Last Words

Last night I had the opportunity to preach my last sermon of my internship on my "Last Words"-a student ministries sermon series in which each of us interns were given the opportunity to preach on what we consider our most important topic.

As said in my sermon, "my last words, the words that I believe affect the center of how every individual lives his or her life, is to love yourself exactly as God created you to be."

I chose the topic knowing it is the most difficult-and yet, most pressing-topic that God challenges me to accept. If I were to die tomorrow and I had to choose one topic to speak on, without a doubt in my mind, I would choose to speak on the importance of discovering your God-given identity and loving to be that person.

Here are a few of the main points from my sermon:

"Because I feel-and maybe you can relate- in a world that is filled with people telling me that I need to be attractive and intelligent to succeed, in a world that is filled with competition, achievement, recognition, status, and reputation; in a world that is filled with people trying to tell me who I am and who I should be when I’m trying to figure that out on my own, its so easy to wish I was someone else and forget who God tells me I am...and how God purposely has created me exactly as I am."

Ephesians 2:10 says this: For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which he has prepared in advance for us to do. In the Greek, workmanship actually translates to work, a work-piece. or the result of work. In fact, a synonm for workmanship is mankind as God's creation."

"...So we God back to this idea about how we're God's creation, and just like a 21 year old girl would never dream of throwing out her elementary school art projects (even after 11+ years) because she created it and it's something that is too special, too important, and too treasured, God could never dream of us-his art work-thinking that we're not good enough or wishing we were someone different."

"You see, when God looks at us-when he calls us his workmanship-the result of work, it's as if he's standing on top of a chair, looking down at his finished art and saying "it is made in my image, and it is very good." You see, God doesn't see us in our moments of insecurities, or frustrations or anxiousness. When God calls us his workmanship, He sees us in light of the big picture. "

[Referring to 1 Corinthians 12: 14-19] "Isn't it obvious that a hand is not the same as a foot is not the same as an ear is not the same as an eye. I mean, we can all agree that they don't look the same or serve the same purpose or have the characteristics. So then, if we're like the parts of the body in this passage, then how can we compare a Melissa Jaworski to a Miley Cyrus to an April Tatta to an Adam Flora? How can we compare a hand to a foot to an ear to an eye? Isn't it obvious that they don't look the same, serve the same purpose, or have the same characteristics? You are the only you that God has ever and will ever create. It's impossible to compare one part of the body to another because no part of the body is like another. God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be."

"God has created you to do great things. So as you take the next 5, 7, or 10 years to figure out this question of 'who am I?' know that you are created with specific qualities for a specific purpose. Know that if you accept your identity, you will become more famous than any top 10 popularity contest this world has to offer. But you can't be good at who you are until you stop trying to be good at who you're not. So love who God created you exactly to be."