Pastor Marshall Ochs | March 3, 2024
In this message, Pastor Marshall teaches from Luke 10. These verses reveal the growing and consuming nature of God’s kingdom. It increases in numerical value, expands into enemy territory, and produces change in our outer life. Luke communicates this reality through the sending of the 72, the parable of the Good Samaritan, and the posture of Mary at the feet of Jesus.
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Read Luke 10:1-20. In this passage we see Jesus sending out 72 other disciples to go ahead of Him and spread the Good News. His instructions for these disciples were to fully rely on God for their provisions, to pray for the people and share the message of Christ, and to not take rejection of the message personally. God’s kingdom begins to grow like wildfire! These disciples went boldly into enemy territory and saw amazing miracles happen and lives changed! God is still doing this today!
We can learn a lot from this passage as we go about our daily lives. Do you fully rely on God as your Provider? Has there been a time in your life (or are you currently in a season) when you needed God to supernaturally provide? Pray and ask Him to remind you of His faithfulness to you.
How easy or challenging is it for you to pray for and/or share the message of Christ with those in your realm of influence? If it is not comfortable for you, what holds you back?
Fear of ridicule or rejection is often an obstacle we face. As Jesus told the disciples, the rejection is not personal. They are rejecting Jesus – not you. Pray and ask the Lord to equip you and show you the opportunities to share Christ with others around you. Your personal testimony is a powerful tool when sharing Christ with someone else. What is your personal testimony? Find a trusted Christian friend and practice sharing your testimonies with each other. When we practice saying it out loud, opportunities will come along, and it will be much easier to share about your Savior boldly and lovingly. Leave the results up to God!
When the disciples return, they are amazed and rejoicing at how the demons obeyed them when they used the name of Jesus. Jesus reminds them that while they have been given authority over demons, (referred to as snakes and scorpions) they must stay focused on what is most important – the Good News of Christ and joining Him in Heaven one day. We are reminded that we have authority over evil and darkness and a responsibility to spread the Light of Christ to others. Marshall reminded us today that we should not be spending our days under the enemy’s control! Is there an area of your life where you have given over control to the enemy? Take authority in Jesus’ name!]
Read Luke 10:21-24. Jesus rejoices at how the Kingdom is growing and expanding. We see how Jesus discipled 12 men, which led to 72, which led to 3,000, which is now in the billions! Jesus remarks that rulers and spiritual leaders were missing His message, but yet those with a childlike faith were seeing it clearly. This is still true today! No one is a nobody to God! Are you participating in God’s plans and at work to do what He has called you to do, or are you missing it?
Read Luke 10: 25-37. This parable is used to answer a lawyer’s question. Marshall helped us see this parable in a better light today. We are not meant to see ourselves as the Samaritan, but rather as the Jew left for dead. Jews saw Samaritans as the enemy. This parable begs the question, can you see your enemy as your neighbor? We must see ourselves correctly, our neighbors and the needs around us.
It’s not enough to just know God and know our neighbors – we should be compelled to action. The sign of inner spiritual growth is seen by how we live outwardly. Do others see Jesus in you by how you live, serve, love and interact with them?
Read Luke 10:38-42. In this second parable we see a contrast between Mary and Martha’s choices. Mary chooses to take this opportunity be at the feet of Jesus, rather than serving food. This reminds me that we can serve all day long and miss the most important thing – sitting at Jesus’ feet. Serving others is a good thing, but doing it out of a sense of duty or so that others will think highly of us is the wrong motivation. Doing anything without making our daily time with the Lord a priority is having our priorities in the wrong order. If it is not your current practice to sit at the Lord’s feet daily, please take the time to change your priorities and watch what happens in your life – and in the lives of those around you!