And so I want us to start really quickly in 1
Samuel chapter 3, verses 1 through 10 specifically.
And we'll read it together and then we'll pray
and then we'll keep going. Now, the boy Samuel
was ministering to the Lord in the presence of
Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those
days. There was no frequent vision. At that time,
Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so
that he could not see, was lying down in his
own place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out,
and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the
Lord where the ark of God was. Then the Lord
called Samuel, and he said, Here I am, and ran
to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me.
But he said, I did not call. Lie down again.
So he went and lay down, and the Lord called
again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli
and said, Here I am, for you called me. But he
said, I did not call my son. Lie down again.
Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the
word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to
him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third
time. And he arose and went to Eli and said,
Here I am, for you called me. And then Eli perceived
that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore
Eli said to Samuel, Go. Lie down, and if he calls
you, you shall say, Speak, Lord, for your servant
hears. So Samuel went, and he lay down in this
place, and the Lord came and stood, calling as
at other times, Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel said,
Speak, for your servant hears. Let's pray. God,
again, we thank you for your word. We thank you
for this time that we can be together. I pray
that your word speaks. I pray that through stories
and through conversation, we hear you speaking.
We hear you calling out. That we don't mistake
your voice for any other. That we would know
for a fact that it is you calling us. And when
we hear you calling, God, may we respond accordingly.
It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. At different
times in my life, I've wondered what I was supposed
to be doing. Or where I was supposed to be going.
What I was supposed to say or who I was supposed
to be. In fact, in high school, I felt like I
was being called to serve in youth ministry.
I had so many youth ministers that poured into
me, whether it was my own youth minister, Mr.
Glenn, or youth ministers that I interacted with
at things like Bible camp or youth rallies. And
so I felt like I had a responsibility to pour.
what had been poured into me into others, especially
the youth. So I would say I felt called to ministry,
specifically to youth. So I go to college at
Faulkner University to major in youth and family
ministry. Unfortunately, I wasn't called to the
classroom, actually. So I get to the end of my
freshman year and basically did so bad that all
my financial aid and scholarships were placed
on hold because apparently they do that if you
don't actually go to class. They stop giving
you money. So I get basically kicked out of school.
And now, instead of doing the work necessary
to pursue my calling, I thought, well, maybe
I could pursue a different calling, right? Because
there's not just one calling. You can do other
things. And so this was something that I always
wanted. This is the thing that I felt like I
wanted to do and that would make me happy and
that would fulfill me. And that was joining the
military. My grandfather was in the Navy. All
the best men that I knew were military people.
And I grew up on the coast. And so we were with
the Navy base. We had an Air Force base. There
was a Coast Guard base. And so I was, I'll join
the Navy. And conveniently enough, my best friend
in high school also did awful his first year
of college. So we were talking and we were like,
hey. Why don't we join the Coast Guard together?
And it'll be great. We'll join the Coast Guard
together. We'll get guaranteed district. We'll
go to Alaska. We'll hunt fish and enjoy that
time. And so that's what we did. We had this
plan. We went and talked to the recruiter. We
were getting ready to go. And while getting ready,
I was also serving as an intern, a ministry intern
at a church near my hometown. And on the Sunday
before classes were set to begin at Faulkner,
conveniently enough, that also was the same week
I was supposed to go back to the recruiter to
talk about getting set up for the next steps.
And so classes are set to begin on Wednesday
at Faulkner, and I'm also supposed to go that
week to talk to the recruiter. And Sunday comes,
and the preacher at the church that I'm interning
at, Verlin Carroll, he preaches this lesson,
really rude, on... Running and hiding from your
calling. Taking the easy way out. As you can
imagine, I'm sitting there listening to this
sermon and I'm shook. Because... I had that first
calling, right? That thing that I felt like I
knew God wanted me to do or that I needed to
do, that I had a responsibility to do. But because
it wasn't easy, because it didn't come naturally
to me, I had to work a little harder. So I decided
I'm going to do the easy thing, right? Because
the military people in here know basic training
is a cakewalk, right? Yeah, no. Right. But I
thought, OK, I'm physically capable. I can do
that. That'd be a lot easier than going to the
classes in college. So I was going to take the
easy way out. And so I'm listening to the sermon
and and I'm hearing exactly what I need to hear.
And he didn't know that I was thinking. He's
talking to me and I still and I haven't asked
him, maybe I should, if he knew that I needed
that lesson. But I talk to him and we pray. He
helps me get a second chance in school. And within
48 hours, I'm able to go back to college. Fast
forward a few years. Now I've been serving in
youth ministry for a couple of years at this
point. But I'm pretty good at writing songs.
And I've been told that I'm decent at writing
songs and singing. And so I decide that, well,
I've always loved music. In fact, when I was
a kid, the thing that I thought would be the
coolest was to be in the military and be a singer
-songwriter. Anybody ever heard of someone named
Elvis Presley? He was my hero as a kid, so I
was like, I could be Elvis. And so now I'm in
youth ministry and I'm serving and I'm actually
serving at the church that I always felt like
I needed to serve at my home church because I
wanted to pay forward what had been paid to me.
And so so I'm serving and and now I'm having
this what I call my quarter life crisis where
I'm like, I know I love ministry and I know this
is what I need to be doing. But maybe I could
fulfill my calling elsewhere. And so I talked
to Eliza. We pray about it and she's supportive.
And but she's not supportive enough to move to
Nashville. She's like, we can move to Montgomery
because Montgomery is halfway between your family,
my family in Nashville. We have friends there.
We have churches there. And we know, you know,
it'll work out if we're in Montgomery. Thank
goodness Eliza has some common sense. So I get
a secular job and I start playing gigs. I start
writing more songs. I make some trips to Nashville.
And it's all great, right? It was a ton of fun.
And I felt like maybe I could fulfill my calling
in that way. You know, my songs, they all mostly
have a faith -based element. And whenever I'm
out playing gigs, I'm talking about my relationship
with God. And so I think that I can fulfill my
calling this way. The entire time I'm doing this,
I feel this void. I feel like something's missing.
I'm not quite satisfied. I'm doing the thing
that I've always loved, but it's not satisfying
me. And so several conversations with mentors
and preachers and Christian brothers and sisters
happen throughout this time while I'm doing this.
And a lot of it revolves around me trying to
figure out what exactly I need to be doing. Has
anybody else ever wondered what they're supposed
to be doing with their life? Anybody still wondering
what they're supposed to be doing with their
life? Yeah, some days we don't know. But, you
know, as it goes, I start praying a ton and my
prayer is, God, make it clear. Make it clear
what I need to be doing. Leave no doubt in my
mind. Don't let this be a Donovan decision. Let
this be a God decision. And around this time,
some things start happening. First, I get asked
to help be one of the housing staff at Faulkner
in the student life department. And then I get
asked to start directing chapel until they find
a spiritual life director. And then while doing
this, I get asked to join the ministry staff
at Vaughn Park. And then while serving as the
college minister at Vaughn Park, I have a moment
eerily similar to that moment that I had back
in 2017 of just like sheer God moving clarity.
I'm sitting there teaching my college class one
Sunday morning and out of nowhere I have this
overwhelming feeling. And my brain just goes
to a different place and has this thought. I
need to be the youth minister here. And so, long
story short, I'm back doing the thing that I
said I'd never do again. I'm the youth minister.
Then around this time, this is we're in July,
around this time last year, I start feeling this
feeling of of needing to serve the kingdom in
a different capacity. I start thinking maybe,
you know, I don't really connect with the youth
as well as I used to. I'm definitely not fun.
Kids are calling me a grandpa. And that is very
true. I don't have the patience for middle schoolers.
Sorry. Love y 'all. But I just I can't do it.
You know, and so I'm starting to think maybe
my gifts are best used elsewhere. And so I start
thinking about that. But I love where we were.
I love that congregation. And I know some of
them are going to listen to this. And I want
them to hear that I do love those people. And
Eliza especially, this is the first time at any
of the churches we've been in, and we've been
in some great churches, this is the first time
she's been plugged in and she's felt like she
belongs and she felt like she had a ministry
to pour into and to pour into her. And so we
don't really go looking for a place to go. But
not long after I start feeling this, I hear about
this church in Blairsville, Georgia that needs
a preacher. And I don't know why, but of all
the preaching openings that had come across my
mind and people have brought up to me of all
the places that we could go. This is the one
that stuck out to me a ton. So I just throw the
idea to Eliza and say, you know, hey, what about
this church in the mountains? We love the mountains.
Beautiful. People are probably really nice. We've
got some friends there. And she just constantly
says, we're not moving. There were a couple times
where she tells me, I hope I don't get in trouble
for saying this, but she says, shut up about
Blair's Bulls. And amidst all of this, I'm constantly
praying, God, make it clear. Nope, back. Wow.
God, make it clear what you want me to do and
where you want me to go. This has been my prayer
for the last three or so years, maybe four. I've
just been praying, God, make it clear. And that's
not like a big thing like, you know, every day
I'm like, God, you want me to leave? It's do
I need to go to the coffee shop today and sit
there and just see if somebody needs to talk
about Jesus? Do I need to go to the ballgame
and support the kids so that they know they've
got somebody fighting for them? Do I need to
go and meet with that person that's been struggling
with life? What do I need to do? Where do I need
to go? So fast forward to around January and
this random guy named Noah asked me if I'd be
interested in coming and speaking at this little
church in Blairsville, Georgia. And so he asked
me, he's like, hey, what about February? So February
then turns to March. And it's kind of a good
thing that February did turn to March because
at the end of February, Eliza comes to me after
over a year of me telling her that I feel like
we need to consider me making a change in ministry.
And she says, in short, I feel like we need to
be willing to go wherever God calls us to go.
And by wherever she meant the state of Georgia,
Knoxville, Tennessee, or we stay put. She was
not in full Abraham mode. OK, but she this is
growth for her. OK. And so she says, you know,
I feel like we need to be willing to go wherever
God tells us to go. But I don't pursue coming
here because one, I want the visit to be organic.
I wanted my time with y 'all back in March to
be organic. And two, we weren't really actively
trying to move. I just wanted to be open to if
we felt called. So I told Eliza what my prayer
to God was all along. And that was, if this is
what we're supposed to do, God, make it. Clear.
So we come up here, I preach, and I won't walk
you through every detail, but God made it really
clear. And I think I told Chad and Phil, like,
I have never, ever felt more sure about a decision
except maybe proposing to Eliza. I'm sure about
this. And I told you all of that to get to this
point. Three points, actually. The first one
is we need to be able to recognize God's voice.
We have to pursue what He calls us to do. And
if we miss or ignore the call, God will still
work. So there's two actions, and then there's
a grace statement. So the two actions we need
to do, and the third thing is, if we don't do
because of our human inability, or this is not
to you, this is to me, our ignorance, God can
still work. He will still work, and God is still
good. So I want to talk about each of these things,
starting with the first point. The first one,
we need to be able to recognize God's voice.
So we go back to our passage in 1 Samuel. Samuel
hears God's voice several times, but he doesn't
recognize God, partially because he doesn't know
him, but also because you've got to imagine if
you're sitting in your house and you know that
there's somebody else there and you hear your
name called, you're going to assume first that
it's the other person calling you, not God, right?
If I hear my voice called, I'm going to assume
it's Eliza or it's one of my sons. I'm not going
to think, oh, yeah, it's the God that I've never
heard before. I've never seen before. I've never
interacted with before. I'm going to assume it's
the person that has a voice that I can audibly
hear day to day. So imagine, though, if Samuel
had never realized who was calling him, if he
never realizes that this is God talking, if he
never received the message as a message from
God, And here's something deeper. When we read
about Samuel, we're not just seeing a boy who
learned to hear God's voice. We're seeing a glimpse
of something much bigger. Samuel was a faithful
prophet when hearing from God was rare. Samuel
listened and he spoke God's word to his people.
But Samuel points us even further. forward to
the ultimate prophet, to the ultimate teacher,
to the ultimate message bearer, Jesus. So Jesus
doesn't just hear the Father's voice. He perfectly
obeys it every time. What Jesus says in John
12, verse 49 is, For I have not spoken on my
own authority, but the Father who sent me has
himself given me a commandment what to say and
what to speak. Jesus brings a message directly,
from God. He is the good shepherd whose sheep
will still know his voice today. Jesus is the
final and clearest word from God. And through
him, we don't just hear God's message. We see
it lived out perfectly. See, Samuel was able,
because he listened to God, because he recognized
God's voice, because he heard God clearly, he
was able to bring the message. But Jesus was
God's word. He didn't just bring the message.
He was the message. He lived the message perfectly.
So when we learn to listen for God's voice, like
Samuel did, We're really learning to follow the
voice of Jesus, our prophet, our shepherd, our
savior. Imagine if Samuel hadn't realized who
was calling him. He would have missed the message.
And we know this to be true in life. People respond
to instructions differently depending on who's
giving them. I'll put it to you this way. If
my four -year -old Easton tells my two -year
-old Peyton to clean up his toys, do you think
Peyton's going to listen? No. Easton likes to
be the boss sometimes. And Peyton never listens.
In fact, Peyton will often hit Easton because
Easton tries to tell him what to do. He doesn't
listen. He doesn't listen to him. But if I tell
Peyton to clean up his toys, do you think he's
going to listen? Still no. But he's more likely
to listen to me than he is Peyton. Easton. Why?
Because the one giving instruction matters in
the mind and the heart of the hearer. It matters
who is bringing instruction. I want you to look
at what Jesus says in John chapter 10. This was
our scripture reading. The sheep hear his voice,
the shepherd's voice, and he calls his own sheep
by name and he leads them out. When he has brought
out all his own, he goes before them and the
sheep follow him for they know his voice. They
recognize. Jesus' voice. And here's the one I
want you to hear clearly. A stranger, they will
not follow. But they will flee from him. It's
not just that they don't listen to the stranger.
They run away from the stranger. How many times
have you felt like Satan is asking you, tempting
you to do something, and you just say, well,
I'm just going to ignore him. No, the sheep have
to run from the enemy. They run from the stranger
because they don't know his voice. So if I'm
going to live a life that's following God's calling,
I have to actually know who is doing the talking.
I've not always been good at that. I just shared
some of my story with you. There have been plenty
of times where I've tried to run or ignore my
calling or take the easy way out of what I believe
God's asking me to do. And in all of those times,
whether big life decisions or little things like,
hey, talk to that person. Every time I've ignored
God's voice, I've regretted it. I felt a void.
I've missed something big. To clarify, because
I need this to be very clear, what I'm not saying
is that God gives us specific things that we
have to do every single day. He doesn't bring
all of us specific callings for our careers and
locations to live, although I do believe he does
do that in certain instances. So once I've heard
God's call, what then do I need to do? Well,
I should probably follow the shepherd, right?
We have to pursue what he calls us to, where
he calls us to go, who he calls us to be, what
he calls us to say. We have to pursue what he
calls us to. Does anybody remember a guy named
Jonah? Maybe you've heard about him if you've
ever been to like a vacation Bible school or
children's worship. But if you haven't. God calls
this guy named Jonah to go to Nineveh, and Jonah
runs. He tries to avoid God's calling, and God
says to Jonah, let me make myself abundantly
clear. You ever tell your kids that? I think
I tell Easton that at least twice a week. Let
me make myself abundantly clear. You're going
to do what I need you to do. What I need to happen
is going to happen one way or another. And if
I want it to be you that does it, you're going
to do it. And I can tell you in my experience,
when I've tried to do what I want, as opposed
to what God has called me to, He has made Himself
abundantly clear. I felt something missing. And
even sometimes I felt miserable. But I want you
to hear what David says in Psalm 23. The Lord
is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me
lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside
still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me
in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you
are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort
me. You prepare a table before me in the presence
of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My
cup overflows. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. And I shall
dwell in the house of the Lord. I don't know
about you, but I feel like a sheep sometimes.
By that I mean I feel kind of dumb sometimes.
Confused. Lost. Blind. And I can struggle at
times in knowing where to go or what to do, who
to be, what to say. And clearly that's normal.
So normal that David would refer to us as sheep.
Hence the Lord being our shepherd and so much
so that Jesus refers to us as sheep. And so we
have to answer this question. What happens when
I follow the shepherd? Well, Psalm 23 tells us
good things happen. He leads me in peaceful territory.
He provides for me. He gives me protection. He
delivers me from evil as opposed to what happens
when I don't follow the shepherd's calling. I
don't have guidance through the valley of the
shadow of death. I don't have anyone to provide
for me when I can't. I don't have anyone to protect
me when the enemy attacks. Maybe I'm wrong, but
following the shepherd, following Jesus, sounds
20 times better than following myself. It sounds
way better than following the world. It sounds
way better than following the enemy. Following
the shepherd is the only good option. And if
you like what's good, it is the only option.
So on one hand, I can be protected. I can be
cared for. I can be loved. Or I can try to navigate
life and all the garbage and the darkness. The
bitterness of life by myself. With no guidance.
With no future. With no destination. With no
hope. I think I'd rather follow the shepherd.
I think I'd rather follow the good voice that's
calling. And to do that, I have to follow his
voice when he's calling. Which first requires
knowing His voice. Then it requires obeying.
But I also want you to know that there is grace.
I told you there's a grace statement in there.
That if we miss or ignore the call, God can and
will still work. Maybe you're familiar with some
times in Scripture or just in life when men missed
or ignored the call from God. And he still worked.
We just talked about Jonah. And his ignoring
God's call. We saw how God worked there. I shared
with you my story of ignoring or trying to run
from God's call. And I do believe he has worked
and is still working there. Again, I'm not saying
God has specific careers and specific tasks for
each of us to do. He doesn't have a checklist
for each of our days. But I do believe God has
a calling for all of our lives. He has something
that he needs us to be doing. Whether it's a
grand scale call, like I need to sell everything
I own and go be a missionary, or it's a little
daily call, like I want you to talk to that person
about your testimony. God is calling all of us
to do something, to say something, to be someone,
to go somewhere. God is calling. Even if I miss
the call and never realize what God is asking,
I can have peace knowing that if I'm pursuing
Him and trying to listen for His voice, He will
work in and through me. And here's why I believe
that. First, again, we have that example of Jonah.
But I also want you to hear the words of Paul
that we find in Roman 8. Paul says, likewise,
the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do
not know what to pray for as we ought, but the
Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings
too deep for words. And he who searches hearts
knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because
the Spirit intercedes for the saints according
to the will of God. And we know that for those
who love God, And I'm going to insert this word
here. For those who listen to God, all things
work together for good. For those who are called
according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew,
He also predestined to be conformed to the image
of His Son. In order that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers. And those whom he predestined,
he also called. And those whom he called, he
also justified. And those whom he justified,
he also glorified. So maybe you're wondering,
how do I actually know? How do I actually hear
God's voice? How do I know it's him and not just
me? Not just the enemy? First, we can do what
Samuel did. Just ask. Just ask God, is it you
calling me? What Samuel says, his prayer is,
speak, Lord, for your servant hears. Imagine
if your daily prayer was, God, speak in my life.
Tell me what you need me to do. Tell me where
you want me to go. Tell me who you want me to
be. What do I need to say today? Just ask him.
Ask God to speak and commit to hearing. The second
thing is opening the Word. We are crazy if we
think that we can make it through this life,
that we can know God's will for us without opening
Scripture. God will never say something that
contradicts Scripture. That is a fact. Because
our God is not a God of confusion. And if you
hear something that isn't aligned with Scripture,
that's confusing, right? If I give you a task,
if I say, hey, I need you to change my oil, but
I leave a note on the dash that says, hey, change
the windshield wipers. Well, those are two different
things, right? You could try to verify and you
could call me and say, hey, did you mean change
the oil and change the windshield wipers? Or
you could maybe say, who left the note? That
doesn't look like Donovan's handwriting. Why
didn't he just tell me to do that? God will never
say something that contradicts scripture to you.
You hear people say all the time, God spoke to
me. I do believe God speaks to us. Maybe not.
I'm not going to say he can't speak to us verbally,
but people will say things like God spoke to
me and then they'll fill in the blank with whatever
it is that they want. But that's nothing like
what's in scripture. I would say that's pretty
confusing. So if we want to know what God is
trying to call us to do or what God is trying
to say to us, we have to verify through Scripture.
The shepherd's voice always matches the shepherd's
word. And the third thing, and I said verify
it, test it. The voice of our shepherd, this
wasn't supposed to be a slide change, the voice
of our shepherd will call you toward love. It
will call you toward holiness, truth. And peace.
It won't call you to fear. The shepherd doesn't
call you to confusion. He won't call you to selfishness.
He won't call you to pride. He'll call you towards
looking like Jesus. And the final thing is talk
to wise believers. When you think God might be
saying something. Run it by trusted Christians.
Run it by your shepherds. Run it by a deacon.
Run it by that person that's mentored you since
you were first baptized. Run it by the minister,
whoever it is that you need to. Run it by them.
Some of the young people in the room, you've
got some awesome parents and grandparents. Talk
to them. Talk to trusted Christians. Notice I
didn't say just talk to anybody that say they
believe in God. Talk to trusted Christians who
know his word and want his. best for you. If
you want to hear God's voice more clearly, we
have to start by asking. We have to listen. Eliza
always gets mad at me because she'll say something
and I don't hear her because I'm partially deaf.
And well, that and I'm just dumb. Like I said,
she so she'll say something and I'll go, huh?
And then she'll repeat herself. But the problem
is, I'm like washing dishes or something. I'm
not actually listening to her. So I'm doing this.
She'll say something. I'll say, huh? And then
she'll say it. And I'm like, what? And she'll
say, what are you saying? And she says, if you're
not ready to listen, don't ask me what I said.
Don't ask God to speak. Don't ask God to make
himself clear if you're not ready to listen to
him. Read his word. Test the calling. Talk to
people. And then trust and obey. God, he still
speaks. I believe that to be a fact. God still
speaks. But we have to answer the question, are
we ready to hear? Here's how I want to wrap it
up this morning. God is calling. All of us. He's
calling all of us to do something. And to be
simple, to be frank, God is calling us to lay
our lives down and take up a cross. God is calling
us to get rid of our baggage here on earth and
say, I'm going to follow Jesus. I'm going to
follow the good shepherd. I'm going to live a
life that goes behind him. And the great news,
the gospel message is that that life is so much
better than this life. And that life is not even
as good as what it's going to be when we get
to the restored creation. There is a home that
God is calling us to. And bless, bless, bless
us. We get to participate in just a fraction
of that here. Now, when he leads us beside still
waters. When He leads us to the valley of the
shadow of death. When He leads us to places of
providence, of promise. And this is just a foretaste
of the future. He's calling all of us to follow
Jesus and to live for Him. He's calling us to
a life of peace, joy, hope. He's calling us to
live a life that leads to a life with him and
the restored creation for eternity. God is calling
and we have to follow. And if we do, he will
lead us to a fulfilling and an abundant life.
And if we don't, God's still going to be glorified
one way or another. I heard someone say revelation
can be summed up this way. God wins. Don't be
dumb. Join the right team. God's going to be
glorified. Heaven's going to be awesome. Jesus
will be there. All our loved ones that have gone
before us, that have accepted Jesus as their
Savior, they'll be there. The place that God
designed for us in the beginning, that beautiful
home that He designed for man and him to live
together, that's going to be what our reality
is. And I want to be there. I want you to be
there. And we have to know that He's going to
have glory. It's up to us to follow Him there.
Don't miss out on glory. And this isn't prosperity
gospel. This is just the gospel. Glory is promised
to those who follow his calling. The Apostle
Paul says it very clearly in Romans 8. Psalm
23 tells us that it's a good life. I would argue
it's a great life. I'm driving last night in
the dark. And Eliza yesterday decided to be a
little emotional person. And I guess she was
driving and she said, hey, if you want a good
cry today, just listen to our wedding playlist.
And I'm like, I don't even I forgot about that.
So she sends it to me and and I hit shuffle and
I press play. And the first song is this song.
It's from the ground up and it talks about this
life that we'll build. And I'm thinking about
the life. That I was on the path for. The life
that my. Myself. That I was born into. That I
was destined for. Based on circumstances. And
it wasn't what I have now. It wasn't a beautiful
wife. It wasn't beautiful kids. It wasn't a great
church family. It wasn't a life of peace. Of
abundance. Of happiness. Of purpose. If I'd never
accepted and listened to the call, I don't have
any of that. And this is just a taste of what
our home in heaven will be like. Don't miss out
on that. Listen for his voice and respond accordingly.
If you feel God calling you to something specific,
If you feel like God is begging you to accept
the free gift of salvation that Jesus brings
to those who surrender their lives, if you feel
like God is calling you to surrender something,
whatever it is that's standing in the way of
you following his calling for you today, of him
calling you to glory, if anything is in your
way, whatever it is, if you need to be baptized,
we will have that water ready. If you just need
to lay something down at the feet of Jesus, we
are offering you this invitation now as we stand
and as we sing.