Please remember that sermon notes are meant to act as a guide and may not be exactly what was preached.

In God’s word we read, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together… Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:13-16).

Unfortunately, those days can be cut short, sin and death entered our world when the first two people choose to go against God’s will and rebelled in disobedience to God’s clear command. In Genesis 2:17 we read that God had instructed Adam and Eve, “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Man did what God had said not to. Therefore, death an intruder, an alien to God’s plan and desire for mankind’s good—came, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned…” (Romans 5:12).

This was not God’s plan, we choose to rebel and to live in rebellion; each of us going our own way, doing our own thing. But, being a creation of God, each and every one of us is born into this world with a purpose in His plan. The Lord tells us in Jeremiah 29:11, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'” The choice is ours: His plan, His will, or our own. The first part of His plan for you is salvation. Jesus Christ died for sins according to the scriptures, he was buried, and was raised on the third day according… But God sent His one and only Son to be the propitiation for our sin. His atoning sacrifice on the cross has made a way for every sinner to be forgiven, justified, sanctified, and saved to eternal life. Saved for His purpose…

It is Jesus that gets you back into a right relationship with God the Father, who puts you on the right path, who gives you a new life that is to be lived for Him! At the moment of salvation you are then made a part of the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). 

It is as a part of the Body that you can find and fulfill your purpose in His plan. So the first and second parts are being saved and being a part of His body. What is the duty of the body? Is it not to make disciples? Are we not disciples that are making disciples? Did that very first church in Acts not devote themselves to the apostles teaching? To each other? To the breaking of bread and to prayer? When we gather to do these things, we are preparing to fulfill the ‘go’ of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).

He wants to use you to bring others to the knowledge of the Truth. Our purpose in this world, as believers, is the same as that of Jesus: to be instruments of God for the salvation of those around us. We are to be witnesses of the Gospel, we are to share the good news, right where God has placed us, and He will, as you fulfill your purpose, equip and gift you for the common good of His Church.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10

So then, my dear ones, just as you have always obeyed [my instructions with enthusiasm], not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation [that is, cultivate it, bring it to full effect, actively pursue spiritual maturity] with awe-inspired fear and trembling [using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ].

For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure.

Philippians 2:12-13 AMP

The enemy of our souls is out to tempt us, to turn from God and turn back to the world. If he can’t do that then he wants us to lose our focus or to split it between the things of the world and God’s plan for you within the body of Christ. The enemy’s biggest fear is for you to become what you were created to be.

Luke 9:57-62, “Lord, but first.”  We seem to come up with every excuse under the sun so that we do not have to follow what the Lord is calling us to do and to be which is a part of His plan, His purpose –His Church. But are those excuses sin? Are you placing something before Christ and His Church? Are you doing your own thing—going your own way? Do you have a future and a hope outside of God’s plan and purpose that is promised His people? 

Being a part of His plan and fulfilling your purpose is inconvenient, messy, scary, and something that will require you to step out in faith, or make you work outside of your comfort zone. But, I have found that when I have to totally rely and depend on God, to trust in Him and take that next step of faith/obedience, it is there and then that I am stretched and that is when I grow. And that is His purpose and plan for me, that is where I am conformed into the image of Christ, where I become more Christlike.

Digging Deeper

• How are you fulfilling God’s purpose for your life now?
• How are you practicing the ‘one anothers’ of God’s Word? 

Further Reading: Matthew 28:18-20, John 20:21, 2 Timothy 1:9, Ephesians 1:11, Ephesians 2:9, Ephesians 3:11, Philippians 2:2, 1 Thessalonians 4:7, 1 Peter 2:21-25, 2 Peter 3:9, 1 Corinthians 12:7-18