Sending

There is a time to study the maps and enlist a crew. There is a season for mending sails, varnishing woodwork, and staring out at the horizon. But there is also a time to roll up the charts, cast off the anchor, and sail past the edge of the painting. Jesus came not just to gather disciples but to send them. “Go! I am sending you...” (Luke 10:3).

“God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you, Lord Jesus.” - Journal entry of martyred missionary Jim Elliot

Take the Sending challenge:

Have you ever given up something because of your commitment to follow Jesus? Maybe your comfort? Your location? Your finances? Your rights? Your relationships? Your time? How did this sacrifice change you? What effect did it have on others around you?
Erwin McManus writes, “As we have discovered on this journey, courage is not the absence of fear; it is the absence of self” (Uprising). How courageous are you? How might letting go of your ‘self’ lead to a willingness to be ‘sent’ to do something big for God?
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” What does this advice by Mark Twain have to do with you and your Adventure of following Jesus?
Individuals who make up the local church can do far more together than they can alone. How might your gifts be multiplied within a local church? Is God sending you? To encourage others? To lead or organize an effort? To aid the poor? To respond to disaster? To meet the needs of your area? To consider someone else’s needs above your own?