Significance : Understanding God's Purpose for Your Life

by Bill Hybels with Kevin and Sherry Harney

• ISBN13: 9780310266037
• ISBN10: 0310266033
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-08-01
• Publisher: Zondervan

Summary

Discover a strategy for becoming all God wants you to be. God has a plan for your liberation, and He has provided the power needed to put this plan into action. 6 SESSIONS

Author Biography

Bill Hybels is the founding and senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois Kevin and Sherry Harney serve together at Corinth Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Kevin is teaching pastor

Table of Contents

Interactions	p. 7
Introduction: Understanding God's Purpose for Your Life	p. 9
God's Passionate Love	p. 11
God's Presence	p. 19
God's Power	p. 27
God's Plan	p. 35
God's Purpose	p. 45
God's Promises	p. 53
Leader's Notes	p. 59
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

Significance
Copyright © 1997 by Willow Creek Association
Previously published as Freedom
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
ISBN-10: 0-310-26603-3
ISBN-13: 0-310-26603-7
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International
Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of
Zondervan. All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any
other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Interior design by Rick Devon and Michelle Espinoza
Printed in the United States of America
05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 /?DCI/ 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
SESSION 1
SIGNIFICANCE
GOD’S PASSIONATE LOVE
THE BIG PICTURE
I received a phone call late one night from a man who asked
me to meet him at a local restaurant. As I drove over, I knew
something was very wrong. When I sat down with him, he
began to tell me of his plans to leave his wife and children for
a woman he claimed to have fallen in love with. I spent the
next two hours pleading with him not to abandon his wife
and children. I tried every approach in the book. I talked to him
about how this decision would impact his kids’ birthdays,
graduations, Christmas mornings, and all the other special days
in the years to come. I tried to help him focus on the devastation
this would bring to the heart of his wife. I talked about
practical things such as child support and alimony.
I even feebly attempted to inform him about what God’s Word
says about matters like these. I wasn’t overly optimistic that
approach would have any impact on him, however. You see,
this was a man who had gone to church for most of his life.
He had heard a thousand sermons. He knew his Bible verses
frontward and backward. But he had insulated himself from
the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. I left that late night
meeting discouraged, not very hopeful this man would change
his mind.
A short time later the man requested another meeting. I feared
the worst, but when he walked through the door, he actually
looked different. He announced that he was reconsidering his
relationship with the other woman. He wanted to do the right
thing, to go God’s way. I asked him what had changed his mind.
He said, “This is going to sound a little corny. After we met last
time, I got in my car and turned on my radio. I heard a chorus
of voices singing, ‘Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that
saved a wretch like me.’ I had heard that song a thousand
times, but for the first time, I felt God’s amazing grace deep in
my heart.”
He explained how he identified himself as the “wretch” in the
song. He said, “Here I was shattering my wife’s heart, breaking
my family apart, defying God’s Word, and shunning the
counsel of my pastor and other close Christian friends. For the
first time, my heart was gripped by the fact that even though
I am a wretch, God still loves me.” At that decisive moment,
this man committed to do whatever he could to rebuild his
marriage. Thankfully, he had a godly wife who forgave him
and their story has a happy ending.
What was the source of this powerful transformation? A deep
understanding of the reality of God’s passionate love.
I have a theory. I believe people who live the abundant Christian
life, who live on a deeper spiritual plane, who are radically
devoted to Christ, who are strong during times of crisis, who
have a vibrant faith, who dare to live out on a limb, all have
one thing in common: At some point in their lives, they have
felt God’s love firsthand. And the touch of His loving hand has
changed them permanently.
A W I D E A N G L E V I E W
1. Tell about a time you experienced God’s love in a deep
and personal way.
A B I B L I C A L P O R T R A I T
2. After reading these passages, finish this statement:
When God thinks about me, He feels . . .
3. What does it mean to be “rooted and established in
love” in one of these areas:
• Knowing God’s love for you
• Expressing your love to God
• Living out God’s love in your relationships
S H A R P E N I N G T H E F O C U S
Read Snapshot “God Says He Loves You!”
GOD SAYS HE LOVES YOU!
You can know God loves you because He has said it! Isaiah 43:4 says, “You are precious and
honored in my sight and . . . I love you.” God has used many images in the Bible to communicate the
depth of His love. He says:
• I love you more than a hen loves her chicks (Matt. 23:37).
• I love you more than a good shepherd loves his sheep (John 10:11–14).
• I love you more than the most compassionate father loves his child (Ps. 103:13).
• I love you more than a nursing mother loves her baby (Isa. 49:15).
4. Each of the images in this snapshot communicate
different dynamics of the nature of God’s love for you.
What do you learn about God’s love from each of the
following images:
• A hen
• A good shepherd
• A compassionate father
• A nursing mother
5. God could have just said, “I love you!” Instead, He used
many different illustrations to drive the point home.
Why did God use such creativity in expressing His love
for you?
Read Snapshot “God Has Proved His Love for You”
6. Describe the kind of love it would take for you to give
your life for another person.
How would you feel if you offered an incredible act of sacrfice
for someone and they still questioned your love?
7. How can you express your thankfulness for how God
has proved His love for you?
GOD HAS PROVED HIS LOVE FOR YOU
Gary Gilmore shot a motel clerk in Provo, Utah. He was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to be shot
before a firing squad. When this news became public, the country went into an uproar over the issue
of capital punishment. There was a great outpouring of concern about whether or not Gary Gilmore
should be executed. The Supreme Court was petitioned to stay his execution, the American Civil
Liberties Union filed a class action suit, and religious groups held all-night prayer vigils.Yet out of
the millions of people in the United States, to my knowledge not one person ever offered to take his place. Nobody
said, “Let me take the bullets.”
There is some truth to the statements “Talk is cheap” and “Actions speak louder than words!” Real love begs for
expression. There is no more dramatic way of proving your love for someone than to give your life for them. And that is
exactly what Jesus did. He gave His life for us, proving the love of God once and for all. “For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Read Snapshot “

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Excerpted from Significance: Understanding God's Purpose for Your Life by Bill Hybels, Hybels
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