The dictionary definition of a disciple is a student who follows somebody and learns
from them, like an apprentice. And we are disciples of Jesus. If we have accepted him
into our lives, if we have confessed our sins, been baptized, and been forgiven of
our sins, we're saved. But that doesn't necessarily mean we're disciples. There are many people
that come into the church, and they're in the church and they believe they're saved,
but they know nothing more than that. They don't know there is anything more than that.
And even in this place, and I'm not saying all of you guys, but even in this place, people
can come in and they're saved, and they love the service, but they're not necessarily disciples
because they haven't chosen to follow Jesus and to follow his spirit. And mostly that's
because of ignorance. Not because they don't want to, but it's ignorance. But I believe
here we are disciples. And I want to look at how Jesus made disciples, first of all.
Because when he went through the temptation in the wilderness, and then he started his
ministry, and he went out, and it's like he just wandered off somewhere and saw somebody
and said, come and follow me. And Andrew, I think, was the first one, because Andrew
hadn't caught any fish. Jesus told him to let the net down. And he was overwhelmed.
And he realized, who are you? Who are you? How could you do this? And he followed Jesus,
and he was the first. But Jesus just went out, and I believe God led him to the right
ones to choose. Now, we only hear about 12 disciples. But if you think about it, there
must have been a lot more than that, that he gathered on the way. And Jesus was a rabbi.
Rabbis had disciples that was normal in that time and in that culture. Rabbis had disciples
because Jesus was raised in the temple. He went to all the services and continued to
go. And so he still went and taught even when he was entering his ministry, until the Pharisees
got so mad at him that things changed. But the disciples, now, it says that they left,
for some of them, they left their nets and followed him. But when he was crucified, they
actually went back to their nets, which tells me, okay, there must have been still there,
they just weren't fishing. So, the disciples followed him. They did life together. They
watched what he did. He taught them, but these were all Jewish people who knew the law. He
taught them, but mainly what he taught was character. He taught parables to the people
and then explained them to the disciples. And they learned by watching him. He didn't teach
them how to do something and then say, go and do it. No, they watched him doing it. They learned
from watching him. They were there. And during their travels, other people joined them and they
went to different places. And throughout his ministry, Jesus also spent time alone with Father
God and talked to him and shared with him what was going on. He heard from God. He only did what his
father said. He only said what his father was saying and only did what his father was doing.
So, all that time, he spent that time with the Father. And there was a point when he chose 12
disciples. And even that, I've never thought about it before, but even that says he had a lot of
people to choose from. There weren't just 12. He chose 12. He went out overnight and prayed and
picked.
the 12 that were needed to raise up and be, they were constant companions. And he trained them.
And then there was a point when he sent them out. And it says in Luke 9, 1 to 5,
one day Jesus called together his 12 disciples and gave them power and authority to cast out
all demons and to heal all diseases. Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the kingdom of
God and to heal the sick. Take nothing for your journey, he instructed them. Don't take a walking
stick, a traveler's bag, food, money, or even a change of clothes. Wherever you go, stay in the
same house until you leave the town. And if a town refuses to welcome you, shake the dust off your
feet as you leave to show that you've abandoned those people to their fate.
Now the disciples went around the villages doing what they'd learned from Jesus.
And this is when they were called apostles. This is the first apostles.
Now he didn't tell them to do everything. He told them to heal the sick.
And when they came back, they were so excited to the fact that they did what they did and it worked.
And sometime later, Jesus sent out 72 more disciples. So can you imagine all the people?
I mean, he had meetings of 3,000 and 5,000 people. So out of them, there came believers
who became disciples. And so he sent out 72 more disciples. And this time he sent them in pairs to
all the towns he would be going to. And they were instructed to heal the sick and tell people the
kingdom of God was near. And you think of the first circuit preachers. And they went from village to
village, town to town. This is what the disciples did. They were getting the people ready for when
Jesus came. They were preparing the ground, if you like, and gathering the crowds. And so when they,
72, returned, Jesus, in Luke 10, 18, said this. Yes, he told them, I saw Satan fall from heaven
like lightning. Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk
among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. But don't rejoice because evil
spirits obey you. Rejoice because your names are registered in heaven. And when Jesus went to the
cross before he went, he blew on them and released the Holy Spirit. And he told them to go and wait
in Jerusalem of 40 days. And during that time, in Matthew 28, 18 to 20, it says, Jesus came
and told his disciples, I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore,
go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and
the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
And be sure of this, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Now, this was given to the 12 and they were to teach everybody what they had learned.
So, during the first 40 days, the disciples met together to pray about replacing Judas.
And it had to be somebody who had seen Jesus after his resurrection so that they would be a witness to
the fact that Jesus was alive. After Pentecost, and they chose Matthias, just so you know that,
they chose Matthias. They were now 12 apostles again. After Pentecost, they were changed to
people. The fire of God came down and put a fire within them that burned. And just like the first
song, put a fire in, for the sake of the world, burn like a fire in me. That fire came down on
the disciples, burning like a fire.
and they were changed. Now if anybody, I have a brother who is on the fence, and I have
never said this to him, and I thought I should tell him this. Those disciples were people
that hid, really, when Jesus was crucified. They didn't want to be known that they were
with him. Some of them were afraid, but they basically hid. They didn't understand. Now
at Pentecost, now they were all of a sudden willing to risk their lives and die for what
they believed. Now that's people who really did see him rise. There is no doubt that if
that hadn't happened, they would not have had the courage to do what they did. And for
anybody that's an unbeliever, this has to have been true. What would have changed them?
But that truth, and then the Holy Spirit coming on them. And there were thousands of people
came to Jesus during his ministry, but when the believers were together to choose a new
apostle, there was only 120 of them. Now it doesn't tell you how many were there when
the fire came down, but let's presume that probably not a lot more than that. So out
of all those thousands of people, 120 or so were disciples. And it's the same here.
It's the same in the church today. There are a lot of believers in Jesus, and let's face
it, the Pharisees and the Sadducees believed, they just didn't believe that Jesus was the
right one. They didn't know him. They believed in all of the scriptures, but they didn't
know God. And so this is where we're at today. There are many people who believe and who
will confess that he's the Lord, but they're not disciples, they don't know him. And we
are here because we have chosen to follow him. But even then, when it gets hard, many
believers left Jesus when he talked about his body and his blood. And he said to the
other disciples, are you going to leave me too? And Peter said, Lord, where would we
go? There is nowhere else to go. And it's the same with us. Where would we go if we
didn't follow Jesus? There is nowhere else. Life doesn't exist without Jesus, because
we know him. Every one of us is called for a certain purpose. And he wanted me to tell
you this, that you have to know that you are valuable, every one of you, and that includes
people on Zoom, every one of you is important. You are valuable. You are loved and accepted.
And you are needed in the kingdom of God. Every single person here has a call and has
a purpose. You have to get that settled in your mind, that you have a purpose in this
world today. This is not just about living your life. This is about living your life
for the kingdom of God. This is about being who God called you to be and doing what he
called you to do. And Matthew 22, 1 to 10, tells us this. Jesus spoke this parable. The
kingdom of heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding
feast for his son. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were
invited, but they all refused to come. So he sent another servant to tell them the feast
has been prepared, the bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is
ready. Come to the banquet. But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their
own way. One to his farm, one to his business. Others seized his messages and insulted them
and killed them. The king was furious and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers
and burn their town. And he said to his servants, the wedding feast is ready, and the guests I
invited aren't worthy of the honour. Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.
and so the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was
filled with guests. Now one of them was not wearing the right clothes, and so the king told them,
take him out. He wasn't wearing the clothes of salvation, so he was taken out.
Every one of the original ones made excuses, and we have the king living in us to establish the
kingdom of God within us and to enable us to establish the kingdom in the world, but we have
to be willing to allow him to do that, and there's times when with Jesus he's leading us to come
somewhere and we are saying, no, I don't want to do that, and making excuses. I'm too busy.
I've got other people rely on me. If I do that, my spouse and my family are going to be upset.
There's going to be conflict. I want to keep the peace.
I'm afraid I can't do that. It wouldn't work. I'm afraid I'm not good enough.
I'm not who you think I am. I can't do that. Too old. Too young. Too busy. Too unhealthy.
There's all sorts of excuses we make, and we are disciples, and Jesus is training us to go
into the world to make disciples of other people, and there are people that never enter into their
calling because they are not willing to step in where God tells them to go.
Now, we heard Phyllis a couple of weeks ago talking about how God led her to different places,
different times, different training to bring her to the place where she is an intercessor. She's
called to be an intercessor, and she stepped into it, and she followed the leading of the Spirit,
and I know even now she's also... God's put her on the street sometimes to reach people,
so she's bringing the kingdom of God outside, not just within her, but to other people.
I would say for myself, I realized looking back, I was called when I was 13 years old.
I never went to church, never heard about church from my parents, but in school,
we had religious instruction, and when I was about 13, we were asked to paint a poster for a
Christmas nativity play, and it was called Come and Behold Him, and I just felt inside me I had to
paint a picture of an angel with a long trumpet, Come and Behold Him,
and it was like even then, I know the feeling I have now, even then, there was that feeling
of wanting to shout to people, Come and see Jesus. I didn't know him. I knew what we taught in school,
but that was my call, but that was it, and it's only as I've got to the last few years that I've
looked back on that and realized that God put something inside me at that time of who I am
and who I'm called to be. I'm called to be a voice for God. I'm called to be prophetic. I'm called to
tell people about Jesus, to teach, all those things. In school, soon after that, I had to
stand up and say a poem in Yorkshire, only I didn't have a Yorkshire accent, and I was standing up
there for 15 minutes while she tried to get me to say it in a Yorkshire accent because the whole
point was that when it was written, it was written so that the words had short A's like bad and mad,
even though I can't say it. In my accent, I say bad and mad, and she would not accept that until
I was crying, and then she stopped, but because of that, my mother got me elocution lessons where
they tried to make all the other children talk like me, completely wasted our money,
robbed my brother of his violin lessons. You know, it's like when you're called to do something,
the enemy will come to steal it. He will try to put
swayed you that that's not who you are, that's not what you're meant to do. And when I was a child
in isolation hospital, I ended up not being able to communicate, not speaking. I was very shy.
I didn't talk to people. They all thought I was smart because I didn't say anything.
And so all of these things can contribute to you. When God calls you to do something,
you have to recognize that the very thing that you think you can't do may be what he's calling
you to do. And in my first church, I went into the Anglican church in a spirit-filled group,
and I would say basically not very much we learned in the sermon was
on board with the Bible. And eventually I actually left the church when we were told that everybody
goes to heaven. And when I asked, well, why do we have Jesus then? Well, it just like makes life
easier. That was the answer. And so that's when I left. But throughout my years in my last church
and this one, God has led me in different places, mainly in intercession, going to different
seminars, learning about intercession, going to the National House of Prayer in Ottawa,
weeks courses on praying, etc., leading prayer groups, all of that. And I was actually also a
worship leader for a short time too. All these things were God leading me into things that really
had nothing to do with speaking, but it was all part of my training. And so when God calls you
to do something and you think, well, that's not what I'm called to do. This doesn't fit.
You know what? Just be obedient. Don't turn it down. If you have a desire to do something,
no matter what it is, do it because God has a reason for leading you in that way.
And when God called me to go to California to school, I was 69 years old.
And I totally, totally dismissed it and rejected it. I had two people tell me you should go.
One was from Britain. One was from Newfoundland. They weren't from the church. And I totally
dismissed it. And it took a year before God gave me a dream in which eventually, eventually,
I prayed about it. And he told me I hadn't been willing to pay the price to go to the nations.
And I was totally dumbfounded. I thought, what do you mean I haven't been willing to pay the price?
And the price was basically leaving my home and going away for two years.
And when I finally realized that I wasn't too old, and in my heart agreed with that decision,
there was such a joy rose up in me, even though I would have to leave all my grandchildren.
That bothered me, but there was such a joy, such a sense of freedom. And when we step in
to what the Holy Spirit is telling us to do, there is a joy that is there. It may be something
ridiculous. At one point, I worked in a tea room. And I had it in my heart to apply. And there was
a joy I had working, washing dishes, and occasionally making meals. There was such a joy
in that place. Because I was where the Holy Spirit was leading me. And so many times we're
not willing. And there have been times when I have not done things. I know, many years ago,
I was feeling, after my husband passed, three times people said to me, you should go and
join the truck that goes out to feed the homeless. And after three people mentioning,
I said, God, if that's really you, send somebody else to tell me. Well, it didn't happen,
and I never did it. And I've always been sorry, because I have a heart for the homeless.
And that was an opportunity. I believe it would really have helped me.
But I didn't do it. I didn't follow that.
So, we have to be willing to surrender our own will, to surrender our own agenda, our own
feelings, our own emotions, our own desires to do what God wants. Because initially,
you think, but if I do that, I'll have to give up all this other stuff.
But when you realise how much God loves you, and how much he wants to bless us,
how much he wants to enable us to be all that he called us to be, he's put a treasure within us.
And only when we go where he's leading us and do what he's calling us to do,
will that treasure be released, and we'll be operating at our full potential.
And when you're in that place where you're operating and what he's called you to do,
there is something within you that absolutely knows you are where you're meant to be,
you're doing what you're called to do, and you feel so alive and so enthusiastic.
There is nothing like it. And many times, we dismiss thoughts and we think that can't be God
when he's actually putting it within us, and he's actually speaking. And we all make those
mistakes. It's part of our training. It's something that happens. But it's when we
choose not to, when we choose not to do what God wants, because it's very easy to sit at home
and think, I just want to live a comfortable life. I want to live with my family. I want to just do
what I want to do. Being a disciple, following God is hard. And I don't want to do that.
And there are many people that do that because they don't want the work of going through the
character changes and going through stretching and stepping into things that are uncomfortable.
And it has been really uncomfortable in those times when I've thought I would never make it
because of fears. But at the same time, God put something in me that was not willing to give up,
that was not willing to give up no matter what. And
right now, God took me into
doing Kingdom Messenger, being a Kingdom Messenger, and reaching out by way of the internet. Now,
this is, I have been trying to get off of Facebook, didn't want to spend all that time
praying that he would help me. And then he tells me, I want you to, I've put a lot of knowledge
within you, you've learned so much, but you have to share it with the world. I want you to
more or less look for ways to communicate what I've given you. And that's when I told Pastor Bob
that within a week, I was signed up for a course that just happened to be there at that time.
To learn how to be a Kingdom Messenger, in my mind, I was just learning. I wasn't actually
going to do it. I was just learning. But within two days, we had to post a video. And when I did
that video, it's like all of a sudden, I thought, I was made to do this. I have to do this. And now
I'm in the process of setting up what they call a landing page, so that I can collect email
addresses, so that I will have a group of people I can send emails out to. And I don't want to
even think about what's next. Because very likely, it will be holding a course or doing something
like that. And unless God tells me what and when, I'm not stepping out. But I am doing what he's
called me to prepare for it. So in everything we do, God, you know, I spent a lot of years
training to be a life coach, a spirit led life coach. And one thing I know that a calling is
something it may take 30 or 40 years before you actually step into it. There is a long preparation.
And if you remember Jesus who had the dream, and told all his family, and then got thrown down the
well.
taken into captivity. All of that was God's plan. He went through all that stuff so that
his dream would be fulfilled and his calling was to rise up. And he got through that, not
by doing things, but by actually resisting doing things that were wrong. He lived a righteous
life. He did not give way to temptations. And every place he was put in, he rose to
the top. He rose to the top and was promoted and promoted and promoted until he was in
the position that God had showed him in the dream, where he could now be in the right
place to help his family and to save his people. And I've always thought, when we came to Canada
and emigrated in 67, I've always thought that God sent me here so that I would be the one
that would reach my family. And in fact, in a lot of ways, I have. God has done that.
And for any one of you, our family can be the ones that hold us back because we don't
want to surrender and commit to something that might take us away from spending time
with them. We get all these emotional feelings about what will happen to them if I'm not
there. And we have to realize that if God's calling you into something, he will take care
of that. He will take care of the spouse who doesn't want you to do things. He will
make a way for you to be able to do what he's calling you to do. There is nothing that can
stop you if you choose to step into what he's calling you to do. And so if you have thoughts
about God wanting you to do something, don't dismiss it automatically thinking, that's
just me. Or that's not right. It can't be God. Don't dismiss it. Take it seriously.
Think about it. And talk to God about it before you say no. Because when we dismiss what God
is calling you to do, it will hold you back. I would say when I didn't step into going
to California, it probably held me back two years. And some people, it will hold back
because they have that thing that I can't do this. Mine was that I was too old. I was
sure I was too old. What's the point at this age doing all that training? I may not live
much longer. What can God possibly do with me? But the fact is, if he's calling you,
it doesn't matter what the reason is. And there is no excuse. If you do what God's leading you
to do, he will bless you and he will bless your family. He's told me, he's made it very clear,
he's looking after my family in Britain and my family here. And the immediate family is
the hardest one, I think. Because we cannot witness to them. God has to reach them without
us. I got told at one point, Mum, mind your own business. This has nothing to do with you. And I
have learned that it was absolutely right. We cannot tell our kids what to do. We cannot try
to steer them in the right direction. We have to allow the Holy Spirit to do it. We can't even
decide that they're going to be Christians. We have to trust. And the prayer I've stood on is
that I will serve and all my household will serve God. And that's enough. God is responsible for our
families. So there's a way, if you look at your life, you can look back. And for some of you,
you may be able to see what God's called you into. Now, it was there for me, but I didn't see it
until the last few years. But for some people, it's very obvious right from the beginning what
they were called into. They have a desire to do a certain thing. It won't go away. And so that's
what they do. For others, your call may not be so obvious. It can take 30 years or more till you
fully step into it. But at the same time,
time, in order to step into it, you have to follow the process. You have to do what God's
calling you to do now. And so, right now, I feel that God's put a fire in me. I believe
he's put a fire in me. And I believe there's people here, there's people on Zoom that need
to hear something, and I just want to... Where's Zoom? Joan, Joan, she can see me anyway. God's
put something in me for Joan. Joan, you are called to be God's heart to people. And I
know that Joan struggled in many areas, but you have to realize, Joan, that you are called
to reach people that just need to know God's love. And you are a vessel for his love. That's
your calling, to be a vessel of God's love to those people who don't know it. And, Joan,
God chose you to do that because you are humble, and you are so unintimidating. Nobody is intimidated
by you. Everybody looks at you as the nice, loving, kind grandma. And you can reach people
that nobody else can reach. He's called you to do that, and you need to know that and
accept it. Because God loves you, and he loves others, and you are the one that can do that.
And so, and it's really early, I know, but if any one of you... I would like to pray
for people. I would like to pray over you and release you into what you're called to
do. I would like to just pray over you for the fire that you need to go forward. And
I want to pray over those people in Zoom right now. Lord, I pray, I know, Lord, you
put something in me that was not willing to ever give up. And I pray for every single
person on Zoom today, and for the people here, Lord, that you will put something in us that
will cause us to never give up, that no matter what, we are going to follow you, we're going
to be who you want us to be, and we're going to do what you're calling us to do. Thank
you, Lord. Amen. Now, I want to call you forward, because I believe that some of you may have
things that are holding you back, that are stopping you from fully stepping in. And I
would like to pray for you.