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Trinity Community Church
Trinity Community Church
The Gospel-Centered Community - An Honest Community
Welcome to our latest sermon in the series “The Gospel-Centered Community,” featuring Pastor Derrick Overholt discussing “An Honest Community.” This sermon delves deep into the essential role of honesty in building genuine connections within our families and church communities. Through personal stories and scriptural insights, Derrick reveals how living authentically is not just a moral choice but a transformative practice for both individuals and communities.
Derrick begins the sermon with a candid story from his personal experience with online dating, where he encountered deception that not only led to immediate disappointment but also sparked deeper reflections on authenticity in relationships. This story sets the stage for a broader discussion on the dangers of the false selves we often present to the world, and how such facades can undermine the very foundation of trust and connection we strive to build in our church communities.
As the sermon progresses, Derrick shares his challenges and observations from growing up in a church environment that often valued appearances over authenticity. He reflects on his teenage quest for a spiritual family, his encounters with seemingly perfect churchgoers, and how these experiences led him to seek deeper, more honest connections. He discusses the influence of renowned spiritual leaders like Brennan Manning and Conrad Cook, who emphasized the importance of emotional honesty and the perils of living as an impostor.
Further exploring the theme, Derrick emphasizes the scriptural calls to honesty found in 1 John 1:5 and James 5:16—verses that compel us to live in the light and confess our sins to one another. He connects these teachings to practical aspects of our daily lives, encouraging transparency in our interactions within the family unit. Derrick highlights how showing our true selves to our children and spouses not only teaches them about the human condition and the grace of repentance but also strengthens the communal bonds of the church.
The discussion also addresses the critical need for an honest community in the church. Derrick challenges listeners to embrace authenticity, not just in personal relationships but also in how we interact within our church settings. By fostering an environment where people can freely share their struggles and triumphs without fear of judgment, we can cultivate a community that truly reflects the body of Christ.
Towards the end of the sermon, Derrick calls on the congregation and listeners to apply these principles of honesty to their daily lives. He underscores the transformative power of living truthfully, how it can liberate us from the shackles of superficiality, and lead to a more fulfilling and spiritually aligned life. The sermon concludes with a powerful reminder that an honest community is not only about revealing our flaws but also about celebrating our collective journey towards grace and redemption.
Tune in to this profound exploration of what it means to be part of “An Honest Community.” Discover how transparency and truth can revolutionize our relationships and help us build a stronger, more connected church.
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All right, good morning. How's everybody doing? It's been a little while since I've been up here and I'm just so grateful that I have the opportunity to be with you today. If this is your first, second week, third week, you may not know that we've been walking through this book. It's called the Gospel-Centered Community. So we've here at Trinity. We've taught for many years using the Gospel-Centered Life. So we've here at Trinity. We've taught for many years using the Gospel-Centered Life.
Derrick Overholt:It's a green book, wonderful book, talking about how we can center our life on the gospel, right? Well, we are also now walking through the Gospel-Centered Community because we want this church to be centered on the gospel and this book really does a good job and it's an easy read and it's a great little book to get together with your groups and different people to. I even think Scott's doing it at the prisons now and it's really cool to be able to use that. And so if you've missed any of our sermons on this, they're all online. We'd love for you to go watch any of them. Get caught up. But even if you just want to get caught up, the book's out there. You can grab it. It's $10 if you've got it. If not just grab it, but we're on chapter 7 today and you can go back. Like I said, they're real easy reads, so you can go back if you've missed anything and get caught up to where we're at today for next week. I really think it's cool how God does things. This morning we hear a number of words coming from God and they were so good and it's really cool how they all work together. But they also worked really well together on setting me up and setting Kelly up for next week, so it was really nice. So this week we're talking about an honest community.
Derrick Overholt:All right, now, this has been a really hard one for me this week because I've been studying over this one the last couple of weeks and, as you know, if you were to ever preach, you have to live what you preach first and it hits you and it's hard, and it hits you and it's hard, and so it's constantly like a magnifying glass every single day, as I'm digging into the Word, digging into the book, going all right, am I doing this? And I really hope that I am in every way, and of course, that's why David said in Psalms that God searched me, oh Lord, every day, that if there would be any grievous way inside of me to reveal it to me. You know, and that's really how we should all be living. And so a lot of times we come into church or even any type of group and we're worried about what other people think about us. So we make up a false self, we put our best self forward. We've heard this many times with dating. You know it's like well, who is this person really dating? You know it's like well, who is this person really? Because who you first go on a date with is not normally who they are three months later, because you figure out who they are, because they stopped giving you the false person right. So, even though it doesn't really hurt anybody, but it's deeply wicked, honestly, it's a subtle form of dishonesty, manipulation and lying, and so I wanted to tell you a little story just to kind of break the ice here a little bit this morning.
Derrick Overholt:But I've always been skeptical of online dating. Now things have changed a lot over the years. When this first started, it was seen as something just awful and terrible. Some of you in the room are married to your spouse because you started online, and nowadays it's kind of hard to even get to know anyone, because nobody does anything in person anymore, it's all online, right. So nowadays it's a little different.
Derrick Overholt:But back in my day, when it all kind of started out yep, I'm a part of that generation and I remember I was talking to somebody on this thing called MySpace how many people remember that one, right? And so MySpace is a place you got to know some people, and so I figured after a few weeks I'm going to go meet this person that I've been talking to. I mean, she seems kind of cool. I think I was 18 years old and so I'm finally going to go meet this person and I've got the picture of who I'm looking for. I go to McDonald's where we say we're going to meet. I've not even got out yet because I'm a little bit early, and somebody, like knocks on my truck window. I'm like what? And so like I roll down the window and I'm like it's total stranger, like never seen this person before in my life, and she begins to claim she's the person I'm meeting. Didn't even look the same, different hair, different facial structure. There was no way the person I was coming there to meet was that person. So I quickly came up with an excuse that I had to go back to work and rolled up the window and left, never talked to them again. Why was that? Because she was totally dishonest. I built this little relationship of this friendship on an entire lie. I wanted nothing to do with this person. It was total dishonesty. And so that is kind of what makes us be sketchy about online dating, online getting to know anyone right, because it's sketchy, you don't really know if the person is the real person that you're supposed to meet. So that was my little story to kind of get you started.
Derrick Overholt:For many years I had been in church my whole life. Some of you know my testimony about. I was raised in church Most of the time. I went to church myself because my mom worked night shift and couldn't get me there. My mom and dad were divorced when I was five and so I got to see dad a few days a year because of the custody agreements and all that stuff. So I called local churches and I would have them come pick me up to take me to church, because I wanted to be there on Sunday morning. I felt like that was the place I was supposed to be, and I realized later on in life that I desired community so bad and I wanted that community that I could trust.
Derrick Overholt:Now I went from, there was a few different churches that would pick me up, and maybe their bus ministry had to stop, and then I would go to another one, and it was just kind of back and forth until I finally got my license and I started driving myself. And then I'm searching for a church to go to because I didn't have one. And here I am and imagine being 16 years old and you're trying to find a community to be a part of. Now, the communities I was hanging out with were not really good ones, because they were a bunch of teens that were not living the right life, right, but I wanted something different. And so I would go around and I would look for these churches, but I would never find one that fit for me because these were all perfect people, every one of them, that's what they portrayed, so that one's not going to work out for me. And then I'd see these perfect people. Churches just fail and literally shut the doors and I would have to go to the next one. And so I went through a lot of that three, four, five of them before I came here to Trinity. And so some of those things were that I was meeting these people, that none of them were being real with me, and here I was, a teen trying to figure out how to live for the Lord, me and here I was a teen trying to figure out how to live for the Lord, and what I was searching for was what I had on Saturday mornings.
Derrick Overholt:Saturday morning was a different thing. My family would get together with my uncle, billy, and I love him so much he's still like. I wish that we still did this at times. My family, it was a cool Saturday hangout Every morning. Every Saturday morning, everybody would get together. We'd go swimming, we'd play volleyball, we'd ride go-karts and horseback, and he had this big farm. We did it all. All of the family would show up. All of the family was real. Nobody would lie about who they were. They weren't living the right life. It was pretty coarse language, pretty rough things going on, things behind the scenes that weren't really behind the scenes. You knew what was going on. They'd be honest, they'd tell you about it. But all right, don't do business with them, all right, and so. But that community I desired so much because it was fun and people were honest and people were real. And no one's trying to be somebody different, they were just trying to be themselves. I desired that in the church, I wanted, and no one's trying to be somebody different, they were just trying to be themselves. I desired that in the church, I wanted that, but I couldn't find it and that was really. That was hard for me, right?
Derrick Overholt:So in the book we see this week, it talked about what we do is we're imposters. We throw out a false image, and this man named Brennan Manning said this the imposter is the classic codependent. To gain acceptance and approval. The false self suppresses or camouflages feelings, making emotional honesty impossible. We present a perfect image to the public so that everyone will admire us. Nobody will know us. The imposter prompts us to attach importance to what has no importance, to clothing with a false glitter, what is least substantial and turning us away from what is real. The false self causes us to live in a world of delusion. The imposter is a liar, and so today we want to talk about what it means to be in an honest community.
Derrick Overholt:So I was 16 years old. Again, I was going from church to church, but my dad was a Southern gospel singer and also a minister, and so at this point I'd go to all kinds of churches, but I remember going to this one church. It was when I first started getting a glimpse of the prophetic and you know the prophetic in a real, not in a crazy way, because my dad took me to a couple of Pentecostal churches. So, like that made sense and I came in and for some of you who know Southern gospel music, you know Conrad Cook and the Calvary Echoes. Anybody know them? Man, not one person in the room. Wow, okay, I'm just that old, all right. So Conrad Cook was a great man and in the Southern Gospel realm it was wild to see someone who was filled with the Holy Spirit, who prophesied, who, you know, believed in healing all of these things. And Conrad Cook was one of those.
Derrick Overholt:And I remember he called me up for a word, first time I'd ever gotten anything like this. What is a word, you know? And he comes and he tells me hey, you're called to be a minister of the gospel, you're going to be a pastor and you're going to pastor many. And I'm like what? Okay, all right. And I'm like what? Okay, all right.
Derrick Overholt:So I took that word and there was part of me that like, okay, that's kind of cool, I'd like that. But then the other part of me was like no way in the world I'm ever going to do that. Why? Because I never wanted to be a pastor like the pastors I knew. All these pastors were one man leading the whole church, giving a false front of what he had, unfortunately. I saw some pastors who lived one way but then came to Sunday morning and, you know, called everybody out for the same thing and live in kind of high and mighty, and so there were a lot of that that I wanted nothing to do with, and so I never wanted to be a pastor because I had never seen anybody be real with me to teach me, to show me what it meant to be honest and true and to how you live this life.
Derrick Overholt:I remember even at one point like I wanted honesty in everything in my life. I remember even at one point like I wanted I wanted honesty in everything in my life, like I saw these people and all this, but I would always be really just right out honest with you. And I'm still on today. Most of you know you asked me a question. You better really want to know the answer, because I'll give it to you. The kids stopped asking me crazy questions about 10 years ago because they got tired of hearing the real answer. So the thing is is I wanted these true things, and I even remember one man telling me hey, like stop telling everybody everything, you're too honest. And I'm like how is that even possible to be too honest? And I got what he was talking about later on, because I would be honest with people who had no desire to be honest with me but just to use my honesty to build themselves up in reputation. And so then, yeah, I started kind of hiding some of those things from people.
Derrick Overholt:But 22 years ago now that's how long I've been here, actually coming up on 23, I met some men who were totally different. I walked into a church called Trinity Chapel and I remember asking the Lord God, I'm so sick and tired of trying to find a church. I'm over here for six months. I'm over here for three months, I'm over here for eight months. Can you please just show me where I'm supposed to be? I don't want to be bouncing around. I want to find this community of believers that's like my family, that'll tell me everything, that'll walk with me through stuff and that I actually truly know them and they're my family, but also who will raise me up. And so I remember walking in and I met a man named Adam Lutz I'm actually even back in the day, even further back and that was Rob of Ross Jones, Thank you.
Derrick Overholt:But then shortly after, like literally shortly after, I stepped into the church, then I met Steve Fado, mark Medley, neal Silverberg. Later on, tyler Lyon came around and these men were real. They were real men. They showed me what living for Christ was really like. For the first time I had actually met some leaders that were authentic, that wouldn't just give me one side. It was incredible to finally see them live ungodly, and I say this because I saw how they made it right with the Lord. So I've seen each one of these men in my life make mistakes, be ungodly, but yet I've also got to watch them repent and live righteously. And so for once I finally. That was the moment when I was like, okay, maybe I can do this thing that I feel like the Lord told me when I was 16. Maybe I can work up to let the Lord lead me to be a pastor. It's because I finally saw some people that were authentic, and so that's why we're talking about all this.
Derrick Overholt:That's why this chapter is so important, because we need people who are not fake. We need people who are real, and so that we can all grow together. In truth, jesus made us to be in community. A lot of people are kind of going against that nowadays, saying that you don't need the community of the institution of the church, but the Bible says clearly different. Now I know that the church as we do it today wasn't set up like this in the Bible. It was in somebody's home, and hopefully these are some big homes, because I hear of, you know, 3,000, 4,000, 5,000 people getting saved. That's a big house right now. I'm sure it was many homes, but we today have this opportunity to gather together because our laws allow us to do this, and this is incredible. I mean, this is really what we came to America for was so that we could have freedom of religion to do these things right. But Jesus made us to be in community. He didn't make us to be all on our own and be separated and pull apart. He made us to be together. Because we grow together, we receive all the gifts that the Lord has given us when we all come together.
Derrick Overholt:But again, we've got to be honest, because to be there for one another, we must be an honest community To grow in each other, to grow with each other. We've got to be honest with one another and so I want to ask you what is the most important component of any relationship, any? A lot of people say oh. A lot of people say oh, it's love, oh, it's this, it's honesty, it's truth, because without it there can be no relationship. It can't. You can't have a relationship at all if there's lies, if there's dishonesty, if you're fake on your side or they're fake on their side. You're in relationship with an imposter, with a fake person, an actor or an actress. We don't want any of that here in our body of Christ. That's why this chapter is so important that we become an honest community with one another.
Derrick Overholt:But where does community first start First start? Did I say start First start? It always starts in our family, because our first community and the most important community that we are in is our family, our home. Moms and dads, you hear this the community you have at home is more important than this one, because you're going to account for where those children go. I'm going to account for what happens to my kids if I don't raise them properly. They have a choice in the future that they have to make. They have a choice in the future that they have to make, but I will be responsible for not showing them the right way. And so we first have to start this honest community at home before we can ever come in here.
Derrick Overholt:So I wanted to take a step back, and you've got to remember the chapter that we have chapter 7, is only like three or four pages long. They can't dig into everything. That's super important, but we've got to step on that today because, without you being real at home and teaching our family at home how to live, forget it here, because it's useless, it's an imposter. If your kids are seeing someone different here than they're seeing at home, you're an imposter, you're a liar. Have you shared your testimony with your children and told them how God has changed your life, or are you still hiding some of those pieces? You know how often I hear that guys, that guys, like I know parents. At this point it's crazy because I still don't feel like I'm 40, 41 this month, or 26 for the 15th time my imposter, right, I still can't believe that. But I've lived long enough. Now that I have, you know, friends that have kids in their teens, I still can't believe I'm saying that, but I do. And the fact that I'll talk to their teens I still can't believe I'm saying that, but I do. And the fact that I'll talk to their teens me knowing their parents and their teens dealing with something that I remember mom and dad dealing with and they don't know mom and dad ever dealt with it. And now they think that they've got to hide it from mom and dad because they would be totally ashamed.
Derrick Overholt:What kind of house are we living in? A house of lies. Our kids need to know we are sinners saved by grace. Our kids need to see how we were so that they see how good God has been. They need to see our testimony. They need to see how he's changed our life, how we have become different only through the blood of Jesus Christ. Because what that does for them just as I was talking about earlier, finally seeing men in my life mess up it helps our kids in our home to see we don't have to live perfect lives. We don't have to live perfect lives. We don't have to be. That way we can live normal lives, but then we show them what it looks like to live for the Lord. Are we going to mess up? Absolutely we're going to mess up.
Derrick Overholt:I mess up weekly, maybe daily. You'd have to ask my wife, and it's important for me to be slow to anger, quick to repent. A lot of people stop at the slow to anger. I know I need to stop it. No, you need to be quick to repent Because any time left there of not repenting grows your heart harder and harder and harder, harder and harder and harder. Truth is as big a pill it is for me to swallow when I'm coming to repent to my children. That pill is tiny compared to if I wait a day, two days. I got to rehash everything and that pill becomes much bigger, and that's why I believe it says to be quick to repent.
Derrick Overholt:Some of this actually is not even in my words today, but I just feel like the Lord was saying it. We need to be ready to be real with our kids, real with our family, real community at home. We need to be truthful with our spouses. Listen, guys and gals, if there's any hidden, anything in your life that you've not shared with your spouse. You're lying, I'm lying, and I was even asking the Lord this week. God, is there some things that I've held back right now that I've not told my wife? Am I giving her half-truths? Half-truths are a lie. We remember Scott talking on that months ago. Half-truths is a lie. Why is there?
Derrick Overholt:I had to come to my wife this week and repent because there was some half-truths or some things that I just hadn't told her. I never lied about it because she didn't ask about it. Don't we like how that one works? She didn't ask about it. Don't we like how that one works? She didn't ask. So I didn't lie, but I didn't repent. I repented to God, but then the Lord's like but you still haven't repented to her, and so I had to do that this week and that's what I was telling her. I was like, look, I'm preaching this sermon and it's hitting me hard, but I did. I came to her.
Derrick Overholt:So these truths must be at home first, or the rest of the world around us is make-believe Starts in our family. Then it comes out Because where are we the most? Ourself? At home, and I hope that we're not being imposters and lying at home, because that's really undesirable. And then that undesirability comes into here when we're trying to be a part of this community, because this is our family. Again, you've heard my little story and you'll hear me all the time saying you are my church family Because you are, you're my family and are You're my family, and I love being with my family. You guys are my new Saturday mornings because I love being with you.
Derrick Overholt:But see, oftentimes and we've seen this, and I'm not even saying here, when I'm talking the church, I'm talking about church in general. Okay, I'm not saying that Trinity is awful at this, none of that, ever. I believe we are really good at being a part of community. I know that we have areas we can grow in, but I really believe that we do a good job at this. But oftentimes people come into the church and don't stay because the Christian community is often shallow and stagnant. Because they're coming because they want authentic people, they want an authentic community and they've heard about this, jesus Christ, that changes lives. And then they come into a community where people's lives haven't been changed, because they're perfect and they're holier than thou. And oh, I'm going to call out everything in you but nothing in myself. I'll get to that in a second See, because if I'm dishonest with you, our trust is broken and our relationship unravels.
Derrick Overholt:I'm trying to catch up in my notes from stepping off of them just a second ago. So truth and honesty are the most important part of any relationship. So let's turn to Scripture and while we're headed there, I want to tell you just real quick my whole life. Ephesians 4.15,. I've looked at it one way, one way only, and that was pointed away from me. Okay, I've always read this Scripture that it's an outward Scripture. So let's look at it. Ephesians 4.15,.
Derrick Overholt:Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow in every way into him, who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped. When each part is working properly, it makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Now, how I looked at it was always outward, so I'm going to use Tyler. If Tyler did something and was wrong, and he continues to do something wrong, I need to go to him in truth, but in a loving way. Now, as true as that is, am I not a part of this community? Am I telling the truth of myself in love and that hit me two weeks ago. Wow, I need to be truthful in love. I need to be truthful about who I am, the real me If I I say I love you. So we need it to point. So, rather than speaking the truth of ourselves in love, we are to grow in every way in Christ. See, that's how we grow in every way in Christ, through truth. It goes on to say that the body builds itself up in love when I'm being truthful with you and you're being truthful with me.
Derrick Overholt:So, in my opinion, if you have any lie, any not full truth, if you're still laying it on that side of the string, I would venture to say that you are not loving fully. In some ways, I would say you don't truly love them and spouses. That's for you today too. If you're still holding anything from your wife, from your husband, if there's something in your past that you haven't talked about, you haven't told them, you're still afraid of what they might think, what approval you might get or disapproval you might get. I don't see that as loving, because now you're going to reveal something to them, just like the person pulling up beside me in the car knocking on my window. Wait, that's not who you said you were. You've been showing me this, but you've been holding all of these lies. Who is this person now that you're trying to introduce me to?
Derrick Overholt:And we don't want that here in the community either. We're supposed to be real with one another in every way. We're built on honesty, so it helps us when we belong to the body here. It's just like the wall outside. We belong to the community in real relationships. We belong to the community in real relationships. Then we let's do that slide. Then we grow together in love. Then we serve those who are in need and help them belong. Then we grow in relationships in love. Then together we serve those who are in need and help them to belong. Do I need to do it again? So that's who we are. We're Trinity because we're helping each other belong, grow and serve.
Derrick Overholt:But you can't truly belong if you're not honest. You can't truly grow if you're not honest. You can't truly serve unless you're honest. And then we can't make the circle again. See, the thing is, guys, is we need your real faults to go with my real faults, because I'm not perfect, I screw up. Oftentimes the view of myself is I'm way worse than any of you, because I know I'm a faulted man. And the truth is, guys, I know that you're faulted humans and it's okay to be honest about that, because then we can grow.
Derrick Overholt:Now the original direction of the Scripture that I'd always seen in Ephesians 4.15 was you need to tell the truth in love. And we do need to be truthful at all times, no matter what. That does mean that if your wife asks you, do you like this dress, I'm going to go there Because we're at home. Where did I say we're going to be truthful at? In our home.
Derrick Overholt:First, your wife says do you like this dress? If you do not like the dress, don't be a liar. They don't want you to lie. They don't want you to lie. So my wife asked do you like this dress? No, I do not. You're still beautiful, but I don't like the dress. And my wife has seen that. She walked in. She went in through this phase where everything was really big and baggy and flowing, because that was the style 12 years ago or whatever. I hated it because she's beautiful and she didn't need to have something that looked like it was made for a 6'12", 380-pound dude and she's walking around with it and I told her that hey, do you like this? No, I hate this style. The style is hideous. You're beautiful and you would look much more beautiful if you'd wear things that fit you, did I not? Okay, because I need to be truthful. Truthful, because that's me truly loving her.
Derrick Overholt:Another example would be food Husbands, don't lie. My wife is an incredible cook. She follows recipes very, very good, everything that comes out of the recipe book. When she cooks it, it's juicy, it's cooked just right on the top, nothing's burnt. The bottom's never burnt. It's put together perfectly.
Derrick Overholt:But there are women you need to hear this. There are recipes in the world that should have never been written All right, and most of you are busy women and you're looking in a recipe book Some recipe books need to go into garbage and she will ask me what do you think about this meal? And she will ask me what do you think about this meal? Babe, I think you've done an amazing job preparing this meal. It's cooked perfectly, it's not burnt, the meat is juicy, but the recipe's terrible. Please don't ever make this recipe again.
Derrick Overholt:In my opinion, in my opinion. Thank you, mark, but she did ask me my opinion, right? So if I were to lie to her. Think about this. She makes the meal again next week and I have to endure it again While lying to her. Again. I'm building a lie on a lie on a lie.
Derrick Overholt:Well, but you said you liked the other dress. This one's just blue. It's the exact same dress. You lie again and you lie again. I know these are just minute little things, but they're truth. Truth always. She wants the truth. When she asks you a question, give her the truth, but in love. I know how my wife needs to hear things. Husbands, if you know your wife, you know how she needs to hear things. You know how you need to deliver the truth to her. She doesn't want to have truth, but she does want it, given in kindness and love and mercy. First time she ever asked me about a meal that she made yeah, I didn't give it to her the right way. No, this is terrible. And she got really mad at me and didn't cook for a week. And then I realized it's not her cooking, I don't like. It's the recipe I didn't like. I need to talk to her about the recipe. She took it much better the next time and she cooked the next night. Truth in love. So we need to. But now we're into the world, world and we're in here, even If someone asks you hey, do you think gay people are going to hell?
Derrick Overholt:If they're asking your opinion, your opinion doesn't matter, it's what the word of God says. Okay, and it's all about how you say it as well. If someone's asking you your opinion, hey, do you believe that this person is going to hell? It's not up to me to determine whether or not anyone goes to hell. I believe that the word of God says this and I believe that, because it says this, that is a statute from God. And the word of God says anyone who continues to practice in sin and feed their fleshly desires will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Me personally, my opinion doesn't matter, god's opinion does. Nobody can argue with that, other than the Word is fallible and whatever. But see, it's all about how you bring the truth to someone in love, because it's not about what you think, it's about what God thinks when it comes to that. But it's also about bringing the truth always, because someone's going to come to you and they're going to see you need truth or that you mean truth.
Derrick Overholt:The thing is is there's been many times that Mark, tyler, neil have called me out and guys, it hurts to get you know. Your mentors, the guys that you love, tell you, dude, you're screwing up. But it's because I know they love me and if they left me where I was I would never grow. In the grace and mercy through Jesus Christ, I'm a real heavy belief person. You guys know that, and I can say certain things at times that's very arrogant and I didn't know that until I was called out and at times, even this week, reminded hey, you can sound like this, you know You're right, but unless you told me that I couldn't grow, I couldn't go to the Lord and say Lord, I need your help with this. Help me to see any grievous way inside myself that is unpleasing to you, which is then pouring out onto other people in wrong ways. Help me to see the ways that I need to change. I can't do that unless my community is being truthful and loved. But listen, you can't do that unless you have a relationship with people and unless you're being real with who you truly are and unless you're all right with somebody doing that to you. So if you're here today and you've got some truth, you really want to tell somebody, but Lord forbid somebody. Come tell you the truth. Keep your mouth shut. Don't go tell anybody anything until you get the plank out of your own eye Right. So move on here a little bit.
Derrick Overholt:So God calls us to walk in the light First. John 1, 5 says this is the message we have heard from Jesus. Where did the message come from From Jesus? And now declare to you God is light. There is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness. We are not practicing the truth. But if we're living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another or with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from our sin. It doesn't make us perfect we're not perfect here but when we are living in the light, just as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, while the Lord comes in and cleanses us of our sin. So if we say we have no sin, we're only fooling ourself and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sin to Him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all wickedness. So transparency there is what we see. Transparency is needed for growing.
Derrick Overholt:Has anybody ever took a plant and stuck it in the dark room? What's it do? It dies. You can't take a plant and stick it in the closet. It's going to die. It needs light. That's us. We need light because the light displaces darkness. Have you ever walked into a room, turned the light on and then looked for a dark space? They don't exist. Light will infiltrate everything. Now there'll be some dark areas that of course, maybe I need to move this table to get the shadow off of which is things in our life the Lord is going to reveal us. That table needs to move and then there's light there, but there's still going to be some light cast around.
Derrick Overholt:If we're living in the light to help us to see that, oh, there's a dark space there, the shadow. I need to go move that table because it's casting a shadow in that area of my life. So we need to continue to live in the light, because darkness brings separation. We need to confess our sins one to another. Jesus came into the world as light and dispelled the darkness, and it says James 5, 16,. Therefore, confess your sins one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power, as it is working. God calls us to confess our sins one to another because it brings healing, emotionally and physically, in so many ways, because it reminds us of our own faults.
Derrick Overholt:Here's the thing I've noticed in my own life, especially my big area is driving down the road. People can't drive. In my opinion. For those of you who have come from out of state, I hope that you're driving well. We drive here a little differently and because you don't drive like I do, I feel like you're wrong in my opinion. So I've constantly had to tell myself while I'm driving down the road and I get cut off this is not my road, this is not my road, this is not my road. We are in this together. And then I have to remember you know, last week I accidentally cut that truck off because I didn't even see it and they had to get over to get out of my way. You know, I could screw up too. I need to remember that. I need to remember that. I need to remember that because it helps us when somebody does something to us and we're it's really sad.
Derrick Overholt:The church has become really judgmental because of a lack of confession. We need to be honest for that. We need to be honest about it, and we're going to think more about that next week as we step into a grace-filled community. And I don't want to take anything away from Kelly because it's going to be a good week, but this is how we begin to live in an honest community. So honesty is marked as being free from deceit and untruthfulness, being sincere, the Christian life should always be marked with one of integrity and honesty. Yet, because we all sin and find it easy to do, honesty is something we must work hard at. An honest life is important on so many levels, from relationships with our spouses and our children, at our workplace and interacting with our neighbors. And we've got to remember what Matthew 7, 16 says. It tells us that we are known by our fruit. Our church is going to be known by our fruit. So let us be examples of God in truth and in integrity of how we live with one another.
Derrick Overholt:And then today, I just want to end up with one thought you think about that thing that you're hiding from everybody. You're afraid to tell anybody because of what they might think of you. And why are you afraid to talk about that? Is it because they might disapprove of you? Is it going to leave something on your reputation? Maybe it's going to leave a scar on your reputation? Lord forbid somebody might figure out you're human. Lord forbid somebody might figure out you're human.
Derrick Overholt:Adam and Eve were in the garden and felt no shame none until sin entered the room and they immediately felt shame and covered themselves, see, with no sin. They were out, open and truthful about everything in their life. But with sin came shame that caused them to be a fake them. Oh no, no, no, no, no. You stay out of it. You know Total hidden. It brought them to the darkness. Shame caused them to run from the light.
Derrick Overholt:But, guys, in Christ there is no shame. He has set us free from all sin. What you've done, someone else in this room has done. We're all walking through this life together. We're all sinners saved by grace. The gospel assures us that God fully approves of us and accepts us in Christ, despite our weaknesses and our sin. And here's the thing, guys the more we believe this, the more we'll be freed from the slavery of worrying about what other people think If we stop worrying about what everybody else is always thinking, then we'll be open with one another and it's okay.
Derrick Overholt:And listen, if you have someone coming to you in a relationship, they're getting to know you and they trust you with the truth about themselves. Keep your mouth shut. Your other friends don't need to know. Oh, but we're all a big friend group. They trusted you enough to open up. Now think about how that thing in your head that, like I can't tell anybody. If you were to be able to trust someone enough to tell them that, how would you want that treated? And that is how we live in this gospel-centered community together. We're honest with one another, we make real relationships, we open up with people and we become a part of this family together and then, when that happens, we belong, grow and serve.
Derrick Overholt:The outside world sees it. They're going to be hungry for it, just like I was years ago when I wanted what I had on Saturday morning with a bunch of lost people. I wanted that out here and I was hungry and thank you Lord, I came to find it. And next week we're going to talk more about how we live in that, because we will be hurt by the church because there's people in it, but God is with us always.
Derrick Overholt:So, father, today we just thank you so much for your amazing grace, your mercy, your compassion, your forgiveness, lord. You, lord, have forgiven us for so much, god, and I just pray today, lord God, that you'd break off the chains of shame and the chains of approval or disapproval, god, that we would live in this honest community to know that we are all a part of this body, your sons and daughters Together. Your mission could go out because there's nothing hidden in between us. Lord, we wanna stand before you as your bride, holy and blameless, without spot, without wrinkle, going out into the community, showing people who you are and how much you love them and even in our faults, quickly show them how you have saved us and this is the proper way of repentance. All of those things, god. Show us how, lord God, to live this honest community In Jesus' name, amen.
