From My Calling To Our Calling
(Exodus 19:3-8,
16-20)
8/24/25
Dear
beloved Stetson Memorial UMC family, today is the last Sunday of our series, “A
New Journey,” before our combined service next week. It has been such a
blessing to share my calling stories with you and to hear your calling stories
through testimonies as we get to know each other in these first two honeymoon
months. Through this process, I feel that we are one family, we are on the same
page, and we are walking the same pilgrimage journey to follow God’s calling.
I
cannot wait for next week’s combined service with four churches gathering in
one place. While preparing for the service with the worship committee, I was
filled with hope, joy, and gratitude. I am so blessed to have many people
working together to prepare this special service! There will be a combined
pick-up choir, special music, children’s worship dance, and fellowship with a
luncheon. After next week’s service, for the following two months, I would like
to preach from the Psalms, listening to God’s Word through our real faith life
stories as we respond to God’s calling. Denice will share her testimony in the
first week of September, and it will be powerful.
Before
giving today’s message, I want to apologize for a mistake in my last sermon. I
thought I had memorized all our church members’ names, but I confused someone’s
name. We don’t have two Nancys—we have one and only Nancy. I am still learning
and remembering each precious name.
<Calling
is the Secret>
“Your
life is a whirlwind,” my mentor and dear friend from New Hampshire said to me
last week as she laughed at all that was happening in our lives. We were
preparing five children for a new school year, including two going to boarding
school. I was finishing my final for my M.Div studies. Grace was preparing for
her first piano concert. My husband and I were arranging ministry schedules for
four churches. And of course, there were lots of meetings.
In
the middle of this whirlwind, a college friend messaged me after a prayer
meeting I led. She said, “You must be so busy, but I can feel your anchor deep
inside your heart.” While I was in the middle of chaos, I was wondering why she
said that. But God let me know the secret of my life. When my mentor gave me a chalice she made in
pottery class to celebrate my first senior pastorate and my birthday, God
reminded me of the secret to living in chaos: calling. Through calling, I learn
who I am, where I need to go, and what I should do. And this personal calling
does not stay with me alone. My husband’s calling and my calling are woven
together, shaping and affecting the calling of our children and others around
us.
Os
Guinness, in his book The Call, wrote: “The call of God always starts
personal, but it always ends up bigger than us.” He explains how Moses’ and
Jesus’ callings show us that personal calling must lead to community calling.
His own life, shaped by his parents’ missionary work in China, taught him the
strong connection between personal and community calling.
<From
My Mt. Sinai to Our Mt. Sinai>
Os
Guinness explains this connection through Moses’ and Israel’s calling stories.
In Exodus 3:4-12, God calls Moses by name at the burning bush on Mt. Sinai: “I
will be with you…this shall be the sign…you shall serve God on this mountain.”
This is Moses’ personal calling. Though Moses felt inadequate and reluctant,
God promised, “Now go; I will help you speak and teach you what to say”
(Exodus 4:10-12).
Moses’
personal calling spread to Israel in Exodus 6:6-8 when God sent Moses to speak
to the people:
“I
will bring you out…I will redeem you…I will take you as my own people, and I
will be your God.”
Even
though the Israelites grumbled under Pharaoh’s cruel slavery, God revealed
Himself through the plagues, the Red Sea, and His saving power. Then came the
first Passover in chapter 12—Israel’s step into community calling, a shared
obedience of faith. Finally, they arrived at Mt. Sinai in today’s passage.
God’s promise in Exodus 3:12 was fulfilled: “You shall serve God on this
mountain.”
God calls me. God calls us.
This
time, God appeared not just to Moses, but to all Israel in a thick cloud
(Exodus 19:9). The people purified themselves for three days. There were
sights—lightning, smoke, fire—and sounds—thunder, trumpet blasts, and the
violent shaking of the mountain as God descended in fire (Exodus 19:16-18). And
then God gave His covenantal call to the whole community:
“Now if you obey my voice and keep my
covenant, you shall be my treasured possession…you shall be for me a priestly
kingdom and a holy nation” (19:5-6).
Not
just Aaron or the Levites, but the entire people.
Peter
applied these same words to the church:
“You
are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people” (1
Peter 2:9).
God’s
promises to Abraham and to Moses find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
Through Him, we become God’s people, chosen for His mission. Os Guinness
reminds us, “The call of Jesus is personal but not purely individual.”
The church is a called-out assembly, bound together in covenant, living a
shared mission.
<From
Personal Calling to Community Calling>
I am
grateful to see God’s pattern of personal calling growing into community
calling right here among us. Today, Roberta’s testimony beautifully reflects
Moses’ story. When God called Roberta to begin a devotional time with Sharon
and Wendy, her personal call became a small group call. Then, she reached out
to me, and Bible study was born. Their faith encouraged me in my own struggles,
restoring my spirit. From there, Kristy, Jiang, and Hong were gathered, and now
community calling is visible through Friday Bible studies, nursing home
services, and the pen pal ministry between children and residents.
God
calls me. God calls us.
Last
Sunday, my heart overflowed with joy as we worshiped with Houlton, Hodgdon,
Patten, nursing home residents, staff, and children eager to meet their pen pal
partners. One girl, Hazel, kept asking her grandmother to bring her so she
could meet Sharon, her pen pal partner. What began as one person’s calling grew into a blessing for an entire community.
God
calls me. God calls us.
Katie
also responded to God’s call after Cluster VBS, helping the homeless in Bangor
with food, toothbrushes, and listening ears. Susan Laurence, pianist of Houlton
church, shared how others poured into her life, and now she gives her time and
tears to my children through music. Each story is proof that personal calling
never stays personal—it spreads outward.
God
calls me. God calls us.
<One
Testimony Gives Birth to Another>
In
the past week of meetings—worship committee, children’s ministry, SPPR, the DS,
VBS follow-up—I have been filled with gratitude for all God has done and is
still doing. I feel like we are playing spiritual volleyball: tossing the small
ball of testimony to one another, and God gives us strikes. When I preached “From
My Home to God’s Home” last week, several of you shared how it spoke into
your own moving and transitions. Personal testimony gives birth to testimony.
God
calls me. God calls us.
Bonnie, Duane, and Sandra from Hodgdon
& Delila, Ross, and Penny from Patten church
Today,
Penny shared her story at Hodgdon UMC. I know how much courage it took in her
personal life, and it became a blessing for all of us. From Penny’s testimony,
God has encouraged others—Katie, Roberta, Audry—and soon Denice and Sharon will
share as well. Testimony multiplies, just like calling multiplies.
God calls me. God calls us.
I
see many Moseses in our churches. Your personal calling is not staying put—it
is affecting others, affecting our churches, affecting our community. I am
excited to celebrate combined service and our church conferences with
gratitude. The bishop asks us: “Who are we? Who are our neighbors? How can
we make disciples?” Our lives already testify: personal calling brings us
into community calling.
God
calls me. God calls us.
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