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What Are Our Four Purposes?
“On Purpose!” We can’t live “On Purpose!” if we don’t know what it is! So…what is our purpose? Or, more accurately, what are our purposes—plural. Yes, our ultimate goal is to reach heaven, but how do we reach heaven? What is our goal here on earth? What is our God-purposed potential? How do we reach our goals? Simply put, the answer is, we are to become like Christ, and Christ lived “On Purpose!”
In asking what our purpose is—and hence our “purpose statement – we are asking, what are our goals, our vision, and our priorities both as individuals within this congregation and as a individuals? Our purpose is: To reach heaven by becoming Christ-like by imitating Christ’s purposes in His relationships with 1) God, 2) believers, 3) unbelievers, and 4) the needy. How do we accomplish this? By living “On Purpose!” the Four Purposes as individuals and as a congregation—just as Jesus did.
What are our Four Purposes?
Reaching UP to God in Worship, as Christ reached UP to God.
Reaching IN to One Another, as Christ reached IN to believers.
Reaching OUT to the world, as Christ reached Out to unbelievers.
Reaching DOWN to needy saints as a congregation, and needy unbelievers as individuals, as Christ reached DOWN to help the needy.
As we look at these Four Purposes, we might discover something appears to be missing – but it is there…I promise. What appears to be missing? None of the Four Purposes focus on me and my individual growth. There is reaching up to God; reaching in to one another; reaching out to the world; and reaching down to help the needy. Where is the purpose of me growing spiritually? Do we know? Can we see it? While it is true none of the Fours Purposes specifically focus on me and my individual growth; it is also true that all of the four purposes focus on me and my individual growth. How do I grow individually? By practicing the Four Purposes. Can I leave out any of them and grow spiritually as purposed me to grow? No. Must I practice each in order to grow spiritually in becoming like Jesus? Yes. We only reach our potential through practicing the four purposes. The Christian life is not about focusing on ourselves—and yet when we focus on God, other believers, teaching the lost, and helping those less fortunate, amazingly we end up helping ourselves reach our potential. Ironically we focus on ourselves by not focusing on ourselves! Ultimately when we focus on Jesus’ life, we focus on others, which amazingly keeps us in focus.
How Do Our Reach Our Goal of Practicing Our Four Purposes?
It is wonderful to have a goal. It is absolutely useless and frustrating to have a goal, but not have a plan or procedure for reaching our goal. Having a plan that God approves is having a plan that we know will succeed. Nehemiah had a goal—to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. Listed below is how God helped Nehemiah reach the purpose God had for him:
#1 – Realize the Purposes including Problems and Possibilities
Prioritize the Problems
#2 – Recognize God’s Power
#3 – Vocalize In Prayer
Emphasize Your Prayer Through Fasting
#4 – Personalize the Process
#5 – Visualize the Problem & The Purposed Goal To Self And Others
#6 – Organize the Plan
#7 – Energize the People
#8 – Recognize What Prevents Progress
#9 – Finalize the Project
#10 – Revitalize Spiritually Persistently
These are the steps Nehemiah used—and we will be seeing them again and again. Why? Because they work!
Let’s begin by looking at the way Jesus practiced these Four Purposes:
Jesus Reached UP to God
In Worship
John 6:38 – “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
John 8:42 – Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.
Mt 5:17 – “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
Jesus Reached IN To Believers Through Spiritual Teaching
Jn.9:39 – And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”
Jesus Reached OUT to Unbelievers Through Evangelism
John 12:47 – “If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
Luke 4:43 – But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”
Mk.1:38 – He *said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.”
Jesus Reached DOWN
to the Needy
Matthew 11:2-6 – Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples [3] and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” [4] Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: [5] the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. [6] “And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”
Why did Jesus do these Four things? He lived On Purpose! What must we do? Live the Four Purposes…On Purpose!
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