Speaker 1: 0:31

Well, hey, my name is Nate Hiltonkamp and I'm coming to you from Waco, texas. Let's go, let's go, let's go, come on, hey, it's so good to be with you guys this whole weekend. I want to start with this. When you're in ministry, you spend a lot of time in one place, and that one place is Chick-fil-A. You take a lot of meetings there. We go, come on, yeah, you take a lot of meetings at Chick-fil-A. So I spend like multiple days of the week at Chick-fil-A, and specifically at this one Chick-fil-A. A couple years ago, I walk into this Chick-fil-A and go up to the counter ready to place my order, and as soon as I walk up, the person behind the counter was really excited to see me. And they just go Ben, so glad you're here. May I take your order Now? As I just said before, that's not my name. My name's Nate. He got my name wrong and in that moment I've got a decision to make hey, do I correct him or do I just go along with it? And it's like yeah, whatever, it's not that big of a deal. I'll say my name's Ben for this order. Place my order. Spicy chicken sandwich with Coke Zero. Go, sit down, don't think much of it. Two days later I walk back in the Chick-fil-A and I see that he's working the counter again and I'm just like I can't go up to him again. But I stand in line and show up and I get placed with this guy again. I'm just like I hope he forgot about me and he goes Ben, so glad you're back. May I take your order today? And I'm like sure, spicy chicken sandwich with the Coke Zero. And I take my meal and head back. Now, from that point on, like that's my name, like whenever I walk into Chick-fil-A it's like that's just who I am now, that's who he called me. So that's apparently who I am so truly for.

Speaker 1: 2:08

Like the next few months, whenever someone would ask for my name there, I'd be like well, yeah, it's Ben. I don't really know how that even happened, but after those next few months I'm going through the drive-thru by myself and they're at the iPad and they're like can I take your order? I'm like yeah, here's what I want. And they're like hey, what's your name? And I tell them and then I a friend who was working there and he goes hey, nate, I'm so sorry about this. This really rarely happens at Chick-fil-A, but we actually misplaced your order. So could you tell me what you want and we'll remake it really fast. And I'm like, by chance, is there an order for the name of Ben? And he goes oh yeah, that's the next one. And I'm like, hey, I accidentally maybe said that my name was Ben to the person taking my order and I'll never forget it. He just took the bag and like handed it to me.

Speaker 1: 3:02

Like what in the world is going on? And I just remember that feeling of driving away that day, going. I am sick and tired of going by the wrong name. I'm sick and tired of allowing this person who works at Chick-fil-A to just totally rename me. So for the rest of time, whenever I've walked into Chick-fil-A, I will proudly say my name is Nate. I refuse to allow him to rename me.

Speaker 1: 3:27

Now, that's a ridiculous story. It's a hundred percent true story. But I bet many of you in this room here tonight have a similar story. I bet you have taken on a different name, a name that is not true about you, because I bet some of you have taken on a new name from maybe it's a teacher or a coach who said you know, you're just not really good enough to make the team. You're just not good enough to make the grades and you have subconsciously taken on the name forgettable. Or or maybe you've allowed an ex-boyfriend the next girlfriend to rename you. They said you know, I don't really enjoy my time when I spend it with you and maybe you've just subconsciously taken on the name unwanted. Or maybe you've allowed a parent to rename you like like they said something in passing, something like you know you don't really look like the other girls in your grade and that has been lodged in your brain and you've taken on the name unattractive. Or maybe you've allowed a sin to name you, a sin that you've been stuck in for years and you have subconsciously taken on the name broken.

Speaker 1: 4:35

Here's what I came here to tell you tonight you have taken on a name from someone who has no power to name you. You've been living with a name from someone who has no authority to name you, because there's only one person who actually has the authority to name you and it's God himself, and he's given us a name in scripture. He's given us many names in scripture, but there's one specific name that I want to pass along with you tonight because it's impacted me, and my hope and my prayer is that it would change your life and how you view yourself. So what we're going to do is we're going to be in the Bible tonight. We're going to be in the Bible all weekend talking about how God changes you. Specifically, tonight we're going to talk about how he changes your name and we're going to be in 1 Peter, chapter 1, the very beginning of 1 Peter, chapter 1. 1 Peter is towards the very end of the New Testament and it's right before 2 Peter. So, if that's helpful to you, find 2 Peter and go a few pages before and you're going to find 1 Peter, chapter 1, and it starts in verse 1. It says this Peter, an apostle of Christ Jesus to God's elect exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, galatia, cappadocia, asia and Bithynia Now, if you know geography, all of that is modern day Turkey right now.

Speaker 1: 5:55

Then he says who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God, the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood. Grace and peace be yours in abundance. Now, there's a lot there, but I want to focus in on the really interesting name that he spoke over the Christians, the people that he was writing to. At the very beginning, he puts these two words that are really contradictory. They're opposite things. He says that he's writing to the elect exiles. Really, what that means is he's saying I'm writing to the chosen, unchosen ones. And this is the first thing that we can learn tonight from God's word, point number one in Jesus we are elect exiles. That's our name. We are the elect exiles. Now, what does that mean? And in order to understand what that name means, I want to break down what both of those words mean. First, that first word means that first word that's elect or chosen. I want to show you what that means by telling you about one of my favorite memories.

Speaker 1: 7:03

While I was in college, my wife and I we went to Baylor which, if you're looking for a school to go to, don't go to DBU like them, go to Baylor, like me, much better place. And we met at Baylor and we had just gone out to dinner and we were driving back to Baylor's campus. We were driving down what's essentially Main Street in Waco, and we stopped at a stoplight and didn't really think anything of it. But we're just at this stoplight waiting for the light to turn green, and I'm just talking with my girlfriend, adelie, and really not thinking anything of it. But as I'm talking to her, I realized that the car next to us is trying to get our attention.

Speaker 1: 7:44

It's this person. She's driving by herself and she's just going hey, hey, hey, hey. I'm just like what in the world is going on? I hope this light turns green. Like I want to get out of here. I don't like being in this situation. And she's just going hey, hey, hey. And eventually she opens the door of her car, starts getting out of her car. She's going hey, hey, hey. And being the brave and courageous man I am, I just I rolled down my girlfriend's window and I was like, if she's going to fight us, you're going to take the first punch. And so I rolled down the window and she just goes hey, I need you to know I have never seen a man look at a girl the way you're looking at that girl. If you don't put a ring on her finger, you're crazy. 100% true story, only in Waco, texas.

Speaker 1: 8:34

I just remember that feeling. I remember the way I looked at my girlfriend then because the whole time I was with her, the whole time I was dating her, I was like I cannot believe that Adelie Lamberth has chosen me. Like out of all the guys at Baylor, she chose me. I want to be a pastor. I'm not even going to make a bunch of money. I know I'm attractive. I'm not like that attractive. Though, like of all the guys, she chose me Whenever I was with her. I just couldn't get over that fact. And here's the reality.

Speaker 1: 9:07

Oftentimes in our relationship with Jesus we're like, okay, I've got a lot going on, but I just I want to choose Jesus today. I want to choose Jesus today. I want to choose Jesus today. I want to choose Jesus today. I want to choose Jesus this weekend. So I'm going to go to this D now. I just want to choose Jesus with my life.

Speaker 1: 9:25

And if that's your thought process and your relationship with Jesus, you have the dynamics of that relationship all mixed up, because in your relationship with him it's not okay. I've got to choose Jesus, I've got to choose Jesus, I've got to choose Jesus, I've got to choose Jesus. It's. I can't believe. He chose me Like the God of the universe, the king of kings, the one who has so much power that he spoke the world into existence, new existence. He so loved me that he gave up his one and only son to be born in a manger, to live 33 perfect years, only to be arrested, crucified, hung up on a tree, to die and then rise again so that I, me, could live with him forever and ever and ever. Like that should blow our minds. Not I have to choose him, but, holy smokes, he chose me. So that's one part of our name.

Speaker 1: 10:26

We are chosen, elected by God, but we're also exiles. We're the elect exiles. That means when you realize that you are chosen by God, the world's not gonna really choose you. Because when you realize that you are chosen by God, the world's not going to really choose you. Because when you feel at home in God's presence, you'll begin to not feel at home here. That word for exile can also mean foreigner. It's describing that feeling. If you've ever flown somewhere overseas and you land for the very first time and you walk through the airport and you're just hit with a whole lot of different. You don't understand the language that people are using, you don't understand really the food that people are eating and you don't really understand where everyone's trying to get to, because you don't really know where you are like. You feel like a foreigner there.

Speaker 1: 11:10

What Peter is saying is that's how we should feel here, because this world is not our home, our citizenship is not ultimately here, but it's in heaven. So while we live on this earth, everything should feel different here, like we shouldn't understand the language that people use, we shouldn't understand the songs that people listen to. We shouldn't understand the things that people consume, whether it's entertainment, alcohol, drugs. We shouldn't understand where everyone else is trying to get to, whether it's to look a certain way or to be on a certain team or to have a certain social status. Because this world is not our home.

Speaker 1: 11:46

And since you're a foreigner here, since you don't do the things the world does, the world will treat you like an outcast. The world will treat you like you're forgotten. The world will treat you like you're forgotten. The world will make you feel like you're unwanted, but that's okay, Because you're not living for their acceptance. You're living from his acceptance. The God of the universe wants you, so who cares if they don't? You're good. And when we see the decisions that the world makes, that your friends make, it should feel like they're living by a different playbook. It should feel like they're taking a different set of orders. Because they are, because the world takes its orders from the prince of darkness and we take our orders from the king of kings. Of course, it feels like we're foreigners here.

Speaker 1: 12:37

So point number one, the first thing you need to know about you if you're a believer in Jesus. In Jesus, we are elect, exile. So that's who we are. Let me show you really what that means for you in your life To keep reading. In verse three, it says this praise be to the God and Father of our Lord, jesus Christ. In his great mercy, he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you. So he's talking about inheritance.

Speaker 1: 13:14

Now, if my name was Nate Bezos or Nate Zuckerberg or Nate Musk, what would you be able to conclude about me? That I'm rich. Why? Not because I've done anything, but because my dad has. You'd be able to conclude that I have access to what my You'd be able to conclude that I have access to what my father has. And in the same way, in verse 3, it says that we have a new birth into a living hope. Really, we've been reborn into a new family, which means my name is no longer just Nate Hilgenkamp, but Nate Hilgenkamp, child of God.

Speaker 1: 13:49

And if that's my name, what can you conclude about me? That I've got access to all my dad has. And that's the second thing that we can learn about who we are. In Jesus, we are given an imperishable inheritance. In Jesus, we're given an imperishable inheritance. Let me talk about that for a minute. This text says that we receive an inheritance that is imperishable. What does that mean?

Speaker 1: 14:14

Well, I want to take you back like five years, and you guys probably don't even remember this, but during COVID, like in 2020, there was something called NFTs. Do any of you even remember that? Yeah, they really took off. They're like these screenshots of the internet that were for sale and people were just spending so much money on them. In fact, here's a picture of one of them that was for sale. It's a screenshot of the first ever tweet from the guy who invented Twitter, which is now X, and so this went up for sale and in 2021, it sold for $2.9 million $2.9 million, which I just don't really understand, but someone could buy that to own that personally, even though I found that on Google Images for $2.9 million, which I just don't really understand. But someone could buy that, to own that personally, even though I found that on Google Images for $2.9 million.

Speaker 1: 15:01

Shortly thereafter like a couple years later really not that long ago he put it up for sale and put it up for auction and he had the bidding start at $48 million, $48 million, $48 million. He bought that for $2.9 million. A couple years later puts it up for $48 million. Now, after all, the bidding was concluded, the highest bid was $280. Not $280 million, $280. Now think about this. Think about how foolish he would feel. He spent 2.9 million dollars on a depreciating asset, something that really, as soon as he bought it, became essentially worthless. He wasted his life savings on something that wasn't worth anything.

Speaker 1: 15:54

I can't imagine making that sort of investment. And yet the reality is many of us are making that exact same investment with our life right now, except it has much greater implications, because for many of us, we are investing our life in sports, in school, in looking a certain way, in getting in a certain social status. And here's what you need to know those things will leave you bankrupt and school and looking a certain way and getting in a certain social status. And here's what you need to know those things will leave you bankrupt because those things will all perish, spoil and fade. They will leave you empty. On the other hand, jesus is saying hey, life with me. I will give you an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, and one day in heaven we're gonna be given more than we could possibly imagine, and nothing can change that. Your performance can't touch it, the world can't touch it, because God is holding on to it for you. Now. That fact and knowing what we're going to receive later should change our life now. It should be such a stress relief in our life now. And yet oftentimes it's not. And maybe it's because we don't actually believe what we're saying, because I know that for the vast majority in this room, you'd say you're a Christian. You'd say, hey, I'm a believer in Jesus. I'm at a D now, of course I am.

Speaker 1: 17:16

But look again at the text. In verse 3, it says that the Christian is the one who has been given a new birth into a living hope. And here's where I think many of us need to wake up. We've been lulled to sleep, thinking we're Christians. Meanwhile, we've put our hope into things that are dying, like your hope. The thing you daydream about is that this would be the year that you finally get into a dating relationship. Or your hope is that maybe this year this would be the year where you'd reach a certain social status at your school. Or your hope? The thing that you want more than anything else is to reach a certain following on social media.

Speaker 1: 17:55

Here's what you need to know. If that's your hope, you have a dying hope, not a living hope. And when our hope is in this world? That's confusing, because if you're a Christian, you cannot live this life for this life, because when you do, it makes it look like you don't believe in the next life, because, on the other hand, the Christian is the one that has a living hope. Now, what does that mean? That means that you've placed your hope in something or someone who is alive and cannot die. Well, who could that possibly be?

Speaker 1: 18:25

Looking again at the text, it says that you have a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. That means that you've placed all your hope not on the things of this world, but you've placed all your eggs in the basket of Jesus Christ, that he so loved you that he gave up everything for you, that he lived, died and rose again. And as he rose again, he defeated death, not just for him, but for you, when he was raised to life. He didn't just raise himself to life, but when you place your hope and faith in him, he also brings you to life as well, and you are reborn into a brand new family and you receive a brand new name. And when you receive the name of Nate Hilgenkamp, fill in your name child of God. It's a remembrance of I've got access to all my dad has. What he has access to, what he won through his victory over death, is eternal life, and one day he's going to give it over to you. That's the second thing we can learn In Jesus. We have been given an imperishable inheritance. Now I want to show you one other benefit that we have as believers in Jesus. Let's read again the end of verse 4, and then we're going to finish out by reading verse 5. Peter writes this this inheritance is kept in heaven for you who, through faith, are shielded by God's power, until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed at that last time. You see, this is one of the most important parts of Peter's teaching, because we make it to our salvation not because of who we are, but because of who he is. Looking again at the text, it says that we make it to the coming of our salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. How? By the shielding of God's power. And this is point number three, third thing that we need to understand in Jesus we are shielded by God's power and I think this is an example of what this looks like.

Speaker 1: 20:30

A couple of summers ago, my wife and I my daughter we got to go to Branson Missouri. A couple summers ago, my wife and I and my daughter, we got to go to Branson Missouri and if you've never been there, it's really a beautiful place and we got to go on a. We were out of camp there and we got to go on this boat and here's a picture of it. Yeah, this is my daughter at the time and she's a little bit older now and it was an amazing boat ride, great scene. But what you might be able to tell in this picture is that there's actually like some fog coming off the water. Now that's happening all summer. It was a really, really weird phenomenon, but here's why it was incredibly hot outside, like when this picture was taken, it's like 95 degrees, but that water was freezing cold because that water was actually taken from the bottom of another lake to form a river. So this water is so ice cold while it's really hot outside.

Speaker 1: 21:18

It creates this really weird phenomenon that as you're driving down the boat, that actually feels really, really cold, which is fine if you're like an adult, but for my two-year-old at the time, while we were going down the boat, we'd been on the water for about 45 minutes she just loses her mind and she's just like Dad, it's too cold, take me back, I want to go back to camp. Can you take me back, dad? It's too cold, can we turn around? Can we go back? And eventually I'm just like yes, yes, we'll do anything to go back, let's just go back. So our driver eventually turned around and started taking us back and she's just going dad, I want to go back, I want to go back, it's way too cold. And as she's doing that, eventually I just pick her up and I turn my back to the wind and over and over again, I just go JC girl, we're headed back right now. You're gonna make it, dad's gonna keep you safe. Jc girl, we're headed back right now. You're gonna make it, dad's gonna keep you safe. Jc girl, we're going back. You're gonna make it, dad's gonna keep you safe.

Speaker 1: 22:30

See, in your life, I'm confident that you have had some really, really difficult things happen in your life. You have felt the winds of this world blow in your face and it's felt like too much for you to handle. I've been there. I've been through breakups, I've missed the team, I've had bad grades and it's felt really, really difficult. But you know what else I've felt? I have felt my heavenly father pick me up, turn his back to the wind and say Nate, you're going to make it, you're going home, dad's going to keep you safe. Nate, you're going to make it, dad's going to keep you safe. That's what this text is saying.

Speaker 1: 23:08

This text is saying that when the winds of this world are blowing at you, you're going to be shielded by God's power.

Speaker 1: 23:15

Because I think for many of us you've been taught the only way you're gonna make it through this life is if you're strong, is if you're brave, is if you have it courageous. I've just lived a little bit longer life than you, and here's what you need to know there's gonna be times when the winds of this world blow you onto your back and you won't have the strength to get up. But the good news is you are not alone, because you don't make it to heaven because of your strength. You make it to heaven because of his shielding. Because the good news is in this passage is your salvation is not dependent upon you, your stability is not dependent upon you, your sanctification is not dependent upon you, because it's all about God and what he has said over your life and what he's doing in your life. Just looking again at some of the words used in this passage, it says this to God's elect exiles who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God, through the sanctifying work of the spirit and in his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and this inheritance is kept in heaven for you who, through faith, are being shielded by God's power. You see, in that text we read a whole lot about God and not nearly as much about us, because all of that describes God's preeminence and not our performance. And this is the joy of following Jesus. This is the good news about our new name.

Speaker 1: 24:40

You don't receive a new name because you've earned it. You don't receive a new name because you deserve it, because in Jesus, you are not defined by what you've done. In Jesus, you are not defined by what you look like. In Jesus, you are not defined by your GPA. In Jesus, you are not defined by the house you live in. In Jesus, you are not defined by your social status, because in Jesus, you are only defined by Jesus, and he looks at you and he says you are chosen, loved, forgiven and accepted by me. So who cares what the world says about you? They don't get to name you because he already has. And when you've been given a name, you don't have to live to receive a new name. You don't have to go out and make a name for yourself when he's already given you one. So, in summary, the three things that I hope you learn from this text are point one in Jesus, we are elect exiles. Point number two in Jesus, we have an imperishable inheritance. And point number three in Jesus, we are shielded by God's power.

Speaker 1: 25:45

Well, to close, you may not know this, but this book was written by a guy named Peter. Peter wrote 1, peter. What's interesting is that that actually wasn't always his name, and because Peter, his name used to be Simon and one day Jesus saw him and he called him to be his disciple. And eventually Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter, which means rock, and he said on this rock I will build my church. And he continued to call him Peter.

Speaker 1: 26:13

But once Jesus was arrested, something happened. Maybe you know this if you've been in church. But once Jesus was arrested, peter started to distance himself from Jesus and people came up to him and said hey, do you know Jesus? And he said no, I don't know him. Another person came up to him and said do you know Jesus? And he said no, I don't know him. Another person came up to him and said do you know Jesus? And he said no, I don't know him. Another person came up to him and said do you know Jesus? And Peter said I don't know him. And then Jesus bled on a cross, died, rose again.

Speaker 1: 26:40

Then one of my favorite moments in scripture after Jesus rose again, he went and he found Peter. But an interesting thing happened as he approached Peter he said Simon, do you love me, simon? Do you love me, simon? Do you love me See, he called him by his old name, and Jesus never does anything on accident. I can't help but think in calling him Simon, he's saying hey, simon, you've been living like your old name. You've been living like the name the world has given you. Now I've given you a different name. You've been living like the name the world has given you.

Speaker 1: 27:23

You got a choice right now, in this moment who you gonna be, who you gonna be. Who you gonna be? Or a better question is who are you gonna listen to? Are you gonna listen to the name this world has given you, or are you gonna listen to the name that I've given you? Here's my question to you guys tonight who are you gonna be? Who are you going to be? Who are you gonna listen to? Who are you going to listen to? Are you going to listen to this world that has called you broken, forgettable, unwanted? Maybe this world's even called you popular, desirable, likable. I don't know what name this world has given you. Are you going to take that name, or are you going to take the name from the one who has the only power to actually name you, god himself? Who has named you child? Who has named you chosen, who has named you forgiven, who has named you accepted, who has named you so deeply loved.

Speaker 1: 28:35

My question for you tonight is you got to make a choice. Who are you gonna be and who are you gonna listen to? My prayer is that it wouldn't be this world. My prayer is that it would be Jesus and that you'd live into the name that he's spoken over your life. Let me pray that that'd be true of us tonight. Father, thank you so much that you have seen all of our life. You have seen the highest moments of life. You have seen the lowest all of our life. You have seen the highest moments of life. You have seen the lowest moments of our life, maybe right now I bet right now.

Speaker 1: 29:20

For a lot of students in this room this feels like one of those lowest moments of their life. I don't know what it is for them. Maybe their parents are going through a divorce, maybe they feel like an outcast at school, maybe they're stuck in a certain sin and they don't know how to get out of it, but it just feels like a really, really low moment. God, I pray they wouldn't hear any of the names that the enemy wants to speak over them, but instead they would hear the names, that you have spoken over them and that they would hear that you love them so much that you are with them right now, that you desire them right now and, although it may feel like no one else wants them, you want them, god, I pray that they would believe that name, that they would receive that name, that they'd live into that name, knowing that in you they have received an imperishable inheritance. That one day they're going to receive an inheritance that can either perish, spoil or fade, that we're gonna have access to all our father does, inheritance that can either perish, spoil or fade. That we're going to have access to all our Father does. And I pray that they'd be reminded that they don't make it there because of what they've done or their performance. That instead they make it because of the shielding of God's strength. That when this world tries to throw them aside, you hold them steady and you take them home.

Speaker 1: 30:31

So, father, I pray that this weekend would change our lives. So, father, I pray that this weekend would change our lives, that that this weekend we we could see that there is a real god who really loves us, who really sent his one and only son to save us and that changes everything about our life. So, father, do what only you can do and bring these students from death to life and set them on fire for you to change their schools, change their families, change their communities and, ultimately, change their life. So, father, we are just so grateful for you and we are grateful for the fact that Jesus is alive and he's with us and he's for us and it's in his name we pray. Amen.