The Purpose Driven Life:
Small Group: Week 2 (Worship)

"For God had planted them like strong and graceful oaks for his own glory." Isaiah 61:3 (LB)

Let's face it, God did not need to create us. He chose to create you and me and everyone else for His own pleasure. Warren says, "You exist for His benefit, His glory, His purpose, and His delight."

Everything starts with God, not with us. Therefore, to find our purpose in life we must begin with worship. Many misunderstand worship, thinking only in terms of Sunday services or their favorite church music. While worship may include these things, God expects a lot more. He created us for a relationship, not a religion.

When asked about this, Jesus said that the first and greatest commandment is, "Love God with your entire being." Real worship consists of a lifestyle of loving God in every way possible.

In the first 11 chapters of Romans, Paul describes the depth of God's love for us. "Therefore," Paul says at the beginning of Romans 12, "I urge you ... to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform ... to the pattern of this world. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Live like God wants you to live, not as the culture around you wants.

1. To worship, we must dedicate ourselves to God, recognizing that worship is voluntary - like all acts of love -- but nonetheless complete only when we are committed fully to God's purposes;

2. To worship, we must learn the principle of insulation from the world even while we are moving into it to spread the Gospel. We are not meant to isolate ourselves from the world.

3. Worship applies the principal of metamorphosis. Worship has the power to transform us from ugly to beautiful. Seeing God's greatness shrinks our problems and allows us to soar.