and, you know, pull into the garage. But every now and then you'll wave at your neighbors. you probably don't know their names, but you'll wave at them. And it's bizarre. Someone, every now and then, your phone will ring, and you think, it's probably a solicitor. And it probably is, because it usually is. But if it's not, sometimes you go, oh, yeah, that's mom. Oh, that's my college buddy.
Starting point is 00:22:28 Oh, that's that person who I'm just going to send it to voicemail and then later on you go and listen to the voicemail and then what do you do? Just text them back. Text them back. Because we're so busy with our own plans that we don't have real time for real community and when our friends, and when our friends, mom or dad dies, we send a text. we send a text. And again, the reason I'm passionate about this is because it's my problem. The first time it dawned on me was years ago when I got my first version of a smartphone
Starting point is 00:23:22 and my son was playing in a soccer game and I was watching him. It was a big game for him. And I was looking at Twitter and people were arguing about something I said. Strangers were in a little Twitter storm. I heard everybody cheer and Sam had scored a goal. And I missed it. So I will never, ever do that again. And I didn't until the second half.
Starting point is 00:23:48 And I was looking again when he scored the game-winning goal with maybe two minutes left, and I missed them both. Because I was looking at something strangers were saying. And that was the first time I realized, okay, this is a problem. Fast forward to today, and I'm going to be just real transparent with you, and I'm not exaggerating when I tell you, I'm not complaining, this is just my life. The days are so packed that I've barely received.
Starting point is 00:24:09 to text or emails or calls. And then when I go home after dinner, I start responding. And between my staff, which are many pastoral needs that are a lot, other pastors that need a lot, all six of my kids and their spouses that most of them need something every single day, I will generally be on the phone doing what I consider to be something important until about 9, 915 at night, nonstop. And it's work, it's ministry, and it feels important to me. And then about 9, 9, 915, I'm done. I'm tired. I put my phone aside, and I'm ready for some attention. So I come into Amy and say, hey, what's you doing? And she says, I've been waiting for you all night long, so now I'm doing dual lingo. I'm like going, you're doing duolingo when I'm ready for you. She said, you've been
Starting point is 00:25:01 on the phone all night long, so now I'm doing my Spanish. And so, you know, what happens is now when we get no argument about that, she can argue back in Spanish. And it impacts us at 9.15 at night. The first century Christians, that they were different. They were a Jesus-centered community. That they broke down the walls. And face-to-face, they literally started changing the world. What if we did the same thing now?
Starting point is 00:25:36 Like, what if you just pushed back and said, we're not going to be a slave to this? We're not going to let it master us. We use it, but we're not going to be mastered by it. And what if instead of just like scrolling or texting or DMing, what if every now and then you literally met face to face? What if we opened up our homes, opened up our lives, our schedules? What if the church became the place where empty hearts are filled and broken people belong?
Starting point is 00:26:04 Not you just like sit by someone, but you actually ask them their name and look forward to seeing them next week. and if you like the idea but say, I don't know how to do it, let's talk about it. What do we do? What I want to just give you is a little assignment this week. Start with an awareness. Take notice when you're sitting with people that you love. You've got family, got friends, you're sitting on, you're on the living, whatever, you're a restaurant. Just take notice at how often you're all together, but nobody's paying attention. Just take notice of how often you're with somebody and you're looking at your screen. Or if you're out to lunch or coffee with someone, just take notice. If you get a notification, do you continue the conversation or do you break community and look down to see what the notification is?
Starting point is 00:26:47 At bed at night, just ask yourself, are you journaling and reflecting on the day and planning your next day and thanking God and seeking God? Or are you texting and scrolling? If you're married, are you praying with your spouse? Are you having intimate conversations with your spouse? Are you connecting spiritually or emotionally? Or are you side by side in bed looking at reels? Just take notice. And every now and then, when you're about to reach for your phone,
Starting point is 00:27:15 remind yourself, you're reaching for something that fills the moment that can't fill your soul. Remind yourself. And so here's your assignment this week. Really simple. We're going to pick up the pace as we go on, but we're going to start really simple. Three things. I'm going to ask you if you would consider doing. The first thing is this.
Starting point is 00:27:34 Don't just text someone, call them. You may try to do that every day. Like literally when you'd normally send a text, just actually. go ahead and dial and let them hear your voice and listen to theirs because it genuinely is another level of intimacy. The second thing is don't just pray for someone, pray with them. Take it up a notch. Because somewhere along the way, you're going to be tempted to just say, do a prayer emoji on a post. Or you're going to be with someone at work and you think, I'll, I'll pray for you later. So just stop and push yourself out of your comfort zone, be bold and say, do you mind if I pray
Starting point is 00:28:10 for you right now and just pray. And thirdly, I'd say, don't just say that you care, but actually show up and be present. But the Holy Spirit prompt you when you can go and make a difference because Jesus said, a new command I give to you. He said, love one another. As I've loved you, so you must love one another by this. Everyone will know that you're my disciples if you love one another. How will they know if we love and follow Jesus. It won't be by what we post. It won't be by how many followers we have, but how we love, how we love, how we love, how we love. So you don't have to destroy your phone, but don't let it own you. And if you wake up and you realize, like, I have this frustration, I know there's more. If your feet is full and your life is empty, I promise you, I promise you,
Starting point is 00:29:01 I promise you God has something so much better for you and you're not going to get there accidentally, you've got to intentionally and prayerfully push back against the pull of culture and push into the heart of God and let His love come through you to make a difference of the people around you because God didn't just send his words from heaven. Jesus is the word made flesh. And he came to reveal face to face the love of the Father. So this week, just be aware. Let's start there. Put the phone down. Look someone in the eye and choose presence. Choose presence. Look at them and with everything in it, you don't have to say it, but just communicate it with your being and say,
Starting point is 00:29:49 you matter more than anything on a screen. And what will happen is you're going to start finding at the end of the day. That was actually a little better day that when I prayed for someone, I felt the presence of God and I felt joy. When I called someone and I heard their voice and I actually knew what was going on, I wouldn't wonder. Why do they give me a little, responses and not respond. And why do they, where are we? When you talk to them, you find that there's some things that are just too intimate for a screen.
Starting point is 00:30:16 They have to be face to face. And your love grows. And when you're serving others and ministering to others and involved with others and caring for others and giving to others, your joy is made complete. And the world won't feel the love of Jesus just through a screen. Yes, they can at times, but they're gonna feel it when you're there.
Starting point is 00:30:38 you care you say it you show it and then they're going to know it assignment will you push back with me we say i believe there's more than this because john was warning them here's how you have to love and don't be distracted the devil wants to steal kill and destroy and get you to settle for something that is not real as a counterfeit when god has something so much more so heavenly father we pray by the power and grace of jesus that you would draw us into real connection with you and people. Church, as you're praying today, and those of you that are online,
Starting point is 00:31:15 we're glad you're online. There's an assignment I'm going to give you. Three things, I'm going to ask you, will you commit to this? And don't just, like, raise your hand, like commit to it. Don't text, call. Don't pray for someone, pray with them.
Starting point is 00:31:26 Don't just say that you care, but actually get out of your comfort zone, and take them to coffee, take them to breakfast, take them to lunch, walk over to their desk, walk over to their house, show up and show them that you care. If you will join me and pushing back
Starting point is 00:31:38 and pushing in to intimacy. Would you lift up your hands right now and say, I'm in all over the place. Type in the comment section, hey, I commit to the assignment. I commit to do this. Holy Spirit prompt us this week over and over and over again. When we reach for our phone, help us just remember. It can feel the moment, but it's not going to fill the void. And God, give us a hunger for you and for intimacy with others
Starting point is 00:31:59 because some things are just too special to be shared on the screen. Some things have to be face to face. God prompt us. to be present, to show your love, to know your love, to show your love. As you keep praying today at our different churches, some of you, you are digitally connected, but like you're really spiritually disconnected. You're longing for something more. You know there's a problem you can't seem to figure out how to solve it. I want to tell you again, God didn't just send a message he sent his son, who is Jesus.
Starting point is 00:32:36 He is the son of the living God, who came not for the righteous, but came for sinners, who came for the broken. There are those of you today, you know there's something more, and there is, there's a longing that only he can fulfill. The problem is, we're separated from God by our sin, and the good news is Jesus died for our sins. On the third day, God raised him from the dead, so that anyone who calls on his name would be saved and forgiven.
Starting point is 00:33:00 If you feel like you're missing something, you are, there's more to this world. There's a Heavenly Father that loves you, that wants you to know him and wants to show his love for you today at all of our church, as those who say, I need that. I know I've sinned and I need his forgiveness. I want to know, I want to know him intimately. Not just know about him, but I want to know him. What we're going to do today is we're stepping away from our sinfulness. We're stepping into a relationship with the loving God. Jesus said, and this is eternal life that you would know him today at all of our churches. Those who need his grace and need his forgiveness. We step away from our sin and we say, Jesus, I give you my life,
Starting point is 00:33:34 be my savior, the Lord of my life. I give my life to you. That's your prayer. Lift your hands high right now. All over the place, lift them up right here, and God bless you. Both of you here. Others say yes, Jesus. Right back there, God bless you. Others say yes, Jesus. I make you the Lord of my life. Ah, there's a spiritual hunger. Those of you online, type in the comment section. I'm surrendering my life to Jesus today at all of our churches. Would you pray aloud? Pray Heavenly Father. I surrender my life completely to you. Forgive all of my sins and save me. Jesus be my Lord.
Starting point is 00:34:09 Be my Savior. Fill me with your spirit so I could know you and show your love. My life is not my own. I give it all to you. In Jesus' name, I pray. Church, could you celebrate worship God? Welcome those today born into his family.

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