1) Discover from my Mac dictionary
- find (something or someone) unexpectedly or in the course of a search
- become aware of (a fact or situation)
• perceive the attractions of (an activity or subject) for the first time
DISCOVER YOUR PURPOSE: (Or as Canyon advertises, “Find Your Purpose”)
Today, I want to help you discover your purpose...actually, I’m gonna make it crystal clear, I’m gonna make it dumby proof for you, as to what your purpose is!
Let me start with the answer and then work backwards from there. I want this to sink in to your heart and mind and soul in such a way that it is etched in you and never to be lost or forgotten:
Our purpose in this life, God created us for this very reason, to:
DISPLAY THE BEAUTY & WORTH OF CHRIST TO THE WORLD
An individual Christian will be a success or a failure depending upon what he or she thinks of God. It is critically important that we have a knowledge of the Holy One, that we know what God is like. (A.W. Tozer, The Attributes of God, 41,42.)
Read Isaiah 61:1-3: (v. 3) that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. (literally in Hebrew: “that He may display His
beauty) We are trophies made by God, for God...”Look at what God did, look how magnificent God is, look at the beauty of Christ through that trophy...WOW!”
God created us, He is in control whether we live or die, right now, and He can do what He wants with us. To not DISPLAY THE BEAUTY AND WORTH OF CHRIST to the world would be a wasted life. God wants us to display His beauty because He is in it for His name sake! Let me give you some examples from Scripture:
Psalm 23:1-3: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Psalm 31:3: For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
Ezek. 36:22: “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name
Matt. 5:9: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
1 John 2:12: I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.
God is totally into God. Why is God in it for His name?
Ps. 40:5 - You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you!
Ps. 89:6-9,11: 6 For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord, 7 a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him? 8 O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you? 9 You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them...11 The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.
Isaiah 40:12-15, 18, 28-29: 12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? 13 Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? 14 Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? 15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust....18To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?....28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Ps. 73:25 - Whom have I in heaven but you?
C.S. Lewis says this in his book Till We Have Faces: “I ended my first book with the words ‘no answer’. I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer. You are Yourself the answer. Before your face, questions die away. What other answer would suffice?”
When God makes much of Himself, we receive great enjoyment from Him...What do you think heaven is!! Heaven is a place where God makes much of Himself for our pleasure, joy. If we were to make much of ourselves, we would ruin everybody.
If I said today, my goal is to make sure that when you leave this place today, I want all of you guys worship me. That would destroy all of you!!
ADAM and EVE and the serpent telling them to make much of themselves...what happened? Oh, only the fall of all mankind. It doesn’t work well for man to make much of himself. But God...He can’t not make much of Himself!
The Apostle Paul say at the end of his life before He goes to Rome to die:
Acts 20:24: But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
In other words, Paul says: “I do not consider myself to truly be living or worth anything if I am not displaying the beauty and worth of Jesus to the world.” To testify to the gospel of the grace of God is to display the infinite beauty and worth of Jesus...
Paul could only say these words because he treasured Jesus. Do you treasure Jesus? Can you say today that you treasure Jesus and your life proves it? Are other people looking at you saying, “that girl treasures Jesus. That dude is no joke, He loves Jesus more than anything.” If not, our life will be wasted, because to treasure Jesus is to display His beauty and worth to the world...our entire purpose in life.
Overview:
- God’s in it for Himself and for His name sake and to make Himself look beautiful and infinitely valuable.
- Jesus is the image and glory of God; so Paul’s life was all about making the image and glory of God (Jesus) look magnificent. Hebrews 1:3a: 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
- What does your life’s purpose consist of? It’s time we discover that God’s purpose for our lives is to make Christ look magnificent, to show off His beauty! If your life’s purpose isn’t to display the beauty and worth of Christ, don’t go to bed tonight and don’t stop praying until God has caused you to see Christ as infinitely valuable...
He will do it, this is why the Holy Spirit is given. To sanctify us, to reveal to us the beauty of Christ, to open our eyes and give us new perspective, new faith, new life, new purpose. God is the one who fashions your heart and He will work this purpose into the lives of those who are His.
A life lived in this fashion will undo any amount of wasted years. Do not live another day for yourself. It doesn’t work well for people who live for themselves. It doesn’t work well for anybody who seeks to find joy, fulfillment, satisfaction, purpose, meaning, identity outside of Christ.
Let’s learn from A.W. Tozer as we close: Indeed it may be truthfully said that everything of lasting value in the Christian life is unseen and eternal. Things seen are of little real significance in the light of God's presence. He pays small attention to the beauty of a woman or the strength of a man. With Him the heart is all that matters. The rest of the life comes into notice only because it represents the dwelling place of the eternal being. The solution to life's problems is spiritual because the essence of life is spiritual. It is astonishing how many difficulties clear up without any effort when the inner life gets straightened out... (The Next Chapter After the Last, 82-83)
- Develop from my Mac dictionary (if you can’t tell, I’m advocating Mac use!)
- grow or cause to grow and become more mature, advanced, or elaborate
- convert (land) to a new purpose by constructing buildings or making other use of its resources.
- start to exist, experience, or possess
DEVELOP YOUR PURPOSE:
If our purpose is to DISPLAY THE BEAUTY & WORTH OF CHRIST TO THE WORLD, and the means that Paul went about displaying the beauty and worth of Christ was to testify to the gospel of the grace of God, then we would do well to develop a love and a better understanding of this Gospel.
The Gospel is not just how you get in to the Kingdom, it’s how you change and handle every problem you have in your life. It’s not the ABC’s of life, it’s the A-Z of life. (EXAMPLE of 2 worldviews and how each side is supposed to disdain the other.
Relativistic/Permissive - If there is a God, you have to follow your heart, not the rules, then you will find God. They say “God is all good and will forgive me regardless of what I do.”
Moralistic/Legalist - Find God by obeying His law. God owes you. You better perform or God is going to get you. They say “I’m accepted by God because I have worked my butt off keeping all His commandments.”
The Gospel affects the heart: Jonathan Edwards - The Nature of True Virtue
Common Virtue: We are honest out of fear or pride (expound). We do good: we help the old lady across the street because we will feel better for doing it...or we do something good because we will get in trouble if we don’t do it. (We all inherently have common virtue. If we didn’t have this, this would be a terrifying world to live in.) The same is true with lies. Fear and pride drives common virtue. This virtue nurtures your self-centeredness.
People blow it in life and say: “How could I have ever done this wicked or evil thing, I wasn’t raised that way?”...yes you were...you nurtured common virtue your whole life.
True Virtue: We are honest out of a changed heart that only seeks to please God, not man or ourselves. True virtue takes place when we are strongly attracted to the beauty of God. If you understand the Gospel, it destroys pride...it says you’re a sinner...you are self-centered...don’t try to fool anyone. It destroys fear...it says you are so valued and accepted because of what Jesus did, not based on your doing/goodness.
What Jesus does for me is radically transforms the pride that gets all that I can (even righteously) and takes away my fear because of what God has done for me. I am now honest for God’s sake, not for my sake.
Moralism only lives up to one of those areas: Doing good because of our pride and desire to have a good self mage to others or fear of failing or not living up to expectations. The Gospel deals with this kind of self-centeredness...
A lot of people come to church for their sake, not for God’s sake. That’s common virtue, not true virtue. (Elizabeth Elliott: Story of the disciples carrying rocks...)
How does the Gospel root out our self-centeredness? How does it change the heart?
It roots out self-centeredness which allows the Lord to rid our hearts of idols which we’ll speak about in the last session. Let’s get into the text for today:
1) GOOD NEWS (past tense) - Mark 1:1-3:
Mark writes about Isaiah prophecying about the Lord who is coming to bring salvation. In v. 3, the word Lord in Hebrew that Isaiah uses is Yahweh, the covenant name of God. Who is John preparing the way for? JESUS!
Mark is saying that JESUS IS YAHWEH (GOD) breaking into history. So here we see the historical, Good News part of the Gospel, this is news about what Jesus has done...NOT ADVICE ON HOW TO LIVE....
Good news salvation, not good advice salvation. With this Good News salvation, history, what Jesus has done is vitally important.
2 Corinthians 5:21: 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Jesus gets what I deserve so that I get what Jesus deserves....Whoa!!!
GOOD NEWS: Jesus Christ lived the life you couldn’t lived and died the death you should’ve died, as your substitute in your place, so that God can receive you not for your record and for your sake, but for Jesus’ record and for Jesus’ sake.
2) IDENTITY (sons and daughters) - Mark 1:9-11:
What’s happening here? Did Jesus need to be affirmed that He was God’s son and that He was well pleased? I don’t believe that’s why this happens. Jesus was experiencing His sonship; and we are witnesses of it...and we are witnessing what it’s like for us too!
Thomas Goodwin: Story of a dad and a son walking through a park.
The Holy Spirit does this for us. He bears witness that we are God’s children. He gives us our identity:
Romans 8:15-16: 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
When we realize this, we are uprooted out of the moralistic older brother syndrome and serve God because of Him, not for ourselves, we really want to be with Him, closer to Him, loved by Him alone, etc....
IDENTITY: The Gospel is a status you receive now, not just a reward you receive later. We can be sure now. We don’t have to doubt our position, ever. But we are saved by grace, therefore our position as son or daughter is secure because of Jesus!
3) THE KINGDOM (be weak to be strong) - (Mark 1:16-20) - Look who Jesus calls: fishermen, tax collectors, zealots, no religious leaders, hmm) THE REVERSAL OF VALUES. The word Kingdom means SYSTEM. When a new ruler comes in he brings a whole new system.
A new coach brings a different system in which the whole team must play or you don’t play (Phil Jackson and the Lakers) Jesus brings a new system. The world says you can’t get in unless you have something of value or something to offer. The kingdom of God says....
The new Kingdom values say: “Unless you have nothing to give or offer, you can’t get in. Only those who know they’re weak and incapable get in.” The world is completely different than this...We must get this!!
Mark 2:17: Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.
Mark 8:35: For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.
Mark 9:35b: If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.
Mark 10: 43-45: But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
KINGDOM: The way up is down. The way to real power is to give up power and serve others. The way to become rich is to become poor. The way to be great is to be the slave of all!
These are not 3 parts of the Gospel, each one is a way of seeing the whole Gospel, but they all need to be held together.
OVERVIEW: 1) Jesus’ life saves us (good news, already happened); 2) therefore we are secure of our sonship/position before God (identity); because it all hinges on Jesus, 3)then there is less of me, and we experience more of Him because we are not getting in His way (the kingdom) This is why Paul could say: Acts 20:24: But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
3) Deploy from my Mac dictionary
- move (troops) into position for military action
- move into position for such action
- bring into effective action; utilize
DEPLOY YOUR PURPOSE: (LIVE OUT THE GOSPEL IN YOUR COMMUNITY)
One of the best pictures of a man being deployed by God is Gideon (we want God to deploy us, we don’t want to deploy ourselves)
Here’s what’s going on in this passage:
- Israel is doing what’s evil in the sight of the Lord.
- So God gave them into the hands of Midian for 7 years.
- Midian oppressed Israel so severely, that Israel made for themselves dens that
are in the mountains and caves and strongholds.
- Whenever Israel planted crops, the Midianites and Amalekites and the people from the East would come against
them.
- They devoured all they could with a vast multitude of livestock and camels (beyond counting) and lay waste the
land and brought Israel very low.
- So here is Gideon beating out wheat in the winepress (down low at the bottom of a hill where grape juice would flow
down into to gather to make wine...he’s hiding out to survive)
God reveals Himself: Judges 6:14, 16 / God calls to destroy idols: Judges 6:25 / God calls Gideon to treasure and worship Him: Judges 6:26 / God destroys Gideons plan: Judges 7:1-8 / Now God deploys: Judges 7:9
This is our lot as believers: God has revealed Himself to us. He has empowered us and called us to destroy our idols. He calls us to treasure and worship Him alone, He wrecks our plans and then sends us out to do His will.
Malachi 1:11: For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.
So here is my MAIN FOCUS: That when we go back down this mountain, we care more deeply for lost people than we did when we came. We understand that God will accomplish His plans. That God wants you to be a part of His plan. May our hearts break for the sheep without a shepherd. With this promise from God we still don’t testify to the Gospel of the grace of God nearly like we should.
20 years ago 20% of believers were said to have had the gift of evangelism, 5 years ago, there were only 4%. Today, only 1%. (Barna 2009)
We are talking ourselves out of sharing the Gospel. It’s not a gift, it’s a call. It’s an ambition (Rom. 15) Nobody wants the gift of evangelism, but God has called us all to the work of an evangelist.
Some would say: “Well...evangelism has a bad reputation!” “ Guess what!! Jesus has a bad reputation!” “The cross has a bad reputation.” If you love the Gospel, you love evangelism.
C.H. Spurgeon: Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter. Our churches and society have produced more imposters than missionaries.
Luke 24:45-48: 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.
Jesus ties the proclamation of the Gospel to the nature of the Gospel. If you love the Gospel, you have to love evangelism.
Do you want to be known as a campus where people meet Jesus, because they meet people who know Jesus? When you lead with Jesus, and you plant the Gospel in word and deed, it shapes a Gospel-centered, cross-focused, spirit-empowered community, that leads a whole body of people on mission for Jesus, not your ministry! We want people to die for Jesus, not our agenda.
Application: What does this mean to us, today, here in Lost Canyon August 18th, 2010; GCU leaders? It means we must be an Acts 2:42 kind of people!
1) We must devote ourselves to the Word of God. “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching...” We need to understand the truth of the Gospel and what it means and does to us and in us. We can talk about the need to proclaim the Gospel all we want, but if don’t understand why, how or believe the power of the Gospel for that matter, then all of our words are in vain.
This will take effort on your part. We study for tests, learn all the tricks to a video game, search the web, study the financial market, learn the ins and outs of a new job, but we want this Christian thing to just “HAPPEN” and all this understanding and knowledge is instantly downloaded supernaturally. The supernatural download begins as you give yourself to the Word. To those who love the Word, they receive supernatural insight. Love the Word, believe the Word, read the Word, pray over the Word.
The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times. (Psalm 12:6)
For the word of the Lord is upright... (Psalm 33:4)
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17)
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)
(Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4; 2 Sam. 22:31; Prov. 30:5; Eph. 25-26; Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12; I John 2:14)
Devote yourself to the Word.
2) We must devote ourselves to prayer. “...and the prayers…” At Kineo, we believe that the most essential way we connect to God and have access to His power is through prayer (Mark 9:28-29). We must devote ourselves to be a people who are committed to prayer for the sake of building up the body of Christ and for the sake of saving, healing, restoring and delivering lost souls for the glory of God. Prayer unlocks the power of the cross. Our depths of our belief in God and His power over our lives can be seen by your discipline to pray to Him. Much prayer=much power...Little prayer=little power.
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.... (John 15:5)
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (James 5:13-16)
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. (Hebrews 5:7)
Pray without ceasing... (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (Romans 12:12)
(2 Chronicles 7:14; Rom. 8:26; Phil. 4:6)
Devote yourself to prayer.
3) We must devote ourselves to community. “...and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread...” The fellowship in the larger sense (Solomon’s Colonade) and breaking bread in the smaller sense (In each other’s homes). Communion was a part of it, but was not what was meant when Luke wrote “to the breaking of bread...”
The Bible teaches a great deal about the nature and extent of Christian community (family). Community is a gift from God and it is essential for our growth as individuals and our growth as a church. As we see in the book of Acts, the early church devoted themselves to living life together as a family, and through that, evangelism happened.
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” (Genesis 2:18)
God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:9)
As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. (John 17:18)
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (James 1:22)
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing....8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.... 12 This is my commandment (or “This is what is means to bear fruit”), that you love one another as I have loved you. (John 15:5,8,12) (2 Cor. 13:14; 1 John 1:1-4; Matt. 18:20; Romans 15:1-7; Romans 15:14 & 21)
In the New Testament alone there are 58 statements of how Christians should interact with one another in community. We are to “love one another”, “encourage one another”, “bear one another’s burdens”, “admonish one another”, and “not forsake meeting together”.
Devote yourself to community.
The results of devoting themselves to the Word of God, community, and prayer:
“...and the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
(Acts 2:47b)
What or who are you devoting yourself to? What or who do you want to be devoted to?
Devote yourself to the Word of God. Devote yourself to prayer. Devote yourself to community. These things will lead you to a life devoted to God.
DEVOTE YOURSELF TO JESUS AND YOU WILL LEAD WITH JESUS. (you always lead with what you are devoted to)
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