Well, good morning church this morning's messages entitled, motivated to make a difference, motivated to make a difference. And I want to start off this morning by sharing about a character who's really plays an important role in our nation's history. But I would bet that not a single person in this room knows who he is. You see, there is no story told and celebrated in our histories. Um really the, the school books, when we teach history, there's no streets named after this character. There is no monuments after this character, but he plays a very important role in our history and there is a lesson that we can learn from him. His name is General William Winder. General William Winder. You see General William Winder served as a general during the war of 1812. That is where the British unsuccessfully, well kind of successfully, but long term unsuccessfully invaded our country to try to take it back. And so it's the british invasion, not the Beatles, but the british invasion that tried to take back the land that they thought was theirs. And and this general was so skilled that in one battle he had a 4-1 ratio and troops. He had four times as many troops and resources as the british. And yet William Winder managed to lose that battle. In fact, just shortly after that in the battle of Stoney Creek, General William Winder was taken captive and it was under captivity that the british had a genius idea and that was the realization that General Winder was of more use to the british being free than he was in captivity. And so they literally let him go. So they captured an american general and they realized, wow, his leadership is so poor, he will actually help us if we let him free. And so he lets them, he lets him free. And so what is the lesson of General William Winder don't be General William Winder don't be that guy. He had all the resources, all the training and all the people available to him. But yet all he did was loose. Now the story doesn't end there because a year later the british circled Washington D. C. And overtook the white house and burned it to the ground. And do you want to know who is in charge of defending the White house? No joke, William Winder. And so the lesson to start off this morning is do not be General William Winder who had access to all the resources and the training and the people, but at the end of the day could not accomplish his task and make a difference for our cause. And so if we're gonna not be like that guy, if we're going to be the opposite and we're gonna make an impact for the positive in our culture, how can we do that? If you're taking notes? I want you to write this down is that it happens when you connect your story with God's story. In other words, connecting your story with God's story creates a greater story to make a lasting impact in our culture, involves taking your story, connecting it with God's story and ultimately creating a greater story. Let me give you a couple of positive examples. There was a guy named bobby Greenwald who really specialized in technology and digital development and through prayer and through leadership, decided to use that technological genius of his and I connected with the church and actually ultimately developed this app called the U. Version bible app that once it was released, he did not release it to make money so they didn't charge anybody but released it to make an impact. And to date, there have been over 300 million downloads of the U version bible app. Today, another example is a guy named tim Lucas who he was, he started a young adult bible study at a church and it's and it was in the basement of the church. And actually when he was asked to lead the bible study, he was reluctant because he said, what time do I actually have to show up because I don't want to wake up early, but he started leading this bible study and started to grow and so they moved it out of the basement of the church. But there was no space at the church setting that worked well. And so he had a crazy idea that they would meet at a tavern because the tavern wasn't really used in the morning. And so they started meeting at this tavern and he wanted to be motivated by the story of the woman at the well, in john chapter four where this woman is looking for water and jesus gives her what's called living water, which is eternal life in the holy spirit. And so he says, okay, we're gonna call our bible study liquid. And so no joke. They had this bible study called liquid that met in a tavern. And so they started getting people showing up that they thought it was for something else. He said, you want to come to church? No, how about come to liquid. Where's it at? It's at a tavern, Sweet, I'll be there. And so they started showing up and they started actually doing this Bible study and it started to grow and started to grow and start to grow. And it started to grow enough to a point where they actually launched and started a church plant out of that called liquid and liquid. Church today is one of the top 100 fastest growing churches in the country and they have over 5000 people in attendance every single week. That started as a young adult bible study in a tavern. I also think of when it comes to connecting your story with God's story to create a greater story. I think of a guy named Richard, proud fit. I had a privilege of actually meeting him At an event in Florida just years before he passed, he passed, he was later in age and so he actually was motivated on a mission trip in 1974 about how some people in the world do not have access to the basic needs and nutrients that come in the foundational foods that can lead to a healthy life. And so he started working towards this idea of starting a company, starting a nonprofit that would help feed the world. And in 1987 he started what's now known as feed my starving Children and to date they have served over two billion meals across the world. In fact, they have one of their packing headquarters here in phoenix and Tempe and maybe some of you have actually taken part in the feed my starving Children packing event that happened when someone took their story, the ability to, to motivate people and connect people and and to research and come up with a formula of healthy based nutrition and then connected to God's story That in a faith-based organization, we want to bring food to the world to now a greater story to where you have an organization that has provided over two billion meals across the world. And so it's incredible what happens when you take your skills, your gift, your passion, your experiences, and you connect it with the story of God and that ultimately creates a greater story now, those are some extreme examples, but where does that leave us? Because maybe you're sitting there in the road this morning, you're thinking, well, I'm not going to start an organization, I'm not gonna do this, I don't know where to start, I want to make a difference, but I don't know where to start, I believe where you start is actually what's known as discipleship, see discipleship is the third purpose that rick warren shares in the book, what on earth am I here for? These are the books that we are walking through as our growth groups and actually if you have not received a book yet, we might have a few copies left at our guest services table that we'd love to give to you today, but we're talking about when you're gonna find your purpose, why have you been created, there are certain things that drive us that push us and it's not so much even what you do, but who you become and the things that drive us are things like worship, when you love the Lord, your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength fellowship, when you love God as God has loved us and then this idea of discipleship, where we have been created to grow and created to make an impact and to help others grow and so we're gonna spend the rest of our morning focusing on this idea of discipleship and how through that you can connect your story with God's story, to have a greater story and it starts within your personal relationships, we're going to take a look at ok, what actually is a disciple, we're gonna take a look at the example, jesus gives us and then we're gonna look at the model and the method that paul used to actually disciple others and how we can apply that to our lives to have a greater story. And so first, the question is what is a disciple, what is a disciple? Well, one of the apostles luke was a doctor and he was writing luke and then the book of Acts to really chronicle the story and the early history of the church and, and and he writes in Acts chapter one Verse eight where the disciples are waiting for God to tell them their next move and and God speaks to them and then he says this in verse eight and he says, but you will receive power when the holy spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and judea and samaria to the end of the earth, and he says, this is what's going to happen, this is my plan for you, this is how you're going to spark a movement, a revival known as the church, this is what it means to be a disciple or a follower of jesus, there were disciples of other religions and other leaders, it simply meant a follower of and so you are a disciple of and then you put in the person's name that you were following and so to be a disciple of jesus is to be a follower of jesus and he says you will receive power with the Holy Spirit and that you will ultimately be my witnesses to really the ends of the earth. And so it gives us this model and so the definition, if you want to take notes and we've shared this before in our launch team and we're gonna share this repeatedly and so I want you to write this down if you've not learned this yet. Is that a disciple is someone who lives by the power of the spirit to be the presence of christ to the people around them when someone says they are a disciple of jesus or a follower of jesus or in today's age, a christian, a disciple of someone who lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. When you pray to receive God, God says, I'm sending the helper, sending the Holy Spirit to come inside of you because you cannot do things on your own. So it's someone who walks in step with the spirit who lives by that power. Okay, he lives by that power to ultimately be the presence of jesus because you you can't control if somebody accepts him or not, but you can control if they experience him or not. In fact, this is the vision statement of our church, is to help every man, woman and child experience jesus and so you are, you are representing God, You are being the presence of God, the hands and feet of jesus to the people around you. Now in the verse it says in there that you will be witnesses. In Jerusalem, judea samaria to the ends of the earth. In our context, you would you would consider it like desert ridge phoenix Arizona to the ends of the earth. And so this expression of going out. So a follower of jesus is someone who lives by the power of the spirit tries to follow what God tells him to do and then ultimately loves people. The way that Jesus loved us. Well who do you love? Well, it starts with the person right in front of you and then you try to show them the way to follow that example. You know the word power in that verse is the word dynamics where we also get the word dynamite. So think about that power that comes in that explosion that comes in the Holy Spirit comes into your life and it changes things. All right, let me give you a couple of the verses that talk about this idea of being a disciple or following after God. 2nd Corinthians chapter three verse 8 paul is writing to a church and Paul was the least likely of disciples. He was the guy that was even an enemy of the faith, He persecuted people who believed in jesus. And then he himself believed in jesus and started telling people about it Until the same guy writes in a letter in Chapter three verse 18 he says, and we with unveiled face positive for just a moment, He was just finished referencing moses who was like on the Mount Rushmore of Old Testament, Prophets who received the 10 commandments as I saw one me that Moses was the first person to download from the cloud on the tablets. But anyway, And so Moses had this experience with God and we get the 10 commandments and and he had this connection with God to where his face was literally glowing and so he had to wear a veil because like moses, hey, I wanna talk to you but your head is glowing, so let's put something in front okay, and so moses who was seen as the most like reverend, the most amazing, the most incredible person. Now paul is saying, no, we have something better, you think moses is good, we don't have to have availed face anymore. In fact, when Jesus died on the cross in the temple, there was a 40-foot curtain that separated people from the Holy of Holies. That curtain tore into giving us direct access to him so that now we can go directly to him because Jesus was our mediator or a high priest or the person that we can connect to so that every single person in the room can go directly to God and so it's in that confidence and that access from the least likely of people paul, he writes this and he says, we with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the spirit. In other words, we're becoming more and more like jesus, that you were created to grow, you were created to build up, you were created to move forward and become more like jesus. The churchy word for that is sanctification, justification is a word that means you are being declared righteous, you have been set free, you have been forgiven, you are declared a child of God that's justification. Sanctification is not just being declared right, it's being made right? And so every day a little bit by little bit through all your ups and downs, you're becoming more and more like jesus and you're being transformed to become more like him. It says this here Paul writes in another letter, he writes in Colossians, Chapter one Verse 27 28, he says to them, God chose to make known how great among the gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is christ in you the hope of glory, him, we proclaim warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present, everyone mature in christ, you have the riches of heaven inside of you right now, you have the glory of God that you can present to others and that when you show the love of God, when you love people, the way that jesus loved us, people get a sense of hope and a sense of glory and they start to mature and they start to change and they start to transform just a couple verses later and colossians chapter two verse six and seven paul continue on and he says therefore as you received christ, jesus, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, you were taught abounding in thanksgiving this idea of moving forward. They refer to it as a spiritual birth, a spiritual beginning. Okay, parents with little kiddos in the room. Okay, you didn't, you didn't give birth to the child and who? We did it. All right, we're done Good job, High five. That's it. No, it just begins right. It's it's just starting, It's the beginning of a journey. And sometimes as christians, I feel like growing up in the church, you ask someone, how is your relationship with God? How do I know you're a christian? Well, I prayed a prayer when I was six. Well, okay, but that doesn't tell me, how are you growing right now? No, you don't get I prayed back then. I did this Okay. It would be like if somebody asked me, hey john how's your marriage? Okay? And I said December 16, 2006 what are you talking about? That's the day we got married, you know, how, how is your marriage you got married? There's the proof. Well no, you want to know that the relationship something that was marked by a date, something that was marked by a time now was flourishing, thriving, growing ups and downs to where your wife and I as best friends, we know each other and love each other more every single day and that there's never been a point more in a relationship than than now that we've been in love and the only day that I know is gonna I'm gonna love her more is actually the next day because you grow more and more in love with each other as you grow to know each other and to love and to serve each other in the same way being a disciple when you get saved, when you pray a prayer that starts the journey and now you can grow being rooted and built up Ephesians 4 15 says this paul writes in another letter, he says rather speaking the truth and love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into christ turn to your neighbor and say grow up. Okay, well don't do it angrily, okay, some of you had a little more feeling behind that I'll give you one more shot, turn to the other person and say grow up, this is what we've been called to do as christians that we have not been called to stay as infants but to grow and that idea of growing in your relationship with God is what's called discipleship and so we have the model in jesus, in fact the next thing, let's, let's walk through this, the model of jesus found in Matthew chapter four verse 19. The fact that Matthew is the author of this letter should tell us something because he was a tax collector and tax collectors were so hated that in the bible when you read verses, they had their own category, they had their own category. Right? It would be like, it would be like saying like okay well we have the sinners and we have the tax collectors right? Like in, in modern day center would be like we have people who love football and we have patriot fans right? They have our own category. That just just need, okay, you don't have to point at me there. Okay, so tax collectors were hated so much that they had their own category. But yet Matthew is the one who was seen as the disciple that writes this letter that we have today and so it gives hope to everybody. Even patriot fans. Okay, so jesus is speaking and he calls his first disciples, he calls Simon peter and he calls Andrew and then he even calls brothers James and john the sons of Zebra also known as the sons of thunder and at first I thought they were a wrestling tag team, but I just found out they like to cause trouble as he's kind of rough and gruff fishermen and so Jesus calls his uneducated fishermen to be disciples, but in one verse we see his model, his method in which through which he's going to disciple them in the verse, it reads this here, it says and jesus said to them follow me and I will make you fishers of men follow me and I will make you fishers of men at a pastor's prayer breakfast recently I got to have a conversation with a guy named dan Spader who if you were with us this summer and you remember we had the four chairs illustration uh this is the guy who wrote and talked about that and so I actually, this guy started organization on discipleship and he said and he was talking to me and he shared from this verse, he said you know jesus actually models how to disciple someone, just take this first verse okay, that first phrase follow me, that means that jesus was relational, he didn't say follow this set of ideas, he didn't say follow your historical and heritage, he said no follow me and when you become a christian, you're not being called to a set of principles, you're being called to a person and that it wasn't the disciples understanding of the sermon on the mount that started the church, it was the fact that Jesus rose from the dead and that they can have a personal relationship with him that started the movement and so Jesus was relational And that's what discipleship happens, one on 1, life on life relationship. In fact, if you're taking notes right now, I want you to think of one person right now that you could help take the next step of faith, Maybe it's a coworker, maybe it's a friend, maybe it's one of your kids, maybe it's a patriots fan, I don't know, but like I just, I want you to think of right now one person that you know that you feel like you could help take the next step of faith, we're gonna come back to that, but first we acknowledge that Jesus was relational, secondly, he says, I will make you meaning that Jesus was intentional, it wasn't an accident, Jesus, the savior of the world, the creator of the universe, looked at those uneducated fishermen and said follow me and I will make you, he didn't say follow me and you will make you, Jesus was intentional in his development, the future, the spiritual future of the world dependent on a bunch of ragtag, uneducated people, okay, that yet Jesus was willing to give the keys to the kingdom over to, he said, okay, now go go and what go and make disciples, this is the model discipleship is the model through which Jesus connects our story with his story to create a greater story that transforms the world, Jesus was relational, it was personal, he knew their name, jesus was intentional, it wasn't an accident, and then third, it says, I will make you fishers of men, that means that Jesus was mission. Now, in this case he took their story, they were fishermen and then he connected it to his story, disciple and others for a greater story of, I will make you fishers of men, in other words, I will take that idea of going out, but instead of fish you're gonna share and you're going to connect and connect people to me And so he creates this great story to the point where we're 2000 years later talking about these guys, it's pretty incredible. A few years ago there was a well known british atheist, his name was Charles uh brad law and he challenged this minister over in England whose name was Hugh Hughes, I don't know why his parents just made him the same first name as the last name, but Hugh Hughes was his minister and so Charles challenged hue into a theological debate into the power and existence of God and so everyone was getting excited, I mean, this was before the age of social media and so everyone's kind of whispering around the town like oh they're going to debate, this is gonna be crazy, it's gonna be awesome, and so Hugh responded back publicly and said, I will debate you on with one exception or one caveat that let us each demonstrate the power of our argument through people. So I will bring over 100 people who are living examples of the power of what I believe. And I want you to bring 100 people whose lives have been changed by your atheistic beliefs. So just bring 100 people whose lives have been changed. So maybe they've given up an addiction, they've, they've improved their lives, they have better relationships, they have given over, they have moved on from shame somewhere or belief and no God belief in Atheism and how that's radically changed someone's life for the better. Just bring 100 people out. Well, you know what? In fact, you don't even need to bring 100 just bring 50 people out of lives changed by the gospel of nothing. Okay, you know what? Okay, just, just bring 20 people out. 10 people who believe in nothing made their lives better. You know what? Just bring one person that you can point to based off of your teachings that has changed their life for the better. Guess what Charles did. He removed himself from the debate because there are discussions and there are practical discussions in the existence of God, but there is no greater power than the Gospel itself. Yes, there is evil in the world. Yes, there is suffering in the world, But how do you define suffering without the existence of good? How do you define evil without the existence of God and which offers more hope to someone? Hey, I know you're suffering, I know you're hurting, but if it's any consolation you have no purpose and there's no reason for what you're going through and when you die, there is no ease of suffering. Does that make you feel better? Think about it? The other side, if even if someone's in the deepest darkest suffering and they've been attacked and like, I'm so sorry and I know you're hurting, but God is just and God is good and at some point in the future, God's justice will be had and the people who hurt you will receive that justice. But in the meantime, God cared so much for you that he came down on this earth and experience suffering for you so that you can receive healing and hope. So that one day, maybe not today, one day you will no longer experience suffering, but you will forgive, you will experience forgiveness, healing and hope and eternity with him now, which one offers more, more hope. You see Christianity, discipleship, we have the best product we have what changes lives and we do that when we are relational when we are intentional and ultimately, when we are mission all when we take your story and we connected to God's story, the result is always a greater story, but it might not be this massive organization, but maybe it's somebody you raise, maybe it's somebody who's relationship is healed And how much is one person's soul worth. I would say everything and that greater story happens, we would disciple others. So Jesus was relational, he was intentional, he was mission okay, but he was Jesus thing, we're not gonna out disciple jesus, okay, but let's remember When Jesus died, out of the 12 people, he disciples, One betrayed him, one doubted him and one denied him. It's not a good track record, right? But yet it was that of that same group and the same group of people who eventually got it, who knew Jesus, who was connected with Jesus, who connected their story with his story. Do we have the movement launch called the church, Jesus did not call us to build the church, he called us to make disciples, joe Saxton, who's a modern uh missionary and discipleship leader in our culture today, he said, if you try to build the church, you will rarely get disciples, but if you go and make disciples, you will always get the church. So I want you to be thinking of who's that one person you can be investing in right now, Who is that one person that you could help take just one step forward, But let's not just take the example of jesus, let's let's take the application of paul and see what, how he did it because earlier this morning we shared how paul was like the extreme, like last person you thought would would get saved and then ultimately lead the movement of the church. But yet he did. And he's writing this letter in to the Philippians, he's in prison, ironically writing a letter to the church in philippi about joy and he's saying all these encouraging things to work out your salvation, to have the same attitude as jesus, to rejoice, always to think on these things that are positive. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything through prayer and supplication and thanksgiving, give your requests to God. And then we come to chapter four verse nine, and we actually see a hint, a glimpse into the method that paul used to disciple people he reads or we read this Philippians four verse 9, Paul writes what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me practice these things and the God of peace will be with you. If you're taking notes, right. These four words down on two columns on the right side, you have this idea of learned, received, heard and seen. But let's think practically for a minute, because in order for the church in philippi to have received and to have learned and to have heard and to have seen what by default had to take place. That's not being said in this verse Well, in order for someone to learn, paul had to what teach in order for the church to have received, paul, I had to give in order for them to have heard paul had to speak in order for them to have seen, paul would have had to shown them. And so in this one verse in the middle of his encouragement to the church, we see his method. What did paul do? He taught them. He gave to them, he spoke the truths of God to them. And then he showed them what a follower of jesus looks like one of the best times as a kid in early elementary is that show and tell, right? Show and tell is is is is so much fun. And so kids get to bring something. I don't know about your kids, but my kids always wanted to bring either something dangerous or something random or or like something massive. You know what I'm talking about, parents, right? Like, so it's like, what do you want to bring? I wanna bring my desk and like, no, that doesn't fit in a bag. I want to bring you know this pocket knife. No, just kidding. Just No, we're not doing that to school. I want to bring this nerf gun. No, we're not bringing guns to school, son. That doesn't work. Okay, well, I wanna bring well, the whole point is you want to bring something that represents yourself and like, so it's they would bring like a stuffed animal or maybe it's a superhero or like their favorite game that they would play and they put it in a bag, okay and then they'd show the classmates and then talk about it as simple as that model is I think as christians we've reversed it and instead of show and tell it's tell and maybe someday we'll show you, but for now I'm gonna tell and shouting point right for far too long, the church's model has not been show until it's been point and shout. Maybe if we shout harder people will respond, but we live in a culture that doesn't naturally accept the truth of scripture, so what does that require of us that requires of us to show people and how we love them and how we serve and how we treat and the fact that we love others as jesus has loved us us, that is how we show people what a disciple looks like, that's how we show people what it means to follow jesus, that's how we show people what true love and meaning really is. And then instead of appointing shout mentality if we had more of the little child elementary version of show and tell show them what the love of God looks like, tell them of the good news of jesus, show them what the love of God looks like, tell them of the good news of jesus and then when we have those relationships with people, we teach them the things of God, we give them our lives and show them and we serve and then we, we speak words of life into them and we show them what it means to be a follower of jesus, that's where discipleship, life on life happens, it's not a program, it's a process involving a person. So what happens when you do these things, we'll notice the summary there at the end, he says, if you practice these things, what happens, the God of peace will be with you because the natural response, when you see this list to teach to give, to speak to show, the first response naturally is I can't do that and you immediately put up a barrier, right, but paul doesn't right, perfect these things, he says practice these things and in practice, guess what happens? You make mistakes, but when you practice these things instead of worry, you can know that the peace of God will be with you and as you are encouraging others, God will transform you and things start to change. One last verse to share with you is that in second timothy 22, someone that paul has disciples is now pastoring a church in Ephesus and he writes to timothy and he writes this in verse two, he says, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also In one verse, you see four generations of discipleship happening paul to timothy timothy, two other men in the church who will then teach others, this is the ongoing process of discipleship, some good friends of ours served as college as a college minister and college ministry leaders at a church we worked at in florida whose names were dan and Tara bird, still good friends today, but I cannot help when I think of discipleship about how dan disciple, a guy named tom who in college fell in love with jesus committed his life to him and it wasn't until college he really met God and he started getting serious so much so that he started working at the church and then he started interning for me and he loved ministry and while I tried to mess things up apparently I didn't because he still fell in love with ministry even more and more and then they actually got called into ministry and became a pastor and then became a youth pastor and was serving and so I moved out to Arizona and then we were doing a mission camp and so I flew him out to speak to our kids and we were up in the Pinetop area and it was so cool in fact there are people in this room and at this church who were at that camp I think of Joey and I think of Larkin on our production team, I think of Cameron and Ben and we're in there and we had our whole family up and our kids were young at the time and remember Jackson sitting in my lap and here tom is preaching at sunset to our students and all of a sudden this huge wave came over me and I don't cry a lot at all really, but like all of a sudden I started crying and and sam looked over at me and was like what? And little little Jack who's not so little anymore, it was sitting in my lap and I said dan disciple tom who then got connected to me and then I disciple who is now teaching these guys who will one day teach my son right now as we meet at this very moment, you have guys Cameron and Ben and others who are on that trip, who are teaching my kids about jesus. So as the band comes up on stage, I want you to consider this, that we are only one spiritual generation away from being from removal or revival, you know, my father is coming on behind me and grew up in a christian home and and and they led us into relationship with christ but their parents before them and before them at some point that legacy of christian belief started and so maybe you didn't come from a legacy, But you could start one so is the faith of your family, is it going to stop with you, could it start with you or maybe even strengthen with you when you connect your story with God's story, it creates a greater story and it happens when your relational and intentional and mission and that you give of yourself to the people around you. Let's pray before we pray, I want you to think about that name, you wrote down earlier this morning and I want you to think about that person as we pray, dear Heavenly father, we thank you that you have given us the tool discipleship to impact this world for you God. I pray that whoever has come to mind that we can encourage them, that we can teach that we can give that we can speak that, we can show them what living for christ looks like. May we disciple others as people have disciple Gus ultimately God, but we connect our story with your story so that we can have a greater story, May the spiritual foundation of our family not stop with us, but rather made revival in this community, start right here with the people in this room, we give this community up to you, we give our lives up to you God. This interesting is that we pray Amen, will you stand and sing with us