Purpose
So life in Cincy's going well... Sorry for the hiatus and lack of posts, but life's busy (I think I said that last time I posted, but that's just the way it is).

Anyway, this morning I went to church for the first time since I've been in Cincinnati. This week, one of the other co-ops was telling me about where he's gone to church a few times while he's been up here, so since I woke up at 7:30 I decided to go check it out. They actually have 4 services, all of which have a different style. I went to the traditional service, but they also have a typical contemporary style service with a praise band and all, a skit/themed service, and an evening service that's kinda like a coffee-house style with an alternitive band. The cool part is that every service has the same message, just presented in different manners (from what I'm aware of).

Anyway, the whole church has just started this 40-day study based on the book A Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren... I really liked what I learned of this study from just today....

Today's message was meant to help answer the question "What on Earth am I here for?" The pastor started off by showing a clip from the movie signs... its where Mel Gibson's brother (or whoever he is) asks "Do you think this is the end of the world?" Mel Gibson's character responds by saying that there are two types of people... one type believes everything happens for a reason and the other type just believes it happened due to luck.

The message went on to answer 'life's 3 greatest questions'...

1. Why Am I alive?
Proverbs 16:4a says that the Lord has made EVERYTHING for his own purpose. God is in control... it's not about me.
Ephesians 1:4 talks about the fact that God desied to make us as the focus of his love and to buy us back in the death of his son.
I was created to love and be loved by God.

2. Does my life Matter?
Important scripture: Isaiah 49:4a, II Corinthians 5:1
If there is no meaning to what we do, it leads to despair.
There are 3 levels of life....
* SURVIVAL = just getting by; symptom - living for the weekend
* SUCCESS = not feeling fulfilled
* SIGNIFICANCE = knowing why you're alive; know purpose
God loves us so much that he wants us forever. And nothing goes unnoticed by Him.
I WAS MADE TO LAST FOREVER WITH GOD.

3. What is my purpose?
"Unless you assume the existence of God, the question of life's meaning and purpose is irrelevant." -- Bernard Russell.
If you don't know the purpose for something, you're likely to misuse it. The best way to learn the purpose is to ask the creator or read the users manual.
IMPORTANT SCRIPTURE: Proverbs 10:19, Acts 10:35, Colossians 1:16
It's never too late to be who you might have been.
I FIND MY PURPOSE GETTING TO KNOW GOD.


Anyway, I found the service very enlightening so I went out and got the book and am going to go try and go through it.... I'll try and update this more often as I go through this book.