Marcel: Good morning, brothers and sisters.
I said good morning, brothers and sisters.
All right.
My name is Marcel Hall.
I want to welcome you to the O.
C.
Church of Christ.
This is our North O.
C.
ministry.
And today is a special day.
As most of you know, we have our Christmas kids program today.
And we're all excited about that.
And many of the parents are also nervous about that as well.
So, Praying and hoping that they, uh, they do their job there.
And so my name is Marcel Hall and with my wife Corina, we are the
honor and privilege of being able to be ministers here for the church.
And, uh, we're going to, uh, uh, get into the word of God right now.
And so.
This is what we call a Sermunion, in which we, uh, have an extended time in
which we will, uh, for our Communion.
Communion is where we remember Jesus death upon the cross for our salvation.
And then, after that, we will have, uh, our Offering, and then
we will have our Kids Program.
And so again, I want to thank all of those who are visiting here with us today,
whether it's your first time or you've been visiting, we're so grateful to have
you here with us, we hope and pray that you will feel like you're part of the
family that we have here in the church.
Um, we started a series several weeks ago, several weeks ago, called Thank God For.
And, uh, we talked about thanking God for, uh, uh, God's Word,
for His Spirit, for the church.
And then as we hit Christmastime, we switched our focus to Jesus, as this is
the time in which we want to remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus.
And so, we have talked about thanking God for the life of Jesus, and
last week we talked about thanking God for the sacrifice of Jesus.
And today, we're going to be talking about thanking God for the call.
Let's go ahead and let's go to God in prayer.
Father, thank you so much for the chance to worship you, for
the chance to encourage and strengthen one another in the faith.
God, you are worthy of our praise.
You are worthy of our thanksgiving.
You are worthy of our devotion.
And I pray, God, that as we get into your word today that you will
remind us of the blessings that we have In the name of Jesus, amen.
Alright, and so we looked at, again, the idea of thank God for the life of Jesus.
And the life of Jesus, it's inspiring because Jesus life
serves as the model for imitation.
And then last week, we thanked God for the sacrifice of Jesus
because that leads to our salvation.
And so that motivates, that compels us to live a faithful life.
And as we think about the invitation of Jesus, this call that Jesus has, it
allows us to see that this is a part of, this is something that is of great value,
but it's a high calling for our lives.
And when I think of calls, some movies came to mind and some ideas.
And the first off is Luke Skywalker.
He's called to be a Jedi.
See, we got a Luke Skywalker fan.
She's fired up over here.
And so Luke Skywalker's called to be, I guess, the chosen one.
I don't want to get into semantics with, oh, is that really, oh, you know, Anakin.
I'm not going to go there with you, okay?
But we know Luke Skywalker's called to be a Jedi and also
help take down the evil empire.
And then, uh, some of you, I know you're thinking of Frodo
and the Lord of the Rings.
And so Frodo, he decides, you know what, I'll answer that call to go ahead and
take the ring and have it destroyed.
Uh, many of us also think of Neo.
And the red pill and the blue pill, you guys with me there, right?
And so, Neal's called to figure out what's really the matrix.
And let's go ahead and let's destroy the evil powers that made the matrix.
And then we also have Moana and her call.
She's called by the ocean, right?
She's called, and I know the new movie's out.
Haven't seen it yet, but we plan on seeing that as a family.
And I think of these calls, but yet when I think about the call of Jesus, Jesus
call trumps all of these and then some.
Because it's a call to something greater.
It's a call to something that is divine.
And in fact, I believe this call is a call to a divine purpose.
The call of Jesus is not to just an adventure, not to just
a certain lifestyle, but it's a call to a divine purpose.
So let's go ahead, we're going to read two passages here, and understand
this call to a divine purpose.
Church, are you with me?
Let's go ahead.
Matthew chapter 28.
Many of us in our church were very familiar with this passage.
Let's read it.
This is after Jesus had died, he had resurrected.
Now he's about to ascend.
So now he's giving his followers a call and direction for their
lives and for the church.
And it says, then Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven
and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.
He says go and make disciples of all nations, disciple meaning follower,
student, but really that context, especially in that time, meant
to be one who would imitate them.
The rabbi or the teacher.
So it was a call for imitation.
It wasn't just to study out and agree with some, some doctrine or some teachings.
It was to become a follower in the sense that you imitated your leader,
and he says this, I want you to go make disciples of all nations.
Now think about this for a second.
The son of God has called people to be his disciple.
A mini me version of Jesus.
Now when you think about that, that's incredible.
Because let's say you were a, someone who was trying to be successful financially,
and Warren Buffet or Elon Musk said, Hey, I'd love for you to be my disciple.
That would be an honor, wouldn't it?
You'd be fired up.
Let me learn some things then.
Or let's say it was music and Taylor Swift or, you know, I don't know, Elton
John or Prince or somebody, right?
Said, I want you to be my disciple.
You'd be fired up about that.
I know my daughter would be fired up about Taylor Swift.
If it's sports or Tom Brady or, uh, LeBron James.
No, let's scratch that.
Michael Jordan.
Said, I want you to be my disciple.
And if you're into sports, you would be what?
You would be honored.
You would be, Whoa, I can't get a better teacher than this.
You would be incredible.
Now, let's think about this.
The Son of God calls you to be His disciple.
To be not just a student, not just a learner, but an imitator
of who He is and how He lives.
And this call isn't just for a few.
No, the Lord, the creator, the author of life, calls everyone to be his disciple.
It says he wants all nations.
That means you, me, your mama, and your cousin too.
In fact, tell your neighbor to your right and left, the call is
for your mama and your cousin too.
You see, this call is not just for a few, it's for all.
To be what?
To be disciples of Jesus.
So this call is for you today and going forward.
And so we also look in Ephesians chapter 2.
This is a letter written to the church that met in the city of Ephesus by
a guy named Paul, who Paul was a leader in the first century church.
And he says here, after talking about the riches that we have in and through
Christ, he goes on and he says this.
For it is by grace you have been saved, hallelujah for that, through faith.
And this gift, this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not
by works, so that no one can boast.
For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which
God prepared in advance for us to do.
You see, Jesus says in the Scriptures revealed that after salvation, through
his sacrifice, what Jesus calls you and me to is to now live a life of good works.
As disciples of his, we will engage and live a life of good works.
And these aren't just any works.
This isn't, can you take out the trash?
Can you wash some dishes?
These are God ordained works.
These are divine works of good that are designed to be a
blessing to those around you.
That are designed to be great contributions to society.
This is the call of Jesus.
Again, this call is a call of something greater for our lives.
It's a call to a divine purpose.
For And I believe it's a call to be divine agents of God.
Divine agents of God.
Meaning that we are called to become like the divine, and then to
engage and join in divine good work.
And so we get a chance to work and be worked in and through the divine.
So that good works can take place and then also we will become like the divine You
know when we follow Jesus call we become a person of divine virtue and character
Because when you start following Jesus his lifestyle his teachings Guess what
happens to your character and your nature?
You become like the one you are following My son, the other
day, I looked on, uh, uh, on our phone, and my son had this video.
I actually, I should have showed you the video.
And he had this video, and to my surprise, I hadn't seen it.
I don't know if Karina had already saw it.
But I'm showing Karina the video, and my son, he's doing like he is an influencer,
and he's doing like his own version of, uh, uh, uh, of, uh, uh, some type
of, uh, uh, uh, promotion, if you will.
And so he's talking, and he's just going on, and he starts
trying to do some rap lyrics.
My son's really big into rap music, and we, we play, you know, Christian rap music
all the time, and so he's really into it.
He's like, Papa, he has his own list.
It's called the Dominique playlist on Spotify.
And so he takes all these songs, like, Papa, I almost caught you.
You know, I'm almost there.
I'm like, no, you got about 2, 000 more songs to get to me.
But he goes, and he's doing this thing, and he's like, yeah, and
he goes on for several minutes.
It's the funniest, coolest, cutest thing in the world.
And Karina's like, that's you.
And I'm like, you're right.
Cause I'll randomly at the house and somebody says something, a rap lyric will
come to my mind and I'll start going off on the rap verse for a couple of seconds.
Or I'll just randomly start saying stuff.
And so when my son started doing this, guess who he was being like?
He didn't even realize he was being like me, but he was being like his father.
And when you and I do good works, guess who we're being like?
We're being like Jesus.
You see, when we embark and when we embrace and when we fulfill
this divine calling, we start doing good works and we start looking and
imitating the divine Son of God.
We look and resemble Jesus.
We become a blessing to those around us.
You know, we all want to be good.
But when we follow the call of Jesus, guess what?
We start doing good things and we become good because we become good like Him.
We become people of upstanding character.
We're a blessing to people and to the places that we go.
There's no guilt, no shame, and we're not full of regrets.
We're not perfect, but we're being perfected for God's glory.
When we follow this call of Jesus.
We also, as we can see, we help people.
Like Jesus, He served and met needs practically.
He healed, He provided food, He provided hope and encouragement and help.
And He called His followers to do the same.
And so when we follow the call to be divine agents of God, we do good and
we practically serve and bless people.
So grateful for our church and the good work that we do through
our Hope Saturday Academy.
And which is the mentoring program for at risk youth in Santa Ana.
And so that's just one of the things and every time I go I'm
like, wow, this feels so good.
Because we're engaging in divine good work.
And so we help one another in the church.
We provide strength.
I'm so grateful for all the advice and help whether it's marriage
or parenting that we receive.
This is the recipient of people being divine agents of good.
And then we also help people.
spiritually and help them not only for the momentary, but for eternity.
When we are divine agents of good, we help people for eternity.
They get a chance at eternal life, not just a life for the moment that's
good, and hallelujah, the life in Christ on earth is awesome, but
it's awesome now and it continues to the afterlife when we transition.
And so this call to good works, it's an opportunity to join God in having
an eternal impact upon this world.
And so we can say, thank God for the call of Jesus.
And when I think about this, I think about the incredible impact that the
calling of Jesus can have on our lives.
It can really change our perspective on day to day life.
Just think about this.
When we realize, and when we hone in, and we decide to pursue this call of
Jesus, this divine call, this call to a divine purpose, it changes your
perspective about the day to day life.
You approach things differently.
Because you see that you have a bigger purpose and mission in life than
just the mundane and the routine.
So you can approach the mundane and the routine with a different perspective.
A greater joy, a motivation, a sense of purpose to the things you're doing.
So you can go to that class.
You can go to work with a different attitude.
With a different mindset that will produce different results.
And be a divine agent of good.
Imagine the opportunities.
If you pursue the call to a divine purpose, imagine all the opportunities
that present themselves to you if you fulfill the call to a divine purpose.
Think about this.
How would it affect your life going forward?
How would it affect your relationships in your family?
Your roommates, your neighborhood.
How would it affect your current challenges?
How would it affect your approach to school or to work just this week?
Now let me ask you this, or let me call you to this.
Imagine all the opportunities we may lose by not pursuing the call of Jesus.
So we have a choice.
We have a red pill and a blue pill.
We could decide not to follow the call of Jesus and miss out
on all those opportunities.
Or we can decide to take that pill of Christ's call and see and experience the
treasures from pursuing the call of Jesus.
And so I believe, as we think about all these blessings, the potential treasures
that are available for you and for me, not only should we thank God for this
call of Jesus, but I believe it calls us to action in this regard, that we
should pursue the calling of Jesus.
Pursue the calling by deciding and committing to live out the
call to be a divine agent of God.
And on some of us, we might not know exactly what all that means, and I
would encourage you, first off, to discover what is the call of Jesus?
Who was Jesus?
What is all this about His sacrifice and His birth?
How does that apply to me and my daily life?
And I encourage you today to make a decision to pursue by just getting
help and going through the Scriptures.
And setting up a Bible study today.
And say, you know what, I want to learn some more.
About this whole call in Jesus' life.
For others, we can pursue the calling by rediscovering Jesus' call for our
life by examining, doing assessment.
Hey, those treasures that were mentioned, am I experiencing that today?
If not, why not?
What is it?
Am I making some choices that have in me veer from the call of Jesus?
Are there some things in my life that are distracting me?
from this call of Jesus and living it out.
And be honest with that assessment.
Not guilty or down, but be honest.
If it's not the case, then seek help from a brother or sister in Christ.
Seek help to get back to pursuing.
This call of Jesus and for some of us, it's just recommitting to living out the
call of Jesus in our day to day life, not just on a Sunday, not just when we feel
it, but when we don't feel it, when it's just our lives that we take steps every
day in that call of Jesus and for others.
As we assess, we can go, man, I'm experiencing it.
This is awesome.
Hallelujah.
We'll continue to praise the Father for the call of Jesus.
Continue to thank and praise Him.
But remember to continue in pursuing by living it out.
And in calling your friends and neighbors to go along with you.
And to call upon Jesus and to live out this call of Jesus.
Thank God for the life of Jesus.
Thank God for the sacrifice of Jesus.
And thank God for the call of Jesus.
And as we have this Christmas season, we want to thank God for the birth
of Jesus that leads to all of this.
And the opportunities that you and I have.
It's humbling and honoring.
To be called, to be a disciple of Jesus, and to be a divine agent of good.
Right now we're going to take communion.
Again, this is where we celebrate.
We remember, we reflect upon Jesus's sacrifice for our opportunity to
have salvation, to have eternal life, and we take the bread and the juice
representing his body and blood that was It says, sacrifice for you and I,
and as we do this, I want us to read in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 4.
Brothers and sisters, are you still with me here?
Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 4, we'll read, it says, because of his great
love for us, because of his great love for you, God, who is rich in
mercy, Made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.
It is by grace.
You have been saved and God raised us up with Christ and seeded us with him
in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.
In order that in the coming ages, he might show the incomparable riches of
his grace expressed in his kindness to us, to you and me in Christ Jesus.
For it is by grace you have been saved through faith.
This is not from yourselves.
It is the gift of God.
Not by works, so that no one can boast.
For you and me, we are God's handiwork, created in Christ
Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Let's pray.
Father, thank you so much for your scriptures and a
divine call, a divine purpose.
The opportunity to become like you in our character and our nature.
The opportunity to do your good works and to imitate and emulate you.
God, what an honor that is.
I'm humbled and I'm grateful.
And I know I'm unworthy, but for some reason you deem us to be worthy.
And you deem us not only worthy to the call, but worthy to
sacrifice your life for us.
We are humbled, we are grateful, and we are honored.
In the name of Jesus, we say hallelujah, praise you.
All