The book of James gives us a great look at what it looks like to live a life of faith. James opens up by talking about the difficult things that come our way and how faith gives us perspective in the midst of the hard times.

Jesus approaches a man who's been paralyzed for 38 years and asked him a very important question, "Do you want to get well?"

A highly religious man named Nicodemus came to meet Jesus at night because he had seen something different about Him. He wanted to know who Jesus was and how someone can be saved.

The question is asked: "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" A man came to Jesus and asked maybe the most important question in all of human history. The gift that Jesus offers this man is forgiveness, grace, a personal relationship with God through Christ & the promise of Heaven, but he chooses what he has instead of what God offers him.

Jesus is ultimately aware of all of our needs. A man filled with leprosy was filled with courage to meet Jesus and ask Him for help and healing. Jesus is always moved by our needs and our willingness to come to Him with all our needs.

Some of our greatest pain comes from the fallout in relationships. A friend moves on, a spouse that breaks their promises, the fallout of divorce. It leaves us with the pain and the questions, "How do I move forward?"

We live in a world that is constantly seeking to find acceptance. We want to be accepted. We battle rejection in school, at work, in our family, from a previous marriage and even from our parents. The enemy longs to lie to us about what God says about us. God's truth declares who we are because of Christ.

Melissa Bardwell talks about how to craft your personal identity statement in Christ using scripture. Handouts are available through the church office or your life group leaders.

We live in a culture that equates success to identity. We strive to achieve, out perform, get ahead, accomplish, be driven, prove our worth by our success. Void of Godly purpose it leaves us empty, exhausted and unfulfilled. It leaves us with a shaky identity.

The enemy longs to leverage our past to keep us from the good things that God wants to do in and through us. Our past can paralyze us and rob us of the identity that Christ died for us to embrace. If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. The old is gone, the new has come!