Come See The One

I love being our youth pastor. I love our youth students. I love what God is doing in our youth ministry right now. I'm just going to name a couple things.

There's such a freedom of worship in our youth ministry, which is just incredible. To see students not be afraid to express themselves in worship, not be wondering what everybody else is thinking around them, but to actually praise God and lift their hands and be able to lock in on who He is, is set such a culture for other young people to walk into and experience the same thing. And we're seeing that, and that's just continuing to grow in our worship. We're watching students reach other students, just the way, honestly, I can say this because I am our social media.

Our social media is not that great. I'm the manager of it. People come to youth because they've been invited by their friends. And they've been invited by their friends because of what God is doing through students that are reaching other students.

And it's just incredible to see that come to life. We tell our young people all the time, you don't have to wait till you graduate, to step into who you are, to step into your calling, to step into who God has made you to be. And we just see that happening left and right. There's so many moments that I would love to just say, but we'll save it for later.

We'll save it for part two. But tonight I'm excited to preach. And first off, I just gotta get a feel for the room. Where are my risk takers at?

Like, you're like, I'm a risk taker. I live on the edge. I laugh in the face of danger. Hold them high, who am I working with?

Hold them high. Everybody else not lifting them is just bracing themselves. Like, what are we gonna do? He's that youth pastor guy.

When I stepped into youth ministry, something that I was not filled in on was all of the kind of the subculture, just the expectations, the things that came with it. And I quickly realized just what those things were. One of which happens to be every summer. You take your youth ministry to Valley Fair.

Don't know who started. We love to have a conversation with them. But for whatever reason, I stepped in to be in youth pastor years ago and summer hits, I'm ready. I love the pool.

I love summer. I'm getting into golf right now. Just thought you might like to know. Summer's amazing.

But everybody, these students are coming up to me and they're like, when's Valley Fair? And I'm like, Valley what? I don't know about you, but I hadn't previous to this. Been to Valley Fair for probably 10 years prior.

And that was on purpose. And I realized the fear that started to come up in me, the anxiety that started to come up in me, when I actually said, okay, we're going to Valley Fair. And so I get ready. I plan the event, which is really easy for me.

Great event coordinator. Ask my supervisor. Details, all those things. Yeah, my wheelhouse.

And so we're working on the way to the event. And it does actually take me a lot of effort to get these events planned. So most of my focus is going there. And then a couple days before Valley Fair, I just start to feel this something in my stomach.

Okay, I'm just anxious. I am scared. I'm afraid. I'm like panicking.

And I'm like, man, I plan this Valley Fair excursion. And great word, right? And but I actually have to go. And Wednesday hits, we're getting in, piling into the van, the bus.

And we're headed there. And man, I'm just quiet. I'm feeling it already. And everybody's pumped.

Everybody's yelling. Everybody's way too chaotic. I was like, just settle down. Settle down.

It's just normal. Having fun. And we get to Valley Fair. And I get in the first line.

And of course, they chose Corkscrew. Which is as bad as it sounds if you haven't been. And I'm like, all right, we're going to do this right off the bat. And we're in line.

And those lines are long. We're waiting for like 30 minutes. It's torture. And I just actually am very panicked.

And I'm like, what am I doing? How did we get here? I planned this. What was I thinking?

And you know, you get to the part where you lock in, right? And man, yeah. I felt some people that also don't like Valley Fair in that moment. We go on the ride.

Corkscrew upside down all around. It was the worst thing in the world. And then the rest of the day just continue to do the same thing. And hey, just a side note for anybody who doesn't like rides and find themselves at Valley Fair, Water Park, OK?

Is the place to be. And that's where I try to hang out. Until the end of the day, when all of my students are like, we're doing the wild thing. And I'm like, I'm a bad youth pastor if I don't get on the wild thing.

So I'm like struggling. I'm like in and out of line. I'm like, no, OK, no. OK.

And finally, buckle in. That is sent to y'all. Dang. You feel it now.

It's like, no. Shut it down. We're not OK. And I go on the wild thing.

And honestly, I have the time of my life, OK? It was awesome. And now I turn into the guy who's telling everybody else that didn't go or hasn't gone yet. Breathe.

You got to go. Like, what are you waiting for? What are you afraid of? I'm like, come on.

It'll be the time of your life, right? And it just flips real quick. And all of a sudden, I'm the Valley Fair guy telling everybody else, hey, take the risk. I'm with my risk takers, OK?

I'm in the club now. And I say all that to just say, I realize I had little courage in that moment. And I've noticed in my life when I face fears, I have some of those same feelings towards real life situations. And I'm like, what I need right now is courage.

And so I want to read a passage that gives us a beautiful picture of this in Acts 4. If you got your Bibles, will you turn there? Acts 4. We're going to be in verse 7.

Starting in verse 7. When you're there, say, I'm there. I'll just see how bold you guys will be with that. We kind of trailed off.

That's OK. OK. Acts 4. Starting in verse 7 says this.

They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them. By what power or name did you do this? It'll say it in a minute, but they just prayed for a man who got healed. Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers and elders of the people.

If we are being called to the account today for an act of kindness, shown to a man who is lame, and are being asked how he was healed, but then know this, you and all the people of Israel. It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus says, the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.

It says, when they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished, and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. Fast forward with me, to verse 18 through 20. 4, 18 through 20 says this. Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

But Peter and John replied, which is right in God's eyes, to listen to you or to him, you be the judges. As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard. I just love that. It's audacious.

They're standing in front of the people that hold a whole lot of power to put them in prison, to make their lives miserable, and they're staring them down, and they're going, hey, you better not do this again. You're free. I mean, picture you getting sentenced to jail or prison and having a moment where it's like, if you do this, you can be free. You'd be pretty tempted to go, cool.

I mean, even if I said it in the moment, OK, I got you, but I'm not actually going to do it. They look them dead in the eye and they go, hey, I know what you're saying, but we cannot remain quiet about what we've seen and what we've heard. And when I first read this scripture, the question that popped into my mind is, am I playing it safe? Like, I look at the courage.

I look at the authority. I look at what these men were doing, what they were like praying for someone who's getting healed. And we know other stories where they're walking around in who God created them to be. And they're seeing miracles.

They're seeing salvation. They're seeing people come to know God. And I'm going, man, the authority. The courage, the boldness that they're walking in.

And I'm like, if I'm being honest with myself, I want to see more of that in my life. I want to walk in that same courage. I want to walk in that same boldness. I want to walk in who God created me to be and see the fruit of walking in that.

It says that these, the religious that we're talking about them, it says that they seemed like they had been with Jesus, which I love. Because courage comes from understanding who God created you to be. And who God created you to be, knowing that comes from being with Jesus. These men were walking with Jesus.

And because of that, they knew who they were. And they had great courage. Can I read the definition of courage just to get us on the same page? Read it.

Shout out to Dan. He's always shot me down in youth. Great to have you here. Courage is the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.

No matter the fear, no matter the difficulty, looking these men in the eye, knowing the power that they held, but having the courage to continue to go, we can't keep quiet about what we've seen or heard. I don't know about you, but when I'm just in my own life, it's faced with fear. I'm faced with difficulty. That sometimes just sidelines me, actually.

And I lack courage, and I'm so focused on my problems, or the things in front of me, or the fear that I'm facing because of the situation. I'm not even thinking about courage. I don't know about you. I'm just trying to get my life figured out.

Like I'm just trying to figure out how are we going to pay the bills and the future? And what about this relationship? That person seems like they're mad at me, and I'm trying to figure that out. And I'm trying to figure out how to be a dad of three and just keep it together.

Do you know what I'm saying? I'm not even thinking about being courageous. But I feel like tonight God wants to help us understand even more of who we are so that we can live with courage. I think when I'm focused on all these other things, I'm not actually thinking about who God is, and because of that, what he says about me, and who I am.

I walk differently when I know what God is saying about me. I want to read you a list so that I can make sure that you're feeling this as much as I am. This, are you ready? It's going to be fun.

I'll name it, though. You may be playing it safe if list. Cool? You ready?

OK. It depends out. You may be playing it safe if. You keep talking about that idea that you have, but you never take steps towards doing it, because you don't feel qualified enough.

You may be playing it safe if you have felt the desire to start a new venture, but you're not sure how you would make it, so you never make any moves to do so. Or maybe if you keep thinking about asking that person out, but you never take a shot. OK? I said this in the first service.

I'm here to start new relationships. I'm here to give some courage to people. Take the shot. You'll never know if you don't take the shot.

You hear that? I got some women encouragement in here. Do it. What he said.

Just shut me down. Now I know. You may be playing it safe if I ask you what your vision is for life, and you don't have any passion when you talk about it. I feel mean right now.

Leave me alone. You may be playing it safe if you feel prompted to have conversations with people from the Holy Spirit that you keep missing the opportunity. Or if you keep feeling overwhelmed with problems, like I was, financial, relational, et cetera, that you never get around to helping others out. Your help is often dependent on once you get your life in line.

Maybe playing it safe if you keep saying you're too old for that, or you're too young for that. You may be playing it safe if you are using your performance in life, work, even your relationship with God as you're measurement for success in your life. There's so many things, and that's just me throwing out a random list of things that come to my mind that can show me men. For whatever reason, we're shrinking back from situations.

And those are just everyday life situations. Those aren't just a spiritual list of, you know, it's like holistically, God's going to give you courage and speak to who you are for your whole life. And as we say often here, and as just our teaching and our preaching is holistic. It's your whole life.

It's not just a spiritual aspect. It's emotionally, it's mentally, it's who you are, at your job, with your family, in whatever role you find yourself. And God wants to tell you who you are so you can walk and courage in every area. I want to talk to you tonight about original design.

Raise your hand if you've ever heard that term, original design. Wow, okay, let's go. That's a lot. I love that.

I'm surprised by that. I'm going to give you the definition I'm using. So original design, the definition, when I'm talking about this, is your unique identity of who God created you to be, which is also your gift to the world. I'm going to say it again.

Your unique identity of who God created you to be, which is your gift to the world. And right up front, I want to say, for anybody that's like, I know my identity. My identity is in Christ. You are correct.

And I love that we teach about our identity, our spirit identity, that we are the righteousness of God, that we are a son and a daughter. We're no longer orphans. Like all of these things that we hear often from this platform or throughout our worship or whatever it is. Like that is our identity in Christ when we give our lives to Jesus.

That's set, that's not changing. If you weren't here about a month ago when Scott Vanderwift preached a message on the right, us having the righteousness of God, you need to listen to it. It's so good. It helps us understand that there's nothing you could do past, present, or future to change the fact that you are in right standing with God.

And that is the gospel. And this is who we are, right? So when I'm talking about your unique identity, who God created you to be, I'm talking about you like your soul identity. We're talking about body, soul, spirit, soul, body, right?

And I'm talking about who God created you to be, your original design of what he says to you, that's unlike anyone else. And I'll give you an example to just help us be on the same path here. I have three kids. I have a nine-year-old girl, five-year-old boy, and two-year-old girl, right?

I have two girls. They're both my daughters. And because they're my daughters, they get whatever I have as their father. Because you have my last name.

You have my DNA. You're my daughters. You get what I have. So you get my inheritance.

Still working on that one. But you will get it. You get my protection. You get my provision.

Like you get my presence. Whatever I have, I'm giving to you. I'm there for you. Like I love you.

And this is all because you're my daughter. But when I have Haven or Noah, and I'm just having moments in life with them, my encouragement to them isn't just that. It isn't just always, hey, I love you so much. Because you're my daughter.

And I love you. And you know what that means. It's all those things that I just listed. And then I go over to Noah.

I don't go, hey, I love you so much. Because you're my daughter. And I love that. And sometimes I do.

But even more than that, I'm speaking to their original design. Give into them by God. And when I'm encouraging Haven, I'm like, girl, you are so creative. What in the world?

The way that you lead your friends is insane. You are a leader of leaders. Like you could be the president. You could run a company.

What do you want to do? Like you are an incredible leader. You are so brave. It just blows my mind.

And for the rest of my life, I will continue to encourage her in who she is in her original design. Noah, it's hilarious. But she's too. So it's like, you know, just a little bit shorter of a conversation.

But I'll tell you this right now. Her name is Noah Evangeline Cruz. And that name means movement of good news. Cruz, good news Cruz.

I don't know how to do it. And when she honestly is that, she is so much fun. She's so much joy. She carries so much joy.

There's so many moments already where we're just like sitting at the dinner table. And Noah just cracks some random face or expression. And we all just start burst out laughing. And I promise you, she's probably going to be that to Haven.

When Haven's trying to run the world, Noah's going to be making like a funny noise or something. And he's being like, listen up a little bit. And it's who she is. She's joy.

She's like so much fun. She's so incredible. You're like, she's too. I'm like, hey, let me be a dad and brag on my daughter's first.

But God wants to speak to who you are in your original design. You have all the promises from God because of who you are as a son or daughter. But you have an original design that he wants to speak to you about. There's a couple examples in scripture that I want to bullet point for us.

So we can see where God is doing this in his word. We can see what he's saying to people. He's already said to people. First is Paul.

When Paul has this encounter with Jesus, and then his name is turned from Saul to Paul. And Paul says in 2 Timothy, he says, I'm a preacher and apostle, a teacher of this good news sent to the Gentiles. Like he knew who he was. And what's something that's really cool is that name Paul in Greek means small one or a little one.

And what I love about that is Paul wrote half the New Testament and continues to go low over and over and over. And it leads to the salvation of many. It's like God wants to tell us who we are uniquely, who you are that's unlike anyone else. And it's going to be your gift to the world.

It's going to be what you step into. It's going to be what you continue to learn, how to walk in more and more and more. Peter, when Jesus did the first, when he first did a miracle in front of Peter, Peter's response was, I'm an unworthy sinner. His first response was like, I'm not worthy.

Like, I see at least a little bit of who you are, and you don't understand who I am. The way that he saw himself is, no, I'm unworthy. I'm not good enough. And Jesus makes him a fisher of men, which is wild.

It's like, I just think about the moment that he's called a fisher of men. He may be percup a little bit, like, why do you know how to fish? You know? And God will take that false or that fear or the thing that you put initially in front of him and start to unravel.

Oh, I created you. I knit you in your mother's womb. I know who you are before anything. You walked through anything in this world before you did anything.

And that's who I know you as. And that's who I will call you by. Isn't it crazy that Peter goes on? And there's a story where he leads 3,000 men, 3,000 people, probably women and men, to Jesus and sees great salvation among men.

When Jesus said, you'll be a fisher of men. And here he is, fishing for men. That's just incredible to me. There's a story of Gideon, if you know it, in the Old Testament.

And Gideon is hiding away from his enemies. And an angel comes to Gideon, and he goes, mighty man of valor. Mighty man of valor. I'm like, what?

That's awesome. Let's go. This is how God speaks to us. And Gideon's talking with him, and he has questions about, well, why are we experiencing what we're experiencing?

Where has God been? And he goes, by the way, you've got the weakest tribe, basically, the weakest clan. And I'm the least of my whole family. So if you want to try again, you can.

And this is how Gideon sees himself. I'm the weakest of the weakest. I'm an unworthy sinner. What's coming out is that insecurity.

What's coming out is that false belief about themselves. It's like the lack of courage, because they don't know who they are. And he goes, mighty man of valor. And then takes Gideon through a process, if you know the story, of whittling his army down to 300, to face an army of 132,000.

And they come out victorious. What a movie. Let's make it. I love war movies.

I'm in. The thing that I love about each one of these circumstances is just how it happens, where when God speaks to us, when he speaks to people about their original design, often what comes up first is the false. It's the insecurity. It's the fear.

It's like the statements of like, but I'm not enough. It's like, no, no, no. I don't want to be a disappointment again. Like I don't want to fail.

And it's like these, like you must have the wrong person. Like that sounds audacious. That's what it's like when God's speaking to us in our original design. I want to look at one other story in John 4.

You can turn there if you want. I'm going to summarize the story and just read a couple verses at the end of it. But this passage is interesting to me. Jesus, if you know the story, is sitting at a well with a woman.

And he begins to strike up conversation, which she is basically communicating, what are you doing? Because Jews don't talk to Samaritans, and men don't talk to women like this. So why are you talking to me? And he was asking for her for a drink of water.

And I just watch this. I love the way, because Jesus will do this in your life with you as well. He'll draw you out even when you aren't ready to put like the real stuff in front of him. He'll do something so incredible that it will start to draw it out, and then he'll speak to what you actually need.

And she's going, he asked for a drink of water. And then he goes, she responds, and he goes, if you knew who I was, you'd ask me for water, and I'd give you water, then you'd never thirst again. And she's like, well, then give me that water. And he's like, well, go get your husband.

And then she goes, I don't have a husband. And he's like, you're right. He's like, you've had five, and the man you're currently with isn't your husband. And she's like, wow, okay, so you know some things.

You're a prophet, right? And it's just interesting, because as he continues this conversation with her, she switches modes. She goes into theological questions. And what's interesting to me about that is because it shows what the longing actually is in her heart.

She's like, okay, okay. So it's been said we could only worship on this mountain, but then Samaritans say that we could worship on. This mountain, and she starts going into all this theology. And she's like, if you know all this, then do you know the answer to this?

Because basically, I wanna be able to worship the Messiah. Like I wanna be connected to him. This doesn't feel right. And Jesus through this conversation and just asking these questions is unlocking what's actually on the inside of her.

And when he points out, like you've been with all these men and the current one you're with isn't even your husband. It gives us just a picture. We don't know her whole story. But it gives us a picture of someone that's running from relationship to relationship, searching for something, searching for love, searching for identity, searching for who she is.

Like she probably would have been a woman that any man with bad intentions would be a great person for. That's how she would have been known like in town. And she's floored by the fact that Jesus knows who she is, and is just speaking to the soul of like who she is. And it's just interesting to me what she goes into the town saying.

I'm gonna read this. Am I gonna read it? I'm gonna summarize it. Okay?

Is that cool? She goes into the town and she says, come see the man, come see the one who told me everything there is to know about myself. Like come see the one who told me everything there is to know about myself. I just think it would be so interesting to me.

I wonder who she went to first. She must have had other friends that were in similar circumstances, that were feeling outcast, that were feeling no hope in life, that didn't know who they are, that were also running to men. Other people that were in similar circumstances. I don't know if you're like me, it's like I hang around people that are similar to me.

I just picture like who did she run to first? She's like come see the one, he'll tell you everything about yourself. Like she started to sense this love, this unconditional love. And she started to sense like he knows who I am.

I've been searching for that my whole life. And what's so interesting to me is this same woman who was used by men, like subject to men, like running around trying to find who she was with all these men is now the same woman that's leading men back to Jesus. So the one that is being used by men and trying to figure out who she is has now become the leader of men. The leader of a town, the leader of a city.

And these people come out to Jesus and many of them were saved. Y'all, one conversation. One conversation about who she is. One conversation about her life.

God wants to speak to you about your original design and it is not small. God wants to speak to you despite your status, despite what you make, despite who you are, all those things that we like to find success in and measure ourselves by. He wants to speak to you about who you are. And there is no affirmation outside of him that will ever come close to what his words will say.

We look in all these places to find who we are through our insecurities, through our questions, through our searching. And God wants to speak to your original design. And your original design will transform your own life. It will bring such an excitement to you.

It will bring such a peace to you. Think about this. It will bring such a courage. Just as a freaking my message right here.

It will bring such a courage that causes you to walk amidst fear, danger, difficulty, to be able to walk like those disciples were walking, praying for people when they're getting healed, walking because they had been with Jesus and now they have the courage to walk in who they are. God wants to speak to your original design. It's interesting because of the time that we live in. There's, we know this, but digital age of information, so much information in the palm of our hands.

It can take me a second to click into an app and I'm just off. I'm just thinking about so many questions because there's so many opinions. There's so many things that we see every person's life. So often there's just so much opportunity to look elsewhere.

When we have these questions of, but God, who have you created me to be? What do you say about me? And it's things that we can even bypass because we get really good at it in life. We just have to get to the next thing.

We have responsibilities. And so we're trying to just get through life when really deep down. We have things that we have questions about. And what they need is a conversation with God.

Saying, God, who do you say that I am? Who have you created me to be? What I love about this phrase that she says, come and see the one. I love it because when I think about a community of people like this, a community of people walking in their original design, walking in who God created them to be, finding transformation in their own life and bringing that gift to the world, I think it would sound a lot like come see the one.

Like I don't have all the answers to life, but come see the one. He told me everything there is to know about myself. I don't think that our schools could stay the same. I don't think that our neighborhoods could remain unchanged.

I don't think the city of Minneapolis that so many people have everything to say about could stay the same. And the city is all around it. Yo, what if we had the courage because of this transfer with God, where we give him the false, we give him the fears, we give him the things that we believe about ourselves. And we say, God, what do you say to that?

Who do you call me? Who do you say that I am? And we let that transform us. And then we're walking all around as we do, everyday reverence, everyday people in whatever atmosphere, whatever area, whatever industry you find yourself in.

And you're walking in your original design and it's gonna start to turn heads because people are gonna go, what are you doing? It's gonna be like a woman coming to a town and it's gonna be like, that's not the same girl that just went to go get water. It's not gonna be the same fisherman. It's not gonna be the same warrior who wasn't a warrior before that.

And it looks completely different. It's you and your original design and God wants to speak to you about it. And with a community like this walking in that type of courage, it's gonna bring transformation to anyone and everyone around you. Will you stand?

What I love from this axe-for passage that we started off reading is these disciples had a similar thing that they were saying to this woman. Saying, come see the one. When it came down to it, these disciples looked at these other religious rulers in the eye and they said, like, as for us, we can't stay quiet about what we've seen and heard. What if that's what unlocked mass salvation in our cities?

What if that's what unlocked that conversation with your coworker? And you, like me, have been trying so hard to think about the right thing to say and when do I bring up Jesus? And when I do, and what if it was more like, I just can't stay quiet about him? I definitely don't have every answer that you're looking for, but come see him.

Right now, we can talk about him. Right now, I can introduce you to him and we can just start to ask him questions. I like to give my you students really practical things. I'm like, what if you just said, hey, this next week, why don't you just ask God who he is and just see if he shows up?

Pressure's off you. God wants to reveal himself. Come and see the one. We can't stay quiet about what we've seen or heard.

I just believe that us walking in our original designs is going to be like a John the Baptist type point to who Jesus is. People will have questions about it. And you'll have answers because you'll go, oh, I've just been listening to what God says about me. Would you like to do the same?

And it's going to transform lives around us. I want to pray for us and then I'm going to pass it off to Josh. I'm just going to quickly pray for two different people. If you're in here and you're going, I haven't really dove into this area that much.

And I haven't heard a lot about what God says about me and I want that and I want to walk with courage. And I want to live like that. And I want to be confident in who he's created me to be. I'm going to pray for you.

And if you're in here and you're going, I feel like I could actually say my original design. There's been a lot that God said about me. And I feel like I know that. But man, I don't want to play it safe.

I want to continue to walk in this and watch other people, like a Peter who didn't know Jesus before he had this moment, like the woman at the well who didn't know Jesus before she had this moment. I wonder what it would look like when we walk people who currently don't know Jesus into understanding their identity, even before they stepped put in a church. It sounds like who we are. It sounds like the stories that I hear come from our community, but I just believe God's going to continue to give us more and more opportunities.

So Jesus, I thank you for who you are. I thank you that you're the one that tells us who we are. I thank you that you speak to our souls and tell us what our original design is. I thank you that there's no small original design.

I thank you that when you speak it to us God, it sounds audacious. It sounds hard to believe. Jesus, I just pray for our schools, for our neighborhoods, for our families, for our cities. God, I thank you that there are ours.

And I thank you that a whole community of people, whole church of people living in their original designs on mission, not just evangelistically, but just in every way of helping others see who you are and know their identity is going to bring transformation to our cities, to our world. Your name, amen.