Disciples | Jennifer Toledo | Expression58

we are we are excited we are launching a new series today called disciples and this is something that's just been stirring on our heart yes I love this graphic it's like the city coming through my face like you know what I mean it's like yeah I love it and for those of you who are constantly wondering like if we have a constant theme of yellow and all of our graphics no we just need new projectors okay feel free to donate we need new screens for our projectors we don't just like yellow in everything we do just go throw that out there praise the Lord um won't he do it so we're gonna start just kind of this series this morning talking about what does it mean to really be a disciple what does it mean to make disciples what does this look like you know we kind of been talking to some people about this and an interesting thing about like discipleship is is people in LA it's how do I say this it feels like either people are kind of like that's so foreign and I don't even like I don't have time for that or there's kind of this mentality of dude I have been so hurt by something called discipleship it was so weird and manipulative and I'm afraid of it and so there's kind of this whole spectrum and so we're just coming back to the Word of God it's what we do we're just gonna come back to the Word of God we're gonna get God's perspective what what is it what does it mean to be a disciple how do we how do we be a disciple how do we make disciples what does that really look like from a kingdom perspective let's just peel away all the paths the experience the whatever baggage that might come with and we're just gonna get heavens' perspective on this amen so you know kind of just go start really basic here just this thought of like what does it mean to be a Christian and this beautiful family rocking you're just lovely hi doing me to call you out you just look so lovely all of you walking in cute kids making it I mean if somebody shows up with kids to church I just feel like we should applaud them all the time I'm like that's what that's hard work it's hard work good job dad just he's probably like I hate you um feelin it though I feel it it's like serious business but you know this term Christian that term Christian wasn't actually even used until somewhere in the first century long after the death and resurrection of Christ so it wasn't even a term that Jesus ever used and that the term Christian you know was given by Romans and Greeks of the time it was a word that they imposed on the followers of Christ trying to explain who these crazy people were and so it was just a term that was given to these followers of Christ it's not a bad term it's not about term at all we use it but what I want us to do you know because if you've most of us would probably check the box like what religion are you Christian or whatever and and one-third of the planet professes to be a Christian so that's great but what does that even mean and and so I want to look closely at what then did Jesus what is the term Jesus used and what was his intention in that and when you look throughout the scripture more than 230 times in the Gospels and acts you're gonna find the word disciple Jesus came to make disciples right Jesus came and gave his entire life in ministry and calling and the making of disciples and then the Great Commission at the end he rallies us all together and he says now go and make disciples and so it's important that we get our head around what this ministry and mission that Jesus had and that we're to have and so the word disciple I'm gonna butcher it methey DS or something in Greek something along those lines okay but this word had a lot of cultural context in Jesus's day because it was it was an understood concept that a disciple was was more than a student it was more than an apprentice it was somebody who would give their whole life to study to learn to absorb to walk with to gleaned the master with the hopes that one day you'd become the exact replica of the master so this was this was already in culture in society when Jesus was using this term let me give you the definition a disciple is a dedicated follower of Jesus follower or adherent of a teacher and apprentice someone actively imitating both the life and teaching of the master a deliberate apprenticeship which made the fully formed disciple a living copy of the master to be constantly associated with the Masters reputation instead of views and then the disciple desired to learn not only the teaching of the rabbi but the but to imitate the practical details of their life a disciple did not merely attend lectures or read books they were required to interact with and imitate a real living person a disciple would literally follow someone in hopes of eventually becoming what they are so it's this concept of as a disciple giving yourself fully to the life the teaching the thinking the the behavior the patterns the mentality the perspective of another not just that you're kind of like them so that you literally become them that was the mentality that you would carry the very essence of the the master that you would walk in the very same authority that you would you would be that person whose exact replica when they've gone that's incredible Bible scholar William Keynes defines a disciple as this a disciple is one who responds to the call of Jesus in faith resulting in a relationship of absolute allegiance and supreme loyalty through which Jesus shares his own life and the disciple embarks on a lifetime of learning to become like his master it's not like a hey I went through a six-month discipleship it's a lifetime of following Jesus and being transformed in His image it is a lifetime of being a student it is a lifetime transformation this is what Jesus invited us into it so if you think about it right what's the difference between a believer and a disciple and are there are two different tracts of Christianity these are questions I asked myself I'm always like hmm I always like to find anywhere where there might be like contradiction in Scripture and like sit on it for a minute and think about it so I know if any of you guys do that but I'm like what is that week what is the difference then because you'll notice Jesus didn't walk up to to Peter and Andrew and in the disciples he didn't walk up to them and say believe in me he walked up to the disciples and said follow me be my disciple and then interesting what's the gospel we preach in America is it believe in him or follow him what's the difference because we know acts 16:31 says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved so salvation has nothing to do with our performance our behavior our maturity our lifestyle our choices salvation has nothing to do that that was all taken care of by Jesus right 100% of the work was done on his end salvation is a free gift you get by just believing and receiving so there's no effort on your part so you could live a horrible sinful life and in your last moments you could believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you could be saved right has nothing to do with your behavior but Jesus didn't just call us to be believers believing is the doorway into a whole new lifestyle believing is simply the the first step into a whole new kingdom and culture that you and I belong to in our part of we were never meant to stay at believing believing was merely the open door to walk through to everything that's new right salvation is free its unearned it's a gift but being a disciple is Ghostly the ball is in your court not Jesus's now hear me in this I've had a lot of time to speak to think about this where I think about just like looking through the passage we're gonna look at this morning so many times I'm like you know rustling through this and it's like I don't have that kind of energy I don't have enough time in the day to be that kind of disciple I want to be anybody ever feel like this if I just had more time I could be such a better Christian nobody okay one what like a clone myself and one of me just like sits at the feet of Jesus all day and the other ones like dealing with kids and handling life you know what I mean I always remind hona proverbs 31 you know proverbs 31 woman and like I was like hey you want a product 31 wife you better get her some helpers because she had helpers she had servants I got me a proverbs 31 woman get me some help but when you get stuck in when we're gonna talk through this passage today I want you to think about this yes it's costly yes it's hard work yes its choices it's all those things but but but what we bring to the table is our surrender and our willingness and the Holy Spirit does the work you will never have all the things to fix yourself and make yourself a super saint like no the Holy Spirit does that we behold him and in the beholding we are transformed into his image so don't try to take on the work of the Holy Spirit don't try to be like I gotta fix it all you just come and but you got to bring full surrender you have to bring full Allegiance you have to bring full vulnerability you have to bring full loyalty when you do that then the Holy Spirit can begin to transform and work his nature in his essence in your life okay so keep that in mind as we're hearing this this morning but I want to say this I feel in a lot of ways the church has reduced the gospel to the gospel of salvation and not the gospel of the kingdom and what we've done is we've filled churches with people and told them believe in Jesus that's beautiful but we didn't actually tell them what Jesus told people which was throw down your net and follow me come spend time with me come learn the ways of the kingdom come be my disciple and disciple is to to fully give yourself to the study and learning and apprenticeship of the master so that you become like the master because what happens is if we don't do that we have a bunch of people walking around saying I'm a Christian yet they don't smell like one talk like one look like one move and power like one have authority like one and then we sit and we're like what's wrong with us I mean I've been here why do I have miracles in other countries and not this country I've we wrestle through these things and I feel like there's just so wakening where the Lord is bringing us back to the undiluted gospel and I'll tell you a part of even why we're we're wrestling through this topic and getting God's heart is we absolutely it's it's happening all over the city there is a move of God that's happening there's an awakening that's happening and I wonder if the churches in Los Angeles if we are ready for the harvest because what are we going to do if and next year a million people in LA gets saved are we going to to turn around and disciple and pop out a bunch of hip cool non powerful religious I'm a believer Christians a little too honest or are we gonna truly have a culture where we are gonna raise up disciples of Jesus Christ people who know the kingdom people who understand how to follow Christ truly but we can't give what we don't have how are we gonna lead somebody to some where we are we are currently not ourselves so we ourselves must truly become disciples of Christ if we're gonna have real authority to help disciple industries disciple nations disciple a city disciple our own children we ourselves must be disciples first and foremost amen so you'll notice all throughout Scripture there's no like two tracts of Christianity there's not the normal people we're just the believer track and the extra-credit disciple tract there's not yeah we fit we live like there is you know like it's not just I'm a believer I my love God I believe in God you know there's not that track and then they're like super Saints extra-credit Christians that are like whoa who they're like disciples they got time there's not two tracks of Christianity Jesus never actually anywhere anywhere when you study Scripture there is no inclination there is no reason and anything Jesus ever says or does to believe that there's two tracks offered in Christianity Christianity or Christianity light there's no two tracks there's one it's believed on the Lord Jesus Christ said you will be saved and then he goes right into and take it across and follow me just its unless you be born again I mean it's it's just one linear journey that following Christ looks like something and there's real fruit and there's real power but getting there looks like something and so that's what we're gonna we're gonna dive into today okay buckle up we're gonna be in Luke chapter 14 what's happening in this scenario were brought into a story where Jesus is surrounded by this large crowd of people people are loving him I mean there is buzz about Jesus people I mean his likes on social media are blowing up I mean he is like a blue check you know I mean he is like Jesus has the people okay obviously paraphrased um so there's all this buzz and energy about Jesus there's a large crowd swelling around him people are talking about him who is this Jesus what is he talking about what's his message I mean his church is full his church is full people are looking for an encounter people are looking for a miracle people are curious all these people are pressing in I mean this is like a minister's dream it's like oh my gosh there's all this hunger the whole city has come out everybody's pressing in and you'll notice interestingly Jesus doesn't do what maybe some churches would do which is do whatever it takes to get the crowd to come back I love this church want that on the record also shout out I think we have people like tuning in today from Florida and North Carolina and all over we love you we're glad you're watching glad you're with us this morning so Jesus you would think in a scenario like this that the game plan would be do what people are kind of interested in God do whatever takes to bring him back Jesus don't be talking about sin come on Jesus don't offend them they're here make them feel good give him a feel-good message give them some doughnuts Jesus like you know we have doughnuts it's the only way I can get my kids to church let's be honest right you would think that Jesus would go that route you would think Jesus would give the feel-good message you would think Jesus would you know be like wow they're interested that's kind of slowly ease them into this old drink in the blood and the body you know like let's slowly ease him in but what I love about Jesus is Jesus could freaking care less about a crowd he doesn't care he was not motivated by human praise he was motivated but what his father said he was motivated by truth and love not by what was cool and what was happening and what felt good and so Jesus does the opposite of what most people would ever do instead of trying to get the crowd to come back he literally has a super anointing to empty the room I mean he just like go was for the throat with this sermon that he just begins to drop it's like all of this and Jesus is not motivate motivated by that he doesn't sugarcoat he doesn't reduce the gospel but he speaks truth in love so that's what's happening here in Luke 14 let me actually find Luke 14 okay so I'm gonna read this to you we're gonna start in verse 25 through 35 and it says this large crowds were traveling with Jesus and turning to them he said if anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother wife and children brothers and sisters yes even their own life such a person cannot be my disciple and whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple suppose one of you wants to build a tower won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it for if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it everyone who sees it will ridicule you saying this person began to build and wasn't able to finish or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king when he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand if he's not able he'll send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace in the same way those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples salt is good but if it loses its saltiness how can it be made salty again it is fitting either for the soil nor for the manure pile it is thrown out and then a just for drama effect adds the whoever has ears to hear let him hear and just walks away right and ever he's like do you you know like what interesting sermon choice Jesus he begins to outline in this passage the cost of being a disciple because isn't it true we all want the fruit we all want the benefit we all want the power we all want the authority of being a disciple and he says I want you to have that too and I'm making a way for you to have that but there's only one path to get there there's only one path and he begins to outline six things that are requirements or qualifications to being a disciple and we're gonna look at those the first one I love this you'll notice he starts with if any one verse 26 if anyone comes to me once again he's just mixing the whole like there's two tracks this isn't the like just the pastor's the missionaries the religious super like anointed born under a special star people this is if anyone comes to me and does not hate father mother what are you even saying Jesus what are you even saying now for most of us because you know if you don't come from a shame and honor culture this doesn't even make sense to you Jesus lived in his culture it was a very strong shame and honor culture meaning that how you as a son how you behaved how you what you chose to do with your life either brought great shame or great honor to your family and you carried that very preciously in your heart and you would do whatever it took to bring honor to your family so to to leave the family tradition or to not take on the family business brought great shame to it was as though you hated your family it was very serious now we also know this about Jesus Jesus loved to to use parables and all kinds of like ways of using language to bring a point in here it's this is hyperbole for you got my glasses today this is I purple this is this is exaggerated language to make a point obviously Jesus doesn't want you to hate people everything else in his life and teaching points that were to love people so obviously Jesus is not contradicting himself but what is he saying and what he's saying here is you guys I have to be in my own category in your life I have to be number one that literally everybody else has to be here and that might feel like you're hating your family you have to be willing to be rejected by your even your family even people you love the most I have to be number one in your life so qualification number one is keep God first number one is keep God first I almost put God is BAE but then I was like I'm not sure everything at that so if you want to go ahead and make your number one goddess BAE that's good before anyone else keep God first and we have to really think about this is God actually first in my life am i more afraid of disappointing my spouse or god am i letting my parents or my children call the shots of my life over what God is telling me to do is God really first above everybody else in my life does God have the rightful throne and seat in my heart and in my life does the CEO of my company or my agent or my boyfriend or girlfriend or my mentor have more influence and authority in my life than God being a disciple means there's only one person on the throne of my heart and that I'm willing to let God call all the shots even if it costs me something very valuable even if it meant costing me my family that's intense I'll make this really more practical putting God first means I'm not going to marry somebody I'm not equally yoked with I'm not gonna date somebody who's gonna get in my way to get in my way of my relationship with God I'm not gonna do that I'm not going to elevate people in their opinion I mean so often I'll hear people say well I have to do this because my manager my coach this is just the path I have to take for my career but what is God saying to you well I mean I God saying this but you don't have like business-wise I have to do this whoa we've got a problem is God number one because I'll tell you what many times it's uncomfortable but when you you'll find this out as a disciple right when he's number one and you follow he will always walk you through seasons where he has you do something very different than what you should you think in your head you should be doing that's the only way to get you to the place where you could never get yourself so to be a disciple you absolutely have to keep God first and you'll notice the end of that verse says even my own life hating even my own life so we must be willing to trade in our will our control it's not like God's just my Sunday thing it's not like hey God you can have my whole life but don't touch my career god you can have my whole life but don't tell me who to marry God you can have my whole life but not this thing I'm gonna call the shots there you can't have two masters right are we bring certain demands to Jesus and I'll tell you about that if I had a dollar for every time I heard this in LA and I'm like I hope people are joking because I hear this all the time people are like thank God I'm called to the bougie I'm like really oh yeah thank God I'm not called to the you know Nations I'm like oh you just wait that's like an invitation you are God is gonna like just wait you know you better repent quick you're gonna be scrubbing toilets in India somewhere in like three seconds but we don't bring these kinds of qualifications to God I'll serve you as long as it looks like this that's not a disciple you're not the one leading you're the follower and the follower goes wherever he's going right so this this place of keeping God first it's above everybody else above my own agenda its above myself my own desires my own agenda my own flesh it's giving it all to him he's saying listen if you're not willing to sacrifice everything you can't be my disciple this isn't gonna work number two qualification number two live dead verse 27 says and whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple a true disciple willingly embraces a life of pain and sacrifice rather than always expecting pleasure dang now I'm gonna assume none of us have ever actually carried a cross that we were about to be murdered on but we don't even have a grid for what this language meant in this day and time I mean this is to us for like all across Church Jesus you know like that is not what that meant to them when he said this it was a bloody gory brutal execution it's like Jesus saying unless you wear the noose around your neck and you drag your electric chair you can't follow me excuse me do this what are you even saying I mean this is graphic language right and I I don't think Jesus is just saying you know using this extreme language to say hey guys sometimes following me is gonna be a little hard you might be inconvenient it might rain it away oh my god like I don't think that's what he meant just throwing it out there have you ever heard somebody like giving a party the smells like like Rossum came across in LA and you're like I don't think that's what that means this is intense right there is a real cost for following Jesus and not only does it just look like surrender it looks like death death to ourselves death to our agenda death to our flesh it looks like death but let me tell you what is on the other side of that cross it's the resurrection power it's the resurrection life and it's the only way to get it is to go through the cross the only way to walk in the supernatural the only way to walk in the finished work of the cross - to walk with that kind of authority now remember these disciples were punks until they met Jesus and then because they fully surrendered and they pick up their cross and followed him they were transformed into the most amazing fathers and mothers of the kingdom who transformed the world and birthed the global church there's no way to walk in that kind of authority without the cross the cross just wasn't for Jesus the same path he took is the same path we take it's in our surrender that we have sortie it's in our our death that we have life so many of us were trying to produce our own life and wondering why we're not having life abundant we're like like freaking out the only way you get abundant life is to die die to your flesh dying to your will dying to your own timetable your how you want it your agenda and your long list of everything he needs to do I love lists the Apostle Paul understood what it meant to carry a cross in Galatians there's three verses he says Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me Galatians 5:24 those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature and its passions and desires in in Galatians 6:14 may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world one of the classic books on discipleship is the cost of discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer because I've heard that book and Bonhoeffer was a German pastor during World War two because he opposed Hitler and the Nazis he was imprisoned where he died before the war ended and this is I'm gonna read you a passage of something he wrote he said the cross is laid on every Christian as we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death we give over our lives to death the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ when Christ calls a man he bids him come and die you see a dead man is a free man when you're dead you're not offended when you're dead you can't be bought when you're dead you can't be manipulated when you're dead you can't even be anxious or depressed because you're dead when you're dead you can't be disappointed you see full surrender is the beginning of living abundantly where you're no longer bound to all the things that bind people it cuts the strings off the puppet and you're now a free man you're not bound to what society says you're not bound to what the economy says you're not bound to what doctors say you're not bound to that can never be done before you see when you're dead you are more alive than ever before you're fully free and I'm telling you this is the life we're called to live not bound to the things of this world but fully vibrantly alive and being the best versions of ourselves full of the Holy Spirit this is who we are qualification number three it's the last part of that verse there I'll read it again and whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple so it's not just carrying the cross but it's following that's important you're not just walking around with your cross like oh you know like give it all to Jesus whatever you know no it's not that looks like it's carrying your cross and following him that means you're moving with him there's action you're following his steps you're moving in unity with him and number three is following him through relationship because a true disciple elevates relationship over religion you see it in Jewish culture when a rabbi invited somebody to be a disciple I mean you'll see this with Jesus and His disciples they lived every day together they broke bread together they hung out together they you know took turns going to the same bathroom weird to think about they did life together they were close they had conversations they they knew each other's fears and secrets and dreams they they did life together they had a real relationship and in that context Jesus could influence in that context Jesus could adjust their thinking in that context Jesus could meet them in their everyday and they could be transformed you see we're called to follow him through relationship and in that place it's not just about doing good religious deeds acting a good way coming to church pay your tithe do your thing boom that's not what this is about this is about having a living breathing relationship where daily you are in step with him daily you are connecting with him daily you are following him this is what it means to be a disciple you are actively in pursuit of him through relationship number 4 verse 28 says suppose one of you wants to build a tower once you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it for if you lay the foundation are not able to finish it everyone who sees it will ridicule you saying this person began to build and wasn't able to finish interesting story Jesus serves in their qualification number for being a disciple is commit to finish well commit to finish well a true disciple values commitment over convenience you know Jesus is talking about counting the cost considering before you jump in you talk about building this tower and I want to reiterate this if you begin to count the cost and say all the work I'm gonna have to do to be a super Christian I can't do it this isn't about you bringing the resources the Holy Spirit brings the resources you what we bring to the table is commitment willingness varner ability right we bring surrender to the table and the Holy Spirit brings all the things to work his nature in you so when you're counting the cost you're not counting the cost of you know having to have a strategy of how to fix yourself or know you are counting the cost of commitment am I going to be committed for the long haul am I in this for the long game because you know what there's a there's a great a great quote Billy Sunday a professional baseball player in minister he said stopping at third adds no more to the score than striking out it doesn't matter how well you start if you fail to finish isn't that sad but true how many stories have we heard I mean it's Solomon and the by how many people in the Bible or people we've watched their lives and they it's like God did all this incredible work in their life and it was so amazing and then they just kind of lost it at the end like they let their heart grow cold or they they just started believing a lie or they just got bitter and offended get that bitterness out of there right like you got to deal with that stuff because you will sideline you it's a lifelong pursuit of following him it's not like I'm a disciple and timejust not messy anymore non like a good functioning Christian so like I'm cool I go into Christian Coast mode there is no such thing as Christian coasting there's no such thing as spiritual at retirement you don't stop growing you don't stop evolving in an in pursuit of what he said don't we just think that this morning so how that line goes you don't stop being transformed you see disciples are in it for the endgame let me say this let me say this this is the part that breaks my heart where I see over and over and over again I watch people who've been through all this craziness and you can see it you can see how God has been like lining everything up like we know that God works things out you know all things together for the good of those who love him I watch it over and over and over again I've seen this so many times we're gonna taking people on this crazy dream they didn't understand all of a sudden boom and suddenly and suddenly it all makes sense and suddenly there's this breakthrough ants it's a whole new day and it breaks my heart when people get all this way and then they just decide you know if you think about the life of Joseph all the crap he'd been through the Pitts Potiphar's house being sold like betrayal in prison if he would have in prison decided you know what god I'm done you failed me why did I even believe this dream you put in my heart he could have done that and you know what he would have missed his moment where he was about to rule over an entire land and free an entire nation of a great famine and I wonder how many people you know have a story like that where they miss it they they don't plan for the end game and they don't keep working on their heart so that little fox that little root of bitterness all of a sudden takes him out because they stopped being a disciple they went into Coast mode and then this thing grew in them that was just destructive my heart is that we would be a people who would have an commitment to an end game that we would think like legacy that we would think long-term that we would allow God to to do everything he's trying to do in our life he is the author and the perfecter he is your Creator he knows what he's doing his ways are better than our ways but we must count the cost of continual following continual trusting and letting him work all things together for good in our life there's an suddenly is all over the place that God wants to do in our lives he's the good shepherd he's the good shepherd and he he leads you by Stillwater's or there may be a season where he himself has led you through a valley of weeping through the valley of the shadow of death don't stop there why would you even want to stop there do not put your blinker on do not exit the road do not stop there don't stop and have a pity party do not stop and have a conversation with the enemy but he'd like to tell you about God or about yourself or about how you've missed it do not consult your bank account do not consult anybody or anything but your Good Shepherd and you stay on that path because what comes right after the valley of the shadow of death there is a table sitting there waiting for you to feast in the presence of your enemy do not stop on that path don't stop don't stop in the third quarter don't stop commit in your heart Jesus I will follow you every day of my life no matter how I feel let me tell you there'll be days where you do not feel like it there'll be days will you'll be mad there'll be days where you're just tired make a choice in your heart make a choice in your heart I'm gonna continue to trust I'm gonna continue to follow I'm gonna continue to be a disciple and let you work this out of me I'm gonna I'm gonna commit to finishing well amen qualification number 5 verse 31 says or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king when he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand if he is not able he'll send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and we'll ask for terms of peace in the same way those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciple qualification number five is full life surrender your victory lies in your surrender period do not buy the lie of anything else victory lies and surrender listen you guys we are not going to be able to do this thing in our own strength everything in life is gonna feel like 10,000 going up against 20,000 I mean if you're believing for God for you know anything impossible anybody in the room right you can't do it in your own strength so surrender to the king surrender to the king let him lead you don't try to do it in your own strength don't try to to make it happen whoo people love this one we get a word from God we're full of faith and we're like if I'm in the right place at the right time it's gotta happen and we manipulate that's called spiritual manipulation it's a form of witchcraft we manipulate we get our hands all up in it we try to make things happen and then it's a mess and it's terrible and we're like oh I have to deal with that you got to lug around your Ishmael when you're trying to give you an Isaac anybody know what that feels like let him do it full surrender full surrender full life surrender it's exhausting to have two masters you will always lose you cannot be the master and him be the master just surrender if we're gonna be disciples of Christ surrendering to his path his way his truth is how you get victory listen it's not like we're surrendering to I don't know some computer who's like just has information but no emotion you are surrendering to the Prince of Peace you are surrendering to the king of kings you are surrendering to your good father who made you loves you knows you is so wise and brilliant can see the future can see your past who is absolutely full of justice whose plans for you are so much better than your plans for yourself you're surrendering to perfect love when we understand whom we surrender to the fear of surrender begins to go away I spent a lot of my time as a teenager in my early 20s afraid of surrender so afraid of surrender because I didn't fully trust I could trust him with my life I thought for sure I was gonna have to wear long denim skirts and tennis shoes am i hearing about being a missionary in a village somewhere if I did it that to me I kid you not I have journal entries at like 12 years old like god I feel like a god to me to be a missionary but I just don't wanna be ugly I don't want to do it like that you know I just had this like there was this particular precious precious woman who came to speak at her Alana's anybody was into Anna's as a kid yeah awesome the real Christians in the room it's good the only ones who know the Bible I'm just kidding um just kidding um wasn't Alana's as a kid and this woman came to to share you know a testimony from the mission field and she looked rough dude I mean rough you know like I don't even know if she liked people it was like she was one of those missionaries that was like definitely did not like Americans and we all knew it but she was kind of precious but tough and like leathery and had the long and I'm skirt and the tennis shoes and you know and just was like talking to us about we almost died a thousand times you know like tell the stories and we're all like sitting there as kids like I'm like so intrigued and I want to follow Jesus but I'm so scared of you you know and I don't want to be mean and angry when I am like your age you know and I just I remember that rustle in my heart of thinking if I surrender to Jesus this is what my life's gonna look like I mean that went in deep I'm gonna be a nun it's not gonna work out you know and I'm just like oh I can't do it and I remember that wrestle and it wasn't until I was in my early 20s but I really really really began to understand it was so much fear every time I surrendered but then the other side of that fear was so much life the other side of that surrender was so many incredible like opportunities in life and authority and excitement and like wild things I could have never have like made happen in my own life and I begin to trust I begin to see oh surrendering to perfect love I am never gonna lose I only gain my lesser for his greater we sing that this morning are you kidding me yes I'll surrender my lesser major upgrade right major upgrade full life surrender your victory is in your surrender and then qualification number six he ends with this verse 34 he says salt is good but if it loses its saltiness how can it be made salty again it's spittin either for the soil nor for the manure pile it is thrown out whoever has ears to hear let him hear she drops the mic and walks off the hill I really should stop letting people into my brain this is kind of embarrassing okay um he begins to talk about being salty not the kind of saltier thinking he's talking about salt is good we're called to be the salt of the earth we're called you know salt is a preservative we've talked about this before here salt is a preservative salt belongs in places that absolutely will decay if you're not present though the church the people of God belong in places of brokenness not running from them we belong in darkness we belong in chaos we belong and in places of despair and destruction that's where we best shine but what he's pointing to this issue here if we lose our saltiness how can we be made salty again we're good for nothing we're not we're not useful we've lost our potency you see real salts cannot ever become unsalted pure salt pure salt will always stay salty but what happens is in Jesus day this is this is something that happened commonly where they were getting their salt from the sea but when salt when there is mixture added to salt other minerals other components added to salt it looks like salt but it doesn't taste like so it has all the exterior qualities of salt but it isn't salty and it's good for nothing I don't need some extra grit and chunk in my dinner because I'm gonna do something you know what I mean what's the point of it you put that on meat and it doesn't preserve it so it looks like salt on the outside but it's not salty what takes away the power and the authority and the effectiveness of something is mixture which is number six stay salty refuse mixture in your life refuse mixture purity breeds Authority purity is the womb of your authority real effectiveness real impact real authority comes only through purity and it's the bait of the enemy just to tell you you know what you'll have more influence if you just have to sit out a mixture I mean you got it you know look like the word just world just a little you gotta talk like the RO just a little bit you gotta you gotta have a little bit of that in you if you're gonna have success it's the blue age-old lie remember Shadrach Meshach and Abednego that was the same lie hey you know what you can serve your God used to also get a bow to this thing and they wouldn't do it and the temptation was if we have this mixture maybe we'll be promoted in Babylon and they said you know what we're not gonna have mixture we'd rather go in the furnace and what happens they get thrown in the furnace but there's a fourth man there and they don't get burned and they don't get touched and what happens when they come out of the furnace they get promoted so real promotion comes from choosing to not have mixture in your life it comes from purity it comes from keeping that place and saying I'm gonna be right before God and right before man I'm gonna do it his way even if it's hard because that's where my authority is that's what makes me potent in the world that what that's what that that's what distinguishes me from people who just maybe use the term Christian but have no real authority in their life that's what distinguishes me I actually shift the environment I walk in real Authority right that's not an arrogant thing that's I Know Who I am as a son as a daughter I carry the kingdom of God inside of me because I am NOT walking a mixture in my life it's not this like religious badge like oh I'm so pure and unmixed you know no it's just place a full surrender before him and just saying I'll do it your way even if it's hard I'm gonna choose purity every time I love this mixture drains our power and our effectiveness and then he finishes his whole statement with this you know his whole sermon and I'm just I've been wrestling through this and wondering what is the church in Los Angeles gonna look like what is the church in America gonna look like when we truly you know I think so many there's so many incredible Christians all over the city people that are on this journey that are true disciples that are pressing in but what's it gonna look like when we truly become disciples and we truly say God we're gonna do it your way and it starts with us we'll take ownership for ourselves God I want to fully surrender I want to be all-in I don't want to to live and preach and peddle a diluted gospel I want to live and have dripping out of me the powerful undiluted gospel in my life I want to be a true disciple and follower of Jesus not just a believer who knows all the right answers and does all the right things exteriorly I want to have true connection true surrender I am willing to pick up my cross and follow you I'm willing to make you number one I'm willing to fully surrender I'm willing to finish well I'm willing to stay in this for the long game I'm willing to continue to refuse mixture in my life and anywhere where I mess up I just get up and get back on track that's so great about God it's not like you lose like all this time and I have to do all this stuff to prove to him I'm like so ready to be a disciple now no you just get up and get back on track and he's like great let's go I've awesome things for you so Jesus you know he was never motivated by the crowd he came and he invited us into this kind of life of being totally sold out and transformed and radically committed disciples and I'm gonna end with these two verses John 13:35 says by this all people will know that you're my disciples if you have love for one another and then john 15:8 by this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples you see disciples look like something there's real fruit there's real fruit there's there's evidence people should be able to see us and say they don't just talk to talk those people are the real deal they are disciples they they look and taste and smell and talk and act like love Wow you know I when I first in my early 20s when I first I lived in Kenya for a few years so you guys I've heard this story and it caught me by surprise because when I was meeting peoples like in 2001 don't count how old I am and I was meeting people and people would introduce himself like this they would say hi I'm so-and-so and I'm a Christian awesome nice to meet you and that's amazing hi I'm so-and-so I'm a Christian and I'm really hoping to be born again soon okay nice to meet you hi I'm so-and-so and I'm born again okay and I knew there was like I was like what I I mean this was happened all the time I remember asking some passions being like what is that and they begin to explain to me and said you know we this is a big part of our culture and it was at that time it is a big part of our culture where you know somebody can say I'm a Christian because they they know Jesus is the way they believe that they you know intellectually they believe that Christianity is the right way Jesus is right but they're not really ready to surrender their life totally to Jesus yet I mean literally I had somebody introduce himself to me and say you know I'm a Christian I'm really hoping by this summer I'll be a born-again and I was like what in the world right and they begin to understand because part of what was my experience at that time was just taking in the power that the church was walking in there the miracles the signs and wonders that the respect they had like there was there was no mixture and I'm not I'm not saying we should take on that approach but it was interesting to me that there was a distinction between we're not going to call ourselves something unless we're willing to pay the price for it and those who were paying the price let me tell you they were salty they were salty I went there to get some salt on me I went there to say I I need to see I want that in my life I want to know Jesus like you do and I'm excited cuz I think we're in a time you guys where we are about to see the greatest move of God we've ever seen and you and I are dropped right in the middle of it and we are disciples and I want to encourage you if you kind of been like I don't know where I am on that path like really wrestle this out in your heart and you say god I truly want to be your disciple I don't want to just be a salty list Fleck of salt as a Fleck of thing flake of salt what is the salt grain of salt thank you you know if you just leave me alone for my night sometimes I get there um God we want to be salty we want to walk in the power in the authority we want to walk in the freedom we want to walk in everything you have created for us to walk in and God were willing to take your path to get there and I feel like just like Jesus you know walked up to the disciples and said follow me I I think about this sometimes you know I think what if Jesus just parked his car outside so was a funny thought and just walked in like where would Jesus Park but anyways and you just walked in probably not CBS and he just walked in just kidding I parked at CVS for like six years um and he walked in and he preached us what would his message be if he preached to us out of the Bible out of the things he was preaching like would we receive it or would we be like what is he even talking about may we not have a Christianity that's so different than the one Jesus talked may we truly carry the kingdom a be truly be disciples I mean Jesus came to give his whole life to raise up disciples and then he called us to go and make disciples and I'm telling you what we are about to see it happen but it starts right here and it starts with us amen will you stand as we close Jesus you're amazing terrifyingly amazing God we want to follow you with our whole heart in our whole life god we want to see your kingdom come to earth and god I pray that you would awaken us in this room to true discipleship I pray that every one of us would truly get on the path of being your disciple that we would follow your lead that we would surrender that we would let go that we would give you the space Lord to just work in us and transform us and have your way in us I pray God that we would take on the posture of a student and a learner I pray God that we would commit to that for her whole life Holy Spirit I thank you that you have a way more energy than we do and way better strategy than we do and way more solutions than we do and way better ideas than we do and so father we give you permission just to do what you do in our lives God you do what you do but God we we want to do and we choose to do what we have to do which is surrender in commitment and willingness to follow and willingness to obey and willingness God to let you in and have your way so Jesus I pray that there would be a move an awakening of disciples all over the city all over this nation and all over the world God that we would become truly disciples and God that we would take the commission that you've given us God to go and make disciples in every arena of society got in every culture in every space Lord god I pray that you would teach us how to do it and deliver us of any past trauma of what discipleship looks like I pray healing and freedom and courage and excitement into our hearts in Jesus name we pray amen you [Music]

Channel: Expression 58

Views: 1,177

Rating: 4.5862069 out of 5

Keywords: shawn bolz, bolz, cherie bolz, expression 58, expression58, e58, church, los angeles church, revival, jen toledo, jennifer toledo, jona toledo, disciples, discipleship

Id: BcHmNb5_XTQ

Length: 63min 46sec (3826 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 15 2019