Perspective and Purpose

Greetings from the Church in Abilene

[from Adriana]

Perspective

As Pastor Adriana mentioned, we are from the church in Abilene. We are blessed to be with you this Sunday and see all God is doing in the building created for Worship, and Study, and Prayer, and Celebration, and Mourning, and Living real life together.

It is not an accident you are here today. God brought you here today - as He brought us here too. He loves you so much!!!! So much, he sent our family all this way to tell you that!

God LOVES you!

God has a PLAN for you!

God’s PLAN for you is GOOD!

--

This morning I would like to look at a passage in the book of Matthew. Your Bible may say, “The Gospel, according to Matthew.

Gospel = “Good News”

That is Matthew’s “good news” account of Jesus.

In it, I want us to see an encounter between Jesus and His followers, called disciples.

Disciples = “Jesus’ Followers”

(more than following on Tik Tok, these people were commited to learning from Jesus all of His ways.)

Volunteer to read Matthew 16:13-14

Matthew 16:13–14 NKJV

13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

This was a very important question that had to be answered before they could continue on this journey with Jesus. They answered with the rumors and guesses that had been circulating. You have heard people say Jesus was what?

A great teacher

A prophet

The son of God

A miracle worker

A false prophet

Crazy

Then Jesus turns the question the same way it must be turned for you and I this morning:

Volunteer to read Matthew 16:15

Matthew 16:15 NKJV

15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Who do you say Jesus is?

What others believe about Jesus will not save you. What others believe about Jesus will not determine the life you live.

Jesus asked, “Who do YOU say that I am?

Who am I to you? That is personal. That is a direct connection. It is not, “Pray for me brother” where a third party is involved. This is direct. Jesus is asking you, WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?

The rest of your life and eternity rests on your answer.

If you see Jesus in a limited way, you not expect Him to save you from everyday problems, let alone Salvation from sin.

Consider the gods (little g) portrayed in movies today.

They “Need” the love and adoration and prayers of people to stay strong.

Example: Here we see Odin from the movie Thor. He is supposed to be the most powerful, and yet he is missing an eye

Example: This one is Zeus from the Clash of the Titans. He got weaker because of the lack of prayers from humans.

If Almighty God of the Universe was like that, He would not be All Mighty and would not be worthy of my worship.

We serve a God that beyond any of these descriptions.

God is Self-sustaining (He needs nothing to exist)

God is All Knowing (There is nothing He does not know)

God is All Powerful (with just His words, He created all of life)

God is so big and yet, He cares about how your day is going.

Imagine how it would change your life if you truly believe Jesus is everything He says He is.

If you believe He is not God, than you do not believe He has the authority to save you from your sin. But if you believe He is Alpha and Omega, that He is Beginning and End, that He is the only one worthy of praise. If you believe He has conquered death and the grave, it changes how you live. Let’s look at how Peter answers Jesus

Matthew 16:16 NKJV

16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Peter declared the truth about Jesus.

Matthew 16:17–18 NKJV

17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

SIDE NOTE: It is interesting that Peter declared the truth about Jesus but then denied Him later on. I mention this, because you may feel bad that you messed up and feel like it is too late for you, but I want you to know. We have all messed up. Even after we have Jesus in our life, we have to humble ourselves and ask Him to forgive us for making wrong choices.

Back to Jesus’ response.

Jesus said He was building His church.

You are building a church here, right?

You are making a place that is special for coming and worshipping God together.

Jesus said, “I” - meaning It is His Job to build His church (HINT: He is not building a building)

Jesus said , “will” - meaning it is something that is present and future.

Jesus said, “Build” - there is a process to what He is doing

Jesus said, “My” - this means what He is building belongs to Him, for Him, to Him, through Him

Jesus said, “church” - and we understand this to be not an organization, or facility.

Jesus is building a church made of people. You are part of the church.

The Church meets in the “church”.

This whole first section I called “PERSPECTIVE” because we need to shift our perspective of

Shift: Who He Is

Shift: Who We Are

[use drywall]

You are part of His church. You have something for the people of God here. God has made you in a unique way to be part of His church.

And the gates of hell will not prevail against it!!!!

If you understand Who He is, you know there is nothing that can win if you are following Him and being who He called you to be. This perspective needs to change if you think He is small or that you are not an important part of His plan.

Purpose

In the beginning we said three things, do you remember?

God loves you

God has a plan for you

God’s plan for you is good.

God made you on purpose with a purpose for His purpose

Let’s read Ephesians 2 together. Beginning in the first verse.

Ephesians 2:1–2 NKJV

1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

You see, on our own, we do bad things and do whatever pleases us. But He made us alive! Our perspective was wrong. We saw things the wrong way and our sin caused us to be dead on the inside. But with Jesus, we are made alive.

[Glasses Example] - If I take Jeremiah and color his glasses blue. How will everything look to him? What if he alway had blue tinted lenses and never saw anything except through those glasses, and then I clean off the blue tint for the first time. Everything would look so clean and crisp and clear.

We cannot see our purpose in God when we see life through the stain the world places on us. When we change our perspective we begin to see the life He has for us. I encourage you to read verses 3-9 when you can, but let’s jump down to verse 10.

Ephesians 2:10 NKJV

10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

You are His workmanship - He made you on purpose

God crafted you in the womb of your mother. God formed you with love and value.

Created in Jesus for good works - He made you with a purpose

This is not just doing good things. This is a purpose that is meant to be done as we connect ourselves to Jesus and follow His will and plan for our life.

Which GOD PREPARED beforehand - to fulfill His purpose

This is the warning part. God prepared this plan in advance.

It is His plan.

It is for His glory.

You cannot fulfill YOUR purpose for His glory (it is fake)

You cannot fulfill HIS purpose for Your glory (this is the wrong perspective and this prides leads us to destruction)

Is God calling you to preach? To teach kids, youth, adults? To visit those who are sick? To make food for people who are hungry?

I love the vision God has given your pastors!!! So, talk to them. Pray for them. Partner with them. Fulfill your purpose before God with them.

My prayer for you is that you will get to know Jesus more and more - it will mean everything as you live out this amazing life of purpose.

I pray you recognize Jesus is the head of this church and He is building this church into a people ready for the return of the Lord.

He gets the glory. He gets the honor. He gets all the praise. He is faithful!!!!!

Let’s Pray Together!

[Adriana and DJ to pray over the pastors and the church as they begin this new season of ministry]