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Now What? - Discover Your Purpose
The greatest need of the human heart is to know what God wants us to do. I believe you can discover your purpose, and you don't have to walk around in confusion another day. Drawing from Ephesians 5:17 ("understand what the will of the Lord is"), Isaiah 49:4, and Acts 13:1, I unpacked why purpose must be rooted in God alone. C.S. Lewis said it best: anything not connected to eternity is eternally useless. Without God in the equation, life has no lasting meaning. Here's what made it real: I described a six-year-old boy at a mall, part of Rodney Howard-Browne's children's ministry, who stopped a towering cowboy and shared the gospel from a simple script. The man wept, prayed, gave the boy $400, and said, "You don't know what you've done, you've changed me." That child had found his assignment. Purpose isn't self-discovered, it's God-revealed. It's found through surrender, the right environment, patient obedience, and willingness to act. When you find it and work it, passion rises, life simplifies, and God's favor flows. You were placed here for a reason. Find it. Run with it.
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Small Group Guide
NOW WHAT? DISCOVER YOUR PURPOSE
Small Group Discussion Guide
Based on the sermon by Pastor Mirek Hufton
1. SERMON RECAP
In this message, I challenged us to stop drifting through life without direction and start actively pursuing the purpose God has already placed inside each of us. I shared that true purpose can only be found when God is at the center — everything outside of eternity, as C.S. Lewis said, is eternally useless. The good news I want you to hold onto is this: you can know the will of God, and when you find it and walk in it, life takes on a fullness and joy you simply cannot manufacture on your own.
2. KEY SCRIPTURE
Ephesians 5:17 (NLT) "Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do."
3. ICE BREAKER
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up — and how close (or how far!) did life take you from that dream?
4. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Opening Up the Topic I said from the pulpit that the greatest need of the human heart is to know what God wants us to do. Do you agree with that? Where do you see that longing showing up — in your own life or in the people around you?
2. Sitting with Isaiah 49:4 Isaiah cried out, "My work seems so useless. I've spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose." Have you ever felt that way — like you were spinning your wheels? What was that season like, and what helped you (or is helping you) move through it?
3. God vs. Self as the Starting Point I pushed back hard on the idea that purpose is something you design for yourself and then ask God to bless. How does it sit with you that your purpose isn't something you invent but something you discover? What makes that idea feel freeing — or, honestly, a little uncomfortable?
4. Environment and Growth I talked about how God used different environments — the cross-cultural church in Antioch from Acts 13:1, my years under Pastor Bob, even that basement office — to shape Paul and to shape me. Who or what has God used in your life as an unexpected "shaping environment"? What did it grow in you?
5. Partial Obedience I made the point that partial obedience — like Abraham dragging his father and Lot along — slows down the plan of God. Where do you find it hardest to give God a full "yes" rather than a qualified one? What tends to hold that back?
6. The Paradox of Losing to Find Jesus said if you try to save your life, you lose it — but if you lose it for His sake, you find it. I shared how giving my corporate career over to God felt like stepping off a cliff. Has there been a moment in your life when surrender to God actually led to something greater? Or is that a step you're still standing at the edge of?
5. APPLICATION CHALLENGE
This week, set aside 30 uninterrupted minutes to pray and write.
Grab a notebook or even just your phone's notes app. Ask God one honest question — "What have You put me on this earth to do?" — and then write down every answer, impression, or recurring theme that comes to mind. Don't edit yourself. Don't dismiss anything as too small or too big. At the end of your time, circle the one item that stirs the most life in you. Bring it back to share with your group next week.
6. PRAYER POINTS
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Clarity over confusion — Pray that every person in your group would move from vague spiritual fog to a genuine, growing sense of what God has called them to do — that Ephesians 5:17 would become real and personal this week.
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Courage to obey fully — Pray for boldness to say a complete "yes" to God wherever partial obedience has been holding someone back — whether that's stepping into a ministry role, having a difficult conversation, or making a long-delayed decision.
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The right environment — Pray that God would place each person in relationships, communities, and opportunities that will shape them for the next season He is preparing — and give them eyes to recognize those environments when they appear.
7. MEMORY VERSE
Ephesians 5:17 (NLT) "Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do."
Leader's note: You don't need to cover every question — read your group and go where the conversation is alive. Your job isn't to deliver the right answers; it's to create space where people feel safe enough to ask the real questions they've been carrying. That's where God shows up.