The Training of the Twelve

Sermon Transcript

Pastor Jeff:

Our Father in heaven, we give you praise, glory, honor, and thanks for who you are. And Lord, we thank you that you meet us here every time that we gather to worship your name. And Lord, you are right here with us now and we believe that you're going to move and speak to us in powerful and profound ways because every time that your Word is faithfully and accurately proclaimed, Lord, you have a message for us. You are willing to speak that message so that we can hear through the power of your Holy Spirit. And so now I pray, Lord, for all those who have gathered, who desire to hear your Word, who will believe what you say and who will by faith put into practice what you tell them. Will you agree very loudly this morning by saying the word amen.

Congregation:

Amen.

Pastor Jeff:

Amen. Have you ever considered why you're sitting here this morning? I mean, who told you about BRAVE in the first place? Better yet, who told you about Jesus in the first place? I mean, for some of you, you're here today because you say, "Well, I've been a Christian for a long time and I've heard about BRAVE and I've been coming to BRAVE for a long time. I want to be in a place where I can be around other Christians and I want to worship the Lord Jesus Christ." Other people would say, "I'm here, I'm visiting. I'm from out of town." Or, "We heard about the church and we came to hear about what's going on." And yet for others, maybe you're here today and you're on a spiritual journey or a quest and you've heard something about that there is a God and you want to know if this God can relate to you and what he can do. And I'm here to tell you his name's Jesus and he loves you and he can. But what brought you here?

I mean if you really think back and peel back the curtain a little bit, it's because the message that Jesus Christ preached 2,000 years ago continues to be spread. And somewhere along the line, you heard that message, or somewhere along the line, somebody told you about that message and invited you to come here more about that message. But how did the message spread? Because if Jesus is the one that came and told the message, how did the message then go forth from generation to generation to generation? We're talking about 2,000 years and the message is just as alive today as it was 2,000 years ago. And the reason for that is because Jesus began to commission disciples to go and do that. He started with his 12, and when did he commission his 12? Does anybody know? Most people say Matthew chapter 28. That's not when he commissioned his 12. That was the finality on sending everybody out into the world to go make disciples of all nations.

But there's a time where Jesus was training his 12 and teaching them what to do so that by the time he rises from the dead and sends them out, they already know what they're supposed to be doing because guess what? They've already been doing it. And if you've ever wondered why you're sitting here, I have an answer for that question today. It comes out of Matthews gospel in chapter 10, and we're going to take a look at the training of the 12, the training of the 12. How did Jesus train his 12 disciples in such a way that 2,000 years later they're still having impact for when they lived on this world for such a short period of time? And how can we see that we can have the same kind of impact for Jesus in the same way?

Now as you're flipping to Matthew chapter 10, I want to share the verse prior to it and we'll highlight this verse even more next week when we talk about us. But Jesus has just said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest." Here's what Jesus just said. There's always people in every generation that want to hear the life-changing message of Christ. There's always people that are ready to hear the gospel. The problem is never the gospel. The problem is those that believe the gospel don't share it. That's been the situation 2,000 years ago, that's still the situation today. That for every single person that knows the gospel, so few of them share it. Matter of fact, a recent study that I just heard talks about the average Christian shares his or her faith once every 26 years.

Now, before you respond to that and say, "Well, that's not me. I've done it more than that." Just think about your own life rhetorically, how many people did you share the gospel with this week? How many people are you praying for to hear the gospel this week? What about this month? What about this year? How many people have you shared the gospel with? I mean, if you think about it, you take a cross section of all the Christians, it averages about one every 26 years. Is that a problem?

Congregation:

Yes.

Pastor Jeff:

See, the harvest fields are ripe under harvest, and yet so few people are out there sharing the gospel and growing people up in their faith. And if that was the situation 2,000 years ago, it's certainly the situation now. So Jesus tells his disciples, "Beg the Lord, pray to the Lord that he would send people out into the harvest field."

Now, let me tell you something. When we pray that prayer, oftentimes we're praying it for other people. "Lord, I pray you send some of those people out. Lord, raise up missionaries at BRAVE. Send them. I'll even give them money. I'll even pray for them if they go. Lord, raise them up." No, see, when we're praying the prayer, we're praying, "Lord, here am I, send me. You've changed my life and I'm willing to go." So here's what he does. Jesus, the master teacher, he's teaching his disciples as he sends them out on mission to accomplish their purpose. And we're going to take a look at four ways that Jesus Christ trained the 12 apostles today.

The first way he did it is this. Jesus trained the 12 by first sending them on mission with clear instructions to do exactly what he was doing. The first thing that Jesus is going to do, what's the first thing he's going to do? He's going to send them on mission. Sending is what he does with every single one. Now church is important and there's a lot of New Testament books that talk about what should be going on in the church. And the church is important that we come together and we worship the Lord and that we hear biblical teaching and the proclamation of the Word and testimonies and prayer. And all those things are wonderful to the extent that they translate into us living our lives out in the world. Amen? So this is what's going on. So he's going to send them on mission with clear instruction to do what? Exactly what he was doing.

We studied Mark chapter one, what Jesus came and did. We looked at Jesus's ministry of healing and deliverance last week, and now here's what he's going to tell them to do. Jesus summoned his 12 disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

Now, the names of the 12 apostles are these. He's going to name them. You'll be familiar with most all of them. The first Simon, who is called Peter, he's usually listed first; and Andrew, his brother; and James, the son of Zebedee, who is the first martyr; and John, his brother; Phillip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James the son of Alpheus: and Thaddeus; Simon the Zealot; and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him. These men, Jesus did what? Sent out after instructing them. He's going to teach them and then he's going to put them on mission. The only way that you can ever learn anything in life is if you're given instruction, but then you're given the responsibility to go do something with it. The things that you're good at, you've been instructed and then you've gone and done it. You can't learn anything by having somebody else do something for you.

Now, there are things that we might say, "Well, I don't want to learn that. I don't want to get good at that. I'm not good at mechanical things. I don't want to be good at mechanical things. I don't want to learn it. I'd rather call you." But to be good at it, you need to not only be instructed, but then you have to be delegated responsibility to go and do it. For those of you that are good at math or good at science or good at English, chances are you were taught and then you were instructed, but then you had to go do something with it. So Jesus is instructing his disciples, "Here's what the mission is, here's who it is, now I want you to go and do it." Now, he's told them to pray. Pray that they would be sent out into the harvest field because the harvest is white, it's ready, it's ripe.

There are people in every single generation that are ready to respond to Jesus. The problem is there aren't enough people taking the gospel out to all the people that need to hear the gospel. We get comfortable. We think, "Well, our church is big enough." Well, how big's big enough if we're talking about the eternal realities of heaven and hell? If there's really close to 8 billion people in the world, and I haven't counted lately, but I've been told it's about that, what percentage of people are actually going to heaven? 10, 11, 12, 13? Majority of the world is going to hell and yet they're out there and Jesus said, "It's ripe under harvest. So go tell them..." And we're like, "Nah, I'm kind of busy this week. I have other things." So Jesus is going to instruct them and now he's going to send them on mission and notice what he's going to tell them to do.

He says, "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles and do not enter any city of the Samaritans, but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." So here's what he's going to tell them, "When you start this mission, because this is the first commission I'm giving you, go only to Israel, go only to the Jews. We'll get to Samaria later. We'll get to the gentile nations later. We'll go into all the world later, but right now we're going to start with your own people. We're going to start with the Jews. That's where I want you to go. And as you go preach saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." So what's he tell them to do? The exact same thing he was doing. "Go preach. Go cast out demons. Go heal people of their diseases. That's what I've been doing. That's what I want you to go do."

Now, who are the people that Jesus chose? Are they skilled in this type of work? I mean, if you study the life of the apostles, there's not one that's qualified to do any of it. Now we tend to enshrine them or think of them as better than us and they played a significant role in the history of the church in a way that few other people will in the rest of church history and they should be celebrated for their faithfulness to Christ. No problem with that. But don't forget, they're average ordinary men. They're just average ordinary men. Peter talked all the time and was rarely ever right. John, all he wanted to do was sit around, talk about loving everybody all the time. I mean, the disciples John and his brother, when things didn't go well with Samaria, they're asking Jesus, "Should we call down fire on them and just burn them all?" I mean these guys were just normal fleshy guys that when they got empowered by Jesus and the Holy Spirit changed the world. But don't miss this, they're normal.

As a matter of fact, when Jesus stays up all night the night he prays for his disciples, you have to beg the question, why does he stay up all night and pray? Because Jesus had a hotline to his Father. He and the Father were one. They could hear each other's thoughts. They knew each other intimately. Jesus said, "If you see me, you've seen my Dad. I only do what I see the Father doing." If the Father told him to pick 12, Jesus was going to pick 12. How long do you think it took Jesus to know who the 12 were? When he prayed and his Dad said, "I want you to select these 12 men," how long would it take for Jesus to know who the 12 were? Probably as long as it took me to read the list. So why did he stay up all night praying? Because he was saying, "If this is the hand I've been dealt, I got to pray. This is all I got to work with."

Which means what is Jesus doing today? He's still interceding for all the saints. And the message is if he can do it with the 12, he can do it with you. If he can do it with the 12, he can do it with us. Not because the 12 were special, but because the one who empowered them was. Not because of who you are, but the one who saved you is. Amen?

Congregation:

Amen.

Pastor Jeff:

So he's going to put them on mission with clear instruction. Now, Mark tells us in Mark chapter 6, a parallel passage in verse 7, "He summoned the 12 and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over unclean spirits." Isn't it interesting that he sends them out in pairs? Even in Matthews gospel as we read about this guy and this guy and this guy, we read about them in pairs. Jesus sent them in pairs. There's something about going out in a team that's different than just going out by yourself. We read the Bible as Americans, we think everything is about me. That's just how we've been instructed. So I got to share the gospel, I got to do this. I got to do... Jesus's putting them in teams like, "You two go there, you two go there, you two go there, you two go there, and you two go there. I'm sending you out as pairs."

And what do they preach? Mark 6:12, "They went out and preached that men should repent, and they were casting out many demons, and were anointing many with oil. They were anointing many sick people and healing them." So what the same Bible harmonizes. Same thing. Preaching repentance, preaching the kingdom of God is at hand. John the Baptist said, "Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand." Jesus said, "Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand." He sends out his disciples. What's their message? Nothing new, "Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand."

What am I preaching today? If you're here and visiting, if you've never trusted Christ, here's my message to you. Repent and believe that Jesus is the Christ. Turn from your sin and trust Jesus. He's the one and only way you can be saved from your sins. That's the message. It hasn't changed. So they're going out and doing that, and what are they doing? They're going to heal people and they're going to cast out demons. Why? Because Jesus went out and preached, Jesus cast out demons and Jesus healed people. So he tells his 12, "Y'all go do the same thing." And then he gives them some instruction. Notice verse 9 and 10. "Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, or a bag for your journey, or even two coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support."

Now, what would you think if you're going on a mission trip? I got to raise money. I got to make sure I got cash in my pocket. I got to make sure I have the right credit cards or traveler's checks. I got to make sure I'm secure. I got to make sure I have enough outfits. I got to make sure I'm packed. Well, Jesus said, don't get all caught up in that. You can take what you have. And one of the gospels, he said, if you have a staff, go ahead and take it with you, but don't go acquiring one. Don't go looking around for everything you need. Here's what he's saying, "I have everything you need. If you're rightly related to me, go get on the mission." Why is he telling them this? Because there's a thousand and one reasons to not get involved in missions. There's all sorts of reasons. I'm just not ready yet. I need to go shopping. I need to get this. I need to get that. I'm not prepared. Jesus is saying, "Take what you got and just go. Don't wait. Mission comes first. It's primary to me. I'll take care of you. I'm your provider. If you're on mission for me, I will provide for all your needs. I will use several different resources and people to do it. You don't need to worry about provision. That's my job. Your job is the mission."

He says in verse 11, "And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city. As you enter the house, give it your greeting. If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace. Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city."

What's he say? When you enter a city, find someone who's worthy. Now the context of worthy in this statement here is someone who's willing to receive the message of Christ that "I belong to Jesus and I'm here to tell you about Jesus." That person is considered worthy. When you go out to share the gospel, there are lots of people that are wanting to talk about the gospel. God is doing things in their life, preparing them for your divine appointment. So when you talk to them, they'll start asking you questions. If you talk about Jesus, they're interested in that. They want to know more. That person's worthy. You will also meet people oftentimes, a lot of them, they don't care how skilled you are, how much Bible knowledge you know, how many times you share the gospel. They want nothing to do with you. So what is Jesus saying? Look for the people who are interested.

Sometimes we waste so much time trying to convince somebody who doesn't want to hear anything we have to say, when the person over here is willing to hear what we have to say and we don't go spend any time with them. He said, when you go into a city, if you go out and share the gospel, if you were go to a mall, if you go to your neighborhood, out of all your neighbors, there would be somebody you could strike up a conversation with that you would find has interest in the gospel. And he said, when you go into that city and you're on mission doing that, stay in that home. They'll take care of you. They'll welcome you. They'll be glad you're there, and then stay there.

What's one of the principles... And we'll talk more about this next week. One of the principles is this. When you find somebody who wants to grow in the Lord, don't make them a number where you're just trying to share the gospel and leave. Hang with them till they trust the Lord and give them a foundation of the gospel so that they can grow. Just hang with that person. You don't need to set a world record for the number of people that you evangelize. When you meet somebody that's interested, hang with them until they come to Christ. That's what he's saying. Don't go hopping around from house to house. He said, "Now if you go to a city or you're in a place where there's nobody worthy, there's not one person in that city that will receive you, then symbolically take off your sandals, clean the dust off your feet. Tell them it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for them." Why? Because even in Sodom and Gomorrah, I think Abraham got down to like 10 people. They couldn't find 10 righteous they would spare.

Jesus is like, "If you can't find one righteous person in the city that wants to hear about me, when the king sends you into that city and they're like, 'We want nothing to do with you or your king,' there's judgment for that entire city." Jesus judges individuals, but he also also judges cities. Make no mistake about it. He says, go look for the person of peace. Go look for the one who's worthy. Go look for the one who's willing to hear. I've heard it said this way: "There's a lot of green apples out there, but there's some red apples. Go look for the red apples." Go look for who's ripe. There's always somebody out there. The harvest field is always ripe unto the taking. And when you go share the gospel, when you meet somebody and they don't want to hear...

I've gone out and shared the gospel enough times and I've shared it in the street enough times that I know when I'm talking to somebody, they're not interested, and I know when I'm talking to somebody, they're interested. And it has absolutely nothing to do with me, it has everything to do with what the Spirit of God is doing. Now I want you to see this. Jesus Christ sends them on mission. That's the first thing he does. Do you know in our churches in America that's usually one of the last things we do. Missions is relegated to those three or 5% that have been in the church for a long time that really feel called brother to go cross culturally overseas and share the gospel with those people that really need it. Have you opened up your eyes and looked at our culture recently? We really need it here. We just do. And what does he do? He puts him on mission first. Why is that so important? Because Jesus was not just building a community. Jesus was building a mission that developed community. Every good mission starts with mission first.

You look at any championship sports team, you look at any championship drama type team, you look at any championship academic team, you look at anything that's good in life, they always start with mission. The best military starts with mission. They don't start with community. Community is how can we love you? How can we make you feel better? For those of you that have gone into the military, your first day at bootcamp, they didn't tell you, "Hey, we're going to sit around tonight and talk about whose hair we like the best and where you're from and how we're going to get along and what movies we're going to watch together and how we can just be best buddies and we're going to eat together and we're going to hang out. And one day down the road, we'll get on mission." Never happens.

Great sports teams don't come together and have slumber parties when they get drafted in the NFL so they can really get to know the guys and then be ready to perform. No, you come in on mission. You come in to do what you're required to do.

What does Jesus want the disciples to do? He wants his 12 for sure to preach, cast out demons and heal people. That's the mission. Go do that. Now, why is that important? Because in the natural, none of the 12 would've ever gotten along. Simon the Zealot would've been a political or patriot to a fault. Matthew was a tax collector. Matthew had extorted more money from all the disciples than everybody else combined. So when Jesus goes to Matthew's house to have a party, who do you think paid for it? All the other 11 that he stole from, they hate him. Simon the Zealot would want him put him to death because he is not truly Jewish. That's who Jesus called together. So when you say, "I'm just not like those people. I'm looking for the right affinity group at my church. We got to have the same political beliefs. We got to have the same age affiliation. We got to be in the same stage of life. We've got to be doing this." That's not even Christian. Where do you read that in your Bible?

If you get on mission doing what Jesus called you to do, community will develop with the most unlikely people that you would never have otherwise hung around unless you were on mission together for Jesus. I have people I played sports with my whole life, some that I became friends with that I would've never hung out with ever unless we were trying to accomplish the same mission as a team. But because we were, we became friends, because we were about the same thing. The same is true in church. "Well, I just don't know if I get along with people like that." Then get about the mission. Go start sharing your faith with lost people. Go start praying for one another. Go start building one another up. Go do something and then you'll see how you have a lot more in common than you ever thought you did. And you'll begin to see, "There's not a lot of us like this. There's not a lot of us in the church that are actually out doing the mission. Man, it's good to be around somebody that gets this and understands this." That's mission.

Jesus did not call people to community to just come to a gathering, sit in church, feel good, and that's it. Jesus called us to gather as the church so we can worship him, be filled by him, be encouraged by others so that we can go back out on the mission field. In other words, there's no sideline in the kingdom. There's nobody sitting on the bench. Everybody's in the game and if you're not playing, that's why church is boring. You can't be on mission and have church be boring. Church can be boring if you're not on mission, but you can't be on mission and have church be boring.

So what does he do? He gives them authority. We talked about last week how much authority Jesus had, all authority. He gave them authority to preach, cast out demons, heal people. He told them to go only to Israel on this trip. He sent them to preach the kingdom, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. He sent them out in pairs, told them to tell people to repent. Said, "Don't rely on excessive money. Don't rely on excessive materials. Just go. There's a million reasons to not go. Just go." What'll be the translation today? "Just go do it."

Well, I haven't been a Christian very long. It's okay, just go. Well, I'm not educated enough. That's okay, just go. You start telling other people about Jesus, you will grow in your faith unlike anything else you can do. Just go. So Jesus trained the 12. He put them on mission with clear instructions to do what? "Do exactly what I've been doing."

Now we'll talk about in the coming weeks, is that just the 12 or is that everybody? And I'll show you from the Scriptures, it's everybody. But he's telling the 12 here, this is who he's talking to. Note what Jesus did when he called his disciples. You'll see more of this in the text today, but what'd he say? In Mark chapter 1 and Matthew 4:19, "Follow me..." and what? "I will make you fishers of men. I'll help you become fishers of men." Follow me and I'll turn you into something.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians, "Follow me as I follow Christ or be imitators of me as I am of Christ." And Paul also said this, "The things which you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of peace will be with you." In other words, "Do what I'm doing. Speak like I'm speaking." I mean being a disciple of Jesus is to grow into the likeness of Jesus. Being a disciple of Jesus is to help other people grow into the likeness of Jesus. It means we're always growing more like Christ, helping other people to grow more like Christ. That's what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. So he puts them on a mission, gives them clear instructions to go, gives them three things to do, preach, cast out demons and heal.

Second thing he does is this. Jesus trained the 12 by sending them into danger with clear expectations of what they would face. Did you get that? He not only sent them on mission, he sent them into dangerous places and he gave them clear expectations. Didn't you like it when you had a coach or a teacher that gave you clear expectations? What was going to be expected this semester? What was going to be expected with this team? I always respected people like that. Played football in my high school, you had to keep your hair cut short. You had to dress a certain way. You couldn't get in trouble in school. You had to keep your grades up. That was an expectation. If you didn't meet that you couldn't play on the team. I had certain teachers that would say, "I'm one of the hardest teachers. Here's what you can expect from me." But if they told me what I could expect, then I was never surprised. I like clarity.

So Jesus is going to send them on mission, but he's going to tell them, "Hey, you better be careful out there because it's going to be dangerous." And what's he say? "Behold..." That's a biblical word for like, listen up and pay attention to this when you don't want to miss this. "I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves." What's he telling them? You get the word picture there being sent out as a sheep among the wolves. If Jesus is a shepherd, how much do sheep need a shepherd? They can't survive without a shepherd. But to open up the gate and say, "Now go out here. I'm sending you out as sheep among wolves," what kind of word picture do you get? Wolves are ravenous animals. Wolves eat sheep. Wolves devour sheep. There's not a YouTube video in the world of a sheep defeating a wolf and standing over it. Sheep are helpless. Sheep can't do anything.

He goes, "That's why I'm sending you. You have to rely on me for everything I'm sending you to do because you don't have the strength to do what I'm sending you to do. The world I'm sending you in is hostile to the very things I'm sending you to do. So be shrewd as serpents and be innocent as doves." What's that mean? It means have some wisdom, first of all. If you're a sheep and you're walking among a pack of wolves, have some wisdom; be shrewd. Don't do things that draw attention to yourself. Stay on mission. Don't do things that take you off of mission. Don't let anything get in the way of the mission. Don't needlessly offend a bunch of other people. Stay on mission.

Now, this may come as a surprise to you, but I'm opinionated about pretty much everything, but I don't preach all my opinions from this pulpit. Now they're correct opinions, but I still don't preach them because if it interferes with the propagation of the gospel, then it's not good to share. Sometimes I have to share some things that are going on in the world so that we can continue to share the gospel. But my political opinions and my understanding of sports, my understanding of the world, my understanding of... You can disagree with all that so long as we can stay focused on the mission that the world needs to hear about Jesus and his death and his resurrection, and that's primary to everything we're talking about. So be shrewd as serpents and what? Be innocent as doves. Innocent means pure. It means live a life of purity before the Lord. Don't have things people can poke at you. Be who you are. Don't be a Christian chameleon that acts Christian over here, but genuinely you're not over here.

Now, Jesus said, "Follow me, I'll make you something." Paul said, "Be imitators of me as I am of Christ." In other words, there's no human being that's flawless. I'm not flawless. You're not flawless. You don't have to be flawless. You need to be growing increasingly confessing and forsaking sin and growing in that area. That's what he says. So be wise, stay on the mission. Don't do things that interfere with this mission of the three things Jesus wants to do. Preach, cast out demons and heal. Don't get caught up in other stuff and be innocent as doves, be pure in your heart. Don't be put in compromising situations, et cetera, et cetera.

But notice what he says in verse 17. "But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; and you will even be brought before governors and kings for my sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks through you." Here's what he says. "Hey, 12, you need to understand this. They will drag you into the courts. They will beat you. That's part of the mission. Get ready." He's giving clear expectations of what they can expect. It's not just going to be some skip in the park and some grandiose trip and oh my gosh, this is so much fun. They will beat you and you'll be tried and you'll be questioned and there's things you won't know the answers to, but trust that in the moment the Spirit of God will give you the words to say.

Now these words get taken out of context by preachers all the time, meaning I just trust the Spirit. I get up here and speak and he just tells me what to share. To my response would be, study yourself to be a workman approved and not ashamed. Give the Holy Spirit something more to work with.

Good study of the Word is very important. It doesn't mean be lazy and just let the Spirit speak through you. It means at any given moment, in any given time, if you are faithful in your witness of Christ, God will give you the words to say at the right time. And many of you have had that experience. You just didn't know it was the Spirit of God speaking through you. You've had a conversation with somebody and it went really well and somebody said, "Well, what did you say?" "I can't even remember. It just flowed. It just kind of came out. I don't even know how to tell you." That was the Spirit of God speaking through you, and that's why no Bible study is wasted because even I can't really remember what I did this morning. I can't really... It's stored up in your heart and the Spirit of God is able to bring it forth and use it. Amen?

Congregation:

Amen.

Pastor Jeff:

But then he says this, notice what he says in verse 21. "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. You will be..." Now watch this. "You will be hated by all because of my name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who is saved. But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes."

Now what's he talking about? You will be betrayed, you will be hated and you will be persecuted. Can Jesus speak authoritatively on this? Was he betrayed? He's going to be. Was he hated? Oh, he sure will be. Was he persecuted? Absolutely. He's saying, "You're going to be like me. So I'm just telling you before you get ready, if you're going to follow me, you will be betrayed at times, you will be hated at times, and you will be persecuted. All people will hate you because of me." Ready to sign on the dotted line. Who's ready for that? We don't share that. We say, "Well, that's discipleship. That's not evangelism. Don't tell them that they'd never want to come." Jesus is telling everybody that, he's noting that. Clear expectations.

You're going to be a follower of Jesus, you will be persecuted. You may be betrayed, you will be hated. And who's he talking about you're going to be hated by? Family. The unit that God established. You know who the hardest group of people to share the gospel with? I'll give you two. Number one, religious people that think they know it all. And number two, family. And the very hardest is religious family. I mean, it's super hard because they think they know everything and they already know everything about you. So it's really hard to share with families. I know you've felt that, I've felt that, everybody feels that. And Jesus is saying, "Listen, you're going to see people hate each other within a family, not because of relationships, but because I'm in your life. Because of that relationship, they're going to hate you."

Some of you came to Christ and you had a close family or you thought you did, but when you came to Christ, you got ostracized from your family. Some were kind of kicked out of your family. Others were just shamed into the side all because of one reason and one reason only, that you serve the resurrected Christ. Well, Jesus told you 2,000 years ago that was going to happen. Some be like, "I don't want to get baptized until my parents do." I would get baptized now. "I don't want to be a follower of Christ until my parents do." I'd become a follower of Christ now. Why? Because your eternity's at stake and getting right with the Lord is the most important thing.

So this is what he tells them. He said, "Not only am I putting you on mission with clear instructions, I'm going to send you into danger with clear expectation for what you're going to face. Make no mistake about it." But he said, "Whenever they persecute you, flee to another town." This doesn't mean when the going gets tough runaway. It means on this specific mission, if you go into a town and nobody welcomes you or you get persecuted, keep going to other towns. There are people out there that still want to hear about Jesus. Don't worry if you're persecuted. They persecuted me. They're going to persecute you. Keep looking for people that want to hear about me. Stay focused on the mission. Don't retreat. Don't relent. Just keep going. It also means this. Don't go looking for persecution.

Now, I know I'm not addressing a majority in here. Maybe I'm not addressing anybody, but I'll hear people from time to time like, "I'm ready for anti-Christ. I'm ready to be martyred. I'll do anything for Jesus." Shut up. You don't even know how you'd respond and that's just pride. That's pure pride like, "I'll die and everybody..." If you do, nobody will know about it. Nobody wants to. Here's the deal, stay on mission and share Jesus with people. If you happen to die, you die. No big deal. It's the greatest moment of your life. And if you are going to be martyred, you only exercise the gift once. So enjoy it. It'll be over soon enough. But don't go around looking to be persecuted. "I can't wait till I get persecuted." I mean, if you really feel that way, then go share your faith. You will be. Just be in the mission. It's not about what happens to you. It's about how we're propagating the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sorry if I was harsh on the word, shut up. I didn't mean to say it that way. I just hear too many people saying that.

All right, let me give you a third. Jesus trained the 12 by sending them on mission, by sending them into danger, and sent them this way. Jesus Christ sent them to be publicly outspoken with clear warnings against fear. Be publicly outspoken with clear warnings against fear. In other words, don't be afraid to tell other people you're a Christian and don't be afraid to live out your Christian values in front of other people that don't even like it. The message of the gospel is foolish to those who are perishing. The gospel is hostile because when you share that there's only one way to God and it's through the person of Jesus Christ and he's the way, the truth in the life and there is no other. If people reject that truth, they'll hate you for it. But there's people out there, I'm telling you, and I was one of them and you were one of them, and that's why you're here. I needed to hear that. Thank God somebody took the time to build a relationship with me for four years and pray for me and get people praying for me so that I could respond to the gospel. There are people out there that need to hear this word, that's what he was saying. But he was telling them like, "Don't be surprised at this. You need to be publicly outspoken. And when you are, don't fear. Don't be afraid."

Notice what he says. "A disciple is not above his teacher nor a slave above his master." None of us is going to become the King of Kings. None of us is going to become the Lord of Lords. We're not even little L lords. We're not even little K kings. We are servants of the King. We are servants of the Lord. That's what he says. We're not above him. "It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master."

So here's what disciple-making looks like. In the educational world, you go from kindergarten to first grade when you have a particular set of skills and you can make it all day in class. You go from fifth grade to sixth grade when you can know these certain skills and pass. You go from middle school to high school when you have accelerated. Now you can do these things. You go from high school to college if you pass these tests and can get into college. You go from college to graduate school if you can do that. On and on and on. But that's not how disciple-making works. That's not what discipleship is. Discipleship isn't just learning stuff so that you can spit it back out and regurgitate it and prove that you know it. Disciple-making is when you become more like Jesus or you become more like the one who's becoming more like Jesus, who's helping you to grow more like Jesus. That's disciple-making.

If all it was is Bible knowledge, then Jesus owes the Pharisees an apology because they knew the Bible, but they weren't like Jesus. They didn't repent of their sin. They weren't becoming like Jesus. They never wanted Jesus. So it's not Bible knowledge. Bible knowledge is important to the extent that it helps us grow in our Christ likeness. Christ's likeness is everything. Growing in the image of Christ is everything. Becoming more like Christ is everything. You say, "How do I know if I'm growing in Christ?" Because when a crisis situation hits and you say to yourself, "I wouldn't have handled it that well two months ago, I wouldn't have handled it that way three years ago. I wouldn't have done that five years..." I mean, I can tell God's growing me because that's what he does. Christlikeness is what disciple-making looks like.

Are you becoming more like Christ? Is Christ having more of his way with you? Is Christ able to speak into your life and you're able to respond with more immediate obedience to what he's showing you? That's maturity in the faith. So he tells them, be publicly outspoken and he's going to warn them not to be afraid. He said, "If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul," which means Lord of the flies, "how much more will they malign the members of his household?" He says, "If I'm healing people and I'm the Son of God in flesh, I'm God in flesh, and they're calling me the head of all the devils. What do you think they're going to call you if you identify yourself with me? Therefore, do not fear them for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known."

Do you know this? There are no secrets for eternity. I mean, just think about that for a second. There is nothing you're hiding right now that won't be known by everybody at some point in time. "Yeah, I'm just going to take it to the grave." That's pretty not smart because when you take it to the grave, everybody's going to see it. The only option you have for it not coming out is to repent of it and let it be covered in the blood of Jesus or everybody going to know. Nothing hidden will be concealed. You can't take it to your grave and they go, "Okay." You're not going to appear before Jesus like, "Don't tell anybody about that, Jesus. Let's that be our secret for all eternity." Not going to happen because you're talking to the God of truth. Don't conceal things. Don't worry about how people treat you. God sees it all.

If somebody's rude to you, betrays you, is insensitive towards you, ruthless towards you, who do you think's watching? Who do you think's going to hold him to account? Our God is. That's why you don't need to fight back. He's got this. Amen?

Congregation:

Amen.

Pastor Jeff:

But he says, "Here's what you need to do. What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops." He's like, "When I speak to you, you go public with it. If you know it's me, you go share it."

Now, we live in a world that sometimes doesn't mind that we share things like this in church. They just don't want to hear it in the marketplace. "Keep all that stuff to yourself." Jesus said, "No, no, no. If I'm telling you this, which means it's in the Word and you're hearing it proclaimed and God speaks to you, go tell everybody about it. What I'm telling you in private, you go make it public." There should be no doubt when you're with your Christian or non-Christian friends that you're a Christian, that you're living it out and who you serve. That you're not afraid to tell your friends Jesus Christ is Lord. You're not afraid to tell your coworkers, "For me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Jesus Christ is my God. That's who I am. That's who I'm serving." It's not secret. There are no Secret Service Christians in the kingdom. You don't just stay underground and one day come out. Everybody's going public with what they say they believe.

And then he says this. You say, "Well, it'd be impossible. If I share like that at school, I'll be kicked out of school. If I share like that in work, I might get fired." Here's what Jesus just says: "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

What's the worst thing that could possibly happen if you share the gospel? I mean the absolute worst thing? They kill you. You could die. Christian, listen to me. Is that a bad thing?

Congregation:

No.

Pastor Jeff:

I mean, how you die might be a bad thing. We agree with that. There can be some fear on that, but is dying in itself a bad thing? Let me tell you what happens to a Christian the moment they breathe their last, they go into glory. They see the Lord in all of his glory who says, "Well done, good and faithful servant." And they're with throngs of angels and beings and saints that have gone before them, worshiping the Lord, and they're so encaptured with everything going on, they're not having one thought about what's here. I know you love your spouse. I know you love your kids. I do too. I know you're living with great vision for the future. I am too, but I also know that the greatest day of my life and any Christian's life will be the day that we meet Jesus Christ face to face.

Congregation:

Amen.

Pastor Jeff:

That's why they told Paul. "Well, we'll just persecute you then." He's like, "Well, these light and momentary afflictions are nothing compared to the weight of the eternal glory that is to come." "Well, then Paul will kill you." "Well, for me to live is Christ and to die his gain." I mean, when you have a life where you don't live with self-preservation and you don't care what people do to you, you're just going to live for Jesus, you're a force to be reckoned with.

I mean, for us, we think there's so many things that get in the way and our busyness and mission or, "What would they do to me? What would they say to me? What would they say to my family? What would that look like for our reputation? What if I lose money and what if I lose a job and what if I lose friends? And what if I lose a career?" And I'm like, "So?" You don't want to get to heaven and say, "Well, I would've served you Jesus, but I was having too much fun on the earth." We're talking about eternity here. We're talking about life and death.

See, here's what happens to a non-Christian the moment that they die. I mean, it's one thing to go to a funeral. I've been to many, I've officiated several. When somebody that's in the casket or the urn knows the Lord, you know the moment they died, they went to be with Jesus. They're not even thinking about you. They're in bliss. They're happy. We still grieve, but we grieve as those that have hope. I mean, it's okay to grieve. You're going to lose somebody that you love on this side of heaven, but they know the Lord. It's okay. And it doesn't matter when somebody dies. I celebrated my nana's hundredth birthday this Wednesday. She's living at home by herself. Oh Lord, give me those genes. But at some point she's going to die. And there won't come a moment were like, "Okay, now's the time and it'll be totally..." No, miss her, but if you have a Christian nana, then she goes to heaven and you'll see her again. Still grieve, still grieve the loss, but you'll see them again.

Go to a non-Christian funeral sometime. It'll break your heart because there's words that get shared and there's testimonies of people talking about what a great person they were and we partied here and we did this. You know there's no talk about Jesus and you know the moment they died, they stood before the Lord and he said, "Depart from me you worker of iniquity for I never knew you," and cast them into utter darkness. And no matter how many soothing words somebody can say like, "We all know that he is in glory now. We all know she's in..." No, they're not. They're in hell. And if they could come back they would tell you, the only way to heaven is Jesus and you need to repent. So repent.

That's why I preach the gospel every week, because if you die at BRAVE Church, I don't want it to ever be said, "I didn't know." I want it to be said you had the opportunity. You chose not to. Because I would want every single person here to have repented and trusted Jesus Christ because I care about you that much. This is what Jesus is saying. Don't let anything get in the way of the mission. Don't let trouble, be publicly outspoken. Don't fear them. Why? "Because I care for you," he says.

He says in verse 29, "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father?" He said, "Every time a sparrow dies, I attend the funeral." Throughout our country today, I'm sure there have been sparrows that have fallen to the ground somewhere, someplace where there are no human beings anywhere. And guess what? God was there and he watched. If he cares about the sparrow, how much more does he care about you?

And then he gives this somewhat comforting verse for some of us in verse 30, "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered." What's he saying? "I know everything about you. I care in every way for you. So don't fear. You're worth more than sparrows. If the sparrow falls and I go to their funeral, how much more do I care about you? I love you so much, I sent my Son to die for you. I love you so much, he rose from the dead. I love you so much, I've been screaming in your ear to come to me. I love you." That's God's heart for us.

So he says this, verse 32, "Therefore everyone who confesses me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven." What's that mean? Confess means to speak with your mouth.

In the 1st century, it was considered by the Romans that Caesar was Lord. If a Roman cohort came by and said, "Hail Caesar." You had to say, "Caesar is Lord, hail Caesar." But in Romans 10:9 it says, "But if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved." What's the context there? The context is Caesar is Lord. And Paul's like, "No, no, no, no. I just want to tell you something. If in the context where Caesar is Lord, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, even if they cut off your head but you've confessed that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, even though you die, you will be saved."

It's a hostile world. We live in a hostile world. I've been a Christian for 34 years. I've never seen a more hostile time towards Christianity in my life. People dancing around like devils thinking that we're devils and all we're trying to do is love people. That's what's going on. So he's telling them, be publicly outspoken for your faith. Don't just hold it in. Some of you are good at living your faith. Just don't speak your faith. Nobody would know why you do the things you do. Some of you are good at speaking your faith, but your actions aren't living out your faith that you say that you have. Both and are really important. Speak it and live it. Declare it, demonstrate it. Both equally important in the sight of God.

And then Jesus says this, "I'm telling you, don't fear, but do not think I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Jesus is the prince of peace. He will bring peace to every single heart that receives him as their Lord in their life. He'll bring peace in your heart. But until Jesus gets back and rights every single wrong, there won't be peace on earth. I mean, I've seen enough Miss America pageants. I don't watch him anymore, but everybody wants to have peace on earth. It's going to happen, but it won't happen until Jesus gets here the second time.

"I didn't come to bring peace. I came to bring a sword." A sword divides. "For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and man's enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."

God created the family. Family's important. We're called to love our spouses. We're called to love our kids. It is the unit that God uses to build, but here's what he says: "Don't love your family more than you love me. Love your family because you love me. Don't love them more." Some of us don't get involved in the mission because, "Well, here's where my spouse is." Or, "Here's where my kids are and here's what I..." Don't love your family more than you love Jesus. Don't preference your family more than you preference Jesus. Make Jesus Christ first place for all of it. That's what he says. That's what he's talking about. That's why he says there's going to be a divider for those that don't trust him.

And notice this. Jesus front loads his disciples with all sorts of information that we are afraid to front load people with when they're making a decision to follow Christ. See if any of you have used these next two verses when you've shared the gospel with somebody coming to Christ. "And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me."

Now, if you grew up at this time in history, you would know what crucifixion was because you would've seen it. Crucifixion was the death penalty reserved for the worst kind of criminals, the ones who had rebelled against Rome who were now forced to carry a cross all throughout the city to the place where they would be placed on it. And as they were carrying their cross, they were publicly demonstrating, "I was once antagonistic towards Rome. Now I'm submitting to Rome all the way to my death. And when they kill me, I totally deserve it."

Jesus said, "If you don't pick up your cross and follow me," meaning this. I one time rebelled against Jesus. I was one time living for myself, but now because of his death and resurrection, I've trusted him. I'm completely under his authority going wherever he wants all the way to my death. If he chooses to take me home today or in 50 years, it doesn't matter. I'm living for him and I'm going public making sure everybody knows that. Here's what Jesus said, "If you're not willing to do that, you're not even worthy of being my follower." When's the last time you heard that preached in church? "Well, I'm not ready for that kind of commitment yet." Well then you're not ready for Jesus because Jesus never lowered the bar. He always kept the bar here.

There was a time where he told his disciples in John chapter 6, "Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part of me." And from that time on, many of his followers no longer followed him. And he looks at the 12, and here's what he says: "You don't want to leave too, do you?" He doesn't say, "Wow, this is a hard teaching. I need to let this settle. I'll come back in a couple weeks. Don't leave guys. Stick with me." He's like, "You can go too." I am not lowering my standard of holiness. I am not lowering my call of discipleship. I am not lowering who I am. I am keeping it right here. And if you don't want a part of that, that's fine, but this is what I'm calling you to.

I'm afraid that in our culture we don't call people to that type of commitment. I'm afraid in our culture, if you come to church once or twice a month, we consider you all in. I'm afraid in our culture, it's just if we have good coffee and nice carpet and comfortable seats, which we don't have here, I'm sorry, but that's all we're going to call you to. Jesus is like, "No, we're calling you to a way higher level than that. We're calling you to serve for all eternity. We're calling you to serve all the way to your death. That's what I'm looking for." And who did he pick? He picked this ragtag group of guys because in the heart of God, he knew these guys will go all the way with me. I don't need their talent. I need their commitment. That's what he was saying. And they'll go and be publicly outspoken.

And notice what he says in verse 39. "He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for my sake will find it."

In our culture, we spend our entire life trying to find our life. What's the good life? What degree do I need? What college do I need to go to? What people do I need to be influenced by? What books do I need to read? What major do I need to have? What job do I need to take? What neighborhood do I need to live in? What house do I need to buy? What car do I need to drive? What does my bank account need to look like? How can I experience life to the full? How can I get the right job? How can I get the right spouse? How can I have the right number of kids? If I just get all that, then everything will be fine. And once I get all that and live my career and help a bunch of people, and then I get old and then I retire, and then I play golf for 10 or 15 to 20 years, and then I'm kind of tired of that, and then I'm about 85 to 90 years old, and now I got a little spare time. I'm willing to go all in with you, Jesus.

The reason I know that is because that's exactly the way I used to think. I'll give God everything. I'm just not giving him everything today. I'll give him everything tomorrow or the next day or when I get... If you find your life, you will lose your life. If this life for you is, "I found my life. This is the best ever. I got everything I ever want." Then you've lost everything. But if you'll live on mission for Jesus, even if you don't have anything else, you'll have everything.

The devil knows there's the greatest return on investment when you go all in with Jesus. The devil knows all your heart's desires will be fulfilled when you go all in with Jesus. What's holding you back? That's what he was telling his disciples. "If you're not willing to take up your cross and follow me, you're not worthy of me. If you go looking for your life, you'll lose it. But if you lose your life for my sake and say, 'Jesus, I'm all in with you,' that's where you find your life." He's saying, go public with it. Live out your identity.

Who are you identifying with? I'm identifying with Jesus. He's the King of Kings and he's the Lord of lords. And when I was born again by believing in him through repentance and faith, his Holy Spirit came to dwell in me. What I didn't realize at the time that I know now beyond measure is that everything that's true about Jesus is true about me because Jesus lives in me through His Holy Spirit. Which means I know that I am chosen and I'm loved, and I'm set apart and I'm holy, and I'm righteous, and I'm good. And not because of my behaviors and not because of who I see in the mirror. It's because of who I identify with and who owns me. And his name is Jesus.

Congregation:

That's right.

Pastor Jeff:

Amen. And that's how we live on mission. We live by our identity. We publicly are outspoken. And then Jesus gives us a clear warrant. Don't fear. You don't need to be afraid of anything. There's nothing the world can do to you. They can't do a thing to you. They can't touch you unless I give them permission. And even if they kill you, why would you even worry about that? That's the goal of your faith, is it not? To meet the Lord face-to-face.

And then he gives his final one. He not only puts them on mission and sends him into danger and then sends them to be publicly outspoken. He sends his disciples as ambassadors with a clear understanding that they represent him. Ambassadors. You know what an ambassador is? 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, "For we are his ambassadors as though God is making his appeal through us. We urge you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God."

An ambassador not only represents a nation or a group of people, he represents the leader himself. An ambassador from the United States doesn't represent the United States, he represents the President himself. An ambassador doesn't just represent the kingdom. The ambassador represents Jesus Christ himself. You've been sent on mission by the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And everywhere you go, you represent him. And how people treat you is how people are actually treating him.

Look at what he says. There's rewards for your service. He says, "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever in the name of a disciple gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward." He says, "When you go into these cities, how people respond to you is how they're responding to me. If you're a prophet and I've sent you and you're being prophetic, if they receive you, they're receiving me." He says this, "If you're righteous and living righteous and they receive your righteousness, they're receiving me. If they give you a cup of cold water..." Little ones is oftentimes referred to in Matthew's Gospel as disciples. "If they give a disciple one, they're not going to lose their reward. They're receiving me. They're giving me water."

Isn't it interesting when Saul was converted on the road to Damascus, one of the first questions Jesus has asked him is this, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" He's like, "Who are you Lord? I'm not persecuting you. I don't even know who you are." However you treat people in the church, is however you're treating Jesus. When people persecute you and malign you and say all sorts of false things about you, it's not you they're maligning. It's Jesus, provided that you're growing in your character and you don't have something for them to malign. But if you're living for Christ and people are going after you, they're actually going after Jesus.

He's telling them, "You go live as a prophet. You go live as a righteous person. You go live as a disciple. And how people treat you is how they're treating me." He says the same thing in Luke 10:16. I love this verse as a preacher. He says this, "The one who listens to you listens to me, and the one who rejects you rejects me; and he who rejects me rejects the one who sent me." Says this, "Jeff, if you're being faithful to the Word and people reject you for being faithful to the Word, they're not rejecting you. They're rejecting me," Jesus says, "and my Father who sent me." So don't worry about that. Don't worry about the response you're going to get from people.

We worry way too much about the response we're going to get from people, don't we? "Well, I'd share my faith, but I don't think they're going to like it. I'd share my faith. I'd preach, but I don't think they're going to..." Just go. Be on mission, go into danger, be publicly outspoken and be an ambassador because you represent the King every single place you go. Did you know that? Everywhere you go. Who you are, everywhere you go, what people see in you, you're representing the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. There's no higher calling that you can have. There's no higher calling that you can have. You're not just representing your workplace, you're not just representing your family. You're representing the King.

And notice what Jesus does after he sends them on mission, gives them all these instructions, which are pretty weighty, are they not? Notice in the first verse of chapter 11, when Jesus had finished giving the instructions to the 12, he departed from there. Every time Jesus gives the disciples instructions, what's he do? He leaves. He's setting a precedent for what's going to happen after he rises from the dead. What's he going to do once he dies and rises and everybody, all of his apostles know that he's the Lord? Is he going to hang out with them? No, just for a period of days, few weeks, and then he's going to ascend to heaven and what's going to happen? They're on their own again, but they're not on their own because Jesus said, "Never will I leave you and never will I forsake you." And he sends the Holy Spirit to be with them forever. Amen?

Congregation:

Amen.

Pastor Jeff:

Jesus is training us. Jesus is training you. Jesus is training me to do what? To go out in the world and make disciples. He's like, "Now you know what to do. Now go. Don't let anything hinder the mission. Don't let anything get in the way of the mission. Just continue to be on mission. Everywhere you go, you represent me. You're my ambassador. You're my daughter, you're my son, and you mean the world to me."

So the way I wanted to end today is by us taking communion because it's only through the death and the burial and resurrection of Jesus that we ever have unity to be united about our mission. It's through Christ's shed blood and his resurrection from the dead that we have hope in his name. So no matter where you are, if you want to begin to gather your elements, we're going to have a song sung over you. If you're in Westminster, Pastor Justin will come up after this singing this song. I'll come back up here. We'll take these together. But I want you to prepare your heart for taking the Lord Supper today. If you've repented of your sins and trusted Jesus, you're welcome to partake.

And as you hold these elements, you can sit, you can kneel, you can stand, you can worship, you can be in silence. But I want you to think about all the sin that Jesus Christ died for on the cross for you. That he loved you enough to stretch out his arms and give his very life so that you who were dead could be made alive in his name. And as you hear the words of this song sung over you, think about the name of Jesus and how powerful that name is. And the reason you're gathered here today is because there were 12 unlikely men who were discipled by Jesus. And that's why you're here. Because they put into practice what he showed them. Amen.

Father, in heaven, we give you all the glory, honor and praise for this day. Lord, we ask that you would move mightily during the taking of these elements. Lord, that we'd hold them, that we would ponder them, we would thank you for your shed blood and for giving your life. And Lord, that we would come take these together as a family. And Lord that you would send us out on mission. We give you all the praise in Jesus' name, amen.