Thanks be to God for another opportunity to post the Weekend Sermon. I hope that all of you are having a good week, and I thank you for taking the time to read the sermon.
This has been a difficult week. We had a major winter storm in my area. We are recovering from that. There is supposed to be another winter storm this evening into tomorrow. Please pray that the weather will not be too bad. Also, please pray that my hands will stop hurting. They were doing better, but now they are doing poorly again. This morning, I could not fully close my right hand for almost one hour after I woke up. Thank you for your prayers.
Please pray for those in my area who are still without power due to the winter storm. Some have had no power for five days now.
Continue to pray for peace in the many troubled areas of this world. Pray for peace in Syria, Afghanistan, Libya and Yemen. Please pray that there will be an end to terrorist attacks as well.
Someone who I know online is very sick, and I would ask that you pray for her recovery. I also know someone online whose dog has passed away. Please pray for him as he is very sad.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Algeria and Mongolia. Pray that many will hear the message of the love of Jesus.
For the past couple of weeks, we have been in a series of messages about the ministry of Jesus. Today, I want us to focus our attention on the time that Jesus sent out His 12 disciples and later a group of 72 disciples to tell people about the good news.
Luke 9 tells us that one day, Jesus called the Twelve and sent them out from village to village to proclaim the good news that He had come. Jesus gave the Twelve power and authority to cast out demons and to perform works of healing. They were told not to take any extra provisions for their journey. The Twelve went out preaching the message of the good news of Jesus, and they performed miracles as a sign to the people.
According to Luke 10, Jesus sent His disciples out again. This time, He sent out 72 disciples in pairs. Their mission was to go from town to town to the places that Jesus was going to come and preach. Once again, those going on the mission were given the power to cast out demons and perform miracles. The 72 did as Jesus commanded, and returned and reported to Jesus that even the demons submitted at the name of Jesus.
I would like us to focus our attention on what Jesus said to the 72 that He sent out. Luke 10:2-3 states, "He told them, ' The harvest in plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among the wolves.'"
While He was on this earth, Jesus recognized the great spiritual need of the people. At one time, Jesus said that the people were like sheep without a shepherd. He wanted to make sure that as many people as possible were reached with the good news that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand.
Today, we have a situation where there are still so many people who need to hear the good news that Jesus loves them, and they can receive forgiveness of their sins. It is up to us to make sure that the message of the Lord Jesus is taken to as many people as possible.
If you count all of the people in the world that claim to be Christians, only about 30 percent of the people in the world are Christians. That means that about 70 percent of the people in this world do not have a relationship with Jesus. Many have never heard in a clear way who Jesus is and why He came to this earth.
If people are going to hear about the love of Jesus, it is up to all of us to be committed to sharing the love of Jesus. I believe that each of us knows someone who is not a believer in Jesus. We have the obligation to share the good news of Jesus' love with those who we know need to hear the message.
I want to try this year to tell more people about Jesus and His love than I have in the past. I hope that you will try to do the same thing.
Some may feel called to become a missionary and take the message of the Gospel to areas where there are not very many Christians. If the Lord Jesus is placing that call on your life, I pray that you will respond to what the Lord is calling you to do.
All of us can pray that the message of Jesus' love will reach others. Each week here on the blog I post the names of two countries where fewer than 50 percent of the people claim to be Christians. We can all pray that many in these nations will here the good news of the love of Jesus.
Each of us can find some way to tell others about what Jesus has done for us. I know that it can be intimidating to talk to people about Jesus. When I first started working in evangelistic ministry many years ago, I was very nervous. However, I have always felt the empowerment of the Holy Spirit whenever I start to tell someone about Jesus. I believe that if we make the effort to obey the Great Commission, the Lord will strengthen us as we endeavor to serve Him. I also believe that if the Lord is calling us to a specific ministry, He will provide the resources needed to accomplish the task.
So many people need to know who Jesus is and how He can change their lives. I hope that you will join with me in committing to tell more people about the love of Jesus this year.
Next week, I will post another message about Jesus. I am not sure yet if the sermon will be on Friday or Saturday as my work schedule is changing all the time. I will post the verses on Tuesday as the library is closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday. I hope to have a review on Wednesday. May God bless you all. Amen.
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