the call to adventure: finding your calling & living the quest

THE CALL TO ADVENTURE:Finding Your Calling & Living The Quest

CONFRONTING YOUR DESTINY

A questionnaire asked american students: ‘What would you like to be?’

Two thirds responded: ‘A celebrity.’

“They had no notion of having to give of themselves in order to achieve something.”

- Joseph Campbell, ‘The Power of Myth’

“We must all fight and, if necessary die, to teach people the truth.”

Eph 6:12Our war is not with flesh & blood but against rulers, authorities and

powers of this dark world and spiritual forces of evil.

“Self responsibility appears to have three significant aspects:

…waking up, standing up, and making choices.”

- Peter Cammock, ‘The Spirit of Leadership’.

A nation was blind to injustice until one man made them see…

”I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”- Matt 10:34

1. What conflicts in life do you avoid? 2. Could you be missing opportunities to see the kingdom work it’s

transformation? 3. What makes you most angry – could this be a clue to your calling?

DISCUSS

“Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been false to me?”

- Isaiah 57:11

“Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them?”

- Jeremiah 1:17

RETAINING HOPE

Our perspective is a choice.

“Fear is a bird that believes itself into extinction”- Jewel, ‘Lost.’

Cynicism is bitterness masquerading as wisdom

MEAT LOAF – ‘IF IT RAINS’

“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you

life and death, blessings and curses.

Now choose life, so that you and your children may live”

- God (Deut 30:19)

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.

Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone…”

Matt 5:14-15

1. Are there any areas of your life where the trials you might face could be used to pave the way for others?

2. What did those who have gone before you pave the way for – what inheritance are they waiting for you to walk in?

3. What hope have you lost? Can you find the courage to ressurect those dreams? Where could you start?

DISCUSS

KNOWING YOUR IDENTITY

The ultimate aim of the quest is to find the resources of character to meet our destiny

– to find the wisdom and the power to serve others.

- Joseph Jaworski, Synchronicity.

“The heroes of religion came back with the wonder of God,

not with a blueprint of God.”- Joseph Campbell, ‘The Power of Myth’

“How can you draw close to God when you are far from your own self?

Grant, Lord, that I may know myself, that I may know thee.”

- Augustine (Confessions)

“Almost all problems in the spiritual life stem from a lack of self-knowledge.”

- St Teresa of Avila (The Way of Perfection)

“Our wisdom consists almost entirely of two parts: knowledge of God and of ourselves.”

- John Calvin (Institutes of Christian Religion)

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory you gain you will also suffer a defeat.

If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

- Sun Tzu (The Art of War)

“Do not fear...I have summoned you by name;

you are mine. ”

- God (Isaiah 43:1)

“I am YAHWEH, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.

…I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honour, though you do not acknowledge me.”

- God (Isaiah 45:3-4)

“Come, follow me and I will send you out to fish for people”- Jesus (Mark 1:17)

IDENITITY IS DESTINY

Identity is a gift. It needs to be revealed. Then it can be received.

The ‘death of self’ is not the destruction of identity.

It is the destruction of selfishness – the destruction of the false identity we created for ourselves

and aggressively defend.

Only when that dies can we receive our true identity and be shown the true meaning of ourselves.

“Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.”

- 1 Peter 2:10

”I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”

- Jesus (John 10:10)

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”- Helen Keller

1. What has already been revealed to you about your identity?2. What choices are in front of you? 3. Which path seems to be most suited to the essence of who you are?

4. If you only did things (work, relationships, hobbies) that matched who you truly are, what would change in your life?

DISCUSS