Harvest
Sending Out the Twelve
Sunday, April 14, 2024
Welcome:
Call to Worship:
Highlighting the reciprocal nature of our worship, this invitation reminds worshipers that the Lord ministers to us as we minister before him. For congregants that have a hard time engaging in worship, this call alerts them to the fact that Jesus is waiting for us to reach out. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.—Revelation 3:20
Jesus was sent to show us God’s purpose, which is to bring His Kingdom to earth and to expand it not by force, but through faith in those who believe in Him and by the sharing of their testimonies and witnessing to others who believe. His kingdom is not of this world yet has been brought to this world and resides in the heart of every believer, so it is by faith one receives and enters the kingdom of God. One can only believe by the hearing of the Good News preached. That means that someone must share the Good News.
Romans 10: 14-15 says,
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
And so this is by God’s design, that those who have heard and received the good news, should be trained up and sent out to share this same good news with others. It’s a beautiful plan and it gives our lives great purpose that we should be used in such a way, to be a bearer of hope and salvation through Christ; that we can bring the Light of Jesus into the world around us.
As we continue in our journey this year of Expanding Our Territory in the Promised Land (taking hold of more of the blessings promised to us from our faithful God) we learn the importance of our role in His kingdom. We were never meant to keep our faith to ourselves those who have been taught my faith is private and just between me and God. No, that is not biblical, that is cultural. The Bible teaches us to speak of our testimonies, to be the deliverer of the Good News to others, to speak openly and often about the works He has done, and to share our faith so that others may come to know Jesus as their personal Savior. We are missing the call on the Christian’s life if we
don’t speak of our faith in Christ and what He has done in our lives.
We are missing the very important purpose in our life which is not to serve ourselves but to be raised up and equipped so we might be sent out. This is by God’s design in how the Gospel will reach the ends of the earth; this is what He has chosen. How beautiful that He would entrust us with such an important message of truth. How wonderful to be part of such an incredible plan. How exciting to share with others this message of eternal salvation and the hope we have in
Jesus! The only qualification: is that we believe in Jesus and follow Him wholeheartedly.
We’re going to look at how this ministry began and how we can apply these truths in our lives and through His church today. We’ll begin a short series called The Harvest and look at Jesus sending out the Twelve.
Luke 9: 1-6 NIV
When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.
1. Observe the Master
Mark 3:14-15 14 He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons.
What we need to know is Jesus had a process and still does today. He didn’t just randomly call twelve people, give them a high-energy pep talk, and send them out saying ok, Go Get Em!
First, He began teaching and preaching on his own, stirring hearts in the people around Him. Then as we read, Jesus appointed twelve, calling these men to Himself to be with Him, which means to learn from Him, observe Him, and take in everything He was doing to become the student and disciple. His whole purpose though was to train them up so He might in time, send them out.
Mark 1: 14-15 14 He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. So Jesus continued His preaching and teaching through all the villages and now He had His disciples along, sticking close by Him and watching everything He did and listening to every word He spoke. They were observing
His mannerisms, His character, His responses and reactions to people, and the lessons He taught. They of course observed His great faith in the power and purposes of His Father and watched the miracles He performed to heal.
Matthew 9: 35-36 35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
When the time was right, Jesus opened the disciples’ eyes to see what was all around them:
Matthew 9: 37-38 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
The harvest as you see in the slides, is all the people, the lost sheep, the broken and downtrodden, the hopeless searching for any glimmer of hope to cling to, the sick, the ones lost in darkness desperately trying to find light, the ones imprisoned by lies crying out for truth to set them free. He said look around; they are all around you.
Then He said the workers are few-meaning those who will go out to them and gather them into the flock, into the kingdom, who will show them the way to be set free, who will shine light into their darkness, and speak truth into their lies and fears, who will draw near the sick and offer healing.
He said to pray and ask the Lord to send out workers into His harvest field. They were the workers they were praying for! They were the ones who would be sent!
So often we pray the Lord sends someone to help this person, or make this right, or fix this and sometimes prayer is all we have and it’s mighty. But many times, when we pray that, God might very well be saying YOU are the one I will send. I have given you this burden on your heart for a reason you see what is broken and you experience My heart that breaks also for what is broken and I am sending YOU to be My messenger of hope.
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Will you go?
It’s not always about going across the globe- sometimes it might be many times it’s just looking around and asking God to give you eyes to see the harvest that is ripe and instead of praying for God to send someone, we pray, Lord send me. Equip me to be Your messenger. For this is when the real joy of sharing in His kingdom takes hold in our hearts.
2. Training Ground
Jesus had the disciples observe Him for quite some time and then like any teacher and mentor the time comes to let the student and disciple learn to fly. Jesus knew He wasn’t going to be here in the flesh forever and the purpose was to raise faithful followers who could go forth in His power. We read that Jesus called the disciples together and He gave them power and authority to do His work.
They were not being sent in their limited power but in the power of God. They were granted the authority of God when they used the name of Jesus to do the same works He had been doing because the power and glory is in His name, not theirs.
Mark 6:7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.
Jesus also knew to send them out in this time of training in pairs. There is safety in being in pairs as they went to other towns; there is greater credibility for when miracles were happening vs. just one witness; there is wisdom and encouragement to build each other up as they went along in their mission.
This is why today; it is so important to be connected to His Church. Here we learn about the heart and character of Jesus through His Word; we learn about His purpose and who we are in Him. We observe Jesus through His Word and we grow our faith as we hear how God is moving in the lives of those within our church family. We are strengthened by one another; shaped together and molded into His image more and more as we gather. We share our struggles and our victories and we truly experience the Good News of Jesus Christ as our Lord and His salvation being worked out in our lives. Our salvation is to be worked out as we continue to follow Him.
This is the training ground we are in learning to work out our salvation and building our faith in Him. When we begin to serve Him, we have a training ground also. We start small in ways we can serve; we learn, gain confidence, get instruction and counsel, and how we serve Him and one another builds. We wouldn’t have someone just beginning to serve in God’s Church jump up and give a sermon lead a ministry area, or handle all the technical equipment, or write content on behalf of the church-these are ways we grow as we come to know God more personally; as we come to understand His Word applied in our lives; and as we know who we are in Christ.
But the church is a beautiful training ground as we seek to deepen our walk with Christ and it’s a wonderful confidence builder when we love one another and extend grace, compassion, forgiveness, and patience as we learn. This is how testimonies are formed-in how we love one another through the love of God extended to us.
So please don’t hesitate to serve and engage in the church-we are called to do this! This is our training ground. Perfection is not expected, just willingness. The only perfect One is Jesus Christ-the rest of us are disciples still in training.
Jesus sent out the twelve to let them minister to others and then offered for them to report back on how it went. This is what we should do in the church as well as one another try as they have received instruction and times of observing, and then invite a report back. What went well, what were the results, and build on those results. This is healthy and faith-building.
Luke 9:10 10 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida,
Now watch what happened when they went out in Jesus’ name. They were not trying to prove themselves; they simply went out and did what they saw Jesus doing and trusted in His statement that He gave them power and authority when they spoke in His name:
Mark 6:12-13 MSG 12-13 Then they were on the road. They preached with joyful urgency that life can be radically different; right and left they sent the demons packing; they brought wellness to the sick, anointing their bodies, healing their spirits.
They had some pretty amazing results! This is what I want us to believe and how we should be praying and speaking to others with a joyful urgency that life can be radically different! Because you know it can be if you have received Jesus and chosen to follow Him! Why would we want to hold back on something so good? I want all of us to believe that the same power given to the twelve initially has been given to each of us because it has!
Because Jesus is within us through His Spirit-the same Spirit that raised Him from the dead lives in you and me! So when you pray and speak healing and freedom over someone-believe it in Jesus’ name! Amen! But as you’re building this faith and confidence don’t go it alone. Jesus sent them in pairs. Pair up, join a small group, and become strengthened as you learn and serve together.
3. Equipped to Gather
Jesus shared exciting news with His disciples, that all they had witnessed through His miracles during His ministry on earth was nothing compared to what was yet coming as faith is activated and multiplied across the world through believers.
John 14: 12-13 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Do you hear this invitation: I will do whatever you ask in My name so the Father may be glorified in the Son! This means BELIEVE and stand in faith that you have been given power and authority to trample on demons, to set captives free, and to bring healing to the sick and broken. It is not your power, but the mighty name of Jesus that moves God to act. As a follower of Christ, you will be asking for things that align with His will, not fulfilling your wish list, you will be asking for God to send laborers to gather the harvest, and one of those laborers will be YOU.
When Jesus commissioned the twelve, they went, trusting in His name and His teaching that went before them. They went to the harvest and became the laborers they prayed for.
Luke 9:6 6 So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.
Conclusion: Jesus began with twelve whom He shaped into disciples. Their being sent was the
beginning of ministry in Jesus’ name. His purpose has always been to raise faithful followers who will observe and learn from Him and do what He does so His kingdom will reach the ends of the earth.
Freely we have received. Freely we should give.
The sending continues through His Church today!
Let’s pray.
Final Blessing: 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
