Surrender
Saddleback Church Weekend Messages
Saddleback Church
4.7 • 723 Ratings
🗓️ 24 November 2025
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Do you ever feel like there’s something in your life you just can’t let go of, something that keeps you from fully surrendering to God and experiencing the closeness you long for? In this message, Pastor Stacie Wood unpacks what it means to open our hands and trust God with every part of our lives. Looking at the rich young ruler in Mark 10, we see a man who had everything yet could not release his grip long enough to follow Jesus. His story ends in sadness, while Peter’s story reveals the beauty of a surrendered life. Peter gave up much, but discovered that life with Jesus is more meaningful and rewarding than anything he could build on his own. That same invitation is in front of us. God calls us to trust Him with everything, knowing that what He gives is always better than what we hold onto. What might be holding you back?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey everybody, this is Andy Wood, and I'm the pastor here at Saddleback Church, and this is our podcast. Be sure to subscribe so we can get you these new messages every week, and I hope you enjoy today's message. Let's dive in. Well, folks, it's great to be together with you today. |
| 0:27.2 | I'm so thankful that you're here. |
| 0:29.0 | If you're joining us online or at an extension, we're so glad that you are here a part of this with us. |
| 0:35.1 | And I wanted to share with you a story about when I had just finished up my freshman year |
| 0:40.7 | of college. |
| 0:42.0 | And that summer, I went to China to serve on a short-term mission trip. |
| 0:46.8 | I was there for one month. |
| 0:48.5 | And it was the first time I had ever been away from my family for such a long period of time, |
| 0:55.3 | and it was definitely the furthest I had ever been away from my family. |
| 1:00.2 | And I just remember over the course of that month in China that there would be times all |
| 1:05.5 | throughout the month where I would just come and I would lay in the bed where I was staying, |
| 1:10.3 | and I would be so homesick, and I would lay in the bed where I was staying, and I would be so homesick, and I would just |
| 1:14.4 | miss my parents so much. I would feel like my parents were a million miles away. |
| 1:21.0 | And there's something that is so comforting about being close to a person that you love. |
| 1:27.4 | And there's something that's so painful and heart-wrenching, |
| 1:30.8 | just that deep ache in your heart when there's separation between you. |
| 1:35.8 | And I know that some of you, even as the holidays are approaching, |
| 1:38.8 | you're feeling those feelings like I was. |
| 1:42.8 | And today I just want to invite you to think about a time where it felt like maybe God was |
| 1:49.3 | a million miles away. |
| 1:52.1 | Maybe you were going through a season of grief in your life and it felt like God had |
| 1:56.8 | abandoned you or turned his back on you. |
... |
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