Call to Missions
1Peter 2:4-12
Intro.:
A. One of the things that most people, if not everyone enjoys is Being CALLED:
- Being called something special by someone special.
- Getting a call with goodnews from a friend or family member.
- even in Elementary school getting called when picking sides for a game.
Well God’s Word CALLS us:
- Calls us to know God’s love for us.
- Calls us to be His Child
- Calls us to live up to our Calling as a Child of God.
- Calls us to be a royal Priesthood –a people belonging to God – to influence others for Christ –I.E. We are Called to Missions
B. There are a lot of good things to learn from this passage.
- We learn about Jesus: vs. 4; He is the Living Stone, rejected by men – taught to us in the Scriptures, (vs.5-8);
- We learn about how the Scriptures interrelate; the OT to the NT and how they reveal Jesus to us and God’s plan.
- But the main thing that I want us to learn from this passage is about our CALL to Missions;
What do we learn:
1. All those who have come to Jesus are called together to be a Chosen People, Royal Priesthood, a Holy Nation; a people belonging to God.
2. WHAT is the purpose of being called a chosen people, royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God - vs. 9b? To DECLARE God to others.
Missions = seeking to influence others for the Lord.
And our passage here calls everyone who knows Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord to be involved in Missions.
- It is for everyone who has come to Jesus.
- And together we are more effective.
C. So the question today as we grasp these truths of our Passage and realize that we truly are Called individually and collectively as His Church to Missions, is How can we be more Effective to live according to our Call of Missions?
Body:
A. We are to Devote ourselves to Jesus as Lord.
- That Devotion takes place in THREE ways:
1. Coming to Jesus, vs. 4 Not just once to receive Him as Savior. Proserchomai = present active verb - means to repeatedly come to Jesus.
I.E. we need to come, and come, and come to Jesus. We need to Seek Him in every aspect of our lives.
2. We need to be Devoted to the Lord by knowing who we are in Christ.
* Vs. 5 – you too, like Christ are Living Stones – You are being Built into a spiritual house
* You are a Chosen People, Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation, a People belonging to God, vs. 9
* Aliens and strangers to the world, vs. 11
3. We need to let the Holy Spirit TRANSFORM our lives,
- Vs. 5b; offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ Penny Crusade could be a Sacrifice, our Tithes, etc. sacrifices we make as God transforms us.
- Vs. 8b, live obediently to God, not disobey like those who have rejected Jesus.
- 9b-10 - live in the light, not the darkness.
- Vs. 11; live differently than those in the world.
If we are going to be effective in our Call of Missions, we need to be Devoted to the Lord:
Come to Him
Know who you are in Christ
Let the HS transform your life.
If we are not Devoted to the Lord, we will not be effective for Missions: both individually as well as collectively!
B. We DECLARE what Jesus has done in our lives to Others, vs. 9-10
Eksangello – to declare/proclaim throughout
Acts 1:8, it is being a Witness
1Peter3:15, it is giving an answer to the hope that we have in Christ.
The primary focus here to what we Declare is our Praises to Jesus for what He has done in our lives; how He has called us out of darkness into his wonderful light; how he has made us His people and how we belong to Him; How He has been merciful to us.
We will talk about this in more depth another time, but for now what has the Lord done for you that you want to Praise Him?
What is the darkness that he brought you out of and what is the Wonderful Light you are in today?
How He has shown Mercy to YOU?
Remember your Circle of Influence from last week:
Friends,
Family
Firm
Fun
Fellowship
Who is God calling you to Declare him to those on your list?
C. We need to Demonstrate our life in Christ through our DEEDS, vs. 11-12
- There is a war within us not to live out our commitment to the Lord.
- We need to live good lives before those who don’t yet know Jesus as Savior and Lord.
- Some people might accuse of doing wrong.
- Yet they will see your good deeds
- The purpose; they might Glorify God on the day when He visits.
Some think this refers to when God visits a person by revealing Himself to them for Salvation. It could also be referring to Jesus Second Coming for judgment -
Nothing Glorifies God more than our Trust and Surrender to Jesus as Lord.
Conclusion:
A. 2Cor. 5:20; We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
We are called to Missions – every single person who has come to Christ as Savior and Lord, who is in Christ. Individually and Collectively we are called to Missions – to influence others to the Lord.
It is who we are to be!
B. How can we be more effective in Missions: both here at home as well as Oversees?
According to our passage today:
1. We need to be DEVOTED to Jesus as Lord. Seek/Come to Jesus over and over again; Know who you are in Christ; let the HS TRANSFORM your life.
2. WE need to DECLARE Jesus to others – especially to our circle of influence but also support others who are doing in around the world.
- What praises do you have to declare to others?
- How has the Lord brought you out of darkness and into His wonderful light?
- How has the Lord been merciful to you?
3. We need to Demonstrate our Lord to others through our DEEDS.
It’s not just words – It’s not just actions – it living wholly for Christ in every way.
How are your deeds affecting people for Jesus? Are they leading people to Christ or repelling them from Him?
What area in your life do you need the Lord to Transform in order to Demonstrate the Lord more appropriately to others?
C. It is Good to be CALLED! God has Called us all to Missions! What a great call. Let us live up to our Call of Missions more Effectively.
