Discover Your True Self - You are Called, Part 2

Do you remember the first time someone hired you? They looked you in the eye and said you're the one we want. Or someone picked you and said we want you to be on our team. There's something powerful and affirming about being called out to be a part of a group. Well today you're going to learn what it looks like when God says I want you. You are called to be on my team.

You don't want to miss it. Thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Living on the Edge features the Bible teaching of Chip Ingram on this international discipleship program. I'm Dave Druey and in this program Chip wraps up his series Discover Your True Self. It's been a great run and this message is a powerful finish to the journey we've been on over the last several programs.

Now if you missed any of them along the way the Chip Ingram app is a great way to pick them up later. And just before we get started let me remind you that after the teaching Chip's always with us in studio to bring a final thought and his application so be sure to stay with us for that. Well now let's get going and join him for part two of his message You Are Called from Ephesians chapter 2. Third he called you you'll never have to be alone into a new family. Chapter 2 verses 11 through 22. It's a new family. Now I can't read the whole passage but so let me give you the context as you're looking at your Bibles look at verses 11 and 12 basically Paul is writing to this Gentile church and they've received the gospel they're now followers of Jesus but do remember Jesus was a Jew the Messiah he fulfilled all those Old Testament prophecies and so basically he says his look you guys you need to remember where you came from you were formerly haters of God alienated from God you had no hope no promises you were on the outside looking in and then he says hey and by the way you Jews get a life do you understand what Jesus did he broke down the dividing wall in fact if you look at your text and notice peace peace peace peace and the word unity and so what he says is that Jesus came and broke down the wall and the barrier between Jew and Gentile and he made one new thing one new man then I pick it up follow along as I read this notice what that one new thing is consequently you are no longer foreigners and aliens you Gentiles but your fellow citizens with God's people you're members of God's household and then notice what he goes on to say built on the foundation of the Apostles and the prophets with Jesus Christ himself as the cornerstone in him Christ the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple what's a temple at what why do people go to temples to worship to experience God's presence Jew Gentile one new family in him you two are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives in his spirit God's presence dwells in you as a believer individually but God's manifest presence when we come together two or more three or more he then dwells and manifests his power in his presence now here's what you need to get Jew and Gentile because our cultures most of us don't have a clue this this would be like there's hundreds and hundreds of years of not I don't mean they don't like each other I'm talking hostility if I was a Jew I would not walk into the house of a Gentile if a Gentile drank out of a cup I would not touch the cup I wouldn't drink out of it the Jews called Gentiles dogs what what he's saying is Jesus now has taken all these people from different places and now there's unity in him this is like someone from Hamas and the head of the Israel State saying we are now family this is like it's 1950 and the KKK and the NAACP the two presidents come together say we are now family that's how radical it was here's what you need to get yes we're multicultural here but we're multicultural where by and large Korean Chinese Indian black white rich not so rich single married married again yeah we're really really really diverse but what happens in churches and ours is no different by and large you stay in your affinity group I hang out with these people we all speak this language I'm with people I like and so we have all these little silos of all these different people and you like each other and there's some exceptions here's the deal being in a big room with people from all kind of backgrounds is not the same as being in a room where you get to know them where you learn to love people that are different where you learn things that are different where you hear words and backgrounds and hurts and where we actually you know what what happens what will happen here is what happened there can you imagine you're a Roman soldier are you just a person in Judea or Galilee and all of a sudden these Christians these wacko people that say this guy rose from the dead there's a Jew and a Gentile a slave and a rich person a rabbi and literally they had the Hamas of their day one of the disciples basically was a zealot that's called a revolutionary and they're all arm and arm and they're walking into a stadium singing and that motley group of people that would hate each other apart from Jesus singing and praising God and asking God to forgive the people that are about to kill them and God doesn't want you thinking following Christ is coming to weekend services maybe being in a group giving a little money and going your way he wants you to get connected in community he wants you to learn to love and experience the kind of things that people would say gosh aren't you both from India but in India these two groups don't get along how does that happen oh aren't you from Taiwan and you know you're from mainland China and isn't there some rub with some of that stuff and you know aren't you black and aren't you white are you ready for this aren't you a Republican and he's a Democrat and you pray together and love each other I'm not kidding you I'm talking that's what God wants to do now you might be thinking how would that happen oh I'm glad you ask because I want you because I want you to think do I really want to change it is what what what what if the problem is not the internet what if it's not lapsing back into the third or fourth or fifth drink what if it's not anger management but what if at the heart of it's not about how much you work or why what if it's not about ego what what what what if what if all those things are symptoms and if you would ever come to the point where you could grasp in your head and your heart I am secure and loved I don't need people to like me I don't need all my circumstances to work out perfectly I have all that I need in him and I give my life away and as I give my life away I do not understand in any way the mathematics of the kingdom of God but every time I give my time every time I give my heart every time I'm willing to serve God chooses to multiply that back and give to me far more than I gave that's the call of God he called you to a new purpose to a relationship to a new family and he called you to a new plan chapter 3 opens up and this this is a very interesting the Apostle Paul basically is it's explaining to this group of Gentiles look you know don't don't feel sorry for me I'm a prisoner of the Lord but here's what I got to tell you that's verse 1 and then the next little section is look look in your Bibles look at the word mystery mystery mystery it happens either three or four times the Greek word doesn't mean it's mysterious it's mean something used to be hidden it used to be a secret but now it's not a secret anymore and Paul's saying God had a secret God had a secret in his eternal plan for all mankind and the secret is the church and the church is Jew and Gentile all people becoming one new family and notice that this new family has an agenda he says he has a plan and this plan has a purpose pick it up at verse 10 his intention with this new plan the secret Jew and Gentile see God's agent of blessing was Israel and they fumbled the ball and so he says you know what I'm gonna fulfill plans for you a little bit later but right now I'm gonna put someone new in the game and it's called the church and here's why look at verse 10 his intention was now that through the church the manifold mystery of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms now I know that sounds like sort of religion speak you know what that's saying the angels that that's who the rulers and powers are the angels are in heaven and they're you like you know whoa I mean we've worshiped you you know we cover our eyes you're so holy so these these people who were angry and they did this and they you you forgave them you became a man and then this these two groups have been hating each other they love each other and then angels don't understand grace part of our calling are you ready you want to go part of our calling is to educate angels to give them access into a side of the manifold wisdom of our God in his infinite wisdom and grace and power and glory that this is what his heart is like by how he changes us and by what happens to us together and then notice why look right in your notes he says according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord it's just amazing it's just absolutely amazing it's this new plan you're you're a part of an eternal plan of God and you have a unique role it's to give your life away the plan is to go to all the world and make disciples Jesus last words baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son the Holy Spirit and teach him not not to highlight their Bible teach them to obey all the things Jesus says I taught you help them be Christians that live like Christians and by the way I'll never leave you you've got the power we've got this together hey you're it's really hard to be discouraged depressed and feel like it's meaningless life makes no sense one no no I'm called to be his friend I'm called to a new purpose I'm called into a new family and I'm called to be a part of an eternal thing then this tiny thing called time in all of eternity I am called by his name to be a part of that do you want in on that or not we've got a whole world that looks at their navel we got a narcissistic consumer church what did you do for me it wasn't that interesting the music went a little bit long you know I think I think the numbers need to be a little bit bigger in the child care help us Lord you God's calling is so big so magnificent and so amazing if you would lean into it and experience it I mean have you ever pondered this I'm I like to read history and you ever wonder why like mega mega wealthy people Christian or not they've realized life's got to be more than just making money and wealth and houses and planes and cars and and so whether it was Polter or whether it was Carnegie or whether it was Ford or gates I mean when you make billions and billions and billions of dollars and you can do anything there's a void secular people understand the only thing that delivers any sense of meaning is when your life is about helping someone else or a cause bigger than yourself and the biggest cause in the world is what it's the gospel it's the God who came to the planet and died in the place to pay for all men sin of all time who rose from the dead and said here's the plan go get him team I'm with you don't you want to be a part of that I do finally he says God calls us to make our hearts Christ home he starts with relationship and then he ends with this amazing amazing prayer let's pick it up this one we need to read together look look at verse 14 he starts he says for this reason in other words in all of these callings for this reason he goes I bow my knees before the father from whom every family in heaven on earth derives its name that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner man in other words you can't do this I can't do this everything I said I know I can't do Oh God will you give me the power the will the desire to take these kind of steps in ways and then notice I put in your notes why so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith put a circle around dwell and above it right be at home that's what it means so that Christ could be at home in your heart yes he's absolutely awesome transcendent and holy but he wants to be your friend to be at home where you drive in the car and you're talking to him you mess up with one of your kids Oh Lord I'm sorry you make it right yeah something comes out of your mouth and he's not down on you you don't have to you know Lord and he's at home in your heart it's it's why the metaphor the whole Bible you walk with God walk has baby steps walk has trips walk has some skipping it's a journey and I pray that you being rooted and established in love something we already have may have power notice this phrase together with all the saints everything I've described is impossible by yourself it's not hard impossible there was a reason the early church met house to house see there's times where I thought oh God I want you to hug me well God I want you to answer prayer God I want you to give me wisdom God I want you to provide for me guess what by and large apart from some very very unique supernatural times guess what he hugs you through another Christian he provides for you through the time the energy the gifts and the money of someone who goes oh wow I just I just was with a guy two days ago and there's these orphans in Zimbabwe and there's people on the streets and he just said you know God gave me this money God's gonna provide through me the way that he gives you wisdom it's a conversation in a group and you're having a struggle in a marriage and guess what everyone has those but someone in your group goes you know about seven years ago that was our issue you want to get coffee after this group maybe sometime this week and pretty soon someone talks to you and God gives you wisdom and all of a sudden Wow now it gets even better because everyone here has been through some stuff you get coffee with someone and you're sharing something and they're go really you're thinking I'm just a regular person that wasn't that profound but you made it God spoke he grew you see that's the plan his dwelling together and then notice that we would know the love that surpasses knowledge not just intellect that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God he starts with we're called into a relationship and here here's the end we all have these holes and we fill them with stuff we're like this container and you know I filled it with work or fill it with TV or fill it with NFL or fill it with food or fill it with something or fill it with the third or fourth glass of wine we all have got to do all this stuff and he goes let me let you gaze down into your soul and if you could see yourself the way I see you and then I'm gonna fill you with my love I'm gonna fill you with my love I'm gonna fill you with my love to all the fullness of God so all those things that you tried to fill in will just be like yeah I don't need that stuff but it's a journey and it's a process can I ask you a really personal question even though there's a lot of you and just one of me do you want that you can listen to it you can be inspired I mean it's amazing it's now can I is that is that like pondering reflecting on the magnitude of your calling but is that just like oh okay you know hey way to go chip I think you had a good one or is that okay God I think I need to have a good one I have four questions to help you take the next steps question number one if you really want to get rid of the angst the struggles in your life in these areas have you responded to Jesus calling you to himself realize I need Christ I have sinned I'm not who I need to be please forgive me and in the empty hands of faith come into my heart Lord Jesus second have you discovered Jesus purpose for your life Connie went from a Christian doing a lot of good things who narrowed it down and realized this is what I was made to do we have a course on the website called your divine design that would help you third are you an active connected member of Jesus family connected are you connected is do you have real community and fourth are you actively a part of God's plan to reach teach and serve others churches have helped people come to believe either explicitly or implicitly that being a follower of Christ is coming into a big room hearing someone that is least fairly interesting having good music your kids taken care of and checking a box going that's what a follower of Christ is it's called consumerism nothing could be farther the truth but we've created that if you're not teaching serving caring giving your life away you're not experiencing the Christian life and and there's these pieces of the puzzle they're not there see see are you ready for this you are no this is not theologically correct but this is practically correct you are indispensable for God's ideal now you know what you cannot do your thing you think God's gonna hold up his whole plane because you and I don't do what we're supposed to do no but you're indispensable to this body indispensable significant needed read the truth slowly profoundly with a sense of God called my name my life has an eternal purpose to fulfill is that awesome I have been created equipped and called by God in this moment of history to fulfill a unique role in his body that will demonstrate his mercy love diversity and unity to the world that's why I'm pursuing my holy ambition I love what I'm doing but I only get to live in this tiny thing and here's eternity I have to like you have to do whatever God calls you to do to make the greatest impact and the deepest impact on the most people with whatever he's given you and the reward will be beyond our wildest dreams both now and forever Lord will you please please open our minds and enlighten our hearts Lord I ask you for those that are sitting in this room or watching or listening and they have never crossed the line they've never confessed to you that they need you that they're not perfect that they've done things wrong Lord I ask that they could in this moment in their own words say oh God I'm sorry will you please forgive me based solely on Jesus work on the cross and his resurrection and will you come into my life would you help me understand what it means to be your daughter your son and Lord I pray for my brothers and sisters that they've crossed that line and you so long for them to see themselves the way you do and they just need to take the next step I want to give you just a minute as we close to just say to the Lord call my name Lord would you call my name afresh call me show me what what part of this whether it's friendship whether it's community whether it's family whether it's purpose would you just call my name and help me take just the next step we pray this in Jesus name amen chips gonna be back with his application but just a quick reminder this message you are called is from his series discover your true self you know at some point in our lives most of us cut through all the clutter to ask a fundamental question who am I well in this series chip opens the book of Ephesians to explain that the answer to that question changes when you become a son or a daughter of the Most High God issues of worth and belonging take on a completely different meaning when we give our lives to his son Jesus but if we don't know that we tend to get bogged down in the doubts and struggles of our past if you long to break free and truly live in the power of Christ this series will help you do that now to check out your resource options for discover your true self just go to Living on the Edge org or tap special offers discounts are available for a limited time for more information just give us a call at one eight eight eight three three three six zero zero three well chip before you share your application you know we talk with people every single day calls email chats and something we just hear over and over as people feel paralyzed our country is going through such a difficult time on so many levels and people feel like what can one person do well what word of encouragement would you give to someone who's feeling like I want to make a difference but I don't have the gifts or the courage well Dave I think we all feel that way sometimes but it's a lie the fact of the matter is as we're learning in this series the same power that raised Christ from the dead dwells in us that power that makes us competent that has given us spiritual gifts that provides us with courage that allows us not only to see who we are in Christ but to do in his power and his strength what only he can do through us is available but learning that is a journey and so I'm inviting our listeners to do daily discipleship with me beginning September 14th and we're going to study Ephesians chapters 1 2 & 3 right out of the Bible together so that as we study that they can begin to see what does that look like in my daily life how could God use an ordinary person like me the fact of the matter is we're the light of the world we're the salt of the earth and our dream at Living on the Edge is to help people activate that and be that every day in every way for the glory of God well if you have a pen handy let me give you all the details on this great offer beginning September 14th chips gonna sit down with you to do a brand new daily discipleship study now each session will only be about 10 minutes and over the course of the study he'll walk you through the first three chapters of the book of Ephesians now to sign up for daily discipleship with chip just visit us online at Living on the Edge org for more information give us a call at 1-888-333-6003 as we wrap up today's program and actually we're coming to the end of the teaching of this whole series I want you to lean back because this is very important and let me ask you some of those vital questions that I ended this message with that remove the angst in our life and there's a lot of angst out there and yet God says that we're competent valuable we're significant we're secure so here's the questions have you responded to Jesus calling to himself are you a believer you've been listening you've been tracking have you crossed the line and ask him to forgive you for your sins or as a as a believer have you surrendered that's a separate step have you told him I'm all in I really want to walk with you I'm going to obey no matter what second have you discovered Jesus purpose for your life I mean he's made you special and the greatest joys and the greatest impact are gonna come as you discover that purpose and then fulfill it third are you an active and connected member of the family of God you know we kind of live in a day where I read the Bible and I'm spiritual and I'm kind of doing my own thing you are a vital part of a thing called the body of Christ there's this huge building temple puzzle body you choose the metaphor and we need you and you need us that means you don't do it on your own you're actually connected in real relationships where they know you your joys your challenges and your hurts and they have the freedom to encourage and to speak into your life that's a part of what it means to be a follower in community and fourth are you actively a part of God's plan to reach and teach and to serve others you know it's so easy when we talk about oh I want to discover these things about myself or I took this personality test or this is my number on the Enneagram and you know we can get so consumed with me me me and this is what I'm like and this is what would make me happy and all of that focus completely misses the purpose for why you are in Christ and why you were called you were called first and foremost to the Savior of the world because he loves you and wants an intimate relationship with you and second he has gifted you prepared you and prepared a purpose for you to make a difference and so those lies like I'm not wanted and I'm not needed by anyone and my life has no purpose or meaning and I'm a victim and everything's unfair is a lie stop it the truth is my life and your life has eternal purpose to fulfill we've been created equipped and called by God in this moment of history to fulfill a unique purpose that only we can and as you look around the world as I look around the world has there ever been a time that you can remember where we need to step out and be followers of Christ not just in word but indeed to love our neighbor as ourself to care for one another to model what it means to be light and salt to be the Jesus in all the stuff that's happening in our world today you matter to God and he wants to use you like never before well just before we close I want to thank each of you who's making this program possible through your generous giving 100% of your gifts are going directly to the ministry to help Christians really live like Christians a few found ships teaching helpful but you're not yet on the team would you consider joining up today to donate just go to Living on the Edge org tap donate on the app or give us a call at one eight eight eight three three three six zero zero three and let me thank you in advance for whatever the Lord leads you to do well I hope you'll join us again next time and until then this is Dave Drewey saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge you