Called by God

24 October 2012

 

Opening Prayer/Worship

 

Hymn: God is working his purpose out

 

Theme: Be filled with the Holy Spirit

 

Topic: Called by God

 

Reading: Hebrews 5:1-10

Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.²He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness; ³and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people.⁴And one does not presume to take this honour, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was. ⁵ So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him,
‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you’; ⁶as he says also in another place, ‘You are a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchizedek.’ ⁷ In the days of his flesh, Jesus^* offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.⁸Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; ⁹and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, ¹⁰having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

 

Introduction

God has called everyone and can use anyone.  Regardless of the manner or whether any special tasks are attached to the call, we are all called by God.  Called to be His and for Him to be ours.  In spite of any perceived differences among individuals’ experiences with regards to the Divine call, the important component is Jesus Christ- to know Him and make Him known.  The choice to respond positively to the call as well as how committed we are to the purpose for which God has called us, rests upon us.  The knowledge that God has a plan and purpose for our lives reassures us even in moments things seem not to be working out well.  At such moments, God is still working out His purpose in our lives and in His creation.  As we allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts, we will be increasingly empowered to live according to the calling of God in our lives.  The Holy Spirit is the power behind answering the call of God and living according to Divine purpose.

 

Questions/Discussion

1. How do we know we are called by God? 

Matthew 22:1-14

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: ²‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.³He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come.⁴Again he sent other slaves, saying, “Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.”⁵But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business,⁶while the rest seized his slaves, maltreated them, and killed them.⁷The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.⁸Then he said to his slaves, “The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy.⁹Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.”¹⁰Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. ¹¹ ‘But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe,¹²and he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” And he was speechless.¹³Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”¹⁴For many are called, but few are chosen.’

 

Romans 1:1-7

Paul, a servant^* of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,²which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,³the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh⁴and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit^* of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,⁵through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name,⁶including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, ⁷ To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Romans 8:28-30

We know that all things work together for good^* for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.²⁹For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family.^*30And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.

 

1 Peter 2:4-10

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and⁵like living stones, let yourselves be built^* into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.⁶For it stands in scripture: ‘See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him^* will not be put to shame.’ ⁷To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner’, ⁸and ‘A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall.’ They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. ⁹ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people,^* in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy

 

2. What is the purpose for which God has called us? 

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.¹⁹For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’ ²⁰Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?²¹For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.²²For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom,²³but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,²⁴but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.²⁵For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. ²⁶ Consider your own call, brothers and sisters:^* not many of you were wise by human standards,^* not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.²⁷But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;²⁸God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are,²⁹so that no one^* might boast in the presence of God.³⁰He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,³¹in order that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in^* the Lord.’

 

2 Thessalonians 1:3-12

We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters,^* as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.⁴Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring. ⁵ This is evidence of the righteous judgement of God, and is intended to make you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering.⁶For it is indeed just of God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,⁷and to give relief to the afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels⁸in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.⁹These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,¹⁰when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marvelled at on that day among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.¹¹To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfil by his power every good resolve and work of faith,¹²so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

2 Timothy 1:3-14

I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.⁴Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.⁵I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.⁶For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands;⁷for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. ⁸ Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God,⁹who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,¹⁰but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.¹¹For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher,^*12and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him.^*13Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.¹⁴Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

 

3. How do we overcome the hindrances to living according to God’s purpose?

1 Corinthians 7:17-24

However that may be, let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God called you. This is my rule in all the churches.¹⁸Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision.¹⁹Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing; but obeying the commandments of God is everything.²⁰Let each of you remain in the condition in which you were called. ²¹ Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. Even if you can gain your freedom, make use of your present condition now more than ever.^*22For whoever was called in the Lord as a slave is a freed person belonging to the Lord, just as whoever was free when called is a slave of Christ.²³You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of human masters.²⁴In whatever condition you were called, brothers and sisters,^* there remain with God.

 

Ephesians 1:15-23

I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love^* towards all the saints, and for this reason¹⁶I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.¹⁷I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him,¹⁸so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,¹⁹and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.²⁰God^* put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,²¹far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.²²And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church,²³which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

 

Ephesians 4:1-16

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called,²with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,³making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling,⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism,⁶one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. ⁷ But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift.⁸Therefore it is said, ‘When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.’ ⁹(When it says, ‘He ascended’, what does it mean but that he had also descended^* into the lower parts of the earth?¹⁰He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.)¹¹The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,¹²to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,¹³until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.¹⁴We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming.¹⁵But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

¹⁶Rejoice always,¹⁷pray without ceasing,¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.¹⁹Do not quench the Spirit.²⁰Do not despise the words of prophets,^*21but test everything; hold fast to what is good;²²abstain from every form of evil. ²³ May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound^* and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.²⁴The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

 

2 Peter 1:3-11

His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by^* his own glory and goodness.⁴Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants in the divine nature.⁵For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge,⁶and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness,⁷and godliness with mutual^* affection, and mutual^* affection with love.⁸For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.⁹For anyone who lacks these things is short-sighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins.¹⁰Therefore, brothers and sisters,^* be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble.¹¹For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.

 

Intercession/Worship

 

Conclusion

It is God who called us and chose us.  Let us come to Him with confidence, not based on what we have done, but on what He has done for us through His Son Jesus Christ, and through His Spirit living within us.

 

Closing Prayer

Lord we are grateful to You for calling, choosing and loving us.  Fill us with Your Holy Spirit, to love and serve You, all the days of our lives.  We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.