Expanding the Team: Luke 10:1-16
“1) Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. 2) And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3) Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” Luke 10:1-3
Jesus had a strategy for spreading the gospel. Seldom are people converted on the first hearing. It takes time and heard work to prepare the soil. So He sent many to prepare the soil and sow abundantly.
He had a choice, He could either do all the preaching and ministry Himself or He could expand His team. He opted to expand His team. He appointed 70 others to go before Him to every city and village where He was intending to go.
He sent them out in teams of two. Think about this, that’s 35 teams. If you add the original twelve disciples to that number, He had 41 active ministry teams out spreading the gospel and preparing the way for Him. He was most likely busy seven days a week traveling about and ministering to people in one fashion or another.
Can you imagine the impact? Momentum was building. The message was spreading. The story of Jesus was being proclaimed far and wide. This was not an obscure occurrence. Jesus started a movement!
But what was His motivation? Why work so hard? Why train and send so many workers?
The simple answer is that He loves people. He wanted everyone to hear the gospel message. He saw that the harvest was plentiful, but the workers were few. He saw every lost person as a prospect for salvation. He taught His followers to actively pray for more workers.
But serving Jesus is not easy. Ministering to lost and sinful people is challenging. It is like innocent lambs being sent to reach wolves. They can be mean and cruel. But the love of God, the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the gospel can tame ravenous wolves.
They also had the authority of Jesus to heal the sick and cast out demons. They watched God provide in miraculous ways. What they experienced deeply impacted them. You grow more by doing than sitting around as spectator.
His training workshop only took a few hours, the rest they learned on the job. Effective ministry is more caught than taught.
Most Christian’s already know everything they need to be fruitful and effective in ministry. What do they lack? Doing! They lack follow through with what they already know.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
Sent from my iPhone
“1) Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. 2) And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3) Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” Luke 10:1-3
Jesus had a strategy for spreading the gospel. Seldom are people converted on the first hearing. It takes time and heard work to prepare the soil. So He sent many to prepare the soil and sow abundantly.
He had a choice, He could either do all the preaching and ministry Himself or He could expand His team. He opted to expand His team. He appointed 70 others to go before Him to every city and village where He was intending to go.
He sent them out in teams of two. Think about this, that’s 35 teams. If you add the original twelve disciples to that number, He had 41 active ministry teams out spreading the gospel and preparing the way for Him. He was most likely busy seven days a week traveling about and ministering to people in one fashion or another.
Can you imagine the impact? Momentum was building. The message was spreading. The story of Jesus was being proclaimed far and wide. This was not an obscure occurrence. Jesus started a movement!
But what was His motivation? Why work so hard? Why train and send so many workers?
The simple answer is that He loves people. He wanted everyone to hear the gospel message. He saw that the harvest was plentiful, but the workers were few. He saw every lost person as a prospect for salvation. He taught His followers to actively pray for more workers.
But serving Jesus is not easy. Ministering to lost and sinful people is challenging. It is like innocent lambs being sent to reach wolves. They can be mean and cruel. But the love of God, the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the gospel can tame ravenous wolves.
They also had the authority of Jesus to heal the sick and cast out demons. They watched God provide in miraculous ways. What they experienced deeply impacted them. You grow more by doing than sitting around as spectator.
His training workshop only took a few hours, the rest they learned on the job. Effective ministry is more caught than taught.
Most Christian’s already know everything they need to be fruitful and effective in ministry. What do they lack? Doing! They lack follow through with what they already know.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
Sent from my iPhone
