In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the transformative power of God in changing lives. He quotes Isaiah 35:3, which encourages believers to strengthen the weak and fearful, assuring them that God will come to save them. The preacher also shares a personal story of being bullied and humiliated as a child, highlighting the importance of standing up for the defenseless. He then relates this to the healing power of Jesus, referencing Luke 4:16 and Mark 7:33, where Jesus heals the deaf and mute. The sermon concludes with the preacher expressing gratitude for how God has transformed his own life and emphasizing the need for Jesus to take control in order to avoid a destructive path.

Lord that you'd bless this service and Lord what an amazing topic as we go through our disciplines of life series to come to this one I know the title of it's got maybe eyebrows kind of looking up and wondering what in the world is that all about but father It's something true to all of our hearts and I pray that you would Lord give me the ability to speak on things that are dear to my heart Lord because I have found out that they are dear to yours And so we pray for your filling now in Jesus name and all God's people said Amen, grab your Bibles then church and turn if you would to two locations number one Matthew chapter 28 Matthew chapter 28 is the very theme Verse of our series the disciplines of life and tonight we're looking at the discipline of deformity What does that mean deformity? The discipline of deformity and we are in Matthew chapter 28 and I want you to go there and then mark that spot put your finger there and while you're in route Just go right on over to mark chapter 7. Hold your finger there mark 7 and Matthew 28 And while you're turning there Tonight I'm going to be sharing with you a discipline that for me is the most meaningful in our entire series and This is a 31 part series here. We are tonight in part 9 But tonight is the one to me that means the most important to me and this discipline has shaped my life and it's the root to Listen, it's the root to whatever if any influence I have had in your life or anyone else's life. This is the reason why? tonight It means everything to me. I know the word deformity is something that we don't even want to even talk about But it's something that I think all of us tonight will learn to Identify with the discipline of deformity Matthew chapter 28 it begins with discipleship verse 18 Jesus came and spoke to them Saying all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. That's a lot Go therefore and make disciples students Followers of Jesus of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Teaching them that's what you do with disciples after you preach to them and they get converted they come to Christ you teach them for The rest of their lives teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you and behold. I'm with you always Even unto the end of the world Isn't that a great word? Jesus is going to be with you and I all the way to the end of the world And so the discipline holds your finger in mark, but the discipline of deformity nothing else seems to cut more deeply into the heart of a human being than if in fact you have or are suffering from a deformity and I'm gonna explain that in a minute, but it could be the deformity of doubt or of discouragement of defamation maybe even of disease It could be a physical deformity and we'll talk a lot about that tonight and all those things have their powers, but none of them seem to be as powerful upon our very psyche and our soul and our Position in life when it comes to being a liberated Christian Then the deformity that brings you and I about to the place of living either a fearful or cautious life It does have to it does in most cases deal with the deformity physically that affects us listen Emotionally you can have emotional deformity and not affect you physically There's a lot of people getting by in life that way But if you have a physical deformity or or a deformity that's manifested in a physical sense Then it often affects us emotionally and mentally and certainly spiritually But again, there's nothing quite as painful as outward deformity because it causes a deep internal scar Emotionally often mentally pain. It affects how we act it affects how we function it affects how we live our lives and you and I can admit right down that when we see somebody going or living a life that they're having to drag through this life a deformity, maybe it's a a Foot or an arm or a body part or whatever it is, and they're just deformed and contorted There's a sense as Christians. I'm sure you agree with me. It's the Holy Spirit within us We see them and the first thing that's upon our hearts is a deep internal grieving of our soul that if we could in the instant we would fix them in a in a flash and how many times We've seen a situation like that and we prayed Oh God, if you just give me a little bit of encouragement I'll go pray with them right now. I'll I'll pray Lord touch them and heal them right now You know I'm talking about See somebody at the store or somebody at the beach or somebody out about town and that you're just moved with compassion Oh God, if you just give me the thumbs up because that's how I pray in my weakness Oh me a little faith. Maybe God's telling me just don't even talk to me. Just go up there and pray for them But your heart is rent and then the next emotion that you have is to not look because you don't want to cause them to feel embarrassed and then at The same time there's a little bit of comfort when you do look away isn't there I know this sounds ridiculous to put these two things together, but Last night on the news. There was this big thing on the news and I could hear them I was in the kitchen getting some water or whatever and I could hear on the news about this animal abuse News story and as soon as I heard the word animal abuse, I don't want to hear that. I'll walk away I a child abuse I walk away. I can't deal with that And God knows to keep me away from two types of people those who would abuse animals and those who would abuse a child because I fear the old Jack would be Resurrected in an instant and that person would be dead Because those things are defenseless and what it was was they some kids in Russia strapped a donkey to a parachute and catapulted it up from a boat up into the sky and I didn't watch it. I can't I heard about it and that was enough For me and sometimes when you look at somebody that's been injured hurt or deformed or crippled Handicapped we would say Physically challenged we would now say in our modern age, which is all for us by the way It's it causes us feel bit to feel better when we say that But the fact is down deep inside There's a deformity and I want to say something tonight that that may shock you But I believe because I'm an old guy now, you can't pull a fast one on me I'm telling you right now every one of us suffer with some form of deformity one way or another and it just comes down to how skilled we are at hiding it and camouflaging it Listen to this in Luke chapter 4 it's not gonna be on the screens jot it down I don't think just jot it down Luke 4 16. It says so he Jesus came to Nazareth where he had grown up and As was his custom he went into the synagogue in the Sabbath day and he stood up to read and It was handed him the book of the prophet Isaiah and when he had opened the book he found the place where it was written verse 18 Luke 4 Jesus said the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. This is your Jesus He says the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted To proclaim Liberty to the captives and the recovery of sight to the blind to set at Liberty those who are oppressed and to Proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and thank the Lord Jesus. He stopped at that comma in his second coming He will pick up at that comma by the way He stopped right there It is the acceptable year of the Lord and he Then the Bible says he closed the book and he gave it back to the attendant He sat down and the eyes of all those who are in the synagogue were fixed upon Jesus and he began to say to them Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing in other words The ministry of Jesus is a ministry of healing church of healing and you might be here tonight in your say Well, I don't need healing. I feel great. Listen down deep inside You need healing as even as Christians tonight. We need a continuous healing from the Lord in our lives There's always something challenging our lives and maybe more now than ever before I know America is suffering but honestly America is not suffering enough yet There's no way we're suffering enough yet We're apparently gonna have to go through much more before it gets better because of this one thing and I pray you're different in this church but you've learned to cry out to God, but America is not crying out to God yet and Until we have leaders in politics in government and in the pulpits saying let's cry out to God Then we're not better bad enough off yet. It's not bad enough yet And so it needs to get worse tragically But all of those pressures could bring about a deformity of your heart and of your spirit but we talked even of more things than that and Mark chapter 7 your fingers there, right? Mark chapter 7 verse 31 for those of you who know me This is a very dear portion of Scripture for me in my life as we come to the discipline of deformity You'll hear why if you don't know Mark 7 31 again. He Jesus departed from the region of Tyre and Sidon and He came through the midst of the region of the ten cities. That's what the capitalist means to the Sea of Galilee and Then they brought to him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech and they begged him and put his hand on Him and he took him note this verse 33 He Jesus took the man aside from the multitude and he put his fingers in his ears that is the Lord Jesus put his fingers in the man's ears and then Jesus spat and Touched his tongue Then looking up to heaven Jesus sighed and said to him it papyrus that's Aramaic that is be opened and Immediately his ears were opened and the impediment of his tongue was loosed and he spoke plainly then he Jesus Commanded them those who witnessed it that they should tell no one But the more Jesus commanded them the more widely they proclaimed it that is called in my opinion godly disobedience And they were astonished beyond measure and this is what they said. He has done all things Well, he makes both deaf to hear and the mute to speak. That's Jesus. Is that not awesome? I'll tell you how awesome that is point number one tonight in the discipline of deformity is this as a Christian? It's my victorious reality. And when I put my it's because this message is coming from my heart you put your it's your Victorious reality if you're a Christian tonight mark this down right now the life that you're walking through The cross that you're bearing the situation you're in right now is your victorious reality He is with you in this moment. What the world is guilty of is having made fun About all those things that Now makes them feel bad when we talk about deformity the world used to poke fun at people who are deformed and now you know They feel bad about it So now they they change things around and they try to cover things up. The world doesn't know how to handle deformity or these What we call trials I want to say a victorious reality. Here's what happens The world tries to redefine Those that are injured in this world and yet as a Christian I can tell you tonight the victorious reality is as a Christian we Learn to celebrate our weaknesses They are our true power when it comes to living life the very thing that you and I thought was the great weakness and the great handicap of our lives turns out to be the great Victory that God brings through us in this life The very thing that is a scourge upon your life is the thing that God turns around and makes it a tremendous Powerful tool and I know that doesn't seem to make any sense in this world Maybe for you it's a great sense of fear or inadequacy Maybe you're timid Maybe it's the way that you were brought up I don't know but the world is uncomfortable with the issue of deformity because the world doesn't know how to handle it It's beyond human scale. Don't you think? Humanity struggles with handicaps and the first chance the world gets is to curse the very God for the handicap They see even they don't even though they don't believe in that God That's because the world has not been able to deal with Deformity both among themselves or within themselves because without Jesus being on the throne of your life you guys you will be absolutely befuddled in this life without him ruling this ailment Whatever it might be But the reality is this that deformity and pain and sorrow are Converted God loves to change these things around in our lives Listen again to mark 732 and they brought to him Somebody brought to Jesus one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech the word deaf and impediment in his speech the word in Greek means that there was a Chain tied around the man's tongue. He couldn't speak By the way, the Greek word implies that he once was able to hear and speak and at some point in his life Something happened to him. Maybe he had it was young as a child had a fever That's very prevalent because of the high fever. He lost the ability to hear and speak very possibly But whatever it is, he once had it now he lost it But he's got friends and his friends bring him to Jesus and they want their friend healed is that not beautiful We you and I need friends like this guy's got friends Isn't it great? They probably woke up that morning. They said hey Jesus is coming to town. What what? Jesus is coming to tell Forget it you're coming with us We're taking you to Jesus What a great friend Where are we going? We're taking you to Jesus and They take the man. I wonder what he was thinking What do you think was going on in his heart and mind you and I live in a post-perfect world the Garden of Eden was perfect and Now it's not pain and suffering is the result of man's rejection of God not God's rejection of us Church pain and suffering came about because man starting with Adam and Eve they rejected God's leadership and by the way You and I will suffer when we reject God's leadership because when you and I push away from him We're gonna Experience pain. He doesn't bring us on it necessarily. But when we push ourselves away, I Tell you what today was just a picture-perfect postcard day. Was it not? Compare that to last week last week you and I ran from shade to shade to building to car and We tried to wear as least amount of clothes as possible while we were doing it. It was hot and you think about Rejecting God and pushing back from God. You know what that that's like when you reject God like Adam and Eve rejected rejected God They push themselves away from his covering and you're out in the elements alone And then when something happens because you've run away from God You have a tendency to shake your fist to God and say why is this happening to me? And God says I'm over here Remember he said Adam, where are you and when we were away from him? Mankind suffers deformity of all sorts in Isaiah 43 7 The Bible says everyone who is called by my name whom I have created for what my Glory, I have formed him. Yes I have made him bring out the blind people who have eyes and the deaf who have ears Well, you keep reading Isaiah 43. He's about to do something about it when Jesus came and said the kingdom of God is here What did he do he raised the dead he opened the eyes of the blind he caused those who were covered in leprosy to be made whole The kingdom of God was upon them This is a victorious reality for us who are Christians now and I want to show you a clip here in a second I want to just kind of preface it you guys can get it ready If you don't have cable TV or direct TV or whatever that then you're wasting your time at all But there's there happens to be a phenomenon going on on TV. I think it's now the second most watch a third most watched program in the universe right now and That's the program of Glenn Beck. He was fired from CNN And then picked up by Fox. It was a stupidest decision CNN ever made. It was a smartest decision Fox ever made But Glenn Beck was a major drug addict major his wife's Mormon and her Mormon friends began to do a Intervention on Glenn Beck and rescue him and So for a long time Glenn Beck has associated himself with Mormonism But if you're from Utah You would know that such a person who lives a certain way and says one thing about being a Mormon They're called a Jack Mormon. We would say today of Christian would be a backslidden Christian or a carnal Christian But Glenn Beck would his only religious exposure was Mormonism until recently And I happen to have been in Washington DC in May and sat down with David Barton and his wife and we were talking and getting ready for the Capitol tour and with Rick Green and we're just having a great time and I said, hey, what's with Beck? and he said well, I've been spending a lot of time with Beck and He said Beck Beck he said is in that beautiful place. He does not yet understand Christian ease He doesn't know how to talk Christian, which is very sweet but if you listen to Beck, he's preaching the gospel on Fox News and He's people are saying he's gonna get fired for it. He doesn't care anymore if he gets fired for it But David Barton is discipling him. I can tell you that personally pray for David Barton and Glenn Beck Glenn Beck Glenn Beck is I Believe that Glenn Beck is born again, and he's finding out now that he's born again Because he doesn't know Christian ease and I really respect David Barton for handling this properly and David's protecting him and as you know David Barton's very much on his program now a lot if Comes on too early for you Tivo it and watch it later but this week Glenn Beck made an announcement and I think all of you need to see this in light of the Disciplines of deformity a couple of weeks ago. I went to the doctor Because of my eyes I can't focus my eyes and I went to the doctor and actually I went to LensCrafters first And the LensCrafters guy said whoa You might be going blind. I Go home and I said honey the LensCrafters guy said So I went to the best doctor I could find while I could still go to the best doctor I can find And he did all kinds of tests and he said you have macular dystrophy And I said is that that Jerry Lewis thing telethon, but he does because I should have given more And I said what does that mean and he said Well, it's kind of the full range You could go blind in the next year or you might not I Said did you just charge me a thousand dollars for knowing what I already knew my whole life. I Said you might not You're a doctor like I'm a doctor aren't you I Will tell you In fact Krista branch and her husband were in my office the day that I had to go to the doctor and I was speaking to him last night. I said so great to meet you and they said Glenn we were in your we were in your office a few weeks ago. I Said really It was very memorable They said it was the day you had to go to the doctor and I said, oh, okay now I know cuz that whole day quite honestly, I Know what my wife looks like I know what my children look like I I Have a great imagination. I Know what color looks like But I love to read And I thought to myself Mmm, I love you, too. I thought to myself in that time I'm too darn lazy to learn Braille But you know what What a blessing Because I know God After I stopped feeling sorry for myself on oh my gosh, I could go blind or not I Truly came to a place that is the greatest blessing Lord if you need my eyes They're yours they were yours the whole time anyway Thank you For letting me see as long as I have That's Now he made that announcement and the internet let up just lit up and Said Finally something good has happened in the news Glenn Beck's going blind. Let the blind lead the blind did anybody tell him he was blind to begin with on and on they're ranting and Raving on the internet people who just are beyond wicked in my opinion to gloat over someone else's difficulty that is one of the points regarding the reality of deformity is the sense that you don't have to have anyone else pick on you and Push you down regard regarding the things that bother you. You already know painfully what those things are and You heard what Beck just said Lord these are your eyes This is the guy that's he's just new to the faith You can tell he's being discipled. Well But this message is true for all of us. The victorious reality is Understanding who am I really? I am a created image of the everlasting God And now I've been born again by the Spirit of God through Jesus Christ. I Have a new life and that new life carries with it Residuals of the old world and You and I have not left this world yet Church We are in route to heaven and we drag as it were Linus and Pigpen and Charlie Brown as they walk along You ever seen those guys? She's kicking Charlie's kicking a can Snoopy's dancing in the background Linus has got his thumb in his blanket and there's Pigpen with the fumes rising up all of them have their residuals except Snoopy He's the only guy that's got his act together In Charlie Brown, you know but you and I have these things and Tonight you can either be a victim and you can walk around Regarding the discipline of deformity and say, oh, you know, oh my goodness. Oh, whatever and you can just do that and You're actually more than handicapping yourself, but listen to this it doesn't have to be like this first Chronicles 4 9 His name is Jabez remember him now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers and his mother called his name Jabez Saying because I bore him in pain Jabez the name Jabez means grief sorrow Disappointment to cause pain. Can you imagine being born that what's your name grief? That was his name His mom must have been a horrific Pregnancy and delivery and then you must have been you know, the Hebrews wait a while before they named their child They watched their attitude and stuff and then they named their kid And she hey grief get over here Because I bore him in pain and Jabez called on the God of Israel saying oh that you would bless me Indeed and enlarge my territory that your hand would be with me and that you would keep me from evil that I may not cause So God granted him his request what a great word God can change life and The Lord's on a mission to rescue humanity from itself in this thing of deformity Isn't it strange that just north of here about 30 miles? There are people no doubt statistically probably a vast majority of whatever Surgical enhancements are taking place or taking place just 30 miles north of here in Hollywood and Malibu and Bel Air and People who look into a mirror because of their broken heart and they may not have Jesus in them they see this incredibly deformed life and what they do is that they go into a place in a in a circus as it were to be reshaped it and molded by new little gods with knives and Fat and silicone and stuff to try to recreate a disparate broken life and Then the person comes out listen the person comes out and they look in the mirror and you go yikes and they go. All right No, I'm sorry. I'm not I'm not making fun. I'm just they go. Oh gosh. Wow. I love it listen They look different to us. They look weird to them They're different and to them there's someone else there's someone new and the world is so desperate to find one thing that they can do and Little do they know that down deep inside. It's God that changes the heart Which in that results in changing a life in Isaiah 35 3 Strengthen the weak hands. This is what God says. He loves this strengthen the weak hands make firm the feeble knees Say to those who are fearful hearted be strong. Do not fear Can I say that to some of you tonight be strong do not fear behold your God will come with vengeance Hallelujah With the recompense of God he will come and save you Then the eyes of the blind shall be open and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped Then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongue of the mute shall sing This is our God Christian what a few days or a few moments Time makes where Last Sunday and last Sunday night regarding the same young lady. We were praying for her We feared it sounded as though her cancer was back here at this church and she had just got done battling cancer and and We prayed the family prayed. I prayed with family members. We prayed and The tears are flowing and that down come on that down deep inside. You know what I'm talking about. There's that haunting grief that It's wrong and it's back and it's back with a vengeance this cancer and Then the word is found out this week since Sunday to today. What is today's Wednesday and It's all good news. It was just scar tissue and everything's great. Well, hallelujah. Yes Hallelujah, but listen true and we thank God for that In fact, I text the father of that family and I said stop what you're doing right now and make sure everybody stops and gives God thanks in that household now for what for what he's done. Here's the thing Would God be as great and as strong if the news would have been positive or positive cancer? It's supposed to be He's still on the throne and what he does with his kids is the absolute best and he never asked for your opinion or mine Because we would give him the wrong counsel God, I don't think this should happen to me and he says to us little do you know? that through deformity Your life is built your strength and my name is glorified and others will come to know me and then we are gripped with the reality Is my Christianity that important to me that I can affect others for the kingdom of heaven forever or do we say no God? No, I Want my life to be just mine and I don't want to be put on display and I don't want to be a spectacle and I Don't want anybody to know I just want to cruise through this life easy Listen, I believe God will answer your prayer if you want to cruise through it lightly and easy I think he'll answer your prayer and Then there are those who apparently attend this church with the chutzpah and you say God have my own way with me You guys are radicalized for Jesus and Things are happening. You got to admit things are happening Number two as a Christian, it's my joyful Recognition my deformity is what do we mean by that? Again in Psalm 34 verse 1. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth really Wow I am a long way from being a big Christian My soul shall make its boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear of it and be glad Oh Magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from what all my Fears Romans 8 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worthy Comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Paul has the right attitude So joyful recognition you say pastor, you know, that's just great the disciplines of deformity what you're talking about you know fine, but you know It's one thing to talk about it's one thing to live it and that's why I told you that this particular Disciplines the most dear to my life and I'll give you some of the reasons why it was on March 31st 1991 I'll never forget it Lisa and I were at Mark and Mary's house. It was Easter Sunday evening. We had just had a little home Bible study Easter morning and all of a sudden I didn't feel so good in the lower regions of my anatomy my stomach started making noise in an instant and I felt like something had broke in a snap and I went home and I went into the bathroom and I'm not gonna get too graphic But I tell you what, I went into that bathroom and I wound up Having intermittent breaks from the bathroom for about nine months Nine months were you pregnant pastor Jack? Yeah, I lost 22 pounds couldn't eat Went through every test. They said well, you know, we think you've got this we think you've got that we think you've got the other and then of course they said, you know, you could have colon cancer and I remember like it was yesterday just sitting in the bathroom. Just spending my time because that's where I lived Looking out the window and the from the bathroom window of my house. You can see this tree blown in the wind I'll never forget it and How much I appreciated like Beck was talking about the things you appreciate The wind was blowing the trees and when they tell you, you know, you could have colon cancer You start thinking and you appreciate everything you appreciate that You know when it's real hot and you don't like it when what you love it You love you'll love it when you're thinking I just want to live for my kids And it took a long time and I was diagnosed with an incurable intestinal disease and I just went by the way a couple months ago to the doctor for another update exam and The doctor said listen, I gotta tell you something what? He said I've got to write your insurance company a letter well why and he said because all of your scar tissue and all the stuff that's gone on all the inflammation inside your Intestines, it's completely healed. It's gone. It's perfect. It's like he said, I don't need to see you again for 10 years And he said in 10 years, it'll be a checkup because I this is amazing and listen for you young people just Envy yourself to death tonight. He said you got it. You got a colon of a 20 year old And it's like yeah, man. I got a colon of a 20 year old. What do you do with that? You know, do you Twitter that you Twitter my colons 20 years old Look But this is this is what got me through I want to give it to you because I for nine months This was my life. And then the time after that again, I spare you the details, but it was horrible for some years Philippians 3 8 yet Indeed, I also count all things lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord For whom I've suffered the loss of all things Paul knows how to deal with the discipline of deformity and count them But rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him not having my own righteousness, which is from the law But that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness which is from God by faith that I may know him here it is that I may know him and The power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his image. Nobody signs up to suffer Nobody does that be honest, but when you are suffering you grab onto this verse and you say, thank you Lord thank you God because I can know the power of your resurrection and the fellowship of your sufferings What's happening in the midst of your pain? You're being conformed into his death Little did I know That it was God blessing me Up until not too long ago. I Didn't know whenever I was speaking with you in Services guest speaking somewhere whatever. I didn't know I would have 30 seconds to get to the bathroom. You have no control and For years I want to shout the glory to the Lord for years in front of you publicly. He sustained me He's amazing. And what did he teach me through that little did I know that through the midst of it every time I'd walk away Go get through one Sunday service after the next I would say thank you Lord for getting me through. Thank you Lord Just one more service one more service. Come on Jesus and you know what? I wouldn't change a thing For that and the stuff that you're going through in this life, trust me no, don't trust me listen to me though Trust God only That whatever you're going through he is so on it He is so gonna get you through that thing He has not abandoned you. He cannot abandon you. He can't do that. He can't leave you or forsake you He cannot lie, so he'll never leave you in 2nd Corinthians 12 7 the Bible says and lest Paul is speaking lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations a thorn in the flesh was given to me. Listen to Paul embrace his victory and be joyful in the recognition of his deformity a Thorn in the flesh was given to me. He makes it sound like it had chocolate on it with a rubber with a bow a red bow on top of it a Message a messenger of Satan to buff at me lest I'll be exalted above measure Paul saw the workers of Satan as an asset to His ministry. How cool is that? Oh Pastor I don't ever want to deal with the demon ever. Well, if you do God's put you in the place to take care of the situation So Paul says hey this God allowed all this stuff in my life to keep me humble Concerning this thing I plead with the Lord three times Paul asked God three times take it away from me And he said to me my grace is sufficient for you for my strength is made perfect and weakness Therefore most gladly I will rather than boast in my infirmities that the power of God or Christ may rest upon me therefore I take pleasure in my infirmities the Discipline of deformity in the reproaches and needs and persecutions and distresses for Christ's sake for when I am weak that I'm strong Listen church, don't confuse some people do and I really There's not much that really gets to me this in this context But I tell you this does don't confuse my confidence in Jesus Christ for Confidence in my flesh or arrogance or pride, please. Don't I Have to tell you something if you meet me at the store as many of you do It's me and when I'm up here, I'm searching constantly Lord fill me Lord speak through me Lord, don't let them remember anything about me But when I'm bold and when I'm excited and when I'm forthright about the things of God, I gotta tell you something That's my confidence in Jesus because my flesh it will fail me in an instant a couple of Septembers ago I was standing right here in the Second Service when my flesh completely failed me and My body just shut down. It is a strength to realize. I don't have the power or the ability None of us have the power or the ability to even be in God's family But he's adopted us He's amazing and I remember being so sick and I just wanted to know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings Point number three, it's our last point as a Christian. It's my favorite resort. I thought Maui was No, I have you learned please tell me you've learned this you can be what's your favorite place in the world Wherever it is. What was that? Yeah, that's a good place. I Was born not far from that spot. He said La Jolla You can pick your favorite spot La Jolla Maui What is it for you the Poconos for you back Easter's I Don't know but if you love it Let's be honest if you're not right with God, you can be in paradise and it stinks right, and so the discipline of deformities this it can become your favorite resort and by resort I mean your place of Strengthened refuge I can say this now Christian But I couldn't have said this before but suffering and deformity is The greatest thing that can happen to the Christian in this life It's not wealth it's not fame. It's not Exposure, it's not achievement. It's not education. It's literally the things That only God can use to get us closer to him and in humanity, it's suffering None of us want to hear this But while the world does everything to avoid it it's the Christian that says Lord I Wouldn't have signed up for this You think Britain Kate up in Santa Barbara with Daisy would have signed up for this? But let me tell you something. We're in contact with them constantly Brit made it a point to say the spiritual side of me says I wouldn't change a bit of this the human side that's another story Is that not true? embracing These times and you know the verse I don't even need to say it you can write it down It's Proverbs 3 verses 5 through 8 where to trust him and lean not on our own understanding because we'll go nuts. I Understand it you'll never get it. I will never get it. We're not supposed to get it. We're Christians and that level of suffering only God gives us what we need to get through and Again, he doesn't ask for our opinion. And how is it that through suffering we can be on top of the clouds? While the world drowns in a perfectly sunny beautiful day, I don't get it. I don't need to get it my God gets us through I Can tell you that my weakness and deformities have kept me from getting into greater dangers and greater evils I Can tell you now? That the victories that I've had in my life have come from pure Defeats and you think about that for a minute My weaknesses my handicaps are the visible Trophies of God's hard work in my life and in yours. Did you like that? I made that up myself You can write that down Why I'm gonna tell you why in Philippians 1 6 he says be being actually it's in the Greek. It's be being continuously Confident of this very thing that he was begun a good work and you will complete it into the day of Jesus Christ Philippians 2 13 says for it is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure So what's your handicap? What's your setback? I want to encourage you tonight. Stop resisting it. Stop complaining about it You're actually fighting against the very will of God You complain about it like he doesn't know He's the one that's allowed it in your life He's the one that's allowed it into my life Jesus and John chapter 9 verse 1 it says now Jesus passed by and saw a man who was blind from birth and His disciples asked him saying this is like a this is amazing. There's a blind guy Jesus is walking by and the disciples. It's like a field trip For them look what they say rabbi who's saying this man or his parents that he should be born blind Can you imagine they're walking along? Oh, there's a blind guy. Hey, hey Jesus Who said his parents are him that this guy should be born blind. Is that cruel? This sounds like some Christian programming. Oh, wow, the guy's blind somebody must have been big big sinners in his life And that's brutal You ever gotten sick and some Christian like Job's comforters come to comfort you dude, you got the flu what sins in your life Get out of my house right Deformity causes pain deep pain and that pain is converted into self-preservation. Make no mistake about it. And that is a result Produces Temper and Can lead to violence listen to Lord Byron's bitterness. It's called Lord Byron of England his bitterness He was born with a severe clubfoot. Now. This is old English. So hang on Quote my poor mother was generally in a rage every day and used to render her sometimes almost frantic Particularly when in her passion she reproached me with my personal deformity. I Unseen I could vent the rage and Mortification I endured and curse my deformity That I now began to consider as a signal work of an unjust God Those were bitter moments even now the impression of them is vivid in my mind and they have cankered my heart Which I believe was created naturally affectionate But since has been and is almost always disposed to violence Do you understand what he's talking about? I do Reason why I want you to turn to mark chapter 7 is because I lived that life Versus 31 on I lived that life. I stuttered so severely in my life growing up. I Was absolutely the focal point of mockery. I'll never forget my fourth grade class mrs Friends having me stand on the desk She made me stand on the desk and open up the book and she said class. We're gonna hear Jack read today And I just stuttered all over myself began crying and when you're hurt like that you Withdraw in my father who was not the most gentle nor understanding man would put his big Massive arms on his hips and he would look at me and say what's the matter with you spit it out. I And the more you yell at a kid like that and you know as The years went on it didn't get better. I only get it only got worse. I told you before I stuttered so bad I couldn't even recite the vows at my wedding and you say well, you know a person who stutters looks normal on the outside Let me tell you something a person who stutters lives in constant fear fear of somebody talking to them I Embrace now I can say my deformity because back then it kept me Out of some trouble not all trouble. I would have girls Approach me and because I couldn't talk I would leave I just walk away. I Would just walk Did I did I want to know them? I wanted to know them but because I couldn't talk I would just walk away Oh, what an idiot the guy just walked away But you know what happens when you I remember being What eight years old getting signed up for in Orange County? It was a junior junior all-american football out here I think it's pop Warner football. I'm not sure but um, I Found something. I didn't want to do it, but then my dad signed me up to get me out of the house and Then I found out that if you place your helmet on Someone else's helmet or any other body part it can cause them severe pain and I found that out and I turned into a Very quiet you can't you don't believe me do you I was quiet I am making up for 20 years of silence And I uh, and I found out I could I could vent exactly what Lord Byron said I could do that I Could get back at my dad by breaking someone else's neck. I Could get back at my brother by breaking that guy's arm And let me tell you something if you know what I mean, you know what I mean, and I became a very violent person And you build a wall up because you don't know how to cope with your deformity And I don't know where I would be today without Jesus probably dead Because I would go into a rage everything would go silent with me and the pressure builds up behind my eyes I can't hear a thing and Then when it's all over then I would come back to reality when I see these murder movies. It's like oh my gosh Without Jesus taking control of my life. I could have gone that way He says but since has been and is almost always disposed to violence And mark 733 the Bible says Jesus took the man aside from the multitude mark it. I live that I Lived in solitude. I didn't want to be around people and the Bible says that Jesus Began to minister to the guy and healed him Untied his tongue and on one night on a Saturday night in Orange County God untied my tongue in an instant And he healed me in an instant But I wanted I want you to know something. I think it is the reason why I have such a passion for the defenseless. I Was nine years old it was the summer of my School year at nine years of age and a Some kids that lived in our neighborhood. They were just kind of in a gang. They were about probably five to Years older than I was I guess And I remember getting thrown down on the ground by them and a couple of them sitting on my shoulders couple of them sitting on my legs and This may be just too much information for you. But I I want you to know it's got I have a point to this They took turns urinating on me Making fun. He can't talk. He can't talk. He can't tell anyone and let me tell you man That's that is something and you say oh poor Jack poor Jack. Let me tell you now now I can tell you I wouldn't have changed a thing now Why? Because God has so changed my life. I'm not here with you because I couldn't hold down a job I've only had two jobs in my life. I just kept them forever and I quit a career to come to this pastorate That's not it. I didn't do this because I want to stand in front of people. I just told George Before service, I don't like doing this. I don't what are you laughing at? I Love you, but I don't like doing this But the thing is this when you get laughed at by a class and you get urinated on by a gang or gang members and you're mocked and made fun of by your classmates your teachers and your parents That when you find out Jesus is on your side, yeah, you've got to understand something You if you believe that that he's on your side you will be Invincible until the Lord calls you home and when people say I don't like you. Do you understand? do you understand I could give you a hug and a kiss because I'm just happy to be standing here and To find out that you already know that I survived an abortion. I was too young to know That I survived an abortion when you say you know what I Don't like the way you have you don't like your illustrations and I don't like your voice your voice sounds funny You have to understand something. I am I don't god bless you, but I could care less what you think I'm happy to be here and I'm happy to be going to heaven Whatever it is in our lives that holds us back You could either choose to let those things hold you back or you can say Lord Jesus You know everything before I arrived Take it and do with it what you want, and I believe ministry from your life will be unique It's the way he rolls and I'll just end with this. Isn't it something when people have learned to Embrace their deformity no matter what it is and Give it to the Lord. Have you noticed you don't see arrogant deformed people Have you noticed you don't see prideful Handicapped people you don't see them battling arrogance There is a humility about them because they've been humbled often by humiliation and Only in this world. Can you as a Christian? You're the only one in the world who can say Lord Naked I have come and naked I shall go but blessed be the name of the Lord No more excuses as Christians. Okay church We live for Jesus and we live all the way for him. The show is almost over the globes almost about ready to pop as for Us soon. We'll see the Lord Father we thank you for your word We thank you father that you literally mean exactly what you say you say exactly what you mean and Father we pray tonight That the things that perhaps some in here have been hiding behind and using as their excuse to not serve you or to not go out on the edge for you or to not be Reckless for you that that would have just fallen away tonight by the power of your Holy Spirit Lord Speak your word To these here that are looking for acceptance They're trying to present to the world something that the world wouldn't even know if they had it that tonight there are those that are here and They've they're they're gangly or goofy Or they have a knack for opening their mouth and saying the wrong thing at the wrong time all of this stuff Lord God that Haunts them now Father there's those things in life Or maybe a mom or a wife a husband or a dad just can't see him getting past that thing Father Conquer their fears Override Lord their anxiety and Flood them with faith in Jesus name church. I'm gonna ask you to remain seated for a moment and We're gonna play a little bit of a song and then I want to make an announcement to you guys