1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:16,600 Hey, Gochers family, welcome back to week one of our podcast for our series this September 2 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:21,080 called Follow Me. My name is Gilbert and I'm sitting here with Pastor Matt Haddabal. 3 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:22,720 Hey everybody. 4 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:24,480 And we're also sitting here with Joseph. 5 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:25,480 Hey Joseph. 6 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:26,480 Hello everyone. 7 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:30,280 Happy to have Joseph with us for this month during this series. 8 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:34,840 This is a series that is very near and dear to his heart. 9 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:39,680 It's something that Joseph actually prepared and laid out for us for this month. 10 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:43,680 So we're super excited to have Joseph with us on the podcast. 11 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:44,680 Thank you. 12 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:48,120 And to really get Joseph to pour out from his heart. 13 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:49,120 Ahlan wa sahlan. 14 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:50,120 Shukran. 15 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:52,080 So excited. 16 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:57,040 So I'm going to get started with a couple of quick announcement points before we get 17 00:00:57,040 --> 00:00:58,040 started. 18 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:02,360 We made most of our announcements in the introduction week last week. 19 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:04,200 So I'm going to keep this very brief. 20 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:09,560 What I will say is that this is week one out of week three for our podcast. 21 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:13,600 So we're leading into the first week of our grow groups. 22 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:19,200 We're so excited to discuss the theme that we're going to share this week in our grow 23 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:21,520 groups this week. 24 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:28,320 And I will also say that in case you missed the big Sunday gathering, you can always listen 25 00:01:28,320 --> 00:01:31,960 to the message that was shared right here on podcast. 26 00:01:31,960 --> 00:01:38,280 So even though you weren't there, you can still be there with us. 27 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:41,920 With that, let's get stuck right into our series. 28 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:46,640 So our series is called Follow Me. 29 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:55,680 Joseph, what are we trying to really talk about or trying to hone in on this month? 30 00:01:55,680 --> 00:02:05,600 So basically we are trying to highlight the fact that as we say yes to Jesus, there is 31 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:12,600 a lifetime journey of experiencing growth and experiencing discipleship. 32 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:19,200 And that we are going somewhere after we are being discipled. 33 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:23,080 So that's what we are trying to achieve. 34 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:24,080 That's really good. 35 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:29,160 You know why I think that's important for us to take time and just point out is the 36 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:36,040 number of people that I have met when they find out that I have a ministry, they'll say, 37 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:44,400 oh yeah, I went to church when I was a kid or even I believe in Jesus. 38 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:52,640 But what they don't really identify themselves as is I'm in a position where I live in such 39 00:02:52,640 --> 00:03:00,520 a way that the word of God, that the Holy Spirit through the word of God can correct 40 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:01,520 me. 41 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:02,520 Yeah, exactly. 42 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:04,720 They don't live as disciples. 43 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:10,440 It's just they had an event in their life in the past, but it is not part of who they 44 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:15,360 are or their present position where they are in a place to change. 45 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:21,480 Yeah, that's why we always talk about eternal life and the difference between eternal life 46 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:23,160 and afterlife. 47 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:29,800 Because a lot of people think that I believe in God, so it's all good. 48 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:33,560 When I die, then I'm going to have a life with God. 49 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:38,440 But the difference is that's afterlife. 50 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:44,680 Of course there's an afterlife, but when we say yes to Jesus and when we take a decision 51 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:48,000 to live for God, we enter eternal life right now. 52 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:54,480 It's something that we can experience day to day, every single moment of our lives. 53 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:57,400 It's actually something that gets better and better. 54 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:02,360 I remember the other day I was praying in the morning and I started saying this thing 55 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:08,840 where the worst moment of my life is right now because it's going to get better and better 56 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:11,280 and better with you all the time. 57 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:16,560 And that's something I truly believe because I have eternal life, because I have that relationship 58 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,560 with Jesus and because I'm following him. 59 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:25,600 So I'm using the terminology from our theme and our theme is follow me. 60 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:27,560 This is what we're talking about. 61 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:33,120 And I want to read the main scripture for the month. 62 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:40,000 Our main scripture is in the Gospel account of Matthew in chapter 4, verses 18 through 63 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:41,480 the 20. 64 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:50,040 And to put some context to that, this is one of the first encounters that Peter and 65 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:55,320 so Simon and Andrew have with Jesus. 66 00:04:55,320 --> 00:05:02,880 And so here it goes, verse 18, and Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee saw two brothers, Simon, 67 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:09,880 called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 68 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:16,040 Then he said to them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. 69 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:20,440 They immediately left their nets and followed him. 70 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:27,200 What stands out to me right now is the words of Jesus are what we're basing our whole series 71 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:28,360 on for the month. 72 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:32,080 We've broken this down into three portions. 73 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:38,080 This is the light that Joseph has about the scripture is beautiful because we develop 74 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:40,200 this and we talk about this over the month. 75 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:46,040 And this week, so basically what Jesus says is follow me and I will make you fishers of 76 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:47,040 men. 77 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:50,280 This week, we're talking about follow me. 78 00:05:50,280 --> 00:05:55,200 And what's amazing is that in verse 20, it says they immediately left their nets and 79 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:57,040 followed him. 80 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:03,000 There's a corresponding action to what Jesus said and it's beautiful, right? 81 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:12,240 Jesus invites everyone, but we need to have this response to him, to actually follow him, 82 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:19,720 to leave the things we have and follow him. 83 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,680 So this week, we're going to talk about this in our grow groups. 84 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:25,680 What does it look like to follow Jesus? 85 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:28,280 What does it mean to follow Jesus? 86 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:31,360 And so let me ask the question to Joseph. 87 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:33,040 What does it mean to follow Jesus? 88 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:40,680 Well, I love what you said that about the two disciples leaving their nets and following 89 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:42,760 Jesus. 90 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:48,640 It starts with a personal decision that I'm saying yes to something, but also if I'm saying 91 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:52,880 yes to something, I'm leaving something, I'm saying no to something. 92 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:57,120 If you see these disciples, their life was fish. 93 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:03,040 They were like on a daily basis, I can imagine going out, pushing the ships into the sea. 94 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:08,600 This is a lifestyle and this was not just a lifestyle, it was a life earning for them. 95 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,560 So basically they were saying yes to Jesus. 96 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:18,480 They were taking a personal decision to leave something behind and to go towards something 97 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:21,280 that Jesus was calling them to do. 98 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:26,240 So it starts with a personal decision that I need to follow Jesus. 99 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:29,360 I need to say yes, it starts inside of me. 100 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:36,600 So following Jesus, it means that I am leaving something that I have been doing or a way 101 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:43,640 of life that I have been living and I'm going towards something that God is calling me to 102 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:46,200 be or to do. 103 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:48,560 It's kind of like following Jesus. 104 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:55,360 Yeah, I really like what you put in the notes here where the purpose or really the theme 105 00:07:55,360 --> 00:08:00,200 for this week is called for a relationship. 106 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:04,640 So we talked about this, we introduced the subject last week about what discipleship 107 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:14,160 is and we talked about many definitions around it, but I really like the idea of what it 108 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:24,160 means when we're basically leading someone to become or the process of making someone 109 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:31,520 into something and in this case it's making them look and be like Jesus. 110 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:33,240 And that starts with a relationship. 111 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:35,360 Yes, exactly. 112 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:42,080 If you read the scripture, I encourage you to go and read it and kind of point by point 113 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:44,520 follow the story how it happens. 114 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:49,160 It says Jesus saw them and asked them to be on their boat. 115 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:56,720 Jesus made that approach to them and he wanted to go on their boat and use it for ministry. 116 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:02,920 But basically if someone is approaching me in that way, it means that that is a connection 117 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:05,360 I'm making with that person. 118 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:08,320 And after connection, relationships is being built. 119 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:14,680 So you see that Jesus didn't just like wanted to use his boat and just leave, he built that 120 00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:23,240 connection and relationship and that relationship was just not like fish or you know for a certain 121 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:25,560 time it was a lifetime relationship. 122 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:27,320 So that's excellent. 123 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:35,600 Jesus wants to build that connection with us and to build relationship from that connection. 124 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,280 So that is my experience with him. 125 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:44,400 Before that experience that I had with knowing Jesus and building that relationship with 126 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:51,880 him through the years, I had the question where is God and why is he distant from us 127 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:55,200 and why we cannot connect with him. 128 00:09:55,200 --> 00:10:03,640 And those answers, those questions were inside of me for some years and those questions led 129 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:09,000 me to a relationship with Jesus where I asked him to come into my life and like I said, 130 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:14,440 if you exist, come let me know, we'll know you and let's build this relationship and 131 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:15,440 it was amazing. 132 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:20,520 And what have you found so far? 133 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:29,520 It's the most amazing experience that could anyone experience that Jesus himself is coming 134 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:32,000 to your boat and asking to come in. 135 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:34,480 That means like, can I come into your life? 136 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:36,640 Can I introduce myself? 137 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:38,640 Oh, yes, you can. 138 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:46,280 So what I mean, there's so, so much good truth there that we could spend the whole time on. 139 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:50,840 What I want to highlight there is you said it starts with a personal decision. 140 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:58,760 It starts with a personal decision as a result of something that he has initiated God initiated 141 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:01,040 he moved first. 142 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:08,040 The Bible says that God so loved the world that he gave Jesus and the Jesus is there 143 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:13,600 at the shore of the sea of Galilee as a result of and an expression of the love of God. 144 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:21,000 But the point that I want to kind of highlight there that you said, Joseph, Peter's relationship 145 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:25,440 built upon something very natural. 146 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:28,000 There was this very natural connection. 147 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:33,360 Hey, I need a place to stand to talk to this crowd of people. 148 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:35,600 Can I use your boat? 149 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:42,080 And why I think that's so relevant and important for us to highlight is, you know, in our big 150 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:50,160 Sunday, even in a grow group, there are opportunities to connect with what Jesus is doing here in 151 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:52,920 Lebanon in a very natural way. 152 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:53,920 Right? 153 00:11:53,920 --> 00:12:00,240 I mean, there's a host of very natural things that happen every big Sunday. 154 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:08,560 And or just setting out, you know, biscuits or tea bags or something at a grow group, 155 00:12:08,560 --> 00:12:11,720 very natural, but it becomes a connection point. 156 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:16,640 And from that connection point, the relationship of the disciple can grow. 157 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:19,520 Yeah, exactly. 158 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:25,600 So I want to I want to refer to a scripture in Mark chapter three, and I'm going to read 159 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:27,800 verses 13 through to 15. 160 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:30,680 I love this passage. 161 00:12:30,680 --> 00:12:37,520 And he, Jesus, went up on the mountain and called to him those he himself wanted, and 162 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:39,320 they came to him. 163 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:45,400 Then he appointed 12, but they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 164 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:50,400 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons. 165 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:57,480 I like that in this passage, we see that, you know, he called to himself who he wanted. 166 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:00,160 And that's not limited to 12 people. 167 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:05,080 You know, that's that's today, every single person, he's called all of us there. 168 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:10,680 But you notice, you know, we it's easy to focus on what we would consider from a natural 169 00:13:10,680 --> 00:13:14,600 perspective, the dynamic part of that verse. 170 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:20,680 If you if you look at that and you say preaching, wow, that's, that's pretty dynamic and healing. 171 00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:23,680 Wow, that's, that's really spectacular. 172 00:13:23,680 --> 00:13:24,960 You know what that is? 173 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:26,920 That's carnal thinking. 174 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:32,680 That's thinking according to the flesh, because we think, oh, well, this is a big deal. 175 00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:33,960 This is a super big deal. 176 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:36,720 No, the big deal is the first thing. 177 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:43,600 The first thing it says he called them to be with him. 178 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:47,600 Discipleship is the big deal of discipleship. 179 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:48,600 Yeah. 180 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:54,760 You know, what's what's even what stands out to me so much in what you're saying, you 181 00:13:54,760 --> 00:14:00,000 know, the first step is that he he called them that they that they might be with him. 182 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:05,440 And actually, that is the first step to seeing the other dynamic elements, right? 183 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:06,440 Yeah. 184 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:11,440 And you you see that in Jesus, like all those moments where he had big decisions where there 185 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:16,040 were big meetings where there are amazing things happening in between those and before 186 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:19,800 those, he always had moments alone with his father. 187 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:25,960 He would go to remote places and he would spend time, but he would be he would be with 188 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:27,360 his father. 189 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:30,800 And in that being with his father, he would know the heart of his father. 190 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:34,120 He would know what the father is trying to do with that very moment. 191 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:41,400 He would know how to do things, you know, in all of the moments where the religious 192 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:44,200 leaders are trying to trap him in his words. 193 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:49,360 He always knew what to say, how to say it, how to deal with it and how to address those 194 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:53,760 things just the way his father would have wanted him to do. 195 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:57,320 But it all started in those moments alone with his father. 196 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:00,960 It didn't start in those big meetings where everyone's getting healed. 197 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:08,480 It started when he would go up for prayer before light came up and he would spend time 198 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:09,960 knowing who his father was. 199 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:19,960 Yeah, so we're not minimizing the big works, the mighty deeds, the works of Jesus. 200 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:26,560 The highlight here is to shine a light on the fact that the center and the, let's say, 201 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:31,680 fountain from where those things flow is relationship with him. 202 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:34,360 Yeah, that's so good. 203 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:39,440 And I really like this thing that Joseph wrote in the notes about what this follow me mean 204 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:41,520 or what does it look like. 205 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:46,320 And you wrote that it's a transformative journey of faith and obedience and discipleship that 206 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:51,720 brings spiritual growth, fulfillment and a closer connection with God. 207 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:57,440 And it stands out to me because you wrote a transformative journey and that's something 208 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:04,320 that everyone is on, you know, like whether this is day one with Jesus or whether you 209 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:09,880 are the pastor of a church or whether you're called to be an apostle or a prophet or an 210 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:15,800 evangelist or, you know, you're carrying out huge meetings, you are always called to follow 211 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:16,800 him. 212 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:20,000 Like there's never a time where you're done with that, you know, and we're going to see 213 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:26,480 this next week in the illustration, but even Peter, right, Peter, who was a disciple and 214 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:28,720 then was then called an apostle. 215 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:33,800 So it went from being a disciple, you know, a person who is following Jesus, who has been 216 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:39,000 transformed into the image of Jesus, and then someone who sent out to do something, even 217 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,320 when he was an apostle, he was still a disciple. 218 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:46,600 Like that, that never went away, you know, and we're going to talk about that next week 219 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:53,080 because we're going to see that even in that process of being sent out, there was a requirement 220 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:59,280 to be close to the Lord, to understand what the Lord is trying to do, to be, to allow 221 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:07,440 him to, I don't want to say change you because that can sound negative, but to elevate you 222 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:11,920 to a place where he's seeing things, so you can see things the same way. 223 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:18,160 And that applies to me, that applies to Joseph, that applies to Pastor Matt. 224 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:20,720 We're all on this transformative journey. 225 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:25,480 And it's important to recognize that in every single person who we deal with. 226 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:33,080 Yes, and it's important for me to recognize that I need that relationship, and in this 227 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:40,120 relationship I need that making of what he wants me to be. 228 00:17:40,120 --> 00:17:48,040 So it's like, it's for me now, and it's for me for the future where I am going. 229 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:55,240 So this relationship is basically, I'm building it with him, so I can live it with him, and 230 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:57,840 I can be exactly like him. 231 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:03,840 So how am I going to do that is that on a daily basis I'm going to live with him, following 232 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:11,720 him in everything that he teaches me and everything that he shows me and everything he makes me 233 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:12,720 experience. 234 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:20,520 Yeah, to make this practical, you know, and I made mention of this before about sometimes 235 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:32,480 the connection using that word or the way people talk about the things of God or Jesus, 236 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:37,240 they'll refer back to a past experience. 237 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:45,560 But everyone knows me, knows I love this country, I love going to different places in this country. 238 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:50,640 One of my favorite places to visit is Balbac. 239 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:57,760 I've actually been there several times, I really enjoy it, but I don't live there. 240 00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:04,360 It's a place I have visited, it's a place I have been, it's something that I know about. 241 00:19:04,360 --> 00:19:11,480 I don't know everything about it, but I know some things about it, but it's not where I 242 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:12,480 live. 243 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:14,920 I live someplace else. 244 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:17,080 It's just a place I visit. 245 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:24,840 The things of God can't be a thing that we visit on, you know, if you go to a Wednesday 246 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:28,440 night grow group, it can't be the place that you visit on Wednesday night. 247 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:32,080 It can't be the thing that you visit on the big Sunday. 248 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:39,240 It has to be a vital, that's living, that word vital means living, a living relationship. 249 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:43,800 And the result of that relationship is producing change in me. 250 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:44,800 Yes. 251 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:47,160 He doesn't change, right? 252 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:51,200 He is eternal and right. 253 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:57,800 And so if I put myself up against him, I think, well, nope, I got to change this. 254 00:19:57,800 --> 00:19:59,640 Nope, I got to act different. 255 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:01,400 Nope, I don't like that anymore. 256 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:04,080 I'm going to change this. 257 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:05,720 And that's a process. 258 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:09,160 It's a journey and I love the way you put that. 259 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:13,160 And we see that played out in the life of the disciples. 260 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:14,160 Yeah. 261 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:19,880 And that goes back to what we're seeing in Mark chapter three where he called or he appointed 262 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:21,800 12 to be with him. 263 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:26,400 You know, so many were visiting him, but he asked these 12 to live with him. 264 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:27,400 Now the stay with them. 265 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:35,320 The powerful thing to me is in the book of Acts, it says that the people that were not 266 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:41,080 followers of Jesus, when they encountered the disciples, it says that they took knowledge 267 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:48,400 of them that they had been with Jesus. 268 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:49,920 And that's key. 269 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:53,440 And if you're wondering where that verse is in the book of Acts, I would suggest that 270 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:57,400 you start in chapter one and just start reading and you'll find it. 271 00:20:57,400 --> 00:20:58,600 It won't hurt you. 272 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:06,520 But you notice there, the highlight is they took knowledge that they had been with Jesus. 273 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:10,880 I don't know if you've ever encountered people like that in your life, but there's 274 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:17,840 just some people I know that when I'm around them, I know they have been with him. 275 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:20,960 Like they know him. 276 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:24,680 We you know, everyone that's listening to this podcast know that we're also part of 277 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:26,800 Ramah Bible Training College in Lebanon. 278 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:34,720 My very first day as a Ramah student, we had an instructor, this, the instructor came in 279 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:43,120 and began talking and I said to myself, that person knows Jesus more than I do. 280 00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:44,120 Yeah. 281 00:21:44,120 --> 00:21:45,120 Yeah. 282 00:21:45,120 --> 00:21:52,760 And on the subject of knowing it's amazing how and we are talking about following Jesus, 283 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:58,560 the question that I ask myself, would I follow someone I don't know? 284 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:02,720 Or would I follow someone that doesn't know me? 285 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:08,240 And today we have our like relationships in the world. 286 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:15,920 We have friends, we have family and I take advice from my father or my mother. 287 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:18,200 And a lot of times I do that because they know me. 288 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:19,200 They know how I behave. 289 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:21,640 They know my character and everything. 290 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:25,840 The Bible says Jesus said basically this. 291 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:32,680 He said, I know my sheep and they hear me and they follow me. 292 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:35,920 Basically it's easy to follow Jesus. 293 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:41,200 First in the idea, I know that he knows me and I know what he has for me because he has 294 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:46,480 good plans and not of evil so they can give me hope and future. 295 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:53,640 So basically knowing Jesus is because I want to know Jesus because he knows me and he knows 296 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:56,320 what's the best for me. 297 00:22:56,320 --> 00:23:05,240 And that makes it easy for me to open up myself, open up my heart, open up my life to tell him, 298 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:10,840 hey, come and make me know you, make me. 299 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:15,960 It's more easy to follow him and thinking that way. 300 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:16,960 That's so good. 301 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:24,640 I want to share this other perspective that Joseph actually mentioned at the very beginning 302 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:31,360 of this podcast where when you say yes to him, you're saying no to some other things. 303 00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:38,440 And the decision to follow him means that you're prioritizing him over some other things that 304 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:42,960 you might be used to or that seem right to you culturally, that seem right to you in 305 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:47,200 the moment, even that may seem right to you when you were raised and you were told certain 306 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:50,640 things that might oppose what you need to do right now. 307 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:59,000 So an example in our key scripture is Simon and Andrew, they left their boat, they sold 308 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:04,360 everything they had, they moved away from all of that in a day and they followed him. 309 00:24:04,360 --> 00:24:08,240 And to some degree, they didn't know entirely what that meant. 310 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:10,440 They were still asking him questions. 311 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:16,120 The day, even after he was resurrected, the day he went up to heaven, they're still asking 312 00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:19,940 him, so is it now that you're going to reinstate your kingdom? 313 00:24:19,940 --> 00:24:22,080 And is it when is this happening? 314 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:28,600 We talked about those kind of things last month in charge, but they still didn't fully 315 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:31,960 see everything, but they still chose to follow him. 316 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:41,600 And there's a great story in the Bible in Luke chapter 10 that I've heard Pastor Matt 317 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:48,240 teach on this, talk about this quite a few times, and that's the story of Mary and Martha. 318 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,240 Amazing story. 319 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:56,800 It's a great story and there's a lot of truth there and there's a lot that we can pick out 320 00:24:56,800 --> 00:25:03,600 there because basically what we see here is that Jesus is teaching. 321 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:08,600 We see Mary sitting at his feet, attentive, listening to him, listening to what he's 322 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:14,960 saying, soaking it all in, and then you find Martha running around, trying to serve everyone 323 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:20,200 in the house, making sure everyone's comfortable, getting everything ready. 324 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:21,480 She feels a little flustered. 325 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:22,480 She's on her own. 326 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:24,480 She wants help. 327 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:27,600 Are any of them doing something wrong? 328 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:28,600 Not really. 329 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:30,800 They're both doing right. 330 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:38,360 And actually, if you were looking at it from the outside as per cultural norms at that 331 00:25:38,360 --> 00:25:41,400 time, Martha was actually doing the right thing. 332 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:45,600 Not only that, you have to look at the context of the scripture. 333 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:51,400 There's more than 80 people that we can identify more than 80 people in this house. 334 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:57,280 So it's Martha against 80 people. 335 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:05,720 And I can just imagine a couple of the pots start getting set down a little louder. 336 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:10,800 Cabinet doors getting shut. 337 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:20,080 And lots of exhales, lots of, until finally, Martha has just had enough and interrupts Jesus, 338 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:23,720 which I look forward to meeting Martha. 339 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:34,000 Like tell me this story where she says, Jesus, my sister's not doing anything to help me. 340 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:35,320 Here I'm running around. 341 00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:37,200 I've got all these people here. 342 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:42,920 I've already burned this one pot because I wasn't paying attention and had to start over. 343 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:47,040 And the garlic got too brown and now I've got to start over. 344 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:51,120 I don't know what she was making, but I'm sure it was garlic. 345 00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:55,000 Anyway, make her get up and help me. 346 00:26:55,000 --> 00:27:05,560 And Jesus said, there's one thing necessary, which like you said, she's not doing anything 347 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:07,600 bad, right? 348 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:10,680 It's not like she's like, man, I wish all these people get out of the house. 349 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:12,760 I wish Jesus would be quiet. 350 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:15,080 No, she's trying to serve. 351 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:23,000 And there are natural things that do have to happen in order to facilitate ministry and 352 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:29,280 make things, you know, make things better for everyone, make things accessible. 353 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:34,680 But here at this point, Jesus says he points out the thing that Martha is missing. 354 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,240 And that is the one thing that he said. 355 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:38,440 There's one thing necessary. 356 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:39,440 What is it? 357 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:40,440 It's relationship. 358 00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:43,400 Well, yeah, yeah. 359 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:45,480 All the actions. 360 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:50,560 And this is something that's very powerful because you can do, you can spend a lifetime 361 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:58,600 of doing good things and have no relationship and be found empty at the end. 362 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:02,400 Yeah, and exhausted. 363 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:05,400 And that's something we can think about in our own lives, right? 364 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:11,480 How many, the number of times I've said yes to Jesus means that I've said no to some other 365 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:12,480 things. 366 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:17,480 And, you know, if I take a snapshot of where I was like three years ago versus now, I realize 367 00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:19,360 that a lot of things have changed in my life. 368 00:28:19,360 --> 00:28:23,000 You know, there are a lot of people who were in my life, who aren't really in my life anymore. 369 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:29,840 And it was full of some other things that they're not full of anymore. 370 00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:32,840 And Jesus has taken that space. 371 00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:37,880 And I'm not saying that, you know, those relationships were bad. 372 00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:38,880 Some of them were. 373 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:40,480 I mean, some of them were really unproductive. 374 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:45,120 Some of them led me places I wouldn't want to be in today. 375 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:52,800 But at the end, you know, what you say yes to here will mean that you say no to something 376 00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:53,800 else. 377 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:57,680 And like Jesus said to Martha, that there's one thing that is needed. 378 00:28:57,680 --> 00:28:59,440 One thing that is important. 379 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:00,880 Mary has chosen the right thing. 380 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,920 And I can say for myself that I've chosen it too. 381 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:05,520 Have you chosen that as well? 382 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:08,040 That's a really important question to ask yourself. 383 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:11,400 Like, do you know Jesus? 384 00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:16,560 Do you know the call, you know, when he says, follow me? 385 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:17,560 Have you heard that? 386 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:18,640 Are you doing that? 387 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:20,880 Are you doing that on a daily basis? 388 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,040 It's really something to ask yourself. 389 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:28,840 And also, you know, I love, I love what I love in the story that there is this kind of too 390 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:33,720 profiles, the person that is serving with all of her heart. 391 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:36,880 And we can see that because she's exhausted at the end. 392 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:40,440 She was doing it willingly and from all of her heart. 393 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:46,560 And there's the other profile of Mary that she was choosing to be with Jesus and to be 394 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:49,280 in relationship at that time. 395 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:56,760 And I have to remind myself that I am in a constant relationship. 396 00:29:56,760 --> 00:30:01,480 We say that we invite everyone, like if you don't know Jesus, you are not in a relationship 397 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:02,760 with him. 398 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:04,560 You should do that because it's amazing. 399 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:10,720 But I have to remind myself and invite myself daily to be in a relationship with him, especially 400 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:18,760 if I am serving in a church or I'm in ministry or whatever I'm doing in my daily life, I 401 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:22,720 can get easily drawn away from that relationship. 402 00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:30,960 I can easily go away and let this pressure and weight set on my back. 403 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:36,240 And eventually I'm going to like lean down as Martha did. 404 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:39,080 So I think there's a balance here. 405 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:43,120 We need to remind ourselves always that I love the Lord. 406 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:45,040 I'm serving him. 407 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:48,520 But that doesn't mean that I'm in a relationship with him. 408 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:55,520 It means that my servitude is coming out of that relationship, out of my love for him 409 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:57,840 and the faction I'm serving him. 410 00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:03,760 But also I need to make the balance in my time where I'm breaking off of these things 411 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:06,040 and going. 412 00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:09,240 For me, maybe it means reading the Bible. 413 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:11,160 Maybe it means going to church. 414 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:16,600 Maybe it means just spending some time talking to him. 415 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:18,120 There is a reality to that. 416 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:26,920 Jesus says this in Matthew chapter 7 where there are people who say, Lord, I've done 417 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:28,080 so many things in your name. 418 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:29,080 I've served you. 419 00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:30,280 I've prophesied in your name. 420 00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:31,920 I've cast out demons in your name. 421 00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:34,360 I've done this and this and many wonders. 422 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:35,640 And he says, depart from me. 423 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:38,560 I never knew you. 424 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:44,440 Serving him does not equal following him or knowing him. 425 00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:49,720 From the place of following him, like Pastor Matt said, we don't visit him, but we stay 426 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:52,000 with him from that place of staying with him. 427 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:53,000 We're able to serve him. 428 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:54,000 We're able to be effective. 429 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:58,880 Actually, that is the first step to what we're talking about over these three weeks. 430 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:01,160 We're talking about follow me. 431 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:06,240 Next we're going to talk about I will make you and that we're going to emphasize the 432 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:14,200 transformation required and what is required to be with him and to be in that place from 433 00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:16,400 which we can be effective. 434 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:19,920 And in week three, we're going to talk about fishers of men. 435 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:22,120 So he's called us to something. 436 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:23,440 He's called us to a purpose. 437 00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:26,200 He's called us to accomplish certain things. 438 00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:31,640 And we all have a great commission, but we also all have a person, a place in it. 439 00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:40,120 So I want to just take this a little further from Luke chapter 10, universe 39. 440 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:46,000 And Martha had a sister called Mary, which was also sat at Jesus feet and heard his 441 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:47,240 word. 442 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:53,120 Um, the, the setting here is there's a, a group of people, a large group of people. 443 00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:58,000 We know that it's the 70 that followed Jesus plus the 12. 444 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,560 So you know, there's a, there's a good number of people. 445 00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:02,360 They're gathered together. 446 00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:06,000 Jesus is ministering the word. 447 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:13,400 He's, he just says, he heard his word and Gilbert, what is it that you saw his word 448 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:18,480 is his word is spirit and life. 449 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:20,280 What's the truth translation of that? 450 00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:22,200 It contains the life of God's spirit. 451 00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:25,040 It contains the life of God's spirit. 452 00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:35,040 So there is, there is a spiritual thing happening and Martha is doing a natural thing. 453 00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:37,000 And don't mistake this. 454 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:40,200 The natural thing is not bad. 455 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:43,240 The natural thing is necessary. 456 00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:49,920 But because she's doing it without relationship, because she's doing it without the focus on 457 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:58,240 him, her service interrupted the flow of the spirit. 458 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:05,040 The things that God wants to do in and through go church, Beirut are spiritual. 459 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:13,080 They contain the life of God for us and for this nation. 460 00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:15,920 And if we are. 461 00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:20,200 Cumbered about with much serving like Martha, we're very busy. 462 00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:28,120 Um, I, I, I don't have time to, um, to really focus on listening to the podcast. 463 00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:35,040 And hear this message because I'm so busy doing a ministry where we're actually putting 464 00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:42,120 ourself in a position where we're going to wind up like Martha saying, Hey, Jesus, would 465 00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:46,480 you stop what you're doing and help me do what I'm doing? 466 00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:47,600 That's wrong. 467 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:53,400 We need to, we need to make changes in what we're doing and help him with what he's doing. 468 00:34:53,400 --> 00:35:01,440 And if it's, if it's time for him to share the word in Luke chapter 10, I'm talking about, 469 00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:04,880 then the beans can wait. 470 00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:11,520 So the natural things are important, but they come second to him. 471 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:12,520 That's good. 472 00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:13,520 That's really amazing. 473 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:16,480 We're, we're running out of time for this week. 474 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:22,120 I do want to say that in our grow groups, we'll talk about this encounter in Luke chapter 475 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:26,400 10, but we will also talk about another illustration. 476 00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:28,160 So I'm going to introduce this real quick. 477 00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:33,240 It's actually in second Kings chapter two versus one through to 17. 478 00:35:33,240 --> 00:35:37,920 It's a, it's a story about the dynamic between Elijah and Elisha. 479 00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:43,520 So Elijah was a prophet of God and Elisha was a disciple, right? 480 00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:51,640 He was being trained and groomed to really pick up the position that Elijah left for 481 00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:54,760 him and left, you know, left him in. 482 00:35:54,760 --> 00:36:02,200 So like, you know, there's a good example of Mary in this instant. 483 00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:07,960 We're going to look at another good example of Elisha and what he chose to do and how 484 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:15,600 he, you know, he chose that necessary part, like the scripture says in Luke chapter 10. 485 00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:22,400 And as a result of that, he was able to go further and he was able to actually carry 486 00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:26,180 through the purpose of the discipleship. 487 00:36:26,180 --> 00:36:34,840 So like we said, follow me week one, I will make you week two, fishers of men week three. 488 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:39,720 So I'm looking forward to the discussions in grow groups this week. 489 00:36:39,720 --> 00:36:48,040 And I'm also looking forward to talking about, I will make you that portion next week. 490 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:54,160 So with that, I just want to say bless you and thanks for listening. 491 00:36:54,160 --> 00:37:00,240 And as Pastor Matt always says, if no one told you yet today, we do love you. 492 00:37:00,240 --> 00:37:02,840 And the reason I say that is because it's true. 493 00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:25,320 And we are grateful.