A Baseball Season Of Labels

Should join us.

Series Setup And Church Updates

How The Enemy Redefines You

Jesus Meets Legion In Mark 5

Storms Can Mean You’re Assigned

Confronting Chaos And Too Many Voices

Stop Going Back To The Mess

Connect Card Steps And Altar Call

Well, I'm ready to preach God's word. Are you ready to receive it today? The year was 1984. And I was a freshman in high school. Playing baseball. And I loved baseball growing up and then played in high school. And we were a bright group of guys. And I'm not saying we were bright because we were smart or talented. It's because our uniforms were literally bright yellow. It was like canary yellow. It was so bright. I think they, I think the varsity team used those jerseys and then decided it was not a good look. So they passed them down to the freshman. You know, that's how you get treated as an underclassman. So we had bright yellow uniforms, and uh we started off our first couple of games with a couple of wins, and um, we were like on top of the world. Uh we won in spectacular fashion. In fact, I told the 9 a.m. service in the second game, the other team, the visiting team, had bases loaded in the bottom of the last inning or top of the last inning with two outs, and I was playing center field at the time, and a ball was hit my way, and I had to make like a diving catch to save the game. It was like the greatest moment of my freshman baseball experience because after that win, everybody's like, Oh, you guys won again? We're like, Yeah, we won, absolutely, and like we were on top of the world, and in our mind we won it all. And then that was the last game we won that season. It got so bad, our coach literally would be like in the in the meeting before the game, he's like, All I all I know is to tell you guys to just go on out there because all you do is lose, so but you gotta be out there. He was not an encouraging coach. I don't know why he had the job. Like, I was thinking about it, like he he was not like, hey, you're gonna like this could be the one. This will break the trend. This is gonna be your moment. Like, you're you're but he literally joined in the chorus of everybody around that was like, you're a loser, you're never gonna win again. I don't even know why you're out here. He was like, Some of you should never play baseball again. And he was like, I don't know, he was so real, yeah, but maybe too real. And uh, but it is the year that I learned, like, if you only listen to people that tell you what you are and what you do, that really don't have the right voice in your life, then you'll always be what you're experiencing. But like if you learn how to listen for a different voice, your life will be immeasurably different and better. So why don't you just turn to your neighbor and just say, I'm about to get rid of some labels. And the one that's ignoring, you've been ignoring all servers, look back at them and just say, Hey, God looks for you. Here we go, week three of our series, God Looks. Uh man, what about last week, Pastor Matthew? Was that a great message last week? Such a powerful word. If you were not here for it, I would go back and listen to it again podcast. It was, and if you were here, you should go back and listen to it again. Um, it was a powerful, powerful message. Um, so many great truths and principles that he shared. Um, I'll tell you, the nine o'clock and the 11 o'clock were a little different. He got a little fired up at the 11 o'clock. Yeah. It's what we do at the 11 o'clock. We slept in for this. Those poor 9 o'clockers, they're like here, like y'all come to have church. So it was a great message. We love Pastor Matthew. In fact, today, witness is celebrating five years as a youth ministry, youth movement. So um, that's gonna be great. High five, all those young people and Pastor Matthew on your way out today, and just tell them, happy birthday. Five years, that's amazing. I feel like he's just getting started. Come on, somebody. He's just getting started. He's and he's in this house. That's what I love. He's in this house for this time, and God's working in his life powerful ways. Um, I love you, P.M. I'm thankful for the influence you are, not just to my boys. You've been a tremendous influence to my boys, but the way you move and influence this church. We appreciate it. So this is week three of the series, and we're working our way to Mother's Day. I've already said Pastor Robbie's gonna be with us that whole weekend. He'll be at the luncheon, and then he's gonna be preaching Mother's Day, and uh, gonna be a powerful weekend for moms, photo booths for all the moms, great opportunity, free pictures, free family pictures. Come on, put up your best and come on. Um, it's gonna be lots of treats and fun on the patio, and then uh it's child dedication in the 11 o'clock service, so that's always exciting and fun, and it's gonna be a great day. So, listen, this is what I wanted to ask you who you bring into Mother's Day. Your first call should be to mom. And uh, or somebody who's like a mom, and then and then start working your way through the whole, like bring everybody. Bring everybody, everybody. Bring them, bring them all. Bring them all. And um, it's gonna be a great weekend, but well, I want to die. Let's go. You ready, go, let's go. Ursh says I'm stalling. I don't know. I just I'm just enjoying my time here. It's like this is what you need to know, church. You need to know that God looks, He never relents, He doesn't stop, He He doesn't sleep. The Bible says He never slumbers nor sleeps, He's constantly looking for you, looking out for you, looking in on you. He sees you where you are. When you feel alone, he's looking for you, he's there. He looks for the overlooked, he looks for the forgotten, he looks for those who feel set aside, he looks for the lost, he looks for the runaway. God looks. Everybody say, God looks. The thing is, there's an enemy that wars against us, and the Bible says we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. Our fight is not against one another or against people around us. The battle that we fight, it is a spiritual battle. And the enemy of our life, the Bible says he has come to seek and to kill and destroy. But I would tell you, his only strategy is not only destruction, but his other strategy he uses is false definition. The Bible says he is a liar and the father of lies and cannot speak truth. And so even when he presents himself as an angel of light to try to influence you, he all he might share some of the word, but he doesn't share all the word. And 99.9% of the truth is still a lie. My wife never was happy when I shared just 99%. If I was only 99.9% faithful, that would not be enough. So 99.9% of the truth is still a lie. And the devil, the Bible says, is a liar and the father of lies. In Revelation, he's called the accuser of the brethren. So his only strategy is not just to destroy you, but a strategy that he has is to give you a false definition, to label you something you are not. I mean, it might be something that you do, but just because you do it doesn't mean you are it. And so the reality is, isn't the world great at labels? I mean, we got fit check or who you wearing today. What label are you wearing? I walked into I walked into a room one time and like I like good shoes. Like I like shoes that look good, but beyond looking good, I'm not really concerned if it's they don't have to be red bottoms, is all I'm saying. They just can't be sketchers, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but I know I'm preaching the truth. No one ever said, I'm about to go get me some sketchers. Never said, said no one ever. I'm making it ain't gonna be any of the young people. It's gonna be you back there. I see I see you with your slip-ons. What was I saying? The deal is I walked into a room one time. I had new shoes on that I got in New York, and it's a while back. This should have been the year was story, and I walked in and somebody walked in and was like, Are those Prada? I was like, I don't even know how to spell it, which means I know I can't afford it. So no, they're these are like one step up from payless. But they look good. The reality is the world is great at labels, and once they give you a label, that label sticks. And it doesn't matter if it's a label from way back. Listen, I might have lost the last 10 games of my freshman year, but that doesn't make me a loser. The Cubs might have only ever won a World Series in 2016. It doesn't make them losers. The White Sox might never win again doesn't mean they're yum. Let me get back to the Bible. What just happened? The reality is the world is gonna put a label on you, and any attempt the world places a label on you, their intention is to limit you. And so they label you, and you you you can't get away. You're an addict. You're you are you are too emotional, you you are too clingy, you, you, you're too you're too broken, you're too anxious. And the reality is, back in my day in the 80s, like you could you could experience something, but you didn't like it in define who you were. Your experience wasn't your definition. And that's what's happened in this world today. Like, what we experience becomes the way the world defines us, and then no matter if we change or not, we're always that. And that's just not in world culture, but that's even in the scriptures powerfully anointed and inspired by the Holy Spirit to write the word. There's still enough humanness in the in the script where remember Rahab, who was uh the Bible says that she was a prostitute, but she protected the spies. And she protected those spies, and because of that, she was like, remember when you come to take out our city, remember me. And they're like, Well, hang a scarlet rope out the window, and we when we see it, we we will. And and they saved her, but you know the Bible, every time it refers to her, it always says Rahab the harlot. It's doubting Thomas. And so, labels, once the world labels you and you hear it enough, you start walking in a lane you were never called to live in. Oh, you're just this. Well, I guess this is what I am, so this is what I should do. And especially in terms of our culture, listen, the world did not create you, they don't get to label you. Like we give, I don't know, we give a little bit too much influence to the world, the social media, to the people that are leading us outside of church life, and we give a little bit too much authority, and we start to listen to them and we start to become who they say we are, and that is not what God's Word says we are. You see, some of you are looking for breakthrough in your life, but you keep answering to the wrong name. You need to get to where you, when you hear the wrong name, you don't answer anymore. And that name, they keep calling that name. Listen, you're not you're not talking to me. It's not my name. Don't call me that anymore. All right, let's let's get in. See, this is what I will tell you. God never calls you by what broke you, He only calls you to where you're headed. So let's look in scripture. Mark chapter 5. It says, they who stay, Jesus and his disciples. So Jesus had been ministering, they were exhausted, he's on a mission. And let me just tell you, when you follow the path of Jesus, it it is you are not wandering. It's not like a oh Matt, we'll just go here and then we'll go here and then we'll go here and then maybe we'll go back over there. It is like every single move Jesus makes is with purpose. So it says they went across the lake to the region, the region of Garacenes, and when Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. The man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been chained hand in foot. So look at the labels you're seeing here. Chained, unable to be contained, no one could bind him anymore, out of control. But he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills, he would cry out and he would cut himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. And he shouted at the top of his voice, What do you want with me, Jesus, son of the most high God? In God's name, don't torture me. For Jesus had said to him, Come out, what is your name? Come out of this man, you impure spirit. And then Jesus asked him, What is your name? And he said, My name is Legion. He replied, For we are many. I want to just work through this text for a little bit. And I feel like all the setup for worship time is a setup for what God wants to do at the end of this service. And I'm gonna preach through this quickly for time's sake, but let me just start with this. The first thing I notice in this story is number one, Jesus still calms the storms. Now, you're like, PC, I didn't read anything about a storm in that text. So what are you talking about? Well, the reality is if I start back in chapter four in verse 35, it says, That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, let us go over to the other side, leaving the crowd behind. And he they took him along just as he was in the boat, and there were other boats with him, and a furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion, and the disciples woke him and said, Teacher, don't you care if we drown? And he got up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, Quiet or peace be still. And the wind died down and it was completely calm. Now, this little portion of closing out chapter four is where we pick up the story in chapter five, where Jesus gets to the seas, this the side of the sea and gets out of the boat, and then is met with this man who is controlled by impure spirits. But the reality was Jesus had to get through the storm to get to this man. Before he could heal this man, he had to get through what's trying to stop him. And so, what I first want to tell you about this story that is so important for you to hear, church, is this the storm doesn't always mean you're off track. Sometimes it means you're on assignment. You think life is hard because you're bad. Life is hard because you're on an assignment to change the world around you, and the devil doesn't want you to do it, and so there are gonna be storms that get in your way. But thanks be to God, who always try causes us to triumph, who will speak, peace be still to the storms of your life. Jesus still calms storms. And I'm gonna tell you something. Sometimes we don't think about what it took for Jesus to get to us. We get to the miracle part and we love it, but it took something for Jesus to get to us. He had to come from heaven, he had to close himself, put himself in flesh, he had to become 100% man and 100% God. He had to die on a cross to pay for your sin. He looked for you and you weren't looking for him. He went through the storm to find you and said, Peace be still. So if he comes through the storm to find you, he's not gonna leave you in your chains. So the second thing about this story is this Jesus confronts chaos. Look at verse 9 and 10 again. Then Jesus asked him, What is your name? My name is Legion. He replied, For we are many. And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. It's so interesting. This guy is controlled by an impure spirit, the Bible says at the beginning, but when the spirit identifies himself, it's many. You could just say it's chaos. And I'm gonna tell you, Jesus isn't limited by chaos, but he's not gonna just settle in it. Like sometimes the chaos of our life, we just decide that's I guess we're gonna just gonna live in chaos. And I'm gonna tell you, you are not met, Jesus, he doesn't really operate in chaos. He confronts it, he calls it out, he puts an end to it, but he's not settled with chaos. So why do you settle with chaos? You don't have to live in the dysfunction that you're experiencing. You don't have to live under a label that somebody put on your life and says, Well, I guess this is what life's gonna be like, because Jesus wants to confront it and call it out and put an end to it. So Jesus says, Hey, what's your name? And the reply back is legion. Jesus is not asking the name because he doesn't know the name. The Bible says that he knows so much about us, he knows the number of hairs on our head. Like that's a detail. He doesn't forget names. In Psalm 139, God says, I knew you while you were yet in your mother's womb. I saw, I looked, and I saw your unformed substance, and I knew all the days so well that I wrote them down before one of them was lived up. God doesn't forget your name. But when Jesus asked, What's your name? It's not because he doesn't remember, it's because you forgot. What's your name? Legion. What's that mean? A lot of voices. A lot of voices. You ever feel like in your mind there are so many voices around you that you can't even hear your own voice? There's so many people or things calling out your name, calling who you are, that you can't even hear the real name that you're supposed to be going by? Like your legion, many, anxious, fearful. It's just all the way you're you're responding to all the voices around you. And let me just tell you this if everyone gets a voice in your Life, your identity becomes confusion. Your legion. And you gotta shut down those voices in your life. Put on some over-the-ear cans. Turn on that noise cancel. And when they start talking, just be like I don't know, I can't hear you. I'm here, but I'm not listening. And here's the thing: when you don't know who you are, everyone gets a voice. If you don't know who you are, everyone is gonna tell you who they think you should be. You're this, you should be that. Well, you do this, so that makes you this. And instead of you walking in line with the purpose God's called out in your life, you start to follow all the voices. And what made this guy so troubled? It wasn't trouble, it was the fact that he had so many voices. His identity was chaos, and Jesus is like, listen, I'm gonna confront the chaos. No, your name is not Legion. Get out, get on up. And and he speaks a healing word over this guy's life, and the person that everybody overlooked, everybody was afraid of, everybody would cross over to. I mean, they dispatched this guy to live in the graveyard because they were so afraid of him. But Jesus walked in, he went through a storm to get to him, and he walked in and he says, Listen, it's not who you are. Let me tell you who you are. Let me tell you who you are. And my question for you today is what label do you need to run from? What label do you need to lay down at the altar? What is it that people have been calling you that is associated with your past that you don't want to have anything to do with any longer? And listen, the reality is, whatever it is, if you keep answering it, they're gonna keep calling it. And so you're gonna have to figure out we we always said this, whoever calls the most wins. But you know what? The reality is whoever you answer to the most wins. And God's not gonna deal with your chaos and settle in it and let you live in it until you get out of it. He can put an end to it, but if you keep circling back, listen, we're a dog family. This is not in my notes. Musicians, come on up. Listen, we're a dog family, and there's a reason why dogs are dogs. Like I'm some of you, no, I'll just say this. Some people, not none of you. This none of you, it's the 9 a.m. crowd, I'm sure. Some of some people treat their dogs like they're human. Now, our dogs are extremely privileged. I mean that first of all, they get to stay inside. There's there's one, that's a privilege. They don't know it. They think it's their right. But they're dogs, and Bishop is Rashana's dog. He's a lab. His name's Bishop, and he literally is the bishop. Like he runs the whole show. He goes where he wants to go, he sleeps where he wants to sleep. When he wants to go out, he lets us know. He barks. When he wants to come in, he barks again. Like he runs, he runs the show. My dog, it won't shock you, is a little emotional. And her name is Lady. And Lady lives in chaos and craziness. And I'm telling you this thing about dogs because as sweet as she is, and like now Bishop wants nothing to do. Like, don't touch me, don't cuddle with me, don't get near me if I'm laying down. Don't hover, don't even hover your foot over me. You hover your foot over my body, it's invading my space, and I'm about to let you know with the meanest bark and growl ever. Like he's vicious. He's scared of everything. He is, when it rains, he goes and hides in the closet. When it's garbage day, he goes and hides in the basement. This dog is a fearful of everything unless you put your foot over his body and then he gets vicious. Lady, on the other hand, is so sweet. If you get close to her, she nestles in, or if you say her name, she'll look back at you like with those big brown eyes, like, yeah, let's talk about it. Let's and she just wants to cuddle in and lean in and just we got home last night from being in Houston all week, and she jumped, which it's a miracle, this is a privilege. She jumps in our bed, lays herself on me completely, looking into my eyes like I'm so glad you're home. But she's a dog, and not to be weird about any of this, but when dogs go outside and do their mess, they don't clean it up. But it's nothing for a dog to go outside and make a mess and go right back to it and consume it. She's a dog. They're at the best, they're animals. But you are not. And so when you make a mess, you don't have to keep going back to the mess of your life and nestling in it and rolling in it and and and hanging around it. When you make a mess in your life, God has the capacity to call you out of it. He comes through the storm, he deals with your chaos so that you don't have to go back and mess with it. So, what label, what label is it that you've been carrying around that you need to lay down at the altar? Because it's who God is, it's what He does. He's been looking for you for the opportunity to relieve you of the pressure of living under a label that you were never meant to be defined by. I want you to get your phones out real quick, everybody. Get your phones out real quick. If you're sitting near one of the label technologies, I want you to just tap that real quick. Tap the label. If it's behind you, just lean your phone back in. There's a there's one on every one. Share your phone with a friend to tap behind you, that's fine. It's gonna pull up today's connect card, and you'll be like, PC, what why are we? We've been attending church all of our all, we've been at free church forever. Why are we all filling out a connect card every week? It's because in the process of God looking for us, we need to be able to know that we've been found and let others know we've been found. It's on notes. Put up the one screen, who's ever doing slides right now? What was Jaden? Put up the free church theme slide. There you go. All right, now try it again, everybody. Should work. Man, I hate technology. Is that it? All right, there it is. I want everybody put in your first name, it'll capture your email, put in your cell number. But it's asking you this, and this is my challenge to you right now. We're gonna sing for a little bit. I'm gonna open the altars because I feel like I feel like we need to take a step to get rid of the labels in our life. And I'm gonna even ask you in that form right there, what is the label that you're trying to get away from? What is it that somebody's called you that you're like, listen, that's not me. You know, the world's the Bible tells a story of a woman who was caught in the act of adultery, and they bring her to Jesus and throw her down, and everybody's got a stone, and they're like, she though the law says she needs to die for this act. She is an adulterer and she should die. And Jesus writes a few words in the sand. We don't know what he writes, but when he gets done writing, no one he says this whoever has the first stone should throw, but whoever has no sin in their life should throw the first stone. And when he writes whatever he writes in the sand, when he stands up, everybody's gone. And you know, he just says, Where are your accusers? And she says, Lord, there are none. You know what? He didn't say, Well, you know what, you are this. He said, Well, then if there's no one to condemn you, neither do I. Go and sin no more. He he didn't leave her in her situation, but he also didn't call her what she had done. And the enemy wants you to live in the state that whatever you do means that's what you are. And Jesus is like, listen, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And so, if if Jesus is not condemning you, you don't need to walk under condemnation any longer. You don't need to walk by a label that you don't belong to. So fill that out. What label are you trying to get rid of? I want everybody stand. And then let us know what's what's the step you're taking today. Some of you are beginning a relationship with Jesus. Some of you, you need to get connected, you need to be water baptized, you need to let people know you've made a decision to follow Jesus. Some of you, you need to go ahead and just go all in at free church and membership through the freeway and commit to being a part. And some of you need to join a team and serve. You've been feeding and sitting for long enough. You need to get active and serving. What is the steps you're taking? Everybody feel that out. But I'm gonna I'm gonna open these altars because I feel like there's an opportunity for some of you to let go of a label that has been haunting you and following you around for far too long. So I'm gonna open these altars. They're gonna begin to sing, but I'm just gonna pray over you. Father, I thank you, every person in this room right now, whatever label has been hounding us and trying to tie us down, no longer has the power to define us. And I speak freedom from any label that is not from the word of God in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. Listen, these altars are open. We're gonna sing for a minute.

Maddie's gonna come in.