Follow Him Where Series

“Follow Him Where – Luke 10:1-20”

Gladstone Baptist Church – 6/8/06 pm

S1 - View clip from Sister Act – “I will follow you” Following Jesus means doing what he asks. It is more than just singing a song. OOPS

I want to start by showing you a clip from the movie Sister Act. It is probably one of the most inspiring scenes in the movie as the sisters declare in song their love for Christ and desire to follow Him.

Screen Clip from Sister Act – “SisterAct5 on M11”

It always sends tingles up my spine when I hear that. There is such raw passion and enthusiasm, it makes you want to get up and dance and to join in the chorus –

I will follow you

Follow you wherever you may go

There isn’t an ocean too deep

A mountain so high it can keep

Keep me away, away from my love

But if I got you up to sing this, I think that many of us would be hypocrites in doing so. Because we would not be singing words that we were willing to commit to.

It is so easy to sing I will follow Jesus, but it is completely another matter doing it.

S2 - Jesus once asked several people to follow him and they all had excuses. (9:57-62) UGH

Jesus once asked people in the crowd that always seemed to be following him to step up to the plate and commit to really follow him. If you have your bibles there, open them up to Luke 9:57

57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” [This guy sang the song – “I will follow you, follow you where ever you will go.” And Jesus turned around and said – Oh really – do you know what that might mean]

58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” [If you follow me, you might not have a HOME WITH ALL ITS COMFORTS!!!! Then Jesus turned to another man.]

59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” [Jesus was saying – there is more important things in life than attending to those who have died. My priorities are preach about the Kingdom of God – are you willing to do that now – Putting God’s PRIORITIES BEFORE YOUR OWN.]

61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.”

62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” [Jesus didn’t even want his disciples to get DISTRACTED. The task was urgent and the call to follow was for now]

It was really easy for these two guys to sing the words “I will follow you wherever you will go” but it was an entirely different thing to act on these words. I suspect it is the same with us. We have sung songs here tonight … Songs with words such as …

But did we really mean them. Are we real FOLLOWERS or are we just SINGERS making noise?

S3 - But not everyone had excuses –there were some people who were willing to follow Jesus – 72 of them. And Jesus asked them to go and Witness for him – UGH

When Jesus challenged those three men to follow him, they shrunk from the task. They had not really considered the cost that following Jesus would have on their lives. But not everyone was like that. There were some in that crowd that day that stepped up to the plate and committed to follow Jesus, not just sing about it.

Let’s keep reading from Luke’s gospel – the next verse, Luke 10:1

Luke 10:1-20 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others [people who were willing to follow Him] and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He 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. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.

5 “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.