Overcomer: Part 3 - "Overcoming the Lies of Labels" with Tim Doremus - Life.Church

Child of God: Overcoming the Labels That Hold Us Back

Scripture References

• Mark 2
• Joshua 2

Overview

Labels can describe where we have been, but if we let them linger they begin to dictate where we are going. Using the story of the paralyzed man in Mark 2 and the example of Rahab in Joshua 2, Pastor Tim Derimus shows that Jesus does not hand out nicer labels—He gives a brand-new identity: “child of God.” Surrounded by faith-filled friends, we bring one another to Jesus, who heals the source rather than the symptoms and turns our past into someone else’s future hope.

Main Points

Labels Carry Power

• A label is “a phrase or description of a person, especially one that holds you back.”
• Good labels (brother, mentor) and painful ones (failure, quitter) both communicate value; we instinctively look to them for worth.
• Research with schoolchildren: simply calling a child “advanced” or “slow” changes performance without altering anything else.
• “The longer we carry our labels, the less they describe our past and the more they begin to determine our future.”

The Faith Around You Matters (Mark 2)

• Four friends believed, “If we can just get him to Jesus,” so they tore open a roof and lowered Larry (unnamed man) before Christ.
• Jesus “saw their faith,” not only Larry’s.
• Your circle will either carry you closer to Jesus or pull you further away:
  • Story: Brooke arrived at Life.Church with addiction, legal trouble, and the label “mistake.” A friend bought her a dress and brought her to church; today Brooke leads students and advocates statewide for recovery.
• Life-giving community rarely happens in isolation—join a LifeGroup, sit across from people, and move toward Jesus together.

Jesus Replaces Labels with Identity

“My child, your sins are forgiven.”

• Jesus addressed Larry’s deepest need first—He heals the source (sin and identity) before the symptom (paralysis).
• Illustration of Pastor Tim meeting his wife’s grandfather: the moment gran announced, “Papa, your boy has come to see you,” Tim received belonging before proving anything.
• Likewise, Jesus stands with “one foot in heaven and one foot on earth” and declares every believer God’s child.
• Our value isn’t printed on a fabric tag; it’s written on our souls.

God Uses Your Past to Change Someone Else’s Future

“What the devil meant for evil, God will use for good. God can use your past to change somebody else’s future.”

• Rahab—wrong nationality, gender, and profession—chose God’s people; Scripture still notes her past (“Rahab the prostitute”) because the work of God in her life is too big to deny.
• Larry’s personal name is forgotten, but his healed life points everyone to Jesus.
• Personal testimony: Tim, once an insecure stuttering second-grader, now preaches to tens of thousands because “God is far more concerned with who you are than with what you’ve done.”

Key Truths

• Labels are powerful but not permanent.
• Community faith is a catalyst for personal breakthrough.
• Jesus offers a new identity, not a better sticker.
• Your worth is settled: you are a child of God.
• Redeemed stories become God’s tools to free others.

Response

• Renounce the old labels you’ve accepted.
• Embrace your true identity as God’s child.
• Step into authentic community; let others carry you toward Christ and do the same for them.
• Offer your past to God and watch Him use it for someone else’s future.
• Speak life over people around you—your faith matters to their story.

Closing

The voices of failure, inadequacy, and doubt are loud, but they are not the truth that defines you. The One who spoke creation into being calls you “son,” “daughter,” and invites you to walk out forgiven and free.

“God can use your past to change somebody else’s future.”
Leave here carrying that identity—and carry someone else to Jesus this week.

Prayer

Father, thank You for surrounding us with people who carry us toward You. Our value rests not in labels but in being Your children. Use our stories—every broken piece—to bring freedom and hope to others, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Resources

• life.church/next – practical next steps in following Christ
• life.church/lifemissions – ways to serve locally and globally