Sermon series- purpose 1
- God has a purpose for you.
- As I was pondering the direction God was leading me to preach, I turned on the tv &
the subject they were talking about was purpose.
- I thought, what an intriguing subject.
- We’ve started studying Jeremiah, & there’s a man created for a purpose!
- This morning we’re going to, for the next three Sunday’s, look at the first
chapter of Jeremiah, & verses 4-10.
- Just like Jeremiah God created us for a purpose, is with us in the purpose, & equips
us to do the purpose.
Jeremiah 1:4-10
4 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
6 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
7 But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
9 Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
- God immediately reveals the task, purpose to Jeremiah.
Q- Wouldn’t it be wonderful if God would do the same thing for us today?
- Believe It, or not He still does, we just have to be listening for His direction.
Prayer
- From a mom who kept suggesting I should be a preacher, a speech teacher’s
uplifting words, & a sudden slow down with the wreck. God was steadily revealing
His purpose to me.
- What’s funny is, at first I refused to listen.
> Here’s something that’ll grab your attention,
Q- In eternity, where will you be sitting, smoking or non-smoking?
(www.free_funny-jokes.com)
- You can’t get more direct than that!
- We don’t want to listen, but listen
Hebrews 9:27
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
- We’re here, we’re alive, & God has a reason for every last one of us!
- I know we think that I can’t go out & evangelize like Paul did, but that may, or may
not, be God’s plan for us.
- God’s plan doesn’t have to be anything that we think as a desirable plan.
Q- What If God’s plan is simply for you to be His child?
- I know that sounds simple, but think of the millions, if not billions throughout time,
who are not God’s child!
2 Peter 3:9-10
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
- As God spoke to Jeremiah, He said He had a plan for Him before he was formed in
his mother’s womb.
- Think of the impact on us if God tells us the same thing, but His plan is for us to be
His child.
Q- Can you reject God’s plan?
Q- Would you listen as God reveals His plan to you?
- Those are two deep, & theological questions that on all levels can boggle the mind,
but we’re not asked to evaluate the questions. We’re asked to give an answer.
Q- Would you reject being God’s child?
- What God desires of all mankind is found in Micah 6:8
Micah 6:8
8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
- In the creation of mankind God placed the option before us to do good, or bad.
- The choice was made to do bad, because they did not trust the Lord.
- It all falls in the line of trust God, trust Jesus.
- When you trust Him, you allow Him to
1. Direct your steps.
2. Cultivate your skills/gifts
3. Then, you allow Him to use you in the way the Father wants His child to work.
- So, we go back to the theme of this message,
Q- What is my purpose?
- Let me put it to you like this,
- The creation in the mind of God, to us, is like the first picture of the ultrasound of
our child.
- We lovingly, & eagerly can’t wait for this child to be ours.
- I know that sounds out of sorts, knowing that God is Omniscient, but there is a
conception period, before we are conceived. God knows us, because He
created us, but He doesn’t know us.
- Listen closely to these words,
Matthew 7:22-23
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
- God has created us all for a purpose, & that simply is to be His, to know you.
- I can imagine a masterful painter, who creates a beautiful painting, but throughout
the years many come & alter his work. Then comes the painter, who sees this
work, & it’s unrecognizable, He then says, this isn’t my painting, I never knew it!
- That’s What is taking place every day after we are conceived. The devil is
marking God’s creation, making it his own. So that, one day God will say, this
isn’t mine.
- Turn to our last scripture,
2 Timothy 1:9-12
9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
11 Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
- Paul told Timothy, God redeemed me because He has a plan.
- It wasn’t for my purpose, or the things that I’ve done, but for His purpose.
- Paul was redeemed because God wanted him for a son, & that want goes out to
every person that can receive this Word, & is willing to receive this Word.
- Once That conception took place for Paul, step by step, he made his way to
Rome, & every place that God put on his heart.
- Paul’s circumstances, & living situation changed quite often, but the one thing
that never changed was.
- he is God’s child, & he is now just listening to Daddy as he lives this life.
- So let me close now with a letter from Father God.
- It comes straight out of scripture, & has been arranged into a letter for us to hear.
> My Child (by Berry Adams www.fathersloveletter.com)
My Child . . . .
You may not know me, but I know everything about you... Psalm 139:1
I know when you sit down and when you rise up... Psalm 139:2
I am familiar with all your ways... Psalm 139:3
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered... Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image... Genesis 1:27
In me you live and move and have your being... Acts 17:28
For you are my offspring... Acts 17:28
I knew you even before you were conceived... Jeremiah 1:4-5
I chose you when I planned creation... Ephesians 1:11-12
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book... Psalm 139:15-16
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live... Acts 17:26
You are fearfully and wonderfully made... Psalm 139:14
I knit you together in your mother's womb... Psalm 139:13
And brought you forth on the day you were born... Psalm 71:6
I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me... John 8:41-44
I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love... 1 John 4:16
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you... 1 John 3:1
Simply because you are my child and I am your father... 1 John 3:1
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could... Matthew 7:11
For I am the perfect father... Matthew 5:48
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand... James 1:17
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs... Matthew 6:31-33
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope... Jeremiah 29:11
Because I love you with an everlasting love... Jeremiah 31:3
My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore... Psalm 139:17-18
And I rejoice over you with singing... Zephaniah 3:17
I will never stop doing good to you... Jeremiah 32:40
For you are my treasured possession... Exodus 19:5
I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul... Jeremiah 32:41
And I want to show you great and marvelous things... Jeremiah 33:3
If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me... Deuteronomy 4:29
Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart... Psalm 37:4
For it is I who gave you those desires... Philippians 2:13
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine... Ephesians 3:20
For I am your greatest encourager... 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles... 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you... Psalm 34:18
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart... Isaiah 40:11
One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes... Revelation 21:3-4
And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth... Revelation 21:3-4
I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus... John 17:23
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed... John 17:26
He is the exact representation of my being... Hebrews 1:3
He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you... Romans 8:31
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins... 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled... 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you... 1 John 4:10
I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love... Romans 8:31-32
If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me... 1 John 2:23
And nothing will ever separate you from my love again... Romans 8:38-39
Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen... Luke 15:7
I have always been Father, and will always be Father... Ephesians 3:14-15
My question is... Will you be my child?... John 1:12-13
I am waiting for you... Luke 15:11-32
Love,
Your father - God!
- Each line was penned for God’s children, & God’s children are only those who believe
in what Daddy has wrote to them.
Q- So Here’s the question, do you believe?
