Lambs Among Wolves

In one paragraph

This message came from Luke 10:1-24, part of First B Jackson's ongoing Harmony of the Gospels study. Pastor Carl walked through Jesus sending out 72 others ahead of him, their return, and the joy Jesus himself expressed at the end of the passage. A story about his uncle Kenneth grounded the whole thing in what that kind of mission actually looks like across a real life. Jesus appointed 72 people,...

Read together

1. Psalm 55 cast your cares on the Lord, He will sustain you, used to open worship
2. Luke 10:1-24 primary sermon passage, sending out of the 72
3. Ephesians 2:8-10 by grace saved, God's workmanship created for good works, tied to the Greek word for appointed
4. Psalm 89:1 I will sing of the Lord's great love forever, used before offering song
5. Psalm 91 read at length, connected to Jesus giving authority over snakes and scorpions to the 72
6. Psalm 67 mentioned briefly as the ever expanding circle of those to whom the Son reveals the Father, not read aloud
7. Romans 15:13 spoken as the benediction, God the source of hope filling with joy and peace

Talk about it

1. The pastor described the 72 being sent out as lambs among wolves, and Leon Morris called that position one of 'danger and helplessness.' Where in your own life have you felt that kind of helplessness in trying to live on mission, and what did you lean on?
2. Jesus told the 72 to stay in one house rather than moving around, and Travis connected that to the value of extended time with people over shared meals and conversation. Who in your life right now might God be calling you to invest that kind of unhurried time in?
3. The 72 came back rejoicing that demons were subject to them in Jesus' name, and Jesus redirected them: rejoice instead that your names are recorded in heaven. Is there anything in your own faith life where you find yourself celebrating the wrong thing, the experience or the result rather than the relationship itself?
4. The preacher told the story of his uncle Kenneth, who spent years rejecting God before his son's conversion eventually led to his own. What does that kind of long, slow story tell us about how we should pray for people who seem far from God right now?
5. At the end of the passage Jesus tells his disciples that many prophets and kings longed to see what they were seeing and never did. The preacher said what brought Jesus joy then is what brings Him joy now, ordinary people living on mission and others receiving the message. How does that reframe the way you think about your own everyday interactions and conversations?