UYC Sermon: God Gives You New Life!

Some of you know who i am, but for many of you this is our first time meeting so let me tell you a little about myself. As you know Im Nick Oliver married to my high school sweetheart Robyn (yes we've been together since we were 15) we have 3 amazing children in Gabi (15), Mikaela (11 SOON TO BE 12 ), and Lukas (10).

-I am a the co- pastor of a church Plant called Avert. We launched out of Lifepoint 3 years ago. I was the youth pastor here for almost 8 years i think. Im a currently in the police academy to become a police officer here in Charles county (never thought this is where God would lead me, you'll find out more later)

-Im super competitive, i love Football…Carolina Panthers…… MMA, and all things star wars and marvel.

-Now that you know me a little, help find out who you are…Shout your name and your favorite color.

Read Matthew 11:28–30 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Pray

So when pastor Brandon asked me to preach tonight i genuinely had no idea what i was going to talk about. Then he brought up the how the UYC team have been encouraging you guys to share your faith. So i’m gonna come alongside what is already being done here. And when i talk about sharing your faith i don’t just mean you say yeah i love Jesus to people. Thats cool but its so much more than that. Show people that you genuinely care for them and share with them what God has done for you!

Why We Share Our Faith,Testimony!

Luke 8 is where we are going to start tonight.

-In Luke 8:16 Jesus says that no lights a lamp and the covers it with a basket. instead it is meant to light the space and that those who come in may see the light. This is a reminder for us that once we have given our lives to Jesus we must be a light in this world.

-Not hide the fact that we are Christ followers. We cant just be a Sunday morning/or this case a Sunday night christian. Because if thats all your doing you have to question if you area Christ follower at all…

-In Luke 8:22-25 we see Jesus calm a raging storm while sailing from one side of the lake to the other. Jesus is just chill, to the point he’s asleep on the boat. The disciples on the other hand are freaking out to the point they wake up Jesus and say “Master, master were going to die!” Jesus got up rebukes the wind and waves and they ceased.

-The disciples were overwhelmed with fear and Jesus asked them “where is you faith?”

When Jesus is the object of our faith we can live boldly and proclaim Him boldly without fear.

Luke 8:39 ““Go back to your home, and tell all that God has done for you.” And off he went, proclaiming throughout the town how much Jesus had done for him.”

-We need to testify because the Bible commands us to, over and over. As God’s children, we are called to obey.

So with that in mind let me tell you what God has done for me….But to do that we have to go way back to my beginning so you can understand about hod Good our God is!

Earliest memories to 13………

Coming from generational abuse from both mom and dads side......

First suicide attempt i was 10 years old….

Middle school was hard…Lots of suspensions and being expelled for the first time, failing 8th grade.

Highs school was the same way. than i met Robyn and my first introduction to Jesus ( i thought it was a joke). Finally state to behave but my past still got me and let me to be expelled for the second time.

Graduated found out we were having a baby . I was still very broken…Was at a dark place and was ready to end it all when i was 21.

-My encounter with the Living God. My transformation, i am still a broken man but i am being renewed each day.

go back to the verse from the beginning: Read Matthew 11:28–30 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Just a few simple words can trigger me and push me into a place of spiraling out of control. Those words pierce my heart and open old wounds that I thought were gone.... the invisible scars I wear are reminders of the war this life has been and the many battles I have won and lost against this sickness.

Oh how well we are acquainted.

Depression you and me have been through this for 20 years now. You must really love me and care for me to come back for me as often as you do.....

Now I’m lying here restless wanting to sleep...but instead now my thoughts are drowning me, I’m gasping for air now, my heart is racing as I’m not able to turn my thoughts off.

Memories good and bad running rampant with in my mind. How I wish I could shut them off and find some rest. I’m tired of this night in and night out.

Turn them off, please turn them off. I don’t want them, they don’t belong here...or is it me that doesn’t belong here? Jesus where are you right now?!?! This silence is deafening as I lye here slowing losing my life and hope.... do you see me and hear me in this agony?

Now I’m left with asking myself what I want... Sleep peacefully or eternally? I don’t know either anymore it feels like.

A liar? A coward? A fraud? A joke? A mistake? The problem? A failure? A loss cause?

What’s wrong with me...why can’t I move past all that was. Why do these dark memories continue to inflict damage upon my mind as night falls.

Will I be set free from this? Will I ever find the peace my soul so desperately seeks?

Jesus is your love truly for me? Do you see me? Can I really be free? I want to embrace all of You, but do You embrace me?

Have you called me by name? Or is it all in my head?

Ive messed up more things than I’ve fixed.

I’ve lived most of my life with the self hatred from this.

I’ve had my back up against the wall, all the while having my very life choked from me..I’ve felt my life slip away as I do again now.

Suffering seems to be the normal for this often tormented soul

Just a waste of space, no purpose or reason for being here other than being a door mat for more worthy people to walk over to get to where they are going.

I’ve been in the silence where I can’t tell if I’m deaf or you’ve gone mute and abandoned me.

I’ve felt abandoned and hopeless, and now those feeling are creeping in again. Those closest have broke me the most

I’ve felt the grip of a noose around my neck from a place that’s Supposed to bring most children joy.

The enticing allure of not feeling anything over living in this constant war zone of my mind and life.

I’ve know the feeling of not feeling at all and the scary places that it takes you to. Tip toeing the edge of sanity and insanity

Buying into the idea that was instilled in me from and early age that I’m the problem and that everyone else will either abandon me, hurt me, or use me and that I’m not worthy of love, joy or anything for that matter.

I’m the problem.... so much to live for, yet I don’t wanna be here anymore. All I do is disappoint those around me. And in the end everyone will be better off without me

Anger, fear, anxiety, loss, sadness, hopelessness I’m done with all this...

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There is nothing by you appearance that screams King of kings.

You seem to be just another man. But.... there’s this unshakable feeling that something is not right here, something is different.

You don’t carry yourself the way most men or kings do. Humble and selfless...but not weak, there is a strength and power about you I can’t put my finger on.... There something about being in Your presence....

there’s something about those eyes... they burn with fire, driven by a love of which has never been seen before.

Looking into your eyes everting around me fades. There is such love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness in those fiery eyes.

Looking upon the holes in your hands I see freedom.

You were slaughtered for dirty and wretched sinners like me. But it’s becoming clear

They didn’t take your life. You laid it down.

What kind of love is this... love that sees filth like us and comes to rescue us, yet we resist this rescue but it continues to rescue us anyway.

Why love someone like me? Selfish, corrupt, evil, and broken. You heal those who come to you. But can You heal me?

I’m dead. Dead in my sins. drowning in the suffering and pain that accompanies such foolish sinners like me.

But for some reason you keep trying to remind me that I am not these things......this is what satan would like me to believe I am, so that he can try and derail me from the path you my God have laid before me....

God it is in these moments of self induced darkness where I see how much I need you.

I am reminded that you never asked me to clean myself up before I come to You.

No. You told me to simply come...

My hands have been cleansed by the blood of your Son.... not by anything I can do...

I can now walk in freedom with you, and not be burdened by thinking I have to work harder or clean myself to be loved by you...

Lord Your Love is free and unconditional .... and I can't thank you enough for that...

I Love you!!! Continue to give me the strength I need to walk this walk.

A healing Letter:

Dear Little boy I don’t remember,

We’re still standing. I know your mother stole your identity from you at such a young age. I know you father never protected you or cared what happened to you. I know you were so young and just wanted to be a little boy who was loved and able to be a little boy. I know you still feel absolutely worthless and had your innocence striped from you without ever knowing what happened. Manipulated, taken advantage of, abused in so many ways. Being told you are hated and disgusting one minute because of who you looked like and then being told you’re loved. I know that’s so confusing and destroyed your innocent mind and left you not knowing the difference between true love and false love and hate. It’s no surprise you died at the age of 6 and went cold….I know you are terrified and are protecting you heart. I see you desperately clinging to that heart of stone. I see what you are protecting, I see the little flesh at the bottom of that stone covered heart. You don’t want to let it go and be exposed because it’s all you have left. You are so afraid of that little bit of flesh that is left will be taken and broken once again and made to feel you are forever worthless. I do need you to know mom never stoped until we hit 18 and moved out. She did die and got escape all this chaos she put us through. I do want you to know that dad hasn’t changed a bit… still loves his bottle more than us, he never became the protector and the example of what manhood looks like. We had to figure out what manhood looked like on our own and we failed so much trying to figure it out. Everything was distorted for us for so long. We have been left with all This devastation , pain, trauma and we are still struggling to know who we are. We fell down, and fell hard. We would question if we were ever actually standing at all.

But I want to tell you it’s ok. We grew up not to be a perfect 33 year old man…far from it. We met the woman of our dreams and little man she stuck around with us despite being a broken and chaotic little boy. We married her and had 3 beautiful kids of our own. I must say we were terrified of being a husband and a father because we didn’t ever see what that looked like growing up. But we did find the perfect Father in heaven who loves us so much. He wants to mend us and care for us fully. He wants us to be healed of all of this. But I’m going to need you to stop clinging to that heart of stone…I’m gonna need you to let it go. I’m gonna need you to trust me with it now. We have been cold for far too long. Yes it’s terrifying to allow that little bit of heart we have left to be exposed and vulnerable. But it’s time. I’ve let you hold it for too long and that was wrong of me. I got it from here. And you’re gonna be ok. We can now be free and truly love ourselves and truly love others. We can give our entire heart over to God… He wont hurt us as those in this world have. remember Ezekiel 36:26–27 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances.”

Just because you are young doesn’t mean you don’t have a testimony.

Just because you may not come from a broken home and have done a lot of terrible things also doesn’t mean you don’t have a testimony.