Latest / Wesley at FSU & TSC / BEACH RETREAT | "Go and Make Disciples" | Speaker Kara Ashley | September 18, 2026

Transcript

BEACH RETREAT | "Go and Make Disciples" | Speaker Kara Ashley | September 18, 2026 · Wesley at FSU & TSC

• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: My name's Kara if I have not met you.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: I'm really, really, really excited that you're here.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we got here yesterday off a safety, and it's been eerily quiet without you here, and so we're we're excited that you're here.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Repeat after me.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Go and make disciples of all nations.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Disciples of all nations.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and of the Holy Spirit.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Now we're gonna do it again, and you're gonna say it like you believe this time.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: When I was in third grade at my church, we did this thing called Bible basics, and some of you might have done this too.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: It was where you did this class and you learned all about this book right here, and you received your first Bible ever.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I wish I had mine.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Mine was hot pink.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: It had this little like clasp that had a flower on it, but I don't, it's at my parents' house, so I don't have it with me.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: But um, so we did that thing called Bible basics.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and in that little session, we learned this great commission, which says, Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Surely I will be with you always to the very end of the age.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I have I memorized that in third grade and I have never forgotten it.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so this weekend we're gonna focus on going and making disciples.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so, my ask for you is that you really lean into this weekend to let go of anything that you're holding.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: The homework is still there.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Trust, I will be doing homework during free time.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: I feel you.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's there, it's there, but let it go in the moments that you don't have to hold it.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to think about it, okay?
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: So we're here right now.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Let's be present, let's be where our feet are.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so we're gonna learn about how we go and we make disciples.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so, if you memorize that scripture, it's two verses.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: I will give you a free Wednesday night dinner.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't ask Brian, but I will give you a free Wednesday night dinner.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's just two verses.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: You can do it, you can bring it to me, and you'll never forget it.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: I went to youth group, like many of us did in middle school and high school.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Raise your hand if you are involved in a youth group.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's okay if not.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so in this youth group, we had a very um passionate and very consistent volunteer who would show up every single week.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: And her name was Miss Sarah.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: And Miss Sarah was the person, the volunteer that you didn't have to text, that you didn't have to check in with, make sure they had their curriculum.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like you knew they were gonna be there, you didn't even have to worry about it.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so she would be there every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, and every Wednesday night.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: And Miss Sarah came to church alone.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we knew that she was married, we knew that she had children.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Her children had gone through the youth group several years before I was there.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so we knew of them.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um I had met her kids, but I had never met her husband, which seemed strange to me, but she still talked about him regularly, but I had never met him.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so in October of 2020, her husband Cliff got in a motorcycle accident.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: One that he should have been killed in immediately, but his helmet saved his entire life.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so he went through this low season in his life.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: He went through this long recovery, he had burns up and down his body.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: He was in the hospital during 2020, a pandemic.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so he's lifelighted to the hospital, and Sarah becomes his main caretaker.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: And in this process and in this season of their life, she never stopped showing up for the youth.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: She became a witness of God's goodness.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: And when she shared this accident of cliffs with us, um, she constantly said how it was a miracle that he was alive.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so, as Christians, we are called to share about this good news of Jesus.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: We're called to take our messy lives and point out the places that God has really filled us.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: We're called to go out and make disciples.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: We're called to embody this great commission by being vulnerable about the hardest parts of our lives.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so our scripture tonight holds the same sentiment.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: Here now, the reading of Luke's gospel.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus and his disciple sailed to the Jerosen's land, which is across the lake from Galilee.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, a certain man met him.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: This man was from a city and was poss was from the city and was possessed by demons.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: For a long time he had lived among the tombs, naked and homeless.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: And when he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell down before him, and he shouted, What do you have to do with me, Jesus, son of the most high God?
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: I beg you, don't torture me.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: He said this because Jesus had already commanded the unclean spirit to come out of this man.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Many times it had take taken possession of him, so he would be bound with leg irons and chains and placed under guard.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: But he would break his restraints and the demon would force him into the wilderness.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus asked him, What is your name?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Legion, he replied, because many demons had entered him.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: They pleaded with him not to order them to go back into the abyss.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: A large herd of pigs was feeding on the hillside.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus gave them permission, and the demons left the man and encountered the pigs.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: The herd rushed down the down the cliff and into the lake and drowned.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: When those who tended the pigs saw what had happened, they ran away and they told the story in the city and in the countryside.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: People came to see what had happened.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: They came to see Jesus and found the man from whom demons had gone.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: He was sitting at Jesus' feet, fully dressed and completely sane.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: They were filled with awe.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: Those people who had actually seen what had happened told them how the demon-possessed man had been delivered.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Then everyone gathered in the region of Jerosenes and asked Jesus to leave their area because they were overcome with fear.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: So he got into the boat and he returned across the lake.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: The man whom the demons had gone begged to come along with Jesus as one of his disciples.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus sent him away, saying, Return home and tell the story of what God has done for you.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: So he went throughout the city, proclaiming what Jesus had done for him.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: God, we come to you tonight with anxious hearts, nervous about what this weekend might hold, and also expectant for you to come and move, God.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: So as we enter this space, would you fill our hearts and our minds?
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Would we push aside any extra noise, God?
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: We give this time to you.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus meets this man at likely the lowest point in his life.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: He's helpless, he's naked, he's afraid.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, Don't torture me.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so surely he's viewed as dangerous because he's bound and he's placed under guard's watch.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: But Jesus makes time to stop and see him.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: What do you do when you first get to know somebody?
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: You usually ask them your name, their name.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus does just that.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: He says, What's your name?
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, Legion.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: A Roman legion is a massive military unit of about 6,000 soldiers.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so when someone in that time heard of a Legion coming, it was typically this unit that was going to come and control their land, take over their livelihood, and maybe flip upside down everything they had ever known.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: So when Jesus asks this man for his name, it's almost as he's giving Jesus a warning of like, hey, I'm this dangerous guy.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: You don't want anything to do with me.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm this big person who destroys and hurts people, and they have to chain me down.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: And it's almost as Jesus looks at him and says back to him, You think you're a strong force, wait till you see what I can do.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: What is your name?
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: When Jesus asks this question of this man possessed by demons, he doesn't say his name, rather, he says his identity.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so if someone were to ask me my name, I would say Tara.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: But if someone were to ask me my identity, and in the most shameful parts of my life, I would probably say anxious and afraid.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: Fearful, not enough, but too much.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where Jesus finds this man.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: His name is not Legion, but that's how he views himself, and even more so, that's probably how his community views him.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: At this moment, Jesus pulls this power, this thing that's holding him out of the man.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: And even this demon asks not to go back into the abyss.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: And this piece with the abyss is talking about a bottomless pit that's mentioned in the book of Revelation.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's where evil lives.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so even these demons are asking, like, Lord, I do not want to go back to that place.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: They can recognize that Jesus is bigger than them.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so we might not use the word demon in our everyday life, but we do experience a whole lot of evil.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, these demons in our lives might look like anxiety or depression, homelessness, war, hunger, poverty, hatred, or anything else that might cause destruction.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so there are many demons in our world as we know it.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: So these demons and the legion beg Jesus not to go back, and Jesus orders them into pigs instead.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I always have struggled with this.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: Why is Jesus allowing these pigs just to die off the hillside?
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: But Jesus uses it for good.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: And he shows how these uh the people who tended these pigs, they go and they tell the story about what Jesus did.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's almost as it didn't even matter to them that they lost all their livelihood because they just witnessed a miracle.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so, what does this mean for us?
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: What does this mean for you?
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: What does this mean for you, an 18-year-old who showed up on a retreat with strangers you met three weeks ago?
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: What does this mean for senior year you who's terrified when people keep asking you about your postgrad plans because it's only the first three weeks of school?
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: What does this mean for you who's scared to get up in the morning because your community keeps calling you a legion?
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: It means that God is going to use you.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Even you.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: Before Jesus asks for this man's name, he says, What do you have to do with me, Jesus, son of the most high God?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: And at his rock bottom moment, Jesus encounters him, and he doesn't even see his own value.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: His community has labeled him, he's labeled himself, and now he expects Jesus to do the exact same thing.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: But that's not what happens.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus changes this narrative for the Legion, he gives him a new life and a fresh testimony and he asks him to use it.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: He's free from this evil that's been holding him, that's taking it over his entire life.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so at the end of this text, we read that the Legion is asking to go with Jesus and to become one of his disciples.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: He asks to join on his journey, to get on the boat with him and go across to Galilee.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: But Jesus says no.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: And he tells him to return home, to go back to the place where he was brought up and to share all that God has done for him.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, we crave that stability too.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: I want to go and be with Jesus and just sit next to him and stay, hold his hand and walk next to him my entire life.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's the easy thing to do.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: I just want to sit there and watch him.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: But that's not what we're called to do.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's not my calling.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: My calling is to go and to make disciples, not just to take the easy way out next to Jesus.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, God wants us to spend time with him.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: He wants us to sit at his feet, but he also calls us to go and do more, to go out to the nations and share all that he has done in our lives.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, even you.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: So in Matthew 28, 16 through 20, this is a little bit before that great commission statement, it says, Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus told them to go.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: And when he saw them, they worshipped him, but some doubted.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus came near and spoke to them, I've received all authority in heaven on earth, and in heaven and on earth.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: Surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: So some of you might be sitting here thinking to yourselves, what do I have to share with this community, with my communities back home at FSU, even people in this room?
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have a transformation story like this Legion.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: I've grown up in church my entire life, and sure God has been there, but I haven't witnessed any miracles.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pause right there for a second.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: I gave this message to my class, one of my classes this week.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um and my now friend named Rachel, um, she like paused me and she said, I want you to make sure that you tell them this weekend that that in itself is a miracle.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: The fact that you grew up in church, you went to church every Sunday, and you didn't have to witness a whole transformation story, that itself is a witness.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: And she wanted me to share that with you.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I have a question for you.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: Are you seeing yourself the same way that God sees you?
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: Right before this great commission statement, we read that they worshiped and some doubted.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: So are you doubting God's ability to use you because you can't see how he wants you to be used?
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: What did Cliff do?
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: Cliff went back to his family, he made a full recovery, went back to work, and then he went to church.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: It was because of Miss Sarah's great witness, a witness that was quiet, a witness that was getting up each and every Sunday morning and going to church.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: It was going on Sunday nights when she had an early morning of work the next day to go serve youth and teach them about Jesus.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: It was about Wednesday nights and rushing back in five o'clock traffic to make the six o'clock youth time to teach a Bible study.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: It was that witness that brought Cliff to Jesus in one of the lowest points of his life.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: And the best part of this story is that Cliff then went to be baptized and claimed in that way.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: And he also shared this witness and shared the gospel with his own children who now regularly attend service as well.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so he serves in many different capacities at church to this day.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so, where are you today?
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: Where is your transformation?
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: What miracle are you witnessing and testifying about?
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: About a month ago, I went for a week of orientation to school, to seminary.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'm in school to become a pastor.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm driving up to Atlanta and I'm like, okay, I'm not scared.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: This is great.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just, you know, listening to my podcast, listen to my music, everything's fine, thinking nothing about it.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm fine, I get there, I unload my stuff, and it's the night before.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that first day of school jitters.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, I can't do this.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's like eight o'clock, and I'm like, oh, I'm just gonna go to bed, so I don't have to think about it anymore.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I wake up the next day, I walk to class, and I walk in the building, I get my little name tag, and I'm standing there in the little like atrium of the building, and I'm looking around, and I was like, What have I done?
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: There are so many people surrounding me that are much older and wiser than me, people who have years of experience more than I do.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I was terrified.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes that Legion name comes back.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's sometimes one that we put on ourselves, sometimes it's people putting it on us.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I had to remind myself who I am and who I'm called to be and why I was there.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: So, my question for you is how are you gonna show up this weekend?
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: Are you gonna have an attitude of, well, God can't use little old me?
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: Or are you gonna have the attitude of God's gonna use me because he loves me and he knows me and he calls me one of his own?
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: This commitment of saying yes to Jesus to go and make disciples is not a one-time thing.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: I wish it was, but it's not.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's an it's a decision we have to make each and every morning as we rise saying, Lord, I want to be yours today.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: I want to be used today, Lord, use me as you see fit.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so as we enter this weekend of encounters with God and fellowship with one another and an openness to share this good news, may that be our prayer.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, I want to be used today, use me as you see fit.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: God, I thank you for this space to come and learn what it means to be a disciple of you.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: A space to come and flip the narrative.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: That my name is not a Legion, but yeah, I'm a child of God.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: So as we walk into this weekend, would you be in the conversations we have?
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: Would you be in the laughter?
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: Would you be in the pool time?
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: Would you be in each and every moment?
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: God, we know that we witness miracles each and every day and we overlook them.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: Because you're often so present when we just don't take the time to see it.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: So this weekend, God, would you be so present that we are abundantly clear that you are here?
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: Allow us to open our eyes so that we can see each other and you see all of us.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: God, would you remind them that you have called even them to go and make disciples all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.