Finding Your Incredible Significance In God

Opening Illustration: Any one ever lost something that mattered to you? Have my car keys, remote control, cell Phone on pulpit; These are the items that I lose the most around the house.

When my parents were here recently, we searched for the remote control for the better part of Sunday afternoon and Amy found it around 10 PM behind some toys. We were extremely happy about that. I’ve lost my keys too many times to count so a couple years ago, I installed a key hanger near the kitchen…now, I’m in the habit of putting my keys there. The cell phone is a bit easier to find…especially if it has power! One day I found my cell phone in the toilet and Nathan owned up to it!

Anyone of you ever lose something of significance to you? What did you do? Searched, panicked, went all through the house, traced your steps…when you found it, you got happy and told everyone!

Why did you search so hard? The item that was lost was so significant to you.

How much time this week did you spend thinking about how incredibly significant you are to the Living God? People often live with the false belief that God is ever out to get them, angry with them, rejecting them, etc. Believing the lies, it’s easy then to seek out our significance through other avenues. Normally, people base their significance through these 4 ways:

(1) What People Say About You (2) Your Successes (3) Your Looks (4) Your Money

When I base my significance on any of these four ways, I’m setting myself up for a let down. This is not an easy message for me to preach, because I’ve believed the lies most of my lies about where my true worth comes from. God is slowly but surely healing my heart from the lies and setting me free to enjoy the truth of who I am in Him.

This morning, let’s discover three ways to know you are incredibly significant to God.

1. God Has a Passionate Heart For You

Aren’t you thankful today that God has a passionate heart for you? I am so glad Jesus loves a sinner like me. If that were not true, I could not be here. In Luke 15:1-2, the Bible says, “Then all the tax collectors and sinners drew near Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” Having a meal with the outcasts of the day showed that Jesus truly loved messed up people and that He desired them to be in His presence.

Chip Ingram is one of my favorite Bible teachers and he made a comment once that stuck with me. He said, “What you think about God shapes your whole relationship with Him. In addition, what you believe God think about you determines how close you will grow toward Him.”

For instance, you might think God is like an overzealous policeman, always ready to pounce on your mistakes. You may believe God is like a strict school teacher, giving you an F for every day for things done wrong. You may think God is like an angry judge, just waiting to throw the guilty verdict on you. You may sense in your heart that God is like a disappointed parent, always upset because you are failing to make quick progress.

Growing up in church, I almost never felt God was passionate about me. I believed God really had something against me. Perhaps if I could witness better, pray better, live better I could truly belong to Him. I believed the lie that my worth to God was based on my performance. If I lived good through the week, God accepted me. If I messed up, God rejected me. I based my significance in life on my ability to do well in sports, please my parents, live “a good Christian life.” I did not know the passionate love of God toward me.

What is your passion in life? Pastor, I’m passionate about my grandkids. I can’t wait to go see them this summer and go to the beach with them! Pastor, I’m passionate about gardening. It makes me feel so good to get out there in nature and plant flowers, vegetables, tomatoes, etc. Pastor, I’m passionate about exercise. It just doesn’t feel right if I don’t get out and walk, do aerobics daily. Or, I’m passionate about traveling, hunting, facebook, collecting stamps, etc. Probably all of you are passionate about something in life.

My question is, do you ever stop to think about how passionate God is for you? To show how passionate God is about you Jesus told a story. He said, “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.”