-
The Call of Jesus
-
Welcome to this first lesson where we are
going to look at the first chapter
-
in my new book "The Call of Jesus".
-
I have done this book and
I'm doing these videos to help you.
-
I want to help you to come in and live
the life Jesus has for you.
-
I will sometimes provoke you.
I will really challenge you
-
and I want you to start to think.
-
I will also try to give you some
practical tools
-
how you can best obey
the call Jesus has given you
-
and how you can bear good fruit for Him.
-
You know that time is very, very short.
-
It's time for us to wake up.
-
It's time to be radical.
-
We have done it our way.
-
Now it's time to stop doing it our way
and start to do it His way.
-
We need to do it the way
Jesus has called us to do it.
-
The first chapter in my book is called
"Christ, Mission, and the Church".
-
In this chapter we are looking at
what our call is.
-
Some years ago I came in a church,
in a church setting,
-
where there was a lot of focus
on finding our personal call.
-
What is our call? What is my call?
What does God want me to do?
-
What is our specific call as a church?
-
It was something we spent a lot of time on,
at that time.
-
And it was like, every person has its own
specific call.
-
Every church has its own specific vision.
-
We focus a lot on finding the personal
vision from the church,
-
or the call from the church,
and our focus, what is my call,
-
like, what does God want me to do?
-
Does God want me to be a worship leader?
Does God want me to be a businessman?
-
What is my call?
-
But, where do we find all of that
in the Bible?
-
Where do we find in the Bible, in that way
that we have a specific calls and things
-
we should do, that are different from
what Christ is saying?
-
And that is the problem, that we focus so much,
at that time, on our call and our vision,
-
that we actually forgot looking at
what it is Jesus was saying.
-
Yes, you can maybe feel that you are called
to be a worship leader,
-
you can feel that you are called
to be a businessman, but...
-
you still need to obey Christ.
-
It's all about Him.
-
No matter what church you are part of,
-
no matter what your call and vision is,
-
your call and vision should not be different
-
than what we read in the Word of God.
-
Jesus is not only our savior,
but He's our focus.
-
He is our goal in life.
-
As I said, some years ago,
I was busy finding my call,
-
I was busy trying to define a call
from our church.
-
Now I'm free from all of this.
I am so free from all of this.
-
Now it's just Jesus.
-
My goal is to obey Him, His words,
-
and my vision and my call is what I read
in the Bible. Nothing else.
-
Now it's not what I am called to,
it's not what I want to do.
-
It's: Jesus, what are You saying in Your word,
-
and then I will do it the way
You are calling me to do it.
-
Matthew 7:24-27 is saying this:
-
"Therefore, everyone who hears these words
of Mine and puts them into practice
-
is like a wise man who built his house
on the rock.
-
The rain came down, the streams rose,
and the winds blew against that house,
-
yet it did not fall, because it had its
foundation on the rock.
-
But everyone who hears these words
of Mine and does not put them into practice
-
is like a foolish mane who built his house
on sand.
-
The rain came down, the streams rose,
and the winds blew and beat against that house,
-
and it fell with a great crash."
-
What we read here in Matthew 7 is not about
hearing the Word.
-
It's about putting the Word into practice.
It's about obeying the Word.
-
So, it's not enough that you hear
Jesus' word.
-
You don't build on the rock by sitting
in a church and listening to the Word
-
or by reading the Word.
-
You need to obey it.
-
We need to do what it is Jesus is saying.
-
And so, it is really not about just having
a faith, in that sense.
-
It's not about coming to church
and listening Sunday after Sunday.
-
No, we need to obey.
-
Not our church tradition,
not our own vision, not our own call,
-
but we need to obey Jesus' word.
-
And it's so clear.
-
Let's listen to what Jesus is saying
and then do it.
-
It's so simple.
Let's listen to what He's saying
-
and then obey what He's saying.
-
And if you're doing that, it's not only
going to transform your life.
-
It's also going to transform the lives
of all of those people around you.
-
If we look at the church today, there are
three big subjects we can talk about.
-
If I use big words. There is ecclesiology,
missiology and Christology.
-
If you've not heard these three words
before, it's very simple.
-
Christology is teaching about Christ.
-
Missiology is teaching about mission.
-
Ecclesiology is teaching about church.
-
So, we have those three things.
We have Christ, mission and church.
-
But which one of those three
come first?
-
Let me read something from my book.
-
"There are three big subjects in the Bible
that people speak about today:
-
ecclesiology, missiology and Christology.
-
Ecclesiology, missiology and Christology
include teaching about the church,
-
teaching about mission,
and teaching about Christ.
-
My question is this: which of these three
subjects should come first in our lives?
-
If we look at the church today,
we find it often places its focus
-
around the teaching of the church.
-
The next teaching the church focuses on
is the mission, and then lastly,
-
it focuses on the teaching of Jesus.
-
I admit that some years ago,
I too was focused so much on teaching
-
about the church that I forgot the most
important teaching of all; Jesus.
-
Of course, I did not stand up on the church
platform and say that I forgot Jesus.
-
I did not even realize at the time that I had
forgotten about Him
-
because everything I was doing was
because of Him.
-
I built the churches because of Him.
and I did the mission because of Him,
-
but I realize now that my focus was wrong.
-
If we are honest, I believe a lot of us have
forgotten the most important thing.
-
We have forgotten to spend time with Jesus,
and we have forgotten to focus on what
-
He is saying in His Word.
It is all about Jesus,
-
about what He is saying in His Word,
and about how He wants us to do His mission.
-
From this focus on Jesus first,
and how He wants us to do His mission second,
-
the teaching of the church
would arise third.
-
I want to say that, what we read here
is really, really, really a big problem
-
in the church today. Maybe you don't see it,
but when you start to see it
-
you would just see how far away
we have come from Jesus and His words.
-
If we look at many churches today,
many, many, many in the churches
-
are so busy serving Jesus.
They are so busy with church activities,
-
they are so busy with meetings,
they are so busy with so many different things,
-
but in serving Jesus,
they have actually forgotten Jesus.
-
They have forgotten to sit down and read
what actually Jesus is saying in His word.
-
What is it Jesus wants us to do?
-
It should start with Jesus.
It should not start with church
-
and to busy to build our church.
It should start with Jesus.
-
And then, when we look at Jesus,
what is it that Jesus is saying,
-
then the way we do mission
would be very, very different.
-
The way we will serve would be
very, very different.
-
Why? Because we don't serve
out of our church tradition.
-
We serve out of Jesus and His word.
-
So, first Jesus.
Look at Him.
-
Look at what Jesus is saying and how
He wants us to obey Him and do mission.
-
And then, second, we do mission,
the way Jesus has called us to.
-
And then, third, we end up with the church.
-
And then it's going to be Jesus' church.
It's going to be a church
-
that will look so different than
what we see in the churches today.
-
The last year, here in America,
I met many, many, many different churches.
-
I've been all over and been in
many, many meetings.
-
And most of those churches
I've gone to, all look the same.
-
They have a building,
they have the pews,
-
they have the church meetings,
the worship meetings.
-
It's the same songs they are singing.
It's the same idea -
-
we come together and we want people
to go out and invite friends and neighbors
-
to come to church, and hopefully,
some of them will get born again.
-
Almost everything looks the same
and we all do it for Jesus,
-
but have we ever took the time
to stop up and look at what
-
actually Jesus is saying.
-
What Jesus wants us to do?
-
Does Jesus talk about that we should
church the way we do it?
-
Does Jesus talk about that we should
have a church building, gather people
-
and then, hopefully, nonbelievers will
come into our church and get saved?
-
Or does Jesus do it very differently?
-
Also, when Jesus said: Come and follow me
and I will make you fishers of men.
-
He did not just sit down with them
and met every Sunday,
-
and then did a teaching.
No. He walked with them.
-
He was building them up.
He was making them to be disciples.
-
The problem today is that we are so focused
on our church, how we do church.
-
And that is built on tradition.
That is built on tradition of men.
-
That is built on church culture.
-
And then, out of that box,
we then try to do mission.
-
And as I said, that mission very often looks
like: we need to have very nice meetings,
-
and then, if we have right meetings
and nice meetings,
-
people want to come to our church
and then we get people come to our church,
-
very often from other churches.
-
We don't come together and train people
the way we were supposed to.
-
We don't come together and make
disciples the way we are supposed to
-
and let those disciples go out in the harvest
that is ready and see the harvest saved,
-
see the people changed.
-
So yes, we are so busy often, with church,
with mission, that we forget Jesus, all of that.
-
And I have been guilty in that myself.
-
Let's stop doing what we are doing.
Let's change the way we are doing
-
and then really try to take the time
to look at what Jesus is saying.
-
What does Jesus say?
What does Jesus want us to do?
-
Again, where do you find the fine church
building in Jesus' word?
-
Where do you find Sunday meeting
where people come,
-
Sunday after Sunday, and hear the sermon,
in Jesus' word?
-
I want to read a little more from the book,
chapter one.
-
"Today, much of what we think makes up
a 'real' church
-
and much of what we do today
to 'serve Christ'
-
is actually stealing from us our first love
for Him that we once had.
-
The fire we had for Christ in the beginning
is being stolen from us
-
because we are focused so much
on the church
-
instead of focusing on Him
and how we can obey Him.
-
We sometimes forget that Jesus
has not called us to build big,
-
beautiful churches with lots of members,
I am not saying it is a bad thing
-
to have a place to meet and gather
with others,
-
but I am saying
this should never be the end goal.
-
Jesus has called us to make disciples,
where we baptize them,
-
and teach them to do all Jesus has
commanded us.
-
This is our life's goal, and it is so clearly
written in the Bible, right in front of us.
-
We can sit in our big, beautiful churches
with a lot of activities
-
and still not fulfill the goal
Jesus has given us,
-
It is time to stop doing
what we have been doing
-
and go back to what
Jesus is calling us to do.
-
I know those words are very clear
and very radical,
-
but I just want to say
that this is the truth.
-
I've seen it so many, many, many times.
-
I've seen so many people experience
Jesus and are in love for God
-
and then they come into church
and they are trying to serve,
-
and they are so busy with activities
and doing a lot of things,
-
that in all of this, trying to serve Jesus
in that box,
-
they suddenly lose their first love.
-
They are burning out. They are getting tired.
They are getting frustrated. Why?
-
Because we do so much, we put so much
into it, we spend so much money
-
and we see so little fruit.
-
And I've seen it so many times
how people are losing that first love.
-
I think it's time for a reformation.
-
It's time that we come back and do it
the way Jesus is saying it.
-
We can go one way, as we have done,
-
we can continue doing the way we
did it and see some fruit, as we have seen it.
-
But I believe there is a better way.
-
There is a way where we do it exactly
the way Jesus did it.
-
Where we lay down our vision, our plans,
our goals, our idea of the church
-
and how to do church
and how to make disciples,
-
and then really take the time to look at Jesus
and what He is saying.
-
One of the things He's also saying
is in Matthew 11:28-30. He said this:
-
"Come to Me, all of you who labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
-
Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me,
for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
-
and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and My burden is light."
-
This is what Jesus is also saying,
that His yoke is easy.
-
He said we should come to Him
and find rest.
-
Why do we see so many today
get tired in serving Jesus and falling away?
-
Why do we see so many pastors and leaders
getting stressed and stop doing ministry?
-
I've seen that again, and again, and again.
Why do we see that when Jesus is saying this?
-
Could it be because we are so busy doing
other things
-
then what Jesus has, actually, called us to?
-
I think so. Because I've seen that
again, and again, and again.
-
There is a freedom in serving Jesus.
There is a freedom in doing it His way.
-
It doesn't have to be so full of activities.
It doesn't have to cost so much money.
-
It doesn't have to be so big burden.
-
The way Jesus has called us to do
is so much more simple,
-
it's so much more easy,
it's so much more powerful,
-
it's so much more fruitful.
-
So again, we need to stop doing
what we are doing
-
and look at what Jesus is saying.
-
Let me read a little more from the book.
-
"...the truth is that today,
2,000 years after Christ was on earth,
-
we are spending our time, our energy,
and our money
-
to get our churches to succeed.
-
We spend our time, energy, and money
to get people to come to our church meetings.
-
However, we do not do
what Jesus told us to do.
-
Maybe this is the reason
we see so little fruit
-
and why we see so many people
losing their faith and their first love for God.
-
We, as Jesus' disciples, have been fishing
the whole night without catching anything,
-
as Jesus' disciples did in John 21:3-6.
Now it's time we do what He says,
-
that we act on His word.
-
It is as simple as casting the net
on the other side.
-
Let's not focus so much on the church fist,
mission second, and Christ third.
-
Let's start with Christ first
and then let Him reveal the mission to us,
-
then let the church unfold
the way Jesus has planned.
-
Amen. I want to encourage you
to take the time,
-
stop doing what you are doing
and then let's look at Jesus' word.
-
What is He has called us to do?
-
What is it He has called you to do?
-
Many years ago I was guilty
in what I'm saying here.
-
I was guilty in doing church first,
mission second and Christ third.
-
I want to admit it, I was so busy
in doing church and mission
-
that I really forgot Christ.
-
But then I took a time
where I was really looking at Jesus' word.
-
I was looking at what He was saying.
-
And then I changed the way I did things.
-
I started with Christ first.
-
And I looked at Him and His words,
what is it Jesus is saying,
-
what is it Jesus has called us to do,
how does He want us to do mission.
-
And then I started to do mission,
not my way, not the church way,
-
but Jesus' way.
-
And it changed everything.
-
The fruit was amazing.
-
And then I saw how Jesus was building
His church.
-
Wow! I love it! The fruit is so amazing now.
-
We have seen the world transformed.
-
And it's not a heavy yoke.
It's an easy burden to carry.
-
It's so much different to do it
Jesus' way.
-
So I really want to encourage you
to say "yes" to the call He has given us.
-
I know you will love it.
-
I know you will see so much more fruit
if you do it the way He has called you to do it.
-
So I hope you are ready to say "yes"
and follow Him.
-
And until next time we will see,
I want to encourage you
-
to take some time and read Jesus' word
in Matthew 10 and Luke 9 and Luke 10,
-
where we read about how He sent out
the 12 and how He sent out the 70.
-
Read what Jesus was saying
to the early disciples.
-
Read what Jesus wanted them to do,
how He called them to go out and do mission.
-
Read Matthew 10, Luke 9 and Luke 10.
-
And then ask yourself:
-
Am I, are we in our church,
really building on the rock?
-
Are we really obeying Jesus
in His words and what we are reading here
-
or are we so busy doing other things?
-
Please do this. Listen to Jesus' words,
obey what He's saying
-
instead of just being busy doing
other things.
-
And let's work together.
And together we can come back
-
and do what Jesus has called us all to do.
-
And then let us see what Jesus is saying,
that the harvest is ready.
-
Let us see that there is a great harvest
waiting for us right now.
-
And let's make workers that are ready
to go out in the harvest.
-
And then let's find a person of peace
Jesus is talking about.
-
Something I will talk about
much more later.
-
God bless you all out there.
Please share this video
-
and help other people to
get the focus away from church first,
-
mission second and Christ third,
and go back to Christ first.
-
Christ, Christ, Christ alone
and then we do mission
-
the way He has said, and then we end up
with a church that would be so different,
-
so powerful, so much like we read
in the Book of Acts.
-
God bless you all out there!
Share this video.
-
See you next time.
Bye-bye!
-
The Call of Jesus