One of my favorite shows growing up was the “A-Team!”  I loved to hear Hannibal, the leader of the group with a cigar in one side of his mouth utter these words out of the other side of his mouth:  “I Love It When A Plan Comes Together!”  This is just how I feel a lot of Sunday mornings when we gather together to fellowship with each other, worship our Creator and minister to the world.

It does not all work exactly the way that we planned it, but enough of the plan works for us to be able to see the mighty hand of our God moving to touch and grow our lives!  This morning started out very special with many of the Northwood family joining together for our first of many fellowship breakfasts.  It was so amazing to see children, teenagers, adults and senior adults coming together to begin a great day of worship and service.  I love to see the smiles on the faces and hearing the conversations and laughter.  I believe this is worship without our even trying to worship!

We then had eight of our classes embark on a new journey of seeking to understand how God works through all situations, both good and bad to accomplish amazing and mighty things in our lives.  The discussion was meaningful, the insights were pure and the challenge was clear.

Worship began with a really neat video that had to make you think!  I am so thankful that I have a Savior, Who did for me what I could not do for myself!  We then were treated to an extra special miracle, when a little girl who just three years ago, we were not sure that she would live and if she did live, it could be with very serious limitations.  today that little girl stood in front of the congregation that prayed and ask God for a miracle and sang with all of her heart to give her God and healer the glory!  Thank to the Stewart and Wilborn families for working together to share a very special treat with the Northwood family.

The praise team and choir did another excellent job of using music to guide us into the presence of the author and giver of AMAZING GRACE!  What a blessing to see and hear smiling faces, raised hands and united voices giving praise to where praise is due!  Very thankful for the men and women who take time out of their schedule each week to be a vital part of a very important team .

God wants to write an amazing story in and upon your life.  The devil wants to write a destructive story about your life.  If you are reading this, then the good news is:  There is still time to write an amazing story!

Today, God began the process of trying to help us to think by challenging us and hopefully inspiring and encouraging us to make some commitments that will change everything.

Life does not always work the way you plan it and for this very reason, it is easy to get discouraged.  But often, when we get to the end of ourselves, then we get to the beginning of God and the amazing plans that He has for our lives.

Many times in the living of our life, God will initiate change.  We tend to miss this change, because we don’t want to see it or because we are so caught up in our own stuff.  Jesus invites you to invite Him to take you on the RIDE OF YOUR LIFE, which means that you have a choice to make.

You have to decide to trust what you know or step out on faith.  Stepping out on faith, allows God to show up and do things that cannot be explained.  God gets the glory and all of us live in the blessing.  This is not an easy way or place to live!

You have to move out of your comfort zone!  It will not be easy to move out of your comfort zone.  It is going to be hard, but hard is not impossible for the child of God!  God can do, will do, has done and is doing the incredible, unexplainable and amazing!

Moving out of your comfort zone takes time.  It does not happen instantly.  The good things take time.  The amazing story that God wants to write in, upon and through your life can’t happen with instant gratification, but it can happen with continued faith and trust in the One who made you and keeps you made!

Jesus wants to do outrageous, amazing and unexplainable things in our lives!  What are the dreams you dream, prayers your pray and hopes you grow?  God has made you to live an amazing story, but you have to be willing to step out of your self-written and limited story and into the amazing story that God has been writing for all eternity!

We all have work to do and God is here willing to help us to help ourselves for His glory and man’s blessing!

Are you ever busy?  Does it seem like you never have any time for yourself?  Do you feel like you are always running around doing things for others and often neglecting yourself?  If you feel this way, then take a moment and realize it does not have to be a bad thing.  You just have to make sure your motivation is right!

Like most of my weeks, this has been a very busy week.  I was spending a little time with my Creator this morning thinking back over my week and all of the things that I have been involved in.  And I realized; I spend a lot of my time doing things for other people.  In fact almost everything I do is for someone else and that’s cool!

It also hit me that my doing for others ultimately is the best thing that I can do for myself, because it brings me a purpose and fulfillment that in the grand scheme of thins help me to know that I matter.  This all got me to thinking about my motivation and the bottom line is this:  I do what I do because I love God!  Because I love God, I love others.  I know that each person, even the difficult are God’s special creation and that He has a purpose and plan for each of our lives.  Because I love God and love others, I serve God by serving others!

When I serve others, I glorify God!  When I glorify God, I do what I was created to do!  When I do what I was created to do, I enjoy the fulfillment of accomplishment!  Please understand that this is not bragging.  It’s just me having one of those moments of realization that makes me thankful that even when I’m not thinking about it, God is guiding and growing my life in very special ways.

God is awesome!  Let Him work in and through your life by serving others to glorify Him!  You will be glad you did!

What is your purpose?  Don’t just read over that question and move on to the next sentence.  Seriously ask and answer:  What is your purpose?  We all have a purpose, but most of us are not sure of what it is.  We live our lives and sometimes, if we are lucky, we might by accident bump into our purpose.  Psalm 139:14 says:  “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”  You are a creation of God and if God took the time to create you, then He also took the time to create you for a reason.

Every morning I begin my day by spending time with God.  I pray, talk with Him and I read the Bible and listen for His wisdom.  Through the years this has helped me to discover and stay true to my purpose.  Life is not always easy and it has thrown me more than a handful of curve balls, but my Creator has been with me every step of the way and has gotten me through even the worst of it – with the calm reassurance that I was created on purpose for a purpose!

The reason that you need to ask and answer the question:  “What is my purpose?”, is because your purpose does things for you that you could never dream or imagine that it is doing!  So let me share with you a simple idea that will help you to discover and pursue your purpose!

This Is A Process!  You purpose does not change, but it may look very different today than it did a few years ago.  Purpose is always evolving and growing.  It takes on new characteristics as you face, learn and develop from the living of life.  There is a big difference between a goal and your purpose.  A goal is something that you can achieve and then it’s done.  A purpose is never-ending.  A goal has a destination.  A purpose is the journey.  You might have a goal of becoming a teacher, but teaching is not your purpose.  Teaching is a means of fulfilling your purpose.  Your purpose is to educate, train and grow others with knowledge that will challenge and change their lives!

Ask The Question!  What journey do you want to take with your life?  What journey were you created to take with your life?  What journey will you take with your life and where will that journey take you?  Answer these questions and you will begin to discover, pursue and fulfill your purpose!

This May Take Some Time!  Discovering your purpose is a process.  If you really want to know your purpose, then try this idea to help you get started!

brainstorm!  Sit down and actually take the time to think about it!  Get a blank piece of paper or a blank computer screen and answer these questions:

-What do I love to do?
-What am I passionate about?
-What would other people say excites me?
-Who do you admire and what do you admire about them?
-What accomplishments in your life have made you feel special and needed?
-What do other people brag on about you?
-If money were not an issue, what would you spend your time doing?
-If you knew you only had a year to live – what would you do with that year?

As you answer these questions, you should begin to notice a theme emerging.  This theme will help you to understand your purpose!  Try to figure it out and write it down in one sentence!  When you read your purpose sentence, it should excite you and fill your life with passion!  If you figure out your passion, you will discover a fuel source that will take you to amazing places – that’s the power of purpose!