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[ Music ] It shall from day to day, it will never lose its power. It soothes my doubts and calms my fears. And it dries from my tears the blood that gives me strength.

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From day to day, it will never lose its power. It reaches to the highest mountain. Oh, it flows to the lowest valley. ♪ The work of love that gives me strength ♪

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♪ From day to day ♪ ♪ It will never lose its power ♪ ♪ It reaches to the highest mountain ♪ ♪ And it flows to the lowest valley ♪

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♪ The blood that gives me strength ♪ ♪ Someday, today ♪ ♪ It will never lose its power ♪ ♪ It will never lose its power ♪

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♪ Never lose his power ♪ - Let us all stand for a moment, everyone. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle,

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separated under the gospel of God. of God. I want each one of you to repeat after me and use your name, your first name. I'm gonna say Marvin. I'll go through this once. I am Marvin, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle. Now would you repeat those words and use

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your name instead of Marvin. I am Marvin, servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle. Once more, I am Marvin, a servant of God, Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle. Now would you say that to the person, shake hands with the person next to you and say that? I am Martin, called to be an apostle of God.

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Jesus Christ. - I am rising, called to be an apostle of God. - You may be seated. Called to be an apostle.

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Servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle. In a time when industries are downsizing, cutting costs by reducing the number of employees, at the same time seeking to improve

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and increase production, we pause to focus on upsizing. seeking more persons to work for the kingdom of God so that the cause of Jesus Christ may be advanced. Paul is distinguished as a missionary to the Gentiles.

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He writes to Christians situated in Rome, the heart of the Roman Empire. According to our custom of writing letters, the name of the writer appears near the close of the letter. But in ancient times, the order is reversed.

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The name of the writer appears at the beginning. So the letter to the Romans begins with the author identifying himself, "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ." What a wonderful way to identify oneself.

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"Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ." The word for servant in the Greek is doulos, which means slave. Paul is writing to people he has not met. They do not know each other.

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They've never seen each other face to face. But he does not want them to be confused about who he is and the cause he serves. Paul, he says, a servant of Jesus Christ. He wants those who receive this letter to know who he is and he wants to be sure there

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is no mistaken identity. So he begins by introducing himself. He tells them so that they may tell others. And that's a good thing for us to remember and to practice, to identify ourselves as

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servants of Jesus Christ. As the song puts it, "If anybody asks me who I am, who I am, who I am. If anybody asks you who I am, tell them I'm a child of God." we have other ways of identifying ourselves.

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Somebody asked me who I am. I'm inclined to say I'm Marvin Griffin, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church. Emphasis is on the church that I pastor.

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Paul's emphasis is on Christ. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. I want you to know at the outset that Christ owns my life. I don't belong to myself. Christ is my master. I'm

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his servant. I belong to him. I'm obedient to his commands. He He orders my steps. He tells me what to do. I follow His directions.

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He's my guide. Jesus Christ is the ruler of my life. I am Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ. Now, Paul wants the reader to know

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He has not put himself in this position. Paul is called. Now people are called by many voices. Paul refers to his divine call.

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He didn't put himself in the ministry. He was a foe rather than a friend of the Christian faith. He was traveling in the wrong direction, but God arrested him. God laid his hands on him.

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God called him. We use the word vocation in referring to one's occupation. We use it to refer to any work. a vocation in this sense is a work that has attracted us because of prestige,

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power, and pecuniary benefits. So a person may go from occupation to occupation of what they may consider vocation to vocation, but a divine call different. It comes from God. Paul heard the voice of heaven speaking directly to him, calling him by name. He is the

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the victim of a divine draft. He is a preacher because he is possessed by a divine compulsion and irresistible urge like fire burning in his bones. Now Paul knows that he is called to preach. Previous generation people would say, "Well, I know

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I'm called to preach because I saw in the sky words GP." And they interpreted that as meaning go preach. Someone has answered that may not have meant that, it may have meant go plow. But Paul knows, he knows that he has been called of God

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and it is important to have a sense of calling to really know who called you. I have some friends who have some sons and they almost want to call them into the ministry

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because they're in the ministry. They want to call their sons into the ministry. They wanna call them. They would like for them to do this.

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But God calls people into the work that he wants them. And I'm not just talking about being called into the ministry.

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I'm not just talking about being called into some religious work, but God's calling involves other callings other than just religious work.

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Martin Luther puts it this way, he talks about the sacredness of what we call secular callings. so that a person may be called to teach a class,

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a person may be called to demonstrate and to manifest his skills as a butcher, as a baker. And all of these things, God has a way of calling us to do those things that he wants us to do

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and those things that are essential for the ongoing of our lives. Now, you know, too often, people select some field of endeavor

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without having a sense of divine calling. They select a sense, a particular work, because, say, you know, I think I'd like to be a doctor because they make a lot of money.

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I'd like to be this, this sort of business person because that way I can make a lot of money and I can retire early. Well, that's not the sense of divine calling.

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A sense of divine calling is to hear a voice from heaven speaking to you and directing you in the way that you ought to go. And sometimes you need some help.

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Sometimes you can hear the voice and not recognize where the voice is coming from. Samuel was like that. God calls Samuel and Samuel ran to Eli the priest

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and said, "Did you call me?" He said, "No, I didn't call you." God called again and he ran and he said, "Did you call?" He said, "No, no, I didn't call you, son."

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And he called a third time. this time Eli had told him, said now when you hear his voice again, say you just say speak Lord, your servant hears.

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You see, he went back that time and when he heard that voice and he answered, speak Lord, your servant hears. It took Eli, that seasoned priest,

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in order to help Samuel recognize as a lad, that God was calling him. So sometimes it takes an elder person to help a junior understand that this is the voice of God calling you in a special way. This is God's call. Paul recognized that God, not man, called him to be an apostle. And we

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We must not leave this passage back in the first century somewhere. God has called in the past, and he, in the person of Jesus Christ, called disciples as they were there on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus called them Peter, James, John, all the rest.

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He called them one by one. He calls. And he calls today, just as he called in the first century, he's calling in the 20th century.

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Jesus calls us o'er the tumult of our lives while restless sea, day by day, his sweet voice soundeth, saying, "Christian, follow me."

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So Paul wants the church to know that he is called to be an apostle. Now, the word apostle means sent. It's connected to his divine call.

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It means that this divine imperative that he has received carries with it an obligation, it's a sense of urgency, it's a sense of compulsion. We need somehow, my brothers and sisters, to recapture this.

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Because every one of us here this morning who professes to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, has been called. Has been called of God through Jesus Christ. Called. Not something that you just drift into, but a sense of calling. I think it would be altogether different within

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our church fellowship if people really understood what it means to claim to be called of God and not only to be called of God but to be sent by God. To be sent. There's a story of a boy who said to another, "I heard that your brother went into the army. He said, "No, no, he didn't wit, he was sent."

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It's a lot of difference in wit and sent. Now, when one is sent by God, listen to those words, sent by God. Scripture said, "There was a man sent by God." Those are powerful words to be sent by God. In other words, you are representing the highest, you are

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representing the utmost, you are representing the King of Kings, you are representing the ultimate when one is sent by God. And you don't have any choice in the matter. It's a divine draft, divine draft. My mother used to say to me, "Marvin, would you like to go to the store?" I said, "No ma'am, I wouldn't like to go,

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but I will go." When there is a feeling of must, you got to do it. You don't have any choice in the matter. God has laid his hands upon you and you are compelled. Abraham goes out, he is sent by God to be a blessing to the nations. Moses is called of God and is sent to confront Pharaoh. Paul is called of God and is sent to be a witness to the Gentiles.

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So one needs to place the emphasis on the sender. The authority of the sent is derived from the sender. So we honor and accept with dignity and grace, envoys from other countries who come to our country.

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To refuse to honor them and to respect them and to treat them in such a manner, is an insult to the sender. The power of the scent comes from the sender. Jesus tells the story of a landlord

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who left his vineyards in the hands of laborers. He sent his servant to receive the fruits and they would not give him the fruits. they beat him and sent him away. He sent another servant and they beat him

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shamefully and sent him away empty. Then he sent the third and they wounded him and cast him out. And then he said, I'll send my son. Surely they will reverence him. They know he's my son and they will treat him with dignity and respect and they'll honor my request. But they killed him. His only begotten son, they

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they crucified him on a cross. They refuse to honor the sender. Well God calls, he sends forth into the world his apostles. Paul addresses the Roman church by saying I am Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle. And so are we here at Ebenezer and those who profess Christ's name in all the

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world. The entire church is called to be an apostle to the world. The church is is sent by God to the world. We are called to be apostles. We are called not just to sit,

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but to be sent. Sent to the world. So finally, we need to recognize the fact that

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God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. So, this being an apostle

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is being a bearer of the divine revelation. That's what it means. He has called you, he has called me, He has called us to share the fellowship of his spirit, just as Jesus called disciples

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in the long ago, and no one can take that away. The apostles were considered persons who walked with Jesus in the beginning. These were persons who walked the dusty sun-bit hills of Judea with the master. They ate with him.

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They slept with him. They were his companions along the way. They were his disciples. And he called them to be apostles.

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He called disciples, in other words, he called the 12 that he might send them forth. That's what he called them to do. That he might send them into the world.

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And then in those closing moments of his life, he said, "As the Father has sent me, "So sin I you." That's what it means to be an apostle.

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Well, they said, "Well, I don't know about Paul. "He wasn't one of those 12." And they began to question his credentials. They said, "He didn't walk with Jesus.

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"He wasn't the one who slept with him "and who talked with him." In fact, we don't even know that Paul ever saw him. Paul said, "Well, they're questioning my credentials.

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"But I wanna tell you that I'm a servant of Jesus Christ, "that I am an apostle, "that I met him on the Damascus road. "I heard his voice as he spoke to me from heaven,

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calling me by name, saying, "Paul, Paul, "why persecutest thou me?" I am his servant, I'm his. He has breathed on me his spirit.

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I have heard his voice. I have a gospel to share. And I know what he has done in my life. So that's the good word for us today.

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Call to be an apostle. A charge to keep our hands. God to glorify. Who gave his son my soul to save

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and fit it for the sky. To serve, yes. to serve this present age, my calling to fulfill. Oh, may it all my powers engage to do my master's will.

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So the call, the call comes. It is ours to hear and to answer and to be sent wherever God wants us to go, to do whatever he wants us to do.

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I hear a great prophet from long ago saying, "Here am I, send me." What's our response today? As the invitation comes, I need someone to go

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and work the field or widen the harvest. to have your spirit to answer in our hearts and in our lives. Say, "Here am I, oh Lord, send me."

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- Yes. - Amen. (piano music) - Lord, the church is open.

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God calls through Jesus Christ right now. It's ours to answer. We invite you to come. Not only to hear the call, but to answer.

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Come. [MUSIC - "WHO WILL GO AND WORK TODAY"] (SINGING) Hark the voice of Jesus calling, who will go and work today?

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Fields are white, the harvest waiting, who will bear the sheets away? Down at home, where Master Cohen Richly mourns the awful scream Who will answer, can they scream? Hear her heart, send me, send me

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Let now hear you I be saying, "There is nothing I can do." While the souls of men are dying, and the Master calls for you, God and Lord, the Master calling, Rich reward He offers free, Who beheld so glad His slain, Here at last, at least in me.

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Take the task, be gifted gladly, that is what you'll pleasurely. Hands your quickly-winged golden, here are us in eastern glee. God and Lord, the Master golden, Rich reward He offers free.

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Who will answer gladly say, "Here am I, send me, send me." The one who calls us was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities, so the one who calls us has nail-scarred hands,

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a wounded side, nails in his feet. [BLANK_AUDIO]