Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Overcomer, Part 3: Overcoming the Lies of Labels

Episode Date: May 28, 2017

Stare down your fears, shatter your insecurities, and shake off the apathy that tries to hold you back. You’re not a prisoner—you’re an Overcomer. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, thanks for hanging out with us here at Life Church, where we are one church meeting in multiple locations and reaching around the world with what God is doing at Church online. If you ever have any questions or you're new to our church and just want to learn a little bit more, you can always check us out online simply by going to Life.curch. Or we'd love you to stay connected throughout your week and everywhere you go by downloading and using the Life Church app. It's available wherever you download your apps from. You know, all of us have labels.

Some of them good, like brother or mother or friend or mentor, some of them bad and not so good, like a quitter or a loser or failure. No matter what, we all have these labels, and if we're not careful and we don't address them, they can not only describe our past, but they have a tendency to shape and define our future. However, with God's help, we can overcome these labels, and today we'll see how, in part three of Overcomer. Hey, Life Church, I wanted to introduce you to the person who's going to be teaching today. Pastor Tim DeRemis is one of our campus pastors. He and his family launched the Life Church Wichita location,

which in about two years has grown to about 2,500 people, and God is doing so much there. In fact, Pastor Tim is an amazing pastor, but he's never spoken to all of the Life Church locations. Recently, at an all-staff meeting, I called him up. He had no idea, and I invited him to speak. Here's actually the footage from this Life Church All-Staff meeting. Proper preparation primes you for purpose.

Okay, so what were you doing before you were here? I was a pastor of a church plant. Do you plan it? Yes, sir. Uh-huh. How big did it grow? To a whole hundred people. To a hundred people.

Was that good preparation for what were you doing now? So what I want to do is I want to ask you, are you prepared to fill in for me on a weekend and preach to 75,000 people? I would say I'm prepared for that. Well, I'm inviting you right now to preach for me. So, would you please help me welcome today for the very first time, give him some love, Pastor Tim Doremus? Well, thank you, Pastor Craig, so much for that.

And I just want to say I'm beyond humbled and I'm beyond excited to be here. In fact, yesterday morning I was standing in my kitchen. and my 10-year-old daughter, Olivia, walked into the room, and the first words out of her mouth were this. Dad, can you believe what an honor it is for you to get to fill in for Pastor Craig this weekend? Sometimes she talks like she's 65, and so I was like, you know what, baby, you're right, it is a huge honor. And she said, and think about, out of all of the people in the whole world, he chose you to speak for him. I was like, well, I guess you're right. He did choose me. And she said, think about that there's going to be people all over the world watching this

message. I thought if this is a pep talk, we're going in the wrong direction here for this. And then she kind of paused and it's like the light bulb went off and her eyes got huge and she said, wait, do you actually know Pastor Craig? Yeah, baby, I've known Pastor Craig for the last six and a half years. And what I want you all to know is that for the past six and a half years, Pastor Craig has not only taught me what it looks like to be a great communicator, what it looks like to be a fantastic leader, to be a husband and a father. But most importantly, the reason that Pastor Craig as my pastor is because he's the exact same person that you see on the weekend throughout the week. And that's two things. Number one, he's somebody who's been changed by Jesus Christ. And

number two, he's somebody who's intensely passionate about leading other people to follow Christ as well. And that's why I'm thankful he's my pastor, and I'll follow that every single day of the week. Well, thank you guys so much for being here today. I hope you came to church today to be excited. I hope you came to be encouraged. I hope you came to be called and to be challenged because that's what's going to happen here today. We're in week three of a series called Overcomer, as we look to overcome some of the things that might hold us back. And today we're going to talk about labels.

And here's what a label is. A label is a phrase or a description of a person, especially one that holds you back. So that's what we're going to talk about today. How do we as followers of Christ overcome that? And what I thought would be cool as we get started was for me to introduce myself a little bit to you, so you might know a little bit about me.

I am a husband. I've been married to my incredible wife for the last 14 and a half years. I'm a father of two children, Olivia, who's 10, and Jack, who's 8. I'm a pastor, which I think is the greatest job in the world. In my free time, I'm a woodworker. I love to build things.

I am also a New Orleans Saints fanatic. I'm also a new parent to a puppy. And so I'm an aspiring dog whisperer. I would love your prayers as I aspire. to do that. And last but not least, at times I can be a little bit insecure, which is why I changed shirts three different times before I spoke today. That's a little bit about me, but here's a question for you. If I asked you to describe yourself to me, what would you say? If you're a note taker, I'd love for you to write down three words that you would use to describe yourself to me.

If you're not a note taker, just get those in your mind. So I asked some people around me. I said, how would you describe yourself to me in three words? One guy, without pausing, said tall, dark, and handsome. I can assure you he is not tall, he is not dark, and he has a great personality. So that's what he said. I asked my wife the same question. The first word out of her mouth was gregarious. She's like a walking thesaurus.

I had to look up what that meant, but some other people went with personality, right? Like I'm really friendly. I'm a little bit more reserved. I'm kind of a loner. Some people went with life situation. So I'm a husband or I'm a daughter or I'm single or. or I'm divorced or I'm rich or I'm broke. Some people went with things that they like to do as a hobby,

so I'm a fan or I'm an athlete or I'm a knitter. Other people went a little bit deeper with that question. Here's how I describe myself. Maybe as somebody who's been successful, I'm more of a failure, really, is how I describe myself. So how would you describe yourself to somebody else? You see, because here's the reality, whether we like it or not. Whether we like it or not, labels are used to describe us.

and labels have value and they communicate importance to us. I learned that in an early age. At an early age, I can remember probably second or third grade. It was in the early 90s, which two things about the 90s, hair and fashion were both bad. Right? And there were these pants, and everybody had these pants. So me and my older brother, we wanted these pants too.

They had Velcro on the waist. They were bright fabrics. They had elastic around the bottom. They were called jams. I actually have a photo of me and my brother in our jams. quite the lady killer in those pants, as you could imagine. Anybody in here remember jams. Anybody in Rio Rancho remember wearing jams.

If you still wear jams, I would love to pray for you after church today. You see, me and my brother, we had multiple pairs of these pants, these jams, except for there was one key difference with my jams and everybody else's. You see, everybody else's jams had a two-inch by two-inch white label that you could see from 100 yards away that said jams' pants. that went right where your belt buckle would be. My pants didn't have that label because my jams were homemade.

My mom wanted me and my brother to fit in, so she made these pants for us, but I was paranoid that somebody was going to find out that mine weren't real, that mine didn't have the label, that mine didn't cost as much as theirs, because labels communicate value. You felt it before.

You had that fake Rolex watch on or the fake Oakley's you paid $10 for, the fake coach purse, and you're like, I hope nobody finds out that mine didn't cost. as much as theirs, that mine's not as valuable as theirs. Why? Because we look to the labels that we carry to find our value. We look to the labels that we carry to find our value, and yet here's the

problem. The problem is the longer we carry our labels, the less they describe our past and the more they begin to determine our future. The longer we carry our labels, the less they describe our past, and the more they determine our future. Because I would love it if we all had positive. Maybe the label of being a hard worker or a good person, some people said. But the reality is that almost every single one of us carries labels that aren't positive. Labels that describe our past and begin to determine our future. Maybe it's the label of feeling unloved because of the home situation that you grew up in. Maybe it's the feeling of being a failure because of the relationships in your life and how those have gone or what happened at school or what happened at work.

maybe it's feeling the label of being inadequate. Like I want to be the dad that God has called me to be, but I just don't know if I can be it. I want to be the spouse that God has called me to be, but I just don't know if I can be that person, so I carry this label of feeling inadequate. I'm not good enough. Maybe your label's different.

Maybe your label is, I doubt, right? I doubt in my faith a lot, or I have this problem with anger. I don't know what your label is, but I know if you carry it too long, it stops describing what happened in the past, and it starts determining where you're going in the future. There was actually a study done for kids who were in school,

and this is what the researchers found out. They found out that if you take a child and you label them slow, and you don't change anything else, you don't change the way you teach them, you don't change their home environment, you change nothing else, their school performance will actually decrease. If you take the same child and you label them advanced,

and they know that, but nothing else changes their performance actually, increases in school. Why? Because labels are powerful. Labels communicate value to us. As a side note, if you take the same child and label them homeschooled, they instantly know how to make butter. Couldn't leave that one alone. Here's how it looks for you and me. I carry the label of feeling like a failure, so I'm afraid to try something new, because if I try something new and it doesn't work out, I've only confirmed what I felt in the first place, which is that I'm a failure. I carry the label of feeling inadequate. And so I don't try to be the husband or the father that God has called

me to be because if I don't do it, I just confirm the fact that I'm not good enough. The good news for us is that we can overcome the labels that hold us back if we're followers of Christ. And the story that I want to look at today is found in Mark chapter 2. And it's a story about a guy who understood what it was like to be labeled. This guy in the passage in Mark chapter 2 is actually not given a name, but stories are always more fun. when you have a name, so I'm going to give him a name today. We're just going to call him Larry for our time. You see, one of the few things that we know about Larry is we know that he was paralyzed. He had a physical disability. That meant that he had carried labels his whole life. He had the label

of being physically broken. He carried the label of being unemployable. He couldn't make enough money to support himself. He carried the label of being a burden or feeling like a burden to his family. He carried the label of being a beggar. He probably had to beg other. in order to support himself? If that wasn't enough, Larry also carried the label of being a sinner, or at least that's what people assumed, because in Jesus' day and time, if somebody had a physical disability,

it was assumed that they or their family, their parents had done something that resulted in their disability. It was an outward sign of what inwardly they had done as being a sinner. If anybody understood what it was like to have their past begin to determine their future, it was Larry. And yet, fortunately, there's another person in the story because it's a story about Larry and it's a story about Jesus.

I want to look there as we begin to look at how can we overcome the labels that hold us back. We're going to pick up with that story in Mark chapter 2, beginning in verse 5, where it says this of Jesus. And here's what's happened leading up to this point. Larry has some friends. they've heard about this guy, Jesus. They've heard about him healing people, and they have this thought. And their thought is this. If we can just get our friend to Jesus.

Right? Like, we can't heal Larry, but if we can just get our friend to Jesus, maybe he can do something. So they pick up Larry. They carry him to where Jesus is teaching, but the house is packed. Right? The house is full of people. And so they get creative. They get on the roof.

They start digging a hole in the roof. I'm really glad it's not my roof at this point. right they dig a hole in the roof they lower larry down in front of this huge crowd of people and in front of jesus and everybody's watching this guy who's carried these labels for his life wondering what is jesus going to do what is jesus going to do for this person who feels like a burden who feels broken who feels unemployable who feels like a sinner and this is what jesus does mark chapter two beginning in verse five it says this jesus sees their faith Say it with me. He sees their faith. When I was reading this passage, that's not what I expected to see. What I expected it to say was this, seeing his faith, right? Seeing Larry's faith. He's the one laying on the ground in front of him.

He's the one who's carrying these burdens, these labels, seeing Larry's faith. But that's not what it says. It very clearly says, seeing their faith. Why? because the faith of those around you matters. Right? The faith of those around you matters. Because your friends, they will either carry you closer to Jesus or they will pull you further away. Your friends will either carry you closer to Jesus

or they will pull you further away from Jesus because the faith of those around you matters. Because what Jesus saw wasn't just Larry's faith, he saw of their faith, Larry's faith, and the faith of his friends who were looking in from the hole in the roof that they had created to get their friend to Jesus because they had this thought,

and the thought was this, if we can just get them to Jesus. I have a friend named Brooke, and she had some friends, just like Larry had friends. Brooke first came to our church two and a half years ago. Life Church, Wichita had been in existence probably two or three weeks.

We were meeting in Coleman Middle School. There were about 400 people in this middle school on a weekend, and Brooke came with her boyfriend, and you go, man, that's great. Everybody's welcome, everybody is welcome at our church. But Brooke came with her boyfriend,

and they had restraining orders against each other. And they got in an argument, a pretty heated argument, out in the parking lot. So I called the police, right? Welcome to church. I called the police, had a meeting with Brooke and her boyfriend and said, man, we want you to be here at church.

You just can't be here together. We have a 10 o'clock, we have an 11.30. You need to pick one or the other, but not the same. I asked Brooke this past week. how would you describe yourself two and a half years ago? And she said, Tim, I was a hot mess. She was a hot mess. I said, what were some of the labels that you were carrying?

And she said, for too long, I carried the label of mistake. I felt like God made a mistake when he made me. And he said, the label that other people had given me, Brooke said the label other people gave me was as an addict. But not just addict as a stupid addict. Like, why can't you just stop? but she had a problem with an addiction and she had a problem with bad relationships. But fortunately, the faith of those around her matters.

Brooke was invited to church one week and she was invited to church by her friend Melissa. So Melissa says, hey, Brooke, why don't you come to church with me? Because Melissa has this thought and this thought is this, if I can just get her to Jesus. Right? I can't fix Brooke, but if I can just get her to Jesus, maybe he can fix her. She invites her to church. Brooke says, I can't come. I can't come because I don't have anything to wear. Melissa said, if I buy you a dress, will you come to church?

She said, I'll come to church if you buy me a dress. I love it. We will do anything short of sin to reach people who do not know Christ. If they need clothes, we'll get them closed. If they need a ride to church, we're going to give them a ride to church. Why? Because if we can just get them to Jesus. So she comes to church with her friend Melissa,

and here's what she looks like today. She doesn't walk the same. She doesn't talk the same. She doesn't act the same because she's not the same. If you come on Wednesday night, you'll find her leading one of our switch groups. She leads a small group of young ladies to follow Jesus Christ as she's following Jesus Christ. If you come on a Sunday morning, you're going to find her on a door at our church welcoming people because she wants every single person that walks through those doors, whether they're dressed right or not,

to feel welcome at church. She told me that she's become an official representative for the state of the state of the day. of Kansas on behalf of those who are fighting addiction so that the state can help them move out of their addiction, just like she is able to move out of her addiction. Why? Because the faith of those around her matters. And here's what I want you to know. If you came to church here today and you have adult children who are far from God, I've read your prayer requests, right? And your faith matters. The way that you respond to them, you're carrying them closer to Jesus. If you're sitting in church today or you're at church online and your significant other is not.

beside you. What I want you to hear today is your faith matters. The way that you respond to them, you're carrying them closer to Jesus. If you're a teacher and you have students in your class, and they don't have the home life that they need, what I want you to hear is that your faith matters. You're carrying them closer to Jesus. Why? Because transformation rarely happens in isolation. One of the scariest phrases that I ever hear as a pastor is this. Who do you have to talk to? Who can encourage you? Who are you meeting with? And somebody, to say nobody because I know that person's in trouble. You say, Tim, I don't have those people in my life. I don't have people like Brooke and Larry had. We have those people. It's called a life group and you need

to be in a life group. I'm in a life group. Brooke's in a life group. You need those people. Why? Because you stop sitting next to people and you start sitting across from people. You start having conversations and you start moving towards Jesus. The faith of those around you matters. You're like, Tim, we're three words into this passage. We are never going to finish. We're going to get there. Picking up in verse 5 says this, seeing their faith,

Jesus said to the paralyzed man, Jesus said to Larry, my child, your sins are forgiven. My child, your sins are forgiven. Sometimes I read the Bible and I think, what? Like Jesus, this guy is laying in front of you. He's broken, he's unemployed,

he feels unwanted, he's a beggar, and what you say as my child, your sins are forgiven? What about all these labels that he's carrying, except for Jesus heals the source, not the symptoms? Right? Jesus heals the source, not the symptoms. You see, because what Larry needed was not a newer label, what he needed was not a better label, what he needed was a new identity. And what Jesus offers us is not a newer label, not a better label to cover up our other label, but he offers us a new identity.

Growing up, my family moved around a good bit, and there's some advantages to that. You learn how to make friends quickly. You get to live in different places. There's some disadvantages. One disadvantage of that is that I didn't live close to my extended family. So my grandparents, I probably saw them once a year. Great grandparents, they were awesome, just not that close, though.

My wife was the exact opposite. She lived in the exact same place, birth through 18 years of age. she lived within five minutes of all four of her grandparents. One set of grandparents, Papa and Grand, as she called them, they went to lunch every single Sunday, and every Friday night she and her sister, their only two grandchildren, spent the night at their house. As a parent, that sounds amazing, by the way.

To say that they were close as an understatement. As Katie and I began dating, I began to realize that Papa and Grand, man, it was important that they like me because I began to hear stories especially about Papa. Stories went like this. It doesn't matter where you're sitting in the car.

Papa's driving the car, right? Because even if he's in the backseat, he's going to tell you how to drive the car if you're behind the wheel. You know somebody like that? If you're sitting next to him, do not elbow them. Papa was an impressive man, too. He fought in World War II for our country.

He came back, started a company that he built to support their entire family. He was successful, he was accomplished, he was revered, he was respected, and I was none of those things. One day, my wife Katie, said, hey, we need to run by Papa in Grand's house. I'd never met him before. And I thought, this is the same Papa. The first time she went to prom wanted to ride in the backseat of the car to make sure that the young man treated her with respect, which is a dad now, that doesn't sound like a terrible idea. The same Papa who wanted to move in to the dorms with her at college, why? to make sure that she was safe and taken care of. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no.

I'm not going by this house because I know how the story ends. It ends with me waking up with a horsehead in the bed and me getting the message. I need to move on. But I looked at her and I thought about Papa, who had never met. And I looked at her and I was like, all right, we'll do it. So we get in the car and we drive over, we drive up the driveway, we parked behind the house.

I'm like, this is already starting off bad. no one will ever see my car. I get out of the car. We're walking up the driveway, and there's this metal gate before you get to the sidewalk that leads to their house, and I open the gate, and I kid you not, it goes, you've seen those horror movies. I walk through the gate.

I'm scared to death, because I'm about to meet this man who's the patriarch of their family, who's known her since birth, who's accomplished all these things, and all I can feel like is I've not been successful enough, I've not been accomplished enough, I am unworthy to be dating one of his two grandchildren. We're walking up the sidewalk, and I'll never forget what happens next,

because what happened next happened every single time we went to visit them from then until they moved out of their house. Her grandmother, Grand, stepped out of the house, but only halfway. She put one foot outside so she could see us coming up the walk, and she kept one foot inside, and she could see Papa sitting in his chair, and she called out to Papa, but she called out just as much to me, and this is what she said. She said, Papa, your boy has come to see you. Papa, your grandson is here.

Do you think as somebody who grew up without a close relationship to a grandfather that that was a big deal? That was a big deal. Because I had this thought, if I had a newer label, if I had a better label, then I'd be accepted.

And yet what he taught me in my relationship with him is what I needed is a new identity, one that's freely given to me, not because of what I've done, but because of his goodness and his grace. Here's the reality. The reality is that some of you had the same thought when it comes to God. It's like you're walking up the sidewalk and you have the thought,

if I could get a new label, if I could get a better label that maybe says church or that says works hard or reads the Bible, then I'll be good enough for God. Right? You're walking up to church and your thoughts are this. If these people really knew, if they really knew where my marriage was, if they really knew what my kids are doing, if they really knew what's in my past, there's no way I'd be welcome in God's house. And yet what you need to hear today is the good news of Jesus Christ is this.

The good news of Jesus Christ is that Jesus stands with one foot in heaven, and he stands with one foot on earth. And he's looking to the father, but he's just as much looking to you. And he's calling out to you saying, Father, your child has come to see you, your son, your daughter, they've come to see you. Because what you need is not a new label. What you need is not a better label. What you need is a new identity. and identity that's not written on your shirt, but it's written on your soul, and it says, child of God.

And we didn't earn it. He freely gave it to us through Jesus Christ, because you see, while a label may describe your past, your identity in Christ is what defines you. Our value does not come from the labels that are on our shirt. Our value comes from our identity in Christ and being his child. And does that instantly fix the labels that you carry? No. But over time, they begin to lose their grip until one day they fall off. Picking back up with the story, as Larry was laying there on the ground. And Jesus said to him, my child, your sins are

forgiven. Here's what happens next in verse 10. Jesus said, so I will prove to you that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins. I love it. So I'll prove to you that this isn't just some pie in the sky, religion for when you die, that the words I speak, they have authority on earth. This is what Jesus says. He turns to Larry says, stand up, pick up your mat and go home. And Larry stood up, picked up his mat, walked out the door, and dropped the mic. Right? That's what happens. And the next verse says that everybody went home praising and glorifying God. Everybody went home praising and glorifying God. Why? Because it's the end of the story. Porky the pig pops up and says, that's all folks. The credits wrong.

everybody lives happily ever after. That's how I read the story at least. Right? Like everybody lives happily ever after. And then I had this question as I was reading this and this question was this, but what happens to Larry? Right? It's the end of the story, but it's not the end of Larry's life. What happens to Larry? And I can guarantee you this, whether Larry lived one more day or he lived 50 more years, everywhere he walked, everywhere he went, people whispered. Right? People People whispered in it, went like this. Hey, hey, you remember, that's that guy, Larry. He couldn't walk.

Hey, hey, remember, that's that guy, Larry. He couldn't keep a job because he was paralyzed. Hey, that's that guy, Larry. You remember, he used to lay down by the gate and beg for money. Right? You remember Larry? He must have done something horrible, or his parents did because he used to be paralyzed. Everywhere he went, people whispered.

It's like, have you ever thrown a shirt into the wash machine, and you forgot to take your name tag off. You get it out of the dryer, and most of it's gone, but there's like that sticky residue that's almost impossible to get rid of. Right? It's like my identity is in Christ, my value is in Christ,

people surrounding me are carrying me closer to Jesus, but people still whisper when I go around. Like, hey, hey, remember that guy, John? He's the one who struggled with addiction. Hey, remember Sue? she's the one who failed in business. Like everywhere I go, people whisper, why can't it just be John or Sue or Larry?

There was a lady in the Old Testament who understood what that was like. We're introduced to her in Joshua chapter two, and her name is Rahab. And here's what we know about Rehab. She was of the wrong nationality, she was of the wrong gender, and she was of the wrong profession.

She was not an Israelite, one of the chosen children of God, and said she was a Gentile. She lived inside of Jericho as the Israelites were trying to take it over. She was a woman in a man's world, and her job, she was a prostitute. And yet she made a choice, and her choice was this, my identity is not going to be with that. My identity is going to be with God and his people. So she joined with the Israelite people, and she became one of the children of God. That was the identity that was written on her heart. And yet here's the interesting thing about Rahab.

She's mentioned in the Bible eight different times. She's even in the lineage of Jesus, Jesus, the son of Joseph, the son of so-and-so, the son of so-and-so, the son of so-and-so, the son of Rahab, the prostitute. Because she's mentioned eight times, and six of those times, she's listed as Rahab, the prostitute. Everywhere she went, I bet people whispered. Hey, hey, remember, that's Rahab, I told you about her. Remember what she used to do for a living? why can't it just be Rehab? And I began thinking about this past week, and here's what I was reminded,

is that it's not that Rehab's past was too big to be forgiven. It was that the work of God in Rehab's life was too big to be denied. Right, it's not that her past was too big to be forgiven. It's that the work of God in her life was too big to be denied. Here's the interesting thing about the story in Mark chapter 2. Larry, we actually don't know his name, but we know the name of the one who healed him because his name was Jesus. Why? Because Larry's name was unclear, but his purpose was crystal clear, and his purpose was this to point people to Jesus. Here's how I'm going to say it today. What the devil meant for evil,

God will use for good. What the devil meant for evil, God will use for good. God can use your past to change somebody else's future. God can use your past to change somebody else's future. God can use your past to change somebody else's future. You may have walked in here today saying, you know what, I am tired of being labeled the single parent. Why can't I just be the parent? I'm tired of being the single parent. And yet the encouragement for you today is this, is that because of Jesus Christ, when people look at you, they don't see a single parent. They see a complete picture of what it looks like to fully rely on God. You may have walked in here today saying, you know what, I'm so tired of not being able to provide for my family like I want to, like the people around me can. But here's what I want you to

hear is the inheritance that you're leaving your kids. It's way more valuable than money, because the inheritance that you're leaving your kids is the inheritance of what it looks like to fully trust in God, not in your bank account. And you may have walked in here today saying, I'm so tired of being known as the person who struggled with addiction. And yet like Brooke, you get to be the the perfect picture of what freedom in Christ looks like. Why? Because God can use you. You your past to change somebody else's future. How do I know it? Because I get to live it every single day. What you saw when Pastor Craig introduced me was him asking me to speak to 75,000 people. What you didn't see was me sitting in the second grade in Miss Minty's class in Granby Elementary

School, in Granby, Colorado. And she was looking to call on somebody to read in the class. And every single time, I would physically try to hide behind the person in front of me. And I start playing, please don't pick on me. Please don't pick me. Why? Because every single, single time I stood up to read in front of people, I could read at my seat, put me in front of people, my mind, and my words wouldn't match up. And I would start stuttering, I would start stumbling all the way through high school, and I could hear people laughing, somebody's struggling with insecurity going, I know what other people think. And so you have somebody standing here saying, hey, I started a church of 40 people, and it's now 100,000 people on the weekend. And I want

you, somebody who started a church of 40 people who on the weekend, maybe 100 people on a great week, to speak God's truth to somebody. And I started feeling like that kid in second grade again. And then I was reminded of what God's been doing in my life this past couple of years. And here's the truth I begin to understand that's true for you today, which is God is way more concerned with who you are than what you've done. God has made more concern with who you are than what you've done. Because that voice that speaks to you in the back of your mind,

that's not the truth to listen to. The truth that you listen to is this. It's the voice that spoke creation into being who's saying, and this is who you are, it's not what you've done. What you need to listen to today is not what other people say. Your value, it's not with others' opinions. Your value, it's with the opinion of the one who is like no other. And he says that you're his child.

You see, when the devil whispers in your ear, you can't do it. You're a failure. You're inadequate. That's not the voice to listen to. The voice to listen to is Jesus Christ, who went to the cross for you, who said, no, you are my child, you are worthy, you are called. I choose you. Because you see when I started today,

I say, what are three words that would describe you? And I don't know what you wrote down. And I don't know if you wrote down the labels that you struggle with what you would write down. Failure. Struggle with anger. I feel like a mistake. But I do know the three words that define you

if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, and it's that you're a child of God. If you'll bow your heads and close your eyes at all of our locations, and on church online. As I begin to pray, I know that whether it's in Wellington, Florida, or whether it's in Kansas, many of you walked in today carrying labels that you're struggling with. And how do I know that? Because I walked in today carrying labels that I would rather be without. Labels that I don't look to for value, but instead I look to my identity in Christ to find my value.

If that's you and you want to find freedom from that label, if you want God to use your past to change someone else's future, just go ahead and raise your hand up high. Tim, that's me. I want to find freedom in Christ and my identity in Him. Hands are going up everywhere. I'm going to pray for us. Heavenly Father, thank you so much that you've surrounded us with people who are going to carry us toward you. Thank you that our worth and our value is in being your child, not in what other people say or what they see in our past. And Lord, we thank you that you can help us be an overcomer because you can use our past to change someone else's future. As we continue in an attitude and a spirit of prayer. I also know that there's some of you when I talked about being a child of God,

you may have had that question of, I don't know if that's me. Well, let me tell you about a label that the Bible says is true for every single one of us. And it's the label of being a sinner. Because although it may not be easy to talk about the reality is this, that every single one of us has messed up. In the book of Romans, it says it this way. It says, for the wages of sin is death. What we deserve for our sin is to be eternally separated from God. And yet the good news is that verse doesn't end there. For it says, for the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord.

What we've earned is eternal separation from God because of the mistakes and the sin in our life. But the good news is, is God has offered us a gift. How did he offer us that gift? Because he sent his one and only son, Jesus. to die on the cross, not for his sins, but for my sins and for your sins. So that if you will call out on him, if you'll say, Lord, I'm ready to receive your grace and your mercy and your forgiveness that you've offered me through Jesus, then we can be his children and our identities and that, not in what we've done.

At all of our campuses today, at church online, if you're listening and you realize that truth, you're ready to receive God's grace, his mercy, his forgiveness, you're ready to turn from your sin and to follow Jesus Christ with your life. Go ahead and raise your hand up now. I'm ready to turn from my sin and to follow Jesus Christ with my life. I'm ready to surrender my life to Jesus. Hands going up at all of our churches. Church online, just go ahead and click right here below me.

You're ready to turn from your sin and to follow Jesus and find your identity in Him. If everyone will pray out loud with me today, pray along with me. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your great. mercy and forgiveness. I know I haven't been perfect, but I believe you sent Jesus to die on the cross and be raised in the grave

so that I can be saved. Because you've done that, I turn for my sin and I want to follow you. And it's in Jesus' name that everybody said, Amen, Life Church, why don't we worship those new lives found in Christ? As a church, we are honored to play a small part in all that God is doing in and through your life. And we would love to continue with

you on that journey. I realize many of you may be new to your relationship with Christ. You just heard this message and it may be really difficult to get past some of the labels that have to find you your entire life. We want you to know as a church, we're here to help. One of the things you can do to let us know how we can help you is go to life.com church slash next. You'll be given all kinds of next steps that you can take as you progress in your relationship with Christ. You know, here's a church, we have a passion to ensure that people who find themselves vulnerable are protected and cared for. And recently, I had a chance to sit down with a group of pastors that took a trip to Tanzania to see how our church is actively partnering with local churches to help children

not only survive, but to thrive. Check it out. Well, thank you guys for taking some time on the back end of a pretty incredible, but also emotional trip to Tanzania. You got to see up close one of our child survival programs that our church gets to be a part of. What were some of the things that you experienced? What were some of the things that you saw? The child survival program, like you were talking about, is in over 700 churches across the world. And Alan Marcy and I got to visit a few of those churches. And there's a mentor that works through the local church with a group of moms in the community.

And this mentor goes into the mom's home and teaches them basic nutrition, child development. And these mentors have such a special relationship with each of the moms that they mentor. Like Britain said, one of the highlights for us was knowing that the local church was at the heart of this. It wasn't just a group of people doing this by themselves, but it was us as a church partnering with another local church in Tanzania. They exist to reach the people there. So that blew my mind. That's one of the things we're passionate about is life church here is we believe the local church is the hope of the world. That's why working with the local church is so important.

Now, you saw a lot, but were there any stories that really stuck out to you that really brought it home? Yes, one of those stories was Aisha. So Aisha and I were cooking together one day, and she was telling me how she moved to this brand new city hoping to find a better life. But when things got rough, her husband left their family on their own. And it was during that time when one of the mentors through their survival program in the local church connected Aisha to the church and started these monthly home visits with her. And Aisha shared with me that she now feels empowered to care for her own family and to even pursue her dreams of owning her own vegetable stand. So somebody else that caught my attention was the mentor. And we got to meet Elizabeth. When you talk to Elizabeth and ask her any question about any one of the moms that she is connected with, her faces lights up. She's got the names of their kids, how old they were, how, you know, what their body weight was and all of that stuff. But she's also pouring into them from a spiritual perspective and helping them grow in their relationship with Christ. Honestly, in my opinion, she's pastoring them.

That's where she's doing. One of the families we met who works with Elizabeth. on the daily basis is meekness. She is the mom. And when we sat with her in her home, we really wanted to earn the right to be in her home, earn the right to build a relationship with her. And when we did that, she shared with us, Marcy, building relationships with other moms who are just like me is so vital. And that's what she is doing through the survival program in her church. Yeah. You said a really key word, relationships. We know here at Life Church, relationships drive change. and we're in the life change business.

What I love about this is that lives really are being changed, not just on this side of heaven, but on the other side. And it's going to last for a legacy. We're seeing families changed. Thank you guys so much for spending some time away from your family to go to Tanzania, but then also bringing that experience home. We really, really appreciate it. Thanks, Johnny.

If you'd like to play a more active part in what Life Church is doing around the world or in your local community, you can find some of those next steps simply by going to life.church slash life missions. You know, here's a church. It's our mission to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. And thanks to you, your generosity and your prayers, we're able to do that around the world as we help people find God and find life.

One of the moms that she is connected with, her faces lights up. She's got the names of their kids, how old they were, how, you know, what their body weight was and all of that stuff. But she's also pouring into them from a spiritual perspective and helping them grow in their relationship with Christ. Honestly, in my opinion,

she's pastoring them. That's what she's doing. One of the families we met who works with Elizabeth on the daily basis is meekness. She is the mom. And when we sat with her in her home,

we really wanted to earn the right to be in her home, earn the right to build a relationship with her. And when we did that, she shared with us, Marcy, building relationships with other moms who are just like me is so vital.

And that's what she is doing through the survival program in her church. Yeah, you said a really key word, relationships. We know here at Life Church, relationships drive change, and we're in the life change business. What I love about this is that lives really are being changed, not just on this side of heaven, but on the other side. And it's going to last for a legacy. We're seeing families changed.

Thank you guys so much for spending some time away from your family to go to Tanzania, but then also bringing that experience home. We really, really appreciate it. Thanks, John. Thank you. If you'd like to play a more active part in what Life Church is doing around the world or in your local community, you can find some of those next steps simply by going to life.church slash life missions. You know, here's a church. It's our mission to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. And thanks to you, your generosity and your prayers, we're able to do that around the world as we help people find God and find life.