So at the beginning of every new year, you, you might hear phrases like New
year, new, you, right? And, and usually you fall in two camps, you either love
that stuff or you get really annoyed at the people who love that stuff. Uh I
tend to love that stuff because I, I like motivation. I love goals, those type
of things. But I understand if you get frustrated because the reality is, it's a
new year. Same, you, right? Because, uh, the change of a calendar doesn't
actually represent a change in your life or change in your decision making or
change in your habits. And so if you want something to change in the new year,
you have to make some choices. But what I wanna do to start the New Year is
something a little bit different. I'm gonna preface this series. It's a three
week series. It's a little bit different than my typical sermon series. Uh We're
gonna actually jump into a book of the Bible, walk through it, verse by verse
for most of the spring that's gonna kick off kind of end of January. Uh, but I
wanna take you through a framework and a study that has really been
transformative in my life and it was transformative in my life. So then I shared
it with our staff. I shared it with our elders. I've led some Bible studies
through this. And every time I had these conversations, they came back very
helpful and hopeful. And so if it was helpful for me, my prayer and and hope is
that it will be helpful to you. And so what we wanna do instead of saying New
Year new you, we wanna start it off with New Year, understands you. In other
words, we wanna take a look at the thing beneath the thing. How is it that God
made you, how are you wired? And so we're gonna uh there's gonna be a lot of
notes today and so I wanna give you a preface of a couple of things. One, it's
OK if you take your phone out and take some photos because there's gonna be a
lot of stuff there. Two, we have it in the description on the youtube page. If
you miss something, you can go back, watch it. And it's actually in the
description and then three, it's also on that church center app on the sermon
notes. And so I'm just giving you the heads up. So if you miss something, you
can go back uh Dave, you don't have to take a photo of me. That's, that's not
the, I mean, you can, that's a little awkward, but so I'm just giving you a
heads up on that. So there's gonna be a lot of not. So here's how, here's the
framework, here's how the three weeks that are gonna work. I'm gonna share the
framework with you today. We're gonna show it through how it's attached to the
scripture. Next week, we're gonna see how this impacts relationships. So
marriage, parenting, friendships, uh th those things there and then in week
three, we're gonna look at how it impacts your workplace and beyond. So it's
super practical. It's something I've been living out for the last five months,
56 months, it has been super helpful for me. And so I think it's gonna be
helpful for you. And so here's the start though is that if you're gonna start
the New Year and we're gonna go with the thing beneath the thing, we're gonna
say New Year, understanding who we are. It begins with this truth that knowing
whose you are and who you are will impact what you do, knowing who you are and
who you are will impact what you do. So much of New Year resolutions are focused
on what we do. And so we're gonna take a step back because we understand that
who's we are is that we belong to God? Think how Andy writes his name on the
bottom of Woody's boot in the movie toy story in the same way God has imprinted
on your soul, the fact that you were made in his image. And so it's important to
understand that God has uniquely made us. And so we want to know who you are.
But then secondly, you wanna know who you are, all of us have childhood
experiences and, and things that we've gone through in life that shape how we
view the world today. And so that's why we're gonna talk about who you are
understanding what uniquely makes up you. Because when we can understand those
things, it shapes what we do. And so most of the world focuses on do these three
weeks, we're gonna focus on who. And so let me give you some biblical basis for
this. And so it starts off here in Ephesians chapter two verse 10, it says for
we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared
beforehand that you should walk in them. What this verse means is that you were
created on purpose with a purpose. And I especially love this verse and I'm
gonna bring it back in at the end of today. And you'll understand why I
personally love this verse, but just hang on to that. Another scripture that we
reference here is comes from Jeremiah 2911 for I know the plans I have for you,
declares the Lord plans for welfare and not for evil to give you a future and a
hope. And so you have a purpose, but then also you have a plan that God has
called you to a specific task, a specific group of people and in wired you with
your experiences, with your desires, with your personality to really accomplish
something within God's kingdom. You know, we're called the body. And if all of
us were the pinky, we wouldn't get a lot of things done. But thankfully, we,
there's a diversity within the room. And so how we are made is not something we
have to fight against, but actually embrace and it will give us peace and
actually clarity in both our purpose and in our plan. Uh another scripture to
reference here this morning comes from Psalm 139. We're just gonna read verses 1
to 14, but this comes from David. So David is the shepherd boy who becomes a
king who writes about the king who actually becomes the shepherd there. And God,
and so he writes these verses here. He says, oh, Lord, you have searched me and
known me. That word search is picture. It's like a deeper calling. Like if you
search a mind for resources or think about a practical day. Um If you flip the
house upside down to find the TV remote, OK? Like you just keep going, you're
flipping everything you're, you're going through or maybe you lost your keys or
maybe your child lost their school assignment, which they tell you as you're
walking out of the door, right? And they're like, where's that? I don't know.
And they're like, you just flip the house upside down until you find what you
need. Understand this, that God here it says that you have searched me the
deepest parts of your soul and you know me verse two. So, you know, when I sit
down and when I rise up, you discern my thoughts from afar, you search out my
path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word
is on my tongue. Behold, oh Lord, you know it all together. So you know what I'm
gonna say, you know what I'm gonna think says you have me in behind and before
and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is too
high and I cannot attain it. So through this scripture, we see just flat out God
knows you and he knows the exact thought that you're thinking right now. He
knows your sins. He knows your questions. He knows your doubts. He knows your
strength. He knows what you're not thinking about. He knows what you worry
about. He knows everything but then he continues on and, and talks about
presence that we can't escape him. Verse seven for where shall I go from your
spirit or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are
there. If I make my bed and Shiel, you are there. If I take the wings of the
morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea. Even there, your hand shall
lead me and your right hand shall hold me. If I say surely the darkness shall
cover me and the light shall be about me, be night. Even the darkness is not
dark to you. Oh, I'll preach right there. Some of you entered 2024 just
exhausted. Right? And all this newness is great, but you're in the middle of
something. But this verse reaches because what is dark to you is not dark to
God. A way to think about it for just a moment because it says that uh for
darkness is as light to you, not that it is light, but it's as light. There are
animals that are nocturnal that can see and have night vision. For example, for
the most part, owls have incredible vision in the evening. And the reason for
that is one, their eyes are just massive, right? You see owls and they're just
like huge. They actually the weight of an owl's eyes in some cases represent 5%
of an owl's body weight versus 0.02% of a human. So their eyes make up 5%. And
what's also interesting is that they have 30 times more retinal rods in their
eyes that allow them to see in the darkness. Something that appears dark to you.
An owl can see clear as day. Why do I say that because God has night vision and
whatever darkness of the night or darkness of the soul that you're walking
through right now. I want you to know and be comforted by the fact that God sees
you. And even while you can't see, the next step is to take God can and He meets
you there. Ok. Verse 13, then it says for you formed my inward parts, you
knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made. Wonderful. Are your works? My soul knows it very well. So we
see here that God knows you. We see here that God is with you that you cannot
escape his presence. And then third, we see that He made you on purpose that we
know from the womb that God had a purpose and a plan for your life. OK? And so
it's important for us to remember who you are and then who you are. All right.
Let's get real practical with this framework. OK. This framework comes from,
this is called the Seven Primal Questions. Seven Primal Questions. It's actually
uh a book, a resource. It's not original to me. It's written by a guy named Mike
Foster. He's a Chris Christian counselor uh that really produced this resource
after like 6001 on one hours, uh counseling patients as well as four to and like
20 something different focus groups as well. Uh If you've heard Mike Foster
before he's a, an incredible counselor, does work with guys like Bob Goff and uh
Craig Rochelle and some other leadership. He's done work with uh Chick Fil A
and, and business leaders and organizations and all around the world. And so
he's this renowned researcher and it's a framework that uh when I read the book,
I was like, OK, this is gonna be like another personality test, right? Actually
not, it's very different. And, and once I went through, I was like, oh, that
makes sense. And for me, once I went through this, there was a light bulb moment
and all of a sudden a bunch of stuff in my past made sense. And so that's kind
of my prayer and hope for you. And so I wanna walk through this, I recommend the
book. Uh Also with this at the QR code on your notes, you can actually take this
assessment. So you can do that at the end of the service or during the week. So
you can kind of figure it out. If you don't wanna take the assessment, you can
probably guess based on the seven questions where you fall in. Uh But I invite
you to take this assessment and because it really does impact understanding who
you are. And I want you to know that the book itself is not scripture. I don't
pretend like it is. But the the truth, the seven questions that we're gonna walk
through all find their identity rooted in scripture. And so we're gonna see that
how God made us in the wisdom that comes from that. And so the premise is that
every single person at some point in their childhood is imprinted with a
question that they're trying to get answered. Yes, maybe it was a trauma, maybe
it was a bad experience, maybe it wasn't even a bad experience, but it was some
confusion or a series of experiences as a child, as a teen or maybe even as a
young adult that shapes what you think. And then what happens is that you spend
the rest of your life trying to get that question to be answered. Yes. Let me
give you some definitions here. So a primal question is a core question that
subconsciously drives your choices, actions and triggers. That's why I say it's
the thing beneath the thing. It is what's underneath the iceberg. None of this
is overt. But as we walk through this, you're gonna see how this starts to play
out. OK? If you don't get an answer, yes to your primal question, you then move
into what's called the scramble. And the definition of a scramble is the
emotional struggle that takes place when your primal question is answered with a
no or a maybe during the scramble, you often choose compro compromising actions
and behaviors. So an idea here is that if you feel stress, angst, anxiety,
frustrations or anger, chances are your primal question is not being answered
with a yes. And what happens in the scramble is that it's a self deflective,
self defensive mechanism. So some activities that happen in the scramble would
be maybe you look at people pleasing codependency. You focus on controlling
people, perfectionism. A focus on appearance to people. Uh workaholic,
workaholic is and or maybe you buy stuff that you don't need. And so we're gonna
give a picture of what this looks like. But basically, what is your response
when your primal question comes back? No. And then the other term I wanna share
with you that we're gonna use over the next three weeks is primal avoidance. And
that is the subtle subconscious ways that you try to prevent your primal
question from being answered. No. Again, it's self-protection. So the scramble
is what happens when the question is a no. And the avoidance is what do you do
when you're afraid it's gonna come back as a no. And so you preemptively put up
walls or pull away from a relationship because you think they're gonna answer
no. Uh Let's let me give you a little bit of a image to see how this looks like
here. OK. And so you have your primal question. If it comes back as a yes, all
is right with the world and you love it. OK? Everything's great. And you move
forward. If the question comes back with a maybe or a no, you then head into
what's called the scramble and you have your own personal version of stress
response and then you try to force that back to a yes, another deeper dive in
the scramble here. Another image is you're afraid of the answer coming back as a
no. And then so you do something like an example might be, you can't control a
situation at work. So you come home and you get really hyper fixated on
something you can control like maybe cleaning or maybe it's your kids or it's
your spouse, right? And so you can't control this area. So you try to hyper
fixate on this area, right? It's a scramble. It's what you do in response to not
getting a yes to your primal question. Now, I want you to understand too that
our wiring, none of these primal questions are bad. They might have come from a
bad situation, but they are the makeup of who you are. And so there's the
opportunity to turn your question into what's called the primal truth. And so a
primal truth is when you take your primal question and you turn it into a
statement of truth instead of a question. So it's something you're trying to get
answered that when you look at scripture, you realize that God actually answers
it already. And then so it actually gives you peace of mind when it goes from a
question to a statement. And then once you actually have received that then it
leads to your primal gift, which is your relational superpower that you have
built over the years by interacting with your primal question. So something that
you're trying to get answered, you realize actually is answered in Christ and
then becomes your superpower and your gift to the world. OK. Uh Mike Foster, the
writer put it this way. He said the difference between living from your primal
question and living in your primal truth comes down to a simple shift in your
language. It is the difference between the words from and for, from and for, as
I like to say, often here in the church, you don't live for your identity, you
live from your identity. And I'm I'm giving again over you right now. We're
gonna walk through these questions and you're gonna see how this plays out. Uh
If you follow and track with me, I think this is gonna be super practical and
helpful. So here's the process though. Let me give you the process three steps
to using your primal question. Number one, you have to discover that question.
So either you go through the assessment, you can take that online or you as you
have conversation with friends or your spouse, try to identify or have them help
identify what your question is. You then turn that question into a statement of
truth. So declare your primal truth and declare your primal truth, which then
leads into your primal gift. OK? I know it's a lot of info, but let's just go
through it and again, you can go back and watch it online and pause it where you
need to, to get notes. But here is the primal question assessment. I'm gonna put
that up on the screen. I believe it's up there. You can visit that website. It's
also the QR code on the bottom of your notes when you came in this morning and
it's in the link on the youtube video that you're watching right now. And so go
ahead and take that assessment, not immediately, but sometime here this week.
And then let's walk through and see what are these questions and why do they
matter? What are the seven questions uh in your notes? You can write these down.
We're gonna walk through all seven. Let me do a quick run through of them.
Number one is, am I safe? Am I safe? Number two, am I secure? Am I secure?
Number three is, am I loved number four, am I wanted, am I wanted number five
here? So again, it's, am I safe? Am I secure? Am I loved? Am I wanted number
five here then? Is, am I successful? Number six? Am I good enough? Number seven,
do I have a purpose? Now, all seven of these questions seem foundational, right?
We need answers. We want all of them to be. Yes. And so they're all rooted and
scripture like we talked about but what happens is there's something typically
in your childhood that causes one of those questions to rise to the top. And now
first question is what you use to translate and info and like all the
information coming into your brain and into your heart and through your
circumstances. Does that make sense? All right. Let's walk through these and
you're gonna see why this matters. OK, I'm gonna walk through and I also gonna
share with you what I am uh and what our staff as well. And you're gonna start
to see where this plans out pa uh pans out question number one. Am I safe? The
highest emotional need for someone who is safe is that is safety, both physical
and emotional. So maybe you went through a situation as a child where you didn't
feel safe until you spend the rest of your life trying to answer that question.
But then what you see the kryptonite to that person is negative surprises,
negative surprises. And then if they're afraid of that question being answered,
no, the avoidance is keeping people at a distance or hyper fixating on something
that they can control. But the reverse of that question into a primal truth and
into a primal gift is that Q ones make people feel safe and they are emotionally
in tune with people around them. So here's how this plays out number first.
Actually, the author of the book, Mike Foster, X is a Q one is a Q one and, and
so that he actually spent the rest of his life making people feel safe. Uh Two
people that are also Q ones that you might know if you're part of the church
family here. Uh is my wife. Uh Samantha is a Q one throughout our entire
marriage. People have said, wow, I've never shared that with anybody before and
they and may, may, some of you in the room have had those conversations and you
end up in tears talking to my wife because you just end up expressing like hard
situations and things you walk through. Why? Because in a moment's notice, she
makes people feel safe. I am another person, actually one of our staff members
who has this is actually Edwina and Edwina Stark who is our church
administrator. What she does is that this entire building, right? She focuses on
making it safe. So finances, database, security rooms, locks programs, all the
slides, working e everything needs to be working correctly. Everything needs to
be done ahead of time. Why? Because she wants it done. What's also interesting
about this is that, that kryptonite is negative surprises, which makes so much
sense for me because you know, as I'm driving, I think my wife who's a Q one
also gives me a little bit of assistance while I'm driving. Any spouses do that.
You're giggling because it's true. Oh, there's a car. Hey, watch, watch, right.
Go through why? Because that's how she's wired, right? II I tend to go with the
flow like I love plans but I'm like, yeah, whatever. Right. But if I try to
throw a negative surprise on her, that's like, oh why? Because that's violating
her primal question of safety. And so she wants to feel safe, but then that's
also her primal truth because then she turns around and makes other people feel
safe or on our staff member here, Edwina who makes this building safe and
completes projects and she makes, she says that her job is to make everyone else
look good, right? So she's behind the scenes. Why? Because she wants everything
working in order, it's about safety. If you're a Q one, you might understand
that why you hate surprises and why if you don't have all the information you
get this like underlying anxiety, right? You might be a Q one, I might be in a
situation and I have no idea what's gonna happen like, oh cool. That's not my
primal question. I don't, I don't have this unsettling thing that I need to know
what's happening beforehand, right? OK. Q two. Question two M I secure. Highest
emotional need is security. Now, this could be in finances or it could be
relationships slightly different than safety is, is more about stability, right?
And so he, so that's why the kryptonite for M I secure RQ two is instability.
Some of their avoidance tactics might be hoarding money, overworking or
controlling situations. You know, they might be asking themselves questions
like, do I have enough? Will I ever run out? Now? The strength of A Q two is
that they acquire resources? They become very generous and they help people feel
secure. The author Mike Foster talked about he was counseling a gentleman whose
net worth was over a billion dollars or, or in the hundreds of millions and yet
he was still working 70 80 hours a week and, and super stressed out and he said,
why? He said, well, I just don't know if I have enough. And so a lot of these
people who have Q twos build these great businesses, build up and focus on that
and they want stability. But on that shadow side in the scramble or in
avoidance, it becomes hoarding, it becomes stressing out, it becomes disc
continually going like keep pressing forward and there's no peace of mind. But
when you switch the question to a statement, right? A Q one would be, am I safe
to I am safe? Then you can make other people feel safe. Q two. Am I secure? You
understand, I am secure. All that I have comes from God and so I can be generous
to others, right? So a question actually becomes a gift Q three M I loved M I
loved. Highest emotional need is feeling known, seen and emotionally connected.
The kryptonite to A Q three is indifference. And the avoidance strategy for Q
threes is that they withhold their hearts to avoid being hurt. Their strength is
making people feel seen, making people feel heard and people feel treasured. You
know what two members of our staff are Q threes, Wendy mckay and Holly Holmes.
All of you knew that immediately. Why? Because they make so Wendy, our guest
services coordinator makes people feel loved as soon as you walk through the
door. That's actually why I hired her. Because when the early days of the
church, every single person I talked to mentioned Wendy and I was like, what,
what's going on? And she was just coming to church. And so finally I just went
up to her one day, I was like, Wendy, every single person talks about you at the
church because you make them feel loved and accepted. Can you just come on staff
and do the same thing? But officially, right? And I'll take Holly, Holly does
the same thing in our kids ministry, right? Our kids feel loved and cared for by
Holly, th these are the people that as soon as you walk in, you just feel better
about life, right? I joked with people that if the world ends, I want Wendy to
tell me, you know what I'm saying? Like if she breaks the news, I'll be like it
is ending. Thank you. Right. And so we understand that now the challenge for
those people that are loved is that they do such a great job of making other
people feel loved. The question is, do you return the favor and make them feel
loved? Right. Because sometimes those people are almost like a starving baker a
little bit. Like they give everyone else food, but they're actually craving it
for self, right? Because you tend to give what you're, you're craving in your
heart. Right? And so think about the people in your life, I want you as we go
through these questions, think about your spouse, think about your friends,
think about your parents. Are you answering their primal question with a yes,
right. Q ones make people feel safe. Q twos, make people feel secure. Q threes,
make people feel loved. All right. Question number four. Am I wanted, am I
wanted the highest emotional need is inclusion and the kryptonite is being
rejected and that avoidance for Q fours or that they self isolate and then wait
for others to engage. In other words, if they're afraid that they won't be
wanted, they pull back and put their walls up just in case. But the strength of
A Q four is welcoming inclusionary and accepting of others. So two examples of Q
force at a large scale. Actually, the author Bob Goff, if you've written his
book, you might think it's in my love. But actually he, he wants everyone to be
included. In fact, he put his cell phone number on the back of his book. I
called at one time to check and see if it's accurate and he picked up and we had
like a 15 minute conversation. It was awesome. I loved it. I mean, here is a New
York Times best selling author and he put his cell phone number in the back of
his books because he wants everyone to belong. Ok, you wanna know who on our
staff is a Q four, Andrew. So our worship leader here and what he does and if
you talk to anybody on his team, what he does so great at is that he makes
people feel like wanted, right? He makes people feel included in the process,
included in the worship experience and he's so humble and so soft spoken because
he's not gonna command over anybody. He's just gonna bring everybody in, right?
And you can do that when you are. Take your question, turn it into a statement
and then it becomes your gift, right? You don't have to wonder, am I wanted
through Jesus? You realize I am wanted and therefore I want to include everybody
in on the process. OK? Q five, am I successful? Am I successful? The highest
emotional need is being appreciated. The kryptonite for a Q five is failure. So
then the avoidance becomes either becoming workaholics or the appearance of
success. So what I mean there is that if you're afraid that you're not gonna be
successful, you either work www work, I just need to work harder, grind, harder,
work harder or you're going to give yourself a winnable game, right? You're
gonna throw the dart and draw the circle around it afterwards because you cannot
feel like a failure. Or another option is you will avoid playing the game in the
first place because like I'm not going there because I can't win that game,
right? But the reverse side though is that they lead themselves and others to
positive outcomes. These are people that build teams that start organizations
that lead large change in movements and can accumulate ideas and resources and
achievements to do something. And so if like and I want you to see something
that you need everybody, right? Because if everybody just felt loved, it would
be great little Kumbaya circle, but you need some Q fives in the mix because
otherwise you're not doing anything, right? It's like what like who's charging
taking the mountain going after it? We yeah, let's go kind of thing, right? And
so you have your Q fives and so they can accomplish a lot together. But the
difference is you're not asking the question, am I successful? You realize I am
successful? And so now your focus is not trying to get that answer. Yes for you,
but you now try to help other people become successful, right? So you go from
selfish accumulation to empowerment and building in other people and everything
rises. Does that make sense. All right, Q six, am I good enough? Am I good
enough? The highest emotional need is affirmation. The highest emotional need is
affirmation. The kryptonite then is criticism. So this is an interesting fact,
by the way that in certain people, they will hear something as feedback. A Q six
will hear that same statement as criticism. And so if you're Q six, what happens
then is that you either withdraw or you can view yourself as a victim or you get
really defensive, right? And so you're, you're worried about someone saying that
you're not, you didn't make it, you're not enough. You're trying to win the
approval of somebody in your life, maybe a parent, maybe a, a friend, maybe a
boss, maybe a coach. And, and it's hard to live in a state of not feeling good
enough. But the reverse is pretty incredible. The reverse is pretty incredible
because when you change it from a question to a statement, I am good enough. You
spend your days making other people feel valued and that they are enough. And
that's the beauty of the gospel. Most religions are man's attempt to God. But
Christianity says because of Jesus and what he did on the cross, he said you are
enough as you are where you are in the middle of your questions, your sin, your
battles, your doubts, your darkness, darkness is not darkness to God that you
are enough. The guy looked down and said, I want you, it changes everything when
you write and turn that question into a statement. OK. And then you make other
people feel affirmed. All right. Question number seven, last one here seems a
little different. Uh But it is valuable. And the last question here is, do I
have purpose? Do I have purpose? The highest emotional need is significance. You
want it to matter. The kryptonite for A Q seven is pointless work. Uh The
avoidance is that they could live in perpetual angst, but then the strength is
they can be visionaries and inspire others. Now, let me just share with you.
This is my question. OK. This is my question growing. I'll tell, I, I'm not
gonna say where other people's questions came from, but mine came from growing
up in a conservative Christian home. There wasn't one particular event but
growing up in a church setting and in a college setting where it was like you
can change the world and it was preached all the time and missionaries and
things and it was awesome. There's the great side of that, that you can change
the world. But the flip side of that is that if you are not changing the world,
what are you even doing with your life? And so there's this becomes this
pressure that I'm not doing enough. And so where that pans out in my life long
term, there wasn't one particular event that comes out is that, uh, some of the
shadow side for me and I can only speak for me is that my whole life, I've
actually struggled sleeping at night. Um, and I've tried different things and
approaches. So II I love all the recommendations. I don't neces, I'm not
necessarily looking for that right now. Um But what I'm saying is my body turns
off, but my mind just stays on right. Because I'm like, oh, we need to do this.
I need to do this. It needs to be bigger. Like it doesn't matter if there's 1000
people at something. I'm like, why isn't there 2000 or if there's 10,000, why's,
and there are 20,000, you know, we start one initiative. All right time for the
next initiative. And it's like as soon as something happens, it's like my mind
goes, it's gotta be bigger, it's gotta go. And then the other thing and my wife
will attest to this is I'm awful at finishing things around the house,
especially what not that it's trivial but it seems trivial. Any spouses in the
room, like, say they're going to do something three months ago, right? Because I
have intention and I'm like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll fix that. I'm gonna do
that. I'll do the receipts, but then I get into the project and it doesn't seem
significant. And so then I was like, yeah, I, I'll get to it later. And so that
battle is that you feel like unless I'm doing something big and significant, I
can't do it. Or the other side of it is that you feel like a stuck dreamer. I
don't know the right path. So I won't take a path. Ok. So that's the challenges
of the purpose one. But the flip side is that when I turn my question into a
statement, what I realize is that I do have purpose and now I can bring purpose
into the little things, right? The dishes, the yard change the diaper when the
kids are little, you know what I'm saying? Like do the little things and when
events and things happen, I trust, remember I mentioned that first verse, why I
love it so much I realized, oh, that's why I love that verse that I was
unconsidered God's workmanship, his creation. And so I can actually rest and
sleep at night and trust that God has a purpose and plan for my life. But what
they also say Q sevens do sometimes is they, I don't know, start organizations
hand smash and grab. But that's also why when I'm having conversations with my
wife, we'll be at a party or something, right? And I'm like thinking, OK, what
am I doing? Small talk? We need to change the world, right? And my wife can look
at someone's eyes and be like, how are you really? And like they just pour in
their soul and make someone feel safe Right. And it's why we'll have these
conversations and why I spring a last minute change on her and she's like, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second. I'm like, why this will make this change the
world. It was like, wait, wait, I didn't know about it but at the same time,
like, I just completely misread a room or something because I'm off in LA la
land thinking about 10,000 hills to take for something. And so understand that
it changes things, ok? It's a lot. Ok? But come in for a full circle, knowing
who you are and who you are will impact what you do. I wanna invite you into a
process because the next two weeks we're gonna look at how does it impact
marriage? How does this impact relationships, parenting, friendships, right?
We're gonna look at how does it impact your workplace, right? I think you'll
find it super practical. So I want to invite you to do three things here. I want
you to discover your primal question. Maybe you recognize which one is you just
by the descriptions. But take the assessment, then I want you to declare your
primal truth, right? I am safe. I am secure. I am left. I am wanted, I am good
enough. I am successful. I have a purpose. Rest in that. And then understand
that that turns into your gift and you can develop that. That's why I absolutely
love church ministry. I love my favorite thing is to help people find their
purpose. This makes sense now, right? My wife is so incredible at making people
feel safe. Oh, that makes sense now. Thank you. And you look back and you
realize why do I feel anxious? Why do I feel stressed? Why do I feel excited?
Why do I feel worried? And it just gives you a framework that comes back to the
fact that we're all made in His image. And so what I want to do here to end
this, this first Sunday of the New Year is that I want to spend time reflecting
on God himself or what made us His. So I'm gonna pray, we're gonna take
communion together. I invite you to open the elements and hang on to them here.
If you don't have the elements of someone passing by. If you're not a Christian,
I wanna give you permission just to let these things pass and just take a moment
of reflection. But if you are a Christian, let us pray. Let us remember that
what Jesus did on the cross is what made us His, that he made us on purpose with
a purpose. Q seven, they died on the cross for you that you are love that you're
enough that you're secure, that you're safe. Let's remember that it comes
through him. Dear Jesus, we lift up you now. Thank you for loving us. Thank you
for saving us. Help us to rest in our primal questions. And that all seven
primal questions are found in you and through your son Jesus, through what he
did on the cross, we love you, send your sons and we pray.