Sermon series- purpose 2
- God is with you to carry out His purpose.
- The greatest desire God has for mankind is for us to be His children.
- With that knowledge comes the next phase of our purpose.
- Walking with “Father God”
- When it comes to doing any kind of work, the job is so much easier when we’re
walking alongside someone who already knows the job.
- Often When we’re contemplating our purpose we immediately disqualify ourselves
from a certain task, or job.
- Let’s pick back up with Jeremiah now.
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.
- Jeremiah was formed just like a child of God is formed, with a purpose.
- Think about the Words God used, you will go where I will send you.
- God didn’t say you’ll specifically go here or there, but what He said is, you’ll be
ready to go where I send you.
Prayer
- There’s a saying that says,
> The will of God will not take you to where the Grace of God will not protect you.
(www.free_funny-jokes.com)
- When we begin to stop & question what’s my purpose in life, or what’s my direction.
- We ultimately are looking for a destination at which we can say we’ve done
something.
- That’s actually a very limited view on how great our purpose could be.
- Jeremiah was between the ages of 16-20 when he began his ministry for God.
- He is known as the weeping prophet, because very few listened to him, & for the
most part was alone (not allowed to take a wife).
- Yet the book of Jeremiah is widely quoted today.
- verse 5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee
- chapter 29:11
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
- Jeremiah probably never thought that 2,400 years after his life we’re studying what
God told him.
- But That was God’s Purpose for him!
- God’s still using him, because He raised him up at just the right time & place.
- The same God that made Jeremiah, made you & me too.
- Now, go back to this 16 year old boy.
- God says, I ordained you to be a prophet to the nations.
- I can just hear the 16 year old saying, What! Me! I can’t speak! I’m just a child!
- We often think I can be good at something, but I couldn’t make an impact to the
nations, or to the world for that matter.
- Well, That limits the power of God, & that limits our purpose.
- The thing that limits God’s power, & our purpose is, we, ourselves.
- Jeremiah said I twice.
- He was right, he couldn’t go out & speak. God was the One who was
speaking, & the One who was directing him.
Q- Do you see how it goes back to trusting God?
- That’s the second part of our purpose, we allow God to take control of our lives.
- We follow Christ wherever He is going to lead us, because throughout it all He will
never leave us, & He will accomplish what He desires.
- Something That ruins so many people is failure.
- I’m not talking about sin! I’m talking about goals we set, that actually are not
what God sets.
Q- Are those failures moments to give up on our purpose?
- No, Paul had desired, on his second missionary journey, to go southwest into the
province of Asia, but Listen to what happened, & then what happened next.
Acts 16:6-7
6 Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,
7 After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.
- Twice the purpose that Paul, & His companions had thought was theirs God rejected
it.
- You’ve failed twice, or been denied twice!
Q- Is that God saying I really can’t use you?
- No, it’s quite the opposite!
- God’s saying, My plans are greater than your plans!
- If Paul would have continued his plans, & went on into southwest Asia. He
would’ve only reached what is now modern day turkey.
- Instead, Paul went from these two moments to Macedonia, which is modern
day northern & central Greece. Historians give credit to Paul for spreading the
gospel to Europe & then the West.
- God’s plan is perfect!
Isaiah 55:8-11
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
- God is going to accomplish His plan.
- Jesus came to save lives, set the captives free!
- He did that!
- When we’re willing to listen, & give heed to His leading, we’re living up to His
purpose.
- When we’re willing to trust that Jesus is enough, our purpose has begun.
- Listen,
John 10:27-30
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
- If you watch sheep in Israel, you see them huddled together & going towards the
sound of their shepherd.
- The Shepherd only wants what is good, & best for His sheep.
- That’s our second part of our purpose.
- We Are Not Alone! Christ is with us!
- When we have Him as our Shepherd, He will always be there!
- Listen to verse 8 of Jeremiah 1: again.
Jeremiah 1:8
8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
- The Shepherd says follow Me, trust Me, I am here.
- In my closing thoughts, think about where the Shepherd is standing in your life right
now.
Q- Is He in front of you, leading the way, or is He a little off course shouting this is the
way?
- Being off course doesn’t always mean you’re sinning.
- What it means is, you’re not living up to your purpose.
- Here’s our life, we have sin that corrupts us, & ourselves that disappoints us
Q- What hope do we have?
- Let me give you an insight into sheep.
> Sheep (Beth McLendon www.inspirational-prayers.com)
Sheep are fearful, insecure animals. They are afraid of many things - even running water will scare them. That is why Psalm 23 reminds us that a good shepherd will take the sheep beside the still waters.
Most of the people who listened to Jesus knew that sheep only drink from still water because sheep are afraid of noises.
If sheep don’t like the noise of running water,
you can imagine the panic they feel during a thunderstorm.
The only thing that calms a sheep down is hearing the voice of the shepherd. A loving shepherd will talk and sing and play instruments so that the sheep can hear that their shepherd is near.
- In this moment the Shepherd is singing.
- Calm your heart from the storm raging in your heart & come to the Shepherd.
