Finding out your purpose in life

My Year Listening to God: Finding your purpose in life.

Today I stood in 90 degree sunshine on triple-H afternoon, waiting for a church bus to leave our parking lot. Standing with students and parents to authorize the junior high missions team, I praised God for His wisdom as I prayed for them for the week in South Bend.

In another part of the church parking lot, the high school missions team left for Philadephia. Three 15-passenger vans paraded and honked as they past us, the team was waving, gesturing, and wishing us well.

On mission for God. That's what I love about Wooster Grace. God's heart is our heart. We value reaching out to people. Therefore we mobilize students and adults to go out into the world and to get some skills in learning how to help others. We encourage each participant to discover his or her purpose on these missions trips--we cultivate introspective searching, stretching projects and relationships, and inspiring insights into who God made you to be. Your purpose is to be on-mission for God.

Each destination is facilitating outreach in a place where a new church is emerging. Each student is on-mission for God. Each leader is on-mission for God. Both teams are on-mission for God.

by .milan

I am going to pray for them each day--today's prayer: "Lord, may each person seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness, and may all their everyday human concerns be met (Matthew 6:33)."

I also read from Abraham's life. He talked with God. His conversation with God was to ask for mercy. He cared about his family (Lot, his nephew). He dialogued with God, in fact, ABraham queried God throughout his prayer (Genesis 18:23-33). God spoke to Abraham. Abraham spoke with God. Prayer is a dialogue. Prayer is not a "gimme" session. Prayer is communion with God.

I fail in making prayer a communion with God. I focus so much on my petitions that I disregard my relationship with God. I need to cultivate that aspect of prayer--more of dialogue, which means asking, sharing, and quiet listening. May God help you hear His voice. I want to hear God speak. "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening (I Samuel 2:11)."

Thus, I choose to listen more to discover how to live on purpose for God. He will take care of my human concerns. I can trust Him. I can live a purposeful life with God's help.

Pray for my house to sell

My sermon on Sunday

I got the opportunity to preach this past Sunday. Pastor Nick Cleveland teamed up with me. Together we took Hebrews 12:1-3 as the text for challenging people to keep on running in the race of faith. There are obstacles, hinderances that need to be thrown off to run well.

Five things need to be left behind to keep running the race of faith: worries, wounds, my way, ungodly wants, and wrongs. The remedy for each are: leave behind worries by praying; leave behind wounds by forgiving; leave my way by humbling myself to go God's way; leave behind ungodly wants by training; and leave behind wrongs by confessing.

It is going to be difficult. I have found it challenging to run the race of faith everyday. I struggle with worries. I confessed that getting my house ready for sale is my weighty hinderance that I need to cast off. When I feel in my heart that I can't control the situation, I know in my head that God is in control. Still, I must cognitively act upon what the Bible says in I Peter 5:7, "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." The verb there is a participle (it talks of an ongoing action, not a one-time decision). Every time anxiety grows within me, I can cast it upon God as anxiety emerges. There is no time when I will be worry-free. Not for an extended time. In reality, worry pops up a lot. However, God is truly there for me. I praise Him that He cares for me. Yes, following God as His disciple is challenging, but its benefits truly make it more than worthwhile.

Keep on running,

Pastor Daron

Harvesters Out of Africa

We commissioned in prayer from our office lobby our team to the Central African Republic. Five men, two women carrying loads of luggage to minister to the orphans, widows, and those with AIDS in the capital city of Bangui.

I am so proud of this team. It is my privilege to facilitate trips like these so that our church can develop fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

Please pray with me that all 17 luggage pieces for the team will be handled properly and arrive safely and in one group in Bangui. Ask God to provide health to the team as they travel to Africa--giving them sleep on the flights from Cleveland to Detroit, Paris, and Bangui.