Category: Devotional

Team Work: “Mark 6:7 ¶ And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;
Mark 6:8 And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse:
Mark 6:9 But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats.
Mark 6:10 And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place.
Mark 6:11 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
Mark 6:12 And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
Mark 6:13 And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.

Grace and peace be unto you, from God our father and from the LORD Jesus Christ. Beloved, today we will look at the holy habit of Teaming. This text is a wonderful pericope with lots of lessons for us, this day we want to look at what Jesus established. The broad strokes of this text is simply this, Jesus sent the disciples on a preaching assignment. When we take a closer look there are some lessons for us to learn. Verse 7 tells us some awesome things:
Mark 6:7 ¶ And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits.

He called them, then he sent them. Now, for most of us, that would be a deep truth, that one would think is a sermon all it’s own. OK, but I want to take a more pragmatic look at this text. Jesus assembled them to give them instruction. Then he sent them out to follow the instruction. Then equipped them to deal with problems that will undoubtedly arise from following Jesus’ instruction. He gathered them together, when he did this he gave them instructions on how to carry out this ministry he was sending them on. He told them what to preach. How to go out. Then he told them what tools were necessary. They received instructions together. God did not give them a private revelation on how to engage in ministry. I think many of us make this common mistake here. We think that God must pull us aside to tell us how to be successful, and that the information should be something God has told no one else. Our success in anything, is tied to the word of God. The thing that makes us special is that we obey the word of God. Many times, there is no secret handshake, no fraternal secrets to success, just obedience. Jesus said it this way,
John 13:17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
Jesus makes a point of not only giving us instruction, but telling us how to go about this ministry. Two by two is the model we find here. Yes we can impose upon this text the mantra of Deut 32:30, one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight. Well, we can not prove from the text that this is what Jesus had in mind, but we can intimate from this passage that ministry is not something that should be taken lightly, nor should one feel that they alone are all that God needs to bring his purpose to pass. God wants us to go into the world and confront non-believers with the gospel, but we need not take off on our own and avail ourselves to the dangers of ministry. Why, well let’s look again at the text. In the Gospel according to Matthew, there are few more details in chapter 10. Not only did he send them out to preach, he told them what to preach. Preach ‘the kingdom of heaven is at hand’, now picture that. I wonder if preachers today really rely on God for instruction as to what to preach.
Well that’s another subject, the instruction is so radical that according to all the narratives including this one, he gives them power over unclean spirits. Imagine to be equipped with instruction to preach a particular sermon, and in order to do this, Jesus must equip you with power over unclean spirits, and someone to team up with. Preaching in obedience to God, meaning doing it because he called, and sent you to preach, and subsequently preaching what he told you to preach, is such a powerful effort, demons become agitated. Look at the text, before Jesus sends them, he equips them with power over unclean spirits. So this tells me, preaching what Jesus tells you to preach, causes unclean spirits to expose themselves, and present themselves in such a way as to be a point of conflict for the preacher. The preacher must be prepared to deal with this spirit.
This text also suggests God wants us to lean on each other. We lean on each other, but depend on God. In order to guarantee that we depend on him, he limits what we can bring on the journey. You and I both know that we tend to think our sustenance are in things, until God has a way of making us trust him. Do not take your wallet, I will provide for you, do not take a script, I will speak for you, do not take any bread, I will feed you. You can take another person with you. Could it be that God wanted to provide us with a witness to his ability to care for us. Also we learn having another person with us, does not make God unnecessary. As a matter of fact, Jesus planned things in such a way, that in order to carry out his plan, we will have to believe God together, and I think this is the real intent. We need to learn to trust God together, for each other. I need to pray for you, I know I need you to pray for me. We need to be able to trust God together, even though we are equipped by God to carry out the task, we need to believe God together. So this makes us not only a team in purpose, but also a team in faith. Can you stretch your faith enough to include someone else? Can you rejoice when God does something for someone else? Whatever church you are a part of, it is your responsibility to pray for the vision of your community. Pray for your Pastor, why, because you are in this together. Pray and believe God for your brother, and your sister in Christ, because you are in this walk together. God wants you to do this together, as a team. He also demands that as a team you depend on him to give you success. That is really where our strength lies.

Yours Because I’m His
Leo Colon
pastor@ihpfwc.org
http://www.ihpfwc.org
“

(Via .)

Persistence: “Mark 2:1-12 
Mark 2:1 ¶ And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house. 
Mark 2:2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. 
Mark 2:3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. 
Mark 2:4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. 
Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
Mark 2:6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, 
Mark 2:7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? 
Mark 2:8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
Mark 2:9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?
Mark 2:10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) 
Mark 2:11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
Mark 2:12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. 

Beloved this week we want to take a look at the holy habit of persistence. The word persistence is define as thus:
persistence |pərˈsistəns|
noun
1. firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition : companies must have patience and persistence, but the rewards are there.
2. the continued or prolonged existence of something : the persistence of huge environmental problems.

Webster gives us two meanings, and we see both manifestations here. First definition is firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action. The the second meaning is the continued or prolonged existence of something. In this pericope we see both examples. We see the firm and obstinate continuance of four men who want to get their friend to Jesus. We also see the continued and prolonged existence of commitment to tradition at the cost of truth. One is laudable and one is tragic. Let’s look at the text.  
The Text tells us that four men wanted to get their friend to Jesus. According to what we can prove from the text, they believed that proximity to Jesus renders sickness ineffective. What ever the problem facing the individual, if we can just get the person in the presence of Jesus, the issue has to change. Their believed this so strongly that they agreed to take their friend to Jesus. We can deduce that they wanted their friend to be healed. We have proof from the scripture that Jesus had in fact been healing many people, and we can infer that healing is what they wanted for their friend. Their belief was so strong that it dictated their actions. What you believe will always be manifested in your actions. The same can be said for what you do not believe. If I know what you believe, one can almost predict your actions. These four believed that Jesus can heal their friend so much that it sparked an urgency that can only be described as persistence. The bible tells us that their belief was met by a logistical problem. Verse 2 tells us that the house where Jesus did his teaching was so packed that there was not room to receive those who wanted to hear Jesus, let alone the four guys who wanted to get their friend to Jesus. Verse 4 tells us they could not get to Jesus because of the crowd. Does the fact that there is a crowd around the truth change your mind? Does the fact that believing in God’s word, which will make you an outcast, change what you believe? These men faced with a logistical problem, did not abandon what they believe. Because they still believed that Jesus can heal, they persisted. When we invite people to church, to get them close to Jesus, we come against objection all the time. Here is the real issue, what do you believe? Your belief determines your persistence. Your belief determines your actions. This is a universal law. These four men had a few problems, the crowd presented the biggest problem. Their was in fact a crowd, but they still believed something, so they persisted. They could not go in through the door, but they still believed so they persisted. These four determined to get their friend to Jesus decided to tear open the roof. Allow me to proffer this position beloved. The roof is just another objection. The roof is only a way to keep you from your purpose. Persistence is tested by the roofs in our lives. What are some of the roofs you face every day. What about the roofs people build when you are trying to get them to Jesus. Your belief in Jesus should engender persistence in your purpose to get people to Jesus. Tear the roofs that people build to prevent you from getting them to Jesus. I am busy on Sunday I can not make it to church. This is a roof. I have not been to church in so long. That’s a roof. I do not believe in that stuff. That’s a roof. Are you prepared to be persistent. Then tear open those roofs, and believe that Jesus can change lives. Are you Persistent? You need to make this a ‘holy habit’ today. Invite some people to church, and do not allow them to build a roof in front of you. Do you believe it? Then nothing can stop you. 

Yours Because I’m His
Leo Colon
pastor@ihpfwc.org
http://www.ihpfwc.org