Audio from Senior Pastor Vaughn Drawdy on Sunday morning January 27th, 2019.
These sermon notes are made available through the YouVersion free Bible app.
https://www.bible.com/events/555153
Today we will spend time answering the question, “What’s my message?” What do I actually say while living on mission. If you are already a Christian, then this is at the very heart of following Jesus.
Have you ever tried to explain something to someone and they just don’t get it? Do you ever feel like sharing Jesus is like speaking in a different language? You just can’t seem to get the words out and you’re pretty sure you are confusing the other person more than you are helping them.
If you can relate at all then today’s passage we are studying should greatly encourage you. We are going to look at the same story from two different places. Mark 5 and Luke 8
Mark 5:1-2 NIV
1 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him.
Mark 5:3-5 NIV
3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
Luke 8:28-29 NIV
28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” 29 For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.
Luke 8:30 NIV
30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him.
Luke 8:31-33 NIV
31 And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. 32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. 33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
So the man asks the question, “Jesus, what do you want with me?”
Jesus answers in words and actions: 1) I want to know your name. 2) I want to help you.
Think about it, everyone else wanted to bind him and keep him away but Jesus came to free him.
Luke 8:34-35 NIV
34 When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35 and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
As the man sat at Jesus’ feet what do you think they talked about? A great question to ask anytime you are reading the
Bible and it says they were talking is “What do you imagine the conversation was about?” I’m just guessing but don’t you think the man somewhere in there probably asked, “So who are you and why did you save me?”
Luke 8:38-39 NIV
38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
This guy has been a Christian for 5 minutes. Doesn’t he need more training? Instead Jesus gives him a mission. Return home and tell how much God has done for you.
The area that this all happened was called Decapolis because it was made up of 10 cities that were all together. He went all over the place and told people how much Jesus had done for him.
So, what’s my message? It’s simple, to share how God’s goodness has intersected with my life. What did Jesus do and howhas it personally impacted my life. Can you do that? That’s the message you’re supposed to be ready with.
Mark 7:31 NIV
31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.
Jesus went back. In Mark 8 we read that the feeding of the 4000 happened in that same region. So Jesus goes on and tells one guy before they send him away. He comes back a little bit later and 4000 men (or probably 12-15,000 including women and kids) What was the difference? There is no other explanation. I believe it had something to do with how God used the testimony of the former demon possessed guy. Think for a second what that means, he probably went and shared about Jesus to everyone. He probably shared with the very people who cuffed him in chains and left him to die. The message was just too good, his past relationships just didn’t seem to matter anymore.
You have no idea the impact God wants to make through you. Jesus took the craziest most insecure guy and used him to build His kingdom.
We limit our testimony and thereby our effectiveness with: “I can’t do this.” “I’m shy.” “I can’t talk with people about how good God is” “This is just not my thing.”
Let me ask you, “Are you known for running around the local cemetery and your neighborhood naked? Has anyone ever chained you up because you are so out of control?” If not, then you have far less to overcome than this guy did and he brought about one of the Bible’s best spiritual awakenings. Stop saying I can’t and Say God can.
1 Corinthians 3:6 NIV
6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.
God is at work in you so that He may be known through you. You have a mission.
Paul planted
Apollos Watered
God gave increase
Pray for planting moments and courage.
Pray for watering moments and courage.
Trust what God wants to do through you, for His glory.