3. Who Are Your People?
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Introduction
Introduction
Pastor Brandon Lemons, from Friedens Church in Port Washington… We connected because we both belong to a group of people who lived in Palmyra, MO, and graduated from Palmyra High School.
Group identity is one of the most powerful forces in the world.
For good or evil — Nazis, ISIS, gangs
1 Cor 15:33… Most parents instinctively know this and are picky about their kids’ friends. Who their kids hang out with influences who their kids become.
33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
That’s just as true for adults as it is for kids. Wilder & Hendricks…
Left Brain (what we know) / Right Brain (who we are, identity)
“Group identity has the power to change character because it operates… on the right side of the brain. Our automatic responses to distress can be trained by our group identity. Let me state this again because this concept is countercultural. Our instantaneous reactions to life’s circumstances can be transformed by having a joyful hesed community that has a well-developed group identity based on the character of Jesus.” -- Wilder & Hendricks
How does this work? Through updating our “library” of examples… “Why are you yelling?”
In order to see those examples, I need to belong to a group of people who are living the Christian life. When it comes to following Jesus and growing spiritually, one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves is this: Who are my people? What group is my group identity built on?
We were meant to follow Jesus together. God designed us to be in the fellowship of believers.
We were meant to follow Jesus together. God designed us to be in the fellowship of believers.
We were created to belong to belong to one another — Gen 2:18, “It is not good for the man to be alone.”
18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Illustration: We went to a seder meal with a friend who is the pastor of a Messianic Jewish congregation.
All the feasts and festivals and traditions and stories and commands to remember in the OT were given to build an identity as the chosen people of God.
The NT calls this “the fellowship of believers.” What makes a bunch of random people into a fellowship?
Shared stories — George Washington / Abe Lincoln / David & Goliath / Moses & the Red Sea / the Christmas story / Jesus calming the storm / the crucifixion & resurrection
Shared experiences — family holiday traditions / worshiping God together
Shared values — “In our family, we ________________.”
Shared purpose — To glorify God and enjoy him forever / To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself / To go and make disciples of all nations… We are living life on purpose together.
Shared suffering — 1 Peter 5:8-9
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Creates shared identity
Here are a few examples of what the Bible says about our group identity in Christ.
Col 3:12-14.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Eph 2:12-13, 15b, 19-22.
12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace,
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Gal 3:26-29.
26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
1 Pet 2:9-10.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Who are your people?
Who are your people?
Who we love shapes who we are.
“Our brains draw life from our strongest relational attachments to grow our character and develop our identity. Who we love shapes who we are.” -- Wilder & Hendricks
Is Jesus one of your people?
We all have multiple group identities, whether we want to or not. Am I intentionally building relationships with a group of people who are the kind of people I want to become?
Finding people isn’t as hard as you might think. It doesn’t take a program. It just takes a meal.