Which Came First?

PROTO- CHICKEN

EGG ORIGINAL CHICKENS

Whom God CallsFirst Jesus calls us to be His disciples.Then He calls some disciples to lead others in pursuit of God’s holy and just purposes in the world.

All called to deny themselves and follow Jesus

Some called to lead others

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23

God has always called a surprising DIVERSITY of persons to play significant roles in establishing God’s holy and just purposes in the world.Matthew 1:1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram,4 Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,6 and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife.

local Canaanite woman

prostitute in Jericho

Moabite womanadulteress Bathsheba

God’s call transcends all barriers. Not limited to a single group of people.

God has always made it a habit to call people who couldn’t hide the fact that they were ordinary, flawed human beings.Matthew 1:18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him. {James & John}

Matthew 9:9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

God’s call includes mostly unimpressive people. And the impressive ones are often painfully flawed.

• Lifelong smoker

• Weakness for other women

• Struggled with his weight & health

• And yet…

So how does God want us to determine which of our flawed leaders are truly ones the Lord is perhaps using to get us to pursue God’s holy and just purposes?

Jesus was crystal clear: any leader who claims to be taking orders from Him must clearly be a self-denying, cross-bearing follower of Christ. Otherwise, he or she is not a true disciple.Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

Preparing for the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955

“We have no alternative but to protest. For many years, we have shown an amazing patience. We have sometimes given our white brothers the feeling that we liked the way we were being treated. But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice.” —The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The ultimate test of what we believe is how we act or behave, not what we say we believe. If we believe God loves all and calls us to love every person the same way we want to be loved, then we must purposely and at times painfully extend God’s love to all our neighbors. This is the expressed will of Christ’s Father in heaven.

What Does It Mean to Do the Will of Christ’s Father in Heaven?

True faith in God should become a magnetic force for the common good, for peace everywhere, and to seek justice for everyone.

So focused on ourselves that we scarcely hear the cries for help and justice.

So busy fighting each other that we rarely fight to defeat corruption, apathy, and evil.

What Does It Mean to Do the Will of Christ’s Father in Heaven?

WOMEN’SMARCH

-LOSANGELES-

Saturday, January 21 , 9AM-4PM

Persh ing Square , DTLA

Forecast : Ra in

The march is open to everyone who stands for human rights, civil liberties, and compassion for our shared humanity.

In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore. We stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us. We support the advocacy and resistance movements that reflect our multiple and intersecting identities. We call on all defenders of human rights to join us. This march is the first step towards unifying our communities, grounded in new relationships, to create change from the grassroots level up. We work peacefully while recognizing there is no true peace without justice and equity for all.

“Dr. King believe[d] that many are worshiping Christ emotionally, and not morally. Or substituting aesthetics for ethics… The strongest advocates of segregation in America worship Christ on Sunday mornings…

—The Rev. Dr. Bill Thurmond, Associate Executive Minister, ABCOFLSH

What Does It Mean to Do the Will of Christ’s Father in Heaven?

“Many of the economic exploiters worship Jesus. These are the same worshipers who perpetuate much of the degrading conditions in our communities and cities.”

—The Rev. Dr. Bill Thurmond, Associate Executive Minister, ABCOFLSH

What Does It Mean to Do the Will of Christ’s Father in Heaven?

Kenneth Lay Convicted former CEO of ENRON

Which Comes First?

True Disciple of Jesus

No BarriersAll KindsOrdinaryFlawed Christ-led

Leader

Even if part of

us is still a

Big Chicken