Called
Everyone loves to get called (phone).
Makes us feel wanted…
DVD: Visual Reality Vol. 3 - Called
1. Called Out of Darkness 1 Peter 2:9-12
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
a. Called by a New Name
- Simon (pebble) became Peter (rock) (John 1:42)
- Saul the persecutor (Acts 7) became Paul the apostle (Acts 13)
- We are now called Children of God (1 John 3:1, 7-10)
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are...
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
b. Called to be His Friends (John 15:13-14)
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.
c. Called to Holiness (1 Peter 1:14-15)
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy.
2. Called Into Battle
Judges 7:14-16 – Gideon called out his men to defeat the Midianites
a. Called to Use Weapons of Mass Destruction (1 Corinthians 10:3-5)
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
b. Called to Conquer (Romans 8:28-39)
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
c. Called to Team Work
Eph. 4:3-5 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism
Col. 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
It doesn’t matter what church they’re from, what school they go to, or even what they’ve done in the past. God wants us working together, doing battle together, touching this world together. We accomplish more, faster and easier when we work together.
3. Called Upon to Witness
Mk 16:15 Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
Moses…the children of Israel in bondage
Jonah…the city of Nineveh
a. Go
- Implies action on our part! Not, wait for them to come to you. GO!
- Jesus went to the well (John 4) because he knew people needed water.
b. Tell
- Implies you communicating in some form the message of hope found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Examples: art, poetry, music, Christian t-shirt, Book of Hope, testimony, invite them to our student ministries, Campus Club…
