Continuing the Journey
Philippians 1:3-6
Before God created us, He had a purpose in his mind. I love what God told Jeremiah, “I knew you before you were in your mother’s womb.” Jer. 1:5 To know means to know intimately, inside and out, to know the very fiver of your being as well as the purpose of your life. In those words, God was simply telling Jeremiah that his purpose was established before he was born, before he was conceived. With these words from God, Jeremiah sensed that he could not be nor would he ever want to be anything other than the prophet God created him to become. That’s how powerful God’s purpose can be in your life when you discover it and claim it. We no longer have to question if we have a purpose in life. The sole quest for our life is to answer if I have a purpose in life but rather “What is God’s purpose for my life?” Our challenge is to discover what that specific purpose is. For the past 6 weeks, we’ve been teaching a series on “Discover God’s Purpose” and it’s been my hope and prayer that this series has led you to pursue God’s purpose for your life. Don’t stop after these 7 weeks, but continue to pursue and fulfill God’s purpose with great passion and intensity because until you discover your purpose, life has no meaning.
Proverbs 20:5 says, “For the purpose of the human heart is like deep waters, but those who have insight draw them out.” There are five keys to understanding your purpose in life through your S.H.A.P.E. S stands for Spiritual gifts. “Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant…to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” 1 Cor. 12:1, 7 Spiritual gifts are special abilities distributed by the Holy Spirit to every believer according to God’s design and grace. Every believer has at least one spiritual gift. They enable us to do the miraculous work of God and in so doing experience God’s love, grace and power as we serve. When we use our spiritual gifts, we are drawing upon the power of God as we minister in the name of Jesus. But they are not for our benefit. Spiritual gifts are given for the benefit of others, that we might minister to them and build the kingdom of God built.
H stands for Heart. Your heart is where your passion resides. Passion is the God-given desire of the heart to make a difference somewhere. When you discover your passion, you become excited and energized in serving God. The heart is the driving force within us that moves us to action and focuses our life in such a way that we have an impact on those around us. Your heart’s passion revolves around either people or issues and causes. If your passion revolves around people, you can have a passion for children, youth, single parents or the elderly. Or if it revolves around causes or issues it can be things like prejudice, abortion, the environment, hunger and so on. dentifying our passion helps us understand where God wants us to serve.
Abilities. You can also serve God through your abilities and learned skills. These are not spiritual gifts but learned abilities and can be used in the service of God, for the benefit of others and His kingdom. For example, a court reporter or secretary can transcribe the sermons for others to read on the internet. A woodworker can build things around the church. A school teacher can teach. A painter can paint. A chef can cook.
Personality. God has given you a unique personality to use for His kingdom work. Your personality determines how you receive and focus your emotional energy and the way in which you prefer to interact with your environment. There are two elements to your personality when it comes to serving. First you are either task oriented or people oriented. Task oriented people are energized by doing. People oriented folks are energized by interacting with people. There’s a second element and that’s how you are organized. People are either structured or unstructured. If you are an unstructured person, you should serve in a ministry which has lots of spontaneity and flexibility. If you are a structured person, you need to serve in a ministry which is clearly defined and has structure and clear responsibilities. God has given each of us a personality and thus a personal style which is the way we prefer to relate and deal with the world around us. God has made you the way you are by no accident so maximize your personality for His benefit. It’s how God made you.
Experiences. You have had experiences both good and bad which not only make you who you are but can be used and even redeemed by God in His service. One example if your pain. Most of us try to bury or forget painful experiences but God seeks to redeem it by using it for His glory. So don’t deny your pain or bury it. Embrace it. Your pain can become an instrument through which you can minister to others in their time of pain and become an instrument of healing grace and hope in other peoples’ lives.
A second example comes from the Open Table Ministry. Open Table started with a chance encounter with a homeless man named Ernie who simply asked a youth group serving him a meal if he could come worship at their church. The adult youth workers were moved to agree to come the very next day to bring Ernie to their church service. Over the next few months, these church members brought Ernie to the church and back to the shelter each Sunday. As they came to more fully appreciate the complex set of obstacles that maintained Ernie in poverty and homelessness, they decided to convene a group of church members who had the professional gifts and life experiences related to the specific challenges that Ernie faced. The Table met every week for 8 months to develop and implement a stability plan to help Ernie access opportunities and overcome obstacles in areas including employment, housing, healthcare and transportation to empower his re-entry into the community. The coordinated efforts of the Table paved the way for Ernie to become an economically stable and a productive member of the community. Today, four years later, Ernie live on his own and has a job, a home, a car and lifelong friends. And Open Table has now grown to more than 80 Open Tables ministries in churches across the country and hope to double that number in 2012.
Paul’s prayer and God’s focus is to complete the work which he has started in us. I want to give you 4 critical tools to help you pursue and live out your life purpose. First, take risks. To pursue your life purpose, you’ve got to be willing to take a risk when God shows you your purpose. Living your life purpose is not easy. In fact, it’s hard work. It comes with challenges and obstacles but also opportunities to put your faith into practice by stepping out in faith and taking great risks for the kingdom of God. If you never take a risk, if you never step out in faith, you will never join God in His work and realize God’s purpose in your life. Too often, we never take a risk in faith and the result is we stay stuck and never progress in our relationship with Christ or in our God purpose. If you do what you’ve always done, you will get what you always got. Every great movement of God, every great disciple of Jesus, every great life lived for God has involved taking great risks in Jesus’ name for the sake of the kingdom.
Second, leave your isolation. I can’t do it lone. Say it with me: “I can’t do it alone.” Paul writes in Philippians 1:5, “For you have been my partners in spreading the good news about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.” The problem is that people are more isolated from one another than ever before as evidenced by the fact that surveys are finding that Americans are lonelier than ever. If we are ever going to be able to carry on the work that God has started in us, it is imperative that we leave our lives of isolation and connect in community with other people. You can’t do this God thing by yourself. Paul needed others within the community of faith to partner with them to be able to accomplish all God wanted. God wants you to reconnect in community. That’s why he created the church! And that’s why we’re challenging you to join a small group in Lent and try it out for ten weeks. If you don’t like the group you’re in after 3 weeks, you can change small groups, no questions asked. Just get in a group and get connected. When you do, you will find the hope and encouragement you need to live for Jesus. Purpose is never pursued in isolation. It only happens in community. God is a God of community. God moves greatly when we are connected to other people.
Newsweek recently reported a medical study out of California which found that people who are lonely and isolated are more prone to experience lower achievement in life. They also have lower self-esteem and are more prone to self-destructive behavior. Connecting in community means you get what you need to ensure you are successful in serving God. When you are connected to other people who live by faith, have the right attitudes, and the right God purpose, your life will be fulfilling. If you are surrounded by Christ centered people, you will become Christ centered. If you surround yourself with the spiritually plateaued and content or negative, glass half full people then you will become like them. You are only as good as the company you keep. God has strategically placed people around you to help you become like His Son. Look around this morning and you’ll see them. But you can’t make those connections just by coming to worship. Get connected in community through a small group.
Third, stop chasing happiness and instead pursue joy. In verse 4, Paul said, “Whenever I pray, I make my request for all of you with great joy.” Too many people are pursuing happiness rather than joy. What is happiness? One bumper stricker said, “Happiness is being married.” another countered, “Happiness is being single.” One cynical sticker read, “Happiness is impossible!” For most people happiness is possible, but it’s also fickle, shallow, and fleeting. The problem with happiness is that it is derived from our life circumstances which are always changing. If the circumstances of your life are good, you’re happy; if not, you’re unhappy. Christian joy, however, is directly related to God and is the firm confidence that all is well, regardless of your circumstances. Paul’s life is an example of what it means to live a life of joy. Paul’s life was filled with joy despite his circumstances because He had a vibrant, personal, intimate relationship with Jesus and he identified his life purpose and was living it out. It is God who is both the source and object of Christian joy. Knowing Him and pursuing His purpose for your life brings a joy that transcends temporal circumstances. Obeying Him brings peace and assurance. Even severe trials need not rob you of your joy. This is how Paul could be imprisoned in a dungeon and facing a life sentence and still sing songs of praise to God. This is when your faith is proved genuine because your joy is derived from God and not your life situation (1 Peter 1:6-8). For the Scriptures say He is “able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy” (Jude 2:4). That is your assurance of future glory and eternal joy realized but can be experienced in the here and now of your life today.
Fourth, love intensely. More than anything, Paul knew love. He knew that he was chief among sinners, the #1 enemy of Christians, hunting them down and murdering them in the name of God. And it is Jesus who encountered Paul on the road to Damascus and showed his love by forgiving him and re-purposing his life to become one of God’s greatest instruments for building His kingdom and transforming the lives of others. That love which Paul experienced in Jesus Christ so overflowed his life that it was shared with everyone he encountered. Paul said, “So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you for you have a special place in my heart. God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.”
This radical love which we have received calls us and propels us to love others radically in the name of God. Love is the power that helps you move forward in pursuing and fulfilling God’s purpose for your life. You will never discover your God purpose for your life until you truly know love God radically and thereby love others radically as well. Love is more than a feeling. Love is action. Love looks beyond personal needs by meeting the needs of other people.
God wants to carry on the work He has started in you. Only you will determine if that will happen. Whatever you do, in the coming days, weeks, months and years, may the good work that God has started in you, be carried on as you begin to live out your purpose. Amen.
