The Next Level Final

Do you remember when caller id was first introduced?

Pep-ridge farm remembers. Sorry I couldn’t help myself.

Apparently the idea for caller id started back in 1968 by Theodore George Paraskevakos. Just one year after the TML won their last Stanley Cup. I guess Theodore saw a lot of prank calls hassling leafs fans in the future.

By 1971 Theodore made his first working prototype.

Telephone companies loved the prototype and wanted to use it as a pay per call service where the name was heard audibly, but Ted has a better idea, putting the caller id right in the phone display.

In 1976 Mr. Kazuo Hashimoto made the first in phone display caller id prototype and between 1984-1989 depending on where you lived these new phones started entering homes.

Of course if you were like my family who prefered the cheeper phones and didn’t want to pay the extra $3/month for the caller id function to be activated, yes the phone companies still managed to make money off an idea that wasn’t even theirs, it wasn’t until like 1994-1996 before one of those phones entered your house.

I’ll tell you what it was a far cry from the party line where not only didn’t you know who was calling if you were a 3 year old boy you didn’t even know if they were calling you.

Yes Caller id sure has changed somethings. Like you can pretend you recognize a persons voice when really you just read their name.

It also stopped a lot of prank phone calls as each call will now leave a return number, unless of course they pay extra to have their number unlisted.

But if I get a phone call that comes in as unlisted or unknown caller, I don’t know about you but I am awfully tempted to respect their privacy and not answer the phone.

Oh yeah saying that, this was probably the greatest advantage to caller id, you now had the opportunity to know who was calling before you answered, so now you could make a choose as to whether you would take the call or not.

This is especially handy when the caller id say 1-877-384-1234 or something stupid like that.

But did you know Phone calls are not the only kind of calls we receive?

In fact when someone comes to visit we used to call that calling on someone. So much so we invented the peep hole, which was essentially the in person version of caller id.

But perhaps the most important calls that we receive come from God Himself.

....Recap Series.....

Today we are ending a series called The Next Level.

In this series we have been talking about going to the next level in our relationship with God.

No matter where youu are in your relationship with God we can always go deeper, further… to the next level.

We said ultimately it takes ridiculous over the top faith to get to the next level.

And so we have been looking at different people in the bible and how they used ridiculous faith to go to the next level in their relationship with God.

Before I recap them though there is something I want to clarify.

It may take ridiculous faith, but it doesn’t take a lot of it. Faith the size of a mustered seed can move mountains.

You don’t need a lot of ridiculous faith, just enough to get you to act.

That said we have looked at

Job Faith to keep going

Zacchaeus Faith to make right what he could

The woman with the issue of blood faith to act on a crazy idea from God

This morning I want to look at a prophet from the OT.

Like many prophets of the OT this prophet is quite well known. He is a major prophet which just means it is a large book,

His name is Isaiah and the question I want to answer this morning is...

How did Isaiah use ridiculous faith to get to the next level?

Isaiah 6 NLT

It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!” Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke. Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.” Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” And he said, “Yes, go, and say to this people, ‘Listen carefully, but do not understand. Watch closely, but learn nothing.’ Harden the hearts of these people. Plug their ears and shut their eyes. That way, they will not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts and turn to me for healing.” Then I said, “Lord, how long will this go on?” And he replied, “Until their towns are empty, their houses are deserted, and the whole country is a wasteland; until the Lord has sent everyone away, and the entire land of Israel lies deserted. If even a tenth—a remnant—survive, it will be invaded again and burned. But as a terebinth or oak tree leaves a stump when it is cut down, so Israel’s stump will be a holy seed.”

How did Isaiah use ridiculous faith to get to the next level?

He answered the call

Me: I was 4 when God called and told me he wanted to save me. I am so Glad I answered that call even though for a few years I walked away it was this initial call that brought me into a relationship with God and made it so I was ready when I was 8.

At 8 years old God called again. This time it was to tell me that I was to be a pastor in full time ministry. At 8 years old I said yes to that call, but can I be honest with you by 12 I had all but hung up on God.

When my father left I was ready to throw in the towel on God, church and everything really. For 4 years God kept calling but I treated Him like a telemarketer. I knew who was calling, so I just didn’t answer the call. Ok maybe early on I answered a couple times but I didn’t like the conversation so I’d hang up again.

This morning I stand before you as someone who is overwhelmed and humbled by the fact the even though I either ignored His calls, or I’d answer and hang up on Him, God never stopped calling.

He pursued me, probably in response to my mothers prayers. He was persistent and relentless and most importantly He was patient until the day came when I was ready to answer His call and really listen.

We: I bet each of us here, no matter where we are in our journey with God, would be able to testify to a similar story of God’s persistence and patience. The truth is God doesn’t just call us once does He. He calls us multiple times throughout our life and relationship.

Sometimes He calls because He wants us to do something very specific, like pray for someone, or go visit someone, or go on a short term mission trip.

Other times God calls with a life time task. We often call these our calling. For me this life time call is to be a pastor/teacher

God: For Isaiah it was to be a spokesperson to the Israelites and although like this first prophesy stated, they never really understood what Isaiah was saying, but through Him God gave a ton of prophesies about the messiah. Prophesies that Jesus fulfilled.

All because when God said,

Isaiah 6:8 NLT

Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.”

Isaiah said...

Isaiah 6:8 NLT

Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.”

Isaiah 6:

You: So I have a question for you...

When God calls will you answer the Call?

He may call just to say He loves you, He may call to ask you to volunteer in the church He could call to ask you to go to bible school.

We:

We: All I know is when God calls, if we say yes Lord go ahead your servant is listening, it may not always be easy but if we remain faithful we win in the end.