Living Out Your Purpose
Notes
Transcript
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Is crashing your car on purpose still an accident?
Yes and no
Fire insurance vs. arson
FARS - Fatal Accident Reporting System
Fatality Analysis Reporting System
What’s the difference? INTENT
If you have a calling, your life is not willy nilly (accident)
Your life has a purpose!
Nick is teaching on calling
God’s sovereign will
God’s moral will
God’s individual will
Individual will without searching
No matter what your “calling” is, we have to:
Live Rightly
Live Rightly
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
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How? Humility, gentleness, patience, love, unity.
Illustration: HUMILITY TEST!
1. Responding to wrongs - BF/GF doesn’t call
Anger = pride
2. Forgiving others - Are you angry and won’t forgive right now?
Contempt = pride
3. Realizing you’re wrong - I never said that!
Not admitting guilt = pride
4. Asking for God’s help - I’m good, nothing to pray for
Self reliance = pride
5. How often are you annoyed? - Judging other people’s clothing (gaming stuff)
Often = pride
6. Giving in to others - Watching TV
Never = pride
7. Responding to success - Becoming a starter
Boasting = pride
We’re supposed to strive for humility!
Be Unified
Be Unified
Then he breaks down unity:
4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
We’re all the same!
eph 4:4
8 Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
8 Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
Especially as teenagers...
4:
Targum
How many have made a car payment, mortgage payment, own property, have a college degree...
Targum
18 You ascended on high,
leading a host of captives in your train
and receiving gifts among men,
even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.
There’s a lot of life left to live before you think you’ve accomplished everything!
Truth is, we are ALL SINNERS!
No one is holier than anyone else!
xfghfgh
Maybe better looking, taller, richer parents...
9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?
But God doesn’t look at any of that!
To ascend, you must first be lower
As the church, we shouldn’t look at that either
Some say earth, some say hades
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.
Both are true (but what Paul refers to is a question)
Hermie and Rudolph
I believe earth
There once was a guy who worked on an assembly line
But he studied very hard to be a dentist
His boss said, “you need to learn to be like us, or you’re fired!”
Any idea who that was?
Try again: There once was a guy who had a glowing red nose...
Does that help?
Hermie was a dentist judged by toy makers!
Rudolph had a strange nose but it saved Christmas!
How many people do you know that are different?
How many of you feel worthless because your different?
What if those were the things God set aside to do something special with?
As a church, we are supposed to love the misfits!
Work Together
Work Together
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
eph 4:11
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Think of a baseball team
eph 4:11
What do you want in a P? OF? SS? DH?
Apo
Ever notice differences in gear?
Ever look at a 1B glove? Very different from the 3b glove!
What do you want in a RB?
Ever look at catchers gear?
Each one is equipped for their task!
The task that God has you doing, He will equip you for as well!
It does no good for a pitcher to say, dumb catchers don’t do anything important!
Who are you gonna throw to!
Ever see a P about to throw a perfect game and the RF misses a pop fly?
Imagine a baseball team all wearing catchers gear… and trying to bat?!
Imagine trying to catch 90mph fastballs with an OF mitt
Your hand is gonna hurt. Then take a foul ball off your sunglasses...
Baseball teams have 2 major purposes: Get outs, and score runs
The Church has two missions here too: To know the truth and live it out!
So what does that look like?
Paul says:
Don’t Do This!
Don’t Do This!
17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
eph 4:1
17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
stdg
Don’t live like the Godless
What do Godless people look like?
SINNERS!
You cannot expect a Godless person to not sin!
If you have God then, you shouldn’t look like them!
Let me ask: When people see you, do you look like the world, or do you stand out?
If you don’t stand out, you need to ask yourself a question: Do you know God?
If you do, why don’t you show it?
Illustration: 40 year old dating a 15 year old
Cringy, why?
You’re too old for that!
Paul is saying the same thing to the Ephesians
Why are we expected to not act like a Godless person? Because:
You’re different now!
You’re different now!
20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
eph 4:
He’s saying, assuming you know, you should have been changed!
Assuming you have been potty trained...
Stop wearing diapers around the house!
Assuming you know how to walk
Stop sitting in the cart at the grocery store!
Assuming you learned how to read...
Don’t ask mommy to read you a bedtime story!
Assuming you know how to walk
Stop sitting in the cart at the grocery store!
BTW - Don’t ever take a 3-wide stroller to Disney...
Once you know the truth about Jesus, you can’t go back...
You have been born again, stop going back to your sin!
Proverbs puts it this way
11 Like a dog that returns to his vomit
is a fool who repeats his folly.
How many of you eat your puke off the ground?
Then why would you want to keep living like the world?
So Do This Instead!
So Do This Instead!
25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Don’t lie > speak truth
Don’t lie > speak truth
Speak truth
Be patient > forgive
(takes away Satan’s window)
Don’t give Satan a foothold
Don’t steal > work hard to be generous
Work hard
Be generous
Don’t gossip > be encouraging
Now check this:
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
eph 4:
Be encouraging
That’s how we’re supposed to live
Where is your bitterness?
Where is your wrath and anger?
Who have you been putting down behind their back?
Who have you set out to just be mean to?
Replace that with kindness and forgiveness
Don’t forget that Christ has already done that for you!