Wake Up, Eli | Pastor Caleb Wallace | Sunday Service

Good morning, y'all.

Everyone say hey, Kayla.

Listen, first, can you guys give Jesus a shout of praise this morning?

Perfect, perfect.

Y'all can be seated.

Y'all can be seated.

Listen, thank you so much, Pastor Noah, for those beautiful kind words.

Made me feel great.

Made me feel beautiful.

Made me feel amazing.

Listen, but I'm excited for the next three weeks to be starting off the month of May with a brand new series entitled Until All Have Heard.

Alright, can you repeat after me?

Until All Have Heard.

Listen, we're so excited to be these next three weeks really diving into each generation speaking the next generation.

We have um uh me, of course, speaking uh this week.

We have um uh Pastor Summer and Pastor Noah speaking um the next few weeks, Pastor Jeremy, of course, and so listen, we have speaking to each generation because we want the whole world to know about Jesus, amen.

And so I'm super excited about what God is going to do this month.

But listen, parents, how many of you ready for your kids to be out of school?

Yes, the excitement is there.

I feel it, I feel it.

Listen, I'm not ready.

This is my first summer where I had to put a kid in daycare.

And listen, I don't know what I'm gonna do when she's not in daycare.

And so, um, but I'm uh with leading the youth ministry.

Um we do this thing here called Summer Camp, and we um uh we entitle it, we really say it's the best week of your student summer.

And so listen, there's only a month left really until registration closes.

And so if you haven't signed up, or if you want a student, you want your student grandkids to go, listen, this is an opportunity for your student, not just to go have fun, but to encounter Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

Listen, but uh first before I get into the word this morning, I really want to highlight what Pastor Noah is talking about, what God is doing in Ascend.

The past this past semester, there's a lot of things we celebrate as a church.

But in Ascend Youth Ministry on Wednesday night, not a lot of people see what's going on.

But um, since the beginning of January till the beginning of May, we had 125 students respond to the altar this month.

So that means 105 to 125 students saying yes to Jesus, 125 students responding to the word of God on their heart.

Come on, can we give Jesus a shout of praise for that?

Listen, that's no mistake, y'all.

I believe each number represents a story, and so I believe God is encountering our students in uh Christian life church.

But I'm excited to be bringing the word to you today.

I believe God has a word for us this morning.

Whether you walk in, walked in here super excited for church, whether you walked in here super exhausted today.

Listen, I believe God is going to speak to you this morning.

But bud your neighbor, tell your neighbor, elbow your neighbor, whatever we say, and tell them to go.

Your neighbor, turn to your neighbor, tell them to go.

There we go.

Turn to your other neighbor, tell them to wake up.

Turn to the neighbor behind you and tell them to wake up.

Perfect.

They should be as awake by now.

They should be awake by now.

But isn't it awesome what God is doing in the church as a whole?

Amen.

The big capital C church.

Listen, young people are coming to know Jesus.

Families and marriages are being restored.

The prodigals are coming back home, church.

It's such an amazing time to be in the house of the Lord, church.

There's no better time to know Jesus than today.

There's no better time to be in the house than today.

And I'm so grateful that um, I'm so grateful that if it for the church, because if it wasn't for the church, I would not be standing in front of you today.

If it wasn't for people in the church encouraging me, if it wasn't for the people in church raising me up and calling me higher, I would not be preaching in front of you today.

But because of the church, I'm able to say to you, I'm a glory, hallelujah.

Jesus restored me, Jesus changed me, Jesus redeemed me.

Come on, can we give Jesus a shout of praise today?

Listen, but everyone say, but but isn't it also an amazing thing that God has given us the responsibility to raise up his people?

I think it's such an amazing responsibility he has given us.

So I want to share the most powerful and overlooked passage in all of the Bible.

We know it, but a lot of the times we kind of overlook it.

It's Matthew 28, 19.

Matthew 28, 19.

It says, therefore, we want to say, therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Listen, God has given us the clear direction on what He has called us to do once we have said yes to Him.

Amen.

Amen.

But a lot of us are looking for more of a debate rather than the opportunity to build disciples sometimes.

Maybe we have these thoughts or have these conversations.

What are your thoughts on predestinations versus Arminianism?

Are you pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib?

Is AI part of the end times?

Don't know.

What are your thoughts on Justin Bieber singing Glory, Hallelujah, Coachella?

We all have these thoughts.

Listen, God has given us, if you don't know what Coachella is, I'm sorry, I can't explain right now.

God has given us a clear direction direction on what to do, and it is to go make disciples.

Listen, we sometimes think this Bible verse, Matthew 20 and 19, is a is a suggestion.

It's not called the great suggestion, it's called the Great Commission.

Listen, can I speak to the parents in the room?

Parents, we have the opportunity to raise up amazing believers and disciples in our own home.

But sometimes it's as easy as us being amazing Christians and amazing parents and amazing mom and dads to our kids.

And being consistent and showing up, it can be that easy sometimes.

But a lot of us have walked in the church this morning on your last breath, your last life.

Listen, we've all been there before.

It's been a long week, exhausted, tired.

It's the end of the school year.

Man, I'm just ready for summer.

I'm ready to hit the beach, y'all.

Sometimes we're gasping for air.

And then maybe a pastor gets up here, pastor gets up here and says, Go and make disciples.

We say here at the church, God has more.

But you say to yourselves, but like you don't understand, Pastor, what I'm going through.

I'm just trying to manage my own life.

I got bills, I got deadlines, I got kids with crazy sports schedules.

We all know sports schedules for kids are just wild now, okay?

There's no break for nobody.

I have all of these things.

I have deadlines, I have work.

But I want to tell you the good news this morning, church.

The bar is high, but the power that he gives us is greater to exceed that bar.

Amen.

Listen, but I am led to a passage this morning that I believe that is going to really elevate, to really start off this series well for us this month.

But also really speak to what it means to make disciples, so what it means to highlight certain things.

So if we can all stand for the reading of God's word today, if we can all stand for the reading of God's word today, to give context, our main passage we'll be reading from is 1 Samuel chapter 3, 1 through 10.

1 Samuel 3 · chapter mention

1 Samuel chapter chapter 3, 1 through 10.

To give context to this, Samuel was a young boy who served God in the temple and learned to hear God's voice.

And he later became a prophet who helped lead Israel.

And Eli was a priest in the temple who trained Samuel.

He served God but failed to discipline his sons, which led to serious consequences.

Quick context are in two characters here.

But our passage says this Meanwhile, the boy Samuel served the Lord by assisting Eli.

Now, in those days, messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon.

One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed.

The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the tabernacle near the ark of God.

Suddenly, everyone say, Suddenly.

The Lord called out Samuel.

Yes, Samuel replied, What is it?

He got up and ran to Eli.

Here I am, did you call me?

I didn't call you, Eli replied.

Go back to bed.

So he did.

Then the Lord called out again, Samuel.

Again, Samuel got up and went to Eli.

Here I am, did you call me?

I didn't call you, my son, Eli said, Go back to bed.

Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord.

So the Lord called the third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli.

Here I am, did you call me?

Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy.

So he said to Samuel, Go and lie down again.

And if someone calls again, say, Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.

So Samuel went back to bed, and the Lord came and called as before, Samuel, Samuel.

And Samuel replied, Speak, your servant is listening.

Before you sit down, what we are seeing in this passage, there's a boy is waking up, he is responding to the call of God, but the mentor is disengaged.

And I believe for us as a church and our world and our nation, what we are seeing is there is a generation that is waking up to God, that they are running after God, but the mentor and the church is asleep.

But the mentor and the church is asleep.

And I believe we have accidentally done this because we know when a child we separate it at such an early age, the kids sit at the kids' table, and the adults sit at the adult table to talk about adult things or to eat our own food so our kids won't come knack uh grab food from us sometimes.

But sometimes we have accidentally done this where we instantly separate it so they don't bother us or we see it as an inconvenience or annoying us.

But I believe this morning that God is prophetically waking us up today, church.

I believe he's waking us up whether you've been asleep for 20 years, whether you're just now running after God.

I believe he is waking us up this morning, church.

So to speak to the dead things, to speak to the things that we stopped dreaming about.

God, wake us up again.

God, wake us up so we're not asleep for the next generation.

God, wake us up again so we can tell Samuels to run.

God, wake us up again.

So the title of the message this morning, as I finally got to it, is Wake Up Eli.

If your name is Eli, you're not asleep, I'm not calling you out.

Wake up, Eli.

Let me pray for us this morning.

God, thank you so much for today.

That Lord, without you, we are nothing, but with you, we are everything.

Lord, I speak.

Lord, speak to the hearts that are hardened.

And Lord, that maybe there's a glimmer of hope that God that you would speak to that hope.

For the mom that is begging for you to do something, that God, you speak to her.

For the dad that is begging for you to do something, you speak to him.

For the marriages that need life that you speak life, for the relationships that need hope, that you speak hope.

So, Lord, we love you and we honor you this morning.

Everyone says, Amen?

Amen.

You may be seated, you may be seated.

Thank you, Caleb.

Thank you, Caleb.

Beautiful, beautiful Caleb.

Thank you.

Beautiful Caleb.

Where are all my church kids at?

You grew up in church your entire life.

You know nothing else but the church.

Raise your hand.

Listen.

Yeah, this is for you and I.

I grew up a PK, y'all.

I knew everything in the church.

I knew everything.

All the little secrets, all the money stuff.

I knew it all.

I knew it all.

I don't know anything right now.

My dad doesn't share me, shares me anymore.

But I grew up a pastor's kid.

I remember growing up a pastor's kid or growing up in the church that these rows, alright, were my little race track.

Alright.

I would run through them, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom.

Race through them.

Play hide and seek with them.

And we remember, even sometimes, maybe this is you, maybe it's just me, alright?

I would go under them and I would like maybe like turn off all the lights by myself and then just sleep under them.

Did anyone sleep under like a church pew or a church seat growing up?

Did you want to just fall asleep during church in general as a PK or church kid?

Yes, you're there.

Or I remember too, all the time, me showing up early, me just patiently waiting, me just patiently waiting in my chair for my church friends to show up because I was the first one there waiting.

I'm like, I'm just waiting for my friends to show up.

I'm what am I here so early?

Can anyone relate to that today?

You patiently waiting.

So while growing up at the church, of course I was the best pastor's kid in the world.

Of course I was.

So I asked my parents the past couple weeks what I was like growing up as a PK.

And of course they had nothing to say but glowing reviews about me.

Of course, they had nothing to say but glowing things, of course.

But one of the main things they both said together, alright, I called them separately.

I don't know why they answered me separately, but that's how they work.

They said together is that they saw me, is that they saw me wake up when God would call me and they would respond to that call.

One of the things that they did, they would always take me to the conferences when I would say I want to go.

One of their prayers for me as a as a kid that they um uh that God would wake them up, that God would wake me up when he um wanted to call me somewhere, and that my parents would respond to that call.

So anytime where I brought up a conference, anytime where I brought up an internship, anytime where I brought up something godly, Christian-like, my parents would find the finances to go do it.

My parents would find a way for this to happen.

My parents would find a way.

So every conference, every youth ministry outing that wasn't in my local area, they would find ways to make up the money even when they didn't have the money.

They would trust God with their finances even when things seemed difficult.

Because they saw something that no one else saw in me as a pastor's kid.

They saw something that no one else saw.

Everyone else saw he's just a pastor's kid.

He's gonna be like every other pastor's kid, every other church kid, and just go do terrible things after church when he graduates.

High school.

You know, that's what we do.

We either serve in the church or we go to jail.

Okay.

It's one of those two.

All right.

But they saw something that no one else saw.

They saw, it's a great word, they saw potential.

They saw potential.

And I believe there's three things that's keeping us from making disciples.

There's three things that's keeping us from making disciples.

And the first one is a lack of vision.

Is a lack of vision.

We see it here in 1 Samuel chapter 3, 2 through 3.

1 Samuel 3 · chapter mention

1 Samuel chapter 3, 2 through 3.

1 Samuel 3 · chapter mention

We see.

We see it here.

Let me read it.

It says, one night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed.

The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the tabernacle near the ark of God.

I, my household, everything, I don't know if you grew up in a household like this, I don't know.

But my household, everything had potential.

Everything.

My dad and my brother were probably some of the most innovative people in the entire world.

Like they, now I'm being a little like extra or a little dramatic with my example here, but they could turn a rock into an airplane.

All right.

This is the type, this is my type of family.

They always saw potential in everything, especially my dad.

I love my dad because he saw potential in everything, and sometimes it just completely flopped.

Okay.

But when I'm trying, everything had potential because they never lacked vision.

They never lacked vision.

And we see it perfectly here with Eli from a physical and spiritual position.

A man who is old, a man who is tired.

He's at the end of his rope and he just wants to sleep.

Any parents just want to sleep normally again?

Yes.

Yes.

I feel that.

He just wants to sleep.

So one of the main things that will stop you from making disciples, that will stop us from making disciples, is our lack of vision.

And a lack of vision is we stop seeing beyond ourselves.

We start dreaming really, really small dreams and thinking small thoughts again.

What's our word for 2026?

What is it?

Y'all remember?

Dream again.

Everyone say dream again.

Maybe we need to catch some vision again.

Maybe we need to see beyond the room again.

So instead of seeing Samuel, instead of Eli seeing Samuel as a man of God, he saw him, he sees him as an inconvenience in this book, in this passage.

No, just go back to bed.

I'm tired.

You don't know what's happening in my life saying just go back to bed.

Maybe we said that to someone.

Maybe we see these some examples, some biblical examples.

Here we see the woman with the issue of blood, Bartimadus crying out on the side of the road, son of David, have mercy on me.

Four friends rubing a roof off a building.

But with no vision, these stories are seen as an inconvenience.

But people with vision, everyone say vision.

People with vision, it's the opportunity to see the miraculous happen.

People with vision have the opportunity to see the miraculous happen.

Vision will cause you to see the people around you with new eyes.

How many of you have people that annoy you?

Yes?

We all do.

Come on, let's be real.

Let's be real.

We all do.

We all do.

People around you that annoy you.

So the people that annoy you, you will begin to start seeing those people with potential.

And this is where the potential part comes in.

Listen, I have a massive, if you know me well enough, okay, I have a massive burden on my heart.

I always see people with potential.

It doesn't matter what you say to me, it doesn't matter what you do to me, I see you with potential.

It's like this burning passion of mine.

Even so, that I'll have a meeting with people and they'll sit right in front of me and they are lying and deceiving me.

And I'm like, wow, you really took the time to think of this lie.

I'm like, this is really impressive.

I'm not gonna lie.

This is really impressive.

And I instantly think, man, if God could heal you, you can do so much for the kingdom.

I see anxious people with the opportunity to dream.

I see stubborn people.

Come on, how many of you are married to someone stubborn?

Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa.

How many of you know someone stubborn?

Listen, I see stubborn people with the opportunity to lead and have spiritual resilience, church.

Listen, people, because behind every frustrating thing from the people around you, there will always be a redeemed version of that person that God wants you to use.

So, what do we need to do, church?

How do we need to respond to this?

So instead of complaining about the next generation, why are they going around saying six, seven all the time?

What does that mean?

I don't know.

I can't help you.

Why do they say Riz?

I don't get it.

Why don't their pants fit?

Why are they so baggy pants?

I don't know.

But listen, what we need to do is maybe say, or maybe catch some vision ourselves, grab some vision so we can lead a generation to Jesus.

Listen, we have we have to stop setting the bars so low for ourselves where we maybe we have accepted the same position as Eli's, where we say we're too tired more than we're ready.

Listen, I never want to get to the point in my ministry journey, however long I'm doing this for, where I where I've said, I just made it.

I'm glad I just made it.

I'm glad I just made it.

I never want to say that was enough, or say, you know what, I'm good, or I'm too tired, or say I didn't, or maybe we hear all the time, like, oh, they didn't have a scandal or anything like that.

Listen, I'm not saying any of this is bad, or guess I just made it through.

I'm not saying not having a scandal or cheating or whatever is bad, but I never want to stop seeing beyond myself in my ministry journey.

I never want to stop seeing people as an I never want to see people as an inconvenience.

I want to see it as an opportunity to lead them to Jesus.

So to speak to the vision this morning, church, God give us Bessemer.

God, give us Helena, God, give us Hoover, God, give us Alabaster, God, give us Kalira, Chelsea, Shelby County, Montevello, downtown Birmingham.

Give us Gen Z.

God, give us John Alpha, Lord, give us vision.

Listen, church, we are at an amazing opportunity with the building next door.

It's not an opportunity to make things nicer for us, it's an opportunity to reach more people for Jesus.

So, God, give us Birmingham, Lord.

Lord, give us vision again, Lord, wake us up.

Come on, that's a good word this morning, church.

The second thing that scriptures show us is the location of the two.

Everyone say two.

Two.

The first one is we see where Samuel is.

Samuel is in the tabernacle, he's in the house of God.

And Eli is in his usual place.

I'll read 1 Samuel 3, 2 through 3 again.

It says one night, Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed.

And the lamp of God had not yet gone out.

And Samuel was sleeping in the tabernacle near the ark of God.

We know that the usual place is a place where we are comfortable, where it's easy.

And I think this is going to help us see that Eli didn't just have bad vision, but he had a dying passion.

On what we see can stop us, the first one was lack of vision.

The second one is a dying passion.

Eli was consistently going to the same places.

How many of us consistently go to the usual places?

Maybe we say things like this This is my spiritual routine.

This is where I get my coffee.

This is where I sit on Sunday mornings.

This is when I get to church.

This is how I'm going to respond to the word.

And maybe some of us are giving reasons or why we are not going to respond to the message because we think it's weird.

So we get stuck in usual places asking God why we aren't reaping unusual fruit.

And one of the things that is not just plaguing the American church, but also a generation is how we are sowing seeds.

Listen, we are all desperately wanting breakthrough.

But we stand here staring at an LED screen with a coffee in our hand and the hand in our other pocket.

Needing breakthrough.

Needing breakthrough in our marriage, but not opening up to anyone.

Needing God to break through in any way, but you are praying the same way, reading the same way.

We are talking the same way.

And God says, if you want something unusual, we need to stop sowing usual seeds.

I believe our environment matters.

How many believe your environment matters?

Yes.

Yes?

I believe it does.

There's always that phrase, show me your friends, and I'll show you your future.

Your environment matters.

But let's look at Genesis for a second.

I'm not going to read about to explain.

God created the whole world before He created humans.

Why?

Because God knows the environment that you are put in matters.

The environment you are placed in will either help you thrive or only um will uh get you to a place of just surviving.

He knows the environment you'll get in will either put fire on your passion or kill your passion.

And the problem with a dying passion, it doesn't just affect us, it affects the next generation.

So where do we see this in 1 Samuel?

We see it right here in 1 Samuel chapter 3, 4 through 6.

1 Samuel 3 · chapter mention

1 Samuel chapter 3, 4 through 6.

1 Samuel 3 · chapter mention

We see, everyone say suddenly.

The Lord called out, Samuel.

Yes, Samuel replied, What is it?

He got up and ran to Eli.

Here I am.

Did you call me?

I didn't call you, Eli replied.

Go back to bed.

So he did.

Then the Lord called out again, Samuel, again, Samuel got up and went to Eli.

Here I am, did you call me?

I didn't call you, my son, Eli said.

Go back to bed.

The first thing we see is that Samuel, when he heard from the Lord, is that he ran to Eli.

What we are seeing from Samuel, a little boy, a boy at this time, we're seeing passion, zeal, intentionality, intentionality of I'm gonna go get this right now.

I'm gonna run after this.

But tired, exhausted, Eli tells Samuel to just go back to bed.

Then we see in verse 6 that he calls Samuel again and it says what?

He went.

So the first time he runs.

The second time, he walks.

So Eli's dying passion has gone on to Samuel and affected his passion for Jesus.

And a lot of the problems we see in today's world is a lot of Eli's tell telling Samuels to stop running and to go back to bed.

But listen, church, it is time to wake up.

It is time to wake up, Eli, and to tell the Samuels to run.

Amen?

It is time to tell the Samuels to run.

It is time to show Samuels what it means to pray until you lose your voice, to show what it means to live in the prayer room, to live in the word again, to show up to church on Wednesdays and Sundays expecting to start praying for the sick again, to give him ways to make you feel uncomfortable, to serve in ways that are uncomfortable.

It is time to wake up, Elies.

And it's time to tell the Samuels to run again instead of going back to bed church.

It is time for the next generation to run and for Elizabeth to wake up and to be ready to steward the calling on the next generation's life.

So what is keeping us from making disciples?

One, the lack of vision, two, dying passion.

Um and then there's three.

I love her car way better than mine.

All right, mine's an 09 Nissan Versa.

All right.

It's 09.

That's a long time ago.

Okay.

Doesn't have any gadgets, but my wife's car.

Yo, this thing's nice.

All right.

23 Honda CRV.

I like this thing.

All right.

It's got all the gadgets on it.

All right, but one of the coolest things it has on it, because I'm a bad driver, according to her, I'm a terrible driver.

And so one of the things it has on it has lane sensors.

All right.

Maybe every car has this now.

I drive a 090 San Versa, like I was saying.

Has lane sensors.

So every time I'm outside of the lane, it pulls me right back in, like shakes the whole car.

It's very uncomfortable.

All right.

But it pulls me back in.

All right.

So every time I drive her car, I feel safe.

You know, I'm like, I got this.

There's no, there's no, there's no um uh I don't have to worry about it.

I can just I can just cruise listening to Cocoa Melon with my daughter in the back.

We're just vibe.

We're listening to what, head, shoulders, knees, and toes.

It's it gets annoying after like 80 times.

But we're just cruising, we're cruising.

But then I get in my car, all right, and I try to do the same things, but all of a sudden I find myself on the opposite end of the interstate.

I'm not saying I'm a bad driver.

Maybe.

Okay.

But what I'm trying to get to us this morning, what I'm trying to say to us is that you can do the same things but be disengaged.

And living a life on autopilot will only get you to the same place, but have your heart only get colder and colder and colder because we have done the what?

The usual thing.

And can I tell you this morning, church?

I want an unusual move of God.

I don't want the same.

I want an unusual move of God.

God, give us an unusual move of you here at CLC.

God, where we have never seen anything like it before.

God, give us an unusual move of God for the students and for the for all the uh for all the students here in Birmingham, God, where they have never seen anything like you before, God.

Where we're seeing healings again, where we're seeing miracles again, where we're where we're dreaming again, God, where we're speaking profit words of prophecy, words of acknowledgement again, God.

That, Lord, that we are seeing an unusual move of God.

Lord, we want an unusual move of God.

So the first one was lack of vision, second, dying passion.

The third one that we see is spiritual exhaustion.

How many of you are just tired all the time?

Energy drinks all day, that's mean.

When we look at Eli, we see a man who is tired physically, mentally, spiritually.

But I just don't see it in Eli here.

I see it with people within people of the church.

Where we all have this, I need a break mindset.

Where we all have this uh, oh, I uh I just need to go back to bed.

I just need to sleep.

And sometimes I see it in a mirror as well, where I look at myself and I'm like, oh my goodness, like I'm so tired.

God, why did you pick me?

Why did you call me?

Lord, why did you choose me?

There's better people.

God, I'm so tired.

I have so much on my plate.

God, why me?

But here's the problem when we get into this position.

The problem is that we start making decisions based off relief.

We begin saying things like, I'm gonna stop showing up early.

I'm gonna stop giving.

I'm gonna stop serving because I just need rest.

I need a full night's sleep.

So, you know what, I need to go back to bed.

And a lot of us maybe have said this, this four-word phrase, I just need peace.

And maybe we've kind of integrated this into what we say and how we feel and how we lead spiritually.

We say, I feel peace about not leading my household.

I feel peace about walking away from my marriage, I feel peace about not fathering my kids, I feel peace about not stepping into my calling, I feel peace about not doing what he calls me to do.

But listen, I want to lovingly challenge you this morning.

If you walk away from the calling of God and feel peace, you are not feeling the presence of peace, you are feeling the removal of weight.

Listen, church, the call is heavy.

The cross is heavy, church.

But God gives us the strength to carry the cross we are called to carry, but sometimes we throw it down and we say, I feel peace about it.

Listen, if the grape could talk, it would say, I feel peace about living leaving the wine press.

If a seed would preach a message, it would say, I feel peace about not being buried.

If an olive could talk, I would it would say, I feel peace about not being crushed.

This is heavy, church, but you are made for what God has called you to carry.

So if we keep falling for this counterfeit version of peace, boys will not become men, girls will not become godly women.

We will lose a generation and we will not become multipliers.

You were made for weight, church.

You were made for crushing and all that God made you to be, church.

Come on, can you give Jesus a shout of praise this morning and say, God, thank you for making me, thank you for choosing me, even when I didn't want to be in.

Listen, peace is not when you feel when you run from God.

Peace is what you feel when you're in a position like Eli's exhausted, tired at the end of your rope, wanting to go back to bed, and you say, God, I'm in.

I'm into everything.

No matter how much my kids are annoying me, I'm in.

No matter how much I'm tired on a Sunday morning, God, I'm in.

No matter how much I'm tired on a Wednesday, God, I have all these things going on, God, I'm in.

Staying committed, saying, I'm into making disciples, saying I'm into seeing Matthew 28, 19 fulfilled, saying I'm into seeing the Samuels run, saying I'm in so we don't lose.

And we won't and you're saying I'm ready to see the great commission fulfilled.

There's this pastor, pastor friend of mine, he's awesome.

Um, he was a mentor for like in college for me for a little bit, and he says this says, Abdication, avoidance, and complacency will get dressed up sane and will get dressed up sane and extend their hands and introduce themselves by saying, Hello, my name is peace.

Listen, church, I don't know if you feel it, but God is calling our church into an uncomfortable season, an unusual season, but a grace-filled Holy Spirit empowerment multiplying season.

But this message is challenging for people who used to care.

Because we all know how easy it is not to care.

It's easier not to disciple, it's hard to be vulnerable, it's hard to open up, it's hard to trust people.

You don't get your heart broken that way, you don't get your trust broken that way.

It's easier to lock everything up and say, I'm just gonna keep myself to me and I'm gonna go back and sit down.

It's easier, but C.S.

Lewis says this to love at all it is to be vulnerable.

Love anything, and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken.

If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give it to no one, not even an animal.

Wrap it carefully around with hobbies and little luxuries, avoid all entanglements, lock it up safe in a casket or coffin of your own of your selfishness.

But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change.

It will not be broken, it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, and irredeemable.

But to love is to be vulnerable.

Here we see Eli in a place where his heart is almost locked up.

Can I tell you, church, it's a scary place to be.

But stand, I believe standing, but standing in between the boy Samuel and the prophet Samuel is a tired Eli.

But underneath his exhaustion, underneath is all of his grief that I could imagine he's walking through with his family, there's a little flame that is still burning, that still has the ability to hear things, to send things, to notice things.

And there's this verse in here, there's this word that I really want to highlight.

It's 1 Samuel chapter 3, verse 8.

1 Samuel 3:8

It says, Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy.

He woke up in that way.

God woke him up.

We see the moment where God wakes up Eli and it's right here, and it's the word realize.

And God is waking him up and reminding him that this isn't a little annoying boy that I'm that's running to you.

It's a prophet in the making.

It's a prophet in the making.

So I pro so I pray for us today, church, as believers, that God would give us the opportunity to have the realization again.

That we would wake up to the first time we see a generation running and not say, go back to bed.

That we would have the realizations that our kids just are annoying or always trying to pull us to wake us up at five in the morning sometimes.

But that our kids have a prophetic destiny on their lives.

That when we go out to eat today for lunch, that the waiter or waitress that's helping you has a call on their life, that we would speak to their call.

That maybe we have the realization that's not just for our friend or some that's not just somebody's friend or or our friend, but that God, you would give us the heart to know that you have something for them, Jesus.

And then we see here in 1 Samuel chapter 3, 9 through 10.

1 Samuel 3 · chapter mention

So He so God said to Samuel, or no, so Eli said to Samuel, Go and lie down again.

And if someone calls again, say, Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.

So Samuel went back to bed, and the Lord came and called as before, Samuel, Samuel, Samuel replied, Speak, your servant is listening.

So we see something here, we can celebrate that once Eli realized he gave the boy what he needed.

But for what I think that it's crazy to think that if Eli, maybe maybe if Eli never wakes up, maybe Samuel never becomes the prophet.

Maybe he never becomes a prophet.

So I want to speak to the Eli's in the room.

Eli's, we have the responsibility to wake up.

And Samuel's to speak to all the Samuels in the room.

If you've been saved for five years or less, you have the responsibility to run after God.

And it's time to run after God.

But my mentor is not running, run after God.

But no one's helping me.

Run after God.

But my mentor doesn't pray that way.

Run after God.

It is time to see a generation run after God and us not tell them to go back to sleep.

Come on, church, can we give Jesus a shout of praise for waking us up and for telling a generation to run, for calling us and saying, God, thank you for choosing me.

Thank you for giving me.

Thank you for giving me when I wasn't there.

Listen, if it wasn't for my parents, waking up to the call of God on my life, forcing me to go to camp, forcing me to go to church, telling me to do things that I didn't want to do, go pray for this person when it was awkward in a coffee shop, to go get this prophetic word for someone when it was awkward.

It was like a 60-year-old lady, I was 15.

But if it wasn't for those things, if it wasn't for God, for them telling me to wake up, instead of looking me at a kid with no future, no promise, no hope, no vision, I'm able to say in front of you today, speak, Lord, your servant is listening.

So to speak to all the Elizabeth in the room, whether you're tired, whether you're wanting to give up, whether you're on the edge of quitting, I want to speak to you to say, God has more for you, church.

The next generation is an annoying generation, they're the generation God is calling now.

If we can all stand this morning, I believe God wants us to respond to the word today.

If I can invite the prayer team up, I believe God wants to respond.

Want us to respond to the word today.

Maybe you feel a little convicted in your heart this morning.

Or maybe you feel like, man, I have been giving up a lot.

I've stopped caring.

I believe there's three ways we can respond today.

The first question, first way we can respond is have I allowed comfort, routine, or exhaustion to dull my spiritual passion.

And is God calling me today to wake up and respond again?

Is God calling you today to wake up and respond again?

Second way we can respond.

It's maybe a question to ask yourself Is that is God placing someone in my life, my child, family member, or someone around me that I need to intentionally disciple and lead toward him?

The third way we can respond.

Am I willing to surrender my comfort and say, speak, Lord, your servant is listening and step into the responsibility God has given me.

If we can bow your heads this morning, I want to pray over us.

And if you feel led to respond or need prayer for anything, we want to encourage you to come to the front to respond.

God, thank you so much for today.

That Lord, we speak to the dead things in the room, that we call them the life in the name of Jesus.

That God, we speak to the brokenness in the room, that God, you are called you're the God who restores, you're the God who redeems.

Lord, I speak to all the broken marriages in the room.

That God, that you are calling them up to be restored again, God.

But most importantly, for the ones that are asleep, God, wake them up this morning, Jesus.

Wake them up this morning, God.

That Lord, that we won't take this message and just say whatever, we will go back home today and saying, God, who are you calling me to?

And so, Lord, speak to us this morning, Lord.

In your name we pray.

Amen.

Listen, if you feel led to respond or need to pray for anything, we want to encourage you to come to the front.