WEBVTT 00:00:01.249 --> 00:00:03.089 Well, good morning. Happy Father's Day to you 00:00:03.089 --> 00:00:07.330 guys. My son reminded me when he said, Happy 00:00:07.330 --> 00:00:09.070 Father's Day, Dad, you've been a father for 55 00:00:09.070 --> 00:00:11.390 years. And I said, whoa, that's a long time. 00:00:11.490 --> 00:00:14.710 I still don't get it. But welcome to you, Pauldin, 00:00:14.849 --> 00:00:17.710 and those of you that are in Baghdad this morning, 00:00:17.870 --> 00:00:20.109 we're glad you're with us. And happy Father's 00:00:20.109 --> 00:00:25.010 Day to you guys, too. You know, I was thinking 00:00:25.010 --> 00:00:27.149 of Father's Day. I have a four -year -old great 00:00:27.149 --> 00:00:30.089 -granddaughter. She's a sweetheart, and she calls 00:00:30.089 --> 00:00:35.740 her dad. Daddy. She calls her grandfather Papa, 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:41.899 and she calls me Old Papa. And that's my little 00:00:41.899 --> 00:00:44.140 granddaughter there. She's a sweetheart. And 00:00:44.140 --> 00:00:48.039 so the message is coming to you from Old Papa 00:00:48.039 --> 00:00:51.179 this morning. You know, John talks about family, 00:00:51.219 --> 00:00:54.020 and I feel like I'm still a part of the Heights 00:00:54.020 --> 00:00:56.479 family. And so thank you for having me come up 00:00:56.479 --> 00:01:01.369 here from 115 degrees. to spend some time with 00:01:01.369 --> 00:01:03.310 you this morning. So thank you for having me. 00:01:03.710 --> 00:01:06.069 We've been in a study of the book of Galatians. 00:01:10.090 --> 00:01:12.390 We've been in Galatians and Todd did a great 00:01:12.390 --> 00:01:14.930 job of just opening things up last week. And 00:01:14.930 --> 00:01:17.989 boy, you talk about Paul being confrontational. 00:01:17.989 --> 00:01:19.790 He kind of whacked him upside the head, didn't 00:01:19.790 --> 00:01:22.329 he? With the church of Galatia for buying into 00:01:22.329 --> 00:01:25.469 some wrong teaching. And so Paul got pretty straight 00:01:25.469 --> 00:01:27.890 up with them and pretty authentic to correct 00:01:27.890 --> 00:01:32.340 them. But it seems like the passage that I'm 00:01:32.340 --> 00:01:34.640 in this morning in Galatians chapter 1, verses 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:37.980 11 through 24, it seems like he backs down a 00:01:37.980 --> 00:01:40.659 little bit just to make sure that they understand 00:01:40.659 --> 00:01:47.000 that he's a very creditable apostle. So he decides 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:49.700 that it'd probably be good for him to just go 00:01:49.700 --> 00:01:52.780 through his calling and how God has processed 00:01:52.780 --> 00:01:56.480 him so that his credibility would increase with 00:01:56.480 --> 00:01:58.099 these folks because he had a bad reputation, 00:01:58.319 --> 00:02:01.299 as you know. But God changed all that when he 00:02:01.299 --> 00:02:03.359 was confronted on the road to Damascus, right? 00:02:03.540 --> 00:02:07.260 And so Paul writes this, and he's talking about 00:02:07.260 --> 00:02:11.080 his calling. And John wanted me to talk about 00:02:11.080 --> 00:02:13.580 his calling, and so I dug into this a little 00:02:13.580 --> 00:02:15.379 bit. And so I want to share with you a little 00:02:15.379 --> 00:02:18.159 bit, but I wanted to give you, first of all, 00:02:18.199 --> 00:02:21.419 the definition that I feel like defines what 00:02:21.419 --> 00:02:23.960 God's calling is. It's God's defined purpose 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:27.979 for your life. It's God's defined purpose for 00:02:27.979 --> 00:02:30.719 your life. You know, calling has been kind of 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:32.699 misconstrued, I think, in the church over the 00:02:32.699 --> 00:02:35.759 years. It seems like the only people you hear 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:38.300 talking about calling are ministers and missionaries, 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:42.639 right? Well, that's crazy. Every one of you are 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:44.800 called for a purpose in your life. God created 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:47.300 each one of you in a special, unique way, and 00:02:47.300 --> 00:02:49.259 every one of you have a calling in your life. 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:52.520 And your calling is just as important as my calling 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:54.460 or anybody else's calling because that's how 00:02:54.460 --> 00:02:57.259 God called you, and that's special, and you need 00:02:57.259 --> 00:03:00.180 to understand that. So Paul begins by giving 00:03:00.180 --> 00:03:02.740 us some hints as to what a called person looks 00:03:02.740 --> 00:03:06.479 like when we start in verses chapter 1, verses 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:09.819 11 and 12. And here's what he says. He says, 00:03:09.939 --> 00:03:12.860 dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand 00:03:12.860 --> 00:03:15.860 that the gospel message I preached received by 00:03:15.860 --> 00:03:19.659 my message from no human reasoning. I received 00:03:19.659 --> 00:03:23.240 my message from no human source and no one taught 00:03:23.240 --> 00:03:26.560 me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:29.740 from Jesus Christ. He makes it very clear that 00:03:29.740 --> 00:03:33.280 every calling should start with Jesus. Every 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:36.159 calling should start with God. When we start 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:40.909 with other people, other issues, Let me explain 00:03:40.909 --> 00:03:44.150 that a little bit. How many of you have ever 00:03:44.150 --> 00:03:50.210 gone online and looked up comparisons of car 00:03:50.210 --> 00:03:53.669 insurance? Anybody done that? Don't do that ever 00:03:53.669 --> 00:04:02.870 again. One, two days, I had 47 robocalls. 47. 00:04:02.870 --> 00:04:06.310 I still get 20 a day, people wanting to sell 00:04:06.310 --> 00:04:10.240 me car insurance. And it's just driven me absolutely 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:13.240 bonkers. And so I decided I'm going to block 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:15.539 all these guys. And so I blocked everything not 00:04:15.539 --> 00:04:20.060 in my contact list. And then I realized that 00:04:20.060 --> 00:04:24.379 I may be missing a few phone calls. And so sure 00:04:24.379 --> 00:04:26.220 enough, in the middle of all that, I had two 00:04:26.220 --> 00:04:29.800 phone calls that I missed. And I regret that 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:33.720 because each of them were two wives who just 00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:35.720 lost their husbands and wanted me to do their 00:04:35.720 --> 00:04:40.519 funeral. And I thought, how? I felt so stupid. 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:45.079 But sometimes that's the way we are. You know, 00:04:45.139 --> 00:04:47.879 I call them spam calls, robocalls, whatever you 00:04:47.879 --> 00:04:49.800 want to call them. There's all kinds of things 00:04:49.800 --> 00:04:52.279 in our world today that are trying to get us 00:04:52.279 --> 00:04:55.600 and change the purpose of our life, to confuse 00:04:55.600 --> 00:05:00.899 us. And we sometimes, in doing that, we end up 00:05:00.899 --> 00:05:03.240 blocking out the most important call in our life, 00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:05.019 and that's the call of God in our own lives. 00:05:05.610 --> 00:05:07.829 And so we don't hear from God like we need to 00:05:07.829 --> 00:05:09.870 hear because there's too many spam calls, if 00:05:09.870 --> 00:05:13.709 you will, in our life. So Paul wanted to make 00:05:13.709 --> 00:05:16.730 sure that where we start is always sitting down 00:05:16.730 --> 00:05:20.069 face to face and trying to figure out with Jesus, 00:05:20.170 --> 00:05:23.089 what is my calling and purpose in life? And so 00:05:23.089 --> 00:05:26.569 that's where he started. Now he moves on and 00:05:26.569 --> 00:05:29.050 he says something else because he realized that 00:05:29.050 --> 00:05:31.470 part of our calling is defining our purpose. 00:05:32.290 --> 00:05:36.170 That's a part of our definition. He talks about 00:05:36.170 --> 00:05:40.370 it in verses 15 and 16. He says, but even before 00:05:40.370 --> 00:05:44.829 I was born, God chose me and called me by his 00:05:44.829 --> 00:05:47.970 marvelous grace. Then it pleased him to reveal 00:05:47.970 --> 00:05:50.550 his son to me so that I would proclaim the good 00:05:50.550 --> 00:05:53.810 news about Jesus to the Gentiles. What was Paul's 00:05:53.810 --> 00:05:56.529 calling in his life? God was very specific and 00:05:56.529 --> 00:05:58.750 said, Paul, I want you to go to the Gentiles 00:05:58.750 --> 00:06:02.519 and share the gospel. Now, if he didn't do that, 00:06:02.600 --> 00:06:05.060 99 % of you wouldn't even be sitting here, right? 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:09.720 God gave him this great honor and privilege and 00:06:09.720 --> 00:06:13.540 calling in his life. And so he followed through 00:06:13.540 --> 00:06:16.519 on that very uniquely to who Paul was. And he 00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:18.920 made a difference in many, many people's lives 00:06:18.920 --> 00:06:26.779 and still here today. You have a unique purpose 00:06:26.779 --> 00:06:30.209 as well. Have you ever thought about Psalm 139, 00:06:30.269 --> 00:06:33.250 verse 16? He said, you saw me before I was born. 00:06:33.350 --> 00:06:35.490 Every day of my life is recorded in your book. 00:06:36.329 --> 00:06:38.850 God had a plan for your life the minute you were 00:06:38.850 --> 00:06:41.949 conceived. God had a purpose for your life just 00:06:41.949 --> 00:06:44.589 as much as God had a purpose for Paul in his 00:06:44.589 --> 00:06:46.990 life. And your calling is very unique to who 00:06:46.990 --> 00:06:49.410 you are and how God's created you and how he's 00:06:49.410 --> 00:06:52.069 gifted you. Every one of us have a calling in 00:06:52.069 --> 00:06:55.089 our life. We need to take that calling seriously. 00:06:56.720 --> 00:06:58.680 Because we've always seemed to relegate it to 00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:00.600 the minister and the missionary. Your calling 00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:04.779 is just as important as a minister or a missionary. 00:07:06.019 --> 00:07:10.699 Whether you're a teacher or a student or a mom 00:07:10.699 --> 00:07:13.680 or a dad, whatever it is, your calling is specific 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:17.180 to you, how God has created you. And so Paul 00:07:17.180 --> 00:07:21.439 was so obviously gifted in his own life and God 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:24.459 called him and defined his purpose. Thirdly, 00:07:25.069 --> 00:07:28.410 We see in this particular passage that basically 00:07:28.410 --> 00:07:31.990 God defines our calling based upon my uniquenesses, 00:07:31.990 --> 00:07:34.310 which is what I've just covered. But in Psalm 00:07:34.310 --> 00:07:37.449 139, verses 13 and 14, he said, you made all 00:07:37.449 --> 00:07:39.949 the delicate inner parts of my body and knit 00:07:39.949 --> 00:07:42.529 me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for 00:07:42.529 --> 00:07:45.050 making me so wonderfully complex. Your workmanship 00:07:45.050 --> 00:07:50.920 is marvelous. How well I know it. David writes 00:07:50.920 --> 00:07:53.800 this psalm to remind us all that every one of 00:07:53.800 --> 00:07:56.420 you are uniquely created by God. You're all special. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:07:58.519 According to scripture in Ephesians, he says 00:07:58.519 --> 00:08:00.839 you are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus. 00:08:01.100 --> 00:08:04.480 You're a special, special person uniquely made 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:07.439 by God. And he's called you with a specific calling 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:10.800 and purpose in your life. And so if you're meandering 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:13.139 right now in who you are and where you're at, 00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:15.779 hopefully this message will help solidify you 00:08:15.779 --> 00:08:17.980 to understand that you have a purpose, a special 00:08:17.980 --> 00:08:20.459 purpose, unique purpose in your life, and God's 00:08:20.459 --> 00:08:22.860 using you, hopefully, to bear fruit because of 00:08:22.860 --> 00:08:27.899 that. Well, fourth, we see here that sometimes 00:08:27.899 --> 00:08:32.740 there's often a gap that is used to prepare for 00:08:32.740 --> 00:08:36.549 our calling. Sometimes we get the message. about 00:08:36.549 --> 00:08:38.789 something, about God wants us to do something, 00:08:38.929 --> 00:08:41.649 but sometimes there's a gap in between. The reason 00:08:41.649 --> 00:08:43.629 why I say that, because in Galatians chapter 00:08:43.629 --> 00:08:47.129 1, verses 16 through 20, Paul says this. He said, 00:08:47.149 --> 00:08:50.450 when this happened, when he had this transformation 00:08:50.450 --> 00:08:52.870 on the road to Damascus, he tells these people, 00:08:53.029 --> 00:08:57.809 he said, when this happened, he said, I did not 00:08:57.809 --> 00:09:00.529 rush out and consult with any human being, nor 00:09:00.529 --> 00:09:02.870 did I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those 00:09:02.870 --> 00:09:06.419 who apostles before I was. Instead, I went away 00:09:06.419 --> 00:09:09.059 into Arabia, and later I returned to Damascus, 00:09:09.059 --> 00:09:11.559 and then three years later, I went to Jerusalem 00:09:11.559 --> 00:09:14.759 to get to know Peter. He went into a sabbatical 00:09:14.759 --> 00:09:17.980 for three years just to be reprogramming his 00:09:17.980 --> 00:09:20.740 whole heart and life. After all, he was killing 00:09:20.740 --> 00:09:23.159 Christians, and now he had changed so dramatically, 00:09:23.399 --> 00:09:25.779 he needed time to really spend that time with 00:09:25.779 --> 00:09:29.440 intimacy with God. Have you ever had that happen 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:32.720 in your life where sometimes somebody, you felt 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:35.299 like God was prompting you to do something, but 00:09:35.299 --> 00:09:37.659 it just seemed like there was delays. There was 00:09:37.659 --> 00:09:42.159 just a time gap. I remember when I was struggling 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:46.360 in my first church and there was so much negativity 00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:49.539 and criticism and backbiting and gossip in the 00:09:49.539 --> 00:09:52.419 church and I was wounded deeply by it. And so 00:09:52.419 --> 00:09:54.799 I had to really sit down and think, do I really 00:09:54.799 --> 00:10:00.370 want to stay a pastor? And so there was a time 00:10:00.370 --> 00:10:02.929 where I resigned from the church and I decided, 00:10:02.990 --> 00:10:06.149 do I want to really pursue going back into ministry 00:10:06.149 --> 00:10:08.429 again? Or do I just need to go find a secular 00:10:08.429 --> 00:10:10.950 job and do something different? And so I prayed 00:10:10.950 --> 00:10:13.490 about that. But for six months to eight months, 00:10:13.629 --> 00:10:15.830 I was looking and putting my name out to various 00:10:15.830 --> 00:10:17.990 churches to see if they were looking for a pastor 00:10:17.990 --> 00:10:21.120 and nobody wanted me. And so it was very, very 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:23.159 discouraging to me. But God was preparing me 00:10:23.159 --> 00:10:25.620 and making sure that my call was so solid that 00:10:25.620 --> 00:10:29.620 I was going to stick with it. And by the end 00:10:29.620 --> 00:10:31.639 of that period of time, God spoke to me and said, 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:33.419 I want to make your highway in the desert, Tom. 00:10:34.460 --> 00:10:37.419 So I ended up in Phoenix, Arizona, starting a 00:10:37.419 --> 00:10:42.539 church. That was 42 years ago. And I'm grateful 00:10:42.539 --> 00:10:44.580 for that. But there was a time lapse between 00:10:44.580 --> 00:10:47.659 my calling and what God really wanted me to do. 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:50.240 And sometimes those are times where God's just 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:52.899 preparing you, just like he was preparing Paul. 00:10:53.500 --> 00:10:55.539 And so if you've been feeling like God's been 00:10:55.539 --> 00:10:57.519 prompting you to do something, but it just hasn't 00:10:57.519 --> 00:10:59.720 come to fruition yet, it hasn't grown, hang in 00:10:59.720 --> 00:11:02.559 there. Because if you heard from God, he's got 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:05.519 a plan for your life and he will follow through 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:09.519 on it. Here's the fifth thing that I noticed 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:12.340 about Paul. When we function in our calling, 00:11:12.580 --> 00:11:16.330 there's fruit produced. If you're functioning 00:11:16.330 --> 00:11:19.289 in your calling, you can't help but produce fruit. 00:11:19.950 --> 00:11:24.289 You really can't. And so in Galatians chapter 00:11:24.289 --> 00:11:27.370 one, verse 22, he finishes this little passage 00:11:27.370 --> 00:11:29.769 and he says, after that visit, I went north into 00:11:29.769 --> 00:11:33.029 the provinces of Syria and Cilicia. And still 00:11:33.029 --> 00:11:35.570 the churches in Christ that are in Judea didn't 00:11:35.570 --> 00:11:38.450 know me personally. All they know was that people 00:11:38.450 --> 00:11:41.830 were saying, the one who used to persecute us 00:11:41.830 --> 00:11:44.970 is now preaching the very faith he tried to destroy. 00:11:45.169 --> 00:11:49.149 And they praise God because of me. You see, Paul, 00:11:49.350 --> 00:11:51.730 because of the change in his life and hearing 00:11:51.730 --> 00:11:54.450 his calling, God was producing so much fruit 00:11:54.450 --> 00:11:58.210 in his life. So when you're in your calling, 00:11:58.450 --> 00:12:03.990 you're a fruit producer. I just read a book recently 00:12:03.990 --> 00:12:09.220 called, Aging Faithfully. And it was a great, 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:12.220 great book. And in that book, she was talking 00:12:12.220 --> 00:12:15.820 about when you're in your latter days as a retiree, 00:12:15.820 --> 00:12:18.500 she said it's interesting because most of your 00:12:18.500 --> 00:12:21.419 life you've been trying to be productive, right? 00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:23.559 You're trying to produce something. It's all 00:12:23.559 --> 00:12:26.000 about bottom lines. It's all about making things 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:29.179 happen. And she said you need to shift your focus 00:12:29.179 --> 00:12:31.799 from productivity when you're a retiree to fruit. 00:12:32.509 --> 00:12:34.570 And it's an interesting concept because what 00:12:34.570 --> 00:12:37.009 she's saying is that when you start, when you 00:12:37.009 --> 00:12:40.370 end your particular vocation, oftentimes you 00:12:40.370 --> 00:12:43.330 go into cruise control and she's saying, no, 00:12:43.350 --> 00:12:45.070 no, no, that's the time where you really go inward 00:12:45.070 --> 00:12:46.970 and you really understand the fruit of the Spirit 00:12:46.970 --> 00:12:49.529 and that becomes the manifestation of your life 00:12:49.529 --> 00:12:54.149 and now you're productive again. So I'll stop 00:12:54.149 --> 00:12:56.549 right there because I'll get going too much and 00:12:56.549 --> 00:13:00.769 I might get off on a tangent here. But how do 00:13:00.769 --> 00:13:02.250 you know if you're functioning in your calling? 00:13:02.889 --> 00:13:05.690 How do you know that? Well, Paul gave us some 00:13:05.690 --> 00:13:07.750 clues here, but I have a few other ideas here. 00:13:07.809 --> 00:13:10.789 Number one is you have the privilege of functioning 00:13:10.789 --> 00:13:15.110 in your giftedness. It's so much fun when you're 00:13:15.110 --> 00:13:17.070 operating in your giftedness. Have you noticed 00:13:17.070 --> 00:13:21.629 that? It's just a delight. It's exciting. It's 00:13:21.629 --> 00:13:25.840 fun to be in your giftedness. I'm hoping I'm 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:28.460 a gifted communicator to some degree, and it 00:13:28.460 --> 00:13:30.600 brings me delight just to spend time with you 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:34.580 this morning. It's fun. It's exciting. I love 00:13:34.580 --> 00:13:37.980 operating in my giftedness. It's great to be 00:13:37.980 --> 00:13:40.019 able to focus on the positive and not all the 00:13:40.019 --> 00:13:43.580 negative stuff that goes on in my life. So it 00:13:43.580 --> 00:13:45.659 gives you the privilege of functioning in your 00:13:45.659 --> 00:13:49.039 giftedness. In Acts chapter 13, verse 12, it 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:50.940 says, when the governor saw what had happened, 00:13:51.019 --> 00:13:53.039 and this is when Peter or Paul was preaching, 00:13:53.629 --> 00:13:56.289 He said he became a believer for he was astonished 00:13:56.289 --> 00:14:00.110 at the teaching about the Lord. See, Paul's giftedness 00:14:00.110 --> 00:14:03.950 was shining all over Asia Minor. His giftedness 00:14:03.950 --> 00:14:06.909 of church planting and being a pastor and missionary, 00:14:07.110 --> 00:14:09.909 it was coming out in Paul and he was just enjoying 00:14:09.909 --> 00:14:14.279 it immensely. But secondly, it was so compelling 00:14:14.279 --> 00:14:17.419 for Paul. It says in Acts chapter 20, verses 00:14:17.419 --> 00:14:20.879 22 and 24, he said, And now I am bound by the 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:23.179 Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don't know what 00:14:23.179 --> 00:14:25.500 awaits me except that the Holy Spirit tells me 00:14:25.500 --> 00:14:27.860 in the city after city that jail and suffering 00:14:27.860 --> 00:14:30.899 lie ahead. But my life is worth nothing to me 00:14:30.899 --> 00:14:32.940 unless I use it for finishing the work assigned 00:14:32.940 --> 00:14:35.519 me by the Lord Jesus, the work of telling others 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:37.639 the good news about the wonderful grace of God. 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:41.340 So what this point is, is that you can know you're 00:14:41.340 --> 00:14:43.840 in your giftedness when you feel like you have 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:47.120 great determination and conviction to hang in 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:50.779 there no matter what the circumstances are. Paul 00:14:50.779 --> 00:14:52.679 knew that everywhere he went, he was going to 00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:57.259 find somebody pushing back. Not only by his reputation, 00:14:57.500 --> 00:15:00.860 but by his new reputation of really changing 00:15:00.860 --> 00:15:08.350 the world for Jesus. I remember Many times in 00:15:08.350 --> 00:15:12.210 ministry over my lifetime, over 50 years of ministry 00:15:12.210 --> 00:15:14.730 full -time, how many times I wanted to quit. 00:15:17.409 --> 00:15:20.210 People were driving me crazy. There were situations 00:15:20.210 --> 00:15:24.129 where the church had issues, and it just got 00:15:24.129 --> 00:15:26.129 wearying after a while. And there were days where 00:15:26.129 --> 00:15:29.409 I thought, you know what? God, I just don't want 00:15:29.409 --> 00:15:32.899 to keep going. But something in my spirit was 00:15:32.899 --> 00:15:37.100 binding me. I felt captured by this calling in 00:15:37.100 --> 00:15:40.980 my life, and it kept me in the game. And when 00:15:40.980 --> 00:15:43.940 you're operating in your calling, it's not like 00:15:43.940 --> 00:15:46.159 the grass is always greener on the other side. 00:15:46.259 --> 00:15:48.740 You're there for the duration. You're there until 00:15:48.740 --> 00:15:53.120 God says you can quit. And Paul was so compelled 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:55.860 and so constrained and so convicted that it didn't 00:15:55.860 --> 00:15:59.100 matter what obstacles were in his life, he was 00:15:59.100 --> 00:16:01.179 going to fulfill that calling that God had in 00:16:01.179 --> 00:16:08.100 his life. Thirdly, and I've already said this, 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:11.039 but you have sense of being bound by your calling. 00:16:12.460 --> 00:16:16.379 And sometimes that being bound gets frustrating. 00:16:17.980 --> 00:16:21.940 A little illustration about... a fish in a fishbowl, 00:16:21.940 --> 00:16:24.500 if you can bear with me, but let's pretend Nemo's 00:16:24.500 --> 00:16:28.620 there. And you found Nemo, but Nemo's been swimming 00:16:28.620 --> 00:16:30.519 around in his fishbowl for quite a while, and 00:16:30.519 --> 00:16:32.799 he's looking at this world out there, and he's 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:37.500 thinking, man, I got to get out of here. I can't 00:16:37.500 --> 00:16:40.379 do this anymore. I just want to flip out of this 00:16:40.379 --> 00:16:44.279 fishbowl, and I want to be free. So old Nemo 00:16:44.279 --> 00:16:46.299 flips himself out of the fishbowl and he starts 00:16:46.299 --> 00:16:48.379 flopping around on the floor and all of a sudden 00:16:48.379 --> 00:16:52.440 he realizes, I can't breathe. And see, that's 00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:54.559 what happens to us. Sometimes when we quit too 00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:58.059 soon and we want to get out of the fishbowl and 00:16:58.059 --> 00:16:59.860 we think that that's going to be a better place 00:16:59.860 --> 00:17:03.919 for me, when God says, uh -uh, I got you right 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:07.349 where I want you. I got you right in that fishbowl, 00:17:07.349 --> 00:17:09.230 right where you belong. And you can swim all 00:17:09.230 --> 00:17:11.450 the way around in the fishbowl all you want to. 00:17:11.509 --> 00:17:13.750 You have all the freedom to do that. But I'm 00:17:13.750 --> 00:17:16.670 holding you captive because I've called you to 00:17:16.670 --> 00:17:20.710 be a fish. So if you're feeling fishy this morning, 00:17:20.769 --> 00:17:28.849 bear with me. Number four is this. You have a 00:17:28.849 --> 00:17:30.829 sense of contentment. Remember what Paul said 00:17:30.829 --> 00:17:33.480 in Philippians? Paul said, I have learned to 00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:35.759 be content in whatever circumstances I am in. 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:39.480 And boy, he had some rough ones. When you're 00:17:39.480 --> 00:17:41.440 in your calling, there's a contentment, there's 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:45.960 a satisfaction. There's a kind of a restful feeling 00:17:45.960 --> 00:17:47.779 that's in your life and saying, yeah, it feels 00:17:47.779 --> 00:17:51.359 good. And even though there's opposition, even 00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:54.599 though there's struggles and so forth, I'm not 00:17:54.599 --> 00:17:57.000 going to jump out of the fishbowl and try to 00:17:57.000 --> 00:18:00.740 do something else before God tells me. So there's 00:18:00.740 --> 00:18:02.759 this feeling of tentment. And then finally, you 00:18:02.759 --> 00:18:06.839 see this fruitfulness. Philippians 1, verse 22 00:18:06.839 --> 00:18:08.680 was just a verse that came to my mind. It says, 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:11.180 if I live, I can be more fruitful for Christ. 00:18:11.339 --> 00:18:13.319 And he was in that battle of saying, you know, 00:18:13.339 --> 00:18:15.319 for me to live is Christ, but to die is to gain. 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:18.279 I'd rather die, but I know that as long as I'm 00:18:18.279 --> 00:18:22.400 alive, I want to be fruitful. And what's really 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:25.779 fun is when you're operating in your calling, 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:29.400 God reveals to you various times in your life 00:18:29.400 --> 00:18:31.539 of the fruit that's existing because you've been 00:18:31.539 --> 00:18:34.059 living your calling out, living your purpose. 00:18:34.940 --> 00:18:37.920 There's fruit there. It's been fun for me. The 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:42.069 older I get, then people come back into your 00:18:42.069 --> 00:18:45.109 life that you maybe invested in 20, 30, 40 years 00:18:45.109 --> 00:18:47.890 ago. And I've had phone calls or people just 00:18:47.890 --> 00:18:49.910 falling into my life lately and just saying, 00:18:49.970 --> 00:18:51.789 you know what? You've meant so much to me in 00:18:51.789 --> 00:18:54.990 my life. I'm thinking, I didn't even know I touched 00:18:54.990 --> 00:18:57.539 that person. But when you're in your calling, 00:18:57.619 --> 00:18:59.839 you realize that there is fruit being manifested 00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:02.720 out there. And it's just a great feeling to know 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:04.920 that that's happening. And sometimes God rewards 00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:06.720 us with those kind of phone calls. And sometimes 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:08.440 we're going to have to wait till we get to glory. 00:19:08.599 --> 00:19:10.440 And he says, well done, thou good and faithful 00:19:10.440 --> 00:19:15.259 servant. So you have fruitfulness when you're 00:19:15.259 --> 00:19:23.579 in your calling. So the next question that I 00:19:23.579 --> 00:19:25.319 came up with as I was preparing this message, 00:19:25.400 --> 00:19:27.920 well, how do you determine your calling? If you're 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:29.779 kind of in that place in your life right now 00:19:29.779 --> 00:19:31.079 where you're saying, you know what, I'm not sure 00:19:31.079 --> 00:19:34.380 what my calling is. I'm not sure what my next 00:19:34.380 --> 00:19:36.980 step should be. Well, let me give you some ideas. 00:19:37.180 --> 00:19:40.039 Number one is I would firstly ask God to reveal 00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:43.619 it to you. Have some time out. Get away. Take 00:19:43.619 --> 00:19:46.039 some time in your life to just get away and just 00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:48.420 rethink and listen to what God has to say and 00:19:48.420 --> 00:19:50.640 just... Ask God to reveal it to you. God, what 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:53.299 is it you want me to do? Where is it you want 00:19:53.299 --> 00:19:57.019 me to go? What's next for me, God? And be a good 00:19:57.019 --> 00:20:01.420 listener. Secondly, seek counsel with godly people. 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:04.299 There are people out there that sometimes know 00:20:04.299 --> 00:20:07.339 you well and love you and have a godly heart. 00:20:07.500 --> 00:20:09.160 They can look at you and say, you know what? 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:11.079 I believe that this is what God's calling you 00:20:11.079 --> 00:20:14.579 to do. Now you put those together from the word 00:20:14.579 --> 00:20:17.039 of God and God revealing it to you and now it 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:18.819 begins to percolate in your life and you begin 00:20:18.819 --> 00:20:21.119 to say, well, maybe I need to consider that. 00:20:21.160 --> 00:20:24.720 Maybe I should look at that. Obviously embracing 00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:28.519 your giftedness. What are your giftedness? Might 00:20:28.519 --> 00:20:30.319 be good for you to go through growth track and 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:32.059 figure out what maybe your gifts are if you're 00:20:32.059 --> 00:20:34.710 not sure what your gifts are. But there's great 00:20:34.710 --> 00:20:37.529 tools out there as well. Diagnostic tools like 00:20:37.529 --> 00:20:40.289 strength finders and disc tests and personality 00:20:40.289 --> 00:20:43.170 gifts and gifts to disc test. All those kind 00:20:43.170 --> 00:20:46.569 of combine into ways that we can help understand 00:20:46.569 --> 00:20:50.029 who we are and what God's called us to do and 00:20:50.029 --> 00:20:51.809 to be. And I would challenge you to think about 00:20:51.809 --> 00:20:54.029 that. And then obviously there's times where 00:20:54.029 --> 00:20:56.049 there's actually direct revelation from God. 00:20:56.539 --> 00:20:58.720 There are times in my life where God has actually 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:01.059 spoken in that still small voice, just like he 00:21:01.059 --> 00:21:03.140 did with Elijah when he was on the mountaintop 00:21:03.140 --> 00:21:05.160 trying to figure out what's next for his life. 00:21:06.460 --> 00:21:08.640 But if we don't slow down long enough to hear 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:10.380 what God has to say, we're never going to know. 00:21:12.599 --> 00:21:15.180 And so a lot of it is that life gets in the way. 00:21:15.220 --> 00:21:17.539 There's too many spam calls if we go back to 00:21:17.539 --> 00:21:20.640 our illustration. Everybody else has a wonderful 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:24.220 plan for our life, don't they? Culture does. 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:27.460 The TV does. Everybody has a wonderful plan for 00:21:27.460 --> 00:21:30.599 our lives. But if we don't stop long enough, 00:21:30.940 --> 00:21:34.900 God sometimes just wants to whisper and say, 00:21:34.940 --> 00:21:37.359 look, this is what I've called you to do. I remember 00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:39.420 when God spoke to me very clearly. I want you 00:21:39.420 --> 00:21:42.319 to make your highway in the desert. I want you 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:45.359 to be a pastor. That was a scary day, believe 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:49.140 me. But God spoke to me so clearly, it was just 00:21:49.140 --> 00:21:52.079 undeniable that God revealed that to me. I'll 00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:53.940 never forget the day when that happened and I... 00:21:54.360 --> 00:21:56.339 I never wanted to be a pastor to begin with. 00:21:56.480 --> 00:21:58.140 And I said, God, why are you doing this to me? 00:21:58.779 --> 00:22:01.420 And I made a U -turn. I was driving and I came 00:22:01.420 --> 00:22:03.039 home and I told my wife, I said, honey, I guess 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:06.119 I know where we're at right now. She said, what? 00:22:06.339 --> 00:22:08.500 I said, God wants me to be a pastor. She said, 00:22:08.539 --> 00:22:11.079 are you kidding? I said, I don't want to be a 00:22:11.079 --> 00:22:15.200 pastor's wife. Yeah, they're the unsung heroes, 00:22:15.259 --> 00:22:18.480 by the way. But that was a direct revelation 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:20.319 from God. I couldn't deny it. That was God's 00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:23.539 voice speaking to me. And it's fun, but I was 00:22:23.539 --> 00:22:25.880 able to, when I was complaining to God, that's 00:22:25.880 --> 00:22:28.740 when he spoke to me because when, you know, I 00:22:28.740 --> 00:22:30.519 get into these arguments with God. I don't know 00:22:30.519 --> 00:22:31.980 if you do, but I get into these things where 00:22:31.980 --> 00:22:34.740 I get so upset with God some days. And I was 00:22:34.740 --> 00:22:36.880 upset that day because, man, I'd gotten beat 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:38.700 up in the church and I was trying to survive 00:22:38.700 --> 00:22:42.119 on being a carpenter, which I was lousy at. And 00:22:42.119 --> 00:22:44.519 I said, God, what's the deal? And he said, you 00:22:44.519 --> 00:22:45.759 know, if you just shut up for a minute, I'll 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:48.059 tell you. You know, and there's a lot of us are 00:22:48.059 --> 00:22:49.859 like that. If we just shut up for a minute and 00:22:49.859 --> 00:22:52.519 listen to what God has to say, we might find 00:22:52.519 --> 00:22:54.839 some very compelling information in our lives. 00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:57.640 He wants to speak to us through the word of God 00:22:57.640 --> 00:22:59.380 and through other people and through a still 00:22:59.380 --> 00:23:05.220 small voice. And I wrote this down because I 00:23:05.220 --> 00:23:09.880 remember when Samuel was being called by God. 00:23:09.980 --> 00:23:12.579 Do you remember that story? And he was going 00:23:12.579 --> 00:23:16.579 to anoint Samuel to be a prophet. And he was 00:23:16.579 --> 00:23:20.910 speaking and Samuel heard this voice. And what 00:23:20.910 --> 00:23:22.289 was the first thing out of his mouth? It says, 00:23:22.349 --> 00:23:26.630 speak, Lord, for what? I am listening. We are 00:23:26.630 --> 00:23:31.470 lousy listeners in our culture. So listen to 00:23:31.470 --> 00:23:35.109 what God is trying to say. Now, when I opened 00:23:35.109 --> 00:23:38.950 this message up, I asked God if God was maybe 00:23:38.950 --> 00:23:41.309 calling you to something, and you've had him 00:23:41.309 --> 00:23:48.859 blocked, okay? And so I had these thoughts in 00:23:48.859 --> 00:23:51.019 closing and I want to share these things with 00:23:51.019 --> 00:23:56.559 you. Maybe you've been serving your calling and 00:23:56.559 --> 00:23:59.279 that maybe God is calling you to something else. 00:24:00.579 --> 00:24:06.359 Why do I say that? Here's the reason. When I 00:24:06.359 --> 00:24:11.160 retired, quote retired, at 70 years old, I'm 00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:14.720 going to be 77 in a couple weeks. And when I 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:18.369 first retired, I really struggle a little bit 00:24:18.369 --> 00:24:21.130 with my identity. Anybody relate to that, using 00:24:21.130 --> 00:24:23.970 our retirees? Because you've spent your entire 00:24:23.970 --> 00:24:26.589 life in your vocation, which you have always 00:24:26.589 --> 00:24:29.589 considered it to be your calling, right? And 00:24:29.589 --> 00:24:33.990 now my calling's over. Now what do I do? Well, 00:24:34.049 --> 00:24:36.329 unfortunately, a lot of retirees kind of put 00:24:36.329 --> 00:24:39.789 their lives on cruise control, and you just kind 00:24:39.789 --> 00:24:41.930 of go through life, the rest of your life, in 00:24:41.930 --> 00:24:43.789 your fourth quarter, I would call it, of your 00:24:43.789 --> 00:24:47.500 life. And you're just kind of enjoying life together, 00:24:47.720 --> 00:24:51.079 but the fruit's not there. Maybe the satisfaction 00:24:51.079 --> 00:24:56.380 isn't there. The joy isn't there. And I'm going 00:24:56.380 --> 00:24:59.119 to get on a little soapbox here because I feel 00:24:59.119 --> 00:25:03.460 like that I'm still in one of the most productive 00:25:03.460 --> 00:25:07.519 and fruitful times in my life because I was able 00:25:07.519 --> 00:25:10.359 to shift from essentially being, quote, a pastor 00:25:10.359 --> 00:25:14.779 to now a disciple maker. And I've been disciple 00:25:14.779 --> 00:25:19.019 -making all my life. And you know what's really 00:25:19.019 --> 00:25:21.759 sad? There was a survey done by Back to the Bible 00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:25.039 not too long ago by Arnie Cole. And he served 00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:28.619 hundreds of people who they quoted were mature 00:25:28.619 --> 00:25:31.839 Christian believers, many of them older, many 00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:36.039 of them retired. They all had all of the earmarks 00:25:36.039 --> 00:25:38.160 of being a mature Christian. They had a prayer 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:40.039 life. They were into the Word of God. They were 00:25:40.039 --> 00:25:42.200 active in their church and so on and so forth. 00:25:42.809 --> 00:25:44.730 But then he asked the question, how many of you 00:25:44.730 --> 00:25:49.490 are investing right now in somebody's life? Disciple 00:25:49.490 --> 00:25:56.210 making. 80 % said nothing, zero. And I feel like 00:25:56.210 --> 00:25:58.630 if you're a retiree, you can be in the most fruitful 00:25:58.630 --> 00:26:02.509 time of your life right now. I want to challenge 00:26:02.509 --> 00:26:10.309 you. Reinvent yourself. No, you're not what you 00:26:10.309 --> 00:26:14.210 were. But you have more wisdom, more maturity. 00:26:14.630 --> 00:26:17.230 You're the very people that God needs to be using 00:26:17.230 --> 00:26:20.890 to pour into people's lives, amen? Now, I'm challenging 00:26:20.890 --> 00:26:24.750 you on that. I could go on another hour on that 00:26:24.750 --> 00:26:28.109 whole topic itself. But here's the second thought 00:26:28.109 --> 00:26:31.549 I had in closing. God never calls someone to 00:26:31.549 --> 00:26:35.309 something without equipping him. If you're feeling 00:26:35.309 --> 00:26:37.289 called right now and you say, not me, Lord, I 00:26:37.289 --> 00:26:42.420 can't do that. Remember Moses? You know, he didn't 00:26:42.420 --> 00:26:45.880 want to go back and leave the people to the promised 00:26:45.880 --> 00:26:49.420 land. God, I can't even talk. How am I supposed 00:26:49.420 --> 00:26:51.740 to? God, you know, don't you remember I killed 00:26:51.740 --> 00:26:53.940 a couple Egyptians? I'm not a very popular guy 00:26:53.940 --> 00:26:57.960 in Egypt right now. And God just basically said, 00:26:58.019 --> 00:27:01.900 suck it up. I'll give you Aaron, right? I'll 00:27:01.900 --> 00:27:07.700 give you a staff, right? What about Joshua? Can 00:27:07.700 --> 00:27:10.000 you imagine the poor guy? He inherited that whole 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:12.910 mess. A couple million Jews trying to cross the 00:27:12.910 --> 00:27:14.670 land and they were stiff -necked and a problem 00:27:14.670 --> 00:27:17.890 all along the way for Moses. And that's why God 00:27:17.890 --> 00:27:19.730 said to Joshua, he said, Joshua, listen, man, 00:27:19.809 --> 00:27:23.009 be strong, be courageous. Go for it because every 00:27:23.009 --> 00:27:25.849 step you take, you're gonna bear fruit. You're 00:27:25.849 --> 00:27:31.390 gonna see victory in your life. God never calls 00:27:31.390 --> 00:27:34.130 somebody that he doesn't equip. And if you're 00:27:34.130 --> 00:27:38.309 feeling inadequate, God's the God of your inadequacy. 00:27:40.759 --> 00:27:43.420 Third, don't confuse your calling by being driven. 00:27:44.039 --> 00:27:46.519 You know, sometimes it bothers me when I see 00:27:46.519 --> 00:27:48.980 people that are just go, go, go, and they are 00:27:48.980 --> 00:27:51.019 type A personalities and they've got to get it 00:27:51.019 --> 00:27:52.660 all, get her done, get her done, get her done. 00:27:52.819 --> 00:27:55.859 And I'm thinking, what is your motivation? Is 00:27:55.859 --> 00:27:59.039 it insecurity? Is it control? Or is it God compelling 00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:01.740 you from the inside out that you are called to 00:28:01.740 --> 00:28:06.180 do this? So don't confuse being driven with being 00:28:06.180 --> 00:28:09.950 called. And finally, no matter what, We have 00:28:09.950 --> 00:28:13.390 one calling we can't resist. We can't let go 00:28:13.390 --> 00:28:17.369 of this. I've served several hundred churches 00:28:17.369 --> 00:28:21.910 when I was consulting with churches all over 00:28:21.910 --> 00:28:24.950 the West Coast. And every one of them had the 00:28:24.950 --> 00:28:28.329 Great Commission in their bylaws and their constitution. 00:28:29.519 --> 00:28:31.460 But I always ask you a question, but how many 00:28:31.460 --> 00:28:33.799 people are really being discipled? How many people 00:28:33.799 --> 00:28:36.559 are taking one step closer to the Lord? How is 00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:38.880 this church really living out disciple making? 00:28:39.200 --> 00:28:41.579 And I'm so thrilled when I hear what Heis is 00:28:41.579 --> 00:28:45.380 doing right now. But the point is, I don't care 00:28:45.380 --> 00:28:48.599 who you are. Your calling is not to be argued. 00:28:49.920 --> 00:28:56.680 We are called to go and make disciples. And if 00:28:56.680 --> 00:28:59.630 nothing else in your life today, You are called 00:28:59.630 --> 00:29:04.529 to do that. Don't rationalize that, but accept 00:29:04.529 --> 00:29:07.230 it because God made that one really clear for 00:29:07.230 --> 00:29:10.269 us. And so I really challenge you to do that. 00:29:12.150 --> 00:29:17.029 Well, old Papa is done this morning. I want to 00:29:17.029 --> 00:29:25.769 challenge you this morning. Let me pray. God. 00:29:27.500 --> 00:29:30.940 You are an amazing God and you want to speak 00:29:30.940 --> 00:29:36.180 to us. You want that relationship with us. You 00:29:36.180 --> 00:29:38.640 love us so much that you created us uniquely 00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:43.299 in a way that each one can be living life with 00:29:43.299 --> 00:29:46.599 purpose. God, if there's a person here right 00:29:46.599 --> 00:29:48.640 now that's just struggling with that right now, 00:29:48.660 --> 00:29:50.660 God, I pray that they would take some time to 00:29:50.660 --> 00:29:54.589 just dive into it. Get it squared away so that 00:29:54.589 --> 00:29:56.789 they have direction in their life for their future 00:29:56.789 --> 00:30:01.069 and each day. God, I pray for that person that 00:30:01.069 --> 00:30:05.230 maybe has been challenged today and you're trying 00:30:05.230 --> 00:30:07.250 to block that call because you don't feel adequate 00:30:07.250 --> 00:30:09.329 or you don't feel ready or prepared for that. 00:30:09.410 --> 00:30:13.869 But God, I pray that you would break through 00:30:13.869 --> 00:30:20.269 all the spam. I pray that they would take that 00:30:20.269 --> 00:30:25.079 call. Because you never know how exciting the 00:30:25.079 --> 00:30:27.359 fruit that will come from that in the days that 00:30:27.359 --> 00:30:30.119 are ahead. So God, thank you for giving me the 00:30:30.119 --> 00:30:33.019 opportunity to share this morning. And I just 00:30:33.019 --> 00:30:35.400 love these folks so much. And so I pray all this 00:30:35.400 --> 00:30:37.720 in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.