Round Table Discussion for September 29th, 2021 7:30 PM (PST) Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87694212250
“There is no greater gift you can give or receive than to honor your calling.
It’s why you were born.
And how you become most truly alive. ~Oprah Winfrey
Once we know who we are and what our purpose is, decision making becomes
easier. Our job is to fulfill our purpose by serving others with our gifting, energy, learning style, love language and passion. We’re told in Deuteronomy 6:5 to Love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our might. That means knowing what our purpose in the world is and understanding what our number one job is: To bring as many people to heaven as we are able. All the other things we do must funnel toward this one goal.
I once was involved in a discussion that turned to a confrontation. We were in Palm Springs during the Dinah Shore days. I was eager to go to the marketplace but was told the place would be packed with gays. My response was, “I don’t mind crowds.” The other person launched into a twenty-minute rant about not wanting to be around ‘those’ people. I asked for clarification of ‘those’ people. What I heard next was rhetoric of the thoughtless kind and a question, “How can you not be bothered by this?”
My response was, “I am a Christian first, I am not judge and jury.”
His response was, “I guess I’m just old fashioned.”
I answered, “If you are so convinced that gay people are not saved, why wouldn’t you be there attempting to demonstrate the value of being saved? Your actions and attitudes will not inspire anyone to want the God you serve. The same would be true for thieves, thugs, greedy people and liars.”
This is true of everyone, our lifestyle attitudes and actions will either win others
or be the very reason they have no interest in understanding the gift God has freely given. And when reading the instruction book Christ left for us there are countless stories where He went out of His way to engage people society thought less than important: tax collectors, prostitutes, thieves, murderers, and demon possessed. It is time for all of us to practice drawing a circle that is inclusive.
As Christians we have one main job—get as many to heaven as possible!
Pick Up Your Sword:
- “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” ~ Hebrews 10:23-25
What does Hebrews say is our job or purpose here on earth?
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- “If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.” ~ Philippians 2:1-8 What does Philippians say is our job?
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- “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” ~ Ephesians 2:8-10 What does Ephesians say about our purpose?
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- “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” ~ Colossians 3: 15-17 (ESV) How are we to live our lives according to Colossians?
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- “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
~ Philippians 3:13-14
What does Paul teach us in this verse?
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- “A brother offended is harder to be won over than a strong city.”
~ Proverbs 18:19
What does this verse warn us about?
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