Elementary Part 1: The Ultimate Identity Crisis

INTRO

[SLIDE 1] How’s it going everyone? If I haven’t had the chance to meet you yet, my name is Tyrone. Now I want to share you a bit of a funny story about my identity. [SLIDE 2] So my name was a product of my parents panicking to pick one. They thought I was gonna be a girl and when they found out I was a boy and had to name me, their first words were, “Tyrone.” … Not Joshua, Not John, Not William, Thomas, George, Joseph, Edward, David, Robert, Patrick, or ANY other Newfoundland name… Tyrone. So that leads to a funny upbringing. [SLIDE 3] I went to High School in Abbotsford about an hour southeast of here. On my FIRST day of school, my teacher is doing attendance. My name was near the top of the list. She says “Tyrone” … Quickly looks around and before I say “Here” she says “Looks like he’s not here” and goes to the next name. I put my hand up and say “I’m here, I’m Tyrone.” “… No you’re not” and we get into a back and forth because I don’t want my mom beating the brakes off me for “skipping” school on my first day. It gets to a point where she thinks I’m being racist and proceeds to kick me out of class! Long story short, after my principle ripping into her, I got an apology.

[SLIDE 4] The weird thing about this story is that I got my identity assumed about me by someone else. A lot of you are going through a time where you’re trying to figure out WHO you are. It’s a process everyone goes through, finding your identity. One day you’re understanding the pythagorean theorums or pythagorous, you’ve gotten a fit that’s straight gas. Other days you send a really long awkward text to your crush only to get “K” as a response and you question every life decision you ever made and want to pull out your inner ostrich and bury your head in the sand when you see your old Facebook or Instagram posts… Or even your cringy email you made as a kid. We all struggle with identity.

We spend all our time chasing approval, chasing trends, chasing grades, desperately trying to prove we’re "enough." We compare our real lives to the curated lives online, and we feel this massive, confusing gap.

But tonight I want to tell you the most important truth you will ever hear: Your worth is priceless. Your identity is can be discovered. And it was decided long before you took your first breath.

1. [SLIDE 5] You Were Custom-Designed

The story starts with God. And when God created humanity, He didn't just slap us together. He custom-designed us, intentionally, with a piece of Himself in us.

Look at this verse from the beginning of everything: [SLIDE 6]

Genesis 1:27 NIV

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

You are not an accident. You are a masterpiece. You are a mirror. You have the capacity for deep love, creativity, logic, and justice—because you reflect the Creator. Your inherent-or inner value is non-negotiable and nothing you do (or fail to do) can take it away.

You were built for a perfect, everlasting connection with your Maker, fully qualified to stand in His presence and as our Vision Statement at Broadway Church says, you were meant to experience and express the purest love imaginable. That was the blueprint.

2. [SLIDE 7] You Self-Sabotaged (“I Got This”)

So, if we were built for perfect connection, why is the world so messy? Why are we so messy?

We chose ourselves. We decided we didn't need the Designer's manual. We engaged in rebellion, or what the Bible calls sin. It’s that deep instinct we all share to be the boss of our own lives, saying, "Thanks, God, but I'll take it from here."

And that choice, that rebellion, has consequences. It's a universal problem. The Apostle Paul wrote this, and it hits us all: [SLIDE 8]

Romans 3:23 NIV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

That phrase "fall short of the glory of God" is the ultimate disqualification. It means we cannot achieve the moral perfection required to be with a holy God. It's not that God is a big mean referee; it's that He is Just. Our rebellious nature creates an infinite gap that we can never jump. We broke the design, and therefore, we lost the qualification for eternal life in perfection. [SLIDE 9] Imagine you’re like a cup of water. For fun, you drop [SLIDE 10] ooooonnnneee little drop of cyanide into the cup. Can you drink from it? NO! That’s you when you first let sin into your life..

3. [SLIDE 11] God Didn’t Want Heaven Without You

This should be the end of the story. We sinned, we were disqualified, and we got the just result: separation. But God is not content with that ending. He found that there was a Hole in Heaven. You wouldn’t be there.

He did not want Heaven without you.

So, God intervened in the most radical way possible. He sent Jesus. Jesus, the only one who never sinned, who was always perfectly qualified, came down to earth specifically to solve our disqualification problem.

This is the central message of history, summed up perfectly here: [SLIDE 12]

John 3:16 NIV

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

And the moment He chose to go to the cross, He became the ultimate substitute. He took our place. The payment for our sin—the ultimate consequence of death and separation—was placed entirely on Him.

He made the ultimate exchange: Our sin for His righteousness. Our disqualification for His perfect qualification.

4. [SLIDE 13] Your Identity is Restored

Maybe you’re sitting there thinking, "Yeah, heard this a thousand times. Back to basics. God loves me, Jesus died, blah blah blah."

If you’re rolling your eyes, this sermon is more for you than anyone. If you think you’ve already understood everything about this message and that it doesn’t apply to you, have you messed up a single time between now and when you heard a sermon like this? Guess what? You are still in need of Jesus. You need to be reminded, because the moment you think you’ve made it, you become like the megachurch televangelists or the hypocrite Christians we try to avoid.

If you’re spending time with Jesus, you WILL become transformed. If you’re feeling stagnant or bored in your faith journey, it’s not God’s fault, it’s not Broadway’s fault, it’s not even my fault. You can already see where I’m going with this. It will be your own fault. The only reason you feel stagnant is because you’ve misaligned yourself from God’s plan.

But this is why the Gospel is translated in Greek as Good News. Jesus came for you! You are in need of Him just as much now as you did before you knew Him! He renews you everyday! That’s why Paul writes in his letter to the city of Corinth that, [SLIDE 14]

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

This means that if… IF you draw near to Jesus daily, you’ll begin to align yourself with His heart. You’ll begin growing again, you won’t be stagnant. You’ll have a life that is glorifying to the Lord, and one you can be proud of. This translates to the way you interact with culture, the way you respond to current events, the way you present yourself, the way you speak, and the way you treat others. Take the words from Jesus Himself written by one of His closest friends John, [SLIDE 15]

John 13:35 NIV

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

So as I close, you have a choice: [SLIDE 16]

Continue doing what you’re doing and try to do everything on your own because you ‘already know everything’

Choose Jesus, acknowledge where and who you truly are, and ask for His help as you vow to Him to give your best shot.

If you’ve been chasing your identity in the shallow things—in likes, in grades, in who sits with you at lunch, who you’re dating, and even how much you can serve at church—stop running. Your true, eternal, beloved, and transformed identity is waiting for you in Jesus. What will you choose today?