Calling and Work

I don't know if you're like me and thought that it would be a good idea to prove your intelligence by reading Brothers Karamazov and if you're like me you like to tell people that you started' Brothers Karamazov and leave that conversation open-ended so that they at least think that you might have ended it but the important chapter if you're a person that's going to tackle that book is is a is a chapter in the middle and it's it's it's entitled the Grand Inquisitor and the Grand Inquisitor gives this terrifying account to what happens to the human soul that doubts its purpose he says this he says for the secret of man's being is not only to live but to live for something definite without a firm notion of what he's looking for man will not accept life and will rather destroy himself than remain on earth I think there's a lot of truth in that statement and and it is a statements like this that make Dostoevsky one of the the greatest writers especially in regards to writing about the human condition he was like a psychiatrist in novel form Henry David Thoreau had something very similar to say when he wrote that the vast majority of men lead lives of quiet desperation and I think what both of these writers tap is the very real problem in human existence and that is that we need to know what it is that we are to live for we need something significant to attach our lives - we need calling but the question immediately arises what is it that we are called to now I have young Christians come to me constantly asking me how it is that they're to discover what the will of God is and they're confused and their lives are in turmoil and they don't know which direction they ought to go and and the problem with the question is is the problem of its focus the calling for many is about what will bring me personally the most faction in life what will fulfill me as a human being what will make me happy and when we ask those sorts of questions we are stuck and will inevitably remain within an existential crisis because the problem is the self at the center of all of those questions we've got to break free from that and so tonight what I want us to do is just just as I did with the fear of the Lord I want to take us through a series of passages primarily focusing on the epistles and the New Testament to discover what is meant by the word calling from a biblical perspective because I believe it'll help us in regards to what is it that I am supposed to do personally we cannot answer that question until we answer in a much bigger question what is it that we are called to and so let's begin I'm going to take you through a series of passages turn with me if you will in your Bibles to Romans chapter 8 verse 28 romans chapter 8 verse 28 it's a very familiar verse one that many of us if you've been a Christian for any length of time that's probably even memorized we love this verse we cling to this one and we know that for those who love God all things work together for what good for those who are what called according to his purpose now when you look at this verse what do you see that you are called to first and foremost what are you called to you are called to his what purpose is there anywhere in that verse that says you are called according to your purpose no so calling begins here it begins with a call according to God's purpose and the problem is is that we do not trust his purpose for our lives and therefore our lives are often marked by a what I would call a particular misery due to our unbelief and self-importance you see we think that God should come to us to satisfy our purposes for our lives but the problem is is that we do not know who we are the problem is is that the fall and that bent disposition to do the things that we ought not to do eradicate our ability to truly understand what it is that we are called to I am purposefully doing the thing that I am wired to do which is be a pastor I can promise you that in my 20s it never even crossed my mind I would in fact I would have laughed in your face even when I became a Christian there is no way it wasn't even on my radar was nothing that I sought out God called me according to his own purpose and the purpose and the calling was that I might enter into relationship with him through his son you see the primary call upon the Christians life is a calling not to a particular vocation it's not about being called to do this or that thing it's about being called into a living vital relationship with a God who is actually present and available for each of his children it's about God saying I choose you you did not choose me it's about God choosing to love sinners in their sin it's the power of the gospel you see we want purpose and significance in our life but what greater significance is there in life than knowing that the God of the universe actually cares about you that he is concerned for you that he loves you you see God's purpose for your life is that you would know his love but you would know him and God is not one that we are to ponder in some sort of abstract way God can only be known through his activity in human history significantly and specifically the Incarnation we know God only because we have been touched by Jesus and so many of us are wrapped up with these existential issues of what is my purpose why am I here what is my existence for what am I supposed to do with my life and when we ask those questions we are we are cutting we are cutting that that connection that is the primary purpose of life which is the connection that we are to have with the Living God who has purchased us at a price the question isn't what do I do with my life it is Lord what do you want me to do with your life because I am no longer my own that changes the way that we think about vocation doesn't it it changes the way that we think about calling because calling in regards to your personal location or what it is that you are wired to do and each of us have unique giftings and there are gift sets and there are things that you most definitely ought not to do if you are an introvert who cannot deal with people you probably shouldn't work a job that requires that you deal with people 24 hours a day you will be exhausted I mean there is real wirings that that make up who you are and God doesn't just change the natural wirings of yourself as an individual when he calls you to himself but he does give you kind of a new set of tools it's called all things new in Christ a spiritual empowerment - it's it's almost like I like to say it's like a car that just got some special parts that just makes it perform a lot a little better at least that's how it's worked for me I'd like to believe that anyway like you may be slightly more souped-up engine or something but the real question of calling isn't what should I do the real question of calling is whom do I know whom do I love who do I belong to isn't that true Psalm 138 verse 8 says the Lord will fulfill his purpose for me your steadfast love O Lord endures forever do not forsake the work of your hands his purpose is that we might know him in his love through Christ and this relationship becomes the center in which regardless of what work we do we can have satisfaction and purpose and hope how many of you have discovered that very reality that when you fall in love with someone all of a sudden it doesn't really matter what you're doing when you're really in love with when you first fall in love that those first months of just passionate new romance I don't care if you're sitting in traffic for two hours you're just like you just look at people I'm in love I'm in love and I think we have misconceptions that God comes into our life to satisfy our desires but we have to have our desires rewired we have to have our wants reprogrammed because they're messed up we often pursue the wrong things things that actually break our heart so this is the first piece of calling before we can get to what am I supposed to do with my life we must begin with what are you actually called to and you're called to someone I think secondly turn with me if you will to Romans 11 Romans 11 verse 29 for he calls us here we'll see he calls us into an indestructible covenant with himself and this is something that gives us it gives us a sense of permanence Romans 11:29 says for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable they become an immovable force it becomes a foundation of assurance for us as people because life by its very nature is undulating it's going up and it's going down we you notice that I put my hand down when I said up this just shows just that we have problems I have problems but I think about this as we're seeking calling we forget that life is is uncertain almost everything in life is uncertain most of us if not all of us will go through a whole series of jobs before you land in the thing that is your whatever your sweet spot some of you may never land in your sweet spot and the the responsibility of the Christian is not necessarily to seek after that which will make you the happiest the responsibility of the Christian is to be reminded that Christ is with us regardless of what our circumstances are how many people throughout most of the world get to do whatever they want to do most people are just fighting for existence think of the the countless Christians who are imprisoned for their faith in places where faith is not allowed right now there's a young couple and from Iran that I have gotten to know Yuna and Nestor on who live in LA and they've had to flee for their lives because their pastor was murdered and their best friend who took over the church is in prison with no opportunity and no future hope of ever being released with a wife and a two-year-old and he writes letters occasionally word gets out to his through his lawyer his lawyer brings letters to the to the Iranians who are part of the community that have fled the country and he talks about what a joy and privilege life is in jail even though he misses his wife and his child because he has the opportunity to serve the Living Christ through his witness to those who have imprisoned him and those whom he's in prison with Dietrich Bonhoeffer who is executed by the Nazis when the greatest Christian thinkers of the 20th century the same sort of reality in prison he was known for his for his joy and his steadfastness in spite of not being able to do what he wanted to do he did what he was created to do which was bring glory to Christ and then that was his satisfaction and it comes through this understanding that we have been called into an indestructible covenant with Christ God is faithful to us even when we are faithless that he is our immovable foundation regardless of what it is that we're doing for work and too often we are driven by by what is making us happy in the moment I don't like my job and therefore I'm miserable and and you and you you get frustrated and you lose heart the fact is is that when Christ is at the center it gives us the ability and the strength to face the fact that we're uncertain of a lot of things we need not lose heart because it simply takes time to work out our gifts it takes time we don't have to be frustrated what we do need to be is faithful turn with me if you will now to first Corinthians chapter 1 verses 26 to 29 and as you're turning there let me just say I bought said from the pulpit that God often gives us what we want when we no longer need it but I think that I need to qualify that statement because I should add that he might give us a new path because the one that we wanted is not what we needed and I think it's important to understand that God gave me music back at 30 after I had pursued it for all of my 20s to no avail had given it up began painting houses and received a call literally a call calling actually speaks by a very nature that it comes from outside of you I think it's funny how people say I'm called to do this or that as if they've been able to produce their own internal calling when really calling if you just think of it in the most practical is someone calls you on the phone which means that someone else called you and I received a call and offered a job in ministry as a pastor in a church that I had never even knew existed because he had heard about me doing music and Russia random God's calling is mysterious but God called me into this place and where I was able to make music when I had finally given it up I didn't I didn't need it anymore I was I was happy to to live a life following Jesus and I said Lord if you don't want me to do music just give me joy doing what I'm doing and then he's like alright you can have it now finally 30 everyone wants to tour at 30 and really that's like the new 20 for today's men so it's good first Corinthians chapter 1 verses 26 to 29 look at look at this it says 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 no this consider your calling what is he talking about here again is he talking about your occupation no he's talking about about God calling you into a relationship with himself and what I love about this calling is that he calls us in spite of our apparent weaknesses that in an age in which we are driven by a desire to be special and unique and significant and yet most people and in her should say many people live with this overwhelming sense of of lostness and loneliness and insignificance I mean we we feel in the depths of our being what the biologist PZ Myers wrote I'm reading this book right now called this book will make you smarter written by a bunch of atheists atheists scientists it's it's I don't know if it's making me smarter but it's definitely depressing me I don't know if they think that if you really face life and what it really is all about without God then you will be free and I just each essay I'm just like that is so good but I'm only it's only good because I'm coming at it from how it connects to Jesus and how I'm grateful that he's around but he says this is the thing that will really help your cognitive toolkit he says it's the mediocrity principle simply states that you aren't special and the universe does not revolve around you I'm like man that's not that's not an atheistic scientific discovery that's just Christianity that's what first corinthians said 2,000 years ago mr. myers and this is the bottom line is that what's fascinating is that it says god didn't choose you because you were awesome he didn't select you because he said we often think that oh a man if that person would become a christian got so much cool stuff would happen as if god's selections based upon your personal talent and the reality is that whoever you are or whatever your mental ability or musical ability artistic ability or your your craftsmanship whatever your gift set is even that is a gift from him so we should not take credit for any of it but but paul says here god didn't actually choose many that were that were wise in the world's eyes that he chooses the week in the broken and the regular things to confound the wise that calling is connected once again with him moving toward us in love and grace through Christ and I love this because it gives us an encouragement that we may not be special but we are loved and we are wanted which in the end makes us special in an age in which there is such an intense competitiveness and there is such a sense of apathy where where people feel especially in this city where the job market is so difficult in the competition is so fierce people just get apathetic they feel like they should just give up like there isn't the possibility they don't have a chance that they thought they knew what they were called to only to discover that they there's a million out there that have have such and such degree and and you're left with your degree working it working in some job that you never set out to do and you want to know why it is you're doing this thing and what we have to remember is that God has called us in and because he's called us to himself we are significant in his eyes and we don't need to play into the rat race of human civilization or what culture tells us will make us happy and significant what we need to do is look at our lives and say Lord am I being faithful with what what is right before me and am I going to trust you with the unknown factors that are before me our lives cannot find their ultimate significance in our work anyway but in the one for whom we work for and that is essential to understand turn with me now to 1st Corinthians chapter 7 verses 17 through 24 because now we're gonna see that God he calls us to freedom and to service this is actually one of the most I think misunderstood verses around calling and one that is used to say that God actually calls you to a particular vocation which he does at times but that is not primarily how the word calling is used throughout the scriptures and is not how it's used in this in the context of first Corinthians chapter 7 which the chapter is about marriage and divorce and singleness and so it's about social relationships and not trying to get out of those out of those particular relationships but we can't apply it essentially to where it whatever our position is in life look at first Corinthians 7 17 through 24 only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to them to him and to which God has called him this is my rule in all the churches was anyone at the time of his call already circumsized let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision ouch why would anyone do that was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised let him not seek circumcision once again just bad decision for neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision but keeping the commandments of God each one should remain in the condition in which he was called were you a slave when called do not be concerned about it but if you can gain your freedom avail yourself of the opportunity for he who is called in the Lord as a slave as a freed man of the Lord likewise he who is a free when called is a slave of Christ you were bought with a price do not become slaves of men so brothers in whatever condition each was called therefore let him remain with God and here we have one of those great principles that the bottom line is this is that we are free from being slaves to people because we have been freed by Jesus Christ by becoming a slave to the Lord that we don't need to seek this massive change in our current situation that God can actually infuse everything we do with divine intent when we are surrendered to him when we submit our lives to him and recognize that our freedom is not found in fulfilling our personal needs our freedom is found in Christ alone for Jesus says whoever the son of man's sets free shall be free indeed and we become free by becoming his bondservant our freedom comes through releasing our desire to be our own masters which actually is the thing that enslaves us most often but I think of this in terms of those periods in our lives when we are connected to work that makes us miserable and in all of us at some point will inevitably find ourselves doing things that we do not like things that we cannot stand those are the periods of mental misery and Paul in the context is right those who are those who are Christian they become a Christian but their spouse is not a Christian and they they want to get out of the situation it seems unbearable and Paul says no you need to stay in that situation those who are slaves and they have they've come to follow Christ listen don't don't worry about he's not he's not saying that slavery is right what he is saying is that listen your position in life it is is not is not the ultimate thing that will define you what defines you is your connection to live in Christ that's what turns everything upside down and said that's what revolutionizes the things that we do but here's the thing is that we become obsessed with getting out of our particular situations I know many of you are miserable right now in your jobs in your particular situation and you think I've got to get out of this and if I can get out of this if I can begin to do this thing then I will be happy if I can leave this situation and I have done it even in jobs that when I look back we're actually good jobs we're actually good jobs because I was making the job the center people do it in relationships whatever it is that you make your Center that is not Christ will inevitably break your heart it's called idolatry and we have to protect ourselves from it when you find yourself saying my job as meaningless my bosses me and my coworkers are carnal and cruel I remember going on my first and I actually said that I actually put that in because I said that I I remember going on this mission trip and I had my life was revolutionized by this trip to Russia and I wrote my first worship song and felt like I had discovered what I meant to do like this is it this is I just want to serve Christ I want to see people come to a saving understanding of the gospel and and just people were hungry and we would share the gospel with these Russians in the city Rosanna and they just would they would they would just listen to you politely even if they didn't agree with you they would read attract just nod their head like thank you and then come to the concert that night and then I came back to America like that's how it's gonna be and I was working in a commercial painting job and I remember going to work one day and buy my lunch break I had been rejected in conversation like four times brought in to the most insane primal sexual content conversation that was so pornographic it makes my stomach hurt to think about it and and I remember just going into this room that was not constructed with the lights off and in weeping port why I can't work with these monkeys she's so upset how could he do this to me but what is what are these thoughts stem from because those monkeys were men that Jesus loved and died for who I had been just a year before and I think that these thoughts stem from our own self idealization I'm not even questioning the misery of our job but the fact is our own sense of entitlement can often sabotage which what is in reality actually a good position in life many of us have good positions that we hate because it's not the position that we think we deserve and our sense of entitlement in this country destroys our ability to work well we have to think about these things when you start thinking in terms I'm better than this I'm smarter than this I deserve more than this if Jesus was really there he would get me out of this situation I can promise you if that is your thought pattern it's a bad one to go down and you just need to repent and say Jesus give me joy in the midst of what I'm doing because the greatest gift that God gives us always God himself I read this book and I'm not necessarily recommending it but there was a fascinating statement in it by this guy Peter Rollins here at this book called the idolatry of God and their ideas and I think he goes too far with but he did say one thing that I thought was very profound he says what if Christ does not fill the empty cup we bring to him but rather smashes it to pieces bringing freedom not our darkness and dissatisfaction but freedom from our felt need to escape it we should probably just praying in on that one huh everyone just looked at me goes hmm isn't that what we want we want God to get us out of the situation rather than bringing God into the situation the Jesus frees us from our need to escape and says in this world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer I've overcome the world and I think I think specifically of this what hope what meaning would there be about personal vocation and calling when you go into a prison which I did outside of rose on it was a it was a penitentiary for women who had committed murder and these women were in for life life no possibility of parole freezing cold and I go into this room and there are all these girls and most of them look like they were under the age of 25 and you could tell the girls that had been there long enough that they were just now cold and hard and the girls who just got there and they look so terrified like the worst nightmare you can ever have and you and you just you pray to God you never have a dream like that again I mean I have never seen living terror on faces like I did in that prison and I was asked to get up and play songs and share the gospel with them and give them some sort of hope now if our hope in Christianity is that Jesus Christ indeed has come to give us everything we ever wanted what possibly could could I give those girls and what meaning would the gospel or Christianity have for them at all but what if I could tell them that Jesus Christ can free you in spite of your imprisonment what if I could tell them that the gospel means that God is with you even in this this hellhole here and that God loves you in spite of what you've done because I looked at those girls and I'm sitting there is no way these girls would have killed someone unless their life was endangered how could this how could this beat how could this injustice happen how can these girls never have the possibility of being released why is it so cold in this room and I'm supposed to give them the hope of the gospel Jesus is here he loves you he cares about you what what meaning does that have if the cross isn't significant and if God isn't necessarily promising to get us out of our particular situation but he does promise to be with us in the midst of our trial see that's the only kind of gospel that makes sense in a world that is crazy and difficult what promise of fulfillment can you give to someone who lives in a country where they will never be able to do what they dream of and how do we battle the fact that we have been told since we were little kids that we can do whatever we think whatever we set our mind to how do we deal with the fact that when when we did something dumb in school our parents told us that we were actually super smart one possibility is you're like me you're just average how do we deal with that this is why we need to recognize that freedom is not to be found in what this world has to offer freedom is found in Christ which allows us to go into the world with power and with hope and with with with significance I think the next thing is really important if he's in chapter 4 verses 1 through 4 let's look we didn't keep moving on we've just got a few more I therefore a prisoner for the Lord urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called with all humility and gentleness with patience bearing with one another in love eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace there is one body and one spirit just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call and here we are called into community which means that we are called primarily into service most of us don't like the world the service world but here's the thing is that Jesus himself said in mark chapter 10 verse 45 it says for even the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many and this is the significance for us as a community of faith we are called not to be looking for what will satisfy us individually but what will bring the most satisfaction to the community as a whole as a whole because when we become born again we are not born into a vacuum we are born into a family and the thing is is that we do not choose to be choose to serve what we are called to choose is to be a servant and this is a there's a difference in these phrases choosing to serve keeps you in control of when and where you serve and this is not true service it's selective consecration but choosing to be a servant is the voluntary surrender of one's rights to be in charge and it is there that we find great freedom and see Paul says remember what you remember what you've been called to is not not a calling that brings is to bring pride it's it's meant to bring humility and gentleness so they that you recognize that your life now will find as greatest significance and value and the way it can be poured out for the good of your family for the good of your community of faith for the good of your city and this is that whole concept of does your life contribute do you think in terms of your work about what you can achieve so that you can buy this or that thing or do you work in terms of I want to work and do this thing even if it's a task that I do not love but the bottom line is that even this task that I do not love can be used to serve God's kingdom and God's glory I can serve it with with my time I can serve it with my resources this responsibility I think that one of the things that it speaks to the fact that we build our lives and around what will make us happy is is by the the sheer nature of our of our lack of generosity that we expect people to serve us and give us what we want I worked for this I deserve it when really your work should be done for the greater good for the greater good do you live with that in mind do you look at how you can utilize the giftings that God has given you because you've been called into a relationship with him that you are to love God with all your heart soul mind and strength as your neighbor as yourself do you give to your church community you give to door fo do you believe in what God is doing through this community do you see your work as a means by which you can support the very community of faith that you're a part of you know eventually we'll have to move out of this building and it's probably going to cost us a lot of money do we know that God's called us to do this great work here in this city and that all of us working together as a community declaring as witnesses to Christ the reality of who he is that we can contribute to this we can give to this thing in our time and our energy and our giftings in our resources that's what God's called us to that immediately gives value to work in ways that you can't even imagine I know many people within this church I would love to name their names right now but I do not want to embarrass them that their work is merely the means by which they can give fully to Jesus it's powerful it's powerful when you see that at work amongst a community I think it's important too that you're called into a community God calls you to himself and he calls you into community and this is the side note and this is the key and I'm only going to mention it in passing this is where you discover your personal calling you will not discover this in your own efforts and you own mental pondering people when you live life in a community of faith people will see what your giftings are and they will encourage you in those giftings that's why when anyone comes to me and says I'm called to be a preacher well who told you that I'm called to be a worship leader really has anyone actually heard you sing but when when I get the word hey have you met this person man they just they just serve they just they have the heart there dude if you heard this person sing you should talk to us because they just they love Jesus they love the word they have this gifting have you heard this person teach man at the community group you share the word and just just I just have the sense that there is there's something there our calling often is discovered through the community of faith God often reveals what his what his personal plans are for us individually only as we live communally and I don't mean living with people we do not need to live in communes it's a failed failed philosophy of hippie dumb and maybe it's just because I am more private than I like to admit and you cannot live with me but I do think that we should live giving of our lives giving of our lives we're called to that we're called a faithfulness this is an awesome one second thessalonians 1:11 just have two more second Thessalonians 1:11 it says to this end we pray for you that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power that God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good I love that this is it's a call he's called us to a faithfulness and that God empowers us to be faithful to that which he has called us to and faithfulness to Christ means faithfulness in life he expects us to be faithful in what is before us he seems to be less concerned with what we are doing and am more concerned with how well we are doing it and are we doing it with in a way that reflects him that includes work well done you know III think that it's it's just a fact I have yet to meet a successful person in life that isn't there as without hard work people that really seem to know how to to make human existence work for them financially is generally due to a willingness to work very hard unless it's just been given to them and that's called trust fund kids that's usually not Portland's problem but it is Williamsburg Brooklyn problem III I think this is the thing we we need to think in the realm of of working faithfully in heart I was talking to Darcy and I asked my wife today I said I said honey what name all the jobs that you did I just named him how many jobs have you done and she started naming off all these jobs the thing about my wife is even before she was a Christian she just had this incredible work ethic she always did things with excellence and this is why before she left left her job to to take on the daunting task of mothering Henry and Hattie she was managing this incredible store in Seattle called great Jones home but she was telling me how she had this one job out of I don't know if it was in high school or out of high school where she was she was like for it an operator for was it for a trucking company DARS and it was a switchboard operator and she said she's like I really loved it because I just wanted to I just wanted to master it like how could just I got so fast at it and for her every task that she has done it's just it's it doesn't matter how menial is is that if that's my job and that's what pays my bills and that's I'm gonna give myself and I'm gonna enjoy mastering that thing and that is a key to any successful I mean I mean how many of you are more like me where it's like I'm not gonna master anything that I don't like I'm gonna dabble which is why I'm at why I married the master who unfortunately was stuck being my sugar mama for the first six months but we you know we've worked through that and but I think about this this this reality because what she declared is exactly what Jesus says it's a principle that fought that goes across the board says in Luke 16 he says one who is faithful and very little is also faithful and much and one who is dishonest and very little is also dishonest in much if then you have not been faithful to in the unrighteous wealth who will entrust you to the true riches and and this directly connects to our holiness because 2nd Timothy 1:9 says who saved us and called us to a holy calling we've been called we're called holiness and faithfulness or directly linked we're called to do things to the glory of God we should do things with excellence and it does not matter what the work is if you work at Burger King you should work excellent there if you work if you work in a bank you should do it with excellence whatever it is you should do it well and the bottom line is it's so sad to me when people say that Christians are often the worst workers like Oh why do you say that I just feel like that's just a generalized statement or like don't hire don't hire a construction Christian that has the fish on the back of their there try like that why do we have that rap that's that shouldn't be the case everything we do should be done with with excellence to the best of our ability Dorothy Sayers said that the all Christian work should be good work done well and I think that that's absolutely true absolutely true I think finally I just want us to think of this last one he calls us to consider Jesus and everything Hebrews chapter 3 verse 1 it says therefore holy brothers you who share in a heavenly calling consider Jesus the Apostle and high priest of our confession Colossians 3:17 says and whatever you do in word or deed do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through him you see we are a people who are called to have Christ at the forefront of our thought life 24/7 there is never a point in our day in which we are to to forget Jesus we don't we don't start our day with Jesus and go do our business and then come back to Jesus the Jesus says lo I am with you always he says I will never leave you nor forsake you the Christ promises to be with us in whatever it is that we are doing in his very presence is what gives everything we do significance I was thinking about this in terms of Tim's message last week and the question of what will eternity be like and what will if we're gonna work in eternity I mean I hope I get to do something fun I can promise you it literally will not matter what Christ asks you to do in heaven because you will be without a sin nature you will not be self-centered or self concerned and whatever it is that he asked you to do even the most menial tasks will be done with absolute imperfect and full joy because Christ's glory will be the central desire of the hearts and our hearts will be so consumed by his love that it won't matter it will not matter I don't think that some people get to be you know some raw like this say like well you know Paul's position in heaven is gonna be much much bigger than ours because he did so much more the first shall be last I wonder if Paul gets the most menial tasks because he did so well so that he can prove to us that it does not matter what he's doing as long as Christ is with him while he does it and see that is what will turn upside down our vision of what matters and what does not matter because what matters at the end of the day is our witness that we according to Peter are a chosen race a royal priesthood which means that we are to carry Christ what is the primary responsibility of the church we as a community of faith are to point people to Jesus we witness to him with our lives with our words with our deeds everything we do should be pointing people to to him and if we aren't doing that we are not functioning as Christians that's the call that is what we have been given the privilege to do to represent Jesus Christ and to bring his light in to the darkness and to say there's a better way we don't do God's work we witness to his work we declare it we celebrate it we rejoice in it and therefore you ask the question what am I supposed to do with my life begin by falling so in love with Christ that you begin to hear his voice live so intentionally in community and serve pour your life out for the good of his kingdom and point people to him I can promise you that that little 1% that's left over that has to do with you personally will fall into place naturally our primary concern is not what will make us happy about what will bring him glory which in the end will be the thing that makes us happy amen let's pray you

Channel: Door of Hope Southeast

Views: 2,112

Rating: 4.9365077 out of 5

Keywords: Josh White, Door of Hope, DoH, Church, Sermon, Bible, Portland, PDX, Oregon, Jesus, Gospel

Id: hW_qd_YnXPE

Length: 46min 42sec (2802 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 26 2019