Crossroads II, October 1, 2023. Our Church/Ourselves: Living the Life and Teachings of Jesus Session 3: Is God Calling You? The class will be held in the Session Room (and on Zoom).
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Ervin Bullock will lead the class this Sunday. Ervin has a long history with us at Fort King. She was a member of the church from 1989 until 2008 during the time that her husband Jim was the pastor. Ervin worked for 20 years with the PCUSA Presbyterian Peacemaking Program staffing their annual Peacemaking conferences and providing network support among our presbyteries. In this position she helped lead 100 Presbyterians on a peacemaking trip to Israel Palestine. She also helped lead a trip to the former Soviet Union and Belarus and accompanied our moderator to Venezuela and Colombia.
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We will explore biblical examples of Moses finding his call and Jesus nurturing his inward journey with God. We will look at ways to grow your inward spiritual life and clues for finding your own call for following Jesus.
Note: There are two attachments to this email: 1. “Clues to Call” will be used in the class. 2. A devotional on call by Laura Fowler.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86814362290?pwd=VFppYWVlZVVsZXN4b0ZZYXR2M1ZuQT09
Meeting ID: 868 1436 2290
Passcode: Micah6:8
Clues to Call
It is the place where the world’s pain and your pain meet.
We all have concerns that touch us deeply – this may be a clue to your call.
The concern keeps coming up – it won’t let you go.
It will probably feel too big and you might feel too small to do anything about it.
This is biblical.
Your job is to find your piece of the concern and we will look at ways to do this.
It will give you more energy back than it takes from you.
Session 4: I God Calling you?
A devotional reflection
by Laura Fowler
The subject I was asked to write an “E-votional” about is “Calling”. To me, the word “Calling” means “vocation” or “path,” a way to best use my gifts from God, the skills I’ve developed over the years, to help others.
I worked for 22 years as a corporate accountant for a family-owned window and door business based in Nashville, TN. Four generations of the family had been involved in running the business, and it continued to grow and thrive during that time, making an enormous amount of money that mostly went back into the family pockets. The company employed many people in four locations in two states. One of my many responsibilities was payroll and human resources. I “took care” of all the employees so the business could retain workers and continue to increase their revenues. I made sure everyone was paid the correct wages, on time. I made sure the correct 401(k) contributions were deducted and deposited on time to the individual accounts. I made sure employees were enrolled or terminated from the company health insurance plan as required, and that any questions employees had about any of these benefits were answered as quick as possible.
Because I saw where every cent of the revenues went, and that the money was mostly benefiting the family that owned the business, an elite family that had only known the most privileged lifestyle, I often felt sad and frustrated that my years of dedication and gift of accounting was not being used where it could make a difference. My job seemed pointless. I prayed about it many times, asking God to show me a way my skills could be used for greater good.
Finally the Lord spoke to me and told me I was the only person in that entire organization that cared about the welfare of the employees, that these people were able to earn a living, to provide for their families, to make their own contributions to society, to have productive lives because of my work on their behalf. The owners didn’t care if a young installer who had just had a baby got paid his overtime, or a man with a sick spouse received his insurance coverage.
My service, though it greatly benefitted the owners financially, also gave the employees the security that they were being looked after, that someone in the company had their back. The Lord opened my eyes, and made me realize my work DID make a difference! That I was serving Him by serving all these others that had no one else looking after them.
…(God), who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity…
2 Tim. 1:9