I am in the presence of greatness
Psalms 139:1-4, 7-10, 13-16, 23-24
Jeremiah 29:10-11
This sermon was given on “Girl scout Sunday” as part of a special service for them
Introduction-
You are never too young to dream. You are never too old to dream. If fact, if you stop dreaming, you are beginning to die inside.
Jeremiah 29:10-11 Read
I am excited to have the Girls Scouts and their families with us this morning.
I am directing my message to the young people. If we were smart, us older folks, we can grab some of the principal’s and apply to our lives.
Each one of you have been given a puzzle piece as you came in this morning.
Apostle Paul tells us that we look through darken glasses, but God see’s the big picture.
Each of us is a piece in the big picture. Without you, the picture is not complete.
Look at your puzzle piece, a lot of times we do not even know what the piece were holding is, but when it is in the right place surrounded by others, God gives us the big picture of our lives.
We read about purpose driven churches, purpose driven lives, and today it seems like more than ever, people don’t know where there headed, and what purpose they have in life.
This portion of Scripture:
Jeremiah 29:10-11
The people of God were for 70 years under Babylon captivity.
70 years of being a slave to strangers in a foreign land.
One generation has already died and the next generation is growing weary.
The few faithful getting discouraged because what they had planned for doesn’t seem to happening.
Parents...does that sound familiar today?
People talk of the economy.
All the job losses
All the stocks and pension plans failing to produce.
All those plans you had that may of had to be put on hold.
“I know the plans - plans to prosper not harm, to give you hope and a future”
Romans 15:12-
“We should consider the good of our neighbor and build up their character.”
The Bible encourages us to be people builders.
How do we do that? Kindness Being different than most others.
Giving people what they need instead of what they deserve. (Repeat)
Jesus built people up in three ways.
Challenged them- out of their comfort zone
Encouraged them- move forward
Spoke honestly- most times what they did not want to hear.
I want to do all three for a minute this morning.
I want to challenge, encourage, speak honestly.
Ephesians 4:1
“I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received”
His point/ my point
“Don’t waste your life”
Nothing else remembered this morning Don’t waste your life, you have purpose
Make it count
Don’t learn everything the hard way
Learn it the right way, and learn it the first time.
Each of us can play a critical role in helping people discover their strengths and abilities.
God has given us all a piece of the puzzle, with His guidance, we will find where we fit in.
The intended place in the big picture of God’s plan.
Our plan without God will fall short and void of God’s blessing.
God’s plan for our life will be developed, strengthened and used for God’s glory.
I am in the presence of greatness Yes I am.
I am in the presence of greatness because I serve a God more than able to protect and meet my needs and your needs.
Everyone of us has been created by God and you have purpose.
Asking God to help you find that purpose will determine if you are successful.
Success being measured by you fulfilling the purpose that God intended for you.
We have several denominations present this morning. It is not what church you go to.
Heaven will not be divided by churches.
There will not be the have’s and the have-not’s.
Not separated by Money... no-money.
It will be filled with people who had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Realizing that they matter to God.
God is looking for:
Big-picture thinkers.
Creative thinkers.
Focused thinkers.
Leo Tolstoy:
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
Let revival start within me
If you want to live on a new level, you have to think on a new level.
Illustration:
Who wants to be a millionaire.(Kathy Evans from Idaho)
Bragging how she would be the next millionaire. The first question to her. Which is bigger?
A. Peanut B. Moon C. Elephant D. What do you mean by large. I don’t know why she could not get the answer. She took one of her lifelines. You get three. 1. 50/50 where they take away two answers 2. Phone a friend 3. Ask the audience. I’ll go 50/50. They removed peanut and what do you mean by large. That left Moon or an elephant. She still did not know and ask to phone her friend Betsy. She gets Betsy on the phone and talks about the show the first 7 seconds of a one minute phone call. The host tells her to ask the question before her time is up. She asks the question, and without hesitation, Betsy says that the moon is bigger. She says that Betsy probably was not the smartest friend she had. I believe there would be a lot to say about her. She says to be sure she wants to use her last lifeline and ask the audience. 98 percent said that the moon is bigger. I think that Kathy had 2 percent of her family in the audience. After all this, she looks at Meredith the host , and says that sometimes you have to go against what the crowd is saying, and she picked the elephant to be bigger. The only one wanting with anxiety for the answer was Kathy. The answer was the moon, I am sorry that you are wrong. The crowd did not even acknowledge her as she left the stage.
You cannot do the same old things, the same old way and expect different results.
You cannot have the same old thinking, the same old way and expect different results.
You cannot go against the things of God, and think that God is going to bless it.
This is the same mind set that would be a walker on the beach and a friend says “look at that dead bird” and they look up into the sky and say where
God is looking for people to take and learn lessons from others people’s mistakes.
Those who know God has a purpose for them and they are seeking to find what it is.
The Psalmist here and the prophet Jeremiah had things in common.
They knew who God was.
They knew they had purpose, that if they diligently were seeking that they would find it.
Theology is the study of God. “We think of them as our thinkers”
Systematic Theology is organized study of God.
It is why we have different churches believing different things.
Systematic Theology will keep these passages as an abstract.
The Psalmist and the Prophet keep it in a personal relationship.
God knows all.
God sees all.
God has the power to maintain and power to change circumstances.
To some that is scary. Because God knows all
To others it is a comfort- because God knows all. Their trust is in His ability to take care of us.
Do you know who you are in Christ?
Do you know that you have purpose?
Do you know that you were created, not birthed by chance.
It is more than genes, chromosomes, RNA, DNA. There is a living God, a craftsman busy building your personality and charting your future.
I am standing in the presence of greatness. Because I am with the people of God.
I stand in the presence of greatness:
Because the next president of the United States may be here.
The cure for cancer might come from here.
Ministers that will make an impact.
Missionaries to carry God’s word.
The Psalmist doesn’t rebel at the thought of his life being in God’s hand, he was excited about it.
God knows you- you have purpose.
Psalms 139:1-3 read .
You cannot run from God.
Psalm 139:7-10 read.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139:13-14 read.
Fate of the wicked.
Scared of the future, vengeful of the past.
Psalm 139:19-20
coming to that realization that God will take care of his own and will deal with the injustice we face.
Attitude check.
Psalm 139:23-24 read.
Closing:
when you know who you are in Christ, it gives you assurance that justice will be carried out by God. The wicked are under God’s scrutiny and subject to His power. They are rebellious against God, so they are subject to His punishment.
God planned this moment in your life. It is no accident that you are here this morning. God longs for you to discover the life that He created you to love- here on earth, and for eternity.
Ephesians 1:11 (Message)
It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ.... He had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.
