Team

The missions of the King –– 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.” –– We are not called to ourselves.Jesus calls us to himself for His mission, not ours. After Jesus called us, he commissioned us not as a lone rangers, but as a team, as we can see in verse 7, after calling the twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two.What an example for us to follow. The Lord Jesus knew that we needed one another for the missions of the King. Do you ever wonder why He did that? If we look at the Old Testament in Genesis 2:18, 18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. Even nature was created by God and connected to one another. The words, ‘one another,’ are mentioned over fifty times in theNew Testament alone. As a team we can accomplish the missions of the King well.The New Testament illustrates teams in various ways. (We are the  body–Ephesians 1:22; 4:12,15,16; the building–Ephesians2:19-22; the bride–Ephesians 5:25-27,32 and the band of brethren–Ephesians 6:10-18). Teams are powerful and enable us to fulfill God’s plan and purpose for His mission. God wants to accomplish His work through teams and trusting Him wholeheartedly. You and I and team.

The message of the King –– 12 They went out and preached that people should repent. When Jesus sent outHis disciples He also gave them His message, not the disciples’ message nor our message. Why? Because our message can only inform people, but the message ofJesus can transform people’s lives (1 Peter 1:23). Why the message of Jesus? It is the Word of life (Philippians 2:16). It is the eternal word of God (1 Peter1:25). That message was entrusted by God himself to us (2 Corinthians 5:19) for studying (2 Timothy 2:15) and for sharing with people around the world (2Corinthians 5:20; Ezra 7:10). We are deeply and eternally grateful to God that the one message that we have is the true and trustworthy Word of our eternalGod.

The mercy of the King–– 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. Our God is a merciful God. Mercy is one of His characteristics. Jesus came to earth to reveal the characteristics of God the Father. People in His day had never seen God. When they had seenJesus, they had seen God. Jesus and God are one (John 10:30). Jesus also came to redeem the lost souls of men, including you and me. Jesus gave power and authority to the disciples in His day, and in our days as well, to cast out demons and to care for people who are sick. The mission of Jesus was to set the captives free (Luke 4:18-19). This is the same mission that Jesus wants us to carry to all generation of disciples. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (Matthew 5:7). We are blessed with the mercy of God upon our lives, so that we can be merciful to others. We are called to accomplish the mission of the King, to announce the message of the King, and to act out the mercy of the King toward people in all generations. This can be done through teams. Let us remind ourselves that through teams every plan and purpose of our God can be fulfilled. Together we can serve God’s plan and purpose in our generation for the kingdom and glory of our merciful and mighty God.