Isnt it wonderful to all be together? Its great, isnt it? Can everybody hear okay? Some of you are so far away. Its good to know that even when were in a different location, we can run into some of the same problems. Could somebody help me with the pulpit? I could really use that. There are all kinds of details going in to this planning. Wont it be nice when were able to be together anytime we want to? Well be able to have our own facility that will accommodate all of us. If you did not believe we needed Phase 3, just look around. I think everybody understands that now if you didnt before. It will be nice when we can be together anytime we so choose. Well just have to flip on the light switch, and thats it. Timing is so important in life. My daughter has been asking us for a dog for years, Dad, when can we have a dog? Since she was about 4, shes talked about having a dog and wanting a Border Collie girl puppy. That was her request. She just kept on and on, getting more and more intense. Finally, I said to her, We will have a dog, but I dont know if its going to be a Border Collie girl puppy because were going to go to the Humane Society and find a stray dog. Were going to give a stray dog a home. She was so glad to have a dog that it didnt matter. That was okay. So, we went to the Humane Society and went through the first kennel. They said, There arent a lot of breeds here. Most of them are bigger dogs, so dont get your heart set. The first kennel, we looked at all the dogs there. We went to the second kennel. We got to literally the very last kennel, last cage of the second kennel, and guess what was there? Two Border Collie girl puppies. We put our name on one of them. We now have Penny Williams in our home. I asked the agency, When did that puppy come up for adoption? She said, Well, just today. Just today. I said, Well, isnt that interesting? My daughter has been asking for years and years, and I keep saying no, no, no. Finally the day I say yes, that very day, a female Border Collie puppy comes up for adoption. I believe God answers even childrens prayers for dogs. Timing is so important. Forty Days of Purpose is not something new. The Purpose Driven Life has been around for several years now. People would always come up to me and say, Pastor, can we do the 40 Days of Purpose? Id say, We have this going on. I just dont think its right. Not right now. Down the road… Then, a year later, Hey, 40 Days of Purpose? Can we do that? You know, we have this going on. I just dont think its right. For several years, I would say no. It seemed like every church in the world was doing a 40 Days of Purpose except for us. Well, this fall-the summer after we were praying and all these things were going on, the missions trip and all the things we were engaged in-I really felt in my spirit that God was saying it was time, Its time. Pastor Sean and I had our regular meeting, and we got together. I said, Pastor Sean, I think its time we do the 40 Days. I want you to get on it, make it happen. Find out whatever you can. Lets get going. So that summer, we started working on it. Pastor Sean got it launched. Then we tapped Pastor John Voss to chair and Tim Bales to co-chair, and things took off. I know Pastor Voss thanked a lot of folks as he kicked off our service this morning, but I want to make sure we thank Pastor John Voss for all of his hard work. Thank you, Pastor John. We love you and appreciate your ministry. They were the right men for the job, and Gods timing was right in your lives. He is accomplishing His purpose through our church. Im going to invite you to stand and open your Bibles to the Book of Philippians (page 1163 of pew Bibles). Normally, youd grab a church Bible, and Id tell you what page, or itd be on the wall. We dont have the church Bibles, so hopefully you brought one. If you didnt, just listen along. Timing is important. In the Book of Acts 16, read how Paul had his mind set to go to Asia and preach the Gospel; but God said no-it wasnt time. Then Paul said, Okay, were going to go to Mysia and preach the Gospel. It said the Spirit of Jesus said, No. Paul didnt understand. Mysia, no? Asia, no? Where am I supposed to go? That night, he had a dream. In that dream, a man he did not know appeared to him from Macedonia, where Greece is. He said, Come over here! We need you! Come over here! We need you! So Paul woke up and said, Ive had a vision. Were to go to Macedonia. So the Gospel would cross the continent and minister to the people of Macedonia. The Macedonian Call is what they call it in Acts 16. The first city they went to when Paul answered that call was the city of Philippi. You can read about that in the Book of Acts. Here hes writing to that church. We call it the letter of Philippians. He writes it while in jail, and he writes it to encourage them. He writes it to thank them for their support. Were going to see from these Scriptures this morning how Paul lived out Gods purpose in his life. Im going to begin with Verse 10 of Philippians 3. Paul says, I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that Ive already obtained all of this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me Heavenward in Christ Jesus. Lets pray: Father, we have devoted ourselves to studying what Your purposes are for our lives, and we have learned much. There is still much to learn. For many of us, its required some serious life-changing decisions. Its required us to see the world in a different way, to realize it is not Day 41-back to business as usual, but it will never be business as usual. We have a much keener awareness of why we are here, what we are called to do and be. This morning, Father, as we look at Your Word, and as we finish this series weve been on, its so much more than a series; its a way of life, so equip us. Help us, enable us, open our minds to understand Your Word and our hearts to obey it as we move on to Day 41. I pray this in Jesus name, Amen. Thats what I want to talk to you about today, Day 41: life after the 40 Days. I want you to notice that Paul uses the word perfect. He says, Not that Ive already become perfect… The word perfect in the Greek is the word teleios, which means to complete, to bring to completion, or to accomplish the task it was created to do. It does not mean perfect in the sense of morally perfect, as in never sinning, but complete in that we are accomplishing and fulfilling Gods purposes for our lives. Notice Paul says that its his desire to press on, to take hold, of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me… What is the that? What is this word that? Its everything weve talked about. So much of what weve learned in the 40 Days has come from the writings of the Apostle Paul. Weve learned about the importance of sharing Christ and evangelism, of loving Christ through worship, serving others through ministry, loving others in fellowship, becoming like Christ in discipleship. All of these are the that. Does it sound like Paul lived a purpose-driven life to you? Does it sound like he was about fulfilling Gods purposes? He says, Thats what Im all about. Im about pressing on and living out what You have called us to do and be. How did he do that? How did Paul accomplish Gods purposes? Look at what he says. How many things does Paul engage in here? Look at Verse 13, But these twelve things I do. How many does he do? One thing. This one thing I do. Paul was a focused man. He was single-minded. He said, I am all about fulfilling Gods purposes, becoming who He wanted me to be and doing what He wanted me to do. If we were to ask that question of you, what would the answer be? Are you a single minded-purpose individual? Are you single minded? Are you going in a lot of different directions all at once? Some of you would say, Well, I think I am single-minded. If you are single-minded, then is that purpose for eternity? Is that purpose something that is going to matter and live on beyond your life? Paul said, These things I do… These things I do. We have learned in this series that there are certain things God does, and there are certain things we do. Remember when we talked about working out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who is at work within you to will and to do His good purpose? There are certain things we do, and there are certain things God does. I want to talk to you just a moment about the difference between religion and Christianity. You can spell religion d-o. It is things you do, things you try to do to please God or to earn Gods favor. Christianity is spelled d-o-n-e. It is receiving what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us. Paul here is not talking about working for salvation or trying to obtain salvation on his own merits. In fact, the whole chapter is about the fact that he puts no confidence in the flesh. If you read the previous verses, he talks about the futility of the flesh. But there were certain things he was called to do. Though there were certain things he was called to do, he said, One thing I can never do is I can never earn my salvation. He speaks about that in the previous verses, Verses 5 & 6. He says, If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more. Circumcised on the eighth day… He went through that ceremony, that ritual of circumcision, which was a sign of the Hebrew covenant, but that was not going to put him in right standing with God. We have symbols of our covenant, baptism for instance, or communion, or a conformation-whatever it might be. Those are all wonderful good things, but things we do-ceremonies and rituals we go through-do not put us in right standing with God. He said, I am of the people of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. Your heritage does not put you in right standing with God. The country youre from, the church you grew up in, the denomination you are a part of… Young people and children-because your parents go to a Bible-believing church, and you belong there, does not make you a Christian or a believer. It didnt with Paul. It said, Even though he was a Hebrew, even though he was an Israelite, that did not make him in right standing with God. He goes on to say, I was a Pharisee. Pharisees were highly-educated, highly-skilled and schooled. Your education, how much you know about the Bible, does not put you in right standing with God. He says, As for zeal, persecuting the church, nobody was more zealous than me. Zeal and believing something sincerely with all your heart does not put you in right standing with God. He says for legalistic righteousness, faultless, being a good person, having good morals and trying your best to do what God tells you to do does not put you in right standing with God. The only thing that puts us with right standing with God is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What He has done is finished work [for us] on the cross. Let me ask a question of you this morning. How many of you here today earned your citizenship as an American? You had to go through classes, you had to study, take a test and earn your citizenship. Anybody here earn your citizenship? How many of you here today were born with your citizenship? Looks like 100 percent. We vote, we obey the laws of the land, we perform jury duty when called upon, we pay our taxes, we run for office, and all of these other things because we are citizens-not to become citizens, right? Our citizenship was given to us as a gift, but not a free gift. It was purchased by the blood of brave men and women who gave their lives for the cause of freedom for our country. So, we were born with this gift of being citizens of the United States of America, and its a privilege. There are certain things we do because we are citizens, but we dont do them to become citizens. The same thing is true in matters of the faith. We do these things. We live out these purposes not to become Christians, but because we are Christians. Salvation is not something that can be earned. Salvation is something that was won through the bloodshed of the Lord Jesus Christ as He bore our sins on the cross and gave His life for us. We receive Gods forgiveness by faith and trust. Paul says, But whatever was my profit, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whose sake I have lost all things. Is Paul weeping over that? Is Paul weeping over all he lost? No. He says, I consider them rubbish, garbage, that I might gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law or by what I do, but that which is through faith in Christ-the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. By faith, I receive a salvation as a gift that was given to me by someone else. That is the only thing that puts me in right standing with God. We would be amiss if we did not talk about that this morning and did not rightly understand that the salvation we have was purchased by the blood of Christ. We receive it by faith as a gift. Now Paul, in Verse 13, talks about two keys that he has in his life in fulfilling Gods purpose. Verse 13, Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind… One of the ways I fulfill Gods purpose in my life is I forget what is behind. Was he talking about the good things or the bad things in his life? Both. We want to talk about the word forget, the fact that he doesnt mean that those things dont matter. He doesnt mean he doesnt learn from the bad things that happen or he doesnt appreciate the good things that happen. Paul talks about the Philippians, and he says, I remember the wonderful gifts you gave me, the good things you did for me, how you stood by me and prayed for me and encouraged me. By forget, Paul means focus really. Hes saying, One thing I do is I focus on what is ahead, that and what is behind. I have some bad news for you this morning. Winter is coming. We can feel it in the air. We are wearing our sweaters. Its getting a little chilly. You know what that means, right? Driving in potholes again! Now, when you drive into a pothole, you have a choice. You can look in your rearview mirror and say, Why didnt I see that pothole? and keep looking at that pothole, that mistake. You can say, Boy, was I dumb! I should have seen that coming! Thats the third time Ive driven through that same pothole. Why dont they fix that pothole? If you keep looking at your rearview mirror, whats going to happen? Youre going to crash your car. You think driving through a pothole is bad, try running into a tree or the car in front of you. It is a lot worse. Paul says, Ive made mistakes. Im going to learn from them and move to the future. Im not going to dwell on the mistakes of my past. Thats wisdom. Everybody here has failed the Lord. Everybody here has failed other people. Everyone here has failed yourselves miserably and made mistakes. But are we going to learn from them and keep our eyes toward the future, or are we going to be fixated in the past? Paul says, If you want to accomplish Gods purpose, dont be fixated in the past. Look to the future. Some of us are good drivers. When snow and ice come, we have to be extra cautious, extra careful on the roads, dont we? Just because youve had a good experience, you can say, You know, Ive been driving on roads in the winter in Wisconsin for many years, and Ive never had an accident-not one fender bender, Does that help you when you drive the first snowfall this year? How much does that help you? Not one iota. So the success of your past isnt going to help you when youre driving your car this winter. Everytime you drive your car, you have to drive it with a sober-mindedness, an alertness, an awareness, and with care and consideration of everybody who is on the road and everything that is going on. The past victories on the road do not necessarily mean or translate into future victories on the road, so you have to be careful. So the good things in your life, though theyre good and you appreciate them and value them, tomorrow is a new day. Paul says, Neither am I going to rest in the accomplishments of my past, but Im pressing on toward what lies in the future. I want our churchs vision to always be to the future. I dont want us to be going around saying, Remember the days, remember when we used to have people coming to our church and we had programs, visions, and ministry… I dont want to do that. I want us to be always looking ahead. We appreciate the things God has done through us that are good. We learn from the mistakes we have made, but our focus is toward the future and what God is going to do. Our best days as a body are ahead of us, not behind us. Paul sought to fulfill his purpose secondly by forging ahead with total commitment. He was not only forgetting what was behind, but he said straining towards what is ahead. Notice the words that he uses: Straining towards what is ahead, pressing on toward the goal. Those words have a connotation of effort, dont they? The words he is using here are the words here of a runner who is straining to reach the finish line. He sees the finish line. She sees the finish line. They are putting everything they have-straining, running, pressing on, though they are tired-though their muscles are sore, though they are weary-they are pressing on to the finish. Thats Paul. Listen, church, you are the runner that Paul speaks of. Youre running the race; whether you want to or not, you are in the race. So the question is [this]: How are you running today? How are you running toward the finish? Are you jogging? Are you trotting? Are you giving it what you have or are you coasting? He says, One thing I do, Im pressing on. Im moving forward. What were talking about here in Day 41 is a life status like, Oh, man, Im glad that worship stuff is over with. Im glad those small groups are over with. I dont have to do small groups anymore. All of that Bible study, Im glad that is done. That was kind of hard. Glad all that fellowship and sharing my faith and all of that is all done. No way. That is the course. Thats the purpose God has called us to live and run. Its a marathon, and we keep pressing on. Paul had that mindset that said, Im not done. Im going to keep on going. [He had] total commitment, striving to the end. You are that runner. Weve learned in this series that there are no shortcuts in spiritual growth, no shortcuts in spiritual growth. Usually, shortcuts end up bad. We know some shortcuts that are good, but how many of you have ever been on a shortcut, and it ended up being longer than if you had just gone the right way? Shortcuts, if youre driving somewhere, can be good. But other than that, in pretty much every other area of life, shortcuts are bad. Somebody wants to get fit, [so] they try to take a shortcut. Somebody on TV says if youll just take these pills, youre going to lose 100 pounds and look like this guy-Mr. Six Pack over here. Take a shortcut. You mean, all I have to do is swallow that pill, and everything is just going to go off of me? Ill be in shape? So they take the shortcut, right? Somebody might inject steroids because they want to grow muscles, so rather than working hard, they take a shortcut. We see people like that; we know people like that. If somebody wants to get rich, and rather than making wise investments and saving money, making sound business decisions, they put their hopes in the lottery or embezzle money from their company or fall prey to get-rich-quick schemes and gimmicks. Anytime we take a shortcut, it backfires. There is no shortcut to spiritual growth. We have learned that. Spiritual growth comes as we partner with the Holy Spirit; as we live out these purposes; as we serve others; tell others about the Lord; as we love one another; as we love the Lord in worship; serve one another in ministry; as we become more like Christ through discipleship, spiritual growth takes place, and it happens over the long haul-not over the short term. I think its interesting how the Book of Acts ends in Acts 28. If you have your Bible, you might want to turn there. I love the end of the Book of Acts! It seems like every Book in the Bible you read, it comes to this conclusion, right? It comes to this final period, and boom! The Book is over. The Book of Acts doesnt end that way! We find Paul in Rome in custody for his faith. It says in Verse 30, For two whole years, Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to him. Boldly and without hindrance, he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ. What do you find Paul doing at the end of his days? Is he retiring? Is he fishing on a boat somewhere? Paul is doing what God had called him to do. Hes fulfilling his purpose. Acts has this open-ended ending because Acts 29 is still being lived out. The church is still accomplishing Christs mission in the world. I love what Kelly said in her testimony about Day 41 and Day 42. What it is-is we just do life together. So, whats the next program? Whats the next campaign? Life! Day 41. We continue to live out these purposes. One thing I would encourage you to do is as we learned about these five purposes, all of us are not as strong in one area as every other area. Identify one area where you are weak. Maybe its in worship; its in loving the Lord, passion and spirituality. Maybe its in sharing your faith. Maybe its in fellowship. You tend to be an isolated kind of believer. Maybe its in service or in ministry. Youre not really finding or using your spiritual gift. Maybe its in discipleship. Youre really not a student of the Word in growing and becoming like Christ. Re-read those chapters in your book. Spend some time going through those chapters again, looking up those Scriptures, praying about them, putting yourself strategically in areas where you can learn and grow in that spiritual gift. Remember what he says when God wants to grow a fruit of the spirit in our lives? What does He do? He puts us in the exact opposite situation. If He wants us to grow in patience, God will put you in a situation where you have to use your patience, where you are tempted to be impatient. If youre not good at service, begin to serve. If youre not good in understanding the Word of God, sign up for cross-training. Utilize the ministries of the church. This is not a program. This is life. We do life together. Our mission as a church is to bring people to faith and maturity in Christ; both bring them to the Lord. Once they come to the Lord, we watch them grow up in their faith. So, God wants to use each and every one of us to do that. We continue as a body to reach out to our friends, to reach out to our loved ones, reach out to our neighbors, tell them of the love of Christ, invite them to a church where they will be loved, and they can come to know their purposes. Some of you are new to our church, and youre liking what you see. In November, were going to start a series on seeing the bigger picture. Its kind of like your being on a boat. You say, I like this boat. I like the crew. This is a good trip. I like the people. Im enjoying this trip on this boat. Hey, where is this boat going? Thats what were going to be talking about, spending a few weeks talking about where were going as a body. This has been about us as individuals. Where are we going as a body? What is Faith Community all about? How are we accomplishing Gods purposes? At this time, Im going to close us in prayer. The first thing I want us to do is Im going to pray for those of you among us who are not believers today. I want you to pray to the Lord and ask the Lord into your heart today if youve not already done so. Then were going to pray for those of you who are believers, that we would stay the course-finish strong and press on. Lets pray: Father, my first prayer, this morning, is for those who in this spiritual journey are learning about You but do not know You yet. Lord, to receive the gift of salvation, we must receive it by faith. It is something we do not work for but has been provided by You for us. Its not a matter of our knowledge, our zeal, our heritage, our good works, or what rituals or ceremonies weve gone through; its a matter of the heart-that we have yielded our heart to Your Lordship, that we have received Your sacrifice as payments for our sin, for each one of us are sinners. If youre here this morning, and youve never prayed to receive Christ, I would like you to pray this prayer with me right now in your heart to the Lord: Heavenly Father, I come to You in Jesus name. I understand that its not about me. Its about You. Its about Your purposes being fulfilled in my life. This morning, I surrender my heart to You. I surrender my life to You. Accomplish Your purposes through me. Forgive my sin. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I pray that Your Holy Spirit will enter me. Make me a new person. Its my desire to live for You, to serve and follow You all the days of my life. I trust in You, Lord Jesus, as my means of salvation, and my only hope in eternity. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen. Father, I pray for those who have made that decision this morning, that they will grow up in their faith; they will become a part of our body; they will enter into small groups and serve in ministries; continue to [come to our] services and learn about Your Word; meet other believers and grow in their spiritual walk. I pray for those of us who have applied ourselves to understanding and knowing Your purposes, that as we move on to Day 41, we will continue what we have learned because we are that runner. Paul says, Were not to look back. We are thankful for the victories. We learned from our mistakes, but our focus is toward the future, and we will press on. We will not take our spiritual walk haphazardly, flippantly or lightly. We realize that we are engaged in a spiritual conflict in this world of good vs. evil, of light vs. darkness, of the forces of the Kingdom of God vs. the forces of the kingdom of darkness. We have to choose which side were on. We have chosen the Kingdom of Light. We have chosen to represent the Lord Jesus Christ on this earth, that through the empowerment of Your Holy Spirit, we will be the Church; we will be the light to a dark world. We will accomplish Your purposes. We will bring as many others as we can with us on this important journey. We commit ourselves to that end. Would you pray with me aloud as I say these words? As I say these words, would you repeat them aloud? Heavenly Father, In Jesus name, I commit to love You more deeply, to serve You with a whole heart, to tell others about You, to worship You, and to give my life completely to You. I thank You, Lord, for all I have learned and all I have yet to learn. I dedicate myself to You. I give my all to You, even as You give Your all to me. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.