What is your calling? What is your vocation? vo⋅ca⋅tion
   /voʊˈkeɪʃən/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [voh-key-shuhn] Show IPA
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-noun
1. a particular occupation, business, or profession; calling.

2.a strong impulse or inclination to follow a particular activity or career.

3.a divine call to God's service or to the Christian life.

4.a function or station in life to which one is called by God: the religious vocation; the vocation of marriage.

Origin:
1400-50; late ME vocacio(u)n < L vocātiōn- (s. of vocātiō) a call, summons, equiv. to vocāt(us) ptp. of vocāre to call (see -ate <http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=-ate&db=luna> 1 ) +

All Christians have a calling or vocation.

Jesus’ Calling:
He was rejected by His own people-vss. 2-3
He was then killed for us-vss. 4-5

Vs. 6 Gives the reason why He had to suffer and die for us:

We have gone astray:
Worship other Gods
Where we spend our money
The time we spend in Word and prayer
Time we spend with other people, family, friends and other Christians

We have turned to our own way:
Greed
Marital problems
Problems between parents and children
I am god

We sin-iniquity

All of this was put upon Jesus.

How was this done? Vss. 7-9
Oppressed and afflicted
He did not talk back and He allowed Himself to be abused
He was taken away without good cause
He was rejected by the people that He loved
He died for these same people and He did not deserve it.

What was the result of all of this?
He suffered and was our guilt offering
He arose from the dead and will live forever
We will be made right with God
He will be given glory and power
He stood in our place in front of God

Our calling is the ultimate adventure:
Worship
God’s word and Sacraments
Our daily work
Our daily family life
Our opportunities to witness
Our opportunities to speak the Gospel
The chance serve in God’s church and serve people around us

Have you ever wondered why people don't listen to you or don't hear you. There are all kinds of books, speakers and seminars on listening or marriage. Most are helpful, but the reason we have so many is if we really learned how to communicate well we wouldn't need them any more. I think the biggest two problems I struggle with are:
1) Listening to what is said with our interuppting or thinking about other things.
2) Showing that I have listened by following through.
I don't think there is any magic formula, but I have learned that the presence of a person is so crucial. I don't just mean being there, but the person's full attention.

Adam and Eve and their actions
God said don’t eat of the fruit
Satan comes along a tempts them
Eve first falls and then Adam follows
God catches them in their act
God asks them what is up
God then curses the serpent and makes a promise


God did kick Adam and Eve out of the Garden, but He was still with them.

Because of sin we have been separated from God.

What did Adam and do against God?
Betrayal of the gift
Lying

What were the results of the fall into sin?
Relationships broken
Roles of husband and wife messed up
Murder
Other sin

How does this play out in our lives?
Marriages
Parental/child relationships
Other relationships
Order in the world
Govt.

We at times feel alone when all things fall apart:
Divorce
Parents and children
Dysfunction
Loss of Job
Loss of children


God could have totally left the creation on its own after the fall into sin, but could not, because He is a gracious and loving God.

Vs. 15 comes the promise that God has been, is and will be with us:
God created us
God and His people in the Old Testament
Jesus came to Earth, lived a perfect life, was persecuted and died in our place
God says that He will always be with His people

God works this first through His Word and Gifts of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper:
Word
Gift
Lord’s Supper

As a result of these gifts we live knowing God is with us:
Support our spouse
Care for our children
Job
Other Christians
Other people

Heaven

Write down some things you have always wanted to do or go some where you have never been?

Think about what it will take to make this event or opportunity to happen.

What would hold you back from trying to achieve or making this happen?

Star Trek

Abraham(Abram)
God said leave your Father’s house, your country and basically everything you know
God said He will bless Abram
God said I will make a great nation from you
God said I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse
Finally all the world will be blessed because of Abraham

God put before Abram a large responsibility.

Abram, at age 75, went to the land God promised-vss. 4-9

Abram(Abraham) went to a place He had not been before, because God called and as a result Abram(Abraham) trusted God.

As people we face many different opportunities and challenges:
Teens
College
Marriage
Having Children
Jobs and/or Carrers
Growing Old
What causes us stress about these situations?
Fear
Experience
Painful memories
Our feelings of failure
Selfishness
Pleasing others

God has promised that He would be with us and would never forsake no matter what happens.
Hebrews 13:4-6

As sinful human beings we are self-centered people and we allow:
Fear to determine much of what we do
Anger to lead us
Control issues
Lack of trust in God and trust of others


We do wonderful, mundane and great things daily and we also do big things because of grace,
mercy, love and forgiveness of God, through Jesus Christ

Jesus did the ultimate act of love and mercy for us.
Jesus came and lived a perfect life for us.
Jesus was persecuted and abused
Jesus died for us on the cross to take the punishment for our sins of:
Lack of trust
Living in fear
And all other sin

Jesus arose from the dead to tell sin, Satan and death that they can not control and that we have the promise of heaven and eternal life.

We can face and deal with:
Stress
Big decisions
Daily life
Sharing our faith
We do this through:
Study of God’s Word
Prayer
God’s gifts of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
Taking a step out

Today I was reading my daily devotinal readings and I read from Proverbs 11. The verse that struck me were vss. 24-25, "One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." I think it is really interesting that God tells us exactly what will happen when we give up of ourselves and gifts, but we still do not believe Him. I look at my parents and my in-laws and see how they have prospered. It is true that they have saved and made good investments, but I know for a fact they have given over and above in the tithe to God's church. I also know they have been very generous with time and money with their family. I also know that both have also been very generous with charity and gifts to others who they know and do not know. What strikes me is that many people could see the same thing that I see and they still think that holding back is the way to take care of ourselves. I think those who tell God that they can't give away much or nothing at all are those who are miserable, angry, afraid or greedy. It is true they may have more money than others, but their lives are not uplifting or joyful. These people also use money to use people and do not gain healthy and loving relationships with others. I know that when I was a child sometimes when things were tough for our family, God always provided what we needed. I know that even now. I believe that when we look at the physical parts of our lives we should see these as gifts that God has called us to take care of and share, because we are strictly stewards of these gifts, not owners. They can be with us one moment and gone the next. I thank God for all of His gifts to me and to my family and I pray that use them wisely in the future.

In the last two days people have given me words of support for different responsibilities I have. In their support they let me know that it can difficult to deal with certain situations. What has help me to deal with difficult situations in the last few months is one thought-I can't worry or get upset over what I can't control. I have said this to other people and I have even said this to myself many times over the years. It is one thing to intellectually know something and another to truly absorb and own it in my own being. When I actually own the idea of not worrying about what I can't control my stress levels decrease and things that I would be worried about in the past seem get dealt with and worked through. It is amazing that as human being I fear things that are not real at the moment and I start making up scenarios that I believe are real. I'm not saying that negative things don't or won't happen, but I don't need to anticipate them. The verses when Jesus talks about the lillies of the field and the birds of air don't where about where they will make their home means much more when I know that God is the trust and support system that gives me the most peace of mind and heart.

Who are the saints of God?
Only the Biblical saints
Really good people

Matthew 5:2-11

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven:
Those who realize they can not of their own abilities get God’s riches
They will know God’s heaven for they know that

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted:
Those who mourn are those who deal with the grieving in this life, death, loss of job, broken relationships.
Those who mourn are those who realize that they are lost without God.
God comforts us through His Word-Psalms, Romans, Revelation

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth;
Those who are not arrogant
Those who are not prideful
Those who are not conceited
The meek will have what they need in this life

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled:
Those who want to live righteousness in their lives as witness to their faith
Our lives are filled when we are living out Christian lives and not worrying about life

Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy:
Those whose concern is for their neighbor spiritually and materially, trying to do good for all people
There is mercy from God and from others as a result of this living

Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God:
Our hearts as well our actions know the love of God
Because our heart is of God we know who God is

Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the sons of God:
Simply as Christians we treat to live in peace with everyone-repentance, forgiveness, patience and humility
Those who live this life are God’s children

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven:
Because of our lives as Christians there will be those who will oppress and attack us
As we deal with these persecutions we know that heaven is coming

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me-Same as above

We as God’s people struggle with many of these blessings daily and sometimes in our sin we fail:
We believe our own press
We don’t always want God
We treat others with anger and cruelty
We would rather be in conflict than peace
We deny our God in front of the world

That is why we are called sinners yet saints.
We are saints because we have been made new people through the blood of Christ.
We as sinners have a God who loves us so much that He sent Jesus to live the righteousness for us
We as sinners have a God who loves us so much that He sent Jesus to die in our place on the cross
Jesus arose from the dead to make us saints

As saints we can rejoice because we know have God’s blessing of His strength and comfort in this life
and the reward of heaven.

We also remember the saints who have gone before us.
These saints we can remember their:
Faith
Mercy
Christian life
Strength
Forgiveness

You are saints

How often as a pastor do I need to know the answer. My first years as a pastor I thought that when someone came to my office to talk I was supposed to have an answer to a problem. I still can get like that even now. I used to think people expected that of me as well. I have learned that being there or as I have heard it called, "having presence" is most important. As a parent I have learned I don't always have the answers to my children's problems, but I do know that it is important to be there and listen to their thoughts, struggles and joys. As a husband it can still be hard to just be there, but I try. I have also learned that I am not less of person, because I don't have the answer. Maybe that is what is most amazing is that as I get older I can feel more secure knowing that I don't know. As a Christian I am learning that the more I learn about God, the more I need to learn. I continually am learning when I teach a class and I am asked questions I find that there are many times I have to say I don't know. I also learn from those I teach.

In October we had the opportunity to move from Gage Elementary to Gibbs Elementary. This opportunity for FOC is one more step in our mission to, "Touch Lives With The Love of Christ." One Sunday night of this week I was Target and talked to a person who has contact with our ministry through Vacation Bible School. He asked where we are worhsipping at this time and I told him Gibbs. His reponse was why would be at Gibbs when there are five churches already in the area now. I shared with him that are still many people who are not Christian or do not have a church family out this area. We can touch so many people with the Gospel of mercy, love and forgiveness by sharing our faith story and serving the people in the NW neighborhoods. It only by the Holy Spirit working through Word of God and the Sacraments that we share His story and live out our faith. As we worship in this community and serve in this community we are sharing and serving our neighbors, friends, and co-workers who lives next to us and across from us. In a sense we are those people. As we live out the mission we grow as people in faith ourselves and share that faith with others. May the Lord bless our mission in NW Rochester to bring others to know the saving grace of God.
Pastor Biar

I want to apologize for not keeping up with posts for awhile. It has been an awesome time to watch God work throught he people of FOC. I will be addressing posts again starting today. One of the things I want to make you aware of is FOC is also going to have a Facebook page and a Twitter account that you will be able to check out.
Pastor Biar