The Cure for BREAKING LABELS THAT BIND

The Cure for BREAKING LABELS THAT BIND Intro: Good Morning everyone, it feels so good to be here today with all of you. I ve got something stirring inside of me that I felt might encourage, bless and equip someone here this morning. I really have a burden for those of you that just can t seem to get past your past. I believe the Cure of coarse is found in our faith in God and our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. But that s just so easy for me to say. and others here that have already broken away to believe. I want those of you that are new to restoration Life as a new believer or someone who s been gone for some time and is back to break free as well. The truth is, so many of us are held in bondage from things that happened in our past. It seems to have a grip on our hearts, thoughts and actions. In fact the reason why many of you live the way you do, respond the way you do, think the way you do, and have the personality you do is because of what s happened to you in the past. Many of us, have had someone betray us, lie to us, hurt us, and we re still carrying around that bitterness, resentment and un-forgiveness. Today, I'm excited about this message. What I want to talk to you about is Breaking the Labels that Bind. Breaking the labels that bind us because so many of us, somewhere in our past someone called us something, somebody characterized us in some way. Maybe even ourselves, we've believed a lie about our self that isn't true and we are living under the labels of the past. 1

I believe God is going to do a work today to help us overcome that. If your in agreement with me would you just Give God a big hand of praise. Illustration: What I d like to try as an experiment is, I m going to give you the name of a well-known person who has a label attached to their names and I want all of you to try and finish with their label. There was Attila the what? Everybody help me out, there's Attila the Hun. There's Conan the Barbarian, There's Billy the Kid, Tony the Tiger There's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and there's Winnie the Pooh! All of these different people, they've got a label behind their name. Illustration: If I look back in my life, one of the negative labels that I carried for years was Eddie the troublemaker, Eddie the drug addict. What I'd like to ask you to do is think about What is the negative label that follows your name? Illustration: It might be someone's called you the doormat; you know, you're always so nice, people just walk all over you and they always take advantage of you. Or you're the lazy one, or you're the irresponsible one, or you're the hot head, or you're the person who is not good with money, or you're the party girl or the wild guy who is never really going to settle down. Or maybe you're just the average one; you're not great at anything, you're not horrible, but through your life you've kind of been labeled as average. Take a moment and I want you to listen to God's Word through the lens of any negative label that you've picked up in your life. What is the negative label that often follows your name? 2

Life Apply: And as you think about it, here's what I pray that you will hear: That God's power is always bigger than your past. God's truth about you is bigger than any current truth in your life. 1. In fact, if you own a label that truthfully you deserve, in many ways it really is true about you, I want you to understand that what's true about you today doesn't have to be true about you tomorrow. a. I believe with all of my heart that the power of God is going to speak to many of you and He's going to take what is and make it no longer true. God, through the power of Christ, is going to break the labels that bind you! 2. Here's how He's going to do it: I am asking God to give you a new, God-centered view of you, based on His Word in 2 Corinthians 5:17, when Scripture says...anyone who belongs to Christ... a. That means anyone, it doesn't matter who you are, what you've done, where you've come from, how bad your past is, how true the label about you is, it doesn't matter who you are... The bible says Anyone who belongs to Christ... If you've repented of your sins and submitted to the Lordship of the Son of God... Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a... What? EVERONE SAY IT LOUS TOGETHER>>>He has become a new person. The old life is gone And what has happened?...a new life has begun! My POINT: This is Part of the CURE If you are in Christ, all of the old is done away with, it's gone! The power of sin that has held you back can be broken in the name of Jesus! All of the past has been washed away, the newness of life in Christ is available to you. 3

That which held you hostage will hold you no more, Get a new God-centered view of you. Let me give you three thoughts that I believe will set you free from the labels that have held you down. The first one if you're taking notes, someone has given you a label, they've given you a name: I. Our God, through the power of Christ, will give you a new name. Isaiah 62:2 says You shall be called by a new name, Which the mouth of the Lord will name. Life Apply: Today many of you, you've been held back by something that you believed, labels others have called attached to you. Our GOD will bestow upon you a new name. 1. God will replace your old title, your old label, with a new name. a. He did this too many times in Scripture for me to go into, but just a few of my favorite examples There was a couple named Abram and Sari who wanted more than anything else to have children, but they couldn't and God said: You're going to have so many ancestors you can't even count them. And to prove it so, I'm giving you new names. Your name is now Abraham and Sarah, which means the Father and the Mother of many nations. And God gave them a new name. b. There's a guy named Jacob, his name meant swindler, trickster, or mercenary. God gave him a new name, Israel; which meant to have wrestled with God, or God will prevail, He got a new name. c. Another one you can read about it in Judges. 4

There was a guy who was kind of a wuss, he was afraid, his name was Gideon. He was hiding out from the enemies in kind of a cave, and God sent an angel who comes up to him and says, 'The Lord is with you mighty man of valor!' God called him a mighty warrior, which coincidentally is what God calls me as well all of the time! He's always like, 'Eddie, your a warrior!' You re my Warrior! d. Ok last one Have you heard of Saul not You better Call Saul I m talking about that murdering Saul of Tarsus. He was the persecutor of Christians. That was His label. But then as he was on His way to destroy more Christian Lives he had an encounter with Jesus. Saul gets saved and Jesus Changes His name from a person that is hated and feared to a man of God an apostle of Jesus Christ! My Point: God will give you a new name. What you've been labeled by in the past will no longer be true. In fact, I've seen this in my own life and in my own marriage in so many ways. Illustration: When I met Roxanne, she was the shy and Gorgeous church girl that was known for being kind of timid in front of people. I remember that my pastor noticed that she could sing and would always ask her to but she would refuse and at times say yes reluctantly. It wasn t long before she would take these brave steps of faith and allowed all of us to be blessed by her gift. Today She leads our worship because God has changed her label from Roxanne the fearful quiet little church mouse to Roxanne the fearless and fierce Worship leader of restoration Life Church.. LOL 5

Illustration: The same was true with me. I had just come out of a very wild lifestyle. I had been totally changed by Christ and years after becoming a Christian, I would be allowed to preach and minister for my Pastor when he was unavailable. His mom, Linda Mancha who many of you know would introduce me as His assistant Pastor to all her friends and church family @ Praise Chapel HP. I would always respond by saying, No, no, no, no, no, no, no! I'm just Eddie, but not Pastor Eddie! She said, No, no, no! You're his assistant Pastor, you are Pastor Eddie! No, no, no, no, no, no! I'm just getting over being Party Eddie! Okay, I'm new Christian Eddie, I'm not worthy! She d say no no, no, your much more than that. Well, I went in to see my Pastor, Pastor David Hernandez, and I said, Pastor, your mom keeps calling me Pastor Eddie, and I'm not Pastor Eddie! I m knuckle head Eddie. I m not good enough Eddie. I said I m not that guy I'm not good enough! And I never will forget when Pastor David looked at me and said, you are doing the Job without the title, one day you will be. Here I am today! New Name, new title, new label, Pastor Eddie. Not knucklehead Not drug addict Not messed up Not loser Not lonely Not runaway but Pastor Eddie 2. My Point: God is going to give some of you a new name. a. You may feel unworthy of that.. I'm not good enough; I'm not there yet! And here's what I want you to understand, God will help you grow into your new name. Some of you, God is going to give you the name, Forgiven. You are Forgiven, you are Forgiven, and you may not feel it yet, but 6

you're going to grow into your position in Christ. All of your sins are gone. b. Some of you, God is going to give you the name, Overcomer. For your whole life they've said, You'll never overcome this! And God is going to give you this name. You thought, No, no, no! You will grow into that name. c. Some of you, you feel very inadequate as a mom. I just don't measure up! And God is going to say, No, you are a spiritual Mom, you have what it takes! You say, No! You will grow into that name! d. God is going to call many of you, your name is Spiritual Leader, that's your name. You are a Spiritual Leader. You will lead your family. e. Some of you, you will lead teenagers in Life House, Or you will lead kids in KIDSLIFE, or you will lead a LIFEGROUP, or you will be a Spiritual Leader at your office. Your name is Spiritual Leader! 3. Oh no, I'm still too unholy! Oh I still don't know.. No, no, no, no, no! That's your name! God is going to give you a new name and by His power He will help you grow into your new name. So 1st. God will give you a new name & 2 nd thing if you're taking notes II. Our God will give you a new purpose. 1. With your new name comes a new purpose. And you can see Him do this over and over and over again in His Word. a. One of my favorite examples is with a guy named Simon, who could have been labeled Unpredictable, undependable, wishy-washy. 7

Jesus meets Simon and says, 'Oh, you're a fisherman, you've been fishing for fish, but I'm giving you a new purpose. For the rest of your life, you're going to fish for people.' b. In other words, you're going to be a world changer, you're going to be an Evangelist. I'm going to take you and give you a new purpose and you're going to do things you never thought you could do. Along with his new purpose came a new name, to give him a new identity. c. One time, Jesus asked him, Matthew 16:13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? 14 So they said, Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. 15 He said to them, But who do you say that I am? 16 Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed[d] in heaven. Check it out With new name comes a new set of keys! Keys that unlock power that is attached to another name That name is above all names... That name is Jesus! 2. Now, some of you may not know his story. a. Those of you that do, I ask you, was Peter always a rock from that point forward? No, no even close. I mean, he messed up again, and again, and again, as he was growing into his new name and growing into his new purpose. 8

In fact, if you know the story, Peter actually denied Jesus, not once, but three times. b. And then, after the resurrection, Jesus graciously forgave him, restored him Jesus basically said, 'Go do what I created you to do'. And on the Day of Pentecost, guess whom God chose to be the guest speaker on that day? Peter the rock, the one who knew what it was like to fail and be forgiven, the one who was best qualified to stand up and say, Repent sinners, and turn to Christ and you will be saved. And on that day, Peter the Rock, led 3,000 people to Christ and the beginning of the New Testament Church was birthed. c. In fact, tradition tells us that at the end of his life, they were going to martyr him, crucify him like Jesus, and Peter said; 'I'm unwilling to die as my Savior died on a cross, hang me upside down'. He was not born a rock, but I'm here to tell you, he died a rock. Life Apply: God is going to give many of you a new name, and with that new name comes a new purpose, and you will grow into your new purpose. And here's the best news, I want you to take whatever negative label that's been associated with your name, take that label, and understand with the power of Christ, out of the greatest weakness of your past God can raise up the greatest strength for your future. In closing: So 1st. God will give you a new name & 2 nd thing if you're taking notes he ll give you a new purpose III> Out of your greatest weakness, God can raise up the greatest strength. 1. God did a work in my heart and He gave me a new name with a new purpose. Romans 6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 9

a. And now, with everything in me, I believe that we exist to be as radical in our love for the lost as I radically loved when I hated my life most. Out of your greatest weakness, God will give birth to your greatest strength. And the number one thing our church is known for, across planet earth; the number one thing is for a Kingdom-minded love for the lost. My Point: Because God took my greatest weakness, gave me a new name, a new purpose, a new strength, and a new Future... I promise you, He wants to do the same thing for you. Don't let the labels of the past define you, you are not what others say you are, you are not the result of your past. God will give you, the Lord will bestow upon you a new name, He will give you a new purpose. And the third thing if you're taking notes, is: III. Our God will give you a new future. 1. Through the power of Christ, our God will give you a new future. I know so many people who are so pessimistic about their future: a. My life is never going anywhere, never going to be this, never going to be happy! I'm always going to be alone; I'm always going to be miserable! I'm never going to get out of debt! I'm always going to battle with these headaches! b. Here's what God says, Jeremiah 29:11, God says: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a... Maybe you've been labeled. You're always the bridesmaid, but never the what? Never the bride! c. I want to tell you one last story of a woman with a Label. 10

It s a story that connects to my heart so deeply, is a lady who was labeled one of the worst labels you could imagine. Her name is mentioned eight times in the Bible and six times, this negative label is tied into her name. She was known as Rahab the prostitute, or Rahab the harlot. d. Rahab is referred to as being the wife of Salmon, one of the two spies she sheltered. In turn, she became the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth from whose son, Obed, Jesse the father of David came, through whose line Jesus was born. Salmon was a prince of the house of Judah, and thus, Rahab, the one time heathen harlot, married into one of the leading families of Israel and became an ancestress of our Lord Jesus Christ. The gratitude Salmon felt for Rahab ripened into love, and when grace erased her former life of shame he made her his wife. GOD HAS A PLAN TO BREAK ALL YOUR PAST LABELS AND GIVE YOU A NEW NAME! From Harlot to saint, from a vessel of dishonor to a vessel of Honor and purpose. From a label of humiliation to a title of honor, Grandmother of Jesus Christ. Everybody pray aloud if you will, just pray! Pray heavenly Father, take all of my life, make me new. Jesus, save me from my sins. I believe you died for me and you rose again so I could live for you. Fill me with your spirit, make me new in every single way. Give me a new name, give me a new purpose, give me a new future that I could use for you. Thank you for new life, I give you mine. In Jesus' name I pray! Restoration life church, get a little bit rowdy, get a little bit loud! Welcome those people born today into God's family! 11