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Hello and welcome to the
Middletown Baptist Church podcast,

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where we are proclaiming the
truth to the world.

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In this podcast series, we're
going to be looking into biblical

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words that have great
significance to our faith.

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The name of this series is
called the Word of the Week, where

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once a week we will dive
deeper into these words that we are

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familiar with in scripture.

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So come along with me, let's study.

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The Word of the week.

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Pastor Josh here with another
word of the week.

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The word of the week again
this week is discipleship.

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Last week we looked at
discipleship and we looked at the

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definition of a disciple.

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The Bible says in John 8.

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31 that a disciple is someone
who continues in the Word who follows

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Christ.

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It says in John 8:31, then
Jesus said to those Jews which believed

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on him, if you continue in my
word, then are ye my disciples?

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Indeed?

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So simply, a disciple is
someone who is a committed follower

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of Christ.

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In the context of Scripture, a
disciple is someone who loves God,

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obeys him, follows him, and
becomes more Christ like.

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And that's the measure of what
it means to be a disciple if we want

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to grow in the understanding
of who God is.

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It's not about just going to
church more.

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It's not just about reading
our Bibles more, even though those

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are great things.

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The Bible clearly says that
the measurable when it comes to the

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idea of discipleship is am I
becoming more and more like Christ?

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Well, how do I know more about
Christ through His Word?

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And so what Jesus says is that
if you want to be like me, if you

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want to follow me, if you want
to be my disciple, it means to obey

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me.

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The way that you demonstrate
love is through obedience.

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And so we looked at that last
week when it came to the idea of

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the definition of a disciple.

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And, and we even see other
passages of Scripture like James

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chapter 1, verse 22, but be
doers of the Word and not hearers,

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only deceiving your own selves.

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And so the challenge is, yes,
number one, to believe in who Jesus

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is and what he has done for us.

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But also the challenge then
comes after that belief in, in the

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fact that are we going to
believe and have faith in who he

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is in every element of our
life, every aspect of our life.

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The Bible speaks of that full
commitment and the challenge that

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we have as individuals to
follow in that way.

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And then as we follow Christ,
to lead other people to follow Christ.

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And.

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And so something that I've
been sharing with the church recently

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and something that I've been
working through in my own life is

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that if we want to make
disciples, as the Great Commission

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calls us to do In Matthew,
chapter 28, it tells us to make disciples.

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If we want to make disciples
in the church, we in the church must

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be disciples ourselves.

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And so it's living by example.

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It's taking what we have
learned of Christ from His Word and

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demonstrating that to others
and teaching others and encouraging

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others, and really in the
sense of loving others, showing them

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what it means to follow Christ.

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And so I want to take it a
step further here today and talk

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more about that aspect of discipleship.

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So we have the element of who
is a disciple in the biblical context.

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In the Christian context, the
disciple is someone who is committed

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follower of Christ.

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So then what is discipleship?

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Well, all of us as believers
are on a path of growth.

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We should be on the path of growth.

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The Bible calls that sanctification.

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And so we have this, this path
in our life that we are taking.

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It's.

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It's the spiritual growth process.

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And so doing we as Christians
hopefully each day are becoming more

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and more like Christ.

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There's going to be ups,
there's going to be downs, there's

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going to be victories, there's
going to be setbacks.

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But all in all, we know that
all Christians are on that path for,

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for all the time of their life.

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So it doesn't mean that when
we reach the age of 50 or 60 or 70,

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80, 90, 100, that we have
reached some pinnacle of spirituality.

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The Bible says that we should
continue on in that process.

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And so how do we do that?

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Well, that's reading
Scripture, that's dwelling with the

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Lord, communing with the Lord,
talking with him in prayer, growing

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in our desire for his will in
our life.

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And then the Bible says that
we are actually to demonstrate that

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to others passage of scripture
that we get to, when it comes to

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that is second Timothy,
chapter two, verse two.

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And in, in context, this is
Paul, who is the spiritual father

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of Timothy.

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Not his literal father, but
you could say it this way, he's a

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spiritual mentor.

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And so Paul is talking to Timothy.

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Timothy is a young pastor who
obviously has a lot to learn, but

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he's growing in the Lord.

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Paul says this to him and the
things that thou has heard of me

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among many witnesses.

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So he's like, you've heard a
lot of things that I have taught

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and demonstrated to you and
others the same.

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The same things that I have
taught you about the Lord and about

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his.

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His desires for us and in his
love for us.

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And in the Gospel message, he
says the Same commit thou to faithful

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men, meaning you need to
commit to teach that to other people

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yourself.

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So you have been taught by
somebody, and then you are to teach

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other people.

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Why?

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Well, the next step here, who
shall be able to teach others also.

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And so we really see this
discipleship direction happening.

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So it obviously starts from God.

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And then as God extends
salvation to an individual, there's

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now this progressive
sanctification that's happening.

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There are individuals within
the church that teach individuals

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what it means to know Christ,
to grow in Christ Point.

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And really it's pointing
people to His Word.

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And then it says, as you have
learned from someone, so you then

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commit to other people that
same information, that same process

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of growth, and demonstrate to
them not only by what you say by,

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but by what you do so that
they can do the same thing.

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And so that goes on and on and on.

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So that has happened
throughout the centuries within the

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church.

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And so when everything is
working in a healthy way, the church

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is the, we would call it, the
breeding grounds of disciples.

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And so this is the natural way
that God has designed for the faith

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to continue on, to spread.

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And so a Christian disciple is
one who, who puts Jesus first, someone

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who obeys him, someone who has
fruit in their life, and then someone

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who looks to spread that
through evangelism and discipleship.

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So.

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So I need to tell people about
how they can know God through Jesus

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Christ and salvation.

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And then I need to teach them
what it means to follow him, to obey

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Him.

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And so all Christians should
be dedicated to looking for folks

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who need Jesus and then
teaching them what it means to find

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him in this world.

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Where.

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Where do we find Jesus in this world?

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It's not in nature, it's not
in the media.

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We find Jesus in the truth of
the word of God, and then the Holy

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Spirit changes us.

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And so then the Holy Spirit
then allows us to grow and become

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more and more like Him.

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So that's the process of discipleship.

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Now we're going to talk more
about the practical application of

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how we can disciple in future podcasts.

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But what I would like to
address here today is just simply

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this.

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What.

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What is discipleship?

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Discipleship is leading,
demonstrating, and living the truth

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of the gospel of Jesus Christ
to those around us so that they can

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grow in the understanding of
who Jesus is.

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So we grow and others grow
around us.

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Like I mentioned before,
there's going to be setbacks, even

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with Jesus and his disciples.

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We know that Jesus had more
than the 12, but certainly the ones

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that we are aware of are
usually the inner Circle.

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Sometimes we call them the
apostles, but you have a fellow.

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Let's look at Peter, for example.

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Peter was around Jesus every
day, all the time, for three years.

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And Peter learned a lot from Jesus.

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But yet, at the same time,
Peter didn't always get it right.

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Peter, like, like the others,
didn't understand all of the things

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that Jesus was teaching him.

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Though I believe through
seeing later on in Scripture, Peter

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definitely absorbed many of
the things that Jesus taught him.

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But nonetheless, it was a
process, right?

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Jesus taught Peter things, and
he received things and understood

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things and applied things, and
then also had times where there needed

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to be some course correction.

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Then ultimately there was the
big failure in the fact that Peter

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denies Christ right before his crucifixion.

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And for some, that might seem
like that's the end.

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But we know that in
discipleship that when a person makes

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a great, great mistake,
commits a terrible sin, that doesn't

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mean that they've lost it.

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That doesn't mean that they've
lost the hope that they have in Christ.

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It just means that there's
time for them to understand the forgiveness

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of Christ and to move forward.

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And so discipleship is difficult.

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It's sometimes messy, it's
sometimes heartbreaking when we try

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to teach people the truth of
Jesus Christ and it seems like they're

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understanding it.

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And maybe they do, but maybe
sometimes there's opportunities for

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them to be tested in their
faith and there's a failure.

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But we know that the Bible
speaks of though, Though he fall,

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the righteous man, though he
fall, he shall not be utterly cast

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down because the Lord upholds
him with his hand.

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And so we as disciples should
put Jesus first.

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We as disciples should follow
Jesus's teachings and obedience.

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We should see fruit being
manifested in our life.

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John 15 talks all about that.

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John, John 15, verse 5.

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Jesus is speaking here, and he
says, I am the vine and year the

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branches.

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So we don't bear fruit in our
own strength, in our own wisdom,

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in our own goodness.

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Like, I'm not creating
disciples of.

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Of myself.

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So, you know, I go by Josh, or
in some cases in our church, Pastor

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Josh.

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I'm not creating disciples of
Pastor Josh.

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I'm creating disciples of Christ.

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So that means that we don't.

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People point people to
ourselves as much as we point people

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to Christ.

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Now, Paul does mention in
Scripture, hey, follow me as I follow

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Christ.

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And so he says, just look at
me as an example of how to follow

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Christ.

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So Paul never says, follow me alone.

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He says, follow Christ as I'm
following Christ.

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And so Jesus says, there in
John 15, verse 5, he says, I am the

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vine, you are the branches.

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He that abideth in me, or he
that lives in me, dwells in me, and

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I in him.

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The same bringeth forth much fruit.

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For without me you can do nothing.

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So Jesus says, you want to be
a fruitful Christian?

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Live in my truth, abide in me.

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And so we know that the Bible
speaks of a disciple being fruitful.

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It doesn't mean perfect, it
doesn't mean completely carefree,

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but it does mean that there
will be fruit in our lives.

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And you know, another element
of discipleship and the other element

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of growing in our faith is, is
loving the things that God loves.

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And what does God love?

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The Bible says that God loves
believers, right?

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He loves people, specifically
his children.

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And so a lot of times for us,
we say we love God, but yet we have

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a struggle with loving those
around us.

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We struggle loving the church.

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The Bible says that God loves
the church.

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And we know that Jesus loved
the church so much that he gave his

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life for it.

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And so one mark of a disciple
would be someone who loves others,

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who loves the church, who
loves what God has called the family

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of God.

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And so we, we as believers
should strive to be disciples and

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we should strive to follow
Jesus completely in every element

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of our life, and then in so
doing, pointing other people to Christ.

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And so that's that maturity process.

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So as I mature as a believer,
I have the opportunity to not just

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think about myself and my own
spiritual growth, but to invest into

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others.

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And so that's what we're going
to be talking about for the next

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few sessions here on this podcast.

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Now we've talked about the
definition of a disciple and we've

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talked about ultimately the
process of discipleship, what that

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is pointing people to Christ,
leading people to Christ and encouraging

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them, edifying them, building
them up in Christ.

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And now we're going to look at
specific ways that we can actually

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practically put discipleship
to practice within our own lives,

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within the church, within our
homes, within our communities, within

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our workplaces.

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And, and I think that that is
important because we talked about

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the big picture ideas, but
sometimes we leave it at the big

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picture and we miss the day to
day necessity of putting these things

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to practice.

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And so next week we're going
to look at what Scripture has to

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say about actually teaching
others about Jesus.

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And just like we saw in 2
Timothy 2, 2, Paul says, hey, what

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you've learned of me, pass
that on to other people so they can

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pass it on to other people.

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So how do we pass it on to
other people.

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Well, you could say we teach them.

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How do we teach them?

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Is the classroom the best
place for this to happen?

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For some it is.

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And we'll talk more about the
different aspects and areas of which

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we as believers can implement
discipleship within our own lives.

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And then in some degree, how
do we grow?

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Because, like, everyone's on
the discipleship path.

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Just because I'm at the point
where I can invest in other people's

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life, that doesn't mean that
I'm exempt from the discipleship

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that's needed.

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So I need someone to invest
into my life.

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I need to, to learn from other people.

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I need to continue to grow in
the Word of God.

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So there is that never ending
process of, yes, I am growing, but

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I'm not at my pinnacle yet.

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I'm not at the point where I
am stopping.

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I need to push forward, press forward.

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And Paul talks all about that
in the book of Philippians.

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And we'll talk more about that
next week.

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So hope that you have a
wonderful rest of your week.

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Hope that this study in
discipleship is important enough

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for you to take some time to
think about and to pray about and

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to see where you fall in that
process of discipleship.

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Have you even come to know Christ?

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Is he real to you?

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Is, is it a real relationship
that you have with him?

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And then number two, if that
is real to you, have you looked at

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the aspect of investing into
others for the kingdom of God?

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Is it a priority for you to
make those disciples around you?

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Ultimately, it's the power of
God that does it.

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If you go back to the Great
Commission, if you remember, Jesus

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says, it's all my power that
is happening.

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John 15.

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Remember, you can do nothing
without me.

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And so it's important to know
that we are not doing it ourselves.

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We are just vessels of the
work of God that He has called us

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to do.

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And so he's looking for
willing vessels.

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And the question would be, is,
are we willing to be a vessel of

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discipleship in someone's life?

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And are we willing to grow
closer and be a disciple of Christ?

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Well, thank you so much for
your attention.

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I'd love for you to share this
with someone around you.

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That would be fantastic and
love for you to come back next week

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and to follow along with this
series looking at what is discipleship?

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God bless you.

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Take care.

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We'll talk to you soon.

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Hey, I really appreciate that
you listen to the Word of the Week

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podcast.

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If you have any questions
about the podcast or about our church,

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Middletown Baptist Church.

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You can find more information
about us on Facebook or YouTube,

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or you can find the podcast on
NBCPodcast.org you can contact me

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directly at Josh Massaro at
middletownbaptistchurch.org stay

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tuned for future Word of the
Week episodes where we dive deeper

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into words that impact our
life according to scripture.

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Thank you so much.

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God bless.

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We'll talk to you soon.