Renewed & Transformed S1 Ep 9: Identity, Sexuality, & the Transforming Power of Grace | Derwin Gray

In Season 1, Episode 9 of the Renewed and Transformed Podcast, host Kyla Gillespie sits down with pastor, author, former NFL player, and Transformation Church founder Derwin Gray for a deeply honest and hope-filled conversation about identity, sexuality, shame, trauma, and the life-changing power of the gospel.

Derwin shares his powerful journey from childhood trauma and professional football to encountering Jesus through an unlikely teammate—and how Christ completely reshaped his identity. Together, Kyla and Derwin explore how misplaced identity, athletic performance, sexual wounds, and cultural pressure leave many searching for affirmation, and how true wholeness is found only in Christ.

This episode tackles difficult but essential topics including sexual brokenness, same-sex attraction, gender identity, church hurt, and pastoral care, all through a lens of truth, grace, and deep compassion. Derwin offers wisdom for believers navigating today’s cultural climate while remaining rooted in biblical conviction and Christlike love.

Key Highlights:

• From Football to Faith: Derwin’s testimony of identity collapse and redemption through Jesus Christ

• What Identity Really Means: Why performance, sexuality, and wounds cannot sustain who we are

• Sexuality & the Church: How to walk with people experiencing same-sex attraction and gender confusion with truth and love

• Why Wounds Shouldn’t Define Us: Moving from victimhood to victory in Christ

• Wholeness in Christ: What spiritual maturity actually looks like in everyday life

• Why We Fear Sharing the Gospel: And how being “lit up with love” changes everything

• Pastoral Wisdom for a Post-Christian Culture: Holding biblical truth without sacrificing compassion

Whether you’re wrestling with identity, sexual shame, faith after trauma, or fear of sharing the gospel, this episode offers biblical clarity, pastoral sensitivity, and real hope grounded in the transforming grace of Jesus.

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