Sermon Tone Analysis

Planned For God’s Pleasure

Revelation 4:11 (NLT); Matthew 22:37-38 (NIV)

 

      Mike Royco reported this true story in the Chicago Tribune.

A man named Bill Mallory traveled to India to discover the purpose of life.

But he didn’t find the answer there.

So after returning, he noticed a sign at Chevron gas station that simply said, “As you travel, ask us.”

So every time he pulled into a Chevron station, he would look to the sign and say, “I’m a traveler.

I’d like to ask you a question.

What is the purpose life?”

These were the real answers he got.

I’m not making this up.

The first guy said, “Sorry.

I’m new here.”

The second guy said, “I don’t remember anything in the manual about that.”

Another guy said, “I’m not much for church myself, sir.”

One guy gave him a leering look and a wink, whatever that meant.

However, most people just gave him a blank stare, cleaned his windshield; but he kept asking at all the Chevron stations.

One day Mallory got a phone call from Chevron Customer Relations.

He said, “We understand you’ve been asking our dealer questions and getting unsatisfactory answers.”

The man suggested that he write out his question and send it to Chevron Corporate with a self-addressed stamped envelope.

So Bill Mallory wrote, “What is the purpose of life?” and sent it to Chevron Gas Company.

A couple of weeks later, the envelope was returned.

The only thing in it was an application for a credit card!

If you want to know the purpose of life, you’re not going to find it in a gas station.

You’re not going to find it on a talk show.

You’re not going to find it in a self-help book.

You’re not going to find it at some seminar.

If you want to know the purpose of life, you have to either talk to the creator who made you, or look in the owner’s manual.

You were made by God and you were made for God.

And until you understand that, life isn’t going to make sense.

Now, we’re in this series called “40 Days of Purpose.”

Today, we’re going to look at the first of God’s five purposes for your life.

God has five reasons for creating you, and today we’re going to look at the first.

Number one, let’s read Revelation 4:12 out of the Bible.

Would you read it with me? “/You/ (God)/ created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created/.”

Circle “/for your pleasure/.”

The Bible says you were created for God’s enjoyment.

God made you just to enjoy you.

God planned you for His purpose.

And the only reason that you’re alive is God wanted you alive and He gets enjoyment out of watching you.

How many of you are parents?

How many of you enjoy watching your kids?

Most of the time!

And I think the same thing is true with God, most of the time He enjoys watching you be you.

You were made for God’s pleasure.

When you were born, when you came out of your mother’s womb, God was there in that room, smiling from ear to ear, because He wanted you made.

God smiled at your birth because He created you to enjoy you.

He made you for His purpose.

Now, last week we talked about how you were created to be loved by God.

This week we’re looking at the flip side, the first purpose of your life, which is God wants you to love Him back.

He wants you to bring enjoyment back to Him.

As much as He has created you, He wants you to love Him back.

One day Jesus was walking down the street and a guy came up and said, “Lord, what’s the most important command in the entire Bible?” Jesus goes, “okay, I’m going to give it to you.

This is the most important thing.

If you don’t get anything else, you get this.

This will summarize the whole Bible.

Okay?

Just get this.

It’s the most important.”

Let’s read it together there in Matthew 22.  It’s there in your outline.

He said, “/Love the Lord your God.

This is the first and greatest commandment/.”

Circle “/first” /and “/greatest/.”

God says if you don’t get anything else, here’s what you’re supposed to do in life: you’re supposed to learn to love Me back, because I made you to love you and I know you.

And I want you to know and love me back.

Now, there’s a word for this.

It’s a word we misunderstand so a lot of people don’t use it.

It is the word “worship.”

Worship is knowing and loving God back.

Now, the problem is, that worship is misunderstood today.

And when I say the word “worship,” what do you think of?

Well, you may think of prayer.

You may think of singing.

You may think of ritual or communion or going to church, something you do in church.

But worship is far, far more than all those things.

write this down.

*My first purpose in life is to worship God.*  It’s your primary objective.

It’s your highest priority.

It is your number one purpose in life.

We’re going to talk about what that means today because, unfortunately, as I said, worship is misunderstood.

What does a person look like when they worship?

Have you ever thought about that?

What do they look like?

If you read the newspaper, they always have the exact same picture of somebody worshipping.

It is this – /[Pastor demonstrates comically holding hands up and mouth wide open] /Okay?

Now, that may be one legitimate form in millions of different ways.

But worship is far more than – /[Pastor demonstrates again]./

There’s a lot of ways to worship God.

We’re going to look at them today.

We’re going to look at what does it really mean to worship.

Now, probably the best verse that defines worship, your very first purpose is this-Romans 12, verse 1, “/Because of God’s great mercy to us… offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him.”//  /There’s the pleasure part.

“/This is the true worship that you should offer/.”

Now, I want you to circle three words in this verse -- the word “/because,”/ the word “/offer/,” and the word “/offer/.”

Because this is what worship is all about.

You’re going to study this verse this week in your small groups in the 40 Days of Purpose groups.

But I do want to point out two things.

* *

*1.

Worship is my response to God’s love.*

Worship is just the way I react, I respond, to God when He loves me.

That’s what worship is.

Notice it says “/because,” “/ /because of God’s great/ /mercy/,” His love to us, then we worship Him back.