Baggage Claim | Pastor Stephen Chandler

[Music] verse 28 let's read it says this then Jesus said come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens I will give you as a father of a two year old and a five month old rest it's just something I don't know a lot about right now I'd love if God gave me some is it take a pun you might your cup on you and let me rest is something you learn it's not something you do you know how people say I'll rest when I'm dead you'll be dead faster if you don't rest but I'll rest when this situation I'll rest I can't rest it's because you haven't learned how he said I'll teach you how to rest he says because I am humble and gentle at heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy to bear and the burden I give you notice he does give you a burden he didn't say I'm gonna take everything that you just chose like now you're gonna carry something and she's gonna be really light what you carry let's pray father God we're grateful for your presence in this place you are the resurrection which means God that you bring life to every single area of our existence so in this moment God we declare that you are the King of Kings you are the Lord of lords and you're in this room right now got to breathe life into our mortal bodies God we're grateful God we're thankful we say speaks to us for our ears and are open and God we're praying like we've prayed every year that you had bless the Ravens in Jesus name we pray [Music] and amen and amen high-five two people on the way to your seat tell somebody this is purple country this is purple country just in case you were wondering you you you're welcome to the body of Christ but if you are not a Ravens fan you're not my family so uh I'm so serious I discovered something after being married five years now praise God [Applause] some of you folks are like I'm not impressed we've been married longing you've been alive god bless you we're coming we're trying to catch up but I discovered that um traveling on an airplane is exponentially easier when you're single and when you're married she is a single man if I was fine somewhere normally I would take a backpack I would stuff all of my belongings in said backpacks I'd walk out the door I would get on the car gun a little tram go to the airport get on the plane and I'm gone if I was on a long trip I might take a carry-on and pack like the front half of it and then the back half would be empty because nobody needs that many clothes it's not until I got married to a woman just to clarify that I learned the traveling is a different ballgame when you're married we going on a two-day trip and my wife would say hey can you get me my suitcase like babe we're going for two days what do you need a suitcase for carry-on should be great she said I need a suitcase and bring her suitcase and there's like 12 different outfits in said suitcase four different pairs of heels a couple of flats some flip-flops and then all the other paraphernalia that goes along with this trip and as a babe we're there for two days what do you need twelve outfits for she says I'm not gonna know how I feel some sisters in a room know what I'm talking about until I get there and I dress how I feel so I have to prepare for any feeling so that I can have the outfit for said feeling so that I can enjoy my trip who knew that you pack for optional feelings things down the road but what I did not know is that traveling with a wife had nothing in even the smallest areas to express how frustrating how shameful how humiliating and how characters stretch and it is to travel with infants traveling with women is one thing traveling with babies it's so whole different ballgame I mean it's no longer her suitcase my suitcase a backpack of Netflix and we're good to go it's my suitcases her suitcase it's their suitcase then it's their stroller their car seat their pack and play and their diaper bag are you counting there is no airline that allows you to check that much free luggage which means already I'm like three hundred dollars more than I intended overspending on this trip so you get to the airport and you're you forgive me all of Jesus is gone before you get from long-term parking just to the check-in and now that you have children you can't just like get your ticket and go into the check-in you actually have to talk to the agent because they want to make sure you're not kidnapping somebody else's child so you stand in this obnoxiously long line you get up to the to the teller and she says oh you're traveling with a baby we need the child's ID my child is five months old they don't have a driver's license they don't have a passport they actually have no record that they are human or exist on this planet Earth what do you want from me we just need some proof that they are are under two years old [Music] he's five months look at him you have proof here says he says social security card it's all we have it's the only thing that the government has given us to prove that needs us this this is unacceptable it doesn't have his birth date on it do you mind if I climb back there and just so you finally get somebody with some sense to realize that the baby in the car seat could not be anything more than five months old and they let you through it my wife has babies and Zoey and and she goes on through it and it's cool when you have babies because to go through TSA they don't really deal with you too much they figure if you have a baby you don't have a ball just come and send so you take the baby and you go on through my wife always grabs the babies and she goes on through and then I'm slept there with this godforsaken stroller having to get it through the little conveyor belt little T excuse me sir you're gonna have to break that down and put that through the conveyor belt I said okay I can do this I want to college I'm educated I lead a church I'm smart it's just this button here have you ever tried to break down some of these new strollers you need a degree in biochemically in like astrophysics just to get this thing to fall down and I'm trying to fold and there's people but excuse me sir I'm late for my flight I am who do you want to help and I feel like 10 minutes of not being able to pack down this stupid stroller finally a TSA person comes with it well you can just push it through on this side and we'll just Pat it down why did you not just say that from the beginning our marriage is like on the rocks and we haven't even got to our seats yet I walk to us if babe you left me you left me with that straw I was humiliated but she said oh all you have to do is hit this and Petrucci there's something about traveling with a whole lot of baggage that makes life a lot more difficult a lot more frustrating and it slows you a lot you can't move at the speed that you want to move in the joy of the Lord is no longer your strength the offspring that you made you begin to question do I really need them is there another family on eBay or Craigslist that can benefit from these children at least until they turn 18 there's something about going through life with baggage that makes every day a rainy day that makes every situation of frustrating situation and just cause this life to move a lot slower than we would like for it to move the reality is every single person on planet earth we have emotional baggage that we are dragging and lugging through life that is slowing us down that is frustrating seasons of joy and then is keeping us from the peace that God would have for us in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1 it says this so then let's also run the race life was meant to be ran not what life was meant to be ran not dragged it says run the race that is laid out in front of us since we have such a great cloud of witnesses since there people that believe in you and are cheering you on watch this instead this let's throw off any extra baggage getting rid of the sin of those issues that trip us I didn't have this in my story but I was just thinking you ever had one of those facts where the wheels don't work and you're dragging this thing and it's hitting you in the ankle and you're just like at the end of the trip just like I don't need anything I'll buy it when I get there listen to me god never intended for you to travel that way or for you to live that way the only problem is we pick up this baggage but we don't know how to drop it over these next four weeks we're gonna unpack it and by the way if you're new to destiny Church we pre preach sermon series over for weeks instead of in one week one of the reasons for that is because every preacher is very long-winded of which I am chief so if I were to preach to you everything that I know about baggage we would be here until the Ravens game was over and um that's not of God so what we're gonna do is we're gonna break this thing up over four weeks and we're gonna unpack no pun intended over a pun all the way intended laughs there to sing there we go I was working on that one how to drop those things that we are dragging through life maybe even feel like they're a part of our identity not realizing that God never intended for you to live with that baggage and life would be so much more fluid and full of joy if you could just drop some things you could pull out your sermon notes I'm gonna give you just three thoughts three thoughts to start off this series and your sermon notes in your worship guide and you can fill in the blanks the first one is this everyone has baggage it's so important baggage and and I'll be honest with you we named this series baggage because it's kind of it's kind of offensive if I tell you you have baggage you don't know me I don't have to you're human and life hurts and the reality is if you've been living on this planet that we call earth or longer than five months you've picked up some things that God never intended for you to it is impossible to make it through life to interact with other humans that are not perfect and not pick up baggage matter of fact if you're flying on an airplane and you don't have baggage you automatically become a suspect why are you not flying with luggage are you not planning on coming back we need to understand why are you so not concerned about the destination that you're getting to it is impossible to go through life without picking up baggage the only problem is we don't really realize where that baggage comes from some baggage comes from unfulfilled expectations the Bible says this in proverbs chapter 13 verse 12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick when you put your hope and your excitement and your desire in that business that you launched in that relationship that you were so sure it was going to end in marriage or in that investment or that friendship or whatever it may be the Bible says when you put all your hope in something and it doesn't come to pass or maybe it does come to pass just not the way you thought it would it says you actually pick up a sickness you pick up a weight in your heart and that sickness unaddressed becomes pain some of the pain that we pick up in our life when untreated becomes additional baggage in our lives one of the things that I've discovered is there's a lot of areas in this world that can give you to numb your pain that never actually heals your pain if you drink enough your pain will be numb for a season and then in the morning when you wake up or the night whenever you wake up you have a headache and the situation hasn't changed you can numb your pain by going after another goal or going after another degree or going after another promotion or or going after another relationship or whatever it may be they'll give you medicine to numb your pain but numbing your pain is not really treating your pain because you're not dealing with the source you're dealing with the symptom the Bible says in Jeremiah chapter 6 verse 14 they offer super fish treatments for my peoples mortal wounds you said you're dying if somebody gives you a band-aid they give assurances of peace when there is no peace you know all you need to do is look in the mirror every single morning and say I am brave I am courageous I will do great and you know what your life is gonna follow your words so I wake up in the morning I look in the mirror and I say I am brave and I am great then I go off and my life does not follow my words because a band-aid is not gonna fix a mortal woman some baggage we picked up is unresolved yesterday's Ephesians chapter 4 verse 26 it says this be angry let's just pause there are you pacifist oh you shouldn't be angry it's not of God God said be angry be healed is it be angry but don't sit in other words it's not a sin to be angry do you know that God is angry God is angry when your life hurts God is angry when when when people are taking advantage of God is angry when when people are abused God is angry it's not always angry I wonder this idea of God's just I was angry but anger is not sin but anger that's not controlled can turn into sin and watch this he said here's how you keep your anger from turning into sin don't let the Sun go down on your anger don't give place to the devil in other words what this writer is saying is you can be angry but you need to deal with it because if you don't deal with it and you let the Sun set and rise and set and rise and you go on and allow that anger to just sit there what happens is there's now a seat and somebody's sit on that seat either grace and peace and forgiveness is going to sit on that seat or the enemy is gonna come in and he's gonna set up camp on that seat so you can be angry but you need to deal with it if that relationship broke apart and you said til death do us part and death did not do you part you have the right to be angry but you need to deal with that anger if that person made a commitment they said that they would be here for you or you were believing that that loved one would be healed and they weren't or whatever it may be you can be angry you just need to deal with it because if you don't deal with it and now is gonna become baggage did you carry unhealthy view of self man feeling that I'm inadequate that I don't have enough that I can't take care of this or can't take care of that or whatever it may be I'll be honest with you this by the way this is the seventh anniversary of destiny Church oh my gosh we're still here Walker [Music] [Applause] that's Marvis that rank is easy you know [Music] now that was why I was singing the first Sunday of Destiny church I don't think I'm Omega and can I tell you on that first Sunday of Destiny church when over three hundred thirty one people showed up and twenty seven people gave their life to Christ I stood up in front of the church and I said God is gonna use this church should transform the city thousands of people are going to encounter God because of what he's doing in this house and I did not believe one word of it because I knew me and I knew how undisciplined I was and I knew how I wasn't as a great a leader as I was telling buddy and I knew but I really didn't have a clue or a plan of what I was doing and can I be honest with you for the first twelve months of this church I did not have one good night of sleep I'm actually grateful and this is TMI but we're talking about baggage dome as well give you some of my baggage because I can't afford therapy so I just talked to you people I got married in the second year of the church and and I'm grateful for my wife she has been one of the greatest not one oh that would sound bad the greatest blessing that is never happen to me here on earth next to Jesus save that one but I'm gold I'm kind of glad that she wasn't there the first year of the church because I don't know if the first year of marriage would have been able to stand up under the lack of health that I had every Saturday night before church came I would be up all night long not writing messages but just can't sleep because I was thinking this is gonna be the Sunday where they all figure out it's a scam this is gonna be the Sunday where they all just wake up and realize wait he doesn't know what he's doing why are we going to this kids church literally not because God wasn't moving not because God didn't call me to it but because I didn't see myself the way that God saw me and I was carrying insecurities and baggage that was fustrating and slowing the process that God had for my life and had no clue that I was carrying things that God never I thought it was humility I thought you know pride is to say that you have what it takes humility is to is to focus on your inadequacy pride is to focus on yourself period your weaknesses or your strengths this is not the message but this is good humility is to give more attention to who God is then to who you are not another area of baggage is unrepented sin do you know just because you live through it and nobody found out about it doesn't mean you got away with it the Bible says this in psalm 32 verse 3 it says when I kept silent my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long for day and night your hand was heavy upon me my vitality was turned into the drought of summer this is what David wrote when he had an affair and nobody knew he said I got away with it but I did it because the hand of the Lord was heavy upon me in your drag definite kumkum Coco Coco Coco quick-quick oh come come come come come come come well that time somebody say hi to Devon Devon has issues but we knew that Devon Devon Devon thought that that a relationship was going to work out but it didn't so now he has some some some some disappointments man that's pretty heavy actually and that disappointment he didn't deal with the anger so so so it turned into pain now disappointment and pain hey do me a favor can you walk over there walk right back boom okay coming back come back you can move pretty much with disappointment and pain I mean it's a little bit heavy but you can still make it but we're glad there that's the little insecurity in there because you think it's your fault that it didn't work out and then you got fired right around that same season and they said it was cutbacks but they didn't cut anybody but you they'd be lying Navy lion Amy lion you literally can't carry anything else and when you get to the point in life where you literally can't carry anything else the enemy will make sure to give you something else to carry if you squeeze the suitcases together in the middle you can hold this one your life is a mess you know your friends say that you're unreliable but you can't support them I don't know why it's not like you got anything going on in your life oh okay so write this now write this done but everyone has baggage the issue is it's hard to admit you have baggage this is passage in John chapter 8 verse 31 it says this then Jesus said to those Jews who believed him he said these were two people these were the Christians it's not hard for people who are not Christians to say they have issues I know I've had issues it's hard for Christians to admit that they have issues because somehow we believe that to have Jesus means that we don't have issues and then if I have issues you doing okay dude you're sweating it's cuz you got baggage you know his yoke is easy and his burden is light you just need to give it to Jesus but he's not here right now so let's keep going it says she's a sense of the Jews who believed him if you abide in my word and you are my disciples indeed you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you baggage free the answer has said we are Abraham's descendants these are Christians can I translate a we are members of Destiny's Church oh I serve on the Dream Team I'm on the ultra prayer team I pray for other people's baggage after church thank you Jesus I've been through all the growth track I finished growth track since we are the descendants of Abraham we have never been in bondage to anyone how can you say we will be made for in other words they said Jesus we don't need freedom we're already free we are descendants of Abraham um question for you have you ever read the Bible like any of it if you have it let me help you out you can open the Bible your eye you can open the Bible and pick any book in there and I promise you you will find Israel in bondage open the Bible beginning Egypt slaves he got you free open a bottle of prophets Babylon Slate's he got you free when they were having this conversation with Jesus they were under the Roman Empire and they were not even free at the moment of this come they spent their entire existence in bondage yet they said we've never been in bondage today in our life well what would a picture of it's just heart it are you all right but I'm not going to teach people how to get rid of their baggage until week four go ahead drop it go ahead can't do it up in Devon that's a preacher point right there when you drop your baggage sometimes it falls on people if it's not frustrating enough to travel with infants and strollers and packing plays and all that other good stuff getting on the plane is only half the battle when you land there's this demonic area in Airport in which they call baggage claim the baggage claim is a place where you are supposed to identify what burdens are yours and to take them with you it's amazing to me I don't know if you fly a lot but it's some of the most entertaining stuff in life it's crazy when you see somebody walking onto the airplane with a suitcase this size calling it a carry-on like sir ma'am that's not a carry-on it can't fit in the little thing and then I'll sit it won't see it if I just take the wheels off then why because if I carry it on I don't have to claim it in baggage [Applause] so we will do everything we possibly can to call our issues normal that's just how I am it's my personality I'm an introvert I'm an extrovert I'm a jerk I'm a pacifist I'm just nice or whatever we say to try to name our baggage so that we don't have to identify it as something that God wants us to drop here's the problem it takes time to clean baggage you got to stand there and wait for whoever is back there the muppets or whoever it is that's unloaded my gear you have to wait for them put it on the belt and for it to come out on the belt do you realize that I fly a lot there's baggage shaming where where you sit down it and you watch people's baggage go by and I have issues so I just I just try to match people's suitcase to them like who looks like that would be their suitcase it's amazing how it's all luggage everybody got drawers in their luggage but for some reason we judged the luggage differently if it's one of them jacked-up suitcases that the handles fallen off and there's duct tape wrapped around it we're just like Oh that person got issues but if it's like one of those Louie Vuitton duffel is coming back I who whose bag is that who's gonna claim that that's pretty baggage [Applause] baggage can be expensive it can be pretty and it could be fashionable but it still slows you down and it's still not what God has for you god help you there's always that one person who their luggage opens up yeah I mean at least if you have baggage it is all closed up nobody knows but when that suitcase breaks cuz they flung it three fluff stories down on the conveyor belt and it feels so bad for that person because it's just all their issues are spread all over that conveyor belt and you're just like ah me my wife travel everywhere together there's one time in our five years of marriage right in five years of marriage where we were both going someplace and we didn't travel together I sent her home and then I was going to another city and she called me and she was traveling with the baby by herself payback but I just said man so I knew and she landed and I called us a babe how are you and and husbands you know you can read the situation by the tone in the voice and she's like I'm good I don't like oh no what happened did he cry the whole way she said no the suitcase broke open I felt like this big I'm like oh I should be there I mean baby stuff bottles true no paraphernalia I mean just that it's hard to claim our issues because we don't want people to identify us with that problem I've discovered if I'm gonna get free of my baggage I have to value freedom more than I valued dignity [Applause] if I'm gonna get free of pride I have to value freedom more than I value my wife thinking that I have everything under control I'll pretend like I haven't in control because I just want to know she married a man got this got you girl and what happens is we value the opinion of other people more than we value freedom and progress in our life and God is saying come to me you might my yoke is easy my burden is light but but I can't take from you something that you won't acknowledge that you have but the last thing is this if you go write this down everyone has baggage it's hard to claim our baggage but God God wants to take our baggage like i-i-i-i-i don't travel like many places where I am like important when I get there most of the places when I get there like nobody knows who I am and nobody cares but this year like honestly probably for the first time I got out of a plane I was going to speak at another church and their hospitality was insane and I get off the plane and I and I walked through like that you know the security poor is like if you go back we're gonna shoot you just keep walking forward I walked past that line y'all know that like if you look at it then you look at the security guy yeah he probably would let me just go and I walked through and there's somebody standing with a sign with my name I'm the man underneath and it's a posture Chandler you new here you know my dad's a pastor he's gonna pass it along and that been alive pastor Chandler's my dad not me I'm Steven they said pastor Chandler I said yes said hi I I'm here to drive you to what I said awesome here's my backpack and then they said he did you bring any luggage I said I did he said oh well let's go down to baggage claim I'll claim your baggage for you really you mean I don't have to get that no no no no oh by the way here's the coffee that you ordered I said thank you can I be honest with you when we got to that baggage claim they said which took cases yours I said that one and I went to grab his head no no no I'll get it and I'm like I'm not I'm Steven I'm from Woodlawn we're just outside Baltimore like I'm not used to people get my bags like nobody picks me up I Drive myself my wife doesn't even drive me hasn't know everybody I just went like people Allah who do pastors me hurt your bag I get really uncomfortable you can like this sounds like Pride and God's gonna strike me and I want to die I'll get my own bag and I said I'll get it they said no no no no I have to I said why because it's my job and so no no I'll get he said you don't understand I'm gonna get in trouble if I don't we come up to the baggage claim of life and there's the daddy issues and there's the anger and there's the abuse and there's the guilt and there's the shame and we go to grab it and Jesus is standing right there with your name on it saying hey is this your stuff I've come to grab it and then you say none of it at all no I don't want you to grab it I don't want you to know that I have issues I don't know what you know that I French is an intern oh it's my job to grab your issues it's my job to take that my yoke is easy my burden is light I want to take that from you he's an O Jesus I can't let you him I'm ashamed because you're perfect and your holy and if you see that I have issues you're gonna judge me and Jesus said you don't understand I'm gonna get in trouble with my father if I don't grab your sins because that's the only reason that I came to Earth is to take that burden off for you so stop acting bougie stop acting like you have it all together and just say Jesus if you want it here it is here's my addiction here's my struggle here's my insecurity here's my fear here's my anger here's my atheism here's my anger at you for letting that loved one die here it is this is Who I am and sometimes I get surprised oh uh I didn't see that coming he made you he knows you and he knows when you're carrying things that he never intended for you to carry her health is breaking down relationships are strained a children keep on asking mommy are you okay daddy what's wrong it's amazing how kids can see stress on your face hey read your mail Frank called you how's it going I'm good I'm good a good friend has no clue Oh five-year-old says mommy I love you don't be sad mommy Jesus is saying give that to me why you want to carry that isaiah 53:4 says this yet it is our weaknesses that he carried it was our sorrows that weighed him down and we thought his troubles were a punishment from God a punishment for his own issues but he was pierced for those times where we did not obey he was crushed for those descend 'full decisions that we made he was beaten so that we don't have to be broken anymore and he was whipped so that we can be healed jesus said I've done everything necessary for you to be free there's only one thing that I can't do and I can't force you to give that to me that's a decision that you have to make so why carry it you don't have to let's pray father God we are grateful God because you said in your word that your yoke is easy and your burden is light and God to be honest we're tired cuz we've been carrying this burden for four years but for decades a word that the third-grade teacher spoke over us we've been trying to prove her wrong for all these years the fact that the loved one walked out we thought it was our fault we've been carrying that for decades but God today we say we don't want to carry that anymore we weigh it at your feet just where you are with your eyes closed in your head bad if you can pray this Perth me as a Holy Spirit what are you saying to me I just give God a moment make this time this message personal to you maybe you are a follower of God you love Jesus but you're carrying guilt shame mistakes that you made issues abuse you've never said god I've given you my life but God now I give you my fears and my shame and my mistakes or maybe you're in here and you've just never addressed God at all you never even realize that he doesn't want to punish you for your mistakes he wants to take them from you if you're in here you say pastor I can't say that I've ever given the worst parts of my life to God yeah we think that being a Christian means being perfect being a Christian means you've given the worst parts of your life to God and you trust that he's paid the price for them if you're in this room you say pastor I can't say that I've ever done that or or I did it at one points and somehow I just picked up extra stuff but today I want to give all that I am the good the bad and the ugly especially the ugly I want to give it to him and I believe that he wants it if that's you can you pray this prayer with me right where you're sitting say Lord Jesus Here I am I give you all of me thank you for dying on the cross for taking the punishment for my mistakes make me whole make me yours in Jesus name

Channel: Union Church

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Keywords: What does God say about baggage, bible study on depression, getting rid of baggage sermon, sermon on baggage, What does God say about Spiritual baggage, how to deal with baggage, baggage sermon, depression sermon

Id: ZxSKceG3fZc

Length: 42min 22sec (2542 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 10 2018