To Fulfill His Purpose Series

INTRODUCTION

• We welcome everyone this morning, so glad you have come this morning.

• If this is your first time with us we are nearing the end of a series entitled, “REASONS FOR MY HEAR TO BEAT.”

• The past reasons we have examined are To Praise His Glory, To Know His Power, the Show His Grace, TO Build His Church, AND TODAY WE embark on a new reason together.

• SLIDE #1

• TO Fulfill His Purpose.

• Life can be somewhat confusing at times; even as we get older we tend to wonder what purpose is our life about, or what is life about, why am I here?

• Hold on, CONVERSATION WITH GOD ON CELL PHONE.

• Don’t you wish it were that easy?

• Well today I have some good news for you, God does have a purpose for you and it is my prayer that knowing that can make us feel as special as God sees us.

• Knowing that you do have a reason to be on this earth other than to consume and sleep can give some excitement to our faith!

• Let’s turn to Ephesians 3 and we will begin with verses 7-9

• SLIDE #2

• Ephesians 3:7–9 (HCSB) 7 I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of His power. 8 This grace was given to me—the least of all the saints—to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of the Messiah, 9 and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

I. God will empower you to fulfill His purpose.

• One of the things that can frustrate us in life is knowing what we are called to do but feeling inadequate to do it.

• I do believe there are times in life when we know what we are supposed to do, we know inside what God is calling us to, but we are very reluctant to follow through because we feel so inadequate to do what we perceive God is calling us to do.

• On a personal note I felt that way for the longest time in my calling to ministry.

• Once I got a good sense from God that the preaching ministry is what I was being called to, I resisted for a while because I could not fathom that God could use me.

• I kept wondering if I was mistaken or if I desired to go into ministry more than God wanted me to be in the ministry.

• Paul was a man who should have been full of questions, doubt, and fear when he felt God’s calling.

• WE know the history of Paul, the former persecutor of the church.

• How could such a man do what Paul did?

• Well verse 7 tells us that he was made a servant of this gospel by the GIFT OF GOD’S GRACE!

• If you remember verse 2 from last week that when Paul experienced God’s grace, it turned into a job assignment.

• Paul’s response to God’s grace was to serve Him through the gospel!

• We do not see Paul quitting on Jesus because He knows who he was serving.

• How did Paul do all he did for God? It was because when God called Paul He also empowered Paul to do what He called Him to do.

• The grace of God was given to Paul by the working of God’s power!

• Now let me ask you, how powerful is God? ALL POWERFUL!

• Paul did not have to tip toe and be meek about what he was called to do, he BOLDLY and POWERFULLY fulfilled God’s purpose for him because he KNEW GOD had empowered him to carry out the task at hand!

• Now in verses 8-9 Paul gives the detail of the purpose God had given to him.

• Look at Colossians 1:29

• SLIDE #4

• Colossians 1:29 (HCSB) I labor for this, striving with His strength that works powerfully in me.

• I am not going to spend much time on verses 8-9 because it is basically a re-hash of what we dealt with last week.

• What I want us to see is that God empowers us to carry our His purpose. Paul could not POSSIBLY do it alone. He was not intimidated by the work because he KNEW the God he served.

• Paul’s understanding of HOW he was able to accomplish so much comes from who empowered him.

• This grace was given to me—the least of all the saints—to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of the Messiah,