The Assignment

A packed church means nothing if we miss the real assignment Jesus gives us. We’re opening Luke 14 and sitting with the parable of the great banquet, where invited guests make excuses and the master’s command cuts through the noise: go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. We talk plainly about evangelism, gospel urgency, and what it looks like to “fill the house” with people who actually want Jesus, not just a spiritual add-on. 

From there, we connect the dots to Mark 1 and our calling to be fishers of men, then to Matthew 28 and the Great Commission. We slow down on a point many Christians forget: Jesus doesn’t just call us to help someone pray and move on. He calls us to make disciples, to spend time, to teach, to model obedience, and to live in a way that makes the love of God visible. That raises a tough question we all have to answer: when people step back and watch our lives, do they see Jesus or just talk? 

Then we go to Luke 14 again for “the cost of discipleship,” because staying on assignment will cost comfort, reputation, and sometimes relationships. We discuss what it means to forsake all.  If you want practical Christian discipleship that is rooted in Scripture and honest about the cost, this one is for you. 

Subscribe to Beyond Sunday, share this with someone you’re praying for, and leave a review so more people can find it. What’s one step you can take this week to be more compelling and more faithful to the assignment?

Transcript

Welcome And Opening Scripture

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What's going on, everybody? I am Lee Day, your host of this episode of Beyond Sunday. Thank you for tuning in to this podcast and I pastor Christ Family Outreach Church located in Amelia Courthouse, Virginia. If you've got your Bibles, let's get them cracked open, my brothers and sisters, to Luke chapter 14. I am excited about this episode. So we're going to jump right into the deep end. Luke chapter 14, beginning with the 15th verse. I'm going to read for a little bit, but hang in there tight, buckle up. Trust me, it's going to be worth it. Hold on. Let's get going, okay? Luke chapter 15, hold on tight. When one of those who reclined at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God. But he said to him, A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet, he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, Come, for everything is now ready. Amen. But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, I bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused. And another said, I bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused. And another said, I've married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So the servant came and reported these things to his master, and then the master of the house became angry, and said to his servant, Go out quickly to the streets and the lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame. And the servant said, Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there's room. And the master said to the servant, Go out to the highways. Now listen, this is what we're going to talk about, so pay attention to this twenty-third verse. And the master said to the servant, Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.

Fill The House With Urgency

SPEAKER_00 2:07

In telling this parable, Jesus Christ gives us an assignment. And here it is. If you're taking notes, three words, write it down. Fill the house. We want to fill the house of God. Okay? Now I know this is talking about people getting into glory. All right. But we're going to talk today about filling the house, the house in heaven. But before we can fill the house in heaven, we got to get people inside the church house. Amen. So let's talk about filling the house today. This is our assignment because Jesus wants as many people possible spending eternity with him. We got to fill the house. And I want you to look at the 23rd verse again. And this is what it says. And the master said to the servant, go out to the highways and the hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. My brothers and sisters, that's our job. Our job is to go out and compel people to come into the house of God. There's a great banquet that everyone's been given an invitation to, and that invitation, his name is Jesus Christ. That's how we get to God. Jesus says, No one come to the Father except through me. Jesus lets us know that he is the way, the truth, and the life. Amen. So Jesus, he wants a full house in eternity. And in order to do that, we got to get as many people as we possibly can down here in this house, the church house, and in every church house out there, amen, following Jesus that we can. That we are to compel the people to come in. And the word, pay attention here, the word compel actually means to force or to drive, especially to a course of action. With great conviction, we should be relentless, my friends, in the pursuit of getting the unsaved to Jesus Christ. I'm going to say that again. With great conviction, we should be relentless in the pursuit of getting the unsaved to Jesus Christ. And I want you to consider this question as you listen to this podcast right now. It's just a little spiritual inventory assessment, okay? How compelling are you? How compelling are you when it comes to sharing the gospel message with others? How compelling are you? Jesus says that we are to compel the people to come into the house of God.

Fishers Of Men In Real Life

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Now, this this leads me to another particular scripture, but a different book. I want you to go to Mark chapter one for a moment. Because Mark chapter one, verses 16 through 20 says this. And Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him. You see, their calling is the same calling that you and I have over our lives to this very day. My friends, we're all called to be fishers of men. Our job is to point people to Jesus Christ, showing them their need for a Savior, teaching them the difference that God can make in their life, and showing them the importance to serve Him and why they need Jesus Christ as Lord, just like we do in our lives too. And we share our testimony with them, letting them know where God has brought us to and how Jesus Christ has rescued us and how God has filled us with the power of his Holy Spirit and how we want to walk in the blessing and the favor and the honor of God. Remember, God says in 1 Samuel 2:30 that those who honor me, I will honor in return. Amen. So we're called to be fishers of men. That's our calling. That's our assignment.

Make Disciples Not Just Converts

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Now, turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 28 for a moment. Because Matthew 28, I'm going to read verses 16 through 20. We see what we call the Great Commission. And this is what it says. Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always to the end of age. Now notice what Jesus Christ did not say. He did not say, go and save people. He went much deeper than that matter of fact. Jesus said, Go and make disciples. Now it's easy to show someone their need of a savior. It's easy to say a prayer with them and then simply walk away. But Jesus calls us far beyond that. We also have an assignment to make disciples. Jesus said, Go and make disciples, spend some time with them, teach them, share your testimony with them, show them what God has done for you. Be an example. Compel them, yes, to come into the house. But when they come into the house, spend time with them. So so far I have mentioned two assignments that every believer listening to this episode right now has been given by Jesus Christ. Two assignments that I've already mentioned. Number one, be a fisher of men. Number two, make disciples. Now, I want to go a little further than this. Look at what Jesus said in the rest of the instructions. Matthew 28, 19 and 20. Watch what happens. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always to the end of age. Can we just say amen? Thank you, God, for that. Now, the instructions are to teach those that we disciple all that he has commanded us. I'm gonna say it again. The instructions are that we should teach those that we disciple all that he has commanded us. Now, this should hold us to a level of accountability here, my brothers and sisters. Because if we're gonna share with someone the need for Jesus Christ in their life as personal Lord and Savior, and if they're able to step back, here's the question: are they able to step back and see Jesus in our life? Again, if we're gonna share with someone their need for Jesus in their life as Lord and Savior, are they able to step back and see Jesus in our life? Are we great at talking about it and then halfway decent at living it? Or are we great at talking about it and also great at living it? And again, we can only truly be great at living it if we're relying on the power of the Holy Spirit of God that's inside of us. So when someone looks at us, we want them to see the word of God in action. Amen. We want them to see the love of God in action and the forgiveness of Jesus Christ at work in our lives. We want them to see us offering the mercy and the forgiveness of God. We want them to experience the power of God's Holy Spirit doing in us what only He can do. And all of this is for a testimony to His glory and to His faithfulness. So here's another little question you can write down. What do people see in me? Who do people see in me?

The Cost Of Following Jesus

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And here's the deal: the assignment of God comes at a cost. The assignment of God comes at a cost. You may lose friends. It may cost you friends. You may even lose, unfortunately, you may even lose some family members. That's right. You may even have some family members disown you simply because they think that you have joined a cult or you're a holy roller or you're giving it all to the church. Whatever they want to do or say, however they're gonna pin it on you, it's just, it's just the enemy at work trying to get you upset. You know, you may be the outcast at your job. You may even lose your job nowadays. Now, turn to Luke chapter 14 for a moment. Luke chapter 14, and when you get there, we're gonna pick up my friends at the 25th verse. And and Luke 14, beginning with the 25th verse, the little subtitle in your Bibles, I don't know about yours, but mine says, The cost of discipleship. The cost of discipleship. So Luke 14, 25 through 33 says this. Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Or which of you desiring to build a tower does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish. Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great far way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. That's a tough word. But my friends, it's God's word. It's a tough word, but it's God's word. And we can sum that entire passage up, I believe anyway, that we can sum that entire passage up at the 33rd verse. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. This passage, my friends, brings up another assignment. This particular assignment can be the hardest of them all for a lot of us. It is the assignment to forsake all that you have. Large crowds often follow Jesus. Let me explain. He knew most of them were not interested in spiritual things. They wanted to be fed, they wanted to see miracles, and many of them wanted him to overthrow Rome. And what Jesus often said to the people, it would thin out the crowds. Because what he was saying wasn't popular to them. It didn't feel good to them. He was he was looking for quality over quantity. Did he want a full house? Yes, he did. But Jesus wanted it to be full of people who truly love God and wanted to serve God. People who were growing in the word of God. Now, to forsake all that you have is to put Christ in your assignment above everything else, and also above everyone else. And that's tough right there. And I acknowledge that. I'm in agreement with you, okay? It's extremely hard at times, but I'm gonna say it again. To forsake all that you have is to put Christ and your assignment above everything else and above everyone else. Now, you you may have heard of the company called Standard Oil Company. Big outfit. Standard Oil Company. Many years ago, okay, true story, true story. Many years ago, they were looking to hire someone to be the representative in the Far East. And they they approached a missionary that they had heard about who lived there, and they offered this particular missionary the job. All they wanted the missionary to do was represent their company when need be. Okay, just when need be. Wasn't even a full-time job. They're just looking to pay him some money to represent their company over there when they needed him to be a voice because he was already over there. So what do they do? They offer him $10,000. The missionary refused. Standard Oil Company comes back, they they offer him $25,000. And again, the missionary refused. They come back to the missionary, back to the table. They offer him $50,000. And the missionary refused. So the company asked the missionary, they said, What's wrong? Isn't this offer good enough? And the missionary replied to the oil company, he says, Listen, your price is right, but your job that you're offering me is too small. Hear that. Your price is right, but your job is too small. You see, God called the man to be a missionary, and anything else was not worthy of his consideration. He understood the assignment. He understood his call that God had over his life. And anything contrary to that was not worthy of his consideration. So again, if you're taking notes, you gotta be sure to add this assignment to the others. Number one, fissures of men. Number two, make disciples. And number three, although it may not be the most popular, forsake all you have. In other words, put Jesus first before everything and everyone else.

Lose Your Life To Keep It

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Luke chapter 17, verse 20. Luke 17, 20 says this all the way through the thirty-seventh verse. Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, Look, here it is, or there, for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. And he said to the disciples, The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, Look there or look here. Do not go out or follow them, for as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day, but first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage until the day when Noah entered the Ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot, they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all, so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the house top with his goods in the house not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife, whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. And I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed, one will be taken and the other left, and there will be two women grinding together, they're out there working, one will be taken and the other left. And they said to him, Where, Lord? And he said to them, Where the corpse is, the vultures will gather. Notice what Jesus said in the 33rd verse, because it goes right along with forsaking all that you have. And this is so important to understand, my friends. Jesus said, Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life will keep it. We must be of the mindset, my brothers and sisters, to lay down everything and everyone at the foot of the cross. Nothing is off limits when it comes to God having his way in our lives. Did you hear that? Oh, would it be so victorious to live that type of lifestyle where nothing is off limits, where we just surrender it all to God. We welcome him in every area, in every space, in every compartment, in every relationship, every friendship, every single square inch of our lives. What a way to live. No better way to live.

Serving The Least Stays The Course

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Matthew 25, 35. I want you to pay attention to what I'm about to read you here, says this. Jesus says, For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when do we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty, and give you drink? And when do we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when do we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the king will answer them, Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me. Write this down if you're taking notes. Stay on assignment. Stay on assignment. Do not lose focus, my friends. Stay focused. The 41st verse, Matthew 25, 41. We're gonna finish out this this this chapter right here. Says this. Then he will say to those on his left, depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked, and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they also will answer, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, or a stranger or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to you? And then he will answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Remain on assignment, my good brothers and sisters. Be fishers of men, make disciples, and forsake all you have. Keep God first, and we can only be successful at any of these things if we surrender to and rely on the power of God's living Holy Spirit working on the inside of us.

Prayer And Final Charge

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Let's pray. Father, in the name of the blood of Jesus, I am grateful for you, for your son, and for your Holy Spirit. I pray, Father, that we would take the principles, that we would take what we've heard from your word, your truth, and we would take the assignment seriously. That we are to be fishers of men. We are to compel people to come in, that we are to make disciples, and we are to compel people to further their walk with you. And we are to forsake all that we have, putting nothing in front of you. Help us, Father, to be obedient followers of Jesus in the name of the blood of Jesus Christ. All God's people said, Amen, amen, and amen. Until next time on Beyond Sunday, God bless and stay in his word.