What Will You Say About Yourself?
August 17, 2025 · 2:03:35 · Watch on YouTube ↗
Summary
The service opened with a call to thirst for God - to long for His presence the way a deer pants for water and dry, cracked ground cries out for rain (Psalm 63, Psalm 42). The preachers urged the church not to come out of habit, but to truly hunger for God, be filled by Him, and cling to Him so tightly that no power could tear us away.
The main message turned to the piercing question John the Baptist once faced: "What will you say about yourself?" Before people we can hide, embellish, and pretend everything is fine, but God already knows the heart. Through the Pharisee and the tax collector, Jacob's deception, and Christ's letters to Sardis and Laodicea, the preacher warned against wearing a mask of spiritual life while being empty inside.
Yet this was an invitation, not a verdict. Like the tax collector who simply begged for mercy, we can come to God honestly, worship Him in spirit and truth, and be changed from glory to glory. We have an Advocate in Jesus Christ, so we confess to one another, pray for one another, and let God cleanse and restore us.
Key Points
- Come to worship thirsting for God, not merely out of habit
- Real satisfaction comes only when we long for God and cling to Him
- Honesty before God matters more than the image we show people
- A name and reputation for being "alive" can hide a spiritually dead heart
- God seeks worshipers who worship Him in spirit and in truth
- Like the tax collector, whoever comes honestly leaves justified and forgiven
- We are not left alone - Jesus is our Advocate, so confess and pray for one another
Devotional
Take a quiet moment and let God ask you the question John could not avoid: what will you truly say about yourself? Resist the urge to perform or to polish the answer, because He already sees you fully and still calls you His own. Like dry ground longing for rain, let your heart admit its thirst and bring its real wounds into His presence. When you come honestly, He does not crush you - He cleanses, restores, and lifts you up as His child.
“Before people you can hide and pretend, but one day God will ask your name, and you must answer as you truly are.”
“Thirst for God, be filled by Him, and cling to Him so no power of hell can tear you away.”
“God seeks worshipers who worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
