There is mission, and there is a shadow mission ... confusing them can destroy you and others. Knowing and living into your mission matters! Do you know yours ... or are you living a shadow mission?

Over the next three weeks, we are going to answer three questions:

What do I do with the hole in my life? Does God really care about me? Is my story worth telling?

You may be saying to yourself “I know the answers in my head. but my heart asks the questions all the time.”

What do I do with this hole I my life?

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48

Everyone has a hole that keeps them from being whole.

We all were created for a purpose; we all have a why.

The true mission, the why and purpose is derailed at birth and we spend our lives trying to get back on track. If you do not embrace your true mission, you will by default pursue a shadow mission.

A shadow mission is an authentic mission that has been derailed, often in imperceptible ways. Part of what makes the shadow mission so tempting is that it is usually so closely related to our gifts and passions. It is not 180 degrees off track; it is just 10 degrees off track.

You and I were created to have a mission in life. We were made to make a difference. But if we do not pursue the mission for which God designed and gifted us, we will find a substitute. We cannot live in the absence of purpose. Without an authentic mission, we will be tempted to drift on autopilot, to let our lives center around something that is unworthy, something selfish, something dark – a shadow mission. John Ortberg

The result: Regret and Guilt.

The Five Regrets of the Dying

1. I wish I would have had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

2. I wish I had not have worked so hard.

3. I wish I would have had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

What is your greatest regret so far, and what will you set out to achieve or change before you die?

Becoming a whole person! John 4

Nothing in this world can fill the hole in your life.

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, John 4:13

Religion and religious activity will never fill the hole you are experiencing.

The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” John 4:19–20

RISE UP in 2021February 14, 2021Dr. Jerry Edmonson, Lead PastorWhat’s Your Why?

What do I do with this hole in my life?John 4

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. Colossians 1:16

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

Continuing to live in sin and shadows only makes the hole deeper and more difficult.

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” John 4:16–18

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4

How can I fill this hole and become whole?

Come to Christ in faith and begin the journey of becoming whole.

… but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

John 4:14

Find your true mission in Him!

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” … Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and

see that the fields are white for harvest. John 4:31–35