The Effective Call | Chris B

This message was preached  by Chris B at Word of Grace Church on May 28th, 2017. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here.

Before I jump in to anything else, I need to share a challenging story. My wife asked me to take care of the kids for a day, both of whom are mobile. There was an incident when I was supposed to take the kids out and we had an incident with the lift. I called my son to come out of the lift and he did not come, so he got stuck. Then we retrieved him and it was ok. But there was something wrong with my calling. God’s calling is not like our calling. When he calls us, we cannot say no.

This morning we will be in Jude. The greetings in the epistles can be so helpful. We often skip through them. Today we will see that every bit of God’s word has unbelievable value to us.

Jude 1-2 “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ”

Jude identifies himself as the servant of Jesus. James was the brother of the Lord. So Jude is also a brother of Jesus, but he doesn’t even bring it up. Our primary identity is not biological, it is spiritual.

This has a lot of implications for us. If you were born in an important family, it is easy to think that your identity comes from that high standing. Jude’s emphasis is not on brother of the Lord,  but servant of the Lord. On the other hand, if you come from a shameful family, the shame of that can be significant. I have liberating news for you, that’s not your identity. All of us have the opportunity to have the same mindset as Jude. The scripture tells us that the greatest is the one who is a servant of all.

 Q. What does it mean to be called by God?

Romans 8:30- “And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

God the Father, before creation, knew and loved his children. He called them, justified and glorified them. These are all in the past tense because they are so certain that they have already taken place. It is unshakable and unchanging.

1.      We are loved by God the Father- before the ages began, he created you to love you and then redeemed you to love you. Before he said let there be light, he said let there be Chris.

2.      We are kept for Jesus Christ—when something originates in the mind of God, Jesus accomplishes it. The doctrine of Salvation is an example of that. We are his treasured possession, his Bride. As we are waiting for Jesus to return, God gave us the Spirit as a seal until the return.

Q. Have you ever been concerned that you would lose your salvation?

Know that we are kept.

May mercy, peace and love be multiplied- what does that mean?

In the midst of chaos and difficulty, we experience God’s mercy, peace and love. That is what we pray for.

Q. How are we called?

I used my voice to call my son. But according to 2 Thess 2:14- “To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We were called through the power of the gospel. The truth that Jesus has borne your sins and have resurrected from the dead and is now the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. That is what called us to salvation. 

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that have people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.