The title for Sunday’s sermon was “Identity” and we looked at the age-old questions; Who am I? Where did I come from? What is my purpose? Where do I belong? After the lesson, I have had time to sit back, reflect a little on it and what I would do differently if I were to do it again. There was a comment made to me recently, nothing I hadn’t heard before and I am sure I will hear it a hundred times more, “You must be true to yourself.” I think, this is the core of one’s true identity, to be true to yourself. God made you to be who you are. People may not like what they see, that’s ok. Sometimes you seek the approval of these people and you are willing to change who you are to be accepted by that person or group of people. There is a warning about trying to be someone/something else, you no longer will know who you truly are, then we become even more confused about where we belong. Jesus, in His ministry, could have been the coolest guy where everyone liked Him, He knew what to say at the right time etc. but this didn’t always buy Him friends. In fact, I would say He was hated by more people of His time than He was ever liked. The same goes for us, here and now. We have an abundance of opportunities to try to be someone else, we can even play “pretend” like children do when they dress up in their parents’ clothes – pretending to be mom or dad. God made YOU just the way you are. If you don’t fit in because you act differently, believe different things, sound different, it doesn’t matter. God formed you to be you, we have other personalities, we don’t need more of them, but we do need more of you. If you were an apple tree, you can only produce apples, don’t be an apple tree trying to produce something else. Be true to yourself, God will bless you in more ways than you could ever dream of. Peter Hunt