“These personal notes are shared from sermons, classes, activities, journals, and reflections on faith. They do not represent the official views of Vox Church, and this site is not formally affiliated with Vox Church. To learn more about Vox Church and its beliefs, please visit voxchurch.org.”

Vox Sunday Sermon: Redefining Possible – Everyone Gets to Play– Part 5

Written by

Jay Downes

in

Sermon by – Executive Pastor Mike Schnepp – Vox Church

My Personal Notes…

Redefining Possible – Everyone Gets to Play

Vision, Purpose, and the Call of God

Acts 20:17–24 (NIV)
17 From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. 18 When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. 19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. 20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”

Achievement and Emptiness

  • Michael Phelps, Tom Brady—achieved the pinnacle of success but confessed it didn’t satisfy the way they thought it would.
  • They got what everyone else is chasing, and still felt empty.
  • This leads to disillusionment: “What am I supposed to give my life to?”

We either:

  • Chase the next thing, or
  • Give up, shrinking back from dreaming or pursuing, and begin to just exist.

But there’s an ache in our spirit. We know we were made for more.
We were designed for more.

Vision Is the Oxygen of the Soul

  • Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) – “Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”
  • Without a God-given vision, we wander aimlessly.

Story of King Sisyphus

  • Sisyphus was a king in Greek mythology who was punished by the gods for his deceitfulness. His eternal punishment was to roll a large boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down every time he reached the top. He was doomed to repeat this meaningless task forever.
  • Condemned to push a boulder uphill forever—only to watch it roll back down.
  • The worst punishment: eternal meaninglessness.

We Look to External Things to Fix Internal Needs

  • In the Kingdom of God, we have it backwards.
  • We can only know true fulfillment when we find it in Him—who we are and whose we are.
  • We are salt and light, and our purpose and mission are grounded in Christ.

You don’t chase purpose—you pull it into your life, into everything you do.

You can carry God-sized purpose into the “smallness” of your life because of who you are and what you’re called to.

Purpose in Mission

  • We carry the Holy Spirit.
  • We are called to go into the world and share God’s love.

Paul’s Purposeful Mindset

Acts 20:22
“And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there…”

  • Paul was bound by the Spirit—a word also used to describe a healthy marriage:
    • Voluntary submission
    • Giving up control for greater joy

Galatians 2:20
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me…”

  • Paul freely gave up self to have more of Christ.

Do We Live This Way?

  • Most of us, if we’re honest, would say no.
  • We bring our plans to God and ask Him to bless them, rather than ask Him to lead and then follow.

When we’re living healthily:

  • We submit our disappointment to Him.

When we’re not:

  • We get angry when our plans fall through.

You will never find a life of purpose when it…

God’s Plans Exceed Ours

2 Corinthians 5:19–21
“God… entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ…”

  • God has asked us to represent Him to the world.
  • We are His Plan A.
  • You can only pick up His agenda when you put yours down—you can’t carry both.
  • Through Christ, you can inject heaven into your everyday life.

See the world through His agenda and bring heaven down to earth.

The Struggle Is Real

Acts 20:22–23
“…bound by the Spirit… not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies… that imprisonment and afflictions await me.”

  • Following God’s plan is not always easy.
  • Paul learned that it requires coming to terms with the cost.

We believe the lie:

  • “If God is in it, it will be easy.”
  • But the Bible says the opposite.

Paul’s Hardship

2 Corinthians 11:24–27
Beaten, shipwrecked, hungry, in danger constantly…

  • Would we question if God was really with Paul?
  • A life of purpose never comes without hardship.
  • Hold on to conviction—it will be tested.

How Did Paul Keep Going?

Acts 20:24
“But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus…”

  • Paul lived with the end in mind.
  • He fixed his eyes on eternity.
  • He pressed on for the prize in Jesus.

Jesus Modeled It

Hebrews 12:1–3
“…looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross…”

  • Because of the joy of welcoming us home, Jesus bore the cross.
  • He endured because He saw the purpose beyond the pain.

Live with Purpose

  • Don’t chase external things.
  • Take on the purpose of the Lord.
  • Pull meaning in.
  • You are called to bring heaven to earth in your everyday life.

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