Die to Self: What True Surrender Looks Like | For the One Missions Recap - Between Sermons // Audio

Episode Transcript
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Pastor Brent McQuay (00:00):
Foreign. Welcome back to another episode of
Between Sermons, where we get to continue
our conversation from Sunday. This is kind
of like a glimpse into, like, what
would happen in a small group. We're

(00:20):
going to take the Sunday sermon and
kind of apply it to our lives
a little bit deeper, discuss things a
little bit more. I don't know personally,
but in order to do that, in
order to continue this conversation, I need
people to talk to. And so Tyisha
helps me with that because I have
a hard time talking with people. So
you're the help.

Ti'heasha Beasley (00:39):
I don't think you have a hard
time. I always say you could run
this show by yourself, and you did.
Before you could talk, you did. You
do it all the time.

Tiffany Hines (00:49):
Yeah, I talk too much.

That's all I'm hearing right now.

How long has the podcast been going?
So I don't know. At some point
you can still say I have a
hard time talking to people.

Well, I mean, yeah, now some things
don't get any easier. Some things are
just. It's just the reality.

How do you know I don't have
a hard time talking to people?

Because you never stop talking.

Okay. Anyway.

I mean, to people. To people. To
people.

Okay. Let's introduce our fabulous guest.

Like, I feel like the last time
I was on here, it went that
way and you felt away. So I'm
not gonna. No, not this time.

Oh, because you want to say I
talk.

Well, we tell people, like. We tell
people like, this is a glimpse of,
like, a small group. How would a
small group function? The Sunday service, and
if you're not ribbon at each other,
like, a little bit.

Yeah.

Are you really friends?

Yeah. No, that's true.

Yeah.

I mean, you should. There should be
a microphone in my actual small group
that I do on Wednesdays. Like that.
That group, we. We say some wild
things.

It's.

It's a lot of fun.

That's cool. I think all small groups
should have that element. I don't think
I would want to be a part
of a small group that was, like,
stiff and stuffy. I don't know if
I would want to be a part
of a church that was stiff and
stuffy. Yeah, Stiff and stuffy.

So.

Well, let's welcome our special guest, Tiff
Hines. You are no stranger.

Hello.

Hi. He said, hi, Tiff. That reminded
me of Sesame street for, like, two
minutes.

Now. That's Carlton.

We get Carlton on. Then you get
all the Sesame Street.

I don't know.

It was just like, hey, to Flake.
It's just the young Brent came But
no, we are. We have the joy
of the Lord.

Amazing people listen to this show because
it's a miracle and they look.

They enjoy it. Right, guys? You enjoy
between sermons. And we are so grateful
that you rock with us. But yeah.
So today we are continuing the conversation
about our mission series. It has been
incredible. What's been your thoughts so far?
Tiff about what we've been talking about
over the last three weeks.

So part of it, I was on
a mission trip in Kenya.

Okay.

So I can speak just really strongly
to yesterday with Lilyfield. And that was
incredible on so many levels. But I
know we're going to get into it
more. But I think conversations and messages

(03:18):
about missions, it can either penetrate or
people could just be like, okay, that
was cute kind of thing. But I
felt like yesterday was like a transition
spiritually that happened. So that was my
experience yesterday. Yeah, it challenged a lot.

(03:40):
So.

Yeah, man, I think you nailed it
there. Like, I think for a lot
of people, though, like, when. When they
don't have the heart for missions yet,
the. It's easy to kind of zone
out or tune out during this series
because we do this every year, really,
where we make an emphasis on what's
God doing in the nations and how
are we a part of it and
promote our trips and highlight our partners

(04:02):
and all that. And it is. We
keep it short. It's only three weeks.
Like, this is the last week of
it. But we do see a lot
of people that are like, well, I'm
not going on a trip, so this
isn't for me. I think yesterday just
slapped those people in the face in,
like, the nicest way. Like, literally, one
of the guys came out of the
service. He's like, man, I feel like
I just got kicked in the head.
And I was like. But it felt
good, didn't. He's like, yeah, I want
to do it again. Oh, God.

Come back for the next service.

Wow, man, I. I would love to,
like, just start, I guess, with your
perspective on yesterday's message. We had a
guest speaker in the house, and she
was amazing.

Yes.

L feels is a missionary, and she
just really travels the world spreading the
gospel, talking about the gospel. And so
I would say we can find that
on YouTube. You just won't.

Yeah. So it was the. The awkwardness
of yesterday. So for safety reasons, we
can't show her face on the Internet.
Which is kind of funny because when
we first booked her to come, uh,
your team was looking for pictures of
her that we could promote. And you're
like, I Can't find this woman anywhere.
And it's like, oh, that's. Yeah, that's
intentional.

Yeah.

You're supposed to find her.

Yes.

And so I. I do. I want
to clarify because we had some people
that were like, wait, but we're going
on a missions trip with the lady.

Are we safe?

Like, are we.

Okay, I don't think about that part.

Like, yes, like, we're going with her
to England, to the uk and it's
safe. It's just she does other work
in other places and people that she
works with. So, like, members of her
team would become unsafe because by relation,
if you find out who she is,
you find out who they are, and
just a whole mess. And we actually,
what's interesting is we don't talk about
this a lot, but we have several

(05:42):
missions partners that fall into that space.
Like, some of our partners with Elam,
some of our indie evangelical team members.
Like, we have to be really cautious
with that. Even a few people that
are working in Israel right now, there's,
like, safety concerns for. For publicity. And
so it's. It's kind of cool that
as a church, people are going to
judge me for that. It's cool that

(06:04):
we work with people that are in
danger. But, like, like, it. It kind
of is. Like, it's. These are people
who are literally putting their life on
the line for the gospel, and we
get to be a part of their
ministry and part of their lives. And
so I think it's a privilege. It's
an honor.

Yeah, no, it is.

Yeah. So Lily falls in that category.

Yeah. It makes it that whole piece
of, like, really, like, sacrifice and submitting
your life, like, really doing it for
the gospel. Because we get so comfortable
with Americanized Christianity. Like, let's just keep
it. And I feel like that's one
thing she attacked headline and her message

(06:42):
yesterday was like, that American mission perspective.
Like, what. You know, what we might
think missions is here in America, but.
Yeah, give us your. Your thoughts on.
On that. Set the tone.

Yeah. So I love the. The message.
I. I do think that you should
listen to it. I would say watch
it, but you're. You're gonna see a
graphic.

It's like a podcast.

It's a podcast.

Like a podcast.

Listen to. Listen to that message. And.
And honestly, because she said some things
so beautifully, and. And it's things that
I believe, but I don't know how
I could articulate it the way she
was able to articulate it.

There's just.

There's something special about her and being
able to utilize her own personal testimony
within this conversation. And so it was.
It was one of those where, you
know, we could be saying all the
same things, but it, It. It feels
different. It hits different coming from. From
Lily and so highly just recommend everybody,
like, if. If you're listening to this
podcast but you didn't hear that message,

(07:42):
I would even go so far as
to say just go ahead and pause
this.

Absolutely.

Go listen to that idea.

Then maybe come back listen to us
too. But that's what you need to
hear.

Yeah.

Is. Is her testimony and her just
delivery of the focus of missions. And
so it's one of those cool things
that, like, we've talked about before. Like,
I've even used the phrase that, like,
if we give people humanitarian aid, but
we don't give them Jesus, then we
just let them go to hell with
a full stomach. Yeah, like that. Like,
that can't be our mission. But she

(08:11):
got up there and she said it
in such a more powerful way even
than what we've done in the past.
So for me, it was almost like
she was just a reframing of what
we believe for missions and what we
do with missions, that the priority is
God. Like, we're doing this for him,
not for ourselves, not for. For others.
And it really is about the gospel.

(08:32):
That. That was kind of the premise
of her message is that we kind
of sometimes make missions feel like it's
the thing that wealthy people do for
poor people in poor places. That's missions.

Yeah.

And there. There is a lot of
humanitarian aid wrapped into missions, which is
a byproduct of Christianity. Like, we are
Christians, so we do good, right?

Yeah.

Jesus went about. The Bible says Jesus
went about doing good. And so as
his disciples, we want to go about
doing good. And so, yeah, we're going
to build wells and we're going to
bring food and we're going to bring
clothes, and we're going to do those
things. But at its core, what missions
is actually is people who know Jesus
telling people who don't know Jesus about
Jesus.

Right.

And so that it doesn't matter if
you're rich or poor, if you're in
a good country or a bad country,
if you're in first world or third
world or somewhere in between, it really
doesn't matter. Like, you need to take
the gospel to wealthy people living great
lives, but if they don't know Jesus,
they're still going to hell.

Yeah.

And so like that. That was that
almost that reframing.

Yeah.

So, yeah, we want to go to
places. And we want to do good.
We're still going to partner with organizations
that are there to do good. Because
the quote that I use sometimes is
it's really hard to hear the gospel
over the sound of a grumbling stomach.
And so, like, yeah, we need to
meet some of these. These material needs
for people. But if that becomes the
only people we try and get the
gospel to, like, what are we doing?
Are we. Are we basically just telling

(09:53):
the world, like, it's okay for you
to go to hell if you're wealthy?

Yeah.

Like what? That's messed up.

That's so true.

So it was just. It was just
a beautiful reframing. And she used our
series to. To tie it all together.
So. Yeah, so our series is for
the One. And she's like, well, let's
start with. It's for the One. The
One God. And then she built it
from there. The One. The next one
is us personally, the me that's being
transformed. That. And we talk about that

(10:21):
with our teams all the time. Like,
hey, you're going to minister to others,
but you're going to be ministered to.
It's your life that's going to be
impacted by this, not. Not just theirs.
And so that's the second one, and
then the last one is the one
that needs to know Jesus.

Yeah.

So it was really cool the way
she weaved the for the One all
together, but built it on this foundation
of before you start trying to fix
yourself, before you start trying to fix
somebody else, like, recognize this is all
because of God. For God, through God,
he gets the glory at the start,
the middle, the end. It's all about
Him.

Yeah, that is so much to say
there. But it's a lot of meditation,
a lot of self reflecting. Because I
even like how she pointed out the
local mission, that the work that starts
here. And even in yourself where it's
like, am I. Am I missing it

(11:12):
in some areas? Like, am I doing
things? And it's not for, like, it's
not for Christ. Like, it's. It could
be a great thing. Like, I want
to be this great, I don't know,
leader or singer or whatever. Like, is
God pleased? You know, so that. That
hit me.

I think for me, I almost have
to slow it down in my commentary
of yesterday because it was so layered.
And that's why I think, like Pastor
Brent, you were saying about go listen
to the message first, because it spoke
on a lot of spiritual, it spoke
on practical, it spoke on historical. And

(11:53):
I think that the way that she
set up things first. Even asking people
one what they thought missions were in
the crowd. So a lot of people
travel or serving or like those different
things that she mentioned, again, they were
good things. But her debunking of like,
those are good works, but the mission

(12:17):
is God first is like a first
like snap of I don't know, even
though we're saying it, I don't know
if the mentality. Because the mentality is
I hear the words, I hear the
responsive words people say.

So.

So I know that what she was
saying is not always lining up to
what people are doing, even though they're
doing good works. But mindset is very
me based. And so it was that
part I know when it comes to
trips. My first missions trip, I was
a sophomore in college. I had never

(12:56):
heard of mission trips. Like the church
that I went to when I was
a kid. It was in the inner
city. And then I started going to
a church in the suburbs and it
was a lot bigger. But again, we
had the flags, not that many flags
of all the nations. But we did
not talk and share about missions trips.
So going the trips always have mainly

(13:19):
white students that could go or not
could go, but that would go that
were knowledgeable about it, that maybe had
been on one before. All these different
things. So her first given some history
as an African American woman. Because you
wouldn't know that most people didn't know
who they were walking into on Sunday.

Realize that like, if people are just
listening to the message and not seeing
her, like some of the things she
said might have come across offensive. If
you think that this is a white
lady talking.

Yeah, but no, it was. It was
a black woman sharing historically of black
people not being able to go on
missions trips. So different things, the organization
being birthed from that which can give
some clarity as to sometimes there is
a barrier as to why African Americans
and minorities may not always understand global

(14:11):
missions. So first let's bring some history
there. And then also you're getting to
see this woman who has laid down
her life in these barriers since she
was a teen. And seeing that. And
so that I don't. I could. We're
going to talk more. But that was
right now you lie. First of all,

(14:31):
I forgot that I was on the
podcast today. So I had to pray
first. Like, Lord, I got a lot
to say in my brain that I
still am processing. But what she said,
I'm like, I hear our language, I
hear Christians, American Christians, Western Christians, of
what we say about missions. And like
man and What I received and my

(14:54):
life is going to be changed and
like, and even me, you didn't have
anything and you still had joy. That
is great stuff. But I'm like, I
don't know, heart wise even in our
best intention, if it's lining up to
God being the mission and that being
to share the gospel. So.

No, I mean, we can stay there
a little bit. I want to talk.
You are someone who is not a
stranger to going on mission trips. So.
So you've been on how many mission
trips so far? It's been a lot.

It's been several. Some have been repeats.
So here at DC I've gone to
Kenya maybe three times and then Cambodia.
One time I went with Pastor Brent
and our old xp. I've been to
the Philippines and then a couple times

(15:48):
in Zambia, but that was in college.

So do you feel like yesterday's message,
like, so prior when you went, do
you feel like it was a huge
difference in like your new perspective since
yesterday's message? I guess I'm trying to
say, like, what is it something that
change?

Yeah, I think that it confirmed language
as you're saying the wrestle, honestly that
sometimes I've had with mission trips, short
term missions trips, is because sometimes people
can get like, and I got to
go and help these people kind of
thing. And so then people can become
addicted in quotes, in case you're listening

(16:28):
to this, addicted to missions. But you're
not asking the questions of what God,
what are you telling for me to
do next? But because at some point
I'm just going on trips, I'm doing
something good, I get to lay hands
on people, I get to feed kids,
whatever, you know, give medical needs and
stuff. But like asking those deeper questions

(16:50):
that if God has put something on
the inside that he's requiring, like a
next step, but not having the language,
but feeling this tension, excuse me, tension
that I think after the second time
that I went to Cambodia, there was
this wrestle and when I came back
and I was journaling, I'm like, God,
you didn't speak to me in Cambodia.
Like, you know, God's going to speak.

(17:12):
That's, you know, maybe things that we
say because God, you get to see
a different facet of God. Which I
think is a great reason why people
should get out of their comfort zone
and go and preach the gospel to
a different culture if they can. A
lot of different cultures, even here in
the U.S. but I'm like, you didn't
speak to me. And once I got
home and I was journaling And I

(17:34):
heard God very clearly say, this is
your last trip. This is your last
missions trip. And so I was like,
okay. Because I, I believe that I
just the action step of next. And
I knew that from college. I felt
this heart of stirring. But because I

(17:54):
didn't know, I understood why God was
like, that's enough. Yeah, that, that's enough.
And so I don't think if it
wasn't for getting the opportunity to lead
trips to Kenya one asking God for
permission. Is this okay? Because I know
what you said after Cambodia, but also

(18:15):
get an opportunity to kind of help
guide people out of that me centered,
centered space. Because there are a lot
of questions and things that you have
to come back home with and you
could miss it. You could come in
with your American thoughts and words that
can be damaging, talking about how the

(18:35):
Lord's had you prosper and I'm blessed
not. And to people who financially don't
have. So that can send the wrong
message. So you get to as much
as you can kind of prepare people
in a space that like, we want
to go do good and we don't
want to leave people damaged. So the

(18:56):
language for I was like, this is
speaking. It's convicting. It is. It's explaining
some things as to how sometimes some
hurt people can experience when you don't
understand that the mission is God and
not to go and just help people.
Yeah, it just, it was just. Again,
I'm still processing a lot, but yes,

(19:19):
active processing.

It's interesting. I saw there was a
trend maybe five, 10 years ago of
like people like bashing short term missions
trips. And it was a lot of
like deconstruct Christians or even people that
were still Christian, but they were like,
y' all need to stop doing these
short term white savior trips. And it
was like, okay, yeah, like, definitely. Yeah,
that doesn't mean stop all trips, but
right. That was. There was a bad

(19:41):
thing happening. And I think sometimes people
have like a wrong expectation or a
wrong view of what mission is all
about, especially short term. And it's like,
man, but when you do it the
wrong way. Yeah, it's bad.

Yeah.

But you do anything the wrong way
and it's bad. So you don't just
stop doing it. You figure out how
to do it the right way. And
so like, one of the things I
love about the, the foundation of this
church is, you know, we joke all
the time that our founding pastor was
a missionary trapped in a pastor's body.
And so like he understood the missionary
heart and mindset. He Knew the struggles

(20:15):
of a missionary. And so when, when
he started first putting together short term
trips, like he was going in it
with that understanding and that mindset. And
so like, like we're there to help
be a blessing to that, that team.
But if we're just coming in and
we're just going to do, you know,
something that just glorifies us or makes
us feel good that we did it
and then we leave, it's like, man,

(20:35):
what was the point? Yeah, like, but
when you recognize like some of the
places that we go, like there are
Christians who are all alone and having
a team of people come in, it's,
it's so encouraging. It's like, like the
number of times I've worked with one
of our partners that, that literally looked
me in the eyes and said, thank
you so much for being here, reminds
me that, that God didn't forget about

(20:56):
us.

Yeah.

Like sometimes just being here, it's like,
man, God, what am I doing? And
then a team comes in and it's
like, God, you sent this group of
people all the way from wherever they
came from here to the work that
you've had me doing for years. And
it's just, it's encouraging. And so, yeah,
I think for people that are like,
man, you know, short term trips do
do damage. Absolutely they can. When they're

(21:17):
done the wrong way.

Right.

When you're doing it in partnership with
local organizations, local ministries, local missionaries, I
think it can be extremely healthy and
beneficial. And so I think that, having
said all that, like the motive, I
think is what I love that Lily
brought out is the motive. Like we
even talk like, yes, God does stuff
in us and yes, you know, giving

(21:39):
that kid a warm meal is going
to help him for today. Those, those
are good things. But the number one
motive, the starting point for our motivation
should be God, that this is about
glorifying him. And like with your story,
like you came back and you were
upset because God didn't speak to you,
it's like, oh, so the trip was
about you.

Right.

Like, I thought the trip was supposed
to be about me.

Right.

And so like that's that shift that
we need to have in our perspective
of why we do missions, why we're
going to. And it's, it's because of
God and it's in obedience to him.
He said to go. Yeah, so let's
go.

Yeah, I so just thinking about like
just what God is doing in our
church as Disciples Church now, like even
with the name change and all of
that happening this year, I feel like
yesterday's message was a good perspective switch
even for our minds to go into.

(22:33):
Yeah, it was a paradigm shift where
it was like, it just aligned with
your heart for Disciples Church. And I
think even the language she used was,
like, people who weren't getting it at
first. It was like, oh, I need
to go share the gospel of Jesus

(22:55):
Christ, because that is what being a
disciple really looks like it means. And
go and make disciples.

Not go and dig water wells.

Yes. Oh, my gosh.

Not go. And. And those things aren't
bad. We have to be careful with,
like, it. It's. We're not. We don't
want to make this sound so extreme
that we neglect the good works that
we're supposed to do as Christians. But
the starting, the priority, the focus is.
It's. It's God.

Yeah.

It's the gospel. Like, it is. It's
not rich people going to bless poor
people. It is people that know Jesus
going to tell people that don't know
Jesus about Jesus.

And when you have that perspective of
just people who have a lot of
resources then going to help poor people,
then you have the mindset that poor
people can't come and reach you. And.
And that's not also how the gospel
works, too. Like, you can be very
poor in spirit and someone be very
rich in spirit who may not have

(23:54):
the same financial resource. But am I
open to hear the gospel or be
challenged on the gospel if. If that
is the thing that we're, like, say,
told, you know, to go do it.
Go help just the poor, you know,
but also the poor in spirit as
well.

It's funny, I heard a conversation happened
yesterday that just cracks me up because
somebody. Somebody went to Lily and said,
do you think it's possible for somebody
from Africa to be in a. To
be a missionary to the United States?
And I think Lily thought it was
a joke at first because, like, we
literally have that at our church. Like,

(24:34):
Ni and Tayo are from Nigeria. They're
part of a missions organization, and they're
here in the US to bring that
missions aspect here. And so it's like,
yes, yes, that's possible. Let me introduce
you to some African missionaries to the
U.S. and literally, it like, they introduced
the, like, yeah, like this. This is

(24:54):
real. This is happening because it's not
about prosperity. It's not about who has
stuff. It's about who has Jesus. Right.
Going to people that don't have Jesus.
Yeah.

I just feel like now that we've
been doing everything just as a culture
in the United States, because I'm even
thinking about. She talks about, like, that
neighborhood perspective. Because, I mean, just to
be completely transparent, sometimes when I think
about, like, marketing and things like that,
you're like, what can we do for
people to bring them in? And it's

(25:25):
like, I need to erase that board
and be like, how can I show
them Christ in some way, you know,
and make him known? And I.

How do I reach people that don't
know Jesus?

Right? Like, how do I reach people
that don't know Jesus? And so that
is. It's really shifting, like, doing what
it's supposed to do. So what are
some practical things that we can take
away from this message to encourage people?
Like what? Let's pull out some application
for those who are listening, and I'll
leave that job to you guys.

Well, I think the. The. We could
talk maybe for a while on this
or just skip over it completely because
it's not pleasant, it's not fun. But
the. The biggest application is die. Like,
that's. That's what scripture tells us. Like,
die to yourself. It's not about you
take up your cross daily. Like, that's
not. Wear a pretty necklace that has
a cross on it. Like, no, take
up your cross. Is this is the

(26:18):
instrument of your torture and your death.
Like, that's what you're carrying.

And.

And so what. What that is, is
that's symbolically saying, I'm laying down my
life for this. I'm laying down my
life for Jesus. And so God, whatever
you have me to do, I'm doing
it out of. Out of obedience to
you. And so sometimes, like, she joked
a lot about, you know, we have
our own plan.

Yeah.

And we keep trying to, like, somehow
get our plan and God's plan to
work together. And instead, what we're supposed
to do is actually just let go
of our plan.

Right.

And what's really cool is, like, there's
a lot of times when I've noticed
in my own. That I had wanted
in my plans, showed up in God's
plan.

Yeah.

But I didn't have to make it
happen. It wasn't like. It wasn't my.
My priority was God, wherever you want
me to go, whatever you want me
to do. And it's like. Like, I
had plans. I'm like, everybody else plans
to get married and have kids. And
I was. God was like, no, go
to Mexico. Like, all right, I'm going
to Mexico. Just happen to find a
wife there, too. Like, that's not why
I went. It's the. The Cool thing

(27:20):
about that is how God works all
things together. But it really requires us
to sacrifice to say, God, the most
important thing in my life is you.
Not my plans, not my job, not
my career path, not my 10 year
goals. All of that is not even
secondary. You take up so much priority

(27:42):
that those things just fade away. And
so the application is, do that. Choose
to sacrifice. Choose to lay down your
life and just pursue what God wants
you to pursue, which is Him. Like
pursue him and, and whatever he adds
to your life, awesome. And if he
never adds the thing that you've always
wanted to your life, that's okay. Can

(28:05):
you be okay with that?

Yeah.

That's good. I was even thinking like
that, that dying element, that sacrifice. Do
you feel like God have to ask
you to do that or is that
something that you just should, as a
disciple of Jesus Christ, just give. So
like for example, missions. Do I need
to wait for God to tell me

(28:28):
to go on a missions trip and
which one to go to? Or do
I just have the heart to just
go and make disciples in all nations?

Yeah, I think you talk to them
about it. And here's the thing, no
one is exempt from going. However, the
distance you go is dependent on what
God wants for you. And so you're
going maybe every Monday morning when you
get on the train and you go
downtown to work, right? And now you

(29:00):
are, you are going to that place
and your mindset has to shift. And
she even talked about this like, your
mind shift, mindset shifts. Man, that's a
dangerous set of words and letters. It
needs to change. Where. Now I'm not
going downtown to this job because it's
my career and it's not for my
paycheck. It's, this is my missionary field.

(29:22):
Like, this is where I am sent
to be a light for Jesus. So
I'm going into that place looking for,
okay, God, who do you want me
to share the gospel with today? Okay,
which one of my co workers do
you want me to take out to
lunch after so we can have a
conversation? Who am I supposed to be
praying for today? And so it just,
it shifts how we look at life.

(29:42):
And so do you have to ask
God if you're supposed to go? No,
he already told you to. Like, it's
right there. Matthew 28:19, go, go. Like
it's right there. So that's already an
instruction for every disciple. The distance you're
supposed to travel, it's going to be
different for everybody. Is everybody supposed to
go internationally? Probably not. Could it be
Beneficial to your life and your faith?

(30:03):
Absolutely. 100%. As the pastor of Disciples
Church, do I want everybody to go
on at least one short term trip?
Absolutely. 100. Just because I, I know
what it did in my life. Like
even the first trip I went on,
12 years old, like the, the way
it changed my perspective of the world
of Christianity, of faith, of God, of

(30:24):
like everything changed for me on that
trip. And I, I got, I gave
my life to Christ, got baptized and
spoke in tongues by the time I
was five, six years old. I forget
where.

Wow.

So it's like early on.

Fast track.

I was early on, but it wasn't
until that first missions trip at 12
that something started to click. Yeah, like
some things started making bigger sense and
like that, that first trip. I don't
know if I've shared this story on
the podcast or not, but like I
had a similar moment to, to Lily
when she talked about she was doing
this, this birthday party and it was
a big failure and all this stuff.

(30:59):
But like my first trip to Mexico,
one of the days, it was like
Book of Acts, we're having like house
church in this guy's home. He invited
us over, shared a meal, and then
we just had church service in this
guy's house. And there was a door,
like the way the, a lot of
the houses are in Mexico. There's like
a door that just opens up to
the street. Like, it's just so, like
there's a big gathering area and then
this big opening to the street and

(31:20):
we're there. We're having a worship service.
We're praying. Like we're praying for family
members to be healed. And like, it's
just an awesome time and it's just
worship music going. And I saw a
group of kids about my age that
came up by the door, like walked
by, kind of like doing that, like
looking in and then turned around and
did it again. Like walked by the
door, kind of peeking in. I saw

(31:41):
him do it like two or three
times and they kind of like hovered
by the door. And remember, 12 year
old Brent is a lot like 41
year old Brent. Social anxiety, talking to
people, all that scary stuff. However, I
didn't have all the years of ministry
experience to make that easier. So immediately
I felt the Holy Spirit say go,
go and invite them to come in.
And I was like, nope, nope. And

(32:04):
it was like every time they walked
by, it was like the Holy Spirit
was like, go, I'm giving you another
chance. So like four or five times
they're walking by. Finally Just standing there,
and I kept saying no. I kept
saying no, and I kept saying no.
And then finally, I just felt like
if I said no one more time,
God was gonna be like, okay. And
that scared me, right? Like, that thought

(32:25):
of God's. God's gonna move on.

Right.

Doesn't want to work with me. And
so even at 12, you're fired. Oh,
okay.

Yeah.

And so, like, I walked over. I
didn't speak any Spanish at that point.
I just walked over and, like, did
my best, like, Pictionary, like, charades of,
like, trying to invite them to come
in.

And why do I see Bennett right
now?

Just trying so hard. And literally, like,
my worst fear as a. As somebody
that has, like, social anxiety, my worst
fear is, like, looking dumb or looking
stupid. And literally this group of kids
about my age just look at me,
laugh their heads off and turn around
and just run off. And, like, I
went back into that.

Dumb house, like, feeling like that was
a dumb house.

That's a dumb house. Dumb worship service.
It's like, God, you. You made me
go talk to them. You pestered me
so many times, then made me feel
like if I didn't do this, you
were. You were leaving me. And it
was like, I don't want that happen.
So I did this in obedience.

Oh, my God.

And they laugh at me and they
run away. Like, it didn't even work.
Like, why am I ever gonna do
this again? It was a waste of.
And I was. I was so mad
at God. And thankfully, he couldn't talk
to me in that moment because I
wouldn't have heard him. But somebody from
our team came over. I don't know
if they saw everything that happened. I
don't know if the Holy Spirit just
gave them a prophetic word or what,

(33:47):
but they just came over and they.
They said something along the lines of,
God just wants you to know that
he sees your obedience. And that's what
it's about.

Yeah.

Wow.

And it was that. That was the
light. At 12 years old, I had
this light bulb moment of. So all
I have to do is be obedient.
I don't actually have to, like, be
good at it. Yeah. I don't have
to be successful.

You don't have to get rid of.

To, like, like, say all the right
things to get.

That's so good.

Hey, it's. Yeah, it's good for us
to learn better tactics and better ways
to talk. Like, I love apologetics and
all this stuff because of that, like,
I want to be more effective. But
at the End of the day, like,
the effectiveness isn't the purpose.

Right.

Like, it's, like, it's just obedience. Like,
if he says go, then go.

Because what you could have done was,
no, but I'll go do something else
in serving for this trip. And then
that scripture about, no obedience is better
than you trying to give another sacrifice.

Yeah, no, like, I could have been
like, oh, you know, I'm. I'm so
busy worshiping right now.

It's a good thing.

There's a member of my team that
I could go pray for. I'm gonna
pray for them. And there's the. The
kid in the family that was sick.
And, like, we're all here to pray
for them. I'll go. I'll go do
that. I'm not gonna do the, know,
talking to strangers thing.

Right.

But, yeah, no, it's. It. Where's the
obedience? And so, yeah, so back to
the whole. Is everybody supposed to go?
Yes, absolutely. Is everybody supposed to go
on an international trip? I. I don't
know that I have the confidence to
say, yes, everybody is, but I can
say I want everyone to. But everybody
is supposed to go somewhere.

Go ahead. You have any thoughts about.

On the practical.

Yeah, so.

So one thing, because it was a
big message. I think that as disciples
and as disciples church, we know that
this is an ongoing life process. So
when she talks about and was saying
this about laying down your whole life,

(35:49):
that is a big thing that Jesus
has asked us to do. Not expecting
for tomorrow, for it to happen. And
so with that, the biggest thing that
I think that people could relate to,
of what it. When it says about
God's heart, about missions, is that surrender.
And so as Pastor Brent was saying,

(36:09):
is that, you know, dying and that
total surrender. So having people come up
at the altar team yesterday and someone
please pray for me, because I just
want to be totally surrender to God,
and I want him to have his
way in my life. And I was
nervous about going on missions. And then
when I thought about going on missions,
it was actually for me and not

(36:30):
necessarily for God. Like, that is the
start of something really great. Transforming. And
when we prayed, lord, let this process
of transformation, it clearly is a sign
because she desires this. This is going
to be a process of. Of denying,
you know, ourselves. But, like, the desire.

(36:51):
Even the question she asked about, like,
but then is my whole life surrendered
then? And I had to look and
be like, no, it's not fully surrendered.
So the. What practical things could I
do in this, in this daily surrender
that needs to happen? Is how do

(37:11):
I get in my word if I
don't fully understand it? Hey, we have
life groups here. We have DC groups
here. I'm already, already using our new
stuff. But coming to church or just
talking to some people here in community
of like, I want to grow more
in Christ, and I don't know how
to move forward in that. And so,

(37:33):
but if you don't open your mouth,
as we know, a closed mouth doesn't
get fed. And so if you want
to be fed, you're going to have
to open your mouth to God. You're
going to have to open your mouth
to some people to say, like, this
is an area of my life that
is going to take some dying and
it's going to take some confession and
it's going to take some more dying

(37:53):
and it's going to take some celebrations
and there's going to be like another
level. And actually what's happening is discipleship
and transformation is happening. And the more
you're doing it, you're seeing now my
life is fully laid down. So when
she was sharing and it was like
her heart was just in this bliss

(38:13):
of even though her plans didn't all
the things she wanted initially in her
plan, she was like, I am living
the. She didn't say nightmare.

She said, my worst fears.

My worst fear is that I'm living
out what I didn't want. But she
was like, but the, the, the so
much of just like the pleasure and
joy of doing what God said. She's
like, I wouldn't change anything. I would
have just said yes sooner. Back to

(38:44):
that total surrender. And so it's like,
regardless of age, you know what I
mean? The total surrender is that process
of discipleship. And that doesn't mean you
don't make on the way when it
comes. You don't continue to make disciples
and share the good news of God,
Jesus. But those are just the pr.

(39:05):
Like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I think to just to piggyback
off of that the way Luke describes
it, which I'm really excited.

Next looping. I knew you was looping.

And Luke, I always got to bring
back the L. That's what we're. We're
going to have so much fun in
Luke. We're going to be there forever.
But so the way Luke phrases it
is it's take up your cross daily
to follow me. And that's like, that's
like surrender is not a moment. Like,
I didn't surrender at 12. Like, sure
I did. But I also had to

(39:37):
surrender the next Day.

Right.

And then the next day, and then
the next day. And. And. And what
I found in my own discipleship life
is there are days where I'm better
at surrender than others.

Yeah.

And then there's even areas that I'm
better. So, like, start with, like, if
somebody is trying to figure out, okay,
well, how do I just. Total surrender.

That's good.

Like, that might be too big for
you right now.

Yeah.

But what's the one thing, you know,
God doesn't want you doing that you're
still doing?

Right.

Pick the one thing and say, I'm
going to surrender this thing and whatever
that looks like, whatever that is. Like,
start with surrendering that thing to him
today and then wake up tomorrow. And
before you do anything else, surrender that
same thing again and do that again
and again.

That's great.

Again and again. And discipleship, it's. It's
a lifelong process. And so what's really
neat in. In my life is walking
this journey is like, there are things
that I've surrendered and then picked back
up and had to re. Surrender. There's
some things that I thought I had
surrendered. And then something happens and it's
like, oh, I had, like, surrendered like,

(40:45):
90 of it. And as long as
the other 10 didn't show up, it
looked good.

Right.

But then that 10 popped in and
it was like, oh, yeah. I never
really surrendered that part.

And that part sucks.

Yep.

When you really think, yeah, I've got
it figured out, and then God, like,
exposes.

Oh, yes.

Oh, yeah.

I just keep feeling it's just too
much for me. Okay. I'm over here
going through myself, just thinking about, like,
sorry, we are too.

It's good.

You guys are like, y' all haven't
figured out.

No, not at all. Like, I'm. I'm
taking pauses because I could cry. Cry.

I feel like crying right now. But
I'm trying to hold it together for
this interview only because, like, again, I
think it was just the gut punch
we needed to get back into alignment
with what is important, what is necessary.
And I could just start with me.
Like, I can be consumed with taisha,

(41:42):
what my plans are, what my agenda
is. And then you look up and
you'd be like, I've strayed so far
away from that obedience piece, and you
don't even realize it because you're doing
good.

Right.

You know what I mean? And you're
seeing results and you're saying results.

Making all the sacrifices.

Yeah.

Right.

So it's. I pray that the way
that it's Impacting us. That it's, that
is something that is impacting those who
attended and those who are even listening
or go listen to that message. Because
I feel like it's not a coincidence
that yesterday happened and we're about to
go into a new year as a
church and this will be our first

(42:23):
full year as Disciple church. And then
2026 is like second year and it
kind of aligns again with your vision.
So you are in tune with God.
And it's good to know we're following
someone who's in tune because even like
what you were sharing in staff chapel
about, like we were kind of building
that plane in the air. And even

(42:45):
your vision for next year to bring
in the people. Like, I think God
wanted our heart to be in the
right place. Like we're bringing in the
loss. Like that's our objective.

Right.

Everything we do from this point forward
is to reach the loss. Like that
is what making disciples is. That is
what being one make one really is.
And I think it was just a
great, like tie in to what God
is doing here. So I'm really excited
for our church. You want to share
why you, you getting really much?

No, I was just saying when you
said I'm really excited, I was smiling.

Yeah, I was really excited.

It's messy.

It's not gonna be pretty.

It is. And so that's one thing
that also gets questioned or a thing
that we have to prepare our hearts
for is that we're in, you know,
a middle class suburb. You know what
I mean? You got some really high
professionals that go here. You have some
people that are just trying to, trying

(43:41):
to make it all of this mix.
And so if you don't begin to
prepare your heart of what the mission
is and not that that is going
to. I feel like the more people
hear that and see that even as
we're seeing this growth as Disciples Church,
then it's going to look different. And
are you okay with what unreached look

(44:03):
like? Because unreach could also look like
someone that is a suit. So don't
neglect them just because they have on
the suit and may look like they
have it all together. And that could
also look like someone that is like
off the street. And so that kind
of preparing your heart for if we
ask for the unreached and we start
doing that and we're not even a

(44:24):
community church, you know what I mean?
So we're going to get people from
all, all different places and being able
to prepare our hearts of like what
God's mission is and what, what discipling
is going to look like for us
in 20, 26 and beyond. So, yeah,
it's going to be a pretty mess.

Pretty mess. I'm here for it. You
here for it, Pastor?

Absolutely, 100%. I'm excited. I think that
this reminder on Sunday that God's first,
it's one of those things that we
say it all the time. That was
the core value of the internship I
was a part of, and we've carried
that in to everything we do. But
sometimes you need somebody coming through to

(45:08):
just remind you of that and to
just say it in a fresh way
that goes, okay, have I gotten off
mission? Have I gotten off track in
any area of my life? And so
I think Sunday was not just a
missions message. No, it was just a
life message. Message of are you fully
surrendered to God? Is he priority? Or

(45:29):
are you still trying to have, you
know, your life sprinkling in his plans
where they fit? Or have you truly
said, you know what, my life is
going to be lost, but I'm going
to find a new life in you,
because that's what we're instructed to do.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, I feel
like this was a really great series.
So instead of just having us recap
as we land this plane just from
yesterday, maybe from the entire missions, and
I know you weren't here because you
were doing missions, Nairobi, Kenya, whatever, you
could give your, your closing remarks that

(46:07):
we want to leave with those watching
to encourage them and inspire them to
really join in that mission of going
to missions or however that looks. So
we can go at you first. Pastor
Bryant.

Yeah, I think I just, I still
love just the way she articulated the
shifting of the perspective of what missions
is about. It's not about going to
poor people in poor places, but it's
about going to people that don't know
Jesus. And when you have that understanding
of missions now, all of a sudden
going to work looks different, going to
school looks different, going cross country looks

(46:42):
different, and going into other nations looks
different. Like, so with that mentality, like,
when you go on the Japan trip,
like, what does that look like? When
you go on the Philippines trip, what
does that look like? When, when you
go with her to the uk, what
does that look like? So, like, we've
got a lot of different trips that
are available for people, and I just,
I want us to make sure that
we keep God and the gospel as

(47:03):
the priority. That was my, that's good.

I'm struggling of what else to say.

Of that's the takeaway for those takeaway.

Mm. I think that if. If I
was to have a take. A takeaway
for people from this series and something
you mentioned about it is a not
just series, but about the life thing,

(47:40):
I would say that. And this is
tying into the. The song that we
sang, one of the songs more than
Abel in the end of this song,
it was saying, you know, he's not
done with me yet. And so the
song says so many things. But after
listening that I listened to Lily in
the first service, then we sang the

(48:01):
next service, you know, we had three
more services. And so I think that
you can exclude yourself from these type
of things of like big calls or
like this is important for some people
and not me is that if you're
here on this earth, then God has
something for you to do. So that

(48:23):
that word of encouragement is yes, God
has called you to do something. Yes,
he wants you surrender. Yes, he has
a plan for you. And so he's
not done be encouraged. It's not just
for the elite or the super spiritual
when it comes to sharing the gospel,
but it's for. It's for everybody. It's

(48:45):
for you.

That's good. I mean, you guys did
so good. I don't really need to
do.

No, you can't get out of that.
I don't know why you try that
every week.

I mean, I think I should be.
How many shows have you done at
this point? I think I should be
excluded from doing. But I think what
came to mind is if you have
been a part of, you know, our
in. In service church sermons, if you
were able to join us online in
person or even just follow us on

(49:16):
between sermons. I think that God is
a very intentional guide and nothing happens
that he is not fully aware of.
And so I feel like he's speaking
very clearly and he wants our hearts
to be aligned back to his, which
is him first, and then making sure
we. We do live a life that's
surrendered to God and, and that we

(49:37):
do understand that it's about the gospel
of Jesus Christ. It's about reaching the
loss. And so everything we do, whatever
opportunities we have, really, really seek God
for that and know that he will
be with you, he's faithful. And yeah,
if you have a desire to join
us on one of our mission trips,

(49:57):
I think that, that. I think that's
a beautiful desire and I think God
is calling you to that and I
think you should. Should listen because he
will provide for you. And so I
just pray for you if you're watching
and you feel that pull or if
you're just in a space where you
was like, I don't really know what
surrender looks like. I pray that God,
you will have an encounter with God.

(50:17):
That maybe something you heard in one
of the messages, you know, reignite that
fire. But I just pray that God
is with you on this journey. And
so, yeah, that's my takeaway.

Good job, Taisha.

It was great.

Praise the Lord. I'm always over.

I appreciate your obedience.

Obedience. I mean, I have. I. I
was over here repenting like, God, I
didn't do this. It was so many
things I felt and it was like
little silly things. And I'm like, I
should. I still should have did it.
But anyway, yeah. So this has been
a great conversation on missions. Next week
we are starting a whole new sermon
series. Are you excited for that?

I am, yeah. So we're doing Christian
Atheists, actually, you.

Gotta say that more lively.

This is the creative. We need you
to really.

I was trying to say, like, it's
a book that actually, it really affected
me when it first came out, like
over a decade ago. And it actually,
it is part of the foundation of
the shift to Disciples Church. It's this
concept of sometimes we say we're Christian,
but we don't really live like it.
And that's why our shift to Disciples

(51:27):
Church, it was built out of that.
The word Christian only shows up three
times in the Bible. It's derogatory term.
All but one that's still has the
derogatory, like aspect of it. Or Peter's,
like, celebrate the fact that they're calling
you Christian. They're making fun of you,
but rejoice in it because they're identifying
you with Christ. So it's still a
negative, but he's just. Peter's trying to
turn it into a positive. But what

(51:50):
we see, I think it's like 260
times, 270 times is the word disciple.
And so we made this shift partly
inspired by the book I read in
2010, 2011, whenever it first came out
by Craig Groeschel. And so they've got
a sermon series on it. There's a
book. You can buy the book on
it. Our take is always going to

(52:10):
be a little bit different. We try
not to just regurgitate other people's stuff.
And so but we're going to be
focusing on what does it look like
or what does it mean to claim
to be a Christian but not actually
live like it. So that's what we're
going to focus on for the next
three weeks. Be good. I'm excited for
it. I am.

I'm gonna have him do a real
video. Don't worry about it towards the
end of the week. But yes, we
are excited. So make sure to join
us in person or online. It's going
to be an amazing sermon series. We
are very excited. Man. The year is
coming to the end. Can you believe
is November.

Well, yeah, we got three weeks of
this series. Then we got three weeks
of our next series which is red
flags.

Yes.

Talking about relationships.

Relationships.

And then it's Christmas and then a
New Year's message and then we're done.
Yeah, 25 is over. Eight weeks.

Eight, man. Going so fast. Okay, well,
until. Right, buckle up. But until we
meet again, we love you here at
Disciples Church and we will see you
next week.

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