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The Call of Jesus
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Welcome to this lesson 9 that is called
"As Lambs Among Wolves".
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I hope it's okay I'm going to provoke
you a little here.
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I'm going to challenge you and say
something that will really make you think.
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I hope you are ready for that.
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We start to get a lot of feedback
from my new book "The Call of Jesus".
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A person from Canada wrote this
about the book:
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"Best book I've ever read besides
the Bible.
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This book is a must read for everybody,
especially the Body of Christ!
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It's a wake-up call that's urgently
needed in these last days,
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and will lead believers back to
the first love with real joy and excitement
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in their walk with the Lord!"
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So, one person said that it was the best book
he has ever read, beside the Bible.
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And I believe also, when you read the book,
the whole book,
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or move on in this video series with me,
you will find it very, very good,
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very interesting. Why?
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Especially in the end, when we are
going to put it all together.
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What we are doing now is we are
taking it verse by verse,
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word by word, what Jesus is saying
in Luke 10.
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And then later we will put more
meat on it,
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and later we will put it together,
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and send you out with it,
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send you out to live this life
Jesus has for you.
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After Jesus said in the beginning
of Luke 10 that the harvest is ready
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and the workers are few,
then He said that we should pray
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the Lord of the harvest
to send out workers -
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something we have been looking at.
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And then in Luke 10:3 He says this:
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"Go your way: behold, I send you out
as lambs among wolves."
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This is what we are going to look at today.
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One of the first things He said there is:
Go!
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Go your way.
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What you need to understand is that
the harvest is ready.
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The harvest is plentiful.
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The harvest is not the problem.
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The problem is the workers.
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And we looked at that last time,
that we should pray the Lord of the harvest
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to send out workers.
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But then He says this:
Go your way.
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Or said in other works:
Go out in harvest.
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Go out in the harvest.
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Why? Because the harvest is not going to
come to us.
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Try to imagine a farmer,
a farmer out in the real world,
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who is standing there and looking
at the harvest.
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And when he's looking at the harvest
he sees that the harvest is huge,
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the harvest is plentiful and
the harvest is ripe.
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The harvest is so ready,
the harvest is so ripe.
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And he just feels that joy.
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What does he do?
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He opens the barn door
and then he looks over the harvest,
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and then this farmer would say:
Harvest! Come in!
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Come in to the barn!
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And then, he looks at the harvest
and he sees something interesting.
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He sees that the harvest doesn't
come into the barn.
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So, he starts to think.
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What is wrong with the harvest?
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Maybe the harvest doesn't hear me.
Maybe I need to shout a little louder.
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Harvest! Harvest! Come in!
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Harvest, the barn is ready!
The barn is ready for you!
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Come in, harvest!
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And he shouts louder.
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But still the harvest doesn't come in.
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So, he starts to think what is wrong
with that harvest.
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Why the harvest doesn't want to come in
to the barn?
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And then he looks at the barn and
he thinks: Oh, now I know it.
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The barn is dirty.
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The harvest doesn't want to come
into a dirty barn.
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So, he fixes the barn now.
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He gets all the dirt out and he even
puts a nice carpet on the barn floor.
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He even puts a coffee machine into the barn,
he fixes it up, and has lights,
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and he makes the barn so cozy.
He even puts some very nice soft music in,
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to the barn, so the barn is so amazing
and so cozy.
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And then he goes out and he looks
at the harvest and says:
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Harvest, come in!
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And the harvest still doesn't come in.
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Why?
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Because the harvest doesn't care
how cozy the barn is.
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The harvest cannot stand up and come in.
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The harvest is not created
to come into the barn.
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The only thing he, actually, got out of
fixing the barn and making it so cozy,
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with soft music, and lights, and sofa,
and coffee machine,
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is that now all the workers are sitting in
there and doesn't want to go out.
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The only thing we really get out of
fixing our churches
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is that is so cozy and nice that no one
wants to leave them.
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But you know, the people out there,
the harvest, the sinners,
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they don't care how fine the churches are.
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The harvest is not created to stand up
and go into the barn.
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No, the workers are created to stand up
and go out in harvest.
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And this is what we should have done
in the churches.
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Instead of making nice churches and
hoping that people will come in to us,
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we should be training and equipping them,
the workers, to go out there.
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And again, I'd like to say,
not go and stand on a platform in Africa.
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Just go out to that harvest that's just
outside the door,
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to find the person of peace,
and go to their house,
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and eat and drink what they serve,
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and do everything
I'm going to look at later in this book.
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I want to read here.
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"Are we not doing exactly
what the farmer did in our churches?
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We use a lot of time, money,
resources to make our churches (barns)
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look nice and cozy
with beautiful carpet and lights.
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We even play music
to set the right atmosphere.
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We do all of this with the belief
that if the church is nice and cozy
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and the sermon is just right,
then people will start to come
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into the church by themselves
and get saved."
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I just want to say...
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This is what most people are doing.
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Yes, of course, you can see a little fruit
of that.
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Of course, there are some people today,
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and mostly church people,
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who change one church to another,
and so on,
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but a sinner out there...
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Yes, we see a little fruit,
but I guarantee you...
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You will see so much more fruit
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instead, if you start to train and equip
workers to go out.
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Why? Let's say you have a church
with 100 people.
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And you have a few people come in,
to you, here and there.
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But how often do you see a church
with 100 people
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that is 100 one year and then 200
next year, and then 400, and then 800,
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and then 1600, and 3200 and 6400?
We don't see that.
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That is just 100% growth.
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That is just one person
leading the one to Christ.
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Per year.
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Why? Because most people in church
never lead anyone to Christ.
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They are not equipped for it.
They don't know what to do.
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They don't go out and do it.
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And this is what it is -
you are called to lead people to Christ.
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You are not called to just be in church
where other people do it.
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You are called to lead the harvest,
the people to Christ.
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So, what we are saying is that the harvest
is not the problem.
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The harvest has never been the problem.
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The problem is us.
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The problem is you and me.
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But we can do something about it.
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And we need to start with obeying
what Jesus has commanded us to.
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Let's move on and look at what Jesus
also is saying in Luke 10:3:
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"Go your way; behold, I send you out
as lambs among wolves."
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I send you out as lambs among wolves.
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I think we have read that so many times
without really stopping up and thinking:
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What? What? What?
What is it Jesus You are saying?
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What are You saying here, Jesus?
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I send you out as lambs among wolves.
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Try to imagine Jesus standing
with a little, little lamb;
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I have a picture here;
with a little lamb in His arms.
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A lamb is very, very, very helpless.
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Meh, or baa...
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In Europe we say: meh.
In America I think they say: baa.
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But, no matter if it's a meh or baa,
what happens?
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A little meh cannot scare wolf away.
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But Jesus takes this little lamb
and send him out among wolves.
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Try to imagine this.
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Try to imagine Jesus's standing
with a little lamb. Meh... baa....
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And then He sees wolf out there.
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Whoa! Look at those wolves.
Those wolves want to eat you.
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Baa! They want to eat you. Baa!
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And then He takes this little lamb
and then He says: Out with you.
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I send you out as lamb among wolves.
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What can a lamb do?
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A lamb is, as I said, very helpless.
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That "baa" is not going to
chase the wolf away.
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A lamb is not very good camouflaged.
Is it? No.
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It cannot climb trees. No.
It's not very fast. No.
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A lamb is, actually,
very, very, very helpless.
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And I think that's why
Jesus chose that picture.
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A lamb is, actually, one of those few
animals we really see, who needs a shepherd.
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Cats don't need a shepherd.
They are very fast.
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Dogs don't need a shepherd.
It can bark, have teeth, and so on.
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And snakes don't need a shepherd.
Birds can fly away. Don't need a shepherd.
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But a lamb need a shepherd.
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Sheep need a shepherd.
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What good shepherd, in his right mind,
would do what Jesus is doing?
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Sending the little, little lamb
out among wolves.
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There is only one shepherd
who would do that,
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who is sending His sweet lamb
among wolves.
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And that is the good shepherd Jesus.
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And that is the shepherd who goes
with the lamb.
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And this is what He is doing.
He is sending us out among wolves,
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but He is not staying behind, waiting,
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while the wolves are coming
and eating us.
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He said: Go! Behold, I send you
out as lambs among wolves.
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And then He goes with us.
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And this is the first what you are
going to experience.
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When you step out there...
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you can feel like little lamb...
meh... baa... I'm afraid.
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But when you go,
you will experience that He is with you.
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Go out there among wolves.
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You know, the wolf can be a picture of
everything that tries to create fear in us.
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But the truth is - it's not easy out there.
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It's not easy.
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And He has never promised
that it would be easy.
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He has said that we will
experience persecution.
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He has said that people will
speak against us.
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He has said that people will
even beat some of us,
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throw us to jail and kill us.
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He has not promised us
that it would be easy,
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but He has promised us
that He will go with us.
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Many shepherds today in the churches
do the opposite of Jesus.
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They keep lambs away from wolves.
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They are like: as soon as somebody
gets saved:
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No, no, no. Come in, come in here
in the fine church.
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Oh, don't go out there.
And when people start to go out:
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Be careful, be careful. There's wolves
out there. They want to eat you.
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Be back here. And we keep people
away from the wolves.
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But it's out there where the harvest is.
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And we need to be out there
in the harvest.
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And we should not keep people away
from the wolves,
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because the wolves are there,
but Jesus is also there.
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Jesus is going with us.
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And this is what we need to learn.
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I want to read more from my book here:
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"So, do not be afraid!
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Take the first step, and you will see
that Jesus is with you!
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Jesus' Word to you and me is,
"Go!"
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We should go out as lambs among wolves.
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He did not say, "Stay here because
there are wolves out there."
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No, He said, "Go!"
Yes, there's wolves out there,
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and they will never disappear.
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They are there to put fear in you,
and that is just how it is.
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Remember that next time you are going
to take a step and go to somebody
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and open your mouth to speak about
Jesus with people you know or do not know.
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You might feel the fear is coming.
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You might feel like a little lamb
and just want to say,
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'baa' while your legs are shaking
like a little newborn lamb
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trying to take the first small steps.
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But then remember Jesus' words,
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and instead of saying, 'baa,'
say, 'AMEN,'
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knowing that Jesus is going with you!
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Then, boldly take the first step in faith!"
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What we read here is not just words.
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What Jesus has said is real.
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He is sending us out
as lambs among wolves.
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And yes, we will feel fear.
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The fear is there.
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The fear is never going to
disappear completely.
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It's not going to disappear.
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It hasn't disappeared in my life.
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But, I have experienced now
so many times,
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when I, as a little lamb, baa...
take the first step, baa... meh...
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and go out there, and experience
that, wow, it went good,
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wow, Jesus was with me!
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In that moment I took that step,
in that moment I opened my mouth,
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in that moment I laid hands on people,
when I was out there,
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it was not so bad as I feared.
Jesus gave me strength. Jesus was with me.
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Ha!
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I will never forget that.
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And then yes, you forget a little
till the next time,
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but still you remember a little of it.
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And you remember:
Hey, He was with me last time.
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He will be with me this time.
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And then next time:
He was with me last time
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and the time before. He will also
be with me this time.
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And the next time: He was with me
there, there, there.
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He will also be with me there.
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So, the fear will never disappear,
but you will remember,
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by experience,
that He is with you,
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and therefore it becomes easier,
and easier, and easier, and easier.
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So, I really want to encourage you
out there and say:
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Don't be afraid.
Go!
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Jesus did not say this we read here,
for us only to read about it,
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to pray about it, to memorize it,
to even learn it in Greek and Hebrew.
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He's teaching us His words
that we might obey them.
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For you to obey it.
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And can I be a little harsh now?
Can I provoke you a little?
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Don't be deceived.
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Do not be one of those
we read about in the Bible
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who calls on Jesus
and calls Him: Lord, Lord!
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But Jesus will one day say:
Why do you call me: Lord, Lord,
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if you do not do what I say?
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You know from the last time
and from the teaching we have seen until now,
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that it's not about our church way,
it's not about how we do mission
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out of the church box.
It's about Christ, Christ and Christ alone,
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and what He has called us to,
and we are His disciples.
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We have looked how
the harvest is ready,
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the harvest is really, really ready
and plentiful,
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and we need to pray the Lord of the harvest
to send out workers,
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but then we need to go out ourselves.
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And I encourage you to keep praying,
keep praying every day
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for the Lord to send out more workers,
but I also encourage you - start to go.
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Go. Take the first step.
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And now again, we are not talking that
you need to go to Africa
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and stand on a platform, or you have to
stand in the church with a mike in your hand.
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Just, look around you.
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Where are the people around you
who need Jesus?
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Where are the people who you can
share Jesus with?
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Especially this time, with the end times,
crazy time we are living in,
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with all the fear, with virus,
and all of this.
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It's really the time for the church
to rise up and shine.
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To open the mouth to be bold.
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Don't say: bee... or meh...
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Say: Amen! Amen!
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I believe in Jesus' word.
Yes, I feel like a little lamb,
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but I will go out.
I will act on Jesus' word,
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and I will invite my neighbors over
and sit with them and share the gospel.
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I will take this video with the gospel
and share with them.
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That can be the first start with you.
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I will go public on Facebook
and proclaim Jesus.
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I don't know where you'll start,
but this is what I encourage you to do.
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Remember the picture of Jesus,
the lamb and the wolves.
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Yes, you will feel fear.
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But until the next time,
I really, really encourage you -
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take some steps.
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Do something you have not done before,
when it comes to sharing Jesus,
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when it comes to open your mouth.
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I remember the first time
I should have prayed loud -
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that was a big step for me.
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I remember the first time I should have
opened my mouth and talk about Jesus
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to somebody I did not know -
it was a big step for me.
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I remember the first time
I've done anything.
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Why? Because all the beginnings
are difficult.
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And especially when we talk about
sharing Jesus.
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But I also saw that when I open
my mouth and share about Jesus...
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Hallelujah!
He was with me.
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And it encouraged me,
and I grew from there,
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and I saw what Jesus is saying:
The harvest is truly ready, truly plentiful.
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So, until next time, keep praying that
the workers will be sent out to the harvest,
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but also take a step in faith.
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Do something you have not done before.
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Share Jesus with somebody.
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Do something you have not done before
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and see that He is with you.
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See you next time!
Bye-bye!
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The Call of Jesus