How to be the real you - LIFECENTRAL CHURCH ONLINE

do what you want to [Music] what do gonna do hi there everybody it's great to get the opportunity to continue this brilliant series that we do in this summer of freedom series and i suppose what we're really asking what andy started out on week one asking is are we really free to do what we want to do as is illustrated in our song lead in there you know the heart that we have for this series is that you and i would truly come into fresh understanding of the freedom that christ wants to bring in our hearts and lives and he looked at you know what we're free from and then laura last week explored what we're free to do and today i want to take the opportunity to consider what we or who we are free to be in other words how to be the real you have you ever looked in a mirror and been unhappy with what you see looking back at you not so much the physical image the external representation of who you are but the person you sometimes perceive yourselves to be and you know the reality is that a mirror is ultimately inadequate because all that a mirror does it shows us the external representation of how we look but it isn't able to actually look at who we really are the inner person the person god is making me and the person that i'm discovering i am i found out that one of the prisons that can often hold people is the whole sense of discontent and disappointment with how we see ourselves that real experience of low self esteem how we just struggle with the kind of person we feel we've become maybe some of the characteristics of our personalities that we feel often unhappy with maybe you've experienced like i have that inner critic you know that internal observer that hurtfully judges our thoughts and our actions that nagging little voice that sometimes whispers into our soul things like you're not good enough you you don't look the part people don't like you just be quiet people aren't interested in what you think and if we allow that inner critic to be the mirror for how we see ourselves then life is going to continue to be such a struggle and yet there is a greater mirror to help us reflect a different image of who we really are because in the natural in the natural course of our life and how we look at ourselves the truth is we only ever see a portion of who we really are the true intended reflection of the person that we are needs another perspective needs a fresh perspective so that we can capture a sense of what it truly means to be a child of god and for me that mirror has to be the scriptures the bible what god has said about his world but about us as those that he has created and the passage i want to take you to to shape much of what i want to share with you today is in 1 john chapter 3 and verses 1 to 2 and this is what it says from the past passion translation look with wonder at the depth of the father's marvelous love that he lavished on us he has called us and made us his very own beloved children the reason the world doesn't recognize who we are is that they didn't recognize him beloved we are god's children right now however it's not yet apparent what we will become but we do know that when it is finally made visible we will be just like him for we will see him as he truly is and i just want to share with you today four key truths that reveal the real you and the real me and the first of those is all about dignity in other words the way i am loved and this is what john starts in this mini passage i've just read a moment ago to unwrap for us he says look with wonder at the depth of the father's marvelous love that he lavished on us when we think about dignity dignity essentially speaks about two things worth and value and we know that low self-esteem can often rob us of a sense of value in ourselves in who we see we are and sometimes it's even the words of others that have stripped from us an ability to feel dignified in life that's not something important as much as someone we can hold our head up and know we have worth and value in this life and that's what john is trying to do when he writes here and says to us that god has lavished what a great word he's lavished his love on us and what i love about this is there is an intent on the part of god he's doing something deliberate it's a choice that god makes to love us and it is this act of love on the part of god that makes us worthy that gives us dignity that reinforces the value that he places in us too often i think what we've done many of us who've probably walked with jesus for a short period or even a long period is we've allowed the mistakes that we have made to robbers of that value of that dignity of being a child of god and i think back to a very famous story in the new testament that jesus used a parable to express something of truth to his listeners you know when the errant son in the parable of the prodigal son starts to walk home he is rehearsing a speech that he hopes will get him a job as a servant in his father's house listen to what he says in luke chapter 15 starting at verse 18 i will set out and go back to my father and say to him father i have sinned against heaven and against you i'm no longer worthy to be called your son make me like one of your hired servants he doesn't feel worthy he doesn't feel he's got any dignity left so why doesn't he ask his dad to make him a servant but we know that when we read that parable as he knees home he sees his father running towards him he cannot finish his rehearsed speech because the father is running at him and you know just this morning sat in my garden reading my notes praying about today i was reminded that the patriarchal fathers of the day of days of jesus would never do this they wouldn't gather up their flowing garments and run it was undignified i want you to know today god came into a position of undignifying his status so that he could dignify us with his worth he came in the person of his son into our world leaving the majesty and splendor of heaven so that you and i could know our true worth and value to him you are meant to be loved by god did you know that today that's the whole purpose of god that you and i would feel that we're meant to be loved by him we are worthy because of what jesus has done for us right at the very beginning of our series under you some really great big strong theological words substitutionary atonement and he was explaining to us there that it's because of what christ has done for us we are made acceptable made worthy before god we can have a sense of value and worth because we are loved by god but the second theme john picks up in one john 3 is the theme of identity the person that i am he says there in verse one again he has called us and made us his very own beloved children maybe you've asked the question who am i maybe not verbally or articulated it to a friend but internally in the quieter maybe darker moments of your soul it's a question that taunts many people and could hold people in a cell of confusion and doubt because we struggle to feel that sense of worth and value yet to be able to say that i'm a child of god is a central feature and factor and revelation in what it means to live the christian faith i've had those struggles too like maybe you have moments where we look at our natural parentage or our natural development and that may have for some of you cause you to wonder who you really are and in ephesians chapter three there's a verse that over the years has so deeply ministered to my life and reminded me of where i come from where my origins truly are when paul says in ephesians 3 verse 14 for this reason i kneel before the father from whom every family in heaven and earth derives its name i have a slightly different unusual standout surname that's not particularly common and popular and this can be pronounced or put on letters in lots of different ways but actually the reality is i have an identity as a child of god that supersedes my surname which tells me something of my heritage my identity is truly rooted in where i came from not so much my natural parentage but the fact that i originated in the heart of god as his beloved child in his brilliant book abba's child the author brennan manning says this define yourself radically as one beloved by god this is the true self every other identity is illusion and i wonder whether you can do that today if you're a child of god and you can even try to just put to one side for a moment your doubts your fears your insecurities and say you know today i declare over my life i'm god's child my identity is rooted in him and his goodness in my life john the same john who writes 1 john in his gospel says in chapter 1 verse 12 yet to all who received him to those who received jesus he's saying those who acknowledged who he is and received him as their lord and their savior to those who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of god children born not of natural descent so not defined by my natural descent nor a human decision not defined by two people's decision necessarily to have a family a great decision or a husband's will but born of god and underlying everything as we've said in these first three weeks the foundation of freedom part of that foundation is that i understand god planned me god intended me i am ultimately god's child i'd say it like this my family tree and your family tree has divine roots in the story of pinocchio the great kid story that disney has immortalized for us thank god for disney over the years and the great themes and stories that come through those films we meet this little wooden character who's lovingly carved originally as a marionette by geppetto a carver a woodturner however the character as you well know comes to life and becomes the beloved child of geppetto and there's one moment in that disney film where pinocchio turns to geppetto his creator and says these powerful words he says papa i'm not sure who i am but if i'm all right with you i guess i'm all right with me there'll be moments in my life folks where i've not been sure who i am or even comfortable with who i am but in those moments there have been special occasions i've been able to turn to god and say if you're all right with me i can be all right with me and that's what begins to define my sense of identity because how god sees you and i frees us from how we see ourselves we need a better perspective a better sense set of lenses to view ourselves with through the lens of how does god see me but the third great theme is that of security and it's all about the place that i belong because john goes on to say beloved we are god's children right now here now in the first week andy talks about those things that fences in and i i got thinking listening to andy that day about some of the things that fence us in as followers of jesus and one of those is definitely insecurity the uncertainties we sometimes experience about our relationship with god the questions as to whether the mistakes we've made and the small things even the big things our failures change our place in god's affection and it's important we understand how god sees us and i love the quote by the author jack frost and yes that really is his name who says that sonship is a heart that feels at rest and secure in god's love it believes it belongs and it is free from shame and self condemnation it is not arrogance or conceitedness to believe that you belong it's declaring over our lives what is true that when we find our identity as god's children we belong in his family there is a certainty and a security that can come with that because true security is knowing our place in god in who he is last week laura talked from romans chapter 8 and that great passage about the spirit and there's a section in there where paul says this and you'll find it in verse 14 and 15 and again this is from the the passage passion translation that you did not receive the spirit of religious duty leading you back into the fear of never being good enough but you've received the spirit of full acceptance and folding you into the family of god and you will never feel orphaned for as he rises up within us our spirits join with him in saying the words of tender affection beloved father or in some other versions the word that jesus taught us to use abba father you know the story again of the the prodigal son this wayward son who took his inheritance and goes off and squanders it in wild living the new international version says he he wonders how his father will react when he comes home do you know it would have been shameful for a father to accept the son back without actually being very clear of the shame that the sun brought on the family there was a ceremony called the kazaza where the father would take an empty clay pot when away with child returns and the whole community would gather and the father would take that pot and smash it in front of the community and ordinarily the father would be saying you are i'm done with you you've brought shame on me but when this son returns something different happens and jesus is not just talking to us about the prodigal son he's talking about the prodigal father because the word prodigal means the lavish he's talking not just about lavish failure on the part of the son but lavish love on the part of the father and in luke 15 we find that this is what grace looks like when jesus says but the father said to his servants quick bring the best robe and put it on him put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet bring the fattened calf and kill it let's have a feast and celebrate there's a preacher's joke that says you know who was the most disappointed person when the sun returned and the answer is probably the fattened calf but what it shows us is that god the father throws the best barbecue you've ever seen for a wayward son who comes home that's what god does god doesn't show any shame that he he might have because he doesn't have that he understands us god knows our failures he's never been disillusioned about who we are and he loves us despite those things and the security of saying when we wander we're still welcome when we make a mistake we're still welcome because for the child of god home will always be home nothing we do and that security is the foundation of what it means to be free not free to make mistakes and not think that they're inconsequentive no the mistakes that we make have consequences but the freedom to know that god would never close the door of his home to us when we turn our hearts back to him because we're more than just children we are sons when the apostle paul talks about adoption he's thinking of the roman picture of adoption and so many of you part of our church have stepped into that wonderful role of adoption and bringing people into your family and into your home and he uses roman imagery when the adopted child is brought into the family as an adult son in other words it gives the adopted child a right to the family inheritance not just a home for life and food and a roof and clothing but a future a sense of inheritance and that's what he's saying in galatians 7 the apostle paul says now you are no longer a slave but god's own child and since you are his child god has made you his heir wow that's a pause wow moment isn't it that god would accept me as his child but more than that he would give me the possibility of sharing in the glory of his inheritance and this is our security as god's children sons and heirs along with christ but the final big theme i want you to see in these verses is that of destiny who i am becoming in verse 2 of 1 john 3 john says it's not yet apparent what we will become but we do know that when it is finally made visible we will be just like him for we will see him as he truly is and this is a promise that we are not yet all that we one day will be in the purposes and plans of god let's have another disney moment and there's a disney story that made famous the hans christian anderson writings and particularly that story of the ugly duckling a mother duck is bemused when one of her eggs which is larger than the other takes longer to hatch and when it does a little bird is born that is noticeably different from the others that have been hatched from the eggs this little one is mocked and attacked for its great hardiness and ugly appearance and it eventually flees looking for some sanctuary or security and respite and following a severe winter this little bird decides to seek out the royal birds the swans that that he has dreamt of being like and seeing gliding along with real grace and dignity and hans christian andersen writes this in that famous children's story but what did he see in the clear stream his own image no longer a dark gray ugly and disagreeable to look at but a beautiful and gracious swan to be born in a duck's nest in a farmyard is of no consequence to a bird if it is hatched from a swan's egg he now felt glad at having suffered sorrow and trouble because it enabled him to enjoy so much better all the pleasures and happiness around him for the great swans swam around the new comer and stroked his neck with their beaks as a welcome this egg that hatched among ducks was not actually designed to be among the ducks this was a swan it was being assessed and measured on the base a wrong set of basis a wrong ideal a wrong set of circumstances and what john is telling us in one john 3 this magnificent truth is that we are becoming something far greater than we could imagine that's the work that god is doing in your life and doing in my life because ultimately we are becoming reflections of god a process that will be complete when we see jesus face to face that's what paul says in romans 8 as well that we're being transformed into his likeness he tells us in 2 corinthians 3 that we're being transformed with ever increasing glory there's a process going on in our lives not just that we could accept who we are but that we could become who god has planned that we could be and this is the real you and this is the real me not the person i see in the mirror the disappointment with maybe how i look or some personal characteristics i might have but the reality of a soul that has come into a living relationship with god through jesus christ and is being transformed into someone that god has a destiny and a future for a glorious future and one of the ways that we live free from those the prison of low self-esteem is to understand the ways that god is continuing to work in our lives that's what paul says in philippians 1 verse 6 a verse that i love so much and i'm certain that god who began the good work within you will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when christ jesus returns be patient with yourself god has not finished with you yet you see there is something about us that we are yet to see there is an eternal dimension to our identity that will free us one day from the confines of this temporary life and all that we see around us but i need to say to you today that that hope can only be found in jesus in a living relationship with jesus it's it's not difficult it's simple it's profound but it's a step of faith to say i want to discover who i could genuinely and truly be for all eternity as a result of a living relationship with jesus and that's the question i want to ask you as we begin to draw to a close on this theme today do you want to discover the person god created you to be his child the the dignity and the identity and the security and the destiny of a real life that is much bigger than the confines of how we're living do you want to know god personally maybe and be able to handle that inner critic that speaks such negative things into your heart and to your mind are you battling today with low self-esteem your identity and that inner critic let me just remind you the words of jesus that andy read to us right on the very beginning of this series in john 8 35 jesus says a slave is not a permanent member of the family but a son is part of the family forever so if the son sets you free you are truly free and we want with all of our hearts for you to know the freedom that comes from not just receiving god into your heart and life not just receiving the truth of jesus but if you already know that like many of us and you've walked with the lord for many years like many of us to actually know today that you can live free in the knowledge of who you are in god's eyes glorious so truly loved so deeply loved and that's our prayer for you today and in a little while when we go into back to andy and laura they'll give you an opportunity if you want to know how you can connect to tell us how we can help you in those steps forward god wants to reveal your freedom today and there's a song that was so obvious so we should sing we were going to be singing it live here or certainly the band would have been but we've got this song this song that we all love so well but it just reminds us that i am who you say i am god and where you are in your home now or maybe watching this at another time we just really want you to seize this moment we believe that god the holy spirit is there with you in this moment to remind you that you are who god says you are and you can live free of the inner critic and the self-doubt and know his power in your heart and your life and so this friends is i am who you say i am [Music] who am i that the highest king would welcome me i was lost but he brought me in all his love for me all his love [Music] i'm a child of god yes i am while i was a slave to sin jesus died [Music] [Applause] me in my father's house there's a place [Music] i am [Music] oh i am [Music] [Applause] is there's a place [Music] there's a place for me i'm a child of god yes i am lying chosen not forsaken i am who you say i am you are for me not against me i am who you say i am [Music] [Music] not against [Music] i am [Music] i am yes i am [Music] indeed yes i am [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: LifecentralChurchUK

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Keywords: church, meaning, purpose, life, calling, lifestyle, Jesus, God, Spiritual Growth, God’s wisdom, Make better decisions, faith, decisions, peace, covid-19, coronavirus, worship, giving people hope, evangelism, telling people about jesus, good news, latest news, Sunday, hope, lockdown, jesus, why do christian believe in Jesus?, Church, life central church, lifeCentral, my next step, online ministry, freedom, free to do what you want to do, free, be real, be the real you, be what you were meant to be

Id: nnVWP0-0WEA

Length: 34min 1sec (2041 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 18 2021