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Loving God’s Great Purposes (Ephesians 1:3-14)

Today we’re going to talk about Loving God’s Great Purposes. God created this world with a purpose in mind and that purpose includes you and me. God purpose is not just a bunch of individual purposes, but it is a great purpose. God’s purpose encompasses the entire creation. The wonderful aspect of God’s great purposes is that you and I have the privilege of being part of them. When we’re part of something much bigger than ourselves, something conceived in the mind of God Himself, it gives us significance. Our lives matter for eternity as we see our individual purposes as part of God’s great purposes.

Our significance in life is not based on the things admired by our culture: wealth, prestige or power. All of those things will have no value in eternity.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NIV)  This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches,  but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD …”

Loving God’s Purpose for Your Life (Jeremiah 29:1-14)

Today my message is entitled “Loving God’s Purpose for Your Life.” God has put in the heart of every person a desire to do something meaningful with their life. We want our lives to matter, we want to make a difference in our world. In other words, we want our lives to have purpose.

Now, if evolution is true, then each of us evolved from the primordial ooze by a series of random chemical events. Obviously then, our lives would have no purpose or point. But God’s Word teaches that you and I are not the product of random events. We have been created by the creator of the universe, God Himself. Since we have been created, our creator has a purpose for our lives. If your life has purpose, then there is a point in each day that God has given you. When you get up in the morning, God has a purpose for that new day.

Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)  For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Loving God’s People in Community (1 John 4:7-21)

http://www.youtube.com/embed/9AkTEFuJh8M Today, we’re going to talk about church. What is the importance of church? A recent poll in April asked the question: Is attending church important? 49% of the people said somewhat or very important, while 51% said not too important or not important at all. About 50:50. When those under 30 were asked the question: only 20% think that attending church is important. Although as people grow older, many do return to church, this number is the lowest ever seen for this age demographic. Today, overall, 36% of people are regular church attenders, the lowest percentage in this decade. While, 40% have not attended church at all in the last 6 months, an all-time high. The top two reasons why people think that attending church is not important are: 1. I find God elsewhere and 2. Church is not relevant to me personally. Those are the opinions about church of people in our society today. So, this morning, we’re going to look at what the Bible has to say about church. My message is entitled “Loving God’s People in Community.” The Bible defines the church as the community of God’s people. The universal church therefore is comprised of all believers regardless of what denomination or local church they attend. By definition, the universal church has only believers in it.

Ephesians 2:19-20 (NIV)  Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household,  built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

Loving All of God’s People (Numbers 12)

Priorities in life are important. The things that you prioritize are the things that you get done. If you don’t have priorities, than you won’t achieve God’s long term goals for your life. Our current message series if called “Four Priorities for Life.” This summer we’ve looked at the priorities of Loving God and Loving God’s Word.

Today, we’re going to begin to look at the third priority, the priority of Loving God’s People. My message today is entitled “Loving All of God’s People.” When I speak of God’s people, I am talking about those who are believers in Jesus Christ. Now, many of the principles that we will be talking about apply to our interactions with non-believers as well, but in this message we are talking about God’s people. In the Old Testament, God’s people were primarily the Jews of the nation of Israel. Even there, God opened the door for those of other nationalities to become part of Israel.

In the New Testament, God’s people are the church, comprised of both Jew and Gentile of every nation. The church is to be an all-inclusive community of those who believe in Jesus Christ, irrespective of language, race, nationality or appearance. When the church was birthed on the day of Pentecost, we read …

Acts 2:5 (NIV)  Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.

Loving the Truth of God’s Word (2 Timothy 3)

The Bible gives us priorities for our lives. God’s Word teaches us how we are to live our lives with God’s priorities. When your priorities are in order, then the rest of life falls into place. In our current message series, “Four Priorities for Life” we’re looking at four of God’s top priorities. The first priority was Loving God. Today, we’re looking at the second priority of Loving God’s Word.

My message today is entitled “Loving the Truth of God’s Word.” The Bible is the Word of God. As such it contains God’s truth. We can say unequivocally that God’s Word is 100% true. No other book can make the same claim.

Psalm 119:160 (NIV)  All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.

Loving the Guidance of God’s Word (Psalm 119:113-120)

Happy 4th of July weekend! I trust that you are having a blessed holiday. We celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, 238 years ago. The Declaration of Independence begins with these famous words …

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,”

So, the founders of our nation, acknowledged their creator God and the rights that He had blessed them with. Today, 238 years later, we must be careful to not forget the godly principles our country was founded upon. As Christians, we have been blessed to live in a country that was founded on biblical principles and gives us the freedom to worship God. Yet, we must remember that our allegiance as believers is first and foremost to the Kingdom of God.

Psalm 144:15 (NIV)  Blessed are the people of whom this is true; blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.

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