WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:04.559 So there was a great band in the 1960s and 70s, rock and roll band out of England. 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:05.519 They're called The Who. 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:07.120 Is anybody a The Who fan? 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:08.400 Do we have any Who fans? 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:09.359 A few of you. 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:11.519 There was this song in 1973. 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:16.160 It was written as part of their rock opera album in 1973. 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:18.960 And there was this song called The Real Me. 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:21.039 Does anybody know The Real Me? 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:22.160 Is anybody familiar with it? 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:24.320 Okay, Pearl Jam covered it in the 90s. 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:31.679 And that was kind of interesting too because it like 20 years or so passed, and you know, this incredibly huge band at the time, Pearl Jam, still a huge band. 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:36.640 They cop they covered it, and still this song is still relevant today, and people talk about this song even today. 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:38.719 It's been about 45 years. 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:43.759 Now, why would Pearl Jam cover a 20-year-old song by a rock and roll band out of England? 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:48.560 Why would we still talk about this song and people know this song today 45 years later? 00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:51.520 It can feel kind of uh obscure, right? 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:54.640 45-year-old song, rock and roll band out of England. 00:00:54.880 --> 00:01:00.719 And it's because this song resonates, this idea of the real me just keeps resonating. 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:04.319 And so the song is about this boy named Jimmy. 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:10.879 And Jimmy goes to a psychiatrist, he goes to his mother, and he goes to a preacher. 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:16.480 And he goes to each of them, he's trying to figure out, hey, like, do you know, can you see, can you see the real me? 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:19.840 And he's getting more and more frustrated with each of these people. 00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:25.280 And finally the song just sort of concludes, just him crying out, can you see the real me preacher? 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:26.719 Can you see the real me doctor? 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:28.319 Can you see the real me mother? 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:30.000 Can you see the real me? 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:32.239 And we know what Jimmy's feeling. 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:32.719 Right? 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:34.000 We know what Jimmy's feeling. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:37.040 He's feeling like, who, like, who am I? 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:39.200 Underneath, right? 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:42.159 Underneath everything we put on, who am I? 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:50.239 Underneath job or school or friendships or romance or not romance or religiosity or not being religious. 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:53.840 I mean, who are we at our at our core? 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:55.599 Who are we? 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:59.120 And it's easy to live life unsure of that. 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:10.080 It's easy to play a role in life with no foundation, and then to blow your life up three years later, five years later. 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:16.960 My hope this morning is for us to enter into some contemplation about this. 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:33.599 That you will contemplate with me, dare to kind of go under deep inside, underneath performance and roles and all that, into just who are you, apart from all of that and all the other stuff that we layer upon it. 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:34.639 And this is what St. 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:40.400 Paul is trying to get these Galatians to do, because this church in Galatia, we've been talking about this church in this letter. 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:43.840 These people knew the grace of Jesus, the grace of God. 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:45.759 They knew it. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:56.560 They knew that their rightness with God was secured by Jesus' work, and then they reverted back to performing religious merit as to feel right with God. 00:02:56.719 --> 00:03:10.479 And Paul is blown away, and he's writing trying to get them set straight, and he's been breaking down, telling them the grace of God, breaking down the inadequacy of law for their lives, and saying Jesus fulfilled the law, and then just coming to them saying, like, hey, here's your identity. 00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:14.159 You're children of God by grace. 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:21.680 So chapter 3, verse 25, but now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:22.639 We talked about that last week. 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:24.080 Guardian means schoolmaster. 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:25.039 You can listen to last week. 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:25.919 I don't need to repeat that. 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:31.840 Verse 26, for in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:35.439 And point number one is this, we have a few points to work our way through the passage. 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:37.759 Point number one is this, we've talked about this all the time. 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:42.639 Your identity is given, not earned. 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:46.960 See, we keep trying to live life by addition. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:52.319 If I add something else, then I'll be somebody. 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:54.319 I'm not okay right now, not today. 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:56.879 I need to add some, I need life by addition. 00:03:56.960 --> 00:04:03.520 And if I add her or add him or add that, or add whatever it is, you fill in the blank, and then I'll be somebody. 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:04.879 I'll be okay. 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:07.360 We can make it religious. 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:15.520 I don't feel adequate as a child of God, therefore, well, if I add this duty or this merit, then I'll be, then I'll be right with God. 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:17.519 Then finally I'll be right with God. 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:19.279 And Paul says, no, no, no, no, no, no. 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:22.079 You aren't a slave to that anymore. 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:25.279 You're you're a child. 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:27.040 He says, you're a son. 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:31.439 So Paul presents a life of subtraction, right? 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:41.360 He's trying to strip us back to the core self, to who we are by grace, by the grace of Christ alone. 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:44.720 Now that word son, he uses it over and over and over again. 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:46.560 It's not gender bias of the Bible. 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:47.759 Actually, it's kind of the opposite. 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:55.519 He's writing to men and women, and he's saying, you are sons, and at the time, a son would be the one receiving the inheritance. 00:04:56.160 --> 00:05:01.600 So he's coming to a group of men and women, and he's saying, Hey, all of you are heirs. 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:07.360 All of you share in this wealth of identity and position with God. 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:16.079 A few months ago, a friend of ours in Atlanta, her and her husband are friends, they adopted a baby. 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:18.240 Their sixth child. 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:28.079 And so they adopted their baby, and one night Christy and I dropped in on them to see this new baby, and we get there because that's what friends do, right? 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:33.920 Drop in on your friends while they're getting all their children ready for bed. 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:38.800 We drop in at bedtime, is when we drop in on them. 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:45.279 And so they have been returning our phone calls, but, anyways, the point is we show up and we just want to see the baby, right? 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:46.879 Like we just want the baby. 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:48.000 That's the thing we want. 00:05:48.240 --> 00:06:01.600 And so we get there, and one of the biological children is holding the adopted little boy and feeding her, feeding him, and just the cute and mom's over here making lunches. 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:04.160 All the other kids are upstairs getting ready for bed, all on their own. 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:06.560 You can hear that going on upstairs. 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:11.120 Eventually, Christy gets the little baby boy away from the little girl. 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:15.360 Christy just rips the baby out of her hands and she goes, she cries, heads off. 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:18.720 And this little this little boy, right? 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:20.720 This is what's so beautiful about adoption. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:23.600 And this is the image here in this passage. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:25.920 He's a little baby. 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:27.920 He has no resume. 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:34.079 He's really unimpressive if we stack him up in the world. 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:44.240 I mean, he he eats, he poops, he sleeps, he looks cute sometimes, and he cries a lot, right? 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:46.560 I mean, this is this is his existence. 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:58.480 And yet, because a family chose to love him, he is a child in their family. 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:01.199 Nothing else, no other reason. 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:04.160 Because he is loved, he is a child. 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:05.680 No other reason. 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:06.560 Right? 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:12.079 I mean, here verse 26 at that point, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons, heirs. 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:15.120 You are all heirs of God. 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:17.360 Then we jump to verse 27. 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:20.959 For as many of you were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:27.279 This idea of have put on Christ is the image of clothing, it's the image of being clothed and covered. 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:32.560 So, how many of you, confession time, are tidying up with Marie Kondo? 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:33.439 Is anybody else? 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:34.399 We talked about it last week. 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:35.040 Just raise your hand. 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:35.360 Go ahead. 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:35.839 Get up. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:36.240 I want. 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:38.480 How many of you are against it? 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:39.920 You're like, I hate it. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:42.240 I don't want to. 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:46.000 All right, so we all know this feeling though. 00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:50.319 You go in your closet, you look at a pair of old jeans, right? 00:07:50.399 --> 00:08:03.120 And you look at them and you pull them out, and you look at them, and maybe they're they're baggy jeans, or maybe they're slim jeans, or whatever, they're the opposite of what you like now, and you look at them and you go, Oh, I can't believe I wore these. 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:07.199 You show them to your roommate or your spouse, and you go, Can you believe I wore? 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:08.399 I can't believe I wore these. 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:09.360 That's so silly of me. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:12.639 And you you put them in the goodwill pile and you're gonna take them and give them. 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:14.319 But there's nothing wrong with the jeans, right? 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:21.920 There's no hole in them, there's nothing wrong with them, except at some point, somehow, you moved on from this pair of jeans. 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:23.839 But you loved them at some point. 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:25.439 Well, what happened? 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:26.399 What happened? 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:27.839 Well, here's what happened. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:29.360 This is what happens to me. 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:31.920 You're wearing those jeans, you're very happy. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:46.639 Slowly you see a couple people wearing a different pair of jeans that look different, and then more people start to wear different jeans, and then more people, and then you look down and you go, I don't, I don't match that, and then suddenly you don't like these jeans, which you used to like. 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:52.639 I used to like them too, and then suddenly you don't like them anymore, so you go buy a different pair of jeans, right? 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:54.559 So that's what we do. 00:08:55.200 --> 00:08:55.679 Right? 00:08:55.919 --> 00:08:59.840 And this is our way of signaling, right? 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:03.600 This is this is our way, and that's the point. 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:09.679 Our clothing usually often becomes a uniform that we signal to each other. 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:14.320 And we all do this, even if you don't like clothing, right? 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:15.519 You go, I don't like clothing. 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:16.639 I would never do that. 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:19.519 Well, you're signaling that you don't do that. 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:20.639 That's what you're signaling. 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:23.679 Like, you know, I don't care, is what you're signaling. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:30.399 So, whatever's important to us or not important to us, we we do signal that with our with our clothing. 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:37.759 And God does not see all that vanity we do in that area or any other area. 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:39.120 And isn't that good news? 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:43.519 Because we are signaling constantly with all sorts of things when it comes to identity. 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:45.600 And he didn't see any of that. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:51.840 Because we are covered, we are clothed in Christ. 00:09:52.799 --> 00:10:03.039 What a secure identity amidst a world, amidst us who are changing genes every few years, just because we see a group of people slowly wearing different genes. 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:09.679 Christ is our clothing, which is saying he is our covering, secure covering. 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:12.240 This leads us into verses 28 and 29. 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:15.840 Takes us kind of a deeper into this thought. 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:26.639 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there's no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus, and if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:28.879 So there is right there, we see that in verse 29, right? 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:29.600 You're Christ. 00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:30.559 How are you, Christ? 00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:36.639 Well, you're Christ because a promise, because of because of grace to you. 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:43.440 Point number two is this your identity can become your secure viewing deck. 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:45.919 That's kind of metaphorical, I'll break that down for you. 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:48.960 But your identity can become your secure viewing deck. 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:53.360 Last summer, our family, our little family, went and visited the rest of our family in Seattle. 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:56.159 One day we went to the Seattle Space Needle. 00:10:56.240 --> 00:11:02.320 We got our tickets, we get in line, long line, we're working our way up this ramp that kind of wraps around the base of the Space Needle along the way. 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:06.559 They entertain you with these billboards with information about the Space Needle. 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:13.519 At first, they tell you in 1962, it was built for the World's Fair, you get a little history in this, you're okay, okay. 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:16.000 And then 600 feet tall, you're looking up at it. 00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:17.039 I started getting a little nervous. 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:19.200 I like escape routes, like, how do I get out of here? 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:20.879 How do I get my family out of here? 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:25.200 There's no out really visible, 600 feet in the air, a little needle. 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:31.279 And then the next uh billboard said it can withstand a 9.1 earthquake. 00:11:31.679 --> 00:11:32.639 I could have done without it. 00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:34.399 I hadn't even thought about earthquake. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:38.480 Like that was a whole new, like, oh, I didn't I didn't consider that. 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:39.039 Thanks. 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:41.679 That's great information at this point. 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:48.240 But then you get to some other information, all of a sudden everything starts to sort of like like relieve and settle down. 00:11:49.679 --> 00:12:04.240 You learn the concrete foundation of the space needle, the the foundation at the base, that concrete they poured into the earth, weighs the same as the entire structure going up into the air, which makes the center of gravity of the entire structure five feet off the ground. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:08.240 Now, I'm not an engineer, but that feels very good to me, right? 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:11.919 That feels good, that feels safe, five feet feels safe. 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:19.039 And then you learn there's 72 bolts, four inches thick, that connect that structure into that foundation. 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:20.399 That felt good to me. 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:24.159 I figure we could lose a few bolts and we're still be okay. 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:25.440 So up we go. 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:30.480 Got this foundation connecting the foundation, feeling good about this, up we go. 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:40.799 We get up there, and they're replacing what to me felt like a very safe method of viewing with these just sheets of glass from the floor to the ceiling. 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:49.279 No bar, like I need a bar, I like a, you know, something between me and this glass, and you can sit and lean up against the glass, which I was not gonna do that. 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:51.519 All my children are doing this great, right? 00:12:51.759 --> 00:13:02.480 But up there from the viewing deck, all of a sudden something was possible that wasn't possible when we were walking the streets of Seattle, and that was we could see Mount Rainier to the south. 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:11.120 We could see out to the San Juan Islands, we could see over Elliott Bay, we could see all over the Amazon headquarter campus right there in Seattle. 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:18.720 Like all of a sudden, we could see stuff, we gain new sight that we couldn't see from below. 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:23.840 And this is the point of your adoption, and this is the point of you being clothed in Christ. 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:36.879 You have a foundation greater than your performance, and you have a lens to see yourself, to see other people, and to see the world from a very secure place. 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:42.320 And then verse 28 says, hey, you don't have to label people. 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:58.159 There's no Jew, there's no Greek, there's no slave-free male, female, clerk, CEO, black, white, Canadian, Mexican, East Cobb, West Cobb, downtown Marietta. 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:01.039 We don't have to go around doing that. 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:06.320 We don't have to label one person to make ourselves feel more superior than them. 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:08.399 We don't have to do that. 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:10.480 Because you can see deeper. 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:22.240 Once you come into contact with the security of your, the wealth of your identity in Jesus, you can see deeper into other people without having to limit them for you to feel more righteous. 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:26.240 Because you know something. 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:29.200 You know that we are all these things in some way. 00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:33.840 We have roles and we have uh we have race, we have cultures. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:36.399 But we're deeper than those things. 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:39.440 We're all one in Christ Jesus. 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:42.799 Last section of verses, verses four through seven. 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:56.960 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:02.159 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba Father. 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:04.159 So you are no longer a slave, but a son. 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:07.200 And if a son, then an heir through God. 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:19.200 Point number three is this the source of your identity, which is Christ, the source of your identity becomes your power source for freedom and transformation. 00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:26.399 The source of your identity, Christ, becomes the power source for freedom and transformation. 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:34.399 Steve Brown, a seminary professor and author who I love to quote, he wrote an article, Freedom Costs, but freedom has its rewards. 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:39.120 He wrote these, he wrote a whole handful of like bullet points. 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:41.120 I picked out four. 00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:52.320 The free Christian finds that he or she is living a life of progressive sanctification, not because he or she has to, but because a joyous response to love. 00:15:52.559 --> 00:16:02.240 The free Christian is no longer living in constant fear of other people, of being discovered, of failing, or of making a mistake. 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:06.559 The free Christian is no longer haunted by an overwhelming sense of guilt. 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:10.639 Guilt is replaced by the realization of being acceptable to God. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:16.399 The free Christian is shed of empty religion, of meaningless acts of piety. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:22.000 He or she doesn't have to pretend to be a Christian anymore. 00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:37.039 See, Brown, Steve Brown, he deeply believes what Paul's saying and what we get to proclaim, and that is that Jesus fulfilled every law, every bit of righteousness that we should do, and yet we don't always do it. 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:38.559 And that's enough for you. 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:47.679 That's our sin being put upon the cross, the righteousness of Jesus be given to us, and we live in that great grace of Christ, and that frees the heart. 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:55.039 And once the heart is free, then the heart can begin to produce change in our lives from the inside out. 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:58.879 And that's why the contemplative life matters. 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:06.640 It's because it's not you earning something that you don't already have, it's you remembering and resting in that which you already have. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:10.319 It's already there in Jesus. 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:13.839 And it is rich and it is incredible for you. 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:18.640 And the contemplative life is us coming into that to remember and rest in it. 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:24.240 Verse 6 says, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba Father. 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:31.119 So the Spirit of God is in you, helping you believe, proclaiming in you and over you, Abba Father. 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:31.839 I love this term. 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:32.640 We see it a few times. 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:36.000 Paul uses it twice, Jesus uses it once. 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:37.839 Abba means Papa. 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:41.759 It has the idea of unreasoning trust. 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:49.519 And then father means an intelligent apprehension of that relationship. 00:17:49.839 --> 00:18:03.200 So you put these two things together and you get this idea of an unreasoning trust and an Abba and a Papa, and yet as we grow in grace, we're growing in the intelligent understanding of that Papa's character. 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:09.920 Author Brendan Manning, he wrote a great book years ago called Abba's Child. 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:20.480 And he wrote this, we'll close with this quote The gospel proclaims a hidden power in the world, the living presence of the risen Christ. 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:27.519 It liberates men and women from the slavery that obscures them, the image and likeness of God. 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:34.640 And then he writes, Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:36.400 This is the true self. 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:40.880 Every other identity is illusion. 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:46.559 My brothers and sisters, God being your Abba Father, makes you beloved. 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:49.680 Every other identity is illusion. 00:18:49.839 --> 00:18:51.039 Let's pray together. 00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:54.160 God, thank you for the grace of Christ. 00:18:54.559 --> 00:19:05.920 That our identity as a child of God is secure even while we walk around this world trying to form an identity in religion and also in the world. 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:13.920 Forgive us for all the ways that we walk away from, forget, dismiss, rebel against. 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:18.720 The identity of being followers of Jesus and your children. 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:25.680 And yet, for those of us who have placed faith in you, by your grace, we are always that. 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:31.119 Father, there's some of us in this room that have been trying to form identities for a long time. 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:35.039 And we are at the end of our rope. 00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:39.519 And God, would you call them home to you this morning? 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:45.680 For most of us, we just simply keep wandering about. 00:19:47.200 --> 00:19:57.359 And would you, by your grace, increase our faith in how good you are and how rich we are and the identity we have as your children? 00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:09.839 Help us to see all the illusions that we are buying into about who we are and help us to rest and remember in greater ways that we are your children, your heirs. 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:11.440 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:12.319 Amen.