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 50th 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.
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