The Call To Make Disciples // Gabriel Villalobos

The Call To Make Disciples // Gabriel Villalobos by HungryGen

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is Hungry Gen podcast and I just want to
thank you for joining us today here at HG. Our
vision is to see thousands say locally and millions globally.
We hope you enjoyed this week's message.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Thanks for listening to today's podcast.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
If you are blessed by this message, be sure to
subscribe and send it to someone, and don't forget you
can always share it on your social stories. Stay connected
with us on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. For more
information on internship, prayer line conferences, and other resources, go
to Hungrygen dot com. Remember better is not good enough,

(00:44):
The best is yet to come.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
I just want.

Speaker 3 (00:50):
To share a little bit about my story before I
go into my sermon. And you know, a am got
a good amount of my story. I'm going to show
it a little bit more for you guys. But by
twelve years old, I started selling drugs and I started
doing a lot of things that you know, twelve year
old's is not supposed to be doing. The twelve year
old should be focused on school, focused on doing some

(01:12):
good things.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
And stuff like that.

Speaker 3 (01:13):
But my desire at twelve years old was to be
like my older brother. My brother's desire was to be
like my father. My father was to be desire was
to be like his father. And there was this these
generational curses that were just running rampid within my family
that led to gangs and led to drugs and led
to things like that. And so by twelve years old,
I'm not just doing drugs. I'm selling drugs in middle

(01:34):
school for my older brother. And so I had already
experienced sleeping with girls. I I had already experienced fighting
and being violent.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
I started doing graffiti.

Speaker 3 (01:43):
I became a tagger around that age, and so I
started just going downhill. And I realized too a lot
of the stuff I was going through, I had a
hole and a rejection within me, and it was a
lack of love that I desired for my father. And
so by fifteen years old, my brother commits murder.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
He kills a time I'm fifteen.

Speaker 3 (02:02):
He kills a man in that area, and I'm at
that point fifteen years old, my brother's nineteen years old.
And after that, my brother goes on to prison. They
give him first twenty six to life for first degree murder.
My desire shifted even even darker.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
At that moment.

Speaker 3 (02:19):
You couldn't talk to me about coming to church. You
couldn't talk to me about, Hey, after you graduate high school,
do you want to go to the military, Do you
want to play ball?

Speaker 2 (02:26):
What do you want to do?

Speaker 3 (02:27):
My desire, my focus was after high school. I wanted
to be in the prison systems, running the Hispanic prison
systems with.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
My brother, because I really believe that.

Speaker 3 (02:37):
And this is what's crazy is there's I believe that
I was called to leadership, but I just didn't know
I was called to be a leader in God's kingdom.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
I could only.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
See a demonic vision, a plan that the devil had
for me, and I just wanted to be with my brother,
and I wanted to run because in California, everything that
happens in the streets.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
Is controlled from the prisons.

Speaker 3 (02:57):
So all the gangs and all the especially for his
Spanic gangs, all the stuff that's happening in LA and East,
all in all these different areas of California and northern
southern California, at all California happens and is organized first
in the prisons. Someone that's not even out there is
controlling and directing what's happening. And so I wanted to
be that person with my brother. And by eighteen years old,

(03:20):
and by fifteen to eighteen, I'm doing all I could
to go to prison. I promised like I was doing
some bad stuff. And I don't know it's because there's
a picture like I don't look as scary as some
of like some of my my friends and stuff, I
blurt out their faces, but I.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
Look a little more. I guess innocent.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
Maybe I don't know what it is, but I would
get let go a lot, like they'd be like, look, man,
you look like you know you could do better. Man,
just stop hanging out with these guys. I'm like, I
don't want to do better, you know, And and I
want to go to jail. And multiple times, and I
just was getting these breaks and I didn't know now
I know now, but that was breaks from God that
he was sparing me and he was giving me opportunity.

(03:58):
But it got to the point where I at eighteen,
after I got kicked out of high school, I went
to a continuation school.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
I graduated, I moved to.

Speaker 3 (04:06):
Las Vegas, and have every who's been in Vegas, I'm
on telling you hold there last weekend, all right, what
were you doing there? I was kidding, but I was
I was out, and I moved out to Vegas, and
my whole idea was, I want to go party. I
want to go have fun. I want to I don't
want to be told what to do. Now I'm eighteen.

(04:27):
Who thought when they're eighteen, they're abouty to like rule
the world, Like you're like, I don't have to listen
to my parents or some of you have some eighteen
year olds that think like that. But I thought like that,
and so I w I When I went to Vegas,
I partied, and I partied hard. I had a beer
punk table, I started doing cocaine. I got addicted heavy
to drugs out there as well, and it all left

(04:47):
me empty. And one of the things that happened was
every night I could not go to sleep. So I
would try to sleep, but I couldn't sleep because I
would think one.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
Day I'm gonna die.

Speaker 3 (04:57):
So I started thinking about death over and o over
and over, and I got to a point where I realized,
I'm the only way I could sleep is if I
go to sleep unconscious. So I would drink or I
would do drugs just so I could fall asleep, and
so I would wake up. I would look like I'm

(05:18):
having fun with all my friends. I would look like
nothing's wrong with me, but at night I would try
to go to sleep, and eternity kept. I just kept
thinking about that, and for me, it was common sense.
I don't know why it was common sense to me,
but it was just common sense that heaven is real
and Hell is real. I just if I came across
the atheist, I'm like, bro' you're weird. Bro Like I
just to me, I just think it was common sense.

(05:41):
I don't know why I would come across me like
I don't believe that there's God.

Speaker 2 (05:44):
Been like, what what's wrong with you?

Speaker 3 (05:47):
And I'm not going to church. I'm not in church,
I'm not raised in church. And under that, I just
thought it was common sense. And so I find myself there.
In this time in Vegas, I had my apartment and suicidal, depressed,
all these different things. My mom calls me, and my
mom says me, Oh, I need you to pray to
God and ask God to help you. And I remember

(06:08):
telling her mom, God can't help me. I said, the
only thing that can help me is drugs and alcohol.
And I hung up on her and I knew my mom.
I was breaking my mom's heart because she already lost
one son to the streets and now she didn't want
to lose a second son to the streets.

Speaker 2 (06:23):
And so after that, I.

Speaker 3 (06:25):
End up moving back to California. And when I moved
back to California, I'm asked, hey, would you come? Would
you want to come to church? A group of friends
started going to church and said, would you want to
come to church with us? My father is dying and
he started taking us to this church called The Way
Would you come? And I said the first my first
in this thought was I'm not going to tell you yes.
I'm not going to tell you no. I said, let

(06:46):
me think about it, because I knew if I say yes,
I'm going to be one hundred percent about whatever it
is I'm getting involved in now, if whatever it means
to be a Christian in a church, I'm.

Speaker 2 (06:55):
Going to be down for all of it.

Speaker 3 (06:57):
So if I say yes and I come, I'm not
trying to be fake. I'm gonna be one hundred percent
about it. And so I that night, I'm walking to
a friend's house around one in the one in the morning,
I get jumped by three guys and four girls. Yeah,
even the girls got in on it. I don't know
what was wrong with them. They were like, let me
get oh, no, it was it was everyone had a

(07:18):
had a hit on that on that one. But and
I enjoyed fighting. I loved fighting, and it was it
was back then I thought that was fun getting jumped
like that, but.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
It was just not fun. And they had me good,
like my whole back was destroyed because I had my
shirt up. There was dragging me on the street.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
And so the next day I think about we go
back for vengeance that night, and thankfully none of them
were there because we would have ruined our lives.

Speaker 2 (07:45):
But the next.

Speaker 3 (07:46):
Day I started thinking about that invitation to church, and
I started thinking do I want this?

Speaker 2 (07:55):
Do I want the sin, the partying, the.

Speaker 3 (07:57):
Sleeping with girls, the reputation I've developed?

Speaker 2 (08:02):
Do I want all of that?

Speaker 3 (08:03):
Or do I want peace that when I die, I
know I'll be with God forever. And as I'm thinking
about it, I could just feel God leading me in
these thoughts and He's.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
Like, you, you know what you want. It's not hard,
it's that.

Speaker 3 (08:20):
And so right then and there, I begin to text
that person say, Hey, where's that church.

Speaker 2 (08:24):
I'm gonna go to church with you? I go to.

Speaker 3 (08:27):
Church, and I didn't make it in the in the
main sanctuary. I went to the other one. We had
an overflow tent. We had like this tent outside and
I'm in this sanctuary hearing Pastor Marco preach a message
on a TV screen and he gives the altar call,
and I in my mind, I just I knew this
is what I came to do, to lay my life
down to be forgiven. So I came to the altar

(08:49):
and I just started balling, started not balling, like balling,
balling like and like like the ugly, the ugly.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
Crist to you when there's like the like.

Speaker 3 (08:59):
You know, the snot like. I'm like, this is this
is I don't want to say what I thought it was,
but it was. I thought it was sissy. I was like,
this is sissy right here. I can't do that. And
I look back to make sure there's no enemies like
around to see me like that, because that's that's even worse.
I don't want them to seeing me like this. So
I kind of looked back and I'm like, don't look back.
You already look all messed.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
Up, like you know.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
So I'm bawling and I remember I felt so good.
It felt so good, and I just and I was like,
you know, I'm not gonna.

Speaker 2 (09:26):
Even stop this. Let's let's go.

Speaker 3 (09:27):
I just started crying getting breakthrough. And when I walked
out of church that day, I felt God leading me again.
And he said, go to your phone, and anyone who's
not gonna help you walk with me, delete their number.

Speaker 2 (09:41):
And he said, and if anyone textes.

Speaker 3 (09:43):
You or calls you and you don't have their numbers saved,
you know, not to respond to them. And so I
literally had to go through the group of guys that
I was hanging out with that I was from and
I said, hey, I'm not gonna be from here anymore.

Speaker 2 (09:55):
I'm going to church now.

Speaker 3 (09:56):
And they're like, all right, well, you're gonna have to
come to the block, will jump you out, you know,
we have a routine of how we do that, et cetera.
And I was like, well, it just seems so silly
to me, like I would catch I'll fight any of
them one on one, but it's just like it seems
silly now.

Speaker 2 (10:12):
And I said, honestly, if you if.

Speaker 3 (10:13):
You want to, like you guys could catch me sleeping,
I'll be at church you know where I go to
church now, and you know where I live. And I mean,
I wouldn't recommend having people come to your church looking
for you, but hey, they might get saved or something,
you know. But they didn't want to come to church
to look for me though, I'll tell you that much.
But and and then I had like I was getting
drugs from people. I told them, hey, I'm not selling

(10:33):
no more, et cetera. I'm going to church now. I
was selling drugs to friends and people and family members.
They said, hey, I'm not selling no more. Don't hit
me up for any of this. I'm in church. I'm
going to church now. Any girl that I knew I
could hook up with deleaded her number. Anybody that was
they just got a clap for that.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
Yeah, let's go.

Speaker 3 (10:50):
Only one person's like, praise the Lord for purity.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
How to get rid of all of it?

Speaker 3 (10:57):
Because I realized that all of it was part of
the life that I was living, and in order for
me to actually change, I had to experience something brand new.
I had to get out of my comfort zone. And
so around now two thousand February twenty second, twenty twelve
is when I gave my life to Jesus. And as
I gave my life to Jesus, he started working in

(11:18):
me really really quick. I would say, this, God is
always ready and willing to work in you as fast
as you're willing to surrender it.

Speaker 2 (11:26):
All to him.

Speaker 3 (11:28):
If you feel like you're not growing, I would ask,
is there something that you're withholding from the Lord? Is
there some resistance within you? And if you lay it
all down, he would be faithful and he'll disciple you.
And so God started discipling me through my pastors, through
my leaders in church, through all of the classes. And
I would like our church, would we have Sunday ninety eleven,

(11:49):
one and six for adults. I was in every single
one of those services. Wednesday nights, I was there. Mondays,
I was in anger management. Tuesdays, I had an anger prouse
that under control. Tuesdays, I was in the discipleship classes,
the Holy Warriors Wednesday services. Thursdays, I was in the
Bible through one year class. Fridays I was in our
young adult services, and then Saturdays, I was on the

(12:10):
streets side of our adopted block where we reached people
on the streets. And so I literally was like and
I was not that I'm trying to say I'm popular,
but I was pretty. I had a lot of contacts.
I had like like a lot of people I was
connected with, so friends was a big thing to me.
I just got rid of all of it and I
and from there, I'm getting mentored and disciples. I started

(12:31):
casting demons out in twenty twelve out of people, and
I wasn't trying, like I didn't know nothing about that.
I wasn't trying to get a demon of manifestural nothing.
I just felt like they're trying to press me. I
felt like this, this person's talking crazy at me through
a demon and like they're.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
Gonna come at me. I'm like, like, you're not gonna
come at.

Speaker 3 (12:47):
Me, Like that's just I honestly, I'm surprised I didn't
like hit them or something, because my first thought was like, nah,
like I got Jesus, Like now I'm really hard, Like
now I thought I was hard before. Now I'm really
hard because not even at the demons cast step to me.
So I so I remember start casting out these demons,
and Pastor Marco's my he's my pastor.

Speaker 2 (13:10):
He's seen that.

Speaker 3 (13:11):
I that I wanted to learn about that and I'd
be like literally the only young person in the in
the church after service, watching Pastor Marco cast demons out
till like two in the morning. And eventually he said, hey,
come over here, stand right here, and I want you
to pray and be in agreement. All right, So that's
just started doing that first season. And then it was hey,
stand right here, put your hand on them, and I
want you to pray specifically against whatever demon they were

(13:33):
dealing with, like witchcraft or whatever. And I'll say, all right,
in the name of Jesus, Witchcraft, go in Jesus' name.
And then he started just like like training me. And
then next thing you know, you would see me and
Pastor Marco on one side casting demons out of people,
and I and I'm and I'm young at this time,
I'm just learning, but I'm but I want I'm telling
you as if you want to learn in the Kingdom
of God, there's no time limit. God will impart supernatural

(13:56):
growth in you and develop you. But and so by
the time, by the time I'm maybe twenty years old,
he asked me if I want to be the middle
school pastor.

Speaker 2 (14:06):
I said yes after.

Speaker 3 (14:08):
Thinking about it, because I was I was like, oh no, no,
like he said, let me see your goals, and then
it was on my ten year goal, like I want
to be a pastor. He's like, well, there it is
right there. I was like, well, this is like two
and a half years in, like, are you sure. He
was like, it's right there. There's nothing to talk about
the perison Lord. So they had about five students. They
really needed a pastor for these kids. I took that

(14:28):
on and it eventually grew to seventy five eighty middle
school kids every single week. And God told me, you're
here to train them. You're not here to build your
own platform. You're not here to learn how to become
a great speaker.

Speaker 2 (14:41):
You're here to equip them.

Speaker 3 (14:42):
So I had twelve year olds, thirteen year olds literally
preaching the word. I would preach like once a month.
I would train them throughout the weeks. Every week they
would get trained and they would preach, and then they
would eventually I trained them now to cast out demons
at walking healing, where teams would be walking out delivered
would be casting demons out of their own mothers, their

(15:02):
own fathers, their siblings, students at their schools.

Speaker 2 (15:07):
And fast forward now me and my wife Abriana, we.

Speaker 3 (15:12):
Planted a church, and the church that we planned it
was like really all of our students like that were twelve, thirteen,
fourteen and all that that are now like twenty four
and things like that that we've continued to mentor and
disciple and funny thing about it too, in that process,
I meet my wife and she actually sees me when
I'm at the way when I first got said, she

(15:34):
sees me a day and she says, what are you
doing here? And I was like, oh, I said, I'm
a Christian. Now she said what, No, you're not, because
she knew me from high school. And now I said, yeah,
I am. I'm saved. She's like, how do you know
what that means? I said, I'm totally.

Speaker 2 (15:48):
I'm really about it, like I really got saved. And
she started like what, like are you like? No way?

Speaker 3 (15:54):
Because I got kicked out of the school that she
was at for selling drugs and doing some other stuff
that you shouldn't do. And then her favorite teacher I got,
he called it cops on me because I try to
beat him up in class, and so I was as
bad and she knew, like like she that's why she
approached me, like, what are you doing here? I was like,
that's not a good like invite, Like, well, it's not
welcoming like you know. And later on she's just like, Dad,

(16:15):
this guy from school, like he's doing he's here and
he's got saved, Like he's he's doing deliverances. No one
his age is doing deliverances. He's hitting the streets in
the hood, and like, really people are getting saved.

Speaker 2 (16:26):
He's And so she was just watching.

Speaker 3 (16:28):
My walk with God and seeing what God was doing,
and it attracted her to me where God began to
develop us to become married.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
And now we have two great kids. We have a
five year.

Speaker 3 (16:39):
Old son named Xander, and we have a two year
old named Zayden as well. Zayden is our is our
feisty one. He's our feisty one. But and let me
fast forward to this. Up until today, my mom and
dad have been in church for nine weeks in a row.

(17:00):
I think they're there right now in prison, Lord, that's
ten weeks for them. I've been praying for my mom
and dad to come to church like for a long time.
My brother who's in prison that's older than me, I
became his mentor and seven years into him being involved
in all that stuff in prison, He's allowed me to
mentor him. He's a real man of God. He's not
no prison Christian. He's a real man of God. And

(17:22):
he was supposed to be released way later. He's gonna
be released within the next year or so because God
has transformed not just me, but he's transforming anything and
everything I'm part of. And I do want to I
know this is my hot Tesla testimony service.

Speaker 2 (17:41):
I guess right now, but I want to encourage you.

Speaker 3 (17:44):
I'm here today and what God has done in my
life up until now is solely because I really believe
that my grandparents and those that prayed for me, I
believe that God answered their prayers. I believe that the
reason why I overcame addiction. I've been thirteen years sober
is because of the prayers. I believe that anyone that
you're praying for, anyone that you're believing for, don't focus

(18:07):
on how it looks right now. They could be running
the mug, acting horrible.

Speaker 2 (18:11):
They might be.

Speaker 3 (18:11):
Looking like the furthest thing from the Lord. But it's
okay because you know the promise that God has already
made you. You know that everything that you've prayed for,
it would be answered. You know that if you continue
to keep believing, if you do not give up, you're
gonna see the harvest. You're gonna see the results that
you know that God has told you that it will happen.

(18:34):
Don't give up because you never know the person that
you're believing for could be doing and making an impact
just like I am. It's the power of an invitation.
And so I'm gonna go through this. I'm not gonna
finish it. I already know. Sorry, guys, we'll do a
part two one day or something. But the title of
the messages disciple makers, because I want to talk about

(18:57):
the power of an invitation and that's what changed my life,
and I belief that's what's going to change those around you.
You can have an impact on someone's life, just how
someone had to impact on me inviting me to.

Speaker 2 (19:08):
Church and bridging me to Christ.

Speaker 3 (19:10):
There's people right now that are out there that are
just like me, who are in desperate need of an
invitation of Christ. The harvest right now, the harvest is great,
the harvest is big.

Speaker 2 (19:22):
Matthew nine thirty seven.

Speaker 3 (19:26):
Then he said to his disciples the size of the
harvest is bigger than you can imagine. Someone say bigger.
It's bigger than you can imagine. But there are few workers.
Some say few. I was looking at the numbers in
the area and estimated combined population in Tri City is

(19:46):
two hundred and thirty one thousand and seventy people.

Speaker 2 (19:50):
So we don't need to.

Speaker 3 (19:51):
Go after the entire population right away. But let's just
say if we wanted to reach this five percent, what
would that look like if we wanted to reach five percent.
Imagine if five percent of the population came to Christ,
that's five percent of two thirty one seventy is eleven thousand,
five hundred and fifty.

Speaker 2 (20:10):
Three point five people.

Speaker 3 (20:13):
But what if we said, let's go after ten percent,
just ten percent, not even fifty percent, just ten percent
of the of the population. That's twenty three thousand, one
hundred and seven people. So if our goal was to
reach ten percent of the community, that would mean having
around twenty three thousand, one hundred and seven active members

(20:33):
attend these consistent disciples across all hungry gen campuses. The
harvest is people receiving eternal life through faith in Jesus.
If you're only what's the harvest? That is the harvest
John four thirty six. The harvesters are paid good wages,
and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life.

(20:53):
What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike.
If we do not reach them, they're gonna be lost
for eternity. If we don't reach the people your neighbors,
if we don't reach your family, if you don't reach
your coworkers, they can and be lost for eternity. That
means there's no second chances you have right now to

(21:14):
reach them. Matthew twenty five forty six says, Then these
unbelieving people will go away into eternal unending punishment. But
those who are righteous and in right standing with God
will go by His remarkable grace into eternal unending life.
The harvest is ripe. I gonna say ripe.

Speaker 2 (21:35):
Right.

Speaker 3 (21:36):
God's not only declaring that the harvest is ripe, but
it's also now. Now is the harvest for tri city?
Now is the harvest for your community? Now is the
harvest for your family? Do you believe that?

Speaker 2 (21:49):
How about this?

Speaker 3 (21:49):
Do you even want that? Because if you desire this,
if you really want to see your family saved. If
you really want to see those in your communities and
your coworkers and.

Speaker 2 (22:02):
Things like that impacted.

Speaker 3 (22:04):
God will use you as a vessel to make it happen.
But you will have to get to work.

Speaker 2 (22:10):
And be part of it.

Speaker 3 (22:11):
God, he's declaring it John four thirty five. Don't you
have a saying four months and then the harvest will.

Speaker 2 (22:19):
What I say to you.

Speaker 3 (22:21):
Is open your eyes and look at the fields. They're
already ripe for harvest. Here's something that's true. People will
come if we will invite them. Eighty two percent of
the unchurched are at least somewhat likely to attend church
if invited. Only two percent someone say two percent. Only

(22:44):
two percent of church members invite a single unchurched person
to church each year. People have a positive outlook on
church and Christians and don't believe. Oh well, I don't know.
People don't want God. They don't they don't want the church.
I wanted God, I just didn't know how to get there.

(23:04):
I wasn't opposed if someone invited me to church. I was.
I was bad, but I was always respectful. Here's the
more stats for this. Among the gen Z who have
been exposed to the church and the word. They have
a positive outlook on the church. Eighty two percent say
that the church is a place to find answers to
the meaning of life. Seventy seven percent say they can

(23:29):
see themselves being part of a church.

Speaker 2 (23:33):
This is the same generation, the.

Speaker 3 (23:34):
Next generation, the same generation that we could easily say
they're so wicked and they don't want God and all
these different things. It's saying different. These studies are showing different.
It's just a lie for us to believe that they're
kind of like people we can't reach. People are lonely,
and they're in desperate need of meaningful relationships. Fifty two

(23:58):
percent of Americans report feeling lonely. Forty seven percent report
that their relationships that they're in with others aren't meaningful.
Young adults between the ages of eighteen and twenty two
are the loneliest age group. The number of people who
live alone has increased by over thirty percent in the

(24:19):
last few decades. Social isolation is a is as harmful
to health as smoking fifteen cigarettes a day. Loneliness can
increase the risk of premature death by up to fifty percent.
I believe that it's time for us as believers like
Christians to be and get to a place where we're

(24:40):
more than just followers, but we're disciples of Jesus that
are willing to go and make disciples of Jesus. So
how do we make disciples of Jesus? A few days
before Jesus said into heaven, he gave this disciples final instructions.
So how do we make these disciples? The first way
that you make a decad is you preach the good news.

(25:01):
Someone say, preach. God commands us to preach, to tell
everyone about Jesus and what He's done for them.

Speaker 2 (25:10):
The harvest.

Speaker 3 (25:11):
Yes, it's truly one hundred percent ripe.

Speaker 2 (25:14):
But all God.

Speaker 3 (25:15):
Needs is preachers who are willing to go and tell
the good news Mark sixteen, fifteen. And then he told
them go into all the world and preach the good
news to everyone. Someone say everyone, Verse sixteen. And anyone
who believes and is baptized, every and anyone who believes
and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses

(25:37):
to believe will be condemned. God needs us to open
our mouths. It's I know, it's easier to stay comfortable.
You got the maybe you feel like man, I'm saved.
I got the answer, but now other people need that.

Speaker 2 (25:50):
Still it's not over. It's more to it.

Speaker 3 (25:53):
If you could just say this, switch to me with me,
just declare this. Say I am a preacher. Say again,
say I am a preacher.

Speaker 2 (26:04):
God.

Speaker 3 (26:05):
See I'm not a preacher because I have a mic
in my hand. I was preaching in the streets to
my family, to friends. I was preaching wherever I had
the opportunity to preach before this mic appeared in my hand.
God wants to use you where you're at to be
a vessel for him. Just as the Father sends Jesus,
Jesus is now sending us to tell everyone everywhere about him,

(26:28):
John twenty, verse twenty one.

Speaker 2 (26:30):
And again he said, peace be with you.

Speaker 3 (26:32):
As the Father has sent me, So I am sending you.
So I'm gonna say me. He is sending you. And
you might not feel like I'm worthy to be sent.
It has nothing to do with that. There's still this
call on your life to be sent. The power to

(26:53):
save a soul for eternity and make disciples starts with
us preaching the good news. No one can be saved
and become a disciple of Jesus without someone preaching the
good news everywhere that believers. Someone say, believers preach the
good news. People believe in get saved. That's why the

(27:14):
enemy has done all that he could to shut our
mouths as believers throughout the entire world. The most powerful
force to transform lives, set people free, heal them, save them,
and restore them is in the mouth of a believer
when they preach the good news of Jesus. God promises

(27:34):
something to us if we preach the good news, that
He will confirm our words with his miracle working power.
Jesus is still today healing people.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
I love that.

Speaker 3 (27:47):
You guys believe in inner healing, you believe in deliverance,
you believe in physical healing. He's still doing that today.
His works are evident still today, but now he's doing
them through preaching believers. Unless we are preaching the good
news and making disciples, we're not giving God anything to
confirm the great commission. It comes with a great promise

(28:10):
in Mark sixteen seventeen. These miraculous signs will accompany those
who believe. They will cast out demons in My name,
and they will speak in you languages. They will be
able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink
anything poisonous, it won't hurt them. They will be able
to place their hands on the sick and they will
be healed.

Speaker 2 (28:30):
And look what.

Speaker 3 (28:31):
Happens in twenty verse twenty. And the disciples went everywhere
and preached, and this.

Speaker 2 (28:36):
Is what happens next. And the Lord.

Speaker 3 (28:38):
Worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.
So this isn't and you're not gonna just get an
anointing like oh the hey, come just pray over me.
I want to cast demons out like you. I want
to walk in the healing you walk, and I want
to be prophetic like you would you just lay your
hand on me and pass it to me. It's not

(28:58):
that's not how it happens. You need to go out
there and preach the gospel. And as you go and
preach the gospel, you love people so much you want
them to see and get to know Christ. What Jesus
is gonna do is He's gonna show up and confirm
your ministry. How do we make disciples? Number two, We
teach the word of God. Making disciples is a command.

(29:20):
It's not a suggestion. God's will for every christ follower
is to make disciples. If you consider yourself a Christian
in here today or watching online, God's desires that you
would make disciples. Only disciples of Jesus can make disciples
of Jesus. A good person can't make disciples. A motivational

(29:42):
speaker can't make disciples of Jesus.

Speaker 2 (29:46):
Someone who just feels like I.

Speaker 3 (29:47):
Want to just help others, and I just want to connect,
and I want to be positive and all these different
I want to be. Just because you're a leader doesn't
mean you'll make disciples.

Speaker 2 (29:54):
Of Jesus Christ.

Speaker 3 (29:56):
That is already reserved for us. Only we Jesus followers.
Disciples of Jesus can make disciples of Jesus.

Speaker 2 (30:06):
Matthew twenty eight.

Speaker 3 (30:07):
It says, go therefore and make teach disciples of all
the nations. Help them, help the people to learn of me,
believe in me, and obey my words, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and the Son and of
the Holy Spirit. But in order for you to teach,
you gotta be taught. That means that, and you can't

(30:27):
skip a process.

Speaker 2 (30:29):
I didn't. I didn't get here. I had to go
through a process.

Speaker 3 (30:33):
The last thirteen years to be where I am today
for the Lord. And what that means is I had
to come and humble myself to learn.

Speaker 2 (30:42):
To be taught.

Speaker 3 (30:44):
Whatever classes we have here, discipleship classes. Be part of
those classes, and don't just be part of it just
to go through something. Become be a top student in
the class, learn apply it. Why Because we don't want
nobody going out there teaching stuff that's not biblically accurate.
And the only way to make sure you know what
you're teaching is to be a student first and to learn.

(31:08):
Would you declare this, say I am a teacher of
the Word of God. What is God's will for your life?
It's twofold. Be a disciple and make disciple. It's very simple.
I just I love how simple God is. We make

(31:29):
things complicated, like I got to accomplish this type of
calling and I have to have this type of annoying town.
It's very simple. I'm a simple guy. The only reason
why I'm doing what I'm doing is because how simple
God makes things.

Speaker 2 (31:43):
I'm not that smart.

Speaker 3 (31:45):
God says, be a disciple, be a student, follow him,
and then now go and teach others how to do that.
Why Because you know how to do it. But until
you know how to do it, you won't be able
to help others do it. In order to make disciples,
we need to go. Someone say go, someone say I'll go. Oh,

(32:09):
you see the difference in that Oh, Not all of
you are down. Someone say go, someone say I will go.

Speaker 2 (32:19):
Now you guys are with it.

Speaker 3 (32:21):
Disciple Making is a verb and an action word. The
word go means to pursue. It means to go after.
It also means to even travel, which means you're gonna
have to get up out of your comfort zone to
truly be a disciple maker.

Speaker 2 (32:35):
Some of you guys are a little too how do
I say a nice way?

Speaker 3 (32:39):
Like, I don't know how to say it a nice way.
But you're something else that.

Speaker 2 (32:44):
Preppy. I don't know how to say it.

Speaker 3 (32:45):
But you won't even let someone get in the car
with like you won't pick up a homeless person because
you don't want them to get your car dirty. Invite
someone to church, but do all you can to get
them there. You're gonna have to get out of your
comfort zone. Your schedule is gonna have to shift. You
might have to give up one of your hobbies just
to make your new hobby disciple making. To be an

(33:09):
effective disciple, we need to meet them where they are at.
Only those who have accepted the mission to go and
passionately pursue the loss will make disciples.

Speaker 2 (33:19):
The word means to teach.

Speaker 3 (33:22):
We make disciples through teaching others the word of God.
It's so easy and simple for you right now because
all you have to do, you don't have you have
to worry about the teaching side. You bring them to
the service they get taught here. You know, you just
go through the fellowship side and community love on them.
We make disciples of Jesus Christ by teaching others to
obey the commands and the words of Jesus. We never

(33:45):
teach just to inform. I'm gonna say that again. We
never teach just to inform. We teach to obey. We
teach through our example and our teachings Matthew twenty eight
twenty teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you.
And lo I am with you, always remaining with you, perpetually,

(34:07):
regardless of circumstances, and on every occasion, even to the
end of the age. The first command that we teach
our new disciples is to get baptized. Baptism is that
is a disciples first act of obedience after accepting Jesus
as our Lord and savior. So this is the last point.

(34:29):
How do we make disciples? Because I'm here and I'm
a little crazy, I have to talk to Pastor Vlad
and Zach, but I might go hit the streets with
you guys. If you guys want to go hit the
streets and evangelize administra to people. I just gotta figure
out what that looks like. But Raison, have you be
down administer to people outside of church? Okay, yeah, I see,

(34:50):
I see a good amount. I see the ones, all right,
I see. I'm gonna remember, I'm gonna be looking for
you if if we do that, I have to look
at my flight and everything. But if we make it work, yeah,
we're gonna get some stuff cracking out here.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
So how do we make disciples? Number three?

Speaker 3 (35:03):
Go find and gather a small group of people that
you can disciple.

Speaker 2 (35:08):
Go find a small group of people.

Speaker 3 (35:11):
I'm not saying start a small group here yet, because
there's a process for that. We want you to be
in a group. We want you to be trained to
lead your own group. But before you even get to
that phase, you can easily say, Hey, a cousin, come
hang out with me, come to church with me, come
have coffee. Let me just tell you what the pastor
taught me today. And you could just do that for
a season while you're being in while you're in a group,
and while you're being trained. So what we're serious about,

(35:34):
we put on our calendar and we schedule it is
disciple making on your calendar. I know church attendance is
on your calendar, which is great, but you's on your
calendar to make disciples. Accept a call to become a
leader in a small group, making your lifelong mission to
learn the word obey and to teach it to others.

(35:54):
Let's make our homes disciple making centers.

Speaker 2 (35:58):
Let's make our houses.

Speaker 3 (36:00):
Means you're gonna have to, yeah, get a little uncomfortable brings.
I have five men that live with me right now
that I disciple, Me and I Branna just we just
had ten years of anniversary.

Speaker 2 (36:08):
It's amazing.

Speaker 3 (36:09):
But one of those years is only out of ten,
is the only time we've ever had no one living
with us. Because we've been making disciples, and all those
disciples like ninety nine percent of every disciple that's lived
with me.

Speaker 2 (36:21):
We have them still.

Speaker 3 (36:22):
Today years later, leading and mentoring others. But I had
to give something up. I had to give up, and
it's not easy. It's like I was up till two
am doing we're doing deliverance, as counselings, all these things.
But it's part of disciple making. I'm not when I
gave my life to Jesus, I gave up everything. I'm

(36:42):
living only for him. I'm not living for me. I'm
not living for all these American dreams that we could develop.

Speaker 2 (36:49):
And oh, I want this, I want that.

Speaker 3 (36:51):
I only want God's will to be done in my life,
and I've learned that his will is for me to
preach his word and make disciples quick testimony with that.
A couple of years back, I had about twelve thirteen
men that I was mentoring and said, what what if
we focus for the next six months, Like, I know
we're all leaders in ministries and we help out in

(37:13):
different things, but what if we just made disciple making
our priority even over our ministry, Like we just made
like we're gonna handle business in the youth and then
other things that we're leading. But what if we made
it like disciple making was number one, And for six
months we try to see how many disciples we could make.
And in those six months, you know how many people

(37:35):
came and were being discipled by us. Over six hundred
and fifty people were being discipled by a small group
of men in six months. Be in a group, join
a group, but it doesn't end there. Go and be
trained to launch your own group. Some iona say this, say,
I am, oh, let's get it, let's get it, let's

(37:57):
get it, let's get it again. I am a disciple
of Jesus that makes disciples of Jesus.

Speaker 2 (38:09):
Let's go.

Speaker 3 (38:10):
Your guys, sound like an army online too? Is the
army everyone in the other sanctuary?

Speaker 2 (38:14):
It's an army.

Speaker 3 (38:17):
Are you committed to the growth of others? Do you
know their names? Jesus knew the names of every disciple.
I know the names of all my disciples, even not
even just the ones in my main group. The other groups.
Do you know them? Are they on your heart? Do
you pray for them? The best place to make and

(38:38):
teach new disciples is in a small group. Jesus taught
the crowds publicly and most of the time taught his
disciples in a small group setting. Jesus's small group was
his handpicked twelve that gathered around him, and he taught
them Matthew five one through two. One day, as he
saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountain
side and sat down. His decid pippoles gathered around him,

(39:01):
and he began to teach them. Someone say, teach, God
is challenging you. I'm not challenging you.

Speaker 2 (39:08):
Don't. Don't get upset with me. All right. God is
challenging you.

Speaker 3 (39:12):
Okay, He's already and those that have given their life
to Christ, he's already saved you. He's blessed you. But
now it's time for you to go and be that
same thing for someone else. And I want to end
it with this. If we stay silent, people will stay lost.
If we open up our mouths, people can be saved.

(39:35):
And if we choose to step up, God one hundred
percent will show up and he'll back us up. I
want to challenge you guys with something. I asked Glad,
if feels okay? Pastor Blad said yes, all right. Someone
say challenge someone, say thirty days who's open to a
thirty day Challenge with Raise Hand online, Raise Hand You

(39:55):
thirty day Challenge. Okay, thirty day Discipleship Challenge ready.

Speaker 2 (40:00):
Number one.

Speaker 3 (40:01):
Preach the gospel every week for thirty days. Okay, preach
the gospel every week. Share what Jesus did for you.
Share that he died, that he rose, and that he's alive.
Preach to your circle of influence in your community, on
your platforms, hitting the streets, doing street evangelism and outreach.

(40:26):
Someone say preach number two. Share, share your testimony at
least three times in the thirty days. Tell someone what
Jesus did specifically in your life. Don't underestimate your story.
Why because your story carries power to transform a life.
And number three, invite someone say invite. Invite at least

(40:48):
one you person to church every week. And I want
to make it a little more clear. Invite and also
get one person to church every week, because you might
invite five people and they might all gost to you.
They might All that means like they might they might
not hit you back up. Okay, they might not respond
to you. So you invited five like I did it.
I invited five, but no one came. Let's let's invite,

(41:10):
but let's make sure each week one of them comes.
Hand them a flyer, send them a message on social media,
call them, or bring them yourself. Invite them to encounter
Jesus here at Hungry Gen. Invite them, tell them there's
a place for you. Man, You're gonna love it. You know,
it's such an easy thing to do. Why because it's
impacted your life getting people to come to the way.

(41:33):
It was easy for me because I'm like, dude, this
church literally changed my life. You got to come and
see what what for real is like how to change you?

Speaker 1 (41:39):
Bro?

Speaker 3 (41:39):
I was start doing this, I was doing that Like
no way, I'm like, yeah, come watch come it just come.

Speaker 2 (41:45):
Why because they want it?

Speaker 3 (41:47):
And this is a bonus for disciple makers. Okay, join
or start a small group. Join or start a small
group here at Hungry Gen. Okay, that means you go
through the process. You sign up, you go through the
process here. You talk to a leader, talk to a volunteer,
and you get plugged into a group and you get
trained to the lead a group. Start discipling one to

(42:09):
two people intentionally over the next thirty days. Don't just
invite invest in someone's spiritual journey, invest in them to
say this with me, say I will preach, I will invite,
and I will make disciples of Jesus.

Speaker 2 (42:31):
Come on, give God a hand. Let's all stand up.