How Do You Find Your Unique Purpose?
Pat Steeves · Tidal Church Moncton · February 2, 2025 · Redeeming Your Routine series
Pat Steeves looks at Ephesians 2:10 and shows that we are God's handiwork, made on purpose for good works. Finding your unique purpose at work starts with knowing who you are, using the SHAPE tool: spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality and experiences.
More from Pat Steeves · The Redeeming Your Routine series
Topics: Identity, Purpose, Work
Transcript
[0:00] How much of your time is spent looking for things that you've lost? I don't know about you, but it seems like the more technology we have, the more cords, the more plugins, the more chargers. It seems like it's almost a full-time job just keeping track of our stuff. Now, I know, you're probably like me. We all have our stories of things that we've lost. And so this takes me back to this summer where I took my family camping at Caden's Island. Alright? The key word is Caden's Island, meaning you have to take a boat to get there. And if you've heard me speak before, you've heard me share of my challenges with camping. But you know what? We had a phenomenal weekend.
[0:47] The weather was great, everything was amazing except for maybe the camping part, but we're leaving the island. And so we have to take a boat back over to the mainland again, amazing weekend. So many memories. And so we get back to our car, we have all of our stuff, and the search begins for our keys. And so camping, it's a fun game where you pack everything all up for the weekend and you set everything all up, you tear it all back down, you pack it up, and you take it back. And so now we're playing this fun game of unpacking everything. Have you ever tried to go inside of a tent that's not properly put up and you're looking in the pockets for these keys that you can't find?
[1:36] It's so much fun. And, you know, it turned into a four hour round trip of driving home, thankfully, to a friend that could drive us home to go get keys so that we could come back and get our vehicle. And so the moral of the story is don't go camping. Not really. This leads us into our topic, but the truth is that often in life we search for things, search for things that are more important than keys and credit cards and passports and all the different things that we think are important. But we search for some really big things that takes us to our topic today, which is a big one. How do we find our unique purpose?
[2:26] And you don't have to spend a whole lot of time around the water cooler at work or at break time at your job site to hear people say things like, I'm just working for the weekend. I'm just going paycheck to paycheck, just working for retirement. These are the things. How many of you guys have heard this? This is what we kind of say when it comes to our work, and hopefully over the last few weeks, we've been talking about redeeming your routine. We're understanding that there is actually a really big purpose when it comes to our work. And so we have a big challenge this morning. In 30 minutes or less, we need to be able to determine what is our unique purpose when it comes to work.
[3:18] Statistics would back this up. Statistics say that 44% of people, Canadians in the workforce are dissatisfied with their job, or they feel like they're in the wrong career. Almost 50%, isn't that wild? Interesting enough, I don't know if you've ever thought about this, but we spend 50% of our life working. That's a big number, right? And so we have people that are spending 50% of their life doing something that they don't feel like they enjoy. They don't find purpose, they don't find meaning, and actually they kind of feel stuck and scared and stuck in a job.
[4:06] But I believe that as Christians, we can find a bigger purpose when it comes to our work. And so, how do we do this? I want us to look today at Scripture. And I want us to be reminded of, this is the Bible that I have here today. This is the manual for our life. And what I mean by that is, how many of you have purchased some new gadget? Anything that you purchase, it comes with what? A manual. And so you go through that manual and it'll explain to you how to assemble it, how to maintain it, how to fix it when it's broken.
[4:58] But I wanna remind us that this book, this Bible, this is just not something that we read as Christians because we're taught and we're, you know, you need to read your Bible. But do you understand that this is the manual for our life? This is how we can build our life. When our life is broken, this book will tell us how to put it back together and it will lead and guide. And so when it comes to this morning, determining our purpose when it comes to work, this is our guide. This will give us direction this morning. And so we're gonna turn up to Ephesians 2, verse 10, verse 10. Ephesians 2:10 says this, for we are God's handiwork, we're His masterpiece created in Jesus Christ to do good works.
[5:55] Can somebody say good works? Good works? Just wanna make sure that you guys are with me, which God prepared in advance for us. If we are going to know our unique purpose, if we're going to find our unique purpose, you need to know that you are unique. And what I mean by that, in Scripture it says that God, for we are God's handiwork. I don't know if you've ever spent much time around a craftsman or someone that works with wood, they build a masterpiece. There is only one of its kind. And we'll spend more money on something like that than something that is mass produced because it's unique and it's one of a kind.
[6:44] Now, I know that we've probably grown up in school or our parents. And if you have siblings, they've made fun of this statement. When someone's like, oh, you're special, right? And we like jab and like, oh yeah, he's special, right? But if we are going to understand that we are unique, we have to have a revelation that you truly are unique. There was only one of you, there's only one that's ever been, there's only one that ever was. You have different giftings, abilities, personalities, and talents that nobody has. And I'm spending a little bit of time here because I really want to make sure that as believers, as followers of Christ, we have to understand that God made you a masterpiece.
[7:36] And when we can get that revelation and that believability on the inside of us, then we begin to understand that, hey, maybe there is a purpose for my life in the mundane, in the boring, in the things that are routine. Maybe you can believe that you know what? There is purpose for me. You are a masterpiece. You are created by God to do something. And here's what's fun about this Scripture, as I've had some time to just think about this, as we get that revelation that, you know what, hey, maybe there is something in me that I have to offer this world. The second part of that verse says, to do good works.
[8:21] How many know that when someone knows their purpose, When someone has some passion, when someone has some life in them, I always believe that there are some good works that they can do. I believe that there are some opportunities that God will bring your way as we understand. Look at the person beside you this morning and say, "You're unique." Say, "You're unique." I'm not gonna say that 10 times fast, because it is a bit of a tongue twister. But the thing is, nobody can do it for you. We're on our own this morning to discover, to find our unique purpose.
[9:08] And so how do we do this? We gotta understand that discovering and finding our purpose is less about what to do. And it's more about discovering and knowing who we are. Finding our purpose is less about what to do and more about knowing who you are. Let me explain this. I have a son. Many of you guys have met Wes, and I have more than one son. I have four kids. But you've met Weston. You've probably seen him up here or seen him around in the atrium, but he's actually graduating high school. Wow. Right? Yeah. Harrison Trumble. What is the question that everybody asks him?
[9:55] What are you gonna do next? What university are you going to go to? What are you gonna follow? It's always this "what" question, and I don't know about you, but that's a lot of pressure for a 17-year-old. I know lots of 30 and 40 and 50 year olds that are still asking that question, right? And so I want us to reframe that question and think less about what college, what compensation do I need to make? What is next? And I want us to rephrase the question and look at who are we? What are the passions that we have? What are the things that excite us, that motivate us?
[10:40] What are the gifts? What are the personalities that we have? And I think if you're here today, you're struggling. And I think that discovering our purpose, finding our purpose is a journey, not a destination. I really do believe that. But I feel like we find the answer to that by discovering who we are and how we're wired. And it's less about what we need to do. You see, I think culture does a really good job at saying, "Oh, you need to do these kinds of things," right? You need to further your education. You need to go to this university, you need to get this as a career, and you'll find your purpose. But I really believe, especially as Christians, if we look at who we are, who God has made us, how He's wired us, we can actually find the answer.
[11:28] And so we're gonna work through this together. All right? We're gonna work through this resource together that I think is going to be really helpful as we discover who we are today. Now, we're gonna use this acronym that we're gonna call SHAPE. Okay? It's to help guide us through this, but it's also to help remind us. Okay, how many know that physically we should probably have a healthy shape, right? How many know that we all have a different shape, right? Some of us are, you know, maybe tall, some are shorter than others. Some of us have, you know, some maybe have like a musclely kind of shape and others are kind of like their muscles are insulated more, right?
[12:15] But we all have a distinct shape on the outside. So it would make sense to me that if we have a shape on the outside, would it not be right to think that we have a shape on the inside that we're all different? Would that make sense? And I believe that we're, I believe that that's really important, that we understand that we have something on the inside of us that's different than anybody else. And so we're gonna work down through this acronym called SHAPE. Can you guys say "SHAPE, SHAPE"? First off, we need to know that we have a spiritual gift as followers of Christ, as believers, as Christians.
[13:01] We have a spiritual gift, and we find this right here in 1 Corinthians 12. It says, "A spiritual gift is given to us all as a means of helping the entire church." We have a spiritual gift. What is a spiritual gift? A spiritual gift is a God-given ability that He gives us for the church. And we're gonna put a list up on the screen. If you read in Corinthians, you'll see that there's 20 different spiritual gifts. And I would encourage you to find out and discover what your gift is. And actually at the end of the message, I'm gonna give you guys a number that you can text or we're gonna send all these resources to you.
[13:46] Yes, I'm giving you homework. All right? And it's actually just to prepare you, okay? I always never liked those teachers that gave me homework, and now I'm doing it. I can't believe this, how the tables have turned, but I'm gonna give you a resource that I want you to work through. And it's actually about two hours of work for real, because I want you to discover who you are. But your spiritual gifts test. How many of you guys know my assistant, Bonnie? Okay? She's amazing, right? You've all received emails, text messages from her, but her spiritual gift is in administration. And it's amazing that I see her do the tasks that she does where we, you know, there's over 600 new guests that come here and we have ways of, you know, we wanna be able to track with them and make sure that no one gets lost in this.
[14:40] Hundreds of people in small groups, over 50 volunteers in connections on Sunday morning, and she helps administrate that. All right? The fun thing is she actually worked for Purolator, the courier company. She was like a professional trainer. And so she would train new hires and train people for their new positions. And she often reminds me that she's been training me for six years and I still have a ways to go, but that's her spiritual gift. And we only have time today to just highlight some of them, but some of the spiritual gifts are in giving. And some of you here, you just have a passion and it excites you to be able to give. And as we talk about having a life of purpose, man, you are living in your purpose when you're able to give and help others.
[15:34] And so I am super excited to be able to see you find out and discover what is that spiritual gift that makes you tick. And it's less about the work that you do from nine to five or whatever it is. But once you discover the gift that God has for you, I'm telling you, life takes on a whole new meaning. Somebody say "spiritual gift." Spiritual gift. We're gonna send you, when you text us at the end of the message, we're gonna send you a spiritual gift test that you can take. And it will show you what your spiritual gift is. Second is heart. I love this heart. What is it that excites you?
[16:22] That's your passion. Or what is it that pulls on your heartstrings? We all have it. What is it? And we've got a list here of a few things. For some of you, it's physical needs. When someone's in need, they need, you know, clothing, shelter, there's something that they need. You just like kick into action and you're like, "Oh, we need to be able to solve this. I need to be able to fix that for them." What is it that pulls on your heartstrings? Again, we have just a list here, but I believe if you'll take time looking that over, we'll send this to you. Do you have a heart? You know, we have teachers in the room. Your heart is to teach people. That's what your passion is.
[17:10] You're so patient, right? If you're not a teacher, I, I don't consider myself a teacher, but I'm just like, "I could never do that." But you live, eat, breathe. And you just want to be able to help teach and guide people. For some, it's spiritual needs. And that's why I'm in ministry is because I have a passion for people to know that there's a different option in their life. That the world wants to offer you this. And God's over here and He offers you this. And that's my passion, is to be able to show people and to be able to talk to people and say, "You know what? There's something better. There's something bigger. There's something greater for your life." But that's where my heart is. And I wanna ask you the question this morning.
[17:57] Where is your heart? And I believe if you'll look at that list, you will find it. And you'll find that thing that fires you up, that thing that you're passionate about. When you discover the thing that you were created for, your life will take on a whole new meaning. Or keep moving on through the SHAPE acronym. Are you guys still with me? Alright, next up we got A for abilities. Romans 12:5 says, God has given us the ability to do certain things. Well, what is it that you do with ease? Like, it almost like frustrates the people around you where you're just like, "How do you do that?
[18:45] You make that look so easy." What is that ability that you have? 'Cause you have it, but it's for you to discover and to find what that is. And we're gonna put a list up on the screen, just a short list. But again, we're gonna send you a more comprehensive list of 50 things, 50 different abilities. And this is just a guide to help you discover what is the thing that you really, really love and thrive to do. Not just like to do, but love to do. And I believe that as you look over that list and you spend some time, I believe the Holy Spirit's gonna make some of those things clear to you. And I love talking about abilities.
[19:33] And as I mentioned, we have four kids and one of my, and and they're all different, right? It's so fun. But one of my boys, he told me, he's like, "Dad," he's like, "I'm not gonna shovel snow for you." And we have a company and we do some snow removal. And I'm like, "No, that's fine. Like, and he's always looking for, he's kind of like entrepreneurial, right? And so I'm like, "Listen, like there's no pressure. Like you can go do whatever," right? And so in the first semester of this year, he takes shop class. Like, how many of you guys have taken shop, like woodworking, any like skilled? Okay, my hand is not up. I was just given the illustration, but he's taking shop. Okay? I've never done any of this before.
[20:19] And again, he's very entrepreneurial. And so he discovers that he can build things and make money by selling them. And so he starts making cutting boards. And the funny thing is, like, kids take a lot of things in their backpacks, but he would like keep these cutting boards that he's making in shop class. And when he was in class, he would kind of just make sure that he had them on display for his teachers. And they would, so they would ask him like, "Hey Nelson, what are these?" "Oh, these are just Christmas gifts that I'm making." I'm like, "Oh, are they for sale?" "Actually, they are." And so he's wheeling and dealing in class selling cutting boards and different things, right? And I just wanna show this one thing. Here's a wooden pallet, okay?
[21:06] That we found for free. Okay? People were getting rid of it and he turned it into this like coffee table, which he's gonna sell, right? And why am I sharing this? Well, obviously 'cause I'm proud of my kids, but the point I wanna make is we all have abilities. We all have giftings. I didn't show him how to do this. This is something that he picked up on his own. And for parents in the room, I wanna encourage us as parents, it's our role and responsibility to see the different giftings and ability in our kids and help lead, help steer, help direct, help encourage and direct them because there's abilities there.
[21:52] And we live in a world where people will use those abilities for a lot of other things. But as parents, we need to fight for and help teach, help train and steer those. And I think that you're with me and I think that you've experienced this, but when you live your life using those giftings and abilities, it doesn't matter what job you have, it doesn't matter what's going on. When you discover those abilities in your life, life is fun. Life is fulfilling. And I believe that's the picture that we need to present as Christians. The temptation when it comes to abilities is that we want to compare ourselves to others.
[22:38] And as we refine our abilities, there's less temptation to compare because you understand that I can never be, I can never be a Pastor Jim. I can never be a Pastor Marc. All I can be is the best me. And we live in a culture and a society where we want to compare our talents and abilities and how much money we have and all those different things. And have begun to realize that the more I focus on who God's made me, the less I compare myself with others. Look at the person beside you and say, "That's good." It is good because a lot of our time is spent comparing and God's on the sideline saying, "You are a masterpiece.
[23:33] You are unique. I made you special, I made you unique. Why are you trying to be something you're not?" Are you guys with me this morning? Yes. Why does this matter? Because I believe as followers of Jesus, when we are living in our different gifts and abilities and purposes and passions, we don't have to tell people we're a Christian, they're gonna be attracted by our life and be like, "What is with you? I want what you have," right? Somebody say, "Abilities." We are moving through these. We've got abilities. And next up we have personalities. So fun.
[24:23] So fun. How many of you here this morning enjoy people, right? You are what we call extroverted. I won't ask you to raise your hand on this one, but who does not like people? Okay, but personalities, we all have a different personality, and we're gonna send you a personality test that you can take. But personalities are so fun. You see, we have risk takers, we have some that like to play it safe. We have people that are leaders and we have others that like to work on a team. We have people that you like consistency and the same day in and day out.
[25:08] And then we have others that you like variety, right? You like to mix it up. There are different personalities. And I wanna tell you that God has placed that in you for a reason. And it's up to us to discover what is the personality and how does that fit into my purpose? Webster's defines a personality as this, it's a complex characteristic that distinguishes an individual. But listen to this: our personalities affect the way that you feel, you think, and act. Depending on our personalities is depends on how we make decisions, problem solving, resolving conflict.
[25:54] Your personality takes center stage. And here's the reality, we don't need to like everybody, okay? I've learned to accept that not everybody enjoys me, okay? But we've been given a personality and we are able to think in a certain way, problem solve that others can't. And I don't want you to underestimate that God has placed that in you, but it's up for us to discover what personality is that. Learn about it and see how you can best use your personality for what God has designed you. You see, just like in the physical, we need to work on our shape, right?
[26:40] We need to exercise, we need to eat healthy. But it's interesting how when it comes to our shape and how we're made and who we are, I don't feel like we often work enough on that. And so I feel like it's so important that as we discover who we are, we become very healthy on the inside. And when we're healthy on the inside, guess what? We're healthy on the outside. Let's work on our shape. Last one is E. The last part of our acronym today in the SHAPE acronym is E. And it stands for experiences. Our life experiences, both positive and painful, shape us.
[27:27] And I have this quote here that says, life can only be understood backward, but must be lived forward. What are the lessons that you've learned? What are the achievements that you have? You see, our experiences tell a story. And that's one of the things that I love when I'm able to meet somebody or have coffee, is each one of us has our story. We have a journey. And maybe for you, you feel sort of like stuck. Like, I'm not sure what my purpose is. It doesn't feel like I'm going anywhere. Do you know what?
[28:13] Sometimes our pain is part of our story. It's part of our journey. But what are your experiences? And we're gonna give you this exercise to reflect on your story, on your experiences, the personal achievements that you have, vocational, relational, education. What are the things, these all tell a story in? What things bring you the most joy? What brings you disappointment, frustration, and excitement? Don't waste the pain in your past. Use it to move you forward. Do you know your shape, your spiritual gift?
[29:02] What's your heart for? What pulls on those heartstrings? Or what excites you? What are your abilities? Do you know your personality? And do you know that your experiences, your story, it matters? And God wants to use all of that. Why does He wanna use it? He wants to use it to bring people to Jesus, to glorify Jesus. And so as I conclude here, I share all this with you, which seems to me like a whole lot of information, but I wanna encourage you to text the word SHAPE to the number on the screen.
[29:48] And legit, we're gonna send you some links and a resource. And again, my amazing assistant, Bonnie, that administrating gift that she has, has put something together that I believe is a very helpful resource and tool for each and every one of us to spend some time working on our shape and discovering more of who we are. And so we're gonna send that to you when you text. And I understand that maybe there's some here that you don't have maybe a cell phone or the ability to do that. I do have a couple of volunteers out in the atrium that they'll help you get a paper copy and help you with that because I want each and every person to be able to discover and find what is that unique purpose that you have.
[30:37] Could I invite you guys to stand with me this morning? And I know that sometimes, in the last few weeks, sometimes there's a message and then we have to get right off. But I wanted to allow a few minutes, which we have a few minutes, because when it comes to our purpose, I believe it's such a big thing that we search for. And in preparing for today and preparing for this series, here's what I felt like, like God was saying, was that there's people that are kind of in a crossroads of trying to decide what's next. Do I change careers? Do I go back to school?
[31:22] Those are big decisions. And my prayer is that throughout this series that we're in, that God would give you clarity on that. And as I mentioned earlier, that I believe purpose, finding your purpose is a journey, not a destination. And some of you here this morning, you might feel like you're kind of like stuck. It's like, yeah, you've lived a life and you've experienced what it's like to have purpose, but you're just, you're kind of stuck and you're not sure where to go. You're frustrated. This has taken too much time. I wanna invite you this morning to, I would love to be able to pray with you. I'm gonna invite our prayer team to come up. We're gonna sing a really powerful song called "I'll Make Room for You."
[32:11] And I wanna allow enough time for us just to pray with you. We've got a practical application you can text, we'll send you that. But I believe that God wants to speak to some of you this morning in a really special and powerful way, and that God will give you clarity for some of the decisions that you're making. And so.