Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - When You’re Hurting and Need Guidance | He Will Be Called: Part 1

Episode Date: December 7, 2025

Looking for guidance this Christmas? Jesus came to meet you exactly where you are. Whether you're struggling with loneliness or wondering if anyone sees you, He's the guidance you've been searching fo...r.NEXT STEPSHave 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://www.life.church/yesCelebrate Christmas at Life.ChurchIn a world that can feel dark, uncertain, and heavy, there’s a hope that changes everything. His name is Jesus. We invite you to spend the Christmas season with our family. Come as you are, bring your friends, and get ready to be filled with the peace that only Jesus can bring. Find out more about Christmas at Life.Church by visiting: https://www.life.church/christmas/ABOUT THIS MESSAGEYou might be feeling a lot of things this Christmas season—and not all of them joyful. Maybe you're struggling with loneliness or wondering if anyone really sees you. Jesus came to meet you right where you're at and be exactly what you need. Let’s discover who Jesus is and what that can mean for us in our new series.The Gift: An Advent Devotional: https://finds.life.church/advent-devotional/7 Powerful Names of Jesus in the Bible: http://go2.lc/jesus-namesThe Christmas Story Bible Plan: https://go2.lc/christmas25ABOUT 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.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Today, I want to talk to those of you that may be going through something difficult, something complicated. You might be hurting or confused in some area of your life. You're trying to make a decision and you don't know what to do. Have you noticed when you're trying to make a decision, you don't even have to ask for it and people will give you advice? I mean, they'll be up into your business. You even mention that you have a problem. And all of a sudden, your best friend is a life coach. Right? Your best friends still lives at home. They're 40 years old. They owe you $200, but yet they're going to give you very good advice. And you find yourself going, well, maybe I need to look elsewhere. And so you do some research, which means you're watching TikTok videos at 2 in the morning on your phone because you can't sleep, or you're watching some YouTube video. And an influencer tells you what you should do. You should follow your heart. Or you should trust your gut. Or don't overthink it. Do whatever. It makes you happy. Do it.
Starting point is 00:01:00 feels natural because what makes you happy can't be wrong. And it's no wonder you feel confused. I can't speak for the rest of you, but I'm kind of like just tired of all of it. I don't, I don't need any more self-help slogans. I don't need any more TikTok theology. And I think more and more people are kind of done with the same, almost like done with empty advice and shallow answers. It's kind of like, give me something I can use. Give me something real. Don't play around. Give me real truth. I think we live in a time where we don't need more broken advice from a broken world, but we need true advice from a God who loves this. And so today, if you're hurting, if you're confused, if you don't know where to turn or what to do, I'm going to tell you
Starting point is 00:01:49 about one of the greatest promises that our good God ever gave. He gave it through an Old Testament prophecy, 700 years before the birth of Jesus, God said that he would send to us a counselor. Not just a skilled counselor with a good education, but God called him the wonderful counselor. And so today I want to talk to any of you who maybe walked in with a wait.
Starting point is 00:02:19 or you're watching a message and you have a decision to make and you don't know what to do. Whatever hurt that you're holding or whatever fear you're fighting, I'm going to invite you to bring it to the wonderful counselor who loves you, our God who's ready to comfort you, to guide you, and to heal you. So today, Father, we come to you asking you to be who your word says that you are, our wonderful counselor. God, would you guide us into truth? Would you heal our hurts?
Starting point is 00:02:53 God, would you comfort us where we did comfort? We look to you, the wonderful counselor, guide our steps for your name's sake. We pray this in Jesus' name, and all God's people said. Amen, amen. I want you to think about this for a moment. It's mind-blowing. Seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus.
Starting point is 00:03:18 Isaiah prophesies that God would send a son. If you don't know much about Isaiah, he was an amazing prophet. He had a very difficult job. He served under four different kings of Judah, some complicated kings, and had this difficult calling of speaking truth from God into a very corrupt and broken nation. I want to give you the context of what he was speaking to and those he was speaking to and see if it sounds even familiar to our world today. He was prophesying into a culture where many people believed in God,
Starting point is 00:03:57 but most people stopped living as if God were truly Lord. We could say it this way, that they had religion, but no real relationship with God. They were going through the motions, but their hearts were very far from him. People were full of anxiety. They didn't know who to trust. The economy was crazy.
Starting point is 00:04:18 They could barely afford to make ends meet. They didn't know how they were going to live. The future felt very, very uncertain. Does it sound familiar at all? A different century, but in many ways the same story. And so right into this moment, God spoke through the prophet Isaiah, and God didn't send them what they expected,
Starting point is 00:04:39 but God gave them what they needed. He gave them a Savior, and we're going to see four different names, prophesied about Jesus 700 years before he was born. This is what the word of God says in Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6. The prophet says, for to us, a child is born. To us, a son is given seven centuries before Mary gave birth to the son of God. He prophesies, and the government will be on his shoulders.
Starting point is 00:05:14 And Isaiah shows us four different names. names or titles of who this Savior would be. He will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, and prince of peace. For unto us, a child will be born. And one of the titles, we're going to look at all four, one at each different week, one of the titles was he will be called wonderful counselor. Now, in Hebrew, the These two words are very, very rich. They're the words Pele-Yunts. Now, Pele in Hebrew
Starting point is 00:05:52 actually means a world-class soccer player. That's not what it means in Hebrew, but that's what it means in another language. Pele in Hebrew actually means this. It means wonderful, miraculous, beyond understanding, it's supernatural from heaven that's beyond our human ability
Starting point is 00:06:17 to understand. It's Pelae, Yoitz, is a counselor or an advisor or one who gives guidance or purpose. God will send us a son. The government will be on his shoulders. He'll be called miraculous beyond understanding. Supernatural counselor, advisor, the one who will lead you into all truth. It's not just a good counselor, it's the wonderful counselor. One who is full of divine and supernatural wisdom who is completely trustworthy, that's who God sins for us. And so Isaiah is promising this savior or this counselor who loves you and what will this counselor do? We're going to see in God's word that the wonderful counselor will do three specific things. The wonderful counselor will guide your steps. The wonderful counselor will comfort your soul. And the wonderful counselor, this is good news.
Starting point is 00:07:14 will heal your heart. Let's look at these three truths and let God's word speak to us today. The first one is this. The wonderful counselor that God promises to us, he will guide your steps. When you don't know what to do, he will direct your steps. In fact, Jesus said this in the New Testament in John chapter 14. He said, and I will ask the father and he will give you another, what does he say? He says, say it with me. He'll give you another. counselor to be with you forever, and he is the spirit of truth. He'll give you a counselor, the spirit of truth that will guide your steps. In John 14, Jesus calls the counselor, it calls the Holy Spirit the counselor. And this is actually, comes from a Greek word that's
Starting point is 00:08:04 very, very rich. In fact, there's no direct single word of the English language that can capture the meaning of this word. And the word in the Greek is the word. paracletos, which means one who comes alongside to help. This is the counselor. One who stands with you. Who is the paracletos? He is your advocate. He is your helper. He is your defender. He is your counselor. This is who God sins for you. A wonderful advocate, helper, defender, comforter, and counselor. When you don't know what to do, the wonderful counselor will guide your steps.
Starting point is 00:08:47 So if God sends us the one who walks beside us, who guides us, he's our advocate, how do we recognize his voice? The counselor guides our steps. And to be very clear, the absolute best way to hear God speak is always through God's word.
Starting point is 00:09:07 God's word is living, it's active, it's powerful, it's sharp, it's a double-edged, sword. It never returns void. This is God's word, his truth to us to guide our steps. If you want to hear God speak, the best way to hear and speak is through his word, and God will never, ever contradict his word. When he speaks to you, he will speak that which is true according to his word. The problem in culture today is a lot of people say, well, according to my experience, and what we have to remember is that we don't filter God's word through our experience.
Starting point is 00:09:39 What we do is we filter our experience through the truth of God's work. So important for the way that we live. Because if you're not careful, in the name of God, you can hear what you want to hear, and it's not really God. Someone says, well, God told me to divorce my husband because I don't like the way he smacks his food. Okay. God may not like the way he smacks his food either, but God did not tell you to divorce your husband because the way he smacks his food. That's not consistent with God's word. or God gave me a peace to sleep with my boyfriend because he's so cute and he smells good and he's got a job
Starting point is 00:10:14 and the last two didn't. And so God gave me a piece to sleep with my boyfriend. That's not, that's not God because God's word is different. You know, God, God understands I can do whatever I want sexually because this is, this is how I feel. Now, we have to remember we don't live by our fleshly desires. We live by the truth of God's word. don't filter his word through our experiences. We filter our experiences through his work. Because the truth of the matter is, all of us have fleshly sinful desires. You say, you too, pastor? Oh, I wish I didn't. I mean, just drive into church today. Somebody cuts me off. And my flesh didn't want to bless them. My flesh didn't want to invite. My flesh wanted to lay hands on them and not the biblical prayer type.
Starting point is 00:11:07 And some of you know what I'm talking about, because someone cuts you off in traffic, and you have the spiritual gift of sign language. There's one way to God, and you don't do that. That's not God's word. And the bottom line is that there are so many different temptations that we all experience, but it comes from the same broken nature.
Starting point is 00:11:27 All of us need redeeming and saving from our sinfulness. And so just because a desire feels natural does not mean it's built. biblical. The best way to hear from God is to listen to His Word. You have to be in the Word. You have to read the Word. There's two things that last forever. The souls of people and the Word of God. We need to let the Word renew our minds. We need to let the Word direct our steps. Your Word is to the light and to our path. One of the most important things you can do is get in the Word, know the Word. Let the Word conform you to the image of Christ. And you may say, but I'm reading the Word and I still don't know about my specific is God not speaking to me? Just because you're not hearing doesn't mean God's not speaking.
Starting point is 00:12:15 God is a speaking God. Genesis. God spoke. God is a relational God. God created us to love us, to show us His nature, his goodness, to share the glory of his creation with us. He's a speaking God. And if you don't know how to hear God's voice, I'll just say this. The more time you spend in his word and the more time you spend in his presence, the more you learn to recognize his voice. The more time you spend in his word, the more time you spend in his presence, the better you get to recognize his voice. I'll explain it this way. I'll give you a flying story. Did you know that as a pilot? There's a joke that goes like this. How do you know if your pastor is a pilot? And the answer is, don't worry, he'll tell you. Did you know that I was a pilot? It's funny. Before I was a pilot, I never looked at
Starting point is 00:13:07 a pilot and thought, you're so cool, you're a pilot. I never thought that. Now that I'm a pilot, I think everybody looks at me and goes, you're so cool, you're a pilot. Nobody thinks that, but nevertheless. That's how it was a pilot. So when I was learning to fly, it was really difficult to talk to ATC. I'd have my instructor there, and I was flying a plane. The tail number was 1-810 Alpha. And so ATC's talking to you and all these pilots are talking and blah-b-blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and I'm like trying to push the buttons. I'm trying to do all this stuff. And my instructor's giving me instructions, then he'd say, you missed your call. Like, what? And they had, and they had, and they had, and they had they had said, 1-810 Alpha, flight level 3,000, maintain, so you're approved for the R&A1-6 approach.
Starting point is 00:13:43 And I missed my call. And I could, how do you recognize it? And he said, the longer you're in the plane, the more you understand the systems, the better you'll get it recognizing your name. And so now I can go in there and everybody's talking. I can also put the weather on. So I'm listening to the weather and everybody talking and a passenger, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Starting point is 00:14:05 Why? Because I've spent time. minute I recognize my voice. And what I want to say to you again is the more time you spend in the word, the more time you spend in his presence, the better you'll get at recognizing the voice of God. Really good news. Jesus said this in John 10, he said this. He said, the sheep recognize the shepherd's voice and come to him. What does the good shepherd do? He calls his own sheep by name and he leads them out. He walks ahead of them and they follow him. Why do they follow him? Why do they follow him because they know his voice. The longer you walk with God, the more time you spend
Starting point is 00:14:42 in His Word, the more you recognize that He'll speak to you through His Word. He'll speak to you through your spirit, which is consistent with His Word. You might say, oh, I think God is actually speaking to me through a godly friend. Or you're listening to a worship song and you recognize, oh, God is speaking to me through this song. Or you, you come to church and someone prays for you. And God speaks to you while they're praying for you. Or God opens a door and you realize, God opened that door. Or God closes a door and you recognize God is speaking to me through this closed door. Or you don't have a peace about something. You recognize God isn't letting me do this because he hasn't given me a peace. Or you're about to take a step of faith and it seems crazy
Starting point is 00:15:25 and everybody else thinks are crazy. And God gives you a peace that passes all understanding. And the more time you spend in his word and the more time you spend in his presence, the more you grow to recognize his voice because our God is a relational God. He's always speaking. The question is, are you listening? Why? Because he sent his son, who's a wonderful counselor. And the wonderful counselor will guide your steps. The second truth is that the wonderful counselor will also comfort your soul. The wonderful counselor will comfort your soul, which is really, really good news. In fact, the King James Version translates Paracletos as comforter in John 1416 when the Bible says this, and I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, but he may abide
Starting point is 00:16:23 with you forever. God will give you a comforter. In fact, we're going to look in a couple of weeks at everlasting father. One of the pictures is that God is an everlasting father, that Jesus is an everlasting father. But Isaiah compares the love of God to how a mother comforts her child. Isaiah 6613 tells us this. As a mother comforts her child,
Starting point is 00:16:54 God says, so I will comfort you. Which is really good news. because moms and dads tend to express love in different ways. They can both love equally, but they express love in different ways. For example, my mom and dad both loved me equally, but any time I would skin my knee and get a boo-boo, who do you think I called for? Mom! Of course. Why? Because she's nice.
Starting point is 00:17:27 My dad loved me, but he was a good. old school coach. And you know what he would say? Rub some dirt on it. That's what he say. Rub some dirt on it. You know what? I was 33 years old. I cut my knee. I'm rubbing dirt on. I literally thought that's what you did. Amy said, what are you doing? I said, my dad told me rub dirt on. She said, don't do that. Dad just say that. Walk it off. He said, if there's no bones showing, son, you're fine. That's why I get a boo-boo. I go to mom. My mom is in this service. Mom had a medical bag any time I had a boo-boo. She didn't even have. a bag with her at the beginning of the day. She never bought the bag. It just appears when moms have a
Starting point is 00:18:04 kid with a boo-boo. She gets a medical bag. She'll blow on it. She get a Scooby-Doo Band-Aid and give me a great popsicle. Why? Great popsicles make boo-boos better. And our God is a comforting God who comforts you when you're hurting. And that's why I told you today, if you don't know what to do and you're finding yourself in a difficult situation. There's a wonderful counselor who will comfort you. I remember when I was just starting out as a young pastor, I was in my early 20s, and this family had a tragic loss,
Starting point is 00:18:43 and I went to do a pastoral visit to their house, and I was so nervous. I don't know what to say. And so I'm like, God, give me the words to say. And I knocked on the door, and I came in, and they, I mean, they were wailing, and they were, they were, they were in so much pain. And as a young pastor who just asked God,
Starting point is 00:19:01 what do I say, I walked in, and I just started crying. I couldn't even get any words out. And they cried, and I cried, and I hugged everybody. Then I prayed something that resembled a prayer, and I walked out the door, and I got in my car,
Starting point is 00:19:20 and this time I cried out of embarrassment and humiliation. The first time I was just grieving with them, I mean, they lost a child, and they're sitting and they're going through this. And as a dad, I could only, you know, I could imagine what this would feel like, and I'm grieving with them. Then I'm embarrassed because I didn't say anything to them. I, like, flubbed it up. I got so many thank you notes from the family that said,
Starting point is 00:19:45 your presence meant so much. Then they would say things like every word you said comforted us. I didn't say a word. And what I realized is that presence is power. that not even just that through the presence of a person who loves God can represent the comfort of God to someone who's in need. As you've been comforted, you can comfort others. That literally the presence of the wonderful counselor through another person can bring the comfort of God when someone needs it. You can be in a place where you're hurting and you read a Bible verse and you're like, oh, God is with me.
Starting point is 00:20:23 You hear a worship song, and you just, you feel the presence of a loving God, like reminding you of his truth. You get a text from a friend that says, hey, I had you on my heart. It's just at the right time. Like, how they know, they could not even know what's going on. You're just hurting, and your child comes up and says, I love you and gives you a big hug and you feel the presence of God. You're hurting. You go into life group, and you don't even say anything. And someone says, hey, I think we need to pray for you.
Starting point is 00:20:53 And they pray for you, and you feel the comfort in the presence of God, which is so special because pain feels so different when you're not alone. And Isaiah has shown you that with the presence of the wonderful counselor, you're never alone. This is a counselor who will never leave you and never forsake you. 700 years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet prophesied a son would be born. And he'd be called the wonderful counselor who would guide. your steps. And he's the wonderful counselor who will comfort your soul. And he's the wonderful counselor who will heal your heart. Because the truth of the matter is, you guys look good.
Starting point is 00:21:38 I mean, you look church good. Even if you that, you know, don't look your best, you still look church your best. Like you got a decent baseball hat on today. And your shirts sort of clean. And your shirts And the truth is we come in and we smile and we act like we got all together. And sometimes we lift our hands in worship and we try to praise on the outside, but the inside we're actually hurting. We all carry wounds. I posted a thing on somewhere and about grief. And someone said, Pastor, when have you ever grieved?
Starting point is 00:22:15 Like going, man, just because you're a pastor doesn't mean you don't hurt. Just because there's a smile in your face doesn't mean you're not hurting right now. from words that were spoken over you, for things someone did to you, for something you did that you wished you could undo, for something that you, it's so deep you've never told anyone. The wonderful counselor doesn't just see your pain,
Starting point is 00:22:44 but he heals your hurts. Psalm 147, verse 3, tells us this, that he heals the broken hearted, and he binds up their wounds. He's present and he cares. And wherever you're hurting, his love is healing. Wherever you're hurting, his love is healing. He's the wonderful counselor.
Starting point is 00:23:13 And the amazing thing about a heavenly counselor is he's not like an earthly counselor who can be really, really good, but an earthly counselor's power is limited. and earthly counselor can only see what you're willing to show them. But the wonderful counselor is different. He knows every wound that you carry. He knows every hurt hidden in your heart, even the ones that you've buried for years and years.
Starting point is 00:23:40 And he knows the root behind the behavior. If you're angry, sometimes, he knows the wound behind your anger. If you're insecure, He might know that that really hides beneath the perfectionism inside is an insecurity, or there's an addiction. It might be driven by a loneliness or a hurt. And because the wonderful counselor sees it all, he can heal it all.
Starting point is 00:24:11 And I want to say it again. He knows about the abuse you endured, and he cares, and he can heal it. He knows about the betrayal that you experienced. and he cares and he can heal it. He knows about the deep insecurities that plague you and holds you hostage and he can heal it. And the reason I know that is because he's done a healing work in me. He's done a deep healing work in me.
Starting point is 00:24:48 If you look at the men back as far as you can in our family, they all battled with severe addiction. and I woke up in college trying to quit drinking, just like those who've gone before me and couldn't do it, until I met the one who helped me heal and freed me from addiction and helped me heal from deception and cheating before Christ. I'm embarrassed of who I was.
Starting point is 00:25:17 He healed me, and he changed me, and gave me a life and a wife and kids that I never ever deserved. He healed me from him. He healed me from unforgiveness, the hatred that I carried in my heart, the anger, the bitterness at the world. He healed a broken relationship I had with my dad. He changed me. And those are the things like back in the past, but he's healing me in the present.
Starting point is 00:25:48 I've got daughters that have severe health issues, and I've had ongoing, I'd call it anxiety because of what they're going through and anger and not understanding and in the presence of a very good God, he's, he's healing my hurt and my disappointment and building my faith and building my trust. Why? Because he's a wonderful counselor. Whatever hurt you have, his love can heal. He binds up the broken heart, the wonderful counselor. The more you start to listen for his voice, the more you hear him speak through his word, the more time you spend in his presence, the more you learn to recognize he's been with you all along.
Starting point is 00:26:39 He's always been speaking, and he's always been there to comfort you. He's always there to guide you, and he always wants to heal you. And suddenly you realize, oh, my goodness, God is so good, he's so loving, I'm not alone. There's a counselor, a wonderful counselor.
Starting point is 00:26:56 one of the supernatural wisdom who comes alongside me he's my advocate he's my my guide he's the counselor who loves you and will never leave you and never forsake you and so i would just invite you to do what i'm doing right now because right now even today i'll tell you there are things weighing heavily on my heart and so i go to him i go to my counselor and i would invite you just to join me and go into him call on him call on him because when you draw near to him, he draws near to you. Call on. He's a wonderful counselor that loves you and guides your steps and comforts you in your pain and heals your hurts. And so when the world says, follow your feelings. No, no, no, you follow what the word of God says. When the world says, do what seems right. No, you do what the counselor says. You walk in his way and he directs your
Starting point is 00:27:51 steps because that's who he is. And that's what he does. And he's available to you 700 years before the birth of Jesus. God said, I'll send you a son. The government will be upon his shoulders. And he'll be called wonderful counselor because our God is good, because he's all knowing, because he is a comforting God who loves you exactly where you are. And he loves you. And he loved you enough not to just send you what you want, but to send you what you need. And what you need and I need is a wonderful counselor. And he is here for you today. So Father, we come to you.
Starting point is 00:28:35 And God, as the pastor of this church, I come to you with a heavy heart knowing how many of your people are hurting. And we call on you, God. We call on you. And we cast our cares upon you because you care for us. today at all of our different churches, locations, those of you online, if you, if you're like me today and you have a heavy heart and you're going through something that's real, maybe there's pain, maybe you've got a decision to make you don't know what to do, and you need the love and guidance, comfort, and healing from the wonderful counselor. Would you lift up your hands? I want to pray for you.
Starting point is 00:29:15 Just lift up your hands. You need his comfort. You need his direction. You need his healing today. lift up your hands, all of our churches. You can leave it up if you want as an act of worship. And Father, I thank you that you're a good God, that you know the details of what every person is going through and that you love and you care about them. God, we do. We cast our cares upon you because you care for us.
Starting point is 00:29:37 We thank you that you're a good God, a comforting God. We thank you that you guide our steps. Give us wisdom, God. You promise us wisdom for those who need direction. Speak to us, close doors, open doors, show us your will. show us your way. God, for those who are hurting, would you comfort? Then the God of all comfort, open up heaven and pour out at peace that goes beyond our human ability to understand. And God, for those who need healing, we thank you that you are our healing, God, that the prayer of faith would heal the
Starting point is 00:30:09 hurting and the sick. And so we come before you, believing that the wonderful counselor will do your work. We need your counselor. We need your presence. We need your guidance. Wonderful counselor, we turn to you. God, do what you can do. Heal, comfort, and direct. We pray and believe that you will. As we keep praying today, nobody looking around. Some of you, you may be a little bit like the people in Isaiah's time. You may be like me growing up. You may be like a lot of people in our culture today. You might believe in God, but you're recognizing now that you don't know him personally. You don't know the voice of the good shepherd. God wants to reveal himself to you, and you're not here today by accident. Why did God send Jesus? Many reasons. One of the reasons he did was to show us who he is
Starting point is 00:31:11 is the Father. John 316 tells us, for God so loved the world, We could say it this way. He loved you so much that he sent his one and only son, Jesus. And whosoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life. Who is Jesus? He is the good shepherd. He is the lamb of God. He is the son of God who is perfect in every way.
Starting point is 00:31:38 And because he was without sin, he could become the perfect sacrifice for our sins. You know the stuff that you're embarrassed of and ashamed by, the stuff that you wish you'd never done, that makes you feel guilty and you think, I can't come to God because of what I did. No, you come to God as you are. And when you confess your sins, the Bible says God is faithful and just to forgive your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. That's how good he is. That when you confess Jesus as your Savior and your Lord, the old is gone and the new has come.
Starting point is 00:32:12 There are those of you you came in today. and needing direction, and you didn't even know what you need is a relationship with a loving God that brought you here for His divine purposes to reveal Himself to you. So what do you do? You step away from your sin, and you take one step toward Him, and you call on the name that is above all names, the name of Jesus. And when you do, God, hears the cries of your heart. He forgives your sins, and he makes you brand new.
Starting point is 00:32:42 at all of our churches, those are you online who say, maybe I believe in him, but I don't know him. I'm not even sure I believe in him, but I'm being drawn to him. What is that? That is the loving kindness of God, drawing you to him today. You say, I need him, I want him, I want a relationship with him. We're stepping away from our sin. We're surrendering our life to him.
Starting point is 00:33:01 He'll make you brand new. Today is the day of your salvation. At all of our churches, you say, I need him. I want to know him. Forgive me, make me new. Today I give my life. life to you. That's your prayer. Lift your hands high right now. All over the place, lift them up and say, that's my prayer. Right back over there. God bless you and over here.
Starting point is 00:33:19 Praise God for you. Over here as well. Others say, yes, Jesus saved me. Be the Lord of my life. I surrender. Lift your hands and say, yes, I'm giving my life to you online. Just type in the comment section. I'm surrendering my life to the Lordship of Jesus. Would you pray today, as we call on a wonderful council? Pray Heavenly Father, forgive all of my soul. sins, restore me, and make me new. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so I could know your voice, so I could do your will. My life is not my own. I give my whole life to you. Thank you for salvation. Thank you for healing me. Thank you for directing my steps. Thank you for comforting me. You are my Lord. I give my life to you.
Starting point is 00:34:13 In Jesus' name I pray. Church, could you celebrate the goodness of God? Worship God. Welcome those born to his family.

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