In Your Bible Read This
Romans 12; 1 Samuel 3.
Here Is Your Memory Verse
"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will
make you fishers of men.
At once they left their nets and followed him." Matthew 4.19-20
Afterwards Talk About
This
Tell each other what you believe God is calling
to you be and
to do,
however small or great that might be.
Something To Do Before
Next Time
Take one step towards entering into your calling.
Pray, think about this, do something significant or prophetic,
and tell each other next time what you have done
Written Diploma Work
Write a list with references of as many different
ways as you
can find in the Bible of how God called men and women.
Meditate Word By Word On
This Verse
Amos 7.14-15
- Spend
a Minute to Change the World
- Pray
For Paraguay - 5,000,000 Spanish & Guarani peoples
- In
the South American interior, 92% Catholic, 6% Evangelicals
- Be
sure to teach this lesson to others.
- Always
pray and prepare well adding
- your
own verses and stories to bring it to life.
Called To
What?
The first 11 chapters of Romans are about
God's goodness to undeserving people, Jews and others alike. Then
Paul says in Romans 12 that because of such mercy we are called
to -
- 1. Offer him our bodies as living sacrifices,
- unlike the dead offerings of the Old
Testament.
- 2. Not conform to the ways of the world.
- 3. Renew our thinking by the word of God.
-
- Why ? Because when we do this then God
promises that we will know and approve his will.
-
- Called To Know God's Will
- First of all we discover that God's will for
us is good, that he loves us and wants the best for us and for others.
Later we find that his will is actually pleasing to us. Finally we
realise that God's will is perfect so we totally surrender to it and no
longer want our own way. Romans 12.2.
-
- Called To See Ourselves Correctly
- Not swelled up with pride or seeing ourselves
as useless worms. Unworthy yes, but equally of great value in the eyes
of God. Romans 12.3.
-
- Called To Find Our Place
- No one can serve God in isolation, doing his
own thing. We are part of a body, of whom Jesus is the head. Many
people want to be a mouth but can you imagine a huge mouth walking down
the street with only tiny legs, arms and hands ? What a monster ! Ask
God and He will fit you into the body exactly where you should be.
Romans 12, 4-5; 1 Cor. 12.18; 12-26.
-
- Called To Use Our Gifts
- Like a useful electric tool, when we are
plugged in where we fit, then the power flows, in our case as God
releases his gifts through us to bless the body. Romans 12, 6-8.
-
- Called To Be Different
- From Romans 12.9 to 13.10 Paul turns his
theology into practice and explains in detail all about the Godly
lifestyle that everyone is called to follow, enjoy and witness by.
How Does God
Call?
There are six principles here, four
concerning God and two concerning you:
- God is always at work in the world.
- God is pursuing a love relationship with you
which is real and personal.
- God speaks to you by the Holy Spirit through
the Bible, prayer, circumstances and the church to reveal himself, his
purposes and his ways.
- One day God invites you to join him in what
he is already doing in the world. The call of God is never for you to
do what you can do, however good, it is always to become involved with
His ongoing work. Neither are the needs of the world the call of God,
they are only the opportunities of today.
- God's invitation for you to work with him
always leads to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.
Satan often contests the call of God, asking, "Did God really say?"
- To join God in his work you will have to make
major adjustments in your life, family and career.
How Does It
Happen?
Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Samuel, Jeremiah
and Amos all heard the voice of God. Joshua, Saul, David, Elisha,
the Seven (Acts 6, 3-6) and Timothy were called by God through
prophets and leaders. Jesus appeared to the disciples and to Paul.
(Acts 9)
- God Calls Women Too!
- In fact about 75% of all missionaries are
ladies. In countries like the Philippines, many church leaders are
ladies.
-
- What Can They Do?
- Although churches have different views about
this,
the Bible records that -
- Deborah, was a prophet, and led Israel.
- Judges 4; 5.
- Ruth was an ancestor of Jesus.
- Huldah prophesied to priests and leaders, 2
Kings 22.14
- Esther saved the nation.
-
- The daughters of Num. 27, 3-6 inherited
equally when men were absent.
- Philip’s prophetic daughters, Acts 21.9
- Dorcas did good works for the poor, Acts 9.36
- Mary Magdalene, was the first to see the
risen Lord, John 20.17.
- Junia was regarded by many church fathers as
a woman and an apostle
-
- Phoebe was a 'prostasis,' a helper of many, a
woman over others, a position of considerable scriptural authority.
Nympha held church in her house; Chloe had people who reported to Paul,
and Priscilla, Rufus's mother, Lois, Eunice, and Apphia are fellow
workers in the gospel. Romans 16.1; Col. 4.15; 1 Cor. 1.11, 2 Tim. 1.5;
Philemon 2.
Called To
Where?
Is it to Arabia or just across the road ?
First of all we are called not to a place but to a person, Jesus.
Matthew 9.35 to 10.10.
- It Is Jesus Who Calls You
- Because the harvest is plentiful and the
workers always too few.
-
- It Is Jesus You Are Called To
- The call is always first of all to Jesus, to
spend time with him learning to obey.
-
- It Is Jesus Who Equips You
- With all the spiritual authority you need to
heal the sick and cast out demons.
- He knows you by name, and helps you through
your weaknesses until you are ready to go. 10.2-4
-
- It Is Jesus Who Sends You
- In his time with clear instructions, 10.5
To Close Pray For The
World's Most Unreached Peoples By Name
Taken from the
Joshua
Project Unreached Peoples List these people have no
churchand as yet no cell, church or mission has committed themselves
to prayer, adoption or church planting among this people.
Myanmar
(Burma)
|
People
Name
|
Language
|
Population
|
Malay, Salon
|
Malay
|
23,000
|
Punjabi
|
Panjabi,
Eastern
|
54,000
|
|