“LIVING STONES” (3) PURPOSE
ACTS 10:36 & ECCL. 1
We’re in week 3 of our 7 week series “Living Stones”
where we as a church have been given
the God-sized task, after nearly 100 years, (pic of Phase 1)
of building a new facility and a new campus
that will allow us to meet the needs
of the Oakdale community and beyond for the NEXT 100 years
and have now been challenged with determining
how we as individuals and families will support that vision
And what we’re trying to do during the Living Stones campaign
is give you the truths and principles, even tools
to help you make a decision that is pleasing to God
Then, on Dec 2, we’re all going to come together
for a combined worship service to share the results of our campaign
and celebrate all that God has done and will do for OBC!
Now, if you’re a guest or still pretty new to Oakdale,
there’s no pressure for you to participate in the LS campaign.
But . . . I think it’s important for you to know
that you represent THE reason we’re trying to honor God
through this Fund Raising and Building Campaign.
Now, strange as it may seem, I want to begin this morning
by asking you to think about your death.
Aren’t you glad you came to church this morning?
Now, I’m being serious. I don’t think we spend enough time
thinking about our death and the implication it has on,
for lack of a better way to say it, our life!
You see, as humans, death is an inevitable part of life
Unless God intervenes in human history during our lifetime,
each of us WILL experience death.
It’s inevitable, it’s unavoidable
and the mortality rate for humans is 100%!
For each of us, there WILL come a day when a preacher
will stand at the head of our grave and summarize our life
Now, occasionally, when someone dies, you’ll hear a preacher
talk about how that person lived “their dash”
It’s a reference to the tombstone (pic)
Most of the time, on a tomb stone,
there will be a date of birth, a date of death,
and a dash in between(pic)
And any good preacher will tell you,
it’s not the DATES but the DASH that should matter.
IOW, it’s everything that happens BETWEEN birth and death
that determines whether or not we lived a life of significance
A few weeks ago I told you the story
of a woman who suffered the misfortune of dying
at a time when the only person available at the local newspaper
to write her obituary was the sports director.
And so, because he could think of nothing
significant that had ever taken place in her life,
her obit read: “Saturday, we inter the bones of Miss Emily Jones,
Her life held no terrors.
She lived and old maid, she died an old maid,” . . .
anybody remember the rest? “no hits, no runs, no errors!”
Now, I think it’s safe to say that none of us
want that kind of obit written about our lives when we die. Right?
There is something in human nature
that longs for significance, isn’t there?
So let me ask you a question:
If you could choose an epitaph to be engraved on your tombstone,
what would you want it to say?
What is the ULTIMATE epitaph for a human’s life?
He was a good person?
She did the best with what she had?
What would it say? Take a moment
and try to answer that question for yourself
Now, I want to suggest to you today
that the ultimate epitaph for a human’s life
was actually written thousands of years ago
for a guy named King David
You remember David?
The boy who slew a giant and became a king?
Had some incredible victories,
made some horrible, horrible mistakes,
but ultimately led God’s nation as a man after God’s own heart.
And here is how the NT sums up
the significance of King David’s life: This is from Acts 13:36
“And David served God’s purpose in his generation.” Acts 13:36
Now, would you agree with me that, as a Christian,
there is no greater significance than that?
To have served God’s purpose in your generation?
To have served GOD. To have accomplished His purpose
and to have done it during your time on earth . . .
THAT is the ultimate epitaph for any Christian
Does everyone agree? Good!
And what I want to show you today
is that you are absolutely RIGHT
but for the absolute WRONG reason!
And here’s why:
Because it’s NOT the DASH that TRULY matters in a person’s life,
but what happens AFTER the dash!
And let me show you what I mean, using David as an example
It IS true that David served God in his generation,
and that is incredibly significant
However, was it ONLY his generation that David impacted?
No. He’s impacted MANY generations
I mean, WE’RE talking about David today, aren’t we?
That alone is evidence that he impacted
multiple generations for God
In fact, David lived approximately 3000 years ago.
Genealogists say that there are about 4 generations per century.
That’s 40 generations per thousand years
which means, to date, King David has impacted
approximately 120 generations with his life!
Now you have to admit: That’s pretty significant!
But that’s STILL not why serving God’s purpose
in your generation is the ultimate epitaph for a Christian
Here’s why: When we look at David’s epitaph:
He served God’s purpose in his generation,
we’re focusing on the WRONG word!
It’s not the word “generation” that contains the most significance
Any guess as to which word does?
It’s the word “purpose”!
Now stick with me for a second, ok?
120 generations of impact IS pretty significant
And David’s not even done!
Who knows how many more generations will continue to be
impacted by his life after WE are long gone?
BUT . . . even if the number of generations impacted by David’s life
end up numbering in the thousands,
that’s absolutely NOTHING compared to the significance
of God’s PURPOSE that David served
But what is that purpose? Well, here at OBC,
you’ll hear us talk about and teach on the
5 Biblical purposes of the church: Worship, Fellowship,
Discipleship, Ministry, and Evangelism
Everything we do here MUST be about 1 or more of those 5 things
or we have NO business doing it
Those 5 purposes are incredibly important to God
and that’s why they’re incredibly important to us
BUT . . . and stay with me . . . each of those
5 Biblical purposes of the church exist
to serve God’s ULTIMATE purpose
Now, I could show you hundreds of places in the Bible
that tell us what that ULTIMATE purpose is,
but . . . I’m just going to use one passage this morning
It’s found in the book of Ephesians, chapter 1,
written by the Apostle Paul
This is the NLT and here’s what it says:
4 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. . . 10 And this is His unchanging purpose: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Ephesians 1:4-5,10
So what is God’s ultimate purpose?
His unchanging plan and purpose from the creation of the world
is, through Christ, to redeem, to win, to adopt
as many people as will accept Him,
so that we may spend ETERNITY with Him in heaven!
That’s it! That’s His ultimate purpose!
That’s the purpose of the entire Bible!
That’s the purpose of King David’s life and continuing influence!
That’s the purpose of the church in human history
and that is the ultimate purpose of OBC!!
AND . . . that purpose is the ONLY valid reason, by the way,
that we’re challenged to sacrifice and support the LS campaign.
It will be a resource, a tool that we use to win people for Christ!
Think about it: In 1920, a group of people made a sacrifice (pic)
that allowed them to establish a church and build a building
so that THEY could serve God’s purpose in their generation
Had it not been for THEIR sacrifice,
there wouldn’t have been the next generation
who built the next building in the 70’s (?)(pic)
Had it not been for the sacrifice of THAT generation,
there wouldn’t have been the generation
who built this building in 2003 (pic)
And let’s make sure we understand:
Had it not been for THAT generation and their sacrifice in 2003,
very few of US would be here today!
Do you know that the first couple of pledges
we received for the LS campaign a month ago
was more than the ENTIRE cost of the church’s first building project?
Do you know that even before we began
the public phase of the campaign 3 weeks ago,
we already had more money pledged
than the ENTIRE cost of the 2003 building project?
Now, having said all that, we have a long, long way to go
to raise the money needed to begin the 1st phase of this new project
But do you see how the blessings and the impact
have grown exponentially over the years?
That’s part of how you know God’s in it
So, if we believe that God’s Ultimate PURPOSE Is ETERNAL In Nature
In fact, would you write that in at the top of your notes?
And if we believe that the ultimate epitaphs
for our life and this church should be to
serve God’s ultimate purpose in this generation and beyond
in a way that will impact eternity . . .
and if, as a church we are committed to seeking God’s direction
to help us make our decision
and keep our commitment in the years to come . . .
then the question we must wrestle with is:
How Do I Prepare To Make An ETERNAL Impact With My Life?
Let me quickly show you 4 areas of your life
that have to be evaluated
and then a tool to help you do the evaluation
Here’s the 1st area:
Establish, then develop a saving RELATIONSHIP with Christ
Now, this is the obvious first step
in preparing to make an eternal impact with your life
Establishing a relationship with Christ
John 1:12 says,
"To all who receive him, Christ gives the right to become children of God." John 1:12
Now, I want you to notice: Not everybody's a child of God,
ONLY those who receive Him into their lives.
So, God wants YOU to establish a relationship with HIM.
But how do you do that?
Well, you do it the same way you establish any relationship.
It’s begins with a commitment
When I wanted to establish a permanent relationship with Christine,
I did that by make a commitment
The commitment was to love, honor,
and cherish her as my wife, until death do us part
In turn, she made the same commitment to me
Now you may say: Well, wait a minute.
Weren’t you guys high school sweethearts?
Isn’t THAT where you established your permanent relationship?
Let me ask you this: Have you ever BEEN to high School?
That was called dating
Dating was fine for a season,
but it would have NEVER been good enough for a lifetime
In the words of the great theologian Beyonce, (pic and quote)
“If you like it then you gotta put a ring on it!”
OK? Look, I investigated a lifelong relationship
with Christine by asking her out on a date
I came to know who she is
and what kind of person she was by dating her for 3 years
But then, I made a decision about my commitment to her
based on what I’d experienced and what I believed about her
and that commitment was marriage
If you want to be part of God’s family,
you’ve got to make a commitment
and not JUST a lifelong commitment but an ETERNAL commitment
Now, some of you may be in that
initial investigative stage with God and that’s fine
Continue to gather evidence.
Continue to draw conclusions based on God’s Word
But you know what? For some of you,
it’s time for you to move forward
It’s time to stop dating God and get married!!
It’s time to make the commitment!
Then, once we make a lifelong commitment
and receive him and accept him as our Savior,
then it’s time to DEVELOP that relationship
Do you realize that so many Christians
grow older without ever growing up?
It’s true, but that’s not the way it’s supposed to be
And again, developing your relationship with God
is a lot like developing any meaningful relationship
You have to spend time together
You cannot have a relationship with somebody
you never spend any time with.
Then you have to communicate
You have to talk AND you have to listen
We do that through prayer, worship, studying God’s Word
Did you know that each week during our 40 day campaign,
we’re giving you a single Bible verse
and asking you to use it to spend some time with God?
Just a single verse that you can look up and consider
and spend some time just letting God speak to your heart about it
and you sharing with God your reaction to it.
Each week, our LS Prayer Team is not only developing
THEIR relationship with God by praying for you,
they’re asking you to join them in prayer each morning at 7am
as we seek God’s direction for our church.
And then, we have something truly special to share with you
in the area of prayer and developing your relationship with God,
but . . . I’ve been sworn to secrecy until next week,
so you’ll just have to come back to find out what’s it’s all about!
The 1st step to preparing to make an eternal impact with your life is to . . .
Establish, then develop a saving RELATIONSHIP with Christ
#2 is to . . .
2.) USE MY TIME IN VIEW OF ETERNITY.
Colossians 4:5 says . . .
"Use your time in the best way you can" Colossians 4:5
Did you know that time is our most precious resource?
That it's far more important than money?
Here’s why: You can get more money but you can't get more time.
You only have a certain amount of time you're allotted for your life.
In life, you can't make time, you can't borrow time,
you can't save time, you can't extend time.
What’s the only thing you can do with it? USE it!
We all have the same amount every week -- 168 hours.
If you don't learn to manage your time well,
you cannot manage anything else in your life
because your time IS your life.
Now, one of Satan's strategies is to just get you
so busy doing unimportant things
that you don't have time for the important things in life
and that you don't spend any time preparing for eternity.
You say: I thought Satan’s job was to get me to sin!
Well, Satan doesn't have to get you to sin.
If he can't get you to be bad, he'll just get you to be busy.
Acts 20:24 says:
"Life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus." Acts 20:24
That’s why it’s so important to use your time in view of eternity.
Here’s the next area: I have to make sure I . . .
3.) USE MY TALENTS IN VIEW OF ETERNITY.
1 Corinthians 6:20 says:
"Use every part of your body to give glory back to God." 1 Cor. 6:20
Do you know what that means?
It means that you were made for ministry!
Your body and your mind and your heart
and your personality were all designed to serve God
But we have to be willing to submit to that
One of the neat things that has happened over the last few months
as we’ve been preparing for the LS campaign
is seeing different people using different talents
in different ways than they’ve ever used them before!
Many times in ways we didn’t even know they could!
Are YOU using your TIME,
are you using your TALENTS in view of eternity?
And then the last area we need to address is this: I must . . .
Use my TREASURE in view of eternity
Now I want to give an illustration
that I hope would help us understand why
using our treasure in view of eternity is SO important
Let's suppose that Congress passed a law
that some time in 2013,
the Chinese Yuan would become the official American currency (pic)
Now, I can’t imagine why this would happen,
but honestly, at this point, it wouldn’t completely surprise me either
Anyway - No longer would we use dollars
but everybody would have to use the yen to buy or sell things.
And . . . since the dollar would be worthless after the exchange date,
to make it fair to everybody, nobody would know
the exact day of conversion.
We would just know that sometime in the next twelve months
all of a sudden you'd have to start using yen
to buy and sell and all of a sudden dollars are worthless.
Now, here’s my question: If you knew that was going to happen
within the next twelve months but you didn't know when –
what would your strategy be?
Well, here’s my advice – And my advice in this area
is worth exactly what it costs you, ok?
My advice would be for you to
take most of your American currency
and immediately convert it into Japanese yen
so that you wouldn't be caught with
worthless dollars after the exchange date.
And then you would only hold on to
enough American dollars to meet your daily needs.
Because there is going to be some period of time
from one day up until a year where you’ll need American dollars
But on the exchange date,
whatever American dollars you have will be worthless
Does that make sense? Does that seem like
reasonable, practical financial advice?
OK – Here’s how that translates into us
using our treasure in view of eternity:
Jesus says, one day there's going to be an exchange day on your life.
You are going to die. And none of the material things
you accumulate here are going to have any value
So you need to hold onto just enough of
what you’ve been blessed with to continue to function and provide
And then you need to immediately exchange
as much of what you have here for things
that WILL have an impact on eternity!
And here’s the thing: Every one of us knows good and well
that only a fool would go all through life
unprepared for something they know is inevitable. Right?
So here’s what I want you to consider:
At OBC, we’ve worked really hard to create an environment
that encourages planned, percentage giving
as opposed to emotional, pressured, inconsistent giving.
If you’re a part of OBC, you know that we expect you
to participate in planned, percentage giving and then
from time to time we ask for need-based sacrificial giving
And that’s really what the LS campaign is all about.
We want you to see the blessings you’ve been given in your life,
see the need for us to provide a facility
that allows us to impact eternity more effectively,
and then make a commitment to sacrifice,
ALONG with your planned, percentage giving
to accomplish a God-sized goal
And in doing that, I want you to understand
how you have the opportunity as an individual,
as a family, as a church to impact eternity
and to serve God’s purpose in our generation
and for generations to come.
1 Timothy 6: says this
"Use your money to do good, always being ready to share whatever God has given you. By doing this, you will be storing up real treasure for yourselves in heaven. It is the only safe investment for eternity. And you will be living a fruitful Christian life down here as well." 1 Timothy 6:18-19
Where are you storing your treasures? In heaven or on earth?
Remember: You cannot take it with you.
But you can send it on ahead.
How do you send it ahead?
By investing it in ways that give people the opportunity to go there.
Let’s use the Life Investment Guide
at the bottom of your notes to evaluate yourself.
Here’s what I want you to do:
Put an X on each of these areas where you are right now
And then circle the spot where you want to be in six months.
Nobody can tell you what's right for you.
This is between you and God.
In TIME. Put an X estimating what percent of your time each week
is invested in spiritual growth,
spiritual matters, developing ministry skills.
Then, put an circle where you would like to be in six months.
How about TALENTS.
What percent of your talents are you using investing in service,
practicing serving and ministry?
What percent do I want it to be in six months?
How about your TREASURE? Your money.
How much of your money are you investing in God's kingdom?
Where do you want to be for a goal as you grow as a believer?
