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Feb 17, 2019

Purpose

Purpose

Speaker: James Gallaher

Series: The Heart of Freedom Fellowship

Category: Sunday Morning

God not only gives purpose and vision to individuals so that they can walk with purpose in their calling but God also gives vision to corporate bodies to fulfill the corporate call that He has tasked to them.

The Heart of Freedom Fellowship! Why we do what we do! 

Vision without purpose is hollow. What is the purpose behind Freedom Fellowship? We are better together!

Jeremiah 29:11-13 ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.’

We don’t know what the future holds but we can know the one who holds tomorrow in His hands. It won’t be without hardships but it won’t be alone. We don’t get the roadmap but when we trust His plan, we can know that He has it taken care of.

Genesis 1:27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Know these two things:

  • You were created. By default, you cannot be a mistake. Your life is not happenstance. You were designed by an amazing creator who put gifting and calling into the very fabric of your being. God knew you before you were formed. He has a purpose in your creation. You were His choice!
  • You were created in His image. In spite of our shortcomings, we are most fulfilled when we are reflecting the image of the one who created us. The past does not have to dictate our future.

Form does not guarantee function in a person’s life. Ex. a Range Finder could be convincing as something it is not intended for like a magnifying glass. But with a battery and understanding, it can be used as it was intended and to its potential as a range finder. There are Christians today with the form of godliness but none of the functions of godliness. They continue to walk around in bondage, continue to believe lies and hang on to the past as though it somehow has the power to determine their future.

We are most useful when we are doing what we are called to do and being used by someone who knows exactly how to use us.

Know these two things about purpose:

  • Everybody has one! Jeremiah 19:12-13 It’s moving from where I am to pursuing those things. God says if we seek Him, we will find Him.
  • You can’t screw it up bad enough to undo God’s purpose for your life. You can delay it by choosing not to submit. But turning to Him, He will invest in His kingdom. Phil 3:13-14; 2 Timothy 1:6 We need to stop looking backward on failures and press on to what lies ahead! There is a gift within me – fan that flame.

A personal vision is so important and has value and also, it’s just as important that whatever we attach to has the same clear vision! But some become stuck and attached to things, to people, to situations that have different visions. Look at what God is doing and let go of things that need to change. We have to put down in order to take hold of what God wants. Let Him free us. Attaching ourselves to wrong vision is just as detrimental to our calling as attaching ourselves to something with no vision at all.

Our church’s purpose needs unity and a common vision. We need to be aware of our purpose and how it fits into God’s vision for our church and community. The fastest way to find your calling is amongst community. Another person’s calling can be attractive because they are comfortable in their calling. We then look at and want to copy that form. But when we take the form of someone else, it doesn’t function well in my life because it’s not my calling. When we get involved in community, we can then recognize what we are good at. The joy comes to us as our calling is fulfilled among community.  

Intimacy with God and Intimacy with others is the ultimate heart of what God has called us to be at Freedom Fellowship.

From Genesis 2:7-23, Adam is created and given instructions by God. Adam gets a revelation and saw that there was none like him. God says, “It’s not good that you are alone.” Even among a perfect relationship with God and no separation with God, Adam was alone. Theologically, he wasn’t alone. But God said it wasn’t good. So he gave him a helper. Helper means to “come alongside!” This is Freedom Fellowship Church.

Matthew 22:36-40 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Love the Lord your God and love one another: two relationships – one purpose. Relationship with God and Relationship with others. We need both. 

King David was anointed to be king but finds himself in the wilderness because Saul is trying to kill him. Saul’s son, Jonathan, came to David in the place and encouraged him in the Lord. Sometimes we look at circumstance and surroundings and think we are abandoned by God. But God will send others to minister. God still chooses people to carry out His purpose in our lives.

II Corinthians 7:6 But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus. Paul was in jail and at end of his ministry. Paul was in God’s will; Titus was in God’s will; God sent him to not fix the situation but to comfort.

Know that God loves you, we love you, this community loves you, you were created, you have a purpose, a place, a calling, gifting’s to be unwrapped. You are in a safe place to receive at Freedom Fellowship Church.

Do you feel it selfish to ask God to use us at our full potential?

Explain Intimacy with God and Intimacy with others.

Who is God asking me to connect with? To send a message to? Or to call? To encourage?

Am I burdened by a circumstance, pain, past, great pressure, living in a wilderness, not believing in my purpose, that I need to let go of?