The Way: RLC Values (6- We Are Disciple Makers)

You owe me a full grand later because it is so good to be in the house of the Lord in our second fake fall of the year.

I believe that we're in right now.

I'll take it.

It is a good day to be in the house of the Lord.

If you have your Bibles, want to open up with me?

We are going to be in the final part of our series on the way we're going to be in Colossians, chapter one.

It's going to give you just a moment to get all your Bibles and your journals and things.

And if it's your first time joining us, thank you for being here.

Can we take just a moment, put our hands together, celebrate our first time guest?

Thank you for being with us today.

Inside your worship guide is a connect card and it would mean the world to us if you filled it out and you dropped it off at the welcome center.

We have a free gift for you, but would also just love to connect with you and to be able to serve you any way we can.

And while you're getting all that ready, I need to let you know that we are coming up on one of the most impactful, one of the most just things going on.

I don't want to say the word busy, but that really is what it is Busy weekends of the year for Real Life Church.

Because next weekend we have got three major things happening or kicking off.

So this coming Saturday we have one of our quarterly men's events called the Beast Feast.

You gotta say it like that or it doesn't feel right.

It's when we get together and we eat entirely too much protein.

Okay, it is so much fun, it is great.

Any man in our church, you are welcome to attend, but you gotta sign up.

So we make sure we have enough, so make sure you do that.

Which means, ladies, sign your husband up for the beast feast, okay, cause we, we men, forget such things.

And so please, before you leave, stop by the welcome center and sign your man up.

He's gonna have a great time.

But then also we've got our next real women event coming up on Monday and the high pitched yell for that one.

There you go.

Yeah, it's gonna be fun.

And we're kicking off something starting next week called our Serve Week.

Well, we are going to just love on the city of Bowling Green and just serve, and this is going to be a lot of fun.

You're going to be hearing more about that at the end of the service.

And my favorite thing is we begin a brand new series called Blessed Assurance, which is, like also my favorite hymn.

Okay, we're going to be going through 1 Peter.

It is going to be amazing, okay.

So you just don't want to miss all the things.

And so stop by the Welcome Center and just say I need to know all that again because he talks entirely too fast.

Okay, and they will help you with that.

And so, as we jump into the final part of this series, we've been talking about this idea of characteristics or values that really set people apart from being one person or another.

Right, it's the idea of I can tell where you're from based on these things.

These aren't bad things, it's just things.

And I was telling you that one of the things I love the most about moving to Bowling Green was that nobody's from here.

It turns out We've been here like six months before.

I met someone who was born and raised in Bowling Green, kentucky, you know.

But the thing is is since everybody's from everywhere else, it was so much fun to watch just different cultures just collide in so many ways and be like ah, you're not from here either, are you?

Because they did something that I also didn't do and all this kind of stuff, and I've been showing you some different things throughout this series that I have noticed that you can really tell where somebody's from based on some of their actions, and so some of mine last week caused a little stir.

So, knowing me, I'm going to stir a little bit more and just kind of give you a couple.

Here's one, that is this Depending on whether you believe in iced tea or sweet tea means whether you're from the north or the south and so like, for instance, how many of you would say that the only way to drink tea is cold sweet tea?

Can I see that?

Can I see some of those?

Yes, I see some of you.

Amen, amen, right.

How about many of you would say sugar is made for cake?

No-transcript, depending on whether you say y'all, you guys, or you-ins, means you were either from the South and North or just Pittsburgh, is all I know.

I've only met one guy who said Ewans and Minton.

He was from Pittsburgh, and so if you say Ewans, I would like to know after church.

Okay, but that, honestly, I started saying you guys cause I was hanging around people up here and when I went back home to Alabama, they thought I'd been infected with the disease.

You know like what's wrong with y'all, you know.

So it depends.

Here's one If you're able to drive in the snow, that means you're not from the South.

Okay, that's just how that works.

And I know, I know I see some of my Southerners going no, I can drive it, no, no, you can't Me.

Neither, okay, neither can I.

I have no shame.

I call my Northern friends and just say help me.

Okay, how am I going to get down Scottsboro Road?

It's snowing outside.

I just admit it All.

And here's one.

Now, this is my controversial one.

Here we go, depending on whether you say crayon, crayon or crown means you're either normal or weird, and I will let you determine which is which.

Now I will tell you where I come from and I consider to be normal.

I say crayon because there's letters in this word Crayon, but then crayon.

Somebody forgot the O at some point, and I don't know what crowns are doing.

I don't, they just decided they want to be creative, okay.

So, whatever you're used to, that is what happens, okay, which is the point I'm trying to make, and that is that I can tell if you're from the North or the South depending on how you drink your tea, how you say your words, how you're able to navigate through life.

But the question is what are some characteristics or values that make us recognizable as followers of the way?

In the book of John, jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life.

Christians, before we were called Christians, were called followers of the way.

So what does that look like?

What does it look like that when someone sees someone else acting in a certain way, they say wow, you must be from the kingdom of God, and that's the plan, right, jesus said?

He said I want you to go into all the world and make disciples.

Say make disciples, that's the plan.

To make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, son and Holy Spirit.

And then he says teach these new disciples to obey all, say all, all the commands that I have given you, jesus said.

And he said and be sure of this, I'm going with you, I'm going to be there along the way.

And so, once again, the goal is to make disciples so that we look like Jesus, so we look like who our King really is.

And so if we were to sum up this entire verse into one phrase, if you're taking notes, the idea of the series is that the way of a disciple is all of Christ in all of life, that our goal is to have all of Christ in all of life and everything I do, so that when people see me moving and me acting in the world, they go.

He must be from the kingdom of God, or could we be so bold to say they must be from real life church.

Why?

Because we have determined that we want to have all of Christ and all of life.

But then the question becomes what in the world does that look like Like?

What does that look like with skin on it?

And that's where we have been building this series of values that build on top of each other, where we say that we want to have all of Christ and all of life because we're going to love God and we're going to see people and we're going to make it better in every environment we're in.

Then we're going to choose joy and we're going to live to give.

And as we start to do those things, they start to kind of go with one another where you can't see where one ends and another begins, and, before you know it, man, you're just all of life and all of Christ and everything that you do.

And so then the question becomes, as we move forward, what's next?

Once we start saying, okay, look, I don't have all this on lock, but I'm working on it, as I have all of Christ and all of life, what do I do?

Well, what I want to give to you is I want us to walk through a scripture where Paul tells us what he does, and that's what we're going to look at in Colossians, chapter one.

And Colossians is actually a letter written to a church that Paul had never been to and, as far as we know in history, he never actually had the opportunity to go to Colossae, but he had this guy named Epaphras who came to him where he was in jail and he was telling him about all the great things that God was doing in this little town called Colossae.

And Paul got so excited that, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he writes them a letter, and the first thing he does is he starts talking about the beauty of the gospel and talking about how it wasn't just for the Jewish people, but it was for everybody.

And because of what God has done, this now becomes the focus of his life.

So, in other words, once he got this stuff moving in his life, then he began to live to do something else.

And so let's read this together Paul says God wanted them that's everybody that was not Jewish to know that the riches and the glory of Christ are for you Gentiles too.

And this is the secret Christ lives in you, amen.

I love that so much.

I just put a box around it Like just sit and just sizzle on that for a while, that Christ lives in you.

Look at your neighbor and say he's talking about you.

He's talking about you, that Christ lives in every one of us who are Christ followers.

And then he said and the good news is is this gives you assurance of sharing his glory.

So since we have Christ living in us, we have all of Christ for all of life.

We tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us.

We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship with Christ.

That's why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ's mighty power that works within me.

I want them all, the people I'm reaching out to.

I want them to be so encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love.

I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God's mysterious plan, which is Christ himself.

In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

In other words, he's saying that I have filled my life with this beautiful adventure.

And that beautiful, never ending adventure is that, as I have all of Christ in all of my life, it begins to spill out on everyone else, and everyone around me that, I see, is someone that needs some of what I got, and it is my honor and my joy to continually invest my life in others.

And that's what the final mark of a disciple is, and that is that the.

That's what the final mark of a disciple is, and that is that the final way, the final way of a disciple, is to be a disciple maker.

That's what Paul is saying.

He's saying, man, when I see the goodness of God, and I see that the mysterious mystery is that Christ is in us, that we have all of Christ for all of life, it gets me so motivated and so excited about what God's doing in me that I can't wait to share it with everybody else around me, and that's the beautiful thing is that this idea can fill our whole lives with endless purpose, when we realize that God has a purpose for all of us and that is to know God and then to make him known in the world around us.

And so what that looks like is we were talking about how that, as we have all of Christ and all of life and we start to love God and see people, and then we see people, man, we just want to make it better in every area, and then we choose joy, because we know that walking with others is difficult sometimes, and then we live to be a blessing in the lives of others.

We start doing that in our life.

It starts to move around and around and it starts to change the way we see the world.

And these values cause us to look up and outward, not down and inward.

We stop seeing the world as a mirror and we start seeing it as a window, start seeing that God has a plan, that there's still hope for everybody, that there's no one that should be left behind in the kingdom of God, that God doesn't want to just make a difference in the world.

He wants to use me and you to make a difference in our world.

And so as we begin to have all of Christ and all of life and see that Christ is in us, we begin to realize that in the kingdom of God, we invest our lives into the lives of others.

That's what it is to be a disciple maker, to be a mentor and someone who sees somebody else and says I want to be the number one, biggest difference in somebody else's life.

I want to invest my life into the lives of others and that's my hope for you is to look at the mission statement that we have at RLC, but look at it through the values that God has given us, like, for instance here's the mission statement of our church.

You've never heard it here.

It is Real Life.

Church exists.

We exist to make disciples by knowing God, growing in freedom and sharing Christ with everyone, and that's awesome and that's my hope for all of us.

But my hope for us is a step further than that and that is that as we begin to live out the values of being a follower of Jesus, of all of Christ and all of life, and we begin to love God, see people make it better, choose joy, live to give, and that starts to just to roll in our life, that we start to look at this a little bit different and and that starts to just to roll in our life that we start to look at this a little bit different and we don't just see it as in this is what God can do in me, but instead we see it as at Real Life Church.

We exist to make disciples by helping each other in knowing God, growing in freedom and sharing Christ with everyone.

To realize that there's one thing better than knowing God, growing in freedom and sharing Christ, and that is to see it in somebody else and to know that God used you to help somebody else.

Take a next step, and that's what it is to finally get to that place where man, as all of Christ and all of my life, is starting to grow, that I no longer look down and inward, but I look up and outward and go.

Man, as Jesus said, the harvest is plentiful, but pray to the Lord of harvest that he will send out harvesters into the harvest field and you can say I'll go, I'll be a harvester, I will go into my world and I want to be a disciple maker in all that we do.

And so there's the question of the day.

And that is then what does it look like?

What does it look like to be a disciple maker?

Not just to be a disciple, but to be a disciple maker.

That is when we look at one another and we just decide that I'm going to go after God, but I'm going to take you with me, and it's going to be a whole lot easier if you go willingly.

But if you don't go willingly, then I'm going to grab you and we're still going to go.

And so look at your neighbor and say let's grow together, like whether you look at him and say, whether you like it or not, let's grow together.

I don't know what it looks like to make a disciple of somebody else unwillingly, but we may find out because we're just going to move forward with that.

And here it is.

Let me give you three ways that it looks like to be a disciple maker to be somebody else's biggest fan and to believe in them, to be more than what they are.

And that is this that we do this because it is our joy to give what we are receiving.

How do you be a disciple maker that we live our life?

To say because Jesus lives in us, because we have all of Christ and all of life and man, we we love in God and we see people and we make it better and we choose joy.

That then, all of a sudden, we say, man, look're loving God and we see people and we make it better and we choose joy.

That then, all of a sudden, we say, man, look at what God's doing in my life.

And then we look at it as in.

How can I give it away?

How can I show this to somebody else?

God's word said it like this.

It says this is the secret Christ lives in you.

In other words, all of Christ and all of life.

This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.

It assures you that, man, I'm on the right track.

So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, as God has given us.

So, in other words, we exist to know God together.

That one of the things we have to be very careful of is we don't see Christianity as a solo sport.

It's not golf, it's football, it's a team that we grow and we do it together.

And that's what Paul is saying.

He's saying, man, once I realized that Christ is in me and that I have all of Christ and all of life, and that gave me assurance that, man, I'm going to heaven and not to hell, that God is for me and not against me, and he is healing me and growing me.

And once I started to realize that man, it caused me to want to tell others about it and to warn them and to teach them.

As much as God was giving me, I kept going back and giving it away as much as I possibly could, that what God was doing in me wasn't just for me.

And one of my biggest hopes for all of us is that we would see, every time God helps you, take a step.

It is so that then you can help somebody else take a step as well.

God's Word says it like this.

In 2 Peter.

It says by his divine power, god has given us everything we need for living a godly life.

We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence, and because of his glory and excellence.

He has given us great and precious promises, and these are the promises that enable us to share his divine nature and, in view of all of this, make every effort to then respond to God's promises.

So what Peter is saying is is he is saying as we get to know God, and we get to know him by knowing his word, we begin to realize that, man, there's a lot of good stuff in here.

There's a lot of promises in his word that he says I'm going to do this and I'm going to do that.

And he's like, once I get to know him, I go wow, that like salvation is not the end, it's the doorway, but there's so much more that God wants to do.

And so we go through a season in our life where we begin to grow and develop and respond by knowing God.

But the next step is something even more amazing and it's like the difference between being a cup and a funnel when it comes to Christianity.

Like a cup has got a bottom on it, right, and that's where we begin as Christians and that is we believe that the promises of God help me know God.

And someone say amen, that's true, like when I read God's word, the reason why I read God's word every single day and we read God's word every single day.

Nod, like you agree with me.

Yeah, absolutely, we read God's word every single day because the more we read, the more we find we go look, he's in here and he's got something to say to me.

And so we read verses like God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self-discipline.

We go, man, that's good, it's like amen in yourself, all by yourself.

I mean just just going through there.

This is, this is really good.

And what a what a cub does is a cup looks at this and they go, man.

God has given me not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.

I go, man, that is so good for me.

I am so thankful that that helps me and there's nothing wrong with that.

But that is good.

But what's even more amazing is when you begin to realize that you're not just called to be a disciple, you're called to be a disciple maker.

And so as you read God's word, it goes from being a cup to a funnel, and a funnel says the promises of God, help me know God so that I can help others know him too.

And so then you start to read and you go God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self-discipline.

And so what you do is you start to read God's word and you go, wow, that doesn't just work for me, but that works for my friend.

And so you tuck that away in your heart and as you walk through your day and you hear somebody and they go man, I'm just, I'll just be honest with you, I'm just, I'm just afraid right now you go wait, I got good news for you.

I just read a promise today, and it wasn't just for me, it was for both of us.

I can't wait to tell you God has not given us a spirit of fear, but he's given us power, love and of self-discipline.

And what happens is is, as God fills you up, he starts to pour you out all over other people, and that's what a disciple maker is.

It's filling up on God and then giving what you have received, and it's the most beautiful thing ever when you get to do it, and you can see this throughout the New Testament.

One of my favorite stories is what we're going to call contagious miracles.

It was right.

After Acts chapter two, acts chapter two, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit descended on the early church and it was amazing.

It was awesome.

It was like 3,000 people got saved in one day and everybody was just excited.

And the very next chapter, because of what God had done in their lives.

God kept moving and Peter and John, specifically, were so excited about what God was doing that like right after that, like within just a few days of that, they're going to church again.

And as they're getting ready to go to church, go to the temple, they saw a guy over here who was lame, he couldn't walk.

We don't know if he was like that forever, we just know that he was lame.

And if they were thinking about just themselves then they would go.

Really stinks that he can't walk.

But I got to focus on me, I got to focus on my relationship with God.

But instead they weren't interested in only being a disciple, but being a disciple maker all of Christ and all of life, and is that starting to churn up in their life?

The Bible said they looked at him and look what happened.

It says Peter and John looked at this guy intently and said look at us, to which he looks.

You got some money.

And they realized that because, he says, they eagerly expected some money.

He did and Peter said I don't have any silver or gold for you, but I'll give you what I have In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Get up and walk.

And Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up, which makes you wonder if he was like I don't know, no, no, no, there are no guesses today.

Okay, listen, you were with me yesterday when the Holy Spirit came down.

You don't have an option.

I'm making you get up.

And as he helped him up, the Bible said the man's feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened and he jumped up.

He stood on his feet and he began to walk.

It was a miracle, as Peter and John weren't just thinking about okay, how does this affect my life?

But it's.

How can I give this into somebody else's life?

Here's the reality, and that is the reality is that all of us are giving something away in our life every day.

All of us are contagious.

The question is is what you have worth catching?

Is your walk with God worth giving away?

And if so, man, you have a wonderful opportunity to make disciples by giving away what you have.

If not, it's an opportunity for a next step, and so here's your action step, if you want one, with this one, when it comes to knowing God together, schedule daily time with God, then share what you, what you receive.

I want to encourage you this week, when you go into your daily time with God, after you listen to the Bible breakdown because you're listening to the Bible breakdown and after that, instead of listening and going okay, how, how am I going to apply this to my life Say how am I going to apply this to my life and be prepared to share this with someone else.

Can I tell you it make all the difference in the world.

That when you go looking into God's word, not just for something for you, but for something to tuck away for somebody else, there's fresh life there, because Jesus has called us not just to be disciples which is great, but to also be disciple makers.

That if we have all of Christ in all of life, we have this amazing opportunity that we can actually, as we are going through and we are loving God, seeing people making it better, choosing joy and living to give, we look around and we go man, what an honor it is to know God.

The only thing better is that when I can help somebody else know God too, and maybe it's going to be the person sitting beside you.

So look at them and say, let's grow together.

Look back at them and say, whether you like it or not, let's grow together.

And if they kind of backed away, that's the one you're going to have to talk to this week.

Okay, they're not ready, so I don't.

Once again, I'd love to know if you have to force someone to grow with you, what does that look like?

Okay, but maybe you don't do that.

Okay, I don't want any emails, all right.

So the first thing we do is our vision is at Real Life Church, we exist to know God, grow in freedom and share Christ with everyone.

But what does that look like for someone who is a disciple maker?

Well, the first thing is is we say man, all of Christ for all of life, which means I'm not just going to know God, but I want to know him, so then I can give what I'm receiving.

The second one is is I want to grow with others toward full freedom?

Like I, I am excited, not just to see what God wants to do in my life, but to see what God wants to do in our lives as we grow together.

What is it that God wants to do?

How is it that God wants to move in our lives.

Look at how Paul said it.

He said the secret is Christ lives in you, all of Christ and all of life.

This gives us extreme, confident assurance of sharing his glory.

In other words, we're going to heaven one day.

So we want to present them, everyone to God, perfect in their relationship with Christ.

That means that we exist to know God and grow in freedom together.

Somebody say, together, together, I can't grow unless you grow.

You can't grow unless I grow.

Because God has made it in such a way that we do it together and in perfect, which, by the way, that means mature.

It doesn't mean like literally, you are exactly perfect.

That means that we are growing in a mature relationship with God, and the idea behind that is is that as we grow, we develop one another.

I love how second Peter says it like this is in view of all of this, in other words, in view of all that God has done, make every effort to respond to God's promises, supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence.

Moral excellence with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with patient endurance, patient endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly love, brotherly love with love for everyone.

The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In other words, he's saying keep on growing together.

What that helps me to realize, when I look at this as a glass half full, is we're not done, because these are our steps along the way.

And can I tell you, one of the great things is is that God has made it so that and I don't know anyone who's not like this God has made it so that there's at least one person in your life that he has ordained to help you grow.

If you've been in life group, you know what I'm talking about.

Right, I love life group.

I love doing life together in groups.

It is one of the greatest joys.

We get to do this at RLC.

But I have found out that in almost every single life group we have, there's at least one person that helps everybody else grow.

And can I just tell you, if you're thinking well, not in my life group, it's probably you, every group.

And so in every single group we have, there is an opportunity to grow in moral excellence and in knowledge and in self-control and in patient endurance, and then in godliness and then brotherly affection and then loving for everyone and that's the way God made it is that everyone gets to be sandpaper for somebody else.

And as we do life together, we do life together in the good days.

You know, it's amazing when we do life together in the hard days.

That's when we begin to really hold one another up, because we don't need a lot of help when we're on top of a mountain.

We need a lot of help when we're down, in those valley moments and everything seems like it's falling apart.

Those are the moments when we really find out how important it is that not only does the Bible say that, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

You know what I found out, when you become part of a local church and you decide you're gonna have all of Christ and all of life, that that verse is so true because you got Jesus on one hand and you have your neighbor on in the other and you're able to walk together through some of those moments in life.

That makes it so powerful and so awesome.

That's why God's word says like this is therefore let us hold tightly, without wavering, to the hope that we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

Somebody say amen to keep his promise.

Somebody say amen, he can be trusted to keep his promise.

Therefore, let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

Let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but let us encourage one another.

You know, one of the amazing things is that we have all of Christ and all of life and we begin as we love God, see people, make it better, choose joy, live to give.

We begin to look around and instead of looking at people that can serve me, instead I look around and I go man, what could we be if we got together?

What could we be if somebody just believed that God was for them?

And so we start looking for ways to motivate one another, and what I truly believe is God has empowered everyone to be somebody's biggest motivator, or should I say it like this, somebody's greatest fan, not their biggest critic.

Somebody say, amen, we got enough of those in the world.

Right, but here's the challenge.

Here's the challenge.

I don't know if you've learned this or not.

I'm learning this like notice present tense.

I'm learning this in my life.

Is that your biggest fan and your biggest critic sometimes do the exact same thing but for very different motivations.

Have you noticed that, like?

Let me give you an example Difference between a motivator and a critic.

Both will push you forward.

A critic is because they're frustrated with you.

Like, just do something.

That's what a critic does.

A motivator says you know why I'm pushing you?

It's because I see more in you.

I don't think you've gotten all the way to the bottom of what's available in your life, and all the way to the bottom of what's available in your life.

And so, yes, I'm gonna push you, but it's because I am with you all the way.

A critic or, excuse me, both will challenge you Is that the best you've got?

Is that all?

Is that the best effort you've got?

Both will do that.

A critic does it because they say I don't really believe you.

I don't really believe that's.

A motivator says I do believe, I do believe there's more in you than you realize.

I do believe there's more going on than you understand right now.

And here's one more, and that is that both dare you to try again.

Both are there when you fall.

A critic says I think you will fail, so I dare you to try again.

A motivator says I think you can do it this time.

I'm still with you.

I'm still daring you to get up, but it's because I think this time is going to be the time, and the reality of it is is no one has a spiritual gift of criticism.

I'm going to say that again for the back row.

Okay, not, not, not that back row, but in case anybody didn't hear me, no one has the spiritual gift of criticism.

Everyone can be an encourager, which means an encourager, a motivator, is someone who gets in there just as much as everybody else.

They are there right beside the critic, but the message is totally different.

And the message is I don't think you need to give up.

I think you need to try one more time.

I think if you get up one more time, then you fall down.

Something's going to be different this time.

That's what a motivator does, and the Bible says to literally think about how you can be somebody's biggest fan, how you can motivate someone today.

So here's, here's kind of an action step for you.

Your last one was is that have a scheduled daily time with God so you have something to give away here's, today's, and that is.

Or the second one is that is, step out of your comfort zone and be somebody's biggest fan this week and there's so many ways to do this, but if you don't already have a way coming up next week is serve week.

You can step out of your comfort zone and be somebody's biggest fan, maybe at the real men's event or the real women's event.

You step out of your comfort zone and you decide I'm going to go into this environment looking for somebody that I can believe in.

Instead of hoping that somebody believes in you, you realize Jesus already believes in you.

He's the reason why we're still here.

I got all of Christ all life in my life and therefore I am loving God.

I'm now going to get a chance to see people and then when I see people all around me, man, I'm hungry to make it better.

And as I'm making it better, I'm choosing joy, because believing in people, just like them, believing in me, it's hard work sometimes, but I'm choosing joy because believing in people just like them, believing in me, is hard work sometimes, but I'm going to choose joy.

I'm going to give my whole life to live, to give.

And here's my question for you who do you know?

That needs to be told.

It's not over yet.

Who do you need?

Who do you know that needs to be told?

God is still faithful.

Who do you know that needs to be told?

It's okay to cry and I'll stay here while you do.

Who needs to be told it's okay to have a moment?

I will be your protector until that moment passes.

We spend so much of our life looking for someone to believe in us.

Can I tell you where joy is Is when you realize that Christ already believes in you, so now you can go and be somebody else's biggest fan.

That's where true joy is.

That's what it looks like to be a disciple maker is, when you step into that environment and say, man, I've got all of Christ and all the life.

That does not mean I am perfect.

I am growing more every day, but I'm not looking to see who can bless me.

I have been so blessed by the Lord that I'm walking into my life looking to see who I can be a blessing to.

Therefore, I'm going to have a daily time with God to prepare for, when he opens doors, that I have something to give away, and then, as I am growing, I'm going to grab as many people by the arm and say we are going to grow together because there's more freedom for all of us, and that I'm going to be somebody's biggest fan this week and it might be your neighbor.

So one more time, look at them and say you better grow with me.

Look at them again and go no, no, no, I mean it, you better grow with me.

I see that going.

Hey, listen, because I'm not going to give up on you this week.

And notice that if I start encouraging you, it might be because I think you need a little encouragement this week.

And it's important because I want to make sure that I am giving, I want to make sure that I am growing.

And then here's the third one I want to make sure that I am sharing Christ so that we can share Christ, experience Christ all over again.

This was my favorite.

We share Christ so we can experience Christ all over again.

We grow together.

I wanna tell you one of the most amazing things in the world and I say this to make sure to say as a disciple maker remember, our thought process is to look upward and outward At the same time.

We do realize that the more we share Christ, the more of an opportunity it is to experience him as he flows through us.

God's word says it like this.

It says this is the secret Christ lives in you.

This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.

So that is why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ's mighty power that works within me.

I want them everyone I'm ministering to to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love.

I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God's mysterious plan, which is Christ himself, and in him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

In other words, he's saying we exist to know God, to grow in freedom and man.

What a joy it is to share Christ with everyone.

And notice he is saying he's saying since I have all of Christ and all of life, it is now my honor to struggle.

It is my honor to work.

You know why?

Because the more I struggle, the more I share, the more I give, the more I am able to depend on Christ's mighty power.

Hour and the reality of it is is the more you share Christ, the more room there is to receive from the Lord, because it's hard to pour into a full cup.

One of the most amazing things that happens is, as we begin to share our lives, share what Christ is doing with us in others, we start to share our story, share what God is doing.

What happens is is we're pouring ourselves out, and it's work.

It's a struggle, it's difficult from time to time, but the more we empty ourselves, the more room there is to experience God all over again.

Can I challenge you with this?

If you would say, pastor, it's been so long since I've experienced the presence of God.

Can I ask you when's the last time you poured yourself out and made room to experience the presence of God?

Because if you do that and you pour yourself out and you struggle and you work to share Christ with everyone around you, I guarantee you there's more power and more glory that God wants to share with you.

You can see this actually in what we're reading this week and if you've been with us a while, been reading through God's word one chapter at a time, and we're going through the book of Mark and it's one of the four gospel accounts about what happened in the life of Jesus and if you'd like to join us, you could text RLC Bible to 94,000.

And we know that, according to history, that Mark traveled with Peter to the city of Rome and as Peter was telling the story of Jesus telling sharing Christ with everyone the Holy Spirit was inspiring Mark.

As Peter was telling the story of Jesus telling sharing Christ with everyone, the Holy Spirit was inspiring Mark as he was interpreting.

Later he would go back and he'd write these stories down and you can see how he is expressing this story.

This coming week it's actually tomorrow we're gonna be reading in Mark 9.

And at the end of today's chapter, jesus said that some of you will not pass until you see the glory of the Lord.

Well, tomorrow, the very first verse or very second verse says six days later, jesus took Peter, james and John and led them to a high mountain to be alone as the men watched.

Look at this Jesus' appearance was transformed.

So what happened?

And we're going to learn about this tomorrow in God's word?

The Bible says that Jesus was totally transformed into his glorified state and right there beside him was Moses and Elijah.

And they start talking and we don't really know what they said other than it was about the goodness of God and about what God was doing.

And then a cloud came over them and it was the heavenly father and he told Peter, james and John to say listen, this is my beloved son, in whom I am so well pleased.

It was such an amazing moment.

And we know that it was an amazing moment because 30 years later, peter's still talking about it.

We find this out in 2 Peter 1 when he says we saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes when he received honor and glory from God the Father.

His voice, from the majestic glory of God said to him this is my dearly loved son, who brings me great joy.

We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on that holy mountain and because of that experience we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets.

You can almost hear him kind of going back in time and remembering 30 years ago what had happened.

And he said man, you are not going to believe what happened to me, but when I tell you about it and I remember, it gives me even greater confidence because of that experience to continue what it is that I am doing.

And you can tell that as he tells that story he gets to experience that moment all over again.

And I want to tell you a secret the kingdom of God, the more you tell the story of Jesus.

The more you share the story of what God is doing in your life, the more you get to experience him all over again.

So, as a matter of fact, that would be an action step for you.

If the first one is to make a daily time with God so you have something to give away, and the second one is to then go into these environments and be a great motivator for somebody, the third one would be this week, share your salvation story with someone and experience the glory of God all over again.

Like I just kind of put a almost like put a dare out there to you, I dare you Just try and see what happens.

Share the story of what God has done in your life, what God is doing in your life, and watch what happens, because the promise of God's word is that I pray from his glorious, unlimited resources that what he will do is is he will empower you with inner strength through his spirit, and then Christ will make his home in your heart as you trust in him, and your roots will grow down into God's love and will keep you strong.

What happens as we start to share our story is God begins to strengthen us by reminding us what matters most.

And what matters most is that we have all of Christ and all of life and that Christ has rescued all of us.

That's what it means to be a disciple.

Maker is not that you do everything yourself, but that you know that Christ is moving in you.

And when you start to share Christ like that, it's amazing what the Lord will do.

Like, for instance, I get the opportunity right now that I get to experience Christ all over.

Because I'm gonna tell you real quick what happened in my life.

Back in October 26, 1996, I knew everything about God, but I didn't believe he existed.

My dad was a pastor, went to church my whole life.

I was in such a place where I could answer all your Bible questions, I could do all the things, but I was pretty sure I didn't know if God existed.

But I was leaning toward probably not.

And one day a lady invited my sister and I to church and we go to church.

It was this big old church and I was way back in the balcony area and man, as soon as I got there I knew something was different about that place.

It didn't just seem like they'd heard of God, it seemed like they'd met him, they loved God and he immediately started doing something in my life.

And as the preacher got up to preach, he said the verse we've all heard so many times I've been around church, but it changed my life that day.

And he said God's word says in John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son so that anyone who believes in him would not perish but have eternal life.

And to be honest with you, in my mind I was like, yeah, yeah, we've all heard that one.

But then he changed it and he said I want you to take out the word world and put in your name.

And as I was rolling it over in my head for God so loved Brandon that he gave his one and only son so that if Brandon would just believe, don't have it all figured out, don't feel like you've got it in the bag.

Do you know enough to make a good decision?

If you just believe and trust me, you don't have to perish, but you can have eternal life.

And then the preacher went the next step and he said for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, pointing an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was.

He came to help and to put the world right again, can I tell you, as I'm telling you right now in my heart, I'm there.

I remember that feeling.

I remember that I knew enough to make a good decision.

But here was my problem.

My problem was is that everybody I was with thought I was already a Christian?

My dad was a pastor.

I'm supposed to be like the number one Christian.

They didn't know.

I didn't even believe in God anymore, cause that's not something you advertise when you're the.

You know the pastor.

So I'm like, well, of course, yay, jesus, you know.

But no, no, and so I'm there and I'm going, wow, you really are real and I got a problem.

All these people think so I'll just take care of that when I get home.

And then that that ministry kind of sealed the deal and he said Jesus said if you deny me before men, I'll deny you before my father in heaven, but if you confess me before men, I'll confess you before my father in heaven.

He said man, jesus died on the cross naked and unashamed.

You're not going to get up for him.

That's a really good point.

My man and I was sitting there and I was going, but I'm going to be embarrassed.

You know what that was.

That was pride.

It was pride.

And he said, in just a moment, something like what we do around here.

He said when the music starts if you want Jesus, I want you to get out from your seat, I want you to take a step of faith.

And can I tell you, that was exactly what I did not want to do, because I had my friends, my family with me.

My dad was there, my pastor, and can I tell you when he said that I had every reason not to do it, but I had one reason to do it and that's because I was convinced Jesus was real and that he loved me.

And that music started, and I don't know how many notes they play, but they must've played for at least an hour in my brain.

So I was like what am I going to do?

What am I going to do?

And that and I tell you that first step was the hardest step of my life, because I had to let go of all my pride.

I had to let go of all the things other people were going to say about me.

I had to let it go.

Do you really want Jesus, or do you just say you do?

That first step was the hardest one, but can I tell you that second step was the easiest step I've ever taken in my life, because the first step was stepping out of all of my pride.

The second step was stepping into the kingdom of God.

Can I tell you that I was saved before I ever got to somebody to talk to them, because that decision is all that I needed.

And can I tell you, even right now it feels just as fresh to me as it did all those years ago, and it's the same for you.

Share your story with somebody this week.

Be a disciple maker and experience the presence of God all over again.

Realize that God doesn't just want us to be a cup, he wants us to be a funnel and that as he speaks to you, he wants you to then take that and speak into the lives of others.

That as you grow in freedom, the greatest thing in the world is when you take somebody and you grow with them, and then one of the most amazing experiences in the world is salvation.

The only thing that comes close is when you get to share your story and watch somebody else experience salvation.

There's only one thing better than heaven, and that's taking somebody with you, and that God has given us the opportunity to make that difference, and that's my hope for us at Real Life Church is that we would exist to make disciples by knowing God together, by growing in freedom together and then sharing Christ with everyone together.

So I want to ask you this question as we get ready to pray, and then sharing Christ with everyone together.

So I want to ask you this question as we get ready to pray.

That is this what next step do you need to take?

What do you need to do so that you can be a disciple maker?

Maybe there's so many things going on in your life right now and you feel so heavy and so down and all of that that you're like Pastor, I'd love to help somebody else.

But I need some help.

Can I tell you, one of the most amazing things in the world is when you turn that over to the Lord and say God, while you are working in my life, I want to serve somebody else.

Watch what happens.

The kingdom of God is so upside down that what we would expect the more you serve, the more God does, and so maybe your prayer in just a moment needs to be God.

I pray that you will work a miracle in my life as I be a miracle in somebody else's life.

Maybe you're in here and you're desperate to grow in your relationship with God.

Maybe that needs to be your prayer, god.

I pray you will help me this week to just decide enough is enough.

I'm going to take some steps of faith and I want to grow.

And maybe you're in here and it's been a long time since you experienced that newness of salvation.

Maybe your prayer needs to be God this week.

Give me an opportunity and I promise I'll run through it.

I will tell the story of what you have done.

And if you're in here and you don't have one of those stories, what if today was the day?

What if, one day, you're in front of somebody and instead of saying October 26, 1996, you say September 7th 2025, everything changed?

Because what I'm going to tell you is in just a moment, the band is going to lead us in a final song of worship and you're going to have an opportunity to make a decision.

On the back of your connect card is the plan of salvation and in just a moment, as the band leads us in a song of worship.

Your next great act of worship is to give your life over to Jesus.

Take John 3, 16, take out the word world and put in your name, for God so loved you that he gave his one and only son so that, if you would put your hope and trust in him, you would not perish but have eternal life.

And so, as the song begins to play and we begin to worship the Lord, I wanna tell you that first step, because what I want you to do is I want you to step out of your seat and I want you to go back to the prayer team.

I want you to take the card with you and say I wanna know Jesus, because we're gonna watch you be born into the kingdom of God.

That be born into the kingdom of God.

That first step's gonna be the hardest.

It's gonna be saying no to your pride, no to any shame, no to any embarrassment.

The first step is the hard one.

The second one is full of joy and full of life.

It's one thing to know about the love of God.

It's quite another to experience him for yourself.

Today's the day, september 7th 2025, is the day that everything changed for you.

It is our honor to be in the room when you were born into the kingdom of God.

Let's pray together right now.

Thank you so much for today.

Thank you, god, that you see us and that you know us in this place.

And, god, I know and believe that there are some people in here that they love you, but, lord, they're so burdened down with the cares and the worries of this world they feel like they're not making a difference.

They feel like that everything is just going the wrong direction.

God, I pray you will silence the voice of the enemy and help us to realize that you are doing more in and through us than we can imagine.

And so, god, I pray for encouragement to flood this place right now, for hope to flood this place right now, to realize, god, that you are doing more in us than we will ever know on this side of eternity.

And let that give us the courage, lord, to bring to you all of our broken and hurting places, so that we can then be your miracle in the lives of others.

God, I pray for maybe somebody in here that they don't know you.

I know, god, right now, that all the voices of the enemy are telling them what they don't need to do and where they don't need to go, and all of that.

But, lord, I pray they will listen to that one voice, that still small voice, that's you, God, that's saying I'm not giving up on you.

I still love you, I'm still coming after you, I'm never going to give up on you.

You've never gone too far away.

Come on home.

Today's the day.

I pray you'll give them the courage to take that first step and watch as years of shame fall off as they come into the kingdom of God.

Today I celebrate that and the opportunity for us to not just be disciples but be disciple makers.

In Jesus' name, we pray Amen.

And would you stand with me all over the house this morning, as I said, the band is going to lead us in a final song of worship.

I don't know what next step you need to take.

Maybe you just need to raise your hands where you are and just give to the Lord all that heaviness and all the things that the enemy is trying to weigh you down with and just make a commitment that, god, this week I'm going to be a disciple maker.

Maybe you'd like to receive one-on-one prayer.

We have a prayer team in the back.

We'd love to pray with you.

Maybe today is the day of salvation.

I want to encourage you don't listen to the voice of the enemy.

Instead, listen to the voice of hope, the voice of the Holy Spirit that says come on, come on home Today's the day and watch what the Lord will do.

Let's worship the Lord together today.