Apprentices

3:33 - Welcome back to the room

All right picture this…It is an all too familiar scene. Two people are engaged in deep conversation. Empassioned by the desire to hone and refine ones skills - to be the best version of themselves they can be. The wise sage is passing on to the impatient protege the details and secrets of knowledge required for them to truly rise to the challenge ahead. At time this scene plays out in the Russian winter with the use of a barn with raw heavy objects, large chains, and well whatever objects may be in the barn to help build this fighter to the next level

NAME THE MOVIE (Image of Rocky IV)

Arguably the best Rocky Movie - It came out in 1985 and I was the perfect age to be totally engrossed in it.

Alright, fine - All too familiar scene. The young man navigates beyond the horizon in search of the one who will help him. While the young man struggles with self doubt the calm wisdom of his teacher almost cuts through the fog. The Fog in the swamp and the young man’s mind. A man too old to be a true padawan but too sincere to be ignored. A young man destined for greatness…

Name the Movie (Star Wars)

Last one - This young lady steps beyond the boarders of her community. Aready strong, brilliant and poised in her own right, but the call to something greater is upon her. This mighty woman draws from her mothers wisdom, grace ,strength and poise and her brothers noble valor. She bravely walks through the internal voices of doubt, and through the Wakandan mist and into her calling.

Name the Movie - Black Panther - Wakanda Forever

The All too familiar scene is the sage providing the example for the up-and-coming leader. It’s the selection and the training of an apprentice. A few weeks ago we talked about the Anointer in our lives, but this week we are going to dive deeper into the other side of the that equation

It’s Complicated - The Apprentice

Here’s the reality, we all need people in our life that are going to call us out and call us up to the things God has equipped us for. Otherwise known as the Anointer in our life. Actually, this is the place this whole “It’s complicated” journey began. With Samuel the Prophet Anointing David the young Shepherd. Instead of knocking David on the head with the Shepherd staff - which isn’t tht what Yoda did to Luke Skywalker, haha - well instead of that Samuel anointed David’s head with oil and told him God selected him to the be the next King of Isreal. A young Shepherd. overlooked by men but chosen by God. A choice that shaped history.

And what a choice - love him or hate him - David is by far the most recorded person in the Scriptures. Yes - even more than Jesus. David and his life and poetry cover 114 chapters of the Old Testament. 1 Samuel, 1 Kings, Chronicles and the Psalms - not to mention the references within the NT.

David’s life is complex and filled with complicated relationships - Hence the series “It’s Complicated”

Anointer / Adversary / Allies turned Adversary / Ally / Advocate / Accountant / APPRENTICE

I hope you have enjoyed the conversation, learned something about David AND learned something about yourself in the process. As we wrap up the series, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to talk about David handing off the reigns the nation of God’s people to his successor and the importance of having an Apprentice - his apprentice Solomon.

I don’t know who said it first but I like this quote:

“Your greatest contribution to the Kingdom of God may not be something you do, but someone you raise.”

That’s not just true for mom and dad’s. That’s not just true for the family. That is true for the spiritual moms and dads as well. I’m talking about the men and the women who step into your life and help you grow in your faith. The one to help you grow and your spiritual journey. to bring you on as an apprentice. As followers of Jesus we need to be on the hunt for our next apprentice.

For me, I am forever indebted to a couple different people. One my wife, Becky for her patient yet persistent request that we go to church together. That was a catalyst in discovery. I became an apprentice of sorts through her support. Pastor Rollie Mossberg, Brian Farka, and John LeVahn each played a significant role in my understanding of Faith, My Walk with Jesus in Step with the Holy Spirit and my call into full-time vocational ministry. So Rollie, John and Brian - if you happen to catch this message - Thank you!

Thank you for taking on an “Apprentice.”

So, if we are in need of finding someone to train up - the question you may be asking is - Great.

With what time and how do I know who?

For most of us, the idea of finding someone to teach or mentor is just as difficult as to make space for ourselves to be mentored or to become an apprentice. I get it. The pace of life, the business of the day to day for most people is about all we can handle.

After-all - its complicated!

So, let me encourage you a little - mentorship - having an apprentice or apprentices - doesn’t have to require a list of other things to accomplish. But instead some intentionality behind what you are already doing.

Take David for example. Clearly the guy is under a lot of pressure - he is in a place of great significance and people are looking to him for leadership, for justice, to rule well, and to above all honor God. Well, they probably care less about the honoring than they do about the personal quality of life. BUT that is definitely a conversation for a different day.

Busy - CHECK - Who…Thats the other side of this question. How do I find the time and how do I identify the who..

David had no shortage of people to choose from. So many children, so many high level leaders in and around him. He was going to need to pass on the keys to the kingdom to someone. Sure the common practice in the region was the eldest son was next in line, but this is all new for the people of God. And guess what - the two examples of kings had nothing to do with birth order. Not at all! So why would this transition be any different.

Let me take a little pressure off of you - you aren’t giving anyone the crown - your not giving them the keys to RULE the kingdom but the keys to live in the Kingdom.

So what does a busy person do in order to find the right people to train up, and how do they do it? Widen the opportunities for people to walk along side you as you do what you do. Essentially, David did just that.

1 Chronicles 18:17 (CSB) …and David’s sons were the chief officials at the king’s side.

He gave access to the ones he was looking to train up. His sons, other officials, warriors, and others. He started with a wide net - willing to train up all of his sons.

Finding an Apprentice - Start Wide

Who shows interest - who makes themselves available - who are the people you have access to and can give access to? Apprenticeship starts with a wide net, and grows in a specific mission. At this point David had a very specific mission - a very specific goal he was chasing after to further God’s Kingdom. He had a deep desire to see the Lord have a house of Worship - a permanent structure in the promised land - for the people of God to come to for Worship, and Offerings.

We talked about this last week a bit. David

2 Samuel 7:1–2 (CSB) When the king had settled into his palace and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies, the king said to the prophet Nathan, “Look, I am living in a cedar house while the ark of God sits inside tent curtains.”

This is where Nathan proved himself as an Accountant (Accountability partner) he initially was totally fine with David building the Temple - go for it brah - no cap! BUT after hearing from God he tells David he’s not authorized. That God is going to bless him and his house and that one of his kids will build it.

David made the Temple his focus. Even though he wouldn’t build it himself, he prepared everything for the one who would. In doing so, he trained the next generation for the work God had assigned—kingdom-honoring work.

We aren’t building temples today, but we are building up the body of Christ. That’s the mission. And within that mission, God often gives each of us a specific calling, just as He did David.

Maybe for you it’s meeting the needs of those who have little. God has given you a servant’s heart, and you serve with a Jesus-centered focus.

Maybe you carry a burden for single moms—you want to help them meet Jesus and be transformed by the Holy Spirit.

Maybe your mission is in the business world, helping entrepreneurs lead and love like Jesus.

Maybe it’s in the recovery community, walking with people toward freedom from addiction and the pressures of the age.

Maybe its unreached people groups across the street and around the world.

Maybe its for the ones far from God - trapped in delusions or consumed by worldly things

Maybe its for the incarcerated, the lonely, the destitute - you get the point.

Whatever it is, God has entrusted you with a mission within the mission—your part in building up His people.

To find the Apprentice - you don’t have to start a new program just start inviting people to join you on the journey God is calling you into. David’s was truly building the Temple - it was a deep desire and a dream and he prepped and prepared to accomplish the mission. He didn’t know which son was going to be the one when he caught the vision, but he knew it was going to be one of his sons.

So what did he do? He brought them on as chief advisers and taught as he went.

Its not about another program or trying to convince the church that the passion God has given you for a specific purpose MUST be the passion for everyone. — This happens all the time. I got swept up in in when I was relatively new in my faith. I was intense and I was and still am desperate to help people know and live out God’s Word. To know it and live lives of practical biblical wisdom. I used to think everyone had to have the same passion. Today, that is still a desire that I have for you - yes of course. AND AND AND God has shown me my role as one of the pastors in the context of HIS church is to help equip the Saints to the work HE is calling them to, not what HE is calling me to. But what He is calling US - you and I too - as a church collectively - multifaceted ministry.

So what do we do to find the apprentices God has for us?

Invite others to join us on Mission for Jesus

Did you notice that David didn’t say only these two join me - it was all of them. Why? They were all invited and all of them would have been trained at some level. You know, we have enough people who self disqualify. And we have to guard ourselves from disqualifying others before we even ask. We have to stop saying no for people, and allow them to say no for themselves.

To give others the opportunity to decide if it’s the work that they are called to do, if they are called to grow in that area.Or to rise to the challenge. Because there will be a challenge. The whole point of apprenticeship is not that it is easy it is, that is hard. It causes us to learn something new, or to grow and what we have a fledgling understanding of. BUT we cannot only invite those who we think will do great…instead we invite wide.

Invited Wide

A couple years ago I was part of a call that included a church planter from India. The goal was to train a local pastors and leaders, and start launching more and more local small churches. Starting in the House Church models in watching them grow and multiply. And for seven years there wasn’t a lot of growth.For the first seven years it was pretty slow going actually. One of the mistakes that they were making was that they were only training of those who they thought showed promise.

This is what makes apprenticeship so complicated. We have in our mind what our next apprentice will look like. We have in our mind an idea of how they will act how they will speak what they will do, etc. But the reality is you just never know. And that was the point in this phone call. They found that when they trained Bradley, the people who rose to the top or not the ones they suspected. Matter of fact, the ones they thought we’re going to crush it, ended up, leaving and doing almost nothing. The ones they didn’t want to train up were the ones who crushed it!

So whats the point? Invite Wide…Don’t predetermine who you are willing to train. Lean into the one who God reveals to you is your next apprentice.

1 Chronicles 22:7–10 (CSB) “My son,” David said to Solomon, “It was in my heart to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, but the word of the Lord came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and waged great wars. You are not to build a house for my name because you have shed so much blood on the ground before me… But a son will be born to you; he will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies, for his name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign. He is the one who will build a house for my name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’

This is the swamp in Dogbah moment with Luke and Yoda, or Shuri with her mother and the legacy of her brother, or Rocky training in the Russian winter with Creeds trainer. David and his son Solomon - whose name by the way sounds like Shalom - peace - yes intentional, yes ordained.

David sits his son down and reveals to him that He is the one who will carry the torch - the lamp of Isreal - that he is selected by God to be the one to build the Temple of God and eventually take over the Kingdom. This is where the Apprenticeship really takes off - the discovery phase is over and the training and sending phase truly begins.

David is about to give you and I the perfect process of raising up the next leaders among us.

1 Chronicles 28:9–10 (CSB) “As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands the intention of every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you abandon him, he will reject you forever. Realize now that the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong, and do it.”

He tells his son that all of the work he is about to do begins and starts with his love for the Lord. All of it. He’s passing on what was discovered when Samuel anointed David - God doesn’t look at the physical apperance or the worldly accomplishments but the heart. “SERVE HIM WHOLEHEARTEDLY and WITH A WILLING MIND”

God knows your thoughts and see’s your motives. - You can’t teach motives but you can inspire it. You can encourage it, you can be an example of it. David CALLED UP Solomon first in private then in public (there is a whole different sermon around the story of transition, we can save that for later)

Called UP

Called up - to have a heart and mind focused on the Lord

But UP isn’t the end. Its the foundation - It is the starting point for the work we will do in the Kingdom. David Called him up to a high standard and then SET UP Solomon for Success.

1 Chronicles 28:11–12 (CSB) Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple and its buildings, treasuries, upstairs rooms, inner rooms, and a room for the mercy seat. The plans contained everything he had in mind for the courts of the Lord’s house, all the surrounding chambers, the treasuries of God’s house, and the treasuries for what is dedicated.

David went all in to SET UP Solomon for success. He had workers already assigned to tasks like gathering and preparing all the supplies. The verses just prior to this talks all about the set up. He also gave him the plans, shared the vision, and helped Solomon catch the heart behind it. Again reminding him to focus his attention where first - UP - yes you are young - Solomon was likely in his twenties at the time - but he had all the support. He had the Super and the Natural support necessary to carry on the mission.

1 Chronicles 28:20–21 (CSB) Then David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He won’t leave you or abandon you until all the work for the service of the Lord’s house is finished. Here are the divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of God’s house. Every willing person of any skill will be at your disposal for the work, and the leaders and all the people are at your every command.”

So what did David do once the Apprentice was made known?

Called UP / Set UP

You and I we have multiple people God is asking us to Call and Set UP for Kingdom work. If you know you’re not in the right space to lead - my prayer is God reveals to you your person or your place to be exposed to more - more of the Holy Spirit, more of the Scripture, more of the Outreach, more of the Mission, More of the People of God.

Actually, when David was done ensuring Solomon was in the right place with the right resources - then he Prayed UP - to encourage and empower his Apprentice - his son.

Back to the private setting between Father and Son - this is such a cool moment.

1 Chronicles 22:11–13 (CSB) “Now, my son, may the Lord be with you, and may you succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as he said about you. Above all, may the Lord give you insight and understanding when he puts you in charge of Israel so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God… Then you will succeed if you carefully follow the statutes and ordinances the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or discouraged…

1 Chronicles 22:18–19 (CSB) “The Lord your God is with you, isn’t he? And hasn’t he given you rest on every side? For he has handed the land’s inhabitants over to me, and the land has been subdued before the Lord and his people. Now determine in your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God… Get started building the Lord God’s sanctuary so that you may bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant and the holy articles of God to the temple that is to be built for the name of the Lord.”

You know the common theme in those Apprentice stories - they all needed to be called up and set up for success. They needed someone who saw what no one else could. Our stories are not that different. Everyone in this room needs to know God has something for them. Everyone in this room needs to be Called up Set up and Prayed up for the mission God puts in your life.

Called UP / Set UP / Prayed UP

Feeling stuck in your journey with Jesus - get in the room with other followers doing the work God is calling them to. Catch a vision for what you’re called to do. Stuck in your growth - find an apprentice - Someone or several someones for you to Call up, set up, and pray up to carry forward the mission of the Kingdom - to make Jesus known.

You can do it church!! I know it!

Let’s Pray!