Autoshop Ministries - DeVante Tidwell K2K 8/23/26 Sermon on Freedom Through Forgiveness

0:00Amen. Amen. Here we go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. How y'all feeling this morning? Yeah. Okay. There we go. How many people got some good sleep? Good sleep. Okay, good. So that means the engagement is going to be really good this morning, right? Right. All right. We're gonna find out. I'm telling you, we're gonna get active. I actually also just got back from vacation, so I'm extremely full and extremely energetic.

0:25So if you're not, Sorry. No, I'm not going to apologize, man. I'm really just passionate about the things of the Lord and being able to communicate his word. So thank y'all all for being here, getting up early, being in the room. Thank y'all for being here too. And some of the new faces and stuff that I've met, just thank you so much.

0:44I really also always want to honor Todd, the Adams family. I don't know if y'all realize this, but I am a part of the Adams family. Don't we look alike? Yeah. Y'all saw that? You see the resemblance? Me and Joe actually look just alike. People tell us that all the time. No, but seriously, I'm ready to get into the word. Y'all, y'all ready?

1:02Y'all ready? Cool. Hey, if you don't have anything, you don't have a Bible or anything like that, please don't feel bad. I'm gonna read, um, the scriptures to you. Uh, my, my goal today is hopefully that you just listen and that you get impacted. That's it. That's really it. I have no agenda other than for you to be impacted by the word of God, and I know that he's going to do his part.

1:22I'm asking you to do your part and just listen in. Eat your breakfast. Take some notes if you want to, if something like really just like, man, that's something about that makes it, you know, feels like I need to remember that. Feel free to take notes and write that down. But I really am glad that y'all are here. I'm going to start in Colossians chapter number 2, verse 13 through 14.

1:42It says this, it says, when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive. Somebody say alive. Together with him having forgiven us. Say forgiven. Us of all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us. And he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

2:08Say the cross. I also want to read Matthew chapter number 6 because I believe that that is also important to this. We got a few scriptures today. Um, I'm gonna do Matthew chapter number 6. Verse number 14 says this: For if you forgive— there's that word again, say forgive— for if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

2:31Say forgive. But if you do not forgive— there's it again, say forgive— others, then your Father will not forgive— say forgive— your transgressions. You see, can y'all guess what the talk about is going to be today? Forgiveness. Wow, man, y'all are smart. Y'all are smart. I don't know how y'all knew that. It's almost like It's almost like y'all are smart or something, man.

2:54I really appreciate y'all. Um, yeah, I want to talk to you today from this title: Forgive to Live. Forgive to Live. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, help us to understand, to give, and to receive forgiveness. We all need it. We always have, and it's always been a part of your plan. So thank you in advance for it. In Jesus' name, amen. Hey, um, John chapter 10:10 says this, that the enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy, but I— this is Jesus talking— but I have come that you may have life and have life more abundantly, or life to the full.

3:37Say abundantly. You know, I like freedom, but sometimes, I'm gonna be honest, I don't really like necessarily what you got to do to maintain or to have freedom. Like, I like freedom, but sometimes I don't really like the idea of this whole forgiveness thing means that I get freedom. Forgiveness honestly can be hard. Anybody— can we agree? Forgiveness can be difficult, man, because life happens to us all.

4:06The Bible says that the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. That means that it's not— the rain doesn't fall on you because you you were bad and it doesn't fall on somebody else because they were good. Since especially, you know, as we live in Houston, the rain falls on all of us. It doesn't matter how— what kind of car you drive.

4:22It doesn't matter what side of town you live on. The rain is going to fall and it's going to fall on all of us. But here's what it— what the Bible also says in John chapter 8, verse 36. It says, who the Son sets free is free indeed. So I want you to imagine something with me for a second, because I always kind of struggled with this ideas.

4:40Like, okay, if you're set free, or if the Son Jesus is setting you free, why do you need to be free indeed? Like, is one free not enough? Like, I need to be double free? What does free indeed mean? And then I feel like I got this picture in this analogy. So I'm gonna articulate it for you. And maybe you've heard it before, or you've seen it before.

5:00I want you to imagine that someone that is notorious broke out of prison, okay? They broke out of prison. They put out, you know, how many people's ever seen the show Prison Break? You've seen Prison Break? Okay. So no, like literally right now, like, no, he's sitting right there. No, I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. It's like, you know, doing this idea or spending all of this time to get out of a cell, to get out of, out of prison.

5:29You break out of prison, right? But you're free because you're on the outside, but you have to look every single day of your life for the future and the remaining days of your life over your shoulder wondering when it's gonna— are they— is that a cop? Are they in a suit? Are they actually coming to get me? Do they got an earpiece in?

5:51Are they coming to take me back? That's not true freedom. You're outside, but you're not free. That's what Jesus, I feel like, is trying to articulate. I don't want to just set you free so that you're outside of something. I want to set you free indeed so that you never have to look back at what you left. That's the difference between being free and free indeed.

6:11So when he's saying, I want to set you free, who the Son sets free is free indeed, I want you to look at it like this. When Jesus sets you free, you never have to look over your shoulder again. You never have to look at your past. You never have to be worried about what's behind you or what's trying to chase you down.

6:30You never have to look at all of the things that used to define you or who you used to be. And the way that he sets us free in this way is with forgiveness. Say forgiveness. So I want to talk about this freedom because freedom costs something and freedom costs forgiveness. So I want to talk to you about 3 different ideas around forgiveness.

6:54Number one is this: forgiveness is God's plan for you and for me. It was always his plan. How many people have ever heard somebody tell you that, man, God has a plan for your life? Anybody? Anybody? You know what I find that's kind of frustrating, especially as a pastor? Can I be transparent? Like, I mean, I'm a pastor. If I can't be honest, like, I, I don't— I can't— I don't know who else can be, right?

7:17Like, You know what's frustrating as a pastor sometimes is people hear this and they reduce God's plan to a job they do every day. They say, man, God has a plan for your life. It's like, man, what am I supposed to do next? It's like, wait, what if I told you God has a plan for your emotions? What if I told you God has a plan for your soul?

7:39What if I told you God has a plan for your mind? God has a plan for your body, not just what you do to go to work and come home. But God has a plan for you in totality. God has a plan for every part of you. God has a plan for your relationships, for your marriage, for your parenting, your kids. God has a plan for your community.

8:02And part of that plan is forgiveness. And I don't know if people have ever heard that forgiveness is a part of the plan of God, but it is. It's his plan for you and for me. And it's been that way since the beginning. When Adam and Eve had a fall in the garden, after he addressed them and addressed the serpent, he covered them.

8:27He covered them. This was a picture of what I'm getting ready to do for all of humanity. I'm going to cover you all. And forgiveness is the way that God is covering us. Because this always was his plan. He's so passionate about having a connection with his children. We are all his children. And I want you to hear this. I don't care how old you are.

8:53I don't care how many kids or grandkids you have. You will never outgrow being God's baby. You'll never outgrow being his child. I'm in my 30s and he still will talk to me like my toddler. He's like, son, hey, don't go there. Son, don't do that. Hey son, you know I love you. Hey son, be close to me. Hey, I just want to spend some time with you.

9:17You never outgrow being God's baby. He's so passionate about maintaining that connection that he gives forgiveness to everybody in the room and everybody watching at the other location. He gives forgiveness so that we can maintain that Connection. That was his plan. And his plan for your life, number one, first and foremost, is not where you punch a clock. It's not where you get a paycheck.

9:44His plan first and foremost is for you to be connected to him. So when people say, man, God has a plan for your life, you say, yeah, I know. It's to be close to him. It's to be close to the Father. It's to be close. Intimacy, connection, relationship. So before you go out, and there may be some people in the room who are feeling like they're lost in life right now, and I can almost bet that the reason you feel lost is because you're not sure what to do with your day-to-day.

10:14I can promise you, you don't have to feel lost because I know what you can do with your eternity. Your day-to-day assignment may change, but Your position with God will not. You can change jobs, you can change cities. We just talked about my guy Nathan on front row moving to Austin. We can, you can change those things, but what you don't, whether you're in Chicago or you're in Austin, you never stop being his son.

10:45He said, I got a plan for you there, I got a plan for you here, and it's to be close. Here's what I, what I find fascinating. Is that the second thing is now that we know that it's a plan of God for forgiveness, I wanna write, ooh, number 2. Yeah, somebody write this down if you're taking notes. Forgiveness is freedom for you and me.

11:06And freedom is beautiful. Freedom is peaceful. I mean, take it for example, financial freedom comes with a little less stress. But we also are required to forgive if we want forgiveness. That doesn't mean— hear me when I tell you this, can I be a little strong this morning? That does not mean trust is required. Forgiveness is required. That does not mean that trust is.

11:33I'm talking about other people. I'm talking about people who have done you wrong or people who have hurt you. You are required to forgive. That is biblical. It is all throughout the Bible. That does not mean that you are required to give them the same level of access. That does not mean you are required to give them the same level of trust.

11:52Let me give you an analogy. Okay. I like this one. I wrote this one. I like this one because, you know, we're, we're at a, we're in an auto industry. So imagine, right? Imagine you walk outside right after this and you get to your car. How many people love their car? The car they have right now? Anybody love your car? We're at right now, okay?

12:12About six of you. All six of you that love your car, this one's for you. Well, I love my truck, okay? I love my truck. But if I went outside, right, and I got to my truck, and I was like, man, Auto Shop Ministries was awesome. You know, it's good. Like people got saved. Look, Lord, thank you, Jesus. Now I get out to my truck, and I get to the driver's side, and I realize somebody had hit the side of my truck and left.

12:38And I look at the window, and the only thing on the window is a small card that says, sorry, fam, fam, okay, my bad, you'll be all right though. I would be livid. No name, no number, no insurance. There's no cameras. They're like, oh yeah, the cameras just stopped working today. Today of all days. And I— my whole driver's side is messed up.

13:14You know what has to happen? Somebody still has to pay for it. Uh-oh. And you know who that somebody is going to be? It's me. How many people would also be upset about that? Would you be upset? Yeah. Literally. I mean, the fact that they had the audacity to write all of that, sorry, fam, fam. My bad. You'll be all right, though.

13:36You could have wrote your name, you know, like, I mean, that's a lot of letters. I mean, I don't know if— I don't know what your last name is, but it can't be that long. It could have been a lot of letters. That would make me upset. But here's what forgiveness looks like. It's saying, no, I am not acting like it didn't happen.

13:53I'm just absorbing the fact that it happened because I refuse to drive around like this. That's what forgiveness looks like in our life. So not only are we receiving it from God, but we're required to give it. Here's what's fascinating about this concept is we've heard this before. You may have heard this before, but people say forgiveness is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

14:17Like when you, when you withhold forgiveness, when you hold a grudge, you act like you are making them pay for something that happened to you. But really, the one that you're hurting is yourself. It's like holding somebody in a headlock, like, oh, you didn't apologize. You said sorry fam fam on my car. You said my fault, you'll be all right though. And I'm going to hold you in a headlock, and I'm going to hold you all day and hold it all night.

14:49And the next day when I wake up, do you know how inefficient you would be living life? Trying to literally walk around with somebody in a headlock 24/7? You see how silly that sounds? Like, imagine you going to work and walking in with some random person in a headlock. Imagine coming to church and being like, hey, praise the Lord, everybody. And you got somebody in a headlock.

15:13Like, how crazy would I look as a pastor getting up on stage and I got somebody in a headlock and I never explain why they're there. I never say that this is a part of the sermon illustration. I never do any of that. I just walk around with a random person in a headlock. I go to Walmart, still in a headlock. I go to CVS to pick up a prescription, still in a headlock.

15:35I go check on my car that they messed up, still in a headlock. Isn't this crazy? But this is how we live life when we hold a grudge. It looks silly on the outside when I articulate it this way, but that's exactly what we're doing in our heart. We're walking through every single day trying to hold somebody in a headlock as if that's still hurting them.

15:58But here is what I need you to understand out of this analogy is many times nobody's coming back to the parking lot. In the sake of this analogy, nobody's coming back to apologize to you. Nobody's coming to say I'm sorry. No one's coming to say, hey, here's the closure you needed. But the freedom in forgiveness, the freedom in forgiveness is you choosing to say, I know that God gave me the forgiveness that I didn't deserve.

16:27So I'm gonna partner with him and give it away too. And now you release yourself from that individual who's in a headlock. You release yourself From acting like because you drive around in the car that got hit on the side, just because you drive around with it dented and creased and paint is on the side of your brand new white truck, like that's actually making them pay for something.

16:56And really, it's just making you look silly. Forgiveness is freedom for you and for me. This is why we're required to forgive it. But a lot of people are confused on the definition of forgiveness. We don't give forgiveness because we are confused on its definition. Say it one more time. We don't give forgiveness because we get confused on its definition. For the sake of this analogy, fixing your car does not mean handing them the keys.

17:30Just because you absorbed the cost Just because you said, listen, I refuse to drive around like this, and I would rather pay short term to make sure that I'm back whole, that I'm back in right standing. I would rather do that in the short term than to drive around looking crazy. But that does not mean that whenever I find that person, I'm going to give them keys.

17:57All of these analogies are extreme, extreme, because I want you to feel the weight of how crazy it looks for us to withhold forgiveness. But some people are like, man, Pastor DeVonta, you just don't know. You don't know how mad they made me. You don't know what they did. You don't know how much they took. You don't know how much pain I went through.

18:17You're right, I don't know. But what I do know is when I put it in the lens of how much pain we have caused God, when I put it in the lens of how many times we said last time was the last time and end up doing it again, When I put it in the lens of how many times we've needed forgiveness from God himself and still went the wrong way, still made the poor decisions, still made the sinful moves, still did the wrong thing, still tried to live life our way, still tried to put our name on the contract of our life, tried to write out the map, the roadmap.

18:59When I look at it that way, I don't have to know what you've gone through because I know the one who has forgiven us for all that we've put him through. And he has given forgiveness for us too because he is smart enough to know. That's what I love about God. Hey, how many of y'all know God is smart? Yeah, I love that God is smart.

19:21He knows, like, man, my kids, They're smart, but they not as smart as me. Like, that would sound crazy to tell your actual kids. I wouldn't recommend you say like, hey son, I know you're smart. You're not as smart as me. Like, I wouldn't recommend you say that. But like, in all honesty, we're not as smart as God. And he knows his children to say, man, if I don't provide this for them, they will not have a way.

19:46Can I get a little passionate for a second? Sometimes people say, man, I don't wanna follow Jesus because he's so exclusive. Because like, why would he make himself one way in? Why would he make himself the only way? Why does he say, I am the way, the truth, the life, nobody comes to the Father except through me? And people say that because they're trying to use that as an excuse to not follow Jesus.

20:12And I'm not here to condemn anybody. What I am trying to do is shift your perspective. Jesus was not saying that I am the way, truth, and the life because he was trying to be exclusive. Jesus was trying to be inclusive. He was saying, I am the way, the truth, and the life, not to be exclusive at all, not to leave anybody out at all.

20:31He's saying, I'm the way, the truth, and the life because without me you don't have one. You don't even have a way without me. It's not, oh, my way is just better and the other ways are subpar. It's, no, my way is the only way in And without me, you don't have another one. So when you look at it that way, it's not him being exclusive, family.

20:54When he offers this forgiveness and he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, nobody comes to the Father except through me. He's saying, without me, you don't have an option. I gave you one. That's what's beautiful about God. It's his forgiveness. It's freedom. Point number 3, forgiveness is the door to life. Forgiveness is the door to life for you and me.

21:27Not only do you get to be free and give away life and get to partner with God like we've already talked about, but his forgiveness, like I just mentioned, is the way to eternal life. He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. I have come that you may have life and life to the full, life more abundantly. I'll say this, I have never seen somebody have an abundant life that has not experienced radical forgiveness.

21:55I've never seen it. Like, if you want abundant life, you want life to the full, step into the radical wave of God's forgiveness. The beauty of God's forgiveness. Step into the fact that he says, no matter what you've done, I forgive you. Step into the fact that he says, listen, I know that you're worried about your past, but your past is no match for me.

22:19Step into the fact that he said, there's no pit that you can put yourself in that my arms aren't long enough to reach and pull you out of. Step into the fact that he says, yeah, it's really that good. You're like, man, God, no, are you sure? But like, I know this and that person cut me off and they won't talk to me anymore.

22:36He said, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. But I don't need you to fix it from 20 years ago. You can't, you can't go back in the past. Only I can rewrite history. I've never seen somebody experience abundant life, not just here on earth, But if you want abundant life in eternity, you have to step into the radical wave, the wave of God's forgiveness.

23:07And I really felt in my heart as I was praying that God wanted to remind some people this morning that the forgiveness is free. He's saying that I want to be connected. I want to be connected to you. All you got to do is receive it and believe that it's available. Believe in me that's providing it. I want to give you forgiveness.

23:31I want us to be close. Because every single time I've seen us be far from God, it's not because he left, it's because we did. Every time we've been disconnected from God— I've been walking with Jesus a long time. Every time I felt distance from God, it's not because he left me. It's because I made decisions to leave his proximity. I've been like, nah, God, but I'm gonna go left.

23:54He said, no, but I think we should go right. It's like, well, then you go left and you go left and you go left and you go left and you go way down the road and then you make another turn and you go like, God, where are you? He's like, I'm still over on the right side where I told you that we were gonna be.

24:11I still went north, he went south. But here's what's beautiful about God is he doesn't make you clean yourself up to get close. No matter how far you've gone off the path, no matter how far you've veered, you say, all you gotta say is, Jesus, help me. I made a mistake. And he says, you know what? I know. I forgive you. Now come have life.

24:41Come have abundant life with me. There's a famous story in the Bible about Peter walking on water. A lot of people have heard this story, even if they aren't believers. And maybe you haven't, but the story goes like this. The disciples were in the boat. Jesus went ahead of them. And there's a storm on the boat. I mean, there's a storm on the water.

24:59And they look out and they see a figure walking out there and they think it's a ghost. And they're like, oh, well, I don't know. It's like, Like, no, it's me. And Peter's like, Lord, if it's really you, like, tell me to come out there. And he says, all right, come on. So Peter steps out of the boat, leaves the other 11 in the boat, steps out on the water and walks on top of the water, defies everything we know in science and meets Jesus out there.

25:28And as long as his eyes were on Jesus, he was able to do the impossible. As long as he was partnered with Jesus, as long as he was focused on Jesus, as long as Jesus was his North Star, he was able to do the impossible. The Bible says though, the moment he started to focus on the wind and the waves, he started to sink.

25:45Literally the moment he took his eyes off of Jesus and did this, started worrying about his environment, started worrying about what's around him, he started to sink. But here's what's fascinating. The Bible says, as he started to sink, Jesus reached out his hand, grabbed him, said, ye of little faith, why'd you doubt me? And he immediately saved him. I love that Jesus didn't let Peter drown to prove a point.

26:12He just let him sink. Bible says he didn't drown. He just started to sink, started to sink a little further. Jesus, save me. He reached out, pulled him back up. So no matter how far you are, no matter how much you've been sinking in, no matter how high the waves are, how bad the storm is, you serve a Savior that will hear your voice over the wind and the waves.

26:37He will— over the storm, he can hear your voice. Why? Because a good parent knows this. You can be in a store with a bunch of people. You know your child's voice. They don't have to say your name. They can just say, Daddy, and you know it's your kid. They can just say, Mommy, and you know, oh no, I know that's my baby.

26:55Because he's always got his ear tuned to the voice of his kids. He's willing to offer that forgiveness. And all you gotta do is cry out and say, Lord, save me. I'm tired of this. I've been sinking. I'm in a mess. I'm in a storm. I want that life. And he says, Come on, son. I got you. And they get back on the water and go back to the boat.

27:23And then Peter has an experience that the other 11 didn't have. For the sake of the analogy, as I get ready to wrap, there's a category in a shop, right, called total loss. Everybody know what total loss is? Okay. It's when the damage costs more than what the vehicle is worth. Nobody repairs a total loss. They cut a check, they haul it off.

27:47That's us. We're not a door ding, not a bumper. Total loss. Can't be the adjuster on your own accident. You don't get to assess your damage and declare yourself settled. You can talk yourself into feeling better, but you cannot talk yourself into being clear. A verdict about you has to come from outside of you. That's not weakness. That's how claims work. So God looks at a total loss, but he doesn't total us out.

28:17He pays a bill that exceeds what we did and what it was worth. He doesn't total it out. He cancels the debt, just like it says in Colossians. He gets rid of the debt and we are made alive. So I want to remind you that you are forgiven to live. And my hope and my challenge for you is to spend the next month till we get to see each other again living life to the full because Jesus provided it for you with his forgiveness.

28:50Every head bowed, every eye closed, just for a moment of prayer and concentration. What's God saying to you through this message? Maybe, maybe feel something in your heart. Something's shaking. There's some things that have been resonating with you through this message. Some of you, you said, man, I, I, I wrote myself off a long time ago. Came to tell you that God didn't.

29:17He said, I want to forgive you so that we can live the right way, so that we can be close again. You say, man, I need the forgiveness of God. I've never really accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and I'm not fully sure what all of that means, but I'm willing to start. I know that I need to do something today.

29:34I feel something different. If that's you, on the count of 3, I'm just gonna ask you to lift your hand. Nobody's looking around, and I'm just gonna pray for you. 1, the Bible says today is the day of salvation. Don't put it off. 2, if you believe that this was for you in any way, You want to give your life to Jesus?

29:543, just lift your hand up all over the room. Yeah, I see you. I see you. Okay, you can put them right back down. I just want you to repeat this prayer after me. And if you didn't lift your hand, you didn't, you know, or you already are a believer, then we can all just repeat this prayer together because we need it anyway.

30:12Repeat this prayer after me. Say, Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins. I'm ready to live life to the full, your way. I've tried it my way. It didn't work. But I'm grateful that I can never be too far to be made new. Thank you for stretching out your hand, forgiving me of all my sins. And making us close again. I believe you died for that reason.

30:51And since you rose, I can be alive too. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Hey, God bless all of you, man. I'm so grateful that y'all were a part of this session. I am looking forward to continuing these. I hope to see y'all next month. And thank y'all for letting me get the opportunity to minister to you all and be a part.

31:22Yeah, this has been great. Did this impact anybody this morning? Anybody? Yeah, let's go. Let's go.