Tim McAllister [00:00:01]:
Hallelujah. That's a wonderful song. I'm going to try and stay on script tonight. Those of you who have known me for a long time, we're talking 18, 19, 20 years, know that I am not the same man that I was then. I am a person who. I don't like long messages. I like things concise. I like to the point, get to the point.

Tim McAllister [00:00:42]:
But I am also the type of person where I will. When I'm reading the Bible, I will dig into it and I will pull out of it what it's saying. I don't just quickly glide through it. I'm saying that because I think most of us here today. Excuse me, I've got a little bit of horse. And those of you who are watching that we want to grow. We want to grow and become a different person, a better person, a Christian, a better Christian. We can't grow unless we know, and we can't know unless we read the Bible.

Tim McAllister [00:01:28]:
And that's why I am. I may not be saying anything that's new here. That's why I'm particularly excited about soon. On these Wednesday nights, we're going to be doing Bible study and prayer. I think it's important that all of us study the Bible so that we can grow. We live in a part of the world where most of us really have everything that we need and then some. We're not wondering where our next meal will come from. We have churches, study Bibles, podcasts, conferences.

Tim McAllister [00:02:12]:
We have coffee shops with Christian music in them. We are extremely comfortable. And yet inside, there is a part of you that knows that this very comfort is the biggest enemy to your calling. Now, as NHK just completed a series on 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, I thought what I would do is I would wrap that up by dissecting a prayer from Paul that we find at the beginning of Second Thessalonians. So you'll see what my very intro was getting us to. It is something that is that it's a whispered cry to God to do what only God can do. A prayer that is played out in my own life. And hopefully it is a prayer that shapes your life.

Tim McAllister [00:03:17]:
This is not a prayer for comfort, for ease, or for success, which far too often are the prayers that we pray. Rather, it is a prayer for transformation. A prayer that addresses the purpose of your life and mine for the divine work of becoming worthy of the call of God, even in your comfort. Isn't that your deepest desire? Isn't that your defining desire that you would be worthy of the call of God that Christ would be glorified in you. So we find this prayer in second Thessalonians 1:11, 12. So we're going to throw it up on the screen here and we're going to go through it with this in mind. We constantly pray for you that our God may make you worthy of his calling and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and every deed prompted by faith. We pray this so 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.

Tim McAllister [00:05:05]:
So let's just walk through this prayer. We're going to go through it phrase by phrase and consider what it means to live as the called in a world that is groaning under the weight of decay. We'll begin at the beginning. With this in mind. We constantly pray for you. Who's he praying for? Who is Paul praying for? Now, while this was written to the Thessalonians, God cares about you just as much as the Thessalonians. This prayer is not only meant for them, but it is meant for you and anyone who is a follower of Christ. As a prayer and encouragement about living a life worthy of God's calling, Paul continues on that our God may make you worthy of his calling.

Tim McAllister [00:06:11]:
We need to slow down there. We need to slow it down and read just a little bit slower here. The word calling has been, for lack of another word, domesticated in Western Christianity, flattened into something that's vague and internal. A calling, we tend to say, as if it's a private career plan, something one might list on on a personality test or a resume. But Paul is not referring to a personalized vocation here. He speaks of God's calling. And when God calls, he's not sending out invitations to a celebration. He's summoning souls into a kingdom.

Tim McAllister [00:07:05]:
This calling is not an invitation to comfort. It is a summons to glory and to glory's necessary forerunner, suffering. It is not a call to a safe, sensible middle class life, but rather to the front lines of a cosmic war. When God calls you, he's not employing you, he's enlisting you. If any of you have watched or read, I've done both. The Lords of the Ring you may remember when Frodo discovers that he's inherited the ring, he's called, but not called, a comfort he's drawn into something far greater and more dangerous than he has ever expected. And so it is with you. The call of God is not a Hobby.

Tim McAllister [00:08:11]:
It is a summons to battle, to transformation, to glory. To be called by God is to be claimed, commissioned. And as I discovered in my walk, inevitably changed. Now here's the uncomfortable part. You're not yet worthy of that calling. That's not an insult to anyone here, anyone watching. It is simply the truth. The call comes first, the worthiness follows.

Tim McAllister [00:08:54]:
In the world systems, you earn a place, you qualify, and then you're chosen. But with God, it's reversed. You're chosen, and then God begins the long holy work of qualifying you. That's grace. And grace turns the whole logic of merit upside down. Paul does not say, make yourselves worthy. He does not place the burden of spiritual qualification on your shoulders. Instead, he prays that God himself would make you worthy.

Tim McAllister [00:09:44]:
You're not polishing yourself up for heaven. You're being reforged from within, remade by the very power that raised Jesus from the dead. This is how you think of it. Imagine a child is born into royalty and so he is an heir to the throne. But he still must grow into his inheritance. He screws up, he makes mistakes, he speaks out of turn, but he is still a prince. His worthiness is not based on his performance, but based on the unshakable fact of his identity. Yet he must grow into what he is.

Tim McAllister [00:10:41]:
That's you. God has called you sons and daughters and now he is making you worthy of that name. He's not demanding perfection, but by working in you, slowly, steadily, through fire, pruning and grace. This is not a religious performance. It is not pretending to be holy. It is becoming holy, not only in appearance, but in substance, in soul, spirit and truth. This is the slow, oftentimes painful work, sanctification. And it's God's work in you.

Tim McAllister [00:11:34]:
You are not trying to be something foreign. You are becoming what you were always meant to be. Paul presses on. And that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. Now, I personally, I think this is one of the most encouraging phrases in all of Paul's letters because it acknowledges the gap, the gap between intention and action, and then shows us how God bridges it. Now, speaking only for myself, there is something frustrating about being a Christian. I honestly resolve to do good, but I continue to fail. I aim to live by faith, and yet I find myself riddled with doubt and self will.

Tim McAllister [00:12:46]:
The will is there, the power is not. But Paul's prayer is that God himself would supply the power, power to make our good intentions actual, our flickering faith fruitful. And when you look at that verse, do you notice the perfect battle balance, desire for goodness and your every good deed? That's the Christian life. Inward intention, outward expression. Both are necessary, both are empowered by God. And now we arrive, we arrive at the breathtaking purpose of all of it. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in Him. Here's the end, the point of the whole journey.

Tim McAllister [00:13:55]:
Glory. God's goal is not merely to make you useful, moral or even good. His goal is glory that Christ would shine in you and that you would shine in Him. That the name of Jesus would be glorified in you and in me, the struggling, the stumbling believers, and that you would be glorified in Him. It's a kind of a divine exchange. Jesus is glorified in the redeemed sinner. That's you and me. And the redeemed sinner, you and me is glorified in Jesus.

Tim McAllister [00:14:46]:
In the end, Christian life is not about self improvement. It's not one of those self improvement books. It is about transformation that leads to glory. You and me, weeks, stumbling and bumbling, are being transformed, prepared for glory. The glory of Christ will not only be revealed to you, but in you. This is not just a someday, in the future event, it is today, through your changed desires, your faltering obedience, your acts of faith, faith that his name is glorified. Finally, Paul grounds it according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Not according to your discipline, not according to your background, not even according to the strength of your faith, but according to grace, that undeserved, transforming love of God that stoops to save and then stoops again to sanctify.

Tim McAllister [00:16:11]:
Grace is not an excuse for spiritual laziness. It is not merely unmerited fear favor. Grace is power. It is the engine of holiness. It is the life of Christ moving through your soul. Grace is the power that transforms you. Everything, everything in this passage, your calling, your becoming, your perseverance, your final glory begins in grace, is carried by grace, and ends in grace. Grace is not just the starting point of the Christian life.

Tim McAllister [00:17:02]:
It is the sustaining force. It is the thread that runs through every part of your transformation, ensuring, as we read in Philippians 1:6, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. The Christian life is a life of transformation by grace through power into glory. It is the life of Christ being formed in, in you and me, so that you may not merely speak his name, but bear it. That you would be no longer content with vague good intentions. That you would pray as Paul prayed, to be made into one of those who is worthy of such a high and holy calling. And in that becoming, may Jesus be glorified in you and you in Him. And so I end where I began.

Tim McAllister [00:18:27]:
With this in mind. We constantly pray for you that our God may make you worthy of his calling and that by his power he may bring to fruition every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. May that be the prayer that shapes your life. I'm not going to get. I'm going to wrap it up here. I'm not going to give you any reflection points or anything like that.

Tim McAllister [00:19:23]:
What I am going to leave you with is that prayer. That's the purpose of your life right there. Read it, learn it, embrace it. If you have any prayer requests, send them in to us. We will pray for them here. When we wrap it up, Send it into 808-793-5655. I will come back in about 20 minutes thereabouts. Okay, we'll see you all then.

Tim McAllister [00:28:51]:
SA SA and I hope you've had a profitable time there in our prayer session there. We're going to close it up here tonight with the prayers that have been sent in. So if you would, even if you're at home, I know the tendency at home is just to kind of watch. But even if you're at home, would you join us in prayer as we lift up these prayers? Prayers to our Father. Heavenly Father, we come to you this evening with a sense of gratitude, with thankfulness, and a desire to be called by you to be holy. And while tonight's message, Lord, was about transformation, Lord, we do have some prayer requests and that we lift up to you. And that we know that in these prayer requests, you and you alone are the answer to these. So I would lift up Kimmy to you, asking for you to grant her increased mobility with her knees.

Tim McAllister [00:44:59]:
She has been struggling with her needs. So, Lord, we ask that you would put your touch on her, that you would increase her mobility, give her desire there. In addition to that, Lord, we would ask that you grant her clarity on what your plan for her life is and the direction of her life. And, Lord, we know that frequently that plan can be found simply by opening the Bible. But, Lord, we ask that you. That you make that plan Whispered into her ear so that she leans into it and begins to follow your advice, your counsel. Lord, I lift up a good friend's father, Cliff, who. We lift him up in healing as he battles lung cancer.

Tim McAllister [00:46:03]:
There are a few who have not been touched by cancer in their family and their lives. And we know that frequently the doctors are mystified, but we also know, and I have seen it in my own family, your presence where you come in and you defy what the doctors believe can be done or believe that will be done. So, Lord, I ask for your appearance in Cliff's life and healing him, but not just healing his physical illness, but that you would draw him to you to grant him salvation. That he would come to know you in the days that you are giving him, that he would fulfill that purpose, that he knows you. That more than anything else. Lord, we lift up everyone that we pray for, that they would first and foremost know you and reflect you. And we ask that for my friends, Father Cliff. Lord, there.

Tim McAllister [00:47:14]:
There's a family that is struggling and I lift them, the entire family up. Lord, I lift them up. That you would provide this family with, with just a touch, a touch of your healing, to mend the wounds, to mend the. The illnesses that hurt. They're affecting it. That they may rejoice in their togetherness, that they may rejoice in the fact that they know and love you and are known and are loved by you. Lord, we have a friend who so many of us here are comfortable. We have homes, we have places to rest our heads.

Tim McAllister [00:48:08]:
We lift up a friend who is currently looking for a place to move into. Hawaii can be a very expensive, difficult place to find lodging. So, Lord, we ask that you open the hearts of those that he may encounter, Open the doors that grant him a place to lay his head at night, a place to feel safe, a place to call home. So we ask of that of you. Because, Lord, we all need a tent in this world as we journey towards you. So we ask that you grant him that home. Lord, one of Lord, I'm just going to lift up Chevelle to you. She.

Tim McAllister [00:48:59]:
She was injured in a hit and run accident. She was on a motorcycle and was hit and left behind. She has brain injuries and we know that she is in critical condition. Lord, we pray, we ask you for your intervention with her injuries, with the doctors who are attending to her, with her family that is sitting on the sidelines and feel like they can do nothing at all. But Lord, we know that they can do. We know that we can do we can pray? Yes. And prayer should be our first response. And Lord, we ask in our prayers that you grant mercy to Chevelle, that you grant mercy to her family, that you heal the injuries that have occurred to her head and to her brain and that she recovers from this wiser.

Tim McAllister [00:50:07]:
And perhaps just driving in a car, not a motorcycle. Lord, I lift up. I lift up a friend of an individual who is here today, who is. Who is seeking reconciliation with their friend and salvation for this individual's friend and her husband. Lord, sometimes we can talk about you. We can present you to those who do not know you and those who run away from you. And we know that while we may carry a message to them, it is you that stirs them, it is you that calls them. We, in simplicity, a vessel to bring that to them.

Tim McAllister [00:51:02]:
So for my friend, I ask that you bring his friend to salvation and to reconciliation with my friend. And we know that that is possible because we have seen reconciliation time and time again and the stories that you have weaved in our lives and in the lives of those that we study in the Bible. Lord, I lift up Danny to you that he would be healed and that. That he would turn and put his trust firmly in you and you alone. That he would have faith, that he would have courageous, that he would find the salvation, the comfort and the peace of mind of knowing that he is yours and you are his. So we ask that you grant him healing. Lord. Lord, as.

Tim McAllister [00:52:09]:
As NHK continues these 21 days of prayer, I ask for your continued blessings on those who who feel called. Called to speak, for those who feel called to perform the worship, for those on the technical team, all the streaming, all that stuff that I know absolutely nothing about. Lord, I ask for your continued blessings on each and every one of them. And with a thankful heart. I am thankful that they. That they have the heart to serve you and to serve the congregation by doing this. We ask that you bless the church as we approach our 26th anniversary this. This weekend, Lord, 26 years of serving you.

Tim McAllister [00:52:56]:
So I thank you for the blessings you have bestowed on this church and on our senior pastor, Pastor Glenn, for the influence that he has on each and every life that he touches. We are most grateful for the opportunity to call him our pastor, to call him our friend. And, Lord, with that, I would like to close, as I began this evening with all this in mind. We constantly pray to you, for you, for those that are listening, that our God may make them worthy of your calling and that by your power, you may bring to fruition. Every desire for goodness and every deed of theirs prompted by faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in them and you, and us in you, according to the grace of our God and our Lord Jesus Christ. And all God's people said, Amen. Hey, guys, thanks for having me tonight.

Tim McAllister [00:54:14]:
Same time, same channel tomorrow. We'll have another speaker here as we go into, I believe it's day 16 of 21 days of prayer for that. Everybody have a great night. It's nice seeing you.