Craig Groeschel | – "Punchline" with Michael Jr. – Life.Church


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Life.Church Life.Church is a group of people from all walks of life who are being transformed by Jesus Christ. Every week, we join together around the world to worship God and to experience a relevant and powerful message, which teaches truths from the Bible. We are passionate about sharing the love of Christ by caring for each other and positively influencing our communities. The mission of Life.Church is to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. This is the foundation for everything we do and has been the basis of our ministry from the beginning. Craig Groeschel is the founding and senior pastor of Life.Church and is known for his creative and insightful Bible teaching.

Comment (49)

  1. The life of Joseph is a good example of the mysterious way God sometimes works (Genesis 37:1—50:26). In Genesis 50:20, Joseph says to his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” In this statement Joseph summarizes the events of his life, beginning with the evil his brothers did to him and ending with his recognition that it was all part of God’s beneficent plan to rescue His covenant people (Genesis 15:13–14).

    There was a famine in Canaan where Abraham’s descendants, the Hebrew people, had settled (Genesis 43:1), so Joseph brought all of them out of Canaan and into Egypt (Genesis 46:26–27). Joseph was able to provide food for them all because he had become governor of Egypt and was in charge of buying and selling food (Genesis 42:6). Why was Joseph in Egypt? Joseph’s brothers had sold him into slavery some twenty years earlier and were now dependent upon him for their sustenance (Genesis 37:28). This irony is only a small part of what happened in Joseph’s life; God’s paradoxical movement is obvious through all of Joseph’s history. If Joseph had not been governor over Egypt and moved his kinsman there, there would be no story of Moses, no exodus from Egypt four hundred years later (Exodus 6:1–8).

    If Joseph would have had a choice whether or not his brothers sold him into slavery, it’s reasonable to assume Joseph would have said “no.” If Joseph had been given the choice whether or not to be imprisoned on false charges (Genesis 39:1–20), again, he probably would have said “no.” Who would willingly choose such mistreatment? But it was in Egypt that Joseph was able to save his family, and it was in prison that the door opened to the palace.

    God “declares the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10–11), and we can be sure every event in the life of a believer serves God’s ultimate plan (Isaiah 14:24; Romans 8:28). To our minds, the way God weaves remarkable events in and through our lives may seem illogical and beyond our understanding. However, we walk by faith not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Christians know that God’s thoughts are above our own thoughts and God’s ways are higher than ours, “as the heavens are higher than the earth” (Isaiah 55:8–9).

  2. thank you Michael Jr and Life Church, such deep thoughts delivered with humor, surely did hit its mark. i now question myself what is my punchline and my setbacks set me further back to reach the main purpose for which God has created me for. And to know the Director of my life so I can hit the intended targets for His Glory. Amen!

  3. I hope my previous comment made you laugh… I enjoy your comedy. I've learned to let go of what I want to receive what I need. Now, I can view every struggle with this in mind… I am practicing for a the future me. God bless!

  4. Oh my Jesus! God has talked to me through this message! I know it's game time, I know I've been practicing my whole life for what God has for me, and it is time! And I am ready! I know my setup, looking for the punch line, God will show me in the next chapter of my life! What a powerful message!

  5. Does anyone here know which video on YouTube is the one where Michael talks about "knowing WHO," as in something like, "you need to know your WHAT and your WHY, but none of that matters unless you know WHO" (talking about God)?

  6. I remember helping build a platform for pastor Craig for the very first church he started in Edmond. I think there was about 20-30 ppl attending. To watch him and his church grow has been a great glory in our lives.

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