WEBVTT

NOTE
Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver
Episode: Making Disciples
Publishing Date: 2022-05-29T06:00:44-07:00
Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca
Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/making-disciples/

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All right, let's pray.

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Abha, we thank you for this privilege we have to gather together, Abha, as a family.

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This privilege to hear from you and to walk with you.

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As we sang earlier today, you are Almighty God.

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You have no rival.

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No enemy can stand before you.

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You wear the victor's crown.

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You are a life giver, you are a deliverer.

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We could not choose you, Abha.

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Only you could choose us.

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Thank you for choosing us and for bringing us here.

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Abha, for the next few minutes, we want to hear from you everything that you have for

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us.

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Help us to hear and allow your spirit to work in our hearts.

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All glory belongs to you.

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We recognize you as our source.

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From you, we have become what we are.

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Thank you, Abha.

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Everything is for you.

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In Jesus' name, amen.

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So for the last couple of weeks, we've been looking at the overarching theme for any church,

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any believer.

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And there are three things we talked about.

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One is making the Father known, which is what we touched on last week.

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And today we're going to talk about, again.

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Okay, let's get rid of this one.

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Let's get another one.

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Making disciples.

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So this is what we're going to be looking at today.

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Let's read Matthew chapter 28, 16 to 20.

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Matthew 28, 16 to 20.

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We'll be going through several different verses today.

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So I want us to be prepared to go through your Bible.

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Be prepared to read.

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Be prepared to write down, because this is just the beginning.

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We've got multiple verses we'll read through.

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We'll understand as we go.

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Very familiar verse.

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Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed

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them.

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And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.

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And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

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Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and

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of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded

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you.

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And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.

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So Jesus, this is a few verses everyone here pretty much knows by heart.

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But I want us to go back to this because the second theme or the mandate that we have as

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a church of making disciples straight away comes from these verses.

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When Jesus said go and make disciples, he wasn't suggesting to the disciples that they

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are to go out and make disciples.

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He wasn't requesting the disciples that, hey, go and make disciples.

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He wasn't telling them that out of the five different priorities he have, here is one

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more you can perhaps add to your plate and whenever you have some time to do this, maybe

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you can go out and make disciples.

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No, Jesus was commanding them to go and make disciples.

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It is a command.

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The command is go and make disciples of all nations, not one type, not two types, of all

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nations.

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Okay.

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And then he said, baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy

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Spirit.

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One name in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

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And then he says, teach them to observe everything that I have commanded you, all of it.

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Teach them all and thereby you make disciples.

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So those are the verses we're going to take everything out from for the next 30 minutes

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or so.

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So Jesus' commandment to the disciples then is the same commandment.

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No, Brandon is saying 30 minutes.

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Yeah, maybe 30 minutes.

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Who knows?

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So Jesus' commandment is for us too.

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And we are privileged to be part of this, aren't we?

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Because I want us to look at the last few weeks of what's been happening as God stirring

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the pot.

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Okay.

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That's how I see it.

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I see everything that God has been doing over the last little while as God is stirring our

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hearts.

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In Habakkuk chapter one where God said to the Israelites, I want you to go up the mountain

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and build.

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And they heard God and then in Habakkuk chapter two, it talks about this where it says their

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hearts were stirred up because God had been working in them.

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That's how I see it.

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That's how we need to see it in that over and over again, God is reminding us of the

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main thing.

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There is nothing more important than this here on earth.

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There is nothing more, nothing better than this.

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This is the main thing.

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The main thing in life is to make the Father known.

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The main thing in life is to make disciples.

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The main thing in life is to multiply churches.

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And it doesn't matter where we come from, where we are at.

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This is the main thing.

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And I know that some weeks when we go over this over and over again, it may sound like,

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oh, this is another way to say the same thing.

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It is.

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It is.

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Because this is what God has been doing in our lives.

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This is what God wants us to hear so that our hearts are stirred up to a point where

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we know exactly how his heart is beating.

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So that we are not, we are people who listen to this and we are people who run with this.

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See when a father, if Sheldon were to tell Phoebe when she is let's say eight years

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old, go and make your bed.

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I'm going to run to TNT.

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Maybe TNT is where he shops.

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I don't know.

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I don't know why I said TNT.

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So maybe it's superstore.

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I don't know.

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We're going to run to TNT and I'm going to come back in 15 minutes.

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I need to make sure that you make your bed.

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See by the time Sheldon comes back, there is no way Phoebe will tell Sheldon, you know

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what dad?

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I know what you told me.

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You told me go make the bed.

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When you were away, I even meditated on what you said for 30 minutes.

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Go make the bed.

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And even better, I know it in Greek and in Hebrew.

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Go make your bed.

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Will that help Sheldon?

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No.

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Sheldon just said one thing.

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Go make the bed.

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He doesn't care about the Hebrew.

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He doesn't care about the Greek.

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He cares about just one thing.

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Go make the bed.

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So when God says go make disciples, he cares about one thing.

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Go make disciples.

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That's it.

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And there is not much to say.

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Go make disciples.

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But we look at this so that God can continue to speak to our hearts and we are ready for

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the work at hand because we are people who are building, rebuilding what he is building

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or wants to build here on earth.

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So there is a difference between hearing, understanding, and hearing, understanding,

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and doing.

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And God is looking for a generation who is looking at these verses, looking at what God

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has been telling us and who is wanting to go out and do what he is requesting or commanding

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us to do.

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Not requesting, commanding us to do.

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That is who is looking for a generation.

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And if all of Christianity, all of the Christians, all of the people who went before us as believers

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looked at these verses and looked at this as commandment for every single believer,

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I can assure you our world today will not look like how it is looking today.

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And that is why God is saying this is the time where for you Acts 29 and if you are

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listening to this and if you are part of this body in some way or the other, I am stirring

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up something in your hearts so that you are readied for the work at hand.

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You are readied for what I am building here on earth.

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Now everything that Jesus is commanding is tied to one thing.

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It's tied to his authority.

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So see that before he says go therefore and make disciples, the line that precedes that

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is I now have authority over all earth and heaven.

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I have authority over that.

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Therefore you are to go out and make disciples.

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Let's look at it a different way.

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The reason Jesus says that at that point is because of this.

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On my way here, around 10.20 or something, I am thinking I need to get here around 10.25,

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at least five minutes early.

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And guess what?

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The intersection of Victoria and Boundary and Grandview, I am parked right there, I

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am stopped right there because it's a red light and I am supposed to take a left.

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All of a sudden in a matter of a few seconds two big SUVs come park and flashing lights

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and they come out and everyone stops.

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No traffic is moving.

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There are two SUVs, two police guys, that's it.

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But the entire traffic was stopped for five minutes.

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Why?

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There is about 100 of us in my lane waiting, 100 of us, some with more expensive cars.

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There is 100 in each of the roads waiting.

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But it doesn't matter.

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When they come and they say stop, you stop.

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Because they have the authority to execute what they need to execute here in Vancouver

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because by law, by jurisdiction, by the authority given to them, they are able to do that.

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And everyone else has to listen.

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Same thing with soccer.

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Why?

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There are two teams playing at any given time.

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11 people on one side, 11 people on the other.

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And some of these guys are really rich guys because they make about a million dollars

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a week.

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A few million dollars every two months.

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Really rich guys.

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Some of the best athletes on earth.

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But on the field, there is a third guy or a third team, referees.

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He's got a whistle, he's got two cards, red card and a yellow card.

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It doesn't matter how much money you earn.

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It doesn't matter how fast you can run.

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It doesn't matter how strong you are.

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It doesn't matter.

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When he says game stops now, game stops.

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When he blows the whistle, you stop.

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When he says run, you run.

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When there is a conflict and he interferes and he says red card, you're out, you're

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out.

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Because he's got a rule he's carrying out, an order he's carrying out because he's employed

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by the league who runs the whole thing.

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So for us, taking both those parallels into account, for us here on earth, this field

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that we operate in, it belongs to Jesus.

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On earth and in heaven, all authority is his.

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It helps us to understand this better.

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He is the king.

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Everything belongs to him and he has full authority.

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So when he says, Mark, I am now giving you authority to go into such and such place and

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do this, Mark now has everything he needs to go in and do that.

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Because Mark is not going there as Mark.

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Mark is going to that place, to that situation, knowing fully well that Jesus has given him

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the authority to do whatever he needs to do.

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And as long as Mark is in relationship with Jesus, as long as he is in fellowship with

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Jesus, as long as he is abiding by the rule book, he has got the authority.

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So these words somehow, sometimes are far out there, but they're not.

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It's right here.

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Authority, power belongs to Jesus.

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It is for ours to execute because he has now given us the authority to do so.

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So when we are associated with Christ, who now has all the authority in heaven and on

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earth, and as we follow him relationally, we are given authority.

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And all upgrade is through association.

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All upgrade in life is through association.

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Because of the fact that I am associated with Christ, because of the fact that I'm appointed

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by him, because of the fact that he is the one who's asking me to be his representative

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here on earth.

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Now I have upgrade and upgrade in my authority.

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I walk into exactly the places he wants me to go to.

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It's interesting to travel with Jacob because he's got all of these carts that he can use

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at airports.

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So when I travel, I fly peasant class economy.

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So I fly economy and if Jacob is traveling with me, he'll have all of the carts that

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gives him access to certain lounges that I otherwise would never go into.

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There was one time, I don't remember where, maybe Dubai.

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I am back in line.

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Jacob is in a different lane and he is getting quick access.

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But he said, come.

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I'm like, no, I don't have the...

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He said, just come.

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So I move on to the other side.

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I don't have any right to be there.

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I'm with him and the lady at the counter asks Jacob, who is he?

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Jacob said, he's with me and I get access to the lounge.

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It's a good example.

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It's not that I carry anything by myself, but because of my association with Jesus,

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I now have been granted permission authority to do what he wants to do on earth.

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I really pray that this settles in our mind.

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Because if we've been Christians, we've been hearing this for ever, forever.

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But let's practice this because this is for us to do.

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This is for us to walk into.

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So there are two types of Christians.

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There are disciples who have gone public and there are covert secret agents.

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There are two types of Christians.

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There are covert Christian agents and there are disciples who have gone public.

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What does that mean?

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I have the ability when I walk into my office to be a covert secret agent, secret Christian,

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or I have the ability when I'm at my workplace to be a disciple who publicly proclaims that

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I am a disciple of Christ, not just in words, but in deeds as well.

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And it's true for every area of our life.

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And I know that this sounds weird and it's almost like you classify people into two,

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but I can guarantee you as far as Jesus is concerned, he does that.

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He looks at his people and he goes, who are the ones who are proclaiming that they belong

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to me?

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Where does that come from?

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There is a verse that we need to read.

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Let's read Matthew chapter 10, 32 to 33, because I ain't making this up.

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Matthew 10, 32 to 33.

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Matthew 10, 32 to 33.

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So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my father who

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is in heaven.

00:17:18.080 --> 00:17:22.980
But whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my father who is in heaven.

00:17:22.980 --> 00:17:29.720
So there is no room for covert Christians.

00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:39.720
Because if I am a Christian, if I belong to Christ and to this kingdom, then I am to publicly acknowledge Jesus before men in all walks of life.

00:17:49.720 --> 00:17:51.400
It's a good question.

00:17:51.400 --> 00:17:53.840
What happens in places like North Korea?

00:17:53.840 --> 00:17:55.800
God gives wisdom, man.

00:17:55.800 --> 00:17:58.360
God gives wisdom in places like that.

00:17:58.360 --> 00:18:05.360
Because some of the places where gospel is the most proclaimed is places like North Korea.

00:18:05.360 --> 00:18:14.360
China has the largest underground church because the gospel is proclaimed there more than here.

00:18:14.360 --> 00:18:17.760
So no room for covert Christians.

00:18:17.760 --> 00:18:22.040
Only publicly proclaiming Christians.

00:18:22.040 --> 00:18:23.040
We have to think like this.

00:18:23.040 --> 00:18:29.720
We have to more and more think like this so that everywhere we go, we carry this badge that's on our chest.

00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:33.800
That we've got a crown that he has placed on our heads.

00:18:33.800 --> 00:18:36.200
We are representatives of the king.

00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:40.720
And the representatives of the king have to act like, walk like, talk like.

00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:43.160
They belong to the king.

00:18:43.160 --> 00:18:45.640
When no one is watching, they walk like it.

00:18:45.640 --> 00:18:47.880
When no one is watching, they talk like it.

00:18:47.880 --> 00:18:51.240
When no one is watching, they think like it.

00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:53.240
That is how we are to be.

00:18:59.240 --> 00:19:07.240
See 9-11 when that happened, I still remember I was 13 or 14 years old I think.

00:19:09.240 --> 00:19:11.240
Something like that. I don't know.

00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:17.240
Forget that. I know I fully could remember the day. That's all I meant.

00:19:17.240 --> 00:19:19.240
Okay. All right.

00:19:19.240 --> 00:19:20.240
Let's move on from that.

00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:27.240
So when it happened, I still remember I came out of the shower and the TV was on.

00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:34.240
And I saw the second flight airplane striking the tower.

00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:40.240
Everything changed in terms of air travel all across the world after that.

00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:46.240
I didn't travel before, but I've heard that everything changed before and after are completely different.

00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:47.240
Why?

00:19:47.240 --> 00:19:57.240
Because a bunch of guys who had a very evil radical idea, who was radically committed to what they believed in, did that.

00:19:59.240 --> 00:20:01.240
But the world changed.

00:20:01.240 --> 00:20:12.240
What makes us think that a bunch of guys who are radically committed to an idea and a commandment from Jesus,

00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:19.240
who obeys it, who goes out to love the world, who operates in his principles will not change the world.

00:20:19.240 --> 00:20:21.240
We will change the world.

00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:23.240
We can change the world.

00:20:23.240 --> 00:20:25.240
And that is what the commandment is.

00:20:27.240 --> 00:20:30.240
So I've got a few points that I want to run through.

00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:41.240
And this is where I want us to open our Bibles and read through as well so that whatever God wants to do in our hearts can happen while we run down this list.

00:20:43.240 --> 00:20:46.240
So number one, only disciples can make disciples.

00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:52.240
So if you're making disciples, only disciples can make disciples.

00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:57.240
So who is a disciple?

00:20:58.240 --> 00:21:07.240
The first one, a disciple is someone in whom Jesus's words abide and who abides in Jesus.

00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:15.240
A disciple is someone in whom Jesus's words abide and who abides in Jesus.

00:21:15.240 --> 00:21:17.240
Where is that coming from?

00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:24.240
It is coming from John 15, 7 to 8.

00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:33.240
If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.

00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:36.240
By this my father is glorified.

00:21:37.240 --> 00:21:38.240
We don't need to go there now.

00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:41.240
But if you abide in me and my words abide in you.

00:21:41.240 --> 00:21:44.240
So what does abide in Jesus mean?

00:21:44.240 --> 00:22:00.240
In that every day in terms of my fellowship with Jesus, every day in terms of my walk here on earth, I am remaining in Christ in my thinking, in my speaking, in my acting.

00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:02.240
Because that is my primary identity.

00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:09.240
Remember last week we talked about father and houses and his house and there are many rooms and that we are to live in the father's house?

00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:19.240
We are to abide in Jesus every day in everything we do, in everything we think and talk.

00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:24.240
When no one is watching, that is the person who is a disciple.

00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:28.240
And then it's not just that you're living in Jesus, that you're remaining in Jesus.

00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:39.240
It's also that you receive Jesus' words, you read Jesus' words, you hear Jesus' words and you let the word to remain in you.

00:22:39.240 --> 00:22:46.240
And whenever the word of God, word of Jesus remains in you, what it does is it beautifully works inside you.

00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:48.240
It transforms you.

00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:53.240
So a disciple then is someone who is continually transforming.

00:22:54.240 --> 00:23:01.240
Any knowledge, any word that we hear when not acted upon is pointless.

00:23:01.240 --> 00:23:09.240
Only knowledge or information that goes through application will come out as transformation.

00:23:09.240 --> 00:23:12.240
Right?

00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:14.240
I hear, I understand.

00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:17.240
Great, but not great enough.

00:23:17.240 --> 00:23:20.240
I hear, I understand.

00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:24.240
Now I do it or apply it, now I am changed.

00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:29.240
So without application, information is pretty much obsolete, it's pointless.

00:23:29.240 --> 00:23:36.240
But when information and knowledge is combined with application, now there is transformation inside me.

00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:44.240
And the thing about God's word is that, see some of the things we need to be grateful for because we are completely out of the equation.

00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:46.240
It helps us.

00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:51.240
The point is Jesus' words is always at work.

00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:54.240
If we allow, he will always change us.

00:23:54.240 --> 00:24:01.240
There is a song that kind of catches that glimpse which is, even when I am not, what is it, even when I am not?

00:24:01.240 --> 00:24:05.240
Yeah, even when I can't see it, you are always working.

00:24:05.240 --> 00:24:06.240
It's so true.

00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:15.240
What I hear and what I receive and what I allow God to keep in my heart, when I allow it to remain in my heart, it is always working.

00:24:15.240 --> 00:24:18.240
So that is the first mark of a disciple.

00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:23.240
They allow the word to become flesh inside them.

00:24:23.240 --> 00:24:29.240
They allow the word to become flesh inside them.

00:24:29.240 --> 00:24:31.240
Second Timothy 3.16.

00:24:31.240 --> 00:24:35.240
Today man, let's read, let's read together.

00:24:35.240 --> 00:24:42.240
I'm not going to go very quickly because I want us to go there, see that verse and read it.

00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:46.240
Second Timothy 3.16.

00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:58.240
All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness.

00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:10.240
So for everything I need, for my teaching, for my reproof, for my correction, for my training in righteousness, all scripture breathed out by God is enough.

00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:16.240
And so when I read it and I feed myself with the word, what, to what end?

00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:18.240
To the end of obedience.

00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:27.240
To the, the idea is to hear, understand and then obey, hear, understand and then act on it so that I get transformed by it.

00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:32.240
A disciple has the desire to master the scriptures.

00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:36.240
A disciple has a desire to master the scriptures.

00:25:43.240 --> 00:25:55.240
And I pray that from wherever we are at right now, that God instills in us a desire to not read the scriptures, but to master the scriptures.

00:25:55.240 --> 00:26:05.240
Not read the scriptures, but to read, understand, apply, be transformed so that we can then share it with others.

00:26:05.240 --> 00:26:10.240
A disciple has a desire to master the scriptures.

00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:24.240
And in all of this, guys, in terms of abiding in Jesus, Jesus's words abiding in you, the desire to master the scriptures, with all of this, there is one thing we need to make clear, which is delight precedes discipline.

00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:29.240
We have heard that before here. Delight precedes discipline.

00:26:29.240 --> 00:26:40.240
Meaning all of this becomes so much effortless when I am delighted in or when I take delight in Jesus.

00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:50.240
When I take delight in the Father, over the last five, six days, I had to do a certain thing at a certain time for the last six days.

00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:57.240
One of the things that I find about it is when I am delighting in Jesus, it's not work.

00:26:57.240 --> 00:27:03.240
It's not effort. It is, Abba, I'm here again.

00:27:03.240 --> 00:27:07.240
It's a delight. It's a relationship.

00:27:07.240 --> 00:27:14.240
And so mastering the scripture never becomes, oh my goodness, like studying integration and differentiation in school.

00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:17.240
It's not like that at all. It's completely different.

00:27:17.240 --> 00:27:23.240
This is pleasure. This is delight. All of his words available for me and he guides me.

00:27:23.240 --> 00:27:28.240
He changes me. He transforms me. And I'm in so much love with the Father.

00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:31.240
I love his Son. I love his Holy Spirit.

00:27:31.240 --> 00:27:42.240
And I take pleasure in learning what he has to teach me.

00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:50.240
We cannot change the world around us publicly unless we have been transformed and are being transformed internally.

00:27:50.240 --> 00:28:01.240
We cannot transform the world around us publicly unless we are transformed and are being transformed internally.

00:28:01.240 --> 00:28:09.240
Because everything that happens on the inside is what comes out to the outside.

00:28:09.240 --> 00:28:13.240
Next one. A disciple is someone who bears fruit.

00:28:13.240 --> 00:28:20.240
And the thing with fruit is it's not tasted by the tree. It's tasted by those who surround the tree.

00:28:20.240 --> 00:28:24.240
Some birds come and taste it. Some guys come and taste it.

00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:29.240
The tree doesn't taste its own fruit. It is always tasted by the surrounding world.

00:28:29.240 --> 00:28:35.240
And a disciple is someone who bears fruit.

00:28:35.240 --> 00:28:41.240
And when they taste the fruit, they know the waters by which you are planted. That's someone.

00:28:41.240 --> 00:28:49.240
I am always around Sue. As Sue was that great story that Sue shared before.

00:28:49.240 --> 00:29:00.240
It's evident for people who are around us to know that there is something about Sue with regards to her relationship with Christ that allows her to operate a certain way.

00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:09.240
And when I as a person associate with Sue and eat of the fruit which is evidently there, I see who she is connected to.

00:29:09.240 --> 00:29:14.240
And I benefit from it.

00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:23.240
And so if fruit, the fruit that we bear is a mark of discipleship.

00:29:23.240 --> 00:29:33.240
So among my peers, among my coworkers, in my family, in whatever places I belong to, I am to bear fruit.

00:29:33.240 --> 00:29:41.240
John chapter 15 verse 8. John 15 verse 8.

00:29:41.240 --> 00:29:43.240
I told you there will be verses.

00:29:43.240 --> 00:29:54.240
John 15 verse 8. By this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

00:29:54.240 --> 00:30:02.240
By this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit. So I can read as much of the Bible as I want to.

00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:07.240
But it's actually pointless unless it transforms me.

00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:13.240
And so Jesus is saying if you abide in me and my words abide in you, then you know what will happen?

00:30:13.240 --> 00:30:25.240
By this my father will be glorified because then you will be bearing much fruit, Derek, and then you will prove to be my disciple.

00:30:25.240 --> 00:30:31.240
Next. Disciples are separated from heroes and knowers by the fruits they bear.

00:30:31.240 --> 00:30:35.240
And they are associated with their master and represent him to the world around them.

00:30:35.240 --> 00:30:43.240
Disciples are separated. They are separated from heroes and knowers by their fruits.

00:30:43.240 --> 00:30:48.240
They are associated with their master and represent him to the world around them.

00:30:48.240 --> 00:31:02.240
Yes. Disciples are separated from heroes, people who just here, and knowers, meaning I heard and I understood, by their fruits.

00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:08.240
They are associated with their master and therefore represent him to the world around them.

00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:21.240
Next one. A disciple is someone who is with Jesus. A disciple is someone who is with Jesus.

00:31:21.240 --> 00:31:28.240
Where is that from? Mark 3, 14.

00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:36.240
And he appointed twelve whom he also named apostles so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach.

00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:41.240
Disciples are marked by this intimate relationship with Jesus.

00:31:41.240 --> 00:31:47.240
Any day you talk with them, any day you go to them, they are not talking about a Jesus who they met twenty years ago.

00:31:47.240 --> 00:31:54.240
They are not talking about a Jesus who they met fifteen years ago. They are talking about a Jesus they talked with this morning.

00:31:54.240 --> 00:32:11.240
The relationship is so evident. The fruits are there to see. And anyone who comes close to them will see it, will touch it, will taste it.

00:32:11.240 --> 00:32:19.240
Next one. A disciple is someone who loves one another like Jesus loves. Man, this is, we need help with this.

00:32:19.240 --> 00:32:32.240
A disciple is someone who loves one another. Just hear that. A disciple is someone who loves one another like Jesus does.

00:32:32.240 --> 00:32:42.240
John 13, 34-35.

00:32:43.240 --> 00:32:51.240
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

00:32:51.240 --> 00:33:02.240
It doesn't stop there. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.

00:33:02.240 --> 00:33:08.240
These are the patterns that he has, or the blueprints that he has laid out for us.

00:33:08.240 --> 00:33:15.240
That my love for one another proclaims to the watching world that I am his disciple.

00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:23.240
I won't go over it again. Next one. A disciple is someone who has surrendered his life to Jesus and follows Christ.

00:33:23.240 --> 00:33:28.240
He has surrendered his right to self-determination. We have heard that before here.

00:33:28.240 --> 00:33:39.240
A disciple is someone who has surrendered his life to Christ and follows him. He has surrendered his right to self-determination.

00:33:39.240 --> 00:33:48.240
That is Luke chapter 14, 25-27.

00:33:48.240 --> 00:33:53.240
Now great crowds accompanied him and he turned and said to them,

00:33:53.240 --> 00:34:05.240
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

00:34:05.240 --> 00:34:12.240
Whoever does not bear his own cross and comes after me cannot be my disciple.

00:34:12.240 --> 00:34:20.240
So a disciple has surrendered his right to self-determination.

00:34:20.240 --> 00:34:25.240
Next one. I want to touch on this because

00:34:25.240 --> 00:34:38.240
hear me out. True disciples do not settle for the lie that they are not enough or that they are not ready for the work at hand.

00:34:38.240 --> 00:34:52.240
True disciples do not settle for the lie that they are not enough or that they are not ready for the work at hand.

00:34:52.240 --> 00:35:02.240
Read 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 2.

00:35:02.240 --> 00:35:12.240
This is Paul writing to Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 2.

00:35:12.240 --> 00:35:21.240
And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.

00:35:21.240 --> 00:35:31.240
Hey Timothy, the things that you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust it to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.

00:35:31.240 --> 00:35:37.240
So Jesus' disciple making process does not look for perfection.

00:35:37.240 --> 00:35:45.240
Jesus' disciple making process is you hear it, you understand it, you work with God to apply it and you teach others.

00:35:45.240 --> 00:35:51.240
Timothy is being told by Paul that all you've got to do is I've taught you some things.

00:35:51.240 --> 00:35:59.240
You now go and entrust it to some other people and they will then, reliable people, they are reliable people, they will then pass on to others.

00:35:59.240 --> 00:36:05.240
So never settle for the lie that you know what, I'm not there yet.

00:36:05.240 --> 00:36:09.240
Because if you're not there yet, continue to be a disciple.

00:36:09.240 --> 00:36:15.240
Because when you're continuing to be a disciple, there is no way you cannot be a disciple maker.

00:36:15.240 --> 00:36:17.240
That is the way Jesus has set this up.

00:36:17.240 --> 00:36:23.240
He is not making five disciple makers and seven hundred disciples.

00:36:23.240 --> 00:36:32.240
He is making five disciple makers who make seven hundred disciples who in turn are seven hundred disciple makers.

00:36:32.240 --> 00:36:34.240
That is the math of the kingdom.

00:36:34.240 --> 00:36:36.240
That is how he works.

00:36:36.240 --> 00:36:42.240
And so I should not settle for the lie that I'm not enough or that I'm not there yet.

00:36:42.240 --> 00:36:45.240
If I'm not there yet, I just got to grow as a disciple.

00:36:45.240 --> 00:36:50.240
Because when I grow up as a disciple, there is no way I cannot be a disciple maker.

00:36:50.240 --> 00:37:00.240
See, there is a graph.

00:37:00.240 --> 00:37:08.240
On the y-axis is being able and the x-axis is being available.

00:37:08.240 --> 00:37:15.240
And this guy right here is highly able, not available.

00:37:15.240 --> 00:37:22.240
This guy right here is not really able or available.

00:37:22.240 --> 00:37:27.240
This guy here is highly available, highly able.

00:37:27.240 --> 00:37:31.240
This guy here is highly available, but not able.

00:37:31.240 --> 00:37:35.240
But you know what the thing, this is what they teach in any business school.

00:37:35.240 --> 00:37:36.240
But here is what Jesus does.

00:37:36.240 --> 00:37:40.240
Jesus says, I really don't care about this.

00:37:40.240 --> 00:37:43.240
I only care about this.

00:37:43.240 --> 00:37:45.240
That is Jesus' way of functioning.

00:37:45.240 --> 00:37:50.240
If you are available, I'll make you able.

00:37:50.240 --> 00:37:55.240
Come with this, you're in the best place you can be.

00:37:55.240 --> 00:38:00.240
So the ability factor is completely taken out of the equation

00:38:00.240 --> 00:38:06.240
because it is all of Jesus' power and Jesus' transformation that works in my heart and in my life.

00:38:06.240 --> 00:38:16.240
The only thing I need to do is completely be willing to be available.

00:38:16.240 --> 00:38:25.240
And I was thinking about this, I got reminded of something that has been taught here very often.

00:38:25.240 --> 00:38:29.240
If you came in the last two years, you might not have heard this,

00:38:29.240 --> 00:38:33.240
but this is something that we went over much three, four years ago.

00:38:33.240 --> 00:38:40.240
Disciples engage and invite the world.

00:38:40.240 --> 00:38:47.240
So the thing with Jesus is, anytime he found someone, he invited them to come follow.

00:38:47.240 --> 00:38:51.240
Up until then, any of the rabbis, how it worked out is,

00:38:51.240 --> 00:38:57.240
if there is a rabbi, if Miguel is a rabbi, I have to go to Miguel has a rabbi look.

00:38:57.240 --> 00:39:01.240
That's right. He's the only guy here with a rabbi look.

00:39:01.240 --> 00:39:07.240
So if Miguel is a rabbi, I had to go to Miguel and say, hey Miguel, can you teach me?

00:39:07.240 --> 00:39:12.240
And then when that happens, Miguel will say, you're not good enough or you're good enough,

00:39:12.240 --> 00:39:14.240
and Miguel will take me into his school.

00:39:14.240 --> 00:39:20.240
But Jesus did not do that. He went to Nick and said, Nick, come follow me.

00:39:20.240 --> 00:39:24.240
Jeremy, come follow me. That's what Jesus did.

00:39:24.240 --> 00:39:28.240
And when Jesus did that, he shifted the whole way of operating this.

00:39:28.240 --> 00:39:33.240
Because what he is doing is he is engaging the world around him and he is inviting them in,

00:39:33.240 --> 00:39:36.240
which is exactly what I'm supposed to do as well.

00:39:36.240 --> 00:39:39.240
That I am supposed to engage with those around me,

00:39:39.240 --> 00:39:46.240
identify them as the spirit leads me and invite them in into what God has for them.

00:39:46.240 --> 00:39:52.240
So Jesus went after people and called them to be in a personal relationship with him.

00:39:52.240 --> 00:39:57.240
And I need to invite. I cannot be making disciples if I do not invite.

00:39:57.240 --> 00:40:02.240
And you know what I was reminded of? Sometimes you invite once and you stop.

00:40:02.240 --> 00:40:07.240
Don't do it. But some people, Jesus invited again and again.

00:40:07.240 --> 00:40:10.240
You can't just take that and always apply it like that,

00:40:10.240 --> 00:40:14.240
because then you also need wisdom and discernment and see what the spirit wants you to do.

00:40:14.240 --> 00:40:21.240
But I can assure you, Jesus invited more than once.

00:40:21.240 --> 00:40:29.240
So I will daily, intentionally and unconsciously engage those that Jesus has paid a price to rescue.

00:40:29.240 --> 00:40:42.240
I will on a daily basis, intentionally and unconsciously engage with the world that Jesus has paid a price to save.

00:40:42.240 --> 00:40:49.240
Now, this is the part that we have gone over here as a church.

00:40:49.240 --> 00:40:52.240
I thought it was a good time to remind ourselves of this again.

00:40:52.240 --> 00:40:56.240
Anyone who gets this right gets a treat.

00:40:56.240 --> 00:41:01.240
Tell me what's the process. So I'll begin, OK?

00:41:01.240 --> 00:41:06.240
To seek. What's the next step? How do you engage the world?

00:41:06.240 --> 00:41:10.240
You go seek. Do you remember this?

00:41:10.240 --> 00:41:13.240
This is from three, four years ago.

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You go out seek. You engage, you seek, you build relationships.

00:41:20.240 --> 00:41:23.240
Let's do this. This is fun.

00:41:23.240 --> 00:41:27.240
Build relationships.

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So you go out into the world, you build relationships. What's the next one?

00:41:37.240 --> 00:41:41.240
Open your home and life. Now you remember this better.

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OK, there you go. Open your homes and lives.

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What's the next one?

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Anyone? Pray and minister.

00:42:04.240 --> 00:42:13.240
Next one is make the good news known.

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To what end?

00:42:19.240 --> 00:42:27.240
To make the good news known and to lead people to faith in Jesus Christ and baptize them.

00:42:27.240 --> 00:42:31.240
So go over this again.

00:42:31.240 --> 00:42:35.240
I am to engage the world. How? I go out and seek.

00:42:35.240 --> 00:42:38.240
I then build relationships with people.

00:42:38.240 --> 00:42:42.240
I then open my home and my life to them.

00:42:42.240 --> 00:42:45.240
I pray and minister to them as God leads me.

00:42:45.240 --> 00:42:49.240
I then make the good news known to them.

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They are saved and baptized.

00:42:52.240 --> 00:42:55.240
Now here's the thing.

00:42:55.240 --> 00:43:03.240
It is easy to think that the objective of all of this is to get people saved and baptized.

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But it's not. It is just the beginning of the good news.

00:43:08.240 --> 00:43:11.240
It is the beginning of the good news.

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It is the beginning of the good news.

00:43:15.240 --> 00:43:17.240
But it's not.

00:43:17.240 --> 00:43:21.240
It is just the beginning of the process.

00:43:21.240 --> 00:43:25.240
At this point when someone is saved and baptized,

00:43:25.240 --> 00:43:29.240
they begin the process of being a disciple.

00:43:29.240 --> 00:43:36.240
So that's where sometimes Christianity has gotten it wrong sometimes because

00:43:36.240 --> 00:43:39.240
we think of this as let me get him saved.

00:43:39.240 --> 00:43:42.240
Let me get him baptized and that's it.

00:43:42.240 --> 00:43:44.240
But that's just the beginning.

00:43:44.240 --> 00:43:46.240
So remember this guys. Go over this in your thinking.

00:43:46.240 --> 00:43:49.240
When you're driving to work, when you're out in the grocery store,

00:43:49.240 --> 00:43:52.240
think about this. I am to engage the world.

00:43:52.240 --> 00:43:55.240
I seek out, build relationships, open my home and my life.

00:43:55.240 --> 00:43:57.240
I pray and minister, make the good news known,

00:43:57.240 --> 00:44:02.240
and lead people to faith in Christ and baptize them.

00:44:02.240 --> 00:44:07.240
Next, discipleship occurs in the context of a body.

00:44:07.240 --> 00:44:11.240
Discipleship occurs in the context of the body.

00:44:11.240 --> 00:44:14.240
And the disciple is in a, even after this,

00:44:14.240 --> 00:44:19.240
when they are saved and baptized, they are joining a local body.

00:44:19.240 --> 00:44:24.240
They are in a covenantal relationship with the body of Christ

00:44:24.240 --> 00:44:27.240
and start the relational training.

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They are in a covenantal relationship with the body of Christ.

00:44:35.240 --> 00:44:38.240
Got two more points.

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Disciples bring order to the chaos of the communities they live and operate in.

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How do you know you're a disciple?

00:44:46.240 --> 00:44:50.240
You bring order to the chaos of the communities you live and operate in.

00:44:50.240 --> 00:44:55.240
Because you carry a kingdom authority and you carry the principles of God,

00:44:55.240 --> 00:44:58.240
which always shines light in darkness.

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Where there is chaos, it is only natural for a Christian to walk into that chaotic place and bring peace.

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We have to expect it all the time.

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Next, there is a cost to discipleship.

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There is a cost to discipleship.

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A disciple forsakes that which hinders me to follow him.

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A disciple forsakes anything that hinders me or hinders him or her from following Jesus.

00:45:31.240 --> 00:45:36.240
I want us to read 2 Timothy 4-7.

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2 Timothy 4-7.

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Sorry, chapter 4 verse 7.

00:45:45.240 --> 00:45:49.240
2 Timothy chapter 1, 4-7.

00:45:49.240 --> 00:45:53.240
Is it one or two? One of those. I don't have it here on my notes.

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No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

00:45:58.240 --> 00:46:02.240
An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

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It is the hardworking farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.

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Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

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So there is no way a soldier who is enlisted for duty can get entangled in civilian pursuits.

00:46:17.240 --> 00:46:25.240
So if I am a disciple of Christ, I have to forsake, I have to let go of anything that hinders me from following him.

00:46:25.240 --> 00:46:28.240
And there is a cost to discipleship.

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There are so many other verses from everything that Jesus said that we can quote, but think of it this way.

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If I am a disciple, if I am a true disciple, I have to let go of certain things in my life.

00:46:39.240 --> 00:46:43.240
It can be certain relationships. It can be things that I considered valuable.

00:46:43.240 --> 00:46:48.240
It could be that I always was brought up in a culture where I had to look intact and look perfect,

00:46:48.240 --> 00:46:53.240
but now I am beginning to look foolish and some of my relatives don't even understand what I am doing.

00:46:53.240 --> 00:46:56.240
This is pretty bad because my mom and my dad thinks that I am a fool.

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It doesn't matter because there is a cost to discipleship.

00:47:12.240 --> 00:47:17.240
So disciples are consistent in what they do, even though they may not be perfect.

00:47:17.240 --> 00:47:22.240
Disciples are consistent in what they do, even though they may not be perfect.

00:47:22.240 --> 00:47:25.240
Because God makes them better every day.

00:47:25.240 --> 00:47:29.240
God transforms them from one place of strength to another every day.

00:47:29.240 --> 00:47:33.240
They are not seeking perfection, they are seeking obedience.

00:47:33.240 --> 00:47:38.240
Disciples are seeking obedience, not perfection.

00:47:45.240 --> 00:47:47.240
Let me close.

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I want to read another verse.

00:47:53.240 --> 00:47:58.240
Colossians chapter 1, 28 and 29.

00:47:58.240 --> 00:48:04.240
Colossians chapter 1, 28 and 29.

00:48:08.240 --> 00:48:12.240
These are pretty heavy words that Paul is writing.

00:48:12.240 --> 00:48:13.240
He says,

00:48:15.240 --> 00:48:20.240
Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom,

00:48:20.240 --> 00:48:26.240
that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

00:48:26.240 --> 00:48:29.240
But here is the best part or the key part that I want us to look at today.

00:48:29.240 --> 00:48:36.240
For this I toil, struggling with all his energy, that he powerfully works within me.

00:48:36.240 --> 00:48:38.240
Whose energy?

00:48:38.240 --> 00:48:40.240
Christ's energy.

00:48:40.240 --> 00:48:47.240
For this I toil, struggling with all his energy, that he powerfully works within me.

00:48:47.240 --> 00:48:50.240
So in all of this guys, in everything we have said so far,

00:48:50.240 --> 00:48:53.240
it's not our strength, it's not the way we do it.

00:48:53.240 --> 00:48:56.240
This is completely his strength and that's how Paul did it.

00:49:01.240 --> 00:49:06.240
Just like the widow in 2 Kings chapter 4 I think,

00:49:06.240 --> 00:49:10.240
where she came to Elijah and said,

00:49:10.240 --> 00:49:16.240
you know what, my husband is dead and I've got debtors or creditors who are coming after me.

00:49:16.240 --> 00:49:19.240
They want to take away my two sons.

00:49:21.240 --> 00:49:24.240
Elijah said, you go, what do you have in your house?

00:49:24.240 --> 00:49:25.240
I have some oil.

00:49:25.240 --> 00:49:29.240
And he had her pour oil into the empty jars.

00:49:29.240 --> 00:49:35.240
She kept pouring out oil and eventually she ran out of empty jars.

00:49:35.240 --> 00:49:40.240
The thing with everything that I've said is this, I can guarantee you this,

00:49:40.240 --> 00:49:47.240
if you find empty vessels to pour into, the oil will never stop.

00:49:47.240 --> 00:49:49.240
It will never stop.

00:49:52.240 --> 00:49:56.240
There is a reason why Jesus kept saying things like,

00:49:56.240 --> 00:50:00.240
seek first the kingdom of God and everything will be added to you.

00:50:00.240 --> 00:50:02.240
This is his nature.

00:50:02.240 --> 00:50:08.240
You take care of what he delights in, what he beats for,

00:50:08.240 --> 00:50:13.240
then he will take care of everything that you need.

00:50:13.240 --> 00:50:16.240
He will take care of all of life's needs.

00:50:16.240 --> 00:50:20.240
The oil will not stop. It will keep flowing.

00:50:20.240 --> 00:50:26.240
And don't you want a life like that where the oil does not stop, the oil keeps pouring.

00:50:27.240 --> 00:50:31.240
So Father, we come to you together as a body.

00:50:31.240 --> 00:50:37.240
Today about we test on something that's very close to your heart

00:50:37.240 --> 00:50:40.240
and prepare us as a body, Father.

00:50:40.240 --> 00:50:46.240
Throughout this week, I pray that when we are out and about,

00:50:46.240 --> 00:50:51.240
when we are talking with people, when we are thinking about our week,

00:50:51.240 --> 00:50:56.240
that we will remind ourselves that we carry the badge of Christ.

00:50:56.240 --> 00:50:59.240
We carry the authority of Christ.

00:50:59.240 --> 00:51:01.240
I pray that you remind us that we have