Set Apart for Purpose

So it's about this time every year, sometime in mid January through March, roughly that I hear a number of conversations from people in Western New York about wanting to move to Florida just happens, right? It's not new it happens all the time. And people are they're cold and they're tired. They're tired of chipping away, their windshield wipers and then they ruin them. And then they're tired about going out to their car every single week. It feels like, and the, the tire pressure light is on every single week because the weather changes and all that stuff. And you're like, I filled up my tires with air like a thousand times, just keep the air in it, and you're frustrated and you're like some sunshine and palm trees can solve everything. If I just moved to Florida, well I've lived in Florida twice, two times I have lived there. And one was when I was a child and my dad, we had left it was after he got out of the Marine Corps and then we left our home in Georgia and went to Florida for his job. And we were there for maybe two and a half years from the time I was about five-ish to seven and a half or eight, whatever. Then we moved back to Georgia. So I lived there as a child, but I also lived there as an adult because prior to coming to The Chapel in Buffalo, I was in Southwest Florida serving a church there for eight years both of our sons were born there in Florida. And when we moved here, they were just five and two so pretty much there's Buffalo kids it's what they know, right. But while I was there as an adult, when Edie and I were there, we made a bunch of observations. I made a bunch of observations while I was there. It was funny because one of the first observations that I had I won't share them all. But one of the first observations is that basically the further South in Florida that you go, no one's originally from there. They're all from here. So when people asked me, they were like, hey, was it a big culture change when you moved to Buffalo? I was like, no, I know all of those people because those are the people that moved down here. So all the Northeast, right ended up moving down to South Florida. And so I already knew the kind of people that we were talking about there. So the second observation is that it's kind of standard fare for thinking in Florida, that in December Santa Claus wearing shorts and flip-flops and a Hawaiian shirt is okay. I submit to you it's not okay. It's not at all okay to see Santa in that kind of get up. He needs the full gig, right, not okay. But the third one and the more serious of my observations was this, is the more people that I got to know living down in the community where I lived in Southwest Florida. I realized that a whole lot of people were doing one of two things. They were actually running away from something when they moved there, or they were chasing something that they thought they could find in coming there. And I found this over and over and over again people who had problems, wherever they were and they thought that the solution to those problems was sunshine and palm trees and no state taxes. That's not a bad thing though, by the way if you're listening, governor just a heads-up and then you've got people that were chasing something, right. That this was kind of the dream and if I could just be there then that kinda satisfies all of those things. So, that was my observation. You could say, well, that observation is just yours it's your opinion may, it may or may not be inbound, and I realized that, but a recent infographic that I saw on Google helped to support what exactly I'm talking about. I didn't necessarily even have to go looking for it it just kind of showed itself to me. And this Google infographic was about how what the queries were, the kinda the highest query by year, this recent year, 2020 the highest queries to the internet in a state. So that was interesting, right. And I was looking through there going, huh I wonder what the biggest query was in certain states. You know what it was in Florida, what is my life purpose? That's what it was. And so listen to this climate and a good economy doesn't change the same thing that's going on in every single person's heart, trying to figure out what is it all for. Now I get it, right, because I've asked the same question myself. I've actually been in a position where I've asked kinda what's the purpose of all of this. I was a college student at that time I was at the university of Georgia and there I am in an incredible university. One of the oldest in the nation state supported, right. Incredible university in a quintessential college town the place is beautiful, I've got loads of friends lots to do, everything that's offered there, right. All good and there I am 19 years old sitting on the edge of my bed asking myself what exactly is going on here? What's my purpose. Well, my answer to myself was want's to graduate. Okay, cool then what? Then get a job, great then what? Then buy a home , great then what? Then get married, great then what? Then have some kids and a dog and a fence and all the stuff. Great, then what? Then make a lot of money. Great, then what? Then retire, great then what? Then move to Florida. Great then what? Then wear terrible clothes and drive really slow. Great, then what? Then I die. What was it all for? Now I'm dead. What did I do? That's what I'm running over in my head at 19. I thought, well I've worked for all this stuff. And then I die. And then my family gets my stuff and then eventually they die and then others die. And, before long with the passing of a number of generations, everything that I worked for is in the hands of people that I've never met. So I basically figured out that I'm a human savings plan for people that I have yet to meet how's that for purpose? Nobody's really interested in that. So I get it we've all asked these questions, haven't we? We tried to figure out exactly what our purpose is. Now thankfully Jesus found me. He found me just a few short months after I was asking those very questions around purpose. And in his finding of me, everything changed in a flash. My entire reason for existence became him. All of the sudden everything began to be clear that my purpose was to live for him. My purpose was he himself. And then within two years of my life being transformed God put an assignment on life. He called me into vocational ministry, we're all in ministry if we claim the name of Jesus he just called me into a vocational life of ministry but don't be confused here. That was my assignment not my purpose. My purpose is bigger than that. My assignment comes up under my purpose but my purpose is still the same as it always was, Jesus. That has always been the purpose. And what we have to remember is that most of the time when we're asking questions around and we're saying things related to purpose, we're actually asking assignment questions we're not asking purpose questions. And once we begin to sort that out in our minds everything begins to change because most of the questions we're asking is, was I put on the earth to be an artist or a business woman or a businessman or a mother or a teacher, an athlete, an academic. Isn't one of those things my purpose, no, one of those things is your assignment. One of those things is your vocation. One of those things may be your station given to you by the grace of God, by his gifts, his passions that he's placed inside of you, your skill sets that you're utilizing all of this a beautiful gift of God, but that, that's not purpose that's subservient to your purpose. You see that's important for us to recognize because some of you may be asking the question, what does this have to do with sanctification? You're doing a final message on a series on sanctification what does this idea about purpose have to do with that? Everything thank you for asking, everything. You see this is why I seeded into us a definition, my own built from the scripture itself, but a definition of sanctification from the very outset from week number one in this series, and I've shared that with you each week. Remember it was this sanctification is our cooperation with the spirit to shape us into the image of Jesus, so that we're set apart for what God's purpose, that's why, Like there's a why behind all of this that we need to be able to grab hold of. That's also why I'm trying to remind us that God himself has a purpose. That's why in week number one, what I tried to do is just illustrate quickly the great story of God. We started in creation and then we talked about the fall of humanity into sin and then we talked about the covenant that God has with us the promises that he's made, the redemption being the fulfillment of many of those promises because of what he promised to do in Jesus Christ and restoration of all things when Jesus comes again and makes all things new. And we walked through that story, because we situated ourselves between the kind of the chapter in the story of redemption and restoration and realize that we are destined for sanctification to be set apart from sin to be set apart to God and to be set apart for the sake of God's purpose, that this is why we're talking about what we're talking about when we talk about sanctification. Now, when you talk about the great sweep of the story of God you can actually see the sweep of that story and see the idea of our holiness, our consecration, our sanctification when Paul opens his letter to the Ephesians church. Now I'm gonna read that to you, but I'm gonna end up being in John's gospel in a little bit because that's where we're gonna camp out. But I want you to see how this unfolds in Ephesians chapter one. It says, "praise be to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be Holy" right, to be sanctified to be set apart, to be consecrated to be made Holy same idea there. "And blameless in his sight. in love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace which he has freely given us in the one he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times reached their fulfillment to bring unity to all things in heaven and earth under Christ". Now that's a lot, like that was a lot, right to kinda read from Paul. But what he's saying is this God's always had a purpose relative to us. And that purpose that he's had is consistent with his overall purpose in bringing everything to summation under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. That that's where everything is headed. That he's the King of every King, he's the Lord of every Lord that in the name of Jesus every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father that's where all of this is headed. And we in the midst of that have been chosen by God to be Holy, to be sanctified, to be set apart to be consecrated for what, for purpose, to cooperate with God in his purposes. What is that? What is exactly what we're being sanctified into? With Jesus, right he's the point. That's where everything is headed and we're being shaped into his likeness, right? So what does it look like for us to be shaped into the image of Jesus and why are we being shaped into the image of Jesus? Why, what's the purpose, right? That's where we turn our attention back to the prayer that Jesus prayed in John 17. Remember I told you it was after the last supper as we know it, where Jesus had met with his disciples and he determined now he was headed to the cross and he left his disciples or they left with his disciples from that meal. And they walked their way toward Gethsemane and on the way he did some teaching and he did some praying it was like a high priestly prayer. He was interceding, not only for his disciples but for those who would believe me and you people that were yet to come Jesus is praying for us all in those moments. And I want you to hear what Jesus has to say in his prayer. He says my prayer in John 17, "my prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth". We talked about that last week. "As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself that they too may be truly sanctified". Now it's remarkable what Jesus talks about here because Jesus we're reminded, understands that his vocation his identity right now is someone who has been set apart now, to be clear, I want you to understand something when you and I are talking about sanctification or being made holy, there is both this idea of being set apart to God but also being set apart from sin. Only half of that equation applies to Jesus set apart to God for the sake of the purpose that God had designed but had no need to be set apart from sin because Jesus was spotless. Jesus was sinless, right? So this setting apart of Jesus was actually for purpose. And this terminology that Jesus uses when he talks about sanctification or being sanctified is not terminology that's new when he's praying this prayer. In fact, if we were to look back in John's gospel a few chapters, when Jesus was ministering earlier he was actually in Jerusalem and at an earlier time than what the prayer time was. And when he was there, it was the time of what we would call Hanukkah. It was that time of year. And Jesus was being pressed by a bunch of the Jewish people. And the reason they were pressing Jesus was because they felt like he was a blasphemer because he had talked about this oneness with God he had talked about being God's own son. And they were like, wait a second. But listen to what Jesus says to them in John chapter 10, Jesus said "if he called them gods lower case, to whom the word of God came and scripture cannot be set aside. What about the one whom the father set apart or sanctified as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, I am God's son"? In other words, Jesus said to them, very clearly you're accusing me of blaspheming but you need to understand something God set me apart and sent me into this world that's what you need to understand. He set me apart and sent me into this world, so Jesus understands that he has a role and that role is being sanctified being set apart and being sent. Now, Jesus himself in this prayer says for them talking about his disciples and those who would yet believe for them, I sanctify myself. So think about it this way Jesus knew that the father had set him apart. And because Jesus was one with the father, Jesus said I set myself apart to do what? To cooperate with what the father has set me apart for. This is Jesus and the father's oneness on display. The father has set the son apart for purpose. Jesus has set himself apart so that he will fulfill the purpose of the father. And do you know what the purpose of the father was? It would take Jesus straight to a cross, that was the purpose. Do you know that Jesus fully embraced that purpose? He didn't do it like, oh man, father I can't believe you're making me do this it wasn't that at all. For the joy set before him he endured the cross scorning in shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God, Hebrews tells us Jesus did this willingly. He went to a cross willingly, why? Listen to this, for them I sanctify myself that they may be truly sanctified. Do you know that your hope and my hope, our only hope in being set apart from sin and set apart to God is because of what Jesus has done on the cross. Because of his shed blood we can have forgiveness of sin because of his shed blood and resurrection from the dead he's conquered death hell and the grave on our behalf and sent the spirit of God to indwell us and to empower us to be a part of walking in the very purpose that God has designed us for. For them I sanctify myself, Jesus said, what a good God, what a good God he is? For them I set myself apart so that they may truly be set apart. Jesus, listen to this Jesus was set apart and sent so that you and I could be too. Now this shouldn't be overly shocking to us because that's what sanctification is about. That we're actually cooperating with God's purpose. We're being made more like Jesus and Jesus was set apart and sent for the purpose of God and so too, are we. So if you wanted to write down a summary of what we're talking about here, it would be this simple our purpose is to be set apart and sent so that the world may know Jesus. There you go, our purpose is to be set apart and sent so that the world may know Jesus. Our purpose is not just to be an artist, our purpose is not just to be a business person, our purposes is not just to be fill in the blank. Our purpose is to be set apart and sent so that the world may know Jesus in whatever way that he's done that in our world. You see, how do we do that? Because I think all of us read that and go, yeah, yes. This is what Jesus is praying, yes. But how do we start to capture that? How do we look at that breaking it down and go this is how we can actually get after this idea of purpose. Well thank you for asking, even if you weren't. Here's how I would share that with you. I would share that Jesus' prayer actually answers that for us. And we're just gonna lift these pieces right out of his Prayer from the text. And we're gonna see it. The first piece of that, that I would tell you is that you've got to believe you were sent by Jesus. If you want to fulfill the purpose of Jesus for your life you've got to believe that you were sent by him. I want you to notice quickly with me in verse number 18 what it says, Jesus says "as you sent me into the world, father, I have sent them into the world". As you have sent me, I have sent them. Let me ask a quick question, how many of you know who Clark Kent is? All right the rest of you, do you live in America? Like a Superman we're talking about right there, right? Clark Kent is like the regular I live on earth guy name of Superman. Superman is not from here. He's not from our world, he's from another world he's from Krypton, right? Superman is not from here, but now Superman is here and he takes on a purpose of being able to help and to serve humanity because of his other worldly super powers, right? What's interesting about that is that although we're not Superman or superwoman generally speaking, we still are also other worldly people who have been sent for a purpose. Now I'm not talking about you thinking yourself, I am other worldly, not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is this is that everybody who has been born from above, they're no longer of this world. They're here, remember Jesus prayed, not praying that you take them out of the world father, why would he pray that? Because their citizenship is now in a different world. And Jesus says, I don't pray that you just take them out of here. I pray that they will be here not be of this world, but be in it, why? Because they are other worldly representatives of a different kingdom that's why. You see when we begin to believe that we begin to believe that Jesus has actually sent us and he's given us purpose in why he has sent us it changes everything for us. You see, we need to understand that's the nature of God God is a sending God. The father sent the son. The son sent the spirit, the son and the spirit send in to the church. This is the natural nature of the Trinitarian God that we serve. We are a sent people and we need to believe that we are sent Jesus praise as you father have sent me so I send them. That's why people like the apostle Paul he understood what Jesus taught and that's why he referred to us in certain ways like an ambassador. Remember what Paul said in second Corinthians chapter five. He said, "from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though once we regarded Christ in this way we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The oldest gone and the newest here. All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he is committed to us the message of reconciliation". Listen to this. "We are therefore Christ ambassadors as though God was making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf. Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us. So that in him, we might become the righteousness Of God". We're ambassadors, do you know what it means to be an ambassador? If someone's an ambassador of the United States or for the United States it means that they got an assignment in another country. And they're an ambassador from the United States to that country. What they're doing is they're representing this kingdom to that kingdom. They're representing this nation to that nation and ladies and gentlemen, that's exactly the assignment that we've been given in the purposes of God that we have been given this assignment as ambassadors, because we live in a kingdom of darkness and we are from a kingdom of everlasting light. The King of that kingdom is the light of the world. And the light of the world said to us that you are the light of the world, why? Because he dwells within us. And so wherever we are in the kingdom of darkness we have been sent by Jesus to demonstrate that there's another kingdom at work here. It doesn't always have to be the kingdom of darkness. There is light around us and it's the light of the glory of who Jesus Christ is you see you know what that means for us in a real practical way. It means that your job is not just place where you earn a living, make some money so you can feed yourself and your family and pay some bills and it does cover all those things and those things are important. But your purpose is that you were sent by Jesus into that job so that people could see him. The King has sent you there.
If you're a student, you may think, man, I'm just here to graduate or to earn my degree so I can go make some money. Well, you need to do all of those things all important but your purpose is bigger than that. You need to believe that Jesus sent you the King sent you into that place so that you have the opportunity to show them Jesus how you live, what you say, choices you make. Your neighborhood, you're not just there in your neighborhood, so that you got somebody nearby that if you run out of sugar, you can borrow some or they can pick up your mail when you're gone on vacation. Those things are great, great to have neighbors. You have been sent by the King into your neighborhood or your apartment complex. You've been sent by the King to demonstrate Jesus to those that are around. See, this is what we've got to be able to grab a hold of and understand, I mean, even if you're at home, you're saying, well I'm just at home. You're not just at home to make sure that your kids brush their teeth and do their homework. You're at home because you were set by the King to show them who Jesus is, what Jesus does. You see for us to fulfill our purpose. We've got to start from the very place that Jesus talked about. He says, father, as you've sent me, I've sent them. We've got to believe that we are sent by Jesus. Secondly, we've got to share the message of Jesus. Listen to what Jesus said or more specifically what Jesus prayed. "My prayer is not for them alone". In other words, I'm not just praying for these disciples that are here with me, "but I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message". Huh, who will believe in me through their message. If we are the recipients of the faithful message of the apostles and we are, that tells us a couple of things one Jesus' prayer was effectual. Here we sit in 2021 a couple of thousand years removed from this prayer. And we have received the message that the apostles have shared remarkable, but you know what else it tells me? How did we do that? Yes, by the superintending of the spirit so that the word of God was written down and we now have that. But also because generation after generation, after generation, after generation has been faithful to share the message of Jesus. That's why we have it. And we have a responsibility to do the same. That's what, listen, that's what a Holy people does. That's what a people set apart does. I mean, Peter called us a set apart people. He called us a, a Holy people, a Holy nation. Notice what he says in fact, 1 Peter 2, he says, "you're a chosen people, a royal priesthood a Holy nation, a sanctified nation. God's special possession." to do what? "That you may say this with me, you may what? declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light". That you may declare the praises of him. That you may open your mouth that you may let your tongue speak the praises of him who has transferred us from this kingdom of darkness, to the kingdom of light that we can testify to the glory of who Jesus actually is. See, we have that responsibility corporately but we've got that responsibility individually. Listen to how Paul said it in Romans 10. He said, "how then can they call on one that they haven't believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they've never heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they're sent? As it is written how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. But not all the Israelites excepted the good news. For Isaiah says, Lord who has believed our message. Consequently, faith comes from here the message and the message is heard through the word about Christ". Do you know how people come to faith? They hear the saving story of Jesus, that's how. That means that you and I, we need to be able to open our mouths not just nebulously, but open our mouths to be able to share the saving story of Jesus. Because that's where the power is. This is the great news. Gospel means good news, right? The heart of the gospel is Jesus. This is what it's about, we are sharing that good news. Paul said it this way in Romans 1, he said, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it's the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes". The gospel is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. At 19 years old, when Jesus found me he also grabbed one of his ambassadors a young lady named Kay, who stood in the middle of a street from midnight to three o'clock in the morning. And she didn't talk to me about how to make my life a little better on Monday. She didn't talk to me about how I can just feel a little bit better about myself. She told me the saving story of Jesus and the power of the gospel saved me. That's what we'll do it. We've hey, let's put our hands together and then open our trumps because we have a story to tell the world. It is the saving message of Jesus Christ and too often, we have kept our mouths closed. If we wanna fulfill the purpose of God for our life we've got to talk our faith. We've got to be able to speak our faith to people that are around us, why? Because we believe we are sent we've been sent by the King and we're sent to do what to testify to the King. That's what Jesus, when he's praying he's saying I pray not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, the only way that that happened is people talking their faith people sharing the message of Jesus. But thirdly, if we want to fulfill our purpose we've got to show the love of Jesus. Listen to what Jesus prayed in verses 21 through 23, he said, "father I pray that all of them may be one father just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them a glory that you've gave me that they may be one as we are one". When he's talking about this idea of being one as we are one, this is a union of love. This is the nature of the union of the Godhead that is built on Holy love. He says, "I in them and you in me so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me". See friends, brothers, and sisters in Christ. What unifies us is God's love for us. That's what unifies us, that this beautiful saving sacred love that God has demonstrated to us in Jesus. This is what gives us our identity. This is what gives us our mission. This is what gives us our very purpose. I need you to hear something. It's not primarily about our love for him. It's primarily about his love for us. I hope you didn't miss that when Jesus was praying there in verse 23, at the very end of it, it says this. "Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me". You do know God's the initiator, right? God's the one who initiates love. You see some of us when we talk about this idea of love. We forget that it's God who said yes first he's God who said, I love you first. So many times now in this day and age, when young men and women they're trying to, clarify the relationship. They're not sure who's gonna say, I like you first or whatever. Listen, we don't have to do that in our relationship with God. God said, I love you first. God said, I love you when you didn't love me back while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. In fact, I think that Jesus' prayer so marked John. So marked him that when he was an old man he still hadn't gotten over it. Listen to what he wrote in 1 John when he was old, "this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends since God so loved us. We also ought to love one another". You see, when we learn how to be recipients of the love of God and all that God has done for us in Jesus Christ it's, then that we can love other people the way they're supposed to be loved. You see too oftentimes we kinda talk about this you know what I really need to do better with love, okay? How are you going to do that? I'm just, I'm just gonna love more. Well, good luck with that because here's where we'll fail every single time to think that we are the producers God is the producer. We're the recipient so that we can be the distributor. See it's not just about willing ourselves into loving people more. It's about receiving the love that the father has for us and recognizing that we can love even as he has loved us and being filled with that. Because the love that God has given us is the love that he shed a blood in our hearts, by the Holy spirit. This is the initiation of God and when we receive that and are filled with that kind of love, we then are distributors of the love of God. We can then show people what the life and love of Jesus actually looks like. In fact that's the command that Jesus gave to his disciples, right? John tells us about that a few chapters back in John 13, he said "a new command I give you love one another as I have loved you so you must love one another". Think about what Jesus said as I have loved you. So you must love one another. If I read that sentence and left it would be enough for today. As I have loved you so you must love one another. "By this everyone will know that you're my disciples if you love one another". This isn't a love by the way this isn't a love that we define. It's a love as he defined. It's not just warm feelings. What we know about Jesus is that love was extraordinarily costly that he loved those that didn't love him back. That he loved those who mocked him that he loved those who persecuted him. He just loved and he loved to the point of pouring himself out, in the early stages of the church right there in the very first couple of centuries they were experiencing a lot of persecution from the Roman empire. It was a difficult time to be known as a Christian. Sometimes you lost your job. Sometimes you lost your life. When you're losing life or livelihood that's a big deal and that was happening. And one of the early church leaders was a man who was in North Africa, Tunisia specifically his name was Tertullian. And Tertullian the African leader of that portion of the church he ended up writing about a 35,000 word kind of treatise on why the Roman empire should stop persecuting the church and why they weren't nuts to be following Jesus. And it was called the apology or the apology talking about an apologetic was kind of the idea there that he wrote. But do you know what he said when he wrote that? Do you know what he said was so compelling? Their love for one another. In fact, he said this, he said "it's mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us Christians see how they love one another, they say for they themselves are animated by mutual hatred. How they're ready even to die for one another, they say for they themselves will sooner put to death". He said in a world where people are more inclined to hate and to want to kill. He said, these believers us, the world looks and says see how they love one another. I mean, love one another at great cost. This is remarkable, I long for a community that loves like that. I know that all of us we're imperfect and I know that that kind of love can't come coerced. It can't be forced. You can't organize your way into that kind of love that can't happen. But as we know from Jesus love, that's really love like he shows is a love that's costly. It's a love that pours itself out. It's a love that's not so self-interested, but is actually for the sake of others, just like he prayed for them. I sanctify myself that prayer is his startling reminder of his love, for them I sanctify myself. So where are you when it comes to purpose? Maybe you've been in assignment thinking too long and you've forgotten the purpose that undergirds that all, right. See, sanctification are being set apart is for the purpose of God. And that purpose is this, that we're a scent and a set apart people so that the world will know Jesus. That's what Jesus prayed for and that's what I want us to pray for. So what I'd like us to do for the just a few moments here is to bow our heads whether you're here on another campus, watching us online, listening to us by way of radio. If you would just bow your heads with me And I'm gonna ask you to ask God a few things in response. First, maybe you could simply ask him, Lord, have there been areas of my life where I've just forgotten to live like I'm sent by a King. And would you let God begin to speak to you about that right now? Holy spirit, I pray you would bring to mind in every one of our lives areas of our lives where maybe we have forgotten that we are sent by you so that we can show Jesus to those around us. Would you be willing to ask the Lord as well with whom he might open the door so that you may share the saving story of Jesus. Maybe it's a friend or a family member or a neighbor, a son or a daughter, a mom, or a dad, a coworker. Would you just ask the Holy spirit to place that on your heart? And then would you ask the Lord Jesus in what circumstance or to what person can I show your costly love and ask him to bring that to mind and to heart as your heads are bowed here for a moment it's possible that maybe in this room or anyone who's watching us online or maybe even listening on the radio it's possible that you've never even understood fully what it means to engage in relationship with Jesus. The Bible says we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God and that the wages is death, but that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, if you've never come to a place where you've turned from your sin and recognize that only Jesus can save, he said, I'm the one the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father, except through me. Bible says there is no other name under heaven by which people can be saved except the name of Jesus. And if you've never actually humbled yourself before Jesus recognizing that you sinned that you cannot save yourself, that Jesus alone can save you by what he's done through his death on a cross satisfying the justice of God for your sin. That the one who was sin less died for sinners. The one who was perfect died for the ones who was flawed but he rose from the grave conquering death and hell and the grave. So that faith in him, we could be made right with God not because of anything that we've done but because of our faith in what Jesus has done, if you've never come to that place of surrendering yourself to Jesus receiving the new life that he wants to give you the forgiveness of sin, then maybe wherever you are if you're well watching online, if you're in the room if you're listening on a radio, wherever you are maybe you just wanna pray something like this with all the faith you have in your heart, just pray, Lord Jesus I know that I've sinned and I've come short of your glory. And I confess I cannot save myself, but I believe that you died for me and that you rose from the dead. And I believe you alone can save. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and I'm not. And I believe in my heart that you have died and risen from the grave Jesus and that you are my hope and my life and my salvation. So I now receive you by all the faith that I have I receive you, into my heart, into my life. I submit myself to you come and live in me and change me and make me new. With our heads bowed and eyes closed if you just prayed that prayer I really wanna encourage you if you're here in this room among us when we dismiss in just a few moments I wanna ask you to just come straight across the atrium as you walk out into a room called the fireside room we've got some pastors and friends that'll be in there that would love to pray for you for just a moment and then be able to send you home with something that's gonna help you in your journey of faith. If you're watching us online you're gonna hear in just a moment how you can connect with us so that we can follow up with you and help you in your journey of faith. You're not being asked to sign up for anything you don't wanna sign up for it we just wanna help you. We wanna walk with you as you embrace Jesus Christ and become a part of the family of God. Father thank you for every way in which you have spoken your word by your spirit, to your people's hearts. For those that you've drawn to yourself for salvation for those that you are drawing to yourself for sanctification to shape us into the image of the Lord, Jesus, I pray father with whatever it is that you brought to our attention and to our mind as we've paused ourself before you and we've allowed your spirit to speak to us. If that's being reminded that we're sent into our vocation or our school or our home or our neighborhood. And I pray that you'd write that on our hearts. And we would act consistent with that. If it's to finally have that conversation about Jesus with that person you've placed on our hearts, God, open those doors and help remind us that we would never do that alone but we will do that alongside of you. And for whatever you've asked us to do that would demonstrate your love. Even if it's costly, I pray that father we would be a people who would posture ourselves in obedience to your Lordship, because for us to be formed into the image of Jesus would mean we are submissive to your will for our lives. May you speak, may we listen and may we obey you. We pray for your glory and in the name of our savior Jesus, Amen.