Welcome to Waymaker Church! We are so excited to have you join us today! We exist to Encounter, Live for, and Advance the Kingdom of God!

Today we are beginning a new sermon series that I have entitled Advance. I want to take some time this month to talk with you about the call of God. In this series we are going to take a dive into the word to gain a better understanding of what the call of God is.

I believe that in order to gain understanding of the call of God we must first clarify the proper starting point. The Call of God is most often associated with a call to full time pastoral ministry or the mission field, but I would submit to you this morning that it is certainly more than that.

The Call of God is not merely to the vocational minister, but to every believer. What I have learned over the past decade of ministry is that we often start in the wrong place when it comes to understanding the call of God.

Definition of the call of God is typically filtered through the lens of our specific context, lives, and situation, but in reality, it must begin with God. The call of God first and foremost is a call to Him. It is a call to restored relationship with God where we both know Him, and the purposes of His heart. When you truly know Him, the result is almost always a willingness to serve Him and His purposes.

My prayer for this series is that God would give us a heart to understand, and a hunger to know Him.

At some point in life every person will ask the questions why am I here? Why do I exist? What am I supposed to do with my life?

Rick Warren former pastor of Saddleback Church wrote the book the purpose driven life in an attempt to help answer that question. What I have seen as a result is that many began to look for some specific niche that no one else was doing. If it was from God, it had to be special and unique. Specific to me alone.

There is a potential fallacy to this type of thinking. To answer the question of personal call again we must start in the right place. Many people sit idle for years trying to figure out the niche. Can I submit to you today that we will always struggle to find our purpose in life if we are the starting point?

If we are to find our purpose it will be a result of answering the call to Him.

The purpose of our lives is to know God and hear His voice so that we can live a life of servanthood and obedience.

1. Love God
God wants us to love Him exclusively above all other things and beings. Lukewarm, half-hearted, or apathetic fondness for God won’t do. He wants our total devotion.

God is a jealous God! He wants all of you!

Don’t let the word Jealous make you think that he is an egotistical maniac. He certainly is not. As a loving father He burns with passion for you. He knows the depths of sin and its destruction, and yearns to keep you from it. So much that He sent Jesus to die so that He could get restored relationship with you.

The way we show God we love him is by keeping His word.

2. Know His purpose.
Throughout the Bible, the word “call” is used most often to refer to God's initiative to bring people to Christ and to participate in his redemptive work in the world.

As we discover and receive His love for us it always leads to discovery of the vastness of His love for others.

God’s purpose is the redemption of mankind. To set in order what was lost at the fall of man in the Garden. The Christian life is more than a ticket to heaven its a call to Advance His purposes in the earth.

God has committed to us the ministry and word of reconciliation. When we say yes to Him, we are saying yes to His call to become an ambassador for His kingdom.

For some this Call looks like full time vocational ministry, but more than that it also looks like behaving like a good Christian so that our life gives witness to the reality of the kingdom of God. It looks like living a Godly life that reveals the power of His word to transform. It is the sharing of the testimony of what He has done in your life and encouraging others to follow Him.

In the call He has given spiritual gifts and empowerment to every believer. God determines the grace each one receives. He is the one who gives the assignments, but we have a responsibility to do the work. We have to co-labor with God.

In particular, our work must be an integral part of our participation in Christ himself. His work of creation underlies the act of creativity and production in the universe (John 1:1-3). His work of redemption can occur in every workplace through justice, healing, reconciliation, compassion, kindness, humility, and patience (Colossians 3:12).

Understand, Christ’s redemptive work is not limited to evangelism, but encompasses everything necessary to make the world what God always intended it to be. We must remember that God delegated work to Adam in the Garden.

The redemptive work of the cross delegates again to humanity the responsibility to have dominion. As Salt, Light, and Leaven we are to advance the dominion of His rule and reign until his enemies are made His footstool.

Remember, this is not something we have to do on our own. He gives us the spiritual gifts needed to do our part as ambassadors. He fills us with His Spirit so that wherever we go, He goes.

Christianity is not church attendance; it is relationship with God followed by servanthood to advance His kingdom. This may sound like a heavy responsibility, but can I tell you if you will live this way you will find the most joy and fulfillment for your life. This is what we were created for. To bear His image and His glory. When you choose to Love Him and walk in His purposes everything falls into place.

The ministry you serve in won’t matter because He is your Joy. He is your calling. Serve Him and Find the purpose of life.