1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,880 Hey, Go Church Family, welcome back to another series. 2 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:14,880 My name is Gilbert. 3 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:16,760 I'm sitting here with Pastor Matt Haddable. 4 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:18,360 Hey everybody. 5 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:21,480 And I'm sitting here with someone else, Joseph. 6 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:22,480 Joseph. 7 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:23,480 Hello everyone. 8 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:26,600 Hey Joseph, welcome to the podcast. 9 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:27,600 Thank you. 10 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:29,100 I'm so excited to have Joseph with us. 11 00:00:29,100 --> 00:00:30,100 I'm here. 12 00:00:30,100 --> 00:00:31,100 I'm excited. 13 00:00:31,100 --> 00:00:33,920 This is going to be a great month, a great series. 14 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:37,840 And it's special because we're actually three of us speaking. 15 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:41,440 And this is something new, but it's something that we want to do more often. 16 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:42,440 Yeah. 17 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:47,560 It makes the podcast room charged like our last series. 18 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:48,560 That's right. 19 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:49,560 You know, it's amazing. 20 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:51,360 We can never get over our last series. 21 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:52,360 Right. 22 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:54,680 We keep building and building and building on these things. 23 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:56,480 And it's very exciting. 24 00:00:56,480 --> 00:01:01,840 I don't think we ever get away from our series, but you know, we just move forward because 25 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:06,760 we like to unpack different truths and different layers of truths. 26 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:12,880 This is something I heard actually recently on during our E-Mina. 27 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:19,820 But before we get into our series for this month of September, I want to make a few announcement 28 00:01:19,820 --> 00:01:23,520 points as we always do during our introduction series. 29 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:28,480 The first thing I'm going to say is if you, if this is the first time you've been with 30 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:33,120 us at Go Church, Go Church is your place to love, grow and go. 31 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:37,640 We want everyone to experience the unconditional love of God, to grow in his love and to go 32 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:41,180 out into your world with his love. 33 00:01:41,180 --> 00:01:45,800 And we are a Bible based, we're a spirit filled, we're a group space and we're an English 34 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:48,080 speaking church. 35 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:54,760 And we do podcasts like this and we've been doing podcasts like this for nearly a year 36 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:55,760 now. 37 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:56,760 It's been a year. 38 00:01:56,760 --> 00:01:57,760 Wow. 39 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:02,480 We started this in last September and we actually adjusted this format in this way to be able 40 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:05,240 to better supplement our growth groups. 41 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:13,400 Because like I said, we are a group center church and most of our meetings happen in small 42 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:20,520 groups all over the country and at all times across the week. 43 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:24,880 So Pastor Matt, what is a grow group? 44 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:30,000 Well a grow group is something that I don't think it's necessarily unique to Go Church, 45 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:38,400 we just call it that, but it's a group of people that come together and we kind of have 46 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:45,720 four main values that we want to celebrate in our grow groups and one of those is communication, 47 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:53,180 one of those is just being activated, putting the word of God into action. 48 00:02:53,180 --> 00:02:59,040 But then also accountable, being accountable to one another and then something that the 49 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:02,680 New Testament tells us to care for one another. 50 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:08,240 And grow groups are a place where those four things can be front and center. 51 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:15,600 Those four things can be prominent and can be something that we can celebrate together 52 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:18,440 and grow together. 53 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:21,280 I really love grow groups and I really love my grow group. 54 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:28,520 I actually come to grow groups at the moment in Sinai Field at 7pm on Wednesday nights 55 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:37,720 and it's just amazing to walk in and see your intimate Go Church family and be able to share 56 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:42,800 what's happening week on week with them and get to experience life as well as build on 57 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:49,600 the subject of the series and dig deeper together and really take the word that we're presenting 58 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:55,520 now and we're presenting over the month and apply it in our lives and walk in it and see 59 00:03:55,520 --> 00:04:01,880 the fruit of the power that's contained in God's word in our lives. 60 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:06,120 And Joseph, you helped us start a new grow group in Shbeil. 61 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:11,480 Yeah, yeah, it's been amazing. 62 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:17,600 What I love about grow groups and what I have been witnessing in the grow groups of Shbeil 63 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:24,520 is that this added value that everyone brings into each other lives, you know, you start 64 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:29,880 discovering people that you don't know and you are spending this time with them and like, 65 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:31,800 oh, I didn't know this about you. 66 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:39,040 It's amazing and other people coming and sharing their life with you and life experiences with 67 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:40,040 you. 68 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:41,880 It's just rich and amazing. 69 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:42,880 That's excellent. 70 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:52,040 And really that element of sharing is probably the one value that I love about our groups 71 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:55,680 centered focus in Go Church the most. 72 00:04:55,680 --> 00:05:03,360 And one of the things you're talking about grow groups, but all of our groups really 73 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:05,840 start with alpha. 74 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:13,880 Alpha is the Greek letter A, very Phoenician thing, the alphabet, and it starts with A. 75 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:16,720 And we like the word alphabet has alpha. 76 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:18,760 Yes, it does. 77 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:28,920 We do have history here, Go Church of running alpha and we've ran alpha on a big scale. 78 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:30,320 We've done it at hotels. 79 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:37,960 Gilbert, I think you ran, the first alpha you ran was at a hotel in Ashrafia. 80 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:42,280 But so we've run, I mean, you weren't the only one, there were several people that were 81 00:05:42,280 --> 00:05:43,280 running that alpha. 82 00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:45,920 Thank God for that. 83 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,360 But we've done we've done big central alphas. 84 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:54,560 But one of the things I'm excited about is people doing alpha in their homes, you know, 85 00:05:54,560 --> 00:06:02,440 sharing, opening up with friends, neighbors, family, and alpha does all the heavy lifting. 86 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:08,920 And if you're thinking, what is alpha alpha is, well, I like the way you describe it, 87 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:11,400 Gilbert, it's like a themed dinner party. 88 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:19,560 Just bring people over, have some food, and then watch a quick video that presents. 89 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:28,360 Let's say the gospel truth, but in a way that anyone from any background can hear it. 90 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:33,200 And the great thing about alpha is it builds relationships. 91 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:37,000 And everything God does in the earth, he does through relationships. 92 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:39,320 And I think that's what we're going to talk about this month. 93 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:40,320 And that's right. 94 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:46,480 I can give an example on that, like we had one of the testimonies in the alpha, which 95 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:53,080 this young lady came and she came to alpha and after alpha, she is part of Gocher. 96 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:58,800 So her testimony was, I came to alpha, there was good food, there was good company. 97 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:01,280 I made friends, they were nice to me. 98 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:05,280 And then I heard about all of these questions that I had inside of me. 99 00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:10,520 And the Bible started answering them and my life started to change day by day. 100 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:15,680 And now she is part of Gocher and like, it's amazing what's happening. 101 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:16,680 Praise God. 102 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:19,400 Yeah, alpha is a great, a great series. 103 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:25,440 I mean, what I really like about alpha is the fact that we create space for people to 104 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:27,920 come and ask big questions about life. 105 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:30,720 You know, it's a safe space for people from every background. 106 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:33,040 I mean, it's not, you know, we are a church. 107 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:38,280 And obviously as a church, we run alpha, but it's not a church event. 108 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:42,880 Like what it is, is like Pastor Magistrate, a themed dinner party and we invite people 109 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:43,880 from all backgrounds. 110 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:44,880 Everyone's welcome. 111 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:50,640 It's just, you know, we're opening our doors as hosts, as, you know, as members in this 112 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:59,120 house inviting people in just to make a safe, comfortable, respectable space where people 113 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:01,400 can just ask questions. 114 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:08,320 And we, we really sincerely believe that our job is to get people to ask questions because 115 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:09,920 the truth answers itself. 116 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:10,920 Amen. 117 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:14,320 But we don't, we don't need to defend the truth, but we need to present the truth and 118 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:17,840 we need to get people to ask questions about what they really believe and have they really 119 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:18,920 thought about these things. 120 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:21,480 So it's just a beautiful environment. 121 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:26,240 And what always stands out to me is the, like Pastor Matt said, the relationships that you 122 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:30,520 build, you know, there's so much love in the air when you walk into that room and there's 123 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:38,560 so much, so much room to just enjoy yourself and be yourself in such an environment. 124 00:08:38,560 --> 00:08:43,800 So going back to the different things that we do at Go Church, we talked about groups, 125 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:50,960 we talked about Alpha, which is, you know, something that we run both in a central location 126 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:57,160 and also we help and encourage and train you to do this at home if you wanted to. 127 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:02,520 I mean, this is not too difficult to do, it's not too complicated, you're not expected 128 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:06,680 to be a, you know, a preacher or, or anything like that. 129 00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:11,200 But if you have a heart for it, we can always help you to get that done. 130 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:15,360 And you know, if you're thinking, well, these are such new formats, I'm just used to church 131 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:20,840 on Sunday, every Sunday we get in a room, we sit in rows, we listen to someone speak, 132 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:25,560 we listen to how many they say or whatever it is, you know, and then we go and we just 133 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:26,560 have lunch. 134 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:31,640 Well, what we try to do at Go Church, and what we always strive to do at Go Church is 135 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:35,920 look at the model that is in the Bible and the word of God and apply it. 136 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:41,600 So this might be a different type of experience or a different type of church to what you're 137 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:45,280 used to, but this is not new to how the Lord actually designed it. 138 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:50,240 If you look through the book of Acts, if you look through all the letters of Paul to the 139 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:56,680 churches and even the letter of Paul to Timothy, who was the pastor of the church at Ephesus 140 00:09:56,680 --> 00:10:01,440 at that point in time, you see that there are different types of meetings happening. 141 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:05,720 And you see that there are large gatherings of people where they all met together in the 142 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:08,880 temple courts where they all met together in public spaces. 143 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:16,160 But you also see that there are churches in homes, that there are intimate groups of believers 144 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:19,000 getting together in homes just as we do. 145 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:23,760 You also see that the leaders of the church and the believers of the church get together 146 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:28,080 and take time to minister to the Lord, to serve the Lord. 147 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,520 That's what we're also doing in the believers' meetings. 148 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:37,280 So I challenge you to look through the Bible, to look through Scripture and find what we're 149 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:41,360 doing in Scripture because that's what we always aim to do at Go Church. 150 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:42,600 We want to be deliberate. 151 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:44,600 We want to come closer to the Lord. 152 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:49,280 This is actually what the whole series for the month is about. 153 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:51,120 We're titling it, follow me. 154 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:55,200 But actually before I get into that, I remember there is one more announcement point and this 155 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:58,520 is about Rehman and about enrollment for Rehman. 156 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:01,000 Joseph, how excited are you about Rehman? 157 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:02,880 Oh, I'm so excited. 158 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:04,160 So excited. 159 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:10,600 So if you've heard about Rehman before, if you intend on joining Rehman but you haven't 160 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:15,920 enrolled, there's good news, the good news is that the cutoff date for enrollment is 161 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:17,880 September 15th. 162 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:21,960 So if you haven't done that yet, I highly encourage you to do that. 163 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:27,320 We would love to have as many Go Church members in Rehman because we know that this is going 164 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:28,440 to bless you. 165 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:32,520 This is going to change your lives and this is going to make you more effective in what 166 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:34,680 God has called you to do. 167 00:11:34,680 --> 00:11:39,040 So I'm going to ask Joseph to tell us a little bit about Rehman. 168 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:40,840 What is Rehman? 169 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:46,800 Well, everyone, first of all, when they hear Rehman, they ask me the question like, is 170 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:49,120 that the Rehman that we know the word? 171 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:51,400 Yes, that is the word Rehman. 172 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:57,960 But it's not just the word, it's a place and it's a family and it's in Lebanon. 173 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:05,600 So that is the good news that in October, we are launching our first Rehman Bible Training 174 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:08,680 Center here in Lebanon. 175 00:12:08,680 --> 00:12:10,400 And you can be part of it. 176 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:12,920 So if you ask me, what is Rehman? 177 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:17,880 I can say that Rehman is a center of excellence. 178 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:27,040 It's a Bible-based spirit field to train leaders into supportive leadership, spiritual leadership, 179 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:30,200 and societal leadership. 180 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:31,640 And yeah, that's it. 181 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:34,280 So is it open to like every church? 182 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:40,040 Yes, it is open to every church. 183 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:50,800 Basically, we want to empower churches through Rehman, RBTC, and it's available and it goes 184 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:51,920 through the pastor. 185 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:57,960 It comes with a pastor's referral and it has a reporting system where we report and it 186 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:00,680 encourages practical ministry. 187 00:13:00,680 --> 00:13:09,000 So everyone enrolled into Rehman Bible Training College, it has the time of practical ministry 188 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,560 in their own churches. 189 00:13:11,560 --> 00:13:12,640 That's awesome. 190 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:14,040 So how can I enroll? 191 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:18,440 Like if I haven't enrolled yet, which I have, but I mean, if I'm asking on behalf of someone 192 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:22,320 else maybe who's listening to this podcast, how can I enroll? 193 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:26,720 So they are very simple steps. 194 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:33,080 First of all, you can connect with us and we can provide the right information in our 195 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:34,240 social medias. 196 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:39,240 There's in the social media platforms on Instagram, on Facebook. 197 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:43,400 We're all over there and there is enough information. 198 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:47,800 Or I would also encourage you to reach out to Go Church. 199 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:51,680 If this is your point of contact, you can always ask your group leader. 200 00:13:51,680 --> 00:13:54,920 You can always reach out to the Go Church phone number. 201 00:13:54,920 --> 00:14:01,360 You can reach out to any social media platform of Go Church and we'd be happy to refer you, 202 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,800 direct you to the right place so that you can get enrolled. 203 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:05,800 Yeah. 204 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:13,440 And other thing I want to add on that, whenever we hear about Bible schools or Bible Training 205 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:21,240 colleges, we directly think that, oh, this is for pastors or this is for apostles or 206 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:27,800 pastors, so I just want to say it out there that if you are called from the Lord and you 207 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:30,560 want to serve the Lord, this is a place for you. 208 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:34,560 If you are part of a church, this is a place for you. 209 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,400 And we put an emphasis on training leaders. 210 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:39,880 It's not just like a theology school. 211 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:41,280 It is Bible-based. 212 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:46,280 Everything is going to be taught by the Bible, but it's about to build the leader inside 213 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:47,480 of you. 214 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:53,000 And wherever you are called, either to support your pastor, support your church, or you are 215 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:59,160 called into spiritual leadership, or even to be a societal change agent. 216 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:04,520 You know, if you are an athlete, you are your work in business, you are a lawyer, or whoever 217 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:11,000 you are, you feel you need that training to be a leader in the area that God called you. 218 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:13,000 This is a place for you. 219 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:14,000 Yeah. 220 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:20,360 So, having gone through all the announcements, we are now ready to get into what we are going 221 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:21,360 to talk about this month. 222 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:22,920 We are going to introduce the series. 223 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:24,840 The series is called Follow Me. 224 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:31,240 I am very excited because this comes right out of the heart of Joseph and into this 225 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:32,240 potter. 226 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:34,240 Who is an excellent model of this message. 227 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:35,240 That's right. 228 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:40,200 Not just the author of the series, but the truth is demonstrated in his life. 229 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:45,120 Yeah, and we are so excited to have this come out of his heart, you know, through his mouth 230 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:47,640 and share this in the podcast. 231 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:57,240 And, you know, he really helped to build this series up and to basically, you know, lay 232 00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:02,720 it out so that we can study this week on week and apply it in our lives and see how we can 233 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:04,080 grow in this practically. 234 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:06,280 So I am super excited about it. 235 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:11,760 You know, if I think of the words follow me, for some reason I just think of, you know, 236 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:12,760 Twitter. 237 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:19,400 I think of some social media platform where you start following people or following themes 238 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:22,960 or following trends. 239 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:28,440 But I think that brings up a really important question to make this truth practical right 240 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:35,200 from the introduction is the question, how do I follow Jesus? 241 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:39,000 Yeah, it's a good question. 242 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:40,000 Joseph, do you have answers to that? 243 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:41,000 Yeah. 244 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:42,720 I'm going to throw all the questions at you today. 245 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:46,840 Yeah, so, like, I love how you bring it. 246 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:51,360 If you want to follow someone like the first idea comes to mind is that you're going to 247 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:55,280 face, follow them on social media or on Twitter. 248 00:16:55,280 --> 00:17:01,600 But think about it whenever you are following someone on social media, you are paying attention 249 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:06,760 to what they are saying, what they are doing, what they are posting, you are getting not 250 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:12,720 just the content, but you are getting that idea, you know, you're getting the core of 251 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:16,440 what that person is, you are getting familiar with that. 252 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:24,960 And this subject is basically to highlight that as we follow Jesus, this is not just 253 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:29,200 that we are kind of like obeying his commandments. 254 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:35,640 As we hear like, there's this 10 commandments that we have to do, but it's a lifestyle. 255 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:43,760 It's a lifetime journey that we are connecting with Jesus and we are growing with him and 256 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:46,600 doing what we are supposed to do. 257 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:54,920 So where it came from, it came from a lifetime experience that I had with him by the time 258 00:17:54,920 --> 00:18:01,600 that I have known him and decided to follow him until the time that I was in ministry 259 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,160 and I wanted to serve him. 260 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:08,520 And I thought it was magical, you know, it's going to be like a magic wand the Lord is 261 00:18:08,520 --> 00:18:11,000 going to do and I'm going to be that person. 262 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:18,960 But what I experienced that I went through certain experiences in life that made me grow, 263 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:25,800 made me change, made me know the Lord more and know how to serve him effectively going 264 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:29,000 through that time of discipleship. 265 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:32,800 So you mentioned the word discipleship a couple of times. 266 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:35,080 What does it mean? 267 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:42,760 Well discipleship means that I am positioned in a place where I'm seeing, experiencing, 268 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:51,560 and doing the right adjustment towards growth to be someone that I am not. 269 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:52,560 That's excellent. 270 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:55,520 So you would say discipleship is change. 271 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:57,680 Yeah, inward change. 272 00:18:57,680 --> 00:18:58,680 Yeah. 273 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:04,760 So the purpose of this series is we really want everyone at Go Church to understand that 274 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:08,680 following Jesus is not about gaining biblical knowledge. 275 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:09,680 Yeah. 276 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:13,960 You know, the Bible says that knowledge puffs up. 277 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:18,680 If you think about something that's puffed up, it's easy for it to pop, right? 278 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:21,440 And there's no substance behind it. 279 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:24,160 But love builds up. 280 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:30,960 And so following Jesus isn't, if we want to understand how to follow Jesus, sometimes 281 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:33,520 it's important to understand what it's not. 282 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:37,040 What it's not is just gaining biblical knowledge. 283 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:43,120 In the life and ministry of Jesus, he encountered people that were full of knowledge of the 284 00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:46,280 scriptures and yet they didn't know him. 285 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:49,200 They didn't recognize him. 286 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:55,280 So we want everyone at Go Church to understand that following Jesus is not gaining biblical 287 00:19:55,280 --> 00:20:04,080 knowledge but a lifetime journey of discipleship change through every shared experience with 288 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:05,600 the church body. 289 00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:06,600 Yeah. 290 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:08,480 I really like what you're saying there. 291 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:14,400 And you know, leading up to this series, I was just kind of Googling and looking at discipleship 292 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:17,120 and how people define what discipleship is. 293 00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:19,400 And in this context... 294 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:22,480 We don't recommend Googling for answers, by the way. 295 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:23,480 Absolutely. 296 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:25,400 I have a strong filter in my mind. 297 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:30,200 So that's, you know, unless you have that, absolutely go back to podcasts. 298 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:32,240 You know, the best place you could ever go is the Bible. 299 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:33,240 Yes, exactly. 300 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,320 And that's what we encourage. 301 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:38,280 So looking, you know, looking for definitions, it's always healthy. 302 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:39,280 You can go to a dictionary. 303 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:40,280 Sure. 304 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:41,280 It's never going to lead you astray. 305 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:42,280 No, no. 306 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:49,760 But what stood out to me is this definition of the process of making someone become like 307 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:51,920 something, something or someone else. 308 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:58,120 And I like this for a number of layers because number one, it says a process. 309 00:20:58,120 --> 00:21:02,080 You know, it's not something that just happens in one shot, one go, like Joseph was saying, 310 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:03,560 but it's a process. 311 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:07,960 And it's also becoming like someone. 312 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:10,240 It's not like sounding like them. 313 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:11,720 It's not looking like them. 314 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:14,520 It's literally embodying who they are. 315 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:19,920 And that can be so many things, look like so many things, sound like so many things. 316 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:24,640 But at the end, the substance of who you are changes in that process. 317 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:25,640 Yeah. 318 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:26,640 I think that the... 319 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:31,800 Obviously, we're talking about the subject in introduction and we're going to dig more 320 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:32,800 into it. 321 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:43,000 The word discipleship in modern use is sometimes replaced in conversation with the term student. 322 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:48,120 So it connotates that there is a teacher, there is learning. 323 00:21:48,120 --> 00:21:54,000 But the problem with that is it can limit it to just gaining knowledge. 324 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:55,000 Right? 325 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:59,360 If I could, I can go and be a student at a technical school and I can learn something 326 00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:00,360 technical. 327 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:05,400 I can go and learn at something in a university and I can gain some knowledge. 328 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:10,280 But the word discipleship actually comes from the word discipline. 329 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:15,680 And if you think about discipline, if you've ever, if you have children or you have a pet, 330 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:19,160 you probably have had to apply some discipline. 331 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:25,040 If you have ever been a child, you have probably had discipline applied to you. 332 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:33,080 And that discipline is meant to correct something and affect change. 333 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:38,560 And so as if I set myself, like I love the way you phrase this when we've talked about 334 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:43,400 this in the past, that you position yourself as the disciple, you put yourself in a position 335 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:49,720 where he, the master, Jesus, can change me. 336 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:50,720 Yes. 337 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:53,040 You know, I really, I'm thinking about what you're saying. 338 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:57,600 You know, this is something Joseph had mentioned initially when we're preparation, preparing 339 00:22:57,600 --> 00:22:58,880 this series. 340 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:02,080 And it really stood out to me about being a student, being a disciple. 341 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:07,480 And you know, what, what stands out to me is if you're a student, you're learning something. 342 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:10,240 It doesn't mean, you know, you're embodying it. 343 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:12,000 You're just learning about it. 344 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:17,680 If you're being mentored, your mentor is pointing you not to themselves, but to somewhere else. 345 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:23,840 So like your mentorship is basically not learning, but it's someone encouraging you 346 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:25,880 to be someone they're not. 347 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:32,920 But discipleship is encouraging you to be someone that the, you know, the person who's 348 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:34,680 doing the discipling is. 349 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:36,960 And that's why we're talking about follow me, right? 350 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:39,840 We're talking about follow who follow Jesus. 351 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:44,360 And that is the, the essence of the discipleship we're talking about. 352 00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:45,360 Right. 353 00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:46,360 Yeah. 354 00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:53,680 You know, one of the things of following that, if you are following someone, you are following 355 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:55,520 him into a certain direction. 356 00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:56,520 There's a purpose. 357 00:23:56,520 --> 00:24:03,800 You are going somewhere and there's a result that you want to achieve in going in that direction. 358 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:09,680 So my experience with that is that the first time I heard about discipleship that you are 359 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:12,560 a disciple and you need discipleship. 360 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:21,240 For me, the picture in my, in my head, it was sitting in a class and learning certain 361 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:25,520 studies or to be in a Bible school. 362 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:27,280 That is, that is okay. 363 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:28,280 That is correct. 364 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:35,200 Something to do that I am sitting in a place where I'm gaining the, sorry, the enough knowledge 365 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:42,440 and details that they will be inside of me, but they are not going to be effective on 366 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:50,000 until I start applying those things into my life, you know, until they become life experience 367 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:52,720 to me, they're not going to do me any good. 368 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:57,760 So discipleship is somewhere that I am in a place. 369 00:24:57,760 --> 00:24:59,280 I am hearing the word of God. 370 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:00,440 I am being mentored. 371 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:04,080 I'm being taught, but it's not going to do me any good. 372 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:09,880 I'm not going to be disciple until I start applying them in my life and I start experiencing 373 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:16,680 them, you know, being, living those things as Jesus did with his disciples. 374 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:20,520 Jesus didn't teach all the time, but there was like the practical minister. 375 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:26,480 You see it everywhere in the New Testament where he was like talking about something 376 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:30,600 before demonstrating it or after demonstrating it. 377 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:34,200 And I think that that brings up our key verse. 378 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:36,160 I want to read this. 379 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:43,360 This is the main scripture for the series, Matthew chapter four verses 18 through 20. 380 00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:52,320 And the setting for this is the initial call of Peter to be a disciple. 381 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:58,080 And the Bible says here, it says, and Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee saw two brothers, 382 00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:06,000 Simon called Peter and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen. 383 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:13,080 And he, Jesus said to them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. 384 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:15,760 They immediately left their nets and followed him. 385 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:21,880 We can, uh, in other gospel accounts, we can see some more detail about, about what happened 386 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:22,880 at this time. 387 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:31,240 Matthew kind of gives us a summary here, but, um, this, the, the elements of our message 388 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:32,720 are contained right here. 389 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:38,440 What you were just saying, it's not just about, you know, hearing. 390 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:42,280 It's not just about learning, but there is a doing thing. 391 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:50,440 And the change in this verse occurs after the action, not before. 392 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:51,800 Yes, exactly. 393 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:56,920 If you look at this passage of scripture and you see where did change happen in Peter's 394 00:26:56,920 --> 00:26:57,920 life? 395 00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:01,840 It happened following his action. 396 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:08,960 And that is repeated again and again in my life and in your life with the Lord where 397 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:10,920 he calls us. 398 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:12,240 That's his action. 399 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:13,680 And now it's our move. 400 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:20,160 We need to respond, which we talked about in our charge message, respond to that message. 401 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:24,200 And the result of that response is change in us. 402 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:26,320 Yes, exactly. 403 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:31,280 And if you, if you look at the life of Peter, we're talking about Peter, how the God called 404 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:41,400 him after he has shown him the, the net of the, the fish that the Bible says the net 405 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:46,680 was going to be torn from the amount of the fish inside of it. 406 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:51,240 And on that he called him, he said, I'm going to make you a fisher of man. 407 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:58,120 And after you see, after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, he preached to treat. 408 00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:02,640 He preached to the people and 3000 people joined the first church. 409 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:09,720 And you see the effect and the fruit of his decision that whatever happened with him in 410 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:16,000 the beginning, the Lord has achieved, but there was this process of a lifetime walking 411 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:18,360 with the Lord willing fully. 412 00:28:18,360 --> 00:28:24,640 And you can go yourself, you know, read the Bible, know about Peter and the processes 413 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:33,120 that he went, but that was the result of what he went through with Jesus walking by him, 414 00:28:33,120 --> 00:28:40,880 serving with him, you know, experiencing the miracles, experiencing the joy, the failures, 415 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:41,920 even he denied him. 416 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,360 And then he was built after that. 417 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:51,720 So it was a lifestyle for him where he was in that place with Jesus that led him into 418 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:53,600 his destiny and his calling. 419 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:59,160 So if someone who's listening to this podcast is asking this question to you, Joseph, well, 420 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:00,160 that was Peter. 421 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:01,160 What about me? 422 00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:03,480 What would you say to them? 423 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,480 Has God called me like he's called Peter? 424 00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:08,840 Yes, of course. 425 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:13,680 I can say that God calls each one of us. 426 00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:17,400 Well, first of all, we are called for a relationship with him. 427 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:23,560 You know, that's calling to all his children, his creation that he wants to be in a relationship 428 00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:24,560 with us. 429 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:25,560 He loves us. 430 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:29,560 He is a father and he wants to be with his children. 431 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:34,400 So there is a call, first of all, to be in a relationship with him. 432 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:42,840 And there is a call to be discipled, to grow with him, and there is a call to serve him. 433 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:45,560 So what are we going to cover over this month? 434 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:49,760 Since, you know, we're coming to the end of our introduction, or I guess very long introduction 435 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:56,240 podcast, but what are we planning to cover over the weeks in our grow groups? 436 00:29:56,240 --> 00:30:02,680 So I can, I can share about the three points that we want to cover. 437 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:08,800 And it's taken from the verse, follow me, I will make you a fisher of men. 438 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:13,040 So the first point is follow me. 439 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:17,200 That we are called for a relationship. 440 00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:21,880 The second point is I will make you that we are called for discipleship. 441 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:27,560 And the third one is a fisher of men that we are called to go to serve him. 442 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:29,400 That sounds like love, grow, go. 443 00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:31,720 Yes, our values. 444 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:32,720 That's amazing. 445 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:36,000 Well, this has been a wonderful time. 446 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:40,440 I know that we're going to have a great time in this series. 447 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:49,480 And the, the, the practical application of this truth is going to result in change in 448 00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:52,480 us. 449 00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:53,480 Praise God. 450 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:59,600 Well, if no one told you today, we love you and we are praying for you and we will see 451 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:00,600 you next time. 452 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:03,640 Thank you for listening to this message. 453 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:12,160 We want everyone to experience the unconditional love of God growing his love and go with his 454 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:14,000 love to the rest of their world. 455 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:18,320 We invite you to connect with us at one of our groups or our next gathering. 456 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:34,360 And if no one told you yet today, we love you and believe God's very best for you.