God Is Calling You Series

"God is Calling You"

God Has A Plan for Your Life, part 1

Jeff Armbrester

Ephesians 2:8-10

8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (NIV)

Circle workmanship

Underline to do good works

You are a masterpiece in progress. God created you to do good. God created you to serve him.

Because of sin, and a stubborn self-will, we do not hear God calling us. We do not hear the voice of God calling our names. Why is God calling us?

God is calling you

…into a relationship with Jesus.

Look at Ephesians 2:8&9. God is inviting you into a relationship with him. It is a relationship based on faith, your trust in Jesus. It is a relationship based on the work of salvation done by Jesus, not yourself.

Matthew 9:9-13

9As Jesus was going down the road, he saw Matthew sitting at his tax-collection booth. “Come, be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.

10That night Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to be his dinner guests, along with his fellow tax collectors and many other notorious sinners. 11The Pharisees were indignant. “Why does your teacher eat with such scum£?” they asked his disciples.

12When he heard this, Jesus replied, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” 13Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to be merciful; I don’t want your sacrifices.’ For I have come to call sinners, not those who think they are already good enough.” (NLT)

Underline "For I have come to call sinners..."

Jesus is calling all sinners into a relationship with him. The relationship he is inviting you into is one based on love and mercy. It is not a relationship that condones a sinful lifestyle. Instead, it a relationship that transforms a sinner into a saint. It is a relationship that offers forgiveness for sin. It is relationship that allows you to stand before an almighty, pure God without spot or blemish.

Do you know Jesus? I’m not asking if you know about him? I’m asking do you know him? Have you trusted him as your Savior? Jesus is calling you into a relationship with him.

There is another group of people that Jesus is calling into a relationship with Jesus.

11:28-30

28Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (NKJV)

The context of this passage is that Jesus is calling those who are oppressed by religion. The Jewish people had become oppressed by a system filled with laws that no one could keep. Judaism had become a religion of works and judgment, not of faith and love.

Too often Christianity has become a religion of works and judgment rather than a religion of faith and love. Too often, Christianity has lost sight of the relationship and focused on the preservation of an institution or program.

Jesus is calling all those who have been hurt by religion into a relationship with him. A relationship based not on rules and regulations, but on love, mercy, faith. A relationship that offers healing and hope, not oppression and despair.

Jesus is calling all those who have been turned off by church into a relationship with himself. A relationship where you can grow and mature in Christ. A relationship in which you can become the person God intended you to be when he created you.

Jesus is calling you into a relationship with him. Will you accept? When will you stop trying to save yourself and trust Jesus? When will you stop wallowing in your self-pity and let Jesus fill you with hope? Are you tired? Are you weary of religion? Answer Jesus’ call and join into a relationship with him. Are you a sinner in need of God’s forgiveness? Listen to God’s call. Respond to his invitation to a relationship with Jesus.

Look at the responses on the back of the Welcome Card. Do you need to respond to God’s call for a relationship with Jesus?

Some of you have know Jesus for a long time. You’ve received forgiveness for your sin, you read your bible, and you pray.

God is calling you

…to be a disciple of Jesus.

Matthew 4:18-22

18One day as Jesus was walking along the shore beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—fishing with a net, for they were commercial fishermen. 19Jesus called out to them, “Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 20And they left their nets at once and went with him.