John McKay, the former hall of fame coach of the University of South California Trojans once said “it is not the superstars who win the championships—It is all the average players who play their hearts out behind the scenes with no accolades, that make the superstars better and win games.”
These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out. . . (Mark 10:2-5a)
Notice how ordinary the 12 men in Jesus starting lineup were. There were no superstars. They had no formal education that we know of. Neither did they possess any special skills or extraordinary talents which would have qualified them to speak for God. They were just ordinary guys living ordinary lives.
I think the most common mistake that we often make is to assume that God calls only the most impressive, the most gifted, the most talent people. Indeed, that seems to be the exact opposite of what God does. God doesn’t call the prepared, God prepares the called!
What kind of people does God use for His purposes? What kind of men did Jesus choose? When we think of the 12 disciples, we are prone to think of stained-glass saints. People without faults, people who have been canonized, people who manifest none of the failures of humanness that beset us.
They were people just like us—He picked 12 unqualified people who were so diverse it’s incredible. And they all had problems. They all had sins, even the best of them. It’s a list of the unqualified like Philip and his buddy Bartholomew (also known as Nathanael). Join us this week at Sedona United Methodist Church as the Rev. Fred Mast shares an inspired message entitled “On the Job Training”.
Sunday mornings we enter the spirit of in-person worship at 9:30am featuring meaningful and uplifting music, special times of prayer and passionate life changing messages designed to move you closer in your relationship with Jesus Christ and others. We look forward to seeing you! We also offer an amazing Spirit Filled On-Line Worship experience each week accessed at www.sedonaumc.org.
Sedona UMC offers several weekly book and bible studies: Tuesday’s @ 2PM Adult Studies at “The Gathering Place” in West Sedona; Wednesday’s Men’s Bible Study at 9am; and Thursday’s Women’s Bible Study at 9:45am. We offer so many great missions, ministries, and fellowship opportunities at Sedona UMC—Visit our website at us on www.sedonaumc.org and “Like” us on Facebook.
We would love to pray for you! —Prayer requests may be submitted online or by calling us at 928-282-1780. We are conveniently located at 110 Indian Cliffs Road off the Back O’Beyond roundabout on Route 179 in Sedona. All are welcome at Sedona UMC—We look forward to seeing you!—Come and grow with us!
