CALLED together and SENT out | Donovan Rillion | "Listening For Him"

And so I want us to start really quickly in 1

1 Samuel 3:1–10

Samuel chapter 3, verses 1 through 10 specifically.

And we'll read it together and then we'll pray

and then we'll keep going. Now, the boy Samuel

was ministering to the Lord in the presence of

Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those

days. There was no frequent vision. At that time,

Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so

that he could not see, was lying down in his

own place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out,

and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the

Lord where the ark of God was. Then the Lord

called Samuel, and he said, Here I am, and ran

to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me.

But he said, I did not call. Lie down again.

So he went and lay down, and the Lord called

again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli

and said, Here I am, for you called me. But he

said, I did not call my son. Lie down again.

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the

word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to

him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third

time. And he arose and went to Eli and said,

Here I am, for you called me. And then Eli perceived

that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore

Eli said to Samuel, Go. Lie down, and if he calls

you, you shall say, Speak, Lord, for your servant

hears. So Samuel went, and he lay down in this

place, and the Lord came and stood, calling as

at other times, Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel said,

Speak, for your servant hears. Let's pray. God,

again, we thank you for your word. We thank you

for this time that we can be together. I pray

that your word speaks. I pray that through stories

and through conversation, we hear you speaking.

We hear you calling out. That we don't mistake

your voice for any other. That we would know

for a fact that it is you calling us. And when

we hear you calling, God, may we respond accordingly.

It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. At different

times in my life, I've wondered what I was supposed

to be doing. Or where I was supposed to be going.

What I was supposed to say or who I was supposed

to be. In fact, in high school, I felt like I

was being called to serve in youth ministry.

I had so many youth ministers that poured into

me, whether it was my own youth minister, Mr.

Glenn, or youth ministers that I interacted with

at things like Bible camp or youth rallies. And

so I felt like I had a responsibility to pour.

what had been poured into me into others, especially

the youth. So I would say I felt called to ministry,

specifically to youth. So I go to college at

Faulkner University to major in youth and family

ministry. Unfortunately, I wasn't called to the

classroom, actually. So I get to the end of my

freshman year and basically did so bad that all

my financial aid and scholarships were placed

on hold because apparently they do that if you

don't actually go to class. They stop giving

you money. So I get basically kicked out of school.

And now, instead of doing the work necessary

to pursue my calling, I thought, well, maybe

I could pursue a different calling, right? Because

there's not just one calling. You can do other

things. And so this was something that I always

wanted. This is the thing that I felt like I

wanted to do and that would make me happy and

that would fulfill me. And that was joining the

military. My grandfather was in the Navy. All

the best men that I knew were military people.

And I grew up on the coast. And so we were with

the Navy base. We had an Air Force base. There

was a Coast Guard base. And so I was, I'll join

the Navy. And conveniently enough, my best friend

in high school also did awful his first year

of college. So we were talking and we were like,

hey. Why don't we join the Coast Guard together?

And it'll be great. We'll join the Coast Guard

together. We'll get guaranteed district. We'll

go to Alaska. We'll hunt fish and enjoy that

time. And so that's what we did. We had this

plan. We went and talked to the recruiter. We

were getting ready to go. And while getting ready,

I was also serving as an intern, a ministry intern

at a church near my hometown. And on the Sunday

before classes were set to begin at Faulkner,

conveniently enough, that also was the same week

I was supposed to go back to the recruiter to

talk about getting set up for the next steps.

And so classes are set to begin on Wednesday

at Faulkner, and I'm also supposed to go that

week to talk to the recruiter. And Sunday comes,

and the preacher at the church that I'm interning

at, Verlin Carroll, he preaches this lesson,

really rude, on... Running and hiding from your

calling. Taking the easy way out. As you can

imagine, I'm sitting there listening to this

sermon and I'm shook. Because... I had that first

calling, right? That thing that I felt like I

knew God wanted me to do or that I needed to

do, that I had a responsibility to do. But because

it wasn't easy, because it didn't come naturally

to me, I had to work a little harder. So I decided

I'm going to do the easy thing, right? Because

the military people in here know basic training

is a cakewalk, right? Yeah, no. Right. But I

thought, OK, I'm physically capable. I can do

that. That'd be a lot easier than going to the

classes in college. So I was going to take the

easy way out. And so I'm listening to the sermon

and and I'm hearing exactly what I need to hear.

And he didn't know that I was thinking. He's

talking to me and I still and I haven't asked

him, maybe I should, if he knew that I needed

that lesson. But I talk to him and we pray. He

helps me get a second chance in school. And within

48 hours, I'm able to go back to college. Fast

forward a few years. Now I've been serving in

youth ministry for a couple of years at this

point. But I'm pretty good at writing songs.

And I've been told that I'm decent at writing

songs and singing. And so I decide that, well,

I've always loved music. In fact, when I was

a kid, the thing that I thought would be the

coolest was to be in the military and be a singer

-songwriter. Anybody ever heard of someone named

Elvis Presley? He was my hero as a kid, so I

was like, I could be Elvis. And so now I'm in

youth ministry and I'm serving and I'm actually

serving at the church that I always felt like

I needed to serve at my home church because I

wanted to pay forward what had been paid to me.

And so so I'm serving and and now I'm having

this what I call my quarter life crisis where

I'm like, I know I love ministry and I know this

is what I need to be doing. But maybe I could

fulfill my calling elsewhere. And so I talked

to Eliza. We pray about it and she's supportive.

And but she's not supportive enough to move to

Nashville. She's like, we can move to Montgomery

because Montgomery is halfway between your family,

my family in Nashville. We have friends there.

We have churches there. And we know, you know,

it'll work out if we're in Montgomery. Thank

goodness Eliza has some common sense. So I get

a secular job and I start playing gigs. I start

writing more songs. I make some trips to Nashville.

And it's all great, right? It was a ton of fun.

And I felt like maybe I could fulfill my calling

in that way. You know, my songs, they all mostly

have a faith -based element. And whenever I'm

out playing gigs, I'm talking about my relationship

with God. And so I think that I can fulfill my

calling this way. The entire time I'm doing this,

I feel this void. I feel like something's missing.

I'm not quite satisfied. I'm doing the thing

that I've always loved, but it's not satisfying

me. And so several conversations with mentors

and preachers and Christian brothers and sisters

happen throughout this time while I'm doing this.

And a lot of it revolves around me trying to

figure out what exactly I need to be doing. Has

anybody else ever wondered what they're supposed

to be doing with their life? Anybody still wondering

what they're supposed to be doing with their

life? Yeah, some days we don't know. But, you

know, as it goes, I start praying a ton and my

prayer is, God, make it clear. Make it clear

what I need to be doing. Leave no doubt in my

mind. Don't let this be a Donovan decision. Let

this be a God decision. And around this time,

some things start happening. First, I get asked

to help be one of the housing staff at Faulkner

in the student life department. And then I get

asked to start directing chapel until they find

a spiritual life director. And then while doing

this, I get asked to join the ministry staff

at Vaughn Park. And then while serving as the

college minister at Vaughn Park, I have a moment

eerily similar to that moment that I had back

in 2017 of just like sheer God moving clarity.

I'm sitting there teaching my college class one

Sunday morning and out of nowhere I have this

overwhelming feeling. And my brain just goes

to a different place and has this thought. I

need to be the youth minister here. And so, long

story short, I'm back doing the thing that I

said I'd never do again. I'm the youth minister.

Then around this time, this is we're in July,

around this time last year, I start feeling this

feeling of of needing to serve the kingdom in

a different capacity. I start thinking maybe,

you know, I don't really connect with the youth

as well as I used to. I'm definitely not fun.

Kids are calling me a grandpa. And that is very

true. I don't have the patience for middle schoolers.

Sorry. Love y 'all. But I just I can't do it.

You know, and so I'm starting to think maybe

my gifts are best used elsewhere. And so I start

thinking about that. But I love where we were.

I love that congregation. And I know some of

them are going to listen to this. And I want

them to hear that I do love those people. And

Eliza especially, this is the first time at any

of the churches we've been in, and we've been

in some great churches, this is the first time

she's been plugged in and she's felt like she

belongs and she felt like she had a ministry

to pour into and to pour into her. And so we

don't really go looking for a place to go. But

not long after I start feeling this, I hear about

this church in Blairsville, Georgia that needs

a preacher. And I don't know why, but of all

the preaching openings that had come across my

mind and people have brought up to me of all

the places that we could go. This is the one

that stuck out to me a ton. So I just throw the

idea to Eliza and say, you know, hey, what about

this church in the mountains? We love the mountains.

Beautiful. People are probably really nice. We've

got some friends there. And she just constantly

says, we're not moving. There were a couple times

where she tells me, I hope I don't get in trouble

for saying this, but she says, shut up about

Blair's Bulls. And amidst all of this, I'm constantly

praying, God, make it clear. Nope, back. Wow.

God, make it clear what you want me to do and

where you want me to go. This has been my prayer

for the last three or so years, maybe four. I've

just been praying, God, make it clear. And that's

not like a big thing like, you know, every day

I'm like, God, you want me to leave? It's do

I need to go to the coffee shop today and sit

there and just see if somebody needs to talk

about Jesus? Do I need to go to the ballgame

and support the kids so that they know they've

got somebody fighting for them? Do I need to

go and meet with that person that's been struggling

with life? What do I need to do? Where do I need

to go? So fast forward to around January and

this random guy named Noah asked me if I'd be

interested in coming and speaking at this little

church in Blairsville, Georgia. And so he asked

me, he's like, hey, what about February? So February

then turns to March. And it's kind of a good

thing that February did turn to March because

at the end of February, Eliza comes to me after

over a year of me telling her that I feel like

we need to consider me making a change in ministry.

And she says, in short, I feel like we need to

be willing to go wherever God calls us to go.

And by wherever she meant the state of Georgia,

Knoxville, Tennessee, or we stay put. She was

not in full Abraham mode. OK, but she this is

growth for her. OK. And so she says, you know,

I feel like we need to be willing to go wherever

God tells us to go. But I don't pursue coming

here because one, I want the visit to be organic.

I wanted my time with y 'all back in March to

be organic. And two, we weren't really actively

trying to move. I just wanted to be open to if

we felt called. So I told Eliza what my prayer

to God was all along. And that was, if this is

what we're supposed to do, God, make it. Clear.

So we come up here, I preach, and I won't walk

you through every detail, but God made it really

clear. And I think I told Chad and Phil, like,

I have never, ever felt more sure about a decision

except maybe proposing to Eliza. I'm sure about

this. And I told you all of that to get to this

point. Three points, actually. The first one

is we need to be able to recognize God's voice.

We have to pursue what He calls us to do. And

if we miss or ignore the call, God will still

work. So there's two actions, and then there's

a grace statement. So the two actions we need

to do, and the third thing is, if we don't do

because of our human inability, or this is not

to you, this is to me, our ignorance, God can

still work. He will still work, and God is still

good. So I want to talk about each of these things,

starting with the first point. The first one,

we need to be able to recognize God's voice.

So we go back to our passage in 1 Samuel. Samuel

hears God's voice several times, but he doesn't

recognize God, partially because he doesn't know

him, but also because you've got to imagine if

you're sitting in your house and you know that

there's somebody else there and you hear your

name called, you're going to assume first that

it's the other person calling you, not God, right?

If I hear my voice called, I'm going to assume

it's Eliza or it's one of my sons. I'm not going

to think, oh, yeah, it's the God that I've never

heard before. I've never seen before. I've never

interacted with before. I'm going to assume it's

the person that has a voice that I can audibly

hear day to day. So imagine, though, if Samuel

had never realized who was calling him, if he

never realizes that this is God talking, if he

never received the message as a message from

God, And here's something deeper. When we read

about Samuel, we're not just seeing a boy who

learned to hear God's voice. We're seeing a glimpse

of something much bigger. Samuel was a faithful

prophet when hearing from God was rare. Samuel

listened and he spoke God's word to his people.

But Samuel points us even further. forward to

the ultimate prophet, to the ultimate teacher,

to the ultimate message bearer, Jesus. So Jesus

doesn't just hear the Father's voice. He perfectly

obeys it every time. What Jesus says in John

John 12:49

12, verse 49 is, For I have not spoken on my

own authority, but the Father who sent me has

himself given me a commandment what to say and

what to speak. Jesus brings a message directly,

from God. He is the good shepherd whose sheep

will still know his voice today. Jesus is the

final and clearest word from God. And through

him, we don't just hear God's message. We see

it lived out perfectly. See, Samuel was able,

because he listened to God, because he recognized

God's voice, because he heard God clearly, he

was able to bring the message. But Jesus was

God's word. He didn't just bring the message.

He was the message. He lived the message perfectly.

So when we learn to listen for God's voice, like

Samuel did, We're really learning to follow the

voice of Jesus, our prophet, our shepherd, our

savior. Imagine if Samuel hadn't realized who

was calling him. He would have missed the message.

And we know this to be true in life. People respond

to instructions differently depending on who's

giving them. I'll put it to you this way. If

my four -year -old Easton tells my two -year

-old Peyton to clean up his toys, do you think

Peyton's going to listen? No. Easton likes to

be the boss sometimes. And Peyton never listens.

In fact, Peyton will often hit Easton because

Easton tries to tell him what to do. He doesn't

listen. He doesn't listen to him. But if I tell

Peyton to clean up his toys, do you think he's

going to listen? Still no. But he's more likely

to listen to me than he is Peyton. Easton. Why?

Because the one giving instruction matters in

the mind and the heart of the hearer. It matters

who is bringing instruction. I want you to look

at what Jesus says in John chapter 10. This was

John 10 · chapter mention

our scripture reading. The sheep hear his voice,

the shepherd's voice, and he calls his own sheep

by name and he leads them out. When he has brought

out all his own, he goes before them and the

sheep follow him for they know his voice. They

recognize. Jesus' voice. And here's the one I

want you to hear clearly. A stranger, they will

not follow. But they will flee from him. It's

not just that they don't listen to the stranger.

They run away from the stranger. How many times

have you felt like Satan is asking you, tempting

you to do something, and you just say, well,

I'm just going to ignore him. No, the sheep have

to run from the enemy. They run from the stranger

because they don't know his voice. So if I'm

going to live a life that's following God's calling,

I have to actually know who is doing the talking.

I've not always been good at that. I just shared

some of my story with you. There have been plenty

of times where I've tried to run or ignore my

calling or take the easy way out of what I believe

God's asking me to do. And in all of those times,

whether big life decisions or little things like,

hey, talk to that person. Every time I've ignored

God's voice, I've regretted it. I felt a void.

I've missed something big. To clarify, because

I need this to be very clear, what I'm not saying

is that God gives us specific things that we

have to do every single day. He doesn't bring

all of us specific callings for our careers and

locations to live, although I do believe he does

do that in certain instances. So once I've heard

God's call, what then do I need to do? Well,

I should probably follow the shepherd, right?

We have to pursue what he calls us to, where

he calls us to go, who he calls us to be, what

he calls us to say. We have to pursue what he

calls us to. Does anybody remember a guy named

Jonah? Maybe you've heard about him if you've

ever been to like a vacation Bible school or

children's worship. But if you haven't. God calls

this guy named Jonah to go to Nineveh, and Jonah

runs. He tries to avoid God's calling, and God

says to Jonah, let me make myself abundantly

clear. You ever tell your kids that? I think

I tell Easton that at least twice a week. Let

me make myself abundantly clear. You're going

to do what I need you to do. What I need to happen

is going to happen one way or another. And if

I want it to be you that does it, you're going

to do it. And I can tell you in my experience,

when I've tried to do what I want, as opposed

to what God has called me to, He has made Himself

abundantly clear. I felt something missing. And

even sometimes I felt miserable. But I want you

to hear what David says in Psalm 23. The Lord

is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me

lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside

still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me

in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the

shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you

are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort

me. You prepare a table before me in the presence

of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My

cup overflows. Surely, goodness and mercy shall

follow me all the days of my life. And I shall

dwell in the house of the Lord. I don't know

about you, but I feel like a sheep sometimes.

By that I mean I feel kind of dumb sometimes.

Confused. Lost. Blind. And I can struggle at

times in knowing where to go or what to do, who

to be, what to say. And clearly that's normal.

So normal that David would refer to us as sheep.

Hence the Lord being our shepherd and so much

so that Jesus refers to us as sheep. And so we

have to answer this question. What happens when

I follow the shepherd? Well, Psalm 23 tells us

good things happen. He leads me in peaceful territory.

He provides for me. He gives me protection. He

delivers me from evil as opposed to what happens

when I don't follow the shepherd's calling. I

don't have guidance through the valley of the

shadow of death. I don't have anyone to provide

for me when I can't. I don't have anyone to protect

me when the enemy attacks. Maybe I'm wrong, but

following the shepherd, following Jesus, sounds

20 times better than following myself. It sounds

way better than following the world. It sounds

way better than following the enemy. Following

the shepherd is the only good option. And if

you like what's good, it is the only option.

So on one hand, I can be protected. I can be

cared for. I can be loved. Or I can try to navigate

life and all the garbage and the darkness. The

bitterness of life by myself. With no guidance.

With no future. With no destination. With no

hope. I think I'd rather follow the shepherd.

I think I'd rather follow the good voice that's

calling. And to do that, I have to follow his

voice when he's calling. Which first requires

knowing His voice. Then it requires obeying.

But I also want you to know that there is grace.

I told you there's a grace statement in there.

That if we miss or ignore the call, God can and

will still work. Maybe you're familiar with some

times in Scripture or just in life when men missed

or ignored the call from God. And he still worked.

We just talked about Jonah. And his ignoring

God's call. We saw how God worked there. I shared

with you my story of ignoring or trying to run

from God's call. And I do believe he has worked

and is still working there. Again, I'm not saying

God has specific careers and specific tasks for

each of us to do. He doesn't have a checklist

for each of our days. But I do believe God has

a calling for all of our lives. He has something

that he needs us to be doing. Whether it's a

grand scale call, like I need to sell everything

I own and go be a missionary, or it's a little

daily call, like I want you to talk to that person

about your testimony. God is calling all of us

to do something, to say something, to be someone,

to go somewhere. God is calling. Even if I miss

the call and never realize what God is asking,

I can have peace knowing that if I'm pursuing

Him and trying to listen for His voice, He will

work in and through me. And here's why I believe

that. First, again, we have that example of Jonah.

But I also want you to hear the words of Paul

that we find in Roman 8. Paul says, likewise,

the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do

not know what to pray for as we ought, but the

Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings

too deep for words. And he who searches hearts

knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because

the Spirit intercedes for the saints according

to the will of God. And we know that for those

who love God, And I'm going to insert this word

here. For those who listen to God, all things

work together for good. For those who are called

according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew,

He also predestined to be conformed to the image

of His Son. In order that he might be the firstborn

among many brothers. And those whom he predestined,

he also called. And those whom he called, he

also justified. And those whom he justified,

he also glorified. So maybe you're wondering,

how do I actually know? How do I actually hear

God's voice? How do I know it's him and not just

me? Not just the enemy? First, we can do what

Samuel did. Just ask. Just ask God, is it you

calling me? What Samuel says, his prayer is,

speak, Lord, for your servant hears. Imagine

if your daily prayer was, God, speak in my life.

Tell me what you need me to do. Tell me where

you want me to go. Tell me who you want me to

be. What do I need to say today? Just ask him.

Ask God to speak and commit to hearing. The second

thing is opening the Word. We are crazy if we

think that we can make it through this life,

that we can know God's will for us without opening

Scripture. God will never say something that

contradicts Scripture. That is a fact. Because

our God is not a God of confusion. And if you

hear something that isn't aligned with Scripture,

that's confusing, right? If I give you a task,

if I say, hey, I need you to change my oil, but

I leave a note on the dash that says, hey, change

the windshield wipers. Well, those are two different

things, right? You could try to verify and you

could call me and say, hey, did you mean change

the oil and change the windshield wipers? Or

you could maybe say, who left the note? That

doesn't look like Donovan's handwriting. Why

didn't he just tell me to do that? God will never

say something that contradicts scripture to you.

You hear people say all the time, God spoke to

me. I do believe God speaks to us. Maybe not.

I'm not going to say he can't speak to us verbally,

but people will say things like God spoke to

me and then they'll fill in the blank with whatever

it is that they want. But that's nothing like

what's in scripture. I would say that's pretty

confusing. So if we want to know what God is

trying to call us to do or what God is trying

to say to us, we have to verify through Scripture.

The shepherd's voice always matches the shepherd's

word. And the third thing, and I said verify

it, test it. The voice of our shepherd, this

wasn't supposed to be a slide change, the voice

of our shepherd will call you toward love. It

will call you toward holiness, truth. And peace.

It won't call you to fear. The shepherd doesn't

call you to confusion. He won't call you to selfishness.

He won't call you to pride. He'll call you towards

looking like Jesus. And the final thing is talk

to wise believers. When you think God might be

saying something. Run it by trusted Christians.

Run it by your shepherds. Run it by a deacon.

Run it by that person that's mentored you since

you were first baptized. Run it by the minister,

whoever it is that you need to. Run it by them.

Some of the young people in the room, you've

got some awesome parents and grandparents. Talk

to them. Talk to trusted Christians. Notice I

didn't say just talk to anybody that say they

believe in God. Talk to trusted Christians who

know his word and want his. best for you. If

you want to hear God's voice more clearly, we

have to start by asking. We have to listen. Eliza

always gets mad at me because she'll say something

and I don't hear her because I'm partially deaf.

And well, that and I'm just dumb. Like I said,

she so she'll say something and I'll go, huh?

And then she'll repeat herself. But the problem

is, I'm like washing dishes or something. I'm

not actually listening to her. So I'm doing this.

She'll say something. I'll say, huh? And then

she'll say it. And I'm like, what? And she'll

say, what are you saying? And she says, if you're

not ready to listen, don't ask me what I said.

Don't ask God to speak. Don't ask God to make

himself clear if you're not ready to listen to

him. Read his word. Test the calling. Talk to

people. And then trust and obey. God, he still

speaks. I believe that to be a fact. God still

speaks. But we have to answer the question, are

we ready to hear? Here's how I want to wrap it

up this morning. God is calling. All of us. He's

calling all of us to do something. And to be

simple, to be frank, God is calling us to lay

our lives down and take up a cross. God is calling

us to get rid of our baggage here on earth and

say, I'm going to follow Jesus. I'm going to

follow the good shepherd. I'm going to live a

life that goes behind him. And the great news,

the gospel message is that that life is so much

better than this life. And that life is not even

as good as what it's going to be when we get

to the restored creation. There is a home that

God is calling us to. And bless, bless, bless

us. We get to participate in just a fraction

of that here. Now, when he leads us beside still

waters. When He leads us to the valley of the

shadow of death. When He leads us to places of

providence, of promise. And this is just a foretaste

of the future. He's calling all of us to follow

Jesus and to live for Him. He's calling us to

a life of peace, joy, hope. He's calling us to

live a life that leads to a life with him and

the restored creation for eternity. God is calling

and we have to follow. And if we do, he will

lead us to a fulfilling and an abundant life.

And if we don't, God's still going to be glorified

one way or another. I heard someone say revelation

can be summed up this way. God wins. Don't be

dumb. Join the right team. God's going to be

glorified. Heaven's going to be awesome. Jesus

will be there. All our loved ones that have gone

before us, that have accepted Jesus as their

Savior, they'll be there. The place that God

designed for us in the beginning, that beautiful

home that He designed for man and him to live

together, that's going to be what our reality

is. And I want to be there. I want you to be

there. And we have to know that He's going to

have glory. It's up to us to follow Him there.

Don't miss out on glory. And this isn't prosperity

gospel. This is just the gospel. Glory is promised

to those who follow his calling. The Apostle

Paul says it very clearly in Romans 8. Psalm

23 tells us that it's a good life. I would argue

it's a great life. I'm driving last night in

the dark. And Eliza yesterday decided to be a

little emotional person. And I guess she was

driving and she said, hey, if you want a good

cry today, just listen to our wedding playlist.

And I'm like, I don't even I forgot about that.

So she sends it to me and and I hit shuffle and

I press play. And the first song is this song.

It's from the ground up and it talks about this

life that we'll build. And I'm thinking about

the life. That I was on the path for. The life

that my. Myself. That I was born into. That I

was destined for. Based on circumstances. And

it wasn't what I have now. It wasn't a beautiful

wife. It wasn't beautiful kids. It wasn't a great

church family. It wasn't a life of peace. Of

abundance. Of happiness. Of purpose. If I'd never

accepted and listened to the call, I don't have

any of that. And this is just a taste of what

our home in heaven will be like. Don't miss out

on that. Listen for his voice and respond accordingly.

If you feel God calling you to something specific,

If you feel like God is begging you to accept

the free gift of salvation that Jesus brings

to those who surrender their lives, if you feel

like God is calling you to surrender something,

whatever it is that's standing in the way of

you following his calling for you today, of him

calling you to glory, if anything is in your

way, whatever it is, if you need to be baptized,

we will have that water ready. If you just need

to lay something down at the feet of Jesus, we

are offering you this invitation now as we stand

and as we sing.