As A Christian,
Are You Fulfilling Your Purpose?

Ephesians 2:10 “For We Are His Workmanship, Created In Christ Jesus For Good Works, Which God Prepared Beforehand That We Should Walk In Them.”

While No Action Or Work We Do, Can Help Us Obtain Salvation, God’s Intention Is That Our Salvation Will Result In Acts Of Service For Him. We Are Not Saved Merely For Our Own Benefit, But To Serve Christ And Build Up The Church.
His Plan Is That We Should Spend Our Lives In Helping Others To See How Jesus Christ Came To Take Our Sins Upon Him.
Today I Want To Take Note Of A Problem I See Within The Family Of The Church. It Is Called The Inactive Christian. ….. So, I Must Ask, Are You Fulfilling Your Purpose.

I Am Worried About The Inactivity Of Christians Within The Church Today. I Am Worried That Churches Are Caving Into A Deception From Satan That We Are Not Tolerant Of Today’s World.
Tolerance Of Sin Is A Virtue Of Those That Lack Principles And Morals.
Today’s Age Of Tolerance Is Eroding The Foundations Of Our Faith…Years Ago Parents Taught Their Children To Be Tolerant Of Those Who Were Different.

But, Today The Term Has Taken A Steep Twist Left And Over The Cliff. In Our Educational Systems, The Term Tolerance Is Used To Mean That Every Belief, No Matter How Bizarre, Has Equal Value. One Result Is That Biblical Truth Is Now Seen As A Threat, And Those Who Teach Standards Of Good Versus Evil Are Considered To Be Intolerant. And Too Many Christians Feel This Is The Worst Criticism Imaginable In This Age Of Everything Has To Be Accepted. Christians Today Are Worried About Being Liked Instead Of Being The Light!

This Watering Down Of Truth Is That Many Consider Themselves To Be Christians Without Even Knowing What That Means. …. This Has Spread Into The Unchurched. In A Nationwide Survey From Focus On The Family, 67 Percent Of Non-Church Goers Now Call Themselves Christian Based On Today’s Worldly Values Not Biblical Values……Churches Today Are Becoming So Worldly In Order To Attract Membership, They Have Become The New Mission Field Of People Needing Ministered Too. Today’s New-Age Are Only Worried About Nickels And Noses, Which Means Money And Head Count.

The Bad Effect Is Seen In How These New-Age Churches Are Sadly Eroding The Truth And Commitment Of Christianity. Of Today’s New Unchurched And Worldly Christians, 64 Percent Say That Satan Is Not A Living Being, But Only A Symbol Of Evil. Additionally, This Same 64 Percent Stated That A Good Person Can Earn His Or Her Way Into Heaven. This Same Survey Shows That Only 25 Percent Of These New-Age, Unchurched Christians Believe The Bible Is Totally Accurate In All That It Teaches. So, That Means 75 Percent Of New-Age So-Called Christians Do Not Believe The Bible.
This Is Now Affecting The Church-Going Believers. In Today’s New World Church, 64 Percent Of Adults And 85 Percent Of Teens Contend That There Is No Absolute Moral Truth That Exists……And 45 Percent Of All Americans Attending Church In The Country Today And Declare Themselves Christians, Believe That Jesus Sinned During His Time On Earth.

One Of The Sayings I Hear Today That Drives Me Bug Nuts Is When I Hear Someone Tell Me That Jesus Hung Out With Sinners. I Immediately State That Jesus Ministered To Sinners.

So, What Are We To Do?

We Must Begin With Teaching The Foundation Of Christianity And The Truth Of The Crucifixion And Resurrection.
Again, Yes, Jesus Ministered To Sinners, But He Never Lowered The Standard For Anyone.
Not All Will Be Open To A Conversation.

This Is Why After Jesus Tells His Disciples In John 6:57, “As The Living Father Sent Me, And I Live Because Of The Father, So He Who Feeds On Me Will Live Because Of Me.” But In John 6:60 We See Many Who Heard This And Said, “This Is A Hard Saying; Who Can Understand It?”

Jesus Asks Them “Does This Offended You?”
(V.63) The Words That I Speak To You Are Spirit, And They Are Life. (V.64) Yet There Are Some Of You Who Do Not Believe. (V.65) From That Time Many Of His Disciples Went Back And Walked With Him No More.
So, As We Will See A Little Later, To Believe In Jesus Christ Requires An Action Of Acceptance Or Rejection.
So, As Disciples Today, Are You Listening To Worhsip Music And Lifting And Raising Your Hands For Your Own Benefit, Or Are You Lifting Others Up?

Sermon’s Are Important, But They Do Not Substitute For You Spending Time In God’s Word. Here At Harmony, We Have A Men’s Bible Study Group, We Have A Women’s Bible

Study Group, We Have Small Groups, And All These Are Great Ways To Learn And Education Yourself. But That Is Not Fulfilling Your Purpose. What Are You Doing To Serve The Kingdom Of God?
Remember This Statement, Education Without Action Is Entertainment. Or What I Call Worshiptainment.
If We Are Not Serving To Make Disciples, Then We Are Not Serving God…..Now Let’s Look At How And Why We Are Required To Take Action.

We Will Begin With John 3:16:

“For God So Loved The World That He Gave His Only Begotten Son, That Whoever Believes In Him Should Not Perish But Have Everlasting Life.”

Let’s Break This Down Into Two Important Items:
First Item Is: For God, So Loved…The Word “Loved” …This Is The Greek Word Agape, Which Means God Chose Us To Love First. … Agape Requires An Action. God Gave His Son First For Us…So We Must Chose To Give Ourselves In Service To Him.
God Shows Us That This Is A Discriminating Affection Which Involves Choice And Selection. We Must Choose To Accept Or Reject God. This Has Nothing To Do With How The World Defines Love Or Views It Today, Which Is So Twisted And Distorted Beyond Any Biblical Teaching.
Next, The Second Item Is: Believes. This Is Not Just An Intellectual Agreement On Our Part. The Greek Word Pisteuó (Pis-Te-Ro) Means To Entrust, To Have Conviction And Fully Trust. To Give Oneself Over Totally. It Requires An Action, Which Is To Put Our Trust And Confidence In Christ. It Is To Put Christ In Charge Of Our Plans And Eternal Destiny. There Is A Price We Pay When We Accept Jesus Christ As Our Lord And Savior. Brother Terry Preached A Couple Of Weeks Ago, That We Will Be Persecuted. Matthew 5:10-12, Blessed Are They Which Are Persecuted For Righteousness’ Sake: For Theirs Is The Kingdom Of Heaven. (11) Blessed Are You, When Men Shall Revile You, And Persecute You, And Shall Say All Manner Of Evil Against You Falsely, For My Sake. (12) Rejoice, And Be Glad; For Great Is Your Reward In Heaven; For So Persecuted They The Prophets Which Were Before You. Jesus Said, “If They Have Persecuted Me, They Will Also Persecute You.” The New-Age Church Today Is So Worried About Being Persecuted That It Has Chosen To Either Remain Neutral Or Quiet On Issues Of Sin, Or Worse Yet, Have Chosen To Embrace The World. Today’s New-Age Church Culture Choses Fleshly Desire Versus Heavenly Desire. Today’s Culture Builds A Life And Expects God To Bless It. They Are No Longer Willing To Give Themselves Or Their Life For Christ. They Want The Benefits Of God, But Without God Because They Believe That He Is Intolerant Of Others.

We Live In A World That Is Overwhelmed With Many Problems And If Not Addressed Can Cause Us To Become Inactive.
In This New Social Media Information Age, We Don’t Read As Much As We Used Too, And As A Result We Don’t Write Or Speak As Well As We Used To Either. It’s All Abbreviations And Emojis.

The Problem With This Is It Spills Over Into Our Service To The Lord. An Inactive Christian Is A Christian Who Makes His Or Her Way Down The Road Of Life Doing Nothing For The Cause Of Christ.
All Of Us Have Probably Played This Role Or Part Of It At Some Point In Our Lives. Now I’m Not Talking Of The Missed Opportunity Because Our Focus Was On Something Else. What I Am Addressing Is When Our Lives Are Now Longer Focused On Serving The Lord Daily. To Some People, Christianity Is A Spectator Sport. They Watch What’s Going On And Never Involve Themselves In The Works Of The Kingdom. We Do This For A Number Of Reasons: We Don’t Feel We Have Anything To Offer, Or We Say, I Don’t Have The Time.…Or Better Yet, We Say The Work Of Ministry Is To Be Done By Professional Full-Time Clergy & Pastors. Or, Witnessing Doesn’t Fit My Gifts. I’m Too Old, Or I’m Too Young To Offer My Services.
Serving Others Is Not Very Appealing. And The List Of Excuses Goes On And On. I’d Be A Liar If I Said Some Of Those Things Had Never Crossed My Mind In Year’s Past. But Let’s Be Honest; The Fact Is None Of Those Are Very Good Reasons For Not Getting Out Of Our Comfort Zone. We’ve Been Created And Built For A Place Of Ministry. There Are Some Excellent Reasons Why We Should Fullfill Our Purpose And Get Into A Place Of Service.

So, Let’s Look At A Few? 1. Because We Were Created For Service Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I Formed You In The Womb I Knew You, And Before You Were Born I Consecrated You; I Appointed You A Prophet To The Nations.” Yes, There Were Persecutions For The Prophets, And As Christians, We Will Be Persecuted For Christ’s Sake.
Paul Affirms, “Yes, And All Who Live Godly In Christ Jesus Will Suffer Persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12, These Statements Have No Exceptions Built In.
The Bible Says That Even Before You Were Born, God Planned A Life Of Service For You. The Reason Why So Many People Are Miserable Today Is Because They’ve Missed The Point Of Life; Which Is Serving God! …..Remember This; The Reason That You Are Not Plugged Into Service For God Is Not God’s Fault.
A Pastor Friend Of Mine Said One Time, “Start Where You’re At With What You Have.” Again, Jesus Went To Where They Were To Minister. As We Serve Others, Our Own Needs Are Met And As We Give Our Life Away To Serve The Kingdom, We Find It More Fulfilled. 2. It Proves That You Belong To Christ Romans 7:4 “Therefore, My Brethren, You Also Have Become Dead To The Law Through The Body Of Christ, That You May Be Married To One Another—To Him Who Was Raised From The Dead, That We Should Bear Fruit To God.
God Says That The Way That You Know That You’re A Part Of The Body Of Christ Is That You Serve Others.
It’s The Proof Of The Fruit……. A Non-Serving Christian Is A Contradiction…..There’s No Such Thing. 3. Serving Others Is The Way To Serve God Colossians 3:23-24 “And Whatever You Do, Do It Heartily, As To The Lord And Not For Men. It Is The Lord You Are Serving.” So, Work At It With All Your Heart Because You Are Serving The Lord. No Matter What You’re Doing, Who Are You Doing It For? You’re Doing It For The Lord. Matthew 25:40 Jesus Said, “What You Have Done For The Humblest Of My Brothers You Have Done For Me.”
The Importance Of This Verse Is It Shows The Importance Of Serving Where Service Is Needed. But What About Those That Are Inactive In Serving……………………Matthew 25 Verse 41.
(V.41) Then He Will Say To Those On His Left, Depart From Me, You Who Are Cursed, Into The Eternal Fire Prepared For The Devil And His Angels.
Let’s Look At V.41 And To Matthew Henry’s Commentary On This Section Of Matthew.
Currently The Wicked And Godly Dwell Together In The Same Cities, Churches, Families And Are Not Always To Be Known One From Another. Here We See A Description Of The Last Judgement. Basically, He’s Saying When You Witness, Which Can Include Feeding And Clothing Others, Then You Feed And Clothe Me. Humble, Willing Service To Others Is Service To God. But For Those That Turned Away From Christ’s Call, The Punishment Will Be An Everlasting Punishment. Life And Death, Good And Evil As Mentioned Earlier Are Placed In Front Of Us, That We May Choose. 4. Because I Owe God Everything Romans 12:1, “I Beseech You Therefore, Brethren, By The Mercies Of God, That You Present Your Bodies A Living Sacrifice, Holy, Acceptable To God, Which Is Your Reasonable Service.”
Another Version Puts It This Way, “Because Of God’s Great Mercy To Us, Offer Yourselves As A Living Sacrifice To God Dedicated To His Service And Pleasing To Him.” The Reason Why I Serve The Lord Is Because Of What God’s Done For Me – Because Of His Mercy. When I Think Of What Jesus Christ Has Done For Me, The Sacrifice That He’s Made For Me; There Is No Sacrifice That I Can Make For Him That Will Ever Compare.
The Fact Is; He Saved Me, He Made Me His, He Forgave All My Sins, And Because Of This, I Will See Him One Day. 5. Because It’s The Best Use Of My Life 1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, My Beloved Brethren, Be Steadfast, Immovable, Always Abounding In The Work Of The Lord, Knowing That Your Labor Is Not In Vain In The Lord.”
If You’re Serving, It’s Not Without Value. Nothing You Do Is Without Value If You Do It For The Lord. So, There’s No Insignificant Service In God’s Eyes. The Bible Says That Nothing You Do In The Lord’s Service Is Ever Without Value.

When You Minister Even In The Smallest Way To Others, You’re Making An Impact For Eternity. So, The Best Use Our Life, Is To Serve Other People By Serving The Lord.
The Fact Is, What Counts Is Giving Your Life Away. That’s Why Jesus Said, In Matthew 16:25, “For Whoever Desires To Save His Life Will Lose It, But Whoever Loses His Life For My Sake Will Find It.” 6. Because It Makes Life Meaningful I Don’t Pity People Who Are Up To Their Neck In Service. I Happen To Know That Those Are The People Who Are Most Alive. If You’re Not Serving, You’re Not Living; You’re Just Existing. Let Me Say It Again, I’m Concerned For The Church Today; I Deal With A Lot Of Pastors And Churches Across The Country We Live In. What I Have Seen Is Alarming.
Some Churches Have The Attitude That If One Of Their Members Are Going To Serve The Lord Somewhere It’s Going To Be In Their Own Church Inside Their Own Walls.
Take A Moment And Put Yourself In A Pastors Position; If A Pastor Were To Come To You With An Opportunity To Reach Other’s And Lead Someone To Christ, Would You Be Willing?
Unfortunately, Here’s The Truth I See. One Ministry In Texas Produced A DVD In San Antonio About Their Ministry Work, And They Mailed It To 285 Churches In The San Antonio Area With An Invitation To Join Together For Mission And Ministry Work In Their Own City. This Ministry Did Not Receive A Single Call Back; Not A Single Call From Any Church.
We Are Talking 285 Churches Within Driving Distance To The Location In Their Communities Needing Workers For Christ, And Not A Single Response.

So, Yes, I Am Concerned For Our Churches, But I’m Also Concerned For The Church Members. Here’s The Thing; There Have Been Similar Recruiting Efforts All Throughout The United States From Ministries Such As Billy Graham, And Local Organizations Such As Rehoboth With Medical, Educational, Food Banks, And So On, And They Are All Beginning To See A Trend; Introverted Churches And Christians Not Fulfilling Their Purpose.
Many Churches Today Have Many Programs And Other Things To Entertain The People Inside The Church Walls. But Where Is The Service Outside The Church, And Where Is The Service Outside Of Themselves? If You Are Not Impacting The Community Outside Your Church Are You Truly Doing What Christ Taught?
Are We, The Church, Fast Becoming More Like Social Clubs With Memberships, Dues And Entertainment? Or Are We Being Kingdom Minded?
You As A Christian Have A Responsibility To Everyone Around You. Christ Said In Matthew 28:18-20 “All Authority In Heaven And On Earth Has Been Given To Me. (V19) Go Therefore And Make Disciples Of All Nations, Baptizing Them In The Name Of The Father And Of The Son And Of The Holy Spirit, (V20) Teaching Them To Observe All That I Have Commanded You. And Behold, I Am With You Always, Even To The End Of The Age.” Did You Catch That; Go Therefore And Make Disciples; Christians, Are We Doing That? Are We Making Disciples, Or Are We Letting Others Do Our Job For Us?
That’s Why I Want To See People Break Out And Become Involved In Some Way. Jesus Said In Matthew 20:26-28. “Whoever Wants To Become Great Among You Must Be Your Servant, And Whoever Wants To Be First Must Be Your Slave. – – Just As The Son Of Man Did Not Come To Be Served, But To Serve, And To Give His Life As A Ransom For Many.” Your Attitude Must Be Like His, For The Messiah Did Not Come To Be Served, But To Serve.
Basically, What Jesus Is Saying Is Only Those People Who Are Throwing Their Lives Away For My Sake And The Sake Of The Good News Will Know What It Means To Really Live. 7. It Will Be Rewarded For Eternity In John 12:26 Jesus Said, “Whoever Serves Me Must Follow Me, And Where I Am, My Servant Also Will Be. My Father Will Honor The One Who Serves Me.” In Matthew 25:21 He Says, “Well Done Good And Faithful Servants. You’ve Been Faithful In A Few Things. I’ll Put You In Charge Of Many Things. Come And Share Your Master’s Happiness.” You’re Going To Spend Far More Time In Eternity Than You Do In The 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, Or 90 Years You’re Going To Be Here On Earth. How You Spend Your Time Here Is Going To Determine What’s Going To Be Done With You In The Next Life For Eternity. Jesus Tells Us, “You Have Been Faithful In A Few Things. I’ll Put You In Charge Of Many Things.
Come And Share Your Master’s Happiness.”
One Day I Want To Stand Before Jesus Christ, And I Want To Hear Him Say, “Well Done Thou Good And Faithful Servant.”
But Here’s The Thing, The Key Word Is Servant. If You’re Not Serving And You’re Not Being A Servant Will You Hear Those Words?

So, Remember This, He Will Know Us By Our Fruits, So What Are Your Fruits?
The Point Is That No Matter How Menial A Task May Seem, You Have No Idea How Or What You Do Will Affect Those You Minister To; You Have No Idea How You Or Those You Minister To May Someday Impact The Kingdom.
The Great News Is You Are Suited. As Christians, You Do Not Have To Be A Walking Bible Scholar, Or Have An Advanced Biblical Degree.

God Has A Use For You!

1 Peter 3:15: “But In Your Hearts Honor Christ The Lord As Holy, Always Being Prepared To Make A Defense To Anyone Who Asks You For A Reason For The Hope That Is In You; Yet Do It With Gentleness And Respect.”

The Key Is To Always Be Ready!