Back To All Posts

IDENTITY

September 30, 2020

Stacie Norman

Wow!  What a year! 
Remember December 31, 2019?  Back when we were all reflecting over the past year and facing 2020 with excited expectation?  Who knew this year would be like this?  Who ever dreamed the world would shut down due to a pandemic?  Who would have guessed there would be nationwide riots and protests fueled by racial tension and injustice?  Who would have thought the political divide could become worse?  This year, we have faced fear, confusion, sickness, loss, anger, hatred, strife, division, and the list goes on.  Who knew?

God knew, and He was not caught off guard.  He’s not surprised by the things that have happened this year, and we have this hope that, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:8, KJV)  Even in an ever changing world, God is constant, and at Cord of Three, we believe that He is calling us to remain faithful and not be moved by what we see.  So this year, we want to combat the division, hate, and strife by focusing on Cultivating Christian Community.  We will address topics of developing a sense of community in our families, our churches, and in the body of Christ as a whole.  However, before we can have Christian community with others, we must have communion with Christ.

This starts with learning who we are in Christ.  So, let’s go back all the way to the beginning.  Genesis 1:26-27 says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness, And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”  Later on in the passage, it says that “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” (v.31).

We were created good.  We were not created for sickness, hatred, bitterness, anger, and strife.  We were created in God’s image, and God is good.  He is love (1 John 4:8).  He is merciful (Psalm 116:5).  He is true (John 3:33).  He is holy (Psalm 77:13).  He is faithful (2 Corinthians 1:18).  And because God has created us in His image, we can be those things too!  1 Timothy 4:4 states, “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.”  That includes you!  You are not rejected because you were created good.  Psalm 139:14 says, “I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”  We are God’s works.  That makes us wonderful! 

One of my favorite scriptures comes from Isaiah:  “But now this says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you:  I have called you by your name, you are mine.’” (Isaiah 43:1, ESV)  Later in verse 7, God says that all who are called by His name were created for His glory.  Our identity is that we belong to God, and we were created for his glory!  So how do we glorify Him?  By doing good.  Acts 10:38 tells us that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power.  He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”  Jesus did good, because God was with Him.  As image-bearers, we do good, because God is with us.

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”  So this year, we at Cord of Three are going to walk in Christian community.  We are going to love our families.  We are going to strengthen our marriages.  We are going to serve our churches.  We are going to love our brothers and sisters.  We are going to encourage the weak.  We are going to speak the truth in love. We are going to be patient with those who are struggling.  We are going to pray for those who persecute us.  We are going to live peaceably with all men.  Will you join us?

We are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus

Free Resource

Download Our Toxic Relationships Guide

Enter your name and email below to access a free resource.

Privacy Policy

© 2024 Cord of Three. All rights reserved.
Site Design by Business Builders
Facebook Twitter Envelope Pinterest Instagram

Training and Discipleship

The Cord of 3 training and discipleship program serves the community by offering educational seminars on various mental health and related topics (parenting subjects, coping with loss, warning signs of addiction) as well as conferences, retreats, and seminars for area churches on matters that pertain to God’s design for the family.

Counselor Education & Supervision

Cord of 3’s Counselor education and supervision program is deigned to support interns who are completing their master’s degree, counselors who are working toward licensure, and professionals who are working to integrate their Chritian faith into their clinical practice.

Equine Therapy

Cord of 3’s equine therapy program is designed for individuals ages 7 and up as well as women ages 13+ and families. Equine therapy can help individuals and families overcome challenges, cuiltivate healthy relational skills, build trust, improve interpersonal and behavioral functioning, and create positive self-concept and identity in Christ.

Play God’s Way

A Christ-centered play therapy model to meet teh spiritual, emotional, and mental health needs of children. Through play therapy, children learn to accept responsibility for behavior, engage in healthy coping strategies, acquire problem-solving skills, develop empathy for others, and gain an understanding of identity in mChrist.

ADDICTION RECOVERY

Addictions always originate in pain… The question is never ‘why the addiction?,’ but rather ‘why the pain?’” (Dr. Gabor Maté). Counselors can help those struggling with addictions address underlying painful issues and then break the addictive patterns.

Child & Adolescent

Behavioral issues at home or in school often have an underlying cause, such as trauma, depression, anxiety, or other mental health conditions. The experienced staff at Cord of 3 meets each child with love, builds trust, and applies effective treatment that approaches the root cause of the behavior.

Marriage & Family

As in couple’s counseling, family counseling focuses on the relationship and dynamics within the family unit and between the individual members of it. Counselors will help clients identify unhealthy or unhelpful patterns, and to address them by developing healthier communication and conflict resolutions skills, create realistic expectations, and restructure familial roles to benefit everyone. The ultimate goal is to help the family be better able to thrive as a team.

STRESS & TRAUMA

Every person will at some point have at least one potentially traumatic experience, but this doesn’t impact everyone in the same ways. When struggling to process and move on from negative life experiences, therapy offers a powerful method of finding support and healing.

EMOTIONAL WHOLENESS

Individual counseling can help overcome the sometimes overwhelming fear and hopelessness by helping you better understand the conditions that led to the emotional brokenness you are experiencing, and applying healthy coping skills against them.