The Story 2024

Shake-Up Call
April 28, 2024
Chris Seidman, Lead Minister, The Branch

Isaiah 6:1-8 (The Story page 224-225)
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Isaiah Was Shaken With An Awareness Of …

• God over it all. (vs. 1)

Isaiah 6:1 (NIV)
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne … .

• God in the middle of it all. (vs. 3)

Isaiah 6:3 (NIV)
”Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

• God cleansing him of it all. (vs. 5-7)

Isaiah 6:5 (NIV)
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Job 42:5-6 (NIV)
“My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

Luke 5:8 (NIV)
“Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

Isaiah 6:7 (NIV)
“See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Isaiah 53:5-6, 12 (NIV)
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (vs. 12) For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 6:8 (NIV)
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Takeaways …

• In times of great transition, we desperately need a clear vision of God.

• When God becomes heavier to us, we’re more likely to move in response to Him instead of trying to “move Him around.”

• We don’t fulfill a calling in order to be cleansed; we fulfill a calling because we are cleansed.

• Who God sends He fills.

1 John 4:4 (NIV)
… the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.