The High Calling of Discipleship: Moving Beyond Volunteering

• Divine Calling [00:22:18 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces the theme of 'calling' as a central focus, encompassing calls to service, marriage, parenthood, and ministry.
• Father's Day Reflection [00:22:51 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor connects the liturgical occasion of Father's Day to the theme of calling, sharing personal anecdotes about his father and a former pastor's tradition of honoring father figures.
• Scriptural Narrative of Samuel [00:32:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > The reading of 1 Samuel 3 provides the biblical foundation for the sermon, illustrating the process of learning to discern God's voice.
• Personal Testimony [00:35:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares his personal history, including his commissioning as a deacon and his childhood experiences in a small church, to contextualize the concept of calling.
• Divine Calling and Discernment [00:37:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts his personal journey from childhood memories of church to realizing his call to ministry, emphasizing that God plants seeds early and uses community to confirm the call.
• Overcoming Fear in Ministry [00:41:38 ▶️ 📄]
  > The speaker discusses the theme of fear in his story, comparing his hesitation to Samuel's fear, and notes that getting past fear is essential before one can fully commit to God's call.
• The Role of Community and Mentors [00:40:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor highlights how mentors like his pastor and friends (David, Philip, Claire) acted as 'Eli' figures, encouraging him to listen to God and confirming his call when he was unsure.
• Discernment of Calling [00:57:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses Frederick Buechner's quote to define calling as the meeting point of personal joy ('deep gladness') and the world's need, urging listeners to identify what brings them joy to find their ministry.
• Self-Denial in Ministry [00:54:54 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that preaching and ministry require denying the self's desire for control, approval, and fear of failure, framing it as an act of following Jesus rather than a performance.
• Discipleship vs. Volunteering [01:00:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > Referencing Bishop Latrell Easterling, the pastor argues that church members are never 'volunteers' but are 'water-born and spirit-bred disciples' performing high calling acts of service like ushering or teaching.
• Fear and Courage [00:49:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts his personal fear of inadequacy and failure in ministry, illustrating how God 'gentled' him into his calling through mentors and scripture rather than forcing him.
• Discipleship vs. Volunteering [01:00:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor redefines church service not as volunteering but as 'discipling,' citing Bishop Easterling to assert that believers are 'water-born and spirit-bred' and have a high calling.
• Discerning Calling [01:01:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor provides four pieces of advice for discerning one's calling: paying attention to internal nudges/excitement, listening to trusted friends/community, immersing in scripture, and paying attention to uncomfortable recurring themes.
• Overcoming Fear [01:03:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor addresses common fears that cause people to say 'no' to God, such as fear of permanence ('forever'), lack of time, fear of failure, or deviation from personal plans, urging believers to trust God's abundance.

• Sermon Illustration [00:21:51 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts being called to preach on 15 minutes' notice due to illness, using it to highlight the importance of being prepared to share one's call story.
• Sermon Illustration [00:23:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a memory of his former pastor, Don Lloyd, who led a prayer on Father's Day inviting the congregation to name men who had impacted their lives, quoting him: 'there's nothing so sweet on the lips as calling the name of one who has changed your life and loved you.'
• Sermon Illustration [00:37:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes his childhood in a small church, remembering his Sunday school teacher Miss Jimmy reading the Bible through and his own experience serving as an acolyte after graduating seminary.
• Sermon Illustration [00:38:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor reflects on the recent Vacation Bible School, wondering what memories or 'seeds of a call' might remain with the children in the future.
• Sermon Illustration [00:37:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his childhood in a small church, remembering his Sunday school teacher Miss Jimmy reading the Bible and his own experience memorizing 2 Timothy 2:15, which he later realized was a seed God planted for his ministry.
• Sermon Illustration [00:39:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > He recounts a memory from age 8-10 at Pine Grove United Methodist Church, where seeing a woman in the pulpit made him pray, 'Oh dear God, please don't ask me to ever do that,' illustrating his initial resistance to the call.
• Sermon Illustration [00:41:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor tells a humorous story about how he and his friend Wes both wanted to be high school history teachers, and how their parents wanted to name them Bernie and Elmira, referencing Elton John's songwriter and the song 'Elvira'.
• Sermon Illustration [00:43:42 ▶️ 📄]
  > He describes a pivotal moment during Easter weekend prayer vigil where he wrestled with God's will, leading him to his pastor who handed him the Book of Discipline, specifically paragraph 301, which defined ministry as derived from Christ and grounded in baptism.
• Sermon Illustration [00:50:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a story about his friend Claire Dobbs repeatedly telling him he had a call to preach, to which he responded defensively, 'Go back to Mississippi,' illustrating his fear and reluctance to accept the specific call to preaching.
• Sermon Illustration [00:49:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal narrative of his journey to ministry: initially fearing he wasn't good enough, he was mentored by 'Eli-like' figures (Christian mentors, Claire Dobbs, Don Lloyd). He recounts a specific 'aha moment' while driving home after preaching Matthew 16, realizing he had to 'deny himself' to follow Jesus, leading him to say 'yes' to his call to preach.
• Sermon Illustration [00:58:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references a story from a seminary class where an African-American woman distinguished between 'baby love' which drains you and 'real love' which feeds you like 'good grub,' illustrating that true calling brings joy and sustenance rather than exhaustion.
• Sermon Illustration [01:00:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor tells a humorous anecdote about hearing Bishop Latrell Easterling preach the 'best sermon ever,' only to realize that God didn't call him to be Bishop Easterling, but to be himself, emphasizing that God calls individuals to be who they are, not to imitate others.
• Sermon Illustration [01:00:42 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references Bishop Easterling's sermon to illustrate that church members are not volunteers but disciples. He also uses the biblical story of Eli helping Samuel discern God's voice, noting it took three attempts for Eli to understand. Finally, he uses a hypothetical example of someone who planned to be a high school history teacher to illustrate how God's call might disrupt personal plans.

• Pastoral Charge [00:24:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > Join in corporate prayer for fathers and father figures.
• Pastoral Charge [00:08:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > Newcomers to fill out a blue slip or scan a QR code to provide contact information.
• Pastoral Charge [01:01:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > Discern calling by paying attention to personal excitement and seeking counsel from trusted mentors.
• Pastoral Charge [01:05:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > To verbally express willingness to God in prayer.
• Pastoral Charge [01:04:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > To maintain an open posture towards God's potential callings.

[00:00:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:00:39] Good morning. Good morning. I already said hi. Good morning.

[00:01:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:01:17] Is it really incorrect if it was used to fix something?
[00:01:41] It was the incorrect tool in Find the Book, but it was the correct tool to use at the time.

[00:01:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:01:49] I just said there is a big difference.

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:02:04] Hmm?
[00:02:05] I just said there is a big difference.

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:02:18] Now, you can see the word, it's a script, you can see it right there, you can see the words and things around, you can see the way that it's been picked up.
[00:02:38] I feel like it depends on the situation.
[00:02:47] We also wanted to save money.
[00:02:50] Yeah, you're not going to...
[00:02:53] find the hammer.

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:02:54] Actually, a third. We already have, like, three hammers.
[00:02:58] There's, like, a map. We have, like, a map.

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:03:00] Oh, I just looked Taylor down.

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:03:03] Okay, we don't count those. We don't count giant hammers.
[00:03:06] Sledgehands.
[00:03:07] I'm just talking about regular sledgehands.
[00:03:08] Do you have a sledgehammer?
[00:03:09] I probably do.

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:03:10] Oh yeah, he does.
[00:03:11] But I don't have one.
[00:03:12] Does he have a sledgehammer?
[00:03:14] Uh, I don't know.
[00:03:16] Oh yeah, he does.

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:03:24] But, I don't have a sledgehammer.

[00:03:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:03:30] Imagine if it's like, you're in a situation

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:03:32] with straight kids, like, there's a screwdriver all over, you know, everything.
[00:03:38] No, in the car, That's the...

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:03:44] I know it.
[00:03:46] You guys are having fun.
[00:03:58] She improvised and was hitting her friend

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:04:00] and he was hitting mommy.
[00:04:04] She couldn't do it.
[00:04:06] She was being attacked for a while.

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:04:08] I'm so excited for when we're at the pool, mainly because I'm going to have to sleep on the thing.
[00:04:14] I'm going to be like...
[00:04:19] Yeah, I will still sleep on the thing. I'll take that as a challenge.

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:04:23] Well, finally.

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:04:26] Well, I'll sleep on the floor then. Or I'll just be the five of you floating in the water and I'll be like...
[00:04:33] you're too young to get old man injuries

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:04:38] I'm in charge of old man injuries oh that's why I'm still three months into it

[00:04:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:04:45] something's humming now from that whatever that plug in was there are moments when we forget who we are moments when the world is loud and truth feels distant but God has never been silent about you from beginning to end his word speaks identity
[00:05:33] not just who you are but whose you are this is what he calls you you are chosen redeemed loved a child of God a son a daughter set apart a masterpiece you are forgiven clean free you are his beloved a holy nation you are his dwelling place the light of the world
[00:06:08] a city on a hill, an ambassador of hope, a citizen of heaven, an overcomer, appointed, equipped, held, sealed, strengthened. You are not forgotten, not abandoned, not alone. You are blessed, protected, provided for, safe in his hands. You are a new creation, adopted, marked
[00:06:37] by mercy, made for glory. You are his now and forever, and nothing, nothing can separate you

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:06:49] from his love. Good morning, friends, and welcome to our 915 worship service here at Williamson's Chapel. And first and foremost, a happy Father's Day to all of you dads and father figures out there. I hope that today is one of fun and I don't know, maybe not having to grill out or maybe you
[00:07:14] get to go golfing. I don't know, but whatever it is, I hope it's a day full of joy and appreciation for each and every one of you. I'm Monica Humple. I'm the Associate Pastor of Engagement here at
[00:07:24] Williamson's Chapel and I welcome those of you here in person and hey, those of you online, we're really glad you're tuning in as well. If you are newer to our church, maybe this is your
[00:07:36] first Sunday here if you are a super big welcome to you or maybe you've been here for a few Sundays either way if you're newer to our church my role here at the church is to greet you welcome you and
[00:07:46] tell you a little bit about our church if you have questions want to know about missions or ministries or anything like that I want to make myself available to you just after worship today I'll be at a little cart to your left as you walk out and you can come say hi and ask me whatever
[00:08:00] you want to ask me and I'll be happy to fill you in and I even have a cool little gift I want to give you. If you can't stick around after worship and you are newer to our church, I invite you to
[00:08:09] scan this QR code or use one of the little blue slips in the pews and you can put that in the offering plate just to tell us a little bit about you. And I can email you and tell you anything
[00:08:18] you want to know. In other words, we want you to feel as welcome and as included here at the church and as engaged as we possibly can. So please let me know how I can be of service to you in that
[00:08:29] manner. And hey, a special invitation, if any of you have a heart for welcoming people in the name of Jesus when they come to this worship service on Sunday mornings, or even if you tend to even
[00:08:38] go to the 11 o'clock service, I would love to help you join our team of folks who welcome you and say good morning on Sundays. And if you are interested in that at all, it's super easy. It's based on
[00:08:49] whenever you're available in your schedule, come by my cart after worship today so I can tell you a little bit more about that. We are here. It is Father's Day. We're here to celebrate dads,
[00:08:58] but we're also here to worship God, a God who loves us with all of his heart.
[00:09:03] So friends, I invite us to have a heart full of worship and a heart open to the movement of the Holy Spirit as we continue to worship together.

[00:09:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:09:12] As Monica said, this is Father's Day where we celebrate our earthly dads.
[00:09:19] But this next song is simply called God So Loved.
[00:09:23] And we need to remember that before we were here and after we're gone, God still loved the world.

[00:09:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:09:28] Are you thirsty? Come to the well that never runs dry. Drink of the water, come and thirst no more.
[00:10:20] Are you sinners? Come to mercy, come to the table, he will satisfy. Taste of the goodness, find what you're looking for.
[00:10:34] I don't know if y'all remember me.

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:21:33] I'm Tony Root.
[00:21:36] So, it's good.
[00:21:39] It's so good to be back home with you all today.
[00:21:42] I have been missing you.
[00:21:43] We were gone for two weeks on vacation.
[00:21:45] And then last week, I just was not feeling good and did not realize that I was not going to be able to preach until 15 minutes before worship started.
[00:21:51] And that is not a lie.
[00:21:52] And so Wes, God bless him, penchant for me on 15 minutes notice.
[00:21:58] And you should be impressed with him because that was impressive.
[00:22:01] However, maybe a little bit less impressive because after 25 years in ministry, if you can't share your call story at 15 minutes notice, what really are you doing?
[00:22:08] Anyway, I surely love him and appreciate his gifts.
[00:22:13] He preached a great word last week, spirit-filled.
[00:22:16] And so we hope for that today.
[00:22:18] We are continuing to think about calling.
[00:22:21] And it is always a privilege to share my call story.
[00:22:25] And so that's what I'm going to be doing a little bit later today.
[00:22:27] But I want you to be thinking about all the calls in your life.
[00:22:31] The call to serve in some way.
[00:22:34] The call to marriage.
[00:22:36] The call to parenthood.
[00:22:37] The call that you have been given to reach out to somebody.
[00:22:42] God has called all of us to something.
[00:22:45] And so we're going to be really reflecting on that today.
[00:22:47] and the things maybe that get in the way of us living into our callings.
[00:22:51] So today is also Father's Day.
[00:22:54] And one of the people I'm going to talk about in my sermon is our first pastor that Wes and I had when we were serving together at First Methodist in High Point.
[00:23:02] His name was Don Lloyd.
[00:23:04] And Don Lloyd had a tradition that on Father's Day and on Mother's Day, he would lead a prayer and he would allow the body to lift up names of fathers, men in their lives who had made a difference.
[00:23:16] and maybe it was biology and maybe it wasn't.
[00:23:19] Maybe it was a father, maybe it was a grandfather, maybe it was an uncle, maybe it was a friend.
[00:23:23] And I remember Don saying, there's nothing so sweet on the lips as calling the name of one who has changed your life and loved you.
[00:23:32] And so my father's been gone 45 years and it is always a blessing to me on Father's Day to be able to lift his name in a house of worship in thanksgiving for the father that he was.
[00:23:45] So we're going to take a moment here and pray for our dads Maybe, you know, not everyone is a dad Everybody has one And you know what, y'all?
[00:23:54] Let's just be honest Some people had great dads And we are so thankful for them, right?
[00:24:00] We're thankful for the ways they tended and cared and loved and nurtured And spoke goodness into us And some of us have more complicated relationships with our fathers And we maybe lift their names in forgiveness
[00:24:13] and a prayer of reconciliation.
[00:24:18] And some of us are missing our parents.
[00:24:20] Some of us are not with our parents.
[00:24:22] And we lift them today in gratitude and thanksgiving.
[00:24:26] And some of us get to be there holding their hand.
[00:24:28] And what a privilege that is.
[00:24:30] So let's just go to the Lord together in prayer this morning.
[00:24:36] God, you are a good, good father.
[00:24:40] you are gentle and steadfast and loving you discipline us God when we have traveled far but you never let your anger hold against us for very long you are so swift to forgive and God in our lifetime we have seen and experienced that sort of fatherhood made manifest
[00:25:08] in men in our lives who have offered us that same sort of gentleness and love and discipline, but always, Lord, forgiveness and grace for all of those men, for our fathers, fathers in faith, fathers of biology,
[00:25:27] fathers who fathered children and those who were fathers in spirit.
[00:25:32] We are so grateful today.
[00:25:36] And in a spirit of prayer, worship forgiveness love transformation we lift them before you this day for tony phillips wesley smith and danny smith lord for all these and so many more we give you thanks
[00:26:23] we pray god that you would bless them that they might know the strength that comes in a life with Jesus that they might know that love that transforms and that leads in every way I pray
[00:26:42] that you would bless and that you would guide we pray God that you would bring comfort for those who are today grieving missing a father in their life missing a husband missing a son and we pray
[00:26:55] God that you would in reminders of who you are and reminders of your love help us to believe in a love that makes all of us new, that calls us children of the living God
[00:27:09] and that draws us always into deeper life in you.
[00:27:15] Thank you for all that you have given us.
[00:27:17] Thank you for your forgiving grace that makes all of us new.
[00:27:21] We pray, God, as we continue to worship that you will draw us closer that we might hear your voice and love you all the more in the name of Christ.
[00:27:30] Amen.

[00:27:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:27:32] Our next song this morning reminds us before any of us were ever called The ultimate sacrifice was made for our salvation.
[00:27:39] And God, we love you and thank you.

[00:27:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:27:40] I hear the Savior say, Thy strength indeed is small.
[00:27:59] Child of weakness, watch and pray.
[00:28:03] Find in me thine all in all.
[00:28:08] Jesus paid it all.

[00:28:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:28:19] Left the crescents in white as snow.

[00:28:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:28:25] Good morning, everybody, and happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there.

[00:32:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:32:49] Today's scripture comes from 1 Samuel 3, verses 1 through 10.
[00:32:56] Samuel was born the son of Elkanah and Hannah.
[00:33:00] Hannah was barren, and as she prayed for God to give her a child, she promised to dedicate him to the Lord if God should hear her cry.
[00:33:10] Samuel was born, and when he was weaned, Hannah brought him to the temple, to a priest named Eli, to raise him up in the Lord.
[00:33:20] And that is where our text picks up the story.
[00:33:24] Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli.
[00:33:29] The word of the Lord was rare in those days.
[00:33:32] Visions were not widespread.
[00:33:33] read. At that time, Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in the room. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple
[00:33:49] of the Lord where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called, Samuel, Samuel, and he said, here I am and ran to Eli and said here I am for you called me but he said I did not call
[00:34:09] lie down again so he went and lay down the Lord called again Samuel Samuel Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, here I am, for you called me. But he said, I did not call my son, lie down again.
[00:34:30] Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
[00:34:37] The Lord called Samuel again a third time, and he got up and went to Eli and said, here I am, for you called me. Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to
[00:34:53] Samuel, go lie down and if he calls you, you shall say, speak Lord, for your servant is listening.
[00:35:02] So Samuel went and laid down in his place. Now the Lord came and stood there calling as before, Samuel, Samuel.
[00:35:14] And Samuel said, Speak, for your servant is listening.
[00:35:19] The word of God for all people.
[00:35:23] Thanks be to God.

[00:35:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:35:25] So in case you didn't know, we have been, Wes and Carrie and Monica and Whitney and I, and along with our lay delegates, Julie Higgy and Janet Hosler, um uh terry rankin was to be there and could not um be there he's been a little bit under the
[00:35:57] weather so um we were all at annual conference this week and last night um whitney was commissioned as a deacon um in the church and we have a picture i hope maybe do we have a picture oh there we go
[00:36:09] okay so uh there's a picture of all of us at annual conference um that's your staff team and then last night at Whitney's commissioning. It was a beautiful service and we celebrate Whitney's ministry among us and what God has done in her life. We're so thankful for her
[00:36:26] and grateful for the gift of ministry together. Whitney will be back next week. That service was not over until about nine o'clock. So Wes and I drove home late and so we could be here with you
[00:36:41] today, but we give thanks for Whitney and for her call to ministry. Amen? Let's pray.
[00:36:57] Almighty God, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen. I grew up in, as y'all know, an itty-bitty
[00:37:12] little church, very small little place. I was saying, if you've been in the chapel, it's about half the size of our chapel here at Williamson's Chapel, my home church is. And even as a little
[00:37:24] child, I loved, you can skip that picture, we're good. I loved the church. I loved singing hymns.
[00:37:33] I loved being an acolyte. I was an acolyte actually on the Sunday after I was graduated with my Master's of Divinity because I was the youngest person in the room. That's a true story.
[00:37:47] I love the people that surrounded me in that little church that taught me about Jesus.
[00:37:52] We did not have vacation Bible school at my home church.
[00:37:55] It was too little to have something like vacation Bible school.
[00:37:58] But I do remember my Sunday school teacher, Miss Jimmy, telling us that she was reading the Bible all the way through.
[00:38:04] And I remember just being in awe of her.
[00:38:08] I remember that when we did youth Sundays, we all had scriptures that we were supposed to read.
[00:38:13] And I think it's funny what you remember when you look back and reflect on your life at how God has moved across your life.
[00:38:21] I thought about that a lot when we were having VBS just a couple weeks ago.
[00:38:25] I remember thinking, I was thinking about the moments from my childhood that I really remember, the verses that are stuck in my brain.
[00:38:33] And I wonder what those kids might remember down the road.
[00:38:37] I wonder what they might remember that will confirm what God has done in their life all along the way Even if it was maybe even the first seed of a call to ministry that God might have placed in one of those children
[00:38:49] At Vacation Bible School I remember the very first scripture I ever had to memorize at one of those Youth Sunday services 2 Timothy 2.15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by Him
[00:39:04] A worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth now friends that is not exactly the stuff of bible verse legend uh why in the world did i remember this verse it cannot possibly be the only one i ever read
[00:39:21] in church on a sunday morning but all my life that has been a drum bait in my head second timothy 215 second timothy 215 and i had a couple i forgot what the content was and it wasn't until i was
[00:39:33] starting to feel a call to ministry that i went i was like why do i still remember that verse so i went and looked it up and this is what it was. I think it's a seed that God was planting even back
[00:39:43] then. I also remember a very clear thought I had while I was sitting in the pew at Pine Grove United Methodist Church four rows back because that's where the event was. I was maybe eight or
[00:39:55] ten. I was little and what you need to know is that this is the 70th anniversary of women in the United Methodist Church having full clergy rights. And that's something to celebrate.
[00:40:09] But the first women ordained in our conference in Western North Carolina were not ordained until the early 80s, almost 20 years into having full clergy rights. And so it was around that time, sometime in the early 80s, I remember there being a woman in the pulpit at Pine Grove. And I don't
[00:40:28] know if she was there just as a, like for homecoming or something, but I remember seeing this woman in the pulpit and I have a very clear memory of saying, oh dear God, please don't ask me
[00:40:38] to ever do that. I look back at those moments now at second Timothy and that moment sitting in the pew. And I think that God was talking to me even then, but like Samuel, right? Like Samuel, it took
[00:40:56] the presence of faithful believers to help me understand that God was talking to me, to understand what it meant for God to call your name. It took faithful people to help me to listen. And then it
[00:41:13] took a lot of time for me to get past the same kind of fears that Samuel felt when God called him. If you read the rest of that passage in Samuel, what you find out is the word God gives
[00:41:26] him is a really terrible word that he has to go give Eli. And he's scared to do it. And Eli encourages him to speak even though he is afraid. Getting over fear has been a theme of my story
[00:41:38] before I was able to say, here I am, Lord, send me. I think that's true of a lot of our callings.
[00:41:45] Now, ironically, like Wes, I grew up wanting to be a high school history teacher. I mean, it's really scintillating stuff. Wes and I both wanted to be high school history teachers. And if our parents had had their way, we would have been named, and I'm not making any of this up,
[00:41:58] I promise you, hand to God, we would have been Bernie and Elmira. Wes's parents wanted to name him Bernie after Bernie Taupin, Elton John's songwriter. And my mama wanted to name me Elmira.
[00:42:11] Can you imagine being named Elmira when the song Elvira came out? Just the horror. Anyway, so Bernie and Elmira wanted to be high school history teachers. And we would have been just as exciting as that sounds um thank god that was not what god wanted that was um but that was my
[00:42:30] plan i want to be a high school teacher history teacher i had no plan b none zero i had no other thing i wanted to do went to carolina planning to be a history teacher history major thinking i'm
[00:42:41] going to teach uh probably world history uh when i got to to that because i was studying medieval history because i was interested in it and um at carolina you have to apply for the school of
[00:42:52] education in your sophomore year. So I get this application for the school of education and I cannot fill the stupid thing out. And I couldn't have told you why I couldn't fill it out. I just
[00:43:00] knew I couldn't fill it out. And I was terrified. I was like, well, there's nothing else I want to do. Had no idea why I couldn't fill it out. I prayed about it. I got no answer. What I did
[00:43:11] know was that there just wasn't joy for me in that idea anymore. Where I was finding joy at that point in my life was in my life with Jesus, had come alive in Christ. And I loved being in Bible
[00:43:24] study. And I loved leading weekly worship at my campus ministry. And I loved the classes that I was taking in medieval history, which was mostly church history. And I loved learning about art in ancient cathedrals across Europe and how it told the story of God. And so I was home one weekend,
[00:43:42] it was Easter weekend, and my home church was having a prayer vigil on Easter weekend between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, and I signed up for an hour to pray. I just wanted to go and just
[00:43:53] sit in the presence of God and be moved by what God had done for me. And I kept thinking, what could I possibly give God in return for what he had done for me? If Jesus was my Lord, then what
[00:44:06] did he want me to do with my life? I was wrestling with the idea that maybe God was calling me to serve in the church, to teach, but in a different way. So I stepped into my pastor's study after
[00:44:18] that prayer time and I shared some of my thoughts and bless his heart. God rest his soul. He was a faithful man of God. He handed me the book of discipline. Can you imagine? The book of discipline
[00:44:30] of the United Methodist Church is about this thick and it's full of laws and regulations and rules and what all this stuff. And, and he told me to go to the section about ordained ministry and to
[00:44:38] maybe read about it. And I'll be honest with you, the board, the book of discipline is a weird place to start, but there you go. So I sat on my bed that night and I read, and here's the first part
[00:44:48] of that i want to read this part to you because it's really important um this is in paragraph 301 of the book of discipline you might not be able to read it from there but i'll read it to you
[00:44:55] ministry in the christian church is derived from the ministry of christ who calls all persons to receive god's gift of salvation and follow in the way of love and service all christian ministry is grounded in the covenant of baptism which we are initiated into the body of christ and called
[00:45:15] into a life of discipleship called into a life of discipleship now i understood that part i hope you do too that's talking about all of us all y'all right we are all called into ministry at our
[00:45:28] baptism to be christian is to have a call every baptized believer even you is called by god to a life of discipleship and service it might not be a call to ordained ministry but the calling of the
[00:45:43] laity you all need to hear this the calling of the laity is a high calling the calling of a disciple of jesus christ to walk with him that is a high calling and one that should be honored
[00:45:58] and should be nurtured then i kept reading i read the next section and this is what it says it says within the church community there are persons whose gifts evidence of god's grace promise of future usefulness are affirmed by the community and who respond to God's call
[00:46:17] by offering themselves in leadership as set-apart ministers, ordained and licensed. Individuals discern God's call as they relate with God and their communities, and the church guides and confirms those callings. That's what my pastor was doing that night when he handed me the book
[00:46:35] of discipline. Right after that, I was reading the Bible. I was reading Ephesians chapter 4.
[00:46:41] Where God says the gifts God gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some pastors and teachers to equip God's people for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ
[00:46:51] until we all come to unity, to the fullness of God.
[00:46:55] And I felt this knot in my stomach.
[00:47:00] I felt a nudge, a push, a sense that God was speaking to me.
[00:47:07] And on my bed that night, I was maybe 20 years old, I said my very first tentative yes and I'm telling you right now that if in that moment God had said that this is where I was going to be all those years later I would have said
[00:47:22] nope we're good I'll be Elmira the high school history teacher I'm good I would have said a firm no but see God accepted my quiet yes and he didn't push God accepted my willingness to follow the
[00:47:42] nudges and even graciously sent me confirmation when I went to the pastor that I trusted the most. His name was David. And I said something like this, um, David, I think maybe possibly that God might, I mean, I'm not sure. Maybe God might be calling me possibly. I'm really
[00:48:05] not sure to ministry. And I literally ring in my hands. I remember that. And David is smoker and David went well of course he is I've known that since you were confirmed and I said
[00:48:25] well why didn't you tell me and he said because it wasn't mine to tell like Wes talked about last week David said it was just mine to point you to Jesus which is what David did all along the way
[00:48:37] for me on the strength of that I told my dear friend Philip who responded much like David when I asked how he knew he sort of paraphrased Elizabeth's response to Mary in Luke chapter 2
[00:48:51] when Mary says this is what she says Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting the child leaped within her womb and what Philip said to me was he said I said how did you know I said I think I might
[00:49:03] have called her ministry and he said I know I said how did you know and he said because my spirit left within me. He just was a man who had sought after God and he knew. These two beloved and
[00:49:15] Christian mentors were Eli to me. They encouraged me by telling me that it was God I was hearing and that I should keep on listening and I should be willing to say, speak Lord for your servant
[00:49:28] is listening. And then I should be willing to say yes to what God would lead me to. So I didn't end up in the education school at Carolina. I ended up pursuing a seminary degree at Duke
[00:49:40] in Christian education. I'm still a Tar Heel fan. And I went into that, and there was a two-year degree program for Christian education, and that's what I was doing. I loved what I was learning, but I was scared. I was scared that I wouldn't be good. I was scared that
[00:49:56] I didn't know enough. I was scared that I would mess up. I was scared that I would go alone. I actually have a prayer that I wrote that said, Dear God, please don't make me
[00:50:02] guys don't ask me to go by myself? Wes was the answer to that prayer. Most of all, I was scared to think about ever leading a church by myself. But I had this friend named Claire Dobbs, and Claire
[00:50:14] Dobbs is now the senior pastor of Gulfport United Methodist in Mississippi. And every time we would be studying the library, Claire would say to me, Tony Ruth, you have a call to preach. And I would
[00:50:25] say, you stop talking, Claire Dobbs. And she would say, but TR, I think you have a call to preach.
[00:50:29] And I would say, go back to Mississippi, Claire Dobbs.
[00:50:32] No.
[00:50:33] I do not have a call to preach.
[00:50:35] But her voice was in my head.
[00:50:37] And then I kept bumping into these scriptures.
[00:50:40] You ever had that, like, scriptures just keep coming up?
[00:50:43] Same ones over and over again.
[00:50:44] You keep bumping into them?
[00:50:46] Kept bumping into these scriptures.
[00:50:47] One of them was from Jeremiah chapter 6, verses 6 through 8.
[00:50:51] Then I said, O Lord God, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.
[00:50:56] But the Lord said to me, do not say, I am only a boy.
[00:50:59] for you shall go to all whom I send you and you shall speak whatever I command you do not be afraid of them for I am with you to deliver you says the Lord and this verse from Isaiah chapter 43
[00:51:11] that is my life verse but now thus says the Lord who created you he who formed you oh Israel do not fear for I have redeemed you I have called you by name and you are mine
[00:51:24] God's word kept speaking to me it kept leading me even as I read it I wasn't ready to be the pastor of a church, but I was willing to give a very trembling yes to something maybe more than teaching.
[00:51:37] So I switched degree programs and I started getting a Master of Divinity.
[00:51:40] But I was not going to preach and I was not going to lead a church solo.
[00:51:44] And if at that point God had showed me this, I still would have said, heck no, man, I'm out.
[00:51:48] We're good.
[00:51:49] I'm perfectly happy.
[00:51:50] I'll mire the Sunday school teacher.
[00:51:51] We're good.
[00:51:55] Like Monica talked about in her sermon a few weeks ago, God kept planting seeds.
[00:52:01] God kept sending Eli's to help me hear him.
[00:52:04] I've often said it this way.
[00:52:05] God has gentled me into my calling.
[00:52:09] God doesn't shove us.
[00:52:11] God puts a way before us and helps us to walk it.
[00:52:17] I graduated.
[00:52:18] I took my first appointment at First Methodist High Point and with a really godly man named Don Lloyd who loved Jesus more than anything in the whole world.
[00:52:28] And he would say that we live at the intersection of me and thee.
[00:52:32] That's what he would say.
[00:52:35] And Don asked me about my cause, telling him I was sharing.
[00:52:40] And he asked me if I felt a call to preach.
[00:52:41] And I said, well, Don, honestly, I'll tell you what I feel about that.
[00:52:44] I don't know if what I feel about preaching is lack of call or if it's fear.
[00:52:50] I don't know if it's lack of call or if it's fear.
[00:52:53] And God blessed Don.
[00:52:54] He looked at me and he said, well, there's only one way to figure that out.
[00:52:58] so he gave me they had two worship services an early worship and a later service he gave me the early worship surface every other week I don't know any associate in our conference that ever
[00:53:08] has been empowered to preach as much he had no ego it didn't need it to be about him he just needed to invest into me and to let God do what God was doing in my life he was Eli in every way
[00:53:21] for me he gave me the pulpit and about nine months in to that work i was preaching from matthew um and this is the text that i was preaching if any of you wish to be my disciples then let them deny
[00:53:36] themselves and take up their cross and follow me for those who want to save their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake will find it now i don't remember what the content of
[00:53:47] that sermon was i just know that i felt good about it as i reflected on it while i was driving home. And then I had this aha moment. I was thinking about that call to deny yourself.
[00:53:56] And I was thinking about my fear about this calling that maybe God had put on my life to be a preacher of the gospel. And I had this moment where I realized, oh my gosh,
[00:54:09] I have to deny myself and follow Jesus. Here's what I mean by that. I mean that I have always been afraid to stand in front of people and speak. Many of you might share that fear.
[00:54:26] I have always been afraid to fail.
[00:54:29] Like, if I got a B, that was terrible, right?
[00:54:33] I have always been afraid of so many things.
[00:54:37] And I realized that if I was going to be a good preacher of the gospel, that I could not let what other people think about what I do be the driving force.
[00:54:48] Preaching for me was going to have to be an act of self-denial, a discipline that I undertake to follow Jesus.
[00:54:54] and I pulled off the side of the road and it hit me like a ton of bricks and I said out loud, holy cow, I'm called to preach.
[00:55:03] I just knew it.
[00:55:06] I have to deny when I'm preaching, friends, that part of me that wants to control, that wants you to like me, that wants you to approve of me, that wants to be included.
[00:55:15] I cannot let my fear of what will happen after I speak stop me from speaking.
[00:55:23] So that day on the side of Eastchester Drive, I said yes to this call.
[00:55:28] that God has given me it was not my last yes friends God has continued to renew my call across the years but that yes is the one that I keep coming back to when I need to drown out the voice
[00:55:40] of the world and hear God's voice calling me again it is the quiet yes that I heard in my spirit again this week when one of our preachers reminded us that the power in preaching does not lie in the
[00:55:50] preacher but in the one who sent the preacher it is the yes that I think about when God calls me pushes me to do something beyond my comfort zone. It's the yes I felt when I said yes to
[00:56:03] Marian West. It's the yes I felt when we were called to go to Harrisburg. It's the yes I felt when the bishops called us out of the clear blue nothing to come to Williamson's Chapel,
[00:56:13] trembling and afraid that we might fail. It's the yes I felt even then. Deny yourself again and again. And saying that yes, friends, has set me free to be who God called me to be from the very
[00:56:27] beginning. Saying yes to the call of God in my life has been one piece of how God has saved my life. And I think that that is true of all of our callings. It's why we say that when we are called
[00:56:39] at our baptism, we are called to receive the gift of God's salvation and to follow in the way of love and service. A couple weeks ago, Pastor Monica mentioned a book that she read when she
[00:56:50] was first exploring her call to ministry. Everybody that goes to a pastor, if you ever go to a pastor and say, I think I might be called a priest, the first thing they're going to do is hand you this little book. And it's called The Christian as Minister. And it's
[00:57:00] not like a recruitment manual. It's a discernment tool. And one of the first things in there is this quote from a Presbyterian minister named Frederick Buechner. And this is what he says. He says, the place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and
[00:57:17] the world's deep need meet. Now that's not just about pastors. So I want you to think about yourself for a second. The place God calls you is the place where your deep gladness and the world's
[00:57:37] deep hunger meet. If we want to discern what God calls us to a really good place to start is what makes us joyful. God does not call us to drudgery. If you hate, hate, hate being with
[00:57:54] teenagers. God is not going to call you to use ministry. Take a breath. I had this woman in one of my classes in seminary and she said, she was African-American. She said, girl, she said,
[00:58:14] she said, baby love drains you like a tub, but real love feeds you like good grub. In other words, if you're doing what you're called to do, you won't get tired of it. It will feed your soul,
[00:58:29] which means it's a place that you find joy so what makes us joyful and where does that joy intersect with the need of a world that is broken and looking for Jesus for me joy is in hearing
[00:58:41] other people's stories that always has been stories of joy and loss and helping people see what God might be up to in their journey that will lead them to the freedom of God's grace in their life and part of that happens in preaching but certainly not all of it
[00:58:56] So where is that intersection for you?
[00:59:01] What are you joyful about?
[00:59:04] And where does it meet with the hunger of a world of people, friends, who are a world of people who do not know about the goodness of God, do not know about his love, do not know about his grace, do not know about his forgiveness and his goodness.
[00:59:24] That intersection for you might be Bible study.
[00:59:27] It might be service.
[00:59:28] It might be feeding people, cooking.
[00:59:30] It might be bringing order out of chaos.
[00:59:33] It might be helping other people or helping somebody discern or making beautiful things or sitting in hard places or developing other people's giftedness.
[00:59:42] It might be seeing the potential where other people see lack.
[00:59:45] Something brings you joy.
[00:59:46] What does the world long for that intersects with that place of your joy in the Lord?
[00:59:52] Not everybody is called to be an ordained minister, friends, but everyone is called to some sort of ministry.
[01:00:00] Bishop Latrell Easterling preached the best sermon I have ever heard in my life on Friday morning.
[01:00:07] I mean, like, I'll send it to you.
[01:00:09] It was the best, no joke, best sermon I've ever heard.
[01:00:13] And the Cassells were sitting behind me, and I turned around, and Chris Cassell and Connor Cassell said, that was the best sermon we have ever heard.
[01:00:20] And they said, who's preaching on Sunday?
[01:00:21] And I was like, y'all stop talking.
[01:00:24] But you know what the good news is?
[01:00:26] God didn't call me to be Bishop Latrell Easterling.
[01:00:28] God called me to be Tony Ruth.
[01:00:30] God didn't call you to be someone other than you are.
[01:00:33] God didn't call you to be Moses.
[01:00:35] He called Moses to be Moses.
[01:00:37] God called you to be you.
[01:00:40] Bishop Easterling in it, she said this in her sermon.
[01:00:42] She said, you, and she was talking about all of us.
[01:00:45] She said, you are not a volunteer.
[01:00:53] You are water-born and spirit-bred a disciple, but never a volunteer.
[01:00:59] Man, I will never ask you all to volunteer for anything ever again.
[01:01:02] If you're ushering, you're not volunteering to be an usher.
[01:01:05] You're discipling as an usher.
[01:01:07] If you're serving on the finance team, you're not a volunteer on the finance team.
[01:01:13] You are discipling on the finance team.
[01:01:17] If you're teaching Sunday school, you are not volunteering to watch the kids.
[01:01:21] You are discipling in Sunday school.
[01:01:24] You are never a volunteer.
[01:01:26] You have a high calling.
[01:01:28] Volunteer is too small for you, friends.
[01:01:30] You are disciples.
[01:01:33] of Jesus Christ. So how do you discern your calling? Just a few pieces of advice. Number one, be open and pay attention to the nudges. Notice what excites you, what fills you up, what stirs you up and makes you have energy about you. What excites you? Pay attention
[01:01:53] to that. Number two, listen to some people that you trust. Be willing to hear the voice of god through them find friends your davids and your phillips and your clairs and your dons who will help you in the same way that eli helped samuel and be okay if it takes two or three of
[01:02:12] them eli had to tell samuel three times for eli figured out what it was and if you see god's gifts in somebody else for the love of god pointed out to them pay attention to that number three
[01:02:31] Immerse yourself in scripture and let it speak to you.
[01:02:34] Pay attention to the verses that you remember that capture your attention.
[01:02:38] That get stuck on a loop in your head and ask, what are you trying to say, Jesus?
[01:02:46] It's a really bold prayer.
[01:02:47] And then, here's the hardest part.
[01:02:49] You're going to have to shut up after you ask that question.
[01:02:52] In your prayer, you're going to say, speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.
[01:02:54] And then you're going to be quiet so you can do that.
[01:02:57] And it might be that he speaks through somebody else.
[01:02:59] And it might be that he speaks through a Bible study.
[01:03:00] It might be that he speaks to a pastor or someone else or a commentator.
[01:03:05] He'll speak in some way to you.
[01:03:09] And here's my fourth piece of advice.
[01:03:12] I think you should pay attention to the things that you keep coming back to, even though they make you uncomfortable.
[01:03:20] And I think you should be willing to pray, Lord, is this discomfort lack of fear, lack of call, or is it fear?
[01:03:30] And if it's fear, can you help me be free of my fear?
[01:03:33] to deny myself and take up my cross and follow you.
[01:03:39] For in following you and losing my life, I believe I will find my life.
[01:03:46] So often, friends, we say no to God because we are afraid.
[01:03:49] Afraid that we'll have to do whatever it is forever.
[01:03:52] If I say yes to discipling in Sunday school with third graders, I'm going to have to disciple in Sunday school with third graders for the rest of my life.
[01:04:00] No!
[01:04:02] Stop saying no because you think it's forever.
[01:04:05] God might call you for a season.
[01:04:08] Be open to the calling.
[01:04:12] So often we say no because we're afraid of the cost.
[01:04:16] I'd say no, Jesus, but I just don't have the time for that.
[01:04:20] Friends, I wonder how much time we all waste on those little devices.
[01:04:27] They are a time waster.
[01:04:30] You have time.
[01:04:32] Sometimes we say no because we're afraid we're going to fail or mess up.
[01:04:36] Well, good grief.
[01:04:37] Who told you you had to get it perfect the first time around?
[01:04:40] my mama, but that's not the point. God does not call you to be perfected in doing things. He calls you to be perfected in love, perfected in love for other people. Maybe you're afraid because it wasn't
[01:05:00] part of your plan and it messes up what you had thought was going to be. Maybe you thought you were going to be Bernie and Almyra, the high school history teachers. Sorry, Wes. Maybe you just need
[01:05:16] to say, God, I'm willing. I want to tell you this. Only in the yes that trust that God is bigger than your fear do you come to freedom and life that God wants for all of his disciples. Friends, nothing
[01:05:30] less than the abundance of God lies in your yes. Nothing less than the abundance of God lies in your yes. Does that mean it's always going to be easy? Heck no. Does that mean you're always going
[01:05:39] to like it? Absolutely not. Does that mean that you're not, that you're going to find it easy and you're never going to have to deny yourself and it's never going to feel like a cross?
[01:05:46] Absolutely not, but it will be life and it will be life in abundance in the name of the father

[01:05:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:05:54] and the son and the Holy spirit. Amen. Good morning. It was so lovely to worship with you this morning here at Williamson's chapel, United Methodist church. I'm Monica Humple. I'm the associate pastor of engagement and what a joy it was to be with you this morning. It is father's
[01:06:12] day. So for you dads out there, happy father's day to you. Those of you who are father figures, Happy Father's Day to you too, because it's not just our dads, our granddads, but it's all the men in our lives who have especially had a wonderful Christian influence on how
[01:06:29] we grew up.
[01:06:30] You father figures are the best.
[01:06:32] We're so grateful for you.
[01:06:33] We're still in the midst of our sermon series about our call.
[01:06:37] You've heard from our pastors talking about how we were called to ministry.
[01:06:41] But remember, this isn't about just a call to ordained ministry.
[01:06:46] It's about a call on your life that God may have, whatever it may be.
[01:06:50] It could be the job you work.
[01:06:52] It could be a call to volunteer and serve in some way within your church or in a local agency.
[01:06:59] It could be a calling to mentor someone who needs the guidance, anything like that.
[01:07:06] Be open to the call.
[01:07:08] The Holy Spirit is always working through us, always leading us in good directions.
[01:07:12] And as I mentioned on the Sunday that I preached, I mean this, if you want to talk about your call, maybe you've been struggling with something, you've been feeling that nudge in your own life and you just don't know where it's leading you.
[01:07:25] I would love just to be an ear, just to sit and listen and, and to maybe ask some good questions to help you discern where God is calling you in your own life.
[01:07:35] I hope that you'll join us next week as we wrap up our sermon series.
[01:07:40] Pastor Carrie will share her call to ordain ministry.
[01:07:43] But as we leave each other today, I'd love to offer a prayer for the wonderful men in our lives who have guided us, especially guided us toward our love of Christ.
[01:07:53] Let's pray together.
[01:07:55] Lord, we thank you today for the fathers in our lives, grandfathers, uncles, great friends of the family, people who are wonderful father figures.
[01:08:06] Lord, the guidance, some of these.