The Purpose Driven Life - 40 Days of purpose - Days 17 & 18

Day 17- I am called to belong not just to believe


Verse to remember- In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:5

Question to consider- Does my level of involvement in my local church demonstrate that I love and am committed to Gods family?

The following principles taught within this chapter are very important and a good reminder to me as I learn how to focus HOW I am involved in helping to build the church through ministry to fellow believers. I believe that I am very involved in what Christ is doing to build the local church we are attending. My wife and I are committed to using the gifts that God has given us to bless others in any way that we can. However as my understanding of WHAT ministry and worship really is I am learning HOW to GROW my perspective of ministry and what I can do to be better at what God has called me to do.


The Church meets the five deepest needs:



Purpose to live for
People to live with
Principles to live by
Profession to live out
Power to live on

Gods purposes for his church are identical to his five purposes for you


Worship helps you to "focus on God"
Fellowship helps you to " face life's problems"
Discipleship helps you to "fortify your faith"
Ministry helps you to "find your talents"
Evangelism helps you to "fulfill your mission"

" The difference between being a church attendees and a church member is commitment. Attendees are spectators from the sidelines, members get involved in the ministry. "

" Jesus has not promised to build your ministry , he has promised to build his church"

We are commanded to do the following "one anothers"

Love
Pray
Encourage
Admonish
Greet
Serve
Teach
Accept
Honor
Bear burdens
Forgive
Submit
Devoted

" Today's culture of independent individualism has created many spiritual orphans - "bunny believers" - who hop around from one church to another without any identity, accountability or commitment. "



Day 18- I need others in my life


Verse - share each others troubles and problems, and in this way obey the law of Christ. Gal 6:2


Question to consider - What one step can I take today to connect with another believer at a more genuine, heart to heart level?

The following Quotes from this chapter stands out for me.

"self-pity dries up sympathy for others"
"you cant have fellowship without forgiveness"
"you must make allowances for each others faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember , the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others" Col 3:13

The best way for me to connect to others for the purpose of genuine fellowship is for me to invest more time into the lives of people around me. I need to make myself available and encourage others to find the time to connect with me. The oly agenda that I should have during these times of connecting is to be open to whatever the Holy Spirit leads us. Listening to others and allowing them to share their heart is a powerful way to build trust and further communications. I need to be more willing to look beyond any obvious rough edges or obvious sin so that I might see the good things in a person that will allow us to have something in common and make a connection. It is so much easier to seek out people with the same interests and commonalities. God created each one of us with such diversity and just because someone is not just like me does not mean that their differences are bad or negative.