I'm so glad you're here, and all of our campuses, I have missed you. You know this thing, I love you, and I get to go to a lot of other campuses when I'm not preaching. More importantly, some of our great teachers, okay, and pastors are teaching, and I'm getting to learn from them. So I'm living my dreams, uh, and it's never been this good.

We're beginning a brand new series called Under Pressure. And let me ask you, in the last two years, how many of you have been under some pressure? Would you raise your hand? Okay, the rest of you are stoned out of your minds. Uh, because I mean, between the pandemic — think about this — between the pandemic and the politics and the personal issues, we've all had it's never been crazier. And so we thought, you know, 18 days before Thanksgiving, better get your turkey supply chain, okay, better grow some turkeys, uh, that we would help you begin to deal with the pressure that you're under, okay. And you're gonna be under more pressure. And we've got some good news for you, okay, that God can help you deal with the pressure that's coming into your life.

Now let me give you a definition for pressure so that you'll have this. You pretty much know this already. The continuous force exerted on an object that causes a reaction. Now, now you get that, if you squeeze something long enough, you know, if you put pressure on something long enough, you're going to get a response, all right? Uh, you get this when you're traveling. When you pull out into the traffic, it's about to get crazy. I don't know where people are coming from. Now there's more people here than ever before, and they pull out in front of you, and it squeezes you, and exerts some pressure, and you go crazy, right? And so pressure can be good. You get this granite, when it's pressed for a long period of time, can create a diamond. And pressure can be bad. If you drop somebody in any kind of craft, no matter what it is, too deep in the ocean, it can crush you.

But I want you to know something, and this is a very important message. Yeah, you say, you say that every time. I know, but it is important, because the way you handle pressure on the outside of you has everything to do with what you're doing with the pressure on the inside of you. And and this is something we don't talk about because nobody wants to deal with the fact that there have been a lot of things happen in our life that have created some really hurt feelings in us. I mean, we've had these things that have happened to us, are things that we've done, that has caused us to feel badly about ourselves. Uh, it's the difference in shame and guilt. I don't know if you know the difference. Guilt is when you do something wrong and you feel bad. You know, I don't need to do that anymore. But shame is, hey, because of something that was done to me or something that I did, I am bad.

And a lot of people — listen, I've dealt with this for years and years, and I didn't know it was there, and I didn't know that I was responding out of not out of just a zeal for the Lord. I was responding so much of my life out of hurt and shame and deep woundedness. And and it's so much of the root — now listen to me — so much of the root of the problems you're having with addiction or relationships or depression or anxiety. I'm not saying there's nothing chemical there, okay? I'm just saying so much of the root of that has to do with this box right here that you've got inside of your soul that I'll call the shame box. And and so much of my life has been reacting out of the shame in my life. And it goes all the way back to when I was a little kid.

And if you're a teacher, I want to tell you, I bow to you. A teachers, I think, are the number one influencer in our country. We ought to pay them double. We'll take money. They told me to quit doing this. But we ought to take money away from politicians and give to the teachers. So so that's a whole nother sermon, and I got a whole, we'll do one day, we'll just do a whole hour of this. I got a whole hour of these things that I could whip you into a frenzy, because we all feel the same way. But it's also true that if you are a poor teacher, you can have a really negative influence.

When I was a third grader, I had a teacher, Miss Davis. I still remember her. I wanted to marry her when I grew up. And she was amazing. She made me feel so good about life. And I had a squat in my family. Was kind of shaky, and she made me feel special. And she would write things on my report card: Jeff, everybody loves Jeff. And I'm like, yeah, they do. And uh, and then I got into fourth grade and I got Attila the Hun. Uh, she was a math teacher, I'm not good at math. She was the principal's wife. That's why she got a job. Uh, she's dead now so I can talk about her. And uh, that's out of shame, okay. See, that was shame. See, it's leaking out. And but she would say, you're sitting back there like a knot on a log. And I still remember these things. That was a long time ago. That was at least 20 years ago. And and the reality was those things stuck with me. I mean, it was a time in my life where I was vulnerable, I was moldable, and somebody said, you're not good, you're not smart, you're never gonna amount to anything. And I began to fill this box up with all of those things that were bad. I didn't fill it up with the things that were good.

I grew up and my family was poor, and you know, I realized it in kindergarten. We went, everybody got their colors out, and I got my little colors like you would get like at Waffle House. And they got these boxes out, and they were like sharpening their colors, and I thought, man, where'd they get those things? You know, you're no good, you don't have anything, you'll never amount to anything. And so then I went into the ministry. This is the way I'll deal with all of my hurt and shame. I'll fix everybody else. And then they tell you at seminary, when you go to your first church, you're going to be like Moses, they're going to lead you through the Red Sea. Yeah, the sea filled with your blood. And the things that happen to you that wound you begin to drive you, unless you're willing to be honest about it.

And today I want to challenge you. It's only taken me about 60 years to admit that there's some brokenness in me that I have to give to God. Renee Brown said it this way: shame is the intensely uh intensely feel a painful feeling of experience or experience of believing — just read it up there — that we are flawed, I got, I got all this stuff, and therefore unworthy of love and belonging. Something we've experienced, done, or failed to do makes us unworthy of connections. Now that is everybody. Something has happened to you, something that you did, and you thought, I'm just not worthy. I mean, I'm a second class Christian, I'm a second class person. A lot of you quit going to church because somebody at church said you're no good. That is the dumbest thing you can say to a person, but I've done it and you've done it.

And today we're going to talk about a guy and a man. Listen, let me tell you about men. Men have this greatest fear that they're going to be losers, that somebody's going to find out that they're not good. And all it takes to really tr — you want to trip your man up, you just criticize him, you just keep being critical. Okay, we're going to look at the most critical woman who ever lived. Her name was Jezebel. And let me tell you something, just because yo Jezebel is dressed up don't mean she ain't messed up. You're going to tweet that. And for some of you, you've got a Jezebel in your life that you've let speak into you, and you've believed that over what God has tried to say to you through the cross.

And Elijah was that guy. Elijah, Elijah, God is great, God is powerful, he has all these victories. Listen, this is the thing about Elijah, man, everything he touched turned to gold. God fed him with the ravens. Ravens are stingy birds, and they're dropping bread, okay. He goes to a village, a little old lady, she's a widow, she's going out to get some sticks, she's going to make the last meal for her and her son, and he says, bring me that mill in that oil. And and he feeds a village for months. He goes to Mount Carmel, he has a standoff — not about the cage match last night, not like that on ESPN Plus — I'm saying, he was like 400 to one, he kill, he beats them all. He takes his cloak and he he tucks his cloak and he runs. He sprints 27.88 miles to Jezreel. And then one woman, one woman, one Jezebel, says, by this time tomorrow I'm going to kill you, bro. And this thing right here kicks in. Yeah, I knew I was going to be a loser. I knew I was going to be found out. Of just a matter of time. Go ahead and kill me.

Shame is the pain you feel after adrenaline fades and the doubts invade. Exhaustion is the gateway drug to moral failure. For some of you, the thing that is happening to you is the thing that's happened to me all of my life. You go and you go and you go and you go, and you're tired, and you don't take care of your body, and you live on the edge, that red line all the time. And when you're exhausted and you are stressed, it only takes one little Jezebel in your life to be the straw that breaks the camel's back, and your scent. You need to figure out what your Jezebel is. Is it a person, is it a place, is it a — you say, why is that such a big deal?

Well, let me tell you, and this is really important. You have between fifteen thousand and sixty thousand thoughts a day. Now let's just say we're at the lower end, okay, 15,000 thoughts a day. That is 624 an hour. That is 10 a minute. Here's the problem: 90 of them are saying this — you're no good, you're not good, you're not smart, you're not good-looking, you've got problems, you're a loser. And this is why you're struggling. I've just found, finding this out. You've given me time to like work on myself and try to get healthy and not be so crazy, because I'm a crazy man. But this is what I've learned, and I didn't know this. When I was talking to God, he's helping me, he's like, hey, this is all the shame in your life. You know why you rage and you just get wildy crazy, like you get up on the table and you go nuts? You know why? Because you've got all this shame in your life. This sucker right here is full of stuff. It's just piled up. And you're like, I'll just rub dirt on it, it's no big deal. You know, I see men do that all the time. They're just psychos, and they don't realize why.

This is what happens when you have some pressure in your life, some insecurity in your life. When you get really tired, it's like a match. It's thrown in your boom, and you rage and you get drunk out of your mind and and you do crazy stuff and you don't know why. And the reason you're doing is because of this right here. You're saying, well, why why why don't I deal with it? You know why? Because there's three or four things that you do.

One is, you and I, if we're not careful, we we will perform. We will do all that we can to perform so so that nobody knows that all this is going on in our lives. And we do more and we do more and we do more and we do more and we do more, because if I'll be a little extra, then nobody will know that I am broken inside. I'll overwork, I'll over parent, I'll overwork out. Can I tell you a little secret? You work out all you want, when you get older that stuff's gonna fall apart on you. I got skin in places now I used to not even have. I mean, it's the reality of life. But if you if you base your worth on that, then you can always look good. You got to always perform. You got to always make A's. Because then you're only as good as your last performance.

This is the thing you need to understand: listen, listen, your worth is not achieved — this is good, I'm sorry, I said it's good — it's received. I used to get up here and preach every Sunday. Like, preach. I get through and I, it was never good enough. It was never good enough. I heard that fourth grade teacher going, you're no good, you'll never amount to anything, you're back there like not. Well, I'm gonna pray, I'm gonna do my best to preach it. I'd walk out and go, God, I am no good, I am terrible, there's no way. You know, and many of you are doing that. You're trying to perform your way into feeling good about yourself, and you're only as good as your last performance. I watched the LSU Alabama game. I hate that LSU — no I can't say that — LSU lost, but they played better than Alabama. And I saw one of the kids from LSU, he was crying, when the lineman, and I thought, son, you don't need to cry, you're a winner. You don't let the numbers on that scoreboard tell you who you are. If you know Jesus, you are a winner. He has already performed for you. When Jesus performed on the cross, it was a mic drop. He said, I got you, I performed on your behalf.

Secondly, we criticize and compare. Have you ever done that? Come on, let's be — can we be real for just a second? I mean, you don't have to tell anybody. I mean, just in just this, menu telepathically, okay. Uh, in all of our accounts, wherever you are, uh, if you ever have, you ever got on Facebook, FaceTime, uh, Netflix, whatever the different ones are now, and looked at people and go, man, I wish I could look like that. You know, if I had that, if I could wear that dress right there, I would, man, I would be all that in a bag of chips if I had the job that guy has. Or if you've ever said to your husband — oh, please don't ever say this to your husband, please don't say to your husband, don't be Jezebel — will you say, you know, if you just made that kind of money we could really be rolling. You're putting cancer in his bloodstream. You're putting poison in his mind. Elijah says, I know I'm no good, Jezebel's right, you know, these other prophets, maybe, you know, I'm, you know, hey, I'm the only one left.

We become people pleasers. You want to really kind of like not deal with any of this, hey, if I just get the right people to like me, if I can be in the right group, if I'm in that right shot, you know, when they do the deal, then I'll be all that. And so you're empathetic. You know that that's good. You're empathy, you feel with people. That's good, you need to feel with people. You're sympathetic, you feel for people. But when you're codependent, you begin to take on the responsibility for everything they're feeling, and you're trying to fix in them what is broken in you. Do you see how messed up we are? Shame will give you amnesia and make you forget how good God is to you, how much he has blessed you, that he's got something good for you. And if you're not careful, if you keep being a people pleaser, you'll keep finding people.

If you ever noticed how how men will be drawn to a woman who's a cheater, and women will be drawn to a men who who will beat them, and they just keep doing that over and over again? It's a shame bond. It's like, hey, I'm going to fix this. You know, like I grew up in a — I'm going to be rich because I was poor when I was little, and then now I'll be, I'll be now be rich, and now I'll be worthy. And you never have peace. We focus on self-defeating thoughts. I mean, I thought about Elijah in that cave, man, I didn't read it because I don't have time, but you know what he said? Do you know, do you know, do you know how how men can get so tired? He's sitting in the cave, and he goes, I'd rather be dead than alive. Can I tell you how many men I've talked to that when you boil down the conversation, they say, I would rather be dead, my family be better off if I were dead, I I I just want to be dead, I don't want to be alive, I'm a loser. And and that's where Elijah was.

He, listen, listen, when when you come to know Jesus, you don't have to perform. The the Hebrews, when they came out of Egypt, it took them 40, 40 years, okay. You know why it took them 40 years? To realize that the Egypt was in them, that they were no longer enslaved. And even though they were free, they were still enslaved to things. Jesus wants to give you freedom. Listen, the gospel is not good advice. The gospel is good news. The good news is you can be free. That's why I do this. I don't do this because of the money. I don't do this because like, hey, I want to be like this grand pupa. I do this because this is your hope. This is your hope for real life, for good relationships, for good marriages, for good kids. I — you said, well, you're getting kind of fired up, you don't need to take that much time off again. Well, I can't help it. Like, like, it's dawned on me, there is no other — the other answer, there is no other way to deal with this other than Jesus. He's — oh no no, man, I got some medication. No no no, he, I, listen, I got, I got, I get that. No no no, he won't do it.

You say, well, how do you deal with this shame in your life? Well, can I give you three things that God wants to do today in your life and wrap this thing up? Three things, and I want this to be very personal. Three things God does for Elijah that he wants to do for you. Especially if you're a man, I want you to hear this, men, and maybe we can get together and talk, because I know how it feels to be a man and wonder if you're worthy, especially if you never got that growing up, especially if you have struggled, especially if you've been in relationships where men, you're having to compare yourself to like people that don't even really exist. I mean, Tom Brady is not even human, he's a robot, he's not real. And the Saints beat him, and I was there, it felt good, because I don't like him, because I'm shamed and he's beautiful and he's rich. I'm still dealing with — okay, three things. I'm sorry, I just had to have that moment, okay.

Uh, three things that God wants to do in your life to help you deal with the shame that's in your life. And this is what happens, and I love this, because some of you are not big on religion. That's okay, you don't need to be, because I'm not big on religion either, but I am big on Jesus. And Jesus shows up. It's a cameo. The messenger of the Lord, that is, that is Jesus. And see, Jesus was around in the beginning, you know, like in the beginning of time. The Holy Spirit, Jesus, and God. And he comes to Elijah in the cave, and he doesn't say, hey, drop down, give me 50 prayers. You know what he says to him? I, eat this sandwich, drink this soda. I take it. Now, what you mean? Jesus is concerned about our bodies. He's concerned about us resting. He says, just just just chill, just just, you know, one thing you need to do today is you need to take a nap this afternoon. You say, well, I got these kids. Okay, well get somebody keep your kids. Get a lost person who doesn't care about the Lord, let them keep your kids, you rest up. And I'm sorry, I'm dealing with shame and uh, because here's what Paul says in Romans, Romans 10:11, "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will never be put to shame." He wants you to have margin, he wants you to rest, he wants you to take care of your body. Oh, not so that you'll be all that and you'll be, have your shirt off and no, it's so that you you can deal with the things that come into your life. If you're worn out, you're going to give into temptation. If you're exhausted when you go on those road trips, you're going to have problems. If you are so beat down and tired that you can't even think, you're going to drink too much at night. He says, you've got to take some time to rest.

Number two, God comes to give you his word. And and I don't, I want you to get this, and I'm almost done, okay, so you're looking, don't look at your watch, don't let you watch he. So see here he is on Mount Horeb, okay, Mount Sinai. That's where Moses got the Ten Commandments. That is the law. And the law is don't do this, don't do that, don't do this, don't do that, don't do this, don't do that. If you do that, you do this, you do that, you broke the law. And he, so here he is, and and the earthquake, judgment, he's not in the earthquake, the wind not in the wind, pow pow pow lightning pop out, there's not enough lightning, why? That's judgment. But he comes to him in a still small voice. Cola de monadica, cola de monadica, in Hebrew. It means Genesis 2:7, God breathed life into Adam, so close that you can feel his breath. Elijah, he breathes in him, does CPR. He can do that in your marriage, you can do that in your soul, you can bring new life, new hope, fresh wind, fresh fire, not out of judgment, he's not out to get you, he's got to love you.

One other thing, and I love this, because he didn't go, okay, you lay down, you got my word, now just relax. He goes, now all right, get up. Because he got so much for you to do, once you go back the way you came. He says, by the way, there's seven thousand people, there's seven thousand people, they're not preachers, they're regular people, they've not bowed down to Bell either, you're not by, you've got a god complex, Elijah, it's not all on your shoulders. The world's going to keep going on. I've got a lot of people I could use, but I want to use you. Go back the way you came. Anoint Hazel king over Syria. These are pagan people. You're like, what is that all about? God uses a crooked stick to draw a straight line. He's doing that right now in our country. He can take a donkey and speak through it. He can take somebody crooked and make them straight. Don't let anything deceive you on the news. Our God is in control, and you're going to see it take place, my friends. He says, then go and anoint Elisha, because hey, I'm about to sin for you, I'm about to sin for you. I'm going to send an Uber for you, and I'm going to take you out of here. And uh, so you need to go back and you need to like pour into the next generation. He feeds the body, refreshes the soul, he sends him on mission.

Here's the thing, and I'm finished. You want to deal with this box, and I'm praying you do, it's taken me a long time. I'm not as strong as many of you, man. I don't like being vulnerable. I like being weak. I like confronting people. I've got that fight, no flight, it's all fight. You want, you know, some of this, you know why? Terrified, terrified of that box right there. Been found out. You break me down when I'm a little kid, you'll never break me down again. Until now I realize I need to move the focus from who I am. You need to move the focus from who you are and what has happened to you to who Jesus seen and what he wants to do for you. Now I know this hurts, and we're going to deal with this in just a second, but you need to move the focus into what Jesus has done for you and what he wants to do for you, not what has happened to you.

And so I want to do something we built this in. I want you to complete this sentence. And I'm going to help you where you say, I am not — this could be, this is a lot of things in here, I just wrote a few things but there's a lot in here — I am not this, but because of Christ I am. You ready? Real simple. I'm no longer a victim, in Jesus I'm a victor. Oh, I, I'm no longer, I'm no longer just sick and no, I'm I'm healed in Christ. Um, you know, you know, I I'm I'm broken, I'm just so broken, so broken. He says, no, in Christ you're healed. He is healing you, he is restoring you. You lay that before the Lord. And then uh, oh, you know, I'm just, I'm just a horrible person, I'm I'm just horrible. No, he says, no, you're you're mine, you are my child, and I love you. You said, but you don't know what I've done, I just feel so dirty, I mean, like, even this I just feel so dirty. He says, no no no no no no, in Christ you're clean. And you bring that before him and you lay it at the cross. And you say, I just feel so ugly, I just don't, you know, feel attractive at all. And he goes, hey, you're beautiful to me, I made you the way I love you. Listen, he says, I love you, I think you're beautiful just the way you are. There's nothing you need to add, there's nothing you need to subtract. He says, I love you.

And then the act of worship, the act of worship every day, you want to live a great life, you keep taking it, because it's going to keep filling up, people. People crazy, okay, people lame, and they'll bring the shame. And you keep bringing that box right here and you lay it at the feet of the one who says, I scorned your shame because of the joy set before me. And that joy, my friends, was you. He saw you on the cross and he said, ah, that's scoring that shame that they're gonna, ah, that's gonna hold them back. I scorned that. Ah, he's scoring the shame. In Joshua 5:9, today I have rolled away the shame of your slavery. And a lot of people may have said shame on you, but Jesus says shame off you. Shut that off. I'm not to be that way anymore, because I'm who he says I am.

Would you bow your heads for a moment? I know I am walking in some very tender areas in your life. Trust me, I'm not asking you to walk where I'm not walking. I know how vulnerable and sensitive shame is. I know what it's like to face abuse, neglect, abandonment. You can list any of the things you've been through, and I would say it's probably in my box. But it's not in my box right now, because I'm giving that to Jesus, and I'm confessing that to you. Nothing good grows in the dark, and we're going to give you an opportunity to begin to deal with the shame and the hurt that's lied to you your whole life.

Father in heaven, I love you. And God, I've really not trusted in your love because I've just never been loved unconditionally. I've always been loved when I could do something for someone, when I could score points, when I could preach good sermons, and what could help people when they had needs. And God, I think a lot of people are probably like me, they've never just been loved for being who they've been created to be. And God, I thank you that I'm talking to a lot of people that they're not sure if you even like them. That you have to love them but they don't think you like them. And God, this message is for them to say, not only does your God love you, but he likes you. He likes you right now. And the things that you keep in that box are hurting you. Turn them over to God. Keep pushing them back across the table and let God heal you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.