Diane Boots | Watch Your Mouth

Welcome to Reach KC, it's so great to have you guys with us, I just want to invite y'all to stand up and join in. I pray into the atmosphere, spirit of God in me, you have all authority, I pray over my heart and mind, I'm healed by your stripes, your blood declares that I am free, in the mighty name of Jesus, I pray, calling all the power of heaven, I proclaim, every weapon formed against me, brought to grace, in the mighty name of Jesus, I know, the enemy has no right to come near my family, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I don't want to pay the price anymore, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I don't want to pay the price anymore, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I don't want to pay the price anymore, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I don't want to pay the price anymore, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I don't want to pay the price anymore, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I don't want to pay the price anymore, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, When the enemy comes near On the doorframe of my life The blood of Jesus Christ I will not fear, I will not fear There's an angel angel here I'm connected on our side The blood of Jesus Christ In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, calling on the power of heaven I proclaim, every weapon point against me What's great is the mighty name of Jesus We live in the mighty name of Jesus I know all the power of fear and darkness My soul is every key to heaven's victory I hope in the mighty name of Jesus In the mighty name of Jesus

In the mighty name of Jesus Hallelujah! guitar & piano play in bright rhythm All my fear is gone soon I got nothing new How could I express All my gratitude I could sing new songs As I often do Every song I sing And you never do So I throw up my hands I praise you again and again Cause all that I have is a Hallelujah! Hallelujah! And I know it's not much But I've nothing else But for a key Except for a heart singing Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I've got one response I've got just one move With my arms stretched wide I will worship you So I throw up my hands I praise you again and again Cause all that I have is a Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! And I know it's not much But I've nothing else But for a key Except for a heart singing Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! So come on my soul Oh don't you get shy on me Lift up your song Cause you've got a light Inside of those lungs Get up and praise the Lord Come on my soul Oh don't you get shy on me Lift up your song Cause you've got a light Inside of those lungs Get up and praise the Lord Oh come on my soul Come on my soul Oh, don't you get shy on me, lift up your song You've got a light in this night of love, come Get up and pray to God I pray to God I don't pray to God Don't pray to God Pray to God

So I throw up my hands, praise you again and again Cause all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah And I know it's not much, but I'm nothing else but for a king Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah You know, this week for our family has been straight chaos. To be perfectly honest, I think so many of us can go through those instances. But the week before, my prayer was, God, let me hear your still small voice. And the thing about the still small voice of God is it's so quiet in the midst of the chaos of the world. But he's still there. And I know this week that I heard a still small voice. And there was times where I'd be trying to worship, I'd be trying to pray, I'd be trying to be in my word. And I just have to say, God, I'm so sorry. Cause I don't, I can't concentrate. But he was there. And that's the thing, and that is why he is so worthy of our praises. Because he's always there no matter what we walk through. No matter what we look like. No matter the situations that we're looking at. If they're bad or if they're good or sad. He's still the same God that deserves our praises. He's still faithful. But there's no one else, no one else that could ever stand in the place of the Lord. And I was born to lift your name above all else. You hear the melody of all creation. There's a song of grace that only I can bring. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one for me but Jesus. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy?

There is no one for me but Jesus. You are the God of the ages. Yeah, you're tossed and made. My heart will dwell in peace. You heal my brokenness. You give me your glory. So I have songs of thanks by even angels. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one for me but Jesus. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you Jesus Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you Jesus Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you Jesus Lamb of God, anointed One Who was and is and is to come Seated on the throne of love Holy, holy Righteous One who shed His blood You proved to us the Father's love Jesus Christ be lifted up Holy, holy Lamb of God, anointed One Who was and is and is to come Seated on the throne of love Holy, holy Righteous One who shed His blood You proved to us the Father's love Jesus Christ be lifted up Holy, holy Lamb of God, anointed One Who was and is and is to come Seated on the throne of love Holy, holy Righteous One who shed His blood You proved to us the Father's love Jesus Christ be lifted up Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you Jesus Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you Jesus Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy?

There is no one, only you Jesus Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you Jesus There is no one, only you Jesus There is no one, only you Jesus God there is nobody but you There is nobody but you that deserves our praise There is nobody but you that deserves our worship Listen I don't know who came in here wearing and worshipping your problems from this week But I believe this is a moment right here where we can just allow God to just break it off of us To break the chains off of us, to break the stress off of us, to break anxiety off of us And God just speak to our hearts right here Come on let's go back into that one more time baby And let's just sing it from our hearts, come on There is no one, only you Jesus Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? Who else but you God? There is no one, only you Jesus Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you Jesus Never got anointed one who wasn't instant, instant come Seated on the throne of love Holy, holy, righteous one who shed his blood Proved to us the fineness of Jesus Christ we lift it high Holy, holy, never got anointed one who wasn't instant, instant come Seated on the throne of love Holy, holy, righteous one Jesus Christ, we lift it up Holy, holy, Lamb of God, anointed one The worst that is, it is to come You see it on the throne above Holy, holy, righteous one Who shed His blood Who was the father of Jesus Christ, we lift it up Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only You, Jesus Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only You, Jesus There is no one, only You, Jesus

There is no one, only You, Jesus God, have Your way Have Your way in this moment, God Speak to our hearts this morning Allow us to receive a word from You, God Because it is You that deserves our glory It is You that deserves our attention So, God, may we give that to You this morning May we remove anything that is not of You And allow You to just have Your way in here this morning In Jesus' name Come on, if you came to receive a word from the Lord Can you give a shout of praise in the house today? Hey man, hey, before you find your seat, turn to one of your neighbors Give them a high five, a fist bump Tell them, hey, it is so good to see your beautiful face It sounds like you are saying more than that How many of us are excited to be at church this week? Man, maybe we came in carrying something heavy from the week, right? You feel the pressure, you feel it building up That is the thing I love about church We get to come in for just a couple of hours And think about something different than what we have been thinking about all week And the reality is that, honestly, we have the opportunity To actually be able to do that all of the time But this is the moment that we typically spend To just say, hey, you know what, God, I am going to dedicate these moments Of this week to you, and I just want to worship you And I want to give you the glory, and I want to give you the honor of this But what if, what if we started doing this with every day? Every morning, we get up and we say, hey, you know what, God, I am going to worship you this morning

I am going to commit to you the first fruits of my love We get up and we get out of bed, we have got our face in the book IG, TikTok, we are watching all of these other different things And then we perpetuate that same mindset throughout the week, or throughout the day But what if we allowed God to have the first part? So much so, that we would just commit everything to him And it makes me think of, you know, when we started REACH One of the things that I have seen and noticed is I am a big advocate for Jerusalem And by that, I mean, when you look in the Bible When Jesus departed, right, he ascended One of the last things that he told them was stay here until you receive the Holy Spirit And when you receive the Holy Spirit, then you will have the power to witness and I want you to go to Jerusalem Judea Samaria and the other post uttermost parts of the world and when I look at the local church, one of the things that I have noticed is Over time is what has happened is a lot of the times we can overlook Jerusalem Well in the context of what the Bible was saying was Jerusalem was their own backyard Jerusalem was where they was at And he says hey, this is where it starts But then once you get the Holy Spirit I want you to go to Judea and Samaria and then the uttermost parts of the world and one of the things I've noticed is that we so often can overlook Jerusalem Right our own backyard. I mean how many of us know right here on the east side of Kansas City? There's some missional work that needs to take place Amen in Independence, Missouri. There's some missional work that needs to take place Amen, I mean no matter where you go in Grandview. There's some missional work that needs to take place There's places that need the gospel That needs you to take it there

But as what I've noticed is over time we've got to a place where Personally as a church we started doing really well at reaching Jerusalem doing work in our own backyard doing work that is right here in the inner city and Then one day Pastor Doug a good friend of mine invited me to go to Burundi, Africa And I was kind of reluctant a little bit just because I'm like man There's so much work that needs to be done in the in the states. Like we go overseas and don't go over the street You know, everybody wants to go across the country, but nobody wants to go across the street You know when it says love your neighbor you know and the labor is that the neighbor is the person beside you and then pastor Doug invited me to Burundi and I went over there and Man, let me tell you it is a whole nother world. Literally. I mean Literally like I was flying in on you know what was an accumulation of about 24 hours of flights and The last movie that I could find come on after 24 hours You have watched about every movie they have to offer on this thing and So I turn on blood diamond Come on anybody if anybody knows have ever watched blood diamond This is not the movie to watch right before you land in Burundi, Africa. Okay, and I land in Burundi and it is just next level and I remember driving to What Doug told me was a resort He lied He lied he lied to me, okay, and he got me over to Africa so that he could win my heart for broken people And when I got over there one of the things I remember vividly and we actually get to help with this this week or this yeah, I mean technically next week, but There's a program there that is called cup a day

And you go to cabeza, there's a YWAM campus and we kind of post up there and on this campus There is villages all around literally. I mean mud huts. I mean, it's next-level like it's it's it's crazy like you can't even fathom it unless you see it and I seen it and I go down to what is called a cup a day and it's in this bootleg shelter kind of Park Pavilion kind of thing and There's about 300 kids That are in this thing and they're all I mean, none of them would even know they're hungry Because they're just happy. I mean they're smiling they act like they've got everything in the world and they have nothing and I remember walking down into this place and I don't know if it's because I was white like one of the only white guys there at the time and I just looked weird to them or what but They ran up to me in this one Cute little girl man. She just latched on to me I mean had me questioning adoption and all kinds of stuff I was like man, I could take some of these kids home and man I could man they would do well, you know, I mean and This one latched on to me and I was holding her and You know as I'm sitting there holding realizing she does not speak the language. I I speak, and so I'm like, hey, what's going on? She's like, ah, you know, don't even understand what I'm saying. I'm just overwhelmed by this odor. And I couldn't help but think, you know what? I'm going to push through this, because I don't want her to feel a certain type of way, because here I am concerned about my hygiene when this poor little girl, who knows how long it's been since she's had a shower. And so after she finally wanted to get down and go run around and play games, I sat her down. And the rest of the day, I was reminded, every time I breathed in and smelt that odor.

And honestly, God kind of convict my heart, because as soon as I sat her down, I wanted to go back to the dorm and wash. And I thought, man, who are these little kids are? They ain't got nothing. They haven't bathed in weeks. They haven't ate. This is the only thing they get, one cup a day of porridge. That's why they call it a cup a day. And REACH this year is going to help build a brand new cup a day program for them, so that we can see these kids come and be fed and get something that will change their entire life. You wouldn't think about it, but that one cup of food a day changes their life forever. And we're going to be able to build them a brand new pavilion that they're going to be able to come. And they do educational stuff there. They play games. They eat. I mean, it's just going to be a wonderful opportunity. And so we're going to send $10,000 over there this year to help build that, along with a team of 12 people, come on, that is going to help build that. And we're able to do that because we give and because we give to kingdom builders. We're able to give, like we talked about last week. We're going to have people in heaven welcoming us, welcoming us because we gave, because we was able to support a program that we may never see.

But knowing that it will impact lives, hundreds and thousands of lives will be impacted by what we give, even right here today, to kingdom builders because we know that God is going to use our resources to build his kingdom. Amen? Amen. Well, if we could get some ushers to come forward. Father, we just thank you, Lord. Lord, I pray that you would just do what only you can do in here this morning, that as we give today, Lord, that it would honor you, that it would glorify you, Lord, and that you would get the glory from it, God. And Lord, we just thank you for everything that you are doing, that we would give with a grateful heart, that we would give with a cheerful heart, and Lord, that it would honor your kingdom. In Jesus' name, amen. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Amen. Well, hey, that is actually footage that we took from Burundi, Africa, last year. That was one of the families that received a house that we're actually going to try to build another one of those again this week or this month. And so we are just so excited for what God is doing

right here through REACH. And, you know, speaking of, we recently hired Pastor Jesse. Come on right here, as our Missions and Outreach Director. And so one of the things that I wanted to do since we're sending a team out is, could I just have you come up here for just a moment, Pastor Jesse, and, hey, I want her to be in representation for the team that's going to go over there. Could we just extend our hands to her for just a moment? moment and we just want to pray a word of blessing over this team and so God we just thank you Lord Lord we thank you for this team we thank you for the servants that have had said yes Lord that is just going to remove themselves for the next two weeks and just be ambassadors and vessels of your kingdom God so that we can be used by you Lord and so Lord we just pray an anointing upon them God that they will just be a servant for you over there Lord as they get to be the hope of Jesus to a world that needs to hear it God and so Lord I pray that every life that they encounter would be touched by you Lord and that you would speak to hearts that you would speak to lives and that they would shine the glory of God Lord as they walk into these areas in Burundi Africa and Kibbezi Africa and Buzambora Lord God and we just thank you for all that you're doing Lord I pray anointing blessing and peace and strength in Jesus name over this team a man come on can we give it up for the team that's going to Africa well hey this week you know I like to say life be life in sometimes you know the week be weekend amen and you get in this this mode of life where sometimes you just take these hits and you don't even realize them coming at you but this week has been one of those weeks for my family just a lot of medical issues and you know I was laying in the ICU with my mother the other day and just thinking man this week is almost over and it's crazy and miss Diane some of you guys might know her but you might have never actually heard her preach amen and so we are honored one to have you on our staff to call you guys friends but she

hit me up and she said hey pastor I have a word that has been on my heart I would love to share it and take some pressure off of you and I said send it you know and she says sent and and so I am honored to have you I am thankful that you guys are here with us I'm thankful that you wanted to be able to do this and so can we give a warm welcome to our own miss Diane boots come on somebody you guys are so wonderful I am so honored to be here this morning and I want to take a moment first to say thank you to Adam and Katherine Brown because yes we should be talking we are so truly blessed to be a part of this church they have sown in tears and we are reaping with laughter and joy and seeing what God is doing but they have sown in tears and we reap the benefits of seeds we did not so so I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to them because I do not take for granted the fact that I am able to speak to you guys this morning you have given up your time to be here at reach today so thank you for letting me speak to you this morning I've kind of said it a few times I want to be sure I want to be sure I'm really intentional about the words I say because I know how powerful they are I try so hard to be careful in the way I speak about my friends if you've ever said a mean thing about yourself in front of me I've corrected you most likely some of you are just a mending right now you've heard you've had it it's been recent I do not like when people will talk poorly about themselves because I know that our words are valuable and so I wanted to be sure that today I gave you a warning to watch your mouth and some of you heard that in your mother's voice because you said your curse word in front of her for the first time and she's like watch your mouth but I'm not talking about that necessarily I mean if the conviction lies like move with that okay we'll get into it later but if you you heard that in your mother's voice but I think so often we'll just say these horrible things about ourselves and not worry about that say horrible things about the people around us and not worry about that believe these lies and speak them over ourselves not worry about that so today I tell you it's time to watch your mouth

as a church we're going to read through James chapter 3 we're gonna look at what the Bible says because I as have been introduced I teach growth track and I'm a Bible nerd and I believe that the Bible is the best thing in the world it's the best book ever written it is the only way to properly orient yourself if you're trying to like read all these things to figure out how to get your life right it's wrong unless it's the Bible is the best way to change our lives so let's work on it today let's look to scripture and let's change the way that we're living because I think that's the only way to do it we're gonna look at some reflection questions and we're gonna really dissect the Word of God what a great way to spend our morning before we get started let's pray an even better way to spend our morning dear God I just want to say thank you for the privilege to be in your house today to be known by you God to be able to feel you in this room God what a blessing that is I pray right now that you would soften hearts that you would soften minds and that we would be able to feel your presence in this room God help us to feel your love like never before and help us today to watch our mouths amen so we have some reflection questions we're gonna look into and the first one is who has the authority the second one is who are you and the third one is who gets the glory because we're not just gonna watch our mouths and walk out of here and be like oh that's I feel like that's all I need no we need to look at these different aspects so that we can watch our mouths there has to be knowledge behind it so first who has the authority see I was intentional to call this sermon watch your mouth not your husband's mouth not your wife's mouth not kids mouths you are only in control of what you speak you can't control the people around you and how they talk what they say you can control your mouth so this isn't about your neighbor this is about you so who has the authority you specifically because who has been given the authority over the words you speak first we're gonna look in James chapter 3 verses 3 through 4 now if we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us we direct their whole bodies and consider ships though they're very large and driven by

fierce winds they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs we see the rider of a horse holding reins and they're like leather reins attached to a small piece of metal in the horse's mouth and they're able to direct this horse that is massively larger than them wherever they want to go and then also we see a ship that's directed usually by the sail and the wind and those fierce winds are usually the outside circumstances of the ship the things completely beyond its control right the wind blows wherever it may and they are able to direct it still because of the rudder which is like obviously not anymore but it used to be like a little piece of wood that you would just turn the wheel and it would turn the whole ship we've all seen a pirate movie before so James 3 5 through 6 so too though the tongue is a small part of the body it boasts great things consider how a small fire sets ablaze a large forest and the tongue is a fire the tongue a world of unrighteousness is placed among our members it stains the whole body it sets the course of life on fire and is itself set on fire by hell James 3 7 through 8 every kind of animal bird reptile and fish is tamed and has been tamed by humankind but no one can tame the tongue because it is a restless evil it's full of deadly poison James 3 9 through 10 with the tongue we bless our Lord and our Father and with it we curse people who are made in God's likeness blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth my brothers and sisters these things should not be this way this idea of who has The authority over your words is so important because I've always noticed personally that my words are at their worst and sharpest when I am most insecure. This is me personally. This is you too. That's great. We're learning together. But I notice that I'm mean when I'm insecure. When I doubt myself, my words are sharp. I will say things that I instantly regret in a moment of overwhelm and I wish I could

take it back, right? Mistakenly we not only speak death over ourselves but those around us. Our spouse, our children, our best friends. We will say the worst at our most insecure. And the things that I say in those moments are definitely not blessings and definitely not something I would say to someone who I believe is fully made in the image of God. It's the thing I say or you say, whichever one, I'm being very vulnerable here. It's the thing I say about the person who cut me off in traffic. It's the thing that you say to your kid when they make a bad choice at school. And it's the thing that you say to yourself when you look in the mirror. When you fall short because we all fall short, but it's those things. Who are you allowing to be in charge of the words that you speak to yourself or others? You may say to yourself or even say to me right now, you don't understand. My mom said that to me my whole life. My dad said that to me my whole life. My ex used to tell me all the time about how I'm this, how I'm that. You don't understand. No, I think that they said it in the past and you repeat it on the daily. Which means you have chosen to agree with them. But it's time to watch your mouth. What are you saying that someone said in the past? Are you in agreement with that? I don't. I'm not that person. They can say it. That don't mean it's true because I've learned. I've learned to take control of that, to take the authority back. Or is it even worse? It's someone that's defeated that's telling me these lies. Who's defeated?

The enemy of your souls. You're going to let someone who got kicked out of heaven tell you what's what? Sorry. No, absolutely not. Or is it you that says the lies? You can say, no, I'm fully the creative here. I'm the one that said that lie about myself. You can choose today to stop walking in agreement with the lies of the enemy. You can choose today to stop allowing the voice within you to propagate a lie. And how do we do that as we bring the lies into submission to obey Christ? Because we're going to give him the authority over our words. It says in 2 Corinthians 10 5, since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but they are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God. And we take every thought captive to obey. Say it louder. Obey Christ. Come on, someone. That's a word. We have got to stop being in agreement with those things. And we have got to start demolishing them. I had the privilege of watching them tear the roof off of the old, the building that we're moving into. And that was incredible, because I've never seen people use an ax on a roof. And that was so cool. Like, I'm like, man, this is incredible to watch. They're just like sledgehammers, axes, ripping it to shreds. That's what we're doing to the lies today. No more.

We're getting rid of them. We're demolishing them. There's no trace of them. They're at a dump somewhere in Kansas City, but they're not at that building. You know, it's hard, though, because I read earlier in James 3 that the tongue itself is so full of evil. We've tamed every animal on this world, but there's no one that can tame the tongue because it's set on fire by hell itself. And it seems so hopeless. You just said it. It's in scripture. There's no one who can tame the tongue. It's set on fire by hell itself. But I know someone that is more powerful than hell itself. I know someone who is more powerful than hell itself. Because when he died on the cross, he defeated death, hell, and the grave. So it's not hopeless. On our own, yeah, it's pretty hopeless. But I'm not alone. And I stopped speaking that lie over myself. And that's how I got to a place where I can say, no, not hopeless. I serve a risen, victorious savior. And I think it's time to give him the authority because I'm tired of dealing with the negative thoughts when I look in the mirror. I'm tired of dealing with the negative thoughts that make me feel so insecure that I would lash out at people I love. That is not what I want to spend my life doing. And so I have got to choose to humble myself at the feet of Jesus. And there's more than one reason for that because I am not going to find my identity in someone who's lied to me. I'm not going to find my identity in a lie that's been spoken over me.

I'm going to find my identity in the cross of Jesus Christ. So who are you? If I know where my identity is rooted, then I can focus on watching my mouth because if I know who I am, I know what I will produce. Okay, let's look further into James 3. In 11 and 12, it says, Does a spring pour out sweet and bitter water from the same opening? Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers and sisters? Or can a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a saltwater spring yield fresh water. If you're made to be something, you can produce what you're made to be. Right? The fig tree produces figs. Grapevine produces grapes. Olive tree produces olives. In Matthew 12, 33, it continues that same thought where this is Jesus speaking. And he says, Either make the tree good and its fruit will be good or make the tree bad and the fruit will be bad. A tree is known by its fruit. Who are you? What are you called to make? What are you called to do? What are you called to produce that these lies have stopped you from doing? Right? Man, I'd serve at Reach KC, but I still struggle with this and I feel like I'm not good enough. Man, I'd love to be a part of a serve team, but I just haven't. You know, I haven't fixed this in my life.

And it's, what are you going to live your life for? I've served myself, and I made a lot of bad choices. I've served in the house of the Lord and not regretted a moment. The Bible says, even that it's in the Ten Commandments, I'm not going to live my life compared to you. I'm not. I'm not going to live my life saying, well, I can't serve in the church because I'll never be Aaron. So I just shouldn't. I'll never serve at church because, man, I cannot play guitar like Catherine. Man, I can't do that because I can't serve like such and such. You know, I just, I really don't like people. Well, first of all, that's another lie you need to stop saying because the people are the bride of Christ. You're supposed to love your neighbor, your enemy, all that people. So maybe don't say that lie either. But you're supposed to love each other, and I love people by serving them and showing them the love of Jesus. I want to be the hands of feet of Jesus, and I'm not going to spend my life comparing if I'm growing apples and you're growing oranges that I'm a bad orange tree. In the Ten Commandments it says it, Exodus 20, 17, do not covet your neighbor's house. Do not covet your neighbor's wife. or female servant, his ox or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. God tells us not to covet, which means to yearn, to possess, or to have something that's not yours. Stop trying to get their calling. Find out who you are. God has a purpose for your life that only you can fulfill. It's like in the, it's in the song. We say there's a song that I, only I can bring to God. There is a life that only you can live for God. I cannot live the same life for God that you can.

That is incredible that a room full of people united in Christ can say we are all seeking God differently, but with the same passion. I can give you a few points on what your calling is, and the easiest way to say it is that your calling's not about. It's not about you. It's not for you. It's for the kingdom of God. God wants to use who you are. God wants to use who you are to build his kingdom. Flaws, things that you would change, he would never because he chose you to share the gospel. You are called to build his kingdom, and I want to encourage you because I'm not looking at your life saying, man, if I was only so and so, I'd be able to better serve the Lord. I have found through struggles with insecurity that if I run to God, I can find who I am. I can find whose I am, and I can find what I am made for because if I know those things, it doesn't bother me when the lies come because I can say, wait a second, that doesn't match up with who I am because God has told me who I am. Man, someone might say something about me, and I might, ooh, that actually hurt my feelings. I'm gonna be really, I'm gonna cry about that later, but I can still say, no, I know who I am in Christ because I have sought my Father, and he tells me the truth. I want you to help me out. I'm gonna say some you are not statements, so when I say you are, you'll say not, okay? All right. You are not ugly. You are not worthless. You are not just like your father or mother. You are not destined for failure. Let me tell you who you are. You are God's masterpiece. You are created in the image of God. In Christ Jesus, you were made for good works which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them. We find this in Scripture. There are three across the bottom. Go ahead, screenshot that. Pull out your phones. We know you got them. Take a picture of this. Remind yourself this this week. When the enemy lies, and you're looking in the mirror, and you're feeling all these kinds of things, you're gonna look back at this picture, and you're gonna say, wait a second, no, no, no. I am a masterpiece. I'm created in the image of God for good works. I can do good things because God prepared them for me. I don't care what someone said about me in the past. I know what I'm doing now, and it is good things for the Lord, and what a miracle and a testimony that is.

What has changed drastically in the way I live my life is that I have stopped worrying about what people think of me. I mean, I still hear what people say. I still have insecurities. I'm being real with you guys. I got things that I don't like about myself. I'd be foolish to stand up here and be like, no, I'm perfectly happy with everything about me, but I have stopped viewing my life about me. I've started to see what can I do with who I am for God. Man, I do not care if anyone knows who I am. I'll be a no-name. I'll be a faceless person that no one ever hears from unless they're walking with me, and they see that I'm encouraging them in the walk of the Lord. Man, I sit in growth track, and I won't... people out of prison, who've been told that they'll never amount to anything, I watch them be changed. I get to live my life. I love it because I upload the sermons to Pando, so if you're here from prison and you watched us on Pando, I sent the video to you. That's incredible, and you know what? I almost never went into ministry, because I don't know if you can tell or not, but I'm a woman, and they don't really always say that women are in ministry, but here I am, and I see you guys, and you'll say, oh well, I found your church from Pando. I'm crying that night, okay? 100%. I'm crying. I'm telling my husband, how blessed am I that I get to be in this church, and I get to post these videos, and they let me do this. They pay me to do this. This is incredible. What a blessing to live my life, not about me. Who am I living my life for? I am living my life to give glory to God. This is gonna be the end of our focus on watching our mouths, because when I realize that my words have eternal weight, eternal value, do you know what a privilege it is? It's what Adam preached about. When we get to heaven, there will be people we don't even know, and there's people in prisons all over America who are gonna watch this sermon. This is gonna be weird. I'm not gonna lie to upload a sermon of myself to you guys, but I get to do that, and I know that there will be people in heaven who accepted Jesus in a prison cell in a state we've never been to. They're in heaven. In James 3, 17 and 18, it says this, the wisdom from above. In Scripture, it talks a lot in Proverbs

about wisdom, and all of those wisdom attributes are attributes of Jesus, so if we want wisdom, we got to seek Jesus, right? So it says that the wisdom from above is first, it's pure, it's peace-loving, it's gentle, it's compliant, it's full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense, and it says and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace. Where does your righteousness come from? I told you earlier, every time I try to hold my tongue, to not say the wrong thing at the wrong time, I struggle. I fall short, I say the thing, I mess up, I am short and angry because I'm in a moment of insecurity, but I have found that God is stronger than those flaws in me, and that when I am reliant on him, there's this righteousness that comes from him that I can lean on, because we're gonna spend our lives not about us, we're fixing the words we speak so we can speak life, because do you know that sometimes the biggest ministry is the one within the walls of your home? The words you speak over your children are dramatically changing who they become, and it can be so hard because of things that you say to yourself, but I know that if I find my identity in my God, that I can look at my babies and say mommy messed up, but God loves me, and God loves you more, baby girl. God loves you more, son. I am gonna mess up, I'm gonna say the wrong thing, I'm gonna do the wrong thing, but thank God that my life is about sowing righteousness for the Lord, because in humility I can say, I said the wrong thing, will you forgive me? We're gonna sow the fruit of righteousness. What does that look like? Righteousness comes from God. This good stuff is not within me, but there is a hope. Holy Spirit that robbed the grave and breathed life into Jesus's body that lives within me. Righteousness comes from God. Second Corinthians 5 21. He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us so that in him, in Jesus, we might become the righteousness of God. That is not your responsibility to make yourself righteous. That righteousness comes from God. I can ask God, Jesus already paid the debt. I say God I need you help me. That's not hard. That was a very easy statement to make. You can do that. It says that peace comes from God. In Philippians 4 6-7. Don't worry about anything but in everything through prayer and petition with thanksgiving

present your request to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. You want to sow the fruit of righteousness that says that you need seeds of righteousness from God. You need peace because what did it say in James? It said that we would sow in peace. By what? By those who cultivate peace. I don't know if you've ever seen a cultivator but they have these deep sharp blades that cut down feet into soil and rip it to shreds. You have got to go through this last step in which cultivating peace comes through forgiveness. You've got to forgive some people who said some things to you. You've got to forgive some people who have lied about who you are. You've got to forgive yourself for saying these horrible things about yourself. If I could have everyone stand with me in this room. Hi thanks for watching us. We're so grateful that you've been a part of our church. We don't take it lightly that God is using unlikely people from overlooked places to do extraordinary things for the kingdom of God and you are a part of that.