How To Change

Good morning, church. Good to be with you guys. Hey, first service, I used my notes and it felt a little clunky, so I'm going no notes, is that cool? Is that all right? We're just gonna go through the scriptures. I'll probably forget some things, but I'm not gonna forget the words. That's where we're gonna be. Our economics teacher in high school, he was also the wrestling coach. I remember zero of what he taught me. No discouragement to any teachers in the rooms. I see Julian Czajk here as a professor. Thanks for the encouragement there. I don't remember anything he taught me about economics. I remember this one thing he said, though. I'm 50 years old, and as a 15-year-old boy, sitting in class, so distracted, I hear him say this, and it's never left me. Here's a picture of Coach Williamson. He said, when you're older, you'll go to dinner parties. You'll be at events. You'll be at company things. You'll be at your spouse's engagements, and you'll be asked two questions. You'll be asked, what's your name, and what do you do? What's your name, and what do you do? And I'm listening, and I'm like,

what a strange thing for an economics teacher to tell us. Why is he telling us this? He proceeded to say, because in that moment, that's what people are doing. They're summing up who you are. They're sizing you up. They're trying to determine who you are based on what your business card says, the square footage of your home, the zip code of your house. Like, who are you, and what do you do? Do you have a high-powered job? Do you have no job? Do I have a better pedigree than you? Do I have more education than you? Who are you, and what do you do? As if that is the total sum of your life, this introductory question, and it's like, not wrong. It's happened to me all my life, and the funny thing is, it starts like when we're little kids. People would walk up to our kids, not so much anymore, but when they're like three, four, and five, they walk up, and what do they say? What do you wanna be when you grow up? It like starts as a little kid, and it's well-intended. They're just like, oh, you funny little kid, you're cute. You wanna be a soldier? You wanna be a fireman? You wanna be a teacher, a veterinarian? What do you wanna be?

But it starts then, and then in middle school, it's like, were you on varsity or JV? Did you make the AB honor roll? What are you doing with your summer? It's well-intended, but it happens again in high school. Where do you go to school? What are you studying? You taking an EAP? Getting EAP credits? What are you gonna do after school? You going to college? You're going into the workforce. Oh, college. Get any scholarships? Where are you headed? Did you get into the right fraternity or sorority? Did you get a bid? Which house are you living in? What are you doing after school? You know, it's your senior year. Have you thought about it? Been dating her for a while. What do you think? You guys gonna get engaged soon? And then once you get your job, so what are you doing? Who are you working for? What's your role? It just happens, and we begin to think that what we do is who we are, that our occupation becomes our identification,

that that's who we are. That's the sum total of our existence, and we spend all of our life efforting towards that when really what this book teaches, that it's very little about what you have done that is who you are. And the inverse is true too. Sometimes we like self-identify like with so much shame, like who I am is my past abortion, or my alcoholism, or my adultery, like that's, or because I've been divorced, or because I'm without a job. It's not what you've done or accomplished, not self-exaltation, but maybe self-deprecation, like, oh, I'm a nobody because of what I've done. I've got a felony offense. I've got a past record. But the Bible would say that it's not what you've done, it's what he has done, it's what Jesus has done on our behalf, and that that is our identity. Today, we're gonna look at how we change, how we change, and specifically that to meet Jesus is to be changed. We're continuing in the series called Christophany where Jesus shows up on the scene in the Old Testament pages prior to the incarnation. He just like shows up with his people, calls them by name, changes them, sets them on a new direction. And so today we're gonna be in Genesis chapter 32, looking at the life or the about midlife of Jacob,

this person named Jacob. Now, I wanna give you a little bit of a background on Jacob. Last week, JP taught about Abraham and Sarah when Jesus appeared to them, was like, hey, this time next year, you're gonna have a child. Well, here's a little family tree about who this. You got Abraham and Sarah, they had after many years, the child of promise, that was Isaac. Isaac married Rebecca, after 20 years, they had children, Jacob and Esau, these two twins. Jacob's a mess of a man, like no redeeming qualities at all, period, which should give a lot of us in the room hope. He, here's what he did. When he was born, he was the second born, he's literally holding on to his brother's ankle as he exits the womb. Just like already wrestling his brother. Then his brother's starving and he's cooking a pot of stew and his brother's like, hey, let me have some of that. He's like, I'll give you some if you give me your birthright. It's like, what, what kind of brother is this? Like, I just want a meal, but he's like, fine, have my birthright, I don't care. So he gives, he gets Esau's birthright. He's always after money, things, accumulation. It's a little indicator as to what has gripped his heart.

Then later in life, when his blind father is dying, he goes to his father in disguise and lies and says, hey, I'm your son, Esau. I'm here for the final blessing of my father. And so his father unknowingly gives him this fatherly blessing. That's like, hey, you're gonna be a great nation and all this prosperity blesses him. And it was his own son deceiving his dying father. Well, Esau finds out about it and is like, father, give me my blessing. He's like, well, I just gave it to you. Who was that? He's like, that was my deceiving brother. And so Esau says, as soon as dad dies, I'm gonna kill you. You stole my birthright. Now you stole my fatherly blessing and I will kill you. Well, Jacob knows this and runs away. He runs away to his uncle's house. At his uncle's house, he schemes his uncle out of all the livestock. Like his uncle is left with very little, he marries his two daughters, which is a problem. Should have married one daughter. He marries two daughters and then schemes him out of all of his livestock. And then in the dark of night, leaves with his daughters, his grandchildren and all the livestock. And the uncle goes after him, he's like, hey, where are you going?

You didn't even let me say goodbye to my daughters and my grandkids. And by the way, you stole my household gods. He had like these little idols that one of his wives stole. He's just like a wretch of a man. And guess what his name is? Jacob in Hebrew means deceiver. He's living up to his name. So there is this person called deceiver who's done nothing but deceive all of his life. And what you will see in Genesis 32 is that Jesus is after sinners. He comes to save sinners. So this should give you great hope that no one is beyond the grace and mercy and reach of Jesus, no matter what you've done, what you are presently doing. And by the way, it is Jacob from whom would come the humanity of Jesus. The deity from God, fully man, fully God. He would use this deceiver schemer to even come from the family line of Christ. Where we're going to be today, these three points is that Christ wants your surrender. He wants your surrender. Not because he wants to control you, because he wants to free you. Christ wants your surrender. The second point is Christ changes your identity. Who you are from sinner to saint,

he will change your identity. And third and finally, Christ's work, not your work, Christ's work is your testimony. Christ's work is your testimony. So with all of that in mind, let's unpack this here in the scriptures. Genesis chapter 32, beginning at verse 22. The same night he arose and took his two wives and his two female servants and his 11 children and crossed the Ford of the Jabbok. That's a name of a river. In Hebrew, it means emptying. What you're gonna see is that Jacob empties his pockets basically, like here's my wife and children and all my possessions. And there's an emptying, because it says there in the next line, he took them and sent them across the stream and everything else that he had and Jacob was left alone. Now, as he is doing this physical emptying, you're about to see a spiritual emptying. The God's like, hey, we're done. The scheming, the lying, the cheating, this like sin, deception, run away. Sin, deception, run away. Sin, deception, run away. I'm about to empty you. And there's gonna be a reconciliation here. And Jacob was left alone and a man. wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.

That man you're gonna find with many clues, and then the reality, this is the Christophany, this appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament where Jesus goes to the deceivers like, you're done, you're mine, I want your surrender, I'm gonna change you and I'm gonna give you a testimony. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, let me go for the day is broken. But Jacob said, I will not go unless you bless me. I mean, this is, the man's name is deceiver. As a dad and a husband, I don't have a category for what's taking place. You see, in the scriptures, the reason why he sends them across the river, his wives, his children, and all of his possessions is because Esau is on the other side of the river approaching him with 400 men. Esau brought an army. He hasn't seen his brother in quite some time. After his brother stole everything from him and deceived his dying father to take what is his. And here comes Esau and he hears your brother's approaching with 400 men. And so in a total act of cowardice, he sends his wife and children and all of his possessions across the river. And he just waits on the other side,

like probably plugging his ears, waiting for the carnage and explosion. I mean, how terrible and cowardly. The deceiver is like, well, let me know how it goes for you guys, my wife and kids. You go meet this army and my angry, murderous brother. And by the way, take all the possessions as one last, last ditch bribe effort. And God meets him. He's like, hey, you're done. You're done. Not you're done, I'm mad at you. This is not what I have for you. This is not who you are to be. I have better for you. And I'm not gonna make you better. I'm gonna make you new. But in order to do that, you must surrender. And so there's this wrestling and the wrestling doesn't stop. And so God touches his hip, blows out his hip, which by the way, it takes hundreds, if not thousands of pounds to dislocate a hip. He just simply touches it, blows out his hip and Jacob still won't let go and says, I won't let go unless you bless me. Which is two clues that this is a Christophany. There's a man who sought him out, who has supernatural ability to just knock your hip out by a simple touch.

And Jacob knows like, I think you could bless me. This isn't some just like WWF, like, wow, or good luck, a little bit of a wrestling match. Like, you know, showdown in the OT Corral here. It's like, like, but he's like, you are somebody and I believe you could bless me. But he won't let go this idol of material and possessions. And I don't think we do either. We grip the idols in our lives so tightly and they actually are killing us. You see, an idol will give you what you want because it's you that it wants. And so you think about what those idols may be. If you're a student, it's like, well, I want popularity. I want perfect grades. I want the team, the captain, the fraternity, the sorority, the girl, the guy, the status as an adult, the money, the square footage, the accolades, the 401k, the retire early, the second house, the whatever. Like we just have these things that we have a death grip on when reality, they're killing us. Hear me again, an idol will give you what you want because it's you that it wants. First Corinthians 10 says that an idol is nothing, but what's behind an idol is a demon. And it wants your worship when your worship is only rightly belong to God. I was talking to my grandfather-in-law once, Laura's granddad, and I was in his garage and I saw a log in his garage.

And I'm like, what in the world? It wasn't like firewood. It was a log with nails sticking out of it. We're kind of cut from the same cloth. And I was always curious about him. I was just looking for a tool, but I was like, I was like, DAW, that's what we called him, DAW, D-A. I was like, what is that log with the nails in it? He's like, have you never seen one of those before? I was like, no, no one's seen one of those before. There's a picture of it on the screen. He goes, John, that's a raccoon trap. I was like, oh, it doesn't look big enough for a raccoon. He's like, no, no, it's a raccoon trap. You see, raccoons are very curious animals, but they're greedy animals too. And so you put a trinket, in this case, a little gold ball or a marble, and they'll climb up that tree. You just drill a hole in a tree, put some nails in it, and they will reach in past the nails, and when their wrist makes a fist around that item, they can't pull it back out because the nail's pointing inward, and they will stay on that tree until daybreak. And you just walk up with a grain sack or a pillowcase, and you just sack that raccoon. To which my second question was, why do you want the raccoon? Well, he wanted to kill the raccoon,

because it would get into the grain and the feed. He was trapping the raccoon to kill the raccoon, and so it is with our idols. We grip these idols so tightly of popularity, and status, and money, and career, and relationship, and we will not let go, and it actually has us. And Satan wants to capture us and kill us. You see, you will be a slave to Satan or to Jesus. Pick one. You will have self-rule, or you will have God-rule. And so this first point right here is Christ wants your surrender. And again, he doesn't want your surrender to control you. He wants your surrender to set you free, that you would loose the grip of the idols and grasp a hold of Jesus to be able to walk free and be free. Christ wants your surrender. You see, when we come to Jesus, I think so often we're like, Jesus, save me from my sins. I don't wanna go to hell when I die. Thank you very much. You saved me from eternal damnation and have given me eternal life. Now I will go about my business and I'll do what I wanna do. I'll have the career that I wanna do. I will date who I wanna date. I'll spend my money how I wanna spend my money.

I will be Lord of my life. You be my Savior, I will be Lord. But it's not a la carte in these words. You don't get to choose. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life. In Christ, Jesus, our Lord. He is Christ and he is Lord. And there's freedom in that. Like, freedom flooded into my life when I finally grasped this reality. Because I had so many idols of like comfort, materialism, greed, folly, alcoholism, women, status, money. It was like, those were the idols that I was holding onto that were killing me. And finally, at the age of 30, I got on my knees and this prayer, I prayed. I was like, I have squandered everything you've given me, but everything I have left is yours. I'm done being Lord of my life. Be Lord. And I literally prayed, you get my time, my money, my body, my mind, my relationships, where I live, what I do, my computer, my phone. It's all yours. And in the releasing of those idols to Jesus, I got set free. And I'm still tempted to pick them back up, but he made me free.

Christ wants your surrender to set you free. Jacob said, I will not let you go unless you bless me. There was this discipline of the Lord when he wrenches out his hip, but there's never discipline without development. There's never chastisement without character creation. So you're gonna see that God is not just after surrender, but he's about to change everything. Verse 27. And he said to him, what is your name? And he said, Jacob. Then he said, your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed. Then Jacob asked him, please tell me your name. But he said, why is it that you ask my name? And there he blessed him. It's a really funny passage. And he said to him, what's your name? And he said, deceiver. And then he said, your name shall no longer be called deceiver. You will be called wrestles with God. That's what it is. If you were to translate Jacob and Israel, you're not deceiver. You are now wrestles with God. He gave him a name change. He changed his identity, which is another clue. This is a Christophany.

Like nobody's out there. I can't just like say to people like, you know what, Julian, you're no longer Julian. Now you'll be called Bob. You'll be like, man, like who's out there just changing names and blessing people? And so he blows out his hip, he wrestles them, he gives them a new name, he gives them this blessing. Jacob knows like, I know you're somebody who could bless me. And then Jacob says like, well, please tell me your name. He's like, don't blow out my other hip, but I do have a question, what's your name? And God responds like, do you really not know who I am? I think you know who I am. That's kind of the response here. Like, why are you asking my name? I blew out your hip, I found you here, you know I can bless you, I did bless you and I changed your name. I don't think you need to know who I am. You know exactly who I am. But Jacob would never be who he was. He changes them. You're not deceiver anymore. You're wrestles with God, which is the second point, Christ changes your identity. And if Christ changes your identity, he also changes your activity because who you are changes how you live. When your heart is changed, your habits then change also.

It's the natural overflow of being born again. You have justification with God, being made right with him. And then you have sanctification from God where he changes you from who you were to who Christ is. You're being shaped into the image of God. These are the three tenses of salvation. Justification, being made right with God. That's the identity change. Then sanctification, being changed into the image of Christ and one day glorification when we are finally and forever set free from sin in the presence of God. So Jesus, Christophany, gives Jacob a new identity and blesses them, changes them. It's like, you got a new name and you see it all throughout scripture. And the one that all uses the example is the Corinthian church. The Corinthians were a mess. Like Paul has got a lot to say to the Corinthians. In chapter five, he's like, okay, this guy that's steeped in sexual sin, like turn him over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh. Then he gets to chapter six and he's like, okay, do not be deceived. The wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God. And he gives a laundry list. He's like, neither the male prostitutes nor the homosexual offenders, nor the adulterers, nor the swindlers, nor the slanderers, nor the drunkards.

And you could go on and on and on. Nor the self-righteous, nor the liars, nor the gossips, nor the cheats. It's like, he's giving this list and he says this really interesting thing. He says, such were some of you, but you were washed and justified by the Spirit of our God. He's like, that's who you were, it's not who you are. In the Corinthians, with all their sin struggles, you know what he calls them on 10 different occasions? 10 times in first and second Corinthians, he calls them saints. He doesn't call them sinners. He doesn't say like, you Corinthian bunch of sinners, you know, the male prostitutes, the drunkards, the swindlers. Like he says, you're saints. 10 times, saint, saint, saint, saint. He is telling them, Jesus has changed your identity. The word saint is hagios. It means holy ones, set apart entirely under God. He's like, you're not sinners anymore, you're saints. And if I've changed your identity, that will change your activity. This heart change will bring habit change and you're gonna live different. And so the second point is Christ changes your identity, which changes your activity. In some recovery circles, you know,

as a recovering alcoholic, I've been to various recovery meetings and some of you would introduce yourself and you say, hi, my name's John, I'm an alcoholic. And everybody would say, hi, John. Well, the reality is I'm 20 years sober. So it's a little like, I don't know. And I get the heart of it. They're like, well, you're always susceptible to it. That's true. I still get tempted to drink. I hope I never do. I hope my next drink is at the wedding feast of the lamb when he serves it and I don't desire to get drunk. But I'm like, I've always kind of wrestled with that. Like, John, I'm an alcoholic. I don't know, I'm 20 years sober. I think I've been changed. Here in our recovery ministry, Regeneration, whoo, you gotta go. You gotta find out why anyone would react like that when you say the name of a ministry. Monday, 6.30. You say this, here's your intro. Hi, my name is John. I have a new life in Christ and I'm recovering from alcoholism, fear of man and people pleasing. And this week. raising my voice at my kids, which is true.

And I asked their forgiveness. And you would say, hey, yeah, hey, thanks for having me. What's my identity in that introduction? My name's John, I have a new life in Christ. He is who I'm identified by. He has changed my identity. I have a new life in Christ. I'm not any longer identified by what I've done, either good or bad, but rather I'm identified by Jesus. He has changed my identity and my reality. Laura and I were doing premarital counseling with one of the women on staff that frankly is probably discipling your children week after week after week, Elise Morgan, who's engaged to Jacob Creech. And we're sitting there with Elise and Jacob doing their pre, I heard a whoop for Elise and Jacob. Thank you very much. Two whoops, Aggie fans of them. And we have, we're doing their premarital. We're sitting there in the living room and I said, you know, you've probably been to the weddings where some well-meaning pastor has said, take a good look at your bride. This is the best you will ever see her. You guys heard that, right? On a wedding day, it's like, hey, they've spent months of preparation and the white dress and the makeup and the hair and take a good look.

This is the best you'll ever see them. And I said, it's a lie. It's not true. In fact, this is the worst you will ever see them. And Elise kind of tilted her head a little like, wait, maybe we want somebody else to officiate our wedding. Like, I was like, it's only true in Christian marriages. It's only true in Christian marriages that this on your wedding day is the worst you will ever see your spouse. Why? Because Jesus changes us every single day. That's sanctification. I've been married to Laura 15 years. She's not the woman that I originally married 15 years ago. Why? Because for 15 years, she has been submitting to Christ, being sanctified by Christ, being shaped by the word of God, being prayerful, like she's not who I married because of all the change in her life. And I hope that I am not the same man that she married 15 years ago, but rather there's been this ongoing sanctification. So I said to Jacob and Elise, very rightly, this is the worst you'll ever see them on your wedding day because they're gonna be shaped by Jesus. Of course, they're gonna have bad days. But over the course of time, this sanctification, that's the identity change. Elise is gonna have a new name.

Elise Morgan will be no more. There will be no more Elise Morgan. There will be Elise Creech. She'll have a new identity and she will be shaped as the two become one. And so it is with all of us that we are wed to Christ. He's the bridegroom, we're the bride. We are now identified in him. We are wed to him and he's changing us as we are one with him. And that's really, really good news. And so we submit to him. We don't just surrender to him, but we believe in this new reality, this new identity, and we live it out. Like we don't go back to the former ways. It's Galatians 5.16, walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. So we just walk with him and he shapes us and changes us. Christ wants your surrender. Christ changes your identity. And then we have third and finally, Christ's work is your testimony. Let's read it from the scripture. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, which is another indication there's a Christophany. It means face of God. So Jacob called the name of the place, face of God, saying, for I have seen God face to face and yet my life has been delivered.

Jesus wasn't there to put him in time out, to make him pay penance. He was there as this severe act of mercy with discipline that led to a change. And yet my life has been delivered. The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. I mean, he's like limping across the river Jabbok to his wives and children that are waiting for him. Therefore, to this day, the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip on the sinew of the thigh, which is really weird. I don't think anybody's going to Helberg's later and is like, hey, could we have the sinew of the thigh? Nobody eats that anyway. So what's going on in this passage? He limps across the river to his wives and children and they would have said like, what happened to you? And he would have said, I wrestled God. And they would have said, no way. And he would have said, Yahweh. If you haven't gotten it yet, just keep coming. Ask the person beside you. That pun and dad joke compliments of Drew Greenway who leads you in worship on Sundays. If you ever need any dad jokes, he is your guy. But he had wrestled with God and he was changed forever. And then this strange part like, and it's for this reason that they don't eat

the sinew on the thigh, what? Why would you include that detail? What's that doing there? Here's why that's there. One man met God and an entire nation knew about it. An entire nation be like, yeah, we don't eat that part of the hip, you know why? Because I mean, Jacob, he met God, surrendered to him, was changed by him, changed his name, blessed him, became the father of the nation of Israel from which the Messiah would come. Like everybody knew about his change, which is the third point and it should be your point. Christ's work is your testimony, not your work. I don't stand up here and tell you what I did. I tell you what Christ did in my life. Christ's work is your testimony. We don't stand and tell people, here's my resume and all the good things that I am that validate that I'm a Christian. No, you share Christ's work. And there's this phrase that happens a lot in youth group and student ministry and Christian camps. People will say, I don't really have a very good testimony. I have a boring testimony. And what they mean is, is I don't have a crazy before and after. I wasn't out there wiling and doing all this nonsense and drugs and sex and it wasn't all that. I was raised in a Christian home.

I can't remember a day that I didn't hear the name Jesus. I prayed with my parents. And when did you trust Christ? I don't even know. I just was like raised up in it. And I just know that he's the savior. I've never known a day apart from him. And people will say, well, that's a boring testimony. I have a boring testimony. I don't have a good testimony. Did you know that is the testimony I plead with God that my children would have. There is no boring testimony. Jesus saves sinners and he has no grandchildren. Every single person has to make a decision. Will you trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins that he died the death that you deserved and rose again, confess with your mouth that he is Lord. That is his work, not your work. Nothing so bad you did, nothing so good that you did, but all his work, that's everybody's testimony. There's no glorification of sin here. And there's no deprecation of like, oh, you don't have a wild story. It's all Christ's work. Every single testimony is a glorious testimony. Paul writes to Timothy and he shares one of these so-called boring or not good testimonies. He says, as your faith, you'll see it on the screen, your faith that existed first in Lois and Eunice,

your mother and grandmother, you were raised up in the faith, Timothy, you've never not known the faith. And at some point you received it as yours. And it says in 2 Timothy 3, 15, you see on the screen, how from childhood you've been acquainted with the scriptures. Like that's Christ's work, not our work, not our good or bad, Christ's work is your testimony. You think you don't have a good testimony? That's to say that Jesus's testimony isn't good, that his work is not enough. No, you don't go and boast in all the bad you did or all the good you did. You boast in the only one who was without sin, who laid down his life that you and whoever you're talking to could have eternal life. Christ's work is your testimony. Let me see if I forgot anything because I don't have any notes. Ha ha, I do. Jimmy Needham wrote a song. It's a Christian artist, now pastor, elder of a church up in Dallas. He wrote this song that I heard when I was first getting sober and it says this. It's called, My Before and After. You'll see the words on the screen. Think about Jacob, who was a deceiver. He did nothing good, no merit to bring him to God.

God came to him, Jesus on a rescue mission. Jesus on a rescue mission. Jimmy says, I got a name change. And that's the strange thing. Cause I once was stained, but now I'm called Saint. My before and after, I can't help but sing. My before and after. Sing praises to my King. My before and after, here's the anthem, let it ring. One love, two arms, three scars. Draw us to where you are. No one is too far for you to save a heart. Christ's work is your testimony. One love, two arms, three scars. Christ's work is your testimony. You carry that forward to this dying world. And it's gonna be like this. Therefore, to this day, the people of Israel do not eat this. Like everybody came to know. Oh, you're not who you were. You're different. Like everybody knows it. And so I'm gonna put up on the screen this chart. We use it in Regen all the time because people change in Regen. They go from liability to leader in one year. And in case you're like, I don't even know how to share my testimony. Like, how would I even begin?

What would I even say? Here it is. You just simply say, this is my life before Christ. I was an alcoholic. I was a people pleaser. I had fear of man. I was a chameleon, but Jesus saved me. And now my life is free, full of peace, joy. I don't have to love people in order to try to get loved back. It's a 10 second testimony. Three things about who I was, three things about who I am. And it's all because of Christ's work. That's my testimony. And so you just look at that. You can write down in your Bible, write down on your journal. Three things I was, three things about how my life is now. And it's all because of Jesus. And you think like, well, how do I work? How do I work that into a conversation? Like, how do you even get there? You just walk up to somebody and say, let me tell you my before and after. No, you ask them. You just walk up and maybe it's students. You say, coach, tell me your story. Tell me your story.

Do you always wanna be a coach? They'll tell you, well, I grew up in Des Moines and this, and I went to Baylor and I chose to live here and stay and become a coach at Midway or whatever. Coworker, man, so I'd love to take you to lunch. Like, share your story with me. And you know what they'll do? Because they're decent humans. After they're done, they'll say, how about you? Tell me your story. Glad you asked. Here's my before, here's my after. Jesus in the middle. 10-second testimony. Your before and after. I hear someone's phone going off. That's my alarm to stop. Thank you for the accountability. JP put you up to that? You know, you remember my coach? He said, you'll be asked two questions when you get older. What's your name? What do you do? You know, it's funny. I like, I'm looking out right now and I see the Watsons who are medical doctors. But you know, they've never told me that before. That's not how I know them. You know how I know them? It's by the way that they disciple the youth

and care for residents and their kindness and generosity in this church and community. That's what they're known by. Not by their business card or anything. Not by their business card or occupation or email address. By Christ working their life, thank you. And may it be the same for us, because my coach who said, what's your name? What do you do? Here in the church, it should be, what's your name? What happened to you? You're different. What happened to you? I knew you before. You're altogether different. I wanna know what happened to you. I don't care about your occupation. You're different. Christ wants your surrender. Christ will change your identity. And Christ's work is your testimony. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the story tucked away in Genesis 32, where Jesus sought after Jacob, the deceiver, not because of anything good he had done, but that you would do good to him and bring about a change and a surrender and a testimony. And I pray it'd be the same for the rest of us. Thank you for rescuing us. I pray there would be full surrender in the room today,

that we'd release the idols, that you would gently or forcibly take them out of our hands, that we could be free, not to control us, but to set us free, and that we would walk out of here and testify. In Jesus' mighty name, amen.