Sermon Tone Analysis

Story Tell the Passage

Luke 2:49

Understand Your Purpose

Luke

Understand Your Purpose

Understand Your Purpose

What is your purpose and where does it come from?

Without God, life has no purpose.

Everything ends in death.

So if God does not exist, that means that man and the universe exist to no purpose—since the end of everything is death—and that they came to be for no purpose, since they are only blind products of chance.

In short, life is utterly without reason.

Do you understand the gravity of the alternatives before us?

For if God exists, then there is hope for man.

But if God does not exist, then all we are left with is despair.

Do you understand why the question of God's existence is so vital to man?

As one writer has aptly put it, "If God is dead, then man is dead, too." - William Lane Craig

For the believer, our purpose comes from God.

Our Purpose is to have a loving relationship with God and therein reflect His glory.

The details of that relationship and its outworking will be different for every believer.

Do you have purpose?

Does your life reflect that?

Pursue Your Purpose

Neglecting to discover your purpose is tragic.

Luke

Pursue Your Purpose

Pursue Your Purpose

It’s not enough to know your purpose - you have to do something about it.

Live intentionally.

A new Nielsen Company audience report reveals that adults in the United States devoted about 10 hours and 39 minutes each day to consuming media during the first quarter of this year (2016).

About 81% of adults in the United States have smartphones, according to the report, which are used about one hour and 39 minutes daily on average to consume media.

The average adult in the United States spends about 4½ hours a day watching shows and movies.

The average adult in the United States spends about 4½ hours a day watching shows and movies.

On any given day, teens in the United States spend about nine hours using media for their enjoyment.

Let's just put nine hours in context for a second.

That's more time than teens typically spend sleeping, and more time than they spend with their parents and teachers.

And the nine hours does not include time spent using media at school or for their homework.

"If people are spending over 50 hours a week with media for entertainment purposes, then there's really no time left for any of the other things we value."

The will of God is a daily matter.

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Trust that God will meet you and guide you as you pursue His purpose for your life.

Trust that God will meet you and guide you as you pursue His purpose for your life.

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Imagine knowing what God made you for and never getting around to it.

Imagine knowing what God made you for and never getting around to it.

Commit to Your Purpose

If pursuing your purpose is hard, then finishing with purpose is harder.

People and circumstances will challenge your purpose.

Not everyone will understand or agree with you.

You don’t have to please them.

You have to please God.

When you fail or become distracted, start again.

It’s okay to fail.

It’s not okay to quit.

You are at your retirement party, or the last birthday party before you pass.

Your loved ones and friends get up to say a word about you.

“I will never forget when Mr. / Mrs. so & so taught me .....” “When they showed me....” “When they demonstrated....” What do you want them to say? Are you living a life of purpose now that will lead to that day and the things being said about you that you desire to hear?

Next Steps

Next Steps

Get alone and pray to God to reveal your purpose.

Write down your purpose.

(Do you journal?)

List what does a person does daily who lives for that purpose.

Pick one of those things, and start doing it tomorrow.