Common questions.

What is Life.Church Open Network?

Life.Church Open Network is a place where churches and ministries can download videos, sermons, graphics, and support files from the entire library of Life.Church creative content...for free. You can also find training about the Life.Church approach to ministry, access free church apps, and find answers and encouragement in our community.

Is the Life.Church Open Network really free?

Yes. Being part of the Life.Church Open Network is completely free. There are no dues, no tithes, no percentages, no training fees. You don’t even have to give us credit for the resources. We want you to focus on building healthy churches, engaging with like-minded leaders, and maximizing your impact for the Kingdom of Christ...not paying membership dues or fees. All we ask is that you agree to our terms of service and use resources in a non-commercial manner to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ.

Resource questions.

How do I use Life.Church Open Network message video resources?

View the entire message. Before you show a teaching video in your church, watch it all the way through to make sure the file downloaded completely and to familiarize yourself with any cultural references or context you made need to explain.

Create smooth transitions. To transition from your live worship to the video teaching, play music (either live or pre-recorded) as your live pastor introduces the video teaching. You can also lower the lights to queue the audience that you're moving to video.

Lead into the message. It's a good idea to set up the theme or topic of the message you're about to show. Perhaps share a story that's dear to your church that relates to the topic. You can also take this lead-in time to explain anything that might be confusing or recap the previous messages in the series.

Plan ahead. If possible, add a backup source for showing the video; for example, have a dvd player on hand if your video presentation software should fail. Once you start your main source, begin your backup source five seconds later. If you do encounter any playback glitches, you'll only be five seconds behind. You can also prepare a message outline; in case of a power or equipment failure, your pastor can deliver the message live.

Can I edit the video teaching messages?

No, the video teaching downloads cannot be edited and must be used in their entirety. You can modify the videos to play back on different formats, but you cannot otherwise edit the teaching videos. This restriction helps us ensure that parts of the message are not taken out of their original context or intent.

Can I have CDs or DVDs of resources mailed to me?

No, resources are only available for direct download. We are not able to mail or send it to you in another format. By leveraging the ability to transfer files online, we're able to provide them to people around the world for free and still focus on the vision that God has called us to.

What resources does Life.Church Open Network offer for children's and youth ministries?

Ages 2 – Kindergarten. Life.Church has several curriculum series available for your youngest attendees. Our newest, most robust set is called the Bible App for Kids Curriculum, a free, two-year curriculum that's fully integrated with Bible App for Kids. Learn more here.

• Bible App for Kids Curriculum – two-year plan for ages 2 through kindergarten
• Under the Sea – one-year plan for two year olds
• In the Jungle – one-year plan for three year olds
• The Ark – one-year plan for four year olds
• Crosstown – one-year plan for five year olds

Ages 6 - 11. LifeKids Konnect curriculum consists of weekend messages for children ages 6-11 years old. The four-week series are created on an ongoing schedule. Each lesson is 60 minutes and includes teacher notes and a weekly take-home challenge card. Resources for the series include artwork, video teaching, and loops. Corresponding parent resources are available. Find Konnect resources here.

Ages 10 - 12. The Loop is a curriculum for students 9-12 years old (4th through 6th grade) as they make the transition between children’s and youth ministry. The weekend messages are created on an ongoing schedule of four-week series. Each lesson is 60 minutes and includes teacher notes and a weekly take-home challenge card. Resources for the series include artwork, a weekly handout, video teaching, loops, and activity plans. Find Loop resources here.

Ages 13 - 18. Switch is a mid-week ministry for students ages 13-18, consisting of a worship experience, activities/games, and relational groups. The weekly lesson is 45 minutes. Resources include artwork and activity plans for each four-week series. Find Switch resources here.

Does Life.Church Open Network have resources for Small Groups?

Yes. At Life.Church, we believe the lifeblood of the church is small groups. Within these small groups, true discipleship occurs as people strive to grow spiritually and relationally by gathering together on a regular basis in homes, coffee shops, businesses, and online. While the church grows larger, we believe it must also grow smaller through groups, which is why we place a heavy emphasis on creating resources that foster an atmosphere of discipleship and spiritual growth.

Life.Church creates a one-page study guide for every sermon called Talk It Over. This guide contains seven to nine questions related to the message, scripture references to read with the group, next step ideas, and daily Scripture reading. For those sermon series done prior to the creation of Talk It Over, there is a one- to two-page small group study guide. Find Talk It Over guides within each message series.

Additional Small Group studies

Life.Church also creates additional curriculum for use in small groups that are not related to message series. Many of these studies are designed to help groups dig deeper into books or topics like family, finances, and leadership development. Find additional small groups resources here.

Chazown

The Chazown Experience is based on Craig Groeschel’s book Chazown and is designed to help participants develop vision and purpose for their lives. Resources are available for download here.

Walking in step with Life.Church

What does it mean to walk in step with Life.Church?

If you'd like to align with the teaching content, schedule, and flow of Life.Church, you can! As part of the Life.Church Open Network, you can sign up to receive each week's message video from Pastor Craig Groeschel or other Life.Church guest speaker exactly the way a Life.Church campus does—and you can show it in your church the same weekend. To learn more about walking in step with us, learn more here.

How will I receive the weekend message video files?

The weekend message video file is distributed to you automatically through Dropbox; all other files for the message are found on the resources page. Authenticate your DropBox account and sync to our shared folder. The message is usually available around 8:00 PM CST on Saturdays.

How will I know what the next series and topics are?

Upcoming series, topics, and events are posted on the In Step schedule.

Can I connect with other pastors and leaders who are in step?

Yes! Share ideas and ask questions about current and upcoming Life.Church series in the community.

Can we use Life.Church logos in our church?

No, please do not use the Life.Church logo on any communication, photo, social media image, video, website, or signage.

If we show Pastor Craig’s video sermons each week, will our pastor have any opportunities to preach?

Yes, there are weekends throughout the year when a pastor can team teach with Craig. We’ll provide a how-to video on how to team teach before those weekends.

Are there any weekends where message content won’t be provided?

Yes, there are a couple times each year when we won't provide new messages. For example, when Life.Church does our annual "At the Movies" series, we won't share those videos because they contain licensed movie footage that we won't have authorization to duplicate and reproduce. Use these few weekends as opportunities to use another message video from the Open library, do a special event, or preach your own message.

Can we walk in step with kids ministry, but still teach our own adult messages?

Yes, you can be aligned with Life.Church through kids resources, youth resources, adult messages or all three. It’s up to you!

We love Life.Church resources! Is there a way to give back?

If you’d like to give back to the Life.Church Open Network for providing free resources, you can! All your giving to Digital Missions goes right back into the Open Network to help us continue offering these resources to churches around the world. Click here, sign in, and choose the Gift Type "Digital Missions" when you give.

Apps questions

Are the apps listed on this site free, too?

Yes, you can use Church Metrics, Church Online Platform, Bible App, and Bible App for Kids completely for free.

Where can I find tech support for these apps?

If you have any questions about getting started with our apps or need tech support, we'd love to help!

Do you have a question? Ask the community.