Journey with Jesus (4)

Ministry that makes a difference is ministry that is blessed by God. Without God’s blessing there will be no ministry that makes a difference.

3 Indispensable realities to be engaged in ministry that makes a difference.

1st Indispensable Reality: Earnestness to pray

Necessity of prayer

If we review all the ministry that Jesus carried out since his baptism earlier in Mark chap. 1 we see that his schedule has been full. The needs of people were numerous. People with struggles, suffering, hurts, harrassment and opposition from demons.

() Woman bleeding for 12 years. Saw many doctors, spent all she had, suffered a great deal. She touches Jesus robe, is instantly healed.

vs. 30 Jesus realized that power had gone out from him.

Prayer is an indispensible link for power in ministry.

Prayer must be...

Intentional not accidental

it will not happen by accident. It has to be deliberate and not by chance.

When you courted your wife remember what you did. You took her to nice places, special dates out to eat, special places, bought her flowers, surprised her with little gifts. Your moves were pre-planned and carefully calculated to woo her and win her heart. You thought through the details of your time, so it was well spent.

You probably had trouble sleeping the night before just thinking about being with her.

Remember when you proposed. You shopped for the ring, pick the time and the place and all the particulars so it would be the perfect setting for you to pop the question and for her to pop her answer....

Oswald Chambers- “Prayer is getting ourselves attuned to God, not getting God attuned to us.”

Lincoln's Prayer for Wisdom

I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day.

Abraham Lincoln, Leadership, Vol. 3, no. 1.

regular and not random.

Regular not random

It needs to be regular and not random.

“Prayer can do what political action cannot, what education cannot, what military might cannot, what planning committees cannot. All these are impotent by comparison.

Prayer can move mountains. It can change human hearts. It can change families, neighborhoods, cities and nations. Its the ultimate source of power of Almighty God.” 1998 Pray Magazine

Sincerity in prayer

Time for....

Spiritual reflection

“Search me O God,...

I invite you to look into my heart and see if I have drifted or am drifting from you. Have there been any seeds of doubt planted in my heart from the enemy, so that my trust and confidence in you has been shaken?

Am I operating in my daily life with an earthly perspective or am I looking at things with an eternal mindset?

Personal refreshment

Isaiah 40:31 ESV

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah

2 Samuel 22:33 NIV84

It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.

2 Samuel 22:

Intimate fellowship

Matthew 6:6 ESV

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Trust, Confidence

2nd Indispensable Reality: Eagerness to serve

Jesus said in “Let us go somewhere else---to the nearby villages....”

Jesus knew what His Father had called him to do. He knew this for many years even as a young boy.

Luke 2:49 NIV

“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”

Eagerness to serve means....

I am engaged in my Father’s business.

no hesitation in Jesus going, no fear, no unwillingness, no I’m too busy.

no guilt trip, no begging- He is driven with a passion

“nearby villages”- circle of influence

“Preach”- show people their need

Mark 10:45 ESV

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The Great Commission to us is “Go....” We are to take the gospel message to the lost.

I am serving with the strength God provides.

, says we use our gifts to serve others, we serve with the strength God provides.

3rd Indispensable Reality: Effectiveness to change lives

William Barclay- Commentary on Mark

Leprosy- 3 types- 1) nodular or tubercular-lethargy, pains in joints, discolored patches esp. on back, nodules form on them and turns brown. Nodules on face- cheeks, nose, lips & forehead. Face- loses all human appearance and looks. Nodules ulcerate and give off foul discharge.

Eyebrows fall out, voice- hoarse-ulcerated vocal cords, hands & feet ulcerate. Average course of disease is 9 yrs., ends in mental decay, coma and untimely death.

2) anaesthetic leprosy- initial stages the same.

nerve trunks affected- lose sensation. Discolored patches, blisters. Muscles waste away, tendons contract- hands become like claws, ulceration of feet, hands- lose fingers, toes, hands, feet- duration of disease- 20-30 yrs.

3) Commonest type- mix of nodular & anaesthetic- many lepers like that in Palestine in Jesus day.

Unclean- banished from fellowship, lived outside the camp, bared heads, covering on their upper lips- give warning of their polluted presence, cry “Unclean, unclean”. Lepers were people who were already dead, though still alive.

Physical pain, mental anguish, heartbreak of being completely banished from society, totally shunned.

Love of His Father controlled him

1 John 4:19 ESV

We love because he first loved us.

1 John 5:19 ESV

We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

1 John 4:20 ESV

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

Picture

Compassion Killers

Legalism- emphasis on externals, rather than the heart

Selfishness- my time, money, life, car, house, business, clothes, food

Insecurity- personal fears, anxiety, uncertain of God’s love for you

Pride- not my kind of people, too messy, keep distance, failure to see my own brokenness

Gal If someone would’ve told me three years ago what the love of Christ would do in my heart and life I would have given you and God the middle finger. If someone would’ve told me that in the next three years that same God that I spent the last nine running away from would Restore relationships with my family and with my children..out of fear.. I would’ve told you I’ll only mess it up. Three years ago I had two options to die or live and to be completely honest I didn’t want either of the two but somewhere within my broken heart I chose to reach out that day and went to detox. (Kicking and screaming might I add) I had about two weeks clean when I was invited to a Bible study at a little coffee shop that I really had no interest in going to at the time. It was in that place that I met a woman and eventually an entire family that weather by word or selfless deed would show me the grace and love of Christ. There was something different in this woman that The Lord used to speak truth into my heart. She still does. Samantha Sutton Duncan and Heath Duncan I am forever grateful to you both for loving me and showing me grace and a different way of life. I’m grateful to my family..all of my sisters and brothers for all that you are. Which is a lot of goodness. Thank you to all the new relationships and reconnections that have been beautifully placed in my life. I deeply love you all and I’m so excited for what the future holds. But beyond all of the many blessings and even beyond my sobriety I am thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I don’t deserve a single ounce of your never ending eternal love and yet here you are still loyal and so faithful in all your promises. You and I both know God that it wouldn’t have mattered if a million someone’s told me what all you could do within my life over the past three years. But you had a very specific way of revealing it to my heart, because you know every intricate part about us.

To all the men and woman reading this that struggle with addiction..there is hope. You are not too far gone. You are not forgotten and you have a father in heaven longing for you to let him in. To the children and the families effected by addiction. Do not lose hope and NEVER cease praying. ❤️

If ever a leper was cured—and real leprosy was incurable, so it is some of the other skin diseases which must be referred to—he had to undergo a complicated ceremony of restoration which is described in . He was examined by the priest.

Leper- no right to speak to Jesus.

Desperate need- Jesus saw his need, touched the unclean, the shamed, the outcast, healed him from an incurable disease.

Desperate need- Jesus saw his need, touched the unclean, the shamed, the outcast, healed him from an incurable disease.

Jesus sent him to fulfill the requirements of the law.

Remembering our own brokenness humbles us

We are the leper- we are the unclean, we are the hopeless, helpless shamed outcast with an incurable disease called sin, and Jesus touched us by dying for us.