One-to-One Discipleship (Church Retreat)

The scripture reading comes from Hebrews chapters 3 and 4.

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

Please follow along on the screen.

It's on the screen.

Okay.

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

On the day of testing in the wilderness,

where your fathers put me to the test

and saw my works for 40 years,

therefore I was provoked with that generation

and said,

they always go astray in their hearts.

They have not known my ways.

As I swore in my wrath,

they shall not enter my rest.

Take care, brothers,

lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart,

leading you to fall away from the living God.

But exalt one another every day,

as long as it is called today,

that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

For we have come to share in Christ.

If indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end,

as it is said,

today if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

Let us, therefore, strive to enter that rest,

so that no one may fall

by the same sort of disobedience.

For the word of God is living and active,

sharper than any two-edged sword,

piercing to the division of soul and of spirit,

of joints and of marrow,

and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

And no creature is hidden from his sight,

but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him,

to whom we must give account one day.

This is the word of God.

Great. Thank you, Rhoda.

Okay, so we've been talking this weekend

a bit about discipleship

and the need and the desire

for us to be men and women

who disciple other men and women,

to mature followers of Jesus,

who pour out our lives for the sake of others

so that they can become followers of Jesus,

that help other people become followers of Jesus.

And yesterday we had a couple of pictures.

The one picture we had yesterday morning

was that tree.

And he said,

okay, who are the branches of people

that you want to pour and invest your life into

that are going to do that to others

and going to produce fruit?

And that picture of a tree

is such a helpful one for me.

As I said yesterday,

I've often sat in a coffee shop with someone

and drawn this tree and said,

okay, this is you,

who are you pouring yourself into?

Another thing is,

if you think of your hand,

you know that WhatsApp emoji con?

They're like,

all right, okay?

So if you think about this,

I like to think,

who are the three Christians

that you invest in your life into,

that you're praying for,

connecting with,

encouraging them,

and who are two unbelievers

that you are praying for

and encouraging

and investing your life into?

And five people may be a lot,

and so there's no pressure.

This isn't like,

okay, now you need to find five people

and meet up with them every week, okay?

We've all got busy lives.

But I think if you start with,

if you have five people on a list,

chances are maybe some of them are too busy

or aren't going to want to,

but maybe you can come down to one or two people,

and you can meet up with once a month.

Just start off with once a month

and say, okay,

once a month we're going to connect

and read the Bible.

Once a month I'm going to,

yeah,

get together with you,

find out how you're doing

and pray with you.

Those are going to be people

that I've got on my heart often

when I'm on the MTR

or I'm waiting at the bus stop,

I'm praying for them,

I'm going to text them,

say, hey,

buddy,

just praying for you today

or really got you on my heart.

So just few or five people

that you're thinking of

and walking with regularly, right?

And it doesn't mean

you need to become super busy now

and cram all these extra meetings

just as you do normal life.

So you've got a free lunch time.

Hey, why don't you text someone,

say, hey, tomorrow,

got a free lunch.

Are you free?

Let's get together.

Or as you're running an errand,

include someone in on that errand

or as you're taking your kids

to swimming lessons

and they stay nearby,

hey, do you want to come with me?

Just include people

in your everyday life

and do life together.

Okay?

And reading the Bible 101

isn't the only way

to disciple people.

There's a whole lot,

but it's one tool

that I want to encourage us in.

And this morning,

we're going to talk about why.

Why the Bible?

Why do we not just

simply listen to podcasts

or just share our ideas

or just counsel

or mentor people?

What's so unique

about God's Word

and the Scriptures?

Why is this such an important

and a powerful tool

when we want to disciple people?

Okay?

And so to look at that

or to answer that,

we're going to look at Hebrews 3 and 4

that Rhoda read to us.

Now, Hebrews 3 and 4

is kind of one flow of thought.

And the flow is this.

What's happening

is the writer's urging

the followers of Jesus

to keep going

and to persevere in their faith.

He's going to say to them,

look, it's great

that you believed in God

and that you made a decision

to follow Jesus.

That's great.

But that's not enough.

You can't say,

listen, when I was 18,

I got baptized.

Once upon a time,

I made a decision

to follow Jesus.

The rest is done.

I'm sorted now.

What he's going to say is

a follower of Jesus

isn't just somebody

who makes a decision

once upon a time.

A follower of Jesus

is someone who walks with Christ

through faith and repentance

and loving and trusting Him

all of their life

until they get to glory.

So, let me say it again.

A follower of Jesus

isn't just someone

who made a decision

once upon a time.

A follower of Jesus,

a Christian,

is someone who walks

faith and repentance,

faith and repentance,

loving, trusting,

obeying Jesus

all the days of their life,

imperfectly,

up and down,

making mistakes,

sure,

but all of our life

until that day

where we get to glory.

Look at how he says it

in verse 6.

I don't know if you've got

verse 6 in your books.

I might have forgotten

to put it in there.

He says here,

We are His house,

in other words,

the people of God,

if indeed

we hold fast

our confidence.

Okay?

So, you serve God now.

That's great.

But you must persevere

if you're going to

obtain God's promises,

if you're going to

obtain God's blessings,

if you're going to

get to heaven one day.

We can't just say,

Okay, once upon a time

I made that decision.

We must persevere

and continue to the end.

We are God's house

if indeed

we hold fast

our confidence.

Remember,

Colossians chapter 1

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

says the same thing.

He says here,

I think we've got it up here.

He says,

You,

me,

us,

we were once

alienated,

hostile in mind,

doing evil deeds,

but God

has reconciled us

in His body of flesh

by His death

in order to present you

holy and blameless

and above reproach

before Him.

So, that's the gospel, right?

We're sinners.

Jesus died.

He's going to one day

present us holy

and blameless

and without any fault

before the Father

if indeed

you continue

in the faith,

stable and steadfast,

not shifting

from the hope

of the gospel

that you once heard.

And so,

this is really important

that sometimes

we can think,

Oh, once upon a time

I had a dynamic

encounter with God.

I know I'm saved.

My eternal destiny

is secure.

It's all fine.

I'll just live

my own life

the way I want to now.

And God says,

Don't be so presumptuous.

A Christian is someone

who perseveres

all the way to the end.

Now, the good news

is this,

that if you are

a genuine Christian,

Jesus is actually

holding on to you

more than you

holding on to Him.

Remember,

Simon quoted

Colossians,

Philippians 1,

He who began

a good work in you

will bring it

to completion.

So, one of the ways

that you know

that He's begun

and are going to work

in you

is that you

persevere to the end.

And this is what

the whole book

of Hebrews is about.

It's urging

and encouraging

and assuring

Christians

to keep going,

keep holding on

to Jesus,

keep your faith,

keep continuing

in what you believed.

Okay?

Now,

so it says,

verse 6,

we are His people

if indeed

we hold our confidence

firm to the end.

Verse 7,

therefore,

as the Holy Spirit

says,

today if you hear

His voice,

do not harden

your hearts

as your forefathers

did in the rebellion

on the day of testing

in the wilderness.

Verse 10,

therefore I was provoked

with that generation

and I swore in my wrath

they shall never

enter my rest.

Okay,

so what's happening here?

Remember,

God's people

come out of Egypt,

they're saved

by the blood of the Lamb,

by the grace of God,

they come out of Egypt

and then

God says,

okay,

that's only half the journey,

now I want to take you

into the promised land

where you get to experience

my rest

and my blessing

and my promises

but what happened?

Numbers 13 and 14,

Moses sends 12 spies

to go and spy out the land

and he says,

go find out

which way we should go.

Should we go this way

or should we go this way?

Should we attack the cities

from this side

or from this side?

So he says,

go and find out

what's the land like,

come back and tell us

how we can enter God's rest

and the spies come back

and they say,

yes,

the land is good,

the food is good,

it's very spacious,

there's enough space

for all of us

but there's giants in the land.

The giants are too big.

I think we should,

no,

we should,

no,

no,

let's just go back to Egypt.

No,

we shouldn't go in

and Joshua and Caleb say,

no,

no,

no,

God has promised.

God is faithful.

He's told us

if we trust him,

we'll get to the rest.

We'll get to what he's promised

and the 10 spies say,

no,

it's too hard.

I don't think we can do it

and the spies spread a bad report

and all of Israel

don't believe God's promises

and they don't go into the promised land.

The voice of unbelief

is louder in their ears

than God's voice of faithfulness

and trustworthiness

and so they believe

the voice of unbelief

in their heart

rather than believing

God's promises

of his faithfulness

and his trustworthiness.

Okay?

And so,

the writer of Hebrews here

is giving these Christians

a warning

and he's saying,

what happened to these guys,

don't let that happen

to you and I.

It's one thing

to get saved from Egypt

but that's not the done deal.

God's plan

is that you get to glory

and he's saying,

for us Christians

in 21st century Hong Kong,

it's one thing

that you believed in Jesus

and got saved

by the blood of the Lamb

but that's not the end of the deal.

He wants to take you

into glory,

into his rest

and to do that,

we've got to trust

his promises

and believe him.

Don't let what happened

to them

happen to us

because they did not

enter God's rest.

Okay,

does that make sense?

You're tracking the logic?

Okay,

verse 11,

I swore in my wrath

they will never

enter my rest.

Friends,

we face the same challenges today.

We're tempted

to trust

the voice of unbelief

rather than

the promises of God

every single day

when it comes

to relationships

and dating

and sexuality

or we listen

to the voice

of unbelief

which says

we better take things

in our own hands

fulfill our own happiness

or will we trust

God's promises to us?

When it comes to money

and wealth

and what we do

with our money

are we going to listen

to the voice of unbelief

hoping and trusting

what money can do for us?

It'll make us happy,

it'll keep us safe,

guarantee our future

or are we going to trust

the promises of God?

When it comes to our career

or honesty

or integrity

every one of us

are challenged,

tempted

to trust the voice

of unbelief

and so look at

what his recommendation

is here,

look at verse 12

of chapter 3

he says,

so take care

brothers and sisters

lest there be

in any of us

an evil unbelieving heart

leading us to fall away

from the living God

that's what happened

in the desert

they fell away

from God's promises

but exhort one another

every day

as long as it's called today

so that none of you

may be hardened

by the deceitfulness

of sin

okay so remember

we spoke about this

last year at the retreat

this is one of the most

important verses

talking about

spiritual community

and the reason is

because he says

that sin

and particularly unbelief

makes our hearts hard

and it deceives us

and so we need

brothers and sisters

around us

encouraging us

and exhorting us

to keep our hearts

soft to Jesus

and so that's why

we need spiritual community

so remember last year

the way we spoke about this

we said

when I sin

which is hundreds

of times a day

and when I'm

tempted not to believe

in God

what happens

what happens in my heart

something happens

I justify myself

and I get defensive

right

so the decision

comes my way

and I think

let me trust the voice

let me take the matters

into my own hand

rather than trusting God

automatically

the first response

in my heart

is I justify myself

and I get defensive

I tell myself

yeah well

yeah it's a good reason

to do that

because this and this

and this and this

and what happens

is my heart

starts to grow hard

towards God

and I no longer

want to trust Him

okay

but the problem

is that when I do that

I don't confess my sin

and the idols of my heart

don't get dislodged

they just get re-entrenched

and over time

I find it easier

and easier

to fall away from God

okay

does that make sense

so what do I need

in that situation

what do I need

in that time

I need two things

okay

I need to hear

God's voice

I need God's word

to come and speak

against the voice

of unbelief

and to remind me

of God's promises

and His faithfulness

I need God's word

to penetrate

into my heart

of unbelief

and to say

trust God

He is faithful

don't trust yourself

don't trust money

don't trust whatever

trust God

what do the Israelites need

they need the voice

of God to say

yes there are giants

in the land

but God is faithful

trust Him

but the second thing

I need

is I need friends

I need brothers

and sisters

to come around me

look at what

verse 12 says

take care

brothers and sisters

lest there be

in any of you

an unbelieving heart

leading you to fall

away from God

therefore exhort

one another

every day

as long as it's called

today

so that you do not

get hardened

by the deceitfulness

of sin

so I need Christian

brothers and sisters

around me

I need my wife

and I need Oscar

and Simon

and Ed

and staff

and CG leaders

to come around me

and say

Kevin you're making

a silly decision

trust God

don't trust yourself

okay

does that make sense

following the logic

okay

look at verse 14

he says

for we share in Christ

if indeed we hold

our original confidence

firm to the end

okay

it's the same as verse 6

we've got to hold on

to Jesus

verse 15

as it is said

today

if you hear

his voice

not just your friend's voice

not just Oprah Winfrey's voice

or Dr. Phil's voice

or

some opinions voice

or the Washington Post's voice

or

the New Yorker's voice

today

if you hear

his voice

his voice

do not harden

your hearts

we need

Christian family

brothers and sisters

around us

who will help us

to hear God's voice

and hold our faith

firm to the end

see friends

when I'm

tempted

not to believe God

I don't just need

friends to come around me

and say Kevin

I know you can do it

I know you can

you're such a good man

you've got such good faith

I know you can do it

that's not what I need to hear

what I need is

someone to look me

in the eye

and say Kevin

I know you're tempted

not to trust God

he is faithful

he is trustworthy

trust his word

listen to him

I need people

to bring God's word

to me

so that God's word

will put faith in my heart

not just the opinions

of man

and woman

today if you hear

his voice

we need people

to bring us

God's voice

so let me give you

an example

when I'm tempted

to be greedy

hold on to some money

and actually I know

God wants me

to give it away

so let's say

I've got some

I've got some money

and I feel like

God wants me

to give it away

to someone

or something

or some cause

do you know

what happens

every time

that that happens

the first thing

that goes

there's a bunch

of thoughts

that go through my mind

which is

I find some way

to tell myself

why I shouldn't

do it

you never know

what's going to happen

you know

the economy's tough

you might just need

to save up

a little more

or Kevin

your first responsibility

is to look after

your family

just make sure

you've got enough

of them

there's a thousand

voices that go

through my mind

justifying

why I shouldn't

trust God

and I should

hold on to it

okay

what I don't need

is Claire

to come to me

or some friends

or brothers

to say

Kevin

you've got

such a good heart

I'm sure

God understands

I'm sure

God understands

or you know

maybe just give away

some of it

maybe just half of it

I think God

will be happy

I don't need

the opinions

of friends

I need

God's voice

I need someone

I need Claire

or my friends

to come and say

Kevin God

is trustworthy

has he ever

let you down

has he ever

not fulfilled

his promises

has he ever

left you high

and dry

no you can

trust him

to bring

God's word

today if you

hear his voice

not just your

friend's voice

do not harden

your hearts

if friends bring

me my own

opinions

it's not going

to be powerful

enough to confront

the idols in my

heart

and I'll find a way

of justifying myself

or telling myself

that their wisdom

doesn't apply to me

so let's say

Sukai comes to me

and we're having

coffee

and I'm sharing

this thing

if he just gives me

his opinion

I'm as true

as that may be

I'm going to find

a way in my mind

of telling myself

yeah but it

doesn't apply

in this situation

you know

it's true for him

but what's true

for him

isn't true

for me

right

but if he brings

me God's word

he opens up

God's word

and says hey

Kevin let's just

look at what

God says here

he says this

that word

finds a way

of penetrating

my defenses

and putting

faith in my heart

encouraging me

to trust him

okay

here's another

example

let's say

someone is

tempted to move

in with their

girlfriend

or go on a

romantic holiday

away

just the two of

them

by the way

that's not a

good idea

don't do that

if you're tempted

what does our

friend need

they don't just

need someone

saying

that might not

be a best

idea

let's think

about that

what do they

need

they need us

to bring

God's word

to put faith

in their heart

because otherwise

we'll find a

million reasons

to justify our

decision

we'll say

oh you know

housing in

Hong Kong

is so expensive

it just makes

financial sense

it's prudent

it's good

stewardship

of our

finances

right

or we'll say

well we're just

checking that we're

compatible

before we get

married

you know

we don't

make a mistake

so we're just

checking that we're

compatible

we'll find a

thousand reasons

to justify

ourselves

but what we need

in that situation

is someone to

bring the light

and the power

of God's voice

to shine in our

hearts

to arrest our

fears

to give us

faith

to help us

see the foolishness

of our decisions

and to turn to

God in faith

and trust him

and it's not

just sin

what about

a challenge

comes your way

so what happens

your child

gets diagnosed

with some

disease

or some

sickness

or some

challenge

right

we don't just

need someone

to come and say

oh you know

you've been such

a faithful Christian

I'm sure God's

going to look

after you

that's just

your opinion

we need someone

to come bring

God's word

to speak God's

word into our

hearts

to give us

faith

to trust him

to arrest

the voices

of unbelief

and to put

faith in our

hearts

so that we can

trust him

in the midst

of challenges

and difficulties

for the Israelites

at the moment

of decision

the voice

of God's

faithfulness

was drowned

out by the

voice of

unbelief

so God

said

will you

trust me

to go

into promised

land

and the

voice

of unbelief

saying

the giants

are too

big

the food

is not

good enough

the battle

is going

to be too

hard

that voice

was too

loud

in their

ears

and so

they listened

to that

voice

rather

than the

voice

of God's

faithfulness

okay

now

all that

to say

let's look

at chapter

four

in chapter

four

he's going

to continue

the same

train of

thought

okay

and so

look at

verse 11

he says

here

don't fail

to enter

God's rest

by hardening

our hearts

verse 11

therefore

let us

strive

to enter

that

rest

so that

no one

may fall

away

by the

same

sort

of

disobedience

for the

word

of God

is living

and active

it's sharper

than any

two-edged

sword

piercing

to the

division

of soul

and spirit

of joints

and marrow

discerning

the thoughts

and intentions

of the heart

and no

creature

is hidden

from his

sight

but all

are naked

and exposed

to the eyes

of him

to whom

they must

give an

account

see friends

for you and

I to become

the people

that God

called us

to be

to make

disciples

and to help

other people

make disciples

and to obtain

the promises

of God

and to get

to heaven

God calls

us to do

the same

things that

he called

them to

which is

to trust

him

even in

the midst

of great

difficulty

and even

in the face

of great

opposition

they didn't

trust him

because they

saw the

giants

and the

obstacles

they didn't

become the

people God

called them

to be

because in

the face

of challenges

they weren't

able to

quieten

the voice

of unbelief

okay

so what

did they

need

to foster

that belief

what did

they need

in order

to trust

God

and get

to the

promised

land

they needed

God's

word

and God's

voice

to be

louder

and more

powerful

in their

minds

and their

hearts

than the

voice

of unbelief

okay

and so they

needed to

hear God's

word

verse 2

says

they needed

to hear

the gospel

it says

for the good

news came

to them

as just

as it

comes

to us

they needed

to hear

God's

word

and so let's

look at

this description

of God's

word

okay

look at

what he

says here

he says

the word

of God

is living

and active

what does

that mean

what does it

mean when God's

word is living

and active

okay it's

relevant

yeah

what are

other

thoughts

it's

powerful

yeah

it's

got a

life of

its own

actually

it can

activate

life

it can

cause

stuff to

happen

it's

not

blunt

and

dull

right

I don't

know if

you've

I know

most Hong

Kongers

we're

such city

slickers

you might

never have

done this

but if

by some

chance

you've

ever

tried to

chop

wood

with an

axe

okay

have you

tried to

do that

I was

chatting to

someone the

other day

about

some

analogy from

the bible

about sheep

and farming

and he was

like bro

I live in

Hong Kong

I don't

know about

sheep and

farming

okay so

if you know

about chopping

wood

my parents

in Cape Town

we were there

in July

and it was

winter

and they've

got a

wood fire

and so

they've

got a

whole

bunch

of

wood

outside

and so

I was

trying to

chop

some

wood

and if

you've

ever tried

to chop

wood

with a

blunt

axe

do you

know what

happens

you bring

it down

as hard

as you

want

and it

just

bounces

off the

wood

it's like

ding

and just

bounces

straight up

and it

doesn't

do

anything

but if

you

sharpen

that axe

it just

splits

it so

beautifully

straight down

the middle

and you

just get

all these

pieces

okay

God's

word

is

living

and

active

it's

sharp

it

accomplishes

what

it

wants

to

do

it

doesn't

bounce

off

it's

not

like

our

opinions

when we

listen

to

people's

opinions

if

I'm

struggling

with

something

and

Claire

just

gives

me

her

opinions

sometimes

it's

like

yeah

okay

I can

kind

of

see

that

yeah

that

maybe

makes

sense

but

God's

word

isn't

just

blunt

it

doesn't

bounce

off

our

hearts

it's

able

to

penetrate

our

hearts

and

because

it's

living

and

active

and

it's

as

sharp

as

ever

I

don't

know

if

you've

ever

experienced

this

where

maybe

you

opened up

God's

word

and

it

just

came

alive

to you

and

you're

like

oh

my

goodness

like

God

spoke

to you

like

God

was

right

in

the

room

have

you

ever

experienced

that

I've

got

a bunch

of

experiences

like

that

I'm

going to

tell you

one

or

two

stories

so

I

remember

I

was

20

years

old

in

Cape

town

and

my

first

year

in

Cape

town

and

pretty

much

I

had

grown

up

in

this

church

family

and

church

culture

in

Johannesburg

in

South

Africa

and

this

church

culture

everyone

just

spoke

about

planting

churches

and

going

to

ministry

that was

like

what

everyone

wanted

to

do

okay

and

so

I

as

this

very

religious

youthful

person

I

thought

I'd

serve

God

so

hard

and

I

was

such

a

faithful

diligent

Christian

youth

and

my

dream

as a

teenager

was

I

wanted

to

plant

a

church

or

lead

a

church

in

Asia

so

when

I

went

to

first

year

university

I

studied

Mandarin

just

I

can't

remember

anything

but

I

studied

Mandarin

because

I

wanted

to

lead

a

church

in

Asia

that

was

all

I

wanted

to

do

with

my

life

and

I

remember

I

felt

like

God

had

said

that

you

will

go

to

another

nation

not

South

Africa

I

will

send

you

to

another

country

and

Asia

was

my

passion

anyway

I

am

now

living

in

Cape Town

I

am

20

years

old

and

I

am

just

feeling

useless

I

feel

like

God

you

could

never

use

someone

like

me

I

am

not

gifted

enough

I

am

not

talented

enough

and

I

remember

praying

this

I

was

house

sitting

a

friend

house

and

I

was

walking

around

the

house

one

Friday

evening

and

I

was

just

saying

you

know

God

I

have

really

tried

to

serve

you

I

have

tried

to

be

faithful

but

I

think

it's

all

been

in

vain

I

remember

using

that

word

it's

all

been

in

vain

because

you

could

never

use

someone

like

me

I'm

just

not

gifted

enough

I'm

talented

enough

I

guess

I'll

just

be

like

car

salesman

or

something

Cape

town

and

you

know

it's

all

just

been

a

pipe

dream

that

night

I

opened

my

Bible

and

I

opened

to

Isaiah

49

I

was

busy

reading

through

the

book

of

Isaiah

so

I'm

like

before

I

go

to

bed

I

better

read

my

Bible

go

to

Isaiah

49

and

Isaiah

49

says

this

it

says

I

will

make

your

mouth

sharp

like

an

arrow

he's

talking

about

being

a

preacher

and

he

says

you

say

you've

spent

your

strength

in

vain

but

I

say

I've

got

plans

and

purposes

for

you

I

will

send

you