Sermon Central
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Meaningful Purpose
Contributed by Timothy Finch on Mar 6, 2006 (message contributor)
Summary: The purpose of this message is to encourage the believer to strive to be used by God to do great and mighty or good and menial things.
Meaningful Purpose
26 "Brothers, children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. 27 The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. 28 Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people. 32 "We tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers 33 he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: "’You are my Son; today I have become your Father.’ 34 The fact that God raised him from the dead, never to decay, is stated in these words: "’I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’ 35 So it is stated elsewhere: "’You will not let your Holy One see decay.’ 36 "For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed. 37 But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay. (NIV)
I. God had a plan for David’s life.
A. His name means beloved or favorite.
B. He was the first king to fully unite Israel and Judah.
C. He ruled from 1005 to 965 B.C.
D. He was diversified in his talents and interests.
1. He was a musician.
2. He was a warrior.
II. God had a plan for David’s generation.
A. David’s generation needed significance (I Samuel 17).
1. David killed a giant named Goliath with a sling.
2. David showed them how to get a head.
B. David’s generation needed security (I Samuel 22-23).
1. David was a warrior.
2. He gathered a group of impoverished and discontented people and formed an army.
3. He fought and won battles against the Philistines.
C. David’s generation needed a standard.
1. As King David set moral standards and decrees like a judge (II Samuel 14:4-8).
2. As King David set the spiritual standards like a priest (II Kings 16:10-18).
III. God had a plan completion is the portal to eternal life.
A. David wrote the 23rd Psalm.
B. “And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
IV. David’s body rotted away!
A. However, he has not been forgotten.
B. David led a life that made others remember (a legacy).
1. He was and is the role model for all Israelite kings who followed.
2. He was a called “man of God” according to II Chronicles 8:14.
3. God’s covenant with David was the deciding factor as God wrestled with David’s disobedient successors (II Chronicles 21:7).
4. Prophets used David as a model for a future David (Isaiah 9:7).
