As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

–Ephesians 4:1

Listen toGod's CallingGod has designed you according to His purpose. In order to accomplish that purpose, He has called you to play a specific role. Before you were even born, God already had good things planned for you to do. He crafted you with gifts, passions, and abilities in order to make a difference through you. Author Frederick Buechner wrote: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” If we want to make good decisions, we need to listen to God’s calling in our lives. Our decisions should move us in the direction God has called us. We notice the world’s deep hunger, and wonder: what need, great or small, can we meet with our gifts, passions, and life experience? There is nothing like living into our calling, where we discover the joy, freedom, and effectiveness that comes with our God-directed destiny. Let's talk about how we can find our calling and how that helps us make great decisions.

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Open your group with prayer. Then, begin your time together by using the following questions and activities to get people talking.

• When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

• As you’ve been going through this study, you’ve had opportunities to read and study on your own using the Daily Devotions and For Additional Study sections. What have you learned or realized as a result of your individual study?

Share your story

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watch the videoWatch the video for this session now. Use the space provided below to record any key thoughts, questions, and things you want to remember or follow up on. After watching the video, read the Scripture and discuss the questions in the Hear God's Story section and in the Create a New Story section.

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Use the following questions to guide your discussion of the teaching and stories you just experienced on the video and the Bible passage below.

READ EPHESIANS 4:1-6.As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

• What does it look like to “live a life worthy of the calling you have received”? What small, day-to-day decisions would you make in order to obey this verse?

• What do you think it means to “bear with one another in love”? Tell about a time when someone had to do that for you. What do you think it was it like for the other person? What was it like for you?

• If someone claims God is “calling” him or her to do something that causes disunity or division, what would this passage say about that?

hear god,'s story

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In this section, talk about how you will apply the wisdom you’ve learned in this session.

• Do you have a sense of what God has called you to? If so, how would you summarize your calling?

• How have you seen God use your life experiences and past hurts to help, comfort, and minister to others? Has that helped bring clarity to your calling?

• What is the thing in the world that you want to change the most? Do you sense a burden for something broken in the world? How could you use your specific abilities and gifts to do something about it?

• What gifts, passions, and experiences do you see in other group members? Have each person affirm another person in the group, naming the strengths they see.

• Each of you in the group has different gifts and abilities as we’ve been learning in this week’s discussion. And every small group has tasks and roles that need to be done. How could you serve this group—perhaps with hospitality, prayer, organizing an event, research or study of a topic, worship, inviting new people? Have each person share what their gift or passion is and how they could use it to strengthen and build up the group.

• Groups grow closer when they serve together. How could you, as a group, serve someone in need? You may want to visit a shut-in from your church, provide a meal for a family who is going through difficulty, or give some other practical help to someone in need. If nothing comes to mind, spend some time as a group praying and asking God to show you who needs your help. Have two or three group members organize a service project for the group, and then—do it!

create a new story

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Take some time between now and our next meeting to dig into God’s Word. Explore the Bible passages related to this session’s theme on your own, jotting your reflections in a journal or in this study guide. You may even want to use a Bible website or app to look up commentary on these passages. If you like, share what you learn with the group the next time you meet.

READ ROMANS 12:3-8.For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

• What attitude does this passage encourage us to have about our gifts?

• What do you think it means to be “one body” with other believers? What does it mean when the text says, “each member belongs to all the others”? How does knowing that you are called to unity impact your decision-making?

• Which of these gifts (if any) do you feel God has given you? How are you using your gift(s) to fulfill your calling?

READ 2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-7.Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

• The life experiences that shape our calling are not just our successes but also our challenges and sufferings. What difficulties have you experienced that might help you to comfort others?

• What “benefits” does this passage say that suffering provides?

• Think about a time when you experienced God’s comfort. How did that impact your relationship with Him?

For Additional study

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READ ISAIAH 6:1.In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.

REFLECTImagine seeing the vision that Isaiah describes. Take a moment to put yourself in the scene, seeing the Lord. Respond from your heart to this vision of God's power.

daily devotionsUse these daily devotions to go deeper into this week’s topic. On the first day, you may want to read over all the verses for the week to get the “big picture” of the passage. Each day, read the verse given. Take your time. Ask God to speak to you through His Word. Notice which word or phrase stands out to you. Then, take some time to journal your response back to Him. Listen to what God wants to say to you through His Word, and respond to Him as you meditate on the truths of Scripture.

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1READ ISAIAH 6:2.Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.

REFLECTUsing Google or a Bible commentary, do a little research on seraphim. What do they represent? What would it be like to see them?

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READ ISAIAH 6:5.“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

REFLECTWe are all people of “unclean lips” in one way or another. Spend some time confessing your sin to God and receiving His forgiveness.

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4READ ISAIAH 6:6-7.Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”!

REFLECTNotice that atonement is not something earned but freely given. Imagine God telling you that your guilt is taken away. Praise Him for the gift of forgiveness.

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5READ ISAIAH 6:8.Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

REFLECTWhere is God asking you to go? Can you respond as Isaiah did, with enthusiastic obedience?

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READ ISAIAH 6:3-4.And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

REFLECTMake the seraphim’s words your own. Spend some time simply worshiping God using the words in this verse.

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