Latest / Citipointe Church Caboolture / It Starts with a Relationship | Ps Graeme Politanski

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It Starts with a Relationship | Ps Graeme Politanski · Citipointe Church Caboolture

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Hey, welcome to the City Point Church podcast.
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Thanks for joining us. Every day is an opportunity to
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take hold of. So we hope this message inspires
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you and build your faith, but it helps you have more of a God
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perspective for your day. Enjoy can.
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You declare out loud today. My heart is open, my ears are
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alert to grow and change and to never be the same.
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Amen, Amen. Please be seated.
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Amazing. Well, I've come to realize that
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God has a system when it comes to relationships.
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And over, over times, I think we've sometimes forgot this
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system of how do we formulate great relationships with people,
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especially those relationships that can go a little bit deeper.
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You know what I'm talking about, like the honesty that you can
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have with some people. And as we've been unpacking this
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year, discipleship as a church, I've been reading through the
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scriptures and I've come to realize that discipleship has
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greater depth and width than just me being discipled by
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someone else. I'm starting to realize that
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this is actually God's design for relationship.
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And because Pastor Mel and I, we've been talking a little bit
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about the discipleship concept and, and something we've come to
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realize is, is it's not, it's not the biblical way that it's
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always someone greater or more superior that disciples someone
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less superior. So obviously you want to be
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discipled by someone who's walked a few more years or you
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know, that that really helps in the discipleship journey.
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But the reality is discipleship is a journey of relationship.
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And so I've, I'm discipled by some people in my life.
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And I remember when Pastor Rick was the pastor of this church,
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Pastor Rick used to disciple, disciple me.
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And although he's 10 years older than me, it wasn't always the
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most superior person to the younger.
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It was a relationship that formed where I honored and
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respected the one that would disciple my life, but it was
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mutual. And our relationship grew deeper
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and deeper. Where true honesty and where the
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Bible talks about iron, sharpening iron could actually
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happen in our relationship. And so I want to encourage
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everyone in the church today that if you're seeking out good
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friendships or relationships with with people, can I
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encourage that the discipleship journey is part of how we form
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these deeper relationships with people because you walk a
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journey of life together. Is that good?
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And so that's just a little key. So I've I've titled today's
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message. It starts with a relationship.
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It starts with a relationship. Now many people assume
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discipleship begins in a classroom like internship,
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something like that Bible College in a Bible studying like
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you might get in our next steps course with Pastor Henry or
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after someone gives their life to Jesus, then discipleship can
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start in someone's life. But the the Bible paints a very
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different picture. And so we're going to look at
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what the Apostle Paul wrote in the Scriptures in Romans chapter
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10 verses 14 to 17. And it says this.
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How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
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And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?
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And how shall they hear without a preacher?
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And how shall they preach, unless they are sent as it is
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written? How beautiful are the feet of
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those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of
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good things. But they have not all obeyed the
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gospel for Rosiah said, Lord, who has believed our report?
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So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
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Isn't that a fantastic scripture?
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Anyone read that one before? It's a good scripture.
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So Paul's laying out a clear progression for us.
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People must hear before they believe.
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People must hear before they believe.
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Listen. We need to pray that God moves
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in our community. We must pray because prayer is
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the toolkit. It's the greatest tool a
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believer has to breakthrough of anything in our worlds.
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We must pray, but we must also share the good news.
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We must pray for people, but we must go out and let it come from
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our lips. I believe this, that if we don't
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get it in US, the Holy Spirit has nothing to bring out of us.
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Does that make sense? And so it's the same principle
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here when we are praying for our loved ones or we're praying for
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our schools for revival or university or our community like
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we do all the all the time. Don't just be a bedroom prayer.
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Only be a bedroom prayer. Who then comes out with fire and
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anointing and goes and preaches the good news to people and tell
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them, tells them about the love of God.
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Don't just agree that Easter weekend is going to be an
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amazing weekend on the calendar. Take that agreeance in the
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spirit realm and make sure people know the invitation to
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come with you and if they need it, pick him up, Bring him to
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church each week, whatever it requires.
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Because we are the hands and the feet, not just the voice.
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Amen. So Paul's creating this clear
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picture before people hear the message clearly, they must in
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first encounter the messenger. Here's the reality.
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We pray in our bedrooms. We come out with fire and
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anointing oil all over us and then we share the gospel, the
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good news, with our next door neighbor.
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Guess what? They have just met the
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representative of heaven. They have just met someone who
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knows the one that they need and how we present ourselves, how we
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present the goodness of God. They have just met the
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representative of heaven. They meet you and they meet me.
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Before someone has a relationship with Jesus, two
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things usually happen. First, they hear about Him, and
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second, they see what it looks like when someone follows
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closely with Him because they see you and I Amen.
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So it starts with a relationship more than words, more than
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declaring. It always starts with a
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relationship. So this means something profound
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for every believer in this room today.
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You ready? Your life is always preaching.
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Your behaviour is always communicating something about
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Jesus. Now listen, for sure, your
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behaviour is always communicating, but did you know
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it's communicating something about the one you follow?
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Because people see you as a Christian, a Christ follower.
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Your kindness preaches. Your integrity preaches.
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Your patience preaches, your love It preaches even when
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you're not standing behind a pulpit.
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Your life is preaching Jesus to people and the world around you.
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Now, discipleship often begins long before a person walks
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through the doors of the church. In fact, I would argue they're
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walking through the doors of the church because there has been
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discipleship in their lives. That's a powerful thing to grab
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hold of. It begins in ordinary
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relationships, at work, at school, at the gym, across the
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fence with a neighbor. So instead of throwing balloons
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over to the neighbor, why don't we get to know them and hop over
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the fence and say hi. And it starts over a coffee with
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a friend. Every single time we are meeting
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with people, we are in a in a realm of discipleship.
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Amen. You see that on your life this
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morning. Can you say out loud I am a
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disciple? Say it again, I am a disciple
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because everywhere you go this is exactly what you're doing,
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whether we realise it or not. And as we've been studying this,
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I'm starting to realise if I can put immense attention, attention
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to that and purpose behind the way I conduct my life, I can be
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discipling people always towards Jesus Christ.
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And I have a a little saying the interns would have heard, and if
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you've never heard this before, it's your call this morning into
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internship mid year intake. And but I just have this thing
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that if you're in my sphere of life, you're just going to hear
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about Jesus. If you're in my sphere of life
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or in a conversation with me, I'm always going to guide you
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towards heavenly things or biblical principles.
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Now I might skin it a little bit different.
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I might not say James, you know, chapter 3, verse 14 says this,
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but the the language that will come out of yours or my lip out
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of our heart, our lips will speak guidance towards biblical
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things. In other words, we are we are
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influencing as a disciple, a person towards Jesus Christ.
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Let me tell you, discipleship is all about Jesus.
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It's to Jesus in Jesus, and from Jesus it's to Jesus.
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We're always disciple in people into a relationship with Jesus.
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It's in Jesus where we then start to mature and we start to
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grow. But it's from Jesus because
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Jesus sends us out into the world to share the gospel.
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Discipleship and Christian living is all about Jesus.
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So can I encourage you, when you go home today, you say, God, I
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just want my life to always be speaking, to always be
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witnessing, and to always be leading people towards you.
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Amen. See that this morning, Church?
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All right, so it starts with a relationship.
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When Jesus called the 12 disciples, they didn't yet fully
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understand who he was. And I think we forget that
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sometimes. Hey, Jesus was this new person
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on the block. Some people knew him because
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they were friends in school and things like that.
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And he's preaching about this God no one on planet Earth had
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ever heard about before, which is crazy to even kind of think.
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And then he was claiming that this God was his father.
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But, you know, everyone knew his father and it was just all
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different. But he called these people and
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he said, would you come follow me now?
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They didn't have perfect theology, they and if they were
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like me, they probably couldn't even say theology properly.
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They simply heard him say come and follow me.
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They heard him, then they followed him, then they
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experienced life with him, then they believed and obeyed.
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Let me tell you, church people have heard you.
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They're following you and they're experiencing what
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Christian life can look like, and if our example is pure,
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wholesome, filled with love and joy and peace, they will begin
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to believe and obey the one we are following.
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Also, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in his book The Cost of
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Discipleship. Christianity, man without
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discipleship is always Christianity without Christ, man
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Christianity without discipleship.
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And he doesn't even water it down.
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He says it's always Christianity without Christ.
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That says to me this words alone don't cut it.
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My life, my discipling people, my showing people is what people
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need to see Christ through me, not just Christ said from me.
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Amazing. What Bonhoeffer was highlighting
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is that discipleship is not just information, it's formation
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through relationship. People learn the way of Jesus by
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walking with people who follow Jesus.
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And you know the Great Commission is relational.
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In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 2819 to 20, he said go therefore
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and make disciples relationship of all the nations.
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And Jesus exampled this relationship, teaching them to
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observe all things that I have commanded, not telling them to
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observe, but teaching them, walking with them, showing them,
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releasing them and giving them a go to follow all things that
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Jesus commanded, but not what we command.
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So Jesus has written the words for you and I to read.
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But we exemplify, you know, it's we, we don't preach at people,
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we preach for people. We don't preach to condemn pre
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people, but we we preach to show people we give them the words.
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But then we but we behave in the same ways and we exemplify and
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then they walk with us and then we give them the opportunity to
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do that with someone else. This is called multiplication.
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Notice something important. Jesus didn't say go build large
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events and everyone says Amen. He didn't say go create
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impressive programs like our Easter, Easter after the service
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program outside for the kids. He said go make disciples.
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Making disciples always and only ever involves people.
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And it doesn't just involve other people.
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It involves you and me also, which is great.
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It involves walking with people. I feel like I'm giving you
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really good stuff this morning. It's a little bit quiet in this
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room. It's a little bit quiet in this
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room. Like I laboured over this.
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Yeah, there's 20 hours here. Can I get it just a little bit
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more this morning? Where's City Point NI Know
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you're listening and all that, but a preacher really needs a
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bit of a response. That's how you get the real good
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stuff. I'm giving you good stuff, but
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there's deeper and you got to draw it out this morning.
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Is this all right? Well, I know Nicole's not here
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this morning, but it's all good. She's ministering somewhere
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else. OK.
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Making disciples always involves people helping someone to learn
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about God, helping someone grow in their faith, which is just
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like the most wonderful thing we could possibly do is help people
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grow in their faith with Jesus and helping someone obey the
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teachings of Jesus. You know, I love how Pastor John
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this morning, you know, he brings out the word, but he then
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he gives you the, the Hebrew of it.
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And we're sort of we're learning the we're learning deeper
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levels. You know, this is what you get
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when you hang around faith believing people.
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The value of your life is that God has called you to grow and
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to sow the value of your life is not just in the growth.
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I know that sometimes we all try and become bigger and, and
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better, not bigger like that, but just bigger in, in our
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faith. And we try and get, become
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better people and, and we try to become more pure people.
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But sometimes I think we just get a little bit too focused on
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us. Like we need to do internship,
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not 100% for you and I, but we need to do internship because
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it's teaching us something to sow into someone else.
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We grow in our faith so that we can share to others.
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We read our word everyday, not just for us, but if God can get
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it through US, he'll get the revelation to us.
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And it's the same with money. If he can get money through you,
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he'll get money to you. And we'll just keep saying, well
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God, where's my blessings? Forget about your blessing, just
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say God, where is something that I can give to someone else?
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Give me what I can, what I need to be a blesser.
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And I think sometimes we focus a little bit too much just on us.
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We need to refine ourselves and we need to get our our skills
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all up and upgraded and we need to become better singers and,
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and better worshippers and, and have more money in the bank.
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We need all of this stuff for sure.
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But if you get it all and you do nothing with it, it does
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nothing. It achieves nothing.
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I want to go to heaven with a whole army of people of
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influence behind me. And we are learning today.
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My words aren't enough for that. Your words aren't enough for
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that. Your generosity does that.
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Your finance does that. Your open house does that.
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You're giving someone a room when they need it that does
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that. Being gracious with your
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children does that, you know, not always being the one that
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knows it all, but being the one that accepts people and guides
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them through the word of God and through life.
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You know, no one wants to go to a know it all, but everyone
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wants to go to a gracious person.
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The key is is to not remain gracious only and not to be a
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know it all gracious only. You might be a gracious person,
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but when people come to you, if they stay with you, you're not
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achieving the what God's called of us.
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People come to you because you've got an open house, open
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arms. And then we have to direct
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people. Where do we direct them to what
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you learn to internship, what you learn in the word of God,
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what you learn at Bible college, what you experience in your
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workplace and, and what's your example, you know, at university
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and things like that. So we're leading people always.
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The Old Testament come on in turns.
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We went through this on the on last week.
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The Old Testament always led to Jesus because he is the answer.
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And what that tells you and I our lives also must always lead
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to Jesus. The value of your life is that
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God has called you to grow and to sow.
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As we grow, God calls us to sow into someone else and help them
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grow. This is multiplication of
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discipleship. It starts though, with a
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relationship. Now listen.
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Relationships grow on the journey One Life group session,
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isn't it? And listen, you don't have to be
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fantastic on the first Life group gathering.
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Well, you're growing too, right? And that's why you call Pastor
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Mel during the week and say, Pastor Mel, I'll put it in the
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deep end, Pastor John and Rachel.
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All right, you can call me and you say, hey, I LED my life
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group this week and this is what happened.
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And you know, I, I, I know of, of a couple of people that had a
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life group and no one rocked up. How crazy is that?
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Could that happen to you that do they not like you, you know, and
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so because they don't like you, no one rocked up.
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And so I got a call or I had a conversation, and it was like,
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what do we do in this situation? And so I walked those people
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through and it was nothing to do with you.
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In fact, you're the most loved person in the whole church.
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Yeah, they love you more than Pastor Grey.
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They just listen to you because they got to.
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But. But here's the reality is we're
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growing together. You don't have to have the
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theology and remember 64 verses of the Bible before you can run
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a life group. What you do is you say, I want
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to lead someone to Jesus. Everything I have, I'm going to
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give. But I haven't achieved the goal
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of learning yet, and I'm going to continue to grow myself.
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Amen. Discipleship is not a moment,
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it's a journey. Systems help, but relationships
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transform. In the church, we create systems
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to help people grow. We've got life groups, we've got
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courses, we've got demographic ministries, we've got Sunday
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gatherings, we've got SWB conference coming up.
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These are powerful and these are important, but church don't rely
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on them. Be part of them.
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Empower them, go to them, learn and grow in them, and be serving
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them. Be part of them for other
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people, but don't let our lives rely on these things alone.
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They help believers grow in knowledge, faith, and community.
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But here is the reality. Systems organized discipleship.
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With relationship, discipleship matures.
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So the systems of the church organize avenues for
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discipleship to happen. But discipleship must happen in
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relationship because it's a journey.
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And so in that relationship journey, it then matures.
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People may attend a program, but they are transformed through
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connection. This is why discipleship often
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begins outside the walls of the church.
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It begins when someone hears for me.
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Back to our first verse, when someone trusts you.
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Why? Because you remain faithful to
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this. Let me tell you, I know fuel is
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ridiculous. I bought a diesel because I
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thought it was the better option, and now I'm learning I
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chose the worst option. Right.
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I understand they're saying that this is going to be worse than
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COVID, but does this shake your faith?
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Does this shake the when Pastor Dan gets up and talks about
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finances and money, does this shake that or is your faith in
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God? See, the, the reality is the
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world is always going to disintegrate.
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It's constantly going to, you know, the, the earth groans out.
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The Bible says as his coming draws nearer, it's going to,
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it's going to decay. We already know.
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We've read the book. I don't know, but if you go to
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let me find where it starts, New King James Version page, there
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we go, page 15118. There's the ending story for us.
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We already know it, don't we? The world has even heard about
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it. So faith remains faithful
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through that book. And it's always been a thing
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through every ear from the book of Genesis, Man, there's been.
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Imagine growing up in the medieval time just like crazy,
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crazy stuff, pirates and all that time, you know?
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Yeah. The other, the other part of
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history. Yeah.
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Imagine that. Imagine the disciples, what they
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went through, crazy crazy stuff. But we don't let it shake our
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church. In fact I reckon God loves this
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stuff. The church through history has
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always come out stronger at the end of mass trial and
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persecutions against the church. The church has always come out
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stronger, brighter and general. Generally revivals come out of
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it, which we all seek the revival but we don't like the
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beforehand. We all want to see our lives
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revive. Let me tell you that the the
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more the fuel goes up, the easier the conversation with
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your next neighbor will be. Yeah, the more chance you have
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to bring hope into a conversation.
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It's really hard to bring hope into, you know that.
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Reckon why the western world struggles with church growth is
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because the western world hasn't needed God as much as the rest
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of the world. And because life is easy.
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We got money and we're buying new cars all the time.
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I mean, look at all the cars on the road.
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Like everyone has one or two, you know, third world countries
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aren't like this. And so we don't need a a, a, a
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Messiah or as someone who brings us the answer because we all
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think our everyday life is OK. But the reality is the world
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starts to groan more and more and things start to happen at
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the you and I have it just so easy just to bring hope and to
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bring a life and to to pour out blessing.
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Let's not be the one in the conversation groaning about the
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groanings of the world, but let's be the one in the
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conversation that turns it around and goes.
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I understand diesels like this. Look, you can go any day and get
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an unleaded car. But let me tell you, in the
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church, we've been walking in blessing like never before.
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I've been tithing for 25 years in my life and I have noticed
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when I look back, no matter what has happened, even during COVID,
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that my life just kept moving forward stronger and stronger.
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Sure, sometimes I have to lose this or I have to lose that, but
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man, I've never lost the joy of life.
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I've never ever thought I don't want to bring children into this
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world because I understand that children are the answer of the
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world I have under I. You know what I mean?
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We can just bring so much goodness and disciple people
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through this season of our lives.
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But it begins when someone hears from you, when they trust you
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and begin to follow your example.
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Be in a room of negative conversation, be bold enough to
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bring in positive conversation. And I reckon someone in that
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group will start to be more positive.
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When people not just know that you're a Christian and hear
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about it, but they see you in the moments and in the situation
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and how you deal with them, it will bring influence.
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And out of that group of 10 people, what if one of them
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followed you into the House of God, into church?
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One of the most important truths about discipleship is this.
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You don't need to be a theologian to start.
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You simply need to share what Jesus has done in your life.
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Has God done anything in anyone's life in this room?
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Lift your hand. Whatever it is that he has done
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for you. I encourage you this week.
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Would you say, God, would you remind me of some of the things
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you've done in my life and give me opportunity to share it?
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And if you fail in that, just get straight back up.
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Just say, OK, God, I missed that one.
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Would you give me another opportunity?
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Because I just want to share about your goodness and I want
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to become amazing at doing this. Pastor Craig Rochelle says
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people would rather follow someone who is always real
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listen than someone who is always right, someone who is
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always authentic to their faith, then someone who has the right
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words to say. See in this world, in fact, the
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devil himself, he's a man of smooth words, knows what to say
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to peace the situation. Don't look to peace the
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situation. Look to guide someone through
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the situation. Jesus didn't come to be liked by
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everyone. He came to bring truth to
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everyone. He didn't come to be liked in
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the temples, but He'd come to bring revelation to His word in
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the temples. And you and I are the carriers
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of truth. Don't have a smooth tongue?
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Have a truthful tongue. Amen.
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And people will be attracted to that when the whole world is
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doing the opposite. Authenticity builds trust and
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trust creates the environment where discipleship can begin.
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When people see a genuine faith lived out in everyday life, it
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becomes compelling. They start to ask questions,
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they start to lean into your life a little bit more, and
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often the journey towards Jesus will begin.
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So as the band comes up this morning and joins me, this is my
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final thought. This week, I want to challenge
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every one of us to intentionally live like Jesus in the
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relationships already around us. Let's not be gossipers this
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week. Let's not be carriers of all
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negativity. Everyone saw the news.
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Everyone already knows. We don't need to bring it back
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up. What we need to bring, bring
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back up is an answer to what everyone already knows.
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Is that the Christian version of what everyone always knows, the
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Christian faith principle to what everyone already knows?
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That's what we are required to do.
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Look for one or two people in your world and a neighbor, A
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colleague, a family member or a friend and choose to invest in
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them with genuine care. Can I encourage all of us?
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We all have people in our world. Just choose one of them that you
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wouldn't normally do this with and just go.
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You know what, I'm going to actually call that person beyond
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their birthday or you know, Easter greeting.
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I'm going to call them randomly this week and I'm just going to
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invest a little bit of care into their world.
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You'll be amazed of the fruits of that one conversation.
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Or buy someone a coffee. If you've got the finances, or
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even if you don't have the finances, why don't you exercise
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this faith? But when you're in the shopping
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oil and there's someone there, pay for them.
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Or when you're buying a coffee, pay for the person behind you
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and bless them. Or when you're filling up your
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car, if you can, why don't you pay for their fuel and bless
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them? In the in the crisis of the
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world, shine the light of blessing on someone else's life.
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So how can I even say to do that?
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Because I understand the principle of the Bible.
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If he can get it through you, he'll get it to you.
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And I honestly have seen the fruits of that statement in my
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life. Take time this week to listen to
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someone to encourage and to show kindness in a practical way, not
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just show kindness with a smile and words because we remember
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words alone don't cut it, let's do it in a practical way.
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Let your words be gracious and your actions be patient and your
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character reflect Christ. Share what God has done in your
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life when the opportunity comes soon as the opportunity is
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there. Can I encourage you?
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This is something I've learned is I've I had to prepare myself
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to be ready. I say to our worshippers in the
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church, you notice that when the first song starts, the team's
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not warming up, but when the first song starts, they hit us
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with a wall of sound and worship and like, come on church, you
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know, because they, they're already prepared.
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And I've had to learn the same principle in my life, especially
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with generosity. And I'm not just talking money,
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generosity in all forms. I have to be mentally prepared.
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So when the moment comes, I don't need a warm up period.
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Church listen, you don't walk into prayer meetings and sort
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out your personal life in the prayer meeting before you can
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start to pray when Rachel's teaching prayer and she says she
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hasn't said anything to me, but when she when she says OK, let's
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start praying for this. We don't first repent of our
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sins. We're doing that on the drive
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here and when we get to the prayer meeting we walk in right
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Why you talk so much. I'm ready to pray and we're
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ready to go We're pre prepared with our life the way we live.
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You know, sometimes I even think, you know, I had this
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thought this morning, you know, God, what do you want to do in
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the service today? And what, what's what's
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happening in the atmosphere? I always say to God, what's
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what's in the atmosphere over the community.
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Now I, I'm not waiting for God to put a, a thought or a prompt
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into my spirit. And then I go, wow, that's a big
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one. Wow.
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OK, my prayer life wasn't that big this morning.
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This week, you know, I come ready.
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And when I say that and he puts something in my spirit, I'm
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like, OK, God, let's partner on that and we'll pray that one
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through. You know what I'm saying?
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So Church, this is a call today to be prepared to be the light
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to people. Yeah.
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When someone says I need this or I need a prayer or just yeah,
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yeah, yeah, I can do that. I can do that.
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I live ready. I live with money in my pocket
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to bless someone for a coffee. You might not have much money,
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but I'm pretty sure you can have $5.
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I'm pretty sure if you planned it, you might not be able to do
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$5 this week, but if you plan it next week, you'll have a $5
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note. And then, and then let me let me
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say this. When you buy someone a coffee,
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you now have nothing. You go, God, I'm not just
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grungingly giving this away. I'm sewing this today that you
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will bring blessing into their world.
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I reckon you'll end up with another $5 in your pocket.
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Remember this, People often see Jesus before thou will believe
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in Jesus. So let your life be a living
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example of love, of humility. That's a big one, isn't it?
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I struggle with that one of humility and truth to the world
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around you. Discipleship doesn't start with
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the program. Don't look for a program.
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You use your life. It starts with a relationship.
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It begins when someone hears from you and they trust you
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because you speak truth, not smooth words, and begins to walk
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with you because they follow a person of truth.
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And through your relationship, they will discover Jesus.
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Listen, and I'll finish with this statement.
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The greatest discipleship moments often begin with
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something very simple, a conversation, a friendship, and
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a relationship. You and someone else walking
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towards Jesus together. It starts with a relationship.
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Amen. That's how we build the House of
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God. That's how we build people in
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the world around us. And here's the reality of of
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this whole subject of discipleship of relationships is
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that Jesus wants to be in a relationship with all of us.
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You know, when Jesus was on planet earth, we, we often talk
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about how we chose 12 people. But did you know crowds of
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thousands used to follow him and depending on their heart, out of
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the attitude they were allowing Jesus to disciple them.
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You know, you might be in a crowd sometimes of thousands,
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like, you know, 5000 sometimes and 7000 people Jesus would
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minister to. And you might be that one person
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sometimes in that crowd. But you can look at that man and
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say that truth coming out of his mouth.
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I have seen him. He goes from town to town and he
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heals and he he loves people and he sits with people.
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And you might be like that to that you might go, you know, the
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church is vast people on planet earth.
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There's, there's millions of them.
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They're everywhere. Yet you're saying to me that God
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sees me in the crowd. Yes, he does.
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Because He wants a relationship with you.
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He wants to take you from who you are and where you are in
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your life today and continue to walk.
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Listen, not dictate to you. That's falsehood.
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That's not what the Bible teaches.
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He wants to walk with you on a journey of discipleship so that
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you and I can become the best version that we could probably
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possibly be of who we are. God wants to love you through
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struggles. He wants to sit with you through
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trials. He wants to encourage us all to
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grow and to move forward in our faith and in our lives.
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Listen, Jesus is your greatest cheerleader.
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He's all for you and your life. And it doesn't matter who we are
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today. We could have grown up in the
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church like myself, or we could just be what we would consider
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the worst of humanity. God doesn't view us like that.
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He doesn't rate US like this. What God sees is his children
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and we are all his children. We all know that God's formed us
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in our mother's womb. And so when he looks at your
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life, he doesn't really look and and start to counsel the sins,
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but he, he knows his sins. But he looks at your soul.
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He looks at who you are and who he made you to become, and he
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loves that.