Reading: Mark 6: 6-12

Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people. ⁷And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil spirits. ⁸He told them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick—no food, no traveler’s bag, no money. ⁹He allowed them to wear sandals but not to take a change of clothes.

¹⁰“Wherever you go,” he said, “stay in the same house until you leave town. ¹¹But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.”

¹²So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God. ¹³And they cast out many demons and healed many sick people, anointing them with olive oil.

Christians aren’t supposed to be ‘Lone Rangers’, we’re called to be joined together in a church family, witnessing together, living our lives, not independently but interdependently, sharing genuine love and care; in short we are called to disciple one another.

In our text today, Jesus sends His first ‘church group’ out and whilst there is material enough here for many sermons, let’s just consider the basic facts, that the disciples were:

sent in pairs;
sent by Jesus, and so they went in His authority;
to take nothing;
to walk away if the Gospel wasn’t welcomed;
obedient – they preached the gospel, prayed and God healed and delivered people through them.

But how does this relate to you and me today? Again, in so many ways that we won’t have space to explore in depth here, but in essence I believe that this text is a incredible reminder that our tendency to live our lives in ‘little boxes’ is wrong. Christians are not called to specialise, yes some will be gifted in certain areas and we should use our gifts for the benefit of the whole church, for God’s glory, but…we are all called to be disciples, we are all called to disciple one another, we are all called to evangelise, we are all called to share what we have, we are all called to be praying people, we are all called to follow our Lord only, and to trust in Him only for our needs.

These disciples were called to live and love and serve together, in the big group of the church, in the smaller numbers as we read in the gospels at times, there a threes and fours, and here in pairs.

We need each other, I need you and you need me, and that can be uncomfortable at times, but the way of Christ is discipleship, not to lives life of lone rangers.

Reflect: Am I obediently following Jesus’ model for my life as an interdependent part of His church, am I letting others disciple me, and am I willing to give of myself to disciple others? Might I be too much of a lone ranger?

Act: take time today and over the coming weeks to take a stock take of things with God. Ensure that you are regularly praying with others within our church, meeting to study the Bible and share real fellowship with others within our church, and encourage and be encouraged, as you pray and work with others within our church to tell others that amazing Good News of Salvation.

Children’s Prayer Activity

Day 7

Today use a ball inside or outside. Each time you catch or kick it think of anything you have done today that has made you and God sad. Talk to God about it as you play with the ball.