Balancing Ministry N' Work

Last week we looked at Jesus’ explanation on why He used parables to teach the masses. It was clear by reading His words that His intent was to make sure those that followed Him would understand, while those who actively resisted Him would be confused. Those who have the smallest amount of knowledge, as little as knowing they need Jesus as their Savior will have access to the secrets and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. With that smallest tidbit of truth their knowledge will grow. If our eyes and ears are open even the smallest amount, we will have more than enough knowledge to carry us through what we are facing today. I hope you took time to pray for someone whose eyes and ears need to be opened this week. Pray for them every day until they find that smallest piece of truth that will set them free. We are going to continue in Matthew 13 this morning looking at some of the parables that Jesus taught. Matthew 13:31-32 “ 31  He presented another parable to them: “The king

Every little thing we do that demonstrates that we embrace our faith in Jesus, demonstrates that we trust in Him, and our declaration of what He has done for us, does have an impact on others. Mary and Martha declaring their faith in Jesus caused some people to stay around. Jesus calling out to the Father got peoples attention. The stone being rolled away was a great example of faith being put into action and then the miracle happened. Without the declarations, statements of faith, and the following actions people would not have seen the miracle and believed. People are watching us, listening to the things we say, and they want to see if we are going to put our money where our mouth is. The Holy Spirit uses all of this to get their attention and then if they respond performs a miracle in their lives. The little things matter as we shine the light of Jesus into the world we live in. In Matthew 13 Jesus we find 7 different parables. Jesus tells the Parable of the Sower, which He

Open your Bibles to John chapter 11 as we continue to look at Jesus’ life and ministry. John 11:1-4 “ 11  Now a man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2  Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. 3  So the sisters sent a message to him: “Lord, the one you love is sick.” 4  When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”” Jesus, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were obviously friends. Verse 4 states that this is for the glory of God and so that the Son of God may be glorified… everything we are looking at this morning was done for the glory of God and so that the Son may be glorified, these words are also telling us to pay close attention as we are going to read about something that is truly amazing. We are going to read about God at work. John 11:5-6

When Jesus sent the Twelve it was all about learning to trust God to provide and that He would guide them and empower them to carry out what they were sent to do. With the seventy-two they not only need to trust God but they needed wisdom and innocence. They needed to be wise to avoid the traps of the devil and innocent to show the world that they belong to Jesus. One of the key things from last weeks verses was that we need to be praying for the Lord to send more workers into the harvest. When we think about it, if we are out tending to the harvest, sharing the Gospel, winning souls for the Lord, we are being used by God to add to the workers. Every person who accepts Jesus as Lord is a worker. Our prayers need to start with our lost friends and family accepting Jesus, but continue with them being used by God to share the Gospel in a mighty way. The task before us is challenging, and the devil will do anything he can to trip us up. We need to trust in God and depend on Him to carr