ReGen The Shadow of Death

You have been borrowed with a price, so you're not your own. What I love about this is only God can tell you who you are. And by his grace and mercy, he says, you are chosen, you are forgiven, you are a new creation, you are a child of God, you are free from sin, you're one with Christ, you're created for good works, you're victorious, you're no longer a slave, you're accepted, you're healed, you're surrounded by God's mercy, you're beautiful, you're not alone, you're strong, you're blessed, you're special to God, you're fearfully and wonderfully made, and you're God's beloved. Praise the Lord. Well, praise the Lord. Did anybody come to praise the Lord? We're going to do it together. Let's stand. He deserves everything that we can bring to him, all of our praise. He's given us joy. He's given it to us freely. And so we're just going to exalt him this night. I'm choosing joy, I'm choosing peace, to believe your word when my soul carries doubt. I'm choosing life abundantly, to believe your promise even when I cannot see. Oh, a song of praise I'll bring for your joy of abounding suffering. On a mountain high or a valley low, my soul will bless you, Lord. Oh, I'll rejoice again and again I'll say rejoice. Come on, we're going to tell our soul to rejoice. It doesn't matter what the circumstance looks like. We're going to rejoice in the Lord always. Come on, let's choose it. I'm choosing faith to trust your lead, to believe your word will clear through my adversity. I'm choosing hope because you're my key. I believe without a doubt you've won the victory. Oh, a song of praise I'll bring for your joy of abounding suffering.

On a mountain high or a valley low, my soul will bless you, Lord. Oh, I'll rejoice again and again I'll say rejoice. Oh, I tell my soul to rejoice in the Lord, rejoice, because he's always good. So rejoice always. Rejoice always. In the good and the bad we rejoice always. In the night and the dark we rejoice always. Always rejoice, always. And we'll sing it again, rejoice always. Oh, the night closes in, rejoice always. Oh, I caught the joy, rejoice always. Oh, a song of praise I'll bring for your joy of abounding suffering. On a mountain high or a valley low, my soul will bless you, Lord. Oh, I'll rejoice again and again I'll say rejoice. Come on, let's put our hands together because he's good. He's always good. He remains good, completely good. Yeah. So rejoice always. Yeah. Rejoice always. Oh. I got the joy, joy, joy, joy, joy. It's down in my heart. Down in my heart. I got the joy, joy, joy, joy, joy. Down in my heart always. Come on, give Him praise. He remains good. We're so grateful to know Him.

God is good. We have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us who reminds us how good our God is. Because there's stuff all around us that wants to creep in and have a narrative that will pique us. The same way it happened in the garden where it makes you start to doubt. Maybe He's not good. Maybe He doesn't have the best for me. Maybe He can't handle all the things that are coming my way. But I'm here to tell you, and we're all here to tell you, we all come together. We need community so that we can remind one another of how good the God is that we serve. My name is Angela. I have a new life in Christ, and I've been set free. I've been delivered. I'm being delivered from control, from pride, from self-protection. And I can tell you that I know and I remember, and I have to sometimes make monuments and leave little trails, little notes, kind of like hands on a grotto, just to remind myself, oh, yeah, He did that. He's still doing that. So when fear and anxiety and all those things come up and something tries to make you not trust and something tries to make you doubt, we look to the one who knows all, and it's His Spirit that's living in us that reminds us that our God is good and that He's powerful. And whatever it is that we're facing, He's bigger. And it doesn't matter what it is. He has power over it. And that's the God that we have the privilege to lift up this evening. We're going to keep doing that together. He came from glory. Took on flesh to save the lost. Grace and mercy. Depleted upon the cross. Our redemption. He's the hope for all mankind. One name over everything. One name over everything. Come on, let's lift our voice, say Jesus.

Jesus over everything. He reigns forevermore. This is our song. Our song for all eternity. Jesus Christ is Lord. He's Lord of all. Who can rival? How resurrected He came in one moment. He brought death to His knees. He brought the power. All in all authority. To one name over everything. One name over everything. Jesus over everything. He reigns forevermore. Our song for all eternity. Jesus Christ is Lord. Come on, let's sing it again. Say Jesus over everything. Jesus over everything. He reigns forevermore. Oh, this is our song. Our song for all eternity. Jesus Christ is Lord. Oh, He's Lord. He's Lord of all. Jesus is Lord. Oh, He's Lord. Over pain, over shame, over all anxiety, over troubles and all pain, over sickness and disease, for here I am. Come on, sing it. All praise the Himalayans.

There's only one name. Oh it's over everything. Over death and all sin, over hell, over the grave, darkness bows and demons flee at the mention of His name. For He reigns on the throne. All praise to Him alone. One name over everything. Jesus over everything. He reigns forevermore. Our song for all eternity. Jesus Christ is Lord. Say Jesus over all. Jesus over everything. He reigns forevermore. Our song for all eternity. Jesus Christ is Lord. He's our song. Our song for all eternity. Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus Christ is Lord. Oh He's Lord of all. You are Lord. Lord you are. You're Lord Jesus. Nothing's too big for our God. Nothing's too great in His sight. So I just wanna speak the name of Jesus. Over every heart and every mind. Cause I know there is peace within your prayers. I speak Jesus. I only speak Jesus' name. And I just wanna speak the name of Jesus. Till every dark addiction starts to break. Declaring there is hope and there is freedom. I speak Jesus. Your name is power. Your name is healing. Your name is life. Come on you can break every stronghold. Break every stronghold. Shine through the shadows. Hurry light the sky. And I just wanna speak the name of Jesus. Till every dark addiction starts to break. Declaring there is hope and there is freedom. I speak Jesus. Your name is power. Your name is healing. Your name is life. Break every stronghold. Shine through the shadows. Hurry light the sky. Oh we proclaim this evening that your name is power. Your name is healing. Your name is life. Break every stronghold. Shine through the shadows. Come on, I want somebody to shout with me. Shout Jesus from the mountains and Jesus in the streets. Jesus in the darkness for every enemy. Jesus for my family. I speak the holy name of Jesus.

Come on, there's no other name. There's no other name like Jesus. We're going to shout it from the rooftops. Shout Jesus from the mountains and Jesus in the streets. Jesus in the darkness for every enemy. Jesus for my family. I speak the holy name of Jesus. Said your name is power. Your name is healing. Lord, your name is life. Break every stronghold. Shine through the shadows. Burn like a fire. Oh, I know that I know that your name is power. Lord, your name is healing. Your name is life. Break every stronghold. Shine through the shadows. Burn like a fire. And I just want to speak the name of Jesus over every heart and every life. Because I know that there is peace within your heart. We speak Jesus. We speak the name of Jesus today. Lord, there's power in your name. There's healing in your name. There's deliverance in your name. God, we thank you. Thank you for the power that we have in you, through you. Lord, have your way in us this evening.

Prepare our hearts to hear from you. Do the work in us. We love you. It's in his name we pray. Can somebody give God a hand? He's great. He's mighty. There's nobody like him. Thanks for lifting his name up with us. You can have a seat. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Good evening, region. So hello to Tipton, Blue Springs, Lee Summit, Johnson County, Online, and Crossroads. So Johnson County is going to be launching officially just a few weeks, and then Crossroads is set to launch in January 2027. So that is awesome. Very good. So we're going through the psalms. So I get to deal with tonight, just shortly, but the most famous psalm, which is Psalm 23. Before I want to jump into it, I just want to ask you this question. Are you in a hard time or a hard place or a hard season right now? Whenever I check in, I always go, my name is Jeff, new life

in Christ. Thank you. And I can go back to probably about 12 or 13 years ago, going through a divorce, being an executive pastor at a big church, and through all of that. The reason I know it's a dark time, it's weird. I've been out of town a lot lately. I've been traveling. I work with missions and stuff, and it's weird. So don't psychoanalyze me. When I'm away from home, I always have nightmares, and the nightmares are always about that season. I don't know how to work through that. I think it's subconscious. I'm not saying I haven't healed. I'm not saying re-engineering hasn't worked, but it lets me know that that season was so impactful, it was dark. Does that make sense? So I have a quote. There's a book. A guy like Henry Cloud, he became famous because he helped with John Townsend write Boundaries, but he wrote a book called Integrity, and he had this definition of it, and it was this. Integrity is the courage to meet the demands of reality. So most of you know I also train counselors, I get to oversee our counseling centers at all of our campuses. And a lot of times people will come in and I do this and you do this too,

it's the why question. And I wanna tell you before I jump into this, the why question's a legitimate question. All through the Psalms, people are asking why have you done this? Jesus asked the why question. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? It's a legitimate question, helps us process our emotions, our thinking, things like that. But eventually as you're working through the why question, you have to get to the what are you going to do. And because the situation warrants, you have to live in what's called reality, fair enough? We could wish for a different world, we could wish for a different past. This is something a guy taught me years ago, the most powerful question you can really ask yourself at times is this, when will I give up the possibility of having a different past? Okay, just let that sink in for a second. So I wanna jump in and have a little fun with this, but the Psalm we're going to read tonight is Psalm 23. There's one verse up on the screen that I'll show later, but it's the most famous verse, it's an encouraging verse. I mean, Psalm, it's a powerful Psalm, it's always used often in funerals. Funeral parlors will have this on their brochures and things like that. So an anthropomorphism, what is that?

That in literature is where an animal takes on the traits of a human being, okay, it's very common. So Psalm 23 opens up with the Lord is my what? Which makes you a what? Sheep. So just for fun, just indulge me, I want you to hear this and not spiritualize it like God's my shepherd and run to the New Testament, I want you to think of yourself as a lamb because this Psalm starts out pretty good. As my granddaughter would say now, peak, it's peak, it's strong, and I'm gonna read through it, I want you to hear it like a lamb would hear it, not a person following God, just as a lamb. So here we go. The Lord is my shepherd, so, little lamb, sheep, God's your shepherd, pretty good deal. I shall not want, very famous, you're not gonna have any needs. He makes me to lie down in green pastures, isn't that beautiful? So you have lots to eat, you get to relax, you can lie down, that means there's no danger. He leads me, so poetic here, so poetic, he leads me beside the still waters. Who wouldn't like that? You're hanging out with your other lamb friends, going along, it's good. He restores my soul. I didn't know lambs have souls, but stick with me,

here we go. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. Now, he makes you lie down, so he's with you there, he leads you beside still waters, he leads you in the paths of righteousness, and then it says, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. What? If you don't read the psalm, really getting into it, that seems a little out of place. God's my shepherd, I'm laying down in green pastures, still waters, he's leading me, of course I'm a good little lamb, I'm following him, and then also, I'm following, stick with me, I'm following who? And I end up, where? The shadow of death. Now, here's the deal, I didn't find it on my own. Somebody what led me there? Just let that sink in a second. The Hebrew word translated, shadow of death, sel mewet, they used to think it was a compound, sel meant shadow, mewet meant death, shadow of death in the King James, that's the translation, a lot of scholars, though, don't think it's a compound word, it goes together, so it's not so much shadow of death, it would mean this, and think about this with your life, deep darkness, thick gloom, utter darkness. Now, maybe you're not there tonight, hope you're not,

but if you're in a region, there's a good chance you'll remember when you were there. And for some of you, I really believe this, getting up and coming to regions, probably the biggest step of courage you take, because you're in that, you're in that, feels heavy, feels hopeless, you don't come out of inspiration, you almost come out of duty. So the question I would ask is where are you. So if you put some... Seeing as you look, Psalm 23, three and four together, just read it together. He restores my soul. all of us are gonna be challenged in life. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. No matter who you are, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. So here's the question. Let's go back and pretend you're a lamb. Why is your shepherd leading you through the valley of shadow of death? Did he get lost? Is he not a good shepherd? Well, you can't say that because you're a shepherd too. Jesus, God. So historically, why would that happen? I get asked all the time, how long's regen take? How hard is it?

And how much do I have to share? So here's the perfect regen. If you're new tonight, takes a week. Super easy, and you don't have to share anything you don't want to. In and out, you're healed. I'd be a good shepherd, wouldn't I? I could sell that. I'll give you three things, I'll be done. We want easier, safer, and faster. Now, why didn't God make it easier, safer, and faster? I don't know, but that's not reality. It's just not. What shepherds would do, historic, ancient Palestine days, they would have to move their flocks from feeding place to feeding place. In order to feed the flock, they would have to go through dangerous terrain on purpose. If they didn't, they wouldn't get to the next feeding spot. So they intentionally took them through the darkness to get to the new feeding spot. Is that easy or hard? So here's the sales pitch. If you do region right, it's hard. Can you figure out a way to make it easier? No. Next, when they would go on these paths with lambs and sheep, they would be more vulnerable. To what? Attack.

Predators. So is it safer? No. It was a place of vulnerability. I want a safe place at region. We love that word. We can weaponize that word. You ever had someone weaponize it? I just don't feel safe with you. Well, I'm a safe person. Why are you struggling with safety? That's a counselor trick. Don't use that on your spouse. That's not fair. It's true, but it's not fair. Places of vulnerability. You know, it's funny. Well, and I'm not, I don't wanna exaggerate things. I hate it when preachers do that. But hopefully this year, I'll go back to the Middle East. I'm gonna work with some counselors, minister to Muslims in some places. Right now, they're getting bombed. I hope they quit getting bombed. But here's always the deal. Do you think it's safe to go? I guess the question is, do I think it's safe to stay? We have this idea we're looking for safety all the time, but what I would submit, the shepherd will take you to places

where you'll be more vulnerable than you ever wanted to go. And safety's not the number one priority. The last one, is it faster? Nope. Better places are on the other side of loss. So what is region? Harder, riskier, and slower. I'll give you this quote. C.S. Lewis, Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Aslan is a lion, the lion, the great lion. Oh, said Susan, I thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion. Safe, said Mr. Beaver. Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn't safe, but he's the king. He's good, I tell you. If you're in a dark place, this is hard, it's risky, and it's slow. Why should you go? Because he's with you, and so are we. And that's reality. And anyone selling you something else at church, they're lying to you. But on the other side of it, is the green pastures and the still waters. There's just no easy way to get there. Elysia, come up and share your testimony tonight. Thank you. .

. . . . It's a very long walk. I'm sorry. The very long walk. No one wants to fall. Okay. Hi everyone. Good evening. My name is Alicia Allen. I'm grateful to say that I have a new life in Christ. I forgot to pause and I'm recovering from anger, codependency, people pleasing, fear and anxiety, masturbation, pride and grief. I know you heard a really long list of struggles, but my prayer is that through this testimony, my salvation and God's perfect love is conveyed. Before region, I was a very disappointed and angry person. That anger began with people and evolved to almost being angry with God, to also being angry with God. I was raised by my mother and stepdad and four other siblings under a blended household. My mom and biological father were married and had my brother and me. My stepdad had a daughter from a previous marriage and then together, my stepdad and mom had two younger sisters.

My two younger sisters, obviously. I am also a pastor's kid and was raised in the church. I grew up going to church almost every day of the week. I'm not lying. I knew the Lord at a young age and was baptized for the first time when I was 15. God's works and ways were no secret to me. And as a teenager, I often led others to Christ and even witnessed the gospel to my peers in my high school. That's all the good stuff, right? Y'all wanna hear why I'm here? So do I. And I lost my place. Okay. Yes, okay. As I became a young adult, the gaping hole in my heart started to be apparent. From the day I was born, my biological father was absent. He would come in and out of my life through my childhood but was never fully present. The rejection and abandonment I experienced from him all those years evolved from disappointment to deep-rooted anger and eventually began to explode all over my life. Once in college, I began to live that good old party life and tried to fit in with my peers but I couldn't run from God's hand on my life. Even after partying the night before, I was in church the next morning,

praying and asking for forgiveness of my sins, of all things, right? And though I was trying to get away from God, most individuals on campus knew me as one of the church girls. My college years were extended because after the party life wasn't enough, I fell into multiple relationships that pushed me further from God. By now in my mid-20s, I was like, God, you said I'd be married with children by now. What are we doing? It's okay, I got this. So I moved in with a guy and tried to start a family but it didn't work out. And after five years of disappointment and his constant cheating, I finally walked away after finding out that he was HIV positive. Have you ever looked up and realized the harder you try to run from God, you find that he is still right there with you, holding you through every storm? There are multiple moments I wondered how God could still be near me through the hardest times in my life but he's never left my side. And even though the sleepless, even through sleepless and lonely nights, I never thought I deserved his love,

especially after all of my decisions to fall into sin. But, a strong conjunction, all God has ever called me is daughter. And I could go on and on about the miracles and favor that have followed me even after being too afraid to take the next step. But the next few years would test the, sorry. But the next few years would test the rocky relationship I had with God even more. In 2020, my stepdad contracted COVID and never. recovered. We never got the chance to say goodbye, and his death rocked my world. Two weeks before my stepdad's untimely death, my grandmother passed. And I remember sitting in her funeral, and all I could think was, how is my dad not here with us? He was always present, always. That was the first time I ever felt my stepdad's absence, because like I had already just said, he was always there. Roughly two years later, I received a phone call from a hospital telling me my estranged biological father was on his deathbed. And I forgot tissue, as you can see. It's fine. It's great. I'm great. There are allergies. Sorry. Roughly two years later, I received a phone call from a hospital telling me my estranged biological father was on his deathbed, and they could do nothing else for him. Prayers were answered, and my father lived on for two more years, allowing my brother and I to reconcile with him. It's a blessing. A few days after Father's Day in 2024, my biological father passed as well. During this season of my life, I was very reclusive. I was so broken and afraid of getting hurt that the church I was attending made me feel even more alone. I was hesitant to build relationships, and that hindered me and caused more wounds at that church. After years of torment with the struggles in my heart and not receiving what I needed at church, I realized I needed something more. Roughly three years ago, I began therapy with a Christian therapist. For years, she has helped walk me through the struggles while reminding me how God feels about me. But even with therapy, I felt like something was still missing, and I found myself at Region. I was sitting in service

one Sunday and had been fighting to learn more information about Region, but I kept being bombarded with the idea of going. You should go. You should go. You should go. Really? Okay. The first time was when Pastor Phil was making an announcement about who Region was for and said, I'm going to try to do my best, Pastor Phil voice, Regeneration is for anyone who has ever sinned and needs recovery. Thank you. Thank you. I remember sitting in the seat thinking, that includes me. Wow. There was another encounter as well, and then I finally realized that God was trying to get my attention. Hello, ma'am. Just as Psalms 34, 18 says, the Lord is close to all whose hearts are crushed by pain, and he is always ready to restore the repentant one. That's what God was doing for me, trying to get my attention so he could restore me. My first night at Region, I was anxious and fearful. I didn't know what to expect, and though I hoped to meet people or a program that could help me find solutions, I was skeptical, like all of us, right, of that happening because of my past experiences with people. But Region was more than answer prayer for me. While in step group, I began to see God's character clearly, and that led me to desire to understand more about him. By the end of step three, I decided to give my will and life back to God. I fully trusted who he was and who he could be in my life, and he continues to show up strong in my life ever since. I also gained multiple relationships with women that are down for me no matter what. Okay, for those who don't know what down for me means, that means they got my back and I got theirs. Okay, that was another slang. If I'm in trouble and going to fall, they're going to catch me. Got it? Okay. Lost my place again. Sorry. One second. I can always ask for prayer or support, and each of them will be there for me as some of them are here tonight. Really appreciate you guys. Learning God's character finally helped me see that he was for me, that he loved me and called me daughter always, that I was never alone because he was always with me. Knowing these simple aspects helped heal how I saw other people. I give so much more grace to others because I was once given grace beyond what I deserved. I learned how to forgive others and how to set boundaries when necessary. I also gained tools to utilize

during my healing process now and forevermore. During recovery, since I was finally seeing Christ change my life in real time, I decided to get baptized again. That day occurred in December, 2025, here at Abundant Life. And the support in the room was beyond what I ever expected. My family drove from multiple places around the Metro, and I had a friend come in support of my decision as well. The many people who were also in support of the changes, wow, I did not re-grammar that sentence. Okay, there were also many other people who could see the changes that Jesus was doing in my life. And unfortunately, there's too many to count and too many to name. And some of them are here tonight, and I thank you guys for coming. Some are viewing online. I thank you guys as well. But I'm grateful for each and every one of you. I graduated from Regen in January of this year, and I began serving as a leader in May with our first group, with my co-leader, Sammy. And it is growing me in ways I never knew I needed. I am also grateful for each of the ladies that are in the group. They each help me see God working each week. I also serve in First Steps. There is something beautiful about giving someone else a plate of food.

I guess it's hospitable. The biggest blessing from finishing Regen is I have community. I live for Monday nights, even if I'm tired. I'm very tired tonight. By the end of the night, I will be revived. And they hold me accountable. I know I now face conflict instead of running from it. The old areas of my life that are gone are the desire to self-please, codependency, people-pleasing, fear and anxiety. I can now identify pride and immediately correct the behavior. And I walk consistently with laying down anger. I know that being angry is not a sin, but using your anger to harm someone else is. And I never wanna be that person again. Though I still miss my loved ones, I now allow myself to feel and then find joy in the same moments. Because long ago, a moment of grief held me captive for months. Now it's just a moment. Thank the Lord. I now see the fruit of the labor I spent a year in Regen pruning and planting. God's spirit flows through me and others often remind me by what they see in me daily. My only desire now is to please God in all that I do.

And plot twist, I was going to sing for you, but I'm hoarse. So if you guys know the lyrics to Whatta God, if the highest place I reach is at your feet, then I've done it all. If the best thing that I've seen is your glory, then I've seen it all. Your love has changed my life and I'm forever satisfied. God, you really are my everything. If one word is the only words you speak, then I've heard it all. If I feel your heart and never see your hand, I still have it all. No treasure of this life could ever satisfy. God, you truly are my everything. I know the promises God has for me are still in the works. And just as Jeremiah 31 and three says, the Lord appeared from of old to me saying, yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness, have I drawn you and continued my faithfulness to you. So here we are. If you're new here to region, or even if you've been here for some months, I encourage you to keep coming back. Those words stuck with me on the hardest days. And even when I didn't want to come, I would remember, keep coming back. And I would find myself in the car driving here another night.

If you stick to Monday nights, it will leave room for God's change in your life. My prayer is that through my testimony, you witnessed God's salvation and perfect love in my life. And if he did it for me, he would surely do it for you too. Good evening. My name is Alicia Allen, and I'm grateful to say that I have a new life in Christ. Thank you for watching!