Sermon Central
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The Calling Of Saint Who Series
Contributed by Timothy Andrew Stephens on Jul 21, 2011 (message contributor)
Summary: God calls us to obedience. Sin reveals areas of our lives that have not been surrendered to Christ. When we give all of ourselves to christ we will be both whole and holy.
“The Calling of Saint Who”
Tapestry of Worship – Saturday Night Encounter
13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
Pass out Puzzle Pieces. What do you struggle with? Are their areas of sin that seem to have a grip on you? Look through the list and assess how much control these area have over your life. Then write down on the puzzle piece the initials of those you struggle with. These pieces indicate areas of your life that is broken and needs to be given to God for Him to make whole.
The greatest need in the church, the greatest need in your life – is not success or more money. It is not peace or even for your family to get along. The greatest need is holiness. Because when you have holiness everything else will fall into place.
Prayer:
14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
1. God is calling you to HOLINESS.
God says You Shall be holy, for I am Holy. Notice it is not an option it is a call and a command. God does not say you shall be Saved for I am a Savior. The call that God has placed on our life is not salvation. Salvation through Jesus Christ sacrifice on the cross for us is the doorway that leads to our call. We are called to be holy.
Most preachers, starting with myself, have done a poor job in calling us to holiness. To a large degree “holiness” is not spoken of in the church today. And often when it is, it seems to take on a tone of condemnation that the enemy uses to rob us of what God desires to accomplish in each of us. Because of this many believers are spiritually impoverished.
The complaints of many Christians is that they lack of joy and power.
If you feel like something in your Christian experience is missing, that there must be more that this, I want to tell you what you are missing is holiness.
Holiness = Set apart to become who you were created to be.
In Christ Jesus we are set apart to be the real eternal you, chosen by God before the foundation of the world.
The US Army used to have a great motto – “Be All You Can Be.” Which basically means discover where you can do your best.
God’s Motto is better, and He is much more able to make it more than a motto in your life but a reality. “be Holy – Be all you were created to be. It goes doing the best you can and instead leans on the best that God can do.
Listen to these verse on this from Ephesians…
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
God created you to be holy. He also calls us to be holy.
But here is the problem…when it comes to holiness most of us are functionally AGNOSTIC.
We believe God has made some people holy, like the people in the Bible and maybe Mother Teresa or Billy Graham, but we just don’t know if He can make US holy.
Our doubt and subsequent disobedience shipwrecks us so that we go through life half in this world and half in Christ and therefore uncomfortable in both.
