This morning through Jesus Christ, you and I are a part of what God has chosen as His priority in the Universe.
We are in partnership with GOD. Think of that. You and I are equity holders in something that will never end, never fail, never decay–we are a vital part of Christ’s church!
God’s plan to work in the world is through His church. Why not remind yourself of that by looking at three passages of Scripture with me. As we open to I Thessalonians 4, you may even want to pencil in the first of three words we will use to summarize our high calling from the pages of your Bibles.
The first word for your purpose in life is MISSION.
• Each of us in Christ’s church has a mission that Paul summarized as “Pleasing God” (I Thessalonians 4:1) “Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God” (NKJV).
We have a mission to please, glorify, serve, and live for God. So if you are a teacher, please God in the way you teach; and if you are a nurse, please God in the way you care for people; and if you are a student, please God in the way you study; and if you are an engineer, a retiree, what ever you do to fill your day—your mission is to please God. The second word describing each of our purpose in life is MESSAGE:
• Our mission is accomplished by the proclamation of a message Paul summarized as “the Gospel of Grace” (Acts 20:24) “But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God (NKJV).
This message of grace—that God did everything possible to be done and anyone can come to Him merely by faith seems impossible. The Gospel is the message of an endless source of divine energy for abundant living!
The third word and final word that sums up our collective purpose in life is METHOD:
• But the most amazing part is that God’s plan to do all this through us is by a method spelled out in Titus 2. Paul summarized this plan as men and women energized by God’s grace to live in partnership with God, a lifestyle that is otherwise impossible.
If you want a summary of our lives as believers it would be: We were saved by God’s grace; we are kept by God’s grace; and we live in a partnership with God, a way that pleases Him and earns His rewards—energized by His grace.