Living Our Baptism :: 2/23/25 :: David Norris

Welcome to Wellspring Church!

What does it mean to be called by God? In this message, David Norris, Worship Pastor, unpacks how we often misunderstand “calling”—conflating it with career, success, and achievement—when in reality, our calling is first and foremost to Jesus Himself.

Looking at Mark 1 and Romans 1, we see that calling is not about discovering a hidden task we must complete. Instead, it is an invitation to live as Christ’s people, shaped by our baptism and grounded in His love.

📖 Key Themes in This Message:

🔹 Why we often confuse calling with career and achievement
🔹 The true meaning of being called: by Jesus, to Jesus, and for Jesus
🔹 The invitation to live out our baptism, free from the anxiety of worldly success
🔹 How practicing silence and solitude helps us hear God’s voice

The call of Jesus is not about striving, it is about belonging. We are not called because of what we can accomplish, but because we are loved. As we step into our calling, we do so not for our own gain, but for His glory.

📅 Join us this week at Wellspring Church!

Looking to deepen your faith and live out your calling? Visit www.wellspringenglewood.com to learn more.

💬 How has this message impacted you? Drop a comment below—we’d love to hear from you!

Transcript

Sermon Transcript – February 23, 2025

Speaker: Pastor David Norris, Worship Pastor

Series: Living Our Baptism

It’s good to gather together in Jesus’ name today. If we haven’t met yet, my name is David. I’m one of the pastors here. I missed you last week—I was in Florida with my family, and that was really wonderful. We left when it was three degrees here, and when we came back, it was still three degrees here!

When I was there with my family, I was reminded that one of my family’s primary love languages is quoting from movies. That’s kind of the way we communicate with one another—through references to movies and TV shows. One of the most quotable movies of all time, in my opinion, is The Princess Bride.

There’s a scene in that movie that came to mind as I was thinking about today’s topic—calling. Vizzini keeps using the word inconceivable, and eventually, Inigo Montoya says, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

I think Christians do something similar. We use certain words in ways that don’t always align with their true meaning. One of those words is calling. Growing up in the church, my understanding of calling was that there was something I was supposed to be doing—something that God wanted me to do—but I didn’t know what it was. It was up to me to figure it out. Where am I supposed to go? What am I supposed to do? And how do I do it as quickly and as excellently as possible?

Does that sound familiar to anyone? Maybe that’s how you’ve thought about calling—like it’s this big mystery we have to solve. But I want to suggest that this way of thinking is not actually biblical.

Calling vs. Careerism

I believe we’ve often conflated calling with career, success, and achievement—especially in an affluent society like ours. We think: If I succeed in my career, then I must be fulfilling my calling and honoring God. But that’s not what Scripture teaches, and it’s actually a mindset that produces a lot of anxiety.

Students in high school and college feel this pressure—keep your GPA up, get into the right school, choose the right major, land the right job. And then later in life, as people approach retirement, they wrestle with identity questions: Who am I if I step away from my work?

The invitation of Jesus is to step out of that anxiety and into something greater. Our baptism calls us away from a career-oriented mindset and into a Christ-centered calling.

Now, let me clarify: Work is good. Work was given to humanity before the fall—Adam was placed in the garden to work it and take care of it. Having experienced workers is good—I want experienced workers building the bridges I drive over! I want experienced teachers educating my children, experienced counselors, experienced medical professionals.

But when career, success, or achievement become the ultimate thing—when we believe that being successful = being faithful to God—that’s a dangerous lie.

The True Meaning of Calling

I want to suggest that everyone who follows Jesus is called. Not just pastors, missionaries, or people in full-time ministry.

The very word for church in the New Testament—ekklesia—means the called-out ones. If you have received the gospel of Jesus Christ, you are called. There is no such thing as an “uncalled” Christian.

I love how Os Guinness puts it in his book The Call:

Our primary calling as followers of Christ is by Him, to Him, and for Him.

Let’s unpack that:

1. We Are Called BY Him

In Mark 1:16-17, Jesus sees Simon and Andrew fishing and says, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

This is significant because, in that culture, rabbis didn’t choose their students—students chose their rabbis. But Jesus does the opposite. He goes to ordinary fishermen and calls them.

Jesus says in John 15, “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” Our calling is not something we initiate—it is something we receive.

2. We Are Called TO Him

Romans 1:6 says, “Including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.”

We are not primarily called to do something or go somewhere—we are called to someone. The goal of our calling is not first about a job, a ministry, or a mission—it is about being devoted to Jesus.

3. We Are Called FOR Him

Jesus says, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17)

The disciples had careers. They were fishermen. But Jesus redirected their purpose—not just to fish for a living, but to bring people into His kingdom.

Calling levels the playing field—because no matter what you do, your work is for Him. Whether you are an entrepreneur, a financial advisor, a homemaker, a teacher, or a mechanic—your work can glorify God.

Paul says in Romans 1:1, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle.” The order matters: Servant first, then apostle. Our calling is not about our career—it is about our obedience to Christ.

The Practice of Silence & Solitude

Throughout this series, we’ve been pairing these invitations out of something and into something new. Today, the invitation is out of careerism and into calling.

A practice that can help us embrace this calling is silence and solitude.

We live in a noisy world. The modern world drowns out the voice of God. But Jesus modeled something different—when the crowds pressed in, when life got overwhelming, He withdrew to be alone with the Father.

Can we do the same?

I encourage you to find time for silence in your daily life:

🔹 In the morning before the day begins

🔹 On your commute—turn off the noise, don’t fill every moment with input

🔹 On your lunch break—step away from distractions

🔹 Take a half-day or full day to be alone with God

John Mark Comer, in The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, says:

The voice of the modern world makes us deaf to the voice of God, drowning out the one input we most need.

Let’s take a few moments of silence now. Lord, calm and quiet our souls as we are still before You and know that You are God.

(A moment of silence.)