Abounding Grace

Pastor Ed Taylor: With a question and answer that just may surprise you, here's Pastor Ed. What is the best ministry? What is the best calling? What is the best? And here's the answer. You ready? It might surprise you. The best ministry, the best calling is the one that God created you for. That's the best. It's the pastor, it's not the best position. The worship leader, not the best calling. A missionary, not the best calling. If that's not what God has for you. The best calling for your life and mine is the one that God created us for. Anything else would not be fulfilling. It would not be fulfilling for you and it would not be honoring to God.

Music: This is amazing grace. This is amazing love. Now you would take my place. Now you would bear my cross. You lay down your life. That I would be set free. Jesus I sing for. All that you've done for me.

Pastor Ed Taylor: We all have gifts and talents from God. For Bezalel, God had made him to be a craftsman, given him a great ability to build the Tabernacle. What about you? Have you identified your gifts and your calling and have you embraced what God has for you? We'll give thoughtful consideration to that today on Abounding Grace. Pastor Ed Taylor is nearing the finish line in our study of Exodus, and we join him now in chapter 31 for part two of God has gifted you to serve him.

Pastor Ed Taylor: Sometimes God will use people to create beautiful works of art or to compose beautiful songs. And here's the underlying fear. The underlying fear with the gifts and talents that you have is that if you give yourself completely to God with what he's given to you, somehow you fear that God would call you and lead you into something that you would just hate. And that if you did surrender, somehow you would be miserable. Like, well, you know, I kind of feel like I want to be a missionary and your thought is, he's just going to send me to the middle of a jungle all by myself. I'm going to get bit with mosquitoes, and I'm going to hate it. You just have a, you have a different you you have the wrong view of God. You have the completely wrong view of God. Because he would take you, he would lead you, call you, send you according to your gifting, and you will like it. It won't be without spiritual warfare and it won't be without challenges, but you will love being used so much where you belong. And the converse is equally true. You will be so miserable trying to do something you weren't gifted to do. You may look at a Bible study like this and you go, I think you know, Ed, what do you do all week? I mean, basically, you just what? You just talk. I can talk. You read the Bible. I got a Bible. I think I'll be a pastor. Hey, listen. You don't want to be a pastor unless God called you to be a pastor. I met a lot of men that love to take that title on themselves and gather a little group around them, but the Lord's hand's not upon them. That's a we learn what it's like to offer strange fire to the Lord. You don't mess around. God wants you to do things his way. And he wants you to follow his calling. You don't want to just place a calling and say, well, you know, God called me. Well, why did God call you? Well, because I can teach. Well, for goodness sake, I mean, a lot of people could teach. Where's the fruit? Oh, well, people are coming. Well, a lot of people are going to come. Where's the fruit? Where's the affirmation of the elders of the church? Where's the affirmation of the people, not just the people that are calling you pastor, but where is the hand of God, like his where God says, I have called you. I have filled you with the spirit and wisdom and understanding. And you just know. You just know. I I I was at a men's conference years ago. It was the very first year I got saved. I wish I had more time to tell you the whole story, but I'll tell you a portion of it. So it was a men's uh actually a men's retreat up in the mountains. Never been to one before. And and it was just different. I'd been together with a bunch of guys. We got a shower outside. It was cold. It was like like I it was it was like nothing I'd ever been a part of before in my whole life. Brand new believer. And I don't know and I don't remember exactly, but I believe I had this sense in my life that maybe God wanted to use me in life. And I'm like a new believer in the first year of walking with the Lord. And I must have called together the guys uh and just told told a bunch of, hey, we're going to be gathering together at 6:00 a.m. in the morning. Nothing official or anything. We're just going to go, I'm going to do a little devo and we'll I'll share a little bit if you're there. And I, you know, there's probably 300 men uh at that retreat and maybe five or six woke up at 6:00 a.m. And there we are in the semi-dark, sharing the word, just talking about it. And it was great. It was wonderful for everyone who was there, but I knew that I had bombed. I knew it. I knew I hadn't learned yet what I'm supposed to be doing or any of that, but I did my best with what I had. I just shared what was on my heart. And a brother came up, put his arm around me. His name is Jean, Jean Garcia. He put his arm around me and said, well, you know, Ed, that was a nice little devo. But, I think I could help you. I think I can help you do better. I'm going to do better. He said, yeah, I can see in you. I could see God's hand in your life. But I also can see you need help. I thought I was pretty bold for the brother. I already knew him. I already trusted him. I uh and he put his arm and he put a book in my hand and some cassette tapes. On a book that's a part of our school ministry right now called the Seven Laws of the Learner. He says, I think this will help you. If you want to go through it with me, you want to I say, well, you know, I'm working and everything, I really can't, but I'll listen to the tapes and I'll read the book. And that little moment from a brother at a men's conference, men's retreat changed the whole direction of my life. A complete direction. Okay, let me give you the other side. We'll be here. Let me give you the other side. Okay, so, so I'm with Pastor Josh and I'm also with Enrique. We went to the conference in Philly. I haven't been in that conference in a long time. I wasn't teaching. I just felt like I needed to be there. I reconnect with a lot of people because it's been years since I've been over there. Pastor Josh is from Philly, so he's going to show us the town and and it's Enrique's first time traveling with me. It's great. We had a great time. There's a friend of mine there that I saw from California, Downey. I mean, we go way, way back. He's serving faithfully now at the Calvary Chapel in Miami. And he's there and we, oh, it's good to see you. Oh, it's good to see you. He goes, I got to tell you a story. I got to tell you a story. We've been friends since 1992. And I'm like, I know, we've been together for a long time. Yeah, but let me tell you how. And I'm like, well, tell me. Well, there was this men's retreat 1992. I'm a brand new believer. I I haven't been saved just but for weeks. And somebody invited me to this men's retreat. And there I was. That's where I met you. And I said, oh, that's awesome. He says, no, no, no, there's more. He's a very vibrant Cuban man and he's given me a story. I love it. I love this family. I love all the connections. So he's saying, you did this little uh devo. You did this little devo that. And I went. I didn't know. I went. I heard you said you're going to be there. And I was in this little group. And I could see, brother, God's hand upon your life even as a new believer. I'm like, oh, let me tell you the rest of the story. And began because Jean is a mutual friend of ours. He's a friend with him. I'm a friend of him. And you see all that to say is this. Let's ask a second question as we wind down. What is the best ministry? What is the best calling? What is the best? And here's the answer. You ready? It might surprise you. The best ministry, the best calling is the one that God created you for. That's the best. It's the pastor, it's not the best position. The worship leader, not the best calling. A missionary, not the best calling. If that's not what God has for you. The best calling for your life and mine is the one that God created us for. Anything else would not be fulfilling. It would not be fulfilling for you and it would not be honoring to God. Again, on a rudimentary illustration, let's consider this. You go into a shoe store and you tell the person selling shoes, I want the best shoe. What are they going to say? Oh, I know exactly what, no, they they go, well what? The best shoe for what? What are you going to do? You going to work, you going to run, you going to ride a bike? They need to find out first what it is that you want to do. And then they'll fit the right shoe for that purpose. And I see the same thing in our lives. The reality of the calling of God is what's best for you. There's no second class believers here. There's only men and women that have been called to a place, to a position. I mean, I bet you that UPS illustration today has just really ministered to someone because you look at your job and you just don't see anything in it and yet God sees everything in it. Sees everything. Because God will place us in the world for our proximity to people. The world got has it all wrong and we grew up in this world, so this is how we're thinking. We just think money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money. And God doesn't think like that. God already says, I I own the cattle on a thousand hills. I don't think you need to be too concerned about money. I'll take care of that piece if you just take care of looking to me and following me. Just follow me. Just follow me and I'll put you where you are. And I will supply, God would say to us, all your needs according to the riches in Christ Jesus. As you embrace what God has for you, the best place for Bezalel was to be the craftsman that God made him. It's so good. Notice verse six now. And indeed I have appointed with him, Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. I put wisdom in the hearts of all who are gifted artisans that they make all that they may make all that I've commanded you. The Tabernacle of meeting, the ark of the Testimony, the mercy seat that's on it. All the furniture of the Tabernacle. The table, its utensils, pure lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense. The altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, the laver, the base, the garments of ministry, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, the garments of his sons to minister as priest, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, all the holy place according to all that I have commanded you, they shall do. This again, each one of these segments is a Bible study in and of itself. But don't miss this. Bezalel was not to do this all by himself. As Moses was surrounded by capable men, as or why the language we may use today is, as God gave Moses a team. So is with these artisans. They're going to do it together. The phraseology we like to use around here is this. We is the language of ministry. It's not I and it's not you, it's we. We're in this together. No one person in this room can do everything that needs to be done. For goodness sake, in the ministry like this, no 100 people, no 1,000 people can do everything that needs to be done. No 2,000 people can do everything that needs to be done. But as we yield ourselves to him, we get to be a part of all that God is doing. I think of just pastors, assistant pastors, worship leaders, servants, admin, uh, you know, the the folks that take care of computers and all all and on and on and on. Listen, Exodus isn't just about Moses. It's about Moses and all the people that God surrounded him with. I mean, you could step back one more point from that and say Exodus isn't about Moses at all. It's about the God of Moses. And all that he's doing. But to be a part of a team. To be a part of what God is doing together. To serve together, to fill the needs and the gaps, to go the extra mile. It's not just for singularly one person. For the life of this particular ministry, there are hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of people that serve this community under the banner of this church. And because I may get more attention, I may get more uh face time with you, the the assumption may be that the fruit of this church has something to do with my leadership. It has something to do with me. But I'm just part of the team. And what I hope you see is faithfulness. That's all I want. I want to be faithful to what God has called me to. I want to progressively move forward in what God's called me to. I want to be able to serve him in the capacity where he has filled me with wisdom and knowledge. He's given me certain gifts. He's given me an ability to think and to think a certain way. Not everybody's happy when I think a certain way, but that's how God made me. I just see things that are broken, or I see things. I just see them. I see people that are broken. I I see and then God has allowed me to be surrounded with many, many, many men and women. He already had that before we got here. First of all, I was surrounded with my wife and three kids. There was already a team moving to Colorado, already. I know Marie and I, or at least probably more me, were looking to see other couples come with us and we wanted them too and it was so excited. But God already had the team. Marie, me and our kids. He already had the team set together. And then when we land and we come and we start settling down, there was already a group meeting. So there was another 30 people waiting for us when we landed. We didn't know about them. Hadn't even met them yet. But God knew how he was going to arrange it. Now we wanted to meet them right away and start right away. And God said, no. There's some things I need to do in your life, some things I need to do first. So he tested us to see if we would wait on him. We would trust him. And we would follow him. But remember, we is always the language of ministry, not singularly. I'm not singularly responsible for this church. It's a collective. And throughout the 25 years, not just this season. We've been surrounded with wonderful men and women throughout the years. They come through for a season, maybe move on. Come through for a season, maybe disqualify themselves. It's so sad. Maybe that's just a word, like don't don't disqualify yourself. God wants to use you. Stay usable. Stay moldable. Stay in a place where you say, here I am, Lord, send me. Use me. Pour your spirit of wisdom in me. The knowledge in me. Don't seek great things for yourself. You seek great things for the glory of God. God will share, the Bible says, his glory with no one. It's exclusively his. Let's close up verse 13. And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak also to the children of Israel saying, surely my Sabbaths you shall keep. It's a sign between me and you throughout your generations. Quick note, we've studied this already. The Sabbath was given to Israel, not to the church. That you may know that I'm the Lord who sanctifies you. Verse 14. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death. And whoever does any work on it, the person shall be cut off from among his people. It's interesting because those that would that advocate a Sabbath today, as in the Old Testament Sabbath, that new covenant believers should keep, they keep that part literal, but don't keep the death part literal. So you should keep the Sabbath literally, but what if I miss? Are you going to kill me? No, no, no, that's not actually. We we believe the first part's literal, but not the second part. And it's just a bad hermeneutic. It is a hermeneutic is the art and science of Bible interpretation. It's just a bad Bible interpretation. The Sabbath was given in the Old Covenant because Jesus now is our Sabbath rest. And by faith in him, you have rest. You have fulfilled the law. Verse 15 now. Work shall be done six days, but the seventh is a Sabbath day of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Therefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It's a sign between me and the children of Israel forever. Six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. And when he had made an end of speaking with them on the Mount, he gave Moses two tablets of Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God. Now it seems odd again at the end now that God would mention the Sabbath and repeat it again. But I believe he's trying to make a point here that's important for us all. He's he's reminding the children of Israel the significance of obedience. This covenant he's making with them. But here it's repeated again that not only is it important number one to obey God, but it's also important number two to rest. And that's the principle that we pick up as new covenant believers. You cannot go seven days, 24 hours a day. Or eight days or 10 days or 15 days, you can't go without rest. And the pattern of God is God works six days and rested. And even more than that, the minister, the spiritual servant, those who are serving in the church need to worship the Lord. And as a pastor, I've seen this too much. Now, you know, in our culture, you don't get one day off, you get two days off. And here's the thing. I've seen this a countless times, especially within ministry. The day off may be given, but rest is not taken. You've got to learn how to rest. You've got to learn how to rest. Should I say it again? You've got to learn how to rest. It's one thing to have the day off, it's another to rest. Those serving in the Lord, they need to worship the Lord, to set set apart time to worship the Lord. Another principle here, not just on the day. But you'll see people as they're raised up in ministry, they're raised up in ministry because somebody saw something in them, faithfulness. A faithfulness in ministry, a faithfulness in the word, a faithfulness in service somewhere. And you watch them, you go, oh, I can see that. God's doing something in their life. They're the ones that you see taking notes. They're the ones that are the spiritual servants. They're the ones that are obviously used of God, being raised up and entrusted with more. But over time, over time, you find that they're not taking notes anymore. They're not in service anymore. They don't really seem like they're in the word. They might be goofing off in services. They might be making little jokes to the person next to them, drawing little pictures instead of seeking the Lord. Bible study becomes, well, you know, I've heard that study before. Or if you're in a church for a long period of time, which is God's will for your life, right? It's not God's will for you to hop around all these churches. It's God's will for you to be in a local church and just write it out. You know, good, bad, just it's your for your discipleship. For your growth. Unless there's some gross abuse or something, like you're just to write it out. You know, good, the good seasons and the bad seasons, the the high points and the low points. So it's God's will as you go through things. And if you're in a church for a while, you go, you know, I heard that Bible study already. Actually, you didn't. Well, yeah, I did. I heard it back in 2002. Well, last time I looked, it's like 2025. So I'm not sure what you heard, but I'm teaching something right now. Oh, yeah, Ed, I know all your jokes. You know, you know more than I do because I don't even know all my jokes. So, like, well, you know, I heard that illustration. I heard that. Well, what else do I have? I don't have a I don't live a thousand lives. I have the same illustrations. Well, you know, sometimes you're teaching like there's new believers there. Well, there are new believers here. And they need to learn how to study the Bible. And so you see how this awe and wonder and, you know, I heard that study a million times. Maybe God has something new for me. It's lost. I'll tell you why. Because you haven't learned how to rest. You haven't learned how to honor the Lord. Now, I'm not saying you haven't learned it to you can't go back to it. But when you let your guard down and you treat holy things as profane, simple things, then you're going to miss out. It's important no matter what you're doing in the body to cultivate your personal relationship with the Lord, especially in the church that you're in. Stay obedient, honor the Lord, learn how to rest so you're your best. Learn how to rest so that you provide your best to the person that's in front of you. Learn how when you're on vacation to enjoy your vacation. Train yourself. One of the things just by way of advice that I've done over the years is that when I'm on vacation, I'm completely unplugged. Completely. I just want to rest. I don't open my email and there's a problem. I thought I was on vacation. Well, there's a problem like they should call the office. We're here. They can serve them. Or you pop up on Instagram and something like if I'm in the middle of nowhere, I'm in the middle of nowhere for a reason. I'll get back soon enough. But over the years, I've trained and I've had to learn this to take my rest along the way. To take my rest along the way as the Lord would lead you. So church, at the end of verse chapter 31, we'll get into a little bit more than that later, but we're out of time. But this concludes the 40 days that Moses was up on Mount Sinai. He received the law. The Ten Commandments. He's going to come down the mountain to chapter 32. You should read ahead because it's not good.

Guest (Male): Well, we're enjoying a study in Exodus here on Abounding Grace. Pastor Ed Taylor is our teacher on the program and you can hear these studies again online at aboundinggraceradio.com and through the Calvary Church app. Pastor Ed, perhaps there's someone listening right now that's not really sure how God has gifted them. What would you say to them?

Pastor Ed Taylor: Well, I'd say the fact that you want to know your gifts is a good thing. Yeah, it's kind of a bummer at this stage in your life you don't know what your spiritual gift is, but it's not that big of a bummer in the senses that it's easy to find out. I did a series of Bible studies when we went through Romans in Romans chapter 12, looking at what I believe are the seven primary gifts that God gives to his church. Seven primary. Every believer has one of these gifts or maybe more than one, and they're easy to find out. So the latest series of studies I did is actually in the book of Acts. In the very beginning of the book of Acts, I went through and in all seven of the gifts. I freshened up those Bible studies so that by at the end of those gifts, and I know that you'll know what they are, what you have and how to operate in them. So seven primary gifts, Romans chapter 12. I think maybe in Acts chapter six, I repeated that series. They're all on our app, on our website, and I know that God wants to use them so that you know. You know where you fit in the body.

Guest (Male): Thanks again, Pastor Ed. Thank you for remembering Abounding Grace in your giving to the Lord. Every gift that comes in goes right to ministry. It plays an important role in helping us bring the truths of God's word to the radio every day. And when you support the ministry today with a gift of $25 or more, you're invited to request a copy of Real Worship by Warren Wiersbe. Real Worship has served to help many see what true worship is and isn't. To order it today, call 877-30 GRACE. That's 877-30 GRACE. You can also go online to calvaryco.store. If you'd just like to make a donation to the ministry and not interested in the book, you can donate safely and securely at aboundinggraceradio.com. And we'd love to have you join us for a service here at Calvary Church in Aurora, Colorado, to see when and where we meet or to watch our live stream, visit calvaryco.church. Glad to have you with us for today's broadcast. We look forward to continuing the journey through Exodus next time on Abounding Grace with Pastor Ed. In the meantime, let's be drawing on God's abounding grace for daily living.

Music: This is amazing grace. This is amazing love. Now you would take my place. Now you would bear my cross. You lay down your life. That I would be set free. Jesus I sing for. All that you've done for me.

Guest (Male): Abounding Grace is brought to you by Calvary Church, Colorado here in Aurora.