October 2-3, 2004, Selected

RECONNECTING THE POWER!
LIVING BEYOND YOURSELF!

*** Ps. 139:13-16 “You shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother's womb. I thank you, You're breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; you know exactly how I was made, bit-by-bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you. The days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day.” [Msg]

YOU ARE PLANNED FOR A PURPOSE!
YOU WERE BORN TO BE A BLESSING! YOU ARE REDEEMED FOR A REASON!

*** Col. 1:16 “For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible…everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.” [Msg]
*** Eph. 1:11-12 “In Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.” [Message Bible]

YOU WERE MADE BY GOD AND FOR GOD!

1. WE ARE PLANNED FOR GOD'S PLEASURE!
*** Rev. 4:11 "You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created." [New Living Translation]
*** Matthew 22:37-38 “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment.” [NLT]
*** Ps. 5:7 “Because of your unfailing love…with deepest awe I will worship….” [NLT]
BRINGING PLEASURE TO GOD IS CALLED: WORSHIP!

HOW CAN I BRING PLEASURE TO GOD?
A. START BY SAYING “ THANK YOU!”
*** 1 Thes. 5:18 “Whatever happens, keep thanking God…. This is what God wants you to do.” [Contemporary English Version]
B. BEGIN A LIFESTYLE OF OBEDIENCE! –
*** John 14:15 “If you love me, you will obey my commands.” [New Century Version]
C. TREAT YOUR WORK AS YOUR WORSHIP! –
*** Col. 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people.”[Today’s English Version]
*** Romans 12:1a “Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.” [Msg]
*** 2 Cor. 5:9 “So we make it our goal to please him….” [New International Version]

2. WE ARE FORMED FOR GOD'S FAMILY!
*** Eph. 1:5 “His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.”
*** 1 Peter 1:3 “All honor to God…for it is his boundless mercy that has given us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God's own family.” [Living Bible]
*** 1 Tim. 3:14-15 “I am writing these things to you….so you will know how to live in the family of God. That family is the church of the living God….” [NCV]

Being a Part of God’s Family = FELLOWSHIP- WHERE YOU ARE CARED FOR AND CARE FOR OTHERS!

*** Romans 12:5 “…so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” [New International Version]
THE PLACE FOR ALL THIS CARE: SMALL GROUPS!

3. WE ARE CREATED TO BECOME LIKE CHRIST!
*** Romans 8:29 “For from the very beginning God decided that those who came to him… should become like his Son….” [Living Bible]
*** Phil. 2:5 “In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus.” [NCV]

TO BECOME LIKE CHRIST = DISCIPLESHIP – THE PROCESS OF BECOMING LIKE CHRIST!

*** Phil. 2:12-13 “Therefore, my dear friends…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” [New International Version]

THERE ARE TWO PARTS TO MATURITY IN CHRIST:
A. OUR PART!

B. GOD'S PART!

*** Phil. 3:12-14 “I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing…!” [NLT]

4. WE ARE SHAPED TO SERVE GOD!
*** Eph. 2:10 “God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.” [NCV]
*** 1 Peter 4:10 “Each of you has been blessed with one of God's many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gift well.” [CEV]

TO SERVE GOD BY SERVING OTHERS! – MINISTRY!

*** 1 Cor. 12:5-7 “There are different kinds of service in the church…. There are different ways God works in our lives… A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church.” [NLT]
*** Hebrews 6:10 “God…will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other Christians.” [NLT]

5. WE ARE MADE FOR A MISSION!
*** John 17:18 “In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world.” [The Message]

GOD GAVE US A MINISTRY IN THE CHURCH AND A MISSION in THE WORLD!

*** Acts 20:24 “I don't care about my own life. The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me—to tell people the Good News about God's grace.” [New Century Version]

OUR MISSION: TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS OR EVANGELISM!

*** 1 Peter 2:9-10 “You are the ones chosen by God…God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.” [Msg]

IS ANYBODY GOING TO HEAVEN BECAUSE OF YOU!?

I CAN LIVE BEYOND MYSELF WHEN I KNOW THAT:

• I was PLANNED FOR GOD’S PLEASURE – that’s WORSHIP! So I’ll use my life to get to know and love God better!
• I was FORMED FOR GOD’S FAMILY – that’s FELLOWSHIP! So I’ll use my life to show love for others in God’s family!
• I was CREATED TO BECOME LIKE CHRIST – that’s DISCIPLESHIP! So I’ll use my life to grow into the likeness of Christ!
• I was SHAPED TO SERVE GOD – that’s MINISTRY! So I’ll use my life to serve God by serving others!
• I was MADE FOR A MISSION – that’s EVANGELISM! So I’ll use my life to share the Good News!

Signature and Date: ___________________________ ______________

*** Acts 10:35 “It makes no difference who you are or where you're from—if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open.” [Msg]

EVERY JOURNEY TO SIGNIFICANCE BEGINS
WITH THE FIRST STEP!