Rock Solid: Mission
LISTEN:
NOTES:
Rock-Solid: “Mission: Building a Life that Counts”
February 4th, 2024
Somewhere down deep all people want to matter – and they want their work to matter.
Luke 6:46-49 (NIV) 46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”
As crucial as foundations are for sustaining structure integrity – they are the beginning of the spiritual life building process, not the end.
The most asked question of all antiquity is this, “Why am I here?” This question is primarily a question of worth and purpose.
3 Core Beliefs that Lead to Building A Life that Counts
1. I matter.
2. I have purpose.
3. I belong.
Mattering is at the core of emotional health. Mattering is connected to being known & loved.
Being known reverses the feelings of insignificance.
Being known impacts your belief of mattering.
If you are going to build a life that counts you have to begin here – you have to believe that you matter to God!
Mattering has less to do with us and more to do with who we matter too!
“To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.” Tim Keller “The Meaning of Marriage”
Psalm 139:1-18 (AMP) O Lord, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up [my entire life, everything I do]; You understand my thought from afar. 3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And You are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue [still unspoken], Behold, O Lord, You know it all. 5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And [You have] placed Your hand upon me. 6 Such [infinite] knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high [above me], I cannot reach it. 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will take hold of me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will cover me, And the night will be the only light around me,” 12 Even the darkness is not dark to You and conceals nothing from You, But the night shines as bright as the day; Darkness and light are alike to You. 13 For You formed my innermost parts; You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was being formed in secret, And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written the days that were appointed for me, When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape]. 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I could count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.
Satan applies his greatest pressure to the points that matter the most.
If you spend more time with content that erodes your foundation than you do supporting your root system of identity, the results are inevitable.
I matter because I am known and loved by God!
3 Core Beliefs that Lead to Building A Life that Counts
1. I matter.
2. I have a purpose.
Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV)8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Purpose is woven into your very fabric of your being.
Purpose = Doing Good Works.
Comparison negatively impacts identity.
Doing good works roots identity.
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” Pablo Picasso
Don’t think “what is my purpose is life?” Think what are God’s purposes for my life. The first feels illusive, the last is liberating and expansive.
God created me on purpose with real purpose built in!
3 Core Beliefs that Lead to Building A Life that Counts
1. I matter.
2. I have a purpose.
3. I belong.
John 3:16 (NIV) “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.”
2 Corinthians 5:17-20 (NIV) 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
“…if anyone is in Christ” is a statement of joint source.
“…gave us the ministry” is a statement of joint calling.
“…committed to us” is a statement of joint trust.
“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors” is a statement joint mission.
Don’t look to others to validate that you matter. You are known and loved by God.
Don’t guess at your purpose. Step courageously into any opportunity God lights up for you.
Don’t walk alone. You have been accepted into the Family of God and this local family of God. There is plenty of room at the table for you to link arms with others.
Mission21
As a church, we have chosen 4 areas of ministry outreach/purpose.
Defense of Life
Advocating for a Biblical model of human sexuality and marriage
Justice for the marginalized
Help for the poor and needy.
The Middle Tennessee Pregnancy Center
2027 total visits consisting of life affirming ultrasounds, peer-to-peer mentoring, pregnancy consultations, parenting classes, Bible studies, English classes for Spanish speaking community, and other medical services.
494 individual clients/families
1396 parenting classes
394 ultrasounds