SERMON OUTLINE:
Question: What do we exist as a Church and as individuals?
Answer: For the glory of God.
Question: How can we glorify God?
Answer: Twofold:
• (1st). You glorify God by who and what you are.
• (2nd). You glorify God by what you do, Your conduct:
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
Some questions to think about this New year:
• Why is "abbreviated" such a long word?
• Why is a boxing ring square?
• Why is it considered necessary to nail down the lid of a coffin?
• Why is it that doctors call what they do "practice"?
• Why is it that rain drops but snow falls?
• Why is the third hand on the watch called a second hand?
• Why is the word dictionary in the dictionary?
• Why isn't there a special name for the tops of your feet?
• Why are they called apartments, when they’re all stuck together?
• What was the best thing BEFORE sliced bread?
• Why isn't there mouse-flavoured cat food?
• Can fat people go skinny-dipping?
• Why is that - If quitters never win, and winners never quit,
• What fool came up with, "Quit while you’re ahead"?
Quote:
"It is said that the classical Greek philosopher Socrates was wise,
Not because he knew the right answers,
But because he knew how to ask the right questions".
• And there is nothing like a well phrased question:
• To reveal a motive.
• Or to bring to the surface something that has been hidden.
• TRANSITION: Of all questions we ask:
• None goes to the heart of an issue faster than ‘WHY’.
• That word "Why" has a way of tearing through the superficial husk of the matter,
• And getting right down to the seed.
• And we see this illustrated for us throughout the Bible:
• i.e. God asked Cain: "Why are you angry?"
• i.e. The Lord asked Abraham: "Why did Sarah laugh?"
• i.e. Moses asked himself: "Why does the bush not burn up?"
• i.e. Nathan asked David: "Why have you despised the word of the Lord?"
• i.e. Job asked God: "Why did I not die at birth?"
And when you turn to the New Testament, the ‘WHY’ question seems to be Jesus' favourite:
• i.e. "Why are you anxious?"
• i.e. "Why do you look at the speck in your brothers eye and not the log in your own eye?"
• i.e. "Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not ......say?"
• i.e. "Why do you not believe me?"
• i.e. "Why have you forsaken me?"
• TRANSITION: Of all questions we ask:
• ‘WHY’ has a way of tearing through the superficial husk of a matter,
• And getting right down to the cob.
As we start a brand new year we are going to ask the question ‘WHY’?
Question:
• “Why has the Church been called into existence?”
• "Why are we here?"
• "Why do we meet week by week?"
• “Why do we do the things that we do?”
Ill:
• If you had been stopped at the door and asked the question on your way in;
• “Why does Duncan Road Church exist?”
• What would your answer be?
I think we might get a variety of responses:
• i.e. To share the good news of Jesus with the lost.
• i.e. To support the work of mission both locally and around the world.
• i.e. To bring hope to the hurting.
• i.e. To be a lighthouse in the community.
• i.e. To collectively worship God.
• i.e. To equip God’s people for daily living and service.
• i.e. To pray together.
• i.e. To hear from God though the public preaching of his word
• TRANSITION: All those are valid;
• And worthwhile reasons that the Church should and must be involved in!
• But let me suggest to you that not one of those reasons is absolutely primary!
• None of those reasons state the foundational purpose for the Churches existence.
• And at the start of a brand new year;
• It is good to remind ourselves of our number one objective!
Ill:
• Think of it as a an alarm that wakes us up to our purpose.
• Some folks are good at getting up in the morning and some of us are not!
• Quote: “If people were meant to pop out of bed, we’d all sleep in toasters.”
• Quote: “I’d like mornings better if they started later. “
• Quote: “Sometimes I wake up grumpy and other times she is woken up by the alarm!”
Ill:
• Now if you have trouble waking up let me recommend a good alarm clock.
• Fun photos from creative alarm clocks:
• (http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/creative-alarm-clocks/)
• These are my top 5 favourites (in reverse order_.
(5). Water Spray Alarm Clock
• Trying to sleep in for 10 more minutes?
• Expect the Water Spray alarm clock to launch a water attack on you then.
(4). Target alarm clock.
• If you are a sucker for shooting games, you must try this
• The rules are easy: the clock will sound the alarm based on the time you set,
• And you need to stop it by using the laser target gun to shoot the bullseye.
• To help make you aim better,
• You should try putting the mother-in-law photo there.
(3). Money Shredding Alarm Clock.
• At night place a £5, £10 or larger note at the top of the shreader;
• If you do not get up when the alarm goes off,
• Then after a short time delay it will shread your money!
(2). Flying alarm clock
• When the alarm goes off the propeller flies off the alarm.
• The frightening alarm sounds blaring throughout your room,
• You have to get up out of bed to retrieve the propeller;
• This is the key to make the sound stop.
(1). The defusable alarm clock.
• Try this DangerBomb alarm clock.
• Cut the right wire to stop the alarm,
• Or else your mornings will be announced with a kaboom sound.
• The wires are changed randomly every morning
• So you best be alert to cut the right wire.
• Warning in these days of terrorism;
• You may have some explaining to do;
• If the window cleaner spots it while cleaning your bedroom windows.
• TRANSITION: Think of this talk and this new year series;
• As a an alarm that wakes us up to our purpose.
• That wakes us up to our priorities;
• Both as a Church and as individual followers of Jesus Christ!
Question: What do we exist as a Church and as individuals?
Answer: 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 31.
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
• I believe that verse answers the question;
• Why we exist as a Church and as individuals?
• Quote: Westminster Catechism: “What is the chief end of man?"
• Or to paraphrase it: "Why are we here? What is the point?"
• Answer according to the Catechism is:
• "Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever".
• And the Bible gives us the proof to accompany that answer:
• i.e. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 31.
• "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God".
Notice: how the apostle Paul puts it:
• "Whether": That is pretty broad.
• "Whether…"
• "Whether…male or female, adult, youth or child”.
• "Whether Eating or drinking”, "Whether sleeping or waking.”
• "Whether Hurting or helping”, "Whether serving or struggling.”
• The action is limitless.
But notice also the next key instruction:
• "Whatever": again it is as broad as you want to make it.
• "Whatever": You can't get much wider than that,
• “Whatever you do at work, at school or at play”.
• “Whatever you do at Church, at home or out and about”
• Those two words are limitless, and are as broad as you want to make it;
• But the point is this "Whatever you do, wherever you are".
• Make sure that you: "Do it all to the glory of God".
Question: Now, if our purpose is to glorify God, what does that actually mean?
Answer: Definition:
“Glorifying” means feeling and thinking and acting in ways that reflect his greatness, that make much of God, that give evidence of the supreme greatness of all his attributes and the all-satisfying beauty of his manifold perfections”
Glorifying God means:
• Putting God first and putting God's ways first.
• To "glorify" God with our lives means:
• To magnify, to elevate, to shed radiance or splendour on God.
Question: How can we glorify God in 2017?
Answer: he simple answer is twofold
• Now it is so simple to say, but so hard to demonstrate.
• Here it is:
(1st). You glorify God by who and what you are.
• Jesus in one section of the Sermon on the Mount;
• (Matthew chapter 5 verses 21-47):
• Talks about the quality of his followers character.
• The effect of his lifestyle lived out in an ungodly world..
• Note:
• The contrast are the words: "You have heard........ BUT I say unto you."
• Verses 21-26: On the subject of murder:
• "You have heard........ but I say unto you."
• Verses 27-30: On the subject of Adultery:
• "You have heard........ but I say unto you."
• Verses 31-32: On the subject of Divorce:
• "You have heard........ but I say unto you."
• Verses 33-37: On the subject of Oaths:
• "You have heard........ but I say unto you."
• Verses 38-42: On the subject of Retaliation:
• "You have heard........ but I say unto you."
• Verses 43-47: On the subject of love:
• "You have heard........ but I say unto you."
The lifestyle of Jesus is unmistakably different:
• Jesus tells his followers that everyone else may do things this way;
• But not you!
• You (follower of Jesus) belong to him!
• Therefore you are to be different.
• Christian – you and me belong to him, therefore we are to be different.
Number one on God's list of qualities is:
• "Integrity of the heart";
• Your character.
• Because to God, what we ARE,
• Is always more important than what we do.
As a Church and as followers of Jesus:
• We want to be authentic!
• The real deal!
Ill:
• There is an fictional story told;
• That the queen of Sheba came to visit king Solomon,
• And knowing his reputation as the wisest man who ever lived;
• She decided to put him to the test.
• She had her servants make artificial flowers;
• They were so perfectly formed that no human eye could detect them from real flowers.
• She put them in a vases on Solomon’s table, in his throne room,
• Among pots of real flowers.
• Then she waited for Solomon to make an entrance into the room;
• As he came in, the queen of Sheba is reported to have said,
“Solomon, you are the wisest man in the world.
Tell me without touching or smelling these flowers, which are real and which are artificial.”
• It is said that Solomon studied the flowers for a long time and spoke nothing,
• Until finally he said, “Open the windows and let the bees come in.”
• TRANSITION: There are always ways to tell the artificial from the real;
• Let the bees come in; they will know where the real is.
• If we live with the authentic Jesus long enough,
• We will recognize the artificial when we see it.
• And as a Church and as a follower of Jesus;
• I want the real thing!
• And more importantly so does Jesus!
(2nd). What we do, our conduct:
• In verses 13-16: When talking about our influence on society / neighbours,
• Notice what Jesus says!
• Jesus uses the word "You"
• It's personal.
• "You are the salt..."
• "You are the light..."
• Not: "You are like salt!."
• Not: "You are like light."
• Salt and light are things we are!
• Not things we represent, symbolize or depict.
He uses single syllable easily understandable terms, familiar to everyone:
• The point being: "Since your salt, shake it!"
• The point being: "Since your light, shine!".
• In other words:
• Live it out! Walk the talk! Practise what you preach!
Ill:
• At one of the annual meetings of The American Heart Association,
• 300,000 doctors, nurses, and researchers met in Atlanta.
• They met to discuss, among other things,
• The importance a low fat diet plays in keeping our hearts healthy.
• Yet during meal times,
• They consumed fat-filled fast foods such as bacon cheeseburgers and fries;
• At about the same rate as people from other conventions.
• One cardiologist was interviewed and asked the question:
• “Did his partaking in high fat meals set a bad example?”
• He replied,
• "No, not me, because I took my name tag off."
• TRANSITION: We glorify God when we practice what we preach.
• May God help us to wear our Christian name tags at work, rest & play!
Note: What Jesus then goes onto say (vs 16):
"In the same way let your light shine before men,
That they may see your (What) good DEEDS and (What) and praise (or glorify) your Father in heaven".
Ill:
• I bet we have all said it or we are all familiar with the term;
• “My good deed for the day” or some version of it.
• Now the good news (or the bad depending on your viewpoint);
• Is that you don’t have to stop at one!
• We are allowed, in fact encouraged in the Bible to do many good deeds!
• This year;
• If you have not taken on board a new year resolution, let me give you one.
• I like the advice and the motto of John Wesley:
"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."
And as we do:
"People will see your (What) good DEEDS and (What) and praise (or glorify) your Father in heaven".
In summary:
• The meaning in life, our purpose in life, man's chief aim:
• Is to glorify God and to enjoy him.
We do that by:
FIRST:
• First of all being a member of God's family.
• By placing our trust in the person of Jesus Christ.
• By letting him be the boss, Lord of our lives,
• Allowing him to change our character, so we can be authentic Christians
SECOND:
• By our conduct, our behaviour,
• Let's be those who are involved in showing Christian love,
• Demonstrating that love by our actions.
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=4Yt6VksZ3Yvb8wVMrkJ6El6wBvz74QeM
HELPFUL RESOURCE:
Rise & Shine: A Wake Up Call by Charles R. Swindoll - ISBN 0-88070-304-0
