It’s a question the majority of us will ask at least once in our life…”why am I here?” If you’re like me, you’ve asked yourself this question while experiencing difficulty in life. It’s not uncommon to wrestle with questioning our existence, the direction we believe our God is leading us and the purpose behind our existence. An easy answer to this query would be to simply say, “I have been created by God to serve Him.” While this is true, it doesn’t address the specifics of what we need to be focusing on day by day. Our purpose in life is better defined when we align our priorities with God’s priorities. Each and every one of us as Christians have been called by God. We have a ‘general’ purpose as well as a ‘specific’ purpose. Our general purpose after being called by God is to be a disciple of his and to promote discipleship among our fellow brothers & sisters. Another common purpose we all share is to preach the Gospel. You may believe it’s the preacher’s purpose to cover this particular area, but I can assure you, the Great Commission was given to all of us! Each one of us as God’s people share the task of presenting the Gospel to a lost and dying world. Yet another purpose given to us by God is the call to love each other. It sounds simple, but can truly being difficult to accomplish from time to time! The love we share with each other needs to be in deed and not merely in word. Jesus reminds us in John 13: 35, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” There are those who mistakenly believe that there’s a specific formula to follow which will help them determine their specific purpose in life. Sorry to bust your bubble, but it doesn’t exist. So what are we to do when seeking our purpose in life? Our purpose in life will be determined as we’re living out the calling we’ve received from God to be a faithful disciple of Christ Jesus and to disciple others. I can promise you: if you can align your priorities with God’s priorities, the specific call He has for you will become much clearer! 

Have a blessed day and remember the One who gave it to you! Kevin

We’re pretty prompt about scheduling appointments with our doctor when something seems askew. We have regular eye exams, visits to the dentist or even specialists if we’re experiencing a worsening condition. As natural as it is for us to take care of our physical condition, it should be even MORE natural to address our spiritual condition with the Great Physician. Tonight begins our Vacation Bible School. We’ve been anxiously and prayerfully looking forward to this day for quite some time now! We will have children coming to enjoy the different stations, learning new songs and spending time with other young ones as we celebrate “Heartbeat Hospital”. We often see VBS as something primarily for our youngsters, which it is, but we also need to be reminded that each of us are children of our Heavenly Father. When Jesus was asked why He ate with sinners and tax collectors, He replied, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Of a truth, all of us suffer from various “illnesses”. Some of us struggle with pride, others wrestle with being truthful. There are those who deal with addictions and others who struggle with sexual sins. Still others deal with anger issues or even envy. And, for those who “Pharasically” believe other’s sins are worse than their own, we ALL need to be reminded that the only hope any of us have is Jesus Christ! The reason He came was to do His Father’s will and it’s a tremendous comfort to know that God desires to draw us closer to Himself so He can breathe new life into us. Yes, it’s that time of year again…VBS. For our children, VBS stands for Vacation Bible School. For us, VBS needs to stand for Vexed Because of Sin, but through Jesus that acronym becomes VERY BLESSED through the SON. Join us this week and let the Great Physician heal you of any ‘disease’ you’re dealing with! 

Have a blessed day and remember the One who gave it to you! Kevin