You Are Call

Words to Ponder … You Are Called … Morrow Mirror, October 20, 2013 

If you have attended church, at least a few times in your life, I imagine you have heard Christians talk about God's call.  If you have heard me preach or teach, you heard me say, "God calls all people into ministry". I believe if we are intentional about our walk with God, God will help us discern His will for our lives.

When I was a child my mother called me for supper, she also called me to take out the trash, to clean up my room and for numerous other reasons.  It is a mistake to think of God's call as a single event. God never stops calling us.  Relationships do not begin and end with one call. Relationships grow with a continuous call and response interaction.

To be Christians is a calling, but it is just the first call. God continues to call us to new life changing journeys.  Age opens the door for new adventures and new calls for the building of God's Kingdom and as we age we need to continuously evaluate our call. If our actions are not growing the kingdom of God, making disciples, then we are either doing it wrong or it is not our calling.

God calls God's people to important work and the work is never finished, it changes but it will not end as long as there are those who need to hear the Good News of the Gospel.

In Dr. Lovett Weems Jr.'s book on Worship he said, "God calls God's people to gather for worship—and to worship God alone."  [Lovett H. Weems Jr. and Tom Berlin, Overflow, Increase Worship Attendance & Bear More Fruit (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2013) 27.]  Dr. Weems sites numerous references from the Old Testament where God commands the people of Israel to worship. He believes God calls us to worship only God, not for any narcissistic reason, but because when we "pledge our faithfulness solely to God, we are transformed and we grow toward the reflection of the One we worship. Like those exiles long ago, we are restored to new life in worship." [Ibid].

I believe worship can and should be the church's strongest evangelistic ministry. Worship not only draws the people of God into stronger relationship with each other, it is the bond that holds us together as a community of faith and the light that draws others to Christ. "Through the power of the Spirit we are enriched by the journey " [Ibid] and God's grace shines forth drawing others by our actions to Christ.

"Why worship? God's people cannot live and grow as faithful disciples apart from worship, and those who do not yet know the good news of the Gospel will be unlikely to hear it [Ibid].

Words to Ponder...In Christian Love, your pastor and friend in Christ Dr. Ed Judy