Acts: called for a purpose

Speaker: Paul Brown

Notes

See also: Called by name (Jo, 2 weeks ago), Called to follow (Matt, last week). We are called by God for a purpose - he has a job for each of us to do.

The calling and sending of Saul and Barnabas, Acts 13:1-3. They were in Antioch when the Holy Spirit called them and the church sent them.

The passage doesn't say what they were called to exactly, they probably didn't know at the time, but it turned out to be taking the gospel to the whole of the known world, and in Saul's case, shaping the whole of Christendom through his writings. No small task! But ordinary people in the Antioch church did the sending. We can be involved in things much bigger than ourselves.

How did they hear God speak? Probably through a prophetic word, but I think they already knew (see Acts 9:15). "Hearing God's guidance can be like a jigsaw" - Simon Matthews (talk 24 Feb 2008).

Preparation - Saul and Barnabas were just back from a "test mission" to Jerusalem (Acts 11:29-30, 12:25). If you think God is calling you, try it out. Saul had been through a wilderness experience, several years in Tarsus. We sometimes need those hard experiences to refine our motives. And the church prayed and fasted - let's underpin all we do with prayer.

Application

Do you have a clear sense of God's calling for your life? Do you think we should always have, or does God sometimes keep us in the dark? Should a calling be for life or for a season?

Revise ways of hearing God speak to us (directly, through others, through surroundings). Share examples of the various ways in action. Any you'd like to grow in?

Why do you think God takes some people through "wilderness" experiences?Have you been through one? If so, how did it help you?

Posted: 25 Jan 2009