John 5:1-15
The Victory Mentality
Followers of Jesus are called to live from his victory, not from victimhood. In John 5:1-15, Jesus asks a man who had been sick for 38 years, “Do you want to get well?” and tells him to pick up his mat and walk. Living as a victor means thinking differently, wanting healing more than validation, and taking responsibility for what comes next.
Message notes
Pastor Sheldon Lacsina opens with his own story. He grew up in Waimanalo, became a father at 15, and moved to the Big Island, where his girlfriend’s father let him live with the family only if he went to church. He hated the idea. Then Pastor Wayne Cordeiro said that if you want to be a good father, you’re going to need God, and Sheldon received Christ at 19. Today he is the senior pastor of the church where he was saved and serves as district supervisor for the Pacific District.
His theme is a mindset. Borrowing from Kobe Bryant’s book The Mamba Mentality, he calls it the victor mentality. The world coaches us to stay victims, but “life is not made of what happened to us. Life is made up of how we respond to what has happened to us.” Before he knew Jesus, he and his friends drove into Hawaii Kai one night and loaded a truck with bikes, fans and a toolbox left on the sidewalk. At home his sister pointed out that it was all rubbish set out for pickup. He asks whether believers stay excited about trash when God has something better.
Then he reads John 5:1-15. A man who has been sick for 38 years lies by the pool of Bethesda, and Jesus asks, “Do you want to get well?” The man explains why he can’t. Jesus tells him to pick up his mat and walk, and he does. The religious leaders skip the miracle and complain about the Sabbath. Some people spend their lives telling what happened to them; others tell what Jesus did.
Sheldon’s first point is to think differently, because God transforms us by changing the way we think. His second is to desire healing more than validation. He tells of an argument with his wife Heidi in which he kept asking her to hear his feelings, and he realized he wanted validation more than healing. He is careful to say people in the middle of pain still need to be heard and walked with. But healing removes the excuse and the attention, which is why not everyone wants it.
His third point is to take responsibility. Hebrews 13:3 tells us to remember prisoners as if chained with them, so those who are healed stay close to those still hurting. “A victim blames, but victors take responsibility.” He closes by asking the room the question Jesus asked at the pool: do you want to get well?
From the message
Life is not made of what happened to us. Life is made up of how we respond to what has happened to us.
Followers of Jesus are called to live from victory, not victimhood.
Did you know that validation can become an idol?
A victim blames, but victors take responsibility.
Life Group discussion guide
The Victory Mentality, John 5:1-15. July 12, 2026.
Start here
When you get sick, are you the type who hides it and pushes through, or the type who wants everyone to know?
Read John 5:1-15
Open your Bibles and read it out loud together before you start.
What does it say?
In John 5:5-7, how long had the man been sick, what does Jesus ask him, and how does the man answer?
What does Jesus tell the man to do in verse 8, and what do the religious leaders focus on in verse 10?
Where does Jesus find the man afterward in verse 14, and what does he say to him?
What does it mean?
Why would Jesus ask a man who had been sick for 38 years whether he wanted to get well?
Pastor Sheldon said validation gives a quick good feeling but healing changes everything. Why might someone prefer validation to healing?
Romans 8:37 says we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. How does that change the way a believer tells their story?
What do we do with it?
Is there a hurt or a story you keep retelling? What would picking up your mat and walking look like in that area?
Think of someone in your family or at work who is still hurting. How could you walk alongside them this week instead of telling them to move on?
Where are you blaming other people for your future right now, and what is one thing you can take responsibility for?
Pray
Ask Jesus to show you what lies beneath the anger, jealousy or distrust you carry, and pray for the courage to say yes when he asks, “Do you want to get well?”
New Hope Hawaii Kai. Watch the message and read the notes at newhopehk.org/sermons/the-victory-mentality/