With the End in Mind

this morning I'm not going to take a text like I normally would but I do want to set up just my my message this morning I am preaching to our graduates yes my intention is to preach Beyond just the graduates that are in the house and to hopefully Minister the word of the Lord in a way that it will impact every life of every individual that's under the sound of our voice it's in this book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People there's an author by the name of Stephen Covey he presents some key practices some key uh habits what he calls habits or or practices that he says are common between people who find success in life and Ministry and business he says if you practice these things then it can lead you to be effective Stephen Covey presents Concepts like this he says highly effective people or people who are proactive is it highly effective people or people who think win-win how can we get a win-win out of this situation highly effective people are people who put first things first all great habits all all things that maybe we could borrow from but I want to draw from his second habit this morning as Covey presents this idea where he says that highly effective people are people who know how to begin with the end in mind effective people are not people who aimlessly wander throughout life with no target destination but highly effective people or people who can anticipate an expected result and they can structure every aspect of their lifestyle their actions and their attitudes to point them towards that end goal to point them towards what they are shooting for so with that in mind I want to preach just for a few moments here this morning from the subject with the end in mind with the end in mind one more time would you just lift up your voice let's ask the Lord to help us today God I thank you for your presence and your power that is so evidently in this room I thank you Lord for the life of every individual who has made Atlanta West Pentecostal Church their home this morning whether this is their first time or this is their home Church Lord I believe that you do nothing on accident but God you have divinely appointed today to be a day of Destiny you have divinely appointed that today could be a life-changing day for somebody I'm asking that your anointing would be with us as it has already in this service through the remainder today that your word would go forth for that it would impact and it would change that your voice would be the loudest voice that is in the room today will give you great praise and we'll give you great glory for it in the name of Jesus everybody say Amen and you may be seated now before you think that this idea of beginning with the end in mind is nothing more than some self-help or business jargon I want to at the outset of this message assure you that while Stephen Covey and others like him have made many many millions of dollars off of this concept that it is not original to them but rather we can find this principle displayed all throughout the pages of scripture one such example that we can find is in Luke chapter 14 where Jesus is talking to his disciples about the cost of following after him it's in verse 26 we find that Jesus is telling his disciples this he says if any man will come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and Brethren and sisters yea and even his own life he cannot be my Disciple This isn't the message today but it's important for us to understand that Jesus is not using the word hate in the same way that we do today but rather Jesus is making a point that it's about weightiness in your life it's about priority that if you do not put me above all else you will not be my disciple verse 27 he continues he says whoever doth not bear his cross and come after me he cannot be my disciple but then Jesus goes into illustrative teaching it begins to present two illustrations in verse 28 he says for who of you intending to build a tower does not first sit down and count the cost lest you get into the middle of the building project and you realize that you have flat run out of money and you don't have the means to to achieve the goal now I find it interesting because he appeals to human nature here at the end of verse 29 he says you're not able to finish it and then all that behold it begin to mock you saying this man began to build but was not able to finish it it gives another illustration in verse 31 he says what king will go to war without first counting the cost and determining hey I've got ten thousand soldiers and they've got 20 000 soldiers do you think it's a good idea if we go to battle that when the king sits down and he begins to weigh the options if he determines that they don't have a high probability of winning then it's in his best interest to send an ambassador who would come to a peace agreement before their army gets annihilated and wiped off the face of the planet verse 33 Jesus ties all these together when he says so likewise whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath he cannot be my disciple believe that what Jesus is suggesting here is that a disciple is somebody who has counted the cost a disciple is somebody who understands the end goal they're one that begins with the end in mind and understands that our expected future is worth the cost that I've got to pay today so it's with this in mind that I want to do something at the outset of this message that I have never done before that I will likely never do with another message for as long as I I preach here on this Earth and if it doesn't work I won't even do it at 11 o'clock but what I want to do with this idea in mind is I want to preach the conclusion of my message right now I want you to know where we're going I want you to understand what my end goal is today are you ready here we go here's the conclusion Heaven is the goal nothing more and nothing less Heaven is our expected end no not for the walls of precious gems or the gates of pearls and those will certainly be there not for the streets of gold so pure that they'll be like transparent glass then I certainly can't wait to see that no it's not for the mansions and I'll tell you today I want one on a golf course it's not even for the fact that there will be no more pain no suffering no tears and yes that will certainly be nice but Heaven is the end goal for one reason and one reason alone it's because heaven means an eternity spent in the presence of our savior they hear me this morning that heaven will be all the more special if we do not find ourselves there alone but rather we share the joys of Eternity with our family in our friends with our brothers and our Sisters in Christ because at the end of it all if you die not having a cent to your name but your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life and it will have been worth it all if you die and you have never amassed a great social media following or great popularity that pales in comparison to others but you have lived your life in a way where you have influenced somebody to spend an eternity with Jesus Christ then your living was not for naught and your life was not in vain today we must understand that if we are beginning with the end in mind then the end simply is them before me and him before all because heaven is the goal there it is have a great day you are dismissed that's where we're heading today Heaven is the goal now that you know where we're going let me back up and fill in a few pieces of the story there's another prominent business leader and author and and speaker his name is Simon sinek many in this room have probably heard of him many years ago Simon came to claim he had a claim to fame because he wrote a book and he did this Ted Talk that's become one of the most most viewed TED talks of all time and the concept that he presents is this idea of starting with why it's in this book and it's in this Ted Talk that that Simon Seneca espouses this idea and he presents what he calls the Golden Circle I believe we have a picture here he he presents this Golden Circle you can see the big circle is what the middle circle is how and then it's that little circle in the middle that is why now cynic speaking to Business Leaders and organizational leaders what he is going to argue is that every organization on the face of the planet knows what they do they know what they do in the case of Apple they sell computers they can tell you what they do he takes it a step further he says many organizations can tell you how they do it this is their system this is their process this is the competitive advantage that they have that that allows them to do what they do and do it well he said but it's only a few key organizations that heave used to be the most effective and successful that can Define why they do what they do that know what their purpose is this idea of starting with why the same concept it can be applied to many business organizations yes it could be applied to the church yes but it can even be applied to an individual's life let me use a quick illustration just to try and make this come to life so I am I am the executive pastor at our church this is a recent Development I've only been in that role for eight years and I knew this ahead of time but being in this role I have quickly realized that one of the chief responsibilities that church leaders have is to train to develop to recruit and to celebrate volunteers now if the church is going to function we've got to have incredible people like you who volunteer their time to come and make the church what it is we can't do this on our own and so I'm going to put myself in the shoes here at Atlanta West Pentecostal church I don't believe you have this issue but I'm going to gonna present this idea that let's say here at this church they recognize that we need to add some people to our greeting team okay the sanctuary we call it our first impressions team we've got an incredible team of people that are here on Sundays and Wednesdays to stand at the door to open the door to shake hands and to smile at people I need to recruit people to join that team okay following Simon sinek's philosophy if I'm going into the recruitment process and I'm leading with what that pitch might sound something like this hey so and so here's the deal we are desperately in need of greeters is there any chance you would be willing to join the team what I know from experience what research tells us is it's very likely I could convince a number of you to join the team because you're just good people because you have a desire to serve your church some of you will agree but it will be out of obligation and guilt you'll feel bad if somebody asks you and you say no the people pleaser in you would just die to tell somebody no I can't do that so it's likely I can build a team but the reality is is I don't know if I can keep a team if all I have done is tell you what I need you to do okay if I go to that second stage that how the the pitch might sound something like this it would be hey Colin is that what your name congratulations number one but I might go on and say hey Colin here's the deal man I really need somebody to come early on Sunday to stand at the door to open the door to shake people's hands and to smile real big as they walk onto this campus now for some people this is the exact pitch they want to hear because I have told them exactly what the expectation is this is how you win this is how you do the job effectively this is what's required of you this is how you do it you stand at the door you smile you shake hands you welcome people when they step onto the campus but again I'm not sure if I'm going to keep calling because I haven't instilled passion inside of him but what cynic is going to argue that if I am leading with why that pitch changes drastically if I'm leading with why the pitch may sound something like this I might say hey Colin we're so grateful you remember here at Atlanta West Pentecostal Church you probably know this because you've been around but our mission at this church is to lead people into life-saving relationship with Jesus Christ and to develop them as followers of him but here's the deal Colin we can't do that unless people decide that Atlanta West Pentecostal church is a place where they can grow and and trust us with their spiritual formation we can't do that unless they trust us with their family but here's what the research says Colin but the research tells us is that the majority of guests who walk onto a church campus decide within the first five minutes of being on that campus whether or not they will come for the second time what does that mean that means it's before brother Johns gets a chance to get in the Pulpit it's before the incredible praise and worship team gets a chance to lead it's before they get to experience all of our programs and hear us celebrate what God is doing what that means is that first interaction they have at that door is vitally important to us fulfilling the mission of this church would you be willing to join the team and help us reach souls for the kingdom of God do you see that that's a different thing altogether because I haven't just LED with what the job is I haven't just told you how to do the job but I have introduced something altogether I have introduced purpose into the equation and purpose is a game changer see for many purpose as an extreme motivator because people can begin to see themselves as a part of something that is bigger than just themselves purpose helps us to set the direction of Our Lives as we point our actions and attitudes towards an expected result purpose is the fuel that can keep us moving ahead even when the journey gets a little bit difficult purpose can cause me to keep showing up day after day even when I feel like I want to throw in the towel purpose is a driving force behind meaningful life and meaningful living purpose is a powerful thing in fact there was a recent study two recent studies where they showed Beyond just the understood benefits of purpose two recent studies showed us that people who have a greater sense of purpose they have less incidence of cardiovascular disease they have a lower mortality rate they experience less loneliness and they made better lifestyle choices to protect their health purpose is powerful but the problem is that unfortunately there are many people who struggle to ever find their purpose in this life there are many people who find purpose to be elusive they stumble towards an undefined destination never certain what their end goals should be wandering aimlessly throughout their life without a sense of direction and never finding that thing that gives their life meaning purpose is powerful I'm here to remind somebody today that it was never God's intention for you to live a meaningless existence void of all purpose but God has divinely appointed for you to be a part of his kingdom and to live a life on mission to live a life on purpose to live a life of Kingdom Service that makes an eternal impact it is his purpose that you would serve his kingdom we find this all throughout scripture verses like Jeremiah 29 11 he's talking to the prophet he says I know the thoughts that I think towards you says the Lord another translation renders the Hebrew to say I know the plans I have towards you says the Lord their thoughts their plans of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end not an arbitrary undefinable end there is an expected end I've got a call for your life there is a destination I am driving you toward if you will trust the process in the plan I've got purpose for your life we find that the god that we serve is a god of purpose he is intentional he is deliberate he is calculated he doesn't do anything on accident he is not surprised by anything he is an on time and on purpose God you can trust that that type of God has a purpose for your life let me talk about him for a second we see his intentionality all throughout scripture but particularly in the creation narrative we can see the way that God always begins with the end in mind we find that it's in Genesis chapter 1 that God speaks into chaotic nothingness the vast boy of nothingness and he says Let There Be and with every utterance of those three words everything that we know is formed into existence let there be let there be let there be there's light there's firmament there's stars and sun and moon and animals and plants and even human life itself God speaks that into existence what a powerful God we serve what an omnipotent God we serve that there is nothing that he cannot do so it's with this in mind I find it interesting that when we flip the page to Genesis chapter 2 we read an interesting conclusion to the narrative the creation narrative when we find in Genesis chapter 2 verse 1 he says thus the heavens and the Earth were finished and all the hosts of them and on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made and he rested everybody say rested he rested on the seventh day from all the work which he had made God blessed is the seventh day he sanctifies it because that in it he had rested from all the work which he had created and made now here's the deal considering that in Genesis chapter 1 we're introduced to this all-knowing omnipresent omnipotent all-powerful God who can speak into nothing and everything appears what I think is an interesting question is why is scripture so intentional to tell us that after the creation process that God rests this powerful God rests but I think we have to believe is it's not because God was somehow worn out or tired or exhausted it couldn't have been that it's not that he had run out of Creative Energy or creative juices it's not even that he needed a time out to reevaluate and calculate what his next steps were that couldn't be it with the god that we serve so there has to be something deeper going on here what we find is when we look at the Hebrew word that's used here for rest it can be used to mean to cease to desist from labor to stop in other words Genesis chapter 2 is not implying that God rested in the sense that he was tired but it's telling us that God rested in the sense that he was done the work that he set out to accomplish had been completed the task at hand was accomplished it's not that he could not have kept going it's that he met the expected result when commentator Paints the picture this way he says imagine an artist or a sculptor who sets out to accomplish and to create this masterpiece said there comes a point in every creative process where the sculptor knows if I take one more swing of the hammer against the Chisel if I take one more stroke of the paintbrush against the canvas then I'm going to risk ruining the thing that I set out to accomplish that there's a point in the creative process where the artist takes a step back and it's not that they couldn't keep going but it's not what is sitting in front of them is the exact picture of what they had set out to accomplish in the first place this is the god that we serve that from the very beginning he says I know when I was going out to accomplish I began with the end in mind I knew when it was done I called it very good it's not that I couldn't have kept going but I accomplished what I set out to accomplish we find that this intentionality is never seen more brilliantly than in the creation of humankind with Splendid detail God intricately created each of us with care and with purpose I don't know about you but when we consider the complexity of humanity I am forced to agree with the psalmist when he said in Psalms 139 14 I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made another translation would say that that means I was made with respect with all and with great intention wonderfully is distinctly and uniquely made and because of that marvelous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well again to the Prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1 verse 5 he says before I form thee in the belly I knew thee and before thou camest forth out of the womb I Sanctified I consecrated I separated thee and I ordained or entrusted or called thee to be a prophet unto the Nations fearfully and wonderfully made with intentionality and distinction consecrated and called This is the god that we serve that made you and that made me every detail of DNA divinely woven together to create the Masterpiece that is you there is no assembly line with God there is no cookie cutter process where he just turns one after the other out God did not create us on accident but like an artist who hand makes every single piece God has created you and he has created me to fulfill Divine Purpose in the kingdom of God and to bring great pleasure to him our Creator God created what he set out to accomplish and he rested in the fact that he knew that it was very good he met the expected result if his creation of the world was intentional then we best understand that his salvation of the same world was even more so we find that Jesus purpose was clear long before he ever stepped foot on the earth it was established from the beginning verses like Matthew 1 21 tells us she shall bring forth the son at the outset of this son's life you need to know you're going to name him Jesus but there's a very specific reason why you're going to call him Jesus not because it's the top name of the decade you're going to call him Jesus not because it's trendy you're going to call him Jesus not because it's a namesake you're going to call him Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins Jesus himself describes it this way in John 10 10 he says the thief cometh not but for to kill to steal and to destroy but I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly Lou 19 10 he says the son of man is come to seek and to save the Lost we know this but in Revelation 13 verse 8 it describes him as the lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world what am I saying this morning I'm saying that his mission was clear from the beginning his purpose had already been established he was never willing to leave you in the bondage of your sin he was never willing to give up on you abandoning you was never in the plan it was never an option but from the foundation of the world the cross was always in his Mind's Eye it was always within view because he said I love you so much that you're going to fall into sin but the plan to redeem you back and to buy you back is already in process I came to seek and to save the lost the end was always in his mind because we serve a purposeful intentional God so here's my point this morning that if he had that much intentionality behind your creation and he had that much purpose behind your salvation then you better believe that he's got Divine Destiny for your life if he had pre-planned this whole thing and knew who you would be and had already made a way for you to enter into salvation you better believe that God did not somehow write you off and say they're going to have to stumble their way into an unknown future but God has Destiny for every individual that is in this room this morning he has destiny for you I think we can look at many examples in scripture we can find a little bit of what God says about purpose what our purpose is I understand that purpose is Nuance that purpose can get very specific in the life of an individual but there are some broad parameters that I think scripture shows us about the purpose each and every one of us have one example we can reference is Jesus in Matthew chapter 25 he's talking to his disciples Jesus was the master Storyteller and so he's sharing a parable a story about a master who was going away to a foreign country we know this as the parable of the talents before he leaves he gathers his servants together and he begins to give to them but the scripture says according to their ability according to their capability he delivers unto them talents that we're delivered delivered in the Greek it means he entrusted to them he gave them ownership of that and then he leaves Bible says to one servant he gives five talents to another he gives two and to another he gives one and then he is off the scene now scripture is not implicit in this at the beginning of the story but as we read through the context of the story I think we have to assume that the master had intention for what the servants would do with what they had been given because we find that the one who was given five and the one who was given to they instantly go and they put these talents to work they begin to invest them each of them double the money that they have the one with two turns it into four the one with five turns it into ten the Bible says that the one that was just given one Talent he goes and digs a hole in the earth and he buries that talent in the ground and covers it up the master Comes Back in the Day of Reckoning approaches he's taking account of what did you do with what you were given the two servants that had turned it into ten and turn it into four approached him and I find this interesting because evidently in the Master's mind it was not about the amount of increase because what we find is the one who had four and the one who had ten both get the same exact reward when the master looks at them and says well done my good in Faithful Servants because you have been faithful and little I can trust you with much enter into the joy of the Lord same reward for four and for ten but we find that the one with one comes and he presents back to the master exactly what the master had given him in the first place and evidently the master is so Roth he is irate that instead of by inviting him into the joy of the Lord he kicks him out of the house and he curses them to internal Eternal damnation what does this story tell us I think there's a couple things number one I think we have to read into this story that in the eyes of the master evidently breaking even in the kingdom of God is Not Enough simply presenting back to the master what he has presented to us is not his end goal but the key thing in regards to purpose I think we can grasp from the story is that in the eyes of the master the job of the servant was to take what they had been given and to multiply it in a way that brought increase to the Master's Kingdom it wasn't about their increase it wasn't it wasn't about building their Kingdom it was are you using what I have given you to bring increase to my kingdom you may be sitting in this room today and you're asking the question I what is my calling what is my purpose I may not be able to give you the specifics but what I can tell you today is that God is looking for every individual under the sound of my voice to take what he has given you that gifting that talent that ability the financial resources you may have and to invest them in a way that brings increase to his kingdom to our graduates we're setting out on a new course of life you're trying to figure out what it looks like you're determining your major share a little bit of my story when I was 17 years old I graduated high school I told Brother John's this morning my my goal what I wanted to do is I wanted to go to Bible College my parents had gone to Bible College they met each other in Bible College it sounded like it was a lot of fun it's what I wanted to do they'd go to camps and conferences and they had so many friends all around the country that they had met in Bible College I'm like that sounds like a good time I want to go to Bible College the time came though every single trusted voice in my life told me Caleb we don't feel like that is the direction that you should go right now it's not that you might not go in the future but for today we don't feel like that's the right voice so I ended up finding myself applying to several colleges my second goal was to go to LSU Law School I got a scholarship to LSU but it wasn't quite as big as the scholarship I got to Southeastern Louisiana University I tell the story now I think the Lord knew that's where I needed to be he knew I'd get greedy and I'd follow the money I don't know that says about me but I ran after the money and that's where I ended up at college so I go and I end up at Southeastern Louisiana University law was off the table at this point so I'm trying to determine my major I decided to go into marketing for one reason and one reason alone it's not because I was incredibly creative I had never even thought about marketing before but whenever I was 12 years old I can remember from the time I was 12 up until that day I can remember feeling like God had called me to do something couldn't have told you what it was the way I've described it is I remember being in services like this one or sitting at youth camps and the preacher would be preaching and it was like God had reached in and was just grabbing my insides just just tugging Caleb I'm calling you Caleb I'm calling you now to this day I can tell you that I have never had the moment that many people have where they can say I can take you to the place where God called me to be a preacher I haven't had that thankfully I've heard other preachers who said they didn't have it too so I feel like I'm okay but what I did have is I had this deep desire in this urging that said Caleb I'm going to use you to do something there was no Clarity so I'm stumbling my way through my teenage years finding myself a little frustrated because I feel like God you called me but you're not giving me the full picture so I go into marketing because this was the promise I made I said I feel like I'm called by God I don't know exactly what I'm called to do but I want to go into a degree that maybe I can use for the church one day and maybe I can use a marketing degree to benefit the church let's do it at the same time I was 17 years old I had started the first semester there we started a campus ministry on this college we started meeting in a conference room that was in the second floor of our student union and what started with the Bible study with one person by the time I graduated it turned into weekly Services where we had 60 and 70 people that were showing up throughout the course of the week God did an incredible thing but here was the problem for me is I didn't view that as part of my purpose I didn't 17 years old I wasn't running from the call of God I was doing what I felt like he was asking me to do but in my mind Ministry equaled microphone Ministry equaled pulpit Ministry equals some kind of area of meaningful service in the church and in the church that I went in or the church that I was in and it was a large church at that time there were no opportunities for me to be a youth pastor there were no opportunities for me to teach a Sunday school class there were no opportunities and I said God if you've called me this is what that means obviously the call of God means it's got to be some area of ministry that's meaningful invisible within the local church and that was not there I found myself frustrated until the second Tuesday of July in 2010 it was a Louisiana District camp where the Scott Graham was preaching that Tuesday night he began to tell a story about this couple that he was teaching a Bible study to every Tuesday night he began to tell the story that this couple was from a biker gang they had never been in any church whatsoever they didn't know the first thing about basic Bible stories they had heard of Jesus but had no idea what he meant for their life every Tuesday night he'd show up in their house teaching that Bible study teaching that Bible study he also said he said the church said I Pastor the sanctuary which my life has come in a weird full circle that I now attend he said that church that I Pastor there is an elder in that church that was supposed to die this week so I had let the board know that there is a chance I'm not going to be able to show up to preach the camp meeting this week but here's what I understood he said what I knew is that if I wasn't able to show up to Louisiana District Camp to preach that Tuesday night that they would have gotten on the phone and they would have called a hundred other people who could have filled that pulpit and done a great job he said but in that Tuesday night bible study I'm the only one I meant it's after he said those words I I ran to the altar because God got a hold of me and as an 18 year old kid it was on this side of the platform I buried my face in the carpet and I began to sob begin to sob as clear as I had ever heard God speak speak to me in my entire life I heard him say this that Caleb if it wasn't you to fill what you thought was a meaningful position within the local church within my church there would be somebody else that's not always the case but in my case it was there will be somebody else but on your college campus you are the only one and that's where I've called you to invest yourself and to go what I learned through campus ministry as I learned that purpose isn't found on platforms the purpose is found in people that's it purpose isn't found in microphones in your hand but purpose is found in people the musicians can come I I think at times we're asking the wrong questions when it comes to calling because as young people in particular but even even I've talked to people in their 40s 50s 60s that are trying to figure out what they're called to do I think at times we're asking the wrong questions the question we're tempted to ask is what is my calling I called to preach am I called to teach him I called to sing am I called to be a nurse and I called the build and I called to design in my call because here's the deal calling is not limited to Ministry I believe that God calls us to different areas of service but we ask what am I called to do then maybe we begin to think about well how do I do that how do I go about fulfilling that call we figure I go get an education I begin to hone my craft and hone my skill when all along I think we've LED with the wrong questions because at the end of the day it's not really about what you are called to do it's not really and these are important it's not really about how you're going to accomplish the call but if we have not settled the issue of why you are called in the first place we've missed the entire thing because calling is not about preaching a sermon that somebody come and Pat you on the back and say you did a good job that's not it that's not why but the why is only about Kingdom Purpose it's about him and it's about them and it's if it's ever about anything else we have missed the mark all together we ask the question why why brother Ryan do you show up we can and week out and you provide this team with excellent worship this church with excellent why do you work so hard you're incredibly gifted but why why give everything that you have to make this program as great as it is to those of you who volunteer your time I believe brother John said there's three or four hundred volunteers that make this church happen why why do you show up early on Wednesday and on Sunday and come in volunteer your time to make Atlanta West what it is today why why did you just raise 837 thousand two dollars and sixty nine cents did I get it right that's close maybe a couple dollars and commit to over 6.3 million dollars to build a new facility is it so that people in this city can patted Lana West on the back and say my God look at the beautiful edifice that they have if it is then we've missed the mark because that's not what the purpose is that's not what the call is about that's not what using our giftings and talents is about it's all about how am I using what I have been given to bring increase to the Master's Kingdom the why is people the why is because there are there are thousands and tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of souls that are in this area where you walk into your job and you say I may not know why I'm working this job I don't know what brought me in life to this position can I tell you it could not be about the money it might not be about the position it might not be about the raise and the promotion it might be because there's somebody on that job that desperately needs you to step fully into your real call and say my why is not about money but my why is about people so when I walk into my job when I walk into my school when I walk into my city I'm living on purpose I'm figuring out how can I use what I have been given to bring increase to the Masters Kingdom why because heaven is our goal nothing more and nothing less Heaven is our expected in no not for the walls of precious gems or the gates of pearls and those will be there not for the streets of gold so pure that they'll be like transparent glass and I certainly can't wait to walk on them no not for the mansion that each and every one of us will have and I'm not lying when I say I want the nicest golf course in heaven no not even for the fact that there will be no more pain no suffering and no tears and that will certainly be nice but Heaven is our goal for one reason and one reason alone it's because heaven means an eternity in the presence of our savior Heaven means an eternity around the Throne of God where we get to spend eternity in the presence of the one who with intentionality and with purpose design and create it and saved and redeemed us but what will make Heaven all the more special is if we are not there by ourselves but rather we get to enjoy the pleasures of Eternity with our friends and our families our Brothers and Sisters in Christ and again if you die at the end of this life not having a cent to your name but your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life it will be worth it if you never have popularity here on this Earth then your your popularity and your Fame that pales in comparison to others but you have lived your life in a way that a co-worker decides that that's the life I want to live that a family member decides I'm going to follow you as you follow Christ and they spend an eternity in heaven your living will not have been for naught and your life will not have been in vain because if we are beginning with the end in mind then our motto is it's them before me and it's him before all because heaven is the goal can we stand all over this place right where you are I wonder if you just close your eyes right where you are I wonder if you would just lift up your voice and you would begin to entertain the presence of God we're going to open the altar here in just a moment but I believe that the Lord is speaking purpose back into somebody's life right now that there's some people you've been stumbling around in the dark trying to figure out you know I don't really know what this whole thing's about I can't figure out what God's trying to do with me I don't know how I ended up here and I've come on a Sunday morning to tell our graduates yes but to tell some 40 or 50 60 70. 80 90 year old that God's got Divine Purpose on your life but that purpose isn't so that you can just make a lot of money and have a big name while you are here on this Earth but that purpose is that you would use what you have been given in a way that would bring increase to the Master's Kingdom that you would invite somebody on the journey with you like somebody on the journey with you