Preach the word, be ready to serve God in good times and bad, correct people’s mistakes. Warn them, encourage them with words of hope, and be very patient as you do these things. Teach the people carefully,
But how can they call on someone they haven’t believed in? How can they believe in someone they’ve never heard of? How can they hear about him unless someone preaches to them?
He proclaimed the kingdom of God boldly and taught people about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one kept him from teaching and preaching about those things.
“You are being given the chance to understand the secrets of God’s kingdom. But to outsiders, I speak in stories. That way, “ ‘They’ll see, but they won’t know what they’re seeing; they’ll hear, but they won’t understand what they’re hearing.’
“Which of the two sons did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God ahead of you.
Late in the afternoon the 12 disciples came to him. They said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the nearby villages and countryside and find food to eat and a place to stay, because there’s nothing here.”