Mission First: God’s Plan for Reaching Your World | Pastor Ricky Hemme

Mission First: God’s Plan for Reaching Your World – Matthew 10:1-15

Pastor Ricky Hemme — South Valley Community Church (Lemoore, CA)

“Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”” Matthew 9:37–38, ESV

1. Jesus calls people

“And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.” Matthew 10:1–4, ESV

The disciples were regular dudes!

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13, ESV

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,” Ephesians 4:11–12, ESV

“Leaders have become like personal trainers . . . They run on the treadmill while their trainees sit and marvel. Then they wonder why people aren’t developing.” – Francis Chan

2. Jesus’ mission for you is

“These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Matthew 10:5–7, ESV 

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”” Acts 1:8, ESV 

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16, ESV 

“To evangelize is to spread the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and that as the reigning Lord he now offers the forgiveness of sins and the liberating gifts of the Spirit to all who repent and believe . . . evangelism itself is the proclamation of the historical, biblical Christ as Savior and Lord, with a view to persuading people to come to him personally and so be reconciled to God.” – Lusanne Covenant

οἶκος – oikos 

• • house, household, extended household

3. Where Jesus , he provides

“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.” Matthew 10:8–15, ESV 

POWER!

“For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” Matthew 10:20, ESV 

Billy Graham said, “If Jesus is everything he claims to be, then it is possible you can become everything he wants you to be.” 

“Satan has a simple mission: to keep lost people lost. Among numerous strategies, one of his favorites is to keep Christians convinced that ministry must be left to professionals. But to reach the nearly seven billion people on the planet with the gospel, Christ intends to use all believers in the work. Satan attempts to convince believers that only exceptional people used in exceptional ways will accomplish God’s mission. He would love for us to think that only the elite of leadership can be used in God’s mission to save souls. But God’s mission is for all Christians… Extraordinary people for God are simply ordinary people who are willing to be used. — Ed Stetzer, Transformational Church

Reach your Oikos! 

Step 1: List 

Step 2: Pray

Step 3: Invest

Step 4: Invite

Step 5: Prepare.