INTRODUCTION
• We welcome everyone this morning, so glad you have come this morning.
• If this is your first time with us we are nearing the end of a series entitled, “REASONS FOR MY HEAR TO BEAT.”
• The past reasons we have examined are To Praise His Glory, To Know His Power, the Show His Grace, TO Build His Church, AND TODAY WE embark on a new reason together.
• SLIDE #1
• TO Fulfill His Purpose.
• Life can be somewhat confusing at times; even as we get older we tend to wonder what purpose is our life about, or what is life about, why am I here?
• Hold on, CONVERSATION WITH GOD ON CELL PHONE.
• Don’t you wish it were that easy?
• Well today I have some good news for you, God does have a purpose for you and it is my prayer that knowing that can make us feel as special as God sees us.
• Knowing that you do have a reason to be on this earth other than to consume and sleep can give some excitement to our faith!
• Let’s turn to Ephesians 3 and we will begin with verses 7-9
• SLIDE #2
• Ephesians 3:7–9 (HCSB) 7 I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of His power. 8 This grace was given to me—the least of all the saints—to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of the Messiah, 9 and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. God will empower you to fulfill His purpose.
• One of the things that can frustrate us in life is knowing what we are called to do but feeling inadequate to do it.
• I do believe there are times in life when we know what we are supposed to do, we know inside what God is calling us to, but we are very reluctant to follow through because we feel so inadequate to do what we perceive God is calling us to do.
• On a personal note I felt that way for the longest time in my calling to ministry.
• Once I got a good sense from God that the preaching ministry is what I was being called to, I resisted for a while because I could not fathom that God could use me.
• I kept wondering if I was mistaken or if I desired to go into ministry more than God wanted me to be in the ministry.
• Paul was a man who should have been full of questions, doubt, and fear when he felt God’s calling.
• WE know the history of Paul, the former persecutor of the church.
• How could such a man do what Paul did?
• Well verse 7 tells us that he was made a servant of this gospel by the GIFT OF GOD’S GRACE!
• If you remember verse 2 from last week that when Paul experienced God’s grace, it turned into a job assignment.
• Paul’s response to God’s grace was to serve Him through the gospel!
• We do not see Paul quitting on Jesus because He knows who he was serving.
• How did Paul do all he did for God? It was because when God called Paul He also empowered Paul to do what He called Him to do.
• The grace of God was given to Paul by the working of God’s power!
• Now let me ask you, how powerful is God? ALL POWERFUL!
• Paul did not have to tip toe and be meek about what he was called to do, he BOLDLY and POWERFULLY fulfilled God’s purpose for him because he KNEW GOD had empowered him to carry out the task at hand!
• Now in verses 8-9 Paul gives the detail of the purpose God had given to him.
• Look at Colossians 1:29
• SLIDE #4
• Colossians 1:29 (HCSB) I labor for this, striving with His strength that works powerfully in me.
• I am not going to spend much time on verses 8-9 because it is basically a re-hash of what we dealt with last week.
• What I want us to see is that God empowers us to carry our His purpose. Paul could not POSSIBLY do it alone. He was not intimidated by the work because he KNEW the God he served.
• Paul’s understanding of HOW he was able to accomplish so much comes from who empowered him.
• This grace was given to me—the least of all the saints—to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of the Messiah,
• God has a purpose for you to fulfill, why are not doing it? Fear? The feeling of inadequacy? I know those feeling, every week what I sit down to write a sermon, I still cannot believe God can use me.
• We need to get past those feelings and boldly serve Him. Who do you serve? When we serve the living God, He will empower you to answer the call.
• By the way, KNOWING that you are incapable on your own will keep you humble also.
• I have found that those who serve God and have an ego about it think they are doing it on their own by their own power meanwhile giving lip service praise to God.
• When we experience God’s grace, we will also be called by God to serve Him.
• For each of us the calling will be different.
• Please do not be fearful, when you know God is pulling you to an area of service, do it, God will empower you.
• When you chose to let fear win out, you will not only hurt yourself, but God’s church will suffer also.
• Let’s look at verses 10-11 for our next thought.
• SLIDE #5
• Ephesians 3:10–11 (HCSB) 10 This is so God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens. 11 This is according to His eternal purpose accomplished in the Messiah, Jesus our Lord.
• SLIDE #6
II. Fulfilling His purpose helps you impact the world for Jesus.
• When we strive to fulfill God’s purpose, we will be able to impact the world for Jesus.
• When it did not look like God’s plan would work, He sent Jesus and through Jesus, God opened to the door to the whole world to come to Him.
• The church became the mirror through which the rulers and authorities even in heaven could see God’s glory!
• The context goes back the wall between Jew and Gentile being torn down, but it goes deeper.
• As we fulfill God’s purpose we can help change the course of the world as we impact it one person at a time.
• The church does not exist for our glory but for the glory of God and we must ALWAYS keep that in mind.
• Is what I am about to do going to bring glory to God or myself, is what I am going to do bring shame on God and His church?
• Verse 10 speaks of how the angels themselves behold the works of God and the wisdom of God displayed through His church, they will rejoice and give Him more glory!
• God will use the church to impact the world!
• When you do your part, you by fulfilling God’s purpose can play an important role in the Kingdom of God!
• We are called to too make a difference, Paul made a difference and you too can make a difference.
• In this box I have some tools.
• TOOLS ILLUSTRATION. BUILDING SOMETHING REQUIRES WE USE ALL THE TOOLS IN THE BOX, WHEN ONE OF THE TOOLS REFUSES TO BE USED, THE JOB IS MUCH MORE DIFFICULT.
• This is why is it imperative that we all realize God will empower us to fulfill His purpose!
• When we choose not to fulfill God’s purpose it makes the church have to resort to using a hammer to do the work of a screwdriver. Not a good thing!
• Let’s turn to verses 12-13
• SLIDE #7
• Ephesians 3:12–13 (HCSB) 12 In Him we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. 13 So then I ask you not to be discouraged over my afflictions on your behalf, for they are your glory.
• SLIDE #8
III. Fulfilling His purpose gives us confidence before God.
• When we find ourselves serving the Lord, when we grow in our faith as a result of serving Him, we get to see and experience His power in our lives, and when that happens, we start to realize we can boldly approach God like we would approach someone we love dearly.
• There are three words in verse 12 that really explain the type of relationship we can have. The first one is boldness
• The word BOLDNESS in the classical Greek was a word for the freedom of speech, the right to say anything one wished without fear.
• Now think of that meaning for a moment. It takes a lot of confidence and trust to be able to do that!
• FIRST DATE verses married a long time. As we strive to serve the Lord we will feel confident enough in our relationship to trust Him!
• The next word is CONFIDENT!
• This means we do not come in fear, we know we can trust our GREAT GOD. Our confidence is derived from our RELATIONSHIP with Him. WE have been saved through faith in HIM and as we serve Him we gain confidence in HIM!
• The word ACCESS is next.
• It speaks of taking the right approach as when a person is introduced to a King. The wrong approach to a king could get your life ended.
• ESTER.
• So in Jesus we can boldly go before God without FEAR!
• SLIDE #9
• Hebrews 4:16 (HCSB) Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.
• That is such an awe inspiring thought!
• Because of all this even when Paul is suffering he can tell the people not to lose heart because he is fulfilling God’s purpose for them!
• The word for DISCOURAGED literally means not to lose heart, do not give up!
CONCLUSION
• If you are holding back do not, you will be amazed at what God will do through you if you let Him!
• For me it all started with the decision to teach the Jr. High Crusaders class in my early 20’s, to this day other than desperation I do not know why they asked, that lead to teaching an adult study, then being a deacon, working with children in Super Church, then preaching, then ministry!
• All along the way there were people MORE qualified on paper than me, but my life has shown me that God will empower you to answer the call.
• For many your call with not be to a preaching ministry, it could be one of many areas, but wherever God is leading you, FEAR NOT! God IS with YOU and God WILL empower and EQUIP you!
