Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. - Colossians 3:23-24

The priority in finding and fulfilling your Christian calling is to become who God created you to be in close relationship with Him.

What is Calling?

How Do We Know What God's Calling is for Our Life?

How Can We Discern?

This month we will explore these questions through our resources on identifying what calling is, the call to discipleship, and how Christians can be bonded in their communities. Our work has value because we are to offer it to the Lord. Your work and my work are to be holy. That means we are to set it apart so that we may honor God in what we do.

There is a growing recognition in churches today about the need for discipleship. This resource describes from the Gospel of Luke what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. From the time Jesus' identity is revealed, he begins to say "Follow me."

As believers in Christ, a large part of our faith is communal in nature. In this first part of three, Stuart McAlpine shares about what community based on Jesus our Lord looks like.

…let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another…. “ (Heb. 10:24-25 NASB).

James Houston provides a fresh take on Christian community and what it means for us today. He discusses how believers are enriched by the Christian community, the way believers are to live in the family of God, and the importance of companionship with others in the Christian community.

James Houston provides a fresh take on Christian community and what it means for us today. He discusses how believers are enriched by the Christian community, the way believers are to live in the family of God, and the importance of companionship with others in the Christian community.

As Merriam-Webster clarifies, the English vocation comes from the Latin vocatio, meaning “summons, bidding, invitation, from vocatus (past participle of vocare to call),” and calling from the Middle English callen, to call. So vocation and calling mean the same thing. I have divided them because Christians need to emphasize our common vocation over what each of us as individuals is specifically called to do.

One of the most important questions we face - over the course of our entire lives - is “How do we discern God’s will.” Bill Fullilove has lots of experience helping people with this crucial question and we explore it together. We especially consider where our own desires fit in the process.

Have you ever been discipled by another believer? That is, did anyone help you in the process of coming to faith? After you came to Christ, did anyone help you grow more like Jesus, either informally or in some organized fashion? Or, from the other side, have you ever been in the discipling role, helping someone come to faith in Christ or grow as His disciple?

Tom Schwanda gives insight on discernment about your experiences & your "call" to mentor. Whether you are experienced or simply curious about mentoring this seminar will offer helpful insights for you to use in your daily Christian life.

How can we gain this confidence? To be sure, we can’t work it up on our own through human optimism and positive thinking. Rather, it is produced by the Holy Spirit, who works primarily (though not exclusively) through Holy Scripture, which He uses to enlighten our minds and kindle faith in our hearts (Rom. 10:17)

Film is a window into the human heart. Like all art, anytime and anywhere, it both reflects and promotes a culture’s understanding of itself, its hopes and dreams, its glories and its shames, its beliefs about reality and truth, about right and wrong, what is to be prized and what is to be despised. For that reason, we cannot “leave our brains at the box-office,” as one of my teachers told me years ago.

Now there can be no following without a previous forsaking. To follow Christ is to renounce all lesser loyalties. In the days when he lived among men on earth, this meant a literal abandonment of home and work. Simon and Andrew “left their nets and followed him.” James and John “left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him.” Matthew, who heard Christ’s call while he was “sitting at the tax office… left everything, and rose and followed him.”

Our first and foremost calling from God is to himself, and contained within that is a call to his service. Our goal as disciples of Christ is to recognize God’s call on our lives and commit ourselves to following his will and purpose for us above everything else.

Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) and former Congressman and Ambassador Tony Hall (D-OH) are best friends from opposite sides of the aisle. They have each lived lives of faith in this highly political city of Washington, D.C.  The topic of their address is Calling, Character and Commitment:  Living Your Faith in a Secular World.

Practically speaking, thinking in a Christian manner involves a variety of elements. In this audio lecture, Os Guinness shares about the practical ways in which to follow Christ so that practice and belief are lined up.

Come and be encouraged as Stuart McAlpine shares how we can join God in His work. Learn how God is growing a dynamic, international discipleship ministry of heart and mind!

Dr. John Lennox delivers the keynote address during the C.S. Lewis Institute 2016 Annual Fundraising Banquet. He encourages Christians to draw near to God and experience His goodness and power working in and through them.

Please listen to this engaging audio recording resource on God's Call On Your Life: What Is it? by Bill Hendricks.

What would you do if money were no object and you could not fail?” The first time I heard this question was during a private session with Dr. Art Lindsley, exploring the topic of “calling” near the end of my Fellows Year One Program in 2007. I did not expect this question. Although I took it very seriously, I responded immediately, “I would make pictures in fabric.” Perhaps Dr. Lindsley did not expect my answer, either, because he promptly replied, “What would you do with that?”

There are some significant questions facing the world in our times, all of which have a religious component. Will Islam modernize peacefully? Which faith will replace Marxism in China? And will the Western world sever or recover its roots? In this audio lecture, Dr. Os Guinness shares about how the calling God has for each of our lives gives us a sense of direction and purpose amidst the challenges of the age we find ourselves in.

There are some significant questions facing the world in our times, all of which have a religious component. Will Islam modernize peacefully? Which faith will replace Marxism in China? And will the Western world sever or recover its roots? In this audio lecture, Dr. Os Guinness shares about how the calling God has for each of our lives gives us a sense of direction and purpose amidst the challenges of the age we find ourselves in.

Dr. Dennis Hollinger is President of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. His message is entitled For Such a Time as This: Crisis and Character. He will help us gain perspective on how to serve God faithfully in the extraordinary and challenging world in which we now find ourselves.

A few months into Year 1, all Fellows participate in a day called Urban Plunge, an opportunity to work hands-on with an inner-city ministry. Through this, Fellows learn about urban poverty, have chances to serve and converse with those in need, and walk away with a keen awareness of the impoverished population.

Throughout much of human history it was assumed that leadership and moral character went hand in hand. Of course there were continual failures in various spheres of leadership, and thus the current malaise is nothing new. Due to human sin, leaders in government, business, education, science, and even the church have often failed to steward their power with integrity, justice, and care for human beings.

What is it that gives our work value to God? Is it simply that when we work we earn money so that we can give a tithe to support the ministry of the Word? Is that alone what gives our work value? No. It is true that we are called to support the ministry of the Word; Scripture says so quite clearly. But that is not what ultimately gives our work value.

Enjoy this audio message from Stuart McAllister on The Call To Be A Witness - Part 1.  This is part one in a two part series on God's Call On Your Life.

Enjoy this audio message from Stuart McAllister on The Call To Be A Witness - Part 2.  This is part two in a two part series on "God's Call On Your Life"

As I have gone deeper in my Christian walk, I have struggled to figure out how I can impact the culture for Christ. I have had a strong desire to impact others for God’s kingdom—family, friends, co-workers, and my community—but I haven’t known how to do so. I have questioned what my calling is and how God intends for me to use the spiritual gifts He has given me.

How I work with people matters. How I lead matters. In leading others, I endeavor to help them develop their potential by treating them with respect and dignity, looking after their best interests, listening attentively to them, not allowing the need to complete a task cause me to treat them with disrespect, helping them to grow and develop, and caring for them as individuals. I try to create an environment that fosters hard work and a sense of enjoyment. I look to elevate others’ reputations, not mine, when they do a good job.

"I’m a follower of Jesus Christ.” Making the claim can quickly change the dynamics of one’s workplace. People may see you differently and not always positively. Saying you are a Christian may subject you to other people’s labels, prejudices, and disapproval.

Discover how you can live a life of significance and make an impact in the areas that God has placed you. In this video lecture, Dr. Os Guinness helps us understand God's purposes and calling and our moment in time. Learn how the relationships and environment around us can provide divine opportunities.

Further, there is value in good work, well done, even apart from the chance to evangelize and live ethically. The recovery of the idea that work itself is part of God’s purpose in making humanity has been a welcome emphasis of recent decades.

The word vocation obviously has more than a whiff of the religious to it, but insofar as the whiff suggests “a divine call to a [specifically] religious career” – that is, to something like full-time Christian ministry, as that phrase is usually meant – it steers us the wrong way.

Many view life as compartmentalized into two sections—the sacred and the secular. They believe and practice that work and necessary items are done Monday through Saturday, but ministry, that which really matters to God, is done on Sunday. C. S. Lewis addresses this misunderstanding in a sermon on vocation entitled, “Learning in War-Time.” He preached this message to students in Oxford in the fall of 1939 soon after Britain had been dragged into World War II. Lewis states,

As I understood my God-given role more clearly, I gained a greater confidence in the Lord’s work both in and through me, and I developed a peaceful confidence in my employer while in this difficult role. I realized that believers are called to work for open truth, honor, and mutual respect in our workplace, responsibilities, and community relationships, even in small and simple ways.

As a journalist, I could and did report the tragedy and its aftermath as accurately as possible. But as a Christian, I had my antenna up for the spiritual story. Because I believe in a God who is both good and omnipotent, one who will not be defeated by evil. In other words, I expected another shoe to drop.

God is always at work (John 5:17). He is redeeming lost people and restoring his fallen creation, and he invites us in Christ to join him in his work. As a follower of Jesus, you are on God’s redemption and restoration team. In order to respond to this call, you must step out of your ordinary world, over the threshold of your comfort zone, and enter his life-changing adventure. Those who respond to this call are transformed and equipped to bring gifts of His healing to their world.

Work can be a daily grind―a hard, monotonous set of thankless tasks. In the midst of the ongoing toil, many are plagued by a lack of purpose, confused as to what to do and who to become. And while some of our vocations may seem more overtly meaningful than others’, the truth is that most of us work because we have to. It is a means to an end―survival.

Given the enormous amount of time each of us spends working, we would do well to understand our callings and how God works through them.

New York Times bestselling author of The Prodigal Prophet Timothy Keller shows how God calls on each of us to express meaning and purpose through our work and careers.

“A touchstone of the [new evangelical] movement.” —The New York Times

Vocation is when we come to know the world in all its joy and pain and still love it. Vocation is following our calling to seek the welfare of the world we live in. And in helping the world to flourish, strangely, mysteriously, we find that we flourish too. Garber offers a book for everyone everywhere―for students, for parents, for those in the arts, in the academy, in public service, in the trades and in commerce―for all who want to discover the virtue of vocation.

The Protestant doctrine of vocation has had a profound influence on American culture, but in recent years central tenets of this doctrine have come under assault. Vocation: Discerning Our Callings in Life explores current responses to the classic view of vocation and offers a revised statement and application of this doctrine for contemporary North American Christians.

Concern about the inherited doctrine of vocation and its relevance for modern life was generated out of the complexities and frustrations especially of industrial life, and it has produced a voluminous literature of a popular and semi-popular kind which has served to drive home the problem of daily work upon the conscience of contemporary Christians, and also to provide certain resources for handling it.

The Call continues to stand as a classic, reflective work on life's purpose. Best-selling author Os Guinness goes beyond our surface understanding of God's call and addresses the fact that God has a specific calling for our individual lives.

Why won’t God reveal his special will for my life already? Because he doesn’t intend to... So says Kevin DeYoung in this punchy book about making decisions the godly way. Many of us are listening for the still small voice to tell us what’s next instead of listening to the clear voice in Scripture telling us what’s now. God does have a will for your life, but it is the same as everyone else’s: Seek first the kingdom of God. And quit floundering. With pastoral wisdom and tasteful wit, DeYoung debunks unbiblical ways of understanding God’s will and constructs a simple but biblical alternative: live like Christ. He exposes the frustrations of our waiting games and unfolds the freedom of finding God’s will in Scripture and then simply doing it