What On Earth Am I Here For? Series

To live the American Dream? To be happy? To be successful? To rock and roll? To express yourself? A Yale philosophy student who didn’t even want to take a stab at answering the question? We have some work to do here in NE Ohio!

Want to find out how to find our purpose? I did a search in Google on “Purpose of Life” and found out that you can go “higherawarness.com.” According to that website, to find your purpose “you draw it out of yourself.” Others say, “Discover your dreams. Go after your goals. Aim high. Believe you can achieve. Figure out what you re good at.”

But going “googling” to find out how to find your purpose will mean that you may have a hard time finding the truth. You were made by God for God. You were put here for His purposes. And until we get that, life isn’t going to make sense.

If you ask, “Is there a purpose for me?” then I might ask you, “Is your heart beating?” See, if your heart is still beating, then God has a purpose for you.

Welcome to 40 days of purpose. We’re ready to start on a journey that we’ve been planning for a long time.

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Do you know what these tools are? What’s the purpose of this? (Talk through the items…) You never want to confuse that with this!

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What’s the point?

There are two I want to make.

First, if you don’t know something’s purpose, it’s likely to be abused. Why are so many people hurting themselves and hurting others today? We don’t know our purpose. When you don’t know the purpose of something, it’s likely to be misused or abused.

Second, the only way to know your purpose in life is to consult the creator. You can’t listen to the crowd. They’ll confuse you! You can’t look within. You don’t have enough experience. You’ve got to talk to the Owner, the Creator. It’s the only way you’ll ever know your purpose in life.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding.

Proverbs 9:10 (KJV)

You find your purpose by getting to know God. It all starts with God.

For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible… everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.

Colossians 1:16 (MSG)

If you want to know your purpose in life, start getting to know God. That’s why we are excited you are with us right now at CVCC. We are on a journey to get to know God. And the more we get to know God, the more we will understand His ways and wisdom. And the more we understand His ways and His wisdom, the more we will understand the meaning and purpose of our lives.

Watching the talk shows won’t cut it. Sitting in the classrooms won’t cut it. Going to seminars won’t cut it. We must get to know God. Why? It’s all about God.

So, during these 40 days, we are going to go to the Designer. He’s not hiding His purposes from us. But we’ve got to dig into the Owner’s Manual for Life – the Bible. He wants you to know His purposes. So, I hope you will stay with us over the next 40 days. God has some challenging and fulfilling and life-changing plans for you.

Three levels of living…

The Survivor level

You can live at the Survival level – barely getting by, just existing. These are people who are controlled by their circumstances. They put in their time at work and live for the weekend. Survival.

The Success level

You can live at the Success level. That’s where most of the people in NE Ohio are. By the world’s standards, we’ve got it made. We have a comfortable lifestyle compared to the rest of the world. We have freedom, possessions, good health… But in honest moments, we wonder, “Why do I still feel empty?” Success.

The Significance level

We can live at the Significance level. Not just Survival or Success, but Significance. Question. How can I live at that level?

People who are living at the level of significance know what on earth they are here for! You know God’s purposes for your life and you’re living them out. That’s what gives us significance.

Last week, we took a look at the big picture. It’s a question of significance.

Why did God make us? For His own glory!

We talked about how the engraving over the doors when you walk into this church says it well, “To God alone be the glory!” In the Latin it’s Sola Deo Gloria.

Everything comes from Him; everything exists by His power and is intended for His glory. To Him be glory evermore...