Life is filled with questions, but the biggest question we will ever ask and wrestle with is, “Who is Jesus?”

Everyone has an opinion, fueled by assumptions and experiences. And that opinion has likely changed depending on the phase and season of our life. But what if your version of Jesus is wrong? What if the real version of Jesus, though he won’t fit inside your boxes and preconceived ideas, is greater than the counterfeit most, if not all of us, have?

Jesus changed the world in three years, and He did it all walking. There are no scriptures about Jesus running. He always walked and he never missed an opportunity to prioritize people over tasks.

When you read the Gospels, one of the things that Jesus makes remarkably clear is His purpose. It was the north star of His life, guiding and leading everything He said and did.

He would recast His purpose to His followers, and it would change everything: careers, families, hobbies, social calendars, and even our money all become a means to His end.

The greatest thing you can do with your life is to serve others, and the greatest way to serve others is through the local church.

Following Jesus isn’t something you can do halfway. If we’re all in, we have a purpose to fulfill: to invite others to follow Jesus.

Purpose is the reason that something exists. It’s the reason that you exist, and contrary to popular belief, we don’t get to select our purpose in life. God created you on purpose and for a purpose. For those who follow Jesus, we find our purpose in someone else, and we fulfill our purpose as a part of the Church.

Once upon a time, the birth of a baby changed the world. The birth of Jesus marked the turning point in the most epic story ever told.

But the birth of Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection is only the midpoint of the story. The message of Jesus, the Apostles, and the Church is that the best is yet to come.

Jesus’ arrival in the world forever changed the world. He has been the dominant figure in history for 20 centuries. Three years of His teaching and preaching has done more to transform mankind than all the philosophers, teachers, and rulers combined. He has impacted art, music, literature. There is no corner of our world today that you cannot look upon and see the influence of the carpenter from Nazareth.

How could one man from so long ago, residing in an obscure corner of the globe, have impacted the world so greatly?

Have you ever been disappointed with God? Have your feelings, your circumstances, your experience of God ever contradicted what you knew, or thought you knew, about God?

The Jewish people found themselves in that very place. It was in the midst of that hopelessness that God sent Jesus, His final word to a world wrestling with feelings that undermine faith and circumstances that turn convictions into questions.

The existence of God gives us hope. When the people of the Kingdom of Judah faced exile in Babylon, God promised them a reason to hope on the other side of their suffering.