Speaker: Marcel Suhady
A Call to Arms
Called to Others
- Our generation is full of people who are lost
- They are lost because they are thirsty – desperately need water to quench their thirst, but don’t know where to find it
- Instead of quenching their thirst with water, they find satiation in other things.
- Materialism, hedonism, casual sex, Facebook likes, etc.
- They attempt to fill a God-shaped hole in the human spirit with things that are not God
- They are seeking direction, someone to point them the right way
- This is the condition of our generation
- (Matthew 25:40) And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
- God is calling us to something, a purpose He wants to use us for.
- The thing is, God will always call us to others
- He will never bring us into a ministry that only edifies ourselves.
- We serve Him by serving others.
- (John 13:33-35) Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
- This is how God has decided that the world should know us, and consequently, know Him.
- This commandment is what Jesus asks of all people that He sends into the world.
- Our ministry is therefore, not right, if others do not see that we love one another
Quenched by Living Water
- Our lives are to be living testimonials to others
- (1 John 4:11-12) Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
- We are the interface through which others experience the love of God
- Love is what wins over others.
- This is a call to arms, and our armament is love.
- We are not meant to do Jesus’ work, or the Holy Spirit’s work. Their work is to transform others by being sources of living water.
- We are John the Baptist, preparing the way so that the Lord can do His work.
- All that we do is point the way to the living water.
- All that we have when we are sent to others is the love of God in us
- All else that we bring is like filthy rags
- When God calls us, all that He requires is a new heart, from which His love can pour out into the world
- He doesn’t ask for ability or experience, but for us to love others as He has loved us
- In this way, God can act through us
- In fact, it is the only way
- God doesn’t call us for our talents, or good deeds. God could always raise up somebody more qualified if that were true
- God needs our capacity to display His love to others. We are His agents of love.
- (John 4)
- We are called to people like the Samaritan Woman, desperate for living water.
- We do not give them the water, which is Christ’s work
- All that we do is let them see that our own thirst is quenched by something, something that makes us different
- When we point them to the source of living water, can they see that the living water does indeed remove all burdens? Can others see that we are quenched by the living water?
- Can others see that our thirst for earthly pleasure has been replaced by satisfaction from the divine?
- Do we ever give them to opportunity to see the transforming power of living water in our lives?
- Service to others, in its own way, is an aspect of worshipping God
- This service to others is outpouring God’s love to others
- It is bringing heaven to earth, by making little pockets of heaven in other peoples’ lives
- (Psalm 13)
- We trust Him because His love is unfailing, it is unconditional
- He calls us to come to Him, no matter how far we are from Him
- If that is true, how come we can’t call others to Him when we perceive them to be too far to call?
- Above all things, the Gospel is relevant
- It is for all peoples
- We forget that the Gospel is about the cross
- It is cross-culture, cross-class, and cross-gender
- It is dangerous when we point others to the living water, that we do it in such a way that do not think the living water is for them as well