On Purpose

2 Corinthians 5:²⁰ “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

Why church, why do we exist? Yesterday, we began to look at the first of four reasons which is, We Exist To Celebrate God’s Presence [Worship]. We exist to worship Him because the Father seeks people who worship Him in spirit and in truth. And when we say we exist to celebrate God’s Presence that is what it should be. Psalm 122:¹ “I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” (NIV). When it is time to worship God and be in His presence, we have to be glad and excited. Why? It is because we exist to celebrate God’s presence.

Why church? We Exist To Communicate God’s Word. The church is in the communication business. We preach the gospel, evangelize, and share the good news. When people hear what we have to offer, it is good news not bad news. The gospel is called good news for a reason. People should walk out from listening to the message we bring and be happy, excited, and blessed. Ephesians 3:¹⁰ “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms” (NIV). The church is to display the wisdom of God, the church is to communicate, manifest and demonstrate the wisdom of God to the principalities, the powers and to people. It is called Evangelism.

Acts 1:⁸ “…you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere…” A witness is someone that has experienced whatever they are talking about. It is either they were there physically, they saw something, heard something, or know something. Then and only then can they be a witness to that thing. And God is saying that for us to communicate His Word, we must have first celebrated His presence, we must have first experienced Him before we can represent Him. Matthew 24:¹⁴ “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (NIV). Sharing the good news is tied to the coming of Jesus Christ. Sometimes when we look at the happenings in the world, we wonder, when will Jesus come? Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly, help!

But God is saying to us that if we want Him to come then we ought to accelerate our evangelism. 2 Peter 3:⁹ “The Lord is …patient…, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (NIV, emphasis added). How many people does God want to come to repentance? Even the people that you really don’t like, God is waiting for them to repent. God is amazing!

Prayer: Father, in celebration of Your presence I will share Jesus with those close to me but far from God, in Jesus Name. Amen!