We are starting a new series today on Easter Sunday, "Filling Empty"! Centered around the idea that when we feel empty, God is the one who fills that empty. With a launching scripture of Matthew 5:6, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."

Too often we make our own "get filled" plan that centers around us working harder or doing better to relieve that empty feeling inside. Thinking that way in human standards may be fine, but it is dangerous when we bring that same standard into our relationship with God. We can't do enough, work hard enough, or be good enough to earn salvation. We had incurred an infinite debt when we sinned against the infinite God. So, God's Son had to come down, and in the likeness of man, and pay the ultimate price. Dying on a cross for us, paying our debt, and had to be laid in a tomb, for us. God's gift of salvation is just that; a gift. It isn't earned or achieved, it is accepted. Three days later, Jesus rose! Defeating sin, death and the grave! The sound of the stone rolling away was the sound of Heaven opening up! Ultimately, God used an empty grave to fill Heaven.

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Key Verses // Matthew 5:6, Romans 6:23

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We finish our Rebrand series today, looking into the life of Simon; more commonly known as Peter. Understanding that God wants us to have our identity in Him is a key foundational element to this series and to understanding the life of Simon Peter. Meeting Jesus will change you. From the first meeting Simon had with Jesus, Simon was changed; Jesus said that his name will be "Cephas (which, when translated, is Peter)". Then his name stayed Peter at the revelation that Jesus was the Son of God. We see that the truth that God reveals to you is the truth that will change you. Your true identity is lived with your mind on the things of God. our identity can waver when we are not keepings our minds set on heavenly things. so, ultimately, we have to be mindful of our mind!

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Key verses // John 1:41-42, Matthew 16:13-20

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Looking at the Life of Saul, and his miraculous conversion, we again see how God wants us to find our identity in Him. Through the life and writings of Paul we see that the calling on our lives is to do the will of God. Before Saul became Paul, he persecuted the early Church. He had orders to imprison early believers or stone them in order to prevent the spreading of the gospel. However, Jesus met him on the road to Damascus, and his life was turned around, and he started serving Jesus and making His name known. Through this we see that an encounter with Jesus will always bring about real change! Saul's name change to Paul was not only pivotal to his ministry, but also to the fulfillment of him being a new creation in Christ. Ultimately, your identity in Christ is what equips you for your calling. Not the other way around.

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Key Verses // Acts 7:51-60, 8:1-3, 9:1-20; Acts 13:8-10

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God wants us to find our identity in Him, and one of the most prominent things that we let name us instead is pain. Pain will try to change who you are but God's healing redeems your true identity. As in the case of today's story, Naomi. Naomi, from the book of Ruth, had determined to let her pain change her identity; she wanted to identify with it and make it the first thing people knew about her, by changing her own name to Mara. We can't let the existence of pain have the authority to rename us. Through the story of Naomi we can see how having the right people around you and acknowledging the blessings of the Lord overshadows pain, and keeps our identity in line with Him.

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Key Verses // Ruth 1:1-20, Ruth 2:20

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In this series about name changes, one big change is when Jerusalem gets conquered by Babylon and selected hebrews are forced to learn Babylonian ways and language. Today we look at the story of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; whose names were changed to Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. We start with the ultimate truth that God wants us to find our identity in Him, and in the story of these hebrew men, it helps us to understand that not everybody who values what we can do, also values who we are. God is with us in the middle of our worst moments and will help us get through them; in the middle of temptations to make small, quiet compromises, and in the middle of large public temptations to go a different way than God's design. God will be with you. Through the lives of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, we can learn that our faith is in God's faithfulness.

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Key Verses // Daniel 1:1-7, Daniel 3:16-30

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This week in our "Rebrand" series we take a look at the life of Gideon. We see in his story that to be who God says we are, we have to take God at His word and do what He says to do. In the life of Gideon, his haters named him Jerub-Baal, or "Let Baal content with him", because of how he tore down an altar to Baal. The truth is that your haters will try to do the same, and name you. When that happens it's important to remember, others will try to talk, but God has the final word.

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Key Verses // Judges 6:28-32

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This week we look at the life of a popular man in the Bible, whose actual name might be the least known about him. You can hear the name Barnabas and most people would know who is being referred to, but that isn't his actual name. In fact it is a nickname, given to him by other disciples early in Acts. Joseph, known as Barnabas, helps us to see that God wants our identity to be found in Him. Through the life of Barnabas we see that being who God created us to be will impact those around us. Barnabas, which means "son of encouragement", constantly went out of his way to encourage others. Barnabas acted in accordance with who God had made him to be. And the truth is that recovering who God made us to be will help other to discover who Jesus truly is.

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Key Verses // Acts 4:36-37

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Continuing in our Rebrand series, we look at the name of Solomon and how David wanted his son to have the thing which he desperately wanted but couldn't get. God wants our identity to be in Him, and not in the pain of this life; which can easily try and give us our name. We have to embrace who God says we are. Solomon's life and name is marked by David's pain. Pain will try to name us, but God will reclaim us. Let us find our identity in Him!

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Key Verses // 2 Samuel 12:24-25

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We begin a new series where the focus is on how we need to let God name us, because God wants us to have our identity in Him. We will see that letting God name us actually leads to our good. Diving into one of the most prominent stories of a name change, Jacob, we will see how it is a danger to let our past define our future. The truth is that our true identity is found in Him.

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Key Verses // Genesis 32:23-28

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We wrap up our Bigger Picture series today, understanding that God has a bigger life for us in Christ. Every aspect of our lives shifts from being messed-up to made right by trusting in God. And we see that God uses us to impact more than us, beginning with our future generations; like God did with Abraham. The bigger picture is for generations to come! Through the lives of Abraham and Sarah, we see that God ordadined the bigger picture to include the next generation.

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Key Verses // Genesis 15:1-6

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