There are two great longings in the human heart–belonging + mattering. We want to be a part of a community that cares about us and part of a cause that’s worthy of our lives.

We must understand why we’re here. We must understand the created intent.

In this 4-day track, Ben Stuart will help us look at how we can structure our own lives for the world around us to flourish.

Many in today’s world feel like meaninglessness is stalking them. That’s a problem, considering we all want to matter: be part of a community that cares about us and part of a cause worthy of our life.

Colossians 1:16 assures us that we are not meaningless and have been created by Jesus and for Jesus. Our greatest commandment is to love God. We were created to love and enjoy our maker.

How does that work out for our 9-5 though? Why were we born? We must look at the Creator’s intent to find the answer. Genesis tells us that we weren’t just created by God; we were created in His image.

Genesis allows us to see what God is like. In the beginning, the world lacked form and fullness. But God created in 3 days the sea, air, and land. He built structure. The teleological support structures for life. In the next three days, He fills those structures with life: birds, sea creatures, animals, and humanity. God put us in the Garden to cultivate it. Cultivating is creating structure. It’s not stifling; it’s structure for the sake of flourishing, form for the sake of fullness, and order for the flourishing of all life.

We are meant to be like God in this manner. Parents create a structure for their kids to flourish. Husbands do this for wives just as wives do this for their husbands. Bosses do it for businesses and kings for their kingdoms.

King Jesus did that for us. When chaos came back because of our sin, He brought the Kingdom into the chaos.

What does it look like to cultivate and create every day?

How do you structure your time so you can flourish?

One of the best gifts you can give is you-fully alive.

Think about your titles, tasks, and time. This session focused on titles because it is important to identify exactly who you are. Your identity determines your activity. Who you are determines what you do.

Scripture has many titles for us. Beloved is one, which is appropriate since we are to love God. He also calls us saints. We are holy because of the work of Jesus, but we also are to live holy lives, making war against the sin that unravels creation.

Believe that you are the master of your schedule, not the victim of it. You are meant to cultivate in such a way that there is a flourishing to life.

When the things of God play out in your day-to-day life, you are seeing the eternal touch the mundane. That’s encouraging!

Most people are like an octopus on roller skates; lots of movement, but at the end of the day, they wonder if any of it was forward. They were busy all day long, but what was the purpose? The meaninglessness becomes hard to handle.

We’ve been given roles under God and responsibilities within them. We have a mandate to create so life can flourish. Once we know who we are, we can figure out our tasks in those categories. If you can see what your responsibilities are, you can see if you’re fulfilling your created intent.

Operate out of priority, not proximity. Most people do whatever is nearby rather than prioritizing. Jesus had many days where He was doing what His responsibility was, but His number one priority was to be with His Father, and He never missed it. The disciples tried to interrupt to get him to keep performing miracles, but Jesus insisted the miracles authenticated His message. So, instead of being sidetracked, He moved to a different town in order to stay on mission. Jesus said “no” all the time. He was willing to divert His time and energy, but He was never willing to abandon His priorities under God.

In 2 Kings 18:3-7, we see Hezekiah tear down all of the idols and high places of false worship. As the king, it was his responsibility to uproot what was destructive to the community. But he also planted the commandments of the Lord, to love and care for each other.

We’ve talked about the reality that we have been given titles and tasks, and we control how our time is spent. Now, we have to fit those tasks and titles into TIME.

The test is to become a student of ourselves.

How do you tweak your schedule to become maximally helpful? What boundaries or guardrails do you need to set up to protect the holy time when you fulfill the tasks and titles?

When are you most creative? When are you the most Helpful? When do you find it best to make decisions? Again, be a student of yourself and build your schedule around a strategy that will allow you to accomplish what God has called you to and be maximally fruitful.