Finding & Fulfilling Your Purpose | Sunday, January 7, 2024

Good morning! Happy New Year to you all. You can have a seat. I love that song; we learned that one last year. It’s such a good thing to keep in mind that the Lord will never fail us. That call in the Sermon on the Mount to build our house upon the rock is essential. One of the things that we want to found our lives upon is the Word of God, which we're going to continue to do in just a few minutes when we get into the Scriptures.

Before we do, I want to say Happy New Year and welcome to you if you are visiting us for the first time here at Cross Connection Church. I'm Pastor Miles, the lead pastor here at the church. We are looking forward to a blessing of a new year. It’s hard to wrap my mind around it being 2024. I have to keep reminding myself to write 2024 instead of 2023. Maybe by June or July, I'll finally get it right.

2024 is going to be a year of challenges. That song talked about chaos, and there could be some of that with all the crazy political stuff this year. I want to encourage you; I sent out an email to quite a few people in the church this last week about this. I want to encourage you to have the proper focus and to put your faith and mindset in the right place at the beginning of this year.

Many of you, I know, begin the year by making a commitment to go through the Scriptures. If you don't do that or haven't done that, I want to challenge and encourage you to do so. One of the things that I built a few years ago, back in 2015, to help make that a little bit easier is a website called TheListeningPlan.com. If you go to TheListeningPlan.com—all together, one word, no spaces—you can sign up to receive emails or listen through a podcast on Spotify or Apple Music. You can listen through the Scriptures, the New Testament, a chapter a day throughout the year on weekdays.

It just so happens that there are as many weekdays in a year as there are chapters in the New Testament. You can listen to Matthew through Revelation by just listening to a chapter a day. I know some people might say, "Well, that's not enough of the Bible." Okay, fine! If you want to read more or listen to more, God bless you; I hope you'll do that. But the fact is, most people don't even do that. So, I want to encourage you to check it out at TheListeningPlan.com. I think it will be helpful. There are so many things that will be a distraction and a discouragement this year if you're looking at the economy or other issues.

At politics, maybe even things that are happening in your own business or on your school campus, whatever it is, there are so many things that can consume our attention and distract our focus. Yet, the Scriptures call us to set our minds on things above. I have found, and the Scriptures teach, that as I do those things—especially when I start my morning out doing that—God's peace, which surpasses understanding, guards my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus.

Jesus said, as He was talking about worry, which we all wrestle with, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all the things that we need, that oftentimes are the things that we worry about, all these things will be added unto you." One of the ways that you can do that is by setting your heart and your mind on God's Word. The listening plan might be helpful for you to be able to do that. It only takes about five minutes a day, or you can even listen to it on a podcast app and increase the speed to listen to it faster.

One other thing I would ask you to do this week is to pray for me. About a hundred other individuals from all over the nation, and even actually all over the world, will be gathering together for seminars this week out in Kentucky at a seminary where I'm finishing a doctorate. There are about six different programs that we're gathering together for. I will be with about twelve other pastors and leaders throughout the church, learning some things and going over some topics related to culture. If you would pray for me, I'll be in Louisville. I'm still trying to learn how to say that just right because they will correct you as a Californian if you say it wrong when you're there.

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the issue of purpose. Part of that has to do with some of the material I have been preparing for this seminar, but the other aspect of it is that it's just something I think about quite frequently. The question or issue of purpose was brought to the forefront about two years ago when Pastor Rick Warren, from just up the road in Orange County, released a book that became a huge success—one of the biggest Christian books ever sold, "The Purpose-Driven Life."

Now, there are a lot of Christians who have different opinions about that book or about Pastor Rick Warren. You may disagree with various things that he says or whatever it may be. Listen, I don't even agree with myself 99.9% of the time; I frequently disagree with myself. So, if there are things you disagree with him on, that's perfectly fine.

That book might even be on some of your shelves at home. Some of you have read it; I know more than a few people who came to Christ as a result of that book. In the 22 years that it has been in print, it has sold more than 50 million copies and has been translated into 137 different languages. There's a reason for that.

Something that he wrote in that book seemed to strike a chord with people. I think it was that he wrote not that it was the most amazingly written book, nor that it is poorly written; it's just not the most spectacularly written prose. He didn't identify anything unique or amazing. He wrote about things that people have talked about quite frequently throughout the church age. However, what he wrote struck a chord with people because something in our culture has caused many to experience a longing for purpose and meaning.

Now, 22 years after it was first published, this longing is even more acute than it was back in 2002. Many people have identified that, in the last several years, individuals are wrestling with the issue of purpose and meaning. This has been called a crisis of meaning that we are facing. Every single human being needs to answer some very important questions, what we might call existential questions.

Every individual and every worldview— the way that you philosophically navigate through this life and this world—needs to answer these questions in a compelling sort of way. Otherwise, you will lack meaning and find that you lack an understanding of your value in this world or the value of your work. If you can't answer some very simple questions, I call them the iPod M questions:

1. Identity: Who am I? 2. Purpose: What on Earth am I here for? 3. Origin: Where did I come from? 4. Destiny: Where do I go when I die? 5. Morality: What is right and wrong?

There are other important questions as well, such as those of reality, truth, goodness, and beauty. However, these five are crucial, and I think probably the most important one for human beings is the question of purpose. A number of different writers have addressed this issue, whether from a theological, philosophical, or psychological perspective.

Purpose is very important, and it is the question that Rick Warren asks repeatedly throughout the book: "What on Earth am I here for? Why am I here?" If you can't answer that question in a compelling way, people find themselves descending into a meaninglessness of existence. They just can't find their footing for why they are here, and we are seeing that in a huge way today.

This is especially true and has been written about a lot in the media over the last several years among those in their early 20s and into their 30s, those who are in what we call Gen Y or Gen Z. However, it is also being acutely felt by Baby Boomers, who are now reaching retirement age at a rate greater than 10,000 people a day. For many of these individuals, the culture they grew up in indoctrinated them to think that their identity and purpose were really found in their work and career. They gave so much of their energy and attention to that, and now, as they prepare for retirement or are in the process of retiring, they no longer have that. They start to wonder, "What on Earth am I here for?"

They can find themselves depressed and lacking in understanding of their value and worth. We see this in our culture, not only with those in Gen Y and Gen Z but also with Baby Boomers. We are seeing it even more with those identified as Gen X, individuals who are generally between 50 and 65 years old now.

Why are they beginning to experience this? Because the bulk of them are experiencing what some in the Baby Boomer generation experienced some time ago: the empty nest syndrome. This generation, much more than many others in recent times, has found their identity and purpose in their children, especially in their children's sports careers. Now, when their kids leave home, they start to feel a pit of emptiness and wonder, "What on Earth am I here for?" They didn't invest quite as much in their careers or work as the Baby Boomer generation did, but their entire focus was on their kids. Now, as their children begin to launch out and leave, they feel lost, questioning their purpose and identity.

Meaning, where is my purpose? Where is my value? These are the questions that people wrestle with. Now, here's the thing: you may be sitting here this morning and saying, "I've not thought about this at all." That's probably because you've been very busy. We don't think about these questions—identity, purpose, origin, destiny, morality—when we're really busy.

When you're busy getting an education, starting a career, building a business, or starting a family, you don't think about those things. But when the education that you worked so hard for and invested in does not produce a job that has meaning, or when you can't find a job to pay the $80,000 student loan debt, you start to ask, "What on Earth am I here for?"

Or when that relationship that you scoured the internet for, swiping right and left, doesn't materialize, and now you're in your 30s without someone to spend your life with, you begin to question, "What on Earth am I here for?" Perhaps you did find the relationship, but at some point, there was a diagnosis of some sort of mental health condition, chronic pain, or a terminal disease. Now you're asking, "What on Earth am I here for?"

Along the way, as we hit these critical junction points, people experience what a couple of generations ago was called a midlife crisis. Today, it is referred to as an existential crisis. They start to ask the questions of identity, purpose, origin, destiny, and morality, but specifically the question of purpose.

In our culture, there are two major competing worldviews or stories that we tell ourselves, sometimes referred to as meta-narratives. The dominant counter meta-narrative or story to the one found in the Bible is a naturalistic worldview that doesn't really have very compelling answers to the questions of identity, purpose, origin, destiny, or morality.

In terms of identity, you are just the highest form of animal, and someday something will evolve that is greater than you and will overcome your species. There are people working towards that today; it's called transhumanism. As for purpose, well, really just...

To pass your genetic material on to the next level, maybe to the species' origin, random chance and mutation over billions and billions of years. Destiny. When you die, you just be absorbed back into the ground. Morality—whatever you think is right or wrong for you—it's your truth, but there's no objective standard. We wonder why there is, in our culture today, a question of what is my inherent value and worth, and is there any meaning to all of this.

There are a lot of people wrestling with this, and I want to suggest to you that the cultural worldview that has been infused into the hearts and minds of every single person in this room for the better part of the last 75 to 100 years in the Western world is a worldview that is pathological. It leads to sickness. We're seeing it; it leads to mental and emotional sickness, but also physical unhealth. We see it constantly.

The question of purpose is a very important one that people wrestle with: What on Earth am I here for? I've been thinking a lot about this recently, and not because I'm in the midst of a midlife or existential crisis, but this is actually something I think about constantly. I wrestle with these things quite a bit because I think they're very important questions. Even though maybe you do not wrestle with them in the same way that I do, I want to encourage you to think about it this morning. What on Earth am I here for? What is your purpose?

Now, I think there are two ways we can answer that. One is the very specific purpose that is individual to every single one of you here in this room. This is often manifested when people, as Christians, begin to ask the question, "What is God's will for my life?" That's one of the most frequent questions that younger Christians wrestle with, especially those who are Christians through high school and on into college. Maybe at that stage of life, that was you. You asked the question, "What is God's will for my life?" That question at least tells us that there is this desire for each of us to know our own specific individual purpose.

So, there's one way to answer the question: What is the purpose of life in an individual way? But then there's the general question: What is the general purpose for which you and I exist? I believe that those questions can be answered. There is a specific answer because, point number one, if you're taking notes this morning, God created me.

For a specific and individual purpose, that is what we learn when we come to the Bible. I think there's a certain part, even in the person who doesn't believe in God or believe in the Bible, who recognizes that there is a desire to have a purpose. They want there to be a reason why they're here, beyond just passing their genetic material on or furthering the human race. The Scriptures reveal that God created me for a specific and individual purpose. This is what Rick Warren was arguing for in his bestselling book, The Purpose Driven Life. Say whatever you will about that book; many people latched onto it because they realized they want their lives to have a specific and individual purpose.

Theologians and philosophers for centuries, well before Rick Warren ever came on the scene, have been talking about this. It is the issue of "telos." Telos is the Greek word for ends or purpose, or what is the reason for something's existence. Everything that is in existence has some sort of purpose, and we kind of understand this. This cup here has a very clear purpose for which it was made. Now, I can use it for other things; it's somewhat hard. I could use it to pound a nail in, but it's not going to be very effective, and I'll probably break it.

That's the amazing thing about purpose: things were created for an intended purpose, and if they're not used for their intended purpose, they will be broken. If we see a lot of broken people in our culture, that might tell us that the purpose we've been telling people they were made for is not right. We see a lot of broken people mentally, emotionally, and physically. God created me for a specific and individual purpose, and I think that we discover that specific and individual purpose for ourselves as we engage in doing the general purpose for which we were made, as revealed to us by God in the Scriptures.

Now, Rick Warren addresses the general purpose for which we were made in his book, and he sums it up in five different areas having to do with worship, mission, fellowship, and ministry. All of those things are really good, and I think that there's a lot of truth to them. In fact, he supports these things with...

I want to focus this morning on something a little more fundamental: answering the question, "What on Earth am I here for?" Rick Warren, on page 22 of his book, states that you cannot arrive at life's purpose by starting with a focus on yourself. This perspective is different from what our culture promotes. Our culture says it's all about you. You have to begin with yourself, figure out who you are, and find yourself. However, you cannot arrive at life's purpose by starting with a focus on yourself. You must begin with God, your Creator. You exist only because God wills that you exist. You are made by God and for God. Until you understand that, life will never make sense. It is only in God that we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. Every other path leads to a dead end.

Why did that book sell so much? Because something about that resonates with reality as we understand it.

Point number two: God desires that I discover and fulfill His purpose. Though I won't spend a lot of time on this, in discovering and fulfilling His purpose, you fulfill your own purpose. God desires that I would discover and fulfill His purpose. This brings us to the issue of God's will. What is God's will for me? As I've contemplated this for a while, I believe we can discover something of the essential nature of God's general purpose for us by looking at a very interesting passage of Scripture in the Gospel of John.

So, if you would take out your Bibles this morning, if you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. The Gospels are in the last third of the Bible, beginning with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and then John. Please turn to John chapter 17.

As you're turning there, let me provide a little context and background as to why this passage of Scripture is important. In John chapter 17, we have a prayer of Jesus. Some of you may have heard of the Lord's Prayer before; that's the one that begins, "Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Thy name." How many of you have heard that one before?

Your hand. Some of you may have prayed that before. Perhaps you were part of a church where that was prayed regularly, or maybe you were told to pray it many times because you had some things to confess. That's called The Lord's Prayer; it's found in Matthew 6 and Luke 11. I think it would more properly be called the Disciples' Prayer because Jesus is telling his followers, his disciples, how they should pray. He says, "When you pray, this is how you pray: Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be thy name." He is giving them a model for prayer.

I believe the prayer that we find in John chapter 17 would probably be better called The Lord's Prayer because this is actually a prayer that Jesus prayed. It's fascinating because this prayer was offered the night before He went to the cross. In this prayer, Jesus, the Son who is God in the flesh, is praying to God the Father. This presents a challenge for many people, but it brings us into a discussion of the Triune nature of God, the Trinity. I won't go into that today; it would take much longer to provide a thorough theological treatise on the Trinity. In fact, the church took about 400 years to hash that out in the first 400 years of Christianity, so I can't cover it in 21 minutes.

Jesus, the Son, tells us about His nature because the son of an individual has the same nature as the individual from which he comes. Jesus is the one who has the nature of God in human flesh. He is praying to the Father here in this passage, and He is praying for you. He is praying for His disciples, not just the ones who were there—Peter, James, John, Bartholomew, Thomas, and so forth—but also for you. In this very passage, He says, "I do not only pray for these who are here but for those who will hear their word and believe later." If you are a follower of Jesus today, He prays for you.

So here in this passage, God the Son, Jesus, God incarnate, is praying for us. He is going to God on our behalf, and He comes to us on behalf of God as God. He is doing the work of a priest, and He will actually perform the work of a priest the following day when He offers a sacrifice of Himself for us. It's an amazing thing that is going on in this passage. Here, God incarnate, the creator of all things seen and unseen, is praying for you. So, His will is...

Revealed in this passage is God's purpose for you. I believe that there are at least three things we can learn about our general purpose here in this world. In this passage, where Jesus prays for us, His people, we see it beginning in verse one.

The first thing we discover is this: I was created by God to know Him experientially in relationship. How do I know that? Look at John 17, verse 1. Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son so that Your Son may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him."

And this is eternal life—note this in verse 3—that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I was created by God to know Him experientially in relationship, and we discover that here in this passage.

Now, there are a number of other things going on in this passage, including the strange nature of God. Here, Jesus, God on Earth, is praying to God the Father in Heaven. The Triune nature of God is that there is one God who exists in three persons, yet He is still one united being. It took 400 years of church history for the church to fully comprehend and understand this and solidify it as doctrine.

This is evident in what we read in verse 2, where it says at the end of verse 1, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son so that Your Son may also glorify You." There is this glorification of Father and Son, from Son to Father and from Father to Son, which speaks to the reality that they have the same nature. They are co-equal, co-eternal, co-substantial, but distinct persons who glorify one another.

We see in this passage that Jesus has authority. You have given Him authority, as stated in verse 2, which is the Greek word "exousia," meaning power. He has the power and the...

Jurisdictional authority gives something very important that every single one of us deeply desires: eternal life. It's one of the most fundamental drives that every being has—the desire and drive to live. It's an amazing thing. As a pastor, I've spent quite a bit of time over the years with people who are approaching death in their last hours. Sometimes, it's amazing how much this body holds on to life. There is a drive to live, but there is also a drive to not just live here in this life, but to live on and on and on. It's a deep desire that we all share, and that desire is ultimately satisfied in God.

I am not convinced that you and I are, by nature, immortal. I don't believe that we have immortal souls; only one is immortal. The Scriptures say God alone is immortal. However, Jesus has brought to light life and immortality through the gospel, and He has the authority to grant or give eternal life to whoever He may choose. That's what is revealed in this passage.

Then, He explains to us what this eternal life is. This eternal life is to know God and to know Jesus Christ. That word "know" speaks of an experiential, relational life. You and I were created to have an experiential relationship with God forever and ever, one that is unbroken by time. That is one of the purposes for which you were made. I was created by God to know Him experientially in relationship.

Now, the problem is, as we discover in the opening pages of the Bible, we are separated from God. We are divided from Him because of sin. Genesis 3 makes this very clear. Prior to Genesis chapter 3, the creation story in Genesis chapters 1 and 2 tells us that at the very beginning, God made it so that you and I, as humans, were able to live in connection with Him. There was a relationship with God; they walked with God in the garden in the cool of the day. What exactly that means has been theorized about for a long time, as it is poetic language.

Means, at the very least, it indicates that there was a relationship between God and His creation, most specifically with humanity, at the beginning. However, because of rebellion and sin, as described in Genesis chapter 3, that relationship was severed. But God sent Jesus to this world, which we celebrate at Christmas, to redeem us from sin and death, to reconcile us back to a relationship with God, and to ultimately restore all things back to the way they were before the fall. That is what Jesus is doing in this world. He redeems, reconciles, and restores us back to our purpose. Part of that purpose is to be in relationship with God. This is eternal life: that they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Secondly, the next thing for which we are made is point number four on your outline: I was created by God to glorify Him forever. Again, back to John chapter 17, we see this word come up quite a bit in this passage. In fact, it is used eight times, both in the verb and noun form. The word "glorify" appears frequently as I read through here.

In John 17:1, Jesus spoke these words and lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may also glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You." There it is a third time. "On earth, I have finished the work which You have given me to do."

What was Jesus's purpose in coming? It is revealed in a number of different places in the Scriptures. In one place in the Gospel, He says, "I have come to seek and to save that which is lost." In another place, He says, "I have come to give my life a ransom for many." In yet another place, He says, "I have come that you may have life and that you may have it more abundantly." Here in this passage, He says, "I have finished the work that You purposed me to do."

What was that work? He says, "I have glorified You here on earth." Now He calls us to share in this work. In verse 5, He continues, "I have glorified You on earth. I have finished the work which You have given me to do. And now, O Father, glorify me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world."

Was the ever-existent One, the One who was and is and is to come, Jesus? He was glorious and glorified before creation. He glorified the Father here on Earth 2,000 years ago, and He says, "I'm about to return to your presence outside of this cosmos, in the presence of Almighty God, in what we might call Heaven." He says, "I will glory you again in that place," but He desires that you and I would glorify the Father in and through Him as well.

Skip on down to verse 9 of John 17: "I pray for them, for my disciples. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them." One of Jesus's purposes in coming to this world was to glorify the Father on Earth, and He desires that we would share with Him in that purpose. I was created to glorify God.

Now, some of you may have read many years ago the Westminster Shorter Catechism of Faith. It was written several hundred years ago, and the Westminster Catechism is a question-and-answer format that helps you to understand what you believe. The first question is, "What is the chief end of man?" The Westminster Confession says the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Christians have understood this for a long time. I was created to be in an experiential relationship with God. I was created to glorify God.

In fact, all of God's creation was made to bring praise, honor, and glory to God, in the same way that a masterpiece of art brings honor to the master who made it. The great Creator, the great engineer, the great artist, God, created everything seen and even the things that we cannot see. He created all those things, and they bring glory to Him. They glorify His existence.

The existence of that painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel proves that there is a painter who painted it. Its existence declares the existence of the artist. The existence of all things seen and unseen declares the existence of the artist, the architect, the engineer, and they glorify His existence. They glorify His intellect, His power, and His resources. The psalmist said it 3,000 years ago.

Years ago, the heavens declared the glory of God, and the Earth showed forth His handiwork. Day unto day, they utter speech. There is not a time when creation is not praising, honoring, and glorifying all that God has made. All of creation does this: the sun, the moon, the stars, the orbits, the seas, the rivers, the oceans, the water cycle, the hills, the mountains, and all the animals. All of these things cry out that there is a God who made them.

However, one part of His creation does not praise and glorify Him: you and me. We rebelled. We were created to glorify God; that was our purpose. Yet, we turned away from God. Although we knew God, we did not glorify Him as God, nor were we thankful. Instead, we became futile in our thoughts, and our foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, we became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible human beings, birds, four-footed animals, or creeping things.

Therefore, God has given them over to uncleanness and the lust of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves. We exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. That is Paul in Romans Chapter 1.

What is he saying? He is identifying something that was true 2,000 years ago and continues today. The intelligentsia of our culture for the last 165 years has proclaimed that there is no God; all of this is the product of random chance and mutation over billions and billions of years. It is so awesome and amazing that we should honor, glorify, and praise the creation. What is that called? The Bible would call that idolatry, and we see it all around us.

In spite of our rebellion, we were created by God to glorify Him forever. That is the purpose for which we are made: to live in experiential relationship with God and to glorify Him as God forever. This purpose has been devastated, and we have rejected it. But Jesus came to fix that. He came to redeem and reconcile.

To restore the final thing we learn in Jesus's prayer here in John 17 about our purpose for which we were made, point number five is this: I was created by God to live in unity of purpose, communion, and oneness with Him. I was created to have an experiential relationship with God, created to glorify God, and created to live in oneness and communion of relationship with God.

Look at John 17:1. Jesus says, "I am no longer in the world." He is preparing to depart from this world, but He continues, "These, My disciples, are in the world, and I come to You, Father. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given to Me, that they may be one as We are one."

The awesome reality of the Triune nature of God is that God is one, but He is one in three persons: distinct persons who are co-equal, co-substantial, and co-glorious. They are united together as one. There is a oneness in God, but there is a distinctness of three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus says He has come that they might be joined back together and experience oneness with God.

Look at verse 20. Jesus states, "I do not pray for these alone," referring to the disciples who were in His presence—Peter, James, John, Bartholomew, Thomas, and so forth—but also for those who believe in Me through their word. He prays that they may be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

He continues, "And the glory which You gave Me, I have given to them, that they may be one as We are one. I in them and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may

Oneness with God through Him allows us to experience life in connection with God through Jesus. Maybe you've heard those words before; we talk about them a lot here. Garrett mentioned them in the announcements this morning. They are on the front of your bulletin and on all our printed material. One of our websites that leads to our church website is called "Life in Connection." Our whole focus is life in connection—with God, with one another, and with the world through Jesus.

It is a restored connection whereby Jesus redeems and reconciles us back to God and one another in Christ Jesus. By His death on the cross, He brings us back to the place where we fulfill His purpose. That's what we're all about here at Cross Connection Church. Maybe you've heard this before because I talk about it all the time, especially in the first few weeks of the year. However, it is important for us to hear these truths again.

I see it as part of my call as a pastor to lead you into the discovery of this purpose: you were created to be connected to God, and your heart will not rest until it rests in Him. Augustine said that 1,600 years ago. Our culture is falling apart, and I am rather pessimistic about Western culture. I am long on Jesus and His kingdom but short on Western culture because it is deteriorating.

Why is this happening? We have indoctrinated our culture for nearly two centuries with a pathological worldview that is destroying it. Unless we refocus on the good news of the purpose we find in Christ, there is no hope for Western culture. It may sound bleak, but we still have an optimistic vision of the future here, and it is centered on the kingdom of God. My aim is that you would discover this purpose and that we would learn together how to experience the reality of being connected to God and one another, sharing that with the world through Jesus Christ.

There are many different ways we discover in the Scriptures how to connect with God. We connect with God when we gather together as the people of God and worship Him in song. It may seem trivial or even dumb, but God uses that to unite us together as one. There have been studies...

That shows that in corporate singing, your heartbeat begins to tune with the heartbeats of others around you. There is something about connecting with God and with one another corporately in singing. Even if you have a bad voice, that's why Scripture says to make a joyful noise. Most of you make a joyful noise; I do too. It's only like Anthony and Shayla who make good noise, but we unite together with God.

We join together in fellowship with Him through worship, through His Word, through serving one another, and through praying together and for one another. Through all kinds of different ways, we experience this connection with God and with one another. What does it do? It completes us because it fulfills the purpose for which we are made. That's what God wants you to enjoy in Christ Jesus.

That's what Jesus came to accomplish 2,000 years ago through His broken body and His shed blood, which for many centuries the church has called communion. We are going to partake together this morning. We always begin the year by partaking together in communion. We do it every seventh Sunday here at Cross Connection Church.

I am going to invite Anthony and the worship team back up here, and as we sing this worship song to the Lord, our ushers are going to be in the aisles to distribute the bread and the cup. If you did not receive them when you came in, they will give them to you then. We are going to partake together to remember what Jesus accomplished through His broken body and His shed blood. He made it possible through His sacrifice that you and I could be redeemed and reconciled back to God, back to fellowship with one another, which we will talk about more next week.

Ultimately, we could experience the restoration that Jesus has come to and will come to accomplish in the future. This is the good news that we have to share with the world, a world that is in desperate need of finding its ultimate purpose. God, we live in a culture that is sick because it has been told by liars, a devilish false truth, an anti-truth, that purpose is found in some trivial, insubstantial thing in this world. In reality, our ultimate purpose is only found in You. God, I pray that You would help us who are here in this room this morning to know this, to know it not just...

To know God intellectually is important, but it is even more vital to know Him experientially. We need to understand Him in such a way that we begin to live out our faith, experience it, and express it to others. There are hundreds of thousands, nearly a million people within ten miles of this building who are in desperate need of this truth.

So, God, would You do a work in us in 2024? Help us to more fully discover the purpose that You have created for us, both generally and specifically. As we begin to glorify You through worship, serving, prayer, and all these different practices, may we discover the unique and individual calling You have for each of us for such a time as this. We pray for this work in us in Jesus' name. And all those who agreed said, "Amen."

As we sing, if you did not receive the elements, the ushers will bring them to you. Please hold on to them, as we will partake together in just a moment.

A scripture that many of you may know well is John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Jesus came to this world to seek and to save that which is lost, to give His life as a ransom for many.

On the night that He was betrayed, He took bread, broke it, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me." Let us partake together.

In the same manner, He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This is the cup of the New Covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." Let us partake together.

Lord, I’m not even sure that we fully comprehend the goodness revealed in what You did for us on Calvary 2,000 years ago. We can only begin to scratch the surface of Your love as we see it demonstrated through the cross.

I desire that all people would come to the knowledge of the truth and find the fullness of their purpose in You, the purpose for which You created us. We long to be in united relationship with You, to glorify You, and to no longer be in opposition and rebellion. Just as all the other aspects of Your creation magnify Your awesomeness, we too want to reflect that glory.

When we look out into the cosmos through a telescope or down into the cellular level through a microscope, or even below that to the subatomic level, Lord, we see the awesomeness of Your existence. I pray, God, that we would glorify You in the same way that those things glorify You.

As we experience the relationship that You created us for and express it, I ask that You would draw other people into the knowledge of that purpose as well. God, do a work in us, we pray. We thank You for Your grace and mercy, and we thank You that You have been good to us.

Let's stand together and sing that bridge and chorus again.