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Please remember that sermon notes are meant to act as a guide and may not be exactly what was preached.
Worldly wisdom and worldly knowledge… Not one of us was worthy of what was given for us!
Sam Whittemore, April 19, 1775
We are called into community and relationship with God through the preaching of the Gospel, the Word of the Cross. It may be foolishness to those perishing but it is the power of God to those of us being saved!
The calling of God is for all who choose to believe and accept or answer the call. The moment you answered the call, accepted the invitation, by believing and repentance you were connected to God and His Church. Jesus brought you into the Kingdom and gives you eternal life while you walk with Him.
That calling goes out to all the World (John 3:16). In 1 Timothy 2:4 the Holy Spirit tells us, “God our savior… wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” And in 2 Peter 3:9 that, “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.”
“God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable,” He awaits each and everyone’s response to the message of the cross (Romans 11:29). This is what the Spirit says to the churches, “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). But do not ever think that once you are saved you are always saved, there is no such thing as a saved sinner! Listen to all that Jesus said to the Church at Laodicea…
That calling, as we are told in 1:9, is to have, or be in, fellowship with God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. God is faithful and has given us sustaining Grace; the enabling presence of His Spirit. The church is enriched as we are connected to Christ. You cannot be in fellowship with God, connected to Him, if you are practicing sin. We are given everything we need within the local church to overcome temptation and sin and to fulfill the purpose God has given us in Christ.
Only those who choose to respond and repent are chosen to be placed in community and relationship with Him within the spiritual Body that is His Church (Connected).
In Ephesians 2:10 we read that “We,” those connected to Christ and His Church, “are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” We tend to think of “good works” as attending services, praying daily, Bible reading, giving generously, being a part of a discipleship class, mission trips, caring for the poor, and loving our neighbors. And we are to be doing these things by the grace of God as His people, in the new life we have, connected to Christ.
The good works here are not to be just religious activities scattered through a life lived like the world! Instead, the good works are actually answering the calling you have received every day, including every activity you and I do while we walk this earth, no matter where we are or who we are with. As believers, this is all accomplished by God’s grace for God’s purposes as we answer our calling; staying connected to Him and one another.
Sam Whittemore believed in something greater than himself, he fought for what He believed, He answered the call.
Consider your calling. Consider all that God has done to bring you into His Kingdom, to get you connected to Him and His Church. Consider how you first answered that call. How you are answering that call in light of God’s love for you, now? Or are you running from God’s calling?
Don’t rely on the worlds wisdom. It can’t, and won’t, get you connected to God. We don’t have a leg to stand on when it comes to boasting in what we have done to get to saved…. We must boast in the Lord for it is by His Grace and in His love that we are offered the message of the cross! The very Son of God had to suffer and die so that you might be made righteous, sanctified, and redeemed. Answer the Call! Walk in your calling, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:12-13).
The calling on your life does not fade, it does not end…
Sam Whittemore….
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, commit your life to Him, and see what God can do! You are one person, but one person can make a difference.
“Believe. Then behave accordingly”
Digging Deeper
- Have you considered your calling?
- Are you connected to Christ and His Church in your calling?
- Has your response to God’s calling changed? Why?
Further reading: Matthew 22:1-14, Ephesians 4:1-4, 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8, 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, 2 Timothy 1:8-12 (9), 1 Peter 2:9-12, 2 Peter 1:10, Revelation 3:14-22 (20)
Extra credit: Acts 4:1-33
Dayton First Church of God 