Made for a Purpose, Part 3

Our second episode of Wonder & Shine is available for your listening! The topic is PURPOSE, so I have been sharing a message that I gave on the topic last year at a Women's Conference. This is part 3 of three. Don't forget how greatly you're loved by a Lord that made you on purpose and for a purpose.  

III. Discovering Our Purpose

To begin to discover our purpose, let's turn to the words of the Apostle Paul.  In his letter to the Romans, Paul talks to all of us about spiritual gifts:

Romans 12:6-8

6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Spiritual gifts are abilities that God gives believers in order that they may serve Him.  Every Christian has at least one gift. Paul explains these spiritual gifts from God even further in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 12.

1 Corinthians 12:4-11

4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

Do not panic if this list does not seem to pertain to you.  You see, Paul was writing to a specific group of people, to a church he had planted.  At Corinth all the various gifts were found within the group.  But remember, you are tailor made.  God created you ON purpose and FOR a purpose.  Every Christian has at least one gift, distributed by the Holy Spirit.

1 Peter 4:10

10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

How do you discover your gift?  Start thinking about what you're good at/what you love to do.  I have had this conversation with precious friends before.  Some who felt they had aged past their prime and had nothing worthy left to contribute.  Others who were not yet an adult and felt that as a young person, no one would see the worth in what they could contribute.  But none of that is true.  My precious friend Emma Jean had no idea that she had a calling and even a ministry of her own!  She sends out cards.  You know, snail mail… the type lovingly handwritten and placed in envelopes with postage stamps? How many of you look forward to opening your mailbox and actually finding something personal sent especially for you?   Emma Jean is a pro at it!  I have personally received her notes and cards to thank me, compliment me, and encourage me.  And I get absolutely elated each time I see an envelope addressed to me in her hand!  

I cannot do it!  I have a draw full of the prettiest stationery you can find, all bought with great intentions.  I’ve made lists upon lists of people I could send these notes and cards to… but I never do.  It just isn’t in me!  Emma Jean has an ability and a gift that encourages the body of Christ!  What an amazing ministry!!  And she does it lovingly without even realizing she is serving her God and fulfilling her purpose.

Mailing out notes or cards seems so insignificant until you see it through the eyes of the receiver… or even through the eyes of our Lord.  Little is much when God is in it.  So what can you do?  What do you love?  Maybe you won’t praise the Lord in song or serve God in a far off, third world country.  But maybe you are an excellent cook who can feed shut ins or the sick.  Maybe you can bake cookies for people who have experienced loss or are going through a trial.  Maybe you are a really good listener.  Maybe you make things like scarves or hats.  Whatever it is you do… if you do it for God and his church, you may be fulfilling your purpose.

I have had a dream for how God will use me in ministry one day.  I’m eight years from retirement and I was certain that when I retire, I would begin my true purpose for God… and all the while I have been doing what God made me to do.  I teach!  I work with young people at school, at church, and in the community.  I am made for it!  And I am good at it.  But I never thought my job could be my ministry.  I just knew I loved to teach and I love to spend time with kids.  And i realized that I thought I had to be looking for something bigger and grander… but it has always been right in front of me.

Baking, cooking, sewing, building, writing, praying, talking, listening, collecting, giving, teaching… the list goes on and on, but they are all ways to serve our Risen Savior.  Sure some may seem more significant than others… but they are all equally important in God’s eyes.

Maybe you're already thinking about what your hidden gift may be.  You may be realizing for the first time that it can be your ministry!  You may even still be thinking that it is too insignificant to matter to the body of Christ.

So, I want you to consider this pebble.  It’s small… many of you might not even be able to see it in my hand.  But trust me it is here.  This pebble was in my shoe.  It dug into my skin, caused pain in my toes, even shot pain into my leg.  I removed my shoe a few times expecting to find some large object that was causing all my pain… but I would find nothing, put my shoe back on, and continued to feel the significance of this tiny pebble.  If you think something small cannot make an impact, give me your shoe!  A few steps will tell you that what you consider insignificant can make a big impact for God!

Philippians 2: 14-16

14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life.

We were made to shine Jesus.  Shine like stars in the sky.  When we send the card, deliver the cookies, knit the blanket, collect the plastic bags… we are shining Jesus to others.  But it isn’t necessarily what we do alone that makes the difference in God’s kingdom.  Truly, when all of God’s creation starts fulfilling their purpose, God makes great things happen.  

Corinthians 2:12- 27

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

IV. Made for Praise

So, if you bake… do you just continue baking?  If you build things or sew clothes or paint works of art, do you just keep doing what you do?  In Exodus, God said:

Exodus 9:16

16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

Our purpose is to proclaim His name to all mankind.  So you bake cookies and give Him the glory.  You build things for people in the community and use your service to shine Jesus.  You sew or you paint to glorify God and to let people see and experience His love through you.

My prayer for all of you is that if you are searching for your purpose or your place in God’s kingdom, you prayerfully consider the gifts God has given you and you ask Him to reveal to you ways that you can use them to glorify Him.  Then do what you love to serve God and His people and to shine the love of God to others

Romans 8:28

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

God has big plans in store for you.  You were made on purpose for a purpose.  Now go out and be the best you for Jesus.

Thanks so much for reading! Our third episode continues the topic of purpose, this time focusing more on what our gifts are and how to use them to glorify the Lord. Look for it this weekend!