You Say I am - introduction

Leader Meeting

CalendarsNight of prayer- we will still get into small groups

Announce

Welcome back!If you are interested in serving on The MIX or The Well Worship Teams, the Worship Arts Ministry is offering a mid-year audition on Wednesday, January 23 from 3-4:45pm. Students who auditioned in the fall DO NOT need to audition again. Auditions will be held in the Auditorium and students should pick two songs to play/sing from the following list:

Lord, I Need You

Revelation Song

What a Beautiful Name

Open Up the Heavens

Today is the Day

If you are interested in auditioning, please email Jen Garretson, Worship Arts Assistant, at [e-mail] to request a time slot and the materials/application for the audition.

Events this yearMake sure you

grab a spring ministry calendar before you leave so you can stay up to date on all the awesome events and LGNOs we will have this year.

Nerf war- Elite darts onlyWhoever brings the most friends will receive a gift card to pay for dinner for your entire life group!

I am excited to introduce a new series tonight called "You Say I Am". This series is based on the gospel of Matthew. We are going to work through Matthew and see God's will make sense as Jesus walks the Earth gets to know the people He created.

Introduction/ game

Find a partner and make up a word and the definition to that word.

You will be judged based on

UniquenessCreativityDefinition ClarityIt cant be mean or negative

Lesson

"WHO I AM"

After spending quite some time teaching and preaching with the disciple, people had all kinds of opinions of who Jesus was. One day Jesus asked his 12 close disciples/ followers "who do people say that I am?"

As it turns out, people had been talking a lot about who Jesus was. This man who traveled all around preaching about the will of God. About how if we leave our sinful lives to follow Him then we can get our lives on track with God's will.

At this point in His ministry, Jesus had spent a good bit of time with the disciples and those disciples shared with Jesus all that they heard people say about who He was.

Then Jesus, in a wise redirection of the conversation, asked them "But who do you say that I am?"

We will make our way to that passage as we go through this study, but I want to begin with this very important question.

"WHO DO PEOPLE SAY THAT JESUS IS?"

"WHO DO YOU SAY THAT JESUS IS?"

As Jesus got to know the disciples deeply, traveled and preached to others the disciples learned the answer to that question.

Jesus is on a mission that has 2 parts.

He wants each of you to know who He is. He wants your knowledge of Him to sprout into a deep and close relationship with Him.Then He wants you to see how that that realization of who He is, how that relationship that He wants to have with us, how decides the identity of who we are.

Think about those words you made up earlier. You used your imagination that God gave you to think of a word and come up with a definition for it. It was kind of fun because you, being the origin of that word, are the one who decides its meaning, its purpose, and its use.

God created us with an identity, purpose, and a plan. That purpose and plan can never change and God can never change His mind on it. God is the only one who can decide our purpose. Once we find out who we are according to God, it does not matter what other people think about us.

The way we are going to find all this out is by looking closely at the gospel written by Matthew.

Gospel

Author

Matthew was a tax collectorApproached by Jesus while living a sinful life in rebellion to GodA very disliked and deceitful manThe kind of person nobody felt like they could trustApproached by Jesus and called to be a disciple (follower of Jesus) for the rest of his life.Left his old life behind to spend his life following JesusSpent his days walking, talking, learning from Jesus.

Audience

Matthew wrote this gospel with a specific group of people in mind.

He wrote it to people who thought their identity was based on their obedienceHe wrote it to people who thought their identity was based on what others thought of themHe wrote it to people who thought their identity was based on who they decide they areHe wrote it to people who thought their identity was based on what family they were a part ofFinally, He wrote it to show that all of those things were not true.

Like I said, this series is called "Who I am"

We ask this question to the one who decided who you were a long time ago. We could ask professors, teachers, scientists, books, but none of those things have existed from the beginning. God decided our purposes, He created our talents, He crafted your mind in all the creative capacity that you have, he designed every muscle fiber that allows you to play and compete, He knows you fully. ()

The answer to that question is given quickly if you read the first few pages of the Bible.

In the beginning, God. The gospel of John tells us that Jesus and God are one in the same and Jesus is the one who created all things.

All of these things are going to be topics we cover over our next 14 lessons, but I want to give you a sneak peek. A hint.

You were created to bring God glory. Genesis tells us that we were created "in God's image". That means God gave us humans something that no other creatures have. God's image. Long ago kings use to show their rule over areas of land by building statues that represent themselves. They would set those statues up all over their kingdom so that when people saw those statues they were reminded of the power of the king who ruled that area. You are no statue, but in much of the same way, god has given that purpose to you. Each of you that people would see you and say WOW! Your God must be amazing! Each of you have that purpose and that image as an important part of who you are. You are all priceless because God sent his son so to live, and die just so you can know these tings.

We will begin with the question "God, who are you?

After God answers that question through His word we will ask

"God, so I can do what I was created to do for you, will you show me who I am?