Living with Purpose: Embracing Life's Brevity and Faith
Summary
In today's gathering, we reflected on the profound truth of the brevity of human life, as illustrated in the book of Job. Life is fleeting, and we are reminded that our days are few and full of trouble. This reality calls us to live with a sense of urgency and purpose, recognizing that our time on earth is limited. We are all born of a woman, share a limited lifespan, and face difficult circumstances. These shared human experiences unite us in our journey through life.
The story of Job serves as a powerful reminder of the trials and tribulations we all face. Despite the challenges, Job's unwavering faith in God exemplifies how we should respond to adversity. Life's difficulties can either draw us closer to God or drive us away. It is crucial to guard our hearts against blaming God for our troubles, as He is not the author of evil. Instead, we should trust in His eternal purposes, knowing that all things work together for good for those who love Him.
We also discussed the importance of recognizing the unique roles and contributions of women in God's kingdom. Women have a special purpose, and their ability to conceive and give birth is a testament to God's wisdom and design. Respect and honor for women are essential, as they play a vital role in the continuation of life and the nurturing of future generations.
As we navigate the challenges of life, we must remember that we are eternal beings. Our time on earth is temporary, but our souls will spend eternity in either heaven or hell. The choices we make now determine our eternal destiny. We are called to live wisely, numbering our days and applying our hearts to wisdom. In Christ, we find the way, the truth, and the life, and through Him, we have the promise of eternal life.
Finally, we are encouraged to catch the vision that God has given to our church leaders. By embracing this vision, we can work together to fulfill God's purposes in our community and beyond. Let us be faithful stewards of the time and talents God has entrusted to us, serving Him with passion and dedication.
Key Takeaways:
1. The Brevity of Life: Life is short and full of challenges, reminding us to live with purpose and urgency. We must be conscious of our limited time and make wise choices that align with God's eternal purposes. [37:47]
2. Shared Human Experiences: Despite our differences, we all share the experiences of birth, a limited lifespan, and facing difficulties. These commonalities unite us and call us to support one another in our journeys. [42:43]
3. Trusting God in Adversity: In times of trouble, we must guard against blaming God and instead trust in His eternal purposes. All things work together for good for those who love Him, even when circumstances seem unfavorable. [53:13]
4. The Role of Women: Women have a unique and vital role in God's kingdom, deserving of respect and honor. Their ability to conceive and nurture life is a testament to God's wisdom and design. [45:24]
5. Eternal Perspective: We are eternal beings, and our choices now determine our eternal destiny. In Christ, we find the way to eternal life, and we must live wisely, applying our hearts to wisdom. [01:13:38]
Youtube Chapters:
- [00:00] - Welcome
- [37:47] - The Brevity of Life
- [38:43] - Shared Human Experiences
- [40:39] - Personal Story of Sacrifice
- [42:43] - Common Human Experiences
- [44:02] - The Joy of Birth
- [45:24] - The Role of Women
- [46:24] - Job's Family and Faith
- [52:01] - Numbering Our Days
- [53:13] - Trusting God in Adversity
- [01:07:11] - Paul's Response to Trouble
- [01:12:32] - Eternal Perspective
- [01:13:38] - Choices and Destiny
- [01:14:45] - Catching the Vision
- [01:19:02] - Invitation to Know Christ
Study Guide
Bible Study Discussion Guide
Bible Reading:
- Job 14:1-2
- Romans 8:28
- John 14:1-6
---
Observation Questions:
1. According to Job 14:1-2, how is the brevity of human life described? What imagery is used to convey this message?
2. In the sermon, what are the three common human experiences mentioned that unite us all? [42:43]
3. How does the speaker describe the role of women in God's kingdom, and what cultural perspective did he grow up with? [45:24]
4. What does the speaker say about the importance of catching the vision given to the church leaders? [01:14:45]
---
Interpretation Questions:
1. How does the story of Job illustrate the concept of trusting God in adversity, and what lesson can be drawn from Job's response to his trials? [53:13]
2. What does Romans 8:28 mean in the context of the sermon, and how does it relate to the idea that all things work together for good?
3. How does the speaker's personal story about his sister's illness and passing reflect the sermon’s message about the brevity of life and the importance of an eternal perspective? [52:01]
4. In John 14:1-6, Jesus speaks about preparing a place for us. How does this promise influence the way we view our temporary life on earth?
---
Application Questions:
1. Reflect on the brevity of life as described in Job 14:1-2. How does this perspective influence the way you prioritize your daily activities and long-term goals? [37:47]
2. The sermon emphasizes the importance of not blaming God during difficult times. How do you typically respond to adversity, and what steps can you take to trust in God's eternal purposes more fully? [53:13]
3. Considering the unique role of women in God's kingdom, how can you show respect and honor to the women in your life, acknowledging their contributions and roles? [45:24]
4. The speaker talks about catching the vision of the church leaders. What steps can you take to align yourself with the vision and mission of your church community? [01:14:45]
5. Reflect on the eternal perspective shared in the sermon. How does the promise of eternal life in Christ shape your decisions and interactions with others? [01:13:38]
6. The sermon mentions the importance of numbering our days and applying our hearts to wisdom. What practical steps can you take to live more wisely and purposefully in light of your limited time on earth? [52:01]
7. How can you be a faithful steward of the time and talents God has entrusted to you, serving Him with passion and dedication in your community and beyond? [01:16:26]
Devotional
Day 1: Living with Urgency and Purpose
Life is fleeting, and the book of Job reminds us that our days are few and full of trouble. This truth calls us to live with a sense of urgency and purpose, recognizing that our time on earth is limited. We are encouraged to make wise choices that align with God's eternal purposes. By understanding the brevity of life, we can focus on what truly matters and invest our time in things that have lasting significance. [37:47]
"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." (Psalm 90:12, ESV)
Reflection: What is one area of your life where you feel you are not living with purpose? How can you begin to align this area with God's eternal purposes today?
Day 2: Unity in Shared Human Experiences
Despite our differences, we all share the experiences of birth, a limited lifespan, and facing difficulties. These commonalities unite us and call us to support one another in our journeys. Recognizing our shared humanity can foster empathy and compassion, encouraging us to bear one another's burdens and build a community of love and support. [42:43]
"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2, ESV)
Reflection: Think of someone in your community who is facing difficulties. How can you offer support and encouragement to them this week?
Day 3: Trusting God's Eternal Purposes
In times of trouble, it is crucial to guard against blaming God and instead trust in His eternal purposes. The story of Job exemplifies unwavering faith in adversity, reminding us that all things work together for good for those who love Him. Even when circumstances seem unfavorable, trusting in God's plan can bring peace and hope. [53:13]
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11, ESV)
Reflection: Reflect on a recent challenge you faced. How can you shift your perspective to trust in God's eternal purposes rather than focusing on the difficulty itself?
Day 4: Honoring the Role of Women
Women have a unique and vital role in God's kingdom, deserving of respect and honor. Their ability to conceive and nurture life is a testament to God's wisdom and design. Recognizing and valuing the contributions of women is essential for the continuation of life and the nurturing of future generations. [45:24]
"She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue." (Proverbs 31:26, ESV)
Reflection: Identify a woman in your life who has significantly impacted you. How can you express your appreciation and honor her contributions today?
Day 5: Embracing an Eternal Perspective
We are eternal beings, and our choices now determine our eternal destiny. In Christ, we find the way to eternal life, and we must live wisely, applying our hearts to wisdom. By focusing on our eternal future, we can make decisions that reflect our faith and commitment to God's kingdom. [01:13:38]
"For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come." (Hebrews 13:14, ESV)
Reflection: Consider your daily habits and choices. What is one change you can make to live with a greater focus on your eternal destiny?
Quotes
"Man that is born of a woman is a few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower and he is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not. Father, we thank you this morning for the gathering of your people, the gathering in this place. Lord, we trust that you will bless Pastor Shane right now. Lord, quicken his body, quicken his mind. Strengthen him, oh God. Lord, strengthen this congregation. Help us to be in one place, in one mind. Help us, Lord, to be in agreement, Lord, with what you're about to do. What you're about to do in this place. Lord, not so people can talk about us. Lord, so that people can say how great you are. Have your way this morning, oh God, and help us, oh God, to understand how short this life is. And help us, Lord, to do something about it, Lord. In your precious name we pray. The precious name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. Amen. Praise God. I don't know if you can look around, you know, not only in this place, but as you go in your lives, in your daily lives from day to day, you begin to see that we all are different in many ways. You know, every one of us in this room, all are different." [00:37:47] (103 seconds)
"The text we have read reflects on the brevity or shortness of the human life. And it uses the story of a man named Job and highlights common human experiences. There are three common human experiences in our text. I would like to share with you this morning very briefly. Number one, all humans share the experience of being born of a woman. If you have been born of a woman, raise your hand. Amen. I believe all of us, right? So there's no difference in that. Amen. I just want to make that clear. We all can agree with that. Experience number two, we all have a limited lifespan. Amen. None of us are going to live forever in this world. I mean, some live to be 100 plus, but very few in between. Amen. So that's experience number two. Amen. Amen. Amen. The experience that we share is that we all face difficult or troubled circumstances. Amen. If you don't have a problem this morning, raise your hand. How many of you can say, I have lived, I'm living a life full of, I mean, with no trouble. Free of trouble. No trouble at all. I don't know what trouble is like. I don't know what distress is like. I don't know what difficulty is like. Well, we all share that. None of us can escape that experience. Amen. Amen." [00:42:43] (102 seconds)
"Thou hast said our iniquities before thee our secret sins in the light of thy countenance for all our days are passed away in thy wrath we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are three score years and ten or seventy and if by reason of strength they be four score years or eighty yet it is their strength labor and sorrow for it is soon cut off. And we fly. Who knoweth the power of thine anger even according to thy fear so is thy wrath. So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Teach us to number our days. You know very seldom we like to emphasize or think that our life is difficult. But vapor. And a lot of times we don't think in how times you know the clock is not stopping. The clock is ticking. Is is continuing day by day week after week month after month year after year. You know we like to celebrate our birthdays. And we are seeing that we are gaining but in essence we are losing time." [00:52:01] (88 seconds)
"Another year has gone by another month another week another day another hour we got some calls this week it was on Wednesday one of my sisters you know was taken to the hospital in Waco. My sister you know was diagnosed with cancer. Brain tumor that eventually moved to her lungs and the hospital the people in the hospital in Waco at that time told her you will not last more than three days because that's how bad it was. They call us that day when they were at the hospital when they were diagnosed and Jennifer and I we rushed to the hospital we pray. We pray for her. We pray for my sister. No I don't think Jennifer went that time with me but I went we pray and they decided to get another second opinion and so they ended up in Houston. I forgot the name of the place of that in Houston the cancer place in the Anderson yes they ended up going up there and throughout seven years you know they they were giving her medicine they did chemo they did the pill." [00:53:13] (88 seconds)
"And so it's it was rough seven years there were times that I looked at her and just seemed to be improving you know I remember one time we got together to share a meal fellowship and she looked great as a man. You look good and so I told her that but little did we know that I stopped was working inside you know and and so this week they they call on Wednesday and say well she's been admitted. we drove up there we pray we believe God you know every chance I got I I presented the word of God his promises I did I I did what I everything that I felt out of the spirit to do came home the the next day it was like 1 30 she said doesn't look good you need to come because she's probably not going to make it throughout the day so we stopped work a little early like a couple hours early and so we drove up there and then we spent you know the rest a few hours that day then came home I said and I told him that day before I left I said I'm coming back tomorrow so we did we stayed there came home maybe until it was 2 p .m when we ended up going to bed but then yesterday they called and said you guys need to come the doctors are saying there's nothing else they can do so we went up there and we waited and waited and it was around 5 5 p .m when my sister passed and uh but my sister was 58 years old 58 58 I called one of my brothers afterwards and said man that's that's young so yes that's life our lives are short in this world and we do not know our time you know we all every person every human being because of sin because of sin death enter in death was not part of God's plan but because of Adam's transgression the bible says in Adam we all die there's no getting out of that but in Christ Jesus we all are made alive so there is a lot of people who are going to die and they're going to die and they're going to die we need to reflect on the span that God has given us we we do not have in essence a set time that we can say well I have all these years to get it right I'm going to die in this year so I have all these years to work on it we do not know we do not know my sister did not know that she was going to pass yesterday I did not know that she was going to pass yesterday we do not know so we need to be aware life is wonderful it's it's a wonderful gift God has given us but we need to be conscious that we're not going to be here forever there is a lifespan that we all share we all share that that that timeline you know when when this body is going to stop breathing this body is going to get old when this heart is going to get weak and it's not going to beat anymore inside our chest when this brain is not going to be able to think so we need to consider these things we need to consider how short life is and not just live it for this world not just live it for the present but think about the future think about eternity amen we all are eternal beings we all are eternal we don't have to wait until we die to be eternal no we all are eternal and we all are going to spend eternity either in two places heaven or hell those are the two options there's no option three there is no other alternative but I am thankful that there is an alternative I am thankful that there is a way of salvation aren't you I am thankful there is a way to live forever amen I am thankful so Job was able to recognize to recognize that his life was short that his days were few we do not know how old he was but even after what he went through the bible says at the end of the book that he lived 140 years after that so when he died he was very old man he doesn't say exactly how many but he lived a good life but even then Job says these are just a few days these are just few days and let me tell you thank God for the days that we got I take what God's given me but I'm going to be wise in how I spend my time I'm going to be wise in how I live these days God's given me because you know we don't know what tomorrow holds but I'm going to be wise in how I live these days God's given me because you know we don't know what tomorrow holds we don't know what tomorrow is going to bring and we know we all share you know the the the shortness of life but we also share you know the experience when it comes to difficulty and trouble circumstances and you know circumstances affect people differently circumstances difficult circumstances trouble affects people differently you know circumstances that are not pleasant can neither drive us to God or drive us away from God Job's life was pretty good Job's life was the best life at the beginning of the book he was perfect man the Bible says he had he had donkeys he had camels you know he had servants he had seven daughters he had three sons everything was going good but how many know that circumstances can change you are living a life you one day you may find yourself living your best life and the next day you get up the phone began to ring you know or your body begins to tell you something that it is in pain so circumstances change none of us can escape difficulties none of us can escape trouble but the question is what are we going to do when trouble comes what are we going to do when trouble comes do when difficulty comes well for some people the temptation is to blame God just like lots just like Job's wife did Job's wife was used to the good things from God she did not complain about being blessed by God she did not complain about receiving good of the Lord oh everything is good God is wonderful had you asked her how she was doing the day before but when calamities strike she did not complain about receiving good of the Lord she did not complain about receiving good of the Lord she did not complain about receiving good of the Lord she did not complain begin to locate their circumstances differently he began to find fault in God and let me tell you we need to guard ourselves in not finding fault in God our creator because we live in this world and we cannot blame God for what the bad things that we face it is not God's fault that Adam sinned it is not God's fault you know what's what what he's not the author of evil that's what I'm trying to say he's a good God he's a perfect god his his plan for your life is the best plan you ever got you have no idea how delicate how how 100 perfect his plan is for your life so we have to be careful when calamity strikes when trouble hits our homes our lives our families we need to guard ourselves against the voice of the enemy because the voice of the enemy is going to come and says look what God has done to you just like Job's wife began to say why don't you just curse God and die but thank God for Job's discernment he said you're just talking like a foolish woman lady you need to get in the spirit you need to get out of the flesh and you need to get in the spirit should we not receive good and should we not receive bad from God because even when I receive bad from God what I seem what I consider what I value to be bad God can turn it for good if I am walking with God if I am serving God if I love God when trouble comes trouble cannot destroy me trouble cannot separate me from God nothing can separate me from God because the love of God binds me to himself and that was Job Job kept the integrity of his life even when trouble came and he did not let those things separate him separated from God he did not allow the seed of the enemy to get in his heart to convince him that God was against them how many people have fall out from serving God because they have fallen in a trap whenever something turned from good to bad and said what's the use what's the use where is the promises of God in all of this what is God doing to me well let me tell you he reigns on the just and the unjust amen he reigns on the just and the unjust the unjust don't have a clue the reign is coming but let me tell you the just do because all things work together for good to them who love God who are called according to his purpose amen hallelujah all things not just some things all things a double l all all all good bad good not so good not so bad not so not so not so pleasant all work together for good can we trust God with good well this doesn't feel good can we trust him with good doesn't he know better what's good for me oh hallelujah my mom used to make some wonderful chicken stew and I'm sure that in her mind as she was cooking the meal she thought about my health oh this is going to be wonderful for my son's health I hated chicken stew" [01:02:34] (0 seconds)
"I did not know what good was and sometimes God put these recipes in together for our lives and we that's not good how do you know it's not good how do you know God is not working his eternal purposes in you how do you know yes it doesn't have a taste I hate stuff that doesn't have a taste I hate stuff that doesn't have a taste I hate stuff that doesn't have a taste it's not very appealing but some things you eat and just because of your health i don't need veggies because of the taste i don't need cauliflower because of the taste i don't need broccoli because of the taste it's tasteless but let me tell you they say that it's not something wonderful for your health so guess what i'm gonna try to eat a little bit of veggies even though they are tasteless oh and when trouble comes when difficult circumstances comes into our lives there's no taste i do not see the good of it but god says trust me trust me with the good yes allow me to work your life through the bad circumstances to the trouble that comes allow me to help my way in your life because i'm just trying to teach you that you're not going to be here forever and let me tell you sometimes god" [01:05:31] (101 seconds)
"blessings come in disguise i love to see the pile of cash i love to see the promotions i love to see all of that but let me tell you some blessings come in disguise as a form of pain and it has to do with the eternal purposes of god because god doesn't want us to get comfortable in this world god cursed the ground for man's sake turns and tizzles so when he could step on what he could be reminded this is not my home and let me tell you sometimes you're going to step on one of those turns and one of those tizzles and and that's just so you can look up and say i'm just dust i'm not going to be here forever but i want the eternal plan that god has for my life hallelujah hallelujah glory to god glory glory glory glory to god praise god so we need to be like paul look how paul reacted when trouble came and let me just give you the the place of the scripture second corinthians four seven through 18 says but we have this treasury we have this treasury earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of god and not of us we are trouble on every side you're not distressed we are perplexed but not in despair persecuted but not forsaken hallelujah cast down but not destroyed always bearing about in the body the dying of the lord jesus that the life also jesus might be made manifest in our body hallelujah some things have to die and also christ can live through us you say god is inside of me but what's keeping him from coming out what's preventing the life of god from touching the dead world oh some things have to die so god's life can be presented in the reality of who christ is that's why paul says that's why i'm still standing up for we which live are always delivered on to death for jesus sake that the life also jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh so then death work work" [01:07:11] (172 seconds)
Chatbot
-
I'm an AI bot trained only on this specific sermon. Do you have any questions about it?