Big Idea: Purpose.. Passion.. Path..[Q/A]

Purpose

Illustration 2 min

Purpose… Passion… Path...

They will have a piece of paper and need to turn it sideways and write at the top:

Purpose. And then in the middle write Passions. And then near the bottom write Path.

Purpose

Write down what you think your purpose is. If you don’t know then you can leave it blank

Recap 7 min

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)

Time

We talked about time.

Q: How many hours in a day? A week? A month? A year?

A: 24/168/730/8,760

Write that on your paper.

Your time is a sacrifice of your life.

What are you worshipping?

What are you worshipping?

Consider your past week/month… what have you given your life to?

Calendar

I had you open up your phones and take a look at what you did on that day..

then we took a look at the week view and then the month view and the year.

I asked How much did you work? How much of that time was school? How much of that time was hanging out with friends? How much of that time was social media? How much of that time was spent on Kingdom stuff (reading your bible, prayer, serving somewhere in the church, teaching a bible study, etc.

Has it been on purpose?

I asked In all of those areas maybe some that I didn’t mention, where has you time gone? Where have you spent your life? And, has it been intentional. Has it been on purpose?

What you desire you drift toward

I mentioned a high school crush and bad poetry, participating in wrestling and pursuing video production my desires led me down a certain direction and that direction always matched my desires… and how the same is true for you. What you desire you drift toward.

One preacher said if you want to know what I worship don’t listen to what I say, but look at my calendar and my check book.

[Slide: Calendar]

Calendar & Check Book = What You Love

Think back about our exercise in the beginning. How you spend your days/weeks and months. . Where ever your time and money went during that time reflect you emotional and spiritual appetite

[God] 30 min

What Do You Want?

Excerpt from James A Smith’s You Are What You Love:“When two would-be disciples who are caught up in John the Baptist’s enthusiasm begin to follow, Jesus wheels around on them and pointedly asks, “What do you want?” (John 1:38). It’s the question that is buried under almost every other question Jesus asks each of us. “Will you come and follow me?” is another version of “What do you want?,” as is the fundamental question Jesus asks of his errant disciple, Peter: “Do you.. love me?” (John 21:16 NRSV).

1-2 min (tell your story in 30 secs or less)

Pair-Up

Q: When have you felt the closest to God? And, What was that experience/time like for you?

1-2 min

Let’s Talk

Q: As a teen what things outside of Church competed for your heart?

- Desire to fit in with friends at school?

- Dating relationships?

- Sports/School Clubs/Hobbies?

1 min

Write this down under Passions

Q: What competes for your desires now?

Work

School

Friends

Dating

Don’t be afraid to be honest with yourself. It’s always good and necessary to look into the mirror and see what’s really inside of us.

Let’s Talk: What competes for your desires now?

If you don’t feel comfortable saying publicly that’s fine. But at least be able to admit it to yourself. Sometimes we start with the right desires but then don’t even realize when we start drifting. Remember that you can attend church and still drift. You don’t have to drift.. but you must first be honest about what you love… what you desire.. [next slide] what you want.

Purpose.. Passion.. Path..

Q: What makes the heart so hard to ignore?

This is probably why the heart was not made to ignore, but instead to be subdued and shaped.. we will get to the shaping

It is the heart that most shapes our choices. What we value will always be found in our heart.. and what’s in our heart will always be reflected in our lives.

Rd. pg 89 4th Paragraph to 91 (half of page).. then pick up on the bottom of 93 through half of 94

Holiness is always a matter of the heart. So, whatever is in the heart will not just stay within. It will come out as words, attitudes, actions and apparel. Yes, what we say, what we do and how we dress all reflect what we worship.

I had two friends.. one was a new convert feeling the personal convictions of the pants in her closet. She was a critical thinker. You would never force her into a corner or make her feel that she needed to dress a certain way. She studied the Word sought God on how to best live it out in our American culture. Her seeking allowed God to make it clear to her heart that he valued distinction between men and women to the degree of dress. She got rid of her pants and bought all skirts and dresses… her affections led her down this path..

My other friend who had grown up in the Apostolic faith began to ask questions about standards bc while she had grown up in it she had never really matured in her understanding of what she believed so she wondered about those beliefs. Nothing is wrong with wondering.. as long as your willing to prayerfully study the Word and seek God for how to best live it out in our culture. She did neither and over time her affections guided away from being involved in ministry then her attendance became hit or miss, then she stop going to church altogether. She eventually met a guy who didn’t believe in God at all and they got married. If you met her now she would tell you that she is not happy. She wrestling with things now. You see she never escape the wrestling match. She just pushed it down the road. Had she wrestled with things when she was your age, before marriage and kids, then she could have figured out her identity in Christ. God is always willing to take your questions.

Stars are so far away that it takes we still see their light long after they have died.

At 300,000 kilometers per second (186,000 miles per second), it takes light more than eight minutes to get from the closest star to Earth; you can think of it as seeing the Sun as it was eight minutes ago. The nearest known star to the Sun is the Alpha Centauri triple-star system, and light takes more than four years to get from there to here. That means this star could die and it would take use 4 years before we knew about it. We could still see it’s light long after it died.

With my friend who left church… Her affections shifted long before her attendance faded… we saw her here long after her heart had gone else where.

We Are what we Want

James Smith goes on to say: Jesus doesn’t encounter Matthew and John - or you and me - and ask “What do you.. know?” He doesn’t even ask, “What do you.. believe?” He asks, “What do you.. want?” This is the most incisive, piercing question Jesus can ask of us precisely because we are what we want

15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16)

Some say holiness is only a matter of what’s in your heart. Yet, we know that like a seed what’s in the heart will always grow outward in our attitude and appearance. Our affections will shape our actions and our apparel

Path

We you look at what you believe your God given purpose to be.. Take a look at your passions and then see how they are guiding you on your Path..

Skip if it’s pass 8:40

Shaping the Heart: Rhythms, Routines and Rituals.

Concl Pick up here

Logic Vs Love

Logic Vs Love

The right side is all of the right thinking and the left side are the affections. What we want

Fasting is important. I’m going to fast today… What’s that smell? Is mom cooking chili.. I aint fasting today

Back in the day there was that person who says, I’m not going to date for my first year of college… then looks around like well nobody told me that there would be attractive people on campus.

Sitting down on the couch like, I got some time, I think I’m going to read my Bible. Then looks at Netflix and says, I’ve been wanting to catch up on that show.

Knowledge is no match for desire. So we must work to desire the right things

Why must you know it?

You are what you love because you live toward what you want

[What must you do?]

Build routines that shape your heart (affections) over time?[Why must you do it?]If you don’t take charge of shaping your heart then it will still be shaped. We are designed to worship something. Your heart will find something to hunger for and to be drawn toward.

But when you put the right hunger first