God Calls; God Sends

Matthew 9:35-10:15

Jesus is making His was through the region visiting each town that He comes to along the way, preaching and teaching in the church’s to whoever would listen to Him. While He is looking around at the large crowds gathering He experiences something; compassion. God is not overcome by emotions. We as humans have more swings in moods than any baseball season ever though about having. We are temperamental. One moment we are happy, on the top of the world. The next we are sad, depressed, in the lowest of lows. During the morning we are sluggish and droopy. By the afternoon most of us are energetic, bouncing, and ready to go. One moment were are having a nice time with our friends, then the next someone says a word that triggers flames of anger within us. We are constantly flipping and flopping with our state of emotions, but God stays stead. This is what is interesting when it comes to Jesus spurred by the emotion upon seeing the crowds.

Why was Jesus brought to have compassion on there people? Because they had a great need for spiritual guidance, but there were very few people that could guide them. Those where were supposed to lead them toward God, the Pharisees, had become corrupt and greedy. They coerced people to basically do whatever they needed. They would spout laws at commoners, but they themselves would not listen. They would impose rules that even they could not carry out, and they were keen to keep an eye on how much money was coming in to them. Their hearts had grown cold, and Jesus is seeing the state of man when spiritual guidance is lacking.

Jesus said that the harvest was plentiful. Which means that it is ready, and there is a lot of it. When it came time for harvest, which hopefully we all know is when the plant is fully grown and is ripe. Ready to be eaten or stored in a safe location. If you do not know much about harvesting fields of crops just know this. It takes a bunch of people. It takes many people working long hours to bring the crops in. It takes a team, and a very big team at that. Back in communities like these people would help each other gather their crops. They would all start in one location and move throughout the region bringing in the crops until it was all finished.

What Jesus is saying is that people are like crops. A seed (the word) is planted in fertile soil (the spirit) and when it grows and people come to the realization of Christ, they are ready to be harvested (deliver the gospel and salvation occurs). There were so many people who were lost. So many people who were ready to be saved, but there was no one to witness to them. Then Jesus tells His disciples to pray that the Lord would send witnesses out amongst the people.

Seeing the crowds burdened by their sins, Jesus brings the disciples close to Him, and He gives them something extremely special. He gives them His authority over demons, and He gives them authority over diseases and illnesses. Jesus gave them the authority to do just as He had been doing, and they had been following Him for a little while learning how to do so. Then Jesus sent them into the cities in order to do the work of the Lord.

Jesus calls people. He calls them to Himself in salvation, and when they are saved He calls them to be a witness for Him.

What is a witness? A witness tells others what they have seen, or what has been done to them. Just like a witness on trial, all they can do is explain what has happened in their eyes, in their lives.

That is what we are to do. We tell others what Jesus did for us personally. Not our parents, nor our friends, but we tell others what has happened to us. The thing here is this. We may not have all of the answers to questions that are asked, yes it is good to study the word so that you have those answers, but when it comes to your witness all you can do is tell someone about what you have experienced. This is what Jesus calls you to do.

Some of you may be called to take it a step farther and do ministry as your occupation in life. You may be called to study and preach the gospel. You may be called to be a missionary to those around you in order to proclaim the gospel. Some of you may be called to take part in many of the other vast ministry’s that there are to offer in this world.

But regardless of what you are called to do or be, this is what you can be sure is coming:

1. You will be called out of your comfort zone a little. Jesus was their leader. He was teaching them by leading by example, but now He has told them that they are to go out and lead themselves. Not only is it time for them to do the work themselves, but they are doing it without Jesus being there with them. Jesus’s power is with them, but they are on their own. Also, notice how Jesus told them to go into town without a change of clothes, and without money in their pockets for a hotel and for food. They were told that they are not to take payment as well, and their was always a possibility that no one would accept them.

-This put the disciples in an uncommon, and probably slightly uncomfortable position. They had never done this before. It was uncharted territory. God is going to lead you out of your comfort zone, because that is where the work lies.

2. Going without materials the disciples had to rely on the provision of God. Relying on God takes the authority out of your hands, but when we learn to trust in and lean on Him then we relieve a lot of our stress. Think about it. If you struggle on your own and you fail, then what are you to do? But if you rely on God to do the work for you, and we know that God does not fail, then everything that has been done you know is in God’s will, and you know that you are following in the right direction.

3.God equips those who He calls. You may say “how could God ever use me. I don’t know anything.” Neither did the disciples, but God still called them to their respected ministries. Then after calling them, Jesus taught them and He empowered them. You are no different from them. You live your everyday average life, you go to school, you go to work, you hangout with your friends, you play ball, you go to church. Then God asks something of you. Whatever it may be, know that God has a purpose for the task, and God will not ask you because He knows that you will fail. If you had a job you needed done would you call someone that you knew would not or could not pull through for you? Certainly not. Neither will God. When God asks something of you He will see to it that you are given everything, and that everything is in place for you to succeed. All you have to do is be faithful and say ‘YES’

4. You are going to do great things when you answer to God’s calling with a positive response. How do I know? Because God does great things. No matter how small they may seem to you, they measure up to be massive things in the kingdom of God. Say you witness to just one person, and that person is saved. Okay that is 1 out of 7 billion people, whats the

But regardless of what you are called to do by God, you are called to live a lifestyle that is fitting of a child of God.

5th quarter

Every Sunday night in February we will be going through a little study. There will be incentives for every person in a relationship to attend with their significant other if at all possible.