Set Apart for a Purpose

Introduction

Final Session of camp - I’m expecting God to move.

Want to talk about purpose - the final message. Set Apart for a Purpose.

Most people know that God actually has a purpose for their lives - like it’s something that is spoken a lot in churches, it’s a language that we’re familiar with.

But so many times we sort of just ignore it. We shy away from it.

Sometimes we struggle to believe that we are qualified for it - like maybe you believe that the calling is there but it just looks impossible, it just feels like it’s way too big for you to accomplish.

But I want to share with you today that calling is not about your ability - it’s about your availability.

Pray

Segment 1: Calling is Revealed

Jeremiah 1:4–10 “4 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” 6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” 7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.” 9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.””

Want you to pay attention specifically to v5 - Jeremiah 1:5 “5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.””

You know how I talked about the worldly culture in this morning’s message - about how the world is all about the individual? It’s what I want to do, it’s what I get to do, it’s MY decision, it’s MY life.

Well this stands in stark contrast with scripture as well - scripture that tells us BEFORE I formed you I KNEW YOU, and I CONSECRATED you and I, THE LORD, APPOINTED you.

The world says that YOU are the one who gets to figure out and decide the purpose of your life.

But GOD says that you already have a purpose - the one that HE has placed in you since BEFORE you were born.

The world tells you that it’s about YOU - it’s YOUR life, you get to decide what to do with it

But Scripture says that you were SET APART for a specific purpose to which God has called you to.

Ephesians 4:1 “1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,”

It’s not urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling THAT YOU HAVE DECIDED. It’s walk in a manner worthy of the calling TO WHICH YOU HAVE BEEN CALLED.

God made a decision about you BEFORE you made one about Him.

Segment 2: The excuse

But even after Jeremiah received that word from the Lord - even after the Lord told Jeremiah that He was chosen and appointed even before he was born; Jeremiah comes at him with an excuse.

Jeremiah 1:6 “6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.””

Jeremiah, just like any of us - came up with an excuse. “I can’t, I’m not ready, I’m too young, I don’t know enough, I don’t have enough” etc.

And the Lord’s immediate response to Him is Jeremiah 1:7–8 “7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.””

In other words - The Lord says to Jeremiah - “What’s this excuse? Who gave you your calling? Do you know Who I AM? Do you not know who stands behind you? Do you know who goes with you?”

And if that sounds familiar at all it’s because this isn’t the first time the Lord has spoken like this to someone. In Exodus 4:10–12 “10 But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.””

“Who do you think is sending you?” “Did you forget Who I AM?”

When the fear and insecurity takes over: God I don’t have the words! “Who made your mouth?” God I don’t have the skill! “Who gave you your gifts?” God I don’t have the knowledge “Who forms your thoughts?” God I don’t have the confidence “Who goes before you?”

Translation - Your calling isn’t ABOUT you! It’s about the God who CALLS you.

Segment 3: The root of insecurity

You know when we make these excuses, whether they come from our insecurity or our fear - I want you to hear this; every excuse that we make is rooted in unbelief.

It’s unbelief that thinks that God will call you - but that He won’t carry you through the calling.

It’s a lack of trust that says God won’t fulfil the calling He has placed in you.

If that’s you I need you to know Philippians 1:6 “6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

If God has called you - then He will empower you to see it through.

Remember what we talked about yesterday? Sometimes we crave the clarity - we seek that clarity, I just want to know the future, I just want to know the plan God, I just want to know how you’re going to get me from here to there.

But God doesn’t want you to have CLARITY as much as He wants you to have TRUST in Him!

He doesn’t want a generation who are CLEAR on the plan - He wants a generation that will TRUST Him to fulfil the plan.

Segment 4: Strength in Weakness

Jeremiah 1:9–10 “9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.””

And so God sees Jeremiah’s weakness - and He puts His WORDS in Jeremiah’s mouth.

And this is important to note - that the Lord uses Jeremiah’s weakness.

Jeremiah’s weakness is the PLATFORM for God’s power.

Like it’s not an accident - it’s not some sort of just weird coincidence that God chooses to put WORDS in Jeremiah’s mouth. God is SPECIFICALLY using Jeremiah’s weakness to display His strength.

And THIS is what we were talking about last night - that God is not just wanting to REMOVE your brokenness, He wants to REDEEM it. He wants to USE it as a part of your calling.

Because the brokenness in your life is PREPARATION for your CALLING.

But most importantly - because God’s power is MOST evident in your weakness. Because people get to see that it’s not by YOUR strength that the miracle happened, people get to see the God who goes BEFORE you.

Because calling is not about your ability - it’s about your obedience.

ILLUSTRATION: Sarah and the Vase

I was reading a true story written by a Pediatrician named David Cerqueira who shared a story:

He said his wife was a Sunday school teacher - who was teaching on the subject of serving others when a little girl named Sarah spoke up. "Teacher, what can I do? I don't know how do to many useful things."

His wife didn’t see that coming and so looked around for something random for her to do and said “Sarah, you can bring in a flower and put it in the vase. That would be a useful thing."

Sarah frowned. "But that's not important."

His wife replied, “everything that serves God is important.”

Sure enough, the next Sunday Sarah brought in a dandelion and placed it in the vase. In fact, she continued to do so each week. Without reminders or help, she made sure the vase was filled with a bright yellow flower, Sunday after Sunday.

During that same week he got a call from Sarah's mother. She worried that Sarah seemed to have less energy than usual and that she didn't have an appetite. Offering her some reassurances, he made room in his schedule to see Sarah the following day. After Sarah had a battery of tests and days of examinations, Sarah's results finally came in. The results were tragic. She had leukemia.

Time pressed on. Sarah became confined to bed and to the visits that many people gave her. She lost her smile. She lost most of her weight. And then it came: another telephone call. Sarah's mother asked him to come see her. He dropped everything and ran to the house. There she was, a small bundle that barely moved. After a short examination, he knew that Sarah would soon be leaving this world. So he urged her parents to spend as much time as possible with her.

That was a Friday afternoon. On Sunday morning church started as usual. The singing, the sermon— David said he felt enveloped in sadness. At the end of the sermon, the pastor suddenly stopped speaking. His eyes wide, he stared at the back of the church in shock. Everyone turned to see what he was looking at. It was Sarah! Her parents had brought her for one last visit. She was bundled in a blanket, a dandelion in one little hand.

She didn't sit in the back row. Instead she slowly walked to the front of the church where her vase was perched by the pulpit. She put her flower in the vase and a piece of paper beside it. Then she returned to her parents. Seeing Sarah place her flower in the vase for the last time moved everyone. At the end of the service, people gathered around Sarah and her parents, trying to offer as much love and support as possible.

Four days later, Sarah died. …

David said “I wasn't expecting it, but our pastor asked to see me after the funeral. We stood at the cemetery near our cars as people walked past us. In a low voice he said, "Dave, I've got something you ought to see." He pulled out of his pocket the piece of paper that Sarah had left by the vase. Holding it out to me, he said, "You'd better keep this; it may help you in your line of work."

I opened the folded paper to read, in pink crayon, what Sarah had written:

Dear God,

This vase has been the biggest honor of my life.

Sarah

Do you know what I learned from Sarah’s story?

That the impact of a calling has little to do with the largeness of the task - but the posture of the servant.

1 Samuel 16:7 “man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Will you surrender your calling to the Lord tonight?