Mark leads New Wine LSE. He’s been a good mate of mine for years and his talk at the men’s day this week blew me away, especially as he’d just come back directly from Mozambique!
I’m taking my notes from this great talk by Mark to be the Ivy MCR Grow group notes for this week.
Who are you getting your affirmation from?
Jesus says God’s opinion of you is what matters most
And you matter most to Him.
Discuss – in practice, whose opinions matter to you most at the moment and whose don’t?
Who are you? (Describe who you are to each other).
Who are you on the Inside ?
Mark said on the inside he’s still “A high school boy – trying to make the most of my life and make the world better because I was here” (Does that resonate with you?)
And Mark said he’s found “the best way to do that is to link my life to His (God the Father).”
Start your day with him.
Remind yourself that he loves you. Mark sings the little song ‘Jesus loves me this I know’ first thing every day! What can you do to remind yourself of this?
Get your affirmation from him. The Pharisees wanted affirmation from the crowds. You can gain the world that way – but you’ll forfeit your soul along the way.
Discuss:
Who are you in God?
Do you live being who you are?
Do you know who He made you?
Do you live according to purpose, priorities or pressure?
The passage tells us God is uniquely interested in you. Making your difference. If you stand up rather than blend in you’ll find:
1. True success is finding our identity in God.
So many men live ‘if only’ lives. Missing out on what they have.
Jesus says don’t be afraid of people – they can only kill you!
God’s at work in every life. We just don’t notice it until we see that he is there.
We are deeply driven by our identity issues
I can…
I can’t…
I have..
I like…
Or
I am… (a)
I remember…
(Discuss – in what ways can we slip into that kind of thinking and relating?)
Jesus says don’t define yourself those ways. But define yourself by who is your true Father.
Because if the ‘I cans,’ and the ‘I haves’ etc change – we lose our identity if that’s where we had them.
So find your identity in Christ. You are eternally beloved in him.
You’re a Christian… accountant, plumber, nurse, Whatever…
So if the whatever changes, you don’t.
2. Live for the audience of one!
Focus on who God the Father is.
Then become like him – how? By acting like him. Love mercy. Act justly. Walk humbly. (Micah 6:8)
Then you will reshape the future. If you live for Him.
If you love him first, you can love the people he sends for you to love.
3. Make your life like His.
Are you a milkshake, or a grapefruit ?
Grapefruit people have their lives segmented.
Milkshake people blend it all together – it’s all integrated together. Integrate your life with God.
This is how you can change the world. If your security and identity are not in the world but in who you are in God.