We’re all born into a story that’s already taking place. And our innate desire is to find out what character or role we are supposed to play in that story. We all know we have a place, and we’re constantly looking for it. But we have to look in the right place. Today, Pastor Brie & Aaron Davis teach us how important it is for us to find love, and that the only love that can truly satisfy us comes from God.
hi my name is Charles and I serve here
at Transformation Church as one of the
executive pastors and I want to take a
moment before we jump into the message
just to say thank you first of all for
watching it means the world to us that
you would be a part no matter where
you’re watching from no matter who you
are I’m believing that this message is
going to encourage your faith and
hopefully transform your life if you
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with you on this journey of following
Jesus again thank you so much for
joining us enjoy the message today I
hope it blesses you
well we are mixing it up today yeah yeah
it’s gonna be great it’s gonna be great
we’re doing something a little bit
different
um like Pastor Mike said my name is Bree
this is my husband Aaron Aaron Davis and
um we’ve been married for seven years
and we have quite a story of what God
has done my God through our marriage and
through our lives together yes and so
today we’re going to do something a
little bit different we want you to
pretend like you’re not at church even
though it’s kind of hard if you’re in
the room right now we want you to
pretend as if you’re sitting on the
couch with us in our living room come on
the largest small group the largest
small group the largest small group in
the world
yes because that’s exactly what this is
going to feel like today we feel a
mandate from God to share very
authentically our stories and pray that
in sharing that that it will help impact
and transform somebody else’s life I
think one of the things that Aaron and I
feel very called to in our life is to
not fake this whole Christian thing and
to actually just be
dirt raw honest of where we’ve been and
how God has transformed our lives with
his love and so that’s what we get to
share with you today yes that’s right so
you want to get right into it yeah we’re
going to get right into it okay so if
you have your Bible go ahead and get
your Bible out we’re going to start at
the beginning today last week we had a
wonderful word by Dr Darius Daniels
called I don’t need closure come on if
you were in the room Make some noise
that was an amazing
I mean an amazing world last week and
what what he was talking about was that
God doesn’t just arrange Beginnings he
also orchestrates exits and today what
Aaron and I want to talk to you about
where we feel like God has called us to
say is that sometimes the hardest exit
to make in our life is a shame is this
the story that shame tells us about
ourselves that’s right so today we are
making a collective exit
a collective exit out of what our
stories have told us the lies the shame
that we have learned about ourselves
that we believe about ourselves and
we’re leaning into a new interest into
the love of God we believe that that’s
what God called has called us to do so
we’re going to see our share our stories
a little bit but also we want to take
some time even as we are
um talking today we want to take some
time where in between all of this we
want you to have some self-reflection
time and to think about your own life so
consider this something that you can
engage in today in your own at your see
at home wherever you are right now
because we want you to take some time
and actually think about not just after
you leave church today but inside of the
message how does this affect me and how
what is the holy spirit saying to me so
let’s go to the word we’re going to go
to Genesis
and we’re going to talk about the love
of God today okay
so in Genesis we’ll start at uh
1 verse 26.
we’re going to read about when human
beings were brought into this Earth it
says in verse 26 then God said let us
make human beings in our image to be
like us they will reign over the fish in
the sea the birds in the sky the
livestock all the wild animals on earth
and the small animals that Scurry along
the ground
so God created human beings in his own
image in the image of God he created
them male and female he created them
then God blessed them and said be
fruitful and multiply feel the Earth and
govern it Reign Over the fish in the sea
the birds in the sky and all the animals
that Scurry along the ground and then
we’ll drop down to verse 31 it says then
God looked over all he had made and he
saw that it was very good
the beautiful thing about this this
passage of scriptures is we get to see
something that was mentioned last week
is called the law of first the first
time that God reacted to a human being
being on the earth so he had done all of
these things that has been five days of
creation and on the sixth day he decided
to make man and to make Man In His Image
and this was the one day that when God
looked over all his creation he didn’t
just say it was good he said it was very
good
do you know that every time a human
being comes into this Earth that God
says very good
I think one of the things that that
stuck out to me during worship was Osby
saying you are not an accident
now I know that our families our
communities our culture whoever it may
be that have spoken into your life and
has influence in your life may have told
you a different story but do you know
that to God you are irresistible that
you are God’s dream come true that God
is so madly in love with you that he
passionately pursues you that he just
wants to be in your presence in your in
you in his presence that he loves you
that deeply even when I say those words
I know that that is not there’s some
people that that’s just not going into
your heart when I say that because your
story has told you something different
to every oldest child in this room that
feels like oh my parents just made a
boo-boo and ended up getting pregnant
with me you’re not an accident
to every child of the first marriage in
this room
you are not the accident and the other
kids were the ones that were playing
to every person in here who your parents
didn’t make it your marriage didn’t make
it maybe they weren’t married at all
maybe it was a one-night stand and it
seemed like the whole incident was an
incident the whole thing was an accident
it wasn’t supposed to happen your mama
didn’t want you your daddy didn’t want
you you are not an accident
every single one of us in this room
every single one of us watching online
we were here on purpose God created us
lovingly and when we got to this earth
no matter how we got here he said very
good
no matter what you’ve done with the
light that he’s given you he said very
good
that’s how God feels about you and me
but it’s because of this understanding
the reason why we say we’re confident is
because we were sent here with a yes in
our spirits we were sitting here with
this stamp in the approval of God in the
agreement so we say this confidently
because we all understand that I’m here
on purpose and I’m here for a reason now
in life
things happen there are accidents but we
are not accidents we are not defined by
our Darkness we are here because of the
light the Light of Christ that’s inside
of us
so everyone is born with a need to feel
seen safe to feel sued and to be secured
now safe and secure are two different
words they don’t mean the same thing
safety is
outside of the presence of danger that’s
right so safety I’m outside of the
presence of danger but maybe I don’t
feel secure maybe there’s nothing that’s
I have attachment that I’m secure to so
I can be securely attached to something
but I feel danger in my atmosphere so
those are the two different differences
of that word
there’s been studies that premature
babies
um that have been sued that have been
talked to massaged
recover and heal and develop faster than
premature babies that may have been in
the incubator left alone
simply because we were sent here with a
yes in our hearts and a yes in our
spirit we all know we should be loved we
all know we belong and we all come here
with a stamp of God and our agreement of
yes I’m here no matter the circumstances
so when we come into this world no
matter how we got here we’re looking for
the people in our lives to agree with
what God already said about us right
that’s right naturally it doesn’t matter
that’s what we’re talking about research
here this is biologically spiritually
how God created us is that when I come
into this Earth no matter how this baby
got here that baby needs love to thrive
and if we don’t get it we will look for
it in places where it is not at but we
will go there because we’re looking for
somebody to agree that God said I am
very good that’s right
so you have to this is the thing y’all
because I know once we get to a certain
age in life it’s like oh that childhood
stuff we’ll need to talk about that that
was so long ago what who cares about
that the people in your life your
parents your Guardians coaches teachers
those older siblings the people that are
in your life that are considered
authority figures they were your first
God
they showed you how you were supposed to
be loved
and even if you learn later in life
that’s not true as a child you believed
whatever they gave you
if they gave you abuse you thought that
was love
if they gave you neglect you took that
as love
if they saw you as invisible you took
that as love so why is it that when we
get older we think oh that’s not that
big of a deal we all know that it’s true
if you’re a parent in this room you know
it’s true you know you’re rolling your
kids life is true so was your parents
role
so today we want you as we’re examining
our stories we want you to do the same
thing
examine how you went through life
especially your beginning years and how
you were treated and how you were loved
or not loved because it has a lot of
ways of showing up as you become an
adult
so for me I was born into a family my
parents were married at the time but
they were young they were 23 and 25 and
in our family my parents got married
after they had already had a child and
they were young didn’t know God and the
truth is they weren’t sure if they
wanted to be married that y’all see me
I’m cute
she’s so cute our kids is gonna be cute
anyways
but when I came into this world I came
into really kind of an emotionally
unstable home because my parents just
weren’t solid and their relationship
with one another my dad I remember him
telling me that when I was born he was
really in this phase where he was like I
don’t know if I want to stay married or
not because it had been so hard there
were so many things that they hadn’t
healed from before they got married and
they had my older brother who was very
active and they just really by the time
I got here it wasn’t necessarily an
emotionally healthy home at that point
and so I learned as a child that I was
entering into this story now obviously
this is all in hindsight because you
don’t know this as a kid but every
single one of us are born into a story
that’s already going
you show up you ain’t the first one to
start it don’t say in the beginning when
you showed up that story had already
been going for generations and you’re
born into the story and every single one
of us because we have this need for
lover trying to figure out what role do
I play in this story what character am I
supposed to be and so for me growing up
in this home and being born into this
family and the condition it was in I
took on the role of good girl and that
meant that you do whatever you need to
do to not be a problem
that’s being obedient yeah but that’s
also shrinking that’s also not really
saying what you desire or you want
because you don’t want to do anything to
rock the boat it’s already tied up in
here okay it’s already a lot going on
you make sure you stay as quiet as
possible and as content as possible so
that you don’t cause any more problems
in the family and that is a character
that I’ve started to learn at a very
early age that went throughout my life
with me even now still unraveling this
good girl mentality to really be who
God’s called me to be that’s right so
before I go into my story I want to say
this there is Grace here for both now
we’re going to expose a lot and say a
lot of truths but yes we honor and
cherish our families we honor and
cherish where we come from and
there was some hurt there was some pain
there was some misguided steps not that
of uh any uh bad on them or not any
shame or any intention on our families
but this is how we address our story
with the grace that maybe those tools
wasn’t available then or maybe they
didn’t know that then and that’s okay I
love them and I felt like I needed to
shrink I felt I felt unheard I felt less
value in the family that’s fine and
there’s Grace for both
um and as we’ll go on you’ll see that my
story is a little bit different than
Brees
um but
um when I was born I was a third of four
children and my family was in a
transition season
um yeah you see that edge up ain’t never
been good to your boy but
glory to God
my head is not that shape funny but that
boy always been like but
so
that has nothing to do with this but
coming into my family uh being the Third
born of four uh in the midst of a
transition season my family had just
recently uh well not too long before
moved from Kansas relocated to Tulsa
even though my father had Roots here
then I have lots of family here
um it was a transition season so things
were a little unstable they was trying
to find their footing jobs and financial
strain and when I was born it’s almost
like as far as I can remember and as
much work as I’ve tried to do therapy
it’s always like I remember trying to
just shift up the energy just felt too
tense it was like always like I needed
to dance I needed to do something goofy
I needed to do something extra
um I am the one that got the most
whoopings you know these things you know
in the 80s and 90s you can do these
different things in Walmart that you
cannot do anymore but I’m the kid that
was getting pinched in church and was
crying like why is Aaron crying like
don’t don’t talk to him right now but
that’s my story that’s so it always felt
like I needed to do something goofy to
kind of shift the atmosphere but the
ultimate truth is because of the
financial strain and because of the
atmosphere of the house it almost felt
like I was a unnecessary addition and
those were the lies that began to play
as a young kid because we don’t have
time for that we’re trying to get
established we’re trying to pay these
bills we don’t got time for your jokes
in most situations I really try not to
find the funny but it’s just natural I
can it can be a very serious situation
I’m looking for what’s funny but that
came out of a place where I felt like
I’m scared of anger I’m scared of the
emotion of the screaming the hollering
now whether or not I remember the words
as children we know the emotion we feel
our bodies are made to release chemicals
to release these things that needs to
give us flight or fight now we feel the
we are we come here with these things
and so because of my actual fear of
anger I grew up always trying to tap
dance
um but because of that and because of
the it felt like I needed to not speak
most of the time
um I began to believe this lie that the
unnecessary addition that I was was true
and that’s the character I played
and um it just always felt like yeah
we’re not in the mood for him yeah
so you may be thinking about your own
story right now maybe you can relate to
one or the other somewhere in between
but the question that we want you to
take just a second and think about is
what’s the character that you played in
your story
when you came into the family that you
were born into into the neighborhood the
community the church the school whatever
what was the character that you felt
like you had to play in order to gain
love because the truth is we all come in
with that need to be loved and
oftentimes life will tell us what you
have to perform in some kind of way to
get something that was already granted
to you
love was already given
but for some reason in our human
especially in our childhood Minds we
feel this need to play a role in order
to get it I want to think about
um in the Bible because we see this in
the word King David King David was a man
of stature the Bible called him a man
after God’s Own Heart but do you
remember King David’s childhood
do you remember that when the prophet
came to Jesse who’s David’s dad and said
God wants to anoint the next king
and it’s one of your sons
that Jesse brought out every son but
David
every son lined up in front of the
prophet Samuel and said here’s my sons
so much so that when God told the
prophet he said that’s not one of these
boys the prophet had to go to his daddy
and say do you have another son
cause it’s not one of these Sons it
never even registered in the Daddy’s
mind to bring David out of the field
because in his mind sure enough it ain’t
David that’s supposed to be the next
king
what does it do to a child
to a child
that everybody seems like they’re
remembered but you
tell me what I know King David grew up
and had wisdom and stature and all
authority but that little boy still
lived inside of King David
the boy whose daddy didn’t call him out
of the field
what does it do when you feel like
you’re invisible
what’s it due to your heart your psychic
your soul
it tells you that you have to perform in
order to gain love
even in the story as it advances the
most famous story David and Goliath now
what stuck out to me most about this
story is that David is a youth there’s
this it says it several times reading
the story he’s a young man now in this
story
it’s like coming to this point
I have played the harp and fought the
evil spirit and now I’m going out to
this battle that I am not supposed to be
here but my brothers and the other
soldiers are supposed to now this man I
have to kill
so he goes out and as a youth it says he
is I don’t want to get too detailed but
he had to
cut off take a sword cut off the Giant’s
head now I don’t know how old a youth
was back then but in my mind if I’m
reading that a young man is about to
take off a giant sword like it’s a giant
so who what kind of what size is that so
how big is this sword that this young
man is taking out out of his body
cutting off his head and carrying it
back to like now I don’t know what
trauma looks like
all in all situations and circumstances
but in my mind if I’m 13 and I gotta go
kill the giant and it’s like oh this is
too big the armor doesn’t work I’m just
take these rocks because that bear and
the lion and the and and the tiger oh my
I had to do all of these things to
protect these sheep this giant ain’t
nothing because God has already shown me
I know so as a youth we thank God for
the victory but what do you have to deal
with knowing that like I had to go do
something that my brothers couldn’t do
but here’s the point God summons our
stories
whatever they are whatever they include
God would say bring that to me because
he loves us and because we are called
his beloved I know that’s not a word
that most men can receive like oh I’m
God’s beloved but some of the definition
of the word says that he Longs for you
you are his creation he created you with
him and mine in my image and my likeness
and this is whom I’m I’m very proud like
this is the love that God has for us and
the godhead for David yeah so we can
bring whatever your story may be God is
asking us to bring it to him that’s
right if we don’t do that there is this
other voice that we hear and it’s the
voice of Shame
shame can only lie and the main lie that
shame says if God says it is very good
that you’re here shame says it is not
very good that you are here you don’t
belong and you’re not love not for who
you are now you could perform and maybe
gain some love throughout the years but
not just as you are shame only only lies
to us
and so it’s important for us to bring
our story to God because if not shame
creates a whole nother story inside of
us that we start to believe and when we
believe that we will start striving for
love with something that is completely
granted and given to you you will start
working for and in our own lives we’ve
done that in our own lives we have seen
that if we don’t believe that God loves
us lean into the fact that we are
irresistible to God lead into the fact
that we are God’s beloved that he Longs
for us if we don’t lean into that we
will lean into shame
and we will start striving for something
that God has already given us we know
this is in scripture in Genesis 3 and 7.
this is after Adam and Eve were created
and God said very good then they went
and they made a bad decision they went
and ate the fruit off the off of the
tree and this is what happened
immediately after they made that
decision Genesis 3 7 it says at that
moment their eyes were open and they
suddenly felt shame
at their nakedness the first feeling
that they had was shame
they felt shame at their neckiness so
they sold fig leaves together to cover
them because of the shame they started
striving what do I mean when I say
striving doing work that God never asked
you to do
he said I want you to rule dominate I
want you to go name all these animals I
want you to multiply all these different
things he never said I want you to sow
fig leaves together and cover yourself
they started doing work that God never
asked them to do because of Shame that’s
right there are things that we do that
God has never asked us to do because of
Shame I’m not asking you to be the
funniest person in the room to gain love
I’m not asking you to be perfect to gain
love I’m not asking you to do everything
right to gain love I’m not asking you
God is saying what are you doing how are
you striving right now in a way that God
never asks you to do
in order to receive love
for me knowing that I had taken on this
role as good girl unknowingly actually
what happened was good wasn’t enough I
had to be perfect so I tried it all my
might to be as perfect as I can a
soldier in the army of the Lord tried to
strive my way into heaven because if I
did enough good works and God was going
to love me he was going to make me feel
seen he was going to make me feel safe
secure he was going to make me feel sued
and so it turned into almost a religious
activity that was transactional with God
especially getting into Ministry and
doing the work of the ministry getting
into all of that that perfectionism just
went through the roof of trying to be
good enough to receive God’s love
because I believe that God had to love
me but he didn’t really like me
the scripture says he loves me so he got
to do it but does he actually like me
does he enjoy me
I didn’t believe that about God so
perfectionism became the way that I
started to strive in my own story I see
in my story as I said before it’s a
little bit different
um
I
um
I did not like church why I didn’t like
churches because it was boring I
couldn’t talk I couldn’t joke I couldn’t
laugh I couldn’t play it was boring and
we always were at church like there was
nothing else we did we went to school we
went to church we went to school we went
to church and home as I told you always
felt a little bit uncomfortable so so
because of that what I actually got
introduced to at a very young age I
don’t know how old you are eight
six got introduced to female anatomy and
pornography because of that it was
almost like okay there’s my way like
this is there’s this place that I feel I
shouldn’t be doing but at the same time
it’s kind of like this seems happy and
this seems like okay I can maybe find
myself here maybe I can find love and
success and I can feel safe if I’m I can
feel seen because it’s not just what I’m
looking at it’s what I’m imagining while
I’m looking at it so while I’m imagining
what I’m looking at is I’m like okay
this is happiness here this is they you
can you can all your dreams can come
true in this place because over here I
started to believe that I was an
unnecessary addition so because of this
lie of Shame this became my way even
though it was a it was a secret nobody
knew so this is when
I started to just keep my secret keep it
in in the in the darkness and in the
closet of my own home I find reasons I
don’t know my mom is in a room but it’s
so many different times I just said oh
just go to the room I’m just going to
bed early like yeah yeah and get my rest
but I had stuff hidden in that room and
you know she’s just now founding out
today and whoever else when when she
finds but
that was my happy place and that was the
place where it felt like okay these
images that I’m imagining feel make me
feel safe and secure
um then I mean I don’t even know by that
point I strived for romantic
relationships it was like if I can find
a woman that I can make that happy then
I’ve done it like I’ve I’ve I’ve
completed the mission I found the love
and so
um we all know that’s a lie but uh go
ahead you go because I’m if I’m trying
not to say so much there’s so many
things
but um
yeah so I I strived to just please a
woman because I could not please these
are the lies I cannot please my parents
I cannot please my family
um I can’t please God because there’s no
way because all of these secrets that I
have and the things that I’ve done
behind my parents back I know I would
get uh absolute beaten so I know if if
they were with me then God he doesn’t
even he’s I’m nowhere near his mind so
my striving was just to please any
female that I could find so in any way
so it just became my thing in elementary
school now obviously you know these
things and these stories but I mean I I
have gotten you know the little kitchen
pots one girl threw a kitchen pot in my
head because in my mind I think we’re
playing house
no no sir so anyway these things I
searched for that my entire life
because of the shame though because of
the lie that I believe but go ahead
so the question that we want to ask you
is in what ways have you or do you
strive for love
in what ways do you feel like when God
looks at you that he doesn’t say you’re
a very good
but instead he says well if you do this
this and this you’ll be very good
if you do this isn’t this then I’ll I’ll
give you this love maybe if you make
enough money maybe it’s romantic
relationships maybe it’s perfectionism
maybe if if you work hard enough maybe
if you work hard don’t sleep whatever
that God is saying if you do that then I
love you and we know that this is true
when we look at scripture and we
continue to read the story of David so
we talked about David his childhood his
youth what all happened the trauma that
happened and let me give you a
definition for trauma because that is a
buzzword that has been thrown around so
much especially in today’s culture but I
want to take it down to a base level
there there’s Big T trauma which means
that there’s life-threatening events
that have happened in your life and then
there’s small T trauma but if we were to
sum trauma up it’s any time you ever
felt like you weren’t loved
that’s it that time that that coach said
something to you that time that big
sibling didn’t want you to hang out with
them
when your Mom and Dad forgot your
recital any time that you ever felt like
you weren’t seen
soothe safe or secure you can round that
up to be trauma because in the Garden of
Eden that was never the way that God
intended us to live
he intended for us all to live in such
an abundance of love that we never had
to second-guess it
and that’s how we come into this Earth
with that need to know that love
and so it’s important that you
understand the way you’re striving the
way that you may be striving because
David didn’t know and we saw even though
he was a man after God’s Own Heart that
he made a fatal Mistake by Sleeping with
a woman Bathsheba getting her pregnant
and then killing her husband as king now
this is what I want to point out in this
story when this happened in David’s life
the Bible says that at the time of year
when the Kings typically went to war
David was at home
that’s when he saw Bathsheba in the tub
don’t know why they was washing outside
back then but I guess I mean there’s you
know a lot of inventions that weren’t
done by then okay uh but she was outside
washing and he called her in slept with
her got her pregnant and killed her
husband to cover up his sin
why would David not be at War
could it be that David who is as a kid
told that he didn’t belong with his
older brothers that were soldiers that
were in the army that his daddy didn’t
call him out could it be that maybe just
on in that year at that time maybe David
was having a trigger moment a trauma
moment where he felt like I don’t even
belong out there
and at that point we know David had
killed more than tens of thousands of
people
he had already succeeded in battle but
at this point now the reason why I feel
like we can well me personally I can
connect to this story because I know
it’s like to know that you’re called to
do something greater but it’s like but
these things that I’ve done these things
that these hands have seen yeah so I you
shy back you shy away but in the story
we know he wasn’t staying back to
meditate like he didn’t y’all go to war
I need some time with God like this
candle and spent clearly clearly he was
not doing that but even in the the story
after if you read after David and go
even Saul eventually was trying to kill
this man what have I done to you so
these are the things that we know
because David was a human we all
understand we can understand and we meet
him in that place where it’s like maybe
there’s something else going on other
than just oh it’s just what I felt like
doing no there’s something
God not only summons your story he
summons you’re striving his love summons
your stride he wants us to bring every
way that we have made up in our mind
that we have to work for love and bring
it to him he don’t want us to fix it he
don’t stand on the other side of our
pain and our stuff and say you got to
fix that he wants to help us in that but
we have to bring that to him we have to
be open enough to and honest enough to
say how we may be striving and bring
that to God because he summons our
striving if we don’t bring that striving
to God if we don’t bring the story and
we don’t bring the striving what happens
is that striving becomes our sanctuary
now the sanctuary is a place of worship
it’s a place where we come and we focus
on something that has more power than us
and we worship it
we have a God that we worship but the
truth is we also have liturgy gods
and what we do how we know it when we
have liturgy God or an idol is all you
have to do is take one sentence and
place see what you place in the name of
God so even though God is supposed to be
your provider maybe money actually is
maybe God is supposed to be your healer
but in your mind romantic relationship
is your healer maybe God is supposed to
be your Redeemer but actually if you
just hold on to unforgiveness towards
these people that did you wrong that’ll
redeem you whatever the case may be if
we don’t submit our striving to God it
becomes our sanctuary and Sanctuary is
not just a place we worship it is a
hiding place
it is a place that we go to for safety
what do we what do you go to what do I
go through in my life for safety when I
don’t feel seen when I don’t feel
soothed when I don’t feel secure or safe
this is a place I run to
and we have so many different ways that
we do that in Genesis after they felt
after Adam and Eve felt shame they
immediately went into hiding it says in
verse 8 of chapter 3 it says when the
cool evening breezes were blowing the
man and his wife heard the Lord God
walking about in the garden so they hid
from the Lord God Among the trees then
the Lord God Called to the man where are
you and Adam replied he said I heard you
walking in the garden so I hid I was
afraid because I was naked our striving
turns into our hiding place
in what ways are you striving is asking
the same thing as in what way are you
hiding
in what way do you shrink yourself down
in order to fit into everybody else’s
idea of who you’re supposed to be
there are women in this room and I want
to Clearly say this that God has put a
calling and an anointing and a gift in
you in your life to minister to other
people but because you want to fit into
the wife and mom category you have not
stepped out and done what God has told
you to do
there are men in this room you are
supposed to help other men heal
emotionally be because you have gotten
on this whole idea that you got to be
the man that comes in and Saves the Day
big strong and mighty you have shrunken
yourself down to not fit into the
picture that God has called you to be
why don’t we break the mole y’all why
don’t we step outside of these boxes and
be who God has called us to be
we do so much shrinking in our lives
trying to fit into everyone else’s
picture of us and God is saying when you
believe you I love you you don’t have to
do that you can be yourself and fully
known and fully loved that’s right this
is why it’s important this is why it’s
important for um
I don’t know what happened
this is why it’s important for men to
understand that they are the Beloved of
God this is why it’s important for this
love to sink in to our hearts no matter
our circumstances because if not then we
don’t go forward and leave and be the
men and be the people that we are called
to be with the understanding that love
casts out fear because we are not afraid
of punishment God is not looking to
punish us he’s looking to help us reveal
the true calling the light that’s inside
of us and so this is this is why this is
powerful and this is why
we sit here and we speak and tell our
stories because even in our stories
as as Pastor Mike said earlier we
overcome by the words
of Our Testimony
so that God can strengthen us and so
that we can understand and see his love
as we walk and as we go into our calling
it is to give us power it is to give us
strength so that understanding of love
has to sink in and it has to sink in
deep
when we talk about a sanctuary we talk
about a place that we keep going back to
and one of the things that we know is
prevalent especially in our culture and
Society but forever honestly is
addictions
this addiction is just going back to a
sanctuary over and over again to find
love
so when we talk about God freeing you
from addictions and from Habits what
we’re saying is God is trying to free
you from going back to this hiding place
he wants you to show up without the
alcohol
he wants you to show up without the sex
he wants you to show up with whatever it
is that you have taken on as your God
where you have to keep going back to it
you have to keep going you’re almost
insatiable because you need love and
that is a legitimate need
but an addiction is through an
illegitimate way of trying to get that
love because we honestly have we
honestly understand that addictions are
strategies to keep us blinded from the
true story that we’re feeling it it it
is just a distraction that’s nasty
that’s good
yes but but I’m saying it because I
understand it I understand having a
strategy to keep me from the truth that
I feel like I should not be here also
from the truth that God has called me to
something bigger and it feels like it’s
too big for me but it feels like he
doesn’t love me that much to actually
want that promise for me like that he he
doesn’t love me that much does he so my
addiction is just my strategy to kind of
ignore that because it’s it’s too big
it’s too heavy or I don’t believe it in
the first place
yeah so so God’s love summons your story
some is your striving and it summons
your Sanctuary wherever you’re hiding
place is so in 2015 Aaron and I got
married and um I mean if you just listen
to our stories of perfectionist and
someone that felt like they were an
unnecessary addition us getting together
was a train wreck uh to say the least
in 2015 we got married we felt like God
told us that we were supposed to get
married you know that was our community
was behind us we knew that this is the
step that we wanted to take oh
that s curl in there
um and so
we got married in 2015 Valentine’s Day a
day of love and it we had just such high
expectations of what marriage was going
to look like
um I came in thinking I was going to be
the perfect wife I did not know how to
cook at all so I don’t know why I
thought that I still don’t and I’m fine
with that but
I ain’t got nothing to prove
um
but anyways so we came in thinking that
this was going to be easy we thought we
knew God so well we thought we knew each
other so well we knew ourselves so well
and that was not necessarily the truth
when we got married not at all
um I thought I had God figured out at
this point I had been through so much
um pain Secrets hiding
um I felt like I understood what God was
and even by that time
um even understanding I was so in
desperate need of therapy and counseling
it felt like marriage was going to fix
it like I’ll get married at this point
I’m 30 and my 20s is just if I if we get
in a room by ourselves I can tell you
about that I cannot say everything on
this platform but my 20s was a mess but
the root of that was pain I I lost my
father at an early um at 21 and I just
was sure at that point because at that
Point going through all those things and
feeling like I was afraid of this man I
can’t talk to this man he’s going to
lash out I don’t know but understanding
that 21 I have finally developed a
relationship where oh I’m just like this
man and the sensitivities and the
tenderness and the things that us have
found over the years and I found my dad
he wrote written a poem and all these
different things and but I felt like At
21 we was finally getting a relationship
and I was finally starting to feel like
okay I do have a purpose he passed away
of a heart attack all of a sudden and um
tragically in the uh we was riding in
the car together and so it was one of
the most traumatic things I’d ever been
through but I didn’t go to tell my story
anywhere I just kind of lived with it so
Bob
all my 20s by the time I’m 30 at this
point I’m at the peak of my anxiety
attacks my panic attacks PTSD all the
different things but I felt like
marriage would fix it and marriage would
stop me from this insatiable need to
feel loved or get love from a woman
so
in the first year of marriage I
came to breathe and I just confessed
that I had been unfaithful and that we
we were unequally yoked and I had all
the things to say
um but understand I got marriage like I
said I thought I had God figured out
understanding that at the time I got
married I was clearly immature and uh
clearly not in a place where I fought
spiritually I was and so when I
confessed that it was the first time I’d
actually
um told someone a secret just
voluntarily I had never done that and I
have friends to prove it but some people
just caught me in some stuff but
um I had never voluntarily told my story
like that’s not happening and um
it was crazy because this is this sounds
really crazy when I confessed that to
Bree I thought it would be thank you so
much for telling me
I don’t know what I don’t know what else
thank you so much for telling me I
underst I understand the work that it
took the confidence that you had to
build up to come and say to me that you
had absolutely not bad at all ran our
marriage into a wall
um thank you for telling me that our
marriage is over like I I don’t know why
I felt that way but um I honestly feel
like I feel like God used it
yeah so when Aaron came to me this was
in our first year of marriage and let me
know that uh this truth that he had been
unfaithful since we’ve been married
I was inconsolable I mean at that point
I had already been so oblivious to the
fact that I believe certain lies about
myself that when he came and said this
to me it didn’t do anything but
reinforce the lies I already believed
about myself so all the lies that I
wasn’t beautiful enough or I didn’t
belong or a man wasn’t going to love me
or God didn’t love me or I didn’t work
hard enough to be the best wife that I
could be that I wasn’t gonna you know
that it was like the enemy was like see
I told you
like when he came and said that to me
he’s like see I told you and I
immediately went into what I would
normally do which is so work really
really hard to fix the situation all
right we’re going to get in counseling
we’re going to do this we’re gonna do
that and my focus was we got to fix this
marriage because we were really unsure
if we were going to stay married or not
I mean it was a terrible time in our
lives like so genuinely would pray I
would come home from work and I would
sit in the driveway and pray to God that
he would help me get out of the marriage
uh sincere it was very sincere I said
God I need your help to get out of this
marriage because I knew that basically
what I what the reason why I wanted her
to be like thank you for telling me is
because I was afraid that I was going to
be an unnecessary addition in this
marriage I’d already walked into the
marriage believing that lie that I’m not
good enough and I told I said please go
find you somebody that is going to do
right by you that is going to love you
right because I don’t have it in me all
the things that you you need me to be
all the things you need me to do that’s
just not who I am and so at that point I
was running from this truth I didn’t
have the strategies to run to anymore it
was the it was this truth I was trying
to avoid which is actually a lie but the
truth that I believed was is that I will
never be what you need me to be yeah and
because I was believing that by myself
it was just a cycle that we were in for
several years honestly trying to figure
out still working in Ministry I was
still on staff at the church all those
different things but only our friends
and closest family members knew like we
were still trying to figure out if we
were going to stay married or not
because we didn’t like the condition
that our marriage was in it was
unenjoyable there was such a lack of
trust I turned into a CIA agent once he
told me that he cheated listen every
month I had that phone bill printed out
do you hear me I probably printed it at
the church
took it home I was highlight stuff who
is this
it was I mean we even at that point I
remember this we didn’t even talk about
this but I remember like we didn’t have
guests at our house during that time
because I didn’t want to fake it for
nobody like neither one of us went like
I remember only our closest friends came
to our house now we’ll have people over
for dinner different things like that
but back then heck no our house was
terrible neither one of us wanted to be
there no um but
but here’s the the thing that kind of
changed it well not kind of I had built
up what I thought was enough courage to
actually go get divorce papers I
remember leaving work and before I got
on the highway I stayed at quick trip
over by the air pump you know the pump
be far out so I was over there
praying to God like okay God just give
me the confidence and courage because
today I got to we got to stop I got to
end this
um so I go and it was as if
you know those pictures where it’s like
it’s sunny outside but there’s this
Cloud over this person with don’t it was
like I was driving through a T5 tornado
on a sunny day in June by myself
fighting against wind ancestors
everything on Heaven and Earth just to
get downtown to get those papers I I
couldn’t find parking spots it was like
I was circling the block and it was like
my spirit was in turmoil but what it was
was God telling me this is not the way
and so I pull I wound up pulling back in
the same driveway
understanding that I wasn’t about to get
divorced but the same sincere prayers
that I prayed to God to help me get out
I asked I said well you’re going to have
to show me the way I don’t know
the first thing that happened is the CIA
agent had full access
you got it whatever you needed to heal
and however you needed to heal
I’m going to do that for you but I’m
gonna do that for us and it was it was
like God gave me that like I was going
to do this for her but at the same time
it was like here you go anytime I come
home from work ask me for my phone when
I wake up in the morning you got all the
codes here’s my emails here’s my
passcodes here it is so whatever you
need for me but in turn it wound up
healing me because I had never let
anyone in
and I didn’t even realize what God was
doing but the moment I said
here it is here’s the mess all of it’s
on the table you’re gonna have to show
me the way it was like I surrendered the
little boy that was felt like okay I’ll
go to my room and get my piece I I
didn’t even I wasn’t even aware of it
this is how awesome God is this is how
this is why we are confident that we are
not accidents because he is in our lives
orchestrating our lives as we surrender
and as we tell our stories
so
I fully surrendered to the CIA agent
I think the thing that we thought at
that time is that God wanted to rebuild
our marriage and to a degree yes but
more than he wanted to rebuild our
marriage he wanted to rewrite our
stories
he wanted us to believe that he loved us
even if the marriage didn’t work even if
we weren’t going to seven years later be
sitting up here on this couch talking to
y’all God still loves us that even if we
just didn’t decide to do the work
whatever it was going to take to save
this marriage God still loved us as his
son and his daughter and we had to learn
that for ourselves and learn how to give
that to one another too because it’s
very hard in a situation like that to
see my husband as God’s son but that’s
God’s son
that he loves and the only reason his
son made those decisions is because he
didn’t believe that God loved him
and so I was to love him not just as his
wife but as a sister in Christ
that this is God’s son and I am God’s
daughter and I can love him as if he is
my brother and that was something that
took a long time for us to create a
habit around but it’s something that we
know has healed Us From the Inside Out
absolutely
um
yeah
go please go
so
I’ll say this
we were preparing for this message and
we’re like oh Lord what are we going to
say you know I asked Aaron to
talk teach with me like four days ago
from my side of the story but for us to
share it together it’s like totally
different a totally different Viewpoint
and he’s doing so good that’s my husband
okay all right okay
well as we’re talking through this I was
like in my mind I was like we got to
give these people like don’t what are
the handles what are the things that
what heal does other than just knowing
that God is he’s in love with us like
what heal does what what is healing us
not healed healing us because we’re
still walking through our own process
Still Still
um and I wanted to have like you know
these are the three things to take away
and Aaron said this to me and I thought
this is this is the takeaway this is
what we if there’s anything else that we
want nothing else we want you to
remember this is what we want you to
remember
Brokenness is a bridge to God
I think a lot of times we try to fix
ourselves to get to God’s love but it’s
in that Brokenness when we’re able to be
just rip raw honest with God of where we
are that it creates a meeting place God
lives at the end of your rope
and that’s what we learned in our
marriage any any
um mask or faking or pretend that we
felt like we had to be when we got
married that was almost shattered
through the pain that we went through
because we have been sleepwalking
through our stories we have been
sleepwalking believing the things that
were told to us we were kids things that
were told directly things that
indirectly we just translated as us not
being enough for us being broken or us
whatever the case may be we have been
sleepwalking through our stories and it
was that pain that woke us up
Paul writes
my grace is all you need
my power works best in your weakness
therefore now we boast in our weakness
because I realize where my power had
been the whole time
I would not say I’m struggling
I would not say I can’t handle this I
would not tell a woman I’m scared when
you do that it triggers a pain in me
that I don’t even know where it comes
from I would not say that now
I understand my Brokenness is the bridge
to lead me to my purpose
if I never show my Brokenness if I never
talk about my pain if I never talk about
what I’m struggling with if I never say
where I made mistakes how can I find
power where is my power it is in my
weakness if I’m weak then that’s when he
comes and he begins to show me his
strength I’m not strong without my
weakness
I’m not strong unless I show my weakness
my Brokenness is a bridge to this it’s a
bridge to everything in your everything
that you’re looking to get to it’s the
Brokenness that you need to show it’s
the words that you need to say uh this
the beautiful thing about this is a
reason where y’all I’m telling you the
honest God truth if you lived with us in
2015 16 17 and 18 you would know this is
true halfway at 19.
according to the life that we had then
we should not be on this platform
talking to you together right now I kid
you not when I think about what
especially before getting married when I
thought about couples that would get up
and teach and Minister me and Aaron was
never going to be in that category
because of what we had been experiencing
and it seemed as though it was unfixable
like it was like how are we ever going
to make it Forward how are we ever going
to heal but over and over again coming
back to our Brokenness admitting our
weaknesses being honest with one another
over and over again not just with each
other in therapy
in therapy and we’d have been to at
least three different therapists since
we’ve been married now at least three
yeah but with friends with someone
Community the community this is the key
that unlocked everything in our
understanding of really how Vaz got and
I thought I understood God I thought I
got a I got a good grasp on God I had no
idea how vast the piece is I had no idea
how deep The Love is in the kindness I
had no idea that all I needed to do was
admit God this is where I need you so
it’s not that I’m boasting that oh I
never have the desire that I have for 20
something I don’t even know how many
years when it began it’s not that the
desire doesn’t come back and I don’t I
thank God that it’s not what it used to
be but what I’m glad about the most is
that when I feel the desire I can say to
her I can say to friends hey man I’m
feeling weak today and immediately I
find my strength the reason why it’s
okay for me to tell my story is because
I need to tell my story because I need
power for the future I have to tell you
that I’m weak I have to tell you that I
don’t have it all I don’t have the
answer for this but God does so we have
to say this
my God I have to tell you I’m weak I
don’t have it all right I don’t have the
answers
but God does and In This Moment In This
Place this is where he takes over
[Applause]
all right
God oh God thank you for your power
thank you for your wisdom thank you for
the understanding that your strength is
what we need to
Fool To Love You Like This
I’m so glad that I have my weaknesses
I’m so glad that the thorn is in my side
because if not how do I trust him if not
how do I Surrender my life if not how do
I stand on the stage if not how do I
still love her
it is in this pain that I would I would
gladly say I’ll gladly stay in this
place of weakness because it’s the ever
it’s been that it’s been the answer to
everything I’ve ever longed for
everything I’ve ever dreamed that I
could have or want as a little boy the
love that I felt like I deserved is in
this weakness it’s in distress it’s in
this pain that I don’t have the answers
and so I thank God for it every day that
I’m weak
so that he can be strong not that I’m
strong
oh my God
if there’s nothing else that we want you
to remember is
your Brokenness is a bridge to God
there is no need to cover up there is no
need to pretend
that not only do we do it in our
relationship with God we do it in humans
around us because that’s god with skin
on
that this is an exchange of love for us
to talk to one another to talk in our
community to be in a small group and
talk to our belong group to go to God in
prayer and say God this is where I am I
am weak and I need you right here
this is the choice that God has given
you today
you can hide
you can cover
you can pretend
or you can bring your Brokenness to him
this is why God love summons us but
here’s the reason
because our Brokenness summons him
he wants
is by his love that I’m compelled
with so many people stop because it’s
like I can’t but he needs the Brokenness
he’s asking for it come here beloved let
me show you what I created you for
Brokenness summons our God
so what we want to do is
encourage you to take a moment before we
get out of here before you log off
online
and sit with love
we got a lot more things that we can say
so many I mean just so many details of
how God has shown his love to us in the
midst of our Brokenness
but I think more than we have something
to say to you love has something to say
to you
and so in a moment we’re just going to
take a moment and I just want you to
steal yourself close your eyes if you
need to we’re going to ask no walking in
this room just so people can have a
minute to Center themselves in the love
of God because our prayer is that in
sharing this story of what God has done
the Redemption that we have seen in our
lives and in our stories
that it’s Illuminating something in your
life
in your story that you feel a summoning
that you feel God saying come here
I’m right here I’m closer to you than
your very own breath
I know you felt like you had to have
money to be loved and to have
relationships to be loved I know you
needed somebody to say apologize to you
for you to feel like you were loved and
you ain’t got none of those things yet
because all you really need is me
I want your story
I want your striving I want that place
that Sanctuary where you hide
that Brokenness that you do everything
in your power to pretend like isn’t
there
that feeling of being an unwanted child
or feeling like you have to be a
straight A student to be loved whatever
the case may be feeling like you’re an
accident because your parents didn’t
plan you
I want all of that
because that’s where I meet you
that is our meeting place
I’m so grateful to God for the
mountaintops that I’ve experienced in my
life and that we’ve experienced together
but I promise y’all it was in The
Valleys where I met him
it was in the valley of depression but I
didn’t want to do nothing but sleep and
be alone
in the valley of trying to figure out if
I belonged in this marriage or not in
the valley of feeling like unloved and
unworthy it was right there that I met
God
is right there that we’ve been healed
and so
we’re asking you to just get in a
comfortable position
close your eyes unclench your fists
unclench your jaw get as relaxed as
possible we’re asking you to relax in
the love of God maybe that means you
need to uncross your legs or uncross
your arms whatever it may mean maybe
opening your palms up towards heaven
I know we got a lot of things that you
probably want to get to today but I’m
asking for just one moment
allow love to summon you
allow love to meet you right where you
are in the midst of your story your
striving meet you right in your
sanctuary
and speak truth over you
we’re going to have a song
and then I want you to just imagine
Jesus
the lover of our souls
standing right in front of you
what does he want to say to you today
and maybe
he doesn’t want to talk to you at the
age you are today
[Music]
maybe just like the Bible says when he
says bid the little children to come to
me
maybe today Jesus wants to kneel down to
that three-year-old girl
14 year old boy
and he wants to say something to you
that you’ve never heard before
in the tone of love
in the voice of love
God we thank you for your love today
we are so grateful that you are a God
that asks us to come out of hiding
and come into your love
what you have done
and me and in Aaron’s life and in our
marriage oh God that is just one of
millions of people that you’ve done this
for you are no respecter of person
so today God we don’t strive for
anything
[Music]
all we do is receive your love
relax in your love
help us to be renewed in your love today
it’s in the name of Jesus we pray
amen
[Music]
I’m out of hiding your savior
there’s no need to cover what I already
see
you’ve got your reasons but I hold your
feet
you’ve been on lockdown and I hold the
key
cause I loved you before you knew it was
love and I saw it up still I chose the
cross and you were the one that I was
thinking of when I Rose
[Music]
my victories
[Applause]
[Music]
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everything
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don’t need to be frightening
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to me
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[Music]
anymore you’re not far
you’re not far from
keep on coming home
keep on running home
it’s white as you run what hand is love
will only become
part of the story you know as you run
foreign
[Music]
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it’s all a part of your story
[Applause]
oh yeah
save me
[Music]
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foreign
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till I chose the cross and you were the
one that I was thinking of when I
arrived from
Praise
My victories
[Music]
close there’s no reason to say
it is
[Music]
and
I was the one that he was thinking of
when he wrote from
the
grave how rid of the shackles his
victory is
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
you’re not far from home
always
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oh
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he loves us
[Music]
as you’re sitting in your story right
now just declare he loves us with all
the mess
with all the things you’re still
processing
that’s what the story is about
that at the beginning the end and in the
middle I can declare he loves us he
loves us
[Applause]
right now
like
Oh How He Loves
[Music]
[Applause]
today was a service that many of us have
been praying for God didn’t scream a
message at you he whispered it
he just whispered I love you
[Music]
I know you’re hiding it
I know the reason you put all the makeup
on and the reason you dress all night so
the reason you eat emotionally or the
reason you don’t go to that place or the
reason you haven’t been home for years
all of these things there’s stories
behind that
the stories for
the text messages you answer
and the ones you ignore
their stories of why
you watch what you watch post what you
post
their stories of why you work out
they’re stories of why
you call yourself
not a people person or the life of the
part their stories behind all of that
and God’s asking all of us
God spoke to me so clearly sitting over
there he said Michael I want all of your
story
listen to this not the edited version
I know we come here and we show
everybody our best clips
but there’s stuff we’ve been through
that people that known us for the last
five years don’t even know we’ve been
through
[Music]
it’s like they don’t even know what God
delivered us from
they don’t even have a clue that we was
crazy
that we were at the end of our rope that
we were addicted to something that we
used to hide in certain places
and what would we do we judge other
people that are there now
[Music]
I’d rather get away from that because I
don’t ever want to be associated with
that and God said I need you to bring
one of the stories that I thought about
when Aaron and Bree were up here and
they got emotional in the moment because
I I know my friend and he couldn’t
believe in that moment he was standing
on this platform sharing his story when
God healed a a certain man that had an
affirmity for decades
he told him to pick up his mat
and take it with him
now why in the world if if I if I’m out
of it
I don’t want to remember that crap no
more God said no no no no no no no
your story
you got to carry it around cause people
are gonna ask you
why as a healed man are you walking
around with this mat
and it gives you an opportunity to show
how I’ve transformed your life
church it’s time for us
to get our story
the full version
and submit it to God that first line of
that song said come out of hiding
come out of Heidi
come out of hiding
[Music]
I hear the spirit saying that to
somebody right now
hiding yeah
[Music]
it’s safe in the light it’s safe in the
truth
you’re safe right here
just one more time to say
I don’t know who this is for but like
the church has been the place where we
don’t talk about it
just give me the cherry on top and the
whipped cream we don’t even got to talk
about the issues put whipped cream on
doodoo and that’s fine
like let’s let’s just put some sauce on
a bad meal it’ll be fine
and God said can we just deal with the
real issues
but you gotta come out of hiding
there are people here that have been
alive for 50 60 years and their stories
your children don’t even know you went
through because you buried that crap so
down on the inside of you and God’s
saying are you ready to breathe again
he’s saying come out of hiding
[Music]
there are people in this room that you
are abused as a child or even a teenager
or you are the abuser and you’ve never
said anything because God is not going
to love me like that but God’s saying I
was there anyway and I got an
instruction
[Music]
[Applause]
that you thought made you significant
and now people around you see that
you’re struggling but you won’t say
nothing cause your pride keeps you in a
place of trying to make it all work for
yourself but God says
you may be grieving
and hurting because of a loss
and you want to hold it together for
everybody else
God’s saying you don’t got to hold it
together because I hold the whole world
in my hand what is he saying come out of
life
some of you have been dealing with your
sexual identity
am I this because I was abused by a
cousin am I this because of what I saw
on television am I this cause I like
fashion am I this because I like
basketball God’s saying come out bring
all of that to me
I’ll give you an identity cause I marked
you
standing all over this room
in your home I feel that God’s about to
start doing some work in here said come
on
it’s safer in the truth
it’s safer in the truth
safer in the light come out
now let me let me help everybody real
quick before we go
I know for most fake
people
this is very uncomfortable
and for most faith-filled people
this is very uncomfortable both hands
why because we actually gotta deal with
the issues
come out of hiding
this week I believe God is summoning all
of our stories
he’s asking you bring it to me
I would ask that everybody would just
take time this week set it aside
God what are you trying to say to me
through this message
what do you want to reveal in me what do
you want to change in me what do I need
to confess what do I need to change what
am I going through right now that I’m
gonna be on the stage 30 years from now
talking about that season because I
didn’t really deal with it right then
come out of hiding
today if you’re ready to come out of
hiding
and you’ve never accepted Jesus as your
personal Lord and savior
this is your moment
the only reason I share my testimony
every day if I get up here for two
seconds or two hours I’ll tell you I was
addicted to pornography I was a liar I
was a manipulator why I’m doing what
they did I’m sharing my story I’m taking
the power away from the enemy and I’m
putting myself in my weakness and that’s
where my strength comes from
[Music]
God’s saying today you can have that
same thing if you would trust in the one
who gave everything
[Music]
on a cross over 2 000 years ago
so that we wouldn’t have to live in a
life we could come out of hiding and
live in the truth we could be redeemed
we could be healed we could be saved we
could be loved we could bless other
people we could change the world
if we would accept
what God’s done for us
if you’re in this room or you’re
watching online or rebroadcast
and you know you’ve been hiding
and you’ve not been coming to God with
the real you
and you haven’t even come to him and put
your faith in him today is the day of
salvation the Bible says according to
Romans 10 and 9 that all you have to do
is believe in your heart and confess
with your mouth that Jesus Christ is
Lord and that he would come into your
heart your mind your life and change you
I promise you you won’t be perfect but
you will always be with the perfect one
I know the church wants you to clean up
and become great before
you really have a relationship with him
but I’m telling you there’s nothing out
here that can transform you like the
love of Jesus
so if that’s you
and you’re ready to come out of hiding
today is the day that I want you to do
on the count of three I’m gonna ask you
to just raise your hand and all I’m
saying is identify if I ask somebody hey
anybody want a million dollars everybody
will raise their hand they would
identify all I’m saying is this is worth
more than any amount of money
this is true riches this is freedom and
I don’t care what the hoods say I don’t
care what your homies say I don’t care
what the country club says I don’t care
what success says God said I say
something about you I gave you a name
and I want you to fulfill purpose on
this Earth as well as meet me in
eternity and this declaration changes
everything for you this is the start of
your transformation
if you want to make Jesus Christ your
personal Lord and Savior no matter when
you’re hearing this and what you’ve done
I want you to raise your hand on the
count of three one you’re making the
greatest decision of your life two I’m
proud of you but your name is gonna be
written in the Lamb’s Book of Life for
all eternity three just shoot your hand
up in the air I see you brother I see
this almost the whole front row I see
you right over here I see there’s tons
of hands online listen to me thank you
for coming out of hiding Heaven is
rejoicing and we’re rejoicing in this
room right now
[Music]
you can put your hands down we’re not
gonna call you up here and ask you to do
a song at a dance and tell us your story
in time
we believe that your story is going to
come out
around Believers that can help lift you
up
but today we’re a family in this
building are we a family all over the
world right now transformation okay so
we’re gonna pray this prayer together
for the benefit of those who are coming
to Christ everybody would you just lift
your hands and say God
I’m coming out of hiding and I’m coming
to you
today
I’m giving you my life
here I am
All of Me
I believe you lived
you die
and you Rose again
so that I could live in Freedom
today
I bring you my mess
and I ask you
to turn it into a message
that would give you glory
renew me
transform me I’m yours in Jesus name
amen hey can we turn up real quick oh
y’all better come on can we thank God
this is Transformation Church lives are
being turned around right now in the
presence of God hallelujah
I don’t I don’t want to violate this
moment
I feel like we got opened up just a
little bit like I see all the hard dudes
that came in like this they like
like like like like I see people who
like
today I believe was a softening of our
hearts
so that God can take
what seems to be
unusable
you know God does his best work with
broken stuff right
all this week let’s stay sensitive
to what God’s trying to reveal
and how he wants to use our story can we
thank God for Brie and Aaron being that
transparent oh y’all come on imma call
you and get you to my next week when you
you come on thank you God I’m so like
[Music]
um
I was one of those friends that got to
see the ugly years
and I pray for everybody that you get
you get in somebody’s life deep enough
because everybody prays for Community
but everybody’s not community
I’ma say this over here because they got
mad at me
everybody be praying Lord send me the
right community be what you don’t have
I remember in that season
we was there and just fighting for them
and sometimes we have nothing to say we
just all sitting there everybody was mad
Aaron Matt Bree man we mad cause they
don’t know what like we but we were
there
we prayed
we went to eat after counseling how was
counseling let’s not talk about it like
we were there
I pray that everybody lives
to see
people that God trusted you to be around
actually transform
[Music]
me sitting there next to Charles and
Abby and everybody weeping and we
hitting each other like
I’ve never had a feeling like that
to see that our prayers weren’t wasted
that that
God did something
I’m begging everybody to get in a small
group
this is not a plug for the sake of
having big groups
you need people
if anybody could have walked alone on
this Earth Jesus could have
and he still decided to have 12 dudes
around him and one of them he knew from
the beginning was going to be used by
the devil
and he still called you to say like
church either we’re going to live this
out for real
are we going to be here 15 years ago to
talk about our new church was faking
don’t say it didn’t work if you didn’t
work it
don’t I’m tired of people talking about
the church who was in it for three days
and didn’t actually do it don’t say they
mean people you serve then
I just either we’re gonna do it or we’re
not
and I’m just asking us if nobody else
comes to the church
I would rather us live transformed
than to fake for the next how many every
years or weeks or Sundays
God really wants to show off through us
but we have to become evident somebody
say I’m evidence
today what you saw was evidence
that he is God
so for the rest of this week I want you
to go on when you’re doing the things
that God tells you to do say the reason
I’m doing this I’m not doing it for
nobody’s improved approval or anything
I’m doing this out of love because I’m
evidence
that God has changed my life father
bless these people
let them have the best week ever I pray
your favor Your Grace your wisdom over
their lives and I thank you that we
would do everything this week
and for the rest of our lives
out of a deep love we trust you we
believe you and we thank you in Jesus
name we agree
somebody say amen I love you until next
week go out and live a transformed life
hey I want to take a moment again before
we jump off and say thank you our church
is not built on one individual but on
the sacrifice of so many and you being a
part it means the world so thanks for
watching the message I also want to say
thank you to the thousands of people
around the world who are generous it
means the world and we are able to
represent we’re able to be generous to
meet the needs of people because of your
giving if you haven’t taken the step to
give trust me there is no pressure at
all but if you feel led you can text the
word give to 82 82 82 or you can go
online when we partner together God uses
our generosity to make a difference
again if you haven’t take a moment to
subscribe to the YouTube channel and
more than watch it on YouTube join us on
Sundays every single Sunday we’re here
10 45 CST am we would love to see you
and like we always say go out and live a
transformed
[Music]
thank you
[Music]