Advancing the Kingdom

Sermon from CCM:Kingsway

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LISTEN

This sermon was preached by Rich Balmforth at the CCM Kingsway site of Christ Church Manchester on Sunday 19th May 2019.

SERIES

 

This message was part of the ‘SERIES NAME’ series, preached at Christ Church Manchester’s church in Burnage in EARLY/MID/LATE YEAR. The full series included the following sermons:

BIBLE VERSES

This sermon was based on Mark 6:1-30.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

1He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? 3Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” 5And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6And he marveled because of their unbelief.

And he went about among the villages teaching.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

7And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. 10And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

The Death of John the Baptist

14King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” 17For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. 18For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.

21But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” 23And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

30The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.

KEY POINTS

Appointed to be With Jesus

  • The intention Jesus had for the disciples, was always to send them out to preach and cast out demons. To advance his kingdom. It is not until 3 chapters, numerous miracles and impartation of wisdom and teaching, that we see the apostles are first commissioned to carry out the task that Jesus set them apart for.

  • This is because they first needed to spend time with Jesus. This is the starting point of any missional outlook that we have. We must first spend time with Jesus, being prepared and shaped for the plans that he has ahead for us. Why? Because even Jesus retreated to be with the Father whilst he was on earth and none of us are perfect and sinless, like he was.

  • If you’re hear this morning and feel that God can’t use you because of who you are or what you have done, rest assured, God can and does use everybody. Going back to the disciples, they spent time with Jesus, learning from Him, watching him perform miracles and gain an understanding that He is good. Spending time with Jesus is the only way they could prepare for such things; it is the only way today we can prepare for such things.

Sent with Nothing and Everything

  • Jesus, told the disciples to take nothing with them apart from a staff, sandals and one tunic. So why did Jesus tell them to take so little with them? The reason that they were sent with, so little was to allow them to grow a deeper dependence and reliance on God. All these people had given up so much to follow and to be with Jesus, but now they were going out without Him and they needed to trust that He would provide for them even in his physical absence.

  • ‘Only when we are in the most need of God’s power, wisdom, and grace in supporting the soul does it become evident that we can triumph under such pressures that are beyond our own strength to sustain.’ – John Newton

  • Although, the apostles were sent with minimal possessions materially, they were not sent empty handed. Jesus, when sending them out, gave them his authority. This authority and power that the apostles were given, is the same authority and power that we have been given today. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us that we are able to bring the kingdom of God into workplaces, family lives, neighbourhoods, the sports clubs and gyms that we attend. We can be a witness to the goodness of God wherever we go.

Stay and Invest

  • Seeing people come to acceptance and faith in Christ takes a long time. On some occasions, you get the miraculous on the spot conversions, such as the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus, but in the main most people will take weeks, months, years before they come to know Jesus as their saviour.

  • We can change the culture of the places that we go through this power, through being a person following the will of God and being obedient to him. This is why Jesus told the apostles that whenever you enter a house stay there until you depart from there. Stay and invest time with the people. Don’t just pop in and out but invest time. Where seeds have been planted, nurture and water them. This will and does take time. 

  • Also, Jesus tells the apostles to not feel dejected and down if people don’t receive the good news. He tells the apostles to shake the dust off their feet, in doing so shaking the rejection off and moving on to new ground. This is exactly what Jesus did when he was rejected at Nazareth. The people recognised his teaching was out of this world and that mighty works were being done through him, yet they could not see who he was but only his earthly family heritage. Jesus, marvelled at their unbelief and moved on among other villages.

The job is to Speak, not Save

  • We are not the ones responsible for saving souls but just for speaking the words and truth that have been given to us through the good news of Jesus Christ. It’s glorious that God chooses us to partner with Him in all that He is doing despite the fact he could do it all by himself.

  • The joy of doing mission with God is that he is with us. As I said, he chooses us to partner with us, not the other way round and this means that we know God is with us in what we do and frees us from the burden and responsibility of seeing results of what we do.

  • It might seem an obvious thing but living a mission-focussed life transforms the lives of those around you. It brings hope, peace, joy and comfort into situations where there were none. It brings a support network for people who may never have had one. It brings physical, emotional healing to people where pain has occurred. The apostles healed the sick and cast out unclean sprits. We can do the same today.

MORE SERMONS

 

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