Purpose
Hope Is Here • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Welcome/Thanks
Welcome/Thanks
Summer Rhythm to Fall Rhythm: good job! You need this for you and your kids
Thanks for giving! New givers… faithful givers increasing… makes a difference
Finances have been a focus… working hard on expenses… want to launch again!
Series Intro: Hope Is Here
Series Intro: Hope Is Here
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Hope is Here Graphic/Weekend Titles
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Hope is a 4-letter word in Iowa (and actually, anywhere… literally… but you know what I mean)
Hope feels naive - better to plan for the worst and be surprised
But hope is different than naiveté; here’s how the Bible defines it:
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Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
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One of those verses that makes you do mental gymnastics…
technically, a biblical definition of faith—but we can derive a definition of hope from it
confidence | assurance; hope | do not see
so…
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Biblical hope is remaining confident about the future even when the present is uncertain.
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Story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego: hope! But also… fire! Not naiveté; hope! So that’s where we’re going in this series. How do we have that kind of hope in a world that just seems to be bent on hopelessness.
This weekend: purpose.
Weekend Intro: Purpose
Weekend Intro: Purpose
Let me set this up:
SHOW PICTURE OF HOOK RACK
This is what you would see in our house as you walked in the door from the garage; maybe you have something like this in your house
this fills up as the school year goes on - especially as the weather gets colder
(you’ll notice that I don’t have a spot on here)
and on closer inspection…
SHOW PICTURE OF RACK COMING OFF WALL
It’s starting to break away from the wall… BECAUSE… my kids’ backpacks go from weighing about 3 pounds to about THIRTY POUNDS as the year goes on.
Now: the purpose of the rack is to hold up some of the most important daily items that our family uses. Coats, backpacks, sports gear… whatever. That rack has a pretty important purpose. If (when!) that thing finally gives way and takes some drywall off with it, it’s going to make our daily operation very inconvenient and way less efficient.
Illustrates an important thing about purpose:
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Purpose is a weighty, heavy thing.
If we don’t hang our purpose on something strong enough to hold it up, it’ll fall—and we’ll fall along with it.
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What do I mean by that?
Well… what do we hang our purpose on?
job/career - but what if you lose it? what if you don’t get hired? bad boss? someone gets promoted over you? strong enough to hold it up?
family - but what if your spouse is unfaithful? or tragedy strikes your kids? or you do something to blow it up? strong enough to hold it up?
passions - i love to write, hunt, travel, or… collect Stanley mugs… but one day you won’t be able to do what you love. strong enough to hold it up?
causes - give myself to helping, or social justice, or civics, or political action, in word or deed. But you have a finite amount of energy, and the same problems remain. strong enough to hold it up?
approval - what others think about me, who i’m hanging out with, what circles i’m invited into… but crowds are fickle. strong enough to hold it up?
Whatever we hang our purpose on… man… it’s just a weighty, heavy, important thing.
And with so much uncertainty… it’s hard to find something that’s strong enough for us to be hopeful about it holding up.
Let’s see what God has to say about this. Turn with me to Luke 5.
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Luke 5:1-11
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Luke 5:1–11“One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”
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Ok. So there’s the story. Illustrates some of the things we just said about what we hang our purpose on:
sometimes you work your hardest and it doesn’t matter (can’t hold up)
you’re a fisherman… but no fish (can’t hold up)
But look at what Simon (who Jesus later renames Peter) says to Jesus in verse 5:
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“Because you say so, I will.”
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I’d like all of us to say this out loud together. Across all of our campuses, out loud, please, repeat after me:
“You say.” (You say.)
“I will.” (I will.)
“You say.” (You say.)
“I will.” (I will.)
Here’s the deal:
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The only thing strong enough to hang our purpose on is the Word:
What God revealed in Jesus and the Scriptures.
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That’s what we mean by “the Word.”
Jesus is the Word. That’s what John says. He’s the Word of God. God revealing himself to us. When Jesus speaks, it’s God speaking.
The same is true of the Scriptures (when properly interpreted). When we understand, believe, and obey what God says to us in the Bible, it’s God speaking to us.
The only thing strong enough to hang our purpose on is the Word.
Simon was a professional fisherman. It’s how he paid his bills. It’s what put food on his table. He had thousands of hours doing it by the time Jesus tells him to go back out.
And when he takes that step of faith and obedience, he wasn’t just fishing anymore:
He was obeying.
And this will completely shift your perspective if you can grab onto it:
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If you hang your purpose on God’s Word, then you can have purpose no matter what you’re doing—or what’s being done to you.
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You can have purpose—even if you’re working a dead-end job.
You can have purpose—even if you’re facing a terminal diagnosis.
You can have purpose—even when your kids go nuts and you feel like a failure as a parent.
You can have purpose—even when you’re walking through uncertainty and pain.
Simon wasn’t fishing; he was obeying. His purpose wasn’t to just catch fish; it was to do what Jesus said.
Jesus had purpose, even when he was hanging on a cross. He wasn’t dying a tragic death; he was obeying.
This is why Jesus says that you’re blessed when you’re poor, or crying over your loss, or when you wonder if you’re gonna have enough, or when you don’t respond with unkindness, or when you get punished for doing what’s right.
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Your purpose is more about Who you’re walking toward than what you’re walking through.
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Walk toward what Jesus says. Walk in God’s ways. And you’ll have purpose no matter what.
What does this look like? How do we live this out?
(Story about convo with Pastor Phil… 5 questions he asks as he reads God’s Word…)
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Finding Purpose in the Word
A promise to trust
A command to obey
A truth to embrace
A warning to heed
An encouragement to rest in
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