So here we are in our Discipleship 101 series, and we'll just do a real quick overview. And my hope, if there's nothing more than this, I think it would still be a good thing, that on your mind would be that you're a disciple of Jesus Christ. Because as we read through the Bible, we've covered all this, and these messages are online. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you're a disciple of Jesus Christ. Jesus had disciples. Everybody knew it. Jesus knew who they were. The people who were the disciples knew who they were. Jesus' enemies knew who they were. People in general just knew. Those are Jesus' disciples. Even the angels knew who they were, okay? And what was true of these disciples? Well, they followed Jesus. They believed in Jesus. Something big happened in their lives. They died to self and they had a new life. This is not like second step Christianity. If you're a Christian, this is true of you, you're a disciple of Jesus Christ. It's not okay, I'm saved, I'm forgiven, now maybe I'm thinking seriously, should I become a disciple? That is not what we would find in the scriptures. We who believe in Jesus are disciples of Jesus. You say, okay, so what are we supposed to be doing? That was our second message quick overview. Disciples make disciples. You are both a disciple and a disciple maker. That's what we find in the scripture. We spent some time in what we call the Great Commission, Matthew 28, 18 through 20. Jesus speaking all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. So Jesus has the right to tell me what to do, right? I'm his disciple. I follow him. And here's what he's telling me. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, And lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. So, as you know, quick overview. What is the key command, the imperative? All disciples are to make disciples. That's what God has commanded all of us to do. And I've encouraged us these last couple messages to go to bed thinking, I'm a disciple of Jesus, I've been called to make disciples, and wake up praying, Lord, I'm your disciple, help me to make disciples, because that's why I'm here. And if we could really just grab hold of that, and I've said this before but quick repeat, how many people do you know of like, why am I here? And I don't feel like my life has any purpose and I feel like I'm just wandering and people get down and they struggle with depression and anxiety and problems because they don't have a sense of identity. This is the answer to that. You know what your identity is? You're a follower of Jesus Christ and you have a purpose. What is that? To make disciples. And if we could just lock in on that. Now, how do we make disciples? Well, if you look closely, right? Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. So we're going to call that evangelism. As people put faith in Christ, the mark of becoming a disciple is that they would be baptized. And then secondly, we're teaching them, once they are a follower of Christ, to observe all that I commanded you. So the two parts of disciple. making are making disciples through evangelism and then once they put faith in Christ then teaching those disciples to obey Christ so we had a third message on making disciples through evangelism that was the last message and I could have picked many text I just like these for quick review disciple makers are fishers of men Jesus said follow me I'll make you fishers of men if I am a follower of Jesus Christ one of the evidences of it is I'm going out evangelizing And if I'm not involved in evangelizing, that would be like saying, I don't really testify to the reality that I'm following Jesus. Because if you follow Jesus, then you would be a person who becomes, to some degree, in some way, someone who's involved in evangelism. That's Matthew 4.19. We also covered 2 Corinthians 5.20. Disciple-makers are ambassadors of Christ. So everywhere we go, what are we thinking? Not about my kingdom, but about Christ's kingdom, because we're ambassadors of His kingdom. And then number three, disciple-makers are apologists of hope. And that wording might not be as clear, but what a wonderful text, right? That we are sanctifying Jesus Christ as Lord in our hearts, and if I'm putting Christ first in my life, I am a hopeful person. You cannot put Christ first in your life and be hopeless. It's just impossible. And people will ask you about the hope that is in you, and you be ready to give a reason. You know, a lot of people say, do we have to go out and knock on doors or pass out literature? And I'm not against either one of those. Obviously, we all have to pray about how we think we can best honor the Lord. But one thing I know, if I'm actually honoring Christ in my heart, People should be coming up to me and saying, Greg, you are one of the most hopeful people I've ever met, what's up? And I would say, do you have a little bit of time? Because I would love to talk to you about Jesus. That ought to be a reality for all of our lives. Finally, we're making the most of the opportunity, Colossians 4, 5 through 6, right? Walk in wisdom towards those that are outside. We are not separatists, okay? We do not withdraw from the world. We are here to be salt in the world. That's what Jesus did. And so we're living our lives towards outsiders. And we're praying, oh Lord, please help me to make the most of the opportunity. And we're praying that by God's grace, we would be active in evangelism. That's all the review. Here we go, last one. Part 4, Discipleship 101. Remember, 101 is basic. So even with these basic ideas, if you left and you're thinking, Greg, there's so many other questions or applications or whatever, I know, but I'm hoping this would at least be foundationally encouraging. Disciple makers, what do we do? I wasn't even sure what word to use. In the Great Commission, it's teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you, so we can use the word teach. As a church, we say our mission statement is what? It's exalting Christ, evangelizing those who need Christ, and encouraging those who know Christ. So for believers, what do we want to do? We want to teach people to obey Christ. We want to encourage people as they follow Christ. We want to edify people. I think any one of those words could work, and we will use all three of them tonight. And here's what I'd like to do tonight. To make the point, that disciple makers teach and edify other believers. So many different texts I could have selected. I just selected this evening some that are especially encouraging to me, beginning with Colossians 128. I'll have them on the screen. This is our first point tonight. We teach by way of preaching. How is it that discipleship takes place? This is just one way. One way is through preaching. Colossians 128, we proclaim him, that's Christ. So we come together and we preach about Christ. And I was thankful for the opportunity to be in Romans 11 and to preach about a Christ who has not rejected Israel, a Christ who is faithful to his people, a Christ who continues to save those whom he has elected to salvation, including Jews, demonstrating that he's not forsaken his people. And you say, why do we do that? In part, we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom so that we may present every man complete in Christ. One of the ways that we grow, we mature, As we follow Christ, as we listen to preaching, we expose ourselves to teaching, to teaching and preaching. And notice these words, and some of you know that word admonish. Some of you know the name Jay Adams, and you're familiar with what used to be called euthetic counseling. It's the idea of biblical counseling. The idea would be that we would be people who expose ourselves to the kind of preaching that has a little bit of an edge to it. And what I mean by that, it should challenge us. Preaching should never be a lecture. If I were to give you a lecture on the overall outline of Romans and the ministry of the Apostle Paul and the historical significance of it that would have worked at Furman University not far from here, then I have failed because that's not how you proclaim Christ. It should be admonishing and teaching. There's teaching but there's also admonishing. A little bit of an edge, a little bit of a warning, a little bit of a challenge spiritually And this is part of our, what? Of our discipleship. That we come together and we would listen to preaching regularly. And that's even what we're doing right now. You say, Greg, how about a guy like you? I listen to sermons regularly. You say, why? Because I need to. Because I want to be a good disciple of Jesus Christ and I need to be admonished when I am sinning and I am straying. So you will frequently see me. Sometimes you might even see me in the store. If I'm there, I'm in the ice cream aisle. But I have earbuds in my ears. And if you say real quick, what are you listening to? I'll be glad to tell you what sermon I got on. Because I don't necessarily, you know, need to be thinking deeply about ice cream. I already know what I'm going to buy. When I'm cutting my grass, I usually put earphones on to protect my ears, but I have earbuds underneath. Why? I'm generally listening to sermons. And again, that's not because I am such a holy person. It's because I am not a holy person. If I were like Christ, I wouldn't need to. But I want to get closer. And so one of the ways we grow in the faith, we are discipled, is through preaching. And I'm thankful for the opportunity I have to preach, and that's my main ministry. And let me say a quick thank you to all of you who participate and help in so many ways. There are ladies right now in our nursery watching children faithfully, servants of Jesus Christ, and some of you moms are able to be here tonight because of those ladies. And I thank God for them. And I thank the Lord for those of you who come early in Usher, and those of you back in the sound booth, just making sure that we can listen. And by the way, and those who record, so we can post these online, because there are people who don't come frequently or regularly, health reasons, whatever, but they like to try to keep up with messages. And they can do that because many of you minister and serve. What do we do? Just one point. We teach by way of preaching, and that's what we're doing tonight. That's what we do Sunday mornings. That's part of making disciples. Your faith's in Jesus Christ, and you would want to regularly come together and hear preaching. And, of course, in other venues also. Number two. This is why I began the message, the service, rather, this way, this evening. We teach by way of singing. Because many of you know this great text in Colossians 3.16, let the word of Christ richly dwell within you. With all wisdom, teaching, and admonishing one another, with Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. So we're singing songs, and we're singing songs with thankfulness in our hearts to God, and what's the effect? Teaching, there's that kind of edgy warning word, teaching and admonishing one another. So we're coming together like we did tonight. And we open up with the song, stayed upon Jehovah, hearts were fully blessed, finding as he promised perfect peace and rest. Thou will keep him in perfect peace, his mind is stayed upon thee, because he trusteth in thee. And here I am, and maybe there's a lot going on in my world, and I'm a little bit anxious, and I'm a little bit of uptight, and I come into the service, and I'm surrounded by brothers and sisters in Christ who are praying, State upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed, finding as He promised, perfect peace and rest. And I'm thinking, Lord, I'm not doing real well. Because I am not experienced rest, and yet all my brothers and sisters are singing right now. If I would focus on you, I would experience it. And then I'm, oh Lord, would you please forgive me? Because I have taken my eyes off of Jesus. And yet my brothers and sisters, part of the Trinity family, they are singing songs to encourage me and admonish me. And Lord, I'm so thankful for the ministry that other people have. I hope that's the ministry you want to have. I hope that's one of the reasons you come and you sing. And you say, Greg, what about people who come and don't sing? I'm sure there are good reasons for not singing. And maybe there's, you know, there's some physical issues going on, and there's maybe just some challenges. And I'm sure that's the case. Apart from that, why don't people sing? Well, if you don't know Jesus Christ, that makes sense. Okay. But if you know Christ, why wouldn't you sing? Apart from some limitation where you can't. Well, it's just, let's call it what it is. It's selfishness. I don't want to be like Jesus. I don't want to serve. I want to be served. So right now I could sing and I could be a blessing to my brothers and sisters in Christ. I don't want to be like Jesus. I just don't want to. And obviously we all are there at times. And my goal would not be, well, look at that guy. He's not singing. What a loser. No, we're not. I'm thinking, you know what? Look at that guy. He's not singing, but I'm so glad the woman behind him is. Praise God for her. And the guy next to him is, and I praise God for him. And look at those people ministering to him. And Lord, would you please use the words of the song to be a blessing? That's the kind of heart we should have when we come together. We teach by way of singing. So one way is in the preaching, publicly. One way is in the singing. We come and sing together, but it doesn't have to be just in corporate gatherings, because what does Acts chapter 20 and verse 20 say? We teach both publicly and house to house. We could call that publicly and privately. Again, this is basic, I understand. Paul says, I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you publicly and from house to house. So what do we do? We come together publicly. and we have a worship service even, as we're doing this evening. And then, this is something that would also be taking place in other contexts, privately. There, you say, how? Well, right there, it says house to house, so that would certainly include our homes, and just part of normal church life would be that we would be interacting with one another in our homes. Being part of a church family should be different than all of the people who go to the same gas station or the same home improvement store, right? If you go to the same store frequently, you get to kind of know people in a way because those are the same people that go to the same grocery store or whatever, but it's not really family at all. And unfortunately, sometimes in a church context, you could kind of like maybe get to know some people who worship Christ in the same place, but that's not what it should be. It should be that there is what? There's teaching Going on in homes as we interact with one another, both on a private and in a public way. And certainly, that would include restaurants, coffee shops, going to games together, whatever. But always thinking of what? Why am I doing this? Because I want to be encouraging people. I want to be edifying people. I want to be teaching people, right? I don't do it as much as I would like, but many of you know I like riding motorcycles. I don't go out riding by myself a lot. Please, if some of you guys ride alone, and that's fine. I don't ride by myself because there's no one to minister to. So as a rule, just as this is how my brain works, I am here to be a blessing, jumping on my bike for four hours and riding through the mountains by myself. I'm not being a blessing to anyone. Some of you are thinking, yes you are, Nancy, you're giving her a break. Okay, maybe so. But there's a couple guys from the church family I like riding with, and whenever I'm riding with somebody, I never like to just ride. I'm always thinking we're going to stop somewhere, or we're going to grab coffee somewhere, or we're going to eat somewhere. Why? Because I'm praying, God, help me to encourage somebody. And maybe I could just, after we ride for a while and grab coffee, how are you doing? How's your wife doing? How are your kids doing? How is work doing? Can I pray for you? and then we jump and ride, and we pray before we ride too. And that is the way we should be living life, that everything we do. College football season started, and I know many of you enjoy college football. I hope as you would watch games together that this would be the same heart you have, that I'm enjoying the game, that's great, but I'm not in this world to watch college football. We are here to disciple one another, encourage one another, teach one another, edify one another. And then a fourth point, and we'll break this down into some sub points. Number one, we teach by way of preaching, Colossians 1.28. We teach by way of singing 3.16, Colossians. We teach publicly in house to house, Acts 20, verse 20, Paul talking there to the Ephesian elders. And then number four, we teach all that Jesus commanded, including the need to, and I wanna break this down into three sub points. First one, and we're gonna spend some time on this one. We need to love one another as taught in John chapter 13 verses 34 through 35. A new commandment I give you that you love one another, that means loving other believers. You say, okay, so does that mean you don't love people that aren't saved? No, it's not what it's saying, but there ought to be something special about the way you love people that are saved, especially people you worship Christ with. Love one another even how, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all men will know that you're my disciples if you have love for one another. Question, how do people know that you're a disciple of Jesus Christ? There's more than one answer to that. here is one evidence that you're a follower of Jesus Christ. It's how you love me and it's how I love you. It's how you love the other people who worship as part of the Trinity Bible Church family. So this verse says that people know I follow Jesus by the love that I have for other Christians. So I want you guys to think You walk up to the average person and say, what do you think about people who follow Christ and believe the Bible? Would they immediately say, they are the most loving people I know? If they don't, we have a problem. Because Jesus says the way they know we follow him is the way we love one another. And I think most of us know that that's that noun agape, verb agapao, that selfless sacrificial love. The idea of, I want what's best for you, not what's best for me. So I want to make some applications that relate to us as a church family, if I may. And I'll be the first one to say, you don't have to agree with all of my applications. And you might make applications that are different. And we're all thinking of different things. And we all would tend to go different ways in our applications. But as somebody who's up in the pulpit here on the platform, looking out at our church family, You say, what are some of the ways, Greg, you think we could be loving one another? Can I make a simple point? That you would want to come and worship with us. I want to be so careful. I'm not saying everybody needs to come to every service. And there are really good reasons not to be here tonight. There are people taking care of aged parents. There are people taking care of of children with great needs. There's all kinds of things going on. There's some really good reasons it would be wrong to be here tonight. But would you come and worship with us even when you don't feel like it? You say, Greg, why would I come if I don't feel like it? Because Jesus didn't feel like dying on a cross. But this verse says we're supposed to love one another as I have loved you. Jesus didn't feel like dying for me, I'm confident. but I'm supposed to love you. Now, you're sick, you don't come. No worries. You say, but Greg, there are times I just don't want to come. Why? Well, you know, like all these other people at church, like there's nobody my age. Why would I go? Like everybody's old if you're young. Or everybody's young if you're old. So what? you're not coming to receive primarily, you're coming to give. You say, well, everybody at the church is a little bit different, right? There's all these people that have their kids in different schools and I'm a homeschooler, I wish there were more homeschoolers. And the next person is thinking there's too many homeschoolers, those people are like so weird, you know? And can I just say, so what? What does that have to do with loving people? People don't have to be like you for you to love them. You say, yeah, but I don't know if I want to go. At the church now, you preach from a translation maybe that I don't prefer, or you're singing songs that I don't like. Oh, that's real loving. Preach from my translation and sing my songs, or I'm not coming. That's Jesus. Not even close. Why would we be saying, if everything's the way I like it, I will come? because we're not like Jesus. And the whole idea of, I want things my way, it's just not like Jesus. And would it not be true that I would be thinking, you know what, I'm really looking forward to going to the worship service this morning, this evening. Why? Because I want to be like Jesus. I want to love my brothers and sisters. I want to encourage them as they follow Christ. I want to edify them. And you say, and what songs are they singing? I don't know. And what translation? I'm not even sure. And how are they dressed? I don't know. And do they homeschool or public school or create? I don't know. But I want to be a blessing to somebody. And so you come, and you would come and you would show love. How? Not just by coming, by serving. And I'm thankful for so many of you who serve as ushers. I've mentioned in the nursery you work, in the sound booth, whatever. You do so many things. But more than that, you interact with one another and you pray. See, if in your mind you're like Jesus and you actually are here to be a blessing, Then you know what? You are, some of you, especially maybe ladies, but guys too, you're looking for some of our younger moms and dads that have a lot of kids and you're praying for those young children because you're seeing that young mom and you're thinking, boy, she has a lot going on. I need to pray for her. I need to pray for that young dad. I need to pray. I remember what it's like when we had a lot of kids. You're praying for parents with unsaved children. We have adults, older people, my age, whatever, in our congregation and their hearts are broken because their kids have rejected Jesus Christ. And there's not a day that goes by that they're not troubled by that. Are you praying for them? You say, Greg, I don't know who they are. That's because you're not sitting by them. Okay, now we're gonna get real personal tonight. The culture of Trinity is, this is my seat. Oh honey, I'm gonna go put my Bible down because this is where we sit and I don't want anybody sitting in my seat. This is Trinity culture. I don't say this to hurt, I'm trying to help. You say, but Greg, there's a couple over here and they have an unsaved son and their heart is breaking. And you would never know, because you would never sit with them, because that's your seat. You don't come to be a blessing, you come just to receive. Wouldn't our heart, if we loved like Jesus, be, I'm gonna walk into this room, oh God, I am here to love somebody. And then I'd be just, I don't, Lord, help me somehow, help me to love somebody. And, hey, honey, I don't even know if we know their names. And it would be the most normal thing in the world for a couple to sit with a couple, a guy to sit with a guy, a girl to sit with a girl, and you would just sit down. And how are you doing? And my name is, and boy, nice to meet you. And you get to talk to them a little bit. And you find out that, you know what, they have an unsaved child, and it bothers them deeply. And at the end of the service, when everybody else is leaving, you would say, do you know what? Would it be okay? Could we just take a moment? Like, I don't want to make you feel bad or anything, but I want to be a blessing to you. Do you have just a moment? Can I pray for you? Can I pray for your unsaved daughter? Can I pray for your unsaved son? Can I pray for your unsaved spouse? We have people worshiping with us who are married to people who don't know Jesus Christ. You say, how would you know that? They come alone all the time. And I'm in a place where sometimes I'm looking out and I go, you know, this could be embarrassing. I don't want anyone to be embarrassed tonight. But I am on the platform at times, and I am looking at them sitting alone, and I'm thinking, Jesus, nobody here loves you. Because here is a person who's sitting alone, and no one moved. Like, no one got up and said, oh honey, look, she's here, and you know, she's by, let's go. You say, and I should invite them to sit with us. No, you should get up and go sit with them. If Jesus would hang naked on a cross and bleed for us, wouldn't we be willing to go and sit with someone? And just say, hey, how are you doing? And oh, I didn't know you broke up with your boyfriend or your girlfriend, I'm so sorry. Or I didn't know that the new school year is such a burden or whatever. And you would come into this room loving people. As you know, I put my faith in Jesus Christ back in college a long time ago. We were a lot younger. One of my old roommates is here tonight from Ohio. And we both look old now. That's a long time ago, but I still remember this well. I was invited to a Bible preaching church. It doesn't matter the name of it, but it's in Columbus, Ohio. And I looked a little bit different. I realized that I'm not stupid. And my hair is a little bit longer, and I'm in jeans, but they were clean. And I have an earring, and most guys don't. And I walk into church, and nobody talks to me. And I get it. Because I'm a little bit different, and there's a church, right? I'm aware of this. If you're a little different, we don't reach out to you. I get it. But I went to another guy who looked actually much worse than me. And I said, where do you go to church? And he told me the name of that church. And I went there, and I still remember this. Walking into a church, most people are in suits and ties, actually more than the first church. And I'm walking into that church, and I have guys older than me, guys in their 30s, 40s, 50s, introducing themselves, saying, hello, what's your name? Greg, we are so glad you're here. How are things going? Well, fine. And people I don't even know, sometimes saying to me, do you have anything, like that I could pray for you about and I'd say yeah you know I have this big test going on or whatever and and to actually hear them say I will pray for you and then I would come back on Sunday and they would seek me out and they would say hey Greg I prayed for that test how did it go you say what's that called that's called being like Jesus and I remember incredibly good examples of that in the second church not the first and thinking Lord this is how it should be that we would come together as a church and we would love one another, John 13, we would edify one another, 1 Corinthians 8, 1, and this will be much quicker. 1 Corinthians 8, chapter 1, now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. I want to focus just real quick on the second half. Knowledge makes arrogant. Knowledge divorced from love makes arrogant. If my whole goal in coming to Trinity is to learn Romans, and then whatever Bible study class you're going to in the morning, and to learn as much theology as you can, that tends to make people arrogant. That shouldn't be our goal. Our goal is, as we're gaining knowledge and we want knowledge, is love. We should be loving people. Now, one of the big emphases I'm making this evening is just something as simple as where you sit, and that's important. reaching out, let me just do a quick, those of you that are active and so giving and kind with your time, our Bible study, our Sunday morning Bible study, Sunday school teachers, are you encouraging this? Would you help me and encourage this? You say, Greg, give me one quick one. Okay, don't teach right up to the end of the time. You know, I come to class, what happens? Here's a Bible lesson, and you guys are awesome teachers, so I listen to the teaching, and then amen, it's done, and leave. Is there a way that you could, maybe talk to your class about taking what you're teaching and praying with one another about it, encouraging one another with it, loving other people, and actually edifying other people. As you know, the word edify means to build up, like the word edifice means a house. As a church family, we should be coming, and I'm actually thinking, Lord, here it is, Sunday night, and I'm going. Why? Because I want to edify somebody. I want to encourage someone, that's edification. And that word edify is very similar to our last word, last of the sub points. And we're finished tonight. That we would love one another, that we would edify one another, that we would encourage one another. Two texts out of Hebrews. I think this first one you might be more familiar with than the second. Hebrews 10, 23 through 5. Let us consider, so consider means think about, how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. Lord, help me to think of ways to encourage my brothers and sisters at Trinity to love and good deeds. I want to encourage my brothers and sisters to engage in good deeds and to love other people. How do you do that? Not forsaking our assembling together. You say, what does that mean? I'm coming to church, we would say in the vernacular. Don't forsake the assembling together as is the habit of some. but encouraging one another, and all the more, as you see in the day drawing near. You're actually praying, Lord, how can I encourage somebody? That's where I'm going. So we walk in, and we're thinking, I am here, and I am praying, how can I encourage someone? And that would just be the normal way of thinking at Trinity, I am praying. And I am very thankful that there is a subgroup of people here, and I'll just say it, you guys are awesome. You remind me of Jesus. And I'm just praying, oh God, somehow can that spread, because the majority of us, we're simply not there. And I am looking out at congregations, and today I'm not even looking specifically anywhere, because I don't want to embarrass anyone. But I'm looking and I'm thinking, why is he sitting alone? Why is she sitting alone? Why are they alone? How come no one has got up and reached out and ministered to them? And how come right at the end, certain people are always flying out the door? Now, I got to be careful. There's good reasons to fly out the door. Because of, you got to get home and take care of mom and dad. You got to get that baby home. I understand. But the most natural thing is, hey, wait a second, I am here to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. That's why I come, because that's what it means to be like Jesus. Here's, I think, an even more powerful verse. I think it's the last verse we'll look at tonight, Hebrews 3, 12 through 13. Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. but encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. We are all fighting against the flesh. In theory, we could all be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. We all struggle, and we all need help. And one of the reasons, by God's grace, we should be coming together is there are people that are struggling in great ways. You say, give me an example. How about a text from this afternoon? Is that recent enough? Greg, I was in the service this morning. My daughter so-and-so. She's high school age. She told me she's never going to church again, she hates the church, she hates Trinity, and I'm sick of you mom and dad trying to shove Jesus down my throat. Greg, what do I do? Okay, so I want to talk about two people. I want to talk about a high school girl who's being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. And she was with us this morning. And how many of us reached out to her. How many of us saw a girl who was frowning and we said, hey, how are you doing? What year are you in? What's your name? And what year are you in school? And really, what's it like at that school? And talking and engaging and actually trying to be a blessing to somebody who's in the process of being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. And she is. And the best I know, whether she comes back next Sunday or not, I don't know. Her mom and dad will be here, and they are burdened. At least dad especially is burdened. So there's going to be a dad next Sunday, I would assume, and his heart is going to be heavy. And I don't want to tell you where they sit, But if you always sit in the same place, it doesn't matter, because you're not looking anyway. I don't want to give you a hard time, but would you think about it? And that guy is going to come in, and his heart's going to be heavy. And he might be thinking, Lord, what's up? I pray for my kids. I talk to them about Jesus, and this is what I get. Now, he's struggling. But I'm hoping someone's going to look his way and say, hey, how are you doing? And how is this week been? And maybe he said, kind of tough, you know, can I, like, tell you about something going on with my daughter? And it's like, whoa, can I pray with you? Can I pray for you? It should be a very normal thing for you to find it hard to get out of this room. Because here it is, and I'm finished, and we sing, and everybody's done, and it's like, oh, excuse me, I didn't know you guys were praying. Like, okay, I'll go out. Oh, I'm sorry, there's another, they're praying together. and he's praying with him and she's praying with her and there's all these people that are so interested in being like Jesus and encouraging others and following Christ because they don't want others to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin that that would just be a reality at Trinity Bible Church. You say, Greg, I'm just gonna be honest with you, if that's what you expect, you are gonna make it hard for me to come. Because that's not me, and I'm not interested. Well, let me say two things, that is Jesus. Secondly, I came across an article that was called this, Make Sunday mornings uncomfortable. You say, wonderful, okay. Make Sunday mornings uncomfortable. Subtitle three rules of engagement at church I did not I saw this actually a couple months ago, and I knew I would get here eventually And I thought this is a good example written by a woman on the desiring God website These are her and she explains and has verses. I'm not going to go through all that I just want to give you what she's calling three rules of engagement at church, and I want to focus on the first one Are you ready number one and a lone person is an emergency? in a lone person is an emergency. What would happen if somebody fainted right now? What would happen if somebody in your section where you're seated actually just went down, boom, and hit their head? You would go, emergency! What happens when you walk into this room and you see a man or a woman sitting alone? Emergency! Emergency! I wonder what's up. I wonder what needs that person has. I wonder how I could reach out, hey honey, let's, you know, and again, we want to be careful. As men, I don't think we should be doing this with women. I hope, I don't even know, I shouldn't have to say that, but you understand there's some ways we do it that are proper. But if there is a woman by herself, as a couple, immediately, hey honey, oh yeah, emergency, guy by himself, couple or another guy, emergency, could we begin some of us maybe thinking more like Jesus that in a lone person is an emergency you say but Greg I'm talking to my friend look at her number two friends can wait friends can wait okay so I just have to pick somebody right who I won't name a name so I don't embarrass anybody Here's a guy that I'm close to, I know well, and we're talking about the football games yesterday, which is no problem with that. Hey, did you watch, you know, the comeback of Auburn against Oregon? Wasn't that a good game? Yes. And hey, I don't think I've met you before. My name's Greg. Welcome to Trinity. And I will walk immediately away from that person. Friends can wait. I will talk to him later about football. I will hang out with my buddies later. Somebody came in that door. Maybe they don't even know Jesus. Maybe they're not saved or maybe they're struggling. Earlier this summer we had a gentleman, doesn't matter his age, He came three Sunday nights in a row. He sat by himself three Sunday nights in a row. The third Sunday, I went and talked to him. I checked with somebody. Somebody else knew him, and he might have had some challenges or whatever, maybe just whatever. But he came three Sunday nights in a row. He sat by himself three Sunday nights in a row, and now he doesn't come anymore. I hope he's well. I don't know where he's at. You say, what happened? Well, my guess is he came in by himself. I know he sat by himself. No one thought it was an emergency. And a whole lot of us, we really like our friends, and that's good. And no one's thinking friends can wait. But if we were thinking this way by God's grace, number one, a lone person's an emergency. Number two, friends can wait. And you say, Greg, what do you do if you do meet somebody, maybe doesn't even know Christ? Number three, this was her article, Introduce Newcomers to Someone. Not only reach out, get to know them, try to learn their name and talk with them, but introduce that person to someone. At least that was the third one. I really want to focus on the first two. And a lone person is an emergency. Friends can wait. I think we could have evangelism going on in this building, in this room. If we became more like Jesus Christ and we became more focused on the great commission that I am a disciple of Jesus and I am called to make disciples. Because there are people who regularly worship with us who don't know Jesus Christ are coming because mom and dad or spouse or whatever pressures them to come for what and they come and that's great. We're glad they're here. But are we reaching out? Are we making disciples, even in this room? Summary, and we wrap up tonight. Number one, if you're a Christian, then you are a disciple of Jesus. Number two, disciples are commanded to make disciples. Number three, disciple makers actively engage in evangelism, even in Trinity's lobby and auditorium. And then finally, disciple-makers love, edify, encourage other disciples, and they teach other disciples to do the same. I close with a simple story. If I use the term punk rockers, and that's old. You guys know punk rockers? They don't exist anymore, the best I know. But now I'm old, so I don't know what people are called like this. When I was in college, there were people that were called punk rockers. And generally, the girls had incredibly short hair, maybe dyed a bright color, multiple piercings, not just like two or three earrings, but lots of earrings, and not just like the normal kind of earrings like I wore, but like razor blades and stuff, okay? And generally, in leather, tight, a little bit edgy, no, a lot edgy. I used to eat in the same dining room. It was in the basement area of a dorm that I lived in. And because of whatever, I was on another part of campus, so I was eating in a dining room on campus where I didn't normally eat. And it was set up you had an ID card and you could eat wherever you want, not a problem. I still remember I'm in a dining room. I don't know anyone, so I'm already thinking I'm eating by myself. That's not my preference, but what are you going to do? Because that's how life goes. So I sit down and I'm eating. I got my tray. It's cafeteria, whatever. And all of a sudden, two girls walk up to me, one on each side, and one just grabbed my tray and picked it up. And the other girl put her hand on my shoulder. She said, come on, no one should eat alone. And they were punk rockers. Bright hair, multiple piercings, edgy dress. So one has my food and one has my elbow. So what do you do? I sat down, and I still remember this. I couldn't really tell you specifically what they looked like, but I still remember this. I went to where they were seated, and I had dinner with them. And I actually thought to myself, kind of weird, but I like it. They saw a guy by himself, and they thought, emergency! A couple of punk rockers at the Ohio State University who thought no guy should eat alone, that's an emergency. You think they knew Jesus? They didn't talk about him. But that's the kind of thing Jesus would do. That's the kind of thing I'm praying we will do. I'm talking about when we come together in worship, that our minds would be, I'm a disciple of Jesus. I've been called to make disciples. I am going to come in worship, and it's not just to sing for my own benefit and to hear a message for my own benefit, even though I hope it encourages you. But you come with the heart of Jesus. Lord, I am your disciple, and you have commanded me to make disciples. And so me, my wife and I, our family today, Lord, somehow, someway, we are going to reach out to someone, whoever that is. And for the smaller group of the Trinity family, that is actively engaged in this and you are blessing me by your good example, I thank you. And you know who you are. And I honestly say thank you because I want to be more like you. And I am praying that your good example will begin affecting and infecting more of the rest of us. And I would like to think that from now on this could be how life takes place at Trinity. That every person who walks in comes in thinking, I'm a disciple of Jesus and I have been called to make disciples. Why? Because Jesus has all authority and he has the right to tell us what to do. and you are not allowed to live your life alone. He simply will not permit it. Now, if you want to disagree with some of the examples, I understand. And if you are actively making disciples in a different way, God bless you. But I hope you know my heart. I hope you know that I love this church, and I am praying that God will help us all to be more like Jesus' Father,