Episode Overview

Title: “This Love Breaks the Rules | A Church That Pleases God: Part 5”
Podcast: Life.Church with Craig Groeschel
Release Date: February 1, 2026

This episode concludes the "A Church That Pleases God" series, focusing on the radical, rule-breaking love Jesus models and calls His followers to practice. Host Craig Groeschel and a campus pastor (referred to as Pastor C) team-taught about how genuine love is the defining mark of a church that honors God. The message explores what it means to carry each other’s burdens, love those we find hard to love, and sometimes even “break the rules” (of comfort, social norms, and expectations) for the sake of love.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Essence of a Church that Pleases God (00:22–04:38)

• Craig Groeschel highlights the painful reality that many people today perceive Christians not as loving or kind, but as judgmental or angry.
  • "If people don't experience love, they're not gonna experience God, because our God is love." (00:45)
• Jesus commanded that love—tangible love, not just theology—would be the mark that distinguishes His followers (John 13:34-35).
  • "Love isn't optional. Love is the evidence." (02:06)
• Jesus was repeatedly drawn to the broken, the outcast, and the sinful—those others rejected.

2. Love in Action: Carrying Burdens (04:38–11:50)

• Pastor C shares personal background about being the product of a loving church and introduces the main lesson: Two stories about two men, yielding two truths.
• Story 1: The paralyzed man and his four friends (Mark 2:1-12, dubbed "Benny"):
  • "He might have been poor in health, but he was rich in relationships. He had four friends that didn't pity him, they loved him, they cared for him." (07:16)
  • First Truth: A loving church carries burdens.
    • "Love doesn't just watch from the sidelines. Love carries the burden." (07:46)
    • Real love is more than intention; it’s action.
    • Volunteer stories illustrate this: Loveth in Nigeria prays for thousands, Casey writes weekly letters to inmates, a family gave their own trailer to a family facing homelessness.
  • "Every single one of us has the potential to love like Jesus. You don't need a title, you don't need a platform—you just need to be willing to pick up the weight." (10:00)

3. Love Breaks the Rules (11:50–22:35)

• Second Truth: Love breaks the rules to serve and save people.
  • The four friends didn’t just pray for Benny—when they couldn’t get through, they broke through the roof to bring him to Jesus.
    • "If rules keep people from Jesus, love finds another way." (14:35)
• Comparison with Jonah: Jonah, unlike Benny’s friends, didn’t want the Ninevites to experience God’s love. But God broke expectations, showing mercy when they repented (Jonah 3:10).
  • “Most of us, we don’t need to dig holes in roofs—we need to make heart room in our heart for people we don’t like.” (19:21)
• Challenge: Will you “break the rules”—go against your biases, expectations, and society’s divisions—to love those you’d rather not?
  • Candid list of “hard-to-love” personalities: gossipers, self-centered people, "Android users—green bubbles." (lighthearted moment, 22:18)

4. The Cost—and Beauty—of Loving Like Jesus (22:35–28:57)

• The world gives permission to hate; the gospel commands us to love—even those we dislike or have been told to fear or hate.
  • "The world is growing more hateful. But you gotta break the rules—your rules, society norms—you gotta break the rules to love people to Jesus. The world says hate them, fear them. But this book says: Love your neighbor." (23:40)
• It’s all about the One: The story shifts personal—Pastor C recalls specific times the church carried him when he was broken, including after a miscarriage and during a move across the country.
  • "It’s all about the one. Because at one point, you were the one. I was the one." (26:17)
  • The church’s founding was an act of “rule-breaking” love—making space for all, not just the qualified.
  • "If He did that for me, I want to lay my life down reaching one more, doing anything to care for the One." (28:23)
  • "You can love people, all people. You can pick them up, you can carry them, and you can lay them at the feet of Jesus, loving them to Christ. And in this way...we go from being people who please God to being a church that pleases God." (28:52)

5. Invitation to Respond: Prayer & Commitment (28:57–33:35)

• Pastor C leads in prayer, recognizing the pain and obstacles some may feel in loving those who’ve hurt them.
  • "If you'll come to your Heavenly Father and ask him, He will miraculously give you the ability to love them." (30:36)
• A specific invitation is made for those who want to become more loving—to raise a hand and receive prayer.
• For listeners who feel unworthy of God’s love, the core gospel is declared:
  • "Jesus broke the rules for you. Jesus picked up the cross, carried it, and laid His life down for love." (32:12)
• Listeners are invited to respond and surrender to Jesus.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Craig Groeschel (00:45):
  “If people don’t experience love, they’re not going to experience God, because our God is love.”

• Pastor C (07:46):
  “Love doesn’t watch from the sidelines. Love carries the burden.”

• Pastor C (14:35):
  “If rules keep people from Jesus, love finds another way.”

• Pastor C (19:21):
  “Most of us, we don’t need to dig holes in roofs—we need to make heart room in our heart for people we don’t like.”

• Pastor C, vulnerable and practical (26:17):
  “It’s all about the one. Because at one point, you were the one. I was the one.”

• Pastor C (32:12):
  “Jesus broke the rules for you. Jesus picked up the cross, carried it, and laid His life down for love.”

• Pastor C (28:52): “You can pick them up, you can carry them, and you can lay them at the feet of Jesus, loving them to Christ. And in this way...we go from being people who please God to being a church that pleases God.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:22—Craig: Why “love” is central to church identity
• 04:38—Pastor C: Introduction; personal story; “Benny” & Mark 2
• 07:16—First truth: A loving church carries burdens
• 09:48—Volunteer examples of burden-bearing
• 11:50—Second truth: Love breaks the rules
• 14:35—“If rules keep people from Jesus, love finds another way.”
• 19:21—Jonah: Breaking personal prejudices to love
• 22:39—Living love in a divided, hate-filled world
• 26:17—Personal testimony: “It’s all about the one”
• 28:52—Transition from personal to corporate: church identity
• 30:36—Prayer for new love for those hard to love
• 32:12—Gospel invitation: “Jesus broke the rules for you”
• 33:35—Celebration of decisions for Christ

Takeaways

• The church’s primary mark is love—practical, rule-breaking, all-inclusive, and action-oriented.
• Following Jesus means carrying each other's burdens, breaking down social and personal barriers, and sometimes pushing past “the rules” (of comfort or tradition) to love.
• Every act of love, no matter how small, is personal, powerful, and can change lives.
• Ultimately, each listener is invited not just to be loved, but to take up the challenge of loving—the easy and the hard to love—just as Jesus does.