SPEAKER_00: How's everybody today?
SPEAKER_00: Doing good?
SPEAKER_00: Y'all a little more awake than first service.
SPEAKER_00: That's not fair though.
SPEAKER_00: It's not fair.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, we are so glad that you're joining us.
SPEAKER_00: I'm really looking forward to this new series, Life on Purpose.
SPEAKER_00: Like you said, pick up a devotional in the back on your way out today.
SPEAKER_00: It's a really helpful to study God's word as we do it together.
SPEAKER_00: Would love to see everybody participate in that.
SPEAKER_00: And I would just love to make this ask.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, I don't know what you have going on the next eight weeks, but I would just like to invite you to be here every week.
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, well, you're the pastor, you're supposed to say that.
SPEAKER_00: I know.
SPEAKER_00: But I just get so excited in seasons of ministry when God is doing something beneath the surface.
SPEAKER_00: And this is one of those series where I feel like God is bubbling something up underneath the surface.
SPEAKER_00: And I really believe that if we capture this message and we hold on to it, I think it's gonna do something in us as a church.
SPEAKER_00: I think it's gonna put some foundation in us, some strength.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody looking for some strength back into some places of their life?
SPEAKER_00: I believe, I believe it can give you some fresh vision for your life.
SPEAKER_00: And so as we have celebrated three years, y'all, come on, three years.
SPEAKER_00: I think I think this series is so fitting for the next step.
SPEAKER_00: What does it look like to grow with strength?
SPEAKER_00: What does it look like to have purpose in what we do?
SPEAKER_00: My son, uh today, I've I've titled today's message Finding Purpose.
SPEAKER_00: And my son this week was listening to my older sister, or his older sister, uh Emmy.
SPEAKER_00: She was in the car, and this week Emmy said, I really like being an older sister, and I said, Why?
SPEAKER_00: She said, Because I get to boss them around.
SPEAKER_00: But sometimes that comes with the good side too, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Uh she had her Bible in the back seat of the car on the way to school one day this week, and she was reading out of Genesis, and she was teaching my son the creation story, and every pastor in the front seat was preaching her down, you know, just excited.
SPEAKER_00: And I watched his wheels spin.
SPEAKER_00: You ever seen a kid just think?
SPEAKER_00: And I was watching him in the rear view mirror as I was sitting in traffic on 1488.
SPEAKER_00: And I was watching him think, and I was ready for some real deep theological question, and as a pastor, I was ready to answer it, y'all.
SPEAKER_00: I was born for moments like this when all of a sudden, out of his mouth, he said, Dad, if God created all the animals, why did he create fire ants?
SPEAKER_00: I said, you know, son, that is a really good question.
SPEAKER_00: And so all week I've I've been like, you know, thinking about it.
SPEAKER_00: So finally I I stopped online and asked the smartest source we know, Chat GPT, why did God make fire ants?
SPEAKER_00: And other than the fact that God made them to try and kill us all, uh uh they came up with some real, actual, real answers that they actually aerate the soil, give it air.
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh.
SPEAKER_00: You're learning stuff at church today, people.
SPEAKER_00: Come on.
SPEAKER_00: They they actually consume, you like this one, they consume insects.
SPEAKER_00: Did you know that?
SPEAKER_00: They make this heat, sweltering heat a little bit better.
SPEAKER_00: And uh they also carry nutrients in the ground to places.
SPEAKER_00: Uh okay, sounds great.
SPEAKER_00: Is that good enough reason for y'all?
SPEAKER_00: You live in Texas, so no, it's not.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, I got to thinking about it.
SPEAKER_00: I thought, if if God has a reason for fire ants, how much more does he not have a purpose for us?
SPEAKER_00: If in every small detail of this world God was intentional and strategic, and I began to think about this because this is my five-year-old asking this question.
SPEAKER_00: Now, now I know I know it's innocent, I know it's a cute question from a five-year-old, but here's what I know about him that he doesn't yet even know about himself.
SPEAKER_00: That this is a question he will ask on a much bigger scale for the rest of his life.
SPEAKER_00: Not about fire ants, but about him.
SPEAKER_00: God, why did you make fire ants one day will turn into God?
SPEAKER_00: Why did you make me?
SPEAKER_00: Well, God, why did you make fire ants will one day turn into a question that says, God, why am I here?
SPEAKER_00: And everybody in the room who has asked these questions of the Lord knows that you never graduate from it.
SPEAKER_00: Am I right?
SPEAKER_00: There's never an age where you promote yourself out of wondering, God, what is it that you want to do through me?
SPEAKER_00: And that's why I love this series, because I really believe that at the heart of this series, that when we get into the book of Colossians, I believe what we're gonna discover and find is a purpose worth living for in any season and every season of your life.
SPEAKER_00: And the thing is, we're all asking these big existential questions, and am I supposed to be here, and why am I here?
SPEAKER_00: And am I doing the thing I'm supposed to be doing?
SPEAKER_00: And maybe the question for you in some seasons of your life turns into, is there more for me?
SPEAKER_00: And as we ask these questions, we all know that in some seasons, these questions get even bigger and even louder.
SPEAKER_00: Am I right?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, when life is good and you're on vacation, you may not be asking this question much, but when you're going through seasons of change, how many of you know this question comes to the forefront of your mind quite often?
SPEAKER_00: It's in seasons like when you're graduating college and wondering what you're gonna do with the rest of your life that you begin to ask these questions.
SPEAKER_00: It's to the parents who are praying for their kids who are graduating college, praying that they find the right answer to these questions.
SPEAKER_00: It's when you're looking for a job.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody looking for a job?
SPEAKER_00: You're praying and believing that something will come along and what you find is that oftentimes not necessarily theologically correct, but our identity can become tied to what we do in life.
SPEAKER_00: We ask these big questions Am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing?
SPEAKER_00: Is this the job you had for me?
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe in a season of your life where you finally arrive to that position in your career that you've always dreamed of having, and you get there only to find out it's not that satisfying and the boss still isn't that great.
SPEAKER_00: It's in those times in our life where these questions get real big.
SPEAKER_00: I find that in seasons of loss or grief, these questions get even bigger.
SPEAKER_00: When you're going through a hard season, these questions get bigger.
SPEAKER_00: And for those of you who are enjoying the gift of time, i.e.
SPEAKER_00: retirement in your life, you have discovered that you have pursued something your whole life only to be retired for five whole minutes and find out you're bored, and your wife is already for you to get out of the house.
SPEAKER_00: Amen, ladies.
SPEAKER_00: I talked to a recently retired guy after first service.
SPEAKER_00: I said, How's it going?
SPEAKER_00: He said, My wife's got a list for me this big.
SPEAKER_00: He said, What can I do at the church instead?
SPEAKER_00: Listen, uh, maybe you go to work every day and you find purpose in what you do, but what happens when you lose the thing that you do every day?
SPEAKER_00: When your schedule changes, when your rhythms change, discovering that purpose has to come from somewhere greater than just what we do.
SPEAKER_00: I believe the book of Colossians is going to be a great answer in this season of our lives as we deposit God's word, his truth in our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what I want you to know: that what Paul said to the Colossians early on in their faith is the same message for that young church that he would have for this young church.
SPEAKER_00: That if his word was true for them, then it's true for you.
SPEAKER_00: Because honestly, when we think about it, you're not the only one asking these questions.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, everybody goes through this.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody begins to ask the questions about God, why am I here?
SPEAKER_00: In fact, Lifeway did a study, and when they did that study, here's what they discovered.
SPEAKER_00: Eight in ten people, eight in ten Americans wonder how they can find more purpose and meaning, and they think about this at least once a month.
SPEAKER_00: And then there's other of us who think about this at least once a week or a day.
SPEAKER_00: They found that 81% of people believe that there is an ultimate purpose in their lives.
SPEAKER_00: This is not limited to just believers, this is people in general saying there's got to be a greater purpose.
SPEAKER_00: The issue is not whether or not we believe there's a greater purpose.
SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes we feel like the issue is finding that greater purpose.
SPEAKER_00: I love how Mark Twain said it.
SPEAKER_00: He said it this way when he said, There's the two most important days of your life are number one, the day that you are born, and number two, the day you find out why.
SPEAKER_00: As we study this and lean into this, I want to encourage you to read the book of Colossians this month with us.
SPEAKER_00: As you read it, here's what I think.
SPEAKER_00: I think you're gonna begin to find answers that have been right in front of you the whole time, and you had no idea they were there.
SPEAKER_00: That's what you'll find is God wants to put some things in you so that we don't have hard days and have to answer this question.
SPEAKER_00: You have his truth hidden up in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to Proverbs chapter 19, verse 21.
SPEAKER_00: It says it this way many are the plans in a person's heart.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody have plans for some Tex Mex chips after church today?
SPEAKER_00: Many are the plans in a person's heart.
SPEAKER_00: Plans for what I'm gonna do, where I'm gonna go, who I'm gonna spend my time with, the kind of house I'm gonna buy, what my bank account will look like by the time I retire, what I'm going to do when I retire.
SPEAKER_00: Many are the plans and a man's heart, but listen to the thing that never fails.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord's purposes are what prevails.
SPEAKER_00: The thing you have to hold on to, the thing that matters the most are the purposes of God in your life.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what I want you to know as we start this series.
SPEAKER_00: We really believe this.
SPEAKER_00: The fundamental premise of this message and this series is this that God has a plan and a purpose for your life.
SPEAKER_00: And just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there.
SPEAKER_00: And just because you can't feel it in the moment doesn't mean that his purposes in you will not prevail.
SPEAKER_00: Because they will.
SPEAKER_00: God is good like that.
SPEAKER_00: So as we do this, we're gonna go through the book of Colossians.
SPEAKER_00: And the book of Colossians is a letter to the early church.
SPEAKER_00: And there's a guy named Epaphras, and he went to Ephesus, and Paul had started a movement, and a work of God was taking place in Ephesus, and it was one of those places where everybody came and everybody went.
SPEAKER_00: It was a gathering place, it was an influential city.
SPEAKER_00: And Epaphras comes to Ephesus and he hears one of Paul's messages and he gives his life to Jesus and he goes home changed.
SPEAKER_00: Because when God gets a hold of your life, you can't go back the same.
SPEAKER_00: Because when God goes and gets a hold of your life, here's what happens: you start to wake up to the purposes that he's had for you all along.
SPEAKER_00: And Epaphras goes back to the same place that he always was, but his purpose was alive in him, and he goes back, and when he gets back to Colossae, he begins to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ with his family.
SPEAKER_00: His family gets saved for the saving of households.
SPEAKER_00: His family gets saved, his friends begin to get saved, and now we have this thing growing and giving birth, and now we have the church that Paul is writing this letter to the Colossians.
SPEAKER_00: Paul's now in prison, and he's writing this letter.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what his hope is.
SPEAKER_00: Hope is the same reason I preach every Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: The hope is this that you would be encouraged in your faith, that you would be strengthened in your faith, and that at times you would receive the correction from the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And so Paul is writing this letter to encourage them and strengthen them, but he's also writing to correct them.
SPEAKER_00: Because here's what's happening: it's it's a melting pot of people.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever got together over, let's say, you know, family Thanksgiving and found out your family members don't have the same political persuasions that you do?
SPEAKER_00: You get together with some people at work and realize they think about life a little different than you do.
SPEAKER_00: And so what happens in those contexts is it's a melting pot.
SPEAKER_00: You got ideas from the left and ideas from the right.
SPEAKER_00: You got ideas from childhood and you got ideas from self-help books, you got ideas from religion, and it's this big melting pot, and so the church is taking off, and they found Jesus, but they have all of these ideas.
SPEAKER_00: And what I've realized in my life is I'm I'm no different.
SPEAKER_00: That over the course of my life I've received wisdom and advice from friends, some of it good, and some of it not so good.
SPEAKER_00: I I've received counsel from books, I've listened to preachers online, I've I've been to different churches, I've studied God's word, I've read different articles, and what I've found in my life is that my life is a big melting pot.
SPEAKER_00: A melting pot of ideas that have to go at some point in some season of my life.
SPEAKER_00: I have to figure out how to file all of these ideas in my brain.
SPEAKER_00: I know it's not very many, but it's a few.
SPEAKER_00: What am I gonna do with this?
SPEAKER_00: Where do I place this?
SPEAKER_00: Do I hold on to this?
SPEAKER_00: Is this from God or is this from man?
SPEAKER_00: Does this sound good, but it's really not godly?
SPEAKER_00: And so the early church is doing the same thing, and they have teachers that have come in and they are giving them ideas and things to add on to their faith, and so there was a lot of legalism in their day.
SPEAKER_00: Some of the Jewish roots are coming and saying, hey, listen, there's a strict moral standard that you have to uphold, and and there's legalism in the church, and there's some mysticism.
SPEAKER_00: They got people having angelic visitations and worshiping angels, and Paul is correcting them here, saying, hold on just a second, let's all get on the same page.
SPEAKER_00: And when he does this, there's also people at the time with very deeply asceticism, and basically what's happening is it's like this religious uh deprivation.
SPEAKER_00: You're self-imposed, you're you're doing things to try and earn the favor of God, to try and earn salvation and holiness.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul is correcting these ideas, saying, hold on, you're gonna miss your purpose if you miss this.
SPEAKER_00: And so what he is doing is he's correcting what we would call in the church world heresy.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, there are ideas that are creeping into the life of the church, some of them intentional.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes people are just standing up trying to lead people astray.
SPEAKER_00: But oftentimes what I find is it's not the intentional ones because those have big red flags written all over them.
SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes what I find is it's the ideas that just subtly crept in.
SPEAKER_00: Well, my mom told me this when I grew up, so it must be true and it contradicts the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Or I read this in a book somewhere and it really helped me in a hard season, but it contradicts the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: And so what Paul is doing is saying, heresy cannot live in the church.
SPEAKER_00: We have to get back to our original purpose and the original ideas of what Jesus came to do.
SPEAKER_00: And so as we read the book of Colossians, this is what Paul is doing.
SPEAKER_00: He's trying to instill purpose in them by helping them understand, because here was their idea.
SPEAKER_00: Their idea was, you know, there's got to be some greater spiritual fulfillment.
SPEAKER_00: There's gotta be something more out there.
SPEAKER_00: I know I got Jesus, but there's gotta be a deeper secret mystery.
SPEAKER_00: We later in later years we'll see Gnosticism on the rise, and it's this idea that there's some secret hidden revelation that we don't already know about that's gonna bring a greater spiritual fulfillment and purpose.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe the reason I haven't found my purpose is because I haven't tapped into that secret.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul comes forefront to give us Colossians chapter 1, verse 27.
SPEAKER_00: If you're ready, say I'm ready.
SPEAKER_00: The whole series right here.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to come back.
SPEAKER_00: To them, God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery.
SPEAKER_00: What is the mystery?
SPEAKER_00: Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
SPEAKER_00: Christ in you, the hope of glory.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, I'm gonna tell you what the mystery is.
SPEAKER_00: I want to tell you what the secret everybody's talking about is.
SPEAKER_00: I want to tell you where your greatest satisfaction and your greatest fulfillment will come.
SPEAKER_00: I want to tell you the answer to every existential question you will ever have.
SPEAKER_00: It is right here.
SPEAKER_00: Christ in you is all you need.
SPEAKER_00: Your greatest purpose in life will never be discovered if you don't first discover Christ in you.
SPEAKER_00: He uses the phrase hope of glory.
SPEAKER_00: It's this idea of your greatest hope.
SPEAKER_00: It's this idea that Christ in you is a present reality, but is also a future expectation of one day I'm gonna be with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I know where my greater mission and my greater purpose lie.
SPEAKER_00: But what does Paul have to do?
SPEAKER_00: He has to help them with all these ideas they're subscribing to.
SPEAKER_00: They're subscribing to all these religious patterns and practices and all this spiritual activity, seemingly spiritual activity, and he he's having to correct some thinking and some systems and some beliefs.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because they have added them on top of their faith with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We live in an add-on world.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know that?
SPEAKER_00: How do I know?
SPEAKER_00: Uh it's really simple.
SPEAKER_00: Hi, welcome to Chick fil A.
SPEAKER_00: What's your name?
SPEAKER_00: My name is Clayton, and I would like to have a number one.
SPEAKER_00: Please add pimento cheese.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, where you at?
SPEAKER_00: Nobody?
SPEAKER_00: Golly.
SPEAKER_00: Come on.
SPEAKER_00: The rest of y'all get down front right now.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna lay some hands.
SPEAKER_00: Add on pimento juice, add on lettuce, add on tomato, add on bacon, add a few Chick-fil-A.
SPEAKER_00: Take away the pickles, because that just ruins the sandwich.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: I don't what is wrong with you people?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I thought I was a home crowd today.
SPEAKER_00: Nah.
SPEAKER_00: The pickle juice ruins the bun, people.
SPEAKER_00: Even if you have to take it off, come on, I see you.
SPEAKER_00: I uh we live in a world that adds on.
SPEAKER_00: Would you like to add a milkshake?
SPEAKER_00: You bet I would.
SPEAKER_00: Would you like to add Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Pepper?
SPEAKER_00: Yes, make it a large, because that's the drink of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Like just we live in a world where at any time, anywhere, you can add on pretty much anything you want to.
SPEAKER_00: And the challenge is when that kind of living takes place in the church, it's very dangerous.
SPEAKER_00: We lose our perspective on our greater purpose in life.
SPEAKER_00: You can add on to anything.
SPEAKER_00: I we had some people we got to go to Disney World with, and we were so excited a couple years ago because we got to go stay at Disney in the resort park for free, somebody.
SPEAKER_00: How many of y'all know nothing in life is free?
SPEAKER_00: Because then I went to buy the Disney World tickets.
SPEAKER_00: I thought I was already in the park.
SPEAKER_00: No, you gotta buy the tickets.
SPEAKER_00: And when I went to check out and bought four tickets for two whole days and the price came up, your entire life savings.
SPEAKER_00: They had the audacity to ask me a question.
SPEAKER_00: Would you like to add the fast pass?
SPEAKER_00: No, I would not like to add the fast pass.
SPEAKER_00: And then I talked to our friends and they said, they said, Listen, you know how they say Disney World is the happiest place in the world?
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, yeah, and they're like, it won't be if you don't get the fast pass.
SPEAKER_00: They're like, you got a three-year-old, right?
SPEAKER_00: So what did I do?
SPEAKER_00: I added on a fast pass because it was gonna make my life better.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the challenge and here's the temptation.
SPEAKER_00: If we take that kind of thinking into our relationship with Jesus, we'll add anyone, anything, everything at all times, any time of the day, on top of our walk with Jesus and wonder where our purpose is.
SPEAKER_00: God, why am I here?
SPEAKER_00: Well, you can't see it because there's a clutter of stuff that you have added on.
SPEAKER_00: What Jesus is getting at, what Paul is writing here in this text is this that Jesus alone is all you need.
SPEAKER_00: That Jesus plus nothing is everything that you need.
SPEAKER_00: You can't add Jesus on to your life because he's supposed to be your life.
SPEAKER_00: That Christ in you is your hope of glory.
SPEAKER_00: So I say all of that just to get to the simple truth and the simple reality of this this morning.
SPEAKER_00: If you're looking for greater purpose, you will find it no other place but Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: If there are things that you've added on to your faith, they have to begin to be removed.
SPEAKER_00: You have to cancel them, you have to take them off.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know where you picked it up.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you picked up that line of thinking when you were a teenager and it's been with you for years, and the Lord says, in order for you to take another step further, that pattern of thinking has to come off of you today.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because it's got you up against a wall of your destiny.
SPEAKER_00: There are things that we have to cancel.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's something someone told you, maybe it's a thought that you allowed to dwell in your life that is keeping you from living your purpose because you've added it on top of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe my life will have more significance if I make more money.
SPEAKER_00: That's an add-on.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe my life will feel a little bit better if I get the job I've been wanting for a long time.
SPEAKER_00: That's an add-on.
SPEAKER_00: The challenge in the Christian circles is this: we can begin praying.
SPEAKER_00: God, will you hear my prayer?
SPEAKER_00: God, will you answer?
SPEAKER_00: Will you do this?
SPEAKER_00: If you'll do this, then my life will look like this.
SPEAKER_00: How many of y'all know the plans of man fail, but the purposes of God prevail?
SPEAKER_00: So we have to begin to cancel the things that we've put on.
SPEAKER_00: I uh really today is about finding your purpose, but I have to start with this.
SPEAKER_00: There are some things we have to take off and remove.
SPEAKER_00: We have to cancel the things that we've subscribed to.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Paul is telling the Colossians.
SPEAKER_00: He's telling them, Look, look, you've added Jesus plus all this stuff, and you're wondering why this ain't gonna work.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, if you'll go back to the basics, today is about the basics.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes when I write these messages, if I'm honest with you, I get to write these messages, and sometimes I'll be like, that sounds kind of simple.
SPEAKER_00: Is this really the heavy revy from heaven?
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord is like, just say what.
SPEAKER_00: I told you to say.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes I think we make this so hard, and the Lord says it's really simple.
SPEAKER_00: Colossians chapter 1, verse 27.
SPEAKER_00: Christ in you is your hope of glory.
SPEAKER_00: Christ in you is everything that you need.
SPEAKER_00: What subscriptions do you need to cancel?
SPEAKER_00: I know when you're watching those football games, John was talking about that every time you watch a new game, you got to add a new subscription.
SPEAKER_00: I know, I remember years ago my dad saying, I found out how much my dad's cable bill was.
SPEAKER_00: Remember we used to pay like$195 or$250 for a monthly cable bill?
SPEAKER_00: I remember having that conversation with him.
SPEAKER_00: Dad, you should just get a subscription.
SPEAKER_00: It's$1099.
SPEAKER_00: You can watch whatever you want.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, no, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: One day your subscriptions will be just as much as my cable bill.
SPEAKER_00: I thought, that's not even possible.
SPEAKER_00: How many of y'all know it's possible?
SPEAKER_00: Subscription after subscription.
SPEAKER_00: Some of those subscriptions you don't even know how you got.
SPEAKER_00: They have apps out there now that will just cancel subscriptions that you don't even know you're paying for.
SPEAKER_00: It's like this.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you see uh uh the latest Hallmark movie and think, I bet that's not like why you're paying a Hallmark subscription as a grown man.
SPEAKER_00: I like I'll get on YouTube and I'll find that when my kids were little on the car ride, we'd let them watch cocoa melon and things on YouTube just to keep them entertained and and not screaming.
SPEAKER_00: And and how many of you know as a little kid, they're just hitting every like and subscribe button they possibly can.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sitting in my feed wondering why cocoa melon is popping up.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't I didn't subscribe oh yes, you did subscribe to that.
SPEAKER_00: So sometimes in our life what we have to do is we have to sit down and we have to take an inventory, and we have to start canceling subscriptions in our life.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't want that, I don't want that anymore.
SPEAKER_00: I'm done paying for that.
SPEAKER_00: This isn't the life I want to live.
SPEAKER_00: And what happens is we have to take an inventory in our life.
SPEAKER_00: What subscriptions are we subscribing to that are keeping us from the Jesus plus nothing is everything?
SPEAKER_00: Is there a subscription at your work?
SPEAKER_00: Is there a habit or a lifestyle or an addiction or a pattern of life or a pattern of thinking that is clogging or fogging your purpose from stepping in to God's greatest purposes for you?
SPEAKER_00: So I want to do it this way this morning.
SPEAKER_00: I want to give you quickly four things to cancel.
SPEAKER_00: Four subscriptions.
SPEAKER_00: Because here's what I know about the enemy the enemy does not have to destroy our purpose.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't have to destroy our purpose if he can distract us from it.
SPEAKER_00: All times you sometimes you'll hear this, and there is a spiritual battle, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: We're all facing spiritual battles.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you need to take an inventory of the things in your life and chalk it up to I have a I'm in a spiritual battle today.
SPEAKER_00: But sometimes there are battles we're fighting not because the enemy is after us, because we're after us.
SPEAKER_00: Because we're distracting ourselves from the very thing God told us to focus on, to keep our eyes fixed firmly on Him.
SPEAKER_00: And so today I want to talk to you about some distractions that keep us from living out our destiny.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, number one is comfort.
SPEAKER_00: Number one is comfort.
SPEAKER_00: It's easy to be distracted by what is easy in life.
SPEAKER_00: Comfort says this.
SPEAKER_00: Comfort says, stay where you are.
SPEAKER_00: One of the greatest enemies of fulfilling your purpose and making progress in your faith and growing and being stretched and doing what God has asked you to do is simply sometimes church doing what God asked you to do isn't the easy route.
SPEAKER_00: I hear this all the time because sometimes people are really shocked.
SPEAKER_00: I just gave my life to Jesus and I thought everything was gonna look different.
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you what, everything is different, but that doesn't mean the world around you is always easy.
SPEAKER_00: Why Jesus said, take heart in this world, you're gonna have trouble, but take hard because I've already overcome the world.
SPEAKER_00: Comfort and easy is not the way of progress in your purpose.
SPEAKER_00: Comfort says, stay where you are, but purpose says step into what you are made for.
SPEAKER_00: Step into it.
SPEAKER_00: I know you may be 30.
SPEAKER_00: I know you may be 75.
SPEAKER_00: I know you may be thinking about this for the first time, but God can call any person he wants to out of a place of comfort into something more.
SPEAKER_00: You're not gonna find your purpose where it's easy.
SPEAKER_00: Colossians chapter 1, verse 10.
SPEAKER_00: We'll unpack some of these verses in future weeks, but chapter 1, verse 10, walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: This is a calling.
SPEAKER_00: I'm calling you out of what is comfortable.
SPEAKER_00: I'm calling you out of your old life into something new.
SPEAKER_00: I'm calling you out of the way it was so that you can step into the way it is supposed to be.
SPEAKER_00: And so he's he's saying, walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, bearing fruit in every good work by God to succeed and have favor and blessing on it.
SPEAKER_00: Every one of your children were designed and created by God with a purpose, and you as a parent, regardless of how good you think you're doing, can be called out of the place of comfort to say, It is my job to steward the purposes of God in my child.
SPEAKER_00: And listen, it's gonna take work.
SPEAKER_00: But how many know the things that take work are so worth it?
SPEAKER_00: It's making this decision.
SPEAKER_00: Colossians chapter 1, verse 10, walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, a distraction.
SPEAKER_00: Comparison.
SPEAKER_00: To be distracted by others.
SPEAKER_00: Comparison will often tell us the lie.
SPEAKER_00: You should be like somebody else.
SPEAKER_00: But purpose's greatest truth is that you can become who God created you to be.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, I mean, we live in a world where everybody posts everything.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I say everything, but what I mean is they post everything they want you to see.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Like, I like, I mean, come on, I love me a good vacation, and I know that when I get on vacation, the first thing I'm gonna have to do is take a family photo before we're all pre-burned, you know?
SPEAKER_00: Like just but listen, you may see my family photo, everybody's smiling, but how many of you know sometimes my five-year-old got spanked right before that picture?
SPEAKER_00: Just saying.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you know you may like the reels that you see, but that car ride stopping at the gas station 5,000 times?
SPEAKER_00: Kids screaming in the backseat?
SPEAKER_00: Like, people don't post reality.
SPEAKER_00: People post the thing they want you to see.
SPEAKER_00: And one of the tracks, traps of the enemy is to distract us by comparing ourselves to someone else's life, which by the way, doesn't really even exist the way that you see it.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that the work of the enemy?
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh.
SPEAKER_00: And so what happens is we can often become consumed by what somebody else has, by what somebody else is doing, by what somebody else is afforded, their privileges, their blessings, their vacations.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, I'll take a trip to Hawaii.
SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
SPEAKER_00: And so oftentimes what we can do is we can lose sight of our purpose.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because we've added on comparison to everyone and everything around us, and the Lord wants to get to the heart of that in this series.
SPEAKER_00: Comparison says you're missing something, but purpose in Christ says this you already have everything you need.
SPEAKER_00: Comparison says, well, they can be a good parent because they were raised by good parents.
SPEAKER_00: But purpose says, well, I have Christ in me, which means I have everything I need to be a good parent.
SPEAKER_00: Comparison says, well, they just got a leg up in life.
SPEAKER_00: They had more money to start when they started investing or started their business, they had a leg up that I didn't have.
SPEAKER_00: Comparison will say, Well, I don't have what they have, but purpose inside of you wakes up every morning and says, It doesn't matter what was handed to me in my life, because Jesus already chose me.
SPEAKER_00: I'm already, I have a life in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And so what can happen in comparison is it can steal the very truth that you need to hold on to.
SPEAKER_00: Colossians chapter 2, verse 10.
SPEAKER_00: And you have been filled in him.
SPEAKER_00: This may be the scripture that you need to hold on to in this series.
SPEAKER_00: That everything you need isn't on the outside of you.
SPEAKER_00: That everything you need, after you make the decision to say yes to Jesus, here's what happens: Jesus died on the cross, God raised him from the dead, he's seated at the right hand of the throne of the Father, and he sends a gift to you.
SPEAKER_00: The gift is the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit indwells inside you as a believer.
SPEAKER_00: And what does that Holy Spirit do every day that you breathe and every morning that you wake up and receive the fullness of him?
SPEAKER_00: It puts the fullness of Jesus Christ right on the inside of you.
SPEAKER_00: Which means the life of purpose that he lived, you can live too.
SPEAKER_00: Which means the dark hours of your night where you're wondering how you're ever gonna make it out of it, it has nothing to do with who's gonna give you a leg up or who's gonna reach their hand out.
SPEAKER_00: And it has everything to do with the one who already lives on the inside of you.
SPEAKER_00: The fullness of Jesus inside of you is the basic, the tenet that we need to hold on to, the foundation that we need to hold on to in order to discover our purpose.
SPEAKER_00: Number three, chasing.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody like a good game of tag?
SPEAKER_00: Neither do I.
SPEAKER_00: Distracted by what's next.
SPEAKER_00: It's the idea of chasing the wind.
SPEAKER_00: Happiness says, chase the wind.
SPEAKER_00: Happiness is just one more thing away.
SPEAKER_00: But purpose says this: set your mind on things above.
SPEAKER_00: Happiness asks the question, what will make me feel good?
SPEAKER_00: But purpose will ask the question, what was I made for?
SPEAKER_00: Colossians chapter 3, verse 1 and 2.
SPEAKER_00: Seek the things that are above where Christ is, and set your mind on the things that are above and not on the things that are on the earth.
SPEAKER_00: When you've discovered your purpose, you begin to live with your mind in a different place.
SPEAKER_00: Not on what you are gonna obtain next or achieve next or get next or what the bank account will afford for you next.
SPEAKER_00: You begin to set your mind not on what you don't have, but what you do have, which is Christ in you.
SPEAKER_00: Number four, counterfeits.
SPEAKER_00: Number four is counterfeits.
SPEAKER_00: Distracted by what is false or fake.
SPEAKER_00: Counterfeits say this.
SPEAKER_00: This will fulfill you.
SPEAKER_00: If you just do this, you'll feel better.
SPEAKER_00: If you act this way, it will help you cope with the pain that you're feeling.
SPEAKER_00: Counterfeits say have more, take more, do more.
SPEAKER_00: But purpose comes to the heart and reminds you, Jesus is enough.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want the fake thing if I can have the real thing.
SPEAKER_00: I know this is lighthearted, but I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_00: Rice crispy treats that come pre-packaged from Kellogg.
SPEAKER_00: No, what do I want?
SPEAKER_00: I want granny's homemade rice krispies.
SPEAKER_00: They taste different, they hit different, they have a different effect on you.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes what I think is in our Christian life, we can begin exchanging the real stuff that God had planned for us all along for the fake stuff that this world has to offer.
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord says this the Lord says, When are you gonna come back?
SPEAKER_00: When are you gonna cancel what is fake?
SPEAKER_00: I I was thinking about it this week, it's like pseudo-purpose.
SPEAKER_00: Pseudo-purpose, it's like an imitation.
SPEAKER_00: And oftentimes, like that melting pot of the Church of Colossae, oftentimes it's not that we set out to go that way.
SPEAKER_00: It's that one day we woke up and we found we went that way.
SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes it's not that we had the intention of getting to that place or going in the wrong direction, but one day we wake up and ask the question, How did I get here and what do I do now?
SPEAKER_00: Well, the reality is this there are relationships in our life that are a pseudo-purpose.
SPEAKER_00: There'll be relationships in your life that will come and go.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about the one you committed to live your life with, your marriage, but I'm saying this there are relationships that will come and go in your life that are trying to distract you from the greater purpose that God has for you.
SPEAKER_00: And you have to make a decision.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna allow that distraction to take me from where God wants me to be.
SPEAKER_00: There can be job promotions that are pseudo-purpose.
SPEAKER_00: There can be career paths that are pseudo-purpose.
SPEAKER_00: And what I'm trying to communicate is this idea that whether it's an addiction or your bank account or a hobby that you fill your time with, there are pseudo-purposes that will give you something to live for without ever giving you what you were made for.
SPEAKER_00: I do this with hobbies.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, I just like starting new stuff.
SPEAKER_00: I do.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I can buy a gun?
SPEAKER_00: Like, let's let's do that.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I can buy another fission pole, let's do that.
SPEAKER_00: But what I find is that sometimes I will try and fill something on the inside of me with something on the outside of me, and it's pseudo, it's fake.
SPEAKER_00: It will never really satisfy.
SPEAKER_00: But I just gotta tell you this morning, that's the enemy's oldest trick in the book.
SPEAKER_00: He has been doing this from the very beginning of time.
SPEAKER_00: He did it with Adam and Eve.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, Adam and Eve, God's holding out on you, the serpent says.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, Adam and Eve, if you take of this, I'll give you more than you could ever imagine.
SPEAKER_00: Not realizing that God had already given them all that they needed in him.
SPEAKER_00: And so he's been playing that trick from the very beginning of time.
SPEAKER_00: And listen, when you know the strategy of the enemy, it gives you a strength you didn't even know you had.
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus, the devil tried to play the same trick on him.
SPEAKER_00: In Matthew chapter 4, when Jesus was fasting and praying, the enemy came to him and said, Hey, eat this.
SPEAKER_00: Your life will be good.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, he took him to the top, he said, All this kingdom, it could all be yours, but here's what Jesus didn't get distracted from.
SPEAKER_00: He did not get distracted from the purpose and the plans that God already had for him.
SPEAKER_00: And thank God he didn't.
SPEAKER_00: You know why?
SPEAKER_00: Because he stuck with his purpose.
SPEAKER_00: I have a purpose today.
SPEAKER_00: Because he crawled up on the cross, I can even be having this conversation today.
SPEAKER_00: Because of his purpose in my life, here's what happens in my darkest day and on my best day.
SPEAKER_00: The answer is still the same.
SPEAKER_00: Christ in me is my only hope.
SPEAKER_00: It's my only glory, and it's my only victory.
SPEAKER_00: And so I would encourage you with this morning is this as we close.
SPEAKER_00: What subscription do you need to cancel?
SPEAKER_00: What have you added to your faith that Jesus said, if we just get back to the basics of me and you, then your purpose will come alive like never before.
SPEAKER_00: You'll find direction and wisdom and insight in places you've been praying about for years.
SPEAKER_00: Addictions that have gripped you can fall, and you can find freedom in places when you discover your purpose in Christ, but it requires something of you today.
SPEAKER_00: I can't stay comfortable, I can't stay comparing, I can't keep chasing everything that comes my way.
SPEAKER_00: I can't exchange it for the counterfeit.
SPEAKER_00: I have to make the decision.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I surrender everything that I have to pursuing you in me.
SPEAKER_00: Would you stand for just a moment as we close?
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna, I want to pray over you and just ask you to pray this prayer.