D-NOW Night 1

“WHO ARE YOU?”

Hey guys! I am excited about being with you guys this weekend! I really think this is a great opportunity for you, and I want to challenge you regardless of where you are in your beliefs if you will be open minded. Be real with me i aint gonna stand up here and pretend I am something I’m not and I dont want you do that either. Im gonna be open with you and honest with you and I want you to give God a chance to speak into your life.

My name is Kyle and i am the pastor of Union Hill Baptist Church in a little place called Cottonwood Alabama, I am originally from here and many of you know me already but I know as the years go by there are some who have no clue who I am and I look forward to us getting to know each other.

I have a wife who is too fine to be mine and 4 awesome kids Grace, Gage, Chandler, and Noah. Lake Ellen is where I consider home, this is my church family and I always love coming back here to hang out and worship God with you all.

That is a little bit about me but tonight I want to ask you a question, and I want you to ask yourself this question for the rest of the weekend. WHO AM I?

Normally what happens when this question is asked there are several different responses some might answer this question by telling me thier name and where they go to school, who they date, who their parents are, what sports they play, what hobbies they enjoy, where they live.... the list goes on.

We identify people this way to have you ever been trying to tell a friend about a certain person and they dont know who your talking about, and so you start putting identifiers on them dont you?

“Hey you know that girl in our Chemistry class?”

“What girl?”

“You know the girl that plays in the band....”

We do it as adults

“Hey do you know that boy who came to church tonight?”

“Which one?”

“You know the one that works at the gas station....”

It doesn't matter who you are there are things that are attached to you that people identify you with. That’s Ryan the youth pastor, or Charlie the mechanic. The list goes on and on but none of those things tells you who a person really is!

That’s only surface level information about a person that doesn't tell you really who they are. These identifiers might tell us what a person does, or what a person likes or dislikes, but it doesn't tell us who they are.

Let me tell you something WHO YOU ARE makes all the difference in your life!

Because WHO YOU ARE DETERMINES WHAT YOU DO!

When I was growing up I loved the game of baseball, I ate,slept, and dreamed about baseball. There was only one problem when I first started i wasn’t very good. But I had it set in my head that I was going to play major league baseball someday. So everyday I threw the bal against concrete walls and worked on my fielding I hit thousands of balls off batting tees and as the years progressed so did I. I became Kyle the baseball player. I made every all star team, played at a high level in High school and junior high, I had my heart wrapped up in the game.

The words Baseball player and Kyle Johnson would have been next to each other in the dictionary I’m telling you I had the fever. I played in college and even went to some MLB scouting tryouts that I was invited to. But i will never forget the day when I sat with my wife Amy and realized that my dream of playing professional baseball was over. I cried with my face in my hands because I HAD SPENT MY ENTIRE LIFE UP UNTIL I WAS 24 WORKING TOWARDS THAT GOAL.

It DOMINATED MY LIFE BECAUSE IT WAS WHO I THOUGHT I WAS......

When the weight of reality hit me that that really wasn’t who I was at all, it crushed me. I mean what would I do now I don't know how to do anything else!

That is the problem with finding your identity in relationships, or sports, or family, dreams, or goals. Because those things are all subject to change, friends abandoned you, dreams some time are not reachable no matter how hard you work, families get destroyed when you think they never will, and when those things fail you are left with an identity crisis. You feel as though your whole world is crashing down around you.

(teen suicide)

Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among teenagers. Some of you in here tonight may have had the thought run through your mind once or twice but you have never told anyone. The reason this is true is because as human beings we all struggle with meaning and purpose in life, but we also know that when we rest who we are in the things we have mentioned, family, relationships, dreams and then they fail us our world comes crashing to the ground and most people do not recover from it. So what do we do? Is there something that we could learn to rest in that could save us from this problem?

The key to rescuing our lives from destruction and finding true joy, meaning, and person is by figuring out WHO WE REALLY ARE IN CHRIST.

The sad thing is we all think we know whats best for our lives But proverbs tells us:

Proverbs 14:12 HCSB

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

Proverbs

You don’t realize this right now but the plans you may have for yourself pale in comparison to the plans that God has for those who follow Him.

Jeremiah 29:11 HCSB

For I know the plans I have for you” —this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

God has a plan for your life! The only way to find true meaning joy and purpose is to follow Him! To give up all rights to your life and lay everything that you are and everything that you love into His hands and follow Him in complete surrender. It is my prayer that through this weekend God would make Himself known to you. That through our time together He would show you where your heart is, and where you really are with him.

I want us to examine a man tonight who was one of the most powerful and influential men in all of the Bible, He wrote most of the NT and I want you to look carefully as we see what happens when someone has a a crisis of identity and how God used the problems he got Himself into to change the world.

Take your Bibles if you have one and turn with me to the book of Phillippians

The man I am talking about is a man named Saul of Tarsus, Saul was a super religious dude ok He was a boss ok he was a bad man. this ugy was a murderer He was someone who was feard someone who the ancient world shivered if they heard his name. This is why:

Philippians 3:4–11 HCSB

although I once also had confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee; regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless. But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ —the righteousness from God based on faith. My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.

We first meet Saul in the book of Acts:

Saul= Leader of ISIS

How many of you know who ISIS is?

(explain)

Philippians 3:4-

This is exactly what we find Paul consenting to!

Acts 7:59-8:

Acts 7:59–8:3 HCSB

They were stoning Stephen as he called out: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin!” And saying this, he fell asleep. Saul agreed with putting him to death. On that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria. Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him. Saul, however, was ravaging the church. He would enter house after house, drag off men and women, and put them in prison.

Can you imagine?

Can you imagine?

Your mom, your Dad being hauled off to prison for going to church?

Saul is committing murder and approving imprisonment for people simply for being called a CHristian. This was a blood thirsty man, with no heart for people at all, and he found his identitiy in who he was and what he did for a career! He took joy in punishing people because Saul was a Pharisee. Pharisees were well known and popular in thier community, but Paul was one who became a pharisee at a very early age, he had skills, he knew the OT scriptures and thought by punishing these men called Christians he was actually worshipping God!

listen to him begin to list the things he used to find his fufillment in:

Philippians 3:5–6 NKJV

circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

Philippians 3:5-

Paul right here in our language says:

I am from an elite family

I am from Gods chosen people

I am of the blessed tribe from that people

I am the most religious of the Hebrews

When it came to knowing the Bible..... I was top dog

When it came to passion.... i was tearing the church apart

When it came to being righteous BLAMELESS

In saying all this Saul told us about his family, he told us about his country, he told us about his intelligence, he told us about his religion, he told us about his job, he told us what he did on his job..... BUT PAUL DIDN’T HAVE ANY CLUE WHO HE ACTUALLY WAS. IT took an UNUSUAL ENCOUNTER for him to realize the reason he was born.

You see Paul thought that by doing the things he was doing that he was right with God and serving Him, he thought all of his success and religion could give him fufillment and bring him into a right relationship with God.

But listen to me guys:

YOU CANNOT BE GOOD ENOUGH, OR SUCCESSFUL ENOUGH TO MAKE YOURSELF RIGHT WITH GOD!

I know adults right now in our church who think that coming to church and trying to live a good life, even serving in the church will bring them happiness and be the thing that gets them into heaven.

NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH!

RELIGION WILL NOT BRING YOU HAPPINESS ONLY A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WHO IS ALIVE TODAY CAN BOTH GIVE YOU MEANING AND PURPOSE AND MAKE YOU RIGHT WITH GOD!

There are young people right now in this room who boast in their abilities you think your popular and you place all this weight in what people think of you, how they view you, and even though you know in your heart that you have never been saved you continue on trying to impress them but deep down inside YOU KNOW GOD HAS CONVICTED YOU OF SIN AND THAT YOU NEED TO TURN YOUR LIFE OVER TO CHRIST IN REPENTANCE AND YET YOU JUST KEEP DOING THE SAME OLD THING BECAUSE AFTER ALL YOU THINK THAT’S WHO YOU ARE.

Paul was a persecutor of the church, he mocked them, imprisoned them, and had them killed. But there was a humbling comin. God was about to wake Paul up in a very real way.

Saul being Saul

Acts 9:1–2 ESV

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Acts 9:

Here’s Saul being Saul doing what he always did tormenting the people of God, living his life but his life was about to be altered forever;

The Encounter

Acts 9:3–5 NKJV

As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”

Acts 9:3

The Christians of this time had been witnessing and sharing the gospel everywhere they went, it wasnt enough to convince Saul, so God out of His deep love for Saul moved on to a different method. God chose to break Saul of his proud arrogant heart and so as Saul walks around totally blind to what He is doing to the Lord God sends the light! “suddenly a light shone from Heaven”

Many of you have no clue that you are wandering through your life lost and blind, and in need of Jesus your just like Saul your just being who you think you are invested in your career, your freinds and family your interests and overall you think your a good person. No matter how many times people try to share the good news of Jesus with you its not enough, and so many of you will be like Saul hard headed and stubborn, and God will have to break you in order to save you. I hope that doesnt have to happen....

(MY TESTIMONY)

Acts 9:6–7 NKJV

So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.

Acts 9:

Do you see what the first thing was that Paul did after seeing Jesus?

SURRENDERED PAUL WAS READY RIGHT THEN TO STOP WHAT HE WAS DOING AND START DOING WHATEVER JESUS WANTED HIM TO DO....

It didn’t matter what Jesus was about to say Paul was ready to surrender his life to Jesus.

You see you have to see Jesus for who He is before you can see yourself for who you really are!

So how is God going to wake you up?

Acts 9:8–9 NKJV

Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Acts 9:8-9

Will some of you get that chance?

Will some of you get that chance?

(there comes a time when the heart becomes hard…)

Today is the day of salvation!

So what happened after the encounter of Paul?

The Bible records that he was told by the Lord to wait on a man named Annanias and that man was commanded by God to go and lay hands on Saul and give his sight back. As the story continues Annanias came to Saul was obedient to the Lord and Saul recieved his sight,

Acts 9:18

Acts 9:18 ESV

And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized;

DISPLAY OF COMMITMENT

The Transformation The Lord Can Bring

Acts 9:20 ESV

And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

All of a sudden Saul the mighty becomes Paul the small, Saul the head hunter becomes Paul the soul saver, Saul the persecutor becomes, Paul the missionary and I want you to notice back from the first passage we looked at what Paul says after he lists all of his accomplishments and reasons for him to boast.

Philippians 3:

Philippians 3:7–11 ESV

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Luke 9:

Luke 9:27–28 ESV

But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.

Luke 9:23 ESV

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.