GOD’S GIFT OF PURPOSE
Unwrapping God’s Gifts
Part 3 of 5
Pastor Steve Gallimore
December 14, 2008
This week we’re going to continue our series by talking about one of God’s greatest gifts to us and that is God’s gift of purpose. As outrageous as it is, God not only sent His Son to die for our sins, that we could be reconciled with God, that heaven would be opened up so that we could spend eternity with God. As if that weren’t enough, God said, “I’m also going to give you meaning for your life. I’m going to give you purpose. I’m going to bring you some assignment in your life that is going to bring you adventure and fulfillment and joy and satisfaction like nothing else. WOW! Where do you find purpose like that? I mean, come on folks – if you could have an assignment in your life that brings you adventure, fulfillment, joy and satisfaction like nothing else – wouldn’t that be worth everything? Hey, and watch this – it never runs out! “Where can I find that kind of purpose Pastor Steve?”
For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.
Colossians 1:16 (MSG)
If you want to know God’s purpose for your life in this world, get close to Christ and you’ll know it. Your purpose is my purpose. As a matter of fact, God has one purpose for the entire body of Christ and that is the Good News of Christmas. It’s the message of the angels that holy night; it’s the message of the shepherds as they went out to tell everyone who would listen, the Messiah is born! He’s here! And you need to know this today:
God’s purpose will only be fulfilled through Christ in me.
There are several purposes that are talked about in scripture, but they can all be summed up in one as they all really boil down to one purpose. When Jesus said in effect “Here’s what I want you to do. Here’s your purpose. I want you to help Me rescue the world one person at a time.” He’s saying, “I want My followers to be the ones to bring this monumental news that forgiveness is available through Jesus Christ, that a relationship with God is available, that heaven is available to anyone who opens their heart to God. I want you to be the ones to bring that news to this world.” This is how Jesus put it in the Sermon on the Mount:
“Let Me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning... You’re here to be light... God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand – shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:13-16, The Message
This is what He’s saying in effect, “This is My Plan A for bringing the life altering and eternity changing gospel to the world. My Plan A is for My followers to be salt and light and there is no Plan B. Plan A to be salt and light for changing the world is it.” Nothing is more exciting or fulfilling or adventurous or joyful than being used by God to bring His message of redemption and hope and forgiveness and eternal life to someone who is spiritually confused.
We call people who rescue folks from burning buildings, heroes. What should we call people who rescue folks in an eternal way, who rescue their eternal souls? How much more heroes are they?
Why did Jesus use the metaphors – salt and light? One thing that salt and light have in common for instance is this. They have a radical influence on whatever it is they come into contact with. That’s the important thing.
Think about what salt does. It makes people thirsty, it spices things up, it acts as a preservative and it enhances flavor. So what Jesus was saying to His followers in effect was, “Here’s what I want you to do. Live the kind of life that’s going to make people thirst for the truth about Me. Live the kind of life that’s going to spice things up by causing people to question their values and their beliefs and their character. Live the kind of life that will slow the rate of moral decay in society. Live the kind of life that will show other people that following Me will enhance their life like nothing else.”
Think about this metaphor of light. What does light do? It illuminates, it exposes, it draws people to a destination. Have you ever seen those spot lights in the sky in a major city at night? They have those huge lights that search the sky. Why? They’re trying to attract people to come to their business. Light attracts people. So Jesus was saying in effect, “I want you to live the kind of life that will illuminate My truth for people. Live the kind of life that’s going to shine My compassion into dark areas of despair. Live the kind of life that will gently attract people toward Me,” because ultimately He is the light of life.
So what is God’s purpose for His creation in the 21st Century? It’s the same purpose that He’s had since before the foundation of the world and that is that every person would choose to know Him personally, in a relationship that moves beyond any religion or man made demigods we would set up in order to try to reach Him. I have a list of elements that make up God’s purpose for every life today. Every person here is either in or approaching one of these purposes in your life.
My goal this morning is that you would identify where you are and seek to take the next step in your journey with God. The first Gift of purpose is that you would come…
1. To Know Him Personally
Folks, the thing I want you to remember about this gift of purpose is this: Recipes are just plain flat if you leave out the main ingredient. What’s the main ingredient in APPLE pie? What’s the main ingredient in STRAWBERRY shortcake? What’s the main ingredient in BLACKBERRY cobbler? What’s the main ingredient in PECAN pie? NO – dark Caro syrup!
The sad thing today is this: Many people are living their entire life without knowing the main ingredient for living a life of purpose. You may be trying to find satisfaction in your work, or your bank account or your kids, or spouse, but the number one - the MAIN INGREDIENT TO LIFE is GOD’S LOVE! He loves you so much and the message of Christmas is the message that God is absolutely wild about you; and that you’re purpose here on this earth is to know and love God with all your heart!
Some of you believe that you’ve been too bad or you’ve done too many bad things and that God couldn’t possibly accept you, let alone love you. Well have I got great news for you! I don’t care where you’ve been, what you’ve done, or who you’ve done it with, or how many times you’ve done it; God is inviting you to embrace your purpose for living by simply trusting Him today! How do you do it? Ask Him!
For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13 (NLT)
Who did He say? EVERYONE! Who calls on whom? The name of the Lord! What will happen? They WILL BE saved! “But pastor Steve, I believe in God, isn’t that enough? I go to church, isn’t that enough? I read the Bible, isn’t that enough? I’m trying to live a clean life, isn’t that enough? There’s only one way and one name that leads to salvation and that is through the name of Jesus!
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 (ESV)
God’s purpose is for you to come to Him and to know Him and there’s only one name worthy of heaven’s praise! How beautiful the name. The angel Gabriel appeared to a young virgin girl and said Mary, “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. Luke 1:31 (NLT) That starry night some 2000 years ago the angels proclaimed His birth but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! Luke 2:10-11 (NLT)
Oh, let me tell you about that name that is above all names. That name is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. He is the Salt that flavors the world. He is the Light that exposes and expels every form of darkness. When He came on the scene in that tiny town, Bethlehem Ephrata, in the smallest city of Israel, the angles sang – they could not be silent for the King of all of Heaven is now a babe in a manger who is “Savior – yes, the Messiah, the Lord has been born.” Until you know this Messiah PERSONALLY, you’ve yet to discover the purpose for living.
The moment this great gift of purpose is received it leads us to the next ingredient of God’s gift of purpose. When we truly know Jesus Christ, and begin to experience the powerful resurrection life, knowing that our sins are forgiven and our future is secure, it drives us…
2. To Worship Him Continually
How do you worship Him continually? By the way you live, which includes the places you go, the things you do, what you do or don’t place in your body, and what you do with your witness everyday.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1 (ESV)
Some people think if they just show up on Sunday and do the gig, then all is well and I get to do what I want with the rest of my life. Do you want to know why our nation is in the mess it’s in? I believe it is this; people want to warm themselves by the fire of Christ, but not catch the fire of Christ. They have what James calls “a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. Our Wednesday morning men’s group is doing a Bible study called Experiencing God, Knowing and Doing the Will of God. In that study Henry Blackaby makes this powerful statement:
The Bible is the record of God accomplishing His purposes through His people. It is not the record of His peoples walk with Him. It’s the difference of focus. The focus of the Bible is God. The essence of sin is a shift from a God-centeredness to a self-centeredness. The essence of salvation is a denial of self, not an affirming of self. We must come to a denial of self and a return to a God-centeredness with our lives. Then God has us where He can accomplish through us purposes He had before He created the world.
His purpose for us is that we would live a life of worship; putting self away and taking up His cause in this world everyday. We unfortunately have adopted the 9-5 attitude in believing in God the same way we believe in our jobs. The day belongs to my employer but after hours is my time. And a Christians we want to go to church on Sunday, maybe even do a Life Group once each week, but the rest of the time is “my time!” Look at what God says about this attitude:
And so the Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote. Isaiah 29:13 (NLT)
In other words, to live a life of worship is not only to say we belong to God, but actually live a life of worship so that others may see Jesus by the light we shine and the flavor of our lives.
Once we receive the gift of purpose by knowing Him and worshipping Him, then we come together as believers unified under the banner of the Cross and He allows us…
3. To Enjoy Him Corporately
A corporation is a group of people coming together and performing many different tasks all for the purpose of developing and producing a product that is useful for a specific purpose. When you join the team you join the vision and purpose of the team. Look at God’s description of His team:
He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Ephesians 4:16 (NLT)
The body of Christ is to function corporately also. The Triune God is the board of directors in full charge of operations. He knows what needs to be done, who it is that needs to do it, and what it will take to bring about the finished product. Every Christian needs to belong to this body of Christ in this world known as a church. It’s His church; it should function His way, to accomplish His purpose.
While we all come together unified under the cause of Christ, it doesn’t mean we’re all the same. We come from different backgrounds with different needs, different likes and dislikes. But this we know about all of us: We are sinners saved by the grace of God! And if you’re next step of faithfulness on your journey with Christ is to get connected to the family of God, then I can highly recommend TVCC as a family you’ll fit well in; unless you’re perfect, because at TVCC we have a motto that states: NO PERFECT PEOPLE ALLOWED! The only way we’re perfect is that we’ve been made perfect through the blood of Christ. And we as a family operate on the principle of loving one another. This love involves helping you to grow toward Christ. It’s the only thing we have to offer. We are about creating a safe place, a sanctuary, where anyone and everyone can enter in and experience the love of Christ.
But know this – loving and enabling are two totally different things. Once you’re a member of this family, we have a responsibility as a family to help each other grow. Sometimes the way that has to happen is through encouragement and sometimes it’s through discipline, but it all involves love.
So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
1 Corinthians 13:3b (MSG)
God’s gift of purpose is to know Him, to worship Him, to come together and create a safe place where we ENJOY Him together, and as we do, we learn…
4. To Love Him Passionately
The difference between legalism and love can be summed up in one word: DESIRE!
When we desire to be with someone we want to know them, to learn about what makes them happy and what makes them sad. We want to know how to please them and to draw close to them; to love them intimately. How do you do that with God? You read His Word. Look at this next verse of scripture.
I love God’s law with all my heart.
Romans 7:22 (NLT)
Can you say that? That you love God’s Word with all your heart? That’s why 2009 for TVCC is the Year of The Book. There is nothing even close to changing your life like God’s love letter to us, The Bible. And as we open His Word as a family, we’re going to literally experience God in ways that we’ve never experienced before. And I want to hear from you; what you discover, the nuggets you uncover, the riches of the Word of God as you open it, read it, and journal each day, just a line or two, about what you sense God speaking to you. Then as God is working His purpose in our lives individually and corporately, we have a new love for his Word.
As you learn to hear more and more from God, something else happens: Life change takes place. Not only do you hear the Word and speak the Word, the Word of God begins to impact your day-to-day life as you intersect with other who need to her the Good News of Jesus Christ and also with other believers.
But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. Deuteronomy 30:14 (NKJV)
Some of you are seeking and searching frantically for meaning and purpose in life when all you have to do is trust God enough to read His Word, meditate on it, and let God teach you how to live life on purpose. When we do this, we receive God’s gift of purpose in a new and fresh way.
Not only will we want to KNOW HIM PERSONALLY, WORSHIP HIM CONTINUALLY, ENJOY HIM CORPORATELY, AND LOVE HIM PASSIONATELY, we will also want…
5. To Serve Him Faithfully
You see, you’re going to serve somebody. That great theologian Bob Dylan understood this principle in life when he said in his 1979 hit,
You’re Gonna Serve Somebody
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.
Do you know what makes the difference? Whatever you’re obsessed with! An obsession is: the domination of one’s thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc. If you’re obsessed with serving God, you’ll serve Him. If you’re obsessed with filling your/God’s life with your schedule, your/God’s time, your/God’s wants, your/God’s desires – we don’t like to think about it but Dylan was right; you either serve the devil or God. Whatever you’re obsessed with will determine who you will serve.
Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Romans 8:6 (MSG)
What matters is Paul talking about here? In the preceding verse, Romans 8:5 he tells us. Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things… So when your life is dominated by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and prideful thoughts of self satisfaction, folks, your life is not going to be, but is already a dead end. If your life is dominated by thoughts like, “I’m in public today, but when I get home, I can live however I want to because it doesn’t matter what I do behind closed doors, you’re choosing whom you will serve. If you think you can worship on Sunday but live every other day as you please without consequence, you’re choosing whom you will serve. If you think you can adopt God-language on Sunday but then the worlds language on Monday, you’re gonna serve somebody, but it’s not going to be the Lord. There aren’t two ways to please God; there’s only one way – Serve God! The last part of Romans 8:5 says, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. Romans 8:5 (NLT)
There’s only one way to break this cycle in your life and that is to change what your life is obsessed with! How? Begin to SERVE GOD as you serve others and you’ll realize, finally – some of you for the first time – what it truly means to have a relationship with God. What do you serve Him with? Your time: some of you did that this weekend ringing the bells for the Salvation Army. Some of you are giving your life to serve on weekends here at TVCC, either through music, or children, or First Impressions Ministries by greeting, as an usher, setting up or taking down sets and Connection Point or our nursery and pre-school. And those are all good and necessary for all of us to join God and focus our energies for one purpose: FOR THE GLORY OF GOD!
That’s a big statement, so how do we do that? We keep focused on what matters most: Four-fold ministry of TVCC: REACH – TEACH – TRAIN – SEND. “Oh preacher, I’m to busy, my life is out there and it consumes me. Just give me what I need, give me my Sunday fix and send me on my way. I don’t have time to give to anyone else; I’m here for my SUDS! Give me my SUDS” (Shoot Up Da’ Sunday!-imitate tying off the arm and injecting needle and make a big deal of not wanting to help others - just get my own fix on Sunday)
If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. Galatians 6:3 (NLT)
So, who are you going to serve? Remember, “you’re gonna serve the devil or you’re gonna serve the Lord, but you’re gonna serve somebody.” Truer words have never been spoken.
On January 8, 1956 Jim Elliot, along with four other missionaries was killed while trying to bring this Good News of Christ to the Waodoni people of the Auca Indians in Ecuador. In his journal published in a book titled SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY, Jim wrote these words:
“One doesn’t learn to speak a language in a couple of months. It will be plugging for a good while yet. Seems that I’ll never get through ‘preparing’ for the mission field. But I’ve been comforted this week thinking of our Lord’s thirty silent years of readying Himself at home with His family and bending over a carpenter’s bench. Were those days any less of a fragrance to God than His later work before the eyes of the people? I think not. A well-made piece of furniture and a healed blind man represented the same thing to the Father – a job well done; mission accomplished. So with us here. Nothing great, but what is that to Him with whom there is no great or small?”
As Jim was speaking of this tribe of Auca’s he wrote this: “More and more that tribe is brought before me as a possible field of labor for my life. They are utterly untouched, and so far they are inaccessible. It would take a miracle to open the way to them, and we are praying for that miracle. They may be only a few hundred in number, but they are a part of the whole creation, and we have orders for such.” Jim Elliot’s own life would serve to be the miracle God would use.
Was Jim and the other missionaries lives and the hundreds of thousands that still give their lives each year for the cause of Christ wasted? I think not. Jim’s own words sum up what should become the mantra of every Christ follower today: His journal entry for October 28, 1949, contains his now famous quotation, expressing his belief that missions work was more important than his life.
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.
Have you received God’s gift of purpose? If so where are you on your journey?
Some of you need to get to KNOW GOD PERSONALLY – gift of Christ
Some of you need to begin to WORSHIP HIM PASSIONATELY
Some of you need to ENJOY HIM by deciding to become a part of the TVCC Family
Some of you need to get into His Word and fall in LOVE WITH HIM through Word
Some of you need to choose today, who you will SERVE with the rest of your life
because: You’re gonna serve somebody! Don’t waste another day. Begin to serve the Lord today.
First – SALVATION; Second – God’s speaking to you about getting involved in serving through TVCC; Third – I’m praying that God is calling some young men and women to serve him as pastors, teachers, missionaries, here at home as well as abroad. Is He calling you? Then choose to give your life to God’s purpose. It’s the only one in the long run that counts.
