What is your Purpose this year? for Life?
A truck driver was hauling a load of 500 penguins to the zoo. Unfortunately, his truck broke down. He eventually waved down another truck and offered the driver $500 to take the penguins to the zoo.
The next day the first truck driver got his truck fixed and drove into town and couldn’t believe his eyes! Just ahead of him he saw the second truck driver crossing the road with the 500 penguins waddling single file behind him. He jumped out of his truck, ran up to the guy and said, “What’s going on? I gave you $500 to take these penguins to the zoo!”
To which the man responded, “I did take them to the zoo. But I had enough money left over so now we’re going to the movies.”
That guy didn’t fully understand what he was supposed to be doing. Likewise, many believers today are fuzzy about their sense of purpose.
What is your purpose in life?
Young American soldiers had a vague idea of their job, until planes used as bombs struck the heart of this country. Then they were motivated . The we all knew we had to war against terrorism. The soldiers had a clear purpose. We did too. -- When they got to Iraq and saw the mass graves and the brutal wounds left by the dictator, our soldiers were purpose driven again.
As a Christian we need a regular reminder of our basic purpose in life....
Let’s clarify our purpose in life today & the only way to do that is to follow the example of Christ. Luke 4:42-44
Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; 43but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also,
because for this purpose I have been sent.”
44And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.
Listen quickly today, I will be reading a lot of Scripture.
I. I must have a Purpose! what is it?
A. God wants me to be a Member of His family - The church is a gift of family.
Not just believing but belonging. (as Rick Warren says)
3All honor to God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; for it is his boundless mercy that has given us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God’s own family. LB 1 Peter 1:3
19Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country, and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian. Eph 2:19
B. God wants me to be a Model of His Character - goal, Christ is maturity
21For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: 1 peter 2:21
C. God wants me to be a Minister of His Grace - goal, Christ is maturity
10As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies.. 1 Peter 4:10
God wants for every believer to have a ministry! When you give your life to God your signing up to minister for God the rest of your life.
(Eph 2:10 KJV) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
D. God wants me to be a Messenger of His Love! as Jesus did v43
as Paul said ...
24But life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about God’s mighty kindness and love.
Acts 20:24 LB
It is a very important job of every believer. We are to plead with the lost.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 2 Cor 5:20
E. God wants me to be a Magnifier of His Name
(Psa 34:3 KJV) O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
(Exo 20:3 KJV) Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
If we don’t worship God we will worship something else. Job, family, money, sports, ourselves
Look again at Luke 4 -- What was Jesus’ Purpose- in a nutshell?
Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; 43but He said to them,
“I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also,
because for this purpose I have been sent.”
44And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.
This is our purpose in life too! -- Let’s personalize this purpose!!
II. I must Preach the Good News!
One of the most powerful statements that I ever heard was that the Church is always destroyed from the inside and not the outside. It is destroyed by contention in the church. It is destroyed by self interests. It is destroyed by people that are to busy worrying about what they want and like that they miss the purpose of why God established the church.
Win Arn did a survey among over 1000 churches and their members and found that when he asked the question, “Why does the church exist? 89% said, “The church purpose it to take care of my family’s and my needs. Only 11% said, “The Purpose of the church is to win the world to Jesus Christ.
When the same question was brought to the pastors of the same church he found the exact opposite. 90 % was to win the lost and 10 % to take care of the flock. Why is their disunity in the church? One Pastor said ...I think that it is because the leadership and the church are not working on the same purpose and each is frustrating the other.
preacheujaggelivzw eáuaggeálizoµ,>> to announce good news >> “evangelize”
ie - I must announce the good news of the kingdom to other cities also!
Look at the bulletin. The purpose of Faith Baptist church ... --- read from bulletin
A. Don’t let Good Works replace Kingdom Work! what do I mean? v40-42
1. People want a miracle - helping people is good but not always best - if it keeps us from sharing the love of Christ with them or others!
2. People want to be entertained with signs and wonders.
3. People will try to keep you from you Kingdom Work!
B. Don’t let Church Work replace Kingdom Work! v43 other cities too
1. The purpose of people is to reach the lost
2. The purpose of our building is to real the lost
3. The purpose of our SS classes is to reach the lost
Clubs, Meeting, Dinners, Youth, Trips. -- Everything !!!
ILL>> Jack Graham - Pres of SBC - Nothing happens at Prestonwood unless it Evan.
>> ILL >> Dr. Criswell was being given a tour of a church and when he saw one SS class room he asked, has this class grown recently?” The answer was NO why do you ask? He said, I can tell because they have taken ownership. Very few classes grow after they settle in to deep and get comfortable.”
It amounts to the old saying, “Us 4 and no more”, unless you plan to start new classes from the existing class there will be no real growth.
Have you thought about your purpose?
When Cortez landed at Vera Cruz in 1519 to begin his conquest of Mexico with small force of 700 men, he purposely set fire to his fleet of 11 ships. His men on the shore watched their only means of retreat sinking to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. With no means of retreat, there was only one direction to move, forward into the Mexican interior to meet whatever might come their way. In paying the price for being Christ’s disciple, you too must purposefully destroy all avenues of retreat. Resolve that whatever the price for being His follower, you will have to pay it.
