Oct. 3 - "I Know Who I Am, Do You?" John 8:54-59 (MSG)

foreign [Music] [Music] oh yes [Music] that gives me strength [Music] it's good morning good morning my brothers and sisters welcome to messiah of movement virtual church experience today is a day that the lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it it is a new month a new season and we shall rejoice this morning what i need you to do out there is i need you to get up stand up if you can run around your living room your kitchen whatever part of the house that you want to run around in and give god some praise rejoice in the lord for this is a day that the lord has made and we shall rejoice and we shall be glad because god did it all for us and as i said this is a new month it's the first sunday in october this is holy communion sunday and i while you're shouting while you're praising i need you to make your way to your holy uh communion elements grab them we shall partake in communi communion later in the service this today we have a scripture reading for this morning and our scripture will be coming from psalms the eighth chapter verse verses one actually in its entirety so verse one through nine that psalms the eighth chapter in its entirety and i will be reading from the new living translation oh lord our lord your majestic name fills the earth your glory is higher than the heavens you have taught children and infants to tell of your strength silencing your enemies and all who oppose you when i look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers the moon and the stars you set in place what are mere mortals that you should think about them human beings that you should even care for them yet you made them only a little lower than god and crowned them with glory and honor you gave them charge of everything you made putting all things under their authority the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals the birds in the sky the fish in the sea and everything that swims the ocean currents oh lord our lord your majestic name fills the earth amen let us pray lord we thank you for this day we thank you for another moment in life to get it right with you and to get it right with others so god we thank you for this very moment of virtual worship experience oh god we thank you for being a god that goes beyond the walls of a brick and mortar oh god and reaches hearts and destinations where they are oh god lord we bless your name and we lift you up lord we ask that you can take control of this service oh god take control of everything within the service oh god work it out work out anything that is not like you right now oh god fill our hearts up with uh appreciation and warmth and praise and worship oh god lord we thank you for the word that is about to be delivered through pastor dana owens oh god thank you for allowing him to be of oz and fill him up with the spirit of your word that he may proclaim the word to us and that we may walk away knowing that you are god and that you can do all things but fail lord thank you for every single person who works behind the scene oh god in our virtual experience from the mic to the sound to the to the video to the musicians lord i have such a bless the singer today oh god touch her voice oh god touch her heart right now lord that that every word that proceeds from her mouth will bless your name today oh god lord we love you we lift you up we adore you we magnify you on this day in the name of jesus i pray amen amen and amen and now we will have a selection from miss jocelyn brown [Music] [Music] in spite of the sorrow [Music] in spite of pain in spite of my failure in spite of the shame in spite of heartaches in spite of the rain god is so good to me oh god is so good to me [Music] and god has smiled on me [Music] he has set me free god has smiled on me he's been good to me [Music] god has [Music] smiled on me he has set me free oh [Music] amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me oh i once was lost now i'm found was blind but now i see that god has smiled on me he has set me free [Music] he's been [Music] good to [Music] he has set me free [Music] smiled on me [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] he has set me free he's been good to me [Music] [Music] praise god praise god god has smiled on me god has smiled on you god has been good to me god has been good to us why don't we give god some praise this morning praise god like god has been good to you amen a man amen amen a week at the week at glance at messiah movement at messiah baptist church on wednesday mornings we have our morning inspiration with our minister lisa upshaw it's a dollar number the numbers on the screen make sure you join us and be inspired to move on through your day on thursday thursday we have zoom bible study with our pastor reverend dana owens at 7 p.m that's zoom bible study on thursday on saturday our credit union office is open every saturday from noon to 12. if you need a little bit of cash to pay that tuition then you should be coming to the our office our credit union on sunday morning we have a prayer call which is a call in with the associate ministers of messiah every sunday morning we pray it forward in the name of jesus at 8 a.m it's a dollar number the number is on the screen for you uh to see and right after that we engaged in our zoom sunday school with lady owens for the adults and sister dolores hammond with the children and that past cold and that number for our zoom bible study is on the screen as well so we look forward to you participating with us each week and make sure you stay well abreast on what's going on during the week how week at a glance on thursday uh pastor owens talked about uh the book that we're doing for for a bible study called crazy love right he talked about being in love with god and asked a question have we ever been in love with god has god ever all us well thursday is a continuation of trying to find out whether we are in love with god and is and if god is on us or not we are studying in chapter two and the book is crazy love by francis chan and this is on thursday at 7 p.m it's our zoom bible study the passcode the zoom id and passcode there's a dollar number also so make sure that you join us and find out what your love meter is for god voter registration we have exactly nine days for us to get registered if you have not registered to vote make sure you go and register the deadline for voter voter registration is october 12th again we have nine days for that make sure you get registered and be the change that you want to see in new jersey be the change that you want to see in this world october october birth months now i don't care what pastor owen said june is all right but october is the best let me tell you why october is the best because it's my birth month it's not only my birth month it's my son's birth month my sister's birth month and also our 21st wedding anniversary and so i want to take this moment to wish everyone born in the month of october a happy happy birthday and everyone who is celebrating the anniversary may god continue to bless you with many many many more and we want um brother donovan if you can hit that keyboard for us and give us a little happy birthday too [Music] happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday happy birthday to [Music] happy [Music] birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday to you [Music] oh we're back i'm still celebrating for october birth month amen amen and while we're in the celebration mode i want you all to pull out your smartphones and your tablets and your checkbook if you so desire this is tithes and authoring offerings offerings and we have uh two platforms on which you can give to messiah messiah baptist church you can download the give a fly uh app for messiah and you can electronically pay your tithes like i did this morning or you if you so desire you can take your checkbook and you can write the checks and make your checks payable to messiah baptist church and you can send your tithe and offering to the church office again give a fly or check book your desire your tithe your offering and send it to messiah baptist church and we thank everyone out there for giving to messiah we are blessed because you are blessing us amen amen let me say good morning good morning good morning good morning i am i'm excited and delighted to come before you can we do this can we give minister peggy thompson a hand of praise a virtual hand of praise listen i want you all to know um this is this is what i've discovered oftentimes it's easy for us uh as we're watching to p pinpoint and talk about this is wrong that's wrong um but what i've learned is this if you're not in the arena then yeah it's easy for you to sit where you are and talk about what is right what is wrong listen for the last year i've been doing this virtual uh we've been doing it here from the church i've grown accustomed to it um but but i've reached a point where i i believe that god wants to use our ministers to be a part of this worship experience now i did not know it was just a total coincidence that minister peggy thompson would do it she'd be the first to kick it off in october and it would be her birth month if i would have known that i would have had her go in november because she's taking a shine off of june amen because we all know that june is the greatest month so whatever she said about october y'all just dismiss that matter of fact we're going to edit it after this is over i'm joking i'm joking but but i want to thank peggy um for for one agreeing to do this and i'm looking forward to all of our ministers uh sharing with us in our worship experience as we gradually try to return to some form of normalcy and so i thank god for her courage i thank god for her passion and in that chat room i want you to give god some shout outs give god shout outs for using minister thompson and the way that she did and then we want to pray for those ministers who are on deck minister latricia thomas is on deck for next week and so we're praying for her as well god bless all of you again thank you for your contributions thank you for your presence thank you for tuning in to us this morning now i'm here because i need to make a special special announcement next sunday next sunday we will be celebrating our 129th anniversary come on let's give it up come on come on come on who would have known i was thinking about this this morning who would have known that in the course of 12 29 years and actually these last these last 19 months that god would expand our ministry to reach across not only um this state but to reach across this country and in other parts of the world and so i am grateful i am grateful for what god has allowed messiah to do it's not about us it's all about our lord and savior jesus christ but we're going to celebrate 129 years next sunday we'll make sure y'all see me up close and personal i wanna make sure nicole is making sure she gets all of the hairs on my head this morning amen amen so listen i i wanna i wanna walk you through registration first and foremost first and foremost um there are three ways to register three ways nick bring the camera back to me i want to make sure they they get this i want to make sure you get this first of all first of all we will cap the number of people at 100. only 100 persons will be permitted to worship with us next sunday the second announcement is this is not an ongoing thing we are not returning we are not returning to in-person worship we are having this special worship service because it is our church anniversary depending upon the response that we get the number of responses we are considering having a service and in-person service the sunday leading up to thanksgiving and the sunday leading up to christmas but that's still up in the air right now we're talking about next sunday 100 people will be permitted now now we can go to the slide deck now to those of you who are interested in joining us next sunday you got to register and every person who plans to attend has to register so you cannot register for your whole family each person has to fill out a registration form all right three ways to do it one visit our website our website is up it's revamped and it's still being revamped but our website is messiahmovement.org and the moment you go to that website i do believe that the pop-up will be there for you to click on so it will take you to the registration form so that's the first way the first way is to go to our website messiahmovement.org the second way in the middle it says scan this code nick bring it back to me if you can if you got your phone and you want to do it this way if you know all about technology open your camera up literally you can open your camera up and place your camera in that square that you see place it right over that code if you place it over that code it will take you directly take you directly to the form and you can start filling it out so you can go to our website you can scan it by your phone using the qr code or or you can call the church office beginning tomorrow from the hours of 10 until 2 and register sister alexander will be here to take your information those are the three ways in which you can worship with us next sunday now i need you to know this that as you plan on coming all right once we reach our 100 person maximum uh we're gonna stop we'll stop taking registrations uh and quite possibly we'll hold it over to our service in november but i want you to know that once you register there's some things that you need to bring next sunday all right first is this you need to show proof of vaccination you need to show that you've been vaccinated word of mouth don't count i know your testimony is i've been vaccinated but we need the papers and if we was if you was in church this morning i tell you turn to your neighbor and tell them i need to see your papers amen we need to see your vaccination card we need some kind of proof that you have been vaccinated that's the first thing second thing we must take your temperature we have to take your temperature as you make your way into the sanctuary lastly the mask must be worn throughout the duration of service all right now to those of you who haven't been in church and you're looking forward to coming back i need to let you know that we will not be worshiping and the manner that we worship prior to covet our pre-covet worship days are not are not part of what we're doing now so there will be no fellowship hour we won't be walking around giving our tithes and offering it'll be the same way that we're doing it right now so to those of you who are comfortable watching this service by live stream you can simply watch next week we're still going to be here we're going to do the same thing we'll just have some of our members joining us as we celebrate 129 years and then lastly once service is over any congress any fellowship that will take place will have to take place outside of the church premises listen y'all covet is still here and by the reports that you read and you see on the news you know that it's not going anywhere so we want to be safe we want to be cautious but we want to see you next sunday i'll be here the band will be here our vocalists will be here and we're looking forward to celebrating 129 years so if you want to join us make sure you register beginning now well actually don't do it now because we're about to have communion and then we're about to have service we have about had this uh the sermon but right after service if you want to register you can and again if you know of some seniors who are interested those seniors need to be vaccinated but if they don't have means to log onto the website or they don't know nothing about a qr code just have them call the church office tomorrow all right beginning at 10 a.m god bless you i look forward to seeing some of y'all next week unfortunately i won't get the hug so please don't come trying to hug nobody we doing we're doing fist bumps that's what we're doing in the name of jesus amen at this time we're going to bring back minister thompson she's going to lead us in holy communion after that sister brown and then we'll have the message for the hour amen what can make us whole again nothing but the blood of jesus what can wash away our sins nothing but the blood of jesus and so this morning we pause and remember as to what jesus has done for us how jesus's body was broken for our sins how jesus's blood was shed for our sins how jesus died for our sins and how jesus was rectored resurrected for our sins so that we might have life and have life more abundantly the night before jesus was crucified jesus had table fellowship with his disciples and he took a piece of bread in his hands and he said take this and eat it in remembrance to what i have done for you and he break the bread and he passed out the bread and he took as we are taking today and we're eating of the bread and remembering what jesus did for us this is the bread broken for the body of christ symbolizing the body of christ that was broken for us for our sins let us eat and remember what jesus has done in that same manner jesus took the cup and he said this is my blood that i have poured out for you in remissions of your sins take and drink all of it in remembrance for the blood that washes away all of your sins let us drink together amen amen let us pray lord we give honor to you for your body your broken body and the blood that you shed for us that we might have life in life abundantly we honor you for dying and for resurrecting so that we can live we honor you for washing away every single stain every single tear every single ragged edge so that we can be here today knowing that we have life abundantly lord you're worthy of the praise today and we just thank you for yet another communion sunday where we get to engage in table fellowship with you that we get to engage with fellowship with one another oh god so help us be all that you have called us to be and that we are reflecting in the world what you have done for us we are reflecting in the places that we go what you have done for us we are reflecting in our place of worship what you have done for us and we are reflecting with each other what you have done for us lord thank you thank you for your blood thank you for the brokenness thank you for the resurrection in the name of jesus i pray amen jocelyne will engage us with a samonic selection right now amen amen who was the one [Music] when i didn't know [Music] before i was born he loved me just the same who was the one who took me by my hand [Music] and kept me from [Music] can who was the one to lead me along the way [Music] when i did [Music] for me to take nobody but jesus [Music] nobody but jesus [Music] nobody but jesus no no nobody [Music] jesus jesus [Music] [Music] who was the one to place the sun so high hang the stars in space [Music] to decorate the sky who [Music] was the one to die [Music] his hands [Music] in his feet [Music] victory from the grave [Music] and he's gonna return someday i said nobody [Music] but jesus no no no [Music] jesus jesus no no no no no nobody [Music] [Music] nobody [Music] jesus [Music] is [Music] so can we give sister jocelyn brown a hand of praise come on y'all come on come on oh my lord listen i uh that song that song that song takes me back when i was growing up uh my home church uh that was a song that our choir would sing and even as a child i really didn't understand the significance of it but it was just such a beautiful song but as i'm older now just a little bit older as i'm older now um and i know that it's nobody but jesus i want to let me just be transparent for just a moment if i can um so so yesterday uh i along with the trustees of the church we gathered for a meeting because we are planning to do some some major renovations to our sanctuary we believe that that it's time it's time that we upgrade who we are we're upgrading our video capabilities we're streaming but we believe that the house of god needs to be upgraded as well and so as we gathered and and showed some of the initial plans uh and and members of messiah you'll be made aware of it as well but but the numbers that came in of what it would cost to renovate this thing is is is pretty high it's pretty high and um and and and this wasn't the first time i mean that was their initial meeting yesterday of seeing the plans and understanding it but it's been about i'd say three four months uh that i've i've witnessed it i've heard i've been in dialogue and i'm gonna be honest i'm gonna be honest that that when when i saw the vision of what this could be i was excited but when the cost came back um it took away a little my joy and um and so yesterday yesterday after this after let's say the disciples after the trustees had left and i was driving away from the church heading home i had a moment i had a moment because because god had to show me even while i was driving that if you try to do this thing on your own if if you try to do this with the wherewithal of your trustees or deacons or members if you try to redo this thing without me it will fail jesus is the only one that can make this thing happen and so when she started singing nobody but jesus i almost came out of this suit right now because that's my testimony and i just ain't with the renovation but that's with everything that i've experienced in life whoever it is i am right now and i'm about to get into this message whoever i am is because of him it's nobody but jesus he gets the glory and somebody who's watching virtually you ought to be able to put your virtual hands together type some shouts in the chat room and declare that nobody but jesus nobody nobody can we go back into that just a little bit i'm sorry i just need a little bit more nobody [Music] by jesus [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] now [Music] oh [Music] listen um there are some of you who are going through some things right now some of you i've been in conversation with throughout this week some of you are at home and you haven't shared anything with anyone but i want you to allow that to be your testimony this morning nobody but jesus whatever it is whoever it is nobody but jesus you've got to have that you listen this is why we do what we do this is the reason for us being here is because of christ it's because that we believe that christ knows us christ saved us and christ is working things out and so whatever what what whatever calamity you got going on in your life right now whatever sickness you may be fearful of whatever result you're waiting for the results or waiting for for the diagnosis for you you just got to believe nobody but jesus he can and he will he can and he will work it out amen amen listen i want to get straight to this let's let's let's jump into it um i i you know i'm grateful for this day i'm grateful for this service we are a family here and and you know oftentimes you know when you watch anything i don't care what it is whatever it is you watch or whatever it is you listen to whether it's a podcast or whether you're watching the news or your show there's always things that go on behind the scenes and and sometimes you know when that camera goes live you are unaware of what's going on and so i just want to take a moment and thank god i'm thanking god for this family that we have here every sunday morning we are here and so today we're a little short-handed and i just want to give a shout out i need you all in the chat room to give a shout out we we shout now i'm shouting out in the cold pain this morning because she's doing double duty and i don't know what she doing up there but she's making it happen and so so so i thank god for her we we're praying for kim she's not here praying for melvin who's usually on the lead guitar but i thank god for donovan and and for joel and for superb herb on the ones and twos uh i thank god that we're able to come together i thank god for for mick our sound guy who's been filling in for mark uh and they our tag team but regardless of who isn't here and and how we're putting it together god gets the glory and my brothers and sisters let this be just a word of encouragement for you because sometimes you may be shorthanded and sometimes you you you you may not have all the pieces in place but you've got to trust god and you've got to go with what god has given you and if you trust god in the process these are the results the results is you don't know what's going on behind the scenes but god is working it out amen i just had to put that out there because i'm watching it i'm watching it unfold and and often times i often times when you are just looking you make your comments and you typing and you thinking but you have no idea and i like to compare that to your personal life because some of y'all's personal life is just like what's going on in here it's all over the place but thanks be to god that god orchestrates it so that you might be able to look the way you look and god gets the glory from it i just had to put that out there i that's my pastoral word for the morning but there's a word i want to share with you the gospel of john chapter 8 verses 54 through 59 this is i'm reading from the message translation i'm reading from the message translation and it reads this way jesus said if i was striving to get all the attention it wouldn't amount to anything but my father the same one you say is your father put me here at this time and place of splendor you haven't recognized him in this but i have if i in false modesty said i didn't know what was going on i would be as much of a liar as you are but i do know and i am doing what he says verse 56 abraham your father with elated faith looked down the corridors of history and saw my day coming he saw it and cheered and the jew said you're not even 50 years old and abraham saw you verse 58 believe me jesus says i am who i am long before abraham was anything and that did it and pushed him over the edge they picked up rocks to throw at him but jesus slipped away getting out of the temple i want to focus in on verse 58 believe me jesus says i am who i am long before abraham was anything amen my brothers and sisters i just want to share this subject with you for a few moments i know who i am do you that's what i want to ask that i know who i am do you amen a couple of weeks ago i saw a video clip that not only captured my attention but it it it caused me to do research on this whole social media influencers thing that's going on it was a woman and her son they were sitting in the car her camera was on she was live apparently her son's dog had died and and she was coaxing him up she was coaching him to to cry for the camera she was trying to get him to to be sorrowful and and she pulled him close to her breast and held them they looked in the camera and she said wait wait wait you you got to cry for real look in the camera she's she's literally directing him through this process and then i remember her saying she said act like you crying he said i am crying she said but you gotta look at the camera when you cry she was directing this whole piece what she did not know was that she was live and so all of her followers witnessed this staged meltdown this staged reaction to losing a pet so after viewing it um i was sharing it with my wife with shalonda and and she shared with me um the the the the popularity of social media influencers i never heard as such i'm not on social media most of y'all know that by now i don't have no hashtags no no screen name ain't nothing you can't find me um google don't even know who i am google thinks i'm queen latifah y'all google that that's a whole nother yeah and so so i did this research and i discovered that social media influencers are not only popular but they're paid good god almighty and and what i discovered was that these individuals create pages or sites where people subscribe to and they just simply influence others and then i said well you know this phenomenon isn't new and i had to go back to my old school way of thinking i said the social media influencers are no different than athletes or entertainers they're influencers um kanye west is coming out with a new sneaker there are that i think 350 or 400 dollars people can't wait to wear them he's influencing how young people view fashion there's so many influences across the country i was just unaware of social media influencers and for some of them that's their career but what struck me about this woman this influencer was the fact that that what i realized was everything that she posted to the public was always edited and when the unedited version was shown it showed her in a different light like everything that she puts out there to influence people is staged it's rehearsed and so so behind the scenes you got a glimpse of what the influencer really looks like and after viewing the unedited version there were some influencers who were no longer influenced as we prepare to celebrate 129 years next sunday some of you in person some watching virtually i thought about the influence our church is making 129 years we shout about it and i'm glad and grateful to be a part of this history but the question i asked this week is are we influencing anybody see we're going to celebrate next week messiah baptist church we're going to celebrate our history going to celebrate our longevity yeah we're gonna declare how good god has been but i realize that what you'll witness next week and what and how we promote ourselves is actually the edited version you'd have to look at some of the unedited stuff in the life of this church to really see who we are better yet i made it personal god help me realize this week that i am a spiritual influencer like it or not there are those who watch and listen listen to me as i direct you to christ and what i realized is this that what you see on sunday mornings and what you witness on thursday evenings or whenever whenever you see me do what i do that's actually the edited version yeah you witnessing the cleaned up version that i have prepared this to present to you and oftentimes in my personal prayers i wonder god would anybody follow christ if they saw my unedited life now before you go any further and start asking questions about my unedited life hold on open up your own book and look at your own unedited life and i do believe that's a moment right then right now that you can give god praise because the truth is all of us present our edited selves to the world all of us present the edited shots and the edited quotes the edited way we live to the public but behind the scenes there is some unedited mess going on but by the grace of god and i feel like saying this to somebody by the grace of god god is able to take your unedited mess and package it in a way that god can get the glory and others can be saved i wish you could feel me this morning we're so busy and this is the thing we're so busy looking into the lives of others and commenting on their unedited mess that we failed to examine our own lives and realize that 24 7 our life is an unedited mess but by the grace of god god is able to cut and to splice and to package together a life that brings god glory and is able to use you in the world to make a difference from the preacher to the singer to the band to the worship leader to the to the person working the audio and the video all of us have unedited lives but god takes the good and works it my brothers and sisters i want you to know that you are an influencer the question is what kind of influencer are you i had to take a good look at myself this week i asked myself the question who am i that's why that was my my mental and spiritual exercise this week who am i who are you and what i came to realize is this oftentimes we say who we are based upon what we do i am a pastor i am a husband i am a son i'm a friend i am i am a community activist whatever that that's who i am but when i'm no longer pastoring when you're no longer a spouse when you're no longer a parent when you're no longer a teacher or a doctor when you're no longer a member of some organization what and who are you see oftentimes as we celebrate 129 years we're going to have some members talking about i'm a member of messiah baptist church yeah you're going to wear it boldly and proud and i appreciate it i am too but we're more than that and so we've got to understand yes i had to understand i want you to understand that in order for you to discover who you are you've got to meet the i am i don't know who i am until i discover i am i'm not trying to confuse you it's in the text before we get to john chapter 8 let me set the stage for you in exodus chapter 3 last month we spent quite a bit of time talking about moses and the israelites crossing the red sea but before moses got to that red sea while moses was on his the part two of his journey while he was in midian and and living as a shepherd he he had a face to face with god god interrupted his plans god began to speak to moses from a bush that was consumed by fire it was on fire but it wasn't burning up as moses talks to god through this burning bush and god tells moses i want you to go back where you came from yes i know you're one of fugitive back in egypt but i need you to go back there because i have an assignment for you i am going to have you be the emancipator of the israelites i've heard the cries moses and it's time it's time you go back and deliver them and it's time you go and tell pharaoh let my people go and it is there at the burning bush moses asked the pivotal question well now when i get there and talk to the israelites here it is what god do i tell them has sent me because there were other gods i need you to know that and the israelites knew the israelites knew the names of the other gods and god says to moses tell them i am that i am sent you good god almighty i am that i am that i am that i am what what's god's name and in the jewish culture they don't even have a name for god they call god yahweh no formal name because god's name is too holy to be spoken out loud and god tells moses tell them i am that i am so in exodus chapter 3 we now we now understand that the israelites begin to call god i am god has many other names many other ways in which god blesses but god is known as i am so it is here fast forward with me to the gospel of john chapter 8. there is an identity question being raised to jesus who are you now before we get to that before that happens there is a woman who was caught in adultery at the beginning of this chapter she was an adulterer that's what i'm trying to help you understand you will never know who you are you will never know who you are who i am until you discover the i am she was caught in adultery so she was known as the adulterer yeah and some of you based upon your sins and your mistakes in the past that became public to others you are known by your mistakes that's the thief that's the drug addict that's the that's the prostitute or whatever derogatory term you want to use but that's not who you are so let me help somebody understand that even if you've graduated and you got your phds hanging on walls and and even if you've accomplished some things in life those things don't make you who you are but on the flip side of this spectrum even if you've messed up in life and you haven't drawn within the lines and and you've made mistakes along the way that's not who you are i'm not known by my sins and i'm not known by my worldly accomplishments who am i i can only discover that when i meet the i am the woman meets jesus and jesus says to those who caught her in adultery well if any of you are without sin you throw the stone they drop the stones so that's the first indication i see in this text that i am a sinner that's who i am that's who you are there's a conversation that jesus has because he declares to the pharisees in the same chapter that i am the light and now they're confused because they like hold up hold up hold up you you you ain't no light you mary and joseph's son we guess joseph is the father in real talk you might be a bastard we don't know who your daddy is can you imagine the the the labels that they've already placed on jesus you are a carpenter or a carpenter's son you are all of that but the light no no no no but because jesus has accepted the will that god has for his life he accepted god's assignment jesus knows who he is and he goes on in the text to say i'm not only the light but i am the one who came from the father parenthetically jesus is saying in exodus chapter 3 you know that voice you heard or that moses heard from that burning bush jesus says i'm that voice in flesh hold up no no no no no no no you only 50 years old there is no way you could have been there and here jesus says i am and so my brothers and sisters as we look at this eighth chapter of john it's revealed that jesus knows who he is jesus's identity is intact and regardless because they wanted signs and wonders regardless of what the people wanted jesus knew his role he stayed in his lane and he knew who he was he was i am he is i am and at that as jesus begins to tell them that i am that's cold language they don't know what to do with them and so the scripture says in verse 59 that they pick up stones to stone him isn't that something i need you to see this eighth chapter if you can't at the beginning of the chapter a woman was caught in adultery and they're ready to stone her at the conclusion of this chapter you have jesus who knows who he is and as he's declaring who he is who he really is they can't handle it and they're ready to stone him i want somebody to know that when you meet the i am and you discover who you are not everybody will be able to handle the new you yes they'd rather have you with the old labels they'd rather box you in in what you used to do but i want somebody to know that when you have a run-in with the i am that means when you discover jesus and you accept jesus and you embrace him as lord and savior in your life you become a new i am that's what i want to tell somebody right now listen listen i appreciate you tuning in to this youtube live stream but if all you doing is tuning in to watch me be your spiritual influencer i've got some bad news you wasting your time because you you you can't handle my unedited life i can barely handle it myself i am here because of the i am i am here because i discovered who he was and so i pray that you watching this has less to do with me but more to do with you praising thee i am for doing what i am has done in your life that's what jocelyn was saying nobody but jesus who is the i am nobody but jesus now your job wants you to think that the job has control of your life spouses may think that they have control over your life the banks may want you to think that they have control over your life but the good news is there's only one and jesus says i am oh my gosh and if you can discover who the i am is then whatever days that you have left can be lived in joy and gratitude because you know i am jesus says in the gospel of john that i'm a whole lot of things jesus says i'm the bread of life jesus says i am the light of the world jesus says i am the door jesus says i am the good shepherd jesus says i am the resurrection and the life jesus says i'm the way the truth and the life jesus says i am the vine what are you saying jesus jesus is saying when you discover me and accept me and allow me to be lord over your life i've got this i am so you don't have to add your own influence into this thing just let me influence you let me show you what i can do and so as i stand here before you this morning i know who i am do you better yet i know who i am is do you i'm not i am she's not i am they're not i am he is the great i am my brothers and sisters when you discover christ on that level regardless of what happens in your life you can have some testimonies and declarations that i am a child of the king that i am bought with a price that i am saved that i am redeemed that i am kept by his grace that i am covered in the blood that i am a conqueror that i am loved yes i am i am the head and not the tail i i am the one that he died for i am i know who i am do you it's time it's time to put all of the personal accomplishments and accolades to the side it's time to let go of the labels and mistakes of your past it's time for you meet to meet the i am and when you discover the great i am you discover who you are i thank god for this time together thank god for these 19 months we've been virtually because i've discovered i am in a whole different realm i thank god for what god has done thus far in the life of our church but god wants to do some greater works in us and we may look at the works and look at our hands and come to the conclusion that we can do it but i hear him saying i am my brothers and sisters we look forward to having you join us don't forget if you want to be here with us next week in person to celebrate our 129th anniversary register go online messiahmovement.org scan the qr code or call the church tomorrow we're capping it at 100 people so the first hundred to sign up will be allowed to come and worship with us listen we still gonna be here so even if you can't come don't worry about it we gonna be here live the way you're watching now is the way we're going to be next week we're just going to have a few more people in the audience in the congregation amen until next week god bless you i pray you have a blessed week who you are and you can only do that by discovering i am have a great week [Music] praise god from [Music] praise [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Music] hey 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Channel: MessiahMovement Livestream

Views: 525

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Keywords: MessiahMovement, Messiah Baptist Church EONJ, Rev Dana P Owens, Jesus, Christ, Church, Bible, Verse, God, Sunday Morning, Sunday Service, Moses, Israel, Water, Israelites, Dusty, Sandals, Testimony

Id: EQ0qkvLYez0

Length: 70min 54sec (4254 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 03 2021