Ponca City Life Center

05/31/2026

05/31/2026

📖 What You're Not Saying
✍️ Notes by Larry Kitchell/ Campus Pastor

LOVE KILLERS #5
By Pastor Craig Groeschel

📖 Scripture Truths

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." — Luke 16:10 NIV

"Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ..." — Ephesians 4:15 NLT

✏️ Devotional Thought

One of the biggest love killers in any relationship isn't yelling, fighting, or even conflict.

It's hiding.

Not necessarily hiding an affair. Not necessarily living a double life. Sometimes it's simply hiding what we're really thinking, really feeling, or really doing.

Many of us have mastered the art of telling part of the truth. We don't technically lie. We simply leave out the parts we'd rather not discuss.

We convince ourselves:

"It's not that big of a deal."

"I don't want to start an argument."

"What they don't know won't hurt them."

But Scripture reminds us that dishonesty often begins long before we tell a lie. It begins when we start hiding.

That's exactly what Adam and Eve did after they sinned. Their first instinct wasn't confession—it was concealment. They hid from God and from one another. Sin didn't just separate them from God; it damaged their relationship with each other.

The enemy is still running the same play today.

Deception usually starts small. A hidden purchase. An unspoken hurt. A secret struggle. A conversation you have with everyone except the person who needs to hear it most.

The problem is that small dishonesty rarely stays small.

Jesus said that if we can't be trusted with little things, we won't be trustworthy with larger things either. The little cracks eventually become larger fractures.

Healthy relationships require both truth and grace.

Truth without grace becomes harsh and hurtful.

Grace without truth becomes avoidance and enables unhealthy patterns.

Jesus modeled both perfectly. John tells us He came "full of grace and truth." That's the balance we're called to pursue.

Maybe today God is putting His finger on something you've been hiding.

Perhaps it's a hurt you've never expressed.

Perhaps it's a struggle you've never shared.

Perhaps it's a conversation you've been avoiding.

Remember this: God already knows.

The question isn't whether God knows the truth.

The question is whether you're willing to stop hiding and begin walking in honesty.

Healing begins where hiding ends.

🙏 Prayer Time

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for loving me enough to pursue me even when I try to hide. Help me walk in truth and grace. Give me the courage to be honest with You, with myself, and with the people I love. Show me any area where I've been hiding behind excuses, omissions, or fear. Teach me to speak the truth in love and to receive truth with grace. Bring healing, restoration, and deeper relationships through honesty and humility.

In Jesus' name,
Amen.

📖 Today's Takeaway Truths

💡 Healing begins where hiding ends.

💡 Small dishonesty rarely stays small.

💡 Truth without grace destroys; grace without truth enables.

💡 God already knows what we're hiding and still pursues us in love.

💡 You'll only be as close as you're willing to be honest.

God bless Y'all 🙌

05/31/2026

THIS SUNDAY AT LIFE CENTER ❤️
10AM & 11:30AM

Love Killers — Part 5
“What You’re Not Saying”

You don’t have to tell a huge lie for a relationship to drift apart.

Sometimes it’s:
• The half-truth
• The hidden purchase
• “I’m fine” when you’re not
• The conversation you have with everyone except your spouse
• The secret nobody knows about

Small dishonesty never stays small.

This Sunday we’re talking about:
✔️ How deception quietly damages relationships
✔️ Why people hide instead of heal
✔️ The difference between truth and grace
✔️ How honesty rebuilds trust and intimacy
✔️ Why confession leads to healing

“You’ll only be as close as you both are honest.”

This is the FINAL week of the Love Killers series — and you do not want to miss it.

Whether you’re married, dating, single, or struggling in relationships, this message has the power to change how you communicate, connect, and heal.

📍 Life Center
🕙 Sunday Services: 10AM & 11:30AM

Stop hiding.
Healing starts with honesty.

05/30/2026

We love you both and we pray you have many, many more birthdays!!!

05/29/2026

📖 Stop Nagging, Start Praying
By Larry Gean Kitchell
📖 Scripture Truth

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God."
— Philippians 1:9–11 NIV

✏️ Devotional Thought

Let's be honest—we all have people in our lives who push our buttons.

They might rub us the wrong way, hurt us, disappoint us, or just flat-out irritate us. Maybe you live with them. Maybe you work with them. Maybe you are them. (Just kidding... sort of.)

Here's a heart-check question:

When you think about that person, do you pray for them?

Or do you grumble, complain, nag, criticize, or nitpick?

God has taught me a simple truth that has the power to transform relationships:

Stop nagging. Start praying.

Nagging rarely changes people. Prayer does.

The Apostle Paul modeled this beautifully. Writing to the Philippians, he said:

"Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy." (Philippians 1:4 NLT)

Notice Paul didn't say he prayed with frustration, irritation, or resentment. He prayed with joy.

That's a game-changer.

Positive praying is far more effective than positive thinking. You can think good thoughts about a difficult person all day long, but only God can change a heart. Prayer invites God into situations where our words have failed.

In Philippians 1:9–11, Paul gives us a powerful blueprint for praying for others.

❤️ Pray That They Grow in Love

"That your love may abound more and more..."

Ask God to increase their capacity to love Him and love people.

💡 Pray That They Make Wise Choices

"...so that you may be able to discern what is best..."

Pray that God gives them wisdom, discernment, and good judgment.

🛡️ Pray That They Live With Integrity

"...and may be pure and blameless..."

Ask God to strengthen their character and help them walk in righteousness.

🌿 Pray That They Become More Like Jesus

"...filled with the fruit of righteousness..."

Pray that the Holy Spirit continues His transforming work in their life.

Here's the beautiful twist: as you pray for others, God begins changing you.

Your attitude softens.

Your compassion grows.

Your heart becomes more tender.

And many times, the relationship begins to heal.

You may not be able to change another person, but you can always choose how you respond.

So today, take it from someone who is still learning this lesson:

Stop nagging. Start praying.

And watch what God will do.

🙏 Prayer Time

Heavenly Father,

Today I lift up the people in my life—the ones I love deeply and the ones I sometimes struggle to love well.

May Your love abound in them more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. Help them make wise choices, walk with integrity, and become more like Jesus every day.

And Lord, change me too.

Help me to stop nagging and start praying. Guard my words, soften my heart, and teach me to trust You with the people I care about. Let me be part of the healing, not the hurting.

In Jesus' name I pray,

Amen.

💡📖 Today's Takeaway Truths

💡 Prayer is more powerful than criticism, complaining, or nagging.

💡 When you pray for someone, God works in both their heart and yours.

💡 Praying Scripture over people is one of the greatest gifts you can give them.

💡 You cannot change people—but God can.

💡 Every relationship improves when prayer becomes greater than frustration.

God bless Y’all 🙌