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New Identity, New Path: The Golden Rule — Everybody knows it, but why is it so difficult to treat others how we want to be treated? Why is this simple concept so difficult to put into practice? What about prayer? What about all the rest of the Christian life? The key is to realize that faith in Jesus results in a brand new identity as a child of God. Out of this new identity flows a whole new way of life, empowered and sustained by our good Father in heaven. Recorded on Oct 2, 2022, on Matthew 7:7-14, by Pastor David Parks. This message is part of our sermon series “The Unexpected Way,” from the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7 in the Bible. The way of Jesus is totally unique; it’s different from every other way of life, philosophy, or religion. Why? Because the teaching of Jesus — emphasizing holiness, humility, justice, faith, and sacrificial love — leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic. This ancient ethic, if actually practiced, has the power to bring abundant love and joy, and peace to anyone, anywhere today. This is the way. Sermon Transcript: All year, we’re focusing on Learning the way of Jesus, which means that all year, we’ll basically be answering the question, “If the gospel is true, how then should we live?” And we’ve been working through a very famous teaching of Jesus known as the Sermon on the Mount in a sermon series called, The Unexpected Way. Last week, we considered Jesus’ teaching about being judgmental of others and his calling to first work on your issues/struggles before trying to fix other people. We had a great discussion about this at Youth Group, and hopefully, it was helpful for those of you in a community group, as well. If you missed any of the messages in this series, you can always go back and watch on the church app or on YouTube or listen to the audio podcast. Today, we’re reminded that we have a radically new identity by faith in Jesus. And this new identity leads us to a new path in life. We’ve been talking about this path; that’s what the way of Jesus is all about. But it’s critical to see how our new identity (who we are) leads to this new path (what we do). Our activity flows out of our identity. Some of us really struggle with following the way of Jesus in one area or another, and it’s tempting to focus on the behavior, to try and control it or correct it somehow. But it’s far more effective to focus on who we are and whose we are in Christ. If you have a Bible/app, please open to Mt 7:7.  Matthew 7:7-14 (NIV), “7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. 13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”  So in the Sermon on the Mount, let’s remember the context: Jesus is teaching his disciples/followers what it looks like to follow his way. And with all this focus on our behavior, it can start to feel like being a Christian is largely defined by what we say/do, in other words, by external behavior. But this is not the case. Of first importance is who God is and what the nature of our relationship is in Christ. And really, no one else in all of history has envisioned God and the relationship that human beings can have with him like Jesus does. You won’t find anything like this in Buddhism, Hinduism, or Islam.