The Call
Notes
Transcript
Announcements
Announcements
Good Morning Parkside. I am excited to announce that we are looking forward to opening the church sometime in June. This decision has been based on seeking God in prayer and guidance from the Assemblies of God. I can tell you that this has been a very difficult season for me. Closing the church was not exciting for me. But it was the right decision. I am super excited we are close to re-opening. If you are looking for ways to give, you can give online by going to parksideassembly.com under the give tab. You can also Text-To-Give by simply texting give to (989)308-3353. Also you are more than welcome to mail in your giving. Hey this Tuesday, May 26th at 7pm, we will be having a Zoom Meeting. This will be a great opportunity to see each other and catch up. If you are interested please send me your email address to parksideassembly@yahoo.com or call the church at (989)681-2353. I will then send you a link, please share that link with any of your friends that would be interested.
Intro:
Intro:
Today we are launching into a new series, Tone-Setting. I want to explore biblically the tone believers are supposed to be setting. Have you ever desired to lead or have someone look up to you, if so you will enjoy this series. As believers we are all called to ministry. If Jesus is your Savior and your Lord, you are called to ministry. Today we will be exploring our calling. Would you turn in your Bibles to Mark 16:14-20. While you are turning there let me give you a little context to this portion of Scripture. Easter has happened. Jesus has been crucified, buried, and has resurrected from the grave. He is now appearing to all 11 of the disciples together for the first time since he resurrected from the grave. So imagine with me for a moment you are one of the 11 disciples. You are sitting in a room with your closest friends. There is discussion about rumors of Jesus being alive. Lets read Mark 16:14-20.
Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
Let’s Pray
I told you our series is called “Tone-Setting.” This morning I want to lay the foundation that the rest of the series will build off of. Let’s discuss for a few moments who the disciples were. They were regular people. People like you and I. They had jobs to help them make ends meet. Some of them had faced rejection before they meant Jesus. The point is the disciples were regular people. They weren’t superhuman or super-spiritual. The disciples answered a call. Each one of them was asked by Jesus to follow him. Here at the end of Mark we encounter the 11 disciples, at this point they have been with Jesus for about 3 1/2 years. After 3 1/2 years they still have shortcomings.
But here they are they are once again being called. The disciples are being called to preach the good news and make disciples. The disciples are setting the tone for the rest of us. This morning I want to explore the importance of being called. There are a multitude of examples in the Bible of God calling people to partner with Him in His mission to redeem and love His people, His creation. Moses’ calling will be are subject for today’s message. Turn with me in your Bible to Exodus 3:1-10.
I encourage you to read Exodus chapters 3 and 4.
Moses
Moses
In Exodus chapter 2 we learn about Moses. Moses was born a Hebrew. At that time Pharoah had decreed that all born Hebrew sons would be cast into the Nile river. So Moses’ mother in order to save her son put him in a basket and placed the basket among the reeds of the riverbank. Pharaoh's daughter found Moses in the basket and raised Moses.
Lets discuss how Moses was prepared for what God was going to call him to.
Preparation
Preparation
1. Education
1. Education
Moses was prepared by the education he recieved. Remember its Pharaoh's daughter that is raising Moses, he is being raised in the Egyptian empire.
Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
Egypt had a highly developed civilization for its time, particularly in the areas of engineering, mathematics, and astronomy. Moses is being educated by the elite.
2. Failure
2. Failure
Moses is also prepared by failure. Even though Moses was raised by the Egyptians he knew he was a Hebrew. In Exodus chapter 2 we know that Moses really struggled with the suffering his fellow Hebrews were enduring. The Hebrew people were enslaved by the Egyptians. When it came to the building of Egyptian temples the Hebrews did the hard labor. The Hebrews were slaves and were suffering.Moses finally had enough one day and made a decision to help his people, even it meant he would lose his Egyptian status. Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew and Moses intervened and ultimately murdered the Egyptian. The next day Moses’ own people rejected him next day when he tried to help settle a dispute between 2 Hebrews.
The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”
The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”
Moses had failed and we will discover here shortly God used this failure to prepare Moses.
3. Solitude and Humble Service (Exodus 2:15-25)
3. Solitude and Humble Service (Exodus 2:15-25)
Moses now is a fugitive and flees to the land of the Midianites. True to his nature, Moses, assisted the daughters of Reuel and this led to hospitality in their home and marriage to one of Reuel’s daughters. Moses now shepherds sheep for 40 years. Moses is in a place of solitude and is a humble servant. This place of solitude and humble service will serve as preparation for Moses to receive the call of God.
This example of Moses being prepared should be something we pay attention to and put into practice in our own lives. This pattern of God preparing His followers is applicable to us today, whether we just came to Jesus or have been serving Jesus for a long while. God will prepare you for His purposes through education, through failure, and through solitude and humble service. For most of us we understand failure, the good news is God will use that failure to prepare us for His purposes. Solitude and humble service may be the biggest challenge for folks that have just started a relationship with Jesus. The culture around us doesn’t teach us to live quiet and humble lives. The Bible is clear “God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble.” Lastly education. God will educate us, primarily through His Word, which will require us to practice solitude. It’s important as we read His word that get into a place of solitude, where it is quiet and we can hear the still small voice of God.
Hopefully you are still there, Exodus 3:1-10.
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
The Call
The Call
Let’s take a few moments to discuss what just happened. Moses is going about his business, tending the flock. Let me highlight that, Moses is out of obedience tending his father in-laws flock. Sometimes I think in our carnal thinking that we dream up in our minds that if something miraculous is going to happen then we have to be doing something super spiritual. Wow, how are minds can deceive us. The most spiritual thing you can ever do, are you ready for it? The most, the number 1 spiritual thing you can do is be obedient to God. Obedience creates the atmosphere for miracles. Moses is being obedient and has a supernatural encounter with the living God.
1. The Burning Bush (Exodus 3:1-4)
1. The Burning Bush (Exodus 3:1-4)
God can take an insignificant bush, ignite it, and turn it into a miracle, and that’s what God wanted to do with Moses. The burning bush was a picture of what God planned for Moses. Moses was the weak bush but God was the empowering fire, and with God’s help Moses could accomplish anything. Many of us get tripped up here. God calls us, and we think we can’t do it. We think we can’t live out our calling because we don’t have the knowledge or education, we can’t do it because we are afraid, afraid we might fail, afraid what others may think, maybe afraid because if we can do it everything will change. The point is we are just like Moses, God wants to ignite us and with God’s help we can accomplish anything He calls us to.
2. God’s Voice (Exodus 3:5-10)
2. God’s Voice (Exodus 3:5-10)
God spoke to Moses and assured him that He was the God of his fathers and that He felt the suffering of the Hebrews in Egypt. God was now ready to deliver them out of Egypt and lead them into the promised land, and Moses would be God’s chosen leader. God’s statement “ Go, I am sending you” must have just rocked Moses. Why would God choose a failure? Does that ring a bell. Have you ever asked why would God choose me?
3. The Reaction (Exodus 3:1-4:14)
3. The Reaction (Exodus 3:1-4:14)
What did Moses do? Moses should have rejoiced because God was answering prayer, and he should have submitted to God’s will saying “Here I am, send me.” But instead, he argued with the Lord and tried to escape the divine call to rescue Israel from slavery. So Moses gives five reasons why he can’t accept God’s call.
1. I am a Nobody ( Exodus 3:11-12)
1. I am a Nobody ( Exodus 3:11-12)
2. I Don’t Know Your Name (Exodus 3:13-22)
2. I Don’t Know Your Name (Exodus 3:13-22)
3. They Wont Believe Me (Exodus 4:1-9)
3. They Wont Believe Me (Exodus 4:1-9)
4. I’m Not a Fluent Speaker (Exodus 4:10-12)
4. I’m Not a Fluent Speaker (Exodus 4:10-12)
5. Somebody Else Can Do It Better (Exodus 4:13-17)
5. Somebody Else Can Do It Better (Exodus 4:13-17)
Most of us can relate to Moses. Let me tell you a story. Not to long ago I said things very close to list of excuses Moses gave. Before I came to Parkside I thought I had the call of God on my life figured out. When I met my wife I was in the process of being credentialed, becoming a pastor. I thought that God had called me to the director of the ministry I served at previous to Parkside. So I meet my wife, and by the way my wife is absolutely amazing. My wife had dreamed of marriage like most young ladies growing up. She had a list. A list of the qualities her husband would and would not have. Interestingly enough one thing on her list is she didn’t want to marry a pastor. I tell her don’t worry honey I’m only being credentialed to be the director of the Teen Challenge I was serving at, it’s not like I’ll pastor a church or anything. And she believed me. I told you she was amazing. A year has gone by and I start to realize God is calling me to a church. You probably already know where this is going. So I start praying and processing. I had my own Moses list I submitted to God of all the why nots. How I didn’t feel like I was prepared, I had no experience, what church would hire me, I didn’t know how to pastor, still not sure that I do. There definitely was someone that could do it better, they could speak better and by the way I wasn’t pastor material. I had a past of a lot of mistakes, I mean big mistakes, I used to be a drug addict. And then as a last ditch effort I told God by the way the woman you put me here with doesn’t want to be married to a pastor. My Moses list didn’t change God’s plan for my life. And when I told my wife she told me she believed that I was hearing God and I should pursue pastoring a church. I still tried to put it off but she wouldn’t let, I told you my wife is absolutely amazing.
That being said we are all called to ministry. Now the kind of ministry will differ but we are all called. Not everyone will pastor a church, or lead praise and worship, or teach a class, but we are all called.
The lesson is plain: God knows us better than we know ourselves, so we must trust Him and obey what He tells us to do. When we tell God our weaknesses, we aren’t sharing anything that He doesn’t know already. The will of God will never lead you where the power of God can’t enable you, so walk by faith in His promises.
Let’s be Tone-Setters, lets accept the call that God has on our lives.
Let’s pray.
God bless you and I can’t wait to see everyone, the time is coming soon when the church doors will be open. I hope you have a great week.
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