Text: Luke 15:11-32 | Listen to Message What do you find your identity in? Which component of your identity gives you the biggest dose of self-worth (if you succeed) or self-loathing (if you fail)? What do you need to achieve in order to feel a sense of validation? Traditional Identity In a Traditional Identity culture, the authorities set the rules and it’s your responsibility to live up to them. You’re driven by a sense of duty, and the highest ideal is honor. If you sacrifice, work hard, and play by the rules, you’ll achieve the highest honor possible for you. If...

Text: Mark 8:34-37 | Listen to Message How well do you think you know yourself? Let’s do a little diagnostic test. What are some of the strongest sources of self-worth in your life? What makes you feel like you’re significant, you’re important, you’re doing okay? What gives you a sense of security or validation? What is it that tells you you’re unique, you’re special? To ask it another way, what would anger and frustrate you most if someone were to threaten it or take it away from you? If you’re like most people, you derive your sense of identity from some...

Text: 1 Peter 5:6-14 | Listen to Message Peter concludes his first letter by showing us how to live in light of the grace and peace of Christ that is already ours. He’s saying, “Because you are born again to a living hope through the death and resurrection of Jesus . . . ” “Because you are called, chosen, and cleansed by Christ . . . ” “Because the end of all things is at hand and you are about to share in the glory and reward of Christ forever . . . ” “Because the One who establishes your faith...

Text: 1 Peter 5:1-6 | Listen to Message Most of us don’t spend a whole lot of time around sheep and shepherds these days, so we may not readily grasp what Peter meant when he instructed elders to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you” (1 Peter 5:2). Shepherding was not a glamorous job. It involved long hours out in the elements defending sheep from predators (and from their own stupidity), leading them to find nourishment, rescuing them when they wandered off, and caring for their wellbeing. Shepherding was hard work with almost no breaks. And shepherds were some...