Grace Baptist Church - Bellingham WA. What Is Life's Purpose?

During the spring of 2004 we at Grace Baptist Church went through the Forty Days of Purpose campaign that is outlined in The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. There is little in the book that is brand new, the principles taught in the book can be derived by conscientious Bible study. What is unique and special about this book is Rick's way of bringing it all together in one book that defines the purpose of life on Earth. Rick has a special way of pointing out how much God loves each one of us and desires fellowship with us. Many of us have come to a new and/or better understanding of why we are here and what we are to do with our lives. Through small group meetings and study we have become closer to each other and closer to our Lord and Savior by a better understanding of His love for us.

The first and foremost principle taught is that we are not accidents of the cosmos, we were created by God for a purpose. When God created the heavens and the Earth He did so with you and me in His mind. He knew when, where and to whom you and I would be born. Rick says that because of this, there are no illegitimate children, only illegitimate parents. Because we have an actual purpose in this life, we are only fulfilled when we know our purpose and dedicate our lives to fulfilling the purpose for which we were created.

Rick joyously paints a picture of a loving and caring God whose desire for you is to know and fulfill your purpose in life. We would urge you to get a copy of the book and go through it yourself or with a group. The book is available at most book outlets or on the web. Copies of the book as well as study guides are available the PDL web site (just click on the book).

Below is the basic outline and along with it is a message on that subject presented by our pastor at GBC, Robert Mordhorst. The messages are in mp3 format and my either be downloaded and saved on your computer or streamed through your favorite player. Listen to the messages as a part of a Purpose Driven Life study either individually or as a group. This page is intended for everybody to freely use whether you belong to GBC or not.

This is a question that has been asked down through the ages. People have spent countless hours and countless dollars to try to find the answer in countless ways. It stems from the feeling that everyone has had, 'there has to be more to life than this.' People have sought meaning in hobbies, careers, relationships, religions ,sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. In his message, Pastor Bob studies the answer to three questions. 1. Why am I alive? 2. Does my life matter? 3. What is life's purpose?

God created us to love us and for us to love Him back. How do we express our love for God, by worshipping HIm. How do we worship? We worship in church by singing, prayer, listening to a sermon and by fellowshipping with other believers. We worship God by living our lives and doing everything as unto the Lord. In his message, Pastor Bob expands the common meaning of worship into all aspects of our lives.

We were formed and created to be a part of the family of God. We can't fulfill our purpose as stand alone believers, our purpose is to fellowship with other believers. In order for our God given talents and gifts to be used we must be a part of God's family as a member of a local church. As a member of a church we can nurture others and be nurtured in a family of like minded believers. We were meant to be an integral part of the family of God.

God uses many things in our lives in order to mold the believer into an image of Christ Jesus on earth. Sometimes we do not like what God uses in order to weed out the sin and to shape our character into one like Christ. Our life on Earth is only the dress rehearsal for eternity. In order to become like Christ, we should first understand who Christ is.

We can serve God in many ways. We must be willing to do what God calls us to do whether it is convenient for us at the time or not. We all have certain abilities, but the most important ability is availability. There are many obstacles to serving God, it is our job to remove these obstacles and barriers. All God wants is our best effort in service, He doesn't expect a perfect job from imperfect beings.

We were made for a mission, and that mission is to be missionaries in whatever else God has called us to do. If the gospel of Jesus is meaningful to us and we believe the word of God, then to not tell others of salvation through Jesus Christ is the most selfish act we can do. It is virtually the same as looking at an unbeliever and saying 'You can do to Hell.' That is what is waiting for those who enter eternity without knowing Jesus Christ.

Now that we are aware of our purpose in life, it is up to us to decide to follow our purpose. To live the purpose driven life requires discipline. We all have discipline in our lives, we discipline ourselves to the things we want to do. We have to want to follow our God given purpose.

The journey is never complete this side of heaven, but if you have grown in faith and your knowledge of God's purpose for your life, don't stop now. We may be having a mountain top experience with the Lord, but what goes up will eventually come down. Don't let the descent be head long plunge downward, but realize that we must actually apply what we have learned to our lives on a daily basis, despite the feelings of the moment. We are not instructed to trust our feelings, but rather to trust God.