Three Things We Must Do

When Jesus called his disciples in Mark 3, he did so for three purposes: "so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons." (Mark 3:14-15)

To be with him. To send them out to preach. To have authority to cast out demons.

As we read through the Bible together at National Community Church, I find myself reading through certain passages multiple times wearing different hats-- as Heather Zempel, a follower of Christ; as a teaching pastor mining the text for truth that must be communicated to our church; as a discipleship pastor yearning for encouragement to give to my leaders; etc. This week, I had my discipleship pastor hat on as I read Mark 3 and was struck by the simultaneous simplicity and difficulty of Jesus' purposes for his disciples. To be with him. To preach. To cast out demons.

How are we doing in those three areas? I'll be talking about this at our Leadership Summit tonight.