November 18 & 22, 2020
How are we called?
If I need a computer programmer, I find a qualified person and call them. God however scanned the horizon of humanity and found no one qualified to be his child. So he does not first find qualified people and then call them to be his children.His call qualifies them. - Tim Keller
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” —Isaiah 6:2-3 ESV
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” —Isaiah 6:4-7 ESV
“God will never do anything with us till he has first of all undone us.” - Charles Spurgeon
Jonah: Here I Am, I’m
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. —Jonah 1:1-3 ESV
Moses: Here I Am, Send
Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” —Exodus 3:10-11 ESV
“Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” —Exodus 4:13 ESV
Paul: Here I Am, I
And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God. —Acts 9:18-20 ESV
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. —1 Corinthians 1:26-29 ESV
And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” —Isaiah 6:5-8 ESV
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How are we called?: We need to experience the presence of God.
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- I am choosing to follow Jesus for the first time.
- I will send time praying a dangerous prayer: Here I Am, Send Me.
- The Lord has given me a call but I have ignored it until today.
- I’m ready to respond to God’s call by joining a short term missions team or by serving overseas for a year while praying about a lifetime commitment.