WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.480 Ever noticed how sometimes you buy a product, you get home, you open the instructions and 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:10.439 they say the most ridiculous things? 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:13.160 Here's a couple of examples. 00:00:14.280 --> 00:00:21.000 On a hairdryer, it's said in the instructions, warning, do not use while sleeping. 00:00:22.980 --> 00:00:29.160 Or on a frozen dinner, serving suggestions, defrost. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:38.280 Or how about on the packaging of a Rowenta of iron, do not iron clothes whilst on body. 00:00:39.939 --> 00:00:47.799 Or on a push-along petrol-powered lawnmower, warning not to be used as a hedge trimmer. 00:00:51.500 --> 00:00:58.579 I was thinking this morning of a title that kind of sums up what I want to say, and I 00:00:58.579 --> 00:01:04.859 came up with doing the things you're called to do and not doing the things you're not 00:01:04.859 --> 00:01:09.500 called to do and knowing the difference between doing the things you're called to do and not 00:01:09.500 --> 00:01:10.920 doing the things that you're not to do. 00:01:11.459 --> 00:01:12.079 Catchy, huh? 00:01:13.259 --> 00:01:15.000 So let me tell you a story instead. 00:01:15.900 --> 00:01:19.780 It's a story about a group of eggs. 00:01:19.780 --> 00:01:24.120 Most of them, in fact, all of them except for one, were chicken's eggs. 00:01:25.140 --> 00:01:32.079 One of them was an eagle's egg and it somehow had found its way among the chicken's eggs. 00:01:33.099 --> 00:01:37.159 Well, in due course, all of these eggs, including the eagle, hatched. 00:01:37.159 --> 00:01:43.599 And these young birds clucked around on the ground, including the eagle. 00:01:44.759 --> 00:01:53.659 The eagle, looking around and seeing the way in which the hens would cluck around and eat 00:01:53.659 --> 00:01:56.859 food off the ground, just behaved in exactly the same way. 00:01:56.939 --> 00:02:03.659 Even though, over the course of time, as they matured, it was quite obvious that this eagle 00:02:03.659 --> 00:02:05.359 was different. 00:02:07.119 --> 00:02:12.719 And as they grew and as their wings grew, so that this eagle was noticeably bigger and 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:20.659 grander and stronger, and you could see that this eagle was clearly not supposed to be clucking 00:02:21.419 --> 00:02:24.219 around on the ground all day long. 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:26.859 It was meant to fly. 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:29.280 But it never did. 00:02:29.280 --> 00:02:36.159 One day, another eagle happened to be circling overhead where these birds lived. 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:44.699 They looked up, aghast in wonder, thinking how amazing it would be to fly. 00:02:46.280 --> 00:02:51.960 The eagle himself, at that point, took a look at his wings and stretched them out and thought 00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:57.300 to himself, maybe, just maybe. 00:03:01.300 --> 00:03:05.480 The others around him knew exactly what he was thinking and laughed and said, don't be 00:03:05.480 --> 00:03:07.100 ridiculous, you're one of us. 00:03:08.460 --> 00:03:09.560 Your place is down here. 00:03:12.060 --> 00:03:15.240 Like a fool, the eagle listened. 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:21.780 And eventually, he died, having never flown. 00:03:25.379 --> 00:03:29.040 That great bird was born to fly. 00:03:31.260 --> 00:03:38.320 But because it never really explored what had been given, he never did. 00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:45.099 It's not a true story, apart from anything else. 00:03:45.539 --> 00:03:50.539 Birds, generally speaking, at least in my experience, tend not to have conversations with each other. 00:03:53.500 --> 00:04:00.379 It does make us think about the things that we have within us, within ourselves, that God 00:04:00.379 --> 00:04:04.400 has given us, and how we use or don't use them. 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:13.879 Let's think a bit about this story from the book of Acts, from the very early church. 00:04:15.040 --> 00:04:15.719 A bit of background. 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:21.220 In the first century Greco-Roman world, there was no welfare system. 00:04:22.660 --> 00:04:29.899 It was, let's be honest, a pretty rubbish social system that existed. 00:04:29.899 --> 00:04:34.699 It was one that was very harsh and oppressive towards women. 00:04:35.859 --> 00:04:40.519 Women were dependent upon men. 00:04:41.639 --> 00:04:50.459 And therefore, if you were a woman and you were suddenly widowed, and you had nobody else 00:04:50.459 --> 00:04:53.060 around to support you, you became destitute. 00:04:53.879 --> 00:04:54.620 It was terrible. 00:04:54.620 --> 00:05:01.740 But it didn't take very long for the early church, for the earliest followers of disciples, 00:05:02.420 --> 00:05:07.639 sorry, the earliest followers of Jesus, to realise that when they were called to follow 00:05:07.639 --> 00:05:12.180 Jesus, they were called to respond with compassion to the needs that were around them. 00:05:13.220 --> 00:05:17.860 And so fairly quickly, as the church grew, they responded to this very real need. 00:05:17.860 --> 00:05:25.360 They would collect in, they would gather in resources on a daily basis, and they would give them out. 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:29.639 They would distribute them to those that were in need, to those within their society that 00:05:29.639 --> 00:05:33.040 were most vulnerable on a daily basis. 00:05:35.939 --> 00:05:40.340 The church grew very rapidly. 00:05:41.500 --> 00:05:47.040 We're told on some occasions, hundreds if not thousands were added in one stroke to their 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:47.340 number. 00:05:47.860 --> 00:05:56.500 And so as the church grew in size and activity, they suddenly realised that this was not what 00:05:56.500 --> 00:05:57.400 they thought was going to happen. 00:05:57.600 --> 00:05:59.060 This was big stuff. 00:05:59.400 --> 00:06:00.920 And they couldn't keep up with themselves. 00:06:01.060 --> 00:06:03.220 They were victims of their own success. 00:06:04.139 --> 00:06:07.960 As they were growing, they were trying to meet the needs, but they realised that the structures 00:06:07.960 --> 00:06:10.580 that they'd set out with actually had been outgrown. 00:06:10.579 --> 00:06:16.000 And so the twelve disciples, those that were actually leading the church, that were responsible 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:23.219 for taking the gospel message out there, getting it spread, those that were leading this new 00:06:23.219 --> 00:06:32.199 thing called the church, were at the same time trying to take control of the working infrastructure, 00:06:32.199 --> 00:06:35.979 of getting food and resources distributed on a daily basis. 00:06:36.779 --> 00:06:39.979 And not surprisingly, it was all going very, very wrong. 00:06:39.980 --> 00:06:42.080 Because they couldn't do it. 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:43.879 They couldn't keep up with it. 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:51.460 So, as growth happened, the leaders had to come to terms with the reality that they could 00:06:51.460 --> 00:06:54.180 not, and indeed should not, do everything. 00:06:55.020 --> 00:06:57.439 That they were called to be a people of God. 00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:03.779 Later, it was referred to in the New Testament as the body of Christ. 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:08.980 To actually work as a body, and just as each part of that body is not called to perform 00:07:08.980 --> 00:07:12.939 every single function of a body, so every member of the body, including its leaders, 00:07:13.300 --> 00:07:18.420 are not required, are not expected, should not be expected to do everything. 00:07:18.420 --> 00:07:25.620 But rather, a healthier practice is for everything to be shared, and for people to discover the 00:07:25.620 --> 00:07:27.860 gifts that they have, and to use them accordingly. 00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:36.860 So, the early church were in this position where they had to suddenly expand their understanding 00:07:36.860 --> 00:07:41.959 of ministry, their understanding of what it meant to be church, their understanding of 00:07:41.959 --> 00:07:46.439 how to use everybody's gifts most effectively. 00:07:47.259 --> 00:07:50.540 So, we're told in these few verses something that they did. 00:07:50.540 --> 00:07:59.879 The twelve, the leaders, the preachers, sought out the help of another seven, and they specifically 00:07:59.879 --> 00:08:07.600 gave them the task of overseeing their social action, their distribution of the food on a 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:08.400 daily basis. 00:08:10.300 --> 00:08:14.680 And as that structure developed, we need to be really clear about this. 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:24.780 It was not a hierarchy as though some were really more Christian and more cutting edge than 00:08:24.780 --> 00:08:25.100 others. 00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:25.959 No, not at all. 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:32.460 Because notice the way in which those who went about the business of the practicalities of 00:08:32.460 --> 00:08:36.519 distributing food on a daily basis, notice how they were appointed. 00:08:37.680 --> 00:08:41.980 We're told that they set about a process of prayer and discernment. 00:08:41.980 --> 00:08:43.840 They didn't just stick anyone in charge. 00:08:44.940 --> 00:08:50.759 But they thought about it, they thought about it prayerfully and appointed people who again 00:08:50.759 --> 00:08:55.860 were gifted in that particular area and they prayed for them with a laying on of hands. 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:08.300 There was no ministry, and there is no ministry, that is in any way superior or more spiritual 00:09:08.299 --> 00:09:10.359 than others. 00:09:11.500 --> 00:09:14.519 Every single one is vital. 00:09:15.439 --> 00:09:16.799 And that's a lesson to all of us. 00:09:19.059 --> 00:09:24.639 So I want to suggest, as we can now leap forward some 2,000 years, that there are two key things 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:30.559 that we can pull out from these few words in Acts. 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:40.559 The first thing is that we are told that we must know what our calling is not. 00:09:42.019 --> 00:09:45.579 Now that may seem obvious, but it isn't always. 00:09:48.579 --> 00:09:54.799 Understanding and having the courage to say no to something, even though there may be something 00:09:54.799 --> 00:10:00.919 about it that has a pull about it, having the courage to say no because we know it's not our call 00:10:00.919 --> 00:10:05.419 is something that perhaps is easy to say but less easy to do. 00:10:07.719 --> 00:10:14.219 As I was getting ready for doing this talk today, I sat in the study and Tamara, my wife, 00:10:14.259 --> 00:10:21.240 who was a music teacher, was doing her lessons in the other room. 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:28.560 And before she had started, she took a mobile phone and she put it on the desk and she said, 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:30.779 can you answer that when it rings? 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:36.379 We wouldn't normally do this, but we were expecting an important phone call from a family member 00:10:36.379 --> 00:10:39.060 about a family-related business, and that was the only number that they had. 00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:42.180 So I was on duty for making sure that this was answered. 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:46.779 Well, after half an hour or so, the phone rang. 00:10:47.560 --> 00:10:48.460 I answered it. 00:10:48.460 --> 00:10:51.540 It wasn't the family member, but I'd answered it. 00:10:52.280 --> 00:10:57.320 The person who was phoning was actually making an inquiry about a piano lesson. 00:10:58.540 --> 00:11:02.019 So like an idiot, I started to try and answer the question. 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:07.100 Well, yeah, I think she's probably free sometime tomorrow. 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:08.000 All right, when tomorrow? 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:12.700 Well, I know that she's doing this at so-and-so. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:14.879 Okay, I was just wondering, how about so-and-so? 00:11:14.940 --> 00:11:22.279 Well, actually, it took about 30 seconds for my total muppetry to be exposed, 00:11:22.980 --> 00:11:27.659 and it became really clear that actually I didn't have a clue what I was talking about, 00:11:27.740 --> 00:11:30.299 and we agreed that it would be better for a text to be sent. 00:11:30.299 --> 00:11:35.639 You see, the point is, and it's stating and screaming the obvious, but I'm going to state it, 00:11:36.779 --> 00:11:41.919 is we, or rather I, wasted about one minute of both of our lives 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:46.459 because I made the mistake of answering a call that wasn't meant for me. 00:11:50.819 --> 00:11:54.079 Very often, things can come our way, and we can be tempted to think, 00:11:54.179 --> 00:11:56.219 well, maybe that looks like a good idea. 00:11:56.220 --> 00:11:59.139 That's something that perhaps I ought to be doing. 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:02.620 And we can almost end up doing it unwittingly. 00:12:02.680 --> 00:12:09.940 You know, when I first became a minister, when I was a probationary minister in Devon in the late 90s, 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:15.840 I can remember that I kind of came out of college full of enthusiasm, 00:12:16.100 --> 00:12:17.580 wanting to do absolutely everything. 00:12:18.600 --> 00:12:21.779 And so if ever anything came up, I was all over it, 00:12:21.820 --> 00:12:23.680 and I kind of felt, yeah, yeah, yeah, I want to do that. 00:12:23.680 --> 00:12:25.700 I ought to be doing that because that's what I'm here to do. 00:12:27.060 --> 00:12:29.879 And people wouldn't exactly push away that enthusiasm, 00:12:30.660 --> 00:12:35.200 but it was not that long before I realised that I'd be my own worst enemy 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:39.200 and set myself up as the guy who actually wants to do everything. 00:12:40.660 --> 00:12:44.620 And it took me years and years and years to unlearn what was, frankly, 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:48.060 a totally unbiblical view of ministry, 00:12:48.060 --> 00:12:53.440 not just for ordained ministers, but for all of us. 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:57.860 You see, if that danger is inherent for somebody who was employed by the church 00:12:57.860 --> 00:13:01.720 to work as an ordained minister, that danger is inherent for every single one of us. 00:13:02.940 --> 00:13:06.980 You know, it can take huge courage to turn around and to say, 00:13:06.980 --> 00:13:08.920 no, I'm not going to do that. 00:13:09.560 --> 00:13:12.240 Including those things that we might already be doing. 00:13:13.659 --> 00:13:17.039 Things that we started to do out of a sense of Christian conviction 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:18.720 that they were the right thing to do. 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:24.519 The danger can be that the longer that we've been doing them, 00:13:25.560 --> 00:13:27.779 the more they can just become part of what we do, 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:28.980 and we don't question it. 00:13:29.860 --> 00:13:31.820 When perhaps God might be saying to us, 00:13:31.920 --> 00:13:35.320 actually, you know, this is somebody else's ministry, 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:40.060 and you need to have the courage to lay this down and to say, 00:13:40.160 --> 00:13:45.800 no, I'm not going to do this because it's not what I'm called to do. 00:13:49.060 --> 00:13:53.660 So if the first challenge is having the courage to understand 00:13:53.660 --> 00:13:55.860 and face up to what our call is not, 00:13:57.180 --> 00:14:00.340 what about the second, the more positive thing? 00:14:01.640 --> 00:14:03.220 Knowing what our call is. 00:14:03.300 --> 00:14:04.440 How do we go about that? 00:14:04.440 --> 00:14:06.900 Now, I'm not going to pretend that there is an easy, 00:14:07.060 --> 00:14:08.620 formulaic answer to that question, 00:14:08.700 --> 00:14:09.680 because I don't think there is. 00:14:10.700 --> 00:14:12.320 But I do want to share this with you. 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:14.400 I'm going to tell you a story, 00:14:14.500 --> 00:14:16.060 and this time it is a true story, 00:14:16.640 --> 00:14:22.160 about somebody who I met a few weeks ago 00:14:22.160 --> 00:14:25.400 when I was at a conference in another place. 00:14:26.340 --> 00:14:27.560 It was a Christian conference, 00:14:27.980 --> 00:14:31.260 and this person I was talking to, she was from Germany. 00:14:31.259 --> 00:14:34.779 And we got talking about her life, 00:14:34.939 --> 00:14:38.819 and although I sort of knew her late husband, 00:14:38.980 --> 00:14:40.179 I didn't really know him that well, 00:14:40.319 --> 00:14:44.700 but he had died about three years ago of cancer. 00:14:44.700 --> 00:14:48.879 And as the conversation unpacked, 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:55.220 so we talked about the way in which she had gone through that experience, 00:14:55.660 --> 00:14:59.259 not only of losing her husband through cancer, 00:14:59.660 --> 00:15:05.040 but how she had herself had a cancer diagnosis five years earlier to that. 00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:07.180 She had come through that, 00:15:07.179 --> 00:15:12.979 but she explained how she had to process things 00:15:12.979 --> 00:15:14.879 and learn to take each day as it comes, 00:15:15.399 --> 00:15:19.199 and also describe her experiences of how she worked as a, 00:15:19.299 --> 00:15:21.439 they both worked as missionaries in Indonesia, 00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:24.479 and then moved to another part of the world after that, 00:15:24.620 --> 00:15:26.439 seeking to follow God's call. 00:15:27.839 --> 00:15:30.819 And through what was quite a lengthy conversation, 00:15:30.820 --> 00:15:35.000 there was one particular theme that really, really stood out 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:37.560 and really got me by the scruff of the neck 00:15:37.560 --> 00:15:38.879 and was a wake-up call. 00:15:39.040 --> 00:15:39.540 It was this. 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:45.700 She said that she had a sign at home 00:15:45.700 --> 00:15:47.620 that she pulled off the internet, 00:15:47.780 --> 00:15:50.140 printed out, and stuck on her fridge. 00:15:50.139 --> 00:15:56.759 And that sign was these words. 00:16:03.299 --> 00:16:04.679 Welcome to the next level. 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:07.779 It was a slogan that was actually used in the early 90s 00:16:07.779 --> 00:16:10.799 for one of the game consoles, you may remember. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:13.019 But welcome to the next level. 00:16:14.059 --> 00:16:15.360 I said, well, tell me a bit about that. 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:15.759 What do you mean? 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:18.919 She said, I put those words there 00:16:18.919 --> 00:16:20.159 so I can see it each day, 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:22.120 because as I look back at the experiences 00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:23.839 that I've gone through and am going through, 00:16:23.899 --> 00:16:25.199 I find that I've got two choices. 00:16:26.740 --> 00:16:29.399 Choice one could be to look at the situation 00:16:29.399 --> 00:16:31.599 and the circumstances around me, 00:16:32.519 --> 00:16:33.559 and to panic, 00:16:34.299 --> 00:16:35.879 and to think, I can't go through this. 00:16:35.979 --> 00:16:36.539 I can't. 00:16:36.599 --> 00:16:38.120 I've got this far, but I can't. 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:41.699 The other option 00:16:41.699 --> 00:16:45.839 is to see the circumstances that face me now 00:16:45.839 --> 00:16:47.240 that I haven't faced before, 00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:49.379 and to look back on everything 00:16:49.379 --> 00:16:50.480 that I've been through, 00:16:51.299 --> 00:16:53.560 and to look at the experiences 00:16:53.560 --> 00:16:56.600 alongside what I believe 00:16:56.600 --> 00:16:58.899 are the gifts that God has given me, 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:02.879 and to understand what is going on this day 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:04.200 as the next level, 00:17:05.640 --> 00:17:07.099 as a set of challenges, 00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:08.700 not to be terrified of, 00:17:09.620 --> 00:17:12.440 but as an invitation from God to embrace, 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:16.000 because God knows what's going on. 00:17:17.360 --> 00:17:19.200 And as she shared this with me, 00:17:19.700 --> 00:17:21.100 she also shared her conviction 00:17:21.100 --> 00:17:22.700 of how she believes that 00:17:22.700 --> 00:17:27.380 God never stops in our lives 00:17:27.380 --> 00:17:29.900 whatever we're going through, 00:17:30.900 --> 00:17:32.340 and that each day, 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:34.900 even though we may face massive limitations 00:17:34.900 --> 00:17:36.700 and may not be able to do 00:17:36.700 --> 00:17:38.580 the things that we would like to do 00:17:38.580 --> 00:17:40.220 or the things that we used to do 00:17:40.220 --> 00:17:41.059 but can no longer. 00:17:41.940 --> 00:17:43.380 We have that opportunity 00:17:43.380 --> 00:17:45.539 to regard that day and its challenges 00:17:45.539 --> 00:17:46.819 as something new 00:17:46.819 --> 00:17:48.620 that God understands 00:17:48.620 --> 00:17:50.920 and that God is equipping us for, 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:52.980 even though we might not fully understand. 00:17:54.519 --> 00:17:57.400 I find that massively, massively challenging. 00:17:58.860 --> 00:18:00.360 Welcome to the next level. 00:18:01.960 --> 00:18:03.360 You see, as we go through our lives 00:18:03.360 --> 00:18:04.600 and as we seek to discern 00:18:04.600 --> 00:18:06.579 what God would have us do each day, 00:18:06.579 --> 00:18:08.759 I think it is genuinely important 00:18:08.759 --> 00:18:09.679 that we learn 00:18:09.679 --> 00:18:11.519 and continually relearn 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:15.059 that God actually does have a plan for us each day, 00:18:15.619 --> 00:18:17.139 that he knows and understands 00:18:17.139 --> 00:18:18.419 and that we might not, 00:18:18.939 --> 00:18:20.720 but nevertheless he is equipping us for. 00:18:22.619 --> 00:18:23.699 And that vision 00:18:23.699 --> 00:18:26.699 that God continually is about the business 00:18:26.699 --> 00:18:29.059 of growing and growing and growing 00:18:29.059 --> 00:18:30.179 the stuff inside us 00:18:30.179 --> 00:18:31.359 that he has gifted us with 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:33.359 is something that runs right through 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:34.279 the Christian tradition. 00:18:34.279 --> 00:18:38.980 John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, 00:18:39.059 --> 00:18:39.619 Anglican priest, 00:18:39.940 --> 00:18:42.460 had something to say about this 00:18:42.460 --> 00:18:43.720 when he wrote about 00:18:43.720 --> 00:18:46.119 the way in which God's spirit 00:18:46.119 --> 00:18:47.539 is continually, 00:18:48.019 --> 00:18:50.480 continually wanting to do things in us. 00:18:50.519 --> 00:18:51.220 He wrote this. 00:18:52.619 --> 00:18:55.019 This was about 200 or so years ago, 00:18:55.160 --> 00:18:56.660 so bear with me for the language. 00:18:57.740 --> 00:18:59.180 Yea, and when ye have attained 00:18:59.180 --> 00:19:00.819 a measure of perfect love, 00:19:00.819 --> 00:19:02.980 when God has enabled you 00:19:02.980 --> 00:19:04.939 to love him with all your heart 00:19:04.939 --> 00:19:06.419 and all your soul, 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:11.339 think not of resting there. 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:14.700 That's impossible. 00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:18.039 You cannot stand still. 00:19:19.319 --> 00:19:21.460 You must either rise or fall. 00:19:22.700 --> 00:19:24.919 Rise higher or fall lower. 00:19:24.920 --> 00:19:28.300 Therefore, the voice of God 00:19:28.300 --> 00:19:29.560 to the children of Israel, 00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:31.039 to the children of God, 00:19:31.100 --> 00:19:32.940 is go forward. 00:19:34.080 --> 00:19:35.840 Forgetting those things that are behind 00:19:35.840 --> 00:19:37.060 and reaching forward 00:19:37.060 --> 00:19:38.539 unto those that are before, 00:19:39.640 --> 00:19:41.560 press on to the mark 00:19:41.560 --> 00:19:44.220 for the prize of your high calling 00:19:44.220 --> 00:19:46.279 of God in Christ Jesus. 00:19:48.620 --> 00:19:50.720 There is no standing still. 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:53.740 Now that could be terrifying 00:19:53.740 --> 00:19:54.480 or 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:58.000 we can see it as exciting 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:01.779 as God's daily invitation 00:20:01.779 --> 00:20:02.960 to say to us, 00:20:03.740 --> 00:20:05.019 welcome to the next level. 00:20:06.680 --> 00:20:08.440 I don't know what's going on 00:20:08.440 --> 00:20:09.539 in your life right now, 00:20:09.640 --> 00:20:10.660 but my guess is, 00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:12.839 is like most human beings, 00:20:12.920 --> 00:20:13.680 we'll have a combination 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:15.180 of things that excite us 00:20:15.180 --> 00:20:15.980 and things that 00:20:15.980 --> 00:20:17.779 may make us worried and afraid. 00:20:17.779 --> 00:20:21.559 Can I suggest 00:20:21.559 --> 00:20:24.059 that starting right now, 00:20:24.839 --> 00:20:26.399 we embrace each day 00:20:26.399 --> 00:20:29.079 with that sense 00:20:29.079 --> 00:20:30.980 of hopeful expectation 00:20:30.980 --> 00:20:33.859 that here's the voice of God 00:20:33.859 --> 00:20:34.399 saying, 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:36.720 welcome to the next level. 00:20:37.720 --> 00:20:39.099 You might be feeling nervous, 00:20:39.259 --> 00:20:40.359 you might be feeling afraid, 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:41.059 but it's okay. 00:20:41.899 --> 00:20:42.960 You've been gifted, 00:20:43.180 --> 00:20:43.899 you've been equipped 00:20:43.899 --> 00:20:45.440 with everything you need. 00:20:46.740 --> 00:20:47.299 Welcome. 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:49.259 To the next level. 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:53.039 To the next level.