Grammy Award-winning artist Lecrae was a guest speaker at VOUS Church on Sunday where he shared a message on finding joy out of the darkness of depression.

The Reach Records founder was invited to Pastor Rich Wilkerson Jr.’s megachurch in Miami, Florida, to talk to the congregation on the topic of “Joy Through Sacrifice,” which was made available via podcast on Monday.

“A lot of you know me as an artist. I have no idea why they let me preach but we’re going to figure this out,” he joked.

The rapper humorously shared personal life stories containing lessons about finding “joy on the other side of sacrifice.” While digging into his past, Lecrae revealed that his innocence was first taken away from him at age 7, after he was molested by a family member.

After going astray as a young man, he eventually found faith in Jesus which set him on course to have a successful career in Christian and mainstream music. But despite his personal achievements, Lecrae said his dark battles weren’t over. The husband and father said that after he began speaking out about racial issues and social justice, he started losing fans and their response to his opinions and activism sent him into a downward spiral.

Even before the officer-involved shootings of Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Louisiana, Lecrae said he had longed to be an advocate for racial reconciliation. Nevertheless, as he became more vocal about racial injustice, he realized that not everyone, including his Christian fans, agreed with his perspective or supported him voicing his opinions.

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SOURCE: Christian Post, Jeannie Law