“Jesus Commands Us to Preach the Gospel”

The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

SERMON TEXT:  Mark 6:7-13

Jesus called the Twelve and began to send them out two by two. He gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their money belts. They were to put on sandals but not to wear two coats. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that area. Any place that will not receive you or listen to you, as you leave there, shake off the dust that is under your feet as a testimony against them.” They went out and preached that people should repent. They also drove out many demons. They anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Bible Readings

FIRST LESSON:  Amos 7:10-17

Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to endure all of his words. This is what Amos says: “Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go into exile away from its own soil.” Then Amaziah said to Amos, “You seer, get out of here! Flee to the land of Judah. You may eat food and prophesy there. But you must never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the sanctuary of the king and the national temple.” Then Amos responded to Amaziah: I was not a prophet, nor was I a son of a prophet. Rather, I was a sheep breeder and I took care of sycamore fig trees. But the LORD took me from tending flocks, and the LORD said to me, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel.” But now, hear the word of the LORD, you who are saying, “Do not prophesy against Israel” and “Do not preach against the house of Isaac.” This is what the LORD says: “Your wife will be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be parceled out with a measuring line, and as for you, you will die upon unclean soil. And Israel will certainly go into exile far away from its own soil.”

SECOND LESSON:  1 Timothy 3:1-7

This saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to become an overseer, he desires a noble task. It is necessary, then, for the overseer to be above reproach, the husband of only one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not a violent man but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. It is necessary that he manage his own household well, with all dignity making sure that his children obey him. (If a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he might become conceited and fall into the same condemnation as the Devil. In addition, he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he may not fall into disgrace and the Devil’s trap.

VERSE OF THE DAY:  Deuteronomy 30:14

The Word is Very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

GOSPEL: Mark 6:7-13

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