WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.200 If you're just coming into part four of a series, you might feel lost. 00:00:03.279 --> 00:00:04.959 So let me catch you up very quickly. 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:09.279 In the book of 2 Corinthians, Paul writes this letter to a church in a city called Corinth. 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:14.400 This city was, um, I think the most correct way to say it is soups jacked up. 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:16.239 They were really messed up people. 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:20.239 And at the end of chapter two, he he says this, and I love what he says. 00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:25.280 He says, For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:28.320 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:32.240 On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:38.000 We said week one, strongholds are those lies that we build walls around and we protect them as true. 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:40.320 And when it comes to your strongholds, you have two options. 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:44.159 You can protect them or you can do it by the Bible says, and demolish them. 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:49.520 And he says we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:52.640 And then here's the line that really formed the series. 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:56.719 And we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 00:00:56.960 --> 00:00:58.159 Pause here for just a moment. 00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:05.120 You need to understand the reason your thought life matters is our lives are always moving in the direction of our strongest thoughts. 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:12.239 So essentially, what you need to do is you need to start thinking about the stuff you think about because the stuff you think about is ultimately shaping you. 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:19.120 In fact, if your life isn't going the way you're hoping it's going, in the book of Romans, Paul gives us this beautiful picture of what to do. 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:22.719 Romans 12, verse 2, he says, all of our lives are being formed. 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:24.079 But I want you to see what he means. 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:29.599 He says, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but instead be transformed. 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:30.239 How? 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:32.319 By the renewing of your mind. 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:37.040 Then and only then will we be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will. 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:40.799 Essentially, Paul says that all of our lives are being formed by something. 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:53.840 It's either being conformed, which is like using a cookie cutter to be formed into the shape of this world, or it's being transformed by saying, God, I want your word and your voice to completely change me and make me new from the inside out. 00:01:54.079 --> 00:02:02.799 Well, for the last few weeks, we've spent a lot of time talking about how we can protect our minds, how we can block negative thoughts, how we need to pay attention. 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:09.599 So many of you have told me you took a social media fast or a news fast and how it's just been so refreshing to you. 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:14.240 We've talked about how you can protect your mind, block your mind from negative thoughts getting in. 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:23.520 But today, I want to do the difficult challenge of talking about what do you do when those thoughts are already in there? 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:34.319 What do you do when your mind feels completely overrun by negative, toxic, defeating, uh depressed kinds of thought? 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:39.039 What do you do when that stuff is already in there? 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:45.120 Some years ago, I went to a counselor and he used this illustration that helped me so much. 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:50.319 He said, our minds are a lot like a filing cabinet. 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:58.960 And we don't tend to think of it this way, but our our lives and our minds, over time, all these thoughts, they kind of get filed away in our minds. 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:04.639 The older you get, the harder it can be to access some of those thoughts, but they're all in there in some capacity. 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:16.639 And the truth about many of us is that we've got some negative experiences, some negative thoughts, and every once in a while something will happen and it'll cause us to open up the drawer and we'll just reach in and we'll just pull out a folder. 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:20.240 It might be a folder like rejection. 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:25.039 And we didn't we didn't mean to trigger that thought. 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:38.000 But for whatever reason, something happens and you feel passed over, something happens and you don't get chosen, and it reminds you of that sixth grade uh soccer team, and they were the last one picked, and they said they didn't even want you, but they had to pick you. 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:51.840 Or you you asked that girl out and she said no, and it just over time it does something to you, it weighs on you, or we we reach into the the old drawer of thoughts and and then shame comes in. 00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:55.759 And shame is, in my opinion, one of the great works of the enemy. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:01.840 If you had to read the book, The Scarlet Letter in high school, maybe you remember it, the the scarlet letter of A for adultery. 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:06.560 I I think this is actually the scarlet letter S, the scarlet letter of shame. 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:09.919 Because if the devil can't defeat you, he'll distract you. 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:14.639 And so we wear shame as if it's the truest thing about us. 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:22.480 Some of us, something happens, and then we reach into the filing cabin of our minds, and the the picture that comes out is the picture of fear. 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:37.040 And what happens is there was a moment in your life when you choked in the moment, when you didn't step into the moment with authority, and every time after that, that you have a moment of opportunity, you you you stop yourself because you know that you're not gonna make it. 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:38.560 Fear wins the day. 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:42.480 Some of us, it's like something happens and we reach into the filing cabinet of our life. 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:47.759 And again, I could come up with a thousand of these guilt because of something you did, and it just overtakes you. 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:51.759 For some of us, it's trauma, and something happened to you. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:58.800 Something was said about you, you were touched inappropriately, you trusted someone and they abused you. 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:04.480 And what can happen with trauma that's interesting is it can actually become the identity that we live from. 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:08.800 And so we start acting as victims in every one of our relationships. 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:12.639 You are not the trauma that happened to you, you are not the worst moment of your life. 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:17.040 That's a moment, but it's not the end of your story, it's just a part of your story. 00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:20.800 For some of us, it's a it's betrayal. 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:22.399 Betrayal hurts, right? 00:05:22.480 --> 00:05:26.240 Because the truth about betrayal is it was someone you trusted. 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:30.000 It was someone you thought had your back. 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:38.240 And what you found with betrayal is the person you thought had your back was the one who just stabbed you in it because they were close enough. 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:42.639 For some of us, our minds, the files that we pull out all the time is lost. 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:56.399 And it's like we're scared to trust anybody, we're scared to give our heart to anybody because everyone we love tends to leave us or die, and it just hurts. 00:05:56.639 --> 00:06:17.600 And for a lot of us, if we could just be honest, there's been seasons of our life where one of those or countless other examples in our minds they cause us to feel stuck, unable to step into tomorrow with a sense of holy confidence, unable to dream about a preferred kind of future because we're just somehow stuck. 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:22.720 Truth is, a lot of churches spend a lot of time talking about the extremes. 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:31.519 We talk about the person who is depressed and anxious all the time and suicidal, or we talk about the moments of joy and unmitigated happiness. 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:36.720 But but most of us, if we could just be honest, we live somewhere in the middle. 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:44.319 Where it's like somewhere along the way, the pain of the filing cabinet of our mind has kind of dimmed a little bit. 00:06:44.959 --> 00:07:04.399 We're just kind of in the middle where where God has helped us, where the friendships and the counsel of others has blessed us, and it's moved us a little bit away from the blunt force trauma of the moments, but we still deal with it because it's still there, it's still in our minds. 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:14.480 It's like the healing has started, but if you could just get real for a moment, you're still just kind of stuck in the middle. 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:26.079 If that's where you feel today, today's message is for you, because I want to talk to you about what do you do with that stuff that's in there, and how can we trust God to completely heal us. 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:31.600 Now, to understand how this happens and why this happens, you need to first of all understand how God made you. 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:32.000 Okay? 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:37.920 The Bible teaches us that God Himself is what we would call a tri-une God. 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:45.279 Now, this is a really hard thing to explain, but God is one God in three distinct persons God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:50.319 And if you if you listen to people, they'll try to explain this mystery in a way that almost dumbs it down. 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:55.360 They'll say, like, well, God is like Neapolitan ice cream, three distinct flavors. 00:07:55.600 --> 00:08:00.560 And I'm like, that's good in that ice cream is good, but that illustration breaks down. 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:04.959 They'll say, God is like an apple, there's three parts there's the the seed, the meat, and the skin. 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:06.480 And like, it doesn't all work. 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:08.399 This is the divine mystery of who God is. 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:21.759 He's one God in three distinct personalities, and we are created in the same way as a triune being, but we are created in the image of God, Genesis 1.27 says, and we have three unique parts that make us us. 00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:26.240 There's our spirit, there's our soul, and there's our body. 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:28.959 There's our spirit, that's the part that's connected to God. 00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:33.919 There's our soul, that's kind of our emotions, our thoughts, that that is the inner man of us. 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:38.399 And then there's our body, which is the part that all of us can see, touch, and feel with. 00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:46.000 And the mistake a lot of us make is we tend to think that what we are is a body that has experiences in life. 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:48.320 We're just a body, this is all we are. 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:56.159 This is why, by the way, that when you go to a funeral for someone who passes away who wasn't a follower of Jesus, it feels so shallow and empty. 00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:59.919 Because all we're doing is we're saying goodbye to a body, is what it feels like. 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:04.320 The truth about you, you need to understand, is you're not just a body that has other things. 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:10.240 You are a spirit with the soul that lives in a body. 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:13.279 You're a spirit with the soul that lives in a body. 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:19.279 And when you start to understand this, you start to understand how God tends to work in our lives. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:30.960 When you start to understand that God made you as a triune being, and there's parts of God's nature that will heal our body, parts of his nature that will heal our soul, parts that will heal our spirit, you start to understand this process with God. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:32.480 Let me show it to you like this, okay? 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:37.679 You need to understand that when God changes us and saves us, salvation is instant. 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:42.000 When you make this decision to say, Jesus, I give you my life, change me and make my heart new. 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:45.759 When this happens and you follow Jesus, instantly you are saved. 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:50.399 Scripture uses the word justified, which means you are in legal right standing with God. 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:52.879 It is a miracle that happens in an instant. 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:53.360 Okay? 00:09:53.679 --> 00:09:57.200 But the process of sanctification is different because it's a process. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:09:59.360 Salvation is when God saves us. 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:06.240 Sanctification is a churchy fancy word that means the process of becoming more and more like Jesus. 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:06.720 Okay? 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:08.320 And I want you to understand this. 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:12.240 We believe that the sanctification process is actually two things. 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:13.840 It is number one, positional. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:20.240 Positional means that the moment you make this decision to follow Jesus, he forgives you of your sins. 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:27.200 It's a, it's a sit it's a it's a moment, it happens, but then there's also the process of becoming more and more like Jesus. 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:28.960 This is the reason some people get frustrated. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:35.440 They'll say, Well, I made the decision to follow Jesus and I prayed the prayer, but I still struggle with something. 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:36.720 Lustful thoughts. 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:40.559 I still struggle with my addiction, I still struggle with my pain. 00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:45.120 It's because the process of becoming like Jesus is just that, it's a it's a process. 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:47.120 It takes time. 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:51.360 And just in the same way that we become more and more like him, and it takes time. 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:52.720 I want you to see this. 00:10:53.039 --> 00:11:03.600 The process of God healing your mind of all the years, of all the files you've accumulated in the file cabinet of your life, it takes time. 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:05.679 So I want to show it to you this way. 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:08.080 In the book of Mark, there's this interesting story. 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:13.440 What's interesting is a lot of people think that this story is the same story that's found in John chapter 9. 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:16.399 It's a similar miracle, but it's an entirely different story. 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:20.480 And I love Mark's account of this unique miracle that Jesus does. 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:21.679 Mark chapter 8. 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:24.480 I'm gonna read the whole thing all the way through quickly, okay? 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:34.799 It says they came to Bethsaida, and some people, I'm gonna come back to that phrase in a moment, some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 00:11:35.039 --> 00:11:39.120 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside of the village. 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:40.799 And then Jesus does this weird thing. 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:45.039 It says, when when he, Jesus had spit on the man's eyes. 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:47.200 Well, we'll talk about that maybe, I don't know. 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:51.279 Anyway, he put his hands on him, Jesus asked this question. 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:53.840 He said, Do you see anything? 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:58.159 And certainly this man, this blind man has heard the stories of Jesus' miracles. 00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:01.600 He certainly heard that Jesus was healing people, and he got excited. 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:06.879 Now, I don't think he was excited about Jesus going, I don't think that was exciting, but he couldn't see it. 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:07.840 He didn't know what was going to happen. 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:16.559 And so Jesus does this thing, and he does what feels like the beginning of a miracle, and Jesus said, Do you see anything? 00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:20.559 And the man looked up and he said, I see people. 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:25.679 They look like trees walking around. 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:28.399 It's like he could kind of see a little bit. 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:39.360 Maybe he moved from being fully blind to what we'd call legally blind, whereas a person can, they have some a little bit of sight, they can see shapes and colors a little bit, but maybe not with clarity. 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:42.559 But he's not fully healed, he can just kind of see. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:51.120 And the story goes on and it says, once more, Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:57.279 Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 00:12:57.600 --> 00:12:57.919 Okay? 00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:26.240 I want you to take just a moment and I want you to identify in your heart where is the part in your life, in your mind, your thoughts, your emotions, maybe it's made its way to your heart, where you feel like that offense, that hurt, that betrayal, that depressive episode, that anxiety, it's there, but you find yourself like the man Jesus healed, and he's touched you, he's helped you, you've gotten better, but you're just not all the way there. 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:33.039 It's like that pain has this way of fogging up the glasses through which you see the world around you. 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:36.240 And you can see a little bit, but you're in the middle. 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:38.159 You can see more than you used to see. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:49.759 That pain that used to, it used to uh stagnate you, that pain that used to cause you to be unable to step into tomorrow, that pain, it's not as much as it was, and you can see a little bit, but you're not seeing clearly. 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:52.000 I want you to hold on to that for just a moment. 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:53.039 Let's go back to the story. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:58.159 The first verse we read, Mark chapter 8, verse 22, it says they came to Beth Seda, and I want you to see this. 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:05.039 It says, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:06.720 Let's just pause here for just a moment. 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:19.679 I find this interesting because a lot of times in Mark's gospel specifically, he'll reference people who were involved in a story, a healing, or a miracle, but we don't know their names. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:23.279 History doesn't record their names, history doesn't record anything about them. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:26.000 We don't know what they did for work, we don't know what they did for fun. 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:28.159 We don't even know how many they were. 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:33.679 There was just some people, and the people aren't identified by name, title, or position. 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:35.759 They're identified by what they did. 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:40.720 There's some people who had the courage to bring a blind man to Jesus. 00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:43.200 I want you to understand this thing. 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:45.360 The blind man is healed. 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:54.720 Now it's a process, but he's healed because some people had the courage to just get him to a place where Jesus was. 00:14:55.200 --> 00:15:04.960 We live in this unique culture that has made our faith, what we believe about God, we've been forced to believe that it was intended to be private. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:07.360 Like you become a Christian, awesome, good for you. 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:08.960 Just don't talk about it, right? 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:12.080 And at the Thanksgiving table with your family, there's two things you don't talk about. 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:14.480 You don't talk about religion and don't talk about politics. 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:19.919 And so we're forced to believe that our faith was intended to be quiet and private, and it's just it's sacred. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:22.159 It's just it's just for me, but I want you to see this. 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:23.120 It's not true. 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:28.960 We are designed by God to experience God in community. 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:36.000 Like, like this man doesn't get the healing if not for his community. 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:38.960 This man doesn't get to Jesus without his community. 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:46.799 This man doesn't experience a miracle without some people bringing him to Jesus. 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:49.519 Here's what I need you to understand. 00:15:50.480 --> 00:16:05.200 Whatever you're walking through, whatever pain has lodged itself into your mind and it feels like you'll never get past it, you need some people in your life that walk with you through this. 00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:09.120 Let me tell you my story, then let me explain how we do it here at Access. 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:16.559 My story is uh five years ago, our church, our board of overseers, blessed me and my family with what's called a sabbatical. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:18.159 It was just an intentional break. 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:21.600 It took about two and a half months off just to rest and recover. 00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:26.639 And the first month that I took this sabbatical, I'll be honest and tell you, I was angry all month. 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:27.679 And I didn't know why. 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:29.440 I wasn't angry at my wife, she's perfect. 00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:31.440 I wasn't angry at my kids, they're almost perfect. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:33.440 I wasn't angry at them. 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:37.679 It was like something in my identity got taken away from me and I was just angry. 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:41.440 The second month, I actually felt like I rested. 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:45.919 And going into the third month is when my dreams started coming back, started dreaming again for the future. 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:55.600 So, as a part of the process of sabbatical, my overseers asked me to go to a counseling center designed for pastors, and so I just did it to honor them. 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:58.480 And I went up to Ohio, the beautiful state of Ohio. 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:04.960 I go there and I meet with this counselor, and I'm gonna be honest with you, my attitude wasn't right. 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:08.160 I went to this meeting and I thought, I do what you do. 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:09.839 Like I counsel people. 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:12.400 I'm the one people come to when they've got issues. 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:17.119 Like I didn't say it to anybody like this, but I kind of thought it in my heart, like, I don't need this. 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:20.160 This is just me checking a box. 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:33.200 On day two of my counseling, my counselor identified something I kept saying over and over and over again, and he goes, You you see, you seem to have a lot of hurt in there. 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:34.640 Let's talk about it. 00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:39.839 And that's when he told me about the filing cabinets of our mind. 00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:45.920 What he said is things happen to us and they just get in there. 00:17:46.079 --> 00:18:05.039 And you'll think it's fine, you'll think you've moved past it, and then all of a sudden something happens, a song happens, you see someone in the grocery store that you haven't seen in a long time, you hear a story, you see someone on social media, and all of a sudden, all of that pain, all of those emotions come running back to the surface again, and you feel it in your soul. 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:10.079 And we got to talking, and I started talking out loud, and I opened a drawer. 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:13.839 I pulled out one of my files. 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:16.880 And I didn't realize I had this. 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:20.559 In fact, I helped hundreds of people with it. 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:24.640 Church hurt. 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:27.039 And this is a very real thing. 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:30.799 If you've got church hurt in your past, I'm sorry you walked through it. 00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:34.559 And I'm just gonna say something weird. 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:40.240 This would be easier for me to say if I was a guest preacher somewhere else, but this is my church, and I'm still gonna say it anyways. 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:43.119 No one has more church hurt than pastors. 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:51.359 I read a report recently that said the average American has seven significant betrayals in their lifetime. 00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:55.680 The average senior pastor has seven every single year. 00:18:57.599 --> 00:19:01.440 So I started talking, and I just I just kept going about this. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:03.279 Church, hurt, church, hurt. 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:07.200 I showed up for these people and they used me and they left me. 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:18.079 I I married them, buried their parents, and they left and rolled a grenade at me on the way out and called me woke or whatever that season of 2020 was. 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:23.119 And I was just like, our church has grown. 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:27.279 At that point, I think we were about 2,000 people a week that came to our church. 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:38.319 And I said, and there's hundreds, hundreds of people who've hurt me. 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:42.559 I told the counselor, I said, I don't like doing things that people like to do. 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:45.359 Like in Lakeland every weekend, there's the farmers market. 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:53.440 I don't like going to that because I love seeing you, but there's always people there who hurt me. 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:56.559 And I'm talking, I I get emotional, I start crying. 00:19:56.640 --> 00:20:00.720 I don't I don't cry, especially in front of other dudes, and I'm crying. 00:20:01.839 --> 00:20:03.440 And he goes, I have homework for you. 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:06.480 And I'm like, I'm already crying, don't make it worse. 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:13.920 And he said, I want you to go back to your hotel tonight, and I want you to write a list of every person who's hurt you. 00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:16.559 I was like, You better get a big old notepad for me. 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:18.079 I'm about to do some work. 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:23.680 Went back to the hotel and pulled the file out. 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:28.400 And I got one of those, like, those notepads from the hotel with the pen. 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:30.880 I said, here we go, let's do this. 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:33.759 And I started writing, and the first few came pretty fast. 00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:35.279 I knew who they were. 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:38.559 I got to seven. 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:40.799 Number seven. 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:44.880 And I wrote number seven. 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:46.880 And then I wrote number eight. 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:51.119 I couldn't think of a name for number eight. 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:53.279 I couldn't. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:54.960 I got to seven. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:21:00.400 I wrote seven names of people who had hurt me and who I just you get it. 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:03.200 But I got to eight and I couldn't write number eight. 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:14.640 And I came back to the counselor and I said, Hey, before you even talk, I have this realization like God healed me when I was writing these names down. 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:15.839 He goes, What do you mean? 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:22.880 And I said, Because when I pulled it out of the drawer, what I realized is I had wildly overgeneralized the number of names in the list. 00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:24.400 There's only seven. 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:28.079 Seven people who had significantly betrayed or hurt me. 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:29.599 That was my whole list, was seven. 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:35.920 And I said, I could make a list of thousands of people who I know who love me, who support me, who champion me. 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:43.920 And what was funny in the moment was by pulling out that folder, revealing it to the light in community, God healed me. 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:46.000 Okay, now I want you to hear this. 00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:47.759 You need to do this. 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:51.440 This is the reason we make a big deal about you being in an access group. 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:55.839 I don't, I don't need you to be in an access group to give up one more night on your busy calendar. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:59.759 I need it because I want you to pull the files out of the filing cabinet of your. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:05.519 Mind and I want you to bring them into the light to experience the healing power of Jesus. 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:07.359 And here's the thing I need you to get. 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:11.440 For some people, there's so many files in the cabinet that they need help with. 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:20.559 Some of you, you have matured and you've gotten to the point where God has touched you and healed you and you've walked through it, and you need to be the community that someone else needs. 00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:27.119 Let me say it to you like this: never underestimate what God can do when you simply bring someone to Jesus. 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:31.039 The story tells us about some people, we don't know who they were. 00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:45.759 What if you and I just made this decision that sometimes I'm going to be the blind man who needs to get to Jesus, and sometimes I'm I'm just going to be some people, and I'm going to make my life about helping people open up the filing cabinet of their life to get those things to Jesus. 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:47.440 Back to the story. 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:54.799 It says this Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the billow. 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:56.240 Just a casual observation. 00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:58.799 Jesus gets him out of his normal environment. 00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:00.799 This is important for you to hear. 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:05.359 Sometimes you live in a cycle of negativity, a cycle of depression, a cycle of anxiety. 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:07.920 And I just want to say to you, what do you expect? 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:11.119 Like if you don't change anything, what do you expect to change? 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:17.680 Get out of your environment, get out of the places that are causing you to live in that toxic cycle over and over and over again. 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:22.079 So he goes on and says, When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on them. 00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:25.839 And look, I'm gonna be honest with you, people ask me to pray for them every single week. 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:28.000 I have never spit on anybody. 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:28.880 This is weird. 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:30.960 Okay, are we are we good with that? 00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:33.839 And and here's an observation about it. 00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:37.920 God sometimes works in ways we can't even begin to predict or understand. 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:38.880 How's that? 00:23:39.039 --> 00:23:41.200 Like this to me is gross. 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:45.920 But if but if I couldn't see, and Jesus said, we have two options. 00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:54.400 Option A is you live the way you want to live, the way you're already stuck forever and ever and ever again, or I can spit on your eyes, and then you'll be healed. 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:58.640 I'm like, hawk it up, brother, spit it up right now, do whatever you gotta do, right? 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:03.839 So sometimes God does things in ways we don't understand, and then Jesus does it and he touches him. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:09.200 And again, we live in this weird culture that the word touch has gone in to mean this like dirty, disgusting kind of thing. 00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:11.200 I need you to let go of that for a moment. 00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:21.279 The Bible says that there is an inference of spiritual authority that happens when you when you lay your hands on someone and touch them, and Jesus, he puts his hands on the man and says, Do you see anything? 00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:26.960 And he looked up, the man looks up, and he said, I see people that they look like trees walking around. 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:29.519 Here's what this says to me as you read it slowly. 00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:35.519 It says to me that this man wasn't always blind because he knew what trees and people look like. 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:44.400 Like somewhere along the way he had lost his vision, and Jesus touches him, and a miracle almost happens. 00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:45.519 Like, are you with me? 00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:46.880 Like it doesn't fully happen. 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:49.920 He's not saying, oh, I see perfect 2020, I see with clarity. 00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:53.279 He says, I I kind of, kind of see. 00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:54.400 And I want you to hear this. 00:24:54.480 --> 00:25:07.839 If you find yourself in the middle of that, like if you find yourself, you pull out those drawers of your mind and you look into them and you see, like, I used to be so hurt, but now it's like it still stings a little bit, but I'm I'm not where I once was, but I'm not where I want to be. 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:08.960 I'm just kind of in the middle. 00:25:09.119 --> 00:25:10.079 Let me say this to you. 00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:14.240 Partial healing is not failed healing, it's healing in progress. 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:19.920 Jesus wants to continue the process of healing you, and I need you to get this. 00:25:20.079 --> 00:25:26.079 It's not over until Jesus says it is over. 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:35.359 Years ago, I had a friend who had a baby born with like the most uh unimaginable special needs I've ever seen with a kid. 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:41.359 He had everything that you can imagine wrong, and one of the many things on the list was his eyes were bad. 00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:43.359 But as a baby, it's like, how do you how do you know? 00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:49.359 And I'll never forget when they figured this out, uh, I was with them the first time they got glasses for him. 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:57.680 And they put the glasses on him, and this boy, he was again, he had all kinds of medical challenges, but he would just kind of like look around. 00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:05.680 And when they put the little tiny, cute baby glasses on him, his eyes opened as big as the state of Texas, and he looked at his mom and dad and smiled. 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:07.519 I'll never forget that moment. 00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:12.400 There's a man who's blind, not from birth, he probably could see at one point. 00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:19.759 Somewhere along the way, he lost his sight, and now he's partially able to see, but the story goes on, and it uses two words. 00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:20.960 It says this once more. 00:26:21.039 --> 00:26:22.640 Come on, somebody say once more. 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:31.519 Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes, and instantly he was able to see again. 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:34.640 It's like that moment that I saw my friend's son go. 00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:40.079 I can imagine that moment of clarity because we serve the God of once more. 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:58.400 That if you find yourself in the middle of your story, if you find yourself not where you once were, but not where you want to be, if you find yourself in the messy middle, let me say this to you we serve the God of once more, who is willing and able to touch, heal, and change you. 00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:01.200 In a moment, we're gonna pray for you. 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:11.680 In a moment, if you find yourself just completely overrun by the thoughts of your mind and you're somewhere in the middle, we're gonna pray that the God of once more will once more touch you. 00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:16.160 The next verse, we skipped it earlier, but this is what Jesus says. 00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:22.000 Jesus sent him home and he said, Don't even go back to where you once came from. 00:27:22.559 --> 00:27:25.119 Like, maybe that's a word for somebody today. 00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:30.720 Like, once Jesus heals you, stop going back to that place of pain. 00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:37.519 Once you find freedom once and for all, once you get clarity of thought again. 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:42.880 Maybe stop going back to that place that constantly drags you down. 00:27:43.839 --> 00:27:48.160 We serve the God of mirror. 00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:55.119 For some of you, somewhere along the way you've given up hope that God can fully heal your mind. 00:27:55.440 --> 00:28:02.079 Somewhere along the way, it's like you know you're better than you once were, but you're like, I'm just gonna live with like I've just settled into living like this. 00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:03.519 This is how I am. 00:28:03.759 --> 00:28:05.119 Let me say this to you. 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:10.720 We serve the God of the once more, and I know that he can do it. 00:28:10.880 --> 00:28:11.519 Let me show you why. 00:28:11.680 --> 00:28:21.440 The book of Philippians, Paul says this says, being confident of this, he who began a good work in you. 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:30.799 He started the healing process, he began a good work in you, he will carry it on to what completion. 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:35.519 He's going to finish what he starts until the day of Christ Jesus. 00:28:35.839 --> 00:28:38.400 Here's how we're gonna end today. 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:43.279 We're just gonna touch, I ask God to touch our hearts, our minds. 00:28:43.920 --> 00:28:46.480 Once more, I want to invite you all across all locations. 00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:47.759 Would you stand up with me? 00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:49.039 And we're gonna do something. 00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:56.400 I'm gonna be honest, I'm a little bit nervous about this because we never do this at access, but but I need you to understand this church, church has gotten big. 00:28:56.480 --> 00:28:57.440 I love that. 00:28:57.599 --> 00:28:59.440 But we've never stopped being a family. 00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:00.480 What is a family? 00:29:00.559 --> 00:29:04.480 It's people who love each other, who care for each other, who would go to battle for each other. 00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:05.279 Look around. 00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:07.680 Come on, look that this is your church family. 00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:18.000 And if you find yourself today, like the person who's in the middle of a story, feels messy, incomplete, not completely healed, but you can kind of see. 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:19.680 I'm gonna ask you to have a moment of courage. 00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:22.000 I'm asking nobody to close your eyes. 00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:23.759 This is I need you to have a moment of courage. 00:29:23.839 --> 00:29:27.440 If you want God to touch you once more, would you just raise your hand right now? 00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:28.240 Just have some courage. 00:29:28.319 --> 00:29:29.200 Come on, this is all of us. 00:29:29.279 --> 00:29:30.640 This is my hands up. 00:29:31.359 --> 00:29:32.640 Your hands up, here's what we're gonna do. 00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:33.680 In a moment, we're gonna pray. 00:29:33.759 --> 00:29:36.079 But because you had courage, I want to invite your church family. 00:29:36.240 --> 00:29:37.519 Leave your hands up for me for just a moment. 00:29:37.599 --> 00:29:39.279 If it's you, I want to invite your church family. 00:29:39.440 --> 00:29:42.319 Would you just take your hands and put it on the shoulder of the person around you? 00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:43.839 We don't normally do this. 00:29:44.079 --> 00:29:46.480 I admit that it's a little bit weird, but you know what? 00:29:46.559 --> 00:29:47.519 We're family. 00:29:47.839 --> 00:29:48.880 And we're gonna pray. 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:53.279 And as I pray, I want you to just, if you're praying, I want you to pray for this person. 00:29:53.440 --> 00:29:57.839 If you're the person receiving this prayer, just say, God, I'm open to whatever you have for me. 00:29:57.920 --> 00:29:59.039 And let's do this in this place. 00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:01.039 God, in this place, we trust you. 00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:03.119 Thank you that you're the God of once more. 00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:09.920 Some of us have found ourselves in the middle of our story, more healed than we used to be, but still a ways to go. 00:30:10.160 --> 00:30:13.119 God, would you give the second touch of complete healing? 00:30:13.279 --> 00:30:14.400 Thank you for community. 00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:16.160 Thank you for lives that can help us. 00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:18.799 Thank you for the voices that speak life into us. 00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:23.279 May we have the courage to leave familiarity, leave the place we once were. 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:25.200 We invite you to touch us once more. 00:30:25.359 --> 00:30:27.759 May our minds be at rest and at peace. 00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:32.480 May we walk in healing and wholeness in Jesus' name. 00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:37.519 Thank you that you're the God of once more, and may tomorrow look different because you've touched us once more. 00:30:37.680 --> 00:30:40.640 We give you praise for it in Jesus' name. 00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:41.119 Amen. 00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:41.759 Amen. 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:42.559 Amen.