Feb 23rd, 2025

Summary

This week's service at Central Church of Christ in Cleveland, TN, centered on the theme of identity in Christ and understanding who we are as children of God. The sermon emphasized the significance of finding our identity in Christ rather than the changing roles or achievements we experience in our lives. Through scripture and worship, the congregation was encouraged to see themselves as image bearers of God and to live lives that reflect His love and purpose. The sermon also highlighted the idea of being reborn and renewed in Christ, focusing on internal transformation over external validation.

Highlights

• Understanding our identity in Christ provides clarity and purpose 🔍
• The comparison between buggies and automobiles illustrated adapting to change 🚗
• Scripture emphasizes being reborn and renewed in Christ to fulfill God's purpose ✨
• Through prayer and worship, believers reaffirm their identity in God 🙏
• The Lord's Supper serves as a reminder of God's unwavering love and sacrifice ✝️

Key Takeaways

• Your identity is in Christ, not in worldly roles 🎯
• Being reborn in Christ gives you a new purpose and identity 🌟
• No condemnation exists for those in Christ, showcasing the freedom of salvation 🕊️
• Daily renewal is essential for spiritual growth 🌱
• God's love for us is constant, despite life's changing circumstances ❤️

Overview

This week's sermon at Central Church of Christ explored the profound concept of identity in Christ, urging the congregation to look beyond societal roles and reaffirm their core identity as God's children. The speaker utilized compelling analogies such as the evolution of transportation from buggies to cars to illustrate the need for adaptation and internal transformation that resonates with one's faith journey.

Through the reading of scripture and engaging worship, the sermon drove home the message of being reborn in Christ and the liberation that comes with living according to His spirit. Attendees were reminded of the empowering truth that there is no condemnation in Christ—a refreshing perspective on spiritual identity and salvation.

Adding depth to the worship experience was the observance of the Lord's Supper. The practice served not only as a ritual of remembrance but also as a profound testament to God's enduring love and the sacrifice of Jesus, calling believers to embrace and project their divinely given identity in all facets of life.

Chapters

• 00:30 - 01:30: Introduction and Opening Statement The 'Introduction and Opening Statement' chapter sets the stage for the contents of the book. This chapter typically includes an overview of the main themes, objectives, and scope of the work. It may offer insights into the author's purpose and establish a connection with the reader by outlining the structure and key points that will be discussed. The opening statement is designed to engage readers, providing them clear reasons to continue exploring the subsequent chapters. Due to the absence of specific text details, this summary is a generalized reflection of typical introductory elements.
• 01:30 - 05:00: Announcements and Bulletin Highlights The chapter titled 'Announcements and Bulletin Highlights' begins with a greeting and a call to action, signaling the start of a meeting or session. It implies the presence of a gathering where attendees are taking their seats to commence with the scheduled announcements or sharing of bulletin highlights. The chapter sets the stage for the unfolding of discussions and highlights pertinent information to be communicated to the participants.
• 05:00 - 07:00: Scripture Reading and Prayer The chapter titled 'Scripture Reading and Prayer' begins with a welcoming message to visitors attending a service. Guests are encouraged to fill out information cards available in the pews and submit them in a designated box or via a QR code using their phones. Additionally, there are announcements about upcoming baby showers.
• 07:00 - 10:00: Hymn: I Know That My Redeemer Lives The chapter titled 'Hymn: I Know That My Redeemer Lives' seems to primarily deal with community announcements and logistical details around church activities and volunteer opportunities. Key points included the need for a volunteer teacher for a Bible class directed towards two to three-year-olds, as well as an announcement regarding an event at the Cumberland County Playhouse. This event is scheduled for August 19th at a cost of $30, with a registration deadline set for Sunday, March 2nd. The text suggests looking out for further details likely present in a bulletin.
• 10:00 - 15:00: Hymn: In Christ Alone The chapter discusses a series of announcements related to a clothing drive happening on Sunday, March 30th. Additionally, it conveys messages of sympathy. One is directed towards Terry and Jennifer McDougall, acknowledging the passing of Terry's father, James McDougall. Information regarding the service is included in the text. Another message of sympathy is extended to Margaret Jones and her family, acknowledging the passing of her husband.
• 15:00 - 20:00: Dismissal to Kids Connect and Hymn: I Know Whom I Have Believed The chapter shares a thank you message from Misty and Dennis Daniel to their church family. They express gratitude for the love, support, and prayers received during Dennis's recovery from surgery. They feel blessed and convey their appreciation for the cards, messages, and words of encouragement. Dennis is recovering well and looks forward to seeing everyone soon.
• 20:00 - 43:00: Sermon: Identity in Christ This chapter discusses the importance of praying for others as indicated in the bulletin's prayer request section. It emphasizes the power of prayer, suggesting that congregation members stand for scripture and prayer, particularly focusing on Romans 8: 1-4. The scripture highlights a foundational Christian belief that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, as the spirit of life through Christ Jesus sets them free.
• 43:00 - 45:00: Invitation and Hymn: How Deep the Father's Love for Us The chapter explores the concept of the law of sin and death, emphasizing that God achieved what the law could not by sending His Son. This act condemned sin in the flesh, enabling the fulfillment of the law's righteous requirements in those who walk according to the Spirit rather than the flesh. It concludes with a prayer of gratitude for gathering in worship, seeking focus on spirituality and devotion.
• 45:00 - 53:00: Hymn: Wonderful, Merciful Savior The chapter is a reflection on the hymn 'Wonderful, Merciful Savior'. It emphasizes the power of music to encourage and uplift one another spiritually. The chapter is largely focused on gratitude towards Jesus for his sacrifice, and a call to honor that sacrifice through worship and song.
• 53:00 - 59:00: Communion and Offering This chapter, titled 'Communion and Offering,' appears to explore themes of liberation from suffering and sorrow. The excerpt provided suggests a repetitive affirmation ('I know I knowe I know I know'), implying a focus on certainty or belief. However, the provided transcript is rather limited and fragmented, making it challenging to derive a comprehensive summary. It suggests a spiritual or religious context, possibly emphasizing themes of faith, assurance, and spiritual freedom.
• 59:00 - 61:00: Closing Hymn: When We All Get to Heaven The chapter titled 'Closing Hymn: When We All Get to Heaven' likely focuses on a religious or spiritual theme, as indicated by the mention of a hymn title. The transcript snippet, although fragmented, suggests elements of faith and eternal life with mentions of 'redeemer' and 'eternal life.' It may include reflections on the afterlife or spiritual beliefs tied to the hymn's themes of hope and redemption.
• 61:00 - 62:00: Closing Prayer and Farewell This chapter appears to involve a segment dedicated to a closing prayer and a farewell message. It potentially includes expressions of faith or gratitude, as suggested by the phrase 'I know that my redeemer [Music] Liv.' The chapter appears to have a musical or lyrical component, given the note of '[Music].' It may include reflections or summaries of preceding content, along with final thoughts shared with the audience.

Feb 23rd, 2025 Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 e
• 00:30 - 01:00 good morning it's time to get started if we can take our seats
• 01:00 - 01:30 we're glad you're here if you're a visitor if you could there's cards in front of the Pew that you're sitting in uh take that and fill it out drop it in the Box out back or scan the Q QR code and put it in uh do it on your phone uh we have a couple of baby showers coming up
• 01:30 - 02:00 um and I won't go through all the information but in the bulletin it's all there so go ahead and pick one of those up and read it we need a teacher for the two three-year-old Bible class uh the classics uh the Cumberland County Playhouse on August 19th uh cost is 30 bucks deadline to sign up is Sunday March 2nd so if you want to make sure you sign
• 02:00 - 02:30 up clothing Drive Sunday March 30th couple of sympathies um our sympathy is extended to Terry and Jennifer McDon McDougall on the passing of Terry's Father James McDougall the information for the service is all in there uh another one a sympathy is extended to Margaret Jones and family on the passing of her husband
• 02:30 - 03:00 Lonnie I have a thank you card here dear church family your strength is our strength Your Love support and prayers are blessing to us all thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your cards messages words of encouragement and hugs we are blessed as Dennis is recovering well after his surgery he hopes to see you all soon in Christian love Misty and Dennis Daniel
• 03:00 - 03:30 and like I said pick up a bulletin and pray for those people on the prayer request thank you if you will please stand for scripture and prayer I'll be reading Romans 8 1-4 there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus for the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from
• 03:30 - 04:00 the law of sin and death for God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit let's pray God thank you for bringing us together today to worship you as a church family as we worship today help us to Center our attention on you and help us to
• 04:00 - 04:30 encourage one another through the songs we sing God thank you for Jesus and the sacrifice he made on our behalf help what we do here today to bring honor to a sacrifice in Christ's name amen I know that my redemer lives and [Music]
• 04:30 - 05:00 life from s and sorrow free I know I knowe I know I know etal will
• 05:00 - 05:30 [Music] Earth I know I know redemer I know know eternal life Hees I know
• 05:30 - 06:00 I know that my redeemer [Music] Liv wonderful to see I know I know
• 06:00 - 06:30 My Redeemer I know I know eternal life I know I know my redeemer [Music]
• 06:30 - 07:00 so it's not in the book and it's only on the screen so I guess I will be sharing the screens with you guys this morning on this [Music] one in Christ [Music]
• 07:00 - 07:30 and of ofs [Music] are Love Of Christ I Stand Christ
• 07:30 - 08:00 [Music] and Jesus di the WRA of God
• 08:00 - 08:30 wasis the of [Music] [Music] Christ by mer
• 08:30 - 09:00 [Music] and he stand for [Music] victory am and he is with the precious
• 09:00 - 09:30 BL of Christ fear in of [Music] Christ final breesus no power of hell no Ste of
• 09:30 - 10:00 till Returns the of [Music] Christ here in the power of CHR
• 10:00 - 10:30 [Music] if you would please stand this time we'll dismiss kids ages three through first grade to kids connect I know not why God to
• 10:30 - 11:00 [Music] Christ he is to keep that
• 11:00 - 11:30 [Music] dayve [Music] [Music] for I and persued that he is
• 11:30 - 12:00 a to keep [Music] [Music] I all the with for in
• 12:00 - 12:30 the but I know IED that he is to keep I him
• 12:30 - 13:00 before I I pray this morning I want to do just a couple of quick notes um next week starts our new quarter for our Bible classes so let me encourage you if you're not a regular attender of our Bible classes please take advantage of that opportunity for your growth for your spiritual growth um I know guy's
• 13:00 - 13:30 class I've heard nothing but good he'll continue that class next quarter now Ryan will continue his class in here in the auditorium which I get it it's Ryan it's mediocre at best we will also be starting a new class I will be teaching in the old Fellowship Hall as well all three of those classes are with well two of those classes are are pretty good
• 13:30 - 14:00 so please take advantage of that also I have uh I've just been given three names this morning to add to our prayer list this morning so I'm I'm going to mention those two um sister Tilly pointed out that brother Ralph Blair and his mother Mildred and I love Mildred she's just so fun to pestor both are sick with covid and uh James Dro Nancy and Keith welder's nephew um he has been admitted to the hospital to have some tests run as well um they're trying to figure out
• 14:00 - 14:30 what exactly is is going on with with James so let's keep those folks in our prayers as well I'm sure there are others that just haven't been mentioned to me this morning so with all that said let's bow and go to God In Prayer Heavenly Father we come before you this morning so grateful for who you are so grateful that you are our God and that you thought enough of us to look through time and see that we would need a savior
• 14:30 - 15:00 and and a bridge back to you and we're so grateful that you sent your son Jesus to fulfill a sin debt that we could in no way ever repay we're so glad for the blessings that you have brought and bestowed upon each and every one of us here and we're glad for the blessings that you have brought upon this congregation and this family family of
• 15:00 - 15:30 Believers we're just so grateful for you we pray that what we do here this morning is not only pleasing to you but that it lifts your name up that it glorifies you that we worship you in spirit and in truth but that we also worship you with our whole hearts and our whole Minds father we're grateful for the church here at Central for each and every member that's here this morning for each and every visitor that's here this morning and I
• 15:30 - 16:00 pray that you continue to bless this congregation that you continue to help it grow I pray that the membership here grows spiritually that we take what we know of our faith and that we share it with others father we pray for for those that are in our bulletin that are on our prayer lists as sick this morning and father there are many we pray for those that are
• 16:00 - 16:30 undergoing Medical Treatments and medical care and we ask that you help their bodies to respond to those treatments that you be with their medical staff that you be with their caregivers that you give them patience and comfort and healing throughout whatever processes they're going through father we pray for those in our congregation who have lost loved ones I ask that you wrap your arms of love and comfort around them that you help them heal through the process but most of all that they realize that
• 16:30 - 17:00 you were there and you will never leave them that you understand what loss is like and that you have always been here for us father I pray for the leadership of this church for the deacons that you bless their Ministries that you help them to grow that you give them wisdom to make those decisions within the those Ministries that they
• 17:00 - 17:30 lead father I pray for us the elders that you give us wisdom and that you give us the desire to always seek your will first and foremost that the decisions we make are prayerful that the decisions we make are heartfelt and with the best interest for this congregation father now as we move forward in our service I ask that you bless Ryan that you you be with with Ryan as he delivers the message this
• 17:30 - 18:00 morning and father ask that you give him boldness and Clarity and that we hear both of those things in the lesson this morning I ask that you be with each and every person seated in here this morning within the hearing of Ryan's voice and those who are watching online or otherwise that we hear things with open ears with open minds and with Open Hearts that we receive those things and that we apply them to our lives to grow our faith and to take that Faith out
• 18:00 - 18:30 into the world and share it with others I pray all of these things in your son jesus' name amen three things real quick before we uh get into the lesson um also starting next week there will be a separate class for middle school children mdle mid school kids um upstairs and it'll be the
• 18:30 - 19:00 room beside uh the room that you meet in for High School uh but again a middle school class will start next uh Sunday also uh keep Jackson in your prayers he's uh he's pretty sick too with covid we thought it was sick from being away from his mother for a long period of time but turns out to be Co um and also you can see and you probably got the message yesterday about the construction that's happening it's going to be a little bit like this for the next 3 4 weeks so keep that in mind please be patient because I think the outcome will be well worth the wait and well worth
• 19:00 - 19:30 sometimes the frustration but let's let's get into our lesson and I want to start out this morning by telling you a little bit of a story uh it starts with the Tyson and Jones Carriage company and they began making buggies in 1850 out of carthridge North Carolina now because of their hardworking employees and because of the design and the uh the superiority of their buggies they became really the the biggest and the fastest selling buggy company in the South they
• 19:30 - 20:00 manufactured about 3,000 H drawn carriages each year they were truly at the time the Cadillac of all buggies now around the same time in 1886 the Durant Dort Carriage company was producing similar carriages out of Flint Michigan now soon they became a lot bigger than Tyson and Jones buggy company um and they actually sold 10 times more buggies
• 20:00 - 20:30 than Tyson and Jones So eventually both of these companies sort of faced an overwhelming challenge because eventually Along Came the what the automobile Along Came the car uh and so the story gets a little bit interesting so the Tyson and Jones they were in the buggy business okay they were in the buggy business they were in The Carriage business and so their mindset was centered on how can we
• 20:30 - 21:00 produce the best buggy the best carriage in the entire world and so they studied these buggies they pioneered these new Styles they they focused all of their attention on buggies and so when the automobile becomes popular Tyson and Jones go bankrupt they reportedly sold their last buggy in 1925 to an 80e old man who swore he would never buy a car meanwhile the Durant Dort Carriage
• 21:00 - 21:30 company they were in the transportation business it never fails it never fails it's the third week in a row uh surely Durant Dort they they know a lot about buggies they they didn't but they didn't just just studyed buggies they studied Transportation they knew about people they learned about the needs of people they learn about they learned about Transportation Trends they learned about Market selection so even though Durant y ceased making buggies around the same
• 21:30 - 22:00 time Tyson and Jones they didn't go out of business instead they changed into an automobile company so Durant Dort became a little Corporation Called General Motors now the difference is that Tyson and Jones considered itself a buggy company Durant Dort considered itself a transportation company so knowing who they were made all the difference in the world because today Tyson and Jones is just a landmark it's
• 22:00 - 22:30 a festival that I think happens once a year in remembrance of what they did and how they changed that economy especially here in the South General Motors employs over 160,000 people in the US alone and is worth over $46 billion an enormous amount of power comes with knowing exactly who you are there is Clarity in your life when you know exactly who you are so when you
• 22:30 - 23:00 begin to ask the question who am I you know how do you answer that question what do you say now we often think this is sort of a an identity question that people ask when they're really young right our teens ask them or their kids are asking them because they're sort of figuring everything out but in reality this question is really The Hunt of humanity because we all want to discover who we are and it's seen because over 80
• 23:00 - 23:30 million people a year take personality assessments I'm sure many of you have taken them the average age of marriage has increased from 23 years old in 1970 to 31 years old in 2021 because young people are still figuring themselves out they say they still they're still learning what they want recently in the last few years there's been this surge in the in ancestry right in Heritage and people trying to figure out just where they
• 23:30 - 24:00 come from so that they can begin to to make their identity maybe based on that in fact genealogy in the United States is the second most sought out hobby gardening's number one genealogy is number two over 4.59 billion people are active on social media I would say almost all of you are on social media you're active in some way on some sort of social media
• 24:00 - 24:30 platform and what we do on social media platforms is we create this identity we create this image that we want the world to see we create this image we want our friends to see and so we post all of these good photos right we're always smiling we're always happy we're always taking pictures of food I don't know why people do that but they do and so we post all of these pictures about ourselves about our lives and we project in image we want the world to
• 24:30 - 25:00 perceive when they look at us now this isn't a condemnation but it's a declaration to say that we long to know our identity we long to know who we are we long to know what our purpose is we care about our identity we care about how others see our identity we care about the identity we've created and again we seek it through personalities we seek it through herit Heritage we seek it through experiences among other things identity is defined
• 25:00 - 25:30 as self identity is not what you do identity is who you are right who you are to your core but today we're not talking about personality assessments we're not talking about how we hunt down our identities through social media through marriage or or whatever else I think it's our human nature to sort of ask these questions to seek to understand who we are but I think this question of who am I always always has roots in a bigger question because more
• 25:30 - 26:00 important than knowing who you are in this world is knowing who you are in Christ what is my identity as a child of God do I know who I am in Christ because knowing who I am in Christ knowing that you know how I am in a relationship with him I can begin to understand more easily Who I Really Am Romans chapter 8 is probably one of the
• 26:00 - 26:30 most powerful and important chapters in all the Bible it's a it's a popular among many it's a favorite among many for for many reasons but in that chapter Paul describes with great deal what it means to live as a Christian both now in this life and for eternity and it begins with one of the most comforting statements in all the Bible there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus that word condemnation is courtroom term and and
• 26:30 - 27:00 what that means what that surrounds is it includes the sentencing and the execution of the sentence so it's a big word the other word I want us to see is the word is now what that word is does is it shows that Paul is talking about right now that Paul is talking about this life in the present he says there is a blessing for us and the blessing the good news is that judgment for the child of God has been lifted now most of us if
• 27:00 - 27:30 we were to talk about eternal life if we were to talk about heaven most of us would say you know what Ryan I would just be happy enough to have a little corner In Heaven right just as long as I'm there I don't need a big mansion just give me a little house give me a cardboard box just give me a blanket just as long as I make it inside the gates I'm good with that now not only is that sort of a bad view of eternal life but it's the wrong way for us to view our standing with God because God says you're worth so much
• 27:30 - 28:00 more than that Dr Roy or excuse me Coy rooper he wrote In Truth for today in 1988 he says this about Romans 8 verse1 he says the sentence was lifted someone else had already paid the penalty we had heard the words guilty is charged we're sitting on death row we're just waiting that faithful day when the sentence would be executed and he says then came the welcome news you are free you are now no longer under condemnation for our
• 28:00 - 28:30 sins now the question is as a Christian as a child of God is our identity built off of these truths is our identity built off of what God says about us what God has done for us now I know that we're still a work in progress all of us are still struggling with sin we're trying to figure uh this whole Christianity thing out and and we're trying our best to to walk in the light as he is in the light right we're still scarred by sin we're influenced by sin and God is is still moving in our lives
• 28:30 - 29:00 to conform us more and more to the to the image of Jesus and we won't be that complete image until the day of Christ in fact Paul says it this way in Philippians 1:6 right being confident that he God who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion at the day of Christ like one day it'll be finished one day the struggle will be over it's the process of sanctification and it takes it's a lifetime right it's like playing a sport
• 29:00 - 29:30 it's like playing the guitar it's like marriage it's like parenting it's like uh you know your friendships it's it's like your career right there's always something left to learn there's always some way to do better and to do more you see in our Christian walk there is always room for daily growth there's always room for daily growth Paul says in Philippians 3:12 not not that I've already obtained this or am already perfect but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus Jesus has made me his on Paul says I'm
• 29:30 - 30:00 not there yet but I'm going to keep striving I'm going to keep walking I'm going to keep living by the Spirit 2 Corinthians 5:17 says therefore if anyone is in Christ the new creation has come the old has gone the new is here so in Christ you become something that you weren't before your identity has changed the old is gone the new identity is that I have been reborn to display God's worth I've been reborn to display God's
• 30:00 - 30:30 Beauty I've been reborn to display God's nature his characteristics that we see in Christ Jesus see Genesis 1:27 the original plan was that God created man in his own what image he created man in his own image nothing else that God created received that distinction nothing so it sets us apart from everything else that God has created but what does it mean to be created in
• 30:30 - 31:00 His image well an image is just a visual visual representation it's the the likeness of an object so God created us to be image Bears of him now what happened and we know the story right sin came in and sin sort of stained that image it tainted that image and now through Jesus though I can be reborn that Jesus talks about right being born of the water being born of the spirit Paul says in Galatians 3:27 that those that have been United with Christ in
• 31:00 - 31:30 baptism they have put on Christ like putting on a putting on new clothes and so that what that end what that does is it enables me to be the recreated image Bearer I was made to be Colossians 3:10 Paul says that those who've been raised with Christ you have put off the old self The New American Standard says put on the new new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the
• 31:30 - 32:00 image of the one who created him the New Living Translation says put on your new nature and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and to become like him that's what we were made for we were made to to be recreated to go back to what God had made in the beginning that image and so Paul says in Christ because of the life because of the death because of the
• 32:00 - 32:30 resurrection of Jesus who makes salvation possible I am United to him because of my faith in the Holy Spirit and now the holy spirit is doing his work of sanctification and because of all that I'm being renewed after the image of my Creator in other words we are reclaiming our identity as a creation designed to Showcase God's greatness God's Beauty and God's worth Peter would say you're a chosen people you're a holy nation a
• 32:30 - 33:00 royal priesthood a people for his own possession so that why did God do this so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of Darkness into his marvelous life so you can see through baptism through being reborn how God is sort of bringing it all back around how he's bringing it all back around we're going back to our original purpose of bringing glory to him to be an image bearer of him so as a child of
• 33:00 - 33:30 God then our identity to our core is in Christ it's to be an image bearer of God now the problem begins when we forget who we are we forget that our new life is in Christ and we neglect our unchanging identity in him and what happens is that's because we allow the the outcomes of the roles that we play in this life whether good or bad to Define Us Now by
• 33:30 - 34:00 by roles uh I mean the the the various things that that we do right the people that we become uh I'm talking about parents right children your workers your business owners your Homemakers your doctors your coaches your students your athletes you might be an addict the list goes on in all of these roles they bring different responsibilities in our lives they bring different expectations they
• 34:00 - 34:30 bring different challenges they bring joy and sometime they bring sorrow but you see when the role gets confused with who I am my identity in Christ when we forget about our unchanging identity in Christ Our Lives simply become about performance or the performance of others it becomes about the performance of our kids if my business is successful I'm I'm
• 34:30 - 35:00 successful if my kids are happy and if they're healthy guess what I'm happy and I'm healthy but if I get fired if my kids turn out to not be Believers it crushes my soul it crushes who I am and the result is not just sadness that comes from disappointment but it's also and more importantly a deep belief in the lie that I'm just not worthy enough that I'm not loved enough that I'm not accepted by God I I'm I'm just
• 35:00 - 35:30 identified by my losses I'm not whole and that's what the enemy uses he uses the losses he uses the disappointments in our lives to try and prove to us to say you know what Ryan you're not worthy of love you're not good enough you're not accepted by God you've wasted your life and so what that begins to do is those lies begin to create this image that not only do we begin to believe but
• 35:30 - 36:00 it's an image that we are projecting to the world and we begin to see our worth and value not in Christ but in these roles that we take on in life and we begin building our life off of misplaced values and priorities we've replaced this solid foundation for one that is Sandy one that is Shifting and being tossed around in the stormy sea like a b like a boat that isn't anchored and that's what our lives become and and it's just mad
• 36:00 - 36:30 chaos you see the world around us tells us you know what create your own identity be who you want to be do it through where you work do it through what you drive do it through the the clothes you wear do it through the calls you support and on and on create your identity in the role that you are in this life but you see the problem the problem with defining yourself and building your life on those foundations is that all of those things constantly change right all of those roles
• 36:30 - 37:00 constantly change in your life like I said in the beginning concerning personality test you know I think those things matter I think those things are important do them all you want but the problem is as one writer says personalities are a moving Target they're always changing and they change based on time they change based on circumstance they change based on experience so when your identity is a moving Target you'll always find yourself on unstable on a very Sandy shaky foundation and then
• 37:00 - 37:30 success or failure will either puff you up in Pride it'll puff you up where you begin to worship yourself and just post about yourself all the time or it will bring you down in defeat and you'll believe that you're not worthy enough that you're not good enough it's one extreme or the other it always is so instead of allowing your role in life to change or determine your identity we need to allow our unchanging
• 37:30 - 38:00 most life affirming identity in Christ to affect every role that we play in this life so ask yourself what do you base your identity on you know is it what your friends think about you is it how many zeros you can get at the end of your paycheck is it the title that you might carry in this world is it the education that you received is it in what you own or what you possess or what you can buy is it is it
• 38:00 - 38:30 your family name is it your accomplishments you know what is it and if you say yes to any of that if you say yes I I Define my life based on these things I want you to remember who gave you those friends who gave you that job so that you can make all of those zeros who gave you that family it is God it is God who has allowed us to succeed in all the areas of our life and a good way to sort of another
• 38:30 - 39:00 way to answer that question or to ask that question is would I still feel whole if all of those things that I have begin to place my identity in if all those things were taken away if I didn't have these roles if I didn't have these positions would I be at peace knowing that I am complete in who God says I am that yes I was headed towards Eternal wrath I was headed towards Eternal damnation and yet God because of his love while I was still a
• 39:00 - 39:30 sinner while I was still against him he sent his one and only son to die for me he gave me the possibility he gave me the means to be reborn to be recreated in the image I was designed to be the image bearer of God does that truth bring you peace that passes understanding I want you to be honest right you got to don't just give a Bible answer don't just give the church answer right be honest in your heart because God knows your heart would
• 39:30 - 40:00 we be at peace if all of those things we pride ourselves on were taken away would you be like Paul you know where Paul says I am I've learned to be content right he wasn't born with it he said I've I've learned this I've learned to be content when I have plenty I've learned to be content when I'm in want and he says I learned all of this I learned the secret to all of this and he says the secret to living in contentment it's found in the strength of Christ now
• 40:00 - 40:30 some of you can say yes if all those things were taken away from me yes I would still find my identity in Christ I would still belong to Christ but some of us I think most of us would probably be pretty shaken right if all the things that we love if all the Comforts that we have in life were taken away from us we'd be shaken in fact I've seen Christian get more upset over things in my years of ministry things that don't
• 40:30 - 41:00 matter things that God doesn't even care about so I know that you know when it comes to you know if we live our lives and and and our lives become job's reality our response wouldn't be like his i' like to think it would be maybe again it is for some but again be honest with yourself it's just a reminder that like Paul you know we haven't arrived yet there's still a lot of growth to go
• 41:00 - 41:30 there's still a lot of growth that needs to take place and what we need for that growth is a constant reminder that we are loved by Christ a continuous interaction with God through prayer God through Reading studying meditating on his word and what we often take for granted a regular interaction with God's people this is why preachers stand in pull pits
• 41:30 - 42:00 all the time saying it's important that you be here it's important that you show up it's important like Adam said that you come to class it's important that you come to worship because it does something to your life it reaffirms who you are it reaffirms your identity in this life and it's not just worship there's so many other opportunities to take advantage of here at Central right we've got all these Bible classes we've got our connect groups our many connect groups where you can connect with a group of
• 42:00 - 42:30 people even if it's just having coffee during the week David Brown will buy you coffee every day of the week if you want to he'll buy you breakfast lunch and dinner um just ask him he's a loving man my point is that we need daily constant reminders and they're all around us we just have to take advantage of them these daily constant reminders that we are loved that we are forgiven that we've been adopted we've been chosen we are his possession not because of our
• 42:30 - 43:00 performance not because of our rituals not because of our success or failure and the different roles we play in life but because of who we are in Christ because of who who we already are in Christ you see there is enormous power and Clarity when you know exactly who you are there's power to that it enables you to make this daily choice of being transformed by the gospel of Christ it allows you to live
• 43:00 - 43:30 this gospel shaped life an abundant life and it's the only life worth living and in fact the greatest need in our world today is for you and I to become who we already are in Christ so that we'll be the light so that we'll be the salt of the earth and so the invitation is yours and we're going to stand here in just a second and we're going to sing a song How Deep The Father's Love For Us I
• 43:30 - 44:00 asked Logan to sing this song because um it's written in 1995 written by a man named Stuart Townson and he said in talking about writing this song he said I just sat down one day he said I sat down and I just wanted to tell the story of Christ on the cross from the Viewpoint and this is where you get verse one from the Viewpoint of what it costs the father to give his one and only son in verse two he says this is this is our
• 44:00 - 44:30 involvement in the death of Jesus it was my sins that held him there and one thing you'll notice when you when we stand here and we sing this song it it's not talking about ours he's not talking about plural he's not talking about Collective he says it's it's me he says it's mine he makes it extremely personal in verse three he says I will not boast in anything except for what he has done for me but again he wrote this as a personal
• 44:30 - 45:00 song because he wanted me he wanted you to be reminded and to see the love the love that God has for you let's close in prayer father we love you so much we we thank you for your son Jesus we thank you for the the plan and and the purpose that you set forth uh father we thank you for his sacrifice
• 45:00 - 45:30 and most importantly we thank you for his resurrection because father it's through his life and especially the resurrection that gives us hope of eternal life it gives us hope in this life that The Best Is Yet To Come so father I pray that every day we would live in that truth but often we fail often we stumble often we begin to to base who we are on the different roles that we play in life but father help us to remember daily who we really are who we really belong
• 45:30 - 46:00 to and allow that role allow that identity that we have in you to affect everything that we do in life and again father when we fall short I pray that we would come to you for forgiveness and we know that you'll forgive us in Jesus name I pray amen I'm not going to stand down here and stare at you this morning because I don't want you looking at me I want you to pay attention uh to the words but I I'll be on one of these people here but if you have a need if you would like the prayers of this church if you'd like
• 46:00 - 46:30 encouragement come down and we'll we'll talk to you and we'll pray with you and if you have a desire this morning to be reborn to be recreated to be baptized into Christ Jesus uh we've got a brand new baptistry the water's nice and warm so everything is has been made comfortable but it's it's a big decision it's a decision of sacrifice and so if you're ready to make that decision we're ready to help you with that this morning once you come Us Together We Stand and as we sing
• 46:30 - 47:00 [Music] that he only son how great the pain [Music]
• 47:00 - 47:30 ofing the father his face as [Music] the glory behold the man on the
• 47:30 - 48:00 cross my upon his [Music] should [Music] sh the it was my
• 48:00 - 48:30 that him there it [Music] was [Music] bre I know that is
• 48:30 - 49:00 will no no no W but I will in Jesus [Music] Christ and
• 49:00 - 49:30 why I from his re I can [Music] give but this I know all my heart w
• 49:30 - 50:00 [Music] by heart [Music]
• 50:00 - 50:30 so you may be seated redem [Music] [Applause]
• 50:30 - 51:00 [Music] you are we pra you are the one we adore you give the healing and praiseful oh our hearts always
• 51:00 - 51:30 [Music] [Music] H to embra [Music] you hopelessly lost our you are the that we praise you are the we
• 51:30 - 52:00 adore you give the healing and gra our hearts always Hy [Music] your our weak you find
• 52:00 - 52:30 [Music] using your you are the one that we praise you are the we adore you give the healing and gra hearts
• 52:30 - 53:00 [Music] always [Music] Hearts you are the one that we [Music] PR you are the adore you give the healing and Gra [Music] always H our hearts always
• 53:00 - 53:30 [Music] H we're preparing to take the Lord's supper if you forgot to get one of the communion packs you can step out back and grab one of those right
• 53:30 - 54:00 now as Ryan brought to our attention this morning sometimes we are tempted to measure God's love for us based upon the circumstance we're in at the moment things are going good we know God loves us if things are going bad we question does God love us with that in mind I want us to look at a passage in the Book of Matthew this came to my mind as I was studying for brother Daryl's class on Wednesday night in the book of M Matthew it's Matthew 12 uh:
• 54:00 - 54:30 38-41 then some of the scribes and feses said to him teacher we want to see a sign from you but he answered and said to them an evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet for as just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster so will the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth the men of
• 54:30 - 55:00 Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah and behold something greater than Jonah is here now in the context the scribes and Pharisees are putting Jesus to the test and he is bringing to attention their hardness of their heart but I want us to think about this uh sign of Jonah this comparison between Jonah and the great fish and Jesus and his death and you think about
• 55:00 - 55:30 Jonah you think about a a grown man getting swallowed by a giant fish sitting in its stomach for three days and then getting spit out onto the shore do you think at that time God had Jonah's attention it gets our attention today as we even read about it the question is we think about Jesus the sacrifice he made his death burial and Resurrection to does he have our attention and is our attention upon how
• 55:30 - 56:00 much he loves us I think it would be sad to say we need something else beyond that to know that God loves us in Romans 5:8 we read that God demonstrates his own love towards us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us so in reality we don't need to survive cancer survive a car wreck get a job promotion or even anything else to know that God loves us all we really need to know is the cross and the message behind
• 56:00 - 56:30 it no wonder Christians take the Lord's Supper every first day of the week it reminds us of God's love let us pray our dear God in heaven we are so thankful for your son Jesus the Christ he was willing you were willing to give the wrath upon him for the sins that we have committed and we're so thankful for that what amazing show of love towards us we're thankful that a memorial supper was set up by Jesus that
• 56:30 - 57:00 helps us as Christians remember the sacrifice that he made for us on that cross we're thankful now for the bread that represents the body of Christ help us to reflect upon that as we take of it in Christ's name we pray amen
• 57:00 - 57:30 let's pray again our dear God in heaven we're now thankful for for the fruit of the vine that represents the blood that Jesus shed upon on the cross and help us
• 57:30 - 58:00 to think about that as we drink of it in Christ's name we pray amen
• 58:00 - 58:30 [Applause] let's now pray again as we think about the contribution our dear God in heaven we realize that we are blessed Way Beyond that which we need that which we deserve and we know everything that we have comes from you and we're so thankful for that we're thankful for this opportunity that we have to give back to help the the spread of the Gospel throughout the world and to help others in their needs
• 58:30 - 59:00 we pray that those that oversee the funds will use them in a wise way and then we will give with a cheerful heart in Christ's name we pray amen if you would please stand after this song we'll have our closing
• 59:00 - 59:30 [Music] prayer sing Theus his when we
• 59:30 - 60:00 all see Jes [Music] singory days are over [Music]
• 60:00 - 60:30 will sing let us be true and faithful trting serving every day just one ofing
• 60:30 - 61:00 [Music] Glory see Jesus Will Sing and Shout viory we
• 61:00 - 61:30 [Music] all we all see Jesus Will Sing and Shout the victory [Music]
• 61:30 - 62:00 let's pray Lord in heaven we are appreciative of the message that was delivered today let's take it and apply it to our lives so we can become better Christians as you have us would to become we pray for those that were mentioned that were ill we pray you give them some Rel and we ask you to be with us till we
• 62:00 - 62:30 meet again in Christ's name we pray amen e