Shippensburg First Church Of God Blog Site: Empty Handed

Sunday is Coming!

Have you ever been sent out to do a job that you felt under-equipped to do?

When I was a student in seminary in Findlay, Ohio, I got a part-time job working in the dietary department of a retirement facility. I thought I'd be mainly washing dishes, wiping tables, and chatting with residents.

…But since I had previous kitchen experience (at Burger King), the management thought I would be a good candidate to fill in as a line cook for one wing of the facility when the other cooks were not available. Fast Food didn't prepare me for that!

Fortunately, most things were pretty straight forward, but it was quite a lot to figure out on my own when it came to cooking and timing everything, and managing special orders that occasionally came through.

I was willing, but I was under-trained and under-equipped, so I didn't last long in that role.

This weekend we will see that God has a job for us, but He equips His people in powerful ways—although differently than the ways of the world.

In life, there are many times when we feel overwhelmed and underprepared – especially as we consider the big events of the world, and also the challenges of our everyday lives. There are so many issues that could overwhelm us if we let them, especially when we realize our own limitations. There are so many people that have needs, and we might feel like we have very little to offer them.

The Disciples of Jesus had moments like this also. Recall that we have been observing the themes of confusion & seeking understanding in Luke 8.

In that chapter, Jesus tells the parable of the 4 soils and says that some hearts will receive the Word of God, some won't—some people 'get it' but some don't.
Then Jesus goes out like the farmer in the parable to generously and abundantly share the Word of God, as He meets a variety of needs in a variety of ways.

In the middle of all this, even after Jesus calms a storm and after working many other miracles in their sight, the disciples themselves still have moments of confusion—they ask "who is this?" (Luke 8:25). They still don't get it…

Yet even in their confusion, even before they fully understand who Jesus is and grasp the actual plan of their Messiah, after a whirlwind of miracles, seemingly without any time to debrief, Jesus sends them out on a mission in the very next chapter—

When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: "Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them." 6 So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.

-Luke 9:1-6

We can't be sure, but we don't get a lot of indication that very much time had passed since the disciples had fearfully asked the question "who is this?" –but still they were sent out to proclaim the good news and heal people.

And not only does Jesus send them out without complete understanding, He also sends them out empty handed!

In Verse 3, Jesus says "Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt."

"Empty handed."

How were they supposed to preach without any training or experience in public speaking?

How were they supposed to heal people without any doctoral degrees, without any medicine? Not even a first-aid kit?

When have you felt like that?

Life is full of surprises! Try as we might with our own wisdom and strength, we may never be prepared for everything…

Now let me show you something: I've read this passage several times and my eyes often focus on what the disciples lacked—no staff, bag, bread, money, shirt, etc.

But I realized Monday while preparing for this week that I had been skipping right over what Jesus did give them in verse 1:

Jesus gave them "power and authority!"

The Greek Words are dynamin and exousian

dynamin also means "force" – especially miraculous power (and is sometimes used figuratively to talk about abundance).
exousian carries the concepts of privilege, capacity, competency, & freedom; it implies mastery & delegated influence.

That's not nothing! That's some powerful 'something'!

Jesus delegated to these 12 disciples His own power & authority, and sure enough, they went out and did exactly what He told them to – they proclaimed Good News & Healed people! They succeed! And so do 72 others in Chapter 10 after the first 12 went out and came back.

Luke says they all returned with Joy! And upon seeing their excitement, Jesus prays this beautiful prayer in Luke 10:21—

At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do."

Success in God's Kingdom is not about worldly wisdom or strength, but about the 'secrets of the kingdom' that Jesus reveals!

If we skip ahead to Luke's Second Book, in Acts 1:8, Jesus expands this commissioning even further as He prepares to return to heaven —

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Again and again, this same power and authority is expanded and passed on to hundreds & thousands of people in the book of Acts, and then onward and outward throughout History.

Paul says in many places in the New Testament that the Power of God's Holy Spirit is available to all who believe in Jesus:

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

--Romans 8:11

Today, let's not focus on what we lack, but let's remember what we have—we also have power and authority from Jesus Himself, through His Holy Spirit within us!

With God, we are not empty handed!

We will explore this further on Sunday, as we also hear a 1-year recap from our Woman's Alliance ministry and consider ways that God can do "immeasurably more" than we could ever expect, if we are willing to join Isaiah (and the disciples) and say, "Here am I. Send me" (Isaiah 6:8)

This Sunday

8:30 Traditional Worship

We will share our welcome and announcements slightly before 8:30, and highlight the prelude as a time of quiet reflection before our opening prayer.

Blessed Assurance #572

Be Thou My Vision #562

Faith is the Victory #727

I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go #668

9:45 Sunday School for all ages

Check out our Sunday School classes and other Care Group ministries on our website, or visit the welcome desk to learn more.

11:00 Contemporary Worship

No Longer Slaves

Trust In God

Christ Be Magnified

I Thank God

Contemporary Spotify Playlist

Congregational Meeting Recap

Our Fall Congregation meeting was last Sunday, November 2, at 6:00 in the Sanctuary. It featured elections for council positions for 2026, a summary of the 2026 budget, and several ministry reports.

The results of the election for 2026 terms are as follows:

Elders: Wayne Brubaker, Dustin Negley

Trustee: George Fritz

Deacon: Dave Bodah, Steve Barnes

Deaconess: Lisa Dubbs, Chris Dupler, Gloria Erickson

Retirement Celebration

It is my privilege to announce to you that we are planning a Retirement Celebration for Pastor Gary on Saturday, December 27 at 5pm. In appreciation of his years of service, we want to invite you all out for an evening of laughter & memories as we share a meal together and celebrate what God has done through the faithful service of Gary & Joyce. We are expecting a great turn out (more than we could comfortably fit in Crossroads), so we are partnering with our church family at Greenvillage Church of God to host the event (located right down Rt. 11 at 5164 Philadelphia Ave Chambersburg, PA 17202).

You will be seeing sign-up sheets around the building, so please RSVP to help us with planning for the meal, and begin thinking of funny or thoughtful stories you'd like to share about your memories with Pastor Gary!

Christmas Activities

As the holidays approach, there will be many other special opportunities to worship and serve and celebrate together.

We've made a list of Christmas activities & ministries that has everything all in one convenient place for you. Pick one up in the Gathering Place—you could also take a few and share them with your friends & family!

Here are a few highlights:

December 5, 5:00-7:00 pm – Our church will be part of a Walking Tour of the historic downtown churches. Stop by our bethel for some Christmas music and visit with our neighbors, or make your way to some other nearby church buildings to take a peek at the beautiful architecture and learn a bit of Shippensburg History. Stops on the tour include:

Shippensburg First Church of God
St. Andrews Episcopal
Shippensburg Presbyterian Church
Grace United Church of Christ
Memorial Lutheran Church
Messiah United Methodist
Christ United Methodist

December 6, 5:00 pm – Community Christmas Parade & Reindeer Lodge at Crossroads Station. There will be many downtown activities surrounding the annual parade. We will be hosting some activities for children & families in Crossroads Station following the parade. Stop by for kids' crafts, the Christmas Story, and maybe a sweet treat!

You can also check out the November FYI Newsletter to learn more details about all of these upcoming events.

Operation Christmas Child

Our "Operation Christmas Child" goal for 2025 is 650 shoeboxes!

On November 16th We will have a special prayer of dedication for all of the shoeboxes we collect. You have until then to bring in a shoebox, or you can also make a donation towards our Compelled To Serve committee, and our Children's Ministry kids will pack a box for you at the Shoebox Supply House. This is a great way that we can work together as a church family to send the Gospel around the world.

Learn more about "Operation Christmas Child" at the following link, and begin praying about how you might want to be involved in this special global missions opportunity!

Operation Christmas Child | Shoebox Outreach of Samaritan's Purse

Ministry Fair Slideshow

Missed the Ministry Fair? Take a look at the slideshow at the link below to see all of the various ministries, committees, and small groups that were represented!

Ministry_Fair_2025.pptx

Communications Updates

*Be sure to check out our Activities Calendar and the Events page on our website to learn about more upcoming opportunities!

The November edition of our "FYI" Newsletter is available in the Gathering Place or the center section of the Sanctuary. The FYI contains information about upcoming events, care group opportunities, giving and attendance information, and more.

If you have information you would like to communicate, communication request forms are available from the church office, in the Gathering Place, or online.

Looking forward to worshipping with you in the Sanctuary or Online this Sunday!

Pastor Rodney Bistline

Shippensburg First Church of God

seniorpastorbistline@shipfcog.org