God's Call - Specific Ministry Calls in the Bible

When we think about one's 'call' in Christian ministry, it is important to evaluate it in light of Scripture.  Here are some examples and general truths that might be helpful in considering God's Ministry Call.


Satan – Beware the False Call of Satan
o Adam & Eve – “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" Genesis 3:1
o False Prophets - “Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 23:32
o False Teachers – “they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2 Timothy 4:3b,4
o Anti-Christ – “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.” 1 John 2:22

Abraham – Step Away from the Familiar when Called
o “Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.” Genesis 12:1

Moses – Don’t Make Excuses when God Calls
o “Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say” Exodus 4:12

Aaron – Don’t Call Yourself
o “No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was” Hebrews 5:4

Isaiah – Be Willing to Answer God’s Call without Qualifications
o “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” Isaiah 6:8

Jonah – Don’t Run Away from God’s Call
o “But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish” Jonah 1:3

Jeremiah – Go to Whomever and Speak Whatever God Calls You To Do
o “I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations….Do not say, 'I am only a youth'; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD…Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.’" Jeremiah 1:5-9

Ezekiel – Follow even when God’s Call is Difficult
o “he said to me, ‘Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me” Ezekiel 2:3

Disciples Chosen – God’s Call Means He Chose You & Appointed You to Bear Fruit
o “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.” John 15:16

Sending of the Twelve – Answer God’s Dangerous Call
o “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town… I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” Matthew 10:14, 16

Peter – Do Not Doubt God’s Call
o “’Lord, if it's you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’ ’Come,’ he said… Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’“ Matthew 14:28,29a,31

Jesus to the Cross – God’s Call is for God’s Will
o “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” Luke 22:42
o “offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” – Romans 12:1-2

Disciples Sent – God’s Call involves Great Power and Distance
o “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” Acts 1:8

Christ’s Ambassadors – God’s Call is for Us to be Messengers
o “We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20

Paul & Barnabas – Be Willing to Part Godly Company in Order to Follow God’s Will
o “They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.” Acts 15:39,40

Paul – God’s Call Often Involves Unplanned Situations and Unfinished Work
o “23But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to see you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain.” Romans 15:23,24a

Elder/Shepherd/Pastor/Overseer/Bishop – God’s Call has Standards
o “2Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.” 1 Timothy 3:2-7 (also Titus 1:6-9)

Christian Leadership Quotes

"The authority by which the Christian leader leads is not power but love, not force but example, not coercion but reasoned persuasion. Leaders have power, but power is safe only in the hands of those who humble themselves to serve." - John Stott

"The Church is the one institution that exists for those outside it." - William Tyndale

"Truth demands confrontation; loving confrontation, but confrontation nevertheless." -Francis Schaeffer

"It is a contradiction to be a true Christian and not humble." - Richard Baxter

"I believe that in the end the truth will conquer." - John Wycliffe

"The true man of God is heartsick, grieved at the worldliness of the Church...grieved at the toleration of sin in the Church, grieved at the prayerlessness in the Church. He is disturbed that the corporate prayer of the Church no longer pulls down the strongholds of the devil." -Leonard Ravenhill

"Oh, young man, character is worth more than money, character is worth more than anything else in this wide world." - D.L. Moody

"Let us never put confidence in man, or in any sanctity of position, office, or dress. If apostleship did not make Judas a saint, neither will position, office, nor dress make thee a saint." -Johann Ferus

"Once in seven years I burn all my sermons; for it is a shame, if I cannot write better sermons now than I did seven years ago." - John Wesley

"If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth..." - C.S. Lewis

"Character is not made in a crisis, it is only exhibited." - Robert Freeman

"A bad man is worse when he pretends to be a saint." - Francis Bacon

"Whatever subject I preach, I do not stop until I reach the Savior, the Lord Jesus, for in Him are all things." - Charles Spurgeon

"With their doctrine they build, and with their lives they destroy." - Augustine

"If you plan to build a tall house of virtues, you must first lay deep foundations of humility." -Augustine

"We are building many splendid churches in this country, but we are not providing leaders to run them. I would rather have a wooden church with a splendid parson than a splendid church with a wooden parson" - Samuel Smith Drury

"What a man says and what a man is must stand together." -Maltbie Davenport Babcock

"The highest and most profitable lesson is the true knowledge and lowly esteem of ourselves." Thomas A' Kempis

"Men show their character in nothing more clearly than by what they think laughable." -Johann Wolfgang Goethe

"Truth in humble dress meets with few admirers."  -Edward Stillingfleet

"As a matter of honor, one man owes it to another to manifest the truth." -Thomas Aquinas

"Character is always lost when a high ideal is sacrificied on the altar of conformity and popularity." - Charles Spurgeon

"Wherever we see the Word of God purely preached and heard, there a church of God exists, even if it swarms with many faults." -John Calvin

 "I spent twenty years of my life trying to recruit people out of local churches and into missions structures so that they could be involved in fulfilling God's global mission. Now I have another idea. Let's take God's global mission and put it right in the middle of the local church!"  - George Miley

"Hypocrisy desires to seem good rather than to be so; honesty desires to be good rather than seem so." -Athur Warwick

"the pulpit is never to be the ladder by which ambition is to climb" - Charles Spurgeon

http://www.christianquotes.org/

Bible Fellowship ( Sunday School ) Teacher Tips #8 - Information vs. Application

Bible Fellowship ( Sunday School ) Teacher Tips # 8 - Information vs. Application from Jonathan Carl on Vimeo.
James 1:22-25 " 22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."