Mar 11, 2022
Are you sent by Jesus? And what does it mean to be sent? Let's talk about it today.
Hi, I'm Mike Henry with Follower of One. Welcome back to the Follower of One Podcast. Today, I want to talk about John 20:21. From the New American Standard, it says, "So Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me. I also send you.'"
This is Jesus's first appearance, after the resurrection. He has appeared in this locked room where many of the disciples were located.
Some people actually think this command is not for the average Christian, that this command is just for the apostles. They were the ones who were sent. "Apostle" actually means "sent" or "sent one." And yet I believe this passage is aimed at every person who follows Jesus.
Jesus sent us back into the world as his people. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and it's our job to be Jesus' followers in the world so that other people may see the difference that happens when we live following Jesus.
The next question might be, where do we go? Are we supposed to go on an overseas mission trip or are we supposed to sell our house and go into the mission field? Well, we talked today on the Marketplace Mission Trip about how the "Go" in Matthew 28 "Go therefore and make disciples," that "go" could also mean "having gone" or "as you go."
Our going is part of Jesus's plan. In Acts 1:8, He says that we will be his witnesses and he was talking to everyone. We witness life following Jesus. That's our challenge. When He sent us back into the world, that means "I'm not taking you with me to heaven. I'm leaving you here so that you can make a difference."
Your life will be visible to every person that you interact with. Will your faith be visible? I believe that's his challenge for us today. As we follow Him and live in the world, sent by him to wherever we work or whatever we're doing today, we have a responsibility to live like we follow Jesus.
What does that look like? Well, ask Him. Begin with prayer. Ask God, "Here. I am God. I want to use that phrase to punch in and I want you to tell me what you want me to do today. Please put me to work."
Jesus will put you to work in your workplace. He will help you live in such a way that you make him visible.
I want to challenge you today. Let's live trusting Jesus. Remember wherever you are, you've been sent. You've been dispatched there by Jesus Christ and he would love for you to live following him so that others around you would see that. He brought those people to you.
Today, remember that you're in the position, you're in to glorify God, to make Him visible. And he becomes visible, you make his kingdom present, you make Him visible when you live following Him. When we do that today, we're part of his plan, we're part of his strategy, and we get to experience the joy of following Jesus every day.
Thank you for being a marketplace minister and thank you for trying to make a difference in the world every day, because you follow Jesus. Your faith matters. Don't just let that faith transform you, but also use it to make a difference in the lives of the people around you. Pray for those people, appreciate them and look for ways to serve them.
And then when someone asks, be ready to answer. Explain to them why you believe in Jesus and why he's the motivation behind your actions. It will glorify him and he will draw those people to himself. Thank you for being a marketplace minister and thank you for making a difference in your world.
Our faith matters every day. If we ask Jesus to put us to work, he will do it. Thanks for joining us in this effort and also consider joining us in our online community at https://community.followerofone.org. Thanks very much.