YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD

• In 2007, a television show called Mad Men took the world by storm.

• It followed the complicated lives of New York marketing executives during the golden age of advertising.

• The marketing team, known as the Mad Men, created advertisements for world-famous brands like Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, and Kodak.

• They were among the most successful men in the world’s most successful city.

• Throughout the seven seasons, we see characters working well into the wee hours of the morning nearly every day. They never stop hustling.

• They have accounts to land, CEOs to please, and deadlines to meet.

• This creates a work-life balance similar to a seesaw with a refrigerator on one side.

• Pitifully, their families and health take a backseat to their obsession with success.

• In a particularly powerful episode, an executive named Don Draper fires an employee for his problematic habits.

• With tears streaming from his bloodshot eyes, the man pleads, “If I do not come in to work Monday, I won’t know who I am.”

• Without his job, he was broken, directionless, and confused.

• Mad Men is based on a real ad agency, but it’s mostly imaginary.

• This problem is far from fiction, though.

• Don’s scripted exchange reveals the authentic tragedy of a misplaced identity.

• Our recently fired friend saw himself through the lens of his success.

• Without it, he had no idea who he was.

TENSION

• I have seen this tragedy of misplaced identity play out in countless lives throughout my ministry.

• People tend to build their core identity on the wrong things.

• This is especially evident with students and adolescents.

• So much of our teenage years are spent trying to make a name for ourselves, stand out from the crowd, and discover meaning for our lives.

• If we are not careful, we can proudly define ourselves by our academic accolades, athletic ability, or relationship status.

• As we embark on a study about identity, I invite you to be honest about how you describe yourself, distinguish yourself, and define your worth.

• We want to help you discover your true identity.

• It may seem simple, but few people truly grapple with life’s most important question— “Who am I?”

• Let’s answer that question together.

• Discovering your identity in Christ will radically change you from the inside out.

• We can see this process play out in a powerful story between Jesus and a suffering woman.

• Mark’s Gospel records a spectacular story of a woman with an identity crisis.

• As we read this passage, we will see that culture defined her by her issues, but Jesus defined her as a daughter.

• Can you imagine the agony this woman endured? For most of her life, she had a perplexing “issue of blood.”

• Due to some sort of internal hemorrhage, she had been bleeding for years.

• This would be a desperate diagnosis for any woman of any era, but it was especially problematic for a Jewish woman in the first century.

• Her medical condition defined every aspect of her life.

• She was unable to get married.

• She was unable to have children.

• Everything she touched was considered unclean. She was not allowed to set foot in the temple.

• Every day she found herself exhausted and outcast.

• The doctors scratched their heads in disbelief while every person she knew disappeared from her life.

• All of that is about to change though. Rumor on the streets was that Jesus was coming to town. A jolt of joy pulsed through her body when she realized He could change everything for her.

• Jesus could heal her.

• Jesus could set her free.

• Jesus had the power to change the course of her life.

• She hatched a perplexing plan. She thought, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”

• This was a huge risk for someone living under Jewish law.

• To touch Jesus, she would likely have to touch dozens of other people to get to him.

• Every person she touched would be considered ceremonially unclean.

• Her mere presence was seen like a spiritual plague.

• If someone recognized her as an unclean woman, she could be brutally punished.

• She persisted though. She crawled through the crowd as people stepped on her and red dust clouded her vision.

• With trembling hands, she reached out to Jesus and touched the edge of his robe. Suddenly, she felt the power of God move through her.

• She was healed.

• Just a small touch from Jesus changed everything for her.

• While this story speaks of a woman’s healed body, there is another healing that takes place.

• Jesus healed her identity as well.

• This story gives us two powerful principles about our identity after we meet Jesus.

You Are Not Identified by Your Issues

• I wish I could call this woman by her real name. Maybe it was Megan, Bethany, or Kylie. We do not know.

• Mark simply calls her“the woman with the issue of blood.

• Let’s think about that for a second. Sometimes your problems can be so big that they swallow up your identity.

• Struggle after struggle and setback after setback, the next thing you know, your issue becomes your identity.

• Have you ever had something consume you so much that you could only see yourself through the lens of your problem?

• You define yourself and shape your entire identity around a single struggle.

• You see yourself as the heartbroken ex who cannot stop thinking about all your flaws.

• You see yourself as the loner who plays video games all night.

• You see yourself as unworthy, not good enough, or “less than” due to the stinging words you’ve endured.

• An experience from Jesus will shift your entire identity, just as it did for the woman in this passage.

• Even a small touch from Jesus can cause a big change.

• Imagine being in this woman’s situation.

• Culture had shut her out due to her sickness.

• The religious leaders of the day labeled her as “unclean.”

• All the “holy” people wanted absolutely nothing to do with her, but she knew there was something different about Jesus.

• He didn’t see her as an unclean woman with an issue. He saw her as His daughter.

• All of this is embodied by the words that Jesus spoke: “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Your Identity Is Found in Jesus

• This woman was likely called cutting names her entire life. She was referred to as weird, unclean, and unworthy.

• People were commanded to leave her alone and pretend she didn’t exist.

• Culture saw her issues as her identity, but Jesus didn’t.

• Look at the language Jesus uses to speak to her.

• He calls her daughter. How amazing is that?

• This reveals a relationship.

• This shows connection.

• This demonstrates compassion.

• All of the religious leaders of the day rejected her, but Jesus accepted her.

• Religious practices, rituals, and regulations didn’t help her, but a relationship with Jesus healed her.

• She is the only person in the Bible to be called a daughter by Jesus.

• Christ wanted her to know that she was part of his family. As the daughter of Jesus, she benefits from being in His family.

• He will protect her, He will comfort her, and He will not reject her.

• As a daughter, she is now under His care and protection.

• He will not turn His back on her like the “healers” who swindled her for every cent in her bank account (Mark 5:26).

• A life-changing reality glimmered in His eyes— “I will not abandon you like the others; I will accept you forever.”

Landing:

• You are not defined by anyone except Jesus.

• With compassion in His eyes, he will pick you up, dust you off, and call you His child.

• Knowing this, we should embrace a new perspective of ourselves.

• Let go of all the haunting lies in your head and understand that Jesus sees you differently. He sees you as beloved, precious, and worth the greatest sacrifice.

• If you want to change your life, change how you think about yourself.

• Let’s circle back to the question we asked at the beginning. Who are you?

• You are not just the gamer, the jock, the theater kid, the problem child, or the class clown.

• You are a child of God.

• You belong to the perfect family, which means you are safe, secure, and set apart. You are who God says you are.

TALK IT OUT 

Go through these questions with your circle. Be honest. Be open. Talk through the tough stuff.

Ice Breaker: Go around your circle and share this week’s highs and lows. What was the best part of your week, and what was the lowest part of your week?

Q1: What stuck out to you from today’s message?

Q2: How much have you allowed others to label you and influence your identity?

Q3: Has one hardship ever consumed your thoughts so much that you started thinking less of yourself? How did you overcome it? 

Q4: How should the fact that God calls you His beloved child change the way you see yourself?

Application:

Start an identity quest. Start reading Scripture (potentially start with Ephesians or Colossians) and look for everything it says about who you are as a Christian. Start making a list that captures the way God identifies you.

READING PLAN

READ THESE PASSAGES IN ORDER EVERY DAY

1 John 1:12 

Hebrews 4:16 

Romans 5:1-11 

2 Corinthians 5:20 

Colossians 1:1-14 

Jeremiah 31:3  1

Peter 2:9 1

Corinthians 3:16 

2 Corinthians 2:1-15 

Matthew 5:3-10 

Do the following with each passage: 

ASK– God to connect with you here. In prayer, start by slowing down and inviting God to be present. Begin with focus and openness to see what God has for you today.

READ– the selected section of Scripture slowly. Take note of the words and phrases that intrigue you, reading them a second time if necessary.

REFLECT– on what grabs you. How does this passage personally relate to your own life and experiences?

RESPOND– to the Scripture. Speak directly to God about what’s on your mind and heart. Look for ways to live out what you’ve uncovered.