Called

Christians are by definition the people of the resurrected Christ. This truth reaches its pinnacle on Easter Sunday. We celebrate the power of God made known to us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! But here, now, after Easter the question becomes What does that resurrection mean for me? What does it look like to live as a person of the resurrection? What impact does this truth have in my everyday live?

The answer to these questions has been addressed by theologians and scholars for millennia. The problem is someone else s answers to these questions easily become new rules for us. In 1 John we are called to be who God has made us to be. I like the word called because it inspires but does not demand; it instructs but does not threaten.

God calls us to recognize not only who He is but also what He has done for us. In our worship of God we both admire Him because He deserves it but also thank Him for the gifts He gives to us. When we are truly thankful for the gifts we have received, we want to use them to do good or share them with others so they can have them, too. But we don t always feel like sharing.

When we are tempted to be selfish and keep the gifts for ourselves, when we are blind and believe we have earned all we have, when we look down on others for the challenges they face, God calls us to see the truth. God calls us, enlightens us to be continuously transformed from people bound by the flesh into people free in the Holy Spirit. Living in freedom is not easy in a world that wants to imprison you with jealousy or insecurity or some other inadequacy.

As people of God we are called out of the darkness and into the light. We are called to remember we are His children. We are called to forgive and receive forgiveness. We are called to love because He first loved us. These things cannot be accomplished by our will and strength but by His strength gifted to us. Join us for the next seven weeks as we hear His call and respond in faith.

His servant and yours,

Pastor Erik Gauss