What's My Mission? Series

What’s my Mission?

Made for Mission: Week 2

January 12th, 2020

Luke 9

We are going to start a little differently this morning.

For a few moments this morning we're going to pretend that archaeologists have found an excerpt from Peter, Jesus’ disciple. We will read from his diary describing Jesus feeding the 5000.

I’ve been following Jesus for over a year now and I still don’t understand HIM or why He does what HE does.

Today Jesus was teaching for an entire day. A couple of us casually approached him to mention that the people were probably hungry, and they still had a long walk back to their villages. Jesus turns to us and says, “You give them something to eat.”

Jesus should know that we don’t carry that kind of food around with us, so we were left wondering how HE expected us to feed these people.

Then someone brought this kid to Jesus. Apparently, his mom packed him a couple small fish and some bread for his lunch. Jesus takes it and turns it into enough food to feed the over fifteen thousand people there counting the woman and children. You should have seen that place—people were in awe. Anything Jesus would have said at that point the people would have done. He had them eating out of the palm of his hands…literally.

I’m thinking, wow, our little crusade, or little church movement here is about to grow from 12 followers to over 15, 000 if you include woman and children in one afternoon!

Then a bunch of people approach Jesus saying that they want to join our group.

Peter Continues- Now I’m excited! Think about all the possibilities for our little ministry. The people are coming to Jesus begging him to let them join our group.

I’m stunned when Jesus comes back at them with some pretty harsh responses.

He tells one guy that if he comes he will be homeless.

He tells someone else that if they need to go back and say bye to their family then don’t even bother.

Person after person gets turned away. Finally they stopped coming- they found the cost of following Jesus to be too high.

What Peter didn’t know then, is Jesus was just being honest with people.

What today’s lesson is going to boil down to is this-

Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. When we talk about becoming a follower of Jesus- or bring saved, it’s not just an emotional decision on our part. Jesus doesn’t want an emotional decision. Jesus says he wanted them to count the cost for following him, because this mission he is calling us to is not for the faint of heart.

I want that to be in the front of your mind this morning as we focus our spirits on this mission HE has called us to.

The last time we met we discovered that every person has been called by God for a mission.

That thought brings me a great deal of peace.

It brings clarity to things that I’ve gone through in life.

It puts all the hardships, all the pain, all the disappointments, and all the rejecton we have face in life into focus- it was part of our basic training to prepare us to live on mission for God.

Last week we talked about God dreaming of you from eternity past, before He said “let there be light” he thought of you! Not only did he think of you but he thought of the mission that you will have in your life for his Kingdom.

This calling and this mission he has for us assures us is that you are not an accident or fluke but instead God’s masterpiece created for a specific purpose.

Our big point for last week is that “We are all called.”

Ministry is not for a select few but for all Jesus followers.

Look to your left and right- those people you looked at are all called by God into His mission to do ministry.

And guess what, those people you just looked at, were all looking at you the same way- you are equally as called as they are.

If that’s the case than the obvious next question should be, “So, what am I called to?” or “What is my mission?” That’s what we are going to talk about today.

Jesus had some strong words about this to his followers that we will be looking at this morning-

If you have a bible turn to Luke 9. As you turn there, let me open in prayer.

Prayer

Read Luke 9:51

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

This verse doesn’t describe a man just wandering through life wondering what is going to happen next. Jesus set his eyes and his heart on God’s will for his life. Jesus was a man on a mission. He resolutely set out to lay down his life to for the sake of others salvation. With great intentionality and courage, he knew where he was going and that his life was bigger than himself.