I am very excited about going to GC Crew tonight. I hope that you all will be there at 7pm. I am looking forward to seeing all of your happy, smiling, transformed faces! I love seeing and feeling the joy of the Lord at our church. I feel so blessed that God placed me here in Killeen to be able to be a part of what He is doing at Grace Christian Center. I am very happy that you found your way there too! I don't think some of you that have lived here your whole lives realize how lucky you are to have such an amazing church in your town. It is not often that you see so much time and energy put into youth programs. You all are very blessed indeed, and I pray that you come tonight to take part in that blessing. I know Pastor Erik has a good word for you tonight too!
So have you been practicing love in your life? Have you been obeying God's word, seeking him, and being transformed by Him? I pray that you have. I want so much for all of you to live the life that God has intended for those that obey and love Him. Let's dig again today into God's word to learn more about sharing our faith with others.
Please open your bibles to Luke 10:1-12. Take a moment to read the passages now. Because we are going over a larger portion of text, I will not be writing out the verses here. If you do not have a bible handy, you can use the internet to look up and access a bible online. Read on when you have finished.
Luke 10:1-2
In these verses Jesus sends out 72 people ahead of Him to the towns He was about to visit. Notice in these verses that Jesus sent out these people in pairs. It says that they went out two by two, meaning that they traveled with a partner. In verse two we see that the reason they are sent is because there is a harvest that is ready and yet there are no workers to collect the harvest. The harvest here refers to the people in these towns that are ready to hear the word of God. These are people whose hearts are open to hearing and learning about God. Jesus says that there are not enough workers to go out into the fields and to tell people the good news about God.
Luke 10:3-4
Jesus says that He is sending these people out as lambs among wolves. He knows that there are a lot of people that are bent on destroying the word of God and the spread of God's good news. Jesus says for them to not travel with bags, purses, or sandals and that they should not greet anyone on the road. I wonder if this is for safety reasons. I can imagine that Jesus does not want them to get attacked on the road or mugged. I think Jesus knew the people that were ready to hear about God, and that the people on the street weren't them!
Luke 10:5-7
Here Jesus instructs the travelers on where they should stay. Jesus says that if a "son of peace" is there... The "son of peace" refers to a believer. Jesus wanted them to stay in the house of someone who believe in Him and would provide the workers with food and shelter.
Luke 10:8-12
Jesus tells them to enter into the towns that welcome them. The towns that are welcoming are the places where they can eat, spend time with the sick, and even heal the sick in Jesus' name. They are there to tell the people in the town that the kingdom of God is near, that Jesus is in the world and that He is on His way to their town.
However, if the workers come to a town that is not welcoming, they are to brush the dust from that town off their feet. In other words, they are to have nothing to do with that wicked town and shouldn't bring any part of that town back with them. Notice here that Jesus still wants them to warn the town that the kingdom of God is near, but they will not perform miracles in this town.
The commands that Jesus gave to these 72 are still the same rules we should follow as we share the good news of Christ. We should share our faith in pairs. Why do you think Jesus wants us to tell people about Him in teams? Think about that for a moment and come up with your own answer.
Jesus wants us to share our faith in teams so that we will be accountable and responsible to someone else. There is safety and security in numbers in many aspects of this life and sharing God is one of them. Think about it...What if someone asks you a question that you aren't sure the answer to? If no one is with you, you may be tempted to make up an answer, or just to guess. If you have someone else with you they may know the answer or can help you find it. This is just one example of what can happen if you go about sharing your faith alone.
Remember that Jesus told his workers not to stop and talk to people on the road? It is because He already had certain places in mind for His workers to go. God is still the same today. We need to trust God to lead us into the places and to the people that are ready to hear about Him. The Holy Spirit needs to go before us and open and soften people's hearts and minds before we can share our faith and knowledge. Pray that God will lead you to the right people and give you the right opportunities to share your faith.
Remember that people need the Lord. Don't be afraid to let God use you, but always wait for the right opportunity and always share with love.
I am looking forward to seeing all of you in a few hours. Until tonight...God Bless!
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