Called To Serve

Called To Serve

Good morning First Baptist Quindaro. Our focus Scripture this morning is found in Joshua 24:14-15 and I will be reading from the New King James Bible. It says, “(14) Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! (15) And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Per the theme of this day, the title of my message this morning is “Called to Serve.”

October is Clergy Appreciation Month. It is a time to pause to recognize the service that those in the gospel ministry provide to God’s children. In case you did not know it, most members of the clergy do a lot for their congregation and the community. So, I am blessed to have this opportunity to share in this time with you that you have aside to acknowledge and appreciate the tremendous gift that God has given you in the form of your faithful pastor and staff ministers. The clergy staff serves you in their preaching on Sundays and in the Bible studies midweek. These are the roles in which you see them each week. But you do not see the roles they execute every day, the unseen roles that provide this Church with its solid foundation. The men and women of God who serve in Churches around the world have answered the call from God to serve Him in a special capacity – ministering to the needs of His people. God is ministering and reaching out to you through the leaders you have in this Church. They are leaders who guide you in the Word, who lift you up before God in prayer and are with you through life’s mountaintop and valley experiences. So, have you, members of First Baptist, ever thought about the commitment to God your clergy members have made to serve you? Joshua gives us a hint when he called all the tribes of Israel together to challenge them.

When Joshua was approaching the end of his life, he calls all the tribes of Israel to gather in Shechem. He then speaks to all the leaders and officers and gives them a powerful challenge. He tells them they need to make a choice. Joshua’s words not only challenged Israel, but also each of us today, especially if you are in ministry. In verse fourteen, the first thing Joshua tells them is “Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD!” When you see the word “therefore” you must reflect on what was said prior to verse fourteen because the “therefore” means an important foundation had been laid to justify the challenge being put before them.

In verses two through thirteen God gives them a brief history lesson. He starts with Abraham’s father and how He chose Abraham to leave his family and follow Him. He then speaks about how He brought their fathers out of Egypt. I want you to consider the importance of that statement. All their fathers died in the wilderness because they refused to enter the Promised Land. They were disobedient, fearful, and always complaining. Because of this, they did not enter the Promised Land but died in the wilderness. I want you hear how Hebrews 3:19 explains why they died in the wilderness, and I will be reading from the Classic Amplified Bible. “So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest], because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God [unbelief had shut them out].”

Finally, God tells them in verse thirteen, “I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.” (Joshua 24:13) After reminding them of God’s faithfulness from Abraham to the Exodus to the conquest of Canaan (the blessings they were currently experiencing), Joshua says “now therefore….” He told them to fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in truth. He also told them to put away the gods their fathers served in Egypt. Now it had been 80 years since the parting of the Red Sea and Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and yet they still did not fully trust the God who had delivered them. So, Joshua told them to fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in truth which applies to anyone who accepts Christ as their Lord and Savior. But this morning I want to focus on those who accept the call to enter the gospel ministry.