Colossians 1:15-20
What On Earth Am I Here For?
Introduction
A. What on Earth am I here for?
B. I cant tell you how many times I have heard that question
C. It may be phrase What is life for
D. What is this all about
E. Why?
F. Where is the meaning?
G. Why is this world empty
H. What do I have to do to find significance
I. What is the purpose of this life?
J. Phrase it anyway you want it is a question we have all asked many times
K. Well we are going to begin our study on the purpose of life
L. Today will serve as a introduction then the next five weeks we will be talking about the 5 purpose of our life
M. But how will knowing our purpose help us to live better?
N. Today we will be talking about 5 reasons your life will be better by knowing your purpose
a. Knowing your purpose gives us meaning
b. Knowing your purpose simplifies our lives
c. Knowing your purpose gives us focus
d. Knowing your purpose gives us motivation
e. Knowing your purpose prepares us for eternity
I. Knowing your purpose gives meaning to your life
A. Illustration
1. I am sure that you all have heard the story about the 3 generations of lady cooking the Christmas Ham
2. The youngest girl was getting the ham ready to put in the oven. Her mom told her to make sure she cut the ends off
3. The girl listened and cut the ends off, and then put it in the oven
4. Then she thought about it and asked her mother why?
5. Her mom sat there a couple of seconds and finally said. “I don’t know”
6. Her mom went to her mom and asked her mom why we cut the ends off
7. Because my pan was too small to fit it in otherwise, I had to
B. Explanation
1. There is nothing more frustrating in this entire world then to do something without purpose
2. Without purpose there is no meaning
3. There is no point
4. It is just all busywork
5. Quickly we become depressed because everything is meaning less
6. A person my age once was quoted saying “I feel like a failure because I am struggling to become something, and I don’t even know what it is. All I know how to do is to get by. Someday, if I discover my purpose, I’ll feel I’m Beginning to live
7. For many of us we can relate to what that man is saying
8. We get up in the morning, drag our butts out of bed, go to work, come home, do the chores around the house and go to bed
9. We sit there and wonder why are we doing this. We are just scrapping by and not getting anywhere
10. We go to bed, wake up the next day and repeat.
C. Application
1. Why? What is the purpose of all this?
2. You know what you will keep asking yourself that question
3. There is no answer to it
4. Unless. Unless. Hear me now
5. You know God
6. Without God, life has no purpose meaning significance, or hope.
7. Without God you end up going through life without any purpose
8. To find that meaning in your life you have to fulfill God’s purpose
9. Now you are sitting there worried about how to do that.
10. Stay tuned the next couple of weeks. It will become crystal clear to you.
II. Knowing your purpose simplifies your life
A. Explanation
1. How many of you have too much on their plate?
2. How many of you are tired?
3. How many of you are just working too hard? Let me see hands
4. I have gotten to know must of you fairly well, I can honestly say we have a busy hard working church
5. I know your schedules that you keep, they are tough
6. All that work all those different struggles create
a) Stress – how will I be able to get all of that done
b) Fatigue – I just cant make it to Bible Study tonight
c) Conflict – Look at so and so over there, they have such an easy life that make me mad. So then they say something you don’t like, like lets paint that basement yellow and you want it to stay white so you become mad at them and then they get mad at you next thing your know you have a war
7. Can any of you relate?
B. Application
1. I have good news!
2. Living a purpose driven life will simplify things!
3. Yes I said simplify!
4. I did not say a new program, I did not say starting Tuesdays at 7
5. I said simplify
6. When you start living a purpose driven life you have a way to evaluate your activities
7. You can ask yourself what purpose does this fulfill in my life
8. If you really can not answer that question, then you don’t have to do it
9. You cannot do everything people want you to do. It is impossible.
C. Illustration
1. Do your remember Martha? Lets review (Read Luke 10:38-41)
2. Martha running all around make sure everything was perfect for God trying to do everything right and there is Mary
3. Mary that slacker! She was just sitting there not doing a single thing
4. Jesus, don’t you thing she should get off her butt and doing something for once in her life for crying out loud.
5. What did Jesus say? Mary is doing what she suppose to do.
6. Mary was living a purpose driven life.
7. Martha needed to discover God’s Purpose for her life
III. Knowing your purpose focuses your life
A. Explanation
1. Often in our life we loose focus
2. We begin to major in the minor and minor in the majors
3. Instead of Major on the Major and Minor on the Minor
4. We begin to worry about the Placability and implacability of Jesus
a) Could Jesus have sinned?
5. We begin to think that are view of the coming of the Lord is the only correct one and if you do not believe my way, I will not associate with you any more
6. We forget what is important
7. We forget that the point about Jesus being capable of sin is not that point that point is he didn’t
8. We forget that the point about When the Lord will return is not how and when, but he is coming and we should be ready
9. And our lives become Trivia Pursuit questions.
10. And we miss the whole point
B. Illustration
1. Think about light. What happens when you focus light? If you take a magnifying glass at the right angle you can focus the light enough and catch paper on fire. When you focus light even more soon you have laser and laser can cut through steel
C. Application
1. That is what purpose driven living will do
2. It will help you focus.
3. It will help keep your priorities straight
4. It will give a you a sense of purpose like you never had before
5. You will quickly be able to decide what is worth it and what is not
6. Many times we feel like we are just going around in circles
7. A purpose driven life keeps you focus
8. You know what is important
9. You understand what you are doing
10. And you keep the main things the main things
IV. Knowing your purpose motivates your life
A. Explanation
1. Have you been to McDonalds lately?
2. Have you seen some of the people working there?
3. If you had to rate their motivation level on a 1 to 10 basis 1 being not motivated 10 being super motivated
4. What would you rate them?
5. Probably not to high
6. Why are they there?
7. To earn a paycheck, that is there only motivation
8. I know a company that sees the lack of motivation and decided to try and correct that
a) They will give you an extra 50 a week if you make it on time everyday
9. Why does this lack of motivation happen? Because of lack of Passion
B. Application
1. Here is the good news
2. Purpose produces Passion (say that 5 times fast)
3. You start living a purpose driven life and you have passion
4. That passion will cause you to have motivation
5. That motivation will give you energy
6. That energy will be used to fulfill purposes
7. Which will give you passion
8. Which will cause you to have motivation
9. Which will give you energy to fulfill purposes
10. And on and on we go, Serving God with Passion
C. Illustration
1. Paul lived an amazing life. He went from persecutor to proclaimer. He knew the purpose of his life. So he served God with Purpose. Constantly having that energy that drives that motivation that passion. What did he right in Philippians? Not that I have already obtain this, or have I been made perfect, but I press on! He was purpose driven
V. Knowing your purpose prepares you for eternity
A. Explanation
1. Life can be funny.
2. We spend at least 30 years of our life working, Working hard. Working working working
3. We think that hard we work the more people will remember what we did
4. We try and find ways that will create a legacy. We want to contribute something to society that will last forever and people will use throughout that generations
B. Illustration
1. I was at Greenfield Village in Detroit on Vacation. It is basically a restored village. One of the things I thought was funny was the printing press. They had to put the entire letter in by hand and then make a copy. I’m thinking what a waste of time. Just type it in the computer and hit print.
2. Imagine the person who invented that machine. Here he is with the amazing invention that nobody remembers
3. But we try to do that in society
4. We try to do something that will last
5. We know we can not take the money with us once we die
6. WE know that we can not take any of our possessions
7. So then obviously everything becomes useless in our minds
8. What’s the point?
C. Application
1. The point is that we end up investing in the wrong things
2. Eternity means forever
3. To prepare for eternity is to prepare for the rest of our lives
4. We will not be on this earth forever. Maybe 100 years if we are lucky
5. Living a purpose driven life helps us prepare for eternity
6. When you stand before God on the day of judgment you will have to answer two questions
a) What did you do with Jesus, God’s Son?
b) What did you do with the talents and gifts I gave you?
7. Being purpose driven, living a purpose driven life implies that you know Jesus that you have a relationship with Him
8. And that you are using your gifts to fulfill the purposes of your life
9. Hopefully you will be able to show God what you did and have God say to you
10. Well done my Good and faithful son.
Conclusion
A. Most of us, if were honest, have said in one form or another
B. What is this life for?
C. Many of us have thought about the meaning of life and have got to the point of saying meaning less meaningless all is meaningless
D. Here is the problem, we start at the wrong place
E. We can never find meaning in our lives
F. We have to start with God
G. God gives us meaning
H. When we look to God we find meaning
I. We find purpose
J. When we follow God we have direction
K. We have a purpose driven life
L. And that is what we are going to study these next six weeks.
M. God is the meaning of life
