Jesus: What to Expect When He Sends You Out with a Dream

“I am sending you out like lambs among wolves” (Luke 10:3). When Jesus gives you a dream, expect challenge—but also expect His Spirit to go with you. This talk will stir your courage and sharpen your vision for the mission ahead.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Well today, are we ready for today? Scripture? Okay, alright. Strong start. Are you ready for the scripture? You love scripture? Yes, okay, good. I see a lot of people nodding. Great. Okay. Alright. So last week we talked about Joseph and the life of a dreamer and the challenges of having a dream, okay? Today is a part two of this. A part two of basically the cost of what it means to have a dream. And we're going to talk about Jesus and what to expect when God sends you out into the world. Because headlines, it's not all going to be pretty. It's not all going to be rosy when you have a dream. We all have purpose, and I think we all crave having a purpose in our life. We want to live lives that matter, dreams that shape us and define us and move us. We all want to be moved in life to do something great. But not many people tell you when you have a dream, you start out, and it feels like a destiny kind of thing. It sounds so incredible, but once you get into it, sometimes it looks a little bit more like disappointment, tension, um, challenge, uh feeling incapable or feeling underprepared, or like the disciples met, it was a lot of rejection, opposition, betrayal, abandonment. A lot of challenges went along with having a dream or being sent out by Jesus into the world. Jesus never sugarcoated this for us. He said in Matthew 10, verse 16, he said, Behold, I'm sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Jesus is not doing a marketing campaign on follow Jesus in 10 ways, your life's gonna improve. He's saying, I'm gonna send you out and it's gonna be difficult. But I'm gonna be with you. And it's gonna be, you're gonna see miracles, you're gonna see God come through, but be prepared because there will be difficult things that happen. And maybe you're in a really good spot right now. And I celebrate that with you. Maybe you maybe you're just like, actually, my life's pretty amazing right now. And I want to encourage you, that's a good time to dig deep roots of conviction in your life because challenges will come. And if we're not making good decisions when it's easy times, when it's good times, then we are going to be weaker when there are tough times come. So make good decisions now, make convictions in your heart right now. Um, we are not separate from trials because we're Christians. Jesus didn't invite you to come and have a trouble-free life. But take heart because all over the world right now, at this very moment, Christians all over the world are making very difficult decisions to follow Jesus, and they're getting stronger and stronger and stronger. And we are part of that. Even in Australia, we are part of that where we have an amazing country, an amazing life here. We also have challenges, but we have an amazing life. And I think about our friends and our brothers and sisters and some of the more difficult parts of the world right now making strong decisions to follow Jesus. And we are just cheering for those people, saying, Well done, go for it. You're amazing. But here's what to expect when um you're sent out. Okay, we're gonna read from Luke chapter oh, here we go. We're gonna read from Luke chapter 10. I didn't plan this, guys. This is just Jesus. 2 to 12. All right, here we go. And he sent them and he said, The harvest is plenty, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. We need more people to help. Go your way. Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of the wolves. Carry no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals, and and greet no one along the road. Don't get distracted. Whatever house you enter, first say, peace be this on this house, bring peace everywhere you go, and if if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon them. And if people receive you, they're gonna get your peace. That comes from Jesus. But if not, it will return to you. Don't worry about it. You they you won't lose your peace, they just won't get it. And remain in that house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for a labor deserves these wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat whatever is set before you. There's some cultural implications there, but heal the sick and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you. And whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into the streets streets and say, Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless, that the kingdom of God has come near to you. I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. Here's the first test of when you're gonna be sent out by God. The first test is gonna be you are going to face rejection. It's gonna happen. This is gonna be a good talk, isn't it? All right. Um, you are gonna face rejection for the sake of following Jesus. If they rejected Jesus, you will face rejection for following Jesus at some point in your life. I'm not praying for it, but it's coming. It will happen. But here's my conviction: is everyone deserves a chance to hear the good news of the kingdom of God. Every single person deserves a chance to to experience, to taste, to hear the kingdom of God, that there's there's a Savior. His name is Jesus, he's the king, and there's a new kingdom, and you can enter that kingdom, and it's a place of justice and righteousness and peace and joy. That's the invitation to the world. In Israel, there's a there's it's very dusty, and there's it's very obvious dust because it's like white dust, and it kind of clings to your feet, it's like the scripture saying, and you can kind of cake up on your feet. They would wear sandals, you know, it was a sandal, you know, a bit like Australia with our thongs, but they would wear sandals, and you would get these white, dusty feet, and everyone could see that you had been walking because it you kind of it was obvious that you were you had dust on your feet, and that's why later, you know, people Jesus even washed the feet of his disciples. That's that was a a normal thing, a customary thing, or it was usually done by a servant would as you would enter a house, they would wash your feet. Why? Because your feet were dusty from the trail. And and Jesus takes that same picture and he says, if you get rejected, it's kind of like you have dust on your feet, and you need to make sure you keep your feet clean. Don't let rejection cake up on your feet so much. You need to keep on washing your feet. Washing, washing away, um, forgiving people quickly, washing away rejection, shake it off, wash it off. Allow Jesus to come and wash your feet daily when things don't go your way. When you're treated badly by people, we need to keep our feet clean. Does this make sense? Wash it off. Don't let it stick on you, don't let it become part of the way that you interact with people. Because here's what happens, and I've noticed this even in leadership: when you get at a difficult situation, maybe someone treats you unfairly or rejects you or what have you, it's very easy, there's a temptation to pull back from the next person who God brings into your life. Maybe be a little more guarded, maybe not give them the opportunity that they deserve. And here's my conviction is that every person deserves a leader who believes in them. Every person needs someone in their life, a leader in their life who will say, I believe in you, God is with you, we God has a plan for your life, and you can do it. We want to do it together. Does this make sense? I want to be that kind of leader, and I can't do that if I'm constantly holding on to the effects of rejection in my life. I have to learn how to let Jesus come and wash my feet. Let me forgive other people. Rejection will rob you of the opportunity to have great relationships with people. It really will. And um, I decided a long time ago that I am going to forgive quickly. We always say this in our family. Kennedys are good forgivers. That's been a saying in our family for a very you know 20 years. Um, Kennedys are good forgivers, not because we always feel it, but because it's a choice that we've made. But it's a pre-choice that we've made. It's a conviction that we've made earlier, not in the moment. We've decided at the beginning of our marriage, we are gonna be a family that forgives quickly. This is a good thing. We're gonna wash our feet all the day, all the time. Keep washing our feet every day. We're gonna deal with things quickly, we're gonna forgive quickly. We're not gonna let things build up and build up and build up and then have explosions. We're gonna deal with today's issues today, and then we're gonna move into tomorrow with fresh grace. This is a good this is a good thing for home. This is a good thing for a team. If you're at a team at work or on a serving team in church or in a small group at church, you're gonna have to forgive quickly. You're gonna have to learn how to wash your feet quickly. Um, go to your brother, fix it. Don't let rejection um take over your heart. And this comes up pretty quickly when I I I've seen this. The second thing is when the test of when people walk away. One of the toughest moments that you will face as a Christian is when you've been walking with people with Jesus and they decide I'm out. I'm not gonna follow Jesus anymore. That is one of the most challenging things to face when you follow Jesus. What are you gonna do when your friends say, I'm not following Jesus anymore? I'm out. What are you gonna do then? Jesus faced this. Um, this is a this is I'm not sure if this is on purpose, but it's John 6.66. Um for any okay. Saddest verse in the Bible. Um after this, this is Jesus speaking about communion, right? And he doesn't water it down and it's he says it in almost like a little bit confusing way, but he doesn't back away from it. And I'm like, Jesus, just explain a little bit more. People wouldn't be so offended. But he doesn't. He's like, just let them let them take it as they will. And he says, after this, many of his, not crowd, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked to him. Some of some of the translators say they turned away and followed him no more. So Jesus turns and says to the 12, he says to them, please guys, you guys believe and trust in me, right? Like you guys don't go as well, right? No, he doesn't say that. No, he says, Do you want to go as well? Can you imagine? Are you guys out? Are you also out? Like, talk about security as a leader. And this is what Simon Peter's answered him is always uh is always great value, Simon Peter. He says, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we've believed in you and have come to know that you are the holy one of God. I heard a pastor say to me recently, you have to love people deeply and hold them loosely. Love them deeply and hold them loosely. That is maturity. I do not own anybody, you do not own anybody. People belong to God, not to me. As a young pastor, I was in I was planned at a church in Japan when I was 21, young pastor. It was really difficult to get the first group of people following Jesus. Really difficult. It was slow, hard work, a lot of legwork, very um uncool, kind of like there was no, there was certainly no um like glamorous part of that that that early stages. And I remember we had a small team, about 10 people. Tim was on that team, and and we had I had like only a couple of Japanese guys, and to get a Japanese guy to really commit to following Jesus, it was slow, hard work. And I finally we had I had one guy, and he he was I sort of raised him up, he was translating with me, he was preaching with me, um, he was leading a group, and then um about a year into the church, I got married, which was a glorious thing for the for me and the church, um, to have Izumi in the church. That everything got much better after she came. And we went away in a honeymoon. First time away, was very nervous to be away from this young church, and there was probably maybe 50 people in the in the whole church, and that was amazing. Um, and when I got back, I got a phone call from this young guy's mother, okay? And I'm like, this is weird. He's 25 years old, and his mother said, Never call him again, he will never come back to your church. Um, stay away from us. Do not call again. And I was like, What? I just saw him last week. Like, we're good, like what's the what's the what's the what's the deal there? And I could hear him in the background trying to talk, and his mom shooting him, and she said, Do never never call us again. And it was like, I and then she hung up the phone and I was like, I think I just we just lost the only guy I have. And I was like, I was just I was honestly, I was shattered. We'd worked so hard just to get one guy who was following Jesus, and and it was it was just gone in a moment, and I had no idea why, and I still to this day have no idea why. Um and I just felt so low, so low, like giving up, like quitting. Like this was like someone had just walked away, and I I was just left by myself. Well, that just that week I was having dinner with um is Yuriki here? I'm not sure if he's here. He plays drums. Yuriki there. I was at Yuriki's house, Yuriki was about three years old that time, and um it was pretty cute back in those days. Um I was with Yuriki's parents, we're having dinner together, and Yuriki, I was just I was just keeping it in. I was not telling everyone how just absolutely broken I was, but you know, just keeping a solid face. And they and they introduced me to a young couple, and their names Josh Del and Yeyoi. They they introduced me to this young couple, and they were they had been studying in Sydney and great young couple, worship leaders. And I said to them, you know, what are you gonna do with your life now? Like it's amazing. We were in a different city, so they weren't even near us. Um, and they said, Oh, I think I'm gonna go back to Sydney and study again. We're gonna go back to school, study again. Well, we we're on the way, we were on the train together, going home, and my train stop was coming, the doors open, and I turned to Yosho and I said, Why don't you get out of the classroom and just come and do it with me? And then I stepped off and the closed, and I was like, and he just went past. That was the end of the conversation. Well, the next week, Yosho and Yo turned up at the church, and and I was like shocked that they were at my church. It's a different city. They were at my church, and and they came and said to me, We have everything we own is in our car outside. We've moved to Osaka to help build this church, we're here, we're ready to go. And I was like, Are you serious? Why would you do that? They were like, You said come and we we're here. And it was like, it was like God had answered all of my prayers at once, because these young couple ended up finding a great sense of healing in their lives in our church, um, became the worship pastors, and then eventually we sent them out to go and plant a church in another city. And still today, still to today, um, their son is probably my son's closest friend. That's what I just tell you that story to say. I have seen that story over and over and over and over again in my life. When people make decisions, that maybe it's a silly decision around you, and you're surprised, and maybe it's really hurtful. It's like, I what am I gonna do now? This person was walking with me, and now they're not. It's incredible how God answers that prayer and he will bring someone into your life just at the right time. God does it over and over. And I'm gonna tell you, if if your heart is so broken and wounded that you are, that you will sometimes miss the amazing people that God is trying to bring into your life. Maybe there's people that God wants to bring into your life for this moment right now, but you can't see it because of a past hurt. You can't, you can't, you can't enter into what God wants to do because of a past hurt. And my encouragement today is you have to get healed of past hurts to allow God to bless your life. God wants to bless your life with great relationships, he will bring great people into your life. Trust him with it, he really will. I've seen it so many times. So love them deeply, but hold them loosely. The Israelites did this when they came out of Egypt, right? They were in the wilderness, they're on their way to destiny, and then they start looking back and they start saying, Well, we should have stayed in Egypt. They're literally saying we should stay in slavery. They've forgotten how bad it was to be a slave. Because they're in a in a temporary, difficult moment before they get into their promise. We've got to be careful that you don't jump ship on Jesus in a difficult moment and forget what it was like to not know Jesus. I rem I remember what it was like to not know Jesus. It was it was it was rough. Jesus said this in Luke chapter 9, verse 62. He says, No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. That's a tough one. What is he saying? No one who starts and commits to following Jesus and then constantly is looking back at their old life will receive the blessing of the thing they committed to, and then also they won't receive the temporary pleasure of what they come from. You're getting the worst of both worlds. So here's my challenge to young adults constantly is you might as well just choose to go all in with Jesus. Just go all in with God, and you will see the blessing of that. Don't live in the in-between. I want to I want God, but really I want my old life. You're stuck in this miserable place. Don't do that, just go all in with God, and you will see the blessing of it. I was talking to a a guy across the street this week. We're having coffee, talking to some stuff, and he said to me, I'm just in the habit of quitting. I quit everything. Everything I start, I quit. I'm just in the habit of quitting. Quitting becomes a default. Every time that you choose, though, to not quit, you are getting stronger. Even though you might not necessarily be going forwards, every time that you stand when you want to quit, you are getting stronger. You're getting stronger, your faith's going deeper, your roots are going down, and there's a blessing of that. There will be. Sometimes when you're in the middle of a trial, it doesn't feel like you're going forwards, right? You don't feel like, man, I'm just doing everything I can to hold on. And you don't and you don't realize though, you are actually going forwards just by standing, just by not quitting. And the most significant moments in my life have been when I've had the opportunity to quit and I've dug deep with God and I've got back deep into my calling and found new grace and new strength in that calling, and I've said, we're not quitting, we're going forwards. Has been the most significant times in my life. Can anyone relate to this? Maybe some for some of us here today, God is calling you deeper in a moment of challenge. Because here's the thing the challenge won't last. It won't. If you have challenges all the time, something is wrong, okay? Maybe there's something we need to talk about. But in the in this challenge that you have right now, it won't last. It will. It will you will overcome it. Here's the fourth one. This is gonna get better, all right? We're gonna go deeper and then we're gonna come out of it. Alright, just stay with me. Some of you are nervous. Okay, betrayal. When betrayal hits close to home, we're gonna talk about Jesus here. Jesus had Judas in his life. He was betrayed by someone close to him. And it's one thing for you know social media to give you a beating. Because, you know, and maybe that maybe you do feel bad about that, but maybe you shouldn't, because those people don't even know you. Um, but Judas, he did know, and he betrayed him with a kiss. So you gotta be close to get a kiss, right? Matthew 26, verse 47 says, While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived, and with him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal to them. This is the signal that he's arranged. Here we go. The one I kiss, that's the man you should arrest. Wow. Wow, that's deep. Going at once to Jesus, Judah said, Greetings, Rabbi. And he kissed him. And Jesus replied, Do what you came for, friend. Wow, what a response. Jesus, Jesus is like boss at responding to people treating him badly. He's like living what he preaches. This love your enemy stuff. He's like, he's he's not talking about this, he's doing it. What a challenge. You know, betrayal definitely does reveal people's character. It really exposes Judas's hidden motives, but it also illuminates Jesus' unwavering grace and composure in the middle of that. Um, betrayal doesn't just expose the person who betrays you, it also exposes the character that's in your own life. How I respond to people treating me badly is an exposure of the character in my own life. We all will be treated badly by people at times. And my my response to that is important. And my first response to people treating me badly must always be first, I'm gonna forgive them. First, then we can deal with the problems, but first I will forgive. I've done this for 20 years. I've already decided, I've made a pre-decision, that's what conviction is, a predecision. Anyone who hurts me, I'm gonna forgive them. Immediately, I'm gonna choose to forgive them, and then we'll work out the problem. But I will not hold unforgiveness in that process. Unforgiveness will kill you, it will kill every good thing in your life, it will choke the word of God in your life, it will kill your relationships. Anxiety, you will be anxiety-ridden if you hold on to unforgiveness. It's like that old saying unforgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies. Many times the people that you don't forgive, they don't even know it. They're living their life. I'm the one dying with unforgiveness. Forgiveness doesn't mean that I trust you or everything's fine now or reconciled, everything's great. What it means is I'm allowing God to be the judge. Because He's a much better judge than me. I'm allowing God the space to bring reconciliation, or maybe God even needs to bring correction, but I'm allowing God the space to do that rather than me controlling everything in my life. It's getting deep, isn't that? That may not be the advice you get on Instagram, by the way. I heard a stupid Instagram the other day say, forgiveness is toxic. And I was like, Are you have you lost your mind? Forgiveness is the most powerful thing that Jesus did in his ministry. He forgave the people who were spitting on him, nailing him to a cross. And while they're doing it, he says, Father, forgive them. They have no idea what they're doing. While they're doing it. And was that prayer answered? Yes, it was answered. They were forgiven. That's the nature of God. And if I'm following Jesus, that is also my call. To forgive. I don't get a I don't get a pass on this one, guys. I must forgive. In fact, Jesus says, if you won't forgive, God won't forgive you. That is a strong word from Jesus. So what do we do to stay on track when life gets tough? Because I gotta finish. All right. Here we go. Here's a couple of things that I think some small anchor habits that can keep you grounded while you're going through a trial. And I've got to keep coming back to this. I keep beating this drum, but reading the Bible anchors me in a 5,000 year story that's been going on and on that I am a very small part of. It anchors me in the bigness of the story of God. Being in scripture. You cannot graduate, and I cannot graduate, my picking up the scripture and saying, God, here I am, what do you want to say to me? I cannot graduate it. It's for me. Forgive quickly. Don't let disappointment calcify into bitterness. Return to the last thing that God said to you. And find the grace in that. Sometimes you get a little bit lost when you're in a difficult moment, but if you can remember what was the last thing that God asked you to do, and there's grace in that thing. Whatever God says to you, there's power and there's grace in that. Come back to it, return to it. There's power there. And lastly, I would say joy is a secret weapon for Christians. The joy of the Lord is my strength. There's something strengthening about choosing joy, even in the middle of something challenging. Jesus said, for the joy set before him, he endured the cross. For the joy set before him, he endured. What was the joy that he's talking about? The joy was the family of God. God's dream has always been a family. From the very beginning, it was go into all the world, take the kingdom of God. We see this with uh with Abraham and his family, and then we see this with Jesus restoring this over and over, and he says, Go out into all the world and do the same. That was the joy set before Jesus. You and me, together with him in a family. That was the joy. That was why he could endure the cross. Trials are not forever, they will come to an end, and on the other side, there is blessing. I'm gonna pray in a moment. But let me just read this one last verse to you. James chapter 1, verse 12. It says, Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial. Having stood that test, that person will receive a crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. Here's the promise. When you stand in the middle of perse when you persevere in the middle of trials, there is blessing on the other side of that from God. And it may not be from people, but God knows and God will reward you. Promotion comes from God. And every time you stand in the middle of a trial, there is blessing coming in your life. It will happen. That's the promise of God. He calls it a crown of glory. A crown. There's only five times that's mentioned in the whole of the book of Revelation. One of them is a crown for people who don't quit when things get hard. I think God is building that into our church. A resilience into our church that is important. If we're gonna last a hundred years from now, we need resilience. We need to have conviction and pre-decide when challenges come, I'm not going to be a person who quits easily. That's not who I am. And maybe that's who I used to be. Yeah? Like that guy across the street I was talking to. Maybe that's who you used to be, but that is not your future. I want to be a strong person. I want to follow Jesus and I want to get that crown. Amen. Let me pray for you. Jesus, we love you. Um thank you for all kinds of people here who are just facing all kinds of challenges. Help them be strong. Help them. I pray for grace in their life. They would know you and be confident in you. Pray for healing in people's lives today. For those who who maybe have experienced rejection or um betrayal or people leaving their lives or whatever that is, gotta pray for healing in their lives today. Give us eyes to see what you're doing through us. Um the opportunities that you're bringing into our lives, and even the new relationships that you're bringing into our lives to bless us. I pray you give us open hearts to see that. Even those who are facing challenges right now and thinking about making a bad decision in the middle of a challenge, you've got to pray that you would come and pour out your grace on them today. Strengthen them. Bring them back to deep conviction that you are with them. That this challenge will not last, and on the other side there is blessing. So we're asking you for that, God, today. We receive it. We thank you, Lord, for it.