Embracing God's Grace: The Power of Second Chances

In today's gathering, we explored the profound truth that God is indeed the God of a second chance. At New Life Church, our mission is to help people find Jesus and experience life transformation through Him. Whether you're just beginning your journey with Christ or have been walking with Him for years, our lives are in a constant state of transformation, growing ever closer to the likeness of Jesus. This journey is a lifelong climb, and our ultimate goal is to be ready when Jesus returns, fully transformed by His grace.

We launched a new teaching series, "The God of a Second Chance," by delving into the story of Samson from the Old Testament, found in Judges chapters 13 through 16. Samson's life is a testament to God's grace and the possibility of redemption, even after repeated failures. Despite his supernatural strength and being set apart by a Nazarite vow, Samson often chose his desires over God's commands, leading to a series of personal and communal disasters. Yet, even in his failures, God’s plan continued to unfold.

Samson's story teaches us that God’s plans are not thwarted by our sins. Even when Samson pursued his own desires, God was still at work, using Samson's life to fulfill His greater purpose. This is not a license to sin, but a reminder that God’s sovereignty is greater than our failures. Samson’s life also illustrates the trap of sin. His repeated disobedience led to personal loss, imprisonment, and ultimately, his death. Sin has real consequences, but God’s grace offers redemption.

Finally, we are reminded that God is eager to give us a second chance. Samson’s final act of faith, asking God for strength one last time, resulted in a victory that fulfilled God’s purpose. Today, God extends the same grace to us. Whether you are returning to God after a period of wandering or seeking to deepen your relationship with Him, God is ready to welcome you back with open arms. Embrace His grace, forgive yourself, and step into the life He has planned for you.

**Key Takeaways:**

- **God's Plan Surpasses Our Failures:** Even in our sin, God's plan remains intact. Samson's life shows that God can work through our mistakes to fulfill His purposes. This is not an excuse to sin but a testament to God's sovereignty and grace. [38:34]

- **Sin is a Trap with Consequences:** Samson's repeated disobedience led to severe consequences, including loss of freedom and life. Sin can lead to spiritual death if left unchecked. It's crucial to address sin in our lives and seek God's forgiveness. [44:19]

- **The Power of Repentance:** Repentance is key to experiencing God's grace. When we turn back to God, He is faithful to forgive and restore us. Samson's final prayer for strength was answered because he turned his heart back to God. [36:23]

- **God Offers a Second Chance:** No matter how far we've strayed, God is eager to give us another chance. Samson's story is a powerful reminder that God’s mercy is available to all who seek it. Embrace His grace and step into the life He has for you. [47:36]

- **Forgive Yourself and Embrace God's Call:** After receiving God's forgiveness, it's essential to forgive ourselves and embrace the call God has on our lives. Our past does not disqualify us from serving God; rather, it can be a testimony of His redeeming power. [42:14]

**Youtube Chapters:**

- [0:00] - Welcome
- [19:53] - Introduction to New Life Church
- [20:21] - Our Mission: Finding and Transforming Lives
- [20:56] - The Journey of Spiritual Transformation
- [21:26] - Introducing "The God of a Second Chance"
- [22:20] - Samson's Story Begins
- [23:07] - The Nazarite Vow Explained
- [24:26] - Samson's Strength and Leadership
- [25:43] - Samson's Flaws and Failures
- [27:04] - The Wedding Riddle and Betrayal
- [29:23] - Samson's Revenge and Consequences
- [31:52] - Samson's Continued Struggles
- [33:14] - Samson and Delilah
- [35:24] - Samson's Capture and Imprisonment
- [36:23] - Samson's Final Prayer and Redemption
- [38:04] - Lessons from Samson's Life
- [46:21] - God's Grace and Second Chances
- [48:12] - Invitation to Return to God

**Bible Study Discussion Guide: The God of a Second Chance**

**Bible Reading:**
- Judges 13-16 (The story of Samson)
- Judges 13:5
- Judges 16:28

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**Observation Questions:**

1. What was the Nazarite vow, and how did it set Samson apart from others? ([24:00])
2. How did Samson's personal desires conflict with his commitment to God, and what were the consequences? ([26:14])
3. What was Samson's final act of faith, and how did it demonstrate his repentance? ([36:23])
4. How did God use Samson's life, despite his repeated failures, to fulfill His greater purpose? ([38:34])

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**Interpretation Questions:**

1. How does Samson's story illustrate the concept that God's plans are not thwarted by human sin? ([39:09])
2. In what ways does the sermon suggest that sin can be a trap with lasting consequences? ([44:19])
3. How does the sermon describe the power of repentance in experiencing God's grace? ([36:23])
4. What does the sermon imply about the importance of forgiving oneself after receiving God's forgiveness? ([42:14])

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**Application Questions:**

1. Reflect on a time when you felt you needed a second chance. How did you experience God's grace in that situation? ([47:36])
2. Are there areas in your life where you feel trapped by sin? What steps can you take to seek God's forgiveness and break free from these traps? ([44:19])
3. How can you actively embrace God's call on your life, despite past failures? What practical steps can you take this week to move forward? ([42:14])
4. In what ways can you cultivate a heart of repentance in your daily life? How can this practice help you grow closer to God? ([36:23])
5. Identify a specific area where you need to forgive yourself. How can you remind yourself of God's forgiveness and move past your past? ([42:14])
6. How can you support others in your community who are seeking a second chance? What role can you play in encouraging them to embrace God's grace? ([48:12])
7. Consider the story of Samson and the consequences of his actions. How can you apply the lessons from his life to avoid similar pitfalls in your own journey? ([44:19])

Day 1: God's Sovereignty in Our Failures
God's plan is not hindered by our mistakes. Samson's life is a powerful testament to this truth. Despite his repeated failures and disobedience, God's purpose continued to unfold through him. Samson was set apart by a Nazarite vow, yet he often chose his desires over God's commands, leading to personal and communal disasters. However, even in his failures, God used Samson to fulfill His greater purpose. This demonstrates that God's sovereignty and grace are greater than our failures. It is not an excuse to sin but a reminder that God can work through our mistakes to achieve His divine plan. [38:34]

"For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." (Romans 11:29, ESV)

Reflection: In what areas of your life have you felt disqualified by your past mistakes? How can you trust in God's sovereignty to use even your failures for His purpose today?


Day 2: The Consequences of Sin
Samson's story illustrates the trap of sin and its severe consequences. His repeated disobedience led to personal loss, imprisonment, and ultimately, his death. Sin is a trap that can lead to spiritual death if left unchecked. It is crucial to address sin in our lives and seek God's forgiveness. Samson's life serves as a warning of the real consequences of sin, reminding us to be vigilant and to turn away from disobedience. By acknowledging our sins and seeking God's grace, we can avoid the destructive path that sin leads us down. [44:19]

"Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap." (Galatians 6:7, ESV)

Reflection: What is one sin in your life that you have been ignoring or justifying? How can you take a step today to address it and seek God's forgiveness?


Day 3: The Power of Repentance
Repentance is key to experiencing God's grace. When we turn back to God, He is faithful to forgive and restore us. Samson's final act of faith, asking God for strength one last time, resulted in a victory that fulfilled God's purpose. This act of repentance and turning his heart back to God was crucial in experiencing God's grace and redemption. It shows that no matter how far we have strayed, God is always ready to welcome us back when we repent and seek His forgiveness. [36:23]

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9, ESV)

Reflection: Is there an area in your life where you need to repent and turn back to God? What steps can you take today to seek His forgiveness and restoration?


Day 4: Embracing God's Second Chances
God is eager to give us a second chance, no matter how far we've strayed. Samson's story is a powerful reminder of God's mercy and grace. Despite his failures, Samson's final prayer for strength was answered, resulting in a victory that fulfilled God's purpose. This demonstrates that God's mercy is available to all who seek it. Embrace His grace and step into the life He has planned for you. God is ready to welcome you back with open arms, offering a fresh start and a new beginning. [47:36]

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23, ESV)

Reflection: In what ways have you experienced God's second chances in your life? How can you embrace His grace and step into the life He has planned for you today?


Day 5: Forgiving Yourself and Embracing God's Call
After receiving God's forgiveness, it is essential to forgive ourselves and embrace the call God has on our lives. Our past does not disqualify us from serving God; rather, it can be a testimony of His redeeming power. Samson's life, despite his failures, was used by God to fulfill His purpose. This reminds us that our past mistakes do not define us, and we can move forward in God's grace. By forgiving ourselves and embracing God's call, we can live a life that reflects His love and redemption. [42:14]

"Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead." (Philippians 3:13, ESV)

Reflection: Is there something from your past that you need to forgive yourself for? How can you embrace God's call on your life and move forward in His grace today?

All right, everybody. Hey, welcome to New Life Church. Are you excited to be here today? Oh, come on. Let me hear from you. Let me hear from you at all campuses.

Hey, my name is Jeff. Glad to have you guys here with us. I am one of the pastors on staff and I serve as the lead pastor. And so I want to say thank you for joining us at all of our campuses, at our brand new Holdridge campus. Thank you guys so much for being there. North Platte, Ogallala, online. I mean, come on, you guys know where you're at. Here at the Kearney campus, thank you guys so much, man, for joining with us so that we can become the people God wants us to be.

You know, at New Life Church, man, we exist to help people find Jesus. And then once they find Jesus, then we exist to help people see their lives changed by Jesus. So I don't know which side of the coin you fall on. Maybe you're here today and you're like, oh, I don't know. You have yet to surrender your life to Jesus. I want you to know this church exists for you. Or if you've already surrendered your life to Jesus, I want you to know this church exists for you. We want to see your life continue to be changed.

How many of you guys realize we never arrive at the pinnacle of what God has for our life here on this earth? How many of you guys realize that forever we are climbing the mountain of spiritual transformation all the days that we spend on this earth? You guys realize this? All right, so get used to it, right? Just get used to it. Like, this is what going on a journey with Jesus looks like. Your life is going to be constantly changing, constantly growing into the likeness and into the image of Jesus so that one day, one day when Jesus comes back for his church, we meet Christ in the air and we spend eternity with him in heaven, forever transformed by him. Amen? That's our goal. That is our goal here at New Life.

And so we're kicking off this brand new teaching series called The God of a Second Chance. I don't know about you, but have you ever had to be given a second chance before? Were you thankful for that moment? Right? I mean, come on. I mean, we've all blown it. We've all attempted something, messed it up, screwed it up royally. Some, all right, greater than others. You know who you are. All right? You know what you did. Right? I saw what you did last summer. Okay, that's not a good line. All right. But we have done that and then someone has allowed us, allowed us, a second opportunity at it.

You failed someone. You repented to them. They gave you a second chance. They forgave you. How good of a moment is that? Right? We serve the God of a second chance. And thankfully, we also serve the God of a third, fourth, fifth, and a tenth chance. We serve a God that's full of grace. But we serve a God who's wanting us to learn from his grace of a second chance and to keep moving forward and seeing our lives transformed.

And so, through this series, I plan to unpack from God's word a few different really key stories about individuals that experienced the God of a second chance. Just like many of you have. Many of you have experienced the love and the grace and the mercy of a God of a second chance. And I want to help you today with this. We're going to launch in the Old Testament. We're going to talk about a guy by the name of Samson. You can find his story in Judges, chapters 13 through 16.

So, I want you to go back and I want you to read this. Okay, later today, at your own discretion. It doesn't take a long time to read it. But I want to try to unpack this man's life in a matter of minutes for you. Right? So, that's why I'm suggesting you go back and you read it so you can fill in all the blanks that I don't have the time to share with you. I'm going to try to give you some of the highlights so that you can really grasp what I'm talking about here about the God of a second chance.

So, Samson's life, he starts out in a period of time when the Israelites have been oppressed by the Philistines for the last 40 years. And Samson's parents have struggled to have children underneath this oppression. So, the angel of the Lord shows up to Samson's mother and father and prophesies to them that Samson is going to be born and that Samson is going to be one who begins the journey of liberating the Israelites from the oppression of the Philistines.

In fact, this is what the angel of the Lord says in Judges chapter 13, verse 5: "That you will become pregnant and give birth to a son and his hair must never be cut for he will be dedicated to God as a Nazarite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines."

So, they were told here that they're supposed to raise him with this Nazarite vow. What in the world is that? Like, if you just read over that, you're wondering to yourself, like, I don't even know what that means. It boiled down to these three critical things. Number one, if you're going to be raised with a Nazarite vow, you're going to be set apart from the way that everyone else lives.

And here's the three things that you can't do, right? You can't touch dead people. Perfect. I can be a Nazarite. Can you follow that one? I don't want to actually touch dead people if I don't have to, all right? But you weren't supposed to. The other thing was you can't cut your hair. Yeah, you can't cut your beard. You can't cut your nose hairs, your ear hairs, your eyebrows. Can you imagine what this person looks like later on in life? Like, is there anyone behind there? It's cousin It off of the Addams family. And only old people know that joke. So if you laughed at that, welcome to my crowd, all right?

Right, so I mean, this is it. And then the last thing is you can't drink any alcohol. And these three things set you apart so that you could live a life that honored the Lord. This is what God asked for you if you were going to follow the Nazarite vow. This Nazarite vow, as Samson followed this, is what gave him his supernatural strength. I don't know if you realize this about Samson, but Samson in the Bible was the strongest man to ever live. So he is the very first superhero, right? He is the man who has superhuman strength.

And eventually, Samson is so popular that people actually go, you're going to be our leader, okay? Now, Samson's an interesting dude. Samson obeys God sometimes, but more often just does his own thing. He knows there's a God. I think there's moments when he's trying to follow God. He walks out this Nazarite vow for many, many, many years of his life. He's set apart from everyone else for many, many years, but Samson is by no means a perfect man.

In fact, in chapter 14, it starts out by helping us understand this. Samson is sexually attracted to one of the enemy's women, to a Philistine woman. And he comes to his parents and he says to his parents, "Hey, you're going to be super proud of me. I want to get married." And they're like, "Oh man, you can see the mom like, oh, this is going to be so good. Samson's going to get married. Who is the special girl?"

"Well, I saw her in this Philistine village." What? Drop the mic, right? Like, this is one of those moments when they're like, "No, what are you talking about? Like, is there any like Israelite women? Like, we don't marry outside of our own people, out of our own race, right? I mean, come on, there's beautiful women that are Israelite." And Samson goes, "No, I want this woman."

So his parents cave. His parents are like, "Okay, all right, we'll just, we'll do it." So they set up a date for the wedding and then the parties begin. See, it's not like American weddings where there's just like the ceremony and the night before, you kind of get together with the family. And then, you know, afterwards, there's one big party that lasts for a couple of hours. And then when you're ready to like kick everybody out, you tell the band to stop playing or the DJ to turn the music off. Like, it doesn't work that way.

In this culture, the party starts, you know, maybe weeks before, definitely days before, if not a full week. And it just goes day after day after day after day after day after day. Yeah, that's what it means. So if you've got four daughters, not only is it going to be expensive, but it's going to be long. All right.

So they start the parties. And as the parties are going on, then they start challenging each other, you know, with modern day games called riddles. And they're telling each other these riddles and they're trying to stump one another. And finally, they're like, "Samson, come on, tell us a riddle, buddy. Tell us a riddle."

So Samson, he comes out and he says, "Okay, here's my riddle. Out of one who eats came something to eat. And out of the strong came something sweet." Now, for those of you who don't know the story, okay, if you do know the story and you yell the answer out, I'm going to send the ushers to your seat. I mean that with all love. No, but if you didn't know the story, you could ponder on that, right? And you could think to yourself, okay, well, what does that really mean?

Well, because I've read it and because I know it, I'm going to tell you. Samson was on a journey one day and a lion attacked him. He's so strong, he grabs the lion, grabs it by its jaws and rips the jaws apart and kills the lion. Discards it, right? Out into the woods. On another journey, he comes by and he's like, "I want to see what's up with that lion." And sure enough, man, the animals of the ground, the insects of the ground have devoured this thing and it's all dried up and the sun's dried it up.

But the beast, the beast now have found it to be a wonderful place to put a beehive in. And so Samson reaches in. What a bold dude. Reaches in and grabs the honey, right? And eats some of it and then brings it to his parents who are on the journey with him. And this is where it comes from.

So this woman that, you know, wants to marry Samson, this Philistine woman, she is like, she's manipulating Samson and she's conspiring with her Philistine friends to try to get the answer out of Samson. Why? Because they had wagered something. They had wagered this: If you can solve this, Samson said, I'll give you 30 sets of amazing clothes. The most amazing clothes money can buy. But if I win, you owe me 30 sets of amazing clothes.

Like, you got to go down to the buckle and you got to spend $100 on jeans and $100 on a t-shirt and $30 on a pair of socks and $50 on a pair of underwear. Like, you got to go do that 30 times and bring it back to me. And they're like, "Deal."

So they're conspiring. Conspiring with the Philistine woman. And the woman's like, "Samson, don't you love me?" And he's like, "Of course I love you." "Then why don't you tell me, tell me what the riddle means?" And Samson won't do it. And for days, the woman keeps crying. For days. "Samson, if you loved me, if you really loved me, you would tell me what the riddle means."

And then finally, guys, you get it. He just said, "Okay, I'll tell you what it means." Right, here's what it means. And what does she do? She takes the answer, goes immediately to her Philistine friends and her Philistine friends come to Samson and go, "We got it solved. We know exactly what it means."

And as soon as Samson hears it, he knows where the answer came from. And he is ticked. He's ticked. What does he do? He goes down to another Philistine village and he kills 30 men. And he takes their clothes off of them. And he brings these, imagine this, these filthy, now bloody clothes back to these dudes and goes, "Here, here's what I promised you. Here's all your clothes. You guys can have them."

And then he turns to the woman and goes, "I'm not gonna marry you." And he walks away. So the father now is days into the ceremony of the wedding. He's got a daughter who is scheduled to be married. He spent thousands of dollars, according to their economy, right? And everyone's coming from all over to this incredible wedding that's gonna happen.

So what does the father do? The father gives the now Philistine woman to Samson's best man, his best friend. Oh, you could tell this story's gonna turn out good. So they get married, right? The next chapter, Samson's like, "You know what? Maybe I made a big mistake. Maybe, maybe I just wanna go back to the Philistine woman. I wanna marry her."

So he goes back only to discover, nope, she's already been given away in marriage. Which, by the way, makes him incredibly angry. So what does he do? Here's what he does. In his bright mind, he decides, "I'm gonna go capture 300 fox." Yeah, how do you even do that, right? But he captures. He captures 300 fox, and then check this out. He ties their tails together, and he puts a lit torch, ties a lit torch to their tails, and sends them off into all of the fields where grain is being grown for the Philistines to eat.

And the fox run through these things, trying to get away from each other, spreading this fire all over the place, and they burn up all the crops. Well, when the Philistines hear about what happened, they are amazingly upset, and they wanna know, why did Samson do this to us? And then they discover, well, the father gave his soon-to-be wife to the best man. They're like, well, you caused the problem.

So they took the father and the now newlywed woman, and they took them out into the community, tied them to stakes, and lit them on fire. Of which made Samson really upset, right? So Samson ends up killing more Philistines, which made the Philistines more upset, and they got even more angry. And when it was all said and done, Samson ends up killing 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey, just to solve it all. Tit for tat, you know, you do this to me, I do this to you.

So in the new chapter, when the new chapter starts, chapter 16, we find that Samson has learned nothing from his life, and he ends up going to the city of Gaza. You heard of Gaza? Sure you have. It's in the news today. It's in the same location. He ends up going there, and he ends up sleeping with a prostitute, which only creates more problems for him.

Can you tell at this current moment that Samson has a problem? Samson has an issue. Samson keeps repeating his bad behavior over and over and over again. Can you imagine what it's like to be his parents? Right? You can't discipline him. He's way too strong for you. He is actually the leader of the people. What are you gonna do with this kid who's still living in your house? Which most likely was the case.

So what does Samson do? After sleeping with the prostitute, Samson gets attracted to another woman called Delilah. Come on, everybody say Delilah. Now, her name sounds good, right? Like, oh, it's Samson and Delilah. Like, maybe she's going to be delightful, but that's not the case. No, she ends up manipulating Samson again.

"Samson, why are you so strong? Tell me why you're so strong. If you love me, you'll tell me why you're so strong." And he learned from the first woman, and he keeps telling her these lies. He keeps playing with her, but she keeps getting more and more upset and more and more determined. Because how many of you guys know that, man, when a woman gets her lock on something, she is not gonna let go of it until she gets her answer? She is gonna get the answer.

And so she starts crying to Samson. "Samson, come on, if you really love me, why don't you tell me? You can trust me. Like, I would never tell anybody. You can trust me why you're so strong." And then finally Samson's like, "Okay, enough. I'll tell you. It's my hair. If I cut my hair, then I lose my strength."

"Oh, Samson, you do love. You do love me, okay, oh, sweetie, come here. Fall asleep in my arms, come on. Ooh, beautiful hair you have." Calls her Philistine buddies. The Philistine soldiers come in. They grab Samson. Samson doesn't have the strength to fight back. And they make him a slave.

What's the very first thing they do to him? They gouge out both of his eyes. They're like, if he can't see us, we've got control over him. And they make him a slave, and they put him in a barn. And they tell him, here's what you're gonna do for the rest of your life. You're gonna crush grain for us. And we're going to eat off of your crushed grain.

And then every once in a while, they would mock him, and they would bring him out into the parties, and they would mock this strong man, who now is nothing. One day, one day, all these Philistine leaders gathered together. Thousands of them had gathered together in this great hall, right? And they wanted to mock Samson again.

And so they bring Samson out, this blind man. They bring him out just so they can mock him and they can laugh at him. And there's thousands of these Philistines and Philistine leaders that are there. And Samson knows this, so he says to the guard who's bringing him out, "Hey, rest me against some of the pillars of this building so that I can just rest against them."

And while he's resting against them and they're mocking him, Samson offers up this prayer to the Lord found in Judges chapter 16, verse 28. "Then Samson prayed to the Lord, Sovereign Lord, remember me, remember me again. Give me a second chance. Oh God, please strengthen me just what? One more time. Give me a second chance. And with one blow, let me pay back the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes."

And what does God do? God answers this incredibly sinful man, this man who had been set apart to worship him, this man who had been set apart to lead his people, this man who had been set apart to deliver the Israelites from, begin the process from the Philistines. And God gives him a second chance because Samson turns his heart back to God and goes, "God, I'm sorry. God, let me do this. Let me do this."

And what does Samson do? He pushes upon the pillars of this great hall with thousands of people on it and thousands of them even on the roof and he pushes against it and the whole building collapses and all of them die, including Samson. Now that's the end of that story. The story doesn't have a fairy tale ending and Samson doesn't marry an Israelite woman and go off into the wilderness and have a bunch of children that are the strongest children in the world. Like, no, no, he dies right there in that hall.

In his act that God gave him the second chance in. So what in the world, what can we learn from this? What can we apply to our lives from this? Well, there's a ton, but in today's message, I only have a limited amount of time. So I want to tell you three critical things and some of them are going to sound very simple, but I want you to lean in with me because this is what you need to hear today.

Okay, what do you learn from this? The first thing you learn is that God has a plan. God had a plan for Samson. God has a plan for you. God's plan for Samson was that Samson was to live by this Nazarite vow. If he lived by the Nazarite vow, he got to honor the Lord. God has a plan for you and me. He goes, I've given you my word. I've given you the Bible. I've filled you with my Holy Spirit. If you follow my word, like Samson followed the Nazarite vow, you get a chance to live a life that glorifies me and you get to honor me, right?

But here's what I really want you to see about God's plan, that even in Samson's sin, God was still working his plan. Now, this is going to baffle you, okay? And this is not a license. This is not a license to keep sinning. But I just want you to know that even in your sin, God's plan is bigger. God's plan doesn't get thwarted just because you don't want to obey him and honor him.

Remember back when Samson was attracted sexually to the Philistine woman for the first time and his parents didn't want him to marry her? Remember that? Okay, well, look at what Judges chapter 14, verse four actually says about it. His father and his mother didn't realize that the Lord was, watch this, at work in this, creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines who ruled over Israel at that time.

Now, you got to pay attention to what that scripture says and you got to break it down and be correct with it because I want you to know right now, it does not say that God led Samson into that sin. It says this, that God will fulfill his plan even while Samson is in his sin. God's not going to lead you into sin. That's not his plan. His plan is for you to live, to live righteous. His plan was for Samson to live the Nazarite vow. His plan is for you to follow his word.

God's not going to lead you into sin, but even in your sin, you need to know God's plan is bigger than your sin. I've discovered this in my own life. God didn't lead me into my youthfulness, my youthful sins 34 years ago. He didn't lead me into that. But because of that sin, here's what God's done. God has used that sin to work his master plan in my life. He goes, look, the enemy meant that for evil. He meant that for wickedness, but I'm going to use it for something that's going to be greater.

And God has used the youthfulness of my sin 34 years ago to guide my passion and my love for people so that people could find Jesus and for my passion to see their life changed. Did you realize that because of the sin of my past, God has redeemed that and he's done something in my heart? And God reminds me constantly when I'm ministering to people, "Jeff, don't forget, don't forget your own faults. Don't forget. Don't forget who you used to be and who I redeemed you from. I saved you from that old man, Jeff. Have compassion for others that are in their own failures. Have compassion for others who are living in their own sin."

You see what I'm saying? God didn't lead me into that sin, but God has redeemed that sin. And this is the same thing that God can do in your life. God's never going to lead you into sin. So I'll never forget at three o'clock in the morning in Bellevue when I surrendered my life to Jesus, that God said to me very clearly, "Welcome home, son. And don't forget the call that I have on your life."

Watch this. It never changes. We think sometimes that God's got great plans for us and my sin now is going to thwart those great plans. Well, I mean, yes, there are some things that can happen in that capacity, but what you need to understand is that God's will, God's authority, God's sovereignty, God's plan is bigger than even your own sin.

So what do we do? Well, we repent to God. We repent to God. We repent to our sins. And when you repent to God of your sins, then God forgives you. So now what do you have to do? You have to forgive yourself. You have to forgive yourself. So many Christians, they disqualify themselves from being able to do anything great for God because they look at their past and they're like, "Look who I used to be."

But God's going, "I don't even see that anymore. I forgave you from that. I threw that away. Like so far, I don't even remember it anymore. So forgive yourself. Like walk in the freedom of God. And the next time God gives you an assignment, confidently embrace the assignment. The next time you sense God pricking on your heart to be involved in ministry, don't disqualify yourself. Jump in. Serve in kids ministry. Serve in the worship team. Serve in the tech ministry. Lead a life group. Like if you've been forgiven by the grace of Jesus Christ and his spirit lives in you, then greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.

So God has a plan. And his plan is even bigger than our failures and our sin. What's the next thing, though, that really stands out to me in this is this, that sin is a trap. Sin is a trap. Samson had a definite sin problem. He had a lust for Philistine women. And God's word clearly said, you don't marry them. You do not marry the enemy. You don't engage in that kind of relationship. You don't go there, Samson.

He had a lust for that, and he kept pursuing it, and it's what got him in so much trouble. But Samson also had an anger problem, and he had a very short temper. And the sin that lived in him caused him to break the vow that God had for his life. Samson, in some capacity, in some way, had to end up touching dead people. But more than that, he even had to end up cutting, he ended up getting his own haircut. And he breaks the Nazarite vow. And this cost him a lot.

What does this cost him in his life? It cost him his own eyesight. Very practical. It cost him imprisonment. He became a slave. He became a man that was mocked and disgraced. And eventually, what did Samson's sin cost him? Watch this, guys. It cost him his life. James chapter one, verse 15 says this about sin. Right? When sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to what? To death.

What death is that? In Samson's life, you see the physical death. In our lives, here's what you're going to see. A spiritual death. That when sin is allowed to live in our lives, it will eventually lead to death. And that death could be separation from Jesus forever because of the sin that we're going to experience. The sin that we have not dealt with in our lives. And we said God will be okay with it. God's a God of grace. God's plan is, God's grace is bigger than my own sin.

And I'm going to tell you right now that your sin has the potential to lead you to death. And that's not what I want for your life. There is forgiveness for our sins. But what we need to understand from Samson's life is that some sins in our lives are going to cost us forever. Forever where? Forever on this earth. Some of you, you're living with the consequences of your sin. And it's going to affect you for the rest of your life here on this earth.

Sin has consequences. If you play with it long enough, you're going to get bit by it. You're going to get burnt by it. Sin has consequences on this earth. And some of that sin, even though God gives you grace, and even though God will forgive you of your sin, some of that sin is going to live with you. The consequences of it are going to live with you maybe for the rest of your life.

But here's the good news. I would rather live with the consequences of sin here on this earth that God's forgiven me of, but I still have to pay the price. I would rather live with that here on this earth and spend eternity with Jesus in heaven than to live with the consequences of my sin on this earth with unforgiving sin and spend eternity away from God forever.

I don't want the consequences of my sin, but I realize that some of my actions have brought that upon me. And some of our consequences are mental thoughts that you can't get out of your mind. Some of our consequences are relationships that are forever divided. Some of those consequences are sickness and things that we have to deal with on the inside of our own bodies. We have a lot of different consequences that you might have to deal with, but let me just say this to you.

It is better to be forgiven by the grace of God and to live with the earthly consequences than spend eternity with Jesus forever. Run, run to him. So, sin is a trap. But what's the last thing? It's going to sound pretty obvious based on the title of the series, but it's this, that God gives a second chance.

While in prison, here's what I find so interesting. What dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb prison guards they let Samson's hair grow back. You would think to yourself, like, "Hey, they cut the hair, we captured him." You would think to yourself, like, "Okay, look, guys, twice a week we're shaving his head. Twice a week, all right? If you have to pluck hairs out one by one, you are pulling hairs out of his nose. Like, we don't want any long nose hairs. We're pulling hair out of his ears. We're, in fact, we're waxing his back, all right? We are taking all of the hair off this dude. Off this, all this hair, right? He is going to be an Olympic swimmer when we're done with him. And we're going to do that twice a week."

Like, you would think to yourself, like, "We got him, let's keep him right where we want him." But that's not what happened. His hair grew back. And what did God do? The God of a second chance. God honored his word. And God restored strength back to Samson a second time.

But I also noticed in that prayer, Samson's heart was turning back to the Lord. And Samson prayed. He prayed to the Lord for a second chance to honor him. And God gave it to him. And God can do the same thing for you. Today, I don't care. It doesn't matter who you are. I know this about God. God gave Samson a second chance. God gave Jeff Baker a second chance. And God can give you a second chance.

I know this. Joel chapter 2, verse 13 says this. It says, "Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate. He's slow to get angry. And he's filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and to not punish." Guys, this is the God we serve.

Today, if you are outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ, if Jesus isn't your Lord and he is not your leader, I'm inviting you today. I'm inviting you today to return to Jesus. Surrender your life to him. Maybe you've been following God in your past, but you haven't been following God for the last number, for months or years in your life. I'm inviting you to return to Jesus and experience the grace of the God of a second chance.

For some of you, your life is just like Samson. You know who God is, but you do basically what you want. That was the problem with Samson's life. He knew who God was, but he did whatever he wanted, whatever seemed right to him. Maybe that's you, and you're living your life that way. I want to invite you today. Return to the God of a second chance.

Would you just bow your heads with me all across this auditorium? If you're here today and you're like, "Jeff, I need to surrender my life to Jesus. I need to come back to Jesus. I need to get my life right with Jesus." If that's you today, at all of our auditoriums, I'm going to ask you to do one thing. In just a couple of seconds, I'm going to ask you to raise your hand. I want you to raise your hand because our campus pastors are at all of our campuses. At all of the campuses, they're going to look. They're going to look because they want to pray for you.

I just want you, on three, if you want to surrender your life to Jesus, you want to return to Jesus, you want to get your life right with Jesus, then we want to pray with you. We just want you to put your hand up so I can see who I'm going to be praying with. Our campus pastors can do the same thing. On three. Ready? One, two, three. Put it up and just hold it up. Just put it up and hold it up. Yep, hands are up. In the Kearney Auditorium, hands are up all over the place. They're all over the place. I'm just looking around. Give me a second. Just give me a second. I see them. I see them all. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Guys, awesome. Awesome.

There's probably, there's like 12 or 13 hands up right now. You can put your hand back down. And at all of our campuses, I guarantee you, hands went up. So let's just pray. I just want to pray over you, and as I pray over you, I just want you to pray to the Lord like Samson did. "God, would you give me a second chance to bring you glory? Would you give me a second chance to honor you? Would you forgive me of my sins? I want you to live in my life."

So Lord, I pray for those who raised their hand. And I ask that, Lord, you would meet them right where they are right now, that you would hear their prayers, and that, Lord, you would inspire and you would encourage them in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Now, later on, our campus pastors at the end of the service, they'll tell you, if you raised your hand, they'll tell you exactly what they want you to do. But for right now, would everyone stand at all campuses for me? All campuses.

We don't deserve the God of salvation that gives us a second chance. We don't deserve the God of salvation that gives us a second chance. We serve a God who can give your passionate worship for him a second chance. For some of you, you drifted from the passion of your youth. And God wants to give you a second chance to rekindle that and restore that. Today is your moment.

For some of you, you have walked away from the power of the Holy Spirit living in your life. And today is the day where if you'll cry out to God, God wants to give you a second chance and fill you again with his Holy Spirit. God wants to renew your passion for him. He wants to renew your relationship with him. He wants to renew your passion for him. He wants to rekindle that for him.

So today, as we worship God, would you just be passionate in your worship? And would you just lean in to the God of grace and mercy? The God who loves you with a love that's unfailing? Would you lean in to the God of a second chance and ask him, "God, rekindle the passion of my youth and rekindle the power of your spirit in my life." Would you do that, church? Would you do that at all campuses?

So I'm gonna turn it over right now to our campus pastors at all of our campuses. I'm just gonna ask them to pray at all of our auditoriums as we get ready to go. We're ready to go into a moment of worship and express passionate worship to our incredible, loving God of the second chance.

1) "We serve the God of a second chance. And thankfully, we also serve the God of a third, fourth, fifth, and a tenth chance. We serve a God that's full of grace. But we serve a God who's wanting us to learn from his grace of a second chance and to keep moving forward and seeing our lives transformed. And so, through this series, I plan to unpack from God's word a few different really key stories about individuals that experienced the God of a second chance. Just like many of you have. Many of you have experienced the love and the grace and the mercy of a God of a second chance." [22:20] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "God has a plan for Samson. God has a plan for you. God's plan for Samson was that Samson was to live by this Nazarite vow. If he lived by the Nazarite vow, he got to honor the Lord. God has a plan for you and me. He goes, I've given you my word. I've given you the Bible. I've filled you with my Holy Spirit. If you follow my word, like Samson followed the Nazarite vow, you get a chance to live a life that glorifies me and you get to honor me, right? But here's what I really want you to see about God's plan, that even in Samson's sin, God was still working his plan." [38:04] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "Sin is a trap. Samson had a definite sin problem. He had a lust for Philistine women. And God's word clearly said, you don't marry them. You do not marry the enemy. You don't engage in that kind of relationship. You don't go there, Samson. He had a lust for that, and he kept pursuing it, and it's what got him in so much trouble. But Samson also had an anger problem, and he had a very short temper. And the sin that lived in him, caused him to break the vow that God had for his life. Samson, in some capacity, in some way, had to end up touching dead people. But more than that, he even had to end up cutting, he ended up getting his own haircut. And he breaks the Nazarite vow. And this cost him a lot." [43:12] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "God gives a second chance. While in prison, here's what I find so interesting. What dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb prison guards they let Samson's hair grow back. You would think to yourself, like, hey, they cut the hair, we captured him. You would think to yourself, like, okay, look, guys, twice a week we're shaving his head. Twice a week, all right? If you have to pluck hairs out one by one, you are pulling hairs out of his nose. Like, we don't want any long nose hairs. We're pulling hair out of his ears. We're, in fact, we're waxing his back, all right? We are taking all of the hair off this dude. Off this, all this hair, right? He is going to be an Olympic swimmer when we're done with him. And we're going to do that twice a week. Like, you would think to yourself, like, we got him, let's keep him right where we want him. But that's not what happened. His hair grew back. And what did God do? The God of a second chance. God honored his word. And God restored strength back to Samson a second time." [46:21] (69 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "Today, if you are outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ, if Jesus isn't your Lord and he is not your leader, I'm inviting you today. I'm inviting you today to return to Jesus. Surrender your life to him. Maybe you've been following God in your past, but you haven't been following God for the last number, for months or years in your life. I'm inviting you to return to Jesus and experience the grace of the God of a second chance. For some of you, your life is just like Samson. You know who God is, but you do basically what you want. That was the problem with Samson's life. He knew who God was, but he did whatever he wanted, whatever seemed right to him. Maybe that's you, and you're living your life that way. I want to invite you today. Return to the God of a second chance." [48:12] (55 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)