Hello everyone, and welcome to Kickoff Ministry. Across cultures and throughout history, many people, I’m sure, have wrestled with the question, who is God? Now, that’s not only a religious question, but one that emerges from humanity’s search for meaning, identity, and purpose.

People approach this question in different ways. Some come as seekers searching for meaning and direction in life. Others come as skeptics looking for evidence, logic, and intellectual clarity. Some come as sufferers shaped by pain, loss, or unanswered prayers. Others come as observers influenced by culture, tradition, or the beliefs they were raised in. And some come as believers already convinced, yet still longing to understand God or the higher power that they follow more deeply.

Yet beneath all of these approaches lies a common or identical pursuit, a search for meaning, truth, purpose, and ultimately someone greater than ourselves. Throughout history and across cultures, that shared pursuit has led people to different conclusions about who God is or who they believe God to be. People have described and understood God in many different ways.

For example, as a Christian, I believe God is a creator of everything, a personal and loving Father who revealed Himself through Jesus Christ. Around this world, governments identify people through numbers, records, and official systems such as Social Security numbers, national IDs, biometric data, and even passports, just to name a few.

But the God I believe in does not see us as a number. He knows us by our name.