Common, Faulty Men called for an Uncommon Mission

Tonight at our Men's Small Group we looked at the 12 Apostles by reading scriptures about how Jesus called them or interacted with them.  Among those scriptures we looked at:

Matthew 4: 18-20 Walking along the beach of Lake Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers: Simon (later called Peter) and Andrew. They were fishing, throwing their nets into the lake. It was their regular work. Jesus said to them, "Come with me. I'll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I'll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass." They didn't ask questions, but simply dropped their nets and followed.

Mark 2: 13-14 Then Jesus went again to walk alongside the lake. Again a crowd came to him, and he taught them. Strolling along, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, at his work collecting taxes. Jesus said, "Come along with me." He came.

Luke 6:  12-16 At about that same time he climbed a mountain to pray. He was there all night in prayer before God. The next day he summoned his disciples; from them he selected twelve he designated as apostles: 

  Simon, whom he named Peter, 
  Andrew, his brother, 
  James, 
  John, 
  Philip, 
  Bartholomew, 
  Matthew, 
  Thomas, 
  James, son of Alphaeus, 
  Simon, called the Zealot, 
  Judas, son of James, 
  Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Acts 1: 12-13 So they left the mountain called Olives and returned to Jerusalem. It was a little over half a mile. They went to the upper room they had been using as a meeting place: 

 Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James, son of Alphaeus,  Simon the Zealot, Judas, son of James.

Acts 2:  1-4 When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.

The questions we looked at concerning these scriptures were:

1. How did Jesus select these men?

2. What strikes you about these men?

3. What do we have in common with them?

We talked about how Jesus called these men as they did their everyday activities.  That these men had hang-ups and faults but Jesus called them for a purpose any way. That these men were no different than we are.  These men received the power to heal the sick, speak into the lives of others and to serve in an uncommon way through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

At the end of the meeting I gave the men a challenge: "Look for that one moment when God can use a common person like us to touch the life of another person."  

To read more about each of the 12 Apostles click this link The Twelve Apostles. Like the 12 Apostles you are a Faulty, Common, Person who God is calling to do an Uncommon Mission. With the Holy Spirit living in and through you, you can call upon God to heal the sick, bring healing to the wounded heart and to speak truth into the life of another person. I encourage you to join us as we go through this next week looking for an opportunity to practice what the Jesus and the 12 Apostle did and touch the life of one person with the positive, healing power of Jesus that you have received through the Holy Spirit.