Mission Possible

You are listening to a message from Thrive Community Church, a church located in Southwest Florida. For more info, visit us at thrive-fl.org. A disciple is not just someone who knows the information. It is someone who does what Jesus does and teaches what Jesus taught for the same reason Jesus did and taught those things. And if you look, the disciples in this text, the 72 are sent out to do what Jesus did, to go to the towns He was going to go to, and to teach what Jesus taught, the Kingdom of God, for the same reason Jesus did it. That's the motivation. And so we're doing that through those four M's. So in, up, and out. That we are called in, radically in, to be close to Jesus. And that He comes and He becomes bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. He becomes so close that no one can get closer. But then that we are called also, up, that is in prayer and praise and worship and trust and connecting to God throughout all things. That there is a transcended quality in our life that is not just about the here and now, but an eternal quality that you are called directly by God to be in an up relationship with Him. And then we are also called radically out. And this text really pushes that, if you want to say, by calling us radically out to those around us. So, this is utterly different, by the way, than how the world looks at who we are and what we're about. In our culture, in our society these days, more or less, look at life as accidental. Did you realize that? It's basically, you know, why biological life even exists is, well, it happened. That's about as good as you can get it, right? And so, there's no real deep purpose. There's no meaning. You're not sent to do anything. You don't have a mission. And in fact, you just kind of bump along through life. Now, there's this German philosopher. You've probably never heard of him and you probably never need to. But I'm going to share it. His name is Martin Heidegger. He was in the mid-20th century. And Heidegger basically said the real experience that most people experience in this world is this wonderful German word, Geworfenheit. It kind of sounds like Farfignügen, right? Don't they have that? But Geworfenheit means that you're thrown out into the world, just kind of cast out, spit out. There you are. It's kind of like, you know, I don't remember being born, but the babies cry, right? And can you imagine after being this comfortable, you know, having this wonderful experience of just kind of just, ah, this is great. And then, whoops, I'm out in this world and bright lights. And well, that's kind of the experience that he says is not just about birth, but it's throughout life that you're just kind of thrown out into the world. And you can't figure out why you're here or what you're about. I remember still, gosh, I guess, Lisa, it was over 20 years ago, out in California. Our church at that time in the Central Valley of California, we went over to Pismo Beach State Park. And great place, water really cold. Okay, it's California, 58 degrees. But we camped there for the weekend as a church. And I had the youth take out the first kind of Sony digital video cam recorder with those little tapes, because we wanted to create a video to talk about, you know, just purpose and meaning in life questions. And so we started going around the campground saying, hey, hey, we're just we're a youth group. And we're just asking this one question. What is your purpose in life? And I still remember this one individual lady in her mid 30s, maybe early 40s. Look at us as we ask that question. And she looks back at us and goes like, gee. I never thought about that before. And I'm thinking you're a human being, you've been around for decades on this planet, and you've never asked the question why or try to figure out why you're here, what you're about. I think a lot of people are like that these days. Have you noticed? I think they're living out that might not Martin Heidegger's Geworfenheit, whether they realize that word or think it's just like Farfignan or not. They're still living it out. That they're just kind of cast out in the world and whatever, you know, blank happens. Just try to have fun while you're kind of going through life. But the gospel for you, for everyone who's a follower of Jesus, everyone he calls from the 72 nations, right, that they knew at that time from the entire world, you are sent. You have a mission. You have a purpose that goes well beyond what you can ever imagine. It is a purpose that God has given you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you, Jesus says in the Gospel of John. Your mission, your sentness is as deep and as profound as Jesus himself. And so disciples are those who do what Jesus did and teach what Jesus taught for the reasons Jesus did and taught those things. You're sent. Everyone has a mission and everyone is a messenger. Point to the messengers. Now, if we just had, you know, this is the second time Jesus sent people out on mission. S...