Traditional Service

One-night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, "Here I am." -1 Samuel 3:2-4

In ministry you get the opportunity to visit with a lot of people about different things going on in their lives.  We are blessed to be able to have those conversations and hopefully we can help the individuals get a clear picture of steps they need to take.  A lot of times, people already know what they need to do…but it helps sometimes just to be able to talk it out to someone else.  I was having a conversation once with a person who had come seeking my input about God’s call on their life and when they spoke that sentence I responded with, “Which call?”  They were a little confused by the question, because they had come to ask me about my call into full time ministry.  So, I had to explain myself a little clearer.

God calls us to a lot of things.  Here are a few:

·       Salvation

·       To defend the rights of the poor and needy

·       To learn to do right and seek justice

·       To love mercy and walk humbly with God

·       To seek His kingdom first and His righteousness

·       To go into all the world and preach the gospel

·       To live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them

·       To press on toward the goal of heaven

·       To live a holy life

·       To fix our thoughts on Jesus

·       To be prepared to give an answer for our faith, and 

·       To use whatever gift, you have received, to serve others

Here’s what I fervently believe this morning.  God is constantly placing a call on our lives.  So, what I would like for us to do today is to look at a few things that will help us to respond better to those calls.