Known Part 4
Notes
Transcript
Purpose
Purpose
Hello Everyone!
Why was the dolphin sad?
He lost his porpoise in life.
“Have you ever found yourself in a situation where afterward you were thinking, “How did I get here?”
Like that is literally me every time you go to FL.
I mean when we drive the 20+ hours about a day later, I’m like how did we get here?
Did I drive us?
I mean how did Brittni convince me to come here again?!?
I ask all week how did I get here?
I leave and go I need to go home and rethink my life.
I’m sure we all have had these moments.
Or here is a photo from last weekend, my brother and I did a crossfit competition and he pretty much carried our team.
This picture sums it up pretty good, this was the last workout of the day and in my mind I was think what did happened!
Why did I just go all of this!
I know we have all been in those situation where we ask that questions what am I doing here.
In the past few weeks, we’ve looked at how God knows everything, how He knows your identity, and how He knows your labels.
We’ve looked at how our value doesn’t come from temporary, shallow things on this planet, but from being his child.
We looked at our identity in Christ.
So far, we’ve spent a lot of time looking at WHO we are on this earth.
But now, we’re going to look at WHY we are on this earth.
GOD KNOWS WHO YOU ARE, BUT HE ALSO KNOWS WHY YOU ARE.
Your identity is not just about who you are, but why you’re here.
The identity of something cannot be separated from its purpose.
For instance, is a phone really a phone if it can’t make calls?
We’re the same way.
For us to really understand our identity, we have to understand our purpose.
We’re going to visit our Psalm 139 text one more time.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
Listen to the way this is translated in the Message
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day.
Century English Version:
You saw my body as it was formed.
All the days planned for me were written in your book before I was one day old.
What this verse is saying is, God knew us, knew who we would be, knew our identity, and before our body was even formed, His plan and purpose were already formed.
YOUR PURPOSE WAS FORMED BEFORE YOUR BODY WAS.
God knows your purpose.
Did you know that the number one question people ask in life is: Why am I here? What is my purpose?
You can go to the book store and find 1,000 books on what people think our purpose is.
People have all kinds of advice about how to get the most out of life and live your purpose.
But these are all human opinions.
Others can’t tell you your purpose, and you can’t even tell yourself your purpose, because you didn’t make you.
[Author Note: Go to the hardware store, or search your church’s storage closet, and find a random object. It needs to be something that no one will know what it is, nor what it’s used for. Then begin to ask the students what the object is, and what its purpose is.]
What is this?
What is this object’s purpose?
We don’t know.
We can guess.
We can find things to do with it.
But if we really wanted to know what the object’s purpose was, the best person to ask would be the creator.
The creator could tell you exactly what it’s made for, why it’s made out of this material, why it’s shaped like this, etc.
If we really want to know our purpose in life, we need to go to the one who created us and see what He says about us.
In the Bible, God says it very clearly.
In just a minute, I’m going to tell you your purpose.
I really want you to get this, because so many people wonder their whole life what their purpose is, but you can learn this today, and never have to wonder again.
Are you ready for it? Here it is:
You are here to bring glory to God.
It’s that simple.
YOUR PRIMARY PURPOSE IS TO BRING GLORY TO GOD.
Look how clearly God tells us our purpose in His Word:
For from him and through him
and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever. Amen.
In other words:
Everything comes from him; everything exists by his power and everything is purposed for his glory.
There it is!
It couldn’t be more clear.
We’re on this planet to bring glory to God.
That is the shared purpose of every single person.
If you can get that now, it will save you a lot of problems.
Now this is going to take a bunch of different forms, shapes, callings, etc., but at the end of the day, this is why we’re here.
Turn to your neighbor and tell them, “Your purpose is to bring glory to God.”
So, why is this important?
When we know our purpose – we can begin to understand God’s plan for us.
If we don’t understand God’s purpose for us, then we will never understand God’s plan for us.
God knows the plan he has for you.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
I know this passage is used a lot but if we just take the part of this verse and see that God has a plan.
He had a plan for Jeremiah and for the Israelites and He has a plan for us as well.
God has a plan for you.
It is a good plan.
A plan is different than a purpose.
We all have the exact same purpose (to bring glory to God), but God has a different plan for each of us.
He may have a plan for some of us to be missionaries, doctors, pastors, businessmen and women, worship leaders, etc.
But here is what I want you to see: God’s plan is better than anything we could come up on our own, and He wants us to succeed even more than we want to.
How many of you have ever been on a scavenger hunt?
Have your parents ever set up a big set of clues for you to follow, and at the end there was a present or treasure for you to find?
Think about this: No parent would ever let you start the hunt, and then half way through, when you got confused, abandon you and just say, “Sorry, if you can’t figure it out, I’m not going to help you.”
The reason your parents wouldn’t abandon you when you got stuck halfway through the scavenger hunt is that they WANT you to solve it.
They went to all the trouble of setting it up in advance to see you walk through it.
The last thing they would do is abandon you right in the middle of it.
Did you know that God is the same way?
He went to the trouble of setting things up IN ADVANCE for you to walk in!
He has a path laid out for you! He wants you to succeed.
Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
God says He has created you to do good things, and He has prepared them beforehand or in ADVANCE for you to do!
Sometimes we feel God asking us to do something, but we don’t step out, because we’re afraid, and because we think God will abandon us in the middle and let us fail.
God has set it up in advance!
He wants you to succeed even more than you want to.
GOD HAS A PLAN ALREADY SET UP FOR YOU.
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS WALK IN IT.
IF YOU FOLLOW HIS LEAD, YOU WILL ALWAYS SUCCEED.
Another way to say this is:
IF GOD GUIDES, GOD PROVIDES.
If you follow Him, you will succeed.
You will NOT fail!
Now, it might not always look exactly like you thought it would look from the beginning, or in the timing that you thought, but if you don’t give up, and you follow his leading, you will always end up doing what He’s called you to do.
God knows your potential.
We have talked about how God knows your purpose, and how He knows the plan He has for you.
But He also knows your potential.
He knows that you’re capable of great things.
Your generation has been called a lot of things.
Sometimes entitled.
Sometimes lazy.
But I don’t believe that is really who you are.
I have seen more creativity, more enthusiasm, and more potential in this generation than any other generation.
I mean if you were at the Junior High Novernighter look at this creativity!
Photos from Lock-In.
You had a like a day and half to come up with costumes and you all did!
Your generation is capable of such great things.
You can do a lot of good things, but you will only go so far in your own strength.
To reach your full potential, you need the strength of his Spirit.
Zechariah 4:6 - It is not by might, and not by strength, but by my spirit says the Lord.
Suppose you were on a sailboat, and you didn’t have your sail up.
You could put your hand in the water and paddle, and get a little distance.
But you would soon grow tired.
And if there were any oncoming currents or waves, you could even start to move backwards.
However, if you put up your sail, and caught the wind, you could ride with speed and ease.
The wind is like the Holy Spirit.
He wants to fill your sails, and move you and guide you in places you aren’t capable of going yourself.
IF YOU WANT TO LIVE YOUR IDENTITY TO THE FULLEST, YOU NEED HIS SPIRIT.
You could also go in to the different gifts of the Spirit, explain them, pray for them, have leaders pray over the students, etc. The passage below is one of the main texts that mentions some of the gifts, but other gifts can also be found in 1 Cor 12:28, Romans 12:6-8, Ephesians 4:11, and 1 Peter 4:11.]
The Holy Spirit lead and guides us!
And through the Holy Spirit we are given gifts.
And not everyone is going to have all the same gifts.
That is what makes us different but all gifts are used for the same purpose to bring glory to God.
Check out some of these gifts:
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
After reading all of those gifts: what are some that stuck out to you?
· Prophecy
· Serving
· Teaching
· Exhortation
· Giving
· Leadership
· Mercy
· Word of wisdom
· Word of knowledge
· Faith
· Gifts of healings
· Miracles
· Prophecy
· Distinguishing between spirits
· Tongues
· Interpretation of tongues
· Apostle
· Prophet
· Teacher
· Miracles
· Kinds of healings
· Helps
· Administration
There are so many gift that you may have, and they will be different from others, but listen to 1 cor 12.
Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God works all of them in each person. A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good: to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of tongues, to another, interpretation of tongues. One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as he wills.
• Words of Wisdom – ability to know / speak something wise that you wouldn’t be able to do without help from God.
• Words of Knowledge – similar to the one above, but more focused on knowledge.
• Healing – the ability to have God heal people through you.
• Miracles – the ability to have God do miracles through you.
• Prophecy – the ability to be able to see things in the future, or have insight into a present situation in a spiritual way that others can’t readily see.
• Distinguishing between spirits – to know if spiritual activity is from God or not.
• Speaking in different kinds of tongues – speaking a language unknown to you.
• Interpretation of tongues – interpreting a language that is unknown to you.
When speaking on the gifts, I think it is important to teach the following things:
1. God decides which gifts we get – we don’t get to choose (1 Cor 12:11).
2. God is the one who gives people gifts, not the leader who prays really hard or really loud.
Take the pressure off yourself.
You can pray for certain gifts, but ultimately God is the one who gives gifts.
3. We are not less spiritual if we don’t receive a certain gift.
4. Gifts don’t all come at one time.
God may give them to them later, as they are needed in their life.
5. Gifts are for the benefit of ALL, not just the person who is receiving the gift.
Gifts are meant to be shared for the purpose of God’s glory.
How might he be calling you according to His purpose and what gifts has he given you to success?
God gives you all that you need!
Why?
Because God knows you, He knows your heart, he knows your identity, He knows your labels and he knows your purpose.
Pray with me.