GUEST SPEAKER | SUNDAY 8TH FEBRUARY | PS STEVE McCRACKEN

a while and I feel it stirring,

stirring, stirring, stirring, stirring.

The world doesn't actually need an

encounter with another Christian.

The world needs an encounter

with someone who's actually following

Christ.

And there can be a vast difference, a

huge difference. And uh

I just want to call us the body of

Christ

to a higher realm of

not settling for less than what God

wants to do and who God wants to be in

and through the body of Christ.

Praise the Lord.

Praise God.

It's such a joy and privilege to be with

you. Take that as my greeting.

Let's keep on walking with God. How's

that sound?

Pastor Aaron, Pastor Sarah,

I want to release this over you and then

we're going to get into the word. If

you're waiting for prophecy, it's

started.

Prophecy is making known the mind, the

will, the intention of God. And again,

we have reduced it down to what does God

want me to do

rather than what does God want to say to

the church

as he calls us to become who he's called

us to be.

And so, Pastor Aaron, Pastor Sarah, Lord

spoke to me and I want to say this

publicly because it's going to lean into

what God wants to say in the message

today.

And I felt the Lord say very, very

clearly, it's time to move forward with

what's in your heart.

Don't go slow.

And then he said this statement to me.

He he spoke about making disciples and

we're going to lean into some of this

today. He says it's more about people

being crucified with Christ than people

being comfortable with Christ.

It's more about people being crucified

with Christ.

I no longer live. I have been crucified

with Christ. I no longer live. I have

been crucified with Christ.

And many times

we can overthink as leaders. I'm

speaking this to you.

Where are the people at? And uh I I

don't want to rush too fast. And it's

it's it's about how the people feel and

where the people are at. And I just feel

I need to release you from that.

I want to release you from that. If it's

in your heart from God, don't go slow

thinking we've only been here this

amount of time. Let's take it slow,

church. You might like this, you might

not like it. Frankly, don't care. I I I

just want to release that from them

because they're not here to make us feel

comfortable.

There's nothing comfortable about going

to the cross for Jesus Christ.

And we're brought into even language in

the body of Christ. If you feel

comfortable, if you feel comfortable and

I love your hearts and even with the

prayer and all that, we don't overly ask

for much or prescribe much. Can I just

say this not as a rebuke, this is as a

setting us up. I think we need to ask

for a bit more.

I think our problem is we've lowered the

bar so much in the body of Christ cuz

it's about, you know, everyone's got a

life and everyone's got so much going on

and we don't want to sort of overstep

and we don't want people to feel

uncomfortable and we don't want people

to feel bad and we that's not Bible.

It's not Bible. We need a we need a

revelation of what Jesus has actually

called us to. And I just want to release

you guys to run to go with what's in

your heart.

Some may stay, some may go,

but you keep on going with what God has

called us to be.

Us to be.

Us to be. And so, Father, I pray in the

name of Jesus Christ for a fresh release

to Aaron and Sarah right now in the name

of Jesus.

A fresh release. Just brother and

sister, quickly come and stand here.

Father, I pray for fresh release in the

name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I just

feel any anything that is a burden,

anything that is a weight, anything that

is a human consideration, I lift it off

you right now. Right now. Right now.

Those questions at times, is it time? Is

it time? The Lord says, "It is time. It

is time. It is time. It is time." Sarah,

open your mouth. Open your mouth, says

the Lord. There is wisdom to flow. There

is discernment to flow in the name of

the Lord Jesus Christ. I I just release

you. Release you. Release you. Set you

free in the name of Jesus. To run, to

run, to run, to run, to run, to run.

There's more. There's more. There's

more. There's more. There's more.

There's more. There's more. Lord, fill.

Fill, fill a ar

breath of God. Breath of God,

Holy Spirit of God, just do them good

today.

Thank you, Father. Amen.

Amen.

Good morning, church.

Are you ready to receive the word of the

Lord? I want to talk about being a

disciple of Jesus. And

you might go, "Okay, that's not very

prophetic." I I want to tell you, it is

God is restoring some things to the

church, not because he moved on, but

because we moved on.

God is bringing some things back front

and center. Not because it's the time

for it or a season for it. It's because

we were never meant to move on from it,

but we did.

And I believe in the body of Christ. And

for us today here, the word of the Lord

is all about being a disciple of Jesus.

You might say, "Yeah, well, I'm a

disciple of Jesus." Well, see if you

answer the same question at the end of

the sermon because God is calling us to

that.

The Lord is speaking to me this morning.

I I I just sense there's going to be a

shift in many of our lives, if not all

of our lives. I can tell you right now,

I'm going to preach to myself today. If

you don't get done any good, if if you

if you think whatsoever, I'm going to

speak to myself and edify myself in the

Lord. Is that cool? So, I I encourage

you to come. Uh I I think God wants to

lift up the importance of what's on his

heart

and I I I think about the words of uh

Jesus in the gospels

where he talked about the church twice

and he talked about the kingdom of God

about 130 times.

We've made it all about the church being

part of church coming to a church and

the Bible is clear. Don't forsake the

gathering as some are in the habit of

doing. You're part of the body. You

can't be healthy unless you are. But he

mentioned it twice. He mentioned the

kingdom of God. So maybe God wants to

bring front and center to our lives.

Okay. The importance of the kingdom. He

talked about praying it and seeking it

first. And go he talked about those

parables. It's like it's like that's the

authority, the rule of God on earth as

it is in heaven. It's not just I come to

church. That's great. But are you are

you part of the kingdom? the rule and

the reign of God on earth as it is in

heaven. We need to reclaim God's

priorities. It's not church, it's

kingdom. But we also equally need to

understand in the Bible, depending on

the translation, the Bible mentions

Christians three times, believers four

times, and disciples about 260 times.

I'm a believer, great. I'm a Christian.

Great. But are you a disciple?

because there's a vast vast difference.

Jesus never called people to come and be

believers and Christians alone. He

called them to come and be disciples 260

times as opposed to three or four.

So let's talk about the call.

Lord Jesus, help me.

I I I have this thing in me that what's

in me finds it hard to get out. So, can

you um can you just a draw it out and

bear with me as I try to birth

something? Is that cool?

Birthing is not always pleasant.

Sometimes it's messy. Can we receive

spirit to spirit? Yeah, we receive it.

So, let's talk about the call. Matthew 4

Matthew 4:18–22

verse 18- 22.

I'm going to just speak prophetically as

I go. the whole thing is but Aaron Sarah

elders leaders

uh youth leaders young adults everyone

church to elim and the body of Christ

right now

I believe with all my heart being a

disciple needs to come back to a top

priority you might say prayer is a top

priority yeah prayer is something that

disciples do

no it's about evangelism evangelism is

something disciples do

it. It flows from it. There's there's

fruit that comes from it. Can I just say

in a church this size, can we can can we

feel that one hour of prayer? Could you

not watch and pray with me for one hour,

says the Lord? That's not really my

thing. If you're born again, if you're a

disciple, it's your thing. It's your

thing. Let's raise the bark. Let's raise

my house shall be called a house of

prayer. Well, I just like

fellowshipping. Well, that's great, but

it's not what the Bible says. It says

called a house from prayer. Could you

not watch and pray with me for one hour?

The world will be changed not when we

fellowship but when we pray. Come on.

The world will be um saved not when we

worship but when we pray. The world will

be saved not when we preach but when we

pray. Come on. Something happens when we

pray. Saul on the road to Damascus got

saved because Stephen who has been

stoned to death prayed for him rather

than just say God rescue me.

the core. Matthew 4:18-22. As Jesus was

Matthew 4:18–22

walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he

saw two brothers. I like the fact that

God sees us before we see him. Eh H

Simon called Peter and his brother

Andrew and they were cast in a net into

the lake for they were fishermen. Verse

19.

Come follow me, Jesus said. And everyone

say and

we got to get back familiar with the

ends of God.

It's all it's all about grace. It's all

about grace. No. Jesus came full of

grace and truth.

Come on. Everywhere in the Bible there's

an end. Everything I'm going to bring

you today there's an and. There's like

two parts and we take one part without

the other part. It doesn't work. I'm

following Jesus. That's great. Come

follow me. Jesus said, "And

I will send you out to fish for people.

Come follow me and I will send you out

so that through your life other people

can start to follow me." That's what I'm

calling you to.

At once, everyone say, "At once." At

once they left their nets and they

followed him.

Going on from there, he saw two other

brothers, James, son of Zebedee, and his

brother John. And they were in a boat

with their father Zebedee preparing

their nets. And Jesus called them the

same way. Come follow me and I will send

you out to fish for people. And

immediately, everyone say immediately.

>> They left the boat and they and their

father and they followed him. Can I just

make it clear from the start? A disciple

literally means a student, a pupil, a

learner. one who takes a posture of a

pupil of a learner. I'm not just

believing in God. I'm not just saying

I'm a Christian. I'm actually learning.

I'm following him. I I It's like the

with the rabbi. He was a rabbi and those

that were the rabbi's disciples walked

with him everywhere. They they they were

in their life continually. And it wasn't

to learn information. It was to follow

that person and actually to become like

that person. And as Paul said, follow me

as I follow Christ. It's about becoming

like the one that you are following. And

you learn their teachings, you learn

their ways, but you also emanate their

lives.

A couple things I see in the call is two

parts. What is a disciple? It's one who

follows Jesus and it's one who fishes

for people.

is one who follows Jesus and is one who

is sent out to help other people follow

Jesus.

Can I say long term if you've been saved

for a long time and you're following

Jesus but you're not living sent out to

actually fish for people to share the

faith and to actually help other people

follow Jesus. Can I love you enough to

be honest and say you're not a disciple?

You may be saved. You might be a

believer. You might be a Christian, but

you're not a disciple

because it's actually becoming like

Christ.

Do you know that Jesus didn't do

anything but what he saw the father

doing?

In our language, it's like he was a

disciple of the father. He he he only

did his life was the exact

representation of the father. That's the

following what he wanted him to do on

earth. But the Bible says that the son

of man came to seek and to save the

lives. That's why he came. And when he

went back to heaven, he said, "The glory

God that you gave me, I'm giving them.

The reason you sent me, I'm sending

them. I I'm not only praying for them,

but I'm praying for everyone who will

encounter you through their lives. The

plan hasn't changed. A disciple follows

and a disciple helps others follow.

It's got to be both. It's got to be the

end. And here's a couple things I see

about the call to be a disciple.

The first thing I see is that disciples

walk with other people

towards God.

It wasn't just Jesus called Peter and

just Jesus and Peter walk by themselves.

We're not here today because Peter and

Jesus. Peter just said, "Me and Jesus,

that's enough. It's just no." He called

Peter and he called his brother Andrew

and he called James and he called John

and said, "I want you to all come follow

me." And as he was walking, they

followed him. And then other people

joined and other men joined and other

ladies joined. Can I just say in the

body of Christ, you can't be a disciple

if you're following Jesus by yourself

with nobody else. And I'm not talking

about attending church. I'm talking

about walking with people. There is no

competition. There is encouragement that

we are following Jesus. I'm following

him. You're following him. If you

stumble, I'm going to help you so that

you can keep on following. If I stumble,

will you help me up so we can continue

following God together. There's got to

be a greater awareness

and understanding and acceptance that we

can't follow Jesus by ourselves.

That's like taking your finger, removing

it from the It's just my finger. That's

all I need. God and my finger. It's

going to die. The body's going to

suffer. The body is one body with many

members fitly joined together supplying

everything that the body needs. This me

and God and that's enough is alive from

the pit of hell that brings isolation.

And isolation always breeds error.

disciples walk with other people towards

God. But the other thing I want to just

say from this passage, I'm just

preaching the word. When God called

Peter, uh, sorry, yeah, Simon Peter and

his brother Andrew, it says at once they

left. When he called James and John, it

says, "And immediately they left."

Here's one of the marks that you said,

"Yes,

God, I want to start this journey. I

want to be a disciple." I'm not talking

about a Christian. I'm not talking about

a believer. I'm talking about

disciplehip this morning. Being a

disciple which is the heart of God. Can

I just say believing is essential and

being a Christian is essential. But it's

the doorway. It's not the destination.

You enter the doorway and start walking.

What's the walking? It's disciple. Being

a disciple. The moment they turned and

followed Jesus, they were in. They were

with him. They were committed. But now

they had to walk it out. And along the

way, how many people know that they had

times where they mucked it up bad?

Brothers were arguing who's the best and

who can sit on your right and left.

Peter's putting his foot in every second

moment. And Jesus walking together.

There's correction. There was there was

there was rebuke. There was instruction.

There was him sending out before they

were ready. But God knows what he's

doing.

But it's with other people. But the

other thing I see in here about the call

to be a disciple is it was at once and

it was immediately. Disciples obey

quickly and fully.

If we're not obeying God,

you might say not on the just the call

to follow him.

If he says forgive, otherwise I can't

forgive you. I can't forgive. Can I just

say we're not a disciple?

Well, I need to go on a journey. We know

you don't. You need to make a choice to

forgive. Like God made a choice to

forgive you while you were a wretched

sinner and while I was a wretched

sinner. Christ died for us while we're

sinners. I want to receive that from

God. I don't want to pass it on. Then

we're not a disciple. This is not

preaching that always gets you welcome

back. But this is what we need back in

the body of Christ. It's not about your

comfort. It's about us being crucified

with Christ. And at once, at once, at

once, immediately if God whispers, I'm

following.

This is the call to be a disciple. Come

follow me and I will send you out to

fish for people.

How many people are glad you came to

church?

Good.

How many people know that in your life

on the giving end or the receiving end,

you can give an instruction maybe to

your kids, maybe to someone at work,

maybe you're on the receiving end, and

you are given an instruction, you go,

"Got it." And then over time, it needs

to be clarified because you go, "I'm not

sure they actually quite got it." Are

you with me? Have you ever had that? You

know what I'm talking about, right? It's

not it's not that I heard it once, I'm

all good. Come on. We need to have

clarification of No, no, no. I I said

this. Let me make clear what I mean.

Jesus had to do this with his disciples

and he wants to do it with you and me

today. Is that cool? Because the call of

a disciple is come follow me and I'll

send you out so other people can follow

me. Have you got that clear? That is the

call. We do it together and we obey

quickly. We we let's not complicate

this, but God needs to clarify this

because there's a time in uh don't put

it up yet. There's a time in Matthew 16

when Jesus started to talk in verse 21,

you can read this about needing to

suffer many things and go to the cross.

And Peter

Peter got up in Jesus' face and says,

"No, no, no. Wrong. That will not

happen. You will not need to go." And

then we read in verse 23 of Matthew 16

the famous words. Anyone know the words

when Jesus said to Peter, "Get behind

me, Satan." You talk about a rebuke. You

talk about a rebuke. Get behind me,

Satan. and you are a stumbling block to

me because you do not have in mind the

things of God merely human concern.

Peter was trying to be helpful. Peter

was trying to protect him. But there was

a problem and and I honor my wife for

bringing this um revelation. She shared

it with me. Why did Jesus respond so so

it sounds harshly to us? Because what

was his original call? Come follow me.

In other words, he's the one that sets

the agenda. He's the one that says right

is right and wrong. He's the one who

declares what will happen. Right? Is

that right? Are you with me? And we're

following. And now you got Peter

standing in front of Jesus. No, no, no.

He's trying to lead Jesus and trying to

say, "Hey, that won't happen." And Jesus

says, "Hang on, get behind me. You're

meant to be following me, not trying to

lead me. Not trying to tell me how it

should be and how it should be about my

comfort and how it should be my about my

ease." And in the body of Christ, too

many times we're telling God, "Hang on.

No, it shouldn't be that way. It

shouldn't be so hard. It shouldn't be

like that." And I believe the call of

God to us today is, "Come, get behind me

and follow me. Stop trying to tell me

how it's meant to be."

And so to that context

he brings the clarification in Matthew

Matthew 16:4

16:4

when he then Jesus said to his disciples

then when when he had just said get

behind me you're meant to be following

not leading. Are you with me church?

Then he said to his disciples

whoever wants to be my disciple remember

he didn't talk about Christians or

believers much. It was disciple,

disciple, disciple, disciple, disciple,

disciple, disciple, disciple. The call

of God in your life is not just to be a

Christian or a believer, but a disciple.

Everyone say disciple. Everyone say, I

am called to be a disciple. If you're a

believer, you're called to be a No, no,

that's not my That's not my call. Yes,

it is. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians

5, therefore, uh we're being crucified

with Christ. Um and we are born again.

when we've been reconciled to God the

Father and he's given to us the ministry

of reconciling other people as if though

God was making his appeal through us.

That's how powerful it is. But here

comes the clarification. They knew the

call.

Follow me and I'll send you out so other

people can follow me. But he comes and

he goes, "Okay." He said to his

disciple, "Okay, boys, listen.

Clarification time. Cuz you're not

getting it. You're trying to tell me how

it's going to be. Whoever wants to be my

disciple,

look at me and listen in the spirit.

Whoever wants to be my disciple, and can

I just say really boldly to the body of

Christ, if you're a Christian and

believer, you can't. Disciplehip is not

a choice.

That's what you're called to. If we

don't embrace being a disciple, people

will continue going to hell on our

watch.

Come on. God, Steve, this is a bit high.

Jesus didn't lower the bar. He raised

the bar. You've heard it said don't

commit adultery. I'm saying don't lust.

You've heard it said don't murder. I'm

saying don't hate. Come on. If you want

to, we heard it this morning. You want

to keep your life, you're going to lose

your life.

And he comes and he goes, I've got to

clarify. Whoever wants to be my disciple

must deny themselves. How many say

praise God for that and here's our and

again and take up their cross and follow

me. Look at the order. Remember the

starting point is follow me and I will

send you out so other people can follow

me. Now he's coming back. Let's let's

address the first one. The clarification

is about follow me. You're not getting

it. Let me tell you what it looks like.

It starts with deny yourself. They were

on their fishing boat. They had their

livelihood. They had done their

training. They had things coming in.

They were comfortable in that place. And

he says the starting point is deny

yourself. Now you're going to have to

take up your cross because it's going to

cost you everything. And then you are

following me. Can I say if we are not

denying ourselves and if we're not

taking up our cross, then we're not

following Jesus.

They come before the follow.

Are you with me?

Sakan, Jesus, help me.

I felt the Lord say, look at the word

deny in the Greek and it means to deny

utterly. It's completely deny. And

there's three things that he draw my

attention to. First of all, it's disown.

It's disown yourselves. How many people

know that this doesn't preach in the

world today?

Because it's all about you. And you can

be whatever you want. You can do

whatever you want, whatever you put your

mind to. It's about you. It's about you.

Don't let anyone tell you what to do.

And when it comes into the church,

that's why we can't boldly say, "Hey

guys, we all need to be in the prayer

meeting because we can't tell people

what to do." Rubbish.

Rubbish. We should be praying. We should

be praying. And the starting point of

tonight is disown.

Disown. I no longer own. What does 1

1 Corinthians 6:19

Corinthians 6:19 says? Do you not know

that you're the dwelling place of the

Holy Spirit who lives in you, who you

receive from God? You are not your own.

Oh,

I've been crucified with Christ. I no

longer live. Christ lives in me. The

Bible makes it clear. Once you are born

again, you no longer own yourselves. But

the problem is many of us still live

like we own ourselves.

Cuz someone upsets us and we can't

forgive them because we own ourselves.

No. Deny yourself. The first thing is

disown. And the second thing is abstain.

When you abstain from alcohol, you say

no to alcohol. When you say when you

abstain from food on the fast, you say

no to food. When you abstain from

yourself, you say no to yourself.

We need this reclaimed in the body of

Christ. We are called to be disciples.

Deny yourself. You don't own yourself.

You need to learn to say no to yourself.

Saying no to yourself is not losing

power. It's plugging into the power. It

is actually it's actually about.

If you never say no to yourself, it's a

sign you're not a disciple of Jesus

Christ. I say no to myself countless

times every day. Not because I'm bad,

but because I'm a disciple of Jesus

Christ. I live in this world and there's

there's the lust of the flesh, the lust

of the eyes, the pride of life. There's

there's temptation, there's pollution,

there there's even desires for good

things that will draw me away from the

commitment of spending time with my God.

I'd rather spend time watching Netflix,

but I sometimes I need to say no to

myself so I can actually follow Jesus so

I can be filled by him. But many of us

aren't saying no to ourselves because

it's become about me. Disciple

starts with deny.

It is actually disown and esteem. Some

of us in this room are really not liking

my sermon.

No, it's true. But you need to hear it

because this is the call. You That's not

really me. I'm I come to church and I'm

saved, but that's a bit too radical for

me. Jesus died on a cross naked for you.

It's not too radical.

And he says, "I no longer live." Dead

people don't think it's too radical.

They don't think

they're not fighting for your rights.

They did this. They just No.

The third thing about deny is this. Lose

sight of yourself. Lose sight of

oneself. That's what it means. Deny

yourself. Please lean in. Lose sight of

oneself. How many people know if I could

do that in my life, things would be a

whole lot better?

I tell you right now, my greatest

battle.

Me

self-focused,

trying to be self-righteous, trying to

be self-justified, trying to be good

enough so I can honor God. All the

while, sometimes I'm trying so hard to

be what God needs me to be. My problem

is I'm still focusing on me. No, when

you behold him as in a mirror, you'll be

changed into that image.

Fix your eyes on Jesus,

not on yourself.

Praise the Lord. Deny yourself.

Huh?

To those who are

battling in the spirit realm and there

is a battle. I know there is. And you're

going, "Yeah, but yeah, but

outside of an embracing of this

today, there's not manipulation. This is

I'm speaking the truth. Outside of an

embracing of yes, Lord, to this today,

but but I but I I'm not sure about this

and I I don't

How many people know what the problem

is?

I

deny yourself

and then take up your cross. Why does he

put that in there? Why didn't he just

say deny yourself, follow me? Why did he

specifically say deny yourself, take up

your cross and then follow me? Because

we need to understand this following

Christ, this disciplehip is not just one

time I deny myself. Man, I'm going to

take up my cross. This is going to cost

me everything.

How many people know cost Jesus

everything?

It's okay to wrestle with God and in

conversation say, "God, this is so hard.

Can you do it another way?" Luke 22:42,

Luke 22:42

Jesus, the son of God, the perfect sin,

the son of God who knew the father's

will and why he was sent to earth said

in Luke 22:42, "Father, if it's

Luke 22:42

possible, can you remove this cup from

me? Father, if it's possible, can I not

go to the cross? I know it's your will,

but I'm wrestling because it's going to

cost me everything. Yet, not what I

want, but what you want because I'm

going to deny myself and I'm literally

going to take up my cross and I'm going

to follow you, God. And that is the call

of God on your life. And that is the

call of God on your life. And that is

the call of God on your life. And it's

the call of God on my life. And it's the

call of God on the body of Christ.

Because people don't need an encounter

with another Christian and another

believer that is still living for self.

And their lives are no different from

the people they walk around. They talk

the same. They walk the same. They do

business the same. They need an

encounter with believers who have

learned to say, "No, Steve. No, Steve.

No, Steve. No, Steve." And it's going to

cost me. It's going to cost me

popularity. It's going to cost me

friends. There will be persecution.

There will be opposition.

There's going to come a time very soon

if you're not being persecuted or

opposed in some way, it's probably just

a revelation that we're not really

following Jesus.

There's no such thing as undercover

Christian or secret agent Christian.

Jesus didn't die undercover. He died

publicly for all. And he's calling you

and I to live for all. But it can't

happen outside of deny yourself, take up

your cross and follow him.

I follow Jesus. Great. Deny yourself,

take up your cross, follow him. That's

the proof.

And I will send you out to fish with

people. I will send you out

to make disciples. This is the

commission.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. If the

keys can just maybe come back up. Praise

the Lord. The commission.

The commission.

Today we're not going to pray for a lot

of people afters or things like that.

This is you and God because sometimes we

just want someone else to pray for us

and give us another thing. No, sometimes

we need to just deal with God. That can

be a distraction. Me praying for you

right now is a distraction from you and

God saying, "God, what are you saying to

me right now?" So, we had the call. We

had the clarification. Here's the

commission. Matthew 28:18 to20. Then

Matthew 28:18–20

Jesus came to them and said, "All

authority in heaven and on earth has

been given to me." We sang about the

authority, right? It's been given to me.

In Luke 10:19, Jesus said, "I've given

Luke 10:19

you authority over all the enemy's

powers."

Therefore, in light of the fact that

I've got authority, I've given you

authority. Come on, people. Come on,

church. Lean in. Lean in. Lean in. God

says, "I've got authority. I'm giving it

to you. I'm giving it to you." It's

called delegated authority. It's not

called earned authority. It's delegated

authority. Come on. You submit to God.

You resist the devil and he must flee.

But we starts with the submitting, not

the resisting. Some of us are trying to

resist, but we're not submitting. We got

to do the submitting to God first and

then the resisting and the enemy's got

to flee. But therefore, in light of all

authority, go and make disciples of all

nations. Oh, that's for them. No, that's

for you.

Jesus says, come follow me and I'll send

you out. Once again, Corinthians, if

you've been reconciled to God, God says,

"I give you now the ministry of

reconciliation. Back row, front row,

left side, right side, youngest, oldest.

God says, if you've been reconciled, I'm

going to give you I give you the

ministry of reconciliation. That's not

really my thing. Well, I'm just going to

be blunt. It's a Bible thing. So, are

you going to do your thing or you going

to deny yourself and we're going to take

up our cross and we're going to follow

Jesus?

Go and make disciples of all nations.

Well, what does that mean? What does it

mean to make a disciple? Listen

really clearly in this last few moments.

Baptizing them in the name of the Father

and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Here's

our word.

And

you got it so simple. and teaching them

to obey everything I've commanded you

and surely I am with you always to the

end of the age. Listen up please. Listen

up please. We have reduced baptizing

them. So the two what are the two

aspects of making disciples, youth

leaders, uh elders, every person in this

room, you in your family in your work.

What does it mean to make disciples?

It's not a program. It's not a course.

Right? It's two things. baptizing them

in the name of the father, the son, and

the holy spirit. Please do not reduce it

down to the obvious. That is a part of

it, but is by far not the main part. It

doesn't mean just baptize people in

water in the name of the father, the

son, and the holy spirit. The word

baptize mean fully immerse. The word

name literally means the authority and

the character. fully immerse people into

the uh nature and the authority and the

character of who the father is. Come on,

keep on talking about the father.

Immerse them in the father. They already

know about themselves. They already know

about their problems. Talk about the

father more and do it into Jesus. Tell

them everything you can about Jesus and

fully immerse them into the name, the

nature, the character of the Holy Ghost.

just lift him up and he will start to

draw people to himself.

You're leading anything and that's all

of you. By the way,

your greatest

first part of the two parts of making

disciples is talk about God more than

you talk about anything else. But you

better make sure that you got the first

part right, that I'm denying myself and

I'm taking up my cross and I'm following

him. Because otherwise you'll be living

one way, speaking another way. And that

is the problem that the world has with

many people in the church. They say

this, but they live this. Come on.

It's time for our lives to be an

accurate signpost.

Lift him up.

Talk about him.

Preach Jesus. Talk about the father.

talk about the Holy Spirit. What we do

is we talk about our problems and

somehow try to go through our problems

and get to God. How about we talk about

God and let God do some work

supernaturally?

Deny self. Deny self. Take up your

cross. Follow me. Being a disciple means

baptize them in the name of the father,

the son, the holy spirit,

and teaching them to obey everything

I've commanded.

We're going to finish. We're going to

pray, but I need you to hear this right

now. Teaching them to obey everything

I've commanded. This goes back to the

start. People don't want to be told what

to do.

Don't look at me, but you don't like

being told what to do. It's only because

you're not dead enough.

Dead people don't mind being told what

to do.

Come on, let us sink in for a moment.

They don't fight. But hang on. It's my

right. Come on. The only right I have is

to do the will of my father in heaven.

And the will of my father in heaven is

that I walk with him and I become like

Jesus Christ. So that when people walk

with me in my work and in my family,

guess what? They're walking with me and

I'm walking towards God. They have to

end up closer to God.

But part of that is not teaching them

everything Jesus says. No, teach them to

obey.

Teach them to obey.

And surely I am with you always.

One of you close your eyes this morning.

2026 is a year to step forward and to

step up.

To step forward. to step up. Movement.

Take another step. Take another step.

It's about direction. It's about

elevation coming up. Every eye closed in

this place right now. And so I want to

ask you by the spirit of God, what is

your next step of obedience on this

journey of being a disciple of Jesus

Christ.

Maybe for some your step of obedience is

come follow me. Maybe you don't even

know Jesus. The first step is if you

believe in your heart, confess with your

mouth, you will be saved. Praise the

name of the Lord. But that's not the

end. That's the start.

Maybe for some, your next step is to

commit to God sending you out

to fish for people, to seek and save the

lost, to be a minister of

reconciliation, to help other people

follow Jesus. Maybe your next step is

this week, I'm going to I'm going to

actively and intentionally deny myself

when there's anything that I know is

contrary to what God has asked me to do,

including good things.

Maybe for you, it's your next step is

take up your cross. I need to commit to

actually keeping on walking and not

giving up. And come back tonight, we're

going to talk about being strong in the

Lord and his mighty power. God's going

to do something powerful.

Maybe it's commit to talking about God

more and lifting him up. Maybe it's

talking about your next step is I'm

actually going to teach people to obey.

I'm going to go on that journey.

So, Father, in the name of Jesus,

in the name of Jesus,

there's been

a clear word.

There's been a clear word.

Jesus said, "Come follow me and I will

fish send you out to fish for people."

That is what it means to be a disciple.

If God's been speaking to you and there

is a next step in any of this that you

know God is calling you and you even if

you're the pastor, even if you're

leaders, if you doesn't matter who you

are, if there's something in you that

says, "I don't want to just be a

Christian. And I don't want to just be a

lever believer. I want to live the

fullness of what we've just talked

about. I want to be a disciple of Jesus.

Stand to your feet boldly right now

across this auditorium.

Don't be timid. Don't be timid. Don't be

timid.

Lift your hands to heaven. Father, in

the name of Jesus Christ, I release

right now Holy Spirit to seal this word.

Holy Spirit to seal this word. We yield

to you. We submit to you, God. Teach us

what it is to follow, to deny ourselves,

to take up our cross. Father, we repent.

If you need to do this, you need to do

this right now. Father, I repent for,

Lord, so often having me at the center

of my Christian faith, about what I

feel, what I want. Father, I right now

repent of that.

God, I right now want to lift you up. I

want to make it about you,

but not just about me and you, but about

others who will encounter God through my

life.

As a church, we say yes to disciplehip.

We say yes to disciplehip.

We say yes to disciplehip. Being a

disciple.

Being a disciple. I tell you right now,

Toranga will not

talk about a move of God. It is already

God doing great things. If you can live

this not just in the emotion of right

now, but wake up tomorrow morning, God

help me to walk with you. If you I don't

know how to do this. Ask the Holy

Spirit. He will lead you into all truth.

He will be the one who leads you. Keep

in step with him. You don't have to work

this out. You just need to walk it out

with God and with other people. Forgive

us for individualistic mindsets. Forgive

us for walking alone. Forgive us, oh

God,

for settling for less than being a

disciple. And we say yes Lord. Yes Lord.

Yes Lord. Yes Lord in Jesus name.