Warm greetings, loved ones.  The weather’s heating up, and so is everything else as we begin to show signs of going back to normal.  I really wanted to go back to church this week, but from an abundance of caution and the very real possibility that I would not be able to go myself due to work duties we decided to wait another week.  So we will go virtual at least one more time.  We’ll keep the format the same as last week.  The conference line will be used during prayer request and Sunday School and everyone can participate.  When the message begins I’ll start the Facebook Live session and put the conference line on mute.  You can stay on and listen through the phone or switch to the video feed if you like.  we will open the line back up for fellowship at the end.

Do you Know who you are?  That sounds like a silly question.  Unless were injured in a way that severely damages our memory, we’re all pretty sure we know the answer.  But who we are is more than a name.  It is more than what we do, how we’re made, or how others see us.  All these things contribute to our personality in some way, but we are more than the some of these parts.  Yet for many of us, these things have been allowed to define us.  We have found our identity in what we can or even in what we cannot do.  we have found it in family connections or the lack thereof.  Sometimes we have let others define who we are for us.

Our creator has much to say on this topic.  He tells us who we are without Him, and that’s not something we want to be.  He also tells us who we are after we become His, and that, my friends, is the good news I wish everyone could understand.  Sadly, many Christians don’t know this.  They’ve been taught to think of themselves as the same rotten sinners they were before being saved.  Baptists love to say that we’re just sinners saved by grace.  Indeed we were sinners saved by grace, but see the difference in those two phrases?  The second one is past tense!  When God saves you, you are not a sinner anymore!  Yes, you will still sin.  We’ll battle the flesh until we die, but when you retain your identity as a sinner instead of a saint, you set yourself up for failure.  After all, if you’re still a sinner, you can’t help it.  You’re doomed to keep on sinning and you can never be free.  But that is not who you are!  You are a new creature!  When Jesus took over your life, you were reborn.  You are a child of God.  You have been sanctified, bought with the blood of Christ, and cleansed from all unrighteousness!  Don’t insult your Heavenly Father by calling yourself a sinner anymore.  Stop telling Jesus that His sacrifice wasn’t good enough.  We’re going to read from 2 Corinthians 5:15-18.  I hope you’ll be encouraged to live the life befitting your identity as a child of the almighty God, maid a joint heir with His own son Jesus, and entrusted with the priestly mission of reconciling humanity to Him.

I look forward to connecting with you tomorrow.  God willing, this will be the last completely virtual session.  The tentative plan is to resume normal services next week on May 10.  Edith called me today, ready to come back.  She has a cell phone with limited minutes and does not get on Facebook, so we have missed her.  With the number of people we have suffering from conditions that may compromise their ability to fight off the infection, we will ask that you keep distance between family groups and wear a mask if you can.

Love y’all!

Larry