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Even if you don’t know why you are here this morning, God knows why you are here.
Titus 2:11-14 – John 3 – Numbers – Jesus tells us that we need to be saved, and that we need to be born again. He also refers back to a place in Numbers, where the people of Israel who had been bitten by a poisonous snake were told to look at a “serpent on a pole” and they would be healed.
If we look, in faith, to Jesus Christ who was raised up on a cross, and if we believe that he can and will take away our sins… The poison of sin can be taken care of in our lives.
What happens when we are saved? The Bible tells us that salvation produces some results in our lives. Salvation produces some “peculiar” people.
- Denying, ungodliness, worldly lusts.
- There is some living as well, righteously, Godly.
Is there a dramatic difference between the way you live your life and the way that your neighbors live their lives? Are you dramatically different than you were before you were saved? If not, there isn’t something wrong with God. The problem is with us.
Walk Away?
There is a disturbing trend amongst our churches today, there are more and more people who are choosing to walk away from what they professed in the past. Why is that?
The trend is very real. The majority of those young people who chose to leave, don’t throw away their beliefs and meaningful relationship with Jesus “on purpose.”
Why do you do it?
This is an important question. Those who’ve walked away generally do so because of how they answer this question.
- Why do you do do the things you do?
- Why do you live the way you do?
- Why do you do “it?”
Are God’s reasons for living the way we do not good enough? Or perhaps we aren’t relating these reasons as well as we should. You’ve probably heard, “well look at where your grandkids will be.” It’s true, but its also not working as well as a “reason” for why we do the things we do. Little course shifts in each generation create incredible shifts in direction over time.
The choices you make about what is acceptable for you can affect about 50,000 people in 6 generations. Its true… do the math.
- Why is it sinful to brag about your accomplishments?
- Why shouldn’t we run around wearing a t-shirt with the name of a worldly band on it?
- Why shouldn’t we enjoy all of the things coming out of Hollywood?
- Why is it wrong to break the speed limit?
- Why is it wrong to disobey your boss?
There are loads of questions we could ask about practical things like this. Why? Look at where your grandchildren will be? My church says so? Are those reason enough?
Lets look at some Biblical reasons.
- Obedience – “Thus saith the Lord” shows up some 400 reasons in the Old Testament alone. God asks and expects us to obey. It isn’t that God is trying to make your life miserable, instead he is looking out for your own good. He always has your good in mind. While obedience is an important reason to do things, it isn’t the only reason.
- Protection – Is the reason that we do things because God is protecting us? There are so many things that God is protecting us from. 1 Samuel 2:9 – If protection is the only reason for us to do things is the only reason we do things, there is a chance that we’ll get in trouble when we find out that going past those guardrails doesn’t “kill us.” Again, this is an important reason to do the things we do, but it can’t be the only reason.
- Identity – Numbers 15 – The fringes on their garments were to help them remember that they were different, to identify themselves. – 2 Corinthians 6:17 – Come out and be separate. Is this why we do the things that we do? This is, again, a Biblical reason for doing things, but it can’t be the only reason.
So why do we do it? Why do we live the way we do? Could there be another reason? Let’s talk about some of those things in the next several sessions.
The Series
This is part of a series of messages preached by Glenn Horst at our Youth Rally weekend in March 2016. All of the sessions are linked below.
- Living Life with Purpose – Session 1
- Living Life with Purpose – Session 2
- Living Life with Purpose – Session 3
- Living Life with Purpose – Session 4
- Living Life with Purpose – Session 5