Welcome - if you are brand new this is also for you but i want you to know this isn’t something i do every week its really about the first part of the year….want to encourage you with some things that I think are important this year: from the outset - what is priority in your life? Everyone is at a different part of the journey…. but my encouragement to you today as your pastor is this: MAKE A MOVE

Do you need to get planted? / We want to help you. Download the APP.

Do you need to get baptized? Get signed up for the next one…. Feb 4th.

What does your family need? / We have some exciting things happening and coming up in the life of YOUTH HOUSE, but I need to talk to parents.

Commit to ensuring your kids are IN YOUTH HOUSE on Wednesdays:

There is a very small chance your kid will be a professional athlete, or a dance star, or a whatever - but there is 100% certainty they will enter eternity and stand before God.

1 Timothy 4:8 “For “physical exercise has some value, but godliness is valuable in every way. It holds promise for the present life and for the life to come.””

(head to Colonial church.life & sign up and we will get in touch with you - or just show up wednesday night Middle school is is at 6pm, High School is at 7.30pm.)

Turn with me in your bibles to PSalm 139.

Psalm 139:1–24 ESV

1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. 7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. 13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. 19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! 20 They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain. 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

“Defined & Assigned”

Prayer.……

I want to continue in this month of January talking about purpose and calling for the year ahead... this month has been interesting as we began with anointing sunday. Anointed & appointed. Today: Defined and Assigned.

“WORDS CREATE WORLDS”

which is simply to say, that words mean something. Definitions matter,. And when it comes to something with such high stakes such as your future which includes 2024 you better believe that these definitions are important.

Words create worlds, and we can allow THE WORD to create ours for us.

When we understand that, we can quickly reach a conclusion as believe which is that God has already defined much and I can take the shortcut in many respects and just find out what God says about whatever it is thats in front of me.

We live in a time where SELF reigns in the Culture. I mean its an SELF-IE culture through and through…..And the enemy is pleased with that because it gets the focus off God, and onto SELF. The selfie culture is a culture that’s obsessed with self, and created or REFINING self which is almost WORST

The enemy is trying to tell young people:”

You can re-define yourself.

You can announce to the world, this is my ERA

That I can be whoever I want, or (worse still) feel I can be

(quite a picture isn’t it?)

But as bible-believiNG JESUS following Christians there is something we know and we are coming back around to here today which is this:

THE WORD OF GOD CLEARLY DISPLAYS THE WORKS OF GOD & WHAT HAS BEEN REVEALED… but ALSO DEFINED.

We cannot re-define who we are, Because God has already made us wo we are

Write this down: What God has defined, I cannot change (now this may be hard to hear today - but im glad you are here today, because its the truth

“Christianity isn’t true because it works, It works because its TRUE”.

and you need to know that Today. This isn’t a self help GOSPEL> this is a GOD LOVES YOU, HAS CREATED YOU, HAS DEFINED YOU & SENT HIS SON FOR YOU

1.I AM DEFINED

You will never fully understand your calling if you don’t understand your value first. One is a massive help to the other.

What I do for God is secondary, who I am to God (in Christ Jesus) is primary.

your value outweighs your service. Many people miss this. They think they are wretched, miserable and think the only way you can get in Gods Good graces is to work your tail off for life and he might place some value on you because of that - Thats the FALSEHOOD of RELIGION>

The reason Jesus told the story of the prodigal is to understand something entirely different. That it doesnt matter what you’ve done, you have a God who outlasts your efforts and yoru past and who welcomes you home not to a position of a slave, but rather a son.

we could miss this

that im not a slave but a son’

that im not a reduced in value but im esteemed in terms of value

That my life is actually a real thing, that really matters

(yes you, Your life MATTERS - deeply to God)

I am clearly defined by God, and David seems to have an intricate knowledge of this doesnt he? He seems to have got this right here. Psalm 139 teaches us much about it.

Psalm 139:13–16 ESV

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

I cant find anything more intimately known about and written what David said outside of what JESUS said:

do you remember what HE SAID?

he gets done telling the people THIS IS HOW YOU PRAY, How you fast well…. Not to put your faith in earthly riches which rust out… then he says - dont be anxious about your life BECAUSE

Matthew 6:25–34 (ESV)

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 7:11 ESV

11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

its one of his how HOW MUCH more comments, he’s in effect saying - LISTEN get this inside your thick heads fellas - GOD LOVES YOU LIKE THIS MUCH.

(add that to your CV this week…. at the bottom… worth more than many sparrows - see if that gets you into an interesting conversation with your would be boss!)

WHAT AM I GETTING AT? You have IMMENSE value to GOD.

You were and now are CLEARLY defined by God Himself. Not a single part of you is a mistake despite what ANYONE has SAID.

the Bible makes clear - you are value

You are not worthless- Your worth something

You are not insignficant, your actually significant to him

David writes

You are intricately made

No one makes something intricately and then assigns ZERO to that

Made in the image of God - and Given a life thats meaningful

Psalm 100:3 “3 Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”

That God himself MADE YOU - and wrote out your days

my question today is… do you believe it?… and if you believe it, do you take it to heart, does it dictate things in your life

“the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was NONE of them”

You are defined as valuable, but how do you know?

need more convincing? well here it is

you were defined because of the following three things:

what’s been made (design) / The DESIGN INFORMS THE USE!———— I look at peoples lives and its so easy to see what they are so clearly good at because you can see what they are created to do. The design speaks of the designers intended use! / I look at my wife and i marvel… mostly at the way she was DESIGNED… to SING. to WORSHIP. To Lead people to gather people up and help them enter into Gods presence. The DESIGN INFORMS THE USE

Whats been spoken (said-word-declared-proclaimed) / So much of what we need to know to define our lives and how to come around certain things in our lives we can simply go towards whats been proclaimed in the word, whats been spoken by God, by the WORDS of JESUS & revealed in the rest of the New Testament. Whats been spoken is final. Thats how i live my life. I like the old pentecostal saying “if God said it, I believe it, and that SETTLES it”. It settles it for me. Does it settle it for you ? DO you allow your life to be defined by HIS WORD> When we face tough things, have issues at hand, struggling with SIN - What do you do? Do you try to re-define something God has already said? or do you allow the WORD to Create your world for you… thats life by the book…

“Gods WORD isnt OLD FASHIONED, its WELL FASHIONED” - Its perfect. everything you need to live your life the RIGHT WAY!

3.

and finally

3.Whats been redeemed (The Cross, JEsus on it & the resurrection)

What am I trying to say - the same thing David was thanking God for in the Psalm. Thank you God that I am fearfully and wonderfully MADE.

God MADE YOU. You dont need to re-make yourself. Or believe the lie that you need to.

2.I AM ASSIGNED

If i have a value like that - i must have a purpose that fits that

Its because you have been assigned

Defined & Assigned:

Paul said it to timothy this way:

2 Timothy 1 (ESV)

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,

2 To Timothy, my beloved child:

..… 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. 13 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

Saved (Valued)

…. Called…

Called to WHAT?

Called to a life loving and living for him - Thats Living CALLED

Calling always equates to serving him in some form and thats the best part is that its different for every single person. Thats the diversity of the body of Christ. Christ’s little SENT ONES sent out to love, to live for and to serve him all of their days.

Ive had many different assignments, but always one call: to Love and Live for God - All of my days. he may change up the assignment

I used to be assigned to the marketplace - that was my assignment

I am now assigned differently!

You have a holy assignment this year - but how do you know

“your assignment from God is not made up, its PRAYED DOWN”.

What am I assigned to?, I dont know - But God does

and maybe you already know & God has told you.

Assignments