Harrison Faith Church
One Body - Called for a Purpose | Pastor Scott Brandon | Nov 24, 2024
(audience applauding) All the cooks in the house say, "Oh yeah." Raise your hand, let me see. Who's cooking? Who's cooking this week? You know, let me, can I just say thank you so much. Thank you so much. You guys are awesome. Who are, you're just showing up with the appetite. That's the only thing you're bringing in. I'm bringing the appetite and that's enough. That's enough. That's the way we say thank you for all that you do. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. I was settling the pre-meat earlier today that I walked into my bedroom. Am I on? Okay, good. I walked into the bedroom of the day and Julie had all these recipes all spread out over the bed and I said, "It is the season." It is the season. You know what I'm saying? Like, do y'all care about food at all? Is that, is it, is important to God bless man and then he gave us food to, to just validate that blessing? Can I tell you though? You know, this is the season of Thanksgiving and sometimes it's not always easy to be thankful for stuff. You know, I'm in a store sometimes Walmart and Home Depot and places like that and I see some, I see some children sometime that make me thankful for mine. Maybe so thankful for mine and then I wonder, you know what? I wonder if their parents are looking at me and my kids and going, they just got it all. They just look at their kids of behaving and oblivion and listening to them and yes, ma'am and no ma'am and any of y'all in here like that at all. So what I wonder sometimes is this is, do we ever get to a position in life where we look at other people and think that's not fair? My kids did not come out that way. I had to give everything I had to get them halfway up to the statue that I wanted to get them at, right? You know, that's not fair. Look at that nice vehicle that they drive. Look at that nice life that they have and sometimes we feel like, you know what? It's not absolutely fair and somehow it impacts our gratitude to some degree. Am I just talking to Scott Brandon only? It's okay, you ain't gotta say amen. I know you're human. I know you're there with me. I think sometimes when I look back through my life and I'm trying to understand is Lord, you put me in this world. You put me in this world at this place, at this time with these people called family and parents, not even a chance to choose anybody, right? I just had to say okay and show up and make do with what I had. And those oftentimes I've looked around and said, if I could just have that type of family, if I could have had that opportunity, hey, Lord, if I could have just had a dad, that'd have been great too, you know? And so sometimes that deprives our gratitude. What I wanna know today is have you ever struggled with just being jealous to some degree? Have you ever struggled with comparing things and not realizing that the Lord has given you really a great place of life? A great opportunity in life. Today I wanna talk to you about purpose because sometimes when we get called into the world, we feel like, man, we're missing our purpose because of all of this stuff that is stacked up against us. That's not fair, right? We didn't ask for this situation we got thrown into. In fact, that was what the philosopher Martin Heidegger said. He says that you've been, y'all ready for a new word today? It's a German word, you ready? Gevorfenheit, you are Gevorfenheiten in the world. That's same with me, Gevorfenheit. You Americans, I can tell. Gevorfenheit, that meant you were thrown just randomly into a world that you didn't ask to go to, into a family that you didn't ask to go into, into situations and problems and deficits and baggage and all kinds of stuff that you didn't ask for. But hello, here you are. And so this philosopher says you've just been thrown into a world and that you didn't choose, you have no control over. He says that we exist without choice, that we inhabit a life without predictability that can only go so well because of the randomness that you have been thrown into or injected into. And so since life is unpredictable or random or to the degree, there's no meaning in life, there's no purpose in life. I think sometimes you can say that, when you're in a hard time, a hard situation in life, you're thinking, man, what? It's my life that purpose because I don't feel like the Lord put me on a purposeful path, you know? Like if he wanted my life to have purpose, then why in the world are you starting to be way back there? But I'm looking at everybody else that started here, here and here and here and there. And so this morning, I don't know about you, but I've had some thoughts like, I didn't ask for this life. I didn't ask for these troubles. I don't know why I had to be the one responsible to rise above my family situations. Why is it on me to fix things? Why is it on me to restore my family name? Why is it on me to make right the sins of my family? If you've ever struggled with the fourth night, thrown this, right? I want you to know today that God has an answer, that maybe you've been waiting your whole life to hear. And that is simply this, that your entrance into the world wasn't by chance. It was not by chance. It was not by accident. It was not by some assembly line that was unwatched and unattended and that was feeding the law of procreation. And there you are. You popped out and now you got to deal with life. No, I want you to hear me this morning. You're here, you're here because you were sent. You were sent here. You were sent here. Not an accident. Not unintentional. Not random. Not chaotic. Not without thought. You were sent here on purpose this morning. Father, in heaven I pray today, prepare our hearts, remind us God of the calling that you have for us, and the purposes that you have for us, and the identity that you have for us, that the activity, Father, and the vocation that you've called us to fulfill, Lord. And I pray God that every discouraging doubt that the enemy is put in our hearts and our minds, God, to doubt who we are, to doubt why we're here, to doubt why we're in the circumstances that we're in, God. I pray God you just move those things out of the way, Lord, and allow the light of your word to shine on the truth and the facts that matter. And that is that we are sent because that's what you chose. I ask it in Jesus' name and all God's people said, amen. If you are an accident, if you are, okay? A random creation whose life came without expectation. You know, about maybe, you know, who you were given to in terms of family. When you came at the time, you know, sometimes I think, man, I wish I would have been born like in the '50s or '40s or 1900s or 1800s. And then I watch all them history channels shows and I go, no, I don't think so. I don't think I'm gonna do that. The fact that I can't flush the toilet after the restroom, that made me a bit too much information. But that's not, that's a problem for me. Like, I don't want to just be doing that. And I know all you hunters are like, that's what we do when we're out there in the woods, because it's clap, well, I don't. I'm looking for a handle, okay? You could take my man car, I don't care. I just know that I appreciate the time the Lord put me in this world. Or maybe you've got some, you know, some thoughts about, you know, when you were sent or where you were sent. And if that's true, I want you to know is that if you really feel like you're an accident, that you're a random creation, then somehow you've miraculously changed God's upper G to a lower case G. That you've taken away his sovereignty, because God's sovereignty is an attribute about him concerning him that tells us about his authority, his control, and his power over all creation. It means that God ordains everything that happens. It governs the universe according to his divine will and that nothing occurs outside of his purpose and plan. Now, I know you hear that and you go, well, Pastor Scott, if you're just looking back over the last six months of my life, or last six years of my life, or last 60 years of my life, it's hard for me to think that God is entirely in control. But he is. You remember the story of King Nebuchadnezzar? King Nebuchadnezzar was the pagan king, he was king over all of Babylon, and he was responsible for taking Israel into exile for 70 years. And as he brought them in, as recorded in Daniel 4, he's talking about how glorious his kingdom is and how mighty his power is and how majestic he is. And while he's talking, boom, the Lord just strikes him and makes him like a beast for seven years. In other words, you ain't as bad as you think you are, big boy. And so he roams the world. He roams the fields for seven years. Hair's grown out, nails grown out, has no sense, can't talk. He's like a beast. And then after seven years, when his sentence was up, here's what we find him saying in Daniel 4. At the end of the days, Nebuchadnezzar lifted my eyes, I, Nebuchadnezzar lifted my eyes to heaven. And my reason returned to me and I blessed the most high at that funny how that works. And praise and honor him who lives forever. For his dominion is an everlasting dominion. And his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. And he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay his hand or say to him, what have you done? That's a pagan king who does not worship the Lord. But he understands that the Lord of heaven is truly sovereign over all things. He truly is. And so you might say, well, Pasha Scott, that's great, that he is all powerful. But what I hear you say and what I've experienced him to be do not coincide with each other in terms of my life anyway. I don't know that he really pays attention or displays any kind of care towards me. So I mean, if he's God and he's sovereign, then why do he allow all those things? And we'll get to that. But I want you to know this first off is that man, you are sinned. And I want to say today that I'm very sensitive into praising man because I don't really care too much for man other than he's the creation of God. But I also want you to know that there is a worth in you because you are in the image of the creator. There is a value in you that the enemy wants to attack and to destroy. And so sometimes we look at ourselves with this self-destruction mindset that we're not anything. We don't amount to anything. And you're right, apart from Christ, apart from Jesus, we are nothing, we matter nothing, we mean nothing. But because of that act right there, because of that man on the cross, your worth is beyond your comprehension ever, not just now, but even in perfection, you'll not even be able to ever comprehend the value and the worth that Christ really made you to be. And so we have to come back that because when we do, or if we do not do that, that he attacks our purpose and our calling in life. But look at what he says in Psalms 139, verse 13, "For you formed my inward parts. You didn't meet together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. You've heard this before, especially in a lot of the election." What kind of things does he make? He says, "Wonderful, all your works." That means my worth, my identity, my purpose. All those things are product of his works. And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Now watch this. Your eyes saw my unformed substance. He says, "You saw me when the world counted me less than a human being. Didn't even consider me a living thing, not even worthy of living, but you saw my unformed substance. And your book were written every one of them. What were they? The days that were formed for me. When as yet there was none of them. Do you realize what he's saying? That there is a book in heaven with your name. And with your name in it before you ever were born, by it was your time of arrival, your time of departure, your place of arrival, your place of departure. The family that would receive you and the family that would release you. The circumstances you came under and the situations you left behind. And all of it was done by the one who was knitting you in the womb. I'm telling you guys, amen. Praise the Lord. If you ever thought you were just gavorphin height, I love that word, I don't know why. It just feels good to say. If you ever felt like you were just thrown into the world and you were just hurled into this mess, looking around like, Lord, do you see these people, this house, this home, this situation, this generational sin? Lord, is this what you desire for me? If it had those thoughts and you get frustrated with that, the Lord is saying, no, no, no. Listen, I got something for you. You were sent, but not only sent, even something greater, you were called. You were called. Church, what does that look like to be called? There are two types of callings for every believer. There is a vertical calling and that calling is in regards to the relationship that we have with Christ. It's a calling of identity. And there's a horizontal relationship in our calling. And that is a horizontal calling. And that is what the Apostle Paul talks about when he says we have a race to run. But let's look at the vertical calling first today. A calling of identity, it's talking about who you are. First, you want to know this. It's that God calls us to identity before he ever calls us to activity. We talked about that at the beginning of the year. We said, we got to know who we are before we start to venture out on what we're about to do. And I'm just telling you, the closer we get to the activity, to the closer we get to doing what the Lord's called us to do, I'm just giddy-in up. I don't know, that sounds like a cowboy term, but I'm just kind of giddy on the inside, you know? That's what I'm saying. My heart's giddy. I know what I'm talking about. I'm just giddy, like it's Christmas time. Because I don't know if you've been around me or not, but I don't like to sit still, I like to do stuff. I like to get things done. I like to do things that matter. And I love to do them with people that I care about. And I finally have reached that point. We have reached that point where the Lord says, okay, checkpoint, here you go. Now it's time to get active, but it's only because God's been showing us this year who we are. We know who we are by following the one book. We know who we are by the life that we share, we share in this one life, that life, and this life's together. That we stand in one spirit, that we know our purpose, to worship and serve and to give and to pray constantly in all things and all ways, that we might live a life worthy of the manner of the gospel of Jesus Christ has been laid out for us. That our job is to build the kingdom of God by practicing the one anothers, to love one another, forgive one another, serve one another, honor one another, and welcome one another. Not only that, but now we're at the place we're talking about where as one body we function together. Now we're at the place that we get to do, we get to act on that. And that's important because we can't get to the place of activity until God reveals to you your identity. Look at 1 Peter 2, 9, it says this, but you are a chosen race, notice he's using the word are, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous life. Notice this, he's saying who you are, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. Why? So you'll know what to do, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous life. Peter's saying our first calling, our general calling, is a calling to relationship with God. That's your first calling. And you need to know that it's important because God does not call anything that's worthless. He calls things that have worth. He calls unto himself. God is not surrounded by things that are worth less. Everything that he calls to himself, he establishes worth. Romans 8.30 speaks to our general calling as well. And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. So Paul is writing about the general calling of every believer, every Christian, that God is calling us to him. And in calling us to him, he has made us right with him. He has justified us, that we might do what? That we might also share in his glory, that he's glorifying us. This is the general call to what, to know him. So Paul is speaking about this general vertical identity calling that he's pointing to. Listen to me. God's general calling for each and every person in this morning, God's general calling in your life is about who he is to you. Your first calling, your major calling in life, is about who he is to you. And then your response is who you are to him. You must know first who he is. And then your response is, now I know who I am. You see, to know who we are, we must first know who he is, and then embrace what he has revealed about himself. Now that sounds maybe a bit hard to grasp because it's very theologically adept. But what I'm trying to get you to understand is that as God reveals himself to you, then you understand more about who he is, which allows you to understand more about who you are. Let me just say this, if you're struggling with identity, it's because you've not seen the things that God's revealed about himself already. If you're struggling with who you are, it's because those things that God has already shown about himself to you, you've not responded to him about. And so you're struggling with purpose and identity because you've not embraced the revelation of God himself. For who are you apart from God? Nothing. And what can you do apart from God? Nothing. Look at this, when Jesus is talking with Peter in Matthew chapter 16, he just got through talking to the 70. And he says, if you wanna follow me, you gotta eat my flesh, you gotta drink my blood. And people are like, I'm not doing that. And so he turns to the 12 disciples, and he says, well, what about you guys? And so he says in verse 15, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter. Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, "the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, "son of bar Jonah, for flesh and blood "have not revealed this to you, "but my Father who is in heaven. "And I tell you, you are Peter. "And on this rock, I will build my church, "and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." You see what Jesus did there was this, he called him Simon Bar Jonah. That's who you used to be. That's the old Peter, the old identity. That's who I called you from. You was just a fisherman back then. But now, because the Father has revealed who I am to you, and you have responded in following me as my disciple, what does he do? He says, I now tell you that you are Peter. You're a different person. You're a different identity. And that's what I'm telling you this morning, is that our first call seeks to reveal who you truly are. Not some fisherman trying to hustle and make ends meet by the shore side, trying to figure out how to work through your life, how to be more than a simple Galilean. But God has called you to be something that is spectacular, something that is gifted, something that is powerful, something that has purpose. But it only comes if you acknowledge who he is. Because until we understand who he is, we have no idea to see who we are. So you see, you can't truly know yourself until you know the one who made you, and reveals your purpose. It's like this, imagine if we had, imagine if we had a mirror in this room, and the whole room was dark, right? Big old mirror right here. And as the room went completely dark, we would have no idea that this was a mirror. We couldn't identify it, because why? Because a mirror only is identifiable through its function. But a mirror only functions if the light comes into the room and reveals its identity. It needs that light to reveal itself. It needs that light to reveal other things. And then the mirror realizes, oh, all of a sudden, I know what I'm supposed to do. I'm supposed to reveal the light, or really reflect the light that's being revealed to me. And you and I are the same way. You and I are the same way, that as long as we walk in darkness, there is no revelation to our soul. There is no revelation hitting our mirror, reflecting the light that I can show you who you are. And I can show other people who they are, so long as they see it in the revelation of Jesus Christ. And so if you're struggling with identity, and really if you're struggling with purpose, sometimes when we say, I'm struggling, I don't know what I'm supposed to do, really you're struggling with identity. That's what you're really saying. If I don't know what I'm supposed to do, it's because you don't know who you are. When you know who you are, you don't know what you're supposed to do. But you can't know who you are until you responded to the revelation that God has given to you individually. So first we have salvation, and now that we have vocation, we love vocation, we love the work, because we feel like we can prove ourselves, we can identify or establish ourselves when we look at vocation. It's a horizontal calling, the calling of vocation, what do you do? Paul talks about this when he says, he goes, you're supposed to be running a race that's set before you. Even the writer of Hebrews says the same thing. But what I want you to see is that there's not, there's a general calling and we're all called to this. One calling as a body of believers, but then there's a specific calling that you have, that is specific to you, just you. There's nobody like you and because there's nobody like you, there is a calling and a purpose just for you. In fact, God sent you for this task. He sent you just for this purpose. Acts 13, two talks about how the Lord does this, while they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart from me Barnabas "and saw for the work to which I have called them." Not everybody else in the room, but Barnabas and saw for the work that I have called them. Romans 1-1 says, "Paul, servant of Christ Jesus, "called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God." Or was his purpose to be set apart for the gospel of God. But Paul was called specifically, not everybody was called, but Paul and the apostles were called. Even in Jeremiah 1-5, we find the same thing. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. I knew what you're gonna be. Before you were born, I consecrated you. Set you apart, made you mine. And I appointed you a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah already had an identity and a purpose, a job, a calling before he ever cried, one breath. Do you feel like God has changed for you? Do you feel like God will do that for the prophets and the apostles and anything under there for me? Does God change? God does not change. And so there is something, in fact, I would have wished you would read your name into Jeremiah 1-5. Before I formed you in the womb, Scott, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you, Scott. And I appointed you to be a pastor to Harrison faith. I appointed you to be a husband, to Julie Brandon. I appointed you. I appointed you to be a father to Madeleine and Aubrey and Caley, to be a father to them, to train them in the ways that they should go. I appointed you even before there was a need. There was always a purpose. And I knew that one day the need would come into existence and when it would, I would need you to be there. And so I called you out and I sent you here. To deal with the things that need to be deal with. That's who God is for you. And you are sent into this world, not just thrown. And so when you think about our purpose, we think, okay, you know what, God, I want to get into my purpose. I know I have a purpose. And in one of these days, like when I'm almost there, like, you know, I can tell my season's almost here. My season, my purpose is almost here, it's real close. Like, I just feel like, you know, like the blood moons coming together and, you know, like, and President Trump is in. I don't know how you voted, but all these things that you feel like, you know, it's my season right now. No, that's not how it works, okay? That's not how it works. There is no such thing as a moment for your purpose. We want to think that way, we want to think that way, but that's not the truth. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter seven. Paul is talking to the Corinthians. And I feel like the church is often like Corinthians. They need some help. They need some love. They need some care. And so Paul is talking to them and here's their spin on things. Well, you see, I was on circumcised, but once I get circumcised, then I'm going to walk in my purpose. Praise God, that is not a requirement. I mean, some of them say, well, I was circumcised. Now I need to get uncircumcised. You know what I mean? No, thank you. No, thank you. I can laugh, it's okay. I know y'all like, that's a bit awkward should we laugh. But then there's other thing he said too. He says, some of y'all are slaves. And you feel like that you're going to be walking in your purpose when you're set free. Nah, that would make sense, right? That would make sense to feel like if I'm a slave and I have a master and I can't walk in my purpose because I don't even have my own will. But Paul says, no, no, no, no, that's not how it works. That even if you are a slave, you can still walk in the calling of God. And even if you're, and he doesn't, now he's not saying just stay there and not, and don't try to change your status if you can. If you can't change it. But he also says, if you're not a slave, me just remind you that you are a slave to Jesus Christ. And so what he's really getting at is simply this, is that your calling is not based on the externals of your life. When the things happen, when things move into play, that's not how it works. He says this, only let verse 17, only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him, and this is my rule in all the churches. Look at verse 20. Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. Verse 24, so brothers in whatever condition, each was called, let their let him remain with God. Now notice the last thing that he said, and whatever condition was called, remember let me just kind of, just context, let's back away for a second. We're talking about functioning as one body. If you're a part of the body, and you don't know who you are, and you don't know what you're supposed to do, can I tell you that you're not needed in the body, in a real body, not in this body, but in a real body? In fact, you are susceptible to cancer because you're neutral. And so Paul is talking to us helping us understand that it is important the body of Christ, we cannot be the body that builds the body if we don't know who we are, and we don't know what we're supposed to do. And so he's addressing that here in the book of Corinth here, and he says simply this, in whatever condition each was called, dare let him remain with God. In whatever condition each was called, dare let him remain with God. Notice this, because we always get wrapped up in how we feel like our timing is. God's gonna call us at a certain time when I get married, that's what I'm gonna have, when I get a relationship, and I'm stable, or when my finances get right, or when I get my family right, and when I'm fussing and fighting all the time, or when I get my schedule under wraps, or I can get this opportunity behind me at work, or I can get paid a little bit better, or whatever it might be, we're always looking for those things. We're trying to turn the knobs all the time, trying to dial in the calling of God at the right time, the right time. You guys know how it is. I guarantee you most of us out here, we always are waiting for the right moment to start something new, right? I'm close, I'm close. I'm about to start losing this weight, y'all. I'm telling you right now, I'm about to start losing this weight. It's real close, I feel it. It's like, it's like close. Been that weight for 20 years, see it's close, close. Quit waiting on the right opportunity. Our calling works more than that. It's not about the right opportunity, it's not about the right relationship, it's not about the right resources, or the right timing. Because you see the timing of God, of God's calling isn't reserved for when life is perfect, it starts right where life is real. Right now, in the real times. In the worst possible time, God, you've called me to be what? You've called me to a purpose, you've called me to do things, you've called me to build a church, you've called me to operate in, yes, we in, now. But this is not a good time. I got all this stuff going on. No, this is the right time, because it's the real time. It's the real time. It's the time that matters the most, because if we're operating our purpose, when it's the perfect time, let's be honest, we're probably not being who we're supposed to be, because we can be anybody in a perfect time, but we can only be one person in the worst time. Right? You, you, you, let me find you in the darkest part of your life, I guarantee you, you ain't trying to fake it. You're done with that. You're about being who you are, and if people can't handle that, then find somebody else. And the Lord says, that's who I want. I want the real you, and I want the real you walking in the real purpose. Not some, not some manufactured thing. I want you to walk in the truth of who you are. You see, calling doesn't wait for a condition. It starts in any condition. And Paul emphasizes by saying each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. So if you've been waiting in your life for the condition, for you to start walking in God's calling, that that's not just vocation. But maybe some of you are in here and you, you're not even calling Jesus your Savior. You've been thinking about Christ, right? Let's just go away with Christianity altogether. Let's talk about Jesus. You've been thinking about calling Jesus Lord and Savior. You've been thinking about it, but you got all these Christians in your way. You got all these church hurts in your way. You got all these world issues in your way. You got all this ignorance in your way. And you're looking for the right season. You're looking for the right vow to return. And can I tell you that Jesus is saying, right now is the time. Right now is the time for you to walk in this calling to move you from light to darkness, that you might do what proclaim, that you might proclaim to other people who are struggling the same way, because other people need to know that they can struggle too and still find Christ in the struggle. It's not about getting your stuff together and looking pretty and nice. It's about finding Him in the gritty. It's about finding Him in the hard stuff and choosing Him over all those things anyway. But for us as Christians, it's about living in a way that our actions are purposeful. It's about living in a way that our whole life and our purpose is serving Him and not ourselves. Oftentimes what we find ourselves doing is this, as we come to a place in our Christian walk and we're okay with our identity, but we veer away from our vocation, from activity, because we're satiated by the fact that we're a child of God. Well, I'm a child of God, that's good. But can I tell you what? If you was my child, you could not just be my child. There's some responsibilities to come with that. There's some expectations. And I could care less how you felt about that, because if you're my child, you're gonna do what I tell you to do. Now, the Lord is way more loving than that and may graceful than that, but His expectations are not less than mine. He is not less than my expectations. He still expects you to be a child of God. He still expects you to be a body, a part of the body of Christ. He still expects you to operate in the gifts and the callings and the purposes, which by the way, callings and the giftings of God are irrevocable. And so God's given those to you, and one of these days He's gonna say, what have you done with them? What are you doing with what I'm calling you to do? And so He's saying in this moment, don't look for the condition to activate your gift. Don't look to the condition to activate your calling. It's right now. Each one should remain in the condition in which He was called. And so Paul knew that. Paul knew, he says, these Corinthians, they're waiting on the Lord to change His will, to fit their wants. And sometimes we do the same way. We're waiting on the Lord to change His will because we got these wants. We got these things that we're really hoping that it's gonna line up first. And when this happens, you know, when I was single, I was like Lord, I go wherever you want me to go. When I get married, just bring me. I'm so tired of being desperate and lonely and homeless and all those things I felt on the inside and destitute. I just need someone just to grace me. And so Lord, I'm ready to walk in that gift and that calling, whatever that might be. When I find someone, but can I tell you, I didn't find Julie, I didn't find Julie until I said, you know what? Enough of all that waiting. I just gotta be who He's called me to be. And once I started walking in that gift, when I started walking in that calling, then He said, oh, now, now I got something for you. And that goes with relationships, but opportunities. It goes with resources. All those things God gives at certain times. But we have to say yes to Him first. In fact, is that what He says in Matthew 6, 33? Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things, all those dials we're turning, trying to get right. All these things shall be added unto you. But you gotta do what first? You gotta seek first the Kingdom of God. Because if God gives those things to you, apart from seeking Him first, He knows you're gonna use those gifts to glorify yourself and not Him. And God would never give you anything that was meant for Him entirely to glorify yourself. So there's a tiling that we're dealing with, but there's also the quality of the call that we wrestle with. I don't know about you, but I know myself. I have struggled with who I am in terms of value and worth. And Lord, you see my past. Why in the world would you call me? But notice what He says here as well in verse 17. He says, "Only let each person lead the light that the Lord has assigned to Him." Wow, think about that. And to which God has called Him. You don't have to say it, but maybe your life feels like it's Gevorff and Hight, right? That you really were. Now you wouldn't say that. You wouldn't fuck, you were just thrown in. But if you look at your life, it looks like nobody cared where you landed. Nobody cared the kind of family that you landed into. Nobody cared about the problems and the issues and struggles and all that baggage that you had to deal with coming into this life. Nobody considered that stuff. Because I can look over here and my friend over here, he's got a, I mean, I wish everybody had a family like him. I wish everybody had a house like his, a purpose like his. We were stuck in that moment. But God says, "You can't complain. Don't complain about the life that I what? I signed to you." Oh, that's difficult. I think that a loving God, a graceful God, blue eyes, a long, flowing brown hair, a white skin, whatever, do that to you, right? The dream is a myth that God would never assign me this life. Oh, God assigns you to that life. He sent you to that life. He didn't leave you there. He knew it was hard. He knew it was frustrating. But still yet, there's a life that he sent you to. And some of it we're responsible for, but the other parts of it, God says, "I'm trusting you with that life." Not everybody can do what you're gonna do in that life, but I'm assigning you to that life. Life's not random. God is intentionally putting you in households. He's intentionally putting you with people. He's intentionally putting you in relationships and opportunities at work and outside of work. All of those things, God is assigning you to them. And more than that, he's calling you to them. Even when we feel like we lack so much, but we don't bring the table. But I want you to understand this morning, as God isn't, God's calling isn't contingent on the character of the called, but on the character of the caller. If you ever felt unworthy to do anything for God, can I tell you that you are, you are unworthy to do anything for him. But the quality of God's call on your life is not dictated by the quality of who you are. I think it's important for you to understand that because we always minimize what we're supposed to do because we look at who we are and go, I don't know, man, if God can really use me. I mean, look at that past, look at that history. Man, as I was writing this yesterday, I just broke down in tears. Because I think, Lord, if anybody understands is I understand this, to think that I'm gonna stand in front of everybody and preach this message about that your call is great and the quality of your call is wonderful and, man, Lord, I don't meet any requirements other than I'm just available, other than I'm just here. I'll just be obedient. I can't guarantee you anything, God, but I promise you one thing, if you ask me to do it, I'm just gonna go do it. They may cost me people, they cost me money, they cost me opportunities, they even cost me time. But I don't want to cost me my word before the Lord. I'll be obedient, but I can stand before him and do what he's asked me to do. And maybe you've never struggled, and I hope you have it, but maybe you've never struggled standing before God and saying, I don't think you wanna call me. I think there's other people, more important, more valuable, more worthy. I think about Peter when he was on the shore with Jesus, but before then, you guys have a story. Peter, he stuck his chest out and told Jesus, I'll never deny you. Oh, no, not me. I'm your A1 disciple. I'll follow you anywhere. And Jesus says, you're gonna deny me three times and three times he did deny him. He was so pitiful, he couldn't even cut off a man's head. He had his ear instead. You know, like, sad. Don't put that brother in your army, you know? And not only that, after he's failed, Peter, he says, you know what? I'm just gonna go back to who I used to be, because I understand what it means to be a failure. I'll just go fishing again. You've felt that way before? I know what a failure is. I can do that well. Let me just go on back to that. Let me just go on and practice that. 'Cause I can be a failure really well. The Lord's like, no, no, no, I gotta call him for you. Look at John 21, he says this. Skip on down to verse 17, if you don't mind. He said it in the third time. Simon, Simon is John. Do you love me? Peter was greedy because he said to him, the third time, do you love me? He was letting him know. Remember how you denied me? Three times? And he said to him, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you? And Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. Step back up to the calling. Step back up to the thing that I've asked you to do, feed my sheep. Now, are you, are you gonna feed my sheep? Because you deserve it? No, but I want you to feed my sheep because I will it. I will it, listen to me this morning. Even at your worst, even at your worst, God's calling is at his best. There is still something powerful in your life to be performed. There is still some things that God is wanting to do through you in a major, massive, and very unworthy, way of feeling, way. He is not giving up on you. The quality of his call is not diminished and said, oh, but look how Scott, oh, that's too bad. Let's at least get him this. No, the whole time. He said, I know, I know why I made Scott brand. I know why I made him, and I don't care how many times he scrapes knees. I don't care how many times he falls. I know why I created him, and I'm still calling him to this purpose. Do you believe that about yourself? Do you believe that God has called you to fulfill a purpose, to act on that purpose? You say, well, by Scott if he is, and how do I change the situation that I'm in because I'm in a hard situation? How do I change these things? How do I change my schedule? How do I change my relationships? How do I change my opportunities, my responsibilities, and all those things that I'm just waiting down with? And my past, and my unforgiveness, and my bitterness, and how do I get out all those things? I don't get it, and the Lord says, I can help you with that. See, that's why he's given the body gifts. He's given you gifts. Now, we think that for us to operate, and to begin to move in our calling, we start looking for equipment for us to do the purpose of God. We think, okay, I'm not really fit so much. I lack a whole lot, so here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna start resources and relationships. I'm gonna find some tangible resources. I'm gonna find some opportunities. I'm gonna find some time, and none of those things are gonna help you. Those things are not gifts. Your relationships, your resources, your opportunities, your time, those are not gifts. Your talents are not even so much gifts. Can I tell you what your gifts are? Your gifts to change your situation, to dictate your circumstances, and to allow you to fulfill the calling that God has in your life. Your gifts are when you take your talents, and you use them to build the kingdom of God. That's when they become a gift. When you take those things that God gave to you to build his kingdom, that's when the gift starts flowing. And gifts are not like time, not like talents. Some of y'all have some talents. Some of y'all are, you guys can win anybody to you. You're charismatic. You're winsome. You're an influencer. People love to listen to you. They don't even know why, but they're just listening to you. And some of you have the ability that everything you put your hand to, you prosper that. That business grows, that investment grows. Some of y'all God just dumps cash on your head at night. Don't know how that happens, but just dumping cash on your head at night. Some of y'all can build anything, fix anything that you put your hand on. That's a talent. That's a talent. Please show me how that works. But, and you've spent your life using this talent to build a lifestyle or to establish who you feel like you are. And those are great talents. Maybe you went to college. Maybe you've developed that talent. Maybe you've experienced it. You've been working on it. And now it's a great talent, but it's not a gift until it builds the kingdom. It's not a gift until it builds the kingdom. Again, why would God give you a gift to glorify yourself and deprive him of his worth and his praise? A gift is activated in you. When that talent that God gives you, you begin to sow into the kingdom two specific ways. One, is to strengthen the church. And two, the second way is what he would call to fill the all in all. What time do I got? 11.25, holy cow. I don't need like another hour for you guys today. I know y'all are like holy, moly. Abby, come on up, girl. Turn with me the Ephesians chapter four. And I'll be done. I'll leave this right here and I'll be done. Ephesians chapter four, verse eight. It says that is why scripture say when he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captains and gave gifts to the people. And then verse 10, he says, "And the same one who descended is the same one who ascended higher than all the heavens so that he might fill the entire universe with himself." Now pay attention to verse 10. He gave us gifts back in verse six. He gave us verse seven. He gave us gifts to do what? So that we might be able to fill the entire universe with himself. See, what you have to understand about Jesus is this. Jesus is overall, but he's not given to all. He's overall, his authority, his power, his reign is overall, but Jesus is not given to all because he doesn't force himself down everybody's throat. You gotta receive him. You gotta receive him. And so he still wants to establish his domain. He still wants to establish his kingdom and his rule, his dominion, and that's our job to do that. That's why we say we share in one life. It's not I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Jesus is not trying to talk to you in your situation. The way he can use me to do that. He wants to establish his domain, his dominion, his love, his grace, his power, and his name through the church. That's why he ascended with gifts and said, "Let me equip the church." Now church, go and do what Adam failed to do. Go and do what he failed to do. Was to multiply my image, multiply my glory, and multiply my power. And he gave us gifts to do that. And church, those gifts need to go home. They need to go to work, they need to go to Walmart. They need to be on the little birdie. (congregation laughing) I struggle to say that one right there, it's tough. (congregation laughing) They need to infiltrate every dark corner and crevice of Harrison, of the Ozarks, of the state of Arkansas, of America, in this whole world. And that's our job. And he gave you a gift, and he gave you a purpose, and he gave you a calling. And the question is, one day, when we go up Yonder, he's gonna say, "What did you do?" But that time I gave you, did you activate the gift? Because when we activate the gift, something powerful happens, and this is what happens. The calling of God uses your gifts to turn misplaced passions into fuel for your purpose. What you are passionate about before, whether it be money or relationships or opportunities or accolades or success or status, whatever it might have been, all those passions before. What God does is this. He says, "I'm not gonna bless you with those things "the way you wanna be blessed." But when you start operating in your gift, I can bring those things along and they become fuel for your gift to intensify the gift, to build the body and establish Him all and all in all the world. Our job is to not be the strongest, best church that there is. The church is not called to the church. The church is called to the sinners, to the laws, to the needy. But He straightens us, so we can face the fight out there. So the question He's asking us today is simply this. It's one, are you called to Him? Are you called to Him? Do you know your identity? Do you know who you are? And then if you do, are you walking in that calling? He's giving you a gift. Have you activated it? Or are you just using the human side of that strength to bless your life, to work through what you're working through? But what you're doing is just adding blessings and adding and gaining things and God wants to move you from adding to multiplying and compounding the effect through the gift that He's giving you. But that gift only gets activated in church. If what you're doing is building the body of Christ. Let me see why it's important. Stand with me so you know I'm done. Down here, verse 16, this is why it's so important for us. Verse 16, chapter four says this. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Do you know probably mostly everybody in this room has fought cancer? You know that? Mostly everyone in this room has fought cancer. You probably don't know it because your body's doing what it's supposed to do. When those of us who have fought cancer and we know about it, it's because there's a deficiency in our body. Something that it's not working right but when the body is growing, when the body is healthy, it's producing the right white blood count and it's combating those cancerous cells. But you have faced cancer many times in your body. But the reason why you've not felt that sickness and that disease creep in and gets you is because your body is growing healthily. And there is no difference from your body. It's Paul illustrates in the body of Christ. When the body of Christ is not operating healthily, what we find is that cancer finds its way in. And that's what we see in the failures of the church, divisions in the church, just been on attitudes in the church, hypocritical attitudes in the church, right? Or that leads to division because Satan knows that a house divided, right? It will fall, he knows that. So he's constantly trying to push us apart, push us apart, but God gave us a remedy. If you operate in your gift, you're gonna build the body. And as long as you're building the body, it makes no difference what the enemy brings into this congregation or to the body at large. The body will continue to grow, it'll continue to establish and it will establish the glory and the image of Christ over all the land. That's the way it's supposed to be. But when we don't operate in our gift, it's just like your sale and your body's saying, that the cancer do what it wants to do. You see, there's a negligence that we gotta own here, church. And my hope today is to call you to this. It's to call you to one, a purpose and a calling with Christ that you might know him as your savior, but then also to take inventory of your life and say, what has he given me to do that I've talented in and how am I building up the body of Christ? You've got your heads to be this morning. Father in heaven, I ask you. I thank you so much for your word, God to respect our hearts and see the world where we're missing it. I thank you for your worth and I thank you Lord for your encouragement and your challenging. And I also pray, God, today, that if there is someone in here, God, who doesn't know you? They don't know the identity, God, that they have. They don't know, God, the relationship that's waiting for them. Pray it Lord today that they'll make that right and they'll respond to the revelation of your word. Not to a man preach it, but to the Holy Spirit calling them and drawing them into a relationship and a calling that is far above what they'll ever experience. Then I pray today Lord, that if there are those of us in here today, and I know that there are, now that we have a talent and we've not used that talent Lord like a gift. We've not used Lord to build the body. Pray God, show us Lord, how to activate that gift. Show us Lord, how to be a good steward of that. That when we get into heaven Lord, you'll ask us, what did we do with it? And we can say, Lord, here it is. I built the body as best I could. I wore it off cancer as best I could. I strengthened the church as best I could. And I duplicated your image. I produced your image and I established your dominion. God, as best I could. And Father, we're praying that we would hear that well done, not good and faithful servant. What do you do? I pray Lord, challenge us today. Correct us today. In Jesus' name, I pray amen. I wanna ask you, your heads are still bowed. I wanna ask you, if you're here today and you don't know Jesus, but today you're ready to walk into your calling, today's the day. You're ready to walk into that calling and accept Him as Lord and Savior. If that's you, raise your hand, let me see Him. So here I am today. Yeah, thank you. Here I am today. I'm ready to walk into that calling, amen. You're here today, you say, you know what, Pastor Scott, I've not been operating in my gift, but I'm ready to do that. I need strength and wisdom to do that. If that's you, raise your hands, I'm here. Yeah, many hands, many hands, many hands. Lord, today you see your people, you see your body. I pray God, you'd watch over them, lead them, God. Show them, instruct them. Annoying them, let them walk God in their purpose. Let them feel the fulfillment, God, of life that they've been leading. Let them know what it's like to feel the body, and be obedient to your Word. Ask them in Jesus' name, I pray, amen, amen. I love you, thank you guys for coming. Let me just remind you, next week, we're gonna start our Christmas series. If you've not gotten a letter from me, make sure you talk to Sydney and say, what letter is Pastor Scott talking about? We wanna make sure we're gonna participate as a body together and impact the community of Harrison. Love ya, have a great week. We'll see you Sunday.