TOTALLY INADEQUATE
Opening Prayer
Jesus, I want to serve You, even if I don’t know all the steps. Show me Your way.
Read Mark 6:6b–13
6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.
8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Recall when you just started following Jesus, did you share the Good News of Jesus? Did you feel ready? How did God use you?Even though the 12 apostles still don’t altogether “get” His teaching or the source of His power, Jesus now sends them out to extend His work (7). Incredibly risky? Jesus Himself gives them authority over evil spirits – they’re only able because He enables them (13), not because they’ve passed their Grade 8 apostleship exam!
I was invited to preach my first sermon when I was about 17. It was in an informal service that a small team of us held at a retirement home. I felt totally inadequate. The sermon took me weeks to put together. I wrote it out word for word, and practiced it for days. I still have the sermon and it’s definitely – should I say? – not even average, and it’s far too long. Fortunately, most of the older people had nodded of before I got to the third paragraph! But the key thing is, someone trusted me to do it, and God did the rest.
Apply
It’s never too late to step out of our comfort zone, join a team, and tell people the Good News of Jesus. Ask your local church or an organization like Scripture Union to see how you can share the Gospel.
Closing prayer
God, I pray for those who don’t know You yet, that I might have the chance to share Your love with one of them today.
Book and Author Intros
Extras
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.