Your purpose isn’t about striving to be perfect or get it all together. Your God-given purpose is to become more and more like Jesus, little by little, each day!
Notes 📓✏️:
Your Purpose Is The Process – Pastor Jen DeWeerdt
Ephesians 2:10 (NLT): “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.”
To completely change, to transform!
John 3:3-7 (NLT): “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’”
“Punctiliar process”
The goal isn’t just for you to believe in Jesus – but to become like Him!
Ephesians 5:1 (ESV): “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.”
Disciple
Follow
Imitate
After
1. God loves you as you are, but refuses to leave you there.
2 Corinthians 3:18 (GWT): “We are being changed into His image with ever-increasing glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
2. Christlikeness isn’t automatic – it’s intentional.
– 1. Schedule Scripture before screens.
– 2. Turn your commute into a classroom.
– 3. Show up to grow up.
Psalm 1:1-3 (LB): “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow evil men’s advice, who do not hang around with sinners, scoffing at the things of God. But they delight in doing everything God wants them to, and day and night are always meditating on His laws and thinking about ways to follow Him more closely. They are like trees along a riverbank bearing luscious fruit each season without fail. Their leaves shall never wither, and all they do shall prosper.”
3. You’re not meant to reflect the world – you’re meant to reflect Christ.
Galatians 2:20 (NLT): “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
Galatians 5:22,23 (AMP): “But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love joy, peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
Discussion Questions 📝❓:
- What does it mean to be God’s “masterpiece” as describer in Ephesians 2:10? Do you believe this to be true about yourself?
- Pastor Jen emphasized the importance of being “born again” in a spiritual sense. How does this help us understand our purpose?
- Knowing that part of our purpose is to grow and become more like Jesus, what is a characteristic of Jesus that you are working on imitating right now?
- How can being part of a community of believers (the family of God) help us in becoming more like Jesus?