He's Calling You
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Joseph Khabbaz
Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 35:34
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· 91 viewsIf you have ever wondered if you've been forgotten by Jesus, you will be reminded that He is calling you!
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Introduction
Happy Sabbath Southern family! Welcome to the first evening.
Ministry Expo. Remind students to signup for SonRise and LifeGroups.
Well I want to wish you all a happy new year!
10 days of prayer.
46 Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.
Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.”
Context of Mark
This story is found in the second part of the Gospel of Mark where Jesus is now the road to suffering and death. In the next chapter (Chapter 11) Jesus enters his final week in Jerusalem. He is about to be rejected, not by people who are his enemies, because that would make sense. But he is about to be rejected by people who are meant to be his friends.
But it was through the rejection and betrayal that something would be revealed. You know that your life class in rejection also leads to a lesson in revelation right. Because it was through the people that rejected Jesus that it became apparent who would remain to receive him.
Let me share with you are little lesson, without some fake friends in your life you never know who your real friends are. So I believe that God has placed you at Southern to find some real friendships that will last a lifetime. Friends that will encourage you when you feel like giving up, friends that will pray for you when you under attack by the enemy, friends that will forgive you when you mess up (because you are not always the best friend a person could have either amen! You make mistakes to), friends that will be happy for your achievements. So that when you leave Southern you can spot a fake.
So Jesus is on the road of rejection and he is about to call a man on the side of the road who has been rejected. Someone needs to know tonight that Jesus us coming down your street. The street of rejection, the street of pain, the street of disappointment, the street of despair. He is coming down your street and He is calling you.
Illustration: Blocked Calls
Your phone has the ability to blocked certain numbers. So I have a whole list of blocked numbers, looks like the local number but it is really a spam call with a robot on the other side saying you have not paid you taxes or your insurance has expired. BLOCK!
What happens to blocked phone calls. When you block a number on your iPhone, the blocked caller will be sent straight to your voicemail — this is their only clue that they've been blocked, by the way.
So a good friend of mine was trying to call me and we were playing phone tag and he tried to call me back
“Driving Mode”
Have you ever wondered if someone has blocked you? Do you sometimes feel that God has blocked your number? You feel like he is not answering you?
As we start this year, God wants cheer up because He is calling you!
Facing Rejection by Faith
Facing Rejection by Faith
48 Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Gen 12:8 “...There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.”
Isn’t interesting that while he is worshiping they are trying to quiet him. The enemy doesn’t mind what you do, but when you start to worship God, that is when you will find resistance. While he was in the side of the road minding his own business, there was no problem BUT when you start recognizing who Jesus is, and when you start worshiping Him because of who He is, then the enemy will have something to say... be quiet. Quiet your worship. There are many ways the enemy tries to quiet our worship:
He will use distraction to quiet our worship
He will use our need to be accepted by others to quiet your worship
The enemy will use your social media to quiet your worship. Everyone had so much fun over Christmas and new years!
He will use the news to quiet your worship. It is so depressing, when you watch the news you feel like God is nowhere to be found. Problem after problem. And if it were not for the prophesy that God gave saying it will be this way in the last days I would wonder where Jesus is, I got to be honest, it would discourage me to stop my worship.
He will use car accident to quiet your worship.
Illustration: Friday night Bible study, drunk driver went through a red light. I still preached the next day
The enemy has been at work to destroy our faith in the power of worship.
BUT the more they tried to keep Him quiet, the more he raised his voice. The more they tried to keep him down the more that he wanted to rise up.
I wonder if there are any people who are real worshippers tonight, that the more people try to quiet your praise the more you raise your voice. The more the enemy tries to throw at you the more the fighter comes out of you. For some of us, when they crowd said be quiet we would say,
“OK, I didn't mean to cause any trouble. I am sorry if I offended you. I am going to just sit right here and mind my business.”
Now some people do need to mind their own business, but when it comes to worshipping God. God is looking for a people that will worship him no matter what others say, not matter who tells them to be quiet. If people are willing to scream at a football game, I am willing to shout for Jesus who died for me and does not charge me an admission price to watch him play.
But that is not what the Bible tells me. Paul said that he fought the good fight of faith. Paul knew how to fight, and this man may be blind but he still has a voice and he is going to use it.
Stop focusing on what you do not have and what you have lost, use what you do have.
Here is the issue, we think that in order to be faithful to God we need something we don’t have to do His will.
Well Lord, I don’t have any money to go on a mission trip
I am not an extravert, neither am I, if he wanted me to be an extravert we would have made me one.
I want to talk to the people that thought not having much growing up was a detriment to your development. But when you don’t have much if something stops working, you got to work with what's left. I remember our hot water system breaking down as a kid. And I wondered how on earth we are going to have a shower now, but my parents knew how to work with what they have left. So they turned on the stove, got a large pot and starting boiling water. The hot water system was not working but they were going to have clean kids going to school. They knew how to work with what was left.
If God wanted you to look a certain way he would have made you that way. If you were meant to be taller to achieve your mission he would have made you that way, if you needed to sing he would have given you the best vocals cords on earth. The problem with our church is we often what to have what God did not give us.
If only we were a megachurch, if God wanted us to be a megachurch he would make us one. If you can’t be faithful when we are a remnant how can we be faithful when we are majority
Moving Forward While Blind
Moving Forward While Blind
Mark 10:49 (NKJV)
49 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.
Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.”
Rise! I want people around me that call me to something higher. There are people that would prefer you stay down, “Don’t worry about that Christianity stuff, stay down.” Be comfortable where you are!
Some people want a comfortable Christianity. Jesus, just tell me that where I am is fine! Some people just want to hear that God will give them grace every time they mess up! I don’t just want a
BUT what about teaching me how I can get better so I don’t have to mess things up all the time?
I want to make progress in my life, how about you?
RISE, get out of your comfortable Christianity. I know we just came out of Christmas where Jesus is just a baby, something cute, almost like you can carry him around and bring him out of your pocket when you need something. But we are in Mark 10 and he is one the road of suffering about to be crucified on the cross. Christianity is anything but comfortable. Jesus died on the cross and rose on the third day not so that you can stay down, but so that you could rise as well.
TTYN and says, “It’s time to rise as a campus in the new year! It’s time to rise in your studies this year, it is time to rise in your calling this year! It is time to rise as a church this year!” We serve a God who is risen, and God us saying… Be of good cheer! Rise”
I wonder what kind of shout makes Jesus stand still. I wonder what kind of praise causes Him to stop in His tracks. There is a CROWD around Jesus but Jesus stops for the ONE.
It is easy to think that when Jesus is in the crowd, He forgets about the one.
I do not know what your up bringing is, maybe you grew up in a small town. Maybe your church was nothing like the size of the University Church. This size crowd makes you feel uncomfortable, this size makes can sometimes make you feel that you are just a number. But the amazing thing about Jesus is he can be in a crowd while at the same time see and hearing the ONE.
You maybe only ONE but you are still seen by THE ONE named Jesus!
But we serve a God that is willing to leave the 99 and go after THE ONE. You are that one tonight!
I wonder how many people have felt like they have been forgotten but Jesus us saying to you tonight: I am calling you!
Your worship, your voice makes Jesus stand still. His cry stopped Him dead in His tracks.
Illustration: Mammals respond to distress calls of newborns regardless of species
Researchers from Canada recorded the cries of various baby mammals
It included humans, fur seal pups, kittens, silver-haired bats and deers
Recordings were played to female white-tailed deers in the wild
The research team monitored how the adult deer reacted to each cry.
And what they found was amazing, it didn’t matter what species was played back to the mother deer, she recognized the distress calls.
Point: If an animal God created can hear the crying call of another species, how much more can God hear the cry of His each of us?
Ministry of Healing Medical Missionaries and Their Work
It is when we come into difficult places that He reveals His power and wisdom in answer to humble prayer. Have confidence in Him as a prayer-hearing, prayer-answering God.
It is your difficulty that reveals God’s power. It is your problem that shows you the power of God’s promise. This changes the way we see our situation, see your circumstances as an opportunity for God to reveal his presence in your life.
Have confidence in the prayer-hearing God, He is calling you!
Restoration by the Road
Restoration by the Road
51 So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.”
52 Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.
What do you want me to do?
Now what watch this, there are parallels in this story. Has Jesus ever asked anyone else, what with the request of James and John in the preceding incident (10:32–40) help clarify these implications. The Bible is so cool but you have to read it in context. He asks James and John the same question, just a few verses back!
36 And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
37 They said to Him, “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.”
You see what he asked the blind man the question, he wanted everyone to hear the answer!
The disciples wanted to sit on thrones with Jesus and reign with him in triumph. Bartimaeus sits on the side of the road in the dust, he is not looking for glory, he is looking for vision.
And guess what, Jesus doesn’t grant the disciples’ request for power, but he can grant a blind man’s request for vision. The blind man could see better than the crowds and the disciples, because he could see through faith.
I pray that God will help us to see more clearly this year. There are some prayers God will not answer but there is a prayer that God will always answer, the prayer for God to heal our Spiritual blindness.
Your faith has made you well. Not your car, your faith! Not your degree, your faith! Not your new dress or Gucci bag, your faith! Not your new boyfriend or girlfriend, your faith has made you well!
It is amazing to me where people go and what they try to get to feel better about themselves, but Jesus said, “Your faith has made you well.”
You see the devil does not want your house, your internship, your titles; he wants your faith!
He wants your faith because He know that your faith moves God. Faith is the power cord that connects you to the power of Infinite love.
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Jesus is calling you today! If you hear his voice, call upon Him!
I don’t know what road you are on right now! But whatever road you are traveling God wants you to know He has been on that same road and He is calling you! Cheer up!
Gospel Workers, Revised and Enlarged (Section 7—Helps in Gospel Work)
True faith and true prayer—how strong they are! They are as two arms by which the human suppliant lays hold upon the power of Infinite Love. Faith is trusting in God,—believing that He loves us, and knows what is for our best good.
Reflection
Reflection
What opinions from others are influencing your actions?
What areas of your life is God asking you to face rejection by faith?
If Jesus asked you, “What do you want me to do for you?” what would you say?