1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,800 Would you stand with me this morning for the reading of God's 2 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:07,080 Word? Thank you, Jesus. 3 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:12,040 Give honor to my Bishop this morning. 4 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,160 Praying for you, praying for your strength. 5 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:23,280 Amen. Give honor to my pastor. 6 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,240 I know he's not here, but I don't want to fail to honor him. 7 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:31,680 And it is an honor to stand here in his absence. 8 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:34,200 It's an honor to stay in here at any time. 9 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:37,480 But anytime you're asked to stand in the pulpit when that 10 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:42,120 pastor is not there, I count it double honor of the trust that 11 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:44,080 they, they put in you for doing so. 12 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:47,160 I love and appreciate him and his family dearly. 13 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:54,840 My wife who puts up with me, she's got her hands full, I 14 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:57,240 promise you. But I love her. 15 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:00,600 I appreciate her and I, I, I, I set up there in the media booth 16 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:04,920 this morning early and worship service and just for a, a, a 17 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:08,760 season just weeping. Not only because of the presence 18 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:12,600 of God, but I was overcome with a sense of gratitude for looking 19 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:15,000 at the platform and seeing my wife, my son and my 20 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:19,480 daughter-in-law. And just overwhelmed with a 21 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:24,120 sense of gratefulness that that I get to do life not only with 22 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:26,680 my favorite people, but I get to do life with them. 23 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:29,080 And they have such a heart for ministry. 24 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:32,040 And I count that such a blessing today. 25 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:34,800 And I am so thankful for them and love them so much. 26 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:43,600 Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse #19 I'm using this short passage 27 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:46,840 of Scripture as our springboard this morning for our topic. 28 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,680 Deuteronomy 30 and 19 says, I call heaven and earth to record 29 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:56,840 this day against you, that I have set before you life and 30 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:01,120 death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life that both 31 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:06,960 thou and thy seed may live, that thou mayest love the Lord thy 32 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:10,560 God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest 33 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:16,320 cleave unto him, For he is thy life and the length of days that 34 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:20,760 thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord swear unto thy 35 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:29,400 fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them for a 36 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:33,520 few moments this morning I want to I want to talk to you about 37 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:36,040 this subject. And this probably going to be 38 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:40,440 more of a Bible lesson than a a preaching, I suppose, unless the 39 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:45,560 Lord changes differently. But my topic today is this, and 40 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,680 I believe the topic I didn't, I didn't pick it because of this, 41 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:53,320 but I believe it is fitting as we prepare ourselves for going 42 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:57,560 into a new year as a time of reflection and a time of 43 00:02:57,560 --> 00:02:59,600 preparation. My topic today is this. 44 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:04,280 Deciding to live. Deciding to live. 45 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:06,080 Lord bless you. You may be seated this morning. 46 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:18,560 In 1984, Stacy Keach was at a point in his career that many 47 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:23,640 actors only imagine. He had earned international 48 00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:27,160 respect for his work on stage and screen. 49 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:30,720 His portrayal of Mike Hammer had made him a household name. 50 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:36,840 But while his professional life seemed steady, his private life 51 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,840 was increasingly shaped by a long running cocaine addiction. 52 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:44,600 1 He later admitted he believed he could manage. 53 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:49,680 That illusion ended abruptly at London Heathrow Airport. 54 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,440 Customs officials discovered cocaine in his luggage, and 55 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:58,840 Keach was arrested on the spot. Within weeks, he pleaded guilty 56 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,280 to importing the drug into the United Kingdom and was sentenced 57 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:04,760 to nine months in Reading prison. 58 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:08,560 For a man accustomed to the pace and privilege of the 59 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:13,280 entertainment world, the shift was immediate and severe. 60 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,920 Keach later emphasized that he received no special treatment 61 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:21,800 because of his fame. He lived under the same rules 62 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:23,760 and routines as every other inmate. 63 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:27,880 The confinement forced him to confront the consequences of his 64 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:31,160 addiction in a way he had never done before. 65 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,600 In later interviews and testimony, he described the 66 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:39,120 experience as a profound reckoning, one that stripped 67 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:43,720 away denial and let him face left him face to face with the 68 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:46,640 reality of what his life had become. 69 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:51,120 After serving roughly 6 months, Keach was released early for 70 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:53,760 good behavior. He returned to the United 71 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:57,000 States, entered recovery, and began the slow process of 72 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:01,080 rebuilding both his professional and personal lives. 73 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:05,480 Work eventually returned television roles, film, film 74 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:09,480 appearances, stage performances, and acclaimed voice acting, but 75 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:14,880 the experience of prison remained A defining Chapter 1. 76 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:20,360 He chose not to hide. Over the years, Keach has spoken 77 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,080 openly about how that period reshaped him. 78 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:28,120 He has described it not only as a consequence of addiction, but 79 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:32,560 as a turning point that forced him towards sobriety and 80 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:36,280 clarity, as he reflected later in life. 81 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:41,040 Today, he calls that prison cell the most honest place he has 82 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:44,480 ever been. It's where I met myself, he said 83 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:51,240 quietly, and decided to live. This morning I want to talk to 84 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:57,880 you about 5 things needed to stop living accidentally and 85 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:01,320 make the decision to live intentionally in your God 86 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:05,760 calling. 5 truths that are admittedly much easier for me to 87 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:08,600 say than for either one of us to make a reality. 88 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:12,840 But despite the challenge and difficulties of embracing them, 89 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:19,280 if you will follow them, you will realize God's anointing and 90 00:06:19,280 --> 00:06:22,680 God's favor in your life. Life is not easy. 91 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:25,360 So for us to believe that something is not worth doing 92 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,720 just because it's not easy is a very serious mistake. 93 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:33,000 We have to embrace those times of discomfort sometimes to grow. 94 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:38,760 These five truths are this Your past does not disqualify your 95 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:42,760 future. Your wounds were not meant to be 96 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:46,440 your walls. Your scars qualify you. 97 00:06:47,280 --> 00:06:50,120 Your pain has a divine assignment. 98 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:55,600 And five, you must choose to decide to live, starting with #1 99 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:59,120 this morning. Your past does not disqualify 100 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:04,960 your future. Robert Downey Junior went from 101 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:09,920 mug shots to addiction to a Marvel icon in his role as Iron 102 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:15,480 Man in the 1990s and early 2000s, his life spiralled into 103 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:17,960 addiction. He was arrested multiple times, 104 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:21,480 sent to rehab, repeatedly publicly mocked by the media, 105 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:24,760 Hollywood considered him uninsurable, and finished. 106 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:28,840 He eventually became Iron Man, the face of the Marvel Cinematic 107 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:34,080 Universe and one of the highest paid actors in the world. 2nd 108 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:38,640 Corinthians 5 and 17 directs our attention to say, therefore, if 109 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:44,400 any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. 110 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:50,240 Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become 111 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:54,680 new. I want to make us aware of one 112 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:57,400 very simple but potent fact today. 113 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:05,160 God does not revise you. You when you come to God, you 114 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:11,480 are not version 2 point O God is not upgrading you, He's 115 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:15,440 regenerating you. God doesn't revise you, he 116 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:19,560 recreates you. There's a very distinct 117 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:22,200 difference between revision and recreation. 118 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:30,040 And by the power of God, when you, when you are in Christ, the 119 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:32,960 Bible says you are a new creature. 120 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:37,320 You're not an upgrade. You're not version 2.1756, 121 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:39,720 you're not having to wait another six months for a 122 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:42,960 software update. You're not constantly trying to 123 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:45,840 have to just become better. This is not about you being 124 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:47,840 better. It's about God in you. 125 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:52,480 God in you will make you better, but you, by your own power, 126 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:56,080 cannot do anything. You can make choices, yes. 127 00:08:56,080 --> 00:09:00,880 You can make decisions, yes. But the correction, the change, 128 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:06,760 the recreation comes from Almighty God. 129 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:11,560 Isaiah 43 and 18 says, Remember you not the former things, 130 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:13,760 neither consider the things of old. 131 00:09:14,560 --> 00:09:18,840 Behold, I will do a new thing now it shall spring forth. 132 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:21,960 Shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the 133 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:23,760 wilderness and rivers in the desert. 134 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:28,920 God specializes in futures that are better than their histories. 135 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:34,320 Let let me say that again just so it soaks in a bit. 136 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:37,160 I know it's Sunday morning and some of us are already hungry 137 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:39,800 for lunch and some of us haven't woke up from breakfast yet. 138 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:46,080 God specializes in futures that are better than their histories. 139 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:52,200 God cares more about your today and your tomorrow than He does 140 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:56,520 your yesterday because your yesterday is what He's committed 141 00:09:56,680 --> 00:10:00,560 that He will forget about. He's committed that he will bury 142 00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:03,960 it and say, you know what? I know I'm God, I know I've got 143 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:06,680 all the memory. I know I don't have to forget. 144 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:10,640 But he says I'm going to choose to forget your yesterday so that 145 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:13,000 I can focus on your today. I can. 146 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:18,880 I feel the Holy Ghost already. God wants to focus on your 147 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:21,080 today. He wants to focus on your 148 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:24,080 tomorrow because he cares about you. 149 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:35,080 Thank you Jesus, somebody say thank you Jesus, Psalms 34 and 150 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:40,840 19 says many, Everybody shout many, many, somebody say that's 151 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:46,280 me. Many are the afflictions of the 152 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:53,000 righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them. 153 00:10:54,240 --> 00:11:00,680 A few. No, not a few, not a small 154 00:11:00,680 --> 00:11:06,160 number out of them all. Ladies and gentlemen, I've come 155 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:10,120 to tell you today that your scars testify that God just 156 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:14,960 keeps on delivering this. Life is not about escaping scar 157 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:17,120 free. It's what you do with those 158 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:19,760 scars. It's what you do with that past. 159 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:21,920 It's what you do with your testimony. 160 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:25,320 And God's a delivering God who just keeps on delivering. 161 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:27,400 He's a delivering God on a Monday. 162 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:29,440 He's a delivering God on a Tuesday. 163 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:32,520 And thank God, on Wednesday midweek he's still a delivering 164 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:35,160 God. And on Thursday he's still 165 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:37,600 there. On Friday, he's still there on 166 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:41,200 Saturday, he's still there every day ending in Y in the English 167 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:46,000 language. God is still there and he just 168 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:52,440 keeps on delivering. Thank you Lord #2 Your wounds 169 00:11:53,600 --> 00:12:01,960 were not meant to be your walls. Walls. 170 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:06,680 Your wounds were not meant to box you in. 171 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:11,640 Having to pass doesn't mean that that's all you become. 172 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:17,160 That's a worldly vision. That's not a God vision, 173 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:31,400 Colossians 313 says forbearing one another and forgiving one 174 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:35,680 another. If any man have a quarrel 175 00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:43,360 against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 176 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:50,400 Let me just briefly explain what this verse is trying to tell us 177 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:54,360 this morning and how it relates to your wounds not becoming your 178 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:58,840 walls. Healing accelerates when 179 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:10,480 forgiveness is in the lead. Your Your healing speeds up when 180 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:16,080 you forgive someone else. No one but God could think of 181 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:20,480 that. Your healing becomes clearer 182 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:25,480 whenever whatever else is in your life, you decide to let go 183 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:35,200 of it, forbearing one another, forgiving one another, and if 184 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:39,040 any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you. 185 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:42,840 Let me put that in Mason vernacular for just a moment. 186 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:47,960 If God forgave you, what right do you have not to forgive 187 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:53,840 someone else? What a powerful statement today 188 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:56,320 to lead us in our own healing process. 189 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:01,400 Second Corinthians one and three says blessed be God, even the 190 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:04,880 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies in the God 191 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:11,000 of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that 192 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:15,280 we may be able to comfort them, which are in any trouble by the 193 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:18,360 comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted by God. 194 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:21,640 Now there's a lot of poetry there, so let's break it down 195 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:26,840 for just a minute. Your pain can and will become 196 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:38,280 someone else's lifeline. He comforts us that we verse #4 197 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:48,560 that we may be able to comfort them, but you have to use your 198 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:54,000 testimony. That's why the wounds were not 199 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:57,560 meant to be your walls. When you're walled in, your 200 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:01,200 testimony goes nowhere. When you're walled in, you're 201 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:04,160 not helping anybody else through what God has helped you through. 202 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:10,480 I know I'm making some of you is as uncomfortable as a long tail 203 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:12,440 cat in a room full of rocking chairs right now. 204 00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:16,680 I get it. It pushes us out of our comfort 205 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:19,240 zone. It pushes us out of the zone 206 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:22,760 where we like to live. I've got my chair, I've got my 207 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:25,760 padded seat and I, it's, it's me, my foreign, no more. 208 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:28,800 I'm comfortable right here. But I'm telling you in the body 209 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:33,080 of Christ, God's will, God's perfected will in your life. 210 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:35,960 It doesn't have anything to do with pulpit ministry. 211 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:38,240 It doesn't have to do with Sunday school teaching. 212 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:40,640 It doesn't even have to do with carpet sweeping. 213 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:44,480 It has to do with you getting out of your walls and allowing 214 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:49,400 God to use you and your testimony to help somebody else, 215 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:56,640 because you can be the greatest help to somebody else when you 216 00:15:56,640 --> 00:16:02,280 have similar pasts. You don't have to be identical, 217 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:06,800 but I can tell you right now, this is human nature. 218 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:10,760 If I've got somebody that has went through something similar 219 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:16,400 to me, they're going to be of greater value to me in helping 220 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:19,880 me through my tribulation than someone that has never walked 221 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:28,240 where my feet have walked. But that person, that person is 222 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:32,000 here. That person has to be willing to 223 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:39,000 allow their pain to become someone else's lifeline #3 your 224 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:48,320 scars qualify you. I'm pausing for effect on 225 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:50,880 dramatic effect on purpose because I want that to sink in. 226 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:54,600 Because there's this lie of the enemy today that if if you're 227 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:58,600 scarred and pat and you've got a past that that just just haunts 228 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:04,240 you, that you're washed up, no good for nothing, can't do 229 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:12,000 anything. Come on, come on. 230 00:17:12,079 --> 00:17:14,560 That's the lie of the enemy. That's not me saying that. 231 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:19,640 I'm telling you what the lie is. I'm telling you that your scars 232 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:27,319 qualify you. Henry Ford was fired, bankrupt, 233 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:33,000 and told he would never succeed. Before founding Ford Motor 234 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:35,400 Company, he failed twice in business. 235 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:40,560 Investors called him unreliable and unfit to run a company. 236 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:43,480 Watch this now. He was fired from his own 237 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:49,080 company, the Detroit Automobile Company, before Ford. 238 00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:52,080 He was fired from his own company. 239 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:55,200 I don't really exactly know how that works, but that sounds 240 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:59,120 painful. Yet he persisted. 241 00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:02,880 He learned from every failure, and he eventually revolutionized 242 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:05,720 modern vehicle manufacturing with the assembly line. 243 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:12,960 You, most of you know that story because he chose not to quit. 244 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:20,440 Hip problems. I've often dubbed myself as a 245 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:24,680 realist and that can be interpreted as negative 246 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:26,200 sometimes. I'm not trying to be negative 247 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:28,760 this morning, but let's just be real for just a moment. 248 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:32,640 He's not the only one that has temptations to quit. 249 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:39,560 I would dare say every adult in this room, maybe teenager as 250 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:45,280 well, has had moments where doing the right thing just 251 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:51,760 doesn't feel worth it. Because I'm telling you, doing 252 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:54,680 the right thing. Doctor John Maxwell calls it 253 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:57,000 High Road leadership. But doing the right thing, 254 00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:00,480 taking the High Road is the hard thing. 255 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:05,920 I'm not telling you it's easy, but I am going to tell you with 256 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:09,760 God all things are possible. With Him is our strength. 257 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:14,720 With God at the helm, with Him leading us, doing the right 258 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:17,040 thing is not only possible, it's the right thing. 259 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:28,360 First Timothy 1 excuse me 15 says This is a faithful saying 260 00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:33,280 and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the 261 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:38,160 world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 262 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:43,280 That's what the apostle Paul says about himself, of whom I am 263 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:45,720 chief. Paul is calling himself the 264 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:51,800 chief Sinner. Paul, let me drive this point 265 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:54,600 home just a little bit more in case there are people that 266 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:57,120 aren't aware of this. Paul, the man that wrote 2/3 of 267 00:19:57,120 --> 00:20:03,800 the New Testament, who was formerly named Saul, who hated 268 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:08,200 Christians. Hated Christians so much he 269 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:11,440 thought that it was God's edict for him to kill them all. 270 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,720 Now Can you imagine? Let's just put this in 2025, 271 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:22,960 almost 2026 terms. Can you imagine that somebody 272 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:29,960 hates you so much that they want to do nothing but kill you every 273 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:33,280 time they see you? Maybe they've tried. 274 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:36,160 I've had my life threatened twice, and I'll tell you what, 275 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:38,240 it's a mental struggle to get over. 276 00:20:38,360 --> 00:20:42,760 When you see them the next time in public, that's a story for 277 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:45,000 another time. It's two stories for two other 278 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:49,440 times. But just imagine, if you will, 279 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:55,040 that person walks into church and sits across the aisle from 280 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:59,320 you. And just imagine that God saves 281 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:02,120 that person, fills them with the Holy Ghost, calls them into 282 00:21:02,120 --> 00:21:05,160 ministry, and then the next thing you know, you look up and 283 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:07,200 they're standing behind a pulpit preaching to you. 284 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:15,360 Not only is that how good our God really is, that's exactly 285 00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:16,920 what happened to the apostle Paul. 286 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:20,720 He not only threatened to kill Christians, he was actively 287 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:25,240 doing it. And then all of a sudden he, 288 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:31,320 well, he got saved. I'll believe it when I see it. 289 00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:37,440 Lord help our judge mentalness. But the Christians of that day, 290 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:42,640 the brothers in Christ of that day didn't buy it, didn't 291 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:45,280 believe it. So Paul disappears for a period 292 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:46,600 of time. None of this is in my notes, I 293 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:48,200 just feel compelled to share the story. 294 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:52,680 Paul disappears for a period of time to to draw himself closer 295 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:57,240 to God, changes his name, comes back and he is accepted because 296 00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:01,040 he had proof he was able to demonstrate in his life that God 297 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:05,200 had changed him. But this chief of sinners in his 298 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:07,920 humility. Paul's not a man that I think of 299 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:13,000 as as necessarily a super humble person just because his writing 300 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:14,680 doesn't come across that way sometimes. 301 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:18,120 But here he is expressing humility by referring to himself 302 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:21,920 of whom I am chief, talking about sinners. 303 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,760 And he goes on to say, how be it for this, 'cause I obtained 304 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:31,360 mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all 305 00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:36,160 long-suffering, for here it is. Now watch this for a pattern to 306 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:42,000 them which should hereafter believe on Him, to life 307 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:44,640 everlasting. What's Paul saying again? 308 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,160 There's a lot of poetry here. Let me breakthrough the poetry. 309 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:50,520 What he's saying is your story becomes your platform. 310 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:55,480 You need to embrace it because it's your story that allows 311 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:58,920 someone else to understand that they have hope and that they 312 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:04,720 have mercy available to them. You are the first part of God 313 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:06,240 that some people are going to see. 314 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:11,200 It's not worship service, it's not preaching. 315 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:14,640 It's you. You are the first you. 316 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:19,320 You are often the first part of God that somebody is going to 317 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:23,680 witness, and it's your story that becomes your platform. 318 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:27,520 Zechariah 46 Then he answered and spaken to me, saying, This 319 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:31,080 is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, not by might 320 00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:34,200 nor by power, but by my spirit, say at the Lord of hosts. 321 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:43,760 Our leadership flows from our dependence on God, not our 322 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:50,560 perfection. To all you self-proclaimed 323 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:53,800 perfectionist in the house, that's not what's going to make 324 00:23:53,800 --> 00:24:00,520 your life better. Waiting until all conditions are 325 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:04,680 perfect. I'm sorry to burst your bubble 326 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:06,480 today. It's not going to happen. 327 00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:13,720 Waiting until the right time, Not going to be a right time. 328 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:18,520 That's why the Bible declares that today is the day of 329 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:25,160 salvation. If you're waiting on a right 330 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:30,000 time, the enemy of your soul is going to make absolutely certain 331 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:34,280 that there's no right time. There's going to be some 332 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:39,040 condition, some something interfere and get in your way 333 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:42,240 that is going to cause you. Well, no, it's not the right 334 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:43,800 time. Conditions aren't perfect. 335 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:47,800 It's not about perfection. If you're chasing perfection, 336 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:52,760 you're chasing mistakes. Stop chasing perfection and 337 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:56,000 allow your life to flow from dependence on Him. 338 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:01,440 It's not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the 339 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:07,000 Lord. James one and two says, my 340 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:10,720 brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse 341 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:15,880 temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh 342 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:18,480 patience, but let patience have her perfect work, that you may 343 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,760 be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 344 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:29,680 What nearly broke you is what has made you ready. 345 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:35,080 God's not chasing perfect people, He's chasing willing 346 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:37,880 people. He's chasing people that are 347 00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:41,760 interested, people that are devoted, people that want him. 348 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:50,800 For him moving on to #4 your pain has a divine assignment. 349 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:57,840 TD Jakes went from small town church to global influence. 350 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:01,800 I realize his doctrine is different than ours, but just 351 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:03,160 lay that aside for just a moment. 352 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:06,280 He started preaching in a small town church in West Virginia 353 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:10,440 with just ten people. If you know anything about TD 354 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:14,640 Jakes and if ever seen him on TV or watched anything about him, 355 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:19,920 you know that his church in Dallas, TX is a former sports 356 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:23,760 stadium that will see 3040 thousand people. 357 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:30,400 That's his church size for Sundays and Wednesdays. 358 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:36,280 He struggled financially, worked odd jobs, faced ridicule for his 359 00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:38,200 preaching style. But here's the most important 360 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:42,800 thing I want to get across about Mr. Jake's today, because he is 361 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:47,440 so renowned for his preaching style and his inspirational 362 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:50,880 style. He battled a speech impediment. 363 00:26:57,350 --> 00:27:08,040 He battled a speech impediment. Let me say it again, he battled 364 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:12,920 a speech impeder, a man that preaches to 3040 thousand plus, 365 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:21,840 not including what's on camera battled and inability to talk. 366 00:27:30,550 --> 00:27:32,070 Reminds me of Moses just a little bit. 367 00:27:32,070 --> 00:27:34,830 And I'm not comparing Moses to TD Jakes, but storyline. 368 00:27:36,110 --> 00:27:39,710 Moses was another man that couldn't talk right either, and 369 00:27:39,710 --> 00:27:42,190 God didn't allow him to make excuses for himself. 370 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:48,480 My point is this, stop waiting for perfection. 371 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:56,400 All of the insecurities that you have, all of the inabilities 372 00:27:56,400 --> 00:28:00,640 that you have, I'm not saying they're not real. 373 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:02,840 I'm not saying they're not frightening. 374 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:04,920 I'm not saying that they're not scary. 375 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:13,120 What I am saying is that when God calls you, God qualifies you 376 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:20,280 to whatever that is. I'm not talking calling you to 377 00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:22,680 pulpit miner. I'm talking about your God 378 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:26,000 calling. Whatever that God calling is 379 00:28:26,120 --> 00:28:31,440 when God calls you to that because this is a body ministry. 380 00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:36,200 God didn't just save six people to preach and teach and 381 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:38,520 everybody else just have a life. Happy listening. 382 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:47,280 God has a calling for every single individual that will 383 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:53,960 follow him, and we're all full of God. 384 00:28:53,960 --> 00:29:02,320 I can't. You don't have to say Amen to 385 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:03,280 that. But I know it's true. 386 00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:07,200 We're all full of I. I can't because I can't, because 387 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:09,080 we won't tell him. I won't. 388 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:12,400 We use the word can't even when we should say won't, to be 389 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:13,160 honest. But what is it? 390 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:15,720 I just can't. I just can't. 391 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:17,560 And God says why? Well, I don't know God. 392 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:20,920 I just can't. I'm not ready or this isn't 393 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:24,120 right or this or that. I'm not good enough. 394 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:26,040 I'm not called. I'm not qualified enough. 395 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:33,240 I don't know enough. Well, let me tell you something, 396 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:36,640 and I'm not trying to scare you further away, but let me give 397 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:41,240 you a little transparency. After standing behind a pulpit 398 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:59,920 for 3 1/2 decades, I'm having more fun at 51 than I did at 41, 399 00:29:59,920 --> 00:30:03,520 so I'll embrace it. But after standing behind a 400 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:07,120 pulpit for 36 years, let me tell you something. 401 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:09,560 This is, I say this unequivocally unashamed. 402 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:15,080 Full transparency. Today, I still stand here 403 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:19,040 worried. I don't know enough. 404 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:23,680 I'm not enough. I'll never be enough. 405 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:28,440 So if you're waiting for your insecurities to disappear, 406 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:31,160 you're going to be waiting outside the will of God the rest 407 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:42,960 of your life. Thank you Jesus, God's not 408 00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:48,520 trying to call you today because of all you know, all that you 409 00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:54,720 are, all of your greatness. And no, God's calling you today 410 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:58,120 because He sees more in you than you see in yourself. 411 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:05,720 This leads us to Jeremiah 2911. For I know the thoughts that I 412 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:08,520 think toward you. It's one of my favorite verses 413 00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:12,480 in the Bible, say at the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of 414 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:15,560 evil to give you an expected end. 415 00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:21,360 Let me rewrite that just a little bit for us as we enter 416 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:25,320 2026. God plans to outrun your past. 417 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:30,200 He's thinking beyond your today and He's looking at your 418 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:37,240 tomorrow, and His desire for you is to give you what He expects 419 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:41,560 for you. Thank God He's not stopping 420 00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:43,920 short of just what I expect of myself. 421 00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:53,320 He wants to give you what He expects for you, which is far, 422 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:56,040 far more wonderful than what we could imagine. 423 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:03,120 Romans 11/29 for the gifts and calling of God are without 424 00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:05,920 repentance. There's so much packed into this 425 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:10,440 very short one sentence verse. I don't have the time to to dive 426 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:12,520 into it theologically. I wish I did. 427 00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:15,680 There's a study just in this verse that needs to be done. 428 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:18,640 It's so rich with with God's theology. 429 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:20,560 But let me let me just say these few points. 430 00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:24,800 Failure cannot cancel what God has ordained for you. 431 00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:32,440 Some of you are walking around in the guilt and shame of 432 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:35,880 failures, and what God is asking you to do is leave that behind, 433 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:40,440 because if he's forgiven, why shouldn't we? 434 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:46,520 Your detours cannot cancel God's destination. 435 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:50,320 Your weaknesses cannot override God's will. 436 00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:54,240 If God has placed something in you, a gift, a purpose, a 437 00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:59,360 destiny, it's still there. Even if life has been messy, 438 00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:02,640 even if you've taken the long road, even if you feel like 439 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:05,840 you're late. God doesn't revoke what he's 440 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:20,110 ordained #5 you must choose to decide to live. 441 00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:27,800 Let me show you what this looks like in real life. 442 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:32,280 I'm giving you some examples of some other people, and I didn't 443 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:35,760 use those people because I'm promoting them or I support 444 00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:39,040 their lifestyle or anything like that, just because the storyline 445 00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:41,400 is inspirational and I think it fits. 446 00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:45,400 But those people are kind of far off reaching. 447 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:47,160 We don't know them. Let me share a little personal 448 00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:51,800 testimony with you briefly. Some I've shared before, some 449 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:54,920 haven't heard it, some I won't. I won't go into deep detail, but 450 00:33:55,160 --> 00:34:00,040 having worked in corporate America for the past 25 years in 451 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:02,440 growing capacities and positions, I have personally 452 00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:06,240 experienced my share of setbacks, embarrassments, and 453 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:09,880 occasions that cause me to question who I who am I and what 454 00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:14,320 do I do and why do I do it. It's something I don't discuss 455 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:17,280 often, mostly because it's not easy to be open about it when 456 00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:19,280 there's so much judgement that comes back from it. 457 00:34:21,159 --> 00:34:24,000 But it's something I'm trying to be better about because it's my 458 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:26,120 testimony and it's become part of my story. 459 00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:33,000 Over the past 25 years I have lost my job 3 * 2820 ten and 460 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:36,960 2021. Once due to corporate downsizing 461 00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:41,840 in 2008 and twice due to business politics 2010 and 2021, 462 00:34:42,639 --> 00:34:45,719 which is a price many don't pay. But if someone recently told me 463 00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:47,679 the tallest trees catch the most wind? 464 00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:51,480 Said differently, the coach is most often the 1st to go when 465 00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:55,360 change is wanted. It's unfortunate, but in America 466 00:34:55,760 --> 00:35:00,360 it's just the way that it is. I'm now well past four years of 467 00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:03,840 the most recent of these occurrences and I am mostly 468 00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:06,600 healed. I have scars still. 469 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:09,960 Some don't understand because to them it's just a job. 470 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:14,200 So why doesn't getting a new job just automatically heal you? 471 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:19,680 But to me, it's my calling. Yes, it's how I earn my living. 472 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:22,080 But when you step into your God calling, that's no longer the 473 00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:25,120 most important thing. Losing it when you're driven to 474 00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:27,720 do nothing but do your best with it is embarrassing. 475 00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:30,840 It strips you of part of yourself, your dignity, your 476 00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:33,640 belief in yourself. The wounds cut deep and they 477 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:36,360 heal slowly. The scars stay sensitive, and on 478 00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:39,200 some days it feels like the wounds haven't healed at all. 479 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:45,080 Sometimes certain situations trigger memories that bring the 480 00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:48,760 past back to a life that's not intended to live any longer. 481 00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:53,000 When I lost my job in 2021, my boss at the time flew up from 482 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:54,920 Atlanta on a Friday to meet with me. 483 00:35:55,760 --> 00:36:01,680 He had never travelled to Mount Carmel on a Friday ever, but I 484 00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:06,200 didn't think anything about it. Side note, my wife did. 485 00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:10,520 I didn't until that day in February, around one O clock in 486 00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:15,320 the afternoon. Fast forward to August 22nd of 487 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:19,880 this year. My current boss's boss came from 488 00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:22,880 Chicago to Vincennes to meet with my team and me for the day. 489 00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:29,800 August 22nd was a Friday, so of course I thought plenty about 490 00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:32,360 it. This time my wife was gone to 491 00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:35,800 the Ladies Conference and I don't recall even letting her 492 00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:38,560 know. But because my wounds were 493 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:41,560 already turning to scars and I'm different now than I was four 494 00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:44,600 years ago, Bishop, I took a different course of action. 495 00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:51,680 I wrote on a post it note. He is faithful no matter what, 496 00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:56,840 and I stuck it in my desk drawer. 497 00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:03,400 The origin of that note, I admit to you today, came from a place 498 00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:09,920 of fear. But since that day that by the 499 00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:13,840 way, turned out to be a really good day, it is stayed in my 500 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:17,480 desk drawer as a testimony of his faithfulness. 501 00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:21,680 After that day, the wounds healed more. 502 00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:25,360 Now I have more scars than fresh wounds. 503 00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:29,000 The emotion that overwhelmed me when I wrote the note came from 504 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:32,560 a place that no longer deserves to live with me, for we have not 505 00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:38,720 the spirit of fear. When I feel the scar, I still 506 00:37:38,720 --> 00:37:42,200 remember the wounding, but beyond the memories, the scar 507 00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:43,920 indicates that things are different now. 508 00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:46,880 I can still feel it, but it's less sensitive. 509 00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:50,560 I can talk about it now without bleeding and word vomiting all 510 00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:54,680 over everyone with a triggered sense of bitterness that is now 511 00:37:54,680 --> 00:37:56,280 given way to the heart of the healer. 512 00:37:56,640 --> 00:37:59,680 For it's only by him and through him I have had the opportunity 513 00:38:00,040 --> 00:38:03,360 to have these scars. Over four years later. 514 00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:06,680 The scars have led me through into opportunities I didn't even 515 00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:11,840 believe possible. Because He is faithful, I've 516 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:14,320 come to tell somebody today, mistakes are not eternal. 517 00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:17,840 What's done to you, even when you didn't have any say in it, 518 00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:20,120 doesn't deserve to live with you until eternity. 519 00:38:21,280 --> 00:38:23,120 Sometimes we have to learn to let things go. 520 00:38:23,720 --> 00:38:27,480 Shame is not a life sentence. Failure is not fatal. 521 00:38:27,920 --> 00:38:31,520 God specializes in using the broken, the humbled, and the 522 00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:34,840 restored. Your past is not your prison, 523 00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:41,720 it's your preparation. I said your past is not your 524 00:38:41,720 --> 00:38:47,960 prison, it's your preparation. Psalm 147 and three says he 525 00:38:47,960 --> 00:38:56,000 healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds. 526 00:38:56,240 --> 00:38:58,640 God is not afraid of your broken places. 527 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:02,520 He still heals today. John 1010. 528 00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:06,640 The thief cometh not before to kill, and to to steal and to 529 00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:10,280 kill and destroy. I am come that they might have 530 00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:13,800 life and that they might have it more abundantly. 531 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:17,440 God's goal, ladies and gentlemen, is not just survival. 532 00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:25,440 God's goal for you today is abundance, but it's abundance 533 00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:28,000 that only comes when you cross the line to get out of your 534 00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:32,520 walls. Because as long as you stay 535 00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:37,560 confined in your walls, He has stolen something from you. 536 00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:44,760 Opportunity, God's will, God's call, He's stolen that from you 537 00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:46,600 because you're keeping yourself right there. 538 00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:53,680 It's step out. It's a sad reality today, but I 539 00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:56,560 want to alert you to this fact that most people don't choose 540 00:39:56,560 --> 00:39:58,560 their life, they just end up in it. 541 00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:04,480 That's not God's will. We need to understand there's a 542 00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:06,400 big difference between accidental living and 543 00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:09,200 intentional living. Accidental living wakes up, 544 00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:11,960 reacts to yesterday, survives today, and hopes tomorrow's 545 00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:15,600 better. I'll tell you what I tell my 546 00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:17,760 team all the time. Hopes, not a plan. 547 00:40:22,720 --> 00:40:25,400 Intentional living wakes up, decides, and then walks forward 548 00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:29,440 with purpose, even when the past still hurts to in the future 549 00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:33,760 isn't fully clear. When a person decides to live, 550 00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:37,200 they stop letting circumstances write their story and they start 551 00:40:37,200 --> 00:40:40,960 partnering with God to author the next chapter because that's 552 00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:42,440 what that's really what he wants. 553 00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:45,360 He wants to partner with you for the next season of your life, 554 00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:48,280 the next chapter of your life. Stop allowing it to happen and 555 00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:50,160 let's make things happen with God. 556 00:40:51,560 --> 00:40:54,320 That moment, that decision is where everything begins to 557 00:40:54,320 --> 00:40:56,200 change. Maybe that moment for someone is 558 00:40:56,200 --> 00:40:59,240 today. I'm closing this morning. 559 00:40:59,960 --> 00:41:01,320 Brother Alex will come to the piano. 560 00:41:03,480 --> 00:41:06,880 Overcoming shame, fear of failure. 561 00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:09,720 Fear of embarrassment in the often crippling effects of 562 00:41:09,720 --> 00:41:13,440 getting it wrong can feel like trying to climb a mountain with 563 00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:16,880 no strength left in your legs. Shame whispers that you're 564 00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:20,480 disqualified. Fear insists that you'll mess up 565 00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:23,160 again. Embarrassment convinces you that 566 00:41:23,160 --> 00:41:25,440 everyone is watching, waiting for you to fall. 567 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:29,400 The memory of past mistakes wrap around yourself like your soul, 568 00:41:29,400 --> 00:41:33,080 like chains, making forward movement feel not just difficult 569 00:41:33,080 --> 00:41:37,320 but impossible. Something shifts the moment you 570 00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:39,520 decide that you're done merely surviving. 571 00:41:39,960 --> 00:41:42,960 When you reach that sacred point where you say it's time to live, 572 00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:47,200 truly live, and it's time to live according to God's divine 573 00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:50,400 call, purpose, and direction, everything changes. 574 00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:55,280 That decision doesn't magically erase your past, but it reframes 575 00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:57,560 it. It doesn't remove your scars, 576 00:41:57,560 --> 00:42:00,960 but it transforms them. Because when God begins to heal 577 00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:04,040 you, you stop bleeding from your wounds. 578 00:42:04,360 --> 00:42:07,280 The open bleeding places that still hurt when touched, you 579 00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:11,840 start leading from your scars. And scars tell a different 580 00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:14,080 story. Wounds say I'm still hurting. 581 00:42:14,240 --> 00:42:18,800 Scars say I've been healed. Wounds say I'm not ready. 582 00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:22,120 Scars say I survived what was meant to destroy me. 583 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:27,200 Wounds say I'm ashamed. Scars say God redeemed me. 584 00:42:29,680 --> 00:42:32,840 When you lead from your wounds, you lead from pain, insecurity, 585 00:42:32,840 --> 00:42:35,600 and self protection. When you lead from your scars, 586 00:42:35,600 --> 00:42:37,960 you lead with wisdom, humility, and authority. 587 00:42:38,240 --> 00:42:41,120 You lead with the quiet confidence of someone who has 588 00:42:41,120 --> 00:42:44,600 been through something and came out with a testimony instead of 589 00:42:44,600 --> 00:42:48,600 a tombstone. And here's the beautiful truth, 590 00:42:48,600 --> 00:42:53,120 ladies and gentlemen. God never wastes a wound. 591 00:42:56,800 --> 00:43:00,440 Your wounds don't scare him. He knows how to use them. 592 00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:05,280 He knows how to heal them. He knows how to use them to 593 00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:09,400 declare His purpose. Would you stand with me today? 594 00:43:13,280 --> 00:43:22,600 God transforms it into a scar, A healed place, and then uses that 595 00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:28,440 scar as evidence of His grace, His power, and His faithfulness. 596 00:43:28,440 --> 00:43:30,640 There are many in this room today that have beautiful 597 00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:36,480 testimonies, God's deliverance, God's power to change. 598 00:43:37,440 --> 00:43:41,600 Those are scars. Those are testimonial evidences 599 00:43:41,600 --> 00:43:46,200 of God's grace. Your scars become your 600 00:43:46,200 --> 00:43:50,160 credentials. Your scars become your ministry. 601 00:43:51,240 --> 00:44:01,240 Your scars become your message. So yes, overcoming shame and 602 00:44:01,240 --> 00:44:06,120 fear may feel impossible, but it becomes inevitable when you 603 00:44:06,120 --> 00:44:10,200 surrender your story to the One who specializes in resurrection. 604 00:44:12,640 --> 00:44:19,040 When you choose to live according to God's calling, you 605 00:44:19,040 --> 00:44:23,080 stop hiding the places that you were once ashamed of, and you 606 00:44:23,080 --> 00:44:26,160 start using them as proof that God still heals. 607 00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:30,440 He still restores, He still redeems, and he still calls 608 00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:33,760 imperfect people into extraordinary purpose. 609 00:44:34,880 --> 00:44:37,600 That's when you stop living as a prisoner of your past and start 610 00:44:37,600 --> 00:44:40,240 living as a steward of your testimony. 611 00:44:41,120 --> 00:44:43,640 You stop leading from pain, start leading from power. 612 00:44:43,640 --> 00:44:45,560 You stop bleeding and start building. 613 00:44:46,640 --> 00:44:48,920 Some of you have been surviving for years. 614 00:44:49,360 --> 00:44:52,000 I think God is asking us today to start feeling a little 615 00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:55,880 different about His call. He's asking us to decide to 616 00:44:55,880 --> 00:44:58,720 live. Would you lift your hands today 617 00:44:58,720 --> 00:45:01,720 as we prepare to sing a song this morning? 618 00:45:02,920 --> 00:45:08,320 Season of worship and reflection and and allowing God to minister 619 00:45:08,320 --> 00:45:15,600 into our hearts and our minds. Somebody choose today, Somebody 620 00:45:15,600 --> 00:45:18,840 choose today. Make one small step today to 621 00:45:18,840 --> 00:45:24,840 choose to decide to live intentionally in God's call and 622 00:45:24,840 --> 00:45:31,560 God's purpose for your life. Fear is not your future when you 623 00:45:31,560 --> 00:45:32,920 put God at the helm.