Speaker 1: Let's say the phone rang one day and you thought
Speaker 1: this is an interruption or it's going to be bad news.
Speaker 1: But somebody who's calling to tell you had just inherited
Speaker 1: fifty million dollars, you would not want to miss that call.
Speaker 1: What if God called you? Let me give you a
Speaker 1: little tip. When God calls, you do not use call waiting.
Speaker 1: When God calls, you do not put it on the
Speaker 1: answer voicemail. When God calls, you do not let it
Speaker 1: ring and ring and ring and ring. Pick it up
Speaker 1: on the first call. When God calls you. Now, the
Speaker 1: Bible says you have already been called. You have been
Speaker 1: called according to His purpose. A couple verses down from
Speaker 1: that verse Romans eight thirty, it says this, look here
Speaker 1: on the screen. Those that God predestined he also called,
Speaker 1: and those he called he also justified, and those he
Speaker 1: justified he also glorified. The Bible says, you have been
Speaker 1: called by God. What does that mean? The word in
Speaker 1: the Greek is the word callao k a l e
Speaker 1: oh calaioh. It's almost like calleaioh call, and the word
Speaker 1: calaoh means God is calling you, and it's used about
Speaker 1: one hundred times in the New Testament over one hundred times,
Speaker 1: and most of the time it's talking about your assignment
Speaker 1: in life, your purpose in life, your mission in life,
Speaker 1: the reason God created you.
Speaker 2: It is called your calling. Now.
Speaker 1: The first thing we learned from God's word is this,
Speaker 1: my calling is a gift from God. My calling is
Speaker 1: a gift from God. I don't earn it, I don't
Speaker 1: deserve it. I don't work for it. I don't bargain
Speaker 1: for it. I don't barter for it. It's just flat
Speaker 1: out gift of God's grace. It is His present to me.
Speaker 1: When He created me, he called me, and it's all
Speaker 1: by grace. Galatians chapter one says this, God, by his
Speaker 1: grace through Christ, has called you.
Speaker 2: To become his people.
Speaker 1: The fact is grace is that God knows all the
Speaker 1: things I've done. And even when I was thumbing my
Speaker 1: nose to him and rejecting him, God was saying, I
Speaker 1: love you, I love you, I love you. Now your
Speaker 1: calling is actually a part of your salvation. The calling
Speaker 1: to Christ is also the calling to your purpose. Two
Speaker 1: Timothy one nine says He has saved us and called us.
Speaker 1: Notice they go together, saved us and called us to
Speaker 1: a holy life, not because of anything we've done, but
Speaker 1: because of his own purpose and grace, His purpose and
Speaker 1: his grace. So God gives me a calling in life
Speaker 1: simply because He wants to give me a calling life.
Speaker 1: I don't deserve it, He just gives it to me.
Speaker 1: Now circle the word purpose on that verse, because that
Speaker 1: leads us to the second.
Speaker 2: Thing we learn, and is this.
Speaker 1: I am called for God's purpose, not mine, but God's.
Speaker 1: You were made by God, and you were made for God.
Speaker 1: And until you understand that, life's never gonna make sense,
Speaker 1: and you're gonna get bored, and you're gonna get frustrated,
Speaker 1: you're gonna have all kinds of difficulty because you don't
Speaker 1: understand you were made for God. Here's the third principle.
Speaker 1: Number three. God chose my calling before I was born.
Speaker 1: You need to know that as we get ready to
Speaker 1: go in to live your calling the next six weeks.
Speaker 1: My calling is a gift from God. I'm called for
Speaker 1: God's purpose, not mine, and my calling was before I
Speaker 1: was born. God chose it. Let me show you some
Speaker 1: verses on this. Galatians chapter one, verse fifteen, Paul says
Speaker 1: it pleased God in his kindness to choose me and
Speaker 1: call me even before I was born.
Speaker 2: What undeserved mercy.
Speaker 1: Here's another example, Jeremiah Jeremiah, chapter one, verse five. Before
Speaker 1: I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you,
Speaker 1: before you saw the light of day. I had holy
Speaker 1: plans for you. God called you before you were even born,
Speaker 1: and the Bible says God uniquely shaped you. You are
Speaker 1: a custom made baby. Now there's a fourth thing that
Speaker 1: the Bible teaches us about your calling, and it is this.
Speaker 2: This is a big one. My sins and my.
Speaker 1: Mistakes don't change my call. Oh I'm so glad for
Speaker 1: this one. My sins and my mistakes don't change my call.
Speaker 1: God's call for my life. It doesn't matter how messed
Speaker 1: up your life has been, whether you messed it up
Speaker 1: or somebody messed it up for you. No matter how
Speaker 1: screwy it got, how difficult it became, no matter how
Speaker 1: many dumb decisions you've made in the past, it hasn't
Speaker 1: changed God's call on your life at all. The call
Speaker 1: that God gave you before you were born, the call
Speaker 1: that God gave you when you were saved and reaffirmed
Speaker 1: when you were saved, is a calling that God says.
Speaker 2: It's there forever.
Speaker 1: It's a permanent calling, and God doesn't change it.
Speaker 2: Now. A good example this, of course, was Paul. I
Speaker 2: mean he was.
Speaker 1: Paul was a pretty rude dude in a crude mood before.
Speaker 2: He became an apostle.
Speaker 1: God called him to be an apostle, and in one
Speaker 1: Timothy Chapter one, Paul says this, by calling me into
Speaker 1: his service, Jesus has judged me trustworthy, even though I
Speaker 1: used to be a blasphemer and a persecutor and contemptuous. Mercy, however,
Speaker 1: was shown me because while I lacked faith, I acted
Speaker 1: in ignorance. I love that phrase, the honesty there. While
Speaker 1: I lacked faith, I acted in ignorance.
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: Then I did a lot of dumb stuff growing up.
Speaker 1: How many of you would admit I did a lot
Speaker 1: of dumb stuff growing up? Okay, I did a lot
Speaker 1: of Okay, that's apostle training. Okay, congratulations, Okay, do you
Speaker 1: know what Paul was? Paul was a terrorist before he
Speaker 1: became an apostle. He was a religious terrorist. He was
Speaker 1: going to people's homes, dragging him out in the street,
Speaker 1: throwing him into jail, killing people. He was a murderer,
Speaker 1: God said, Paul. That didn't change the call that I
Speaker 1: had for you from the day you were born. I
Speaker 1: had a plan for you, and even the bad stuff
Speaker 1: fits into the plan. The fact that I love most
Speaker 1: about God is that he never wastes anything, and he
Speaker 1: fits it all into.
Speaker 2: His plan, even my sin, even the.
Speaker 1: Stupid decisions that I've made that I will regret the
Speaker 1: rest of my life. God says, you know what, I'm
Speaker 1: going to even put that in the plan. We'll make
Speaker 1: it work. I can bring all things can work together
Speaker 1: for good for those who love God, who are called
Speaker 1: according to His purpose.
Speaker 2: I can fit that in there too.
Speaker 1: And not only can God say, your sins and your
Speaker 1: mistakes don't change your calling. The sins of other people
Speaker 1: against you don't change your calling. Some of you may
Speaker 1: feel a little bruised, a little battered, a little beat
Speaker 1: up by the world. Maybe you had somebody who was
Speaker 1: unfaithful to you. You had somebody walk out of your life.
Speaker 1: You had somebody be but betray you, reject you. Some
Speaker 1: of you have been molested, some of you have been raped.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I am, but you know what, that did
Speaker 1: not change one bit of your value. And that did
Speaker 1: not change one bit of God's call on your life.
Speaker 2: It has not changed.
Speaker 1: You are still God's workmanship, God's masterpiece created in Christ
Speaker 1: Jesus to do good works. And you know what, God says,
Speaker 1: you know what, I can even take the ugly stuff
Speaker 1: and I'll take the stinger out of it, and you
Speaker 1: know what, I'll even bring good out of it in
Speaker 1: your life if you'll let me. The Bible says, my
Speaker 1: sins and mistakes don't change God's call. I want you
Speaker 1: to write this down on your outline. God has no
Speaker 1: Plan B for me.
Speaker 2: A lot of.
Speaker 1: People think, you know what, I really screwed up on
Speaker 1: that one. Therefore I gotta live with Plan B the
Speaker 1: rest of my life. No, you don't, It's part of
Speaker 1: Plan A. God has no Plan B for me. When
Speaker 1: I think about this, I think about Chuck Coulson. Chuck
Speaker 1: Colson was one of the most powerful men in the
Speaker 1: world in his day. He was assistant to the President
Speaker 1: of the United States of America, and then he got
Speaker 1: involved in a scandal, Watergate, and he went to prison,
Speaker 1: and in prison, he found Christ, became a believer, saw
Speaker 1: the need for people in prisons to know the Lord.
Speaker 1: Started Prison Fellowship, which now in like one hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty sixty countries, has blessed millions of people. But when
Speaker 1: God created Chuck Colson, he knew he would be going
Speaker 1: from the presidency to prison and back out all in
Speaker 1: one life. And he said, I'm going to fit it
Speaker 1: into the plan. I'm going to fit it into the plan.
Speaker 1: Number five, the fifth thing we learned about God's calling is.
Speaker 2: My calling is permanent.
Speaker 1: This is a further extension of what I just said,
Speaker 1: and what I mean was permanent means nobody can take
Speaker 1: it from you. When you were growing up, your parents
Speaker 1: tried to probably make you something that you didn't really
Speaker 1: want to be, or your girlfriend, your boyfriend tried to
Speaker 1: make you something you didn't want to be, or your
Speaker 1: boss or somebody in your life. You're always trying to
Speaker 1: pressure you and conform you to take away your true calling.
Speaker 1: Your calling cannot be taken from you. Satan can't take
Speaker 1: your calling away from you. You can't take your calling
Speaker 1: away from you. Other people can't take your calling away
Speaker 1: from you, and God won't because he says I've given
Speaker 1: it to you permanently. The Bible says in Romans eleven,
Speaker 1: verse twenty nine. God's gifts and his callings are read
Speaker 1: it with me irrevocable circle that they cannot be taken away.
Speaker 1: They are permanent. The calling on your life is never
Speaker 1: ever gonna change, no matter what you've done, no matter what.
Speaker 2: You've messed up.
Speaker 1: The expression may change, the timing, the when, the war
Speaker 1: of the how, but the calling will not change. You
Speaker 1: still have the same gifts God gave you from the beginning.
Speaker 2: Now, what does this verse teach us?
Speaker 1: If my calling is permanent, it means this my job
Speaker 1: is not my calling because your job changes. How many
Speaker 1: of you have ever changed jobs? How many have ever
Speaker 1: lost a job? How many have ever been unemployed? Yeah,
Speaker 1: You're going to have many many jobs in life. Your
Speaker 1: job is not your calling. Jobs change all the time.
Speaker 1: Calling never changes.
Speaker 3: Do you ever wonder if your life really matters? Or
Speaker 3: what on earth you're here for? Pastor Rick wants to
Speaker 3: let you know that God has a good plan and
Speaker 3: purpose for your life. In his best selling book, The
Speaker 3: Purpose Driven Life, he lays out a simple, life changing
Speaker 3: roadmap to help you discover and live it. This book
Speaker 3: has transformed millions of lives, and it could transform someone
Speaker 3: you love. And great news it's been updated for today's generation.
Speaker 3: This edition includes a video introduction and audio teaching from
Speaker 3: Pastor Rick for each chapter, and two powerful bonus chapters
Speaker 3: on the biggest barriers to living a purpose driven life.
Speaker 3: As you go through this book, you'll uncover that your
Speaker 3: deepest meaning and fulfillment doesn't come from success or status,
Speaker 3: but from understanding and living out the purpose that God
Speaker 3: created you for. Request your copy today. When you give
Speaker 3: a gift to help daily hope share the gospel around
Speaker 3: the world, it's our way of saying thanks.
Speaker 1: The Bible says God's gifts in his call can never
Speaker 1: be withdrawn, so no matter what happens, they're permanent in
Speaker 1: your life. Number six very important point. My calling is
Speaker 1: connected to others. My calling, my assignment from God in life,
Speaker 1: my purpose, my vision, the dream God has for my
Speaker 1: life is connected to other people. What I mean by
Speaker 1: that you cannot fulfill your purpose in life by yourself.
Speaker 1: It is impossible. You can only do it connected to
Speaker 1: other people. Calling and community go together. You cannot be
Speaker 1: what God wants you to be. You cannot fulfill what
Speaker 1: God wants you to fulfill. You cannot enjoy your destiny
Speaker 1: on your own. You have to do it connected to
Speaker 1: other people. It's like the parts of your body. They're
Speaker 1: worthless unless they're connected. You have an eyeball, which is
Speaker 1: extremely gifted. It has the ability to take light, translate
Speaker 1: that to your brain, and you see things. But an
Speaker 1: eyeball outside of a socket is worthless. It can't see
Speaker 1: anything because it's not connected. You have an ear, which
Speaker 1: is an amazing gift of God, where your ear can
Speaker 1: take waves, turn them into impulses to your brain and
Speaker 1: your b here sounds. If your ear is disconnected from
Speaker 1: your body, it's worthless. That ear can't hear anything unless
Speaker 1: it's connected. You have a hand, and that hand has
Speaker 1: an amazing ability to grasp, to write, to fix things.
Speaker 1: But that hand, if it were cut off, it has
Speaker 1: no use. A hand has no power, no talent, no ability,
Speaker 1: no purpose without being connected to the body. You have
Speaker 1: to be connected to the body to fulfill your calling.
Speaker 1: The Bible calls the Church the body of Christ, the
Speaker 1: family of God, but it calls it the body, and
Speaker 1: we're all members, like a hand, eye, nose, feet, everything
Speaker 1: connected to the body. Look at this verse on the
Speaker 1: screen Roman's fourteen seven. None of us lives to himself alone,
Speaker 1: and none of us dies to himself alone. You gotta
Speaker 1: be connected. How do you get connected through a church family.
Speaker 1: It's why we talk about small groups all the time,
Speaker 1: because in that small group there's a connection there where
Speaker 1: you learn from other people. They help you in your weakness,
Speaker 1: you help them in their weakness.
Speaker 2: Let me show you a couple verses Esians four to four.
Speaker 1: We are all one body, circle that all one body.
Speaker 1: We all have the same spirit, circle, same spirit, and
Speaker 1: we have all been called circle that all been called
Speaker 1: We're all one body, all have the same spirit, all
Speaker 1: been called to the same glorious future.
Speaker 2: Hope.
Speaker 1: It is only in connection, in community that I will
Speaker 1: fulfill my calling Hebrews three to one. Brothers and sisters,
Speaker 1: you are a holy You are holy partners in a
Speaker 1: heavenly calling. The other people in your small group are
Speaker 1: partners in a heavenly calling. We're better together, We're better
Speaker 1: as a team. That's why church, you have to be connected.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about this morn in the future. Number seven.
Speaker 1: God empowers what he calls me to do. That's the
Speaker 1: seventh thing I need to know about my calling, that
Speaker 1: whatever God calls me to do, He's going to empower
Speaker 1: me to do. God empowers what he calls me to do.
Speaker 1: In other words, if God has given me an assignment
Speaker 1: in life, He's going to enable me to do it.
Speaker 1: He's going to equip me to do it. He's going
Speaker 1: to empower me to do it. He's going to strengthen
Speaker 1: me to do it. He's going to give me the
Speaker 1: ability to do it. God would never ask you to
Speaker 1: do anything with your life that he doesn't give you
Speaker 1: the power to do.
Speaker 2: So here's how it works.
Speaker 1: Once I understand that God has a calling on my life, okay,
Speaker 1: and I understand that, what I do is I commit
Speaker 1: myself to him. And when I commit myself to God's
Speaker 1: calling for me, God, whatever time I've got left on
Speaker 1: this earth, I want to use it to fulfill your
Speaker 1: calling for me. It's a week, a month, years, or
Speaker 1: whatever decades. I commit to your calling for my life.
Speaker 1: God commits his resources to help you do it. He said,
Speaker 1: I don't even know what it is. I commit to
Speaker 1: your calling for my life. God says, then I will
Speaker 1: commit the resources what you need to get it done.
Speaker 1: Look at this verse Ephesians four to one. I urge
Speaker 1: you to live the life to which God called you.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: Notice the calling is a lifestyle, and you are to
Speaker 1: live the life to which God called you. Now here's
Speaker 1: my prayer. Second Tessalonius, chapter one. This is why we
Speaker 1: always pray for you, asking our God to help you.
Speaker 1: That's in power to help you live the kind of
Speaker 1: life he called you to live. God says, if I
Speaker 1: call you to live this kind of life, I'm going
Speaker 1: to help you with the power. We pray that with
Speaker 1: his power, God will help you do the good things
Speaker 1: you want and perform the works that come from your faith. Notice,
Speaker 1: do the good things and perform the works. That's the
Speaker 1: good works we were talking about earlier, and God says,
Speaker 1: I will give you the power. You can count on
Speaker 1: God to give you the strength you need. First Tessaloni
Speaker 1: is five. The one who calls you is faithful and
Speaker 1: he will do it. Now, there's one more truth that
Speaker 1: I want to cover as we start this week. Let
Speaker 1: me review. My calling is a gift from God. I'm
Speaker 1: called for God's purpose, not my own. God chose my
Speaker 1: calling before I was born, so I didn't have anything
Speaker 1: to do with it. My sins and my mistakes don't
Speaker 1: change my calling. My calling is permanent. Satan can't take
Speaker 1: it away. Nobody else on earth can.
Speaker 2: Take it away.
Speaker 1: It's irrevocable. My calling is connected to others. I got
Speaker 1: to be connected to the body or it doesn't work.
Speaker 1: God will empower me to do what he calls me
Speaker 1: to do. And here's the last point. There's a prize.
Speaker 1: There's a prize for living out my calling. And this
Speaker 1: is why I'm very excited about this series. There is
Speaker 1: a prize for living out my calling. God has promised
Speaker 1: a reward for those people who discover and live the
Speaker 1: calling He made them for here on earth, and that
Speaker 1: reward's going to last forever Philippians three fourteen. I press
Speaker 1: toward the goal to win the prize circle that to
Speaker 1: win the prize for which God has called me heavenward
Speaker 1: in Christ Jesus, what is the prize?
Speaker 2: Oh man?
Speaker 1: It would take me months to explain all that God
Speaker 1: wants to do in heaven for eternity with you, but
Speaker 1: let me just say this. The prize is that you
Speaker 1: get to share in everything God has in heaven. You
Speaker 1: get to share in his kingdom, you get to share
Speaker 1: in his glory, you get to share in his power.
Speaker 1: It all becomes yours. You see, life on earth is
Speaker 1: a test. Why didn't God just create you and take
Speaker 1: you to heaven? If you're going there anyway, why didn't
Speaker 1: just take you there first? Because He puts you here
Speaker 1: on earth to test your faithfulness. And he gives you
Speaker 1: a few things and puts them in your care opportunities, relationships, things,
Speaker 1: and he says, let's see what you do, and if
Speaker 1: you're faithful of the little, then I can trust you
Speaker 1: with all of my riches and all of my power
Speaker 1: and all of my glory in heaven for eternity.
Speaker 2: Faithful and little, you'll be faithful much.
Speaker 1: This is a test, and God is testing to see
Speaker 1: if you are going to fulfill the calling he put
Speaker 1: you here on earth to fulfill. And if you do,
Speaker 1: then He's going to share with you everything that is his.
Speaker 1: This is the most amazing thing. Look at the next
Speaker 1: verse one the Salonian is two twelve. Live the kind
Speaker 1: of life that pleases God, who calls you, who calls
Speaker 1: you to share? And what are we going to share?
Speaker 1: Who calls you to share in his own kingdom and glory.
Speaker 1: That's amazing that for eternity God will share his kingdom
Speaker 1: and his glory if I live out my calling it's
Speaker 1: hard to even explain this, get your wrap your head
Speaker 1: around it.
Speaker 2: So let me just say, like this.
Speaker 1: Imagine on Broadway in New York City, a giant marquee
Speaker 1: lit up at night with bright lights, and it says, now,
Speaker 1: starring for eternity Jesus Christ co starring your name, you
Speaker 1: will share in His kingdom and glory. Now you got
Speaker 1: my attention. Now I'm interested in fulfilling my calling.
Speaker 2: I don't want to get tea and go. Did you familiar?
Speaker 2: I didn't even know I had one. Well you do.
Speaker 1: And if you fulfill your calling in life and you
Speaker 1: do what God, you make the most of what you're giving.
Speaker 1: God says you're going to share in My kingdom in
Speaker 1: glory forever.
Speaker 2: Are you interested in that? I am? I am.
Speaker 1: That is a big time prize that goes on and
Speaker 1: on forever. Now, we talked earlier about answering the phone
Speaker 1: if God called. The fact is God has already called.
Speaker 1: He's already called you. That phone has been ringing in
Speaker 1: your life since the moment you were conceived.
Speaker 2: Are you going to pick up the phone it's been ringing.
Speaker 1: God's call for you has been ringing from the point of.
Speaker 2: Your conception.
Speaker 1: And something you've just been ignoring it ring ring, ring.
Speaker 1: I mean, God said, I'm not hanging up. Will you
Speaker 1: pick up the phone and today say I'm going to
Speaker 1: begin to discover, develop, and live the call that God
Speaker 1: made for me. That I will learn what on earth
Speaker 1: am I here for? And I will spend the rest
Speaker 1: of my life learning to do that. Now, I'm going
Speaker 1: to pray for you. In just second, We're going to
Speaker 1: pray a prayer blessing. But you got to make the decision.
Speaker 1: Am I going to answer God's call? Let's vow for
Speaker 1: prayer as we close, pray this prayer in your heart,
Speaker 1: your God. Thank you that you created me, that I'm
Speaker 1: not an accident. Thank you that I've been in your
Speaker 1: care even before I was born. Thank You that you
Speaker 1: not just created me, but you have called me. You
Speaker 1: have a purpose and assignment for my life. I'm not
Speaker 1: here just to waste time. Thank you that you called
Speaker 1: me for your purpose. I want your plan, not mine.
Speaker 1: Thank you that that plan began from the moment of
Speaker 1: my birth. And even though I made many mistakes, and
Speaker 1: I've sinned a lot, and other people have hurt me,
Speaker 1: it hasn't changed my call.
Speaker 2: One bit.
Speaker 1: Thank you that my calling is permanent, and I realized
Speaker 1: today that I cannot fulfill my purpose disconnected. I need
Speaker 1: to be connected to others in your body, in your family,
Speaker 1: with the same spirit and the same calling. I thank
Speaker 1: you Lord that you've promised to give me the power
Speaker 1: to do what you've asked me to do. That you
Speaker 1: won't ask me to do something you won't enable me
Speaker 1: and strengthen me to do. Lord, I want that prize
Speaker 1: in life. I want to live the rest of my
Speaker 1: life that Monday I may share in your kingdom and
Speaker 1: in your glory. If you've never invited Jesus into your life,
Speaker 1: said Jesus Christ, come into my life now. I want
Speaker 1: to learn to love you, and trust you and serve
Speaker 1: you in your name, I pray Amen.
Speaker 3: Do you ever wonder if your life really matters or
Speaker 3: what on earth you're here for? Pastor Rick wants to
Speaker 3: let you know that God has a good plan and
Speaker 3: purpose for your life. In his best selling book, The
Speaker 3: Purpose Driven Life, he lays out a simple, life changing
Speaker 3: roadmap to help you discover and live it. This book
Speaker 3: has transformed millions of lives and it could transform someone
Speaker 3: you love. And great news it's been updated for today's generation.
Speaker 3: This edition includes a video introduction and audio teaching from
Speaker 3: Pastor Rick for each chapter, and two powerful bonus chapters
Speaker 3: on the biggest barriers to living a purpose driven life.
Speaker 3: As you go through this book, you'll uncover that your
Speaker 3: deepest meaning and fulfillment doesn't come from success or status,
Speaker 3: but from understanding and living out the purpose that God
Speaker 3: created you for. Request your copy today. When you give
Speaker 3: a gift to help Daily Hope share the Gospel around
Speaker 3: the world, it's our way of saying thanks