The Consequences Of Mission Series

SERMON OUTLINE:

• There Is A Call to Be Answered

• There Is A Consequence That Needs To Be Considered

• There Is A Joy That Needs To Be Tempered

• There Is A Grace That Needs To Be Remembered

• There Is A Privilege That Needs To Be Contemplated

Ill:

• Did you hear the story about the teacher;

• Who was helping one of her nursery pupils put on his boots?

• She pulled while he pushed and the boots still didn’t want to go on.

• Finally, after the second boot was on, and after she had worked up a sweat,

• The little boy said, “Teacher, they’re on the wrong feet.”

• She looked and sure enough, they were on the wrong feet.

• Getting the boots off wasn’t any easier than getting them on.

• But the teacher managed to keep her cool as together they put the boots on the right feet.

• Once they were on, the little boy announced, “These aren’t my boots.”

• The teacher bit her tongue as she then took the boots back off.

• Once off, the little boy said,

• “The boots are my brother’s boots. My Mom made me wear them.”

• She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

• The teacher mustered up the grace and courage to wrestle the boots on his feet again.

• When she was finished, she said to him, “Now, where are your mittens?”

• The little boy replied, “I stuffed them in the toes of my boots.”

Ill:

• Bigger pupils can be hard work as well:

• Like the teacher who in the middle of a lecture, noticed one student sound asleep.

• “Billy, wake up that boy beside you.”

• Billy replied: “You put him to sleep, you wake him up!”

• TRANSITION:

• In this passage Jesus the teacher,

• Is about to send his disciples out of the classroom and on assignment.

Note:

• This event in Luke chapter 10 should not be confused with another similar event

• That we read about in Luke chapter 9.

• In Luke chapter 9 Jesus commissioned or sent out ONLY the 12 disciples.

• Here in Luke chapter 10 Jesus commissioned or sends out 72 of his followers.

• Now there are a number of similarities in both incidents;

• And this should be expected;

• After all it is the same master, who is sending out his followers to do the same basic job.

So there are similarities but there are also two important differences:

(1st).

• The 12 disciples were sent out to minister in Galilee (north);

• But these 72 men were sent out to minister in Judea (south).

(2nd).

• And the men in this chapter are not called apostles;

• They were anonymous disciples N.I.V. ‘others’. K.J.B. ‘seventy also’.

• Anonymous disciples and yet they were true followers of Jesus;

• They were just not members of the inner-core,

• What we know as and refer to as the 12 disciples.

• All followers of Jesus are ‘sent out’ on mission,

• The Christian life is a calling to mission .

Quote: Jürgen Moltmann

“It is not the Church of God that has mission but the missionary God who has a Church”

Ill:

• I have mentioned before that one Church I speak at,

• Has a sign above their front door,

• The sign is on the inside and you see it as you exit the Church.

• The sign reads; “You are now entering the mission field!”

(1). There Is A Call That Needs Answering (vs 1-4)

“After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

3Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.”

Ill:

• My Passport; What I hold in my hand is a fairly common document.

• It’s my passport, it allows me right to travel around the world,

• It shows not only where I come from but also who I am.

• It shows that I am a citizen of the United Kingdom,

• (and no! You are not seeing the photo!);

• Therefore I am also a representative of my country to the rest of the world.

• The way that people abroad view me will have an impact on how they view my county.

• TRANSITION: These 72 followers (passport holders) of Jesus,

• They were not just his followers: