08/28/2026
T.G.I.F. "Thanking God It's Friday"
Greetings Everyone! It's Pastor Daniel here with this week's T.G.I.F. post. Before I proceed, I just want to say, "Welcome to the last Friday of August!" You have made it through another month and potentially a busy summer season. Breathe, smile, and take a few moments this weekend to rest. You did it!
I want to begin with some trivia regarding a specific game. (You can probably guess it from the image below!) This game was developed by Israeli game inventors Ora and Theo Coster, the founders of Theora Design. It was first released in Dutch in 1979. Then, Milton Bradley produced the game in the United Kingdom, and it was brought to the United States in 1982. It is now owned by Hasbro, an American multinational toy manufacturing and media company founded in 1923. The purpose of this game is to guess the other person’s character by asking questions such as “Does your person wear a hat? Does your person wear glasses? Does your person have short hair? Is your person a male? Is your person a female?”
As of today, special editions of this game have been produced: including Star Wars (released 2008 with 24 characters, and 2014 with 15 characters), Batman (released 2019), Animal Crossing (2019), Marvel Comics (released 2022, 24 characters), Super Mario (2022), Disney, Peppa Pig, The Simpsons, and the Bible Characters. Annual consumer reports suggest that two million copies of this game are sold worldwide annually.
Do you know what game I am talking about? "Guess Who" is correct. How many of you have ever played "Guess Who" before?
My youngest niece, Kinley, on my side of the family, loved to play this game when she was younger. At the time, she didn’t quite understand the rules or strategy. For example, she didn’t always like picking a new character and sometimes she would peek over her board to see mine. But she enjoyed playing the game! After several rounds of playing, I realized that the questions she would ask me actually would be describing the person that she chose. Needless to say, we had a blast guessing who each other had!
I was thinking about this game this week; and I found myself asking, "Who am I?" . I am a son, a brother, an uncle, a grandson, a nephew, a cousin, a husband, a pet owner, a baseball player, a drummer, a pastor, a minister, one of Greek and Pennsylvania-Dutch ancestry, and a follower of Jesus Christ. These are just a few of my characteristics that have helped me become who I am today. But "Who am I?"
The Apostle Paul tells us that some of us “are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ… (Ephesians 4:11-12). We are told in Psalms that we have been “fearfully and wonderfully made. [We are His wonderful works.]” (Psalm 139:14). We are also told in the Book of Genesis, we are created “in [God’s] image” (Genesis 1:27). But "Who am I?"
You see, you are more than what people think you are or claim to be. You are who God has made you to be. People saw John the Baptist as a strange person living in the wilderness, but he was actually preparing the way for Jesus. People saw Paul as a persecutor, but God saw him as proclaimer of the good news. People may see you as one thing, but I bet God sees you as something else. He sees you as a beloved child of His own. He sees you for who you really are: more than a teacher, more than a pet owner, more than a wife or husband, more than a neighbor, more than someone who enjoys being busy,...
Let me explain some more. People saw David as a simple shepherd, God saw him as one who faces giants with faith and who would become a great King for God’s people. People saw Moses as one born into slavery and later a murderer, but God saw who he really was: a person who would lead his people from slavery to freedom. People saw Rahab as a pr******te, but God saw her as a protector of her family. People saw Esther as a liar and deceiver, but God saw her as a brave person who saved her people from annihilation. People saw Jonah as a problem, but God saw Jonah was a change for a wicked city. People saw Noah as a simple person, but God saw him as the one who would give mankind a second chance by building an ark. People saw Jeremiah as being too young to lead, but knew he would become a prophet.
Peter, Andrew, James, and John saw themselves as simple fishermen before Jesus called them to follow him. Matthew only saw himself as a tax collector, but God knew he was much more than that. Simon would identify himself as a zealot—carrying a sword to overthrow the Roman Empire—but Jesus knew who he really was—a future disciple. Mary Magdalene thought she was forever going to be defined by her demons, but Jesus knew she could have a new life in him. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a young teenager, but God saw her as the one who would bring forth a miracle. And I could go on, but my point is, is that every person God chose was identified as something by the people before they received a new identity in God. God used their identity—who they were—to not only to change them but to help change and save others.
The point of this post is to play "Guess Who" with God so that you can truly figure out who you are. Who is the person that stares back at you in the mirror? Who is the person your kids see when they look at you? Who is the person that your significant other sees when they look into your eyes? Who is the person that God sees when He looks in the mirror with you?
You are more than what people say you are. You are more than what you think of yourself. You are who God made you to be. So, who is that? Who are you?
It's fascinating how a simple game can draw us back to God and God's workings in our life.
Have a wonderful last weekend of August everyone!
