What Are We?

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Wake-Up Call — What Are We? (March 14, 2026, Seedbed, Host: J.D. Walt)

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Main Theme / Purpose

In this Saturday episode, J.D. Walt leads the Wake-Up Call community in reflecting on a foundational question: “What are we?” Rooted in Genesis 1:27 and passages from the Psalms, the episode explores the meaning and implications of being made in the image of God. Walt encourages listeners to shake off self-doubt and live into the reality of their divine purpose and identity, emphasizing both biblical revelation and practical application.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Community Gathering and Upcoming Event (00:04–02:00)

• Invitation: J.D. briefly mentions an upcoming Seedbed event in Franklin, TN, focused on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, featuring John Thompson and a newly released book.
• Framing Prayer: He opens with a prayer, setting the episode’s spiritual tone:

  “Wake up, sleeper. Rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you... Jesus, we belong to you.” (01:08)

Central Question: Not “Who Are We?” but “What Are We?” (02:05–03:23)

• Title Emphasis: J.D. stresses the importance of the what rather than the who in understanding our existence. This reframes the typical identity question to something more foundational.

Scripture Meditation (Genesis 1:27) (03:18–03:48)

• Text Reading:

  “God created mankind in his own image. In the image of God. He created them. Male and female. He created them.” (03:25)

Pastoral Experience: Intergenerational Church Life (03:50–05:20)

• Real-life Reflection: Walt describes serving as the only staff member in a rural Arkansas church, highlighting the beauty and challenge of genuine intergenerational ministry:

  “Not because we try to be, but because we can’t help it… I am the only official employee. That makes me the youth pastor and the children’s pastor and the senior adults pastor.” (04:08)

Kids, Anxiety, and the Search for Identity (05:20–06:13)

• Observation about Youth:

  “Kids have no idea who they are. They're carrying enormous levels of anxiety and stress. They're trying to measure up to impossible standards while fitting into a toxic culture no one can authentically belong to.” (05:27)

• Critique of Clichés: Walt avoids the common phrase “They don’t know who they are because they don’t know whose they are,” seeing it as overused and ineffective for today’s youth.

Theological Reframe: From Biology to Theology (06:14–08:10)

• Teaching Approach: J.D. shares his tactic of teaching kids not “who” they are, but what they are—beginning with theology, not biology:

  “Theology informs biology, not the other way around.” (06:42)

• Image Bearing:

  “We were not created as gods, but as image bearers of God.” (07:50)

The Image of God — Unrepeatable Miracle (07:20–10:50)

• Psalm 8 Connection:

  “What is mankind that you are mindful of them? ...You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.” (Psalm 8: 07:32)

• Memorable Refrain: J.D. translates biblical revelation for kids and listeners:

  “I am an unbelievable, inconceivable, unrepeatable miracle of God. And you are an unbelievable, inconceivable, unrepeatable miracle of God.” (08:26)

• Exhortation:

  “Wake up to this reality… shake off all the sense of ‘I’m nothing’ and wake up to the reality of what we are.” (09:50)

• The "Image of God" Restated: “Fallen, yes, in Christ. Redeemed, being restored... Able to do the things God does in this world. Beacons and bearers of heaven on earth.” (10:23)

Concluding Prayer and Journal Prompt (11:01–12:20)

• Prayer:

  “By your spirit, cause me to believe this at the deepest level, and so live at the highest level…” (11:31)

• Journal Question:

  “Have you ever considered the question, ‘what are you?’ and how do you respond?” (12:11)

Reflection on Modern Worldview & Psalm 139 (12:22–13:58)

• Modern Distraction: Walt suggests that the scientific revolution and enlightenment have “dumbed us down” to what we actually are. We are distinct—made in the image of God, not merely animal.
• Psalm 139 Meditation:

  “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made… The psalmist is just waking up there in 139 to the phenomenal realism of what it means to be a human being.” (13:07)

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Musical Reflection: Hymns as Response (14:00–18:15)

The Importance of Hymns (14:00–16:00)

• Practices Past and Present: J.D. and his father David talk about the tradition of having both a Bible and a hymn book in every home:

  “What the Bible is is revelation. What the hymn book is is response. God speaks and we sing back.” (15:25)

• Value of Old Hymns:

  “The old songs are better because they’ve stood the test of time and they connect us to the whole church...all the way back.” (15:41)

Hymn: “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise” (16:28–18:11)

• Singing Together: J.D. and David sing verses 1 and 4 of the hymn, emphasizing adoration and the ineffable nature of God.

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Life Application: The Pace of Jesus (18:15–22:00)

Spiritual Slowing Down

• Personal Anecdote: J.D. describes adjusting his treadmill speed to “the pace of Jesus”:

  “I slowed it down to three miles an hour…I thought, I don’t think Jesus probably walked this fast. And I slowed it down to two miles an hour. And I thought, this is Jesus speed.” (18:55)

• Fatherly Advice: David repeatedly tells J.D.:

  “Don’t drive fast.” (19:39, 19:53)

• Lesson from the Donut Run:

  “They got there 20 seconds after I did. And I’m like, why was I in a hurry?” (20:56)

• Final Takeaway for Listeners:

  “So, friends, the message for Saturday is slow down… Don’t be in a hurry. Take your time. Notice people… stop and smell the roses, count your many blessings, see what God can do every day.” (21:22–21:50)

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Notable Quotes

• On Identity:

  “I am an unbelievable, inconceivable, unrepeatable miracle of God. And you are an unbelievable, inconceivable, unrepeatable miracle of God.” – J.D. Walt (08:26)

• On Image Bearing:

  “We were not created as gods, but as image bearers of God.” – J.D. Walt (07:50)

• On Human Distinctness:

  “We’re different than anything else on the earth… Human being made in the image of a divine being.” – J.D. Walt (13:35)

• On Hymns:

  “What the Bible is is revelation. What the hymn book is is response. God speaks and we sing back.” – J.D. Walt (15:25)

• On Pace of Life:

  “Don’t drive fast. Don’t be in a hurry. Take your time. Notice people.” – David Walt & J.D. Walt (21:22)

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Segment Timestamps

• 00:04–02:00: Greeting, event announcement, prayer
• 02:05–03:23: Framing the “What Are We?” question
• 03:25–03:48: Genesis 1:27 scripture reading
• 03:50–05:20: Pastoral experience & intergenerational ministry
• 05:20–06:13: Identity struggles among youth
• 06:14–08:10: The theology of image bearing
• 07:32–10:50: Psalm 8 and “unrepeatable miracle” reflection
• 11:01–12:20: Concluding prayer and journal question
• 12:22–13:58: Commentary on worldview and Psalm 139
• 14:00–16:00: Hymn traditions and relevance
• 16:28–18:11: Singing “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”
• 18:15–21:50: Reflections on slowing down, pace of life
• 21:50–22:18: Closing remarks

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Takeaway

This episode is an invitation to wake up to the astonishing reality of being created in God’s image—an unbelievable, inconceivable, unrepeatable miracle. Through scripture, song, and story, J.D. Walt calls listeners to resist cultural hurry and root their identity in biblical truth, becoming bearers of heaven on earth, in Christ. The practical message for Saturday: slow down, cherish your identity, and notice God’s wonders around you.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Good morning and happy Saturday. Sower Nation. It's J.D. walt. Here it is, March 14th in the year of our Lord 2026 and we've got a good morning meeting with Jesus ready to go. So how about we jump in? Let me. Well, before we jump in, I just want to keep inviting you all. If you're able to join us in Franklin next month it'll be April, I don't know, 16, 17 around in there. We'll put the link in the email today to our waking, waking up to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It'll be a two day gathering in Franklin, Tennessee and the farm team will all be there. I'll be there. We got John Thompson coming from Toronto to teach on his incredible teaching on the gifts of the Spirit. We're publishing, releasing a book of his on the subject here coinciding with this. So it's just going to be a blessing. And if you can come, we've kept the price as low as we can get it and I'd love to see you. All right now wake up, sleeper. Rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. Jesus, I belong to you. I lift up my heart to you. I set my mind on you. I fix my eyes on you. I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice. Jesus, we belong to you. And we're praying in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. All right, today's entry is entitled what are we? What are we? Not what are we, but what are we? You getting the inflection there? What are we? Our text is Genesis, chapter 1, verse 27. Hear now the word of the Lord. So God created mankind in his own image. In the image of God. He created them. Male and female. He created them. The word of the Lord. Now consider this in my job as a pastor in a rural area. You know, I'm in Gillette, Arkansas. I work with people of all ages. We are truly an intergenerational church. Not because we try to be, but because we can't help it and because we can't afford the kind of staffing it takes to split everyone up into age level groupings. Now, I personally think that's the nature of the church. I'm not sure it's the best thing to partition everybody off in their own age group. But that is not even an issue for us. We do, you know. Anyway, you get my point. I am the only official employee. That makes me the youth pastor and the children's pastor and the senior adults pastor. And on it Goes now. In my work with our students and their friends, I've been reminded of something I learned from my own children in their growing up years. It's this. Kids have no idea who they are. They're carrying enormous levels of anxiety and stress. They're trying to measure up to impossible standards while fitting into a toxic culture no one can authentically belong to. And I know maybe what you're thinking. They don't know who they are because they don't know whose they are. And while that sounds good and seems right, it's kind of a cliche. And kids these days can smell a cliche from a mile away. I decided to take a different approach with the kids at our church. I decided to start by teaching them not who they were, but what they are. Okay, stay with me. Since we're learning by revelation, we don't start with biology, but theology. Theology informs biology, not the other way around. The core revelation of what we are comes in the very first chapter of the Bible. It happened on the sixth day after God made everything else in creation. So God created mankind in his own image. In the image of God. He created them. Male and female. He created them. We know the image of God is not our human form because at creation, God was not yet human. The image of God was and is our divine substance. We were not created as gods, but as image bearers of God. So what is the the image of God? The kids and I followed the trail of revelation to Psalm chapter 8, where we see these words. What is mankind that you are mindful of them? Human beings, that you care for them. You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. That's verses four and five. What are we? We are image bearers of the one true and living God. We are a phylum below the classification of angelic beings of angels. We are crowned with glory and honor. Now here's how I translate that for our kids and for you and me. What am I? What are you? I am an unbelievable, inconceivable, unrepeatable miracle of God. And you are an unbelievable, inconceivable, unrepeatable miracle of God. Did you feel the force of that? That's not hallmark sentimentality. That's biblical revelation. Image of God. Unbelievable. I mean, in can we. We are so accustomed to hearing those words and saying those words that they've lost their force. They've lost their impact. Image of the God who created everything that has been created. Unbelievable, inconceivable, unrepeatable Miracle of God. I want us to wake up to this reality. I want us just to shake off all the sense of I'm nothing. And I want us to wake up to the reality of what we are. Fallen, yes, in Christ. Redeemed, being restored. Waking up in rising up in resurrection power. Able to do the things God does in this world. Beacons and bearers of heaven on. On earth. On earth as it is in heaven. This is who Jesus is. And Jesus in us. That's who we are. Unbelievable, inconceivable, unrepeatable miracle of God. Will you dare say I am that? Us pray. Our Father, we thank you for your son Jesus and Lord Jesus. We are made in your image. We are made a little lower than angelic beings like you. We are an unbelievable, inconceivable, unrepeatable miracle of God. And by your spirit, cause me to believe this at the deep, deepest level, and so live at the highest level, praying in your name, Jesus. Amen. Journal prompt today. Have you ever considered the question, what are you? And how do you respond? What do you say? Journal on that? I think we're. This. The scientific revolution. For all of the good that it has brought us, the enlightenment for all the good it's brought us. It's actually kind of dumbed us down to what we actually are here on this earth. We're different than anything else on the earth. Okay? We're. We're not. We're not like the animal kingdom. We're different. We're actually a little bit lower than. You heard all I said. I don't need to repeat myself. I'm trying to get us to wake up. You know, I think about, like, Psalm, I don't know, 139. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. It says, my frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. The psalmist is just waking up there in 139 to the phenomenal realism of what it means to be a human being. Human being made in the image of a divine being. And of course, where you see this most fully and completely and in perfection. Jesus. Jesus Messiah. I could go on, but it's Saturday. We got to sing today. We got to get on the fields. So good to be with you. So good to be walking through this Jesus asking journey. I'm. I'm thankful for you. And let's hand it over to sing with dad now. Okay? All right, who's ready to sing?

[A]

I am.

[B]

Me too. It's Just good to sing hymns in the morning. And I've. For most of my life I hadn't done this. I sing them in church. Yeah. But this is, this is a new practice. It is, it's, it's probably a really old practice though, because.

[A]

Right. You know, when it wasn't television, but people would get up and sing these hymns.

[B]

They did. And you know, for the longest time in the church, you had two books at home. You had a, you had a Bible and a hymn book. That's just how it was. And you took your hymn book to church, I bet. And then the churches started buying hymn books, which we like, which probably made people think they didn't need one. And now a lot of churches don't have hymn books and of course you don't have one at home. We're trying to change all that at Seedbed and get back to the two books.

[A]

Right.

[B]

The Bible and the hymn book and the hymn book.

[A]

So you got to have the hymn book because of course you got to have the Bible, but. And the hymn book. You just don't. You know the tune and know a few words, but you don't know enough of them.

[B]

You know, the thing about the. What the Bible is is revelation. What the hymn book is is response. God speaks and we sing back. That's what these two books do. And these hymns. A lot of people say why we need to sing these old songs. I'm like, I like the new songs. They're good. But the old songs are better because they've stood the test of time and they connect us to the whole church. They connect us to our grandparents and our great grandparents and all the way back. And so today we're talking on the wake up call about being made in the image of God, which is hard to fathom, but we're going to sing one of the great hymns we're going to. It's a, it's a big hymn. What's it called?

[A]

Immortal Invisible God Only Wise.

[B]

This is a hymn of straight praise and adoration to God. What's the number?

[A]

The number is seven.

[B]

Now, this, this kind of hymn, you actually do need an organ. You need a big instrument.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

And we're small here, so we're going to sing the opening and the closing verse of this song. And if you want to sing all of them at home, you be our guest. But we're going to work through 1 and 4.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Immortal Invisible God only wise in light inaccessible Hid from our eyes Most blessed, Most glorious the ancient of days Almighty victorious Thy great Name we praise for Great Father of Glory Pure Father of Light Thine angels adorn all Nailing their sight all praise we would render O help us to see only a splendor of light.

[A]

I got about every other note.

[B]

That one is so packed. That one is revelation and response all at once. Well, everybody is Saturday, so we hope that you're going to get to have something of a restful day today, but you're probably going to see other people that you don't see Monday through Friday. Just be ready to take your time. Don't be in a hurry. I know I'm in a hurry. I'm trying to slow down. I was on a treadmill the other day, and that's how sometimes life can feel like you're just trying to keep up with the thing. And I was standing on it and I was going too fast and I said, I'm just gonna. It tells you how many miles per hour on treadmill. I said, I'm gonna slow this down to what I've often said is the pace of Jesus walking three miles an hour. So I slowed it down to three miles an hour, and I was still going pretty strong. And I thought, I don't think Jesus probably walked this fast. And I slowed it down to two miles an hour. And I thought, this is Jesus speed. Because oftentimes when I'm walking, I'll walk out ahead of people and just. Just be by myself. Jesus is always you.

[A]

You take bigger steps.

[B]

Yep. And what do you always tell me, dad? When I leave the house to drive to Gillette to. From your house, you say, don't drive fast.

[A]

Right. Don't. Don't drive fast.

[B]

Every time you tell me that, don't drive fast.

[A]

You don't drive fast because you can't control your truck. You're in control, but you overdo it. When you speed.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

And you, you. And you don't get. You don't think about it. You don't get there much faster.

[B]

That's the truth.

[A]

You just. You may be a few steps ahead.

[B]

But, you know, the other Sunday morning, Dad, I was early Sunday morning, I got up and drove over to DeWitt, about 15 miles to get doughnuts and for church for my kids. And I was driving back and I just got in a hurry and I started passing four or five people on the road. I was going too fast. And I got to church and I looked up and guess who pulled in behind me?

[A]

Police?

[B]

No, the people that I passed. And they said, we wondered who was in such a hurry to get up to that. And I'm like, they got there 20 seconds after I did. And I'm like, why was I in a hurry?

[A]

That's right. It's not worth it.

[B]

I'm still trying to learn. It's just not worth it.

[A]

It's not worth it.

[B]

And so, friends, the message for Saturday is slow down.

[A]

Amen.

[B]

Don't drive fast. Don't be in a hurry. Take your time. Notice people. That's the old Charlie Rich song. You gotta stop and smell the roses. You gotta count your many blessings, See

[A]

what God can do every day.

[B]

He said. He said, it's a long road to heaven. I can't even remember the rest of the road. The song. But he said, but you got to stop and smell the roses along the way. Yeah, that's a good word for Saturday. We're going to send you out now for The Awakening. I'm J.D. walt.

[A]

And I'm David Walt.

[B]

We'll see you on the field.

[A]

Thank you for joining us.

[B]

Good.