How many of you came because somebody invited you? Just raise your hand up. That’s the power of the invite right now. Somebody invited you, and we’re going to be invited. We’re going to be bringers. Easter’s on the way, and we’re excited about new people coming and finding our church. Amen. Amen. Okay, I want to just take a minute. And I want to celebrate every location that we have at Champion Center. We have a location in DuPont, and we welcome all of you in DuPont. Today, DuPont, Washington, we have a we have a location in Yakima. And we welcome everybody. Come on Yakima. New building is on the way. We have a location in Bellevue, and we welcome everybody who is at our service in Bellevue. We have a location called online and we are happy to have you joining us today online. And then we have a location where I am right now and we are in Tacoma, and we welcome. You know, you made it today. The clock changed and you still made it. Yeah. Look at your neighbor and say you made it. Tell your neighbor good job. How many of you really can say, I’m glad to be in church today? I’m glad. We’re thankful for every team. We’re thankful for worship team. We’re thankful for people who greet at the doors and in the parking lots. We’re thankful for our church kids, teams that are over there with our kids and all our locations today. And just for a little bit of interesting information for you if you know what Team Church is. It’s an organization that was founded out of our church and in the last two weeks. Well, let me let me see. Um, in two days, one day each week. So in two days, over the last eight days, there were in the events that we did in Canada, in Texas and in California, there was one hundred and eighty six churches that were in attendance at our team. I just want to say thank God. Amen. And and I want to thank all of you who have helped us over the years to have our conference in August to be a part of it, to host in it, and to just express my gratitude, my appreciation to the Lord that we get to be a part of building his great church. There’s no greater honor on earth than building God’s great church. And last year, it was a total of over eight hundred churches that were directly impacted and influenced. So we’re excited about what God’s doing today and what God is using us to do to be a part of, of the church that is moving forward. So today I want to I want to just invite you, if you would, to. I’m excited about the message today, and I want to invite you, if you would, to just declare a few things before I get started here. I want you to just say with me at every location, if you would just say with me, my heart is open. Say it again. My heart’s open. My mind’s ready. Make us better. God help me hear the word of the Lord. Change me. Lift me. Encourage me by your word. I believe it and I receive it. And I won’t be the same again in Jesus name. Shout a big a men. A fourth grade teacher took her students on a field trip without ever leaving the school property, and the teacher asked her students to write down I can’t statements on a piece of paper describing what they have said that they can’t do. I can’t do push ups. I can’t do good in math. I can’t jump rope. And after many minutes of writing down what they cannot do, the teacher said, pencils down. And she told her students to fold up the paper and bring it to her desk. They dropped their papers in a shoebox, which doubled as a casket, and then the teacher led them out to the playground, grabbing a shovel from the custodian’s closet. On the way, each student took a turn digging the grave, and when they were done, the teacher had them circle the gravesite and hold hands as she delivered the eulogy. She said, friends, we gather today to honor the memory of I can’t. While he was here with us, he affected the lives of all of us, some more than others. He is survived by his brothers. I can, I will, and I’m going to right away. They are not as well known as their famous relative and haven’t been spoken nearly as much. But perhaps someday, with your help, they will make a bigger and greater impression on all of our lives. May I can’t rest in peace. The teacher then put a stake in the ground with a wood and cardboard tombstone that said R.I.P.. I can’t. The rest of the school year. Every time a student said I can’t, she would point to the burial site and remind them that I can’t was dead and gone. Can we open up our hearts and have a little fun at the same time. I’m taking this story and even created the graphic team, helped me create the graphic to show the simplicity of something that actually isn’t good for just children to hear. Yeah, right. Blessed are the children who have parents who will do what the school teacher did. Yep, blessed are the children who have teachers who will do what the teacher did. Mentors, coaches along the way. But today I want to encourage all of you in all the rooms where we’re gathered today. I want to encourage all of you and talk about the power of I can. The power of I can. Philippians chapter four and verse twelve thirteen reads like this. It says, I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I’ve learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Everybody say I can. Say it again, I can. This is the proclamation of the Apostle Paul. He’s describing his life experiences, both good and bad. He says he’s learned how to navigate life in seasons of lack and in seasons of plenty. When times were hard and when times were easy, when he was abased and when he was abounding. The word contentment here doesn’t mean that he was kicking back in a life of apathy and ease. It doesn’t mean that the apostle Paul was an ambitious guy. He was a visionary. He was a hard worker. He wasn’t saying, here I’m content to not plant any more churches. I’m content to not see any more people saved. I’m content to not go on any more missionary journeys. Wasn’t saying that. What he was saying is that I am in a season right now, and I go through different seasons and phases, but in every season I will be confident and I will have assurance. And then he proclaims, I can do all that I do no matter what I’m facing, no matter what I’m going through, no matter how the weather changes, no matter what season I am in, I can do all things through him who gives me strength. Come on, clap your hands right now. And let’s celebrate the power of I can. Amen. His confession was I can. But if you look at his life, his perseverance, and his accomplishments, you’re going to see. It wasn’t easy for him to declare that an early Christian document described him as bald headed, bow legged, short, and with a big nose and an un, what’s called what was called an unbroken eyebrow that lay across his forehead like a dead caterpillar. I’m just reading from a historical document. In other words, he was not an Olympic athlete. He was not a handsome model. He would not have graced the front page of a magazine. This is the apostle Paul, bow legged, short and bald. Paul suffered three shipwrecks, including one involving a whole night adrift on a log, just staying alive in the open sea. he was in prison. He was repeatedly flogged and he was beaten as well as stoned. And let me just ask you, how was your week this week? Come on. Are we bringing perspective here? Come on. Are we bringing a little perspective to it? Talking about the man who said I can, he had been in danger from rivers and robbers as well as from Jews and Gentiles. He wasn’t liked by this group or that group. He didn’t fit here sometimes and he didn’t fit there sometimes. In all of that, he authored thirteen of the twenty seven books in the New Testament. He started churches wherever he went, and he was able to write to those churches to encourage them. Imagine that. So I wonder, as I talk to you today and understand the perils of life and the challenges that we all have, I wonder how different the Apostle Paul’s life would have been without the power of I can. I wonder how different his story would have been if he had said, I can’t, I just can’t. That’s a lot of writing. You want me to write another book, another letter to the church? Let them encourage themselves. Well, what if he had said, look, I’m too short. I’m bald, bow legged, like I walk into town, nobody goes, oh, wow. Who’s he? They don’t do that. I’m just another normal, average looking guy. Nobody’s going to listen to me. I wonder how different our lives would have been. If he had not persevered through everything to say I can. When circumstances were hard to still say I can. The point I’m making today is that I can’t will put limits on your life that God hasn’t put on. You hear me when I say this? I can’t will compromise your potential and hinder God’s purpose in your life. When God called the prophet Jeremiah to the nations, he was likely just a teenager. So it made sense, actually, that he would tell God, I’m too young. I can’t do this. But when he made that excuse, God gave him a gag order. He literally gave him a gag order. God said back to him, do not say I’m too young. Do not say it. Don’t say it. Don’t say I can’t. Some of you have done that with your children. Hopefully you have. Don’t say that. Don’t say you can’t. You know you can, Yeah, right. Why did God give that gag order? Because saying I can’t put limits on his life that God hadn’t put there. Yeah. Man. It’s quiet. I thought you would like this message. Is that one less hour catching up with you today? I bet there. I bet they’re really clapping a lot in DuPont and Bellevue. Yakima. I bet you guys are shouting it down over there. Come on. Tacoma. I’m giving you a good word today. And Jeremiah was not the only one in Scripture who had to get past the I can’t In order to live in his purpose. There were many others who at first said, I can’t like like I can’t. Moses told God, I can’t speak. I’m not the right person. You need somebody who can communicate better than I can. I can’t. You want me to go be a voice? You want me to tell the people like that? That you want to take them to a new land? You want me to tell Pharaoh? Let my people go, but I can’t. Sarah told God I can’t. I can’t have children. In fact, she laughed at God. Ha ha. I’m old, I can’t. Come on. Have you not noticed? Not just me. My husband is old. Abraham is old. Gideon was another one. He said, I can’t, God, I’m from the wrong family. Have you not looked at my family history? My. My family is messed up. I’m not qualified to be a leader. Over and over again in Scripture, there were people who were throwing up that I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. But all of them that I just named, along with other heroes of the faith, broke through that I can’t mindset. And because they did. Their stories inspire us today. That’s good. So many people are getting cheated out, and I don’t know who I’m talking to today in, in in the rooms that were gathered in. I just know that so many people are getting cheated out of the life they are meant to live because of the lie of I can’t. They’re meant for more, but they doubt themselves. They underestimate what God has given them power to do. And some of you here today, you doubt your ability. You doubt your potential. You doubt what you’re capable of. You doubt what God can do through you. You doubt the possibility. And if you want to be your best for God, your family, your children, that’s got to change. That’s right. Well, I don’t know that it’s that big a deal. No, it is a big deal. I don’t know that it really mattered. Like I’m just human. I’m just normal. When you say I can’t just by saying it, you move that thing that you’re referring to into the realm of impossible. Well, no, no, no, God will do whatever he wants to do. He’ll use me anyway. No he won’t. God doesn’t even move past the I can’t. That’s right. Wow. If we don’t change that, stop it from coming out of our mouth and submit ourselves to the purpose of God with faith in our heart. Our lives never amount to the plan and the purpose that God had never reached. The purpose God has for us. But when you say I can, you bring it into the world of possible. When you say I can’t, you hold it in the in the in the place of impossible. Hear me when I’m telling you. When you say I can, you bring it into the world of possible. Jesus said, all things are possible to him who believes. And see, that’s the point of it all. Like the I can’t come from a place of unbelief. It comes. You believe you can’t. So you say I can’t. And Jesus said, like plain and clear, like stuff stops with you that I would rather do. Things that I would rather do in your life I can’t do. I just, uh, you might remember I spoke on this in our own church recently, but I talked to the leaders in the last couple of weeks in our in our conferences, our events. I talked to them about the story where Jesus was in his own home city and he could not do many miracles there because of the dishonor that was. That that was in the city toward him. They were saying things like, isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t this the Son of Mary? He’s nothing special. He’s nothing. And the Bible literally doesn’t say he would not do miracles. It said he could not. And I’m here telling all of our church family and everybody who will hear me today. There’s some things that God can’t do through our attitude. Our see God. God is the same in terms of being unbiased toward everything but the Holy Spirit. And the work of God is not compatible with every attitude and every belief. It’s just not compatible. Henry Ford said, whether you think you can or think you can’t. You’re right. Either way, you’re right. Either way, you’re right. Somebody shout, I can. Come on, say it. I can say again, I can. I hope you’re thinking about some things in your life right now that you’ve been thinking. You can’t do that. Actually, you need to change your verbiage. You need to stop talking the way you’re talking. I’m going to give you five ways to move from I can’t to I can. Are you ready? I want you to write it down five ways to make the shift that I’m talking about today from I can’t to I can. The first one is number one, don’t be negative. Don’t be negative. So what’s my confession? I can find the good in every situation. God is good. He is always working in all things for my good, No matter what happens in my life, I will come out on top. Don’t be negative. I can be positive in a negative world. I can have faith in the middle of the storm. I can believe for the best in bad situations. I can somebody shout, I can say, I can tell yourself. Don’t be negative. Say I walk by faith, not by sight. Number two don’t be timid or afraid. Don’t be timid or afraid. This is how we shift over to I can. All right? I can, and I will be confident. That’s our confession. Don’t be afraid. The enemy wants to control you by telling you lies about yourself and about the future. And if he can get you to be afraid. If he can get you to be timid. He can influence the outcome in your life. You don’t function as well when you’re timid or fearful. That’s true if you have a if you have a golfer who’s making a putt can only be a three foot putt. Three foot putt. And if he’s fearful, the chances of him missing go way up because we don’t function the same way when we have fear. And and it’s this way in everything of life we don’t do as well. And Scripture says God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline or sound mind. Are you getting this today? Somebody shout, I can say I can do all things through Christ. I’m going to bury. I can’t, I’m going to have a funeral service for I can’t. Come on R.I.P. I can’t R.I.P. I can’t I’m going to remind my husband. We’re going to help each other. Come on. We’re going to help each other. We’re going to look at each other and say, what do you mean you can’t? Okay. Number three, don’t play it safe. Don’t play it safe. Well, what’s my confession? Confession is I can fail forward. I’m not afraid of it. Not going like I want it to go. There’s some people right now like you played it so safe. You are missing out on so much. Yeah. And life’s not nearly as fun anyway. Because you’re no threat. You’re no risk. You’re not taking any chances. Can I just tell you, playing it safe is dangerous. If you have a challenge in this area, go. Go grab my book Naked and Unafraid and read it and read it and read it again. Because playing it safe really is dangerous. That’s not a life that you were meant to live. Well, what do I do? You say I’m not afraid of failure. When I fail, I fail forward. Failure is a part of winning. It’s a part of success. Am I in the right church today? The. The reason some people are not having more victories and more success and more testimonies in their life is because they’re too afraid of failure. They don’t have very many wins because they haven’t taken many chances. Like there’s no story to tell. In nineteen twenty three, Babe Ruth, the great slugger Babe Ruth, he broke the record for the most home runs in a season. But there’s another record that he also set that year, and that is that Babe Ruth struck out more times than any other player in Major League Baseball history. Same year hit the most home runs. Strike out the most. If you can’t get past the strikeout, you can’t get to the home run. You can’t get to the home run. You gotta get. You gotta get past it. Right? I read the other day about Elon Musk. Like him or don’t like him, it doesn’t matter. I don’t care if you like him or don’t like him, I like him. Elon Musk in two thousand and eight. Now, that’s not been long ago. SpaceX failed three rocket launches. Each one exploded. The rocket exploded one hundred million dollars. Literally going up in flames. Boom. And then Tesla. It didn’t deliver the Roadster on time and some other things, but he was running out of cash and suppliers were threatening to walk. And he’s sleeping in his friends couches. He’s borrowing. This is the richest man in the world right now. But it’s true. He’s borrowing money for rent. His marriage is falling apart. And then in December of two thousand and eight, he has enough money for one more rocket launch. If it fails, SpaceX is done. The fourth rocket worked. There’s some things we can learn and lean into. And if you’re afraid. If you’re afraid of failing, you can’t get to your success. If you’re afraid of failing, like you’ll not go in for that that interview you. If you’re afraid of rejection, you won’t go into that space where it’s possible they won’t receive you. But that’s where the good stuff is. You won’t put out your hand and introduce yourself to somebody. That could literally be a change agent in your life and in your future, because you’re too timid and you’re too worried. Oh, man, I’m preaching to you today. I’m trying to help you. We gotta get out of. We gotta get out of the I can’t and into the I can. Okay. Number four. Don’t be afraid of of hard. Don’t be afraid of hard. Tell your neighbor. Don’t be afraid of hard. And here’s our confession. I can do hard things. I can do hard things. I can do hard things. Say that I can do hard things. I can do hard things. Come on. All you young adults say I can do hard things. All the young adults in the room. I can do hard things. If you’re under thirty, say I can do hard things. Roger, you are not a young adult anymore. You’re supposed to say, I can be. I can do hard things. Everybody shout. I can do hard things. The best things in life are not easy, but you are made for it. When Kevin and Sheila Gerald packed up what little they had and moved to the northwest two thousand six hundred miles away from their family, and they brought their little girl, and they lived in a little apartment with a drove a big green old car worth eight hundred dollars, nicknamed tank. How many of you know I’d never been there if I didn’t? If I had said I can’t do hard things. That’s too hard. That’s too far. Come on, that’s too long. Come on. It’s not easy to work and go to school. I know, I know, Pastor Kevin. It’s not easy to wait on God’s timing. I know, I know, I know, but quit talking like that. it’s not easy to be healthy. Eat right, lose weight I. You’re right. You are so, so right. It’s not easy. It’s not easy. But everybody say I can do hard. Come on. Say I can do hard. Say God is with me. God is for me. No weapon formed against me will prosper. So I can do hard. Amen. The Bible says that everyone born of God overcomes the world. Say I can do hard. Number five. Last one. Don’t get stuck in a setback. This is how you shift from I can’t to I can. Is that you start confessing in all of these circumstances of your life. You get the I can confession going and the I can confession that you have to deal with. If you’re in a setback right now or you have to put it into your language, is I can and I will bounce back. Yeah, I can, and I will bounce back. It’s not over yet. I can and I will move forward. I can get past disappointments. See if you’re just like you don’t know what I went through. This is really, really hard. I’m not. I’m not mocking your your. I’m not really. I’m not mocking your pain or your heart. I’m trying to help you today. To to the power of I can is where it begins for you. The power of I can. How many of you believe heaven smiled whenever Paul the Apostle Paul said, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. In heaven will smile when you and I get this kind of language working. I can overcome feelings of offense. See a lot of people with. I can’t get past what he said to me. I can’t get past what that church did to me. I can’t get past that situation in my life, I just can’t. Like, you don’t know how hard it is. I can’t. And if you say that, you will live there, and I’m calling some people to go have a funeral today for the I can’t in your life bury it. Come on, bury it. Put it in the ground. Put it in the ground. Have a eulogy today. Let’s all stand to our feet. I can be better, I can be stronger. I can be healthy again. I can bounce back, I can overcome. I’m born of God. I can overcome the enemies in my life, the adversity in my life. You’ve had a divorce. Divorce is not fun. Divorce is painful. There’s a lot of heartache in in the the process and the transitions and the changes. And when there’s children involved, it’s a lot of brokenness and heartache. But I need somebody who’s been through that today, and you have got stuck where you are to receive the word that I’m giving you today so that you can go on into a new life and a new future, and you can be healed. Come on, and you can be strong. God’s got more for you. I said God’s got more for you. God’s not done with you. Just stay with me. I can do this. Say I’m made for this. God is with me. His strength is in me. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. In Jesus name, let’s celebrate. Come on, let’s celebrate. You receive that today. Come on. You receive that today. Hey, man. Thank you, Apostle Paul, for your example today. Heads bowed, eyes closed. I want to invite you today. Those of you who are in the rooms at every location. I don’t know you by name, but I want to invite you to take a step today that perhaps you’ve delayed, you’ve put off. Maybe there’s a distance between you and God. Maybe you’ve never actually approached. God invited him to be the leader of the Lord of your life. Maybe that’s all new for you. Maybe that’s unique or different. But you’re here today, and I can’t end the service without giving you an opportunity to open the door of your life and invite Jesus into your life, into your world, into your circumstances. Give your life to him today. Give him a chance. Not just to save you from your sins, but by His Word to guide you Into a better life and a better future, into a strength that you don’t have right now. If you’re listening to me and you say, Pastor Kevin, I need a new beginning, I actually need a new start in my life and my relationship with God. I’m going to invite you to raise your hand high in the air right now, wherever you’re at any location, this is your morning. This is your day. Good hands are going up right here in our room. And I’m believing they’re going up. And good God bless you, sir. God bless you, sir. God bless you. Wow. Thank you God. Thank you God. Some of you right now you’re in a pivotal moment and this word is for you today. Is it possible that you’ve been saying, I can’t do this, but the spirit of the Lord would say to you right now, prompt you to change that verbiage and say, I can. I can follow Jesus. I can be a Christ follower. Good, good. Praise God I can be healed from my hurt. I can have a better life. Wow. That’s it. People are holding your hands up if you put your hands up wherever you are, just hold them up high in the air if you would. And I want to pray this prayer with you today. We’re going to pray it together. I’m so thankful for the hands. There’s a lot of hands here in the room today. Say this out loud with me. Say, Lord Jesus, welcome to my world. Forgive me of all my sin. Come into my life and make me a new person. I receive you today as the leader and the Lord of my life. Thank you for a new beginning and a fresh start in Jesus name. And everybody shout a great big Amen! Welcome to the family of God, everybody, welcome to a new beginning.