Purposeful Living

Today's message is in reflection of God's annual Holy Days that we've just walked through. Not talking just about Feast of Tabernacles in Eighth Day, but let's take it back to Passover through the Eighth Day, and all that God has done and purpose through those days. We know that those days reflect God's plan of salvation to all of mankind. Those days point back, in one sense, to what God has done historically. They also point to the presence in what God is doing in our lives today. These days also point us forward to what it is that God is doing in fulfillment in the future, the blessing that He will bring to this earth. So for me, when I think about the impact that the Holy Days have had on my life, not just this year, but year after year, I would have to say there's one word that actually comes to mind, and that is purpose.

These days point us to our purpose. Again, they're God's plan of salvation for all of mankind. We are a part of that. But these days outline for us our purpose for living. They tell us who we are, why we are here, and what we're supposed to be doing as the primary focus of our lives today.

So the reason that God has us walk through this annual cycle year after year after year is to bring our focus down very clearly so that we never lose sight of the purpose of our existence and what it is that you and I should be doing in light of that perspective as we live our daily lives.

So today for the message, I want to talk about purposeful living.

Purposeful living, that's the title of the sermon today. Purposeful living or living with a purpose is actually something very important to the people of God. And I want to consider the purpose that God has for us all, as those whom He has called unto salvation. And I want to consider how that purpose should impact our life on a day-to-day basis.

Have you ever met someone who was walking through life without a purpose?

What does that look like from day to day to basically wander through life purposefully? Purposelessly, let's say that. It's been my observation that people without a purpose tend to let life happen to them.

They just sort of wander aimlessly with no real direction, no real focus, and it's a mindset of, I wonder what's going to happen to me today, as opposed to the mindset of, what am I going to do today to make things happen towards what is set before me?

Am I going to have my arms wrapped around life in a purposeful way of control, or am I sort of going to be a victim of circumstance blown about by every wind that would come along?

Brethren, God didn't intend this physical life to be simply about being born, growing up, getting a job, taking a few great vacations, retiring, and then dying.

That is a part of our cycle of life, but that's not the intent, the main intent, the main purpose, okay? There's more to it that God intends for us than that. I've personally seen people who have had lives full of loneliness and despair, even with a successful job, even with money, because they were lacking in a purpose that should have been embraced in their life, and that must not be us as the people of God. God has created us to live lives full of purpose and meaning. And again, these holy days, in my mind, bring that to life. Why am I here? What am I working for? What is in my future? What does God intend for me?

I want to quote to you today from a Psychology Today online article titled, Living on Purpose. And I thought the title was kind of catchy, Living on Purpose, as opposed to just stumbling accidentally through life. But it's titled, Living on Purpose, and the subline says, Don't waste any more time stumbling through life. This article was posted online, again, Psychology Today, September 23, 2013. The author is Dr. Brad Klontz. He's a financial psychologist. And I thought, well, that's interesting. A financial psychologist?

When you think about it, there's actually a psychology to how people spend money, how you value money, how do you save, and there's actually steps that need to be taken to organize our life and manage our ways with a right and proper perspective of money. So he's a financial psychologist. He's authored five books on financial psychology, including one titled, Mind Over Money, Overcoming the Money Disorders that Threaten Our Financial Health.

And Dr. Klontz says this about living on purpose. He says, Why is purpose so important? It says, A purpose sets the entire context of our lives. Without a clearly defined purpose, we're just a haphazard combination of goals and non-goals, actions and non-actions, meandering through time and space. And I read that, it reminded me of Proverbs 29, verse 18, in the original King James, it says, you know, where there's no vision that people perish.

New King James says, where there's no revelation that people cast off restraint. The point is, there has to be a focus, a point to our lives, and the revelation the Bible describes is from God. And without that, we're just going to cast off restraint and meander aimlessly through life. But here, he's not necessarily taking a religious approach, but he's saying, we're built to have a purpose, and it has an impact on our lives.

He goes on to say, A purpose is a master plan for our life. Knowing our purpose helps us to define our goals. It helps us to avoid getting lost in the minutia of daily life by keeping our eyes on the target, and it can make life much more enjoyable and effortless. Purpose is not something that others choose for us, rather it is something we must choose for ourselves. And it emerges from an exploration of what we value the most.

Again, for you and I, the question would be the same. What is it in this life that we value the most, that becomes our purpose that directs our daily actions? Dr. Klontz goes on to say, quote, When we are defining our purpose in life, it is important not to worry about how we will go about achieving it. When we identify and commit to our intentions, the opportunities and methods for achieving our purpose will begin to show up.

In fact, they are often already in our lives, but we may not have noticed them because we are not paying attention. Point is, define your purpose, and you're going to see the aspects of your life that lend themselves to moving towards that purpose. Maybe you never even realized they were there because you weren't focused on what your purpose ought to be.

God gives us a lot of help in moving to our destination. Defining our purpose helps us focus. He says, My purpose is to help bring hope and healing to the world. That's Dr. Klontz. He says, All my activities, my intentions and goals emerge from this basic purpose. He asks, What is your purpose? If you don't already know what it is, take time now to define it. He goes through four steps of defining our purpose and making it front and center. I just want to hit a couple quick, brief highlights on each one.

Step one, start by examining what you value the most. Consider what that is. Bring it to the forefront. He says, Is it balance? Faith? Family? Compassion? Generosity? Peace? Whatever that might be. Start by examining what you value most. Secondly, he says, Consider what you would hope others would say about you if they were to describe you. What legacy do you want to leave? Will you be known for something? He says, Actually, you will be known for something. What do you want it to be?

Are you going to define it, or is that just sort of going to be what everybody says about you? Third, he said, Take a moment to write down your own special purpose. The simple act of writing things down like goals and purpose greatly increase their power in our lives. It doesn't have to be perfect, but write it down.

You can hone it as you go. Have it clear cut. Write it in front of you. What is my purpose? And finally, he says, Start each day and end each day by reciting it. Write it on a business card. Carry it in your wallet or purse. He says, In moments of fear, frustration, sorrow, I would add doubt.

He says, Pull it out. Read it. Remind yourself of your purpose. Doing so will help you keep things in perspective and remind you to stay focused on what is most important to you. And Dr. Klontz concludes the article by saying, Don't waste any more time stumbling through life. Take time to identify your purpose and strive to let your purpose express itself each day in the work you do in your play and in your relationships. Living life on purpose, he says, will translate to better well-being for you, your family, and your world. Again, you can find that on psychologytoday.com, the full article, Living on Purpose by Dr. Brad Klontz.

Brethren, living life on purpose is essential to every human being if there's going to be real meaning and intent behind our lives, and how we're going to organize our life day to day. If that's the case for the world, how much more the people of God, the people that have been given the most incredible purpose that could possibly be imagined? What must our life's purpose be, then, as God's people? What must that focus be front and center, direct, before everything else?

The answer takes me back to the Holy Day cycle we've just concluded, because, again, they wrap up as that annual package, pass over through the eighth day. It is about what God is doing, and not only for his benefit. Some of it is for God's benefit. He is building his family. That's his desire and his purpose, but it is for our benefit and our purpose as well.

That is the focus of these days, and the answer why we are here. Why have we been created? Who are we as a people? And what must our focus be day by day by day? Again, the Holy Days, I believe, take us back to that direct focus. It's all there.

So, as a result, brethren, you and I should be moving forward now from the Holy Day cycle that we've just completed with a renewed awareness of our God-given potential and our purpose as his people, and what we're to be doing to live our lives today, structured according to that purpose, in support of what God has given us. Because, again, Dr. Klonsa's words, I'll remind you, he said, a purpose is a master plan for our life. It's a master plan. Everything else is going to come in in support of that. And it should be. Family should be in support of your master plan. Who you marry, your relationship, a godly person should be in support of that master plan. Your job, your home, your finances, all these things should be structured towards our master plan. He said, a purpose is a master plan for our life. Knowing our purpose helps us to define our goals, and it helps us to avoid getting lost in the minutia of daily life by keeping our eyes on the target.

I say, I am the prize, right? I am the prize. Paul says, I press towards the goal, the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. He says, it's an effort, but that is the prize, and I never take my eyes off it.

Throughout the dark winter months ahead of us, brethren, we need to be keeping our eyes on the target more than ever before.

And I realize there's distractions. There's a lot of distractions, and some of them are major.

COVID-19 has been a huge distraction, not only for the world, but for the Church of God. And I'm not saying that it is not real. It is very real. People have and are suffering greatly from it. My point is this. As we walk through these things and we deal with these things, we can't let them take our eyes off the prize.

Can't let them remove our focus from our purpose. Even as we walk through the struggle, our purpose remains the same. Our purpose, by God, does not change. And these things are going to increase, become more frequent, all the way up to the time of the end.

So we have to maintain balance in our life. We have to try to keep things in their proper perspective. Don't get swallowed up or distracted in the media circus, on the left or on the right. Don't get so consumed in some of these things that that becomes your religion. Be informed.

Look at science. Make godly decisions.

But again, these things are going to be coming at us at the end of the age. Rapid machine gun fire. Worse and worse and worse. More intense. And our adversary's tactic is distraction.

Take your eye off the prize. Throw aside each step of the goal along the way. We must never allow our focus to wander.

Our focus must be on our purpose. We cannot let the distractions of this age take us off that. The Holy Days, year after year after year, what do they do? They're never tiresome. Brethren, they bring us back to our focus, back to our purpose. With hopefully zeal, I hope we came out of this feast even with the challenges, even with the illnesses and the cancelled in-person services.

I sat over in Ghana, gave services each day, and I could go back to my hotel, and there were some evenings where I had some free time. I could tune into the Bend webcast. And I'll just say, I was impressed. I was pleased. Mr. Imes was mentioning the crew that came together. People had never done those things before, and they kept it going. And, you know, I think Mr. Imes mentioned Ben Light and I were in maybe competition for numbers of sermons at the feast. I spoke five times. But as speakers went down, as technical people went down, people had to step up. Ben had to plug holes with messages. Troy Phelps and his family and I thought, that was a good showing from the young ministry. And I appreciated that they carried that forward. But the point is, no matter what's happening around us, the focus, the purpose, can't waver. They can't change.

I want to take some time now and look at what the Bible defines as our primary purpose in life, both individually and collectively. Because if our purpose defines our daily goals and actions, then we need to clearly understand what that is, so that we can live each day with purposeful living, reaching for the goal set before us.

So, brethren, individually, Paul Moody, Mike Imbs, Isaac Nelson, Dan Wilson, Joyce Imbs, each of us individually, write what is our individual purpose given by God. Let's go back to Genesis 1, verse 25. We know these things. We've talked about these things for years. And yet, they are foundational, and they do not change. This is what God has given us as a focus. Genesis 1, beginning in verse 25, it says, And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind, and God saw that it was good. Everything that God does and purposes is good. Verse 26, and God said, Let us make man in our image according to our likeness. I want to pause here for a minute and remind us that mankind is not made in the image of cattle, of birds, not even in the image of the angels. Okay? We are specifically made in the image and the likeness of God, and we are made in His image for a purpose. I'll remind you of James chapter 3, verse 9. It reiterates the fact that we have been made in the similitude of God. It says, With this mouth we curse, we praise God, but with the same mouth we curse man who is made in the similitude of God. So we are in the likeness of God for a purpose. And the us in Genesis 1, 26, isn't God in the angels, saying, Let us make man in our image. It's a reference to God the Father and the Word who is also God in the beginning with Him. Their image we are fashioned according to. And again, it's for a purpose. Verse 26, God said, Let us make man in our image according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, over the cattle and all the earth, over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created Him. Male and female, He created them. So understanding our purpose begins with understanding whose image we are created in. And that's essential. Mankind, in some circles, likes to throw out a creator. You throw out a creator, you're throwing out the image by which we are constructed in, and you are throwing out the purpose of our existence. Understanding our purpose begins with understanding whose image we are created in. We are created to be like God. Not just in physical form and attributes, we are created to be like God in character, and ultimately, as the Holy Days show, according to His divine likeness of existence.

The Apostle John wrote more about the ultimate individual purpose of us all. Genesis is the fundamental beginning. John takes us to the fulfilled end, and the glory that will be. 1 John chapter 3 and verse 1. 1 John 3 verse 1. Again, this is what our life's focus must be based on, individually and collectively.

1 John chapter 3 verse 1. John says, Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God. That's an incredible phrase. Children of God. Not just by physical birth, but by spiritual begettle. Therefore, the world does not know us because they did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies Himself just as He is pure. So there's three remarkable statements that John makes here that we must focus on and consider. I want to break them down. The first one. John said, Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God. It's an incredible statement to consider, brethren, when we consider God created us for a reason. That reason is to be His children in His likeness, according to His image, not merely shape and form, character and righteousness, and not simply by physical creation, but by spiritual birth. Second incredible statement of John here. He said, Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, because we're not in the full likeness of what God has purposed for us yet. But we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. We already saw back in Genesis human beings were made in the image of God. John says that those who respond to the calling of God have a future. They will see Him as He is because they will be as He is. In the same form, the same kind, the same likeness of character and spiritual reality. That is what is set before us. Again, God intends us to be just like Him. And that's our purpose. That's our incredible destiny that God has set before us at the beginning, to begin as children in the flesh, but ultimately to be born as children of the divine family of God, to be in the spirit, to be like Him. And thirdly, John says, and everyone who has this hope in Him does something with His life, because purpose is the goal and you take steps along the way, everyone who has this hope in Him purifies Himself just as He is pure. This means, brethren, that in order to fulfill God's purpose, you and I must do something with our life. We must live lives reconciled to God, God our Father, through the sacrifice of our elder brother, Jesus Christ, okay? A life of reconciled to God in a right, in a pure relationship. We must accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We must live a life pursuing purity before God. What part of the Holy Day plan does that remind you of? Reconciliation, coming out of sin, as Mr. Nelson was talking about, walking in purity before God. Well, that's Passover. That's the Days of Unleavened Bread. That is moving forward in this calling unto righteousness. When eternal life in the family, God is our purpose. It will frame our perspective each and every day. Again, not to just wander aimlessly through life, not to just let life happen to you. Oh, what's going to happen today? Can't wait to see. No, but this is to order our life to live each day seeking the incredible destiny God has put before us. It means using each day to pursue a relationship with God our Father and our elder brother, Jesus Christ. It means making decisions each day. Again, about family, about job, finances, health, so many other aspects of life. Making those decisions that keep us pointed in the right direction. And the Bible is full of that. It's full of making life work. And there's a godly way that we are to go about these things.

Living a purposeful Christian life means doing this day by day and doing it today, and recognizing today is the day that God has made, that we may move closer in His direction and grow towards the goal He has set before us. And it becomes our purpose in whatever we do. Each year, the Holy Day cycle, in that annual package of months that we walk through, you know, they're over for this year, but they'll be back. And every year, they point us in this direction. And they remind us of who we are and what God has called us to be, lest we ever forget. And God's point is, you must never forget. My people. You must never forget. That's what God has called us to. Ephesians chapter 5. The word is the Apostle Paul.

Ephesians chapter 5. This helps us to see what this purposeful life will look like day by day, as we live it, as we pursue it. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 1. Paul says, Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. Again, that's our purpose, to be just like Him. So what's our goal? Day by day by day, imitate God. Because we are His children, and we must look like our Father. People should look at us and say, you're your Father's son. You're your Father's daughter, aren't you? You kind of look like your older brother. You walk like Him. You talk like Him. That's our goal. Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. Verse 2. And do something. Right? Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

Verse 3. But fornication and uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you as is fitting for saints. He's saying there are things that will agree with our purpose in life, and there are things that will not. He said, let not these things be named among you as part of your aimless wandering in this life. Those things that don't conform to looking like the children of God. Walk in righteousness. Verse 4. Again, this is day by day because of our purpose. Neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving a thanks, for this you know that no fornicator, unclean person, or covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of God, Christ and God. They will not even be there because that's not their goal. They're not walking according to that purpose, and they won't even be there. Verse 6. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them, for you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Do something, he says. Walk as children of light. Walk as children of light. That's who we are. Verse 9. For the fruit of the Spirit, in all goodness, righteousness, and truth, finding out what is acceptable to the Lord, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them, for it is shameful to even speak of those things which are done by them in secret. Verse 13. But all these things are exposed, or made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.

Therefore, he says, awake you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. See then that you walk circumspectly. Circumspectly just means walk with an awareness of the world around you, walk with an awareness of your purpose. This is purposeful living. Walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. Redeeming the time because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will, or we can say what the purpose, of the Lord is. Brethren, Paul said, walk as children of light. Again, knowing who we are and what a God has called us to be will direct our steps each and every day.

Purposeful living involves choices. What will we accept and live by and what will we reject? God has given each of us a choice. A large part of our choice is going to depend on how important our priority is in our life.

Ephesians 2, verse 10 states, we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. Again, a response, an action, good works come out of what we are created for, what our destiny is, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Purposeful living.

Sometimes it's a challenge. Sometimes there's challenges day in and day out in this life and there's times where there's struggle. Dr. Klontz, again, stated in his article that in moments of fear, of frustration, moments of sorrow, he says, pull out your purpose and read it. Remind yourself of it. What am I doing? Why am I here? Why am I putting in this effort and maybe even facing this pain? He says, doing so will help you keep things in perspective and remind you to stay focused on what is most important to you.

So, again, life's challenges are there and they're going to be there, but they can never be allowed to derail us from the purpose that God has set before us. And there's times where we simply have to push through the challenge in order to accomplish the purpose. I had a little challenge this year with the feast, not actually at the time of attendance, but simply getting there. I had you all praying before I left about the COVID-19 test.

I had to have that within a three-day window of flying internationally and results were taking quite a while. But mine came back in good time, so thank you for the prayer. I boarded my plane in Spokane. First leg to Salt Lake City, we came across some weather. And planes coming in the land and, you know, they're getting ready to put the landing gear down. Altitude is diminishing. And suddenly the engines ramp up and we climb in a steep climb of altitude. And obviously we missed our landing and we're circling out far around.

And I thought, well, that's interesting. I've never experienced that personally before. We circle around, we come back in for approach. We're coming down. And as we're coming in again, you start to notice the planes getting buffeted about. You know, come to find out later, they were at altitude 100 mile an hour across wind gusts.

So you're trying to come in the land. And, you know, the point is you could be blown off course and off target. So we're coming in, planes buffeting around, suddenly the engines ramp up again and we're off for another circle around. Well, eventually they take us over and we land in Ogden, Utah, because there's not enough fuel on the plane to keep circling and waiting for other landing attempts. So we land in Ogden, an hour on the runway, pick up fuel, come back to, and eventually we land in Salt Lake. But what happens now is the connections missed. Salt Lake to New York, they booked me on the next flight.

There's only one flight a day out of JFK to West Africa, to Ghana. And as I was landing in New York, that flight was leaving. So that delayed me a day. I had an adventure. I took the air tram out of the airport, wandered at midnight through some dark neighborhoods. His GPS said, go this way, because I had it set on car, not walk, and it was a one-way street. I could have turned right and gone two blocks, and there was my hotel. I said I went left a mile and a half through neighborhoods with busted-out windows in the dark, trying not to look like I had $6,000 of cash in my pocket.

Walking with purpose, not fear. Okay. Got to the hotel finally. But next day, I said I need some plenty of time. My flight leaves at 1030. I get there at noon to check in. And they said, I'm sorry, you can't fly. And I said, excuse me?

They said, well, your COVID test has expired. Three-day window of travel. I said, okay, well, three-day window of departure. I departed from Spokane. And they said, sorry, it doesn't work that way. You just spent a day in New York. You have to get retested. This is a dud. Fortunately, JFK is the only airport, I believe, in the U.S. that does testing. I ran down to the testing facility. You can get a PCR test that's going to take a day, which was required for travel. They said, it just hit me with a rapid test as well. So two COVID tests, rapid back in an hour negative.

I took that to the Delta desk, and they bent the rules to honor it because they acknowledged some responsibility. I said, just get me to Ghana. I can talk my way through it, you know. And it worked. But I missed the first day of the feast, and that was a disappointment. And it could have been easy to say, you know what? My family's in Bend. I want to spend the feast with my family.

I can just catch a flight tonight and be in Bend. But I had a purpose. I had four sermons at the feast, I had a Bible study. They were counting on me to be there. That was the purpose. You have to be there. And in this life, God gave us a purpose, brethren, and we have to be there. There's going to be struggles. There's going to be obstacles. There's going to be storms that buffet us along the way. But we can't be derailed from the purpose that God has set before us.

Sometimes there's challenges by the world, there's challenges by the adversary, and sometimes the challenges are our own choices that we've made. But let us not become derailed to what God has set before us individually as a purpose. All right, what about our collective purpose now? Individually, it's to be children of God and the family of God. That directs our life. But we also have a collective purpose as a church. What is our purpose as a church? And how should that impact our day-to-day lives? Again, these purposes are tied up in the annual holy days, and our keeping of them should renew our focus in these things and light us up with zeal to take the steps necessary to pursue the purpose God has given us. Let's see what the Bible shows to be our collective purpose as a church. We're in the book of Ephesians. Let's go back to chapter 2, verse 19. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 19. Get an apostle Paul writing. He says, Now therefore, brethren, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building being fitted... I want to draw your attention to the word together, because this isn't just individual. This is collective. Being fitted together grows into a holy habitation, a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. So you'll recognize here that a part of our focus of being built together as the spiritual habitation by the Spirit, that's Pentecost. God's nature, God's character, His Spirit, the temple of God, and the way He binds us together, we focus on that on the holy day of Pentecost. It's one of our collective purposes as the Church. And the Church exists in order to be the spiritual temple of God. It's not the only reason the Church exists, but it is a primary reason. We exist to be the spiritual temple of God, and again, collectively, together.

That's our purpose, and it's literally to function as God's dwelling place on this earth. So you and I are called individually for a purpose, but we're called together for a spiritual purpose as well, and we must always keep that perspective. And if we have that perspective as a collective group, there's certain things that we're going to be doing as well as a group.

And as a Church, we're going to be ordering our lives according to our purpose. And there's a number of things we'll be doing. One of them that stands out primary in my mind is maintaining unity to the best of our ability. We have to have truth. We pursue truth. God has called us and bound us by a spirit of truth.

But we're individuals, and there are going to be challenges to our interactions at times. Maintaining unity as the house of God must be a focus because of what we've been called to be.

Unity is essential for a collective purpose, because God doesn't want to dwell in a house, in a structure that's crumbling.

And I love the analogy that the Bible uses. Peter talks about us being living stones. It's like God has gathered up these living stones by putting His Spirit in us. We were scattered in a field somewhere. And He's taken us and mortared us together in a structure, bound us by His Holy Spirit. That's the mortar. Built us upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. That's what God's doing. You are His field. You are His house, the Bible says. But God's not going to live in a house that's crumbling. So unity must be a priority.

We've probably all driven along at one time or another, and we've seen maybe a building that's been built out of stones in the field, and it's been left to neglect, and it's crumbling. And the mortar between the stones has become weak, and now it's cracking and crumbling. And eventually, the stone just rolls out and falls out on the ground. And you may see this disintegrating building that has just stones laying scattered all around on the ground. That can't be the house of God. There is a spiritual cohesiveness that must mortar us together as God's people in unity so that we can hold the structure that God designed us to be, so that we could be the place of His dwelling in the Spirit. And we can never afford to think, well, it's okay. I'll just kind of chip out the mortar around me and the person next to me, and I'll let my stone kind of roll out in the field, and I'll do my thing, but I'm still part of the structure. Sorry, it doesn't work that way.

You're not holding up the roof. You're not adding cohesiveness unless you're a living stone mortared side by side by God's Spirit in His house. So this purpose means that unity will be a priority every day among the people of God, the cohesiveness of the structure. Notice Ephesians chapter 4, Paul's words, verse 1.

Ephesians 4, verse 1, Paul says, Paul's saying, Verse 2, Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. So again, it's not just talking about an individual calling, it's talking about our collective effort. Endeavoring to maintain the spiritual mortar that binds all the living stones in the structure together. It means we have to be actively involved in building our relationships. Those bind us together by God's Spirit, actively involved in healing offenses, and actively involved in showing love for one another. And we can never afford to say, well, it's okay if I just, I don't want to put the effort in here, I'll go, but there'll be a stone over there. Why doesn't that work? Well, he tells us, verse 4, there is one body. And God's called us into it, and He's given us the commission to work within the body. There is one body, one Spirit, just as you were called in, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. If we truly believe that, I believe, we will prepare our whole effort in maintaining the cohesiveness of the structure. If we truly believe that we are the house of God, if we truly believe that is His purpose for us collectively, God doesn't want to dwell in a crumbling structure. He wants to dwell in a house of unity and purpose. So that is one of our purposes as a church. What else is our purpose?

Again, these direct our steps each day. Matthew 28, verse 18. Words of Jesus Christ. Matthew 28, verse 18, Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go do something.

Here's your purpose. Here's your mission. Go take the steps. Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing Him in the name of the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

The great commission of those who would be called Christ's disciples is to do at work, to preach a gospel, to prepare a people for a kingdom which is yet to come. And it's something we're called to do together, and it requires purposeful living today.

Not just aimless wandering as a church, purposeful living in intent, taking the steps to carry these things out. 1 Peter 2.

1 Peter 2, verse 9 and 10.

Again, who we are, what we've been called to be and do. 1 Peter 2, verse 9 and 10.

Peter himself reiterates, who we're not.

Excuse me, let me back up.

1 Peter 2. Yeah, let's do that. Verse 9.

Well, it doesn't mean wander aimlessly. You will do something.

My own special people that you may proclaim, the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but have now obtained mercy.

Brethren, this is our identity. This is who and what we are as a collective people of God. And with that identity comes specific responsibilities.

Because we're not called to wander through life aimlessly. We're called to be a spiritual model nation.

Called to be a light to the world, to proclaim the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.

To be the city on the hill that can't be hidden. And the light that isn't lit, that lamp, and placed under a basket but on a table where he gives light to the entire house.

That is our day-to-day actions because of our purpose that God has called us to, our collective purpose. 2 Timothy 2, verse 11 and 12.

What else is our church God-given purpose?

2 Timothy 2, verse 11 and 12.

This is a faithful saying, for if we died with him, baptism, we shall also live with him, resurrection unto newness of life. Okay, verse 12. If we endure, we shall also reign with him.

Our purpose as a church, brethren, is to reign with Christ when he brings the kingdom of God to this earth.

That is the purpose of the church, a collective purpose.

If we endure, we shall reign with him. Well, what's that? That's trumpets. That's atonement.

That's the Feast of Tabernacles.

The saints will reign with Christ a thousand years.

If that's our purpose as a church, then we better be preparing for it now.

We can never afford to wander through life aimlessly. We need to live purposefully.

We need to grow in the character and the qualities that God wants us to have in order to be useful in his service. And we can't just expect to show up and be handed the position if we've simply staggered through life aimlessly, not taking on the nature and the character of our Father.

But if we do what we're called to do, we will reign with him. It is a promise.

It takes preparation today.

Regarding preparation, notice Revelation 19, verse 6. This is included in our purpose as a church as well.

Revelation 19, verse 6.

And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, in the sound of many waters, and as the sound of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God of omnipotent reigns.

Verse 7, Let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come. And his wife, notice, has made herself ready.

His wife has made herself ready.

Now, the purpose of the Church of God today is to be the bride of Jesus Christ tomorrow.

It's our calling. It's our purpose as a collective group.

Here it says, The bride has made herself ready. Those who will be there, as yet, remains to see who all will be there. But it takes work to be a bride made ready. Ask any woman who's ever prepared for a wedding.

All the advanced planning and the work and the effort that goes into the point then now where the marriage takes place.

And Paul said, the Apostle Paul, you have a lot of work to do, and you have careful work to do because I've betrothed you as a virgin to Christ. And be careful how you walk.

And be careful the plans that you make. They are for an incredible divine purpose.

So that's what we're going to be doing today, brethren. We're going to be living purposeful lives of preparation for the fulfillment of our destiny.

To be children of God, to rule, to be the body of Christ, and to inherit all things.

It's an incredible purpose God has set before us, outlined by the Holy Days.

Let's conclude in Revelation 22.

Revelation 22, verse 1, says, And He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb, and in the middle of the streets and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month.

The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Verse 3, Again, 1 John chapter 3, we know that when He is revealed, we shall see Him because we will be as He is.

Right? Same form, same likeness.

This is us.

They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there, they need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. Notice, and they shall reign forever and ever.

Daniel chapter 7, verse 18, states, But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.

It's an eternal purpose.

It's an eternal destiny. And brethren, it's a destiny that is both individual and collective. And this is the eighth day. Right?

The eighth day, I use the term a little loosely, the beginning of the rest of eternity. I can't really wrap my mind around eternity. But of the increase of His government and peace, there'll be no end, and we will have a part to play as the children of God forever.

The annual Holy Days we've just walked through, brethren, this year and every year give us perspective that is unique to the people of God. Not only do they reveal God's plan of salvation for all of mankind, but they also reveal to us our purpose. They tell us who we are, why we are here, and what we are supposed to be doing as the primary focus of our lives. As we move forward from the annual Holy Days, once again for this year, let's not become distracted. There's many distractions out there. Let's not become distracted by what is happening in the world around us. Let's not simply wander aimlessly through our days, letting life just sort of happen to us. Let us do something, brethren. Let us make things happen through purposeful living that will prepare us for the awesome destiny that God has in store. After all, these promises of God are clear. He has spoken them. They will happen, surely. These promises of God are not random. They're not haphazard. They're not even happenstance. They're actually what God Himself is doing on purpose.