We've all been hurt.
We all carry scars.
We can all overcome these things and be healed through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Let's build that relationship together right here.
Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
Hey everybody, welcome to the sanctuary.
Thank you for joining us.
It's great to have you with us as always.
And if this is your first time joining us, welcome.
This week I have a special treat for you.
I have a special guest joining us, Reverend Joshua Knight.
Now Josh and I, we've been friends for a while now.
He is a brother Marine and combat veteran.
And today what he's actually going to share, a little while back he shared some testimony
and observations, things that he's meditated on on his social media.
And I reached out to him like, brother, this is great.
I'd love to be able to share this.
And he's like, yes, sure.
And generosity of his heart, being a brother that he is, he went ahead and sent everything
over to me so I could share it with you.
So with that said, I'm not going to go into what all he's saying.
It's actually going to speak for itself.
I think you're really going to enjoy what he has to say.
And I'd like for you to take notes and all that kind of stuff.
So at this time, let me welcome Reverend Joshua Knight to the sanctuary.
Please let me start off by saying this is not meant to disrespect anyone or call anyone
out.
It's about sharing my love of God, my love for God, and what we as Christians should
do more of and be better of.
This right here is my biggest sadness with people who say they read their Bible or go
to church or know God.
They would rather look right, show off the clean house and food made versus listen to
the words of Christ.
Listen to the preachers teaching them the way of Christ, the life of Christ, not putting
on airs, making people see you when the objective is Christ, period.
So many people would drop $300 on new clothes for church, but never ever offer to help their
brothers, sisters, or even the church.
If your pastor, preacher, spiritual leader is always talking money to you versus talking
Christ, you don't have a spiritual leader.
You have a financier working for a building.
They would invite people for dinner only to put on a show versus welcome those in their
house.
I'd rather have a meager meal and a great discussion about God than have a 10 course meal and people
say it was a gathering to praise God, but his name barely mentioned.
Some of the best times I've had in my life, I've had just talking with friends, discussing
our faith, answering questions about the Bible or specific passages, et cetera.
Like I've said many times in my life, faith spills out of me like a fountain when people
want to talk about it.
We could do it for hours, but those who carry a gilded Bible with a spine that hasn't got
a single crease, no dog-eared pages, makes me sad.
My Bible looks like it survived a war.
It has sticky notes, old check stubs, deposit slips, or whatever I could get my hands on
at the time.
Whatever I could write with, whatever I had on hand after reading something that meant
something to me.
It has letters I've written to God, notations written in it, and more.
The letters are things I knew I needed to work on or wanted his help with so that it
stayed with me.
And my Bible, a dear friend told me about this.
I've been doing it ever since.
I asked God to help me find someone for my life.
I wrote down what I wanted, and God helped me find my wife, Anne.
Looking at that letter today, it is exactly what I asked God for.
A true life partner, a partner in Christ, a love, a life together, and so much more.
In our marriage, it's four people.
It is God, it is my wife and myself, and now our daughter.
If Christ is not in your marriage, that can be a big failure.
I have written letters of my failings and my sins so that he may help me be better,
and so much more.
If it worries your heart, write a letter to God, put it in your Bible, and pray on it.
Don't put it in there and forget about it.
Pray on it.
The best preaching that stirred me came from the smallest churches or family-worked churches,
hearing someone who has given their life to Christ.
My wife has an uncle and his family that lives and works at their church, and every time
I've heard him speak, those words touched me so deeply.
His connection to God, his whole family's connection to God is truly deep, and their
sharing of it with me and praying over me is something powerful.
They have welcomed me since day one and truly is a feeling of pure light walking in that
door.
Walking in that church and being with them and hearing the sermons, sharing moments with
them are truly beautiful and powerful.
Their church has welcomed me every single time, and they are very relaxed, and I have
never felt like I was not dressed up enough to enter the house of God.
They're not like a lot of churches where they have made people feel they weren't good enough
because of their clothes, weren't nice enough, weren't dressed up enough.
Because of my situation, I have no ability to wear suits anymore or ties as it makes
the scar on the back of my head hurt severely.
And I also, with my medical condition, I burn up easily because my body just overheats because
of the pain.
Wearing a polo and pants is about all I can muster some days.
In my situation, they have never, ever said or to me and would never or anyone else that
walked in that door.
With her family's church, they've always welcomed me no matter what.
Open arms and hugs, smiles and true happiness was all there, and that is truly special.
But I'm not the only one.
They do it for everybody.
They love me and I love them and their church, for it feels like being at home.
It's about God, not wallets or status.
And that is a church and that will always hold a special place in my heart, just like
the family that runs it.
God's plan for us is laid out before we walk this earth, but it's up to us to be the person
He needs us to be.
Talk about God.
Don't shy away from it ever.
Talk to God always.
I probably don't pray like a lot of people.
I talk to God.
I like to talk to God like I know Him personally because I do.
He's my friend and more.
And I talk to Him openly for that reason.
It keeps all the things going on in my life, medically, personally, whatever, all my struggles,
so much softer because I know He knows me and He knows what's going on and talking to
Him that way seems to lighten the load a lot.
So I ask you have faith and don't be afraid to share it and share it proudly and loudly.
God bless you all.
God bless America.
God bless Israel.
God bless this world.
We all need God right now.
Most of you don't know me.
Most of you probably wouldn't even guess that I became a minister after years of talking
to heads of churches, major religious figures here and where I live in Charlotte and around
the country, around the world.
I wanted to do it for two reasons.
I wanted to be a backup for a family member who was getting medaried and I wanted to make
sure they had somebody that could be there to stand in if the person that they needed
couldn't be there.
But there was another reason.
I wanted to help myself be better in my mission to be closer to God.
I am human.
I make mistakes.
I fail.
I sin and I am not the best person I could be.
But that is where God is with me.
He accepts me and He forgives me as His son died for all my sins and He knows that none
of us are perfect.
I only hope that I can be better tomorrow than I was today.
That's all any of us can hope for.
With God and Jesus, we can always be better.
I love you all.
God bless.
Stay safe.
Josh, that was awesome.
Thank you so much and thank you for sharing this with all of us and allowing us to share
it here in our sanctuary as well.
Like I said earlier, I think everything that you had to say really speaks for itself and
I do believe that there's something here for everyone to take and meditate on.
So thank you so much, brother.
Now everybody, like I said, at this point, this week, we're actually going to cut it
short because I think Josh said everything that needed to be said for this week.
So remember, you are loved and you are blessed.
Now go and be the church.
Thank you for joining me today here at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
If you'd like to know more about our ministry or how you can support us, you can do so by
going to our website at BeTheLightSanctuary.org or you can visit us on Facebook at BeTheLightSanctuary.
We'll catch you next time.
God bless.