Last Sunday, we wrapped up our teaching in the series Limitless Life, based on the book by Derwin Gray by the same title.
The basic idea is that we are all limited by the labels we wear. Some of those labels were given to us by other people; others, we have applied to ourselves. But none of those limiting labels are God’s intention for us. He offers labels like “redeemed,” “child of God,” and “more than a conqueror.”
One of the more painful moments for me as a pastor was arriving home and getting a longer look at that cross. All those labels … all that shame … all that brokenness among the people who come in every Sunday smiling.
On the first Sunday of the series, we stood a wooden cross at the entryway of the auditorium and gave everyone blank labels. They wrote down the labels they’d been carrying and then stuck them on the cross on their way out. Then we spent the remainder of the series talking about the replacement labels God offers.
We watched, over the course of this series, as people joined small groups at a record pace for us, got involved in serving the community for the first time, and shared the stories of how they’d been freed from some labels that had been stuck on pretty well for long time.
Derwin made available his message notes, and while I went a slightly different direction with my weekend sermons, we did use his group study materials and graphics. He’s been willing to package Limitless Life for churches in such a way that you can put together an all out growth campaign for your corporate body and for your small groups.
We’re thanking God for the results we saw from this series and we can’t wait to hear what God does with it in other churches too!
Brandon Cox has been a pastor for 15 years and is currently planting a church in northwest Arkansas, sponsored by Saddleback Church and other strategic partners. He also serves as Editor of Pastors.com and Rick Warren’s Pastors’ Toolbox, and authors a top 100 blog for church leaders.
For the original article, visit pastors.com.
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