Is God calling me?

Saturday Serve Intro

Good morning! We are so glad that you have chosen to join us this morning! My name is Jeff Ream and I have the privilege and honor of being the lead Pastor here at Generations Church.

Over the past four weeks we have been in a series entitled “What’s Next?” and each week we focused on different parts of our mission statement.

In case you missed it, Our mission here at Generations Church is to help People Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, and Make A Difference!

Everything we do falls into one of those categories.

Over the past few weeks we have been collecting small toiletry items to be able to pack Blessing Bags for one of our own, Bo Schuety. This morning I have asked Bo if he could join me for a few minutes so as He’s on his way up to the platform would you put your hands together and give him a big Generations Church welcome!

Questions for Bo:

Bo thanks so much for being here this morning. Bo is an over the road truck driver so doesn’t get to be with us on most Sunday's but he streams the services and always listens from his truck.

Bo would you just share with us about the journey you have been on and how God has used your Purpose (which is the same as all of ours…the furtherance of the gospel) called you to a unique calling as a missionary on the road.

Last week here at Generations we talked about the fact that God has called us to use our gifts and talents to Make A Difference in the world around us. I know you have ministered to hundreds of people on the road but could you maybe tell us a story about someone that sticks out in your mind that you were able to have an impact on with the blessing bags ministry?

Bo: Lastly, how can we be praying for you and supporting you day in and day out?

We over the past two weeks we have been collecting small toiletry items here at the church and this morning we want to present you with ____blessing bags to put in the cab of your truck and hand out. And as you go we want to pray a special blessing on your ministry and the many divine appointments God has for you in the coming days.

Prayer For Bo

Bumper Video: God Calling

Sermon Intro

If, you wouldn't mind today those who of you who are able, would you just stand to your feet as we prepare our hearts for God’s Word? What I'd like to do today is I wanna talk to those of you who know that you are created by God to do something significant, something meaningful, something eternal, something that matters. Many of you, you may sense that it's something big, something unique. Something special, but you don't know exactly what it is and you're not sure where to start.

I wanna share with you a verse that we focused on last week and I pray it will land in your spirit and build your faith so that know that you are uniquely created by God for His glory, called to make a difference in this world.

Ephesians 4:1, the Apostle Paul wrote this from a Roman prison, probably around the year 61 AD or so. And he said, “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, urge you "beg you." I plead with you. "To lead a life worthy of your calling, "for you have been called by God."

To live a life, this one life that you've been given. Worthy of the calling that you have from God.

Elbow somebody next to you and just tell them you've been called by God. If you’re watching online today type it in the chat, I've been called by God. I'm called by God. Let that resonate with your spirit, that you were created for a reason, a calling, a purpose, a divine destiny because you know that no matter what you achieve in this world, no matter what you obtain in this world, you long for more than just success. There's something in you that craves spiritual and lasting significance. The title of today's message is "Is God Calling Me?" and the answer is yes. Our God is calling you. So Father we pray that by the power of your word, and the presence of your Spirit that you would stir up your church to sense your divine calling for all of us. In your church, as your church, to make you known in this world. We pray this in Jesus' name and everybody said?

Amen. You can be seated.

This morning along with next week we want to talk about what it means to live a life called by God. It seems in today’s culture everyone is obsessed with things like building their personal brands, securing their side hustle, making a name for themselves. Another trendy description would be becoming an influencer.

What I'd like to do this morning is to attempt to reclaim the sacred language of calling. What does it mean to be called by God? The root Greek word for calling is honestly one of the most significant and important words in all of the New Testament.

The root Greek word is K-A-L-E-O and it's the root of 16 other very important words in the New Testament. Kaleo simply means to call.

I wanna show you some of the other words, just a few of them.

There's Klesis which means “calling”.

There's Kletos which means “called”.

There's Paraklete which means “comforter.” A picture of the Holy Spirit.

There's Parakletos which means the “advocate” or the “intercessor.” This is a picture of the Spirit of God.

There's Ekklesia which is the gathering, it's the church, the assembly of believers. It's ek means out of, klesia comes from . It means that we are the called out ones.

We don't go into a building, we're called into the world. We're called, now when you think about this, if you own it and you recognize that you've been genuinely set apart by God, chosen by God, gifted by God and called by Him to make a difference, that puts a little weight on your day to day doesn't it?

Because if you're called by God then you might wonder well what if I miss my calling? In other words, what if I was supposed to major in such and such in college but now I'm at an online college and what if I choose the wrong career? And what if I went to the wrong church and I didn't hear the right message which spurred me on to the right thing and what if I was supposed to ask out that cute girl at life group but I hesitated and now I'm destined to marry somebody unattractive and be miserable the rest of my life. What if I miss my calling? You may laugh at that but we have all had those thoughts. But here’s the truth... If God is calling me, He's chosen you and me for something special right? But we get stuck wondering what is it specifically I'm called by God, for... what am I called to do? It must be something big, it must be something important. If you're taking notes this morning the first thing you need to understand is that we have to embrace the truth that

1. Calling is about who you are before what you do.

When God calls you, He's calling you to a who before He's calling you to a do.

2 Timothy 1:9 (NLT)

9 For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.

This is really important. In fact, I love the words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 1:9 when he said this. He said, "For God saved us and called us," and let me tell you what he didn't say. He didn't say for God saved you and called you to be a missionary to Africa. He might but that's not what Paul said. He didn't say you're called to be a second grade teacher or you're called to be a professional gamer. How cool would it be to get paid to play video games? Paul didn't say you're called to a task or a job. What he said is this. He said, "For God saved us and called us "to live a holy life." It's a who before a do. "God did this, not because we deserved it," Scripture said, "but because this was His plan "from before the beginning of time, "to show us His grace through Christ Jesus." God called you to live a holy life. In other words, calling is as much about who you're becoming as it is about what you are doing.

There are people that I have seen throughout the last 20 years of ministry that had all the talents to do great, unbelievable things for the the Lord and for the Kingdom, but because they forgot that they were called to be before do and so the do never came to fruition. You can have all the want to and desire to do great things for the kingdom and but if you ignore the who those things are empty…are you with me? You’re first and most important calling is to be live a Holy Life!

You're called to be holy, that Greek word is ἅγιος (eye e ohs) It means to be set apart, it means to be different. In other words, as you follow Jesus, you don't look like the world, you don't act like the world, you don't think like the world, you don't behave like the world. You're not driven by the things that other people are driven by because you've been set apart by God, called by Jesus, infused with the power of the Spirit of God to live a holy life.

Remember we talked about it last week! You and I can never accomplish anything, we can not live worthy of our calling apart from Jesus Christ and then power of the Holy Spirit!

When you look at Scripture, it's interesting to me that the Bible never talks about your calling for a career. The Bible talks about your calling to become like Jesus. It's a who before it is a do. So when you recognize you are called by God, a better question than starting with “what am I called to do?”, is “who am I called to become?”

Who is it that God wants me to become? Because if calling is only about a do, it's gonna get really, really, confusing. Now I'll try to unpack this for you just a bit. I’m gonna ask you a question and I'd love for you to participate. How many of you might suggest that God has called me to preach the Gospel, raise your hands. Some of you are not raising your hand right now so that hurts my feelings.

This isn't a trick question, what I'm trying to do is say you might say you're called by God to preach the Gospel, there's a problem. I'm also called probably to be a husband to Jennifer. How many would you agree? Now that takes a distinctly different skillset and expression to fulfill that calling. For example, if Jenn and I have let's say a constructive discussion. That's preacher talk for an argument. So let's say we have a constructive discussion and at the end of it I say this. For those of you who need to repent of your sins and call on Jesus, raise your hand right now at the count of three. If I say that to her at the count of three I'm gonna be repenting of my sins and calling on Jesus. Because that approach isn't gonna be incredibly effective. It's a different setting and it's a different calling. So am I called to be a preacher? Am I called to be a husband?

You know what…I also have a calling to be four kids daddy…i said that the other day and one of them said “Nobody calls you daddy anymore...” That kind of hurt a little. The point is that I'm called to be a pastor, I'm called to be a husband to my wife. I'm called to be a dad to my children and I am still the same person and yet I've got different expressions of the calling. What I hope you'll recognize in your own life is that who you are is way, way, way more important to God than starting with what you do. In other words, if I'm called to be yes, a preacher and yet I'm not living a righteous life, I'm not living a holy life, I am not fulfilling my calling. If I am not loving Jenn and yet I'm really successful in some other avenue, I'm not fulfilling my calling because I might be lacking integrity in some area of my life. I could be a good preacher and work really, really hard and preach a message that you might like and hopefully influences your life but if I'm neglecting my family, then I am not fulfilling my calling. You can see someone who's a charismatic leader but doesn't keep their word and doesn't have integrity. That person is not fulfilling their calling because #2

2. Calling isn't about something important you do in the future. Calling is about your faithfulness to Jesus today,

It's about who you are today, not just about what you do in the future.

The calling of being a Christian is not a Sunday thing.

Colossians 3:17 (NIV)

17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Whatever you do. You do it as unto the Lord. Calling isn't just about the specific unique “doing” …calling starts with the who and when you're holy and set apart for God than whatever you do, you do it for God.

I wanna show you an example in Scripture and I want to show you a couple of stories. One is in Mark 10 and the other one is immediately following in Mark 11.

In Mark 10 there's two brothers, James and John and they're gonna ask Jesus for a little favor. Jesus give us some favor and essentially what they say is, hey one day Jesus, when you're sitting on your throne, when you're in heaven reigning and ruling, can one of us sit on your right and the other one on your left? We wanna be important Jesus. When people think of you, we want them thinking of us. We wanna be important.

And Jesus looks on and He kind of gives them a little message. He says hey if you want to be a leader, first you need to be a servant. He says if you wanna be really important, if you wanna be first, the first thing you need to do is you actually need to be last. It’s not about the visibility, you need to have a heart of a servant. It's who you are, not just where you're positioned. So that’s in Mark 10. Two brothers, James and John.

In the very next chapter, Mark 11, Jesus and His disciples, they were approaching Jerusalem for the famous moment that we call the triumphal entry. This is when Jesus comes riding in on the donkey and all the people are lining the streets hootin’ and hollering “Hosaana!!!” And waiving palm branches. And they are praising Him and celebrating Him....but he's preparing to give His life. In the church we call it palm sunday…the week before Easter..right.

And the disciples are very, very likely beside themselves. Have you ever been with someone that you deem important and you're walking in with them and you're just kind of got going like, I got it going on. Not because I'm anything, but because of who I'm with and this is what they're very likely thinking. We are coming into town with Jesus the Son of God at the moment of the triumphal entry. We've left so much to be here. This is the big moment! But as we go in verse one of Mark 11: 1 says this. "As Jesus and His disciples approached Jerusalem, "they came from towns of Bethpage and Bethany "at the Mount of Olives." And Jesus did what? "Jesus sent two of them on ahead.

What's interesting is Mark doesn't tell us which two. But if I were Jesus, I can guarantee you, the two that had just asked me to be the most important would've very likely been my object lesson in this illustration that I was just about to do. So in my own opinion, I think it's probably James and John that Jesus sent on this assignment. Here's what He's gonna do. He's gonna send them on ahead and you know what they're thinking. These two, they're thinking we're gonna do something really important. We're gonna cast out demons. We're gonna call down fire from heaven and burn up the whole evil Roman Empire. You know, He has chosen us because of our capacity, because of our experience, because of our leadership skills and here's what Jesus says to them.

Mark 11:2–3 (NLT)

2 “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks, ‘What are you doing?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it and will return it soon.’ ”

Whoa.......wait a minute Jesus. We left everything to follow you. Where's my important assignment? Our big calling. Where we get visible recognition. Where we get some clout. Where we get a little attention, where we get some followers. Where we get some, some fame. Come on Jesus, where are you? You're calling us to donkey duty?

And the disciples were about to learn something so important.

That the size of your assignment never determines the significance of your impact.

The size of your assignment, the very thing in that moment that God might be calling you to do, enabling you to do, inviting you to do, may not feel important in the moment but could be more significant than you could ever imagine.

Just like a little shepherd boy who determined in the Old Testament that a very small stone can take out a really, really big giant. Just like a little boy in the New Testament who took his little lunch and gave it to Jesus and Jesus took something that seemed small and insignificant and multiplied it to feed 5000 men and a bunch of women and children as well. You are set apart by God.

Listen to me! Every single one of you! You have been chosen by God! You're called by God. And whatever you do, even if it's donkey duty you do it with faithfulness, you do it with passion. You do it with integrity. Because of who you are, you do it for the one who gave it all for you. It's so much more about the who than it is about the do. These two disciples, these two guys may have had no idea that they delivered the donkey that carried Jesus to His calling.

You wanna find your calling? You want to find what you were created to do? Start with the who. Be faithful to Jesus today and then, when you're faithful, when you serve with integrity, when you love and when you live generously and when you die to yourself, and leverage your life to make Jesus known, when there's less of you and there's more of Him. When it's not about your name or your status or your visible importance, but it becomes all about the one who gave His life for you. Who suffered, shed His blood, gave His life and rose again. So you could be forgiven, your sins washed away. Filled with the very same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, empowered, created. Uniquely shaped, set apart to live a holy life. Then when everything you do, you do for the glory of God, you don't have to find your calling, your calling will find you. It overtakes you, something as meaningless as donkey duty becomes something meaningful when it's for the one who gave His life for you.

When I stand before Him one day, He's not gonna say well done my good and important servant. Right? What He may say and I dream about is well done my good and faithful servant. Faithful. You've been called by God. Set apart, chosen. Not to live a life that's all about you, and your comfort and your name and your desires but a life that reflects the glory of God.

Paul said

Ephesians 4:1 (NLT)

1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.

You're called by God, it's not a game. Church isn't like an add-on. It's not something you do just like watch a sermon every now and then and try to do good to someone. You're called to reflect the glory of Jesus in all you do. In every conversation, and everywhere you go, you have been set apart by God. What if you woke up everyday and said, I have been called by God.

You Uniquely created, empowered, set aside to live a holy life. To become like Jesus. To make Him known and at the end of the day, your success will not be based on how important you look to anybody else, but your success would be based on the way you faithfully served Jesus today. Success isn't accomplishing something big and significant out there in the future. Success is being faithful to Jesus today.