Go! (Pastor Greg Hudson, 08/30/25)

So we've probably all heard stories of missionaries,

people in different countries, where their ability

to talk about Jesus is often hindered and hampered.

I remember a book I read several years ago called

The Man Who Couldn't Be Killed, about someone

in China. Mr. Wang was his name, at least in

the book. And he was placed in the... to prison

because he had happened to come across some pages

of scripture, and he got arrested because he

had these pages of scripture in China where that

was illegal, and they placed him into prison.

And even when he was in prison, everybody he

met, everybody he could talk to, everybody he

had the opportunity, he would tell them about

Jesus. And he might share some verses, he might

share something about what God had done for him.

Even though he was in prison, that very thing.

Another story I remember reading was about Ivan.

Ivan was not in China. He was in the Soviet Union.

He was in the USSR. And he was the same thing.

He was trying to share his faith and tell people

about Jesus in a country where it was illegal

to believe in Jesus and believe in the Bible.

And he was placed into a gulag or a prison and

was mocked and treated poorly because all he

wanted to do was tell other people about Jesus,

even in prison. And the commandant, the leader

of the prison said, why do you keep talking about

this? There is no God. God doesn't exist. And

when he bowed his head to pray for his food,

he would open his eyes and his food would be

gone because the other prisoners would snatch

it while his eyes were closed. The commandant

would say, why do you thank God for your food?

It's not God who gives you this food. It's the

government. It's the state that gives you this

food. Don't thank God for it. You should be thanking

me, the leader of this prison. But Ivan continued

to pray. He continued to thank God. He continued

to talk about God. And eventually, the commandant

was kind of fed up with him. And he said, we're

going to teach you a lesson that you're not going

to... pray to this god anymore and they placed

them in solitary confinement in the prison cell

and they said you are not going to get any food

until you acknowledge that it's not god that

gives you the food but it's it's the government

that gives you food and so one day he's thrown

in the door is clanged shut no one comes to give

him breakfast or lunch or supper but at the end

of the day he hears a rustling up by the window

And he looks up and it's a cat. And the cat has

a piece of bread in his mouth. And he leaves

it there on the windowsill. And Ivan is so grateful

and thankful. There's food here. Thank you, God,

for this food. But then he thought, wait a second.

If I eat this food, there'll be no evidence of

God's blessing for me. So I'm not going to eat

this food. I'm just going to set it in the corner

of my cell. That was day one. Day two, no one

brings him breakfast, lunch, or supper. Towards

the evening time, he hears a rustling up by the

window. He looks up. It's a cat with a piece

of bread. And he's so grateful and thankful.

Thank you, Jesus, for feeding me. But he had

the same thought. If I eat this bread, there'll

be no evidence of the miracle that God is working

for me. So he set a second piece of bread in

the corner of his cell so that he would have

something. To show. The third day, the same thing

happened. No food until rustling. A cat, a piece

of bread. Nope, I'm not going to eat it. Now

there's three pieces of dead bread. Day three,

three pieces of bread. Day four, same thing.

Four, five, six, seven days. Seven appearances

by the cat. Seven pieces of bread. And it's all

he can do. He's starving, he's so hungry he wants

to eat this bread, but he's got to show the evidence

and the wonders of this miracle. Finally, at

the end of the seventh day, there's a clanking,

the lock opens, the door squeaks open. That's

not a good squeak, I apologize. And here's the

commandant. Ha ha, are you ready to acknowledge?

God is not providing you with anything. Are you

ready to curse this God, to denounce him? And

Ivan said, just a second, sir, let me show you

something. And he looks over to the corner and

he shows him. Here is one, two, three, four,

five, six pieces of bread from six prior days.

No, sir, God has provided me with this food.

Which guard gave you this food? And about that

time, there's a rustling up at the windowsill.

And they look up, and it's a cat. And he's got

a piece of bread. And the commandant says, wait

a second. That's my cat. And that's my bread.

So God was using this animal, this little creature,

to provide witness, to provide something to share.

And it didn't matter if Ivan... or Mr. Wong was

in prison, they had a desire to tell someone

else about Jesus. And we know that even today

there are places in our world where it is illegal

to talk about Jesus. Whether it's the Middle

East, Muslim countries, even in Russia or other

places, it is still oftentimes against the law

to share your faith. Maybe you can believe something

yourself, but if you want to tell somebody else,

suddenly... it becomes illegal. And we could

ask ourselves, what would happen if it suddenly,

next week, a law was passed and it became illegal

against the law to tell someone else about Jesus,

to share your faith with someone else? Suddenly,

next week, the law is declared. We'd have to

consider. We'd have to wonder. Would your daily

routine Would your weekly activities, would it

have to change at all if suddenly you weren't

able to tell somebody about Jesus? In other words,

are you telling people about Jesus now? Are you

telling people about what God has done in your

life now when it is totally legal? Would your

life have to change if suddenly... That became

an illegal activity. In other words, are you

living your life as a fully devoted disciple

of Jesus? So just what is a disciple? We talk

about that often. We read about it in Scripture.

What is a disciple? If you were to look it up

in a dictionary such as dictionary .com, it's

not the very first reference, but the third or

fourth reference. If you looked up disciple,

it says any follower of Jesus. A disciple is

any follower of Jesus. And sometimes we think

of, well, there's 12 disciples that Jesus chose,

but truly a disciple is any follower of Jesus.

Someone who follows Jesus, who wants to live

their life according to the teachings of Jesus,

who learned from Jesus, who wanted to imitate

Jesus. And from the beginning of his ministry,

Jesus looked beyond what others could see, what

could be seen, and he wanted to make a difference

in people's life. And so we're going to start

off today looking at two great statements. Jesus

made many, but two great statements that bookended

his ministry, one at the beginning and one at

the end, and they talk about discipleship. The

first is our scripture reading, which Riley did

such a great job for us today. Matthew 4, verse

Matthew 4:19

19. Now this is Jesus, and it says he's walking

by the sea. And he's going to where people are

engaged in their normal act of business. They're

going about their day. They're fishermen. They're

fishing. They're throwing the nets into the sea.

They're doing their normal activity. They're

doing what they get paid for. And it says in

verse 19, then Jesus said to them, follow me

and I will make you fishers of men. We could

sing that song, you know, I will make you fishers

of men if you follow me. And then in verse 20,

it says immediately they left their nets and

what'd they do? They followed him. They did.

What Jesus said, what Jesus asked them, follow

me and I will make you fishers of men. That was

it towards the beginning of Jesus's ministry.

But if we go all the way to the other end of

Jesus's ministry on earth, to Matthew chapter

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

28. So the crucifixion has taken place. Jesus

slept in the grave over Sabbath. The resurrection

has taken place. Jesus is shortly to ascend back

to heaven. and go to return to his father. And

in Matthew 28, we see what is known as the Great

Commission. Maybe what your little subtitle says,

the Great Commission. And we're going to back

up just a verse or two to verse 17. It says,

or verse 16, the 11 disciples went to Galilee.

Verse 17, they saw him, they worshiped, but some,

what's that word? Some doubted. They're there

with the resurrected Savior. Jesus has come back

from the dead, and still there's some that aren't

entirely sure about his ministry, about their

ministry. Some doubt it. And Jesus says, all

authority is given to me. And then in verse 19,

Jesus says, go therefore and make disciples of

all nations, baptizing them in the name of the

Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

teaching them to observe all things that I have

commanded you, and lo, I am with you always,

even to the end of the age. So Jesus, at the

beginning of his ministry, he says, follow me,

I'm going to make fishers of men. At the end

of his ministry, he says, go, even those that

are doubting, even if you're not sure, even if

you don't have it all put together, go and make

disciples. The King James Version says, go and

teach. All nations. The message version says

train everyone you meet. We're supposed to help

other people to see what Jesus was all about

so that they can have an opportunity to want

to follow him as well. And between these two

statements, follow me, go and make disciples,

Jesus took a ragtag group. We remember their

names. We remember those disciples didn't always

have it together. They sometimes asked silly

questions of Jesus. They sometimes didn't get

it when Jesus was telling them things plainly,

and they still seemed to miss it so often. But

Jesus took that ragtag group and developed them

into a force that would change the entire world.

It would change the Roman Empire, and those changes

trickled down all the way, to now. He took those

brothers, James and John. What was their nickname?

The sons of thunder. They didn't always do the

right thing. Somebody crossed them. They wanted

to call fire down from heaven and burn up a whole

town because they wouldn't feed them lunch. They

said, with their mama's help, what can we do?

We want to have these top two positions on either

side of Jesus. What can we do to make sure that

we have That place. Jesus took a tax collector.

Which disciple was the tax collector? Matthew.

Man, he's working with the enemy. He's working

with the Romans. He's almost cheating us of our

money so that he can get a little extra and give

some to the Romans. He's one of them. And then

he took a zealot. Who was the zealot? Simon.

Who their whole idea was they wanted to maybe

put a knife in the back of one of those Romans

or those tax collectors. Because some of them

at least were assassins and they wanted to fight

against this oppressive government. And here's

one who is siding with them. He took people from

opposite extremes and he made a difference. And

he took this group of people and he turned them

into those that would preach in India, in Africa.

even in the capital city of Rome itself. He started

a movement that goes way back then, all the way

down to today in 2025, all the way to this place

in Ringgold, Georgia, and beyond to the ends

of the age. He took those, like Peter. Peter,

he's probably the most famous, one of the most

famous. He was one who heard that initial call.

Follow me and I'll make you a fisher of men.

Because that's what he did. He was a fisherman.

He was a bit of a loud mouth, perhaps. He was

one who maybe acted first before he thought about

what he should do. He was one who heard that

instruction and yet God was able to change him.

This uneducated man, this guy who was probably

a hard worker because he was out there. throwing

those nets and cleaning those nets, and yet God

could use him to confess Jesus as the Savior.

And it was Peter, along with those others, who

way down in Acts chapter 2, several years later,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

on what we refer to as the day of Pentecost,

where they were speaking in different languages,

different tongues, and all of them were speaking,

but Peter's the one that's named. And it's Peter

that pointed people to Jesus, even though this

group had just crucified Jesus seven weeks before.

And it was Peter who made that appeal, made that

call, when they said, sirs, what can we do? And

he said, repent and be baptized. And remind me,

how many were baptized on that day? 3 ,000 people

were baptized because of the words of these disciples,

The words of Peter because of what Peter did

and what Peter said. But these 12, they weren't

the only ones to be used powerfully by God. There's

other disciples because a disciple is simply

a follower of Jesus. Another couple examples.

There was a time in Luke chapter 8 when Jesus

Luke 8 · chapter mention

and the disciples, they... They made their way

in their boat across the Sea of Galilee. They

made it through a stormy time. And when they

come onto the other shore, they're greeted not

by a welcoming party, but by someone who lives

in the graveyard, who lives in the tombs. And

he's naked, and he's chained up, and he's cutting

himself with rocks. And he's crying out, and

he's possessed with a demon. And by the power

of God, this guy is able to... approach jesus

and a conversation takes place and jesus talks

to this this demon inside of him and its name

is legion for we are we are many and before that

conversation is done jesus passed that demon

out where does the demon go into the herd of

pigs and you can almost see these this you know

how many 100 i don't know how many pigs there

were 50 100 squealing running down the side of

the ground, jumping off into the sea, and they

all die. And those pig herders, not shepherds,

piggards, I don't know what those would be called,

but those pig herders, when their job is done,

they run back into town and say, we got some

bad news. All of our pigs. We're sorry we were

supposed to be watching them, but this guy, Jesus,

the pigs ran down the bank into the water. squealing,

and here comes the town people. And it says when

the town people get there, they find the man,

it says, clothed and in his right mind. Totally

different than he was that morning when he was

naked and screaming out. Now he is clothed and

in his right mind. But the townspeople don't

notice that change. All they're worried about

is they're missing pigs. And they say, Jesus,

we don't want you here. need you here. You need

to go. And Jesus, like he still does, if he's

not wanted somewhere, he's not going to force

the issue. So Jesus got into the boat and was

ready to go. And I can almost picture it as Jesus

is getting in the boat that this guy who's clothed

and in his right mind, he's only known Jesus

for a couple of hours. And I can almost see him

wanting to go with Jesus. You know, he's got

his hand up on the side of the boat. He's throwing

his leg up over to climb in, and Jesus says,

whoa, whoa, not you. This is one of the few times,

maybe the only time, where someone wants to go

with Jesus, and Jesus won't let them. Why not?

Why won't Jesus let this man come to him? Notice

Luke chapter 8 and verse 38. It says, now the

Luke 8 · chapter mention

man from whom the demons had departed begged

him that he might be with him. Jesus, I just

met you. I need to spend more time with you.

He begged him, but Jesus sent him away. Whoa.

Why? Notice the next verse. Return to your own

house and tell what great things God has done

for you. That was more important for that man

in that moment. than getting in the boat and

going with Jesus. Go to your home. Go to your

friends and your family and tell them what great

things God has done for you. And it says he went

his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city

what great things Jesus had done. And if you

scan down through the pages of the Gospels, the

next time Jesus shows up in this part of the

country, they're ready. And they're glad that

he's there. And they accept him and they welcome

him. Did this guy have all the answers? Not at

all. Did he still have some doubts? Probably

so. But did he have a story to tell of what God

had done? Yes, he did. And guess what? Each one

of us have some story to tell of what Jesus has

done for us. Let's look at one more example here.

A woman named Mary. Yes, a woman can be a disciple

as well. She was a sinner, mocked. We're all

sinners. Mocked, scorned. And she's the one that,

as Jesus is nearing the days of the cross, she

washes his feet. She anoints his feet. We're

going to look at Matthew 26 for this story. She's

the one that breaks open the expensive perfume.

And as that fragrance fills the room, She pours

that oil onto his feet. And the people that see

that, they're not very thrilled with this situation.

One, why is this particular person touching Jesus?

No, I don't like that. Why is this particular

person pouring out this expensive perfume? We

could have sold that and used that money to help

the poor. How dare she waste that? And at least

one of them was saying, and I could have skimmed

a little bit off and put it in my own pocket,

as the Bible clearly says Judas was thinking.

But notice how Jesus responded to this in Matthew

Matthew 26:13

26, verse 13. We'll go back to verse 10. Jesus

says, why do you trouble the woman? She has done

a good work for me. She has done something good

for me. And then notice verse 13. Assuredly,

I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached

in the whole world, what this woman has done

will also be told as a memorial to her. Wherever

this gospel is preached, this story is going

to be told. And did you know that this particular

story of a woman washing Jesus' feet is one of

the few stories that shows up in all four of

the gospels? Not very many stories show up in

all four of the gospels. The story of Jesus'

birth, no. Shepherds are in one gospel. The wise

men are in another gospel. But this story is

told in all four gospels. Wherever this gospel

is preached, what this woman has done for me

will be told. But that's not the end of her story.

Because when Jesus went just a few days later

to the cross, when Jesus died upon that cross

for you and for me, As Jesus rested on Sabbath,

on Sunday morning, there's several people that

make their way to the tomb. Two of the disciples

race down there. Some of the women make their

way down there. But one of them lingers. Mary's

lingering there. And she sees someone, and through

her tears or through a miracle, she can't quite

recognize him, and she thinks it's the gardener.

And she says, just tell me, where'd you take

his body? I want to finish the anointing. She

started it. She wanted to finish it. Where did

you take the body? And finally, he said her name,

Mary. And she knew that it was Jesus. And Jesus,

or she ran to Jesus and tried to clutch his feet,

tried to fall down at his feet and grab hold

of him. But notice how Jesus responds to that.

In John 20, verse 17. John chapter 20, verse

John 20:17 John 20:17

17. said to her do not cling to me for I have

not yet ascended to my father I haven't gone

to heaven yet but go to my brethren and say to

them go to my brethren and say to them tell them

I am ascending to my father and your father to

my God and to your God and Mary Magdalene came

and told the disciples that she had seen the

Lord and that he had spoken these things to her

she went as a disciple to tell that message that

Jesus was risen from the tomb, that Jesus was

alive. Jesus saw more than just the person. He

could see the potential. And he spent time teaching

and training, and then he sends them out with

something to share. He sends them out with some

sort of ministry. I want you to grab your bulletin

for a second and turn to the back, not where

the picture is, but the total opposite side of

that. Because guess what? We are disciples. And

we talk about this every so often, but we've

got a mission statement. And it says, the mission

of the Ringgold Seventh -day Adventist Church,

that's us, is to reflect the love of Jesus through

a Spirit -filled life, which, and here's the

part that we're focusing on today, which seeks

to serve and seeks to lead others. closer to

God. And then there's the vision statement. The

Ringgold Seventh-day Adventist Church will be

a biblical, spirit -led, faith -filled, family

-focused, and growing fellowship. Those things

aren't going to happen unless God is making a

difference in us, unless God is helping us to

make a difference in somebody else. You can sum

up perhaps the Christian journey. In many different

ways, but today I just want to look at three

different words. The first is know and grow and

then go. We need to know who Jesus is. We need

to know Jesus is our Lord and Savior. And then

as we accept Jesus as our Savior, we'll be growing

in Him as we continue to study His Word, as we

see His mission and His ideals for us. And then

that third one is to go. To go and tell somebody

else. But sometimes in developing disciples,

maybe sometimes we get bogged down in one of

those. And it's not a circle because all of these

things can be happening at the same time. We

can be knowing God better each day. No matter

if you've been a follower of Jesus for 40 years,

you can still know God better. We can grow. to

be more like him. And oftentimes in our Christian

walk, those first two are easy, are easier, I

should say. Because we can do that right here.

We can know Jesus as we listen to sermons, as

we study our Sabbath lesson together, as we teach

our young people. We can grow because we're learning

more and more. We're growing in our walk. And

we can do that right here with people that were...

comfortable with and people that we're friendly

with. And so sometimes I think that third one,

to go, is the challenging one because that means

something different. That means a change. That

means maybe talking to somebody that I don't

know. That means maybe somebody's going to sit

in my seat. Anybody have a particular seat you

always sit in? You don't have to raise your hand,

but I know that you do, and that's okay. But

as we're knowing, as we're growing together,

we also need to be willing to go and to tell

somebody else. I want to look at two more verses

here. 1 Peter 2. We're thinking about what Jesus

calls us to do. 1 Peter 2 and verse 9. Way back,

Hebrews. james first peter way back in the back

of the new testament i'm just going to read from

verse five it says you are living stones you're

built up as a spiritual house but then in verse

nine it says you are a chosen generation and

this is a plural you doesn't just mean one person

it means a lot of people I would say that we

could use the word y 'all because that's what

it's referring to here. It's more than just one

person. Y 'all are a chosen generation, a royal

priesthood. Wow, that's pretty awesome. You've

been chosen. You're royal. You're a holy nation.

You're his own special people. All y 'all are.

But what does that mean? Notice what it goes

on. It says that, sorry, that you may proclaim

the praises of him who called you out of darkness

into marvelous light. You're chosen. You're special.

You're chosen by God, but for a reason, for a

purpose that you may proclaim. The praises that

you may tell people what God has done for you,

that you may tell your story of how God has interacted

in your life and the difference that he has made.

That is what you are called to do. That is why

you are special. That is why God has chosen you

to tell somebody else what God has done. One

more, 2 Timothy. This is an easy one to remember

because it's all twos. 2 Timothy 2 verse 2. Paul

2 Timothy 2:2

here is writing to a young preacher, a young

mentee, and he's giving him wisdom and advice.

And I want you to see a chain that takes place

here. 2 Timothy 2 verse 2, it says, The things

2 Timothy 2:2

that you have heard from me. So Timothy, you

have heard it from me. You've heard it from Paul.

Among many witnesses, commit these things to

faithful men. who will be able to teach others

as well. You see some levels there? There's Paul

telling Timothy, and that Timothy is supposed

to teach others who are going to teach others.

And it doesn't say it, but I think it implies

that that is supposed to continue. Not supposed

to stop, but it's supposed to continue as we

teach other people that can teach someone else.

I see this saying is that if we are to develop

disciples, then we have to be a disciple. We

have to be a disciple if we want to teach someone

else. There's a book called The Big Four. I'm

not going to spend much time with this, but there's

a quote in there. It studied churches, Adventist

churches that are growing, and it says the vast

majority of our members are not engaged in any

form of witnessing. And when it says our members,

I'm sure that doesn't mean the members of the

Ringgold Seventh -day Adventist Church. That

must be talking about other members, other people

in other places. But what if each one of us decided

that we were going to, in the next four weeks,

eight weeks, twelve weeks, that we were going

to find just one person that we could witness

to? We're so glad our SALT participants are here.

We know you guys are being trained in that. But

guess what? In 12 weeks, they're not going to

be here anymore. So how can we partner with them?

How can we come arm in arm with them to find

one person, one family that we can invite to

church, that we can invite to some upcoming evangelistic

meetings, that we can invite to study the Bible,

Next Sunday to Let's Move Day, a fitness day

down at the Ringgold Creekside Park. There's

some posters out on the table there. Grab some

of those. If you know anybody with young people,

invite them to come out. It's going to be a fun

day. There's going to be free prizes and different

things. So that's an opportunity to invite someone.

Or we've got our SALT group here. And in October,

the end of October, we're going to be having

an evangelistic meeting. Start praying now. Who

can you invite? What neighbor can you speak to?

What grocery store clerk can you give a track

to? What person on your street can you bake a

loaf of bread for? And if you want a little more

inspiration, tonight at 6 o 'clock down at the

Calhoun Church, come on down for our North Georgia

Evangelism Rally because we're gathered here.

We're wanting to find people that want to learn.

more about jesus you guys may have heard the

story from uh let's see maybe two weeks ago maybe

three weeks ago now but there was you remember

when the flood came through just last this month

i think it was a couple weeks ago and i -24 probably

saw the pictures was shut down and the the water

was rising and had to close down a whole interstate

because it rained so hard in one day in just

a few hours And on I -24, there was a gentleman

named Troy Plemons. Troy Plemons is a 22 -year

-old. He works for EPB, the power company. And

he was driving his company van between jobs,

and he was kind of stuck in that water, and he

saw that water rising. And he saw one particular

car that was, the water was rising higher and

higher. And inside, there was someone who was

stuck. Couldn't get the window to roll down.

Couldn't get the door open. The water was coming

higher and higher. So Troy finally decided, well,

I've got to do something. And he stepped out

of his car. Oh, that car that he was in, it must

have been so dry. It must have been so comfortable.

It must have been safe in that dry car that he

was in. But he stepped out into the rain, into

the rising water, and he went to that other car.

And it was deep. He had to swim. to get there,

and he took a piece of metal with him, and he

was able to break the window, and he was able

to help pull the lady out of the car, and he

put her on his back, and they made their way

back towards dry land, and within one or two

minutes after that, that water rose so high that

that car swept away, and it's very likely that

perhaps he saved her life, because he was willing

to get out of his place of comfort, and he was

willing. to make a difference in somebody's life?

Is there somebody that you know? Is there somebody

that you can be praying for? Maybe it's yourself.

As you've been struggling in your walk with God

and you're sensing, you know what? God, I need

to come back to you. I need to make a difference.

I need to know you better. I need to grow in

my walk with you. And I need to be willing to

go wherever you would have me to go. Let's be

willing to step out of our place of comfort.

Why? To find someone that Jesus is sending your

way. Let's bow our heads for prayer. Dear God,

we thank you so much that we can be reminded

of what you have done for us. You have called

us to be a disciple. You have invited us to participate

with you in letting someone else know about the

incredible grace that you have poured out. And

Lord, we're thankful for this. this season of

ministry that's happening. And Lord, we want

to pray for our SALT participants. We want to

pray for our church members. We want to pray

for our evangelists that's coming in a few months.

And Lord, we want to pray for our community.

Help us to cross paths with those who want to

know you more. Guide us and bless us in all that

we do. In your name we pray.