ONCE UPON A MARRIAGE; WEEK 2 AHAB AND JEZEBEL. Craig Groeschel Video text: Once there was a king by the name of Ahab.

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1 ONCE UPON A MARRIAGE; WEEK 2 AHAB AND JEZEBEL Craig Groeschel Video text: Once there was a king by the name of Ahab. "Hello!" Who took a queen by the name of Jezebel. "Hello, I'm evil!" Ahab was a powerful king, but an easy going sort of fellow. So, when Jezebel came into the picture, she began to make some changes. "Change the drapes!" "Yes, dear!" "Build an alter!" "Yes, dear!" "Kill the prophets!" "No, I don't want to!" "Fine, I will do it myself!" Needless to say, God didn't like this one bit. And before long, Ahab found himself in a world of trouble. "Uh oh!" Join us and discover where Ahab went wrong in Once Upon a Marriage. Pastor Craig Groeschel Alright, if you have your Bibles with you, or your cell phones on YOUVERSION, would you turn with me to 1 Kings, Chapter 21. We are in the second week of the series called, Once Upon a Marriage. Let me get a little crowd participation if I could. Ladies, let me talk to you for a moment. All of our locations, if you would participate with me, be really honest! Ladies, how many of you maybe occasionally, or perhaps even often, battle with the need to have things the way you want them? You can be a

2 little controlling? Ladies, go ahead and take control of the situation and raise your hands! Thank you for your honesty. Gentlemen, you may be aggressive in your business, or your hobbies; but, how many of you would say that occasionally, in maybe some important areas, you are a little too easy going; going with the flow and passive? Guys, would you passively raise your hands? Ladies, if you are sitting next to a really passive guy and you are really controlling. He is so passive that he didn't raise his hand, would you just reach over and do this for him? Okay, good, good! We are going to talk about this subject today, as we look at what is perhaps one of the worst marriages in the Bible. If you feel like you've got a bad marriage, you'll feel much better about yours after we look at the marriage between King Ahab, and his very evil and annoying wife, Jezebel. Let me give you some context about this couple. King Ahab was the seventh King of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He ruled for about 20 years, from BC. He was honestly a strong military and political leader, but as is the case often, when there is the guy who is a go getter in one area, for some reason it's not uncommon for this guy to be rather passive at home, and apparently he was. He could have led the people of God back to the one, true God; but what was happening in this time is God's people, they were drifting into some very unusual and unbiblical practices. They were involved in calf worship, of all things. When he married Jezebel, (whose name means where is Ba'al), under her influence, he led the people further away from the one true God, into idolatry of Ba'al worship. In fact, Scripture even says that this man did more evil than any of the other kings before him. But, he did not do it alone. Let's look at God's Word, 1 Kings 21:25; this verse will set the tone for our study. The Bible says: "No one else so completely sold himself to what was evil in the Lord's sight as Ahab..." But notice, he did not do it alone. The Bible says he did it how? Say it aloud everybody... He did it, "...under the influence of his wife Jezebel." Ahab and Jezebel represent two of the most common problems in marriages throughout history. If you are taking notes, write this down: Ahab represents the passive husband and Jezebel represents the controlling wife. Let's look at their lives and we'll see this come out in both. Let's start with the passive husband. Verses 2-4, let me give you the context again. King Ahab had a

3 neighbor named Naboth. Naboth had a really sweet vineyard. Ahab saw his neighbor's sweet vineyard and thought, I've always wanted a sweet vineyard for myself. So, he went out to get this vineyard, and here's what happened. Verse 2, the Bible says this: "Ahab said to Naboth, 'Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace.'" Now, let's pause there for just a moment. There is a spiritual principal, one that I do not like, but it is absolutely true. That is that every man has a chick thing! They all do! Every man is allowed one chick thing! Some of you men, you cry at chick flicks, that's your chick thing. Some men like to have their fingernails done, manicure, it's a chick thing. I personally would rather be beat up by a UFC fighter, than have my nails done; but, if that's your chick thing I won't judge you! Some guys are into their hair, they've got more hair product than three women put together, that's their chick thing. My chick thing is candles. I know it's incredibly disappointing to many of you, some of you will not come back! That's my chick thing! I like delightful fragrances, that's my chick thing! I mean, I know it's weird, but it's my chick thing! King Ahab, his chick thing was that he wanted a vegetable garden! Now, you can have one, if you have all of these things, you are not allowed to come to this church gentlemen. I just want you to know that! But anyway, he wants a vegetable garden, so he can make tomatoes and here is what he says: "In exchange, I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth." So, he goes into negotiations. Verse 3: "But Naboth replied, 'The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers'. So, Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite said, 'I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.'" So, what did this guy do? The Bible says: "He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat." Let's call him what he is, he's a wuss. That's my church version, okay? What's going on here? He's entering into a business negotiation for a piece of real estate. He makes an offer, the other guy goes, the king is making me an offer, no deal! Who is not going to say that? Let's raise the price. Now, maybe Naboth would have never taken the deal, we don't know. But, when he didn't think he could win, the king basically took his ball and went home. Which is the way many men are. If we don't feel like we can be successful, we don't want to play the game at all.

4 In marriage, whenever a man feels like, I will never measure up to what she wants. I will never be good enough. I will never be like her father. I will never be able to please her, because every time I try, she tells me I don't. If we do not feel like we can win, we often take our ball and go home and crawl under the bed and sulk. Very sad, very disgusting, but very true. The passive man. Let's look for a moment at the controlling wife, verses 5-7. Verse 5: His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, "Why are you so sullen? Why won't you eat?" I may be reading into her tone, but probably not! Verse 6: He answered her, "Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, 'Sell me your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.' But he said, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'" I can't have my vegetable garden, okay! Watch what she does, verse 7: Jezebel his wife said, "Is this how you act as king over Israel?" Big old winer, loser, crybaby, wuss! "Get up and eat! Cheer up. I'll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite." In other words, you can't do it yourself? Move out of the way! Let somebody who knows how to do it get it done! Ladies, I will tell you something that you probably already know, that we as men don't like to admit. We are all very insecure at one point or another in our lives. Often, the stronger we portray ourselves outwardly, the more vulnerable or weak we feel inside. You can go all of the way back to the garden and you can see this. God created everything, it was good, it's good, animals are good, mountains good, this good, etc. Everything is good, but it's not good that man be alone. He just doesn't do well. He will lose his keys, he won't bathe regularly. I mean, it's just not good that man be alone. So, God brings to man woman. Beautiful, fun; but God says that she is your 'helper' or 'helpmate'. Now, some women get insulted by this and say, "I don't want to be that!" It's sad to me because it's really such an important role, because the wife, in the husband's life is necessary to help him become all that God wants him to be. But here's the key ladies, those of you who are wives need to understand that by the way you treat your husband, you can take a man who is already weak, and you can help him to become a stronger man of God. That's what a godly woman will do. A godly woman will help a weak man become stronger, but a controlling woman will always make a weak man weaker. That is exactly what Jezebel did in the life of her husband, King Ahab. She did it by doing two things, and these two things are still the two major things that will make a weak man weaker.

5 The first thing she does, is she belittles her husband with her words. Verse 7, she says: "Is this how you act as king over Israel?" In other words, you are not doing what you should. You never do what is right! You can't and I wish, and you're not...on and on and on and on! Ladies, we have to understand that what you say about your husband is either building him up or tearing him down. So often, he is becoming what you speak about him. Because Proverbs says: "There is the power of life or death in words." Sadly so often, the controlling wife will tear her husband down over and over again, with belittling and critical words. I will give you an example in my life. I am so thankful that Amy, most of time, and not always, but most of the time, she really does make a weak man stronger. Back years ago, I was 27 years of age, and I was working as Associate Pastor of First United Methodist Church. Great church, great ministry, loved it all. Although I didn't get paid hardly anything, I did get paid every two weeks, which was a very good thing. The check came and I was feeling stirred by God to start a new church. Which at 27 years of age, it scared the fire out of me. You know, I may not be good enough, I don't know enough, and we may not live, and all of this kind of stuff. I was talking to one of Amy's friends kind of going, "I'm just not sure". Her friend said to me, "You ought to hear what your wife says about you! She said that you can lead anyone to Christ. She said that if you had an hour alone with the antichrist, you could probably lead the antichrist to Christ. It's just a gift for you. Your wife says that whenever you get in front of people, they just follow. They just seem to do this!" I said, "Wait, wait, wait! My wife said that?" He said, "Yeah, your wife said that!" "My wife said that about me? Tell me more! What else did she say about me?" What it did was, not just when she says it to me, but when she speaks well of me to others, because I expect her to be smart enough to speak well to me, but when she brags on me to others, it's like "Wow! That's so meaningful!" Because so often, a wife will run down her husband with her friends. "He's not, he's not," and on and on and on! She doesn't realize just how important her role is. In my world, in the Christian Church world, probably the most common complaint I hear from Christian wives is, "He just won't lead me spiritually. He's just not the right spiritual leader." I was working with this one couple and she was wining that he wasn't. And he wasn't, no doubt about it. I said to the guy, "Okay, let's try this. What I want you to do is let's just try to pray with her." He's like, "I don't really know how to pray." I said, "I don't care, let's just try. What I want you to do is just

6 say, "Dear God, and just say one or two sentences. You know, help us have a godly marriage. You can do that. Can you do that?" I can do that." So, he went home and he tried it. He came back and I said, "How did it go?" He said, "Well, I tried to pray and I don't think it was very good, but I tried and when I got through with it she said, "You call that a prayer? You think God is going to answer that?" My heart broke for their marriage, because what she just did is basically just said, "You are never going to win in that category." So, he's going to take his ball and he's going to go home and he's not going to try again, because she just belittled him with her words. Now, here's what she should have done and I am half joking, but I am actually mostly serious. What she should have done is said, "Man, thank you so much, I am so grateful that you went to God on our behalf." Then, she should have laid the most aggressive, hard, 30 minute kiss on him, than he's had his entire life! You know what I'm saying? That's what I'm saying! The reason I'm saying that is because what is rewarded is repeated. Think of us ladies like a little puppy dog. Okay? You say, "Come here doggie, good doggie!" Scratch us behind the ears, we are going to wag our tails and come back and do any thing we can to please you. If you throw a newspaper at us and say, "Bad doggie, what kind of prayer was that?" We are going to go off in the corner and we are going to sulk and become passive, because we don't feel like we can win at this. A godly woman can make a weak man stronger. A controlling woman can make a weak man weaker. Ladies, I don't want to just drive this too much, but here is what I want you to understand; no man has ever crawled out from the constant complaining of his wife a better man. Even if everything that she says is true. Did you hear it? I'm not saying he may be not whatever, and he may not be the leader. But, he will never crawl out of constant complaining a better man. Even if what you say is 100% accurate and true. Your roll is so important in his life. The second way a controlling woman makes a weak man weaker is she simply takes over. Watch as Jezebel takes in and takes the driver seat. Verse 7, the middle of the verse, she says: Okay, you can't do it, you loser? I will get you the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite. I will get it done since you can't. Let me give you an example. It's a little bit like when you are traveling in a car. There is a responsible seat and there is the carefree seat. Which seat in the front is a responsible seat? It's the driver seat. Whoever is driving has to pay attention, has to

7 watch the signals, has to know where they are going. The person who is riding shot gun has to do what? Turn up the radio, chill out, drink the drink, have fun. Why? Because someone else is driving! Okay? Ladies, if you always control and if you always drive, eventually you will condition him that all he has to do is turn up the radio and chill and relax in the passenger seat. What's crazy is, and let me just say and let me just acknowledge. Sometimes there's a guy that doesn't do anything. So it's like, you're not going to work, we have got to eat. So, the wife takes control. I want to acknowledge that, sometimes if the woman doesn't do it, it's not going to get done. I am not trying to belittle that; but what I am trying to say, is ladies, if you constantly step into his God- given spot, over and over, and over and over again, eventually he will just let you do it, and he will surrender the calling that God put on his life. Then the very thing that you want most, you will take away from him and you will never get it at all. And it's not just in the big things, because a lot of times it's like the big things. It's often in a series of a little things over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again that train him that he's never going to do anything right. Could be something like, you know, one time he goes in and tries to dress the little kids on his own. First time he ever did it. Let me just say ladies, he's not going to get it right, he's a man. It's impossible, we never match things right, the hair is never right, he's a man! So, the kids come in, you are like going, "You don't match kids, you are not going out like that!" So, you take the kids back in and you redress them. What did you just do? You just told him that he is not going to win in leading that game. So, you have to make a choice, is it worth it to applaud the fact that he did something? Or, do you cut him out at the knees and go and redo it? And sometimes you will have to correct, and other times you have to make the decision. Could be in things around the house, he goes and vacuums, which may be a minor miracle. But, he does it this way, and he doesn't make the lines just right. So, you come and bite his head off because the lines just aren't right. He's probably not going to vacuum next time. He loads the dishwasher and he doesn't do it right! You put the cups over here and not over here! Or, the little wash cloths, he puts them up and she comes in there, "This isn't right! Life is not going to be good unless the wash cloths are folded right!" He's never going to fold the wash cloths again! I hear a lot of ladies say, "My husband won't discipline our children!" It could be that the last 18 times he tried, you told him he didn't do it right, so he took his ball and left! Now, what do you do? Because I want to acknowledge that there are many women that are not controlling by nature, they are simply driven, they are type 'A', and I actually like to hire ladies like that, because they are great! There is nothing wrong with that and that is the way God made them. Sometimes, if they are with a really passive guy, what do you do? Well, a couple of things, and I acknowledge the complexities of it. One thing is ladies, you really ask God to love him faults and all,

8 without taking control. Because if you always take control, he will just ride along in the passenger seat, with no worries at all. The second thing is ladies, I just suggest that you really honestly, you pray, you pray, you pray, you pray; and then you stay out of the way! You don't try to make him what you want him, you pray and you let God do a work. I'm telling you, it could be tough for years, and I acknowledge that. But you pray, and you let the only one who can really do a work in his heart, you pray and then you stay out of the way. Now let's pause, because the women are probably never going to come back after all of this if I just say that. Let me deal with the men for a minute. Perhaps the reason why Jezebel felt like she had to take control is because maybe her husband hadn't done anything in a long time. Maybe in the home, he wasn't leading at all. And what I want to say to the guys is, you have the God- given responsibility to lead. Scripture is very, very clear that in God's perfect world, the man is under the authority of Christ. The woman is under the authority of man. I know a lot of woman don't like that. It is God's word. It's not a thing of power, it's a thing of position. It's God's ordained plan for the family. So men, you are hard wired by God to lead! It's in you! You don't have to teach a man to do it! I'm not going to tell you here's how you do it, because it's already in you, you just step into it. It's like a tiger, you don't have to teach a tiger to hunt. You don't have to teach a fish to swim and you don't have to teach a woman to nag. This is just what's in them! (Just joking about that part! I'm sorry, I couldn't pass it up!) You don't have to teach a man to lead, you just do it! You have confidence to step into it, especially when she's empowering you, it causes you to rise up. Let's just keep it real simple, because that's the way our minds think. Gentlemen, three ways, when you look at the Bible; the three major categories God calls you to lead in would be these three: 1) GOD CALLS US TO BE THE PROVIDER. Now, let me just tell you what that doesn't mean. That doesn't mean that she has to be barefoot and pregnant at home and never work. No, no, no, no, no; she can be a significant financial contributor as well. It doesn't mean that you balance the checkbook when she's better at it. Let her. But what it does mean is that you set the financial tone and direction for your family. What it means is, you lead and say, "Guess what? We are not going to be like everyone else who is upside down in debt, and swallowing, pursuing material things and then being broke and miserable." You set the tone. You offer her the gift of financial stability, which will help her to come alive, because as a woman, she so needs that. You lead your family to it. It doesn't mean you have to be wealthy, but it means you're stable. You lead her and say, "You know what? We are a tithing family, because we are followers of God. We honor God, we want to be under the blessings of God, and you lead in this way.

9 2) YOU LEAD AS HER PROTECTOR. That doesn't just mean if someone breaks into your house, that you beat them into a pulp with every weapon that you have stored up, waiting for the day someone messes with your family. You do that of course. But, it means that you protect her in so many other ways as well. You protect her heart. You protect her emotions. You let her know that as long as she is with you, you will love her with your faithfulness in your actions, mind and with your eyes. You protect her. You protect the children that she gives you. You tell them, "You know what? If everyone else is doing that, and that is not in God's Word, you don't do that!" You protect them. You protect them from the wrong kind of friends. Sorry, you are not hanging out with her. You protect them from the wrong kind of influences. All your friends go there, we don't go there because we are different. You stand as the man of God in prayer and in faith and you protect your family from the dangers and temptations of this fallen world. 3) YOU ARE THE PASTOR. Now, don't check out on me now and go, "Oh, I'm going to fail!" You're not! You're not! This does not mean that you have to be a theologian. It does not mean that you have to have two hour, daily, exegetical Bible studies through the Book of Revelations! It doesn't mean that at all. Ladies, do not expect him to do that! There are very few men in the world that are prepared to do that. What it does mean is this; again, you set the spiritual tone and direction for your family. That's what it means. It could be this simple; it could be, you know what? We are active in church. That simple. If we go to a physical campus, when we are in town, our family is at church because that is a priority to us spiritually. No matter where we are, we engage at Church Online, because we are not going to miss out in a week of what God wants to say to our family. If we have kids, guess what? We are involved in SWITCH, and we are involved in KONNECT, why? Because we are going to partner with our church to lead our children to become fully devoted followers of Christ. It could be as simple as, you know what? When we get together to eat as a family, we join hands and we pray, "God, thank you for this food, because we know there are millions of people today who are without, and we pause to give you honor and thanks for blessing us with food." It could be that simple! You set the spiritual tone for your family. Here is what I want you to know guys; you can do it! You can do it! Do it! Do it! Just do it! Do it! God wired you to do it! Go! Take charge! Say, "You know what?" You might just confess, "I'm sorry I haven't been doing it, I've been sitting over here turning up the radio, I'm going to drive, where are we going to go?" She may fight back, "Oh, I've heard this before," or whatever! And you know what? You just keep on being consistent and you keep on seeking God, and you keep on delivering. And let me tell you this guys, if there is any of Christ in her, when you lead strongly, when you lead as the man of God, if there is any bit of Christ in her, eventually she will respond well to your godly leadership. "Here is where we are going as a family!" When she responds, she comes along as the helper, and she will help you be the man of God you are called to be, and you will take your family into a place that pleases God.

10 Guys, your role is not to just make a lot of money and have a bigger house. Do not insult the call of God on your life with that low of a calling. Or, to raise championship traveling team soccer players, or the spelling bee champion. If you think that is your highest calling, you are missing out on what God has for you. You are leading the next generation to serve God with all of their lives. Step into it men, step into it. Ladies believe in them, empower them, believe in them. Move out of the way and say, "Take us, let's go!" You can do it! You can do it! Do it! Let's go back to the story. Jezebel is all in control, so here is what she does. I will tell you the long story, real short. She says, "I will go get you the Vineyard." So, she pulls together this elaborate and deceptive and evil plan. She says, go get Naboth, and bring him into basically this little party. Go find two thugs, and accuse them of cursing God and the king. He didn't do it, but accuse him. When you do, then take him out and stone him to death. So, that is exactly what she does. She murders the guy. Notice, she has him murdered. But, here is the question. Who does God hold responsible? Let's look at the text. It's a little bit long, but stay with me, it's all important. Verse 15: As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab,(watch this, she's still up into his business); "Get up (you loser) and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead." Get up, I did it, you didn't, okay? Verse 16: When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth's vineyard. Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite. Do you remember we studied Elijah awhile back? For a whole month! Elijah, the prophet, the man of God, comes in and verse 18 says: "Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He is now in Naboth's vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it. Say to him, 'This is what the Lord says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property?' Then say to him, 'This is what the Lord says: In the place where your dogs licked up Naboth's blood, dogs will lick up your blood- - yes, yours!'" That is nasty! Okay? Technically, who had Naboth killed? Jezebel. Who does God hold accountable? Ahab. Interesting, isn't it? Gentlemen, it shows just how important your role is. Step into it and lead! Step into it and lead.

11 I just want to say right now publicly to everybody. I want to give honor to my wife, for 19 years, for helping make a weak man stronger. Because I promise you, I could not stand here today and do what I am doing, to touch people I'll say humbly and honestly, all over the world had I not had someone who said, "Lead us, lead us! Your seeking God, I will follow your wild, crazy ideas, I will follow, I'll take risks with you, because I believe in you." Because she believes in me, I can do what God called me to do. I just want to say to her, "Thank you, for loving me faults and all, passivity and all, in all of the wrong places, and empowering me and giving me permission to be what I could not be without her." Ladies, I pray that God would use you to make a weak man stronger, and that gentlemen you would step in and lead your family to where God would want you to lead them. You can do it, you can do it! God, we ask that your Holy Spirit would take this message and drive it into our hearts in a way that I don't have the words to say. God, I pray that you would release us and free us, and empower us and give us the confidence to step into our God- given roles. God, for those that are not married, I just want to pause for a moment and pray that during this series you would build, even as my daughter said last night, "Thank you Daddy, for teaching me the roles." I pray that this would help build a foundation that one day, when they do meet their two, that they would be better prepared to serve you with their two for the rest of their lives. God, for the marriages today, I would pray that you would do a healing thing, and a divine work in a way that only you could. Let's do this, I don't want anyone looking around. But, let me just talk to the ladies for a second. Those of you who would say, "You know, there are times I can be overly harsh and critical and maybe not speak well of him, or not speak kindly to him, or I can be too domineering and controlling, and I really want to repent before God and maybe even my husband for that. I want to lift him up to be better, and not tear him down to be less. Would you lift up your hands ladies? Would you lift up your hands right now? Just lift them up! Lift them up! God, I thank you for those ladies that really sense the divine calling and the honor to stand as a helper to help him be a man of God. I pray God, for those you'd move in their hearts, that they might even just say, "I'm sorry!" If that is the case, not only to you, but to their husbands. I pray God, that you would help them to see the significance of their role to support, encourage, uplift, and give them permission God to be everything you've called them to be. I thank you for godly women who really see the value of investing in their man, so he can do all that you have called them to do.

12 Gentlemen, let's go ahead and just call it what it is, because honestly this is the way I am. I am like charged at the church, and sometimes I come home and like I'm tired, I don't want to do it, I don't want to be involved and I become too passive. Maybe you are really successful at some things, but you are a little more laid back, a little more hands off in some important areas. Maybe you haven't led your family financially well. Maybe you're not spiritually protecting them. Maybe you're really not spiritually leading them. Call it what it is. You become passive. Lift up your hands. Lift them up, lift them up, lift them up! God I pray, I pray with the men in our church and all of our network churches, that your Holy Spirit would empower them to step into their God- ordained divine calling. God I pray that every man would be under the headship and Lordship of Christ, and as they seek him, you would empower him to lead. God I pray that even if he has a wife that is resistant, that he would continue to lead strongly. God that his confidence would be in you and I do pray that you would put with him a godly wife, who would lift him up and not tear him down. God I pray that even though he is imperfect, that he would seek you and he would lead his family well and that there would be generations to come that would know you God, because he sought you and because he knew you and because he led his family closer to you. God empower him, give him the courage to step into it. Step into it. Continuing in prayer today, I don't want anybody looking around, but I want you to think about this. For so many people, these two subjects we are talking about, they are the greatest barriers to truly following Christ. Think about it. There are many of you today, you have never fully given your life to God through Christ, because you want to keep control. If I give my life to Him, what's He gonna make me do? What's He going to make me do? What's going to happen? You've never really surrendered your life to the Lordship of Christ, because you are afraid to surrender control. Today is the day you do so. Others of you, you are more spiritually passive by nature, you may kind of even believe a little bit about Jesus, and kind of go with the flow spiritually, but you've never actively embraced Christ. You've never actively and passionately turned from your sins and said, "Jesus, I believe you are the Savior of the world, now I pursue you, take all of my life, don't just save me and forgive me. But, I want to know you and follow you. I want you to be the King, reining supreme in my life." At all of our locations, some of you, you've been control freaks. Today, you surrender it! Take all of my life! Others of you, you've been more passive, today you take hold of him, Jesus transform me, forgive me! When you pray that, He will forgive all of your sins, He will make you brand new. He will fill you with the spirit of God, so that you can do what you cannot do on your own. All of our campuses, those of you who would say, "Yes, I turn from my sins. Jesus, take all of me, I give you my whole life!" Lift your hands high right now, just lift them up and say, "Yes!" Lift them up and leave them up and I want to meet you eye- to- eye. All three of you right here, and right here in this middle section, God bless you all. Right back over here and way

13 back over here, and sir right there, God bless you! Ma'am right over here, and right back over here, praise God for all of you. Others of you, who would say, "Me too, I surrender!" Sir, praise God for His work in your life. Right over here as well, ma'am thank you, and ma'am right here, God bless you guys. Others of you today that say me too, Church Online, you guys click right below me. I surrender fully, completely unto you. Everybody pray together, all of our locations aloud. Heavenly Father, save me from all of my sins, make me brand new. I step into Christ and surrender control. My life is not my own, take all of it. Use me, fill me with your Spirit. I am now yours. Thank you for new life, now you have mine. I freely give it, as you freely gave your Son Jesus. Thank you for new life, take all of mine. In Jesus Name, I pray! Welcome those today born into this family!