Speak Up

Sometimes as a defense mechanism we shut down. (Prefacing the message)

The message
     When we lose our voice we become a distorted version of ourselves.

The scripture is Psalm 139, a Psalm of David.

1.  God knows you.  Verse 1: You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.

2.  He sees you.  Verses 2-12:
Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence? . . . 

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

" That God knows us and sees us is both overwhelming and incredibly encouraging."

3.  He formed you.  Verse 13:
 For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

 4.  He has a plan for you. Verse 17:  
How amazing are your thoughts concerning me.

(Here Pastor referenced the Book of Esther, noting Esther and her people were residing in an alien land.  The people compromised who they were to be accepted by the culture.  This scribe's question:  Does that seem familiar at all?)

If we are distorted, broken, and not what God intended us to be, He can show us who we are, who we are meant to be.  He will restore us to His version of who we are!

THEN CHRIST GIVES US STRENGTH TO DO HIS WILL.

Forget what the world thinks of you and focus on God.

You have the potential to lead people into the Kingdom but you can only do this through the power of Jesus.

Find your voice and speak out, for this is a world of hurting people.

 Pastor Amanda Blair

Sunday morning