Rick Warren - What On Earth Am I Here For And Why It Matters (Part 2)

Let's say the phone rang one day and you thought

this is an interruption or it's going to be bad news.

But somebody who's calling to tell you had just inherited

fifty million dollars, you would not want to miss that call.

What if God called you? Let me give you a

little tip. When God calls, you do not use call waiting.

When God calls, you do not put it on the

answer voicemail. When God calls, you do not let it

ring and ring and ring and ring. Pick it up

on the first call. When God calls you. Now, the

Bible says you have already been called. You have been

called according to His purpose. A couple verses down from

that verse Romans eight thirty, it says this, look here

on the screen. Those that God predestined he also called,

and those he called he also justified, and those he

justified he also glorified. The Bible says, you have been

called by God. What does that mean? The word in

the Greek is the word callao k a l e

oh calaioh. It's almost like calleaioh call, and the word

calaoh means God is calling you, and it's used about

one hundred times in the New Testament over one hundred times,

and most of the time it's talking about your assignment

in life, your purpose in life, your mission in life,

the reason God created you.

It is called your calling. Now.

The first thing we learned from God's word is this,

my calling is a gift from God. My calling is

a gift from God. I don't earn it, I don't

deserve it. I don't work for it. I don't bargain

for it. I don't barter for it. It's just flat

out gift of God's grace. It is His present to me.

When He created me, he called me, and it's all

by grace. Galatians chapter one says this, God, by his

grace through Christ, has called you.

To become his people.

The fact is grace is that God knows all the

things I've done. And even when I was thumbing my

nose to him and rejecting him, God was saying, I

love you, I love you, I love you. Now your

calling is actually a part of your salvation. The calling

to Christ is also the calling to your purpose. Two

Timothy one nine says He has saved us and called us.

Notice they go together, saved us and called us to

a holy life, not because of anything we've done, but

because of his own purpose and grace, His purpose and

his grace. So God gives me a calling in life

simply because He wants to give me a calling life.

I don't deserve it, He just gives it to me.

Now circle the word purpose on that verse, because that

leads us to the second.

Thing we learn, and is this.

I am called for God's purpose, not mine, but God's.

You were made by God, and you were made for God.

And until you understand that, life's never gonna make sense,

and you're gonna get bored, and you're gonna get frustrated,

you're gonna have all kinds of difficulty because you don't

understand you were made for God. Here's the third principle.

Number three. God chose my calling before I was born.

You need to know that as we get ready to

go in to live your calling the next six weeks.

My calling is a gift from God. I'm called for

God's purpose, not mine, and my calling was before I

was born. God chose it. Let me show you some

verses on this. Galatians chapter one, verse fifteen, Paul says

it pleased God in his kindness to choose me and

call me even before I was born.

What undeserved mercy.

Here's another example, Jeremiah Jeremiah, chapter one, verse five. Before

I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you,

before you saw the light of day. I had holy

plans for you. God called you before you were even born,

and the Bible says God uniquely shaped you. You are

a custom made baby. Now there's a fourth thing that

the Bible teaches us about your calling, and it is this.

This is a big one. My sins and my.

Mistakes don't change my call. Oh I'm so glad for

this one. My sins and my mistakes don't change my call.

God's call for my life. It doesn't matter how messed

up your life has been, whether you messed it up

or somebody messed it up for you. No matter how

screwy it got, how difficult it became, no matter how

many dumb decisions you've made in the past, it hasn't

changed God's call on your life at all. The call

that God gave you before you were born, the call

that God gave you when you were saved and reaffirmed

when you were saved, is a calling that God says.

It's there forever.

It's a permanent calling, and God doesn't change it.

Now. A good example this, of course, was Paul. I

mean he was.

Paul was a pretty rude dude in a crude mood before.

He became an apostle.

God called him to be an apostle, and in one

Timothy Chapter one, Paul says this, by calling me into

his service, Jesus has judged me trustworthy, even though I

used to be a blasphemer and a persecutor and contemptuous. Mercy, however,

was shown me because while I lacked faith, I acted

in ignorance. I love that phrase, the honesty there. While

I lacked faith, I acted in ignorance.

You know what I'm saying.

Then I did a lot of dumb stuff growing up.

How many of you would admit I did a lot

of dumb stuff growing up? Okay, I did a lot

of Okay, that's apostle training. Okay, congratulations, Okay, do you

know what Paul was? Paul was a terrorist before he

became an apostle. He was a religious terrorist. He was

going to people's homes, dragging him out in the street,

throwing him into jail, killing people. He was a murderer,

God said, Paul. That didn't change the call that I

had for you from the day you were born. I

had a plan for you, and even the bad stuff

fits into the plan. The fact that I love most

about God is that he never wastes anything, and he

fits it all into.

His plan, even my sin, even the.

Stupid decisions that I've made that I will regret the

rest of my life. God says, you know what, I'm

going to even put that in the plan. We'll make

it work. I can bring all things can work together

for good for those who love God, who are called

according to His purpose.

I can fit that in there too.

And not only can God say, your sins and your

mistakes don't change your calling. The sins of other people

against you don't change your calling. Some of you may

feel a little bruised, a little battered, a little beat

up by the world. Maybe you had somebody who was

unfaithful to you. You had somebody walk out of your life.

You had somebody be but betray you, reject you. Some

of you have been molested, some of you have been raped.

I'm sorry, I am, but you know what, that did

not change one bit of your value. And that did

not change one bit of God's call on your life.

It has not changed.

You are still God's workmanship, God's masterpiece created in Christ

Jesus to do good works. And you know what, God says,

you know what, I can even take the ugly stuff

and I'll take the stinger out of it, and you

know what, I'll even bring good out of it in

your life if you'll let me. The Bible says, my

sins and mistakes don't change God's call. I want you

to write this down on your outline. God has no

Plan B for me.

A lot of.

People think, you know what, I really screwed up on

that one. Therefore I gotta live with Plan B the

rest of my life. No, you don't, It's part of

Plan A. God has no Plan B for me. When

I think about this, I think about Chuck Coulson. Chuck

Colson was one of the most powerful men in the

world in his day. He was assistant to the President

of the United States of America, and then he got

involved in a scandal, Watergate, and he went to prison,

and in prison, he found Christ, became a believer, saw

the need for people in prisons to know the Lord.

Started Prison Fellowship, which now in like one hundred and

fifty sixty countries, has blessed millions of people. But when

God created Chuck Colson, he knew he would be going

from the presidency to prison and back out all in

one life. And he said, I'm going to fit it

into the plan. I'm going to fit it into the plan.

Number five, the fifth thing we learned about God's calling is.

My calling is permanent.

This is a further extension of what I just said,

and what I mean was permanent means nobody can take

it from you. When you were growing up, your parents

tried to probably make you something that you didn't really

want to be, or your girlfriend, your boyfriend tried to

make you something you didn't want to be, or your

boss or somebody in your life. You're always trying to

pressure you and conform you to take away your true calling.

Your calling cannot be taken from you. Satan can't take

your calling away from you. You can't take your calling

away from you. Other people can't take your calling away

from you, and God won't because he says I've given

it to you permanently. The Bible says in Romans eleven,

verse twenty nine. God's gifts and his callings are read

it with me irrevocable circle that they cannot be taken away.

They are permanent. The calling on your life is never

ever gonna change, no matter what you've done, no matter what.

You've messed up.

The expression may change, the timing, the when, the war

of the how, but the calling will not change. You

still have the same gifts God gave you from the beginning.

Now, what does this verse teach us?

If my calling is permanent, it means this my job

is not my calling because your job changes. How many

of you have ever changed jobs? How many have ever

lost a job? How many have ever been unemployed? Yeah,

You're going to have many many jobs in life. Your

job is not your calling. Jobs change all the time.

Calling never changes.

Do you ever wonder if your life really matters? Or

what on earth you're here for? Pastor Rick wants to

let you know that God has a good plan and

purpose for your life. In his best selling book, The

Purpose Driven Life, he lays out a simple, life changing

roadmap to help you discover and live it. This book

has transformed millions of lives, and it could transform someone

you love. And great news it's been updated for today's generation.

This edition includes a video introduction and audio teaching from

Pastor Rick for each chapter, and two powerful bonus chapters

on the biggest barriers to living a purpose driven life.

As you go through this book, you'll uncover that your

deepest meaning and fulfillment doesn't come from success or status,

but from understanding and living out the purpose that God

created you for. Request your copy today. When you give

a gift to help daily hope share the gospel around

the world, it's our way of saying thanks.

The Bible says God's gifts in his call can never

be withdrawn, so no matter what happens, they're permanent in

your life. Number six very important point. My calling is

connected to others. My calling, my assignment from God in life,

my purpose, my vision, the dream God has for my

life is connected to other people. What I mean by

that you cannot fulfill your purpose in life by yourself.

It is impossible. You can only do it connected to

other people. Calling and community go together. You cannot be

what God wants you to be. You cannot fulfill what

God wants you to fulfill. You cannot enjoy your destiny

on your own. You have to do it connected to

other people. It's like the parts of your body. They're

worthless unless they're connected. You have an eyeball, which is

extremely gifted. It has the ability to take light, translate

that to your brain, and you see things. But an

eyeball outside of a socket is worthless. It can't see

anything because it's not connected. You have an ear, which

is an amazing gift of God, where your ear can

take waves, turn them into impulses to your brain and

your b here sounds. If your ear is disconnected from

your body, it's worthless. That ear can't hear anything unless

it's connected. You have a hand, and that hand has

an amazing ability to grasp, to write, to fix things.

But that hand, if it were cut off, it has

no use. A hand has no power, no talent, no ability,

no purpose without being connected to the body. You have

to be connected to the body to fulfill your calling.

The Bible calls the Church the body of Christ, the

family of God, but it calls it the body, and

we're all members, like a hand, eye, nose, feet, everything

connected to the body. Look at this verse on the

screen Roman's fourteen seven. None of us lives to himself alone,

and none of us dies to himself alone. You gotta

be connected. How do you get connected through a church family.

It's why we talk about small groups all the time,

because in that small group there's a connection there where

you learn from other people. They help you in your weakness,

you help them in their weakness.

Let me show you a couple verses Esians four to four.

We are all one body, circle that all one body.

We all have the same spirit, circle, same spirit, and

we have all been called circle that all been called

We're all one body, all have the same spirit, all

been called to the same glorious future.

Hope.

It is only in connection, in community that I will

fulfill my calling Hebrews three to one. Brothers and sisters,

you are a holy You are holy partners in a

heavenly calling. The other people in your small group are

partners in a heavenly calling. We're better together, We're better

as a team. That's why church, you have to be connected.

We'll talk about this morn in the future. Number seven.

God empowers what he calls me to do. That's the

seventh thing I need to know about my calling, that

whatever God calls me to do, He's going to empower

me to do. God empowers what he calls me to do.

In other words, if God has given me an assignment

in life, He's going to enable me to do it.

He's going to equip me to do it. He's going

to empower me to do it. He's going to strengthen

me to do it. He's going to give me the

ability to do it. God would never ask you to

do anything with your life that he doesn't give you

the power to do.

So here's how it works.

Once I understand that God has a calling on my life, okay,

and I understand that, what I do is I commit

myself to him. And when I commit myself to God's

calling for me, God, whatever time I've got left on

this earth, I want to use it to fulfill your

calling for me. It's a week, a month, years, or

whatever decades. I commit to your calling for my life.

God commits his resources to help you do it. He said,

I don't even know what it is. I commit to

your calling for my life. God says, then I will

commit the resources what you need to get it done.

Look at this verse Ephesians four to one. I urge

you to live the life to which God called you.

Now.

Notice the calling is a lifestyle, and you are to

live the life to which God called you. Now here's

my prayer. Second Tessalonius, chapter one. This is why we

always pray for you, asking our God to help you.

That's in power to help you live the kind of

life he called you to live. God says, if I

call you to live this kind of life, I'm going

to help you with the power. We pray that with

his power, God will help you do the good things

you want and perform the works that come from your faith. Notice,

do the good things and perform the works. That's the

good works we were talking about earlier, and God says,

I will give you the power. You can count on

God to give you the strength you need. First Tessaloni

is five. The one who calls you is faithful and

he will do it. Now, there's one more truth that

I want to cover as we start this week. Let

me review. My calling is a gift from God. I'm

called for God's purpose, not my own. God chose my

calling before I was born, so I didn't have anything

to do with it. My sins and my mistakes don't

change my calling. My calling is permanent. Satan can't take

it away. Nobody else on earth can.

Take it away.

It's irrevocable. My calling is connected to others. I got

to be connected to the body or it doesn't work.

God will empower me to do what he calls me

to do. And here's the last point. There's a prize.

There's a prize for living out my calling. And this

is why I'm very excited about this series. There is

a prize for living out my calling. God has promised

a reward for those people who discover and live the

calling He made them for here on earth, and that

reward's going to last forever Philippians three fourteen. I press

toward the goal to win the prize circle that to

win the prize for which God has called me heavenward

in Christ Jesus, what is the prize?

Oh man?

It would take me months to explain all that God

wants to do in heaven for eternity with you, but

let me just say this. The prize is that you

get to share in everything God has in heaven. You

get to share in his kingdom, you get to share

in his glory, you get to share in his power.

It all becomes yours. You see, life on earth is

a test. Why didn't God just create you and take

you to heaven? If you're going there anyway, why didn't

just take you there first? Because He puts you here

on earth to test your faithfulness. And he gives you

a few things and puts them in your care opportunities, relationships, things,

and he says, let's see what you do, and if

you're faithful of the little, then I can trust you

with all of my riches and all of my power

and all of my glory in heaven for eternity.

Faithful and little, you'll be faithful much.

This is a test, and God is testing to see

if you are going to fulfill the calling he put

you here on earth to fulfill. And if you do,

then He's going to share with you everything that is his.

This is the most amazing thing. Look at the next

verse one the Salonian is two twelve. Live the kind

of life that pleases God, who calls you, who calls

you to share? And what are we going to share?

Who calls you to share in his own kingdom and glory.

That's amazing that for eternity God will share his kingdom

and his glory if I live out my calling it's

hard to even explain this, get your wrap your head

around it.

So let me just say, like this.

Imagine on Broadway in New York City, a giant marquee

lit up at night with bright lights, and it says, now,

starring for eternity Jesus Christ co starring your name, you

will share in His kingdom and glory. Now you got

my attention. Now I'm interested in fulfilling my calling.

I don't want to get tea and go. Did you familiar?

I didn't even know I had one. Well you do.

And if you fulfill your calling in life and you

do what God, you make the most of what you're giving.

God says you're going to share in My kingdom in

glory forever.

Are you interested in that? I am? I am.

That is a big time prize that goes on and

on forever. Now, we talked earlier about answering the phone

if God called. The fact is God has already called.

He's already called you. That phone has been ringing in

your life since the moment you were conceived.

Are you going to pick up the phone it's been ringing.

God's call for you has been ringing from the point of.

Your conception.

And something you've just been ignoring it ring ring, ring.

I mean, God said, I'm not hanging up. Will you

pick up the phone and today say I'm going to

begin to discover, develop, and live the call that God

made for me. That I will learn what on earth

am I here for? And I will spend the rest

of my life learning to do that. Now, I'm going

to pray for you. In just second, We're going to

pray a prayer blessing. But you got to make the decision.

Am I going to answer God's call? Let's vow for

prayer as we close, pray this prayer in your heart,

your God. Thank you that you created me, that I'm

not an accident. Thank you that I've been in your

care even before I was born. Thank You that you

not just created me, but you have called me. You

have a purpose and assignment for my life. I'm not

here just to waste time. Thank you that you called

me for your purpose. I want your plan, not mine.

Thank you that that plan began from the moment of

my birth. And even though I made many mistakes, and

I've sinned a lot, and other people have hurt me,

it hasn't changed my call.

One bit.

Thank you that my calling is permanent, and I realized

today that I cannot fulfill my purpose disconnected. I need

to be connected to others in your body, in your family,

with the same spirit and the same calling. I thank

you Lord that you've promised to give me the power

to do what you've asked me to do. That you

won't ask me to do something you won't enable me

and strengthen me to do. Lord, I want that prize

in life. I want to live the rest of my

life that Monday I may share in your kingdom and

in your glory. If you've never invited Jesus into your life,

said Jesus Christ, come into my life now. I want

to learn to love you, and trust you and serve

you in your name, I pray Amen.

Do you ever wonder if your life really matters or

what on earth you're here for? Pastor Rick wants to

let you know that God has a good plan and

purpose for your life. In his best selling book, The

Purpose Driven Life, he lays out a simple, life changing

roadmap to help you discover and live it. This book

has transformed millions of lives and it could transform someone

you love. And great news it's been updated for today's generation.

This edition includes a video introduction and audio teaching from

Pastor Rick for each chapter, and two powerful bonus chapters

on the biggest barriers to living a purpose driven life.

As you go through this book, you'll uncover that your

deepest meaning and fulfillment doesn't come from success or status,

but from understanding and living out the purpose that God

created you for. Request your copy today. When you give

a gift to help Daily Hope share the Gospel around

the world, it's our way of saying thanks