Luke 10: 1-11 and 16-20 Provides the recipe so to speak of how growth and expansion are possible.

#1 Pray – Pray and pray fervently. My study Bible states that “Christian service has no unemployment”.  Bishop Trimble always said that “The Great Commission has no expiration date”. Jesus encouraged his disciples not just to do the work but to first pray for workers. He told them “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the Harvest to send out workers into the Harvest field.” Whatever your role in God’s work, pray today for more helpers. Believers are not always to work alone. God wants them to pray, recruit and equip others to join them as they explore opportunities to serve Jesus. His approach was to begin mobilizing people to pray, and before praying for unsaved people, pray that other concerned disciples will join you in reaching out to them. God will lead you to important responsibilities but prayer comes first. I cannot underestimate the importance of prayer. One of the things I was so pleased about at annual conference was the focus on prayer. Asking God to provide direction, support and helpers. Opening ourselves up to listen to God. 

#2 Work with Others - Go/work with someone, don’t work alone. Jesus realizes that to share the Gospel is difficult. It is like sending lambs to the wolves. Having someone with you to share the responsibility and keep you encouraged is really important. You can hold each other accountable, encourage each other, and pray for each other. This analogy of the lamb is also important because Jesus knows that we will face opposition. But we are not to face the opposition with aggression but with love and gentleness, like a lamb.

#3 – Rely on God to provide – he said “Do not take a purse or bag or sandals. Travelling light so that you rely on God to provide for your needs. Leave the extra stuff, because God is the only extra stuff you need. In this day and age, it’s hard to do, we are used to having our stash of stuff our emergency kits, our back up provisions. We are more used to being self-reliant, it’s hard to learn to lean solely on God to provide.

#4 – Don’t be distracted – our scripture says “and do not greet anyone on the road”. This doesn’t mean that we should be rude and ignore people but to acknowledge how easy it is for us to be distracted. Greeting someone back then was a long and drawn-out process which could easily lend oneself to be distracted from their goals and objectives of sharing the gospel. In this day and age our distractions are many and varied. Our lives are full of distractions. It’s difficult to maintain our focus on spreading the good news.

#5 – Peace to this house – Scripture says – When you enter a house first say “Peace to this house. If a man of peace is there your peace will rest on him, If not, it will return to you.” By accepting your offer of peace, they are indicating their readiness to hear the gospel. Jesus is also communicating that some will not be ready or willing to receive the Gospel. This rejection should not be taken personally, because it’s not a rejection of you, it is a rejection of Jesus. If you personalize it, it will be a distraction. The rejection is between them and God. 

#6 – Don’t’ move around from house to house and eat and drink what they provide. This direction was to avoid problems that could occur as some families could feel offended if you moved to let’s say to a place that is larger or has more amenities. They might think that they weren’t good enough to hear God’s message. If the disciples appeared not to accept the hospitality offered them, the town might not accept Jesus later on. By staying in one place, they could focus on their task at hand, rather than worry about the next place to stay.

#7 –To eat what is given them (accept the hospitality) and to heal the sick. Because of the healings people would be willing to listen to the gospel and accept Jesus. The disciples were given the authority to heal in Matthew 10: 1 where it says “He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.”  The gift of healing must come from the Lord, by his authority. It’s not our work, but his work. Some of the gifts of the holy spirit are miraculous. Do you feel that God has bestowed upon you a gift of the Holy Spirit? Maybe it has not manifested itself yet. Are you open to receiving any of the gifts of the holy spirit? Have you opened yourself up to receive a gift of the holy spirit? Have you prayed about it?

#8 - God wants all people to be saved. It’s a tragedy when people don’t accept the word. We should pray for more time so the church can continue to reach more people. We can pray for people to come to the Lord, to have a Heart for God, a heart for the lost? You may feel that you have your fire insurance, but can we get those policies sold to others?  

St. Teresa of Avila has a well-known saying that reminds us that we now carry the ministry Jesus gave us. It goes like this:

Christ has no body on earth but yours; no hands but yours; no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ looks out to the world.
Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good.
 Yours are the hands with which he is to bless others now.