How does one fulfil this calling in the 21^st century?
By being obedient, not by following old patterns…
New wine skins for a new generation….
Women in the old patterns have been subdued, not free
This is a new day of working together…..
Being salt and light in society, working and connecting with their communities…..

Speaking into the forces of the day; religious, political, social etc. 

The removal of the spiritual and secular divide, natural work and spiritual work. There is no such separation in the Garden of Eden, man was to tend the garden, physical work, name the animals, mental work, walk and talk with God, relational work, God put high priority on personal relationship and doing the work assigned.

The 21^st Century church has a destiny to fulfil

Bill Hamon: “I believe the first decade of the 21^st century is the Holy Spirit’s designated time for the saints to come to their proper calling and membership ministry in the body of Christ.” 

Isaiah 40:3-5: The Lord alone will be exalted in that day there will come humility in man where he will only boast in the Lord. 

Bill Hamon: “God has a divine purpose for the omega generation of the church to fulfil. There has never been a generation like them before and neither will there be one afterwards.   These saints will be called upon to face and overcome an enemy that no other generation has succeeded in overcoming. In order to do this they must be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ dead to sin and self with their lives hid with Christ in God, not living their own life but living the divine life of Christ within.   They will function like Gods army in Joel…..”

Joel 2:1ff: “A gigantic final tidal wave of restoration is coming…..a wave of such incomprehensible proportions that it staggers the imagination and faith of those who have seen it prophesied it and heard it.”

Realise and release the potential within of the same spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead and become the giants of your nation….
Prophetic community bringing salt and light to bear in our communities through all means….
E.g. Steve Chalk faith works…. Involvement in society in the world but not of the world.  

David Ravenhill: “Serving the purpose of God in our own generation – that is our high calling, that is where we find true fulfilment, nothing surpasses it, nothing satisfies apart from it. To be joined together with Christ, labourers together, united in Spirit, intent on one purpose – what a privilege, what a calling!” 

Die to the things of the flesh… stripping process of God…… 

Throughout the centuries there have been those who served the purpose of God in their generation…
Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Ruth, Esther, Rahab, Hannah, Priscilla, Lydia, Dorcas…
Mary served the purpose of God in her generation…
Be it unto me as you have said….
Mary Magdalene

We can speak of those who spoke as prophets in their time.
Throughout the ages courageous women have given up everything to follow Christ.
Did God create women to be shy and retiring?  Think on Deborah and Jael - what sort of biblical models are these women?

Women born of the Spirit have valiantly served Christ as missionaries, scholars, Bible translators, martyrs, administrators, church leaders and reformers. They have done so despite cultural taboos. 

Despite cultural expectations, courageous women used their spiritual gifts to build the early church. 

Thecla - First Century
Thecla is the most famous missionary of her day. Thecla first heard the gospel during Paul’s first missionary trip to Asia Minor in Acts 13:51. She was so drawn to the gospel that she broke her engagement and renounced her family wealth in order to become a Christian.  Her parents were outraged, and in retaliation they attempted to have her burned, raped and thrown to the wild animals, all of which she miraculously escaped. She forsook all the comforts of her class to serve Christ as a missionary near Antioch, where she had a dynamic ministry of preaching, teaching, healing and baptism. The church fathers Basil and Gregory spoke of her ministry in Syria as a centre of teaching and healing. In 1908 German archaeologists excavated her hospital there and found it to be the size of a football field. She was a brave hearted woman during the time of the early church, there is a famous mural of her seated next to the apostle Paul, indicating that she was recognised. 

Apollonia of Alexandria D. 249
She served Christ as a deacon until she was martyred in 249.  

Paula 347 - 404
She was a wealthy Roman woman and a very close friend of Jerome, the great bible scholar. Paula used her vast fortune after the death of her husband to build hospitals, monasteries and churches. Paula mastered the Hebrew language and her linguistic skills became a great help to Jerome, together they translated the ancient languages of the bible into Latin, the language of their day. Paula’s gifts were used to give the world its first popular bible – the Latin Vulgate.

Middle Ages

Queen Elisabeth of Hungary 1207 – 1231
She is famous for feeding 900 people at her castle door and building a hospital for lepers. She gave away her vast wealth to care for the elderly and the sick, especially the lepers. She opened soup kitchens throughout her kingdom and turned churches into homeless shelters, she emptied her personal pantry and sold her possessions to meet the needs of the people. In 1228 she became a Franciscan Nun, choosing to perform works of charity among the elderly, lepers and the poor. 
 

Anne Askew 1521 - 1546
She was a protestant reformer who during the English reformation was imprisoned, tortured and burned at the stake for her faith. Although Askew attributed her strength to God, she did not feel that her actions were more heroic because she was a woman, rather she was simply a warrior in defence of her faith; her gender was secondary to her call as a Christian. 

Rosa Parks 1913 – 2005
She is recognised as the mother of the modern day civil rights movement in America.  This began on Dec 1^st 1955 when she took a seat on a bus in the coloured section, refusing to give it up to a white man. She was not trying to start a movement; she was simply tired of social injustice and did not think that a woman should be made to stand for a man to sit down. Her simple action set in motion a chain of events that changed for ever the landscape of America race relations. “I felt the Lord would give me the strength to endure whatever I had to face. God did away with all my fear; it was time for someone to stand up, or in my case sit down. 
 

Mother Teresa 1910 – 1997
She was called a living saint, hers was a life dedicated to God after responding at a very early age to what she described as the call within a call from God. Mother Teresa was recognised worldwide as the very personification of compassion; she succeeded in gaining the consciousness of much of the human race for the need to love your neighbour, which she did by serving the poorest of the poor. Her unchanging mission for more than half a century was to bring dignity and relief to those whom society had discarded. She founded a worldwide organisation active in 126 nations and on six continents. At the age of seventeen the sense of Gods call upon her had reached such an urgency that she asked her priest, “How can you know when the Lord is calling you into some vocation?” She gave herself unreservedly to her calling. In 1979 she received the Nobel Peace Prize.

Gladys Aylward 1902 – 1970
Her life is remembered around the world as one that defied all expectations. Despite a poor education, a family that had no money and the disappointment of being told that the China Inland mission considered her too old to learn the Chinese language, her desire to be a missionary refused to surrender to its call. She scraped and saved every penny she could earn and booked an overland rail passage to China on October 15th, 1930. Over twenty years of service would be given for the people of China, including staying with her people through the tortuous war with Japan.

Mary Slessor 1848 – 1915
This is a story of courage and compassion of a woman who dared to challenge a mission field that had come to be known as the white mans grave. From earliest childhood in Dundee Scotland, Mary Slessor desired to carry the gospel to the unreached people groups of West Africa.  From the moment of her arrival in 1876, she encountered and overcame both the primitive hazards of pioneer mission work and the barbarous social practices of the tribes to whom she had been sent. In time churches were planted, schools were built and medical help was made available. So thorough was Mary’s knowledge and understanding of the language and customs that she was appointed vice-consul for the British government in the region. Government authorities were continually amazed at her godly influence in the lives of the people she served. 

Amy Carmichael 1867 - 1951
She arrived in India in 1895 as a 28 year old missionary, and she did not leave until the Lord called her home 56 years later. Amy was a woman who did not fit the mould, she was never meant for a life of mediocrity. She was abandoned to God, she exemplified selfless discipleship, obedience at all costs, and a bold faith. She lived out her mottos, “Nothing too precious for Jesus” and “Love through me love of God” 
 

Fanny Crosby 1820 – 1915
The hymns she wrote numbered thousands and had a great effect in leading many to Christ.  Fanny lost her sight at six weeks old. When she was eight years old she wrote eight lines that displayed the positive attitude she maintained throughout her life.

Oh what a happy soul am I
Although I cannot see
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be
How many blessings I enjoy
That other people don’t
To weep and sigh because I’m blind
I cannot and I won’t. 

Her hymns at that time crossed age barriers, language differences and religious backgrounds, they enjoyed a universal appeal, because they were written out of the joys and sorrows of every day living. 

So what can we do?

Let us press on and pick up the baton in our generation in the 21^st century to make a mark to serve the purpose of God and see the tying up of all things in Christ Jesus. 

Accepting the gifting and calling of God not trying to change it or force it into being but accepting Gods appointment and anointing on your life, without question. 

Running His race to complete His purpose and bring about His purpose in our generation. 

The danger is to settle into passivity instead of making a difference.
If the church does not pick up on this then the spirit will go somewhere else – the stones will cry out!
We stand at the beginning of a new century with all the heroes of faith that have gone before us cheering us on, they do not receive their full prize until we all finish the race.

The challenge is this:

Where are the men and women in this century who will stand in the gap, who will challenge religion, politics and society? 

Where are those who will be my mouthpiece? 

Who can I send?

It is time to pick up the baton…..all the world is waiting…. there is no one else.
The Lord has even chosen to take home many of His generals; we must rise to the challenge and take this hour for the Christ.
It is time to become involved in our communities.
It is time for the body to raise their voice in this our day, the day of the 21^st Century and the day of our generation.
I hear the cry of the fathers heart again across time….who will go, who can I send?

Today will you commit to serving the purpose of God in your generation?

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