Am I Called? | Ps. Keith Pittman

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

If you have your Bibles, I want to invite you to join me in Ephesians chapter 4.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

That's where we're going to be spending some time today.

And what I'm going to do while you guys are turning there, I'm going to just go ahead and take this off.

So y'all go ahead and have some conversation amongst yourselves while we give ourselves together here.

All right.

All right.

I am so so pumped about the season that we're in as a church.

And I want to explain to you why.

And God really began to give us some vision about the upcoming series and things that He wants to do and baby dedications and baptisms and worship nights and serve days and all these amazing things that he really is planning in our community over the next several months.

And it starts with this series right here, something that I'm deeply passionate about.

Reason being is because I believe with the topic that we're going to be hitting on, it really is a linchpin discussion.

And I'm talking about this idea of being called.

Because it's one of those words that we use so much in our Christian lexicon.

We use it all the time.

But it's one of those words that often is misinterpreted or misunderstood, or there's probably even wrong definitions around it.

And our hope is that over the next couple of weeks we can unpack some different things about what does it truly mean to be called?

What does free will and choice have to do with being called?

What if you make a mistake?

What if you what if you get off track?

All of these things we're hoping to be able to tackle and equip you guys with over the next couple of weeks.

And it all starts right now.

So I pray that you guys are going to take some notes and lean in because I think it can truly empower us.

You see, I I love the Word of God as we mentioned earlier, this whole idea of us being able to study the Word of God and really get a grasp of what it is that God is saying.

And because I love it so much because of what it provides for us.

It's not a it's not a book of fables and just ideas, but it's it's literally the mind and the will and the heart of God that's been expressed through varying people's personalities and fueled by the Spirit of God that's meant to inform and equip and build our faith.

It's such a unique piece of literature that's divine in its very nature.

Every week and every day as we do devotionals, we engage in this powerful word to allow us to understand what it is that God is speaking to us.

And it's it's nothing more refreshing and faith-building than those moments.

And we study these characters, these characters in the Bible, and often we can see ourselves in them.

I know that a lot of times as a as a fan of music, we talk about who's your favorite artist, who's your who's your top three?

Some of my top three Bible characters, and Jesus is the price of admission.

So obviously, Jesus is number one, so I'm not gonna even add him on the list, he transcends it.

But beyond that, some of my favorite characters in the Bible would be Moses, David, and Paul.

And you can look at moments and seasons of our own lives, and we can probably identify with aspects of each of these characters and their journeys.

And the thing that I love that you see about every one of the men that I mentioned is that none of them were perfect, none of them had it all figured out, but yet God still had a unique calling on every one of their lives, and he used them to do some incredible things to advance the kingdom.

This brings me to Paul.

Because what I love about Paul is that Paul is all of us.

Paul has a past, a messy past, but God still was able to rewire it and use it to advance the kingdom of God in such a profound way.

So as we look at Ephesians chapter 4, it's it's understanding that we're we're listening to the words of a man who was who was flawed, a man who was literally writing these words, likely sitting inside of a prison cell, but yet still using his collective experiences in an effort to try to encourage us, knowing that it could be something that we can build our faith on.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

Starting at verse number one in Ephesians 4, it simply says this therefore, I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.

Paul says, I'm a prisoner because I'm serving Christ, and I want to encourage every single one of you that there will be times where it gets a little uncomfortable, but live a life worthy of your calling.

You have been called to live a life that is set apart.

Paul connects the life that we live to our calling.

He introduces an idea that transcends what we do, but more so who we are.

What I want to talk to us about for the rest of our time today is around this idea of what calling really means.

And I simply want to pose this question to you.

Am I called?

Let's pray and let's let's dig in.

Lord, we thank you.

We thank you so much for your word.

We we thank you for your presence, God.

We thank you for inviting us into spaces like this.

God, I pray that you give us open eyes that we can see you.

I pray for an open hearts that we can receive what it is that you want to do, and I pray for open ears that we can hear your voice above all.

We honor you and invite your spirit to lead us, to challenge us, to inspire us and encourage us.

It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen and amen.

I am a I am a firm believer of ensuring that that this powerful and precious platform that that God has has given us is used in a way that advances the kingdom of God, that that glorifies him and only him.

I don't believe that this is a a platform that's meant to pontificate on opinions and ideas and and political influences.

I believe that that's what this is for.

But at the expense of contradicting myself, I felt last night that God was was tempting me and challenging me to go into these uncomfortable waters and to present a question to every single one of us that may make us feel a little bit uncomfortable.

But I want you to brace yourself as I ask this question because I believe that God led me there for a reason.

Is it appropriate to put pineapple on pizza?

I I'm just trying to get a sense of it.

And and some of you you may be wondering, like, why is that even a thing?

I was looking on the internet for some pizza recipes, and I wandered into this dark corner of the web where this obviously is a massive debate that is called division amongst families.

So I just want to get a sense.

If you are pro-pineapple on pizza, let me let me see your hand.

That's what I'm saying.

Celebration Orlando.

If you are if you are anti-pineapple on pizza, let me see you.

It's like 50-50.

And we're all in here together.

See, the politicians can learn from us.

We can all do this thing together.

I I had no idea that this was that big of a deal.

That people have argued, there's literally websites dedicated to the tension between whether pineapple belongs on pizza.

Now, again, I don't like to, I don't like to get into these political waters, but I'm gonna go ahead and let you know where I'm at with it.

I believe that anything that God gives us, it should be together.

So I'm in favor of pineapple being connected to pizza because I believe in the spirit of unity.

It's just it's who I am, it's the way that God has wired me.

But I but I also understand that people wrestle with this idea of the of the saltiness and the sweetness being all together.

But that sounds like my marriage.

Okay.

Um I love you.

You know that girl.

You are so fun, and I love the way that your mask matches your shirt.

You look good.

Um and and here's the thing, here's the thing.

The reason why this is so uh a big deal for me is because like as I've been venturing into this these waters of learning how to cook and and expand my my palate a little bit, I've been looking at different ways that I can include different ingredients into my homemade pizzas that I've been making.

And and and the thing that I've appreciated about now that I'm in a process of making pizza, it's a lot of work.

I know it's easy to just kind of call a number and and dial something or look it up on an app and have it delivered, but it's it's a lot of work.

Now that I'm actually doing the work, I see it.

And here's a couple of the things that that I personally have felt.

I I felt this tension of of getting this dough.

So that's part one.

You gotta throw it in the air and toss it around and let it land, and you're trying to get it in the perfect symmetrical dimensions, and then you add in the other ingredients.

You have the sauce and the cheese and pineapples and and the other ingredients, the protein, if you so choose, and then you put it into this oven, and then with the fire, all these ingredients melt together and it creates one thing that is so flavorful and beautiful.

It's interesting how all these random ingredients that sometimes don't seem as if they could actually work together, they actually do.

See, I've I've come to believe that our calling sounds very similar to that, where we've been beat up a little bit.

Some things have been pressed on us.

It seems like we've been tossed around a little bit, and now we're sitting and looking at a life with all these random ingredients, and we're wondering if any of these ingredients make sense.

In fact, do any of these ingredients lead me to a place where I actually do have a calling?

Because I can't see how this ingredient supports what I'm supposed to be called to do.

I I can't understand why my life going through this particular path actually supports the thing that I'm called to do.

So when I look at these random ingredients and I look at the menu of things that I've been exposed to, it could lead me to a place where clearly, because these are the ingredients that I've been dealt, it's clear that I am not called.

Because I've walked through some tough things.

But Paul says it this way in Romans 8, 28, a very familiar passage.

It says, and we know that God calls everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose.

Imagine that.

God has this profound ability to take all the random ingredients that we've been exposed to, things that don't make sense, things that we think should disqualify, things that we think would mean that we are not called at all.

And it says that he's able to use all of the things that you've experienced and been exposed to, and he's able to kind of put it in this melting pot, and it is creating a calling and a purpose that ultimately brings glory to him.

It's amazing how God is able to do that.

I love the emphasis on a couple of words here.

It says purpose.

See, that that word purpose means to set forth.

It's it's the it's the it means the reason.

And for every single one of us, there's a purpose on our lives.

There's a reason that God created us.

And I want to go ahead and spoil it right now.

We all have the same purpose.

That purpose is to bring glory to God.

That's all of our purpose.

Every single one of us has the exact same purpose.

It's the reason we were set forth, it's the reason we were created.

We were created to bring glory to God.

Imagine that for a moment.

That we're created in the image of God, and our purpose is to live lives in a way that exalts Jesus.

That when people look at us, they can see Jesus through the way that we live our lives.

That when people see us, they're supposed to look at us and somehow admire God through us.

Whenever Megan and I go out and look at homes and we love to look at homes when we're driving down the street and we see a nice neighborhood, she'll pull up the realtor app and we're looking at it.

And at some point, after we're doing all this investigation, maybe we go and take a look inside the model.

At some point, we pose this question: this home is beautiful, the quality is incredible.

Who is the builder?

At some point, we can look at the outside of something, we can even get on the inside of something, but at some point we begin to say, I wonder who the builder is, and I wonder where else they have built, I wonder where else they're located in the city.

Because maybe we like this home, but we we know we're supposed to be in a different area.

So let's see where else the builder is.

Imagine for a moment that we lived our lives in such a way that when people looked at us, they said, There's a creator that's influencing every single thing that they do.

There's a creator that clearly, and I need to get closer to that creator because I see the joy that is in their lives.

That is what every single one of our purposes is.

Our purpose is to reflect the light of Jesus to a dark and hurting world.

That is our purpose.

But when we talk about calling, it gets a little bit deeper.

See, that word calling, it has a root word of Kaleo.

Let me let me give us a let me go, let's take us to school for a moment.

That word kalaleo, it means to call, to summon, or to name.

See, the the a root word is simply this it's a word that that is connected to other words.

And so whenever you're trying to get a clear definition of words, you kind of see these root words that are connected to it.

Let me let me give us a couple of examples of where we see like these root words existing in the English language.

Let's take the word form.

That word form.

Now we have other words that are built around it.

Information.

Formation.

These that word form is there, and so that definition of form is connected to every single other rendering of the word.

That's why when you hear preacher say the root word, it means that that word is its purest definition and it influences everything else that you see.

Another word that I'll use is the word act, actor, acting, action.

We see, activate.

It's that same root word that then flows over into every single thing else.

So when that word call is used, that's a root word that's connected to a lot of other words in scripture that our English language doesn't often recognize.

Let me give you some of the other words that that word call is connected to.

That word call is connected to this word called ecclesia, which is the church.

Man, who would have thought that the word call is connected to church?

It's it's connected to the idea of calling, it's it's connected to this word cletos, which means to be called.

It's even connected to the word paracletus, which speaks about the Holy Spirit and his ability to summon and to inform and empower.

Now we're beginning to see a trend here that God uses this root word in all these different renderings to send us a very clear definition of what it means to be called.

This is just a few of the renderings.

Some of the other renderings mean to be blameless.

It means to be invited, it means to be challenged, it means to be assembled.

So let's pull it all together.

To be called simply means to be set apart, to be invited, to be activated, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and challenged to do the thing that He has called us to do.

Some people are like shook.

Let me let me say that again.

It means to be set apart, invited in, welcome, inspired, empowered, challenged by the Holy Spirit to fulfill your God-given assignment.

So I asked the question, are you called?

The answer is yes, you are called.

I want you to turn to your neighbor and say, I am called.

Turn to the one you ignored and tell them, I am called.

You are absolutely called.

You are called.

And I want you to make sure you understand this that you've been set apart, you've been anointed, you've been empowered, you've been challenged, you've been inspired by the very Holy Spirit to fulfill your God-given assignment.

Yes, indeed, you are called.

Everything you do is a reflection of your calling.

So, man, that adds a little bit more weight to our day-to-day lives, doesn't it?

It adds a little bit more significance to the things that we may deem as insignificant.

Because the question then becomes if I am called, I know my purpose, and I am called, inspired, and challenged by God.

If I am called by God, what if I missed it?

What if I what if I what if I missed my major and I I took the wrong thing and now I'm off into this journey where I'm pursuing money, but I feel unfulfilled because I'm not walking in my calling?

What if I was supposed to what if I was called to marry that person, but I was I was too scared to go to small groups that day, and she ended up going to groups with somebody else, and now she marries somebody else, and now I'm called to marry this ugly girl that was my second option.

Those aren't my words.

Those aren't my words.

I'm just reading some of your energy right now.

I promise I promise y'all, I am.

I'm just discerning what y'all are saying.

Because that's how we feel sometimes.

I'm called to this environment, I'm called to this job, I'm called to this church, I'm I'm called to this person to be my spouse.

So what happens if I miss it?

Man, it can lead us in a place where every time we face opposition and challenge, we can wonder if I missed my calling.

But Paul has a little bit something different to say about it.

He wanted to make sure that we didn't get so focused on what we're called to do that we miss who we're called to become.

Because you know it's possible that I could be so focused on what I'm called to do that I never become the person that has the integrity to do it well.

It's more about who I'm becoming before what I am doing.

2 Timothy, this is Paul writing to his disciple Timothy, he says it this way For God saved us and called us to live a holy life.

He did this not because we deserved it, but because it was his plan before the beginning of time to show his grace through Christ Jesus.

He says, He called us and saved us to live a holy life.

Let me tell you what he didn't say.

It didn't say that he saved us and called us to be missionaries.

It didn't even say he saved us and called us to be pastors, he saved us and called us to be preachers.

It doesn't say that he saved us and called us to be teachers, he didn't save us and call us to be bankers, he didn't save us and call us to be lawyers.

It doesn't say that.

What it says is that he saved us and called us to live a holy life.

He was making it more about who we are becoming than what we are doing.

What you are called to do is absolutely important.

It's the place where your passions and and the things that God has uniquely wired you to do culminate with your assignment.

But if we're so focused on the doing and not the being, we can find ourselves mishandling the grace that God has given us.

What happens when your gift makes room for you, but you don't have the maturity to be in that room?

We're gonna go in there.

Here's what I want us to understand.

It's all about who before do.

It's it's who I am before it's what I'm doing.

God is calling you to who you are before it's what you do.

What you are called to do flows from who you're called to be.

What you are called to do, it flows from who you're called to be.

Calling is about who you are before it's what you're doing.

What good is it for a person to arrive to a place of influence if you're not being influenced by God?

See, I I want to be the best father I can be.

But if I'm a father that's not being influenced by God, I'm doing it in my own strength.

I want to be the best leader I can be.

But if I'm a leader that's not being influenced by God, then I'm doing it in my own strength.

We all know what it feels like to have ambitions and drive and goals and things that we want to do, and when we do it in our own strength, it can be exhausting and we're not getting the graceful results.

But when we position ourselves to become the person that God is calling us to be, that we can then begin to feel this grace as we are doing what he's calling us to do.

We want to make sure that as our gift opened doors and our characters can sustain us being in the room.

And when we look at the life of Paul, Paul did some amazing things.

He had a massive kingdom assignment, but before he got into what God was calling him to do, God brought him on a journey on what he needed him to become.

That's the exciting thing.

So for all of us in here, we may be thinking, so what is it that I need to be?

What is it that God is leading me to become so I can make sure that I'm bringing those ingredients with me in whatever it is that he's calling me to do?

I want to give you these three thoughts on the things that God needs you to be before you're so focused on what God is calling you to do.

Here's the first thing we are called to be saved.

We are called to be saved.

Speaking of salvation, speaking of being in the family, in the community of God.

We're called to be saved.

We we already referenced 2 Timothy, where it says that we're set apart and called to be saved.

See, Paul, he he had a lot going on.

This man had so much experience, he has so much wisdom, he he understood and virtually memorized the entire Old Testament.

If you understand the background of Paul, Paul was this man who was very pious.

He belonged to the the group of Pharisees.

Pharisees are the the group of people who were largely responsible for Jesus being crucified on the cross.

So So Paul had a very pious and devout strong belief.

But he didn't have a full revelation of Jesus.

And so when you understand the background of Paul, you'll see that Paul was literally going out and arresting and being a part of Christians being killed.

This was Paul's background.

And you think your mistakes disqualify you.

Paul was literally responsible for Christians being arrested and murdered because they were following Jesus.

He had these gifts.

But God recognized that I can use those things.

I can use those experiences.

But before I get to you doing those things, I need you to become something different.

So while Paul is on his journey, on his way to have more Christians arrested on his own, the Bible says that Jesus interrupts his life.

We got a partner interruption because there's those moments when Jesus just shows up and interrupts your life.

Those moments where I'm going one way and then Jesus just interrupts it and says, But but I got something different for you.

I got another assignment on your life.

I got something new that I want to do in your life.

When Jesus just interrupts your regularly scheduled program, I know for me, Jesus interrupted my life.

It was one of those things that I had exposure to Jesus.

I had proximity to him, but I didn't have a relationship with him.

I was minding my own business, but I knew at some point I would surrender my life to Jesus.

It was it was a part of my plan, but it just wasn't when I when God had planned it.

So I already had it pictured in my mind.

I figured to myself that I'm going to surrender my life to Jesus.

It's going to be so powerful and poetic.

I'm probably going to like be around 40, is what I was thinking.

This is when I was in my 20s.

I'm going to be about 40 years old because I got some things I still want to do.

I still want to run these streets a little bit.

I still want to kind of do things on my own terms.

Like I love God.

I want to get there, but right now, some things I still want to do.

Y'all don't laugh at me like y'all ain't think the same thing.

And I remember thinking to myself, there's going to be that moment.

I'm going to go to church.

I'm going to be about 41, holding hands with my wife.

The preacher's going to be preaching.

He's going to have an altar call, and I'm going to look at her and be like, this is our time.

I'm going to get up, walk down to the altar with a single tear, and say, Yes, Jesus, I surrender all.

That is how I envisioned it.

That's how I thought it was going to be.

I had no idea that I was going to show up in a church service just to kind of appease my mom, inviting me to come to church.

The pastor is going to be all up in my business.

The Holy Spirit's going to lead me to an altar that's caused me to alter my entire life.

I didn't plan for that.

But it's amazing when God interrupts your regularly scheduled program.

It's amazing when God intervenes and says, I see the plans that you have, but I have something more powerful for you.

There's something that I see.

I know that you got these random ingredients of pain and suffering and brokenness.

And for you, you don't see any correlation between them.

But I see how I can use every single one of them for my glory.

But at first, I need to reposition you into the family.

Before God calls you to a job, he calls you to himself.

He sees Paul and he interrupts his program and he says, Man, like I got something profound for your life, but I first need you to come into the family.

God is calling every single one of us to be saved.

Jesus says it this way that the Son of Man didn't come to call the righteous, but he came to call the sinners to repentance.

The change of heart, turning around, going in the direction that God is ultimately leading and calling us to go.

Every single one of us have been called to be saved, but then there's this other component that God is calling us to be.

He is calling us to be sanctified.

Sanctified.

You guys don't hear that word often.

Sanctified.

Sanctified means set apart.

That means to be separate.

That means to be distinct.

That means to be to be different.

Paul was connected to the Pharisees, and he could have certainly hedged his bets.

He could have said, okay, man, like Jesus interrupts my life.

But I got all these friends and all these people, this life that I've created with these Pharisees.

Paul had influence.

It says that he even describes himself as a Pharisee of Pharisees.

He was a leader of leaders.

His brain was brilliant.

That's why he was released and activated to go and chase down Christians because he had such passion and such conviction.

So you can only imagine the inconvenience of God interrupting his life.

So he could have tried to do both.

I'm following you, Jesus, in secret, kind of like Nicodemus.

But I still want to be connected to this crowd because I don't want to be isolated.

I don't want to be lost.

I don't want to miss it.

FOMO.

But being sanctified means being set apart.

It means being different.

It means that people can recognize the godliness in you in such a profound way that it draws attention to Jesus.

Paul could have easily tried his best to blend in, but I think Paul had this revelation that you you can't impact what you impersonate.

And if I can be honest with you, what we have seen over the years is that sometimes we get to a place where we can't make a distinction between who's a believer and who's not.

We post scriptures on social media.

We don't look any different than the world.

How are we a light if we're turning it off so we can blend them with the dark?

God is compelling us to be a light in the midst of darkness.

He's calling us to lead a way for people who are broken and who have gone astray.

And it's not to our opinion, it's not to our political affiliation, it's to it's to the kingdom, it's it's to Jesus.

It's it's understanding that I'm set apart so that I can live a life that draws people to Jesus, that I can make sure that when people look at me, they can see the joy in my life because I got Jesus, that people can look at you and see the love in your life and see that how are you able to love when all chaos is in your life?

It's because I got Jesus.

How do you have peace when you don't have any clarity?

It's because I got Jesus.

It's when we get to a place where we anchor ourselves in the truth of who God is and we understand that we're called to be set apart, then it allows us to have the strength and the empowerment of God's spirit, and knowing that no matter what I may be facing, though I may walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear nothing because God is with me.

I got Jesus with me, and because I'm set apart, I'm gonna walk through this thing, I'm gonna suffer well, I'm gonna call on the name of Jesus.

Even if my political person didn't get in office, God is still good.

It doesn't matter if my things don't work out the way that I want it to.

God is still good.

It's understanding that my joy is not circumstantial because God is with me no matter what I'm standing in.

This this is what it means to be set apart.

This is what it means to not blend in.

This is what it means when it says don't be conformed to the image of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds, thinking of things differently, because we're engaging God's word and we're allowing that to transform us from the inside out.

See, before we can do anything, it's we gotta be something different.

We gotta be set apart, we gotta be sanctified, we gotta be on this journey of constant self-improvement.

That's what the sanctification process is.

It's it's looking at God's word.

See, in the Old Testament, at the with the tabernacle, they had this brazen lava, which was this bowl that the priests would cleanse themselves in, and it was filled with water, but there was mirrors at the bottom of it, so when they were washing their hands, they could see themselves.

That's how the word of God works for us.

As we're looking in God's word, it's cleansing us, but we can see ourselves, and as we do it more and more, we can groom ourselves to look more and more like Jesus.

As I look at this, I see that I have this impatience thing, but I'm grooming myself to look more and more like Jesus.

I see that I got this anger issue, but I'm grooming myself to look more and more like Jesus.

Instead of grooming ourselves to look like the latest celebrity, what would it look like if we began to groom ourselves to look more and more like Jesus?

This is what it means to be sanctified, to be set apart, to be recognized because of your connection to Jesus.

We can't impact what we impersonate.

Here's the third and final thing that I want to share with us today that we are called to be servants.

We are called to serve.

See, when you when you look at Paul's writings, you see that Paul constantly refers to himself as a prisoner or as a servant.

Now, when you understand Paul's full resume, this brother wrote two-thirds of the New Testament.

He is he is responsible for us understanding the connection between Old Testament theology and how it bleeds into and points to Christ.

He he helps us to understand the importance of putting on the armor of God, he he helps us to understand the power and the connection between marriage and connecting it to Jesus.

Paul had such profound revelation.

So if there's ever a person who deserves to sit on the front row, no shade to none of y'all up here.

No shade to none of y'all.

But if there's ever a person who deserves to walk around and and and kind of exalt themselves, I would certainly say it would be Paul.

But but but uniquely enough, Paul always found a way to posture himself to serve others.

He always found a way to say, it's not about me, it's about me pointing to Jesus.

See, when you understand that you're called to be a servant, it changes the way that you look at what God puts in your hands.

See, a servant understands this.

I'm an owner of nothing, I'm a steward of everything.

I don't own anything.

Everything I have is for me to use it to the glory of God.

And Paul had a lot of different skills.

He was a great communicator, he was he was great at writing and processing thoughts in all types of different ways.

Paul was so unique that he was raised as Jewish, so he understood the Jewish context.

That's who he was.

But he also was raised in Rome, so he understood Roman culture, but he also spoke Greek.

He had philosophical understanding, he had theological understanding, he had all these different things, and Paul still chose to say, I'm going to use all these gifts to serve people.

It's not about exaltation, it's not about building platforms, but it's about me stewarding what God has given me and using it in a way that can bring glory to God.

Paul served others, he served Jesus.

And his life becomes a template on how we are supposed to utilize the things that God has placed in our hands, the things that we've accumulated and use it to serve and make a difference with others.

Colossians 3.17.

I want to invite the worship team that can come back up and join me in this moment.

Colossians 3.17 says this whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to Him to God the Father.

Whatever you do, whatever you're called to do, do it for the glory of God.

If you are called to be a mom, do it to the glory of God.

If you are called to be a dad, do it to the glory of God.

If you're called to be a teacher, do it to the glory of God.

If you're if you're called to be a pastor, do it to the glory of God.

Use the things that God has given you and use them in a way that brings glory to God.

You see that Paul was helping us to understand that what you do flows from who you are.

If I could be a person that understands that I'm called to be saved and set apart and to be a servant, if I can be those things, then I could be entrusted to do the things that God wants me to do.

What you do flows from who you are.

And whatever seat you're sitting in, whatever thing you're thinking about.

God's going to give you clarity on that.

We're going to talk more about that.

But what I want to challenge you with, what is it that God has challenged you to become more of?

Because I believe if we can resolve some of those things, the clarity on what God wants us to do begins to rise to the surface even more and more.

I remember looking at the varying ingredients of my own life and wondering, what am I supposed to do?

My biological father left when I was four years old.

Raised with these these anger issues of a father who abandoned me and moved on and married another woman, had a whole nother family, and me and my brother were left to our own.

I I developed a little bit of anger.

So you know what I did with that anger?

I began to write angry poetry.

Just angry, just mad, just trying to find a way to express myself.

And that angry poetry turns into turned into angry rapping.

So now I would, I would, I would write these words with all this anger and emotion and frustration.

And you know what gave me the boldness to do it?

Is because every time I found myself in a battle scenario exchanging words and ideas, I would imagine that my dad was my opponent.

And I allowed that to fuel this rage and this anger inside of me, and I had this boldness that I would get in front of anybody and express my thoughts and ideas.

This broken young man who felt abandoned, who's working through all these things and the death of loved ones and all these other components that's going on, and God interrupts me on my own journey and says, You may think that I can't use that, but I want to let you know I work all things together for the good because you are called according to my purpose.

See that that confidence that you got to be in front of people, I can use that.

That boldness that you got, I can use that.

That indignation you got, I can use that.

But instead of you being indignant with people, how about you be indignant with sin?

How about you being indignant with brokenness?

How about you be indignant with seeing people suffer?

I can use your boldness to stand in front of the people of God and declare the goodness of Jesus that even when they don't have clarity, they can still trust in Him.

This is a way that God can use our past experiences for his glory.

Nothing is wasted when grace is involved.

I want every one of us to be encouraged that you are called.

But before you can do the thing that God wants you to do, you have to be the person that God needs you to be.

Be saved, be set apart, be sanctified, and be a servant.

Use what God has given you for the benefit of others for his glory.

Maybe you're in here right now.

And as we talk about these things about calling and what am I supposed to do, you recognize there's a couple of things you need to become.

I need to be saved.

I need to be set apart.

I need to be a servant.

We need to create space for us to do that.

With every head bowed and with every eye closed, I just want to pray for us because maybe as you're in this room, you know, Keith, I need to surrender my life to Jesus.

If that's you, I want you to boldly lift your hands up because I want to include you on a prayer.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

God bless you.

Amen.

Church, we put our hands together for every person in here and online that is saying yes to Jesus.

I need to be saved.

But being called also means being challenged.

It means being led by the Spirit.

It means being empowered by the Spirit.

And so maybe for some of us, in order for us to be set apart, we need God to give us the strength and the grace and the capacity to be set apart.

Not in some weird, I'm a Christian way, let me show you my tattoos and necklaces, but just living a life that people can see the fruit of you walking with God in the way that you live your life.

We can't do it without the powering of the Holy Spirit.

So maybe you're in here and maybe you're in some toxic environments.

We all understand it.

I have been.

We all venture into environments and family dynamics that we can't control, but we still want to make sure that we can keep our Christian character even in those environments.

So for you, for those who need the strength to maintain their witness, even in environments of darkness, I want to pray for you.

So in the count of three, I want you to boldly lift your hands up.

One, two, three.

Just praying for strength, praying for strength, praying for strength, praying for strength.

God bless you.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

The power of God is gonna meet you.

Amen.

It's not easy.

You can go ahead and put those hands down.

Here's my my third and final question.

Maybe you're in here, and maybe God has put something in your hand.

Some of it you may know.

It could be time, talent, resources.

Maybe you haven't placed it in God's hand yet.

Maybe this idea of stewardship, which is simply being a servant, surrendered to God, looking at what you have and saying, God, how can I glorify you in what you have given me?

These experiences, these gifts, these talents, these things that I've accumulated over the years of my life.

I don't see how you're working them all together.

But I want to be a servant and I want you to be glorified in it.

And you just simply want clarity on how to use what God has given you for his glory.

If that's you, I want to pray for you.

On the count of three, I want you to boldly lift your hand up.

One, two, three.

Just clarity on what I have so I can make sure that God is glorified.

Amen.

God bless every single one of you.

I want to lead us in a prayer, and I don't want to be the only one praying, but as a community, I want us all to lean into this moment.

Heavenly Father, God, you see every hand that was lifted up.

We pray for those who are surrendering their life to you.

For those that are saying yes to you, Jesus, saying, Yes, Lord, I know that I have some things that you are calling me to do, but you are calling me to be saved.

You're calling me to be a part of your family.

So, Father, I pray for every single person that lifted their hand and even those who have made the decision in our heart and saying that today is the day of salvation.

Today is the day that heaven is rejoicing as a result of you recognizing that I can't live life on my own terms anymore.

I need to position myself in the family of faith.

And now you are safe.

So, God, I pray for those precious people that have made the decision to surrender their lives to you, God.

Come alive on the inside of them.

And now, God, I pray for those.

I pray for those, God, who are in this place where they're they're wrestling with how to stay strong when they're in toxic environments, those environments that are tempting, those environments that seem to suck the energy and life out of them, Father.

Many of those environments they're returning to right now, negativity and drama and pain and suffering, and they just can't see you in it at all.

Father, I pray that you give them the strength to stand even in the midst of wickedness and brokenness, God, allowing them to recognize that their life is a light, that it's a testimony, Father.

I pray that you give them boldness.

I pray that you give them strength, but I also pray that you give them discernment, not that they're quoting scriptures and condemning, but living a life where the fruit of the spirit can flow in such a way that it will draw people's attention to you.

I pray, Father, for negativity to draw itself away, God, because of the light that's on the inside of them, Father, because of the salt and the flavoring that you've given them, Father.

They have purpose, they have calling, they have destiny.

You've placed them in the environment that they're in so that they can make a difference, so that they can have an impact, so that they can begin to see people come to Christ as a result of them living their lives with integrity and with boldness, God, and not shrinking back and being silent when they need to speak up, Father.

I pray for your people right now in the name of Jesus who are struggling with how to walk this walkout in environments that want to remove you from them, Father.

In the name of Jesus, I plead your blood over their minds, over their bodies, over their souls.

I pray that your spirit begins to ignite something on the inside of them that gives them a revelation of the truth of your word and an inspiration of your spirit that allows them to walk with boldness and strength in the name of Jesus, God.

We stand against the assignments of the adversary that will convince people that because of what they're facing, they're not called, they're not destined, that they can never stand out.

Father, I body that in the name of Jesus, in the name that's above every name, we declare victory over their homes, we declare victory over their workplaces, we declare victory in their families, Father, in Jesus' name.

And God, we pray, we pray, Father, for a move of your spirit, God.

We need every person in here who has an amazing job.

Those who are trying to figure it out, whether you're a barista, whether you're a doctor, whether you're a nurse, whether you're a surgeon, that they do it for the glory of God.

So, Father, I pray, Father, that we have more faithful witnesses in the environments that the church can't get into, God.

I pray for your people right now in the name of Jesus that no matter what you have them doing, they're doing it for your glory.

I pray that people are drawn to you as a result of their integrity, of their character, of their poise, of their anointing, God.

In the name of Jesus, God, I pray that you open up doors.

I pray that you give favor, I pray that you give clarity, God, in every assignment that the enemy has against them.

We bind and cancel it in the name of Jesus.

Can we give God some praise in here today, church?

Thanks again for listening.

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