What on Earth Am I Here For
What on Earth Am I Here For?
The Purpose Driven Life #1
September 25th, 2004 and September 26th, 2004
Introduction
Welcome to the first in the Purpose Driven Life Series. The devotional readings start Monday. The small groups begin this week and if you are not in a small group please come Wednesday night and we will help you get into a group. I believe this is going to be one of this church’s greatest times of spiritual growth. We are seeking the Lord about His purpose for us. God has a good purpose for you and this church. What a thrill to be loved by God and placed on the planet for such a time as this!
Rick Warren gave us a great overview Wednesday night and in your small groups in the simulcast. Take out your outlines and look at what we are going to cover today. We are going to look at life’s three greatest questions:
· The question of existence-why am I alive?
· The question of significance-does my life matter?
· The question of intention-what is my purpose?
DVD CLIP HERE
-Everyone asks the question: “Why do I exist?”
-How many suicides have you heard about where people just could keep going because their lives seemed futile?
-There was no overarching compelling reason to keep getting out of bed every morning.
-Suicide is the number 2 killer of teenagers.
-There is a fate worse than dying; it is living and never having a sense that you have a purpose. You are here for a reason.
Example
Dr. Hugh Moorhead , the chairman of philosophy at Northeastern University wrote to 250 well known individuals and asked them “What is the purpose of life?” He published their responses. Carl Jung the famous psychiatrist (they have one of the highest suicide rates) said; “I don’t know the meaning, the purpose of life, but it looks as if something were meant by it. Isaac Asimov said; “As far as I can see, there is no purpose.”
Some other people had some thoughts about it as well. Ashley brilliant said “My life is a superb cast, but I can’t figure out the plot.” Jack Hanley wrote; “I hope life isn’t a joke because I don’t get it.”
-I can remember people in my own life who were desperate for meaning.
-I remember a friend at a party when we were getting ready to go to college and he said he was going to major in psychology so he could figure out what life is all about. (I haven’t heard from him since but I’ll bet he didn’t find it in a psychology textbook.)
-One year the staff got a Christmas card picture and the photographer was great. He was very creative. He told us that he was leaving for Colorado for a year to find himself. He wasn’t lost in Colorado. I’m sure he found that out as well.
· The survivalist says: The purpose of life is to stay alive. Beat death and fate as long as you can. It is a contest.
· The Naturalist says: Life’s purpose is to perpetuate itself. Just keep reproducing. Ice T wrote; “The only reason we’re here is to reproduce. Just chill out and reproduce. Keep the species alive.”
· The hedonist says: The purpose of life is to have fun and party. As one great philosopher said; “We’ll have fun fun fun until daddy puts the T-Bird away.” This is the eternal teenager syndrome. There was a great commercial with about three guys in there mid twenties sitting around as losers and one says; Everyone told me about all the bad things that would happen if I smoked marijuana. Look at me. Nothing has happened to me.
· The materialist says: The one with the most toys wins. Life to them is all about stuff.
-All you have to do is walk through a bookstore and see the hundreds of titles about how to help yourself. If diet books made you skinny we would all be thin. There is every kind of book out there to be better, find meaning, and conquer life.
Matthew 16:25 Message
/Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self.[1] /
Example
In February 1980, the U.S. Olympic hockey team slipped its foot into a glass slipper and walked away with a gold medal at Lake Placid, New York. Those collegians had shocked the world by upsetting the powerful Soviet team, and then they grabbed the championship from Finland while the crowd chanted, "U.S.A.!" Before his team's victory over the Soviet Union which advanced them to the finals, the coach of the U.S. hockey team told his players, "You are born to be a player. You are meant to be here at this time. This is your moment."
Today in the Word, July, 1990, p. 11.
-Everyone needs to know that! You are meant to be here at this time. This is your moment.
-What does God say?
-Is there a reason you are alive?
-He put you here. Why did He do it?
-You were chosen as an object of His mercy to be loved unconditionally by the creator. He wanted to demonstrate eternally what He is really like by how much He has done for people.
-God demonstrated His love for us in Jesus’ sacrifice.
-We are to be exhibit A for all eternity to all who ever wonder about God’s love and goodness.
-Ecclesiastes is a great book to read about “Life Under the Sun.”
-That means everything on this side of eternity.
-In other words, if you look at life without an eternal perspective, this is what it looks like.
-Someone called it the “Book of Sarcasm”.
-He experimented with all of life’s pleasures and then concluded that apart from God, life has no meaning.
-Remember what He said to Jeremiah? Before I formed you in your mother’s womb, I knew you.
-God has a daytimer in heaven with all of my days scheduled in it!
-The Bible talks about the books of heaven being opened. One of them records the days of my life. They were written there before I ever came into being!
-It is very important to know the purpose of something.
Example
A rich man was determined to give his mother a birthday present that would outshine all others. He read of a bird that had a vocabulary of 4000 words, could speak in numerous languages and sing 3 operatic arias. He immediately bought the bird for $50,000 and had it delivered to his mother. The next day he phoned to see if she had received the bird. "What did you think of the bird?" he asked.
She replied, "It was delicious."
Source Unknown.
-Obviously, she didn’t know the proper purpose of that bird.
-You purpose, your life is hidden in Christ with God.
-The only way to know your purpose is to behold the truth of that purpose in Jesus Christ.
Psalm 39
/9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.[2] /
-You know the story. Jesus is walking along and He asks His disciples who others say He is and then He asks who they say He is. Peter says “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus said, that is a revelation Peter. You heard from heaven the truth about me. Now, you are a rock.
-Peter found Himself in Jesus.
-Your revelation of purpose in hidden in a discovery about Jesus and who He really is.
-Your life is hidden in Christ with God.
· You were created to be loved by God.
· I was made to last forever
· I find my purpose by getting to know God
-This is the introductory message and we are going to talk about the five purposes of God for you over the next weeks.
-Get what I said this weekend into your heart and let God breath life on it.
-The revelation comes by talking to Jesus and as a by-product He will reveal by His Spirit the truth about you.
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[1]Peterson, E. H. (1995). The message : New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs (Mt 16:1). Colorado Springs, Colo.: NavPress.
[2]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Ps 36:9). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.