Jan 4, 2026 - The True Purpose of Life | Matt High

Speaker: Welcome to Waterville Baptist

Speaker: Church, a place where you can

Speaker: grow, connect and serve on your

Speaker: spiritual journey.

Speaker: We're delighted to have you join us as we explore the teaching of

Speaker: God's Word and Jesus Christ.

Speaker: Now let's turn it over to our speaker and today's message.

Speaker: Guys, listen, God stirred my heart.

Speaker: And if you have your Bible, I

Speaker: want you to find Romans chapter

Speaker: eight.

Speaker: The message is not going to be very long.

Speaker: It's going to be very pointed and direct.

Speaker: I'm not going to give you a

Speaker: bunch of really clever jokes or

Speaker: stories.

Speaker: Go ahead and go to the next slide.

Speaker: I'm going to give you what God's

Speaker: put in my heart while I was

Speaker: there.

Speaker: And this is personal conviction,

Speaker: but I pray that you know this

Speaker: about me.

Speaker: I always tell people this when I

Speaker: ever have the opportunity to do

Speaker: this, I preach from the

Speaker: overflow.

Speaker: So I pray that God will use this in your life the same way he's

Speaker: been using it in mine.

Speaker: So while I was down there, you know, working for the Lord, God

Speaker: opened my eyes to a lot of things that I'd become very

Speaker: indifferent and numb to in my life, things that I hadn't

Speaker: considered in a long time.

Speaker: And when I was there, the Holy Spirit, on a daily basis was

Speaker: speaking to me about purpose, about what purpose truly is,

Speaker: what the meaning of life is, and all the different things that I

Speaker: saw there that just really caused me to press into the

Speaker: heart of God on this issue.

Speaker: It blew my mind.

Speaker: So Lily already mentioned that

Speaker: the first day we were in the

Speaker: sanctuary.

Speaker: And, you know, Carol said, do the kids want to share anything

Speaker: with the people?

Speaker: So I, I, I told Lily, I said, you're going to share your

Speaker: testimony in a minute.

Speaker: I didn't ask her.

Speaker: God told me like she needs to do it.

Speaker: So as the student pastor, I made

Speaker: her very uncomfortable in a very

Speaker: quick moment.

Speaker: I did not tell her that when we get there, you need to be ready

Speaker: to share the gospel, share your testimony And that moment, God

Speaker: stirred my heart and said, Lily's a new believer.

Speaker: She has something to a testimony to share with these people.

Speaker: So I said, Lily, you're going to share your testimony.

Speaker: The look, guys, I can't recreate it for you.

Speaker: The look on her face, I mean, she just turned ghost white.

Speaker: She looked like someone just shot her best hunting dog.

Speaker: I mean, just emptied herself of all being and was just like, oh

Speaker: my goodness, what did he just ask me to do?

Speaker: And so while we were kind of doing that part of the service

Speaker: and she's over there, I keep looking over at her because now

Speaker: I'm a little bit worried.

Speaker: You know, I don't want to I need

Speaker: to press and challenge the

Speaker: students.

Speaker: But I also don't want to, you

Speaker: know, I don't want to ruin their

Speaker: lives.

Speaker: Right.

Speaker: And so I'm looking over at her the whole time, and she's over

Speaker: in her seat, and she's just.

Speaker: You could just see it on her face.

Speaker: I'm like, oh my goodness, oh my goodness.

Speaker: So I began to pray.

Speaker: I'm like, Lord, please Holy

Speaker: Spirit, just be with Lily

Speaker: through this.

Speaker: Help her to realize that she can do this.

Speaker: And she was visibly like shaking when she gets up to go up there.

Speaker: And she started to talk and I was I was humbled and crushed.

Speaker: Here was this new Christian who

Speaker: had every reason in the world to

Speaker: jump out of that second floor

Speaker: window.

Speaker: When I told her that standing up in front of people, she had no

Speaker: idea who they were.

Speaker: She'd never met him before that day.

Speaker: Adults.

Speaker: It's not just kids.

Speaker: Adults.

Speaker: Kids.

Speaker: Her student pastor, a couple of her, her.

Speaker: Her brothers and sisters from the student ministry.

Speaker: This whole room, sixty, seventy people here she is never once

Speaker: having done this in her life.

Speaker: And she begins to speak about,

Speaker: she says, what am I supposed to

Speaker: say?

Speaker: I said, just tell people why you follow Jesus.

Speaker: That's a that's that's what I gave her.

Speaker: She's like, what am I supposed to say?

Speaker: Tell people why you follow Jesus.

Speaker: And she did.

Speaker: She gave a testimony and I videoed it.

Speaker: I videoed it because I wanted to send it to her family, to her

Speaker: mom, to her grandmother, to see the fruit of God in her life.

Speaker: It absolutely.

Speaker: I was crying like the video when you watch it, the screen shaking

Speaker: because I was in tears listening to her share her testimony.

Speaker: Maddox gets up there the first

Speaker: day and he was told, you know,

Speaker: you need to be prepared to have

Speaker: a lesson to share with, with

Speaker: people.

Speaker: Now, I thought Carol kind of met kids.

Speaker: She met everybody.

Speaker: She she put him on the spot and

Speaker: he went up there and I did not

Speaker: he he I said, have something to

Speaker: share.

Speaker: And I asked him the day before, I said, are you ready to share?

Speaker: He's like, yeah.

Speaker: So, you know, as a father of a teenager, I'm thinking to

Speaker: myself, are you ready to share?

Speaker: Are you sure?

Speaker: I'm like, do you want me to look at your stuff?

Speaker: Do you want me to help you?

Speaker: And he's like, no, I'm good.

Speaker: I'm like, you're good.

Speaker: He's like, yeah, I'm good.

Speaker: So I had no idea what was about to happen.

Speaker: So now, just like Lily, he gets up there.

Speaker: Now I'm over there going, oh, geez.

Speaker: Oh, oh.

Speaker: Uh. And then he starts to speak.

Speaker: Guess what came out again?

Speaker: The cell phone.

Speaker: And I started to video the message, mainly so I could steal

Speaker: it later on.

Speaker: I'm not going to show you the video because I might preach it

Speaker: someday from the pulpit.

Speaker: I don't want you to think I plagiarize the whole thing.

Speaker: But I started to video it and

Speaker: I'm sitting there videoing, and

Speaker: I'm just I can't keep it

Speaker: together.

Speaker: I'm crying my eyes out and my heart is in my stomach.

Speaker: And I videoed as much as I could, and I sent it to Belton

Speaker: and me and him.

Speaker: We talk all the time, and I sent him a little confession.

Speaker: I'm like this, I was we sang the song I'm Undone by by God.

Speaker: I was undone by God that day.

Speaker: Listen to Lily and Maddox.

Speaker: I got so hysterically, so hysterical when I was crying.

Speaker: Like I couldn't keep it together.

Speaker: I had to leave.

Speaker: I went down into one of those

Speaker: rooms I cleaned out a couple

Speaker: times ago, and I leaned up

Speaker: against the wall in the corner,

Speaker: and I cried for a good thirty

Speaker: minutes.

Speaker: And I prayed, cried and prayed,

Speaker: cried and prayed Because God

Speaker: showed me something there about

Speaker: what the true purpose of life

Speaker: is.

Speaker: And he put a word in my heart while I was in that dark room,

Speaker: just me and God.

Speaker: Praying, crying, praying about what I'd just seen.

Speaker: This new believer speaking the truth of Christ.

Speaker: The people she never met with the boldness that I'm being.

Speaker: If I'm being honest, it's hard pressed to find within the

Speaker: American church, sometimes unafraid, unashamed, she stood

Speaker: in the presence of these people and proclaimed the name of Jesus

Speaker: and what he did in her life.

Speaker: As a father.

Speaker: Who's often wondered, like,

Speaker: what's my son's life going to

Speaker: be?

Speaker: Is he going to be raised to know

Speaker: the Lord, to serve God, to hear

Speaker: him preach?

Speaker: And this is what I told Belton, and he, he he told me back the

Speaker: same thing, the confidence that he preached the gospel with and

Speaker: I mean the gospel was perfect.

Speaker: It was shared beautifully articulated, theologically as

Speaker: precise as you can be.

Speaker: But the thing that struck me was the boldness.

Speaker: And I thought to myself, when's

Speaker: the last time I stood in front

Speaker: of people with that same

Speaker: boldness?

Speaker: When's the last time I did that?

Speaker: I have the privilege of working in ministry and teaching and

Speaker: being able to disciple and to do things like this.

Speaker: And I can do it comfortably because I'm polished.

Speaker: I've done it a lot of times.

Speaker: But I began to really feel in my heart that just because you're

Speaker: polished at doing something and you do it frequently, that

Speaker: doesn't mean you're doing it the right way, or that you're doing

Speaker: it with the boldness that God calls you to do it with.

Speaker: God crushed me in that moment, but he also built me up.

Speaker: And he put this word in my heart in Romans chapter eight.

Speaker: But you just heard from Lily and Maddox.

Speaker: This trip to Guatemala was not simply about where we went or

Speaker: what we did.

Speaker: It was about what God is doing in us during our time, God

Speaker: stirred my heart to remember and reflect on the true meaning of

Speaker: the purpose of life.

Speaker: When I watched those two

Speaker: students step out of their

Speaker: comfort zone and serve others

Speaker: and wrestle with what really,

Speaker: you know, was going on, it

Speaker: forced me to ask this deeper

Speaker: question.

Speaker: And here's the question I want

Speaker: you to think about in these last

Speaker: few minutes.

Speaker: Why is God ultimately working in our lives?

Speaker: What is he doing?

Speaker: What is our purpose?

Speaker: Romans chapter eight answers that question.

Speaker: So we're going to very quickly just look at these three verses.

Speaker: What these three verses in

Speaker: Romans, Romans chapter eight

Speaker: tell us is this, that God is

Speaker: always at work in our lives not

Speaker: to make us comfortable or

Speaker: successful or impressive, but to

Speaker: conform us to the image of his

Speaker: son.

Speaker: So I want to look really quickly

Speaker: at what Scripture says about

Speaker: purpose.

Speaker: So find Romans chapter eight.

Speaker: We're going to read just very quickly through verses twenty

Speaker: eight through thirty.

Speaker: And as you find that we're going

Speaker: to ask God just to bless us with

Speaker: his divine wisdom in this

Speaker: moment, and that he be

Speaker: glorified.

Speaker: Heavenly father, as we close out

Speaker: and we take a few minutes to

Speaker: consider the truth of your word

Speaker: this morning.

Speaker: I pray, father, that you be glorified and exalted, that you

Speaker: would speak to our hearts in these few minutes about what the

Speaker: true meaning of life is, what the true purpose of the believer

Speaker: is in Christ Jesus.

Speaker: Help us to reflect on our own

Speaker: lives and ask ourselves this

Speaker: question.

Speaker: Are we fulfilling the purpose

Speaker: that you've restored in our

Speaker: life?

Speaker: Are we are we directing

Speaker: everything about ourselves

Speaker: towards the God given purpose of

Speaker: being conformed to the image of

Speaker: Christ?

Speaker: God, stir the hearts of your people.

Speaker: In these next few minutes, we pray that you'd be exalted and

Speaker: glorified in all things.

Speaker: In the name of Jesus.

Speaker: We ask these things with thanksgiving.

Speaker: Amen.

Speaker: So I want to share these three verses with you very quickly.

Speaker: So we all know verse eight twenty eight very well.

Speaker: You've probably heard it a million times.

Speaker: And we know that God works all

Speaker: things for the good of those who

Speaker: love him.

Speaker: And this verse is often cited

Speaker: when people are going through

Speaker: very difficult times in their

Speaker: life.

Speaker: They have an illness, a

Speaker: financial crisis, a relationship

Speaker: situation.

Speaker: When things are difficult.

Speaker: You hear this come up all the time.

Speaker: Just know that God is working all things to the good of those

Speaker: who love him, those called according to his purposes.

Speaker: But just saying to remember that

Speaker: every time I try to encourage

Speaker: somebody with that, it's almost

Speaker: like, you know, saying to do it

Speaker: and doing it are two different

Speaker: things.

Speaker: Amen.

Speaker: It's easy to say, Trust God, trust God.

Speaker: But what if someone turns around and ask you this?

Speaker: Well, how can God work all

Speaker: things to the good of those who

Speaker: love him?

Speaker: How can I take this terminal illness, this loss of job, this

Speaker: financial crisis, this relationship problem, poverty,

Speaker: whatever it is, addiction.

Speaker: How can I how can I, as a believer, look at that and and

Speaker: say that God's working there.

Speaker: One of the biggest barriers

Speaker: people erect between themselves

Speaker: and God is that how could a good

Speaker: God allow such terrible

Speaker: suffering?

Speaker: But if you read on just a little bit into Romans chapter eight,

Speaker: that very question is answered.

Speaker: So look at verses twenty nine and thirty.

Speaker: It says here after it tells us and we know talking about

Speaker: believers, and we know that God works all things to the good.

Speaker: And the word good actually means

Speaker: the ultimate good, the greater

Speaker: good.

Speaker: God works all things to the

Speaker: ultimate good of those who love

Speaker: him, those called according to

Speaker: his purposes.

Speaker: And here's what it goes on to

Speaker: say in the word it says in verse

Speaker: twenty nine, for whom he

Speaker: foreknew.

Speaker: The word foreknow doesn't mean like knows beforehand.

Speaker: The word foreknow that you read

Speaker: in the Bible is an intimate

Speaker: knowing.

Speaker: It literally means to set your affection upon.

Speaker: So those whom God saw, that he set his heart upon you and I.

Speaker: Here's what he did.

Speaker: Those whom he foreknew, he also predestined, predestined to be

Speaker: conformed To the image of his son, that he might be the

Speaker: firstborn among many brethren.

Speaker: And even further, listen to what God says here in verse thirty.

Speaker: Moreover whom he predestined, these he called, whom he called,

Speaker: these he justified, and whom he justified, he also glorified.

Speaker: Here God does a couple things.

Speaker: In verse twenty eight, God makes a promise.

Speaker: God makes a promise that God

Speaker: does not waste any part of your

Speaker: life.

Speaker: God doesn't waste a moment in your life.

Speaker: There's no pointless suffering for the follower of Jesus.

Speaker: Everything in your life, on the

Speaker: mountaintop and in the valley,

Speaker: God is with you and God is

Speaker: working.

Speaker: He makes this promise and our gods are promise keeper.

Speaker: Amen.

Speaker: He wastes nothing in your life.

Speaker: Anything you endure all the suffering that fills life.

Speaker: Because we live in a broken world marred by sin.

Speaker: We have to endure those things.

Speaker: Our God is so powerful and so

Speaker: great and so good that he can

Speaker: work even what the world sees as

Speaker: nothing but pointless evil to

Speaker: the ultimate good of those who

Speaker: love him.

Speaker: God wastes nothing in your life.

Speaker: But the question still stands how do how does God use even our

Speaker: suffering for good?

Speaker: How can something so terrible?

Speaker: The things we, we, we see in the world.

Speaker: And I don't want to put names on them, but you know, in your mind

Speaker: you're already thinking about some of those things.

Speaker: You're thinking about them right now.

Speaker: Those things that are in your

Speaker: mind right now, that suffering

Speaker: you see in the world, how can

Speaker: God possibly work that to the

Speaker: ultimate good of those who love

Speaker: him?

Speaker: So in verse twenty nine, he

Speaker: tells us about the true meaning

Speaker: of life.

Speaker: Here's the problem that every person in this world faces.

Speaker: Everyone you, I, everyone.

Speaker: God gave us a divine purpose.

Speaker: Genesis one, chapter twenty.

Speaker: Genesis one, verse twenty seven.

Speaker: It says, God created him in his image.

Speaker: He created them.

Speaker: Male and female were created in the image of God.

Speaker: Now the image of God is not just about like having

Speaker: characteristics that God has.

Speaker: Being an image bearer is

Speaker: actually really about

Speaker: representation.

Speaker: And we know this because if you

Speaker: read verse twenty seven, God

Speaker: says this.

Speaker: He says, be fruitful and multiply.

Speaker: Fill the earth and subdue it.

Speaker: He gave man a purpose.

Speaker: He created this world for us for his glory.

Speaker: He placed us here in his image to rule over the earth and

Speaker: subdue it in his name.

Speaker: We were to be his representative on earth.

Speaker: But you know what Satan did?

Speaker: He told us a lie.

Speaker: He made us think that God's trying to hold us down, that if

Speaker: we want to find true purpose and meaning, it's not God given.

Speaker: We make life what it is.

Speaker: And he tempted Eve, and he

Speaker: tempted Adam, and they gave into

Speaker: that temptation, and they let

Speaker: their flesh bear fruit in their

Speaker: life, and they sinned against

Speaker: God.

Speaker: And now you have this separation, this, this, this

Speaker: damage that was done by sin.

Speaker: God is so good and so pure and so holy.

Speaker: He cannot be in fellowship with someone who's a sinner.

Speaker: He's so just.

Speaker: He can't let sin go unpunished.

Speaker: If he let one sin go unpunished,

Speaker: there'd be no such thing as

Speaker: justice.

Speaker: If he let one sin go unpunished,

Speaker: all the terrible things that we

Speaker: hate in this world, there would

Speaker: never be any ultimate justice

Speaker: for those people, for us, for

Speaker: others, there'd be no justice

Speaker: without judgment.

Speaker: God is so righteous he can't leave sin unpunished.

Speaker: He wouldn't be God if he did.

Speaker: And I'm thankful for that.

Speaker: But you know what?

Speaker: That puts you and I on the hook for our sin.

Speaker: We were created in the image of

Speaker: God to represent God on this

Speaker: earth.

Speaker: To when people look at us, see

Speaker: God, and that image was

Speaker: distorted and damaged by sin and

Speaker: it corrupted our minds and our

Speaker: hearts.

Speaker: So now here's what we do as

Speaker: people we spend our whole lives

Speaker: fumbling around the dark,

Speaker: looking for purpose, looking for

Speaker: meaning.

Speaker: Some people seek it in careers.

Speaker: Some people seek it in relationships.

Speaker: Some people seek it in addictions, in pornography and

Speaker: drugs and alcohol.

Speaker: It takes many forms.

Speaker: People devote their hearts to these sinful things because of

Speaker: their debased minds.

Speaker: The corruptness, the sin has polluted them and put darkness

Speaker: into their lives, and they're pulled towards that darkness.

Speaker: And what happens is, is that sin takes away your purpose.

Speaker: Sin damages what you were

Speaker: supposed to be made in the image

Speaker: of God.

Speaker: But here's what's true about God.

Speaker: That I realized down there is

Speaker: that the lie that we all believe

Speaker: is we have to make life for

Speaker: ourselves.

Speaker: We have to create purpose in our life for ourselves.

Speaker: But the truth that God wants you to know this morning is this You

Speaker: already have a purpose.

Speaker: Whom?

Speaker: God foreknew.

Speaker: Who?

Speaker: He set his affection on you and I. Because it says in His word

Speaker: he desires not one to perish.

Speaker: God loves you.

Speaker: John three sixteen is the most quoted verse in the Bible.

Speaker: And what is it about?

Speaker: It's about what the love of God manifests itself to be.

Speaker: For God so loved the world that

Speaker: he sent his one and only son,

Speaker: that whosoever believes in him

Speaker: should not perish, but have

Speaker: what?

Speaker: Everlasting life.

Speaker: Our God loves us so much he foreknew us and set his

Speaker: affection upon us.

Speaker: He wanted to restore the purpose

Speaker: that he'd given us to be his

Speaker: image bearer.

Speaker: So what did God do?

Speaker: He did what we couldn't do.

Speaker: He sent his son to live the life that we could not live.

Speaker: Jesus came to this earth.

Speaker: He lived a perfect life.

Speaker: And when he was.

Speaker: When he was mocked and persecuted by the people of God,

Speaker: by the Pharisees, by the Sadducees, by the scribes when

Speaker: he was challenged.

Speaker: Listen to what this guy says.

Speaker: He came to destroy the law.

Speaker: You know what Jesus said?

Speaker: I didn't come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it.

Speaker: His purpose in coming to this world was to show us, you and I,

Speaker: what our true purpose is, what the true image of God is.

Speaker: When Paul talks about Jesus in Colossians, the first thing he

Speaker: says to the church is Jesus is God in the flesh.

Speaker: He's before all things.

Speaker: He'll be after all things eternally.

Speaker: He is co-equal with God.

Speaker: Father, spirit and son are one,

Speaker: and they've all been shown to us

Speaker: by God.

Speaker: He's shown us these three

Speaker: aspects of his nature so that we

Speaker: know what the true image of God

Speaker: is.

Speaker: God the father created us in our

Speaker: image, gave us the divine

Speaker: mandate.

Speaker: We sinned against God and fell.

Speaker: So what does God do?

Speaker: He says, here's the solution.

Speaker: I'm going to send the son to show everyone what the image of

Speaker: God is really about.

Speaker: Everything about Jesus was being

Speaker: the image of God because he was

Speaker: God.

Speaker: His prayer life, the stewardship over the things that God gave

Speaker: him, the relationships that he had, every single thing in his

Speaker: life was built around bearing the image of God.

Speaker: And he told his disciples constantly, I'm not going to be

Speaker: here for long.

Speaker: There's coming a time where I must go, and I must leave you,

Speaker: but I'll return.

Speaker: And the very last things he said to his disciples during the

Speaker: Passion Week was a series of parables about what to do when

Speaker: that time came.

Speaker: He said, When I'm gone, I'm leaving you to be the image of

Speaker: God, to be remade and reborn by the work of the cross, to be

Speaker: restored to your true purpose, to have the Spirit of God now

Speaker: dwell inside of you.

Speaker: And as you submit to God and

Speaker: trust and obey him, the Spirit's

Speaker: work in your life mold you,

Speaker: informs you.

Speaker: The Master Potter, like a wheel of clay being spun, has his hand

Speaker: in your life, and he's shaping you into what you were always

Speaker: intended to be.

Speaker: God says, whom he foreknew, he predestined in Christ Jesus, we

Speaker: are predestined to this purpose, to be conformed to the image of

Speaker: the son, that he might be the first born among many brethren.

Speaker: You and I are the fruit.

Speaker: He's the firstborn.

Speaker: We're the fruit of that gospel ministry.

Speaker: We're to carry that on and

Speaker: produce more fruit so that as we

Speaker: share the gospel in obedience to

Speaker: the Great Commission, the whole

Speaker: world is changed by the truth of

Speaker: Christ.

Speaker: And God does this incredible work.

Speaker: God does this incredible work of molding us every day more into

Speaker: the image of Jesus.

Speaker: There's not one day in your life that you should wake up, live

Speaker: your life, and go to sleep, that you're not more like Jesus when

Speaker: you go to bed.

Speaker: Press into the heart of God every day.

Speaker: That's how you allow God to mold you into the image of Christ.

Speaker: That's how God can turn suffering into good.

Speaker: Embrace it.

Speaker: Embrace the good and the bad and say, God, I'm sick.

Speaker: God I'm poor.

Speaker: God I'm jobless.

Speaker: God, my relationships are damaged.

Speaker: But I believe, God that you can change me.

Speaker: I believe that you can change the situation.

Speaker: I believe someone who also is sick can be put in my path, and

Speaker: I can share my experience with them and say, you know what?

Speaker: I'm not worried about it.

Speaker: I'm going to endure this.

Speaker: But it's only for a time because I'm pressing towards the goal,

Speaker: the goal of glory.

Speaker: Look at the last part of verse thirty there.

Speaker: There's a process.

Speaker: There's a promise, there's a purpose.

Speaker: God will take everything in your

Speaker: life and not waste it if you

Speaker: trust him.

Speaker: That's the promise, the purpose.

Speaker: God will take you and mold you into the image of Christ so that

Speaker: you reflect him in this world.

Speaker: And there's a process.

Speaker: Look at verse thirty as we close.

Speaker: Moreover whom he predestined to

Speaker: this purpose, he called them,

Speaker: and whom he called he justified,

Speaker: and whom he justified, he

Speaker: glorified.

Speaker: Guess what?

Speaker: If you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation,

Speaker: your purpose is restored.

Speaker: God begins to mold you into the image of Christ.

Speaker: He calls you.

Speaker: And if you respond to that call

Speaker: this morning, you're justified

Speaker: before God.

Speaker: When you stand before God, your

Speaker: sins are there, your sins are

Speaker: there.

Speaker: Your name is attached to all

Speaker: those evil things that we do in

Speaker: life.

Speaker: But you know what happens when God sees you?

Speaker: He doesn't see dirty, filthy rags.

Speaker: He sees the righteousness of Christ.

Speaker: Amen.

Speaker: You're clothed in his righteousness.

Speaker: Your sin has been paid for by his blood.

Speaker: You have a restored person purpose.

Speaker: You have salvation.

Speaker: You have redemption because your

Speaker: Lord lived the life you couldn't

Speaker: live.

Speaker: And even though he didn't deserve death, he went and died

Speaker: on a cross for you.

Speaker: He took your place on that cross.

Speaker: For the wages of sin is death.

Speaker: But the gift of God is

Speaker: everlasting life through Christ

Speaker: our Lord.

Speaker: There's a penalty to be paid for our sin.

Speaker: But God loves you so much he paid it for you.

Speaker: And if you believe that, you can have what God is saying here

Speaker: this morning, you can have real purpose in your life.

Speaker: You don't have to fumble through life anymore thinking, what's

Speaker: the purpose of all this?

Speaker: What's the meaning?

Speaker: What am I supposed to be doing?

Speaker: Everything in your life when you

Speaker: have a vertical relationship

Speaker: with God?

Speaker: That's right.

Speaker: Pastor Rodney says that every time he gets up here.

Speaker: So I gotta honor him by saying it to.

Speaker: The most important thing you do in life is what?

Speaker: To get right with God.

Speaker: When that happens, everything in

Speaker: your life becomes right and this

Speaker: purpose is restored and you have

Speaker: a joy, a peace that surpasses

Speaker: all understanding.

Speaker: And it's simply by faith that you ask God to save you.

Speaker: And then his promise is that he justifies you before himself

Speaker: that your sins are forgiven.

Speaker: And here's my favorite part of this.

Speaker: There's a perspective in this process that you have to keep.

Speaker: God says, Whom he foreknew, he

Speaker: also predestined, whom he

Speaker: predestined, he also called,

Speaker: whom he called, he also

Speaker: justified, whom he justified, he

Speaker: also glorified.

Speaker: God is using you and pressing and pushing you towards this

Speaker: goal of glorification.

Speaker: Someday you and I will be gone.

Speaker: The Bible says As this hears the prayer, we should all be praying

Speaker: on that basis.

Speaker: Teach us to number our days.

Speaker: Lord, teach us to number our days.

Speaker: We don't know when our time is up.

Speaker: We don't know when that is, but we know it's coming.

Speaker: It's appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment.

Speaker: Amen.

Speaker: It's coming.

Speaker: And when I stand before God on that day, when I stand before

Speaker: God on that day.

Speaker: If I've trusted in Christ, you

Speaker: know what that day is going to

Speaker: be about.

Speaker: Glorification.

Speaker: That molding, that final form,

Speaker: that image that you become is

Speaker: Christ.

Speaker: And in that day, you stand in eternity forever with your Lord

Speaker: and your Savior.

Speaker: You stand before him and he says to you, welcome.

Speaker: Well done, well done, my good and faithful servant.

Speaker: Enter into the joy of your Lord.

Speaker: That's the promise.

Speaker: And what I love about this when

Speaker: Paul writes this, is that the

Speaker: word glorified here is in the

Speaker: past tense.

Speaker: It's in the past tense.

Speaker: What does that mean?

Speaker: I don't have to worry about future glory.

Speaker: Am I going to receive this glory that God's promised.

Speaker: No, God says this in the past tense because it's already done,

Speaker: and all you have to do is fulfill your purpose.

Speaker: So what the Lord reminded me of in Guatemala is that God does

Speaker: not waste suffering.

Speaker: God does not waste sacrifice.

Speaker: God does not waste obedience.

Speaker: He uses all of it for our divine purpose of being molded into the

Speaker: image of our of His Son.

Speaker: God's purpose for your life is

Speaker: not comfort, success, self

Speaker: indulgence, self-gratification.

Speaker: It's conformity.

Speaker: The question is not whether God has a purpose for your life

Speaker: because he does.

Speaker: The question is.

Speaker: The question is whether you resist that purpose or surrender

Speaker: to it, led by sin.

Speaker: You're going to insist on your own will led by the spirit.

Speaker: We surrender to God's will, and

Speaker: in the surrender, we don't lose

Speaker: our lives.

Speaker: We actually find it.

Speaker: Brothers and sisters, in twenty

Speaker: twenty six, you don't need a new

Speaker: resolution.

Speaker: What we need is deeper conformity to Christ.

Speaker: We have our resolution already.

Speaker: We don't need new ones.

Speaker: We need to live out the one that God's given us.

Speaker: So the invitation for the

Speaker: believer today is simple stop

Speaker: resisting the work of God in

Speaker: your life.

Speaker: Stop resisting the work of God in your life.

Speaker: This is what I was doing.

Speaker: I was resisting it.

Speaker: I was compartmentalizing my life

Speaker: and resisting God's work in my

Speaker: life.

Speaker: Don't resist it, believer church, embrace it.

Speaker: And for the unbeliever, the call

Speaker: today is to have your true

Speaker: purpose restored.

Speaker: But to have it restored, you

Speaker: have to be reconciled to God

Speaker: through Christ Jesus only

Speaker: Christ.

Speaker: Only Christ can do that for you.

Speaker: Only in him can purpose and

Speaker: meaning truly be found and

Speaker: realized.

Speaker: So I invite you to come.

Speaker: So we're going to pray.

Speaker: I'm ready to come.

Speaker: I know it's twelve twelve.

Speaker: Bear with us, though.

Speaker: Look at all the what God's showing you today.

Speaker: In this moment.

Speaker: You have an opportunity.

Speaker: I always, I always say this.

Speaker: You never enter the presence of God and leave.

Speaker: Come on brother, you leave.

Speaker: Never leave.

Speaker: Unchanged or unchallenged.

Speaker: Every time that you press into God, he's going to change you

Speaker: and he's going to challenge you.

Speaker: What you have to ask yourself is, how are you going to respond

Speaker: to that challenge?

Speaker: Are you going to leave here

Speaker: today saying, oh, that was a

Speaker: good message.

Speaker: Matt did an okay job.

Speaker: I like this verse.

Speaker: Or are you really going to press into God in these next few

Speaker: minutes and say, Lord, am I fulfilling the purpose you've

Speaker: given me in Christ?

Speaker: How do I how do I press into you more?

Speaker: How do I be molded more into the image of Jesus?

Speaker: You have an opportunity right now to get right with God.

Speaker: If you're a believer and you're

Speaker: not, and if you're an

Speaker: unbeliever, there's no promise

Speaker: of tomorrow.

Speaker: Your life is but a vapor in the wind.

Speaker: But you know what you have right now.

Speaker: You have this moment.

Speaker: You have this moment to think

Speaker: about all that God's told you

Speaker: today.

Speaker: You have this moment to realize that you are a sinner and that

Speaker: your sin separates you from God.

Speaker: You have this moment to realize that you know what?

Speaker: In spite of that, God loves you so much that he suffered that

Speaker: cross for you, and all you have to do is call on the name of the

Speaker: Lord to profess Christ as Lord, and believe in your heart that

Speaker: God raised him from the dead.

Speaker: And if you do, you shall be saved.

Speaker: You can leave here a changed

Speaker: purpose, a changed person with a

Speaker: changed eternity.

Speaker: You don't have to continue to go

Speaker: through life thinking, why am I

Speaker: here?

Speaker: What is this about?

Speaker: Why am I suffering?

Speaker: What am I doing this for?

Speaker: All of that is gone.

Speaker: The moment you trust Jesus because God changes you and you

Speaker: have that chance right now.

Speaker: Don't start twenty twenty six

Speaker: off the way you ended twenty

Speaker: twenty five.

Speaker: Don't leave this house of the Lord unchanged or unchallenged.

Speaker: Press into the heart of God these next few minutes as we

Speaker: pray for salvation, I invite you to come as we pray for, for, for

Speaker: a restored purpose.

Speaker: As a believer, I invite you to come.

Speaker: Whatever God is doing in your life, let his will be done in

Speaker: these next few minutes.

Speaker: Heavenly father, Lord, we thank you.

Speaker: We thank you, father, that you

Speaker: love us so much that you've

Speaker: given us a purpose in Christ

Speaker: Jesus to be molded into his

Speaker: image.

Speaker: You ordain this from the creation of the world.

Speaker: God, we don't have to find meaning and purpose in life.

Speaker: You gave it to us, but our sin has damaged that image.

Speaker: Our sin has separated us from you and God.

Speaker: You have been working ever since that day to restore our true

Speaker: purpose, to restore meaning, to build us up into what we were

Speaker: supposed to be.

Speaker: Your image in this world.

Speaker: God, are we reflecting your image or are we distorting it?

Speaker: As a believer, I pray that you

Speaker: would stir the heart of every

Speaker: Christian, every Christian in

Speaker: this sanctuary.

Speaker: Every Christian lives his message like stir our hearts.

Speaker: God let us know.

Speaker: Are we truly embracing the purpose you've given us?

Speaker: Are we holding back from you, Lord, or are we pressing into

Speaker: you on a daily basis?

Speaker: Are we going to sleep each night closer to you than we were when

Speaker: we woke up?

Speaker: When people see us and they look at our lives, do they see Jesus

Speaker: or do they see a person that's not following the Lord?

Speaker: God, help us to deal with those things in this moment.

Speaker: And most of all, Lord, I pray

Speaker: that as you promised today is

Speaker: that today would be the day of

Speaker: salvation.

Speaker: God stirred the heart of the unbeliever.

Speaker: If they're in this sanctuary.

Speaker: Lord, I pray that Holy Spirit, you would just inspire them to

Speaker: come, to come forward, to pray for salvation, to enjoy the

Speaker: promise you've made, of being saved and changed by the truth

Speaker: of the gospel.

Speaker: Most of all, God, I thank you

Speaker: for your love, your mercy, your

Speaker: grace.

Speaker: And I pray in the name of Jesus right now that your will will be

Speaker: done in this sanctuary.

Speaker: Not my will, not our will, but thy will be done.

Speaker: Lord.

Speaker: And I pray that you would do all this in the name of our Lord and

Speaker: Savior, Jesus Christ.

Speaker: Amen.

Speaker: As we sing, let's stand.

Speaker: Let's worship together.

Speaker: If you have a need, listen.

Speaker: The restaurant will still be open in a few minutes.

Speaker: That game will be on later.

Speaker: You have time to get all the things you need done today, but

Speaker: you can't get back when you leave this place.

Speaker: The time that God's given you right now.

Speaker: Let's worship together as we close this song.

Speaker: And if there's anything you need to deal with, come.

Speaker: The altars are open.

Speaker: People will pray with you.

Speaker: I'll pray with you.

Speaker: People will surround themselves around you.

Speaker: Don't start this year off

Speaker: without dealing with the things

Speaker: that God's asked you to deal

Speaker: with.

Speaker: Don't leave this place unchanged or unchallenged.

Speaker: Thanks for listening.

Speaker: Be sure to come check us out on

Speaker: our Facebook, YouTube or on our

Speaker: website at Waterville Baptist

Speaker: Church.

Speaker: Org.

Speaker: We'll see you next time.