God Calling
Dear First Pres SLO Family,
Grace and peace to you in the name of the Most High God, the one who loves us and gifted us with Creation and with a calling.
It’s good to be back! Shelley and enjoyed our honeymoon trip to Paris and then to Andalusia in Spain. We walked and talked and visited so many beautiful sites—more churches than I can accurately count. It was a time of refreshment and connection, and we’re grateful for your encouragement and support as we took this time for ourselves.
This past Sunday was such a great day at First Pres. We heard from our youth and their leaders as they talked about what it means to have a passion in life—a sense of enjoyment and fulfillment in certain hobbies or activities or expressions of faith. If you didn’t see the service, you can check it out on the church website—they made us so proud and hopeful.
Starting this week I’m beginning a series called God Calling, where we’ll look at some stories about the ways God called some of the people in the Bible. The idea of callingis an important one for the journey of faith. The description of the church in the Bible is a word that literally translates as “the called out ones.” Right from the start, being a part of the family of God is described as a response to God’s call—that’s why we’re here, in all our diverse, glorious, broken, redeemed beauty.
God calls all of us to new ways of living and loving and serving, even if some “calls” are more specialized. Each of us is called to follow Jesus in our own lives, no matter what we do for a living.
This week we’re going to look at the story of Abram in Genesis 12. God’s call of this elderly man is a reminder of a few things. First, God’s call comes in the form of a covenant, where something is promised from both sides. Second, that there’s no age limit on calling—Abram was already 75 years old when God decided to make a deal with him. And finally, the covenant God made with Abram is one that we are bound by as people of faith. This Sunday we’ll talk about what that means.
My hope is that these studies will help us all deepen our understanding of who God calls us to be, and what God calls us to do. We all might learn some new things!
Until then, blessings to you as you listen for God’s voice…and respond!
Pastor John
Upcoming Preaching Texts
May 5 Genesis 12:1-5
May 12 Luke 1:26-38
May 19 Acts 2:1-13