40 Days of Purpose week 2

This Post is week 2 in the 40 days of purpose series at our church. this Message focuses on Worship

ILLUSTRATION- A man named Bill Mallory traveled to India to discover the purpose of life. But he didn’t find the answer.

            So, after returning home, he noticed a sign at a Chevron gas station that simply said: “As you travel, ask us.”

            So every time he pulled into a Chevron station, he would look at the sign and say: “I’m a traveler. I’d like to ask you a question. What is the purpose of life?”

            Some of the responses that he received were interesting. One attendant said: “Sorry, I’m new here.” Still another said: “I don’t remember anything about that in the owner’s manual.” Someone else said: “I’m not much for church myself, sir.”

            Most people just gave Bill Mallory a blank stare, but he kept on asking the question at all Chevron stations.

            One day, Mallory got a phone call form Chevron Customer Relations. They said to him: “We understand you’ve been asking our dealer’s questions and getting unsatisfactory answers.”

            The caller suggested that Bill write out his question and send it to

Company HQ with a S.A.S.E.

            So, Bill Mallory wrote: “What is the purpose of life?” and sent it to the Chevron gas company.

A couple weeks later, the envelope was returned. The only thing in it was an application for a credit card.” (Adapted from the Chicago Tribune)

            If you want to know the purpose of life, you’re not going to find it at a gas station. If you want to know the purpose of life, you won’t find it on a talk-show.

If you want to know the purpose of life, you have to talk to the One who created it all, and look in the Owner’s Manual.

            You see, dear friends, YOU were made by God and for God. Until we understand this truth, nothing else in life will make sense. We were created by God and for God.

            This morning we are going to look at the first of 5 purposes that God has for our lives.

-PRAY-

            The Bible says in Revelation 4:11b: “…You (God) created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created.” (NLT1)

            This verse reminds us that God has created everything, and everything exists for a purpose.

This is the truth that we will spend the entire week looking at: God Made us For His Pleasure.

            One day an expert in the Law came to Jesus and asked Him a question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" (Matthew 22:36, NIV)

            “Of all the rules and regulations found in the Law, Jesus, which one is the most important? Which one do I need to pay the most attention to?”

            “Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matthew 22:37-38, NIV)

            Jesus reminds us that the first and best thing that we can do with our lives is to love Him with all that we have. The technical name for this is Worship.

            Worship is the first purpose in this life; we were created to worship God.

            Most people have an inaccurate view of worship. Some people think that worship is only the songs that are sung on a Sunday morning.

            Some people think that worship is when we are praying; still other people think that worship is when we are celebrating the Lord’s Supper.

            But worship is so much more than these things.

Worship, according to Jesus, is giving our all to God.

Worship is to be the highest priority of our lives. Worship is the number one purpose in this life. We were created to worship God.

            Jesus said: “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:40, NIV)

The entire Old Testament can be summed up by loving God and loving people. Worship focuses on Loving God.

            There is nothing any more important that we can do with our life than to worship God.

            So, if worship is the greatest thing that we can do, and if nothing in life is more important than worshipà the question that I have is: what is worship?

            Romans 12:1 answers this question for us. “Because of God’s great mercy to us… offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him. This is the true worship that you should offer.” (Rm. 12:1, TEV)

            Paul tells us that Worship is, first of all, My Response to God’s Love.

            Worship is the way that I respond to the God who loves me. Paul said: “Because of God’s great mercy to us…” (Romans 12:1a, TEV)

            Titus reminds us that God: “…saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy….” (Titus 3:5a, NIV)

            God took matters into His own hand; He provided a way of escape. He sent

His only and only Son to die the death that we were supposed to die; and worship is my response to what God did for me.

            But Romans 12:1 also tells us that worship is: Giving Back to God.

The text says: “…offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him.” (Rm. 12:1b, TEV)

Because God gave His best to and for us, we are to give our best back to Him.

The Psalmist said: “How can I repay the LORD for all his goodness to me? 13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD. 14 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.” (Ps 116:12-14, NIV)

            How can we repay the Lord for all His goodness to us?  We will give our all to God, because of what He has given to us.

            The Bible is clear as to what we are to give to God. It’s expressed in our memory verse for this week:

Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” (Mark 12:30, NCV)

In this verse, Jesus is giving us an outline for worship. He gives us 3 truths about worship:

#1-Worship is focusing my attention on God.  This is loving God with my

mind.

In Matthew 6, we are told that: “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them...”

⁶ “But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:5-6, NLT2)

We worship God with our mind by having a regularly scheduled time alone with Him. We are to tune out of the world and tune in to the things of God.

We don’t have to be gone for hours on end; we’ve just to go. Jesus said: “…Close the door and pray to your Father…” (Mt. 6:6, NIV)

There must be some privacy that takes place. To worship God, we’ve got to get away and spend time with God.

ILLUSTRATION- I have a routine when I come into the office each day. I set aside a certain amount of time, and spend that part of my day in prayer and solitude.

I take the time to read and study the Word. I go over the events of my day with the Lord. I make the time to hear from the Lord.

            Do you have a regularly scheduled time alone with God? It might be first thing in the morning. It could be while you drive to work. It could be after you have had your 50^th cup of coffee. It matters not when, as long as you take the time.

If we want to worship God with our mind, we must take the time and be alone with God.

The Bible says: “Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him.” (Psalm 105:4, NLT2) We are always to be on the lookout for God.

Focusing on God is always the right thing to do; and we worship God by focusing our attention on Him.

The second way that Jesus said we worship God is by: Expressing our Affection for God. This is loving God with “your heart and soul”.

ILLUSTRATION- I remember the first time I kissed Beth Brown.

We had been dating for a few months and as we were out for our nightly walk around Sussex, we ended up standing on a bridge looking down at the water below.

            I noticed that she was leaning against a post, so I stepped out on a limb and said: “Oh that I were that post that I might have a chance to press against thy fair lips.”

            The next thing that I know, I was on the receiving end of a wonderful kiss. From that day on, she has been expressing her affection for me, and I have been

laying on the one-liners.

            Worship is expressing our affection toward God. It’s thanking God for the things in your life.

            “Thanks, God, for this new day!” “Thanks, God, for putting me in the best country in the world” “Thanks, God, for who you are and for what You have done.”

“God, though I don’t like the situation that I am in at this moment, I will trust you to do the right thing.”

            God wants us to express our affection to Him. Not because He needs it, but because we need it.

David said in Psalm 18: “I love you, Lord; you are my strength.

² The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.” (Psalm 18:1-2, NLT2)

            David expressed his affection to the God who created Him. When was the last time that you told God how you felt about Him?

Maybe you tell Him when you are upset at Him, but when was the last time you said “thanks, God”?

            John reminds us that: “We love Him because He first loved us.” (1John

4:19 NKJV)

Part of worshipping God, is expressing our affection toward Him.

            God said in Hosea 6:6: “I don’t want your sacrifices—I want your love! I don’t want your offerings-- I want you to know Me” (LB)

            Our first purpose in this life is to “Know Christ”; and one way we do that is by expressing our affection toward Him.

Finally, the third way that Mark 12:30 reminds us to worship God is by: Using my Abilities for Him.  This is the “Loving God with all my strength” part of the verse.

The Bible says: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Col. 3:23-24, NIV)

This verse is not age specific. It simply says that whatever you do you are to do it as unto the Lord.

Instead of “only” working for an earthly boss, and trying to please him; we will work for a higher purpose, we will work for the Lord.

The Bible says: “Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.” (1 Cor. 15:58, NLT2)

You see friend, God wants our entire life to bring honor and glory to Him. “God doesn’t want worship just to be a church thing. He wants it to be your whole life.”  (Rick Warren)

The Message paraphrase of Romans 12:1 says: “…Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.” (The Message)

Rick Warren reminds us that: “Real Purpose Driven living doesn’t happen in a church. It doesn’t even happen in a small group… it happens in the ordinary, routine, mundane things of real life…” (PDL, sermon, week 2)

We are to take our ordinary life and give it to God, as an act of worship.

ILLUSTRATION- Bother Lawrence has been called a Hero of the faith.

            Brother Lawrence was born Nicholas Herman in France in 1611. He came to Christ at the age of 18.

It would be six years until he finally figured out his purpose in life, when he would join a religious order and live in a monastery.

In the years before that, he served first in the military, because it was a way to get three square meals and a small stipend.

When he got out of the military he was a footman. One of those guys who rode on the backs of carriages to open the door and help the occupants down to

the ground.

He was extremely clumsy and awkward and not well suited for that job. So, at the age of 25 he applied to work in a monastery.

Uneducated and unable to become a monk, they put him to work in the kitchen peeling potatoes and washing dishes.

There he stayed for the next 55 years, working in the kitchen, except for the last few years when he was too old to stand for long periods of time.

Because of his busy job in the kitchen he was not often released by his superiors to go to the set times of community prayers and worship.

So Brother Lawrence decided to make the kitchen his sanctuary. There he developed a way of life that he called “practicing the presence of God.”

Before too long he had such a radiant peace and a constant joy that the monks began going to him in the kitchen for counsel and help.

The highest officials of the monastery would often go down to the kitchen to receive encouragement and guidance.

Visiting dignitaries to the monastery would ask if they could talk to Brother Lawrence.

            Brother Lawrence believed that God was present in his kitchen. He did not have to go to the chapel to find God; he could do so amongst the pots and

pans. (Adapted from http://www.suntreeumc.org/pdf%20sermons/Terri_Heroes%20of%20the%20Faith%20Brother%20Lawrence%20July%2027%2008.pdf)

            How is it that an uneducated kitchen worker became a hero of the faith? He simply practiced worshipping God, where He was.

The truth is my friends, we will either worship the kitchen or we will worship God while we are in the kitchen, but the fact remains that we will worship something.

Whatever you give your time, talent and treasure to, that is what you worship.

            So I ask you to consider the object of your worship?  What do you think about when you let your mind drift?

            The Bible reminds us that we were planned for God’s pleasure—we were created to “Know Christ”.

            This week, we will be challenged to make God the number one priority of our lives, because Jesus said that this is the most important thing that we could

ever do.

            If your worship of God has been tarnished, this is the time and the place to correct it, if God has not been your number one priority; know that you can come back to God today. You can begin living life on purpose.

Purpose Driven Life, Week 1

This is the first message in our 40 Days of Purpose Campaign. Enjoy.

            Today, our Spiritual Growth Campaign or 40 Days of Purpose begins. Today, we begin a 40 day spiritual journey to bigger and better things.

            Many months of praying and planning have gone into this campaign and today it kicks into high gear.

We will be challenged, over these next 40 days to go to new heights and to dig deep roots in our relationship with God.

            I’m hoping that many of you are prayed up and prepared for what God will do in your life over the next 6 weeks.

            If you recall, last week’s message focused on the three basic questions of life. What Does God want? (My life); What does it take? (Discipline) and Why should I give my all to God? (Because of the Cross)

            If those are the three basic questions of life, I would like for us today to look at the 3 Greatest Questions of Life.

-PRAY-

            The first of life’s greatest questions is The Question of Existence: Why am I alive?

            This question is one that people have been asking for centuries.

The prophet Jeremiah asked: “Why was I ever born? My entire life has been filled with trouble, sorrow, and shame.” (Jeremiah 20:18, NLT2)

Jeremiah wrestled with the question of existenceàhe wondered why he was alive.

Carl Jung, the famous psychiatrist, once said: “I don’t know the meaning, the purpose of life, but it looks as if something were meant by it”

Rap artist Ice T once wrote: “The only reason we’re here is to reproduce. Just chill out and reproduce. Keep the species alive.”

People all over the world have tried to come up with an answer to the question of existenceà why am I here?

Self-help books are a billion dollar a year industry. People all over the world are drawn to them to find the answer to the question of existence.

But to answer the question of existence, we must move beyond ourselves. As Rick Warren has said: “You didn’t create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for.” (Warren, 2003, 18)

            To answer the question of existence, we must look to Someone greater than us. We must look to God.

            The Bible says: “The Lord has made everything for his own purposes…”

(Pr. 16:4a, NLT2)

            The Bible says that God has a purpose for everything. Every rock has a purpose. Every plant has a purpose. Every animal has a purpose, and if you are still breathing, you have a purpose.

            We will spend the next 40 days looking at what those purposes are, but suffice it to say that for now, God has put us here for a reason; for a purpose.

            The Bible says: “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

⁵ God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” (Eph. 1:4-5, NLT2)

The Bible tells me that created us for His purpose. It gave Him pleasure; He wanted to create you, and He wants you to come to Him and find your life’s purpose.

Notice that we are not an accident; nor are we an afterthought. The Bible is crystal clear when it says: “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us…” (Eph. 1:4a, NLT2)

Long before any of this “stuff” was ever made, God decided in advance to create you and to love you.

You see church, God created us to love us. Not because He needed

something to love… remember the Bible tells us that “…God is love.” (1 John 4:8, NIV)

God created us because He wanted to. We were created to be loved by God. We were created to love God. The Bible says: “We love Him because He first loved us.” (1Jo 4:19, NIV)

So what is the answer to the first Great Question of life, the question of existence: why am I here? I was created to be loved by God.

The second question is The Question of Significance: does my life matter?

ILLUSTRATION- The story is told that during WWII, prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp in Hungary were processing human sewage in a factory.

            One day the Allies came along and bombed the factory and blew it apart, leaving the prisoners with nothing to do.

            The Nazi soldiers had the prisoners take all the rubble of the factory and move it to another field.

The next day they had the prisoners take that same rubble and move it back in reverse.

            The next day, they had to take the stuff and move it back; and day after day they had no meaning, no purpose.

It was just work doing the same thing over and over with no meaning and

no purpose. 

            Then something strange began to happen; the prisoners began to go crazy.

They began to lose their will to live because there was no meaning, no purpose in their work. They were just moving bricks back and forth, back and forth.

Many of them began to throw themselves in front of the guards trying to get shot. In essence, they were trying to commit suicide. (Warren, PDL week 1 sermon. Pg5)

Why did these prisoners try to get themselves killed? Because they were made for a purpose, and when life has no purpose, there’s no point in living.

The Bible says that there is a reason to live; there is a purpose to life.

“This is what the Lord says, who made you, who formed you in your mother's body, who will help you: "People of Jacob, my servants, don't be afraid. Israel, I chose you.” (Is. 44:2, NCV)

Jesus told us in John 15: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-- fruit that will last.” (John 15:16, NIV)

And David reminds us in Psalm 139: “For you (God) created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.”

“All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of

them came to be.” (Psalm 139:13, 16, NIV)

The Bible reminds us that God created; chose; and has planned our days.

He paid so much attention to your life that He has not left anything out. He is with you each and every step of the way.

Over the next 40 days, we are going to examine in detail, how much our life matters; we are going to look at what and why God created us, and how so much of this life is preparation for eternity.

You see dear church, God made us to last forever. He didn’t just create us for the here and nowà He created us to live with Him forever.

Jesus said: “In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:2-3, NIV)

Jesus is preparing your eternal home; and what you do on this earth is preparation for your eternal home.

            The Bible says: “When this tent we live in--- our body here on earth—is torn down, God will have a house in heaven for us to live in, a home he himself has made, which will last forever.” (2 Cor. 5:1, TEV)

            This life is preparation for the life to come.

            In response to the Question of Significance: Does our life on this earth matter?  The answer is: Absolutely! It matters to God.

The third great question of Life is The Question of Intention: What is my purpose?

“What on earth am I here for” is the question that we are going to spend the next 40 days looking at.

In Psalm 89, David asked the question: “Why did you create us? For nothing?” (Psalm 89:47b, NCV)

David wasn’t asking himself that question; he was asking God “what on earth am I here for?” “What is my purpose”?

David asked a question of purpose; I’ve asked a question of purpose, and chances are pretty good that you have asked a question of purpose.

ILLUSTRATION- I have a collection of power tools in my man cave in the basement of our house. Each tool has a specific purpose, and unless I have that specific tool, I am unable to finish my work.

            Whenever I purchase a new tool, one of the first things I do, is reach for the instruction manual. I want to know the proper way to use my new power tool, and how not to lose a finger.

            Friends, if you don’t know something’s purpose; it will likely end up getting

abused and will not work correctly.

            The only want that you will ever know your real purpose in this life is by looking at the Creator and by looking at the Owner’s Manuel, the Bible.

            The Bible says: “In the beginning God created…” (Gen. 1:1, NIV). If we want to understand what our purpose is, we must look to the One who created it all; we must start with God.

            The Bible says: “…understanding begins with knowing the Holy One.” (Pr. 9:10b, NCV)

            We find our purpose in this life by getting to know God.

            Colossians 1:16 says: “For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible…everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.”(The Message)

            We are not going to learn our purpose in life by watching Oprah, Dr. Oz, or even the new season of survivor.

If we want to know what we are on this earth for, we’ve got to look at the One who created all things.

            The Bible says: “He (Jesus) is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Col. 1:17, NIV)

ILLUSTRATION- Søren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher, once told a story

about a goose who was wounded and who landed in a barnyard with some chickens.

            He played with the chickens and ate with the chickens. After a while that goose thought he was a chicken.

            One day a flight of geese came over, migrating to their new home. They gave a honk up there in the sky, and the goose heard it.

            Kierkegaard said, “Something stirred within the breast of this goose. Something called him to the skies. He began to flap the wings he hadn’t used, and he rose a few feet in the air.

            Then he stopped, and he settled back again into the mud of the barnyard. He heard the cry, but he settled for less.” (my files)

            You, friend, are hearing that God has a plan for you; you are hearing that God has a purpose for your life.

Will you rise up to the challenge, or will you sink deep into the mud?

            The choice is up to you, will you draw near to God, or will you push God away?

            God invites us to seek him “…while he may be found; (to) call on him while he is near.” (Is. 55:6b, NIV).

            God invites us to use these next 40 days to teach us how to fly.

            I’m going to ask you to take out the commitment card that should have been placed in the bulletin. Many of you responded to the challenge last Sunday night, but some did not.

            If you want to get involved in this 40 day Spiritual journey, I am going to ask you to fill out your area of commitment:

·      hearing all 7 messages in the campaign;

·      reading the PDL book, and

·      Joining a Small Group for the duration of the campaign.

            I would then ask you to sign your name to the bottom of this card, and be sure to give it to me on, and pick up your packet on your way out.

            Those of you who responded last week, I’m going to ask you to respond again, only this time I’m going to ask you to stick your response to your refrigerator…

Let this be your reminder that you are going to take these 40 days and seek God’s will for your life.

            Church, I know that each one of us is at a different stage in our spiritual journey; but we are going to do this 40 DOP together, because the Bible says that: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work...”

(Ecc. 4:9, NIV)

We are going to commit, together, the next 40 days of our lives—out of an approximate 25,550 days—to seek out God’s plan and purpose for our life.

What are the three Great Questions of Life?

·      A Question of existence: Why am I alive? (I am alive to Love God)

·      A Question of Significance: Does my Life matter (Yes! It matters to God)

And

·      A Question of Intention: What is my purpose: (to know Christ and to make Him known)

God tells us in Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV)

God has a purpose and a plan for our life. May each one of us take the next 40 days and figure out “what on earth we are here for.”

Don't Waste your Life.

The following post was the message that I preached at MRWC on Sunday September 11. It was the message that would set the stage for our upcoming 40 Days of Purpose Campaign. Enjoy.

            Tonight we are going to begin our Spiritual Growth Campaign with a BBQ and by watching a Campaign overview. This overview will set the stage for what we will be learning over the next 40 days or so.

            These are exciting days in the life of our church, and God will do some amazing things in our lives throughout this campaign, so please do what you can to join us, not only for tonight’s lesson, but for the entire campaign.

            A bumper sticker once said: “Life is too precious to waste.” This is an interesting thought, but how do we do that? How do we prevent wasting our life? 

            The Bible gives us an indication. In Ephesians 5 we read: “…be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.

¹⁶ Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. ¹⁷ Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.”(Eph. 5:15-17, NLT2)

            Notice that the Bible tells us to be careful. What is the opposite of careful? Careless. The Bible says: “don’t be careless with your life…”

            Literally the Greek means: “don’t stumble through life; don’t just drift through life.”

            In other words: we are to think things through, we must know what we are here for; we must figure out our purpose.

            The Bible says: “Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.”(Eph. 5:17, NLT2)

            Over the next 40 days or so, we are going to figure out what the Lord wants us to do. We are going to “Make the most of every opportunity…” (Eph. 5:16a, NLT2) and we are going to seek to understand why God has us here, in this place, for such a time as this.

This morning, I would like for us to look at and answer the Three Basic questions of Life. 

            The first question that I want us to consider is “What does God want from my life.” It’s an interesting question, one that I am sure most of us have asked at one time or another.

            As you read through the Bible, you can summarize what God wants with your life with a few small words: He wants my life. God wants our all.

            There is not a single verse in the Bible that says that you can be a Christian and live your life any way that you want.        

You see, God doesn’t want 10% of us, He doesn’t want 50% of us, He

doesn’t even want 99.999% of us. God wants our all.

ILLUSTRATION- I love church road signs. Some of the best messages I have ever seen have been on church road signs.

            I saw one church road sign that said: “Try our Sunday’s... they’re better than Dairy Queen!

The church road sign at the Zealand Pentecostal Church says: “God wants complete custody, not just weekend visits”

            Many people think that they can give God a certain aspect of their life, say their spiritual life—God can have the 10 minutes that it takes to read the “Our daily Bread”, but God can’t have any more than that.

He can’t have my work life, my social life, my sex life… those things are mine.

            Life with God doesn’t work that way my friends. God wants full custody, not weekend visits.

            C.S. Lewis once said: “The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important.”  It’s either all or nothing with God.

            Paul said in Galatians 2: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (2:20, NIV)

            According to the Bible, God isn’t satisfied with one small corner of our lives.

God will take what you give Him, but He won’t stop until He has your all.

            The Bible says: “…give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.” (Romans 6:13, NLT2)

            God wants complete custody; not just weekend visits. God wants our entire life.

The Bible says: “…this is what the Lord your God wants you to do: Respect the Lord your God, and do what he has told you to do. Love him. Serve the Lord your God with your whole being…” (Deuteronomy 10:12, NCV)

ILLUSTRATION- William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, was being interviewed near the end of his life. This is what he said:

            “God had all there was of me. There have been others who had greater plans, greater opportunities than I; but from the day I got a vision of what God could do, I made up my mind that God would have all there was of William Booth.” (taken from my files)

            I wonder what we are giving to God. Are we giving our all to Him, or are we limiting Him—and thus limiting His work in our lives?

            The Bible says: “In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you

and crown your efforts with success.” (Proverbs 3:6, Living Bible)

            Jesus said in Matthew 6: “…seek first (God’s) kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (6:33, NIV)

            Over and again, the Bible reminds us that God wants our all. He is to be the number one priority in our lives. We are to give our all to Him….

So, what are you giving to God?

            The second question that we must consider is “what does it take”?

            What does it take to not waste my life? What does it take to allow God to have my entire life? What does it take to become all that God wants me to become?

            What does it take? Discipline

            The Bible says: “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.” (1 Tim.4:7, NSAB)

Friends: It takes work to be like Jesus. It involves discipline.

Discipline can be defined as “making yourself do something regularly; to make yourself act or work in a controlled or regular way.”

ILLUSTRATION- Some of you are very disciplined in your work. You plan your day; you are meticulous as you go about your work.

            Some of you are very disciplined in your physical workouts. You never

miss one. It is in your schedule.

            Some of you never miss your favourite Television show. You wouldn’t dream of not watching it. Some of you would even send your company home so you can watch TV.

            Of course, most of us wouldn’t even think about missing a meal…

            Do you want to know the areas that we show the most discipline? In the areas that we want to be. The things that are important to us are the things that get done.

            I wonder what would happen if we were as disciplined to the things of God—prayer, regular Bible reading, sharing our faith; coming to church—I wonder what would happen if we were as disciplined to the things of God as we are in other areas of life? What would happen to us?

ILLUSTRATION- A church goer once wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday.

            “I’ve gone for 30 years now,” he wrote, “and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons.”

“But for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one. So, I think I’m wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all.”

Needless to say, this started a real controversy in the “Letters to the

Editor” column, much to the delight of the editor.

This went on for weeks until someone wrote this:

“I’ve been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals.”

“But I do know this; they all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me those meals, I would be physically dead today.

Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today.” (from my files)

Church: it takes work to become like Jesus Christ. It takes work to pray. It takes work to read and understand the Word of God. It takes discipline to allow God to have our entire life.

The Bible says: “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” (1 Tim.4:8, NLT2)

We are to train ourselves for godliness. What we will be doing over the next 40 days, is intense training.

We will be reading a devotional each day. We will be memorizing Scripture;

we will be getting together with other believers. We will be working on becoming like Christ.

Hebrews 12:1 says: “…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (NIV)

There are some things in life that will hold us back from becoming all that God wants us to become. There are some things—some good things and some not so good things—that can get our attention and cause us to forget what we are here for.

The Bible instructs us to get rid of those things. To “strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.” (Heb. 12:1, NLT2)

There may be things in our life that we will have to set aside in order to become like Jesus Christ. Some of these things might be good things; some of these things might be sinful things.

Whatever they might be, it will take work for us to become all that God wants us to become.

Rick Warren reminds us that: “If you are serious about fulfilling your purpose in life… you have to make space for God in your life.

And if you’re going to make space for God in your life, you’re going to have to cut some things out.” (PDL. Pre-campain sermon. Pg 7)

The Bible reminds us that we must put away those things—good and bad—that could draw us away from our walk with God.

This beautifully takes us in to the 3^rd question: “WHY?”

Why should I make the effort? Why should I give my all to God?

Why should I do it? Because of The Cross.

The Bible says: “(Jesus) died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.” (2 Cor. 5:15, NLT2)

We are to give our all to God; we are to give things up because Jesus gave His all for us.

ILLUSTRATION- In the 1993 film In the Line of Fire, Clint Eastwood played Secret Service Agent Frank Horrigan.

Horrigan had protected the life of the President for more than three decades, but he was haunted by the memory of what had happened thirty years before.

            Horrigan was a young agent assigned to President Kennedy on the day he was assassinated in 1963.

When the assassin fired, Horrigan froze in shock. For thirty years afterward, he wrestled with the ultimate question for a Secret Service agent: “Can I take a bullet for the President?”

            In the climax of the movie, Horrigan does what he had been unable to do earlier: he throws himself into the path of an assassin’s bullet to save the chief executive.

            At Calvary, the situation was reversed. The President of the Universe took a bullet for us. At the Cross, we see how valuable we are to God. (my files)

            The Bible says: “In Christ we are set free by the blood of his death, and so we have forgiveness of sins….” (Eph. 1:7, NCV)

            Church: Jesus took a bullet for us; He willingly laid down His life so we could live with Him.

            “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” (1Jo 3:16a, NIV)

            Because Jesus went to the Cross; because He endured the Cross, we can come to God and live the life that we were intended to live.

            Paul said in Romans 12:  “…dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to

worship him.” (Romans 12:1, NLT2)

            God wants our life. This is, as Paul reminded us, the least we can do, because of what Jesus has done for us.

·      It could be that you have never given your life to Jesus; this 40 DOP is just for you.

·      It could be that you are unsure if you’re life matters: this 40 DOP is for you.

·      It could be that there are some things you probably should give up, but you are unsure what or howàthis 40 DOP is for you.

            I believe that God is not finished with us yet. I believe that God can use these next 40 days to teach us, to show us, to help us understand what we are here for.

            But for Him to speak to us, we must give Him our life. We must give Him complete custody; not just weekend visits.  

            For the prayer found in Habakkuk 3:2 to come true in our day; it must begin with us.

            Yes, God wants to work in your seat mate’s life, but He wants to work in your life too.

Will you let God do all that I am hoping and praying He will do? Will you let

God have your entire life?

            Perhaps you have already given your life over to God, don’t think you have arrived just yet. The Bible tells me that God still has work to do in your life, and He wants to do it through this 40 Days of Purpose Campaign.

            So please church, join me in this amazing God Journey. It will be some of the best days of our lives.

             “Lord, I have heard the news about you; I am amazed at what you have done. Lord, do great things once again in our time; make those things happen again in our own days.” (Hab. 3:2, NCV)