Pop Off: Living on Purpose
Poppin w/ Purpose • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Big Idea: You were made for impact — God places you where you are on purpose, for a purpose.
Big Idea: You were made for impact — God places you where you are on purpose, for a purpose.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
Hook: Are fireworks loud? Are fireworks bright? I think you’re right, but you’re only right when they are lit. If I brought a firework out, it wouldn’t do all that much. You wouldn’t hear it, it wouldn’t cause any commotion. It’s only able to stand out when it’s set on fire and sent out to fulfill it’s purpose.
Intro:
I. Made on Purpose
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Illustration: I once tried to build a laundry sorter. I drew it up. Got my tools and started going. I thought I knew what I was doing. I ended up making a giant wobbly shelf that was more of a hazard than a help. God didn’t make you that way.
Saved then sent for a purpose.
You were made on purpose.
You are a workmanship
Created and then recreated.
God has had a plan to use you where you are.
To do what?
II. Made for a Purpose
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Illustration: A pet peeve of mine—Christian stuff. Just because we add a cross or a fish to something, that doesn’t make it Christian. What comes from it is what makes Christian.
Do what you are doing, but for Him.
You don’t have to drop everything and do only Christian “branded” things. You can play sports, watch movies, listen to music—do the things you have to do or enjoy doing but pray through how they can be used to fulfill God’s purpose for you. If you like playing baseball—what does it look like to do that in Jesus name. Not just pointing to the sky when you hit a double, but encouraging teammates, sharing what God’s doing in your life, inviting people to church.
Like to watch a particular show? Invite people over. Build community. Use that community to build relationships, while not letting the world impact you. Stay different. When people eventually have a question that the world can’t answer, they’ll come to you.
This only happens when we let Christ rule. When we dwell on His Word and let it change our hearts.
III. Made for Impact
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
An old illustration: I came by a basket of peaches in my neighborhood. I looked in their yard, and guess what kind of tree I found? What fruit does a peach tree bear? Apple tree? Fig tree? Jesus tree? We should be bearing the fruit that God wants us to and the world should see it!
Jesus explained it this way. If you want to “pop out.” Bear fruit. Let your life be one that exudes the One who saved you. If you’re able to keep doing the things youre doing while bearing fruit, keep doing those things. Cut off the things that prevent you from living for Him and leading others to Him.
This year, you can make an impact in the lives of people around you if you approach it with a spiritual intentionality that you’ve never had before.
Closing: God made you on purpose. You are not the result of a bunch of random events. God made you for a purpose, He has in mind exactly how He wants to use you and what He wants you to accomplish. You can make an impact, whether you think you’re the right person or not, if God chose you, then He’s right. You can be the spark that causes a whole chain of events that would bring a breath of Life into the dying people around you. That’s my prayer for you, that you realize it, you’re prayerful about it, then that you are intentional to see it happen!
