Debby and Sal DiBianca
Sal DiBianca led worship and preached during three services held
at Grace Church in Southern Pines, N.C., on Sunday morning, October 13, 2013.
Sal and his wife, Debby, serve as campus directors of Sandhills
Teen Challenge, a “men’s recovery home” which is part of Teen Challenge
International. Sandhills Teen Challenge (STC) is a residential faith-based
recovery program for men ages 18-and-over with drug or alcohol problems. The STC
campus sits on over 31 acres of beautiful wooded land in Carthage, N.C.
Sal and around 25 men representing the STC choir, along with
Debby, performed the song “Forgiveness,” written and recorded by Matthew West.
That song contains these words: “Show me how to love the unlovable / Show me
how to reach the unreachable / Help me now to do the impossible / Forgiveness /
Forgiveness.”
Here are more words to that song: “It’ll clear the bitterness away
/ It can even set a prisoner free / There is no end to what its power can do /
So let it go, and be amazed / By what you see through eyes of grace / The
prisoner that it really frees is you / Forgiveness.”
“The centerpiece of the Gospel is forgiveness,” Sal said.
He noted that STC has been a “mission of Grace Church” and that
Teen Challenge began in 1958 and was founded by David Wilkerson, a pastor from
Pennsylvania, who “read a Life Magazine, and God impressed him to help some
people.”
Wilkerson worked in the New York City streets.
“The first Teen Challenge facility was located at 444 Clinton
Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y., where people addicted to drugs and alcohol could find
freedom through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen,” Sal said. “Over the years,
Teen Challenge has become one of the largest ministries of its kind. There are
over 250 centers around the U.S. that help men and women, boys and girls who
have been caught in addiction to walk out of darkness into light and freedom.”
There are 500 TC centers around the world.
“With over 22 million substance abusers in the U.S., alone, how
many of you know we have a huge mission field?” Sal asked. “Come on, wave at
me, if you know we’re telling the truth. And, you know, with prescription pill addition
out of control and everything else that is going on, we have a huge mission
field.”
He thanked God for allowing him and STC to be part of what God is doing.
“I just want to say, ‘Thank you, Jesus,” Sal said. “My wife and I
came to North Carolina 27 years ago and planted and piloted a Teen Challenge right
here in Moore County – which you give [contribute] to, and I just want to say,
‘Thank you.’”
Many men have processed through STC, he said.
“We’ve actually seen thousands and thousands of men come to our
campus and their lives be absolutely changed and transformed by the power of
the Gospel,” Sal said. “And how many of you know that when one person gets
changed, it influences the family? . . . Just like addiction is far-reaching
and doesn’t just hurt the person that is in the addiction but also influences
and affects the family. So does recovery and so does faith in Jesus Christ. So,
we’ve seen countless men come to our campus and accept Jesus as their Savior .
. . and become followers of Christ. And then their families become followers as
well. . . . It’s just amazing what God can do when one person makes a
decision.”
He referred to Debby.
“My beautiful wife is here with me,” he said. “Her name is Debby,
and would you show her how much you appreciate her coming and being with us
this morning?”
Applause.
“That is awesome,” Sal said, smiling.
He noted that people may become volunteers with Teen Challenge in
many ways.
“Everybody say, ‘Teen Challenge,’” Sal said. “That’s good. You’re
looking up here, and there’s not a teen in the bunch. You may be wondering,
like, what is the deal? Teen Challenge? The name was started years ago, but
things have changed. And not only does TC help people find freedom out of
addiction, and obviously we’re a men’s home – 18 [years old] and up – but we have
adolescent homes scattered across the U.S. and around the world to help people
13 to 17 years old who have been caught in addiction – you know, [help them] walk
out of that through discipleship, and also, we speak in public schools. In
fact, last week, I was in Little Washington and did seven schools and
challenged students to say ‘No’ to drugs. Come on, everybody say, ‘Good job.’
Yeah.”
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, he said.
“Maybe we should build some fences and some guardrails, so
students don’t jump off and have to come to a Teen Challenge. Right?” he said. “And
so there were about 3,000 students I addressed personally last week, and about
450 came out to a rally on Saturday night at a hosting church . . . and many of
those students came and responded to Jesus Christ and surrendered their lives
as they heard the rest of the story.”
Applause.
“I just want you to know I’m saying all these things to say this:
that when you give to Teen Challenge and you pray for us, that’s when you’re a
part of people’s lives being transformed and you’re a part of promoting and
advancing the kingdom of God and the Gospel of Christ. So, thank you so much.”
He asked two men, singers in the STC choir, to speak.
“I’m going to have some of the guys come and share their stories
and tell you where the Lord has brought them from and how’s he taken them out
of addiction and out of darkness,” Sal said. “So, if you’d do me a favor and
just say, ‘Hello, Alec.’ This is Alec; he’s going to come and tell you his
story.”
Applause.
Alec walked to the main microphone.
Here is Alec’s testimony, told
in his own words:
Hi, there. My name is Alec. I’m 23 years, and I’m from High Point, N.C. Ever since I surrendered my life to Jesus, he delivered me from eight years of drug addiction to alcohol, to methamphetamines, and to marijuana. And, you know, growing up, I made all the wrong decisions. I always made mistakes. My failures defined my life. I was a troublemaker. I was rebellious. And part of that was due to ’cause I never knew my father.
My father was a drug addict, so he was never in my life. And I never had anyone to look up to or learn from, which led me to become very insecure, and I lacked identity as to who I was. And I grew up in a very undisciplined and an unstructured environment, and no one forced me or no one required me to go to church, so I did not go to church, and I did not have a relationship with God, at all, growing up.
And I began to get in trouble with the law, with the police. I was
arrested the first time at the age of 13 years old, and I began to use drugs. I
began to smoke weed and to drink alcohol at the age of 14 years old, I was a
freshman in high school. And my drug use just progressed, and whenever I was 17
years old. I dropped out of high school, and I was kicked out of my house
because of my behavior. At the age of 17 years old, I assaulted my stepfather,
and the police were called. And I was told never to return to my home. And it
was at that point in my life that my drug addiction just took over every area
of my life, every aspect of my life. I was controlled by my drug use. I woke up
in the morning wanting to get high, and I couldn’t go to sleep unless I was
high. Drugs just took over my life. And in my addiction, I had no hope. I had no
reason to keep on going.
I always felt I know what it’s like to fail. I know what it’s like
to quit. I know what it’s like to make a mistake. Those mistakes defined my
life. I know what it’s like to have a seizure because I smoked too much meth. I
know what it’s like to be homeless. I know what it’s like to take a shower in a
swimming pool because I have nowhere else to take a shower, early in the
morning, so people wouldn’t see me. I know what it’s like to have no hope. The
fear and the guilt and the shame just controlled my life. It held me in
bondage. It was the fuel that fed my addiction. And in my addiction, I had this
distorted attitude that to live was to pursue everything that the world had to
offer . . . for “to live” was to get high, to party, to listen to rock and roll
and rap music and to pursue the lifestyle and behavior that was promoted
through their songs and through their lyrics. To live was to have sex. To live
was to party and just live a rebellious lifestyle. I did whatever I wanted to
do, whenever I wanted to do it, however I wanted to do it. I was lost, and it
wasn’t until my enrollment in Sandhills Teen Challenge, it wasn’t until I
surrendered my life to Jesus Christ in Sandhills Teen Challenge that God
delivered me. And he didn’t deliver me only from drug addition, but also from
that seductive and destructive attitude by which I lived my life. Because Jesus
Christ set me free, and because of that, because of the Holy Spirit who was at
work inside of me, I can now identify with Paul who said in Philippians 1:21: “For
to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” And I now have a purpose in life.
I now have a hope in life.
Applause.
And I now have a reason to keep on going and to not give up. And
that purpose, that hope, and that reason that I have, that I found, is Jesus
Christ. A relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important thing to me,
now. Jesus reached out in my mess and he saved my life. He changed my life. He
transformed my mind. He renewed my mind through his word. He’s given me new
attitudes and a new way of thinking, new patterns of thinking. He’s given me a
new heart. And with new desires, with new passions, and I’m no longer a drug
addict, but I am a child of God. You know, Paul said in Second . . .
[applause interrupted him] – Yeah! – [more applause]
You know, I also like to live my life by this verse, too. Paul
said in Second Corinthians, chapter five, verse 17: “For if anyone be in
Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, and the new has come.” And, you
know, I am in Christ, and I am a new creation. I’m no longer a drug addict. I’m
no longer a liar. I’m no longer a thief. I’m no longer a failure. I’m no longer
a mistake. I have an identity, and my identity is in Jesus Christ. I’ve been
redeemed. I’ve been bought with the price, and that price is the blood of
Jesus. And I no longer belong to the world, but I belong to Jesus Christ, and I
now have a father. I’ve found a father. He’s in heaven, and I’m his son, and
I’m not going back to that lifestyle that I used to live in, because he saved
me, and he changed me.
Applause.
You know, God’s just doing miraculous things in my life. He’s
changed me so much. I’ve learned how to give and . . . I’ve always taken; I was
always so selfish, but he’s taught me how to give and how to love and how to be
content. The only thing that I need is Jesus, man, and as long as I have Jesus,
I’m OK, I’m good.
And so I completed the program and completed Teen Challenge, and I
felt God calling me into fulltime ministry, and he made a way for me to come to
Sandhills Teen Challenge to serve. And I’m in a position of leadership, and I’m
just so blessed. It’s such an honor and a privilege to be able to give back
what was given to me – to serve under Sal, and everything. I’m learning so much,
it’s just crazy. Everything that I’ve learned is just preparing me for the road
that is ahead. God has a calling on my life, and he’s grooming me, right now.
And I’m learning just how to be a man of God and everything that I’m learning
is just preparing me, equipping me for the calling that God has on my life.
And, you know, Jesus said in Matthew, chapter five, “You are the light of the
world. A city that is built on a hill cannot be hidden.” And I want that verse
that Jesus said to be a reality in my life. I want my life to burn bright for
Jesus. I want my life to be a beacon of hope that people who are living in
darkness, who have no hope, who are miserable, can be drawn to me, so that they
can experience the same thing that I experienced. And that is Jesus. And that
desire in itself just shows you how much God has changed my life, because that
desire is not my own, but that is from God. My testimony is a story of God’s
grace and of the freedom that is found through a relationship with Jesus
Christ. And I’m just so thankful that he saved me and he changed me, and I’m
going to live the rest of my life for Jesus. And thank you for letting me
share.
Applause.
Sal led the choir in singing, “Show me how to love the unlovable /
Show me how to reach the unreachable / Show me how to do the impossible /
Forgiveness.”
“Why don’t we say, ‘Good job, Alec,’” Sal said.
Applause.
“Why don’t we say, ‘Good job, Jesus,’” Sal said. “He’s working in
Alec’s life, amen?”
Sal introduced the next speaker.
“This is Garret. Everybody say, ‘Hey, Garret.’”
Garret, tall and young, walked to the microphone.
Here is his
testimony in his own words:
Hi, I’m Garrett. I’m 21 and from Southern Pines [N.C.]. God has
delivered me from a 5-year prescription-drug pill addiction, an alcohol
addiction, a marijuana addiction. God’s delivered me from so much.
Growing up, I grew up in a great home. My parents more that
provided for my needs. They were so loving and generous in giving, and they
just cared for me so much. I didn’t really grow up in church. I never really
knew Jesus as a child. But . . . my parents just showed me so much love all
throughout my childhood. I never really experienced drug use until I got into
high school and I started smoking marijuana for the first time at age 15 . . .
and I don’t really know the reason for that. I think I was seeking acceptance,
and, you know, I drank in high school but I used some drugs. I wasn’t fully
addicted until at age 18, I lost a best friend of mine. He died, and my
addiction . . . prescription pills just grabbed hold of my life and just took
hold of every aspect of my life and changed who I was into something I didn’t
know before. It just changed me into basically a monster. And I just, I ended
up, you know, I just spiraled out of control. I couldn’t get out of bed in the
morning and go throughout the day without “using” first, to feel normal and to
feel like I could talk to people and just to not be in pain.
I ended up in jail quite a few times. I tried secular rehabs to
get rid of my prescription pill addiction, but none of that worked. And the
sole reason is because I didn't have Jesus when I was going through that. I
didn’t know Jesus, and I didn’t have a relationship with God through him.
I found myself in a prison cell at the beginning of this year. And
I thought that was who I was going to be the rest of my life. I thought I was
going to be defined as the drug addict, defined as the loser, just defined as
somebody who was basically worthless to society and viewed that way from so
many different viewpoints. God touched me in that prison cell. He came in and
brought me out of that space of just awfulness and brought me here. He made a
way for me to come to Teen Challenge and be under Sal and Mrs. Debby and just
Alec and great people, mighty men of God, and just role models for me and
people like that just to show how to live. He has made me a new creation, and
he’s just helped me in so many ways. He’s brought my family back together. He’s
shown me so much love. He’s shown me that I actually can be forgiven and even
accepted for who I am. And I just can’t wait to see what else he has in store
for me. Thank you for letting me share.
Applause.
Sal led in singing, “Show me how to love the unlovable / Show me
how to reach the unreachable / Help me now to do the impossible / Forgiveness.”
“Lots of forgiveness need, amen?” he said.
“Everybody say, ‘Good job, Garrett,’” Sal said.
The audience responded with “Good job, Garrett” and applause.
“We’ve just had all kinds of great things happening on our campus
and off our campus in all the different outreaches and things that have been
going on,” Sal said.
Sal introduced each member of the STC choir. Each man gave his
name, age and what the Lord delivered him from.
One man, age 25, said God delivered him from a 10-year addition; a
31-year-old man from Pennsylvania said he was delivered from a 15-year drug and
alcohol addiction; a 20-year-old Georgia man spoke of deliverance from an opium
addiction.
A Georgia man had a 10-year heroin addiction; a 29-year-old had a
5-year opiate addiction. The list went on: a 33-year-old from Ohio; a N.C. man
had a pain-killer and alcohol addiction; a Pennsylvania man said he was saved
from a 4-year heroin addiction; a 25-year-old man from Chicago said he was
delivered from a 5-year alcohol addiction; a 25-year-old man from Raleigh
(N.C.) said God delivered him from “himself” and a 15-year alcohol and drug
addiction. A N.C. man said he sold and used drugs for 15 years; a N.C. man had
a crack cocaine and heroin addiction; a Charlotte, N.C., man said God delivered
him for a pill addiction, a steroid addiction and an eating disorder; a
20-year-old New Hampshire man said God delivered him from heroin and cocaine
abuse; 33-year-old Raleigh man delivered from cocaine and alcohol; a man from
Virginia said God delivered him “from all sorts of things, plus five hears of
heroin.”
Applause.
“Hello, My Name Is,” Sal said. He noted that his message (titled
“Names Define Who We Are”) would be about that phrase.
Sal said, “About two years ago, Matthew West, who wrote the song
‘Forgiveness’ that we sang a few minutes ago, actually put a request out to all
of his followers on radio to ‘send me your story because I’m a storyteller and
that’s how I write my songs.’ He thought he was going to get a couple of
hundred responses, and he actually got 25,000 responses from people sending him
their stories.”
Everybody has a story, Sal said.
“Out of those 25,000 stories, he [Matthew West] got a story from a
guy named Jordan, whose father is a pastor in Tennessee,” Sal said. “And
somehow, Jordan actually wound up on our campus, and has actually been in Grace
Church before. And Matthew West wrote a song about Jordan’s story.”
Sal played a video showing Jordan Jeffers and the songwriter
Matthew West interacting in that video. You can see that video at this site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl9KcbtUbrM
Jordan Jeffers was a
star athlete and a 7-time College All-American in track. After he broke an ankle while playing college football, he developed an
addiction to “prescription Oxycontin” and ended up at Sandhills Teen Challenge.
He completed the TC program, returned to the college he was expelled from and
graduated and became a high school coach. He is now married and has a call to
preach on his life. Read about Jordan
Jeffers story at www.jordanjeffersatpinecrest.blogspot.com.
“So many people we find on the road of life are in dire straits
and in need of God to do miraculous things,” Sal said. “And this morning as we
look at what you’ve heard from the Teen Challenge choir and then from Matthew
West’s song, and Jordan’s story, names define us. I’ll never forget an old
saying, ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.’
But how many of you know that words really do hurt?”
He said that people sometimes “speak things over our lives” that
get planted in our spirits and in our hearts.
“It actually could become what defines us,” Sal said. “It’s so
good to know that in Christ we don’t have to live by what our past has defined
us to, but we can actually be defined by the very nature of and the very gospel
of God.”
He prayed, “Father, We love you so much, and we’re so grateful for
your Holy Word. It is hope, and it is life. You know, it’s food for our souls.
We just want to say “Thank You” for that. Thank you for what we’ve heard this
morning from the choir and the message of hope that comes through the testimony
of lives that have been changed and transformed. Now, Lord, we pray that you
would take all of that and knit it together, and as we look to your Word, that
you would spark faith in us for a new day. And that this morning in this
service, that there would be something new that would happen in us. We pray
that you would give us ears to hear what the Spirit of the Lord would say
through your Holy Word, and that you would touch us and change us forever for
your glory and your honor, alone. For we ask it in the matchless name of Jesus
Christ, the strong Son of God. Amen.
Here is Sal DiBianca’s message in his own words:
This morning I’m reading from Mark, chapter 10, starting at verse
46. Some of you may know this story. It’s about a man named Bartimaeus.
Mark 10:46: “Now they came to Jericho, and as they went out of
Jericho, with his disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of
Timaues, sat by the roadside, begging.
“And when he had heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to
cry out and say, ‘Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.”
By the way, as I read this passage of Scripture, I just think
about how many times I’m on the Road of Life and I’m encountering people, just
in everyday activities, and how many times I run into people who are damaged
and bruised and abused and hopeless, and how much we as the Church have the
hope of Christ that is within us, that could change and transform and intersect
with somebody’s life, and take their circumstances and actually change them,
just because of the hope and the faith that we have in God.”
[He resumed reading.]
“And when he had heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he cried
out, saying, ‘Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.’
“And they warned him and tried to quiet him down, but he cried out
all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me.’”
How many of you have ever had someone try to quiet you about your
faith? Can I encourage you? Can I just encourage you? Don’t be ashamed of your
faith in Jesus Christ but stand strong. How many of you know if you don’t stand
for something, you’ll fall for anything?
Hey, it’s time for the church to stand up, not only verbally, but
by the way that we live our lives – that our lives would be models that people
could see the very acts of God in who we are on a daily basis.
When he cried out, “Son of David have mercy on me,” something
happened that’s very significant. And I want you to know that when you cry out
to God, when you cry out to Jesus, he takes notice.
The next verse says this: “So Jesus stood still.”
This is a person who’s desperate; a person who’s hopeless cries
out to Jesus, the Son of God stands still and recognizes this person. He
stopped and he commanded he be called to him. Verse 49 says, “And so they
called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Be of good cheer and rise, for he is
calling you.’”
You know, can I just stop for a minute and just say this: You
know, when you cry out to God, he is going to answer you. He is going to stop
and take notice of you. And, by the way, he’s calling you and me, this morning,
to be near to him and be dear to him, and to be one of his own. He’s calling
you.
Verse 50 says this: “And throwing aside his garment, he arose and
he came to Jesus.”
Now I don’t get that one. I don’t know how a blind man would be
able to find his way, but it says it in the Scripture, so it must be true.
Everybody say “amen.”
He throws aside his garment, and he makes his way to Jesus. And so
Jesus answers him and said – and here’s a big question this morning – “What do
you want me to do for you?”
“And the blind man said to him, ‘Rabboni, that I might receive my
sight.’”
“And Jesus said to him, ‘Go you way. Your faith has made you
well.’ And immediately, he received his sight and followed Jesus down the
road.”
Now, I just want to bring out a couple of truths to you this
morning from this passage of Scripture. And I want you to know that first of
all that names define people. And here, as we look at Bartimaeus’ name – see in
the original Hebrew, “Bar” actually means “son of” and “Timaeus” is his
father’s name; who he is named after was like a the prophecy over his life. And
“Timaeus” actually means “to be fouled” or to be molested or to be abused or to
be known as notorious, not for good but for evil.
And so, here, when Bartimaeus was actually named, it was almost
like the prophecy of this life. But I want you to know that God doesn’t want
you to be defined by your name this way or by names people have called you, but
God wants you to find your identity in who he’s called you to be.
[Verse 51 – Bartimaeus lost his sight during his lifetime; he
wasn’t blind from birth.]
Somewhere on the road of life, he lost his physical eyesight, and
in losing his physical eyesight, he lost his vision. He lost his vision for
life. . . . He lost his hopes, and he lost his dreams, and he became a beggar.
And he wore a coat that identified him as a beggar. . . . God has not called
you to be defined by the labels that are on you, or he doesn’t want you to be
skewed in your vision, but, like Bartimaeus . . . many in this world, today,
have lost their way and lost their sight. And they’ve lost their hopes and lost
their dreams. I want you to know that God has an incredible plan for each and
every one of you and every person that has been born and ever been born and
will ever be born. And that [plan] is to become who God has called them to be.
So, listen this morning as we look at this, and we realize that
Bartimaeus was kind of set up that way; I want you to see just a couple of
things as we get ready to close.
Number one: that Jesus is calling you, today. He’s calling me,
today, like Jordan, to say that we’re a child of the one true King.
The most important thing on the heart of God is “Are you a part of
the family of God?” – whether you’ve received the free gift of eternal life
through Jesus Christ.
You know, we can’t attend church enough. We can’t be good enough.
There’s nothing that we could do to earn our salvation. Everything in salvation
was done through Jesus Christ on the cross. And the Gospel message, this
message of hope, is so simple; it’s incredible to me.
John, chapter one, verse 12: here’s what the Bible says, “For as
many as received him, gave he them the power to become the children of God.”
You see, it’s not enough to believe, but we have to receive. We
could attend church. We could hear the message. We could agree with it, but the
bottom line all comes down to this: Did you receive what was done for you on
the cross of Calvary and invite Jesus Christ – receive him – into your own
life?
You know, it’s amazing to me that Jesus Christ died for the sins
of the world but many people will spend an eternity separated from God because
they never applied that principle to their lives.
How many of you know who the president of the United States is?
Come on; wave at me. How many have seen his face before? How many have ever
shook his hand, though, and actually been introduced to him? You see, that’s
how some people have faith in God – it’s like “I know about God, I know Jesus’
name; I believe that he’s the Savior; but I’ve never received him and applied
the truth of the sacrifice that was made on the cross of Calvary and the blood
that was shed for my sins to my own life.” And that is the most important thing
on the heart of God for you and me this morning. . . . Are you a child of the
one true King?
And then, too, I want you to know that not only is God calling you
to be one of his because, you know, ‘For God so loved the world that he gave
his only begotten son’ – that means everybody . . . everybody. It’s not God’s
will that any would perish but that all would come to repentance. God sent his
son to die for the sins of the entire world. There is no exclusion.
And number two is that God has not called you to be his own and
then to live in bondage. But he’s called you to walk in freedom and identity in
Jesus Christ.
Bartimaues was a beggar. . . . and so back in that day, let me
just tell you what you used to have to do as a beggar. They would actually like
give you a permit. And Bartimaeus had a coat – he threw his coat off.
[Sal puts on an old, large coat with negative names written on
tags pinned to that coat.]
Just to illustrate [Sal puts on the coat at this time], that every
morning Bartimaeus would get up, and he would put on this coat. It had all
kinds of identity on it. You see, that was like his permit as a beggar, and
when people saw him wearing this coat, it would identify that here is somebody
that is licensed to beg. And can I just tell you something? There are people
all around – that have even come to Christ – that still wear things from their
past. They still have, like that . . . you’re an addict or you’re not accepted.
If you could put some of them up there for me on the screen, so these folks
could see some of the labels like “You’re not wanted” or “You’re a mistake” or
“You’re a looser,” “You’re forgotten,” “You’re stupid” or “You’re a liar.”
You know, the Bible says this: “For as a man believeth in his
heart, so is he.”
Now we have countless men who come to our campus who have been
told things or have believed lies from the Evil One - [things] that have
penetrated their spirits and become a part of who they are. And then because
they believed that about themselves, that’s who they’ll be. By the way, in Teen
Challenge – I appreciate Alec saying this – . . . “If any man be in Christ,
he’s a new creation. Behold all things are become new. The past is gone.”
Somebody say, “Let it go.”
You see . . . here’s what I want you to understand: that I believe differently from the
world. And here’s what the world will tell you to do. They’ll tell you to come
into a room and sit down and say, “Hi, my name is Joe, and I’m an addict.” You
know, I believe that that is contrary to the Scripture. And that if you confess
that stuff over your life, that’s exactly who you’ll be. But I believe if we
confess the Word of God over our lives and walk in that, we can walk out of
addiction and into freedom. All these guys testified “that” just a few minutes
ago, and you know what? I’m no stranger to that because I’ve been through it
myself, and I’m a graduate of Teen Challenge, and my wife is a graduate of Teen
Challenge. And I’ve seen the Word of God activate in my life and walk me out of
addiction and remove those desires from the past, and, like Alec said, give me
a desire to love God and to serve God will all my heart.
But here this morning, maybe you’re here and you’ve never done
drugs, you’ve never done alcohol, but maybe there are things that control your
life – like a coat that you’re still wearing. Maybe you’ve surrendered your
life to Christ, but you’re still carrying around some things from your past.
Could I tell you that God hasn’t called you to wear that coat any more, but he’s
called you to take that coat off and to throw it away and to not identify with
that anymore.
You know, Bartimaeus, he did something when Jesus called him to
him. He threw his coat aside, and then he went to Jesus, and then something
miraculous happened. But I want you to listen this morning. . . . When Jesus –
another story – many of you know when Jesus’ dear friend, Lazarus, died and was
dead for several days, he was in a tomb; he was dead. Jesus came to the place,
and he called his dear friend from the dead.
You know, there’re people who are alive physically, but they are
spiritually dead. And when you come to Christ, you become alive in a different
way when the lights get turned on spiritually and you get born again. But, you
know, sometimes we still have some grave clothes. And when his dear friend came
out, Jesus didn’t say, “Hey, let me unwrap that for you,” but he turned to the
people that were looking on, and he said, “Hey, you loose him.”
Let me peel some of the grave clothes off. Sometimes people come
out of the grave, spiritually, but they still are wearing the cloak of their
past. And maybe they don’t have the ability to remove it, themselves. But maybe
they need somebody to help them remove the labels of their past. Could I just
tell you something? God has called you to be one of his. He’s called you to be
someone that walks in freedom and victory over the labels of your past. . . .
There’s something significant we see happened in this passage of
Scripture. Just as Bartimaeus was asked the question, “What do you want me to
do for you?” God would ask us that, this morning.
“What do you want me to do?” Not only what do you want me to do,
but – let me ask you this – What do you need him to do? What are the needs in
your life? Do you know that God is so intimately acquainted with everything
that is going on in your life? He knows the things you are struggling with. He
knows the battles of your mind and your heart. He knows your financial needs.
He knows the trouble within your family. Some of you in here may have an uncle
or an aunt, a brother or sister, or a father, or a daughter, or a son that is
battling with addiction. Can I just tell you? If you need him [God] to step
into that situation, if we cry out to God this morning, I believe that God will
begin to release things in the realm of the Spirit and the miraculous and begin
to deliver and set free. I just believe that with all my heart, because when
you cry out to God, he stops and takes notice, and he answers. But something
else happens – as I read this – but “What do you want me to do for you?” And
Blind Batimaeus said, “Rabonni, that I might receive my sight.”
He told him exactly what he needed. And then Jesus said this to
him, he said, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately, it
says, that he received his sight, and then he began, instead of going his own
way, he began to follow Jesus Christ.
And so I want you to know this morning, number one, that God has
called you to become one of his own. . . . The most important is are you a
child of God, have you received the free gift of eternal life?
Number two: he’s called you to be free. Maybe today, you need some
labels removed from you past. I believe that God will do that for you this
morning.
But then, number three: have you become a fully devoted follower
of Jesus Christ? Not just somebody who says they’re a Christian, but someone
who has received that deliverance and that healing and that new identity as a
child of the one true King, and then become a follower of Jesus Christ.
I want to pray with you this morning. With every head bowed and
every eye closed, I just want to pray for you.
Father, I just want to say thank you so much for the truth of your
Word. And I just want to say thank you for every person under the sound of my
voice. How much you love them and care for them. We want to say thank you for
your tender mercy and your grace.
With every head bowed and every eye closed this morning, I want to
ask you this question: Are you a child of the one true King? . . . Can you say,
“I’ve received Jesus Christ, and I’ve been given the power to become a child of
God. I have applied what Jesus did on the cross to my own life, personally”?
Sal gives the message laid on his heart.
Can I just tell you that God sent us together today to tell you
that he desperately loves you with an incredible passion. Every head is bowed
and every eye is closed. The most important thing to God this morning is you.
If you’ve never received the free gift of grace and eternal life through Jesus
Christ, and this morning you’re here, and you say, “Sal, I realize that I need
a savior. And this morning, I want you to pray for me because I want to want to
open my heart, and I want to receive Jesus. I want to be born again by the
Spirit of God, and I want to start life all over again. When this life is over,
I want to spend eternity with him. Sal, that’s me; please pray for me; I need
Jesus; I need a savior.”
And with nobody looking around, if that’s you this morning, will
you lift your hand? Real quick, come on.
God bless you; that’s amazing. God bless you. In the back, I see
your hand. God bless you. You may say, “Sal, please pray for me. I want to open
my heart and receive Jesus and forgiveness of sin.” God bless you, ma’am, I see
you hand over there. That’s awesome. This is like the most important part of
our time together. . . . God bless you; I see your hand. That’s so sweet. Is
there anybody else this morning? He loves you. God bless you, young man; that’s
so commendable. He loves you with a passion. . . . We’ll wait just a minute. Is
there anybody else this morning. You say, “Sal, I want to be in on that prayer.
I want my name written in heaven, and I want to be a child of God.” . . . God
bless you; I see you hand back there. God bless you. That’s awesome. God bless
you, ma’am. That’s incredible. . . . That’s awesome.
Father, thank you for the hands that are going up to you, and
they’re going up to you, and they’re reaching out to you. And I thank you that
you stop and do something when we reach out to you. . . .
Put your hands down. I’m going to ask you that are here and you’ve
received Christ before but this morning the condition of your soul is not where
you’d like for it to be . . . you’re like a prodigal son or prodigal daughter,
and you’ve kind of strayed from God. You started out and at one time you were
really living for Jesus, wholeheartedly, but this morning you’re sitting in
this sanctuary and you’re not liking your position. You’re like, “Sal, I need
to pray because I’m like the Prodigal, and I want to come back to my Father,
this morning. I’ve been away from him. Sal, that’s me.”
If that’s you, this morning, I want to pray for you. Just lift
your hand, right now; nobody looking around. You say, “Sal, that’s me; I’m just
kind of far from God, and I want to come back home.” . . . God bless you;
that’s awesome. God bless you. . . . God bless you, ma’am; that’s awesome. I
see your hand; that’s amazing. He loves you. He just opens his arms and waits
for us to run back home when we get astray. You know, just like Bartimaeus lost
his sight, got off track, you know. He loves you this morning. I’m going to ask
something else this morning. You’re here this morning and this message has
spoken specifically to you . . . there’s been some labels, some things placed
on you by other people – things that you’ve done, or you’ve believed lies from
the Evil One. And there’s been some nametags that you’ve been carrying around
that you need to let go of this morning. You say, “Sal, that’s me this morning.
I need God to remove those labels of my past and to seal my identity in being a
child of God. Sal, will you pray for me?” If that’s you – nobody’s looking
around – lift your hand right now. Come on, all over this place. . . . That is
awesome.
Lord, you see all the hands that are going up, and I pray that by
the Spirit of God that you would begin to break the shackles of people’s past
labels and that you would deliver and set them free this morning, once and for
all. I pray that their identity would be found in being a child of God and that
they would walk above the lies of the Evil One and the things that they have
been named in the past. In Jesus’ name, I pray.
Put your hands down. I want to ask you one more thing, this
morning. You’re here and you say, “Sal, I’m either struggling with addiction or
I have somebody in my family or near to me that struggles with alcohol or
prescription pills or crack cocaine or heroin. Sal, would you please pray for
my family? Lift your hand, right now, wherever you are. That is awesome. All
over this place.
Lord, you see all the hands that are going up, and they represent
people, and they represent names, and so, right now, we ask in the name of
Jesus that you would go beyond time and space and that you would do something
miraculous in bringing deliverance in the lives of the people whose hands are
being represented right now. And Father, we’ll be careful to give you the
praise. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Will you stand to your feet with me for just a minute? And if you
guys [in the technical room] would put the new names up there, the identity
with Christ [names]. . . .
(The technical crew projected on the auditorium screen these
words: “Hello, My Name Is . . . Saved, New, Delivered, Free, Hope, Faith
Victorious, Winner, Blessed, Forgiven” and other words.)
I’m going to ask you to do something. . . . If you would just grab
the hand of the person next to you, just stretch right across the aisles, just
grab hold of somebody’s hand, there; will you do that? We’re just going to pray
together. If you would bow your heads and close your eyes . . . if everybody in
the place would just pray this prayer with me, just say, “God, I believe in
you, today. Your love is real in this place. I believe that Jesus is the Son of
God. I believe that he died on the cross for the sins of the world. I believe
that he died on the cross for me. Jesus, today, I ask you to come into my life.
I receive you. And I ask you to cleanse me of my sin and forgive me of my past.
Please wash me and make me new. And give me a new start in life. Thank you for
forgiving me. Thank you for loving me. And thank you for making me a child of
God. Jesus, today, I surrender my life to you. I ask you to take control from
this moment forward. I give you my life so that I can have yours. Now help me
to live for you all the rest of my days. And I will be careful to give you the
praise. I am forgiven of my sins. I am born again. I am a child of God. My name
is written in heaven. I have eternal life. When this life is over, I will spend
eternity with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Thank you
for saving me. Thank you for forgiving me. I am a child of the one true King.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
