Discipleship Through the eyes of Jesus and His plan for us | Pr Gloria

You're listening to a message to go from acts Church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

So I want to bring you today's message. And as

some of you who have been with us for a

while now, you know that our team for this year

is discipleship, right, disciple first, okay, where we are all

with that desire of seeing everyone being discipled okay, And

we are very intentional about this. You know, it's not

just you know, any word. I mean, it's not about mentorship,

it's not coaching. Yeah, all of these things mean different,

but we are going with discipleship because it is always

being God's plend right and we see it all over

the Word of God. You know, it's biblical. It's not

just something we came up with. But we can learn

from how Jesus. If you want to read and study

today's world, you'll see that one of the first things

that Jesus did when he was on land, right when

he was with people, was to first build disciples. Do

you remember that? Right? Of course, we when we read

you'll see that he was baptized, you know, by John,

and then he went and met disciples and he called

them right. And so we're gonna learn today about what

is discipleship in Jesus's way and how is this He's

planned for us? Okay, so that you'll understand that it's

not just an ex church thing, but it's always been

God's plend right and this is something that God has

given to us as a church, you know, and we

want to and that's the beauty of it. When we

are part of a local church, you know, and when

we hear the vision or or the plans that God

imparts and when we take it on, God moves right.

And so it's important for us to understand the seasons

and times that we're living in and see how God

can use those to help us grow. Right. Okay, So

the title of today's message, thank you Richard for helping

out with the slights. Yeah, is discipleship through the eyes

of Jesus. Okay, How did Jesus do discipleship? You know,

we can learn from many people in our lives, but

I think it's just amazing when we can see Jesus

himself doing discipleship right, and how has it been his

plan for us? Okay, that we don't just journey by ourselves,

but we are having someone who we can journey with right,

and so let's learn from today's word. Okay. So let's

just start off with the reading of a scripture here.

If you have your Bibles, you can turn with me

to the Book of John chapter one, okay, John, chapter one.

So as we know, we have the Gospels if you're

new to the Bible, right, we have Matthew Mark Luke,

and John, the first four books of the New Testament, right,

And so Matthew Mark Luke, you'll see that though they

are all different artists, they cover pretty much similar stories

about what God did, what Jesus did, yeah, and the

miracles that he performed. John can be a little bit

different as he always regards himself as the beloved One, right,

as the God's Jesus' favorite disciple. And that's amazing, right,

that's how he sees Jesus, you know, as or the

favorite one. And so in the Book of John, we

will see that as we read the first chapter, it's

a lot about what the word is like. You're just

giving you a bit of a background for if you're

first time reading this, and then if you go on

to Worse thirty five okay, John chapter one, verse thirty

five okay, and some of your bibles. You would have

meant it would give you a hitting the first disciples, Okay,

And wouldn't it be nice to just understand who were

the first disciples of Jesus. And you know some of

these disciples, you know, most of the time, we know

they are twelve, right, these are the common names that

are mentioned. But did you know that there were so

many other disciples that some did walk away? Okay, they

just couldn't take how God was, how Jesus was just

so passionate, and they just couldn't take up the cross

with him, okay, or they just fell scared because there

were people who were unbelieving in the times that Jesus

was at right. And so these were the names that

were always with Jesus, and they took on what he

passed them. And these were the ones who actually helped

to build the communities, and they went around even to

Asia to bring the gospel. We read that in the

book of ACX right. And so there's a lot that

we can learn about what Jesus passed on to them.

So let's see how Jesus calls his disciples. Okay, John

chapter one Versus thirty five, are all there okay, so

let's read some portion here it says again. The next day,

John stood with two of his disciples, and, looking at

Jesus as he walked, he said, behold the lamb of God.

The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

Then Jesus turned, and, seeing them following, say to them,

what do you seek? They said to him, Rabbi, which

is to say, when translated, teacher, where are you staying.

He said to them, come and see. They come and

saw where he was staying, and remained with him. That

day was forty One of the two who heard John

speak and followed him was Andrew Simon, Peters's brother. He

first found his own brother, Simon and said to him,

we have found the Messiah. Was forty two, and he

brought him to Jesus. Now, when Jesus looked at him,

he said, you are Simon, the son of Jonah. You

shall be called Chappa's forgive me if I didn't pronounce

correctly yeah, which is translated a stone yeah. Was forty three.

The following day, Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and

he found Philip and said to him follow me verse

forty four. Now Philip was from bed Shida, the city

of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nataniel and said to him,

we have found him. Or for Moses in the law

and also the prophets wrote Jesus of Nazareth, the son

of Joseph. And Nathaniel said to him, can anything good

come out of Nazareth. Philip said to him, come and see. Now.

I hope you're paying attention to some of the words

that are repeated. Right, Jesus calls follow me, Come and see.

It's one person to another leading on to another person. Right,

And then it says here in verse forty eight. Nathaniel

said to him, how do you know me? Jesus unswered

and said to him, before Philip called you, when you

were under the fig tree, I saw you, Yeah, Jesus says,

I saw you. Nathaniel unswered and said to him, Rabbi,

you are the son of God. You are the King

of Israel. Jesus unswered and said to him, because I

say to you I saw you you under the fig tree,

do you believe you will see greater things than this?

And he said to him most shortly, I say to you,

year after you shall see heaven open and the angels

of God ascending and descending upon the son of man Amen.

And this final portion of the verse was forty fifty

one is actually one of it is Jacob's dreams he

had as you read the book of Genesis. Okay, it's

a prophecy that's mean mentioned. Yeah, so now you can

if you can imagine with me, right, this is the

kind of conversation that Jesus was having with his disciples. Right.

Jesus will first asked, okay, what do you seek? They

use the word rabbi, that means the disciples. Okay, if

you can take the position of the disciples, they were

looking for a teacher, right. They were looking for some

kind of some guidance. Right. If you can just try

to relate, you know, some times, in some point of

your life, you are like I wish I had someone

who can give me some advice, someone who can teach me.

Doesn't matter whether you're young or old. Sometimes we just

want that kind of a guidance, right, And so these

disciples were looking for it, and therefore they found it

in Jesus. And then Jesus says, come and see, and

they remained with him. Okay, and then we can see

some portion of the scriptures. In verse forty two, just now,

it says Jesus knew them, okay, he knew their names.

He said, I saw you, and therefore now I'm calling you.

He knows you know, he know who they are. And

then Jesus keeps on saying follow me, yeah, and he

says in the final part that we read this now

is because you believed, you will see great things. Believe

see follow me. I know you, right, And you can

see that doesn't stop with Jesus. The disciples keeps telling

that to others. Do you notice that, right? They'll see

how do you know? Or how do you know this person?

Is it? Come and see? Yeah, come and see. You

can see that there's a pattern here, right, there's a pattern.

Because I want you to be able to put yourself

in the shoes of the disciples and how Jesus called

this disciples. Okay, but you can just kind of have

a picture in your mind. Okay, this was how the

disciples were. They were just doing their daily work, okay,

just like any of us sitting in the office, and

imagine Jesus coming and calling you, yeah, calling you, you know, Truman,

follow me or what you do. Let me go back

and tell my mom, would you say that? Or you

just leave everything and follow. Yeah, So it was like

that with the disciples. They were normal people who had

their jobs, okay, And if we understand the context of

the times that they were living in, it was not

in the best economy times. Okay. If you're thinking only

now we have economy issues, well a story for you.

They had it as well, okay, Meaning there were poverty

going on, right. People were struggling to make means met,

you know, to get incomes to pay for their families.

So it was not like they had all properties and

all money saved in their banks that they could just

leave everything and follow Jesus. And they were fishermen, and

we know fishermen's you make an income only during certain seasons, right,

You don't get catch fishes all the time. And that

was how their lives were. But when Jesus approached them,

they left and they followed. Yeah, they left and they followed.

And Jesus was very intentional with who he called. He

didn't just call anyone. He didn't go to all the

kings and those who were doing so well. He went

to the normal people, right, the people who were just

you know, the usual the society, because he was very intentional. Okay,

I hope you're catching something out of this? Yeah, what

do you know? Can you just give me some response? Yeah?

What do you notice about Jesus past? How does he

call his disciples? What do you notice about him? From

the scriptures?

We read?

Very impromptu? Okay, so he goes to the floor. Jesus

goes through the floor, is it? What else do you notice?

How does Jesus call his disciples? Come? Most does he

say something? It's instructive. Yes, Come, he's very confident. Right,

Come follow me, that's what he says. You notice that

he knows their names. He doesn't just say, hey, you

that tall guy. He doesn't say that. He calls them

by name. Right, And some of these disciples were wondering,

how do you even know me? Well, he actually saw

them earlier, and therefore he remembers. Yeah. How many of

you know that God knows your name? Yes, he hasn't

forgotten you're your school teacher might forget your names, but

God doesn't forget your names. Right, he knows you by name,

and even more, he knows your actions. He knows your whereabouts. Okay,

that's Jesus. Now what do you notice about the disciples

they submitted, Yeah, someone said something. They looked confused at

the beginning, okay, and then what happened they chose to follow? Okay,

I mean yeah, I mean imagine if you were one

of the disciples there and suddenly Jesus calls you. I'm

sure you are puzzled first, right to just be a

normal human, and then oh, this is Messiah okay, because

they remembered what the prophets said, you know, like we

read the scriptures and they said, okay, this is Jesus. Yeah,

this is Jesus. And don't you think that they had

a relationship with God and that is why they could

walk and follow. Okay, But if you don't know who

God is, and if God calls you, you'd be wondering

who's this person. Yeah, So it takes a relationship, It

takes faith. Yeah, it just takes saying yes, i'll go,

not about give me two weeks, Lord, let me think

about it and let me get back to you. Okay.

We don't see those kind of responses, but it's immediate. Yeah,

and time after time, when you read other portions of scriptures,

you will see Jesus keep saying this, you know where

it's about following me, It's about taking up your cross.

It's about dying to yourself okay, of course, not in

the literal term, but dying of our own ways, our

own desires, but just to follow him, right, And that

is how Jesus views discipleship. Okay. He's a god of

who is intentional. Okay, here's someone who who wants it

for us. Okay. And as we read on, you know,

the Book of John or the other gospels, you'll see

that everywhere he went he had his disciples with him.

Do you remember that. Yeah, he always had disciples with him.

Either the disciples will be asking silly questions, okay, or

they were just in faith following what Jesus did. Remember

the story of how he multiplied the brain and the

fish after the sermon. Okay, And of course he asked

them a question, how are we going to feed them?

Don't you think Jesus knew Okay, of course he knew

how he's going to feed of course he knew he can,

he can bless them with a lot of food. But

he was testing the disciples. So everything about Jesus was

a teachable moment. Everything about him was to remind because

God Jesus knew his mission on earth, okay, that he's

not always and forever going to be on earth. He's

going to go back, yeah, and he's sending the Holy

Spirit as a helper. And because he knew his goal

and his mission, he kept preparing his disciples. He kept

preparing them in a way to tell them that, hey,

I'm not always going to be here, but you are

going to be one day bringing the Gospel to someone.

You're going to be one day healing the sick. Yeah.

And that is what he is doing with us as well.

When he calls us his disciples, he wants us to

do what he did to pray for someone, to bring

the gospel to be an encouragement, you know why, because

we are called to be like Jesus. Yeah, and we've

got to understand that discipleship is truly part of his plan,

truly part of his purpose. And then we talk about

growing the church or you know, building the church, it's

not so much about you know, all those physical things

that we see, Okay, how great the bullshit team was,

you know, or how many people do we have, But

it goes back to are we building disciples? Because if

it can't build disciples, you know what, nothing remains, right,

passa Glora is not always going to be here. Yeah.

You might call me somewhere else to plan, right or

take me home. Nothing remains. That's how life is. So

you know what, you're going to continue the church. There

are so many other preachers here, right, There are so

many other young people to rise up, right, And that

is how we need to grow. We've got to build disciples. Yeah,

You've got to keep passing on to the next and

to the next, and that is why we believe in

the younger generation as well. Amen, Right, Kiara, you're following ken, Yeah, okay,

all right, So these are the things that we can observe, right,

And there are two questions that we can see from

when we talk about discipleship. You know, firstly, is are

you a discipler of Christ? Yeah? Jesus said to his disciples,

whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and

take up their cross and follow me. Okay, So, ahil Tiara,

this is your memory was Matthew sixteen twenty four. Okay,

Matthew sixteen twenty four, whoever wants to be my disciple,

must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

So if you have been here, you've been coming to church,

you've been believing in Christ, then I believe that we're

all disciples of Christ. Can I get some amen? If

you're a disciple of Christ? Yeah, okay, of course, denying yourselves, okay,

and following him. The second question is do you disciple this?

Because this is the great commission, as we read in

Matthew twenty eight sixteen to twenty right, to make disciples

wherever we go, wherever we are. That is what we're

called to do. Yeah, if you want to sum up

the whole idea of discipleship, this is what it is

to be a disciple of Him, right, because we've got

to learn from someone and of course then to pass

it on and disciple are this? Okay? Now, let's try

to understand what is discipleship? Okay, if you can simplify

it in this sentence, Okay, Discipleship is intentionally equipping believers. Right,

everything we do has to be intentional. Even if you're

going for a meal, you want to have a conversation

with a person and ask them, hey, how is your

faith with Jesus, right, how is your devotion with him?

Right?

It's all about being intentional with the word of God.

Of course, if you take out the word of God,

then it's just like any other coaching that's out there, right,

any kind of mentorship that the world is doing. But

discipleship is centered around God and He's word. Yeah, true

accountable relationship. You know that we have got to be

accountable with the relationships that we build. Right. So that

is why in in church we believe in relationship between

guy to guy, girl to girl. Okay, And accountability is

so important, okay, meaning you you know you're in a

place where you're okay for that person to speak into

your life. Whoever you're discipling, right, you can speak into

their life. You know you are you know, you know

you're you're open for correction. Okay. Sometimes it's good to

share the good times. But what if you need some

correction and someone tells you, hey, maybe this is not

how you should do it. Would you be open to

take those kind of remarks as well? Okay? So that

is why discipleship is a serious thing. Okay. It's not

just okay, I be your friend, that's it. You know,

and we just have good times. But discipleship is when

you truly want to grow, because we know growing is

part of marturing, right, and if you want to marture,

it's also true there not so good things, okay, where

you've got to be open for correction and of course

with the wisdom of God. Yeah, so accountability and what's

important year is through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit

again in order to replicate faithful followers of Christ. So

Holy Spirit is the key year we are empowered to

do that, you know, and that this means that the

person who's discipling you should have a relationship with God. Okay,

just like parents. You know, I have a clique who

is a young parent and and she tells me that

you know, now she's just much more you know, she

has a check in of herself because she knows that

there's a little person who is always observing her. Okay,

what she does, what she where, she moves, right, And

that is how it is with parenthood young parents. Yeah,

going to become parents. So yeah, you know, you just

change the way you you respond to things. It's not

just myself, but now there are others who are looking

up to me. Right, And that is how it is

with discipleship. People are looking to you like a role model,

so your freeed matters as well. So discipleship here is

a lifestyle. You've got to understand that, right. It's a

lifestyle the moment you're in a discipleship relationship, how you

leave your lives. Okay, it's it's never just on a

Sunday thing or only when I meet this person then

I am a disciple. Yeah, but it's a lifestyle. It's

the way we leave live our lives. It is who

we are every day. Okay, it's uh, we are every

day and it's something that goes together. It's not just

a one persons doing all the talking. But it's always

both sides. And so the girls that are under my care,

those who I have the privilege a disciple, I always

tell them that it's both ways. Okay, you can always

come up to me and and you know, tell me

things or ask questions. It's not always about me initiating it, right,

it always goes both ways because what you know, what

boat are growing, right, and so it is about who

we are every day. So if I am not spending

time with the Lord, I won't be able to pour

out to someone else, simple as that. Right, If my

cup is empty, what do I have to pour out

on another person?

You know?

So I've got to first be receiving from God. I've

got to be able to listen to him. I've got

to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, so that I

can also disciple. Are this okay? So this is discipleship

now when we look at the New Testament, and in Greek,

just to give you a bit of context here, okay,

discipleship comes from the word following, okay, or in the

Greek word is called matetas. Okay. Matatas means follow right, follow,

and this comes from Matthew sixteen twenty four. I guess

we're read whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves,

take up their cross and follow me or other versions

versions will say if anyone would come after me, let

him deny himself, or if you're want to be my follower,

give up your own way. Okay. So that is what

it means here when we say follow, or in our context, now,

when you follow someone in Instagram, is it similar? Okay,

you follow influencer? Okay? Sometimes you you you are you

are influenced by the way they do things right, their

lifestyle or maybe I can do that. Also, I can

sing like them, I can dance like them. Uh. And

that's the way the world views. Following right, when you

can be influenced by another person, But following crisier means

that you would choose to deny yourselves, not my ways,

not my dreams and desires alone, but your will to

be done. Yeah, your will to be done. The word

that we referred to just to to just now matatas okay,

also refers to being a learner, right, A learner, a follower,

a pupil, right meaning a student. And that is why

when we look at first Contents eleven one, what does

Paul tells us here follow my example as I followed

the example of Christ is the NIV version, right, So

meaning there is a process. When we read the first

scripture just now, you remember the conversation between the disciples,

that is what was going on. Okay. It was one

person toward another. Jesus was calling this person, this pers it,

who is this well? Is Jesus Messiah? Right? Come and see?

And then they followed and then one person to the next. Okay,

So it's about being able to replicate. It's about being

able to follow Christ and someone follows you as well. Yeah,

that is what it means here. So let's just try

to draw three points that by two they's summon. You'll

be able to just have a deeper understanding of what

discipleship is. And hopefully if you have not been a

part of that relationship yet, you can pray about it

and talk to me or to any of our leaders

about it and we'll be more than happy to journey

with you. Yeah. Right, So the first thing about discipleship

is that disciples follow Jesus. Yeah, Disciples follow Jesus. And

we're not talking about just coming to church on a

Sunday and we are called a Christian. Yeah, but are

you truly following Jesus in your every day, in your

thoughts and your decisions, your lifes? Styll someone sees you,

they know he nick you must be for a follower

of Jesus. Right, Can can someone tell that when they

see you that this person looks different gay, not the

weird way, but okay, but a follower of Jesus. Yeah,

a follower of Jesus. When we look at Mark eight

thirty four thirty five. Summoning the crowd along with his disciples,

he said to them, if anyone wants to be my follower,

he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it.

But whoever loses his life because of Me and the

Gospel will save it. For what does it benefit a

man to gain the whole world yet loses his life.

This is what it means to follow Jesus. Are we

willing to take up the cross? Yeah? Are we willing

to take up the cross? Are we willing to deny ourselves?

I think that's the hardest part if you want to

be real. Yeah, if you're going apart and Jesus says no,

I want you to go here instead, you choose to

still listen to him? Right, denying myself, die to self.

The scriptures tells us that to die to sell so

that we can take up the cross. Yeah. And as

we read on other scriptures here in Matthew four nineteen,

then he said to them, follow me, and I will

make you fishes of men. They immediately left their nets

and followed him. That's literally what we saw just now,

follow me and I will make you fishes of men.

So what God, Jesus. What Jesus teaches us here when

we are called his disciples, is to follow him and

learn from him. That is what discipleship is all about. Right.

When you say I want to follow him, you're willing

to also say, yes, I want to learn God's ways.

I want to learn what his word tells me. Right,

And this is what we can see even in market nine. Okay,

come to me. All of you are labor and heavy laden,

and I will give you rests. Take my yoke upon

you and learn from me, for I am gentle and

lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

This is the promise of Jesus. He doesn't want us

to do it our own way, but he wants us

to be able to follow his ways, right, to follow

his counsel. Okay, this is what he means by following him.

And of course the main requirement here is to be

able to repent. Yeah, to repent, leave our old ways,

and to be able to follow his ways. Yeah. So

what Jesus is calling us to do here is calling

us to come and die, to ourselves so that we

might be able to leave. Yeah. That's the only way,

you know. When we talk about following Jesus, it's not

about let me follow him in some things and maybe

not others. That's not how it works. It's either you

follow Jesus completely or you don't follow him, is that right? Yeah.

If you like someone, it's either you like the person

or you don't like. Right. You can never just be

I like you sometimes sometimes I don't like you. That's

not how it works, right, That's not how friendships works.

If you want to build on something, you go all

the way. And the same thing is with our faith

as well. If you want to follow Jesus, go all

the way. Yeah. Like what they say, don't just be

the lukewarm believers. Be hot for Christ. Yeah, be all

out for him. If you want to do your devotion,

do it right. Yeah, do it right. Spend time with him,

speak to him, read the Word aloud to speak to you.

You don't do just all the talking all the time.

Let God speak to you as well. Yeah. So I

think the question for us to ask ourselves this morning,

as we talk about discipleship and following Jesus, is are

we willing to deny ourselves and to take up our

cross and follow him all the way. Yeah, think about it, right,

think about it. If you've been a believer for some years,

I mean you know yourself. Whether you're a new believer,

then okay, you're taking time to learn to understand the

ways of God the Bible. But if we've been a

believer for a while now, right, then I think it's

a good hard check to ask ourselves that are we

willing to actually deny ourselves? Right? Because we cannot win

if we just keep going our way. Right, and we

know that there is this thing about physical and spirit.

It's walking in spirit. That's the word of God. That's

what the word of God reminds us to walk in spirit.

The things that we see in physical doesn't remain, doesn't

stay on, But what remains is our faith. What remains

is the everlasting life that we're all looking forward or

living right for the coming of Christ. And so for

us to get there, we've got to work in the spirit,

not just the physical. Yeah, physical is just like I said, temporary. Yeah,

So are we willing to deny ourselves? And may we

say denying ourselves? How would that look like? For you,

because these are big words, denying yourselves carrying the cross.

Of course, it's not the physical cross that we're talking

about when we say carrying the cross. If there comes

upon of time in your life when you've got to

choose between your life and God, what would be our

respond to such decisions? Yeah? I know some of you

or I have friends who go through persecution because of

your faith, and I know it's not easy. Yeah, it's

not easy because you've got to stand strong when others

say no, you shouldn't follow Christ. And that is when

your faith is truly tested, don't you think so? Okay?

Sometimes you are so blessed and privileged to be able together.

Church can be an option sometimes, Okay, if I don'tt

if I'm tired a kill, I don't go right, or

I can choose where I want to go. It's an option.

But for many people it's not an option. Right, it's

not an option. It's the only thing that I have,

the only thing that keeps me going, the only thing

that gives me hope Jesus. Right, And sometimes you've got

to come to those kind of circumstances or situations in

life to appreciate our faith. Right, or to be able

to truly recognize what the love of God feels like. Right,

So there is a price you've got to pay. Okay,

let's not just get so comfortable with our faith. That's

what I'm trying to say here. Yeah, we've got to

grow deeper. If we don't grow deeper, we are always

looking for complaints. We're always looking for what is not right,

what is not good. It's always something that has to

be fixed. We're not working on ourselves. Yeah, but if

our focus is always about growing with Christ, our perspective changes,

our heart changes. We no longer just wait for people

to come and give to me. But I want to

give unto artists. I want to serve artists, right. I

want to give my best to him because He has

given me his best. Right. So it is about denying ourselves, right,

It's about denying ourselves. And and when I think about,

you know, following Jesus in my own personal life as well,

I can I can testify and say that. I think

when you go through the toughest times is when you

can you you will really ask yourself the question, am

I still going to believe in God? Even when you

don't see hope. Right, even when you feel like God

is doesn't seem to be working, you know, I can't

feel him. Am I still going to choose to trust him? Right?

And when you still choose to say yes to God

in those times, that is when your faith is tested, right,

that is when your faith is tested. So sometimes it's

just good for you to ask your hearts this question. Right,

are you willing to deny and take up the cross

to follow him all the way? Because no point talking

about discipling others when you can't do that for yourselves. First,

to decid diciple Jesus, I mean to be disciples by Jesus,

be his followers. Are we getting something out of this? Yeah?

All right, It's okay to respond to the word of God. Okay.

Oh God is alive okay, and he is working all right,

So let's just respond to his word, immen. Now. The

second thing about discipleship here is that disciples imitate and

replicate Jesus, all right, Disciples imitate and replicate Jesus. So

the heart of following Jesus is Jesus call to imitate

him and replicate him. Right. So in John thirteen thirty four,

it says yeah, a new commandment. I give to you

that you love one another as I have loved you,

that you also love one another. By this, all will

know that you are my disciples. If you have loved

for one another. If you remember the last time someone

told you a are you a Christian? Or or you know,

if you had the conversation to talk about your faith,

I'm sure that it was because of an action that

you did. It's either you helped the person. It's either

you showed love right or they saw something different in

you and therefore made them to think about, hey, this

person is different. It always comes with action. And this

is what Jesus is asking us to do. Right, to

love one another, because he first loved us. Right, he

first loved us. There are three things here that Jesus

calls us to imitate him. The first thing is his humility. Okay,

well let's start with mission first, his mission. Okay, what's

this mission here? Matthew four nineteen? Then he said to them,

follow me, and I will make you fishes of men.

How many of us are part of that mission? How

many of us are part of that mission? Not stalking

but going for mission strip one of it? But how

about our everyday lives. Okay, are we in that mission

with him? Because when you believe in something, you are

all out with a person. You're always finding ways to

talk about Christ. You're always finding ways to encourage someone

to share your stories. That is being part of his

mission to follow him. Right. The second thing it tells

us here is to be humble. He's humility again Philippines

two five. It says, let this mind be in you,

which was also in Christ. Jesus, who being in the

form of God, did not consider it robbery to be

equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking

the form of a born servant and coming in the

likeness of men. If you're to talk about humbleness, that's

our Jesus, right. He's the son of God. He had

all power, but he walked so humble in the earth

serving people. Do you remember the act of him washing

the feeds of the disciples, and he calls us to

have that servant would heart? Right? And the more you

disciple others, you'll realize that the more humbleness that you need.

Because there are many things that we don't know, there

are many things that we need to learn, all right,

And there are many things that we need to learn

how to respond right humbleness. Okay, And of course the

next thing that he teaches us to replicate is his service.

His service, where he says in John thirteen fourteen, if I,

then your lord and teacher have washed your feet, you

also ought to wash one another's feed. For I've given

you an example that you should do as I have

done to you. Most surely, I say to you, a

servant is not greater than his master, nor is he

who is sent greater than he who sent him. If

you know these things, blessed are you if you do them?

So he says here that he has given us an

example that when he has done that, we are called

to do that. And how a blessing and privilege it

is that we have this example to follow. Jesus himself,

living on earth, he did everything that human could possibly face,

and that is why he can empathize with us. He

lost his friend. Yeah, he went through persecution, he went

through trials, but he still chose to not lose his faith.

And he had his moment when he had to go.

When we read the scriptures before he went the cross,

he went to God and he had his moment praying

and say, God, this is difficult, take this cup from me. Right,

And so he had if I felt everything that human

possibly could feel, and that is why he can feel us.

He can respond to your difficulties as well, and that

is what he's calling us to do to others. If

he can love us empathize, why is it so hard

for us to love others? Why is it so hard

for us to serve others? If God, if Jesus chose,

if he made an option and fell, okay, if I

don't feel like helping you, I don't what's going to

happen to all of us? But he didn't, right, He

went all the way. He went all the way. So

I hope that as we grow in our faith, we

will find ways to do the same to others as well.

You know, even if you look at the person you

say this piction is so difficult to love, ask God

to see them the way God can see. God sees them. Remember,

everyone is so precious in the eyes of God. I've

learned to do that over the years, that when I

see someone who is difficult, in order to relate or

to respond and say, God, can you teach me how

to love this person, Can you teach me to see

him or her the way you see them? And he

opens your eyes, He opens your spiritual lens. Sometimes you're

just so caught up with our physical way of looking things,

so it seems to be impossible because we're humanists, right,

But when we limit ourselves that way, it's going to

be so hard for us to feel God and to

see him work. Yeah, it all starts with having that desire.

That desire, And as we read the scriptures this morning,

rite what does the scriptures tell us? Do not doubt

when you pray. But if there's a little bit of doubt,

then you're actually hindering that blessing from coming into your

life because you're already having second guesses. You're already thinking

what can I do? God doesn't God's way doesn't work.

So how then do you see God working? Right? But

God wants us to have faith in him right, to

have faith in him, so he's service. So the groud

in Christ's likeness is a lifelong journey. Okay, I'm sure

no matter how long a believer you are or how

old you are, you will recognize that it's a continuous

journey to keep learning about Him. To keep being more

like him. No one can actually ever tell that I'm there, right,

because we can never have enough of God. It's a

lifelong journey. It is fueled by hopeful expectation that one

day we will see him face to face. But the

problem is when we choose to say, Okay, that's it.

I think I've done enough. I think I've served in

all the dream teams that I can take a backstage

and just a vackseat and just sit down, let others

serf or I have done it all in my youth age.

And now that i'm older person, like the youngest selfler,

I pray that you'll never to that place, Okay, Because

when a person stops learning, when a person stops putting

things in action, what else is there to live for? Right?

It's always going to be about what am I going

to eat next? What am I going to do next?

Isn't life? It is life all about that, right, But

it's about serving, It's about being there for someone else.

That is true discipleship. Yeah, that is true discipleship. If

you ever have the thoughts in your mind, thinking what's

the meaning of life, I'll give you the answer today.

The meaning of life is to love for another person

is to be there for another person. Yeah, but the

moment you start thinking about, oh, there's nothing else to

live for, then it looks like we are so caught

up with our own lives and that is not what

God intends for us. Even in the smallest way, if

you can be a blessing to someone, it goes a

long way. Amen. Right, So I have a question for

all of us to think about. You know, do our

actions and lifestyle reflect that we are Jesus' disciples? Meaning

I don't have to go around and tell people, hey,

I'm a Christian. I believe in Jesus. Right, it will

be just short sundary right. But you people see you,

they can say, hey, this person is a child of Jesus.

You know this person looks like you know she he

is a Christian? Why because you show life? Why because

you carry the presence of God that when you walk

into a room they can feel that there's a difference.

There can be so much of tension and stress in

the office, But the moment you come in and when

you have conversations, people say, it's so nice to talk

to you. What is it different that you do well?

Because I talk to my God. I believe in Jesus.

I believe that there is hope in him. So let's

do that. You know, if you can think about one

person that you can speak hope to this week, who

would that be, right? If you can choose to do that.

It could be within your home, sometimes your family. It

could be your difficult boss. It could be your colleagues

or a long lost friend you can call and check

in with them. It goes a long way, right, It

goes a long way. And let's not forget that we all,

we all had someone who reached out to us. Do

you remember those times? Okay, someone who came and gave

you the encouragement that you needed, someone who prayed for you.

Or when you and when you felt that I can't

do this, someone say you could do it, and here

you are today. Right, And let's always remember if God

used this, he will use you as well. Amen. Yeah.

So it's about being His disciples, you know, so they

can can people see us as his disciples? Are we

with him in this mission? Okay? Maybe are we making

fits of men? And are we serving with humility? Yeah?

We serving with humility. When I think about discipleship in

my life you know. And how you know I've learned

it along the years is because someone believed in me

when I was a young person. Yeah, I remember when

I walked in. I mean, I've been a believer all

my life. My parents were in ministry, so I been

growing up in church. But I remember when I was

in campus. You know, when I when I first I

was studying in UPM, there was a time I really

caught that the heart of serving. Okay, before that I

was just serving, yes, because I'm a Christian in a family,

but just even catching it was in my campus days,

you know. And so I was thinking campus. I remember

I had a senior, okay, who invited me to church

because I didn't have a car at that time. So

church provided a van to to Subank. At Subank and

so I followed. I followed. That is how I build relationships.

But one of the things that I can remember is

the one to one catchups that they used to have

with me. You know, their leaders, you know who came

all the way to the campus. You have lunch at me.

This is check in how am I doing? How are

your studies right? Those things made me feel that, oh wow,

someone is interested to know what's going on in my life.

And then I remember going for We used to have

huddle meetups, those times you know when you're part of

a huddle. We all meet in one of the leader's

house and we have makan and so one of our

leadership is now in ex Melbourne. Yeah, and so she

used to cook for us because the many of us

were students, and we used to learn the word together.

She used to encourage us. You know. So those moments

have put an impact in my life that I want

to do the same to others. Yeah, but you won't

be able to experience all that if you don't put

yourselves into it, if you don't desire to be discipled

by someone. Yeah. But I'm so glad that I that

decision to be part of that community. You know, I'll

be just so caught up as a student studying and

chasing after grades. What memories could that be? Yeah, but

it's about the faith that I caught at that age.

And then as I went on as my leader moved

on to Melbourne. I remember I was under Elder Rose, Yes,

one of our elders in church, and so there were

a group of ladies that we used to meet. She

used to have one to ones with me, and I grew, Yeah,

I grew from there. And then of course now the

privilege of being with passes Sandra. Yeah, it takes faith,

and it takes a lot of humbleness when you're being

discipled by someone, because you've got to be ready for correction.

There were times when pastors will challenge me, right, there

were times that they will say, hey, why don't you

do this? You've got to be ready to say either yes,

you know, or you know, not be afraid to say yes. Yeah.

And when I think about my journey, even being a planter,

Chish planter, it's been faith. That's all about it. It's faith,

and it's because someone believed in me. Yeah, And that

is discipleship, because someone was journeying with me and they said, hey,

you can do it, even when I felt I couldn't,

and that got me to do what I'm doing. And

the same thing is for all of us here, right,

when someone is there to journey with you, when someone

is there to say hey, you can do it, you'll

want to, right, and you'll take that leap of faith

to keep doing or nudging each other. Okay, Yeah, So

it's about believing in someone, but the moment we don't believe,

or we don't see the person as a potential or

we think that this person can, Then how is God

going to use us to impact their lives? Right, there's

the reason why they are heart of your lives. There's

the reason why they exist beside you. Yeah, it's to

make a difference in them. And when I look at

all these beautiful faces that I hear today, each one

of you have your amazing stories, I'm always encouraged to

see Tyrel. I know Tyrol wouldn't like me to say

this will be shy. Okay, if you remember him dancing

the other day, right, what a testimony is? You know

we have seen him grow from strength to strength and

so passionate for Christ. Well done, Tyrrel. Yeah, and it's

because of the community. There were so many, you know,

many of our leaders who have been journeying together encouragement, prayer.

Not an easy journey, but I'm sure you can testify

of how God has been working in you. Sorry to

put you on the spotlight, okay, but the same is

for all of us here. Right, Let's remember those stories

of how far God has brought us and let's not

just be happy with all that, but to do the

same for others as well. And that's the beauty of

working with young people because when you see them catching it,

running and doing the same for others, can you imagine

what kind of a society a community that we're building, right,

a community of hope. You know that there's so much

more can be done, so much more can be achieved,

no matter how difficult the situations look like, no matter

what the world tells us. But we believe that we're

following Jesus, and I can help others to follow Jesus

as well. Right, That is true discipleship. And my last

point for all of us to think about is that

discipleship is about helping others follow Jesus as we follow God. Right,

we quickly learned that part of imitation is replication, and

I believe Tyrol is going to disciple someone one day. Right,

You've got to replicate it. All of you are called

to do that. Right. Some of you could be parents,

and you're doing that for your children. They are the

next generation. They're catching it and they're passing on to

the next. Some of you could be doing it to

your siblings, right, to your classrooms, its teachers, to Chai

goods here. Okay, we are doing it. Everything that we do,

people are seeing we're modeling it. Even more so if

people know that you're a believer, you need to replicate

the right thing. Yeah, people are watching. Let's replicate the

right thing. So the main thing is, like you say,

it's having a personal relationship with Jesus is great. Yeah,

but it's incomplete if it just ends with us. Yeah.

I pray that none of us here when when God

calls us home, it just ends there. Okay, but people

still remember what you did for them. You might be

called back to him, but people still remember, Hey, Moses

did this for me. He I remember the time he

spent I remember how you know he took time to listen.

And now I'm doing the same for others. Yeah. Our

legacy should continue on, right, Our legacy should continue on.

And if you think about the people who have impacted

your lives, it's not so much about always the gifts

that they buy for you. Well, those things are nice,

but most of the time is the way they spoke

into your lives when you couldn't believe it and someone said, hey,

you can't do it. Right when you and your down

moments and someone said hey, let me hold your hand

and walk with you. Those are the things that you remember. Yeah,

and I hope that we all have the desire to

leave such legacy. Yeah, whatur time on earthier is? You know,

God knows he gives right and it takes. But let's

make it count. Let's make it count. Let's leave our

days as though, like you say, it's the last right

that tomorrow may not come. Can I do something with today? Right?

Can I do something with today? Loving someone, spending time

with them, encouraging them, praying for them, sharing the gospel?

Because what if that person is in your life because

you were men to share the gospel to them. But

if you keep believing in fear of rejection, we're hindering

that person from getting closer to no Christ? Right? So

are we helping others to follow Jesus? You know, there's

there's a quote I read you know if you if

you're if you're not helping other people follow Jesus, I

don't know what you mean when you say you're following Jesus,

because Jesus said, when you follow me, it's about following,

helping others follow me, right, So if you're truly following Jesus,

it means that you're helping others. But if you say

I'm following Jesus and if I'm not doing that, then

maybe it's time to think about it. Am I just

doing the half part of it where I'm just receiving

but I'm not giving. Our fate is created in such

a way where we are called to give, we just

keep it to ourselves. We go through indigestion. Yeah, we

are called to give really love really, that is how

we are created to be very quiet, all okay, Yeah,

so it's important that we understand that when we help

people follow Jesus. Of course, first thing is true evangelism.

That's one way when we do missions. Yeah, when we

have missions, feel free to sign up. We have our

community works that it comes up, right. This is one

way of evangelizing when you go into a community that

don't know about Christ and you've preached the gospel. And

of course the other way is helping others grow in

Christ's likeness, you know, so sometimes having conversation another person,

you know, when you go out for a meal a

or house, the reading of the Word for you, other

devotions that you can you know, share or I don't

understand this thing that's going on in my life. And

then you bring in Jesus perspective into their life that

is helping people to grow in Christ's likeness. Yeah, And

so being intentional with the conversations that you have with

people make it count. Right when you leave that conversation

may be a worthwhile conversation. You know, Yes, they're time

for fun, but there's the time that we also go deeper. Yeah,

And if you want to grow as disciples, it's the

key that we ask hard questions. Okay, we ask questions

that will get them to think about their faith and

desire for more of Him. Right, Let's be intentional. So

you know, it says yeah in Second Timothy chapter two

was one you, therefore, my son, be strong in the

grace that is in Christ Jesus, and that the things

you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit this

to faithful men who will be able to teach others. Also,

this is what Paul says, Right, So whatever I've learned,

you know, you learn from me and you pass it

on to others. So the question for all of us

to think about today as we close y is is

there someone in your life that you're helping them to

grow in their faith? Okay, if you're in a discipleship relationship,

that great, you're doing it, you know you're having conversations. Yeah.

Or it could be a friend in your class. It

could be a friend in your school that you are

checking on them, asking them questions about hey, how are

you doing? How is your faith like? And we're not

just talking about just being a good friend, but being

a christ Like friend. That's a big difference. There. Being

a good friend means, Okay, I just buy you good meals,

wish you happy birthday, right, But a christ like friend

is when I care for your faith. I care for

that spiritual part of you. And there's a reason why

we are friends, because we can edify each other. Yeah.

And so we are not called to leave our Christian

faith alone. Please don't be alone. Yeah, Come, come to

a community, speak to someone, ask for prayer, because that

is what discipleship is all about. Jesus did not do

ministry alone. Do you notice that you always had his

disciples him because he's always teaching them something, right, he

was always passing on something. And when he left earth,

disciples continued, and that's the book of X that we have.

It was evident through all the things that they did

to bring the gospel just invite extreme forward yep. And

so that is the heart of discipleship. Yeah. Firstly is

to follow Christ. Are we followers of Jesus? Yeah? Secondly

is when we follow him, are we replicating it? Are

we imitating it and passing on? And of course the

next thing is that are we actually discipling others? Right?

And so today's message is very much about you know,

what God has been calling our church to do in

this season, you know, and I pray that each one

of us will have a desire to go deeper in discipleship.

You know, whether you're in it, then that's great. Yeah,

But if you're not, then come and speak with us,

because we are all in the busin of wanting to

see your faith grow. Why do we do all this,

It's just to see us grow deeper with Him. That's

the main thing at the end of the day. Right

to grow deeper, to have a hunger enters for Christ

to take ownership of our faith, so that one day

when the person who led you to Christ, who is

always there with you, may not be there, but you're

still holding on to your faith because it's your faith. Yeah,

it's your faith. And you know, this is one of

the things that I'm ever so grateful for what my

parents have left for me. You know, one of them

has been gone, gone with the lot, but one of

the legacies that they have left is the faith that

they've given me right. And so every time I turn

to God, every time I speak to him, I know

that this is the greatest gift that they've given to me,

my faith right, the faith to trust in Him that

no matter what comes, I know that I can call

upon the name of the Lord. So do we can

we leave such legacies as well for others, so that

they know that Jesus loves me, that they know someone

cares for me, and that I'm not alone in this church.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

information on our church, please visit as Church Org. We

are also active on Facebook and Instagram. We're believing that

this week is going to be a good week. I

hit for you. God bless