The Call of Jesus
Welcome to this lesson where we are going to talk about the call of Jesus.
We are going to talk about something very, very important,
something people often skip over.
In the last lesson we talked about the person of peace.
And we are going to talk much more about that later, in this video series,
and what a person of peace is.
The person of peace is somebody God is calling,
somebody who's seeking God.
And we need to know what that is.
But we also need to know what to do when we find that person of peace.
These are some of the things we are going to talk about in this video series
and in the next lessons, before we will go back and look even more on the person of peace.
So, after talking about finding the person of peace,
Jesus continued saying this in Luke 10:7.
"Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you,
for a worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house."
So, after Jesus sent us out, sent His disciples out
to find that person who is ready to receive Jesus,
find that person the Holy Spirit is calling,
finding that person who is seeking God, then He said:
"Eating and drinking whatever they give to you."
That is important.
It's so, so important and we should not skip over this.
We should not skip over that Jesus has called us to eat and drink
together with that person of peace.
Why?
I can come with so many examples why it's so important.
You know, when you are out... let's say you are out on the street
or on your workplace, or you go around and meet people,
and you there talk with somebody who is open for God,
it is not always easy still,
because people are still a little skeptic, and a little distant,
and you are not so relaxed when you stand up there like...
maybe on the street and people are walking by you.
You are not so relaxed.
But if you can say to that person: Hey, there is a restaurant.
Can we sit down and take something to eat and drink?
Yes. We can do that.
As soon as you sit down with that person and have food on the table,
or a cake and coffee - everything changes.
Everything changes.
Food, coffee, drink can change everything.
Suddenly it becomes so much more relaxed.
Suddenly, instead of one-way communication it becomes more a dialog,
where you are talking, and you are relaxing,
and you start to build a relationship.
You don't build a relationship the same way when you stand up and talk with somebody.
No, food changes everything.
It makes everything so much more relaxed.
It changes the way we are speaking.
It changes everything.
We as Christians, especially in churches, we are often so tight.
We are so like... oh...
I remember some years ago I went to a church
and I talked with a pastor, and he was a very nice guy.
We were talking and having a normal, natural conversation.
But then he went up behind the pulpit...
and suddenly he changed. It was like...
HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH! WELCOME TO THE HOUSE OF GOD TODAY!
HALLELUJAH! And suddenly he changed.
And he became weird.
And I thought, when I saw him: What happened there?
I was talking with him five minutes before and he was so relaxed.
But now he just changed and became so religious.
And this is what we see in churches.
And this is what we see sometimes out side churches.
We need to be relaxed.
We need to have fun. We need to eat food. We need to...
...calm down.
We need to start to do what Jesus has said:
Go out, find the person of peace, and out there, sit down with them,
eat and drink.
Share the gospel. Heal the sick. Cast out demons.
Do what Jesus has said.
Many years ago, I did not do what Jesus was saying.
When I found the person of peace, instead of sitting down with them
out there, eating and drinking, sharing the gospel, healing the sick,
I did a mistake many people did. I invited them to church.
When I found somebody who was open, I said: Hey, you are open,
come with me, Come with me to church!
And do you know what?
Most people didn't come.
Why? Because it's one thing to be open out there, on Monday and Tuesday,
but it's another thing to go to church on Sunday.
If they are open out there on Monday and you have a good conversation,
and you say: "Hey, let's see you in church on Sunday!" -
there are many days for Satan to put fear in them.
There are many days Satan can come with excuses
why they should not go to church.
So, I met many, many persons of peace out there...
who were open,
and I invited them to church...
and most people did not come.
If I had just done what Jesus has called me to.
If I had just there sat down with them, ate and drank and shared the gospel with them...
I would have seen so much more fruit.
But I remember one time I got somebody with me to church.
And that was an eye-opener.
It was a hard experience.
Because I took a person with me to church and I was so excited:
Are you ready to hear the gospel? Yeah!
But then the meeting started.
In my church, at that time, there was like 45 minutes worship.
And I was just worshiping God. I was not thinking of it.
I was used to it.
But then I looked at that girl with me. She was not worshiping God.
She was standing like this.
Just looking at people.
Because she was not used to worshiping.
And I saw everything through her eyes. And I saw...
Okay. Hey, hey, it's going to be good. Just relax.
Soon the worship is over. Come on. Hurry up. Hurry up.
After 45 minutes worship there was a lot of information,
information, information.
And then they talked about money and tithing.
Give money, give money, give money. You have to give.
I looked at her. Her eyes became bigger, and bigger and bigger.
I was like: No, no, no, no, no. No, no. It's not only about money.
And I was like: Be quiet. Don't talk like that.
And after: money, money, money, and talk, and information,
there was more worship.
And I was like: Please, come to the gospel.
And then finally they came to the gospel.
Where the pastor was talking about how Abraham took a knife
and wanted to offer Isaac, and... It was just a mess.
And at the end of that meeting he asked:
Anyone wants Jesus? Lift up your hands.
There was no gospel, there was no repentance,
there was no baptism, there was no Holy Spirit.
There was nothing of that.
I stopped inviting people to church.
Why?
Because Jesus has never called us to do it.
Try to imagine this. Try to imagine...
If you invite somebody to McDonald's:
Hey, do you want to sit down with me on McDonald's?
Okay, let's sit down. And you sit down. And you suddenly:
HALLELUJAH! WELCOME TO MCDONALD'S!
HALLELUJAH! IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU IN MCDONALD'S!
TODAY WE ARE GOING TO HAVE BIG MAC! HALLELUJAH!
AND WE ARE GOING TO HAVE ICE CREAM AFTERWARD AND A MILKSHAKE!
HALLELUJAH!
And you talk non-stop 45 minutes and say: Amen! Amen!
Are you going to do that in McDonald's? No, you are not.
Or you are crazy.
No, what do you do in McDonald's, or Burger King, or any other place,
you sit down and you are relaxed.
You don't change your way of speaking.
And you talk and you communicate.
And there, when you sit down with somebody, and eat and drink...
you don't need to have 45 minutes worship, you don't need to take up an offer,
you don't need to come with a lot of information.
You can go directly to the gospel.
You can go directly to the gospel and give that person what he/she needs.
And then you can lead that person to Christ and baptize them in water
and Holy Spirit. And you will have a natural relationship with them
and can follow up on them, instead of taking them to the church
and get the pastor to do it, who doesn't have any more time to follow up on people.
We need to change the way we are doing it,
from our way to Jesus' way.
When I, many years ago, stopped inviting people to church,
and instead started to invite them to a cafe or go to their house,
or my house, and sit down, and build a relationship with them,
talk with them, communicate with them, giving good time to share the gospel with them,
and then I baptized them in water and the Holy Spirit,
heal the sick, cast out demons - everything changed.
We started to see so many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many
people come to Christ.
And people we shared this to, they started to see so many, many, many,
many people come to Christ. Why?
Because the problem is not the harvest.
The problem is the workers.
They are few, or they don't know what to do.
They don't know what to do.
They are standing and shouting for the harvest to come in.
Or they go out to the harvest and invite them in.
No. When you find a person of peace, do what Jesus is calling you to.
Sit down with them.
Go to their house.
Sit down with them.
Take some food.
Take some coffee.
Create a relaxed atmosphere.
Get to know them: Hey, who are you?
Tell me more about you. Where are you working?
Have you met God before? Is it new for you? Is not not new for you?
Have you come to faith? Have you come to repentance?
Are you baptized in water? Oh, not yet. Okay.
Do you know about speaking in tongues and the Holy Spirit? Oh, you don't.
You talk with them and then you find out who that person is you are sitting in front of.
And then you give that person what that person needs.
It's so much more effective then just invite them to a church.
Where they don't understand half of what is happening.
Yes, I know when I'm saying this that people will think:
Oh, this is too difficult. I've never done that before.
I've never led anyone to Christ.
I've only invited people to the church and let the pastor do it.
Firs I want to say: Yes, all the beginnings are difficult.
But I also want to say: It becomes easier, and easier, and easier
every time you do it.
But, can I challenge you?
If you have been a Christian for 5, 10, 15, 20 years,
and still don't know how to lead somebody to Christ...
Don't you think you need to change something?
If you don't know how to do it now, don't keep doing
what you have been doing the last 5, 10 years.
Don't be deceived.
Jesus has called you to be fishers of men.
He has called you to obey Him.
He has not called you to just come into a church
and look at other people do it.
Repent. Turn away for your disobedience.
Repent and start to obey Jesus.
Start to obey the call He has given you.
And there I want to say that His call is not to stand on a platform only.
It's not to just stand with a mike in a hand.
Jesus' call is something you can do it. It's something everyone can do.
Yes, it's not everyone who can stand on a platform with 10,000 people
and a mike in a hand.
But everyone can sit down with a person...
and eat and drink.
Everyone can sit down with a person and learn to share the gospel
over a coffee table.
Everyone can learn to do what Jesus has called us to do.
And later, we are going to, in this video series
and in my book "The Call of Jesus" give you many more tools
of how do you then share the gospel when you find the person of peace,
what does Jesus says about not moving from house to house,
how do you build them up.
In the rest of the book we are going to give you tools, and tools,
and tools, and tools, not only how do you find the person of peace,
but what you do when you find that person of peace.
So, you are equipped and ready for it.
And to be honest, if I look at my own life,
I've been walking with God for 25 years now,
I started to talk about Jesus when I came to faith 25 years ago,
but I'm sad.
I'm sad when I think of all of those people,
the first 7, 8, 9 years of my Christian walk,
I met, who were, actually, a person of peace,
but where I did not know what to do when I met them.
Where I did that mistake that most times I just invited them to the church.
And they came in, and they went out again.
I'm so sad of so many people I met out there during the week.
Instead of taking that moment, instead of taking that opportunity God gave,
and sit down with them and do what Jesus has said...
I just let it go pass.
I just invited them to the church.
Most people did not show up and those who came,
most people did not get the gospel.
If I had done it Jesus' way,
if I had just known what I'm sharing to you now,
I would have seen so many more lives changed.
Because, as I said before, it's one thing to be open out there,
it's one thing to be open when you meet people on your workplace,
or in your school, or when you're out shopping,
and have a good conversation.
It's something else to go to church.
Many people don't want to go to church.
They are done with the church.
Don't give them church. Give them Jesus.
If you invite them to church, Satan has so many, many, many
days to put fear into them,
and to give them so many reasons why they should not go to church.
Don't give them church. Give them Jesus.
Sit down with them.
And when you have then led them to God,
if you want to take them with you to a fellowship, then do that.
Or start a new fellowship in their home.
It's something we are going to talk much more about later.
So, I really, really hope you'll take this to you, listen to it and obey it.
I want to read a little from my book "The Call of Jesus".
"As I said before, it is so sad to look back and see how many people of peace
we have lost because we did not follow what Jesus said we should do.
So I encourage you, when you do find a person of peace, stay with them.
Do not just invite them to church next Sunday.
You know Satan will have a lot of time to create fear in them
and tell them many reasons they should not go.
And if they do go, you never know what they will get there.
Instead, do what Jesus has called you to.
When you find a person of peace, sit down and eat and drink with them.
Get to know them over some food.
Build a relationship with them, and then take the time to share the Gospel
and heal the sick, like Jesus is saying.
If we train Christians to do this simple thing Jesus has called us to do,
we will see thousands of people coming to faith,
and we will see a movement we have never seen before."
Hallelujah! And I will say: this is so, so correct.
And that's why I'm so, so excited about this, because this is so simple.
This is so simple, and something we can all do.
And therefore Satan fights so hard against getting this out to people.
He want us to just continue doing church the way we are always doing,
instead of stop doing it our way and start to obey Jesus.
So, I encourage you: start to obey the call Jesus has given you.
So, share this video. Share this teaching.
Share my book "The Call of Jesus". Start to obey it. Share it.
And let's see a move of God we have never seen before.
Let's see thousands and ten thousands of people coming to faith.
It's simple. It's just there.
The harvest is ready.
We just need to do what Jesus has said.
Next time we are going to talk much more about
some of things Jesus is saying, when it comes to
staying with them, not moving from house to house.
Later, we are also going to talk about how do we then share
the gospel, when we meet that person,
we are going to look at how do we heal the sick,
how do we cast out demons,
how do we build them up,
how do we do this and this and this,
and we will just build with you,
so in the end of this video series, in the end of the book,
you are ready to go, ready to obey the call of Jesus,
ready to see, experience what Jesus is saying.
God bless you and see you next time! Bye-bye!
The Call of Jesus.