2. What on Earth am I here for? 5 Benefits to knowing purpose 1) Life has meaning: w/o God no purpose: no purpose no meaning: no meaning no significance. That is a tragedy 2) Life is simple: Always ask, “ does this fulfill my purpose?”. Fruit = Peace. 3) Life is more focused. Career (less = more) 4) Life has motivation. 5) Life is for eternal life. What did you do?

3. Purpose #4 Eph 4: 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. You are put on this earth to make a contribution

4. Purpose #4 Ministry or Service What is service? Definition: Doing anything for others in the name of God. There are no insignificant services. To be clear, we are commanded to serve, not optional.

5. Service Sometimes our attitude is to come and take from the church, and having the church meet my needs. Got it backwards: Should say, what can we give and what needs are there that are not met. Remember, at the end, I need to give account of my service. Will my excuses be valid: I was busy, was working, was studying, having fun, …

6. Service Let’s look at some characters and see if they had excuses: AbrahamOld JosephAbused MosesStuttered RahabProstitute DavidSmall JeremiahDepressed JonahReluctant PeterHot head ThomasDoubted PaulPoor Health

7. Service Job 10: 8 “Your hands have made me and fashioned me” Is 43:21 “This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise” Conclusion: You were shaped to serve God. You were custom made, not mass produced.

8. SHAPE God gave you a SHAPE Or S H A P E

9. SHAPE S Spiritual Gifts H Heart A Abilities or talents P Personality E Experiences

10. Using What God Gave You 1) Assess your gifts: make a list of what you are good at, what people commented about you, where are my successes. Experiment. 2) Accept and Enjoy: recognize your limits. Stop comparing with others (2 Cor 10:12) 3) Keep developing: Analogy of muscles.