Sermon Audio, Calvary Community Church, Williams Bay, WI

Have you ever stopped to wonder exactly what it is that pleases God? Many times we wonder what the will of God is for our lives. Why are we here and what is our purpose? If each person on the planet could understand and know that our purpose was to please God and we could each live according to that purpose, what would this world look like?

By God’s design, every person matters - to Him and to our world! You exist now, here, by God’s CHOICE, for a God-glorifying reason! In God’s plan for our world, it is important and necessary for US that you are! Now, what could happen to US if YOU lived to the maximum of God’s potential for you? “I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain… “

What word summarizes your life: "Survival,” “Success,” “Significance,” or “Strategic”? Which of those did God have in HIS mind when He created and shaped you in your mother’s womb? What could be the results of your life if you chose to live life unrestricted by anything that inhibits God’s work in you and fully engaged in living “set apart to be a part of His story?”

While our world is abuzz with the arrival of a royal British prince, it largely ignores God, Who lived among us… King Jesus Christ. More books and poems have been written, more movies made, more portraits painted, and more songs sung about Jesus than any other person in history. More people have experienced dramatic life change, more hope has been awakened in times of desperation by the power of Jesus than anything else in history. This weekend… we honor HIM, the Son of God, Creator of all, Savior, and Sovereign! How has Jesus affected you?

Life brings the unexpected to all of us. Our world is a pain-filled place. When the unexpected is disappointing or worse, shocking, where do we turn? What do we expect of God when life gets painful… and what if God doesn’t respond the way we expect?

Midway through summer 2013, what do your footprints tell you about your journey thus far? What do “catalytic footprints” look like? They are evidence of steps that bring hope in despair, light in dark places, rescue, and new beginnings! Look around… where could your next step bring hope?

Have you ever felt strongly led to do something for God only to find yourself confronted by opposition? We should not be surprised when that happens. Opposition is to be expected, but a proper perspective allows us to remove the fear of opposition and move boldly into all that God has called us to do!

As America approaches birthday #237, our world cries out in hope for America to be trustworthy in our strength, generous in our wealth, compassionate in our leadership, Biblical in our wisdom, God-honoring in building our legacy in 2013… are we?

What if… ? Desperate places and situations are transformed into Beracah, unleashing amazing possibilities, when God finds someone willing to live life “to the fullest” following Jesus.

We all have them… Expectations! Too often the expectations we have of others go unmet and we’re disappointed. Bitterness finds fertile ground to root in disappointed expectations. What happens when people feel that God failed to meet their expectations? What happens when God feels we’ve failed to meet His expectations of us?