I. SPIRITUAL LEADERS

Recently a businessman wanted to know if he was called to the ministry. He wanted to do a Bible study on calling. We ventured into a study that I had worked on many years ago, and we began to look at some of the elements of calling. One verse describes the calling of the Apostle Paul.

Galatians 1:13-18:

¹³ For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴ I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. ¹⁵ But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. ¹⁷ I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus. ¹⁸ Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days.

1. What insights do you get from this passage about Paul’s calling and preparation for ministry?

2. Where does God fit into Paul’s calling?

3. Where does personal revelation fit into the calling?

4. What do we learn about the time factor of a person being called into ministry?

5. Where do other people fit into Paul’s calling?

1. Which of the observations could be applied to you?

2. What specific areas of this calling are not clear to you?

3. What steps do you need to take to strengthen your awareness of his calling?

4. When can you put that into your calendar?

Ephesians 4:11-13

¹¹ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

1. What gift has Jesus given to the body of Christ?

2. What is the meaning of each gift and how it is expressed?

3. What is the end goal of all these gifts?

1. What gifting do you most identify with?

2. How does that fit into your calling?

3. What will you do to further your understanding of calling and gain clarification?

4. When will you get started on this journey?

5. How can I pray for you in this area now?

A helpful step if you want to study this more is to look up in the Bible using a concordance of all the verses on calling. Observe heroes of the Bible and how they were called by God.

1. What is the most important part of this lesson to you? Explain.

2. How do you see applying aspects of this lesson to your life?

3. When do you feel would be the best time to make that application?

4. What do you hear the Lord speaking to you about this right now?