Dear Friends in Christ,
If you read the gospels in the New Testament carefully you will see that Jesus is a rulebreaker and a troublemaker. But he is a troublemaker with a purpose. At the beginning of his ministry while teaching in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth he gives his why or purpose: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Jason Burnham writes, your why is your purpose. It is your reason for getting up in the morning. It is what motivates you into action. It is what keeps you focused each and every day. Every individual has a purpose. You purpose should ignite your passions and inspire you to be the best that you can possibly be. Once you define your why, everything else in your life begins to fall into place.
Your why words simply state your purpose in life. Your why words determine how you live your faith every day. This concept of knowing your why keeps coming up in my ministry both here at Lynnhurst and in my conference work. Our Consistory is working on putting our congregation’s why into words as we write a new mission statement. The conference staff is figuring out how to live into our why now that the conference has a new mission statement. During the Transitional Ministry Training I co-facilitated a couple of weeks ago our Conference Minister Chad Abbott asked us to think of our three why words for our lives and our ministry. So I have been reflecting on my life and ministry and my three why words are blessings, relationships, and love. I think Jesus’ why words are: share, heal and proclaim. He shares the good news; heals the captive and hurting people; and proclaims God’s kingdom. I invite you this week to reflect on your three why words. Send me an email or call me to share your why words.
Blessings on the journey,