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Passing the Baton - Part 1 (Luke 9:1-11)
15 Plays12 days ago
Sunday Message recorded 13 July 2025
by Senior Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church - Columbus, TX, USA
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Sermon
00:00:06
Speaker
It was Larry Benton, one of our deacons. i appreciate them so much. If you only knew how much these men pray for you and pray for our community and for our world, appreciate their hearts for the Lord.
00:00:18
Speaker
Well, I hope that your heart is focused on
Understanding Discipleship and Mentoring
00:00:20
Speaker
the Lord. We're going to look at Luke 9, 1 through 11. And we may just get this started. I don't know if we will finish the message today, but we will definitely get it started.
00:00:31
Speaker
And I think you'll know what I'm talking about as we go into it. But today I want to talk about not just growing as a disciple, which I pray that each one of you are growing in the Lord as a disciple, but also want to talk about you discipling someone else.
00:00:47
Speaker
like influencing someone else, coaching someone else, whatever word you want to look at, you know, mentoring or whatever. But think about that, but then go one step beyond that.
00:00:59
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Are you discipling people with the intention that they're going to disciple someone beyond them, that they're going to not just grow in Christ, but they too will one day do just like you did, and they will pour their life into someone else.
Biblical Examples of Discipleship
00:01:14
Speaker
You know, the Bible is full of discipling, And that leads to multiplication. If you think about how Moses discipled Joshua, Naomi discipled Ruth, Elijah discipled Elisha, Jesus discipled the 12, Paul discipled Timothy, Titus, Luke, and others.
00:01:35
Speaker
But you know, the Greeks back a long time ago had a torch relay race and it was called a lampa dedrami. And lampa was torch, but dedrami was race.
00:01:48
Speaker
And so what they would do is they would take turns running with that torch and then they would pass the torch to the next runner who would take it to the next runner and so forth.
00:02:00
Speaker
Here in the United States, perhaps you think about track and field. You think about passing the baton. You know, the relay method of racing that we're familiar with started back in 1883 when they would pass not a baton like you see on the screen, but a flag to the next runner.
00:02:18
Speaker
But in 1893, it was replaced with a hollow cylinder of wood, and it was exchanged between the runners.
Passing Faith Through Generations
00:02:28
Speaker
In 1912, that was the first Olympic Games in the four by 100 meter race when four men took turns passing on the baton. 1964, they became familiar with some rules. They said, you know what, there's a certain exchange zone where we want you to make that transition from one person to the next person.
00:02:50
Speaker
And so was about 20 to 30 meters long. And if you've ever been on a track and you saw some triangles, that's that's the part where that is. That's the exchange zone where they're supposed to exchange that baton.
00:03:04
Speaker
But I thought it was also interesting, it's not about a game, it's about a message. Also in Greece, they had these fast runners who would run and be dispatched with an important military message.
00:03:18
Speaker
And so one man ran from Athens to Sparta, according to the Greek historian Herodotus. And he said that guy ran 150 over days time. over two days time Can you imagine?
00:03:31
Speaker
But Psalm 78 tells us what we need to know, those of us who are parents. Some of you, one day you will be a parent, but I think for parents, it's important that we pass along the faith, that we pass the faith into the hands, into the hearts of our children, that we pass the faith into our grandchildren's hands and hearts.
00:03:53
Speaker
You know, we have reminders all along the way, don't we, as parents? When we were reminded, you know what? One day they're not going to be here. you remember when you first dropped off your child, that that little one at the babysitter's?
00:04:07
Speaker
Perhaps the church nursery? What about when you took them to first grade and then you had to go away and let the teacher teach teach them? Or in family devotions, maybe you realized one day they won't be sitting on this couch with me.
00:04:22
Speaker
What about when they graduated from high school or college or trade school? Maybe at their wedding, you stood right there. I stood right here whenever my daughter Elisa got married.
00:04:34
Speaker
And I remember it was like there was other bells ringing besides the wedding bells. I was thinking, oh my goodness, I'm turning her over to another man. But you know what, when they have a child, that's another reminder that now the race is different.
00:04:48
Speaker
You've passed on the baton, but now it's up to them to pass the baton to their family.
The Shift in Jesus' Ministry
00:04:54
Speaker
Well, John MacArthur points out that Jesus' earthly ministry, at this point in Luke 9, verse 1, his earthly ministry is already one-half over.
00:05:05
Speaker
And so he's beginning to realize, I've prepared them as best I can. And so now it's their turn to practice what I've been investing into their lives.
00:05:16
Speaker
He said that the cross would have been about 18 months away. If you look at the end of this chapter, over at verse 51, you'll see that Jesus sets his face towards Jerusalem. He's headed to the cross.
00:05:29
Speaker
From that point on, we're going to be in something called Luke's travel log, where he's tra he's logging in what Jesus taught along the way to the cross. But just think about that. Jesus had preached the gospel. Jesus had performed the miracles.
00:05:45
Speaker
Jesus had answered the questions. But now ministry is going to change because before that ministry was only where he was. But now ministry is going to be where he's not standing because he's going to deploy 12 disciples in two six teams of two, and they're going to go out and they're going to do exactly like he told them.
00:06:08
Speaker
You know, it's changing from preparation to multiplication. Has that happened in your life yet? Are you preparing still, but you need to be casting a vision to multiply? It's going to change for these disciples from observation of Christ's life to demonstration of his life.
00:06:27
Speaker
Are you living it out What about moving from education in truth like they were for, you know, 18 months, they've been learning about truth. They've been growing and knowing what the truth is, but now it's time to declare the truth that they know.
Active Discipleship Practices
00:06:44
Speaker
Think about how for them, it's a time to move from meditation upon what he's saying to mobilization. So i want to ask you, if you would, to stand with me as I read this passage from Luke 9, verses 1 through 11. Here's what it says.
00:07:00
Speaker
And he called the twelve together. and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases. And he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.
00:07:12
Speaker
And he said to them, take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money, and do not have two tunics. And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.
00:07:26
Speaker
And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them. And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
00:07:41
Speaker
Now Herod the Tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead. by some that Elijah had appeared and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen.
00:07:59
Speaker
Herod said, John, i beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things? And he sought to see him. On their return, the apostles told him all that they had done.
00:08:14
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And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. When the crowds learned it, They followed him and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing.
00:08:29
Speaker
Let's go to the father in prayer. Would you pray with me? Lord, all I can say is I know what you've told me through the week to get ready for this. So now, Lord, let your word accomplish what you send it forth to accomplish. so Lord, continue that process of making us not only growing disciples, but But Lord, make us multiplying disciples.
00:08:50
Speaker
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you You may be seated. I read an interesting article on passing the baton. It was written from a Christian perspective.
00:09:00
Speaker
And it was talking about how important, how crucial it is, that that exchange when you're passing that baton. They gave four four things in their article. They said, run your own lap well.
00:09:14
Speaker
You can benefit the next runner tremendously by just running your race, your segment of the race well. Secondly, they said, pay careful attention to the handoff.
00:09:25
Speaker
When you're handing off the baton to the next one coming behind you, you have to let go of the baton to transfer. You have to let go in order to transfer so that the other person knows now it's my turn.
00:09:40
Speaker
But then once you hand it off, what do you do? They said, why don't you keep cheering? Why don't you cheer like never before for younger generations and say, go, go, we're behind you. We're going to pray for you. Do your best, run your best.
00:09:57
Speaker
You know, in our text, Jesus demonstrates for us how to multiply disciples with a smooth transfer of the core of discipleship. So that's what I want you to see today.
Guidance on Traveling Light in Faith
00:10:08
Speaker
The first thing I think that Jesus was saying to them was he wanted to clarify the priority of the message. You know, the message is the most important, the message of the gospel,
00:10:21
Speaker
You know, verse 2 and verse 6 refers to the proclamation, the sharing. Don't think in terms of a pulpit and me standing up here. Think of you in your life, wherever you are, in a coffee shop, at school, at work.
00:10:36
Speaker
Maybe you're in the break area, but share what you've come to know about Christ. It says that he sent them out forever. to proclaim the kingdom of God.
00:10:48
Speaker
Later in verse six, it's interesting how that is described as the gospel. And they departed and went through the villages preaching the gospel. I definitely think that the message is important.
00:11:00
Speaker
But how were those people back then who, by the way, are very different from us today, right? Because you have, and I have, a complete copy of the Old and New Testament.
00:11:11
Speaker
We have a complete copy of the Word of God. They did not. They did not have a copy of the Old Testament at that time. They certainly didn't have a copy of the New Testament at that time because it had not been written.
00:11:25
Speaker
So how would people say, how would they come the conclusion in all those villages, these men are from God? This is something God is willing to say through them. Well, there was a certain way of authentication that Jesus thought, I'm going to help the people back then to know for sure that these are my servants.
00:11:46
Speaker
I'm going to entrust and delegate to these 12 disciples power and authority. Power would be the ability to accomplish a task, whereas authority would be the right to use such power.
00:12:00
Speaker
So Jesus is giving them both. I'm giving you the right to use the power of God, but I'm also delegating a certain portion of God's power to you. But whenever God's power was flowing through these men, you know what happened? There were miracles.
00:12:16
Speaker
It talks about this. Jesus even prepared them and told them, I want you to heal. And it says that when they were going through the villages, people were healed. He said, you're going to have authority over
Simple and Reproducible Discipleship
00:12:27
Speaker
all the demons, all of them.
00:12:29
Speaker
And so I thought, man, this is incredible. But what was that doing? Those miracles were confirming this truly is a message that is from God. These men are truly from God.
00:12:42
Speaker
But don't miss in verse six, the penetration into the multitudes. Did they just want to share the gospel message there in Capernaum? Or did Jesus have something else in mind?
00:12:54
Speaker
I believe he had something else in mind because it says in verse six, they departed and went through the villages. They went through the villages. You know, their headquarters was Capernaum. It had about 1500 people. That's a lot of people.
00:13:07
Speaker
They could have legitimately continued to stay right there. But you know what? Jesus said, you know, there's a whole bunch of people that are living in the surrounding area and I want them to hear the good news as well.
00:13:20
Speaker
Someone named Josephus, he was a historian, a Jewish historian. He claimed that Galilee, the region of Galilee, was 50 miles by 25 miles.
00:13:31
Speaker
And it was densely populated. And you know what? They had all kind of towns and villages. You know how many towns and villages surrounded Capernaum? 204. 204. two hundred and four Now, I'm sure that Jesus had visited some of those towns and villages, but he hadn't covered them all.
00:13:48
Speaker
Because remember, ministry at that time, up to this point, was limited to where Jesus was standing. But the great thing about multiplication is now you're spreading out the ministry. You're spreading out what God wants to do.
00:14:02
Speaker
So when making disciples, whether in your family or your friends, clarify the priority of the gospel message. That needs to be number one.
Facing Rejection in Ministry
00:14:11
Speaker
But let's move to something else.
00:14:13
Speaker
I think the second thing that Jesus was insisting on was the simplicity of the methodology. The simplicity of the methodology, verse three. You know, 2 Corinthians 11, two and three was a verse that I ran across when I was a student at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee.
00:14:32
Speaker
I remember reading it because I thought, Lord, that's that's the longing of my heart. But what Paul was saying to the people in Corinth was, you folks got a lot going on. But he said, here's one thing that I'm praying.
00:14:44
Speaker
I'm praying that your minds will never be led astray from the simplicity and the purity of devotion to Christ. It's all about Jesus.
00:14:55
Speaker
You know, in our vacation Bible school, we talked about magnifying God. It's all about him. It's not about me. It's not about you. It's not about us. It's all about him and his kingdom.
00:15:08
Speaker
And that's why he was saying to them, I want you to keep it very, very simple. You know, I think that Jesus was insisting on these disciples in verse three, traveling light.
00:15:20
Speaker
your family ever go on a trip? Sometime I'm like, goodness sakes, who all's going? You know, there's only four of us in the family or used to be. now there's only three of us, but it's like, where did all this luggage come from?
00:15:32
Speaker
But I think God wants us to travel light when it comes to his work. Why? Well, because I think that really the urgency of the task and the sufficiency of the provisions of God, they're enough.
00:15:47
Speaker
You know, there are several commentaries that I ran across that said, really, the main idea behind the simplicity of take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money, and do not have two tunics.
00:16:00
Speaker
What's the big idea there? The big idea is trust the Lord with the rest. Trust the Lord with the rest. He's what you really need most. That gospel message is like a great treasure.
00:16:12
Speaker
What other treasures do you need? That treasure can change the entire world, and it has changed the world. But I remember reading in the Life app Application commentary series, it said it's about trusting God underneath it all.
00:16:27
Speaker
Another commentator that I've learned to respect is Mal Couch. And he said, it's about dependency upon God. Sometimes we feel like, no, I can't do that because I've got to see it before I try it.
00:16:40
Speaker
Maybe you're going to be asked to share your faith and you're thinking, I can't do that. Yes, you can. All you can all you can need to do is tell them about Jesus. Tell them what you know about him.
00:16:52
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You know, we are not given the same identical instructions that those apostles received. They were very unique. This was a unique time
Modern Discipling Strategies
00:17:01
Speaker
period. Remember, they didn't have a copy of the entire word of God, but there are similar principles. And one of those principles is to keep it simple.
00:17:10
Speaker
I remember when I was a missionary in Japan, My wife Jody and I served there for 12 years. But one part of that time we were starting house churches. And so we were having to win people to the Lord.
00:17:22
Speaker
Then we would disciple them. Then we would train them to be leaders. Leaders first of their family and then leaders of a house church. But I remember we came to this point where we thought, okay, how are we going to do house church?
00:17:37
Speaker
How are we going to do church period? If I tried to do everything that this church is doing, and I only had, let's say, five to 12 people in the house church, it would be over, it'd be overextension for them, too much.
00:17:51
Speaker
So what we began to think was my partner, Buddy Brintz, he could play the keyboard. And me, well, I try to play the guitar. If you ever hear me, you'd say, yeah, you try, buddy. You keep on trying one of these days. But anyway, we thought, why don't we do karaoke?
00:18:05
Speaker
Because karaoke is indigenous to Japan anyway. If you're not familiar with that term, it means to have pre-recorded music that you play and then you sing along. Well, that's what we did.
00:18:18
Speaker
So for the house church leaders, they didn't have to be music experts. They didn't have to have an instrument. All they had to do was look ahead of time to a praise song that means a lot to them. They pick it out.
00:18:29
Speaker
They put it in at that time a CD player. And they they say, here's the words. We're all going to praise the Lord with this praise song. And they all sing along. But then we also thought, well, what about for messages?
00:18:43
Speaker
Some of you that know my style, I like for messages to start with the same letter or rhyme or whatever. But you know, like I've realized I don't want to make that as one of their standards.
00:18:55
Speaker
They don't have to make all their letters start all their points start with the first letter. No, not at all. Yeah, some are saying, yeah, that's great. But you know what? It worked because we gave them a transferable, reproducible strategy that they could do that wasn't too high for them to reach.
00:19:16
Speaker
Most of the things that's too high, it's like too much for them. So we were trying to employ what was called model, assist, watch, and leave.
Persisting Despite Challenges
00:19:27
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It didn't go over well when we told the Japanese we're going to maul them. They were like, you're going to maul us? What does that word mean? you know But anyway, model. We model it and you watch. Then we're going to assist you while you do it.
00:19:40
Speaker
But then we're going to take a back seat we're going to watch you while you do it. And then the last one is we're going to move on, start a new house church. Are you doing that with your children? Are you teaching them how to be in the word?
00:19:52
Speaker
Are you teaching them how to have a devotion? I remember when our girls were little, we still tried to model for them how to sit there and listen to that devotion. We used, you know a little devotional book with cartoon characters of all the Bible characters, and we went through the whole Bible, and the and the lessons were very short, but we were trying to set into their spiritual DNA something they could do with others.
00:20:20
Speaker
Let me go to the third thing, and we'll close with this one. I think that we should also prepare for receptivity. Prepare for receptivity toward the mission.
00:20:31
Speaker
You know, sometimes when we're on a trip, I'm from West Tennessee, so when we're on a trip to West Tennessee, we go through a lot of radio stations. And we'll have it on one station say, man, I love those Christian songs there. So then we'll lose it.
00:20:43
Speaker
So then we gotta go with, okay, well, let's go with a preacher. And so we'll find a preacher. So we'll listen to him for a while, but then that radio station begins to break up. And then pretty soon it's like, okay, I'm from Tennessee, let's go with country. And so anyway, we listen to country music. But here's the thing.
00:21:00
Speaker
You know what's happening? We're getting further and further away from the radio station's transmitter. Sometimes there's like hills, mountains that can come interfere between that signal and us.
00:21:15
Speaker
Other times it's like a natural phenomena, say a thunderstorm, and we can't hear what the person is saying or singing. Different kinds of interference. It's that way with people.
00:21:26
Speaker
When you're wanting to share the gospel with someone, when you're wanting to follow up on a new Christian, where you're wanting to disciple, when you're wanting to mentor, they got a lot of stuff spinning in their lives.
00:21:37
Speaker
And so sometimes you'll find they're very interested. And then other times you'll find they're not interested at all. So I thought about the two different responses that are described in verses four and five.
00:21:49
Speaker
And I believe it would be legitimate to talk it over with those that were discipling. There's acceptance of the mission and there's rejection of the mission. It's not hard. It's not rocket science.
00:22:00
Speaker
Anybody could get that. You know, you look at verse four and he's saying, whatever house you enter, stay there and from there depart. And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.
00:22:15
Speaker
You know what you could do? And I've seen Christians do this. They try to share their faith and they get so hurt. They have a bad experience and they're thinking, I'm never going to try that again. Kind like a man that I heard had a an aquarium full of goldfish.
00:22:30
Speaker
And he thought of trying an experiment. So he put... and an aquarium inside the aquarium, and he left a little bit of room around the outsides, and he had no bottom on the inside aquarium that he lowered down in there.
00:22:44
Speaker
So down in the inside aquarium were all the goldfish, but on the outside he put the minnets, and he said some of those goldfish would bump their nose against that glass trying to get the minna,
00:22:56
Speaker
And he said, pretty soon he noticed they weren't even bumping their nose anymore. So he said, I wonder what would happen if I took the in inner aquarium out. So he takes the inner aquarium out. And you know what? those He said those goldfish would let the menace swim all around them.
00:23:13
Speaker
And they wouldn't even, because they had already said, i've tried it I've tried it. I've tried it. I've tried it. I've tried it. I'm telling you, it won't work. Nobody wants to learn from me. That's a lot of people's you know way of responding to this whole idea of passing on the faith.
00:23:30
Speaker
Yes, maybe one family member rejected. mean Maybe somebody at work rejected. Somebody at school rejected. But not everybody's going to reject. You keep on sharing. That's the point.
00:23:43
Speaker
You know, Acts 13 verses 42 to 52 demonstrates and illustrates these two possible responses to the message as experienced by Paul and Barnabas on their mission trip to Antioch in Pisidia.
00:23:57
Speaker
There was a bunch of people that said yes. You know, as a matter of fact, you know what happened the next day after they shared on day one? Day two, it says the whole town gathered. The whole town gathered.
00:24:09
Speaker
How do you know the whole town won't gather if you just try one more time?
Legacy of Biblical Mentorship
00:24:13
Speaker
The whole town gathered, but then there were some people who noticed that and they didn't like it. You know, in mission circles, we used to call them gatekeepers.
00:24:22
Speaker
They didn't like it because what it meant was they're not going to come to the synagogue anymore and listen to them. So it's be careful of the gatekeepers that you don't listen to gatekeepers too long because there's a lot of people that won't hear the gospel because of those gatekeepers.
00:24:37
Speaker
that say, get out of here. We don't want you in our town. You get on out of here. So they did. But you know what it that says that they did in Acts 13, 51 to 52? It says, but they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium.
00:24:54
Speaker
But then it's odd what comes next. In verse 52 of Acts 13, it says, and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. You know what I keep you sharing?
00:25:07
Speaker
It's the filling of the Holy Spirit. To say, Lord, I'm not gonna focus on people's responses anyway. That's not my part. That's not my responsibility. My responsibility is to share the truth, the truth of the gospel.
00:25:19
Speaker
My responsibility is to stay in my lane, to do the best that I can, to run the the most ground that I can in my life so that those who come behind me, they'll they'll be able to go further because I ran well. Are you running well?
00:25:36
Speaker
I tell you somebody that ran well, the man that the Holy Spirit used to write this gospel, Luke. Luke, you know, if you were to look in Luke chapter one, verse four, you would see that he was discipling a man named Theophilus.
00:25:51
Speaker
And so everything that we've been reading in Luke, it was all because of this one guy that Luke, this medical doctor who turned into a disciple, who turned into a missionary, that that man said, you know what? I want Theophilus to know the truth.
00:26:08
Speaker
the truth. And so he wrote that whole thing. Then you go over to the book of Acts and you'll find that Luke wrote another part of the Bible, another part of the New Testament. He wrote the gospel of Luke, but he also wrote the book of Acts.
00:26:22
Speaker
And you know why he wrote the book of Acts? Theophilus' his name comes up again and he wants him to know the certainty of the resurrection and so forth. You know, Paul wrote three New Testament letters to two men that he was training, right?
00:26:40
Speaker
You know, he wrote 1 and 2 Timothy, and he wrote Titus. So there's another man who used his writing to disciple, but also Paul wrote a man named Philemon. And he wrote a man named Philemon about a runaway slave named Onesimus that Paul had been thrown in jail in Rome. He wins Onesimus to the Lord, begins to disciple him, and he says, where you come from, Onesimus?
00:27:03
Speaker
So he tells him, and what he found out was he was a slave for this other guy named Philemon that Paul had discipled in Colossae. And so he says, you know what? You need to go back and make things right. If you took something from Philemon's house, you need to go back.
00:27:22
Speaker
So he wrote the letter of Philemon and put it in the hands of Onesimus. And he said, if you want to follow Christ, you're going to live with right relationships in your life. And so he took it back.
00:27:33
Speaker
But just think about those those men who multiplied their lives and passed on the baton. Think about what we have today because they were faithful in their generation. They were faithful to hand it off to the next generation.
00:27:47
Speaker
So I ask Who's your Timothy? Who is it that you are influencing? Is it your child? Is it your grandchildren? Is it someone at work, someone at school?
00:27:59
Speaker
Is there someone else that you are influencing for Christ? Stay the course. Be steady. Run your race well, but also prepare them so that they can also run well.
00:28:13
Speaker
I want us to have a time of invitation. Would you stand with me? We'll have more on this message next week, Lord willing. But I want to make sure that we take time with this because being a disciple and walking with Christ and multiplying your life for Christ, it doesn't get any more important.
Invitation to Faith and Ministry Commitment
00:28:34
Speaker
That's important. So if you need to talk with someone or pray with someone, I'll be down front. Of course, the main thing we want to know is, do you need Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?
00:28:46
Speaker
You come if you don't have that personal relationship because you can't have it in him. Let's pray together. Lord, God, this invitation, we're ready to close out our service, but we would be remiss.
00:28:58
Speaker
if we closed out without giving someone an opportunity to say yes to Jesus. It's in his name we pray, amen.
00:29:19
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.