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Defining Our Purpose
Acts 2:42-47
September 14, 2003
 

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Introduction:
  1. What is our reason for being (individually and corporately)? Do we have purpose?
    1. Many are under the illusion that the church is consumer driven
    2. Others believe that we are service driven
    3. In part, both are true, but the they are the result of a heart’s desire to love God
    4. In the Church of Jesus Christ, if our decision-making process is not driven by a desire to fulfill the command of Jesus to love one another we are at odds with God’s purpose for the Church and His people
  2. Do we fulfill that reason for being in our lives (daily, monthly, or yearly)?
  3. How do we know? What is the standard of measure?
  4. Feelings of fulfillment, or lack thereof, abound in our land
    1. Marriage and family
    2. Work
    3. Relationships (outside the home)
    4. God
  5. Jeremiah tells us the heart is most deceitful of all things – Jeremiah 17:9 – "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
  6. Jeremiah then tells us the standard of measure is God – Jeremiah 17:10 – "I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve."
  7. How, then, do we measure up?
    1. Romans 3:23 – "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
    2. Philippians 3:7ff – "Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss…I consider everything a loss…I consider them rubbish…"
    3. Feelings cannot be the standard by which we determine our purpose and effectiveness
  8. The truth determines our purpose and effectiveness
    1. Proverbs 9:10 – "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding"
    2. John 14:6 – "I am the way, the truth, and the life…"
    3. Knowing God’s revelation of Himself empowers us to define our purpose in life

Transition:

  1. The Church of Jesus Christ has often acted on the impulse of the moment
  2. The Church of Jesus Christ has often acted on the notions that "if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it" or "it was good enough for those before us, it is good enough for us"
  3. The Church of Jesus Christ has often acted on the premise that change is not only undesirable, it is possibly the vilest form of evil
  4. The Church of Jesus Christ must come to the understanding that God brings His unchanging message of love and reconciliation through Jesus Christ in ways that meet the needs of a changing world
  5. What does that mean for us? We will explore this in the months ahead.

Text: I originally shared this text with the Search Committee at CCC in May 1988. I believe now, as I believed then, that this text gives definition to the Church of Jesus Christ and its purpose. Today is an introduction to an extended study of our purpose.

  1. "They devoted themselves…"
    1. The word "devotion" in English means attachment, commitment, loyalty, and dedication
      1. Let’s amplify it – "to pay persistent attention to"
      2. Our language gives us a sense of the meaning, the actual meaning gives us a sense of the critical importance of relationship with God and His people
      3. We devote ourselves to that which we believe is important – "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21)
        1. We devote ourselves to those we love
        2. We devote ourselves to our jobs
        3. We devote ourselves to materialism
        4. We note in the Sermon on the Mount that we cannot serve two masters
    2. The devotion of the child of God must first be directed towards the Father, through Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit
    3. Devotion to our Lord and Savior is evidenced by the way we love one another
  2. "Everyone was filled with awe…" Literally – "and fear was coming on every soul…
    1. This "fear" is best understood as awe or amazement
    2. The emphasis is on the continuing nature of the experience of God’s presence in the lives of God’s people
    3. "Every soul" indicates that all the people, not just people of faith, were effected
  3. The Lord added to their number daily…
    1. The net result is that many were brought to faith in Jesus by the ministry of the church
    2. The church was faithful and God caused growth

Conclusion:

  1. Today outlined three points
    1. Devotion
    2. Experience
    3. Response
  2. We will look at this in more depth in the weeks ahead
  3. In defining our purpose we must
    1. First, know who we love
    2. Second, know God’s presence
    3. Third, know God’s will
  4. Together, let us define the purpose that God has for the Community Congregational Church

 

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