[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hey, thanks so much for listening to this message. My name is Jason and I'm one of the ministers here at the Madison Church of Christ. It's our hope and prayer that the teaching from God's words you hear today will bless your life and draw you closer to Him. If you're ever in the Madison, Alabama area, we'd love for you to worship with us on Sundays at 8:30 or 10:30am if you have any other questions about the Bible or want to know more about the Madison Church, find
[email protected] Be sure to also check out our Bible Study podcast, Madison Church of Christ Bible Studies. Thanks again for stopping by.
[00:00:37] Speaker B: When I was growing up, there were two phrases that my parents loved to say to my sister and I and I'm going to share one of those phrases with you right now and I'll share the other phrase with you at the very end of the message today and before I do, I have a feeling that a lot of you, maybe grandparents, parents, you have certain phrases that were maybe said to you growing up all the time. So much so you were like, I know, I get it. Like you were tired of hearing it. But then what happened to you is you then give to your kids those same kinds of phrases over and over again. Then they say, I know, I get it. Well, that's what happened to me is there was this phrase that my parents said a lot to my sister and I growing up and some of you have maybe even said this exact phrase to your kids. And here's what it was.
Remember who you are and remember whose you are. Now part of the reason why my parents said that phrase, they did it usually if we were going to like a friend's house for spend the night party or maybe we were going to like a week of camp or on a retreat. And their whole reason, maybe part of it, maybe I should say was they were basically saying, when you go be with these other people, please don't embarrass us. Like that really was a large part of it. They didn't want us to carry the it's a name into that house, that camp, that retreat and make an absolute fool of our family. So there was part of that, but I will say I know my parents, that part of it was that there was a spiritual dimension to it as well.
When they said remember who you are, I know what they also meant, that I am, as we just sung about a child of God.
But when they said remember whose you are, what they were also saying is that I am a son of the king. And you are a daughter of the king.
The reason why I give you those two, one of two phrases is because that really was the crux of the message last week as we introduced our series, the Three Big Questions. And if you remember, last week, we talked about one of the greatest things right now that is under attack with our young people, but also as you get older. And in fact, just last week I was talking to somebody that was young at heart and they said, Andrew, it's really interesting that the challenges we face on identity, like, what is my place? Where do I fit? That's not something you actually grow out of, that. You continue to struggle with that. And so we introduced this series called Three Big Questions. And this series came from a study.
There was a study that was done by the Fuller Youth Institute. And what they did is they found that our youth today and the emerging generation are asking three questions. And the challenge of these questions, I told y', all, was that when the interviews happened, and by the way, there were 2,700 interviews that led to the results of this study with 27 one hour, one on one sessions.
That one of the struggles I had when I was reading the data is one of the youth said, my parents right now and a lot of adults are answering questions that we're not asking.
And I told you I spent time in college ministry.
I would have loved for them to ask some doctrinal questions.
Those are not the questions that they're asking.
What they're asking, we found out through this study was this. Number one, who am I?
Which deals with identity, which we talked about last week and we're gonna talk about today. Number two, where do I fit? Which is a place of belonging.
Can I make a difference? What difference can I make in this world which really focuses on purpose? And so for the next few weeks, Brandon and I are going to talk about each and every one of these questions.
And the one we're going to continue today is identity. And this is probably the most prevalent question that the emerging generation is dealing with today. That is, who am I?
And what's interesting about this question is it shows up in a lot of forms. It shows up in the form of, like, what makes me me?
What brings Andrew? What brings you worth? What brings you value?
Who are you as a person? And we didn't have to have a study or a book to tell us this, but you just turn on the TV and we know this is the number one thing under attack. In fact, I shared with you last week that crosswalk also did a similar study and said that the number one challenge that youth are facing today is identity confusion, or what we sometimes call the identity crisis. And what happens is, is oftentimes they are told that you are what you feel.
But the challenge of that is feelings go like this, that who we are is not based on what we feel in the moment, who we are. That answer to that question was given a long time ago in, in Scripture.
And so what we're doing in this series is trying to look at the fact that the Bible gives us answers to the questions, who am I? What kind of difference can I make? And where is my place of belonging? And so I was trying to think about, all right, where could we start today to kind of take that next step? Because if you were with us last week, one of the things that I told you is that if we're going to kind of figure out, all right, where is the identity attack really coming from? It's coming from Satan we talked about last week. Satan has a goal, and it's what to steal, to kill, and to destroy. All right, so then we have to ask, well, how did he steal, kill and destroy? Well, with Adam and Eve, do you remember what he did with them? He said this. Did God really say, and don't you think at times, I know for me, I justify sometimes what I do based on that? Well, did God really say that?
But then you fast forward to the Son of God, the Savior of the world.
Before Jesus began his ministry, he was baptized. At his baptism, heaven opened up. And what did God say?
That is my son. He's like, that's my boy.
And I am so pleased.
And at that moment, had Jesus performed a miracle yet? Nope.
At that moment, had Jesus what we might think of accomplishing things? Like, he didn't turn the water into wine at that moment, moment, he hadn't fed the 5,000.
Before he achieved anything, before he began his ministry, Heaven ripped open and said, that is my son and I'm well pleased. And then what does Satan do next?
Well, Satan, he comes at them and said, well, if you really are the Son of God, so think about this. If he's going to do that with the Savior of the world, how much more is he going to do that with your kids, your grandkids? How much more is he going to do that with you?
And so that's why I love this text in Ephesians 1. Because what it does is before it tells us how to behave, it tells us something we all have to believe. And so look how he starts his letter to the church in Ephesus. He says this. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, we should be blameless before him in love. He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. Now, when you and I read that, it feels good. He chose us. He predestined us for adoption.
And even for some of you, you might have a certain feeling in your mind when it comes to the phrase adoption.
But what I want us to see is that for their audience, they would have understood adoption as something very different than we would have. When they think adoption, they think abandonment. Here's what I mean by that.
When they think adoption, what they were familiar with in the Roman culture and the picture they would have had in their mind is this.
So what would happen is Roman dads, whenever they would have a kid, they would bring that little baby to the feet of the father and say that the father really wanted a daughter, but he got a son.
Or say he got a son and he really wanted a daughter.
Or say he looked at the child and the child had some kind of abnormality or disability if the child was not what he wanted.
What they would do is put the child at his feet. He would look at the child, if he turned his back and he walked away, what they would do is they would take those babies and they would either put them in the marketplace to sometimes get picked up by somebody, or they would put them at the edge of the city.
Now, you look back in history, a lot of the Christians were the ones going to the marketplace, and they were going to the edge of the city. They were adopting those kids. But here's what's really interesting. When they hear adoption, what they know is this. Most people who adopted those kids didn't adopt them to give them a home.
They adopted them to abuse them.
They would adopt them in order to make them a slave or a prostitute.
So when they hear he adopted us, he chose us. And what does it say? Not as a slave, but as a what a son.
They're like, oh, man, like he's giving a whole new meaning. And isn't it interesting that Paul, inspired by God, decides to start there, like, before, saying, listen, I'm going to tell you how you need to behave. He said, I need you to understand you have a place of belonging, and maybe you Feel like what defines you is what you were when you were kicked out or cast out. That what defines you is love, right? Love defined you before anything else did. You were chosen. You were a long time ago, he's saying, chosen to be adopted.
And here's why I wanted to start there today and why this series is such a big deal to me. And because we see all throughout Scripture that identity drives behavior. But I think we would all agree we've seen in our lives too, right? If somebody said over you growing up over and over again, you're the worst.
This is who you are. You're terrible. Well, guess what's going to happen as you grow older.
You're going to live in. It's going to be a self fulfilling prophecy, right? The more you hear those things, identity drives behavior. And maybe some of you in this room have had at one time or another your identity stolen, like physically.
And if you've had it physically stolen, maybe it was through what feels like abuse and you feel like your identity went with that. But sometimes it's literally your identity was stolen. Like someone stole your credit card, they stole your money. It's a sick feeling because it feels like a part of you is exposed, a part of you is out there, a part of you is very vulnerable.
And so as you think about that today, here's what I want us to do is the what questions we deal with. I want us to reframe those as who questions.
Because growing up, I heard a lot more than anything, Andrew, what are you going to be when you grow up? I didn't hear a lot about who.
I heard a lot like, all right, Andrew, what college are you going to attend?
What are you going to study?
What are you going to do with yourself? What type of person do you think you would be like? That's all I heard was a lot of what. Rarely did I hear what the Bible addresses, which is, who. Who are you becoming?
Who are you?
Because here's what happens if we can answer the who question.
The what question will start to take care of itself.
And so I want to look at two people in scripture before I give us some practical stuff. I want to look at Moses and I will look at Peter. And here's what's really interesting is what you see that Satan used to attack Jesus. And what he used to attack Adam and Eve is the exact same thing that God actually uses to help establish the identity of Peter and Moses before their actual assignment. So turn with me to Exodus chapter 3 and I want to give you context to Exodus 3.
When you open your Bible to Exodus 3, we have to have this in our minds at this point. Moses was a very, very insecure dude. Here's why. Moses had grown up in the Egyptian household.
He was living a very comfortable life. He had the keys to the kingdom, he had the job that everybody wanted. Well then what happened was just like we know in our own life, you go from one stage of life to another stage of life, and then what starts to happen, your identity starts to shift and change a little bit. In fact, we talked about it last week. You know, one of the statements somebody made is, well, when I was growing up, I was so and so's daughter. Then I went to college, then I was just me. Well, then I got married, then I was like, you know, this person was well known. So I was their spouse. And then I was by this job. And then after our kids left the house. Now who am I? Like what they were saying is every stage of life brings with it identity questions. Right? Who am I? Well, what happened with Moses is that happened with him in different stages. Moses goes from like knowing his place in Egypt, then he kills a guy, an Egyptian that was attacking a Hebrew, buries him in the sand, he runs away.
He's living with his father in law as an older gentleman, and some people call that failure to launch. And so he's living basically at a point in life right then and there that he didn't thought he would, he would be at. So keep in mind that when you read Exodus 3, here's probably what Moses thinks of himself.
I'm a, I'm a murderer.
I'm an illegitimate child.
He probably thinks, well, my friends are working here and here and they're doing this. And this is where I mean, I'm working for Jethro, right? Like all these thoughts are going through his mind. And in the middle of that, what do you see is in Exodus 3 it says that God showed up to Moses in verse three.
And Moses said, I will turn aside. And I can't see this great sight. And while this bush is on fire, but it's not burned. The Lord said, when the Lord saw that, he turned aside. He said, Moses, Moses, Moses said, here I am. He said, don't come near here. Take your sandals off, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.
I am the father of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It says Moses hid his face, he was afraid. And here's what's so neat that God does.
He says this next, I have seen the affliction of my people.
I have heard their cry. I know their sufferings. Do you see that?
Before he tells him what he's about to do, he says, I hear it. I've been seeing it, and I know it.
And like parents, if you hear and you see and you know what's going on downstairs sometimes, what do you do? I'm coming down there, right?
That's what he says. He says, listen, I've heard it, I've seen it, I know it, and I'm coming down there to do something about it. He's probably like, oh, that's awesome. Thank you for hearing and knowing and seeing and coming down here and doing something about it. And then God says this in verse 10. Yeah, I'm sending you.
So all of a sudden he's like, oh, me?
Because again, what's going through his head?
Well, I'm a murderer.
I'm an illegitimate child.
Do you know what they say is the international voice of insecurity?
I am not enough.
Because what you're going to see from Moses is, well, I'm not talented enough. I don't know enough.
Like, are they going to listen to me?
Are they going to take what I say very seriously? And I want you to think for you. Like, if you could just fill in the blank, what would you put in the blank? I'm not talented enough. I don't know enough. I'm not pretty enough. I'm not handsome enough.
I think I shared this with you guys a few years ago, but I have some buddies that started working with the prison ministry in the Montgomery area.
And one of the things that he shared with me, he said, I was a little nervous because, you know, right after worship, we sit around round tables with all the prisoners.
And I was like, all right, what's a good conversation starter? Like, what do I say to spark a conversation? You know? And he said. So we were sitting around the tables and he said, I don't know why I said this, Andrew. I literally said, well, how long you been here? He's like, what? Like, why did I pick that? Anyway? So I was like, well, how long you been here? And he said, they took it really well, and they went around and they shared. And he said, what was interesting is that a few of the guys that were around that table said, well, I've actually been here this long, but I'm actually about to get out. And another guy said, yeah, I'm about to be released really soon. And he said, andrew, I thought. I followed it up with another dumb question. And then I asked them, well, are you excited? He's like, well, of course they're excited. He said, but that's not actually what they said. He. He said when I asked them if they were excited to get out of here, you know what they said?
It's like, no.
He said, one of the guys said, I've messed up before and I got put back here. It's probably just gonna happen again.
And the other guy said, well, yeah, this is kind of just, as he put it, who I am.
I want you to fill in that blank.
Where do those thoughts come from? Well, I think part of it comes from the fact that maybe somewhere along the lines, we've received some very unfair criticism that it wasn't justified.
I think another thing that sometimes it is is that when we hear those things, even if it's a lie and you know it over time, when you hear it, you start to let it sink in the imprint of your heart and you start to believe it like it's a true thing.
But the other one is sometimes whatever was done in the past, we attach what happened the what with the who.
But what about this one?
We've received unrealistic compliments. And here's what I mean by this, is that maybe a lot you heard, you're just the best.
You know, no one's like you. You know, you're. And yes, you are. You are you, and you are unique.
But those of people that are like my age, and I think it's happening still with kids now, how we used to even do, like, rec ball sports. Over the years have changed.
We went from. There was one team that got a trophy to. Everybody gets a trophy, right?
And everybody's a winner, right? And so what happened was, is like, I'll never forget when we lived in South Alabama, the closest, like, regular basketball was like 30 minutes away.
And so we decided to. And I won't say the name of it, but it's a type of basketball where everybody wins, everybody gets a star, okay?
And I'll never forget, one of my kids was playing, they passed the ball in, he stole the ball and put it up for a layup. And they blew the whistle and said, stop, stop.
You can't steal the ball from Johnny. And then my son looks at me like this, dad, and I'm like, put your hands down. Right?
And so what happened was they were telling, we can't do that. Why? Because everybody wins.
And so what happens is, is they get used to everybody wins, Everybody gets a gold star, and then they get a job. And guess what? Not everybody wins. Not everybody gets a gold star. You can simultaneously, as we're going to talk about today, be a masterpiece and a work in progress. You might be a child of God. That doesn't mean you're a baller. Okay.
That it's something we have to keep in mind is that are we at times giving very unrealistic compliments for kids to live into and see, because Satan's going to give a lot of these messages in our mind.
Maybe you've heard this one. Well, I would confess the sin, but you know, if I did, like, is God going to listen to it or why would I mention it or that to this group of people?
Like, why would you do that?
Has that gone through your mind?
What about this one?
I'm a hopeless victim of my past.
I want to be very careful when I say this, but I do want to make it very clear. There is a big distinction between being a victim and having a victim mentality that if you experienced abuse, something traumatic, difficult, you are a victim. But there is a big difference in having a victim mentality and being an actual victim.
And if we live with a victim mentality, it's going to halt a lot of our progress we make. In fact, I found this quote. I thought it was good. Those with a perpetual victim mindset tend to create situations from which they suffer.
What about this one?
That you're helpless to be able to change anything in the future.
You're a pathetic excuse for a Christian.
Now, what you will always be is what you're going to be right for the rest of your no hope that you're beyond the reach of prayer. Here's another reason why I feel at times we're not enough is because we aren't. Now, I know that is very counter to what you see on Instagram. I'm very clear. I understand that.
Because what we hear all the time is, you are enough. But you read Exodus 3 when Moses said, well, what about me? Like, how am I going to speak? Did you notice in the text, not once did God roll out Moses resume. He wrote out God's. He's like, yes, that's the point. You're not enough. And I don't know about y'.
[00:22:57] Speaker A: All.
[00:22:57] Speaker B: I am so grateful to know that I can walk into situations where it's not just on Andrew Itsyn.
I'm not enough. He is. And that's the good news. And so maybe that's part of the challenge, is that we're kind of like Moses, well, I don't have this. And what about this? He Goes, I know. Because what was his response to Moses? I am.
He's like, I am what?
Like what? Give me a lane. He's like, you name it, I am it.
Here's the second one, Peter. If you go to Luke, chapter five, Peter's context was different than Moses because Moses was really. He started with insecurity. For Peter, he's a lot like us. His identity was wrapped up in his job, his career. I didn't know this till studying it, but if you were a fisherman in Galilee, usually that was something you did for generation after generation after generation. It was like your great grandpa was a fisher, then your granddad, then your dad, and it was passed down for generations. So for him, he's probably thinking, hey, this is. That's who. I'm a fisherman. And then Jesus shows up in Luke chapter five. He just gets done preaching right after he preaches.
He says this in verse four, go out into the deep.
Let your nets down for a catch.
And Simon answered him. He said, master, now, there's kind of two sides to what he's saying. And I have two sides to what I'm saying, too.
The word master in the Greek is the idea of lord boss or commander.
He's like, hey, you command everything.
However, like, we've already been working all night and we haven't caught anything. And so part of me thinking he's like, okay, listen, I know you're awesome, but why don't you save souls? You leave like, the fishing business to me. I'll do the fishing, you do the soul saving.
But I love how he follows it with this, when he says, but at your word. Which, by the way, the same word that he used, His Word, and it created the cosmos. He says, at your word, I will let down my nets. And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish and the nets started to break. They signaled to their friends, the partners, to come help them. And so it says this in verse 8, that when this happened, Simon Peter saw it. He fell down at Jesus knees, and this is what he said. Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.
Oh, Lord.
Now, I want to ask you a question.
Was Peter correct in saying he was a sinful man?
Yes, absolutely. But isn't it interesting that he fell down on his knees, said, I am a sinful man.
And when he fell down on his knees, Jesus didn't go, that's right, you sinner. Like, that's not what he said in the middle of that, because he's going to dress like he does Everybody sin, the sickness that comes with it and the path going forward. But what's really interesting is where he starts. Because remember what I told you. If we can define who the what is going to take care of itself. If we can answer the who questions, the doctrine questions are going to take care of themselves. He starts with who he was. And look what it says. Do not be afraid.
From now on, you'll be catching men.
It's amazing how Jesus saw Peter for who he could be and who he was before even Peter saw it.
And here's why I want to point this out in your life. Here's what's going to happen to your labels. They're going to change.
They're going to come and go. I remember when I was in high school, the thing we looked forward to the most was going to the library after a sporting event we had the night before and to see if our name was in the newspaper.
Now, for me, I would get there. And if my name rarely was, they spelled my name eat. Soon it son hit son. I mean, everything. But Itzun was my name for sure. And so you would get those newspaper clippings, you would cut them out, you would hang them in your room. What I'm saying is those banners, they come and go, labels change.
You know, one thing I even like think about, I mentioned this a few months ago, is someone posed this question to me, said, andrew, can you remember the name of your great, great, great granddad? And I was like, I had one, you know, but I don't know the name. And he was basically saying, I mean, think about that. Time's not on our side right now, yet we cling to so many of those kind of label oriented things. It's not that great great, great, great grandpa doesn't matter.
But you know what the Bible says? Psalm 99, I think it's 12.
Teach me to number my days so I can gain a heart of wisdom. When I begin to understand where life really is and how things are moving, I start to understand where my real identity lies. So what is our identity? Number one, you are a brand new creation. Second Corinthians 5 says this. If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.
The old is gone, the new is here.
Here.
What about this one? For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works. I love that because the idea of handiwork is the idea. He's still making something, he's still forming something. And the reality is everybody's on different developmental timetables. You Know, I wish people didn't say to me growing up, he's a late bloomer. But, you know, you hear things like that. So, you know, in life, right, we're all at different stages. But just because you are a work in progress, that does not mean that you're not a masterpiece. If you keep reading, we'll come back to the fully forgiven one in a second. He says, deeply loved.
It says this, see what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God.
First Peter 2, 9, you are chosen. You are royal priesthood, holy nation, God's special possession. Romans 8, 37. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. But I want to come back to this one, fully forgiven. Look what it says. In him we have redemption through the blood of Christ, the forgiveness of sins.
If you were with us last week, I shared with you how in Matthew chapter four, there were three snares Satan used with Jesus, the snare of comparison.
And that's like, well, I'm here, they're there. Well, if you really are the Son of God, then why wouldn't you do this, right?
The other one is the snare of competition. But here's the third one that I want us to really think about for a second. The snare of condemnation.
One of the things I don't think we talk about enough is living as forgiven people.
Living as forgiven people. And when we live as a forgiven person, it keeps pointing to the light of his redemption of what he did on the cross.
One of the greatest things that validates what Jesus Christ did on the cross is when we live as forgiven people. So I want to challenge all of us to do two things. To be forgiving people, but also to live as a forgiven person.
But here's what happened with Peter, right? In John 18, you fast forward, he had a really bad day, right? He had a really bad day. He denied Jesus to a little girl three times.
And one of the challenges is when you do have a bad day, it's really easy at times to let one bad day become who you are, one bad day to become your identity.
But here's what's interesting, that failure didn't change Peter's identity. That's why we talked about it last week. Failure is an event. It's not a person.
Events come and go, happenings come and go. Labels change, and so do circumstances.
And here's what's interesting. You go full circle. The same guy that denied Jesus to a little girl, the same guy that should have been there when he wasn't. He stands in front of a crowd of people in Acts chapter two and preaches one of the greatest sermons ever preached. Three thousand people give their life to Christ and are baptized that day.
In Acts chapter five, he was told, don't preach about Jesus or you're going to be thrown to prison. He's like, worship.
And you get to first Peter two, nine. And he says, you're a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession. It came full circle for him.
So that's one of the things that a relationship with Jesus will do for you, is that he will strip away that earthly identity and replace it with something so much better. And so here's what happened over time. It didn't happen instantly, right?
But over time, he began to replace that earthly identity with a spiritual one.
He began to trust in him, not himself, but to trust in Jesus. So I told you I would give you some practical things, and I'm sorry, these are very small. I'm gonna post it on Facebook, and so I'll send you the notes if you want it.
But there's a book called Habits of the Household. It's fantastic. And what I love about the book is, you know, a lot of books, like, you read it and you're like, well, I'm a terrible parent or grandparent, friend, whatever. And now I gotta add like 80 things to my schedule. That's what I love about this book. It's not that it's one of those books that is basically saying, take what you're already doing, but make it spiritually focused and centered.
And so in the book, they talk about how to help establish a spiritual identity. And here's a few ways. Number one, establish a bedtime or a morning liturgy. Some people call these affirmations. These are like predictable things like, remember who you are, remember who you say those things over and over again. We do this with our kids on the way to school. I say a few things and I won't embarrass them. But it's I am this. And I make them repeat. And they don't. They're like, but you know what? Guess what I'm preaching about today. The very things, the liturgies and the affirmations that my dad and my mom said to me when I was little.
I haven't forgotten them.
Practice morning blessings.
Gather for a time of prayer, making sure you pray before the day begins to re see discipline as discipleship.
So notice it's not saying replace discipline. The Bible says, we discipline the Bible says, to discipline those who you love.
What we're saying with that discipline, use that discipline as a time of discipleship. That what happened was not an identity failure. It's an ongoing process of how to teach. Here's the next one.
Screen time. We talked about this a lot last week. So I don't want to get into that.
Involve them in everyday work. This is one of the most important things, like sweating, hard work, difficult work. And even in that work, if they fail, letting them fail, learning from that failure, learning that life is not always upward. Basketball.
How about this one?
Empathy, which was being noticed and caring.
Because maybe you heard a lot growing up. Well, you're always. Or you spend too much.
What if we said, well, I didn't know you were going through this. I never realized.
Tell me more.
Whatever you're hearing. Somebody made this point this morning and I wanted to add it to. There is to tell your kids you're sorry. Like when you messed up. Say I messed up.
Because we talked about this in our class this past Wednesday and talked about last Sunday, right? We want to raise a generation of young people that have normalized confession and repentance, not hiding and blaming.
And a lot of that begins when we say, I messed up. Daddy messed up. Daddy should not have said that.
But how about this one? This is how I see Jesus in you.
I think you already have the ideas in your mind of how you can incorporate these. But here's just some ideas you could say to your kids. Hey, you are loved before you achieved anything.
You are called before you're successful. You are God's, before you're anything else.
So I told you the phrase that my mom and dad would say before we would go somewhere was remember who you are and remember whose you are.
The other phrase was really specific to my dad.
And it was this, that after he said that, whenever we go anywhere, he would say, wherever you go, whatever you do, always remember that Daddy loves you.
Wherever you go, whatever you do, always remember that dad loves you.
And I want you to think if that is coming from a very imperfect father. Think about what our Heavenly Father says.
Wherever you go, whatever you do, always remember I love you.
So maybe you're here today and you are struggling with identity. Maybe because you've never made your identity Christ, I encourage you today. Just like heaven ripped open when Jesus was baptized. And from heaven came a voice, you are my son. I'm well pleased. That's what happens still to this day, maybe for some of you, what happens is that somewhere along the lines you began to attach what happened with who you are and that's begin to set into your heart and your mind and you really believe it.
Don't let Satan let you believe the lie we just talked about today.
Why confess that?
Like, why say that to a group of people?
I'm telling you, Satan wants you to sit on your hands.
Satan wants you to believe that lie.
God doesn't want to hear it. They don't want to hear it. Let me tell you that is so far from the truth. We have a God that loves us and so we're trying to reflect that love. We love you. So if you have a need, please come as we stand and we sing this song.
