Two of the most common and most important questions you will ever hear or ever ask are these: who am I and why am I here? These questions point to our identity and our purpose. Every person who has ever been born, whether they realize it or not, has spent their lives searching out the answers to these two all-important questions. It’s what we all do - it’s in our nature to search for these answers because that is how God created us. God created us in His image to be a reflection of Him and to be in relationship with Him. We are the supreme object of God's Creation. If anything should excite you and fill you with confidence, it’s knowing this! There are many aspects to answering the questions of who I am and why I am here, but a simple response would be that you are a child of God and you were created to be in relationship with your Heavenly Father. Though that isn’t all you were created for, it is a good foundational starting point and everything that God has for you cannot happen unless we live by these two truths first and foremost. Jeremiah 1:5 reveals to us that God has formed us in the womb, He knew us before we were born and He has a specific plan and purpose for our lives. That purpose, simply put, is to know God and make Him known. Another way of stating this would be for us to have a relationship with God, and to spend our lives using the gifts, talents and resources  He has given each of us to expand the Kingdom of God here on earth. This is what a life of worship and devotion looks like; it is a life of increase, of drawing closer to God and depending on Him more and more with every day of our life. John the baptists said it like this of Jesus: “He must become more, and I must become less.” That is a beautiful way of looking at our identity and purpose: Every day of my life I will become more like Christ so much so that when people look at me, they see Christ. This is what it means to be In Christ and it is what Jesus taught  His disciples how to do over his 3-year ministry. Every person has two choices in life when it comes to their identity and purpose. You can choose to live out and lean into the identity and purpose that God has laid out in His word for you, or you can choose to live out the identity and purpose that the world has for you. These two options are described by Paul in Romans chapter 12 as living a life that is conformed to the pattern of the world, or a life that is transformed by the word of God. Which path you choose, whether a transformed or a conformed life, will determine the fellowship you have with your creator and your fulfillment in life. The fellowship you were born to have with your Father was severed by sin, and we are incapable of regaining a right relationship with God through our own efforts. The only way to restore that connection and get back to your true purpose and identity is through Jesus.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart . Jeremiah 1:5

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Roman 12:2

A study of the doctrine of knowing God (epistemology). Special attention will be given to the practice of knowing God so as to challenge and motivate the student to seek God. Special emphasis will be on what faith is and is not and how to use your faith.

Purpose Driven Life
Rick Warren