Uncomplicate Your Purpose | Nick Bodine

Well, what an amazing time of worship. Wow, that was so, so powerful. It was so good. Hey, we want to give a huge shout out to all men and women joining us in prison facilities with our partnership with God Behind Bars and the Pando app. Yes, we are so glad that you are with us today. Well, now is the perfect time to pull out your Central Church app. Download it if you haven't already, and under our experience tab, you can follow along with our teaching notes. Let's welcome up Pastor Nick as he continues in our series, Uncomplicate It. All right, church. Welcome everyone. I want to welcome Central Kingman, Central Sunrise Mountain, Central Aliante, Central Summerland, everyone watching with God Behind Bars. Can we give it up for everybody joining us today? Central Henderson, so glad that you're here. I brought with me this week one of these old school roadmaps. Does anybody remember one of these? These things are practically antiques now, right? Like if you don't know what this is, if you've never used this, this is what people used to use before our phones told us everywhere we should go. And it looks like this small, unintimidating, like little book of directions, just all folded up. But I haven't unfolded a map recently. Look how enormous this thing is. Now I'm definitely not saying anyone should look at their phone while they're driving, but let's not pretend that this was safer. Like to anyone under 20 in the room, this is how your grandparents got around. They drove 70 miles an hour while trying to locate some dot, some red line near Bakersfield where their exit was.

And then after physical maps became MapQuest. Does anybody remember MapQuest? I am of the MapQuest generation. I was a MapQuest pioneer. When I started doing my first road trip, I had MapQuest. And MapQuest was basically you put in your starting point, you put in your destination, and then you had to print out 14 pages of directions before you left the house. It was your whole script for your journey. And the person in the passenger seat next to you had one job. Tell me when to turn or tell me when to exit. They know the script exactly. But then all of a sudden they're looking over at you like, um, you're like, what? They're like, we were supposed to turn right there. No, like 15 minutes ago. 15 minutes ago. Now that script is the other 13 pages don't even matter. You got to get back on track. But whether some old school map or it's a binder full of MapQuest paper, they both required that you get all the information at once. That you knew the whole route. Like you're supposed to take this highway, connect to this interstate, go through this town, watch this road, make a right, then two lefts. There's letters, numbers, highways, side roads, dirt roads, tiny lines going everywhere. It's overwhelming and you're somehow supposed to remember them all. But now it's so simple, right? Like now we have our phone. I just put my destination in the phone and it tells me exactly where I'm supposed to go. It knows every road. It knows the whole route, but it doesn't make me memorize it before I leave.

It simply says in 500 feet, turn left. So I do. And once I do, it gives me the next direction at the next exit, take it, get off. Now the phone, it knows the final destination. It knows every road, but all it gives me is the next turn. And that simplifies the entire journey. I don't need the whole map, but when it comes to our lives, I think especially when it comes to our purpose in this life, those of us who are in Jesus, our God-given purpose, I wonder how many of us want God just to unfold the whole thing. Like just show me it all, God. Show me the whole route. Show me every turn, every opportunity, every obstacle. Show me exactly where I'm going. Show me exactly how I get there. Have you ever asked yourself questions like what career should I take? Where should I start? What field should I get in? Where should I live? What opportunities should I say no to? What opportunities should I say yes to? Which doors should I go through, God? Which doors should I definitely not go through? What is the next 5, 10, 15, 50 years of my life? What does it look like? What is your purpose? And that's a good question. We see this or we hear this question asked all the time in our church. What is my purpose in life? Why am I here? What did God create me to do?

How can my life make a difference? These are all important questions. It comes from a good desire to live a life that matters. And you were created... by God and God loves you and he has good plans for you. He has a purpose for your life. The question isn't the problem. I think when it comes to finding our purpose, it begins to get complicated when we become convinced that we need the entire answer right now. It's in our impatience that our purpose becomes complicated. We want God to show us the destination and every turn, every opportunity, every obstacle, and exactly how it's all going to work. And without even realizing it, we can begin believing that God, until he shows us the whole map, well then we can't even take a step forward. So what do we do? We wait. We wait until we feel qualified. Or we wait until we get our life cleaned up, until we make things better, we're finally ready. We wait till we have all the right answers, we wait till we have the right degree, the right position, the perfect opportunity. We wait until we feel completely certain. And I don't think it's because we don't wanna follow God. I believe we truly do wanna follow him,

follow his will, follow his directions. We just wanna know where he's taking us before we start moving. I don't think it's something we ever say out loud, but sometimes we live as if we're telling God, show me the whole plan and then I'll trust you enough to start moving. But that's not usually how God works. That's not how God leads us. He knows the end destination. He knows your starting point. He sees the whole journey. But most of the time what he gives us is the next turn. And I think the thing is, if God showed me everything all at once for my life, if he showed me the map to my whole purpose, I would get overwhelmed. If I could see it all, I would be focusing on details. Like what is this hard right turn through the desert, God? Las Vegas, 10 years in Las Vegas, 20 years at what? I don't know. I don't wanna go through the desert. I don't wanna make that turn. What do you mean I'm gonna suffer some health diagnosis that I don't wanna hear? I don't wanna go on that journey. God, see, sometimes God, he saves us in his kindness. He gives us exactly what we need for the next turn so that we're not afraid to continue to go forward,

to rely on him, because it takes faith out of the picture. So today we're gonna look at exactly that. How can we uncomplicate discovering God's purpose in our life? If you have your Bible, open it up to John chapter 15. That's where we're gonna be this week. And we're gonna start in verse nine. Pastor Judd in this series, Uncomplicate It, he was in John 15 last week talking about how Jesus is the vine, how we are the branches. And if we stay connected to the vine, we don't have to produce good fruit. Jesus will produce good fruit through us. The week before, Hosanna Wong kicked this whole series off based on her book, Uncomplicate It. If you haven't grabbed that book yet, do so. It's an incredible way to just grow in your relationship with God. But this week, we're gonna be right back in John 15. And I believe what Jesus says in these verses today has the power to uncomplicate the plan that God has for us. If you've ever asked yourself the question, what is God's purpose for my life? Then I want you to see that Jesus gives us a simple map in John 15. There's a starting point, there's our first turn, and then there's clear direction for where our lives should be headed. And here's what makes these words so powerful

that we're getting ready to look at. Is that Jesus said them when he was just hours away from being beaten, arrested, betrayed, and crucified. So let's read John 15, beginning in verse nine. It says this, when we get to the red word, say that out loud with us. It says, I have loved you even as the father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love just as I obey my father's commandments and remain in his love. I've told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow. This is my commandment, love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves because a master doesn't confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends since I have told you everything the father told me. You didn't choose me, I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit. There's that lasting fruit again, so that the father will give you whatever you ask for using my name. This is my command, love each other. The disciples are getting ready to enter

one of the most confusing and painful seasons of their life. One of the hardest weekends they'll ever have to experience. Their entire world is getting ready to be turned upside down. They didn't know everything that was ahead. They didn't know where the road would lead. They didn't know what following Jesus was gonna require of them, what it was gonna cost them. And Jesus, in this moment, he doesn't unfold a whole detailed map on their whole lives explaining every turn, everything that they might face, but he gives them something better. He gave them simple, powerful directions, something they could turn to no matter what season they were going through, something they could turn to no matter the circumstance. It's a simple map in these verses. It's these four things. It starts with grace, how God loves us, how he chose us. It moves to obedience when we remain in his love. When we remain in his love, we all of a sudden start to overflow in the joy that he gives us. And then we live in our purpose when we pass that love on to others. Those words would stay with the disciples for the rest of their lives. And church, these are words for us as well. This is direction for our lives as well. We don't need a whole detailed map.

We don't need every turn. We don't need to see every detail before we can start living the life, the purpose that God has for us. You simply need to know where to start. And your starting point is remembering or knowing that you were chosen. Your starting point is knowing you personally were chosen. Everybody likes to be chosen, right? Unless it's like for karaoke. Not everybody loves to be chosen for karaoke. But most of the time you like to be chosen. Does anybody remember picking teams as a kid where two captains would stand in front of everybody and they would just go down the list back and forth picking all the players for their team. Oftentimes they would pick the most athletic and move their way all the way down. The second most athletic and try to stack their team. And oftentimes you'd get to the end and two people would be standing there. One person would be standing there. That was me most of the time. I was the shortest in my class like my whole life. My junior year of high school I haven't even broken five foot tall yet. I was a late bloomer if you will. And so often I didn't get choose to play things like basketball or other things where you need a little bit of height on you.

And when you're the last one standing there you all of a sudden start to act like you didn't really care to play in the first place. You're like, ah, I just thought you guys needed the extra person. You're good. You got the teams. I don't wanna play. Yes, I did. I just didn't want to be the person standing there while both captains were like, well, I guess we'll take small fry over there. Nick, come join our team. Nobody wants to feel like the person someone got stuck with. We want to be chosen because chosen says that we're wanted, that we're valuable, that we belong. And I think if we've been overlooked our whole lives, if we've been passed over enough times, we can carry that insecurity into our relationship with God. We think that we need to be bigger for God. We need to impress God. We need to prove ourselves. We need to become somebody God would actually want to use so that he's not just stuck with us. But listen again to what Jesus says in verse 16. He says this. He says, you didn't choose me. That was really good for no counting. I chose you. You didn't choose me.

I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit. He's saying, I chose you first. You had nothing to do with it. I picked you first. I chose you and pay attention to the order there. It says, first I chose you and then I appointed you. Chosen comes before appointed, which means the relationship comes before the responsibility. Before Jesus tells them what they're going to do, he reminds them who they are to him, that they're his friends. A friend is a completely different relationship than a servant. A servant gets a task list. A servant does what somebody says. They do assignments. Go do this, do this, do this, accomplish this, finish that. But a friendship, it doesn't come with a whole list of to-dos. At least it shouldn't in order to be someone's friend. And I think many of us, we approach Jesus more like servants waiting for an assignment rather than friends that are actually enjoying a relationship. We keep asking God questions like, God, what are you wanting me to do? What's my next assignment? Where should I go?

What do you want me to accomplish? What do you need from me? I'm ready to live my purpose. Where am I going? We wanna know all the steps, turns, highways, dirt roads, everything we should be saying yes to, everything we should be saying no to. And Jesus says, whoa, stop for a second. We'll get to all that. First, no. the one you're going with. Know the person you're walking with, the relationship you're being invited into. And Jesus, when he's saying these words in John 15, he's saying this to a group of men that are far from perfect. They are not the greatest of all friends. Their friendship shouldn't necessarily be on show. Peter, he's getting ready to deny that he even knew Jesus. Thomas would struggle with doubt at the risen Jesus. When things got hard, when the Roman soldiers showed up, when Jesus went under trial, all the disciples would scatter. Jesus knew all of this was going to happen, and he's still telling them, don't forget, I chose you first. You didn't choose me. I chose you. You see, Jesus didn't choose them because they had already become everything they were supposed to be. He chose them knowing he was still going to work in them. And somebody needs to hear that today. I think God is, that you think that God is waiting for you to just get everything cleaned up, the perfect version of you, but I need you to know he's not. He sees you completely. He sees all your mistakes. He sees your past. He knows your regrets. He knows your doubt, and he's still inviting you into a friendship. Shame is going to try to tell you, look at what you've done. Your insecurity is going to try to tell you that you will never be enough. Fear is going to try to tell you that you're never going to be picked, that if you don't know the whole plan right now, if you don't say yes to God and have every detail, then you're going to miss what he has for your life. But Jesus answers all three of those things with the same invitation. He says, I already see you. I chose you. Now walk with me. Just come walk with me. It's not complicated. We don't have to hide. We don't have to prove ourselves. We don't have to have it all figured out. We don't have to audition for a friendship with Jesus. He's already

inviting us into a relationship. You are chosen before you are appointed. You are loved before you ever become useful. So before you ask yourself the question, God, where are you sending me or what do you need me to do? Just slow down and first ask, God, am I living like your friend? Am I walking with you? Am I talking with you? Am I hearing your voice? Am I trusting your heart when I can't see the whole journey? You may not know the next 5, 10, 15 turns he has in front of you. But look at the map again from these verses. Our starting point, that's what you do know. You know that he loves you. That's his grace. That's where we start. He sees you. He chose you. And because you were chosen, that's where your purpose begins. Because of his love, because he chose us, now he's inviting us into his first directional step. Our first turn, if you will. And from those verses, that directional step is to remain in his love. Remain in that love. When you look down at your phone during the week, maybe now, is there anything worse than seeing this graphic right here? Like, it's like life is almost over when you see that right there. Like, if you're like me, you immediately jump into action. I lower the brightness. I close every app. I turn on low power mode. Nobody's allowed to touch my phone. Don't even look at my phone. It'll know if you're looking at it and it's gonna die. And if it's at 1% and if it dies, my life is potentially over because how did we ever survive without phones? I'm gonna have to go buy a map. You have to carry a map around. But here's the problem. Low power mode, it might help you conserve what little power you have left. But it can't create power. Eventually, you're gonna have to connect your phone back to a power source. And I think some of us are trying to live and find our purpose and serve and forgive and do things and love people with our spiritual battery sitting at 1%. We're trying to give something away that we haven't allowed ourselves to yet receive. And what I love about Jesus is he isn't shaming us for feeling depleted, but he is inviting us to reconnect to the source. Because our purpose doesn't begin with trying harder. It begins with remaining in his love. Listen again to what Jesus says, where that power comes from. It says, I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. And then what? Remain in my love. How do we remain in God's love? What does that mean? Look, he tells us in the next sentence, when you obey my commandments, you remain. my love so if we look back at our map here we start with grace we start that God chose us that he loves us and our first directional step it's obedience it's remaining in his love it's following his direction and he connects remaining with obeying his commands but Jesus isn't saying obey me so that I'll

love you he already cleared that up that's the starting point he already chose us he chose us first obedience isn't how we purchase Jesus's love how we purchase God's love obedience is our response to the love that we've already received you see God only asked things from us because he wants good things for us he only asked for things from us because he has so many good things for us he knows the road that leads to life I know oftentimes it's hard it's hard when God puts it on your heart to to go and forgive somebody he's saying forgive but that's because he knows that bitterness will slowly eat you alive or when he tells you to tell the truth it's because he knows that lies will destroy every relationship around you when he says serve or be generous or remain faithful or love people it's because his way leads to freedom his way leads to life obedience is not God trying to control us it's God lovingly directing us to the life he created to us to live it's the first turn we keep asking God for new direction in our lives like God just show me something show me where I'm supposed to go show me what I'm supposed to do but we're ignoring the direction he's already given us like God reveal my purpose help me know the plan God's like yeah go and forgive that person no no God not that like yes okay that but I mean the big plan like what do you really want from me what do you want me to do and God's like yeah in 500 feet turn left forgive that person he's given you the first directional step sometimes we don't need more information we just need to obey the direction he's already given us and look at what Jesus says begins to happen when we remain in his love when we're obedient it says I have told you these things so that you will be what that you will be filled with my joy yes your joy will overflow who wouldn't love to have so much joy so much happiness that you just couldn't hold it in it was just spilling out of you all week long and again Jesus says this he says these words hours before he would face that cross so this joy isn't pretending that life doesn't hurt this isn't ignoring that there's not going to be grief or acting like everything is perfect when it isn't this is a joy that can sustain us that can remain even when the road becomes difficult why because Jesus remains with us when we remain in

him he remains with us it's a supernatural kind of joy the kind of joy that says I don't need to know everything that is ahead but you know what I do know I know who's with me I know who chose me I know that I'm loved I know that I'm gonna be obedient and remain in that love that joy doesn't come from knowing the whole route it comes from trusting the guide so look at the map one more time it says grace God loves us that's where we start obedience is our first turn our first directional step we remain in his love when we're obedient and then what happens we begin to overflow his flow with his joy his joy can't help but come out of us and then Jesus tells us that where that overflowing joy where that overflowing love where it's supposed to go our last step our destination to starting to find our purpose is that we have to pass that love on look at these verses one more time verses 12 through 13 and John 15 it says this this is this is my commandment love what love each other in the same way I've loved you there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friend love each other in the same way that I love you and pay attention he said this is my commandment not this is my suggestion not like this is what you probably should do he say no I'm commanding you to do this love each other how I have loved you so what does Jesus's love look like well if you go back through your Bible Jesus noticed the people that everybody else overlooked Jesus he moved towards the people that everybody else avoided he served people who could give nothing back to him in return he forgave he sacrificed he laid down his life for us and Jesus says take that love I have given you and now pass on to others. If you're curious about what the very heart of your purpose is that's it right there. Love others. That is the very center, the very heart of your God-given purpose. And if you're anything like me you keep looking for God to just give you that one enormous thing that he wants you to accomplish. Like what is it God you want you want me to help solve world world hunger? Amen. Can I be a part of that? World peace? What's that big thing you want me to do? Do you want me to teach Californians that the left lane is the fast lane and they need to move over when somebody's coming up? I'll do it. What do you need

God? I want to do something big. What's the position? What's the assignment? What's the thing you created me to do? But maybe purpose looks more like a person than it does a position. Maybe purpose looks like loving the person that God's put in front of you today, or listening to someone who feels ignored, or encouraging someone who's struggling, or forgiving someone who hurts you, or showing up when it would be easier to stay home. To meet a need that you see right in front of you. Letting somebody know that they're not alone. We keep thinking our purpose is waiting somewhere farther down the road but you can begin living your purpose right where you are. Because purpose isn't just where God's taking you. Purpose is how you love people along the way. It's not about earning God's love. It's what happens when you've received that love from Jesus and it just begins overflowing out of you. God's love received becomes God's love released. And when you pass his love on you are already starting to live in your purpose. I want to wrap up today by telling you one of my favorite stories in the whole Bible. The story is about Peter and John, two of Jesus's disciples. Two of his disciples that would have been there that day in John 15 hearing Jesus's instruction, hearing his words. And then in Acts chapter 3 we get to see them begin to live those words out. Peter and John, they're walking to the temple when they notice a man who's been lame since birth, that hasn't been able to walk since birth. Every day this man has to be carried to the temple gates, the beautiful gate. And he sits there and he asked people for money because people coming into the temple were more apt to be generous to those in such positions. But Peter and John, every day thousands of people would have walked past this man. They would have walked right past him. Probably over time he would have just become white noise. Like they wouldn't have even seen him anymore. But not Peter and John. Peter and John, they stopped. They noticed the man. He asked them for money and Peter says, I don't have any money that I can give you, but I'll give you what I do have. And then he looks down at this man and he says, in the name of Jesus. Jesus had already told them, anything you ask for in my name, anything you ask the Father of, will be given to you. He says, in the

name of Jesus. And he took the man by the hand and he helped him up and he said, get up and walk. And for the first time in this man's life, the man stood. He started walking. He got filled with excitement. He started jumping. He started praising God. And all of a sudden this moment draws a crowd and Peter gets the opportunity to tell the crowd about Jesus. And Acts chapter 4 tells us the number of believers that day grew to about 5,000. 5,000 people impacted. What began with noticing one man opened the door for thousands to hear about Jesus. But don't miss this in that whole story. It didn't begin with a crowd. The crowd wasn't the purpose. The crowd wasn't the centerpiece. It began with one. One hurting person. One decision to stop. One loving step. And thousands of lives were changed. That healing, it also got Peter and John into a little bit of trouble. It got them arrested and they were brought before this religious council. And this is where we get to one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible. Peter and John boldly are declaring the healing being in Jesus' name in front of this council. And look at what it says in Acts 4, 13. It says, the members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John. For they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the scripture. They also recognized them as men who had been what? They had been men who had been with Jesus. The council looked at Peter and John and just saw ordinary men. No special training, no resume, no powerful position. But there was one thing that they couldn't deny. These men had been with Jesus. Jesus. What a thing to have said about your life. Peter and John, they didn't have the whole map. They didn't have the instruction for every turn, every circumstance, but you know what they did have? They had been with Jesus. They didn't know every answer, every turn, the plan, but they had been with Jesus. And because they had been with Jesus, they noticed the one person in front of them and they passed that love on. They passed on the love that they had received. Look at this route. It starts with grace. It starts knowing that you're chosen. He sees you. He chose you first. And then you remain in that love that he's given you. You're obedient. That love starts to overflow out of you. His joy fills us. And his purpose, our purpose, is to pass that love on. That flag doesn't signify

a finish line. That flag signifies the start of you living out your purpose in Jesus. And God will produce the lasting fruit. Church, you don't have to be extraordinary for God to use you in extraordinary ways. The greatest qualification for your purpose is not that you know everything. Your greatest qualification is that you've been with Jesus. We don't have to complicate it. Let's uncomplicate it. Let's get with Jesus. Know you are chosen. Remain in that love. Let that overflow out of you. And then pass that love on. Maybe you keep asking God to show you the whole map, your whole purpose. But he just keeps showing you that one person that you should be that for. Maybe he's putting that person on your heart today. Or maybe for you, your next step has a name, a person to call, a person to be there for, a person who needs to feel the same love that you've received. Make that call this week. Maybe for you, your next step is Central Academy. Jumping in. We've been talking about it all month. It begins this next week. Peter and John, they didn't have an impressive resume. They didn't have all the religious credentials. But they had spent years learning directly from Jesus. Their greatest qualification wasn't their resume. It was a relationship with him. And that's what I love about Central Academy. We've been talking about it with you. But Central Academy is more than just getting all this knowledge and schooling. It's a little bit of that. It's more about spending time in God's Word. Growing in your friendship with Jesus. Preparing for whatever he has in front of you. You starting to live out your purpose. Don't let what you don't know keep you from taking a step forward to knowing Jesus more. If you want to jump in, across any of our locations, we're going to give you opportunities right after this experience. But we've got to uncomplicate our purpose. We got to get back to making it simple. You don't need to know the whole map. You just need Jesus. Now maybe you're here today and maybe your next step, maybe your step isn't figuring out your entire life right now. Maybe it's just placing your life in the hands of him. Before you get the opportunity to remain in his love, you first have to receive his love. He sees you. He chose you first. But you've got to choose him back. And if you're ready to receive his grace and begin a relationship with him today, I want to help you with that step. I'm going to lead you through a prayer. So if I could have everybody bow their heads and close their eyes. And you just repeat this prayer in your own heart. Whether out loud, silently, you just talk to Jesus and say, God, I know that I'm a sinner.

I know that I've messed up. But I believe you sent Jesus to forgive me of that sin. I believe he died on the cross. But I also believe that he rose from the grave. And that act gives me the opportunity to spend eternity with you. God, forgive me of my sins. I named Jesus my personal Lord and Savior. I want to live for your purpose, God. And if that's you with every head bowed, with every eye closed, here's what I'm asking you to do. I'm asking you to slip your hand up in the air, whether you're at one of our locations, you're online, you're inside a prison facility, wherever you are, this is a moment between you and God. Just slip your hand in the air, reaching out to him, declaring today that you're going to follow him. Thank you for the hands that I can see. God, thank you for every hand I can't see. I pray that you draw close. You see each one of them. them God. Let them start to choose your love because you've already chosen them. Let us all God remain in your love. Let us be obedient and follow your instruction. Let us be filled with joy God in this life no matter what we face. Let us learn to pass that love on to others. We know you have good plans for us. We don't need to see the whole map, but if you could just give us the next turn. We love you and it's in your name we pray. Amen. Can we give it up for everybody that decided to follow Jesus today? If that's you, we're gonna ask that you go to central.family, you hit the quick link, I've decided to follow Jesus, and we're gonna send you some free resources that will help with you taking steps in this new faith. Well we're gonna go ahead and throw it to all of our different locations.