S-ubject: Purpose
C-entral Theme: God gives us rhyme and reason to our lives
O-bjective: Every young person can know that they have a purpose to their life by understanding three things God has done for us.
R-ationle: Point #1: He has CALLED US
Point #2: He has COMMISSIONED US
Point #3: He has made us COMPETENT
R-esources: Introduction: The Great Dane & the Alligator
Conclusion: What’s the Answer to Life?
E-valuation:
INTRODUCTION: The Great Dane and the Alligator
There was a man who owned a Great Dane. Now this Great Dane was an extremely large a ferocious dog---definitely not the kind of dog you want jumping up in your lap. One day, as the man was walking his Great Dane down the street, he saw another man across the street who was also walking his dog----a little bitty dog with short legs no tail and no hair. It was an ugly dog and, frankly, looked sick.
Suddenly the Great Dane saw the little ugly dog across the street and decided he hated that dog. He broke free from his owner’s leash and dashed across the street on the attack. The owner of the Great Dane yelled at the man, "Look out! My dog is on the loose and he is liable to kill you and that dog of yours! You had better run!"
But the little ugly dog turned around, bared its teeth, and when the Great Dane attacked, that little dog proceeded to grab hold of the Great Dane at the foreleg and began to eat that big dog up. It ate right up the leg, right up the throat, ate its head, right down through the body, right across the tail, right down the back legs, spit out the bones, and smacked its lips---and that was the end of the Great Dane, just like that.
Well, the owner of the Great Dane was absolutely astonished by what he had just witnessed. "Man, what kind of dog is that?" the man exclaimed. "I’ve never in my life seen a little dog that could do something like that!"
"Dog? Dog?" the other man said. "Before he got his nose run over by a truck and his tail cut off by a train, this used to be an alligator!"
APPLICATION:
Appearances can be deceiving. Sometimes we judge people by how they look, but we fail to realize that on the inside, that are quite different. "Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)
You may feel like a little puppy on the outside, but realize that on the inside, you are the alligator. You have the power of God Almighty living within you by way of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Never allow the world to intimidate you with it’s loud noise and pompous attitude. Be the man or woman of God that he has called you to be in this last generation.
SCRIPTURE TEXT:
(Jer 29:11 NIV) For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
THEME: A message about this generation being the last generation before Jesus comes. What God has called this generation to do. God has poured out his Spirit on this generation to empower them to set the captives free from the bondage of sin. This generation is not a generation that will be the church of tomorrow but is the church of today full of power and strength to fulfill God’s call on their lives.
OUTLINE:
I. CALLED OUT
A. Called by name
B. Call by a new name
II. COMMISSIONED
A. For a Plan
B. For a Purpose
III. COMPETENT
A. To Change this generation
B. To Reveal His glory
3 THINGS THAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US..... TO GIVE US RYHME & REASON TO OUR LIVES!
I. HE HAS CALLED US OUT
"This generation has been called Gen-X because they say it has no purpose, no goals, no face, no name it just wants to be left alone and to itself but God has called you by name, and with that name goes a face, a life that is in need of the plans, purposes and pursuits of God."
A. CALLED BY NAME
Isaiah 43:1 NIV
43:1 But now, this is what the LORD says-- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
1. Singled out. God has singled you out amidst all the millions of people in this world and generation.
2. God knows you better than you know yourself. He knew you before you were born, and has a specific plan and purpose for your life.
3. God is calling you, but it’s not a general calling but one that is calling you by your name.....Ben Russell, Deanna Broadhead, etc... "I am calling you to be the warrior that will make a difference in this world and in your generation the last generation."
4. God has got his finger on you, he has a specific call on your life. Think of how important you are to God that he would call you by name and single you out and place a calling on you.
B. CALLED BY A NEW NAME
1. This name by which we are called by is not the name we were given when we were born into this physical world.
2. It is a name that God himself gives us. Todd "Christian" Goodwin. Just like Abram his name was changed to Abraham, Jacob to Israel. We have a new name by which he calls us our covenant name.
3. Only you can hear your name called, I can’t hear it for you and no one else can you must listen to the voice of God and respond to him. God is calling are you listening and will you respond?
II. HE HAS COMMISSIONED US
God has commissioned or given you authority to care out is plan not only for your life but the plan he has for your generation.
A. FOR A PURPOSE
1. Purpose means objective, intention, or aim. God has an objective for your life he has an aim for which he wants you to accomplish. This is not a selfish, self-gratifiying purpose of aim but one that will advance the kingdom of God.
2. When God said he would pour out his Spirit on all flesh and did so in Act and today it is not so that
we can have cute and nice little youth meetings but so that we could fill his ultimate purpose of
revealing his glory to a world that is lost without him.
3. You have a specific purpose which God wants you to fulfill but without the power of his Holy Spirit it is extremely hard to fulfill.
4. The promise of the Holy Spirit is not just for Adults but for youth. Joel 2:28,29 makes reference to youth 4 times indicating how important youth play in the plans of God in this last generation.
"The purpose God intents for this generation to fulfill is that they would be radicals for Jesus Christ and not be intimidated by the enemy and go for in the power of His might and set the captives free, standing unashamed of Him and His gospel becoming warriors for Him and not whimps."
B. FOR A PLAN
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
1. God has plans for your life. Many young people miss the mark of God’s plan for their life because they turn away from God and do it "their way". That’s what sin is: SIN (sihn) Actions by which humans rebel against God, miss His purpose for their life, and surrender to the power of evil rather than to God.
2. God’s plans for your life will always lead to victory not defeat. We have to understand God’s heart and realize that he truly don’t best.........it’s all about trust.
3. The plan God has for your life keeps you from "just hanging around" in this world but keeps you
focused and centered on his will.
4. Plans are always for guidance
III. HE HAS MADE US COMPETENT
Luke 24:49 NIV
49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."
Competent: well qualified, sufficient
A. POWER TO CHANGE THIS GENERATION
1. God pours out or spills out, sheds his Spirit, i.e. breathe, life on you and me for a reason and that
is to do just a Jesus did while he was here on earth.
2. God never calls us to do something without giving us the power and the ability to accomplish it.
Luke 4:18,19 NIV
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
3. To preach "good news" to the poor in spirit, those in need, (the young girl who is pregnant, the guy who this his life is not worth living and wants to commit suicide.) to heal the brokenhearted, (to offer comfort to the friends who mom just died, who’s parents just divorced, who just lost a best friend.) to set the captives free, (the drug addicts, those hooked on sex, the alcoholic, the demon-possessed) to give sight to the blind, (those who can’t see the lies of the devil as lies, to those who are in a spiritual black hole) and to set free those who are oppressed (the one who thinks there is no hope for them, the friend who is eternal depressed.) That’s what Jesus did and that’s what we are to do.
4. We must move in the power of the spirit just as the disciple did after they were baptized in the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
5. Young people don’t have to set back and watch the adults do it God has empowered us give us the authority, the strength to do the same things the disciple did and Jesus did.
6. Jesus said we would do these works and greater works than he did in John 14:12
John 14:12 NIV
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
B. TO REVEAL HIS GLORY
1. The ultimate plan of God is not to save us but to reveal his glory to us and the only way he could do that was to save us.
2. When we live our lives in such a way that brings glory to God it is not only bringing glory to him but revealing his glory to a world in desperate need of him.
3. Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. He has given us every thing we need to carry out his plan to reveal his glory.
4. May you as part of this last generation live your life in the power of the spirit of God has to reveal God’s glory to your friends, family and world.
CONCLUSION: What’s the Answer to Life?
A young man near Dallas Texas stood up in his drama class and asked, "What is the answer to life and why are we here?"
No one could answer. He turned to the teacher and said, "Teacher, can you tell me what it’s all about? Can you tell me what this life is, why we’re here, and what’s the big deal---what is going on?" The teacher also sat dumbfounded, unable to respond. It is not the king of question the unsaved can answer.
"Well, I guess there is no answer," the boy said, "so I’ll go on with my skit." He then proceeded to open the suitcase, pull out a sawed-off shotgun, and blow his head off in front of his amazed classmates.
APPLICATION: There are so many people in this world searching and groping for truth for meaning for the rhyme and reason to their lives. The sad thing about it is that we have the answer but we’re not doing anything about it. What are you going to do?
Altar Call:
· For those who have never been baptized in the Holy Spirit.
· For those who have but need a refilling.
· For those who desire more power in their lives to live above their own selfishness, worldliness, complacency, and apathy.
