When Your Faith Feels Flat | A Church That Pleases God: Part 2

Summary

Life.Church with Craig Groeschel

Episode: When Your Faith Feels Flat | A Church That Pleases God: Part 2

Date: January 11, 2026

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Episode Overview

This special anniversary episode, led by Senior Pastor Craig Groeschel and Amy Groeschel, marks 30 years of Life.Church. The central theme examines what it means to be a church that pleases God, and, more personally, what it means to live with a faith that pleases Him individually and collectively. Reflecting on the church’s humble beginnings, significant faith-steps, and challenges, Pastor Craig challenges listeners to examine their own faith—whether it’s flat, conditional, stagnant, or safe—and calls everyone to return to bold, active faith rooted in a reverent view of God.

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Key Themes & Discussion Points

1. 30 Years of God’s Faithfulness

• Reflecting on the Journey: Craig becomes emotional recounting the 30th anniversary of the church that started in a garage with a handful of people ([00:22-00:54]).
  • “Did you ever expect any of this to happen? And the answer is no...it exceeds anything I ever dreamed possible.” – Craig ([00:54])
  • “What if our greatest goal this year wasn’t just to improve our lives, but...to please God above anything else?” – Craig ([01:54])

2. A Church (and Life) That Pleases God

• The Scriptural Foundation
  • 2 Corinthians 5:9 and Hebrews 11:6: “Without faith it’s impossible to please God.” ([03:34], [04:46])
  • “To be a church that pleases God, it’s impossible to please God without this quality.” – Craig ([03:34])
  • The call is to live by faith—not just in big, dramatic ways, but in daily trust and obedience. ([05:12-05:36])

3. The Nature of Faith

• Faith as a Lifestyle:

  • Not just about ‘mountain-moving’ but in routine, daily choices: “Sometimes it’s like God, help me love my boss today. Faith, right? It’s not just faith in the big moments, it’s faith as a lifestyle.” – Amy ([05:12])
  • Faith to trust God even when it doesn’t make sense ([06:06-06:18])

• Challenging Listeners:

  • “If God answered every prayer you prayed last week, what would be different in the world?” – Amy ([06:44])
  • “Is your faith pleasing to God?” – Craig ([06:34])

4. How Jesus Responds to Faith

• Amazed by Lack and Greatness of Faith:
  • Mark 6 (amazed at lack of faith in his hometown – “Isn’t this Joey’s boy?”) and Luke 7 (amazed by the centurion’s great faith, who trusted Jesus’ word alone) ([07:00-08:32]).
    • “Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith.” – Amy ([07:56])
    • “I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” – Craig ([08:32])
  • Listeners are challenged: “Which one is you? Is your faith pleasing to God?” ([09:03])

5. Personal Faith Journey and Early Church Stories

• Raw Beginnings & Vulnerability:
  • Craig and Amy recall being young, insecure, and broke, but “full of faith and insecure.” – Craig ([10:07])
  • Notable anecdote about Jerome, the “four-fingered flipper” and the humble, equipment-poor beginnings of Life.Church ([11:13-11:45])
    • “Jerome was a drug dealer that got a finger shot off...But by the grace of God, Jerome was made new.” – Amy ([11:15])
  • The church’s first steps were marked by dependency on God alone, motivated by a “high view” of Him ([13:58-14:49])

6. High View vs. Low View of God

• Faith Reflects Our View of God:
  • “The strength of your faith is a reflection of your view of God.” – Craig ([15:09])
  • High view produces bold, growing faith; low view leads to:
    1. Conditional faith
    2. Stagnant faith
    3. Safe faith ([15:14-15:30])
  • “God pleasing faith isn’t trusting God to do what we want. God pleasing faith is trusting God even when He doesn’t.” – Craig ([16:14])

7. Identifying and Challenging Stagnant, Safe, and Conditional Faith

• Descriptions of Flat Faith:
  • Conditional: Trusts God only if He complies with personal expectations ([15:53-16:14])
  • Stagnant: Not dead, but not growing; “a void of spiritual hunger” ([17:26-17:50])
  • Safe: Avoids risks and lives with hedging “plan B” prayers ([18:13-18:33])
  • “You cannot play it safe and please God, because it’s impossible to please God without faith.” – Craig ([19:32])

8. Anecdotes of Risk and Faith

• Early Acts of Faith:
  • Sharing about the first offering and inviting those in need to take from the offering plate ([20:03])
  • Losing their first meeting venue and boldly declaring, “God’s gonna open up a door and we’ll call you” even when no alternative existed ([21:51-22:09])
  • Expanding to a bike factory on a handshake and building the first campuses without resources or guarantees ([22:09-23:06])
  • Inventing video church and multi-site approaches out of faith-fueled necessity ([23:06-23:04])
  • “A faith that costs nothing, accomplishes nothing.” – Craig ([26:33])

9. The Challenge of Faith Over Time

• Faith Drained by Hardship and Routine:
  • Craig confesses to periods of leading with “a very, very safe faith” and losing the desperation that fueled past risk-taking. Hard seasons forced him to become desperate for God again ([26:33-28:33])
  • “The good news is, because it was difficult, it made me desperate for God again.” – Craig ([26:33])

10. Renewed Vision and Faith for the Future

• A Church for ‘The One’:
  • “My faith is big again. My faith for the One. I have never cared about the One more than I do at this moment.” – Amy ([28:49])
  • “As long as there is one person in this world that does not know Christ, this church is not too big.” – Amy ([29:16])
• Call to Self-Examination and Spiritual Renewal:
  • “Is your faith pleasing to God? Because a faith that pleases God is never conditional, it’s never stagnant, it’s never safe.” – Craig ([29:28])
  • Recalling who God is – Savior, Redeemer, Comforter, Rock, Healer, Defender, Peace, Hope – as the source of faith ([30:06-30:22])

11. Final Encouragement and Prayer

• Bold Prayers for Renewed Faith:
  • “Believe again, trust again, step out in faith. Believe that He hears the cries of your heart...” – Amy ([31:28])
  • “This church was built by faith. And the future of this church... will be built by people who still have faith that God can do more...” – Craig ([32:32])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If God answered every prayer you prayed last week, what would be different in the world?” – Amy ([06:44])
• “Without faith, it’s impossible to please God.” – Craig ([04:46])
• “Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith.” – Amy ([07:56])
• “A faith that costs nothing, accomplishes nothing.” – Craig ([26:33])
• “My faith is big again. My faith for the One.” – Amy ([28:49])
• “As long as there is one person in this world that does not know Christ, this church is not too big.” – Amy ([29:16])
• “God pleasing faith is trusting God even when he doesn’t (do what we want).” – Craig ([16:14])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:22-01:52: 30-Year Reflection and the question of goals—pleasing God vs. self-improvement.
• 02:25-03:17: Scriptural basis for pleasing God; faith as the essential quality.
• 05:33-06:18: Faith as a lifestyle—trusting God in big and small moments.
• 06:34-07:00: Challenging the listener’s faith—“Is your faith pleasing to God?”
• 07:00-08:32: Jesus’ amazement at lack/greatness of faith: Mark 6 and Luke 7.
• 10:02-11:45: Story of Life.Church’s humble beginnings, transparency, and Jerome the “four-fingered flipper.”
• 13:58-14:49: Dependence on God, having a high view of God.
• 15:09-15:53: High vs. low view of God; conditional, stagnant, and safe faith explained.
• 19:40-20:03: First offering—radical trust and generosity.
• 26:33-28:33: Confession of leading with safe faith; return to desperation for God.
• 28:49-29:28: Renewed faith for ‘the One’; church never “too big.”
• 30:06-32:32: Closing challenge—see God high and lifted, believe big, end with bold prayers.
• 33:46-37:22: Prayer for renewed faith and salvation invitation.

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Tone & Delivery

• The episode is marked by humility, vulnerability, gratitude, and passionate exhortation.
• Both hosts are deeply personal—sharing stories of risk, failure, and renewed faith.
• The teaching moves fluidly between scripture, personal testimony, and practical challenge, all in an accessible, heartfelt tone.

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Summary Takeaways

• Pleasing God is about having and living by bold, growing faith—not conditional, stagnant, or safe faith.
• Our view of God directly shapes our faith; seeing God as holy and powerful fosters courageous trust and obedience.
• Life.Church's growth and impact have been built on repeated, risky steps of faith, not on resources or ease.
• Even pastors struggle with keeping faith vibrant; returning to desperation for God is key.
• Every ‘one’ matters—personal faith and church vision must always be oriented toward reaching people for Jesus.
• The future belongs to faith-filled believers; the challenge is for everyone to “believe again, trust again, step out in faith.”

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If you’ve ever wrestled with your faith feeling flat or safe, this episode is a heartfelt call to renewed trust in God’s power, goodness, and faithfulness—both for yourself and the church.

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Transcript

[Podcast Host]

Welcome to Life Church. We're here to help you become who God created you to be. And we'd love to hear from you. Take a quick survey at Life Church PodcastConnect to let us know how we can support you on your faith journey. And now let's go to the message.

[Craig Groeschel]

All right, so I am a little bit, or maybe a lot emotional because it was 30 years ago this weekend that a handful of people, many of you, met for the very first time in a two car garage. And today, here we are three decades later, celebrating God's faithfulness, God's goodness, God's.

[Amy Groeschel]

Power, God's grace, as Jesus has been building God's church.

[Craig Groeschel]

And today I celebrate the presence of God, the goodness of God. And honestly, I celebrate every single one of you, every life that has been changed, everyone that's prayed faithfully, everyone that served and used their gifts, everyone who's given toward the work of God. People say, did you ever expect any of this to happen? And the answer is no. And if you told me it might, I probably would have run for the hills, because it exceeds anything I ever dreamed possible. And so it's this time of the year that we tend to look back just at our own lives. I'm doing that in the church. And we tend to look forward and we evaluate where have we been and where is God calling us to go? And if you're like most people, you're probably looking at your life right now. You might be making some goals moving forward. I'm doing that in my life and in the church as well. You might set goals to eat better this year. You might set goals to maybe eliminate debt. You might set goals to strengthen your marriage. All are really, really good goals.

[Amy Groeschel]

But I want to raise the question.

[Craig Groeschel]

Today, what if our greatest goal this year wasn't just to improve our lives, but what if our greatest goal were to please God above anything else? What if the driving desire, the cry of our hearts, is to live in such a way that our greatest goal is to please God? It was Paul who said this in Second Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 9, he.

[Amy Groeschel]

Said, so whether we're here in this.

[Craig Groeschel]

Body or away from this body, say it with me.

[Amy Groeschel]

What is our goal? Our goal is to please God. What if our greatest goal above anything else would be to live in such.

[Craig Groeschel]

A way that our lives would please God above all else? What kind of church are we going to be from day number one to 30 years in for as long as we're on this earth? It is my prayer that we are a church that pleases God.

[Amy Groeschel]

And if we're going to be a.

[Craig Groeschel]

Church that pleases God, gotta be filled with people that are pleasing God.

[Amy Groeschel]

And that means you gotta please God and I gotta please God and we gotta individually please God. So corporately we would please God.

[Craig Groeschel]

And how are we gonna do that?

[Amy Groeschel]

Well, the Bible is very, very, very clear that there is one quality without which it is impossible to please God.

[Craig Groeschel]

And we're going to talk about it. But first we're going to pray and give God glory. Father, we love you, we honor you. Your name is the only one worthy of all praise. And today, God, we worship you for every person that's been saved, for every marriage healed, for every prodigal that came back to Jesus, for every bondage and chain that's been broken, for every relationship that's been healed, for every single person who's been made new in Christ, who found their place to serve as your church. In your church to reach the world with your love, we give you the glory for it. And God, we believe that you want to do more. As we're a church that honors you with faith, we pray this in Jesus name and all God's people said Amen and Amen. To be a church that pleases God, it's impossible to please God without this quality. Hebrews 11:6 tells us this. And without what? Let's say it aloud. As a church, I need everybody here.

[Amy Groeschel]

Need all of our campuses.

[Craig Groeschel]

It's no fun without you, everybody, everywhere. Without what? Without faith it's impossible to please God. To live a life without trusting God boldly. In faith, it's impossible to please God. If we're gonna be a church that.

[Amy Groeschel]

Pleases God, we have to be a faith filled church.

[Craig Groeschel]

To be a faith filled church, that.

[Amy Groeschel]

Means you need to live by faith.

[Craig Groeschel]

I need to live by faith.

[Amy Groeschel]

And to be clear, this doesn't just mean like mountain moving faith like God, if you want me to take this job, may a camel walk in my room right now. We're not talking about just that kind of faith. Sometimes it's like God help me, love my boss today. Faith, right? It's not just faith in the big.

[Craig Groeschel]

Moments, it's faith as a lifestyle.

[Amy Groeschel]

It's not just faith in the big decisions, but it's faith in the everyday decision decisions. Because it was the Apostle Paul that said this. He said, for we walk by what? We walk by faith and not by sight. It's faith that when we wake up in the morning, we open up God's word, believing that God wants to speak.

[Craig Groeschel]

To us on that day.

[Amy Groeschel]

It's faith to believe that he'll direct our steps. It's faith to believe that his spirit will prompt us to use our gifts.

[Craig Groeschel]

To make a difference in the lives of of others.

[Amy Groeschel]

It's faith to trust God even when we don't understand. It's the faith to believe what God says, even when what he says is.

[Craig Groeschel]

Different than what we see. Without faith, it's impossible to please God.

[Amy Groeschel]

So I want to ask you, as.

[Craig Groeschel]

You move into a new year, a.

[Amy Groeschel]

Very serious question I'm asking myself. And the question is this.

[Craig Groeschel]

Is your faith pleasing to God? Are you believing God for supernatural works?

[Amy Groeschel]

Are you taking daily steps of faith? How big is your prayer life? I could ask it this way. If God answered every prayer you prayed last week, what would be different in the world? Would your food be blessed and he.

[Craig Groeschel]

Got to work safe, or would people be saved? Is your faith pleasing to God? What's interesting is the Gospel shows us two examples of how Jesus responds to faith. Two examples of how Jesus responds to faith. The first one is in Mark, chapter six. And Jesus was in his hometown. He was teaching.

[Amy Groeschel]

And so people were kind of offended. They were kind of critical. They were saying, hey, isn't this like the son of the carpenter? I mean, isn't that Joey's boy? I mean, we saw him grow up. Isn't that just that guy? That's not that important. And they didn't honor Jesus and they didn't believe what he said was true. And in March, 6, 6, we. The Bible says that Jesus was amazed.

[Craig Groeschel]

At their lack of faith.

[Amy Groeschel]

Two times Jesus was amazed by faith. The first time he was amazed by.

[Craig Groeschel]

A lack of faith.

[Amy Groeschel]

The second story is in Luke, chapter seven.

[Craig Groeschel]

And there was this man whose servant was dying. And the man had a conversation with Jesus. He said, jesus, like I'm summarizing and giving you my version, but like, you're so powerful and important that I don't wanna waste your time. You don't even have to go to where he is.

[Amy Groeschel]

Jesus, if you just say the word.

[Craig Groeschel]

My servant will be healed. And the Bible says this.

[Amy Groeschel]

When Jesus heard this, Luke79, he was again amazed at this man. And turning to the crowd following him, he said, I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel when it comes to faith. Jesus had two responses. One, Jesus was amazed by a lack of faith.

[Craig Groeschel]

And then Jesus was amazed by great faith. And so when I ask you which one is you, is your faith pleasing to God? I want to tell you with great emotion and great gratitude to God. A little bit of my faith journey with Amy 30 years ago, starting life, church. The first Sunday was this snowy, cold Sunday morning. And I'm gonna tell you right now, I feel just like I do today. If I tell you what I'm getting up here, I literally. I'm as nervous today as I was back then. I used to throw up in a bucket back then. Now I've grown in the things of the Lord. I just throw up in my mouth, I swallow it, and we're good to go. I've come so far. Thank God for sanctification. By the power of the Holy Spirit, I'm in such a better place today.

[Amy Groeschel]

I was. I was. I was like the same time. I don't know if you've ever been there, but I was full of faith.

[Craig Groeschel]

And I was so scared. I was full of faith and I was insecure.

[Amy Groeschel]

I was only 28 years old. I couldn't even grow a real mustache. I didn't really want to, but the fact that I couldn't really bothered me.

[Craig Groeschel]

So much at the time.

[Amy Groeschel]

And for context, we had no building.

[Craig Groeschel]

No money at all, except for what Amy and I put in there.

[Amy Groeschel]

And it was a lot to us, but not much, really. We had no staff, we had no plan B. And we met in a garage that someone let us meet in with borrowed chairs. And we had an overhead projector. Now, for those of you that were not born 30 years ago, you don't know what an overhead projector is. And you can just take a moment to praise God right now that you don't know what it is. But if you don't know, I'll tell you. An overhead projector was a little machine that you would take a transparent piece of paper, transparent, and you'd write the words to the worship song, and you'd put it on this thing and would transport it onto. Not a wall, not a screen, but onto the garage door, because that's what we had. And what's pretty cool is our transparency. Flipper.

[Craig Groeschel]

That's a spiritual gift, if you didn't.

[Amy Groeschel]

Know that his name was Jerome. And Jerome was a drug dealer that got a finger shot off in a drug deal that went bad. But by the grace of God, Jerome was made new. And so Jerome was what we call the four fingered flipper. And he would flip the transparencies back and forth, and people would be trying to worship, but they recognize something looked odd. And you could see them going, praise God. 1, 2, 3, 4. And what's amazing is to the glory of God. 30 years later, Jerome still worshiped with us, happens to be on the front row. May raise even the correct hand if you want to Jerome, raise the correct hand. And can you zoom in on it? Can we zoom? Look at that, look at that. 1, 2, 3, 4. And 29 years ago I had the honor of officiating the service between you and Shanna, who you had only dated a girl for a total of three weeks and now you're married 29 years in one of the most God honoring evangelists that I've ever known. And in, in the middle of that I was insecure and afraid. But all of us, we had faith. And the reason I had faith is because about 10 years earlier I was.

[Craig Groeschel]

A hurting and lost college student, dead in my sins.

[Amy Groeschel]

And I called out.

[Craig Groeschel]

On Jesus and said, if you're real and if you're there and if you can save me, save me. And the work he did in my heart was something no man could do, but only by the grace of God. He set me free from addiction. He gave me purpose.

[Amy Groeschel]

He set me apart. He gave me peace in the strangest things. I was a business major, but immediately.

[Craig Groeschel]

I felt called to be a pastor.

[Amy Groeschel]

No reason whatsoever, none whatsoever. I didn't know a pastor I looked up to at the time. I didn't know a pastor I liked. I just, I felt called to be a pastor and I was too dumb to change my major to religion and.

[Craig Groeschel]

That I ended up paying for later.

[Amy Groeschel]

But I'm starting this new church and in the middle of both faith and fear. And we had about 40 people on.

[Craig Groeschel]

That first Sunday and we had the faith that all things were possible with God. I'm telling they can just remember back then with nothing in the natural, we had faith that God would provide. With nothing in the natural. We had the faith that God is powerful.

[Amy Groeschel]

We had the faith to believe that his word is living and active and powerful and sharper than any double edged sword. And that when his word is preached, lives are exchanged. We have faith to believe that Jesus died and that God raised him from the dead. And the faith to believe that, that anyone who, anyone who calls on the name of the Lord would be saved and redeemed and filled with the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead. Look, looking back, I'm telling you God had to be pleased with our faith because we were close to him. We were dependent on him, we were desperate for him. We were walking with him. We had what I would call a high view of God, a reverent view of God.

[Craig Groeschel]

If you were with us last week.

[Amy Groeschel]

We talked about a high view or a low view of God. A high view of God is you see God as holy and reverent, high and lifted up. You want to honor Him.

[Craig Groeschel]

A low view of God, unfortunately, is common today. When people see God as casual and they're almost comfortable around God. Why does your view of God matter so much? Because the strength of your faith is a reflection of your view of God.

[Amy Groeschel]

When you have a high view of.

[Craig Groeschel]

God, you'll have big and strong and growing faith.

[Amy Groeschel]

But a low view of God leads to these three types of faith. A low view of God leads to conditional faith.

[Craig Groeschel]

A low view of God leads to stagnant faith.

[Amy Groeschel]

And a low view of God leads.

[Craig Groeschel]

Leads to what I call safe faith. Is your faith pleasing to God, or do you have conditional faith? Conditional faith is so common today. This is the kind of faith that says, God, I'll trust you as long.

[Amy Groeschel]

As you do what I think you should.

[Craig Groeschel]

And if God doesn't do what we want him to do, we don't just feel disappointed. Sometimes we feel betrayed. I want to tell you right now, that's not real faith. That's control. And we do it all the time. You're a kid and you're praying for your mom and dad's marriage, believing that it's going to be saved and it's not, and your faith falls apart. Or you pray for a loved one to be healed and they're not. Or you pray some specific prayer that you get that job or get to date that girl or go to that school, and you say, but God, I did everything right. And when it doesn't happen, your faith suddenly feels fragile. Why? Because you had your faith in the outcome, not your faith in God. You see, God pleasing faith isn't trusting God to do what we want. God pleasing faith is trusting God even when he doesn't. It's a low view of God. Conditional faith. It also leads to what I call stagnant faith. And this is common as well. I mean, this has been me. This is maybe some of you right now. Stagnant faith isn't dead. It's just stuck. It's not that you've lost your belief, it's just that your faith has stopped growing.

[Amy Groeschel]

And what happens is you can still like, show up.

[Craig Groeschel]

You still check the boxes, you still serve, you still come and you even.

[Amy Groeschel]

Lift your hands at the right point because you know you're supposed to do that. But deep down, you know that your.

[Craig Groeschel]

Passion for God has faded.

[Amy Groeschel]

For me, it was a lack of spiritual urgency. It's a void of spiritual hunger. And the most dangerous thing about stagnant.

[Craig Groeschel]

Faith is that what doesn't grow eventually dies. It's a low view of God. God is not that big a deal. I can take God, leave. I mean, got me, you know, he's my homeboy. God's a big guy upstairs. And it leads to a conditional faith or a stagnant faith or a safe faith. And what does a safe faith do? Well, a safe faith avoids risks. A safe faith refuses to step out. A safe faith hedges. I found myself praying what I call hedging prayers. God, I hope you do, but I'm not sure you will. And so if you don't, I'm giving God a way out. Safe faith always has a plan B and safe faith. And this is. I've been here for too many seasons. It's dangerous, because safe faith whispers, you're doing fine, you're doing fine. But a church that pleases God, Our goal is not to do fine. Our goal is to live by faith. To live by faith. And here's the problem. If you're living with a safe faith right now, you have to understand you cannot play it safe and please God, because it's impossible to please God without faith. When you go back to the early, early years, man, I'm telling you, I get so emotional because it is impossible to describe the faith risks that we took. You go all the way back to the very first weekend, and, I mean, we had nothing. No phone line. Back when there's a landline, if you.

[Amy Groeschel]

Don'T know what that is, you don't.

[Craig Groeschel]

Know what overhead projector is either. You know, nothing. I mean, nothing, nothing, nothing. And we had the very first offering. And I looked out there, I knew most people, but there was a guy I looked at, and I didn't know him. And he looked like he had. Had not just a hard week, but a hard life. And I'm sitting there, like, really praying, God, help us have a good offering, please.

[Amy Groeschel]

First offering, God, please.

[Craig Groeschel]

And I felt prompted in that moment to do something I wasn't planning on doing.

[Amy Groeschel]

And I thought, I don't wanna do.

[Craig Groeschel]

And I said, okay, if you're here and you have a need for. For, like, food or someplace to stay and you don't have. As the offering bucket comes by, you can take back out. And I said that on the first weekend when we had nothing. And 30 years later, God has honored that moment of faith and provided through and through and through beyond anything that we ever imagined. It was a faith moment. Faith for me, my heart. We moved from the little garage to a middle school. We're so excited to have a place that you could fit more than 40 people. And the custodian there, his name was Paul. And we led Paul to Christ. And he was so excited to be part of the church. And at the end of May, Paul came up to me and he said on a Sunday morning right before the service, oh, I have bad news for you, Craig. The. The school board said, you can't meet here anymore. This is your last week. He told me 20 minutes before service, you can't meet here anymore. And I started crying, sobbing uncontrollably. There was no place. We'd been searching, searching, searching. There was no place to be. And so I stood up at the end of the service and said to everybody there, we don't have any place to meet. We may be in homes next week. I don't know. And at that moment, I'm telling you, the spirit of God came on me. And in the middle of saying, we don't know where we're gonna meet, I stepped forward and almost prophetically said, no, actually, God's gonna open up a door and we'll call you.

[Amy Groeschel]

We didn't text, we didn't email.

[Craig Groeschel]

Cause we didn't have that stuff. We'll call you and tell you the place that God opens up next week. And the whole church cheered. And I went home and Amy said.

[Amy Groeschel]

Did you just prophesy that?

[Craig Groeschel]

And I said, I don't know, I.

[Amy Groeschel]

Might be a false prophet.

[Craig Groeschel]

Faith. And Tuesday of that week, someone called me and said, hey, there's this bike factory that they might want to sell. And I went Tuesday afternoon and looked at the bike factory and thought we could do church here. And I'm telling you right now, listen to me on a handshake. No contract, no money. I shook hands with a man who. Who said he would sell it to us. Amy and I took out a home equity loan to put down to buy the thing. We met there on a handshake the next Sunday and had three great years of ministry in the bike factory to the glory of God.

[Amy Groeschel]

Many of you were there. And then the faith, the faith, the faith, the faith one day to maybe build a real and a permanent church.

[Craig Groeschel]

And we had the faith to build.

[Amy Groeschel]

The Life Church, Oklahoma City Campus.

[Craig Groeschel]

The great thing about that sign is.

[Amy Groeschel]

My name is misspelled horribly. Not even close, but it is a.

[Craig Groeschel]

Hard name to spell.

[Amy Groeschel]

And we built that building 600 people. And oddly, it was full. Once, twice, three times, four times, five times, six times. And then suddenly we were turning people away. And Pastor Sam Roberts, I think it was Pastor Sam, said, what if we did church in another location? This was 1999. That was not a thing to my knowledge. It had never been done. And we had the faith to do it at one location and then to meet at an AMC movie theater where it was amazing. You could get saved by Jesus. And if you could hide for an hour, you could stick around and see a movie for free, all at the same place. And then the year 2000, how many of you remember Y2K? If you weren't born, then it's a great time not to be born. The members of this church called Metro Church called us and essentially, through some conversations, decided to merge with us. And the building that I'm preaching in was actually another church that joined us with the faith to merge churches, something that had never been done before. And the very next weekend when I was supposed to preach there, Amy gave birth. Why? Because every time I looked at her, she got pregnant and she gave birth to Sam between Saturday night and Sunday morning. And so we thought we'd always wonder what would happen if we showed a video message and everybody said it would never work. And so we had the faith to try, and we had to, because if I had preached, I might not be married. But we had the faith to try. And we ran the video teaching, and more people got saved in that service than even before. And then we thought to ourselves, what if we tried that in locations? And we had about 100 people driving in from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and they said, could we start a church there? And so Pastor Kevin and Pastor Bobby would take a VCR tape after Saturday night, drive over to a Holiday Inn in a ballroom called the Mohawk Room and plug it into a TV with a hundred people, and started what eventually became the Tulsa campus. And then from there, someone had the courage to. And the faith to start in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and then South Oklahoma City, and then the faith to start in Fort Worth, Texas. If you're clapping now, you're going to be clapping for a while. And then Hendersonville, Tennessee, Tennessee. And then Life Church Online came up. And then Wellington, Florida. Albany, New York, North Oklahoma City, South Tulsa, Oklahoma. Owasso, Oklahoma, Yukon, Oklahoma. Midwest City, Oklahoma. I'm from Oklahoma, by the way. Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Jinx, Oklahoma. Keller, Texas. Moore, Oklahoma. Broadway, In Britain, Wichita, Kansas. Rio Rancho, New Mexico. Shawnee, Oklahoma, South Broken Arrow, Mustang, saying Fort Smith, Overland Park, Norman, Catoosa, Omaha. Rogers, Springfield. No wonder I'm tired. West Wichita. North Lynn, Mansfield, Texas. Colorado Springs. Lenexa. East Kansas city. Des Moines. McKinney, Texas. South Denver. Derby, Kansas. Amarillo, Texas. Austin, Texas. North Denver. West Palm Beach, Florida. And guess what? More to come this year to the glory of God. Because we're just getting started. Just getting. Just getting started. In the early years, in the early years, in the early years, Jesus would have been amazed by my faith.

[Craig Groeschel]

Until he wasn't. Until he wasn't. Because I'm going to tell you right now, it's been a fantastic, unbelievable, God glorifying 30 years. And it's been hard. And midway through, the grind just started to kind of beat me down. And I got tired of, like, living by faith and tired of hurting. And I just didn't want to risk. And so I started leading with a very, very safe faith. I started to hedge and play it safe. The problem is a faith that costs nothing, accomplishes nothing. And the good news is, God never let it be easy. The first seven years, I'm going to tell you right now, first seven years were harder than I could ever describe. And it's hard to even say this out loud, but I think the last seven years may have been more difficult. And the good news is, because it was difficult, it made me desperate for God again. Desperate. Desperate for God. Desperate for God. Desperate, desperate, like, I need you, God. I need you, God. Like the big faith kind of prayers, like, God, if you don't come through, I'm not gonna make it type of prayers. And I cried out to God again with a desperate type of faith, much like the very first Sunday with 40 people there, and they're at the end of the service, the room was cold and I was nervous and. And I felt prompted to share the gospel. And I didn't want to. I didn't want to, not because I didn't believe, but because I was afraid no one would respond. And so, by faith, I closed my eyes and I talked about sin and I talked about a savior, said, if you want to trust him, if you want to be new, if you want to be forgiven, lift your hands. On that day, there were seven people. Seven people. Seven people on the very first day.

[Amy Groeschel]

Seven people. Seven people. Seven people. 7 people who crossed from death to life.

[Craig Groeschel]

Life.

[Amy Groeschel]

And I cried all the way home. On day number one, I thought if this whole thing was just for one.

[Craig Groeschel]

It would be worth it.

[Amy Groeschel]

And that's why I want to tell.

[Craig Groeschel]

You that my faith is big again.

[Amy Groeschel]

My faith is big again. My faith for the One. I'm telling you right now, like I have never cared about the One more than I do at this moment. Right now. My faith for the One is big again. And sometimes people say, but the church has gotten so big and it's too big. And I'm going to tell you right now, just, just so you'll hear it from me. As long as there is one person in this world that does not know Christ, this church is not too big. It's never too big. To the glory of God. We're just getting started. We're just getting started. And so what kind of church are we gonna be? We're gonna be a church that pleases God. To be a church that pleases God, it's gotta be filled with people pleasing God. So I'm gonna ask you right now.

[Craig Groeschel]

Is your faith pleasing to God? Because a faith that pleases God is never conditional. It's never stagnant, it's never safe. If you find yourself like I have, where you seep into having a lower view of God and it's limited your faith, I want you to see God as he is. See him as he is. Who is your God. He's your Savior who saves you from your sins.

[Amy Groeschel]

He's your redeemer who made you new when you thought you were too far gone. He's your comforter with you every moment that your heart is heavy. He's your rock when everything else is shaking.

[Craig Groeschel]

Our God is our fortress, a safe hiding place. He's your strength when you don't have any left. Our God is your healer, Jehovah, Rapha, your body healing your body, healing your heart, healing your mind, healing you from your past. He's your defender fighting you in battles that you don't even see. He is your peace that passes all understanding when you feel anxious and afraid. He is your hope when the future seems uncertain. He is your ever present help in time of trouble, right now, in this moment, that's who he is. When you see him like that, high and lifted up, a reverent and a holy God, your faith grows, knowing that all things are possible with God. And so I declare now to him, now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine. According to his power that is at work within us, within you, within us, within you.

[Amy Groeschel]

Now to him be the glory. Where in the church, in Christ Jesus, through all generations, forever and ever, may he get the glory. And the people of God said amen and Amen. Because a Church that pleases God will be a faith filled church. So if your faith has shrunk or if you've lost your faith, repent. Believe again, trust again, step out in faith. Believe that he hears the cries of your heart. Believe that when you draw near to him, he draws near to you. Believe him to heal. Believe him to save those that you love. Believe him to break you free from the addictions that hold you back. Believe that the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells within you, calling you to do good works which glorify Him. Believe him enough to take the step of faith and obey what he calls you to do.

[Craig Groeschel]

Believe that he can use you.

[Amy Groeschel]

Use me.

[Craig Groeschel]

Use us, his church to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. I'm going to tell you right now, this church was built by faith. And the future of this church, God's church, will be built by people who still have faith that God can do more, will do more, and will be glorified when he does. It's his church and he gets the glory.

[Amy Groeschel]

So Father, thank you for 30 years.

[Craig Groeschel]

And God, we believe by your power. We're just getting started today as you're praying church, nobody looking around.

[Amy Groeschel]

Those of you who are believers, you.

[Craig Groeschel]

Are a follower of Jesus.

[Amy Groeschel]

You've been baptized, you're in the church as a church and you want to.

[Craig Groeschel]

Honor God with your faith.

[Amy Groeschel]

You may look at your life right.

[Craig Groeschel]

Now and be where I've been. You've been living with conditional faith or your faith is stagnant, or you're playing it safe in your faith. You cannot please God without faith. You say, God, help build my faith. I want to honor you with faith. I don't care how faith or strong is. I hope you pray this prayer. God build my faith. I want to honor you with faith. If you're praying that today, would you lift up your hands all over the place right now? Lift it up. All of our churches, lift your hands up high. Online Type in the comments section. I want to honor God with faith and Holy Spirit.

[Amy Groeschel]

We pray.

[Craig Groeschel]

We know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And your word has been spoken today. So build our faith, God, build our faith to do what you call us to do individually and corporately as your church, the body of Christ. We don't go to church. We are the church. We exist for the world. God empowers your church to do your will, your work on earth as it is in heaven. God, build my faith to believe for more. Build our faith to know that all Things are possible with you. God help us to be a faith filled church that pleases you. As you keep praying today, there are those of you that are here, just like seven people on the first Sunday who didn't know where they stood with God. And if I ask you right now, like, are you certain? Do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you're right with God? That you're in fellowship with him? That if you died, you know for sure you'd go to heaven? And if you don't, let me tell you the same thing I've been saying for 30 years, every service, every single week, that we've all sinned. I have. You have. We've all sinned. And that's why you feel guilty. And our sin separates us from the holy God. But our God still loves you more than you can imagine. In fact, his scripture says that for God so loved the world, he so loved you, that he sent his one and only son, Jesus. Jesus didn't come to condemn, but he came to save. He didn't come for those who are already righteous. He came for the lost. And Jesus gave his life. And God raised him from the dead so that you could be saved. And we are not saved by our own works. The Bible says we can't be good enough. How are we saved?

[Amy Groeschel]

The only way we're saved is by grace. The grace of God, the forgiveness of God through faith. It's impossible to please God without faith.

[Craig Groeschel]

If you don't know where you stand with God. Today, we're gonna step away from our sin. We're gonna call out on the name of Jesus by faith. And the Bible says when you do, God hears your prayers. He forgives your sins. The scripture says anyone, and this includes you. It doesn't matter what you've done. Who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved today at all of our churches, all over the world, online. Those who say, I don't know where I stand, but I'm ready. I need his forgiveness. I want his peace. I need his grace. I step away from my sin, Jesus.

[Amy Groeschel]

I give you my life.

[Craig Groeschel]

As you surrender to him, he'll forgive you all your sins. He'll make you new.

[Amy Groeschel]

That's your prayer today. By faith, Jesus, I surrender my life.

[Craig Groeschel]

This isn't playing.

[Amy Groeschel]

All in all, I give my life to you. Take my life, Jesus.

[Craig Groeschel]

I give it to you.

[Amy Groeschel]

That's your prayer. Lift your hands high right now, all over the place. Praise God for you. There, right up there, up there. Up, up. I'll praise God for you others of you right back over there lift your hand up high say Jesus I surrender right back over there oh praise God Others today say yes Jesus I surrender to you right back over here oh come on church give the glory to God today online Just type it in the comment section. I'm surrendering my life to Jesus and 30 years we pray the same way Pray with me heavenly father Father forgive.

[Craig Groeschel]

All of my sins Jesus save me make me brand new fill me with your spirit so I could know you and serve you and honor you My life is not my own I give it all to you in Jesus name I pray and all God's people said. Foreign.

[Podcast Host]

We are celebrating with those of you who just made the decision to follow Jesus. Check out the show notes for helpful resources and next steps. Remember to head over to Life Church PodcastConnect to share a little about yourself and how we can support you.