Untitled Sermon (10)

Northside Christian Church 10/11/2020

Made for More #4 Jamey Mills

Centered on Christ

So glad you all could join us tonight… before I jump into the sermon I wanted to give you all a bit of an update…

I think it’s important for us to communicate about the ministries and missions that we support as a church through the giving that we all do…

A few weeks ago we were able to send some funds out to support church planting across the nation through Staida… which is cool.

Our very first partnership was with Love INC of Benton County. We support them monthly… and really Love INC is an organization that sort helps organize and meet needs in the community through mobilizing the local Church… and one of the things they recently did was called pack a bag… and they kind of rolled that out right here at Northside and we wanted to make sure you guys realized the impact it had… SHOW SLIDE.

51 bags were retruned. We had one come in last week.

100 people impacted

Several of their Gap ministries were supported

I will help translate that for you guys… basically what it's saying is… you guys are awesome. I was personally incredibly blessed… not surprised… but blessed and I know Love INC was too. So… man… Thank you for stepping up… I am learning more and more to expect that with this Church… it's just kind of who we are.

Just as a way of helping you understand why we support Love INC monthly I wanted to share with you a story that they shred with us…

Late Wednesday, one of our call center volunteers spoke to a mom (Emily*) who had just gotten out of an abusive relationship and moved to Corvallis where she knew no one. She and her four year old son were starting over. As the volunteer learned more about their needs, it came up that they did not have enough food to make it through the day, and only had one cooking pan. We were able to quickly process need requests for emergency food boxes, hygiene products, kitchen supplies and boy clothes.

When they came to the office the next day to pick up the hygiene bag, we offered a children's storybook Bible for her son, and a Bible for Emily, who gratefully accepted. She said "What you guys are doing here is really amazing." We were able to pray with her and talk to her son about how he was starting school. As they left, we could see her son already carrying the Bible and smiling widely. She called later to thank us again for the products (we were able to find products for her son who has sensitive skin). They hadn't been able to afford those products for a while. She just kept saying it was all "awesome and amazing." We will continue to follow-up and encourage Emily to connect with a church family. What a great example of Love in the Name of Christ in action!

Northside… your fingerprints are all over that story. Your support… through pack and bag and in giving… impacts real people just like Emily.

With that, let's jump into our sermon today… We are in the 4th and final week of a series we have called made for more…

Week 1 we looked at this idea of how we were made for more than just floating through life… and part of that is investing in those who are coming up behind us.

Week 2 we talked about what it means to have a life centered on Jesus… which is really about aligning our lives with Christ in the right way… giving Him the time, attention and authority in our lives he deserves.

Week 3… we talked about formative conversations and how that's part of who God is… I asked what sort of formative conversation might God want to have with you? And we looked at the Lord’s prayer realizing that our prayer life… these formative conversations with God matter. It's part of what it means to connect with God and become more aware of His presence in our life.

Which leads us to today… and I want to start with a confession. Yes, I am a Beaver fan, but no that's not it.

Sometimes… even pastors get fed up… and frustrated… and for me, something that has been incredibly heavy on my heart for years… maybe the last 18 years or so… is just what feels like this overwhelming brokenness in the world… in fact… and how so many act as if they can’t see it and for the life of me I can’t figure out how so many don’t get fed up of the vicious cycle of brokenness that sin creates in our lives… one of the interesting things about spending so many years in youth ministry was watching the generations come through… and I will tell you without a doubt it’s not getting better.

But what’s behind it?

I came across a story about a man that was found beat up, unconscious, naked, and without ID near a dumpster behind BK in Richmond Hill Georgia. He was taken to the hospital and when he regained consciousness they realized he had total amnesia. He literally had no memory at all… of family, friends, home, education, work experience… None. He was given the name Benjamin Kyle… and his picture… was plastered everywhere but no one claimed him. DNA and fingerprints didn't help… Can you even imagine that… Couldn't get a SS card, or a drivers license… couldn't get a job… it turns out that there is no place in our society for people who don’t know who they are… Benjamin became homeless and lived on the streets…

11 years… that went on… and finally in 2015 a group of adoption assistance workers were able to help put some pieces together… and Benjamin Kyle… actually… William Powell… found his identity. He was actually from Jacksonville.

Going through life with no clue of who you really are… as William found out… impacts everything.

We sort of talked about this last week… but choosing who it is you will listen to when it comes to the reality of who you really are is incredibly important… knowing our real identity matters…

Being in touch with our identity is so incredibly important. I think so much of the Brokenness within us and in the world comes with feeble and misinformed attempts at our real identity… We are living in a culture that is having a real identity crisis… even at the Dr office or DMV… we see it all over legal forms… having to declare how it is that we identify… declaring our identity.

In doing some research I came across something that Tim Keller said…

Identity as we have come to define it involves two things.

1. A sense of self.

2. A sense of worth.

And oddly enough… based on the research I did, the major driver in this sense of identity is actually acceptedness and a sense of belonging.

And cultures all around the world come to find those things in different ways… one of the most popular is found in family structure… our sense of self and value is found in the role we play without the family… and within the role our family plays within the culture.

But in our culture… Keller says we are told to look within ourselves… and I’ve honestly never really thought about that before but I think he’s right… that message is everywhere in our culture… i think of a lot of the movies our kids watch… Kung fu panda… the secret was what? A mirror. His own reflection. His strength, meaning, value… came from within himself… which might be great when fighting cartoon snow leopards… but I’m not sure that translates to real life.

How incredibly dangerous… if my search for answers about myself and who I really am only come from within myself… that means I am stuck with my own definitions, my own perceptions, my own processing of public opinion… not to mention my moodiness, my emotions and the fleeting nature of my feelings.

What an unstable and untrustworthy platform on which to pull my identity and value. If that is really what we’re stuck with… no wonder we are experiencing such an identity crisis in our culture.

And I hope we can all see just how unwise that really is… Our identity is so incredibly important and drives so much of what we experience… and if we want to take it seriously… if we want to get real about who we really are, we have to go all the way back to the beginning and connect with one of the most humbling and flattering truths there is about you…

Genesis 1:26–27 (NLT)

26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

27 So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

God hasn’t left us to our own devices, definitions and feelings, but constantly reminds us as to who we are… And

At the very core of a Biblical view of your identity is this truth that you were created in the image of God Himself.

That somehow and in some way… you… reflect the glory of God Himself. We are both bearers and stewards of the image of God that He is firmly planted within us… It’s part of your identity… of who you are.

I think it was NT Wright that said understanding that passage is critical to understanding the rest of what the Bible teaches… it informs and adds clarity to who He is, who we are, what the Church is and why unity matters… and we could go on and on… the imago dei… the image of God in you… is a critical doctrine of scripture.

There is a passage in 1 Peter 2 that also speaks a ton about our identity in a single verse… and he does it through language that reflects the OT a little…

He starts with calling Jesus a cornerstone… we talked about that the last two weeks… it was an incredibly important aspect of ancient architecture… it was the first and most critical stone to be laid… it had to be perfect and from it every other stone is aligned.

And Peter says… Jesus is the cornerstone… and we are living stones… we align ourselves with Jesus and make up the temple of God… which in OT times they believed was the dwelling place of God… So, Peter is saying that we have the presence of God within us. So… the image of God in you and in me… come together and form a clearer picture to the world around us as to who God is.

1 Peter 2 says it hinges on what you do with Jesus. For those who trust Him, it means real life and freedom. For those who don’t… for those who chose not to go their own way… chase their own identity it says they stumble and fall… their fate… isn’t great.

Somehow, our inability to see Jesus for who He and align ourselves with Him the right way… begins to distort the very image of God we were created with… even within our own eyes… and this cycle of brokenness begins as we grasp at straws to fill this identity gap with things that are wrapped around our own feelings and desires.

So I want to read this one verse for you, and as I do, try to write down in your notes all that it says about who you really are in Jesus… It’s a lot so I’ll read it twice.

What does God say about you identity in 1 Peter 2:9 (it’s a lot)?

1 Peter 2:9 (NLT)

9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

By no means is this list exhaustive… It’s almost like God knew we’d have identity issues… because it is a major thrust in scripture…. Over 160 times the bible uses the phrase “In Christ”... and the vast majority deal with issues of identity.

In 2:9 Peter God says… you are chosen, you are family, you are Holy, you are mine, you are made for more, you have new life, and you are my representative.

You are chosen.

Maybe not first in kickball or for the prom or for the promotion… but you are chosen by God. Accepted.

The word literally means… favorite, best in quality, valued and wanted.

Eph. 2:10 says that we are God’s masterpiece, untouchable by the opinions of men… by the schemes of the Devil… and even from your own scrutiny… No matter what you believe… it doesn’t make this fact untrue… you were made in the image of God and are His masterpiece… you are chosen… and you are valuable. Peter says we belong to God, we are His own special possession. Treasured..

What do you suppose it means if we hear that… and have no reaction?

The power of identity… isn’t in simply talking about it… but in stepping into it… holding on to it… living in it… identifying with it.

I don’t care what anyone says… and I am sorry… not even what you think. You are chosen… and so am I.

You all might now… the housing market in our area is nuts… houses are selling for like 20k more “market value”...

And it reminds us how valuable something really is… what it’s really worth… which is what? What someone is willing to pay.

And when it comes to your being chosen, God’s not all talk. One of the clearest pictures of worth… value… identity… is the reminder that we were bought with a price… When sin distorted God’s image with us… God sent Jesus who is without sin to take on our own sin so that we might be right with God ( 2 Cor 5)...

You are chosen, valued by God whether you believe it or not… Why would you not?

You’re a Royal Priesthood.

One author suggested that this has to do with family. We aren’t just chosen… we are family. It’s a privileged position of closeness with God.

1 John 3:1 (NLT)

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.

One of the things that stood out to me about the story of Benjamin Kyle… was that it was adoption workers that helped piece his story together.

That is the exact language the Bible uses about you.

Ephesians 1:5 (NLT)

5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

God adopted us into his own family through Jesus… that's what it means when Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life that NO ONE comes to God but through me… we are adopted as heirs… family… his children through Jesus… why? Because he wanted to… because you are wanted.

You are Holy.

The idea is… you are set apart… called to be different.

Later on if 1 Peter 2 is says… live as temporary residents… and keep away from the worldly desires that wage war on your soul. Live right… so that those who don’t know Jesus yet will see Him in you and in turn honor God.

God calls us out of darkness and into His marvelous light… God didn’t choose us for more of the same… he didn’t purchase us to leave us where we were… he did not adopt us to watch us wander…

The change is tangible that literally the Bible describes it as being born again or having this new life in Christ.

And for years that thought was always heavy on me… feeling like this new life falls on my shoulders is unbearable… and it is.

The key to the difference between life the way we knew it and new life… is found in the phrase IN CHRIST… it's the presence of Christ in our lives… a relationship with Him that not only makes us right with God, but also… restores God's image in us.

Marked by dying to self and denying ourselves… I really think this means laying down the identities we create… in order to step into who we’ve always been. A set apart child of the king. His masterpiece.

No longer driven by selfishness and sin… This new life is really about embracing the identity… this image… that has actually been there all along… it’s literally like a new life… full of life giving things and free from life taking things… as I wrote that it reminded me of the first day after all smoke cleared… and I could breathe again.

Maybe one of the most important aspects of realizing we are made for more… has to do with realizing who you really are. What you believe about that will drive pretty much everything about your life.

If you looking inside yourself to find it… I am so sorry. If you are finding in online or in the eyes of the opposite sex… if you find it in money or a job… or in what you wear or don’t wear… I want you to know there is a better and more stable place… that wont fade with time… that won't rise and fall with feelings.

You were made for more than we often settle for.

If I were to ask you who you really are, what would you say.

Child of the king… chosen… family… set apart… a royal representative….

No one can touch can change that truth about you… but only you can embrace it for you.

We are going to spend some time in worship and I want to invite you to participate in communion… we do it every week.

Do you really want to know what's worth? It’s worth what someone is willing to pay for it…

Jn 3:16-17… We were bought with a price…

Jesus Gathered his disciples and took the bread and cup.. And said as often as you get together… do this remembering me… remembering your identity in me… that you are valued…

Lets pray