When The Savior Sends

When the Savior Sends

Mark 6:6-13

Series: Then Jesus…

July 7, 2013

Morning Service

One of the good things about Abigail getting her driver’s license is that she is willing to run errands for us. She willingly volunteers to drive to Kroger’s and pick up whatever we need. Elizabeth and I are more than willing to send her on those errands. It allows us to get the errands done and do whatever else we need to do at the same time.

Being able to send Abigail out to do those various things that we need extends our ability to accomplish more. The reality is that Jesus does the same thing with the church. We are sent to do the work of His Kingdom. We are sent to expand His reach in the world around us. We become extensions of His mercy and grace.

1) Care: show concern for the person, and concern for your life before him.

2) Dare: it takes courage to witness--courage if the person is a stranger to you, and even more if the person is a close friend or relative.

3) Share: If you want to make a lasting impression, share yourself with the person. Get involved in his interests, get your shoulder under his burden, be genuinely glad when he has a success.

4) Prayer: Don't discount the effectiveness of prayer in the preparation of people's hearts for the Good News.

Mission: Why Jesus came to earth

Ministry: What Jesus came to accomplish

Moments of Mission

Baptism of Jesus (Empowerment) – Beginning of the mission and the ministry

Temptation of Jesus (Enablement) – Power over the evil one

Sending of the 12 (Equipping) – Expansion of the mission

Moments of Ministry

Raising of Lazarus (Power) – Display of Christ’s power over death

Feeding of the 5,000 (Provision) – Demonstration of Christ’s ability to provide

Garden of Gethsemane (Petition) – Dependence on the will of the Father

6 And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7 Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits. 8 These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff--no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them." 12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. Mark 6:6-13

Two key issues with outreach

1. Show – Example

People who do not know Jesus are looking at the lives of those who claim to know Jesus to see if faith makes a difference. Why would anyone want to become a Christian, if they cannot see any difference between us and the rest of the world? People need to see the example of Christ in our lives before we can share the message of Christ with them.

People want to see Jesus in our lives before they will listen to our message. People need to see the Messiah in us before they will hear the Good News. People want to see transformed lives and genuine change. In essence, people want to see proof and that is the power of testimony. Testimonies are simply the stories of God’s transforming work.

One problem that comes with example is that many people try to live a Christian life to show an example but never get to the sharing. God cannot use our silence when it comes to witnessing.

2. Share - Evangelism

D.L. Moody and once spoke with a woman who didn't like his method of evangelism. "I don't really like mine all that much either. What's yours?" She replied that she didn't have one. Moody said, "Then I like mine better than yours."

We have been called to share the good news of Jesus with others. Jesus said that the harvest was vast but the workers are few. Think about it this way. We live in a society that is filled with non-believers and that means that we have a vast harvest field around us. What are we doing to reach into that field?

Mission is about more than just countries far away. Mission is about what we are doing here in our own neighborhoods to reach people for Jesus. Mission is about taking up the call of Jesus to follow Him and become fishers of men.

Calling to Connect

The connection with Christ begins with faith. Without faith, there is no connection with Jesus. The first thing that Mark does in this passage is signal back to the end of the previous one. Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith that people had. The specific problem is that Jesus returned to His home and no one believed. Jesus was unable to have the same kind of ministry that He had elsewhere and He was unable to perform many miracles. Jesus was so limited because of the lack of faith in Nazareth.