You are called to release the right to justice on your terms and trust God with your pain. Instead of letting offense turn your scars into boundaries, allow your testimony to point to His faithfulness. Today, choose to let truth define who you are rather than your past hurts.
Without further ado, would you guys stand and let's honor the man of God bringing the word. Thank
you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, guys. Well, good morning, Real Church.
Good morning. It is so good to be in the house of the Lord this morning. As pastor David said, my name is Todd Siddig. I have the joy and privilege of serving on our worship team here. I'm also 1 of our Sunday hosts, that's what miss Mariah was doing this morning.
And every once in a while, I get to do this, and they entrust me with a microphone for an extended period of time. Now, this is kind of a milestone moment for me because this is only my second time speaking at Real Church. So whereas before I said, this 1 time I spoke at real church, now I can say, sometimes I speak at real church. So it feels like a pretty big deal. And before I get into the word today, for those of you that maybe don't know me and my family as well, I kinda wanted to give you an introduction to who we are, you feel like you kinda know us a little bit before we get into this.
So first off, I'm married to my amazing wife, Heidi. She is amazing. Can I get an amen? Yeah. She's beautiful inside and out.
She loves Jesus and man, he has used her over the years to sharpen me in so many ways and call out the man that God has called me to be. Guys, if you're not married, pray that you get a wife who prays for you and does not put up with your flesh. It's a tremendous blessing. But I do feel like, that being said, Jesus was kind of kind to me because Heidi's baking skills are straight up just anointed. And it makes the sharpening a lot easier to swallow when you've got delicious bread to follow it up with.
So I've got Jesus who's the "bread of life". I've got Heidi's bread, so I'm full in spirit and in body and it's a great thing. That being said though, we are on this keto thing right now, which means a lot less bread. So if you could be praying for our family during this difficult time, I would appreciate it. We've been married for going on 14 years now and we've got 4 amazing kids.
We've got Theo, my oldest son. He's 12. Amen. We've got Huxley, our second born son. He's 10 years old.
We've got our 1 and only beautiful feisty daughter, Olive. We call her Ollie and she's 7. And then, have our feral fourth child, Gus. And before you judge me for calling my child feral, I do need to tell you just 1 quick story that encapsulates what parenting Gus is like. So Heidi stays home with our kids and 1 day, she looks in the living room just to make sure everything's good.
She peeks in and she sees Gus there and he's just zoned into a show. He's content, he's happy, and he's fully dressed, is a key part of this story. So my wife has this funny thought and she thinks, this might be 1 of those rare occasions that I can actually use the restroom as a mom uninterrupted. Not 30 seconds after that restroom door closes, she gets a phone call from our neighbor letting her know that Gus is out on our driveway on top of our car completely naked for the neighborhood to see. And this is just par for the course in raising this child.
So pray for us, please. I haven't seen a doctor Dobson book on how to raise your feral child, so we need your prayers. But nonetheless, he's a blast. We love parenting Gus. And with that, let's pray.
Oh, Jesus. You are so good. Thank you for who you are. Thank you for this incredible body of believers. Thank you for everyone who is here today.
*Holy Spirit*, we know that you have something in your heart to accomplish. We know that your heart's desire is for us to live free in you. So, I ask God that you would use my words this morning to accomplish what's in your heart. Help me to move aside. *Holy Spirit*, we love you, and we honor you, and we worship you.
Amen. Alright. So that's my family. And I wanted to give you that intro and have a little bit of fun because what the Lord has put on my heart today can actually be a little bit heavy. So But it's important to talk about.
It's something that has deeply impacted our family. But what I hope you see is God's faithfulness through a time of difficulty. So what I'm gonna talk about today is church hurt and offense. And if you've been kind of in the evangelical Christian world over the past couple decades, you've probably heard the term church hurt. It's become more and more prevalent in Christian circles.
There's even like entire podcast dedicated to it. By the way, I highly recommend not listening to any of those podcasts. They're often rooted in bitterness and anger. But nonetheless, this is a named reason that many people leave their church for another 1 or they walk away from the faith altogether and they stop pursuing the Lord. But before we dive into that, I wanna do something kinda different and family oriented because I think it's important to posture ourselves to receive a word like this.
So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna take some time. It's gonna be kinda like family time and I'm just gonna wash us in the word a bit. Now, if you've been coming to Real Church for any amount of time, you've probably realized at this point that we're a little bit identity obsessed. It's vitally important to be rooted in your identity in Christ because out of your identity flows your thoughts, your actions, your motives. The way that you interact with the world is based on your identity as you believe it.
And it's either gonna be driven by your flesh, or if you're submitted to Christ, it'll be driven and guided by the Holy Spirit. So identity is vital. I'm gonna wash us in some scripture today that describes who we are in Christ and how God sees us. And a lot of these are gonna be scriptures you're very familiar with. In fact, they probably all are, but I invite you to take them in with fresh ears.
So, let's get started. Is that cool? Yeah. Yeah. Alright.
*Romans-5:8*. It's actually on my shirt. Therefore Sorry. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
You are loved by God. So much so that he would risk everything just to have relationship with you. You are loved. Amen. *2 Corinthians-5:17, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a "new creation"*.
The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. In Christ, you are a new creation. This is a verse that we talk about all the time at Real Church, but I never want to grow familiar with that. Like, I think we can get in our flesh sometimes and someone will try to encourage you and they're like, you're a new creation.
You're like, I know. I'm new. Like, I don't want to be like that. Like, the fact that who I was before I encountered Jesus and was washed by his blood is no more. And I've been made new.
You're made new in him. *Romans-8:1*, therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You are not condemned. You are free from guilt and shame and the penalty of sin. You are forgiven.
Yes. In *Matthew-14, Jesus tells the disciples, that includes us, followers of Jesus, you are the "light of the world". A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. And he goes on to say, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify* your father in heaven. He uses an exact phrase that was used to describe him, to describe his followers.
You are the light of the world. We are meant to be a reflection of Jesus to the world around us. Ephesians-2:10, for we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works. We are his masterpiece. We're not an afterthought or a mistake, but he sees us as people that hold the utmost value.
*God* values you. *Jeremiah-1:5*, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And this verse kinda completely blows my mind because I think it's easier for me to conceptualize the fact that God is everywhere and he's all knowing, and he's seen me from the time that I was born, and he sees me every day, and he knows everything about me. But this verse says, before you were formed in the womb, I knew you. And that's beyond an intellectual understanding.
That's an intimate acquaintance with. So that means before you were even conceived, *God* was intimately acquainted with the person he wanted to create you to be. It's mind blowing. You are known by God. *2 Peter-1:4*, his divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Through these, he has given us his very great and precious promises so that through them, you may participate in the divine nature. When we're in Christ, we become children of God and partakers of the nature of our heavenly father. And by his spirit, we lack nothing. Amen. In Christ, you've been given a new nature and you lack nothing.
And, I would be remiss if I were to leave off Bart Stamper's favorite verse from this list, 2 Corinthians-5:21. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him, we might become the **"Righteousness of God"**. The righteousness of God. Righteousness is right standing with God. And it's only given to us through the sacrifice of Jesus.
It has nothing to do with what we've done, nothing to do with what we what we will do in the future. We can't earn it. That's right. Amen. It's all because of the blood of Jesus.
You are *righteous* Amen. In Christ. Now, there are so many more verses that I could have added onto this list and I honestly probably could have sat down and just for an hour and read scriptures about who we are in Christ and who and how God sees us. But even in just those few, you see your identity in him as 1 who is loved, forgiven, valued, seen, made to be like him, lacking nothing, righteous. In just a handful of verses, let those truths sink in.
We have a good and a faithful father. Here's the catch though. We have to believe those truths about us. And that belief isn't just mental ascent. Biblical belief means belief that leads to action.
So, life will throw you curveballs. Things aren't always gonna go your way, but that doesn't change anything about who you are or how God sees you. So with that, I wanna jump into this topic of church hurt. Like I said, I'm sure we all come with our various backgrounds and experiences, and we probably think of different things when we hear that word. So I wanna give us a definition to work off of, so we're all kind of coming from the same place.
So I went to Google, and I think it did a pretty good job. So this is the definition we're working from. Church hurt is the emotional, mental, spiritual, or physical harm experienced by individuals within a local church community due to the actions or inaction of church leadership or other members, often involving misuse of power, exploitation, **spiritual abuse**, or manipulation under the guise of religious authority. But before we go deeper into that, I think there's a very important thing that we need to talk about. It's vitally important that we lay out a foundation of what it means to be a born again follower of Jesus who's connected to the body and under spiritual authority.
As Christians, Jesus is unwavering in his commitment to form us into his image and likeness. *Romans-8:29* says, those he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed into the image of his son. And Romans-12:6 says, the Lord disciplines those he loves. If we don't understand these principles, then we run the risk of labeling normal Christian growth as church hurt because we allow those situations to offend us instead of to mature us. That's right.
Come on. So let's lay these foundations out. In John-3, Jesus says, no 1 will see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. What does it mean to be born again? It means that I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord.
I believe that he died on the cross for my sins and was raised again so that I could have his life inside of me. Now, again, we come to that word belief. That's belief that requires action. That means I believe this so much that Jesus, I'm stepping off the throne of my life and I'm surrendering to you as the Lord of my life. And I'm gonna follow what your word says rather than what I think and feel.
Amen. That includes offense. If you've surrendered to the Lord, you have surrendered your right to be offended and you've given it to Jesus. That's right. Let's look at the same idea again in Matthew-16:24.
Jesus tells his disciples, if anyone desires to come to me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. You can't deny yourself and hold on to being offended. Now, I wanna look real quick at Acts-2:42. They devoted themselves, they being the disciples, Christians, to the apostles teaching and to fellowship and to breaking of bread and to prayer. And Psalm 92 13 says, those who are planted in the house of the Lord will flourish.
We're called to walk out our faith in the context of community. Being planted in a local church is important. And I wanna look at 1 more verse as we're laying out this foundation here, and this 1 I think might be the most controversial to our western independent American minds. But it's Hebrews-13:17 and it says, obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
I love this verse actually because I think you can kinda see the writer of Hebrews sense of humor in it because he's like, obey and submit your leaders and also just don't be a pain in the butt about it. Like, that's not gonna serve you or them. But when we look at this first, I wanna change the way you're seeing it a little bit because really, any church leader, first and foremost, is a steward. If you're stewarding anything from the Lord, your role is to bring increase and multiplication to that thing. So, a church leader is a man that or woman that God has given a vision and mission to, that includes followers.
And so, their role then is to bring increase in health and multiplication to that thing that was given to them by God. So you, as someone who submits, comes under the mission submission, you reap the benefits of that healthy leader's obedience to God. So it's not just about, oh, do whatever the leader says because they have the best ideas and they're in charge. Okay? So I think that helps kind of flavor that verse in a different way than just hearing, you know, obey and submit to your leaders.
It's about a greater mission and serving the Lord. So now that we've established that if you're a born again believer, you've laid down your life to follow Christ and receive his life, part of which looks like being planted in a local church and trusting the leadership of that church as God's delegated authority in that area of your life. With that in mind, I wanna talk about a few things that church hurt is not. Church hurt is not a church leader bringing humble correction or biblical discipline. So, let me give you an example.
Let's say you're in small group, and 1 day after small group, your small group leader pulls you aside and says, hey, Todd, like, I love how engaged you are, and everything you're sharing is super valuable, but I wanna invite you and encourage you to maybe be sensitive to some of the members who are shy or a little more reserved, so we serve others well by giving them an opportunity to speak. You can sometimes tend to dominate the conversation. Now, could hear that and I could go, well, everything that I share is the Holy Spirit prompting in me, so you're just trying to stifle the spirit. And you're probably an insecure leader, and you just don't want me to share what the God what God's put on my heart. Or I could say, wow.
Thank you for bringing that to my attention. Like, I'm gonna work on that. Will you help me work on that? Pretty easy. That didn't cost much.
Let's go with another example. Church hurt is not when you disagree with members or leaders about minor things. Let's just use dress code as an example. Maybe you grew up in a church tradition where wearing your Sunday best was a way of honoring the Lord, and you came in today and you're like, that dude's got piercings and tattoos and a t shirt and jeans, and I'm just gonna sit here with my arms folded and I'm not coming back here again. And, you lose hold of anything that God wants to give to you through that person.
That's not church hurt. Church hurt is not pastoral intervention or discipling. That's right. So, I serve on the worship team. David has actively *discipled* me over the couple years that I've been here.
If he met with me 1 day and he came to me and said, hey, I was praying for you and I just really felt like God had something special for you in this season that he wants you to seek and consecrate some time to him and kinda take you to the next level. Like, I feel like he's got something for you. So like, to pursue him in prayer and fasting. And I think it would be really good if you maybe step down from the worship team for like a month just to like really press into what God has for you. Now again, I could go, that's my gifting.
Why why would you wanna undermine my gifting? Don't you know that I am just an anointed singer? That like, I am the most talented male vocalist on the worship team named Todd? I mean, come on. Or I could say, wow, I trust pastor David.
He's not asking me to do anything that's not biblical. I trust that he has the best for me. So, alright. Yeah. That sounds good.
It's that simple. Actually, maturity overall is very simple when you're not self focused. Maturity is very simple when you're not self focused. My point is, if you're looking for ways to get offended, you will find them. But you need to ask yourself, has God planted me here?
And is the teaching and instruction and culture of this church aligned with the word of God? And if the answer to both of those questions is yes, then what you're feeling when things grate against your flesh and cause discomfort is the maturing of the Lord. That's right. Amen. Amen.
Oftentimes, that looks like pruning and it's uncomfortable, and it can be difficult. And so often, the Lord does that in the context of relationship. Pastor David calls it the "crucible of relationship", causing impurities to boil to the surface so you can cut them off. That's right. Here's the important thing to remember though, Jesus is our reward and he's worth everything.
That's right. If your goal is to get more of Jesus, you will never lose. You were never meant to find identity in giftings or a platform or having all of your ideas seen and heard. You were created and you exist to be in relationship with God, which means connection to the head that is Christ pursuing him through prayer and intercession and reading your word and connection to the body of Christ that is the church and living a life that exemplifies Jesus, which means laying down your life for the sake of others. If you've struggled with offense like this in your life and the Holy Spirit is convicting you because you go, man, that was kind of a minor issue and I let that get under my skin and I, you know, broke relationship.
Just repent and move forward in good connection to the body of Christ. That's right. The best part about this is if you approach life this way, you're gonna see God move in your life in ways that you never thought possible. You're gonna be operating in greater measures of his grace because you're walking in humility and not pride. Philippians-1:6 says, he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
His good work in you is making you look more like him. That's right. Remember, **You are loved**, *forgiven*, valued, known, made to be like him, righteous, and you lack nothing. Amen. Now, I do wanna tell you about my family's experience with church hurt and this story actually takes place in the church that I got saved at.
It was a non denominational charismatic church and that just means it was a church that operated in the gifts of the spirit. So, know, speaking in tongues, healing, dynamic worship, and prophecy, and all of those things are amazing and alive, and prevalent, and operating in a healthy way here at Real Church. So before you think I'm about to go down a trail of knocking the gifts of the spirit, that's not at all where I'm going. So right after high school, I was at this church, I signed up for this year long discipleship and ministry training program. I felt like God was leading me to it.
And this was like an intensive year where you're totally focused on discipleship and ministry, and you're not allowed to have a job, you're not allowed to date, you're not allowed to live on your own or with your own family, you've got to live with a host family. And all of that seems pretty reasonable given that like, you're consecrating a year of your life, your sole focus is pursuing God. And I grew a lot in that year. But I wanna highlight something that was off about the discipleship structure. It was it leaned towards legalism.
And if you're unfamiliar with what that is, really it's like work spaced or performance based Christianity, where the focus is, are you doing everything right versus are you pursuing God and being changed and transformed by him? So, in that structure, there's a high amount of pressure to to be to perform perfectly. It's kind of like a perfection mindset. And so, 1 thing that we were required to do was we had a worksheet that we filled out every week where we had to check off boxes. I had to check off a box that I spent time with the Lord.
I had to check off a box that I read scripture, and I had to check off a box that I spent time in scripture memory. And there was probably 10 or 12 other categories on there as well. And we would report those to our leaders at the end of every week. And for every unchecked box, we were punished with a week with a an hour of manual labor at the church on our 1 day off. We called it Monday club.
So we would go to the church on Monday, our 1 day off, and cut back blackberry bushes and they would always grow back. And they also made a rule that we couldn't talk to each other because they wanted us to know it was punishment and it was not supposed to be fun. So it's pretty wild. And now, you might be thinking, okay, that's that's wild, but you did sign up for this like intensive program. So maybe, it's just kind of something they do there.
But really, the program was really in a a large way, a microcosm of the culture of the church at large. So, we had a discipleship focus at our church, but like I said, it was very performance oriented. It was based on, you know, how well you were doing in your church disciplines. And oftentimes, if you weren't doing well in your church disciplines, they would, you know, it's probably because you have some deep rooted sin issues. So, you were constantly on a sin hunt and you were looking at yourself going, there's something off in me, which is not healthy discipleship.
Amen. Typically, you had 1 discipler and it was a very territorial thing, which also very odd. It's like, you don't meet with him, you're meeting with me. And it's like, oh, how many people are you discipling? Oh, you're discipled by that person?
They're connected to the head pastor. You're getting like the holy flow from the head. So it's just It creates a weird a weird structure. Right. So, my meetings with my disciple are typically consisted of me being told where I was missing the mark, exploring areas of sin in my life.
They frequently told me that I was not hearing the Lord correctly. And they've and just yeah. It was very me focused and sin focused and there's something off with me. And years of this really warped my perspective of God and how he saw me. And it it's difficult difficult to to describe describe what what it it was was like to be in this environment because on the 1 hand, I encountered God many times at this church in a real way.
I got saved at this church. I got filled with the Holy Spirit at this church. And honestly, I thought all of this, the way we operated in discipleship was just normal. Because I got radically saved out of a life of sin and I kinda knew, well, the way I was living before was wrong. So, this must be right and I love God and part of that might just be like feeling like crap about myself all the time.
So it really messes with you because you're kind of stuck between those 2 pendulum swings, for lack of a better word. So and I loved my church and I still loved it after the internship program. In fact, after a number of years, I became kind of a poster child for the intense culture. And I prided myself on how good I did and how many things I was involved in. I was a worship leader.
I was a youth leader. I taught kids church. I never missed Saturday night corporate prayer. And because I was super spiritual, I never missed revival culture prayer, which was after Saturday night corporate prayer. And I never missed small group, which isn't even worth mentioning because I would get scolded if I did.
It was a requirement if you were a healthy member. And I was just terrified of not being a top performer. So, I'm pursuing God, but also kinda running after him fueled by a lot of fear of man. Because I don't want anyone to see honestly where I'm at if I'm not doing good. So I'm gonna do all the right things, say all the right things, so that things go my way.
I also was under the senior pastor and his wife. They were like spiritual parents to me. And I do theater and drama. That's part of my background. I used to do specials and they would just butter me up and tell me like how anointed and gifted I was and how no 1 could do that like me.
And then, man, when I failed, they really let me know that I failed. I met my wife Heidi at this church. So that is a big praise God and something amazing that came out of this. And she also was involved in that same culture and she actually worked there. She was the events director.
Events were a really big deal at this church. And she worked at the church and faced the same culture of fear and intimidation and performance that I had. And this really came to a head for us when it was the week of an event, it was shortly after Heidi and I were married. There was a day where setup was happening for event, which was like her main job. And she was pregnant, and she actually started to have a miscarriage while the event was being set up.
And, she was so terrified of the idea of missing work and what that might mean from a discipline perspective that she just tried to work through it. Finally, she broke down and went to my senior pastor's wife, told her what was going on and thought, surely, she's gonna send me home. And our pastor's wife hugged her and said, I'm so sorry, but this is what we do. We "heal on the run". Essentially, validating that the godly thing to do was to continue working through her miscarriage.
Not long after this, we finally decided to leave the church. And, it may surprise you but it was actually a very difficult decision for us to make. This is where all of our friends and community was that we'd invested 10 years of our lives. We weren't just leaving a building. And when we left, we were so filled with anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness.
And on the 1 hand, might think, well, given what you went through, kinda makes sense. Like, I think it's kinda merited in that situation. But I'm sorry to tell you, it's actually not. **offense is never justified** in the believer even when you've been wronged. But I want you to hear something.
Wounding is real. And I'm not telling you that you're not allowed to feel, and I'm not telling you that you just need to get over it. *Ephesians-4:26* says, be angry and do not sin. It's not wrong to feel emotion, but emotions aren't meant to be your Lord. That's right.
Offense wrecked our lives for 10 years after leaving the church. We didn't consistently go to church anywhere because every time I went to church, I sat there with my arms folded and I said, I don't want to go anywhere that looks like, feels like, sounds like, smells like. And we're going to sit in the back, and we're only going on Sundays, and we're not going to get involved, we're not going to try to get to know anyone. Can you guess what the fruit of our lives was like during that time? It was a lot of anger, loneliness, lack of direction, chaos, depression.
What we needed was to heal, but we were holding on to our wounds like they were part of our identity. We were so bound up in anger and believing that we could never be good enough for God, and behind all of our wondering why was really an accusation towards him saying, why did you put us in that church in the first place? Like, we were being faithful with what we knew. Where were you when we were being treated like this? But the common theme about all those questions is they're all about me.
Right. At the "root of offense" is entitlement. And that was our posture over those 10 years away from church. It was all about us, what we wanted, our pain, and we just wanted to be validated. The problem is that sympathy that doesn't point you to truth won't heal your wounds.
It's the truth that sets you free. What we went through was wrong. We were impacted by the sin the sinful actions of others, but what we're called to do is be like Jesus as described in 1 Peter-2:23 where it says, when he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. Yeah.
If what you're expecting out of your walk with Jesus is ease and comfort, then that's actually the same performance and entitlement mentality that we had at that church because your entire goal is I'm gonna give because of what I get in return. Right. Look at me. I'm doing all the right things for Jesus and he's gonna bless my season and then something goes wrong and we're Where's *God*? But, I need to I need you to hear this.
We are not owed a good season. But this is the beauty of the gospel. That what we are owed is death, but what we've forgiven is life in Christ. And we needed to heal. Psalm 34 18, the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
The Lord is not distant from you in your pain. It will only feel that way if you take your pain and let it define who you are over what he says about you. Yes, ma'am. He says, if you seek me with all your heart, you will find me no matter what circumstance you're in. It's not that he doesn't care that you were wounded.
He cares deeply, but he wants you healed and whole because that's what he paid for. I look back at our time at that church and the 10 years following and I can see his hand through it all, even in the worst of it. I can see the way he never stopped pursuing us, putting genuine people of God in our lives at key moments where we felt the most lost, keeping our hearts soft toward him despite us resisting. I can look back and see how near he was. He was right there just waiting for me to look at him.
He's incredibly patient. 1 key transformative time for me was some friends of mine that are worship leaders called me out of the blue and they were putting on a musical about the gospel, about the life of Jesus And, they knew I had a performance background and asked me if I wanted to be a part of it. And, I did that show and just had an incredible encounter with encounter with God's presence that I hadn't had in years. And, I even look at that and I think, man, how personal God is. That he took something he knew that I loved to draw me to himself.
You will never convince me that God is not good and that he's not faithful. Now, to fully heal, what did that look like? We had to give that anger and bitterness and pain into God's trustworthy hands. *Healing came by faith*. Yeah.
But I don't mean that we believed hard enough and then 1 day we were healed. *Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God, and is completed by obedience*. So really, healing in a way came from obedience. What did that look like? It meant obedience to forgive, and obedience to go where God was asking us to go.
Forgiveness doesn't mean that what happened to you wasn't wrong, but it means that you're giving up the right to justice on your terms and allowing God to move in that situation. God called us to come to Florida and he told us to go back to church and he specifically and firmly spoke to me and said, do not sit in the back and find a way to serve right away. So, we obeyed and God used that church to radically heal us of church hurt. And and we and it wasn't easy and we didn't feel ready. We had to work through old mindsets and triggers and different things.
But, as we often say here at Real Church, the supernatural is on the other side of obedience. Yes. Amen. A year and a half into that church, guess what happened? More church hurt.
More church hurt. The senior pastor had a moral failure and we were once again left without community and without a church. And, the opportunity was there. It was like, here's the offense. Are you gonna pick it up?
And, we knew at this point that we had been healed because we were so in love with Jesus and in love with the body that we knew we had to get connected to a healthy church as soon as possible. It didn't mean that it wasn't painful, but we knew that our growth and and was tied to that. So, not 3 weeks later, we had a friend refer us to Real Church and the rest is is history. And here I am today. The way my mindset shifted was that I my focus was no longer on myself and what's in it for me.
Jesus is our reward. Yes. I don't care what comes my way as long as I get more of him. Yes. What offense will do is it will turn your scars into boundaries that hold you back instead of being testimonies that point to the faithfulness of Jesus.
There is *healing* available today. You don't need to live bound by offense. If you're in a church that's operating in a way that doesn't align with scripture and isn't healthy, then yes. Leave that place but then find a healthy church and get connected. Yes.
Didn't need to live stuck for 10 years. I don't have any regrets. And, if you've been stuck, don't want you to have regret either because we know that God works everything for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purposes. So, he can take that season and fashion it in a way that it makes it seem like the outcome's better than if it didn't happen because he's that good. Yeah.
If God is moving on your heart, I implore you to not leave today without releasing offense or unforgiveness to the Lord and once again, letting truth define who you are. Yes. Amen. This requires an act of faith. If you wait until your feelings change, you're gonna stay stuck.
You are loved, forgiven, valued, known, made to be like him, righteous, and you lack nothing. Amen. Amen. That's right. Amen and amen.
Amen. Amen.
Father, I pray that you would anoint this man with **greater influence** to be able to preach in more places than just real church, Lord God, and to bring healing to many who have struggled in the areas that he struggled but are now testimonies, Lord God, so that people can be "set free" from various areas. Lord, I pray for more influence. Bless him in "Jesus name". Amen. Amen.