Today we start our Summer Playlist sermon series. It is our desire to hear God's word in a fresh way through the lyrics of popular music. Here are the next few weeks.

July 5. Golden by EJAE from Kpop Demon Hunters
July 12. Where I Find God from Larry Fleet
July 19. I Am Not Okay by Jellyroll
July 26. What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
Aug 2. Demons in Your Choir by Red Clay Strays

Todays song became a global phenomenon a year ago when the Netflix movie Kpop Demon Hunters came out. It was a story about a girl Kpop band who secretly fought demons. The song Golden was the primary song. It won an academy award for best original song and had four grammy nominations.

The primary singer and songwriter is EJAE. She grew up as a singer in Kpop school to learn how to sing, dance, etc. She was enrolled for 10 years but never made it. She enrolled in NYU to study music and taught herself how to produce music and be a songwriter. She eventually became a creator with the same company she used to sing for.

In 2020, she was asked to write songs for the Netflix special. They liked her voice and was asked to be the voice of the main character. It became full circle.

The story from the film is Remi (main character), fought demons with her Kpop singing group but she had a secret. She was born from a human and a demon. She keeps it a secret but eventually she has to tell her friends about her identity.

Identity
The primary theme of the movie is about identity. Who are you? We too struggle with our identity. We often find our identity in what we do, our interests, our hobbies, our social presence, what people think of us.

When we do this, we will loose because we are more than what we do, what we own, etc.

What does the Bible say about our Identity?
According to Ephesians 1:3-7, Paul says we are four things:

A - Adopted: God does not merely forgive your sings. He adopts yo into his family. You are given full legal and inheritance rights. Adoption does not happen because you earn it. It is out of love that you are adopted.

B - Blessed: We do not work for God's blessing. We receive it because of his grace. Paul says we are blessed with every spiritual blessing. In other words, we have all we need for all that God wants to do through and in us. The Christian life is not about earning Go'd blessing but living in the blessing he has given us.

C - Chosen: You are God's first pick. He chose you before the foundation of the world. To be holy and blameless. You are not a mistake. God has chosen you and loves you.

D - Delivered: The greek word here is redemption. It literally means we are "set free by the payment of a ransom." Before Christ we were prisoners of sin who had no hope. because of the work of Christ on the cross, we have been delivered from the guilt and power of sin.

Takeaways
1) Your identity is not what you do or achieve; it is who you belong to.
2) The gospel gives you an identity that success can't inflate or failure can't destroy.
3) When Christ becomes you are identity, you are free to love instead of needing to be loved.