Identity Crisis

Amen, amen.

Let's give God a praise offering.

Amen, hallelujah.

Let's give our praise and worship team a big thank you for all that they do.

Amen, thank you Lord.

Thank you, father.

Before I get started this morning on the word that I feel like God has really placed on my heart, I just want to open with a word of prayer.

Heavenly Father, we just come before you now and, father, as your word goes forth, father, I thank you that it's your word that just destroys the yoke of bondage.

Father, I thank you for just putting this message on my heart.

Father, if there's anything of me that is said this morning, let it either not be heard or quickly forgotten.

But, father, if there's anything from you, father, let it go down deep in our spirits, father, so that we can make the changes necessary To be the men of God and the women of God that you've called us to be.

In Jesus' name, amen, amen, amen.

Well, this morning I want to share a message with you that I have entitled Identity Crisis.

Now, if I were to ask you, who are you, how would you respond?

Most people would respond by telling me their name, or maybe telling me what they do as an occupation.

Hi, I'm Jim, I'm Phil, I'm Susie, I'm an electrician, I'm a teacher, I'm a doctor, I'm a stay-at-home mom, which is an awesome job, by the way.

Amen.

What is it that sets you apart from everyone else in the entire world?

How would you identify yourself?

That's the question that we're asking this morning.

Now, before you answer that, let's get a working definition for what identity is.

Identity is defined as a distinguishing character or personality of an individual, and how many of you know that some people are a little bit more of a character than others?

Amen.

And some people just have a very outgoing personality, while somebody else, their personality may be a little more reserved, maybe a little more refined.

We are all different, are we not?

But we are all created by the same God and I am so glad that we're all different, because you know what?

Just having the same flavor every single day after a while would get old.

But with our God, we don't have to worry about that.

When we look in the book of Psalms, chapter 33, verses 13 through 15, this is what it says the Lord looks from heaven.

Psalms 33:13–15

He sees all the sons of men from the place of his dwelling.

He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth.

He fashions their hearts individually.

He considers all their works.

He cares so much about us that he intricately forms each and every one of us.

The Bible says that he even knows the hairs on our head.

For some of us, that's a little easier to count than others.

Amen.

For some of us, that's a little easier to count than others.

Amen.

For some of you, he even knows your true hair color.

I'm going to leave that alone and move on.

God makes each of us special.

God has not and does not make junk.

There's somebody here today that needs to hear that, and I mean really hear that God has not and does not make junk.

Amen.

Regardless of any negative anything you may have heard or have been told throughout your life, god made you special.

You are special to God, and the reason that I know this is found in Psalms 139, verse 14.

Psalms 139:14

And this is a praise that King David wrote, and it says and this is a praise that King David wrote and it says I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Marvelous are your works, in that my soul knows very well.

See, then we look over in Genesis, chapter one, verse 27.

It says so God created man in his own image, in the image of God.

He created him Male and female.

He created them.

If we are created in the image and likeness of God, it is impossible for us to be junk.

I said somebody needs to hear this this morning.

Let this word go down deep inside of you and, in case you're wondering, yes, god's word is true.

He's not going to lie to us.

We can rest assured that what he says is truth.

Way too often, we listen to everyone and anyone who tries to tell us who we are or what we should be doing.

If we will allow them, people will speak into our lives.

That's why it's so important who you choose to be around, because the more you're around somebody, the more you're giving them permission to speak into your life Without a preach.

Who are you giving permission to speak into your life?

Who are you giving permission?

You know?

I want us to think this morning about how we identify ourselves versus how God identifies us.

Our world seems to have an identity crisis right now.

People are searching for their identity, as the old song says, in all the wrong places.

Okay, some people have their identity wrapped up in their profession.

Many people I didn't have their identity wrapped up in their sexual orientation and some people today don't even know if they are a male or a female.

Now, I'm not making fun of anyone, okay, I'm not.

The reason that I say that is because for some people, they don't know that they are fearfully and wonderfully made.

They don't know that and many people are hurting deep inside simply because they don't know who they are or who God created them to be, and that's just a fact.

Now I've talked to a lot of people who believe that they have to behave perfectly Okay, that they have to look perfect, every hair has to be in place, that they have to dress perfect, act perfect, to be perfect.

And oftentimes these people they get it in their head If I can just be perfect, everyone will like me.

Well, newsflash Spoiler alert.

No, not everybody is going to like your perfection.

I know that sounds hard to believe, and here's the thing.

Some people will respect that.

Others will just be irritated for the simple fact that you're trying to begin with.

Why?

Because they don't want to put forth any effort.

Some people will be looking at you and just waiting for that perfection to slip just a little bit, and then they're going to be just screaming from the housetops.

I see it.

I see it, and they're going to be anxious to point out the tiniest of flaws, am I right?

Some people will rejoice with you in your success.

Some people will rejoice with you for a while and then they will grow tired of your success.

I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about.

I love sports okay, football in particular.

Now, while I'm not necessarily Tom Brady's number one fan, he is an incredible NFL quarterback.

He has had remarkable success in the National Football League.

He has been to 10 different Super Bowls.

That is the championship for the NFL, for the National Football League, for professional football.

The Super Bowl is the place everybody wants to get to.

He has been there 10 times.

Of those 10 times, he has won 7.

Okay, okay, both of those are NFL records and even though Brady's record is not perfect, many people identify him as the GOAT.

How many of y'all have ever heard that saying and then wondered why are they calling him a GOAT?

Okay, goat is an acronym that stands for Greatest of All Time, and if you're just looking at championship rings, you have to look at both hands, because that's where his rings are.

Okay, it's hard to argue with that kind of success.

But see, here's the thing I know about Tom Brady.

If he were to show up this coming season and his first two games are nothing but flops I mean, he throws interceptions, he fumbles the ball, anything that could go wrong does then everybody's going to be saying, oh, he's just washed up, he's a has-been.

He won the Super Bowl this last year, but because of two games, people are going to start talking trash about you.

That's where we are in our world Now.

Jesus was not perfect.

I'm sorry, retract.

Jesus was perfect, okay, tom, not so much Jesus, yes, okay.

Jesus showed us a perfect example of how to live this thing called life.

Jesus never broke one single law anywhere in the Bible, not once.

He never once lied.

He never once busted his little brother in the eye, even though he probably needed to.

He didn't do that.

He never once talked back to his mom or dad.

Can anybody else in here ever say that?

Or maybe I talked back once and then, once I came to, I decided that was a bad choice.

Okay, yep, you know what I'm saying.

Jesus followed the law perfectly and even though he did it perfectly, there were still people that didn't like him.

Now, how many of you know, it's impossible to please everybody.

You're not going to please everyone all the time.

It's just not going to happen.

And even if you're able to please most people most of the time, there's still going to be some folks that aren't happy.

That's just the way it is.

Aren't happy, that's just the way it is.

You know, the fact is, some people are only happy if they're making everybody around them miserable.

Now, we all know people like that, and I hope I'm not talking to anybody in here.

That is that Okay.

But if that is you, you need to quit, amen.

Now many people in the Bible had an identity crisis.

They weren't sure who they were, or they just straight up didn't know.

And I want to take a look at a couple of those today, and we're going to start with a man named Gideon.

Now, a little bit of a backstory.

The Israelites had quit following God and had begun to worship idols.

They had had God in first place for a while and then they decided let's do something different.

Bad choice as a result of that, that god allowed one of their neighbors, the medianites, to come in and oppress them for seven years.

The bible talks about them coming in on camels look like locusts coming in and they would steal livestock.

They would would steal crops and, as a result of that, many people in the land of Israel were literally dying of starvation.

Okay, how many of you know that's not a good place to be.

And in the middle of all of this we find Gideon.

We begins in Judges, chapter six, and I'm going to jump down to verses 11 through 13,.

And this is what it says.

Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree, ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abizer.

Gideon, the son of Joash, was threshing wheat at the bottom of the winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites.

The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said Mighty hero, the Lord is with you.

Sir Gideon replied if the Lord is with us, why has all of this happened to us?

Why has all of this happened to us?

And where are all the miracles our ancestor told us about, didn't they say?

The Lord brought us up out of Egypt, but now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.

Now Gideon was down in the bottom of the threshing floor.

Okay, think of maybe you've seen pictures of an old wine vat.

Okay, that stands up three or four or five feet tall and then they would pour the stuff down in there.

Then they would get down in there and beat it out.

All the good stuff would be left and they could throw the bad stuff over the edge.

He was down and he was hiding.

Does anything about hiding sound heroic to you?

Does anything act him hiding?

Just that act of hiding is not heroic, doesn't seem to be to me.

Now, god sent an angel to tell Gideon who he was.

Think about that God cared enough about this man that he sent an angel to literally physically appear before him and talk to him.

God used him to tell Gideon that he was a mighty hero.

Now, gideon, like I said, he was not identifying himself as a hero, and Gideon was even questioning the whereabouts of God.

Have you ever been at a place in your life that you were questioning whether or not God even cared anymore?

He even cared anymore.

You know God, are you?

Did you give a rip?

I'm suffering here, we're starving.

Where are you?

I hear about this.

You're parting the Red Sea.

How about some food?

I mean, let's be real.

Moving on to verse 14, it says Then the Lord turned to him and said Go with the strength you have and rescue Israel from the Midianites I am sending you.

But Lord Gideon replied how can I rescue Israel?

My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh and I am the least in my entire family.

Amen, hmm.

Any of you guys ever made excuses for why you can't do something I have.

That's why my hand's up.

Okay, I've given God all the reasons why his suggestion is just dumb, not good.

Okay, when you tell God why you can't, he will show you with Him.

You can Amen, but we have to be willing.

Do you see how Gideon's identifying himself?

My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe.

I'm the least in my family.

Gideon was telling God that he's not just weak, but he is the weakest.

He's not just the low person, he is the lowest.

Think about that for a minute.

What voices has Gideon been listening to to get to this point?

What lies has the enemy spoken into his life?

You're worthless.

You shouldn't even have been born.

You're just a waste of good air.

You're never going to amount to anything, gideon, ever Guess what?

People still hear stuff like that every day.

They still.

People still have people berating them that they're not good enough.

They're not pretty enough.

They're not tall enough.

They're not blah, blah, blah enough.

They're not tall enough.

They're not blah, blah, blah enough.

What voices are you going to listen to?

Who are you going to let identify you?

Moving on in verse 16, it says the Lord said to him I will be with you and you will destroy the Midianites, as if you were fighting against one man.

Gideon replied If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that it is really the Lord speaking to me.

Don't go away until I come back and bring my offering to you.

He answered I will stay here till you return.

Gideon wanted proof.

Any of y'all ever like God?

I need to see something, please.

And there are times that me personally, that I have said that and I have said that and all I heard was crickets.

And then I was reminded that when I was in school and I was taking a test how many of you know the teacher's not up at the board giving instructions during a test?

The teacher's quiet while you're taking that test Gideon went and prepared a sacrifice and he returned with that sacrifice to the angel.

And in verse 20 it says the angel of God said to him Place the meat and the unleavened bread on this rock and pour the broth over it.

And Gideon did as he was told.

Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the bread with the tip of his staff that was in his hand and fire flamed up from the rock and consumed all that he had brought, and the angel of the Lord disappeared.

You want a sign?

Hello, I've never seen a rock just burst into flame.

There have been times that I've been out somewhere and been really cold and, like man, I wish we had a fire.

Never seen the rock just go.

That's never happened to me.

Gideon asked for a sign and he was given a sign.

Gideon would go on later in the book of Judges and ask for other signs, and God was gracious enough to give him these different signs, just as hey, I'm letting you know that I've got you.

And Gideon went on to do some pretty awesome things.

Now for homework, and just to make sure that I'm not lying to you, keep reading on in the book of Judges and see what all God did through Gideon.

And it was because Gideon chose to quit listening to the critics and start listening to God.

He lost the identity crisis.

He walked away from that and he said you know what?

I'm not going to be this guy anymore, I'm not going to be the one hiding, I'm going to be the one fighting.

And there are times that we have to pick ourselves up and make that conscious decision, kind of that pie pie moment I've done stands, all I can stands and I can't stands no more.

And we've got to just pick ourselves up in the power of God, and do what we need to do.

Amen, amen, amen.

Now I want us to take a look at a different character from the Bible.

This is a woman who others identified as a prostitute.

Her name was Rahab and you can read about her story starting in the second chapter of Joshua, and you can read about her story starting in the second chapter of Joshua.

Now, rahab had protected two spies that the Israelites had sent out to spy out the land of Jericho.

In the process of spying out the land, getting the lay of the land, figuring out strengths and weaknesses, these two spies had been found out and they went and they hid in the house of Rahab, who is called the prostitute.

That was the label that everyone had given her.

Okay, she protected the spies instead of turning them over.

She had heard the stories that God had gone through and the Israelites were kicking tail and taking names, okay, and she knew it was coming to them, to her town, to her city, and she didn't want to be one of the ones that was swallowed up.

Does that make sense?

Rahab?

Because she protected the spies, she and her entire household were saved, and we'll read later on in the Bible where she is actually mentioned in the lineage or in the family tree of Jesus.

See, rahab was an extraordinary woman.

The spies told Rahab what she needed to do to save her family, because God was on the Israelites' side and the folks in Jericho their day of reckoning was coming.

They had been the big boy on the block, but that was about to change.

Rahab did as she was instructed and because of that, she and her entire family were saved.

Who is it in your family that needs you to take a stand?

See, rahab's family didn't even know that they needed saving, but Rahab did.

And Rahab took the steps necessary to save her family.

She did not allow the label that people had put on her to define her actions moving forward, because of Rahab's faith, she followed the instructions given to her by the spies and her faith is recorded in the book of Hebrews and later on in the book of James.

Rahab is shown to be right with God.

How many of you want to be right with God today?

I do Put both hands up, okay.

I want to be in right standing with God.

I don you want to be right with God today?

I do Put both hands up, okay.

I want to be in right standing with God.

I don't want to be trying to oppose God.

The book of Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 31, says it was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God, for she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

Hebrews 11:31

Then, over in James, chapter 2, verse 25, it says Rahab the prostitute is another example.

James 2:25

She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid the messengers and sent them away safely by a different road.

Now, these are just two examples of how God can and will use us and protect us if we will simply make ourselves available available.

We have to make ourselves available if we want God to truly move in us and through us in a mighty way.

Gideon and Rahab put aside their past to follow God.

They did not allow their past to poison their future.

Okay, and whether we realize it or not, god's way is always best.

It always is Now.

I have spoken with people who say that they believe in God, but they don't believe.

I have spoken with people who say that they believe in God, but they don't believe that God would forgive them for the way they've acted their whole life.

They believe that God will work in Josh's life.

He'll work in Ashley's life, but I've done too much.

You don't know what I've done.

You don't know who I've hurt, the choices that I've made.

He'll work in your life, but I'm too far gone.

I'm damaged goods.

See, a lot of people.

They get their identity from all the junk that people have said all this time and they consider themselves to be damaged goods.

Well, let me tell you something.

God is in the business of restoration.

He can make us better than new Amen, but we have to allow Him to do that.

Bottom line is Jesus loves you, regardless of what you've done, regardless of what you've not done.

Jesus loves you, all of you and me included.

God doesn't expect us to get all cleaned up before we come to Him.

God doesn't expect me to get everything lined up and do everything right and then come to Him.

I can't do everything right or enough things right To buy my way into heaven.

That's not how it works, because the Bible says if we've sinned even once, we need help.

And I know that I've sinned a lot more than the once you know.

And here's the thing If I could do everything right or enough things right, I wouldn't even need God, because I've got it and if I can do it, I don't need God's help.

Right, got it, and if I can do it, I don't need God's help right.

And at the end of the day, it all comes back to Jesus and his love for us.

I came across a story a couple of weeks back that really brings this home to me.

See, a lot of people.

They have an identity crisis, but it's not with themselves, it's with Jesus.

They have an identity crisis, but it's not with themselves, it's with Jesus.

They have a twisted view of how they see Jesus and in this story it really, really helped me to understand what Jesus has done for me.

And now the title of this story is the Price of Donuts.

Now, as a police officer, yeah, I'm going to read the story about donuts.

Okay, just the title.

I'm intrigued.

Now the author.

We don't know who the author is, but I want to share this story with you and maybe it'll impact you the way it did me.

There was a professor of religion named Dr Christensen at this particular institution in the Western United States.

In a small college, he taught a required survey course in Christianity.

At this particular institution, every student was required to take this class their freshman year, regardless of his or her major.

You had to take this class.

It was a requirement.

Although Dr Christensen tried hard to communicate the essence of the gospel in his class, he found that most of the students just really didn't give that much care about Christianity.

Wasn't a big deal to them.

You know.

They even just kind of considered it a necessary drudgery that I have to even take this class.

Despite his best efforts, most students refused to take Christianity seriously.

But this year Dr Christensen had a very special student in his class.

His name was Steve.

Now, steve was only a freshman, but he was taking this class and was going to school with the intentions of going on to seminary and becoming a full-time pastor.

That was what he was wanting to do.

Steve was popular, he was very well liked and he was an imposing physical specimen.

He was the starting center on the school's football team and he was by far the best student in the professor's class.

One day Dr Christensen asked Steve to stay late after class.

He said Steve, I've got a question for you.

How many push-ups can you do?

Steve said I do about 200 every night.

200?

That's impressive, steve.

Do you think you could do 300?

Steve replied I don't know.

I've never tried to do 300 at a time.

Well, can you do it?

I can try.

Steve said Can you do 300 push-ups in sets of 10?

There'll be a break in between.

Can you do that, steve?

I really need for you to tell me that you can do that.

Steve said well, I think I can.

Thought about it for a minute and said yeah, I can do that.

The professor said good, come on in, and this Friday is when I need you to do it.

Come on into my office and let me explain to you what we're going to do in class.

So Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room.

The class started.

The professor pulled out a big box of donuts.

Now, these weren't your normal Mickey Mouse donuts.

These were the big fancy donuts with the cream-filled centers, with the fancy frosting on the sides.

All of us at our own diets are going hmm.

But these donuts were special.

Now, as you can imagine, everyone was pretty excited that it was Friday to begin with.

It's the last class of the day and we're going to get an early start on the weekend with a party in Dr Christensen class.

It's going to be a good day.

Now Dr Christensen went to the first girl in the first row and asked Cynthia, do you want one of these donuts?

Cynthia said yes, I do.

How many of y'all can say yes, I do?

Okay, that was her response.

Dr Christensen turned to Steve and said Steve, will you do 10 pushups so Cynthia can havea donut?

And instantly Steve jumped out of his chair, got down and did 10 push-ups real quick and jumped back up in his chair.

Everybody's kind of looking around going.

That's a little odd.

Dr Christensen handed Cynthia her donut.

Dr Christensen then went to Joe, the next person, and asked Joe, do you want a donut?

Joe said yes.

Dr Christensen said Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Joe can have a donut?

Steve did the ten push-ups, dr Christensen handed Joe a donut and so it went down the first aisle.

Steve did 10 push ups for every person before they got their donut Down the second aisle till Dr Christensen came to Scott.

Oh, scott, see Scott.

He was on the basketball team and Scott was in just as good a shape as Steve.

Okay, now, scott also was very popular and he was never lacking for female companionship.

The girls really liked Scott.

Then the professor asked Scott, do you want a donut?

Scott's reply was well, can I do my own push-ups?

Dr Christensen said nope, steve's got to do them.

Scott says well then, I don't want one.

Then Dr Christensen turned to Steve and said Steve, will you do 10 pushups for Scott?

Who does not want his donut?

And instantly Steve dropped down and started doing his pushups.

And Scott says hey, I said I didn't want A donut, a donut.

Dr Christensen said look, this is my classroom, my class, my desk, my donuts.

Hello, these are my donuts.

Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it.

And he set the donut down on Scott's desk.

By this time Steve had begun to slow down a little.

He just stayed on the floor now in between sets, because all the getting up and down was just added energy.

Okay, you could start to see a little perspiration coming from his brow.

Dr Christensen started down the third row.

Now the students were beginning to get a little bit angry.

Dr Christensen asked Jenny, jenny, do you want a donut?

Sternly, jenny said no.

Then Dr Christensen asked Steve Steve, would you do 10 push-ups for Jenny for the donut that she doesn't want?

Steve did 10 more push-ups and Jenny got a donut.

By now there was a growing sense of uneasiness that had filled the room.

The students were beginning to say no, and all of these uneaten donuts were scattered across their desks.

Steve also had to really put forth a lot of extra effort to get these push-ups done.

For each donut, there began to be a small pool of sweat under his face, and his arms and his brow were beginning to become red from the physical exertion that was going on.

Dr Christensen started down the fourth row Now.

During his class, however, some students from other classes had wandered in, and now there were 34 students in the classroom.

Dr Christensen started to get worried as to whether or not Steve would be able to complete the task that he had given him.

These students had started to come in and sit down by the radiators that were sitting along the outside edge of the room.

Dr Christensen went to the next person and the next and the next, and near the end of the row, he noticed that Steve was having a really hard time.

He was taking a lot more time now between each set of push-ups.

A few moments later, jason, a transfer student, came to the room and was about to walk in when all the students yelled with one voice no, don't come in, stay out.

Jason's like what in the world is going on on.

But Steve picked up his head and said no, let him come in.

And Dr Christensen said now, steve, you realize that if Jason comes in, you're going to have to do 10 push-ups for him.

Steve said said yes, let him come in, give him a donut.

Dr Christensen said okay, Steve, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way right now.

Jason, do you want a donut?

Jason knew to the room and hardly knew what was going on.

It's like, yeah, give me a donut.

Steve, will you do 10 pushups so that Jason can have a donut?

Steve did the 10 pushups very slowly and with great effort.

Jason, bewildered, was handed the donut and he sat down.

Dr Christensen finished the fourth row, then starting with the visitors that were seated by the heaters.

Steve's arms were now shaking and with each push-up he struggled to push himself up.

It was getting harder and harder.

Sweat was profusely dropping off of his face and by this time there was no sound in the room except for the heavy breathing of Steve.

There was not a dry eye in the room.

The very last two students were two young women.

They were both cheerleaders.

They were very popular.

Dr Christensen went to Linda, the second to the last, and asked Linda, do you want a donut?

Linda said, very sadly no, thank you.

Professor Christensen quietly asked Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Linda can have the donut that she doesn't want?

Grunting from his effort, steve did ten very slow push-ups for Linda.

Then Dr Christensen turned to the last girl, susan.

Susan, do you want a donut?

A donut?

Susan, with tears just flowing down her face, said Dr Christensen, why can't I help him?

Dr Christensen, with tears of his own, said nope, steve has to do it alone.

I have given him this task and he is in charge of seeing to it that everyone has an opportunity for a donut, whether they want it or not.

You see, I decided to have this party.

This last day of the class I went and I looked at my grade book.

Steve was the only student with a perfect grade.

Everyone else in the class had failed a test, had skipped a class or had turned in inferior work.

Steve told me that when a player messes up in football practice he must do push-ups.

So I told Steve that no one could come to my party unless he paid the price by doing your push-ups.

He and I made a deal for your sakes, steve, would you do 10 push-ups so Susan can have a donut.

As Steve very slowly finished his last push-up, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 push-ups, he collapsed to the floor.

As he finished the last push-up, dr Christensen turned to the room and said and so it was that our Savior, jesus Christ on the cross pled to the Father Into thy hands.

I commend my spirit With the understanding that he had done everything required of him.

And he yielded up his life and, like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk uneaten.

Two students helped Steve up off the floor into his seat, physically exhausted but wearing a thin smile.

Well done, good and faithful servant, said the professor, adding not all sermons are preached in words.

Turning to his class, the professor said my wish is that you might understand and fully comprehend all the riches of grace and mercy that have been given to you through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ, for us all, now and forever.

Whether or not we choose to accept His gift to us, the price has been paid.

Wouldn't you be foolish and ungrateful to leave it laying on the desk Now?

There may be someone here today.

Maybe you've never said yes to Jesus.

If you never have said yes to Jesus, today would be a great day to say yes.

Maybe in the past you have said yes to Jesus, but you're not as close to God as you once were, or maybe you're not as close to God as you want to be.

Today is a great day to make a fresh commitment to put God in first place.

Amen, amen, amen.

Romans 8, verses 37 through 39 say this.

Romans 8:37–39

Yet in all these things, we are more than conquerors, through him who loved us, for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

What that is simply saying is nothing will come between you and God when Jesus is in the mix.

Amen, amen.

I want everyone to please stand with me this morning.

Jesus wants to show you your true identity in Him.

You your true identity in Him.

Jesus wants to take the pain of your past and replace it with peace.

Jesus wants to take your failures and wants to offer you forgiveness and a future.

Jesus wants to take your hurts and your hang-ups and he wants to offer you hope.

How many of you know in a hopeless world right now, jesus is the hope giver.

Don't leave His gift laying on the desk.

Allow Jesus to turn your faith, your fear, into faith.

Allow Him to take the doubts and just let you know that I've got this.

I've got you.

Now, if you're saying yes to Jesus for the first time or you're making a fresh commitment to follow Him more closely, I want you to just say a simple prayer and just repeat after me Jesus, I believe you are who the Bible says you are.

You are who the Bible says you are, jesus.

I ask for you to forgive me of all my sin.

Help me, jesus, to follow you and to obey your word to the very best of my ability.

Jesus, I put you in first place in my life.

Thank you, jesus, for saving me.

Help me, jesus, to be the best example that I can be In Jesus' name Amen.