The Twelve Apostles

The CEO of a company is only as good as the people that work under him. Nearly every great goal requires the efforts of many people to accomplish it. Using a sports analogy…a coach can practice his team for hours, can teach them proper technique, fundamentals, and implant wisdom as to how to strategically play the game. However, a coach cannot be on the field with his team. He must trust that his preparation, enthusiasm, hours of training, and knowledge is strong enough to give them the advantage they need to persevere and win. This situation is not very different from what the twelve apostles went through when they were called to follow Jesus. They were twelve ordinary men whom God used in an extraordinary manner.

What does "Apostle" mean?

It’s the Greek word apostolos, meaning "a sent one", (by the LORD). Today we may call them Missionaries: those who are sent into other countries to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Apostles are part of the five-fold ministry of Ephesians 4:11 (Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers), and the word "missionary" is not found in the Bible.

The Twelve Apostles:

1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

Matthew 10:1-4

After Jesus’ resurrection and before He ascended into Heaven, eleven of these men were commanded to “Go and Make disciples of all nations…”

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Matthew 28:18-20

Final Thoughts:

"It is believed that all but one of the Apostles suffered and died a martyr’s death (even if we can’t be sure of all the details). Amidst some uncertainty, one thing can be made certain…the reason for each of their deaths were the same in every account. They were killed because they proclaimed to have seen Christ die and then to have seen Him alive. They all died because of an unwavering, unrelenting claim that Christ rose from the grave. "
– Sam Shaw

In the next couple of postings, I’ll talk more about the life and death of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ and how they were charged with changing the world after Jesus’ ascension into Heaven.

God bless you. And this is for His Glory.

Jesus' Last Command

Embedded below is one of the most viewed religious clips on the Web. In 5 minutes and 33 seconds it pretty much wraps up most of our daily struggles with temptation and shows how Jesus always intervenes on our behalf...always out of love.

The question is not whether or not he is watching over us...

So Jesus came to them and said, "All authority (power) in heaven and on earth is given to me. So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach those people to obey everything that I have told you. You can be sure that I will be with you always. I will continue with you until the end of the world."

Matthew 28:18-20

...the question is whether or not we open our hearts to listen and allow Him in.

"That last hug. That last kiss. That last look. That last wave. Each of them is very important when you are leaving someone you love, especially if it could be the last time you see them for awhile. But the last word, that one last message, is precious. You try to make it pleasant ... you try to make it memorable ... you try to make it affectionate ... but most of all, you want your one last word to count!

The Great Commission is Jesus' last earthly message to his disciples in the Gospel of Matthew. While Jesus still leads and guides, this is the message he wants his disciples to remember as his parting command. This is his final message. He stresses emphatically that it is based upon his authority over everyone and everything and everywhere. What is that message? GO MAKE DISCIPLES!

Notice Jesus doesn't want us running all over the place telling about him. Notice he doesn't just want us baptizing everyone we see. Notice he doesn't just want us to teach others to follow him. He wants us to do all three! Go, baptize, and teach to obey so they will be my disciples, too! If we heed these marching orders, if we get out of the shadow of our church buildings and culture, he will go with us! That's it. That's Jesus' one last word. It's also our first word!"

The above excerpt was shared from lightheart.org

Enjoy the clip.



God bless you. And this is for His Glory!