On A Mission Series

On A Mission

Matthew 10:1-42

May 16, 2004

Mission!

When I say that word, what is the first thought that comes to mind.

For most of us it is probably the idea of going to some foreign land to preach the Gospel.

Yet there are many different missions that we can be a part of.

For those in the military at one time the word mission invokes the thought of some field training exercise.

Then there are the missions that we fell unqualified for. I am currently on one of those missions. We are trying to fix up our house to sell it. Me being the handy man that I am we should be able to have it done within the next 10 years.

I looked up the word mission on the Webster Online dictionary and listen to what the word mission means according to Webster:

1. The act of the instance of sending.

2. A ministry commissioned by a religious organization to propagate its faith or carry on humanitarian work.

3. A body of persons sent to perform a perform a service or carry on an activity.

4. A specific task with which a person or a group is charged.

We, my friends are on a mission. Just before ascending into heaven Jesus told His disciple’s to go an preach. That message, and that charge, has been left for us as well.

However, that was not the first time Jesus sent His disciple’s out into the mission field.

Open up your Bibles to Matthew 10. We are going to be using the entire chapter 10 for our text this morning. However, instead of me reading it, we are going to use The Visual Bible this morning for our text.

Read The Text.

Jesus sent His disciples out on a mission. As we read this passage of Scripture there are some valuable lessons that we can learn as we accomplish the mission that Jesus has left for us.

1. The Mission’s Purpose.

The disciples had to know what it was that they were supposed to accomplish.

Look again at verses 5-8

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, preach this message: `The kingdom of heaven is near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

A. They were sent to preach the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Think of what the disciples could have spent their time preaching out against.

- The Roman Empire

- The Hypocrisy Of The Jewish Leaders

- The Need For Honest Tax Collectors

The list could go on and on.

You know the same is true of us. We are told to preach.

There are so many different things in which we could preach out against in our world today.

- The Hypocrisy Of Our Political Leaders.

- The Evils Of Abortion.

- The Wrongs Of Homosexual Marriage.

- The Issues Of Poverty.

However, I think that we would be best to concentrate on the one message that we should preach.

And that message is Jesus Christ.

You see, they preached that the Kingdom of Heaven was near. For us, the Kingdom is here and it is our job to preach that fact.

To learn some valuable lessons about this fact, all we have to do is to look at the life of Paul. Whenever Paul got a chance to preach, what did He preach? Jesus Christ crucified! Jesus Christ Buried! Jesus Christ Risen From The Dead.

Paul said this in Romans 1:16:

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

I wonder what would happen if God’s people everywhere would take this task seriously. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that there is never a time in which we should not speak out against a certain issue. However, I do believe that our main message should always be the gospel message; because in the Gospel Message there is power to save.

The mission to preach belongs to every single one of us.

There is not one person in the room who has given their lives to Jesus Christ that does not have this responsibility to preach.

Behold, a team went forth to play a game of baseball.

Just as the umpire was saying, “Batter up,” the catcher for the home team arrived and took his place behind the plate. The center fielder didn’t show up at all but sent his regrets. The third baseman likewise failed to come to the game, having been up late the night before. The shortstop was present, but left his glove at home. Two of the substitute fielders were away on a weekend trip but said they were there in spirit.