The Call of Jesus Welcome to this lesson called "Carry No Money". We are in Luke 10, looking at the call Jesus has given us. As you will see, Jesus is very, very, very specific in the call. He is very specific in instructions He has given to His disciples and given to you and me. I know it's a little funny title "Carry No Money", but it's, actually, very, very important what Jesus is saying to us. So, let's start with reading from my book. "The next thing Jesus says in Luke 10 is very important for us to understand, especially those of us who are living in the materialistic Western world where mammon (money) is the biggest god of them all. We read in Luke 10:4, 'Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road." We are going to look at this now. Do not take a purse, or carry no money. We heard this, but many people never stopped to actually think about it, what it is Jesus is saying. But, you have to understand, what Jesus is saying, He did not just said it without thinking. He said it with a very specific purpose. He said it for us to listen, to understand and to obey. Jesus sent His disciples out without anything. He sent them out without anything. Why? Because He wanted to teach them something. He also said that they should not greet anyone on the road. That is something we are going to look more the next time. But, we read here that Jesus said: Do not take purse or bag or sandals. Why? Why did Jesus do that? Why did He send people out without... or not allowing them to take a bag, or purse, or sandals? Why? Because He wanted them to teach them something. He wanted to teach you and me something. He wanted us to learn to be dependent on Him and not on our money and what we have. If we look at the church today, that is a big problem. It's a big problem in the church today because almost everything in the church today comes down to money. In the churches we are so controlled by money. Controlled of what we have. But we should not be controlled on what we have. We should be led by the Holy Spirit, not led by money. Let me read a longer part from my book "The Call of Jesus". "Almost everything in our lives today and in our churches in the Western world is centered around money. We are controlled by what we have or what we lack. It is also money that, for many, is the main factor when it comes to missions, church life, etc. If the money is there, we will do it, and if not, then we will not do it. But, in the Kingdom of God, money is not the problem, and money should never control what we can do or cannot do. It is really important for us to learn to be dependent on God instead of our money or lack of money. We often think we should really see a breakthrough if we have a lot of money and that we then could do so many things for God, as if our growth or our obedience stands or falls with money. We think that if we have money, we can do many things for God, but if we do not have money, there is not much we can do. This is not how it should be. We should not be dependent or controlled by money or what we have. Instead, we should learn to understand that God has all the silver and gold in the world. Everything belongs to Him, and with Him, we lack nothing. What is clear in the Bible is that the lack of money is not the problem. The lack of workers is the problem." What I'm saying here is not so often what I've heard people talk about it. But, if you think of it, so many things in our churches is controlled by money. I met many people who say: If I just had that money and do this and this, I would go out and do this and this, like money is the problem. Money is not the problem. Why? Because if you step out, when you step out, when you serve God... He will take care of your needs. And I've seen that so many times. I remember when I started our journey we had many, many times, as a family, had nothing, but we decided to go out on the Word of God. And when we stepped out on the Word of God we saw that He took care of us. He provided our needs.