1 00:00:00,740 --> 00:00:06,600 Hi, I'm John Wonderful. Probably noticed actually, 2 00:00:06,610 --> 00:00:09,120 before you even say anything. Turn with me in your Bibles, 3 00:00:09,130 --> 00:00:13,140 would you? To the letter of First Timothy. 4 00:00:13,490 --> 00:00:16,320 First Timothy, you probably noticed I got a bit of a frog. 5 00:00:16,329 --> 00:00:20,600 A frog, a frog and my throat. And the cold bug is knocking on 6 00:00:20,610 --> 00:00:25,500 my door here. Just greeted me this morning and 7 00:00:25,510 --> 00:00:27,660 I said hey, not not 100%, she says. 8 00:00:27,790 --> 00:00:34,200 I already knew that I am not 100% appreciate Jess and her 9 00:00:34,210 --> 00:00:39,540 humor and everything that she's doing with CR Jill, the team, 10 00:00:39,550 --> 00:00:43,660 you guys have just been awesome and it is a is a pleasure just 11 00:00:43,670 --> 00:00:47,790 to be talking specifically about CR this morning, dedicating this 12 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:51,160 Sunday to it. We have we've heard some 13 00:00:51,170 --> 00:00:54,580 testimonies already through some of these video clips and Henry, 14 00:00:54,590 --> 00:00:57,420 what you were sharing. Thank you for that Devo Devo 15 00:00:57,490 --> 00:01:02,500 devotional. And if you're a follower of 16 00:01:02,510 --> 00:01:05,630 Jesus Christ, you have a testimony. 17 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:09,490 And so I would just ask you, what is your testimony? 18 00:01:09,960 --> 00:01:13,910 What is your testimony? When I talk about testimony, 19 00:01:15,370 --> 00:01:17,680 there's a number of different ways that's used and maybe 20 00:01:17,690 --> 00:01:21,380 testimonial maybe the the better word to be using. 21 00:01:21,390 --> 00:01:25,680 But testimony can refer to our life like our spiritual journey, 22 00:01:25,690 --> 00:01:28,280 how I became a Christian and that's what we're talking about 23 00:01:28,290 --> 00:01:31,160 the profession of faith classes after the service. 24 00:01:31,170 --> 00:01:33,240 But I'm not specifically talking about that. 25 00:01:33,250 --> 00:01:37,000 I'm just talking about testifying to God at work in my 26 00:01:37,010 --> 00:01:40,470 life. How is God at work in my life? 27 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:45,030 How do I, how can I explain the the the intersection between my 28 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:49,830 knee, my need, and the grace of God at work in my life? 29 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,310 Particularly if you are a follower of Jesus, if you are a 30 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:59,070 Christian, you have a testimony. Testimonies are so powerful. 31 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:04,550 They're incredibly powerful and it's really the key, or one of 32 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:07,450 the keys anyway, to the success of the Celebrate Recovery 33 00:02:07,460 --> 00:02:11,910 Ministry. Learning to be open about our 34 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:16,190 lives, learning to share the struggles that we have in our 35 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:18,080 lives, learning to be real with one another. 36 00:02:18,950 --> 00:02:22,480 And we need more of that. We need more of that. 37 00:02:23,340 --> 00:02:25,770 You might think to yourself, OK, you know, do I have a testimony? 38 00:02:26,670 --> 00:02:29,220 I there's, there's no way I could stand up in front of 39 00:02:29,230 --> 00:02:32,270 people and share something like that so, so deeply. 40 00:02:33,430 --> 00:02:38,680 Do not sell yourself short. You and I as followers of Jesus 41 00:02:38,690 --> 00:02:41,240 Christ, if you're a follower, you were made for this. 42 00:02:41,290 --> 00:02:43,180 You were made for this. So this morning, all I wanna do 43 00:02:43,190 --> 00:02:46,900 just for a few minutes, briefly share about why we share 44 00:02:46,910 --> 00:02:49,980 testimonies and how we can do a better job of sharing 45 00:02:50,030 --> 00:02:51,460 testimonies. All right. 46 00:02:51,530 --> 00:02:55,280 So, Father, as we, as we open this glorious word that you've 47 00:02:55,290 --> 00:03:01,640 given to us, we pray that you'd send your Holy Spirit to us in 48 00:03:01,650 --> 00:03:04,800 the name of Jesus, awaken us to the things that you want us to 49 00:03:04,810 --> 00:03:10,430 see, to know, and to live out. For your namesake we pray. 50 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:14,690 Amen. First Timothy chapter 1. 51 00:03:14,700 --> 00:03:19,330 We're just reading 2 verses, verse 15 to 17 or 15 to 16. 52 00:03:20,710 --> 00:03:23,140 First Timothy chapter 1, starting at verse 15. 53 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:24,860 This is the apostle Paul speaking. 54 00:03:25,110 --> 00:03:29,180 He says here is a trustworthy scene that deserves full 55 00:03:29,190 --> 00:03:32,860 acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world 56 00:03:32,870 --> 00:03:38,560 to save sinners, of whom I am the worst, but for that very 57 00:03:38,570 --> 00:03:43,560 reason, I have shown mercy so that in me the worst of sinners, 58 00:03:43,870 --> 00:03:48,920 Christ Jesus might display His immense patience as an example 59 00:03:48,970 --> 00:03:53,560 for those who would believe in Him and receive eternal life. 60 00:03:55,550 --> 00:03:59,110 I love Paul, you know, as you read his letters, he, he's, he's 61 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:02,860 a very intense individual and he's, he's got a purpose for 62 00:04:02,870 --> 00:04:06,170 every letter that he writes. But every once in a while in the 63 00:04:06,180 --> 00:04:09,220 middle of his argument, he just kind of breaks into praise of 64 00:04:09,230 --> 00:04:11,700 God. And, and it's celebrating this 65 00:04:11,710 --> 00:04:15,500 incredible news that, and this is what he's saying, that God 66 00:04:15,510 --> 00:04:19,320 has come to meet us in our struggles and he has come to 67 00:04:19,329 --> 00:04:23,940 save sinners, to minister to us, to heal us, to not just 68 00:04:23,950 --> 00:04:28,530 confront, but to comfort us and to restore us, transform us to 69 00:04:28,540 --> 00:04:33,330 become more like him that Jesus, the whole, his whole plan was to 70 00:04:33,340 --> 00:04:39,160 come and to save us, to help us. Every single one of us can be 71 00:04:39,170 --> 00:04:42,950 labeled a Sinner. All of us have fallen short of 72 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:44,950 the glory of God. And in the Apostle Paul, he's 73 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:47,650 just not apologetic about that at all. 74 00:04:47,660 --> 00:04:50,070 But I want to. I just want to highlight 2 words 75 00:04:50,140 --> 00:04:54,700 in these verses. The words I am in verse 15. 76 00:04:55,100 --> 00:05:00,810 So Paul says Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, 77 00:05:01,170 --> 00:05:07,590 of whom I am the worst. You know, if you know Paul, Paul 78 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:10,830 had a pretty incredible past. He was a very uptight, very 79 00:05:10,840 --> 00:05:13,130 religious, very legalistic Pharisee. 80 00:05:13,170 --> 00:05:15,880 And he was actually so much so he was persecuting the Church of 81 00:05:15,890 --> 00:05:20,530 Jesus Christ until God awakened him and showed him the light. 82 00:05:21,020 --> 00:05:24,250 But he was, he was a bad dude, a bad religious dude. 83 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:33,030 So we had a horrible past, but Paul doesn't say Christ Jesus 84 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:35,870 came into the world to save sinners, of whom I was the 85 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:37,910 worst. What does he say? 86 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:41,090 It's in the present tense. Of whom I am the worst, like 87 00:05:41,100 --> 00:05:49,480 currently. This is such a critical point 88 00:05:50,180 --> 00:05:53,420 because Paul realized that as many of the bad things that he 89 00:05:53,430 --> 00:05:57,450 had done in the past, currently, right now he saw himself as the 90 00:05:57,460 --> 00:05:59,450 worst of sinners. Now, how could Paul, such a 91 00:05:59,460 --> 00:06:01,590 spiritual giant, speak like that? 92 00:06:01,660 --> 00:06:05,390 How can he say that? Because the more mature we get 93 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:10,170 in Christ, the more time we spent with the Sinless 1, we see 94 00:06:10,180 --> 00:06:12,090 the flaws in ourselves more and more. 95 00:06:12,180 --> 00:06:14,610 And he couldn't, he couldn't not see that. 96 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,390 And so This is why he's just blown away by the mercy of God, 97 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:22,100 not just that showed up way back on the road of Damascus, but 98 00:06:22,110 --> 00:06:26,340 now, like now, God was showing in his showing his mercy. 99 00:06:26,730 --> 00:06:30,260 In fact, the way he describes it is, is that Jesus is displaying 100 00:06:30,270 --> 00:06:34,010 his immense patience for Paul even now. 101 00:06:34,810 --> 00:06:37,720 When we come, when we can come to that place, we realize the 102 00:06:37,730 --> 00:06:42,720 flaws, the flaws in me, Mr. John Digiovanni, when the flaws in me 103 00:06:42,770 --> 00:06:47,300 are covered by Jesus Christ, that that he knows me through 104 00:06:47,310 --> 00:06:49,480 and through, He knows. He knows flaws that I know 105 00:06:49,490 --> 00:06:53,330 nothing about in me, and he loves me so, and he's come to 106 00:06:53,340 --> 00:06:57,330 save me from that. It changes everything, even the 107 00:06:57,340 --> 00:07:00,210 way that I relate to people. This is what Paul is is is 108 00:07:00,220 --> 00:07:04,290 describing here. And so God was using his life, 109 00:07:04,340 --> 00:07:08,370 not just his past but his present, as an example to 110 00:07:08,380 --> 00:07:12,250 display his immense patience for human beings. 111 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:16,890 He is using Paul's life as a way to help other people to come to 112 00:07:16,900 --> 00:07:20,250 know God and enter into relationship with him as an 113 00:07:20,260 --> 00:07:23,860 encouragement. We all need that and that became 114 00:07:23,870 --> 00:07:27,310 a passion for his life. Your next chapter 20. 115 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:30,950 He says, you know, my only aim is to finish the race and 116 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:34,730 complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me here. 117 00:07:34,740 --> 00:07:39,830 It is the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace. 118 00:07:40,060 --> 00:07:43,010 That's what he was all about. I just want to testify. 119 00:07:43,050 --> 00:07:45,910 I want to make known. I wanted to clear the good news 120 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:48,630 of God's grace that is all over my life. 121 00:07:51,430 --> 00:07:55,350 He talks about it in in his other letters, Second 122 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,140 Corinthians, particularly this point, he talks about this 123 00:07:58,150 --> 00:08:03,200 treasure that we have in jars of clay, this power of God at work 124 00:08:03,210 --> 00:08:05,300 in us. But we're jars of clay, we're 125 00:08:05,310 --> 00:08:09,650 weak, we're frail, we're flawed, but the grace of God is working 126 00:08:09,660 --> 00:08:12,510 on me. Even says later in that letter 127 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:17,590 that he talks about that the the the power of God is made perfect 128 00:08:17,740 --> 00:08:22,910 in my weakness. And that is the reality for 129 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:26,650 every single one of us. You know, the beauty of God's 130 00:08:26,660 --> 00:08:29,970 goodness and his kindness and his patience with us is on 131 00:08:29,980 --> 00:08:33,309 display through the backdrop of our brokenness and and and 132 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:41,400 flawed personalities and lives. This is what he's doing, and so 133 00:08:41,570 --> 00:08:43,730 it's so powerful when we share our struggles. 134 00:08:45,900 --> 00:08:49,930 I used to think that after coming to Jesus, my life has to 135 00:08:49,940 --> 00:08:52,690 be all together. And my testimony was that my 136 00:08:52,700 --> 00:08:56,460 life was together. And I don't know if you've ever 137 00:08:56,650 --> 00:09:00,080 felt that before, but the the pressure is on to live a kind of 138 00:09:00,090 --> 00:09:02,150 a perfect life because I want to be a good testimony to other 139 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:04,200 people. This is my this is my young 140 00:09:04,210 --> 00:09:08,090 Christian life. And so the temptation is to hide 141 00:09:08,100 --> 00:09:10,870 who I really am. Because if you really saw my 142 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:14,490 flaws and you thought and you're a Christian, like seriously, you 143 00:09:14,500 --> 00:09:16,760 know, I'm not going to believe in your gut that that's kind of 144 00:09:16,770 --> 00:09:18,720 the fear. But actually the opposite is 145 00:09:18,730 --> 00:09:21,720 true. When people see our flaws and 146 00:09:21,730 --> 00:09:25,340 how the grace of God is operating on us, that's what 147 00:09:25,350 --> 00:09:27,860 like that, that's suddenly there's a human connection going 148 00:09:27,870 --> 00:09:29,880 on. I remember when I was working 149 00:09:29,890 --> 00:09:33,680 out in the in the front yard one day and my garage door was open 150 00:09:34,030 --> 00:09:37,860 and my neighbor came by and he says, ah, looking at your garage 151 00:09:37,870 --> 00:09:41,130 makes me feel so much better about my own right. 152 00:09:41,340 --> 00:09:43,910 And I never thought of it as like, you know, OK, so you know, 153 00:09:43,950 --> 00:09:47,230 rather than trying to make my garage look wonderful for the 154 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:50,790 whole world to see that oht man, he must be a wonderful guy and 155 00:09:50,860 --> 00:09:53,290 and a great Christian because there's look at his garage. 156 00:09:53,300 --> 00:09:57,660 It's so much in order, right? Actually, the opposite is true. 157 00:09:57,710 --> 00:10:00,620 It's not that we try to mess it up on purpose, but we want to be 158 00:10:00,630 --> 00:10:03,440 real, right? And, and it and it was, it 159 00:10:03,450 --> 00:10:09,990 taught me that day that when my life is not fully together, I 160 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:13,070 can actually relate to people more that people can relate to 161 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:18,230 me more as a, as a human being. And so, man, my flaws on display 162 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:20,730 you, I mean, for those of you that call forest be home, you, 163 00:10:20,740 --> 00:10:22,900 you get my flaws every every Sunday morning. 164 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:27,870 But this is the partial Paul, the way that he is operating, 165 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:31,960 that God is displaying his immense patience with me, and 166 00:10:31,970 --> 00:10:37,220 that I am currently, as he sees it, the worst of sinners through 167 00:10:37,230 --> 00:10:39,110 his fellowship with the perfect God. 168 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:45,090 No, it's not for any of us that OK. 169 00:10:45,100 --> 00:10:48,230 My testimony is that I was really bad and then all of a 170 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:50,970 sudden God made me good and everything's good now. 171 00:10:51,220 --> 00:10:54,310 It's that sanctification has begun. 172 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:57,450 It's begun. It's not finished until the day 173 00:10:57,460 --> 00:10:59,830 I meet Jesus face to face, but it's begun. 174 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:04,100 And the call is like, so come along with me, come along with 175 00:11:04,110 --> 00:11:06,270 me. This is how God is changing my 176 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:08,240 life. This is how God is working in my 177 00:11:08,250 --> 00:11:09,920 life. Come on with me and let's 178 00:11:09,930 --> 00:11:13,100 encourage one another in the way of Jesus Christ. 179 00:11:14,460 --> 00:11:16,720 Celebrate. Recovery is just all over that. 180 00:11:17,770 --> 00:11:22,990 It's about coming out if I can use that language like I'm a 181 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:27,770 human being and I have flaws and my life is unmanageable in 182 00:11:27,780 --> 00:11:30,190 particular areas and I need help. 183 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:33,030 And you know what? I'm a human being just like 184 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:36,250 anybody else. That's our predicament, you 185 00:11:36,260 --> 00:11:38,070 know. That's why we we read over, 186 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:41,470 heard, heard it read what you just touched when those 187 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:43,630 principles were shared this morning. 188 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:50,200 Like anyway, Principle 4, this is how it's put, and this week 189 00:11:50,210 --> 00:11:53,000 this is where we see it. You know, I will openly examine 190 00:11:53,010 --> 00:11:57,670 and confess my faults to myself, to God and someone I trust. 191 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:00,980 Beautiful. It's based on step five of the 192 00:12:00,990 --> 00:12:04,170 12 step program. You know, we admit to God, to 193 00:12:04,180 --> 00:12:09,210 ourselves and to another human being, the exact nature of our 194 00:12:09,220 --> 00:12:12,520 wrongs that there's there's something about confessing, 195 00:12:12,610 --> 00:12:16,520 there's something about admitting that brings healing. 196 00:12:17,310 --> 00:12:20,450 And this is what James is talking about in chapter 5 of 197 00:12:20,460 --> 00:12:24,570 James when he says, you know, therefore confess your sins to 198 00:12:24,580 --> 00:12:28,770 one another, to each other and pray for each other so that you 199 00:12:28,780 --> 00:12:34,270 may be healed. There's healing in that and and 200 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:36,880 CR just takes that very seriously. 201 00:12:37,950 --> 00:12:42,390 That healing is not just for us who share, but it's actually for 202 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:44,510 others who are sharing things too. 203 00:12:44,740 --> 00:12:46,930 That there's, there's, there's, there's something that happens 204 00:12:46,940 --> 00:12:48,840 when we're honest about our struggles. 205 00:12:49,550 --> 00:12:52,210 There's a real human connection that takes place. 206 00:12:53,140 --> 00:12:55,550 It's like a sacred moment that happens. 207 00:12:55,820 --> 00:12:58,210 And for those of you who have joined new life groups this 208 00:12:58,220 --> 00:13:01,710 fall, you're probably around the time when things are starting to 209 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:03,150 open up. People are starting to open up. 210 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:06,010 A lot of this last Wednesday in our life group just started 211 00:13:06,020 --> 00:13:09,610 opening up about where their desires are gone, have gone 212 00:13:09,620 --> 00:13:11,680 wayward. It's powerful time. 213 00:13:12,970 --> 00:13:16,220 This is where ministry happens. In fact, part of the testimony. 214 00:13:16,230 --> 00:13:20,740 It's not just so much that, hey, I know that, you know, you know, 215 00:13:20,790 --> 00:13:22,780 God is meeting me in this particular place. 216 00:13:22,790 --> 00:13:25,130 Sometimes we can't even see where God is meeting us in our 217 00:13:25,140 --> 00:13:27,010 struggle, but we share our struggle anyway. 218 00:13:27,050 --> 00:13:29,560 And it's in the midst of that, when we're in community with 219 00:13:29,570 --> 00:13:33,170 other believers, fellow strugglers, that we begin to 220 00:13:33,180 --> 00:13:36,390 experience the grace of God through support and through 221 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:39,350 encouragement, and then through their prayers, and we see God 222 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:41,710 moving. It's all kind of working 223 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:46,720 together. So when people begin to open up 224 00:13:46,730 --> 00:13:50,570 to you because we as the Church of Jesus Christ, we're far from 225 00:13:50,580 --> 00:13:52,930 perfect, but we would just want to get better and better and 226 00:13:52,940 --> 00:13:57,430 better to open up with each other, but also to hear others 227 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:01,310 open up to us and we what few things we need to resist. 228 00:14:01,380 --> 00:14:07,710 We need to resist the strong temptation to fix their problem, 229 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:10,970 solve their problem. You know that that that that 230 00:14:10,980 --> 00:14:15,070 temptation is strong or to minimize the problem, like, oh, 231 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:18,340 come on, That's not you know, or compare the problem. 232 00:14:18,350 --> 00:14:20,320 Oh, you think that's bad way to hear right. 233 00:14:20,330 --> 00:14:22,320 You know we do. That's what we do. 234 00:14:23,070 --> 00:14:26,910 But to listen and embrace and to enter into their vulnerability, 235 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:29,750 it's something that is a bit sometimes counterintuitive, but 236 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:33,600 the more that we practice, the better, the better it gets. 237 00:14:34,990 --> 00:14:39,250 We were meant to share the journey together, encourage one 238 00:14:39,410 --> 00:14:41,830 another daily, and we do that through our testimony. 239 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:45,230 So if you're a follower of Jesus, you have a testimony to 240 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:46,390 share. You do so. 241 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:51,900 How do we get better at this? Um, I believe strongly that the 242 00:14:51,910 --> 00:14:54,580 way we get better at sharing testimony is just by doing it 243 00:14:55,310 --> 00:15:00,000 and that we were made to do it. That really it's more about 244 00:15:00,050 --> 00:15:02,690 removing barriers to doing it than anything else. 245 00:15:02,700 --> 00:15:05,490 You know, the heavens declare the glory of God, the skies 246 00:15:05,500 --> 00:15:09,150 proclaim the work of his hands, like all creation is declaring 247 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:11,640 the glory of God. Just that's that's what creation 248 00:15:11,650 --> 00:15:13,130 does and that's what we were meant to do too. 249 00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:16,450 And so I believe that we were meant to share this. 250 00:15:16,500 --> 00:15:17,970 And so it's just about removing barriers. 251 00:15:17,980 --> 00:15:20,690 I just want to just kind of close with just a few barriers. 252 00:15:20,700 --> 00:15:23,860 What the number one barrier to it that I believe we need to 253 00:15:23,870 --> 00:15:26,860 overcome is pride. That's a big word. 254 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:30,990 We don't solve that problem. And just like a 60 seconds of a 255 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:35,590 sermon, but just that idea that, you know, I don't even know my 256 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:38,300 need. I don't, I don't know my need 257 00:15:38,310 --> 00:15:41,480 for the grace of God. So different from the Apostle 258 00:15:41,490 --> 00:15:42,720 Paul. Well, Apostle Paul, there was a 259 00:15:42,730 --> 00:15:46,560 time in his life someone's got to get that to time. 260 00:15:46,730 --> 00:15:49,380 There's a time in Paul's life when he didn't know that he was 261 00:15:49,390 --> 00:15:51,920 in need of the grace of God until the grace of God hit him. 262 00:15:52,870 --> 00:15:55,830 And then he realised, OK, wow, right. 263 00:15:55,900 --> 00:16:00,090 Or sometimes we even deny that we need we can't we can't admit 264 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:03,990 that we need the grace of God. Remember a regular attender 265 00:16:04,100 --> 00:16:09,250 Deforest View was struggling with alcohol and come to church 266 00:16:09,340 --> 00:16:12,530 inebriated and you could just smell it on them right and and 267 00:16:12,540 --> 00:16:16,200 I'll just say this. You are most welcome if you're 268 00:16:16,210 --> 00:16:19,010 an equated to come to church like we, we our doors are open 269 00:16:19,020 --> 00:16:21,330 to everybody like you are most welcome. 270 00:16:22,710 --> 00:16:26,650 But in walking with this individual and, and, and, and in 271 00:16:26,660 --> 00:16:29,090 those moments when they show up, it's like, you know, have you 272 00:16:29,100 --> 00:16:33,860 been drinking? No, but I, I, I know that you 273 00:16:33,870 --> 00:16:36,920 have been right. So there was this real denial, 274 00:16:37,030 --> 00:16:42,170 and part of the AA program is there is an admission, you know, 275 00:16:42,180 --> 00:16:44,010 hi, I'm John, and I'm an alcoholic. 276 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:47,610 That there's something powerful about admitting, like getting 277 00:16:47,620 --> 00:16:49,250 over the pride of that. I have to have it all. 278 00:16:50,660 --> 00:16:57,500 I'm an alcoholic and this person refused to admit that and as a 279 00:16:57,510 --> 00:17:02,300 result the marriage was ruined. The whole life was torn apart, 280 00:17:03,330 --> 00:17:07,089 hit rock bottom and finally I'm an alcoholic. 281 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:10,400 And that's when life began to turn around for them. 282 00:17:11,060 --> 00:17:13,550 Now, one of the beautiful things that I appreciate about 283 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:18,300 Celebrate Recovery is it's so it's not we we don't introduce 284 00:17:18,310 --> 00:17:23,190 ourselves as I'm an alcoholic. It's no, I'm a, I'm a grateful 285 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:26,060 believer in Jesus Christ. My identity is not my alcohol, 286 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:28,990 my identity is is in Jesus Christ. 287 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:31,500 But I struggle with these things and I'm celebrating the recovery 288 00:17:31,510 --> 00:17:32,790 that God has given me in these things. 289 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:37,080 So it's a bit different, but that introduction that we give 290 00:17:40,020 --> 00:17:43,180 it does a couple of things. One is it wakes us up out of our 291 00:17:43,190 --> 00:17:45,210 denial. You know, every time someone 292 00:17:45,220 --> 00:17:48,530 comes to the platform or introduces themselves, you get, 293 00:17:48,540 --> 00:17:50,410 I'm a grateful follower of Jesus Christ. 294 00:17:50,420 --> 00:17:52,660 And these are the areas that I'm celebrating recovery in. 295 00:17:53,180 --> 00:17:58,910 It it it, it turns the tables and it reminds us all to get out 296 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:02,130 of that place of denying. Like this is not about trying to 297 00:18:02,140 --> 00:18:03,810 be proud or putting on a good show. 298 00:18:04,220 --> 00:18:07,390 This is who I am. And it also, this is for 299 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:09,480 ourselves, but it's also for each other and saying, you know, 300 00:18:09,490 --> 00:18:12,950 we're in this thing together, we're in this thing together. 301 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:15,960 And so let's let's journey and, and, and through these struggles 302 00:18:15,970 --> 00:18:17,420 together. So pride is the first thing 303 00:18:17,430 --> 00:18:19,420 that's gotta go. Second is fear. 304 00:18:20,610 --> 00:18:26,010 And So what will people think of me if they really knew this 305 00:18:26,020 --> 00:18:29,660 stuff, right? Or shame, just that that idea of 306 00:18:29,820 --> 00:18:38,060 of, you know, I, I feel naked if I was to share this stuff with 307 00:18:38,070 --> 00:18:43,570 somebody else. And this is where Paul's words 308 00:18:43,580 --> 00:18:45,470 in First Timothy are so powerful. 309 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:51,670 I am the worst of sinners. He was not ashamed to be able to 310 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:52,830 say that. He knew that. 311 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,070 And as a result of that, he got abuse. 312 00:18:55,140 --> 00:18:57,870 He got criticism. He, you know, he, he encountered 313 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:03,500 so much and it's like, OK, lay it on me cause I probably 314 00:19:03,510 --> 00:19:07,910 deserve that and more. I remember I actually, I 315 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:12,640 probably mentioned a number of times Charles Spurgeon when he 316 00:19:12,650 --> 00:19:16,220 was told criticisms about himself by other people, hey, 317 00:19:16,230 --> 00:19:18,080 people are saying this and this and this about you. 318 00:19:18,150 --> 00:19:20,340 And he's known for saying, essentially, you know, they 319 00:19:20,350 --> 00:19:22,900 don't even know the half of it. You know, if they really knew 320 00:19:22,910 --> 00:19:27,530 how I was, you know, you know, they think far worse of me than 321 00:19:27,540 --> 00:19:30,580 they do, right? That's the approach. 322 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:34,650 That's the approach. And when we get to that place of 323 00:19:34,660 --> 00:19:38,160 knowing, you know what, that there's, there's nothing that 324 00:19:38,170 --> 00:19:44,470 someone can find out about me. There's already been forgiven by 325 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:47,770 my God and that the grace of Jesus Christ is coming. 326 00:19:47,780 --> 00:19:49,500 There's nothing that can discount me. 327 00:19:52,050 --> 00:19:53,440 That's a beautiful place to be in. 328 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:57,230 I do not have to fear anymore. I have to fear shame anymore. 329 00:19:57,300 --> 00:20:02,400 I can be moving forward. Last thing I'll just point out, 330 00:20:02,410 --> 00:20:07,510 and that is what I call sterile theology, still theology, this 331 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:13,060 idea that I believe that God is just too wholly to get his hands 332 00:20:13,070 --> 00:20:16,800 dirty into in the the everyday life of sinners. 333 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:23,170 That is just simply not true. He is sovereign over all and 334 00:20:23,180 --> 00:20:26,220 when we look we can see his fingerprints and everything. 335 00:20:26,230 --> 00:20:28,910 You know, one of the great sayings of CR is that God never 336 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:32,240 wastes hurt. In other words, no matter what 337 00:20:32,250 --> 00:20:34,960 kind of hurt that we have experienced in life, even 338 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:41,460 through that God is going to do powerful healing work, He is 339 00:20:41,470 --> 00:20:43,100 always at work. So we need to kind of keep our 340 00:20:43,110 --> 00:20:45,600 eyes open for how is God at work here. 341 00:20:45,670 --> 00:20:46,960 Sometimes things happen in our life. 342 00:20:46,970 --> 00:20:50,180 We think God could never, God's nowhere to be found here. 343 00:20:50,330 --> 00:20:57,470 God, in His great mercy, His grace is close to us, and He's 344 00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:01,520 gonna work through every tragedy, every hurt, every hang 345 00:21:01,530 --> 00:21:03,640 up, every bad habit. He's gonna use all this stuff 346 00:21:03,650 --> 00:21:08,640 for if we'll put our trust in Him, check our sterile anthology 347 00:21:08,650 --> 00:21:10,800 at the door, and put our trust in Him. 348 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:16,240 How is he at work? How is he at work? 349 00:21:16,250 --> 00:21:17,520 That's the question to be asking. 350 00:21:17,590 --> 00:21:20,130 How is he at work in my life? And how can I begin to share 351 00:21:20,140 --> 00:21:22,540 that? So here's the application. 352 00:21:22,610 --> 00:21:30,140 Just start, start sharing, start opening up to people about your 353 00:21:30,150 --> 00:21:32,770 life being real, and that can be scary at times. 354 00:21:34,460 --> 00:21:36,690 Start with someone whom you trust. 355 00:21:37,140 --> 00:21:40,150 Maybe it's a spouse, hopefully it's a spouse, but maybe it's a 356 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:44,830 spouse or a good friend, maybe with your life group and to 357 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:48,450 begin to share some of the fine China of your life with them. 358 00:21:49,330 --> 00:21:51,890 Maybe we've been hurt in the past and and that that's burned 359 00:21:51,900 --> 00:21:59,790 us before was just dwell on the words of the apostle Paul and 360 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:05,250 the immense patience that God has for us and that his grace is 361 00:22:05,260 --> 00:22:07,390 sufficient. It is power is going to be made 362 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:11,570 perfect in our weakness begin to open up more and more and make 363 00:22:11,580 --> 00:22:15,140 that a habit maybe come to Celebrate Recovery. 364 00:22:15,830 --> 00:22:19,220 Beautiful mutually supportive environment where this kind of 365 00:22:19,230 --> 00:22:22,320 thing is encouraged and supported in a confidential 366 00:22:22,410 --> 00:22:23,960 environment. Beautiful thing. 367 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:28,330 Let's pray, Father. Thank you for the gift that 368 00:22:28,340 --> 00:22:34,530 you've given to each one of us in community under the grace of 369 00:22:34,540 --> 00:22:36,570 Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord, that you came 370 00:22:36,580 --> 00:22:39,790 to save sinners, of whom I can say I'm the worst. 371 00:22:41,540 --> 00:22:44,400 Thank you for ministering to me and my flaws. 372 00:22:45,220 --> 00:22:49,180 Thank you for your immense patience for me, granting me a 373 00:22:49,190 --> 00:22:53,840 heart that is willing to share honestly, openly about how 374 00:22:53,850 --> 00:22:57,380 things really are in my life, and to trust the Lord that Your 375 00:22:57,390 --> 00:23:00,160 grace is sufficient to meet me in everything. 376 00:23:00,290 --> 00:23:07,040 Give us, give us some, give us knowledge of the testimony that 377 00:23:07,050 --> 00:23:11,080 we have of the saving grace of God that hasn't stopped working 378 00:23:11,150 --> 00:23:13,880 in our lives, that we prayed in Jesus name. 379 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:15,090 Hey, man.