Impostor Syndrome - Jason Burns

- Happy Sunday, happy Sunday. - Happy for your first Sunday, - Come on, somebody. - Hi, guys. - All right, how we doing today? How are we doing today? - We're doing fabulous. - All right. - It is for your first Sunday. If you guys don't know what that means, the first Sunday of every month. Jenny goes ahead and we go all out. - Absolutely, absolutely. - If you guys come into the building, we have the player team come out and we'll have people pay for you. But if you're on our online team, you guys will not be left behind, okay? We have our stage host that's gonna be reading the comments that you guys leave over here. Or if you guys have that app, if you've downloaded it already, go ahead and put your pre-request in there. And our stage host is gonna be playing over you guys live. - Absolutely, well, last week's sermon. - Oh my gosh. - Are you feeling it? - All right, so last week's sermon. I'm not gonna lie, when I saw the name,

I got a little, I got a little, like. - Oh, I'm sorry people are supposed to be different. - That's right. Pastor JJ just so, he does it every time. Just so seamlessly guided us through that. And it was very interesting, you know, like to see what he said about it, you know? 'Cause it was, it was interesting. - Definitely so. It was just like, man, like people expect us to be different and in a way that like, they, and we are supposed to be different in a way. But how other people perceive us to be different is just not how they think. Like if someone does us wrong, we pray for them. We don't retaliate, we do things differently. And it's just, that's how we kind of lead with our faith and our church life. - Absolutely. And it's cool too, 'cause it's like, we have our YouTube channel, we have something called the after talk. Because sometimes it feels like that hour that we have in church, like they don't really get to get into it, you know, the way that we'd like them to. So did you get a chance to watch the after talk? - I did, I did. The after talk is actually so powerful. It's so good too. And then plus he also gives like little sneak peeks

in your ear of like, things that's coming new. But it was just like, one thing that he said, it's like when we hurt people, it's like, there's four things that we need to do. And it was just, I forgot the third one. But it was definitely four things. The first thing is, apologize to that person. You know, you hurt somebody. And then the second thing was definitely for Penn. You know, ask God for forgiveness. The third thing, I really did forget. - But we're gonna go back on to the YouTube channel so he can be gonna be mine. - Watch that back. But the fourth thing is, how can I make this right? How can I change the trajectory of how I did that person wrong? And it definitely takes time. It's not something that it could just happen overnight or something that, you know what? Let me just go right back into it. Because then they're gonna think like, nah, he's not for real. He don't mean it. He just wanna get this off his chest so he could just move on while I'm still hurting. You know, and it was also that Pastor JJ said, it was just like, God is coming back to do something. You know, like not as a revenge, but you know, I've hurt one of his children. You know, I gotta deal with some consequences.

- Yeah, and the interesting thing that he said about that too is like how the punishment is up to him. You know, and a lot of times it can be like, maybe the other person doesn't even punish you, but you yourself, you know, will punish yourself about hurting somebody else. And you like stay up until two o'clock at night and thinking about it sometimes. So just kind of like letting go of that and letting him take care of it and not keeping that how to your chest, you know, is, that resonated with him. - Definitely. Well, there's so many new things coming on in the church. First of all, we have an encounter night coming up. - Yes, I love it coming tonight. - It's something exciting, and Journey is also turning 10 years old. - Double digits. - September 20th is big. - Nice. - But we're actually gonna take this to the stage where Alex, Alex, take it away. (upbeat music) - Hello everybody, welcome. I'm gonna tell you right now, today is my favorite type of Sunday, okay? It is pray first Sunday. I love these moments, mind you, I love every Sunday, okay? Don't get me wrong, but something about pray first Sunday

just brings me to life. It just pours into me. Being able to really know that we are coming together as a family to pray for each other, to really just come together and in claiming that the Lord is going to show up for us, trusting that he is going to do what he said he's gonna do, right? And every single moment, I've never seen the Lord fail. I've never seen a moment where people walk away and don't feel his present. People walk away and don't see him move, moving forward, Lord. I just thank you in every single moment. So I have a verse for y'all. Philippians 4.6, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. I want you to really just feel every prayer that comes to your heart to really just give it to God. Submit those requests. I want to be able to pray with y'all. I want to pray over you to speak life into you. So send those prayer requests, send them deeply, send them for others, reach in, right? Prepare your hearts, prepare your minds as we get every single space ready for the service and we get every single space ready for worship. I want you to really feel the presence of the Lord. I want you to prepare your mind, prepare your heart, send out those links and invite people to watch with you.

Hype yourself up, hype your friends up, right? Feel how God is prepping you and we'll see you on the other side, bye y'all. Welcome home, journeyed church. Come on, let's worship in the house of the Lord this morning. We're grateful for freedom. We thank you for freedom. I'm shaking up the happiness, I'm dancing out on my regrets. I'm throwing caution to the wind, oh, I am not ashamed to praise like this, 'til I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. And look at what the Lord has said, I'm never going back to the way he was, I'll see your dance 'cause I'm in, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. Oh, you think I'm not a friend, oh, I'm not a friend, I never quit, no one of us is good ♪ And I don't care what anyone says ♪ ♪ I'll never be ashamed to praise I live ♪ ♪ Where are those things that I once held me ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ My city's gone, I'll get it ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ And look at what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way you are ♪ ♪ I'll sing all days 'cause I'll be ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ You took the cross and you broke your heart ♪ ♪ You shred your blood, now the sin I can't ♪ ♪ My blood is fading, my record is ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it, so you did it for ♪ ♪ You took the cross and you broke your heart ♪ ♪ You shred your blood, now the sin I can't ♪ ♪ My dead is fading, my record is ♪

♪ I couldn't do it, so you took the cross ♪ ♪ You took the cross and you broke your heart ♪ ♪ You left them no way ♪ ♪ My blood is fading, my dead is fading, my record ♪ ♪ Where are I gonna do it ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Where are those chains that want to sell me ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ My sin is gone ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ I get what my Lord has said ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ Housing up is because I've been ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ Laying down ♪ ♪ You took the cross and you broke your butt ♪ ♪ You shed your blood now the significance ♪ ♪ My dead is fading, my record ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it so you did it for me ♪ ♪ You took the cross and you broke your butt ♪

♪ You shed your blood now the significance ♪ I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you let it all be lost Don't get what's on my ass I'm never going back to the way I'm never going back to the way I'm never going back to the way I'm never going back I'm never going back to the way I'm never going back to the way I'm never going back to the way I'm never going back Come on in your own way, can you just thank Him this morning? We thank You Father, not for what You've done Lord, but for who You are God. We thank You that there's breath in our lungs. We thank You that You've woken us up God. There is no one like You God. There is no one like You God. You know, in the beginning of Acts 2 in the Bible, it says that on the day of Pentecost, all the believers, they were gathered together in one place, and as they were gathered together, there was a roaring mighty wind that blew through. And then suddenly it says, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through up all of the believers in what was the early church. He touched every single one of them. And that is our prayer today, that the Spirit would be able to dwell in this house, that He would be able to dwell inside of each and every one of us. Our God is not a God who wants perfection. He's not a God that looks at you and shames you. He's a God that loves you. He loves you for who you are. So we thank You today, Lord. As we sing this new song today, God, we just lift you up. You are holy, Father. Our prayer today, God, is that this would be a throne for You, Lord, that Your Spirit would be able to take over each and every single one of us. Every fiber in our being would be able to praise You freely in this room. Open our hearts, Father. Let's sing church. ♪ Oh, Your shine, we thank You, Jesus. Breathe on me by the God. With all my hands up in the air, so You can take me anywhere. Breathe on me by the love of God. With all my hands up in the air, so You can take me anywhere. Holy Spirit, I surrender, forever. Take over me, but I want to be baptized in Your fire. Take over me. Oh, so carry me, winds of love. Some were only heaven knows, some were so incredible. Would You carry me, winds of love. I'm getting good and letting go. Is this better when You're in control? Holy Spirit, I surrender, forever. Take over me, but I want to be baptized in Your fire. Take over me. My body is a devil for all life, I'll be your best. Holy Spirit, come take over.

♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, yes, good to take hold ♪ ♪ Oh, yes, for fresh wind, for fresh revival ♪ ♪ The baddest of the bad ♪ ♪ The back we never know ♪ ♪ There's something on the bottom ♪ ♪ The impossible ♪ ♪ I think it's bad ♪ ♪ We're a miracle and now we're getting fired up ♪ ♪ And the Holy Ghost, we're about to see the fire ♪ ♪ Like we never know like something on the bottom ♪ ♪ The impossible ♪ ♪ I think the room is ready ♪ ♪ We're a miracle and now we're getting fired up ♪ ♪ In the Holy Ghost ♪ ♪ We're about to see revival ♪ ♪ Like we never know ♪ ♪ We're something on the bottom ♪ ♪ The impossible ♪ ♪ I think the room is ready ♪ ♪ We're a miracle and now we're getting fired up ♪ ♪ In the Holy Ghost, we're about to see the fire up ♪ ♪ In the Holy Ghost ♪ ♪ And now we're getting fired up ♪ ♪ In the Holy Ghost ♪ ♪ And now we're getting fired up ♪ ♪ In the Holy Ghost ♪ ♪ We're still the Holy Spirit, our surrender ♪ ♪ We may have surrender ♪ ♪ Forever ♪

♪ Take hold of me ♪ ♪ I don't want to be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ Take hold of me ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, our surrender ♪ ♪ Forever ♪ ♪ Take hold of me ♪ ♪ We're gonna want to be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ In the Holy Ghost ♪ ♪ We're about to remember ♪ ♪ We're about to see revival ♪ ♪ Like we never know ♪ ♪ Like we never know ♪ ♪ Like we never know ♪ ♪ Like we never know ♪ ♪ Like we never know ♪ ♪ Like we never know ♪ ♪ Like we never know ♪ ♪ We're something on the bottom ♪ ♪ We're gonna want to be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ In the Holy Ghost ♪ ♪ We're gonna want to be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ In the Holy Ghost ♪ ♪ We're about to see revival ♪ ♪ Like we never know ♪ ♪ Like we never know ♪ ♪ We're something on the bottom ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪

♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪

♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪

♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ ♪ We're gonna be baptized in your fire ♪ next steps coming in on September 13 September 13 is the data next steps happening so I believe that is next Sunday so we would love to see you and find out what your purpose is and what God has for you yes absolutely and another way that you can get plugged in would be with our small groups and you are just in love because they are launching today if you guys could go into Scandal QR called for small groups there are there's a small group for everybody we have things from anime all the way to things from breaking for men for women for couples you name it you will find it even if you're not

employed so go ahead and get scanned a QR quote you can get connected and now speaking of small groups I actually want to talk about a story that is really heartfelt so please posture your heart in a way to receive so the person I want to talk about that's important to us at Journey Church his name is Peter Bolas Peter and his wife Cheryl drove past Journey Church day after day and they see that they just wanted to come in and see what it's all about that first Sunday they knew they found a home a place to build a place for purpose a place to grow out their faith a place where they belong and that same day Peter and his wife signed up for next steps and that very next Sunday they were already serving now Peter had a passion for men he believed that men should be spiritual leaders in the household so he took on the duty of leading small men in a small group a small group called wild at heart he was a leader there and he was building men and helping them chase their purpose finding out who they are as men and how can they be the spiritual leaders of their household yet more how they could be spiritual leaders of people that they don't even know and it was even just him leading there and leading as the the the service people down in the lobby that welcome you he was just such an amazing guy and Peter was in the hospital these past couple of days Peter was having some trouble and even then Peter was still welcome men come in the hospital he was still spread the love of Jesus he was still brighten up the hearts of many men you can know that one man changed the trajectory of many lives Peter went to go be with the Lord August 29th 2026 but this kind of legacy lives on a legacy of building up Godly men the legacy of following Jesus Christ a legacy of discipleship and moments like this reminds us that every moment every conversation every open door every community to find and love on Jesus and believe that Jesus is Christ it just shows that how important it is that just being a leader a spiritual leader a father it's just someone that can just help you believe what's the real purpose it multiplies it carries on and without your generosity we wouldn't be able to have stories like this Peter lives and breathes Jesus Christ and he helped so many men find that same purpose and he was a man a prayer and a man of faith

so and pray for Sunday I don't want to explain like what pray for Sunday is yes of course of prayer first Sunday the first Sunday of every month our journey likes to do what we call prayer first Sunday so if you visit the building they have a time where they'll bring out the prayer team and you're able to go to the fun for them to pray for you but if you're online you guys are definitely not left behind we have Alex our stage host that's going to be playing live over the requests that you guys make so I want to give you guys the encouragement and the confidence to go ahead and drop anything in the in the app for prayer requests or on the comments so that way Alice can pray over you guys and there's nothing too big and there's nothing too small that you can go ahead and put in there we would love to walk alongside you absolutely absolutely we believe that God come move mountains just a small little bit of faith and God will do it and just even a small prayer God will move it you will move it so far that you will feel provision and there is no way you could believe like oh God it's not real because that's a lie that enemy will want you to believe that's why we're gonna move it to the stage where Alex is gonna pray over your vision see you guys later I am so excited to have the honor and privilege to pray over is requested I have I want to encourage you to continue to send them in because we're going to continue to pray for you guys okay so pray with me let's come together Lord we thank you we worship you we adore you my God you are the King of Kings and the Lord of Lord you are the God who hears the one who answers the one who is there in every single moment my God we worship you because you are who you say you are because there is no word from you that has failed and will ever fail my God and having that faith that you are going to continue to meet us in every single My God, I come together with Jameson to pray over every single person's weekend, every church member that we have, every person that's listening, every person that's tuning in, Lord. I pray for those who may have to be working this weekend, Lord.

We pray that you continue to pour into them, that you guide them, that you walk with them, Lord, that in this long weekend that we get blessed with my God, that we don't forget your heavenly name and to do things in your honor, Lord. I pray, my God, for Yasmin. I pray, Lord, that as she travels, my God, for this long week, that you continue to be with her, my God, that you watch over her son, that you cover him in the blood of Jesus, that you protect him as she's outlawed, that her whole house is just covered with your presence, that the Holy Spirit just continues to dwell with her and in her home, my God. Keep her safe as she travels there and travels back, my God. I pray for Justin, Lord. I pray that you give him strength. I pray that you give him guidance. I pray that you give him peace. Praise sister, my God, that you be with her in every single moment, Lord, that you pour into her in every single moment, my God, that you continue to be the light that's guiding her, that you help her to see through Justin, that you are the one that has a plan for her life in every single moment, Lord. I pray that you continue to just meet every single need, Lord. I pray for some in my God. I pray that in every single moment, Lord,

you just be there, that you just meet her, that you help her walk through these tough times, that you continue to show her that no matter what, you have brought her through things that she never thought that she was gonna make it through, Lord, that you have been there in every single moment to just show her how much you love her, how you have a plan for her, Lord, how you have just met her no matter what, through every circumstance, and you will continue to do so, Lord. I pray for Jalen, my God. I pray that you meet her, that you cover her daughter, Lord, and every single moment that you provide healing because you are our ultimate healer, my God, because you are the one that meets every single need, Lord, because you have a plan in every moment. I pray, my God, that you bring her peace through this time, that she can trust and have faith, that you will heal her daughter, that you will meet them in those moments, that you will bring restoration, and however you have deemed it, Lord, I pray that you continue to pour into her, that you bring people to circle her and her family in this time, Lord, that you just bring people to love on her, to be her community, that we can just come together and just be able to support her, my God, in every way that you have called us to.

I pray for Kelly, Lord. I pray, my God, that you continue to move her forward, that in this potential place that you have set aside for her, my God, that you are the one opening those doors, that you are the one leading her forward, that you are the one opening every opportunity for her, that everything just covers in your blessings, my God, and that as she moves forward, that she can trust and know that as long as she dedicates it to you, as long as she is searching for you first, you will not lead her astray, my God. I pray for April, Lord. I pray that you continue to hear her, Lord. I pray that you continue to show her and all the plans that you have for her in the due time and your perfect will, my God. I pray that you hold her steadfast. I pray that you pour into her heart. I pray that you give her the opportunity to really feel you, loving on her, feel you just confirming that you are not going to leave her, that you are not going to forget her, my God, that you are not going to abandon her. And in every moment, you have a plan already set from before she was even conceived, my God. I pray for Isabella, Lord. I pray, my God, that you cover her body. I pray, my God, that you pour over her. I plead the blood of Jesus, over her joints. I plead the blood of Jesus, over her body.

I plead the blood of Jesus, over her mind, over her low energy, her fatigue, my God. I pray that you give her everything that she's missing, Lord, that you mean her, that you pour into her, that she feels just a divine, just rejuvenating of her, her energy, my God, that she feels you just pouring life into her, that as you continue to heal her, as you continue to pull her forward, Lord, as you continue to just work on her, my God, that your hands are also with the doctors working with her, Lord. I pray for Jermaine, my God. I pray that you pour over him, that you pour over every single moment that he has, every path that you have settled for him, everything that you have predestined, Lord, that you hear his prayers, hear his heart, hear his mind, Lord, and guide him. I pray for Angela, my God. I pray that in every single moment, you hear her thanksgiving. You hear her heart. You be her legs. that anxiety has no place here, that in the name of Jesus we cast that out, that stress has no place here, that in the name of Jesus we also cast that out, that, my God, you continue to give her provisions, that your heavenly provisions are never going to be matched by anything, Lord, that you continue to cover her and her family and her friends and the blood of Jesus, that you continue to use her as a light, to guide everyone around her, my God, I pray for Maria, Lord, I thank you for every single moment that she gives you her heart, that she thanks you for just giving her grace, my God, I pray that you continue

to do so, I pray, my God, that you just be with her and prepare her, give her the wisdom, give her the peace as she goes into the time to have a tough conversation, that you just prepare all the hearts, that you prepare all the minds, that you soften everyone so that what's truly heard is the love behind it, that you are the one speaking through her so that everything can be understood the way that you have deemed it to have to be that way, Lord, I thank you, God, for Christia, I thank you, my God, for every moment that you have guided her, I pray, Lord, that you be with her as she goes into these interviews, Lord, that you guide her, that you give her the words that she needs, that you give her the peace, knowing that the right place for her will be shown, that the place that you have decided she needs to be at for your divine plan will be shown, my God, I pray that you continue to just give her that peace, give her the provision, give her the guidance, my God, in those moments, I pray for Nicole, Lord, I pray, my God, that you just continue to pour into her, give her a great weekend with her family, Lord, pray, just, just we come together with her to pray for everyone through this weekend, again, Lord, to pray for everyone, just wanting to have a great time, but also remembering to put you first, my God, I pray for her son going into this opening season of baseball, Lord, I pray that you give him guidance that you cover him in the blood of Jesus, that in every team he joins my God, that he be a light sent from you, Lord, I pray for Jamie, my God, I pray for her growing family, Lord, I pray for her and her husband, my God, I pray that you continue to pour into them, I pray that you continue to bless them, my God, to guide them, to prepare them, so that they can be the parents that you need them to be for their baby, I pray my God for Melissa, I pray for her family, I pray for her children, Lord, I pray that you just bring them back to you, my God, I pray for their salvation, I pray that you pour into them, I pray that you soften their hearts, open their minds, open their ears to you, my God, I pray that they have the most amazing encounter with you, Lord, that just changes them, I pray that you continue to use her, my God, as that vessel, that light that never stops praying, that never stops giving grace, that never stops being that motherly love to show them that God still loves them, that God is waiting for them, that God is just you and there, my God, with your arms, open, expecting them, just waiting for them to come back to you, I pray, my God, for cord me, I pray, Lord, that you'll be with

them as they, with her and her fiance as they enter this next time of their life, as they go into this important moment, Lord, that you continue to just be with them and guide them, give them the provision, give them the guidance, give them the wisdom, Lord, that they need in this time, I pray for Celine, my God, we come together with her as she prays for Kayla and Jason Jacobing, I pray, my God, that you'll be with them through this pain, I pray, my God, that you just join them in this moment, my God, I pray, Lord, that we remember that the Holy Spirit was sent to be our provision and our peace, and all these I pray, my God, in your glorious name, Jesus, amen, continue to send your prayer request, I'm going to keep praying for you, we're all going to pray for you and we're going to come together as a family, I want you to pray for your heart, pray for your minds, for this sermon, and we will see you on the other side. Have a good one. Journey Church, Pastor JJ here, and if you didn't know that, who I am, that is, then that means that you must be a first time guest, and we're so glad that you chose to be with us today, I hope to see you again, next Sunday, if I'm not on your campus in person, either on the screen or live, listen, I am just so excited for what God is doing on our church, we've got two really big things coming up that you need to know about. The first is September 18th, we have a very special encounter night, now, if you've ever been to an encounter night before, it's an out of communion, it's a time of worship, it's time of us being in the presence of God at the altar going deep. is that it's happening on September 18th, which is exactly the day 10 years ago that our church, journey church, had its first service. It is a celebration, not only of Jesus, but of Jesus' faithfulness through journey church for 10 years. It's so special, we're moving it to a special location. We're gonna be renting out Calvary Auditorium here in Orlando. Listen, it's a 3,000-seat Auditorium,

and I believe we can pack out every seat for the glory of Jesus. It's a bunch of voices singing out to God, being encouraged for the next 10 years. We have special guest worship that is gonna be showing up. We also have a special guest speaker. My friend, Pastor Rich Wilkerson Jr. from Vout Church is gonna be with us bringing a word. And then that Sunday, so that'll be on Friday the 18th, that Sunday, we're gonna have our church birthday celebration, our service. So it's a birth week, okay? Just deal with it. We're gonna be celebrating what God did. It's awesome. He deserves the glory. On the 20th, we're gonna have a church birthday celebration. We give presents out on that day. We're gonna make some big announcements on that day, special announcements that day, as we look forward to the next 10 years of journey church, so don't miss it. Can't wait to see you there. Today, we have a very special guest speaker in the house. He is a close friend. I love him so much. He's preached that journey before. Pastor Jason Burns is the lead pastor of Access Church in Lakeland, Florida. They've got three locations now running thousands of people,

more importantly, seeing people give their lives to Jesus all over the city of Lakeland. Lakeland, it's a great church. If you've got friends out in Lakeland, make sure you send them there that way. I love him so much. I really do consider him not just a guest speaker, but an honest-to-god friend. So why don't you make my friend feel at home weak? Believe in honor here at Journey Church. Would you do me a favor? Stand to your feet at all of our locations. Let's put our hands together and welcome to the stage, Pastor Jason Burns. - Oh, what's up, Journey Church? Yeah. Wow, wow, wow, wow. Hey, listen, everybody. I love you so much. Aren't you grateful to be a part of Journey Church, everybody? What a great church. Honor to be here. Before I even get going, I want to look right in the camera and welcome our church family. Journey is one church that meets in three locations right now here in Fern Park, East Orlando, Kissimmee. Then lots of people join you every week for church online, and we want to also welcome those incarcerated who are joining us via the Pando app.

Come on, everybody. Put your hands together. Welcome your church fam today. Yeah. I love you. Hey, do me a favor before your seat. Turn around, give someone a high five. Tell them they sounded so good when they were singing today. Lie to 'em, just tell 'em something. Man. Well, everybody, I have had this day circled on my calendar for a long time. Let me tell you why. I do love your church. I really do, but can I tell you what I really love? I love Pastor JJ and Liz. Don't you love them so much, everybody? Just the best. If you ever wonder to yourself, does God love me? And you're finding yourself worried or thinking about it. I just want you to remember that God could have sent you anywhere, but he put you in the best church out there, Journey Church with the best pastors. They love you so much. Quick story. Earlier this year, I got invited to be a VIP at a special conference, and I was super excited about it. And this conference was all general seating,

so everybody would line up hours in advance to try to get a good seat. But they told me I was a VIP, and I was like, let's go. And so, they gave me a special seat. Now, the room I was in was a big auditorium, and off to my left, which would be your right on the far corner of the stage, they had some chair setup, so they put me there. And I thought, this is great. I had a good view, I could see everything. And it was weird because I was there and everybody was looking at me. So, people were texting me and posting pictures of me sitting up in these weird seats on stage. And it was beautiful because I was close. But I was sitting behind the speakers. So, what it meant was I could see everything pretty good, but so much of the beauty of what happened that night just went right over my head. I was too close to really tell what was happening. Sometimes I wonder if when you're a part of a church like Journey, that's your experience too. Like, I wonder if it's possible that you've had a front row seat for all that God's going to do in your church and through your church. I mean, you're not even 10 years old yet. And a couple of weeks ago, you celebrated that 10,000 people have made the decision to follow Jesus. (audience applauding)

So, look at me, look at me. 'Cause I tell you my favorite Christians, it's those who are brand new to following Jesus because everything is so new and so exciting to them. Come on one time, can we thank God for your church, everybody? (audience cheering) So good. And let me end with this. Last night when I drove into town, my GPS took me a different way than it normally does and I don't know why, but I had this moment and I can't go into all of it with you but this has only happened to me a handful of times in my life where I saw something with my eyes but I saw something entirely different with my heart and I saw a picture, listen, your last 10 years have been unbelievable. God has done unimaginable things in just the first decade but here's what I wanna tell you based on what I've seen and based on the faithfulness of God. Buckle your seat belts, live open handedly and just trust, God's got even better things in store for you. Can I get a good amen journey church? (audience cheering) Amen. All right, well I am pumped to bring the message today. Let me pray and then we're gonna get after it, okay? God, we just thank you. First of all, thank you for an amazing decade.

Thank you for 10,000 lives change. May we never get used to that. God, my prayer is this, that everything you've done in the past, would you double it and double it and double it? Would you just pour your favor and blessing out on this amazing church? And God, in these next few minutes we have together, I'm inviting you to do that miracle that only you can do which is to silence my voice so that your voice can speak loudly to all of our souls. God, none of us came to hear a message from a speaker. We came to hear the voice of the living God. So do that. Speak to us deep, unto deep. We'll give you all the praise and glory for it. And God, I know you're gonna do it. I know it based on the authority of your word and by the power of your spirit. May we leave change today in Jesus name. Come on, somebody say amen, amen. When I was in high school, at what now feels like right around the end of the revolutionary war, I, it hurts a little bit. I was a basketball player and a starter on my varsity basketball team. Now I'm sure when you saw me, you thought that's a baller right there. It's true, it's true. Now the detail you don't know,

that's not important to the stories. I went to a very, very small school. My whole graduating senior class was 13 people, everybody. But I was the valedictorian, how you like that? And just means I was smarter than 12 people. And anyways, so I'm a starter on my varsity basketball team and this may shock you, but we were really bad, like bad, bad. The only game we won my senior season was the game the other team didn't show up for, but a forfeit to win, baby, you know, still counts. Anyways, one time we played the school early in the season. This is one of those memories that all these years later have stuck with me. We played against the boarding school and they had a player on their team coincidentally also named JJ and JJ was unbelievable. Like he, he went on to play division one basketball and what was crazy is the first time we played this school. Remember, it's a boarding school. All they do is live at school so they go to school and play basketball all day. Like it's their whole life. They completely crushed us in that game. JJ alone scored 47 points against my team. JJ outscored my whole team by himself, all right? Everybody was bad. So it's demoralizing a few months ago by, we get our one forfeit victory and later we have to play this team one more time and I'll never forget the bus ride over there.

I mean, it was quiet. Nobody wanted to play this team and we get to the locker room before the game and our coach, he should have given us this inspirational courage-inducing speech, but instead he goes, guys, anybody remember what that guy JJ did to us the last time we played them? And we're like, coach, everybody remembers. What are you talking about? He said, here's what I want to do. And he pointed at a guy on our team named Ryan. Now, Ryan was on our basketball team because everybody made the basketball team not because he was good at basketball. Ryan was good at jokes, not basketball, okay? Are you with me on this? And he said, Ryan, you're starting tonight, get ready to go. And everyone was like, what? They said, here's what I want you to do, okay, Ryan? When we're on defense, I want you as close as you can be to JJ. I want you six inches from his face, the whole game. I want you to be able to smell what he ate for breakfast. I want you close to him. And that's when we're on defense. When we're on offense and we have the ball, I want you to defend JJ. Stay with him face to face.

And all I want you to do is talk to him. Talk about anything you want. Ask him as many questions as you can possibly think of just asking him anything. So the game tips off. And before the game even tipped off, Ryan goes and puts his face six inches away from JJ's face. And he said, we're gonna get cozy, buddy. We're gonna start talking, right? Game tips off and the conversation starts light. Let's talk about breakfast cereal. You have frosted flakes, man. You're a captain, crunch kind of guy. Like, what are you? Later, it was like, what kind of movies are you into? What kind of TV shows? "You a Fresh Prince kind of guy? "Like what are you, right?" And then I'll never forget, we got into the second quarter and JJ was getting really frustrated. He only had three points so far. Remember, 47 in the first game, three so far. And I remember Ryan kind of like ramped it up a whole 'nother level and he goes, "All right, enough's enough, let's go there. "Boxers are briefs, what's the situation, what's going on?" And then the moment that crescendoed everything, Ryan was backpedaling down the court following JJ and he said to JJ, "All right, I've run out of stuff "to talk about, let's talk about your mama for a minute."

(audience cheers) JJ shoves Ryan, literally he flew out into the bench, they gave him a double technical and ejected him from the game, everybody. (audience applauds) In the first game he scored 47 points, in the second game he scored three points, we brought his scoring average down to 25 points a game versus us. Now, here's the question, ready? What was the difference in the two games? In the second game, someone got in his head. You understand this, right? Because this happens to you and to me all the time, doesn't it? Life has a way of getting into our heads, failure has a way of getting into our heads. And what will tend to happen is, we will hear all these voices, even our own voice, condemning us, causing us to feel guilty, causing us to stop short of all the blessing that God has for our life. And can I teach you a really important principle? There's only one voice that ultimately matters. Like, you are responsible for the voice you answer to, and I believe the voice we should listen to most is the voice of God. And here's the thing, this is really important. For many of us, what we tend to do, is we tend to collect all of those things

that are going in in our mind, all the things that were said about us, all the things that have been done to us, all the betrayals, all the abuse, all the hurts, all the pains. And we wear those as labels on our soul. And here's the thing. We start to believe that it's true. We wear these labels on our heart. We were abused, we were hurt, we were talked about, we were stabbed in the back. All these things happen and it makes the journey from our minds to our hearts. And then what happens to us is we wear it like a badge on our soul. It's what I would call imposter syndrome. If you're a notetaker, the title of today's message is imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is a psychological phenomenon where the American Journal of Behavior Science says that 70% of Americans struggle with imposter syndrome and here's what it is. It's this belief that I have to hide who I really am because if you knew the real me, you couldn't possibly love me. And so we hide, we live in shame. We live under the labels given to us. And if you're the kind of person who falls asleep in the message, let me tell you the end of the message right now, okay?

Here it is, ready? The only one who can label you is the one who created you. - Come on. - And if you find yourself living under the names and the labels given to you by other people, you are living a life far shorter than God's best. In fact, if you have your Bibles, go with me to the book of Genesis chapter one, here's why. In Genesis chapter one, God has just created the heavens and the earth with the power of his voice. And at the end of Genesis chapter one verse 27, it says this and this is so powerful. It says so God created mankind in his own image, in his own image. In the image of God, he created the male and female. He created them. Here's the thing I need you to understand. You and I are created in the very image of God. What does it mean? It means that God is a dreamer. He dreamed up the world before it ever existed. So woven into the tapestry of who you are is the capacity to dream. God is a creator. He created the whole universe out of nothing with the power of his voice. Which means inside of you is the capacity to create something. You are created in the image of God. And what it means is you are an image bearer.

I want you to see this. It also means that should be your identity. You're an image bearer. It changed the way you work. It changed the way you be a husband or a wife. It changed the way you parent. It should change everything in your life when you understand that God created you in his image. And this really is your truest identity. Now let me say this to you. A lot of us get this all messed up because somewhere along the way someone said something, did something or heard us. Psychologists call this the early and the often factor. This means the things that were said over you early in your life or often enough in your life. Even if they're not true, you begin to believe it as true. So if you were called dumb or worthless, if you were told that the world would be better without you in it and you start to believe it, it becomes an identity for you. And God has an identity for you. And here's what I want to talk to you about today. There are lots of things about you that are true. Your height is true, your weight is true, your job is true. Who you voted for in the last election is true, how much money you have in your bank account is true, your hair color, it could be true, nobody knows, but like there's lots of things about you are true, but here's what I want you to see your identity is,

write this down, your identity is the truest thing about you. There's so many things that are true, but your identity is the truest thing about you, and here's why this matters. When this gets messed up, we start living out of a false identity and we think we have to fix ourselves. And the way most of us are trained to fix ourselves is we think that I've got to work on the external stuff. So I've got to diet and lose a few pounds, I need to get a new wardrobe, I need to work on the external me to make the internal part of me feel better. But when you read the Bible, God always changes people from the inside out. It's not your behavior that changes your identity, watch this, it's your identity that determines behavior. It's identity that determines behavior, and we think it's behavior modification, if I can just change what I'm doing, then I'll change how I feel. But listen to me, behavior modification without identity, modification never leads to any sort of lasting change. Here's what it means. It means ultimately who you are determines what you do. So if you're here and you're struggling, if you feel like you're living under the weight of a false identity, I've got really good news for you. God is still in the business of changing people from the inside out.

In fact, I want to take you today to my favorite book in the Bible. It's the book of Ephesians. It was written by a man named Paul. Paul goes on to write like half of the New Testament. And when Paul writes this letter called the book of Ephesians, many scholars call it the crown jewel of the New Testament. In Ephesians chapter three, Paul gives us this beautiful picture and it's the reason some people call Ephesians the Grand Canyon of the Bible. And the reason in Ephesians chapter three is Paul gives us four dimensions of God's love. It's how deep, how wide, how great, and how long is his love for us. But here's how the book is written, it's interesting. The first three chapters, Paul talks about who you are. The second three chapters, he talks about how you should live. And here's the thing, most of us spend so much time talking about what we do instead of paying attention to who we actually are. If you can understand that, today I wanna go to Paul's writing. We're gonna read a lot of verses. And I wanna talk to you about your truest identity, who you really are, and here's my prayer. My prayer is that you're going to leave today an entirely new person. Ephesians chapter one, verse one. Paul, he introduces himself. An apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God to God's,

look at these two words, holy people. We'll come back to that in just a moment. To God's holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace and peace to you from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me point out two little phrases for you here, 'cause this is where all of this gets confusing for us. He starts by saying to God's holy people, well, he was writing this letter from prison to a city called Ephesus, which would be a city on the west coast of modern day Turkey. This was a wild city. It was the kind of place where people who were from Ephesus would say, you know, what happens in Ephesus? Stays in Ephesus, you get it, right? Yeah, we're all sinners. And so, but Paul writes them and he calls them God's holy people. Can you imagine reading this and being like, I am not holy, why would he say that? Here's why. It's because God sees your potential more than he sees you past. He sees who he created you to be, not just all of the wrong, sinful things that you've done. And he says to God's holy people in Ephesus, to those of you who are, and then he uses these two words in Christ. And I want you to write these words down

because this is your truest identity. There's all kinds of things that are true about you, but the truest thing about you is that you are in Christ. What does it mean? It means you're a son or a daughter of the Most High God. It means that when Jesus saved you, he didn't just save you from hell. Literally, he changed you and made you an entirely new person that I want you to see this. I'm gonna read 11 verses. These are some challenging verses. This is kind of like a theological juggernaut section of scripture, but I want you to notice nine times in these 11 verses, Paul's gonna use the phrase in Christ or a similar version of that. I'll try to emphasize them as I go. You ready? Verse three, it says praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him or in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love, he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given

"In Him, in Christ, we have redemption through His blood, "the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches "of God's grace, that He lavished on us. "With all wisdom and understanding, "He made known to us the mystery of His will, "according to His good pleasure, "which He purposed in Christ to be put into effect "when the times reached their fulfillment, "to bring unity to all things in heaven "and on earth, under Christ. "Verse 11, in Him, in Christ, we are also chosen." That's a big word. "Having been predestined according to the plan of Him "who works out everything in conformity "with the purpose of His will, "in order that we who are the first "to put our hope in Christ, in Christ, "might be for the praise of His glory." And you also were included in Christ. When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, when you believed, you were marked in Him with the seal, the promise of the Holy Spirit, who was a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance, until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of His glory. Whoo, everybody get that, but you get it all? All right, here's what I want you to see, all right? In those 11 verses we just read, there's four promises from God,

and there's nine times where we find the phrase in Christ. Why does this matter? Well, scholars say there's some 7,000 promises of God in the Bible. Why do you need to know that? Because it's hard to take hold of a promise unless you know the promise. You need to be people of God's word. And there's four, here's what I'd like to show you. And if you're a no taker, write these down, because when you get these, when you understand and it takes the journey from your mind to your heart, everything about trade, then it changes. Number one, we just read that in Christ, we are chosen. This is a big deal, isn't it? Can you go with me for just a moment to fifth grade PE or recess? Anybody remember playing kickball or some game? And you have to pick teams, so you pick two captains and everybody else lines up and you just try to flex and let them know you're up there, you know? And you just wait for your name to be chosen. There is this foundational need in all of us to feel like we belong. There's this foundational need in all of our hearts to feel like what we do actually matters. And we live in a world that's confused about choice. We think that everything exists on some sort of a spectrum. And so what it means is we get to choose our identity.

But according to Paul, we are in Christ and we are chosen. That means that before God laid the foundations of the world, He chose you. Now this is important for you to understand. It also means you can't earn it. Ephesians chapter two, Paul says it's by grace that we have been saved through faith and not by works so that you can't boast about it. It's kind of like this. If I was ever to go to a party and they were to say, all right, not everybody knows everybody, so introduce yourself and tell us one weird or interesting story about you, what would you say? And I would get up and say, I'm Jason Burns and I won a dance contest one time. And you would say, what? And I'm like, it's true, here's how it happened, okay? Some years ago I was at a wedding with my wife and my wife is, she is just like a lightning bolt of energy, she is joy personified. And we're at this wedding and we're at the reception afterwards and the DJ goes, hey, we're gonna have a dance contest, everybody to the dance floor get your partner with you. So before I could even think, Liz had dragged me onto the dance floor and I'm like, hey, if I don't do this, I am so white, I don't do this. Like, what do I do? And she goes, I got you, she goes, I got you. She goes, just stand there and do this.

I'm like, I can do that. So the music starts and I just do this and I get moving. And my wife starts dancing all around me, all up on me like dancing and they're eliminating all these couples from the dance contest and we're just going and we just keep winning. At one point I'm like, we could win this and I don't know what over took me, but I did some dumb move like, just like this and she goes, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, she goes, look at me. So I did this, guess what? We won the dance contest, everybody. So God be the glory, right? Okay. But here's the question. Did I actually do anything to earn it? No, I didn't. Same is true with your salvation. You can't earn it, all you get to do is receive it. In Christ we are chosen. Number two, in Christ we are holy and blameless. And this one's really hard 'cause you can't see this one in the mirror, right? Like when you look at yourself, when you lay in bed and replay your worst memories, we remember our worst moments. Things we did, regrets we have, or we lay in bed and we think about the things

that were done to us that made us feel dirty or disgusting. And we think about these things and it's hard for us to understand that when God sees us, he sees us differently than we see ourselves. Like when you see yourself, you might see your sin and shame. According to scripture, if you have been forgiven and if your identity is in Christ, when God sees you, he actually sees his perfect son. I want you to think about this. I heard a story just this week about a man in 1999 who was arrested for stealing $2,000 from a Burger King restaurant. And after he stole it, the manager was able to get a picture of his car and license plate. So just an hour or two later, the police showed up at his house and they arrested him, and he went to court and he was found guilty of the crime, and he was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Kind of crazy. And so the lawyer for this guy, he worked out the deal, and he said, oh, here's what I want. Can this guy, Mike, have just a few days to get his affairs in order? Just pick him up on Friday and he'll start the 13 years on Friday. So the judge allowed for it. Mike goes home. He gets his affairs in order, and then Friday comes, and the police didn't come get him. And then Saturday came.

And then Sunday and Monday and Tuesday, finally, Mike called his lawyer and he's like, bro, what do I do with this? And he goes, if they don't get you, just lay low. Be good and don't do anything. It's pretty soon a week turned into two weeks, two weeks turned into a month. And it got kind of crazy because all of a sudden, nobody came for him. So this guy might just started living his life again. He got married, had a child, got divorced, got remarried. He started a business. He did all kinds of wonderful things with his life after this. And then on the 13th anniversary of what should have been the end of his jail sentence, the police realized that they should have had him because they went to release him and he wasn't there. So they went to his house and arrested him. Now, whole crazy long story. At the end of the story, a judge commutes his sentence. He goes, listen, you've turned your life around. It was our fault, not yours. You're free to go. But I want you to imagine this. Imagine it was you. Imagine you were the one sentenced to 13 years in prison and no one came and picked you up. Are you free? Yeah. But are you really free? Like, wouldn't you always be looking over your shoulder?

Wouldn't you always drive three miles under the speed limit at all times? Like, wouldn't you be so scared that something was going to happen to cause you to get thrown into jail? Here's what you need to understand. According to Paul, like, in Christ, God sees this holy and blameless. You don't have to look over your shoulder anymore because you are completely once and for all forgiven. Number three, this is a big deal. In Christ, you are adopted. And I love this picture because adoption is loved by choice. Has it ever occurred to you that the God of the universe chose you to be in his family? God, who speaks the world into existence with the power of his voice, who hangs the sun, the moon, and the stars, who puts birds in the sky in those really weird, creepy fish at the bottom of the ocean. He chose you to be in his family. Now, look, I'm not super emotional about things, but there's two kinds of videos that guarantee to get me crying. The first one is this. I love the videos of a kid who's at school, and their dad or their mom is out serving in the military somewhere overseas, protecting our freedom. And they surprise the kid. Have you seen these videos? And when the kid sees them, they don't care what anyone thinks they run and jump on their parent, hug them like a koala

bear really tight. And I just boo-hoo like a baby when I see that one. Here's one more. Have you seen the videos of parents who have a gift for their kid? And they give it to them, and the kid opens the gift, and it's not a toy or clothes or something that like a gift card. It's a certificate. And they say to the kid, hey, we love you so much. We want to adopt you into our family. We want you to share our last name. And I get emotional talking about it. Has it occurred to you that the God of the universe did that for you and for me? And we get so confused about our identity. Listen to me, your identity is not who you are, but who's you are. He adopted you into his family. Number four, in Christ, we are redeemed and forgiven. This is so important for you to hear. Redeemed is not like a coupon where you get 50 cents off of your groceries. Redeemed means God wants to restore your heart to the way it was before sin and shame ever got in and messed the whole thing up. We're redeemed and forgiven. And this is important for you to hear. If God has forgiven you, then you can forgive you. If God says I'm not holding it against you anymore,

then why don't you receive the forgiveness of God and walk out in a holy sense of confidence that you no longer have to pay for what you've done. If you're forgiven, walk in forgiveness. Okay, ready? All of that sounds good, so why do we mess it up? I think it's hidden in the first verse we read. Ephesians one verse one, remember this? It says to God's holy people in Ephesus. And what's funny is like we live in this world, even though we're not a part of this world, we live in this world. And it's easy to get our identity found in all the wrong things. Like people were proud to be from Ephesus. It was this really important cultural city. They had all kinds of cool things. There was an amphitheater that they built there that sat 25,000 people. There was, you can see today the ruins of what was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the temple of Diana Beautiful. They had a shopping closet that was the size of two football fields. The people from around the world would come to Ephesus to shop in. And this is important. People were proud to be from Ephesus the same way. Hopefully you are proud to be a part of our country. Let me say this to you.

I know we got issues. I know our country is far from perfect, but I've also been all over the world. And there's no place I'd rather be than the good old US of A. But here's the, here's where it gets messy. Listen to me, where it gets messy for us is, we'll get into fights with other people about things that we disagree on. Can I give you a framework for how to deal with that stuff? According to Paul, who wrote Ephesians, he also wrote the book of Philippians. And in Philippians, he says you're actually a dual citizen. Yeah, you're citizens of our country, but your first citizenship is actually in heaven. Well, what does it mean? It means like in the same way that if there's issues happening in different parts of the world, it doesn't affect me. It means that when things happen here, it doesn't have to affect me the way it does everybody else, because my citizenship, yeah, it's here, but it's first and foremost in heaven. We get this stuff all kinds of messy, don't we? So like, we'll get our identity found in what we do, and listen to me, it's important. Your job might be important, and I love that for you. But your identity is not in what you do, it's in what's been done for you. Another place we get our identity, it's in what we have.

And here's the problem with what you have. Your life was never intended to be a competition with everybody else, it's not about what you achieve, it's been about what you have received from God. Another place we get our identity, all sorts of messed up, is in what you did. And maybe for you, there's a part of your story that is so clouded by shame, that you can't even see straight anymore. And I just wanna tell you, because of what Jesus did for you, you are fully and completely forgiven. Here's one last one. You may feel like my real identity's in my desires, because I can't shake out of these habits or these addictions. Can I teach you something? In the book of Romans, chapter eight, Paul says the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. If that power that it took to raise a person from the dead is in you, there is nothing in this world you can't overcome by the power of God's spirit. (congregation applauds) But let me make it practical for you, and then we'll end. Some time ago, I was sitting with my wife upstairs in our living room, and she was on whatever social media app she was on. She goes, "Ooh, look at this." You know how some social media will show you pictures from one year ago and three years ago?

She showed me a picture from 2020. Anybody remember the joy ride of 2020? And everybody was mad about everything. It was masks and vaccinations and the presidential and all kinds of social and racial and all everything. It was like a perfect storm of everything wrong. And as a pastor for a whole year, I felt like I couldn't win at all. It was just really, really difficult. She showed me this picture, and all of a sudden, all these emotions kind of flooded back in my soul. And I remembered a moment that was really hard as a pastor. I had people in my church who literally weeks before had been worshiping together, serving together, giving together, that were now fighting publicly over them being on different sides of the aisle. They were on different sides of the aisle, politically, on every different social issue. They were just angry, and they took it to the beautiful cesspool that is social media, and they were wrestling with it publicly. And they wrote me, and they said, "We can't come to any sort of agreement. "Can we come talk to you so you can mediate for us?" And I'm like, they don't teach you about that in seminary, but come in, we'll give it a shot. And so they both started bickering about both sides of the issues they were having. And I said, all this is cool, right? Let me ask you a question.

What is the truest thing about you? They said, "What do you mean?" I said, "It was literally weeks ago that you stood "with your hands lifted to the King of Kings "and the Lord of Lords. "It was weeks ago that you were worshiping together. "All these things, maybe they matter to you, "but here's what I need you to understand. "It's not your truest identity. "At the end of the day, who you vote for matters, "but it's not your truest identity, "what you believe about social issues matter, "but it's not your truest identity, "your truest identity is that you are in Christ, "and in Christ, you are a son or a daughter of the King." (audience applauds) So. So here's how I want to end today. When I was a kid, there was this game we'd play at school, and the game was called Stand Up If It's True. And here's how it would work. The teacher would say, "Stand up if this is true, "and if it's true, you stand up. "And then if the next thing she says is not true about you, "you might sit down." So like, just to practice, we might say, if you're a Philadelphia Eagles fan, that means you have really bad breath, stand up, and all the terrible, sit down, sit down, okay, whatever. Pray God will heal your identity.

All right, how's that, all right? (audience applauds) I'll go home, okay. Here we go. I want to read you a list of things that might be true about you. And if they're true, I want you to stand up, and let me give you a spoiler alert. All of these things are things that we read, stand would you give God praise are you ready stand up if because of Jesus you are chosen stand up stand up if because of Jesus you are adopted stand up if because of Jesus you're holy stand up if the cousin Jesus you're blameless stand up if the cousin Jesus you're redeemed stand up if the cousin Jesus you're forgiven stand up if because of Jesus you are loved come on give him praise in this place everybody Jesus we praise you magnify your name come on at all locations when you just lift your hands towards heaven for a moment so Jesus in this place forgive us if we found our identity in any place other than you got for those of us whose hearts feel heavy because we've worn the labels and names that people have given us for so long we ask for your forgiveness may we re-orient our lives around the fact that there is only one label that is the truest thing about us it is our identity and our identity is found in Christ God may we leave today different than we came in because Jesus you've saved us you've forgiven us you've changed us and you've made us completely new so Jesus I just ask you for a holy dose of courage may we leave different because we've encountered you with your head slow down and I still close at all of our locations I want to ask you a question this is really the most important question about identity here it is have you made the decision to let Jesus be your Lord and Savior have you chosen to follow him here's why this matters it's hard to take on his identity if you are not following him maybe you came to church and you've never made a decision to follow Jesus or

maybe you're here and you just feel like you've walked so far away from your relationship with him in either case I want to give you an opportunity to follow Jesus if this is you no one's looking around no one's talking because this moment's for you and God but at all of our locations if this is you and you need to make the decision to follow Jesus today would you just raise your hand no one's looking thank you thank you thank you wow thank you thank you thank you wow you're gonna get a whole new identity you're gonna be adopted into God's very own family here's what I want you to do I'm gonna pray a prayer and I'm gonna say it out loud and if this is you I want you to have three seconds of courage and I want you to repeat everything I say loud and proud and hear me on this praying a prayer will change everything when you mean it with your heart now I want you to know to to lend you some courage our church family is all standing around you we're gonna pray this out loud with you to lend our faith and our courage to you as you make this decision we've all been there we've all needed Jesus to save us and we're so excited for you I'm gonna ask everyone at all locations would you pray this out loud with me say Jesus I give you my life be my Lord and be my Savior thank you that you love me thank you that you gave your life for me and from this day forward I give you my life Jesus I believe that you're the Son of God you have the power to save me so from this day on I choose to follow you I love you Jesus and I give you my life for the rest of my life in Jesus name amen amen come on church let's give God some praise I am so proud of every single one of you that made that decision today I want you to go ahead and go to journey or I'll calm forest last decision so that we can walk it out with you we can accompany you through this time we can go ahead and get to know more about you as you enter this beautiful part of your life I really love this sermon I loved how intentional it was I love how it spoke to me spoke life into me the Lord really ministered to me and I pray that he also ministered to you so I want to go ahead and send you off to the studio where you can talk in more detail here my friends go over every detail that they loved and y'all can get to know more about them so to the studio

all right wasn't that an amazing message honestly I definitely was I loved it absolutely absolutely what was your favorite part of the message honestly I really I really loved the dancing part because I'm literally just like Jesus is going and breaking it down all about me yes he's just that guy yes he is I think I like most about it was just like the label we're not we're we're God only has the authority above us and only for us nobody else have any authority over us whatever labels that they give them that is for them to think what they got to think and for me to know that I am God's child and I'm chosen and I am faithful and I'm God I'm I'm part of God's creation absolutely so that was amazing that was amazing guys if you guys want to get more or if you guys want to be more in tune with how Journey Church is please download the app we will and who you are as a person. - Absolutely. - And you can also go ahead and like and subscribe us on YouTube. I did wanna let you know. Like I can't wait to see what they're gonna get into in the after talk. - Yes. - If you've never heard of the after talk, it's a podcast that they'll do. And they basically just do a deep dive into Sunday's segment. And it's awesome because it's like, you get to get a little bit more into it if you have any questions or things that you would like to make a little bit more clear. Don't be afraid to leave a comment on this. That way like that.

You know, they'll be able to go ahead and meet up together and maybe answer one of your questions. - Definitely, definitely. And also if you guys wanna be a part of a generosity story and just help make more stories come to life, please scan the QR code and we would love to walk that walk with you guys. Plus we're one big family, we're one big community. - Absolutely. - Definitely. Well, I think that's it. - All righty. I hope you guys had a great prayer for your first Sunday. We definitely had a blast. - Yes, definitely so. Until next Sunday guys, we love you guys and we will wait to see you guys again. - Absolutely. Bye. (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music)