I remember what life was like before there were cell phones. I won’t lie; sometimes I dream about smashing my phone. But one little piece of technology that I do really like is my GPS. The GPS is great because it does a few things. The obvious feature we all love about GPS is its ability to chart a route. You can tell your gps and say I want to get here; then the gps shows you how to get there. The other feature I like about my GPS is how it helps when I’m alone in the woods on some remote river. Stacey tends to worry about me when I’m alone, but with my GPS, she can pull me up on an app on her phone and see right where I’m at. At any point, she can look and see he’s right where he should be, moving up the river; all is good.
You’ve probably already made the connection I’m going to make here. God’s Word is our GPS. It is the thing that guides us and gives us direction. That is true for us individually and for us as a church. But how do we tell if we are on course? How do we track our forward momentum? When charting a direction for New Hope?
Prov 29:18 (KJV)—Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Many churches are obsessed with growth: growing larger congregations, buildings, programs, staffs, budgets, etc. Many pastors are obsessed with growing their influence on social media and developing their personal brand.
History has repeatedly shown us the downside of that kind of thinking. Mars Hill Church in Seattle imploded because of those mindsets. In March 2014, a church of over 14,000 members disintegrated and disbanded overnight, leaving gaping wounds that are still in the process of healing.
My concern is not building a bigger church. My chief concern is building bigger people, people who are living out the purpose God designed them for.
How do we avoid the pitfalls that come from choosing a bad destination? What does success look like if bigger buildings and more influence are not our goals?
We begin by asking ourselves, Why does New Hope exist? We have chosen to answer that question with this statement:
We exist to know God and glorify Him by making disciples of Jesus Christ.
We start with knowing God because the one thing God wants from you is to know you.
When we look at the Bible from the 30,000-foot view, we see a single theme evolve from Gen to Rev, from the beginning to the end. The theme is this: Even in humanity’s worst moments, God never gives up on us. He consistently pursues His earthly family. Why? Because He wants to know us.
That theme finds its absolute climax in the cross of Jesus. The cross was God’s ultimate expression of dedication to His creation. Even when we turned our backs on Him, He still pursued us.
Rom 5:8 (CSB)—But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
He wants to know us, and He wants us to know Him.
The second part of that statement reads: “and glorify Him by making disciples of Jesus Christ.”
The purpose of every church that claims to follow Jesus is the Great Commission. We find this commission, Jesus’ commission, to His disciples in Matthew 28, after He has risen from the dead and before He ascends to heaven. These are Jesus’ parting words to His followers.
Matt 28:18-20 (CSB)—All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
This is the mission of every church and every follower of Jesus. By God’s empowering grace, we are to make followers of Jesus, who then make followers of Jesus.
This is why I have so little patience for people and churches that live with a defensive posture toward our culture. Churches that build walls to keep what is inside safe from all the influences of what may be outside the walls. Churches that tell people, “If you want to be a part of this church, then this is how you should look and act to participate and be accepted.”
These churches are no good to the world. Jesus has directed us to engage the world and go outside the walls of our church, to love the unlovely, the broken, and the hurting.
I refuse to live in fear of what the enemy may do. I refuse to live, fearing what may happen if …. You fill in the blank. Instead, we will go boldly into the world and engage the world because the only thing that will save the world is the gospel message.
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Our purpose statement answers the question, “Why do we exist?” The next question we ask gives us direction and helps us stay on track. This question helps us carry out our purpose and leads us to our destination:
“What is important to us?”
We answer that with what we call our four priorities or our values.
Identity
Formation
Community
Mission
These priorities are foundational in the life of a follower of Jesus and the life of the church.
Our first value is one we talk about often.
Identity
Understanding our identity in Christ requires understanding who we are because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.
When we decide to follow Jesus, God gives us a new identity, and everything we do and every part of our lives should flow out of what the Bible says about who we are.
That means who we are at school, who we are at home, who we are as employees, husbands, wives, children, and friends. Every area of our lives is impacted by who we believe we are. That is our identity.
It is very hard to stay in touch with our true identity because those who want our money, our time, and our energy profit more from our insecurity and fears than from our inner freedom.
—Henri Nouwen
The world, the flesh and the devil do a fantastic job of enslaving us by lying to us about who we really are. There are three lies that we frequently believe about our identity.
All of these come from Matthew 3:13-4:11. As we read this, you will see that it marks the beginning point of Jesus’ public ministry.
Matt 3:13-17 (CSB)—Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. But John tried to stop him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?” Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John allowed him to be baptized. When Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”
Notice that God made this declaration about His Son before Jesus had done anything. He hadn’t healed anyone, raised anyone from the dead, or multiplied any lunches yet. He wasn’t famous, and he didn’t even have any disciples.
Matt 4:1-2 (CSB)—Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness (eremas) to be tempted by the devil. After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Here’s the first lie:
You are what you do.
Satan challenges Jesus to show him who He is by what he can do. This is the easiest lie for us to believe because we have been taught for so long that it is the truth. In school, at work, even at home sometimes our value is measured by what we do.
It comes so naturally to us. We all need to feel like we belong and have significance. Our desire to be known by others fuels this lie. In school, we join the band, do drama, or become athletes. When we leave school, our marital status, job, career, or the success of our children becomes our identity.
How do you combat a lie? With the truth. Look at how Jesus responds to Satan.
Matt 4:4 (CSB)—He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Jesus says the thing that gives me nourishment is my Father’s word.
Here is the truth to combat the lie:
I believe the Word of my Heavenly Father.
What does God’s Word say about me?
Because of Jesus I am:
- Loved—Eph 3:17-18
- Forgiven and Redeemed —Eph 1:5
Sometimes, we let not what we do but what we’ve done define our identity, but God says we are:
- A New Creation—2 Cor 5:17
- Adopted into our Father’s Family—Rom 8:15
- A Servant—1 Cor 12:4-11
- Part of a Multi-Ethnic Family—Rev 7:9-10
- A Disciple-Maker—Matt 28:18-20
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Matt 4:5-6 (CSB)—Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
Here is lie number 2:
You are what others think of you.
If you are God’s Son, the angels will know and rescue you.
We spend so much energy and time thinking and worrying about what others think about us. Christians are the worst when it comes to believing this lie. We work so hard to portray a certain image on Sunday morning because we are afraid that we would be rejected if anyone knew who we really were. So, we portray something that may or may not be true out of fear.
Matt 4:7 (CSB)—Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.
Here is the truth to combat the lie:
I don’t have to prove myself. I am enough because of what Jesus did for me.
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Matt 4:8-9 (CSB)—Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.
Here is the third lie:
You are what you have.
Jesus knew that all of these things were already his. Forty days earlier, God had declared this is my Son in whom I am well pleased. But the road to taking hold of those things led through the cross. Satan was offering a shortcut.
In Matt 28:18, Jesus said, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.” He was going to receive what Satan wanted to give Him, but Satan was offering the easy way. But choosing the enemy’s way would have shortcircuited God’s plan to redeem the world.
How did Jesus respond to the lie?
Matt 4:10-11 (CSB)—Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.
Here is the truth to combat the lie:
I’m pleasing to God just as I am in Christ. He simply wants me. He doesn’t want anything else.
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Why is all of this about identity so important?
The world, our flesh, and the devil all want us to believe these lies about who we are.
What we do flows out of who we believe we are. If God is going to bring change to our lives and if we are going to live the life God has designed us to live, then that begins with a right understanding of who we are in Christ.
My goal isn’t just to make you feel better about yourself. My hope is that you will understand the radical truth about who God says you are and begin to live your life in light of that truth.
Today, show gratitude toward our Heavenly Father for giving you a new identity in Chirst. Simply tell Him thank you.
Chris Hankel 
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