Living God’s Purpose By Rev. Jennifer Holz
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s the New Year begins, we continue our study of the Gospel of Luke. Jesus’ call to follow presses more deeply into the lives of those He is with, and our focus as a congregation shifts to the theme of calling: Living God’s Purpose. Throughout Scripture we learn that God has called out Israel and the church to serve Him in the world. Ekklesia, the Greek term for “church,” literally means “the called-out ones.” Paradoxically, God calls His people out of the world to serve Him in the world. We are called for a particular purpose: “The purpose of God’s call is for the people of God to worship God, and to participate in God’s creative and redemptive purposes for the world, to enjoy, hope for, pray for, and work towards God’s shalom. This is what it means for Christians to be in Christ and to follow Christ.” —Douglass J. Shuurman, Vocation: Discerning our Calling in Life In Scripture we discover two basic understandings of calling: • The primary (or general) calling of the Christian is to follow Jesus and become part of the Body of Christ. • The secondary (or particular) calling of the Christian is to live out God’s purposes in concrete and specific ways in the spheres of life they inhabit. Simply put, we are first and foremost Christ lovers in this world. But each of us also lives multifaceted and particular lives. We wear many hats. We are teachers, electricians, lawyers,
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Called to His Purpose
We are called by God to a special purpose as believers. During this year we will explore what it means to Live God’s Purpose, both in our call to Christ and in our daily lives. A key focus for this exploration comes from the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans 8:28 – “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
parents, spouses, friends, daughters and sons, just to name a few. Our secondary call, then, is to live out our love of God and neighbor in each of these particular areas of responsibility. Schurman writes that one is not called merely to be a wife, a husband or a mechanic, but one is called by God to be a wife, a husband or a mechanic as a Christian “in the Lord.” We are called to live out God’s purposes in very specific and concrete ways in every aspect of our lives. Paul’s words to the Ephesian church help us understand how we are to live as Christ’s people: “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” (Eph. 4:1-2)
faith, he writes this: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 10:31) So, how might we respond to God’s call in our lives more faithfully and intentionally in this coming year? How can we encourage one another and pray for one another to become the people we’ve been created and called to be? How can we grow together in our call as a church to Prepare All Generations to Impact Lives For Christ? I am looking forward to our coming year together. God has filled First Pres with gifted ministers of the Gospel in every corner of life and every part of the city. As one wise person in our midst articulated so well in our last community chat, “we are the church.” I couldn’t agree more.
I’m also reminded of his words to the church at Corinth about our call to live intentionally as children of God in everything. In reflecting on Christians eating meals with those who do not share their
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Gifted an By Alison Murray
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hat does it feel like to be called? I have had the great privilege of speaking with many different people who are clear in how God has called them. Whether it is right here in Colorado Springs or in some far off place, it’s the same themes: confidence that God has called them even though it may not always be clear why or for what; that serving God is difficult, even dangerous, but they wouldn’t be doing anything else; that they are serving with their God-given gifts; their lives have purpose; they know that they are part of an entire community — that the whole Body is at work. The most frequent examples we typically hear about of those who are called are the relatively small number of individuals who minister on the front lines of poverty, homelessness, catastrophic health epidemics, gang violence and in war zones. It’s those whose lives are woven into books, movies and news stories. These lives lived for us to see are not indications that we’re not worthy because we can’t rise to similar acts of bravery, or even that we can’t be called. These are the examples God sets before us as constant reminders that we all have purpose and that we all need to get engaged. The Apostle Paul reminds us that we all have purpose in the Body with this familiar passage in 1 Corinthians, Chapter 12. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to 4 | www.first-pres.org 1/15
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the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. . . . But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. In our First Pres community, you travel in mission to China, Egypt, Syria, Mongolia, India, Cuba, Chile and other places. You are the pediatric surgeon who travels to perform commonplace surgeries that are life-threatening for African children. You are retired engineers designing water wells for use in South America. You are business people reaching out in Christian love to your colleagues across the world. You are helping release more than 1,000 Compassion children from poverty.
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In Colorado Springs, you minister to young women caught in human trafficking, to homeless teens living lives of hopelessness and violence and to the suffering men recovering from addiction. You are young moms using your combined resources to bring clean water. You help in Young Life communities, bringing teens to Jesus. You support access to education, GED programming, provide English language skills and reading skills. You sing at assisted living and skilled nursing facilities across the city each week. You serve on your HOA or local school PTA
in an effort to bring community to your neighborhood. You serve on non-profit boards and live your Call in your workplace, schools and countless communities. You provide the financial support to make many of these ministries happen. You spend hours in prayers of petition and thanksgiving. God calls us all as individuals and as a body, and God is intentional as to how He places each of us in the body, just as He wants us to be! You are gifted and called. Let’s continue to live God’s purpose in 2015. Alison Murray is the Executive Director at First Pres.
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How did you hear you “As a child, I heard often of the love of Jesus. One day when I was about 5 or 6, my older sister, Elizabeth, explained to me what it meant to be saved by Jesus. I remember in that moment sitting in my playroom and praying to Jesus. Throughout my childhood and youth, God continued to pursue me and grow my understanding of Him and what it means to follow Him. The faithfulness of God is an amazing thing — I was slow to hear and slow to respond (still am!), but God was so good and faithful! After my freshman year of high school, I went to a Young Life camp in Virginia called Rockbridge. It was there that in fresh and new ways I came to understand what it means to follow Jesus in the context of a living, dynamic relationship! God is good!” Rev. Katie Fowler Associate Pastor of Missional Strategies “I asked Christ into my life as a very small child, so I can’t speak to what happened at that age. My best answer to this question occurred my senior year in college. My focus during previous years was upon seeking to follow Christ in external ways: reading my Bible, prayer and attending church. During
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my final year of college, I was part of a men’s discipleship group led by a professor. The best way I can describe that experience was a growing desire within to know God more personally, and to embrace what it meant to follow Him more closely. I began taking classes on ministry, even though that wasn’t my major, and sensed a growing desire to express what I was experiencing by teaching others. Perhaps the biggest factor in this experience was how God used this discipleship community I was in to help me hear His call.” Rev. Dr. John Goodale Associate Pastor for Caring Ministries “I first heard the call to follow Jesus through my family and through this church. It wasn’t an audible heavenly voice, per say, but in being surrounded by people who were living the call of God in their lives. My desire to follow in the path of Christ grew within me, and a hunger for the Word of God was planted deep within my soul.” Rev. Jennifer Holz Senior Executive Associate Pastor
ur call to follow Christ? “When I was in seventh grade, my camp counselor led me to faith in Christ. At that starting place of faith, I heard my initial call out of darkness and into Christ’s Lordship and glorious light. Since that moment, the Lord has continued to call me towards people, places and things that I never would have imagined experiencing before! Looking back, I am filled with gratitude as I think about where Christ has called me. Looking forward, I am filled with anticipation — as I think about how His call is not yet complete!” Matt Holtzman Minister for Young Families and Pastoral Care “I was 15 years old sitting on a rock at Young Life’s Woodleaf camp in Northern California, after what is commonly called ‘the Cross Talk.’ Don Taylor stood up that evening and told me (and a few hundred other teenagers) that Jesus loved me, that Jesus paid for my sin and that Jesus wanted to have a relationship with me. What? I didn’t think anyone wanted a relationship with a snotty 15-yearold punk like me! Well, Don said Jesus did! So right there at 10:03 p.m. I made the decision that changed the course of my life. ‘Jesus, I know so little about you, but I
choose to give all I know of me to all that I know of you! Please, come into my life.’ Amazing that a 15-year-old really can make a very smart decision!” Dan Jessup Guest Preacher “Hearing Christ’s call to follow is a daily necessity because there are competing calls. But, my earliest remembrance of hearing Christ came through my parents, who spoke and lived as followers of Jesus. At that time, they themselves were young and imperfect in faith, but I heard Jesus’ words through them and am ever grateful.” Eunice McGarrahan Supply Pastor for Discipleship “Looking back, I now know that Christ was calling LONG before I ever recognized it was Him. When I finally heard Christ’s call, it was through the voices who dared to get outside the church and onto college campuses for the sake of people like me. They saw me in a way that few others did, which is the way Christ saw me.” Rev. Nate Stratman Assistant Pastor for Family Ministries
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