God is Calling: August 1, 2010

Scripture – Exodus 3:1-12 (NIV)

¹ Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³ So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

⁴ When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”

⁵ “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. ⁸ So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. ⁹ And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. ¹⁰ So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

¹² And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you ^[a] will worship God on this mountain.”

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica. Use of either trademark requires the permission of Biblica.

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Vocation: God is Calling

What am I doing with my life?

What am I supposed to do?

What am I aiming for in this life?

Do you feel that you were made to do something in this life?

Does it evoke fear? Excitement? Joy? Burden? Obligation?

These questions are often linked to our vocation.

In our day and age, vocation tends to be linked with our jobs, but is there more to us than simply, “what do you do?”

Vocation comes from the Latin word vocare/vocatio (lit. a call, summons)– and where we get the word calling. Vocation was meant to mean so much more than a job.

Most than what do you do, “Vocation”/Vocation is more concerned with asking, “Who is calling?” and “to what am I being called?”

As a young man, Moses had a passion, but it got him into trouble. He had a desire and understanding of what he wanted to do with is life – he wanted to set his people free from the oppression of Israel, but he didn’t go about it in the wisest way. He tried to fight violence with violence, and ended up running away in fear from the authorities.

Has there been a time where you found yourself attracted to a purpose? It’s just a part of who you are, but for some reason or other, you ran away from it?

Did you run away for fear of embarrassment?

Not pleasing in the eyes of family? Or friends?

You ran away from it because it didn’t seem practical enough?

Did the fear of the risks that come with commitment seem to be too great?

God is calling us. In spite of our reservations, He is calling us. Like Moses, He formed us in a particular way with particular passions. He has a great plan for us as His children in the work of His kingdom.

What is He calling you to?

I want to discuss three elements of answering God’s calling.

The first is possibly the most important and none of them can happen without the others.

1. Encountering God. The key to Moses’ transformation was that he had an encounter with God [ie. The burning bush] In that moment, Moses realized He was before God. Even though that place was a familiar place as a shepherd boy, it had transformed into a most holy place, where he needed to take off his shoes. He needed to remove the dirt accumulated in his life, and come before this most amazing God.

God was holy [set apart], and Moses realized that his life needed to be set apart for God too.

Where is your encounter place with God?

When we encounter the holiness of God, the awesomeness of God… everything comes into sharp focus. It is in this moment that we are ready to hear God speak. Do you have a space where you are encountering God daily? Where is your place where you are coming before the presence of God? This is why we sing songs of worship before the message. We are taking the time to intentionally encounter the living God. Many want the inspiration, but we don’t want to encounter God Himself! That attitude reveals that we are not interested in God, but only the benefits He promises. Encounter and relationship with Him is essential, because it is there that you will hear the directing voice of God.

2. God commissions us: God affirms and sends us out

When God called Moses, he told him to set his people free. But not on Moses’ terms or according to the way he thought he should [which was through violence], but by acting as God’s messenger. We can have our own ideas of how to do things, but we must do it on God’s terms.

God is not against our passions or our desires – but he does know a better way to use them. Sometimes we box in our giftings thinking… “this is how God is going to use me,” when God has a much bigger plan. You are not restricted to an employment career: vocation is about IDENTITY.

3. Empowered by God! You are not alone in this calling! I AM goes with you.

I (God’s Very Name!)WILL BE WITH YOU! Moses feared this calling, and he wondered on what authority he should work out this great calling, and in response,

God told Moses his name: the very essence, presence, and character of God will be with you. God goes with us.

We fear to dream big about our calling because we feel insufficient to the task, but we have to remember that God goes with us. God is FOR US. When Moses had his doubts in Chapter 4, God showed Moses miracles as a sign that His powerful presence would go with him. The emphasis is not that God will do tricks for Moses, but that the powerful name of God was behind him and supporting him. Don’t be afraid to realize big dreams and big callings! God is with you!

CALLING is an ONGOING JOURNEY! Not a one time event!

Daily, we are called by God to obey Him in the daily things.

Let us continue our journey to follow Him.

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Preached by visiting Pastor Sam Kim at CCC at the joint English/Cantonese/Mandarin worship service.