Behind the Scenes - August 2018 - Craig Groeschel

Hope in the Dark – Staff Family Briefing

Opening Moments

The speaker greeted the “Life.Church family” with warm love and gratitude, marveling at “how God uses you” to bring people to faith in Christ. All thanksgiving was immediately directed: “I give glory to God and say thank you to you.”

Testimonies

Lead Pastor’s Update

• New book: Hope in the Dark – Believing God Is Good When Life Is Not releases later this month and is already stocked for the church.
• Origin: first drafted as “a letter to someone that I love that was hurting,” then later ministered to the pastor’s own family during their trial.
• Purpose: “for those who have questions, who have doubts, who have fears that want to believe in the goodness of God but life is making it really, really difficult.”
• Teaching series: launching this month, rooted in the book of Habakkuk; LifeGroups will form around it, and the pastor will “personally lead our church through discussion.”
• Baptisms: on the series-launch weekend, “hundreds and hundreds” who found new life in Christ will be baptized.
• Leadership podcast: How to Inspire People—“over 750,000 people downloaded the podcast last month”; used as an outreach “to people that don’t know Christ.”
• Personal update on Mandy: manuscript finished “well over a year ago” with hopes of adding a last-minute appendix about her healing; “Mandy’s still not healed—we’re still believing God is good even when life is not.”
• Worship team surprise: they wrote and privately performed a new song at the family’s home; the song will soon be released to bless the whole church.

Holy-Spirit Highlights

• Steadfast praise for God’s goodness even while healing has not yet come.
• Invitation into honest faith: making space for “questions, doubts, fears” within the church family.
• Celebration of salvation—anticipation of mass baptisms.
• Multiplication through media: the leadership podcast reaching three-quarters of a million people in one month.
• Worship as comfort: a song birthed in community to strengthen a suffering family.

Prayer Points & Next Steps

• Stand with the family for Mandy’s complete healing.
• Join or start a LifeGroup for the Habakkuk “Hope in the Dark” study.
• Pray for every new believer preparing for baptism.
• Share the How to Inspire People podcast as an evangelistic bridge.
• Encourage anyone hurting to read Hope in the Dark and attend the upcoming series.

Closing Blessing

“When you’re hurting, when you have questions, when you have doubts, remember there is hope in the dark.”