Sunday, February 24, 2019

Weekend Sermon -- The Purpose Of Life Now And In the Life To Come

    Thank you for taking the time to read the blog this week. I have been very sick for the last few days, and that is why I am just getting around to posting the sermon today. I am feeling some better. Please pray that I will continue to recover.
     In prayer this week, please pray for those in the Congo who are sick with the Ebola virus. Continue to pray that this disease outbreak will come to an end. There is also a terrible outbreak of measles in Madagascar. Pray that those afflicted will recover and that this outbreak will come to an end.
     Continue to pray for peace in this world. I am very concerned about the situation in Yemen. The people there don't have enough to eat, and the medical care is lacking. Pray that peace will come quickly to this troubled nation. Also be in prayer for peace in Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, South Sudan and Libya.
     We also need to be in prayer for the situation that is unfolding in Venezuela. Pray that peace will come to this nation as well.
     For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those who live in the nations of Kazakhstan and Kosovo. Pray that many will come to know the love of the Lord Jesus. 
     Since I am not feeling anywhere near my best, the message today is going to be a little shorter. I want to speak about what our purpose is now and what it will be in the life to come. I started thinking about this topic when I was listening to a discussion about what eternity in Heaven was going to be like. One person said that living forever would be boring. One would run out of things to do.
     This attitude expressed a major problem that many people have when they think about the purpose of life now and in the life to come. The problem is that it is not all about us.
      In Colossians 1:16, the Bible is quite clear that everything was created to bring glory to Jesus Christ. That is why He made the world. Those who are redeemed by Christ and who acknowledge Him as Lord have come to the realization that Jesus is the center of all things.
     Our purpose in this life is to serve the Lord, worship the Lord and bring honor and glory to His name. Jesus said in John 4:23 that the Father is seeking those who will worship Him in Spirit and in the truth.
     Our lives right now are to be focused on worshiping the Lord. I believe we do that in many different ways. We worship the Lord when we sing songs of praise unto His name. We worship the Lord when we read and study His word. We worship the Lord when we obey His commandments and His teachings. We also worship the Lord when we follow His will and do that which He has called us do as a vocation.
     I Corinthians 10:31 tells us that everything we do should be done in such a way that it brings glory to the Lord. Our lives aren't to be lived to please ourselves, they are to be lived to please the One who loved us and gave up His life for us.
     One of these days, those who are in Christ will be with Him for all of eternity. Our purpose in eternity will be to bring honor and glory to Jesus just as that is our purpose now. Through all eternity, we will praise and honor the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. As He is the center of all things, it will be our pleasure to do all we can to make Him happy and glorify Him.
     In the book of Revelation, we see a vision of multitudes of people worshiping the Lamb. That is what eternity is about. Both here and the hereafter are about serving, loving and worshiping Jesus because that is why we were created. It is only through serving worshiping and loving Jesus that we find our true purpose here and in the world to come.
     On Monday, I will post the verses for the week. I will try to post a review on Wednesday. It is my plan to post the sermon on Friday this coming week. May God bless you all. Amen.

No comments: