1) God calls all people to be disciples of Jesus, and calls some disciples to lead others in establishing God's purposes in the world. 2) God's call transcends barriers and includes a diversity of people, including those considered socially unacceptable like prostitutes, adulterers, and tax collectors. 3) True faith and doing God's will involves extending love to all people, seeking justice for everyone, and resisting injustice, not just professing beliefs.

1. Which Came First?
PROTO-
CHICKEN
EGG ORIGINAL
CHICKENS

2. Whom God Calls
First 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.

3. 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

4. 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 woman
adulteress Bathsheba

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

6. 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.

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

8. • Lifelong smoker
• Weakness for other
women
• Struggled with his
weight & health
• And yet…

9. 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?

10. 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!’”

11. 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.

12. 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?

13. 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?

14. WOMEN’S
MARCH-LOS ANGELES-
Saturday, January 21, 9AM-4PM
Pershing Square, DTLA
Forecast: Rain
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.

15. “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?

16. “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

17. Which Comes First?
True
Disciple
of Jesus
No Barriers
All Kinds
Ordinary
Flawed Christ-led
Leader
Even if
part of
us is
still a
Big
Chicken