True Purpose Series

TRUE PURPOSE

Text: Acts 16:6-12

What makes the difference between a good parent and a GREAT parent?

What makes the difference between a good teacher and a GREAT teacher.

What makes the difference between a good coach and a GREAT coach.

What makes the difference a good follower of Christ and a GREAT follower of Christ.

What makes the difference between a good church and a GREAT church.

In each of those scenarios I think that PURPOSE can make all the difference in the world.

DO YOU GRASP YOUR SENSE of PURPOSE?

Do you grasp your purpose as follower of Christ?

Do you grasp your purpose as a part of His church?

I am told that in 1963 a Sign on the door of the University Christian Church in New York read these words:

"Gone out of business. Didn’t know what our business was."

Your TRUE SENSE OF PURPOSE can make all the difference in the world between bad, good or great.

To parents I would ask the question

“How seriously do you see your purpose in the life of your children?”

To those who teach in the public school or in the church I would ask

“How seriously do you see your purpose in touching the hearts and minds of those who you lead.”

To those who hold any leadership role in the church or in the secular realm…I would ask….

“Where are you on grasping the purpose in your leadership role?”

God desires that for every one of us and for His church that we discover and fulfill our purpose.

Discovering our True purpose, however, does not come from just having a right feeling about something or mustering up serious determination….

TRUE PURPOSE comes from God as He directs us, guides us and gives us a vision for what can be experienced through His power.

We need to look no farther than to the Word of God to see the importance of having a God-given vision in discovering our purpose.

The early church needed a God given vision to carry out it’s effectiveness and guess what….

churches that accomplish anything significant today for the Kingdom of God do so because they have received and taken ownership in their God given vision.

God BRINGS vision to the life of the church and if we will BELIEVE in that vision which God brings to us and we really take ownership in it then it becomes part of who we are…the vision belongs to us and we belong to it.

It is extremely important that a God given vision be discovered and owned not just by the church but by every individual.

It is extremely important because without a God given vision people either miss finding their purpose all together

OR

they misunderstand what God’s purpose is for them.

If you are a Bible study leader for children or adults you must understand your purpose that God brings to you in that role and you must believe in it and belong to that purpose that God has for you in that capacity.

The same is true if you are leading the congregation in worship or if you are a deacon or if you are a greeter at the church doors welcoming people.

You need a God given vision to carry out your purpose!

Clear vision is all about understanding the potential for the great plans God has for us.

Do you think consciously about the vision God has for you in whatever role you are serving the Lord?

Vision gives certainty not only about what God is up to in my life today but it includes what God has for me tomorrow.

The apostle Paul knew firsthand the power of vision, as time after time God instilled in his heart and illuminated in his mind the path that lay ahead.

We can learn much and be greatly encouraged by his experience, as we are reminded that God directs us as a church and as individual Christians today just as certainly as He did for those believers of long ago.

The passage we’re exploring today, as we continue traveling TRUE NORTH is Acts chapter 16 as we think about TRUE PURPOSE.

Let’s take a look at Acts 16 together.

6Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.

7When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.

8So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.

9During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."

10After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.