Made For a Purpose

Do you ever wonder... what am I here for? what should I be doing? what will make me happy? I have, and I at times I still do. I've heard these questions from several friends recently and so it was natural to close out my recent sermon mini-series on stewardship (of opportunities and of finances) with stewardship of talents. But the driving force behind it are these two questions:

What am I here for?
What will make me happy?

The following is not a statement everyone will agreement, but as I see it the Bible teaches that it is impossible to know your true purpose in this life apart from knowing Jesus Christ. It is impossible to find real happiness by pursuing happiness as your main goal. And it is impossible to find the deepest fulfillment in your life apart from serving others. A key reason is that one of our main purposes, something common to all of us, is to have a loving relationship with God. And because He is the one who made us, He gets to decide our specific or unique purpose. We will over time discover it, but not create it. And that purpose involves serving and loving others and modeling Christ's love. That's not in a cookie-cutter way, but in a way that is completely unique to us - at the intersection of our passion, our skills, and someone else's need. In the message we look at passages such as Ephesians 2:8-10, John 15, II Corinthians 8, and Ephesians 4. The bottom line...

We come to discover and life out our unique purpose in life, and find true fulfillment in the process, by serving others according to the unique way God has designed us, our SHAPE. Get to know the One who made you, take steps to understand your SHAPE, and set your heart and hands to serving others as a loving response to what God has done for you. If you have any comments or questions on the sermon, let me know!