Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is
an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,
with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.
We invite you to connect with us from wherever
you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our
mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed
by this week's sermon. about who God is and who
we are in him, everything becomes clearer once
we're in that place. We are in this month of
September, what we call our vision month, spending
time learning about our ministry, learning about
who we are, what we're doing, why we're doing
it this way. And the goal is to create clarity,
create alignment, more integration in the ministries.
hoping that the Lord will bless us with a season
of greater impact for his glory. But before we
do this study this morning, would you please
join me as I pray? Lord, the phrase that resonates
in my mind right now is, you overcame. You overcame.
Thank you. Because it is for that truth that
we can be here in your presence today. Forgiven,
transformed, but there's a new calling. And there's
a power that goes before us into the future that
is unknown to us but not to you because you have
overcome. And Lord, as we reflect on the calling
that you have given us, we know that as long
as you are in it, It's something that we'll be
able to build by your grace, by your power. So
guide us. And even today as we open your word,
I'm asking you, Lord, would you use me in your
power, in your strength, in your grace. In Jesus'
name, amen. Since the beginning of September,
we started this series called Making Disciples
for Global Impact because this is the mission
that we have as a church. This is what we are
here for. We say to make disciples for global
impact because Jesus called us to make disciples
of all nations. But what is unique about ECB
is that the nations come here and therefore we
are impacting the nations by being here. But
then God sends us. Back to other places and therefore
there's that influx of coming and going where
God is using us to make disciples for global
impact. And that is a beautiful opportunity that
we have. We learned last week from Pastor Phil
about the community life aspect of our ministry.
But did you know that when the Bible talks about
being called to grow, is that the calling to
follow Jesus or being a disciple of Jesus, is
a calling to follow Jesus in this journey of
transformation that is marked by seasons of growth
constantly, constantly, constantly until the
end of our lives. It's a journey that never ends.
And that's why when we think of discipleship,
we think of discipleship as a lifelong journey.
A call to follow Jesus and be transformed in
this way. And we learned the first Sunday of
September that when the Bible describes this
calling, it's almost like a seed that is planted
and then it grows and then it becomes fruitful.
That's why today we're going to be reflecting
on this aspect of following Jesus that is this
call to grow. Before I tell you anything else,
I want to tell you a story. A while ago I was
eating an avocado and I liked it and as I cut
it and I opened it and I saw this seed I was
going to throw it away and I thought, I should
plant this seed. See what happens. So I did.
I planted it. Put it in the pot, started watering
it, excited about the potential of something
happening. And a month later, nothing happened.
And then that poor seed was as dead as it could
be. And I realized, oh, I guess it's more complex
than just putting the thing in the ground and
watering it as much as you want. So I stopped
for a while. I didn't think about it until one
day I had a very deep encounter with Chad GPT.
And I thought, let me ask Chad GPT, how do I
do this? I said, I want to grow an avocado seed.
What do I do? So he told me. He said, you need
to take it, wash it very well. Then you're going
to put these toothpicks on the sides. So you're
going to... You know, in a glass of water or
something. Make sure there's enough water just
to touch the bottom. Put it close to enough light,
not too direct light. And just wait for a month
or so until you see a root start coming down.
And then you will see the sprouting and all the
things. And it's like, okay, you know, Chachipitica
has spoken. So you follow the wisdom of it. And
I took that little thing and I put it in there.
And I have something to show you today. So I'm
holding in my hand an avocado tree. And it was
so exciting after the first experience that it
was like, okay, this is the way to do it. Wow,
look, a little root started coming down from
the bottom. That was the first thing that I noticed.
And it was just a little white thing, but I was
so excited you would think I was having a baby,
you know? It's like, and then, a few days later,
a little sprout coming from the top. And it was
like, wow, this thing is alive. And then the
roots started growing more and more. And now
it's like it's filling the space. Really exciting.
The only thing that Chachi Petit says is that
after it grows so many inches, about this much,
you need to cut it so that the roots will grow
stronger and it will grow again. But it's like,
it's like my baby, you know, I don't want to
hurt it. Not sure I want to like grow, you know.
But this is what it came up. And you may say,
well, Pastor Pablo, you are not really holding.
An avocado tree is just a seed that sprouted.
But isn't it right that this is no longer just
a seed, but this is an avocado tree in the making?
Yeah. It is going that direction. It was designed
for that. As long as the conditions for life
happen, then it will take off. Yeah, the concern
now that this thing is growing is how long is
it going to grow and how big it becomes. What
am I going to do when it becomes bigger? I haven't
thought that far yet. Chagipiti will be another
question. But I know that you want to see it.
You want to take a picture of it, I know. So
I'm going to put it here in front. So you can
see it later, my little avocado baby. Okay. But
the Bible says that we are like that avocado
tree. It describes our following Jesus as a journey
of being planted and then watered and then growing.
That is the direction that God has for us. That's
what discipleship is about. And the problem is
that if we have wrong ideas, you might just become
like the seed. It's seed and it's planted, but
there's nothing happening with it. And there
are three misconceptions that keep people from
growing into this journey of becoming a mature,
fruitful tree. The first thing is that people
have their own perspective. They think, oh, following
Jesus is, I believe in Jesus, so I'll die and
go to heaven. So I'm waiting. for the rest of
my life to die so I can go to heaven. And they
don't realize, no, no, no. Going to heaven is
a destination. It's part of the journey. But
salvation is not a destination. Salvation is
a journey that leads you there. But it's the
here and now, this relationship with Jesus and
the Holy Spirit that he has given us that is
calling us to experience this transformation.
So the wrong perspective can hold you back from
engaging. The other wrong perspective is the
wrong attitude that people have, thinking that
this growth will happen by default. No, it is
very intentional. You don't become mature one
day when you wake up and it's like, I'm more
mature today. No, this spiritual growth happens
intentionally, the right conditions, the right
investment of your time and your effort in growing.
So the wrong attitude about it can hold you back.
And some people also have the wrong focus. They
make growth all about self -improvement. And
they don't realize that, no, this growth that
is happening in me is for actually to become
a fruitful tree that can give fruit so that it
can impact. This little tree becomes a tree and
a fruitful tree that will give more avocados
that will have seeds in them that can plant more
avocados and become more trees. And so the cycle
continues. Discipleship and this call to growth
is not really about me. It's about creating the
space for God's grace and power to flow through
me for fruitful impact. That's why when we talk
about this journey, It's a journey towards spiritual
maturity. The Apostle Paul put it very clearly.
He said to the people, look, guys, imitate me
like I'm imitating Jesus. So it's like, oh, you're
becoming more Christ -like, and therefore, if
you're more Christ -like, I can imitate you because
you, imitating you is imitating Jesus. It's the
same thing. We're growing in that Christ -likeness.
And that's why we can simply say that spiritual
maturity is basically learning to think, knowledge,
understanding, and live, act like Jesus. The
more I think and act like Jesus, the more mature
I am. I'm no longer just a little plant. Now
I'm growing. And before you know it, you're a
fruitful tree. That is that journey. And therefore
when we say that God has called us to make disciples
for global impact. We are saying that God has
called our community, all of us, to engage in
a personal relationship with Jesus and the Holy
Spirit to pursue this calling for growth so that
we can engage in that calling and experience
it. Therefore, we have to create the systems
in place to make sure that we have the right
conditions for this life to happen. And for that,
we do not need Chad GPT. For that, we need the
Bible. Because the Bible tells us what the right
conditions are for all of this. I would like
to take a look at what the Bible says about this
growth. What does it look like? What are those
traits that are in mind when we are talking about
growing in spiritual maturity? And for that we
have to understand a couple of things. First,
remember that the Apostle Paul during his second
missionary journey. He went all the way to Greece
in Corinth, and he planted a church there, and
he wrote two letters to them later, 1 and 2 Corinthians.
And in fact, today you can still go and visit
the city of Corinth, and you can go and visit
the ruins of the ancient Corinth where the Apostle
Paul was. And even when you go to Athens, you
can see some areas where the Apostle Paul went.
And there's even a big sign in Greek and in English
there that has a quotation from the book of Acts
of the speech that the Apostle Paul gave during
that trip. So what is exciting about all of those
things is that they are historical. They really
happened. So as we are reading this text, we
are engaging with history. How the apostles engaged
with the first Christians to remind them about
this journey. I want to know what that is. But
then the second thing is that the Christians
that were in Jerusalem, that first generation
of Christians ever, they were there in Jerusalem,
but their persecution started happening, so they
had to flee Jerusalem, and they spread out all
throughout the Roman Empire. So you have... Two
types of Christians now in the first generation
of the first century. The Christians that heard
the message through the Apostle Paul and the
churches that were planted. And the Christians
from Jerusalem that were primarily Jew Christians,
Messianic Christians, Messianic Jews, who left
there and they started joining some of these
other churches throughout the empire. So therefore,
both the Apostle Paul and people like the Apostle
Peter, they write these letters to all of them.
About this journey. So we are going to look at
some of them. But before reading it. I remember
something. You know when you have a baby now.
And you are in the era of Wi -Fi technology.
You know one of the things that people do. They
want to have a baby monitor. Because they want
to see and they want to hear that baby. By the
way, you don't need to. Enjoy the quietness while
you have it. But, yeah, no, no. We want to see,
we want to hear, and we can put that thing there,
and I can get my phone, I can look at the app,
I can be in another country and see my baby through
it. But a side effect of that is that anybody
that walks into the room and starts talking,
I can eardrop. I can hear all these conversations
that are happening. Without them even knowing.
And sometimes they're interesting conversations
and sometimes you don't want to know anything.
Wouldn't it be cool if we can give the Apostle
Paul a baby monitor, the Apostle Peter a baby
monitor to help us see what's happening in their
journeys and their conversations? Well, that's
what we're going to do today. We're going to
give them one because I want to listen to some
of those conversations. See what is going on.
And what do we learn from it? The first conversation,
the Apostle Paul with the Christians in Corinth,
is very personal and actually a little bit kind
of direct. And this is what I start hearing when
I listen to that conversation. Brothers and sisters,
I could not address you as people who live by
the Spirit, but as people who are still worldly.
Just infants in Christ. Little babies. Childish.
I gave you milk, not solid food. Oh, no. You
couldn't handle it because you were not ready
for it yet. You were still these immature little
babies. Indeed, even until now, you're still
not ready because you are still worldly. For
since there is jealousy and quarreling among
you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting
like mere humans? It's like, now he really got
my attention. What is he talking about? What's
going on? I want to know more. Well, for one
says, I follow Paul. And another says, well,
I follow Apollos. Are you not acting like mere
human beings when you are just talking like that?
Are you really that childish? And it's like,
okay, now I'm a little bit uncomfortable. I shouldn't
be listening to this conversation because it's
too personal, so I'll stop there. But now I'm
thinking, wow, am I an infant? Am I childish?
Am I worldly? He gave us these categories. On
the one hand, he says, look. You're either an
infant, worldly, you can only manage milk, or
you are a mature follower of Jesus who is led
by the Holy Spirit, who can manage solid food.
Which one are you? Ah. In other words, are you
just a little seed? Just need a little bit of
light, a little bit, because otherwise you cannot
handle it. Or are you now a mature tree? What
are you? And one of the things that he mentions
about a sign of immaturity is that you smell,
you think, you act like the world. It's hard
to tell you apart. I didn't realize you were
a Christian because I couldn't tell. The way
you sound, you sound like the world. And therefore,
if I want to engage with you and tell you more
about the word of God and living with eternal
perspective and all of that, that's too much.
I'm just happy to go on Sunday morning and that's
it. Because you cannot handle more. But that
is not where we are supposed to stay. We are
supposed to move from there into growth. And
I remember as a parent the experience of seeing
our children grow. We still have videos from
them when they were little. And we always loved
those. I remember my oldest son couldn't say
the word music. He would say mjukik. It was so
cute. And whenever it's cute, you want to say
it many times. So say it again. Mjukik. Oh, so
cute. What is it again? Mjukik. Oh, that's so
nice. But then they grow. And then 13, 15. And
if we are eating at the table and they say, you
know, I like to listen to mukek. You're not going
to go and say, oh, that's so cute. Can you say
it again? No, at 15 you're going to say, that's
not how you pronounce it. It's music. Say it
again. Music, you know. Because there are certain
things that you expect at a certain age. There's
a certain level of maturity that we expect. It's
okay to be wrestling with this here, but really
now here? Are you still a baby? Really? You are
not laid by the Holy Spirit yet? You do not know
your Bible yet? That's what the Apostle Paul
is telling. So there is this spectrum of growth
that we need to start realizing that as God is
calling us to follow him, we need to become mature.
We know God. And we love God. Simple as that.
I'm being led by the Holy Spirit now. That matters
to me. And that is my priority. And I start thinking
and acting less and less and less like the world.
And more and more and more like Jesus. Wow. I
already feel convicted. And there's two more
conversations we want to listen to? Yes. Let's
go to the second one. The second conversation
now is the Apostle Peter writing to these Christians
that left Jerusalem and now are joining the churches
that the Apostle Paul had planted. And he tells
them, look, I know that now you are reading the
letters that the Apostle Paul sent. But I have
to remind you that his letters contain some things
that are hard to understand. Did you ever read
some of the New Testament letters to the Apostle
Paul and you go like, what? What is that supposed
to mean? Well, that's not just your experience.
That was from the very beginning. There are things
that are hard to understand, which ignorant and
unstable people distort as they do the other
scriptures to their own destruction. Therefore,
dear friends, you who are not just a little seed
anymore, you are maturing. You are becoming a
tree. Since you have been forewarned, be on your
guard so that you may not be carried away by
the error of the lawless and fall from your secure
position. Stay solid in your little pot. Don't
fall from that. Don't let deception move you
in the wrong direction. Instead, grow In what?
Will you read it aloud with me? By grow in the
grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. To him be glory both now and forever.
Amen. And now, as the Apostle Paul is talking
to these Christians, I mean the Apostle Peter
talking to these Christians, he also puts them
on the spectrum. And he says, look, on the one
hand, You can be someone who is ignorant and
stable, or you can grow in knowledge and the
grace of Jesus. Where are you? Because a person
who is ignorant and stable, you know where they
develop their theology from? YouTube. That's
it. And Facebook posts. And maybe a podcast somewhere.
They don't know their Bible. They're not studying
it. They do not engage with it. But if it's in
YouTube, you know, it must be true. And all of
these different distortions that the person starts
believing go unfiltered. And therefore, this
person can get deceived so easily. And the Apostle
Peter says, don't fall for that. You'll be different.
You need to grow in knowledge and also in experiencing
God's grace. You remember the book of Colossians
that we just finished last month. Growing grace.
Let the grace of God and the peace of God flow
through you. And move in that direction. Head.
Heart. I remember that during the time of COVID.
I got a friend that sent me a video. And I'm
not sure we were that close friends. But the
video was about this guy that was. preaching
and talking about how this is really the end
of times. And we know that if you get the vaccine,
it's going to be the mark of the beast. So whatever
you thought of the vaccine is your own opinion.
But in his case, it was like solid. This is the
mark of the beast and this is the end of times.
He didn't say who the Antichrist was then. But
anyway, he says, how do we know? It's because
if you take the word COVID, And you assign them
the Hebrew letters. And then every Hebrew letter
has a number. And then you add the number to
each letter. And then you sum up the whole thing.
It's going to give you 666. That's called exegetical
gymnastics. If you do this, if you do that, if
you do that, then it's like, really? Is that
true? No, it doesn't work that way. But how many
people believe it and they were preparing for
the end of the world and here we are in 2025
and COVID was not the end. Growing the knowledge
and the grace of Jesus, Peter says, so that you
will not be so easily deceived by a video that
a friend sends you. Wow, I can see now. Therefore,
this call to grow is also a grow to become solid.
I know the word, I live the word. Do I know the
word? Do I live the word? Or I am someone that
is more, instead of being word D, I'm world E.
Wow. Is there one more conversation to listen
to? Because this will be a great time to end
because I'm already very convicted. But there's
one more. And Peter, as he's talking to these
Christians, he tells them, look, you already
received the Holy Spirit. You're already following
Jesus. You already have the word. You have everything
you need to now grow into that fruitful tree.
Everything. So keep growing into that tree. His
divine power has given us everything we need
for a godly life through our knowledge of him
who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Through this, he has given us his very great
and precious promises so that through them, you
may participate in the divine nature, the Holy
Spirit we have in us now. Having escaped the
corruption in the world. caused by evil desires,
right? Because we're growing on Christlikeness.
We're not as worldly anymore. For this very reason,
because we're in this journey towards this mature
tree, fruitful tree, for this very reason, make
every effort to add to your faith goodness. And
to goodness, what else? Knowledge. Yeah. It's
like, look, it's okay that now you have a very
genuine faith in Jesus and you are following
him. And now you are seeing the transformation
in your life. That's great. But you have to add
to that knowledge. Keep growing in the knowledge
of God and the word. But add to that knowledge
self -control. And to self -control, perseverance.
And to perseverance, Godliness. And to godliness,
mutual affection. And to mutual affection, love.
He's giving us the path of what that maturity
looks like. And he says at the end, for guys,
if you possess these qualities in increasing
measure, it's not complete, but it's increasing
by the day, they will keep you from being ineffective
and unproductive. In your knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ. What? Peter, you are sounding like
a CEO of my company. You're talking about ineffective
and unproductive. It's like this is a performance
meeting with our production team here. It's like,
why are you using these words for spiritual topics
of following Jesus? Being unproductive? Being
ineffective? What does that have to do with anything?
Everything. Because, again, the call to follow
Jesus is the call to grow from a seed all the
way into a fruitful tree that is giving fruit.
And therefore, what he tells them here is the
spectrum. You're either going to be an ineffective
and unproductive follower of Jesus, That your
life is irrelevant. You are not impacting anybody.
You are disengaged. The idea of being ineffective
means being lazy, being disengaged. I don't do
anything. And therefore, I'm productive. Or,
if you make every effort to grow in your relationship
with Christ, you will become helpful and fruitful.
So which one are you? ineffective, unproductive,
helpful, or fruitful. Now I really feel convicted.
I thought that following Jesus was all about
dying and going to heaven. I was very happy.
Now I feel responsible. I feel like I need to
be more disciplined in my relationship with God
and I need to start pursuing my calling and to
start serving God with my life. Great! That's
exactly why the apostles wrote these things.
So that I would start feeling that and start
moving into that space of fruitfulness. I know
my calling and now I'm living my calling. Because
it's in that place now, complete alignment with
the Lord, that this thing starts flowing. I remember
that a few years ago, we were able to... meet
a dear couple here from Brazil, here in ECB,
and we happened to be walking outside here one
Saturday, and my wife and kids were in Texas
that time, and they were going out for lunch,
and I said to them, are you going, where are
you going? So we're going for lunch, you want
to join us? And I thought, sure, I don't. Have
anybody at home now? I have no lunch plans. So
that's how we met and we spent the whole afternoon.
It was like maybe five hours that we spent there
at the restaurant eating and talking, catching
up. And from that opportunity, the opportunity
came up to start mentoring them in their discipleship.
And we'll meet every week in an evening in their
home and train them. And we went through that
discipleship mentorship process. And it was so
beautiful to see that little plant grow. More
exciting than seeing my avocado plant. It was
like every time I left, I was so encouraged.
But then God called them back to Brazil. But
what was beautiful is that before they left,
they said, Pastor Pablo, we arrived here to Thailand
one way, and we're leaving completely different
people. We're not the same. Right, because when
they came, they were like a little avocado seed.
But now they're already becoming a tree. And
that is what we desire. That is what we mean.
That we are serious about making disciples for
global impact. So that you will grow in intimacy
with God. You will start understanding your calling
more and more and pursue your calling more and
more because God has planted you here for global
impact. For that reason, if we were to have all
these three things that we are becoming mature,
solid, and fruitful, wow, this will be an amazing
opportunity for increased global impact. And
that excites me. That's why we are here. It's
because of the potential of what God can do through
us. Because the mission that Jesus gave us at
the very beginning has not yet been completed.
And we will continue investing our lives until
the very end. Let's pray before the Lord. Father,
as we come in your presence, we know what it
is like to be a little seed. Nothing happening
until something starts sprouting. And before
we know it, something is happening within us
and it's your Holy Spirit transforming us and
leading us into this future that we never imagined.
That it will be part of our community serving
you for greater purposes than just us. Lord,
We acknowledge what you have already said, that
we are these trees in the making. And thank you
for the fruit and the impact that you have envisioned
for us. Everything that you have in mind, Lord,
we want to be part of. Provide everything that
we need so that we can be faithful to your calling.
And every fruit that is ever produced is because
of you. And all the glory be to you and to you
alone, now and forever. And Lord, I pray for
our people in Jesus' name. That anything that
is holding back the pursuit of your calling.
That anything that has been implemented by the
enemy to distract, to distort, to hold back.
Lord, in Jesus' name, let that be broken. And
let that power be broken by your presence. Let
your calling become clear. Let your provision
flow so that everything that you have called
your people to be and do will be accomplished
because of your doing. Lord, I sense a broken
calling. And I'm asking you for restoration.
There is someone here that has been clearly called
by you. But disobedience hurts. There's brokenness
that has happened. But the calling has not changed.
Let your grace restore. That which was broken.
Let your grace restore. And Lord, let the calling
be like a new sprout, fresh and new. Even if
the previous one died, this is a new sprout.
And let it become the tree you envision. Thank
you for the restoration you bring. And thank
you for inviting us to grow in your knowledge
of you and the experience of your grace. We love
you and we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. I would
love to leave you with the encouraging words
of the Apostle Peter, which were the very last
words that we read today in the end of his letter.
Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. To him be glory now and
forever. Amen. May the Lord bless you, empower
you. Become the tree that the Lord has called
you to be. Thank you for tuning in to the ECB
sermon podcast. Whether near or far, if you are
looking for community or are in need of prayer,
we welcome you to engage by sending us an email
to office at ecb .asia. If God is calling you
to support our ministries, You will find giving
options on our website. And remember to join
us next week. God bless you.