You’re Not the Only One Wondering This

and I want to say to so many of you, thank you for your questions. Over 4,000 questions came in. Some of them were very, very personal. Some of them were very painful. A lot of them were challenging, and we're going directly to God's Word to answer them. And so if you're new with us for this message series, kind of the ground rules, how we're going to answer them, I'm not going to answer them based on just what's expected, or what's popular, or what culture is going to teach. What we're going to do is we're going to look at the Bible. And whenever the Bible speaks clearly, we're going to believe what it says, and we're going to apply it in our lives. And all God's people said, amen, online. You can say amen as well. We're going to apply it even if it's different than what we think or what we feel or what we want. But the Bible doesn't speak to every situation directly. And so if the Bible doesn't speak directly to something, we're going to look for other principles, and then we're going to try to apply them with wisdom. Now, what we're going to do is we're going to hold our views with humility and not arrogance or judgment. Some answers you might disagree with. And as Christians, we can agree on the essentials and disagree with some of the other things. We can agree or disagree without dividing. Again, you can say amen, because you don't want to be that person at Thanksgiving that everybody avoids. You know that person. Raise your hand if you know that person. Raise your hand high if you know that person. If your hand's not up in the air right now, you might be that person. We don't want to be that person, right? Let's talk about where we've been and where we're going. We've already covered some culturally interesting questions. We've talked about living together. We've talked about same-sex attraction. We've talked about anxiety. We've talked a little bit about parenting. We've talked about women in ministry. We've talked about why did bad things happen to good people. Next week, I'll give you a little clue. We are going to talk about abortion. We're going to talk about overcoming sexual sin. We might talk about politics in church. We'll talk about distinguishing God's voice from your own thoughts, and we'll do more next week. You ready for this week? If you're ready, say I'm ready. Are you ready? Type in the comment section. I'm ready. Let's dive in. The first question came from Anonymous. There was no name, no campus, nothing. The question was, what does the Bible say about masturbation? Asking for a friend. That's what they said. Asking for a friend. I thought that was funny. Asking for a friend. Now, what does the Bible say about masturbating? Why does it make sure you're paying attention? We'll go straight there. Now,

I had some really good jokes, really funny jokes. I saw it wise counsel, and Amy told me, "I can't tell you any jokes." Any jokes that happen are accidental. If I accidentally say something that has a double meaning, don't be a fourth grade boy, let's try to be adults. Can we be adults? We're going to talk about this. The question is, what does the Bible say about masturbation? It does not say that you'll go blind. They told me that when I was a kid. We didn't read the Bible, so I just believed it. It does not say that. That's the right way to ask the question. What does the Bible say about masturbation? What do we think about it, or what do others teach about it, but what does the Bible say? Now, what does the Bible say about masturbation? The answer is, it doesn't speak directly to it. And some of you may say, "But Pastor Craig, what about Onan?" And Genesis 38, who spilled his seed. That's what the Bible says. I'm not making that up. And wise counsel has told me not to tell you specifically what it means to spill your seed. That was Amy again. But what I will tell you is that that's not talking about masturbation. That's actually Onan not fulfilling his responsibility to the Tamar. The Bible does not speak directly to masturbation. So we're not going to say something the Bible doesn't say. It doesn't speak directly to it. But the Bible does say a lot about sex, and lust, and purity, and holiness, and self-control, and honoring God with our bodies. So what we're going to do is we're going to look at what the Bible says about other things, and then we're going to apply these principles, hopefully with wisdom, into our lives. What does the Bible say about some of these other subjects? Let's start with Jesus. In Matthew 5, 28, Jesus said, "But I tell you that if anyone looks lustfully at a woman, he's already committed adultery with her in his heart." So we know that if lust is involved, that's obviously completely sinful. Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 6, 19, he said, In other words, if you are a follower of Jesus, you are bought at a price. Jesus shed his blood to pay for the forgiveness of sin. So if you're a follower of Jesus, he says, therefore, because of what Jesus did for you, honor God with your bodies. Paul also said this in 1 Corinthians 6, 12.

He said, I have the right to do anything you say, but not everything is beneficial. I have the right to do anything, again, you say, but he says, I will not be mastered or I will not be controlled by anything. So as we talk about this subject, it's worth knowing that faithful Christians disagree about the act itself. Some people believe that the act of masturbation falls outside of God's intended purposes, so therefore it's always wrong. Other people say, well, it's not necessarily sinful if you're not lusting or fantasizing. Other people say, fair game, you can do whatever you want as long as you know, it's just whatever. I don't know what they say, but that's what they say. Okay, so I'm being really careful. I was gonna say a couple things there, but they're double meanings. And so I know I'm gonna say something that's gonna be embarrassing, but I'm gonna try not to. So I know really strong Christians, people that I admire and that I respect, that come to different conclusions than what I have on this subject. So I'm gonna tell you how I get to where I get. I'm gonna ask three questions based on the principles that we just read in God's word. And these questions are meant to help us not just ask like, is this permissible?

But instead to ask, is this drawing me closer to God and who God made me to be? So let me give you the questions. First question I'll ask you is this, is lust involved? Is lust involved? If you're looking at porn or fantasizing your mind or lusting, Jesus spoke directly to that, that's sinful. He also said, very dramatic, but he said, if your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out, if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. So if you come to your life group this week and you see a one-armed cyclops, just know that they're taking God's words seriously. Now, with Jesus literal, I don't think he was, but what he's saying is you don't wanna lust, do whatever it takes to separate yourself from the sin of lust because it's heartbreaking to God, devaluing to people and it is not holy before God. So ask yourself, is lust involved? If it is, then obviously you stay away from this. Ask yourself, is this controlling you? Is it controlling you? And I'm not saying like, is this a strong desire? Or I'm not asking like, did you try to stop and then you couldn't? I'm asking, is this becoming compulsive? Is it interfering with your relationship with God and people and responsibilities? Paul said, I'm not gonna be controlled,

I'm not gonna be mastered by anything. Third question, one is lust involved. Is it controlling you? Third question, is it leading me toward holiness or away from it? And again, we're not talking about perfection, we're talking about direction. Which direction is this moving you? Is it moving you toward God and holiness or is it moving you toward the lust of the flesh and the desires of your sinful nature? Very important questions. So I'm gonna tell you the standard that I hold for myself personally and then I'm gonna tell you kind of my philosophy of ministering to people past orally. Personally, I hold myself to the higher standard on this particular subject. When I'm pastoring people that are asking about it, I actually try to determine what this specific person needs because everybody's a little bit different. I ask, am I going to focus more on the truth end of this or do I need in this particular case to talk a little bit about grace? Always both, always truth and grace but what does this particular person need? For example, if someone is rationalizing lust and has no standard whatsoever and is obviously giving in to the desires of the flesh with no sense of desire to please God,

I'm gonna lead very clearly with truth and say, don't justify what God wants to change. Don't justify it. And I would just say like to any of you, if you know right now, you feel a little bit convicted and you know you've been looking at something you shouldn't be looking at and you're at a place where you're being controlled by something, I'm gonna tell you healing can start today. And if you haven't found it, that means you need to do something different. What do we do? Actually, we confess to God for forgiveness. Confess your sins to him. He's faithful and just to forgive your sins. We confess to people for healing. James, it confess your sins to one another and pray for each other that you may be healed. if you're a man to another man, if you're a woman to another woman about this issue, praying for one another, holding each other accountable, there's often healing that takes place in community as we confess our sins to one another. So if there's someone that's rationalizing it, I'm gonna raise the standard and start with truth. If there's someone on the other hand who like genuinely is trying to please God and pursuing holiness and still struggles or falls short in this area from time to time and they're living under horrible condemnation.

I've talked to people that said, I can't serve Jesus, I'll never get married, I'm horrible, God can't use me, God doesn't love me or whatever. I'm gonna remind that person of grace because God's grace is more powerful than your shame. I'm gonna take that person who thinks I'm ruined and I'm nothing and I'm nobody and God won't love me. I'm gonna remind them of Romans 2-4 that says don't you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant and patient God is with you. Can't you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin, watch this. Not God's anger, but God's kindness. His kindness turns us from sin. His kindness doesn't excuse sin, but it turns us away from sin. So whatever you're struggling with, if it's this, if it's another temptation, if it's another sin, don't run from God, run to God because this grace doesn't just cover you, but his grace changes you and makes you new. Thank you for a couple of people clapping to an answer on masturbation and church. We just did that, let's move on. We had multiple people ask about tithing, we had someone from LifeSearch Yukon, we had someone from Omaha, Nebraska, we had someone from LifeSearch East Kansas City, different versions of the same question,

but basically they were asking, why should Christians tithe if tithing was a part of the Old Testament and based on agriculture? I think that's a good, fair and important question. Let's talk about it. The tithe in the Old Testament was generally agricultural in nature, they would give grain or they would give wine or livestock as an act of worship to God. And this was all part of the Old Testament law. Now, what some people don't realize is that the tithe actually predated the law. Remember Abraham gave a tenth of what he had that's a tithe hundreds of years before Moses ever received the law. So in many ways, the bigger question is this, why does God care about what we do with our money? What's he looking for? Because the principle of the tithe was always bigger than agriculture or money. It's always been about trust. It's about who comes first. It's about what do you worship? It's about who is your source? So let's look at what Jesus says about some things and apply principles from God's word. Matthew chapter six, 21, Jesus said this. Jesus said for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. If our treasure is in this world and the things of this world,

our heart will be there as well. If we send our treasures to heaven, our heart drifts toward the things of God. Jesus said this, Matthew six, 24. No one can serve two masters. Either you'll hate the one and love the other or you'll be devoted to one and despise the other. And he says very directly, you cannot serve both God and money. He could've said you can't serve God and a lot of things could've been there, but he actually chose money. And why was he focusing on money? Why should we not serve money? Because money is a false God. Money, when you think about it, money promises what only God can provide. Think about it, what does culture teach you? Well, if you have enough money, you'll be secure. If you have enough money, you'll be happy. If you have enough money, you'll have peace. But only God can provide those things. The spirit of manim tends to take our heart toward the things of this world. And so every time you tithe, you take the first 10% of what God trusts to you and you give it back to him. Technically, you don't even give it, you return it because the Bible says it's not ours. To return the tithe to him. Every time you return the tithe in a way,

it's breaking the grip of money on your life. What you're doing is you're deciding, I'm not trusting in money, but I'm putting my trust in God who provides for all my needs. He is my source. He is my provider. He is the one that I worship him by putting this first. And again, Christians debate this and they disagree. For me, again, this is my take, I look to the words of Jesus in Matthew 23 verse 23 when Jesus said this. He said to the Pharisees, "You should tithe." It's read in your Bible. He said, "You should tithe, but do not neglect the more important things." In other words, the Pharisees, they were going, "We tithe a tenth of our deal, mitt, and cumin." And Jesus said, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, you should do that, but do the more important things. Like literally, we just assume that, but don't forget to be kind and show justice and mercy. Yes, you should tithe, but be involved in doing the things, other things that are pleasing to God in the way that you treat people. So my personal conviction is that tithing predated law, and so it's not just some Old Testament rule that just timed out and expired. Secondly, Jesus affirmed the tithe in the New Testament. So for me, when God says to test him in this, and I've tested him in this, he's proved himself faithful, it is a very sincere, serious act of worship. The tithe is a starting point for me, not a finishing line. And so I'm not going to ask, what's the least I can give and still be obedient? What's the least I can do and have God okay with it? I'm going to say how generous can I be to serve God, to serve people, and to honor the one that gave it all to me? That's my type on tithing. Let's deal with another one. We had several people. We had Kristin from Life Church Edmund, my home campus. We had Alicia from Life Church Jinx, and we had Jason from Life Church Derby ask some version of the question, what happens to us when we die? Personal to us this week. On Thursday of this week, we lost someone in our family. And so maybe when you're asking that, you're wondering about what happened to someone that you lost in love. Or maybe for you, you're thinking about like, what happens to me when I die? Should I be afraid? And let me just tell you upfront, I cannot completely answer this question in six minutes or less. I did do a whole message series on this called One Minute After We Die. We talked about heaven, a whole message on hell. We talked about

the judgments. There's the judgment seat of Christ, the famous seat for believers. There's a great white throne judgment for non-believers. And so we talk about all that. What I'm going to do is answer very briefly, if you are in Christ, if you are a believer, what happens to you after you die. The Bible doesn't tell us everything, but it does give us a lot of hope. Let's look at the words of Jesus. He said in John 11, 25, he said, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even though they die." Paul showed us in 2 Corinthians 5, 8, essentially, if you belong to Jesus, death isn't the end. He said, "We would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord." You may remember the two thieves on the cross. Jesus was hanging there. And one of the thieves looked at Jesus and said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus looked on at the man who did nothing to deserve salvation. But his repentance heart, Jesus said, "Today you'll be with me in paradise." Not someday, but today. In other words, when you breathe your last breath here, the next moment you're with Jesus. So Paul calls it being home with the Lord. Jesus called it paradise. We call it heaven. Whatever you call it, death is not the end. When Jesus returns those who are in Christ, your dead bodies, you'll be with the Lord. Your dead bodies are resurrected, which is going to be really amazing if you're by a cemetery. Whoa, just saw that. And then they're not going to be disembodied spirits. You're not going to be like naked baby angel bald clay in the harp on the cloud. Paul says this. Paul says of those who are raised again. He says in 1 Corinthians 15, "It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die. They're buried. But they will be raised to live forever." He says, "They're buried as natural human bodies, but they'll be raised as spiritual bodies. And ultimately, Revelation 21 teaches us that God will make new heaven and a new earth, and God will dwell with His people." You can praise God for that if you want to any time in all of our churches. I hope that you do. When Jesus returns and the trumpet sounds, the dead in Christ will be raised again, and he will wipe away every tear, he'll make all wrong things right, everything will be new, and you'll be in the presence of the Lord forever. Let's deal with another question. We had people from Springfield, from McKinney, Texas, from East Kansas City, and from Life Church Albany, New York, ask about marriage, and essentially there were different versions

of the question, "What do I do if I don't love my spouse anymore?" And let me just pause and slow it down and say, "I prayed for every single one that asked that question, and if you're in a situation like that, I'm praying for you." Because we have unmet expectations sometimes, you know, half of you thought you're gonna get married and watch rom-coms and get flowers once a week, right? The other half thought you're gonna have sex twice a day and three times on Saturday, right? And everybody's disappointed, right? You guys, you're not, okay, good, congratulations. Yeah, so if you're struggling in your marriage that you're not alone, and I promise you it does not mean that your marriage is over, so let's talk about it. Feelings are real, but feelings change, and I guarantee you, you don't feel exactly the way you did on the first day you got married, and so you won't feel exactly as you do later in the way that you feel today. So because we know that, the principle is this, don't make a permanent decision based on a temporary feeling. When you promise to God that you'll be one flesh before Him, our God is with you, our God is good, and His way of healing relationships is very different than culture's advice. Culture's dumb when it comes to a relationship. Culture tells you like you fall in love, that you just fall in love, that's dumb. You don't fall in love, you actually choose love, and the Bible tells us that love is so much more than just a feeling to take 1 Corinthians 13. Like love is patient, love is kind, is not self-seeking, it keeps no records of wrong, it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Because most of what love is is not a feeling, most of it is how we choose to treat someone. And that's why so often you don't feel your way into loving actions. Instead, you act your way toward loving feelings. You start with the right actions, and then the feelings will often follow. So I would just say like this, don't wait until you feel like being loving. Like talk again, date again, apologize again, repent, ascend, own it, pray together now, like today.

I don't feel like it, I don't care how you feel, do it. It is really hard for the devil to fight against a praying couple. Start doing the things that you did when your love was strong. Get help, ask a campus pastor, get counseling before your marriage feels like it's beyond repair. And just hear me clearly, I'm not talking about abuse. Like if you're in danger, you're unsafe, get help. And so I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the marriage where life got hard and your feelings started to fade. And the questions in your mindset matters so much. And instead of just asking like, do I still feel tingly around them, do I still love them? Now maybe ask, what would love require of me today, what would love require me today? And I'll tell you right now, with God's help, His power, there is no marriage. God can't restore when two people are surrendered to Him and to each other. If you'll both surrender to Him with His help and His power, He can heal and restore any marriage when two people are surrendered to Him. From Rogers, Arkansas, you know that's true. From Rogers, Arkansas, someone asked, how do I know if I'm really saved? That's a good question. How do I know if I'm really right with God? And I can imagine some of you would say like, yeah, you do believe in Jesus, but you still "Or sometimes you feel like you're really close to God. "And then other times like where is God, you feel nothing. "Or for some of you, maybe that you did something "you shouldn't done, said something you shouldn't have said. "You know that secret about yourself "that nobody else knows and you wonder. "What if I think that I'm saved and I'm really not? "To answer this question, we're not gonna answer it "with our feelings, we're gonna do it again,

"so we're gonna answer with God's word. "And this is what God's word said in Romans 10-9. "If you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord. "And believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, "you will be saved." Notice, the Bible doesn't say if you never doubt, if you never struggle, or if you always feel close to God, but if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord. Believe in your heart, you will be saved. Ephesians 2-8, Paul said this, "This was the verse that brought me to Christ. "For it is by grace. "God's unmerited favor, by His grace you've been saved. "Through faith, it is the gift of God, not by works." In other words, you're never saved because you're good enough. You're never saved because you're holy enough. You're only saved because Jesus was good enough. He was perfect, he was without sin. He shed his blood, the Lamb of God, the innocent one, died in your place. So when God looks at you, he doesn't see your sin. He sees his son. You're declared righteous because, just like when the prodigal son came home, smelling filthy 'cause he'd been living in sin. The father put the robe over him. When the father looked at him, he saw he saw the robe. You have the robes of righteousness of Jesus. You are in Christ when God looks at you, he sees his sinless son.

So does that mean like, I can pray the prayer. Jesus, say me, and then do whatever I want. Less parting. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Romans 6-1, Paul asked the question, should we go on sinning so that God can show us more and more of His wonderful grace? Of course not, he said. Since we've died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? In other words, when you're new in Christ, he changes the desires of your heart. You're not wanting the things of the flesh, but you're wanting the things of the Spirit because you've been changed by the Spirit of God. Here's what's gonna happen. You give your life to Christ. You become new and your spiritual enemy attacks you and he attacks you more when you're serving Jesus. And then maybe he tempts you and you give in and you mess up and the devil are gonna try to tell you, you're not saved anymore. You are what you did, you're bad, you're no good. God doesn't love you, you're not saved. The devil is a liar. The devil is a liar. If you've turned from your sin and put your trust in Jesus, stop trusting in your feelings, trust in the promises of God. Here's what God's word says. Paul said this, he said this.

He said, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." The best news you can imagine, nothing, not your doubts and not your struggles and not your worst day and not your past and not even death can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So, let's settle some things today. We've covered a lot of ground and I didn't say anything dumb in that one question. We all got through it. If there's some area of your life that you recognize, maybe you're settling for less than what we call wholehearted devotion to God. Let's talk to God about it. If it's sexually, you're maybe asking like, "What can I get away with?" Instead of how can I honor him with sexual integrity and purity? Financially, if you're saying like, "What's the least that I can do?" Instead of, "God, how generous can I be?" Or maybe it's relationally, you're asking like, "What do I feel?" Instead of, "What does God's word and love require me?" Maybe like spiritually, you're just going through the motions and you've been settling for less.

God actually has so much more for you. Do not buy into the spirit of this world that lures you away from the kingdom of God. There's more in you. God wants to work in you. So with every head up and every eye opened, if you're tired to settle in for less and know God has more for you, would you lift up your hands right now? Lift them up around the room, praise God for you online. You can type in the comment section. I know God has more from me. You can leave your hand up as an act of worship if you're comfortable and we're gonna pray. I'm gonna pray with my eyes open. Jesus said, "Watch and pray." So I'm watching and praying. Anytime you're driving, do that. Watch and pray, don't close your eyes. So we're gonna pray, Heavenly Father, do a work in us. Any area that we need to surrender, God, we surrender to you. If we've been compromising sexually, God convict us and lead us away from the flesh into holiness before you. God, if we've fallen in love with the things of this world, more than the things of your kingdom, God convict us. May our treasure be in heaven. May our hearts follow God.

God, if we're in relationally, if we're following feelings instead of being empowered by your spirit and living the fruits of the spirit, love to a peace, patience, kindness, good and gentle, and faithful in self-control, God help us not to be led by what we feel, but be led by your spirit. God, if we find ourselves not knowing where we stand with you, would you draw us by your spirit, your loving kindness, your grace that turns us from sin? God, any area of our lives where we're not fully serving you, would you speak to us and draw us close? We repent, God, of any sin. We receive your unlimited mercy and ask for your spirit to draw us to Jesus and make us like Him. We pray this in Jesus' name, if you agree, say, amen. All right, campus passes. We're gonna do something different today. If you guys will just stay with me until I hand you off. So stay with me longer than normal. Some of you are not sure where you stand with God. I could ask you this. My friend, Pastor JP, says on a scale of one to 10, where do you stand with God? If you died today, how certain are you

that you would go to heaven? One to 10, pick your number right now. One to 10, 10, you know you're going to heaven. One, you know you're not. Five, you hope you are. Seven, you're pretty sure. If your number is between four and seven, raise your hand right now. Raise your hand, raise it up right now. If your number is below four, raise your hand. If your number is above a seven, raise your hand. If your number today is anything but 10, and you're not sure where you stand, let's just talk about it. Why does it matter? The Bible says that the wages of sin is death, that we've all sinned. We all actually deserve death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. How do you qualify for heaven? For the Bible's clear, it's not by works. It's by the grace of God you're saved through faith. So how are we saved? Well, if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart, God raised from the dead, the Bible says, not you might be, but you will be saved. You can know that you're saved and heaven bound. Now, when you confess Jesus, he says this. If you confess me publicly, I'll confess you before my father. But if you're ashamed of me, he says,

I'm not going to confess to you before my father. So if you're not sure today, what I'm going to do is I'm going to ask you to be sure, to just confess publicly. I believe Jesus is the Lord of my life. And we're going to pray that together. And I'm going to let you do it in front of everybody and you say, well, what if they think something funny me? Ain't nobody going to think it's something funny of you? They're just going to cheer and they cry and they high-five you. They hug you, they buy your dinner. Who knows, okay? Because they're just going to be so excited because there are people who've been changed and none of us deserve salvation. And then your campus pastor is going to talk to you about getting baptized and you will get baptized next month because we're going to stand publicly and declare that our sins have been forgiven. And we're going to go into a watery, like put you underwater. The symbolizes that your sins are washed away. If you've been really sinful, we'll leave you down a little bit longer. And then you'll be raised to celebrate new life in Christ. So you're going to publicly declare your faith in Jesus today. And then next month, you're going to be baptized and bring all your friends. If you are unsure, you don't know, you don't have to leave today, unsure. If you call on his name and believe that Jesus is Lord,

confess his lordship and believe that God raised him for the dead, you will be saved. So in front of God and everybody, because you don't care what they think, you only care what God thinks. If you find yourself, not quite sure. And you want to know that you're safe. You will never be good enough to never be holied up. It's only by the grace of God. So today, in all of our churches, those who say, yes, that's me. I want to give my life to Jesus. Gee, I know I'm not good enough. I turn from my sins. I turn toward Jesus with everybody looking. I don't care today. I confess him as Lord and Savior. The count of three, raise your hand. One, he loves you. Two, you're here today because he brought you. 40, you're ready to say, raise your hand and say yes. Up high, right there, praise God for you. Others say yes, Jesus, right there. Back up there, raise your hand in front of everybody. Say yes, right back over here. Praise God for you. Others say yes, Jesus, in front of everybody, right? Back up there and over there. Jesus, be the Lord of my life. Others today, right?

That's there. Oh, come on. Right back over here. Jesus, I surrender to you. Be the Lord of my life. Online, type in the comment sections. Campus pastors, you take it over now. Right now, campus pastors, leave them in prayer. Pastor Sam, I need you to come. Lead your campus in prayer. Pastor Sam, run. I need you to lead your campus in prayer. Don't leave me hanging. Pastor Sam, go. Let's go. Come on. Why don't you just repeat this prayer with me? Everyone in the room, help me support them by praying together. Say, Heavenly Father, I give you my life. I surrender my heart. Today I declare, Jesus as my Lord and my Savior, I am forgiven of all my sins made new in Christ. Thank you for forgiveness and thank you for your life. Fill me with your spirit so I can share your love with everyone around me. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Come on, somebody shout. Come on, somebody celebrate every person given their life to Jesus today.

- Hey, it's Pastor Craig and Amy Groeschel with Life Church and if you just made the decision to give your life to Christ, this is the most important and life-changing decision that you'll ever make and all of heaven is celebrating right now because of your decision and we're celebrating with you too. - That's right and we want you to know that God sees you. He's with you and he loves you. He has a purpose for your life and incarceration. It doesn't define you. It doesn't confine you 'cause you are free in Christ. You are new in him, chains have been broken today. - And so as a follower of Jesus, God wants us to be on this journey together and I want you to know you don't have to do this alone and that's why we as your church family, we're here for you and we want to help you grow in your faith and find your next steps. So first of all, just keep joining us for church every single week and worshiping through the Pando app. We're so thankful that you're here. When we draw close to God, he draws near to us and so I would also encourage you, read God's word if it's available to you and as you do, just start to pray and invite God into every single aspect of your life. And then if you feel led, you might even share your decision with somebody else. There might be a family member or a friend

and they're going to want to hear your story and your spiritual journey. We'd love to hear it as well. And you can send us a letter if you'd like to. The address is on your screen and our team will write back to you and help you grow in your faith with Jesus. And so we'd love to mail you some content about who Jesus is and help you grow in your relationship with him now that you've chosen to follow Jesus. - That's right. And God's plan for your life, it's greater than anything that you could ever imagine. In fact, Ephesians 3.20 says, "God is able to do abundantly more "than we could ask or imagine. "Trust him with your whole life. "You will see him work in ways "you have never thought possible." Congratulations on this decision. We are your family and you're part of the family of God. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)

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