The young adults of GCC had their first ever young adults retreat last weekend (12th-14th June 2009). Praise the Lord! Being the group of people that they are – young, ambitious, and always on the go – the retreat served as a good break and getaway for their seemingly hectic working life. Also, of course, the purpose of the retreat was to empower, encourage and to encounter them with God and His word!

The theme of the retreat was “Created for His purpose”, an apt theme for this vibrant group of people. Humans have an innate desire to find their sense of purpose and strive to do something for a purpose. Purpose is the driving force behind what we do. But the conundrum for many lies in this question, “What exactly is my purpose?”. Many cannot answer that question while others get lost in a forest of scattered answers; hence, they lack a certain direction, drive and motivation in their lives. As believers, we believe God has given each of us a specific purpose, a dream or vision.

Pastor Edward spoke of that big dreamer in the Bible, Joseph (Genesis 37). Many a times, we are like Joseph - we have BIG dreams, dreams that may seem outrageous to others and sometimes, even beyond us. People ridicule us and some even hate us, just like Joseph’s brothers did, for having big dreams. But a vision, or dream, speaks about three things; (1.) Sight – it gives us a vivid image (2.)Future – the true manifestation of a vision is something of the future and lastly (3.) Clarity – it speaks of a clear, non double-minded, direction of what God wants us to do in our lives. We should then ask ourselves, “What is my vision?” What are some of the passions and dreams that you have?

More often than not, we keep our dreams in the closet because of the circumstances we face along the way; people reject us, we get laughed upon, the odds seemed to be going against us, etc. If we swing to the other extreme, our dreams can also be self-centred at times. We become totally immersed by them that it becomes all about ‘me’. As Christians, we need to have a God-centred vision, with the chief end of bringing glory back to Him while in the process, to be able to grow ourselves in maturity and ultimately sowing seeds that will impact lives for Christ.

Pastor Edward reminded us that as believers, the most important thing about a dream or a vision is simply God. God is of the utmost importance. It’s not so much about how we get there or how we do it, but it’s really just all about Him! This picture is depicted and exemplified in the life of Joseph. He had a dream/vision from God but all odds seemed to be against him – his brothers sold him, he was taken away to Egypt and was even imprisoned – in human perspective, his dream is nothing but a troublemaker. In spite of all that Joseph had to go through, he never forgotten God and who He is – He is bigger than any of our dreams! God can turn trials and yes, even evil intent, into something beautiful and all this in accordance to His plans! Amazing, isn’t it?

Pastor Edward also talked about bearing fruits (John 15) and how it is the way to actually ‘make God famous’. In order for us to bear fruits, we need to stay connected with God and the community around us. We need to start taking the proper actions. So often our minds tell us to do it, but actions never follow through. We also need to stay faithful in God. We need to be free of any old branches that are stunting our growth in Christ and as a person. The company of people that we mix with is also important for us to develop ourselves and to develop others. Lastly, we need to be spontaneous in Christ. When we become too rigid in where we’re going, it is then that we need to re-evaluate ourselves because the danger of our dreams becoming more about us than Him is probably already germinating within us.

As young adults, it was also a great opportunity for them to share their dreams and passions with one another in the retreat. It was a time of rediscovering some of those lost dreams and even broken dreams that they have and then connecting them with one another and ultimately with God. Being the vibrant generation that they are, the young adults also spent time hanging out together during the retreat just to chill out. They even went to the rather unknown and secluded waterfall somewhere in the middle of Titi Kerawang.

Having a vision is like having a set of car keys given to you. If you have the keys but you don’t get yourself into the car and drive it off, then the keys’ pretty much useless. Having a vision itself is never enough. There are a few things we need to do as Christians to be able to see through that vision. We need to firstly, discover who God is in our lives. We also then need to discover ourselves, our temperaments, our strengths and our weaknesses. We are all created uniquely in God’s image for a specific purpose. He gave us gifts accordingly. Now is the time for us to rise up, claim that purpose in our lives, use the gifts that He has so graciously given us, live it out loud and ultimately, making God famous!