Listen to the Sermon
Sermon Details
- Pastor Name: Jonathan Cornell
- Date & Time: December 28, 2014 | 10:00am
Download the sermon audio HERE. (Simply right-click on the following page and select Save As to save it to your computer.)
The most viral video ad in the history of the planet was released last year; maybe some of you saw it. It was an advertisement for soap, but it wasn’t about soap, it was more about identity. It featured an open, expansive, sun-soaked loft apartment somewhere, with a man behind an easel. He is an FBI forensic sketch artist, and behind his back is a thin curtain, and behind the curtain is a woman who had her back to the man. They had never met one another, but the woman was asked to describe her face to the artist. He would give her prompts, like “describe your chin” and anxiously the woman would describe her features. Many women took turns sitting behind that curtain. And what we see is these women would negatively describe their features, like “I have a protruding chin.”
Then the subjects would leave and another person would come and describe the same woman as the artist drew a second sketch. When he is done, they pull the curtain aside and they present the images to one another side by side to the subject and ask them which one they like better, and this is when the tears start to flow, because in every instance, what we find is, that these women find themselves less beautiful to themselves than other people do.
This ad was viewed by 110 million people in the first month alone. It was translated and shown in 25 different languages around the world. What was it about this ad that really touched a nerve with so many people? Well, the New York Times ran a story about this phenomenon, in which they interviewed a female ad exec, who said that she thinks women undervalue themselves. This ad invites us to stop and think about how we think of ourselves. So this morning, I want to invite you to stop and think, how do you view yourself? How do you answer the question, who am I?
It’s not an easy question to answer, but I put it in front of us this morning because I think Jesus Christ offers us the ability to really know who you are. That’s the power of Jesus, the ability to know who you really are. He helps us to understand whether we come to that identity by our own grunt efforts, or do we come to that understanding by means of grace? Do we have a grace identity?
Download the entire transcript here: John 1 11-13 The Power of Jesus
