Authority Given

It has been a slow couple of weeks for me, posting wise. I had a Greek mid-term on Monday plus I had 11 verses to translate and diagram as homework. Needless to say, my mind was on other things!

Even so, God has been dealing with me concerning the cost of discipleship. Plus the fact that a' Kempis' "The Imitation of Christ" is about being a disciple of Christ (I wrote a paper on this recently) means that I have been thinking on this topic for the last 6 weeks or so. In January, I preached on Matthew 9:35-38 which is about the compassion of Christ. This was the point in Jesus' ministry where He transitioned from doing all the work Himself to telling the disciples to pray for the Lord of the harvest to send more workers. Then, chapter 10 begins with Jesus giving them authority over demons, to cast them out and to heal sickness plus telling them to preach the Gospel.

Here is a quick outline of chapter 10:

1. Verses 1-4 Jesus calls His disciples
2. Verses 5-15 Instructions for Service
3. Verses 16-23 Expect Adversity Along the Way
4. Verses 24-39 The Meaning and Cost of Discipleship
5. Verses 40-42 The Reward of Being a Disciple

I will be preparing a series of sermons concerning this chapter. I feel that these words of Christ are important in the life of my church, especially the singles ministry and to be shared during the different mission opportunities I will have this summer. I anticipate at least 6 sermons out of this chapter. I am looking forward to digging into the text and context and application of this important chapter of Matthew.