The Ministry of Scars

If you have your Bibles, turn with me to John chapter 20. I'm um I'm very uh when I say excited to to preach something and to teach something, I'm excited to teach because uh I've asked the Lord as of recently. I've devoting trying to devote more and more time into study and to just seeking the face of the Lord. And um I do feel that there there's a freshness that I've asked the Lord to come upon my mind and my heart that I can be the best version of myself for you as the people of God. I want to be the best version of what God's called me to do after uh November 1st will be 17 years. Uh, I I don't want us as a church to put it in cruise control. I want us to stay hungry in what God's doing and wants to do in our church. Can I get a witness? I I don't want us to just just cruise and be satisfied with good church. We can't get satisfied with good church or we'll begin to decline. But if we can keep our foot on the gas and we'll keep our foot on the, you know, on the gas and our heart upon the spirit of this house, uh, I just believe God's doing something miraculous in among us. Uh, Sunday, the number of guests that were in this house and the spirit of the living God that moved and ministered, uh, we're just revival's not coming. It's here. It's here. We're seeing it every day. It's walking in our coffee shop and it's we're seeing and engaging with people and uh I I'm excited about where God is taking us and doing. Uh so if you have your Bibles, turn with me to u John chapter 20. Uh I'll start with verse 24. John chap 20 verse 24.

But Thomas, one of the 12 called Ditimus was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said unto them, you got to catch this right off the bat, except I see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days, again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace be unto you." Then saith he to Thomas, "Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side," and be not faithless, but believing." And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed, but blessed are they that have not seen, yet have believed.

I can't tell you exactly where I was, but I was in a I was driving. I was trying to think of where I was geographically, but I was driving and I began to think of this passage of scripture and the Lord literally put this thought into my spirit to give unto us tonight. I want to preach to you on the ministry of scars. the ministry of scars. God's going to do something here tonight. Um, I told Jimmy Tony today, I said, I feel like, man, I could save this message and preach it on Sunday and but I said, I I cannot I cannot preach this message on today or tonight because I feel such a a strong tug in the spirit. I believe this message right here has the power to transform your life and you will never be the same when you walk out those doors. That's that's how much I believe in what God's about to do. Would you just one more time pray with me? Father, I thank you for what you have spoken unto me. I thank you for how you have guided and directed me. And God, I'm asking God, you would anoint, clear every mind, anoint every heart, let every ear that hath an ear hear what the spirit is going to say to the church. In the name of Jesus, I pray. And everybody say, "Amen." You may be seated. Hallelujah. The ministry of scars.

If I were to ask you tonight, and I will, how many in this room would be honest with the show of hands, and you would say, "Pastor, I have scars." I'm talking about right now physical scars. If if you have a scar on your body, would you just raise your hand? I'm not asking you to expose it but I am asking you to raise your if you have a scar got a scar I would say I don't know I don't what 80% 90% have a scar now where those scars come from it they come from different things some of you when you was a kid something happened as an adult something happened uh some of you can go to the place where it happened and you can reflect back on what caused the scar, how the scar, you know, how you dealt with it. But for me, but but for me,

I live with one every day, and you've heard me preach about it if you've been around long, but some of you, this may be your first time, but um every day that I wake up, I look at a scar on my body. It's on my hand. It's every day. Now, it healed up really, really good. But every day I look at my hand and it is slightly different than this hand. And if I and if you were to see my uh upper arm right here to about right here, you can see where the scar where it ended and where healing began and where my life would drastically change. Uh it was Thanksgiving Day in 2005 that my world would forever changed. I was burned. I had second and third degree burns on my hands and my face. And you'll see a picture on the screen of uh what one of the pictures. And thank you, brother Dallas, for making those uh pictures that are over 20 years old now. Uh look good. Uh that was my hand. Uh we had just bought a house and uh we man I was going to make it just look so amazing. It was grew up in front and I went on a mission cutting down brush and uh man I piled up I'm talking it was probably 40 feet long of of brush and I'd watched my dad so many times pour gasoline on on brush and step back and light you know over here and it was just going man I've just seen my dad do it so many times it was going to work for me little did I know and little did I calculate that there was wind blowing in my face and at the click of the lighter click. It was though a bomb went off. It was an inferno upon my body. That was the result that that picture you just seen. That was the result of that. If you'll put that back on the screen, brother Dallas. Uh that was the result of my arm. And then if you go to the next picture, this that was my hand after going through debrima. That's where they would take me from ICU every day and begin to scrape all of that skin off of my arm and my hand every day for seven days. Uh my wife could hear me screaming until I was knocked out. The medications did eventually work, but it was one of the most grueling processes. Uh Freddy Krueger, that's real. That's not Hollywood. That's real. That's not made up. Uh but you'll see a picture of my face. I I laid in an ICU. Um and that top layer of skin was just charred and they just began to slowly scrape that off of my face. My ears. Uh you can't see it on this side, but uh it was uh really really really really bad because all of that it doesn't look bad right there, but all of that is burned. And so um these are the results of a decision to burn some brush and as a result this happened. So every day that I look at my hand and even I look at my face, my hand in my arm was way worse uh than my than my face. But I look as a reminder, the scars on my hand is a reminder of what I've been through.

And when God be to deal with me about this message, he took me on a journey. And it was the journey where I would go and I would I would read Thomas's occasion where he would not believe unless he could see the print of the nails and put his finger in those prints or in those scars. Jesus, when I read this, he it it was like enlightenment like I've never seen on this portion of scripture. Jesus could have appeared to Thomas in his glorified body without showing his wounds. But he deliberately showed him the scars. And you may sit on a Wednesday and say, "Why?" because scars uh are part of your testimony. Thomas did not believe because Jesus it was told him that Jesus was alive. He didn't believe because of someone else that told him. The other disciples said no no no. Thomas believed when Jesus showed him his scars. And the first thing tonight in this message that I want you to understand that scars have a ministry. You want to know what scars? Let us all know scars mean you survived. I don't care what THE SCAR IS. I DON'T care how long the scar was. For mine it's over 20 years. But I've come to let you know that the scar did not take me out. Yeah, the wound did not mortally wound and KILL ME, BUT YES, THE WOUND SAYS SOMETHING did happen, brother Adam. BUT A SCAR SAYS SOMETHING MAY HAVE HAPPENED, BUT I'M STILL HERE. I I I want to invoke truth into your spirit tonight. THE SCAR DOESN'T DENY THE WOUND. THAT'S RIGHT. THE SCAR TESTIFIES THAT THE wound didn't win. Some of y'all are going to catch this in the Holy Ghost. And and let me just SAY THIS. THE SCARS, YOUR SCARS, my scars are never an excuse to walk through life pretending that you never been hurt. That's right. You don't have to You don't have to pretend nothing happened. You don't have to pretend that you've never been hurt or betrayed. You don't have to pretend you've never cried and you've never been disappointed. You don't have to pre You don't have to pretend you never struggle because you do. But here's what hit me today in the Holy Ghost. You can acknowledge the wound without living in the womb. You can acknowledge what happened, but you don't have to live there because there's something different about a scar. A wound is an open testimony, but a scar is a healed testimony. When I look at my hand, it's not like the PICTURE YOU SAW. I SEE A HEALING. I SEE WHERE DOCTORS SAID, "YOU'RE GOING TO have to have skin grafts. You're going to HAVE TO BE OUT of work FOR TWO MONTHS." UH, BUT I WAS BACK AT WORK IN TWO WEEKS. It was a healed testimony. When I when I look at the the story that I just read, Thomas said, "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails." Then Jesus showed up. I want you to notice what Jesus said. He showed Thomas his scars and said, "Reach hither thy finger and behold my hands. Jesus did not say, "Thomas, don't look at my hands." That's right. He didn't say, "Thomas, don't don't don't come any closer. Don't look at my hands." He said, "Look at my hands. Look at the nail print." Why? Because his scars were proof of his resurrection. That's right. The very wounds that appeared to be evidence of defeat because the last time Thomas seen him was hanging on a cross. THE LAST TIME THOMAS SEEN HIM IS WHEN THEY TOOK THAT BROKEN BODY and laid it in a borrowed tomb. The last time Thomas seen him, he was disfigured from the beating and the brutal slaying of his master. But the very wounds that appeared to be evidence of defeat became the evidence of his victory. Yeah. The cross left scars, but the grave couldn't keep him. The nails left marks. The crown left marks upon his head. The spear did leave a mark. The beating did leave a mark, BUT HE CAME OUT OF THE GRAVE CARRYING THE EVIDENCE THAT DEATH COULD NOT HOLD HIM. And SEC families, the ministry of scars is just like that. What the enemy intended to be, evidence of your destruction can become the evidence of God's radical deliverance in your life. The resurrection, BROTHER HASTINGS, DID NOT TAKE THE SCARS OUT OF HIS BODY. JESUS STILL HAD SCARS WHEN HE GOT UP OUT OF THAT grave after three days and three nights. You got to catch this tonight. Jesus was resurrected. Jesus was g glorified. Jesus was victorious, but he still had scars. RESURRECTION DID NOT ERASE THE EVIDENCE OF CALVARY. I KNOW THIS may be hard to wrap your minds around, but what in reality it what is this for us? Being healed doesn't mean you have to look like you've never been hurt. You can be healed and still have scars. You You can be healed and still have scars. You can be delivered and still remember. Yes. You can forgive and still remember. You can move forward in your life and still have evidence of where you've been. But you hear me? I've come to serve notice on the devil tonight. The scar doesn't mean you're broken. The scar means you've been healed. That's the ministry of scars. Isaiah prophesied about the scars or the wounds of Jesus, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. Don't you forget what I'm preaching tonight. The ministry of scars. The scars of Jesus were not meaningless. His wounds had a ministry. He didn't know it at the time. I'm sure, you know, he was God manifest in the flesh. But I'm I'm wondering in the man the flesh. I just wonder and what is this really worth it? Until he got to the garden. Yes. And when he started praying tear praying prayers and tears and sweat would fall like drops of blood and and HE WOULD EMBRACE THE MISSION. He came into agreement that every wound that I experience has a ministry. My wounds are purchasing somebody's healing. My wounds are purchasing somebody's redemption. MY WOUNDS WILL BECOME THE EVIDENCE OF WHAT HE WAS WILLING to endure for you and I. That's the ministry of scars. Uh the suffering of the servant CHRIST JESUS WASN'T THE END OF the story. That suffering produced redemption. That suffering is what the gospel is all about. His wounds became our healing. I said his wounds became our healing.

We fast forward and we can go through and we can pull out characters in the word of God and the scars of the apostle Paul. I started thinking about this when Paul would write I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Yeah, that Greek word is stigmatada means marks or scars or wounds. Paul was essentially saying, don't question if I'm called or not. Just look at my scars. Look at I want you to look at my scars as my resume. I want you to look at my scars as my credentials. I want you to just look at that. Yes, I sat at the feet of Gelon, a highly respected Pharisee, ACCORDING TO RESEARCH, A CELEBRATED doctor of the Jewish law. But that did not produce the scars in the life of Paul. No, no, no, no. He had information, but he hadn't bore the scars that would come upon his body after his revelation of who Jesus really was. Paul had been beaten. Paul would be stoned. Paul would be persecuted. Paul would be shipwrecked, rejected, IMPRISONED. YET WITH ALL OF THE EDUCATION IN SCRIPTURE, faith in the Lord would say, faith in his savior, his master, his redeemer. He would say, "I bear in my body the marks of it. I got the SCARS TO PROVE." IN OTHER WORDS, UH YOU WANT TO KNOW IF IT RE IF WHAT YOU'VE REALLY BEEN THROUGH IS SOMETHING with the Lord, look at the evidence. ARE THERE ANY SCARS? WHAT DO YOU BEAR IN your body? That's what ministry is. That that that's the ministry of scars. Paul, I I I truly believe when when Paul was going through all that he went through for he had killed Christians. He was the he was the persecutor of the early church and then he was the conversion. He was the convert during that early church exploration. He would have to look at people. He would have to walk around with with so much. I I'm sure he dealt with insecurity. I'm I'm sure he dealt with fear. And I'm sure he dealt with those mental times of mental anguish knowing I wonder what they think about me. I wonder what they're thinking about me. I wonder what I killed one of their family members. I I did this in this little He carried the weight of condemnation everywhere he went. But somehow he got a revelation about his life and his ministries and said to himself, "Now this is me. This is pastor talking here. I believe he come to grip with everything. The stonings, the persecution, the shipwreck, the rejection, the imprisonment. And he came to the conclusion, IF I'VE GOT TO BEAR THE BODY, UH, IF I'VE GOT TO BEAR IN MY BODY THE MARKS OR THE SCARS, it's worth it all because there is a ministry in scars. Paul's scars would become what he would be known for. The world might have looked at Paul's scars and called him damaged, but Paul looked at them and called them, "These are just the marks of serving Jesus. These are the marks of serving our Lord and Savior." I sat in my office this evening and hear me in the Holy Ghost, don't let people define your scars for you. Paul could have let others define his scars for him and we probably wouldn't have had twothirds of the New Testament because the world has a way of labeling you. And if we're not careful, we'll let the negative naysayers inside the church label you and define you. Well, that's baggage. No, no, that's not baggage. That's just evidence. I could not die, as brother Arnold would say, in my dilemma. God's got a purpose on this. Quit looking at your scars as baggage, but just look at it tonight. This is evidence that God brought me through. God brought me out. GOD SET ME FREE. WHEN THE WORLD WOULD SAY, AND I'LL EVEN ADD THIS, WHAT WHEN THE CHURCH WOULD MAYBE SAY, "That's what happened to you. You just need to say, "No, that's what God brought me through." Oh, you're you'll never amount to nothing. Please don't tell somebody that. Please don't speak those words over somebody. Oh, you'll never amount to nothing. You're just damaged. You you've done too much. You've committed too much. The devil is a lie. I'M LIVING PROOF THAT THE GRACE OF GOD CAN MEET you and find you WHEREVER YOU ARE. YOU MAY COME IN HERE SCARRED, BUT GOD SAYS, "I REDEEMED YOU. LOOK AT MY SCARS." We're living proof of the ministry of scars. Yeah, you're living proof of it. I know I've mentioned physical scars. I could not help but I couldn't help but

think of the invisible scar. Joseph is one of those examples. It's hard to preach what I'm preaching. It doesn't specifically say scar in scripture, but Genesis 37 gives the account his brothers threw him into a pit. They sold him into slavery. I I I'm convinced if I read through scripture and there had to be emotional scars, betrayed by family, lied as to what happened to you, to your father. Your father would live almost his entire life thinking you were dead and that was all a scheme by your brothers. That's pretty cruel. He I mean that's that's pretty low, brother Atkins. when I I can't even fathom that. But but forgotten and the story would just progress. Forgotten, falsely accused, imprisoned. But somewhere in the course of time, he would eventually stand before the very brothers who wounded him. And he would say words that I preached from from this pull pit when he would come face to face with the ones who had caused these invisible scars. And he would look them eyeball to eyeball with vengeance at his exposure. He would look at them and say, "But as for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good." Joseph's invisible scars became part of his ministry because Joseph could say, "What you did to me did not destroy me." But what I like EVEN MORE POWERFUL, GOD USED WHAT YOU DID DO TO me to position me to save you. THAT'S THE MINISTRY OF SCARS. SOME OF YOUR scars may BE INVISIBLE TONIGHT. MAYBE YOU CARRY THE WEIGHT OF THAT IN YOUR SPIRIT AND YOU WONDER, GOD, WHEN AND HOW IS THIS GOING TO be used? You live long enough. You may experience God using what you've been through to position you to save somebody else. I believe this. I've lived this. David spent years running from Saul. He knew betrayal. He knew rejection. He knew what it was like to be hunted and chased and slept in caves. But David come out of the wilderness with something, a testimony. Psalms 40 and verse two. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit. He got me out of that pit. But then he didn't just say say that. He said, "And he had put a new song in my mouth." I want you to notice the progression. He went from a pit to deliverance to a song. God didn't merely just bring David out. He gave David a song about what happened in the pit. That's the minister. When what would happen if we would start writing and singing our own songs? Uh our songs of deliverance, our songs of freedom, OUR SONGS THAT WOULD lead us into where God is taking us. That becomes the ministry of scars.

I look across this room and man I I see I see survivors. I said I see survivors. You know the scar has a ministry because people trust survivors. I I I hope I can convey how I feel. Wounded people have a way of ministering to wounded people. A person who's never who's never been through anything. They might can give you advice, but someone who's been through the fire can look at you and say, "I know it hurts. I've been there. Yeah, I can tell you fire hurts. I've been there. I know it hurts, but I can say these words, but I'm still here. I I've been through the flames AND I I'VE BEEN THROUGH that and I'm still here. Someone who's battled depression may be able to encourage somebody who's struggling with depression. Someone who's experienced betrayal may know how to help somebody who's being or been betrayed. Someone who's lost everything CAN TELL SOMEBODY, "GOD'S still faithful." SOMEONE WHO'S FALLEN AND GOTTEN BACK UP CAN TELL YOU FAILURE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE FINAL. Someone Somebody's been through a storm and say, "You know what? Hold on. Storms don't last forever. Just just hang on a little bit. Someone that's been through the battle with addiction, substance, or whatever the case may be. And you sit among the redeemed tonight. You can tell somebody, I'm not, you know, I'm not going to subscribe to this this theory and ideology that once an alcoholic always an alcoholic. I'm not subscribing to that. Or once an addict always an addict. No, no. I You're not just a better version of your old self. No. I may have been and I may HAVE THE SCARS, BUT I AM A new creature in Christ. I am still here. I WON THIS BATTLE BECAUSE of the scars of the ministry of Jesus. Wow. Everybody okay?

I want to bring this home tonight. 7:49. This is what somebody needs to hear. I've come I've said all I've said to get to this point. I'm hoping and praying that you'll leave this house tonight feeling a little bit better about yourself. Here's what I feel in the Holy Ghost. I don't want this to ever be forgotten. I know the enemy has waged war in your mind for years, but tonight I've come with an eviction notice to every thought, imagination, and idea that has been hatched from the pit of hell. And I've come to declare on you and over you, your scars can become someone else's courage. Your scar says I survived. Your scar says God kept me. My scars, your scars, they say it whether you realize it or not. I didn't quit when I felt like giving up. YOUR SCARS SAY A MESSAGE TO THOSE THAT ARE WATCHING YOU. I didn't backslide. Your scars HAVE A HAVE A VOICE. I didn't lose my faith even when the healing didn't happen as fast as I thought it should. My scars are saying, "I cried, but I kept praying. I cried, but I kept worshiping. I cried, but I kept being faithfully. I was wounded, but I didn't lose my joy. I was down, but I was not out. I I I WAS DISAPPOINTED, BUT I DIDN'T WALK AWAY FROM GOD. UH YOUR SCARS HAVE A VOICE. THEY WOULD SAY TONIGHT, I WENT THROUGH HELL, BUT I JUST KEPT HOLDING ON TO JESUS. UH I WENT THROUGH THE VALLEY, BUT JESUS WAS WITH ME. I WENT TO THE MOUNTAIN AND HE WAS THERE. I MADE MY BED IN HELL, HE WAS THERE. And I've come TO BE A VOICE OF REASON IN YOUR SPIRIT. SOMEBODY'S WATCHING YOU AND they need to see that in you. They need to see there's some scars, but you're still here. That's the ministry of scars. Don't be ashamed of what God's healed. Sometimes we celebrate the testimony, but we become ashamed of the scar. Oh, help me right now. He healed me, but I'm ashamed of the testimony. I'm ashamed of what he did. He delivered me, but I don't want to talk about it. I know. And I typed it, we say these words, and I type this. I know I've been delivered, and I'm not the same person, but I don't want anybody to know what I went through. All right. But tonight, perhaps God may want you to realize that your history doesn't disqualify your ministry. Your scars don't disqualify your voice. Your scar may actually qualify you to reach somebody that somebody else can't reach. Your experience MAY GIVE YOU COMPASSION THAT OTHERS may not possess. Oh, help me, HOLY GHOST. YOUR PAIN MAY GIVE YOU language for somebody else's pain. I don't have the words, but you do. I don't have the influence, but you do. Your survival may give somebody in this room the necessary hope to make it one more day. That's why every time we come to church, it's important. We can't take a Sunday off. We can't take a Wednesday off and say, "You know what? I'm just gonna let's just have good church." Boy, that was good. I'll give you a two, pastor. Boy, praise team. I'll give y'all four and a half. We got to get out of that mindset. You don't know who's sitting in our seats that are wounded. They're literally bleeding spiritually and they're looking for some people that have been healed. THEY'RE LOOKING FOR SOMEBODY. THEY'RE LOOKING FOR SOME SCARS. THEY'RE LOOKING FOR SOME SCARS IN THE HOUSEH THAT SAYS, "YOU KNOW WHAT? I ALREADY FEEL INADEQUATE. I ALREADY FEEL UNWORTHY. BUT IF I LOOK AROUND AND I SEE SOMEBODY, I KNOW THEM. I KNOW THEIR STORIES." AND THEY'RE NOT ASHAMED TO TALK ABOUT IT. It gives somebody else hope. That's the ministry of scars.

Could it be that's the reason Jesus did not hide his scars? Thomas said, "Unless I see Jesus didn't condemn him. Jesus didn't say, Thomas, you should have a You ought to know better than that. You You heard me teach. You heard me preach. I told you I I was going to destroy this. If this the temple be destroyed in three days, I'm going to raise it back. You know what I've spoken? He he didn't he didn't berate Thomas for his unbelief. Instead, Jesus did. Let me show you, Thomas. I know you're struggling with YOUR FAITH, RIGHT? LET ME SHOW YOU. MATTER of fact, I'm going to do more than show. Look at my hands. Look at him. Look at him, Tom. Come a little closer. Come on. A little closer, Thomas. Stick your finger in here. It's not a mirage. It's not I am who I said I am. I am who I said I am. I told you what I was going to do. But the ministry of scars is what convinced him that he was alive. That is the power of a scar. That is the ministry of a scar. Thomas's doubt encountered the scars of Jesus. But here here's what I love, brother Chris. When you encounter the ministry of scars, doubt turns to revelation. Y'all going to catch that. That's just that's free. No charge. When you come in contact with the ministry of scars, your doubt will turn into revelation because up until then, he was just a good man. Up until then, he questioned everything Jesus had ever done. He had questioned everything that that three-year ministry. He questioned all of it until he come in agreement with the ministry of scars. Thomas went from I will not believe to my Lord and my God. He didn't say them brothers that was in that room with him. No, no, no. My Lord and my God. What would happen here at the sanctuary if the ministry of scars got personal? What convinced him was the scars and what ought to convince us tonight on a Wednesday. If you need convincing how big God is and how good God is, HOW GREAT GOD IS, IF GOD IS FAITHFUL, IF GOD IS IS COHERENT UH IN YOUR SITUATION, YOU OUGHT TO JUST LOOK AROUND. DO YOU BEAR IN YOUR BODY THE MARKS of God's redeeming grace? You know where he brought you from. You know what he brought you out? You know what he delivered you from. You You bear some marks in your body.

But I've come to prophesy over somebody in this room tonight. What if your scars are part of somebody else's miracle? See, you done forgot what he brought you out of. You You done You done marginalized and minimized where God brought you from. And somebody's so hungry right now for what you've got and what you've experienced that I've come to shake you. Shake you to your foundation. That there's somebody walking in this room. THERE'S PEOPLE WALKING IN THIS HOUSEH THAT ARE LOOKING FOR WHAT YOU'VE received and you've done forgot about. YOU'VE DONE FORGOT ALL HE'S DONE FOR YOU. YOU DONE FORGOT WHAT HE'S DONE and how he performed that great radical change. But there's somebody that's broken that's going to walk through those doors Sunday. There's somebody bound and addicted. There's somebody hopeless that's going to walk through those doors. And here we are. We've forgotten. But what if I could JAR YOUR SPIRIT TONIGHT AND recognize with you that your scars are part of somebody else's miracle? God didn't just bring you out just for you. Your survival is somebody else's encouragement. YOUR SCARS AND YOUR TESTIMONY IS SOMEBODY ELSE'S HOPE. AND TONIGHT THEY'RE ON THE BRINK and something got a hold of them and they looked and they watched and they saw, I believe I can make it one more day. I believe I can make it one more mile. I believe I could hang on just a little while longer. What if that thing you're embarrassed about becomes the very thing God uses to reach somebody else? I know you're not happy. I know you don't want TO TALK ABOUT YOU WAS A DRUNK. Now I know you look good tonight. You got your coat on. YOU YOU WERE A DRUG ADDICT. YOU WERE ADDICTED TO PORNOGRAPHY AND YOU WERE YOU WERE ADDICTED TO MONGERING AND AND ADULTERY AND FORNICATION. THERE WERE THINGS AND VICES in your life. Boy, y'all got quiet. You were lying and you were jealous and you were envying and there was strife and there was all manner of sin in your life. And God REACHED DOWN HIS HAND FURTHER DOWN THAN YOU COULD REACH UP AND HE SNATCHED YOU OUT of the grip of hell and he brought you out. And yeah, there's some scars. There's some things you wish you could erase. But God sent me to tell you, he will not erase the scar because the scar is not about you. It's for somebody else to see and for them to believe. WHAT IF THEY COULD HEAR YOUR STORY AND SEE YOUR SCARS? They would believe. They would believe [panting] if God did it for them.

And my Lord, they're preaching the gospel. God did it for them. They're teaching the recovery program. God did it for them. They're pastoring a church in Hartsville, Alabama. I I'm coming slapping the devil sky winding crooked tonight. Some of you have let the devil and I said it. I'm going to say it live rentree right here trying to disqualify you from the scars that you bear in your body emotionally, physically, spiritually. But if you can get a grip on this tonight, if you can get it, Thomas needed to see the scars of Jesus. And somebody may need to see yours. If Thomas needed to see Jesus's, who needs to see yours? Who needs to hear the the R-rated version? Not the G- rate, the R-rated, the real deal. This is where he brought me from. This is This is

Don't you let the enemy make you ashamed of the scars on your body. Don't let the enemy make you ashamed of the scars on your mind because the enemy will want you to believe nobody wants to hear what you've been through. But the spirit sent me to tell you. You tell them what I brought you through. You tell them what I've done. It's not about you. It's about me. It's about my glory. It's about drawing the attention off of you and bringing it unto me. I said it a while ago. I see testimonies. I I see living witnesses in this room. And what I say in the spirit, I see evidence. You're not disqualified. you're qualified. Scars don't mean you're weak. Matter of fact, sometimes scars mean you got incredible strength that most don't have. They told me in that IC room, he's got a he's got infection. I didn't send Brother D a picture, but I I look like a mummy with my face. Seven days in ICU. But I will tell you what I told my pastor. My wife was standing there. I was in ICU. No, I was in they'd realw wheel me out of the ambulance and they had me in that waiting room. I could not drink anything for six hours because the flames had went down my throat and they were scared if you give him any water, if you give him anything, it could do damage and it'd be irreparable. But I'll never forget laying on that in that bed and I looked at my pastor. I said, "Pastor, I ain't going to hell. I ain't going to hell." From that day to this, there's been an old fight inside this old boy. It may look weak to some, but there's a fight going on every day. I'm crucifying this flesh. I'm laying it at the altar. I'm resisting. I'm pushing back the elements. And I've come to tell THE DEVIL TONIGHT, I'M NOT COMING TO HELL WHERE YOU ARE. I REFUSE TO GO WHERE YOU ARE OR A PLACE THAT'S BEEN PREPARED. I WILL LET MY SCARS TELL A STORY OF REDEMPTION. I'LL LET MY SCARS TELL A STORY OF YOUR GRACE. Because when I do, and when you do, you become the ministry of scars.

Stand to your feet. I've come to Can I just tell you something? Your scars are proven to somebody. And maybe maybe tonight is for nobody. Yet it's for yourself. Your scars are proving to you that the wound did not win. The wound didn't have the last word. The wound didn't have the final say. [panting and sighs] Let me just say it like this, Brother Donald. The wound was real, but so was the healing. The pain was real, but so was his grace. Amen. The scar is real, but so is my testimony. It's hard to argue with a testimony. I said it's hard to argue with somebody that was blind and now they see. It's some It's hard to argue with somebody that did does have a story and does have a SCAR AND THEY STAND IN THE IN THE SANCTUARY TONIGHT WITH THEIR HANDS lifted and say, That's who I once was, but it's not who I am today. The scars have a ministry. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. powerful

Old Testament portion of scripture that I didn't know if I would even go there, but I felt like I need to. Genesis chapter 4. And the Lord said unto him, therefore, whosoever slayth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. I believe that Mark, even though Cain had just slain his brother, there was a covenant in place. Cain, I'm going to mark you. There's going to be a scar, but I'm identifying who you are because that's how much I love you. I'm taking ownership of you even in sin. I'm going to protect you. I'm going to remember you. That hit me so strong. Not every mark on your life is evidence of God's punishment. Some marks are reminders that God just kept you even when he should have killed you. I'm looking at some marked men and women in this room that you wonder, "How did I make it?" I can tell you how you God put a mark on you. He put a mark on you. There ain't a devil in hell that can take you out. You just need to embrace who you are in him. You need to embrace the scars and realize there is a ministry in my scars. My scars have ministry.

I would like to ask everybody to come to the to the front. I don't even know how to I don't even have a proper ending. I I just knew I had a word and I don't I knew I would get to this point and it God's going to take over this house. I don't even God, you're going to help me. [panting] Oh, you may see it and you battled through life and you battled through your past and you've battled through poor choices and poor decisions. you battle through. If you're carrying scars tonight, let me what? Let me tell you what you're carrying. You're carrying testimony. You're carrying evidence. You're carrying ministry. You're carrying hope. You're carrying something that somebody else needs to see and needs to experience. What if we could look at our scars the way Jesus looked at his? The scars were not for him. They were for us in that moment and in that time. Those scars were what was needed for Thomas to believe. Who will God bring into your midst? Who will God align your life and the path of your life to intersect with? I'll never forget our paths crossed in a fireworks stand. I'll never forget our paths crossed in a fireworks stand and today our our paths crossed at rock bottom. Our paths crossed in a move. God aligned. I'll never forget in brother Tony's amazing after church a connection and God would begin to move this piece and this piece co it just boom and I look job transfer child move buy a house and we wonder God what are you doing God all time is saying I'm placing you so the Ministry of Scars can be utilized for my kingdom. It's not about you. It's not about me. It's about him. It's about the advancement of his kingdom. And he'll do whatever he has to to accomplish his perfect will.

They're going to start singing. But what I want to happen in this house, I just want you to have a good take a trip down memory lane with me. Where did he find you? Where did your path cross with his? Where did you have to get to? What produced the scar? What did you have to lose? And where did he where did he find you? [sighs and gasps] Oh God. Oh God. If you'll go to that place, God's going to cause you to remember. And out of the remembrance, God's going to birth something fresh in you. I feel a freshness coming. I feel a freshness coming in your spirit as they begin to sing. I feel a joy, a zeal. Oh. Oh. Oh. Would you embrace it right now? They call it crazy. Thank God. Why don't you just thank God for the scars? I am a living breathing walking testimony. They can't take away my story. They can't take it. Walking test.