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Called & Sent: Sermon · Beyond the Sermon

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You're listening to Beyond the Sermon, the podcast the First
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Methodist Church in Collingswood, NJ.
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On this podcast, the goal is not just to share our sermons, but
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to go beyond the sermon and talk about what we're learning and
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what God is doing in US and in our community.
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This fall, we're living in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke,
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and John and learning how to live from our model, Jesus.
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This sermon is part of our series The Gospels.
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You can find out more information about our church at
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fumccollingswood.org. Thanks for listening.
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We are reading from the book of Matthew, and I will be reading
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from Matthew Chapter 9. We'll begin with verse 35 and
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then we'll continue into chapter 10 and we'll read through verse
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20. It's titled here, The Need for
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workers. Jesus traveled through all the
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towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and
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announcing the good news about the Kingdom, and he healed every
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kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had
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compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like
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sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, the
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harvest is great, but the workers are few.
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So pray to the Lord who was in charge of the harvest.
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Ask him to send more workers and to his fields.
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In chapter 10, Jesus called his 12 disciples together and gave
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them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind
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of disease and illness. And here are the names of the 12
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apostles. First Simon, also called Peter.
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Then Andrew. Peter's brother James the son of
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Zebedee. John James's brother Philip.
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Bartholomew Thomas. Matthew the tax collector.
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James the son of Alpheus Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot, and
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Judas Iscariot who later betrayed him.
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Jesus sent out the 12 apostles with these instructions.
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Don't go to the Gentiles of the Samaritans, but only to the
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people of Israel. God's lost sheep going to
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announce to them that the Kingdom of heaven is near.
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Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy and cast
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out demons. Give as freely as you have
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received. Don't take any money in your
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money belts, no gold, silver or even copper coins.
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Don't carry your traveller's bag with a change of clothes and
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sandals or even a walking stick. Don't hesitate to accept
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hospitality because those who work deserve to be fed.
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Whenever you enter a city or village, search for a worthy
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person and stay in his home until you leave town.
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And when you enter the home, give it your blessing.
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If it turns out to be a worthy home, let your blessing stand.
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If it is not, take back the blessing.
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If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your
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message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave.
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I tell you the truth, the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
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will be better off than such a town on the Judgment Day.
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Look, I am sending you out a sheep among wolves, so be as
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shrewd as snakes and harmless as does.
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But beware, for you will be handed over to the courts and
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will be flogged with whips and the synagogue.
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You will stand trial before governors and kings because you
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are my followers, but this will be your opportunity to tell the
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rulers and other unbelievers about me.
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When you are arrested, don't worry about how to respond or
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what to say. God will give you the right
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words at the right time, for it is not you who will be speaking,
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it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you, the
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Word of God for the people of God this morning.
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Thanks be to God. Thanks.
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All right, kids, you are invited to head to children's church.
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Kids who are up to second grade and there All right, all right,
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our our favorite children's Bible, the one that we give to
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each family when they have a baby or a small child baptized
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is the Jesus Storybook Bible. And in that children's Bible,
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early in the gospel section, we're introduced to a group of
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people called the extra super holy people.
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The extra super holy people, or at least that's what they
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thought they were, right? This is how the author describes
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the Pharisees with all their self righteousness, the extra
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super holy people. And we're not talking about
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Pharisees today. But I, I think if I'm honest,
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that's kind of how I grew up thinking about the characters of
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Scripture, the characters in the stories in the Bible, right?
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They were the spiritual elites, right?
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The special forces of the Kingdom of God.
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They had something that most of us Christians just didn't have.
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They were the extra super holy people, which ended up meaning
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that that they made excellent illustrations.
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Their stories ended up being more like parables that Jesus
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taught from right. But they they weren't actually
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examples for us of how we can walk with God.
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But what if they were? What if that's what God intended
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them to be? Not exceptions, but examples.
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What if that's what God meant for us to learn from them when
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He inspired the writers of Scripture to record their
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stories? So I want to invite you this
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morning to hear today's sermon with that question in your mind.
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What if they were to help us locate where we are in Matthew's
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Gospel, since there's so much of what we're reading week by week
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in our reading plan that I can't preach on, right?
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That's been absolutely the hardest part of this sermon
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series that we're doing, deciding what not to preach,
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because there's no way I could hit it all, even though I might
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do my very best to try to get it all in.
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So I hope you're reading along through the Gospels with us so
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you're not missing the other pieces that come along the way.
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And so for each week, I've been asking Jesus, what do you want
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us to focus in on this week? Out of these whole seven
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chapters, where do you want us to focus?
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Last week's reading concluded with the Sermon on the Mount,
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the greatest sermon ever preached, which it's it's wild
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to me that somehow we're, we're doing a whole series on the
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Gospels and I'm not actually going to preach on the Sermon on
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the Mount, but that just means we've got another sermon series
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for another day, right? Anyway, so we we find ourselves
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coming out of the Sermon on the Mount.
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We find ourselves in a section of stories in Matthew chapters
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8:00 and 9:00 where we see a series of demonstrations of the
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Kingdom of heaven. Jesus is showing his followers
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and and the crowds who are watching from a distance what it
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looks like when the Kingdom of God comes near.
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And here's just a little side note.
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If you if you've noticed, Matthew consistently refers to
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God's Kingdom as the Kingdom of heaven.
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Anyone notice that in our reading so far?
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You don't have to raise your hands.
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Don't tell me if you haven't, but but Matthew did that for a
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reason. He did that because the primary
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audience that he was writing for was people who were coming from
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a Jewish background. Jewish people didn't say the
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name of God aloud. They didn't speak it.
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And so out of a sensitivity to his audience and a a desire for
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them to hear the message of Jesus, Matthew used the Kingdom
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of heaven instead of the Kingdom of God.
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He wasn't compromising the Gospel, he was just translating
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it into a language that his audience could hear.
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It's an important principle for us as we seek to communicate the
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Gospel to the world around us today, because the words we use
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matter, but they don't matter if they can't even be heard.
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Anyway, back to Matthew 8:00 and 9:00.
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That was just my little side note, probably should have ended
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up on the podcast, but here we are back to Matthew 8:00 and
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9:00. It's worth noting through those
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two chapters that the primary way we see the nearness of the
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Kingdom that Jesus was talking about is through healings.
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There are numerous healings are counted in these two chapters.
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You could read about a woman who is healed, and a child who was
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healed, and a servant and a leper and a blind man.
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All these things. But it's not just healings.
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Within those same 2 chapters, Jesus also calms a storm.
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He casts out demons. He even raises a young girl back
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to life. Jesus is showing us what it
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looks like when the rule and reign of God intersects with our
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broken world. What it looks like when the rule
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and reign of God intersects our broken world.
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The second-half of our readings this week in chapters 11 and 14
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that they feature a few miracles, but the focus here
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shifts to Jesus and his his definition of what the Kingdom
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of heaven is like, right? There's an emphasis on his
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teachings, particularly some parable stories that Jesus used
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to help people understand how the Kingdom of God operates is
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often held up in sharp contrast to the way the kingdoms of this
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world operate. And sandwiched between these
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two, the the healings and and miracles in chapters 8 and 9 and
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the teaching in Matthew 11 to 14, is our text for today,
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right? That Carrie read for us, which
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once again spans across a chapter division, which I think
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creates a divide in the story that Matthew never intended us
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to see. I see it just flowing together
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because at the end of Matthew Chapter 9, Jesus is moving
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throughout the towns of Galilee. He's teaching and he's preaching
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about the Kingdom. And Jesus continues to do these
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works of healing and these miracles and and at some point
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Jesus sees the crowds that are gathering around him, the crowds
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that are following him day after day.
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He sees all those who are sick and oppressed.
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And I think Jesus heart just filled with compassion.
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That's what Matthew tells us. His heart was filled with
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compassion by the state of the people.
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And so he shared these words with his apprentices.
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He said the harvest is great, but the workers are a few.
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So pray to the Lord who's in charge of the harvest.
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Ask him to send more workers into his field.
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As a great missionary passage, right often used mission
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emphasis. Weeks asked the Lord to send out
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more workers into his fields. But I think in that moment, as
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Jesus's heart was filled with compassion, seeing the crowds of
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people coming to him for healing and deliverance, I think Jesus
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was keenly aware of his human limitations.
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He felt the Press of the people longing for healing and freedom.
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He saw the great need that existed in every place that they
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travelled together. And he experienced the
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constraints of physical energy, even the the number of hours in
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a day. And I think Jesus realized in
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his humanity, in his human limitations, he could never do
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it all on his own. The constraints of time and
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space and humanity simply wouldn't allow it.
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So Jesus explains it to his students, right?
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There's there's this great harvest that's ready, but there
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aren't enough workers to bring the harvest into the barn.
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And so he tells them, pray, pray that the master of the harvest
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would send out more workers into his fields.
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I think sometimes we like to stop right there, right?
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We say, OK, I can, I can pray for that.
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I can pray that God would send out more workers into his field.
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Now, I don't know how much time passed between what Jesus said
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here at the end of Mark Chapter 9 or Matthew Chapter 9 and the
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beginning of chapter 10. I don't know if it was a few
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days, few weeks, maybe just a couple of hours.
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But in Matthew's narrative, no sooner did Jesus tell the
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disciples to pray for more workers, then he pulls the 12
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into a huddle around him. And he says, oh, by the way, you
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are those workers, right? Pray to the Lord to send out
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more workers. And it's you.
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You're the ones he's going to send out.
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And so he gives them authority, and he sends them out to do the
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very same work that he himself had been doing.
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As these 12 are sent out, Jesus gives them both authority and
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instructions. He tells them to proclaim to the
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people of Israel that the Kingdom of heaven, the Kingdom
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of God, that is right, It has come near to them, the Kingdom
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that they have been waiting for, which they associated with
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freedom from foreign oppression, the restoration of the nation of
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Israel, the blessing of God. The reign of God had come near
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to them, but as Jesus had been teaching, it was going to look
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different than they were expecting.
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He gives them those instructions, but He also gives
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them authority to show what it means when the Kingdom of God
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breaks in upon our world. And so he instructs them to heal
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the sick and raise the dead, to cleanse the lepers and cast out
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the demons. All the things that Jesus
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himself had been doing in the chapters leading up to this.
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This is why Jesus had called them to be his apprentices in
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the 1st place. Mark three.
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I know we're not into Mark yet, but Mark 3 tells us that when
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Jesus selected the 12 apostles, he did so for a purpose.
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He said then he appointed the 12 of them and called them his
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apostles. They were to accompany him, and
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he would send them out to preach, giving them authority to
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cast out demons. Jesus called them first and
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foremost to be with him, to be with him, to become like him,
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and then to do what he was doing.
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And both Matthew and Mark make it clear that the authority that
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they were given comes from Jesus, right?
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It's not an authority that existed within them themselves.
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It came from Jesus and it was imparted to them via the time
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they spent being with Jesus. They weren't to.
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They weren't just to follow Jesus and learn all about Him.
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Jesus was actually preparing them to be the very workers that
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God would send out into those harvest fields.
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Now, there were a whole lot of other instructions given.
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We only read about half of that chapter.
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It went on. But Jesus gave these
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instructions to the apostles. Which apostle just means the
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sent ones, right? These are the ones he's sending
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out. So he gives these instructions
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to to these apostles, instructions about how they were
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to enter into a town, what their ministry there was to look like.
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He said, don't take any money with you.
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Stay in people's homes if they'll receive you.
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How they were to respond when they were arrested.
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You know, everyday evangelism stuff, right?
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But at the core of all that Jesus was telling them was this
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command, this authority to proclaim the good news that the
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Kingdom of heaven had come to earth and to demonstrate what
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that meant for our broken world. Healing the sick, raising the
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dead, cleansing the lepers, and delivering those who were
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demonized. This was the call of Jesus's
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disciples, the very purpose for which he had called them to
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himself and was now sending them out.
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And I can hear some of your thoughts even now.
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Well, Pastor Scott, they those people, they were the 12
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apostles. They were the extra super holy
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people. We could never do those things.
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We could never operate with that kind of authority or Commission
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from Jesus. To which I would argue that it
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was not just the 12 apostles. Turn over to Luke chapter 10
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with me, if you would. If you have your Bibles out,
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it's going to be up on the screen anyway.
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But in Luke chapter 10. Luke is telling a similar story
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to the one that we read today from Matthew and and before you
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say, well this must just be a different version of the same
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event. If you turn back a page just to
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to Chapter 9, Luke also records the sending out of the 12.
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So this is different. This is a separate subsequent
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story that Luke is telling, and here's what he says in Luke
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chapter 10, beginning in verse one.
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The Lord now chose 72 other disciples and sent them ahead in
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pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit.
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These were his instructions to them.
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The harvest is great, but the workers are few.
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So pray to the Lord who's in charge of the harvest.
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Ask him to send more workers into his fields.
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Sound familiar? Now go remember that I'm sending
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you out as lambs among wolves. Don't take any money with you,
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nor a traveler's bag, nor an extra pair of sandals.
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And don't stop to greet anyone on the road.
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Whenever you enter someone's home, first say, May God's peace
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be on this house. If those who live there are
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peaceful, the blessing will stand.
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If they are not, the blessing will return to you.
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Don't move around from home to home.
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Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide.
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Don't hesitate to accept hospitality because those who
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deserve their pay. If you enter a town and it
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welcomes you, eat whatever is set before you heal the sick and
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tell them the Kingdom of God is near you now.
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Sounds familiar, right? There's there's a lot of
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similarity to what Matthew records, which maybe it's just
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that they got parts of the story in different places.
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Maybe. There's definitely a close
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connection between these two passages and the the part in
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Mark or Luke Chapter 9. But the thing that stands out to
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me in Luke's story is the way he says that Jesus sends out the 72
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other disciples, other disciples.
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These weren't the 12 apostles, but they were sent out in the
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same way. We aren't given the names of any
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of these 72 disciples that Jesus sent out, but they were sent out
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with the same authority to proclaim the Kingdom of God and
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to demonstrate it to the people. And that says to me that that
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this sending out with authority, it isn't just for the ones who
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we would consider the spiritual elites.
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It's for every Christian. It's not just for the apostles.
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It's also for the nameless, anonymous Christians whose names
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were never written down in the words that became scripture.
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The ones who were doing their best to follow Jesus, the
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Christians who were like, just like you and me.
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And I think today Jesus wants us to be with him too, so that he
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can send us out. Back in Matthew, Jesus told
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them, give as freely as you have received.
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And I wonder if the reason that it seems impossible for us to be
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used in these kinds of ways that we're reading about in the
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Gospels is simply because this isn't the gospel, the good news
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that we ourselves have received. You see, friends, I think too
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often we've settled for a lesser gospel.
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We've settled for a gospel that saves us from hell, but it's a
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gospel that leaves us stuck where we are.
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It's a gospel that doesn't require consecration or
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transformation or or the demonstration of the good news
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that the Kingdom of God has come near to us in the midst of our
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broken world. It's a gospel where we're saved,
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but we're doomed to struggle for the rest of our lives, doing our
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best, but with an implicit acknowledgement that God
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couldn't work through us the way he worked through those in
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Scripture. Now I don't know what this is
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supposed to look like, but I wonder what Jesus could do if we
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committed ourselves to being with him, learning who he is,
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what his Kingdom is like, getting to know his heart, and
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if through being with Him we became like Him.
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If we started living like he lived, developing an intimacy
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with God through the spiritual practices that have been handed
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down to us, Could we live like him, empowered by the Spirit to
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exercise the spiritual gifts that God has given to us?
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I wonder what Jesus could do if we'd if we would consecrate
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ourselves, setting ourselves apart as different from the
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world, and giving ourselves wholly to Jesus, allowing him to
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transform us so the Spirit could empower us to bring the Kingdom
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into our spheres of influence. I wonder what it would look like
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if we believed Jesus's words from John 20, 21 as the Father
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has sent me, so I am sending you or from Luke 10 verse 19 after
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the 72 had returned from their ministry and come back to Jesus
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and he said I've given you authority over all the power of
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the enemy. Would we experience what the 72
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described when they returned to Jesus?
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Luke says this is verse 17. He says when the 72 disciples
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returned, they joyfully reported to him.
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Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name when we do
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ministry as you've taught us to do the ministry.
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I don't know what it would look like today in Collingswood in
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2025. I'd love to find out because I
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think Jesus still calls us to himself so he can make us like
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him, so he can send us out to bring his Kingdom, the rule and
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reign of God, into a world that is very evidently still quite
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broken. This morning you might be
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sitting there thinking, Scott, you're crazy.
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That's too much. It's too much.
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I get it. It's where I was for a long
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time. I thought those are nice stories
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to inspire us, but God doesn't work like that anymore.
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Somewhere along the way I realized, you know what God, God
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doesn't change. He's the same yesterday, today,
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and forever. So if if God's not working the
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same way today, maybe it's not God who changed.
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Maybe it's us. Maybe it's his church that's
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changed. So this morning, if Jesus is
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speaking to your heart, you don't have to know all the
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details of what it means for you.
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I'd imagine most of those 12 and 72, they didn't know what it was
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going to mean for them. But if you sense that he's
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calling you to himself in a deeper way than you've
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experienced, or he's asking for a deeper commitment from you,
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right? That's what we call
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consecration, a deeper commitment.
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Or, or maybe you sense that Jesus wants to send you out into
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the world, maybe to a certain person, to a group of people,
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that that God wants to give you authority and empower you to
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share the good news that you've received.
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Or maybe you just want to experience the fullness of the
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good news. But the Kingdom of God has come
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near to us. If Jesus is speaking to you this
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morning, don't miss it. I want to invite you to come
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forward as as as we close in prayer and we're going to sing a
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song called I speak Jesus. But I want to encourage you.
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You guys can come. I want to encourage you respond
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to His call and let Him take care of the rest.
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Take Him at His word because it's not about us making
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something happen. It's about giving ourselves to
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Jesus so He can transform us and He can send us out to carry His
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Kingdom into the world. Would you pray with me?
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And if Jesus is speaking to you, you come.
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God, we're so grateful for your word and for this collection of
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writings that was written over hundreds and hundreds of years.
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For the stories that are recounted within it of the ways
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you used men and women down through history.
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Be the very hands and feet of Jesus in the world.
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Stories of, of the way you've spoken to people that have led
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them to speak to the people or to act, to serve, to go.
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God, we thank you for the call that comes to us to be with you,
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to come close to you, to get to know you and your heart so that
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we can become like you and you can send us out to do the things
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you did. God, it seems like too much
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sometimes. It seems impossible when we
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think about ourselves, but that's only when we think about
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ourselves in our human strength, God, because with you nothing is
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impossible. So would you come and speak to
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our hearts this morning? Would you lay people and groups
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and and ministries on our hearts that you want us to move
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forward, move out into, for the sake of what you want to do to
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bring your Kingdom in the world today?
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We desperately need you Jesus, in these days.
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And if you would ever choose to move, to act through people like
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us, we want to be willing to say yes to whatever you would ask of
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us. So would you come and speak to
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us in this time? We pray it all in your name,
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Jesus, Amen.