Generosity and Ministry

Generosity: Studies in Luke PART 4
Rev. David Bisgrove
21 October 2012

Luke 9:49-61; 10:1-2
49"Master," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us."  50"Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for whoever is not against you is for you."

51As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.  52And he sent messengers on ahead who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem.  54When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord do you want us to call down fire down from heaven to destroy them?"  55But Jesus turned and rebuked them, 56and they went to another village.

57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."  58Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." 

59He said to another man, "Follow me."  But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."  60Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.  2He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

Life changing encounter with God means that there is no "My this...or that...", only His
Invest in God's mission and ministry.

PROMISE - v.51
--Jesus is on a very specific journey.
--Following Jesus will bring you to a new Jerusalem--a new promise of peace.
--Provides a contentment, joy, purpose and meaning to life.
--Private and public worship is the practical way to practice this.

PARTNERSHIP - v.10:1-2
--Celebrate and share the good news of God.
--Jesus and God sent us here not for ourselves but to spread His news.

PRIORITY - v.57-62
--Primary idea and priority should be to follow Jesus.
--Let the spiritual dead bury their own.
--Stop looking to jobs, money, love that you think are more significant than Jesus.
--Our souls are too great to be satisfied by things other than God.

PASSION
--Knowing the passion of Jesus is different than the way Elijah used to do it.
--No need to bring fire down on enemies.
--The fire of God's wrath falls on Jesus.
--When we see non-believers, we should weep and feel compassionate, not self-righteousness.