Month: November 2024

Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date November 24, 2024
Text Philippians 4:1-7; I Peter 3:8-11
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians while he was in prison in Rome. It was a thank you letter for the offering gift that they sent to him with Epaphroditus (4:8). He has declared to them that he has all that he needs. He was allowed to receive such gifts because he was only under house arrest with an armed guard, but he lived in, probably a rented house. He had not yet been put in a 40 ft. deep dungeon. His overall tone in this book is one of joy. It is remarkable considering his circumstances, but this is the point. He wants the Philippian believers, and us, to rejoice no matter what hardship we may have to go through, no matter what suffering we might have to endure.

Phillippi was located on the northern edge of the Aegean Sea, in the province of Macedonia, which is present-day northern Greece. This church contributed to the missionary work of Paul when he was there, and it continued on even though he had been arrested.

It is not known who the “yokefellow” is. The old English word used in the K.J.V., simply means loyal partner or true teammate. It could have been Epaphroditus since he was the one who brought him their gift. How Paul also addresses a relational problem because he knows there can be no real peace or rejoicing unless there is unity and harmony in the church Paul might be sending him back with these words of pleading or begging that he encourage Euodia and Syntyche to settle their disagreement. These two ladies are leaders in the church. Unlike most Greek women who remained in the background and had little to do with public life, Macedonian women were in every way as active and involved as men. They were more like the position of women in the church and in our society today. Often times this is overlooked when trying to understand Paul’s admonishment to women in his writings.

Paul wants these women to be helped to settle their differences. They worked hard with Paul when he was there, to spread the Gospel. If this doesn’t happen it will effect the whole body of believers. Something to consider in any local church. Let’s not let disagreements stand between us. Let’s always settle our differences by talking about them rather than ignoring them. They won’t go away automatically.

We know that: Three kinds of peace are mentioned in the Bible. There is Peace with God that comes with our salvation (Rom. 5:1)

Then there is the Peace of God that comes with surrender (Phil. 4:7) in our text. This comes when we thank him for all that he has done.

The Peace on earth that is mentioned in Scripture will only come at Christ’s second coming (Isaiah 2:1-4)

Our focus today is on the Peace of God that comes in time of trouble.

Verse 6. Of course, this is easier said than done. For some it is part of their DNA so to speak; they just can’t help worrying. Usually they say, they are just “concerned” about things. This of course is legitimate, but we mustn’t allow our worry or concern, to dominate our lives and our thinking. Imagine never worrying about anything! It seems like an impossibility; we all have worries. For those who are still working like our adult children or grandchildren, there is always something to worry about. ‘Also in our homes and theirs. Then there are worries about grandkids or great-grandkids in school. We have a lot of things to worry about even if you are retired. But Paul’s advice is to turn our worries into prayers. The key is having a thankful heart.

SO WHY IS THANKSGIVING THE KEY TO PEACE?

First of all; THANKSGIVING CALLS FOR “LOOKING UP”

Storms in life may make giving thanks difficult. We all go through times of trouble (John 18:33). The Pilgrims endured many hardships, loneliness, sickness, and malnutrition, when they didn’t have enough food to eat, and nearly half died the first winter. A drought in summer caused them to “look up” to God. A gentle rain came in answer to prayer. A good harvest resulted in the first Thanksgiving.

Looking up to our God as our Helper In trying circumstances makes us thankful people.

Then: THANKSGIVING CALLS FOR “LOOKING AROUND”

We all have many blessings and ought to give thanks for them. Consider Psalm 103, the Psalm of thanksgiving. “Forget not all his benefits.” We sing the Hymn: “Count Your Blessings,” ——“Name them, one by one.” Those benefits and blessings include; sins forgiven, daily health, (even if we are not in complete good health), and He sustains us. Then he gives us food, family, and friends.

We ought to start each day, thankful for his many benefits.

Thankful that we can get out of bed and walk, even if it is with difficulty, and with pain. The benefits of God’s love and grace can be experienced each day.

The benefit of our salvation by faith, assures us of where we will spend eternity

We have the benefit of God’s Word the Bible, which gives us his instructions for faith and practice in our daily lives. We should thank him for the written Word, and that we are able to read it, even if for some, with difficulty, because of our eyes.

We have the privilege of prayer. We do not have to be anxious because prayer makes God’s blessings available. Thanksgiving adds expectation to prayer and allows faith to expect answers. This is when we begin to experience peace in difficult circumstances. Paul tells us that we should pray about everything. Nothing is too small of a concern for God.

In I Thess. 5:16 he says that we should be joyful always, pray continually,

GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Now God’s peace is different from the world’s peace. In John 14:27, Jesus said he gives peace, but not as the world gives. For instance true peace is not found in positive thinking, in the absence of conflict, or in good feelings. True peace comes from knowing that God is in control. Our citizenship in Christ’s Kingdom is sure, our destiny is set, and we can have victory over sin. Let God’s peace guard your heart against anxiety.

We read in I Peter 3:8-11, that we are to live in harmony with one another, and that we must seek peace and pursue it. This is why Paul began that fourth chapter in Philippians by encouraging two women to reconcile their differences.

Finally: THANKSGIVING CALLS FOR “LOOKING AHEAD.”

Doubt cringes and cowers, afraid of what tomorrow may bring. Faith welcomes the future with optimism, expecting the best. Paul reveals what a thankful heart contains. It contains things that are true, whatever is noble and honest, right and just, pure, lovely, good, admirable, and virtuous. (verse 8). We are to think about things that are excellent or praiseworthy. What we put into our minds determines what comes out in our words and actions. Paul tells us to program our minds with thoughts that are honorable. Do you have problems with impure thoughts and daydreams? Examine what you are putting into your mind. Replace harmful input with wholesome material. Above all, read God’s Word and pray. Ask god to help you focus your mind on what is good and pure. It takes practice, but I can be done.

Thanksgiving allows us to believe the best is yet to come.

Is your mind a place for thankful thoughts to dwell, or is it a place where all you think about are impure thoughts, or at the very least, negative dissatisfied thoughts, that end up being expressed? Even gossiped about, if it involves other people. Let’s be careful what we talk about, especially when it involves other people. Maybe your mother or grandmother, were like mine, and said; “If you can’t say anything good about someone, don’t say anything at all!” too often we just say whatever we think. (Sometimes that may be a good thing, )but usually we not only need not say it, but change the way we think about it. It is very hard to be negative, criticize, and be dissatisfied if we are praying, thanking God for what he has done for us, and offering praise IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES —-Like Paul said in I Thessalonians 5:16. But he also said in Ephesians 5:20 that we should always be giving thanks to God the Father FOR ALL THINGS. This is very hard to do and it doesn’t make sense to us. But think about the fact that we don’t have any trouble quoting Rom. 8:28: “All things work together for good to those who love God, and are called according to his purpose.” KJV. The NIV says that…all things God works for the good of those who love him and who have been called according to his purpose. This verse isn’t calling something that is bad, —good, but God will make it turn out good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. But too often we can’t imagine that we should thank God for something that is hard, or the pain that we have.

You may remember when I have mentioned before about an army chaplain named Merlin Carothers. He wrote the little book “From Prison to Praise.” It tells the remarkable story of how he went from being jailed as a young person, to becoming an army chaplain, and learning how to praise the Lord IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, THANKING HIM FOR ALL THINGS, and teaching others to do the same. He has also written another book entitled “Answers to Praise” where he recounts many testimonies of God touching lives and healing people who learned to thank the Lord for infirmities and praise him even in hardship. One such story came from a woman who through his preaching in a Methodist church heard about praising God even for sickness or pain. She didn’t think she would ever be able to do such a thing. She was getting on in years and normally she was not surprised when she had aches and pains. But then she began having back pain that just wouldn’t quit. It grew more and more painful. She was awakened at night with the pain, and the discomfort increased to the point that she could hardly get out of bed in the morning. She confessed that her fears grew as she worried about being completely incapacitated by the pain. She went to several doctors but didn’t receive any help. One morning when she had the worst pain that she ever had, the thought came to her that she had never once been thankful to God for the experience he was allowing, nor had she tried to believe that he would teach her something wonderful out of this. So she began praising god and thanking him for the physical pain she was enduring. This didn’t help a bit she said. Now you might be thinking that—see all that praise stuff just doesn’t work!—It’s true that she still had difficulty getting out of bed. She moved around for a little while and then felt that she had to sit down.

While sitting in a chair in her living room, she—

meditated on thanking and praising God Now I don’t want you to miss this. She specifically took time to pray and meditate on the Lord. It seemed like she was filled with a deep sense of praise to God. She felt praise for God that she had never experienced before. She felt a kind of joy coming up inside of her. She ended up actually being thankful for the pain she had. . When she realized that it was time for her to get up and get something done, she thought, “I’m going to believe that God will just bless and help me all day long and teach me whatever it is he wants me to learn.:; She said, when she got out of her chair and started to move around, she was suddenly aware that she had no pain. She moved her arms and legs and then bent over. To her astonishment, the pain was gone. She had never seen a miracle of any kind in her life. She thanked God for letting her see his wonderful power. She said she may have pains iin the future, but now she knows for sure that God uses everything and will bless us as we trust him.

Merlin Carothers commented on her testimony and wrote back to her, that not everyone is so completely and dramatically relieved of pain as she was. But God has his perfect plan for each one of us. In this women’s case, she shares with people in her group the joy of what had happened in her life.

As God touches us, when we learn to thank and praise him for what we are experiencing; and for what he allows us to go through; others will be encouraged to pray and thank him for their difficulties too. If people have never experienced the Lord’s healing power or his blessing on their lives, they will then be interested in learning for themselves what God can do for them. Each of us plays a small part in God’s glorious plan to reveal his love for all people. You will be surprised at the overwhelming peace that comes when we truly are thankful

Paul concludes this section by saying in verse 9—-“Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.” You see, it is not enough to hear or read the Word of God or even to know it well, we must also put it into practice. How easy it is to listen to a sermon and forget what the preacher said (especially when I preach). How easy it is to read the Bible and not think about how to live differently. /How easy it is to discuss what a passage means and not live out that meaning. Exposure to God’s word is not enough, it must lead to obedience. God’s faithfulness is great, so we can surely be faithful to put our trust in him.

Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date November 17, 2024
Text Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

Have you ever heard someone say that? Have you ever said that or thought that yourself? Sometimes no matter how much we do, how much we say, how much we pay, how much we save, how much we exercise, etc., it just never seems to be enough. Jesus knows how we feel because he went through the same thing here on earth.

Jesus wasn’t the first person that the Pharisees didn’t accept. Like Jesus, John the Baptist was seen as someone other than who he really was. He was seen as a demon-possessed lunatic, and Jesus was seen as a glutton. John’s austerity in dress and food underlined the severity of his message. Jesus, on the other hand, went to where the people were, a participant in their condition, if not their sin, where the joys and sorrows played out in families, towns and cities. The people of John’s and Jesus’ time rejected God by rejecting his messengers; neither approach pleased them, because neither man fit into their mold, so they lodged contradictory complaints. In both cases, the wisdom of the courses of action of both men was proved only by the results. In other words, the ends justified the means. We often want the Jesus we want, when we want him. The people in Jesus’ time were the same, and he was saddened. The problem for those who reject Jesus is their awareness that taking John the Baptist and Jesus seriously requires people to change their lives.

The religious elite did not accept John the Baptist or Jesus————-the poor did. The same situation exists today. There are those who think that they are so high in society that they don’t need God. Then there are those who are so downtrodden and suppressed by society that they eagerly accept Jesus’ teachings.

There is an interesting contrast in Matthew 11:16-19,25-30. Jesus is contrasting Man’s Law with God’s Law.

Man’s Law was formed as the result of the Ten Commandments. God gave the Ten Commandments to the Jewish people to guide them through the moral traps of life, but well-intentioned people added to the law until it became its own trap. Religious professionals pride themselves on their observance of the law, but they couldn’t even avoid breaking the law. The common person did not stand a chance of perfectly observing the law. All of these rules and regulations were a huge burden on the people. The law was a dispensation of terror.

Jesus came along and said to the Pharisees, “Look, guys-you don’t need all of these man-made rules and regulations. You don’t need rules stating how far a person can walk on the Sabbath, or how clean they have to be in order to be part of society, or what type of work people can do on the Sabbath. That is not the intention of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are rules for how people are to live their lives and treat their fellow man. They are not meant to be a spiritual strait-jacket, but you, with your rules and regulations and determination to obey the letter of the Ten Commandments, have forgotten about the spirit of the Ten Commandments.” People might learn religious rules, customs, and teachings, but our main source for understanding God’s ways doesn’t come from that knowledge. It comes from receiving Jesus and his message. In fact, strict observance of the law can make us blind to the Spirit’s freedom Jesus is offering us.

Jesus went a step further and replaced all of these laws with the two Great Commandments God and love people. He told the Pharisees, “Look at how much easier and less demanding the Great Commandments are. They are a common-sense approach to living the life God wants us to live. If people obey these two commandments, they will form the basis for how people live their lives. “

Most of you have not seen oxen that are harnessed together by a yoke, but perhaps you have seen pictures of them. They share the burden and work together so that one doesn’t have to do all of the work or shoulder the entire burden. Oxen are trained for a specific position in the yoke, so when they are put in another position, they refuse to move, much like the Pharisees refused to change for Jesus or John the Baptist.

When Jesus tells us to take his yoke, he is inviting us to submit to his authority. If we submit to him, he will give us rest by sharing our burdens. We all need rest. That’s why God created the Sabbath. A Sabbath changes the pace of our lives. It helps us restore our strength and helps us be still. It helps us to let go of our grip on our lives. Jesus is asking us to let him be in control of our lives. He wants to guide and direct our lives. As the old saying goes, he wants us to “let go and let God”.

Jesus lived enough days on this earth to experience weariness-in body, mind, spirit and heart. Weariness can come in all forms and can last a long time. Some weariness moves into depression and despair. Thus, for Jesus to extend rest for the weary, he is giving hope to those who are burdened. That hope is named-Jesus.

Jesus promises to give us rest when we find our rest in him. He is our burden-bearer. When we turn the circumstances of our lives over to him, he lifts us up and infuses our hearts with fresh hope and wisdom. Some situations are just too difficult for us to handle, but nothing is too great for God. In the words of the hymn:

What a friend we have in Jesus All our sins and griefs to bear

What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer

He promises to refresh our weary souls when we cry out to him.

In order to understand God, we have to get rid of our rules, intellect, and common sense. We have to become spiritually helpless like children and come to him with curiosity, naïveté, and trust. We have to come to him in simple, child-like faith. This isn’t easy to do, especially because as we move from childhood into adulthood, we are often jaded or shaped by our experiences.

A child young enough not to have been taught otherwise knows how much he or she needs help. A child innocent enough not to be caught up in the world’s deception knows that he or she is loved just as they are. In fact, it is not even a matter of knowing the infant in our arms, it is a matter of experiencing love, and being held by love.

The Pharisees’ rules were a burden in their time, just like man’s rules can be in our time, especially when dealing with the government. If you don’t have every single “I” dotted and every single “T” crossed, dealing with the government can be a heavy burden. Not walking in step with the establishment is hard work and can be dangerous, but it can be done and has been done in the past by people such as Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mother Teresa.

The world’s way of lightening burdens has always involved transferring the burden to the scapegoat, usually the poor. God hears our cries and can understand the difference between cries of pain, hurt, anger, frustration, joy, and deep need. He longs to hold us while we cry, not saying anything, but showing immeasurable love through his powerful embrace. God will bring strength out of brokenness. He releases us from the bondage of having to prove our worth. We can live freely and lightly. He will never give us more than we can bear.

Most of us go through life with burdens that weigh heavily on us. Like potatoes in a pressure cooker, we know the meaning of stress. Regardless of what our burdens are, Jesus wants to come alongside us and heal us. He wants to properly clean the wounds of our lives. It will take time and it won’t be easy, but if we keep ourselves surrounded by Jesus, the source of life, we will be healed. And when we are healed, we will experience the love, peace, hope, and rest that Jesus can bring.

It is easy for us to get caught up in a “hurry-worry syndrome”-doing too much, driving too fast, eating too quickly, and juggling too many things. It all seems important at the moment, but later we realize that much was done at the expense of cultivating deeper and meaningful relationships with those we love the most. Being held hostage by the tyranny of the urgent is not how we were meant to live.

A sermon preached on Matthew 11:28-30 actually changed lives in a small rural community where two leaders of the congregation were quarreling bitterly over a decision about which they disagreed. When the pastor pronounced the benediction and left the sanctuary at the end of the service, he wondered why the congregation did not follow him to the door where he normally greeted them. He returned to the sanctuary and found the two leaders embracing each other in tears while the rest of the congregation stood around in amazement.

Jesus’ easy yoke is not an invitation to an easy, carefree life, but it is deliverance from the man-made burdens of religion. These burdens are the guilt of sin and its side effects such as depression, anxiety, fear and doubt. If we accept the rest Jesus offers, all we have to do is accept his teachings as well as the obligations he will lay upon us. He invites us to trust only in him and then treat each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.

As we come together to worship every week;

We admit our hunger for God. God sees our emptiness.

He feeds us the choicest food, the flesh and blood of Jesus

who invites us today to take his yoke upon us and learn from him

for he is meek and humble of heart.

We can let go of the heavy yokes of this world and

take up the blessed yoke that is no burden,

the yoke of acceptance of our own beloved self in Christ,

the yoke of acceptance of the beloved nature of other weary, heavy-laden

ones still striving all around us.

Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date November 10, 2024
Text Matthew 10:17-42
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date November 3, 2024
Text Matthew 10:1-16
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

Last week we used Matthew 7 :13-14 as one of the scriptures about hell. Before that, we looked at Jesus confronting unclean elements of society by invoking the power of the new kingdom he was introducing. He cleansed a leper in 8:3, expelled many unclean spirits in verse 16, expelled some exceedingly violent demons in 32, and healed a paralytic in 9:6. Chapter 9 ended with Jesus calling His disciples to work in the harvest field that he said was already ripe and needing many workers. Before the ascension at the end of chapter 28, verse 19 we find Jesus commissioning them to make disciples of all nations.

JESUS GIVES HIS DISCIPLES THE SAME AUTORITY THAT HE EXERCISED

Today chapter 10 begins with Jesus summoning his twelve disciples and giving them the same authority that he exercised to heal people of their diseases and to cast out unclean spirits. These men were ordinary men and seem to have been relatively unknown and normal men. What set them apart from others was that Jesus specifically chose them (called them) for this apostolic ministry. They were to be his agents to introduce the message and power of the kingdom.

In verse 5 we read a rather curious command that Jesus gives them, “do not go among the gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans, go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: “The kingdom of heaven is near, Heal the sick raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. “Freely you have received, freely give.”

OUR GIVING IN SERVICE IS TO BE LIKE GOD’S GIVING TO US.

  Salvation is a free gift.  Healing is a free gift. Deliverance is a free gift.

Jesus probably said this because he knew the temptation of man to want to profit from supernatural power. Simon the magician in Acts 8:18-19 thought he could profit from the power of God. He offered money for the supernatural power that he saw, and Peter said to him, “may you die along with your money.”

Our service for the Kingdom is only to be for the sake of those we serve, expecting nothing in return. It also of course then, is serving and glorifying the Lord too, because even giving a cup of cold water in His name, is like we are giving it to Him. The world’s way is; don’t do anything for anyone unless you are paid for it. Unions particularly brought this idea into our lives. Unions were important when they first began at the beginning of the industrial revolution because owners took advantage of workers. But all during the 20th century they kept pushing for more money and less work. When I worked at the Orrville Body Co., I remember that if you needed a part or tool at the tool shop, you couldn’t just have someone handy to pick it up. Only the people who used it had to pick it up. If you weren’t assigned a particular job, you weren’t allowed to do it. You may get paid to stand around and do nothing, rather than do a job that you weren’t specifically hired to do. The Kingdom way is to do whatever the master tells you to do. We are to serve and glorify Him at all times. Doing whatever he gives us to do.

So Jesus’ concern is that the Jews be given the first opportunity to hear the gospel. His last instruction to them in Acts 1:8 gave an order of priority. Jerusalem first, then Judea, Samaria, and then the remotest parts of the earth.

There were basically:

THREE REASONS WHY THEY WERE TOLD NOT TO GO TO ANYONE BUT THE JEWS

1 . First, several Old Testament passages indicate that God raised up Israel to be a priest to the other nations who would also become part of God’s kingdom. Gen 12:3says, I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. Exodus 19:6. In Psalm 2:8 we read; “Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. Isaish 9:1-2…there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future, he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the sea, along the Jordan. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light on those living in the land of the shadow of death. A light has dawned in Isaiah 49:6…he says; It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. It will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth. Jonah 4:11. Nineveh has more than 20,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?

By taking the message of the kingdom first to the Jews, Jesus was deliberately preparing the nation of priests so that their ministry to the Gentiles could be full.

2 Secondly up to this point the disciples had no experience in cross-cultural ministry. As typical Jews of their day, their cultural experience was homogeneous. Not only did their religious scruples separate them from the Gentiles, but their understanding of the Gentile mind was also quite limited. That cross-cultural ministry would be left to a man like Paul, who would come along later, a man with the life and background who could communicate to the Gentiles.

3 Also a further reason for this limited ministry was simply that with such a small force of workers, it was eminently practical to concentrate the ministry on a rather small area.

Only when Galilee was successfully evangelized with the gospel would Jesus have an adequate foundation for pursuing other areas. ‘

We know that the gospel did spread into Samaria and Judea to the south of Galilee. Decapolis on the east and Syria on the northeast. And then after the earthly life of Jesus, the apostles continued to take the gospel further to the south in North Africa, to the far east all the way to India and perhaps China, and to the north and west into Asia Minor, Greece, and all of Europe.

A practical word in limitation of ministry given by Jesus is that if we can’t do it at home we have no business trying to export it. This is why many mission boards require a period of effective home service as an internship before allowing missionary candidates to go overseas. I remember when I was teaching Church Growth at Nyack College (NY) in 1994, there was a young seminary student who felt called to work with Jewish people in Israel when he graduated, but wouldn’t do anything to minister to the Jewish people in New York City, (Where there is a higher concentration of Jews than anywhere else, outside of Israel) He said that while he was in school, he just didn’t have time. Perhaps it wasn’t his fault. His professors didn’t see the value of involving students in ministry while they were learning. This sometimes is the problem with “academia”.: schools of higher learning in other fields, outside of medicine, seem to expect you to get the theory and then try to put it into practice. Jesus gave the best training. For three years the disciples got his teaching, and every day they saw him put it into practice, and they helped him do it, and then he sent them out.

Today there are those who accept the complete authority that was given to the disciples, and others who believe that authority was given only for that time, when the gospel of the kingdom was first being preached. Now we have the written word of God. They believe that we have the authority to proclaim the gospel of salvation, but not to do the things that Jesus sent the 12 out to do—He told them to heal the sick raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, and drive out demons.

It does seem that we do not have the same frequency of seeing the signs and wonders that the apostles did, but we certainly still do see them today, especially in other parts of the world. It is astonishing for me to hear a “cessationist”: (a theological position that states that all miracles ceased at the end of the first century) make the statement that he or she has never seen a legitimate healing or miracle take place today. They just haven’t been in the right place at the right time, and of course, because of their lack of faith, they haven’t seen God work in this way. The truth of the matter is, that there are millions of people all over the world who see little miracles happening all the time, but also there are unexplainable Biblical proportions miracles happening too. Smith Wigglesworth in England at the beginning of the last century saw people raised from the dead, including his wife. My grandmother was pronounced dead for a few minutes as my family was praying (I hadn’t been born yet) and she came back to life. The most astounding account happened in Nigeria when Pastor Daniel Ekechukwa was raised from the dead after an accident near the town of Onitsha on November 30, 2001. He was dead for 3 days. His body was embalmed and was in a casket. His wife had heard about the ministry of a German Evangelist named Reinhart Bohnke who held massive meetings of over 100,000 people where miracles were taking place. She had the body of her husband taken there because God had told her that He would raise him back to life. and after Bohnke laid his hands on the casket and prayed the man sat up climbed out of the casket and sat on the platform. You can imagine the reaction of the crowd. He testifies and preaches about God’s power today. You never hear about this kind of thing in the Western Media, because they don’t know what to do with it.

There is an actual video though of this event. The fact that people still don’t believe, testifies to the words in Luke 16:31, before Jesus was crucified and rose again, we read about the rich man and Lazarus that we talked about last week. Where Abraham told the rich man in hell, that “people have Moses and the Prophets, and if they won’t listen to them, even if someone comes back from the dead they won’t listen.”

The occurrence of a miracle was considered by the Jews to be a sign that God was sanctioning the activity of the agent of the miracles. Thus, Jesus used miracles in the promotion of his spiritual kingdom. When he left Earth only a small body of Jews believed that he still lived and that the Kingdom would proceed. The best proof of his resurrection, the best apologetic to convince the Jews of Jesus’ Messiahship had to be the continuation of the miracles in his name; but this was not to be a substitute for saving faith but a catalyst for it. If there is an infrequency today of the kind of signs and miracles we see in the New Testament it is mostly because of our lack of faith, in certain segments of the Church. Nevertheless, it is true that they are done more discriminately today as sheer grace on God’s part The individual, (Jesus’; love and compassion for individuals), not the kingdom as such, is the focus of today’s miracles. And don’t forget that the ultimate healing takes place when we go to meet Jesus and receive our spiritually perfect bodies.

In the next section, beginning with verse 9 we see that they should not seek to profit financially by their ministry, but were told to accept the support and hospitality of the people to whom they ministered. They were told to travel lightly and to seek to bring, and be a blessing wherever they went. On the other hand, when they were not welcomed, they were not to remain in those places that withheld hospitality but were merely to “shake the dust off their feet” in protest against that house or city.

Jesus is instructing them not to try to argue anyone into the kingdom. Instead, he wanted them just to announce the presence of the kingdom and keep moving on with the message. Those cities that refused the message about the kingdom, unfortunately, would suffer more than the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah throughout scripture represent exceeding wickedness because they were cities that were decisively judged by God not only for their exceeding immorality and wickedness but also for their lack of hospitality to the people and message of God. Similarly, cities that blatantly rejected the announcement of the coming kingdom would experience harsh judgment too.

There is also the idea in this idiom, something important fo the disciples themselves. This ancient Eastern expression means to shake off the animosity and bitter feelings which arose between another and you as you leave, so that you may go on your way with your heart full of peace and joy, as a godly person should. You must never take with you the “dust of hatred and resentment”, shake it off and leave it behind so you may continue with a pure heart.

Look now at verse 16. Why would anyone send sheep into a pack of wolves? Jesus sent them out knowing that some people would act like wolves if sheep were present. They would be attacked. He did this to rescue the other sheep (9:36). They were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. But he also told them not to be like typical sheep. They were to be “shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” We know that sheep could be described as innocent, but certainly not shrewd. In the next section verses 17-20, we see the description of the shrewdness that Jesus had in mind. The disciples were to be aware of the tactics of their enemies. They would be persecuted.

No matter how we are received our task is to share the gospel of the kingdom with others. Jesus is pressing us into this kind of service, just as much as he did the disciples. What is so wonderful is, we have the same power and authority that they had.

When Jesus ate the “last supper’ with his disciples, he told them that when they took the meal they should do it in remembrance of him. Remember all that he taught them. Remember the authority he gave them. Remember all the miracles that they saw take place. Oh how much we should remember about who Jesus is. He is our Savior, Our Sanctifier, Our Healer, and our Coming King!