Free To Not Be Who I Used To Be

[APPLAUSE] [MUSIC] You guys are nuts. [APPLAUSE] >> Hey, there was actually a lot happening backstage just a minute ago. I was listening to that last song, and is the worship band been incredible or what? >> [APPLAUSE] >> Mary and my grandson is 12 years old, has a rare blood disorder. He's had to go in for surgery twice, where they go into the lungs and do some repair work, and both times that he's gone into surgery, the nurses have a phone with them, and they ask him, is there any song? >> [APPLAUSE] >> The two would like us to play, and he always says gratitude. >> [APPLAUSE] >> Well, I wouldn't expect that today. >> [APPLAUSE] >> The other thing that was going back there was Alan, who is from Miami, has some, yeah, he's got some Cuban coffee. And right before I'm going on, he says, hey, you want a shot of this? I'm like, I'm pretty naturally fired up anyway. If I drink that, I might go off the rails up here. So, I decline, and they give it to you in shots too. It's in a, he actually called a Cuban communion. I don't know what, you know. >> [LAUGH] >> I am a believer and follower of Jesus Christ. It was drugs and alcohol that brought me here, and the committee that lives in my head that keeps me coming back. >> [LAUGH]

>> My name's Mac. >> [APPLAUSE] >> You guys got that committee too? Yeah, yeah, okay, that's what I thought. Yeah, they outvote me sometimes too. I'm like really getting hacked out about it, but anyway. You know, I love being here at the summit every year, because when I get here, it's like an instant family reunion. >> [APPLAUSE] >> One that I actually like being at. >> [LAUGH] >> Because I do remember as a kid going to these family reunions, thinking, who thought this up? Like it was a good idea, right? I mean, inevitably our family reunions the cops got called, you know? And the cool thing about it was I saw the cops were here when we came in this morning, the big difference between our family reunion and this one, nobody was running. >> [LAUGH] >> Yeah. So this is a functional family reunion, and I like it. >> [APPLAUSE] >> Well, we're here because we all know the same thing. I want to read a passage to you starting off this morning out of Colossians chapter two, starting in verse 13 where it says this. When you were stuck in your old sin dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive right along with Jesus. Think about it, all your sins forgiven. Now listen to this, the slate wiped clean.

That old arrest warrant with your name on it, canceled, nailed to the cross. >> [APPLAUSE] >> You know, that is the best news that any of us ever heard, and it was this. The charges are dropped. >> [APPLAUSE] >> Yeah, you know, recently I was at a Celebrate Recovery training event. One day training event, and this guy came up to me and he was looking all shifty. He was looking down, looking around, and he's trying to make eye contact with me. He's getting closer, I'm thinking, is this a drug deal fixing to go on or what? I mean, we are at the training event here, but finally he looked up at me and he said, hey, are you like the Celebrate Recovery wizard? >> [LAUGH] >> I'm like, no, I'm not the wizard, I'm more like Moses. >> [LAUGH] >> And then he said, so you're a prophet? I said, nope, I just look like one. >> [LAUGH] >> Somebody came up to me this morning and said, hey, you're that funny guy, all right? And I said, well. said, well, you know, today we're probably going to laugh some because I can't keep from doing some of that. But I've also got a pretty serious thing of burden on my heart that I want to talk to you about that God gave me. You know, at the Celebrate Recovery Executive Team meeting this year, we were talking about the theme for this year's summit. And of course, you know, by now it's 35 years of freedom. We started brainstorming about different topics or possible things we would talk about within the context of freedom. And within a few minutes, I knew exactly what I needed to speak on this year because every time I speak inevitably, it's because it's something that I'm walking through or working on in my life. Because even after almost 40 years of recovery now, I have still, like Moses, you know, the point was after almost 40 years, I have still not arrived. God's still working on me. And this past year has been a year of challenges. My younger brother died. My mom died. My best friend died. Two of good friends of mine died.

Our daughter and son-in-law and grandson moved to Colorado and then moved in with us for a year. That was a challenge in it of itself. A hailstorm damaged all the roofs of the structures on our property. All of them had to be replaced. And then as soon as they got replaced, we had a tornado come through a microburst tornado and took off part of the roof of another structure that had just been replaced. Our insurance company decided that would be a great time to drop us. We started a new church and then, yeah, that was just the start of the list of things that went on this year. So when I talk about this year being a vampful, it was a vampful of the point of almost being stressful at times. And there was a temptation of slipping back into those old patterns. Those old ways to deal with things because the stress was very real and that was always a possibility. Not something I would have wanted to do, but I knew I had to keep my guard up because I know a lot of you know this next statement and I believe it to be true, I am one bad decision away from being right back where I started. So I knew I had to stay on guard. And that's when it hit me of what I needed to talk about. It was clear as a bell and here's what we're going to talk about today. I am free not to be who I used to be. And that to me is real freedom. You see, Jesus didn't just forgive me. Oh, that would have been enough, but instead he forgave me and he said, now I'm going to show you what real freedom looks like in this new life you've been given. And while you're here on planet earth, the freedom I have for you is not being who used to be. So you don't have to go back to old patterns or old character defects or shortcomings. And you know, I hear people say a lot of the time that relapse is a part of recovery. And I get what they're saying, but I want to tell you this, relapse does not have to be a part of recovery. So that's where we're going to spend our time here today. For those of you that know me, or those of you that don't, you know that the ones that don't know me, I love the outdoors. Ever since I was a kid, I've enjoyed hiking and camping and fishing, hunting, floating down a river, climbing a 14er, jeep into the highest point on a mountain. Whatever it is outside, if I can do it out there, I love doing it. And I have catalogued in my memory so many adventures that I can pull up at any time when I need to take a break from the things that are going on in this life and this creation that God's spoken to existence. And there are a few of these adventures that always rise to the top, either of some of the greatest adventures I ever had or, man, I'm glad I lived through that. One of those memories was when a group of us guys and gals and from the swampy flatlands of Louisiana decided to head to the Ozark Mountains. We love the Ozark Mountains and

we love camping there because we don't have mountains back at home. So every time we go up there, it was an adventure. After about a four-hour drive, just before we reached our campsite, we came up on a but we would be setting up camp in the dark anyway, so we thought, let's just pull over and check it out. Well, we climbed out of our vehicles, walked through a small patch of woods, and then suddenly the trees opened up to this cliff. I think I got a picture of it, we'll see. Yeah, look at there. So, and the sky was painted with shades of orange and pink and purple. We walked out on some boulders and we just sat there, just taking it all in. We were overwhelmed really by the beauty of the creation that was before us. By the time we started back to our vehicles, it was completely dark. Those of us who had brought flashlights were the ones shining the way back to the parking area. We only had gone a short distance. When all of a sudden I heard somebody frantically yell, "Stop, Charlie's gone!" And I'm like, "What did they just say?" So I immediately circled back to the back of the group and I said, "What do you mean, Charlie's gone?" They said, "He fell off the cliff." (audience laughing) The 150-foot cliff. Well, at that moment, my heart sank. Immediately we began shining our flashlights

over the edge of this 150-foot drop, and we were convinced that our friend was either seriously hurt or dead, right here at the start of our trip. None of us have ever been to this place before, so we had no idea how to even get down to the bottom to go check on him and see where he was. Then we heard. We heard a faint voice. Said, "I'm here. "I'm okay. "Help me." Well, we all froze because it wasn't coming from over the edge of the cliff. It was coming from somewhere behind us. So we started shining our flashlights around, and there was a big crevice in this cliff. We followed the sound of his voice, and we wondered how Charlie got back there. You see, when he was getting out of the car, he didn't have a flashlight, but he did take his backpack, something that we all gave him grief about, because we had all jumped over this crack. He had not seen it, and Charlie fell in the crack. Now we shined our flashlights down, and as we were looking down there, we saw that he was now wedged in there in this backpack that we had given him grief over because he said, "Hey, you never know

"when you might need something out of my backpack." This backpack was now wedged in the cliff, and it was holding him suspended in the air. Whoo, that's what we were saying, too. (audience laughs) The impact did knock the wind out of him, and that's why he hadn't immediately called out. Well, there was a six foot 10 basketball player with his name Slim Winston. Well, Slim quickly assessed the situation and noticed a small ledge about six feet under the top of the cliff right above Charlie's head, so he immediately jumped down on that. He grabbed Charlie by the straps of the backpack, picked him up enough to where we could all grab a hold and pull him out. Yeah. (audience applauds) We sat there for several minutes, not saying a word, because we thought we just lost a friend. Now we were hugging our friend in the dark, thankful that he was alive. And, you know, after some reflection, when we got to the campsite, one thing became crystal clear out of that whole experience. Without someone climbing down, without somebody grabbing him, without somebody pulling him up, the odds are Charlie dies. Self-rescue was not gonna be an option.

And when I think about that story, I think about all the people I know who are coming in to recovery at any given time and how many people spend their lives trying to rescue themselves. You know, they say things like, I'll try harder, or they make promises, or they turn over another leaf, or they read their Bible more, or they pray more. But the gospel, the principles found in the beatitudes, the steps all begin with this. Recovery in a life of following Jesus starts with saying, I can't save myself, I need help, for me long before I was ever looking for Him. You know, one thing in mind, rescue when we think about that. If that is, in fact, Jesus' main mission, and I believe it is, to rescue us, He came looking for us before we were looking for Him, it becomes an imperative that we never forget the rescue. Because that's where freedom, not to be who we used to be, begins, remembering the rescue. You know, none of us on that camping trip ever forgot that camping trip, especially Charlie. And it's been 45 years since that happened, and it is still fresh in my memory like it was yesterday. Because once rescued, everything changes. You know, some of us are still trying to act like we can climb out of whatever mess we got ourselves into by ourselves. But true freedom begins the moment we admit that we need rescuing. And that's when we start to become free not to be who we used to be, never forget. Oh, and by the way, that's not optional, that's going to be a requirement. Starting way back in the book of Deuteronomy, you might be thinking, "Oh, no, Max, going back to Old Testament." Well, Jenny did it this morning, so I figured I might as well, too. You know, when I think about the Old Testament, I'm reminded that two-thirds of the book that we got from God is Old Testament. One-third is New Testament. I'm thinking there's probably some pretty good stuff back there. I would encourage you to spend time reading and then rereading all

those recovery stories, because the Old Testament is cram full of recovery stories. And some really messed up people do. Oh, we did that last year, never mind. You know, I've been sifting through the first five books of the Old Testament this year, but also studying through some of the New Testament this year to get a good balance on things. And in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 26, I came across something that really made me take pause. I had to stop and reflect on what I was reading, because what I saw there was that God says, remembering where you were, it's going to be a requirement in understanding who you are today. And I found that quite fascinating. Now, I'm going to give you the paraphrase version, but I promise you, if you go back to Deuteronomy 26, it will follow along exactly with what God says. Starting in verse 1, God says this, "When you enter into this promised land that I give you, and that land produces a crop, a good crop. I want you to take part of that crop and take it to the priest before you're offering." So you're offering, then it's going to start, God says, by verbalizing where you came from. In other words, thanking God for the rescue. Every time you do an offering, you're going to start by thanking God for the rescue. So here's what God instructed them to do, and to remember. They were to say this before they gave their offering. "My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down to Egypt with a few people. Over time they became a great nation, but the Egyptians mistreated us. They made us suffer. They put us to hard labor. We cried out to the Lord. He heard us. He saw our misery. He saw our toil. He saw our oppression. Then he brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand, accompanied with miraculous signs and wonders against our enemies. He brought us into this land, flowing with milk and honey. And that's why we will never forget, and we will always say this before we bring an offering to you." So in short, God says, "Never forget where you came from, and in doing this by telling your story, you'll never forget that you needed to be rescued." The Israelites literally rehearsed this story so that no one would ever forget the rescue. I like that because it's sort of like our written testimonies in Celebrate Recovery, right? We write them down So no one will forget where God brought us from. And you might be thinking, "Mac, why is this so fascinating to you?" I'll tell you why.

Because here God does not simply ask for your worship or your offering or your prayers. That's gonna be an important part of it. But he says, "Here, I want those, "but I'm gonna command you to remember." It's a commandment. God says, "Don't make an offering "without remembering what I rescued you from." Because people who forget their slavery eventually take for granted the grace it took to get them into a relationship with God in the first place. And we don't wanna take that for granted. So God tells Israel, "Remember Egypt, "remember slavery, remember change, "remember rescue, remember the Passover, "and then write this down." He says, "Do this because people who forget "what they were rescued from eventually "stop appreciating the one who rescued them." If I forget where I've been rescued from, who cares about the one who rescued me? People who forget what they were rescued from eventually stop appreciating the one who rescued them. And you know, in thinking about that, my Egypt may look different from yours. Some were addicted, some were religious, some were proud, some were hiding, some were people pleased. Some people were controlled by shame. Some of us wore our chains

where everybody could see them. While others wore their chains hidden beneath their Sunday smiles and Sunday clothes. So never forget where God found you. Just don't confuse where he found you with where you are today. You see, remember my pass is gonna be vital, not just important. There's a difference between important and vital. Vital is life and death. So remembering my path is vital and I visit there from time to time to remember where I've been rescued from, but that's not where I lived today 'cause I got a new address. Jesus didn't rescue me so I could remain trapped at the old address. He came and rescued me and you so that we could be free not to be who we used to be. And he did that by interrupting our story. God's a good interrupter. You know, remember he came looking for me before I ever went looking for him. So I told you I've been studying through the first five books, the Old Testament. So to compliment that, I've been going through Matthew and Acts too. And the parallels between the two are amazing. You know, in the Old Testament, specifically Deuteronomy, there were rules after rules after rules,

there were regulations. And then God expected each one of us to follow those rules. Then in the book of Acts in chapter 22, we see that there was a group of Jews who because they were following these rules and regulations and the law to a T, at least outwardly, they decided that Paul, who was, by the way, one of them until he converted to Christianity, but they decided that since he was following Jesus now, let's just kill him. Well, that's a solution to a problem, right? And if you haven't noticed, there's a pattern in this. You know, when we set the standard so high that even we can't live up to it, exactly what the Pharisees did, it causes chaos and confusion for everybody around. So the Orthodox Jewish leaders who have not accepted Jesus and set this standard themselves if somebody opposed to what they were doing in their mind, it was simple. Kill 'em, dispose of the body. And I give that, I do, because when young men used to come, look, when young men used to come to our house and wanted to date our daughters, yeah, you're already ahead of me. Yeah, I would say fine, but if you do something I don't like, I got a backhoe and a lot of land. (congregation laughing) So like I said, some things as humans never change.

When people don't do what we like or they don't live up to our standards, the easiest thing we can do is just of deal with them. Or maybe, no, we don't even want to start a meaningful conversation with them. Just get rid of them. When I start meaningful conversations with people without any expectations, that's when real change can occur not only in their life, but in my life as well. I absolutely love asking people, especially that I don't know well or people that I don't agree with. I ask them this, would you tell me your story? I'd love to hear it. You would be amazed at the things you hear when you ask somebody, just tell me your story. In other words, I want to hear, and what I'm listening for is this. Has Jesus interrupted their life? Because if he hasn't, he may just be using me to be the interruption of the day. You know, one of the biggest interruption stories in all the Bible is when Saul became known as Paul. And one of my favorite texts in all the Bible, if you know me well or even just a little bit, you know, it's Colossians 1, 13 and 14, because Paul describes an interruption and a rescue in this passage. And in verse 13 it says, "He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness." I love that because now it says darkness does not have dominion over us anymore. He rescued us from the dominion of darkness and then brought us into the kingdom of the sun he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of all our sins. And I love this text because it doesn't say he rescued one of us. It doesn't say he rescued some of us. The necessary inference here is he had to rescue all of us, so all of us have to have a rescue story to be in relationship with Jesus Christ. Which is ironic because those words were pinned by Paul through the direction of the Holy Spirit who I said earlier was a part of this pharocetical crowd that was now trying to kill him. And he would let us know in Philippians chapter 3 that any of you who think you've got this religiosity down pat, he would say, "If you think you can work yourself into a relationship with God without a rescue, you are sadly mistaken." And he would then go on to say, "You know, if you have confidence that you could do this, I got more." Paul's pretty salty. Yeah, I got more. If you don't believe me, listen to this. From the day I was born, day number eight, I was involved in religious practices of circumcision right off day eight. He says the very first of my life. He said, "From that day on, I was involved in everything I could be involved

with. I was born under the right flag, the flag of Israel, so my nationality is right. I was born in the tribe of Benjamin, where the first king came from, so my tribe is right. I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. I went to the right school. I was taught by the right teachers. I knew the wall all so well because I was being raised to be a Pharisee. And as for zeal or as I would say it, he was just so fired up, it says, he says, "I was killing the people that God sent Jesus to save." And I love that because he ends with, as for legalistically being righteous, he said, "I was faultless." In other words, Paul says, "I was perfect." You know what he said next? All that was garbage. He said, "Every bit of that." What I just shared with you, he said, "All that garbage, it was worth nothing." I had to be rescued from myself, Paul would say, "Because here's what I learned. Without Jesus, I got nothing. Nothing." You know, religiosity means nothing. Surrender, grace, and rescue mean everything. You know, Paul tells this story three different times in the New Testament. He always starts with, "I was a persecutor. I was very righteous. I was self-righteous, religious, violent, and then everything changed." Well, what was it, Paul? Tell us what changed your lives so dramatically, your education, your discipline, some behavior. He would say it was an encounter with Jesus on a road. And Jesus interrupted everything. 'Cause redemption is not about self-improvement. It's about a divine intervention. And I'm pretty sure that's what brought you and me here today. We encountered Jesus in a divine intervention. You know, when I think of Paul, I think about it to Charlie. Charlie couldn't save himself. Paul couldn't rescue himself. I couldn't rescue me. You couldn't rescue yourself either. If each one of these rescues, we came to the understanding that we're free, not to be who we used to be.

Yeah, but what does that actually look like, Mac? And that is a fantastic question. I get asked all the time. How do I know somebody's really changed? It's actually fairly simple. Paul would write this in Acts, chapter 26, 20, to let us know exactly what it looks like. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and to the Gentiles also. In other words, this is to everybody. I preach that they should repent and turn to God. Now listen to this and pay close attention. I preach that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. Ooh. So how do we know someone has really changed? Well, the evidence becomes clear. When Jesus changes your life, it's fairly simple. There's proof. The proof is we've changed by what we do. We start operating in a new way. We start to act in the stead of a react. Ooh. I'm gonna tell you about me and some recent proof in my life that I don't have to be who I used to be. Or even more than that, I don't have to be who I was raised to be today. It wasn't a church, it wasn't a revival

or in front of a lot of people. I got the chance to prove my repentance and it was in my own home. It was in our living room. It was with a boy in a yo-yo and a TV. Not long ago, one of my grandson's got a brand new Dunkin' yo-yo is mom and dad bought him. I said, "Rex, I used to love him yo-yos." I said, "There's all kinds of tricks you can learn." Well, that's all it took. I mean, he went to YouTube and he's looking up every video you could look up. First, I was walking the dog, then it was around the world, then it was all these tricks I didn't even know what he's doing. But all I know is that yo-yo was flying everywhere. (congregation laughing) And I am thinking to myself, that yo-yo is gonna come off as training and hurt somebody or break something. So I said, "Rex, you might want to practice that outside." He said, "Papa, it's okay. I got this." (congregation laughing) I said, "You know, but the garage would be a much better place. There's less stuff to break out there." He said, "No, papa, really, seriously, I got this." And I remember thinking, "Well, you know, it's gonna happen.

But since our home of 10 grandkids has become the house of yes, I didn't push it." (congregation laughing) Look, I'm about 2% codependent, and I think all 2% came out right then. (congregation laughing) A couple of nights later, I walk in the kitchen, there he is, sitting at the table, his head down. I could tell if something was wrong, he'd been crying. I walked over and said, "Hey, buddy, what's wrong?" Well, he looked up at me with tears in his eyes and real quietly said, "The yo-yo." (congregation laughing) And I said, "The yo-yo, what about the yo-yo?" He said, "The TV." (congregation laughing) Now I said, "What about the TV?" 'Cause I still ain't gettin' it. And then he nodded and said, "The yo-yo hit the TV." Well, about that time it all clicked. And I walked into the living room quite assertively. And right there in the middle of the TV, it was a perfectly round yo-yo size hole. Now to be honest, my first reaction was frustration, probably borderline anger, because I had warned him, to happen." And then something happened to me. I heard a voice. I don't believe it was audible, but it could have been. I was the only one in the room. But it was unmistakable. It was loud,

and it got my attention immediately because it was a prompting from the Holy Spirit that lives in me. And these are the words that I heard. Mac, the next words that come out of your mouth are words that he will remember for the rest of his life. Choose wisely. Well, that stopped me on my tracks because instantly I remember words that had been spoken over me years ago. Words spoken in anger, frustration, words that made me feel small, words that made me feel like I wasn't worth someone's patience or time. Words that stayed with me far longer than the moment they were spoken. Words that stayed with me for a lifetime. And I bet many of you in here today are bringing up some of those things that were spoken over you years ago by a parent, by a coach, by a teacher, by someone you loved. Words that made you feel like you just weren't enough. Words that left a mark long after the moment was over. Well, now I had a choice. And the Holy Spirit had directed me to choose wisely. So I walked right in the kitchen, pulled up a chair, and sat down beside him. I said, "Well, guess we won't have a TV for a while in there." He looked at me, he said, "No TV." I said, "Well, that one's broken and quite honestly a new TV is just not in my budget right now." He looked devastated. He said, "Well, what are we going to do?" Right, like that was the end of life, right? What are we going to do? And I said, "Well, guess you're going to have to buy one." He said, "Papa, I ain't got no money." I said, "I know, but tomorrow morning you start working for me." I said, "I'll pay you by the hour. We'll negotiate a fair wage that we both agree on, and every dollar you earn is going to go towards a new TV." Well, that next morning we went outside and started because I told him we got a whole pile of wood and he's splitting before winter. It's going to mean you. We were at the splitter in about 30 minutes and he stopped. He leaned up against that splitter. He said, "How much more time we got, Papa?" And how much have I made? I said, "Well, you've made about five bucks." He looked all proud for a minute. I said, "Don't get too proud. The TV's going to cost 300, so you do the math and you'll figure out how long you're going to be out here." Then I put my arm around him and said something I hope he never forgets. I said, "I want you to remember something, Rex. When you do something in your life and you make bad decisions, you're not the only one that pays for them. The people you love often pay a price as well." You see, I didn't throw the yo-yo, but here I am out here splitting wood with you right now. I'm working too. And I hope you always make good decisions in life, but when you don't,

because none of us always do, I want you to know something. I will be there beside you. You know when I say something like that, you know what I love about moments like that? I'm starting to do things like Jesus does, and I'm not being who I used to be. You know, weeks later, weeks later he finally had enough money saved. His favorite place to eat in all the world is raising canes, chicken fingers. Yeah, so I pulled out that little ledger we were keeping up with all his hours in. I said, "Well, look here, Rex. Look like you got enough money to buy a TV." I said, "We're going to Costco and raising canes." Well, we did that. We had a great evening together. We bought a TV. We came home, and then he set it up. He knocked it out. Yeah. You know, years from now, I don't think he'll remember how many hours he actually split wood. I don't think he'll remember how much the TV costs, but I hope he will remember this. When he made a mistake, his papa didn't shame him. I taught him, I held him accountable. And I walked through the consequences with him. And that's exactly what Jesus does for each one of us. You see, Jesus doesn't remove every consequence, but he never walks away. He walks through them with us. That's amazing to me. And he helps us prove our opinions by our deeds today, because we're free not to be who we used to be. You know, when I heard the voice say, choose wisely, I came to an immediate understanding. I could pass on my pain that I had experienced as a young person. Or I could pass on the healing that I found when Jesus became the Lord of my life. You see, 40 years ago, I probably would have exploded. I probably would have embarrassed him, possibly shamed him and had him remember those words all his life, but not today, because I didn't repeat what had been handed me,

because that's not who I am anymore. You see, Jesus didn't change, just changed the words coming out of my mouth. Jesus changed the man that was doing the talking. There was no miracle on a replaced TV. I couldn't have went and bought one that night, but I didn't. The miracle wasn't that I, I just think back on that moment. And when we start to act like Jesus, that stays with us too. You see, he wasn't the only one changed through this ordeal. I continue to work on my recovery too, because the miracle was that I didn't have to repeat the past. You see, freedom or recovery isn't just learning better behavior. Freedom is allowing Jesus to transform the person behind behavior. You know, the evidence that Jesus has changed your life isn't that you never are tempted to go back to those old behaviors, those old patterns, those old shortcomings or character defects. Freedom is this. Those old behaviors no longer get the last word Jesus does. So the question is this, who are you becoming? You know, I'm not sure that that's the question that many of our old heroes didn't ask themselves. You know, Paul was not forever known as Saul the persecutor. He became the one who got trusted enough to write down the majority of the New Testament, a murderer trusted by God. Peter wasn't forever the denier. No, he became the one trusted enough to give the first gospel sermon, where thousands of people responded. Zacchaeus wasn't forever the thief. He would be the one Jesus says, "Hey, let's go to your house and have a meal. We've got to talk about some changes." And the woman of the well, she wasn't forever the immoral woman. Nope, she was not. She was the one they wrote this about. Many came to know Jesus because of her testimony. Jesus is the master at giving people a new identity and the freedom to not be who we used to be. That's who I want to be. A man who helps people realize that in Jesus, the path no longer defines as you. We have a new identity. [BLANK_AUDIO] that brought broke Papa's TV. I hope he remembers something much bigger like my Papa's always been there for me, whatever I went through.

I hope he remembers that one mistake doesn't have to become part of your identity because that's what we all need to remember. Because you're not your addiction, you're not your divorce, you're not your prison record, you're not your affair, you're not your relapse, you're not your abortion, you're not your shame, those are just chapters, they are not your name. A good friend of mine, back in William Park of Mary and mine, has a ministry called Speak Life. She importers on shirts, all kinds of words, simple words, but words that are powerful. If you haven't noticed, I got one on my right now. You see what that says? Masterpiece. That's right. I am one of a kind and so are you. I like that. You know, I'm thinking back about Charlie now and he didn't stay in that crevasse because the people that surrounded him loved him. You pulled him out, he was never the same man. Some of you have been rescued but you're living like you're still trapped. Jesus brought you out so you wouldn't have to go back to Egypt. Quit living like you're who you used to be. You might be thinking, "Well, how do I do that? Well, we just went over that." Enter the rescue, look for the interruption, and then prove your repentance. There it is. It ends with proving your repentance by what you do. You know, I know the enemy wants to remind you of where you came from but there's a voice that's louder than that and Jesus is reminding you who you are and whose you are. Jesus didn't just forgive you, he set you free from being who you used to be. That, my friends, is real freedom. Never forget where Grace found you.

Never forget the day you went from bondage to freedom to blessing. Never forget God's counting on you to tell His story in your life. What are you waiting for? You know, Charlie's story shows us why we need rescuing. His real shows us why we must remember. Paul's story shows how Jesus changes our identity and interrupts our life. And the yo-yo story, well, that's what transformation looks like today. All of this is really about salvation, to remembrance, to transformation which all lead to invitation, who are you going to tell your story to today? The story about Jesus interrupting your life. Jesus didn't just forgive me, He set me free from being who I used to be. You know, I want to take a few minutes now to do some reflections and family time and I would love your participation in this. This may be the hardest thing you ever do in your life, but I want to remind you right now, you are in the safest place you'll ever be to come clean. Today you can start a new chapter. So I'm going to ask some questions, and if you identify with these questions, please stand. You're a family here, you're in a safe place. If you believe the lie that you'll never change, would you please stand? Thank you. Keep standing. If you're around somebody that stood up now, you might want to stand with them. If shame keeps reminding you of who you used to be, and today you want to believe what Jesus says about you, and who you are, please stand. If you're carrying guilt that Jesus has already forgiven, but you haven't accepted that forgiveness, please stand. Thank you. If there's a hurt, hang up or habit you've gone back to, and today you're saying, I don't wanna live there anymore,

I want a new address, would you please stand? Jesus is ready to change that postal code. If you're here today and saying, "Jesus, thank you for rescuing me, help me walk in freedom that you've already given me." I don't wanna ever go back to who I used to be, please stand. Yeah. (audience applauds) I hope you're ready to tell your story, because it looks like everybody's standing, and that's the last directive. Jesus says, I want you to go out now and tell somebody else, because I want you to look around. What you're seeing here today is freedom. That's freedom right there. You know, you can't, yeah. (audience applauds) You're seeing men and women who have decided they don't have to be who they used to be. You know, you can't do that in every church, but the church is meeting up in here today. (audience applauds) Well, you guys have been more than generous today. We got one more thing to do. And let's, as a family right now, worship like we've never worshiped before. Come on, thank you. (audience applauds)