Seek Breakthrough

Introduction

ILLUSTRATION: Amit Activity

People form 2 lines with a gap in the middle (or stand up?)

Step into the circle if you:

Slept less than 5 hours last night

Hate Spiders

Can play a musical instrument

Have been or are being bullied currently

Have been a bully before

Have a mental health issue

Struggle with loneliness

If you’re carrying a secret that you’ve never told anybody else before

Genuinely think that God doesn’t care about you

It’s amazing the things that we allow ourselves to live with.

I want to show you just how many people are carrying things that you most likely never suspected.

I always think about whether sometimes in life we’ve decided to live with things that we don’t actually need to. Whether we’re carrying brokenness and hurt that we’re not actually meant to carry.

Or even whether we’re carrying things without the help of God - so the brokenness never translates to breakthrough.

Because Brokenness that remains unsubmitted to God can turn in to Barriers in our relationship with him.

I believe that for so many of us here - God desires for us to approach Him for breakthrough tonight.

Let’s Pray

Desperation gives Dignity the Backseat

Mark 10:46–52 “46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.”

Story of a blind beggar by the name of Bartimaeus. A man who is an outcast, someone deemed useless by society.

The moment he hears that Jesus is passing by, he immediately begins to shout

It’s undignified, it’s improper, it’s rude, it’s raw - we know this because people around him literally try to shut him up. This wasn’t the “right moment” to cry out - it was a sheer act of DESPERATION.

this ISN’T polite faith - it’s RAW, UNDIGNIFIED.

Sometimes I read this story and just think of how many of us suffer through issues that we need to be crying out for in SHEER desperation

maybe because we think it’s improper

maybe because we don’t want to appear desperate, undignified

maybe we’re worried about what other people will think of us, and judge us for

maybe we don’t believe that Jesus will hear us

All the More

But I want you to look at what happened to Bartimaeus here - as he was shouting, there were some people who were clearly just annoyed, disturbed. People who found it to be rude and improper.

But look at what it says in the passage in v48 as they were trying to SILENCE him, as they were trying to shut him up - what did Bartimaeus do? He cried out ALL THE MORE.

My favourite words in this passage “ALL THE MORE.” this is the mark of a man who is both desperate and FAITH FILLED. He KNOWS that if ONE person can help him - it is JESUS.

He can’t even see where Jesus is - he just hears whispers of him. And he cries out raw, undignified “JESUS HAVE MERCY ON ME” “JESUS HELP ME”

You might be in a situation now where you’re carrying a brokenness, a hurt, a pain. And you can’t see where Jesus is - you can’t sense His presence. But you’re here at a camp, and you hear whispers, you feel that He’s around.

Young person - NOW’S the time to cry out, NOW’S the time to get UNDIGNIFIED. It’s time to get DESPERATE for the Saviour’s touch because you know that He’s the ONLY one that can heal, the ONLY one that can deliver, the ONLY one that can save.

And you know what? Maybe it will be undignified. Maybe it will cause the people around you - your friends, your family, your schoolmates, your boyfriend or girlfriend, maybe it will cause them to react badly. Maybe they will try to silence you, maybe they’ll find it weird, or judge you for it.

Maybe there’ll be voices in your head that try to stop you from crying out to the Saviour for deliverance.

If that ever happens - take a lesson form Bartimaeus and cry out ALL THE MORE. Lean IN, get even MORE desperate - shout, cry, run to the saviour; GET HIS ATTENTION.

When people try to smother your fire, when they try to kill your desperation - CRY OUT ALL THE MORE.

Dont let anyone get in the way of your healing and the one who can heal

You know why? Because He IS a healer, because He IS a deliverer, because He IS a saviour but MOST importantly because He’s your Father - and He loves you.

1 Peter 5:7 “7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

ILLUSTRATION: Stranded Mountaineer saved by Telemarketer

In May 2002, Leonardo Diaz, a Colombian hiker, decided to do some serious mountain climbing with friends. Their goal was to reach the summit of the Nevado del Ruiz, a volcano in the Andes. 

On the second day of the climb, a major blizzard hit. Diaz lost sight of his friends and became separated from them. Although not initially worried, the novice climber soon began to run out of rations and suffer from the bitter cold. 

Although he had his cell phone in his backpack, his pre-paid minutes had already expired. With no way to signal for help, Diaz realized he was not going to make it.

As he lay in the frigid snow preparing to die, his cell phone rang. Know who it was? It was a freaking TELEMARKETER. Trying to sell him some fake insurance or some crap.

Now can you just imagine for a second if Mr Diaz, dying in the snow - picked up that phone and was like “will you STOP CALLING ME ALREADY. For the LAST TIME, I DON’T NEED pet insurance, I don’t even have a dog. I’m SICK and TIRED of you guys always calling and harrassing. STOP CALLING ME *click*”

No of course not! This guy is literally on the verge of DYING, he’s DESPERATE - he’ll call out, he’ll reach out, he’ll do ANYTHING he can to get that attention because he realises how desperate his situation is.

But this is us - sometimes we’ve got an issue, and it’s desperate, we’re lying on the mountaintop and we get that call from God - but we reject it because we’re too proud, because of the shame and guilt that we’re carrying, because we feel like people don’t care, because we feel like God doesn’t care, because we don’t have a relationship with God, whatever it is - when that was the call that was meant to save our lives. That was God saying He wants to deliver, He wants to heal, He wants to set free.

Mr Diaz. told the telemarketer that he was dying and thank God he got a telemarketer with humanity so they contacted authorities, kept him on the phone for the next 7 HOURS until rescuers arrived - this man survived because of that telemarketer.

Can I suggest something to you? If your shame can overcome your desperation then you aren’t desperate enough.

If we’re truly, truly desperate to see breakthrough in our lives then just like Bartimaeus we will call, scream, kick, yell, fight to get Jesus’ attention; who cares about being dignified, who cares about what I look like and what people think of me.

To a drowning man - even a piece of driftwood looks like salvation.

Drop the Cloak

What happens next is the most important part - Jesus stops and calls on him and the disciples tell Bartimaeus “Take heart, get up - he is calling you”

which is what I’m doing right now for some of you guys right now - Jesus is calling you, He wants to heal and deliver you.

And then the next line is what I want us to take a look at. It’s seemingly insignificant, and many of us didn’t even realise it the first time we read this passage - but Bartimaeus THROWS AWAY HIS CLOAK and THEN approaches Jesus. The order of that is important, let me tell you why.

The cloak that he throws off is very symbolic - these garments are distributed to beggars and outcasts, they are almost like a permit for begging. They’ve got practical uses, they are used for warmth and can also be spread on the floor to collect money that they’re begging for. BUT primarily - they IDENTIFY you as a beggar.

That cloak is like an identity, if you have one of these cloaks then you are legally and practically identified as a beggar, as a cripple, as an outcast.

So what happens - the MOMENT Jesus calls Him, he throws off his cloak - he SHEDS HIS IDENTITY as a beggar.

BEFORE the miracle occurs, BEFORE Jesus has even touched him, BEFORE Jesus even stpoke over him - this man throws away his cloak.

He was READY for the healing before the healing actually happened.

By the time that he told Jesus he wanted to see, he received his miracle. What was the key? Dropping the cloak, shedding that identity as a beggar, having SUCH faith “If anyone can heal me, Jesus, it’s you.”

His faith was so strong that even Jesus said to him that it was his FAITH that made him well.

What’s your cloak?

There are some people here who need healing from Jesus but you’re still holding on to your cloak.

Maybe it’s:

Guilt and Shame - you don’t believe that you deserve healing because of the things that you’ve done.

Comfort - this is all you’ve known, this is your identity - and you don’t know who you’ll be without it, you’re scared to let it go. You’ve grown comfortable with people’s pity, with your own pity.

Fear - what if God doesn’t heal me? what if he can’t heal me, or worse - what if he doesn’t WANT to deliver me?

Anger - you’re so angry, and you don’t want to let that go because you feel like it’s control, you feel like it’s power.

Young person - DROP THE CLOAK. Tonight is the night to drop the cloak, because God wants to turn your brokenness into breakthrough.

There are people here tonight carrying brokenness in their lives. It’s time to step out in faith for healing, for breakthrough, for deliverance. It may actually be:

a physical sickness or ailment.

a MENTAL sickness or ailment

a hurt that you’ve been carrying

words spoken into your life that are sitting in you, stealing life from you

a circumstance you can’t control

a relationship that seems irreperable

Listen to me - breakthrough requires faith, and faith requires surrender.

what you don’t surrender to God will get in the way of your healing

Bartimaeus surrendered his dignity, he surrendered the identity that man had given him, he surrendered what people thought about him

he did all of that to cry out in desperation for Jesus to hear him.

YD - God is speaking to some people today, right now in fact, He is calling you because He wants to heal, He wants you to have breakthrough, He wants you to have deliverance. Will you answer the call, even if it’s out of sheer DESPERATION?

Final ILLUSTRATION: Recovering from depression

Some of you know my story. That for 2 years from 2018 I suffered from crippling depression. I went from a high functioning leader meant to take over a church in 2017 to being bedridden for 2 years. My marriage, my calling, my friendships, my future fell apart in what felt really just like the blink of an eye. Like you see me now and you think I’m ok, but I’m telling you back then you wouldn’t have recognised me. I honestly thought that my life was over.

You know that for 2 years I slept on the couch? I wasn’t kicked out from the bed, in fact Sharon desperately wanted me to come back to the bed but I just couldn’t - my mind was so sick that I had to isolate myself from everyone, so convinced that nobody could help me, that nobody could do anything for me. The couch became my “beggars blanket” it became my identity, it even became comfortable for me. I got so used to it that, it just became normal life.

Do you know how that season ended for me? I’m not sure if I’ve told many of you this. One day - I was lying down on the couch, and I remember this day so clearly. It was just another normal day, I woke up at around midday, turned the TV on like I always did ready to just watch it for hours. But as I did - I heard God call me.

“Get up - pack up the sofa, move back to your bed.” And you know what happened? I got up, for the first time in 2 years I packed up the sofa and I moved back to bed with my wife. Just like that. I threw off my beggars blanket and walked out of my season of depression.

Sounds so simple right? But the thing is I never had the strength to do it before, I never had the willpower, the decisiveness, but man I’m telling you - just ONE Word from the Lord and I left 2 years of depression behind just lke that. Just one Word from the Lord.

Altar Call

My friends - God is calling some of you guys tonight to respond because He wants to minister to your brokenness.

Some of you have been hiding behind that beggar’s blanket, you’ve taken it on as your identity. You may be scared to throw it off, you may not want to throw it off.

Listen to me - tonight’s the night to throw it off. Tonight’s the night to come forward and get prayed for healing, to find that freedom. Tonight’s the night to answer the call of God and to witness His power in your life.

Some of you may ask “But what if God doesn’t heal me - what if He doesn’t make things better.”

Then listen to me - as someone who prayed for 10 years for God to heal my mum from cancer, and she still passed away from it.

Even if God doesn’t heal you, He will walk with you through the season. Even if God doesn’t right the situation, He can take every bad situation and use it for His will. Come to Him, don’t let that blanket of fear stop you from responding.