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

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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 was calling to tell you you had just inherited $50 million.

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.

Couple verses down from that verse, Romans 8.30, 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 Kaleo, K-A-L-E-O, Kaleo.

It's almost like Kaleo, call.

And the word Kaleo means God is calling you and it's used about a hundred times in the

New Testament, over a 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 learn 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 a 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 1 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 thumb

in 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.

The second Timothy 1, 9 says, he 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.

A circle the word purpose on that verse because that leads us to the second thing we learn

and it's 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 going to make sense and you're going to get bored and you're going to get frustrated

and you're going to 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 1 verse 15.

Paul says, it pleased God in his kindness to choose me and call me even before I was

born.

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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 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 is, of course, was Paul.

I mean, Paul was a pretty rude dude and a crude mood before he became an apostle.

God called him to be an apostle.

And in 1 Timothy chapter 1, 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.

But in the honesty there, while I lacked faith, I acted in ignorance.

You know what he's saying?

He's saying, 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 in the 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 waste 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 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?

God 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 got to 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 Colson.

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 150, 60 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 learn about God's.

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Calling is my calling.

It's permanent.

This is a further extension of what I just said.

What I mean when it's 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, 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 11, verse 29, God's gifts and His callings are read it with me.

Irrevocable.

Circle that.

You cannot be taken away.

They are permanent.

The calling on your life is never, ever going to change.

No matter what you've done, no matter what you've messed up, the expression may change,

the timing, the wind, the where, the how, but the calling will not change.

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

Now, what does this first 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.

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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 brain hears 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, Romans 14-7, none of us lives to Himself alone and none

of us dies to Himself alone.

You've got to be connected.

How do you get connected through a church, families?

Why do 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, Ephesians 4-4.

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

We all have this...

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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 3-1, brothers and sisters, you are a holy, you are holy partners in a heavenly

calling.

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.

Let's talk about this more in the future.

Number 7, God empowers what He calls me to do.

That's the seventh thing I need to know about my calling.

The 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, as a God, whatever time I've got left

on this earth, I want to use it to fulfill your calling for me, whether 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 4.1, 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.

Thessalonians chapter 1, 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.

God says, I will give you the power.

You can count on God to give you the strength you need.

Thessalonians 5, the one who calls you as 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.

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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've 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 is going to last forever.

Philippians 3.14, I pressed 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.

What in God just creates you and take you to heaven?

If you're going there, anyway, why don't you 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 to 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 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.

First, that's on his 2-12.

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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 fraternity God will share His kingdom and His glory if I live out my calling.

I can't even explain this, get your head, wrap your head around it.

So let me just say it 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 tab and go, did you fulfill your call?

I didn't even know I had one.

Well you do.

And if you fulfill your calling in life and you do what got you make the most of what

you're given, God says, you're going to share in my kingdom and 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 so you just been ignoring it, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring.

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 a second.

We're going to pray a prayer blessing.

But you've got to make the decision, am I going to answer God's call?

That's about 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'm a share in your kingdom and in your glory.

If you've never invited Jesus in your life, say 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 road map

to help you discover and limit.

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.

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