Purpose - Brian Gilchriest

Good morning, everybody. How are we doing today? I am happy to be here and I'm glad to share with you guys again. I love sharing about God's goodness. It's easy for me to do this, being where I am. If you ever want to experience God's goodness every single day, I suggest that you follow these steps. Number one, find something you love to do. If your job is something you love to do, it's easy to wake up every day and feel God's goodness. Surround yourself with people you love and put those two together. I get to do that every single day. I am at a place that I love, doing things that I love, surrounded by people that I love. There's a few things about me that every time I get up here and talk, I kind of share with you guys. And one thing that I've never tried to help or keep secret is that I love being a teacher and a coach. It's my favorite thing. That's why I do what I do. And I'm hoping to inspire the next generation of teachers. I was inspired by people here and I wanted to pass that down. There is a little thing that I desperately love that I don't really share a whole lot. And that's, I love Reese's Peanut Butter Cuts. It's one of my favorite things in the world. Ever since I was a little kid, my mom can tell you I have an unhealthy love for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Now, why is Mr. Gilkrest up here talking about Reese's Peanut Butter Cups? Well, because there was a point in time where God's goodness was shared to me through a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. If you've been in one of my classes, you've probably heard this story. But today I'm going to share it with you guys. Mr. Gilkrest, I just thought you could use this. This is what I heard one day. When I looked up, all I could see was Darren Covid. I had my desk, I had stuff piled on top of my desk. And that's a very, like, it's kind of scary how accurate AI can be sometimes, because whenever I type this into co-pilot, that's almost exactly what the young lady looked like. When I looked up, there was a young lady named Amelia holding a Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Now, to give you a little backstory to this moment, it was my 43rd birthday. It was a really difficult day for me because of a lot of things that were going on. And it was the end of the day, 7th period, and I'd been fighting battles and demons all day long. And this little girl knew that I'd had a bad day. Now, to let you know a little something about Mia, Mia was 14 years old, but was 75 in mindset. She was definitely a grandma in a 14-year-old body. She had a huge purse that she carried with her every single day. And in that purse was everything anybody could possibly need. She took care of her classmates, she took care of people she didn't know, and all she wanted to do every single day was help people. I saw her give people snacks, band-aids, pens, pencils. She encouraged those who did not want to do the work and helped me with my classroom management every single day by telling her friends, "Y'all shut up, we need to do this work." But on this day, she decided to take care of me. She didn't know anything about my backstory. She didn't know what I was going through. She didn't know that halfway through that class, I gave up and was just like, "I can't do this anymore. Here's a worksheet." And that when I sat down, I was just desperately praying, "Please, God, just let this bell ring." All she knew was I was having a bad day and she wanted to take care of me. And sometimes, God's goodness can come in as small of an act as giving something small. Someone who looks in need. Next one. In James chapter 3, verses 3 through 5, he says, "When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal or take ships as an example, although they are so large and are driven by strong winds. They are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. Sometimes it's the little things in life that matter." Next one. Why I love teaching is every single day gives me a chance to show the world Jesus. I want to help change the world by showing each and every student letting them know that they are cared and loved for. Being a public school teacher was sometimes difficult because it's hard to have conversations about Jesus with students in a public school, but I knew each and every day that I could show up and show them the love that Jesus has for us. Next one. What's shocking though is when they return the favor. We often talk about the impact good teachers and coaches have on young people's lives, but we never really talk about the impact they have on us. When this is done right, it is reciprocal. And that's not just for teaching. That's for life. Next one. When I first started teaching, I thought my calling was to do great things. I was going to produce award-winning scientists, I was going to win state championships, I was going to produce division one basketball players, and I was going to be this great person with great deeds who had done great things. Around my 30th birthday, I got frustrated when my career path didn't get where I wanted it to be, and I left teaching and went to an industry where my achievements were based on financial success. Next one. After a few years in a sales industry that I did, I could feel a calling in my soul. I don't know how to describe the word troubled, but waking up every day feeling like this is not what I'm supposed to do. And in 2017, I decided to go back to teaching, but this time, I had a much different perspective. Instead of giving to receive, I wanted to give just to give. Instead of measurables, God had it on my heart to focus on the unmeasurable. I just wanted to pour love into other people so that God can be seen. No other reason than that. Next one. There are these two verses that kind of led me to this realization that I had been going about this the wrong way the whole time. Ephesians 2 verse 10 for we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Matthew 5 verse 16 in the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. There was a time where I thought my purpose as a teacher was to lead people to great accomplishments. When I discovered that that was the wrong mindset that I started to have success at what I do, when I discovered that my purpose was not in teaching and coaching, it was in loving others and helping them see Jesus that my purpose helped my career get to where it needed to be. Next one. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's very grace. Whoever speaks is one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves is one who serves by the strength that God supplies. In order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to him, belong to glory and dominion forever and ever. My job was never about my glory to begin with was always about his. Next one. I love teaching and coaching not because it is my purpose in calling, but because it helps me fulfill my purpose. Now, I've read a lot of things recently about the students that we have here. One of the biggest problems that our students have currently is what's called purpose anxiety. We don't understand why we are here or what we are called to do. We get to college and we start majoring in courses and question whether or not that is our destiny. What I'm here to tell you is your career is never your destiny. But God's love and showing each other's kindness and helping understand him better is all of our destiny. That is our purpose. That's why we are here. Next one. And there is no greater sign of God's goodness than having a purpose. We all walk in that purpose each and every day. A lot of these things that are troubling our world will come to pass. I hope that all of us through the course of this year and through the course of our time here can understand our purpose better. There's a higher purpose than what we see in a higher purpose than what we know. Jeremiah 29 11 4 I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope in a future that might not always come out the way that we think it's supposed to. But if we trust and we lean on God's promises it will always come to fruition.