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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.

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Let's study 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 this week
is discipleship.

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And so for the next few weeks,
we're going to be looking at the

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topic of discipleship.

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We're going to be looking at
what is discipleship.

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We're going to look at what
the Bible has to say about it, and

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we're going to look at how we,
as the church can perform discipleship

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in our midst.

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So where do we start with the
area of discipleship?

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Well, we need to start with
the question, what is discipleship?

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And it's a question that needs
to be asked, and it needs to be answered.

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And.

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And I think the best place to
start is in Matthew, chapter 28.

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We're going to look at the end
of the chapter.

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We're going to look at
something called the Great Commission.

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What is the Great Commission?

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The Great Commission is Jesus
giving instruction to his disciples,

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to his followers, about what
it means to make disciples.

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And he gives us a.

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A goal, he gives us a plan, he
gives us a purpose, and that purpose

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is to make disciples.

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And so if it was important to
Jesus right before he ascends into

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heaven to give this
instruction to his followers, I believe

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that it's important for us
today within the church to follow

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the same direction, the same
purpose in discipleship.

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And so let's look at Matthew,
chapter 28, and let's look at verse

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number 18, and we're going to
read down to the end of the chapter.

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And I think this will give us
a good example of the necessity of

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discipleship within the church.

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It says in Matthew, chapter
28, verse 18, and Jesus came and

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spake unto them, saying, all
power is given unto me in heaven

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and in earth.

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And so we see that Jesus is
explaining his power or his authority

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to his followers here.

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And he says, what I'm about to
ask you to do, you can only do in

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my power.

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He says in verse 19, Go ye
therefore, and teach all nations.

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Or.

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Or in the.

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The Greek, it literally means
make disciples, teach people what

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it means to be a disciple,
baptizing them in the name of the

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Father and of the Son.

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And of the Holy Ghost teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever.

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I've commanded you, and lo,
I'm with you always, even to the

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end of the world.

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And so Jesus gives them his
purpose, and that is the purpose

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of making disciples.

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And he says, do it in my power.

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And then he says, you will
have my presence with you while you

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do that.

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Verse number 20, he says, Lo,
I am with you always, even to the

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end of the world.

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And so I want us to think
about, number one.

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In discipleship, we have to
rely on the power of God.

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Number two, we have to rely in
the purpose that we are given, in

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the fact that, hey, the whole
reason that we have this opportunity

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is to show people what it
means to follow Jesus Christ.

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So you have the power, the
purpose, and then the presence of

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our Savior in the midst of that.

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So what does it mean to, to
make disciples?

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Well, we, we need to talk
about what a disciple is first and

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foremost.

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What is a disciple?

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Literally, the word disciple
means follower.

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It means learner, someone who
learns of someone, someone who follows

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someone.

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Think of the situation of an
apprentice, maybe someone who is

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learning how to be a.

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Let's say it's a plumber in
this case, and the plumber is learning

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from someone else.

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He's an apprentice, and he's
learning from a master plumber to

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become more efficient and more
professional when it comes to his

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work in, in that field.

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It's the same idea of discipleship.

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It's learning about who Jesus
is and growing in him and maturing

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in our faith.

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And so a disciple by
definition is a follower, a learner

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in the context of a Christian
disciple, it's a learner of Christ,

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a follower of Christ, someone
who understands Jesus in his message

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of faith, his message of
forgiveness, his message of transformation.

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And so, so what would be a
characteristic of a disciple?

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Well, I would say first and
foremost someone who puts Jesus first,

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someone who is a committed
follower of Christ.

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And I think that's a good
definition of a disciple, someone

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who's a committed follower of Christ.

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In the book of mark, mark
chapter 8, verse 34, we see Jesus

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explaining what it means to
follow him.

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Verse 34 of Mount Mark 8, it
says, and when he had called the

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people unto him and with his
disciples also he said unto them,

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whosoever will come after me,
let him deny himself.

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And so one element of being a
disciple is to deny ourselves.

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And it says here, and take up
his cross.

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Now, today, the cross is a
symbol of beauty.

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It's a symbol of fashion.

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But back then it was A symbol
of death.

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So we'll speak more of this
when we study this element of discipleship.

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But it's essentially Jesus
telling his followers, his disciples

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to deny themselves and to die
to their flesh.

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And then it says, and follow me.

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So there's three steps there.

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To deny ourselves, to die to
our flesh and to follow him.

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For whosoever will save his
life shall lose it.

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But whosoever shall lose his life.

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And this is so interesting
here because it's, it's.

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It's contrasting what the
world teaches us.

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The world teaches us.

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It's all about us.

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When Jesus says, hey, it's
about losing your life.

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So.

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So he says in verse 35, for
whosoever will save his life shall

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lose it.

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But whosoever shall lose his
life for my sake, and the Gospels,

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the same shall save it.

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For what shall it profit a man
if he shall gain the whole world

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and lose his own soul?

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And I think that's an
important question to ask when it

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comes to the area of discipleship.

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He says, or what shall a man
give in exchange for his soul?

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Whosoever, therefore, shall be
ashamed of me and my words and this

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adulterous and sinful
generation of him also shall the

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Son of man be ashamed when he
cometh in the glory of his Father

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and with the holy angels.

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And so the Bible clearly
teaches that, you know, we can believe

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in Jesus, we can believe in
his existence, we can even believe

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of his work on the cross, but
yet not be committed in our dedication

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to him.

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And so it's number one.

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To be a Christian is the.

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Is the first important thing
we have to do.

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We have to believe in Christ
and faith.

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But the Bible speaks of that
discipleship process, that.

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That process of committing
ourselves to him more and more.

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And so I think the first step
of becoming a disciple, obviously,

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is salvation.

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But the second step would be
putting Jesus first in everything,

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in all elements of our life.

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Jesus spoke many times in the
New Testament about commitment, putting

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things behind us, not living
for ourselves.

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And so to be a disciple means
I need to follow him.

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I need to deny myself another
element of discipleship.

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The other.

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The other element, I would
say, that's at the top of the list

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would be obeying Jesus,
following his teachings.

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In John, chapter 8, verse 31,
it says, Jesus said to those Jews

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which believed on him, so we
see that they already believe.

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But he's speaking about
something more, about the element

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of growth, the element of
being a disciple.

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He says, if ye continue in my
word, then are ye my disciples indeed,

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and ye shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free.

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So part of putting Jesus first
in our life is putting His Word as

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a priority to obey.

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James, chapter one, verse 22,
speaks of not just hearing, but also

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doing be doers of the Word and
not hearers, only deceiving your

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own selves.

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And so someone who hears the
word of God but does not allow that

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word to change them, that is a
person who is, it says here, is deceiving

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themselves.

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So there are a lot of people
that probably believe that they are

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disciples of Christ, but yet
don't obey His Word.

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So the Bible says, well, that
is deception.

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You're deceiving others and
you're deceiving yourself.

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And so the.

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The reality of it is, is that
we're not going to deceive God.

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So for us to be a disciple of
Christ, for us to be a committed

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follower of Christ, it means
that we need to put Jesus first in

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all things, and we need to
obey His Word.

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We need to follow His Word.

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And so the reason why we're
talking about the definition of being

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a disciple in the.

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In the topic of discipleship
is this.

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We cannot make disciples in
our churches unless we ourselves

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are disciples.

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That's something that I've
been trying to emphasize within our

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church here at Middletown
Baptist Church, is that if we are

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not disciples ourselves, if we
are not putting Christ first, if

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we are not obeying His Word,
if we are not committed to following

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him, there is no way that we
can make disciples within our midst.

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I cannot demonstrate to
someone what it means to be a disciple

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if I am putting myself first,
if I'm disregarding the word of God.

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And so in this topic of
discipleship, the church must find

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it important to be disciples
themselves so that we can make disciples.

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So going back to the Great
Commission, what has Jesus called

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us to do to make disciples?

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And so this first lesson I'd
like us to think about here today

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would be to be a disciple maker.

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I must be a disciple myself.

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And so my challenge for you
today is, as, as you were listening

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to this podcast, is to inspect
your own life.

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Is.

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Is.

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Is my life aligned with the
definition of Jesus in, in the area

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of discipleship?

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Have I put him first?

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Have I, the Bible says, have I.

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Have I put my.

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My hands to the plow?

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Am I looking back?

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Am I loving others more than I
love the word of God?

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Am I loving myself more than I
love the way of God?

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And there's other passages of
scripture that, that Jesus speaks

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to, and he.

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He even speaks to this
understanding that, you know, in

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comparison to my love for God,
my love for my family should look

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like hate.

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Now, that's a hard pill for
many of us to swallow.

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But the idea is, is that we
should be so committed to Christ

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that other elements of our
life should, should not even hold

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a candle to the importance of
following Him.

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And so I, I, I think that the
first challenge that we need to have

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when it comes to this area of
discipleship, because we're going

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to see later on in this study
that God has called us to lead people

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to him and to teach people
what it means to follow Him.

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But the first step is
inspecting our own lives.

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Am I a disciple?

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Have I committed my life to Christ?

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Am I obeying him to the best
of my ability?

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And if I do fall short, am I
willing to admit that, confess that,

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come back to him in
restoration, and continue to grow

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in my spiritual walk?

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And so to make disciples.

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And we know that that's
important why?

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Because Jesus gives us that in
the Great Commission.

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Our marching orders, so to
speak, when it comes to being in

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the army of God, would be to
make disciples.

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So making disciples is important.

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We know that because Jesus
said it was important.

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So if making disciples is
important, how do I do that?

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Well, number one, I need to be
a disciple.

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And I need to show others
around me what it means to be a disciple.

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Second Timothy, chapter two,
verse two says, and the things that

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thou has heard of me.

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This is Paul speaking to
Timothy, the things that thou has

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heard of me.

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Among many witnesses, the same
commit thou to faithful men who shall

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be able to teach others also.

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And so the picture here is this.

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Someone has taught you what it
means to be a follower of Christ.

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Okay, Someone has pointed you
to the Word.

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Someone has demonstrated to
you faithfulness.

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And then what we do is we
learn and we grow, and then we pass

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that on to others so that they
can pass it on to others.

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And so that 50 years, 100
years from now, that that cycle has

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continued on just as it has
for centuries here, as, as God has

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worked his will out with the church?

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And so I would encourage you
to inspect your own life, to say,

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am I that committed follower
of Christ?

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Am I that one who is a putting
him first?

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Am I that one who is being a
doer and applying the truths of God

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in my life?

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And it.

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Again, there's so much more
that we could add to this.

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But I think the first step of
talking about discipleship is, number

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one, defining what a disciple
is, and then number two, seeing where

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we stand in that comparison,
and then knowing now how to apply

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that to teaching and
demonstrating to others.

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And so what we're going to
look at next week would be the step

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of, okay, I have now committed
myself to Christ, okay?

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So I have, I have a declaration.

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I declare Christ, okay?

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So the next step for me would
be, I, I need to train, I need to

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demonstrate.

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I need to demonstrate to
others what it means to be a follower

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of Christ.

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If that means teaching, if
that means exhortation, if that means

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edification, if that means
challenging, you know, whatever the

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case might be, I need to show
other people what it means to follow

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Christ.

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And I ultimately need to put
him to Christ, into his Word.

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And so in that, in that
discussion, we will take the.

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We'll have the.

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The analysis of how we take
that next step from being a disciple

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to being a disciple maker.

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And I think that's the natural
or we call supernatural progression

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that happens in the
Christian's life.

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And so Christian maturity is
understanding that life is not about

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us.

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Life is not about our
particular needs only, but it's also

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about the ultimate goal of God
and the purpose of the Great Commission

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to make disciples for the
cause of the gospel, the cause of

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the kingdom.

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So the disciple is a committed
follower of Christ, and disciple

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is someone who obeys the the
Word and puts Christ first in their

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life.

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And next week, we'll look at
what it means to disciple others

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around us.

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And so if you have not been
someone who has been a beneficiary

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of discipleship, I would
encourage you to find someone that

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you can look to as, as someone
who can point you to the truths of

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Scripture, who can walk you
through different elements of God's

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plan for your life when it
comes to the different passages of

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scripture that, that apply to
those things.

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And so I would encourage you
to think about that, pray about that

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here this week.

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And we are going to learn
together what it means to be disciple

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makers.

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And so I hope that you have a
wonderful week.

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I hope that you'll tune back
into this podcast when we look at

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what it means to be a disciple
and what it means to be in the process

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of discipleship.

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I think for a Christian, the
discipleship process never ends.

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We're always learning, we're
always growing.

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We should always be pointing
other people to that same process.

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So, again, thank you so much
for listening to this podcast.

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Share it with someone that you
love if you feel led to do that.

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And I hope to have you back
here next week when we talk about

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this discipleship process.

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Well, thank the Lord for His goodness.

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Thank the Lord for His resurrection.

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Thank the Lord for His victory
over death.

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As we celebrated this past
weekend and we are going to continue

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to push forward and the cause
of the Gospel.

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Take care.

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Have a wonderful week.

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We will 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, you
can find more information about us

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on Facebook or YouTube.

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00:15:34,714 --> 00:15:40,282
Or you can find the podcast on
NBC podcast.org you can contact me

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directly at Josh Mess
sorrow@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.