FINDING PURPOSE
Part 1 – Where Do We Go From Here?
† SCRIPTURE READING
Habakkuk 3:2
“O Lord, I have heard the report of you and was afraid, O Lord, revive your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make yourself known! In wrath remember love, pity, and mercy.”
PRAYER
† So where do we go from here?
We’ve heard God’s word and testimony from those who’ve experienced it. We’ve prayed and fasted as a people, searching ourselves and our hearts, looking for conviction of sin in our lives.
Some of us may be afraid or confused right now. This may be new territory for some, familiar grounds for others.
Fasting & prayer, the week of renewal, the conviction of hearts, confessions, repentance and forgiveness may be new territory.
Like the Prophet wrote in the scripture we just read,
“Revive your work in the midst of the years (or in our time) in our time make yourself known!”
What a plea to God!
We do these things because we want MORE of God!
We do these things to clean up our acts and in doing so untie God’s hands so He can do the things He wants to do for us, and has planned for us!
I always imagine God’s hand above our heads with all the goodness He has planned for our lives.
I do these things because on that last day when I stand before my Lord on His throne, I have to hear “Well done good and faithful servant!”
I will settle for nothing less than God’s best for my life and for this church!
It’s time to put off the old man and BE the people God created us to be!
I pray that after the past week, and the weeks leading up to then, God spoke to your heart.
I pray you searched yourself.
I pray that if you were convicted, you addressed it.
† Remember
Salvation is FREE!
But forgiveness is a result of confession and repentance!
Because without repentance, there is no forgiveness!
† Psalm 66:16 – 20
16 Come and listen, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.
17 I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
18 If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;
19 but God has surely listened
and heard my voice in prayer.
20 Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me!”
If you are hiding sin in your heart, thinking that it’s doing no harm, think again. For God knows the heart of man, and for this reason, you will not be heard by God.
I can’t image God withholding His love from me as the scripture says.
“I pray and pray and nothing seems to happen!”
You better check yourself.
† Psalm 119:11
“9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
12 Praise be to you, O LORD ;
teach me your decrees.”
If we fill our hearts with the Lords words, there is no room for us to harbor sin.
Like Mary’s story last week, if we give Jesus the WHOLE house of our heart, filling it with Him, when Satan comes a knocking with temptation, Jesus will answer for us.
Is this road easy to travel?
No of course not. God never promised that it would be smooth sailing.
Rather, He told us the opposite.
Sometimes we may feel like the road is too long.
Or, the work too hard.
Or, the terrain too difficult to cross.
† Matthew 7:13, 14
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
God is faithful, and He has a purpose for you and for this church.
Together we can discover just what that purpose is.
Through studying the word, God will reveal to us what our purpose is.
We may get discouraged occasionally.
We may want to give up.
It would be much easier to just do what you want and not worry about pleasing God.
It would be much easier to show up for 1 hour once a week and call it good between you and God.
One problem though.
If you spent 1 hour a week with your children, what kind of relationship would you have? How about with your husband or wife?
How close could you be with someone if you only saw them for 1 hour out of 168 hours a week?
God’s word says “I would rather you be hot or cold than lukewarm.”
He wants you to be on fire for Him, He would rather you not know Him at all, then to know who He is and not build a relationship with Him.
To know who He is, and not build a relationship with Him, is to be lukewarm.
To those who become lukewarm, God will have nothing to do with you. He says so in His word.
Perseverance, persistence, the prize!
† What is the prize?
Philippians 3:13 – 15
“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
15All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.”
Paul reminds us in scripture that we must have a purpose, and we must have a plan, because times will be difficult and Satan will attack.
Every purpose of God has a plan; every plan has a prize, and every prize a promise of God! And we MUST press onward!
† 1 Corinthians 10:1 – 13
“1For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3They all ate the same spiritual food 4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.
6Now these things occurred as examples[a] to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.”[b] 8We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did–and in one day twenty three thousand of them died. 9We should not test the Lord, as some of them did–and were killed by snakes. 10And do not grumble, as some of them did–and were killed by the destroying angel.
11These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
What is Paul saying to the church in Corinth?
Don’t be misled, don’t fool yourself.
In the Old Testament, there were believers who were all baptized; they all ate the same spiritual food, the same spiritual drink, and they all drank from the same spiritual rock, and that rock was Christ.
The water from the rock represents the Holy Spirit that we receive from Christ.
These people in the Old Testament were the equivalent of what we would call a saved Christian today. This is what is called foreshadowing in the Bible.
But the scripture continues, NEVERTHELESS,
God was not pleased with most of them.
Why?
Because they weren’t OBEDIENT outside of God’s presence!
Their DOING and ACTING was NOT in accordance to God!
They were NOT walking the walk!
Anyone can cry “Lord, Lord”, but unless you have a relationship with Christ, you are in for a surprise on that last day.
Paul said that these things from our history are to be looked at as examples so that we don’t make the same mistakes they made. The mistakes that cost alot of them their lives!
These examples are to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.
Do not be idolaters as some of them were.
Idolatry is putting ANYTHING above God in your life!
This could be your car, sports, television, music. Anything that robs your time that could be spent worshipping God is idolatry.
God doesn’t care if we have a nice car, watch sports, etc… But do you spend more time doing that then you do reading your bible and praying to God?
That’s when it matters to Him.
We should not commit sexual immorality as some of them did.
Notice it says sexual immorality, which is a general term covering many types of sexual sin. Including but not limited to, pre-marital sex, homosexuality, bestiality, child molestation, adultery, pornography, etc...
Now, don’t come up to me after the service and tell me they didn’t have pornography 4000 years ago. I know that, but guess what, it is sexually immoral to look at pornography, and Jesus said so.
That goes for any other magazine that gives you pictures to lust for. It doesn’t have to be a nude picture for there to be lust in your heart.
Jesus told us that when He said it was a sin to even look at a woman with lust!
And don’t feed me the line that you read the articles, I’ve heard that one before and God isn’t buying it.
You want to read something, try the Bible, it’s full of stories.
God was so upset with them over sexual immorality that He destroyed 23,000 of them for it. It sounds like it upsets Him. Do you still think what you’re doing is OK with God?
Do you still think, “He understands my situation.”?
Don’t fool yourself. God DOESN’T excuse sin. Bottom line.
We should not test the Lord as some of them did, and paid with their lives.
And here is a big one,
And do not, notice it doesn’t say we should not, it says DO NOT, grumble as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.
Grumbling, whining and complaining. God doesn’t want to hear it.
He is faithful, and the supplier of our needs. Jesus said we have not because we ask not.
If you are grumbling about reading the Bible, church, the sermons, the people giving the sermons, or anything else,
Guess what, God doesn’t want to hear it.
And if you do this either to someone, or where they can hear you, now it’s called gossip!
That’s not to say He doesn’t want to hear you if you have a legitimate concern,
Otherwise, you need to pray for yourself and your unthankful heart.
Because grumbling comes from unthankful ness.
And it displeases God.
But God is faithful,
He will not let you be tempted with a thing you cannot handle. You can bear it!
And the scripture says God will provide you a way out.
This is why there is no excuse when you sin or give into temptation.
Because God gave you a way out, and you did not take it, you chose the sin over God.
So where do we go from here?
† Over the next few weeks we will be looking at what the Bible says our purpose is as a church and a people of God.
† WHAT IS OUR PURPOSE?
We will also look at where we are supposed to be, where we are at, and the steps we need to take to get where God wants us.
† WHERE SHOULD WE BE?
We will examine what obstacles in our lives and in our church may be keeping us from the fullness of God and His blessings on us and this church.
† WHERE ARE WE RIGHT NOW?
Together we will examine our role as a people, and the tools that God has given us to work for Him.
† WHAT TOOLS HAS GOD GIVEN US TO GET THERE?
Change is not easy.
Growth is sometimes uncomfortable.
But if we are to please God, we need to grow.
He expects us to grow, mature spiritually.
If we are not growing, moving forward, we become stagnant and lukewarm.
PRAYER
Lord put in us the heart to change. The want to be more like you.
Continue to fill us with your Holy Spirit and be with us always.
Lift this church and your people up so that we may reach the goal you have set before us.
Build us Lord, establish your house, and establish us as your people.
Build this house Lord, for we know that it is only you who can build us
