Who Am I: Introduction

Have you ever come across an item in a flea mall, an old garage, or a storage unit that completely baffled you? You knew it had some important purpose, but you just couldn’t make out what it was. There was no owner’s manual or instructional booklet to help you understand its purpose or function. You couldn’t identify it, so while it may have been interesting, it was completely useless to you.

Without the Bible, life is like that unidentified object lying on a shelf in the thrift store. We know it’s valuable, but we are not quite sure what to do with it.

Now more than ever, people struggle with questions of identity. Children are questioning the value systems of their parents, trying to figure out what is “right” and “wrong” for their generation. People are struggling with sexual orientation and gender, confused about who they should be attracted to and whether they will identify as a man or a woman. Scores of Americans are abandoning the faith of their parents, but they cannot escape their sense of a spiritual dimension, so they turn to alternatives in world religions and speculative philosophies.

The Bible is the owner’s manual for humanity. It tells us who we are, where we came from, and where we are going. In this series of open home meetings, we will discuss what it tells us about ourselves—that we are:

• Made in God’s image

• Sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God

• Loved by God

• Part of a community

• Destined for eternity

God knows how important it is for us to understand ourselves, so he has revealed the most important information about who we are in his Word. As we study, we will learn more about ourselves, and by doing so, we will find meaning and hope.