Los Alamos Church of Christ
Last Sunday I challenged all of us to dream big. It is a new year and it is a time when we can think beyond what we have been in the past and dream of what we can be this year. Last week the challenge to dream was…
What if we could make a difference? What if we could be something spectacular? What if we could really be who God intended us to be? What if we really brought God glory? What if we were who God wanted us to be? What if you were a hero? What if we could change our world?
We need to view ourselves as being in an epic movie. We need to see ourselves as Frodo or Luke or Neo. If we can begin to view our lives through the lens of an epic movie I think we could begin to capture the attitude of making a difference; of being who God intends us to be; of bringing him glory by changing the world. Our lives are a war for our hearts and the hearts of those people around us. God wants our hearts, but so does Satan.
Satan wants to discourage us. Satan wants to make us think we are insignificant. Satan wants us believe we are just pawns in some meaningless game. Satan wants us simply to go through the motions. Satan wants us to believe we can’t really be all that important, we are just a rinky-dink church that’s lucky just to keep the doors open. Satan wants to discourage us.
My current favorite song is by Casting Crowns. It’s called the voice of truth. Let me read the first two verses…
"Voice of Truth"
Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
on to the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand
But the waves are calling out my name
And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"
Chorus:
But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
The Voice of Truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
And the Voice of Truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth
Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes
to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand
But the giant's calling out my name
And he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"
Chorus:
But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
The Voice of Truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
And the Voice of Truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth
I heard the lead singer from Casting Crowns on the radio and they asked him about this song; why he wrote it. He said, “I have ADD and dyslexia. Dyslexia makes it hard to read and ADD makes it hard to do everything else. But I was feeling called to be in the ministry.” He went on to explain the song was his struggle to be what God wanted him to be. To have the courage to step out of the boat even when the voice of the waves and the voices of the giants kept telling him, “Boy you never win, you never win.”
That is the message I want to leave with you this morning; there are two voices. One voice shouts constantly in your head, “You are pointless. You are a failure and you will always be a failure. You can never mount to much because you never have. You are a worthless outfit. You are a failure. You could never step out of the boat and walk with Jesus. You are a failure. You could never kill a giant. You are a failure.”
But there is another voice. A voice which whispers in your heart, “You are for my glory. Do not be afraid. You are mine. Do not be afraid! You can make a difference! You are for my glory!” That is the voice I want to talk about this morning. Here is the premise of this sermon. God is calling you personally. Listen…
Genesis 12:1-5 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
God called Abraham to leave his home town and to go to a distant country. God had a plan for Abraham’s life. He had a purpose. He was to begin a wonderful plan. Here is the point. You too can be a part of that plan; a plan that begin in the faith of man named Abraham and continues in your life. God is calling you out of your old life; out of your comfort zone; out of your home town to be a part of his glory. God has a plan for your life and he is calling you. Listen…
Judges 6:11-23 The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian." The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?" "But Lord," Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together." Gideon replied, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you." And the LORD said, "I will wait until you return." Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak. The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And Gideon did so. With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared. When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, "Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!" But the LORD said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die."
Gideon was called by God to be the mighty warrior God knew he could be. He was not called because of his prowess as a fighter or his courage – he was hiding - or his position as a leader of his people. He was called by God because God wanted him. “Do not be afraid. I will be with you.” We are Gideons. We are being called to step out of hiding and to not be afraid because God is with us. He calls us and he helps us! Listen…
Acts 9:1-15 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord," he answered. The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight." "Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name." But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.
Paul was God’s chosen instrument. Paul was the sword in the hand of God. Paul was his voice; his messenger; his apostle. We can be Paul. We are called to be God’s chosen instrument. We are for his glory. We are to carry his message. We are chosen and called!
Notice the three parts of each of these stories. In each of the stories; Abraham, Gideon and Paul there was a Call, a mission, and glory.
What I am advocating this morning is these are not exceptions but the rule. God is calling each of us to his mission and that leads to glory. Listen again to your story.
Romans 8:28-30 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Do you love God? If the answer is yes, you are called to accomplish God’s purpose. If you are called to his purpose then you are to be conformed to be like Jesus. If you are being made into his likeness then you will be made right with God and be glorified! Calling – Mission – Glorification. Can you dream that big? Can you see yourself being used by God? Can you see yourself on a mission for God? Can you see yourself bringing him glory? That is how we should see ourselves!
Last week I announced the theme for 2006 – Living Worthy. That is what I am talking about. Living worthy of the calling we have received. Remember the theme verse?
Ephesians 4:1 I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
That is what we are going to be doing in 2006. We are going to live worthy of the calling we have received! God is calling each of us out of our comfort zone into the world of the unknown. He is calling us to be mighty warriors; He is calling us as his chosen instruments; to be like his son. To live up to the glory that exists in each of us. Listen to the call.
