Engedi Church | May 3, 2026

Come on, let's put our hands like this. ♪♪ ♪ We thank you, Jesus. Oh, we thank you, Lord. ♪ ♪♪ ♪ And I've searched high and low. ♪ ♪ I've never found a love that's better. ♪ ♪ So where else could I go? ♪ ♪ Your words will last forever. ♪ ♪ You're the way of the truth, the light that I choose. ♪ ♪ And nothing's gonna take you away. ♪ ♪ My light in the dark, the king of my... ♪ Come on, you sing. ♪ And I just gotta sing of your love. ♪ ♪ I just gotta sing of your love. ♪ Come on. ♪ Your promises were proven in blood. ♪ ♪ You said it was time, and that's more than enough. ♪ ♪ So I just wanna sing of your love. ♪ Come on, let's sing. ♪ You thought of me on Calvary. ♪ ♪ Even though I did not deserve it. ♪ ♪ You set me free, so I'm free indeed. ♪ ♪ And now I'm walking in a greater purpose. ♪ ♪ You're the way and the truth. ♪ ♪ You're the light that I choose. ♪ ♪ And nothing's gonna keep you away. ♪ ♪ My light in the dark, the king of my heart. ♪ Come on, Church, just sing. ♪ I just wanna sing of your love. ♪ Come on, make clear it today.

♪ I just gotta sing of your love. ♪ ♪ Your promises were proven in blood. ♪ ♪ You said it was done, that's more than enough. ♪ ♪ And I just wanna sing of your love. ♪ Come on, put your hands like this all across the room. Come on, if you've got a reason to praise the Lord. Let's declare this together. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Come on, let's sing. ♪ I got a million reasons. ♪ ♪ I shouldn't even be here. ♪ ♪ But I'm alive and breathing. ♪ ♪ It's all because of Jesus. ♪ Come on, let me hear you. ♪ I got a million reasons. ♪ ♪ I shouldn't even be here. ♪ ♪ But I'm alive and breathing. ♪ ♪ It's all because of Jesus. ♪ ♪ So I just gotta sing of your love. ♪ Come on church, just sing. ♪ I just gotta sing of your love. ♪ Come on declare it. ♪ Your promises were proven in blood. ♪ ♪ You said it was done and that's more than enough. ♪ ♪ So I just gotta sing of your love. ♪ Come on, let me hear you declare. ♪ I got a million reasons. ♪ ♪ I shouldn't even be here. ♪ ♪ But I'm alive and breathing. ♪ ♪ I got a million reasons. ♪

♪ I shouldn't even be here. ♪ ♪ But I'm alive and breathing. ♪ ♪ It's all because of Jesus. ♪ ♪ It's all because of Jesus. ♪ ♪ Only because of Jesus. ♪ ♪ It's all because of Jesus. ♪ Come on, if you're in love with the Lord, give Him praise. Hallelujah. Man, isn't it beautiful to be in the presence of the Lord today? Come on, are you thankful to be in the presence of the living God this morning? You know, I've been in Ephesians chapter 2 all weekend. And my favorite verse in that passage is Ephesians 2. It's actually the scripture my wife and I got married in. It's in our wedding. And it says, for it's by grace that you have been saved. And it's not through your works. It's not something you could boast about. It's because of the goodness of God's grace and mercy. And I'm just thankful for that. I'm thankful for that gift. That doesn't matter how much you have to strive, even on your best day, none of us deserve to be an attorney with Jesus. But because of his love and his mercy and his goodness, he came down 2000 years ago and paid the price of sin so that we could live with him for all of eternity. What a good gift that is, amen. And the way we respond and the way we show Jesus our gratitude

is by giving him the praise and worship that he deserves. When I think about it, when I was growing up, my father would give me a gift. I would give him a hug, tell him how much I love him, just thank him for that gift. How much more should we do that to our heavenly father every time we gather together? Say, father, thank you. Thank you for the gift of your son, Jesus Christ. Thank you for the gift of salvation, something you gave because of your grace and your mercy. And come on, as a way of giving God a gratitude and thanks, can we lift our hands as a sign of saying, thank you, Jesus. Come on, there's a reason why the Bible says he inhabits the praises of his people. He loves it when his children call on his name. Father, we thank you, Jesus, that you're a good God. We thank you that this is not just another moment where you sing songs, but this is a moment where you encounter your presence. Holy Spirit, you are welcome in this place. We thank you, Holy Spirit. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. We sing this to you, Lord. Holy Spirit, teach me how to fear the Lord, that you would have priority. More than just a friend, you are the great reward. I can't dethrone the King of kings. And God Almighty,

oh, this is my repentance. I will bow in reverence. Oh, I shudder at wonder. I'm caught up in your presence, fearing you in reverence. Oh, thank you, Lord. And when I fear the Lord, I start to understand that wisdom comes from you alone. And I will learn to love and follow your commands. You increase and I'll go low. So God Almighty, oh, this is my repentance. I will bow in reverence. Oh, I shudder at wonder. I'm caught up in your presence. I'm blessed in God. And God Almighty, oh, this is my repentance. I will bow in reverence. Oh, I shudder at wonder. I'm caught up in your presence, fearing you in reverence. Oh. Oh, we fear you, Lord. Help us to fear you, Lord. And I will give my life to fear the Lord. Walk in step with your spirit. Everything that tries to come against, can I stand in your presence? I will give my life to fear the Lord.

Walk in step with your spirit. Everything that tries to come against, can I stand in your presence? We will be the church victorious, roasting only in Jesus. Nations rage and kingdoms fall apart, voices only increase the end. Thank You Lord. Thank You Lord. Let's sing it out, let's sing God. I'm caught up in Your presence. Let's sing that again. God Almighty. This is my defense. I will bow before Him. Oh strength, wonder. I'm caught up in Your presence. Let's sing that again all across the room. God Almighty. This is my defense. I will bow before Him. Oh strength, wonder. I'm caught up in Your presence. Fill me with Your presence. Thank You Jesus. Can we give God some praise in this room? Thank You Jesus. Thank You Lord. Oh Lord, thank You. Thank You for bringing us here right now. Just to give You honor, give You praise. Give You our worship. Thank You Jesus. We give it all back to You. We give it all back to You.

Thank You Jesus. Amen. If God gave you another chance, would you just lift your hands right now? We just think about all the chances you give us, Lord, you're so graceful. Let's sing this out. Let's sing, hold on. ♪ Who am I that You keep me under my God ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for You God I'm just grateful for You ♪ ♪ All my life You've been right here by my side God ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for You God I'm just grateful for You ♪ Let's sing who am I. ♪ Who am I that You keep me under my God ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for You God I'm just grateful for You ♪ ♪ All my life You've been right here by my side God ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for You God I'm just grateful for You ♪ Let's sing Who am I. ♪ Who amI that You keep me under my God ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for You God I'm just grateful for You ♪ ♪ All my life You've been right here by my side God ♪ ♪ I'm just grateful for You God I'm just grateful for You ♪ ♪ God I'm just grateful for You God I'm just grateful for You ♪ ♪ I'm grateful, I'm grateful for You Jesus ♪ ♪ I'm grateful, I'm grateful for You Jesus ♪ ♪ I'm grateful, I'm grateful for You Jesus ♪ ♪ So what a friend we have in Jesus ♪ ♪ And all our sins and griefs we bear ♪ ♪ And what a privilege to give Him ♪ ♪ A sudden plan for peace ♪ ♪ And oh what peace we often forfeit ♪ ♪ Oh what meaningless pain we bear ♪

♪ And all because we do not care ♪ ♪ Everything to God in prayer ♪ ♪ And all because we do not care ♪ ♪ And everything to God in prayer ♪ ♪ So turn your eyes upon Jesus ♪ ♪ And fall in wonderful faith ♪ ♪ And the things of earth will grow shallow ♪ ♪ But strength lead Him in the light of His glory and grace ♪ Come on, can we sing it all across one more time? Turn your eyes. ♪ So turn your eyes upon Jesus ♪ ♪ Look full in His wonderful face ♪ ♪ And the things of earth will grow strangely thin ♪ ♪ In the light of His glory and grace ♪ ♪ Of His glory and grace ♪ Thank you, Jesus. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ The Lord is with me. The Lord is with me. Every second Lord. The Lord is with me. Every minute, every hour. The Lord is with me. Ever present in my hour of need. The Lord is with me. Don't you praise my name. The Lord is with me. Come on, how many of you believe that this morning? That the Lord is with you. He is in this house. He is in this place.

He is in this very room. Give God some praise this morning. Right there where you are. Whoever you are watching us. He is good. He is faithful. He is with you. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for joining us. I want to welcome all of those that are watching online this morning. Also want to welcome all of our campuses. Thank you so much for joining us. Why don't we give a round of applause to those that are watching us this morning. If I haven't yet met you, my name is Roger Cruz. I pastor in Getty Espanol. I have a privilege of being a part of this wonderful church family. And it's just so good to be with each and every one of you here today. I'm excited for what God is going to be speaking to us. And I believe you are not here by accident. I believe that God has something for you. He wants to change you and transform you in ways that you and I can't even begin to imagine. So you are in the right place at the right time because God has something for you this morning. You believe that church? Yeah.

How many of you have seen the movie Michael Jackson yet? Yeah. Come on. Michael, king of pop. Me and my wife saw it this weekend. It's a great movie. Tells his story. And it's funny because that movie brought some memories of my childhood that I did not think it was going to bring memories of. And as I was watching the movie, there's a point in the movie where they start playing some of Michael's greatest hits. One of those is the song, beat it, beat it. And that's all I know. So I'm going to stop right there. But what brought memory of that song is that growing up, when I was in elementary school, that's the song that my gym teacher played for us to do warm-ups before we did any other activity. And so we were in like the, you know, warming up. And he would play the song. And we're there stretching. Beat it, beat it, beat it. And so it brought memories of that. And then as the movie was playing along, there's a heavy scene that also took me back to a moment in my childhood where Michael's dad is asking something of Michael Jackson. And he's not responding in the way that his dad would like. And there's a heavy scene in the movie where the dad then takes out a bell and he starts hitting Michael Jackson.

And it brought me back into moments of my childhood where there were moments where me and my dad didn't see eye-to-eye. And there was moments where he might have felt disrespected by me or he might have felt a certain way by me. And there were moments where that was his response. And so now I share these stories with you because there are moments in life where you don't see eye-to-eye. You don't see eye-to-eye. You don't see eye-to-eye. Because there are moments in life where just some things bring us back to our old selves or our old upbringings or moments that maybe scarred us, moments that maybe stuck with us for whatever reason, whether they were good or bad. And all of this that I'm trying to get at, it just speaks to our identity. And I don't know if you know this, but life circumstances affect your identity. Good circumstances affect your identity. So much of our surroundings and what we get fed through culture, through media, through social media, all these things around us, they're in one way or another, there's this constant battle where these things kind of come up and they flare up. And the purpose, I think, of all this is that in some way, shape or form, we can identify and say, yeah, that's still like, there's something there about that. That every time I see something like that, it brings me back to where I was as a child or where I was in my youth or where I was a month ago after experiencing that experience that I've experienced. And this is actually what's happening in the church of

Ephesus. In the church of Ephesus, in Ephesians chapter 4, that's going to be our main passage this morning. You can start heading there. But something's happened with the church and what's happened is that Paul's like, hey, you are no longer your past, you have a new identity in Jesus Christ, but all these things, cultural pressures, things from the past, things that mark us, identity that shapes us, all that the church is facing. And in Ephesus at that time, there was a lot of dark magic. There was a lot of religion mixed with dark magic. Ephesus was a place where immorality was at its highest peak. There was a lot of sexual immorality. Ephesus was a place where there were people that were doing wrongdoings and deals and how they approach deals and people were resolving conflict through anger. And all this is going on, and some of this is creeping into the church and Paul is addressing this and he's trying to let the church of Ephesus know, hey, that's no longer who you are. You are now in Christ. But I think that ultimately, this is the battle that we find ourselves constantly. Christ says one thing about me, but life experience, circumstances,

cultural media, social media, all these things get in the way and ultimately they're affecting our identity. So today what I wanna do is I wanna help you see first how the enemy attacks us so that we get away from our identity in Christ and how God constantly reminds us, you are not who you were and you are now new in Christ Jesus. You ready for that church? Yeah. Thank you for the five people in the front row that are ready, come on. Let's read the word of God. Ephesians chapter four, 17 through 24 says this. So I tell you this and insist on it in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do in the fertility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity and they are full of greed. That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.

You were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, to be made new in the attitude of your minds and to put on new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Let's pray and let's get into this. Father, I just thank you so much that you are in this room. I thank you, Lord, that you are here. Your presence is in this place. And I pray, heavenly Father, that today you would not leave us the same, that your word would change us, that your word would do something in our lives that brings us back to understanding our true identity and image in you, Christ. And I pray this in Jesus' name, amen and amen. As I was prepping for this message, I started to think about, you know, where do we lose our identity and why this happens? And I was trying to find, like, we're in scripture that this happened. Where did it begin? And as I started thinking about this and processing this, I realized that this starts in Genesis. At the fall of man and when sin entered the world, our identity that Christ gave us since that moment became an issue in your life and in my life. And as I was reading Genesis, I got to chapter five.

And one of the things that I've been doing in my daily devotion is that I'm taking chapter by chapter and I'll sit with the chapter and I'll ask God questions and I'll write it down. I'll say, what does this mean? I'll reread some things and I just start jotting down and journaling everything that I'm getting through the scripture. But I realized something interesting in Genesis chapter five and that's that the identity that we got through creation was pure and was perfect, but then when sin entered the world, something shifted. And I just want to show you this and how it happened in the life of Adam. So Genesis five, one through three reads like this. This is written account of Adam's family line. When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. He created the male and female and blessed them. And he named them mankind when they were created. Now watch verse three. When Adam had lived 130 years, He had a son in his own likeness, in his own image, and he named him Seth. And so as I started to read this, I started to pause and ask, wait, what's going on here? Adam is created in the image of God, and Seth is created in the image of Adam and in his own likeness. And now I don't want you to confuse this.

It doesn't mean that we're not created in the image of God, or that God did not create mankind after the sin or the fall of man. What it does mean is that when Adam was in the garden and God created him, Adam was literally revealing the perfectness of God in his own mankind. He was perfect without sin, with purpose, with life, in a place where he had access to God directly. And so he was perfectly bearing the image of God. But after sin entered the world and after the fall of man, every person that came from Adam's family line, not only bear the image of God, but also the image of the falling nature of Adam. And that's where you and I fall into this story. And this is the battle that we're in. There's this perfect image of God, who he is, what he says about us, and this gets redeemed through Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ died on the cross and he gave us his life for you and I, he let us know now we have a new creation in Jesus Christ, but we're in this battle. Why? Because we're still in a world that's full of sin. Why? Because constantly we are surrounded by people that have sinful natures and people with sinful nature scar our lives. Like in my case, my dad did at times. Like in my case, people that didn't believe in me, did at times.

And so we're in this battle of like, God's like, you're a new creation. I've set you free. I've given you a new identity, but yet the enemy uses tactics to get us back to thinking and believing you are not new. You ain't different. You haven't changed. You're still the same person. And this is what Paul is addressing in the church of Ephesus. And I believe this is what God wants to address today. And this is why in verse 17 and 18, he says that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do in the fertility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding. And the first attack of the enemy, the first thing that he does that I want you to know today is that he starts to attack the mind, distorting truth and darkening it. And the reason is because how you think of yourself and what you believe of yourself, that's what shapes who you are and what you become. And this is why some of us in this room might've had a relationship, a broken one, where someone lost our trust in that relationship. And that moment set me into this thinking pattern of I can't trust nobody anymore. I can't trust when somebody tries to be kind and good.

There's gotta be some sort of underlining there. They gotta be doing it for a reason. Yeah, they're good to me, but what do they really want? And the reason why we get into that place is because our thoughts have been darkened through a broken relationship that God distorted. And now I see everyone through the lens of, I don't trust nobody, don't trust nobody. And then we pass this on to our kids. We tell our kids, don't trust nobody. Don't trust anybody because our minds got darkened. And you can apply this in so many different areas of your lives where this happens, where what we used to think and believe is no longer there because life got in the way. It could be through a relationship. It could be through a failed business. Now I'm a failure. I'm no good for nothing. I'm never gonna overcome this because life circumstances happen. It could be a past trauma that some of us can't overcome. I'm never driving again after that accident. I'm not doing that. Why? Because something happened that changed your way of thinking that your view of that incident. Now it's like, I can't overcome this. I'm not doing this again.

And the enemy uses this in ways to get you to believe and continue your. your circumstance and what you've dealt with and what you've experienced as a way to say you're not new. And he doesn't only do this in this way, he also likes to twist the truth about the word of God in ways that makes you and I think that this is from God, but it's not. And this is one of the problems that we have in the church today, is that the enemy has done a great job of distorting the truths of God and what the word of God says to make us think and believe, no, the word of God doesn't say that, the word of God says what culture says. And we start to shift the word of God around what culture says so that the word of God becomes more appealing to culture and more appealing to the ideologies of today and the philosophical thoughts of today's world. But I'm here to tell you today, church, this is a tactic of the enemy. And now we Christianize the worldviews in ways that make it look like and sound like God, but I'm here to tell you today, God doesn't change. His word stays the same. And even if that goes against cultural views and cultural pressures to make us change the word of God, I pray that a church rises up and stands firm

in the truths of God in midst of all this. And so the enemy attacks your mind, he attacks the truths about God, he distorts the truths of God. And ultimately, if your way of thinking is darkened, it starts to shape what you believe. And this is the second tactic that the enemy uses. Once he's got your mind, then the heart becomes hardened towards the things of God. And this is why in verse 18, Paul says, it's separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. And so now I think of God a certain way. My heart is hardened towards God. And this is where doubt comes in. My heart is hardened towards God. And this is where doubt comes in. This is where I go from a place of God, you're good, God, you're real, God, you're for me, to I don't know if God's for me. I don't know if I have a good God. I don't know if I could sing the songs that we sing today. I just don't know if that God is really all about and for me. I don't know if he really is looking out for me. Why? Because my way of thinking got darkened and now my heart is hardened towards the things of God. And so I start to grow cold towards the things of God.

And this is what the enemy does. And he's very good at it. And I'm gonna be honest with you. I've been in that place. I've been in that place as a follower of Jesus. I've been in that place as a pastor. I've been in that place where something God's instored in me that I start to question, man, God, are you really, really with me? And here's what I found. God doesn't change. My circumstances change, but God doesn't change. He is the same today, tomorrow, and forever, and ever, and ever, and ever. Yeah. So how do we get to that place? Because my heart is hardened. And this is what I've learned about myself and in Christianity today. When our heart is hardened towards God, we start to impose on God how we feel. It's not that God isn't good. He's the same. He's good always. It's not that he's not faithful. He's faithful always. It's not that his love doesn't endure forever. No, no, his love endures forever. Why?

Because that is who he is. But when life hits, when circumstances happen, we start to project onto God what we feel. I don't feel love right now, so God doesn't love me. I feel lonely right now. I feel like no one pays attention to me. I feel like I'm all alone. I feel like no one's by my side. I feel, and so we start to think, God doesn't draw near to me. God's not with me. He's not for me. Why? Because we start to project onto God how we feel. And then the enemy says, yes. Grow cold towards God. Yeah, he doesn't love you. They've been lying to you. They brainwashed you. And when your dart gets hardened, the next thing the Apostle Paul is teaching the Ephesian church and what I think you and I need to understand is that when our hearts get hardened towards the things of God, then our behavior becomes uncontrolled. So it starts with the mind. It affects our hearts. And ultimately it affects our actions. And this is why in verse 19, he says, having lost all sensitivity.

I don't believe the truths of God anymore. I don't feel the spirit of God anymore. I just, I've grown cold to the things of God. Having lost all sensitivity towards the spirit of God, towards the truths of God. Now they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity. And they are full of greed. It is now all about me and it is not about God anymore. It's all about what I need and what I want. And I'm gonna go after my good life and I'm gonna go after what I believe I need. And we start to get God out of the picture and that affects our actions. And watch this. And you start to indulge fully into the pleasures and desires of sin. Why? Because now you are void and you are empty. And you are trying to find it in every single thing that this world has to offer to fulfill that void that you feel in your life. And so you go from pleasure to pleasure, from addiction to addiction, from relationship to relationship that all ultimately goes from broken relationship to another broken relationship. You start to set off your life to the greed of money. You start to set off your life to a title, through a title, through a career.

And you're like, I need something to fill me. I need something that makes me feel good. And you'll experience some of those pleasures partially. And then you're like, all right, I got what I needed. But then you're right back into your emptiness because you got darkened in your thought. You got hardened in your heart. And ultimately now you are uncontrollably following the things of the flesh. And this is the tactic of the enemy to make you think and believe. That is who you are. And you are not who God says you are. But thank be to God that he reminds us over and over again, that is not who you are. You are a son and a daughter of the true living God. If you have put your hope and trust in him. Yeah. And this is the emphasis of the apostle Paul in verse 20, 21 through 23. It says this, that however is not the way of life you've learned when you heard about Christ. And we're taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus to be made new in the attitude of your minds. Now, I love this because the same order that the enemy uses to get you out of knowing your identity in Christ Jesus, it's the same order and framework that God uses

to get you back to seeing who you truly are in Christ Jesus. And the first thing that he does is that he gets you to understand that you need to be renewed in your mind. And this is why the apostle Paul writes in Romans 12, two, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So you're not called to be transformed by the patterns of this world. You're not called to be transformed by the culture of the world. You're not called to be transformed by the circumstances of the world and life when it gets in the way of the truths of God. No, you are renewed and transformed in your mind in the image of God. And I love this because I believe that God starts this way in our lives because what he wants to do is get us to understand and know who he truly is. So what does it mean to be renewed in our minds, in our way of thinking? Is that we understand who we are is established by the truths of God. Who we are is who God says you and I are. Who we are is what we find in the word of God and what he speaks about you and what he says about you. you, that is who you are. And I think the problem that we have today in in America's Christianity is that we follow God not by knowing who he says he is in our lives, but we follow God by our feelings. And so many of us got this Christian feeling, following of God that we live in

constantly, and we think that that's the right approach to following Jesus. We think that it's about our feelings, and this is why we'll be in a worship service. I just didn't feel like worshiping today. I just didn't feel like raising my hands when they said, raise your hands if you believe God's faith. I just didn't feel like it because they did not sing my favorite Angetty music this morning. And so we make our worship about our feelings. I just, I didn't feel the vibe, like the lighting didn't hit at the right moment. I just didn't feel it. It was too loud. Can't get into that. I didn't feel it. I'm not feeling the vibe. I just, I just don't feel it. So I just, I just, I don't worship the same because I don't feel it. Can I, can I go a little deeper? Thank you for half the room that wants me to go deeper, but I'm still going to go. I don't feel like going to church. It's nice outside. Summer's coming up. There's a Pistons game at 3 30. I got to get ready for that. I got to go to the store. I got to get my chips and my, my burgers and my buns. I got to be ready for that. I don't feel like going to church. God understands. It's just one Sunday. I don't, I don't feel like serving. I'm too busy. I already did my season of serving. I already put in my work. I'm done with that. I already done parts of that. I just don't feel like it right now. We follow through our feelings, but I also want you to know that it's also not about our logic. It's not about if I understand it or not. It's not about, Oh, if I only get it, then that's what I'll follow. No, no. I want you to understand today, church family, the identity that God gives you in the reshaping and in the transformation of your mind about His of your mind about His truth and God's truth. It's not in our feelings. It's not in our logic. You know where it is? It's in our obedience to who He is. It's that I obey who He is. It's that I obey the truths of God. I'm not following Him by my emotions. I'm not doing that. I'm just going to obey what He says. Rather I get it or I don't. Rather I feel it or I don't. I'm just going to obey. Come on, somebody. And so when I obey, my worship changes. It's not about how I feel. It's not about if it's the right vibe or not. It's about knowing He's worthy of praise. It's about knowing He deserves the glory. It's about knowing He deserves the worship. It's about knowing I'm going to worship Him, rather the vibe is right or not, because of who He is. It's not about if I feel like going to church or not. I'm going to go to church. Why? Because the Word of God says do not make it a custom to stop gathering like some believers have. It's not about if I feel like it or not.

It's not about if, oh, who's going to preach on Sunday. No, no. It's not about that. It's that I gather with other believers, and I worship, and I pray, and I grow, and I learn. Why? Because I'm being obedient to the Word of God. I don't serve because of my feelings. I serve because God has equipped me. I serve because He has gifted me. I serve because He has given me a purpose. And so it's not about my feelings. It's about knowing and understanding. One day, I've got to give an account for what God poured into me so that I can pour into others. One day, I've got to go unto God, and I've got to say, Lord, You entrusted me with this. I want to be able to hear a good and faithful servant and say, Lord, here is the fruit of what I did. Here is the fruit of my ministry. Here is the fruit of my service. Here is the fruit of helping people out. Here it is. So it's not about feelings. It's about staying obedient to the truths that are found in the Word of God. So I'm renewed. I'm reshaped in the image of God. I'm established by the truth of of God. And so when we get to that place, the second thing that starts to happen is that it affects our desires. And this is why Ephesians 4, 22 and 24 says, you were taught with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, and to put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Now I want you to understand this, this passage is just not talking about behavior modification. It's not, it's not talking about, well, let me just be good sometimes and let me, let me try to figure this out. Let me just try to be a little bit more kind than what I've been. And let me just try to do a good deed here. No, it's not talking about behavior modification. It's talking about identity. You are not who you were. You are now new in Jesus Christ. You are to put off your old self. What does that mean? To put off your old self is that the old self is who I was in sin. That's the old self. That's the old me, is who I was in sin. But the new me, the new self is who I am in Christ Jesus. That's the new me. That's who I belong to now. That's where my identity comes from. That's who I am today. And so I want you to understand today is, is what God is calling you in this new life, in this new creation that he has set out for you and for me is that we would leave the old self and our old sinful nature and that we would step into the new life that he has offered you and me. But if I'm being honest, this is way harder to do than what I, than how I just said it. And the reason is because, again, the tactic of the enemy is to keep you with what you've experienced in life, with the things that

you have dealt with. And so a lot of us walk in this room and in this place constantly thinking, I am my shame. I am my failures. I am my addiction. I am my anxiety. I am my depression. I am my trauma that has caused me fear that I can't move on past that and it's got me paralyzed thinking and believing this is what it's going to be for the rest of my life because I can't move on from this. How can I move on from this? I am my traumas. I am blame and blaming everyone else around me. I'm like this because of this person's fault and I'm like this because I didn't get that opportunity. I'm like this and we live in this, in this place of this identity where we've identified ourselves by, by who we were because of life's circumstances. I am my failures. I am my sin. I am this. I am that. But that needs to break in Jesus' mighty name that you and I understand. That you would understand today, no, you're not your past failures. You are not your mistake. You are not your shame. That's the old self. I'm going to put that off and I'm going to put on the new me. I am a son and I'm a daughter of Jesus Christ. I have been prayed, been paid by the price of the blood that he shed for me on that cross. I walk in authority. I walk in a new image. I walk in a new identity and that is found in Jesus Christ. And so God needs to reshape our desires. And when we start to understand I am not my old self. I am new. My desire for him starts to change. And the second thing that happens about putting off the old self and becoming this new is what Galatians 2.20 says, I no longer live but Christ lives in me. It's no longer about me but Christ who lives in me. And if you read the rest of Ephesians 4, this is where Paul starts to get at things that people need to let go of, sinful desires, anger, lashing out at people, doing business in a corrupt way, in a deceitful way. He starts to list out of this all these things. Why? Because he's telling them that's not who you are anymore. You're a new person. You're a new creation in Jesus Christ. And what I've understood is that to put off the old self is to understand that a new me now lives with new meaning. I no longer live for myself. I now live for Christ. I no longer live in this conflict of I need to continue to be who I once was because of the things that I've experienced in life. No, I live now with new meaning and new purpose found in Jesus Christ. And one of the ways that I've learned this is through one of my heroes of faith. And this hero of faith is not found in the Bible, so I hope this is okay. But one of my heroes of faith is my mom. And the reason

is because my mom didn't have necessarily an easy life. My mom's both parents died when she was very young. She was raised by 12, 13 siblings. She's the youngest of the girls. Moved to the United States at a very young age for a better life and opportunity. She met and found the love of her life, who was my dad. And my dad wasn't the best partner for her. He was abusive, verbally and physically. He was a cheater. And this is the life that my mom had. But she came to Christ at about 30, 31. And her life started to change. Not her circumstance, but her life did. Not that her surrounding magically disappeared. No, that was still happening. But new me, new meaning. New me, new purpose. New me, new identity. And she started to grow. She started to seek God more. And when I was about eight years old, she made the decision to separate herself from my dad. Not easy. Hard decisions. Had to think through it all. How are my kids going to grow up without a dad? How am I going to grow up without a partner? How am I going to provide? What am I going to do? But new me, new meaning. God's got me. God's with me. I'm going to follow Him. I'm going to pursue Him. Circumstances are still hard, but new me, new meaning gives me new purpose in life. Gives me new identity for when I face crisis. How do I face that? I face that by grabbing the hand of God, knowing that He's got me even though it's hard. And so growing up, this is what I saw. I saw a woman, new me, new life, follower of Jesus. Every night had her Bible, even to this day when I visit her. Bible right next to her bed, always open. One of those Bibles when you pick it up, everything falls apart because how old it is. All scribbled highlights of all neon colors you can find out there. Arrows here, this and there, but always in her word, always praying new me, new meaning. Every time she got paid, the money she got, I would see her literally take that money, put it in an envelope, and tuck it into her Bible. New me, new meaning. Now every once in a while, I'm going to be honest with you all, confession time here, I would sneak into her room, sneak into that Bible, snag a 20, and I'm like, woo, we got lunch tomorrow. This was before I was saved, y'all, just forgive me. But she could have had all the excuses. I'm a single mom, I can't give, I'm not going to give. But was faithful with what God gave her. Why? New me, new meaning. She served in kids ministry all her life. My mom is 72 years old right now, still serving in kids. Do you know how hard it is to serve in kids at the age of 72? New me, new meaning. One day my mom tells this story, oh man, I'm running out of time,

but just bear with me a little bit. My mom shared this story with me, and she shared this with me multiple times, that one day she was walking to church, and me and my siblings, we ended up staying over at one of our aunt's house, and we were growing up, and she started to just get this picture of like, man, one day I'm going to be walking to church. church alone because my kids are gonna leave the house and she um she was walking to church and she was in tears and in that moment she felt that the Holy Spirit prompted in her life that that you you you've done your part you raised your kids you you've done what I've entrusted you and and in that moment her response was like yeah God you're right I've done my part and she was thinking like well what's gonna be their future and what what do I want for their future and and and and and she prayed this prayer back to God she said Lord I've done my part now you do your part my kids are no longer mine my kids are yours new me new meaning I'll be honest with y'all sometimes I'm like man mom why'd you pray that prayer why couldn't you have prayed I become more successful why could you have prayed Lord give him a business I don't know give him a give him a company I don't know why don't you pray that prayer I'm sure she's done that multiple times and other prayers but why does she pray Lord have your way with my kids you mean you meaning even for my family even for my kids even for my next generations I'm here to tell you today church our identity in Christ is no longer about us it is about who Christ Jesus is in us and when you understand your new identity and this new image that God gives you then your meaning towards life starts to change the reason why I'm generous is because I saw my mom be generous and I saw how God was faithful in her life and so if she was if he was faithful in her life he's gonna be faithful in my life and my mom just had a new meaning with money it's no longer about me it's no longer what I can build for me I'm gonna use my money to advance the kingdom and every opportunity that I've had with my wife and her families we have invested in the kingdom of God why new me new meaning the reason why we serve the reason why we pressed on new me new meaning I'm

trying to teach my kids now it's not about you it's about what God says in you life is about now a new me gives me new meaning in my finances gives me new meaning in my purpose gives me new meaning in my walk of life gives me new meaning and how I live out and the more you understand your identity in Christ Jesus Church the more you live out for his kingdom and for his will and for his purpose and for his love and his life and that's why you just give yourself and your all to others new life new meaning so I just want to help you this morning that you would walk out of this room and that you would walk out of here understanding you have a new identity in Jesus Christ you've been given a new life with new purpose and new meaning to live it out fully for the things of God and right now I just want to give two opportunities this morning one I just want to pray this over your life and in a few minutes if you have yet given your life to Jesus I want to let you know that he wants to extend this new life to you that he's got something better for you something greater for you so would you kindly just close your eyes bow your heads and pray with me this morning Heavenly Father thank you thank you for your goodness thank you for your faithfulness thank you Lord that you are with us and I pray Lord Jesus that you would help us today to let go of our past to let go of our old self that today people would be freed in Jesus mighty name over life experiences that have hindered them have hindered their relationships have hindered their way of thinking have hindered their behaviors have hindered the way they they've tried to live a life that is not according to you Lord I pray that that gets broken in Jesus mighty name and that they would live fully in the identity that Jesus Christ has offered an identity of life an identity of freedom an identity of purpose an identity of where we are new and we have new meaning to live it out fully for the sake of the kingdom I pray that in Jesus mighty name over every life and every person in this room and right now if you have yet given your life to Jesus Christ I want to extend this invitation to you that Jesus loves you. He gave up his life

on the cross for you. No matter how dark your path has been or your past has been, no matter what shame or mistake you're walking with in this room today, Jesus Christ paid a price on the cross so that you wouldn't have to carry that, so that you wouldn't have to live in that way and today he invites you into this new life, this new way, in this life full of purpose, full of his love, full of his grace, full of knowing that he is with you and for you at all times. And so right now in this room and those watching online and whatever location you might be at, if this is you this morning and you have yet given your life to Jesus, I want to invite you right now. If that's you and you say I want to surrender my life to you Jesus, just kindly raise your hand where you're at in this room. I want to be able to see you so that we can say a prayer. I see that hand. Anybody else in this room? I see that other hand. Anybody else? Raise your hand if that's you. If you're like I want to give my life to Jesus, I want to give my life to Jesus. I see that hand. Anybody else? I see those hands in the back. I see those hands over here in the front. If you raise your hand you can put it down and say this prayer with me. Heavenly Father, thank you for your Son Jesus. Right now I ask you for forgiveness of my sins, of my past and the mistakes that I've made. I invite you into my life Jesus, as the Savior of my life but also as the Lord of my life. I surrender my life to you. Help me walk in all of your ways, in your plans, and in your purpose. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Hey, if you made that decision, can you kindly raise your hand again. Our ushers have a gift for you. They just want to make sure they give you that gift, that Bible, and in that gift there's also a connect card. Please fill it out. We want to know who you are. We want to help you walk in this new journey of life that you have just made. Our senior pastor is going to reach out to you through text with Next Steps. So please fill out those cards, get connected, get plugged in and continue to grow in a relationship with Jesus. But right now church, let's stand up and let's give God our very best praise and worship. Come on.

I'm not gonna bow. I may be thrown in the fire. But I'm gonna walk out. The heat and the flame won't consume me. There's nothing worse for. It may look like I'm surrounded. But I'm not alone. The Lord is with me. The Lord is with me. The Lord is with me. Ever present in my hour of need. The Lord is with me. The Lord is with me. The Lord is with me. Ever present in my hour of need. The Lord is with me. Hallelujah.