Lost Have You Lost Your Purpose? (Part 1)

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1 Mailing Address: PO Box 797 Molalla, OR Phone: Fax: Pastor Dale Satrum Lost Have You Lost Your Purpose? (Part 1) Intro: Jer. 50:6 My people have become lost sheep They have lost their way and cannot remember how to get back to the fold. (NLT) Ez. 34:16 I will search for My lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again (NLT) We can get lost in so many ways. For the next 4 weeks, we are going to look at 4 major ways we can struggle feeling lost in life, and just how God wants to bring back again. The first of these areas so many of us have struggled with is purpose. What am I here for? What s my purpose in life? To not answer this question is to live without a directional compass. You re a ship without a rudder. Purpose (or lack thereof) is what steers a person s life; influences their decisions. Purpose gives us a sense of meaning and fulfillment. Without it, we re just adrift on the sea of life or worse, we re headed in the wrong direction! To answer the purpose question, we have to go back to God s original design back to the Garden of Eden. Back to Adam and Eve. What was His original intent? From the beginning, we see mankind created for 3 specific purposes. I. We Are Created For Intimate Relationship With God A. God s original purpose was all about relationship Gen. 1:27 So God created people in His own image; God patterned them after Himself; male and female He created them. (NLT) 1. Why did God create mankind in His image? Why did God pattern us after Himself? For relationship! Animals are not made in the image of God. Angels are not made in the image of God. Only people! 2. W are the capstone of God s creation. We are made for eternity. God created other eternal / rational / relational / emotional / spiritual beings like Himself. His image doesn t refer to the physical, but to the immaterial part of who we are. All of our internal qualities. Page 1

2 3. God made us in a specific way so that we could relate to Him. Gen. 3:8 Toward evening they heard the Lord God walking about in the garden (NLT) This was their normal experience with God! 4. How something is designed determines its purpose. (Show new fishing pole and reel It has one purpose to catch more fish then the next guy!) Our design determines purpose. This is why Jesus said Mark 12:29-30 The most important commandment is this you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. (NLT) It is the greatest command because it is the greatest purpose we were made for! This is consistent with our design. 5. Form determines function! So many people feel lost because they are living in a way that is contrary to their original design! So many people also feel insignificant because they lost touch with the God who made them. 6. Certain name brands carry value: (G. Loomis Mercedes Rembrandt daughter s purse Dooney and Burk? ) Across your life it says, Made by God! Your value is determined by the God who made you and for the purpose He made you for intimacy with Him! B. Relationship was lost because of sin Gen. 3:23 So the Lord God banished Adam and his wife from the Garden of Eden (NLT) What happened to the relationship? 1. God told them to stay away from one tree the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They didn t and sin entered the human race and that choice has forever impacted our relationship with God. Sin became a barrier and purpose was lost. 2. What people do now is settle for substitutes. Instead of relationship with God we try things like success / money / possessions / pleasure / power / positions / to try to satisfy this internal longing. I ve got to put something in this void I feel. 3. The problem is that none of them work. By themselves, none of these things satisfy. It s all contrary to our design. C. God s plan was always to restore what was lost Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost. (NASB) 1. Jesus came to reconnect people back to the Father back to the original design. Jesus came to remove the barrier of sin and allow people to experience intimacy with God again. Jesus came to bridge the gap between mankind and God through His sacrifice on the cross. 2. Now, we can experience a purpose and fulfillment that nothing on this earth can offer. It is a fulfillment that only comes through experiencing the living Page 2

3 reality of God in your life. 3. Just because provision has been made, doesn t mean we all take advantage of it. Most people are still trying to discover purpose through earthly substitutes. Where are you experiencing your greatest sense of purpose and fulfillment? (career / money / accomplishments / pleasure 4. Would you be willing to explore a greater purpose? One that will satisfy you beyond anything else? One that will leave you saying, Yes! This is what I was made for! Ps. 107:9 For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, and the hungry soul He has filled with what is good. (NASB) Ps. 145:16 You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. (NIV) Since God is our greatest purpose He is our greatest satisfaction! II. We Are Created For Intimate Relationships With Others Gen. 2:18 It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion who will help him. (NLT) This companion was another image bearer like Adam! A. God s original plan was for loving relationships 1. Even though Adam connected with God on an intimate level, God recognized the need for Adam to relate to another person just like himself. The need to experience relationships vertically and horizontally. 2. We were not created to live in isolation from others or independently of others, but in close relational harmony with others. We are relational beings by design. 3. Once again design determines function. Design determines purpose. B. Horizontal relationships were lost because of sin 1. The next story in the Bible is about Cain and Abel. (Gen 4-Summarize) 2. We all feel the effects of sin on our relationships. We all have experienced unforgiveness / bitterness / broken promises / selfishness / pride / We ve all seen relationships destroyed by these things in us and in others. 3. Things haven t changed since the days of Cain and Able. Who hasn t been wounded in a relationship? Who hasn t felt the longing to connect with other people. C. God s plan was to restore relationships 1. Jesus answered this question about what priority loving relationships should have in our lives. Mark 12:31 The second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these. (NLT) Page 3

4 2. It is easy to look at this command and simply excuse ourselves from it because it is impossible! I simply can t love like that! There s too many unlovable people! By yourself, that is true. But, by God s grace, you can. 3. If we are willing to discover our purpose in God / our fulfillment in Him first / God empowers us to fulfill the original design for relationships as well. Rom. 5:5 the love of God has been poured out within our hearts (NASB) 4. God will give us His love for our relationships. Our relationships will be transformed because God will transform us. He will give us His love to love others. 5. Can you imagine what kind of relationships you could have if God s love was poured out into both spouses? What kind of friendships you could have? The changes in your family/ the impact on an entire church. 6. We need to stop settling for superficial relationships. We need to elevate relationships in our thinking as one of the top purposes of my life. Stop looking at them as optional. 7. God wants us to experience tremendous purpose in our relationships with one another. Are you willing to let God change you so that He can change your relationships? 8. Great relationships are the result of agreeing with God s purpose for relationships and then realigning your life around that purpose and settle for nothing less! (Story of conversation in restaurant about the future relationship with my kids) They had bought the lie! III. We Are Created For Intentional Responsibility From God A. God s original purpose was to give meaningful responsibility Gen. 2:15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and care for it. (NLT) 1. Responsibility even in a perfect environment. God created the Garden of Eden so that it needed caretakers. You just can t have a pointless existence. We are designed to require meaningful responsibility. 2. We actually require the fulfilling of responsibility in order to be physically and emotionally healthy people. If you just sat around all week and did absolutely nothing, (couch potato) how would you feel? Lousy! 3. When we perceive that we are not accomplishing anything of value, it negatively impacts our emotions. This is why so many people struggle when they retire. They lose their sense of accomplishment / their sense of purpose. When we lose this, we lose our joy! / lose our meaning. B. Our God-given responsibility was lost because of sin Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden they were supposed to care for. Now what? Page 4

5 1. We find ourselves in the same condition. Instead of experiencing significance and meaning from doing what God originally intended for us, we try to find meaning and significance through alternatives. 2. This world is filled with alternatives that all promise satisfaction and fulfillment, but without God, they leave us empty. Is this all there is? C. God s plan is to restore meaningful responsibility 1. When we give our lives to Jesus, not only is our relationship with God restored, but so is our responsibility from God. Eph. 2:10 For we are God s masterpiece. (notice the value) He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. (NLT) 2. Notice that becoming a believer in Christ is more then just about your eternity. Your purpose is also about fulfilling meaningful responsibility that God has pre-ordained for you to do! 3. We ve all had jobs that seemed rather meaningless / not very significant As a Sr. in H.S. my job was at Willamette Egg Dog Food explain This isn t what God does! He doesn t give us meaningless responsibility. 4. Before the worlds were created, God designed you for relationship with Him / relationships with others like you / He chose significant responsibilities for you to fulfill that would fit your unique personality and passions. 5. God calls us to join Him in what He is doing. We re not called to do our own thing. We re called to do His thing. What s He doing? Finding lost people! Helping them discover their relationship with God / discover relationships with others / and to discover their responsibility from God. 6. I call this Kingdom work. We are His people and we should be about the significant business of His Kingdom! You will never feel lost / you will never wonder about your purpose when you join God in what He s doing. 7. This is why we emphasize serving so much at Foothills. It is how you will discover what God put inside you. It is how you begin to discover what He has created you to do! 8. What roles you out of bed every day? Is it just the dread of responsibility / the need for a paycheck / the habit of the routine? OR is it the fact that God has something significant for you to do! I m partnering with God! Stop believing the lie that you have no significant contribution to what God is doing. Not True! Let me finish with this: Why are these three things so important? (Relationship with God / others / and responsibility from God.) These are the only things that are eternal. These three things are the only things that will last forever. Nothing in this life enters into eternity with you but 3 things! Nothing else continues on for eternity! Page 5

6 My relationship with God My relationships with others My responsibilities fulfilled for His Kingdom in this life are eternal. (rewards) Have you been feeling lost? Do you wonder what your purpose in this life is all about? God doesn t want you feeling lost. He wants you to experience a sense of meaning / significance / and satisfaction that only His purposes can provide. Is it time to begin to realign your life to His purposes and not your own? Page 6