Sunday Gathering – Finding Your Purpose: Embracing God’s Will for Your Life
Finding Your Purpose: Embracing God’s Will for Your Life
Today’s message from Danny, “Finding Your Purpose: Embracing God’s Will for Your Life,” was a powerful and deeply personal exploration of discovering and living out God’s divine plan, even in the most unexpected circumstances. Danny opened by inviting us into a moment of worship, acknowledging God as the sole recipient of glory and honor, whose voice endures beyond all others. He set the tone for a message centered not on human agenda, but on the expansion of God’s Kingdom and the spiritual nourishment of His people.
Danny then shared a poignant personal anecdote that served as the foundational revelation for his message. He recounted his time working as a cleaner in a church building, meticulously polishing floors in preparation for Sunday service. This seemingly mundane task was interrupted by a little boy, fresh from playing in the mud, who ran right across the freshly cleaned floor, leaving a trail of dirt and undoing Danny’s hard work. In that moment of profound frustration and exhaustion, a divine revelation struck him. He described feeling a deep grief, mirroring God’s own grief over humanity.
It was in this ordinary, frustrating moment that God spoke to Danny from Matthew chapter 6 – though he later clarified the primary scripture for the sermon was from Matthew chapter 2. The Lord revealed that just as Danny felt pain watching the clean floor be messed up, so too does God feel when humanity, created in His own image, has their lives disrupted and destroyed by the enemy. This powerful analogy underscored God’s heartbreak over humanity’s fallen state and His desire to restore and cleanse. More profoundly, God revealed to Danny that his meticulous work of cleaning floors was a metaphor for a much greater calling: to “clean the hearts of men.” This pivotal moment marked a turning point in Danny’s understanding of his purpose, illustrating that God can use even the most humble tasks to reveal His grand design for our lives.
Danny emphasized that this was a spontaneous message, birthed in prayer that very morning, demonstrating his reliance on the Holy Spirit’s leading rather than a pre-written sermon. He then turned to the core biblical text, Matthew chapter 2, beginning from verse 1. He recounted the story of the Magi from the East who, having seen Jesus’ star, came to Jerusalem seeking the “one who has been born king of the Jews.” King Herod’s disturbance and his subsequent inquiry of the chief priests and teachers of the law about the Messiah’s birthplace led them to the prophecy in Micah 5:2, which states: “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, are by no means least among the rulers of Judea; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”
This scripture, Danny explained, was the very word God spoke to him during his cleaning revelation. He connected it directly to his own experience, and by extension, to everyone in the congregation. Just as Bethlehem, seemingly insignificant, was chosen to be the birthplace of a King who would shepherd God’s people, so too are we, regardless of our perceived insignificance or past circumstances, chosen and ordained by God. He stressed that even before we were born, God knew us and had a purpose for us.
Danny passionately declared that our societal roles, family backgrounds, or past struggles do not disqualify us from God’s plan. We may not fit society’s molds or expectations, but God has uniquely fashioned each of us “to be a voice for the nations.” He affirmed that God has done everything necessary to equip us to fulfill His purpose. This divine design means that God sees every tear shed, every cry uttered, and every struggle endured.
He then addressed those who might feel inadequate or lost, perhaps not knowing how to read scripture or pray. He reassured them that “before the foundations of the earth, he chose you, he separated you and set you apart.” God has purposefully made everything available to us to live out His will. The core invitation of the sermon was a call to hear God’s voice and say “yes” to His will.
Danny underscored the profound truth that the greatest treasure one can possess in life is not wealth or worldly success, but the pursuit and embrace of God’s will. He testified to the transformative power of saying “yes” to God’s will in his own life, emphasizing that it brought a change far more significant than any material possession could. He prophesied that embracing God’s will would similarly transform the lives of individuals, their families, and future generations.
The will of God, he explained, provides purpose, guidance through pain, and direction when we feel lost. It is the most valuable treasure we can ever obtain. Drawing on Deuteronomy, Danny presented a clear choice: “I place before you life and death, blessings and curses; therefore choose life.” To choose life, he equated, is to choose the will of God.
He rejected the notion that anyone in the room was there merely as a number. Instead, he affirmed that each person was “specially designed for this generation,” with a unique space and purpose on earth “for such a time as this.” God has deposited something special within each of us, His will, which is meant to bring light to those in darkness and to effect positive change in our generation, regardless of age. The ultimate question posed was: which will we choose – our own will or God’s will?
Danny concluded with a powerful illustration from Luke 22:42, recounting Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. He described Jesus’ overwhelming sorrow and burden as He contemplated the cross, the pain He would endure to bridge the chasm between a lost humanity and God. Even in the face of such immense suffering, Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” This profound example from the Son of God Himself served as the ultimate testament to the incomparable value of pursuing God’s will above all else.
Danny’s sermon was a heartfelt plea and a profound encouragement to prioritize and relentlessly pursue God’s will for our lives, assuring us that this pursuit is the ultimate path to purpose, transformation, and true life.
Bible References Used:
- Matthew Chapter 6 (mentioned, but not read from for the main sermon)
- Matthew Chapter 2, verses 1-6
- Micah 5:2 (quoted indirectly through Matthew 2:6)
- Deuteronomy (reference to choosing life and death, blessings and curses)
- Luke 22:42 (describing Jesus in Gethsemane)
Transcript
Yeah, it should be fine. Hallelujah. Is everyone all right? Good to see you this morning. Amen.
Praise God. Wow, where do we start from? Let’s pray. Father, we give you praise, we give you glory,
we give you honor because Father, who else deserves the glory? Who else deserves the honor?
The voices of men will rise and voices of men will fall, but your voice will forever live on.
Father, we thank you that today it is not about me, it is not about anything else,
but it is about your kingdom. We thank you for these people, precious people, that are seated
before your praises. May you cause them to feast from your table, to drink from your cup.
In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen and amen. Hallelujah. Praise God.
One day I was in a room like this. It was a bare room that afternoon because I was just finished
polishing the floors. I was getting ready the church building for a Sunday service.
So you can work out what my job was. I was a cleaner that was working at the church
because at the church where I was, where Pastor Nick, Pastor Erica, at that time were my pastors,
there we had a preschool which was being sponsored by seekers. And as we were, you know, that week as
we were preparing for everything that we needed to do, I was, it was a Friday actually, it was a
Friday afternoon. I was ready polishing the floors and so on and so forth. Had cleaned and worked very
hard that afternoon, you know. So the children had gone out of the, out of the building.
They were waiting for their parents to come and pick them up after, you know, after their classes.
So each time they went outside then I had to come in and begin to clean the place and
prepare the place for Sunday service. I was in one of the corners of the church and
just about to finish. I don’t know whether you know about this story.
I was just about to finish polishing and then all of a sudden a little boy
ran from outside where they were playing in the mud with very dirty shoes.
The boy kept running right across where I just finished polishing.
Man, my heart was almost torn because at that point my, my strength had gone. I had given it
all that I could and I was ready to call it a day. And then all of a sudden this boy just runs
and the whole place just became muddy. I sat down,
gripped in my heart and said, Lord, is this all the best that you have for me?
And then in that moment the Lord spoke a word to me from the book of Matthew chapter 6.
Are you in the book of Matthew? Matthew is in the New Testament, you know.
Chapter 2 verse 6, chapter 2 verse 6. And the Lord said to me that, you know,
just the way you have been grieved to see these floors messed up,
the way you have felt so bad that these floors that you have done everything that you can to clean
and all of a sudden it has been messed up.
This is how I feel concerning my people whom I have created in my own image and after my likeness.
After all that I have given and done,
the enemy’s desire
is to mess their lives up, to destroy them.
And I have done this deliberately because what I wanted to show you was the fact that just
as you are cleaning this floor, I have called you to go and clean the hearts of men
with all the work and the years that you have spent in this place.
This is what I was bringing you to so that you may know and understand what I have called you for.
And then He gave me this scripture here that I’m going to read to you.
By the way, I didn’t prepare this. My ceremony is here, but we were praying, we were praying this
morning and the Lord said something different. Amen. So I just want to talk to you this morning. Amen.
Praise God. How many minutes have I got? Five? Praise the Lord.
So the Bible, it took me to Matthew chapter two. I’ll start from verse one.
He says, After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of the king of arrows,
a man from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?
We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. When King Herod heard this,
he was disturbed and owed Jerusalem with him. When he had caught together all the people of
the chief priests and the teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.
Verse five, In Bethlehem, Judea, they replied. For this is what the prophet has written.
But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judea are by no means the least among the rulers
of Judea. For out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people, Israel.
You, Bethlehem, Judea, have by no means
least among the rulers of Judea. For out of you shall be born a king,
a king that will shepherd my people, Israel.
This is the same word. You may not be, have been a cleaner like myself.
You may not have been in a place or in a dark place where I have been,
but God somehow, somewhere has seen your journey.
And this morning, this is what he desires you to know, that even before you were born
or knitted in your mother’s womb, he knew your name. He chose you
regardless of how you were born or which family you were born in,
regardless of what may have happened or not happened in your life. This one thing that
God gave us this assignment this morning to come and do is to let you know that God has got his
eyes on you. You may not fit in what society desires you to fit in. You as a church may not
sound like what society is desiring you to sound. You may not walk like they desire you to walk like,
but one thing is this that even before you were born in your mother’s womb, God ordained you to
be a voice for the nations. God has done everything he could in order to make you be what he has
desired you to be. So this morning is Christ’s desire is that you may begin to understand that
this God has fashioned every cry that you cry, every tear that you have shed. God has seen it.
God has seen it.
Maybe you are there wondering, I don’t even know how to read Scripture.
I don’t even know how to pray. I don’t even know where to start from, but this one thing that God
wants you to know that before the foundations of the earth, he chose you, he separated you
and set you apart. With everything within you and about you, God has purposefully made it available
to you. So no matter where you are today, he is calling you. He is calling you.
Will you hear his voice today? Will you say yes to his will?
Because the greatest treasure you can ever possess in this life is nothing else
but to follow the will of God for your life.
All other things will come and go,
but when you come to a place where you can say yes to nothing else but the will of God for your life,
you may live long, live a short life, but however long you may live on the face of the earth,
if only you will be able to say yes to the will of God, you will have lived and lived indeed.
The day that I said yes to the will of God in my life, my life has never been the same again.
Not because I have got money, because I don’t. Not because I’ve got anything else that this world
may count to be the measure as the measure of life or success in life, but this one thing
I plead with you, this one thing, if only you can find it for yourself, the will of God for your life.
That afternoon, as for me, when I heard him say, I have called you and though you may be the least
among the people of this city, yet out of you are we, there shall be born a king who shepherds my
people Israel from that moment my life has never been the same again.
Your life will never be the same again. Your family will never be the same again.
Your children’s children will never be the same again. If only you can say yes to the will of God.
The will of God will give you purpose for your life. The will of God will show you how to handle
pain when no one else can help you. The will of God will give you direction when you have no way
and you don’t know where to turn. The will of God is the greatest treasure that you can ever have
in your life. You have two choices. I think my message, I think my time is finished.
We have two choices this morning. Deuteronomy tells us that I place before you
life and death, blessings and cases, therefore choose life.
And to choose life is to choose the will of God for my life.
Which one will you choose this morning?
You were, you are not here just as a number.
You were specially designed for this generation. There is space for you
on the face of the earth for such a time as this.
You were not designed simply to come and watch us talk from the puppets.
There is something special that God has deposited in your life and that is God is will for your life
and his desire is that you may find it because as you find it, it is the the thing that will
bring light in darkness for those that are in darkness. When you find it, it will bring change
and a difference to your generation and whether you are old or you are young or regardless of how
old you are, God’s desire is that you may choose between your will and the will of God. The question
is which one will you choose? Because choosing the will of God is choosing life, choosing life.
Lastly as I close, we know the Bible says that as he, I think it’s Luke 2 20 49 as he
gets to Gethsemane, the Bible says that Jesus was so sorrowful and wary and he was in agony.
And he was so heavy laden that the burden that he carried in his heart made him to fall down.
The Bible says he fell down and he prayed
so endlessly and intensely that he swore it, his sweat was like the drops of blood.
So heavy was the burden on his heart because when his mind
and his eyes could see
where you were, how lost you and I were,
how much we were separated from God, how much the enemy had messed up our hearts.
But in order for him to get to where we were and to bring us out of that darkness and out
of that lostness, he had to go through the pain of the cross, he had to go, he had to endure the
pain, he had to wear the crown of thorns and because it was so, it was going to be so painful
and so alienating and separating that when he looked at it, it was so hard for him and yet the
Bible says he even cried and said, Lord, if it is your will, please take away this cup from me.
But then he says, Lord, not my will, but your will be done.
Even Jesus the son of God discovered that there is nothing that is worth pursuing than the will of God.
What is so important in our lives this morning that is worth, so much worth pursuing
than the will of God.
What are you pursuing?
I encourage you, whatever you do, may the will of God for your life be your life pursuit.
God bless you.