Latest / Reach Church Podcast / This Is The Way Pt 5 - We Multiply Disciples | Dave Snyder

Transcript

This Is The Way Pt 5 - We Multiply Disciples | Dave Snyder · Reach Church Podcast

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Hey everyone, welcome to the Reach Church podcast. This is
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Dave Snyder, pastor here at Reach Church. Each week we
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: share messages from our Sunday gatherings to help you discover
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: the love of God, be empowered for purpose, and impact
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: your world. We pray this message encourages you and helps
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: you grow in your walk with Jesus. Let's get into
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: today's message.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: We've been talking about really our core values.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: What is so important to us as a church, as
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: people of God, that should kind of influence the way
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: we live? We talked about how, you know, there's so
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: many different opinions out there. Everybody wants you to know
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: how they think you're supposed to live, but there's one way,
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: isn't there?
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: It's His way.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: His ways are better than our ways. It's higher than
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: our ways, right? His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: And so, This morning, we're talking about this, some of
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: these values, some of these principles, how we're supposed to live.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: And just in case you missed something, you can go
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: back online and watch them, but I'll just give you
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: a couple of them. We talked about how we pursue
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: the presence of God. We are people who, above all else,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: we pursue His presence in our lives, in our homes,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: in our families, yeah? We talked about how we don't
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: do life alone, and that's part of what you're doing
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: here this morning is we're not islands that are all
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: by ourselves. We do life together. We're called to do
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: life together as Christians, as believers. We're the body of Christ.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: We talked about, last week we mentioned we give God
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: our best. We give God our best. He doesn't deserve leftovers.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: He deserves our very best. And two weeks ago, I'm
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: doing it a little out of order because I want
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: you to connect it to today. Two weeks ago, We
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: talked about the fact that we go after the one.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: We go after the lost, the lost sheep. We go
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: after people who are far from God. That's who we are,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: not just as a church, but as individuals in the church.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: We're people who pursue lost people. And this week, I
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: want to, it's kind of connected to that. I want
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: to talk about this a little bit, that we are
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: people who multiply disciples.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: Because see, reaching the lost is just one part of it, right?
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: You can't reach the lost and then leave them alone
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: because there's all kinds of things out there. Like I said,
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: there's all kinds of things that will try to drag
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: them back.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: You remember the parable of the sower, right? What does
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: Jesus say?
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: He talks about the sower goes out to sow the
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: seed and some seed falls along the path and it's trampled.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: That's some people, some believers, they come to know Jesus,
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: but before the seed can kind of do anything in
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: their lives, the seed is diminished.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: It doesn't work.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: Maybe there's seed that it grows. He says it grows
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: in the soil, but it doesn't have a deep root.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: So when the sun comes up, it's scorched. And there's
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: all these different things that are trying to prevent the
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: seed from working. But see, our job as Christians, our
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: job as believers is to make disciples. That means we
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: want to make it hard for people to go to hell.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: That means we want to, when people come to know
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: the Lord, we want to go after them and encourage
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: them and help them so that that seed can take
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: some root. in their lives, right? So we're called to
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: multiply disciples. And I want to talk about this a
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: little bit today because, again, this is who we are.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: We have a mandate from God. Did you know that?
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: A mandate. We're going to read that in a minute
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: to go and make disciples. It's not really optional.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: But the point is, and we say this before different times,
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: but if what we have stays with us, then it
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: dies with us. If what God's done in your life
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: stays with you and you don't pass it on to
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: somebody else, it dies with you, right? God doesn't want
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: what he's doing in your life today to die with you, right?
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: Think about the apostles.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: They could have, man, they could have sat back and said,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: we got a good, man, we got to meet with Jesus.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Wasn't that wonderful when Jesus was with us? Let's just
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: kick back and relax because just a few more weary
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: days and we're going home, right? Let's just relax and
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: take it easy. But no, they had a mandate because
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: of what God did in them stayed with them.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: It would have died. But Jesus entrusted.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: Something in them to them so that they could go
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: reach the world, not just reach the lost, but he said,
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: go make disciples.
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: And so listen, this is our call. They're not here anymore,
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: but you are.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: You're right.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: Thank God for our pastors.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: We've got some wonderful pastors, but if what we have
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: is just entrusted to pastors, we're in sad shape.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: It's entrusted to the church, to us, to each one
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: of us.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: And so I want to get into this here in
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: just a little bit. We're going to look at the
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: story of when Jesus called Peter, right? When Jesus called Peter,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: he was out fishing. He was just doing his job.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: He was minding his own business. He wasn't really even
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: looking for Jesus. In fact, when Jesus shows up in
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: his life and says, take your net. I know you've
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: been fishing all night and caught nothing, but take your
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: net and let's go out into the deep water and
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: catch some fish. And he catches the fish. He's like, Jesus,
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: go away from me. I'm a sinful man. I don't
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: deserve to have you in my presence. He wasn't even
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: looking for Jesus, but Jesus was looking for him, right?
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: And Jesus.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: wasn't just looking for him to believe in him. He
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: was looking to develop something in him. See, God wants
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: to develop something in your life. If you're a new
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: believer today, if you've come to know the Lord, maybe
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: you've just recently come to know the Lord and you're
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: in church this morning, even though there's a hurricane warning
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: or tornado warning, you don't care. You came to church
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: because you're hungry. But listen, you got to keep developing
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: that thing. You got to keep letting the word of
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: God go to work in your life so it can
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: produce something in you.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: But listen, if you're already produced, you.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: Need to start helping someone else in what God's doing
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: in their life, in that process. So Jesus called Peter,
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: who was a fisherman, and he told him, you're going
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: to be fishing for people instead of fish. He changed
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: his life mission, didn't he? When Jesus comes into your life,
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: everything gets turned around. Now, listen, you may still, if
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: you were a fisherman before, you might still be a fisherman.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: But now, including fish, you're also fishing for people. See,
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: he changes the way you do everything. He changes everything
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: in your life. And if he doesn't, come on, you
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: got to get back to work. You got to let
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: him work the process in you. If you're still looking
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: at yourself a year after you've been saved and you
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: look the same as you did a year ago, something's
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: stalled in the process. You need to let God develop
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: you because he doesn't want you to stay the same.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: He wants you to be like him. So I want
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: to start here, Matthew 28.
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: And do I see Kat and Zacchaeus out there this morning?
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: I put my glasses on. Good to see you guys. Welcome.
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: Good to have you back from West Virginia, right? What
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: is this? And they brought a present. Wow. Very nice. Beautiful. Wonderful,
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: you guys. I'll get to see you afterward. Matthew 28, 19.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: Put that up. Therefore....
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: Go and make disciples. In fact, can we back up?
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: Did I give you verse 18? Can you just back
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: up to verse 18? Because there's a therefore. And Jesus says,
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: if you don't have it, I'll just quote it for you.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: He says, all authority in heaven and on earth is
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: given unto me. So because all authority is given unto me,
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: therefore I can send you. Therefore, I can send you
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: not just in your own strength, not just in your
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: own power, not just doing the best that you can do.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: I'm going to send you in my power and my authority.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: So he says, therefore, you can go do some stuff.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: I want you to do some stuff in this world.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: Don't just stay and relax. I want you to go.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: the name of the Father and the Son and the
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: holy spirit and again he wasn't just talking to the
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: apostles he wasn't just talking to the the pastors in
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: the room because listen the apostles aren't here he's not
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: just talking to the pastors he's talking to the church
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: go and make disciples you start to see that trend
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: in the book of acts when people start getting a
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: hold of what god sent them to do and they
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: start multiplying see god wants us to multiply disciples not
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: so that we can have a full room praise god
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: for a full room That's nice, but that's not what
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: we're here for. You could have a full room and
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: have people that are far from God. You could have
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: a full room and have people that aren't disciples. They're
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: just fans. God's calling us to make disciples. That means
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: people around you that need Jesus need to know, how
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: am I.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: Supposed to live?
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: How am I supposed to do life as a Christian?
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: So we're talking about this this morning. As a church,
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: we're called Multiply Disciples. Let me just start here, because
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: this is a word, if you're not a church person,
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: maybe you're new, you're a new believer, you say, what
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: the heck's a disciple, right?
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: It sounds like a funny word.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: What a disciple is, is the short answer, it's someone
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: who follows Jesus, right? It means, a disciple means, I'm
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: not in charge of my life anymore.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: He is.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: I have decided to follow Jesus. There's no turning back.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: the cross before me, the world behind me. That's a disciple.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: That's what a disciple means. You know, and it's hard
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: for it's hard for us, I think, especially in this culture,
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: because we like to be in charge, don't we?
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: We like to call the shots.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: If you're a man in the house, you like, I
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: want the remote control in my hand. I don't want
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: the kids getting the remote control because I don't want
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: to watch another Mr.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: Beast video.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: Although I like some of them, but I want to
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: be in control. I want to call the shots And,
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: you know, that kind of translates to every part of
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: our lives is we like to be in charge.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: Well, what are we going to do? I'm going to
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: make the decisions.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: But when you start following Jesus, what you're saying is
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: I don't get to be in charge anymore. You're in charge.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: What's your will for my life, right? See, following Jesus
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: means his way becomes my way. So when Jesus called Peter,
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: I want you to look at this story because Peter, again,
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: he was just minding his own business and he got
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: his life changed.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: Look at verse 18, Matthew chapter 4.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: And as Jesus was walking along the Sea of Galilee,
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: he saw two brothers, Simon, who's called Peter, we're going
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: to call him Peter, and his brother Andrew. And they
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: were casting a net into the sea because they were fishermen.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: And Jesus, verse 19, says, follow me. he told them,
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: and I'll make you fish for people. Now, Matthew's given
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: you the short version of the story. In Luke, you
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: get the little bit longer version of how Jesus got
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: in the boat with him and they cast out the
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: nets into the deep water and they caught the fish
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: that we referred to earlier. But in this story, he's
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: just giving you the cliff notes, right? Jesus said, follow
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: me and I'll make you fish for people. Immediately, they
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: left their nets and followed him. Going on from there,
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: he saw two other brothers, James and and his brother, John,
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: they were in a boat with their father Zebedee preparing
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: their nets. And he called them and immediately they left
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: the boat and their father and followed him. I wonder
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: what the father thought. Was he like, yeah, go ahead. Or,
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: you know, that might've been, you know, sometimes you read
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: these stories and you think, well, yeah, Jesus called.
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: So they followed him.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: But I want you to just kind of put yourself
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: in those shoes because they didn't really know who Jesus was.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: I mean, not really. They didn't know at all. In fact,
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: even as you progress through the Gospels, they don't seem.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: To get it, right?
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: They don't understand who he is. And so in this moment,
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: they know he's a teacher. They know he's a rabbi.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: He's somebody who's up and coming or whatever. And he
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: calls them, hey, leave all your life behind. Leave your
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: family behind. Leave your job behind. I mean, what kind
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: of lives must these people have had to be like, sure.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: And I'll just, in fact, my net, which is probably valuable,
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: I'm just going to leave it here.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: On the ground. I don't care.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: I'm going to follow you. And for James and John,
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: bye dad, you know, and dad might've been upset because
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: he probably needed his boys to work.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: He might've said, what do you mean? No, no, no.
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: Jesus called me. But I want you to, I want
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: you to think about that level.
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: Of dedication when Jesus calls They decide to leave everything behind.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: And we know what we have ahead of us is
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: better than anything we could leave behind.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: They didn't know that.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: They just knew this man named Jesus called me. And
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: something about him makes me want to follow him. Something
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: about him is drawing me to him. But I want
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: you to understand they left it all behind. There's still
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: a cost to following Jesus. You know, some people want
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: to follow Jesus, but take it all with them, right?
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: But you don't get to pack a U-Haul and follow Jesus.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: You got to leave it behind.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: And there's some things in our lives when we follow Jesus,
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: we got to say, I don't get to take that
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: with me anymore, right? Maybe it's things you used to
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: do that you shouldn't be doing. You don't get to
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: take it with you. Maybe there's relationships you had to
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: leave behind to follow Jesus. But listen, it's worth it,
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: isn't it? So they left everything. They followed Jesus. And
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: I want you to think about, again, who these men were.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: Because if you were recruiting 12 people to change the world,
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: would you go find Peter? You know a little bit
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: about Peter. I don't think most of us would pick him.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: I don't think most of us would pick a bunch
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: of fishermen, a tax collector, I mean, I'm not going
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: to the IRS to look for people who are going
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: to change the world. I mean, no offense. I don't
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: want to get audited, but you understand. These aren't the
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: people you would have picked. I mean, even at the
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: end of the gospel story, you have Thomas who's like,
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: what do you mean he was raised from the dead?
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: I don't believe that.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: Is that the guy you want who doesn't even believe
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: in you, that you were raised from the dead, but
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: Jesus chose him? And he chose these people for a
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: reason and not because they were worthy, right? Not because
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: they were ready. God knows they weren't ready. Listen, you
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: might not be ready. You might feel like I'm not ready. Like,
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: what do you mean? In fact, I read that verse
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: to you that Jesus said, go into all the world
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: and make disciples. And it doesn't mean you have to
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: go to Africa or Asia or someplace, but he's saying,
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: go into, it could be going to Asheboro and make disciples.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: And you say, but I don't feel ready to do that.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: Do you think Peter was ready? I don't think he was.
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: Do you think Thomas was ready? I don't think he,
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: I don't think Matthew was ready. I don't think any
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: of them were ready, but you know what was unique
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: about them? Even though they didn't feel ready or worthy,
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: they were willing. God's not looking for people who are ready.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: He's looking for people who are willing to to follow him,
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: who are willing to do what he says. And so Jesus,
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: he's still saying, come follow me, right? But you have
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: to get close to him and see the disciples. They
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: got close to Jesus. This is how we're talking about discipleship.
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: This is how the disciples were changed. They got close
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: to Jesus and they saw how he lived, right? They
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: saw how Jesus prayed. They saw how Jesus cared for people.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: They saw how Jesus healed the sick. They saw how
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: he cast out devils. They saw the things he did.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: They heard him teach. And all these things, they ate
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: with him. They traveled with him. They did life with him.
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: And listen, here's what I want you to catch. This
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: is how you learn to follow Jesus. You start doing
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: life with him at the center. You start listening to him.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: You start getting into his word. You start getting into...
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: the things that he's speaking to you. And that's how
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: we learn how to follow Jesus, by walking with him.
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: And I know he's not here in the flesh like
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: he was at that time, but you know what else
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: you can do? You can walk with other Christians who
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: have been with Jesus. And you can take someone else
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: with you like Jesus did, even though people around you
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: and you say, well, they're not really ready.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: Take them with you. Let them do life with you.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: This is what being a Christian means. And I think it's.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: Something that's been neglected to be taught in the church
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: because we've made it about ourselves. We've made church and
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: following Jesus about our lives. Well, thank God that he
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: cares about our lives. I don't mean to say he doesn't.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: Thank God that he cares about your family and all
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: those things. We preach about all those things. But here's
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: a huge part of the story that sometimes we don't
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: think about. It's not all about you. That didn't go
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: over well. It's not all about you. It's about what
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: he can do through you. It's about him using you
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: to touch the people around you to bring them close
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: to him.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: And I want you to see what Jesus did in
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: these men, how he formed them. I want you to look,
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: go back to verse 19 if you could put that
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: up again. So Jesus said, follow me and I will
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: make you. Let me just pause right there. I will
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: make you. Anybody need Jesus to make them? You know,
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: I want Jesus to form me so that I'm what
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: he wants me to be. You know, like a potter
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: takes a piece of clay and he works it and
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: he spins it, right?
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: Have you ever seen that done?
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: And he forms it into something and, you know, the
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: thing doesn't stop spinning until it's done.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: Am I right about that? I've not actually done it.
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: You keep spinning it until it's done. And when it's done,
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: it stops spinning. Listen to me. You're still spinning.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: You're still spinning. None of you are done yet. And
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: I know because you're still breathing. That means he's still
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: working something in you. See, Jesus is forming us into something.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: And he said, I'll make you. And again, these people
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: weren't ready, but he spent three years making them. And
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: even after three years, we could argue they're still pretty messy.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: Am I right?
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: I mean, think about what happened at the night he
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: was arrested. They all ran away. In fact, let's back
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: up a little bit. Jesus is going to be arrested.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: He goes into the garden. He says, would you guys
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: come pray with me for a little while? Because I'm
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: in agony about what's about to happen.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: And what happens? They all fall asleep.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: This is the guys he's entrusting as he's getting ready
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: to go to the cross. You're going to go change
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: the world and they can't stay awake to pray for
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: a few moments. Remember, as they're traveling one day, there
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: was a town in Samaria. They didn't want Jesus to
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: pass through. And James and John said, hey, Jesus, if
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: you want us to, we've got a lot of faith.
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: We'll call down fire from heaven and destroy this town.
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: This is the people Jesus is entrusting the kingdom of
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: God to. They're messed up. They're messy, right? But Jesus
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: kept making them. And here's what I want you to catch.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: Discipleship doesn't mean you're finished.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: Right?
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: Aren't you glad you're not finished yet? You look at
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: somebody next to you and be like, you're not finished yet.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: And that's okay. Okay.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: I got some grace for you. Listen, I'm not finished yet.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: You're not finished yet. Jesus didn't wait until they were
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: perfect to call them disciples, right? He was still making them.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: That means there was times he had to correct them.
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: There might be times you got to get corrected. There'll
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: be times you get in this word and you say, Ooh,
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: I'm not quite doing things right. God starts speaking to
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: you and you get corrected. I'm not saying condemned. I'm
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: saying corrected, right? So you get born again in a moment,
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: but you get to be a disciple the rest of
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: your life. So don't get frustrated because I'm not where
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: I want to be.
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: That's okay.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: But what you have to recognize is I'm still being formed.
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: Let him form you. Let him work in you. So
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: what that means is even though you read your Bible
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: all the way through last year, guess what you get
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: to do again this year? No, let me say it
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: this way. Guess what you need to do again this year?
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: You need to read this thing again. And again, and
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: you're not going to be done. When Jesus comes, you're
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: still going to be reading this thing. I heard somebody
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: say it's the worst book club ever. You never get
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: out of this book. No, it's the best. It's the
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: best book club ever, right? You get to read this
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: thing the rest of your life. And every time you
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: read it, you're going to find something new. You're going
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: to find new revelation. God's going to speak to you
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: every time you pick this thing up. Hey, listen, here's
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: what this means. Even though I prayed yesterday, guess what
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: I need to do again today?
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: See, I need more.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: I can't stop. I need to keep going, right? Even
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: though I had a perfect day, I didn't even sin yesterday.
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: Guess what?
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: I still need grace today. I still need his grace today.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: I might need correction tomorrow. I might need encouragement tomorrow.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: But here's the thing.
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: You don't stop. Hey, I served on a ministry team
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: last year. Well, guess what?
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: You still need to serve again because God's doing something
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: in your life. And when we serve, that's him using
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: us to touch people around us.
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: Look at Philippians chapter 2. You get the point.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: Disciples are never done. Philippians chapter 2. For God is
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: working in you. Let's just pause there a second. Some
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: of you need to hear that this morning. God is
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: working in you. If you're a believer, he's working in you,
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: but you need to let him. Stop resisting what he
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: wants to do in your life. God's working in you.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: He gives you the desire and the power to do
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: what pleases him. So listen, you might think you're done,
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: but he's still working. He's still working. That means I
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: need to have grace for you because he's still working
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: on you. It means you need to have grace for
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: me because he's still working on me. I may say
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: something today that offends you and I don't mean to,
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: but he's still working on me. And maybe it was
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: the wrong thing. Now, maybe it was the right thing
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: and you need to be offended, but maybe it was
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: the wrong thing. And I say something and it offends you,
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: but you need to have grace for me because he's
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: still working on me. Right? That means we need to
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: be able to forgive one another. That's why God says it.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: Forgive one another because you've been forgiven and you're going
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: to need to be forgiven again tomorrow or the next day.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: At some point, you're going to need it again. So
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: forgive one another. So we're called to make disciples. And
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: sometimes we're not doing that because what happens is we
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: see each other's faults. We see each other's failures and
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: we get frustrated when God's saying, have some grace because
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: I'm still working.
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: On them, right?
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: They're going to mess up. They're going to ask too
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: many questions, right? They're going to take two steps forward
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: and a step back, but you keep having grace in
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: Don't give up on somebody because God is still forming them.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: So listen, as I.
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: Read this gospel, I see Jesus is so patient with
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: his disciples.
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: I see Jesus is so patient with Peter.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: In fact, I don't even see him rebuking Peter when
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: Peter cuts off the man's ear. Other than saying, Peter,
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: put your sword away. Now, I wouldn't have been as nice. Like,
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: what the heck's wrong with you?
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: You know?
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: And I know Peter wasn't aiming for his ear. He
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: was aiming for the man's neck. You know, what's wrong
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: with you, Peter? I would not have had much patience
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: with him, but Jesus did. He's got patience with us,
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: so we need to have patience for one another. He's
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: still forming us.
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: All right?
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: Let me go to verse 19. Jesus, so again, you
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: hear this, follow me And I'll make you fish for people.
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: Right?
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: Jesus looked at this group of fishermen and he said,
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: I'm going to transform your life so that the thing
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: you used to do, you're not going to do in
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: the same way anymore.
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: They would be fishing for people.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: And this is the goal of being a disciple. Because again, listen,
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: I think sometimes we get it backwards. We think discipleship
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: is just about what he's doing in us. That's only
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: half of it. What God is doing in you is
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: only half. half of discipleship. The other half is that
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: you do it for other people, that you bring other
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: people along, that you fish for people. See, it can't
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: just stay here. If it stays here, you're a dead sea, right?
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: The dead sea is dead because stuff only goes in
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: and it never comes back out. Jesus didn't say, I'm
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: making you dead seas. He said, I'm giving you rivers
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: of living water that are flowing from within you. that
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: are going to flow out of you talking about the
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit. See, life has to be coming out of
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: you or else you die.
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: Okay?
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: So they watch Jesus. This is the goal of our discipleship.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: He makes us and then he sends us, right? They
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: watch Jesus. They saw how he prayed, how he cared
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: for people, and then he sent them out. It's how
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: we learn. It's how an apprentice learns. You don't be
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: sent out until you've watched and you've learned and you
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: know how to do things. And there are new believers,
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: maybe in this room this morning, who are watching you.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: I want you to think about this. They're watching you
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: to see how a Christian is supposed to live. Because
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: they might come in here and say, I don't know
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: how to do it, but I'm watching you. I'll watch
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: them and figure it out. You know, I watched some
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: of the kids in the choir this morning. Wasn't that wonderful?
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: I love watching the kids in the choir. And our
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: son was up here this morning. He wasn't able to
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: come to practice on Wednesday because I forgot about it.
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: And... But I watched him. He was kind of like
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: looking around. What am I supposed to do?
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: Okay, I'm clapping. Okay, I'm clapping. I'm just watching. And
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: that's a lot how we learn how to be Christians.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: What am I supposed to do? Let me watch some
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: of these big dogs who have been here a while.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: Let me watch. What do I call the ladies? The
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: older ladies who have been the more mature. The big
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: dogs and the more mature ladies who have been here
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: a while. Let me watch them and see the what? Okay,
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: you call whatever you want to call yourself. But I'll
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: watch them and see how am I supposed to do
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: this thing. That's how we're supposed to develop as Christians,
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: but sometimes we forget people are watching you. The kids
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: in that kid's church this morning, they don't know how
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: to live Christian lives. So what they're going to do
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: is they're going.
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: To watch you.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: Okay, what do I do during worship? Do I stand
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: with my hands in my pockets? Do I sit down?
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: Do I sing?
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: Do I stand?
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: Do I lift my hands? What's a man worshiping look like?
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: They're going to look at you. What's it look like
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: to pray? I don't know how to pray, so I'll
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: watch the people around me. I'll watch my parents. They'll
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: teach me how to pray, but sometimes they don't see it.
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: It's not modeled. Maybe just at the dinner table. How
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: are they going to know unless we teach them?
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: Right?
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: Right? So we show them, they watch us. Then they
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: do it and they teach someone else.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: They'll teach the things they're learning now, the kids, the
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: new believers, they're going to teach someone else in a
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: few years. Or maybe a few days, you know, so
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: you don't have to wait years to get this down.
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: You can teach someone else. I want you to look
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: what it says in Matthew 10. When Jesus sends out
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: his disciples... And again, he says the same similar thing
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: to what he says in Matthew 28. It says he
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: calls his 12 disciples. He gave them authority to cast
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: out evil spirits and heal every kind of disease and sickness.
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: And then he says this, go in verse seven, go
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: and announce to them. This is before he was resurrected.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: This was just an initial sending where they were training.
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: Go and announce to them the kingdom of heaven is near.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: way that you've seen me do them, go and do
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: the same things. So he gave them the authority... and
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: the power to do what he'd been doing. How did
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: they learn? How did they learn how to heal the sick? Well,
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: they watched him. They saw what he did. Raised the dead.
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: How'd they learn to cast out a demon? Well, they
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: saw what he did. He took authority. So they watched
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: what he did. They learned how he lived life, and
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: then they went and did it. And see, he trusted
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: them with responsibilities. And at some point, here's what I
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: want you to catch. At some point, you have to
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: do something with what you've been learning. At some point,
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: you have to do something with this word that you've
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: been so diligent to read every day. At some point,
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: you've got to do something with it. Otherwise, you're just
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: a hearer. And it's good to hear because how does
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: faith come?
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: By hearing. And hearing by the word of God. Well,
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: that's good.
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: But if you're just a hearer, James says you've got
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: to be a doer too. Because God doesn't want just ears.
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: God doesn't want just ears. He wants mouths too. He
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: wants feet too. He wants hands too. But at some point,
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: you've got to do something with what you've been learning.
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: And here's the thing. Sometimes we drop the ball because
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: we thought discipleship is a class. Thank God for classes.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: We need classes. We need good classes that teach things.
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: That's part of the way we learn. But if discipleship
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: is just a class, we're going to drop the ball
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: because discipleship is about how we live. This word is
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: about how you live your life today. It's about what
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: you're doing today. Listen, I've taught two of my kids
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: how to drive. It's a terrifying experience, right? I'm on
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: the third one now, and it surprises me the stuff
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: they don't know, right?
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: Have you had this experience?
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: And you tell them, okay, go ahead, move the car forward,
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: and they mash the gas pedal, or they mash the brake,
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: and you're just flying around the car. And they're bumping
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: into curbs and all this stuff. And you think, my goodness,
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: what's wrong with them? Because here's the difference. You've been
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: doing it a long time. I've been doing it a
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: long time. And it's just natural. I don't even think
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: about it anymore. I get in the car and I
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: just go. And I don't even know how I got
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: there because I'm not thinking about driving.
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: Right? But they don't have that experience. So they're going
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: to bump into curbs.
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: They're going to run over squirrels and all kinds of stuff.
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: Right? But here's the thing.
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: If you never have a chance to practice what you've
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: been learning, you'll never learn. You know, if you only
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: read a book on how to swim and you never
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: get in the water, you never have a chance to
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: put into practice the principles you've heard.
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: Principles need practice. So it tells us don't just be
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: hearers Be doers. See, Jesus wasn't training spectators. He was
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: training disciples. He was releasing disciples. And if we're only
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: doing what God's called us to do by ourselves, we're
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: missing the point of discipleship. You know, if we talk
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: to people who are on ministry teams or doing different
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: ministries and things, if you're doing it all by yourself,
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: how are you going to train someone else?
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: You know, leaders, who are you letting drive? Who are
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: you letting bump.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: Into the curb sometimes so they can get some experience
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: and start learning how to do some of these things? See,
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: maybe it means if you're in a group, instead of saying,
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: let me pray for you, maybe it says, hey, how
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: about you pray for us? How about you pray for
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: this situation? You know, maybe it means instead of like
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: doing my best, I get someone along with me. You know,
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: Jesus didn't tell them, go do your best. Try to
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: heal some people.
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: That won't work.
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: Instead, what Jesus did was he gave them the power
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: they needed. I want you to look at this this morning.
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: Acts chapter 1. And I want you to understand something.
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: He's given you the power you need. In Acts 1.8,
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: you know this scripture, hopefully. You will receive power when
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit comes on you so that you can
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: live a quiet, relaxing life, not cause any waves, No, no, no.
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: You'll receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: you and you'll be witnesses.
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: In Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: of the earth.
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: Listen, Jesus doesn't expect you to do and fulfill what
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: he's called you to do on your own. He expects
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: you to do it with the power of the Holy
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: Spirit in you.
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: In fact, after he.
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: Was raised, he told the disciples, I want you to
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: go back to Jerusalem and wait because I'm going to
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: send you my Holy Spirit. You can't do it without
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit. You can't do this work without my
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: power working in you. And he couldn't release them until
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: they were empowered. He has empowered you to live this life.
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: If you got the Holy Spirit in you, you've got power.
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: He said, you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: on you. Listen, that means instead of waiting for someone
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: else to do something, I've got the power to do it.
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: I don't feel like I've got the power. Maybe I
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: don't feel like I'm equipped. I don't feel like I
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: have the knowledge I need. But listen, he says he's
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: empowered me so I can do it. The Holy Spirit,
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: I like this, put that up. The Holy Spirit doesn't
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: just empower you to feel something. I don't know if
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: you caught that. The Holy Spirit doesn't just empower you
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: to feel something. He empowers you to do something. And
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: sometimes we've liked the feeling.
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: Now, thank God for feelings. You know, wonderful. I want
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: to feel the goosebumps during worship. Wonderful.
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: But that's not what the point of the Holy Spirit
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: is in my life. You know, praise God, we can
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: feel his presence. We can feel the presence of God
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: and the atmosphere and of heaven and all this stuff.
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: But that's not the point of the Holy Spirit. The
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: point of the Holy Spirit is to empower you to
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: live the life God's called you to live. He's empowered
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: you to do something in this life. He's empowered you
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: to go and make disciples. Don't miss the point. So
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: that means when I see someone, when you see someone
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: who needs prayer, you can pray for them. You know,
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: even at Walmart, you can pray for people. Instead of
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: waiting for a pastor or a leader to do something,
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: you do it. See, that's the church being the church.
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: Are we catching this? I've talked about this quite a bit,
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: but I really feel passionate that the church, when the
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: church is the church, will multiply disciples. When the church
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: is fulfilling its call, then we're going to see results.
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: It doesn't happen because... Because one person or a staff
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: or something like that, and thank God for our staff,
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: we love our staff, but this doesn't happen because the
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: staff gets a hold of it. It happens because the
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: church gets a hold of it. That we got to
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: be who God's called us to be. Right? That means, listen,
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: it means when I see someone who needs to hear
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: my story, I can share my story of what God's
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: done in my life. You know, maybe it means when
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: I find someone who's younger in the faith, I can say,
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: come on with me. I want you to walk with
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: me for a little bit. I want you to see
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: how I do life. Not that I'm perfect. God's still
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: working on me, but I want you to see how
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: I've learned to do some of these things. Because unless
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: you teach them, how will they know? You know, you
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: don't need to have it all figured out.
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: Just be available.
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: Let me go to this last part. In Matthew 28,
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: go to verse 18 once more. Jesus came, I'm gonna
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: read this section again. Jesus came and told his disciples,
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: I've been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore,
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: go and make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: the name of the Father and the Son and the
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit. Verse 20, teach, in this translation, teach these
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: new disciples to obey all the commands I've given you
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: and be sure of this, I'm with you always, even
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: to the end of the age.
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: I want you to catch that. Teach them. There's new disciples.
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: Teach them. Church, teach them. Show them. Be an example
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: to them.
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: Jesus spent three years with his disciples, and before he leaves,
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: he tells them, go make disciples, right? They were the disciples,
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: and he's telling them, it's time for you to reproduce yourself.
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: It's time for you to make more disciples. Essentially, what
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: he tells them is, what I did with you, I
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: want you to do with somebody else. That's multiplication.
• 39:12
  Speaker 2: Catch this.
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: This is multiplication. It can't stop with us. Part of
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: our lives as disciples of Jesus is to help someone
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: else be a disciple of Jesus. There's this term that
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: people use that study demographics.
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: It's called the replacement. rate. Have you heard of this?
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: For a population to reproduce itself from one generation to
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: the next, the average has to be roughly 2.1 children per.
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: Couple.
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: And that makes sense, doesn't it? Because if you have
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: a If you have two people and they have one child,
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: and everybody does that, you just cut the population by
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: one half. So for a population to actually grow, you
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: need better than 2%, or 2, whatever that is, better
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: than double. And here's the point I'm getting at. If
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: you don't have that number, you start to see a decline.
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: In fact, you can look up some of the statistics.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: In the United States, we're right at that cusp. If
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: we didn't have immigration, we would be in decline. We're very, very,
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: very close to it. There's many countries in the world
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: that are in much worse shape as far as the
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: population numbers go. It's a really interesting study. But here's
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: the point as I started thinking about this spiritually, right?
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: What happens when Christians don't reproduce themselves? How many generations
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: would it take for us to go to half of
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: what we currently are in one generation? In fact, how
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: many generations would it take to go to 0%? You
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: could do it in one generation. If the current generation
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: doesn't reproduce itself, you would drop to zero.
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: It's just a statistical fact.
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: Now, I'm not saying that would happen because I believe
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: the kingdom of God is more powerful. I believe God
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: would do something. But listen, he's empowered us and he's
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: put a charge in our hands to do something with
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: what we have.
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: To reproduce ourselves, right?
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: And I want you to put that at what doesn't
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: multiply will eventually die. But think about it the other way.
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: If every believer in this room would this year disciple
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: one person, just one person, we would double in one year.
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: What if you did that every year? In three years...
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: we would be 300% bigger.
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: That's just one person. Can you find one person this year?
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: I'm not even saying like this week, go disciple one person.
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: I'm saying this year, can you pour into someone's life?
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: This year, can you find one person that you can
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: help grow in their walk with the Lord? Because I
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: believe the kingdom of God is supposed to be multiplying.
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: And you see this happening in the book of Acts.
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: In fact, in the book of Acts, there's this phrase
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: in the early chapters that gets repeated. It says disciples
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: were added, right? On the day of Pentecost, 3,000 were added.
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: Later in Acts chapter 4, it says there was more
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: were added. They had 5,000 people. And believers were added daily.
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: You hear the word added a lot in the early chapters.
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: And then something shifts about Acts chapter 6. And here's
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: what it says. Put up verse 7. It says, The
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: message of God kept spreading, and the number of disciples
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: multiplied greatly. There was a shift that happened, and what
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: it was tied to was the fact that the church
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: started being the church. Instead of letting the disciples do ministry,
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: you start seeing people like the deacons step up.
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: Thank God for our deacons, our board. We love our board.
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: Thank you, board.
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: But people, not just the, but it's not just that,
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: it's the church. The whole church starts being the church
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: and they multiply. But see, multiplication only happens when we
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: all do what we're called to do. You're here today
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: because someone invested in your life.
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you're here.
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: Today because someone taught you. Because someone brought you along
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: and said, do life with me. Or maybe you just
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: figured it out. You came to church, you figured it out.
• 43:41
  Speaker 2: But how nice would it have.
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: Been for someone to say, come with me. Let me
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: walk with you. I want you to think about this.
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: Someone helped the early church. That early church, the apostles
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: were doing the work. And then the deacons were doing
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: the work. And the church was doing the work. And
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: They discipled someone else, and someone else discipled someone else,
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: and eventually it got to you today. It's the same message,
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: thousands of years removed, but it works because people do
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: what God's called them to do. All right, so here's
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: the question I want to ask you. Who are you
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: helping follow Jesus, right?
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: Who are you praying with? Who are you encouraging? Who
• 44:28
  Speaker 2: are you helping to grow?
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: Maybe there's someone in your life you could invite and say,
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: I want you to come with me. I want you
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: to do life with me. And maybe you don't have
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: somebody that comes to your mind and wants you to
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: ask the Holy Spirit, Lord, give me some person. Give
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: me one person I can help grow in their walk
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: with you. Because I believe that's our mandate. That's our call.
• 44:51
  Speaker 2: I want you, if you would, just bow your heads
• 44:53
  Speaker 2: with me this morning. We're going to close.
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: And I know this is a different kind of message,
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: but I think it's something that's so important. that we
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: learn how to be the people God's called us to be.
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: So Jesus told them, follow me. And he formed them,
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: he made them, and he released them and said, go
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: and make disciples. Because what he did was never meant
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: to stop with him. And then those disciples made disciples.
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: So the question is, Is what God's done with you
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: going to stop with you? Is what God has done
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: in your life going to stop with you? See, we're
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: not called just to receive. We're called to multiply disciples.
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: You've got to start with one. I want you to
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: think about who God's put around you. Maybe it's somebody
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: in church, somebody who hasn't known the Lord long. Or
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: maybe it's somebody who's been in church for a while,
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: but they're struggling. They need someone to walk with them.
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: Maybe it's a son or daughter, a grandchild, it's a friend.
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: But you just need to be willing to say, come
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: with me. Because a disciple makes disciples. So I want
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: you to do this. I want you to just take
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: a moment right where you're sitting. I want you to
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: ask the Lord and just ask him who it is
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: that he wants you to invest in. Who is it
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: that he wants you to pour into their lives? And
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: you might say, I don't feel ready. Maybe I'm just
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: a new believer. But you can get with somebody else.
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: Let them encourage you. See, Jesus didn't send the disciples
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: out because they figured everything out. He didn't send them alone.
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: He said, you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: on you. And I want you to know today you
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: have the power of the Holy Spirit at work in you.
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: And this morning, right where you are, I want you
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: just to stand up for a moment. And I want
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: to pray for you. And just keep your eyes closed,
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: head bowed for a moment. And if you say, I
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: want God to use me to help someone else follow Jesus.
• 47:20
  Speaker 2: I'm not even going to look right now.
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: Just between you and the Lord, I just want you
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: to raise your hand and say, Lord, I'm willing to
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: accept that charge. This is between you and God right now. Lord,
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: I'm willing to accept that charge. I want you to
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: help me. I want to use the power that you've
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: given me to help somebody else. So Lord, I pray
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: for each person this morning. Lord, as they step into
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: your will, your purpose for their life, as they begin
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: to multiply themselves, multiply disciples, Lord God, I pray that
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: you would empower them by your Holy Spirit. Lord, I
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: thank you for the power of the Holy Spirit that
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: is at work in our lives. And this morning, Lord God,
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: we just bless your people. Lord, we thank you for
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: the power that's at work in us. Lord, we thank
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: you for the right words to say at the right time. Lord,
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: I know we may not always do the right things,
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: but Lord, thank you that you're still forming us too.
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: I thank you for just using each one and blessing
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: them in the name of Jesus. Thanks so much for
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: listening to today's message from Reach Church. If this encouraged you,
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: We'd love for you to share this podcast and leave
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: a review. It helps more people hear the good news.
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: For more information about Reach Church, our ministries, or how
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: to get involved, visit us at reachchurch.world. We love you,
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: we're praying for you, and we'll see you next time
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: right here on the Reach Church podcast.