1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,880 Happy Sabbath, everyone. 2 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:09,200 I need one of those little wireless mics. 3 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:14,400 I've got a question for everyone. 4 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:15,400 We got one of those. 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:22,560 Maybe somebody wants to pass it around for me. 6 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:29,440 Anybody like to volunteer to pass this around? 7 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:38,280 My question today for everyone here before we begin is what is the meaning of life? 8 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:40,160 That's a tough one, huh? 9 00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:44,240 But if we have any brave volunteers, I'd like to maybe hear what some of you all might have 10 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:47,840 to say about that. 11 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:50,840 Meaning of life. 12 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:52,520 Anyone? 13 00:00:52,520 --> 00:01:00,360 We got someone over here, someone over there. 14 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:02,360 Sure this is working. 15 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:03,360 Yep. 16 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:04,360 Okay, see. 17 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:10,480 I saw something the other day, read something that really resonated with me. 18 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:16,320 I was created for a purpose, and that purpose is to serve others. 19 00:01:16,320 --> 00:01:17,320 Amen. 20 00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:18,320 I like that. 21 00:01:18,320 --> 00:01:19,880 It's really good. 22 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:27,040 We also, I think we had one over back here. 23 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:28,040 So serving others. 24 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:29,040 I like that. 25 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:31,880 It's really good. 26 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:37,920 As a Christian, I believe that my purpose is to serve God and to lead others to him. 27 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:38,920 Amen. 28 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:40,320 That's really good. 29 00:01:40,320 --> 00:01:50,560 Maybe one more before we end, over here. 30 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:57,280 How many of us know what this model of the Salvation Army is? 31 00:01:57,280 --> 00:01:59,120 I'm not sure. 32 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:00,120 Others. 33 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:01,120 Others. 34 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:02,120 Amen. 35 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:12,280 So I'm hearing service, serving Jesus, getting to know God, a focus on others. 36 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:16,120 These are all really good answers. 37 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:20,400 So this big question, right, what is the meaning of life? 38 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:23,680 We're not the only ones asking this question. 39 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:28,800 A lot of people in the world are asking this question as well. 40 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:33,800 Back in the 70s, there was this band called Supertramp, and they were really popular. 41 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:38,240 They released this song called The Logical Song. 42 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:44,440 And basically, it's this song about trying to find your purpose and all this. 43 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:45,440 Here are some of the lyrics. 44 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:50,280 There are times when all the world's asleep, the question runs too deep for such a simple 45 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:51,280 man. 46 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:52,920 Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned? 47 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:54,720 I know it sounds absurd. 48 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:57,600 Please tell me who I am. 49 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:04,840 Now I'm bringing up this random secular song because it was top ten in the United States 50 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:06,760 and in Canada. 51 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:13,320 So for some reason, a lot of people really resonated with this idea of like, who am I? 52 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:18,720 The whole song was about existentialism, which is, you think, that's not a very common popular 53 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:19,720 thing to talk about. 54 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:25,720 But a lot of people are really trying to figure out these big questions like, why am I here? 55 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:26,960 Where did I come from? 56 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:28,240 What is my purpose in life? 57 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:29,600 Who am I? 58 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:36,160 Fortunately, as Christians, we have the answer to these questions. 59 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:42,160 But the world outside of us tends to struggle to answer these questions. 60 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:44,500 So today we're going to be exploring these questions. 61 00:03:44,500 --> 00:03:45,860 Why am I here? 62 00:03:45,860 --> 00:03:47,300 Why are you here? 63 00:03:47,300 --> 00:03:49,960 What has God called us to do? 64 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:53,100 And that's why the title of the message is True Purpose. 65 00:03:53,100 --> 00:03:57,160 So before we begin, I'd like to say a quick prayer. 66 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:02,520 Dear Lord, thank you so much for bringing us all together here, the Sabbath. 67 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:10,040 I ask that you can re-sinner us as Christians and to re-sinner us in our true purpose and 68 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:16,080 to remind us now what your word says about our true purpose as Christians. 69 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:20,680 I ask these things in Jesus' name, amen. 70 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:25,720 So to get started figuring out what our true purpose is, let's go back. 71 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:27,760 Let's lay our foundation here. 72 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:30,080 Let's go back to this Ephesians verse we read. 73 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:35,100 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves. 74 00:04:35,100 --> 00:04:39,720 It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. 75 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:45,680 So the very foundation of our relationship with God is in grace that we accept through 76 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:46,680 faith. 77 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:47,680 This is a free gift. 78 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:51,360 This is a free opportunity of redemption and love and connection that God has given us 79 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:53,380 freely through His grace. 80 00:04:53,380 --> 00:04:55,480 This is our foundation. 81 00:04:55,480 --> 00:05:01,120 And understanding this, we're going to look at some of the things Paul says in Ephesians 82 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:02,120 3. 83 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:06,620 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake of you Gentiles. 84 00:05:06,620 --> 00:05:12,600 So he's doing something for the sake of the Gentiles, and I want to dial in on this phrase 85 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:14,280 here, for this reason. 86 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:19,320 And he's saying for this reason, he's referring to this grace that God has given us. 87 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:24,360 In Ephesians 3, too, surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that 88 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:28,200 was given to me for you. 89 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:30,720 This key phrase here, for you. 90 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:35,740 So this grace that we're experiencing in our Christian relationship with God, it's not 91 00:05:35,740 --> 00:05:38,180 just for us to keep to ourselves. 92 00:05:38,180 --> 00:05:46,080 God has also given this grace, this graceful relationship as He's made stewards of us. 93 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:51,080 He wants us to share this grace with other people, which leads into our first purpose. 94 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:54,840 This purpose number one, working for the salvation of others. 95 00:05:54,840 --> 00:05:59,760 And a great way to work for the salvation of others is to be a steward of the grace 96 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:02,480 that God has given you. 97 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:08,120 He makes us stewards of His grace so we can pass it on to others. 98 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:14,040 Jesus came in contact with people in the Bible about 132 times, but only six were in the 99 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:19,160 temple and only four were in the synagogues, and 122 were with the people in the mainstream 100 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:20,440 of life. 101 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:25,680 And this kind of ties back into the message that the pastor preached last weekend about 102 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:29,400 us being fishers of men, but sometimes we get into this group where we're always fishing 103 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:34,360 in the aquarium, we're always fishing amongst ourselves, and never really wanting to get 104 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:41,400 our hands dirty and wanting to get out in the world and catch a catfish or two. 105 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:47,560 See when I was a little kid, me and my siblings, the only thing we ever wanted to do all day 106 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:50,280 was just play video games and watch TV. 107 00:06:50,280 --> 00:06:54,840 And my parents were trying to figure out a way to get us to go outside more and to do 108 00:06:54,840 --> 00:06:56,940 our homework and to be responsible. 109 00:06:56,940 --> 00:07:01,920 So they came up with this bright idea called funny money. 110 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:06,840 Now parents don't get any bright ideas, but this is how funny money worked. 111 00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:10,080 Funny money was this imaginary currency that my parents came up with. 112 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:13,320 And in order to earn funny money, you had to do responsible things. 113 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:17,600 You had to do your homework, you could go outside and play. 114 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:21,520 Anything that did not involve a screen, if you did that, you could earn funny money. 115 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:27,560 But you needed funny money if you wanted to do anything that involved a screen, computers, 116 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:29,760 video games, TVs, you had to spend funny money. 117 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:34,600 Okay, well let me tell you, we were rolling in the funny money. 118 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:38,280 I mean, we were filthy, stinking rich when it came to funny money. 119 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:42,280 We did all the chores, we did all the homework. 120 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:44,600 We had so much of it. 121 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:50,760 But the problem was is we were bored all the time because we never spent our funny money. 122 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:54,480 We were afraid to lose it, we hoarded it because we didn't want to have to do more chores to 123 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:56,400 get more of it. 124 00:07:56,400 --> 00:08:01,720 But the problem with that was we never actually reap the benefits of all that funny money 125 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:03,040 we had. 126 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:08,700 And I think we can apply the same principle to our relationship where we are just so rich 127 00:08:08,700 --> 00:08:12,840 in the grace of God, we are so rich in the light and the truth and all these things that 128 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:16,920 God gives us, but we hide behind it. 129 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:19,840 And we keep it to ourselves. 130 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:24,520 And a lot of the time it's because we are scared to be in the world. 131 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:30,440 And instead of being like this image, we should be more like this where we are opening up 132 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:35,160 this grace, we are being a steward, we are sharing this grace with others and we are 133 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:36,360 not just keeping it for ourselves. 134 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:41,680 We are not keeping ourselves in a state of sadness and disappointment by hoarding all 135 00:08:41,680 --> 00:08:44,960 this grace that we have out, we are sharing it with others and we are connecting people 136 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:45,960 with God. 137 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:52,800 So that's our first main purpose, working for the salvation of others by being a good 138 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:57,960 steward of the grace that God has given us. 139 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:03,040 Ephesians 3, 8 says, although I am less than the least of all the Lord's people, this grace 140 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:07,680 was given me to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ. 141 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:11,640 So here we have Paul, this man is so rich in Christ, he is in the truth, he is in the 142 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:13,000 light. 143 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:17,080 But take note of the kind of language he uses here, he is calling himself less than the 144 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,720 least of all the Lord's God's people. 145 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:25,140 And this touches on an important point that this grace has not been given us, even to 146 00:09:25,140 --> 00:09:28,700 us to make us proud or haughtier or better than others. 147 00:09:28,700 --> 00:09:32,240 When it comes to working for the salvation of others and fulfilling your true purpose 148 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:37,120 and getting your hands dirty, I can tell you from personal experience that if you want 149 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:41,640 to keep someone out of the church, it's to be a self-righteous Christian or to take a 150 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:48,360 moral high ground or to act as if this richness in spirit that you have has put you in a place 151 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:51,360 above this other person. 152 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:58,800 The Bible clearly lays that out, that our grace, we should be humble with it. 153 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:03,220 When I was a kid, my dad used to wrestle with me. 154 00:10:03,220 --> 00:10:07,800 And somehow I had this superhuman strength where I was able to throw him across the room 155 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:12,840 and beat him up and whenever I punched him he'd fly. 156 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:18,080 But sometimes I would get cocky and my dad would start using a little bit more strength 157 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:22,920 and all of a sudden I couldn't throw him around anymore. 158 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:27,240 It was because my dad wasn't using his full strength. 159 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:31,760 He was using just enough strength for him to be playful with me. 160 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:35,120 And as a result I actually got better at wrestling as I got older. 161 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:39,120 And as I got a little bit older and I got a little bit bigger he used a little bit more 162 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:41,080 strength as we played. 163 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:46,840 So what I'm trying to illustrate with this principle is that there has to be give and 164 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:48,200 take with our interaction. 165 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:53,320 If we're in a position of power as Christians, which we are, because we have truth, we have 166 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:59,800 understanding, we know what true purpose is, we are in a position of power whenever it 167 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,440 comes to people who aren't in this light. 168 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:06,360 So the last thing we want to do is force our will upon this person, not allow there to 169 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:10,880 be any give and take or any interaction where they can't grow. 170 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:15,880 There has to be play, there has to be able to be some sort of challenge that isn't too 171 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:19,360 much or too little that can enable a person to grow. 172 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:22,920 And I think whenever we're trying to fulfill our true purpose and we're working for the 173 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:30,800 salvation of others we have to be very, very intentional about not being prideful or haughty 174 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:35,880 or being forceful with the grace that we have that God has given us. 175 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:38,680 It's an important point. 176 00:11:38,680 --> 00:11:42,040 So now we're moving into our second purpose, purpose two. 177 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:47,640 Now this ties into this working for the salvation of others but it's a bit more focused on prayer. 178 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:51,600 Prayer is one of the biggest purposes you can have as a Christian and one of the first 179 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:56,240 things you want to pray for people is power. 180 00:11:56,240 --> 00:12:02,160 Ephesians 3.16, I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through 181 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:08,280 his spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 182 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:12,280 I've recently been getting into a really good habit of praying for the Holy Spirit on a 183 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:17,880 daily basis but I've also come to realize that you can also pray for the Holy Spirit 184 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:21,800 for other people and you can also pray for the Holy Spirit for people who may not even 185 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:27,880 be believers to help them triumph over the sins or the struggles that they may be having 186 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:33,200 with the devil that's preventing them from having a relationship with God. 187 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:38,320 I personally didn't join the church until I was an adult and as a young adult and as 188 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:42,680 a teenager I was completely in the world and I was not interested in God at all. 189 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:49,440 I was doing all the partying and all the things a worldly person would do but in the background 190 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:57,760 I had a lot of family that was actively praying over me my whole life and I seriously doubt 191 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:02,920 I would be right here right now if it wasn't for those prayers that were being sent up 192 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:07,720 for me and I don't want to stand up here and tell you that you can pray people into 193 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:13,200 heaven but I'm going to encourage you to try because I really don't think there's any hurt 194 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:14,200 in trying. 195 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:18,920 Your prayers do make a difference and your prayers may or may not be the reason somebody 196 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:21,360 responds to God. 197 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:24,800 It's a purpose to be, tying back into prayer. 198 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:32,680 So not only are we praying for people's victory and salvation, we're also praying that they 199 00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:36,840 can actually come to an understanding of who God actually is and can actually have an intimate 200 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:39,760 experience and relationship with God. 201 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:46,480 Ephesians 3 17, and I pray that you being rooted and established in love may have power 202 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:52,920 together with all the Lord's holy people to grasp how wide and how long and how deep is 203 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:57,520 the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled 204 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:01,880 to the measure of all the fullness of God. 205 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:05,880 So you know when you're praying for people you may notice that somebody's having a serious 206 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:07,600 issue. 207 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:12,540 You may pray that they overcome this drinking addiction or whatever it may be but the do's 208 00:14:12,540 --> 00:14:17,600 and don'ts and the victories and the losses really don't mean anything unless this person 209 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:24,000 is actually able to have a real connection and a real experience with God that is centered 210 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:32,600 in the fullness of God, God's love, God's grace, that wonderful amazing experience every 211 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:38,920 Christian has had in their life where they have experienced the fullness, the joy of 212 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:43,680 God and has been able to taste God and know that he's good. 213 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:50,000 So that is the second thing we want to be praying for people. 214 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:52,640 So are we working and praying for the salvation of others? 215 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:59,760 Are you fulfilling your true purpose by being a good steward of God's grace that he's given 216 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:00,760 you? 217 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:05,480 Are you fulfilling your true purpose by praying for others, by praying that they may have 218 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:10,920 victory, that they may have understanding and knowledge of the goodness of God? 219 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:15,880 Because when you're doing those things you are fulfilling your true purpose. 220 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:22,960 You are being the person that God has created you to be. 221 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:28,120 Ephesians 3 20, now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine 222 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:33,960 according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and 223 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:38,360 in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. 224 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:41,080 Amen. 225 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:45,680 You guys got the answer to life's biggest questions. 226 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:49,360 You've got the answers. 227 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:50,360 And never forget that. 228 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:56,480 And never take that for granted because you have an amazing opportunity and amazing privilege 229 00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:02,960 to be an instrument for God and to be a steward of his grace, to disciple people, to pray 230 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:08,480 for them and to be the best version of yourself that you can be. 231 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:12,000 And that's in Christ fulfilling your mission as a Christian. 232 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:17,120 Dear Lord, thank you so much for bringing us together for another Sabbath day. 233 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:23,200 Thank you so much for giving us an opportunity to serve you and to be a part of your will 234 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:24,200 and a part of your kingdom. 235 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:30,400 I ask that you continue to bless us with your Holy Spirit and your presence and your wisdom. 236 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:36,480 I ask that you bless the special outing that we have for Potluck and you continue to be 237 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:42,240 with all of us and all of our loved ones and to fulfill all of our silent prayer requests. 238 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:43,240 Ask these things in Jesus' name. 239 00:16:43,240 --> 00:17:04,280 Amen.