The Supreme Purpose Of Life Or What To Do With Your Life Series

[Statements in brackets are for the preacher not the preaching. They are notes that reflect ideas based on the homiletics recommended in "Preach with No Pants" (https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/preach-with-no-pants-john-allen-sermon-on-inductive-250167) which proposes an inductive-deductive five-point outline: Trip, Tension, Twist, Truth, Triumph.]

[EXEGETICAL IDEA: The supreme purpose of Paul's life was to make Christ known and bring believers to maturity.]

[HOMILETICAL IDEAS

Knowing Jesus is the supreme purpose of your life.

Make knowing Jesus the supreme purpose of your life.

Knowing Jesus is the supreme purpose of your life and makes even pain have a purpose.

Knowing Jesus gives purpose to the troubles of life.

Knowing Jesus gives purpose to the suffering in life.

Making Jesus supreme in your life makes even pain serve a purpose.

Knowing Jesus as our life's purpose makes even pain have a purpose.

]

[TWIST

Jesus is worth suffering for.

Knowing Jesus is worth suffering for.

Pain is good if you have the right purpose in life.

No other purpose than knowing Jesus gives purpose to the trouble and suffering of life.

]

[OUTLINE]

[Trip — Upset: Life is full of pain not purpose.]

Jesus said one of the most disturbing things we don't want to hear. "In this world you have trouble and suffering" (NET). That's in John 16:33. Years ago I remember people associated with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association using this question to have significant spiritual conversations. "What's your problem?"

Philip Yancy in his book, "Where Is God When It Hurts" spends significant time telling us how valuable pain is. He does this by talking about the big danger of leprosy: not feeling an injury and not treating it before it kills you.

But the worst thing about pain is: It's painful. No matter how much good it may do you, it hurts! How can a loving God want us to hurt so much? Think of how painful a tiny, little paper cut is. Think of the heavy loads of emotional pain we drag through the day into the long night hours.

[Tension — Provoking the Questions, Opposites of the Truth]

[1:24]

How does your life measure up? How do the happy days and painful days balance out? How much pain have other people caused you? How about all those destructive events that are beyond your control? The Bible tells us not to worry but to be thankful in all things. On the contrary, we worry in all things and aren't thankful for anything. We stuff our thanksgiving into one day of the year but even then focus more on stuffing ourselves with turkey.

[1:25-26]

Often the pain is mental and emotional. Severed relationships hurt worse than those paper cuts. Money troubles hurt worse than stomach troubles. Job stress can be worse than the stress of growing old and ill.

What's worse, those mental-emotional pains seep like acid into our spiritual lives. We feel like God doesn't really know what's going on, either that or he just doesn't care. So we feel alienated from that loving God, and our lives filled with epic emptiness instead of the abundant life Jesus promised. Our lives begin to have no meaning beyond surviving each day in the least uncomfortable way possible.

[1:27-28]

To be honest with ourselves, our life may be very little different from an unbeliever's life. If someone secretly observed your life for three days, what would they see? Unbelievers are focused on having fun, or on having stuff or on their social status. And so do we.

[Twist — The Most Startling Idea

Jesus is worth suffering for.

Knowing Jesus is worth suffering for.

Pain is good if you have the right purpose in life.

No other purpose than knowing Jesus gives purpose to the trouble and suffering of life.

Since we can't eliminate suffering in this life, we have to make it worthwhile.

]

But we have a much higher purpose than pleasure, possessions, or prestige. We have a purpose worth living for and even suffering for. Some things are worth suffering for. We get up and go to work each day for a paycheck. It's worth it...usually. Can you imagine a person saying, "I'm planning to win an Olympic gold medal. But I don't train because that just hurts too much."

Since we can't eliminate suffering in this life, we must figure out how to make it worthwhile.

[Truth — Preaching the Bible's Solution]

In Colossians Paul actually said, "I rejoice in my sufferings"! How could he say that? Have you ever been happy for suffering? Look at Colossians 1:24-26.

First, he owned the highest purpose in life, God's purpose for him, "a servant of the church" because God had personally called him to that ministry. God somehow used Paul's suffering to advance his kingdom.

Now you didn't get marching orders like Paul. However, God has made you like no one else and put you in a life that no one else can fill. His purpose for you is to live a life that demonstrates to everyone what Christ would talk like and act like. Every little word or act of kindness ripples through the lives of people around you, like a stone dropped in a lake ripples toward the other shore. Sometimes we even have the opportunity to talk to someone about God. And like the Atheist-turned-Christian, Les Strobel, said, "That's like breathing carbonated air!"