Dynamic Servants Of Jesus!

Dynamic Servants of Jesus!

Mark 6:7-13

Intro. Summertime is mission time. Now some of you are on mission to go to the nearest beach, baseball game, vacation, party, etc. Some folks plan all year for their summer mission of fun! What would happen if we put as much emphasis on being on mission with Jesus as we do our own summer vacations? Have you ever thought about your life being on mission with God? Our mission this summer at church is to simply take one step forward in that mission of loving God and loving people.

Did you know God has a personal mission for your life? Jesus Christ said our first and greatest mission is to love God with all our heart and love others like we love ourselves. If we’ll stay focused on that – on loving God and loving people – we are choosing to take one step forward.

Read Mark 6:7-13, “7 And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. 8 He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts— 9 but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics. 10 Also He said to them, “In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. 11 And whoever[a] will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them.[b] Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”

Just as you would never leave for a vacation unprepared, Jesus never leaves you unprepared for your life on mission with Him. That’s so encouraging. He was leading his disciples one step forward in their journey with Him. He was taking them out of the classroom and calling them out into the field to put their faith into practice. From this, their first mission trip, we can learn some practical principles as to what it takes today to become a dynamic servant of Jesus.

(1) THEIR TIME WITH THE SAVIOR

“And He called the twelve to Himself…”

Before they went out and became dynamic servants of Jesus, they needed time alone with Jesus. Jesus had modeled this before them. He had modeled a life of personal fellowship with the Father before them. For Jesus, ministry to others wasn’t his first priority. What was His first priority? It was fellowship with His Father!

For example in Mark 1, we read about an amazing day in the life of Jesus. Jesus healed Peter’s mother in law; all day and late into the night He healed people who were sick and demon possessed. You would think after such a busy day, Jesus would sleep in. However, in Mark 1.35 we find, “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out to a solitary place; and there He prayed.”

Jesus knew where His power came from! It was from His time alone with the Father. Do you have time alone with your Heavenly Father? You say, “I’m too busy.” You know what I’m discovering? It’s amazing how we can find time to do the things we want to do! You take the time for the important things and the most important thing is your time with God. A couple of benefits they received from their time with Jesus.

A. They received partners

“…and began to send them out two by two.”

I believe what Jesus was teaching them is that to become a dynamic servant of God, you aren’t going to be able to do it all alone. They were going to need each other.

May I remind you today that God has not called us to be “Lone Ranger” Christians? Christians who think they can live the Christian life without other Christians are only fooling themselves. Just as a coal in the fire will lose it’s fire if it gets out of the group, so will believers who distance themselves from others in the Body of Christ. Church is a place to find some partners – partners with people who are going to help encourage, comfort you, lift you up, spur you on in the Lord.

* In Seminary, our Evangelism professor gave us an assignment of witnessing to the neighborhood around us. He made us go in teams to two. I went with a girl named Heather and we knocked on doors trying to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was not easy, but having a friend made it much more bearable and we could hold each other accountable.

B. They received power