Identity Theft Series

Identity Theft

Discovering my true identity

How many of you have ever heard of Identity theft?

(Show Videos)

• Did you know you too could be a victim?

• There IS a thief who is wants to claim your identity and I am sure many of you have guessed by now who that is.

In this world there are 2 voices

• The Lie

o These are the ideas that the Enemy wants you to believe about who you are

o There are many lies

• The Truth

o This is what God says about who you are

o There is only ONE truth

• When it comes to your identity there are a few big lies that the devil wants to be sure you believe

Let me tell you why this is important

• You are at a critical point in your life. This time, this time right now, is when you are really starting to make your own identity. Until now you have been pretty much who your parents say you are. You parents pick your cloths, your hair style, they say when and where you go, and so on. But now you are all starting to make more and more of those decisions on your own. As you do, I want you to be equipped to make good decisions. In order to do that you need to know how to tell the truth about identity from the lies. So tonight we are going to look at 3 areas where it is easy to be mislead. Those areas are freedom, uniqueness, and value.

Freedom

• The lie

o Freedom means do whatever I want whenever I want it

o I have to be independent to be free

o In regard to being a Christian:

• The world will tell you that in order to follow Christ you have to give up your freedom.

• The lie is that Christ wants to control you

o You can’t tell me what is right or wrong

• It is all relative. What is wrong for you is not necessarily wrong for me

• The truth

o The definition of freedom is exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc

o The Bible tells us (I want to point out that although the Bible does say this it is also evident by taking a look at the world we are in) that there are two kingdoms at work

• “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil.”

• The truth is that when we follow the world THAT is when we give up our freedom.

• The enemy wants us to think that the ‘whatever I want/whenever I want’ mentality is what freedom looks like. But the REALITY is that when we step out from the authority of Christ we step into the “control of the evil one”

o This false freedom is a trap

• Matthew 16:26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?

o The truth is that true freedom can ONLY be found in Christ!

• God does not want to CONTROL you. That is why you have been given a free will.

• Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

• Freedom isn’t found in our independence, but rather our DEPENDENCE on God

• Dependence means to put trust in with confidence!

• GLORIOUS FREEDOM!!!

• Romans 8 1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Uniqueness

• The Lie

o I can be unique by rebelling against who my parents or God says I should be

o In order to be a Christian I have to fit into a specific mold of what Christians look like

• The Truth

o Psalm 139

1 O LORD, you have searched me

and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue

you know it completely, O LORD.

5 You hem me in—behind and before;

you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,