1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:16,240 Hello Go Church Family, welcome back to week three of our September series called Follow 2 00:00:16,240 --> 00:00:17,240 Me. 3 00:00:17,240 --> 00:00:18,840 What a great series it's been so far. 4 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:21,520 I'm so looking forward to getting into this. 5 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:24,640 My name is Gilbert and I'm here with Pastor Matt Haddable. 6 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:29,840 Man, I am so glad to be in the middle of this series and I'm glad to have Joseph here with 7 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:30,840 us. 8 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:34,720 Hello everyone, it's a pleasure and it's been fun being with you. 9 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:36,520 We should keep Joseph for October. 10 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:37,520 I think so. 11 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:40,080 Yeah, this has been a lot of fun. 12 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:45,560 We're so glad to have Joseph here as a third voice on the podcast and more than just a 13 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:52,040 voice, you know, he's the person who really put together this series and is taking us 14 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:57,240 through it, you know, he's pouring out from his heart the things that the Lord has shown. 15 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:05,640 And like Pastor Matt has said, Joseph is a model at walking this out, at really living 16 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:12,240 as a disciple, you know, living according to those words of Jesus where Jesus says, 17 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,840 follow me, I will make you fishers of men. 18 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:17,840 Praise God. 19 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:24,520 And it's been such a great journey going through this, going through this topic and unpacking 20 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:30,320 those words of Jesus, you know, who knew that we could sit here all month and talk about 21 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:31,960 one thing that Jesus said. 22 00:01:31,960 --> 00:01:33,520 Yeah, exactly. 23 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:37,880 Because the words of Jesus are full of life. 24 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:38,880 That's right. 25 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:41,640 They are spirit, they're eternal. 26 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,200 These words are containers. 27 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:49,720 These containers are full of something heavenly and holy that is changing us. 28 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:50,720 That's right. 29 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:55,560 And what we're trying to do here is tell you what's in them and also help you unpack them. 30 00:01:55,560 --> 00:02:00,280 And you, this is your part at the end. 31 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:05,800 When we come together and grow groups, we encourage everyone to speak and to share because when 32 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:12,840 you do that, you're not only, you know, listening to the word or understanding that this word 33 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:17,040 is a container and it contains something, but you're taking it for yourself and you're 34 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:21,840 opening this container up and you start to drink from it and you start to experience 35 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:22,960 it in your own life. 36 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:24,320 And this is the starting point. 37 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:28,600 So you know, podcast, grow group, it's not the finishing point. 38 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:30,360 It's the starting point for your whole life. 39 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:35,400 And this is from, this is the point from where, you know, obviously we say we want you to 40 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:39,160 experience the unconditional love of God to grow in his love, but then to go out into 41 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:41,360 your world with his love. 42 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:42,360 That's the way. 43 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:49,360 We open up this container full of the life of God's spirit and we receive it into our 44 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:53,680 lives and we pour it over our lives so that we can do something with it. 45 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,320 And that is the goal of our podcast, our grow groups and everything that we're trying to 46 00:02:57,320 --> 00:02:58,320 do at Go Church. 47 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:03,920 And the purpose of this follow me message is we want everyone at Go Church to understand 48 00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:09,400 that following Jesus is not about gaining biblical knowledge. 49 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:14,400 You know, several people have come to me with the question of like, I'd like to be used 50 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:19,640 as a leader, but I'm afraid if someone asked me a question, I won't know the answer. 51 00:03:19,640 --> 00:03:20,840 Great. 52 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:22,640 You're like everybody else. 53 00:03:22,640 --> 00:03:26,600 Like, we don't know all of the answers. 54 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:32,040 If you get asked a question, if you don't know the answer to, you actually do know the 55 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:33,040 answer. 56 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:35,800 The answer is, I don't know. 57 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:38,340 And but it's not about gaining biblical knowledge. 58 00:03:38,340 --> 00:03:45,000 It's about a lifetime journey of discipleship through every shared experience or like Joseph 59 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:51,120 said, it's putting yourself in a position where you can be discipled. 60 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:52,120 Yes. 61 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:53,120 Yes. 62 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:57,680 So I just want to pick up on that point and you know, I'm going to go back to the scripture 63 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:02,960 that you refer to in 1 Corinthians chapter eight where Paul is talking to the church 64 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:10,480 in Corinth and he says, you know, knowledge puffs up, but love edifies love builds up. 65 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:17,600 And if you, you know, have it in your heart that, you know, I want to step into my position. 66 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:23,360 I want to be a leader, you know, Pastor Matt explains what leader means. 67 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:27,440 Leader means a person in a position of influence over others. 68 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:32,920 Everyone to some degree is a leader in their area and everyone to some degree is a friend. 69 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:34,800 A follower in their area. 70 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:43,360 And if you have a limitation because of knowledge, that's exactly what you're, that's exactly 71 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:46,160 what doesn't qualify you for leadership. 72 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:48,200 Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 73 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:52,000 Our job is to love people into getting built up. 74 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:58,240 Our job is to look around us and see how we can build God's dream home. 75 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:04,960 I love that, you know, Pastor Matt Beamer was an architect and by profession. 76 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:09,960 And, you know, he always, you know, in those times I've talked to him, he brings up this 77 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:14,480 point where, you know, you almost see him building God's dream, you know, and that's 78 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:17,160 something that we're all called to do as leaders. 79 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:19,440 We're not called to answer every question. 80 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:26,400 We're not called to debate in every arena of, you know, knowledge because knowledge 81 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:28,960 puffs up, but love builds up. 82 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:35,800 So it's, you know, I'm going to go back to our, what we've been talking about so far. 83 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:42,120 And we've taken the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter four verses 18 through to 20, where 84 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:47,920 he called Simon and Andrew. 85 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:51,720 And he told them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. 86 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:56,680 We've been looking at those words all month and week one, we talked about follow me, which 87 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:00,640 is a call into relationship. 88 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:04,160 And in week two, we focused on the, I will make you. 89 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:09,760 So we talked about the transformation required, the change required, and that is a call into 90 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:19,440 discipleship because discipleship is basically the process of transformation or the process 91 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:22,640 of change to become like Jesus. 92 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:28,560 And this week we're going to focus on the third and final part, which is follow me, I 93 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,320 will make you fishers of men. 94 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:37,100 And if I could compare, you know, a call into relationship, call into discipleship, I would 95 00:06:37,100 --> 00:06:41,360 say this third part is a call to into purpose. 96 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:43,280 And there is a purpose on that call. 97 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:48,600 And there is a, you know, obviously God has a purpose for your life. 98 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:51,640 But you could never know it, right? 99 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:57,920 And it's important that, you know, both, we both see his purpose in us and we see where 100 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:00,320 we fit in it. 101 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:04,240 And that's really what we're going to, you know, dig deeper on in the discussion today 102 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:06,840 and in the illustration and in our grow groups. 103 00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:10,640 So as we start this discussion, here's a question. 104 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:14,840 How many people do you think live on purpose? 105 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:22,040 I wouldn't say that there's so many. 106 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:28,480 We could say that the purpose that consumes a lot of the energy and the resources that 107 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:37,920 we see around us really is either selfish or it's kind of without thought or without 108 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:39,800 end. 109 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:45,360 And Gilbert, I like what you said this third part, and this is what happens when we follow 110 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:46,560 Jesus. 111 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:54,240 He leads us into truth and we follow him and then he connects us to the purpose that he 112 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:55,800 has created us for. 113 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:57,640 I love that you made that statement. 114 00:07:57,640 --> 00:07:59,320 That's so powerful. 115 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:07,160 It's interesting just in the world, just not talking about church studies, just natural 116 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:10,840 worlds in the world of psychology. 117 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:20,280 They say that the at the root of most depression is a feeling that I don't matter. 118 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:25,040 What I'm doing, the things that I'm going through, the things that I'm experiencing, 119 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:29,320 the things that I'm doing are not making a difference. 120 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:30,920 They have a fancy term for that. 121 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:33,800 It's called self efficacy. 122 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:37,520 But it doesn't matter about the fancy word. 123 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:42,680 The idea that, well, if I wasn't even here, no one would miss me. 124 00:08:42,680 --> 00:08:45,840 That's a lie and it's a lie from the devil. 125 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:50,400 But it's the result of being disconnected from purpose. 126 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:55,840 And Jesus here in Matthew chapter four, he says something to Peter. 127 00:08:55,840 --> 00:09:01,360 He said, if you will follow me, and that's something that anyone can do. 128 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:06,400 Joseph, you said it so well, you said it's a personal decision. 129 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:11,280 The beautiful thing about that is anyone can make a personal decision. 130 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:17,720 I can't make a decision for you, but I can always make a decision for me. 131 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:24,400 If you follow me, Jesus said to Peter, I will make you into something that you are not now 132 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:26,280 and you can't be on your own. 133 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:32,240 I will do the work if you'll put yourself in a position where I can do the work. 134 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:35,800 And the result of that is I'm going to connect you with your purpose. 135 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:36,800 Yeah. 136 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:41,000 And you know that adds value into it the way that you are saying it. 137 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:49,720 You are saying that purpose adds value on what I'm doing and what I'm going through. 138 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:53,280 Because I know I am going somewhere. 139 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:59,120 So the thing is that I have been called to follow Jesus and to be in a relationship with 140 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:06,280 him and I am in the process of the making of someone that I am not yet, but I will be, 141 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:07,560 but that is not in vain. 142 00:10:07,560 --> 00:10:14,960 You know, I am, I am created and I'm being made into something that I am going to be 143 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:19,080 somewhere doing something that is a great value. 144 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:25,480 And I'm not just saying this to say like, okay, you are called as a preacher, you are 145 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:28,240 called as a prophet or evangelist. 146 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:33,520 Maybe you are putting like a cup of water on a table in front of a preacher. 147 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:38,480 That is the value that is added value and that is for a purpose. 148 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:41,360 Maybe you are coming and setting up tables. 149 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:43,200 Maybe you are hosting a grow group. 150 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:47,200 Maybe you are whatever you are doing, you are serving a purpose. 151 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:48,320 There is a value in it. 152 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:54,760 So I say that because I want to put it out there and highlight it. 153 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:58,760 Whatever you do for the kingdom of God, it's not small, it's big. 154 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:04,200 Even if it seems small to you, that's valuable because you are serving a purpose. 155 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:06,080 You are serving God. 156 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:10,320 I want to, I want to just share this little, you know, light illustration here. 157 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:14,440 But have any of you guys watched the Karate Kid? 158 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:15,440 I did. 159 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:16,440 I did. 160 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:17,440 Wax on. 161 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:23,320 Like at some point, you know, there's that very famous part where, you know, his sensei, 162 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:26,240 his master just keeps telling him, you know, wax on, wax off. 163 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:28,040 Keep practicing this wax on, wax off. 164 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:29,240 It's like, what's going on? 165 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:30,680 I have no idea what I'm doing. 166 00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:34,200 It was free labor is what it was. 167 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:40,120 And you get to that point where, you know, that action has no meaning whatsoever. 168 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:47,120 Like there is no consequence to that, you know, that exercise, right? 169 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:48,240 Or what he is doing there. 170 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:54,720 But in one like instant, you realize that this has. 171 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:57,960 This has an application beyond just what I'm doing. 172 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:00,320 And it's a great illustration. 173 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:06,880 And it's, uh, Joseph, I love what you said about the water because it reminds us of the 174 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:11,560 illustration we discussed in week one from Elijah and Elisha. 175 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:21,040 Elisha was known, his reputation was he is one that pours water on the hands of Elijah. 176 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:28,240 And if you think about that, that seems very like not glamorous. 177 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:32,400 Yeah, honestly, very not spiritual, very not spiritual. 178 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:41,160 It's very much sand, sand the floor and wax the car and paint the fence to use the karate 179 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:42,160 kid references. 180 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:45,040 If you haven't seen the movie, you're not missing anything. 181 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:52,560 But my point is the natural things that we're called into that's that process of making, 182 00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:54,720 but there's a connection with purpose. 183 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:59,840 Yeah, exactly. 184 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:04,680 So I want to, I want to ask a question, you know, because we're talking about purpose 185 00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:10,480 and we're talking about a purpose from the context of being a fisher of men. 186 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:15,520 So obviously Peter is a very famous character in the Bible, right? 187 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:18,160 And he's, he's accomplished so many things. 188 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:22,520 So I mean, he went from being a disciple and we talked about him, you know, on week one, 189 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:25,040 week two. 190 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:31,720 And he went from, you know, having obviously his character flows, I want to say limitations 191 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:36,400 and that changing and that developing and he, he does very specific things. 192 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:44,440 So within the church, he, he's actually the first leader of the church in Jerusalem. 193 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:50,440 And he brings, you know, Joseph, you mentioned 3000 people to Christ, I'll say men to Christ, 194 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:51,440 right? 195 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:54,120 And that doesn't include the women and the children in one day. 196 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:56,960 And then over the week, you see like 5000 more people. 197 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:00,520 If you read through the book of Acts, you know, chapter two, chapter three, you see all of 198 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:03,280 this stuff happening. 199 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:10,880 But what if I'm not called into full time ministry, like you mentioned, like, is there 200 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:11,880 a place for me? 201 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:16,280 Like, is there a purpose that I fit in? 202 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:18,680 Yeah, exactly. 203 00:14:18,680 --> 00:14:24,680 Before I speak about that, I want to share this out. 204 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:32,440 The goal in me first starts involving others, you know, others around me. 205 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:39,560 I'm called to be a disciple where we shared about in week two, like I am a disciple. 206 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:45,640 But also the, the goal involves in me that I make disciples. 207 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:49,920 And this is something Jesus shared with, with his disciples. 208 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:54,680 This is the great commission where he says, go preach the gospel and make disciples and 209 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:59,840 baptize in the name of Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 210 00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:04,280 And basically it's what happened inwardly inside of me. 211 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:09,400 I'm sharing it with others and I'm putting it out there to your, back to your question 212 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:21,040 is that the goal in me a lot of times involves apart that I am taking or being apart in his 213 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:28,080 church doing whatever I'm called to do, wherever I see myself fit in and I'm just being there 214 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:29,080 doing it. 215 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:38,720 So it's a piece of a puzzle that I'm, I'm being in to create this big, beautiful picture. 216 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:40,920 That sounds a lot like our belong message. 217 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:41,920 Yes. 218 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:48,360 You know, the go in you, the go in me, that's that borrows from something that we call I 219 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:53,200 go that we're going to begin doing regularly here at Go Church. 220 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:59,600 And it's all about connecting you with your purpose. 221 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:06,320 We think that we not think I'm a hundred percent convinced that if God has called you to be 222 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:13,880 part of Go Church, that there is a part of Go Church in you and God has connected you 223 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:14,880 for a purpose. 224 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:20,760 And so we want to connect you that purpose with the vision of Go Church because that's 225 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:30,440 where not only do you experience the change that develops in you, but Go Church experiences 226 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:36,800 the change corporately that allows it to develop into all that God has called us as a church 227 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:38,600 to be in this country. 228 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:41,840 So I mean, if we, if we go back to the belong message, you just mentioned that. 229 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:46,440 And I think that's a very important, there's a very important illustration there about 230 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:53,200 the building, right, and how Peter actually talks about that in his first epistle about 231 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:56,080 the, the building that is being built up. 232 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:58,360 So if Jesus, that's right. 233 00:16:58,360 --> 00:16:59,360 Yeah. 234 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:01,680 So in that image, Jesus is the cornerstone. 235 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:02,800 He's the foundation stone. 236 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:07,080 He's the first stone that gets used to build a building. 237 00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:13,040 Now if we think of a building before the building is ever built, there is already a plan for 238 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:14,040 the building. 239 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:15,040 How big is going to be? 240 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:16,040 How high it's going to be? 241 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:17,040 How high are the rooms? 242 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:18,040 What's the function? 243 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:20,440 Is it, is it going to contain an auditorium? 244 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:22,080 Is it going to contain a kitchen? 245 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:24,200 What is the purpose of that building? 246 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,160 That is already predetermined, predefined. 247 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:31,400 It's not something that, you know, we change as we start building the building that would 248 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:32,560 be disastrous. 249 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:39,120 So there is a, an exact plan, an exact size, an exact dimension and an exact requirement 250 00:17:39,120 --> 00:17:40,120 of materials. 251 00:17:40,120 --> 00:17:45,040 So you're not going to use tiles to, to build the structure of the building. 252 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:46,520 You need something a lot stronger than that. 253 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:50,720 You need stone, you need steel, you need, you know, you need cement. 254 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:53,640 You need a whole bunch of stuff that is actually going to hold up the building. 255 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:58,680 But you know, you're not going to make a couch out of stones either, right? 256 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:03,040 You're going to make a couch out of, you know, very comfortable material, whatever that may 257 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:04,040 be. 258 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:06,800 And you're going to make the table out of wood. 259 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:12,560 And you know, all of, all of the different materials have a different, have a specific 260 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:15,020 purpose and function within the building. 261 00:18:15,020 --> 00:18:16,600 And it's already predetermined. 262 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:20,800 And that, that is an image that we can carry in our lives. 263 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:28,560 Obviously, if we are a stone that is just sitting on the road or a stone that is out 264 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:30,960 of place, we're not in our place. 265 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:37,000 We're not carrying our weight and we are not within our purpose. 266 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:39,040 We're not within our designed place. 267 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:44,720 So it's important to see it that way that each of us have a place, a purpose. 268 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:45,720 We're all made of something. 269 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:47,320 We all have strengths. 270 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:48,720 We all have qualities. 271 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:53,360 So it's not because I'm not a stone that I don't have value within the house or it's 272 00:18:53,360 --> 00:19:00,640 not because, you know, you are a stone that like you fit everywhere in the house. 273 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:01,640 Everyone has a place. 274 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:03,240 Everyone has a function. 275 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:07,960 And it's so important to understand how God designed things so that we understand where 276 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:09,760 we fit in it. 277 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:19,040 And you know, I can share a personal example on that because for me, I want to people to 278 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:20,040 know Jesus. 279 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:21,040 I want to speak about Jesus. 280 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:25,440 I want to preach the gospel to the whole world. 281 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:30,300 And that is something I want to do like my whole life with Jesus. 282 00:19:30,300 --> 00:19:33,720 But one of the things that I could do, I'm not a preacher. 283 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:38,660 I didn't go into a plane where I traveled the world just meeting every person and telling 284 00:19:38,660 --> 00:19:40,480 them about Jesus. 285 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:46,760 But there's something that I could do and I did is simple practical steps. 286 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:48,720 There's something called that we developed. 287 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:49,720 It's called I'mina. 288 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:54,720 It's a leadership online training program. 289 00:19:54,720 --> 00:20:00,680 It has the same purpose as to train leaders that in the future they might become preachers 290 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:07,720 and shares the gospel and it talks about the Bible and all of that. 291 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:12,880 But for me, it was like just sitting behind the computer, just clicking on that mouse, 292 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:18,720 you know, putting content together, adding questions and spending some time doing that 293 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:20,520 just behind the computer. 294 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:24,200 When you started that, did you know a lot about computers? 295 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:29,720 Well computers for me was about scanning cars and reading wiring diagrams, which I had to 296 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:33,360 develop myself in a whole different direction. 297 00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:40,960 But what I'm trying to say is that you don't have to be a preacher or a pastor or like 298 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:47,280 to be in the five-fold ministries to serve a great purpose, you know, that God has called 299 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:48,280 you to do. 300 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:54,800 It could be as we talked, just putting a water or, you know, installing wires or microphones 301 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:55,800 or speakers. 302 00:20:55,800 --> 00:21:03,200 So we can say it like this, the place of discipleship, where the change is going to happen is in 303 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:06,080 the inside of church, right? 304 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:10,160 Not inside the building, but in the relationships that I have in church. 305 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:16,320 And then the place of going, the primary place of going, the primary place of that connecting 306 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:20,760 with purpose is also going to be related to church. 307 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:28,360 Even if it doesn't, maybe it doesn't mean that you're in front of a microphone, but 308 00:21:28,360 --> 00:21:32,440 there is a place or purpose in church. 309 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:39,760 And the reason for that is, I think, Gilbert, you wrote this down in your notes, Ephesians 310 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:42,280 chapter three, verses nine and 10. 311 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:51,040 The church is God's plan to reach the whole world, all of creation with the message. 312 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:56,080 His plan is to do that through the church. 313 00:21:56,080 --> 00:22:00,080 If you, you know, you think, wonder what God's doing now in these days. 314 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:04,000 It seems like the world is upside down. 315 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:05,720 What is what is the Lord doing? 316 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:07,080 You don't have to wonder. 317 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:11,320 He said in Matthew chapter 16, I will build my church. 318 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:19,760 Jesus today is building strong local churches that know how to apply the word of God and 319 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:24,720 flow with the and cooperate with the power of the Holy Spirit. 320 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:27,120 And that's what he's doing in Go Church Beirut. 321 00:22:27,120 --> 00:22:32,600 And that means that there is a place of purpose for all of us to connect with. 322 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:33,600 That's so good. 323 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:42,080 So if I, if I relate that back to the illustration of the building, the building, you know, is 324 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:43,080 the plan of God. 325 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:47,080 So like, if you're going to be part of the plan of God, you need to fit in that building 326 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:48,440 no matter what. 327 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:52,800 But the building can be used for so many different purposes, right? 328 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:54,960 It can be used for as a school. 329 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:58,920 It can be used as a help me. 330 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:01,240 I don't know, like as a, as a restaurant, right? 331 00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:02,320 It could be used as a home. 332 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:05,200 It could be used as a commercial real estate. 333 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:07,040 It could be used as so many different things. 334 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:13,760 But the way that God's going to do it is through that building. 335 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:15,160 You know, and there, there is. 336 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:20,280 So basically, like you just said, I want to, I want to reemphasize what you just said 337 00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:28,720 Pastor Matt, that the plan of God is the church, but then from the church, we can all 338 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:35,040 go out to different areas and really bless others in different areas of our life. 339 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:40,760 So we could think of, you know, I could bless, I can bless people at my work, right? 340 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:46,200 I can, I can reach people in at the gym, right? 341 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:48,000 I could reach people. 342 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:54,840 How do you say, I can, I can fulfill the plan of God even at home in my marriage and 343 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:58,080 even with my kids raising up Godly children, right? 344 00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:03,320 I could do all of those things, you know, from that place where God has called me into 345 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:05,440 the world that I've been called into. 346 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:11,960 So it's not necessary that, you know, I stay in the church in order to be, to be effective 347 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:12,960 for God. 348 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:18,920 I can go from the church into the world to reach people and to exercise the plan of God. 349 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:21,560 And that looks like different things to different people. 350 00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:30,200 So everyone has a, you know, has a common platform to operate from, but we all go into 351 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:32,840 different areas that God has called us into. 352 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:37,480 And even within the platform, like we just said, we have different strengths and we help 353 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:40,600 build God's plan from different places. 354 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:44,800 So you can either be the external stone or you can be the furniture. 355 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:51,800 Like there, there is everything has equal value to God because we all complete his 356 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:53,480 design and his plan. 357 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:54,480 Amen. 358 00:24:54,480 --> 00:25:00,040 So basically, I think we can say that first of all, we position ourselves in a place of 359 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:05,400 discipleship, then we position ourselves in a place of purpose. 360 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:12,040 You know, in the church, you see a lot of elements, like one of the things I always 361 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:15,240 think of like, I, I cannot lead worship. 362 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:18,760 I cannot sing. 363 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:25,960 And I won't put myself in, in that place, but I know that that is not my purpose, you 364 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:34,640 know, and I'm not going to go in there because, because I see that I'm not called into that, 365 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:37,720 you know, if I'm doing that, I'm out of that purpose, you know. 366 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:43,360 So I'm going to intentionally position myself in the places that I'm called to be, you know, 367 00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:45,880 and to function effectively. 368 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:53,200 So let's, let's take a look at that in scripture in Romans chapter 12. 369 00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:59,040 And love the illustration of the building that you're talking about. 370 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:03,280 And if you, if it's been a while since you've heard the belong message, I would encourage 371 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:09,520 you to go to the YouTube channel for Go Church Beirut and watch belong. 372 00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:11,360 We actually shot it. 373 00:26:11,360 --> 00:26:15,760 We filmed it in sewer, which is one of my favorite places. 374 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:17,720 I love, love sewer. 375 00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:24,160 But anyway, I would encourage you to watch that here in Romans chapter 12. 376 00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:29,480 Paul switches from the illustration of a building to the illustration of a body. 377 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:34,360 But the point is, like the same thing with you're saying with the building, the same 378 00:26:34,360 --> 00:26:41,040 thing as with the body, it is one thing that is made up of many parts. 379 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:46,200 And those parts have to be in the right place for a purpose. 380 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:47,200 Yeah. 381 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:55,080 Romans chapter 12 verse four says, for as we have many members or parts in one body, 382 00:26:55,080 --> 00:27:01,760 and all the members have not the same office or purpose. 383 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:10,760 Verse five, so we being many are one body in Christ and everyone is members of one another, 384 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:13,480 which is an important thing to remember. 385 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:14,640 Right. 386 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:24,120 And I think if you skip down and you see verse 10, it says, be kindly affectioned one to 387 00:27:24,120 --> 00:27:27,160 another with brotherly love. 388 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:33,640 It's funny that you have to write a letter inspired by the Holy Spirit to believers that 389 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:36,600 says, be kind to one another. 390 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:37,600 Right. 391 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:39,000 He knows we need it. 392 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:40,520 It's not an automatic setting. 393 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:41,520 That's right. 394 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:42,520 Right. 395 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:45,440 So this is a divine command here. 396 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:46,560 But why? 397 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:50,240 Because we are members one of another. 398 00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:57,200 Or to go back to belong, one stone supports another stone. 399 00:27:57,200 --> 00:28:00,920 In good company, you talk about the message. 400 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:01,920 Good company. 401 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:09,720 You talk about how we support one another and our ability to support more actually increases 402 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:13,280 our capacity to be used by God. 403 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:17,760 But if you keep reading here in Romans chapter 12, and I would encourage you to do this on 404 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:26,680 your own, you'll see lots of different examples of ministry that maybe don't look like, you 405 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:32,160 know, someone waving their arms, holding the microphone and shouting. 406 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:38,040 Ministry is more than just the single thing of preaching and teaching, although that's 407 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:44,760 an important part of spiritual leadership because it is what God has used to confound 408 00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:51,240 the wisdom of the world to make to make the things that the world say are wise look silly. 409 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:54,840 He chose the silly thing of preaching. 410 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:59,040 But and that's, and we see that in Corinthians. 411 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:02,880 But ministry is very, very natural. 412 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,480 And there are these natural elements. 413 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:11,600 And all of those natural elements need to be done in line with the purpose that we're 414 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:12,960 looking at in this message. 415 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:15,720 It starts with relationship with him. 416 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:18,640 So what I'm doing is not the most important thing. 417 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:20,560 He's the most important thing. 418 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:26,400 And I'm doing these things for him, not for, not for me, not for others. 419 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:32,080 And in doing those things, I'm being changed and I'm being connected to his purpose and 420 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:34,040 his purpose is the church. 421 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:35,640 Yes, that's so powerful. 422 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:40,640 You know, and those the passage of scripture that you, you refer to in Romans chapter 12, 423 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:48,560 if I look at it in the NLT, there is a comparison of, you know, if you have a grace of giving, 424 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:55,080 give generalists generously, if you have a capacity to be a leader, lead. 425 00:29:55,080 --> 00:30:00,840 And in the same breath, if you, you know, if you have the grace to be kind to each other, 426 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:07,200 be kind to each other, it's literally all these parts form the requirement for an able 427 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:09,160 church or an able body. 428 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:11,040 And none of these are unimportant. 429 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:17,280 You know, if we, if we look at the example of, in, this is another example, which we 430 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:22,080 talked about in the Good Company message, which is in Luke chapter eight, you see that 431 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:32,120 Jesus actually begins a tour around of, of some villages and he starts preaching and 432 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:36,920 he starts sharing good news and you know that wherever he goes, there's, there's healings 433 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:39,360 and there's amazing things that are happening. 434 00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:44,560 But in the same passage of scripture, so Luke chapter eight versus one through to three, 435 00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:48,760 it says, you know, he took his 12 disciples along with some women who had been cured of 436 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:50,720 evil spirits and diseases. 437 00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:56,320 And among them he names a number of women and many others who are contributing from their 438 00:30:56,320 --> 00:30:59,400 own resource to support Jesus and his disciples. 439 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:05,920 Like some women who are following had a grace of giving and were supporting, you know, the 440 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:13,440 natural requirement that people have and humans have when they're going out and doing these 441 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:15,960 supernatural spiritual things. 442 00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:19,800 We can all contribute in our own capacity. 443 00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:26,200 We all have a, we all have shoes to fill and we all have a purpose for our lives. 444 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:33,760 You know, whether that purpose is towards the church or even going out from the church, 445 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:42,360 you can see that Paul was very effective in, in different spheres of life. 446 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:46,480 This is not, he wasn't only, you know, he'd always go to the synagogues and you'd always 447 00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:50,720 find him, like when he goes somewhere and you, he enters the synagogue and he starts 448 00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:54,360 trying to share the good news in the gospel, but when they wouldn't receive him, he'd go 449 00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:55,360 different places. 450 00:31:55,360 --> 00:32:00,720 Like you see an Athens, he ends up in, in circles of like prominent philosophers and he'd, he'd 451 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:05,800 preach to them and you know, he'd find himself in Gentile courts. 452 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:13,520 Like he was, he was, he was literally brought in front of Caesar, like the emperor of the 453 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:19,360 Roman empire and preached the gospel, you know, he was used in jail when he was put 454 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:20,360 in jail. 455 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:24,760 He says in, in the letter of Philippians that he reached others. 456 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:30,560 So my point is saying all of that is, you know, whether you're looking at your purpose 457 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:34,600 in building God's plan in the church, you can do it in so many different ways. 458 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:35,840 You don't have to be a preacher. 459 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:38,720 You don't have to stand in the front with a microphone. 460 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:44,480 And if you think that your purpose is limited to church, that's not true. 461 00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:48,440 Your purpose begins at church, but then it reaches outwards into the world. 462 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:53,840 That's the way God designed these things for us to be built up and go out. 463 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:57,400 And we see that example in Paul's life as well, where he went out in so many different 464 00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:02,880 areas and so many different circles and, you know, spheres of, of society and reached so 465 00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:05,080 many different kinds of people. 466 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:06,520 Yeah. 467 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:11,080 You know, I had an experience like that one time. 468 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:18,440 I used to go and, I used to go and visit people, you know, to pray with them or preach the 469 00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:22,440 gospel or whatever. 470 00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:27,600 So there was this, this woman where I, I didn't have a vehicle to do so. 471 00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:33,680 This woman offered me her vehicle, her car, and she always kind of like made that available. 472 00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:34,680 One time I was thanking her. 473 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:37,480 I was telling her, thank you that you are doing that. 474 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:40,600 And how can I thank you in a more practical way? 475 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:43,320 She said, no, you don't have to do that. 476 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:47,120 Your part is to go and do whatever God called you to do. 477 00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:52,400 My part is to provide for that, you know, and that made it so much easy for me to do 478 00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:58,200 what I was called to do, you know, in that time to visit people, talk with them, pray 479 00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:01,120 with them and all of that. 480 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:03,920 Praise God. 481 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:09,600 So how about we, we look at the illustration that we're going to discuss in, you know, 482 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:10,880 the week three grow groups. 483 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:12,960 This is the final week. 484 00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:19,520 And the goal is not only to emphasize that part about purpose, but to tie it all up. 485 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:23,920 And we're really going to talk about the story of Paul, you know, we're going to look at 486 00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:30,560 the book of Acts and see where before he was called Paul, he was actually called Saul, 487 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:36,240 and he was a Pharisee and he was a very, how do you say, very religious type of person, 488 00:34:36,240 --> 00:34:37,720 very, very hard person. 489 00:34:37,720 --> 00:34:41,160 And he was actively fighting the church. 490 00:34:41,160 --> 00:34:48,200 He was actively fighting this movement of people who believed in Jesus and followed 491 00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:50,040 Jesus, talking about follow me. 492 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:51,040 That's what they were doing. 493 00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:58,640 Essentially, they, they, they followed him and he was against that, you know, they, they 494 00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:06,120 initially referred to Christians as the followers of the way, you know, and, and basically 495 00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:12,000 we see this, you know, what, what we see in our, our key scripture, which is follow me, 496 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:14,400 I will make you fishers of men. 497 00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:23,000 We literally see that in the, the, you know, what Jesus did for Paul in the first encounter 498 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:25,880 in Acts chapter nine. 499 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:31,920 And so I want to talk about Acts chapter nine and what's amazing about it is not only that 500 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:39,800 this is what we see the Lord do for Paul, but Paul recognizes that and Paul, you know, 501 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:43,280 talks about these different elements that we've been talking about. 502 00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:45,640 So we've been talking about follow me. 503 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:49,920 We've been talking about I will make you and we've been talking about fishers of men. 504 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:53,480 And Paul recognizes all those three parts and he says it himself and we're going to 505 00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:58,080 pick out some scriptures, which reveal, reflect that. 506 00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:01,680 So let me, let me tell you the story in Acts chapter nine. 507 00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:05,240 So actually, Saul was on his way to Damascus. 508 00:36:05,240 --> 00:36:13,200 He got the rally, the support of the top Jewish, you know, leaders, including the high priest 509 00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:21,680 who commissioned him to go to Damascus and find all those people who are followers of 510 00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:28,240 the way, followers of Jesus and imprison them and bring them to trial in, you know, in the 511 00:36:28,240 --> 00:36:30,520 Jewish court, basically. 512 00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:36,200 And on his way, he has an encounter with Jesus himself, right? 513 00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:42,400 So we see that there's a, there's a bright light and let me, let me read, let me read 514 00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:43,400 a couple of bits. 515 00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:56,840 So in Acts chapter nine, we see in verse four, we see that Jesus says, Saul, Saul, why are 516 00:36:56,840 --> 00:36:58,280 you persecuting me? 517 00:36:58,280 --> 00:36:59,280 Right? 518 00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:01,280 He opens with that. 519 00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:06,600 And then they have a discussion and Paul is asking him, who are you, Lord? 520 00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:12,720 And you notice that Jesus asked, why are you persecuting me? 521 00:37:12,720 --> 00:37:13,720 Yes. 522 00:37:13,720 --> 00:37:17,440 But Paul was persecuting. 523 00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:23,200 That word persecute means, you know, you should look up the word persecution because it means 524 00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:26,120 more than just like call them bad names. 525 00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:28,600 He was putting people in prison. 526 00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:32,060 He was seizing property. 527 00:37:32,060 --> 00:37:41,080 He was causing to be beaten and we know of at least one instance where Stephen was stoned 528 00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:42,320 to death. 529 00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:45,880 So this is, you know, Paul is orchestrating these things. 530 00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:51,560 He's at the center of this, but these are believers in Jesus. 531 00:37:51,560 --> 00:37:59,160 But Jesus shows up and he says to Paul, why are you doing this to me? 532 00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:00,400 Yeah. 533 00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:03,080 That's really powerful. 534 00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:06,080 Honestly. 535 00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:09,920 You notice that Jesus takes his body personally, right? 536 00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:12,200 Yes, he does. 537 00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:13,200 And we should do the same. 538 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:14,800 We should do the same. 539 00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:22,160 So the next time you're tempted to say something about a group of followers of Jesus that don't 540 00:38:22,160 --> 00:38:29,200 sing like we do, don't pray like we do, worship in a different way, you know what? 541 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:35,160 I would just turn those comments to something else, like not say them. 542 00:38:35,160 --> 00:38:36,160 Yeah. 543 00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:39,080 Like would you poke yourself in the eye? 544 00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:41,200 Yeah, that's what I call it. 545 00:38:41,200 --> 00:38:46,240 I mean, you know, if a part of your body is fighting another part of your body, it's called 546 00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:48,080 an autoimmune disease in the natural. 547 00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:49,840 So why would you do it spiritually? 548 00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:52,640 Yeah, makes no sense. 549 00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:58,800 So looking at the story, the first thing we see is that, you know, Jesus tells Paul 550 00:38:58,800 --> 00:39:02,640 I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 551 00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:04,720 It is hard for you to kick against the goats. 552 00:39:04,720 --> 00:39:07,880 Well, he basically is telling him is you're going the wrong direction. 553 00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:11,960 It's not only naturally you're going the wrong direction, but spiritually you're going in 554 00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:12,960 the wrong direction. 555 00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:16,160 You're going against something you should be going with. 556 00:39:16,160 --> 00:39:21,520 And this is the first part of what we've been talking about. 557 00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:23,480 Follow me, right? 558 00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:29,800 It's, he goes on to say he goes on to tell Saul arise and go into the city and you will 559 00:39:29,800 --> 00:39:31,560 be told what you must do. 560 00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:38,120 So there's a point where he's leading Saul to start following him. 561 00:39:38,120 --> 00:39:40,360 So you're going the wrong direction. 562 00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:42,800 Okay, you shouldn't be going in this direction. 563 00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:48,600 I'm paraphrasing now very, very broad, broadly paraphrasing it, but arise, go into the city 564 00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:50,360 and you'll be told what to do. 565 00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:55,840 So there is a point where you see that Jesus interrupts Saul's mission. 566 00:39:55,840 --> 00:39:57,760 He interrupts Saul's thinking. 567 00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:03,120 He interrupts Saul's life and effectively tells him that he's going in the wrong direction. 568 00:40:03,120 --> 00:40:07,480 So he's being called into something else at this point. 569 00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:12,640 And then you see that after that encounter, Saul is actually blinded. 570 00:40:12,640 --> 00:40:14,160 So he doesn't see anything. 571 00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:15,920 He doesn't see where he's going. 572 00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:20,840 You know, he gets led into Damascus and he gets brought into a place and he's sitting 573 00:40:20,840 --> 00:40:24,520 there for three days and he can't see a thing. 574 00:40:24,520 --> 00:40:28,880 And Jesus then sends a disciple. 575 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:35,680 This is literally what he's called ananias is not a, you know, not an apostle, not, you 576 00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:40,160 know, a five-fold ministry office person. 577 00:40:40,160 --> 00:40:44,000 He's just a, I don't say just, that's the wrong word. 578 00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:45,000 He's a disciple. 579 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:46,920 He's a follower of Jesus. 580 00:40:46,920 --> 00:40:48,920 He is in a position. 581 00:40:48,920 --> 00:40:54,800 He's put himself in a position where the Lord can speak to him and he can be changed. 582 00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:55,960 That's right. 583 00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:57,440 That's right. 584 00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:07,000 And so he calls the disciple ananias to go and to meet with Saul and basically lay hands 585 00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:11,240 on him so that he might receive his sight. 586 00:41:11,240 --> 00:41:18,720 And that's eventually what happens and ananias goes in and lays his hands on Saul. 587 00:41:18,720 --> 00:41:23,440 And as that happens, the blindness goes away. 588 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:28,600 So this is an image of seeing a transformation. 589 00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:38,400 So Saul went from not seeing from a place of darkness and ignorance and a place of me 590 00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:42,440 being in the wrong position, me having the wrong attitude, the wrong character, the wrong 591 00:41:42,440 --> 00:41:49,960 mentality to now seeing, seeing clearly, seeing Jesus, seeing what Jesus has for him. 592 00:41:49,960 --> 00:41:51,280 And that is part two. 593 00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:53,800 I will make you, you know, that's just an image of that. 594 00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:59,000 That's a very quick snippet, but you see these things throughout the life of Paul. 595 00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:05,440 And the third part is fishers of men, right? 596 00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:09,480 It's not like Jesus just did this to mess with Paul's life. 597 00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:12,400 You know, it's not like he just did this for no reason whatsoever. 598 00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:16,400 He had a great big purpose for Paul. 599 00:42:16,400 --> 00:42:21,720 And he basically says this, this is the instruction. 600 00:42:21,720 --> 00:42:26,800 He says, go for he is a chosen, this is Jesus talking to ananias. 601 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:32,520 Go for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings and the children 602 00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:33,520 of Israel. 603 00:42:33,520 --> 00:42:37,320 For I will show him how many things he must suffer from my namesake. 604 00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:43,560 This is literally a very big commission, you know, that when, when at that point in time, 605 00:42:43,560 --> 00:42:47,760 remember the gospel never went out outside of the Jews. 606 00:42:47,760 --> 00:42:53,680 Now he's saying that he will, he's a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name and to basically 607 00:42:53,680 --> 00:42:58,720 take this gospel out into the world towards the Gentiles to kings even. 608 00:42:58,720 --> 00:43:00,880 And this is what we see happen eventually, right? 609 00:43:00,880 --> 00:43:05,760 He stands in front of Caesar, the emperor of Rome and shares the gospel. 610 00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:08,600 And so we see that side of the story. 611 00:43:08,600 --> 00:43:12,440 We see Jesus call Saul. 612 00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:17,680 So he says, follow me, I will make you a fisher of men. 613 00:43:17,680 --> 00:43:23,920 And the best thing about all of this and the beauty in all of this is that if you look 614 00:43:23,920 --> 00:43:31,120 at the book of Philippians, you actually see that Saul recognizes this in himself. 615 00:43:31,120 --> 00:43:37,280 He recognizes that I am called into relationship with Christ above all things. 616 00:43:37,280 --> 00:43:38,280 Follow me, right? 617 00:43:38,280 --> 00:43:41,760 I am called into discipleship. 618 00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:48,320 And this is a lifelong transformative journey like Joseph said, like, and it's not done. 619 00:43:48,320 --> 00:43:49,940 I'm going through this. 620 00:43:49,940 --> 00:43:56,120 And then I'm called into a purpose and he recognizes that purpose all the days of his 621 00:43:56,120 --> 00:44:01,680 life until the moment that he says that I'm ready to leave earth. 622 00:44:01,680 --> 00:44:07,120 So we're going to, we're going to take that time and read through those scriptures during 623 00:44:07,120 --> 00:44:09,120 our grow groups. 624 00:44:09,120 --> 00:44:16,120 But I would encourage you to read through Acts chapter nine, that encounter between 625 00:44:16,120 --> 00:44:22,720 Jesus and Saul, and I would encourage you to read through those scriptures that your 626 00:44:22,720 --> 00:44:27,400 grow group leader is going to send out in your groups so that you can have a discussion 627 00:44:27,400 --> 00:44:28,400 about this. 628 00:44:28,400 --> 00:44:30,520 Can I add something on that? 629 00:44:30,520 --> 00:44:31,520 Of course. 630 00:44:31,520 --> 00:44:39,240 I couldn't stop imagine like all I'm seeing all of this events happening with Peter and 631 00:44:39,240 --> 00:44:47,240 Andrew and the disciples or Paul or all the elements that work to serve that purpose that 632 00:44:47,240 --> 00:44:53,160 the Lord wanted to do and the lives of people at that time. 633 00:44:53,160 --> 00:44:59,320 But I couldn't stop asking the question, what if they said, no, what if Peter said, no, 634 00:44:59,320 --> 00:45:01,660 you cannot come up on my boat? 635 00:45:01,660 --> 00:45:04,960 What if he said, no, I don't want to follow you? 636 00:45:04,960 --> 00:45:12,160 What if Ananias said, I don't want to have Paul or Saul in my house? 637 00:45:12,160 --> 00:45:15,240 What would happen? 638 00:45:15,240 --> 00:45:20,760 And the question is, would the purpose of God still be fulfilled? 639 00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:23,800 I think yes, it would be fulfilled. 640 00:45:23,800 --> 00:45:28,960 But the thing is that I always think about is that I'm not going to be part of it. 641 00:45:28,960 --> 00:45:34,600 So what I encourage to do is while you're reading that or hearing this podcast or everything 642 00:45:34,600 --> 00:45:41,880 that you are going through this theme is that think of the things that you are saying yes 643 00:45:41,880 --> 00:45:49,160 and see the big picture behind it or the things that maybe you are saying no to and what that 644 00:45:49,160 --> 00:45:55,920 leads to, you know, is that for me, the biggest like the biggest worry that I have or fear 645 00:45:55,920 --> 00:46:00,680 with we shouldn't have fear or worry, but this is something sacred in my life that one 646 00:46:00,680 --> 00:46:05,360 day I'm going to stand in front of the Lord and I didn't fulfill the full purpose of my 647 00:46:05,360 --> 00:46:09,960 life, you know, because of some things I said, no, I don't want it. 648 00:46:09,960 --> 00:46:17,720 So following Jesus, yes or no, being discipled, yes or no, to fulfill a great purpose, yes 649 00:46:17,720 --> 00:46:18,720 or no. 650 00:46:18,720 --> 00:46:24,120 So these are the questions to be asked, like ask yourself about it. 651 00:46:24,120 --> 00:46:26,120 That's really well said. 652 00:46:26,120 --> 00:46:33,720 I always, it's funny you mentioned that about Ananias and what if he had said no? 653 00:46:33,720 --> 00:46:40,040 Who did the Lord ask before he got to Ananias? 654 00:46:40,040 --> 00:46:42,960 You know, whose name is not in Acts chapter nine? 655 00:46:42,960 --> 00:46:45,360 Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. 656 00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:54,200 And on Matthew chapter four, we know that Peter said, yeah, you can use my boat. 657 00:46:54,200 --> 00:47:02,960 We know what happened after that, but was there a jad who's, you know, boat? 658 00:47:02,960 --> 00:47:03,960 He's like, no, we're closed for today. 659 00:47:03,960 --> 00:47:06,960 But we do know of that story with the rich young ruler, right? 660 00:47:06,960 --> 00:47:07,960 Yes, we do. 661 00:47:07,960 --> 00:47:10,640 We did tell someone to follow him and he didn't. 662 00:47:10,640 --> 00:47:11,640 Yes. 663 00:47:11,640 --> 00:47:20,160 And so there is that important point because when you said in the first week when we were 664 00:47:20,160 --> 00:47:25,400 talking about this, this all starts with a personal decision and the powerful thing about 665 00:47:25,400 --> 00:47:28,400 that personal decision is up to us. 666 00:47:28,400 --> 00:47:34,160 The powerful thing about that personal decision is we can say no. 667 00:47:34,160 --> 00:47:39,360 And when we say no, we're not just saying no to him. 668 00:47:39,360 --> 00:47:43,000 We're actually saying no to the purpose that he's called us. 669 00:47:43,000 --> 00:47:45,680 Yeah, that's big. 670 00:47:45,680 --> 00:47:53,440 Let me ask you this, Joseph, as we, as we conclude this and Gilbert, as you said, this 671 00:47:53,440 --> 00:48:00,480 is a great opportunity for us in grow groups to really dig in and get into the truth of 672 00:48:00,480 --> 00:48:03,600 this in scripture and see it illustrated. 673 00:48:03,600 --> 00:48:11,280 Joseph, as we finish the podcast today, I want to ask you, what's something that you 674 00:48:11,280 --> 00:48:17,320 would say has marked your life as a disciple? 675 00:48:17,320 --> 00:48:27,720 The thing that has marked in my life as a disciple, the thing that I was speaking about 676 00:48:27,720 --> 00:48:36,720 like moments ago is the things that I have said no to and I later on, I knew that it 677 00:48:36,720 --> 00:48:43,440 was leading to a certain purpose or it could build me up more or it enriches my life or 678 00:48:43,440 --> 00:48:45,920 serves like a big thing. 679 00:48:45,920 --> 00:48:49,600 I know, I know this, this is big inside of me. 680 00:48:49,600 --> 00:48:58,120 I know how valuable it is because there's a certain point in my life that I lost resources, 681 00:48:58,120 --> 00:49:05,560 I lost time, I lost people that could have taken me into a certain direction, could benefit 682 00:49:05,560 --> 00:49:09,920 from it, could benefit from it. 683 00:49:09,920 --> 00:49:17,080 Losing these things put me in a place where I started seeing the value in it. 684 00:49:17,080 --> 00:49:26,160 Everything God does, does it through relationships and everything He does, does it for a purpose. 685 00:49:26,160 --> 00:49:34,520 That added value of discipleship in my life or the awareness of discipleship, it put me 686 00:49:34,520 --> 00:49:43,160 on a different direction, a different course in my life where I started having, how can 687 00:49:43,160 --> 00:49:46,280 I say it, to be more rich with God. 688 00:49:46,280 --> 00:49:53,640 It affected the relationship with Him, first of all, then affected me with the relationships 689 00:49:53,640 --> 00:49:59,080 that I have around me, which is the church and the relationships that I'm building and 690 00:49:59,080 --> 00:50:06,280 affected my view of life and the value that I have of life, of what I'm doing. 691 00:50:06,280 --> 00:50:09,920 Yeah, praise the Lord. 692 00:50:09,920 --> 00:50:18,640 One thing that I would say as we finish to kind of wrap that up is you make the point, 693 00:50:18,640 --> 00:50:27,360 we've said this repeatedly about saying yes to something, saying no to something. 694 00:50:27,360 --> 00:50:35,360 What we're really talking about is an unpopular word and it's called submission. 695 00:50:35,360 --> 00:50:38,040 People don't like that word. 696 00:50:38,040 --> 00:50:45,760 But the thing is, submission is access to God's very best. 697 00:50:45,760 --> 00:50:51,640 And the reason is because He's Lord and we're not. 698 00:50:51,640 --> 00:51:00,920 And so if we submit to and submit, by the way, submit doesn't mean agree with submit 699 00:51:00,920 --> 00:51:09,120 means I disagree, but I'm going to do what I'm being told anyway. 700 00:51:09,120 --> 00:51:16,280 And you know, we were just talking about this during the break before we started recording 701 00:51:16,280 --> 00:51:24,880 that at some point, Peter said, I don't really agree with what you're telling me to do with 702 00:51:24,880 --> 00:51:31,960 my fishing nets, but at your word, I'm going to act. 703 00:51:31,960 --> 00:51:42,280 And that act of submission put him in dynamic contact with the power of God, but ultimately 704 00:51:42,280 --> 00:51:46,120 connected him with his divine purpose. 705 00:51:46,120 --> 00:51:52,320 So this is an opportunity for all of us to put ourselves in a position of being a disciple, 706 00:51:52,320 --> 00:51:59,640 a place where the Lord can correct and change us so that we can reflect who He has called 707 00:51:59,640 --> 00:52:00,640 us to be. 708 00:52:00,640 --> 00:52:01,640 Praise God. 709 00:52:01,640 --> 00:52:04,640 Yes, I'm onto that. 710 00:52:04,640 --> 00:52:09,440 Well this has been a wonderful transformative journey. 711 00:52:09,440 --> 00:52:14,600 And I know that we're closing the month, but remember discipleship is a lifelong journey. 712 00:52:14,600 --> 00:52:15,600 Yes it is. 713 00:52:15,600 --> 00:52:17,240 And we keep doing every single day. 714 00:52:17,240 --> 00:52:23,040 So even though, you know, we're going into the month of October and we're going into 715 00:52:23,040 --> 00:52:25,480 a new series, don't let this go. 716 00:52:25,480 --> 00:52:26,480 Keep going in this. 717 00:52:26,480 --> 00:52:27,480 Yeah. 718 00:52:27,480 --> 00:52:28,480 Yeah. 719 00:52:28,480 --> 00:52:32,360 Well, if no one told you yet today, we love you. 720 00:52:32,360 --> 00:52:33,360 We're praying for you. 721 00:52:33,360 --> 00:52:34,360 And God bless you. 722 00:52:34,360 --> 00:52:35,360 God bless you. 723 00:52:35,360 --> 00:52:37,360 Thank you for listening to this message. 724 00:52:37,360 --> 00:52:46,560 We want everyone to experience the unconditional love of God, growing his love and go with 725 00:52:46,560 --> 00:52:48,520 his love to the rest of their world. 726 00:52:48,520 --> 00:52:52,840 We invite you to connect with us at one of our groups or our next gathering. 727 00:52:52,840 --> 00:53:07,720 And if no one told you yet today, we love you and believe God's very best for you.