Fear of Man

1 Fear #1 [Video, Voices] We don’t need your services. You just won’t work in our organization. I don’t want you, or I don’t need you. Get out of my life. You have to change. I don’t love you. You’re not good enough the way you are. I’m leaving you . Would you leave me alone? I wish I’d never had you. I don’t love you. Would you leave me alone? Would you leave me and get out of my life? Well, welcome to week number one of the series called “Fear.” Today, we are going to let God’s word speak t o us about overcoming the fear of rejection. I want to welcome those of you who are worshipping with us at our video teaching experiences. I pray that God’s word would speak to you in a very personal way. Let’s start today with God’s word. We will sta rt in . If you would, help me out with this verse. Here’s what the Bible says. The Bible says, “For God has not give us a spirit of,” what? Say it out loud, “God has not given us a spirit of fear,” but instead, He has given us a spirit of what? “Of power and of love and of a sound mind.” God has not given us a spirit of fear, and yet, so many people live paralyzed by fear, especially the fear of being rejected. This does not come from God, and we are going to let God’s word empower us t o overcome the fear of being rejected. I have to be honest, and acknowledge that so much of my life has been consumed with trying to please people. My dad was in retail, and so as a kid, we moved a lot. It seemed like every year or every other year, I w as a new kid at a certain school, and I adopted kind of my own philosophy of how I could quickly fit in. This worked great until the fifth grade. I’d move into a new kindergarten or first grade, and at first grade, I’d walk into class, the very first day as the new kid, and I would simply ask the question, “Who’s the fastest first grader in this school?” And they’d say, “So and so,” and I’d say, “Tell him I challenge him to a race today at recess.” And the whole class would gather around as I would race the fastest kid, and beat him, and all of a sudden, I would be “in” the in group. Fifth grade was the first year this plan broke down. “Who’s the fastest kid in the fifth grade?” They said, “A guy by the name of Craig Philoe.” “I challenge him to a ra ce today at recess,” and we showed up there. Back then, at this place, we were weren’t very smart. There was a basketball goal, and we said, “I’ll race you around at this end, and you race around that end, and so we got there at about the same time, and I grabbed the post, and he grabbed the post for a lightning spin - around, which was a technique of every great racing champion in the fifth grade. And I spun around, nailed him right in the face. Blood squired out of his nose. He fell down. I did not. I won the race, fastest guy. He called me a cheater. I called him something that wasn’t very nice. He and two buddies showed up after school and beat the tar out of me. That is when I changed my approach. For whatever stupid reason, I thought that if I performed, then people would like me, and that, what I call addiction, approval addiction, it’s haunted me and followed

2 me throughout life. Even as a young minister, as I would preach, the first thing I would want to know afterwards is, “How did I do? Did you like it? Was it good? Did I do a good job?” And I was living addicted by the approval of other people. This is very, very dangerous, and the truth is, that’s where many of you are living today. Scripture shows us the danger of living by the f ear of rejection, . Here’s what the Bible says. Help me out. The Bible says that, “Fear of,” whom? “That fear of man,” fear of what people think, fear of rejection, “Fear of man will prove to be,” what? It’s a snare. It’s a trap. The B ible goes on to say, “But who ever trusts in,” say it out loud, “Whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.” Fear of people, fear of rejection, fear of man will prove to be a snare. It’s a trap, but whoever trusts in God is kept safe. Let’s look at two r ejection traps, two ways that we are ensnared as we are paralyzed by the fear of rejection. The first one is this, if you are taking notes. We fear rejection. Number one, we can easily become overly starved for acceptance. We are overly starved. The s ad thing is, when we are overly starved for acceptance, the very thing that we desire most is the first thing that we lose. We become so needy and so hungry for acceptance that we lose the very thing that we desire. In the Old Testament, we saw a guy who had potential to be one of the greatest kings of all time, King Saul, but his greatest weakness, I would argue, is that he was paralyzed with the fear of being rejected. He always wondered, “What are the people going to think? Are they going to like me? ” And at one point, because of fear of what people thought, he rejected God’s commands, and Samuel confronted him. This is what King Saul said in , he repented and confessed. He said, “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command.” Why d id he do this? Here’s what he said. “I was afraid of the people, so I,” what? He said, “So I gave in to them.” How often do you do that? How often are you afraid of what people think, so rather than doing the right thing, you do what you think they wo uld want you to do? I remember the first time that I caved to people’s opinion in a way that really affected my life for years. I was in the seventh grade. I was hanging out with some older kids. They were sophomores. We are talking big time, baby, a nd I was with the sophomores, and somehow, these guys go hold of some beer. There I was, in the seventh grade, sitting on the back, I never will forget, of a pickup truck, and they said, “Groeschel, you want some beer?” Now, coming from a family where ma ny family members for generations past were alcoholics, I knew that this was probably something that I shouldn’t mess with, but they kind of hazed me, made fun of me, said I was whatever, and so I gave in. I was afraid of what they were going to think, to ok my first taste of beer. It was delicious, tasted kind of like urine, and [laugh] the sad thing is, that one decision opened up a window of danger that haunted me for years to come. I woke up a few years later in college addicted to alcohol. No matter how hard I tried to stop, I simply couldn’t stop. Even my party buddies, who were wild like I was, they said, “Groeschel, we think you got a problem. You’re out of control. You’ve got to calm this down.” And, I couldn’t. It wasn’t until I spiraled so deeply in a web of painful sin that I called out on God and said, “God, if You are real, if You are there, help me. If there is anything to what they say about this Jesus, save me. Change me. Whatever.” And, I’ll tell you what. I went down on my face before God stuck and paralyzed in this horrible

2 me throughout life. Even as a young minister, as I would preach, the first thing I would want to know afterwards is, “How did I do? Did you like it? Was it good? Did I do a good job?” And I was living addicted by the approval of other people. This is very, very dangerous, and the truth is, that’s where many of you are living today. Scripture shows us the danger of living by the f ear of rejection, . Here’s what the Bible says. Help me out. The Bible says that, “Fear of,” whom? “That fear of man,” fear of what people think, fear of rejection, “Fear of man will prove to be,” what? It’s a snare. It’s a trap. The B ible goes on to say, “But who ever trusts in,” say it out loud, “Whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.” Fear of people, fear of rejection, fear of man will prove to be a snare. It’s a trap, but whoever trusts in God is kept safe. Let’s look at two r ejection traps, two ways that we are ensnared as we are paralyzed by the fear of rejection. The first one is this, if you are taking notes. We fear rejection. Number one, we can easily become overly starved for acceptance. We are overly starved. The s ad thing is, when we are overly starved for acceptance, the very thing that we desire most is the first thing that we lose. We become so needy and so hungry for acceptance that we lose the very thing that we desire. In the Old Testament, we saw a guy who had potential to be one of the greatest kings of all time, King Saul, but his greatest weakness, I would argue, is that he was paralyzed with the fear of being rejected. He always wondered, “What are the people going to think? Are they going to like me? ” And at one point, because of fear of what people thought, he rejected God’s commands, and Samuel confronted him. This is what King Saul said in , he repented and confessed. He said, “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command.” Why d id he do this? Here’s what he said. “I was afraid of the people, so I,” what? He said, “So I gave in to them.” How often do you do that? How often are you afraid of what people think, so rather than doing the right thing, you do what you think they wo uld want you to do? I remember the first time that I caved to people’s opinion in a way that really affected my life for years. I was in the seventh grade. I was hanging out with some older kids. They were sophomores. We are talking big time, baby, a nd I was with the sophomores, and somehow, these guys go hold of some beer. There I was, in the seventh grade, sitting on the back, I never will forget, of a pickup truck, and they said, “Groeschel, you want some beer?” Now, coming from a family where ma ny family members for generations past were alcoholics, I knew that this was probably something that I shouldn’t mess with, but they kind of hazed me, made fun of me, said I was whatever, and so I gave in. I was afraid of what they were going to think, to ok my first taste of beer. It was delicious, tasted kind of like urine, and [laugh] the sad thing is, that one decision opened up a window of danger that haunted me for years to come. I woke up a few years later in college addicted to alcohol. No matter how hard I tried to stop, I simply couldn’t stop. Even my party buddies, who were wild like I was, they said, “Groeschel, we think you got a problem. You’re out of control. You’ve got to calm this down.” And, I couldn’t. It wasn’t until I spiraled so deeply in a web of painful sin that I called out on God and said, “God, if You are real, if You are there, help me. If there is anything to what they say about this Jesus, save me. Change me. Whatever.” And, I’ll tell you what. I went down on my face before God stuck and paralyzed in this horrible

3 sin of alcoholism, this bondage and addiction. I stood up forgiven by God. My heart was changed. The day before, I couldn’t stop drinking. The day after, it had no more power on me. I can’t describe it. I was changed by the power of God, something I couldn’t do for myself. For two years, I stayed clear of that which had haunted so many great people in my family until, once again, I caved in for the approval of people. I was at a fraternity party. Two cute young girls came up to me. Now, this was in the ‘80s. If you remember, Top Gun was out. Who remembers Top Gun? Remember, doo do do, do do dodee do do, doo de do. Anyway, these girls came up, and they were drunk, and they walked up, and I never w ill forget. They said, “Oh, ohhhh, you look like Tom Cruse.” Translated, that meant they were drunk. I had dark hair and a big nose, but I didn’t care. I thought, “You think I look like ...” They said, “Drink with us, Tom. Drink with us.” Next thing y ou knew, I had one. One turned into two. Two turned into six. Six turned into too many. I fell off and gave up something that was very, very important to me for the approval of people. Those of you that have never been drunk, don’t get drunk. It is n ot worth it. It is dangerous, but let me just tell you. If you haven’t been drunk, when you are drunk, you walk in the bathroom. You think you look good. You don’t. You look bad. “You look goooood, man. ” You think you can dance good. You can’t! A nyway, I walked into the bathroom, and this time, I did not think that I looked good. I never will forget, drunk as a skunk, looking in the mirror, saying, “Craig Groeshel, I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.” And the reason I hated myself is because I did something that I knew that was wrong. I did it for the approval of people. And the sad thing is, so many people today live with the fear of man. Fear of man will prove to be a snare. It is a trap. So many great people today want to please God wi th sexual purity, and wait until they are married to give themselves to their spouse, but instead, wanting the approval of someone, they’ll give away their virginity. They will give their body away, and then they will jump from bed, to bed, to bed, to bed , seeking approval. “Please love me,” pretending like sex equals love, when sex outside of marriage is the farthest thing from real, spiritual, and physical intimacy. “Please accept me.” People spend hours on their body, and their hair, and their image, and their face, and they are poofing up, and moving down, and moving around. “Please like me. If I buy this car, will you like me? If I say this, will you like me? If I go to this restaurants, will you like me? If I join this club, will you like me? If I compromise my integrity, and don’t do what I believe is most important, but I do what you like, will you like me? Will you accept me? Will you approve of me?” I know so many people who live for their parent’s dream. “Gotta make dad happy. Got to make mom happy.” I know people whose parents died ten years ago, and they are still trying to please their parents, who are no longer here. I know so many great girls who love God so much, and want so desperately to have an intimate, spiritual, covenant of marriage. And these great girls settle, and marry some non - Christian, self - centered guy because these girls simply want to be loved. They make a short - cut decision that affects them for the rest of their life. “Will you please approve of me? Will y ou please accept me?” Fear of man. It proves to be a snare. I know people who want to be accepted so bad, they get close to someone, and they suck the life out of them. They become a human vacuum cleaner. “Will you like me?” gliiiiggggcccccccck gggg gggggiiiiiiickkkkkkkkk ggggggggggggg gggck. Oh, you know someone like that, do you? Fear of man will

3 sin of alcoholism, this bondage and addiction. I stood up forgiven by God. My heart was changed. The day before, I couldn’t stop drinking. The day after, it had no more power on me. I can’t describe it. I was changed by the power of God, something I couldn’t do for myself. For two years, I stayed clear of that which had haunted so many great people in my family until, once again, I caved in for the approval of people. I was at a fraternity party. Two cute young girls came up to me. Now, this was in the ‘80s. If you remember, Top Gun was out. Who remembers Top Gun? Remember, doo do do, do do dodee do do, doo de do. Anyway, these girls came up, and they were drunk, and they walked up, and I never w ill forget. They said, “Oh, ohhhh, you look like Tom Cruse.” Translated, that meant they were drunk. I had dark hair and a big nose, but I didn’t care. I thought, “You think I look like ...” They said, “Drink with us, Tom. Drink with us.” Next thing y ou knew, I had one. One turned into two. Two turned into six. Six turned into too many. I fell off and gave up something that was very, very important to me for the approval of people. Those of you that have never been drunk, don’t get drunk. It is n ot worth it. It is dangerous, but let me just tell you. If you haven’t been drunk, when you are drunk, you walk in the bathroom. You think you look good. You don’t. You look bad. “You look goooood, man. ” You think you can dance good. You can’t! A nyway, I walked into the bathroom, and this time, I did not think that I looked good. I never will forget, drunk as a skunk, looking in the mirror, saying, “Craig Groeshel, I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.” And the reason I hated myself is because I did something that I knew that was wrong. I did it for the approval of people. And the sad thing is, so many people today live with the fear of man. Fear of man will prove to be a snare. It is a trap. So many great people today want to please God wi th sexual purity, and wait until they are married to give themselves to their spouse, but instead, wanting the approval of someone, they’ll give away their virginity. They will give their body away, and then they will jump from bed, to bed, to bed, to bed , seeking approval. “Please love me,” pretending like sex equals love, when sex outside of marriage is the farthest thing from real, spiritual, and physical intimacy. “Please accept me.” People spend hours on their body, and their hair, and their image, and their face, and they are poofing up, and moving down, and moving around. “Please like me. If I buy this car, will you like me? If I say this, will you like me? If I go to this restaurants, will you like me? If I join this club, will you like me? If I compromise my integrity, and don’t do what I believe is most important, but I do what you like, will you like me? Will you accept me? Will you approve of me?” I know so many people who live for their parent’s dream. “Gotta make dad happy. Got to make mom happy.” I know people whose parents died ten years ago, and they are still trying to please their parents, who are no longer here. I know so many great girls who love God so much, and want so desperately to have an intimate, spiritual, covenant of marriage. And these great girls settle, and marry some non - Christian, self - centered guy because these girls simply want to be loved. They make a short - cut decision that affects them for the rest of their life. “Will you please approve of me? Will y ou please accept me?” Fear of man. It proves to be a snare. I know people who want to be accepted so bad, they get close to someone, and they suck the life out of them. They become a human vacuum cleaner. “Will you like me?” gliiiiggggcccccccck gggg gggggiiiiiiickkkkkkkkk ggggggggggggg gggck. Oh, you know someone like that, do you? Fear of man will

4 prove to be a snare. We become overly starved. Two thoughts. For those of you that are approval addicts, these thoughts could be a challenge for you. Approval addicts, first of all, generally have an inability to confront. We want to be liked, so we don’t confront, and until we learn to do Biblical confrontation with Biblical integrity, we can never have the intimacy in relationships that God wants. Second challenge is this. Approval addicts generally give in to others, but inwardly, they are angry and resentful. “Okay, I’ll do what you want because I want you to like me, but inwardly, I’m ticked and it’s getting worse by the minute.” These are th ose who are overly starved. The second rejection trap is this. It is the opposite. It is those who become overly cautious. “I’ve been hurt before, and I’m not going to let anyone hurt me again. I’m not going to trust. I’ll keep you at an arm’s distan ce because, by golly, I’m not going to let you do to me what someone else did to me.” This is what the Bible says about that kind of person. , scripture says, “Blessed is the man who always fears,” who? “Who fears the Lord,” The Bible says , “But he who,” does what? Say it out loud, “But he who hardens his heart,” does what? “Falls into trouble.” How often do we know someone that has a hard heart? Who doesn’t let others in? We fall into trouble. Ladies, “Can’t trust men as far as you c an throw them. All a bunch of jerks, losers.” Ladies, get off of it. Yeah, ninety - eight percent of them are, but the two percent that go to this church are growing closer to Christ. Okay? Give the guy a chance to surrender his life to Christ. Guys, s ame thing. “Women, bunch of black widows. Get close to you, sting you in the behind and mess you up.” Become overly cautious. I know so many great men who desire so much to be married, but they are not asking you out, because they are scared to death. Help them. Smile. Carry your Bible. Give them a little [wink] God is good ... all the time. You know. Help them out. Become overly cautious. For some, it starts when you have the sneaking suspicion that your parents favor another sibling over you. “I don’t want to get hurt.” For others, it’s on the athletic field when you don’t get picked, and you are the last one that don’t want to get hurt. For some, it’s when you don’t fit in a certain crowd, or when someone tells you they are going to be there forever, and then they crush your heart, and you become overly cautious. For others, and this is one of the things that must be so sad to God, is that when great Christ followers like those of you who are following Christ, you’ve got people that you know and love, family members, maybe your parents, maybe your children, maybe brothers and sisters, maybe people that you work with, people that you’ve grow up with who do not have a relationship with Christ, and you are afraid to tell them about Jesus. Why? Because you are afraid that they would reject you. That very thing happened in scripture by a group of people who believed in Jesus, but were afraid to confess their faith publicly. Why? They were afraid of rejection. Here’s what scripture says. , “But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith.” Why? Say it out loud. For what? “For fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from,” who? From men, from people, “more than they did praise from God.” Fear of man, it is a snap. It is a snare. It is a trap. We become overly cautious, or we become overly starved.

4 prove to be a snare. We become overly starved. Two thoughts. For those of you that are approval addicts, these thoughts could be a challenge for you. Approval addicts, first of all, generally have an inability to confront. We want to be liked, so we don’t confront, and until we learn to do Biblical confrontation with Biblical integrity, we can never have the intimacy in relationships that God wants. Second challenge is this. Approval addicts generally give in to others, but inwardly, they are angry and resentful. “Okay, I’ll do what you want because I want you to like me, but inwardly, I’m ticked and it’s getting worse by the minute.” These are th ose who are overly starved. The second rejection trap is this. It is the opposite. It is those who become overly cautious. “I’ve been hurt before, and I’m not going to let anyone hurt me again. I’m not going to trust. I’ll keep you at an arm’s distan ce because, by golly, I’m not going to let you do to me what someone else did to me.” This is what the Bible says about that kind of person. , scripture says, “Blessed is the man who always fears,” who? “Who fears the Lord,” The Bible says , “But he who,” does what? Say it out loud, “But he who hardens his heart,” does what? “Falls into trouble.” How often do we know someone that has a hard heart? Who doesn’t let others in? We fall into trouble. Ladies, “Can’t trust men as far as you c an throw them. All a bunch of jerks, losers.” Ladies, get off of it. Yeah, ninety - eight percent of them are, but the two percent that go to this church are growing closer to Christ. Okay? Give the guy a chance to surrender his life to Christ. Guys, s ame thing. “Women, bunch of black widows. Get close to you, sting you in the behind and mess you up.” Become overly cautious. I know so many great men who desire so much to be married, but they are not asking you out, because they are scared to death. Help them. Smile. Carry your Bible. Give them a little [wink] God is good ... all the time. You know. Help them out. Become overly cautious. For some, it starts when you have the sneaking suspicion that your parents favor another sibling over you. “I don’t want to get hurt.” For others, it’s on the athletic field when you don’t get picked, and you are the last one that don’t want to get hurt. For some, it’s when you don’t fit in a certain crowd, or when someone tells you they are going to be there forever, and then they crush your heart, and you become overly cautious. For others, and this is one of the things that must be so sad to God, is that when great Christ followers like those of you who are following Christ, you’ve got people that you know and love, family members, maybe your parents, maybe your children, maybe brothers and sisters, maybe people that you work with, people that you’ve grow up with who do not have a relationship with Christ, and you are afraid to tell them about Jesus. Why? Because you are afraid that they would reject you. That very thing happened in scripture by a group of people who believed in Jesus, but were afraid to confess their faith publicly. Why? They were afraid of rejection. Here’s what scripture says. , “But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith.” Why? Say it out loud. For what? “For fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from,” who? From men, from people, “more than they did praise from God.” Fear of man, it is a snap. It is a snare. It is a trap. We become overly cautious, or we become overly starved.

5 How do we overcome this trap? The Bible teaches us two principles that we will live empowered by the Spirit of God in our lives. T he first one is this, if you are taking notes. By the help of the Spirit of God, number one, we will learn to say yes to pleasing God. More than anything else, our heart will beat with a desire to say “yes,” to pleasing God. In the Old Testament in I Ki ngs 22, we see a great story of Jehoshaphat, who was the king of Judah, and he was having a conversation with the king of Israel. And the king of Israel said, “Jehoshaphat, will you go into battle with me, and we will partner up to help take back what rig htly belongs to us.” And Jehoshaphat responded this way in verse 5. He said to the king of Israel, “First, we will,” what? “We will seek the counsel of the Lord.” I love this style of leadership. What did he do? “First, we seek God.” Not, “First, we seek our advisors.” Not, “First, we poll the people to see what opinions they have.” But, “First, we seek to please God. We seek the counsel of the Lord.” So, when you are faced with making a decision, what do you do? You don’t ask, “What will people think? What will my parents think? What will my friends think? What will my co - workers think?” The first thing that we ask is, “What will God think?” We seek to please God in all that we do. I love the story about, truly, one of the greatest evange lists of modern history, G. Campbell Morgan. True story, in 1888, he stood before three men who had the power to determine, “Is he called to preach, or is he not called to preach?” And he stood with other young, hopeful preachers, and they all preached f or these three guys, and at the end of the day, these three men posted an “accepted” and “rejected” list. G. Campbell Morgan went and looked for his name on the accepted list, and it was not there. Some of you know that feeling. You poured out your hear t and your life in a certain direction, and then, some person said, “I reject you. You don’t have what it takes.” “Wish I never had you. Wish that you would go away. You’re not welcome here.” And, he was crushed. He looked on the second list, and the re his name was as one who was rejected. Devastated, he sent his dad a telegram, and he simply had one word on the telegram: rejected. A few days later, though, his very wise dad sent a telegram back, and G. Campbell Morgan said that message from his fat her changed his life forever. The telegram simply said, “Rejected by men, accepted by God,” and that’s where I want to fall. I will be rejected by people. You will, too, if you are following Christ. Did you know that? If you are following Christ, you will be rejected by people. In , it was prophesied of Jesus that He would be despised and rejected by men. Why do you think that you could follow Christ and please people all the time anyway? You can’t. Our first desire is to please God in all that we do. That’s why Jesus said this in , He said, “But seek first God’s kingdom. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.” As you seek that first, then everything else will be added unto you. The first thing that we do is, we lear n to say, “Yes,” to pleasing God. The second thing, if you are taking notes, should be obvious. We say, “No,” to pleasing people. We say, “No,” to pleasing people. Now, please don’t take this out of context and say, “Pastor Craig told us we are suppose d to be rude!” No, we are always supposed to show love and to show the grace of God in relationships, but what we are not driven by is, we are not driven by becoming people pleasers. I love the way this question is asked in . Isaiah asked the q uestion. He said, “Who are you that you fear mortal men? Who are you that you fear the opinions of people, the sons of men, who are but grass? Why

5 How do we overcome this trap? The Bible teaches us two principles that we will live empowered by the Spirit of God in our lives. T he first one is this, if you are taking notes. By the help of the Spirit of God, number one, we will learn to say yes to pleasing God. More than anything else, our heart will beat with a desire to say “yes,” to pleasing God. In the Old Testament in I Ki ngs 22, we see a great story of Jehoshaphat, who was the king of Judah, and he was having a conversation with the king of Israel. And the king of Israel said, “Jehoshaphat, will you go into battle with me, and we will partner up to help take back what rig htly belongs to us.” And Jehoshaphat responded this way in verse 5. He said to the king of Israel, “First, we will,” what? “We will seek the counsel of the Lord.” I love this style of leadership. What did he do? “First, we seek God.” Not, “First, we seek our advisors.” Not, “First, we poll the people to see what opinions they have.” But, “First, we seek to please God. We seek the counsel of the Lord.” So, when you are faced with making a decision, what do you do? You don’t ask, “What will people think? What will my parents think? What will my friends think? What will my co - workers think?” The first thing that we ask is, “What will God think?” We seek to please God in all that we do. I love the story about, truly, one of the greatest evange lists of modern history, G. Campbell Morgan. True story, in 1888, he stood before three men who had the power to determine, “Is he called to preach, or is he not called to preach?” And he stood with other young, hopeful preachers, and they all preached f or these three guys, and at the end of the day, these three men posted an “accepted” and “rejected” list. G. Campbell Morgan went and looked for his name on the accepted list, and it was not there. Some of you know that feeling. You poured out your hear t and your life in a certain direction, and then, some person said, “I reject you. You don’t have what it takes.” “Wish I never had you. Wish that you would go away. You’re not welcome here.” And, he was crushed. He looked on the second list, and the re his name was as one who was rejected. Devastated, he sent his dad a telegram, and he simply had one word on the telegram: rejected. A few days later, though, his very wise dad sent a telegram back, and G. Campbell Morgan said that message from his fat her changed his life forever. The telegram simply said, “Rejected by men, accepted by God,” and that’s where I want to fall. I will be rejected by people. You will, too, if you are following Christ. Did you know that? If you are following Christ, you will be rejected by people. In , it was prophesied of Jesus that He would be despised and rejected by men. Why do you think that you could follow Christ and please people all the time anyway? You can’t. Our first desire is to please God in all that we do. That’s why Jesus said this in , He said, “But seek first God’s kingdom. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.” As you seek that first, then everything else will be added unto you. The first thing that we do is, we lear n to say, “Yes,” to pleasing God. The second thing, if you are taking notes, should be obvious. We say, “No,” to pleasing people. We say, “No,” to pleasing people. Now, please don’t take this out of context and say, “Pastor Craig told us we are suppose d to be rude!” No, we are always supposed to show love and to show the grace of God in relationships, but what we are not driven by is, we are not driven by becoming people pleasers. I love the way this question is asked in . Isaiah asked the q uestion. He said, “Who are you that you fear mortal men? Who are you that you fear the opinions of people, the sons of men, who are but grass? Why

6 do you fear people,” he says, “that you forget the Lord God your Maker.” Who are you that you fear people? Do you know what’s crazy? It’s how often I get caught up in my approval addiction, and I am driven by what people think, so much so, that I forget God. That I forget God. I had an event that it may not seem very big to you, but it was really big to m e. As an approval addict, I wanted everyone to like me. I wanted to win the awards. I wanted to do whatever. In college, there was this ... several awards that I was really hoping to get. One of them was one of the biggest ones, and I was nominated for it my senior year. It was called “All Greek Man Of The Year.” Some people called it “All Geek Man Of The Year,” but I didn’t like those people, and so anyway, I was nominated for “All Greek Man Of The year,” and I was one of just a hand full of people, a nd we had to go before these five judges, and one of the things that we had to do was fill out our accomplishments and such on a piece of paper, and I filled all mine out. I got to the very last question, and I was feeling confident. “I think I could win this.” The very last question was this. What was the most important thing that you did in your four years at college? Well, without a shadow of a doubt, the most important thing, bar nothing else, was that I surrendered my heart to Christ, and that was the truth. But I knew that before this panel of five non - Christian judges, that if I put that answer, that I would likely be disqualified from winning this award, so I had the choice. Do I put what people want to hear? Or, do I put what is the truth be fore God? Do I play it safe and politically correct? Or, do I be a bold witness before those who might reject me? What do you think that I did? Politically correct? Or truth? Thank you for those who thought truth. I went politically correct. I wrot e down what they wanted to hear, but couldn’t turn it in as it was, crossed it out, and at the bottom I put, “The most important thing I did is surrender my life to the Lord Jesus Christ.” That decision was one of the greatest personal victories of my who le life. It was like I stepped across the line and said I am no longer living for the approval of people. Now the question you may ask is, “Did I win the award?” And the answer is, I am not going to tell you, because it doesn’t matter at all, does it? Not a bit, because on that day, I won the most important award, which was not the “All Greek Man Of The Year,” but it was the person who was bold before God, seeking to please Him, and not seeking to please people. And, here’s the way it is. Every singl e day, every single day, every single day, you will have an opportunity to cave in and live for the approval of people, or you will have the opportunity to surrender your heart at that moment to God and say, “I live for You, and You alone.” What will it b e? Fear of men, it is a trap. It is a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord, that one is kept safe. Look at the way Paul asked this pressing question in . He says this. He asks himself. Ask yourself. Ask yourself sincerely, “Am I now tr ying to win the approval of men? Or of God? Or, am I trying to please men?” He says, “If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Ask yourself, “Am I living for the approval of people, because if I am, I cannot be followi ng Christ. Am I trying to please people, or am I trying to please God?” Fear of man, it is a trap. It is a snare. Say yes to pleasing God. Say no to being a people pleaser, and that leads to our goal. If you are taking notes, our goal before God is t o live for an audience of one, not for the audience of people, who will ultimately reject us and be fickle in the long run, anyway, but to live for the only One who’s opinion really

6 do you fear people,” he says, “that you forget the Lord God your Maker.” Who are you that you fear people? Do you know what’s crazy? It’s how often I get caught up in my approval addiction, and I am driven by what people think, so much so, that I forget God. That I forget God. I had an event that it may not seem very big to you, but it was really big to m e. As an approval addict, I wanted everyone to like me. I wanted to win the awards. I wanted to do whatever. In college, there was this ... several awards that I was really hoping to get. One of them was one of the biggest ones, and I was nominated for it my senior year. It was called “All Greek Man Of The Year.” Some people called it “All Geek Man Of The Year,” but I didn’t like those people, and so anyway, I was nominated for “All Greek Man Of The year,” and I was one of just a hand full of people, a nd we had to go before these five judges, and one of the things that we had to do was fill out our accomplishments and such on a piece of paper, and I filled all mine out. I got to the very last question, and I was feeling confident. “I think I could win this.” The very last question was this. What was the most important thing that you did in your four years at college? Well, without a shadow of a doubt, the most important thing, bar nothing else, was that I surrendered my heart to Christ, and that was the truth. But I knew that before this panel of five non - Christian judges, that if I put that answer, that I would likely be disqualified from winning this award, so I had the choice. Do I put what people want to hear? Or, do I put what is the truth be fore God? Do I play it safe and politically correct? Or, do I be a bold witness before those who might reject me? What do you think that I did? Politically correct? Or truth? Thank you for those who thought truth. I went politically correct. I wrot e down what they wanted to hear, but couldn’t turn it in as it was, crossed it out, and at the bottom I put, “The most important thing I did is surrender my life to the Lord Jesus Christ.” That decision was one of the greatest personal victories of my who le life. It was like I stepped across the line and said I am no longer living for the approval of people. Now the question you may ask is, “Did I win the award?” And the answer is, I am not going to tell you, because it doesn’t matter at all, does it? Not a bit, because on that day, I won the most important award, which was not the “All Greek Man Of The Year,” but it was the person who was bold before God, seeking to please Him, and not seeking to please people. And, here’s the way it is. Every singl e day, every single day, every single day, you will have an opportunity to cave in and live for the approval of people, or you will have the opportunity to surrender your heart at that moment to God and say, “I live for You, and You alone.” What will it b e? Fear of men, it is a trap. It is a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord, that one is kept safe. Look at the way Paul asked this pressing question in . He says this. He asks himself. Ask yourself. Ask yourself sincerely, “Am I now tr ying to win the approval of men? Or of God? Or, am I trying to please men?” He says, “If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Ask yourself, “Am I living for the approval of people, because if I am, I cannot be followi ng Christ. Am I trying to please people, or am I trying to please God?” Fear of man, it is a trap. It is a snare. Say yes to pleasing God. Say no to being a people pleaser, and that leads to our goal. If you are taking notes, our goal before God is t o live for an audience of one, not for the audience of people, who will ultimately reject us and be fickle in the long run, anyway, but to live for the only One who’s opinion really

7 matters. And, we live for an audience of One. That’s why Jesus said this in . He said, “By myself, I can do,” how much? Say it out loud. He said, “By myself I can do nothing.” He said, “I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself, but,” who? Who do I seek to please? “The one who sent me.” I seek to live for an audience of One. Fear of people, it’s a trap. It’s a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord is found secure and is kept safe. It’s a lot like this. How many of you when you were young, grade school, the glory days, fi rst grade, second grade. How many of you were ever called on by your teacher to leave class and to go on an errand, maybe say to the principal, and you left all the other losers behind as you were given a hall pass. Who remembers the glory? God bless yo u guys. For the rest of you, I am sorry you missed out on this. I was called probably more that any other students. This was second, only to the glory of being a junior fire marshall, but that’s a whole another story. And, I would love the day when the teacher would say, “Craig, would you go and carry this message to the principal,” and the teacher would give me a hall pass. I’d walk out of class with the most confident, secure feeling that you ever seen. I would weave by my buddies classes, and walk by their window going, “You ain’t got a hall pass. Groeschell’s out in the hall ... you’re stuck on the inside ... you ain’t got no hall pass.” Obviously, some of you didn’t have this experience, because if you did, you would know what I was talking about. And, I would walk down just waiting for some teacher to stop me. “Young man, aren’t you supposed to be in class? “Oh, funny that you asked. Hahahaha, ha - l - l p - a - s - s! Hall pass. Got you. Oh! I’m on an assignment. Doesn’t matter what you think. You can’t stop me. I am here to please the one who sent me, and the one who sent me said I have got permission to do this. Doesn’t matter what you think. I’ve got a hall pass.” This is good stuff today. [laugh] I got God’s hall pass, and His hall pass t ells me who I am and what I am called to do, and because of this hall pass, I am not subject to your opinion, or your judgment. No matter what you think about me, God says I am acceptable through Jesus Christ. No matter what you think about me, God says He loves me just as I am, and I am perfect in His sight. When I believe what He says about me, it frees me from dancing for you. You see, at that moment, I live for an audience of One. It doesn’t matter if you think I am not good enough. God says, even in my weakness, His strength is made perfect. God says that I am blessed coming in, and I am blessed going out. God says that He is working everything for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. God says that I am an overco mer by the blood that His Son shed for me, and by the words of my testimony. God says, according to my hall pass, that He has plans for me to bless me and to prosper me, plans to give me a great hope and a great future. Whenever people doubt you, you pul l out God’s hall pass. God says you are a special. You are called. You are equipped. “You are just the way I wanted you.” People’s opinions do not matter. When God says you are free to go, you go. When God gives you an assignment, you do His assignm ent. We do not live for the approval of people. We’ve got God’s hall pass. Fear of men, it’s a trap. It’s a snare, but he who trusts in God is kept safe. I love the words of Lloyd Ogilvie . Some of you, these words will become a part of your life. L ook at what he said. “Secure in God’s love, I will not surrender my self - worth to the opinions and judgments of others. When I am rejected, I will not retaliate. When I am hurt, I will

7 matters. And, we live for an audience of One. That’s why Jesus said this in . He said, “By myself, I can do,” how much? Say it out loud. He said, “By myself I can do nothing.” He said, “I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself, but,” who? Who do I seek to please? “The one who sent me.” I seek to live for an audience of One. Fear of people, it’s a trap. It’s a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord is found secure and is kept safe. It’s a lot like this. How many of you when you were young, grade school, the glory days, fi rst grade, second grade. How many of you were ever called on by your teacher to leave class and to go on an errand, maybe say to the principal, and you left all the other losers behind as you were given a hall pass. Who remembers the glory? God bless yo u guys. For the rest of you, I am sorry you missed out on this. I was called probably more that any other students. This was second, only to the glory of being a junior fire marshall, but that’s a whole another story. And, I would love the day when the teacher would say, “Craig, would you go and carry this message to the principal,” and the teacher would give me a hall pass. I’d walk out of class with the most confident, secure feeling that you ever seen. I would weave by my buddies classes, and walk by their window going, “You ain’t got a hall pass. Groeschell’s out in the hall ... you’re stuck on the inside ... you ain’t got no hall pass.” Obviously, some of you didn’t have this experience, because if you did, you would know what I was talking about. And, I would walk down just waiting for some teacher to stop me. “Young man, aren’t you supposed to be in class? “Oh, funny that you asked. Hahahaha, ha - l - l p - a - s - s! Hall pass. Got you. Oh! I’m on an assignment. Doesn’t matter what you think. You can’t stop me. I am here to please the one who sent me, and the one who sent me said I have got permission to do this. Doesn’t matter what you think. I’ve got a hall pass.” This is good stuff today. [laugh] I got God’s hall pass, and His hall pass t ells me who I am and what I am called to do, and because of this hall pass, I am not subject to your opinion, or your judgment. No matter what you think about me, God says I am acceptable through Jesus Christ. No matter what you think about me, God says He loves me just as I am, and I am perfect in His sight. When I believe what He says about me, it frees me from dancing for you. You see, at that moment, I live for an audience of One. It doesn’t matter if you think I am not good enough. God says, even in my weakness, His strength is made perfect. God says that I am blessed coming in, and I am blessed going out. God says that He is working everything for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. God says that I am an overco mer by the blood that His Son shed for me, and by the words of my testimony. God says, according to my hall pass, that He has plans for me to bless me and to prosper me, plans to give me a great hope and a great future. Whenever people doubt you, you pul l out God’s hall pass. God says you are a special. You are called. You are equipped. “You are just the way I wanted you.” People’s opinions do not matter. When God says you are free to go, you go. When God gives you an assignment, you do His assignm ent. We do not live for the approval of people. We’ve got God’s hall pass. Fear of men, it’s a trap. It’s a snare, but he who trusts in God is kept safe. I love the words of Lloyd Ogilvie . Some of you, these words will become a part of your life. L ook at what he said. “Secure in God’s love, I will not surrender my self - worth to the opinions and judgments of others. When I am rejected, I will not retaliate. When I am hurt, I will

8 allow God’s love to heal me, and knowing the pain of rejection, I wi ll seek to love those who suffer from its anguish. Look at that first line again. Secure in God’s love, I will not surrender my self worth to the opinions and the judgments of others. You see, I say yes to pleasing God, no to being a people pleaser, and my goal is to live for an audience of One. In that and in His presence, I find security. Let’s all pray together. “God, we ask that Your Holy Spirit would be at work in our hearts right now. At all of our campuses, God, that we would be listening to what You say to us.” As you take a minute and you pray where you are, I am going to challenge you to ask yourself a couple of questions. Be honest. Are you an approval addict? I have to consistently ask myself, “Am I preparing this message to make peo ple happy, to please people? Or, am I preparing this to do what God wants me to do? If I am trying to please people, I am not a servant of Christ.” Are you living your life in such a way as seeking the approval of people, or are you living for an audien ce of One? If you, like me, are haunted with the addiction for approval so often today, I believe that the presence of God is going to set you free. He is going to start a freeing work in your life. Fear of man, it proves to be a snare. Today, we are p utting our hope, our trust, and finding our security in God, and in God alone. If you say, “Yeah, Craig, I’m like you. Fear of rejection has been a big problem. I find myself dancing for the approval of people, rather than living according to God’s plan . I want God to forgive me, and to help me overcome this. I want to live for an audience of One.” If that is you, at all of our campuses right now, a moment of truthfulness and vulnerability before God, would you lift up your hands? All over all the au ditoriums right now are saying, “Yes, God is speaking to me in this area.” As you are praying, just kind of in your own words, I am going to pray with you and for you, and just kind of put this into your own words, and make it your prayer before God. “Go d, I pray, first of all, for forgiveness, for seeking approval in the wrong places. God, I confess that I am an approval addict, and I want to be liked by people, and oftentimes, that short circuits my serving You in the way that You call me. God, forgiv e me for that. God, empower us to be bold, to share Your love, to never hesitate because we are afraid of what people will think of us. God, I pray that anytime we are tempted to do what people want that’s different than what You want, that Your Holy Spi rit would convict us, remind us, nudge us, and hit us hard. Show us, God, whenever we are trying to live for people’s opinions above Your opinion. God, I pray that by the power of Your Holy Spirit, You would enable us to live for an audience of One, that our greatest desire would be to reflect Your goodness and to glorify You in all that we do. God, help us to overcome the need for people’s approval, and help us desire, more than anything else, pleasing You, glorifying You through Your Son, Jesus Christ. ” As you continue to pray today, I think about how God put it all on the line and risked being rejected. If you don’t know the truth of our condition, the Bible shows us that we have a problem. God is a perfect and a holy God, and we have a bent toward s sin, a sin nature. And the Bible shows us that our sin is what separates us from God. God took the ultimate risk when He sent His sinless Son, Jesus, who lived on earth without sin, He died on the cross. He died for us. He shed innocent blood for the forgiveness

8 allow God’s love to heal me, and knowing the pain of rejection, I wi ll seek to love those who suffer from its anguish. Look at that first line again. Secure in God’s love, I will not surrender my self worth to the opinions and the judgments of others. You see, I say yes to pleasing God, no to being a people pleaser, and my goal is to live for an audience of One. In that and in His presence, I find security. Let’s all pray together. “God, we ask that Your Holy Spirit would be at work in our hearts right now. At all of our campuses, God, that we would be listening to what You say to us.” As you take a minute and you pray where you are, I am going to challenge you to ask yourself a couple of questions. Be honest. Are you an approval addict? I have to consistently ask myself, “Am I preparing this message to make peo ple happy, to please people? Or, am I preparing this to do what God wants me to do? If I am trying to please people, I am not a servant of Christ.” Are you living your life in such a way as seeking the approval of people, or are you living for an audien ce of One? If you, like me, are haunted with the addiction for approval so often today, I believe that the presence of God is going to set you free. He is going to start a freeing work in your life. Fear of man, it proves to be a snare. Today, we are p utting our hope, our trust, and finding our security in God, and in God alone. If you say, “Yeah, Craig, I’m like you. Fear of rejection has been a big problem. I find myself dancing for the approval of people, rather than living according to God’s plan . I want God to forgive me, and to help me overcome this. I want to live for an audience of One.” If that is you, at all of our campuses right now, a moment of truthfulness and vulnerability before God, would you lift up your hands? All over all the au ditoriums right now are saying, “Yes, God is speaking to me in this area.” As you are praying, just kind of in your own words, I am going to pray with you and for you, and just kind of put this into your own words, and make it your prayer before God. “Go d, I pray, first of all, for forgiveness, for seeking approval in the wrong places. God, I confess that I am an approval addict, and I want to be liked by people, and oftentimes, that short circuits my serving You in the way that You call me. God, forgiv e me for that. God, empower us to be bold, to share Your love, to never hesitate because we are afraid of what people will think of us. God, I pray that anytime we are tempted to do what people want that’s different than what You want, that Your Holy Spi rit would convict us, remind us, nudge us, and hit us hard. Show us, God, whenever we are trying to live for people’s opinions above Your opinion. God, I pray that by the power of Your Holy Spirit, You would enable us to live for an audience of One, that our greatest desire would be to reflect Your goodness and to glorify You in all that we do. God, help us to overcome the need for people’s approval, and help us desire, more than anything else, pleasing You, glorifying You through Your Son, Jesus Christ. ” As you continue to pray today, I think about how God put it all on the line and risked being rejected. If you don’t know the truth of our condition, the Bible shows us that we have a problem. God is a perfect and a holy God, and we have a bent toward s sin, a sin nature. And the Bible shows us that our sin is what separates us from God. God took the ultimate risk when He sent His sinless Son, Jesus, who lived on earth without sin, He died on the cross. He died for us. He shed innocent blood for the forgiveness

9 of our sins. Jesus died for us and God raised Him from the grave, and basically, Jesus put it all on the line and said, “Will you accept the perfect sacrifice that I gave for you, or do you reject Me.” Bottom line, Jesus said, “Will you acce pt Me? Or, do you reject Me?” Have you accepted Him and made Him first in your life? , “Am I now living to please people or God? If I am still living for people, I am not a servant of Christ.” Ask yourself, “Am I truly a servant of Chris t, or am I a servant of the opinions of people? Have I surrendered my heart to Christ?” The Bible says that anyone who believes in what Jesus did, that person would be forgiven. Your sins would be gone as if they were never committed. You are perfect i n God’s eyes. You will be filled with the same Spirit that raised Christ from the grave. You are blessed of God. You are changed. What do you do? You turn away from serving yourself, and you say, “I want to be a servant of Christ. I want to follow Hi m.” You are not forgiven by your good works. You are forgiven by the perfect work of Christ, and at that moment of forgiveness, you step forward and say, “For the rest of my life, Jesus, I want to be Your disciple. I want to follow You.” Those of you t hat would say, “Well, if I’m being honest, I am serving the opinion of people and my own selfish desires, and I am not serving Christ.” Surrender your heart to Him. Say, “Jesus, be first. Be first in every way. I surrender my life. Forgive me of my si ns. Make me brand new. Jesus, I submit my heart to You. Would you be the Savior and the Lord of my life?” At that moment, He will forgive you. You will be transformed. You will be accepted by God, and your life will never be the same. At all of our campuses, those of you saying, “That’s my prayer right now. Jesus, transform me. Forgive me. Be the Savior and the Lord of my life. I give my life to You. I want to follow You.” Would you lift your hands at all of the campuses right now? Let me jus t meet you eye - to - eye. Right here in the middle section. God bless you. Ma’am, right over here in the middle section. God bless you, as well. Others of you. Ma’am, right over there. God bless you. Thank you. Others of you, let me just meet you eye - to - eye. Right back here toward the back. Welcome into God’s family, sir. Sir, right here. God bless you. Man, I love you, that guy right there. Right over here on this side. Ma’am right over here. God bless you. Welcome into God’s family. “God, touch her heart.” Others of you saying, “That’s my prayer.” Ma’am, right here, thank you, sweetheart. Big smile. “Jesus, touch her heart as she surrenders to You.” Others of you saying, “That’s my prayer. Right now, at this moment, I surrender.” Ma’ am, God bless you. Big smile and a nod. “Yes, Jesus, transform her.” Others of you saying, “That’s my prayer.” Right back over here, sir. The kingdom of God is entering your heart at this moment. The power of Jesus is transforming you. Others of you saying, “That’s my prayer. That’s my prayer.” I celebrate with you guys at Edmond. They tell me that four there have surrendered to Christ. Man, we celebrate with you guys. Others today that say, “Yes, Jesus.” Right over here on this side. God ble ss you. Welcome into the family of God as you say yes to Jesus. Others of you today. Let’s all do this as part of the family of Christ, as we celebrate with others who are coming to know Him. Would you all pray out loud with me and those praying this for the first time? Just pray, “Heavenly Father, I am ready to know You and to serve You, and

9 of our sins. Jesus died for us and God raised Him from the grave, and basically, Jesus put it all on the line and said, “Will you accept the perfect sacrifice that I gave for you, or do you reject Me.” Bottom line, Jesus said, “Will you acce pt Me? Or, do you reject Me?” Have you accepted Him and made Him first in your life? , “Am I now living to please people or God? If I am still living for people, I am not a servant of Christ.” Ask yourself, “Am I truly a servant of Chris t, or am I a servant of the opinions of people? Have I surrendered my heart to Christ?” The Bible says that anyone who believes in what Jesus did, that person would be forgiven. Your sins would be gone as if they were never committed. You are perfect i n God’s eyes. You will be filled with the same Spirit that raised Christ from the grave. You are blessed of God. You are changed. What do you do? You turn away from serving yourself, and you say, “I want to be a servant of Christ. I want to follow Hi m.” You are not forgiven by your good works. You are forgiven by the perfect work of Christ, and at that moment of forgiveness, you step forward and say, “For the rest of my life, Jesus, I want to be Your disciple. I want to follow You.” Those of you t hat would say, “Well, if I’m being honest, I am serving the opinion of people and my own selfish desires, and I am not serving Christ.” Surrender your heart to Him. Say, “Jesus, be first. Be first in every way. I surrender my life. Forgive me of my si ns. Make me brand new. Jesus, I submit my heart to You. Would you be the Savior and the Lord of my life?” At that moment, He will forgive you. You will be transformed. You will be accepted by God, and your life will never be the same. At all of our campuses, those of you saying, “That’s my prayer right now. Jesus, transform me. Forgive me. Be the Savior and the Lord of my life. I give my life to You. I want to follow You.” Would you lift your hands at all of the campuses right now? Let me jus t meet you eye - to - eye. Right here in the middle section. God bless you. Ma’am, right over here in the middle section. God bless you, as well. Others of you. Ma’am, right over there. God bless you. Thank you. Others of you, let me just meet you eye - to - eye. Right back here toward the back. Welcome into God’s family, sir. Sir, right here. God bless you. Man, I love you, that guy right there. Right over here on this side. Ma’am right over here. God bless you. Welcome into God’s family. “God, touch her heart.” Others of you saying, “That’s my prayer.” Ma’am, right here, thank you, sweetheart. Big smile. “Jesus, touch her heart as she surrenders to You.” Others of you saying, “That’s my prayer. Right now, at this moment, I surrender.” Ma’ am, God bless you. Big smile and a nod. “Yes, Jesus, transform her.” Others of you saying, “That’s my prayer.” Right back over here, sir. The kingdom of God is entering your heart at this moment. The power of Jesus is transforming you. Others of you saying, “That’s my prayer. That’s my prayer.” I celebrate with you guys at Edmond. They tell me that four there have surrendered to Christ. Man, we celebrate with you guys. Others today that say, “Yes, Jesus.” Right over here on this side. God ble ss you. Welcome into the family of God as you say yes to Jesus. Others of you today. Let’s all do this as part of the family of Christ, as we celebrate with others who are coming to know Him. Would you all pray out loud with me and those praying this for the first time? Just pray, “Heavenly Father, I am ready to know You and to serve You, and

1 0 not people. Forgive me of my sinfulness. Make me a new person. Jesus, I want You to be first as the Savior and the Lord of my life. As You died for me, my de sire is to live for You. It’s not about me. I want to follow You. I am Your disciple, and You are now my Lord. Thank You for loving me, and transforming my life. In Jesus’ name I pray.”

1 0 not people. Forgive me of my sinfulness. Make me a new person. Jesus, I want You to be first as the Savior and the Lord of my life. As You died for me, my de sire is to live for You. It’s not about me. I want to follow You. I am Your disciple, and You are now my Lord. Thank You for loving me, and transforming my life. In Jesus’ name I pray.”