Take the Mantle and Burn the Plow | Caleb Leake

If I haven't met you yet, my name's Caleb. I serve as the youth pastor here, as well as the Allison Park Leadership Academy director. And honestly, I was basically born in this church, because if you don't know, I was born in November, December 1997, a month after I was born. It was Christmas. And to illustrate baby Jesus, my dad, the late Pastor Jeff, he held me up like Simba and the Lion King. Oh, he's a winner. Just like that. That was a perfect impression, too. Yeah, he held me up for the whole congregation to see. So I've basically been here my entire life, and I love APC. I love that I get to be here. Also, more about me, if you don't know me, my wife, I'm married to Angela Leak. She's also a pastor on staff here, the Young Adults Pastor. She's amazing. Yeah, she's the best. She's honestly way cooler than me, so you'll need to get to meet her. But she is from Texas, which means she's a Dallas Cowboys fan. So if there's claps, actually, the door is just right back there. You guys are good to go.

I'm kidding. No, she'll get her salvation one day. And I did tell her, I was like, the best gift you could ever give me is if you became a Steelers fan. And she doesn't love me that much yet, but we're gonna get there one day, okay? But no, man, seriously, I'm so happy to be here. We also have a son named Elliot, and also a little girl on the way, Amelia Rose Leak, coming in just a month. So yeah, it's gonna be awesome. And this is my seventh year as the youth pastor, and the best thing that I get to do is to invest in the students, in the middle schoolers and high schoolers, the way that I was invested into. And honestly, APC's been marked by this. So many people in the room, members, staff members, people in the seats who were changed by youth leaders who chose to invest into the next generation and pour into them. And one of the ways that we've continued to do this is through a program called Fine Arts. Most people probably don't know about this, but we do this every year. And this is a Christian arts competition that they compete in at a district level, and they can advance to a national level.

And it's a ton of different categories. So vocal categories, music categories, physical art categories, drama categories. It's pretty wild. So, and there's about 30,000 people at the national level. I mean, it's a big deal. They would fill up a whole stadium. So last week, we took 20 of our students to St. Louis, Missouri to compete at the national level. And guess what? They walked away as Fine Arts national champs in the vocal ensemble category. Pretty cool, all right? We're champions, APC, come on. And so we thought we'd treat you to their performance today. So I want to invite out our large vocal ensemble. This is the youth students here making their way out today. Make it a buzz for more than Sundays, the national Fine Arts champions in the vocal ensemble category. Let's hear it for them. ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ I wanna meet with you more than Sundays ♪ ♪ I wanna know more than just my mother's face ♪ ♪ Cause that's not enough to get through the rough ♪ ♪ No, I need a Monday morning face ♪

♪ I wanna hear you in more than just one way ♪ ♪ Show your voice in all of the mundane things ♪ ♪ You're in the in-between ♪ ♪ And you're in my everything ♪ ♪ And that's all I really need, my soul sings in the morning ♪ ♪ I love the king and he loves me ♪ ♪ And all that I'm compelled to bring ♪ ♪ Is my everyday offering ♪ ♪ And let my worship be more than just singing ♪ ♪ When did music become a religious thing? ♪ ♪ Let these songs be what they're meant to be ♪ ♪ The sound of your church awakening ♪ ♪ Help my heart to keep up with the heavens ♪ ♪ Where the angels sing 24-7 praise ♪ ♪ You're more than enough to get through my rough ♪ ♪ You're teaching me Monday morning faith ♪ ♪ That's all I really need ♪ My soul sings in the morning ♪ I love the King and He loves me ♪ And all that I'm compelled to bring ♪ Is my everyday offering ♪ Your mercy's new every morning ♪ I come alive as You're calling ♪ And all that I'm compelled to bring ♪ Is my everyday offering ♪ Hell's not scared of the Sunday faith ♪ If it only leads to empty praise ♪ What really makes darkness run ♪ Is when the saints arise in praising quiet ♪ Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday

♪ To know You, to love You, to choose You ♪ First on Thursday and Friday and Saturday ♪ To see You, behold You, and worship singing ♪ Hallelujah, holy, holy ♪ Glory to the King of kings ♪ And hallelujah, holy, holy ♪ All honor and glory belongs to You ♪ Hallelujah, holy, holy ♪ Glory to the King of kings ♪ And hallelujah, holy, holy ♪ All honor and glory belongs to You ♪ My soul sings in the morning ♪ I love the King and He loves me ♪ And all that I'm compelled to bring ♪ Is my everyday offering ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh Let's go, give it up for our national champs. Large vocal ensemble, heck yeah. Come on, aren't they so talented? Man, let's go. God's doing something amazing in our youth students here at Allison Park Church, I'll tell you. And I'll tell you, I don't have that kind of singing anointing, all right? Maybe you were sitting next to someone, you're like, they don't have it either.

But man, these students, they're awesome and it's really cool to see what they're doing. Also, really quickly, I wanna shout out God Behind Bars, can we give it up for them? So happy you guys are with us. Yeah, let's go. Man, this is my call as a youth pastor, is I wanna be the shoulders that these kids stand on. And help them step into the God-given call that he has placed on their life. And to watch them walk faithfully in what God's put on them, it's amazing. And really, that's the heart of APC too. There's so many people here who have been marked by stepping into the call that God has for them. And we believe this for everybody here. We believe that God has a unique purpose for each person that he calls them to. And we refer to this often as your calling. The unique design and mission that God wants you to walk in. This is not just personal life direction. It's more than that, it's God's invitation for you to join him in what he's already doing to reach the lost, to care for the broken. And this is not just reserved for pastors or staff members, it's not relegated to a position or a platform. No, this is for every single person who's sitting in a seat today.

God has a unique purpose for you. Not just the general call to love God, love others, and make disciples, but he's wired you, given you a specific personality, given you giftings that he wants to use to make a difference in the world. That's what we call our calling. And I think as we think about this, I think everybody deep down aspires to walk in their greater purpose. We all want our life to mean something, and as followers of Jesus, I think we all want to be in step with his design for our life. So then the question becomes. You know, how do I step into this specific purpose? I don't think it's necessarily the desire that we lack, it's the how to, you know? How do we actually begin to step into the call? What does that really look like? Something I've noticed as I've gotten older is the older I get, especially in my 20s, the amount of Ikea furniture I build has gone dramatically up. Anybody else notice? Okay, it's just me? Yeah, I just bought a home, so maybe that's why. And I've had multiple nights where it's like, 300 screws with a weird Swedish name are scattered across my floor at 10 p.m., and it's like I'm trying to put this thing together,

and it always seems to be like I get to step 287, and then I realize back on step three of building my coffee table that I flipped something upside down, and there's nothing more rage-inducing than realizing I have to go all the way back. Man, that puts a strain on my marriage every time. It's like, what did I just do? I wasted all that time, right? Maybe that's just my experience, okay? Maybe I just used your error. You're like, Caleb, that's just you. That's okay. But I don't think anybody sets out to build their life in this way either, to get to the end and realize they missed something or they mixed something up. You know, I don't wanna get to the end of my life and then ask the question, did I live my life with real purpose? So again, the question we're focusing on today that I want us to wrestle with is how do I step into the specific purpose that God has called me today? So here's what I need you to do. I need you to pull out your notes today because God wants to speak to you. Every single week at Red, we say something. Red is our youth group, and I got some Red students who are repping

over here on the side, our middle schoolers. Let's go. So we always like to say, we say, note-takers are history-makers. That's right. So we're gonna try that again. You gotta say history-makers, and that's a really cheesy phrase, but we say it because it means this. God wants to speak to you, so don't miss it. So take some notes, okay, ready? So we say, note-takers are history-makers. Wow, good job. Look at your neighbor and say, you're doing great. Yeah, let's go. Okay, so we're studying in 1 Kings chapter 19, verses 19 through 21, and let me give you some context here to properly set up what's going on. This takes place in the Old Testament, and God had a relationship with his chosen people, the nation of Israel, and the nation of Israel had this really nasty habit of kind of doing the exact opposite of what they were asked to do by God, and so God would send a prophet to kind of bring them back. We'll pick up with Elijah, who was a prophet of God, and again, these were God's chosen people who communicated his words and his will to the people of Israel,

but they also kind of served as covenant watchdogs where they would call Israel out when they started to stray, and at this very moment, Elijah had just humiliated the prophets of Baal and made Queen Jezebel so mad that she sent people after him, okay? So he's on the run, he's afraid for his life, and God promises to send him a helper, okay? This is where we're picking up in 1 Kings 19, verses 19 through 21, where Elijah's gonna go discover the helper that God promised him, okay? So verse 19, here's what it says. So Elijah went and found Elisha. Okay, really quick pause. I think God has a cruel sense of humor that he would make two people have such similar names and just wants to make my life hard when I'm preaching, Elijah and Elisha. So we're gonna get this straight, okay? Look at your one neighbor and say Jeh. Okay, look at the other neighbor and say Sheh. Great, let's go. We're gonna get it straight, all right? We're gonna make this awesome. If I mix it up, you can call me out after service, okay? So here we go, verse 19. So Elijah went and found Elisha, son of Shaphat, plowing a field. There were 12 teams of oxen in the field,

and Elisha was plowing with the 12th team. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak, or in some translations, it says the mantle, threw his mantle, threw his cloak across his shoulders and then walked away. Verse 20, Elisha left the oxen standing there and ran after Elijah and said to him. There you go, he called me out, there we go. He ran after Elijah and said to him, first let me go and kiss my father and mother goodbye, and then I will go with you. Elijah replied, go on back, but think about what I have done to you. Verse 21, so Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. He used the wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the townspeople and they all ate. Then he went with Elijah as his assistant. Okay, so Elijah comes to this farm and finds Elisha, who was the person that God was leading him to, and Elisha puts the mantle, the cloak, on Elisha, which was signifying the prophetic call that wasn't just from Elijah, but from God over Elisha's life. And this silent gesture, notice there's no words there, he just puts the cloak over him, he puts the mantle. This silent gesture presents Elisha with a choice. Do I stay where I'm at or do I step into God's call and in a bit? We'll talk about the significance of what he was really asking of him the true depth of what was going on here

But for now, I want us to just focus on Elisa Elisha's response, which was I will go with you You know, we can tend to overcomplicate things that should be really simple and the answer to our question of how do I step into? God's purpose for my life It actually is simple as what we see Elisha do Responding to God's call only requires my yes We can tend to overcomplicate it But my obedience to God is how I measure the success of walking in my calling It's so much less about the fruit or the how it plays out or how I think how I think it should go and so Much more about how I choose to respond when the call comes Responding to God's call only requires my yes Now to clarify just because it's simple doesn't mean it's easy and I'd be underscoring to say otherwise But that being said My yes, it has weight. I think we want to wrestle with today How do I step in or sorry not necessarily just the how but what's actually getting in the way of me giving God my yes Right, it's not just like nodding my head. Yes, and there's weight to my yes What's actually getting in the way of me doing this? And I think most of us aren't stuck because we don't know how to say yes We're stuck because we've got the wrong picture of what we're being asked to do So I want to clear this up and Elisha's story I think he gives us three really clear answers on how he responds to the call and how the call actually works Before I jump into that. Let me just clear something up to you. I think around this topic. There can be a lot of Anxiety I know I felt this when it was when it came to you know, stepping into God's call. There's a fear around Missing God's call almost like it's like the game of Clue. Anybody played the game of Clue anybody like any Clue fans out there? Okay, I was a Colonel mustard guy myself. Okay, so I'd always play with that piece and thank you And so there can be this, you know, almost like we're playing, you know Discovering our call like it's the game of Clue like there's a hidden answer Somewhere and I got to figure it out in the time limit And if I don't figure it out game over or if I choose the wrong thing then game over as well But here's the truth

It's not something you can accidentally miss or even strive to make because it's not your call It's God's call over your life and my mentor. He said it like this I hit a fork in the road whenever I was in Texas Studying at college and there was a fork in the road where do I stay at college or do I come home and accept the youth Pastor position here and I really wasn't sure and I felt like God wasn't saying anything to me and I was so nervous to Make a choice because I felt like well if I choose the wrong one God's gonna be like wrong now you've gone down the wrong path All right I was like so scared to make a decision because I wanted to be in step with what God had for my life But I wasn't sure what he was asking of me and my mentor. He said it like this. I'll never forget this He said if you are eagerly desiring God's will then he will not let you miss it And so after that moment, I was like, okay, and I still felt like God are you gonna tell me what to do? And I got no answer. But again, I knew okay. Well if God won't let me miss it I'm just gonna take a step in faith And so I took a step to come be the youth pastor and the very next day. I'm not joking the next day It was Tuesday morning I was in a prayer meeting and I felt like God gave me this vision as I was praying where I was on stage But I had the mic and I was handing it to you students and they were praying and people were being saved And I handed it to more you students and they were praying and people were being healed and look at how cool This is right before I come up to preach I get to hand the mic to eight you students who get to use their gift to glorify God. Come on. It's amazing This kind of call is not just reserved for me It's for every single person in the room. God has a plan for you and you can't accidentally miss it You're not gonna miss it in the tea leaves and and wonder. Oh man. Did I did I not get what he was asking of me? He's not trying to hide it from you he has a purpose that he's calling you to and he wants you to make a Difference and to bring the loss to Jesus and to care for the broken people of the world This is for every single person sitting in their seats today so if you're seeking to ask God if your heart is in the right place and You want to know him and know his will you can't accidentally miss it. This is not like the game of Clue

He won't let you miss it like that. Okay, so the clear the anxiety Let's jump to the three things that are in the way of giving God your yes. Let's jump to the story here So remember where we left Elisha at the very beginning of the story. He's out in the field plowing with the 12th team of oxen Notice Elijah doesn't go to the school of prophets to find the next person He doesn't go to the most qualified the oldest the wisest like he finds a young farmer boy Probably the least qualified But here's my first point, the call isn't about your ability, it's about your availability. God doesn't choose like people choose. God sees the potential, the things that even you can't see. And I wonder how often we disqualify ourselves based on our own self-evaluation or the world's evaluation or other people's evaluation of what we're capable of doing, rather than trusting in the design of the one who created and called us in the first place. How often do we do this? Let me tell you a story. There's a leader on my team and she's been coming to the church forever. Her name's Miss Ellen. She's the best. Ellen Craig. We love her so much. She's an OG ABCer. Yeah, she was here last night. We celebrated her. But she came to me, she was serving on my youth team right when I stepped on staff, which was around 2020. And about a year in, she said, you know, Caleb, I just think I'm not cool enough. And I don't really connect with them anymore. I don't think they really connect with me. And I think I'm just too old for this. So I think I need to take a step back.

And I told her, I think you're wrong, but I'll let you leave. So she left. And then about a year later, she came to me and she said, I feel like God's calling me because I just love these students so much. Can I join your team again? I said, absolutely. And here's the thing. Miss Ellen might not have the little TikTok boy haircut. She might not wear the crazy baggy pants that all the kids are wearing. She might not know all the TikTok memes that all of them know. But you know what she does do so well? She loves these kids. She cares for them. And she keeps pointing them to Jesus. And they love her so much back. And we need more leaders like Miss Ellen who are willing to pay the relational cost to disciple the next generation as somebody who is, you know, of the older generation. I need to take a sip of water. As someone who's of the older generation, we need more leaders who are willing to say, I'm going to pay that price to disciple the next generation. She's amazing. I love Miss Ellen. She's walking in her call, not based on what the world will say about her ability, but about her availability. Because it's not about what God will do through what you are capable of doing by yourself, but what he wants to do through your yes. As you respond to the mantle and take a step into your calling, God sees the potential. And so if you feel overlooked or cast aside or too old or too young or not strong enough, good enough, gifted enough, qualified enough, guess what? God has a mantle that he's bestowing upon you and he's calling you up to who you were

made to be. And he hasn't made you to be anyone other than you. And what you bring is intentionally designed by him. So your story, your past, your hurts, your victories, your giftings, your shortcomings, all of it is a part of the way that God wants to use you and his plan to call you to something greater. Come on. That's amazing. Every single person in here, that's for them. Okay, let's jump back to Elisha's story. The second point. When Elijah, he puts the mantle on Elisha, he doesn't really say anything. It's a silent gesture. There's no explanation. There's no job description. There's no time commitment or commitment level. He just puts the cloak, the mantle on Elisha and on his shoulders and he walks away. And Elisha responds by saying, I will go with you. He had no idea where this was going to go. He had no level of what this was expected. He just knew, okay, here's the prophetic call that God's placed over my life. And he responded with, I will go with you. Number two, this is my second point. The call isn't about having a map, but receiving a mantle. You don't need all the details. You just need an all in yes. A yes that says, I will go with you. I will follow you wherever you're asking me to go. It's not about having all the answers. It's just about responding to the single step that God is putting in front of you.

And the truth is, when I put my trust in God in this way, I'm now resting in the hands of the one who I know will provide for me and take care of me. It's no longer based on my own strength or my own abilities, but I'm trusting in the one who has unlimited resources, who has strength for every day, who has hope that I can rest in, who will give me a peace that passes all understanding. Even if it seems impossible, you can trust that you're in the step with the God who makes a way when it seems like there is no way. When we say yes, when we say, God, I'm responding to your mantle, I'm not sure where this is gonna go. We step into that level of covering. We tell you another story. There's a girl named Liv. She serves on my team and she's been serving for the past couple of years. She has been feeling like God was calling her to Allison Park Leadership Academy. And this is our ministry school that takes place here. It's from Tuesday, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., all the way through Friday, every single day. Tuesday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., every day. And she works a 9 to 5 as a nanny, and so she's like, I'm just not sure how I'm supposed to make this work, God. And she felt like God was calling her to it. but she also felt like he was saying, not yet, trust in me, just keep praying. So Liv is praying every day, praying about this. And then this year, her boss, the mom she nannies for, came to her and said, you know what, Liv? We actually only are gonna need you from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. every day. And get this, ready? She also said, also, we're gonna up your pay, so you're not gonna feel much of a pay cut

from what you had in the past. Come on, I mean, that is only God. That's only a God thing. So maybe you've heard it said it like this. You know, if it's God's will, he will foot the bill. Come on, somebody. You know that? If you say yes, he will take care of the rest. Come on, somebody, you got it? Because it's not based in my strength, it's based in God's strength, so I can rest in him. When I say yes to the mantle, and he's coming, he has a mantle for you that he's asking you to respond to, a baton that he's asking you to take, and you can say, yes, God, and you know you're covered by the maker of the universe, and you can have peace, knowing that even if things don't seem to be going your way, he has a plan for you, and he will take care of you. That's the good news we have. Okay, last point here. Going back to the story. After Elisha responds to Elijah, I will go with you, we see probably the most interesting part of the story. Not only does he follow Elijah, he goes back, he kills the oxen that he had, the 24 oxen, he burns the plow, and then he throws a farewell feast for the whole town with what's left. Here's my last point. The call requires you to burn your plow. I don't wanna underscore the significance

of what's going on, so let me help you understand again more of the context, because I think that helps us truly grasp the weight of Elisha's yes. So the 12 yoke of oxen shows us he came from a very prosperous family. He was respected in his community, he had a large inheritance, he had future security for him and his family, and so when Elijah comes with this mantle and asks him to respond, again, it's the choice, do I stay with what's known and play it safe, or do I sacrifice my inheritance and risk my safety and lay down my own plans to follow God's call? And not only does he choose to say yes, but then he publicly burns the bridge back to his old life. There was no plan B. The fallback, if this doesn't work out, is no longer there, because he just sacrificed it and made a meal for the whole town to celebrate. Responding to God's call will cost you at some point. Salvation to Jesus, it's absolutely free because of what he did for us on the cross, but following Jesus, it comes with a cost. Earlier, I told you that you can't miss God's call, and that's absolutely true, but I didn't tell you the whole thing, because there's a difference between missing the call and refusing one outright. And what's interesting is we can read about a circumstance in the story where somebody does refuse.

There's a moment in the Gospels, there's a man that we only know as the rich young ruler, that's the only thing we know about him, we don't know his name, so I'm gonna give him a name here, we're gonna call him Richie, okay? Richie is somebody that's in the Gospel, and he comes to Jesus, and he says, Jesus, how do I get eternal life? And Jesus says, okay, you gotta keep the commandments. And he's like, mm, dude, I got it, I'm doing awesome. I've got all of them A plus on that part, okay? What else do I need to do? Tell me what else I need to do. And let's read Jesus' response here, this is Mark 10, verses 21 through 22. And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, you lack one thing. Go sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Come and follow me. Now, here's the rich young ruler's response, disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. The rich young ruler thought it was just about religious duty and observance, but Jesus was calling him to wholehearted allegiance, and responding to the call requires wholehearted allegiance, complete surrender. And I think it'd be wrong for us to look at this passage and feel like Jesus is demanding that every follower

sells all their belongings. It would actually miss the point of the passage entirely, because here's what Jesus is really after. When I follow Jesus, it requires me to deny myself, to take up my cross, and to follow him, meaning I must completely turn, burn the plow from whatever false trust is competing with me committing wholeheartedly to God. It's so much less about the action, and more about the heart posture that this indicates. And here's the most tragic part of the story. I heard Pastor J.P. Bakluda say it like this about the rich young ruler. He said, we only knew three things about him, and guess what? He has no money, he's not young anymore, and he's not ruling anybody anymore. You cannot have one foot in your calling and one foot in comfort. You can't have one foot in your calling and one foot in your control. And there are things in your life that as you lay them down, they will actually begin to unlock your calling. That God is calling you into something greater than where you currently are at, but he's saying you have to let go of these things. You have to lay them down. Your comfortability, your control, your resources, your time, your idols,

the things that are sitting on the throne of your heart in place of God, anything that has control. And again, it's not about the action itself, but what it reveals about the posture of your heart. To share another story, there was somebody I was preaching at Red and I just got finished, and so I went out into the lobby there, and an adult who isn't associated with Red at all, they were just there for a life group, they came up to me and they were like, Pastor Caleb, they had tears in their eyes, and they're like, Pastor Caleb, I feel like God has just been calling me deeper, and I have this vape that I've had for my entire life, and I'm ready to give this up because I feel like he's asking me to lay this down. Can you help me throw this away? And so I'm standing there too, I'm like crying, I'm like, oh my gosh, God is so proud of you, I could just feel God's pride over this person. And so we prayed together, and then we took it and we threw that vape away. Man, that's burning the plow, taking the mantle and burning the plow. And this isn't just reserved for this story, it's not just reserved for repenting from sin, but think about Miss Ellen serving on the youth team, she is paying the relational sacrifice

and laying down her comfortability and her preference to disciple the next generation. Liv, she's saying yes to APLA, which means yes to giving God her time and surrendering her schedule to God. We have to burn the plow, burn the plan B, burn the backup plan. And what I get in return is of ultimate value, hope and peace that's rooted not in my ability, but in the hands of my maker, fulfillment that comes through walking in the design of my creator that he made for me. God has a mantle for you. Today, he's putting a mantle on you. Don't disqualify yourself. Don't let anxiety of the future shackle you. Don't go half in. You take the mantle, you burn the plow, you step in with a wholehearted yes to God. Man, this church is marked by people who've done this. And there's those of you in the seats today that God is saying it's your turn to respond to the call. It's your turn to say yes. He's calling you to more. You're made for more than just sitting in the seats on a Sunday. You're made for more than just getting through life. You're made for more than just where you currently are at. God wants to call you to something higher today. And so you take the mantle and you burn the plow.

So on your seats, you'll have a little card. You want me to pull that out? You can wave it at me. Got one right here too. You can pull out the card that's on your seats. And it's time to respond to this today. This is how we're gonna respond. We have these cards, and we just wanna make it easy for you today because this is not something that you want to delay on. This is something you don't wait on. Craig Rochelle said it like this, the biggest sign of spiritual maturity is a short distance between God's prompting and my obedience. God has a call for you today, a mantle he's putting on you, and it's time for you to respond today. So there's different things here. There's different things on this card. I'll go through them. One of them says, I feel like God's calling me to serve, and I wanna help identify my next steps. And maybe you know the exact area. Man, I want you to check that off. And I want you to write down, here's where I feel like God's calling me, like the exact area. If you know it. If you don't, you can just check that off. One of them says, I feel like God may be directing me

to be a pastor or a missionary. Man, if that's you, we would love to help you and support you. You can write that off, and actually we'll have a step for you after service. Maybe some of you are like, I'm considering attending APLA, the Allison Park Leadership Academy. And I'll tell you, this is for the spiritual dogs in the room. This is not just a gap year. This is a year to step into who God has called you to be and to spiritually refine yourself, all right? So maybe that's you. You're gonna check that off. For the other one that says, I wanna figure out what God has called me to, and I need help talking to a pastor. If you check this off, this is not just the freebie check. I'm gonna give you an extra step if you check this one off, okay? You gotta go actually find a pastor and say, I checked this off and I wanna talk to you today, okay? That's not just a freebie. And maybe it's not on here. You're like, what God's asking me to do is not on here. Then what I want you to do, look at all this blank space right here. I want you to write on the back, here's what I feel like God's asking me to do.

Don't delay this step. You immediately respond to what God's asking you to do, all right? So everybody in the room, if you could close your eyes with me, keep that card close with you. Close your eyes. And now I just want you to reflect. What's the one step you feel like God's calling you to? You don't have to have it all figured out or know the master plan. What is he asking of you today? So the worship team, they're gonna come out and they're gonna kinda just lead us in a song, and you can stay seated, and I want you to have this part and take time to fill it out. Everybody, take time to write down what you feel like God is asking you to do, what you feel like the mantle he's placing on you, the plow he's asking you to burn. All right, we're gonna take some time here now to respond as the worship team leads us, and then I'll come out and close out the response for us. Here we go. ♪ I hear you call ♪ I am available ♪ I say yes, Lord ♪ Yes, Lord ♪ I am available ♪ I hear you call

♪ I am available ♪ I say yes, Lord ♪ Yes, Lord ♪ I am available ♪ Here I am ♪ Here I am ♪ You can have it all ♪ You can have it all ♪ Here I am ♪ Here I am ♪ You can have it all ♪ You can have it all ♪ Here I am ♪ Here I am ♪ You can have it all ♪ You can have it all Come on, if you're done writing your card, you can stand up and worship with us. ♪ Here I am ♪ You can have it all ♪ You can have it all ♪ Here I am ♪ Here I am ♪ You can have it all ♪ You can have it all Now stop crying. ♪ Here I am ♪ Here I am ♪ You can have it all ♪ You can have it all

♪ I hear you call ♪ I am available ♪ I say yes Lord ♪ I am available ♪ Here I am ♪ Here I am ♪ You can have it all ♪ You can have it all ♪ Here I am ♪ Here I am ♪ You can have it all ♪ You can have it all ♪ Here I am ♪ Here I am ♪ You can have it all ♪ You can have it all ♪ Here I am ♪ Here I am ♪ You can have it all ♪ You can have it all I want everyone to grab your card if you have it on your seat or you put it on the ground. Go ahead and grab your card now as you filled it out. And here's what we're doing today. What I want us to do is I actually want to go back into that song and I want us to hold this up, almost like prophetically, like responding to God, saying, God, yes, I'm saying yes. I will go with you. I will follow you.

You say it and I will respond with yes. And so Caleb's gonna lead us in this song, but now can we just cry out? I want us in a moment of trust, a moment to build our faith, to say, God, I'm here and I'm ready and I'm responding by saying yes to what you're calling. Let's lift our voice now. Thank you, Jesus. We trust you, Jesus. I take your mantle today Jesus. I respond with yes. Here I am. Here I am. You can have it all. You can have it all. Here I am. Here I am. You can have it all. You can have it all. Here I am. Here I am. You can have it all. You can have it all. All right, if I could get everyone's eyes closed for just one more moment. For some of you in the room, you haven't responded to the first call of God, which is to come back into relationship with Him. Maybe you've wandered, maybe you've been far from God, maybe this is your first time even in church, and you just feel that call that God has drawn you into relationship.

Man, He is our Savior. He's rescued us. We were all sinners. Every single one of us had sinned, but He sent His Son Jesus to die for us so that we can live in freedom, not only in this life, but in the next one. And if you feel like this is you, you want to respond to that call, to the first call, to say, yes, Jesus, you can have my life. I make you my King and my Savior. If that's you in the room today, on the count of three, all eyes are closed. Get your hand ready here. I just want you to fire your hand up and say, yeah, that's me, all right? This is a step of faith. You can feel the stretch in your arm as you choose to say, God, yes, I am yours. I'm responding to your call to come back to you. If that's you on the count of three, shoot your hand up. Say, one, two, three, that's me. Yeah, you can say, yeah, that's me. I'm responding today. I want to be in relationship with Jesus. Yeah, I see that hand. It's amazing. It's amazing. Okay, put your hand down now, and let's all pray together. You can just repeat after me as I lead us in a prayer. Say, Jesus, I'm a sinner, and I'm in need of a Savior. I believe you died on the cross. You took my place, but you didn't stay dead. You rose again, and you're alive today. I repent from my old life, and I turn to the new life with you. I make you my Savior.

I make you my Lord. Come into my heart, and I'll follow you the rest of my days. In Jesus' name, everybody said, amen, amen. Can we give it up for everybody who made that decision today? Yeah, it's awesome. And here's the thing. This is not just one decision, but this is a journey, and we want to support you as a church. And so, Pastor Sean is in the back. He's waving his hand. He's here to help you, pray with you, and give you some resources. So, if that's you, you responded by putting your hand up. I want you to go back and see Pastor Sean, because he wants to help you, pray for you, support you. Also, last thing, if you marked on here that you said you feel called to be a pastor or missionary, we just have a little gift for you. And so, also, if you want to go back to where Pastor Sean is at and stop back there, he just wants to also pray with you and give you a little gift that we have from you as a church. But could you extend your hand? Let me pray over you today as we dismiss here. God, I thank you so much for every single person in this room, God. And we choose to take the mantle and burn the plow, God. We respond with yes. I pray for faith this week. I pray for strength this week, God. And I pray that you would bless them as they leave this place. In Jesus' mighty name, everybody said amen, amen. Thank you so much for being here. We'll see you next week.