The Ministry, Message, and Messiah in the Book of Mark Week 11:
"Called, Commanded, and Commissioned by God" (Mark 6:7-13)
June 7, 2015
Crossroads Community Church
Rev. Ricky A. Rohrig Sr., Founding Pastor
All of us are uniquely, distinctively, and purposely made by our Heavenly Father. He knows us intimately; the good, the bad, and yes even the ugly. He has gifted us all with different gifts, talents/abilities. That is what we are studying on Wednesday nights what our spiritual gifts are. The sooner we find out what our spiritual gifts are, the sooner we will be able to utilize them for our families, church, community, but most important for God and His kingdom.
I am going to teach and minister from this thought today: “Called, Commanded, and Commissioned by God.”
In Mark 6 we see Jesus called His disciples:
1. The Call
Mark 6:7
7 And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;
Matthew 10:1-3
1 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.
2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
3 Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;
• All of the disciples were ordinary people, there was nothing spectacular about them, and they were ordinary folks. But that is the point, God used and continues to use ordinary people to do extraordinary things for His kingdom and His glory
• They did not, nor could not, do things or rely on their own strength, but rather, the strength that was imparted upon them by Jesus, whose power came from God.
2. The Commanding
Mark 6:8,9
8 And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse:
9 But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats.
• We all have to take orders from someone. For those of you that have served in the military you took orders from a CO (Commanding officer.)
• While we do have to listen or should listen to certain authority figures in our lives, it is imperative that we that we not only listen to what Jesus is saying, we obey God, and let the Holy Spirit, guide us
• So they could take basically 1 walking stick between them
o This would not only assist them on their journey, but it would be a place that they could hang their clothes on if it became too hot.
• The other interesting point is that while Jesus told them what they could take, he also told them what they could not take.
o This is to illustrate to us today that when God calls you, you need to be ready
No time for packing, planning, or phone calls
God wants you to be obedient to the call when He commands you to Go
• No matter where it is or when He wants you to go you need to be ready
3. The Commission
Mark 6:10-11
10 And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place.
11 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
4. The Results
Mark 6:12-13
12 And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
13 And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.
• They let themselves be used by God
• They were spiritually disciple by Jesus
• They trusted God
• But most importantly they obeyed God
Personal application
We are called by God for different things and various areas to serve one another and God ultimately. Yes you heard me correctly you have been called by God to fill a void no one else can fill. A calling is simply an area of life that you have the skill, expertise, and spiritual gifts to be able to serve in a capacity that point others to Christ, while being able to utilize the ministry that God has placed on your life.
What happens when someone calls you on your cell phone what are the options? You can answer it, ignore it, or have them wait for the voice mail. What if some of us are treating God like that? I mean you do have a calling on your life, what are you doing about it? Are you answering it by serving in that capacity? Maybe you are you ignoring God’s call and call on your life. Or quite possibly you are too busy that you would just like to get back to God when you have the time. Now imagine if God was like that when we called upon His name, sometimes He would answers us. Other times he would look at the caller id and say, oh it’s you again, ignore. Or, I think I’ll just send them to voice mail, and call back when I feel like it? We wouldn’t like that would we. That is exactly what a lot of people do every day. Have a mentality of a personalized God that will do whatever they want, whenever they want it. Shouldn’t God be more important than that. Everything we do as Christians should be centered from the love we have for God, the personal relationship we have with Jesus, and the submissiveness we allow the Holy Spirit we yield to. We are called on purpose, for His purpose. We are commanded to live a life that draws us and others closer to Jesus, and commissioned to reach the entire world for Jesus Christ, by fulfilling the Great Commission. Pretty tall orders, huh? You can do it though, not alone or on your strength, power, or ability, but on His. Everything God has is yours today. Power, love, hope, joy, peace, etc. He has equipped you with unique gifts, talents, and abilities that He gave you!
Moment of decision
Today’s word gives us a perfect example of when we go door to door what we are to do. We need to present our story, by more importantly His story. Some people are not going to want to hear it. And like we talked about last week, you will be persecuted for your faith at times.
Whatever you need today God’s got it. Let’s continue to give God the praise during our time of invitation as we sing Victory in Jesus!
And it all starts with loving God, submitting your life to Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you according to God’s will for your life.
Life is uncertain, tomorrow is not promised, as a matter of fact the rest of the day is not promised. What if you died today, where would you spend eternity? If you don’t know, then I hope you do something about it, today.
God loves you and He knows exactly what you need and how to give it to you. If you have never experienced the life transformational power of God through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, I would invite you to do so today. If you need to recommit to that relationship today I would encourage that. If you need prayer, or are a candidate for baptism, we would encourage you to come down today.
