Because of You

Because of You

Overview

Pastor Craig paused the last weekend of the year to say a heartfelt “thank you.” Using Paul’s words to the Thessalonians, he celebrated how God keeps changing lives because of you—every prayer, dollar, invitation, and act of service from the church family. Testimonies from several campuses, global partners, and the YouVersion Bible App painted a picture of ordinary obedience producing extraordinary impact. The morning ended with a fresh call to keep giving, serving, inviting, and, for many, to begin a new life in Christ.

Main Points

A Grateful Pastor

• Paul’s encouragement to the Thessalonians echoes our story today: your steady faith brings joy and life to others.

• “Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence.”

• 28 years after meeting in a two-car garage, the mission is unchanged—reach people others overlook and lift high the name of Jesus.

Life-Change up Close: Jerome & Shanana’s Group

• 85 people gather weekly—engineers, ex-strippers, veterinarians, homeless friends now employed, even two women exiting prostitution.
• Illustration: With 58 chapters of Scripture memorized, former drug dealer Jerome now disciples others; Shanana mentors, homeschools, and leads missions.
• Model of a church where “everyone is welcome, everyone is needed, and everyone can be changed.”

Story from Springfield, MO – Steve

• Campus Pastor Brian Franco told of Steve, a recent widower now battling stage-4 melanoma.
• The host team drives him to treatments; a life group has become his “life support.”
• On his 62nd birthday Steve testified, “I’ve learned that God is enough.”
• Takeaway: The church is still the hope of the world because it puts people in families.

Story from Mustang, OK – Alex

• Pregnant at 18, she walked into Life.Church ashamed.
• A host-team greeting—“I’m so glad you’re here”—and a worship song on God’s unfailing love broke the power of fear and shame.
• She, husband Derek, and their children now serve faithfully; their family line is different because someone served, someone sang, someone welcomed.

Global Bible Impact – Zambia

• Missionary Maston treks days through crocodile-filled rivers carrying Bibles and a Bluetooth speaker loaded with YouVersion audio.
• Remote villages hear Scripture in their own language; congregations form where no printed Bible could be afforded.

Equipping Other Churches – Oaxaca, Mexico

• Dani recounted her father planting a church after a devastating earthquake.
• Every week they used free Life.Church Open Network sermons, LifeKids lessons, and YouVersion plans.
• Her father told the resource team with tears, “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be in ministry today.”

YouVersion Milestones

• Now on 700 million devices—on the way to one billion.
• Vision: “God’s Word to everyone, everywhere, every day.”
• Resources will always remain free—“Our Bible is not for sale.”

The Numbers Behind the Stories

• 43,000+ people said “yes” to Christ this year through Life.Church ministries.
• Countless churches resourced, languages translated, and families restored—because of you.

Fresh Challenge for a New Year

• More people to serve, more prayers to pray, more generosity to unleash, more invitations to extend.
• Five-week series “Habits of a Healthy Heart” begins next weekend.
• Raised-hand salvation moment closed the gathering.

Key Truths

• Ordinary actions—smiling at a door, holding a baby, sharing an app—carry eternal weight.
• Generosity is not a fundraiser; it is worship that fuels ministry worldwide.
• The local church remains God’s plan A for hope and transformation.
• When God is all you have, He proves to be more than enough.
• We are big enough to touch the world and small enough to care for the one.

Response

• Schedule church attendance as a non-negotiable priority in the new year.
• Decide where to serve—host team, LifeKids, Switch, worship, operations, or a life group.
• Set up or increase recurring giving, planning to be irrationally generous.
• Pray daily for the YouVersion team, global partners, and unreached languages.
• Invite someone far from God to next week’s “Habits of a Healthy Heart.”

Closing

Pastor Craig reminded the church that the mission will never pause while even one person remains unreached. Every story shared, every statistic celebrated points back to a single phrase:

“Because of you, God is changing lives all over the world.”
As 2024 dawns, the call is clear: lift Jesus higher, give more freely, serve more passionately, and believe for exceedingly, abundantly more than we can ask or imagine.

Prayer

Father, thank You for every servant, giver, and intercessor. Stir fresh passion in us—more love, more courage, more generosity. Use our simple acts to rewrite stories across the street and around the globe. For those beginning with Jesus today, surround them with Your Spirit and Your people as they walk in new life. In Jesus’ name, amen.