Tribe Church. Byron Bay

We are continuing our series on identity formation. In this third installment in the series, Phil Mason explores the issues surrounding the journey towards the formation of a corporate or group identity.

In the first message in the series, Phil focused on our personal identity as adopted, beloved sons and daughters of the Father. That’s the vertical dimension. But there is a horizontal component to our identity and that is the formation of a sense of group identity. For Christians, that deepening sense of identity grows in the context of Christian community and a spiritual family.

Our Father in heaven uses the language of ‘My People.’ As our Heavenly Father, He bestows corporate identity upon us as we embrace the journey into spiritual family. This is a vital and essential element of our identity formation. God’s plan is that we also confidently declare a community as ‘my people.’

We hope you enjoy this challenging message.

Maria highlights several ways we build our new identity in partnership with the Holy Spirit.

Our new identity is bestowed upon us at new birth and is irreversible because "He who began a good work in us will complete it!" (Philippians 1:6)

We can, however, partner deeply with the Lord in our identity formation by cooperating with His plans to form or mold us. The scriptures give us a comprehensive list of everything available to us, so we can participate in the exchange from false identity to our true identity as sons and daughters.

A false identity is any internal image or narrative of self that we rely on, or that pulls us away from my true self. Things like lies, shame, unworthiness, and fear become false identities when we cling to what is familiar and old.

Perfect love casts out fear and drives out false identities, too! Perfect love secures us in the truth that God is so for us and is fighting for us. His plans are good and beautiful, giving you a future, hope, and a brand-new identity, too! This message is bound to draw you into a deeper exchange with God and leave behind the false!

In this introductory message to our new series on identity, Phil Mason opens up the New Testament revelation of our sonship and the significance of the new identity the Father bestows upon every adopted son and daughter.

Identity comes from the Lord. He alone bestows identity, despite all our fleshly attempts to establish our own identity through our possessions, our status, our knowledge, our appearance, our achievements, and even our ministry.

Our identity as beloved sons and daughters, loved by the Father as much as He loves His Son, Jesus, is the greatest identity anyone could ever carry in this life. This is the pathway to security and the foundation for our complete freedom from performance-based approval.

Discovering and growing in our identity in Christ is the greatest investment we can make in our spiritual formation. We hope this message blesses you!