Sermon Tone Analysis

WHAT? What are we talking about today?

ACTIVITY | Distinct Flavors

Welcome back to Distinct, where we're looking at some things that are different, unique, and . . .

well, distinct.

QUESTION | "Would you rather blend in or stand out?"

Once in a while someone obviously stands out from the crowd, but most people are fairly similar at first glance.

Until we really get to know each other, it can be tough to pick up on the distinct flavors of our personalities.

For some people, blending into a crowd sounds great!

But for others, they feel they were born to stand out.

So what about you?

Would you rather blend in or stand out?

Why?

INSTRUCTIONS: Give a few students a chance to respond.

If you're someone who likes to blend in, you may not have even volunteered to answer that question — and that's okay!

We're all unique, and your uniqueness is beautiful . . .

even if you don't love it when people notice.

But if we're honest, this question isn't actually all that easy to answer.

In some way, we all want to do both things at the same time: blend in and stand out.

We all want to be different and unique to some degree.

We want to contribute something to this world that no one else can.

We want our lives to mean something.

But at the exact same time, we all want to blend in.

No matter how loud, weird, or counter-cultural we want to be, we also want to fit in and be accepted — maybe not by everyone, but at least by certain people.

So how do we balance these things?

Is it possible to blend in and stand out?

Can we be unique and be accepted?

And if so, how?

SO WHAT?

Why does it matter to God and to us?

STORY | Talk about a time you changed in order to fit in.

INSTRUCTIONS: Tell a story from your own life (or ask a volunteer or student to tell a story) about a time you changed something about yourself (or pretended to) to fit in with a person or group.

Share why you made that decision, what you wish you would have done instead, and why you regretted it.

*High School Pic*

My freshman year of high school, I decided I wanted to change who I was to fit in.

So instead of wearing jeans and a t shirt like I did in junior high, I bought 5 pairs of Docker khakis and 5 dress shirts for each day of the week.

I remember one day when Josie Hire, one of the prettiest girls in our grade, came up behind me in the hallway and pinched my bum!

(She did it as a joke and wasn’t interested in me at all, buuut I still felt like a stud… I WASN’T!!!)

That year, Brittany Willoughby became my first girlfriend and then broke my heart when she broke up with me three months later… but I felt like I fit in for the first semester.

Then I realized something: I was being a complete fraud.

So I decided this whole dressing prep stuff was stupid, and just went back to dressing normal.

Life Lesson: Don’t change who you are to impress other people, because if you do this, you will become a slave to what every other person thinks and eventually end up miserable and hating yourself whenever someone criticizes you.

I can't be the only one who's done this, right?

Why do you think that is?

Why do you think we try so hard to fit in?

Maybe we don't want to stick out because we're afraid sticking out will mean . . .

Getting unwanted attention.

Being labeled as different.

Getting mocked or attacked.

Feeling vulnerable or ashamed of who we are.

Of course, it's not bad to want to dress on trend or try out your friends' favorite hobbies.

There are times, however, when the pressure to fit in is greater than our desire to be who we are or do what we were made to do.

SCRIPTURE | John 1:19-23

Last week, we saw that Jesus is distinct from any person who has ever lived, because He's God!

The fact that Jesus is distinct is really good news for us, but today I want to help you see that . . .

You are also distinct from any person who has ever lived.

Your distinctness is also good news.

Your distinctness could be good news for the whole world too.

There's a guy in the Bible named John — but not the John we talked about last week.

This John, John the Baptist, was . . .

Jesus' cousin.

He was only six months older than Jesus, so they grew up together.

He was pretty unique — like, the lived-in-the-desert-and-ate-bugs-for-dinner kind of unique.

And he had a unique mission.

He was a messenger sent to prepare people for Jesus' coming.

But when John shared the news of Jesus' coming, some people were a little confused.

INSTRUCTIONS: Read John 1:19-23

When it comes to realizing our own distinctness, John appears to have had it figured out.

There are three things we can learn from him as we search to find our own uniqueness.

JOHN KNEW WHO HE WAS NOT.

John owned the fact that he was not the Messiah (which means the anointed or special one).

He wasn't Jesus and he didn't need to be.

When John heard the rumors people thought he was the coming Messiah, it would have been easy to say, "Yeah, that's me!

Everyone come bow down and worship me!"

But John didn't need to steal anyone else's identity in order to have meaning or purpose.

JOHN KNEW WHO HE WAS.

He knew God had created him with a distinct purpose — a purpose he and he alone could fulfill.

So John was very clear about who he was.

He said it for all to hear.

He was the guy who was going to tell everyone that Jesus was on the way, and he was confident in that identity.

(And no, he wasn't going to apologize for eating bugs either.)

JOHN KNEW HOW HE FIT INTO GOD'S PLAN.

That doesn't mean John knew every detail of his future or waited for God to tell him exactly what to do every five minutes.

It just means he understood the big picture of God's big plan.

John didn’t decide what made him unique and distinct — he looked at how God had made and equipped him.

He didn't decide on his role either.

He looked at what Scripture said.

It contained prophecy that proclaimed John's purpose long before he was ever born.

He quoted these parts of the Bible often to let people know he was part of God's plan — he was the messenger that had been promised.

SCRIPTURE | Isaiah 43:1-7

John's life and purpose was foretold by the prophet Isaiah.

During difficult days in the history of God's people, prophets were sent by God to speak what God wanted people to hear in their times of need.

John would have known the words of Isaiah well, since Isaiah predicted John's whole existence.

But that's not the only message Isaiah shared with us.

Sometimes what the prophets said was hard to hear, but sometimes it was comforting and encouraging.

We're about to read some of those comforting words Isaiah shared with the people of God.

As we read this passage, focus on the language Isaiah uses to talk about God's people.

INSTRUCTIONS: Read Isaiah 43:1-7

These words were written specifically to the nation of Israel, God's chosen people.

But the way God loves Israel in this passage is the same way God loves you.

God, the Creator of the whole universe, who made the stars, planets, and galaxies, the one who made all living things, plants and animals, who created every single person who has lived, is living, and will live — that same God . . .