Week 12 - Life in Community, Discipleship

This morning. We are probably finishing up our series participating in the Divine Life. I thought about having a sort of an end cap message can covering maybe you just touching on everything and is kind of wrapping it up in a nice little bow, but the end of my nose today kind of did that so we'll see what God talks to me about for next Sunday. But this very well could be the last of our see reason is participating in the Divine Life and as we've gone through our study we've learned about what it is to be as Peter says partakers of the divine nature to participate in that Divine life now to be preparing for eternity, whatever we're going to be doing there. We begin doing here worship this morning. We talked about worshipping God being in the presence of God fraternity. But here we are in the presence of God worshipping him now. Prayer we participate in now and so we also with that have them looked at these through the lens of spiritual disciplines these things that God has given us to help us progress in sanctification to become more and more like Christ because that is the goal. That is the goal of salvation of Eternity is that we would be transformed into the image of Christ Romans chapter 8 and that we would look like him and not just for our own sake not just yes for the glory of God, but for those around us as well as we started to see the spiritual disciplines, they start here inside in US personal because that's what changed needs to begin. Right? So we would talk about prayer Worship in in our own time with the Lord spiritual reading of scripture. Not just not the studying to get all the facts out of it, right but and informative a transformative reading of scripture But then we saw that it necessarily begins to work itself out like Isaiah that or not. I said Jeremiah, I wanted to just you know all the trials he was going through just shut up. I'm just done with it and he's like I couldn't is like a fire shut up in my bones. And so with these things 2. It begins working in us and then it just naturally works out of us. We saw that in in service and acts of service in and then it in the corporate Gathering. We're on Sunday mornings. We meet on Wednesday nights Fridays 10 Donna's house we meet and we participate in the Divine life together in community as so then you we have did the Gathering and then not just the Gathering of Sunday mornings and bible studies. But the life we live together. It is much more than just Sunday mornings. It has to be more the Sunday mornings. It is a life together Dietrich bonhoeffer's book gave us that theme life together. And then from there it works itself out even more and last week. We talked about evangelism living life together and then inviting others into that life. That's what evangelism is. It is sharing. The good news is really good timing, right? I don't plan you guys know, I don't plan that well, I did not plan this this way the last we talked about evangelism in this week when we talkin about discipleship and it's great timing for the block party where we get to invite other people into our family. And so now we're moving on to discipleship because the two reasons one is because that is what you do with those when you evangelize you you give them the good news and you bring them in and you disciples and that's what we talked about what it is a lot this morning, but the other reason is the other thing we talked about discipleship now, Because now we take everything we've been covering for the last 12 or 13 weeks and we share it with others. What I've been giving you is something that has like the like the richest boxers book celebrating their celebration of discipline that I received in high school from my youth pastor, very transformative book influential in my life and there's been been other times in my life that has been added to and this is going to kick that I've been on for the last two or three years and so now I give it to you cuz it's so precious to me and it is so essential to the Christian life. So with discipleship you guys do that you take something and you can take them through the series if you wanted me to take them through something take them through scripture in this series of course has been informed through and through by scripture. We take somebody else there. Now that you've come this far and you go back to the beginning and start again with somebody that's why it's a really good place to to wrap up the series this idea of discipleship evangelism. You bring them in and the discipleship you help them grow. So you'll notice I don't know if you but maybe you didn't but you'll notice now that I say it last week I didn't pull out that great and awesome evangelism first, right Matthew 28 19 through 20. I did not mention this last week. We talked about evangelism go therefore and Make Disciples of all 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 am with you even are always sorry even to the end of the age. I purposely didn't bring that verse up last week. We were talking about this we're talking about evangelism. What is this verse tell us properly. This verse has very little to do with evangelism and everything to do with discipleship the part of this that has to do with evangelism. Isn't that weird that very first word go but what does it tell us to do doesn't tell us go evangelize and we should we have to share the good news, but we are to not stop there. Yeah, that is not the endpoint sharing are the good news is sharing Jesus with somebody that's the beginning points. That's not the endpoint. Sometimes we think we will go knock on the doors New Year evangelism thing and I'm done with a psycho how I did that, you know scary thing. I knocked on the doors I talk to people and now I'm done. It's not your job. Your job is to disciple them and discipleship is so much deeper so much more involved so much more intimate so much more long-term commitments that's discipleship right there discipleship takes commitment evangelism. You can get in and out of Angela's you know, he blows through town throws up his big tent Big Tent Revival people evangelizing. He leaves town. The old people are called to be evangelists. And that's okay for the church that remains is to disciple that's one thing that Billy Graham was really really really really really really good at is because when he would come through as an evangelist, he had a TV set up teams to disciple because he recognized the Great Commission is not about evangelism. It's about discipleship is a like we talked about last week. It's the furtherance discipleship is furthering the kingdom. It's growing the kingdom. And the church will not grow unless you are discipling someone like you said last week. You're just waiting for somebody to come into town and I was like they coming to town Johnny Cash. I really hope they come to our church. I really hope they come here or we find out the church family has a zoster churchome. They are looking for another church. Like I hope they come here that's not Kingdom growth or what. Do we call a special game? That's what we call it. It's a shell game. You're just switching the marbles between houses evangelism Church growth comes from evangelization and discipleship. So last week talked about building the community discipleship is building the believer community building. That's what it was. It was community building now discipleship believer building. So what we're going to look out for this is 1st Kings chapter 19 or take a trip back to the Old Testament pull out some of them pull up some of that dust off your Old Testament real quick First Kings chapter 19, and it's the story of Elijah and Elisha. No in my mind, there is a bigger separation between this event and one of the events we know Elijah for as hell when I saw this in context right context read me a scripture in context. It really surprised me what had just happened cuz chapter 18 was the great showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal where they did their thing on Mount Carmel and he did and he just let them do their thing. They're trying to call down fire prove whose God is greater. They try and try all these crazy things in life is just kicking or Elijah. Just kicking back poking fun. Sometimes it's a funny story should read it and Elijah gets up there and he he simply praise and God brings down fire from heaven consumes the sacrifice. So there's that but then from that he is he have his great Victory but then Jezebel the the queen of the time ahab's wife she worshipped but I'll also he wants Elijah's head. So we please off to the Wilderness, right and he's running and he he's in danger and verse 4 of 1st Kings 19. We see that he went on a Day's Journey Into the Wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree and you requested for himself that he might die and said it is enough now. Oh Lord take my life fry. I'm not better than my father's so it's weird. It's this Victory and 18 but chapter 19. We moving to this this this is fly and struggle is depression even and and we see him cry out. He's longing for death, but then you go on and that store where to pick up about 4:15 or 19 it but up there you see God's provision his Tender Care. And Elijah travels to the place where God met Moses and where God met with him. And so God meets with Elijah to and he speaks with Elijah as of course you remember that story doesn't speak with him through the great wind of the earthquake or the fire but in a small still voice and he says he doing here bud. Why you hiding what are you? What are you doing out here and verse 14 and Elijah says, I've been very zealous for the Lord the god of hosts for the sons of Israel in forsaken your Covenant turn down your altars and killed your profits with a sword and I alone am left and they seek my life to take it away. So getting pouring his heart out to the Lord verse 15 the Lord commission's him in this is important. He says the Lord said to him go return your way to the Wilderness of Damascus. And when you have a ride you will shout shout anoint as a l king over arum in arum is modern day Syria region and Jay who the son of nimshi you shall anointed king over Israel, which of the sum of the northern half of Israel and Elijah the son of Shay fat of album, ahola you shall anoint as profit in your place. And so we know about the story about to read about Elijah commissioning Elijah calling him to join alongside of him. But this is the context and I just found that very interesting that at the time of his is Darkness. His fear is depression reaches out and touches him and end and calls him to himself gently provides for nourishes him back to hell and a spiritual health to and then gives him a task and guys. This is just a side note, but this is still Our God and He does the same for us. If you're down if you feel the beat up somebody is chasing you in the wilderness looking for your head or if you're going through life depressed feeling like you've lost your purpose board meets you He calls you just come here. What are you doing here? And in any nurses, he and he always has a calling a commission for each one of us and discipleship evangelism Falls right into that but the Lord cares if he's there any Whispers he's gentle and so we see here he sends him. I alone that for you know, I I love my maps. So here is Israel right here. This is the Dead Sea the Sea of Galilee. Jerusalem is right over here. So Elijah flees down to Mount Horeb where God that with Moses generally held to be here. It is possible that is over here as well. He comes all the way down hearing God commissions him and sends them to Aaron which is up here modern day. Syria Damascus is somewhere I cried over here. So Elijah goes all the way back over there to the top is so you have a picture. And we see when he in this commissioning thing is something very similar to Jesus is Calling of his disciples. I'm not going to let this could be a really neat sermon itself. I'm not going to go there feel free to play with us on your own where to pull out a couple points. But we we see that time of the desert that you know, Jesus with his temptation after his baptism see God meeting with Elijah like God ascended to the father descended Upon Jesus calling out from having this is my son at the baptism and that commissioning to Ministry. So think on that thing as we go through because there are some important parallel so verse 19 of 1st Kings 19 So Elijah departed from there and found Elijah the son of shape that while he was plowing with the 12 pairs of oxen before him and he with the 12 and Elijah passed over to him and threw his mantle on him. So Elijah comes and sees Elisha plowing no member he's not just picking some random guy. The Lord has spoken to him you are to go anoint him or appointed him as your successor. So he goes he finds him plowing and he comes and he throws his mantle over him and keeps on walking and we'll talk about that in a minute. But like the disciples Elijah is out working. He's out working in the fields doing what he knows. He's supposed to be doing and for us to if you're wondering what the Lord has for you for wondering what should I be doing next? Don't be sitting on your couch waiting for the phone to ring. Hello. Yes, this is God God. Yes, I would like you to build an ark what? No, I'm not doing that again. I'm just kidding not real life cycle doing they were out working Elijah out working already moving already doing what he knew. He had to do it. You know my story. That's how I ended up here. I was just doing what God put in front of me at the time. And now I'm feeling for you here there when when Chris on vacation and and then 2015 start feeling for a couple months and sure a couple more and then you're stuck with me. So here I am just doing what God has placed in front of me at the time. So if you are wondering what you should be doing for the Lord Do something do something start teaching Sunday school class or a nursery right block party get the ball rolling to do something just like the disciples. And so we going throughout this world where we're following our own direction are our Purpose with an eye on the Lord waiting for his calling and he does call he makes it clear so Elijah the disciples out working. Jesus says, hey just comes and guys follow me and they do and this is the first step of discipleship the same thing as with us as we just call others. Hey come walk with me. We just take somebody along side of us yell, especially a new believer take him alongside say come walk with me and discipleship is as simple as that is walking together taking it a closer look at the Divine Life and participating in the Divine Life and asking them to participate with us. And to show them how to do it that is discipleship and we'll talk about that more in a moment as well versed 20. It says Elijah. He left the oxen and ran after Elijah. So Allied you really came through his cloak on him and kept on walking splashes. Wait, wait timeout. Hey, hold up goes down chase him down. He says, please let me kiss my father and mother then I will follow you and he said to him go back again for whatever I done to you, you know, and this it has that parallel with Jesus and the guy who says let me go bury my father and mother first Jesus had a different response. But there's a AA similarity there. Let me go back to my family real quick, but Elijah allows him and verse 21, so he returned from following him and Elijah took the pair of oxen and sacrifice them and boiled their flesh with the Implements of the ox and that's it the plough and all of that stuff and he gave it to the people his family and they ate then he rose and followed Elijah and minister to him. This is interesting. You see you see that that plow they're pulling and you'll do the yolk everything that they're working with. That's the wood. He uses to build the altar to do the sacrifice. He burns it all. He burned it all down. He burned his career he gave up everything light like the disciples and picked up and left. Sorry pops. I'm out of here. He burns his Bridges and there's another similarity here to I see that he burns it all to feed others, you know, he eat he fed his family have a going-away party, right? And so they're they're eating those two poor cows right there.

And and so he he gets what he sells everything basically and give it to the poor never Jesus told him you like one thing sell everything you have and come follow me. And so he does the same he does that he gets rid of everything. He has burned his Bridges ministers to people and then follows Christ is very very real and he said he's is a Sac, but it is a very real sacrifice. He gives up everything and incident with discipleship that we see three things here as well. One is a sacrifice a. It is a sacrifice of our our time of our own agenda right to one two disciples on one and two to be a disciple to take that time to get together with somebody but also as we become a disciple, there's that break from the old life and that's something we'll talk about in a just a moment Mark chapter 8 what it means to be a disciple, but there is that that be Make with the old life, sometimes you have to burn some bridges. Sometimes you have those old influences that threatened to keep bringing you back. We're called to abandon that old life and not necessarily abandon our family. You are our possessions you you could still have a car you don't have to sell everything to follow him. But you definitely have to cut those connections that keep you from following, you know, he didn't he didn't just say you don't forget you family ever talk to you again and just you'll give him the cold shoulder. He minister to them and left he didn't cut the ties in that way, but we're heat to stay there. It would have literally prevented him from following. So his disciples we to we need to cut ties with that which would prevent us from following Christ that can be old relationships. It can be definitely old Temptations Les passants things that we get into of that nature. We have to cut it off burn it down and a third thing. It says Heroes and followed Elijah and ministered to him. He has service service first to the Lord and the service to mankind which is itself service to the Lord Josephus meet you in his first century Jewish historian in his Antiquities of the Jews. He gives the history of the Jewish people which of course Echoes the Bible. There's also a little things that he brings in from the rabbinic tradition and all that and the way he describes this at the end of it follows it very closely what he says when he had taken his leave of them his family. He followed him and became the disciple and servant of Elijah all the days of his life. So Elijah literally, he was the disciple of Elijah to learn what it means to be a prophet you noticed. He's a little bit younger here lot of time, especially the older pictures you seen both his old men, but not Elijah's younger guy learning to fulfill the place of the prophet of Israel. And so then when it's time for Elijah to leave he does as he learns who administers to him all his days they show up at the banks of the Jordan and they're going across and Elijah slaps the Jordan River with his mantle and it parts were the three partings of the Jordan in scripture and they walk across. Do you know that you know, the story and a Chariots of Fire comes down and comes between Elijah and Elisha see there's old man Elijah down there and the mantle of Elijah falls down which Elijah picks up and read this this be 2nd Kings the passing of Elijah second Kings chapter 2 yes chapter 2 and

yeah started will just take a look at verse 13. So he also aurela start 11 there were going along and behold there appear to Chariot of fire and horses a fire which separated the two of them and Elijah went up by a whirlwind to Heaven Elijah cried out so I can cry it out my father my father the Chariots of Israel and its Horsemen and he saw it Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into pieces a sign of morning. He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah and the NFL from him instruct the waters and said of where is the Lord the god of Elijah and when he'd struck the waters, they were divided here and there and Elijah crossed over. So we come back to the Jordan he picks up the mantle, you know, some of the different artwork Sears wood cutting. Here's iconography Elijah ascended to heaven. And here I come a modernist painting Elijah comes strikes the Jordan River and he crosses as well as the what what do we see Elijah picked up right where Elijah left off doing the second Miracle affected. Elmer what person is in there? But talks about Elijah saying Elijah. What do you want? What what what should I give you a license as a double portion of your ministry and lights like 9, I don't know. It's got to give we'll see what happens and we see that we see actually literally the recorded Miracles and second Kings of Elijah exactly double that what we read of Elijah Elijah is interesting, but we see importantly in this is the point for discipleship Elijah picks up right where Elijah left off and this too is discipleship. This is our purpose is to hand on our ministry to others. Who pick it up where we left off and game? That's why any of us are here because from the beginning of Christian time. Yeah, we're appalled handing it on 2 Timothy and Paul instructing Timothy hand these things on to Faithful Men. We see the ministry of Timothy in Ephesus and we see his passing and and then on it's been handed down to each person throughout history, and anybody has only come to Christ through another person. We have this inheritance that we have received and discipleship is turning around and passing it on. If for one generation, we stop doing that the church dies course, you know, the Gates of Hell will not triumph over the church before an illustrative point the buck stops here unless we pass that on and so Speaking of discipleship now Anna and Elijah being a disciple. What did Jesus say it is to be a disciple Mark chapter 8 verse 34 through 36. Says that he summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul. What would the Prophet Elijah to hang back and be a farmer all his days and not fulfill God's calling. To be a disciple means to give up. It means to place yourself in the trust of Christ. And we cannot be a convert without being a disciple. We must follow the lord. We must deny ourselves. We must take up our cross. I must follow him taking up the cross. You know where this is cute right? It's nice and gold not real gold. Don't steal it plated zinc yellow Simon the nuts and bolts business. This isn't yellow. Anyway, this is nice. It's pretty but what is a cross go say this to a 1st Century Roman K. Pick up your cross and and come fall me. Are you nuts not touching no cross. I'm not going with you to die. That's what it is to take up your cross. To follow him is to Die daily to wake up in the morning and to say I am not my own. To deny myself. I'm not my own. I am yours and to die a thousand deaths daily the death to self denying yourself Temptations and Pleasures serving others denying yourself. To be a disciple is to die is to follow Christ to the Cross but in doing that it we gain life whoever wishes to save his life will lose. It will ever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it we give it up, but we gained so much more. So we've been talking about being a disciple talk a little bit about making a disciple but didn't we started with Matthew 28, you know how to make a disciple. So why it why are we going to this kind of being a disciple things first is because friends you cannot make disciples unless you were first to disciple yourself. Aw. Tozer says only a disciple can make a disciple. You can't make a disciple. If you're not following Christ yourself, if you're not being a disciple of Christ yourself, and so you lay this groundwork

You know it and it in the story of Elijah, we saw that about making disciples calling them to walk alongside of you. But back then again to Matthew 28 19 through 20. How do you decide and it's rather simple Jesus came up and spoke to them saying all authority has been given to me in heaven and on Earth go therefore and Make Disciples of all 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 Am With You Always even to the end of the age two things baptizing and teaching baptizing them and teaching them to to obey Christ teaching them to live this Divine Life to follow after him become obedient to the Lord and this is what you do when you evangelize those who come to Christ you baptize them and then you disciple them I'm going to take on cake cuz she's right there on heike my parison you yet come stand up here. She was baptized in the name of the father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and then we disciple and this is what takes place through. I mean his first finish my sentence to take one of the things that takes place through youth group through Sunday school through this time. It is a form of discipling but also that's not all its relationships is things like FCA it it's people in her life that talk to her about the Lord. And this is what we do for everyone. We evangelize we baptized and we teach and so never take lightly the Teaching Ministry of the church, especially if you are teachers because what you are doing is you are discipling I your teaching training helping them grow take lightly the Teaching Ministry the church never take lightly your ministry in the church because you are doing the work of God that we shouldn't trust A discipleship only to these things. We can't trust you know, what she'll has been disabled this person or or or Chuck. They're going to disciple these people and I mean, I'm going to hang out and do my thing all of us. I'm not just going to Sandy that's all of you. We don't don't need to entrust that Ministry of somebody else. We're all called to go and make disciples doesn't mean you have to teach a class. But if we went out if every person here went out and grab somebody in the community and led them to the Lord and then disciple them. Let me just one to one ratio. We would double the numbers don't care about the numbers hear the kingdom of God would grow. If each of us would fulfill our chart and so we should at all times be being disciples being discipled and discipling others. We should be both a mentor and a Alimentos, no not a Mentos. Amenti now, we should always be a mentor to somebody and at the same time being tutored ourselves. I just happen to have benzos my pocket how long is free but we should always be receiving and pouring out receding that that A discipleship and growing and then turning right around and helping somebody else do the same how by teaching them to observe all that. I command you take them under your wing guide them show them teach them the scriptures be there for them. They are part of the mentor-mentee when you use that were developed to work at mentor-mentee relationship is being there side by side to put your arm around them when they hurt to teach him grow with a very real friendship is very weird real growing practice together. You're there more than just a teach them, but you're to be there for them to lead them. In the Christian Life you've been doing it for a while. So you do the same thing as of today with the block party be looking for opportunities be thinking about this looking for opportunities to do either last week or this week to evangelize someone to tend to share Christ with them. Or they know price to say, how's your how's your spiritual life going? How are you growing? Do you have a fellowship that you're attending? And by the way, if they say yes, you said yes, great. Keep going go there and be fed and be blessed but see the Goodwill of all they need tries to give him priced. They have priced make sure that they're being discipled grown taught and you also might think about this in the life of a of a friend of a Christian friend or brother. You have the opportunity of course today for the block party but in your own life as well. Yeah, that's up to you to find someone who needs a friend to walk with who needs and Elijah to walk with and learn how to operate in the Christian Life how to participate in the Divine Life. And so in conclusion, everybody's favorite phrase. Do you remember family slides? I've got off off their ego baptizing teaching. There you go. Okay. Do you remember what are series is about cuz this is not separate. This is a very real part of participating in the Divine Life who had a lot of stuff right and proper. But how do you I don't know if I really seen this listed as a spiritual discipline and how do you do that? How is discipleship a spiritual discipline? Two ways that I can think of is probably a lot more. My brain is Tiny But to that. I really latched onto its first of all to cycling. Someone is very formative. That's why we come in one of our key words right very formative for our own walk and our own life. Have you ever noticed that you've ever taught? Have you ever noticed that you learn a whole lot while you're teaching you want to go teach 7th grade math at a school and you'll have to go back to the books. You'll have to remember that the parentheses in it and the exponents in and you end up learning so much while you teach even if you have a good handle on the material already, if you know your subject you learn while teaching cuz its formative in the preparation you're focused on this is synthesizing ease of delivering and honing your approach. So its formative and it's also more mature than that. It's an act of love. It is a very real sacrifice. It is an act of love to disciple someone and that moves us right into the second part. So first it why we listen to as a spiritual discipline its formative and also it's more than just a disciplined disciplined because it's participating. In the Divine Life is participating in the Divine Kingdom. And it's idea of discipling being active love really helped me understand that that is the ministry of Christ isn't it? His ministry everything that he does can be summed up as being a Ministry of love some we are getting of ourselves to disciple someone when we are operating that way in love. We are very much operating in the ministry of Christ. And so we're participating in the Kingdom. We're participating in God's Redemption of the World by by our agreement to his call by our yes, right. We are participating in the Divine will it is he does not wish that any should perish but that all come salvation. We are joining with him. in the Redemption of the world and so this is very this is really special than this aspect of discipleship because we are calling others. Into participating in the Divine life and that then is the ultimate working out of all of the disciplines. We've been looking at of all the participating in the Divine Life. This is the final and ultimate acting out of that is that now we turn around and we find somebody else and we bring them in as well. I mean, like I said full-circle so we let this do its work in us and then we allow it to move us Beyond ourselves. Lewis Beyond ourselves and to others and that right there is that not the greatest reflection of Christ who Philippians chapter 2

emptied himself took the form of a bondservant. Humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death even death on the cross. So for us to empty us of ourselves to reach out that is the ultimate transformation into Christ Image. We are participating in his very real Ministry to give ourselves in order to reconcile men to God and over this whole thing's been about transformation into the image of Christ. And then in discipleship, that's exactly what you are doing. You are your silken foreman and there's always grow is always denial of the flesh. But now you're being conformed to Christ in the operation of his ministry and setting ourselves a side coming to men to see them reconciled to God and growing and sanctification. That is Christ Ministry done through us. That's why this whole thing all the things we talked about in at the entry of the guys weren't here that we would talk about all these things in this formation. All these things are to be formed in the image of Christ in here at the end. We are actually doing it. So by participating in the Divine Life In This Way in discipleship, we are really participating in the very purpose of God. We here crafts at its most are actually participating in the Divine Life. True Discipleship, you're bringing others in just as Christ did. So, I believe that's the end of our series as I said so many times that I would like to say a lot more every time but this is just to whet your appetite your books and tons of books. I have to read on the subject on the all of these little subjects. Do you want to go deeper? Come see me we'll walk together and I'll show you more will go deeper. You want to pick this up and start a study of your own do it, but hopefully this is inspired you guys to see our purpose. Our purpose is not to get saved clap. Our hands get baptized and wait to die. No life begins now. So hopefully this is something you guys can take with you to see reason they want to do for a long time that just happened just happened to come together this way. So today as we go out to service a spiritual discipline how to evangelize and disciple take these things with you and realize that what you're doing today. Is you are partnering with God in his work in Ministry on the Earth. Let us pray and then we'll sing a song and go. Lord we thank you so much for calling us into your life. For now just calling us but giving us a commission. For a as Elijah you throw your mantle over a says the disciples you call us out to walk with you and to take up our cross and to be like you so Lord. We thank you for saving us the more important than that for commissioning us and calling us to be a part of your ministry to this world Lord. We ask you help push each of us and whatever Arrow area we need help us grow Transformers Lord into the image of your son. Lord today we ask for your Aid your help your strength and your power to minister to this community Lord as we do our our things that we do whether it be snow cones or handing out food or watching over games Lord. Let us remember that none of these are meaningless but we do this as a sacrifice both to you and for you and to the community in for them help us. Remember Lord that or out there doing these things. We're doing your work and help us. Remember Lord to make it about you not ourselves not our church, but about your kingdom and furthering your kingdom Lord. We thank you for the opportunities. You've given us to do this and we asked you bless it and bless our efforts throughout this day and bless this community Lord through Us by the power of your Holy Spirit bring them to Jesus Christ. We thank you Lord. We love you so much. We pray these things in your name. Amen. Just Dance with us we will sing a final song