Sermon Tone Analysis

We all have a purpose

Question: Have you ever felt “This is what I was created for.

God put me here for this moment”?

Maybe you’re here this morning and you don’t know what God possibly could do with your life.

“I have never felt as sure of my life as those around me” “I don’t think my talents or gifts lead me to any one purpose.”

Maybe you feel like you haven’t heard from God in a while.

Might be hard to know what He’s purposed in your life if you can’t hear Him.

God has a purpose for your life even if you can’t FEEL it.

He has already given His purposes to us.

Ephesians 2:10

 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

Individual vs Corporate Purpose

Illustration: I woke up last Saturday thinking “I have to decide what to do today?”

There are a lot of things in our lives that our unique to us

Our jobs

Our friends

Our families

Health

Life experiences

Education

Hobbies

Passions

Desires

There are thousands of things that will determine:

who we come across

who we have influence over

our ability to speak into a given situation or experience

our understanding of different areas of life

This individuality is meant for a united purpose

Most people consider the NT to be more directed towards the individual, as compared the OT talking to or about the nation of Israel.

This is a misconception.

Yes, there is a lot of individuality in the New Testament.

But it starts and ends at salvation.

The moment you surrender your life to Christ, you step into a community.

You become a part of the Body of Christ.

Even though your relationship with God is personal, it is also communal.

You cannot take yourself out of the Body..

Even your unique or individual calling/purpose in life is tied to our calling/purpose as the Church

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the LORD’s declaration—“plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope

1 Corinthians 12:12-27

For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ.

13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink.

14 Indeed, the body is not one part but many.

15 If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body.

16 And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body.

17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be?

If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted.

19 And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable.

23 And those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unrespectable parts are treated with greater respect, 24 which our respectable parts do not need.

Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, 25 so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other.

26 So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it

Our Unified Purpose

Our ultimate aim is for the glory, worship, and magnification of our Father.

That is our priority number one.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart/soul/mind/strength.

First and Second commandment

Exodus 20:1-6

Then God spoke all these words: 2 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.

3 Do not have other gods besides me. 4 Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth.

5 Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, 6 but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commands

After that we have 2 other united purposes.

Really these are both ways in which we accomplish our primary purpose.

Share Christ with others (Evangelism)

Build people up in Christ (Discipleship)

Matthew 28:18-20

Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.

And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Pastors, Leaders, Mentors, Friends:

Reed: To live as the reconciled and transformed family of God for the reconciliation & transformation of the world.

Or, perhaps put differently, to call, teach, and empower people to live into their vocation as children of God and disciples of Jesus Christ

Don: The purpose of the church is be family to the newly born.

Nurture, instruction, encouragement, example.

To glorify the Father by the proclamation of eternal truth to lost and saved men.

Eric: Our call is serve Him as he leads us and be obedient.

To share the Gospel of Salvation and share our experience in answering that call and accepting His free gift of Salvation.

In order to share, we must be diligent and intentional in our preparedness.

Along the way, we may be called to build community within the Church, take on various ministry tasks (meeting needs of many kinds), instruct those around us, submit to God given authorities that He places over us, etc.

We got better at living in isolation in the last few years and we have forgotten how we are created to work within a community.

A God-designed, God-called community that is put together to serve The Lord and others.

d.

Chris: Our purpose as the body of Christ is to be the revelation of Jesus Christ in the world.

The purpose of the church is that of a bride.

To serve Christ and wait for the return of Christ

by sharing who He is and in waiting reflect on who He is and what He does.

e. Scott: As the body of Christ- tangibly be His voice, arms, hands, and feet.

As gathered

believers: Worship, discipleship, fellowship, evangelism, ministry.

(Great Commission)

We HAVE to understand that whether we feel it or not, this is our purpose.

Whether we hear God’s voice or not, this is our purpose.

We all know that we need to be sharing the Gospel of Christ.

We are ambassadors.

Ministers of reconciliation.

Do we do that?

As believers, as a small group, as a church; are we doing that?

What I don’t think we all understand is that we are also called to disciple.