Since our theme for this month is “Explore Your Call", I want to recommend three primary ways in which we respond to the call of God on our lives.

Responding through Discipleship entails accepting the invitation to Christian discipleship that has been extended to us from Jesus Christ. Jesus traveled from city to city preaching the Good News, and saying that God’s kingdom has come near to humankind. Therefore, repent and believe in the Gospel. The fundamental thesis of the Christian message is that God, as both Creator and Lord of the earth, is actively seeking fellowship with humankind. The Lord of the earth desires to reestablish authority in our hearts and minds as Lord of our lives; and sent Jesus of Nazareth, God’s only beloved Son, to embody God’s love and to transmit God’s invitation.

Jesus models what it means to live faithfully, sacrificially and obediently before the Heavenly Father, and what it looks like to grow in favor with God and others. Jesus calls us to the spiritual life to begin the journey inward toward reunion and eternity with God. We respond to the call to discipleship by answering “Yes” to following Jesus; and by saying, “Yes, Lord I believe that you are the Holy Son of God, the Christ that came into the world.

Responding through Vocation entails searching for ways to express and incorporate our Christian faith on a daily basis, including in our livelihoods. Notice that when Jesus invited others to discipleship, his call extended beyond the invitation to believe spiritually, and included a very specific invitation to vocation: “Jesus said to them, follow me and I will make you fish for people.” Whereas, they were already engaged in their livelihoods, casting their nets into the sea as fishermen, Jesus invited them to exchange their livelihoods for a different livelihood that would draw upon some of the skills they learned in the everyday workplace to be combined with what they learn as disciples of Christ in order to impact the lives of others. Jesus never limited the call to discipleship to moral behavior, as important as moral behavior happens to be…Instead, Jesus says follow me, and I will guide you in employing your talents in a way that changes the world.

Jesus does not ask everyone to leave their jobs as he asked the original twelve disciples to do. Nevertheless, in every case, our faith and convictions as disciples, who subscribe to the Great Commission, the Great Commandment, and to the Golden Rule, can shed light on our employment and vocational work no matter what field of human endeavor we are engaged in. Our Christian faith is relevant enough and encompassing enough to find expression in and through our vocational life.

Responding through Service and Mission entails membership in a local community of faith utilizing our talents, time and treasure in order to model God’s beloved community. Every Christian is called to belong to a community of faith where the rubber of mission and service to others hits the road, where making disciples and becoming disciples is the daily work of the community. Through our common life together as the church of Christ we express our faith and our convictions to the wider community around us. Thus, service and mission at church—in their best rendition—are not about merely finding busy work for people to do. Rather, Service and mission at church are about:

• Providing opportunities for us to grow in stature, knowledge, and in favor with God and others.
• Cultivating and nurturing a communal life wherein God is honored, and others are cared for.
• Caring for the well-being of all God’s children in our larger world, regardless of their identity, faith tradition, language, ethnicity, nationality, or social and economic class.
• Practicing financial stewardship, and volunteering our time. We also help others that are in need across our congregation, our city, our country, and our world.

As a church we also participate in various regional, national, and international mission initiatives through our partnerships with Baptist agencies and other agencies that employ mission workers on the ground throughout the globe. Through the various committees and working groups in our church we seek to do the following:

• Practice glorious worship that both honors and reflects the presence of God in our midst.
• Practice hospitality and fellowship wherein we extend Christ-like love and welcome to everyone who comes our way.
• Provide a comprehensive Christian education program for making disciples of all ages.
• Practice mission and evangelism both internally and externally by serving others, and modeling God’s loving concern for all who are in need.
• Practice financial stewardship and administration recognizing that the management of our material and financial resources is also part of being a healthy congregation.

In all these areas we need each other’s talents, abilities, passions and enthusiastic involvement. We can not become the church that God intends for us to be without the hands-on involvement and participation of a large and diverse group of people representing all ages, backgrounds, perspectives, and walks of life.