Pick Up Your Mat and Walk! || Victory Church [Book of John #18]

Hey, one more time, Happy Father's Day, guys. Hey, so, let's give it up for all the dads, the biological dads, come on, the foster dads, the step-dads, the adoptive dads, spiritual dads. If you're a mentor or a coach, like, we salute you today, we love you, and we need more of you. So, continue reproducing yourself, both biologically and spiritually. We need you guys. So, I just wanna say this. Like, a good dad can literally, quite literally, change the trajectory of a family for generations. And so, I know I said it on the video, but if you had a good dad in your life, can you just pause right now and just thank God? Like, that is literally a direct gift from God. If you had a good dad in your life, if your dad is still alive today, like, reach out and say thank you today. Like, someone went to buy me a card, and there was, like, one, like, line of cards in Target. And they were like, eh, that's enough for dads, right? Like, we know that, like, disproportionately, Mother's Day is much more celebrated than Father's Day for numerous reasons, but if you still have a living father in your life, reach out today and let him know that you love him and you appreciate him. Here's the truth, though, for right now. If that is not your story, right, like,

if Father's Day, can I say it like this, is a little complicated for you for a number of reasons, then maybe you need to hear this for the first time, or maybe this is a reminder to you that you actually have the best father ever in God himself. And this is the space to have that conversation. Like, you're in the right room today to have that conversation. And I have seen God's love in different ways in different seasons of my life, and here's what I mean. That when I got born again in 1994, here's how I'd say it. I began to see how God loves the world, right, because God so loved the world that he gave his son. When I got married, when Summer and I got married in 2001, I began to see how God loves the church, because Jesus is the groom and the church is the bride. And so when we got married, I saw how God loves the church. But in 2005, when I became a dad, I began to understand how God sees me, how God loves me, from loving the world to loving the church to loving me. So when I held Jeremiah in my arms, April 25th, 2005, little body, big head, he got the buoy head. He was top-heavy for a long time. This new compartment of love opened up in my soul. And if you're a parent, if you're a dad, you know what I'm talking about. You're like, I didn't even know that was there, because it was not there just a few minutes ago. This father's love began opening up in me.

And then January 15th, 2009, when I held Isaac in my arms, that love got even bigger. Then I began to understand how God sees me, how God loves me, and I know this, that when I look at my kids, the love that I have for my kids, it is like 0.0001% of the way that God loves me and God loves us. But here's the deal, as a father, when I see my sons, especially as a dad, when I see my sons, I don't want them to be stuck. Come on, somebody. I don't want them to live unhealthy. I don't want them to live wounded. I don't want them to live pointless lives. In fact, what I see, honestly, as one of my primary roles as a father is to help them become everything that God created them to be, all right? That is not only for the dads, but it's especially for the dads, that sometimes my love is gonna look like pushing you to do things that hurt in the moment, to go through temporary pain for long-term purpose. That is the role of a dad, is to get into your life and give you some tough love. And we borrow that from the good father. Sometimes God gets in our lives and has to get us unstuck in sometimes short-term painful ways for long-term purpose.

And here's the deal for today, okay? So on Mother's Day, we met a woman who was unnamed at the well. And remember, John is an author who knows that you're reading what he's writing. And so she goes unnamed on purpose because if her name was Samantha, then anybody whose name was not Samantha could not resonate with this woman. And so in essence, by not naming the woman, God is inviting every woman to find herself in that woman, right? And so today we're meeting an unnamed man. And that is strategic because I believe that God is inviting every man to find himself in this man. So let me just say it like this. Today is not only for the men, but it is especially for the men, all right? You ladies okay with that? You ladies okay with some strong, godly men inside this church? Come on, especially if you're married, you're like, I want some strong, godly men. Come on, if you're a single lady, like you want some strong, godly, where are all the strong, godly men? There's a lot of males here, where are the men? Come on, that's what we're talking about. We're talking about raising up strong, godly men, all right?

So that's what we're gonna endeavor to do. It's not only for the men, but it's especially for the men today. So today in our year-long journey through the book of John, We're meeting a man who needed a good dad. We're meeting a man who just needed to know that somebody cared. We're meeting a man who needed a father to put his arm around his shoulder and to help him get unstuck. Everybody say unstuck. Help him get unstuck, to help him get moving again. And here's the good news for us today. I believe that the same father who helped this man in the story get unstuck and get moving is the same father who's here today, capital F Father, to get us unstuck and to get us moving again in our lives. And so you may have walked in here one way, but you're gonna leave another way. I promise you that, okay? So, so far in the book of John, we've seen the word of God put on flesh. We have seen Jesus turn water into wine. We have seen in John 3 that Jesus challenged the religious leaders. We've seen in John 4 that Jesus meets a wayward woman at the well and he saves her.

We saw at the end of John 4, Jesus heals a man's son. And here we are in John 5. Says sometime later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. And now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate, a pool. This is very like, like Apple Maps for a Jew. Like you're locating this place right here. So there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate, a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda, and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. That's kind of like just these covered arches. And here a great number of disabled people used to lie. The blind, the lame, and the paralyzed. And one who was there had been an invalid for 38 years. He hasn't been able to walk for 38 years. And when Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, do you want to get well? Sir, the invalid replied, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. And while I'm trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me. And then Jesus said to him, get up, pick up your mat, and walk. And at once the man was cured.

He picked up his mat and he walked. Woo, all right. So I've been to Israel three times now to kind of like walk in the footsteps of Jesus. It's pretty awesome. I don't know if you've been before, but I would encourage it. And there are areas like when you're walking around, sometimes they're like, all right, over here this thing happened. Like over here was like the David and Goliath somewhere. Like this mountain range was somewhere where Elijah and the fire came down. Like, there's a lot of somewheres in here. But we know exactly where the pool of Bethesda was. Like we know exactly where it was. In fact, I've been there three times. This is what it looks like if you went there today. There's kind of a church of St. Anne, like on this side of what's happening. And you can imagine like the pool was very deep. You can see some steps where you would go down in there. And we don't know exactly what it looks like. Nobody took a Polaroid picture. So I asked Chet. And that might be close. Like that might be close. You know, with the ruins that we see, with the descriptions we find, that might be close. So just kind of get the feel.

This is here just to kind of get the feel, okay? So there's like two large pools, very likely one for men, one for women. And it's surrounded by crowds of hurting people, right? It says the disabled. It says the people who can't walk, the people who can't talk, the people who can't talk to each other. The people who can't talk, the people who, these are the people who are desperate. If we need the reminder, there are no like government programs, there's no social justice programs that are happening. So can I put in just blunt language? If you are disabled in this society, you're done. Like you're done, there is no hope. And so you're desperate. And so you hang out with other desperate people looking for desperate solutions to your desperate problem. And there was this urban legend at the time that whenever the pool was flat and all of a sudden something happened, what they thought was an angel would come down and like touched it with its wings. And the first person who jumped in the water would be healed. If you're wondering, that's what desperate people say. That's what desperate people think. Like you ever met somebody who's in a really desperate situation and they'll do the craziest things because they're out of options, right?

So some people thought it was an angel. Greek culture said it was water nymphs who just kind of came up from Hades through the water and they touched it with their little fairy dusts sort of thing, right? In other words, there's urban legends. There's just, there's rumors and rumors about rumors, but this is what desperate people do. And so what's happening is all around this pool are desperate, broken, hurting people. And it's to this pool that Jesus comes. And let's just say it the plainest way we can. Jesus heals this man who's been crippled for 38 years. Now, here's the deal for us. We no longer get excited about that because we've been churchenized. This guy had been crippled for 38 years. And then after 30 seconds. Jesus, he's walking again. Now, here's our problem. We're used to Jesus doing Jesus things. Why? Because we kind of know the end of the story. But remember, John's introducing us to this. So you may not know this. Nobody in the Old Testament, listen, literally, go look. Nobody in the Old Testament heals a blind person, heals a deaf person, heals somebody who can't speak,

or heals somebody who cannot walk. It does not happen in the entire Old Testament. And so actually, Isaiah prophesies what will happen when the Messiah comes on the scene, Isaiah 35. Says, then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer and the mute tongue shout for joy. Here's what's happening. No person in the entire Old Testament heals a blind person, a deaf person, a lame person, or a mute person. Jesus does all four. Jesus, here's what John is screaming right now. He's saying, hey guys, the wait is over. The Messiah is here. The Savior of the world has come. Jesus has come. How is he saying that? Because broken bodies obey the voice of Jesus. Misaligned bones come into alignment. Blind eyes are reformed. Ears are unplugged. Tongues begin to speak. Feet get strengthened. Atrophied muscles come back together. Cancers vanish when the Messiah is on the scene. That's what he's saying. And the Messiah is here. Jesus is his name.

And at the end of the story, you see it for the very first time. Jesus' ops reveal themselves because the Pharisees start freaking out. How dare the Messiah come and do something that's never been done in the history of the world on Saturday? Jesus healed on the Sabbath and they lose their minds. And they miss the miracle because they're so stuck in their religion. All right? And so here's the thought. Listen, there's theology on top of theology on top of theology in John 5 in this story. But right in the middle of all that theology is a human being, is a man who has been paralyzed for 38 years and Jesus enters into his life. He heals him and he graciously sets him free. And here's my good news, okay? On Father's Day, I believe that the same Jesus who healed this guy, who set him free, is the same Jesus who's in the room, who can heal you and me and set us free too. Not only the men, but especially the men. So let's trace this man's story and maybe we'll see our story too, okay? Let's learn a little bit about the father's heart today. Here's the first one.

Is it the father wants healing for his children? Everybody say healing. Healing. Okay. I remember the first time my sons got sick. Y'all remember that? Like if you got little kids, right? Like the first time they get sick, you totally overreact, right? They're like, ah, ah. You're like, they're gonna die. You hear them on the baby monitor. You like sprint into the room. They're like, what's up, right? And like you rush them to the hospital and they got a hangnail. They're like, they're gonna bleed to death, doctor. Like, just trust me on this. I know more than you because I'm a parent. I know you're a doctor, but listen to me. They coughed. I remember the first time like Jeremiah got like sick, sick. And I remember having these emotions that I was like, God, it's not fair that he's going through this. Like I could take this better than he can. Can we like bargain? Like you ever done that? Like bargain, like God, would you take what's on him and would you put it on me?

Because I don't want him to suffer. I would suffer in his place. And right there, God was like, yeah, now you understand how I feel. Because that's why Jesus came. To take upon himself your own suffering. He suffered in your place. Here's the deal, guys. A good father wants healing for his children, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and will make provision for that healing. And it's to this man at the pool, in verse six, Jesus asked the simplest question ever. Do you wanna get well? Now notice this, just get the context clues here in the story. This man at the pool is minding his own business. He did not start this conversation, right? He is not pursuing Jesus. First off, he doesn't even know it is Jesus, all right? He is not living outward. If anything, he's living inward. Like he has not been sick for 38 minutes, 38 hours, 38 weeks, 38 months. No, 30, if anything, he's given up. And Jesus finds this man in the crowd. Remember, the masses are there. Jesus walks through the masses and finds this one man, which for us today, maybe we need to hear this. Because today, you may feel unnoticed.

You may feel unwanted. You may feel forgotten, especially on this weekend. I know there are people on the other side of the stream, or maybe you're watching this midweek, because you could not bring yourself to be in church on Father's Day because of all the reasons. Whatever reason that is, and this day brings up all the. Emotions every single year and here's the deal some of us we are broken that ways others of us are broken other ways You're stuck in a cycle that you cannot break. You are not well I know you put on the show Especially if you're a man because you're not allowed to show the cracks you got to put on the armor You're not allowed to show tears. You got a bow up. You got a man up You got to show up doesn't matter how you feel you just have to keep moving the engine light is on Something's broken, but you have to just keep moving forward. The problem is you don't feel anymore You don't have compassion anymore. You have a hairpin trigger for your anger You're stuck in porn cycles. Your marriage is falling apart Your kids are going crazy or maybe you're single and you can't hold down a job or maybe on the other side You're uber successful, but it's meaningless and Jesus walks up to this man. And with that mindset says Do you want to get well? Can I tell you what I love about this? I love what I love about Jesus is he does not look at the guy and it's like hey, bro. How you managing? Hey, bro, you learn to cope with it yet Cuz you're gonna deal with this your entire life right like so have you just gotten used to the pain yet? No, he says hey do you do you want to get well Here's a quick lesson too many of us have learned to settle for survival instead of walking and healing Do you want to get well? Jesus is asking today. Do you want to get well? Here's what Jesus is saying guys guys. The question is not whether or not God wants to heal you. He's a good father So the answer is a resounding. Yes. Listen, if you've never had a good father, listen

I'm like this much of a good father only because of that good father Only because of that good father and I just want to tell you as a good father. God wants you to be healed So the question is not whether or not God wants you to be healed. The real question is this do you actually want to be healed? Or are you so used to your unhealth that you don't want to give it up? Do you want what God wants for you? Do you want freedom? Do you want growth? Do you want health? Do you want holiness? I Saw a podcast from a guy recently and not a Christian and he was actually talking about this story in John 5 And this is how I love I love how real non-christians are they haven't learned to be fake like us And this is how I this is how like like not Christian he was he's like, yeah, I was reading this story called John 5 I was like, okay, that's where we're at. That's awesome. I love it. Okay, it's so real He said I was reading this story called John 5 where Jesus talks to this guy and he asked him a question Do you want to be healed? And he sat there so real his eyes got really teary he got this like thousand-yard stare And he said I've been thinking about that question a lot lately do I want to be healed Because if I'm healed I'd have to be different I'd have a different story And I've been wondering do I really want a different story? Do I really want to be different because I love this I love I love his self-awareness because he said and sometimes honestly the answer is no Because who would I be if I let go of my old behaviors? But then he paused and he said but more recently my answer is yes God I think I'm ready for a new story. And so man, I have a question for you right now Do you want a new story? Listen you may if there was a Biography being written about your life. It may be the saddest most pathetic thing. I've ever read The good news is this that chapter ended at the front doors of the church and a new chapter can begin being written right now The question is do you want that? Do you want a new story? Do you want to be healed? If so, can I get can I get one man in here? Just say I want to be healed And I want to be healed I want to be listen We've all got broken places. Don't think don't don't believe the lie that I got it all together. This is as good as it gets My wife can attest for that. It all goes downhill when I get off this platform

Alright, like like I got broken places. You got broken place and we all got broken places. Here's the question Are you tired of being angry all the time? Are you tired of sabotaging your relationships? Are you tired of the addiction cycles? Are you tired of pursuing money without meaning right? Like do you want to be healed? And it seems like such an easy question on the outside, but here's what the man actually responds in verse 7 He says well I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred and while I'm trying to get in someone else goes Down ahead of me. Notice what he doesn't say. Yes, Jesus. I want a new story Yes Yes, Jesus! I want to be healed! Yes, Jesus! What does he say? Sir, I have no one to help me. So what's a father's heart? A father's heart says, I want my kids to get healthy. Here's the second thing a father's heart. He wants us to abandon our excuses. A good father wants you to abandon. A good father wants his kids to drop the excuses that are keeping his kids stuck. Listen, guys. This guy doesn't even answer Jesus' question about being healed. He just makes excuses for why he's not healed. Did y'all just hear what he said? He doesn't answer Jesus' question about if he wants to be healed. He just starts making excuses for why he's not healed. In essence, can I put it in man language? He's saying, Jesus, I'm trying! You think I'm not trying? Are you calling me lazy? If that's not the most man answer I've ever heard

in my whole life. Come on, Jesus is like, hey, do you want to be healed? And the guy's like, what do you think? I'm just sitting here not even trying? Here's the truth. For 38 years, he's been overlooked. He's been disappointed. He's been stuck. He's been looked down on. And here's the bad news. It's all true. His problem in the story was not that he was lying. His problem, listen, was that he was trapped in a mindset that could only think about all the wrongs that had been done to him. I'd say it like this. His real problem was that his injury had become his identity. What happened to him had become him. His injury had become his identity. And listen, before we judge him, we do the same thing. Come on, here's what it sounds like for us. God, I didn't have a good dad like Pastor Johnson or else I'd be able to. God, if I had as much money as that guy, I'd be able. God, if I had only had a good family, that's why I am. And human beings are amazing at becoming victims. We become what happened to us. I'm not saying that what happened to you doesn't matter. No, no, it's huge, it's huge.

But here's what it sounds like. Listen, our injury becomes our identity when our explanation becomes our excuse. I'm gonna say that again. Our injury becomes our identity when our explanation becomes our excuse. Listen, there's bad things that happen all the time. And here's what the explanation sounds like. Man, this thing happens to me. The excuse is, so therefore that's why I can't. This thing happened to me and that's why I'll always be like this. That's when an explanation turns into excuse and the injury becomes our identity. So what are the excuses that we make? I just kinda group them into three. The first one's familiarity. Here's what I mean. After 38 years, this man has built his entire life around his condition. Think about that. I mean, again, this isn't like a week or two or even a year or two. This is 38 years. So his entire life revolves around wake up, beg, wait for the water to get stirred. Wake up, beg, wake up, beg. And it comes to the point of like, who would I be if I didn't do that? Because it's terrible, but listen, it's predictable.

It's a life, it's a terrible life, but it's a predictable life. And sometimes the greatest obstacle to healing isn't the wound itself, it's getting used to the wound. I've grown accustomed to the wound. In fact, I am the wound. And if I ever got healed, I don't even know who I'd be. And here's what this means. Here's what it sounds like, two different ways. This is what I saw growing up in my home, so it's what I think is normal. Or I've been doing this for so long that I don't know who I'd be if I stopped. I was talking to a young adult son a few weeks ago, and he said this. He said, my dad is really good at being angry. He's really good at violence. And in fact, I think he gets nervous when he's at peace because he doesn't know what to do with peace. And so he finds ways to stir it back up again so he can be angry about something because he knows how to be angry, but he doesn't know how to be at peace. Here's the thought, guys. Our father offers to fix us, but we don't even know what healthy looks like. We've never seen healthy, and so it's so familiar for us to be unhealthy. In other words, we got a flat tire about 38 years ago, and we just learned how to drive with three tires.

Your car's out of alignment, now you just drive right. Go with me. All of your energy of your life is spent driving right. What would happen if your car actually got fixed, where it went straight without you having to know, what is my life? What do I do with it? Because all I've ever known is trying to manage my dysfunction and my injury and my woundedness. This is who I am, my injury. I am broken, I am this. This is my excuse, this is who would I be if I was actually healthy. Listen, I've met men who are really good at being prideful. You don't even know what it would look like to be humble. So you just keep bowing up, and whenever your wife is like, how you feeling? You're like, good. You know what being humble would look like? Oh, I don't even know how to talk about this, but I don't like it, something's not okay on the inside of me. And you don't even know how to do that. And so you're like, I'm good. Right? Then go play some basketball, right? Go go drink a beer, whatever. Like, we don't know how to be vulnerable,

so we cover it up because we don't know what it's like to be healthy. Because if I get healed and set free from my addictions, who am I? Some of us, can I be super real? Some of us, we don't even want to get healed because then we couldn't be on assistance programs anymore. And my whole life is about used to being, listen, I'm not mentalizing what happened. No, no, don't get offended about that. What I'm saying is, I'm not even interested in being healing because now my life is taken care of like this. But what if God actually wanted to heal you? Be like, do you want to be healed? I don't know if I want to be healed because I'm used to this life. I've met men who wouldn't even know how to pray if they weren't addicted to porn. Because their whole life with God revolves around saying, I'm sorry. God, I did it again. Would you even have a prayer life if you were free? That's why I'm saying, it's terrible, but it's predictable. It's familiar, and that becomes your excuse. The second excuse is our fears, is our fears. Fears of failure primarily. Again, this isn't only men, but it's especially men. Men, whenever they fail at something, don't think that they failed at something.

They think that they are a failure. They personalize it. It becomes their identity. I didn't just fail at a marriage. I am a failure. I didn't just fail at a business. I am a failure. And there's a very, very interesting verse here, just a few verses after this, that Jesus goes back to this man in verse 14. Here's what he says. Later, Jesus found him at the temple, and he said to him, see you are well again. Again, stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you. Oh, my gosh. It sounds like a threat. Like, I don't, I don't. I'm gonna be very careful. We're gonna address this in a few weeks. But all, listen, not all sickness is linked to sin. Don't believe that lie. But it sounds like this one might be. Now, now, I want us to pay attention, okay? We catch a glimpse right here because, listen, the text does not say he was born crippled. It says he's been crippled for 38 years. The Bible usually says when people are born a certain way. It does not say he was born this way. So could it be this dude was doing something crazy, sinful? Come on, he's having an affair with somebody,

jumps out of a window. I don't know. And here he is 38 years later. You know, here's what this sounds like. He's been sitting there for 38 years saying, I deserve this. I deserve everything that I'm living in right now. I messed it up. Come on, guys, I messed the marriage up. I deserve this. I messed my kids up. I deserve this. I messed my life up. I deserve this. And Jesus comes along and says, you just gonna sit in your failure or you gonna get up and walk? You gonna get up and walk? And there's this thing, guys, I get it. We're afraid to try again. And no man's ever gonna admit that, but we're afraid to try. We're afraid to mess up a family. We're afraid that if we try and put our marriage back together and it fails again, that means I cannot even deal with that. Like, could I launch out to start the business that I know God's calling me to start? Because what if it doesn't work? Or do I dare to try and actually get clean again? Because last time I fell off the wagon, like.

Here's how I say it. The most dangerous words a man can ever say are this. I got this. Whenever you hear a man say, I got this, he don't got this. And it will fail spectacularly. I mean, it's gonna be awesome. Like, just watch it, it'd be terrible. Okay. The worst things a man can ever say are I got this. The second worst thing a man can ever say is this. I could never do this. Because that's on the other end of the spectrum. One is way self-pride. The other one is just abandonment and fear and just failure. And that's where I wanna invite men. Listen, guys, I wanna invite you into prayer. Because prayer is saying this. God, I cannot, but you can. That is. is what prayer is. Prayer is saying, God, I'm afraid I'm gonna mess it up because I can't fix my family. And God's like, I'm so glad you finally realized that. God, I can't fix my marriage. I am so glad you finally realized that you cannot fix your marriage. Maybe now you'll actually invite me into your marriage. Maybe you'll actually invite me into your business. Maybe you'll invite me into your addiction.

Maybe you'll invite me into your emotions. You cannot do it in your own strength, but the good news is you don't have to do it in your own strength. You don't have to live afraid of failure. You don't have to live in the pit just saying, I deserve everything. No, Jesus is saying, get up. But the good news is this, I'm gonna give you the strength to get up, but you still gotta get up. And you gotta invite God into your fears and try again. Here's the third type of excuse we make, is our fractures. Is our familiarity, our fears, our fractures. Our fractures are the things that people have done to us or things that we've been through. And I have met countless people whose past has become their prison because of the things that happened in their life. And I wanna be very tender when I say this, but I wanna be very honest when I say this. I have found women whose entire life has become about their abuse. I went through this thing when I was 12, but your life stopped when you were 12. Your body got older, but the rest of you stayed at 12. I found men who their entire life became about that time that they were fired and they just could not move forward. And it sounds like this.

Here's what our excuse sounds like. I'm this way because of them. And Jesus today is asking, do you wanna be healed? But we're stuck on, Jesus, do you know what my dad did to me? Do you know what my boss said to me? Do you know what my friends did that one time? And Jesus is like, yeah, yeah, I know. But do you wanna be healed? No, Jesus, you aren't listening to me. Do you know what my dad did to me? And Jesus is like, yeah, no, I know, but I'm here to heal. No, no. Do you know what he, are you dismissing what he did? He's like, no, he's like, I'm here to heal. No, no, no, you gotta listen to me, Jesus. I'm wounded. I am the way I am because of him. And he's like, you gotta make a choice. Are you just gonna stay there? And so we laid down on our mat for 38 years, making excuses for why we can't be healthy when the great physician is standing right in front of you. Yeah. And I know this is tough. Listen, tough love is what dads do. Okay, tough love is what dads do. And I care about this because there's a quote that has been haunting my soul for the last week, and here it is. If you don't heal what hurts you,

you'll bleed on people who didn't cut you. If you don't heal what hurts you, you will bleed on the people who did not even cut you. Listen, guys, we bleed on the people we love the most in our life when they're not even the ones who did it. And I have seen countless people, their relationships implode. We sabotage our present because of what happened to us in our past. That's why this matters. I have seen couples get divorced. Why? Because one of them refused to move forward because of something that happened in the past, and they keep rehearsing it and rehearsing it and telling their spouse, do you remember what they did to me? Do you know, do you remember what they did? And you're like, I know, of course I know. You've been telling me for 38 years. Won't you get healthy? No, no, you're not listening to me. You don't appreciate my story. Why are you trying to fix me? Because you're stuck 38 years ago. And what happens is I've seen marriages, listen, listen, where the hurting person, all they do is they're bleeding on everybody. And then their spouse leaves them. And then they're like, I knew it, everybody leaves me.

When they don't understand, they're the one who actually pushed them away because they refused to get healed because they were living in their excuse and their injury had become their identity and they were repelling everybody around them. And you'll bleed on people who didn't even cut you. I've seen people who refused to get married because they saw their own parents blow up. I've seen couples who are married, refuse to have children, and they would never say it like this, but they refuse to have children because they're afraid they're gonna do to them what their dad did to them. And you end up cutting off the next generation because of unresolved pain. And Jesus is saying, do you want to be healed? But we're too busy hiding in our excuses. But here's the good news, here's the good news. Your history may explain you, but it does not have to define you. Listen, there's reasons for all this stuff, but you don't have to live in that place. All those things are real, but you have a decision to make. Will you continue replaying your fears and your familiarities and your fractures, or will you and I allow God to heal us? Guys, you don't have to be a victim any longer.

I don't have to be a victim any longer. Your friends, your family, your spouse, your kids, they don't have to be a victim any longer. Your injury does not have to be your identity. I love this thought that your condition does not have to be your conclusion. How you are today does not have to be how you end because Jesus is here to say, do you want to get well? Do you wanna get well? This man makes the excuse, and then Jesus looks right at this man's excuses, and he makes a proclamation in verse eight. It says, get up, pick up your mat, and walk. Can we read that together? Get up, pick up your mat, and walk. One more time. Get up, pick up your mat, and walk. What's the Father's heart here? The Father's heart is this, is that He wants us to take a step of faith. Listen, a good father wants his kids to have the courage to take a step of faith into their future. So after 38 years, here's what I love, after 38 years of not being able to walk, Jesus rolls on the scene with three commands. Get up, take up your mat, and do what you couldn't do before. It's time to walk forward, bro. And let me say this.

I see, again, not only men, but especially men. I see a lot of men want a better marriage, a deeper prayer life, freedom from addiction, meaning in their work, more holiness, healing in their souls, repairing their relationships, but they refuse to take the first step. We're just waiting for something magical. We're waiting for the angel to dip its wings in the water, poof, I'll be healed. We want the easy way. We just want something magically to happen in our life. And I want you to notice this. The miracle did not happen when the man was lying there thinking about it. Okay, listen. The miracle did not happen while the man was on Sunday morning taking notes. That's good, I'll read that note again in 25 years. My phone. Jesus said, get up, pick up your mat, and walk. That's when the miracle occurred. So here's the question. What does it mean to pick up your mat? What does it mean to pick up my mat? The mat, think about this for this man. The mat was the locator of his life, right? The mat was where he slept. Wherever the mat was, he was, right? And so in essence, the mat determined where he was. And so Jesus is saying, hey, bro,

you don't belong here any longer. You gotta change your geography from where you used to be. So what does that mean for us? Jesus sees this man who's put his life surrounded by completely broken situations and broken people and broken conversations. Everything around him is toxic. Everything around him is hurting. Everything around him is depressed. His mat was surrounded by dysfunction. He says, bro, you gotta get out of here. Like, I was thinking about this this week. How depressing would it be if the next verse is, and then Jesus came back to the pool the next day and the guy was still there. He's just hanging out with all the broken, depressed, toxic people. Hey, guys, what's up, you know? But that's what we do. Come on, guys. This is what we do. Okay, here's what it looks like. You got dressed up really nice this morning. We come in, we're like, ♪ I won't bow down, never will ♪ ♪ What a good, what a good, what a good, what a good ♪ Right, ha, ha, ha, at the video. All right, I'm gonna take some notes. And then we take our mat right back home and we put it in exactly the same place

it was this morning. And then we wonder, why is my life never changed? Why do I live in the same cycles? Because you're taking your mat back to the same place and the same people and the same conversations and the same sin. And Jesus today is saying, you gotta pick up, you gotta relocate yourself. You gotta get out of the things that you used to get into. Cut the ties to sin. Stop going back to that place. Come on, delete her phone number out of your phone. Cut off the old community. I hear dudes are like, I don't know why I keep going to the strip club. Because you take your mat over there and you drive home after work. Like, oh, how'd I get here? The same way you ended up with a bottle of rum in your hand because you, oh, I accidentally drove by the package store. Whoa, all right. Oh, why am I addicted to gambling? I don't know how I ended up in QT again with my scratch offs. Because you're taking your mat, you're taking your mat and you refuse to move it somewhere else. And Jesus says, pick up your mat. Get out of here, move someplace else. I see dudes who have their same frat bro friends

38 years later. And these are the worst dudes. They're the worst examples on your life. They're the most toxic people having toxic conversations. And you're like, bro, why you on my back? My wife always says this too. It's just my bros, we go play basketball. Why are you hanging out with broken people trying to get healthy? Why are you listening to your single friends trying to tell you how to be married? This dude's had three divorces and six baby mamas and you're listening to him tell you that you should leave your wife? You gotta pick up your mat and get out of there, bro. You gotta relocate your situation if you're ever going to get free. Get up, pick up your mat, and walk out of there. Listen, I know this is gonna sound lame. Men, you need to get in a small group because you need some friends. You need some real friends who are gonna encourage your life, not drag you. Guys, especially if you're single, you need a guy in your life who's been married for 25. years to tell you. Don't listen to all your other single idiot friends tell you how to live your life when theirs is broken. No, you need some mentors. And this church is full of mentors. This church is full of healthy men. This church is full of great dads who we need to spend more time around. And listen, Jesus today, he's asking, do you want to be healed? Well, I had a bad father. That's not what I'm asking. Will people hurt me? That's not what I'm asking. I feel like a failure.

That's not what I'm asking. I'm addicted. That's not what I'm asking. I'm so afraid that if I try again, it's not going to work. That's not what I'm asking. The question is, do you want to be healed? Not are you healed? Do you want to be healed? And I know when you've been sitting in it for 38 years, it's natural. It's a little scary to be like, man, if I actually stepped up to the plate and I actually said, I'm going to be a good dad, could I do it? Because my identity has just been, I'm a bad dad because my dad was a bad dad. And so that's just how I am. No, no, no. I know it's risky. I know there's fear with that. But the truth is guys, no angel is going to come down and flap its wings. No counselor is going to say a magic word and it's going to somehow set you free. No, no, no, no, no, no. There's no sin that's somehow going to be the thing you're finally looking for. Maybe on that third affair, it'll finally, no. The truth is only Jesus can heal you. And listen, I know you're like, you don't think I'm trying, bro. You don't think I'm trying. I went to the counseling appointment with my wife. I read page 45 to 52. Like she asked me, I don't even read. I had to stop the Braves game and read the stupid book, but I did it. And it didn't work. And we went on date night. It still didn't work. And I tried to do this for my kids and they didn't even say thank you. You don't think I'm trying. Here's my answer guys. Here's the problem. You've tried everything except for Jesus. You tried church, you tried counseling, you tried reading a nice book, but you never came to your father who can put an arm around your shoulder and show you what it means to be a good dad. And he can start fathering your soul to heal the broken places of who you are. So then you can turn around and father the next generation that God has put into your life. How are we going to get there? You got to get up. You got to pick up your mat and you got to walk. You got to get up. You got to pick up your mat and you got to walk. You got to get up. You got to pick up your mat and you got to walk. You got to get up. You got to pick up your mat and you got to walk. You have to get up. You have to get up. The first step is to get up, to get unstuck, to pick up your mat, which means you have to put down your excuses, pick up your mat and walk. Get up. Get up. Your wife needs to see you get up. Your kids need to see you get up. Your past needs to see you get up. Your future needs to see you get up. You need to see you get up. The demon that's been haunting you needs to see you get up. You need to get up. You don't have to have it all figured out, but you do have to move forward. And so, man, I'm going to invite you to move forward. Pack this place. Pack this place right here. If you're in the chapel, just move forward over there.

If you're online, man, I dare you to get up and just move to the front of the room. You need movement in your soul. Some of you are saying right now, I need a new story. Some of you are saying, I need a new story. Come on, man. Come forward. Some of you are saying, I need a new story. Some of you are like saying, I don't need a new story, but I do need healing. I do need healing. Some of you are like, man, I've actually been doing really good, but I actually camped out in health and thought that I didn't need to keep moving. You actually got stuck in a good place, but it wasn't the best place. You need to get up, pick up your mat. Come on, fill it in right here. Get up, pick up your mat and walk. Get unstuck. I know we're all in different places. They just get unstuck. And it's fine to be in the aisles. The power's not in being at the front. The power's in moving. Moving. Just move. Just move. You just need to move. Get unstuck. Let me say this, guys. I feel this so strongly. Everybody talks about the men who didn't make it. You know who did make it? You. You, Michael. You made it. You made it. You made it. You made it. You made it. You made it. You made it. You made it. You made it. You made it. You made it. You made it. You definitely made it. You made it through the days you didn't have the strength to keep moving. You made it when you didn't want to go to work, but you did it anyways, because you had to put food on the table. You made it when nobody says thank you. And you felt like you couldn't even feel an emotion about that. It's not your job to complain to everybody, but it is your job to talk to God about it. So I want to challenge you to actually start having a real prayer life with God. I know that sounds lame. What that means is just talk to God. Talk to God about what's happening inside your life. He's a good dad who actually cares what you feel. God cares when nobody else cares. And I want to say this. The father says this about Jesus when he's being baptized. He says, you are my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. In other words, I'm proud of you. And guys, I wanted to say this. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you for leading. I'm proud of you for loving. I'm proud of you for serving. I'm proud of you for protecting. I'm proud of you for being a man of God. And I know some of you are like, I'm not those things. I know. I'm calling you higher. I'm calling you higher. I'm calling some of you to step into those things maybe for the first time in your life. And here's the deal. You can't do it in your own strength. So stop trying. What you got to do is just commit to the process. And then just say, God, I'm going to try, but I need your help. Because in and of myself,

I cannot do this. And God's like, that's exactly where I need you to be. Just keep showing up. Listen, your kids do not need a perfect parent, but they need a present parent. Your wife, if you're married, does not need a perfect husband, but she needs a husband who shows up. And I know you're like, when I look in the mirror, I see a failure. Listen, I see somebody who Jesus died for. Better than that, I see somebody that Jesus rose again for, which means you get a second chance. And some of you are like, I already got a second chance. Well, here's your third one. Because the definition of a man is not somebody who just falls down and doesn't get back up. No, even though a righteous man falls seven times, he gets back up. The problem is when you fall and sit there. And I'm just challenging some of you men. I know we all got our own different stories. We all got our own different real things that have happened in our life. But listen, if you fell down and just stayed down, today's the day to get back up, to get back up on your feet, pick up your mat, and just start walking into the life that God has for you, to be strong and courageous. And I want to just give this thought to you, okay? When God wanted to make David a king, he didn't give him a crown. He gave him a Goliath. He gave him something to defeat. And listen, I know you live in a culture that wants to pacify you. It wants to neuter you. It wants to rob you of your strength. But you were made to be strong. And you were made to fight. And some of you need to get your fight back. So start fighting for the things that matter. Don't fight with your family. Fight for your family. Don't fight with your bride. Fight for your bride. And some of you went through some really dark spaces. Here's the beautiful thing. When God leads you through the dark spaces, through the valley of the shadow, out on the other side, now you're well able to go back into the darkness and to rescue the other people who are still stuck there. So that thing that you went through, it's not your curse. It can actually be leveraged into becoming your blessing. You may not have had a dad. Okay, what are you going to do about it? Is the explanation going to become your excuse? Or are you going to be like, no, no, no, I'm actually, the generational curse stops with me. I'm actually going to turn that thing into a blessing and I'm going to give away something different than what I received, okay? And what it looks like, today's the day to put down your mat, stand up, and walk. Re-engage your family. Re-engage your kids. Here's what I mean. It is Father's Day. They should call you, but if they're not going to call you, men go first. You call them. I know it's awkward. You call them. You reconnect. You re-engage. Re-engage with your calling. I don't know, personalize this. Re-engage.

Whatever God's calling you to take that step towards, that's your job to take that step on the other side of today. So let's bow our heads. Father, I thank you for these men, these men who are men of God. And I know some of them are currently operating in that space. Others have fallen down. And today they're saying, no, today's the day I get back up. And so I call them into manhood. I call them into being a man of God. I call them into responsibility. I call them into Christ-likeness. I call them into discipleship, to follow in the footsteps of the rabbi, Jesus Christ. And listen, some of us today, I'm just going to say this. We need to pray this prayer. And I put this prayer together for us. It's going to be up here on the screen, and it is a man's prayer. And so ladies, you're going to have to contextualize a little bit of this, but I want to invite especially, not only the men, but especially the men to pray this. It's up here on the screens. And if you can pray this with all of you, I want us to pray this together, not repeat after me, but together. God, today, I lay down my, I got this, and confess that I need your help. I can't fix myself. I've hurt myself and others, and I need I need your help, I want a new story, I need to be healed. So I repent of my sin and I turn from my plans. I turn to Jesus who gave his life for me. Jesus Christ, I declare that you are my King and my Savior. I receive what you did for me. And because of your sacrifice on the cross, I am forgiven and free. I am no longer a victim. I walk in victory because of Jesus. And today I draw the line. The generational curse stops with me. The cycle of addiction and pain and abuse stops with me. I may have received brokenness, but I will pass on blessings. Excuses will not be my prison. My injury will not be my identity. My strength is in the Lord.

Help me to be the man of God and the leader of my home you've called me to be. Teach me what it looks like to be healthy. I will not stay where I am. I will not stay who I am. I will get up and walk into the life you have for me for the rest of my life. I am now blessed to be a blessing in Jesus' name. Amen. Come on, let's celebrate that. Come on, guys. I'm proud of y'all. I'm proud of you men. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you. I love you. Here's the deal, in just a second, we're gonna pray and dismiss. I'll dismiss the service. I want to give a few thoughts right here, though. If you are here in the front, do me a favor, take like a small step back, because in just a second, when I pray and say amen, we're gonna have some prayer leaders down front, okay? Here's what I'm saying, this is just for the guys. Like ladies, if you need somebody to pray with.

Again, I know today's a little sensitive, but if you have a look for the people that are wearing lanyards, okay, and so you guys can go ahead and start coming forward. Yeah, thank y'all. You may need to talk to somebody and just pray with somebody before you leave here today. Like, we also have this thing called One Step up here in the center lobby on the right. Here's what a One Step looks like today. You can walk up there, and this is literally what your conversation's gonna sound like. All right, so I walked down front when Johnson said to. Now what? Okay, that's the conversation. And then they can say like, hey, have you tried this? Like, walk with this, hey, what about this, you know? Right, there's some guys up there. If you need a Bible, go up there. We'll actually get a tangible Bible, like a real Bible, into your hands before you leave here today. I just want you to know that you're not here alone. In fact, I'd say this is one of the things that always breaks my heart, is that guys will come to this church for five years and not know anybody, and your wife doesn't count. You're like, I got one friend here. Yeah, your wife does not count. You need guys, you need friends, you need dudes,

you need bros, right? And so again, that's where a small group comes in, but I would just even challenge you with this. When I say amen in a second, turn around and meet at least like one person that's standing next to you and like learn their name, and don't forget it six seconds later, okay? Learn their name. You know, I might even wanna like grab like five dudes and just go to Waffle House. That's what I'm talking about. Like, take your families with you. Like, don't be like, where's my husband? Like, I don't know, you understand what I'm saying. All right, so I'm gonna pray and dismiss, but here's what I want you to do. I want you to like linger, like take some pictures. Like, there's like legit popsicles out there. I know it's maybe manly, maybe not. I don't know, but have a popsicle. But we got like the little push pots for the little kids too. So let's pray, and then let's just celebrate what God is doing here. So Father, I thank you for the fact that you're a good father, and you're imparting that to these men right here. Whether or not they have biological kids or not, you're putting a father's heart into them to be able to mentor, to be able to coach,

to be able to love, to be able to be healed and healthy. I know there's a stigma around that in our culture today. But I thank you that you're raising up healthy, strong, godly, loving, protecting, vulnerable warrior men in our midst. And we welcome that. And I know that that's just a reflection of your heart being imparted to them. And so I bless them that this would not just be a one-time thing that I went down that one time, but no, actually, this is gonna start a new chapter in many of these men's life. And I bless them to go and live this thing out and continue it once they walk out these doors today. And I pray, God, that the good news that we have a father in heaven, we may be fatherless here, but we can never actually say we're fatherless because you'll never leave us, you'll never forsake us. You're a good provider, you're a good protector. You are God, our father. May that good news be on our lips throughout this weeks until we gather again. And I bless these men, I bless these women, I bless these children, I bless these families in the great name of Jesus. And everybody said, amen, amen, amen. God bless you guys.

Happy Father's Day. Thank you. Thanks for being a part of Victory Church on the Pando app. We hope this content was a blessing to you, but we want you to know that you're not done yet because we want to hear from you. So send us a letter and tell us things like what God is doing in your life, how we can pray for you, or even content that you would like to see us create in the future. We just want you to know that we see you, you're important to us, and we'd love to continue to create some things in the future that will bless you. So send us a letter, and we hope to hear from you soon.