Go, Believing | Sunday, February 22, 2026

Amen. Praise the Lord. Good morning, Cross Connection. Thank you, Anthony and team. Good morning. You guys can have a seat. It is so good to see you all this morning. I appreciate that song reminding us of the faithfulness of the Lord and our need to trust in Him, which can be a challenge.

As the Scriptures say in Proverbs 3, "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart." That's hard. "Lean not on your own understanding." I am still trying to learn that one. "In all your ways, acknowledge Him." Again, these are important but challenging things to learn. "And then He will direct your path." I have had the privilege of seeing Him direct my path and watching Him direct the paths of others over the years, which has increased my faith over time.

We are going to be talking a little bit about that walk of faith this morning in Luke chapter 9. If you have your Bibles, you can go ahead and take them out. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and an usher will bring you one. We will be in the Gospel of Luke in just a few minutes.

As I was reading in this passage this week and thinking about the opening section of Luke chapter 9, I was confronted with a provocative thought. What if our American abundance—if we are honest, we do live in the midst of great abundance—is actually hindering our Christian mission? That is a challenging thought.

In the passage before us today, we see that the Twelve, the disciples of Jesus whose names we have in the Scriptures—Peter, James, John, Bartholomew, Thomas, Andrew, and so forth—are sent out by Jesus to do the work that He was doing, which they had been watching Him do prior to their initial commissioning. When He sends them out to the work, He sends them out with nothing. He intentionally commands them to take nothing with them for their journey. There were no extra sandals, no backup plan, and no financial reserves.

Jesus instructs His followers not to take a money bag with them. In this passage, they preach the gospel, the good news, and heal the sick everywhere they go. We see a contrast between the "no extras, go with nothing" commission that Jesus gave to His first followers and the church in America, especially in the last several generations.

In America, we have multi-million dollar buildings, sophisticated technology, and new innovations that are mind-bending and mind-blowing. We have trained professionals who do the work of the ministry and decades of accumulated resources. But what are the results? A great teacher and follower of God, A.W. Tozer, once said that if you had removed the Holy Spirit from the first-century church, at least 90% of what they were doing would have ceased. However, if you removed the Holy Spirit from the American church in the 20th or 21st century, hardly anything would change; it would just continue as usual.

This presents a challenging thought: What if our American abundance is actually hindering our Christian mission? It is worth considering. I am not suggesting, nor do I think Jesus is suggesting, that poverty is more spiritual than having much. However, I do believe that Jesus teaches a dependency that is essential to His mission. This dependency is upon Him and His Spirit. He intentionally designs this dependency into the mission He sends His disciples on in this passage, requiring them to rely completely upon Him.

Somewhere along the line, we have designed self-sufficiency into our mission, believing we have all the things we need. This is a challenging passage, but it is also an important one. Luke chapter 9, verses 1 through 11, corresponds with Matthew chapter 10. I would call this the First Commission, or perhaps the Lesser Commission, as you may have heard of the Great Commission in Matthew 28, where Jesus commands us to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. This passage represents the Lesser Commission, where Jesus speaks to His group of twelve and prepares to send them out. We will read it in just a moment. This is an important passage that I have taught many times.

Calvary Chapel Bible College in Marietta has been a significant part of my teaching journey. One of the classes I taught for a long time was church planting and pastoral ministry. I often referred to a particular passage because I believe that the call of God is very important in the work of the ministry. Additionally, I helped lead a church planting network for several years within Calvary Chapel. We attended different conferences and engaged with potential pastors and church planters. During these interactions, I frequently returned to this passage to encourage them in the work that God had called them to.

Matthew 10 and Luke 9, which contain the commission of the twelve, are important. However, I think the lead-in, the contextual background to the commission of the twelve, is also crucial. We find this in Matthew chapter 9. Let me read it to you. Matthew 9, verse 35 states, "Then Jesus went about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people."

It is essential to keep in mind that the twelve are with Jesus as He is doing this. He goes from town to village to city, and everywhere He goes, He is preaching and healing. But when He saw the multitudes, verse 36 tells us that Jesus was moved with compassion for them because they were scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Jesus' heart is moved by this. I would suggest to you that the same compassion that moved Jesus in His earthly ministry is what prompted Him to move from heaven to earth in incarnation. He saw that we were lost, and He said to His disciples, "Truly the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest that He would send out laborers into His harvest."

What follows this command to pray for laborers is significant. He sends those very same disciples, whom He instructed to pray, into the work. There is a remarkable transition here. Jesus calls His disciples in the next chapter, conferring upon them power and commissioning them for His task and mission. He commands them where to go, how to go, and what to do as they go.

I cannot emphasize this enough: evangelism, the work that every Christian is really called to do—to speak forth the good news of the gospel in this world—always begins with prayer. In Matthew 9, we are reminded to pray to the Lord of the harvest.

That He would send forth laborers into His harvest. It always begins with prayer, and salvation starts with a moving of the Holy Spirit, both on the evangelist, the person who's going, and on the lost. You see, God in His wisdom has chosen to use you and me to accomplish His task. Now, that might not seem very wise. It would be like asking, couldn't You come up with something better? You're apparently all-knowing and all-powerful, and You chose to use us. But He has chosen, in His wisdom, to use us.

Before the work of evangelism can take place, He has to move by His Spirit on the evangelists and on the lost. I think that’s what Jesus is doing in Matthew 9 when He says to His disciples, as He is moved with compassion, "Pray to the Lord of the harvest." But don't miss this: when you are compelled to pray, and maybe you've felt this before, have you ever had the thought, "That person I just talked to is so lost. They need Jesus"? If you've ever had that thought, I want to suggest that maybe that might be the stirring of the Spirit in your own heart.

What does Jesus say when He is moved with compassion for the lost? He says, "Pray." But don't miss this: when you're compelled to pray for God to send someone to reach another person, you may very possibly be praying for yourself. He said to His disciples, the twelve, "Pray that the Lord would send laborers into the harvest." And what does He do in the very next sentence? He calls the same group and says, "I'm sending you."

Maybe some of you are thinking, "I’m not praying now. Forget it. Not going to do it." So God is stirring you. If He is stirring you, He may be sending you. It begins with that stirring in the heart.

Now, I want to make it very clear: every single one of us, if you're a Christian today, we are all called to go. That doesn't mean that you will go far; you might just go next door. But we're all called to go. Wherever He calls, He is calling. That's what He does. The question is not, "Am I called?" The question, rather, is, "Am I hearing and heeding the call?"

With that in mind, would you take out your Bibles and stand with me? Open them to the Gospel of Luke. Turn to about the middle of your Bible. Start turning to the right. You'll find the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke. Luke chapter 9 is where we're going.

To read today, we turn to Luke 9, verse 1. Then He, Jesus, called His twelve disciples together. He gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money, and do not have two tunics apiece. Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there, depart. And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."

So they, His twelve disciples, departed and went through the towns, preaching the Gospel and healing everywhere. Now Herod, the Tetrarch, the ruler of the Jews at that time, heard of all that was done by Jesus. Herod was perplexed because it was said to him by some that John the Baptist had risen from the dead, by others that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again. Herod said, "John, I've beheaded! I killed that guy! But who is this of whom I hear such things?" So he sought to see Jesus.

Now, when the apostles had returned, they told Jesus all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city of Bethsaida. But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him. He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God and healed those who had need of healing.

Lord, I pray as we stand here this morning, Bibles open, hearts open, and ears open, that You would speak to us. Give us wisdom and insight, even if the wisdom and insight we receive from this passage might be challenging to us. Would You stir us by Your Spirit to seek to follow You, not just to be hearers of the Word, but doers of the Word also? Give us the ability and the power to walk in these things, to trust in You with all of our hearts, to lean not on our own understanding, and in all our ways to acknowledge You, knowing that You will direct our paths. We pray this in Jesus' name, and all those agreed said, "Amen."

You can be seated. The disciples, referred to here in this passage as the Twelve, have been with Jesus now for a while. They have been traveling with Him, and in Matthew chapter 9, we find the lead-in to this same passage corresponding in the Gospel of...

Matthew says that Jesus was going from town to village to city, preaching and healing, and the Twelve were with Jesus during this entire time. They had heard Jesus preach. They were there in what is called the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel, specifically in chapters 5 through 7, or in the Sermon on the Plain, which contains the same content but in a different location, in Luke chapter 6.

They were present when Jesus said, "You are the light of the world; you are the salt of the earth." They were there when He proclaimed, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." They heard Him give that great, difficult commandment: "Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you." They were the ones who heard Jesus warn, "Beware of false prophets that are like wolves in sheep's clothing." He instructed His disciples, in the context of being wary of wolves in sheep's clothing, to be as wise as serpents but as harmless and gentle as doves.

The Twelve not only heard Him preach these teachings, but they also witnessed Him perform miracles. In Luke's Gospel, chapter 7, they saw Jesus heal the centurion's servant. A Roman centurion sent a message to Jesus, saying, "Listen, one of my servants is sick and dying, and I want you to come to my house and heal him." The centurion added, "You don't even need to come; just speak the word, and he will be healed," and he was.

They had seen Jesus raise to life the widow's son in the city of Nain, as recorded in Luke chapter 7. In Luke chapter 8, which we studied just a couple of weeks ago, they witnessed Jesus heal the woman with the issue of blood, and then He healed and raised Jairus' daughter. They were with Him as He traveled through every city, preaching and bringing glad tidings of the kingdom while healing the sick.

They had been challenged by His parables, which we read through when studying Luke chapter 8. The Twelve saw Jesus still the storm when they were on the Sea of Galilee. They witnessed Him stand against Satan as He cast the demons into the swine.

However, there is a transition that takes place in Luke chapter 9, which will change the direction of the Gospel of Luke from this point on. Prior to this, chapters 1 through 8 have depicted the time when the disciples were following Jesus, hearing Him, and watching Him perform all these miracles and preach all these teachings. They were in a significant phase of their walk.

With Jesus, that's kind of like the lecture phase, the theory phase. I remember when my wife was going through nursing school for many years. Through different phases of nursing school, every single time it would begin with a lot of theory and very little practical clinical work. Then, over time, it would switch to where you were doing mostly clinical work. There’s a transition that happens in that space, and some of you have experienced this as well.

If you were an apprentice learning a trade, at first you learn just the theory of everything and how everything works. Then you start to do things, and over time the balance shifts. That’s what we’re seeing here in this passage. In this passage, they are moving from the theory phase; the theory instruction is over, and now they are moving to the lab, the open work phase, the clinical time. They are moving from watching and learning to doing, and this is a critical point in their apprenticeship.

I think that word is key because there’s been a lot of talk among Christians, even in some circles that I’m a part of. People I know have written some books about this whole idea of being an apprentice in the way of Jesus. It’s a way that some are reframing discipleship in this moment, and that’s all well and good. I think it’s fine to reframe the idea of discipleship into an apprenticeship, as long as you recognize that apprenticeship is for a purpose.

Some of you here today are tradesmen, and you went through the process of an apprenticeship. Apprentices, at some point, are supposed to become what? What’s the next step? Journeymen. You’re supposed to move from apprenticeship to journeyman. What’s so fascinating to me is that there’s this school of people I know who have written Christian books in the last few years about apprenticeship in the way of Jesus. They are very much into this monkish, get-off-into-the-desert-away-with-Jesus kind of thing.

It’s like, listen, the whole point of an apprenticeship is to become a worker. You don’t stay an apprentice indefinitely. At some point, you stop being an apprentice and you get to work, or you get what? Fired.

So, we’re going to notice a shift in this passage. You may have noticed it as I was reading through Luke 9:1-11. At the very beginning of the passage in Luke 9, Jesus says there to his disciples, and then it says that he called the twelve disciples. Note the word "disciples." It’s a Greek word, "methetes." It means a learner, but then when you skip...

Down to verse 10, it says, "And the apostles, when they returned." Do you see the shift? They're moving from "methetes," learners, or disciples, to "apostles," or "apostolos" in Greek. It means one sent with a message. At a certain point, an apprentice becomes a journeyman, and it's time to get to work and to move into what God has called you to do. You're going to see a shift in the way that Jesus deals with His apostles, His followers, in this passage.

If you're in Luke 9, skip down to verse 23. This is where we'll be in about ten weeks. Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me." Those are challenging words. Spoken to whom? No longer apprentices. If you want to follow Me, there is a cost. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake, the same will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory and in His Father's and of the Holy Angels.

Point number one this morning: Jesus does not save us to sit on the sidelines. That's a challenge. Christianity is not a spectator sport. What we have here in this passage is a simple four-step progression of Jesus moving disciples to apostles. It happens in four steps. He calls, as He called the twelve disciples. He confers power and authority upon them over demons and diseases in this passage. He commissions them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick, and then He commands them to take nothing for the journey.

Those four steps are what we're going to see here in this passage. We see it right there in verses 1-3. Luke 9:1 says, "Then He called His twelve disciples, and He gave, conferred upon them power and authority over demons and to cure diseases. He sent, He commissions them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick, and He said to them, 'Take nothing for your journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money, and do not have two tunics.'"

As I mentioned a few minutes ago, the call of the disciples follows Jesus's words at the end of Matthew's Gospel, which establishes the story. He says to the same group, "The harvest is truly plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest that He would send out laborers into the harvest."

I want you to notice what stirred Jesus to say to His followers, "Pray the Lord of the harvest." It was what came right before that. When He saw the multitudes, Jesus was moved with compassion because they were lost. I'm convinced, more and more after now 27 years in pastoral ministry, that God moves us into His work at the start, at the emotive and volitional level. He works in the area of desire and will, the things that we want to do.

To say it another way, when Jesus is moving us into His work, He stirs our souls first. He stirs in the area of desire and feeling, and then we begin to move practically. We take the steps into the work in the direction of obedience and His will. It is God's will to reach people. What was it that moved Jesus to come from heaven to earth in the incarnation? He was moved with compassion because He saw all the lostness of humanity, whom He created in His image to have a relationship with Him. He sees that we are lost and under the burden of sin and death, and He came to this world moved by compassion.

Even while He was here on earth in His earthly ministry, He was moved by compassion as He saw lost people. He had the will and the desire to reach people, and He has chosen to use us to do it. So, what does He need to do to use us? He needs to move us by desire. He begins to change our desires.

Let me say it like this: point number two, Jesus moves us into His mission by moving our hearts first. Of course, if you've been at Cross Connection Church for any length of time, you've heard me quote Philippians chapter 2, verses 12 and 13, my favorite verses in all the Bible. I quote them frequently. I've probably quoted them hundreds, if not thousands, of times.

A thousand times here at Cross Connection Church, we are reminded to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to desire and to do His good pleasure. This was a revolutionary passage for me early in my Christian walk, and I remember it quite well. I was about 16 years old, having grown up in this church, and I attended a youth camp up in the San Bernardino Mountains.

On the first day of the first youth camp I ever went to, in the summer of 1996, a Monday morning, a somewhat overweight older man, balding, got up there with a great booming voice. His name was Chuck Smith. He said, "Turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 1," and for the next hour, he spoke to us, 400 high school students in that room, about Ephesians chapter 1. He never opened his Bible or read from any notes; he just spoke from the Scriptures and challenged us. I was between 10th and 11th grade at the time.

He challenged us to dedicate our lives to the Lord and follow Him. I remember having this thought: if I do that, God will make me go to someplace I don't want to go, like Africa. It's always Africa. I remember thinking that, but later on, I began to discover that God moves us into His work by changing our desires. The New Living Translation says God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. He changes our desires.

I've taught that passage hundreds of times, and it's not clear in English, so I missed something until I was looking at it just this last week. In the original language, the Greek, there's a repeated root word here: ergon, which is translated as "work" in the Bible. Paul says, "Work, ergon, out your salvation, for God is working in you to work what pleases Him." Repeated words are important.

So what's happening? He says, "I want you to get to work. Work out your salvation, and I'm working in you to work what is pleasing to Me." So, who's working, me or God? Yes. They go together, and He gets us to work by changing our affections. The Psalms say, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

I believe that when you are seeking the Lord, He gives new desires into your heart that were not the desires you had before. The very first sign that you're a Christian is that your desire changes. The things you used to want to do, you don't want to do anymore, and it's kind of surprising sometimes. You might find yourself thinking, "I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to talk like that anymore. I don't want to look at that anymore. I don't want to think like that anymore. I don't want to live like that anymore." That new want—where did that come from?

Is God forcing you to do something you don't want to do? No. When I meet someone who tells me, "I believe the Lord's calling me to do this, but I don't want to do this," I tell them, "I don't think that's God. I think that's you." I don't think that's the Lord, and you should really question the wisdom of doing that thing if you are convinced that you have to do it. You might feel compelled to do it because you think it looks good for you, or you believe it makes you better with God, or whatever it is. Those are the wrong reasons. God moves us into His work by desire, and He changes our desires.

I remember going from the place of not wanting to go to Africa to, in 2009, meeting a friend named Luke Ryder. He said, "I want you to come with me to Africa." I replied, "I would love to. I want to go to Africa." I've been twice since then, and it's awesome. How does that happen? God moves us by desire. The desires radically change. He gives us new affections—otherworldly affections, the affections of Christ.

After a stirring of our desires and affections, we read that He called His twelve disciples together and gave them authority and power over all demons to cure diseases. This power and authority is over all demons and to cure diseases, which means that the disciples had power and authority.

Here's the challenge, especially in the last hundred and twenty or so years of Christianity in America, particularly following some of the revival movements that occurred in Southern California in the early part of the 20th century. There has been an enamoring, if you will, with power and authority over demons and illnesses. We need to understand what is actually meant when Jesus says that you have power and authority over demons and diseases. It refers to the authority and power that the ambassadors of the Kingdom of God have both in the heavenly and the earthly realms.

In the Great Commission, as I mentioned, this is kind of a lesser commission. In Matthew 28, verses 18 and 19, Jesus says, "All authority has been given to me in heaven, the heavenly realm, and on earth, the earthly realm. Therefore, go and make disciples." He is conferring power and authority in both the heavenly and the earthly realms. Demons represent the other realm, the heavenly realm, while diseases represent the earthly realm. We often become enamored with the idea that we can cast out demons and heal the sick, but that's not exactly what is going on in this passage. It is more about the kingdom ambassadors having kingdom authority in both realms.

We will see this again in Luke chapter 9, where Jesus speaks with his disciples—one of them specifically, but all of them collectively. He says, "I give to you the keys of the kingdom, and whatever you bind in heaven will be bound on earth, and whatever you loose in heaven will be loosed on earth." Why? Because you have authority in both the heavenly and the earthly realms. This is an amazing conferment of power and authority that comes from Jesus.

There is an acknowledgment that there is a division between the earthly and the heavenly realms, something that our culture in the 21st-century Western world has disregarded and rejected. However, this also acknowledges that the work of the kingdom of God is both earthly and spiritual. As a Christian, you have been called to engage in work in both the seen and the unseen realms. This is why it is a walk of faith, and this is why it is sometimes referred to as a spiritual battle.

It is essential to recognize that you cannot do the work of the kingdom with only earthly power. It requires heavenly authority, which comes only from God. This is why Jesus gives us power and authority. This is a radical power in both realms, and it is essential. There is no kingdom work without kingdom power and authority; both are needed and both are essential. If you try to do this work without it, you will fail.

It is also important to recognize the difference between power and authority—two distinct words in the original language. Power, the Greek word "dunamis," means might, ability, capability, or strength. Dunamis is seen when Jesus...

Jesus stills the wind and the waves when he is with his disciples on the sea during a storm. That's power—like power you cannot imagine in any other way. He speaks, and the storm is still. That's dunamis. Authority is the Greek word exousia. It means jurisdiction or authority, the right to have control over something. Exousia, or authority, is seen when Jesus steps off the boat after the storm has been stilled, and there is a man filled with a legion of demons. The demons say to Jesus, "Please don't torment us. Permit us to go into the swine," and he permits them. He had authority.

What is he demonstrating? He has authority over the heavenly realm and power over the earthly realm, which are personified or pictured metaphorically as demons and diseases. Thus, we see his dunamis, and we see his exousia. Now, why does the difference matter? You need both because power without authority is like the muscle-pumped vigilante who thinks that might is right—that he has the right to do whatever he wants because he is stronger than you. That's power without authority, and none of us like that guy.

But what does authority without power look like? It is the 115-pound female police officer trying to subdue a 220-pound man. That is authority without power. Both are needed.

Point number three: Jesus confers kingdom power and kingdom authority because kingdom work requires kingdom resources. We need to keep this in mind because, in our day and age, we are tempted to think that we can do this on our own. We got this. We have figured out how to do this church thing. Have we really? Jesus calls his twelve disciples, confers upon them power and authority, and then commissions them. They have the authority, they have the ability, and he now gives them the responsibility.

In verse 2, he sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. This is the consistent commission that Jesus gives to his disciples throughout the New Testament. He commissions them primarily, and this...

is key. Keep this as the primary first function of the work. He commissions them to preach the kingdom. We see this in Mark 16:15: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." We see this in Matthew 28: "Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you. And lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age." We see this in Luke 24:46: "This gospel of the kingdom is to be preached in all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." We see this in John 20:21: "As the Father has sent me, I send you." You're going to go, and you're going to preach.

Now, corresponding to the going and the preaching is the secondary manifestation of the work, which is healing. However, healing is always secondary. It is primarily a demonstration of power and not to be the focal point. The fact is, healing and power do not show up in every circumstance. Those who make the power demonstrations the focus, as unfortunately many charismatic Christians are sometimes tempted to do, often let the missional focus of the church—preaching the gospel—fall by the wayside.

What ends up happening? All of a sudden, the ministries of these individuals are named after them. I don't even need to say their names; it becomes the power ministry of such-and-such evangelist or such-and-such healer. When a man's name is at the top of the ministry, you can be certain that it has lost sight of the primary goal of the ministry, because it's his kingdom and not our kingdom.

This church is not called the Miles de Benedictus show of magnificent teaching. No! This Cross-Connection Church is about His word, and we exalt His word here. Someday, there will be another pastor who exalts His word here, and I'll rejoice in that, because that's what we want to see take place in this passage, or in this work.

So, the healing and the power side is not to be primary. Point number four: Jesus commissions us to proclaim the kingdom because the primary mission is a message and not a manifestation. Now, before we move to the next stage, we've already seen that Jesus calls His twelve disciples.

Confers power and authority, He commissions them. We're going to move to the next section of this, but before we do, I think it's worth noting that the commissioning of the twelve is significant. In Matthew 10, verse 5, Jesus says, "These twelve Jesus sent out and He commanded them, saying, 'Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter the city of the Samaritans, but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, preach, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand."'"

These twelve, now apostles—Peter, James, Bartholomew, Andrew, Thomas, and so forth—have been given all authority. How much is all? All. They have all authority and power; nothing has been held back from them. That's phenomenal. I can't help but think of that genie: phenomenal cosmic power, itty bitty living space. They have all power, and yet Jesus gives them a limitation: do not go to the Gentiles or to the Samaritans.

Now, understand that before Jesus ascends into heaven in the Book of Acts, which is also recorded by Luke, He will say, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses of Me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." So eventually, He will send them to all, but at this point, He says, "You're not ready yet. I've given you all power, all authority, but I'm giving it to you with limitations. I want you to only go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

Why is Jesus giving them limitations? At this point, He is still preparing them. This is the first mission. He doesn't send them out to go everywhere yet; they still have Him physically present with them. This allows them to return to Him after they have gone out and tried this, so they can go through everything and continue to prepare for the further work. Later, when He leaves and ascends, He will give the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and then they will go to these places. But at this point, He is still preparing them.

So, Jesus calls the twelve, confers power and authority, commissions them, and then, fourth and finally, He commands them. In Luke 9, verse 3, He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs, nor bag, nor bread, nor money. Do not have two tunics apiece. Whatever house you enter, stay there."

From there, depart, and whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the dust from your very feet as a testimony against them. Jesus gives them four commands. After He is called, conferred, and commissioned, He gives these four commands, and the essential component of these commands induces faith. The mission is a walk of faith.

It's not that His disciples had nothing; it's that they were commanded to take nothing when they went on this journey. It would be as if tomorrow morning your boss calls you into his office and says, "Listen, I have a very important task for you to do. This is hugely important for the future of this business, this company. I'm sending you on a mission, but you're not allowed to take any of the stuff. You're not going to take your laptop, you're not going to take your business credit card; you just have to go by faith." You would likely respond, "No, no, not going to do that."

But Jesus is requiring faith here. He says to take nothing. You're going to stay wherever the door opens for you, and you're going to leave from that place. If nobody receives you, just keep going by faith.

Point number five: Jesus commands total dependence because self-sufficiency is incompatible with His kingdom mission. Let me tell you something about the call and commission of Jesus. When you begin to hear it and heed it, you will immediately be uncomfortable. He will take you out of your comfort zone. This is a feature, not a bug. This is not by accident. Jesus is teaching us to rely completely upon Him.

So when you first begin to follow the Lord by faith, you will inevitably be uncomfortable. Why? Well, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:7 that we walk by faith and not by sight. That's challenging, but this is how apprentices become journeymen. This is how disciples become apostles. It's how followers become leaders and how believers become saints, as we step out by faith.

And I'll tell you this: if, as you are following Jesus, there is no fear, no trepidation whatsoever, it's...

Probably because you're not actually walking by faith. It's like, "I got this. I got this all figured out. I don't need faith." Yet the Lord wants us to come into a place of total dependence. Part of maturing, part of growing up in Christ, is learning to walk by faith and not by sight. Walking with Christ is a walk of faith and not by sight.

When we walk by faith, sometimes we are stretched to step into places or directions where we feel completely unprepared or scared to death. Sometimes God makes it so that this feeling is even more pronounced. "Take nothing with you. You're just going to trust me." If you're not the least bit scared, then you're probably not really walking by faith.

Right now, I have the privilege of watching more than 20 people in our church go through this exact experience. Something in them has changed; a desire has changed. Some of them probably thought, "That will never happen." But all of a sudden, they have a desire. "I want to go to Argentina. I want to go to Paraguay. I want to go to Africa. I want to go to Peru." Not for a vacation, but because there's an open door to go on a mission trip. In the past, they might have said, "I'm never doing that." Some of these people have never gotten a passport before. They're scared to death. I've seen some people actually in tears, saying, "I don't know. I'm afraid to do this. But I really feel like God wants me to go. I want to go."

It's an awesome thing to see people step out by faith. Here's the amazing thing: as they begin to step out by faith, we say, "Hey, here's your next step of faith. You got a passport and you signed up to go on this trip. Here's the next step of faith. You're going to send out letters to the body of Christ, the church, and say, 'I want you to help me with this.'"

Some respond, "No, no, I can fund it myself." But that's not the point. God wants you to depend on Him. I know you can pay for it yourself. I remember decades ago, I received the opportunity to teach at a small international Bible school in northwest Germany. The door was open, and I had been good with my money over the years leading up to that. I had thousands of dollars in the bank, and I could pay for myself to go. I figured I would just fund it myself. I could take a year and go there, and it wouldn't cost me a lot to live there—no problem.

A good friend of mine said, "I don't think you should do that. I think you should send letters and ask other people to help." I replied, "No, I can do it on my own." But he insisted, "No, that's not the point. God wants you to learn to actually trust Him."

God is faithful. He taught me many great lessons through that experience, and I've seen Him move miraculously in those ways. We have a long list of people going on these trips, and we will introduce you to them in a few weeks. There are more than 20 people at our church who have signed up.

These trips this year are stepping out by faith, and they will be asking for your support. Just so you know, you will receive letters from them to be a part of that work.

In Luke 9:6, it says, "They departed and went through the towns preaching the gospel and healing everywhere." Where did they see this? They had seen Jesus doing this. In Matthew chapter 9, He went from town to village preaching the gospel and healing every kind of sickness. Now, they departed and went through the towns preaching and healing everywhere.

Then, if we skip down to verse 10, we see the apostles. You might want to circle, highlight, or underline that word. This is the first time in the Gospel of Luke that they are referred to as apostles. They are no longer just disciples; they are apostles—ones sent with a message and a purpose. When they returned, they told Jesus all that they had done. He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city of Bethsaida.

They were sent out, called, conferred upon with power and authority, commissioned to preach the gospel, and commanded to trust. When they returned to Jesus, they proclaimed all the great things they had done. They preached, and they healed.

Now, it's interesting that these same disciples, to whom Jesus gave all power and authority to heal all kinds of diseases and to cast out demons, would later encounter a demon they could not expel. It raises the question: how could this happen? I thought they had all power and authority. Jesus responds, "Yes, but you lack. This one comes out by prayer and fasting." You lack discipline.

One of the things we must learn when we have all power and authority is that what we often miss is discipline. God has to teach that to us. There is an important rhythm to discipleship here. Jesus doesn't only call, confer, commission, or command; He also calls us to come back, to be with Him, to be refreshed, to be recalibrated, to be restored, and to be ready to return to the work.

That's what happens when we come here. That's what is supposed to happen when we gather. In just a few minutes, you will go out from here into the mission field that God has called you to, conferred you with power and authority, commissioned you, and commanded you to serve in this place—even though it may feel outside of your comfort zone. He has sent you here for such a time as this. Then, we come back to this place to be encouraged and refreshed. Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden."

And I will give you rest. Hopefully, we're coming to the Lord here on a Sunday morning because we are tired from serving Him in the work. We come to worship the Lord and receive from His Word, ready to go back into the work that God has called us to as ambassadors of Christ.

This is one of the things that I think this whole school of Christian thinkers, who talk about the monkish, monastic, desert-dweller sort of Christianity, miss. They overlook the fact that the whole purpose of gathering together in those places is to prepare us to return to the work God has called us to. When we gather like this, we come to be restored, refreshed, renewed, and refocused.

One of the things we do when we gather is partake of communion. I'm going to invite Anthony to come up, and we will partake together. If you haven't received the bread and the cup this morning, our ushers will be bringing these to you as we worship in this final song.

As we do this, we need to be reminded of the primary message. The primary message is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. His body was broken for us, and His blood was shed for us. On the cross, He conquered sin and death. He vanquished the enemy, Satan, and He paid for my sin and yours. His body was broken, and His blood was shed so that He could say, "It is finished." All of your striving, all of your works to try to obtain righteousness and to be good enough, were dealt with when Jesus said, "It is finished."

That's the message that you and I have to carry to this world. That's the message we will remember in just a few minutes when we partake together. Anthony is going to lead us in this song, and then I will lead us to partake before we go.

Lord, You have been so good to us. We are so thankful for Your grace, Your mercy, and Your mercies that are new every morning. We can come boldly before Your throne of grace to obtain mercy and grace in our time of need. As we come to You, we are reminded of Your body and Your blood, broken and shed for us. Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 11, "I receive from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the same night that He..."

Was betrayed, He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat. This is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me." Let's partake together.

In the same manner, He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." Let's partake together.

Lord, in the partaking of the bread and the cup today, we proclaim your death until you come again, which means that you're not still dead; you're alive. Until you come, I pray that you would help us to be your ambassadors, speaking forth the good news of the gospel to a desperate and dying world. We praise you, Jesus.

Let's stand together. Father, we do thank you for your goodness towards us. As we prepare to go from here, I pray we would remember that we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, your own special people that you've called to proclaim the praises of you who called us out of darkness and into your marvelous light. Help us, Lord, to be lights to the world and salt to the earth this week. Give us the opportunities and the words to speak to those who are in need. We pray this in Jesus' name.

And now may the Lord bless and keep you. May He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May He lift up His countenance upon you and give you His peace. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.