Jesus Wants You!
Mark 3:13-18
I am your servant, I am listening for my name
I sit here waiting, I’ve been looking at the game
That I’ve been playing, I’ve been staying much the same
When you are lonely, you’re the only one to blame
I am your servant, I’ve been waiting for the call
I’ve been unfaithful, so I sit here in the hall
How can He use me when I’ve never given all
How can He choose me when He knows I’d quickly fall
So He feeds my soul, and he makes me grow
And He lets me know He loves me
And I’m worthless now, but I’ve made a vow
I will humbly bow before thee
Oh, please use me, I am lonely
I am the servant, getting ready for my part
There’s been a change, a rearrangement in my heart
At last I’m learning, there’s no returning once I start
To live’s a privilege, to love is such an art
That I need your help to start, oh please purify my heart
I am your servant.
Larry Norman
Nancy Honeytree sang this Larry Norman song over thirty years ago, and it has haunted me since the first time I heard it. The song asks such heartfelt questions, my questions, perhaps yours as well. How can Jesus use me when I’ve never given all? How can he choose us, when he knows how quickly we fall? The questions are so real, perhaps you’ve come to believe that God could never use you, would never choose you for his service.
Well, in this morning’s text, Jesus called twelve men to be his apostles. He told them that he needed them for service.
I believe that Jesus is still calling people into service. This evening, he looks into our hearts and declares, "I want you." Perhaps tonight, you would ask, "Why would he want me?" In our text we can find some reasons Jesus calls people, like you and me, into service today.
I. Jesus calls people into service because he wants them to be a part of his plan.
A. The disciples were called in order to share in Jesus’ ministry.
1. He wanted the fellowship of these ordinary men.
2. And to these ordinary, common, men he gave a monumental task—they were to carry out his work.
B. Jesus has chosen to let common, ordinary people be his voice today.
1. For this reason we are created—to have fellowship with God and be a part of his kingdom.
2. Jesus could have chosen to use angels and mighty miracles of nature to accomplish his work—many people believe that he is in fact doing so today.
3. Yet, he has truly chosen us to be his instruments of peace and life!
JESUS WANTS YOU!
II. Jesus calls people into service that they might proclaim the good news.
A. The disciples were called to preach to a world in turmoil.
1. Palestine was controlled by the hated Romans.
2. Poverty, sickness, and despair were rampant.
3. Little hope existed—yet, theirs was a message filled with hope.
B. Ours, too, is a world involved in a desperate search for hope.
1. People are hungry for something real in their lives—we laugh at psychic networks, but I believe that they are symptomatic of a hunger for the spiritual.
2. People are crying out for answers that will quiet their hunger.
3. The question we must ask is simple—Will we respond to their cries?
III. Jesus calls people into service that others might be set free.
A. The disciples were called to offer freedom from the bondage the Enemy brought into life.
1. They were to bring health to the hopeless.
2. They were to do battle with the forces of darkness.
3. They were to set people free.
B. Through his own, Jesus still sets the captive free.
1. Satan’s reign can be broken in the hearts of people.
2. And the power that sets the captive free resides in our hearts!
3. Jesus offers victory and freedom through imperfect vessels—Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, in the quest for the Holy Grail, the true cup of the Lord wasn’t the gold and beautiful one, it was a simple, wooden cup.
This morning, we’ve seen some of the reasons Jesus wants you for service. He wants you to be part of his plan, he wants you to proclaim his good news, he wants you that others might be set free. Will you answer the call? Will you commit your path into his hands? My prayer for you is that you will respond to Christ’s call to service right now. Understand, I’m not asking you to surrender to vocational ministries — unless that’s the burden Jesus has laid upon your heart. I’m asking you to surrender yourself to the Master, make yourself available for his service where you are. Each of us has a task to do in the kingdom, are you ready to do yours? Come, along with Larry Norman, declare to the Lord that you are his servant.
