We are not a rehab. I want to make that very, very clear to you guys. We are not a rehab. What adult and Teen Challenge is is just a safe space and a safe place for these men to have an opportunity to gain a relationship with Jesus Christ. Teen Challenge has not saved anyone. Teen Challenge has not healed anyone. All Teen Challenge does is provide a space where these people can get an opportunity with Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ does the saving and Jesus Christ does the healing. Amen. We want to make that very, very clear. Very clear.
[00:03:24]
We want to try to give these guys enough momentum so when they leave this place, reading the Bible is like breathing. Amen. Praying is like brushing their teeth. Amen. Direct care disciplehip is basically a fancy way of saying that these men are supervised 24/7 365. Access to medical care, primary dental and vision. These men come in with a slew of issues, myself included.
[00:04:29]
We're not just throwing them out to the sharks and say, "Go ahead and swim." We’re trying to equip these men as best as we possibly can. And then vocational training and and so much more. Not sure if you had a chance to look, but back there we've got some cutting boards and some shakurerie boards. Uh these are some things that the men's make in the program. We'd like to teach you, but teach them a trade, a skill, get their minds off of what what's happened, get them to work with their hands.
[00:06:02]
I wanted to leave right when I got there. But my brother Chris, um he inspired me to stay. He told me, you know, build a relationship with God and he will and we he will help you out. Seek the first king the kingdom of God and his righteousness in heaven and everything else will be added. And it's very true. Amen. As I stayed faithful and um trusting in him, I went up for my uh violation probation.
[00:09:42]
Well, he already had the officer there to testify against me to violate me, but once he saw that I was actually committed to stay in the program and um he told the officer to go to go home and then we agreed for me to finish the program, but the judge said um that she doesn't have to agree with what my lawyer and my probation officer said. So, um she said that she could still send me to jail, but she did not. Um she actually came off the bench, gave me a hug and um said that she's very proud of me. Amen.
[00:10:14]
I used to panhandle in front of liquor stores. Um I always kept it well, I always had a job cuz I I'm I'm have skills. So, um but I wouldn't keep them very long cuz in addiction, you're not keeping no job for very long. So, um I came back to Worcester. At first, he said there's no 85% chance I'm not going to be accepted back. And I was like, I wasn't accepting that. Um I was praying to the Lord every night about it.
[00:16:06]
I got to team challenge working on I started working on machines recently in a carpenter shop that um I knew I could do, but I need to convince other people cuz my um balance was jacked up and um hands were shake and stuff like that. One day I asked, "Can I be trained on a machine?" And now I'm working on three machines as we speak. So um so um and I just want to say uh I'm enjoying the ride that God's taking me on.
[00:17:23]
The world needs us to be fired up for Jesus. We need to be excited about what God's doing. Not settled for status quo. This is so much beyond status quo. Do you know what I'm saying? Like the story of Tony, he's he heads up overcomers group here and you you walked in, you were homeless. Look at you. Did you think you'd be on this platform? You probably travel around the churches sharing the love of Jesus encouraging these brothers.
[00:41:33]
God saw fit to have you guys here today. I want you to hold on to this. Now listen to it close. This day of all days, somebody in this place needed to hear what each of these guys went through. Like here, this is important. God does all these things, gets all these steps in order for his glory. Somebody in here needed to hear this today. So when the enemy tells you, "Oh no, you messed up that. You messed you did this. You did that." Listen, God used this for his glory, for his kingdom, your testimonies, man, and you guys in here today.
[00:26:34]
See, this next right here, this verse seven, we all find ourselves in this place. He says, "I can't sir." See, you and I, we make excuses at time, right? You hear me? You know, you know what I mean, sir? Yeah, I want to get well, but I've had no one to get me into the pool. But see, here's the thing. He doesn't answer Jesus's question. Jesus said, "Do you want to get well?" And the man replies, "Sir, I have nobody to get me into the pool." That's not what he asked him. He just said, "Do you want to get well?" Instead, the man explains why he can't get healed, why he can't get out of almost. He's focusing on what he lacks, not the one standing before him. He's focusing on what he lacks.
[00:50:42]
And I think just like this guy, we tend to look to the system to fix us when we need the Savior to fix us. Bottom line, end of story. So he says in verse 7, I can't sir, the man said, for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me. Verse eight, Jesus tells him, "Stand up. Pick up your mat and walk." Jesus issues a command. He says, "Stand up, sir. Stand stand up. Pick up your mat and walk. Jesus doesn't say, "Okay, here, let me help you into the pool." He calls him to rise above it.
[00:51:31]
What I love is this, and it's here in this house this morning, because when Jesus speaks, impossible becomes possible. A crying mother on the phone What looked impossible became possible. It's not just there though. There's many other stories. Maybe it looks different for you. There's but God can take the impossible and make it possible. See, healing begins not when everything is understood, but when you just obey what he says.
[00:52:22]
Here's the thing, family. Jesus doesn't offer to make you feel better. He offers to make you whole. He offers to make us whole. A new man, a new woman in Christ Jesus. Past is over. I'm new. And I'm going to keep walking in it. But I'll tell you what, this is a war. It is. The enemy doesn't play fair. We say it, right? He's the father of lies. He's a decetor. He's a deceiver, master manipulator.
[00:55:51]
So do what you do. Look to Jesus Christ as your strength, as your source of strength. I'll remind you this. You can't do it on your own. He is the only way to get through it. With Christ, I can do all things. Man.
[00:56:24]
It's up to you to break that generational curse that you got going on in your family. Amen. So, there's a couple ways that you guys can partner with us. One of these ways is a prayer card. It's very, very simple. There's a some of them on your pews. You guys know prayer cards. You've seen one, you've seen them all. On the right hand side, any kind of prayers that you folks have, big or small, it doesn't matter. We serve a God that's intimate enough to deal with our small problems and infinite enough to deal with our large problems.
[00:19:48]
We get comfortable. We get stuck in that place in that disappointment. We get stuck there. This guy was stuck there for 38 years. We stop believing things can change. We stop believing it. We've learned to live in the brokenness for too long that it's become normal to us that man it became normal.
[00:47:20]
