On Purpose

ON PURPOSE—Mark 12:28-31 & Matthew 28:18-20

An elderly woman went into the doctor’s office. When the doctor asked why she was there, she replied, "I’d like to have some birth-control pills."

Taken back, the doctor thought for a minute & then said, "Excuse me, Mrs. Smith, but you’re 72 years old. What possible use could you have for birth control pills?"

The woman responded, "They help me sleep better; You see, I live with my duaghter & son-in-law & their 6 children.”

The doctor thought some more & continued, "How in the world do birth control pills help you to sleep?"

The woman said, "Simple, I put them in my daughter’s orange juice every morning & I sleep a lot better at night."

The woman had a very definite purpose to her actions.

Likewise, The church of God must have a definitive purpose.

Providence Purpose...

God’s love compels us

To love, reach & nurture others for Christ.

The Church has a specific purpose.

We know the purpose of the Church.

What is the purpose of this/Providence Baptist/ Church?

4 Purposes for the Church.

Providence BC will fulfill her Purpose when...

“28 And one of the scribes came & heard them arguing, & recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?”

“Commandment”—Divine Directive

“The foremost”—That which takes precedence. Most important

1—Our Purpose is to...

LOVE GOD(Mk. 12:29-31)

—Explanation:(Mk. 12:29-31)

GOD’S LOVE:—God’s Love compels us...

*OUR LOVE FOR GOD:

:29—“Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD;”—Deut. 6:4

“Oh Israel”—God’s people—Raised/Wrought them

“The LORD”—YHWH

“Our God”—

“One LORD”—Excusivity/Uniqueness as our God OR 2)Unity/Wholeness

Js. 1:17—“Every good thing bestowed & every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.”

:30—“AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’”—Deut. 6:5

An Intimate/Loving Relationship with God requires the fullest expression of the desire of my Heart.

An Intimate/Loving Relationship with God requires the fullest expression of the desire of my Soul.

An Intimate/Loving Relationship with God requires the fullest expression of the desire of my Mind.

An Intimate/Loving Relationship with God requires the fullest expression of the desire of my Strength.

Love & Intimacy is Impossible to do from a distance!

“Love”—We can’t love someone we don’t know.

*GOD’S LOVE FOR US:

?Why should we love this God?...

...Behind :29-30 is God’s love toward us!

Creator, Sustainer, Revealer, Provider, Wisdom, Light, Caring, Compassionate, Patient, Forgiving, True, Faithful...

—Argumentation:

1Jn. 4:9-10—“By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us & sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

Gen. 1:1, 27-28—“In the beginning God created the heavens & the earth”....“And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male & female He created them. And God blessed them; & God said to them, “Be fruitful & multiply, & fill the earth, & subdue it; & rule over the fish of the sea & over the birds of the sky, & over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Jn. 3:16—“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

Rom. 5:8-11—“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

To meet our Purpose God must love us & we must Love God.

OUR COMPULSION:(Mk. 12:31)

God’s Love compels us

?What...goads/drives/prods/pushes/catalyzes/makes us answer God’s Purpose?

In Appropriate & Own God’s love>>> Thankfulness

—Argumentation:

1Jn. 4:19—“We love, because He first loved us.”

2Cor. 5:14—“...& He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died & rose again on their behalf.”

John 1:12-13—“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”