Covenant Life Church

When it comes to fulfilling our purpose as doing the work of God, we are good at making excuses, but the reasons that we give hold us back from experiencing everything that He has in store for us. This week, Jay Webb (West Metro FCA) uses the life of Jeremiah to show us five excuses that we often say in response to our purpose and calling - and how God’s promises are bigger than each of them.

Purpose is so powerful that Jesus was murdered over it. Purpose is so powerful that the 12 apostles gave their lives to it and ultimately gave their lives for it. You and I have been gifted and called by God for a purpose, and we have been prepared for fulfilling our purpose. Not a function, office, position or title – a purpose. We’ve been invited to yoke ourselves to Jesus, so He can show us how to live our lives with purpose. The devil doesn’t care how religious, strict or outwardly holy you are as long as you don’t discover the power in your relationship with Jesus, as long as you don’t discover your purpose. The closer you get to purpose, the more spiritual warfare you will face because the enemy isn’t worried about function, but he is terrified of believers who find their purpose! Because with purpose comes power, authority, vision and provision!

A lot of people are looking for their function or position, but God wants us to take a step back and first find our purpose. Multiple passages of scripture say that every one of us is gifted in some way, and those gifts are given to us by God for the benefit of the body of Christ and fulfillment of the Great Commission. This leads to some logical questions. If we have a gift, how do we get ready to use it? How can we ensure that we’re prepared to do what God has called us for and gifted us to do? In this week’s message, we will discover that the answers to these questions run counter to what we think about purpose and success in the American church.

In 1 Peter 4:10-11, we learn that every one of us has a gift that God has given us, and He wants us to use it well. The problem is that we only tend to focus on the “what” and rarely step back to see the “why.” We have turned finding and fulfilling God’s calling into a seemingly endless lifelong pursuit of tests, inventories and profiles. We analyze, quantify, categorize, separate and study the gifts, but the problem is that, after learning all there is to know about them, most people never actually get around to using them! This week, we will dive deeper into understanding the purposes of God, so we can start to identify the functions that align with them and put our gifts to good use.

According to verses like 1 Peter 2:9 and 1 Corinthians 1:9, we are all called by God. He has called us into fellowship with Jesus, but He has also called us to do something. After all, the Bible tells us in Ephesians 2:10 that we are created to do good works, which God already has planned for us. Unfortunately, the concept of calling in the American church, like so much else, has gotten a little skewed. When you talk about calling, people often get frustrated because we have a misunderstanding of calling. This week’s message, which is called “The Wrong Question,” kicks off a new series designed to help us understand the source of our frustration and point us to a better, more biblical understanding of calling.

As we conclude the (Re)Born Identity series, there is one final declaration that defines our new identity in Christ: I Am Ready. That’s it. I am ready. Not I will be ready. Or I’m working on getting ready. I Am. Currently. Present tense. Ready. Ready for what? For living the life that Jesus saved me for. For living out my reborn identity. According to 2 Peter 1:3, Jesus has given us everything that we need for living a godly life. Everything! And Paul said in Colossians 2:10 that we are complete in Him. We are not lacking anything. All that adds up to that declaration - I Am Ready! So what are you waiting for? It’s time to get up and do what God’s called you to do!

We’re continuing the (Re)Born Identity series, learning about our identity as believers, and this week’s declaration comes from Philippians 3:20. The Apostle Paul said that we can say, “I Am a Citizen of Heaven.” What he’s talking about is not simply having a membership card. It’s not a casual affiliation with a foreign nation.

The original word that’s translated as either citizenship or conversation is really about the way you conduct your life. It’s about what you say, what you do and how you carry yourself. It is from a word that means community, so when you say, “I Am a Citizen of Heaven,” you are not a lone wolf or a free agent. Being a citizen means being part of a community where how you act, what you say and how you live affects every other member of the community.

When we become followers of Jesus, it’s the beginning of your place in the family of God. Jesus gave us the power to become the sons and daughters of God. And it’s the Holy Spirit who confirms it. So we can say with confidence, as part of our (Re)Born Identity that we are God’s children.

Sometimes we face situations in life that leave us feeling less than loved. And if we allow them to, the feeling of the difficult moment will overwhelm the reality of the spiritual truth and we will start to think and feel things that are not part of our new identity in Christ. When you surrender to the relationship that it offers, it unlocks some other (Re)Born declarations. More identity defining truths that you can speak over yourself that will help you on life’s journey.

God told Moses, my people are enslaved, they are oppressed. I see it. I know about it. It’s time to do something about it. And I have called you to lead them out. God has also called us to get into this fight against human sex trafficking. It's time to take action NOW