Christian Thought Student Fellowship

1
Christian Thought Student Fellowship

• Calling and Vocation
• Pt. 1

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Questions and Challenges

• What does it mean to be called?
• How do we discern and follow a calling?
• Relates to who we are as much as what we do
• Discerned through grid of multiple factors
• Risks and hazards along the way

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What is a Call?

• General calling
• Specific calling
• To a specific task, place, role?
• Irreversible?
• Relationship to other factors
  (gifts, gender, background, etc.)
• Role of our motives

4
Discerning a Calling

• Paradigms
• Recognizing that Scripture has a diverse range
  of examples and no explicit formula for answering
  the question . . .
• The dot or bullseye approach
• The wisdom approach
• The narrative approach

5
Factors to Consider

• Life-stage and faith development
• Role of mistakes in growth
• Active v. passive responsibilities

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Summary Observations

• God may guide us in a variety of ways.
• Our discernment and conviction must never be
  treated as on par with Scripture.
• Gods call does not guarantee the outcome.
• God expects us to learn and grow.
• Discerning Gods call is a creative process.
• Gods call is often a wild, unsafe,
  unpredicatable journey
• Discerning Gods call should not be a paralyzing,
  fear-inducing process.
• This whole discussion must be kept in
  perspective.

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Lets Talk

• Where has your own journey reflected any of these
  tensions?
• How has your thinking, processing, and responding
  to Gods call changed?
• What fresh issues, perspectives, or possibilities
  have been raised for you?
• How does our view of Gods call reflect or affect
  our view of God?