Called to Be With Jesus: Formation Before Mission

Devotional

Day 1: When Sixth-Grade Kickball Met Divine Intentionality

The pain of exclusion runs deep, yet Jesus’ call isn’t about leaving people out—it’s about purposeful gathering. Just as a timid boy’s surprising kick redefined his place on the field, Jesus’ choice to call ordinary disciples reshapes what true belonging means. His intentionality isn’t elitism but a focused strategy to form a people around himself. The mountain where Jesus calls the Twelve echoes Sinai and Zion, but now God’s presence dwells in a person, not a place. Discipleship begins not with tasks but with proximity to Christ. [32:01]

“And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach.” (Mark 3:13–14, ESV)

Reflection: When have you felt unexpectedly chosen, like that sixth-grade kickball moment? How might Jesus’ intentional call to “be with him” reframe your current sense of purpose?

Day 2: Diesel-Scented Date Nights and the Limits of Being Human

Jesus’ humanity means he couldn’t fix every roof, heal every villager, or attend every Galilean potluck. His limits mirror ours: choosing one good thing means neglecting others. A father’s focus on maintaining ballfields costs date nights; Christ’s focus on twelve disciples meant saying no to countless others. Yet these boundaries aren’t failures—they’re the narrow road of faithful stewardship. True discipleship starts by accepting our finitude to lean into Christ’s sufficiency. [33:13]

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5, ESV)

Reflection: What “diesel-scented date nights” in your life reveal your limits? How might embracing these boundaries deepen your dependence on Christ?

Day 3: Formation Through Friction: Simon the Zealot and Matthew the Tax Collector

Jesus’ disciple list reads like a bad HR decision: a Roman collaborator and a anti-Roman extremist forced to share meals. Their tension mirrors our divided world, yet Christ’s presence alone held them together. Formation happens not in echo chambers but through friction with those who challenge us. The church isn’t a club of likeminded people but a collision of kingdom contradictions, sanding our rough edges into Christ’s likeness. [54:11]

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28, ESV)

Reflection: Who in your faith community most stretches your capacity to love? How might their differences be part of Christ’s forming work in you?

Day 4: Three Gifts for the Unformed Soul: Scripture, Church, and the Spirit’s Whisper

We aren’t left to guess at Christ’s character—the Bible shows his heart, the church embodies his diversity, and the Spirit corrects our delusions. Like disciples watching Jesus interact with outcasts and religious elites, we’re given tangible means to learn his ways. These gifts guard against self-deception, turning information about God into transformation by God. True formation requires all three: truth on pages, truth in people, and truth piercing our pretenses. [42:15]

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17, ESV)

Reflection: Which of these three gifts feels most neglected in your life? What practical step could reconnect you to it this week?

Day 5: Before You Post, Pray: The Unformed Zeal of Would-Be Theologians

Everyone’s a theologian—the question is whose voice shapes your God-concepts. Algorithms, resentments, and hot takes often shout louder than Scripture. Jesus’ disciples needed three years of proximity to unlearn toxic ideas before being sent. Likewise, our digital reactions and ministry efforts must be baptized in prayerful pauses. Formation precedes proclamation; knee-jerk hot takes become Christlike wisdom only through the discipline of sitting first at his feet. [52:39]

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:29, ESV)

Reflection: What recent reaction or comment of yours needed more “sit time” with Jesus? How might pausing to be with him reshape your impulse to speak?

Sermon Summary

Mark shows Jesus going up the mountain and calling to himself those he wanted, and that may sound exclusive at first. The text is not showing Jesus building an elite club. Jesus is being intentional. His full humanity means real limits, real choices, real time and energy, and he cannot spend the same amount of time with every person in the crowd. Jesus forms twelve for the sake of the crowds, because the crowds matter to him.

The mountain matters because mountains are places where God meets his people. Sinai, Zion, and now this mountain all point to the same truth: God is gathering a people. The twelve are not an accident. The twelve echo the twelve tribes of Israel, and Mark is showing that the center of God’s people is no longer the temple, the nation, the family line, or the religious institution. The center of the people of God is Jesus himself.

Discipleship begins with being called to Jesus, not with a task, not with a job description, not with a ministry role, and not even with a committee assignment. Jesus calls people to be with him before he sends them to work for him. That question cuts deeper than activity: what is forming the disciple most right now? Scripture, prayer, worship, Christian community, and the Holy Spirit may be the right answers, but phones, news feeds, anxieties, resentments, commentators, and algorithms often get more access to the heart.

Jesus forms people in his presence. The twelve hear his teaching, but they also watch his life. They watch holiness without harshness, truth without cruelty, authority without arrogance, mercy without compromise, and power without exploitation. Since disciples do not have the same physical access to Jesus, God gives Scripture, the church, and the Holy Spirit for formation.

Formation requires more than exposure. Information does not automatically become transformation. Christian community becomes necessary because disciples need people who ask better questions, remember what is easily forgotten, know where temptation lives, correct drifting, encourage faithfulness, and keep pointing back to Jesus.

Mark’s order matters: Jesus appoints the twelve to be with him, and then sends them to preach and cast out demons. Mission flows from ongoing formation with Jesus. Unformed zeal can damage, unformed theology can wound, unformed leadership can use people, and unformed confidence can misrepresent Jesus.

The list of the twelve gives hope because Jesus chooses ordinary, conflicted, imperfect people. Fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot, sons of thunder, deniers, misunderstanders, and even a betrayer are gathered by Jesus. The church is not a community of people who naturally choose one another. The church is a people Jesus calls to himself, forms in his presence, and sends into the world with his good news.

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Key Takeaways

1. Being with Jesus comes first [34:19] Jesus does not begin discipleship with usefulness, productivity, or religious busyness. Jesus begins by calling people to himself, because work done for him can become thin and distorted when it is not formed by him. The disciple’s first question is not, “What should be done?” but, “What is forming the heart right now?” [34:19]
2. Formation needs more than exposure [46:49] Information can sit in the mind without ever becoming obedience, wisdom, or love. The truth of Scripture becomes embodied through intentional habits and through people who ask better questions than comfort would allow. Christian community matters because memory, correction, encouragement, and prayer help truth move from hearing into life. [46:49]
3. Mission flows from communion [49:30] Mark’s order matters: Jesus calls the twelve to be with him, and then sends them out. Christian service is not powered by urgency, personality, or guilt, but by communion with Christ. Unformed zeal may still be energetic, but it can wound people while thinking it is helping them. [49:30]
4. Ordinary people become Christ’s people [53:54] Jesus chooses a messy list of people who do not naturally belong together. A tax collector and a zealot, fishermen and sons of thunder, deniers and misunderstanders, all stand together because Jesus calls them. The church is held together not by polish, personality, class, or shared background, but by Christ himself. [53:54]
5. Intentionality is not exclusion [58:27] Exclusivity protects status, comfort, and control, but intentionality stewards limited time, energy, and resources for God’s mission. Jesus does not form an inner circle to keep others out. Jesus forms a people so that his life, mercy, truth, and kingdom can be carried outward.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[29:08] - Picked Last and the Pain of Exclusion
[31:23] - Jesus Calls Those He Wanted
[34:19] - Called to Be With Him First
[35:18] - The Mountain and the Twelve
[37:16] - What Is Forming the Heart?
[39:58] - Watching the Life of Jesus
[42:15] - Scripture, Church, and Spirit
[45:39] - Formation Requires Intentional Community
[49:30] - Be With Him, Then Be Sent
[50:33] - Unformed Zeal Can Wound
[53:25] - Jesus Chooses Ordinary People
[55:39] - Three Practices for the Week
[57:55] - Intentionality Versus Exclusivity
[59:16] - Formed and Sent With Good News

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Mark 3:13-19
“And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.” [31:27]

Matthew 11:28
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

John 14:26
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

1 Corinthians 12:4-7
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

Observation questions

In Mark 3:13-19, what two main purposes are given for Jesus appointing the twelve? [49:21]
What details in Mark 3:13-19 show that this group of twelve was made up of very different kinds of people?
What are some of the things that can end up forming a person more than Scripture, prayer, worship, and Christian community? [38:02]
What are the three gifts God gives for formation in Christ when believers do not have physical access to Jesus in the way the twelve did? [42:15]

Interpretation questions

Mark says Jesus called those he desired. Why is that better understood as intentionality rather than an elite inner circle? [31:58]
Jesus appoints the twelve first to be with him and then to be sent out. What does that order show about the relationship between communion with Christ and Christian mission? [49:30]
The mountain and the number twelve both carry meaning in this passage. How do those details show that Jesus himself is now the center of God’s people? [35:18]
The list of the twelve includes deniers, strugglers, and even a betrayer. What does that suggest about the kind of people Jesus gathers into his church, and where the unity of the church really comes from? [54:39]

Application questions

“Be with him” comes before “be sent.” In this season of life, is there a way busyness for Jesus has started to replace being with Jesus? What would it look like to slow down and make room for his presence this week? [34:19]
Every person is being formed by something. What is shaping the heart most right now—Scripture, prayer, worship, and Christian community, or phones, resentment, anxiety, news, and constant commentary? What makes that answer hard to admit? [57:03]
Information does not automatically become transformation. Where has truth been heard many times without yet becoming obedience, peace, or love? What kind of help from other believers would make a difference there? [46:49]
Christian community is meant to be a place where people remember truth, ask better questions, and gently correct drift. Who is close enough to notice when faith is thinning out or temptation is getting stronger? If no one comes to mind, what might be a wise next step? [47:10]
Mission can be damaged by unformed zeal, unformed theology, or unformed confidence. In conversations, leadership, service, or online speech, where is there a need to pause and let Jesus keep shaping character first? [50:33]
Jesus gathers ordinary, conflicted, imperfect people and holds them together in himself. Is there someone in the church who feels difficult to understand, easy to avoid, or unlikeable on the surface? What might it look like to remember that Jesus has called that person too? [54:22]
Limited time and energy can be used either for self-protection or for faithful stewardship. Where is there a need to become more intentional—not shutting people out, but making clearer choices for the sake of God’s mission? [57:55]

Sermon Clips

52s

“And so before we speak, we spend time with Jesus. Before we correct, we let Jesus correct us. Before we lead, we let Jesus lead us. Before we serve out of resentment, we return to Jesus. Before we teach, we pray. Before we post, we examine our spirits. Before we assume we know what faithfulness requires, we sit again at the feet of Jesus. The church's mission is not powered by human urgency. It's powered by communion with Jesus. That's our power.”

64s

“And every day for three years, they're gonna watch the way he treats the one who is going to betray him even though they don't realize. They're not merely learning religious information. They are learning what true humanity looks like. Jesus shows them what humanity looks like unburdened by sin. Can you imagine that? He shows them compassion without sentimentality, holiness without harshness, truth without cruelty, authority without arrogance, mercy without compromise, courage without self protection, power without exploitation, they are being formed by being with him.”

37s

“And here's what I want you to know. Before Jesus sends us to do his work, he calls us to be with him. Before Jesus sends sends us to do his work, he calls us to be with him. Jesus isn't turning away the crowds because they don't matter. He is forming disciples because the crowds absolutely do matter to him. And what we'll see in this passage is not only whom Jesus chose but why he chose them.”

53s

“This passage teaches us the importance of the distinction between exclusivity and intentionality. Exclusivity says we're keeping others out so we can preserve our status, our comfort, our control. It it's there to to to protect us. But intentionality says we are a limited people with limited time, limited energy, limited resources, and so we want to steward our lives face faithfully for the sake of God's mission. That's the difference between exclusivity and intentionality.”

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